"for I have heard from my Master, his memory is a blessing to the life of the world to come, that if a person knows that god {the holy one blessed be he} hides out over there {in the darkest of places} than there is no hiddeness for all operators of evil have been dispersed. and this is {the meaning of} what it says "hide i shall hide my face from them," it means to say that {god} will hide from them {a double hiding, one that he will be hidden and another} that they will not that god is there within this hiding. and "the words of the mouth of the wise are gracious".
something like this of have also heard from him, that the R"T of (Exodus 15:9) "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide {the loot}" is {in the original Hebrew} 5 Aleph's for that {within the enemy (i.e. evil), his words and desires} is where god {"Alufoy shel Oylom"} hides in the mystery of the {holy name of god} SAL. and "the words of the mouth of the wise are gracious."
Toldos, Bereishis, 7a
The Toldes continues to explain that "when one knows this principle, which a great principle, that there is no speration between him and god during study or prayer", than even if many "foreign thoughts" {M"Z's} enter into his mind while studying and praying, he will not freak out since he knows that god is hidden within them. "
(the Toldes here talks about MZ's during prayer- probably because he is quoting it within that context. it is clear, however, that the vort of the Besht applies to all kinds of darkness. i am not making this up; the toldes himself retells this concept (Parshas Noach, 13d) but there he actually quotes the besht as saying that god is hidden within every movement {bechol tnueh}. In ZP 70c ZP, 1a, he applies it to "days of smallness" {yemei Katnus}).
The concept that god particularly hides in the lowest of places is a Beshtian one, and has a very practical application:
If one knows that god is only behind, but also hiding within, all darkness- whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual- one could put up with it. Most of the times when we freak out its not because of the problem we are facing. We lose balance when faced the helplessness, loneliness and fear which accompany, and give rise to more, darkness. If we could only remember that god is hiding within those problems, than whatever the problem may seem to be- we can face it and triumph.
This is not only about reducing the pain of the darkness, but also to reduce its effect- so that, ounce it finally passes over, we can take off where we left off before the darkness hit. "so that the Husks cannot push him off all spiritual heights as he remains attached to god {by knowing that its all from Him}" (ZP 5b).
As to the 5 Alphin and the mystery of SAL- i will leave that to another occasion (hopefully soon).
For a definition of "operators of evil, see Zavoas Hrivosh 139.
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Learning a new language is not easy especially siches dekulim but lets try.
ReplyDeleteAl gaby once asked "if a tree falls down in a forest and nobody is there if it makes a sound” now we have the answer if the tree talks then I assume it hears to, so the other trees hear the sound. we should rephrase the question “if a tree falls in a forest and there isn’t other trees around does it make a sound”?.
ok lets get to the point,
sichat dekel the concept you quote from the hilige toldes, that god is hidden in foreign thoughts, in darkness etc. is it the same old concept or debate of tzumtzem not literal(shelo
cepshito)the debate is if god is in the bathroom or not,Are you claming that chasides is basically the concept of tzumtzem shlo cepshto?
is this the same concept of ein oud milvado, which al gaby clams to be the main and the underlying essence of chasides?.
It is highly unlikely (to say the least) that the Besht got his wisdom by learning the Ariz"l's Etz Chaim and interpreting them "shelo kepshuto."
ReplyDeleteI am not sure about the saintly Gaon of Vilna, but his foremost disciple, R' Chaim Villozhiner, also believed that god's to be found even in the bathroom. (He only warns against "our hearts overtaking us to establish this idea {machshoveh zu} to allow ourselves to live {le'hisnaeg} according to this idea" as an example to think of torah in unclean alleys "since everything is completely divine" -nefesh hachaim,ch. 3, 3 -but the chassidim also agreed {it was only in the 1970's that the klausenberger rebbeh advised to learn in the bathroom "nem dir a gemoreleh in lehren hoyech ofen kol" -on tape heard it myself} that although everything is ultimately god, one hads to know the difference between good {revealed god} and bad {god not revealed yet}. but let us leave that for when it comes up in the text. havdalah {knowing the difference} is vital in the Beshtian trinity of Hachnoeh, Havdoleh Hamtokeh).
Un avadeh gevis, "ayn od milvado" "leis assar ponoy minei" and "meloh kol ho'oretz kevodo" are all part of this realization. how to get to actually feel that way, is what the Besht is trying to teach.
As the toldes says in our text "than {and only THAN} there is no hiddeness for all operators of evil have been dispersed"
. sichatDekel since you claimed in comment to anonymous” Luckily, the Besht lived fully. In my opinion, his teachings are deeply rooted in life (rather than theory)”
ReplyDeleteCould you explain in more a practical way how we cope batter with tragedy’s and pain by knowing that god is there with us?
