יִתְגַּבֵּר כַּאֲרִי לַעֲמֹד בַּבֹּקֶר לַעֲבוֹדַת בּוֹרְאוֹ שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא מְעוֹרֵר הַשַּׁחַר. הַגָ״ה: ״שִׁוִּיתִי ה׳ לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד״ זֶה כְּלָל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה וְכוּ׳ (ארח חיים סימן א׳ סעיף א׳).
A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning for the service of his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Gloss: “I set HaShem before me always” (Tehillim 16:8)—this is a major principle in fulfillment of the Torah (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 1:1).1For Rama’s complete gloss, see p. 18 above. At the very end he mentions a major theme of this discourse: rising from sleep with alacrity to serve HaShem.
2
שֶׁרָאוּי לְכָל יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם שֶׁיְּהֵא מֵצֵר וְדוֹאֵג עַל חֻרְבַּן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ (ארח חיים סימן א׳ סעיף א׳).
It is fitting for every person who fears HaShem to be pained and distressed over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (ibid. 1:3).2Reb Noson will expound this law in §5 below.
KEY CONCEPTS FROM LIKUTEY MOHARAN3As a rule, Reb Noson introduces his discourse with a selection of key concepts from one of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings (usually Likutey Moharan). This discourse is one of the exceptions. In its place we have provided a “Section 1” taken from Reb Noson’s abbreviated version in Kitzur Likutey Moharan on LM I, 13, the lesson on which this discourse is based. This discourse is based on the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Hashgachah (LM I, 13), in which Rebbe Nachman teaches how one can become the focus of HaShem’s Divine providence.4Chassidic teaching refines the meaning of hashgachah, Divine providence, defining it as HaShem’s caring watchfulness and direct personal supervision (hashgachah pratit) of everything that exists—all animate matter, plants, animals and humanity. For man, hashgachah more specifically signifies HaShem’s ongoing active participation in every aspect of his life; His providing each person with the necessary means to serve Him and make His Immanence, i.e. the Divine Presence, known in the world. This is eminently apparent with regard to man’s livelihood. A person who has bitachon, trust in HaShem, believing that HaShem alone provides for all his needs, will earn his income honestly and make sure to set aside time for Torah study, prayer and doing mitzvot., 5Hashgachah is thematically related to Rosh HaShanah, the day on which Rebbe Nachman taught this lesson (see also LM II, 8:10). The Torah alludes to this connection in the verse “The eyes of HaShem your God are upon it continuously, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Devarim 11:12). Chazal teach that on Rosh HaShanah “all the world’s inhabitants pass before Him [in judgment]… and are examined in a single glance … The Creator sees their hearts together and considers all their deeds” (Rosh HaShanah 18a). Rosh HaShanah is also known as Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment (Rabbeinu Bachya al HaTorah, Bereishit 1:31). The Zohar (III, 231a) teaches that on Rosh HaShanah the forces of judgment are especially predominant and require hamtakah, mitigation. To benefit from HaShem’s full hashgachah,6The distinction between full and partial hashgachah will become clear over the course of the discourse. Rebbe Nachman discusses this in §4 of his lesson; see also note 43 below. a person first has to break his excessive desire for money.7Taavat mammon, the lust for money, is most apparent in a person who makes it his life’s mission to amass ever greater wealth (LM I, 23:1). Lacking emunah, faith in HaShem, he instead puts his bitachon in money, mistakenly believing that the more he has, the more secure and fulfilling his life will be. A subtler form of taavat mammon is found in one who understands the foolishness of pursuing wealth, but whose attachment to money manifests as miserliness. Lacking a generous spirit, he is loath to part with his wealth, and so is stingy in giving charity and tightfisted with strangers and family alike. A third, even more subtle and far more widespread form of taavat mammon is when a person worries and grows anxious about not having enough money. His distress indicates a lack in his emunah and bitachon, an inability to rely on HaShem to provide him with livelihood without his having to sacrifice his whole life to earn it. When this desire burns inside a person’s heart, it is akin to idolatry. It therefore awakens HaShem’s burning anger and arouses dinim,8See LM I, 180, that money and dinim share the same spiritual root on high; thus for a person with taavat mammon, earning a living is fraught with hardship and difficulty. Like Adam after he sinned, his sustenance will come “through suffering…and by the sweat of his brow” (Bereishit 3:17, 19; see also note 33 below). the agency of suffering and misfortune in the world. The way to break one’s lust for wealth is through tzedakah. Giving charity generates a ruach of generosity inside a person, a ruach that blows upon his heart and cools his burning desire for money.9Rebbe Nachman speaks of the desire for money as a conflagration of the heart. Based on the Zohar (III, 224a), the Rebbe’s advice for cooling the flame of money-lust is to gift one’s money to tzedakah. Giving tzedakah creates a ruach (spirit) of generosity, a ruach (wind) that blows upon his heart and dampens both his burning desire for wealth and the Divine wrath that it elicits. He should also engage in masa u-matan be-emunah.10Engaging in “the give-and-take of business with faith” and/or “with honesty.” The former obtains from a person’s belief that man’s livelihood comes solely from HaShem. The latter entails conducting all one’s financial dealings with integrity. So important is being ethical in earning a living that Chazal teach: The first question a person is asked by the Heavenly Court after he passes away is “Did you conduct your business be-emunah?” (Shabbat 31a). Only those who lived life with emunah and bitachon will be able to answer in the affirmative. (See also LH, Aveidah u-Metziah 3:3.) Happy with his lot and pleased with that which HaShem has favored him, his lust for money disappears.11Reb Noson includes this idea in the prayer he composed based on LM I, 13. He pleads with HaShem to help him engage in masa u-matan be-emunah, and enable him to make Torah study his primary occupation and earning a living an occasional endeavor. He asks too for the wisdom to not weary his mind with earning a living and, while engaging in business, to be able to attach his thoughts to HaShem and to the holy Torah that is embedded within the give-and-take of business and the practice of one’s worldly occupation (Likutey Tefillot #13). To the degree that people’s burning desire for wealth is tempered, so too is HaShem’s burning anger. The spiritual origins of that anger, the dinim, are mitigated, and chesed, loving-kindness, flows freely into the world.12The Arizal teaches (Eitz Chaim 1:1) that Creation came about because HaShem desires to give. Therefore the natural state of being is one in which chesed—the bounteous and unlimited influx of HaShem’s love and kindness—flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim. And though the Edenic state depicted in Bereishit was short-lived and will not return until “sinners disappear from the earth and the wicked cease to be” (Tehillim 104:35), we do, on occasion, get a taste of it by serving HaShem and doing His will. This proliferation of the elements of chesed leads in turn to the manifestation of daat, internalized knowledge and awareness that HaShem’s Immanence fills all of creation.13The Zohar (II, 20) articulates a basic tenet of kabbalistic teaching that states, “As above, so below”— everything in the spiritual dimension is paralleled in the physical world. Thus the graphic depiction of the sefirah-configuration as tzelem Elohim (the image of HaShem) suggests that the human form was, so to speak, fashioned in the likeness of the Supernal Image. Therefore each sefirah is associated with a particular limb or organ of the human body (see Charts, p. 252). The sefirah of Daat corresponds to the neck (throat), since its primary role is to integrate the head (both right and left brain) and the heart. As expressed by the verse “Know today and take it to heart that HaShem, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is no other” (Devarim 4:39), the manifestation of daat in man is the internalized knowledge and awareness that HaShem’s Immanence fills all of creation. Chazal teach that acquiring daat is analogous to building the Beit HaMikdash.14Chazal base this analogy on their observation that appear in (מקדש) and mikdash (דעת) the words daat verses in Tanakh with a Name of HaShem placed both before and after them, the former in I Shmuel 2:3 and the latter in Shemot 15:17. Rabbi Elazar adds, “For someone with daat, it is as if the Beit HaMikdash has already been rebuilt in his day” (Berakhot 33a). In other words, he already possesses the level of awareness that will be universal in the messianic era, when the Beit HaMikdash will again stand. Having fulfilled his personal obligation to bring awareness and knowledge of HaShem into the world, for him the Beit HaMikdash is already built! Just as the Beit HaMikdash is the abode of the Shekhinah in the world, daat is the abode of the Shekhinah in the mind. Building daat brings to a new revelation of Torah,15For the generation’s tzaddikim, those individuals with ample daat, a “new revelation of Torah” refers to the new Torah insights that they reveal in order to bring themselves or others closer to HaShem. As it applies to everyone else, it refers to a renewal of their dedication to and enthusiasm for Torah study, which they accomplish as a result of the spiritual advice and guidance they gain from the tzaddik’s teachings. which in turn draws upon us the caring watchfulness and inflow of HaShem’s full hashgachah. For the Torah itself is the power of vision associated with HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion,” His hashgachah.16The written Torah is comprised of four components These are: .(טנת"א) known by their acrostic TaNTA ,נקודות) cantillation marks), Nekudot ,טעמים) Te’amim ,אותיות) crownlets), Otiyot ,תגין) vowel points), Tagin letters). The Arizal teaches that TaNTA signifies the spiritual lights that emanated from the “eyes” of Adam Kadmon to form the World of Atzilut (Eitz Chaim 5:1; see Appendix A, p. 229). In §4 of his lesson Rebbe Nachman bases the connection between Torah and sight on the parallel between TaNTA and the four colors of the eye; see there. As it relates here, TaNTA signifies the power of vision of HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion”—namely His hashgachah (see also note 44 below; LH, Basar She-Nitaleim Min HaAyin 3:3). Therefore the closer a person is to the Torah, the more fully he is impacted by and benefits from HaShem’s hashgachah. Rebbe Nachman explains that this is especially true of the new Torah teachings revealed to the world by the true tzaddik and leading sage of the generation. All those who come to this tzaddik-sage bring their aspirations and desires. The tzaddik gathers up their wills, the good as well as the bad, and elevates them together with their souls. This elevation eliminates their desire for money and sparks a yichud, unification, between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, thus revealing HaShem’s Oneness.17Here, yichud refers to the mystical process whereby the Jewish people’s devotions unite HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, so that by dint of their Oneness, Godliness is revealed in the creation. Through one’s devotions—and especially through the mediation of the tzaddik-sage—Jewish souls ascend and become attached to the Shekhinah. The Shekhinah then “presents” these souls to HaKadosh Barukh Hu as mayin nukvin, the “arousal from below.” This evokes mayin dukhrin, the “arousal from above,” as it awakens His will to unite with Her and, through Her, provide shefa for the world (see more in note 30 below, and also above, pp. 52-53, notes 73-75). In this way, the tzaddik-sage renews people’s souls, and through the new insights into the Torah that he reveals, he teaches them to fulfill the Torah anew.18Although elevating Jewish souls, effecting yichud, revealing new Torah insights, and so on, are primarily the purview and responsibility of the leading tzaddik and sage of the generation, even a simple Jew plays a part in executing the various tikkunim discussed here. “Your people—all of them are tzaddikim,” says the prophet (Yeshayahu 60:21). Elsewhere, Rebbe Nachman brings this verse as proof that every Jew actually has a tiny bit of the tzaddik-sage inside him (see LM I, 34:4). By connecting to his own inner tzaddik-sage, as it were—and certainly by connecting to the tzaddiksage himself—every Jew comes closer to the Torah and thereby merits HaShem’s full hashgachah, each one according to his spiritual level. ZERIZUT AND EMUNAH Jewish law requires that we start our day by getting up from sleep promptly and eagerly in order to serve HaShem. Reb Noson will show that this necessitates the trait of zerizut, alacrity, which is associated with emunah, belief in HaShem.19Zerizut is alacrity and eagerness in the pursuit and fulfillment of mitzvot. In Mesillat Yesharim (ch. 6-9), Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) cites in this regard the Tannaitic teaching (Avot 5:23) “Be fierce like a leopard, light like an eagle, swift like a deer, and strong like a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.” Ramchal cites the Gemara that studying Torah and doing mitzvot are among the things that most require self-strengthening and self-encouragement (Berakhot 32b).
