We Raise in Holiness, and We Do Not Bring Down

by R. Nosson of Nemirov

“We raise up in holiness and we do not bring down” (Berachot 28).

Would it occur to anyone to bring holiness down, heaven forbid?

But the following is the meaning of this statement.

There are some holy people who are so truly great that because of their essential holiness they cannot bear people, and because they are so incredibly holy, they push away and push down people whom they are angry at, because they cannot tolerate their corrupt actions.

But this is not what God wants, for “He desires kindness,” and he wants those who are righteous to have compassion on the Jewish people constantly and bring them close, however they may be.

And even if He Himself is very angry at them because of their wicked deeds, He wants the righteous people to pray for them and bring them close.

Thus, when Moshe removed his tent from the camp (Exodus 33) because the Jews had sinned so much, our sages teach that God said, “If I am angry and you are angry, they who will bring them back?”

So do we find regarding a number of prophets and saintly men to whom God Himself complained about His great suffering, as it were, because of the many sins of the Jews—yet when they ratified His worlds and did not defend the Jews, He grew very stern with them.

That was the case with Hosea (Pesachim 87) and Elijah, who said, “I have been exceedingly zealous…” Kings 19), to which God responded, “Anoint Elisha son of Shefat as prophet in your place”—meaning, state our sages, that God told him, “I do not want your prophecy, because you accuse the Jews” (Yalkut Shimoni).

This is because God wants us only to defend the Jews and have compassion on them, even the lowest, bringing them all to God, like Moses, who was entirely dedicated to help the Jews, and who said, “And if not, then wipe me out…” (Exodus 32).

And so “we raise in holiness”—the more we toil and reach holiness and come closer to understanding the divine, the more souls must we raise up, and not bring down—i.e., we must take care not to lower other souls due to our own holiness—i.e., we should not grow unforgiving of the Jews even if we attain great holiness and awareness of God, which makes it impossible for us to tolerate lowly people, until we might grow angry at them and might lower them, heaven forbid…

Rather, we must “Raise in holiness and not lower,” for when a person comes to a higher level and achieves greater understanding, he must shrewdly make new constrictions, utilizing wondrous strategies, so that he will be able to bring many people ever closer, and heal even the lowest and the very ill.

Likutei Halachot, Orach Chaim, Hashkamat Haboker 4

The Vision of the Man in the Circle

I will tell you what I saw. And you tell your children.

Someone was lying on the ground, and people were sitting around him in a circle. There was a second circle around the first, a third circle, and so on.

Around these circles sat some other people in no particular order.

The man who was sitting in the middle on his side was moving his lips, and everyone around him moved his lips like him.

Then I saw that the man in the middle was no longer there, and all the people sitting around him stopped moving their lips.

“What is going on?” I asked.

I was told that the man had grown cold and died. Since he had ceased to speak, the others had ceased to speak as well.

Afterwards, everyone began running.

I ran after them. I saw two beautiful palaces.

Two ministers sat there.

The people ran to the ministers and began to complain to them, “Why did you fool us?” They wanted to kill these ministers. Finally, the ministers ran out.

When I saw the ministers, I liked them very much. I ran after them.

From afar, I saw a beautiful tent.

People shouted from the tent to the ministers, “Go back! Find all your merits. Take them in your hand and go to the candle hanging there. There you will be able to accomplish everything that you want.”

The ministers went back and took their merits. There were bundles of merits. They ran to the candle, and I ran after them.

A lit candle was hanging in the air. The ministers came and threw the merits at the candle, and sparks fell from the candle into their mouths.

The candle [HaNeiR] turned into a river [NaHaR], and they all drank from it.

Creatures were formed within them. When they opened their mouths to speak, the creatures emerged.

I saw them running back and forth. They were neither human nor animal--just creatures.
Afterwards, the ministers decided to return to their place. They said, “How can we get back to our place?”

One of them said, “Let us send a message to the person standing there who is holding a sword from the heavens to the earth.”

They said, “Whom shall we send?”

They decided to send the creatures. The creatures went there, and I ran after them.

I saw a frightening being standing from heaven to earth with a sword in his hand that reached from heaven to earth, which had many blades.

One blade was sharp for killing; another blade was for poverty; another blade was for weakness. And there were other blades for other punishments.

They began, “It is a long time that we have been suffering because of you. Now help us and bring us to our place.”

He said, “I cannot help you.”

They asked, “Give us the blade of death and we will kill the people.”

But he did not agree.

They asked for another blade, but he did not want to give them any blade. So they left.

Meanwhile, an order was given to kill the ministers, and their heads were cut off.

Then things went back to what they had been before.

A person lay on the ground and there were circles of people about him, and they ran to the ministers, and so forth, all over again.

