The preparation of the Avreichim1See Bereishis (41:43), and Rashi thereon. Avreich generally means a young, newly married yeshiva student. Getting Started.
2
מודעת זאת בספרים קדושים, שהצדיקים קדושי ישראל בעלי הקבלה, וכן קדושי החסידים עובדי ד׳ בדרך קדושנו הבעש״ט ותלמידיו זצ״ל, דרכי עבודת קדשם דרכי נביאי ד׳ הם. ובזוה״ק פ׳ תרומה [דף קנ״ד ע״א] אמר ר׳ יעקב על עצמו, ואנא מאן יהיב לי אתערותא דרוח קדשא למהוי בגו נביאי מהימני תלמידי דר״ש בן יוחאי דעלאין ותתאין זעין מני׳ עכ״ל הק׳. היינו שבענותנותו התפלא על עצמו שזכה להיות בין נביאי מהימני תלמידי רשב״י שעליונים ותחתונים מזדעזעין ממנו. ובפה״ק מאור ושמש פ׳ ויגש ופ׳ ראה איתא גם על הצדיקים מדור דור עובדי ד׳ אשר בדרך הבעש״ט זצ״ל שדרכי קדשם דרכי נביאי ד׳ הם, ע״ש.
We know through our holy sefarim that the ways of divine service of the master kabbalists of Israel, and similarly the ways of the Chassidim who followed the path taught by the Baal Shem Tov and his students, were none other than the ways practiced by the prophets of God. It is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 154a) that Rabbi Yaakov asked himself, “Who granted me this awakening of divine inspiration which allows me to be counted among the faithful prophets in the fellowship of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, before whom the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth tremble?” With sincere humility, Rabbi Yaakov was amazed that he was worthy of being associated with such a league of prophets.2That is to say, that Rabbi Shimon and his fellowship, who lived in the second century of the cCommon eEra, were on the level of prophets such as Chaggai, Zecharia, and Malachi, who lived six centuries earlier in the beginning of the time of the Great Assembly. You may question the opening thesis of the holy Piasesner by noting that the power of prophecy had left the world in the time of the Great Assembly. Furthermore, there is a difference between prophets and sages, and between prophets and masters of Kabbalah. And you may add that Gemara tells us that a sage is preferable to a prophet. And after all, each generation is different, and we know that there the level of greatness descends to the point where if we say the sages, not to mention the prophets, were like men, then we are like donkeys, but definitely not on the level of the donkey of Rav Pinchas ben Yair who kept kosher. All of this notwithstanding, a tradition of avodas Hashem (spiritual practice) is given over from generation to generation, and the inheritors of the tradition, from Avraham Avinu to Moshe Rabeynu to the prophet Malachi to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. No one would deny that the times have changed, to this very day it is in fact an uninterrupted tradition. A prophet is a vessel which receives the revelation of God, and a conduit for the revelation of God’s message. Yet it happens only in the context of the mesorah – the flow and transmission of Torah from master to disciple. Though it waxes and wanes as a result of how God wills that the Divine revelation needs to be granted unto each generation, it invariably remains the same mesorah, as the Torah is for all generations. Kabbalah means, “receiving.” The Piasesner Rebbe zts”l Hy”d is saying with simple elegance that though the prophets and the kabbalists of the Zohar may have received the Divine revelation at different levels of intensity, still, they obviously followed the same Torah in the context of the same transmission. And a central facet of this transmission was in fact the specific practices employed in order to learn to connect to God, even know Him, and receive His wisdom and message. Simply put, they used the same ways. (For more on the subject of mesorah and Kabbalah in the context of generational transmission, see the Introduction to the Beis Yaakov by Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin, zts”l trans. B. Edwards.) We also find mentioned3Parashos Vayigash and Re’eh. in the Maor Va’Shemesh4Kalonymus Kalman Epstein, (d. 1823), student of the Seer of Lublin, and Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk. that the Tsaddikim (righteous) of every generation who follow the ways taught by the Baal Shem Tov are in essence serving God in the way of the prophets.
3
והנה הנביאים הקדושים גם בעלי זוה״ק, האר״י, הבעש״ט ותלמידיהם זצ״ל מלאכי אֵל, מאתנו נשגבים, ודרכם דרך הקודש השמימה, מאתנו פלא, ואין אנו מרהיבים עוז, לעלות אל עליות קדשם ולהיות גדול כמוהם שרפי א-ל. אבל זאת אנו משתוקקים, וגם חובה היא עלינו לעבוד את ד׳ אלקי אבותינו, אלקי אברהם, אלקי יצחק ואלקי יעקב עבודה תמה עבודה שלימה בכל אברי גופנו ונפשנו, וכל חוט מגופנו וכל ניצוץ מנפשנו ח״ו לא יצאו מחוץ לקדושת ד׳ הממלאה ומקיפה אותנו.
The holy Prophets in the Torah,5From Abraham until Zecharia in the second century, BCE. the sages of the Zohar,6Zohar, second Century Israel. the Ari”zal,71534 - 1572, Tsfat, Israel. the Baal Shem Tov 81700 – 1760, Ukraine. and his students, they were all like angels of God, exalted beyond us! And their way, the holy path to heaven, is too wondrous for us! We would not make the audacious claim that we can reach their level of sanctity, for they were like God’s own seraphim. But still, we yearn to emulate their ways, and we are also under obligation9We promised God at mount Sinai to serve Him with complete devotion. The Rebbe Zts’L clearly implies that, yes, Torah observance is an obligation, but the path of Chassidim is exemplified by those who serve with joy and vigor. This book is a kind of manual of divine service, and its fourteen chapters are all a way of answering the question, “what is a Chassid and how does he serve Hashem?” to serve the God of Avraham, God of Yitschak, and God of Yaakov with a perfect and complete devotion, with every fiber of our bodies and every spark of our souls. May God take pity on us and not allow us to leave the state of being in His sanctity, which fills us and surrounds us.
4
וגם זאת, שלא די לנו להיות רק כעבד בן שפחה, שעובד ג״כ למלך, רק שעבודתו היא אחר הרחים הרחק מן המלך, את דבריו אינו שומע, ומזיוו אינו נהנה ומתענג, עבודה שהיא בסגירת המוח וטמטום הלב. ורצוננו ותשוקתנו הם להיות בחי׳ בן, בנים אתם לד׳ אלקיכם, שבעבודתנו לד׳ הן בתורה ותפילה והן בשאר המצוות, נרגיש את התקרבותנו לד׳, וכמו הבן ששמח לקראת אביו אחרי שלא ראהו כמה שנים, ואחרי שנתענה בגעגועים גדולים על אביו, כן גם אנחנו נשתוקק ונתגעגע אליו ית׳. ובזוה״ק תרומה [דף קכ״ח ע״ב] איתא ומנא ודעינן דהא קב״ה אתרעי בי׳ ומשוי מדורי׳ בי׳, כדחמינן דרעותא דההוא בר נש למרדף ולאשתדלא אבתרי׳ דקב״ה בלבי׳ ובנפשי׳ וברעותי׳, ודאי תמן ידעינן דשריא בי׳ שכינתא עכ״ל הק׳, [ומאין יודעין באיש, שהקב״ה רוצה בו ועושה דירתו בו. כאשר רואים שרצונו של האיש לרדוף ולהשתדל אחר הקב״ה בלבו ובנפשו וברצונו, יודעים שבודאי שורה בו השכינה] זאת אומרת שרק מי שברצונו, בלבו ונפשו רודף ומשתדל ומשתוקק אליו ית׳, קרוב הוא לד׳ והשכינה שורה בו.
