Yom Kippur and the Mikveh

Bob at the Wall.

Sod Yesharim, Yom Kippur,

Teaching number 40
By Rabbi Gershon Henoch Hainech of Radzin, ZTs”L,
Translated by Betsalel Edwards


“Rabbi Akiva said, fortunate are you, Israel! Before whom do you purify yourselves? And who is it that purifies you? Your Father in Heaven! As it is said (Ezekiel, 36:25), ‘and I have poured pure water on you and you have been purified,’ and it is said (Jeremiah, 17:13), ‘God is the mikveh of Israel (God is the hope of Israel. The Mishnah is referring to the double entendre of “mikveh,” which means both “ritual bath,” and “hope.”).’ Just as the mikveh purifies the impure, so too does the Holy One, blessed be He, purify Israel.” (Mishnah, Yoma, Chapter 8, Mishnah 9) (This is the final teaching in the section of the oral law dealing with Yom Kippur.)

We will discuss the inner meaning of the purification of the mikveh (ritual bath). It is written in the Midrash (Exodus Rabba, 15:7), “In the beginning the world was water in water. And God wanted to establish worlds, but the evil ones would not allow Him to do so. What do the writings say about the generation of Enosh? (Genesis 4:26) ‘Then men began to profane the name of God.’ (This translation follows Rashi. Others simply say, ‘began to pray with God’s name.’) The waters rose up and washed them away, as it is said (Amos 5: 8), ‘He makes the Pleiades and Orion... He calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth.’ The generation of the flood was also evil. What is written of them? (Job, 22:17), “they said to God, go away from us!’ The waters came up and did not allow Him to place the foundations (of the earth) on them, as it said (Job, 22:16), ‘who pours out the foundation as a stream.’ ” (The Midrash continues to explain how when the Patriarchs came into the world, nature began to, as it were, comply with God’s wishes.)

The Divine Will brought about the paradoxical situation where greatest peace of mind (“yishuv hada’at”) actually comes about through the greatest experience of anxiety. Water represents great harassment and anxiety. We find in the Gemara (Tamid, 32a), “It is better to dwell on dry land, because those who set out to sea are never free from anxiety till they reach dry land again.” For this reason, the (experience of) anxiety will actually bring about the greatest realization of the Glory of Heaven, as it says in the Zohar (Tetsave, Vol. 3, 32a), “light is only that which comes out of darkness,” and (Vol. 2, 184a), “There is no service of God other than that which comes out of darkness.”

Concerning this recognition of God’s presence in the world which is a very product of anxiety, it is said in the Midrash (ibid.), “the waters cry out, ‘Glorious is God in the Heavens!’ ” That is to say, that God is exalted above and beyond all anxiety and situations that cause anxiety, and the Glory of God can be recognized even within these very states of anxiety.

These states of anxiety are called, “deaf servants who speak with their gestures.” To this it is said (Genesis, 1:9), “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.” This means that God made room for man’s understanding. (“Dry land” represents a place which is comprehensible to man. The waters represent anxiety, where God’s order, presence, and “peace,” also exists, but not in a way that man can normally comprehend.) However, this place which is made for man’s understanding (“dry land”) is really just a garment, for all of the creation is really just a garment dressing the will of God. This is as our sages said, “darkness is a garment for light.” We find that the source of God’s will, which is hidden in all of these garments within the grasp of man’s understanding, is really much higher that the apprehension itself. Water hints at Supernal will, higher that man’s understanding, which has not yet dressed itself in the realm of man’s comprehension. This is because water also hints at anxiety, and all of these anxieties are above the grasp of man’s consciousness. They are hidden from the mind’s grasp.

This is why we completely immerse ourselves in the waters of the mikveh When a person is completely covered in the waters of the mikveh, it represents how man immerses his whole being in the essence of concealment, which is itself is only a result of God’s supernal will. The whole purpose God had in creating such concealment (in, for example, anxiety) was in order to provide a way for man to come to the greatest peace of mind. (If you can find God in the “chaos” of the waters, if in the midst of stress and disorder you know that God is there, running everything according to His wisdom, taking care of mankind and you in particular, then your faith is strong and you truly have peace of mind.) This is a great comfort to man’s consciousness. Then it follows of itself that man is purified. At the moment of immersion in the concealment he realizes that he is actually standing on the depth of God’ will which originally established the concealment.

