The exact wording of Rabenu [Nahman] z"l, given on Shabbat Shuva in the year 5563 (1803) in Breslov."And HaShem said to Moses, call unto Joshua..." (Deuteronomy 31)
(Continued from here)
4. And when a person wants to walk in the ways of repentance, he must be proficient in halakha (practical Torah application), and he must have two proficiencies: that is, proficient in running/going out and proficient in returning; as it is written, "Fortunate is the one who enters and leaves" (Zohar Vayak'hel and Ha'azinu). This is, "if I ascend to the heavens, You are there..." (Psalm 139), the aspect of going up/entering, proficiency in running/going out. [And the second part of the verse,] "...if I descend to the pit, here You are" - the aspect of leaving, the aspect of proficiency in returning/resting/consolidating.
This is, "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" (Song of Songs 6), "I am for my beloved..." - this is the aspect of entering/progressing; "...and my beloved is for me" - this is the aspect of leaving/returning/settling/resting/consolidating. This is the secret of the mystical intention of [the month of] Elul, and it is the main honor of HaShem. This is, "and you shall honor him from doing your ways" (Isaiah 58). "Your ways" is in the plural - meaning [the two 'ways' of] entering and leaving. And when one has these two proficiencies, then he walks in the ways of repentance and merits the honor of HaShem. As it is written, "and you shall honor him from the doing your ways". That is, that he merits kether (crown), for there is no kavod (honor) without the letter kaf, and then the right hand of HaShem is stretched forth to receive his repentance. This is the secret of the mystical intention of Elul.
5. And through silence and being quiet, the aspect of [the vowel marking] hirik [which is a single dot] is made, as is brought in the Tikunei HaZohar (Introduction, p. 7), ""...and underneath his feet was like the work of sapphire stone" (Ezekiel 1), this is [the vowel marking called] hirik". This is the aspect of "the earth is his footstool [hadom]" (Isaiah 66) - hadom (footstool) corresponds to demima (silence) [both words derive from the same root word d-m]. This is the aspect of the bottom dot (the lower left leg) of the image of [the letter] alef, א. And the upper point (the upper right part) that is upon the alef corresponds to kether (crown) as in, "and from above the sky, upon their heads, was a sapphire stone, the image of a throne" (Ezekiel 1), [as the Tikunei HaZohar comments in it's Introduction], "hidden above the [letter] vav, ו, (the straight line that passes through the alef א horizontally) which is called 'the sky'".
The [upper] dot is the hidden throne, as was said, "don't seek that which is beyond you, and that which is hidden from you, don't investigate" (Talmud, Hagiga 13) - this corresponds to "the honor of God is a hidden thing" (Proverbs 25), corresponding to kether (crown). The [letter] vav, ו, that is within the alef, א, is 'the sky', heavens (shamayim), [the word shamayim is a combination of the words] esh (fire) and mayim (water), corresponding to the shame from which one's face changes colors, and through this a person is made to sit on the throne (which is the upper right dot/line of the letter א), as it is written, "and the image of a man (adam) upon it, above" (there in Ezekiel). "For there is no [word] 'man' (adam, אדם) without the letter alef, א" (there in Tikunei HaZohar).
And these are the letters, אדם, adam (man): [the letter] alef - [added to the word] dam (silence or blood), א דם. That is, through "be silent (דם) to HaShem" [the letter] alef is made, and a person (adam) is made to sit on the throne. For the vav, ו, that is within the alef, א, is the sky, which encompasses [different] colors, alluding to shame. And the lower dot is being quiet and silence, as it says, "the earth is his footstool (hadom, הדום). This is the aspect of [the vowel marking] hirik [which is a single dot], corresponding to "below his feet". And the upper dot is the hidden throne, the aspect of [completed] repentance, corresponding to "the honor of God is a hidden thing", corresponding to, "that which is hidden from you, don't inquire", corresponding [further] to, "above the sky" - and the person is made to sit on the throne, the aspect of "as the image of a man (adam) upon it, above".
