kids miss their parents, its natural.

Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 63b: Advice for dealing with a child who misses his father too much: take a strap [presumably a sandal strap] from the father's right and tie it around the child's left arm.

When I heard this mishna it sounded a lot like Tefillin, (which has a strap tied on our left arm from our "Father's" "right arm" -- I saw in a teaching of the Arizal, since we stand facing (figuratively) God, His right parallels our left.) and sure enough, the Talmud's only commentary is: and a sign [to understand and remember this] is Tefillin.

How can this help our avodat HaShem, our divine service? 

Two ways:

(1) If we have an intense desire to be close to God and we're missing him too much, put on your Tefillin. Better yet, maybe help someone else who doesn't know how to put on Tefillin.

or:

(2) If we want to have an intense desire to be close to God and we feel like that feeling is missing from our lives, put on your Tefillin. Explore Tefillin as a way to feel a deeper connection with HaShem, no matter where you are or where you're going. (Including helping someone else to put on Tefillin)

[The advantages to helping someone else put on Tefillin, or participate in any mitzwah, are numerous, bordering on limitless, which is why I suggested it. Perhaps we can go into it in another post.]

the lights of home

Rebbe Nachman explains (Likkutei Moharan II:67) that the eyes are enlightened by the intellect. This, he says, is the relationship between the Shabbath and the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple. Shabbath represents the intellect, and when we shine the light of Shabbath upon the world, the Beit HaMikdash, which represents the eyes, is illuminated.

Based on this idea he explains how our current state of exile is a state of crying, a loss of the light of our eyes. Furthermore, the Tzaddik, through kiddush HaShem, can inspire us and return the light of our to us, so that we might introspect and better ourselves. In this way, the Tzaddik is even responsible for the dwelling places of the Jewish people, for it is through him that the light is returned to their eyes and their dwelling places can then be properly filled with the revealed light of their intellect. (Like the relationship of Shabbath (another name for a Tzaddik) with the Beit HaMikdash (the universal home))

This was a rare experience for me, learning a Torah while living it at the same moment. The reason is, it is only through the direct intervention of Rav Mordehai Eliyahu (may he have a complete recovery speedily in our days!) that we live in our apartment. You see, the owners didn't want to rent, but they asked Rav Eliyahu whether they should or not, and he told them to rent it out; we were the first couple to see the apartment---and to top it off, Rav Eliyahu married us a month later.

Anyways, back to the point at hand. This is a very lofty Torah of Rebbe Nachman, and bringing it down into terms that are relevant to us on a daily level is not easy. Which is why we have to be thankful that Rav Natan (Rebbe Nachman's main disciple) fleshed out his ideas in Likkutei Halachoth. (Tefillin Halachah 5 (i think)) Rav Natan explains that the parshioth in our tefillin represent the intellect, the mochin, and that is why they fill the batim, the bayit, the house of the Tefillin. The house is illuminated by the intellect.

So, while we may not be able to fully grasp the depth of Rebbe Nachman's Torah, every time we put on tefillin, we can stop and think for a moment about how the light of parchments fill and give life to the housing of the tefillin, so that all may see us crowned with the name of HaShem.

[But what about Shabbath? On Shabbath we don't wear tefillin.. But Rebbe Nachman taught us above that it is the very light of Shabbath that illuminates the Beit HaMikdash. When we walk into a Jewish home on Shabbath, the illumination is 100% palpable---Shabbath is inseparable from the Jewish home.]

golden doves versus rocks of burden

The Talmud relates a story (Berachot 53b) about Rabba bar bar Hana, who forgot to say birkat hamazon. (grace after meals) He was traveling with a group of people, when he realized that he had eaten during the previous stop in the trip, and had forgotten to bench. Since they had already travelled a fair distance, he didn't think they would wait for him to go back and bench in the place where he had eaten. (which is the preferred way to perform the mitzwah, although one is not required to go back. There's a separate story in the Talmud about a person who went back and was eaten by a lion (?) along the way before he managed to reach the place where he ate.) 

Anyways, Rabba bar bar Hana decided he would tell his compatriots that he left behind a golden dove, a prized possession, and they couldn't possibly argue with him, for something so valuable, who wouldn't go back to retrieve it? So, he gave them his newly fabricated excuse, and went back up the trail, while they waited for him. Because of Rabba bar bar Hana's great appreciation of the mitzwah, a miracle occurred and when he went back he found an actual golden dove.

Even though I'm often in favor of the literal meaning of stories in the Talmud and the importance of them, I think there's another lesson we can learn from this story. Whether the golden dove he found was actual or allegorical, I think it teaches us about the reward of performing mitzwoth. It seems to me that from this story we see that HaShem rewards us for each mitzwah in direct accordance with how WE value that mitzwah. 

