How did our Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman) enter the Land of Israel and how is it connected to the Aleph Ze'ira (the small letter Aleph), and who wanted iron combs like Rabbi Akiva? How is Rabbi Akiva's name spelled—with an Aleph or a Hey—and the difference between them? Also: What is the boiling bath that Amalek entered? Insights and pearls for the weekly Torah portion of Vayikra and Shabbat Zachor from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

From where did our Rebbe enter the Land of Israel:

"Vayikra el Moshe" (And He called to Moses) – this is the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira (the small letter Aleph at the beginning of the book of Leviticus). Aleph Ze'ira (399) is the gematria (numerical value) of Rabbi Akivah (spelled with a 'Hey' at the end) (399). Only Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) merited the Aleph Ze'ira; no other tzaddik merited the Aleph Ze'ira except for Moshe Rabbeinu. There are billions of questions here: "Vayikra el Moshe" (Vayikra 1:1)—who called to him? The verse continues, "And Hashem spoke to him." The question is: "Vayikra" (And He called)—who is calling him? Reb Noson explains that it is the "Hidden and Concealed One." "Vayikra el Moshe" refers to Atika Kadisha (The Ancient Holy One), to Adam Kadmon (The Primordial Man). Everyone should read on page 291 [of Likutey Halachos] regarding the eternal question, the famous question: It is written, "And He called to Moses," but it doesn't say who. Afterward, it says, "And Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying." What is this "calling"? What did He say to him? Rather, He revealed to him the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira. This secret was revealed to Rabbi Akiva at the moment they were combing his flesh with combs of iron. It is written, "And his eye saw every precious thing" (Job 28:10)—this refers to Rabbi Akiva; the secrets of the Tefillin (phylacteries) were revealed to him.

One of the tzaddikim asked our Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman): From which character trait did you enter the Land of Israel? From which side did you enter? The Rebbe told him that he entered through the secret of the Tefillin—the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira. The Rebbe revealed that when he reached the Land of Israel, he attained the secret of the Tefillin—the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira. Aleph Ze'ira is the gematria of Rabbi Akivah with a 'Hey' at the end, and afterward, it was transformed into an 'Aleph'. The entire work of a person is to transform the 'Hey' into an 'Aleph'—that Rabbi Akivah with a 'Hey' should become Rabbi Akiva with an 'Aleph'. This secret was revealed only to Rabbi Akiva. This is the secret of Aleph Ze'ira (399): Aleph (111) + Ze'ira (288) = 399, which is Rabbi Akivah with a 'Hey'. In the end, he merited that it became Rabbi Akiva with an 'Aleph'. For in the beginning, it was "Or Zarua Latzaddik Uleyishrei Lev Simcha" (Light is sown for the righteous, and for the upright of heart, joy) (Psalms 97:11)—the final letters of these words spell Rabbi Akivah with a 'Hey'.

A person's entire spiritual work is to transform Rabbi Akivah with a 'Hey' into Rabbi Akiva with an 'Aleph'. This is the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira. This is the secret of "Vayikra el Moshe," for the greatest secret in the Torah is the secret of the Aleph Ze'ira. When Hashem called to him, He called to him from within the Aleph Ze'ira; that is how He called him. Every letter calls to us, and then all the secrets of the Torah were revealed to Moses when Hashem called him from the Aleph Ze'ira. Then the secrets of Atika (The Ancient One), of Adam Kadmon (The Primordial Man), and of the Fiftieth Gate were revealed to him.

That a person should know Hashem calls to him every moment:

A person should know and hear that Hashem—"Vayikra el Moshe"—calls to a person every single moment. Every moment there is a "Vayikra" (a calling). Therefore, one who is an "Aleph Ze'ira" (small and humble) can hear the call. Aleph Ze'ira (399) is the gematria of Rabbi Akivah (399).

[In the month of Iyar] twenty-four thousand students [of Rabbi Akiva] died [because] they did not treat one another with respect. They say that they did respect each other outwardly, but in their inner hearts, they did not sufficiently value one another and did not internalize it. A person must treat others with the utmost respect. A person must know that the other is more of a tzaddik than I am, holier than I am. The Rambam (Maimonides) says that a person should say about his friend who sinned that even if he stumbled, he was under duress (anous), whereas I am not under duress. The entire matter of the [days of] the Sefirah (Counting of the Omer), through which we have now reached Rabbi Akiva, who is the Aleph Ze'ira—this is the whole point: To receive the Aleph Ze'ira—to always be small (ze'ir) in humility (shiflus).

