The Secret of the Living Letters: The Depth of Faith and Fleeing from Honor
Lesson No. 61 | (Continued from 60) Thursday, Parashas Chukas, 3 Tammuz 5756 (Continued from 62) Thursday, Parashas Mattos-Masei, 24 Tammuz 5756
When a person approaches to speak with his Creator, every letter and word are entire worlds begging him not to rush and part from them. This article reveals how focusing on the letters stems from complete faith, and how this faith leads to the trait of humility and fleeing from honor, just as our forefather Abraham acted toward Lot.
If a person cannot concentrate on the letters of prayer, it is a sign that he lacks faith entirely. True faith is expressed solely through a person's ability to focus on the letters of prayer, knowing and feeling that someone is listening to him. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains in Torah 155 that if a person does not pray properly due to sadness, laziness, and heaviness, it stems exclusively from a lack of faith.
"If he truly believed that Hashem stands over him, hears every word that leaves his mouth, and listens to the sound of his prayer... he would certainly pray with great enthusiasm, and he would be exceedingly precise in directing his words."
In Torah 62, it is explained that we must sharpen our intellect, and the spiritual refinement of food is achieved through faith. Through eating in holiness alone, a person can bring people back in teshuvah (repentance) face to face. As we find with Boaz and Ruth: "And Boaz said to Ruth at mealtime, 'Come here'"—specifically through food, one draws the Shechinah (Divine Presence) closer. To reach the refinement of food and sharpen the intellect, which means studying the Talmud and understanding things thoroughly, one must have faith. There are questions about which it is said, "Know what to answer a heretic," and there are questions that the human intellect simply cannot comprehend, about which it is said, "None who go to her return," and the answer will only be revealed in the Future to Come. Therefore, a person must not rely solely on his intellect, but rather base everything on faith.
Gathering Roses: Every Letter is an Entire World
The wholehearted knowledge that "the whole earth is full of His glory," and that Hashem, may He be blessed, stands over him during prayer and hears him—this is the essence of faith. When a person feels that he is speaking with Hashem, he pronounces every letter slowly, calmly, and patiently. One who does not believe that Hashem sees him lacks enthusiasm and is not precise with the letters, which is a loss of intellect. This lack of concentration is an aspect of subtle heresy in the heart. We do not need to look for heresy among the secular; if we rectify our own internal heresy, there will be no secular people in the world.
When a person stands and speaks words of holiness, he is literally gathering blossoms and flowers. Every word is a flower, a beautiful rose.
"Like a person walking in a field, gathering beautiful roses and flowers one by one... making one bouquet, and then gathering more one by one to make another bouquet, and joining them together."
One must not give up on a single letter. We must gather letter to letter, word to word, from severities to holiness, until a single blessing is completed in its entirety. Every dot and every letter is greater than the entire world, for this world is absolute nothingness compared to a single word of holiness.
The Letters Beg: "Do Not Rush, Do Not Part From Me"
When speech emerges from the soul, it becomes a "living soul" and a "speaking spirit." We must guard our speech, fulfilling the concept of "let your ears hear what your mouth utters." The speech itself begs and pleads with the soul; every single letter literally speaks to the person.
When a person says "Baruch" (Blessed), the letter Beis says to him: "Where are you going? Why are you running?" A person recites the blessing over washing hands in two seconds, and the letters ask: "Why are you rushing? Say it slowly: Baruch, Atah, Hashem, Elokeinu..." Add a few more seconds, what happened? Nine seconds of a blessing are entire worlds!
The letters beg: "Say me slowly." The letter Beis grabs the person and says: "How can you part from me? Don't you see how beautiful I am? How my radiance, splendor, and glory shine? How can you move on so quickly to the letter Reish?" Whoever wants to finish the entire prayer in fifteen minutes loses the sweetness and beauty of every letter. Instead of rushing, one can start early, take their time, and not forget the letters, so that they will not forget you wherever you go.
A Good Eye and the Secret of "HaNegbah" (To the South) of Our Forefather Abraham
When one says the words slowly, such as "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel," they draw down abundance to all the synagogues and yeshivas. Rabbi Akiva Eiger would say this very slowly in order to draw down blessing for everyone.
It is brought in the Midrash on Parashas Chayei Sarah that Rabbi Akiva told his new students: "The first students died because they had a narrow eye (were envious) of one another; you should not be like that." A person must have a good eye toward everyone. When each person opens a yeshiva and brings students closer, they must rejoice in one another. And on Rosh Hashanah, when everyone gathers together, each person is awakened by his friend—one from awe and one from love.
The book Imrei Aharon brings a wondrous insight on the verse:
"And Abraham went up from Egypt... to the south (HaNegbah)."
The word "HaNegbah" (to the south) is composed of the same letters as "HaGneivah" (the theft). Our forefather Abraham went up from Egypt heavily laden with livestock, silver, and gold, and many Egyptians—a "mixed multitude"—went up with him as well. When he realized that he could not get rid of them easily, "HaNegbah"—he simply stole away and hid himself.
Fleeing from Honor Like the Humble King
Avraham Avinu fled from honor. He told people, "Go to Lot, he is your Rebbe, I am nothing." People look for a Rebbe with a shining face, and Lot took advantage of this. He gathered shepherds and students around himself, claiming, "I am the heir of Avraham! Avraham is already old; I am the young one with the new spiritual attainments." Lot even permitted stealing and grazing in foreign fields, claiming "tza'ar ba'alei chayim" (preventing cruelty to animals) for the flock in the desert, completely ignoring the prohibition of theft.
Avraham, on the other hand, knew the truth and continued to conceal himself. In the end, he said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between me and you." He gave him Sodom, which was "like the garden of Hashem, like the land of Egypt," and told him, "Go be a Rebbe in Sodom, where you can rob and plunder, and you will be the only one who welcomes guests, so everyone will say that you are the true tzaddik."
A person must always conceal himself, flee from honor, and hide his virtues. This is exactly as described in the Sipurei Ma'asiyos (Tales) of Rebbe Nachman, regarding the "Humble King" who devised schemes and tricks so that people would steal from him and deceive him, just to flee from honor. Whenever someone would praise him, he would tremble in fear, completely nullifying himself.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 61
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