The Secret of the Crooked Shoe: The Greatness of Persecuted Tzaddikim
Lesson No. 161 | Tuesday, Parashas Vayeira, 14 Cheshvan 5759 - Award Distribution for Outstanding Students at the "Shaarei Torah" Yeshiva
Through a seemingly simple, everyday conversation about a crooked shoe, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov revealed to Rabbi Nasan the secret of "the footsteps of Mashiach." This article reveals how the persecutions and humiliations that tzaddikim endure, such as Noah in the generation of the Flood, are exactly what prepare them to sustain the existence of the world, in the mystical secret of "and God seeks the pursued."
In the year 5565 (1805), shortly before Rosh Chodesh Nissan, after most of the people who had come for the 'Shalom Zachar' (celebratory meal for a newborn boy) had left, we remained standing before Rebbe Nachman. Meanwhile, Rebbe Nachman looked at Rabbi Nasan's shoe. In those days, people did not replace their shoes every month; a person could walk for several years with the same shoe until it became completely crooked. Rebbe Nachman looked at the shoe, which had become very crooked, especially around the heel, and then said: "Your shoe looks like dein shich hot a ponim vi a patsh in ponim (your shoe has a face like a slap in the face)."
Everyone wondered what the Rav was talking about, and afterward, he remained silent for a little while. Everyone was startled, because they knew that every word and every letter that Rebbe Nachman uttered from his mouth were the deepest of secrets. We certainly believed that every word of the Rebbe was the secret of secrets. In every single word, Rebbe Nachman included all the Kabbalistic intentions of the Arizal and the book Etz Chaim.
One must know that the book Likutey Moharan is not merely a commentary on Etz Chaim or sparks of sharp insights. The entire Etz Chaim, the entire Zohar, and all the Kabbalistic intentions of the Arizal are contained within Likutey Moharan, and much higher than that, to an infinite and unfathomable degree. "Every letter that Rebbe Nachman uttered from his mouth is mountains upon mountains of secrets, the deepest of mysteries, far above all the Kabbalistic intentions in the world." Even in a seemingly simple, everyday conversation, all the supernal secrets were included.
The Secret of the Heels and Face-to-Face
Let us open the book Toras Chacham, written by one of the disciples of the holy Rashash, and try to understand a tiny fraction of this awesome statement that Rebbe Nachman made. The Toras Chacham explains that our entire spiritual work is to return all the spiritual worlds to a state of 'face-to-face' (a state of direct Divine illumination and intimacy). Today, the worlds are still in a state of 'back-to-back' (concealment and distance), and only during prayer or at a Bris Milah (circumcision) do we merit to bring the worlds 'face-to-face', until we merit the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, when this state will become permanent.
When Rebbe Nachman spoke about the heel of the shoe, he was hinting at the heels of Adam Kadmon (the Primordial Man, the highest spiritual realm). Regarding this, it is said: "Who have taunted the footsteps of Your Mashiach." The tzaddikim embody the aspect of these heels, and they are taunted and humiliated day and night. In this conversation about the crooked heel, Rebbe Nachman hinted to Rabbi Nasan about all the terrible persecutions he was destined to endure—that they would put him in prison and throw stones at him.
Noah Building the Ark: The Power of Persecutions
The Yitav Lev, the grandfather of the Satmar Rebbe, explains that this is exactly the secret of Parashas Noach. Noah stood for one hundred and twenty years and built an ark. Every day he took a nail and said: "For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah (Divine Presence), I am now going to hammer a nail into the ark, because in 120 years there will be a flood."
The people of his generation mocked him and laughed at him. Hashem gave them a taste of the World to Come—they had beautiful, spring-like, blossoming days, and they burst out laughing: "Noah, you said a flood? This is the Garden of Eden on earth!" The persecutions against Noah intensified from day to day, from moment to moment. Noah became the most persecuted and degraded person in his generation.
But the truth is, all the billions of people who lived then were created only to prepare Noah for his spiritual level. "All of humanity emerged in the merit of their persecuting Noah day and night; at every step, and at every single word, they mocked and laughed at him." In the merit of these persecutions, the Midrash says, Noah was inscribed to be the continuator of all generations. His merits were not only his good deeds, but the very fact that he was persecuted.
And God Seeks the Pursued
The Midrash says: "And God seeks the pursued." Rabbi Yehudah ben Nehorai teaches that Hashem always demands the blood of the pursued from the pursuers. Whether a tzaddik pursues a tzaddik, a wicked person pursues a tzaddik, or even a tzaddik pursues a wicked person—Hashem is always on the side of the pursued.
"A person's entire spiritual work in this world is to be pursued, and through this, he is prepared to draw down the light of the Torah and the generations." Hashem chose Noah because he was persecuted by the people of his generation, and thus he was prepared to bring forth Shem and Ever, all the way to Avraham Avinu (our Patriarch Abraham), who was also persecuted and despised. This is the secret of the heels, "Who have taunted the footsteps of Your Mashiach," and this is the immense secret that was hidden in that everyday conversation of Rebbe Nachman about the crooked shoe.
Part 1 of 2 — Lesson No. 161
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