“Moshe assembled the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and said to them: ‘These are the things that Hashem commanded, to do them: ‘On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem…’” (Chapter 35, Verses 1-2)  Before beginning to detail the building of the Tabernacle, the Parsha begins with a warning to keep Shabbos.  The Jewish people were taught here by Moshe and in several other places in the Torah that the building of the Tabernacle does not override the commandment to keep Shabbos.

Rebbe Noson asks, why would someone think that the building of the Tabernacle would allow working on Shabbos, behold there is no mitzvah which is not time bound which nullifies Shabbos?  He explains that the work of building the Tabernacle and its vessels is the spiritual aspect of building the palace of holiness, היכל הקודש, which means bringing other souls closer to Hashem.  By building the Tabernacle the Jewish people brought down Hashem’s presence into their midst, which is called the shechinah.  This means that the feeling of closeness and connection to God at the time of the Tabernacle, and afterwards in the Holy Temple, was much more powerful and tangible.  Just as the Tabernacle was built physically with its most important part being the hall of holiness, which was before the curtain where the ark was placed, so too the spiritual hall of holiness was built by the souls of the Jewish people which came closer to Hashem through the leadership of Moshe, who led the building.  Therefore we find, says Rebbe Noson, that this task of building the Tabernacle, which was a resting place for Hashem’s presence amongst the Jewish people, is very precious and important before God, more than any other service in the world.  Why?  Because the main revelation of Hashem’s greatness and his glory is when those who are far from him return and come closer to His service.  For example, the Holy Zohar says that when Yitro came and converted to Judaism, Hashem’s name (the knowledge of Hashem in this world) was made much more glorious in the whole world.  This matter of building the spiritual Tabernacle by bringing Jewish souls closer to God, this is the aspect of keeping Shabbos, Rebbe Noson says, and therefore someone might mistakenly have thought that the work of building the Tabernacle would take precedent over observing Shabbos.  Therefore, before the actual building of the Tabernacle started, Hashem commanded the Jewish people to rest on Shabbos. (Likutei Halachot, Laws of a Mixture, 5^th teaching)

This is something that we can all do.  We can all help someone else come closer to Hashem by learning with them or speaking with them about faith and meaning.  Rebbe Nachman teaches in the book Advice about happiness, “When a person is happy, he can give encouragement and vitality to another person.  It is a very great thing to make the heart of another person happy…” (Simcha, 38^th teaching) I think that the same thing is true when we are able to teach and share with other people teachings of Torah and emunah (faith). A person feels true healing in their soul when they come closer to Hashem, when they feel a true connection with Him and when they are searching to discover what is their special purpose in the world.

This teaching about the Tabernacle helps me reflect on my own journey in life, especially since moving to Israel over thirteen years ago.  Right after making Aliyah in the summer of 2005 I went to learn at Machon Meir, a yeshiva in Jerusalem for newly observant young men from all over the world who want to learn Torah.  One of the special gifts I received there, in addition to the regular schedule of classes, was being able to learn with good mentors, people with more experience than me who gave of their time and knowledge to help me learn Torah and Jewish observance.  These Rabbis and mentors also invited me and other students to their homes for Shabbos and holidays.  I was able to feel the warmth of a home environment and learn more what it meant to build a Jewish home based on Torah values.  Inside myself I always had a desire to be able to do the same thing one day.  One day in personal prayer I was asking myself, ‘what is my yeud (my special purpose in this world)?’  I had been listening to my wife share about this concept for about a year, so I kept asking myself that question.  What came to me was helping others find more meaning in their lives and come closer to Hashem.  Shortly after this prayer and realization I contacted my old yeshiva and volunteered to come once a week to learn with students in the English speaking program.  This was about 5 years after I had left the yeshiva to move down to Shomria.  It was an amazing experience being back at the yeshiva, being able to learn Torah with the students and make new connections with people who had amazing stories!  Also today, I feel like it is a special privilege for me to be able to do the same thing now with young men at the yeshiva I teach at in the evenings here in Bet Shemesh, Ashrenu.

There is someone out there waiting for you, for your special light, to learn with them, to give them some kind words, to help them grow from whatever place they find themselves in at that moment.

