Thursday, August 2, 2012

Falsehood will be Transformed into Attachment




My heart and soul, Mr. Zalman Shazar, who purifies and polishes his soul with the exalted and completley new wonders that were revealed in these generations peace and life and all good.

(my words in bold italic)

Even one who merits to  find himself a true friend, who recieved from the True Tzaddik words of truth. That genuinly help his soul, even so one still needs great exertion and much searching until he can find and comprehend the truth of his holy advice. Upon which depends the essence of Judaism. For it a very difficult to help a person with free will, except with the very very awesome kindness of G-d that the True Tzaddik draws down all the time. But one needs from this at least some arousal from below, and therefore the task of working with people to draw them to the ultimate Truth is very very deep; deep deep who can find it. And one needs for this much searching and seeking, both from the friend and from the student, and if they truly will search, certainly they will find!
Rabbeinu [our teacher], may the memory of teh Tzaddik be for a blessing, told Rabbi Yudel, of blessed memory, from Medvidevka, at the begining of his attachment [to Rebbe Nachman], that when one desires to draw near to theTruth then the falsehood becomes powerful. ANd when one overcomes the obstacles and words like these he spoke and rebuked him, until his father-in-law was very regretful about this, and that day onwards. And after Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac, may his memory be blessed, finished the shema, [Rabbeinu] appeared before him, and his heart became very filled with joy and happiness until he litterally restored his life. And in the morning Rabbeinu, may his memory be blessed, arose early and returned to his home, And from then on Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac, may his memory be blessed, toiled in G-d's service without ab obstructer or adversary!
Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda, may his memory be blessed, from Teplik, before his attachment to  Rabbeinu, may the Tzaddiks memory be a blessing, was very famous in many towns, and people would give him redemption money [charity money given to a tzaddik to achieve expiation]. And afterwords, when he recognized the truth of Rabbeinu, may his memory be blessed, he abandoned and rejected his celebrated behavior and took upon himself the yoke of serving the blessed one with sincerity and simplicity. And also he did not turn his face away from all the shame and embarrassment that he had because of this. And he returned to G-d with all his heart and soul, like the other men of Rabbeinu, may his memory be blessed!
The faith alone, in that one believes in the Tzaddik and draws himself near to him, even if he will not get anything from him, this in itself is very good. For through the faith and the attachment  alone his evil is consumed and he is transformed into the substance of the tzaddik, (the substance of the tzaddik? what does this mean)with the stipulation that his intent is for heaven. Rabbeinu, may his memory be blessed, rebuked one person who was close to him and became distant and afterwards returned and came back to him. He answered and said: "Even if many years pass by and one does not move and rise in his level, and just remains at his first level, as in the begining, and even if he is worse the before, as long as he is connected to the true tzaddik, the attachment itself is very good, without measure or value.(as long as he is attached to the true tzaddik this it self is very good without measure? so what is the point of going anywhere else? why not just stay on that level?) Behold there are people with me for whom I do not know if the deepest part of Hell was enough for them, and through me they became close to G-d!" (Wow can any one explain what he means here possibly in plain english laymen terms, more deapth... is he saying what I think he is?)

the one who seeks your peace and success with fierce love, with all my heart and soul.
Yisroel Dov Odesser

2 comments:

  1. There is a big chunk missing from this letter (from the story about Reb Yudel.)

    "For through the faith and the attachment alone his evil is consumed and he is transformed into the substance of the tzaddik, (the substance of the tzaddik? what does this mean)with the stipulation that his intent is for heaven."

    I am not completely sure, but it seems to me like. . . most people are steeped in bad desires, bad character traits, sins, etc. Whereas the Tzadik is completely pure. I think this is what he means by the"substance of the Tzadik", that we can become like his substance, which is completely pure, as opposed to our substance, which is quite tainted.

    (as long as he is attached to the true tzaddik this it self is very good without measure? so what is the point of going anywhere else? why not just stay on that level?)

    I am not sure what you are asking.
    The main thing is to attach to the Tzadik, because only through him can a person know how to serve G-d. A person should constantly rise from level to level (ideally). However, even if a person feels like he is not moving anywhere, it is nevertheless still better for him to stay attached to the Tzadik, because through being attached to a pure source, a person will eventually become pure.

    Behold there are people with me for whom I do not know if the deepest part of Hell was enough for them, and through me they became close to G-d!" (Wow can any one explain what he means here possibly in plain english laymen terms, more deapth... is he saying what I think he is?)

    Rabeinu can heal even the sickest people, even people who are completely wicked, and in fact often people who come from very low places are drawn to him for this reason.

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  2. The substance (mahoot-beingness-whatness) of the tzadik. In another place this process is compared to eating. When we eat a piece of food, that food is transformed into our beingness. It becomes literally us. When we attach to the tzadik with faith and love we become part of him and so are transformed into another being.

    (as long as he is attached to the true tzaddik this it self is very good without measure? so what is the point of going anywhere else? why not just stay on that level?)

    There is no point in going anywhere else. But there are levels and levels of attachment. Attachment to the tzadik is not a static state. one should be constantly growing as the tzadik is also constantly growing.


    Behold there are people with me for whom I do not know if the deepest part of Hell was enough for them, and through me they became close to G-d!" (Wow can any one explain what he means here possibly in plain english laymen terms, more deapth... is he saying what I think he is?)

    The wickedest people whom they have to dig deeper pits in Hell for. Can be brought close to G-d with the tzadiks help.

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