סימן ג'
רֶוַח הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה אֵין לְשַׁעֵר, דְּהַיְנוּ מַה שֶׁהָאָדָם יָכוֹל לְהַרְוִיחַ בְּזֶה הָעוֹלָם, וְאֵין צָרִיךְ עַל זֶה הוֹצָאוֹת מִשֶּׁלּוֹ, שֶׁקּוֹרִין 'אוֹיְשׁ־לַאג' (הַלְוָאוֹת), רַק מִמַּה שֶׁהֵכִין לְפָנָיו הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ, יָכוֹל לְהַרְחִיב יָדוֹ וּלְהַרְוִיחַ הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד. עַיִן לֹא רָאָתָה וְכוּ'.
“The profit of this world is beyond measure—meaning what a person can earn in this world. And for this a person doesn’t need to come up with money for expenses, which people call ‘oish-lag’ (borrowed capital/loans). Rather, purely from what the Creator has prepared before him, he can expand his reach and make incredible profit—‘no eye has seen it...’”
(Based on Likutei Mohoran II, 55)
If we examine ourselves closely, we will discover that the main reason we often don’t feel attached to Hashem comes from a single issue: it seems to us that we lack the understanding and knowledge of how to connect to Hashem in our current situation.
The way the world works is that when someone wants to open a business and succeed, they must invest heavily in preparation and planning, study the field thoroughly, and then invest money—sometimes even taking out loans to launch and advertise the business—until, with Siya’ta Di’Shmaya, they make a profit.
However, avodas Hashem is completely different. In Yiddishkeit, you don’t need to make any initial investments to start living with Hashem! As Rebbe Nachman says here: “The profit of this world is beyond measure... And for this a person doesn’t need to come up with money for expenses. Rather, purely from what the Creator has prepared before him, he can expand his reach and make incredible profit.”
Not Making Conditions in Avodas Hashem
There are people who find it difficult to keep Shabbos, claiming that if only they had a comfortable livelihood, they would observe Shabbos—as if their life circumstances don’t allow them to honor Shabbos.
Reb Nosson addresses this claim in Likutei Halachos (Rosh Chodesh 6:11), explaining that such an argument is like questioning HaKadosh Baruch Hu: “How can You demand that I fulfill something when You haven’t given me the basic conditions?”
However, one of the foundations of Yiddishkeit is knowing clearly that Hashem wants us to see that we are close to Him in the exact place where we are right now. It is strictly forbidden to attach external conditions to building this relationship by saying, “If only I had such-and-such, then I would...”
The yetzer hara is a great expert at giving us the impression that if only we knew a little more, then we would be able to fulfill Hashem’s will. Of course, we should set aside time to listen to shiurim and study Torah to increase our knowledge, but G-d forbid that we make our continual connection with Hashem conditional on understanding more spiritual concepts.
Every single one of us already possesses more than enough knowledge to come closer to Hashem. In the words of Rebbe Nachman: “Purely from what the Creator has prepared before him, he can expand his reach and make incredible profit.”
Even though the desire to acquire more knowledge and kinas sofrim (being envious of talmidei chachamim) are inherently good things, they can often work to our detriment. They confuse us, make us feel deficient, and cause us to let day after day pass without experiencing the inner chiyus of living with Hashem.
The essence of Yiddishkeit is simplicity. The main thing is good deeds, and not accumulation of concepts. We can and should expand our knowledge of Hashem and the Torah as deeply as possible, but only with the stability and solid confidence that we already have everything necessary to begin, rather than feeling constantly lacking and ungrounded, where no amount of knowledge will ever satisfy us or bring us closer to Hashem.
Not Forgetting Our Simple Connection
Rebbe Nachman once remarked jokingly (Sichos HaRan 18):
“People love buying sefarim because they are worried that the Torah might be forgotten. But they don’t realize that in order for the Torah not to be forgotten, one actually has to study those sefarim!”
Similarly, regarding this lesson, some people constantly try to accumulate knowledge so that the Torah will not be forgotten, G-d forbid. What they fail to understand is that “forgetting the Torah” mainly means forgetting to apply it and live with Hashem right now, in this very moment—rather than waiting for the day when they acquire more and more knowledge or finally merit to deeply understand the inner meaning of a mitzvah or Yom Tov.
Even if we were to know a lot, life naturally includes many periods of mochin d’katnus (constricted awareness) when a person forgets everything he’s learned. What can we do then?
Thus, in reality, our main avodah is temimus u’peshitus. This means connecting to Hashem right now based on whatever He has prepared before us: our living conditions, surrounding environment, family situation, weather, mood, physical health, and above all, our current, limited knowledge.
Focus on the simplest concept you already know—you can always find something—and connect to that idea and live with it.
L’Ma’aseh — Practically Speaking
In every moment and every challenge, we must know that we can earn an extraordinary spiritual profit right here and now, since we have everything we need to serve Hashem in this situation. We must avoid falling into the trap of thinking that we lack essential conditions or knowledge in order to give nachas to Hashem, because Hashem never puts a person in a battle without giving him the tools necessary to withstand it.