And then, a unification between the sun and moon is made; that the sun illuminates the moon and a unification between Moses and Joshua is made, for "the face of Moses was as the face of the sun" (Tal. Bava Bathra 75) - that is the upper dot, the throne, Moses, as it is written, "His throne is like the sun across from me" (Psalm 89), the aspect of "from above the sky was an image of a throne".
The lower dot is Joshua, the aspect of the moon, corresponding to, "and below his feet was as the work of LiVNath..." - this is the moon (LeVaNa). And the vav, ו, that is within the alef, א, is the sky, an aspect of the tent [of meeting], as it says, "and Joshua the son of Nun should not depart from inside the tent" (Exodus 33). The tent is the sky, as it is written, "and He stretched [the heavens] out like a tent to dwell" (Isaiah 40), and it is written, "[You] extend the heavens like a curtain" (Psalm 104) - this is, "the curtains of the tent" (Exodus 26).
And the upper throne, meaning the upper dot [of the letter alef, א] is divided into three drops because repentance must be on three conditions. As it is written, "Lest he see with his eyes, hear with his ears, his heart understand and he returns/repents" (Isaiah 6). These three aspects are the vowel marking [called] segol (which are three dots arranged in a triangular pattern), "and [the vowel marking] segol is the sun" (Tikunei HaZohar, Introduction p. 7) - that is, "the face of Moses was as the face of the sun".
TO BE CONTINUED
Showing posts with label elul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elul. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Likutei Moharan I, Torah 6 (Part 1)
The exact wording of Rabenu [Nahman] z"l, given on Shabbat Shuva in the year 5563 (1803) in Breslov.
"And HaShem said to Moses, call unto Joshua..." (Deuteronomy 31)
1. Everyone must decrease his own honor and increase the honor of The Place (HaShem). For one who runs after honor doesn't attain honor of God, rather [he attains] honor of kings of which it is said, "The honor of kings is an investigated thing" (Proverbs 25). All inquire of him and ask: 'who and what is he that he is allotted this honor?' However, one who runs from honor, decreasing his own honor and increasing the honor of The Place - then he merits honor of God, thus people do not inquire of his honor, whether or not he is worthy. About him it is said, "The honor of God is a concealed thing" (Proverbs 25); for it is forbidden to inquire of this honor.
2. And it is impossible to come to this honor except through repentance; and repentance is essentially when one hears his disgrace and insult and remains silent. "For there is no kavod (honor) without the letter kaf" (Zohar, Pinhas). "And kaf is kether (crown)" (Tikunei HaZohar), corresponding to AHYH (a Divine Name meaning "I will be" which is associated with the Sefira called Kether), corresponding to repentance since AHYH means 'I am ready to be'. That is, before repentance one hadn't had existence, as if he hadn't yet been in the world, for it was better that he hadn't been created than having been created. And when he comes to purify himself and repent, then he is in the aspect of AHYH; that is, that he'll have existence in the world, meaning 'I am ready to be'.
This is the aspect of kether (crown), for kether is the language of waiting, corresponding to repentance, as our Sages of blessed memory said, "One who comes to purify [himself] is helped" (Talmud, Yoma 38). An example is one who comes to buy a persimmon and they say 'wait', etc. This is the aspect of kether, as it is written, "Katar (wait) for me a little and I will tell you..." (Job 36). However, before repentance, the aspect of AHYH is in hidden-face from him; for he has not yet prepared himself to be in the world. And the hidden-face of AHYH is the numerical value of dam (blood). (An explanation: the backward sequence of the Name AHYH is the numerical value of dam, as brought. That is, when spelling the name in backwards sequence, like א, אה, אהי, אהיה (A, AH, AHY, AHYH), that you return back each time [to the start of the word], it reaches the numerical value of dam. This is the turning back and concealment of the face of AHYH that reaches [the numerical value of] dam.)