Regarding this, the Zohar says (Vayikra, 23b), “When one wakes up at night and studies the Torah, his transgressions are revealed to him, but not in a way of stern judgment.” Night represents concealment. When man brings himself close to the source of God’s will by bringing himself back into the essence of concealment that God established, he is then shown all the ways of purification. The root of impurity is that which man does to distance himself from the source. But after, when man ascends to the depths of the will of God, he finds himself standing before the source of God’s will. From this he achieves retroactive purification for all the actions that were done as a result of the darkness, concealment, and great anxiety. It is then seen in retrospect that all the anxiety he suffered was only a result of the statute of God’s supernal will (something human understanding cannot understand) which formed the realm of concealment as a vehicle to achieve the greatest confidence and reassurance of man’s mind that it is possible for him to know. Man from his side only entered into the concealment according to how much God willed it.

In the mystical intentions of immersion in the mikveh as taught by the Ari”zal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1534-1572), he teaches that while immersed one is to envision the holy name, “Aleph Lamed Dalet.” These three letters actually hint at the intentions we have presented above. “Aleph Lamed,” or “E-l,” meaning, “God the Powerful,” in the sense of His loving kindness, hints at the power which God delivers to the one experiencing being a part of His creation. It is written, “the loving kindness of E-l all the day.” The letter Dalet represents how we have no strength inherent within us, rather it all emanates from God. “D’leit lei m’garma cloom,” translates, “it has no effect whatsoever (from its own side, but is rather acted upon by God),” (Dalet is the name of a letter, but also represents the “sefirah” of Malkhut- that attribute of Sovereignty or Kingship, which is pure reception. Dalet sounds like “Dala” which means “poor,” in the sense that it only has what it is given from God.) The intentions of the Ari”zal go on to say that after one immerses in the mikveh the letters, “Aleph Lamed Dalet,” are transformed into the holy name, “Aleph Lamed Gimel Aleph.” (Both equal 35.) The Dalet turns into Aleph Gimel. The Ari”zal is saying this. Gimel teaches of the force of expansion. This is found in the Gemara (Shabbat, 104a), “for what reason is the face of the letter Gimel turned torward the letter which follows it, Dalet? For it is the nature of those who do acts of kindness (“gomlei chassidim – the same letters as “Gimel”) to run after the the poor (poor, “dal” is the same letters as “dalet”).” The letter Aleph hints to us that by means of the state of, “D’leit lei m’garma cloom,” “it has no effect whatsoever,” man can ascend to the root of God’s Supernal will together with all his states of expansion and all his experiences of harassment.

(If one looks into this very “kavonnah” in the Sefer Baal Shem Tov, Parshat Yitro, section 12, one will find instructions for the very opposite of the above. AGLA – representing the source of all stern judgments, is “sweetened,” by being transformed into ALD. See there. With the greatest of respect for the Rebbe of Radzin, I would still recommend starting by visualizing AGLA, and then after, as a way of sweetening the severe judgments, visualizing ALD.)

This is as it is said in the Torah regarding Yom Kippur (Leviticus, 16:30), “For on that day the Cohen shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be purified from all your sins before God.” That is, all purification for Israel is drawn from the place that God’s will established, a place which is called, “before God.” Truly, how could one ever say, “before God,” using a term denoting a spatial relationship. He has no corporeal or physically spatial attributes. The Zohar explains this from the verse (Jonah, 1:10), “for the men knew that he had fled from the presence of God.” Who could flee from God? But the secret is in the wording of, “from before – milifnai,” and not, “before – lifnai.” He knew that the experience of prophecy happens, “from before,” somewhat removed, as God is by definition not confined to spatial limitations. Prophecy does not happen actually, “before.” This, “from before,” is a place established by God’s will. It is exactly like (Exodus, 33:23), “you shall see My back, but My front you shall not see.” Again, is not God by definition beyond the terms, “front,” and, “back”?

It all goes back to the original idea. God made a realm of concealment which is within man’s ability to comprehend. This realm of concealment is called, “from before God.” The expression in Exodus, “and you shall see My back,” also refers to this realm of concealment. This is as the Zohar points out, “from before,” and not actually, “before.” Meaning, the only way it is within the ability of man to flee or conceal himself from God is if he enters into a state of spiritual strife, a harassed consciousness, which is well within his power of comprehension. This is, “from before God,” as if to say that he will not have a clear experience of the Supernal light of God. (But in truth, it is only something of which he has managed to convince himself.) It is only according to his limited human understanding that he has succeeded in hiding himself from God. This explains what was said of Jonah, “he had fled from the presence of God.” “From the presence,” but not actually hidden, “before,” the presence. It is impossible to flee from God.