The Shulchan Arukh states, “A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning … so that it is he [who awakens the shachar].” This means that when a person wakes up, he should rise with zerizut, without a trace of sluggishness.20In kabbalistic teaching, sleep signifies a dormancy of mochin, man’s mental faculties, and a suspension of his daat. Sleep is therefore associated with dinim, which, as forces of judgment and concealment, exist as obstacles to intellectual awareness and spiritual wakefulness.This trait of zerizutrelates to the element of emunah, as Rebbe Nachman writes elsewhere, that a person’s zerizut in serving HaShem is an indication of his level of emunah.21See LM I, 155:2, where Rebbe Nachman teaches that whereas a lack of emunah begets slothfulness and sluggishness in serving HaShem, vibrant emunah motivates a person to zerizut and joy, and thus enables him to overcome any obstacle that might undermine his service of HaShem and inhibit his spiritual growth.
Kabbalah teaches that at night a diminished emunah descends among the kelipot, the forces of evil. Then in the morning, meaning from midnight until the morning, emunah becomes magnified and awakens.22Kabbalah teaches that emunah equates with the Shekhinah, which in turn is synonymous with the sefirah of Malkhut. The Arizal teaches that at night, Malkhut (as the Divine persona of “Rachel”) descends into the lower worlds in order to redeem all the aspects of holiness that have fallen there on account of man’s sins (Shaar HaKavanot, Drushei HaAmidah 2; see also ibid. Drushei HaLailah 4). Thus in a world darkened by sin, faith is said to be trapped among the forces of evil. But from midnight to dawn, emunah / Malkhut / the Shekhinah gradually ascends (ibid. Drushei HaLailah 3), primarily through the devotions and prayers of man (see §5 below).Therefore a person should eagerly awaken from sleep before the dawn in order to strengthen himself with emunah, so that he can build up and magnify the overall presence of emunah in the world.23From LM I, 155, which Reb Noson just cited (note 21), we see that a person’s zerizut derives from and is strengthened by his emunah. Here, based on the Shulchan Arukh, it seems the other way around, that emunah is increased on account of his zerizut. Reb Noson teaches here that both are true. Just as a person’s emunah increases his zerizut, so that he rises enthusiastically to serve HaShem, so too his emunah is strengthened by the zerizut he displays in rising eagerly in order to serve Him.
This is the meaning of “so that it is he who awakens the shachar.” One has to arise early in order to build up, magnify and awaken the shachar, which, in its aspect of Ayelet HaShachar, namely the Shekhinah,24When the first rays of dawn burst forth out of the ,איילה) darkness, they resemble the antlers of an AYaLah mountain deer); see Bekhor Shor on Shemot 34:30. Thus איילת) the light of shachar is called AYeLet HaShachar In the kabbalistic lexicon, Ayelet HaShachar is .(השחר synonymous with Knesset Yisrael, the Congregation of Israel, an appellation for the Shekhinah (Zohar II, 19b and III, 21b), Whose rectification and return to wholeness comes with the dawn.corresponds to Malkhut25See note 22 above, that emunah is associated with Malkhut. In Pri Eitz Chaim (Kriat Shema al HaMitah 11) the Arizal likens Malkhut to an ayalah, a female deer, whose narrow womb makes her always desirable to her mate (see Yoma 29a). This can also be said about Malkhut. Although at night Malkhut / the Shekhinah descends into the realm of the Sitra Achra, the Other Side, she closes herself off to all impurity and so remains always desirable to HaKadosh Barukh Hu.and to emunah.26See Shaar HaKavanot, Drushei HaLailah 3. Citing the verse “They are new in the mornings; Your emunah is great” (Eikhah 3:23; Reb Noson will bring this verse in §3 below), the Arizal teaches that Malkhut, as emunah, returns to being “great” as morning replaces the night. In Pri Eitz Chaim (op. cit.) he explains: After midnight Malkhut / the Shekhinah, who is “Your emunah,” returns to fullness and abundance as a result of all the Jewish souls becoming encompassed in Her. Then, in the morning, the souls emerge from Malkhut renewed.
And this corresponds to the idea of breaking the excessive desire for money, through whichtzaddikimare able to elevate souls and draw down Torah, as Rebbe Nachman writes in the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Hashgachah. Study there.27LM I, 13 (summarized in §1 above). Rebbe Nachman teaches that in order to draw new Torah insights into the world, the tzaddik-sage gathers together and elevates people’s souls and wills. This “arousal from below” (see note 30 below) effects a yichud between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and the Shekhinah—i.e. the manifestation of Godliness in the creation—after which the tzaddiksage is able to reveal Torah insights and so elicit full hashgachah from above.
For each day we are obligated to receive the Torah anew—either through derivation of new insights or by renewed commitment to its teachings.28See note 15 above, that for those with ample daat this means receiving new Torah insights, while for everyone else it means renewed dedication to Torah study.As Chazal teach on the phrase “‘that I charge you this day’—every day the words of Torah should appear in your eyes like new.”29As if we had received the Torah this very day at Sinai; see Rashi on Devarim 11:13 citing Sifrei, Va’etchanan 8; also Rashi on Devarim 26:16.
The way to receive the Torah anew is by elevating the soul and renewing it, as explained there.30In LM I, 13:2, Rebbe Nachman explains this elevation of the soul as the kabbalistic concept of “an arousal from below.” The Zohar (I, 77b) illustrates the reciprocal relationship between HaShem and humanity with the example of the flow of Divine bounty and blessing into the world. This downward flow of shefa is called “an arousal from above.” In order for shefa to descend there must first be “an arousal from below.” Kabbalah calls this latter arousal “elevating mayin nukvin (feminine waters)”—i.e. an awakening of spiritual energy from this world through humanity’s devotions to HaShem. This awakening generates a reciprocal arousal from above, called mayin dukhrin (masculine waters)—i.e. the flow of shefa and blessing that HaShem’s hashgachah benevolently provides for the world and humankind in particular (see also Zohar I, 86b). In the present context, the Torah is the shefa and blessing we receive from above as a result of the tzaddik-sage elevating the souls as mayin nukvin in order to rejuvenate them.This is achieved by breaking the excessive desire for money and thereby strengthening emunah. This is analogous to rousing from sleep with zerizut, which is itself an indication of the strength of one’s emunah.
All this is so since lusting for money equates with nonbelief,31See Rambam (Yad HaChazakah, Hilkhot Teshuvah 3:7) that belief in other gods (avodah zarah, idol worship) and nonbelief in the existence of HaShem (kefirah, atheism) are essentially the same. Thus whereas in §1 the desire for money is equated with avodah zarah, here Reb Noson equates money-lust with kefirah. A person without emunah denies that it is HaShem Who gives him livelihood and provides for all his needs, and so worships the money instead (see also note 35 below).with night, whose darkness is symbolic of the concealment of emunah. This leads to anpin chashukhin, “darkened countenances” of sadness and sluggishness, corresponding to death— and, by extension, to sleep, which Chazal teach is one-sixtieth of death.32Berakhot 57b. Each night, when we go to sleep, we return our souls to HaShem. Therefore sleep is akin to death, as Chazal teach, “Sleep is one-sixtieth of death.” Then, when we awaken in the morning, our renewed souls are returned to us. The Midrash teaches that with this act HaShem exhibits His faithfulness to us. It is a model for the way He will return our souls to us in the future at the time of the Resurrection (Eikhah Rabbah 3:8)., 33LM 23:1 states, “The distinguishing feature (panim) of the Sitra Achra is a darkened countenance, namely melancholy, idolatry, etc. … Thus those who succumb to the desire for money and do not believe that HaShem can provide them with livelihood through easy means expend great effort in their pursuit of sustenance. They earn their livelihood through suffering (see note 8 above) … and thus are bound to the countenance of the Sitra Achra, ‘other gods,’ darkness, the aspect of death, as in ‘He set me in darkness [as those long dead]’” (Eikhah 3:6).