That is, spilling of blood and insult, according to "those who despise Me will be disgraced" (I Samuel 2). For the blood is yet in the left chamber of the heart which is the dwelling place of the evil inclination as it says, "The heart of the fool is at his left" (Ecclesiastes 10). It (the evil inclination) is still attacking and strong and for this reason insults and bloodshed come upon him - for this is the aspect of the concealment and turning back of AHYH, the numerical value of dam (blood). The remedy for this is to change dam into dom (silence); to be among those who hear their disgrace and do not reply nor be exacting about the insult of their honor. When one fulfills 'be silent before HaShem', then the Holy One Blessed is He throws down causalities [HaLaLim] for him (that is, He takes down that person's enemies), as it says, "Be silent before HaShem and wait [hitHoLeL] for Him..." (Psalm 37), "And he will take down casualties (HaLaLim) for you" (Talmud, Gittin 7). That is, "My heart is hollow [HaLaL] within me" (Psalm 109); that means, through decreasing the the blood that is in the left chamber/hollow [HaLaL] it is the aspect of sacrificing the evil inclination. Through that, one merits Godly honor, as it says, "One who sacrifices a thanksgiving offering honors me" (Psalm 3). The Sages of blessed memory commented, "[This is] about sacrificing the evil inclination" (Tal. Sanhedrin 43).
3. One must hold to the characteristic of repentance, "For who can say, 'I've purified my heart, I've become clean of my sins'?" (Proverbs 20). For at the time a person says 'I've sinned, I've transgressed, I've committed crimes' - even this is impossible to say with [complete] purity of heart without alternation. (That is, who can say 'I've purified my heart, I've become clean of my sins'? Who can say his heart is clean and pure of alternation even at the time of saying 'I've sinned', etc, as in "Who can say... I've become clean of my sins", that is, clean of [the confession] 'I've sinned, I've transgressed, etc' which he stated, for even then he is not clean and pure of alternation.)
Hence, one must repent over the first repentance, that being the [confession of] 'I've sinned, etc' that he said, because about this it is said, "With their lips they honor me..." (Isaiah 29) since honor of HaShem comes through repentance, [but] "...they've distanced their heart from me." (Isaiah 29, continuation of the verse).
Even if a person himself knows that he repented completely, even so he must repent over the first repentance because when he repented originally, he did it according to his attainment [of awareness, as it was then]. Afterwards when he repents, he definitely recognizes and attains [awareness of] HaShem more. Hence, according to his current attainment, [he realizes that] his original attainment was definitely categorically worldly. Hence, he must repent over his first attainment, over having materialized the loftiness of HaShem's Godliness.
This is the aspect of the world to come which will be entirely Sabbath; that is, entirely repentance, as it is written, "You shall return/repent [ShaVTa (same letters as 'Sabbath')] unto HaShem your God" (Deuteronomy 30); for the world to come is mainly the attainment [of awareness of] HaShem's Godliness, as it is written, "And they will know me, from their littlest to their greatest" (Jeremiah 31). Hence at every time they will attain a greater awareness, then they'll repent over their previous attainment.
This is what our Sages of blessed memory, "Everyone who sacrifices his inclination..." (Tal. Sanhedrin 43), meaning the aspect of repentance, corresponding to "My heart is hollow within me", "Be silent before HaShem", corresponding to [the Divine Name] AHYH, kether (crown), honor, [all] as mentioned above - "...and confesses over it..." (continuation of Tal. Sanhedrin 43), meaning he confesses over the sacrifice of his inclination, that is, he repents over his previous [incomplete] repentance and attainment [of awareness of HaShem] - "...it is as if he honored the Holy One Blessed is He in two worlds" (continuation of Tal. Sanhedrin 43). For the original repentance was the aspect of honor [of HaShem] in this world, and after that repentance that he merits a higher attainment and recognizes the loftiness of HaShem's Godliness more, thus repenting over the first repentance - this is the repentance that is the aspect of honor [of HaShem] in the world to come.
This is what our Sages of blessed memory stated, ""A bright light and darkness" (Zechariah 14) - a light that is bright in this world will be dark and dull in the world to come" (Tal. Pesahim 3). Hence, in the world to come when people will merit a greater attainment [of awareness of] HaShem's Godliness, they will definitely become remorseful and repent over the attainment of this world. For the attainment of this world is in the aspect of rain/physicality compared to the attainment in the world to come. This is like honoring the Holy One Blessed is He in two worlds: the sacrifice of the [evil] inclination is the original repentance, which is honor [to HaShem] in this world. And the confession over the sacrifice of the [evil] inclination, the second repentance, corresponds to the honor of the world to come; that the first honor is made dark and dull compared to the second honor.
