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Likutey Moharan #2191 Rebbe Nachman On The Nine Days LIKUTEY MOHARAN #219:1 106 ליקוטי מוהר"ן סימן רי"ט ִבּ ַ ּצע אֶ מְ רָ ת ֹו )איכה ב(, ַ ִּּ'בזע ּפֹוְרִפָירא ִּדֵילּה', )מדרש שם( . כִּ י ְבּ וַ דַּ א י ֵאין ַה ִּ ֵּבַית־המְקָּדׁש ָיֹכול ִלְסּבֹל ְּכֹבוֹדו ְוַגֲאָוֹתו ִיְת ְָּבַרך, ְּכֹמו שׁ ֶ ָּ כ ת ּ ו ב )מלכים א' ח(: "הִנֵּה הַשּׁ ָמַ יִם וּשׁ ְמֵ י הַשּׁ ָמַ יִם לֹא יְכַלְכְּ ָלוּך, אַ ף כִּ י הַ בַּ יִ ת הַ ֶ ּזה" וְ כוּ '. רַ ק מֵ חֲ מַ ת אַ הֲ בַ ת יִ שְׂרָ אֵ ל צִמְ צֵ ם וְהִ לְבִּ ישׁ ֶאת ַּגֲאָוֹתו ְּכֵדי ְלַהְׁשֹרות ְׁשִכָינֹתו ִּ ְּבֵבַית־המְקָּדׁש ְּכֵדי ְּלַגלוֹ ת ַמְלּכוֹתו. וְ זֶ ה ְבּ חִ י נַ ת )תהלים צג(: "ה' ְָמָלך ֵּגּאות ָלֵבׁש", ֶׁש ִּכְבָיֹכול ִּבְׁשִביל לְגַ ּלוֹ ת מַ לְ כוּ תוֹ , הִ לְבִּ ישׁ וְצִמְ צֵ ם אֶ ת גֵּ אוּ ת שׁ ֶ ּלוֹ , כְּדֵ י שׁ ֶ נּ וּכַ ל לִסְ בּ ֹל ַק ָּבַלת עֹל ַמְלּכוֹתו ָעֵלּינו, ֲאָבל ִ ְּּכֶׁשיְׂשָרֵאל ָחְטּאו ְלָפָניו, ֲאַזי כִּבְיָכוֹל הֶרְאָה ּוְגִלָה הַשּׁ ֵם יִתְבָּרַ ְך אֶת גַּאֲוָתוֹ וּגְאוֹנוֹ, וְלֹא רָצָה ְלַהְל ִּבׁישֹו ּוְלַצְמְצֹמו ֹעוד, ֵּ ּוִממָילא ֶנֱחַרב ַה ִּ ֵּבַית־המְקָּדׁש, ִּכי לֹא ָהָיָה יֹכוְל לָסְבֹלו ַּכ ַּנ"ל. in creation capable of housing God’s Presence. How then can God’s glory and majesty—the symbols of His Shekhinah (Divine Presence)—be contained in a building? 5. He constricted and clothed His majesty…revealing His Kingship. Since nothing could contain God’s majesty, He constricted it so that it would be manifest in the Temple. By constricting and clothing His majesty, God minimized His glory, as it were, so that human beings could relate to the One Who dwells in the Holy Temple. 6. take upon ourselves the yoke of His Kingship. We see empirically that when a person undertakes a task or an obligation to which he cannot relate, he becomes discouraged easily and quickly despairs of fulfilling it. Likewise, when accepting the kingship of God—He Who is unknowable and without description—unless we have ways of relating to Him, it becomes very difficult to bear the yoke of His Kingship. Therefore, God “donned His majesty”—He clothed and cloaked the majesty of His Presence, diminishing it, as it were, in order for us to be able to obligate ourselves to the rule of His Kingship. 7. inevitably, the Holy Temple was destroyed…. God was willing to constrict Himself in the Temple in order to enable the Jews to accept His Kingship. But by sinning, the Jews showed their unwillingness to do this, and God therefore no longer constricted His majesty. Thus the Temple, which could no longer contain the magnificence of His glory, was destroyed. 107 LIKUTEY MOHARAN #219:1 LIKUTEY MOHARAN #2191 {“God did as He planned, beetza emrato (He executed His word) that He commanded long ago” (Lamentations 2:17).2} eetza emrato”—He tore His royal robe (Eikhah Rabbah 1:1).3 For the “BHoly Temple is certainly unable to bear the glory and majesty of the Holy One, as it is written (1 Kings 8:27), “Why, neither the heavens nor the highest heavens can contain You, how much less this building....”4 Nevertheless, out of His love for the Jewish people, He constricted and clothed His majesty in order to cause His Divine Presence to dwell in the Holy Temple, thereby revealing His Kingship.5 And this is the aspect of “God is King; He donned majesty” (Psalms 93:1). In order to reveal His Kingship, He clothed and constricted His majesty, as it were, so that we should be able to take upon ourselves the yoke of His Kingship.6 However, when the Jews sinned before Him, then God showed and revealed His majesty and grandeur, as it were, not wanting to cover or constrict it any more. Thus, inevitably, the Holy Temple was destroyed, because it could not withstand [His majesty], as explained above.7 1. Likutey Moharan #219. The main theme of this lesson is humility. As Rebbe Nachman will show, the degree of Godliness revealed to a person is commensurate with the degree of humility he himself attains. 2. Beetza emrato, He executed His word…. The prophet Yirmiyahu laments the destruction of the Holy Temple and the suffering of the Jewish people. He reminds the Jews of God’s earlier warning that unless they observed the Torah, the Temple would be destroyed. 3. He tore His royal robe. The word beetza can be homiletically read as beeza, which means ,(אמרא) His word”) is similar to the Aramaic IMRa“ ,אמרתו) to tear” or “to rend.” EMRato“ “garment.” Thus the Midrash (loc. cit.) reads this verse from Lamentations as: When God allowed the Temple to be destroyed, it was as if “He tore His royal robe.” Rebbe Nachman now clarifies the connection between the Temple and this garment. 4. unable to bear the glory…this building. At the Temple’s dedication, King Shlomo was about to pray to God that He keep His ever-watchful eye on the House and make it His earthly abode. Yet, lest anyone assume that the Temple could actually house God, Shlomo introduces his prayer with the following words: “But will God really dwell on earth? Why, neither the heavens…can contain You, how much less this building that I have built!” There is nothing LIKUTEY MOHARAN #219:1, 2 108 וְזֶה "בִּ ּצַע אֶמְרָ תוֹ" - 'בִּ ּזַע פּוֹרְפִירָ א דִּ ילֵהּ', שׁ ֶ ּקָרַ ע אֶ ת הַ ּלְבוּשׁ שׁ ֶ ּלוֹ , הַ יְ נוּ שׁ ֶ ּקָרַ ע אֶ ת הַ ְּ לבוּשׁ וְהַ ּצִמְ צוּ ם הַ נַּ "ל בְּ חִ ינַ ת "גֵּ אוּ ת לָבֵשׁ " הַנַּ"ל, וּמִ ֵּ מילָ א נֶחֱרַ ב הַבֵּ ית־הַ ּמִקְדָּשׁ , כִּ י מֵאַחַ ר שׁ ֶ ּקָרַ ע וּבִ ֵּ טל אֶ ת ִ ַּהצְמּצום ְּ ְוַהלּבוׁש, ׁשּוב ֵאין ַה ִּ ֵּבַית־המְקָּדׁש ָיֹכול ִלְסּבֹל ַּגֲאָוֹתו ּוְגֹאוֹנו ִּ, כֵי "הַן הׁ ָּשַמִיּם וְׁשֵמַי הׁ ָּשַמִים לְֹא יַכְל ְָּכּלוך ַּ" כ ַּנ"ל: ע וֹ ד שׁ ָמַעְתִּ י בִּשׁ ְ מוֹ לָעִ נְיָ ן הַ נַּ "ל, שׁ ֶהִלְבִּ ישׁ וְצִמְצֵ ם אֶ ת גַּאֲ וָ תוֹ כְּדֵ י ּלְגַלוֹת מַלְכוּתוֹ, שֶׁהִזְכִּיר אָז מַה שֶּׁאָמַר ּבַּיוֹם שֶׁ ּלְפָנָיו. וְהָעִנְיָן, שֶׁ ּיִרְאָה בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת הוּא בְּחִינַת הַכְנָעָה, וְזֶה שֶׁכָּתוּב )דברים י(: "מָ ה ה' אֱ לֹקֶ ָיך שׁ וֹאֵ ל מֵעִ ָּ מ ְך כִּ י אִ ם לְיִרְאָ ה", שׁ ֶהַשּׁ ֵ ם יִתְבָּרַ ְך מַקְטִ ין אֶ ת עַצְ מוֹ כִּבְיָכוֹל, וְשׁ וֹאֵ ל מֵהֶ ם יִרְאָ ה, כִּ י שׁ וֹאֵ ל מֵעִ ָּ מ ְך, ּהו ְּא בִחַינַת הְכָנָעְה וִׁשְפּלו ְּת, כֹמוַהּׁשֹוֵאּל ֵ ּוְמַבק ׁשֵמֲחֵבֹרו. ִּכי ִיְרָאה ּהוא ְּבִחַינת ַמְלּכות, ְּכֹמו ֶׁש ָּכּתוב )אבות פרק ג משנה ב(: ִ'אְלָמֵלא ֹמוָרָאּה ֶׁשל ַמְלּכות' )כמובא כבר כמה פעמים( , וּמַ לְ כוּ ת הוּ א ְּבִחַינת עִֹני ְוַהְכָנָעה, ִּכי ֵ'אין ְֶמֶלך ְּבלֹא ָעם', ֶ ֶּׁשזּהו ְּבִחַינת ֲּעִניוּת, ְּ'דֵלית ָלּה ִמ ַּגְרַמּה ְּכּלום' )כמובא במקום אחר(, הַ יְ נוּ שׁ ֶ ִּ מדַּ ת הַ ַּ מלְ כוּת 13. ask of you is the aspect of submissiveness and humility…. Rebbe Nachman reads the verse literally, as God asking man to fear Him and accept His Malkhut. The fact is that God controls everything through Divine Providence (e.g., a person’s health and prosperity). The one area that He leaves entirely up to man (though He could control this as well) is the area of free will. Thus, when God asks us to fear Him, it is as if He were asking and requesting us to accept Him as our King! It is this Godly submissiveness and humility that Rebbe Nachman addresses next. 14. fear of the malkhut…. “Were it not for the fear of the malkhut, people would swallow each other alive” (Avot, loc. cit.). This teaches that the rule of malkhut is associated with fear. By accepting God’s Malkhut, we display our fear of Him. 15. brought a number of times. See Likutey Moharan I, 29:10 and n.150; ibid., 56:5 and n.97; ibid., 97; ibid., 135:4 and n.45; ibid., 185 and n.6; Likutey Moharan II, 7:13; ibid., 77. 16. poverty…no king unless there are subjects. Malkhut, the attribute of kingship, is considered impoverished since being a king is dependent upon one’s having subjects over whom to rule. 17. brought elsewhere. See Likutey Moharan I, 1, notes 21-22; ibid., 30:6 and note 76. 109 LIKUTEY MOHARAN #219:1, 2 This is the explanation of beetza emrato: He tore His royal robe. He tore His garment—i.e., he tore off the aforementioned garment and contraction, the aspect of “He donned majesty.”8 Thus, inevitably, the Holy Temple was destroyed; for once He had torn and nullified the constriction and garment, the Holy Temple was no longer able to withstand His majesty and grandeur, for “neither the heavens nor the highest heavens can contain You,” as explained above.9 2. I heard more in [Rebbe Nachman’s] name on this subject, that [God] covered and constricted His majesty in order to reveal His Kingship. [The Rebbe] then mentioned what he had said the previous day.10 The point is that fear, the aspect of kingship, is the aspect of submissiveness.11 This is what is written, “What does God your Lord ask of you? Only that you fear [Him]” (Deuteronomy 10:12).12 The Holy One lessens Himself, as it were, and asks from them fear. For “ask of you” is the aspect of submissiveness and humility, like one who asks and requests from a friend.13 For fear is the aspect of malkhut (kingship), as it is written (Avot 3:2), “Were it not for the fear of the malkhut (government),”14 {as has been brought a number of times15}.
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