This is why a person must be mighty like a lion; why he has to be resolute and strong-willed, so that he breaks his desire for sleep, which is comparable to death and the desire for money. Then, with his emunah revived, he is able to renew his soul and elevate his desires, and through this draw down Torah anew.
Reb Noson has drawn a parallel between the desire for sleep and the desire for money, as both signify diminished emunah. Conversely, rising with zerizut and giving tzedakah, which breaks money-lust, both build emunah. Rectified emunah renews one’s soul and one is rewarded with new Torah insights.
SLEEP FOR THE SOUL Reb Noson next explains that when we break the desire for sleep, sleep itself becomes beneficial, not just for the body and mind but also for the soul.
And when a person breaks his desire for sleep—as when he breaks the desire for money—then, on the contrary, sleep is actually beneficial for him. For through sleep he renews his soul, as in “They are new in the mornings; your emunah is great,” alluding to the emunah of the person himself.34In the verse, “Your emunah” refers to HaShem’s faithfulness. Reb Noson’s reading here follows Rebbe Nachman’s reading of this verse in LM I, 62:5, as referring to a person’s faith emerging anew each morning (see following note).
Similarly, through the money a person earns—via masa u-matan be-emunah, which is the concept of sleep—he renews his soul, as explained in the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Zarka.35LM I, 35. Rebbe Nachman teaches there that a person whose mind is constantly focused on serving HaShem must look for opportunities to rest and rejuvenate his intellect, which the Rebbe equates with renewing the soul. Otherwise, his mind will become overtaxed and his soul will grow weary. The Rebbe suggests two ways to accomplish this renewal: through sleep, and by transacting one’s business with emunah (which is itself a state of sleep as compared with exerting the mind with Torah study). The faithfulness and integrity with which a person conducts his business affairs cause his mind to rest in the security of emunah and be renewed there. The Rebbe teaches there that a businessman who has emunah suffers no loss as a result of his faith and integrity. On the contrary, by breaking the desire for wealth and transacting his business with emunah, he turns an exceptional profit— namely a renewed soul.36In teaching that waking up with zerizut rectifies sleep, rendering it beneficial—and that, analogously, engaging in masa u-matan be-emunah rectifies our relationship to money—Reb Noson illustrates the essential role of hamtakat ha-dinim. Serving HaShem does not mean going without. As humans, we need to sleep. We also need to earn a living. What we do not need, and what mitigating judgment frees us from, is being caught in the grip of either of these dinim-rooted aspects of life. HaShem created the world with His attribute of rachamim, compassion, but also with His attribute of din, judgment (Bereishit Rabbah 12:15). Our task is to learn to mitigate the elements of din and judiciously incorporate them into our lives.
This is the explanation of “Lazy one, how long will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep?” It means: How long are you going to lie down and sleep lazily? When are you going to break the desire for sleep? For then, when a person breaks this desire, on the contrary, by sleeping he actually strengthens his mind and renews his soul. Thus “When takum from your sleep?” means: When will you have a takumah, revival, such that your soul will arise and be elevated through sleep?
And when a person merits elevating his soul by breaking his desire for sleep, he effects a yichud between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah.37Regarding the unification of HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, see note 17 above.This is the meaning of “so that it is he who awakens the shachar.” By waking up eagerly from sleep to serve HaShem, he awakens Ayelet HaShachar, namely Malkhut / the Shekhinah, for union.38Whereas earlier we saw that “awakens” refers to raising and rectifying the “dawn,” namely Malkhut and the Shekhinah, here Reb Noson explains “awakens” as preparing the Shekhinah / Malkhut for union. Waking the Shekhinah causes Her to ascend, thereby facilitating Her yichud with HaKadosh Barukh Hu.
Reb Noson has shown that the nightly suspension of daat we call sleep is representative of diminished faith. This blemish of emunah is mirrored in the nightly diminishing of the Shekhinah and Her descent from the highest spiritual realms. Conversely, zerizut in rising from sleep restores emunah and rectifies the Shekhinah. Going to sleep with the intention of rising with alacrity in order to serve HaShem accomplishes this as well. Sleep is then most beneficial: it renews the soul, and awakening facilitates the awakening of the Shekhinah and leads to a yichud on high.
LIKE A LION Reb Noson now returns to the first law of the Shulchan Arukh with which he began this discourse. He will show how it alludes to gathering the souls and their diverse wills in order to then merit hashgachah, the opening topic of Rebbe Nachman’s lesson.
This is the explanation of “A person should strengthen himself like an ari, lion.” The word ari suggests a gathering, and so the Shulchan Arukh’s statement alludes to gathering the souls in order to elevate them.39In §5 of his lesson, Rebbe Nachman teaches that man’s soul possesses characteristics associated with each of the living creatures that appeared in Yechezkel’s vision of the Chariot (see Yechezkel 1). Of the four, attention here is on aryeh, the lion. Reb Noson will next ,(אריתי) with the word ARIti (ארי) ARI /(אריה) link ARYeh gather). ,ארה) from the root ARahAs Rebbe Nachman writes in the lesson Ashrei HaAm,40LM I, 13. gathering souls and all the wills that issue from them is the concept of “Ariti my myrrh with my spice.”41A person’s will is directly linked to his soul. His evil desires have the power to blemish his soul; his holy desires have the power to embellish his soul. This is the deeper meaning of “I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.” “Myrrh,” an aromatic resin with a bitter taste, alludes to the bitterness of a soul blemished by a person’s base wants and inclinations. “Spice” alludes to the pleasant scent that perfumes the soul as a result of its spiritual yearnings and aspirations. Each person who comes to the tzaddik-sage comes with his soul and its various wills and desires. The tzaddik-sage gathers all these wills—the exalted as well as the fallen—in order to elevate them. The verse from Shir HaShirim thus reads: The tzaddik-sage says, “I have gathered the blemishes and bitterness of the soul together with the pleasant fragrances that stem from the soul’s desire to serve HaShem” (Parparaot LeChokhmah). The tzaddik gathers people’s diverse wills, all their wants and aspirations—these as bitter as myrrh and those as fragrant as spice—and then elevates them in order to renew their souls.42Reb Noson writes (Advice, Tzaddik #19), “Search for a tzaddik who has the power to gather in the souls and elevate them. Then your soul will be elevated with the others and renewed, and through this, Torah will be brought down into the world and revealed. You must plead with HaShem again and again to make you worthy of finding such a tzaddik. He has the power to cleanse you of the blemishes caused by your desires and impulses, and actually elevate them. When a person has a certain lust, the desire itself is a blemish which embitters the soul… But by coming to the tzaddik, a complete tikkun can be achieved. The tzaddik has the power to purify and elevate even a person’s negative desires together with his positive, holy yearning.”
And by elevating the souls and wills we draw new Torah insights. This in turn elicits full hashgachah.43In LM I, 13:4, Rebbe Nachman explains that full Divine providence is reserved for those close to the Torah, which, being comprised of TaNTA, signifies HaShem’s power of vision and supervision (see note 16 above). Those distant from the Torah, on the other hand, are distant from HaShem’s sight, as it were, and so the Divine providence they receive is incomplete. For it is through the Torah that we are brought into HaShem’s sight.44Rebbe Nachman discusses the concept of drawing down new Torah revelations in §2 and §4 of his lesson. As mentioned in §1 above, it is primarily the tzaddiksage who can reveal the Torah’s wisdom through new insights. Wisdom corresponds to the power of vision, as in (Bereishit 3:7) “And the eyes of both of them were opened.” Rashi on this verse explains that Adam’s and Chavah’s eyes opened with wisdom (see also Siftei Chachamim there). This refers to seeing with the mind’s eye. Thus wisdom is an aspect of sight—insight. Because the wisdom that the tzaddik-sage brings is Torah wisdom, it elicits full hashgachah, HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion.” As explained earlier (see note 16), the Torah is comprised of TaNTA, the spiritual energy that emanated from the eyes of Adam Kadmon. Therefore the closer one is to Torah, the more he becomes the focus of HaShem’s vision.
This is why Rama’s gloss on the law “A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning” cites the verse “I set HaShem before me always.” In other words, when zerizut in serving HaShem breaks the desire for sleep, elevation of the soul elicits a new revelation of Torah. By setting ourselves close to the Torah we come into His direct line of sight, so that His hashgachah is upon us always.45Through the Torah we are ever mindful of HaShem’s presence—“I set HaShem before me always”—and so become worthy of His caring watchfulness and shefa. Reb Noson expresses these ideas in prayer. He writes: Master of the Universe … do not hide Your eyes from us. Compassionate God, take pity on us and watch over us with an eye of tender mercy and graciousness—a single eye of compassion, an open eye that never slumbers. Place us under Your full hashgachah and let Your vision rest upon us through Your holy Torah, which You have radiated to us through the true tzaddikim. Let us be close to Your holy, watchful eye, until we will be the focus of Your vision, and we will become merged with You (Likutey Tefillot #13).
When a person who strengthens himself and serves HaShem with zerizut comes to the tzaddik, the tzaddik gathers all his wills, the base and the lofty, and raises them up. This renews his soul and he receives the Torah anew. Then, through his closeness to Torah, he becomes the focus of HaShem’s “seeing eye” of hashgachah.
MITIGATING DIN Having explained that rising from sleep with zerizut strengthens emunah, mitigates din, and builds daat, Reb Noson now shows how this parallels rising each night to “rebuild” the Beit HaMikdash by reciting Tikkun Chatzot.
This matter is related to what is written in the Shulchan Arukh (Orach Chaim 1:3), “It is fitting for every person who fears HaShem to be pained and distressed over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash,” for “whoever mourns over Yerushalayim will merit witnessing its rejoicing,” as Chazal teach.46Taanit 30b.
It follows that being pained and distressed over the destruction and absence of the Beit HaMikdash correlates to its rebuilding and the subsequent rejoicing. Furthermore, the building of the Beit HaMikdash is synonymous with building up daat,47See note 14 above.through which it is possible to elevate souls, as explained above and brought in LM I, 13. Study Rebbe Nachman’s words there.