This then explains the verse concerning Yom Kippur, “you will be purified before God.” Man will achieve purity according to that which he refines himself in the scope of his own consciousness until he reaches the essence of God’s will within the concealment. The Divine will established a situation where concealment is something that man can comprehend, and this is called, “lifnai Hashem – before God.” All forms of purification for Israel are drawn from this very Will.

A Discourse on Rosh HaShannah by Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin, a 19th Century Chassidic Master

May you all be blessed with a sweet new year, inscribed in book of life. May all who need healing be healed, all who need sustinance find success and wealth, all the brides should find their bridgrooms, all those who long for children be answered and this time next year be serenaded with the sweetest cries, and all the gates of Torah be open wide for all who do and do not want to know. May God answer all the requests of your heart for the good.

The Sod Yesharim:

Rosh Hashanah

It is written (Psalms, 68:35), “Give strength (‘oz’) to God, His pride is in Israel and His strength is in the heavens.” And in the Zohar (Vayikra, 18b), “Said the Holy One, blessed be He, My children, do not be afraid, for I am standing in the doorway (protecting you), only brace yourselves on this day, and give Me strength. How shall you give me strength? By sounding the Shofar.” Also in the Zohar (Lech, 84a), “what is, ‘Your strength’? (‘uzcha,’ As in Psalm 86, “give Your strength to Your servant.”) This is God’s supernal strength.”


When God shows us His strength He is showing us His supernal strength. How does this become apparent? He does this by showing us that Israel was the first thought in God’s consciousness before He brought the creation into being. This is, “oz ‘ila’a,” God’s supernal strength, and when this kind of light is revealed to man, all spiritual accusers and negative forces are driven away. And here, God commanded that we give Him strength for all that He formed in the work of creation, as all of the creation is only a garment for God’s will, dressed in different hues, different forms and attributes. At a time when God’s inner will is in a state of concealment within the garments, then man has a portion in all of the garments, i.e. it is to his credit that he does not move as much as a hair’s breadth (away from God’s will). This is the inner meaning of the verse (Ecclesiastics, 7:20), “there is no one who is perfectly righteous in the land, who does only good and does not sin.” (This means that when God’s will is concealed, one would expect that, “there is no one who is righteous,” so at such a time, when one nevertheless connects with God’s will, God considers it as if the man himself has a portion in his fulfillment of God’s will.) And surely, when the Source of Life is revealed, for God is called, “the Living God,” and the Divine conduct in the world is not on, “autopilot,” but a vibrant, living connection from the Source of Life, then when He judges the hearts of mankind, naturally God will find the depths of the heart of Israel connected to His will.


This is the meaning of the above passage in the Zohar, “My children, do not fear … only give Me strength, with the Shofar.” It is also the meaning of another passage in the Zohar (Bo, 32b), “Rebbi Elazar opened and explained the verse (Job, 1:6), ‘And there was a day when the ‘bnei elohim’ (a kind of angel) came to stand before the Hashem, and Satan came also among them.’ This ‘day,’ he said, ‘was Rosh Hashanah, on which God sits in judgement on the world. The, ‘bnei elohim’ are the supernal beings who are appointed to watch the actions of mankind … and when man’s actions are proper, they (the angels) bring strength to God, as it is written, ‘give strength to God.’ ”


The day of Rosh Hashanah is called, in the phrase of the Psalms (81:4), “(blow the Shofar in the month) in the covering of the day of our festival.” The plain meaning is that Rosh Hashanah is the one festival that falls on a new moon, when the moon is concealed (covered). There is a hint in this as to the nature of Rosh Hashanah. On the new moon, the moon is not influenced, or illuminated, by the light of the sun. This represents a state of being where God’s light is not apparent in occurrence or action. Even though God “dressed” His light in actions and the performance of mitzvoth, still it rests there in a state of concealment. It is “dressed” within every action. Through Divine service, or the performance of mitzvoth with the intention of serving God, this light can be aroused. So too, at times which we call, “mikraei kodesh,” or Holy Festivals, this light can be awaken through Divine service, and then man can see how inherent in the performance of God’s commandments it the light of His holy will. And indeed, on the day of Rosh Hashanah, this light is in a great state of concealment, so much that the only mitzvah that can assist in waking the power of the light of life is the mitzvah of the sounding of the Shofar.