But this time, I saw that the ministers did not throw their merits at the candle. Instead, they took the merits, went to the candle and broke their hearts and began to beg before the candle. Sparks fell from the candle into their mouths.

They pleaded more and the candle turned into a river, and so on, and the creatures were formed. And I was told, “These will live. The first ones were guilty of death because they threw the merits at the candle and did not plead, as these had.”

I didn’t understand this.

I was told, “Go to such-and-such a room and you will be told what it all means.”

I went there, and an old man was sitting there. I asked him about this.

He grasped his beard and told me, “This beard is the explanation of the story.”

I answered him, “I still don't understand.”

He told me, “Go to such-and-such a room, and there you will find the explanation.”

I went there, and I saw a long, broad, endless room, full of writings. And wherever I opened up [a book], I saw an explanation of the story.

Chayei Moharan p. 36, #2

A Movement

Sometimes an ordinary Jew just makes a movement with his sidelock, and God takes great pride even in that.
Likutei Moharan 17:1

Charity

It is possible to draw God’s complete providence only when we break our lust for money.

We do that by giving charity.

“A spirit descends to cool the heat of the heart. When that spirit descends, the heart receives it with the joy of the song of the Levites” (Zohar Pinchas 244a).

This “spirit” is charity, which is “a voluntary spirit” (Psalms 51:14). With this, we cool of the heat of the lust for money. The verse “He cuts off the spirit of the princes” (Psalms 76:13) can be read, “The spirit cuts off the princes.” The spirit diminishes the lust for princeliness and wealth.

“The song of the Levites” is dealing faithfully in business—in other words, being happy in one’s portion and not rushing to grow wealthy. Song refers to business. In Hebrew, “business” is literally “lifting and giving.” This corresponds to the verse, “Lift up a tune and give the tambourine” (Psalms 81:32).

“The joy” is the fact that one is happy with one’s portion.

And this is the incense [that was offered in the Temple]. This incense connects the heat of the heart to the spirit. “Incense rejoices the heart” (Proverbs 27:9).

“They will bring incense for Your nostrils” (Deuteronomy. 33:10). That incense nullifies the curse, “by the sweat of your brow shall you eat” (Genesis 3:19). The words for “nostril” and “brow” in the above two verses are similar.

And this is the revelation of the messiah. At that time, there will be no lust for money. “On that day, a person will cast aside his gods of silver and his gods of gold” (Isaiah 2:20).

The messiah is “the spirit of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem” (Lamentations 4:20).

As long as the idolatry of money exists in the world, there is anger in the world (see Sanhedrin 113; Sifri Re’eh).

But when this idolatry is nullified, so is the anger nullified. “The spirit of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem.”

Then love is drawn into the world: “He performs love for His anointed one” (Psalms 18:51).

When this love will be revealed, consciousness will be drawn down. And that is the building of the Temple: “In the greatness of Your love will come to Your house.” (Psalms 5:8). And: “His right hand [which indicates love] will build the Temple” (Zohar Pinchas 220b).

Consciousness is a house. “If a person has consciousness, it is as though the Temple was built in his time” (Berachot 33a).

Likutei Moharan I 13:1

From the Conversation of Women

From the conversation of women, one can know the status of God=s Presence.

Mordechai would Awalk before the courtyard of the house of the women to know the welfare of Esther@ (Esther 2:11).

Esther represents God=s Presence (cf. Me=orei Or, Devash; and Netzutzei Orot Zohar I 240a; and Shaar Hakavanot, Derush 4 of Pesach with notes of Maharshu).

Mordechai understood and was able to know the welfare of God=s Presence from Athe courtyard of the house of the women@--from their conversation.

Likutei Moharan 203

The Cessation of Being

Each one of us has to see to it that we become assimilated into the root of who we are, to return and be assimilated into the oneness of God, Who is the One Reality.

This can be achieved only when we make ourselves totally stop, when we cease our being. And we can only come to this cessation through hisbodedus. When we are in seclusion with God, we can cause all desires and bad traits to cease. We can cling to God and be drawn into the root of who we are.

Likutei Moharan 52

Enveloped in God

There are some people who do not have a proper belief. They say that the world has to exist. What a poor and confused consciousness they have. They think that they have proofs for this from the way the world works—heaven forbid!

But really “their mouths say empty things” (cf. Job 34:16). Really, the whole world and everything in it don't necessarily have to exist.

God is the only Necessary Being. All the universes, however, with everything in them don’t necessarily have to be. God created them out of nothing. It was totally up to Him whether or not to create them. So the whole world and everything in it didn’t have to exist.

So why do people think that the world must necessarily be—heaven forbid, heaven forfend! This is why: because really, now that the souls of Israel have been emanated and drawn down, the world must necessarily be.

