The Secret of the Living Letters: The Depth of Emunah and Fleeing from Honor

Lesson No. 61 | (Continued from 60) Thursday, Parshas Chukas, 3 Tammuz 5756 (Continued from 62) Thursday, Parshas Matos-Masei, 24 Tammuz 5756

When a person approaches to speak with his Creator, every letter and word are entire worlds begging him not to rush and part from them. The article reveals how concentrating on the letters stems from complete emunah (faith), and how this emunah leads to the trait of humility and fleeing from honor, just as Avraham Avinu acted toward Lot.

If a person cannot concentrate on the letters of prayer, it is a sign that he lacks emunah entirely. True emunah is expressed solely through a person's ability to focus on the letters of prayer, knowing and feeling that someone is listening to him. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains in Torah 155 that if a person does not pray properly due to sadness, laziness, and heaviness, it stems exclusively from a lack of emunah.

"If he truly believed that Hashem stands over him, hears every word that leaves his mouth, and listens to the voice of his prayer... he would certainly pray with great enthusiasm, and he would be exceedingly precise in concentrating on his words."

In Torah 62, it is explained that we must sharpen our intellect, and the spiritual refinement of food is accomplished through emunah. Through eating in holiness alone, a person can bring people back in teshuvah (repentance) face to face. As we find with Boaz and Ruth: "And Boaz said to Ruth at mealtime, 'Come over here'"—specifically through food, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) is drawn close. In order to achieve the refinement of food and sharpen the intellect, which refers to learning Gemara and understanding matters thoroughly, one must have emunah. There are questions about which it is said, "Know what to answer an apikores (heretic)," and there are questions that the human intellect cannot possibly comprehend, about which it is said, "None who go to her return," and the answer will only be revealed in the Future to Come. Therefore, a person is forbidden to rely solely on his intellect; rather, he must base everything upon emunah.

Gathering Roses: Every Letter is an Entire World

The wholehearted knowledge that "the whole earth is full of His glory," and that Hashem, may He be blessed, stands over him during prayer and hears him—this itself is emunah. When a person feels that he is speaking with Hashem, he pronounces every letter slowly, with calmness and patience. One who does not believe that Hashem sees him lacks enthusiasm and is not precise with the letters, and this is a loss of intellect. This lack of concentration is an aspect of subtle heresy in the heart. We do not need to look for heresy among the secular; if we rectify our own internal heresy, there will be no secular people in the world.

When a person stands and speaks words of holiness, he is literally gathering blossoms and flowers. Every word is a flower, a beautiful rose.

"Like a person walking in a field, gathering beautiful roses and flowers one by one... making one bouquet, then gathering more one by one to make another bouquet, and joining them together."

One must not give up on a single letter. One must gather letter to letter, word to word, from severities to holiness, until a single blessing is completed in perfection. Every dot and every letter is greater than the entire world, for this world is absolutely nothing compared to a single word of holiness.

The Letters Beg: "Do Not Run, Do Not Part From Me"

When speech emerges from the soul, it becomes a "living soul" and a "speaking spirit." We must guard our speech, fulfilling the concept of "let your ears hear what your mouth utters." The speech itself asks and begs the soul; every letter literally speaks to the person.

When a person says "Baruch" (Blessed), the letter Beis says to him: "Where are you going? Why are you running?" A person recites the blessing over washing hands in two seconds, and the letters ask: "Why are you rushing? Say it slowly: Baruch, atah, Hashem, Elokeinu..." Add a few more seconds, what happened? Nine seconds of a blessing are entire worlds!

The letters beg: "Say me slowly." The letter Beis grabs the person and says: "How can you part from me? Don't you see how beautiful I am? How my radiance, splendor, and beauty shine? How can you move so quickly to the letter Reish?" Whoever wants to finish the entire prayer in fifteen minutes loses the sweetness and beauty of every letter. Instead of rushing, one can start early, take their time, and not forget the letters, so that they will not forget you wherever you go.

A Good Eye and the Secret of Avraham Avinu's "HaNegbah"

When one says the words slowly, such as "How goodly are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael," they draw down abundance to all the synagogues and yeshivas. Rabbi Akiva Eiger would say this very slowly in order to draw down abundance for everyone.

It is brought in the Midrash on Parshas Chayei Sarah that Rabbi Akiva said to his new students: "The first students died because they had a narrow eye (envy) toward one another; you should not be like that." A person needs to have a good eye toward everyone. When each person opens a yeshiva and draws students close, they must rejoice in one another. On Rosh Hashanah, when everyone gathers together, each person is awakened by his friend—one from awe and one from love.

The book "Imrei Aharon" brings a wondrous insight on the verse:

"And Avraham went up from Egypt... to the South (HaNegbah)."

The word "HaNegbah" is composed of the same letters as "Hagnabah" (stealing or hiding). Avraham Avinu went up from Egypt heavily laden with livestock, silver, and gold, and many Egyptians—the "mixed multitude"—also went up with him. When he realized he could not easily get rid of them, "HaNegbah"—he simply stole away and hid himself.

Fleeing from Honor Like the Humble King

Avraham Avinu fled from honor. He told the people: "Go to Lot, he is your Rebbe, I am nothing." People look for a Rebbe with a shining face, and Lot took advantage of this. He gathered shepherds and students around himself, claiming: "I am Avraham's heir! Avraham is already old, I am the young one with the new spiritual attainments." Lot even permitted stealing and grazing in foreign fields, using the excuse of "preventing cruelty to animals" for the flock in the desert, completely ignoring the prohibition of theft.

Avraham, in contrast, knew the truth and continued to hide himself. In the end, he said to Lot: "Please let there be no strife between me and you." He gave him Sodom, which was "like the garden of Hashem, like the land of Egypt," and told him: "Go be a Rebbe in Sodom. There you can rob and extort, and you will be the only one who welcomes guests, so everyone will say you are the true tzaddik."

A person must always hide himself, flee from honor, and conceal his virtues. This is exactly as described in the tales of Rebbe Nachman, regarding the "humble king" who devised tricks and schemes so that people would steal from him and deceive him, just to flee from honor. Whenever someone would praise him, he would tremble and become terrified, completely nullifying himself.

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