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)

“The people saw that Moshe had delayed in descending the mountain, and the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Rise up, make for us gods that will go before us, for this man Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt- we do not know what became of him!’”  Shortly after receiving the Torah, the Jewish people fell into the sin of the Golden Calf, they made an idol when they (mistakenly) saw that Moshe had not come down from Mount Sinai yet.  After learning of the sin, Moshe prayed before Hashem: “Moshe pleaded before Hashem, his God, and said, ‘Why, Hashem, should Your anger flare up against Your people, whom You have taken out of the land of Egypt, with great power and a strong hand?… Remember for the sake of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yisrael, Your servants…” (Chapter 32, Verses 1; 11; 13)  Rebbe Noson explains that the Tsaddikim are always trying to sweeten any harsh judgements which might be upon the Jewish people or upon any individual due to sin, just like Moshe immediately prayed here on behalf of the Jewish people.  They dedicate themselves to this task all the time, in order to lift people up from their fallen state of sin and help them return to Hashem.  The Sages taught that Moshe was able to achieve this avodah (service) even more than Noach and Avraham before him.

Moshe Rabenu, because of his amazing closeness to Hashem and his great level of prophecy and knowledge, was always able to see the merits of the Jewish people, even right after they committed the sin of the Golden Calf.  He had mercy on the Jewish people and continued to pray for them and defend them before God.  Then, after Hashem accepted Moshe’s prayers, he taught him the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.  We say the Thirteen Attributes on fast days and in many congregations we say them every day during the supplications said after the Amidah prayer.  Through these attributes of mercy, God revealed to Moshe the deepest knowledge- that He is full of compassion and good to all, and He has patience even with those who are wicked.  Hashem favors the attribute of kindness and he judges everyone favorably, even if a person has committed many sins.  The little bit of good which can be found in the person outweighs the bad. (Likutei Halachot, Laws of Shiluach HaKen, 4^th teaching, and Laws of Waking in the Morning, 1^st teaching)

Rebbe Nachman teaches in lesson 119 in Likutei Moharan (Part One) that the amount of compassion we are able to have on others depends upon our level of knowledge.  The Sages taught that anyone who is compassionate to others, Hashem has compassion on him.  Therefore, Rebbe Nachman says, when a person needs compassion, he is in some sort of difficult situation for example, Hashem sends him someone else who also needs compassion, and through his compassion for the other person, he too is judged mercifully.

There was a small incident which happened to me this week which is connected to the subject of compassion for others.  I was at the shul which I daven at during the week to pray Mincha and Ma’ariv.  I usually sit at the same table and the same chair.  I got up a few minutes before Ma’ariv to use the bathroom, and when I returned there was an older man sitting in the seat I had been sitting in, talking on the phone.  I didn’t say anything, I just motioned to him ‘you can sit there’, and took the prayer book I was using, and sat on the other side of the table.  Then he said to me, ‘I need a prayer book.’  Again I didn’t say anything and went over to the shelf to take another one for myself, and gave him the one I had been using.  In the end, he got up from the chair and didn’t even use the prayer book.  Nevertheless, I felt happy inside that I was able to be respectful to him and overcome the place inside myself which wanted to say, ‘Hey, excuse me, you took my seat and also the prayer book I was using, who do you think you are?!  What a chutzpah!’  I could see that the man didn’t look well physically and emotionally and needed compassion.  He was there with another man accompanying him, and it seemed from their conversation that they were looking for money for tzedakah.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan tells a story in his book, Chasidic Masters, about the great Chasidic Rebbe, Levi Yitzhak of Berdichov: “It is told that a teamster in Berdichov was once saying his morning prayers, while at the same time greasing the wheels of his wagon.  He was an outlandish sight, Tallit and Tefilin together with grease covered hands, and the townspeople snickered, ‘Look at this ignoramus!  He doesn’t know better than to grease a wagon while praying!’  Rebbe Levi Yitzhak then came by and remarked, ‘Master of the universe! Look at your servant here.  Even while greasing his wagon, he is still praising Your great and holy name.” (Page 69)  He saw the man in a completely different light.  He was known by all as the defender and advocate of the Jewish people.  “The poor, the meek, the humble, were not only part of his life, but were his entire existence… Rebbe Levi Yitzhak overflowed with love and tenderness to even the lowliest Jew.” (Page 71)

When we have mercy on other people, so to we are judged with mercy and favor.  We too, like Moshe, can emulate Hashem’s attribute of mercy by being compassionate to others.

