The Secret of Spiritual Vision: From the Lie of This World to the Faith of Truth
Lesson No. 197 | Sunday, Parshas Bamidbar, the eve of 24 Iyar 5759, Givat Shmuel
A profound discourse explaining how this world is a physical illusion, and how one can awaken from it through the holiness of Shabbos, the Melava Malka (post-Shabbos festive meal), and Miriam's well. The article reveals the power of the woman as the spiritual guardian of her husband, and explains how worldly desires act as a bribe that blinds a person's eyes, as illustrated by the Talmudic stories about the greatest Amoraim (Talmudic sages).
Many ask, "Who will show us good?" Where is the good and where is the reward? But the answer is that we must go to sleep quietly and peacefully, with the clear knowledge that Hashem does not withhold the reward of any creature. On the contrary, we must increase our dancing and joy, in the aspect of "You have put joy in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound." As the abundance increases, so too must our joy increase. The main thing is to know how to turn everything into joy, and a person is forbidden to have even a drop of sadness.
The goal of all this awakening and these words is to magnify and glorify the Torah, to arouse us to be meticulous in mitzvos and in guarding our eyes. One who merits to be an emissary of Hashem must walk with a shining face, with a beautiful countenance and light radiating from their face, so much so that anyone who merely looks at their face will immediately return in teshuvah (repentance). True emissaries do not waste their time on the road listening to the radio or sitting in restaurants; rather, they walk with faces so luminous and radiant that every home they enter will immediately awaken to teshuvah (repentance), and people in the street will argue among themselves, begging, "Come to my house!" They do not think about money, but only about the holy goal: how to bring the Jewish people back in teshuvah (repentance) out of joy and faith.
Miriam's Well and the Meal of the Resurrection of the Dead
On Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh (the departure of the holy Sabbath), Miriam's well circulates through all the faucets and all the wells. This is an auspicious time when a person can merit wealth, healings, children, and all the good in the world. Miriam's well channels all the abundance to the world for all eternity. The Midrash in Parshas Acharei Mos tells of a man afflicted with boils who went to immerse in the Sea of Tiberias:
"And Miriam's well happened to be there, and Miriam's well floated toward him, and it was an opportune moment and his fortune was favorable, and he merited to immerse in Miriam's well, and he was immediately healed from all his leprosy."
Everything we eat at the Melava Malka (post-Shabbos festive meal) is called the "Meal of the Resurrection of the Dead." There is one bone in a person (the luz bone) that does not derive benefit from any meal, except for this meal of Melava Malka. This is the first meal after the very first Shabbos of the creation of the world, during which the Hidden Light still served. On Shabbos, we are nourished by the Hidden Light, from the "Atika Stima'ah" (the most concealed, exalted level of Divine emanation), and through the power of the Melava Malka meal, a person will rise in the Resurrection of the Dead.
We must understand that this entire world is only spirituality. There is truly no physicality in the world. What we see as a physical world is merely an illusion; a person is in a deep sleep, inside a dream from which he cannot manage to awaken. We live in a deep sleep—we wake up, go to work, come back—and it is all one big slumber. The melodies, the songs, and the yearnings for Hashem are what must pull us out of this slumber. A person needs to sing with dveykus (deep spiritual attachment), out of immense longing for the Creator of the world.
The Years of Struggle and Feminine Faith
In truth, real life only begins at the age of sixty, when a person emerges from the danger of kares (spiritual excision). Until the age of sixty, a person tries to gain control over himself and does not know where to run from himself. The desires burn, the blemishes of the covenant scorch, he goes out into the street and sees immodesty, and he does not know how to guard his eyes. Only at the age of sixty does he begin to catch hold of himself and rectify what he has blemished. If he merited to learn Torah his entire life, then at the age of sixty he places his head in the Gemara and finds rest. But if not, as our Sages of blessed memory said, "The elders of the ignorant, their minds become confused," and they have nowhere to settle their thoughts.
The Gemara in Tractate Sukkah and the Tosefta state that in the future to come, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem and water the entire world. Miriam's well is destined to spread throughout all the oceans and sweeten all the bitter waters in the world—meaning, to sweeten all the bitterness and hardships of each and every person.
Miriam's well symbolizes faith. A woman naturally has much more faith than a man. For a man, faith is built through the toil of Torah and study, but for a woman, her entire reality and essence is pure faith. Therefore, the Geulah (Redemption) will only come through righteous women. In Egypt, when the decree was made, "Every son that is born you shall cast into the river," the men despaired and divorced their wives. But Amram, the leader of the generation, who brought the Shechinah (Divine Presence) down from the second firmament to the first firmament, took his wife back in the merit of his daughter Miriam.