Why? Because the whole world and everything in it were only created for Israel (as is well-known; see Vayikra Rabbah 36; also Rashi at the beginning of Breishit). “Israel rules the world.”

Now, after the souls of Israel have been emanated and created, there is no doubt that (if you could say such a thing) God has to create and maintain the world. That is why He emanated the souls of Israel: to create all the universes for them.

But when the souls of Israel themselves were being emanated, they themselves together with all the worlds that depend on them didn’t necessarily have to exist. God could have either emanated and created them or not created them. But once the Holy One, blessed be He, decided to emanate the souls of Israel, then the entire world became something that has to be. Once the souls of Israel were emanated, then God (so to speak) had to make the world—that was why He had emanated their souls: so that all the universes would be created for them and they would rule over everything.

Understand this well.

This is the source of the error of the non-believers, who say that the world has to be (heaven forbid). Really, however, only God has to be. All things don=t necessarily have to exist.

The main reason that God created the entire universe for Israel was so that Israel would do His will, and come back and cling to their root—meaning, that they would come back and be enveloped in God, who is the Necessary Being. That’s why everything was created.

So when Israel does God's will and are enveloped into their source—the Necessary Being—then the entire world (which was created for them) is enveloped into the Necessary Being too. That is the reason it was created. Only because of that does God have to (in a manner of speaking) create and maintain all the worlds: for Israel, so that they will do His will.

So when they do God’s will, that the world is enveloped into the plane of being necessary. The more they do God's will, the more are they enveloped with all the universes that depend on them into the Necessary Being. By doing God's will, they come back and are enveloped into Him, Who is a Necessary Being. Then all the worlds, which are dependent on their spirit, are absorbed into the One whose Being must be.

How can you reach this? How can you be absorbed into your root? How can you go back and be enveloped in God’s Oneness (Whose Being must be)?

You can only do that by becoming as nothing, by wiping your own being away until you are enveloped in God’s Oneness.

And so how do you become as nothing? You can achieve that only through hitbodedut: you separate mitboded yourself and talk things out to God, you wipe away all bad desires and traits. Finally, you wipe away all of your physical being and are enveloped in your root.

The essence of hitbodedut is in the night, when everyone is at rest from the trammel of this world. During the day, people’s running after this world prevent and disturb a person from clinging to and from being absorbed into God. Even if you yourself aren’t taken up with this, since other people are pursuing empty things of this world, it is difficult to come to such a state of self-dissolving.

Also, this hitbodedut has to be in set-aside place—which is to say, outside town, where a person is all alone, where there are no passers-by, because a place where people travel during the day, people who are pursuing this world (even though right now they aren’t there) also disturbs the hitbodedut, so that a person can’t dissolve himself and be enveloped into God.

So: you have to go out by yourself at night to a lone place, a place that people don't traverse, isolate yourself there and turn your heart and mind away from all the dealings of this world, and make everything as nothing, until you really comes to becoming as nothing.

That is to say, at first pray a great deal and speak out a great deal in hitbodedut at night in an isolated spot until you dissolve away one thing—i.e., you dissolve away a particular trait and desire. Then engage in a great deal more hitbodedut, until you wipe away another trait and desire.

Practice this hitbodedut for a long time, at that time of night, at that place, until you wipe away everything.

And then, something will still remain of you. So wipe that away too—until nothing at all remains of you.

Likutei Moharan 42

The Hints That God Sends

There can be someone who knows and understands the hints that God sends him in everything. And so he might want to be involved in that alone—i.e., involve himself in the things of this world, since he understands the hints that God is sending him.

But that is not the way it should be. A person has to restrain himself—he has to restrain himself from this world, but only take what he needs form this world.

And there are two reasons for that.

The first is that this holiness that is clothed in the things of this world is on the level of “feet.” It is a low level of holiness—“the sinfulness [of my enemies] surrounds me” (Psalms 49:6). The “husk” of evil surround that holiness always and want to draw vitality from it. And so that is a dangerous place to be. And so one must only make use of what one needs in the world.

And in addition, there is a higher way of serving God, a higher level of holiness, and so a person has to serve God with those that are more holy and higher than looking for divine hints in the world.

Likutei Moharan I 54

A Great Mountain of Fire

Once, Rabbi Nachman came into the house.

He said, "What can you do when there is a great mountain of fire right in front of you? On the other side of the mountain is a wonderful, precious treasure. But you can only get to that treasure by passing through the mountain of fire--and it is absolutely necessary that you get to that lovely, wonderful treasure."

A few days later, Rabbi Nachman spoke about this again. He laughed and said, "I already have learned what to do about this."

Sichot Haran #191

Do Not Seek That Which is Hidden from You

When you expand your mind to see divine messages in everything in the world, do so in a measured way, so that you don’t go out of the boundaries of holiness. Just expand your thought in this way on the level of your human intellect,

And also, don’t look into this on a level higher than where you are—“do not seek that which is hidden from you” (Chagigah 13).