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)

“Now you shall command the Children of Israel that they shall take for you pure olive oil, pressed for illumination, to kindle a lamp continually.” (Chapter 27, Verse 20) Our parsha begins by talking about the Menorah, the special seven branched candelabrum which was made to burn an eternal light in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and then afterwards in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Rebbe Noson explains that the pure oil was brought specifically to Moshe, because he represents the entire Torah.   He was the true Tsaddik who could awaken and illuminate the souls of each individual Jew, whose souls are rooted in the Torah.  This is why the verse says “you shall command the Children of Israel”; the word command in Hebrew, תצוה, also means making a connection.  Hashem said to Moshe you should connect the Jewish souls to their root in the Torah, so that the Torah will be illuminated for each and every person, according to his soul (I think this is based on the teaching that every Jew has a special letter in the Torah).  It was upon the Jewish people to bring to Moshe pure olive oil, meaning that they needed to awaken themselves and bring to the Tsaddik their pure olive oil, which is the aspect of the goodness of their minds and their knowledge (meaning their souls), which is called holy oil.  So to today, each person needs to bring their good point, their pure olive oil- the pure goodness which they still find inside themselves to the Tsaddik.  A person’s intention in bringing the oil to the Tsaddik should be that the light of the Tsaddik will shine on him, so that his soul is ignited and shines like a candle, which is the aspect of “A man’s soul is the lamp of Hashem” (Proverbs, Chapter 20, Verse 27).  This is why the Jewish people were commanded to bring the pure olive oil to the Tsaddik, Moshe. (Likutei Halachot, Laws of Breaking Bread, 5^th teaching)

In Rebbe Nachman’s teachings and in the Chassidic teachings in general, connecting to the Tsaddik has a lot of importance.  Connecting to him means learning his teachings and trying to follow the advice which he reveals in his teachings about life and about how to serve Hashem.  Rebbe Noson writes in Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom that Rebbe Nachman knew all of the souls of the Jewish people and he knew how to give each person a special rectification (tikun) according to what his soul needed. (Teaching 185)  In this world we are in a state of forgetfulness and sleep, spiritually, and our job is to try to wake up and remember where we came from and who we really are.  Rebbe Nachman explains that the Tsaddikim blow on our hearts, spiritually; they blow off the dust of depression and sadness which is covering our hearts.  They help our hearts re-ignite with burning desire to come closer to Hashem. (Likutei Moharan, 9^th teaching, 2^nd Part)

I think that a prayer which I wrote down for myself a long time ago on Erev Pesach helped me to start sharing these teachings on the Parsha: Hashem please help me spread the healing light of Rabbenu z”l (Rebbe Nachman).  Ever since I began learning and connecting, in a deep way, with Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, I have been praying to Hashem to be able to share them.  It has been an amazing experience each week to share a teaching on the parsha and also to be able to share experiences from my life.  I remember a long time ago speaking during Succos to a good friend of mine from the community we used to live in, Shomria.  I visited him in his Succah and I remember telling him as we parted that I feel like something is missing, I’m missing something in my life, in my connection to Hashem.  Even though I already felt like my life had improved so much and was so much more meaningful living in Israel and becoming Torah observant, I still felt a lacking inside.  It was shortly after this conversation that another friend in Shomria asked me if I wanted to join the workshop he was starting based on Breslov teachings.  I said sure.  After the holidays we started learning and talking together once a week.  I was the only one who showed up to the ‘workshop’.  One of the first subjects we learned about was personal prayer, which is something that Rebbe Nachman greatly stressed and encouraged his students to fulfill every day.  I said to myself, ‘wow, I have to try this.’  I would walk home after the evening prayers the long way, taking an extra 10 or 15 minutes, on a new road which had just been paved for a new neighborhood.  At first it definitely felt strange, what am I doing here, and what am I supposed to do? However, I remember looking up at the bright stars at night, in the northern Negev, and I started to feel the power of Rebbe Nachman’s advice.  Even if it felt hard to speak and express myself before G-d, it was good just to get some fresh air and have quiet time to think.  It felt like a whole new world was opening up before me.  Not instantly, but I quickly felt my life starting to change.

This is the power of connecting to a Tsaddik and following his advice.  His powerful light begins to illuminate your soul.  If we are willing to open our hearts and minds and follow him with faith, it will make a powerful difference in our life.  The more that we try to connect to a Tsaddik and follow his advice, the more he helps us to shine our candle, the light of our soul which is rooted in the Torah.

(Inspired by a class by David Mark from Breslov Research Institute, and a workshop given by Doron Stern which I attended this week in Shomria.)

