The Secret of Toiling in Torah: The True Path to Merit the Light of Rashbi
Class No. 104 | Wednesday morning, Parashas Shoftim, 2nd day of Rosh Chodesh Elul 5757 Monday morning, Parashas Eikev, 18 Menachem Av 5757
Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a explains the profound difference between searching for segulos (spiritual remedies) and spiritual thrills, and true toil in Torah. The path of Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) was acquired through immense mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice), and only from deep Gemara study can true joy flow, where the letters of the Torah themselves dance within a person.
We need to sustain the generation until Mashiach comes. But on the other hand, we see that people are living in an illusion. They live without toil, looking for an easy life of "just eating cakes and more cakes." How long can one live like this? It is not for the benefit of the generation, nor for the benefit of the people, to give them the illusion that spirituality can be achieved through an easy life.
A person must study Gemara with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice), make do with little, and eat grass like in the story of the cripple (from Rebbe Nachman's tales), and enter a cave like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. A person needs to tie himself to the chair and the table, because after fifteen minutes of difficult study, it is hard for him to concentrate and his mind begins to wander.
The Illusion of an Easy Life and Segulos
People say "Zohar," "Rashbi," and travel to Meron on Lag BaOmer. But what do you have to do with Lag BaOmer? What do you have to do with Rashbi? People are only looking for segulos (spiritual remedies). All day long, segulos; they travel to Uman for segulos, relying on the promise that they will be pulled out of Gehennom (Hell) by their peyos (sidelocks). But the question is whether there will even be anyone to pull out! Maybe the peyos will remain, but the person himself will not remain; nothing will be left of him.
A person walks around without Gemara, without any spiritual form, just dancing and dancing. Jumping and dancing are good when a person has already studied for eight hours straight, and then he gets up and dances for half an hour. But if he hasn't studied at all and hasn't opened a book, his dancing is just like a jumping barrel of water. Take a barrel of water, attach a battery to it, and it will jump. Nothing spiritual comes out of that.
This is How One Becomes a Rashbi
Everything depends on the trait of truth. A person needs to know who he is and what he is, to recognize his true spiritual level, to feel that he is the worst of all, and to start living in truth. Instead of criticizing others and acting like the "State Comptroller" – this is a place where we simply try to study Torah. Instead of establishing regular kollels (Torah study institutes), we need to establish a "kollel of pits" – a place where people study with immense mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) like Rashbi.
Rashbi did not become Rashbi from eating cakes or jumping on tables. How did he study Torah? He placed himself in the sand, covered his body with sand, and afflicted himself in this way. He could not move. Only for the recitation of the Shema did he emerge from the sand, and immediately he re-entered the pit. He sat like this twenty-four hours a day, until when he emerged from the cave, he had no flesh left on his body; the sand had consumed his entire body. This is how one becomes a Rashbi! A person does not become a Rashbi by jumping on tables.
When the Letters Themselves Jump
Jumping on tables is only good after studying for eight hours. Then, from the study itself, the letters themselves jump. The holy letters are supernal chambers, they are musical notes, they are voices of song. When a person truly studies Gemara for eight hours, the letters jump within him and he is forced to jump! And if he doesn't jump, it is a sign that he did not study Gemara lishmah (for its own sake).
"Hashem is My Light and My Salvation, Whom Shall I Fear"
To achieve this, a person must start living in truth and studying in truth. But if a person who hasn't studied for years suddenly tries to sit and study continuously, he will break. A person is built of "springs," and if for twenty years he was used to only jumping and running around, it is hard for him to suddenly stop these springs and sit down to study. The true spiritual work is to break this habit and immerse oneself in the toil of Torah.
Part 3 of 4 — Class No. 104