And that is the reason for rising at midnight to recite Tikkun Chatzot.48In addition to the Shulchan Arukh, the Gemara, Midrash and Zohar all extol the great value of rising in the middle of the night to recite the collection of psalms, lamentations and prayers that comprise Tikkun Chatzot. More recent holy teachings also laud this practice, notably the literature of Breslov Chassidut; see Crossing the Narrow Bridge, ch. 8, pp. 124-129; The Sweetest Hour, passim. Rebbe Nachman said, “Mitzvah gedolah le-hiyot be-simchah tamid (It is a very great mitzvah to be happy always)” (LM II, 24). His followers ,שמחה) have an oral tradition that the word SiMChaH Mikveh ,(שולחן ערוך) joy) stands for Shulchan Arukh the four —(התבודדות) Hitbodedut ,(חצות) Chatzot ,(מקוה) cardinal devotions of a Breslover chassid.By breaking the desire for sleep—namely the desire for money—and mourning over Yerushalayim and the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, we spiritually rebuild it. Through this aspect of building the Beit HaMikdash and meriting daatit becomes possible to gather up the Jewish souls, elevating and renewing them, and rendering them worthy of a new revelation of Torah.
Therefore rising at midnight mitigates dinim,49See LM I, 149, where Rebbe Nachman teaches that chatzot is as efficacious as a pidyon (see note 53 below), for it mitigates the dinim.because by rising at that time we have effectively broken the grip of sleep—in particular, sleep in its association with death and nonbelief.50See note 20 above. Sleep as it relates to death and nonbelief is accompanied by dinim, for “as long as there is nonbelief and idol worship in the world, [there is burning anger in the world].”51Sifrei, Re’eh 84. This Midrash discusses a city in which the majority of inhabitants have worshipped idolatry. In such a case, the entire city, including inanimate objects, must be destroyed (Devarim 13:13-19). Failing to eliminate even one of these objects in essence leaves a reminder of idolatry in the world. Reb Noson relates this here to the idolatry of money worship. Failing to eliminate even the minutest trace of money-lust leaves a remnant of HaShem’s wrath, and so keeps the dinim from being mitigated entirely.But by rising at midnight, we raise up emunah and strengthen it. HaShem’s wrath and the dinim are thus mitigated, and we draw chasadim, the elements of kindness and love, into the world.52Kabbalah teaches that the inner structure of Daat is formed from the confluence of chasadim, benevolences, the root elements of the sefirah of Chesed that extend from Chokhmah on the right side of the sefirahconfiguration, and gevurot, severities, the root elements of Gevurah that extend from Binah on the left side (see Charts, p. 252). The parallel to the sefirah of Daat is the daat in the mind of man (see note 13 above). Man’s daat is formed from the confluence of chasadim, the qualities of kindness and generosity that unfold from chokhmah, human wisdom, and gevurot, the qualities of judgment and restraint that unfold from binah, human understanding (Eitz Chaim 25:2 and 34:3). In LM I, 10:6, Rebbe Nachman links emunah with chasadim.
To conclude, Reb Noson relates to one last concept from Rebbe Nachman’s lesson: the power of tzedakah to mitigate din.
This also relates to what the Rebbe writes elsewhere, that rising at midnight and lamenting the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is as efficacious as giving a pidyon.53A pidyon, redemption, refers to money or an object given to a tzaddik so that he will effect a tikkun and salvation on behalf of the giver. It is a time-honored custom for a Jew experiencing some misfortune or hardship to give tzedakah to a tzaddik and ask him to pray on his behalf. The pidyon serves as a catalyst through which the dinim of Heaven’s decree against him are mitigated., 54See LM I, 149; also see LH, Ribit 5:5.The analogy to a pidyon is precise, because the pidyon is a form of tzedakah, and we have already seen that giving tzedakahbreaks the desire for money and so mitigates the dinim.55For the role tzedakah plays in breaking the desire for money, see §1 and note 9 above. In LM I, 180, Rebbe Nachman shows that money shares a common spiritual root with dinim. Therefore when a person breaks his desire for money and gives a pidyon to a tzaddik, it mitigates the dinim. A possible further reason Reb Noson introduces the topic of pidyon here lies in its connection to Rosh HaShanah (see note 5 above for the connection between this lesson and Rosh HaShanah). Rebbe Nachman teaches that erev Rosh HaShanah is a very good time for presenting a pidyon to redeem oneself in the eyes of Heaven and cleanse one’s soul (Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom #214; Uman! Uman! Rosh HaShanah!, p. 61).The same is true of rising at midnight; it is like giving a pidyon. By rising at midnight one breaks the desire for sleep, which corresponds to breaking the desire for money, through which we mitigate dinim, as explained above.56Although sleep becomes beneficial once a person breaks his desire for it (see §3 above), sleep is a dormancy of the mochin and a suspension of daat. The time one spends asleep is time spent under the sway of dinim. Breaking the grip of sleep and rising in the middle of the night builds awareness of HaShem and delivers a person from all the misfortune and suffering that the dinim generate.
Reb Noson has shown that three Rosh HaShanah themes—strengthening emunah, mitigating din, and meriting hashgachah—have practical applications for us throughout the year. The sleep that overtakes us each night is representative of diminished emunah. But if we break the grip of sleep and wake up with zerizut, we strengthen our emunah. This mitigates the dinim, the concealment of Godliness. The resultant increase of daat elevates our souls, and with the new revelation of Torah that this brings, we become the focus of the seeing eye of HaShem.
יִתְגַּבֵּר כַּאֲרִי לַעֲמֹד בַּבֹּקֶר לַעֲבוֹדַת בּוֹרְאוֹ שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא מְעוֹרֵר הַשַּׁחַר. הַגָ״ה: ״שִׁוִּיתִי ה׳ לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד״ זֶה כְּלָל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה וְכוּ׳ (ארח חיים סימן א׳ סעיף א׳).
A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning for the service of his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Gloss: “I set HaShem before me always” (Tehillim 16:8)—this is a major principle in fulfillment of the Torah (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 1:1).1For Rama’s complete gloss, see p. 18 above. At the very end he mentions a major theme of this discourse: rising from sleep with alacrity to serve HaShem.
שֶׁרָאוּי לְכָל יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם שֶׁיְּהֵא מֵצֵר וְדוֹאֵג עַל חֻרְבַּן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ (ארח חיים סימן א׳ סעיף א׳).
It is fitting for every person who fears HaShem to be pained and distressed over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (ibid. 1:3).2Reb Noson will expound this law in §5 below.
״יִתְגַּבֵּר כַּאֲרִי לַעֲמֹד בַּבֹּקֶר שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא וְכוּ׳״. הַיְנוּ שֶׁצָּרִיךְ שֶׁיָּקוּם בִּזְרִיזוּת בְּלִי עַצְלוּת. וְזֶה בְּחִינַת אֱמוּנָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב רַבֵּנוּ (בלקוטי מוהר״ן חלק א׳ סימן קנה) שֶׁזְּרִיזוּת הִוא בְּחִינַת אֱמוּנָה.
KEY CONCEPTS FROM LIKUTEY MOHARAN3As a rule, Reb Noson introduces his discourse with a selection of key concepts from one of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings (usually Likutey Moharan). This discourse is one of the exceptions. In its place we have provided a “Section 1” taken from Reb Noson’s abbreviated version in Kitzur Likutey Moharan on LM I, 13, the lesson on which this discourse is based.
This discourse is based on the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Hashgachah (LM I, 13), in which Rebbe Nachman teaches how one can become the focus of HaShem’s Divine providence.4Chassidic teaching refines the meaning of hashgachah, Divine providence, defining it as HaShem’s caring watchfulness and direct personal supervision (hashgachah pratit) of everything that exists—all animate matter, plants, animals and humanity. For man, hashgachah more specifically signifies HaShem’s ongoing active participation in every aspect of his life; His providing each person with the necessary means to serve Him and make His Immanence, i.e. the Divine Presence, known in the world. This is eminently apparent with regard to man’s livelihood. A person who has bitachon, trust in HaShem, believing that HaShem alone provides for all his needs, will earn his income honestly and make sure to set aside time for Torah study, prayer and doing mitzvot., 5Hashgachah is thematically related to Rosh HaShanah, the day on which Rebbe Nachman taught this lesson (see also LM II, 8:10). The Torah alludes to this connection in the verse “The eyes of HaShem your God are upon it continuously, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Devarim 11:12). Chazal teach that on Rosh HaShanah “all the world’s inhabitants pass before Him [in judgment]… and are examined in a single glance … The Creator sees their hearts together and considers all their deeds” (Rosh HaShanah 18a). Rosh HaShanah is also known as Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment (Rabbeinu Bachya al HaTorah, Bereishit 1:31). The Zohar (III, 231a) teaches that on Rosh HaShanah the forces of judgment are especially predominant and require hamtakah, mitigation.
To benefit from HaShem’s full hashgachah,6The distinction between full and partial hashgachah will become clear over the course of the discourse. Rebbe Nachman discusses this in §4 of his lesson; see also note 43 below. a person first has to break his excessive desire for money.7Taavat mammon, the lust for money, is most apparent in a person who makes it his life’s mission to amass ever greater wealth (LM I, 23:1). Lacking emunah, faith in HaShem, he instead puts his bitachon in money, mistakenly believing that the more he has, the more secure and fulfilling his life will be. A subtler form of taavat mammon is found in one who understands the foolishness of pursuing wealth, but whose attachment to money manifests as miserliness. Lacking a generous spirit, he is loath to part with his wealth, and so is stingy in giving charity and tightfisted with strangers and family alike. A third, even more subtle and far more widespread form of taavat mammon is when a person worries and grows anxious about not having enough money. His distress indicates a lack in his emunah and bitachon, an inability to rely on HaShem to provide him with livelihood without his having to sacrifice his whole life to earn it. When this desire burns inside a person’s heart, it is akin to idolatry. It therefore awakens HaShem’s burning anger and arouses dinim,8See LM I, 180, that money and dinim share the same spiritual root on high; thus for a person with taavat mammon, earning a living is fraught with hardship and difficulty. Like Adam after he sinned, his sustenance will come “through suffering…and by the sweat of his brow” (Bereishit 3:17, 19; see also note 33 below). the agency of suffering and misfortune in the world.
