The Secret of Self-Sacrifice and the Sweetening of Judgments on the Fifteenth of Av

Class No. 64 | * (Continued from 63) Tuesday evening, the eve of the 15th of Av 5756, for the young men of the group in the Kloyz (synagogue) in "Beis Yisrael"

A profound discourse explaining the virtue of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) focused on self-sacrifice, and the secret of the Ten Martyrs who elevated the most rejected souls. Through the secret of the Fifteenth of Av and the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (He who is good and does good), it is explained how every physical action, even eating, can be transformed into immense spiritual devotion.

A person must truly strengthen his thoughts regarding self-sacrifice. He must picture in his strong and resolute mind, with all his internal and external faculties, all the types of deaths and tortures he has heard about. He should think: When will I also merit this? After all, Jews who sacrificed their lives merited spiritual levels that we cannot even begin to comprehend, reflecting the verse, "No eye has seen it, God, other than You."

If a person believes that someone earned a billion dollars, he is willing to travel to the ends of the earth and cross deserts to attain it as well. How much more so when a person is told that whoever sacrifices his life merits eternal good, to the point that no creature, angel, or seraph can stand in his presence. A person must sharpen in his mind a complete picture of suffering, and desire that all the tortures should happen to him in exact detail, and even take a longer time, so that he can feel the pain of death for the sanctification of His great and awesome Name.

The True Hour of Hisbodedus

With this powerful thought, all foreign thoughts are nullified. A person thinks only of Hashem, out of the recognition that "there is none besides Him, and there is only Hashem in the world, nothing but Him." Through this visualization, all of his sins and all the pleasures he derived from forbidden things are immediately atoned for. He must delve into this until he simply feels his soul leaving him, and there is no difference for him between the actual agony of death and the visualization in his mind.

When he reaches a state where he sees that his soul is truly about to depart, he must stop the thought at the last moment, so that his soul does not leave him, Heaven forbid, and he can continue to live and serve Hashem until a hundred and twenty years. This should be a person's true hour of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) — not Hisbodedus focused on all sorts of illusions, but an hour of Hisbodedus literally dedicated to dying for the sanctification of Hashem's Name.

The Secret of the Fifteenth of Av and the Ten Commandments

This is the secret of the Fifteenth of Av, about which the Talmud says that the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (He who is good and does good) was instituted. The Fifteenth of Av is an aspect of Yom Kippur, and it is connected to the secret of the Ten Commandments. At the Giving of the Torah, it is said:

"My soul departed when He spoke"

With every single utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Almighty, the souls of the Jewish people left their bodies. In truth, this was the purpose of Creation — that every time we hear a word of Torah, we should become so pure and refined that our soul departs and we receive a new soul. Had Adam, the First Man, not sinned, this is what would have happened with every utterance. At the Giving of the Torah, the Jewish people merited that their spiritual impurity ceased, and they experienced the resurrection of the dead; every utterance drew out their soul and granted them a new soul.

The Ten Martyrs and the Secret of Sweetening the Judgments

This immense tikkun (rectification) was continued by the Ten Martyrs. The holy Arizal explains that they merited to elevate holy sparks from the depths of the forces of impurity, sparks that no tzaddik and no prayer could elevate, except for Rabbi Akiva and his companions. This is the secret of Tamar, who offered her life to death in order to establish the lineage of Mashiach ben David. This is also the secret of Mashiach ben Yosef, who will be called "Menachem ben Chizkiyah" (which has the numerical value of 320, corresponding to the 320 severe judgments). When the most terrible judgments are revealed in the world, only such self-sacrifice can sweeten them.

During the destruction of Jerusalem and Beitar, Hashem saw that the Jewish people still did not grasp the severity of the situation. The Romans, led by Titus, stood astonished at the heroism of the Jews. Titus himself wanted to retreat and told his soldiers: "These are not human beings, we have reached a city of demons!" The Jews jumped from walls fifty meters high and demonstrated superhuman strength. And why? Because they were born in holiness, from the seed of great tzaddikim, and when a person is born in holiness, he receives supernatural powers even in the physical realm.

Illuminating the Darkest Souls

However, despite the heroism and righteousness of the martyrs of Beitar, the judgments were still not fully sweetened. Since the generation was immersed in darkness and the spiritual barriers were so thick, there was no choice but to take ten supreme pious ones — Rabbi Akiva and his companions — who would be killed and actually sacrifice their lives for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, enduring tortures that no human mind can comprehend.

Only because these tzaddikim sacrificed their lives were they able to draw down spiritual illumination into the lowest and darkest souls in the world. The bodies of the martyrs of Beitar and the Ten Martyrs became completely spiritual and were not ruled by decay, and their souls ascended to the level of "No eye has seen it, God, other than You." Through the fact that they sold the flesh of Rabbi Akiva in the marketplaces, his soul subdued the entire Roman Empire, and the downfall of the Sitra Achra (the side of impurity) began.

Eating in Holiness with the Blessing of HaTov VeHaMeitiv

This is the depth of the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" that was instituted on the Fifteenth of Av for the martyrs of Beitar. The blessing teaches us that even during the time of eating, a person must strive for self-sacrifice. He must ask himself: How will this food bring me to spirituality? With every sip and bite, he must lift his head upward, eating with a settled mind and in holiness.

Especially during the days of "Bein HaZmanim" (the yeshiva intersession), which the holy Arizal says are even holier than the days of the regular term, we have an opportunity to reach the holiness of Yom Kippur. The Fifteenth of Av is a Yom Kippur on which it is permitted to eat and drink, and through it, one can achieve an immense devotion of "spirit to spirit," until we feel in every single utterance how "my soul departed when He spoke," and we will be elevated from level to level infinitely.

Part 2 of 5 — Lesson No. 64

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