One who wants to return to Hashem must be a great expert in following [the path of] never allowing anything to distance him or make him feel he has fallen, throughout all of his ups and downs in life. He must always stay strong no matter what, as people say [in Yiddish] “Der halten zich,” meaning, “holding on.”
Through this, he fulfills the verse, “If I ascend to the heavens, there You are, and if I make my bed in the lowest depths, You are here.” Even if a person is in the lowest places, he can still find closeness to Hashem, since He is right there with him as the verse states, “You are here.”
In another place, this lesson is explored more in depth: A person who wants to follow the path of teshuvah and return to his spiritual source must have two skills. He must be an expert in the aspects of ratzo (climbing higher) and shov (holding his ground). This is how he can fulfill the verse, “If I climb to heaven, there You are, and if make my bed in the lowest depths, You are here.”
In other words, a person who wants to return to Hashem must strengthen himself to follow Hashem’s path, whether he’s going up or falling down, which are aspects of the verse, “If I climb to heaven, there You are, and if make my bed in the lowest depths, You are here.”
This means that when we reach a higher spiritual level, whether small or great, we must never stop there, and we shouldn’t become complacent. Instead, we need to be proficient at continuing to advance further, knowing and believing that we can always go higher— an aspect of being an expert in ratzo.
On the other hand, even if we fall, G-d forbid, to the furthest place, we must never give up, no matter what. Instead, we should search and seek for Hashem, encouraging ourselves in any way we can. Even in the darkest situation, a person can find Hashem and attach himself to Him, which is an aspect of the verse, “If make my bed in the lowest depths, You are here”—an expert in shov.
It is only possible to do real teshuvah, when a person is proficient in both of these skills. And in truth, it is an incredible expertise—to know that we must constantly work hard in avodas Hashem and hope to reach a higher level all the time, but nonetheless not let ourselves fall because of anything—no matter what happens. We can’t get discouraged at all by fulfilling the verse, “If I make my bed in the lowest depths, You are here.”
Once we are proficient in both of these skills, we can follow the path of teshuvah. Then, Hashem stretches out His right hand (so to speak) to receive our teshuvah, and we merit Hashem’s honor, through which we become an aspect of the verse, “Man who sits on the Throne of glory.” Fortunate is the person who accomplishes this!
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.”
