The Secret of Purification in the Nehar Di-Nur: The Role of the True Tzaddik Before Rosh Hashanah

Lesson No. 41 | * Lessons at the Tziyon (gravesite) of the holy Rebbe in Uman, 26 Elul 5755. * Tzom Gedaliah 5756.

Approaching Rosh Hashanah, every soul undergoes a process of spiritual purification in the "Nehar Di-Nur" (River of Fire) through the suffering and obstacles encountered on the way to the tzaddik. This article reveals the secret of the true tzaddik, who serves as a chariot for the Shechinah (Divine Presence), and explains how binding oneself to him elevates one's prayers and draws down the protection of thousands of angels upon a person.

The River Kevar, which the prophet Yechezkel saw, is the Nehar Di-Nur (River of Fire) that flows and issues forth from the Atika Kadisha (the Holy Ancient One, a high Kabbalistic level of Divine mercy), which is Hashem, as it were. From there emerges the Nehar Di-Nur, about which it is said: "A thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7:10). When the three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, all souls must immerse in the Nehar Di-Nur.

All the suffering a person endures on the roads, all the obstacles from home, every lost suitcase, and every difficulty—everything is considered an immersion in the Nehar Di-Nur. Before coming to Rosh Hashanah, each and every person must undergo this immersion to cleanse and wash away all the filth of this world. For this entire world is nothing but an illusion; this world does not truly exist at all. Through the Nehar Di-Nur, one escapes the "chizu de'hai alma" (the illusion of this world) and forgets that there is a world at all.

The souls immerse in the Nehar Di-Nur to be purified from their filth in this lowly world. The commentators explain that this refers even to permitted desires—eating, drinking, and sleeping that are permissible. The true tzaddik is completely clean of all this, and when one comes to the true tzaddik who is pure from any permitted desire, one must first immerse in the Nehar Di-Nur. Through this, the souls arrive at Rosh Hashanah pure and clean, completely forgetting the existence of this world.

The Secret of Immersion by the True Tzaddik

Who immerses these souls? The one appointed over this is the Sar HaPanim (Prince of the Inner Chamber), the angel Metatron. Before a person comes to Rosh Hashanah, he must hand himself over to his hands so that he may immerse him in the Nehar Di-Nur. This angel is in the diyukna (exact image) of the Tzaddik Yesod Olam (the Tzaddik who is the foundation of the world).

The tzaddik merited that the angel Metatron would become impregnated (spiritually invested) within him, and he alone immerses and prepares us to come to Rosh Hashanah. All the obstacles and suffering a person goes through—it is the tzaddik who sends them to him in order to immerse him in the Nehar Di-Nur before Rosh Hashanah. The true tzaddik is the aspect of Chanoch, who merited this spiritual impregnation and became Metatron, just as Eliyahu merited to become the angel Sandalfon. Therefore, when one comes to the true tzaddik, it is exactly like coming to the angel Metatron.

A River of Fire and a River of Loving-Kindness

When a person travels a long journey to the true tzaddik, leaving his home at Chatzos (midnight) and arriving in the evening, an eighteen-hour journey—in the merit of these "Chai" (eighteen, meaning life) hours, he will merit to live eternally. He will merit an illumination from the "Tzaddik Chai Almin" (the Tzaddik who lives eternally), the Tzaddik Yesod Olam in whom the angel is invested, who has the power to wash us of the filth of this world until we forget it completely.

The Nehar Di-Nur has two aspects: It is a "Nehar" (river) of water, which is the chesed (loving-kindness) that purifies from all stains, and it is also "Di-Nur" (of fire), a fire from the Sitra D'Gevurah (the side of strict judgment). This is the secret of the verse, "As I was among the exiles by the River Kevar" (Yechezkel 1:1). What is the River Kevar? The prophet Yechezkel saw the angel Metatron, who is the chariot for the Holy One, Blessed be He, the Amuda D'Emtza'isa (the Central Pillar, harmonizing kindness and judgment).

Regarding this it is said:

"And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly" (Tehillim 18:11)

Hashem rides upon a cherub, which is the aspect of Metatron. And since the angel is invested within the tzaddik, the tzaddik himself becomes a chariot for Hashem. As Rashi says: "The Patriarchs themselves are the Chariot." The Patriarchs merited that the angel would be invested within them, and thereby they became a chariot for the Shechinah (Divine Presence).

The Secret of the Eighteen Myriad Chariots

The tzaddik encompasses within himself sixty myriad (600,000) chariots, for all the souls of Israel are rooted in that tzaddik who merited the investment of the angel. However, the tzaddik himself, from the side of "Tzaddik Chai Almin" (the eternally living Tzaddik), encompasses eighteen myriad chariots (180,000 chariots).

This secret is hinted at in the verse:

"The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands upon thousands [alfei shin'an]" (Tehillim 68:18)

The Gemara in Tractate Avodah Zarah (3b) expounds: "Do not read shin'an (thousands), but rather she'einan (that are not)." Out of the twenty thousand chariots ("myriads" - ribosayim), one must subtract the two thousand "that are not," leaving eighteen thousand. These are the eighteen thousand angels who descend with Metatron to receive the Shemoneh Esrei (the eighteen-blessing Amidah prayer).

When a person has proper intention during the Shemoneh Esrei prayer and binds his prayer to the true tzaddik, a thousand angels descend to protect him during each and every blessing. All the blessings ascend to the true tzaddik, as the holy Zohar says on the verse: "Blessings are upon the head of the tzaddik" (Mishlei 10:6). The tzaddik receives all the Shemoneh Esrei prayers, and he is the one who elevates them before Hashem.

Part 1 of 4 — Lesson No. 41

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