Parshat Lech Lecha: Through Studying the Gemara, One Receives a New Mind

"Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you... and I will make your name great"

"And I will make your name great" (va'agadlecha shemcha) alludes to the study of the Shas. The word 'shemcha' (your name) has a gematria of 360, and 'Shas' also has a gematria of 360. One must know that if a person does not study Shas, he has nothing; he lacks the image of G-d, he is not even a human being. The entire name of a person, the essence of a person, is built from the study of Shas; the whole person is nothing but the Shas.

This is what Hashem promised our forefather Abraham, "And I will make your name great," meaning that his descendants would engage in Torah and study Shas (shemcha). Only this is called 'tamimut' (wholeness/innocence), as it is written, "Happy are those whose way is perfect (temimei derech), who walk in the law of Hashem" (Psalms 119:1). Tamimut is only achieved when a person studies Shas.

Rebbe Nachman brings in Torah 1: "Know that through Torah, all prayers and requests that we ask and pray are accepted, and the grace and importance of Israel are elevated and exalted before all those whom we need, both in spiritual and physical matters." Only through Torah are all prayers and requests accepted. Everything a person sees where a prayer was not accepted is because he does not study enough Shas. All the grace and importance of Israel depend on those who study Shas, for the Torah is called "a lovely hind and a graceful roe," which bestows grace upon those who study it; the Torah truly bestows grace upon a person.

When a person comes home, if he has studied Torah, he has merited grace. His wife sees that he has grace and that the Shechinah rests upon him, so there will be joy in the home. But if he comes home without Torah, without grace, broken and irritable, then there is no joy in that home.

Now, due to our many sins, the grace and importance of Israel have fallen. Now, the primary importance is with the nations, with the wicked, and this is for only one reason: they do not study Shas. "For an Israelite must always look into the intellect of every thing and connect himself to the wisdom and intellect that is in every thing, so that the intellect that is in every thing will shine for him, for the intellect is a great light and shines for him in all his ways."

The true intellect is only the study of Shas; apart from this, there is no intellect in the world. What shines for a person and guides him is only the intellect. A person must ensure that the intellect shines and progresses, shines and grows, as it is written, "It shines brighter and brighter until the day is established." The entire work of a person is only to increase the intellect, and according to how much he increases his intellect and studies Shas, so he builds the Holy Temple.

If we want to build the Holy Temple and hasten the Geulah, we must increase the intellect, increase the da'at (knowledge/consciousness), as our Sages said, "Whoever possesses da'at, it is as if the Holy Temple was built in his days." According to how much one increases da'at and intellect, so he builds the Holy Temple. The reason the Holy Temple has not been built is because we do not study Shas with deep analysis and depth. Today, to build the Temple is simply to study Shas. The moment a person studies Shas, the Sitra Achra will fall. One must sharpen the intellect; the work of a person is to sharpen the intellect, to study Torah—so that he will have a quick and sharp mind, a shining mind, as Rebbe Nachman says, "It is a great mitzvah to sharpen the intellect." The Chesed L'Avraham says that there are 10 screens on the brain, 10 shells (kelipot) on the brain, and everyone must remove these shells, polish them, and clean them, and this is only through the study of Shas with depth and analysis.

A person must know that Breslov and Gemara are one and the same. The point of Breslov is that we follow what is written, not according to feelings and opinions, and not according to what is convenient: "Go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents," meaning one must listen to the voice of the tzaddikim, to the voice of the shepherds. If you are a Breslov chassid, you must listen to Likutey Moharan—the first thing in Likutey Moharan (Torah 1) is that a person must have intellect, that he must study Shas, and only this is called tamimut—"Happy are those whose way is perfect, who walk in the law of Hashem." A person must know that Breslov Chassidut does not come, G-d forbid, to nullify even a single yud, any custom of the Jewish people, or anything accepted in the Jewish nation; it only comes to add more things, to add more fear of Heaven, more guarding of the eyes, more holiness.

A person has heresy in his heart; he does not believe that Hashem stands before him every moment. The fact that a person does not have kavanah (intention) in prayer, does not feel that Hashem stands before him, is because he has heresy in his heart, because he does not believe that Hashem is present. When a person speaks with a friend, he is careful to think about every word that comes out of his mouth, especially if it is a king; he is more careful that he should not be caught in some mistake, G-d forbid, in some illogical thing he might say. When he speaks with a friend, he does not speak in vain; he can speak for 10 hours because he sees before him a "person" with a face, hands, and feet.

And Hashem, who is living and eternal, is present before us, and we do not feel Him. This shows that we have no intellect, we have no mind. When a person does not feel Hashem and does not have kavanah in prayer, it is only because he lacks intellect. Just as there are diseases where people lose their mind and do not recognize their parents, so too, if a person has no intellect, no Torah, he does not recognize his Father and Mother, which is Hashem. If a person could, he would transplant intellect into himself, but they have not yet found how to transplant a brain.

To receive intellect and a mind, says our holy Rebbe, is only through the study of Shas with depth, the study of Torah—and when one studies Torah, he merits to nullify the heresy in his heart and to feel Hashem. He merits grace, importance, and that his prayers and requests are accepted.

'My soul thirsts'