When a Person Comes to the Tzaddik

Here is the complete daily lesson as delivered by The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, on Sunday night, the eve of 4 Kislev — after the Ma’ariv prayer:

“The word Tzaddik is an acronym: צ׳ ד׳ י׳ ק׳ — Tzafon, Darom, Yammah, Kedmah (north, south, west, east). Because all the illnesses a person has come from one thing: he is not close to the Tzaddik; he does not believe in the Tzaddik.

For every person, the protective barriers have been breached—four [times] a barrier. The word mechitzah (barrier) has the same gematria as bris—six hundred and twelve. Mechitzah is exactly one hundred and fifty-three. When a person breaks through all the barriers—one hundred and fifty-three times four.

Through guarding the bris, a person has four barriers. If not, then with every blemish he damages, one barrier is breached. And then all the illnesses come upon him, and he doesn’t understand where the illnesses are coming from. He prays, he learns—this isn’t the point. Every blemish, every forbidden sight—another barrier falls, and another barrier, and another barrier, until he no longer has four barriers at all.

But through the Tzaddik—when he comes to the Tzaddik—because the Tzaddik is Tzafon, Darom, Yammah, Kedmah—the Tzaddik rebuilds his barriers anew. Then he is protected from all illnesses, from all harms—only through the Tzaddik.

Therefore, regarding the people of Israel it is written: ‘I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days did sit… and the hair of His head was like pure wool’ (Daniel 7:9). ‘Pure wool’—this is Amram. Amram was ‘pure wool.’ But he divorced Yocheved—this was the greatest transgression in the world. When a man divorces his wife, there is no transgression greater than that.”

“And therefore… the moment a person stands firm in his tests, he shines light to the whole world. If Amram—who is ‘pure wool’—and that is why he merited to give birth to Moshe, who was the symbol of Atika—the ‘hair’ of Atik, the white hairs of Atik…

All of the people of Israel are the ‘hairs’ of Atik, but only the Tzaddik can connect them to Atik! Without the Tzaddik, the hairs fall out. A person doesn’t understand why his hair is falling out—because he doesn’t have the Tzaddik—so the hair slowly, slowly falls out.

Because the Tzaddik is Atik Yomin. He is in Atik, he is in Arich, he is in Adam Kadmon. Therefore, the soul of Adam Kadmon comes out exactly in the words: ‘Bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, strong as a lion.’ For if a person merits to be connected to the Tzaddik—to the soul of the Tzaddik, which is Adam Kadmon—which is the holy and awesome Tzaddik, Rebbe Nachman, the holy and awesome—then he merits it.

It is the exact same gematria of ‘Bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, strong as a lion,’ corresponding to the four barriers. A person must always be ‘light as an eagle, swift as a deer, strong as a lion.’ It is impossible to get up later than four.”

“Therefore Rechavam said: I will bring you… I will make for you scorpions—I will give you scorpions! Scorpions… Everyone will run away—who wants scorpions? Know what ‘scorpions’ means. These are not children in kindergarten—these are all Roshei Yeshivah.

The Gemara says in Chullin 24b: until when is a person called a ‘child’? Until the age of eighty—if he can stand on one leg. Because a mikveh is not a bathtub and not a sauna. A mikveh is: you go in and you come out.

The Beis Yisrael said: ‘In and out!’ They asked: which intentions should one have in the mikveh—how many intentions? To be two hours in the mikveh… three hours in the mikveh… all the intentions of the Arizal…? He said: a mikveh is ‘in and out!’ Every mikveh is to enter and to exit—in a split second.

They say: a cold mikveh is hard to enter and easy to leave. A hot mikveh is the opposite—it’s easy to enter, but hard to leave. Exactly the opposite: from a cold mikveh you get out immediately.”

“A person only needs to immerse in a cold mikveh, and then he comes out immediately, and then he begins to pray. And then he must pray before it becomes blue in the sky—because the blue is a Throne of Judgment; it is the judgments of that day.

And therefore they say that a thread of techeiles cancels all judgments. If a person gets up after five, it’s already lost. It has already been decreed upon the children, upon him—that the child will not pray, that he will not learn, and that he will fall, and a car will run him over.

And everything that passes over each person—this is all because he got up after five. If he gets up before five, there will be no harsh decree upon any child, upon any grandchild, upon any great-grandchild.”

“And therefore, we will soon have a very great gathering. Today there is a new gathering—to identify with Lot’s wife. Everyone is obligated to travel to the gathering. But everyone is coming to the gathering; even the Marian family will come to the gathering.

They are traveling to identify with Lot’s wife. I identified with her—she was the most righteous woman in the world. They called her ‘Plotit.’ And they burned for her—already they burned one daughter for her. How many children do they need to burn for her… how many children, how many… how many children did she want them to burn for her? She had four daughters left. One they already burned for her—poor thing.”

“She said: Enough! I screamed at him—why are you bringing in [guests]? They burned one daughter for you—wasn’t that enough for you?! There is a law—law is law—there is no such thing. Dina d’malchusa dina—if there is a law that they do not give bread to anyone, then they do not give bread to anyone! Why is she giving bread—why—so what, so that he should die? What do you care if he dies? Do you want them to burn you? Is it good that they burn a girl…? Is it permitted to burn a girl…? I have never seen such a thing.

I told him: throw the people out of the house—throw them out! Your wife doesn’t agree. What a woman says is holy—I told him—she doesn’t agree. They burned one daughter for her; she doesn’t want them to burn more children for her.

Now everyone is traveling to the gathering—identifying with Lot’s wife. The buses are leaving in another five minutes.”

Watch the replay — the lesson at minute 32:27:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlEWMopDHm4