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Rav Chaim Berlin Zt”L

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Rav Chaim Berlin Zt”L Issue # 53 A Tzaddik, or righteous person makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by advocating for them and finding their merits. (Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach; Sefer Bereishis 7:1) Yom Kippur Edition Kedushas Ha'Levi'im Pleading With The Almighty To Sit On The Throne Of Kindness nce in the midst of reciting the poem Unesana Tokef, when the Berditchever reached the verse “And Your throne will be established in kindness and You will sit on it in truth,” he O paused and began to advocate on behalf of Klal Yisrael before their Father in Heaven, saying: Truth is something that endures in permanence. Since truth stands! (Shabbos 104a) And we say that, “A true tongue will be established forever.” (Mishlei 12:19) And behold, if “Your throne will be established through loving kindness,” that is that You will lean towards mercy and love Your children then “You will sit on it in truth.” Which means it will be permanent. However, if heaven forbid, You will lean towards judging them with the attribute of harsh judgment and decree, harsh decrees heaven forbid! Then it will have no permanence. Then the righteous tzaddikim will come and nullify and cancel Your decrees! As it says (Moed Katan 16b) “A tzaddik rules over Me! The Holy One decrees and the tzaddik cancels it.” (Eser Oros 3:15) Serving in White Vestments The Berditchever teaches us why during the other days of the year the Kohen Gadol served in gold and colored vestments and on Yom Kippur when he entered inside he served specifically in white vestments: It is written (Tehillim 33:6) “By the word of Hashem heavens and earth were made,” the Almighty created the worlds by His utterances and speech. All the worlds are filled with His life force and vitality and exist because of that life force and vitality. And if, heaven forbid, there would be a lack [of His life force] for even one moment, it would be totally impossible for any of the worlds to exist - so we find that all of the worlds exist through His life force (See Tanya Shaar HaYichud VaHaEmunah Chapter 1). Page 1 of 36 The shefa which the Creator sends down over all the worlds before it reaches the worlds it is without any shape or form or color. As the shefa spreads through the world, then it becomes formed and colored. For example, as the shefa spreads through the world of the fiery angels known as the seraphim, then it takes on the form of the world of the seraphim and so does it do with all the worlds wherever it spread out to, it takes on that form of that world, so that for inanimate objects, plants and living animals then the shefa takes on the form and hue of the inanimate, the plants and the animals. This is known as General and Specific. When the shefa has not yet spread out it is called general and when it has spread out over all the worlds, then it is called Specific. When the shefa has spread out over all the worlds, then it has taken on form and hue to match the world it is in and where it has spread out to - if it is shefa in the world of the seraphim then it takes on the form of that world of seraphim and it can no longer spread out past the world of seraphim. And this is true for all of the worlds. This is hinted at by the statement in (Eruvin 28a) “A General statement followed by a Specific one, the general can only contain what is in the specifics.” This occurs when there is an awakening from above, however when there is an awakening from below to send forth shefa then the opposite is true. An awakening from below is always only Specific, however the shefa which the Creator sends to the world is General and inclusive, including and incorporating everything and anything, and this is what the aforementioned Gemara (ibid) means, “A Specific statement followed by a General one, the general adds on to the specific.” This will explain that the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur draws down shefa to all of the worlds and this shefa - when it is still being drawn down and has not yet entered the worlds, we explained that this shefa is completely colorless [and without form]. This hints at the reason that the Kohen Gadol specifically wears white vestments, which alludes to the drawing down of shefa which on Yom Kippur has no color at all. On the other days of the year, his service was only to keep the shefa in the world as we explained that when the shefa is in the worlds then that shefa has form and hue and that is why the rest of the year the Kohen Gadol wore gold and colored vestments. Like the Avodah of the Kohen Gadol or Higher than an Angel? The Tzanz-Klausenberger related related the following story, as he heard it from Rav Tevli of Dukla. “I was told this story by Rav Tevli of Dukla, who heard it from his father-in-law, Rav Yosef Moshe, who heard from Rav Yitzchak Ettinger, who heard from the mouth of the author of Yeshuos Yaakov himself. It happened when the Yeshuos Yaakov was but a young avreich living in Yaroslav (a city of misnagdim, opponents of Chassidus).” This is the story he told: One year on erev Yom Kippur, the rav of Berditchev arrived in town. When he entered the shul for Kol Nidrei, he came in crawling on his hands and feet — such was his awe and self-negation before Hashem! He approached the amud and began to recite Kol Nidrei with great reverence and fervor. None of us assembled knew the guest’s identity, but nonetheless he was allowed to continue leading the prayers before the congregation. He had the sweetest voice we had ever heard, and we could tell by the tone and feeling with which he said those stirring prayers that this was a person of great stature. After concluding ma’ariv, he went on to recite the liturgy known as Shir HaYichud before the ark and then he began reciting the entire sefer Tehillim out loud. He stayed there, standing on his feet and saying Tehillim, the entire night! In the morning, when the men started arriving in shul, we found him standing there in the same position that we had left him. Without budging from his place, he simply went on to recite Adon Olam and led the prayers for shacharis. Then he proceeded to read from the Torah and lead the services for mussaf.” “I began to doubt whether this being was human or an angel from heaven!” the Yeshuos Yaakov explained. “His powerful, sweet voice and his unceasing outpouring of emotion were nothing short of angelic. But when the congregation recited their responses and he stood silent I concluded that he must be human. Then he came to the ne’ilah prayers. He raised his voice and roared out the words like a lion, Page 2 of 36 and not one person in the entire congregation was left unmoved. Anyone who had not yet done teshuvah was filled with remorse and everyone there repented. We were sure that only a supernal angel from Heaven could have such powers!” After Yom Kippur had ended and we had davened ma’ariv (the Yeshuos Yaakov went on to relate), I decided to follow him and see were he was staying. I wanted to see if he would conclude his fast and eat as human beings do. Perhaps, he truly was an angel who had no need to eat or sleep! I watched as he listened to Havdalah that someone recited and then ask those present, “Please bring me something to revitalize me and fill my hungry soul!” Immediately they brought him some cake, cookies, and fruit to eat, knowing that anyone would be hungry after such a day. “No, no,” he protested, declining the food offering, “this is not what I had in mind. Please bring a mesechtes (tractate) Sukkah.” They brought him the requested volume, and he took the Gemara to his room saying that he needed to rest a bit. I followed him and peeked into his room. What I saw had no resemblance to rest. I saw him sitting enraptured in studying the mesechta aflame with devotion. I myself could not stay up. I was tired and I fell fast asleep. When I awoke, it was morning. I peeked into the Berditchever’s room and found him still sitting there and learning. While I slept, he had managed to learn almost the entire tractate! “This,” interjected the Tzanz-Klausenberger, “was the Kedushas Levi, about whom his son Rav Meir writes in his introduction to volume 1 of his sefer Kesser Torah, ‘Everyone in the world knows that my father had thousands of students whose hearts my father set aflame teaching them Gemara, Rashi and Tosafos, as well as the works of the poskim and codes of law. Their hearts were excited to serve Hashem when they heard his Torah guiding them on the straight path to serve Hashem.’ “Though he served Hashem at every moment with such fervor that would make even angels and fiery seraphs jealous,” concluded the Tzanz-Klausenbeger, “he could not rest knowing that he did not study enough Torah on the day of Yom Kippur. Only after the entire tractate of Sukkah was his mind appeased.
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