Lets say some one lose his beloved seven year old child! what bothers him? and how do we eliminate the problem?
You’re claiming the fallowing " Most of the times when we freak out its not because of the problem we are facing. We lose balance when faced the helplessness, loneliness and fear which accompany, and give rise to more, darkness"
what makes you think so how do you get to this conclusion?
when godforbid one experiences loss, it is a little too late to get spiritual enough, to a high enough level, where no loss could ever be experienced. thats when all darkness within catches up.
ReplyDeleteThough the whole Beshtian message is that god is within this particular darkness, providing especially easy to access and go to the highest places. that the greatest lights are always wraped in the darkest clouds. and that's, avadeh, true.
however, it takes rigirous training over time to actually get there. but we all get there eventually. thats the moshiach idea "kemoy she'shomaati m'moyri she'moshiach besod hadaas"
so, we might as well start now.
Dear Whispering Willow,
ReplyDeleteGevaldiga Stuff.
Yet you can't expect anybody to really feel your Nechamah that God is in our deepest darkness, when you add an ominous caveat, namely;
"although everything is ultimately God, one has to know the difference between good {revealed god} and bad {god not revealed yet}. but let us leave that for when it comes up in the text. havdalah {knowing the difference} is vital in the Beshtian trinity of Hachnoeh, Havdoleh Hamtokeh)"
If that unknown (as of yet) difference between good and bad exists and we shouldnt do bad. Then we are still freaked out when we do bad.
An explanation how it is really not bad and how it still is important that we don't do "bad", would be very helpful.
Thanks,
Siach Sarfey Kodesh
Glad you enjoy, SS"K
ReplyDeleteThe nechumeh to me personally, is not that its all good. I know that, but it doesn't help me when I'm in pain.
As was trying to say in last comment: Life is just too misrable when it's lived on a shallow, surface, "anoshim melumodoh," herd- level.
When times get tough, and they are, it's fly or die. There is no way of solving it from down bellow. We must battle this darkness from above.
Its a long story, and I hope that we get to find out about all of it, on this new journey of ours.
The nechomeh, to me is that after all the darkness runs out, and it will {ke'oshon tichleh), thre'll be only light, life and everlasting happiness.
As we go on we will find out more about where we come from, the problem- that it was here a long time before we showed up on the scene, thatits not our fault in way, that things are getting better, that they will be perfect one day, that we too will get to see the promised light and a lot of little techniques of getting there {even if only briefly, at first} instently.
Perhaps its time to change the lingo- perhaps the Besht already did- out with all the good vs. evil. lets talk of pleasure vs. pain.
The Besht is introducing us to a world of pleasure, far above our petty world and its problems. In fact, we are already there. Its inside of everyone of us, but -somehow- we still don't know it. How can we possibly when we are perfect strangers to ourselves. We need to get to know ourselves. The Besht will give us courage and show us how to discover ourselves.
I hope that helps in some way.
Dear Whispering Willow,
ReplyDeleteEverlasting Happiness, eh. Yu Yu, one nice day Vechol Harishah Kulah Ke'oshon Tichleh.
Yet my problems and my search for peace is in the here and now.
But then you go on, "that we too will get to see the promised light...". The whisper is catching a tune (ever so softly).
"The Besht is introducing us to a world of pleasure, far above our petty world and its problems." Do I hear a rythmic beat there? Vchol Atzie Hasodeh Yimchauh Chof.
"The Besht will give us courage and show us how to discover ourselves." Az Yeranenu KOL Atzie Hayaar, I'm humming along too.
BUT
I cannot discern the lyrics.
I don't know the words.
Eternely Hopeful
Ilan Serak
Its important to remember that to Besht the good is already here- it only needs to be revealed.
ReplyDeleteSince the good wants to be revealed, and most of the breakthrough comes from the god side of the channel- all we really need to do is hang in there sincerely.
Soon enough we'll come into contact with a coupla vertlach from the Besht which run along the lines of "kaan b'zivug rishon, kaan b'zivug sheini"- that there basically two levels (besides for ultimate moshiach level). "Zivug Rishon", one's first encounter with god, ones first religious experience-
and "Zivug Sheini" is the level of "Ayil v'nofik" one who has divine encounters from time to time- and whose problems are only with filling in the blanks. Obviously- at this stage- things already start getting prett mellow and light.
The lyrics arent important- can you hear the music?! I'm sure you do- you'll be dancing soon enough. "mitten eibirshtens hilf in rebbens koyach"...