The More Arrows Shot at a Person

The holy Hillula (anniversary of passing) of Moharnat (Rebbe Nosson) of Breslov on the 10th of Tevet will fall this year on Thursday night, the eve of the Tenth of Tevet.

As a great preparation for the great day, the day of the Yahrtzeit when the soul of the Tzaddik ascends and influences great light to the world, we present the words of our Teacher, the holy Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. From a class delivered during the Hillula of Rebbe Nosson of Breslov, 5777.

So now, on the Tenth of Tevet, we merit Yechida d'Yechida (the highest aspect of the soul), which we do not merit during the rest of the year, [the aspect of] "the crown of the head of the one separated from his brothers" (Deuteronomy 33:16).

The Tenth of Tevet always falls in Parashat Vayechi, except for the years 5761, 5781, 5784, 5801, and 5808. Now, for twenty years, it has always fallen in Parashat Vayechi, except for the years we mentioned: 5761 (twenty years ago), 5781 (three years ago), and 5808 (seven years from now), when it will be in Parashat Vayigash. We are now in Parashat Vayechi, in the aspect of "the crown of the head of the one separated from his brothers," regarding Joseph: "They embittered him and became his adversaries; the arrow-bearers hated him" (Genesis 49:23). In the merit that they shot arrows at him for twenty-two years, he merited "the crown of the head of the one separated from his brothers," to Yechida d'Yechida. The more arrows are shot at a person, the more he merits Yechida d'Yechida.

Now is the Tenth of Tevet, which is like Yom Kippur. It is written in Davar B'Ito and all the books that it overrides Shabbat, and therefore it never falls on Shabbat [in our fixed calendar]. Only when the Temple comes will it fall on Shabbat as well, because then it will be based on sighting [the new moon]. But now it is arranged so that the Tenth of Tevet does not fall on Shabbat, because otherwise, it would override Shabbat, for it is even greater than Yom Kippur. Because now we merit, after Chanukah was a "seal within a seal," so everyone is sealed with a "seal within a seal," so we merit true atonement, which is the Tenth of Tevet.

For regarding Tevet—it is written in Sefer HaKarnayim, Essay 6, that the month of Tevet is the month of tovot (favors/good things). "You shall be buried at a good old age" (Genesis 15:15)—this corresponds to Tevet; "You shall accept good blessings"—this is Tevet. Whoever passes away in Tevet or is born in Tevet is promised that he is a son of the World to Come. If a person passes away in Tevet, like the Kotzker Rebbe, like the Baal HaTanya, like Rebbe Nosson, all the Tzaddikim... [Also] Rabbi Asher Zev of Tiberias, the Rav of Tiberias, who was the only one to support R' Yisrael Ber. Only he took him into his home after everyone threw stones and tomatoes at him; for five years they threw things at him. He would not go to eat without Yisrael Ber; "Yisrael Ber will eat with me." Rabbi Asher Zev zt"l never ate without a guest.

So now, on the Tenth of Tevet, when we are after the "seal within a seal," after the seal of the flask of pure olive oil sealed with the seal of the High Priest, we want the High Priest to seal us. Rebbe Nosson prayed in Likutey Tefilot that the High Priest should seal us, that he should annul all the decrees in the world for us. No matter how much a person is shamed, it is never enough for him; even just for the sin of Adam HaRishon, he needs to be shamed with a billion humiliations. King David was Adam HaRishon. The Asarah Ma'amarot says: Granted, King David sinned in his last five years at the end of his days, but why was he persecuted for sixty-five years? He killed Goliath and they persecuted him; for what did they persecute him? There was no claim against him! So he answers: He is Adam HaRishon.

When a young man passes away at age twenty, he [actually] passes away at age one hundred and twenty. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says, "Behold, I am like a man of seventy years old"—he was eighteen, because he completed the fifty years of Samuel the Prophet, of King Solomon.

Because now, on the Tenth of Tevet, a Temple of fire must descend. Therefore, "on this very day" (Leviticus 23:28)—this is the greatest day of the year, like Yom Kippur. "On this very day Abraham was circumcised" (Genesis 17:26)—this is Yom Kippur. And then Rashi says that he was also born [on that day]; if he was born, he also passed away [on that day]. For the Gemara says in Rosh Hashanah 10b that according to Rabbi Eliezer it was the 1st of Tishrei, and according to Rabbi Yehoshua it was the 1st of Nissan. Rashi says no, "on this very day" refers to Yom Kippur.

Now we are in the [aspect of the] Second Tablets; now we receive the Tablets anew. We have all the prayers of Yom Kippur, and more than that, we are now after a "seal within a seal." And on Purim, we will be at the third wall—this is three seals. "The wall of Jerusalem shall be built"—Rebbe Nosson says in Eruvin (22a) regarding "the wall of a wall"—this is a seal within a seal, a wall within a wall. We are at the third wall, which Shimon, Hillel, and Rabban Gamliel the Elder—the grandfather, the son, and the grandson—built.

