The Secret of Self-Sacrifice and Sweetening the Judgments on the Fifteenth of Av

Lesson No. 64 | * (Continued from 63) Tuesday evening, the eve of the 15th of Av 5756, for the young men of the group in the Kloyz in "Beis Yisrael"

A profound discourse explaining the virtue of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) focused on self-sacrifice, and the secret of the Ten Martyrs who elevated the most rejected souls. Through the secret of the fifteenth of Av and the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (He who is good and does good), it is explained how one can transform every physical action, even eating, into tremendous spiritual devotion.

A person must truly strengthen his thoughts regarding the concept of mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice). He must vividly picture in his strong and resolute mind, using all his inner and outer faculties, all the types of deaths and tortures he has ever heard of. He should think to himself: When will I also merit this? After all, Jews who sacrificed their lives merited spiritual levels that are completely beyond our comprehension, embodying the verse, "No eye has seen it, God, aside from You."

If a person believes that someone earned a billion dollars, he would be willing to travel to the ends of the earth and cross deserts just to attain the same. How much more so when a person is told that whoever sacrifices his life merits an eternal good, a place where no creature, angel, or seraph can stand in his presence. A person must sharpen his mind to form a complete mental image of suffering, genuinely desiring that all these tortures should happen to him in exact detail, and even last longer, just so he can feel the pain of death for the sake of sanctifying His great and awesome Name.

The True Hour of Hisbodedus

Through this powerful thought, all foreign thoughts are nullified. A person thinks only of Hashem, recognizing that "there is none besides Him, and there is only Hashem in the world, nothing else." Through this mental imagery, all of his sins and all the pleasure he derived from forbidden things are immediately atoned for. He must delve into this until he literally feels his soul departing from him, to the point where there is absolutely no difference to him between the actual agony of death and the image he holds in his mind.

When he reaches a state where he sees that his soul is truly about to depart, he must stop the thought at the very last moment, so that his soul does not leave him, Heaven forbid, and he can continue to live and serve Hashem until a hundred and twenty years. This should be a person's true hour of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer)—not Hisbodedus focused on all sorts of illusions, but an hour of Hisbodedus dedicated entirely to dying for the sanctification of Hashem's Name.

The Secret of the Fifteenth of Av and the Ten Commandments

This is the secret of the fifteenth of Av, regarding which the Talmud states that they instituted the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (He who is good and does good). The fifteenth of Av shares the spiritual aspect of Yom Kippur, and it is connected to the secret of the Ten Commandments. At the Giving of the Torah, it is said:

"My soul departed when He spoke."

With every single utterance that came forth from the Almighty, the souls of the Jewish people left their bodies. In truth, this was the very purpose of creation—that every time we hear words of Torah, we should become so pure and refined that our soul departs and we receive a new soul. If Adam had not sinned, this is exactly what would have happened with every spoken word. At the Giving of the Torah, the Jewish people merited that their spiritual impurity ceased, and they experienced the resurrection of the dead; every utterance drew out their soul and granted them a new one in its place.

The Ten Martyrs and the Secret of Sweetening the Judgments

This tremendous tikkun (rectification) was continued by the Ten Martyrs. The holy Arizal explains that they merited to elevate holy sparks from the deepest depths of the kelipos (forces of spiritual impurity)—sparks that no tzaddik and no prayer could elevate, but only Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. This is the secret of Tamar, who offered her life to the flames in order to establish the lineage of Mashiach ben David. This is also the secret of Mashiach ben Yosef, who will be called "Menachem ben Chizkiyah" (which has the numerical value of 320, corresponding to the 320 severe judgments). When the most terrible judgments are revealed in the world, only such profound mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) can sweeten them.

During the destruction of Jerusalem and the city of Beitar, Hashem saw that the Jewish people still did not grasp the severity of the situation. The Romans, led by Titus, stood astounded at the heroism of the Jews. Titus himself wanted to retreat, telling his soldiers: "These are not human beings; we have come to a city of demons!" The Jews jumped from walls fifty meters high and displayed superhuman strength. And why? Because they were born in holiness, from the seed of great tzaddikim, and when a person is born in holiness, he receives supernatural powers even in the physical realm.

Illuminating the Darkest Souls

However, despite the heroism and righteousness of the martyrs of Beitar, the judgments were still not fully sweetened. Because the generation was steeped in darkness and the spiritual barriers were so thick, there was no choice but to take ten supreme pious ones—Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues—to be killed and actually sacrifice their lives for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, enduring tortures that no human mind can comprehend.

Only because these tzaddikim sacrificed their lives were they able to draw down a spiritual illumination into the lowest and darkest souls in the world. The bodies of the martyrs of Beitar and the Ten Martyrs became completely spiritual, and no decay had any power over them, while their souls ascended to the level of "No eye has seen it, God, aside from You." Through the fact that they sold the flesh of Rabbi Akiva in the marketplaces, his soul subdued the entire Roman Empire, and the downfall of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side, forces of evil) began.

Eating in Holiness with the Blessing of HaTov VeHaMeitiv

This is the depth of the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" that was instituted on the fifteenth of Av for the martyrs of Beitar. The blessing teaches us that even during the act of eating, a person must strive for mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice). He must ask himself: How will this food bring me to spirituality? With every sip and every bite, he must lift his head upward, eating with a settled mind and in holiness.

Especially during the days of "Bein HaZmanim" (the yeshiva intersession), which the holy Arizal says are even holier than the regular term, we have an opportunity to reach the holiness of Yom Kippur. The fifteenth of Av is a Yom Kippur on which it is permissible to eat and drink, and through it, one can achieve a tremendous devotion of "rucha b'rucha" (spirit intertwined with spirit), until we feel with every single utterance how "my soul departed when He spoke," elevating us from level to level infinitely.

Part 2 of 5 — Lesson No. 64

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