It is not enough for us to be like a slave, son of a slave-woman, who indeed serves the king, yet his service is in the fields or at the millstone, far away from the company of the king. He does not hear the king’s words or delight in his presence. Such service is perfunctory, without thinking or feeling. Our desire and yearning is to be on the level of a son, “for you are sons to the Lord your God.” In this way one feels himself coming close to God through divine service, whether through study, prayer, or the fulfillment of mitzvos. We seek to serve God with the joy of a son who is reunited with his father after not seeing him for many years — elated and moved to be with him again after missing him so strongly and for so long. It is in this same way that we also yearn for God. It is written in the Zohar (Truma, 128b), “How do you know when the Holy One, blessed be He, desires a person and caused the Divine presence to dwell with him? When you see a person whose greatest desire is to run after the knowledge of God and struggles to serve Him with all his heart and all his soul, then you can know for certain that God’s presence rests on that person.” In other words, only one who runs after God with his whole heart and soul, serving Him with all his desire, is truly deemed as being close to God. Such a person can make himself into a dwelling place for the Shechinah.
5
ובשעת עבודתנו נרגיש את ריצת נפשנו לקראת אבי׳, שמתגעגעת עליו כל היום וכל הלילה, ריצה, ונמיסה, נמיסת הנפש בהשתפכותה אל חיק אבי׳ שבשמים. ולא בתפילה ועבודה בלבד נרגיש את התקרבותנו אל ד׳ ונתענג מזיו כבודו ית׳ רק גם תמיד, כי מי שבכל היום הדיוט הוא ובכל שעותיו נפשו קבורה במחצלת של קנים ושטותים, גם בתורתו, תפילתו ועבודתו הדיוט הוא, וגם בשעת עבודתו עבודת הקודש, נפשו לא תקום ח״ו, בכל היום צריך האיש להיות יהודי ובכל היום צריך הוא להיות קרוב אליו ית׳, פעם ביותר התרוממות ופעם בפחות מעט, יהודי הוא תמיד וגם בחי׳ בן להקב״ה תמיד יהי׳, וכל מעשינו בנפש תהיינה, עד שגם מחשבתנו תמיד תהא ברה, חזקה וקשורה בקדושתו. ואז גם נזכה שכ״כ תוכל נפשנו להתגבר על חושינו, שלא די שלא יוכלו חושינו לבלבל ולפתות את מחשבותינו, ולומר לנו עולם אתה רואה, וגשם אתה מרגיש, רק גם חושינו יכנעו למחשבת לבבנו, וגם הם יראו את קדושת ד׳ פרושה על כל הנמצא, וידע ויראה האדם אשר גם בעוה״ז נמצא הוא בגן ד׳ בעדן לפני כסא כבודו ית׳. ובמה נזכה לעבודה שלימה כזו. אם למצער את עקבי הנביאים המקובלים וצדיקי החסידות נשאף להכיר. צאי לך בעקבי הצאן עכ״פ את עקבי קדשם נראה, ובאבק דרכם דרכי ד׳ נתאבק, אף אל קרבנו נבלוע. ומעתה עלינו לדעת מהו עקב כל הקודש הזה ומה היא ההכשרה אשר יתכשר בה הבחור והאברך השואף ומשתוקק לזכות להיות חסיד.
At the time of our service we may feel our souls running towards God, like the reunion of the father and the son mentioned above. He longs for his father day and night, seeking him, his heart melts, our soul melts as it is poured out before our father in Heaven. It is not only at the time we are involved in prayer and divine service that we feel that we are coming close to God, rather it were well to be so close at all times. If a person leads a humdrum existence, where his soul is, so to speak, buried away under the carpet, then his prayer and divine service will also be routine. If he does not constantly take care of his soul and desire God, then he will not find inspiration when he turns to pray or engage in any holy endeavor. All day he must be a Yehudi,10A “Yehudi,” is a holy, self-actualized Jew. striving to be close to God. At times more, and at times less, but he is always a Yehudi, and he will always be on the level of a son to God. All his actions may be imbued with soul to the point where even his thoughts are always pure and strong - connected to God’s sanctity. Then he will reach a level where the soul overpowers his senses. In our service, it is not enough to bar our senses from confusing and seducing our thoughts, saying to us, “you see the world, and you feel real physical senses,” but rather our senses shall be subdued before our thoughts. Then our senses will feel the sanctity of God spread over all existence, and man will know and see in his very life how he lives in God’s garden of Eden before the throne of His glory, may He be blessed. How else may we merit such a complete service unless we are drawn, even slightly, after God’s knowledge on the heels of the Prophets, Kabbalists, and Tsaddikim among the Hasidim! “Follow after the hoofprints of the flock!” (Shir HaShirim 1:8). At least we will see the footprints of their kedushah11Kedushah = Holiness , and our wrestling will kick up the dust on the path of God.12A play on words, When Yaakov wrestled with the angel, the word for wrestling “misavek” is etymologically connected to the word for dust, “avak,” as if to say, when two people wrestle they kick up the dust with their movements. It is with this struggle that Yaakov received the name Israel, which has the connotation of, “one who wrestles with God.” Dust is also a symbol of meekness, as Abraham said, “What am I but dust and ashes.” So when one subdues himself before the great spiritual masters of Israel and struggles to follow their ways, he is then truly on the way to a complete service of God which transforms his consciousness to one of feeling the Divine presence in all walks of his life. Then the path and the sensation of God’s presence will truly be internalized. Now we need to examine the great reward reserved for this holy enterprise,13Again multiple meanings are implied in the author’s word choice. “Mahu Ekev” could be, “what is the purpose (what are the ends),” “what is the reward,” and even, “what is the heel” (reminiscent of the heels of the wrestlers, as well as Yaakov, who was holding onto his brother Eisav’s heel as he emerged after him at birth.) There are abundant homiletical explanations for the word, “ekev,” in Chasidic writings. See Psalm 19:12, “in keeping them is a great reward.” and the proper training that the aspiring young man who yearns to be a Chasid14A Hasid, literally “pious one,” loosely means someone who is a member of a community of Orthodox Jews which espouses the practices and flavor of the Divine service upheld and taught by the Baal Shem Tov and his students. must undergo in order to achieve this goal.
6
הנה ראשית ההתגלות בקדושי אֵל, היתה נפשם הישראלית, חלק אלקי ממעל אשר בקרבם, נתגלה להם, ואז בנפשם הגלוי׳ הוכשרו להעשות מרכבה לההתגלות הגדולה והנשגבה אשר זכו לה בקדשם. ובהקדמת שעה״ק מהרח״ו זצ״ל איתא שיש שנפשו עצמה בהזדככה מאוד תתגלה לאדם ותנהיגהו בכל דרכיו עכ״ל הק׳, היינו שיש צדיק שלא זכה יותר מן התגלות נפשו, לא לנבואה ולא לרוה״ק, וגם זאת מדרגה וגם היא תנהיגהו בדרכו אל ד׳.
Godly people first emerged into the history of the world with the advent of Jewish souls.15With Avraham Avinu., who was called, “ha’ivri,” which is the root of the word, “Hebrew.” The Jewish soul is called, “a Godly portion from on high,”16This verse (Iyov, 31:2), said by Iyov, is classically interpreted as his complaint, saying, perhaps with sarcasm, “look at the portion God has given me for all my good behavior, my house ruined, my children killed, and here I sit scratching my sores on a dunghill.” So it is interesting that in all of the cases I have reviewed in Chassidic writings it takes on the novel positive meaning that the soul of the Jew is a veritable portion of God. This is akin to the verse found near the end of the Torah (Devarim, 32:9), “God’s portion is His people,” which is interpreted to mean that the Jewish soul is connected to God. which rests among the Israelites, was revealed unto them, and prepares them to be a Chariot for the great and lofty revelation of Godliness that they merit through holy efforts. In the introduction to his work Shaarei Kedusha (Gates of Holiness) Rabbi Chaim Vital17Rav Chaim Vital, one of the greatest Kabbalists and the chief disciple of the Ari”zal, 1542-1620. writes, “When the soul is itself greatly refined, it becomes revealed to man, and it shall lead him in all his ways.” That is to say, it is possible to be a Tsaddik who merits neither prophecy nor divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh),18Prophecy presumably ended around the sixth century BCE, between the time of the destruction of the first temple (586) and its rebuilding under Ezra’s leadership. The Talmud records (Baba Batra, 12b) that after the destruction of the Temple, the power of prophecy was taken from the prophets and given over to children and fools (or madmen).” but indeed manages to achieve the level of feeling and knowing his own soul. This in itself is an admirable level which will lead him on his own way to knowing God.
