The Secret of Shiflus: The Key to the Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Life

Class No. 44 | Tuesday Morning, Parashas Bereishis, 23 Tishrei 5756, Isru Chag Sukkos at the Yeshiva. (Continued in No. 45)

Why is humility the simplest thing to attain, and how is recognizing our flaws the true key to meriting the Resurrection of the Dead and the delight of the World to Come? A profound article on the power of shiflus (lowliness), from the teachings of Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Humility is the simplest thing in the world. It is impossible for a person, no matter what spiritual level he is on, to reach absolute perfection. In this generation, no perfection is possible. Even the most perfect person in the generation inevitably has many flaws. These flaws stem from various reasons: either from his nature and habits—he finds it difficult to learn, difficult to pray, and this alone is the greatest disgrace; or from his family; or from events that happened to him in the past; or from his actions and the sins he has committed, for "there is no tzaddik on earth who does good and does not sin."

The Mesillas Yesharim explains that these blemishes leave a person with absolutely no room for arrogance. Arrogance simply does not apply; there is no such reality. Even if a person possesses many wonderful virtues, what does he have to be proud of when he has endless flaws?

"Even if he has many virtues, since his flaws are always more numerous than his virtues... they are enough to darken all of his good qualities" (Mesillas Yesharim).

The blemishes a person creates every moment and every day are enough to darken all the good qualities he possesses.

The Essence of Greatness is Shiflus

People come to the tzaddik only to learn one thing: humility and shiflus (lowliness). Not to say, "I am the most important of all." If a person did not learn humility from the tzaddik, it is a sign that he lacks understanding and does not comprehend at all what is being spoken to him. When people come to see the tzaddik, they receive greatness, and the essence of greatness is only shiflus. Moshe Rabbeinu is called humble, and Hashem praises Himself with His humility, as our Sages of blessed memory said:

"Wherever you find the greatness of Hashem, there you find His humility."

A person's Resurrection of the Dead will be exactly according to the points of shiflus (lowliness) within him. According to the amount of shiflus a person has, so will be his body for the Resurrection of the Dead. Initially, everyone will rise with their blemish—one who blemished his eyes will rise without eyes, one who blemished his hand will rise without a hand. He will suffer disgrace before the eyes of the entire world, and everyone will know exactly which sin he committed. Then he will begin to cry, to do teshuvah (repentance), and to feel ashamed before everyone, until they have mercy on him. The tzaddik will come, Moshe Rabbeinu will come and have mercy on him, just like at the Giving of the Torah, when the blind saw and the lame received legs.

A Neighbor to the Dust in His Lifetime

Our spiritual work is solely focused on shiflus. To love all the tzaddikim and the entire Jewish people endlessly. A Jew who fulfills Torah and mitzvos, keeps Shabbos, and walks with peyos and a beard—there is nothing higher than this. One must feel: "Who knows when I will even reach the dust of the sole of the simplest Jew's shoe." All that will remain in the Future to Come are the thoughts of shiflus that a person acquired during his lifetime.

"Awaken and sing joyfully, you who dwell in the dust" (Isaiah 26:19)—this refers to one who made himself a neighbor to the dust during his lifetime.

A clear example of this is Rabbi Avraham ben Rabbi Nachman of Tulchyn. He knew the entire Shulchan Aruch by heart, along with the Shach and the Taz, word for word. When he was old and nearly blind, people would place an ear near his mouth and hear him whispering holy books word for word, 24 hours a day. Despite his immense greatness, in Breslov and in Uman, he was the most despised person. They called him "Der Meshugener" (the crazy one). He never showed off his scholarship or took pride in what he knew.

Among Breslov Chassidim, they never showed off their scholarship. Their entire aspiration was only how to succeed in saying a chapter of Tehillim (Psalms) and shedding a few tears. But in order to shed tears while saying Tehillim, one must first learn eight hours of Gemara. You cannot just pick up Tehillim and start crying. What will you cry about? About the ice cream and chocolates you ate? When do you cry? When you learn eight hours of Gemara. The Gemara purifies the heart and the mind, and then you begin to see where your soul is holding, you feel the pain of your sins, and you shed a tear. The Gemara was not meant for arrogance, but rather to make one feel shiflus.

Winning the War from Within the Darkness

There are tzaddikim and Admorim who grew up in immense holiness and purity from infancy. They are guarded with utmost care, people learn with them for long hours in absolute guarding of the eyes, and they merit Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) and the ability to see from one end of the world to the other, like Rabbi Shmelke of Zvhil or the Chozeh of Lublin.

But we are simple people; we were not born angels and we were not holy from the womb. We need to win the war with our own strength, from within the falls and the descents. If a person wins the war from within his shiflus, his end will be very beautiful, and he will reach even higher spiritual levels.

The physical substance of a person is a lump of arrogance. Even a person's humility is often hidden arrogance—"Look how humble I am; I need to tell you that I am humble." It is told about Rabbi Yitzchak, the son-in-law of the Maggid of Mezeritch, that he searched for counsel against arrogance. He went from tzaddik to tzaddik, until he understood the intention of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli: the true tzaddik is the one who will tell you that there is absolutely no counsel against arrogance.

When a true tzaddik tells a person that there is no counsel, and the person realizes that he is lost and entirely a bundle of arrogance that he utterly despises—specifically then, he experiences a profound shock. He begins to search for the true counsels, attains true shiflus, and begins to truly become "Ayin" (nothingness).

When a person merits true shiflus, he transcends the boundaries of the physical and begins to feel the delight of the World to Come. Suddenly, he will feel different blood flowing in his veins, a different rhythm; everything changes and becomes light. This is the delight of Shabbos, which is a taste of the World to Come—complete, eternal life with no limits, all of which depends solely on the trait of shiflus.

Part 2 of 3 — Class No. 44

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