The Secret of True Da'as: Escaping the Deceptions of Yerovam ben Nevat

Shiur No. 63 | Tuesday, Parashas Eikev, the Eve of 15 Av 5756 - For the Yeshiva Students of the Kloyz in Beis Yisrael

An in-depth article explaining the danger of emunah (faith) without da'as (spiritual awareness), through the story of the historical deception of Yerovam ben Nevat. The Rav explains how only through the practical fulfillment of the advice of the tzaddikim—such as waking up for Chatzos (the midnight prayer), Hisbodedus (personal secluded prayer), and guarding one's eyes—can a person be saved from the kelipos (negative spiritual forces) and merit the tikkun (rectification) of his soul.

In times past, the spiritual reality and the Heavenly conduct were completely different. If someone was caught committing a severe sin, the entire tribe would be wiped out. This is what happened in the incident of the Concubine at Giv'ah, where the entire tribe of Binyamin was nearly annihilated.

Rachel Imeinu, with the Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) of the Matriarchs that foresaw until the end of all generations, saw this destruction already at the time of birth. Therefore, she called him "Ben Oni" (son of my sorrow). She saw how this tribe was destined to be wiped out. However, Yaakov Avinu immediately rectified this and called him "Binyamin," to ensure that this tribe would be resurrected from the remnants that would remain, and that the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) would be built in their portion.

Indeed, from the handful that survived, a new tribe was built. Those remnants were true tzaddikim—King Shaul, the family of Kish, and Avner ben Ner. In their merit, the tribe merited that the Beis HaMikdash would be built in its portion.

The Great Deception of Yerovam ben Nevat

History teaches us how easy it is to overturn a person's mind, and even that of an entire nation. Yerovam ben Nevat managed to brainwash ten entire tribes in a single day! Instead of going up to the Beis HaMikdash, they went to escort the golden calves.

How is it possible that in one day the entire nation would flip and worship calves? Yerovam did not simply tell them to worship idols. He gave them excellent sermons, explanations, and persuasions based on Pshat (literal meaning), Remez (allusion), Drush (homiletics), and Sod (Kabbalistic secrets). He claimed that this was the "Ox in the Divine Chariot."

He explained to them that there are Keruvim (Cherubs) in the Beis HaMikdash, the face of an ox and the face of an eagle, and he said, "We are the ox in the Chariot." He claimed that in the Beis HaMikdash they were worshiping idols because the Keruvim, male and female, were situated together, and he was coming to create a "separation" for reasons of modesty and the prohibition of yichud (seclusion between men and women)—we will place the male in Beis El and the female in Dan. He used incredibly profound wisdom to confuse the minds of an entire nation within a split second.

The Miracle of the Burning of Heretical Books

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov reveals to us a tremendous secret about the power of that deception: "If even one page from the books of Yerovam ben Nevat had remained, we would not have lasted a single second."

The great miracle is that the tzaddikim burned the books of the heretics, and through this, the books of Yerovam ben Nevat were also burned. About 2,800 years have passed since then, yet Rebbe Nachman says that if even one page of those wisdoms had remained today, a person would read it, immediately become convinced, go make himself a calf in some corner, and bow down to it.

"And it is a great favor that all these books were concealed and burned... because it would have been completely impossible to draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed" (based on Likutey Moharan).

Emunah in the Tzaddik Requires Da'as

From here we learn a tremendous foundation in the service of Hashem. Rebbe Nachman explains (in Torah 255) that if a person believes in the tzaddik without any da'as (spiritual awareness), it is considered as nothing.

A person cannot come to the tzaddik without delving deeply: Why am I coming here? What are they showing me here? Why do I need to wake up for Chatzos? If he lacks da'as, he turns it into a game. One day he decides that so-and-so is a tzaddik, and tomorrow he will decide that someone else is a tzaddik, and he completely fails to understand the goal.

True da'as is to take the moral instruction of Likutey Moharan and apply it in practical terms: If it says Chatzos—then let there be Chatzos. If it says Vatikin (praying at sunrise)—let there be Vatikin. If it says an hour of Hisbodedus—let there be an hour of Hisbodedus.

Da'as is to fulfill the advice: to guard one's eyes, to guard the holiness of the Bris (the covenant of purity), to be a man of truth, to love everyone, and to know that I am the worst of all. As it is written in Biur HaLikutim: "He hears his disgrace, remains silent, and is still"—that you truly believe that when they disgrace you, it is justified.

Reincarnations and the Clarification of the Kelipos

A person must guard himself, because he does not know which kelipos (negative spiritual forces) surround him from previous reincarnations. Rebbe Nachman brings down (in Torah 152) that every soul, even the holiest one, has sins. A person does not know what he was in the past—perhaps he was from the tribe of Binyamin, perhaps from the Spies, or perhaps from the congregation of Korach.

If a person does not guard his eyes and thoughts, the kelipos (impure spiritual shells) surround him more and more. He does not feel it, until one day he is cast away, and he does not even understand where it came from or how it suddenly started one morning. We saw how Korach, in a single second, turned the entire Jewish nation astray in one night, until Moshe Rabbeinu was left almost completely alone with only a small minyan (quorum).

On the other hand, souls can undergo a wondrous tikkun (rectification). Those souls of the tribe of Binyamin who were killed reincarnated for about 1,600 years from generation to generation. They endured suffering and spiritual refinement, until the choicest among them merited to achieve their tikkun and become the students in the yeshiva of Abaye—those holy Amoraim who transmitted the Shas and the Gemara to us.

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