7
ומעתה הבחור והאברך הנזהר בכל פרטי ודקדוקי דינים שבתורה שבכתב ושבע״פ, וגם בכל מנהגי קודש של ישראל, ומשתוקק עוד להתכשר להיות חסיד, צריך לעשות עוד לפנים משורת הדין, ולא בעשיות גופו לבדו יוסיף לעבוד את עבודתו עבודת הקודש לפנים משורת הדין אף לא במוחו ודעתו לבדו רק גם בנפשו. את נפשו יוסיף להעבוד ה׳ נפשו תתגלה. וכל גוף, נפש, רוח ונשמה שלו יעבדו את ד׳, ואז יבטח בד׳ שיזכהו להיות חסיד, וזה שרש״י ז״ל אומר במס׳ פסחים [דף מ״ח] בעל נפש, חסיד. היא ראשיתה ועיקרה של החסידות שיהי׳ בעל נפש.
Knowing this, the young man and the wise student who desires to prepare himself to be a true Chasid must be careful to not to merely perform all of the Torah’s commandments from both Biblical and Rabbinic law in all of their detail, as well as all of the holy customs and spiritual practices of Israel.19In a certain respect, Legal authorities equate Jewish customs with Rabbinic law, as it is said, “minhag yisrael halacha.” If he wants to be a true Chassid, he has to go beyond the letter of the law. That is to say, one could go beyond the letter of the law in the way of a mere religious action or intellectual exercise. The Chassid must do more. He has to imbue his venture beyond the letter of the law with soul. If he strives to serve God with soul, he will then experience a revelation of his soul. Then his entire being, meaning his body and all of the levels of his soul20Kabbalah teaches of five levels of soul, namely nefesh, ruach, neshama, chaya and yechidah, each one greater (higher, deeper) than the next. will serve God, and he can be sure that God will allow him to truly be a Chassid. What is a Chassid? Rashi tells us in his commentary on the Talmud (Pesachim, 40a), “a baal nefesh (one who through his great vigilance in performing mitzvoth possesses and thereby accesses his soul by entering his soul into his devotion).” The main point of “Chassidus,”21Chassidus is generally defined as the study of sacred texts written by students of the way of the Baal Shem Tov. But here we see that Chassidus is a state of being and a way of behavior. is for man to sincerely exemplify the characteristics of a, “baal nefesh.”
8
והוא שהרבינו לעיל בקונטרס חוה״ת לדבר איך שצריכים להתחיל גם בנערים ובחורים לעורר את נפשם בעבודתם, אבל אין אנו דורשים מכל מתחיל בעבודה שיתעורר בהתלהבות גדולה ומכש״כ בהתלהבות של הצדיקים הגדולים ברשפי אש האהבה והיראה, רק שעכ״פ תתרגש נפשם, בחי׳ בבית אלקים נהלך ברגש. וז״ל זוה״ק פ׳ לך [דף פ״ג ע״ב] נפש איהו אתערותא תתאה ודא סמיכא בגופא וזנת לי׳ וכו׳ והוא אתאחדת בגופא, לבתר אתתקנת ואת עבודת כרסייא לאשראה עלה רוח באתערותא דהאי נפש וכו׳, לבתר דמתקני תרווייהו זמינין לקבלא נשמה ע״ש, [ההתעוררות התחתונה שבאדם, נפשו היא, ונפש הזאת סמוכה לגוף וזנת לו לגוף ומתאחדת עמו, ואח״כ כשמתתקנת הנפש נעשה כסא שישרה עלי׳ הרוח בהתעוררות נפש הזאת, וכששניהם מתתקנים הנפש והרוח אז ממשיכים נשמה ע״ש.], זאת אומרת שאפילו איזה התעוררות וההתרגשות הכי קלושה שמעורר האיש בקרבו בעבודה, אפילו התרגשות נפשו החיונה הסמוכה לגוף, כבר גילה מעט את נפשו ולא את נפשו לבדה רק עי״ז גם את הרוח יעורר אף את הנשמה יגלה.
We have dwelt at length in the book, “A Student’s Obligation,” on how important it is for children and young men to arouse and sensitize their souls in the midst of their religious devotion. But nonetheless, we do not require from every beginner that he immediately succeed in arousing the emblazed hislahavus22Hislahavus is a state of burning ecstasy, overpowering fervor, that is one of the main characteristics of the path of Chassidic devotion. It comes from the root, “להב – flame,” and when voiced in the intensive form means, “to be burning on fire.” of the great Tsaddikim who burned with passionate love and fear of God in their devotions. Still, beginners should strive to develop passion and a deep feeling for their service, as the verse in the Tehillim enjoins us, “I will go to the house of God with excitement.” We find in the Zohar (1:83b), “Nefesh23Nefesh means soul, namely, the lowest level of soul. is an awakening from below. It is connected to the body and sustains it … it is united with the body, and cures it. When the nefesh is aroused it then becomes a throne for the Ruach24Ruach is a higher level of the soul. For the body to be considered alive, it must be united with the nefesh. The nefesh is the fundamental level of life energy. Yet it could be dormant, and a person is still considered physically alive. However, the Zohar is telling us that it is only when the nefesh is awakened and aroused that a person can attain, experience and negotiate the higher level of soul called Ruach (spirit). to rest upon … Once both (the nefesh and the ruach) have been established, man is ready to receive the Neshama (a higher level than the ruach).” This passage in the Zohar must be studied carefully. That is to say, even the weakest awakening of the nefesh that man experiences in his divine service, even the most basic awakening of the vital soul that is so close to the physical body, serves to reveal the nefesh to man’s consciousness. And it does not just wake man up to his nefesh, but also reveals the deeper levels of ruach and neshama.
9
הכל חפצים ליראה את שמך [סליחות א׳] אבל הרבה מהם כל יראתם אף אהבתם לד׳ רק בדעתם הוא, שבדעתם יודעים שצריכים לאהוב ולירא מד׳ ולדאבונם אף לצערם אינם מרגישים בקרבם בפועל לא התרגשות אהבה ולא יראה. אף בענין הרצון יש שבדעתו כ״כ פשוט וברור לו שצריך הוא לרצות ולהשתוקק לחיות בכל היום חיים טהורים ולהתקשר לנצח בזה ובבא בד׳ ע״י תורה, תפילה, מצוות ומעשים טובים הנעשים בנפש לוי׳ וקשורה בו ית׳ בטהרתו וקדושתו, ומ״מ רק רוצה לרצות. ורק יודע הוא שצריך להשתוקק כן, ואינו מרגיש לא רצון אף לא תשוקה.
“All desire to fear Your Name.”25Slichos liturgy, first night. True, but for many people fear and love of God remain intellectual. They know that it is good and proper to love and revere the Almighty. And to their dismay, even to their distress, they have no real tangible feelings of love and reverence. Even concerning desire, there is a kind of person who knows with absolute clarity that he needs to desire and yearn to lead a pure life for the length of his life. He knows that he needs to constantly connect to God with a revealed soul through Torah, prayer, mitzvoth, and good deeds, all done with purity and holiness. Yet still, he remains on the level of wanting to desire and knowing that it is correct to yearn,26That is to say, they merely know that it is right to yearn to be truly close to God with love and reverence. without actually feeling any desire or yearning.
