The Secret of the Seal Within a Seal: The Stages of Sweetening from the Beginning of Selichos to Hoshana Rabbah

Lesson No. 607 | Cassette 607, Tuesday, 18 Tishrei 5770, yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of the holy Rebbe

The holy Rebbe works to transfer everyone to the side of merit right from the first day of Selichos (penitential prayers). The article explains the four levels of requesting life during the High Holy Days, and the secret of the three seals that reach their peak on Hoshana Rabbah in the aspect of a "seal within a seal."

Rebbe Nachman Transfers Everyone Already During Selichos

The holy Rebbe said (in Yiddish) that already on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, he transfers everyone to the side of merit. In the past, we mentioned that Rebbe Nachman transfers everyone on the night of Rosh Hashanah, but the truth is that this happens even earlier. Already on the first day of reciting Selichos, on the first Saturday night when we begin to ask for forgiveness, Rebbe Nachman already transfers everyone. The moment we reach the first Selichos, and certainly the final Selichos of the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Rebbe Nachman says: "I have already transferred everyone."

Four Levels of Requesting Life

Now, our task is to continue and transfer all inhabitants of the world to life and mercy. In the prayers of the High Holy Days, we ascend through four levels of request. First, we ask:

"Remember us for life, O King who desires life."

Who is the one who desires life? This is the one who keeps the Torah, for whom we ask that Hashem write him for life. Afterward, we expand the request to all of creation and say: "Who remembers His creatures for life in mercy." From there, we move on to ask for all of Israel: "And inscribe and seal for a good life all the children of Your covenant."

The fourth and complete request comes at the conclusion: "In the book of life, blessing, and peace, and good parnassah (livelihood), and good decrees... may we be remembered and inscribed before You." We ask that Hashem not only bless us, but decree good decrees upon us and seal us, and not just with a single seal.

The Secret of a Seal Within a Seal

The sealing process is built in stages. The first seal is made on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the second seal on Yom Kippur, and the third seal takes place on Hoshana Rabbah.

The concept of multiple seals appears in the words of the Tosafos (Shabbos 21b) regarding the miracle of Chanukah. The Gemara relates that they found a cruse of oil "sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest)." The Tosafos explain that in order to ensure the purity of the oil, there was a need for a "seal within a seal." Just as a barrel of fish, meat, or wine requires a seal within a seal to ensure that it has not been touched.

On Chanukah, because they decreed impurity upon all the oils, the cruse had to be placed inside a niche with a door, or in a pit in the ground with a cover, or inside an iron cabinet that could not be moved—in order to create a situation of a seal within a seal. So too in the spiritual work of the High Holy Days, we are always waiting for the completion of the "seal within a seal" of the new year.

The Third Seal in the Merit of the Holy Yahrtzeit

Now, in the merit of this holy yahrtzeit (of the holy Rebbe, on the 18th of Tishrei), we are already being sealed. We received the first seal on Rosh Hashanah, we received the second seal on Yom Kippur, and the third seal is given to us right now.

In the merit of these days, may we merit that everyone will now have a good year—for all the people of Israel, for the entire world, and for all generations.

Lesson No. 607