The Secret of the Days of Mashiach: Why Will We Need Tears Like Water to Study Torah?
Class No. 165 | Thursday, Parashas Toldos, Eve of 1 Kislev 5759 - Dedication of a Torah Scroll to the Yeshiva
A profound discourse explaining the essence of the coming of Mashiach, which will demand from us absolute purity of thought and Torah study through "tears like water." Through the secret of the "Waters of Strife" and the self-sacrifice of Miriam the Prophetess, it is revealed that all the abundance of Torah in the world stems from the submission of the heart and our gratitude to the true tzaddikim.
Know that when Mashiach comes, although there will be no sorrow in the world, people do not understand at all the meaning of his arrival. They cry out and beg for Mashiach to come right now, thinking that Mashiach means traveling to Russia or Alaska. But Mashiach is something else entirely.
The Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman) says that when Mashiach comes, the entire world will recognize the greatness of the Jewish people, as it is stated:
"And nations shall walk by your light, and kings by the brightness of your shining."
The entire world will come to hear novel Torah insights from every Jew. However, the evil inclination will remain the same evil inclination. People will indeed not commit severe sins, but the evil inclination will burn within them with a million flames of arrogance.
The Judgment of Mashiach: Purity of Thought
A person will want to deliver a Torah class, and the evil inclination will burn within him more than anyone else. Therefore, when Mashiach comes, he will not allow such a person to deliver a class. He will tell him: "Sir, first go to the field, shed tears like water, and cleanse yourself from the evil inclination, and only then may you give a class." Mashiach will not allow a person to defile the listeners with the breath of his mouth when he is filled with the evil inclination.
Reb Noson divided and scattered these words throughout the fifth volume of Likutey Halachos, so that people would not be startled or afraid of the coming of Mashiach. By Mashiach, there will be tremendous strictness regarding purity of thought. In the hall of Mashiach, hundreds of attendants will stand with iron rods. If a person has an evil thought in the middle of prayer, Mashiach will give a hint to the attendant to strike him and break his arrogance. Mashiach will demand that we cleanse our minds and our eyes completely. Whoever does not prepare himself and cry, Mashiach will not allow him to approach him at all.
A Torah of Tears Like Water
According to Lesson 9 in Likutey Moharan, which is the root of all the teachings and stories, we learn about the secret of the Giving of the Torah. It is impossible to truly study Torah if one does not shed tears like water. If a person studies Torah and has evil thoughts and bad contemplations, it is not considered Torah at all, and who knows where this Torah goes.
In order to merit true Torah, a person must stand like a poor, destitute, and impoverished beggar, pleading for mercy and supplications. It is forbidden to force the hour or to act with aggression. The true tikkun (rectification) is only achieved with pleasantness, out of lowliness and the recognition that every Jew is infinitely better than me.
Miriam's Well: The Source of Abundance
This is the secret hidden in the portion of the Waters of Strife. Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded:
"Take the staff and assemble the congregation... and you shall speak to the rock before their eyes."
Seemingly, Moshe made a mistake when he struck the rock, but Reb Noson explains that Moshe Rabbeinu did not make any mistake at all. Everything is the secret of secrets. Moshe wanted to show the Jewish people where all the water and all the abundance come from. He wanted them to know that all the water in the world is drawn from "Miriam's Well."
Moshe understood that it would be better even for the Holy Temple to be destroyed and for there to be exiles, as long as the Jewish people would know from which righteous woman the water comes. The entire Holy Temple and all the Torah are not worthwhile if a person does not know in whose merit he lives and who are the tzaddikim in whose merit the world stands.
The Wondrous Miracle of the Midwives
From where did Miriam merit this immense power? From the fact that she had self-sacrifice for the children of Israel. When Pharaoh decreed:
"If it is a son, you shall kill him, and if it is a daughter, she shall live."
He sent his soldiers to eliminate the midwives, who were none other than Yocheved and Miriam.
The Midrash explains the verse, "And He made houses for them." When Pharaoh's soldiers arrived at their house to kill them, a wondrous miracle occurred. Suddenly, the soldiers themselves turned into the walls of houses! They did not even have time to flee, and turned into walls right in the middle of the living room. This miracle happened so that people would know until the end of all generations who Miriam and Yocheved were, and how they demonstrated mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the sake of the Jewish people. From there, from that very mesiras nefesh, flows all of our Torah and all of our prayer.
The Chamber of Miriam the Prophetess
The holy Zohar (Parashas Beshalach) reveals another tremendous secret about the power of Miriam. The Zohar says that there are spiritual tunnels connecting the graves of Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam to the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'aras HaMachpelah).
Furthermore, on every Friday night and the night of a Yom Tov (festival), all the righteous women in Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden), from all generations, ascend to the chamber of Miriam the Prophetess. There, Miriam shares chiddushei Torah (novel Torah insights) with them. All the chiddushim and all the wellsprings in the world are drawn from Miriam. Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinu was willing to give up everything, just so that the Jewish people would recognize the pure source from which the waters of Torah flow.
Part 1 of 2 — Lesson No. 165
All parts: Part 1 (current) | Part 2