10
ולא באותן בני אדם לבד שלבם מטומטם לגמרי קאמרינן שאין להם שום התרגשות בשום פעם ר״ל, ונפשם טמונה תחת תל גדול של אשפה מבלי להושיט אף אצבע מאצבעותי׳ החוצה, רק גם באלו שיש להם זמנים שרוצים ומתרגשים, והרבה פעמים מתרגשים. רק התרגשותם ורצונם לא בידם הם, בשעה שמעצמם מתעוררים אז רוצים ומתרגשים, ובשעה שאין התעוררותם באה ממילא, הם נחים שוכבים נופלים, אשר מצב אנשים כאלו יש שאינו יותר טוב הרבה ולא פחות מסוכן מאשר מצב אנשים הראשונים המטומטמים לגמרי. והוא מין כף הקלע שבעולם הזה, אשר ברגע זו רוצה באמת ומשתוקק בנפשו וגם מתרגש התרגשות הקדושה, וברגע שלאחרי׳ הוא שפל, שיכור, נופל ומתגולל באשפה אין רצון ולא תשוקה לשום דבר קודש, ויש שעוד להיפך במחשבות ורצוניות רעות מתפעל ר״ל. ואפילו אם מכיר הוא את מצבו כי רע הוא ויש שגם דואג על סכנת גופו ונפשו השקועים בבצה הסרוחה עד מחנק נפש אף עד להטבע ח״ו ורוצה לרצות ולעורר עצמו, אף חושב בקרבו מה מאושר הייתי אילו יכולתי להציל עתה את כל עצמי מן הבצה בשביב של רצון ותשוקה, ומ״מ במחשבה ורצון לבדם אינו יכול. כי רק האיש שעבד כבר הרבה בקדושה יכול גם בדעתו לבדה לפעול על עצמו אף בשעה שאינו מתרגש כולו ברגשת הקודש. ומכש״כ כאשר יעמק בדעתו יותר בגדלות ד׳ באהבתו ויראתו, שכל היום גופו וכחותיו הפנימים עם מחשבותיו ורצונותיו, לדעתו דעת הקודש בטלים. לא כן אנו בדור הזה שגופנו בעבודה לא נשקע, ומוחנו ודעתנו לא נתעלו ולא נתחזקו בקדושה, קשה למשול על עצמנו במחשבה ורצון בלבד, אם גם כל גופנו לא יתרגש ברגשת הקודש, בשעה שרוצים להתרגש.
We are not just talking about people whose hearts are completely closed, or in other words, those who, experience no excitement whatsoever in their Avodas Hashem, Heaven forfend, and whose soul is like a person covered by a great pile of garbage who can’t so much as raise a finger above it. But we are concerned also with those who are even overcome with desire and excitement many times, yet their Avodah is erratic, so that when they are moved to exert themselves they feel the fire, but when it doesn’t happen of itself they serve without feeling, or even fall from any dedication and action whatsoever. Such people whose service is erratic are not in much of a greater position or in any less danger than the first case of the completely closed-hearted. A person who is not dedicated in actively arousing his soul in his avodah leads a kind of tortured existence. One minute he truly desires and his soul yearns and he brings these feelings into a holy activity, and a minute later he falls, like a drunk rolling around in the garbage, without any desire or excitement for anything holy. And even worse, some fall into destructive fantasies and even act upon them, Heaven forfend, all the while being aware that their thoughts or actions are evil. They may also be aware of the physical and spiritual dangers that they are putting themselves into by wallowing in such a stinking swamp that strangles their souls, drowning in the mire of their thoughts and actions. Such a person may want to desire, want to wake up his soul, and may even say to himself, “How happy I would be if I could wake up even a mere spark of desire and longing in order to save myself from this swamp!” Nonetheless, he cannot do it purely by means his intellect and will. Only a person who is more advanced in the service of God can arouse himself to serve with desire purely through contemplation - even at a time when his being is less involved in holy feelings. The result is even more effective if he deepens his contemplation of the greatness of Hashem as a result of his own love and reverence for the Almighty. And when he spends day and night devoting all his physical power, together with all of his inner potentialities, thoughts, and desires to serving God, he is then endowed with a holy consciousness.
11
וכבר אמרו חז״ל [בר״ר פל״ד] הצדיקים לבן ברשותן ולהיפך ח״ו, הם ברשות לבן. ובזה תלוי הכל, מי שלגמרי הוא ברשות לבו ואינו יכול להתגבר גם על תאוותיו לגמרי ח״ו, אז רשע הוא, אבל גם אותם יקרי רוח בחורי חמד ואברכים חסידים [חסידישע יונגעליוט] שבענינו התאוה אינם ברשות לבם ח״ו, לוחמים הם עם יצרם ומתגברים במלחמתם לבלי נפול ברשותו לעבור עבירה בפועל ח״ו, ועוד העיר ד׳ את רוחו עליהם שירצו להיות חסידים אף מתרגשים לפעמים מעצמם, גם הם אם לא יהיו גם בזה לבם ברשותם שיוכלו לעורר את עצמם כשיעלה בהמחשבתם, ויוכלו להתרגש בשעה שידעו שצריכים להתרגש, גם אלו לא יגיעו אל שום עלי׳ אף לא אל עקבי החסידות, וגם הם ח״ו יכולים להיות קלועים בכף הקלע הנ״ל. לכן מתחננים אנו בזה מד׳ שיזכנו לראות ולהראות את האופנים איך יוכל האיש להיות גם בענין הזה בידו, שיעורר את רצונו שהוא רצון הנפש כמ״ש זוה״ק הנ״ל, בשעה שיעלה במחשבתו, ולהתרגש בשעה שידע שצריך להתרגש, ומובטחני בד׳ אלקי ישראל המאיר את לבותם, והולך לפניהם תמיד בעמוד אש להאיר להם את הדרך דרך ד׳ ללכת בו אליו יומם ולילה, שכאשר יעלה בידנו לתת להאיש אופן ואמצעי איך יוכל ברצונו לזעזע את נפשו גם זעזוע מעטת, אף לזעזע קצוות נוצותי׳ בבחירתו, אז בעקבות החסידות ילך, ולא ישאר במצבו זה לבד אלא גם אל פסגת רומה יגיע ואל היכל ד׳ עם קדושיו אל הג״ע אשר בארץ יגיע.
The sages teach us (Bereishis Rabba, 34), “Tsaddikim are in possession of their hearts.” With the converse, God protect us, we see that that their hearts posses them. Everything depends on this. Someone whose heart possesses him and can not completely control his desires is called a “rasha” (evil one). But still, there are precious souls, sweet young men, “Chasidishe Yungelait,” (newly married Chassidic yeshiva students) who have worldly desires and are, “not in possession of their hearts.” But they do battle with their evil inclinations and emerge victorious in that they do not actually fall into sin, God forbid. Furthermore, God sends them an awakening of the divine soul within them and they yearn to be Chasidim, and then at times they bring about the arousal to avodas Hashem. And yet, if they are not in possession of their hearts to the point when they can will the arousal at the time when the thought arises, if they cannot feel excitement at a time when such excitement is warranted, then even they will not reach any great level even if they follow the path of Chasidus. Such students could also be “caught in the sling”27“B’caf hakelah.” This means, “in the receptacle of the slingshot.” The metaphor is used because just as the slingshot is wound round and round until the rock is ejected, so does a man whose service is swinging back and forth from unfeeling to fervent risk being ejected from any ability to serve at all. of the erratic religious personality who wavers in his dedication to serving God with soul. Therefore we beg Hashem to allow us to see and to show the angels how man can also have the ability to arouse his desire which then awakens the soul, as the Zohar teaches us. Master of the World! Let us be able to will the arousal at the time when the thought arises, and to feel excitement at a time when such excitement is warranted. I promise you, in the name of the God of Israel Who illuminates their souls, and goes ever before them in a pillar of fire to light His own way so that they may travel by it day and night, that when we provide man with the path and the means with which to willingly shake his soul even in the slightest, even as little as the decision to shake the tips of her feathers, then the student will truly be able to follow the path of Chassidus. Then he will not only remain in this state, but even reach the pinnacle of avodas Hashem, arriving at God’s heavenly chamber with its holy ones, making the Garden of Eden here on earth.