Image courteous of Chabad.org

Our Parsha speaks about the preparations for building the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.  “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take My portion.  This is the portion that you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper; and turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool; linen and goat hair.” (Chapter 25, Verses 1-4)  After the sin of the Golden Calf (which we will actually read about in next week’s Parsha) the Jewish people were commanded to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.  Rebbe Noson asks a famous question: how could the Jewish people fall into the sin of idol worship after they had just merited reaching the very high level of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai?  He explains, based on a spiritual principle which Rebbe Nachman teaches, that every time a person needs to reach a new level, bad spiritual forces come against him and try to knock him down.  Sometimes when a person is not able to find strength to overcome them and break them anew, then he can fall to an even worse spiritual state than before.  Because of this the Jewish people failed at the end of the first forty days that Moshe went up to Mount Sinai, they didn’t try to break the obstacles and they fell into the sin of the Calf.  They were supposed to have received the first set of tablets when Moshe came down from the mountain.  Afterwards, when Hashem accepted Moshe’s prayers of teshuva (repentance) on behalf of the Jewish people, Hashem revealed to Moshe the advice of how to merit to overcome the obstacles and bad spiritual forces which stand in a person’s way at each level.  They were commanded to build the Tabernacle by way of tzedakah, generosity of the heart, which was the main aspect of building the Tabernacle.  The beautiful colors and materials of the Tabernacle shined because they were given from the goodness and the generosity of the Jewish people.  Through giving, through charity and kindness a person will merit to break through the obstacles he faces to reach a new level in his Judaism. (Likutei Halachot, Laws of Collecting a Debt etc., 3^rd teaching; based on Likutei Moharan, 25^th teaching, Part One)

When I was learning once this teaching in the book Restore My Soul with a friend, we discussed why Rebbe Nachman gives this advice in order to help a person overcome the obstacles and bad forces he faces when he needs to rise to a new level.  He said to me that many times when a person faces challenges and difficulties, he tends to be focused on his own problems.  He’s worried about himself and not looking at the people around him.  However, through the act of tzedakah he focuses on somebody else, he gives to another person.  He changes his focus from himself and his problems to helping another person.  Rebbe Nachman also says in this teaching that the main revelation of Hashem’s greatness in the world is through tzedakah.  (Restore My Soul, 6^th-7^th teaching, Part One)  The main power of tzedakah, Rebbe Nachman explains, is to break the cruelty inside of us and turn it into mercy.  Through giving tzedakah we merit to bring down upon ourselves and upon others Hashem’s kindness and abundance. (Likutei Moharan, 4^th teaching, Part Two)

I told a friend recently that when we moved here to Bet Shemesh from Shomria, a small community in the South of Israel, it was hard for me to get used to giving more tzedakah when I would go to prayers at shul.  In Shomria I was used to just putting a few coins each day in one of the tzedakah boxes at the back of the shul.  There were never any men who would come to the shul during prayers to ask for tzedakah, since it was 25 to 30 minutes from any larger population center.  Here in Bet Shemesh I’ve become accustomed to giving a few coins to several of the men who come to the shul every morning collecting tzedakah, on top of the money I give to the shul’s tzedakah box.  It was hard for me, as Rebbe Nachman teaches, to overcome the feeling inside of opposition to giving more tzedakah.  There is a voice and feeling inside which says, ‘Hey it’s my money, why should I give it you?’  However, in truth, all of our livelihood is a gift from Hashem, and He wants us to use our money, each according to his ability, to fulfill mitzvahs and acts of kindness.  Through tzadakah we reveal Hashem’s greatness in the world.  Just as Hashem bestows upon us life and an endless amount of kindnesses and assistance, so too, we can come closer to Him by emulating his ways.  Just as He does kindness, we want to help others with kindness and charity.  When we give charity to someone who really needs the assistance, our money and possessions are also spiritually elevated.  We are using our livelihood to do kindness and this makes a Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d’s name in the world.  Hashem is revealed more in the world.

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)

The first mitzvah we encounter in this week’s Parsha is that of a Jewish slave.  “If you buy a Jewish bondsman, he shall work for six years; and in the seventh he shall go free, for no charge.  If he shall arrive by himself, he shall leave by himself; if he is the husband of a woman, his wife shall leave with him.” (Chapter 21, Verses 2-3)  Rebbe Noson discusses why, in a deeper sense, a Jewish slave must be set free after six years.  He explains that truly slavery has no connection to the Jewish people whatsoever.  Therefore this Jewish man who fell into such a low state where he was sold by the Beis Din (Jewish court) to be a servant in order to pay back the victims he stole from, needs to be set free in the seventh year.  The seventh year is the aspect of Shabbos.  Shabbos is a taste of Heaven in this world and it’s above time.  On Shabbos the light of faith shines in a much more powerful way.  This Jewish servant, due to a lack of knowledge and faith fell so much into the limitations of this world to the point that he was sold to work in servitude, because of his theft.  Therefore this Jewish slave should not work more than six years, because “in the seventh he shall go free, for no charge”; on Shabbos every person on their level, even someone who had been a Jewish slave, can connect to this aspect of the nullification of time.  He can go above the confines of this world, and he can connect to faith and holiness which are above the limitations of time.  (Likutei Halachot, Laws of Bris Milah, 4^th teaching)

