The Secret of the Seals: Transforming the Essence of Man and the Struggle Between the Soul and the Body
Lesson No. 121 | Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh Parashas Miketz, Eve of 29 Kislev, 6th Candle of Chanukah 5758 - For the Yeshiva Students
On Rosh Hashanah, a profound process of transforming a person's essence takes place, guided by the tzaddikim (righteous ones) who know the secret of the seals. This article reveals how the desires of this world are nothing but a "puddle" of mud, and how the body, which was originally designed only to hold the soul back from nullifying into the Infinite, became a source of tests and trials after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.
In truth, no one knows their true spiritual standing; only Rebbe Nachman, who merited to attain the lofty spiritual levels of Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man), knows this. In the Sifra D'Tzniusa (Book of the Hidden), it is brought down what the obstacles of each individual must be and how each person should appear. If a person had to pray to merit being among "those who dwell in the dust" (a state of complete humility and self-nullification), asking that the tzaddik take him from Rosh Hashanah and transform his entire essence in a single day—he would not be able to withstand it. A person is filled with assimilation into worldly matters, forbidden sights, and forbidden thoughts. If all of this were taken from him in one day, he would go completely blind. Therefore, one must undergo a gradual process at age twenty, thirty, and forty. Rosh Hashanah completely transforms a person's entire essence, from one extreme to the other.
A person tries to understand this power, what we are striving for here, and the essence of coming to Rosh Hashanah. In truth, it is impossible to reveal to a person what he truly is, what Gehennom (purgatory) is hidden away for him, and what destructive forces await him after the transgressions and sins he has committed. May Hashem have mercy; it is forbidden to explicitly tell him this. Therefore, Rebbe Nachman begins by saying that first and foremost, everything must be sealed with a seal within a seal, a very lofty seal.
The Secret of the Seals and the Inversion of the Month of Tishrei
The word "Chosam" (seal) has a gematria (numerical value) of 454. Twice "Chosam" is 908, which is the gematria of "Sefer Torah" (Torah scroll). The Rebbe says that we must seal with seals. The month of Tishrei begins with letters in reverse alphabetical order: Taf, Shin, Reish, Yud. This is the only month where everything is reversed, and we yearn for the letter Yud and need to reverse the order back to Aleph, Beis—to the aspect of Bereishis (the beginning). Every person thinks, understands, and sees things upside down. Everything is backward for him, and Hashem gives him illusions. Therefore, a person must be in the aspect of a deaf person, deaf of hearing (ignoring the illusions of this world).
The word "Shmiya" (hearing) has a gematria of 425. "Mashiach ben David" is 424, and if we add the kolel (adding one for the word itself), we get 425. This point of Mashiach ben David is also comprised of Mashiach ben Yosef. The two Mashiachs together amount to a gematria of 990. "Livyasan" (Leviathan) is 496, and twice Livyasan is 992. Who are the two Leviathans? Mashiach ben Yosef is one Leviathan, and Mashiach ben David is the second Leviathan. Together they are 992. Similarly, the name "Rebbe Nachman ben Feiga" equals exactly 496, the same gematria as Livyasan.
From Seventy Bonfires to One Holy Fire
Here we enter the secret of the seals. At the end of the Torah lesson, the secret of a seal within a seal is revealed. We come to Rosh Hashanah to transform our entire essence, our thoughts, our sights, and our desires, so that a person will have no passion for anything other than Hashem, blessed be He. This is the second seal—to break free from forbidden desires, forbidden sights, and forbidden thoughts.
Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 19 that there are seventy bonfires (representing the seventy negative traits or worldly desires), and everything must be transformed into a single fire. Everything must be transformed into one fire—a burning desire for Hashem, blessed be He, only holy fire. The 70 bonfires must merge into a single bonfire of the flame of Hashem, in the aspect of:
"For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as hard as the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Hashem" (Song of Songs 8:6).
The trait of jealousy began already at the creation of the world, with the serpent who caused Adam and Eve to sin, and afterward when Cain killed Abel. The serpent enticed them by saying, "And you will be like God, knowing good and evil." He claimed that the Holy One, blessed be He, hated them and was afraid they would discover this knowledge. If a person had true daas (spiritual awareness) to draw close to God, he would reach the stars without spaceships. Tzaddikim could fly across the entire world through kefitzas haderech (miraculous shortening of the way), just like Eliezer who jumped to Charan in a single moment and returned the next day. In the past, they knew everything through Holy Names. All these secrets were contained within the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, but Adam HaRishon (the First Man) should have waited for Shabbos and not sinned on the sixth day of creation.
The Sin of the Tree of Knowledge and the Illusion of This World
Now we are atoning for the Tree of Knowledge. The second seal is meant to sweeten and rectify forbidden thoughts, because a person who harbors a forbidden thought cannot be included within the tzaddik. The tzaddikim come into the world to reveal to us what we must do, what our purpose in the world is, and what is accomplished on Rosh Hashanah. From Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur is all one seal, and the next seal will be on Hoshana Rabbah.
A person who has committed transgressions must beg for mercy that he will live the coming year in peace, without harsh judgments of stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation (the four severe spiritual punishments). We first ask for life in the simple sense—to live and do teshuvah (repentance) out of love, with joy, dancing, and singing. Afterward, we ask that our very essence be transformed. We ask for a pure mind and clean eyes, because every forbidden sight is the Angel of Death. The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 20b) states that the Angel of Death is full of eyes. A person who looks at forbidden sights is looking at the Angel of Death.
The complete tikkun (rectification) will only come about through the Resurrection of the Dead. At that time, our bodies will be exchanged, and we will receive holy bodies from the Garden of Eden, just like before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. The Zohar brings down that Eve shone like the sun. The bodies we have received now are bodies afflicted with the "leprosy of the serpent," filled with cravings and lusts that are, in reality, demons and evil spirits. This is not the delight of the soul; the soul desires completely different things.
The Parable of the Puddle: Worldly Desires vs. the Will of the Soul
The body is full of cravings, and it is like a "son" who wants to play, act haughty, and dirty himself. The father gives him a few good smacks so that he won't step in the puddles. Children jump into puddles, their clothes get dirty, but they feel a coolness and an illusory pleasure in the mud. All the desires of human beings are exactly like this jumping into the puddle.
The father strikes the son to pull him out of the puddle and explain to him that it is not good for him. This entire world is one big puddle, it is one big pile of mud... and everything a person thinks is for his benefit regarding worldly desires—it is all a mistake. As King David said:
"I have sunk in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me" (Psalms 69:3).
After Adam sinned with the Tree of Knowledge, he received the garments of the snake. Everything that seems good to him is like a baby who thinks it is good to get dirty in the mud. The tzaddikim, who are the friends of Hashem, find themselves in a terrible dilemma: How do you explain to a person that all the lusts of this world are nothing but puddles of muck, mud, and the miry depths? They come to give us the right advice and to nullify all the harsh judgments from upon us.
The Role of the Body: To Hold the Soul
We are called children of the Omnipresent, and we have a good Father who knows what is truly good for us. The entire purpose of the body is only to hold the soul so that it does not fly away into the air. The soul cannot tolerate its body for even a thousandth of a second; it wants to fly away and escape from it. Hashem created the body solely to anchor the soul, which is a part of the Infinite, and to prevent it from returning and becoming nullified in its source.
But in the meantime, since the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, instead of the body merely holding the soul, we received a body made of the snake's skin that trips up the soul. Therefore, we need the power of the tzaddikim and the secret of the seals, in order to transform our essence, to climb out of the puddle, and to truly merit a good life and peace.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 121
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