במה נתחיל להכשיר אותנו
The preparation of the Avreichim1See Bereishis (41:43), and Rashi thereon. Avreich generally means a young, newly married yeshiva student.
Getting Started.
מודעת זאת בספרים קדושים, שהצדיקים קדושי ישראל בעלי הקבלה, וכן קדושי החסידים עובדי ד׳ בדרך קדושנו הבעש״ט ותלמידיו זצ״ל, דרכי עבודת קדשם דרכי נביאי ד׳ הם. ובזוה״ק פ׳ תרומה [דף קנ״ד ע״א] אמר ר׳ יעקב על עצמו, ואנא מאן יהיב לי אתערותא דרוח קדשא למהוי בגו נביאי מהימני תלמידי דר״ש בן יוחאי דעלאין ותתאין זעין מני׳ עכ״ל הק׳. היינו שבענותנותו התפלא על עצמו שזכה להיות בין נביאי מהימני תלמידי רשב״י שעליונים ותחתונים מזדעזעין ממנו. ובפה״ק מאור ושמש פ׳ ויגש ופ׳ ראה איתא גם על הצדיקים מדור דור עובדי ד׳ אשר בדרך הבעש״ט זצ״ל שדרכי קדשם דרכי נביאי ד׳ הם, ע״ש.
We know through our holy sefarim that the ways of divine service of the master kabbalists of Israel, and similarly the ways of the Chassidim who followed the path taught by the Baal Shem Tov and his students, were none other than the ways practiced by the prophets of God. It is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 154a) that Rabbi Yaakov asked himself, “Who granted me this awakening of divine inspiration which allows me to be counted among the faithful prophets in the fellowship of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, before whom the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth tremble?” With sincere humility, Rabbi Yaakov was amazed that he was worthy of being associated with such a league of prophets.2That is to say, that Rabbi Shimon and his fellowship, who lived in the second century of the cCommon eEra, were on the level of prophets such as Chaggai, Zecharia, and Malachi, who lived six centuries earlier in the beginning of the time of the Great Assembly. You may question the opening thesis of the holy Piasesner by noting that the power of prophecy had left the world in the time of the Great Assembly. Furthermore, there is a difference between prophets and sages, and between prophets and masters of Kabbalah. And you may add that Gemara tells us that a sage is preferable to a prophet. And after all, each generation is different, and we know that there the level of greatness descends to the point where if we say the sages, not to mention the prophets, were like men, then we are like donkeys, but definitely not on the level of the donkey of Rav Pinchas ben Yair who kept kosher. All of this notwithstanding, a tradition of avodas Hashem (spiritual practice) is given over from generation to generation, and the inheritors of the tradition, from Avraham Avinu to Moshe Rabeynu to the prophet Malachi to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. No one would deny that the times have changed, to this very day it is in fact an uninterrupted tradition. A prophet is a vessel which receives the revelation of God, and a conduit for the revelation of God’s message. Yet it happens only in the context of the mesorah – the flow and transmission of Torah from master to disciple. Though it waxes and wanes as a result of how God wills that the Divine revelation needs to be granted unto each generation, it invariably remains the same mesorah, as the Torah is for all generations. Kabbalah means, “receiving.” The Piasesner Rebbe zts”l Hy”d is saying with simple elegance that though the prophets and the kabbalists of the Zohar may have received the Divine revelation at different levels of intensity, still, they obviously followed the same Torah in the context of the same transmission. And a central facet of this transmission was in fact the specific practices employed in order to learn to connect to God, even know Him, and receive His wisdom and message. Simply put, they used the same ways. (For more on the subject of mesorah and Kabbalah in the context of generational transmission, see the Introduction to the Beis Yaakov by Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin, zts”l trans. B. Edwards.) We also find mentioned3Parashos Vayigash and Re’eh. in the Maor Va’Shemesh4Kalonymus Kalman Epstein, (d. 1823), student of the Seer of Lublin, and Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk. that the Tsaddikim (righteous) of every generation who follow the ways taught by the Baal Shem Tov are in essence serving God in the way of the prophets.
והנה הנביאים הקדושים גם בעלי זוה״ק, האר״י, הבעש״ט ותלמידיהם זצ״ל מלאכי אֵל, מאתנו נשגבים, ודרכם דרך הקודש השמימה, מאתנו פלא, ואין אנו מרהיבים עוז, לעלות אל עליות קדשם ולהיות גדול כמוהם שרפי א-ל. אבל זאת אנו משתוקקים, וגם חובה היא עלינו לעבוד את ד׳ אלקי אבותינו, אלקי אברהם, אלקי יצחק ואלקי יעקב עבודה תמה עבודה שלימה בכל אברי גופנו ונפשנו, וכל חוט מגופנו וכל ניצוץ מנפשנו ח״ו לא יצאו מחוץ לקדושת ד׳ הממלאה ומקיפה אותנו.
The holy Prophets in the Torah,5From Abraham until Zecharia in the second century, BCE. the sages of the Zohar,6Zohar, second Century Israel. the Ari”zal,71534 - 1572, Tsfat, Israel. the Baal Shem Tov 81700 – 1760, Ukraine. and his students, they were all like angels of God, exalted beyond us! And their way, the holy path to heaven, is too wondrous for us! We would not make the audacious claim that we can reach their level of sanctity, for they were like God’s own seraphim. But still, we yearn to emulate their ways, and we are also under obligation9We promised God at mount Sinai to serve Him with complete devotion. The Rebbe Zts’L clearly implies that, yes, Torah observance is an obligation, but the path of Chassidim is exemplified by those who serve with joy and vigor. This book is a kind of manual of divine service, and its fourteen chapters are all a way of answering the question, “what is a Chassid and how does he serve Hashem?” to serve the God of Avraham, God of Yitschak, and God of Yaakov with a perfect and complete devotion, with every fiber of our bodies and every spark of our souls. May God take pity on us and not allow us to leave the state of being in His sanctity, which fills us and surrounds us.
וגם זאת, שלא די לנו להיות רק כעבד בן שפחה, שעובד ג״כ למלך, רק שעבודתו היא אחר הרחים הרחק מן המלך, את דבריו אינו שומע, ומזיוו אינו נהנה ומתענג, עבודה שהיא בסגירת המוח וטמטום הלב. ורצוננו ותשוקתנו הם להיות בחי׳ בן, בנים אתם לד׳ אלקיכם, שבעבודתנו לד׳ הן בתורה ותפילה והן בשאר המצוות, נרגיש את התקרבותנו לד׳, וכמו הבן ששמח לקראת אביו אחרי שלא ראהו כמה שנים, ואחרי שנתענה בגעגועים גדולים על אביו, כן גם אנחנו נשתוקק ונתגעגע אליו ית׳. ובזוה״ק תרומה [דף קכ״ח ע״ב] איתא ומנא ודעינן דהא קב״ה אתרעי בי׳ ומשוי מדורי׳ בי׳, כדחמינן דרעותא דההוא בר נש למרדף ולאשתדלא אבתרי׳ דקב״ה בלבי׳ ובנפשי׳ וברעותי׳, ודאי תמן ידעינן דשריא בי׳ שכינתא עכ״ל הק׳, [ומאין יודעין באיש, שהקב״ה רוצה בו ועושה דירתו בו. כאשר רואים שרצונו של האיש לרדוף ולהשתדל אחר הקב״ה בלבו ובנפשו וברצונו, יודעים שבודאי שורה בו השכינה] זאת אומרת שרק מי שברצונו, בלבו ונפשו רודף ומשתדל ומשתוקק אליו ית׳, קרוב הוא לד׳ והשכינה שורה בו.