The way to break one’s lust for wealth is through tzedakah. Giving charity generates a ruach of generosity inside a person, a ruach that blows upon his heart and cools his burning desire for money.9Rebbe Nachman speaks of the desire for money as a conflagration of the heart. Based on the Zohar (III, 224a), the Rebbe’s advice for cooling the flame of money-lust is to gift one’s money to tzedakah. Giving tzedakah creates a ruach (spirit) of generosity, a ruach (wind) that blows upon his heart and dampens both his burning desire for wealth and the Divine wrath that it elicits. He should also engage in masa u-matan be-emunah.10Engaging in “the give-and-take of business with faith” and/or “with honesty.” The former obtains from a person’s belief that man’s livelihood comes solely from HaShem. The latter entails conducting all one’s financial dealings with integrity. So important is being ethical in earning a living that Chazal teach: The first question a person is asked by the Heavenly Court after he passes away is “Did you conduct your business be-emunah?” (Shabbat 31a). Only those who lived life with emunah and bitachon will be able to answer in the affirmative. (See also LH, Aveidah u-Metziah 3:3.) Happy with his lot and pleased with that which HaShem has favored him, his lust for money disappears.11Reb Noson includes this idea in the prayer he composed based on LM I, 13. He pleads with HaShem to help him engage in masa u-matan be-emunah, and enable him to make Torah study his primary occupation and earning a living an occasional endeavor. He asks too for the wisdom to not weary his mind with earning a living and, while engaging in business, to be able to attach his thoughts to HaShem and to the holy Torah that is embedded within the give-and-take of business and the practice of one’s worldly occupation (Likutey Tefillot #13).
To the degree that people’s burning desire for wealth is tempered, so too is HaShem’s burning anger. The spiritual origins of that anger, the dinim, are mitigated, and chesed, loving-kindness, flows freely into the world.12The Arizal teaches (Eitz Chaim 1:1) that Creation came about because HaShem desires to give. Therefore the natural state of being is one in which chesed—the bounteous and unlimited influx of HaShem’s love and kindness—flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim. And though the Edenic state depicted in Bereishit was short-lived and will not return until “sinners disappear from the earth and the wicked cease to be” (Tehillim 104:35), we do, on occasion, get a taste of it by serving HaShem and doing His will. This proliferation of the elements of chesed leads in turn to the manifestation of daat, internalized knowledge and awareness that HaShem’s Immanence fills all of creation.13The Zohar (II, 20) articulates a basic tenet of kabbalistic teaching that states, “As above, so below”— everything in the spiritual dimension is paralleled in the physical world. Thus the graphic depiction of the sefirah-configuration as tzelem Elohim (the image of HaShem) suggests that the human form was, so to speak, fashioned in the likeness of the Supernal Image. Therefore each sefirah is associated with a particular limb or organ of the human body (see Charts, p. 252). The sefirah of Daat corresponds to the neck (throat), since its primary role is to integrate the head (both right and left brain) and the heart. As expressed by the verse “Know today and take it to heart that HaShem, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is no other” (Devarim 4:39), the manifestation of daat in man is the internalized knowledge and awareness that HaShem’s Immanence fills all of creation.
Chazal teach that acquiring daat is analogous to building the Beit HaMikdash.14Chazal base this analogy on their observation that appear in (מקדש) and mikdash (דעת) the words daat verses in Tanakh with a Name of HaShem placed both before and after them, the former in I Shmuel 2:3 and the latter in Shemot 15:17. Rabbi Elazar adds, “For someone with daat, it is as if the Beit HaMikdash has already been rebuilt in his day” (Berakhot 33a). In other words, he already possesses the level of awareness that will be universal in the messianic era, when the Beit HaMikdash will again stand. Having fulfilled his personal obligation to bring awareness and knowledge of HaShem into the world, for him the Beit HaMikdash is already built! Just as the Beit HaMikdash is the abode of the Shekhinah in the world, daat is the abode of the Shekhinah in the mind. Building daat brings to a new revelation of Torah,15For the generation’s tzaddikim, those individuals with ample daat, a “new revelation of Torah” refers to the new Torah insights that they reveal in order to bring themselves or others closer to HaShem. As it applies to everyone else, it refers to a renewal of their dedication to and enthusiasm for Torah study, which they accomplish as a result of the spiritual advice and guidance they gain from the tzaddik’s teachings. which in turn draws upon us the caring watchfulness and inflow of HaShem’s full hashgachah. For the Torah itself is the power of vision associated with HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion,” His hashgachah.16The written Torah is comprised of four components These are: .(טנת"א) known by their acrostic TaNTA ,נקודות) cantillation marks), Nekudot ,טעמים) Te’amim ,אותיות) crownlets), Otiyot ,תגין) vowel points), Tagin letters). The Arizal teaches that TaNTA signifies the spiritual lights that emanated from the “eyes” of Adam Kadmon to form the World of Atzilut (Eitz Chaim 5:1; see Appendix A, p. 229). In §4 of his lesson Rebbe Nachman bases the connection between Torah and sight on the parallel between TaNTA and the four colors of the eye; see there. As it relates here, TaNTA signifies the power of vision of HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion”—namely His hashgachah (see also note 44 below; LH, Basar She-Nitaleim Min HaAyin 3:3). Therefore the closer a person is to the Torah, the more fully he is impacted by and benefits from HaShem’s hashgachah.
Rebbe Nachman explains that this is especially true of the new Torah teachings revealed to the world by the true tzaddik and leading sage of the generation. All those who come to this tzaddik-sage bring their aspirations and desires. The tzaddik gathers up their wills, the good as well as the bad, and elevates them together with their souls. This elevation eliminates their desire for money and sparks a yichud, unification, between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, thus revealing HaShem’s Oneness.17Here, yichud refers to the mystical process whereby the Jewish people’s devotions unite HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, so that by dint of their Oneness, Godliness is revealed in the creation. Through one’s devotions—and especially through the mediation of the tzaddik-sage—Jewish souls ascend and become attached to the Shekhinah. The Shekhinah then “presents” these souls to HaKadosh Barukh Hu as mayin nukvin, the “arousal from below.” This evokes mayin dukhrin, the “arousal from above,” as it awakens His will to unite with Her and, through Her, provide shefa for the world (see more in note 30 below, and also above, pp. 52-53, notes 73-75). In this way, the tzaddik-sage renews people’s souls, and through the new insights into the Torah that he reveals, he teaches them to fulfill the Torah anew.18Although elevating Jewish souls, effecting yichud, revealing new Torah insights, and so on, are primarily the purview and responsibility of the leading tzaddik and sage of the generation, even a simple Jew plays a part in executing the various tikkunim discussed here. “Your people—all of them are tzaddikim,” says the prophet (Yeshayahu 60:21). Elsewhere, Rebbe Nachman brings this verse as proof that every Jew actually has a tiny bit of the tzaddik-sage inside him (see LM I, 34:4). By connecting to his own inner tzaddik-sage, as it were—and certainly by connecting to the tzaddiksage himself—every Jew comes closer to the Torah and thereby merits HaShem’s full hashgachah, each one according to his spiritual level.
ZERIZUT AND EMUNAH
Jewish law requires that we start our day by getting up from sleep promptly and eagerly in order to serve HaShem. Reb Noson will show that this necessitates the trait of zerizut, alacrity, which is associated with emunah, belief in HaShem.19Zerizut is alacrity and eagerness in the pursuit and fulfillment of mitzvot. In Mesillat Yesharim (ch. 6-9), Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) cites in this regard the Tannaitic teaching (Avot 5:23) “Be fierce like a leopard, light like an eagle, swift like a deer, and strong like a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.” Ramchal cites the Gemara that studying Torah and doing mitzvot are among the things that most require self-strengthening and self-encouragement (Berakhot 32b).
The Shulchan Arukh states, “A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning … so that it is he [who awakens the shachar].” This means that when a person wakes up, he should rise with zerizut, without a trace of sluggishness.20In kabbalistic teaching, sleep signifies a dormancy of mochin, man’s mental faculties, and a suspension of his daat. Sleep is therefore associated with dinim, which, as forces of judgment and concealment, exist as obstacles to intellectual awareness and spiritual wakefulness. This trait of zerizut relates to the element of emunah, as Rebbe Nachman writes elsewhere, that a person’s zerizut in serving HaShem is an indication of his level of emunah.21See LM I, 155:2, where Rebbe Nachman teaches that whereas a lack of emunah begets slothfulness and sluggishness in serving HaShem, vibrant emunah motivates a person to zerizut and joy, and thus enables him to overcome any obstacle that might undermine his service of HaShem and inhibit his spiritual growth.
כִּי בַּלַּיְלָה הָאֱמוּנָה בֵּין הַקְלִיפּוֹת וּבַבֹּקֶר נִתְגַּדְּלָה וְנִתְעוֹרְרָה הָאֱמוּנָה, עַל־כֵּן צָרִיךְ לָקוּם מִן הַשֵּׁנָה בִּזְרִיזוּת לְחַזֵּק עַצְמוֹ בֶּאֱמוּנָה כְּדֵי לִבְנוֹת וּלְגַדֵּל אֶת הָאֱמוּנָה.
