The Secret of Humility and Submission: The Vessel for Attaining Torah Comprehension

Lesson No. 62 | Thursday, Parashas Matos-Masei, Eve of 25 Tammuz 5756 (Continued from No. 61)

The article explains how humility and submission are the essential conditions for meriting high spiritual attainments, as we see with Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. Furthermore, it explains that drawing close to the tzaddik does not exempt a person from the work of teshuvah (repentance); rather, it requires him to pour out his heart like water and cry over every spiritual blemish.

The Gemara relates that Rabbi Akiva was the descendant of converts. The entire essence of a baal teshuvah (returnee to Judaism) is that he must always approach Hashem with humility and submission. The Kotzker Rebbe explained the Talmudic statement, "In the place where baalei teshuvah stand, completely righteous people cannot stand," in an inverse way: Baalei teshuvah do not always manage to "stand" and maintain their position. They become enthusiastic and excited, but because they do not always grasp matters with profound depth, their inner fire is liable to fade.

In order to maintain one's standing, a person must cleave to the benches of the Beis Midrash (study hall), literally tying himself down with handcuffs. Otherwise, the enthusiasm will be like a flying saucer that appears and vanishes, or like gas that ignites and immediately evaporates, leaving the person empty and regretting that he ever drew close.

Magnificent Wisdom in an Ugly Vessel

The more a person lowers his own mind in humility, the more he merits higher spiritual attainments. The Gemara in Tractate Taanis (7a) relates the story of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, who was a man with a very ugly physical appearance, yet his wisdom was so immense that even the Emperor Hadrian—who destroyed the city of Beitar—would completely nullify himself before him. If the non-Jews were to see even one proper Jew, with the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) shining upon his face, they would all nullify themselves before him.

One day, the Emperor's daughter asked him, "How is it possible that such magnificent wisdom is placed in such an ugly vessel?"

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya said to her, "Your father, in what does he store his wine? In clay vessels or in metal vessels?" She replied, "In clay vessels." He told her, "You are royalty; you should store your wine in vessels of gold!"

The Emperor's daughter went and ordered that all the wine in the cellar be transferred into golden vessels, and immediately, the wine spoiled. When the Emperor asked why she had done this, she told him about Rabbi Yehoshua's advice. The Emperor summoned him and asked for an explanation. Rabbi Yehoshua answered him, "I showed her that if you put wine in a simple clay vessel, it is preserved, but in an expensive vessel, it spoils."

The Emperor challenged him, "But aren't there many beautiful and handsome Torah scholars among the Jewish people?" Rabbi Yehoshua replied, "If they were as ugly as me, they would be much wiser!" The more a person is humbled, the more his intellect and wisdom grow, and his surrounding spiritual lights expand.

The Secret of Rabbi Akiva's Attainment

The Pri Tzaddik of Lublin explains that specifically Rabbi Akiva, being the descendant of converts, always approached Hashem out of absolute humility and submission. It was this very lowliness that earned him spiritual attainments that no other Tanna (Mishnaic sage) ever merited.

It is told of Rabbi Akiva that the Romans combed his flesh with iron combs, and he cried out, "Hashem is One." When Moshe Rabbeinu saw this prophetically, he was shaken and asked:

"Is this the Torah and this its reward? A man who raised twenty-four thousand students, who established Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and who disseminated Torah throughout the entire Jewish nation—at the age of 120, they take him and comb his flesh with iron combs?" Hashem said to him, "Be silent! Thus it has arisen in My thought."

The Gemara describes that when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to the Heavenly heights, he found Hashem sitting and tying crowns to the letters of the Torah. Moshe, who did not yet know the secret of these crowns (tagin), thought they were mere decorations and asked, "Master of the Universe, who is staying Your hand (what is lacking in the Torah that You must add these crowns)?" Hashem answered him, "There will be a man at the end of several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name, who will expound upon every single point and crown, deriving mounds upon mounds of halachos (Jewish laws) and secrets."

Returning Backwards to the Sefirah of Binah

Moshe Rabbeinu asked to see this great man. Hashem told him, "Turn backwards." In order to attain this, Moshe had to ascend eight levels backwards through the Sefiros (Divine emanations)—from Malchus to Hod, from Netzach to Tiferes, and so on, until he reached the Sefirah of Binah (Understanding, the source of profound comprehension). Only there, in the Sefirah of Binah, could Moshe see and understand the attainment of Rabbi Akiva.

Moshe went and sat at the end of eight rows of Rabbi Akiva's students. He heard them expounding secrets upon every single point and crown, and he did not understand a single word! He became disheartened, until he heard the students ask Rabbi Akiva, "Rebbe, from where do you know these secrets?" Rabbi Akiva answered them, "It is a Halacha given to Moshe at Sinai." At that moment, Moshe Rabbeinu's mind was put at ease, and he realized that he was destined to receive all of these secrets during his forty days on Mount Sinai.

The True Work of Teshuvah and Tears of Repentance

From here we learn about the true essence of serving Hashem. A person cannot think that just because he traveled to Uman or drew close to Breslov Chassidus, everything is already fine and he is exempt from spiritual work. It is a terrible mistake to think that there is a Rebbe who promises to pull you out of Gehennom (Purgatory) without any effort on your part. The Rebbe will indeed pull you out, but the question is when—perhaps after a million years, depending on how many "packages" of sins you arrived with.

For every spiritual blemish and every wrong we have done, we will have to pay and make a tikkun (rectification). The only way is to pour out oceans of tears. When a person travels to the gravesite of the tzaddik, the goal is not a "vacation from the wife" or a trip to Russia, but rather to fulfill the verse, "Pour out your heart like water." People arrive in Uman with a heart of stone, having never shed a tear in their lives, and there, their hearts are opened, and rivers of tears begin to flow from them.

One must take the Gemara, internalize its intellect into the mind, and then one sees all the advice and salvations. The Torah shines like a sun burning at millions of degrees. Moshe Rabbeinu did not seek honor, and a true tzaddik does not "just forgive" sins against Halacha—for every transgression, one must cry and simply lament against the wall, rectifying everything out of true humility and submission.

Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 62

→ Previous Part

All Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 (Current)