It is not enough for us to be like a slave, son of a slave-woman, who indeed serves the king, yet his service is in the fields or at the millstone, far away from the company of the king. He does not hear the king’s words or delight in his presence. Such service is perfunctory, without thinking or feeling. Our desire and yearning is to be on the level of a son, “for you are sons to the Lord your God.” In this way one feels himself coming close to God through divine service, whether through study, prayer, or the fulfillment of mitzvos. We seek to serve God with the joy of a son who is reunited with his father after not seeing him for many years — elated and moved to be with him again after missing him so strongly and for so long. It is in this same way that we also yearn for God. It is written in the Zohar (Truma, 128b), “How do you know when the Holy One, blessed be He, desires a person and caused the Divine presence to dwell with him? When you see a person whose greatest desire is to run after the knowledge of God and struggles to serve Him with all his heart and all his soul, then you can know for certain that God’s presence rests on that person.” In other words, only one who runs after God with his whole heart and soul, serving Him with all his desire, is truly deemed as being close to God. Such a person can make himself into a dwelling place for the Shechinah.
ובשעת עבודתנו נרגיש את ריצת נפשנו לקראת אבי׳, שמתגעגעת עליו כל היום וכל הלילה, ריצה, ונמיסה, נמיסת הנפש בהשתפכותה אל חיק אבי׳ שבשמים. ולא בתפילה ועבודה בלבד נרגיש את התקרבותנו אל ד׳ ונתענג מזיו כבודו ית׳ רק גם תמיד, כי מי שבכל היום הדיוט הוא ובכל שעותיו נפשו קבורה במחצלת של קנים ושטותים, גם בתורתו, תפילתו ועבודתו הדיוט הוא, וגם בשעת עבודתו עבודת הקודש, נפשו לא תקום ח״ו, בכל היום צריך האיש להיות יהודי ובכל היום צריך הוא להיות קרוב אליו ית׳, פעם ביותר התרוממות ופעם בפחות מעט, יהודי הוא תמיד וגם בחי׳ בן להקב״ה תמיד יהי׳, וכל מעשינו בנפש תהיינה, עד שגם מחשבתנו תמיד תהא ברה, חזקה וקשורה בקדושתו. ואז גם נזכה שכ״כ תוכל נפשנו להתגבר על חושינו, שלא די שלא יוכלו חושינו לבלבל ולפתות את מחשבותינו, ולומר לנו עולם אתה רואה, וגשם אתה מרגיש, רק גם חושינו יכנעו למחשבת לבבנו, וגם הם יראו את קדושת ד׳ פרושה על כל הנמצא, וידע ויראה האדם אשר גם בעוה״ז נמצא הוא בגן ד׳ בעדן לפני כסא כבודו ית׳. ובמה נזכה לעבודה שלימה כזו. אם למצער את עקבי הנביאים המקובלים וצדיקי החסידות נשאף להכיר. צאי לך בעקבי הצאן עכ״פ את עקבי קדשם נראה, ובאבק דרכם דרכי ד׳ נתאבק, אף אל קרבנו נבלוע. ומעתה עלינו לדעת מהו עקב כל הקודש הזה ומה היא ההכשרה אשר יתכשר בה הבחור והאברך השואף ומשתוקק לזכות להיות חסיד.
At the time of our service we may feel our souls running towards God, like the reunion of the father and the son mentioned above. He longs for his father day and night, seeking him, his heart melts, our soul melts as it is poured out before our father in Heaven. It is not only at the time we are involved in prayer and divine service that we feel that we are coming close to God, rather it were well to be so close at all times. If a person leads a humdrum existence, where his soul is, so to speak, buried away under the carpet, then his prayer and divine service will also be routine. If he does not constantly take care of his soul and desire God, then he will not find inspiration when he turns to pray or engage in any holy endeavor. All day he must be a Yehudi,10A “Yehudi,” is a holy, self-actualized Jew. striving to be close to God. At times more, and at times less, but he is always a Yehudi, and he will always be on the level of a son to God. All his actions may be imbued with soul to the point where even his thoughts are always pure and strong - connected to God’s sanctity. Then he will reach a level where the soul overpowers his senses. In our service, it is not enough to bar our senses from confusing and seducing our thoughts, saying to us, “you see the world, and you feel real physical senses,” but rather our senses shall be subdued before our thoughts. Then our senses will feel the sanctity of God spread over all existence, and man will know and see in his very life how he lives in God’s garden of Eden before the throne of His glory, may He be blessed. How else may we merit such a complete service unless we are drawn, even slightly, after God’s knowledge on the heels of the Prophets, Kabbalists, and Tsaddikim among the Hasidim! “Follow after the hoofprints of the flock!” (Shir HaShirim 1:8). At least we will see the footprints of their kedushah11Kedushah = Holiness , and our wrestling will kick up the dust on the path of God.12A play on words, When Yaakov wrestled with the angel, the word for wrestling “misavek” is etymologically connected to the word for dust, “avak,” as if to say, when two people wrestle they kick up the dust with their movements. It is with this struggle that Yaakov received the name Israel, which has the connotation of, “one who wrestles with God.” Dust is also a symbol of meekness, as Abraham said, “What am I but dust and ashes.” So when one subdues himself before the great spiritual masters of Israel and struggles to follow their ways, he is then truly on the way to a complete service of God which transforms his consciousness to one of feeling the Divine presence in all walks of his life. Then the path and the sensation of God’s presence will truly be internalized. Now we need to examine the great reward reserved for this holy enterprise,13Again multiple meanings are implied in the author’s word choice. “Mahu Ekev” could be, “what is the purpose (what are the ends),” “what is the reward,” and even, “what is the heel” (reminiscent of the heels of the wrestlers, as well as Yaakov, who was holding onto his brother Eisav’s heel as he emerged after him at birth.) There are abundant homiletical explanations for the word, “ekev,” in Chasidic writings. See Psalm 19:12, “in keeping them is a great reward.” and the proper training that the aspiring young man who yearns to be a Chasid14A Hasid, literally “pious one,” loosely means someone who is a member of a community of Orthodox Jews which espouses the practices and flavor of the Divine service upheld and taught by the Baal Shem Tov and his students. must undergo in order to achieve this goal.
הנה ראשית ההתגלות בקדושי אֵל, היתה נפשם הישראלית, חלק אלקי ממעל אשר בקרבם, נתגלה להם, ואז בנפשם הגלוי׳ הוכשרו להעשות מרכבה לההתגלות הגדולה והנשגבה אשר זכו לה בקדשם. ובהקדמת שעה״ק מהרח״ו זצ״ל איתא שיש שנפשו עצמה בהזדככה מאוד תתגלה לאדם ותנהיגהו בכל דרכיו עכ״ל הק׳, היינו שיש צדיק שלא זכה יותר מן התגלות נפשו, לא לנבואה ולא לרוה״ק, וגם זאת מדרגה וגם היא תנהיגהו בדרכו אל ד׳.
Godly people first emerged into the history of the world with the advent of Jewish souls.15With Avraham Avinu., who was called, “ha’ivri,” which is the root of the word, “Hebrew.” The Jewish soul is called, “a Godly portion from on high,”16This verse (Iyov, 31:2), said by Iyov, is classically interpreted as his complaint, saying, perhaps with sarcasm, “look at the portion God has given me for all my good behavior, my house ruined, my children killed, and here I sit scratching my sores on a dunghill.” So it is interesting that in all of the cases I have reviewed in Chassidic writings it takes on the novel positive meaning that the soul of the Jew is a veritable portion of God. This is akin to the verse found near the end of the Torah (Devarim, 32:9), “God’s portion is His people,” which is interpreted to mean that the Jewish soul is connected to God. which rests among the Israelites, was revealed unto them, and prepares them to be a Chariot for the great and lofty revelation of Godliness that they merit through holy efforts. In the introduction to his work Shaarei Kedusha (Gates of Holiness) Rabbi Chaim Vital17Rav Chaim Vital, one of the greatest Kabbalists and the chief disciple of the Ari”zal, 1542-1620. writes, “When the soul is itself greatly refined, it becomes revealed to man, and it shall lead him in all his ways.” That is to say, it is possible to be a Tsaddik who merits neither prophecy nor divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh),18Prophecy presumably ended around the sixth century BCE, between the time of the destruction of the first temple (586) and its rebuilding under Ezra’s leadership. The Talmud records (Baba Batra, 12b) that after the destruction of the Temple, the power of prophecy was taken from the prophets and given over to children and fools (or madmen).” but indeed manages to achieve the level of feeling and knowing his own soul. This in itself is an admirable level which will lead him on his own way to knowing God.