Hashem is above time and space, and we can connect to this reality even more on Shabbos than during the week.  We can rise above our daily constrictions and stresses and connect to a different reality.  Personally, this is an area where I struggle a lot.  Many times I find myself constricted about times and my daily schedule.  For example, what time do I want leave in the morning to take my daughter to school and to go to shul?  If we are late for whatever reason I feel tense and nervous.  I feel a loss of control.  If I need to be at a meeting or appointment at a certain time, I usually have anxiety about getting ready and leaving on time.  Many times in life I feel the constriction of time.  However, we learn from this teaching that when we let go of control and have faith that we will get to our destination exactly when we are supposed to get there, this will relieve a lot of the stress and anxiety involved.  The more knowledge and faith that we merit to obtain, the less we will feel the constrictions of time and space.  We’re really not in control, and when we let go and let Hashem into our lives, we will see how He is helping us exactly in those times and situations where we don’t see how it will work out, based on our limited perception.  Shabbos gives us the faith and the strength to rise above these stressful situations.  On Shabbos we testify that Hashem created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh day.  By keeping the Shabbos, we express our faith that He is the Creator and King of the World, and through this faith we can rise above the limitations of time and space which we feel are holding are us back.

Rebbe Nachman says in the book Advice that through keeping Shabbos we merit to obtain emunah (faith).  All of the blessings and abundance which we receive from giving tzedakah or other forms of kindness, they only have completion through Shabbos, which is the source of all blessing.  Any aspect of completion which we can obtain in this world is through the holiness of Shabbos.  Rebbe Nachman adds too that true knowledge and understanding of the Torah are also obtained through the holiness of Shabbos.  This gives us a little taste of how important and central Shabbos is to our lives as Jews. (Shabbos, 2^nd teaching)

Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come, a taste of Heaven.  We can taste and experience a little bit of Heaven here in this world through the holiness of Shabbos.  We need these special times of the year, Shabbos every week, and all the other holidays during the year where we can re-charge and connect ourselves on a much deeper level to our faith and to true knowledge.  These special times during the calendar will give us the clarity, strength and faith to deal with daily life, to overcome all of the challenges we face and enable us to find meaning in everything we go through in our lives.

(The image is courteous of Yehoshua Wiseman)

In this week’s parsha the Jewish people receive the Torah at Mount Sinai.  “In the third month from the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai.” (Chapter 19, Verse 1)  Rebbe Noson explains that the main revelation of the Torah was by way of love, kindness, and strong will and longing for holiness.  All of the earlier Tzaddikim who lived before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai were only involved in wanting and longing to come closer to Hashem and to know Hashem, this was their main service of Hashem.  Avraham, who is called the first of the believers and the first to be circumcised, merited even more than the other Tsaddikim this aspect of will and longing; longing to reveal Hashem’s kindness and love in the world, which was the main attribute of our patriarch Avraham.  From the time of Avraham the light of the Torah began to be revealed more in the world.  After him, Yitzhak and Ya’akov and Ya’akov’s sons also continued this path of longing to reveal Godliness in the world until the time of Moshe Rabenu (our teacher), who merited to receive the Torah on behalf of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.  The Patriachs and the Tsaddikim who came after them wanted so deeply to reveal Godliness in the world, to reveal the Torah. (Likutei Halachot, Laws of Blood, 1^st Teaching)

The power and importance of our will is a major subject in Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, a critical aspect of serving Hashem which he strongly emphasized.  He teaches in Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom that the main thing in serving Hashem is a person’s will and longing, and even if he is not able to actualize his desire to fulfill the mitzvah or good deed, the will itself is very good. (14^th teaching)