Kabbalah teaches that at night a diminished emunah descends among the kelipot, the forces of evil. Then in the morning, meaning from midnight until the morning, emunah becomes magnified and awakens.22Kabbalah teaches that emunah equates with the Shekhinah, which in turn is synonymous with the sefirah of Malkhut. The Arizal teaches that at night, Malkhut (as the Divine persona of “Rachel”) descends into the lower worlds in order to redeem all the aspects of holiness that have fallen there on account of man’s sins (Shaar HaKavanot, Drushei HaAmidah 2; see also ibid. Drushei HaLailah 4). Thus in a world darkened by sin, faith is said to be trapped among the forces of evil. But from midnight to dawn, emunah / Malkhut / the Shekhinah gradually ascends (ibid. Drushei HaLailah 3), primarily through the devotions and prayers of man (see §5 below). Therefore a person should eagerly awaken from sleep before the dawn in order to strengthen himself with emunah, so that he can build up and magnify the overall presence of emunah in the world.23From LM I, 155, which Reb Noson just cited (note 21), we see that a person’s zerizut derives from and is strengthened by his emunah. Here, based on the Shulchan Arukh, it seems the other way around, that emunah is increased on account of his zerizut. Reb Noson teaches here that both are true. Just as a person’s emunah increases his zerizut, so that he rises enthusiastically to serve HaShem, so too his emunah is strengthened by the zerizut he displays in rising eagerly in order to serve Him.
וְזֶהוּ: ״שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא מְעוֹרֵר הַשַּׁחַר״, הַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר, בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת, בְּחִינַת אֱמוּנָה.
This is the meaning of “so that it is he who awakens the shachar.” One has to arise early in order to build up, magnify and awaken the shachar, which, in its aspect of Ayelet HaShachar, namely the Shekhinah,24When the first rays of dawn burst forth out of the ,איילה) darkness, they resemble the antlers of an AYaLah mountain deer); see Bekhor Shor on Shemot 34:30. Thus איילת) the light of shachar is called AYeLet HaShachar In the kabbalistic lexicon, Ayelet HaShachar is .(השחר synonymous with Knesset Yisrael, the Congregation of Israel, an appellation for the Shekhinah (Zohar II, 19b and III, 21b), Whose rectification and return to wholeness comes with the dawn. corresponds to Malkhut25See note 22 above, that emunah is associated with Malkhut. In Pri Eitz Chaim (Kriat Shema al HaMitah 11) the Arizal likens Malkhut to an ayalah, a female deer, whose narrow womb makes her always desirable to her mate (see Yoma 29a). This can also be said about Malkhut. Although at night Malkhut / the Shekhinah descends into the realm of the Sitra Achra, the Other Side, she closes herself off to all impurity and so remains always desirable to HaKadosh Barukh Hu. and to emunah.26See Shaar HaKavanot, Drushei HaLailah 3. Citing the verse “They are new in the mornings; Your emunah is great” (Eikhah 3:23; Reb Noson will bring this verse in §3 below), the Arizal teaches that Malkhut, as emunah, returns to being “great” as morning replaces the night. In Pri Eitz Chaim (op. cit.) he explains: After midnight Malkhut / the Shekhinah, who is “Your emunah,” returns to fullness and abundance as a result of all the Jewish souls becoming encompassed in Her. Then, in the morning, the souls emerge from Malkhut renewed.
וְזֶה בְּחִינַת שְׁבִירַת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה יְכוֹלִין לְהַעֲלוֹת הַנְּפָשׁוֹת וּלְהַמְשִׁיךְ תּוֹרָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּהַתּוֹרָה ״אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם – הַשְׁגָּחָה״ (בסימן יג), עַיֵּן שָׁם.
And this corresponds to the idea of breaking the excessive desire for money, through which tzaddikim are able to elevate souls and draw down Torah, as Rebbe Nachman writes in the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Hashgachah. Study there.27LM I, 13 (summarized in §1 above). Rebbe Nachman teaches that in order to draw new Torah insights into the world, the tzaddik-sage gathers together and elevates people’s souls and wills. This “arousal from below” (see note 30 below) effects a yichud between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and the Shekhinah—i.e. the manifestation of Godliness in the creation—after which the tzaddiksage is able to reveal Torah insights and so elicit full hashgachah from above.
כִּי בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם צְרִיכִין לְקַבֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מֵחָדָשׁ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ״ל: ״אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם״ (דברים ו, ו) – ״בְּכָל יוֹם יִהְיוּ דּוֹמִין בְּעֵינֶיךָ כַּחֲדָשִׁים״ (ספרי שם).
For each day we are obligated to receive the Torah anew—either through derivation of new insights or by renewed commitment to its teachings.28See note 15 above, that for those with ample daat this means receiving new Torah insights, while for everyone else it means renewed dedication to Torah study. As Chazal teach on the phrase “‘that I charge you this day’—every day the words of Torah should appear in your eyes like new.”29As if we had received the Torah this very day at Sinai; see Rashi on Devarim 11:13 citing Sifrei, Va’etchanan 8; also Rashi on Devarim 26:16.
וְקַבָּלַת הַתּוֹרָה הוּא עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁמַּעֲלִין אֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּמְחַדְּשִׁין אוֹתָהּ, כַּמְבֹאָר שָׁם. וְזֶה נַעֲשֶׂה עַל־יְדֵי שְׁבִירַת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן כַּנַּ״ל, שֶׁזֶּה בְּחִינַת הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה בִּזְרִיזוּת, בִּבְחִינַת אֱמוּנָה כַּנַּ״ל.
The way to receive the Torah anew is by elevating the soul and renewing it, as explained there.30In LM I, 13:2, Rebbe Nachman explains this elevation of the soul as the kabbalistic concept of “an arousal from below.” The Zohar (I, 77b) illustrates the reciprocal relationship between HaShem and humanity with the example of the flow of Divine bounty and blessing into the world. This downward flow of shefa is called “an arousal from above.” In order for shefa to descend there must first be “an arousal from below.” Kabbalah calls this latter arousal “elevating mayin nukvin (feminine waters)”—i.e. an awakening of spiritual energy from this world through humanity’s devotions to HaShem. This awakening generates a reciprocal arousal from above, called mayin dukhrin (masculine waters)—i.e. the flow of shefa and blessing that HaShem’s hashgachah benevolently provides for the world and humankind in particular (see also Zohar I, 86b). In the present context, the Torah is the shefa and blessing we receive from above as a result of the tzaddik-sage elevating the souls as mayin nukvin in order to rejuvenate them. This is achieved by breaking the excessive desire for money and thereby strengthening emunah. This is analogous to rousing from sleep with zerizut, which is itself an indication of the strength of one’s emunah.
כִּי תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן הוּא בְּחִינַת כְּפִירוּת, בְּחִינַת לַיְלָה, בְּחִינַת חֹשֶׁךְ, אַנְפִּין חֲשׁוּכִין, בְּחִינַת עַצְבוּת וְעַצְלוּת, בְּחִינַת מִיתָה, בְּחִינַת שֵׁנָה שֶׁהִיא אֶחָד מִשִּׁשִּׁים בְּמִיתָה (ברכות נז:).
All this is so since lusting for money equates with nonbelief,31See Rambam (Yad HaChazakah, Hilkhot Teshuvah 3:7) that belief in other gods (avodah zarah, idol worship) and nonbelief in the existence of HaShem (kefirah, atheism) are essentially the same. Thus whereas in §1 the desire for money is equated with avodah zarah, here Reb Noson equates money-lust with kefirah. A person without emunah denies that it is HaShem Who gives him livelihood and provides for all his needs, and so worships the money instead (see also note 35 below). with night, whose darkness is symbolic of the concealment of emunah. This leads to anpin chashukhin, “darkened countenances” of sadness and sluggishness, corresponding to death— and, by extension, to sleep, which Chazal teach is one-sixtieth of death.32Berakhot 57b. Each night, when we go to sleep, we return our souls to HaShem. Therefore sleep is akin to death, as Chazal teach, “Sleep is one-sixtieth of death.” Then, when we awaken in the morning, our renewed souls are returned to us. The Midrash teaches that with this act HaShem exhibits His faithfulness to us. It is a model for the way He will return our souls to us in the future at the time of the Resurrection (Eikhah Rabbah 3:8)., 33LM 23:1 states, “The distinguishing feature (panim) of the Sitra Achra is a darkened countenance, namely melancholy, idolatry, etc. … Thus those who succumb to the desire for money and do not believe that HaShem can provide them with livelihood through easy means expend great effort in their pursuit of sustenance. They earn their livelihood through suffering (see note 8 above) … and thus are bound to the countenance of the Sitra Achra, ‘other gods,’ darkness, the aspect of death, as in ‘He set me in darkness [as those long dead]’” (Eikhah 3:6).
וְצָרִיךְ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לוֹ הִתְגַּבְּרוּת לְשַׁבֵּר אֶת הַשֵּׁנָה, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת מִיתָה, בְּחִינַת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן. וַאֲזַי יוּכַל לְחַדֵּשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ וּלְהַעֲלוֹתָהּ וּלְהַמְשִׁיךְ תּוֹרָה.
This is why a person must be mighty like a lion; why he has to be resolute and strong-willed, so that he breaks his desire for sleep, which is comparable to death and the desire for money. Then, with his emunah revived, he is able to renew his soul and elevate his desires, and through this draw down Torah anew.
Reb Noson has drawn a parallel between the desire for sleep and the desire for money, as both signify diminished emunah. Conversely, rising with zerizut and giving tzedakah, which breaks money-lust, both build emunah. Rectified emunah renews one’s soul and one is rewarded with new Torah insights.
וַאֲזַי כְּשֶׁמְּשַׁבֵּר אֶת הַשֵּׁנָה, אֶת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן, אֲזַי אַדְּרַבָּא! הַשֵּׁנָה הִיא טוֹבָה לוֹ דַּיְקָא, כִּי עַל־יְדֵי הַשֵּׁנָה מְחַדֵּשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ, בִּבְחִינַת (איכה ג, כג): ״חֲדָשִׁים לַבְּקָרִים רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ״.
SLEEP FOR THE SOUL
Reb Noson next explains that when we break the desire for sleep, sleep itself becomes beneficial, not just for the body and mind but also for the soul.