ומעתה הבחור והאברך הנזהר בכל פרטי ודקדוקי דינים שבתורה שבכתב ושבע״פ, וגם בכל מנהגי קודש של ישראל, ומשתוקק עוד להתכשר להיות חסיד, צריך לעשות עוד לפנים משורת הדין, ולא בעשיות גופו לבדו יוסיף לעבוד את עבודתו עבודת הקודש לפנים משורת הדין אף לא במוחו ודעתו לבדו רק גם בנפשו. את נפשו יוסיף להעבוד ה׳ נפשו תתגלה. וכל גוף, נפש, רוח ונשמה שלו יעבדו את ד׳, ואז יבטח בד׳ שיזכהו להיות חסיד, וזה שרש״י ז״ל אומר במס׳ פסחים [דף מ״ח] בעל נפש, חסיד. היא ראשיתה ועיקרה של החסידות שיהי׳ בעל נפש.
Knowing this, the young man and the wise student who desires to prepare himself to be a true Chasid must be careful to not to merely perform all of the Torah’s commandments from both Biblical and Rabbinic law in all of their detail, as well as all of the holy customs and spiritual practices of Israel.19In a certain respect, Legal authorities equate Jewish customs with Rabbinic law, as it is said, “minhag yisrael halacha.” If he wants to be a true Chassid, he has to go beyond the letter of the law. That is to say, one could go beyond the letter of the law in the way of a mere religious action or intellectual exercise. The Chassid must do more. He has to imbue his venture beyond the letter of the law with soul. If he strives to serve God with soul, he will then experience a revelation of his soul. Then his entire being, meaning his body and all of the levels of his soul20Kabbalah teaches of five levels of soul, namely nefesh, ruach, neshama, chaya and yechidah, each one greater (higher, deeper) than the next. will serve God, and he can be sure that God will allow him to truly be a Chassid. What is a Chassid? Rashi tells us in his commentary on the Talmud (Pesachim, 40a), “a baal nefesh (one who through his great vigilance in performing mitzvoth possesses and thereby accesses his soul by entering his soul into his devotion).” The main point of “Chassidus,”21Chassidus is generally defined as the study of sacred texts written by students of the way of the Baal Shem Tov. But here we see that Chassidus is a state of being and a way of behavior. is for man to sincerely exemplify the characteristics of a, “baal nefesh.”
והוא שהרבינו לעיל בקונטרס חוה״ת לדבר איך שצריכים להתחיל גם בנערים ובחורים לעורר את נפשם בעבודתם, אבל אין אנו דורשים מכל מתחיל בעבודה שיתעורר בהתלהבות גדולה ומכש״כ בהתלהבות של הצדיקים הגדולים ברשפי אש האהבה והיראה, רק שעכ״פ תתרגש נפשם, בחי׳ בבית אלקים נהלך ברגש. וז״ל זוה״ק פ׳ לך [דף פ״ג ע״ב] נפש איהו אתערותא תתאה ודא סמיכא בגופא וזנת לי׳ וכו׳ והוא אתאחדת בגופא, לבתר אתתקנת ואת עבודת כרסייא לאשראה עלה רוח באתערותא דהאי נפש וכו׳, לבתר דמתקני תרווייהו זמינין לקבלא נשמה ע״ש, [ההתעוררות התחתונה שבאדם, נפשו היא, ונפש הזאת סמוכה לגוף וזנת לו לגוף ומתאחדת עמו, ואח״כ כשמתתקנת הנפש נעשה כסא שישרה עלי׳ הרוח בהתעוררות נפש הזאת, וכששניהם מתתקנים הנפש והרוח אז ממשיכים נשמה ע״ש.], זאת אומרת שאפילו איזה התעוררות וההתרגשות הכי קלושה שמעורר האיש בקרבו בעבודה, אפילו התרגשות נפשו החיונה הסמוכה לגוף, כבר גילה מעט את נפשו ולא את נפשו לבדה רק עי״ז גם את הרוח יעורר אף את הנשמה יגלה.
We have dwelt at length in the book, “A Student’s Obligation,” on how important it is for children and young men to arouse and sensitize their souls in the midst of their religious devotion. But nonetheless, we do not require from every beginner that he immediately succeed in arousing the emblazed hislahavus22Hislahavus is a state of burning ecstasy, overpowering fervor, that is one of the main characteristics of the path of Chassidic devotion. It comes from the root, “להב – flame,” and when voiced in the intensive form means, “to be burning on fire.” of the great Tsaddikim who burned with passionate love and fear of God in their devotions. Still, beginners should strive to develop passion and a deep feeling for their service, as the verse in the Tehillim enjoins us, “I will go to the house of God with excitement.” We find in the Zohar (1:83b), “Nefesh23Nefesh means soul, namely, the lowest level of soul. is an awakening from below. It is connected to the body and sustains it … it is united with the body, and cures it. When the nefesh is aroused it then becomes a throne for the Ruach24Ruach is a higher level of the soul. For the body to be considered alive, it must be united with the nefesh. The nefesh is the fundamental level of life energy. Yet it could be dormant, and a person is still considered physically alive. However, the Zohar is telling us that it is only when the nefesh is awakened and aroused that a person can attain, experience and negotiate the higher level of soul called Ruach (spirit). to rest upon … Once both (the nefesh and the ruach) have been established, man is ready to receive the Neshama (a higher level than the ruach).” This passage in the Zohar must be studied carefully. That is to say, even the weakest awakening of the nefesh that man experiences in his divine service, even the most basic awakening of the vital soul that is so close to the physical body, serves to reveal the nefesh to man’s consciousness. And it does not just wake man up to his nefesh, but also reveals the deeper levels of ruach and neshama.
הכל חפצים ליראה את שמך [סליחות א׳] אבל הרבה מהם כל יראתם אף אהבתם לד׳ רק בדעתם הוא, שבדעתם יודעים שצריכים לאהוב ולירא מד׳ ולדאבונם אף לצערם אינם מרגישים בקרבם בפועל לא התרגשות אהבה ולא יראה. אף בענין הרצון יש שבדעתו כ״כ פשוט וברור לו שצריך הוא לרצות ולהשתוקק לחיות בכל היום חיים טהורים ולהתקשר לנצח בזה ובבא בד׳ ע״י תורה, תפילה, מצוות ומעשים טובים הנעשים בנפש לוי׳ וקשורה בו ית׳ בטהרתו וקדושתו, ומ״מ רק רוצה לרצות. ורק יודע הוא שצריך להשתוקק כן, ואינו מרגיש לא רצון אף לא תשוקה.
“All desire to fear Your Name.”25Slichos liturgy, first night. True, but for many people fear and love of God remain intellectual. They know that it is good and proper to love and revere the Almighty. And to their dismay, even to their distress, they have no real tangible feelings of love and reverence. Even concerning desire, there is a kind of person who knows with absolute clarity that he needs to desire and yearn to lead a pure life for the length of his life. He knows that he needs to constantly connect to God with a revealed soul through Torah, prayer, mitzvoth, and good deeds, all done with purity and holiness. Yet still, he remains on the level of wanting to desire and knowing that it is correct to yearn,26That is to say, they merely know that it is right to yearn to be truly close to God with love and reverence. without actually feeling any desire or yearning.