The power of will is the main thing which everything depends on.  Our only real choice is to continue wanting or to despair.  Rebbe Nachman famously screamed as he was giving over once a teaching, ‘There is no despair in the world!’  Despair is an imaginary solution that we let ourselves fall into, but really, Rebbe Nachman teaches, there is no reason to despair, as bleak as the situation might seem.  What is upon us?  To ask ourselves, ‘how much do I really want this?  Where am I with my will?  Am I staying strong or am I allowing myself to give up?  Why am I giving up?  What am I afraid of?’  The results are not up to us, but there is nothing in the world which can stop us from wanting something.  We need to also ask ourselves every day, ‘what do I want?  What good things do I want for myself, my family…?’ Expressing our good desires, speaking them out, helps us to actualize them.  “In order for the will to be actualized, one needs to speak his desire and longing, and by way of this a person is able to actualize his request and he will reach the goal which he desires.” (Rebbe Nachman’s Advice, Ratzon[1], 2^nd teaching)

This week after thinking about this teaching, I asked myself, ‘where am I giving up, in what areas of my life do I feel despair?’  Whatever came to me at the time, I spoke about it before Hashem and prayed for the strength to help me start over and keep wanting.  Letting ourselves feel the pain of how far we are from something or how hard it is to realize, is actually what fuels our will.  The pain awakens us to want and to pray even more to reach our goal.  My wife helped me this week see an area in my life where I don’t try to grow because of fear and despair- in my work and career.  After going through some difficult conversations on the subject, today, as I write these words, was a different day.  Something new opened up; we discussed new ideas about how to try to find new opportunities and how to expand.  The pain of my opposition to her asking me to discuss the subject, turned into a positive feeling and sense of partnership between us.  Finding the strength to face our fears and turn the pain into willpower is an important part of actualizing the good desires and goals which we have.

(Inspired by a recent class from Gidi Dabush, the teacher at the Breslov Workshop which I learned at- Shakuf)

This week’s learning is for the healing of my friend’s father-in-law- Mordechai Avigdor Ben Frumit

The image is courteous of Chabad.org

[1] Will, Desire

The beginning of our Parsha tells of the Jewish people’s journey as they leave the slavery in Egypt and journey towards Eretz Yisrael.  “So G-d turned the people toward the way of the Wilderness to the Sea of Reeds…They journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, at the edge of the Wilderness.” (Chapter 13, Verses 18-20)  The relatively short route to the land of Israel ends up becoming a forty year journey in the Wilderness.  Beginning with the Exodus, the Torah details all of the Jewish people’s journeys and encampments as they try to reach the land of Israel.  What is the connection between the Jewish people’s journey from Egypt to the land of Israel and our life’s journey today?  What can we learn from their journey?

Rabbi Yisrael Asulin[1] explains that really our life is the middle of our journey, because it begins with our soul descending into this world at birth and the end of the journey is when our soul returns to its Creator.  During a person’s entire life he is on a journey to reach the goal, to actualize all of the potential he has inside and to be who he is truly supposed to be.  The Holy Baal Shem Tov teaches that just as the Jewish people went through 42 smaller journeys during the forty years in the Wilderness, so to each person goes through 42 journeys during his lifetime.[2]  Leaving Egypt and going on the journey to Eretz Yisrael means leaving our personal state of exile, the state of being disconnected from ourselves, our loved ones and from Hashem and reaching the goal of living with a strong, internal connection to our souls, which shines from the inside to those around us.  Life’s journey is finding the Lost Princess.

In Rebbe Nachman’s first story in his book Sipurei Ma’asiot, The Thirteen Tales, he tells a beautiful and painful story about the search for a Lost Princess.  This is really the story of each and every one of us.  There was a King who had six sons and one daughter, and his only daughter was very precious and beloved to him.  However, “One time, he was alone with her on a certain day and he became angry at her.  He inadvertently said, ‘May the Evil One take you away!’”  In the morning the Princess had disappeared.  The viceroy, seeing that the King was very upset over what had happened, volunteers to go searching after her (Before continuing the story Rebbe Nachman says that the viceroy searched for her a very long time until he found her).  The story continues to tell of the viceroy’s very long journey, with many trials and setbacks, to find the Princess.  The King represents Hashem, the King of the World.  The Princess represents both G-d’s presence in the world, known in Hebrew as the shechinah, and it also represents the Jewish soul, which is sent far away from its Maker as it descends into this world.  This is why the King banished his daughter and said that the evil should take you away.  The Princess is longing to return to the King and to the Palace, however in this world many times Hashem’s light is hidden from us.  The viceroy is us as we journey in this world searching for the Lost Princess, searching and striving to return to our neshamas (souls) and to G-d.  Rebbe Nachman promises us that in the end you will find her, your lost princess, this deep and eternal connection.  If a person is truly searching and doesn’t give up, in the end they will find her.  (Based on the Breslov Research Institute printing with Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s explanation)

