The Secret of Revealing the Root of the Soul: From the Holy of Holies to the Simple Jew
Lesson No. 80 | Wednesday, Parashas Vayigash, 8 Teves 5757 - Pidyon HaBen (Redemption of the Firstborn). Wednesday, Parashas Shemos, 22 Teves 5757 - Bar Mitzvah.
In order to merit truly being a "simple Jew," tremendous toil in the holy Torah is required. Through this, a person embarks on the journey of his life—the search for the Holy of Holies and the root of his soul, through Hisbodedus (secluded prayer), reciting Tehillim (Psalms), and removing the accusers, until the immense revelation of the secret of the souls of Israel.
The enemies of Israel plot day and night how to uproot the holy Torah, and as Rabbi Abramsky zt"l said, the only force that can stand against them is "by the hand of those who engage in Your Torah." To be a true Breslov Chassid, a person must merit being a Torah scholar. As Rabbi Nasan writes in the book Chayei Moharan: "Whoever is more of a Torah scholar is more capable." Although earnest simplicity is the essence, one cannot be a true Chassid relying solely on one's own intellect and understanding; rather, comprehensive knowledge of the Shas (Talmud), the Jerusalem Talmud, the Shulchan Aruch, the Tur, and the Rambam is required.
As Rabbi Yisrael Salanter said, to truly be a "simple Jew," one needs to know the entire Torah. Only through knowing the Halachos (Jewish laws) and fulfilling "and you shall meditate on it day and night," with no other interest besides Torah study, can one merit ascending to the simple foundation of Judaism. In the merit of this engagement in Torah, we will truly merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) speedily in our days.
The Search for the Holy of Holies
Our entire life's work is to find the sanctuary of the Holy of Holies, the Foundation Stone (Even HaShetiyah) which is the root of the souls of Israel. A person comes into the world and lives in it for a hundred and twenty years, and his entire purpose is to search and seek until he merits ascending and finding "Where is the place of His glory," and there to draw down the revelation of His blessed glory.
King David, peace be upon him, dedicated his entire life to this search, as he testifies:
"If I give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for Hashem, dwelling places for the Mighty One of Yaakov."
David searched for the root of his soul. Whoever engages the most in seeking and searching to find His blessed glory, ultimately finds the root of the soul of every Jew.
Removing the Accusers on the Path to the Soul
The entire essence of the Book of Tehillim is a person's path to finding himself. Through his sins, a person creates enemies, accusers, and destructive forces for himself that prevent him from reaching the root of his soul. As brought down in the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi), in order to ascend from the World of Asiyah (Action) to the World of Yetzirah (Formation), one must first remove all the klipos (spiritual impurities).
The recitation of Tehillim is intended to remove all those enemies and accusers. The Psalms are supplications, requests, cries, and shouts to Hashem, expressed in various languages of searching for His glory. Therefore, we rise at Chatzos (midnight) and go out to the fields—all in order to search for myself, for the root of my soul.
King David engaged in this more than anyone. His entire life consisted of supplications, prayers, and expressions of gratitude for every point of Judaism he merited. Because he prayed and cried more than anyone, he merited finding his point, the Holy of Holies, the site of the Holy Temple. From this point of prayer, our righteous Mashiach will emerge. As Rabbi Nasan says in Likutey Halachos, all the joy in bringing children into the world stems from the emunah (faith) that from every child, Mashiach ben David can emerge.
The Sudden Revelation of Yaakov Avinu
What King David toiled to achieve for seventy years, until he discovered the threshing floor of Aravnah the Jebusite, Yaakov Avinu discovered at the age of seventy-seven on his way to Charan. After fourteen years during which he did not sleep at all and engaged in reciting Tehillim all night, the Holy of Holies was suddenly revealed to him.
"And Yaakov awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely Hashem is in this place, and I did not know'... And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'"
Yaakov suddenly saw the light of Hashem shining in the place. He discovered the point of "I" (Anochi), the point of "Nothingness" (Ayin) which is the root of the souls of Israel. The Midrash says regarding the verse, "Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his trust," that the person who trusts in Hashem seemingly transforms into the Divine essence himself, "and Hashem will be."
This is the secret of the gematria (numerical value): The word "Yesh" (יש - 310) together with the name of Hashem (26) amounts to 336. With the addition of 17, it results in 353. Together with the word "HaMakom" (which in a certain calculation amounts to 138), they reach a total of 541—the exact numerical value of Yisrael (Israel).
Suddenly, the root of the souls of Israel was revealed to Yaakov, and he said "I did not know"—he himself did not know the immense magnitude of the root of every Jewish soul.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 80
All parts: Part 1 | Part 2 (current)