And this is what the Holy One Blessed is He says, "You did these and I remained silent, you imagined I would be [AHYH] like you..." (Psalm 50), for a person, through being silent, attains [the aspect of] AHYH (meaning 'I will be'). However, the Holy One Blessed be He, when he remains silent towards a person, it is not for [the aspect of] AHYH, God forbid, for this is not appropriate to the Holy One Blessed is He; [rather, Him remaining silent] is only that people will receive their punishment in the world to come, because there they set out one's sins before his eyes, and they reprimand him to his face. This is [the second part of the verse from Psalm 50], "...I will reprimand you and weigh before your eyes."
(Continued here)
"And HaShem said to Moses, call unto Joshua..." (Deuteronomy 31)
1. Everyone must decrease his own honor and increase the honor of The Place (HaShem). For one who runs after honor doesn't attain honor of God, rather [he attains] honor of kings of which it is said, "The honor of kings is an investigated thing" (Proverbs 25). All inquire of him and ask: 'who and what is he that he is allotted this honor?' However, one who runs from honor, decreasing his own honor and increasing the honor of The Place - then he merits honor of God, thus people do not inquire of his honor, whether or not he is worthy. About him it is said, "The honor of God is a concealed thing" (Proverbs 25); for it is forbidden to inquire of this honor.
2. And it is impossible to come to this honor except through repentance; and repentance is essentially when one hears his disgrace and insult and remains silent. "For there is no kavod (honor) without the letter kaf" (Zohar, Pinhas). "And kaf is kether (crown)" (Tikunei HaZohar), corresponding to AHYH (a Divine Name meaning "I will be" which is associated with the Sefira called Kether), corresponding to repentance since AHYH means 'I am ready to be'. That is, before repentance one hadn't had existence, as if he hadn't yet been in the world, for it was better that he hadn't been created than having been created. And when he comes to purify himself and repent, then he is in the aspect of AHYH; that is, that he'll have existence in the world, meaning 'I am ready to be'.
This is the aspect of kether (crown), for kether is the language of waiting, corresponding to repentance, as our Sages of blessed memory said, "One who comes to purify [himself] is helped" (Talmud, Yoma 38). An example is one who comes to buy a persimmon and they say 'wait', etc. This is the aspect of kether, as it is written, "Katar (wait) for me a little and I will tell you..." (Job 36). However, before repentance, the aspect of AHYH is in hidden-face from him; for he has not yet prepared himself to be in the world. And the hidden-face of AHYH is the numerical value of dam (blood). (An explanation: the backward sequence of the Name AHYH is the numerical value of dam, as brought. That is, when spelling the name in backwards sequence, like א, אה, אהי, אהיה (A, AH, AHY, AHYH), that you return back each time [to the start of the word], it reaches the numerical value of dam. This is the turning back and concealment of the face of AHYH that reaches [the numerical value of] dam.)
That is, spilling of blood and insult, according to "those who despise Me will be disgraced" (I Samuel 2). For the blood is yet in the left chamber of the heart which is the dwelling place of the evil inclination as it says, "The heart of the fool is at his left" (Ecclesiastes 10). It (the evil inclination) is still attacking and strong and for this reason insults and bloodshed come upon him - for this is the aspect of the concealment and turning back of AHYH, the numerical value of dam (blood). The remedy for this is to change dam into dom (silence); to be among those who hear their disgrace and do not reply nor be exacting about the insult of their honor. When one fulfills 'be silent before HaShem', then the Holy One Blessed is He throws down causalities [HaLaLim] for him (that is, He takes down that person's enemies), as it says, "Be silent before HaShem and wait [hitHoLeL] for Him..." (Psalm 37), "And he will take down casualties (HaLaLim) for you" (Talmud, Gittin 7). That is, "My heart is hollow [HaLaL] within me" (Psalm 109); that means, through decreasing the the blood that is in the left chamber/hollow [HaLaL] it is the aspect of sacrificing the evil inclination. Through that, one merits Godly honor, as it says, "One who sacrifices a thanksgiving offering honors me" (Psalm 3). The Sages of blessed memory commented, "[This is] about sacrificing the evil inclination" (Tal. Sanhedrin 43).