And when a person breaks his desire for sleep—as when he breaks the desire for money—then, on the contrary, sleep is actually beneficial for him. For through sleep he renews his soul, as in “They are new in the mornings; your emunah is great,” alluding to the emunah of the person himself.34In the verse, “Your emunah” refers to HaShem’s faithfulness. Reb Noson’s reading here follows Rebbe Nachman’s reading of this verse in LM I, 62:5, as referring to a person’s faith emerging anew each morning (see following note).
וְכֵן עַל־יְדֵי הַמָּמוֹן מְחַדֵּשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ, עַל־יְדֵי מַשָּׂא וּמַתָּן בֶּאֱמוּנָה שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת שֵׁנָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּהַתּוֹרָה ״אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם – זַרְקָא״ (בסימן לה).
Similarly, through the money a person earns—via masa u-matan be-emunah, which is the concept of sleep—he renews his soul, as explained in the lesson Ashrei HaAm—Zarka.35LM I, 35. Rebbe Nachman teaches there that a person whose mind is constantly focused on serving HaShem must look for opportunities to rest and rejuvenate his intellect, which the Rebbe equates with renewing the soul. Otherwise, his mind will become overtaxed and his soul will grow weary. The Rebbe suggests two ways to accomplish this renewal: through sleep, and by transacting one’s business with emunah (which is itself a state of sleep as compared with exerting the mind with Torah study). The faithfulness and integrity with which a person conducts his business affairs cause his mind to rest in the security of emunah and be renewed there. The Rebbe teaches there that a businessman who has emunah suffers no loss as a result of his faith and integrity. On the contrary, by breaking the desire for wealth and transacting his business with emunah, he turns an exceptional profit— namely a renewed soul.36In teaching that waking up with zerizut rectifies sleep, rendering it beneficial—and that, analogously, engaging in masa u-matan be-emunah rectifies our relationship to money—Reb Noson illustrates the essential role of hamtakat ha-dinim. Serving HaShem does not mean going without. As humans, we need to sleep. We also need to earn a living. What we do not need, and what mitigating judgment frees us from, is being caught in the grip of either of these dinim-rooted aspects of life. HaShem created the world with His attribute of rachamim, compassion, but also with His attribute of din, judgment (Bereishit Rabbah 12:15). Our task is to learn to mitigate the elements of din and judiciously incorporate them into our lives.
וְזֶה פֵּרוּשׁ (משלי ו, ט): ״עַד מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ״, הַיְנוּ עַד מָתַי תִּשְׁכַּב וְתִישַׁן בְּעַצְלוּת, מָתַי תְּשַׁבֵּר אֶת הַשֵּׁנָה, שֶׁאָז אַדְּרַבָּא! עַל־יְדֵי הַשֵּׁנָה יִתְחַזֵּק מֹחוֹ וְיִתְחַדֵּשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ כַּנַּ״ל, וְזֶהוּ: ״מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ״, הַיְנוּ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לְךָ תְּקוּמָה שֶׁיָּקוּם וְיִתְרוֹמֵם נַפְשְׁךָ עַל־יְדֵי הַשֵּׁנָה.
This is the explanation of “Lazy one, how long will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep?” It means: How long are you going to lie down and sleep lazily? When are you going to break the desire for sleep? For then, when a person breaks this desire, on the contrary, by sleeping he actually strengthens his mind and renews his soul. Thus “When takum from your sleep?” means: When will you have a takumah, revival, such that your soul will arise and be elevated through sleep?
וּכְשֶׁזּוֹכֶה לְהַעֲלוֹת נַפְשׁוֹ עַל־יְדֵי שְׁבִירַת הַשֵּׁנָה, עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה עוֹשֶׂה יִחוּד קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא וּשְׁכִינְתֵּיהּ, וְזֶהוּ: ״שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא מְעוֹרֵר הַשַּׁחַר״ – לְעוֹרֵר אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר לְזִוּוּג.
And when a person merits elevating his soul by breaking his desire for sleep, he effects a yichud between HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah.37Regarding the unification of HaKadosh Barukh Hu and His Shekhinah, see note 17 above. This is the meaning of “so that it is he who awakens the shachar.” By waking up eagerly from sleep to serve HaShem, he awakens Ayelet HaShachar, namely Malkhut / the Shekhinah, for union.38Whereas earlier we saw that “awakens” refers to raising and rectifying the “dawn,” namely Malkhut and the Shekhinah, here Reb Noson explains “awakens” as preparing the Shekhinah / Malkhut for union. Waking the Shekhinah causes Her to ascend, thereby facilitating Her yichud with HaKadosh Barukh Hu.
Reb Noson has shown that the nightly suspension of daat we call sleep is representative of diminished faith. This blemish of emunah is mirrored in the nightly diminishing of the Shekhinah and Her descent from the highest spiritual realms. Conversely, zerizut in rising from sleep restores emunah and rectifies the Shekhinah. Going to sleep with the intention of rising with alacrity in order to serve HaShem accomplishes this as well. Sleep is then most beneficial: it renews the soul, and awakening facilitates the awakening of the Shekhinah and leads to a yichud on high.
וְזֶה פֵּרוּשׁ: ״יִתְגַּבֵּר כָּאֲרִי״, הוּא בְּחִינַת לִקּוּטֵי הַנְּפָשׁוֹת לְהַעֲלוֹתָם, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב רַבֵּנוּ בְּהַתּוֹרָה ״אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם״ (סימן יג), בְּחִינַת (שיר־השירים ה, א) ״אָרִיתִי מוֹרִי עִם בְּשָׂמִי״.
LIKE A LION
Reb Noson now returns to the first law of the Shulchan Arukh with which he began this discourse. He will show how it alludes to gathering the souls and their diverse wills in order to then merit hashgachah, the opening topic of Rebbe Nachman’s lesson.
This is the explanation of “A person should strengthen himself like an ari, lion.” The word ari suggests a gathering, and so the Shulchan Arukh’s statement alludes to gathering the souls in order to elevate them.39In §5 of his lesson, Rebbe Nachman teaches that man’s soul possesses characteristics associated with each of the living creatures that appeared in Yechezkel’s vision of the Chariot (see Yechezkel 1). Of the four, attention here is on aryeh, the lion. Reb Noson will next ,(אריתי) with the word ARIti (ארי) ARI /(אריה) link ARYeh gather). ,ארה) from the root ARah As Rebbe Nachman writes in the lesson Ashrei HaAm,40LM I, 13. gathering souls and all the wills that issue from them is the concept of “Ariti my myrrh with my spice.”41A person’s will is directly linked to his soul. His evil desires have the power to blemish his soul; his holy desires have the power to embellish his soul. This is the deeper meaning of “I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.” “Myrrh,” an aromatic resin with a bitter taste, alludes to the bitterness of a soul blemished by a person’s base wants and inclinations. “Spice” alludes to the pleasant scent that perfumes the soul as a result of its spiritual yearnings and aspirations. Each person who comes to the tzaddik-sage comes with his soul and its various wills and desires. The tzaddik-sage gathers all these wills—the exalted as well as the fallen—in order to elevate them. The verse from Shir HaShirim thus reads: The tzaddik-sage says, “I have gathered the blemishes and bitterness of the soul together with the pleasant fragrances that stem from the soul’s desire to serve HaShem” (Parparaot LeChokhmah). The tzaddik gathers people’s diverse wills, all their wants and aspirations—these as bitter as myrrh and those as fragrant as spice—and then elevates them in order to renew their souls.42Reb Noson writes (Advice, Tzaddik #19), “Search for a tzaddik who has the power to gather in the souls and elevate them. Then your soul will be elevated with the others and renewed, and through this, Torah will be brought down into the world and revealed. You must plead with HaShem again and again to make you worthy of finding such a tzaddik. He has the power to cleanse you of the blemishes caused by your desires and impulses, and actually elevate them. When a person has a certain lust, the desire itself is a blemish which embitters the soul… But by coming to the tzaddik, a complete tikkun can be achieved. The tzaddik has the power to purify and elevate even a person’s negative desires together with his positive, holy yearning.”
וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה מַמְשִׁיכִין הַשְׁגָּחָה שְׁלֵמָה, עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁנִּתְקָרְבִין לְהַכֹּחַ הָרְאוּת עַל־יְדֵי הַתּוֹרָה.
And by elevating the souls and wills we draw new Torah insights. This in turn elicits full hashgachah.43In LM I, 13:4, Rebbe Nachman explains that full Divine providence is reserved for those close to the Torah, which, being comprised of TaNTA, signifies HaShem’s power of vision and supervision (see note 16 above). Those distant from the Torah, on the other hand, are distant from HaShem’s sight, as it were, and so the Divine providence they receive is incomplete. For it is through the Torah that we are brought into HaShem’s sight.44Rebbe Nachman discusses the concept of drawing down new Torah revelations in §2 and §4 of his lesson. As mentioned in §1 above, it is primarily the tzaddiksage who can reveal the Torah’s wisdom through new insights. Wisdom corresponds to the power of vision, as in (Bereishit 3:7) “And the eyes of both of them were opened.” Rashi on this verse explains that Adam’s and Chavah’s eyes opened with wisdom (see also Siftei Chachamim there). This refers to seeing with the mind’s eye. Thus wisdom is an aspect of sight—insight. Because the wisdom that the tzaddik-sage brings is Torah wisdom, it elicits full hashgachah, HaShem’s “seeing eye of compassion.” As explained earlier (see note 16), the Torah is comprised of TaNTA, the spiritual energy that emanated from the eyes of Adam Kadmon. Therefore the closer one is to Torah, the more he becomes the focus of HaShem’s vision.
וְזֶהוּ (הַגָּ״ה): ״שִׁוִּיתִי ה׳ לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד״, הַיְנוּ שֶׁהַשְׁגָּחָתוֹ עָלֵינוּ תָּמִיד.