“Once there was a child.  A child who was happy, innocent, spontaneous and full of life.  A child for whom the long arm of ‘physical appearances’ had not yet reached him, and his soul was still clean and free from all of the social norms and external expectations which program a person how to live.  He was a special creation with no masks… Once there was a child and he was real, this child.  It’s not a song or a story, this is me and you; this child who walked with spontaneity and satisfaction under the stars above, and he was the same on the outside as the way he felt in his heart.  He smiled and laughed when he was happy.  He cried when he wanted to cry, and shed tears when they came to him.  He wanted everything that he felt a desire for, and he was not influenced by all of the external demands which stop a person so much from being himself.” (Rav Yisrael Asulin, the Inner Child)

I believe from what I’ve learned and what I’ve experienced on my own journey that this is part of finding the lost princess, finding our true selves- returning to our childhood purity, who we were before we started learning to behave the way we are expected to by society or saying what we’re supposed to say in certain situations; we were just simply ourselves, pure and simple the way Hashem created us.  The Torah and the Tzaddikim are teaching us that this is the essence of our journey in life, expressing the goodness, purity and beauty of our souls, despite all of life’s difficulties, and returning to Hashem the way that He brought us into the world, a pure soul.

(Inspired by recent classes I heard by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger on the Lost Princess and Rabbi Shlomo Katz, teaching a class from Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger about the inner child)

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)

[1] A former teacher at the Breslov workshop which I learned at, Shakuf- https://www.shackuf.co.il/

[2] Degel Machaneh Efraim on Parshat Masaei; he was a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov

In our Parsha the Jewish people receive the first mitzvah which they were given as a nation, Rosh Chodesh, sanctifying the New Moon.  “Hashem said to Moshe and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year’.” (Chapter 12, Verses 1-2)  Rebbe Noson explains that the main aspect of the redemption from Egypt was that Hashem focused on the Jewish people’s good points.  The Midrash (Psalms 114) says that they didn’t change their names, their language, they didn’t speak loshon hara (slander), and they didn’t intermarry.  Even though the Jewish people where dirty spiritually, sunken in the lowest levels of impurity, and broken physically, nevertheless Hashem had mercy on them and found in them good points, despite the fact that the impurity of the land of Egypt had overcome them so much.  This is what the verse means in the prophet Ezekiel, “Then I passed you and saw you wallowing in your blood…” (Chapter 16, Verse 6), even when a person is bloody and dirty, nevertheless, “In your blood you shall live”, even in this situation somebody can find good points in themselves and in their situation.  Therefore, this is the first mitzvah which the Jewish people were commanded as a nation.  The new month could be sanctified even by seeing a small sliver (point) of the new moon.  The witnesses who saw the new moon would come before the court in Jerusalem to testify as to what they saw.  This is also the case spiritually.  When a person finds in himself good points and judges himself favorably he truly raises his standing to a favorable judgement.  This was how the redemption from Egypt came about and also how the final redemption will come.

This teaching about finding the good points, Torah 282 in the first part of Likutei Moharan, known as Azamra, is considered one of Rebbe Nachman’s most fundamental and essential teachings.  In the middle of the teaching in Likutei Moharan Rebbe Noson adds in parenthesis: Rebbe Nachman cautioned us greatly to walk with this teaching (meaning to learn it and to live by it), because it is a great foundation for anyone who wants to come closer to Hashem and to not lose his spiritual world completely, G-d forbid.  Most people who are far from Hashem, the main reason for them being far is due to depression and sadness.  They fall down in their minds, they fall into negativity because they see how many mistakes and sins they’ve made and because of this many of them cause themselves to completely despair from returning to G-d… Therefore a person needs to strengthen himself to walk with this teaching, to search for and to seek in himself each time a little bit of good, and by way of this he can be happy, give himself vitality and maintain hope…

Why did Rebbe Nachman warn his students to walk with this teaching and stress how important it is?  A current Breslov Rabbi from Jerusalem, Rabbi Noson Maimon, explained based on Rebbe Noson’s teaching that the good point which I find in myself is actually the Hashem inside of me, so to speak.  The good inside of me is one with Hashem.  The minute that a person recognizes this and appreciates it it’s like flicking a switch, he activates the good by recognizing it, and this can pull the whole person out of his state of spiritual sleep.  I am revealing my Godly soul, who I truly am, by finding and focusing on my good points.