3. One must hold to the characteristic of repentance, "For who can say, 'I've purified my heart, I've become clean of my sins'?" (Proverbs 20). For at the time a person says 'I've sinned, I've transgressed, I've committed crimes' - even this is impossible to say with [complete] purity of heart without alternation. (That is, who can say 'I've purified my heart, I've become clean of my sins'? Who can say his heart is clean and pure of alternation even at the time of saying 'I've sinned', etc, as in "Who can say... I've become clean of my sins", that is, clean of [the confession] 'I've sinned, I've transgressed, etc' which he stated, for even then he is not clean and pure of alternation.)
Hence, one must repent over the first repentance, that being the [confession of] 'I've sinned, etc' that he said, because about this it is said, "With their lips they honor me..." (Isaiah 29) since honor of HaShem comes through repentance, [but] "...they've distanced their heart from me." (Isaiah 29, continuation of the verse).
Even if a person himself knows that he repented completely, even so he must repent over the first repentance because when he repented originally, he did it according to his attainment [of awareness, as it was then]. Afterwards when he repents, he definitely recognizes and attains [awareness of] HaShem more. Hence, according to his current attainment, [he realizes that] his original attainment was definitely categorically worldly. Hence, he must repent over his first attainment, over having materialized the loftiness of HaShem's Godliness.
This is the aspect of the world to come which will be entirely Sabbath; that is, entirely repentance, as it is written, "You shall return/repent [ShaVTa (same letters as 'Sabbath')] unto HaShem your God" (Deuteronomy 30); for the world to come is mainly the attainment [of awareness of] HaShem's Godliness, as it is written, "And they will know me, from their littlest to their greatest" (Jeremiah 31). Hence at every time they will attain a greater awareness, then they'll repent over their previous attainment.
This is what our Sages of blessed memory, "Everyone who sacrifices his inclination..." (Tal. Sanhedrin 43), meaning the aspect of repentance, corresponding to "My heart is hollow within me", "Be silent before HaShem", corresponding to [the Divine Name] AHYH, kether (crown), honor, [all] as mentioned above - "...and confesses over it..." (continuation of Tal. Sanhedrin 43), meaning he confesses over the sacrifice of his inclination, that is, he repents over his previous [incomplete] repentance and attainment [of awareness of HaShem] - "...it is as if he honored the Holy One Blessed is He in two worlds" (continuation of Tal. Sanhedrin 43). For the original repentance was the aspect of honor [of HaShem] in this world, and after that repentance that he merits a higher attainment and recognizes the loftiness of HaShem's Godliness more, thus repenting over the first repentance - this is the repentance that is the aspect of honor [of HaShem] in the world to come.
This is what our Sages of blessed memory stated, ""A bright light and darkness" (Zechariah 14) - a light that is bright in this world will be dark and dull in the world to come" (Tal. Pesahim 3). Hence, in the world to come when people will merit a greater attainment [of awareness of] HaShem's Godliness, they will definitely become remorseful and repent over the attainment of this world. For the attainment of this world is in the aspect of rain/physicality compared to the attainment in the world to come. This is like honoring the Holy One Blessed is He in two worlds: the sacrifice of the [evil] inclination is the original repentance, which is honor [to HaShem] in this world. And the confession over the sacrifice of the [evil] inclination, the second repentance, corresponds to the honor of the world to come; that the first honor is made dark and dull compared to the second honor.
And this is what the Holy One Blessed is He says, "You did these and I remained silent, you imagined I would be [AHYH] like you..." (Psalm 50), for a person, through being silent, attains [the aspect of] AHYH (meaning 'I will be'). However, the Holy One Blessed be He, when he remains silent towards a person, it is not for [the aspect of] AHYH, God forbid, for this is not appropriate to the Holy One Blessed is He; [rather, Him remaining silent] is only that people will receive their punishment in the world to come, because there they set out one's sins before his eyes, and they reprimand him to his face. This is [the second part of the verse from Psalm 50], "...I will reprimand you and weigh before your eyes."
(Continued here)
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