This is as it is written in the Zohar (Tetsave, 184a), “(the sounding of the Shofar) is in order to break the covering which conceals the moon…” On this day, all of the creation recedes and conceals itself in God’s primordial will, which preceded the creation of the world. It preceded the dressing of the Divine Utterances of Creation within the letters of the work of creation. Therefore on this day we find great accusations from all the promulgation of the powers of creation. This is called, “bnei elohim,” the kind of angels mentioned above. This is because the whole point of creation was to be able to return (Divine effluence) face to face before God, and rejoin it to God’s primordial will. This happens only when the creation is in a pure and refined state, without the slightest deviation from God’s will. However, when the creation is drawn after the garments which are distanced and concealed from the light, how can it then return and be included in God’s will?


For this reason it is said, “give strength to God,” meaning that Israel shall serve God with actions that give strength to all the powers of creation. For truly, any action performed in this world, no matter how incredibly refined and pure, can not be included in the realm above, for the heavens can not stand even an infinitesimal amount of “this (material) world.” This is discussed in the Zohar (Vayakhel). When God established the creation in a way that (His will) would be dressed in actions, even the very foundations of creation were then distanced from the source. Israel needs to intensify the power of her Divine service so greatly in order to fix the very foundations of creation at their source. This is because all actions need fixing at their roots, as they were lacking in the brilliant clarity of light at the source of creation. Israel can only fulfill this vital function when Israel returns in Teshuva to the way of God, through proper action and Divine service. Once done the creation can then be returned face to face before God, may He be blessed, and this can only be done through the sounding of the Shofar.


Through the act of prayer, which is called, “the service of the heart,” one can crown God as Sovereign over his own thoughts and will. This done, it will follow that at a time when man’s mind is clear in this aspect, then his head, which is the power of his thought, reigns over his whole body. But still, the acceptance of the Divine sovereignty (“kabbalat ‘ol malkhut shamayim”) during prayer happens through an order and through a process of gradated levels. It is known that when something is received in this world through such a gradated process (called “the hishtalshelut” the downward linkage from the Infinite into the creation, with myriad upon myirad levels of greater concealment), even though it touches the highest and most sublime levels of Divinity, nonetheless, its gradient aspect means that there is a dividing entity separating the passage to each successive level.


However, with the blowing of the Shofar it is different. The Shofar also represents an acceptance of Divine sovereignty, as in the words of the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 34b), “and on Rosh Hashanah you shall crown Me over you. And with what? With the Shofar.” The deeper meaning is that with the Shofar, man completely delivers over to God his actions and the entirety of his powers and capabilities. With the blowing of the Shofar, man delivers over his very being. This of course means that also the inner nature of his mind is then delivered over to God without any separation or, “dressing in garments,” whatsoever. There is a power in the blowing of the Shofar which is greater than the power of thought. The Shofar causes the power of action to ascend up to the Divine in its pristine and undressed form. The result is that all the powers within the creation then voice their support for the salvation and success of Israel in the world. This is because they then know that the only way they can experience ascension to their source in the Divine is through the actions of Israel.


This day is, “Rosh Hashanah,” which means literally, “the head of the year.” In calling the New Year as the head, we are acknowledging that it is the supernal head, the control center, over the whole year, just as the head of man, containing the control center of the nervous system and thoughts, has control over the body. So too, this day contains the power of intellect and thought over all the actions of the coming year. By fulfilling the mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are including and imbuing all the actions of the coming year in the power of mitzvah.


This is the meaning of the phrase in Psalm (68:35) from the beginning of this teaching, “His pride is in Israel.” With the Gentile nations, God shows His pride in that when it is revealed, all the powers of the earth are nullified. This is as it is written in the song at the splitting of the Red Sea (Exodus, 15:1), “for He is greatly exulted,” “gao ga’a,” an intensive form of expressing God’s pride. Onkeles’s Aramaic translation of this is revealing, saying, “He prides Himself in His exaltedness, and loftiness is His.” In this vein, He prides Himself in Israel, as they are included in God's very exaltedness, for truly, Israel is a very portion of the Divine (cf. Deuteronomy 32:9). God with Israel is like a king among his people. He is the exalted one among them, and included in him is their entire consciousness and intellect. Similarly, Israel’s function in the world is like God’s own vessel of action. The day of Rosh Hashanah can be compared to a time when man’s consciousness is complete, and he is not involved in the performance of any action. At this time all the powers of his body and soul are included in his mind powers. Similarly, on the day of Rosh Hashanah, Israel (God’s “vessel of action in the world”) is completely included in God’s will.


