Weekly Story: A Response

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon 

Normally I respond to the individual. However, being that numerous people have asked me that question, I decided to answer it in this forum. 

Additionally, it is 6 weeks before Yud Aleph Nissan, so it is an appropriate time to speak about the Rebbe’s words.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Last week I wrote that the Rebbe’s opinion is that The Shpoler Zeideh and Reb Leib Sarah’s are the same tzaddik.

The question I was asked is, after that initial sicha on the last day of Pesach 5730, the Rebbe was asked numerous questions which seemingly disprove this thought. The Rebbe replied at a shabbos farbrengen afterwards that those questions are all answerable and therefore he isn’t swayed by them. But if someone can show him two separate gravestones, that would be a proof which he would accept. So they asked me, now that two separate tombstones have been found, why do you say the Rebbe’s opinion is that they are the same person?

My reply is simple; in that sicha the Rebbe said if one finds two tombstones with two different names then he will accept that they are different people. 

I continued that the tombstone in Shpole has no name, just the date of vov Tishrei 5572.

However, my feelings and opinions are not just based on that.

In essence, the question being asked is, but we see something that contradicts this. So let us think deeper into this thought. 

We all have heard about a story where the doctors inform a patient that based on blood results, x-ray, surgery or other medical barometer it is my professional opinion that you must undergo a surgery or some medical intervention. However, the patient isn’t going to sign the consent form until they receive the Rebbe’s bracha. 

Instead of a brocha that everything should go well, and you should have a complete and speedy recovery, the Rebbe responds, “I don’t see anything that necessitates this intervention.” 

Here you have the results in front of you and when the person went to get a second opinion, that doctor concurred with the first physician, but nevertheless the Rebbe states that it isn’t there.

So is it or isn’t it there?

Another incident comes to mind; there is a famous story that was published in many places that the Israeli official who had the responsibility to inform the families of fallen soldiers was in a yechidus and he noted that right before he left Eretz Yisroel, sadly he had to inform a certain amount of families. The Rebbe questioned his number saying you had to inform two additional families. The person replied, no, I made sure to promptly inform every family of their tragedy before I left.

However, when he returned to Eretz Yisroel he was shocked to see that the Rebbe’s number was the correct amount, and he indeed missed two. The next time he came to New York he requested a Yechidus and asked the Rebbe, how did he know this?

The Rebbe replied, Every Neshoma before it enters this world or when it leaves it, it passes through this room.

So, my question is simple, The Rebbe sees the inside of a person’s body better and clearer than the top physician. He sees every neshoma. He feels the cry of any Jew, no matter where that Jew lives. But yet, your question implies that I am supposed to believe that he couldn’t see that they are two neshomos and that two distinct tombstones exist.

That is something which I simply cannot understand.

A Taste of Chassidus

Vayakhel Moshe 5719

The reason Moshe gathered together the Jewish nation is because he was going to inform them about something that is pertinent to all of them. The main theme of this parsha is teaching us about building the mishkan, and as is known the possuk states that the purpose of the mishkan is that Hashem should rest in them; meaning in each and every Jew. Therefore every Jew was gathered to one place so  that they all heard this.

While the Mishkan is relevant to everyone and therefore it is a general thing, nevertheless it is divided into (3) parts. The courtyard, the Ohel Moed (which housed the menorah, Golden Alter, and the Table of the 12 loaves) and the kodesh Hakodashim. (Simarlily, there were three distinct types of covers above it). 

These three divisions correspond to the three stages of creation. First there are the unlimited worlds that are above Atzilus; then there is Atzilus (the beginning of the process of creation; followed by the worlds of B’riah, Yetzira and Asiah (the physical world and universe we are in, the actual creation of entities that can think that they are not dependent upon the Creator).

However, the Torah informs us in last weeks’ parsha, that in order for a kohen to even enter the courtyard, he was required to first wash his hands and feet from the basin that Noshe Rabeinu was personally involved in making. This implies that the basin also was an integral point for the entire nation and therefore it required Moshe’s participation, for he uplifts the entire nation.

In order to understand the role, the basin plays, we have to understand why it was made from the copper on the pieces of glass? This that the Torah describes it in the plural form indicates that there were two types of glass. One that allows the person to see something that otherwise he wouldn’t be able to see. While the other glass is like a mirror which prevents one from seeing through it, but it enables the looker to see his own reflection and what is behind him.