If we really want to grow in life, reveal who we truly are and return to Hashem, it’s essential that we focus on our small good points, even if it’s a hair’s breadth of progress.  We should not only value and be happy with every mitzvah and good deed which we are able to do; we should even be happy and encourage ourselves every time that we are able to turn away from something bad, every time we are able to overcome expressing anger at someone else or any other negative character trait or sin.  We need to work on being happy and finding strength in every little point of progress.  Making this the main focus of our day when we work, and when we learn and when we speak with others will really change our perspective and how we experience life.  This is the path of returning to ourselves and to Hashem which Rebbe Nachman is teaching us.

To read more about this subject of the good points, click on the following link for translations of selected chapters from Ron Weber’s book, The Secret of the Good Point: https://torahandfood.wordpress.com/category/the-secret-of-the-good-point/

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)

“G-d spoke to Moshe and said to him, ‘I am Hashem.  I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov as El Shaddai, but with My Name Hashem I did not make Myself known to them.” (Chapter 6, verses 2-3)  Rashi explains that when the verse says G-d spoke it means that He rebuked Moshe for his complaint at the end of last week’s parsha where he said, “My Lord, why have You done evil to this people, why have you sent me?” (Chapter 5, Verse 22)

Based on this verse, which mentions two of God’s Names, Elokim and Hashem (Elokim refers to G-d’s attribute of judgement, and the name Hashem refers to his attribute of mercy), Rebbe Noson teaches us a very powerful teaching about faith which we can all apply to our lives today.  Truthfully, Rebbe Noson says, if everyone would listen to the voice of the true Tzaddikim and walk in the path of always believing that everything Hashem does is for our best, and to always praise and thank Hashem, whether when things are good or bad; surely all of the sorrows and exiles would be nullified completely and the full redemption would already come.  However, the main thing which delays the redemption in general and each person’s private redemption is all of those who argue against and oppose a person, which is the aspect of Datan and Aviram, who came out and stood against Moshe[1], and said, “Who appointed you… as a judge over us?”  Truly, even though all of a person’s suffering is eventually nullified through this advice of living with gratitude, nevertheless there is an opposing force which gets stronger as a person grows in faith which wants to overtake a person completely and cause him to give up on his redemption, G-d forbid.  This aspect of argument and disagreement comes from the fact that there are many different actions and a multitude of details in the world, and therefore it is hard for a person to see that everything is only from one source, Hashem.  However, Rebbe Nachman explains in Likutei Moharan that all of the tremendous amount of actions and the many details in the world are all really included in Hashem’s unity and oneness (2^nd Torah, 2^nd Part).  By way of gratitude and praising Hashem, we help reveal this aspect of faith in the world.  Pharaoh asked, ‘Who is Hashem?’ because in his arrogance he didn’t believe in Hashem.  However, G-d showed through the miracles of the Exodus, the Ten Plagues, that all of the different actions and details in the world all come from Him.  Everything is actually included in his unity, both the name Elokim and the name Hashem.

Personally, I remember several years ago my wife and I being in the nisayon[2] of wanting more children, praying for more children, and feeling the pain of waiting for it to come.  Our older daughter was already four years old.  I received at the time a pamphlet collected from the teachings of a big Rabbi here in Israel where he talked about the importance of gratitude.  He said that we should even thank Hashem for those things which are difficult and painful for us, because it expresses our faith that truly everything is for our best and that even in the difficulty Hashem is with us.  After reading that, I tried to increase my expressions of gratitude to Hashem in personal prayer, thanking Him also for the challenge of waiting again for another child and thanking Him for the blessing of our first daughter.  I really felt like it gave me the strength to continue wanting, praying and believing that we would merit more children.  It also helped me shift my focus from the pain to seeing the blessings which I already had in my life.

On a simple level, being thankful to Hashem helps us to see all of the endless times he helps us when we need help, and to see all of the blessings he gives us.  When we work on thanking and praising Hashem more, this helps us to see Him more and more in our lives.  Our (spiritual) eyes begin to see a different picture.  We can feel his loving presence more as we go through all of the challenges in our lives.  This is the aspect of the final redemption, when everything will turn around for the best and we will be redeemed from the suffering of the exile.  This is seeing the one and only Hashem in all of the many, changing actions and circumstances.

[1] In Parshat Shemot, Moshe saw Datan and Aviram fighting, when he tried to intervene and stop the argument they spoke out against him (Chapter 2, Verses 13-14)

[2] Challenge or difficulty

(The image is courteous of Chabad.org)