This is why Rama’s gloss on the law “A person should strengthen himself like a lion to rise up in the morning” cites the verse “I set HaShem before me always.” In other words, when zerizut in serving HaShem breaks the desire for sleep, elevation of the soul elicits a new revelation of Torah. By setting ourselves close to the Torah we come into His direct line of sight, so that His hashgachah is upon us always.45Through the Torah we are ever mindful of HaShem’s presence—“I set HaShem before me always”—and so become worthy of His caring watchfulness and shefa. Reb Noson expresses these ideas in prayer. He writes: Master of the Universe … do not hide Your eyes from us. Compassionate God, take pity on us and watch over us with an eye of tender mercy and graciousness—a single eye of compassion, an open eye that never slumbers. Place us under Your full hashgachah and let Your vision rest upon us through Your holy Torah, which You have radiated to us through the true tzaddikim. Let us be close to Your holy, watchful eye, until we will be the focus of Your vision, and we will become merged with You (Likutey Tefillot #13).
When a person who strengthens himself and serves HaShem with zerizut comes to the tzaddik, the tzaddik gathers all his wills, the base and the lofty, and raises them up. This renews his soul and he receives the Torah anew. Then, through his closeness to Torah, he becomes the focus of HaShem’s “seeing eye” of hashgachah.
וְזֶה שֶׁכָּתוּב (שלחן ערוך ארח חיים סימן א׳ סעיף ג׳) שֶׁרָאוּי לְכָל יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם שֶׁיְּהֵא מֵצֵר וְדוֹאֵג עַל חֻרְבַּן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ. כִּי ״כָּל הַמִּתְאַבֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם זוֹכֶה וְרוֹאֶה בְּשִׂמְחָתָהּ״, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ״ל (תענית ל:).
MITIGATING DIN
Having explained that rising from sleep with zerizut strengthens emunah, mitigates din, and builds daat, Reb Noson now shows how this parallels rising each night to “rebuild” the Beit HaMikdash by reciting Tikkun Chatzot.
This matter is related to what is written in the Shulchan Arukh (Orach Chaim 1:3), “It is fitting for every person who fears HaShem to be pained and distressed over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash,” for “whoever mourns over Yerushalayim will merit witnessing its rejoicing,” as Chazal teach.46Taanit 30b.
נִמְצָא, עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁמֵּצֵר וְדוֹאֵג עַל הַבֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, זֶה בְּחִינַת בִּנְיָנוֹ. וּבִנְיַן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הוּא בְּחִינַת בִּנְיַן הַדַּעַת, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה יְכוֹלִין לְהַעֲלוֹת נְפָשׁוֹת כַּנַּ״ל, כַּמְבֹאָר בְּסִימָן י״ג הַנַּ״ל, עַיֵּן שָׁם.
It follows that being pained and distressed over the destruction and absence of the Beit HaMikdash correlates to its rebuilding and the subsequent rejoicing. Furthermore, the building of the Beit HaMikdash is synonymous with building up daat,47See note 14 above. through which it is possible to elevate souls, as explained above and brought in LM I, 13. Study Rebbe Nachman’s words there.
וְזֶה בְּחִינַת קִימַת חֲצוֹת, שֶׁמְּשַׁבְּרִין הַשֵּׁנָה, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן, וּמִתְאַבְּלִין עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וְחֻרְבַּן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה בּוֹנִין אוֹתוֹ, וְעַל־יְדֵי בְּחִינַת בִּנְיַן בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה יְכוֹלִין לְלַקֵּט הַנְּפָשׁוֹת וּלְהַעֲלוֹתָן.
And that is the reason for rising at midnight to recite Tikkun Chatzot.48In addition to the Shulchan Arukh, the Gemara, Midrash and Zohar all extol the great value of rising in the middle of the night to recite the collection of psalms, lamentations and prayers that comprise Tikkun Chatzot. More recent holy teachings also laud this practice, notably the literature of Breslov Chassidut; see Crossing the Narrow Bridge, ch. 8, pp. 124-129; The Sweetest Hour, passim. Rebbe Nachman said, “Mitzvah gedolah le-hiyot be-simchah tamid (It is a very great mitzvah to be happy always)” (LM II, 24). His followers ,שמחה) have an oral tradition that the word SiMChaH Mikveh ,(שולחן ערוך) joy) stands for Shulchan Arukh the four —(התבודדות) Hitbodedut ,(חצות) Chatzot ,(מקוה) cardinal devotions of a Breslover chassid. By breaking the desire for sleep—namely the desire for money—and mourning over Yerushalayim and the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, we spiritually rebuild it. Through this aspect of building the Beit HaMikdash and meriting daat it becomes possible to gather up the Jewish souls, elevating and renewing them, and rendering them worthy of a new revelation of Torah.
וְעַל־כֵּן חֲצוֹת מַמְתִּיק דִּינִים, כִּי מְשַׁבְּרִין אֶת הַשֵּׁנָה, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת מִיתָה בְּחִינַת כְּפִירוּת כַּנַּ״ל, כִּי ״כָל זְמַן שֶׁיֵּשׁ עֲבוֹדָה־זָרָה וְכוּ׳״ (ספרי פרשת ראה), וְעַל־יְדֵי קִימַת חֲצוֹת מְקִימִין אֶת הָאֱמוּנָה וּמַמְשִׁיכִין חֲסָדִים.
Therefore rising at midnight mitigates dinim,49See LM I, 149, where Rebbe Nachman teaches that chatzot is as efficacious as a pidyon (see note 53 below), for it mitigates the dinim. because by rising at that time we have effectively broken the grip of sleep—in particular, sleep in its association with death and nonbelief.50See note 20 above. Sleep as it relates to death and nonbelief is accompanied by dinim, for “as long as there is nonbelief and idol worship in the world, [there is burning anger in the world].”51Sifrei, Re’eh 84. This Midrash discusses a city in which the majority of inhabitants have worshipped idolatry. In such a case, the entire city, including inanimate objects, must be destroyed (Devarim 13:13-19). Failing to eliminate even one of these objects in essence leaves a reminder of idolatry in the world. Reb Noson relates this here to the idolatry of money worship. Failing to eliminate even the minutest trace of money-lust leaves a remnant of HaShem’s wrath, and so keeps the dinim from being mitigated entirely. But by rising at midnight, we raise up emunah and strengthen it. HaShem’s wrath and the dinim are thus mitigated, and we draw chasadim, the elements of kindness and love, into the world.52Kabbalah teaches that the inner structure of Daat is formed from the confluence of chasadim, benevolences, the root elements of the sefirah of Chesed that extend from Chokhmah on the right side of the sefirahconfiguration, and gevurot, severities, the root elements of Gevurah that extend from Binah on the left side (see Charts, p. 252). The parallel to the sefirah of Daat is the daat in the mind of man (see note 13 above). Man’s daat is formed from the confluence of chasadim, the qualities of kindness and generosity that unfold from chokhmah, human wisdom, and gevurot, the qualities of judgment and restraint that unfold from binah, human understanding (Eitz Chaim 25:2 and 34:3). In LM I, 10:6, Rebbe Nachman links emunah with chasadim.
וזְהֶ שֶׁכּתָבַ רַבּנֵוּ (בלקוטי מוהר״ן חלק א׳ סימן קמט): שֶׁחֲצוֹת מְסֻגָּל כְּמוֹ פִּדְיוֹן, כְּמוֹ פִּדְיוֹן דַּיְקָא, כִּי הַפִּדְיוֹן הוּא בְּחִינַת צְדָקָה, שֶׁמְּשַׁבֵּר תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן וּמַמְתִּיק הַדִּינִים. וְכֵן חֲצוֹת הוּא שְׁבִירַת הַשֵּׁנָה, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת תַּאֲוַת מָמוֹן כַּנַּ״ל, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה מַמְתִּיקִין דִּינִים, כַּנַּ״ל.
To conclude, Reb Noson relates to one last concept from Rebbe Nachman’s lesson: the power of tzedakah to mitigate din.
This also relates to what the Rebbe writes elsewhere, that rising at midnight and lamenting the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is as efficacious as giving a pidyon.53A pidyon, redemption, refers to money or an object given to a tzaddik so that he will effect a tikkun and salvation on behalf of the giver. It is a time-honored custom for a Jew experiencing some misfortune or hardship to give tzedakah to a tzaddik and ask him to pray on his behalf. The pidyon serves as a catalyst through which the dinim of Heaven’s decree against him are mitigated., 54See LM I, 149; also see LH, Ribit 5:5. The analogy to a pidyon is precise, because the pidyon is a form of tzedakah, and we have already seen that giving tzedakah breaks the desire for money and so mitigates the dinim.55For the role tzedakah plays in breaking the desire for money, see §1 and note 9 above. In LM I, 180, Rebbe Nachman shows that money shares a common spiritual root with dinim. Therefore when a person breaks his desire for money and gives a pidyon to a tzaddik, it mitigates the dinim. A possible further reason Reb Noson introduces the topic of pidyon here lies in its connection to Rosh HaShanah (see note 5 above for the connection between this lesson and Rosh HaShanah). Rebbe Nachman teaches that erev Rosh HaShanah is a very good time for presenting a pidyon to redeem oneself in the eyes of Heaven and cleanse one’s soul (Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom #214; Uman! Uman! Rosh HaShanah!, p. 61). The same is true of rising at midnight; it is like giving a pidyon. By rising at midnight one breaks the desire for sleep, which corresponds to breaking the desire for money, through which we mitigate dinim, as explained above.56Although sleep becomes beneficial once a person breaks his desire for it (see §3 above), sleep is a dormancy of the mochin and a suspension of daat. The time one spends asleep is time spent under the sway of dinim. Breaking the grip of sleep and rising in the middle of the night builds awareness of HaShem and delivers a person from all the misfortune and suffering that the dinim generate.
Reb Noson has shown that three Rosh HaShanah themes—strengthening emunah, mitigating din, and meriting hashgachah—have practical applications for us throughout the year. The sleep that overtakes us each night is representative of diminished emunah. But if we break the grip of sleep and wake up with zerizut, we strengthen our emunah. This mitigates the dinim, the concealment of Godliness. The resultant increase of daat elevates our souls, and with the new revelation of Torah that this brings, we become the focus of the seeing eye of HaShem.