To describe how these two levels apply to everyone’s service of Hashem; we will begin with the first level of a clear glass. Our sages inform us that tzaddikim sit in Gan Eden, with their crowns on their head and they receive pleasure from the rays of the Shechina.One is able to receive benefit only from something that is revealed. 

So while the Shechina is present also in this physical world, but here it is concealed. However, in Gan Eden there is no  concealment, so he can receive that benefit.

But this arouses a different question; How is a creation [which by its very nature is limited,] able to receive and contain a level of G-dliness which by its very definition is unlimited?

This question is also asked in a different topic. Our sages inform us that during the forty days that Moshe was on the mountain, he didn’t eat or drink; he survived just as the angels do in heaven, survive, and that is from being in Hashem’s presence. There too we ask, how can a creation as lofty as Moshe is, receive nourishment and survive from Hashem’s glory?

The possuk states that on his way up to the heavens, Moshe entered the clouds. A cloud diminishes the brightness of the sun rays, and then us humans can benefit from it. So too on a spiritual level, the clouds limited the intensity of Hashem’s glory and therefore Moshe was able to sustain himself from that diminished level of Hashem’s glory.

While we mentioned earlier that a clear glass allows one to see the item in front of him, and the glass that is turned into a mirror doesn’t give a person this ability, so the clear glass is a higher level. Nevertheless, there is a certain quality that the mirror has over the clear glass. Moshe who was able to look at Hashem, was not able to see His face, however, Yeshayu the navi said, I can see Hashem. The Gemorah explains that since he wasn’t able to look and see Hashem’s essence under any circumstances, but was able to see a much diminished level of G-dliness, so at that level that he was able to see, he saw Hashem.

[Author’s note: Moshe prophesized with the word Zeh – This is what Hashem said, while all the other prophets could only say Ko -Like this Hashem said. So Moshe couldn’t see Hashem’s essence, but Yeshaya (and other prophets) who only were able to hear Hashem at a lower level, were able to see Hashem at that much lower level.]

So too a mirror allows a person to see what is behind him, something that a clear glass can’t.

We now realize that an unclear glass, refers to a level that because of the concealment, we cannot see something. In a person’s avodah (service of Hashem) this refers to the neshoma, when the body and animal soul tries to prevent it from seeing G-dliness. 

Now before Hashem began creating the world, He consulted with the Neshomos of the Jewish nation. That tells us how close the neshomos are to Hashem. Yet Hashem decided to send them down into this physical world, full of challenges and temptations, in order that we shall overcome that.

When the neshoma succeeds, not only does it return to its original status , but it attains even a higher level; as Chassidus explains, a descent is only in order that we attain a higher level. [Just as a bird flaps its wings down to be able to soar higher in the sky.] 

Therefore, Hashem forced the neshoma to descend into this world and deal with a body and animalistic soul. The only way a person can transform that soul to also desire to serve Hashem, is if the person reaches and exerted themself beyond their regular capabilities. In Shema that is referred to as b’chol meodeicha – with all your might. 

Hashem reciprocates and rewards a person measure for measure, and therefore when a person goes beyond their limitations, they are rewarded above limitations. So while before creation the neshomos were very close to Hashem, now they are above that and are connected with Hashem’s essence. But this is only accomplished through the neshoma’s descent.

We can now understand why the basin was made from the copper of these glasses. The hebrew word for them is Marois HaTzovois. Tzovois is the same hebrew letters as Tzivois, and when the Jewish nation left Egypt the Torah calls them Tzivos Hashem. Tzivois refers to the neshoma as it is in the supernal worlds of B’riah Yitzira and Asiah. In other words when it can feel  it is an entity on its own. But this entity nullifies itself completely to Hashem, as it realizes that it is only one spek compared to the entire creation.

From those Tzovois (copper of the mirrors) the basin was made. The basin was for the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet. The hands are an inference to the first six attributes of a person, while the feet are an inference to a person’s thought, speech and action, which may not be holy. [As we see that the dust on the feet of the angels who came to visit Avrohom had to be washed off, as it represents idolatry.] 

It was washed from the water that was in the basin that Moshe made, as Moshe symbolizes the ultimate level of humility and self-nullification, so therefore in order to enter the Mishkan and come closer to Hashem, one has to nullify themselves. One can accomplish that by learning the Torah that Hashem gave to us through Moshe.

This way we all will merit that Hashem will dwell in each and every member of the Jewish nation.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech who has written numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com