For Jacob [represents] the Resurrection of the Dead. Because the Tribes merited the Resurrection of the Dead. And this is what is written in the Zohar, page 165, Zohar Shlach Lecha, regarding the gates of Jerusalem on High: at every gate stands Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, and everyone must enter a gate of fire. For in the future to come, when entering Above, one must certainly pass through a gate of fire. But Jerusalem below will also spread through all of Jerusalem, and there are ten gates, and every gate will be a gate of fire. Reuben will stand... Mashiach will come and build Jerusalem with gems and sapphires... Then there will be gates of fire; one will have to pass through gates of fire.

Only someone who had no blemish of the eyes [can pass through]. For all the work is only [rectifying] the blemish of the eyes. Rebbe Nosson brings in Hilchot Nizkei Shechenim that all the work is only on the blemish of the eyes, for all of teshuvah (repentance) depends on the eyes. All the work is only on the blemish of the eyes, for a person sees nothing; what he sees are demons and spirits. He does not see women; he sees demons and spirits. He only sees the shell (klipah) that surrounds the skin of the snake.

As written in Bechorot (7b), a donkey is born with a skin over its face; this skin is permitted to be eaten. Everyone is born with the skin of a donkey. It is written, "Man walks in a phantom (tzelem)" (Psalms 39:7); it is written "In the image (tzelem) of God He created man" (Genesis 1:27). "Man walks in a phantom"—this is the negative image, the image of the snake. There is an image of a snake, an image of a scorpion, an image of a donkey, of a dog. All the Nazis were images of snakes. Indeed, each one had seven heads, as Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov is written to have toppled the heads (Kiddushin 29b). For the Yeshiva of Abaye consisted of gangsters (thugs, men of force) who abused the woman, cutting her into pieces.

A person does not know what he was in a previous incarnation—what pirate he was, what gangster he was, what criminal he was—he cannot know. And this needs to be printed in [books about] reincarnations of souls. In Kiddushin 29b regarding Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov, that the entire Yeshiva of Abaye, all his students, were the gangsters of Gibeah (the Benjaminites who abused the Concubine in Gibeah, Judges Chapter 20). They only requested the extradition of three criminals, four criminals from the Tribe of Benjamin, and they refused, so they annihilated an entire tribe. For one blemish, they annihilated the entire Tribe of Benjamin.

"Ben-Oni" (Son of my sorrow)—Rachel sees the "Ben-Oni," that the majority of the Tribe of Benjamin will be annihilated, and Jacob sees the six hundred who will remain, and among them Saul son of Kish, about whom it is written "from his shoulders and upwards" (1 Samuel 9:2). And this is what Michal daughter of Saul said to David who danced before the Ark of God: "The returnee from the Philistines! In my life, I never saw a heel and a thumb [exposed] by my father! I don't understand what is happening with my husband; he is jumping, flipping over... what is going on there?" He did this for the honor of the Ark, for the honor of the Ark of the Covenant, to make people happy.

For the main joy is only through dancing, because it is impossible to enter the Chalal HaPanuy (Vacated Space) except through dancing. Because only David could enter the Vacated Space. Therefore everyone recited Psalms and the Book of Job. The Zohar says on page 299 that Adam HaRishon recited the Psalms, he recited the Book of Job the moment he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. "When my thoughts are many within me, Your comforts delight my soul" (Psalms 94:19)—Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 19) says that immediately after he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, he recited this Psalm: "When my thoughts are many within me"—why am I suddenly expelled from the Garden of Eden? He and Eve fasted almost until the Tenth of Tevet.

Today is the shortest day. Until the Tenth of Tevet, they were still fasting. On the Tenth of Tevet, suddenly the light was revealed to them; it was revealed to them that the day begins to lengthen. Until the Tenth of Tevet, the day is still short—ten hours and ten minutes. Sunrise is at 6:40 and sunset is at 4:50—ten hours and ten minutes. The miracle is that the sunset is already getting later, so they begin to see a drop of light. Adam and Eve fasted until the Tenth of Tevet; they did not stop fasting. They fasted and wept afterwards until they saw that the day was actually lengthening. Even though the sunset had already begun to get later, he made Chanukah.

Chanukah according to Beit Shammai, Chanukah according to Beit Hillel. Because on Chanukah, the lights return. The Rebbe says (Torah 2, Tanina) that 370,000 lights return. Therefore, the Menorah is ShaMaG (343)—seven and seven is 343 (7x7x7 = Gematria ShaMaG). Why does Zechariah repeat, "I have seen, and behold a menorah of gold, entirely" (Zechariah 4:2)? "Entirely" means that all of the Nation of Israel is a golden menorah; every Jew is a golden menorah. Rebbe Nosson says it is forbidden to speak against any Jew; every Jew wants to repent. We just don't know how to awaken them; it is only through songs and dances, just as King David flipped and jumped in the air, and through this, he brought all of Israel back in repentance, through these dances, so that there was no boy or girl with evil thoughts. As it is written, "Our sons are like saplings grown up in their youth" (Psalms 144:12)—he says the girls were like stones and the boys were like trees; there were no [impure] thoughts.

