The Secret of the Heart of the World and the Power of True Kindness
Lesson No. 162 | Tuesday, Parashas Toldos, Eve of 29 Cheshvan 5759
The entire world hangs in the balance anew every day at the time of sunset, and it is sustained only in the merit of the Heart's yearning for the Spring. When time is about to run out, it is revealed...
The world is a complete structure with a face, hands, and feet. The Heart of the World is King David, who is the aspect of the True Tzaddik. The True Tzaddik is the Heart of the World—he feels everyone, sees everyone, and senses everyone. He has a profound feeling for every single Jew. The toenail of that tzaddik has more heart than all the hearts of all mortals combined; it feels sorrow and pain, and he is entirely filled with a mercy that is beyond all human comprehension.
At one end of the world stands a mountain, and on the mountain stands a stone, and from the stone flows a spring. At the other end of the world, across an infinite distance of heaven and earth, stands the Heart of the World. This Heart stands facing the spring, constantly longing and yearning very, very much to come to it. It desires with tremendous yearning to draw close to Hashem, to the spring of life flowing from the House of Hashem.
The Secret of Miriam's Well and the Waters of Life
This spring is the secret of Miriam's Well. The Gemara and the Tosefta in Tractate Sukkah, regarding the water libation, reveal to us that Miriam's Well is destined to flow from the Even HaShetiyah (Foundation Stone) in Jerusalem. The pure, clear, and sweet waters will wash over the entire world. They will reach the Sea of Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee), the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea), and from there they will flow to the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) and to all the oceans.
This is exactly how it was in the desert as well. Miriam's Well was like a rock that rolled along with the Jewish people. When they would assemble the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the well would stand suspended in the air opposite the entrance of the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting), and immediately, tremendous streams of water would begin flowing from it without pause. The waters flooded the entire desert until the world became a great ocean, and the Jewish people became like a small island within it. They would travel in boats from tent to tent, from camp to camp, and from tribe to tribe, and through the stream of water, they could reach every end of the world and all the delights of the world.
The Danger of Yearning and the Protection of the Torah
The Heart, which stands facing the spring, suffers from two weaknesses. The first weakness is the sun that pursues and burns it, which represents evil desires. The second weakness stems from the very yearning and longing itself. Out of so much longing for the spring, its life forces are about to faint and it is liable to die. It constantly stands facing the spring and cries out with tremendous yearning.
Here comes the bird, which is the secret of the Torah. The Five Books of the Torah are the wings of the lungs that calm and settle the heart.
"The Torah sits upon the heart so that it does not burn up its entire body."
Rebbe Nachman explains in Torah 78 in Likutey Moharan that a person can reach such intense enthusiasm that he will be burned up from within. Only engaging in the holy Torah protects him. The Torah constricts the enthusiasm, regulates it to the proper measure, and saves the person from burning up and becoming nullified out of immense longing and yearning for Hashem.
The End of the Day and the Danger of Destruction at Sunset
The Heart wants to draw close to the spring, but it cannot see the peak upon which it is located. The spring itself is above time, and it has no time other than what the Heart gives it as a gift. Every day is a completely new creation. When the day reaches its end and is about to finish and pass away, if a new day is not created—there will be no time for the spring, the Heart will pass away, Heaven forbid, and the entire world will be nullified.
Every day, exactly at the moment of sunset, the world is about to end. We live quietly, like people on the home front who do not know what is happening on the front lines, but in Heaven, there is a decision to dismantle the world. Hashem sees that time has run out and merits are lacking, because everyone is only looking for material things.
It is told of Rav Uri of Strelisk that he went in to Rav Aharon of Karlin, and they discussed the great prosecution that took place on Rosh Hashanah. Everyone only worried about themselves—for parnassah (livelihood), for health, for children—and no one asked for the revelation of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) and the building of the Holy Temple. The Rav asked him: "And what did you do in the face of such a prosecution?" He answered him:
"I said to Hashem: Act for the sake of Your Name! Worry about Yourself as well. Do You want the world not to be destroyed? Do You want them to say, 'May Hashem rejoice in His works'? Sustain the world for the sake of Your honor!"
Therefore, on the day of the chuppah (wedding canopy) there are very harsh judgments. The day of the chuppah is like Yom Kippur and requires spiritual preparation just like in the month of Elul. When one engages only in materiality—in a beautiful apartment, in furniture, in clothes—and forgets that there is a World to Come, this awakens terrible and infinite judgments.
The Man of True Kindness and the Salvation of the World
Exactly at the last second of the day, when in Heaven they see that all is lost and the world is about to be destroyed, a miracle occurs. Suddenly, in the last thousandth of a second, the "Man of True Kindness" arrives. He finds one point of truth in the world.
It is enough for a person to give a single prutah (small coin) to charity in truth and earnestness, without any thought of pride, to sustain the world. This charity is the Tree of Life; it opens all the heavenly halls and brings the Shechinah (Divine Presence) down to earth. The true tzaddik, who is the aspect of "heavy of speech," gathers all these true acts of loving-kindness. He is wiser than everyone, because with this point of truth, he creates a new day.
He gives the new day to the heart, and the heart gives it to the spring, and thus the entire world is sustained and new wisdom is revealed. All wisdom and all of time are created through him.
Now, the groom and bride and all who accompany them receive this wonderful gift. The true tzaddik is with us, and he gives all of his aspects, his heart, and all his abilities as a complete gift. He brings us into the Garden of Eden, in the aspect of "Bring great joy to these loving friends, just as You gladdened Your creation in the Garden of Eden from of old," and through this, we will all merit to create very great joy and gladness.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 162
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