“For I knew that Hashem is great, our Master [is greater] than all the heavenly angels.”
Most verses that describe the wonders of Hashem are stated in the present tense, “I know that Hashem is great.” Why did Dovid Hamelech say, “I knew?” The answer is that he wanted to teach us something unique about the avodah of attaching ourselves to the greatness of Hashem and receiving a spark of the Infinite Light. This revelation is not like something in the Gemarra, which we can talk about with our friends. Rather, it is an experience of Hashem’s light that is beyond words.
“Since the greatness of Hashem is impossible for a person to speak about it”
Is it possible to think about it? We could think about it, but not for a long time. It’s like a spark that comes and goes. However, it is possible to do something to preserve it immediately afterwards. When it is still close to us, we can work on engraving it in our hearts, as we will discuss at length in the second section of this sichah. But after a little while, the light goes away and we lose the opportunity to make an imprint of it.
“To his friend”
Why is it impossible to speak to a friend about it? In order to explain this spark to someone else, it is necessary to contract (“metzamtzem”) it a lot. In other words, the only way to relate it to another person is to paint a picture of the experience we had with incredible detail. This would require great effort to describe all the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of the situation of the illumination that came into our minds, and after all of this work, we still wouldn’t be able to capture the exact same light. The best way we could present it to a friend would be like a 2-dimensional image of a 3-dimensional experience we had.
“It is impossible for a person to speak about the greatness of Hashem . . . from one day to the next.”
Here, Rebbe Nachman indicates that it is only “from one day to the next” that it is impossible to speak to ourselves about our experience of the greatness of Hashem, but on the same day it is possible to speak about it. However, at the end of this section, Rebbe Nachman says, “It is impossible to speak about it at all,” which implies that even on the same day of the experience there is no way to express it in words.
The answer to this apparent contradiction is that, in reality, the experience of the Oneness of Hashem is impossible to explain in any way. It is an aspect of the verse, “What great goodness You (Hashem) have hidden away for Your friend,” which refers to the awesome light that Hashem made in the beginning of Creation and hid away for the extraordinary tzaddikim. In truth, only the tzaddikim attain this light even while they are in the material world. Nonetheless, when we prepare ourselves to receive it, Hashem shines a small spark of this light into our souls with incredible compassion.
According to Kabbalah, this light is shefa hamochin that comes down from the Sefiros of Chachmah and Binah. When we awaken our hearts to purify (mevarer) ourselves of the contamination of this world and be mevatel ourselves to the greatness of Hashem, this creates Mayin Nukvin that ascends to the higher spiritual realms and draws down light from the Ohr Mah Chadash. This light takes the form of shefa hamochin, which is an expanded consciousness that gives new chiyus to our neshamos. Thus, it is impossible to speak about this light, since it is essentially the hidden light of the tzaddikim that comes down from the spiritual realms that are beyond our ability to truly grasp.
On the other hand, if we have the merit of receiving some illumination of this light, we can and should do something to hold onto it. As we will discuss in the second section of this sichah, on the day we experience a new spark, we should make an imprint of that spark by learning the Torah of the tzaddikim, contemplating the wonders of Hashem’s Creation and the miracles He’s done for us, and doing mitzvos with fresh emunah and chiyus. Through this, we can keep the imprint of this light in our hearts forever, which can help us to overcome our suffering and transform our lives.
This is why Rebbe Nachman first says that it is possible to speak about the spark on the day we experience it, since we can make an imprint of the light. Nonetheless, the actual experience itself is impossible to speak about at all, because it is a hidden light that is far beyond our comprehension.
We think that we can contemplate and talk about the true greatness of Hashem. This is the reason that when we look at the sun, moon, stars, and other amazing things in the world, we don’t feel anything. In reality, the true greatness of Hashem is impossible for us to grasp. However, we can taste it through attaching ourselves to the Oneness of Hashem. Then, on the same day, we can make the vessels we need to retain an imprint of what we experienced.
This is the main point of this sichah. Rebbe Nachman understands us. He knows that through connecting to the great tzaddikim, we tasted a spark of the Infinite Light. But now, we don’t have it and we are broken. We don’t have any strength left. So, he tells us, “Don’t try to recreate the previous light that you experienced. You can’t get it back. Rather, you should search for a new experience of Hashem’s greatness through the holy words of tefillah and then do something to remember it in order to be happy and inspired to serve Hashem at all times.”
“Illuminates [his heart] and sparks [his mind]”
“Illumination” refers to a beam of light that shines into our being a new experience of the Oneness of Hashem that we never had before. It is a new understanding of Hashem’s greatness. A “spark” is not a stream of light like “illumination.” Rather, it is something that just sparks momentarily within us. The reason for this is that it is an even higher revelation that can only be revealed to us as a flash of light.
“The greatness of Hashem”
In the very first sichah in Sichos HaRan, Rebbe Nachman tells us that he wants us to think about the greatness of Hashem. We do this primarily through tefillah, which gives us the image of Hashem’s magnitude and awakens us to be mevatel ourselves to Him. For example, we should contemplate the simple words of Shemoneh Esrei, “HaKel hagadol, hagibor, v’hanorah – the G-d Who is great, powerful, and awesome!”
This avodah is discussed in many other sefarim hakedoshim. The Rambam says we should look at the world and see the greatness of Hashem. The Zohar HaKadosh explains that by thinking about the magnitude of Hashem -- that He is “Rav, v’Shalit, Ikara v’Sharsha dechol almin” (great, powerful, the source of all worlds) – we come to be in awe of Hashem, which awakens our love and wonder of Him. Rebbe Nachman doesn’t mention the avodah of having love and awe, since he relies on us to understand that this is what he’s talking about based on the sefarim hakedoshim that came before him. These feelings are mitzvos d’oraisa (bring source), which we can fulfill through the amazing revelation of this sichah and its practical application that Reb Nosson teaches us in Likutei Halachos.
This article is based on the Torah of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov zt’’l and his primary talmid Reb Noson zt’’l, as given over by Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak, shlit’’a. For comments, questions, and donations, or to subscribe to receive future articles by email, you may contact: [email protected]. To join The Rebbe’s Pharmacy Group on WhatsApp, send a message to: +1-718-207-1468 or scan this QR Code: You may also find shiurim from the author on YouTube by searching “The Rebbe’s Pharmacy.”
Published by the Meirat Einayim Institute in Jerusalem, Israel - Graphic Design C. Schorr [email protected]
Dedicated by the Rosenberg Family יוסף צבילע”נ ר’ ז”לישראלבן ר’