If each morning we don tefillin out of the burden of the obligation, so HaShem relates to our action and rewards us also out of obligation, but it is figuratively a burden for Him too. He doesn't want to, but He has to. Instead when we are excited to put on tefillin and experience the spiritual elevation, the closeness to HaShem that this mitzwah brings us. Then HaShem figuratively is excited to elevate us and bring us close, excited to shower us with blessing.

And, with an idea like this, what better way to execute it than be truly celebrating the Shabbath, looking forward to it all week, preparing for it all week and rejoicing in it all day, every Shabbath? We can bring this understanding, this idea, this teaching down to every single mitzwah, but let's start with Shabbath, because on Shabbath we have the freedom from all the distractions of the week to really focus on the unique mitzwah that is Shabbath.

bread of humility

Rebbe Natan explains (Likkutei Halachoth - Hilchot Tefillin) that we are nourished not by the food we eat, but rather by the life-force within the food. If our bodies were purified in that they were completely humbled before HaShem, then we would be nourished directly from the life-force and the food itself would pass through us undigested.

It is only because we have not rectified our entire bodies, that we digest and use the corporeality of the food. Whichever part of our bodies have not properly been humbled cannot receive directly from the life-force within the food and so they are forced to consume the food itself in order to derive life.

This humility is an aspect of Mosheh Rabbeinu who was utterly humble. Each of our 248 limbs and 365 sinews must expose their potential humility which is the nature of Mosheh Rabbeinu that is latent within that body part. When our whole body is in a state of awareness of its dependence on and recognition of HaShem's might, then we don't need to eat at all. This is how Mosheh survived for one hundred and twenty days on Sinai without eating or drinking.

The reason, he explains, that our digestive functions produce putrid/disgusting byproducts is to remind us of how lowly and dependent we truly are.

It seems to me that this is good to keep in mind during the time between Purim and Pesah when we are meant to work on perfecting our ability to eat in holiness.

cinching the knot

The Noam Elimelech brings down (parashath Korah) that Tefillin represent the bond between HaShem and His People. This bond, he explains, is such that however much we bind ourselves to HaShem, He cleaves to us (k'vyachol) in a similar fashion.

This is how he explains יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעשים טובים בעולם הזה - literally: One hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better [than the enjoyment of the world to come.] He says it means that any moment when we bring unity between HaShem and His People (through Teshuvah and mitzwoth) is beautiful to HaShem.

This is a unity that is uniquely applicable to this world. As the Ba'al HaTanya explains that this world allows our souls to experience HaShem thoroughly, on a higher level [ie. more directly] than all the experiences of the upper worlds.

finally a way to enjoy hametz on pesah

Some of our favorite mitzwoth are those that we only get to do once or twice a year. The rest of the year we just miss them and look forward to them, right? Nope.

According to the Noam Elimelech on parashath B'ha'alot'cha, when we perform a time-bound mitzwah we should have in mind that the mitzwah accompany us throughout the year. The mitzwah should be with us always. We are always involved in the mitzwah the whole year.

This was good news personally as I just realized that I feel much closer to HaShem during my tefillah when I have my tefillin and talit on. Now I can be wearing them all day, even when I'm not.

the jealousy of a tzaddik

In Likkutei Halachoth (Hilchoth Tefillin 5:30(?)) Rebbe Natan explains how the Tefillin relate to the relationship between the Tzaddik and the nation.

The Tzaddik needs to let go of his mochin, his intellect, in order to fall to the level of the lowest of the people, from there his deep emunah, his endless faith in the salvation of HaShem inspires all those close to him and allows them to awaken and greatly grow their intellects so that they can connect to and relate to HaShem. This intellect is represented by the Tefillin worn upon the arm, close to the heart. When the Tzaddik sees the people's great intellect, he envies it and turns to HaShem , raising himself up and illuminating his own intellect. This intellect is represented by the Tefillin worn upon the head, between the eyes.

of the hand and of the head

Likkutei Halachoth (Hilchot Teffilin 5:25) and Hesed L'Avraham (2:40) both mentioned this idea which I encountered over the past two days in only slightly different forms, so I wanted to share it here. (both paraphrased from memory)

Hesed L'Avraham:
When wearing the Tefillin, the Tefillin on the arm becomes a merkavah (a vehicle) for the revelation of the Shechinah, and the Tefillin on the head becomes a merkavah for the revelation of the Holy One Blessed Be He. (references the Zohar (Ra'aya Mehemna))

Likkutei Halachoth:
The Tefillin of the arm connects and draws down the totality of Bnei Yisrael, the Shechinah, in order to unite her with the Tzaddik, who is drawn down and revealed in his gadlut (greatness)
through the Tefillin of the head.

facing newness

In Likkutei Moharan [hilchot Tefillin, halachah ה (hei)] Rebbe Natan speaks about Rebbe Nachman's story the seven beggars and how the first beggar is the secret of being infinitely old and completely new/young all at once. This, he relates, is the secret of Tefillin.