This is as our verse in Psalm 68 ends, “and His strength is in the heavens.” “His strength,” as the Zohar explains, is God’s highest, supernal strength. Meaning, when Israel delivers all their actions over to God, recognizing clearly that all the workings and events of the world are only resulting from the inner power emanated unto them at each and every moment, and without the power of God there is no power of action for any part of the creation, then by means of this God makes it clear that the recognition of His glory in the world is only through and resulting from Israel. Based on the actions of Israel, it is seen how God’s exaltedness and pride is upon them and within them.


“And His strength is in the Heavens.” From the Divine service of Israel, and with complete clarity and recognition, God shows the power of His strength in various contradictory actions, which seem in this world to be contradictory. This is hinted at in the word, "Heavens,” “Shekhakim,” in Hebrew. According to the Kabbalists, this word represents the Divine emanations of Netsach (eternity, victory) and Hod, (Splendor, Majesty), corresponding to the right and left legs in man. The Zohar states that all miracles are a result of Netsach and Hod. What is lower down in the “Tree” of Sefirot is more revealed. Netsach and Hod are the lowest and most revealed attributes of the right and left columns. They are a kind of revelation in the form of action of God’s higher attributes of Hesed (lovingkindness) and Gevurah (strength), which are directly above Netsach and Hod. They appear in this world as two opposites, one on the right, one on the left, and perhaps externally appear as very different attributes in how they manifest themselves in action. Yet truly, in the words of the Zohar, they are, “two halves of the same body.” At times when God hides the power of His strength, Netsach and Hod appear as two opposites. However, when God illuminates them from His strength and light, it is seen clearly that there is really no contradiction between them.


This is reminiscent of the story in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 25a), about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. “Once on a Friday eve he noticed that his daughter was sad and he said to her, ‘My daughter, why are you sad?’ She replied, ‘My oilcan got mixed up with my vinegar can and I kindled from it the Shabbat light.’ He said to her, ‘My daughter, Why should this trouble you? He who had commanded the oil to burn will also command the vinegar to burn.’ A Tanna taught, the light continued to burn the whole day until they took of it light for the Havdallah.” In this world, oil and vinegar are two opposites. Vinegar is good for you in hot weather (Shabbat, 113b). And yet, through the power of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa’s Divine service, he was able to draw from the supernal light at the source of the Divine attributes. So for him, there was no contradiction or opposition in the attributes whatsoever.


This concerns the passage in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah, 34b), “On Rosh Hashanah, say before verses expressing My Sovereignty, Remembrance, and the Shofar. Of Sovereignty, that you should appoint me as King over you. Remembrance, so that the memory of you should come before me for the good. And with what shall you do this? With the Shofar.” These two aspects are a good example of what was explained above. When we crown God sovereign with the Shofar, so to will the memory of Israel come before Him. This is just as was explained concerning, “give strength to God.” There we made a distinction between accepting God’s Sovereignty during prayer, and appointing God as Sovereign with the Shofar.


Concerning the sacrifices (Karbanot), the Zohar says, “The mystery of the Sacrifices. How high do they reach? To the Eyn Sof, to the very Infinite.” This was explained by the Holy Izbitser Rebbe, the Mei Hashiloach, may his merit protect us. He said, all the mitzvoth and Divine service of Israel reaches the Infinite. Yet the difference between the sacrifices and other Divine service, such as prayer, is that with each other form of service (avodah), each avodah reaches the spirit world above it. From there it continues upward, all the way to the Eyn Sof, but to get there it must go through a gradient series of levels and dividing entities. However, with a sacrifice, it the very physical action ascends above. The material bull ascends with the bull in the Supernal chariot. (See Ezekiel 1:10, As for the likeness of their faces [of the Angels in Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine chariot] … and the four had the face of an ox on the left side …”) Together they ascend to the Infinite with nothing to separate them at all, for it breaks all the veils, going higher and higher.


And in this way, the sounding of the Shofar breaks though all levels of concealment more than anything else, until man can see that God is constantly active within the garment of the souls of Israel. The act of blowing the Shofar is a complete connection. Man from his part is doing very little. In blowing the Shofar he is merely attaching an instrument to his voice, and it is the voice of man that ascends on its own.