For if not, the Temple could not have been built. If one person had an [impure] thought and entered the Temple, he would be burned on the spot. It is impossible for there to be a Temple and [simultaneously] some [impure] thought. Until a person is clean of every thought, the Temple cannot be built; if it is built, it will be burned. The thoughts are the fire of Gehennom. The Rebbe says in Torah 19 that there are seventy bonfires burning inside a person, but with a drop of Da'at (knowledge/awareness), a person can subdue it all (Torah 8 Tanina, Letter 2: "The brain is a partition spread before the lust"), with a drop of Da'at (Torah 72: "Any amount of Da'at breaks the test of lust").

And Da'at is impossible without [studying] Ktzot HaChoshen. Without learning the responsa of the Maharik regarding the Duchess who was a lover of Israel and annulled her husband's decrees. Everyone needs to study Responsum 3 with awe and love, regarding the Duke who obligated them to pay five thousand gold or silver coins, and the wealthy gave two thousand five hundred, and the rest of the people gave two thousand five hundred. In the end, the Duke said, "I will never return it; I have gone bankrupt," and everyone despaired. It is written in the Shach in Siman 358 that there is no such thing as despair (ye'ush). The Shach says there is no reality of despair; a person never despairs. Even if a ship is sinking, he does not despair.

But there is a Halacha, and it is also brought in the Shulchan Aruch, that even if a ship is sinking and all the property is sinking, whatever is saved must be announced [to find the owner], because the loser did not despair. This is also the law of the land (dina d'malchuta), and it is also good conduct, that there is no such thing as despair. A person can never despair; a person is incapable of despairing. He always hopes he will find it someday. But in the meantime, others have permission to use it. With this, it is written on page 27b in the chapter Elu Metziot that permission is given—everyone says, "I lost 100 dollars, okay, whoever finds it should use it. I don't know if I will find it, so if I find a thousand, I'll take a thousand." It is like a market enactment.

And in the end, it turns out we aren't talking about found objects at all, because "scattered fruits" are Keter (Crown), and "scattered coins" are Chochmah (Wisdom), as it is written, "In the shadow of wisdom, in the shadow of money" (Ecclesiastes 7:12). Money comes through Chochmah. If a person studies Torah, he will have money. If he doesn't study Torah, he will never succeed, neither in gathering money nor in working. Because "In the shadow of wisdom, in the shadow of money"—money comes from Torah study. If he studies Torah in depth [more than money]... and "sheaves of the baker" is already Binah (Understanding), and "in the public domain" is Da'at (Knowledge), until one reaches "tongues of purple wool," which is Malchut (Kingship), where the colors are.

And "bundles of flax"—these are the souls of the wicked. Cain brings flax; he has no pomegranates, he has no figs. Also, he could have asked Abel for a sheep and sacrificed it. Rather, when Cain was born, it was said of him, "I have acquired a man with Hashem" (Genesis 4:1). The Tikunei Zohar says, "I have acquired a man with Hashem"—he looked like a semblance of the Above, for she did not give the name for no reason. For Cain has 5 Gevurot (Judgments) and 3 Chasadim (Kindnesses), and Abel is the opposite: 5 Chasadim and 3 Gevurot (Sha'ar HaPesukim, Bereishit, Drush 4). So Abel... Hashem accepts Abel's offering. This does not mean He does not accept Cain's; rather, the intention is that He says to Cain, "You are not sweetening your Gevurot."

On the contrary, a person who has a greater Evil Inclination has a harder task. A person who has only Chasadim has an easier task. So why do you boast over the wicked person? Why do you boast that he has Gevurot? Why do you boast that he stumbled? So the moment Abel boasted, he incurred the death penalty. "Help Cain! Help your brother! He has 5 Gevurot and 3 Chasadim; you have 5 Chasadim and 3 Gevurot."

The daughters of Zelophehad were all Gevurot (Sha'ar HaPesukim, Pinchas, s.v. Vatikravna—The daughters of Zelophehad are 5 Gevurot: Choglah, Milcah, and Tirzah are sweetened; Machlah and Noa are not sweetened). Therefore, the order is switched, because three were Gevurot and two were Chasadim. Therefore, the order needs to be switched, because in the aspect of Chasadim, even the three were Gevurot. And one needs to sweeten the Gevurot. And Abel needed to help Cain sweeten the Gevurot!