What struck me most was Rebbe Nachman's statement (which I think he brings down in greater detail in Sichot HaRan) that one should always be new with HaShem.

About Rebbe Nachman himself he describes how he might have at some points just revealed amazing new depths of Torah and the next minute be lost in despair at knowing nothing at all.

This is an amazing challenge to really be new with HaShem at every moment, to acknowledge that this very moment HaShem created you and to bring to Him that which you have to give right now. Because we know that we will never come before HaShem empty handed. (לא יראו פני ריקם)

Wherever we are, whenever we are, we have a way to serve HaShem, to relate to HaShem, He always gives us something. If we really live in the now, in the newness of the moment, then we will feel a longing for HaShem with such intensity that we will search out something to offer to Him that we might enjoy His divine presence with the same intensity that a junky searches for a hit when withdrawal starts to really hurt.

Rav Yitzhak Ginsburg (in his introduction to the kabbalah of the Ariz"l) discusses how David HaMelech (who was destined to die the day he was born, but thanks to 70 years given from Adam HaRishon lived exactly 70 years) internalized the understanding that he was nothing except what HaShem made him and gave him. This is how he connected to the sefirah of Malchut. (לית לה מגרמה כלום)

The Talmud in Yoma actually echoes a similar idea in saying that Shaul's kingdom didn't last because he came from a line that was unflawed, whereas David came from a line of questionable background. This way, the Talmud explains, if he ever got out of control (lhavdil) the people could remind him of hist questionable background. (Ruth & Tamar) David always knew it was HaShem who made him king.

Similarly the Pri Ha'aretz (quoting the Kalisker in the first two Torahs of the sefer) describes how the Tzaddik reaches the level of Mah (מ’ה) wherein he recognizes that he possesses only that which HaShem gives him. (לית ליה מגרמיה כלום)

So as we can see, it's a very high level to aspire to, to be new in the face of HaShem every day. To truly face Him we need to put everything behind us, and seize whatever HaShem has given us today. Sometimes all we have are our past sins, to offer up to HaShem. Saying, this is what I have to give today, please forgive me and accept this Teshuvah, and let me see your countenance today.

Something to think about when donning tefillin.

trade old lies for new foundations

Life is a constant war between the good and the bad middoth. (attributes) Each individual is always working on putting their energy into the good middoth (humility, kindness, charity, justice, etc.) and breaking free of their ingrained more natural animal traits. (selfishness, hubris, jealousy, etc.) We slip so often in this conflict as to make us doubt whether we're gaining any ground at all.

The Noam Elimelech gives us a little tip that's both a strategy and a baseline from which to judge our progress: The root of all bad middoth is sheker, lies. If we cling to the truth with all our might, then our bad middoth have no solid footing. If we strike out from a platform of truth we have the upper ground.

The Mishkan, Tabernacle, was made out of the posts, kerashim, that made up its wall. Keresh, (קרש) board, is the same letters as sheker, (שקר) lie, but in a different order, showing that keresh is the opposite of sheker. If we surround ourselves in the truth, the anti-sheker, then we become a dwelling place, a mishkan, for HaShem's divinity in this world.

From here on out we can look honestly at ourselves and see how often we fall into lies. Be they innocent ones or the more serious guilty variety, any lie at all is weakening our position and reinforcing our bad middoth.

I think it is appropriate to bring this connection here:
There are a number of sources that describe Tefillin as the weaponry of Bnei Yisrael. When we bind our Tefillin we are girding ourselves for battle. Now we know that Tefillin are tantamount to the entire Torah as it is written in the Tefillin themselves (parashath Kadesh li kol b'chor) "It should be for you a sign on your hand and a rememberance between your eyes, so that the Torah will be in your mouth." We also know that Torah is emeth, objective truth. When we bind our Tefillin we can have in mind to bind ourselves, surround ourselves, in the truth of Torah, to undermine and uproot all of our negative middoth, that we can serve HaShem and create for Him a dwelling place "with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might." (as it says in Shema Yisrael, another of the parashioth in the Tefillin)

tying the knot

In Likkutei Halachot of Rebbe Natan, he talks about the deeper secrets of the Tefillin. He explains that the Shel Rosh, the tefillin worn on the head, represents the point of the Tzaddik. The Shel Yad, the tefillin worn on the arm, represents the point of the individual's soul. The knot in the straps of the tefillin in the back of the head is a separate tefillin in its own right, it represents the point of the klal, the whole of Bnei Yisrael.