“You Have been very great, You have clothed Yourself in glory and beauty.”

In other words, when you want to take something from the world, which is the garment in which God clothed His glory and beauty--i.e., the “feet” [of divinity] that are clothed in this world--that should be done “You have been very great”—the word “very” is a kabbalistic allusion to the “left” side, which is the source of constriction.

That is to say, constrict and limit the expansion [of your attempt to see divine messages in everything].

Likutei Moharan 54

Remember the World to Come Always

Remember the world to come always. Cause your mind to cling to that future world—both in general and in particular.

In general, for anyone who feels the awe of God, as soon as you get up in the morning, before you begin anything else, think right away of the world to come.

Then go into detail

You see, this whole world is a disguise for the low levels of holiness. Our world is the feet of holiness. That is why the verse says, “and the earth is My footstool” (Isaiah 66:1).

All of the levels of holiness, even the highest levels, reveal themselves in this world. But really, their essence doesn’t come out in this world. All that comes out is the light shining on that plane that we call “the feet.”

But that plane of “the feet” actually reveals itself in this world.

Every day has three things in it: your thoughts, your words and your actions.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, constricts His divinity from the most Infinite to the most intimate, to the most core of the physical world that His entire Being is standing on.

And God sends every person thought, speech and deeds that are just right for that day and for that person and for that spot.

And in those thoughts, and words and actions that God brings to a person, He hides hints in them to bring that person close to God.

So you have to think about this profoundly, you have to expand your understanding, you have to understand what those hints are in detail, hidden in your thought or words or deeds every day that Hashem, be He blessed, has sent you.

Whether it is in your work, in your business—whatever Hashem, be He blessed, sends you every day, you have to go into it deeply and expand your thought on it, until you understand the hints that Hashem, be He blessed, is sending you.

Likutei Moharan I 54

Guard Your Memory

It is so important to guard your memory. Do not fall into forgetfulness, which is the death of the heart.

And the main type of remembering is to constantly remember the world-to-come. Don’t think, heaven forbid, that all there is is one world….

Likutei Moharan I 54

A Holy State of Consciousness

With the mitzvah of the Hannukah flame, we draw onto ourselves a holy state of consciousness, which is the olive oil, the awareness: we are constantly aware of the world of spirituality—in general and [even] in detail.

Kitzur Likutei Moharan 54:16 (from V’hilchata k’nachmani)

A Person Has to Pray to God

A person has to pray to God, clinging to Him intensely.

But if sometimes you cannot pray with such cleaving to God, don’t say that because you can’t concentrate properly and cling to God in your prayer, and your prayer will not be accepted, that you won’t pray at all.

R. Chaninah ben Dosa said that “when my prayer rolls smoothly in my mouth, I know that it has been accepted…” (Berachot 34b). [At other times, his prayer wasn’t smooth in his mouth—but he prayed at those times too.]

If you pray and cling to God, then your prayer is smooth in your mouth and it is accepted. If not, heaven forbid, the opposite holds true.

Still, don’t let that discourage you. Instead, always pray.

And if you cannot pray and cling to God properly, pray with all your might.

And when you pray and cling to God properly, then you will lift up all of your other prayers as well.

“I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying” (Deuteronomy 3:23).

“I pleaded with Hashem”—constantly, whether clinging to Him or not.

“At that time, saying.” When a person can pray and cling to God, when his prayer rolls smoothly in his mouth, when he is saying them easily because he is praying and cleaving to God, then all of his prayers rise to God.
Likutei Moharan 99

The Torah of the Future

by R. Nachman of Breslov

The Zohar teaches that in the future the Torah of the hidden Ancient One will be revealed.

The Torah is received principally through our mindfulness.

Our mindfulness is Moses. It is the messiah. It is “the wise man [who] has gone up with the city of mighty men” (Proverbs 21:22). A person who possesses this aspect of Moses, of the Messiah, is able to receive the Torah. He can draw forth the illumination of the Torah and teach it to others.

The revelation of the Torah comes from the union of [the two expressions of the Infinite One called] the Holy One, blessed be He, and the In-Dwelling. “Listen, my son, to the rebuke of your father, and do not reject the Torah of your mother” (Proverbs 1:88). “Your father” refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. “Your mother” refers to the Congregation of Israel [which is the In-Dwelling] (Zohar Yisro 85, Pinchas 213).

They are united when the spirits of Israel rise, like water rising.

And the wise man can take the souls and lift them, like water rising. “He who takes souls is a wise man” (Proverbs 11:30).

From this union, the Torah is born.

When the wise man rises with the souls, “with the city of strong man rises the wise man,” then “He brings down the strength of its security.”
Likutei Moharan 13