The Woman as the Spiritual Guardian of the Husband
When a person feels the Shechinah (Divine Presence), he stops sinning. After all, how can a person commit a transgression when he sees Hashem standing before him face to face? Therefore, when a person goes to commit a transgression, all of creation rises up against him. Hashem created the mouth of the donkey on the eve of Shabbos at twilight to show that even the animals protest: a cat meows, a dog barks, a donkey brays, and a horse neighs—all to stop a person from sinning.
A person's wife also rises up against him when he sins, and he does not even understand why. Hashem created the woman to be the guardian of the man. Even if he sins in secret, her soul sees it, in the aspect of "Though he does not see it, his guardian angel sees it." If a person opens his eyes in the street and looks at forbidden sights, his mind is burned. Immediately, he has no patience for his wife and he becomes angry with her. Regarding this, our Sages of blessed memory expounded on the name "Achsah"—that anyone who saw her would become angry with his wife. The moment a person looks at a strange woman, she appears more pleasant to him, because she is a stranger and has not gone through the hardships of life with him, and this causes him to disrespect his own wife.
There was once a couple who was about to divorce due to so much shouting and fighting. Before opening a file at the Rabbinate, they decided to go consult with a friendly family that always seemed ideal to them—a home where quiet, calm, and pleasantness always prevailed. They asked them, "How did you merit such pleasantness and tranquility?" The couple answered them, "Believe us, we have twice as much shouting as you do! It is just that the moment we hear a knock on the door, silence immediately falls and we pretend that everything is calm." A person tends to think that everything is sparkling for the other person, like small children who always want to swap their plate for their friend's plate, until they realize that their own is better.
The Blindness of Bribery: Even Tzaddikim Are Not Immune
The reason a person falls into these illusions is because desires act upon him as a bribe, and "a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise." The Gemara in Tractate Kesubos (page 105) brings a series of wondrous stories about the greatest Amoraim (Talmudic sages) who were strict with themselves even regarding the most subtle of bribes, which did not involve money.
Shmuel was crossing the river in a ferry, and a certain man extended his hand to help him disembark. Shmuel asked him, "What is your business here?" He answered him, "I have a Torah lawsuit before you." Shmuel immediately said to him, "I am disqualified from judging you!" It is enough that a person extended a hand to you, you have already become bribed.
This was also the case with Amemar, who was sitting and judging a Din Torah (Torah court case), when a butterfly or fly landed on his head. One of the litigants approached and shooed the fly away from him. Immediately, Amemar said to him, "I am disqualified from judging you." Similarly, Mar Ukva was sitting in judgment and there was spit on the floor. One of the litigants came and covered the spit out of respect for the Rav. Mar Ukva said to him, "I am disqualified from judging you." Every slight gesture of flattery bribes a person's mind.
The Gemara tells an amazing story about Rabbi Yishmael the son of Rabbi Yossi. He had a tenant farmer who worked in his orchard, and he was accustomed to bringing him a basket of fruit from his orchard every Erev Shabbos (Friday). One week, the tenant farmer came early and brought the basket of fruit on Thursday. Rabbi Yishmael asked him, "Why did you come early today?" The tenant farmer answered, "I have a Din Torah today, so I figured that on the way, I would already bring tomorrow's fruit today." Immediately, Rabbi Yishmael said to him, "I am disqualified from judging you!" and he sent him to be judged by another Rav in the adjacent room.
Rabbi Yishmael stood behind the door to listen to how the second Rav was judging the case. While he was listening to the arguments, he caught himself and saw that all his thoughts were leaning in favor of his tenant farmer. He found himself thinking, "It's a shame he didn't argue this way, it's a shame he didn't explain himself differently, he could have made a better claim." He saw how his mind was working incessantly on how to help that tenant farmer.
At that moment, Rabbi Yishmael was shaken and made a chilling statement:
"May the souls of those who take bribes expire! If I, who did not take a bribe at all—and even if I did, I only took what was already mine (since the fruit belongs to him and the tenant farmer brings it to him regularly)—and yet my thoughts already lean in his favor, how much more so for those who accept bribes and make a living from it!"
From here we learn just how much a person's mind is bribed and influenced by every slight touch of this world, and how much we must pray to merit clear spiritual vision and true emunah (faith), free from any bribe of desires and illusions.
Lesson #197