The light, the blessing from HaShem, flows from the point of the Tzaddik to the point of the individual's soul, but only by way of the point of the klal. The blessings from HaShem can only reach each individual by way of the Tzaddik, only when the individual is somehow connected to the whole of Bnei Yisrael, ie. an individual needs to connect to another Jew in order to be able to receive beracha from the Tzaddik. Once the individual is connected to the klal, then the Tzaddik can work wonderous tikkunim (healings) on the individual.

Today is the 3rd of Tammuz (Gimel Tammuz) the hillulah of Menachem Mendel ben Levi Yitzhak the 7th Rebbe of Lubavitch. He more than other encouraged Jews to connect to one another through Torah, mitzwoth, and good deeds. He sent his Hassidim all over the world to find and connect to every last Jew, wherever they may be.

I never really understood the depth of what it meant, what it was the Rebbe was encouraging. He wanted to be metaken the whole of Bnei Yisrael, but in order to achieve this, every Jew in the world needed to be connected and not cut off from the whole of Judaism.

[Only through the lens of Breslov was I able to see and appreciate the depth of Chabad.]
May his Zechus protect us in the coming days and always, and may we merit to see the coming of moshiah any minute now.

up in smoke

The divine presence was only revealed within the Beit HaMikdash and the Mishkan when they were filled with the smoke of the ketoret. (the incense offering)

This is interesting in a purely physical sense, because we know with light and especially lasers, that the path of a laser isn't (generally) readily visible, unless the air is full of particulate matter. This is also true of the sun's rays shining through on partially clouded days. Light can only be briefly glimpsed directly, as a source of brightness, or as illumination on the surface of something else. Sometimes though, (as in the examples above: the laser and the rays of sunshine) filling an area with a cloud of something allows us to gain more insight into the way the light moves, how and wear it is travelling.

On an entirely different level, perhaps the same principle applies. We know that God can't be viewed directly, he warns Mosheh, לא יראני האדם וחי - man cannot see me and live. We also know that when God does reveal himself, it is through some mask, some outer clothing that shields us from the full effect of seeing God, if such a thing can be spoken about. כִּי בֶּעָנָן, אֵרָאֶה עַל-הַכַּפֹּרֶת (For in a cloud will I reveal myself on the covering of the ark. Vayikra 16:2)

We can learn something really amazing from the fact that God is revealed in the smoke of the incense offering. The word smoke, עשן, which is used to describe har Sinai as כלו עשן -entirely smoke- can also be read as an acronym that stands for עולם ,שנה ,נפש - World, Year, Soul. These are three dimensions, or three separate levels that comprise the major aspects of the world, Space, Time, and Consciousness.

From this we see that Space, Time, and Consciouness are all simply veils that not only protect us, and allow us to interact with God, despite our puny finitude, but also that they were created for the express purpose of God revealing himself to us, through them.

Just like our post in which Rebbe Nachman explained that our body is the most direct way to our soul. Here we see that Space, Time, and Consciousness are the most direct channels to God.

This can actually be seen in Tefillin and Tallith. Rebbe Natan in Likkutei Halachoth relates how Tzitzith represent one's place. As long as we aren't in our appropriate place, it seems like there's no room for us at all, and we feel suffocated and squeezed into existence. When we find our apporpriate place, appointed by God, then we can relate to and connect to God, and actually we become the space of the world, an attribute normally limited to HaShem Himself.

Similarly, Rebbe Natan explains that Time is a more refined version of Space, in that it is more fine and more difficult to connect to. Yom Kippur is completely above time, and for this reason we wear our Tallith from the very start of Yom Kippur, because the Tallith connects us to Time in a way that we can relate to time, without being trapped within it. [It occurs to me that Teshuvah can be seen as literal time travel.]

The Tefillin, on the other hand, connect our consciousness and our mind to the mind of HaShem. The Tefillin represent the whole Torah, and since the Torah stems from the Will (רצון) of God, by making our will His Will, (by subjecting ourself to his Torah by laying Tefillin) we connect our consciousness to His.

When next you pray, be aware that you are surrounding yourself in the עשן, the smoke, through which HaShem reveals himself to His people. This should help in envisioning yourself in the Holy Temple while you are praying.

