The Story of Salvation: The Proven Spiritual Remedy for Victory in the War of Thoughts / A Story of Holiness

A tremendous spiritual advice that is proven again and again: mentioning the name of the tzaddik purifies the mind in the blink of an eye and saves from falling, provided that the person truly fights and does not put himself in danger.

The Story of Salvation: The Proven Spiritual Remedy for Victory in the War of Thoughts

Many Jews repeatedly tell of a wondrous and awesome advice that is proven time after time. In such a weak and terrible generation, when the Evil One overpowers and inserts impure thoughts into the mind, Heaven forbid, the spiritual war is unbearable. The people of Israel are a holy nation who truly want to sanctify themselves. It is impossible to fathom the sorrow and suffering that the pure Jewish soul undergoes, to the point that a thousand deaths are better than this, when, Heaven forbid, one stumbles in a blemish of holiness.

The Wondrous Spiritual Remedy of the Tzaddik

Out of this distress, a great light is revealed. Many people testify that the moment they mention the name of the Tzaddik Yesod Olam (the righteous one who is the foundation of the world), the Joseph the Tzaddik of our generation, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - a true wonder occurs. "At this very moment, all the impure thoughts and all kinds of evil forces fly away and disappear, and the mind becomes pure, clear, and clean."

It is a great mitzvah to publicize this matter, so that everyone will know of this advice and spread it throughout the entire world. The goal is to save Jewish souls from descending into the pit of destruction, Heaven spare us, and that they should not fall into the trap of the evil inclination, Heaven forbid. The evil inclination plots all day against every single soul of the holy nation, wanting only to cause a person to stumble and lose both worlds, especially through blemishes of holiness and the foundation (purity).

Fighting Back at the Gates

Many times, the evil inclination operates through despair. It shows a person that it is impossible to overcome, that there is no hope, and either way he is lost, Heaven spare us. But the truth is that one must fight back at the gates. Specifically through connecting to the tzaddik of the generation can one be victorious, because truly without this, there is certainly no hope. Hashem shows us tangibly this wonderful and awesome advice, and everyone can test it for themselves.

A Necessary Condition for Success

However, there is a severe warning: it is forbidden, Heaven forbid, to enter a place of danger and abandon oneself in places far from holiness, or by using impure devices and smartphones and the like. Whoever does this, Hashem will certainly not help him, because he is knowingly destroying himself.

The intention of this advice is solely for one who truly wants to sanctify himself and does everything in his power to guard himself. When, despite all this, the war is terrible and the tests attack, then this advice of mentioning the name of the tzaddik is truly the only thing that helps. For one who truly fights, this spiritual remedy works in the blink of an eye and saves the soul.

A Story of Holiness: The Rav's Wondrous Meticulousness in the Hospital

Who can fathom and who can describe the awesome intensity of the holiness of the Tzaddik Yesod Olam. Usually, the tzaddik hides himself in thousands of concealments. As the holy Rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov zy"a, said in Likutey Moharan (Part I, Torah 243), and these are his holy words: "Know that there is a very great tzaddik whose holiness the world cannot bear, therefore he is very concealed and no extra holiness or asceticism is seen from him."

Rebbe Nachman explains that this stems from the magnitude of his immense holiness, and this is in the aspect of what our Sages of blessed memory said (Tractate Yadayim, Chapter 3): "All the songs are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies." King Solomon, peace be upon him, authored three books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. While Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are full of moral instruction and fear of Heaven, and the words 'holiness' and 'purity' appear in them many times, specifically in the Song of Songs these words do not appear at all. Go and learn, that in the entire book of the Song of Songs, the word 'holy' or 'pure' is not found even once, and this is because the intensity of its holiness is so great that it is impossible to see any external sign of it.

A Revelation of Holiness in the Hospital

But sometimes, a tiny fraction of that hidden light sparkles, and we merit to see a little of that immense holiness. Thus related the dedicated attendant, Rabbi Natan Bezanson, may his light shine, about what he saw with his own eyes when he stayed by the side of Rabbi Berland shlit"a in the hospital. The Rav stayed there for a week, and thank God, by the grace of Hashem, we merited his recovery and he returned to lead the holy congregation.

During the hospitalization, the Rav's immense self-sacrifice for the boundaries of holiness was revealed. Beyond the fact that the Rav sat and learned Torah without pause, he was astonishingly meticulous to be dressed in his suit at all times, even inside his room. At every moment when he was not connected to medical devices, the first thing he did was put on his suit.

Insistence in the Face of Difficulties and Treatments

Even during medical examinations, when it was almost impossible, the Rav insisted on remaining with his suit. Despite the discomfort and the crowding with the medical equipment, he did not give in to himself for a moment. As difficult as the situation was and as physically weak as he was, he stood by this firmly.

When he was forced to remove the suit for an examination, immediately upon its conclusion he hurried to put it back on. Even in the short transitions between one examination and another, the Rav did not compromise. Between treatments, dressed in his suit, the Rav continued to sit and immerse himself in the study of the holy Torah, teaching us all an instructive lesson in self-sacrifice, purity, and supreme holiness.

From Issue 79 — Parashas Nasso

From the series "Tzaddik Moshel Yiras Elokim" (The Tzaddik Rules through the Fear of God) — "Shapir Amar Nachmani" publications