Moshe Rabbeinu requested iron combs:

The "Megaleh Amukos" (a classic Kabbalistic work) brings a thousand questions on the "Aleph Ze'ira." My edition of the Megaleh Amukos only has a hundred questions, but there is a Megaleh Amukos with a thousand questions (which was lost over the years). What is the Aleph Ze'ira? It is Rabbi Akivah, the gematria of Rabbi Akivah (212 + 187 = 399) and Aleph Ze'ira (111 + 288 = 399). This relates to the Asara Harugei Malchus (Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom), for it is impossible to reach any spiritual attainment except through the Ten Martyrs, only through combs of iron. "And his eye saw every precious thing" (Job 28:10)—things that were not revealed to Moses were revealed to Rabbi Akiva (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:6) because they combed Rabbi Akiva with combs of iron. Moses also asked Hashem to be combed with combs of iron, but Hashem told him it was impossible. Then Hashem showed Moses Rabbi Akiva, and Moses said, "I want to be Rabbi Akiva." Immediately, Hashem said to him, "Shtok" (Be silent). The "Asara Ma'amaros" and the "Megaleh Amukos" explain: what is "Shtok"? Hashem was saying to him: You are Rabbi Akivah! Who is Rabbi Akivah? He is Moshe Rabbeinu. "E'ebra na ve'er'eh" (Let me please cross over and see)—the word E'ebra (א'ע'ב'ר'ה) is an acronym for Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Akivah.

Regarding Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a carob tree of seventy years was uprooted (Bava Metzia 59b). The meaning is that through Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, the spiritual work that takes tzaddikim seventy years, he attains in a single second. "And the stream of water flowed backward" (ibid)—meaning he has the power to return the entire creation to its root; everything returns backward. Rabbi Eliezer had the power to return creation to its root as it was before the Sin [of Adam], and therefore the walls of the House of Study began to fall (ibid), because there would no longer be any disputes. If he were to return creation to its root, the stream of water goes backward, everything returns. This is why Hashem says to Moses, "Turn backward" (Menachot 29b) when Moses asked to see Rabbi Akiva. He showed him Rabbi Akiva sitting and expounding, and Moshe Rabbeinu asks, "I don't understand anything, what is he even saying?" Hashem said to him, "Turn backward." He went back eight rows—this is the Sefirah of Binah (Understanding). Binah is the eighth Sefirah from the bottom up. Return to Binah, return to the Keter (Crown) of Binah, and then you will be able to understand what Rabbi Akivah is saying. Then he heard Rabbi Akivah speaking such novel insights, and his students asked him, "From where do you know this?" Rabbi Akiva answered them, "It is a Halacha (law) given to Moses from Sinai." What is the meaning of "Halacha to Moses from Sinai"? Moses had not yet received these laws, yet Rabbi Akivah was already expounding them! So who is Rabbi Akivah? He is Moshe Rabbeinu himself; he is the Yechidah (the highest level of the soul) of Moses. Rabbi Akivah is the aspect of Yechidah.

For Moses is currently only attaining the level of Nefesh (the basic soul level); he has not yet attained the levels of Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah. Rabbi Akivah is the aspect of Yechidah, which can only be attained through combs of iron. Only if one is combed with combs of iron can he reach this attainment of "And his eye saw every precious thing." Then the 'Hey' is transformed into an 'Aleph'—rising from Rabbi Akivah to Rabbi Akiva—and he merits to attain the Aleph Ze'ira. The letters Yud, Yud, and Vav that compose the letter Aleph (א) have the gematria of 26 (the Name of Hashem). This is the secret of "Vayikra el Moshe vayidaber Hashem elav" (And He called to Moses and Hashem spoke to him) (Vayikra 1:1)—this is the secret of the Havayah (the Tetragrammaton). For "Vayikra" refers to Adam Kadmon, as written [in Likutey Halachos] in the laws of guarding the soul—that "Vayikra" is the Hidden and Concealed One, which is Adam Kadmon.

Parshat Zachor

Every Jew is a boiling bath:

"Remember what Amalek did to you." Amalek jumped into the bath. For the Nation of Israel is a boiling bath; every Jew is a boiling bath. Every Jew is a flaming fire for Hashem Yisbarach. Every Jew is entirely a flaming fire for Hashem Yisbarach; every Jew is a flaming fire, a boiling bath. Amalek is "Am Lak" (a nation that licks/cools). It is Bilaam. Amalek Bavel (274) has the same letters as Bilaam Balak (274). For now, we are eradicating Amalek. The Bar Mitzvah boy eradicates Amalek. At the Bar Mitzvah, no trace of Amalek remains. For there is a Bar Mitzvah of three days and three nights. He is surrounded by fire, and no trace of Amalek remains—on condition that he does not speak. From now on, you do not speak until Tuesday after Ma'ariv (the evening prayer), until Aleinu L'shabeach—he is forbidden to speak. Then he will be surrounded by fire for three days and three nights, and then all of Amalek is completely burned, and no trace of Amalek remains, and the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) will be built in the blink of an eye, Amen.

The lesson has been edited; if any error is found, G-d forbid do not attribute it to our Rebbe (Rabbi Berland) shlit"a, but to the writer, and "may our error remain with us." Illustration courtesy of the artist R' Yehoshua Wiseman. To purchase: www.yehoshuawiseman.com

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