ולא באותן בני אדם לבד שלבם מטומטם לגמרי קאמרינן שאין להם שום התרגשות בשום פעם ר״ל, ונפשם טמונה תחת תל גדול של אשפה מבלי להושיט אף אצבע מאצבעותי׳ החוצה, רק גם באלו שיש להם זמנים שרוצים ומתרגשים, והרבה פעמים מתרגשים. רק התרגשותם ורצונם לא בידם הם, בשעה שמעצמם מתעוררים אז רוצים ומתרגשים, ובשעה שאין התעוררותם באה ממילא, הם נחים שוכבים נופלים, אשר מצב אנשים כאלו יש שאינו יותר טוב הרבה ולא פחות מסוכן מאשר מצב אנשים הראשונים המטומטמים לגמרי. והוא מין כף הקלע שבעולם הזה, אשר ברגע זו רוצה באמת ומשתוקק בנפשו וגם מתרגש התרגשות הקדושה, וברגע שלאחרי׳ הוא שפל, שיכור, נופל ומתגולל באשפה אין רצון ולא תשוקה לשום דבר קודש, ויש שעוד להיפך במחשבות ורצוניות רעות מתפעל ר״ל. ואפילו אם מכיר הוא את מצבו כי רע הוא ויש שגם דואג על סכנת גופו ונפשו השקועים בבצה הסרוחה עד מחנק נפש אף עד להטבע ח״ו ורוצה לרצות ולעורר עצמו, אף חושב בקרבו מה מאושר הייתי אילו יכולתי להציל עתה את כל עצמי מן הבצה בשביב של רצון ותשוקה, ומ״מ במחשבה ורצון לבדם אינו יכול. כי רק האיש שעבד כבר הרבה בקדושה יכול גם בדעתו לבדה לפעול על עצמו אף בשעה שאינו מתרגש כולו ברגשת הקודש. ומכש״כ כאשר יעמק בדעתו יותר בגדלות ד׳ באהבתו ויראתו, שכל היום גופו וכחותיו הפנימים עם מחשבותיו ורצונותיו, לדעתו דעת הקודש בטלים. לא כן אנו בדור הזה שגופנו בעבודה לא נשקע, ומוחנו ודעתנו לא נתעלו ולא נתחזקו בקדושה, קשה למשול על עצמנו במחשבה ורצון בלבד, אם גם כל גופנו לא יתרגש ברגשת הקודש, בשעה שרוצים להתרגש.
We are not just talking about people whose hearts are completely closed, or in other words, those who, experience no excitement whatsoever in their Avodas Hashem, Heaven forfend, and whose soul is like a person covered by a great pile of garbage who can’t so much as raise a finger above it. But we are concerned also with those who are even overcome with desire and excitement many times, yet their Avodah is erratic, so that when they are moved to exert themselves they feel the fire, but when it doesn’t happen of itself they serve without feeling, or even fall from any dedication and action whatsoever. Such people whose service is erratic are not in much of a greater position or in any less danger than the first case of the completely closed-hearted. A person who is not dedicated in actively arousing his soul in his avodah leads a kind of tortured existence. One minute he truly desires and his soul yearns and he brings these feelings into a holy activity, and a minute later he falls, like a drunk rolling around in the garbage, without any desire or excitement for anything holy. And even worse, some fall into destructive fantasies and even act upon them, Heaven forfend, all the while being aware that their thoughts or actions are evil. They may also be aware of the physical and spiritual dangers that they are putting themselves into by wallowing in such a stinking swamp that strangles their souls, drowning in the mire of their thoughts and actions. Such a person may want to desire, want to wake up his soul, and may even say to himself, “How happy I would be if I could wake up even a mere spark of desire and longing in order to save myself from this swamp!” Nonetheless, he cannot do it purely by means his intellect and will. Only a person who is more advanced in the service of God can arouse himself to serve with desire purely through contemplation - even at a time when his being is less involved in holy feelings. The result is even more effective if he deepens his contemplation of the greatness of Hashem as a result of his own love and reverence for the Almighty. And when he spends day and night devoting all his physical power, together with all of his inner potentialities, thoughts, and desires to serving God, he is then endowed with a holy consciousness.
וכבר אמרו חז״ל [בר״ר פל״ד] הצדיקים לבן ברשותן ולהיפך ח״ו, הם ברשות לבן. ובזה תלוי הכל, מי שלגמרי הוא ברשות לבו ואינו יכול להתגבר גם על תאוותיו לגמרי ח״ו, אז רשע הוא, אבל גם אותם יקרי רוח בחורי חמד ואברכים חסידים [חסידישע יונגעליוט] שבענינו התאוה אינם ברשות לבם ח״ו, לוחמים הם עם יצרם ומתגברים במלחמתם לבלי נפול ברשותו לעבור עבירה בפועל ח״ו, ועוד העיר ד׳ את רוחו עליהם שירצו להיות חסידים אף מתרגשים לפעמים מעצמם, גם הם אם לא יהיו גם בזה לבם ברשותם שיוכלו לעורר את עצמם כשיעלה בהמחשבתם, ויוכלו להתרגש בשעה שידעו שצריכים להתרגש, גם אלו לא יגיעו אל שום עלי׳ אף לא אל עקבי החסידות, וגם הם ח״ו יכולים להיות קלועים בכף הקלע הנ״ל. לכן מתחננים אנו בזה מד׳ שיזכנו לראות ולהראות את האופנים איך יוכל האיש להיות גם בענין הזה בידו, שיעורר את רצונו שהוא רצון הנפש כמ״ש זוה״ק הנ״ל, בשעה שיעלה במחשבתו, ולהתרגש בשעה שידע שצריך להתרגש, ומובטחני בד׳ אלקי ישראל המאיר את לבותם, והולך לפניהם תמיד בעמוד אש להאיר להם את הדרך דרך ד׳ ללכת בו אליו יומם ולילה, שכאשר יעלה בידנו לתת להאיש אופן ואמצעי איך יוכל ברצונו לזעזע את נפשו גם זעזוע מעטת, אף לזעזע קצוות נוצותי׳ בבחירתו, אז בעקבות החסידות ילך, ולא ישאר במצבו זה לבד אלא גם אל פסגת רומה יגיע ואל היכל ד׳ עם קדושיו אל הג״ע אשר בארץ יגיע.
The sages teach us (Bereishis Rabba, 34), “Tsaddikim are in possession of their hearts.” With the converse, God protect us, we see that that their hearts posses them. Everything depends on this. Someone whose heart possesses him and can not completely control his desires is called a “rasha” (evil one). But still, there are precious souls, sweet young men, “Chasidishe Yungelait,” (newly married Chassidic yeshiva students) who have worldly desires and are, “not in possession of their hearts.” But they do battle with their evil inclinations and emerge victorious in that they do not actually fall into sin, God forbid. Furthermore, God sends them an awakening of the divine soul within them and they yearn to be Chasidim, and then at times they bring about the arousal to avodas Hashem. And yet, if they are not in possession of their hearts to the point when they can will the arousal at the time when the thought arises, if they cannot feel excitement at a time when such excitement is warranted, then even they will not reach any great level even if they follow the path of Chasidus. Such students could also be “caught in the sling”27“B’caf hakelah.” This means, “in the receptacle of the slingshot.” The metaphor is used because just as the slingshot is wound round and round until the rock is ejected, so does a man whose service is swinging back and forth from unfeeling to fervent risk being ejected from any ability to serve at all. of the erratic religious personality who wavers in his dedication to serving God with soul. Therefore we beg Hashem to allow us to see and to show the angels how man can also have the ability to arouse his desire which then awakens the soul, as the Zohar teaches us. Master of the World! Let us be able to will the arousal at the time when the thought arises, and to feel excitement at a time when such excitement is warranted. I promise you, in the name of the God of Israel Who illuminates their souls, and goes ever before them in a pillar of fire to light His own way so that they may travel by it day and night, that when we provide man with the path and the means with which to willingly shake his soul even in the slightest, even as little as the decision to shake the tips of her feathers, then the student will truly be able to follow the path of Chassidus. Then he will not only remain in this state, but even reach the pinnacle of avodas Hashem, arriving at God’s heavenly chamber with its holy ones, making the Garden of Eden here on earth.