Perhaps through Space, Time, and Consciousness we can ascend into the smoke of Har Sinai, which would explain what Mosheh meant when he told us that we didn't go up the mountain (as we should have) despite God explicitly telling us not to go up the mountain.

mirrors for faces; voices not words

Ben Ish Hai, Hacham Yosef Hayyim, on parashath Bo (year 1), brings up the halachoth of Tefillin. It's clear, he says, that Tefillin shel rosh is meant to illuminate your mind, and Tefillin shel yad is meant to illuminate your heart, because hochmah (wisdom) dwells in your mind, and binah (understanding) dwells in your heart. He explains that all of your other middoth (attributes) derive from hochmah and binah. For this reason, if your heart and mind are pure, the rest of your body will follow. Especially your mouth. If you heart and mind are pure, your speech will be pure as well.

I find this interesting then, because רוח (spirit) is the level of the soul that dwells in the heart, and the Targum (aramaic translation) translates the life breathed into man as רוח ממללה a speaking spirit. So the heart is intimately related with speech from the moment of the creation of man.

On Shabbath I learned Likkutei Moharan I:19. Rebbe Nachman explains how all of us must go hear Tzaddikim face to face, because hearing them quoted second hand is not even remotely the same experience. Similarly reading from texts written by Tzaddikim isn't even on the level of hearing from someone who heard from a Tzaddik. He goes into the intricate wonders of the Holy Tongue (לשון הקודש) aka Hebrew, and how the Tzaddikim perfect their speech to such an extent that it undermines all the evil in the world. To such an extent that when one gazes upon the countenance of a Tzaddik, one sees a reflection of oneself and all of the sins one has done which results in immediate teshuvah. (This actually meshes nicely with an earlier post quoting the Notzer Hesed on wrongdoers blaming the Tzaddikim for their own sins.)

Rebbe Nachman also explains there that the key to drawing out this goodness is rooted in the heart of creation. He notes that there are 32 (לב heart has gematria 32) mentions of the name Elokim in the tale of the creation. From this point of the kollel of creation, all of the evil is uprooted. (As explained as well in Likkutei Halachot Hilchot Tzitzith:3 on the word Bereishith)

He goes into a long explanation of how Aramaic is the Tree of Knowledge and Hebrew the Tree of Life, but I'm not going to get into it now. In super-short he says that through raising up the good in the Targum - Aramaic - you return creative power to Hebrew and undermine the 70 languages which are the root of all evil. (and akin to the three klippoth of tumah)

Last night I was at a wedding here in Jerusalem. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (former Rishon L'tzion (Chief Sepharadi Rabbi of Israel)) was the M'sader Kiddushin, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl was there too, and all of Beit El. (the Mekubalim of the old city of Jerusalem) Talk about seeing Tzaddikim speak in person and being reflected in their faces. It couldn't have been higher unless all the Hassidic Rebbes of Jerusalem had shown up. (And if something like that ever happens, I definitely want to be there to see it!)

It's one thing to learn Rebbe Nachman's Torah on all of this, it's quite another (as Rebbe Nachman said in this very Torah) to experience it face to face. I'm so happy I got to be there, I'd been wanting to see Rav Eliyahu for a long time now. I got a brachah for my wife from him.

[There was actually an awesome encounter that very few people got to witness where (on the way from the tisch to the chupah) Rav Eliyahu stopped and asked Rav Nebenzahl to join him and walk beside him, but Rav Nebenzahl insisted on following humbly behind.]

ps. for anyone here in Jerusalem, the celebration of the Hillulah of the Rashash (רש"ש הקדוש) at Bet El (in the old city) will be sunday night and I wouldn't suggest missing it.

the generation of our mitzvah

The Noam Elimelech says in his commentary on parashat Noah that noah was a
tzaddik in his generations. Why generations and not generation in the singular?
(he emphasizes that rashi's pshat doesn't answer the plural question)

The explanation he offers goes like this: Each generation is tasked with
performing a particular mitzvah with especially strong emphasis. In each of the
generations in which Noah lived, he would involve himself in the fulfillment of
the appropriate mitzvah. This is the way of tzaddikim, they perform each mitzvah
at its appropriate time, in order to fulfill the will of HaShem.

The Noam Elimelech goes on to explain that in his generation, the mitzvah to
fulfill was tzitzit. But what is it in our day and age? My holy wife suggests
our mitzvah is tefillin. Which might explain why Chabad is out there laying
tefillin on everyone. I have to figure out which rav might know the answer to
this question.. Any ideas would be appreciated..