On this day the creation was completed, “And God blew into the man’s nostrils the breath of life.” This is as it is written in the Sefer haKaneh, “He who blew the breath, from His very essence did he blow the breath.” God blew life into man from the very spirit of life, which was made out of His pure will. It was not caught up in any garment or separating entity. This is a mitzvah where man raises up his whole inner essence. The natural result of this is that man then sees that only God is the force of action in the world. This is as it is written in the Sifri (Beha’aot’cha, 41), “ ‘And on that day he will blow on the great Shofar.’ (Isaiah, 27:13) But I do not know who it is that is blowing! (It says, "he," but the verse does not specify who "he" actally is.) Thus it is written (Zechariah, 9:14), ‘and God will blow on the Shofar.’ ”


With a sacrifice, man sees how his roots are above. There is his whole being. With the sounding of the Shofar, man sees that when God created man, He created within him the deepest inner aspect, which is God dwelling within the soul of man. This is why it is written in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah, 34b), “if on Rosh Hashanah you have a choice of going either to a town where the blessings are being said (the Rosh Hashanah service, with the Chazzan singing, praying the liturgy before the congregation, but with no Shofar) or to a town where the Shofar will be blown (But without a Chazan), go to the place where the Shofar is being blown.” All prayers and acceptance of God’s sovereignty are included in the sounding of the Shofar.

A Discourse by Rav Dov Baer, The Great Maggid of Mezerich

Dear Friends,
Back from vacation. The Cape was great, Bob Dylan was awesome, and I don’t mean to brag, but the trees in Massachusetts were noble and vibrant. The Americans have many fine roads and many full shopping malls. But we have it all here in Israel, beautiful trees, fine roads, and shopping centers. Really the only difference is that in the US it is great, but it isn’t ours. Here in Israel, God gave it to us. He made it ours.


Parshas Ci Teitse


Teaching of the Great Maggid, , (Maggid Devarav L’Yaakov, “rimzei Torah”, page 110 [55b]) Everything in parenthesis are my own additions.

“You shall surely send away the mother bird, and take the chicks for yourself.”

Rav Yisrael Baal Shem Tov explained the Gemara “convert me on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one leg.” Man is a portion of God on high. (Man’s soul is Godly, and flows from the Eternal.) But concerning the Eyn Sof (the Eternal), you cannot describe it as being divided into parts. God fills all of the worlds, and this happens on its own accord and independent of the influence of man’s service. (In Hebrew we say, it happens, “mimeile,” or by itself.)

Sometimes a man descends into low and despicable states of being, and there he entertains vain fancies. “God tests the righteous,” (Tehilim, 11:5) meaning that God is giving man a test, a mission, and this mission involves sending him to evil states of being in order to raise the inner sustaining vitality hidden within such states back up the Holy One, blessed be He. God esteems this test and mission very highly. Therefore, even if a man gets to a place of evil, he needs to understand that it is all for the good.

When Rabbi Akiva was traveling in the wilderness, and his fire went out, and a lion ate his donkey, all he said was, “this is also only for the good.” And truly, all of his troubles were only for his benefit, as his “misfortunes” saved him from being attacked by bandits. This is, “convert me on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one leg.” “While I am standing on one leg,” means “while I am always on a good level.” (The potential convert wanted to know the mystery of the inner orientation of all experience. "Standing on one leg," meaning, "I want to see what my experience stands on, what supports it. I want to know as much as I am allowed to how God holds up my world." When one looks deep inside, usually when he views his experience in retrospect, or if his faith is strong it could even be in real time, he will see the deep purpose that God has in the situations God puts him in. The principle is that God always wants mans benefit and amelioration. Yet since God’s light is hidden and does not show His hand, we experience suffering. Even if the Chassid follows the path with a pure heart and indeed reaches enlightenment, he will still experience trials and tribulation, but he will know how to deal with them, and keep his mind and heart on the big picture. He will have, “mochin d’gadlut,” an expanded consciousness. This will allow him to see the purpose in everything that happens to him.)

Rabbi Akiva’s answer to the potential convert was, “that which you find evil, don’t do to someone else.” He was saying, “in life, you have to deal with descents into evil.” A good man has to fall in order to raise another up. (In Chassidus we say, “if you come upon a man whose wagon is stuck in the mud, you have to get into the mud in order to help him out.”) And Rabbi Akiva was the son of converts, and after all, he was, so to speak, “uprooting mountains and grinding them together,” with his avodah and his Torah. “Mountains,” hints at the middos. (These are the seven lower sefirot, the source of life’s contradictions, conflicts, as well as mediation and resolution.) Mountains are also hinting at the Patriarchs. (The Patriarchs – Avraham, Yitschak, and Yaakov – are compared to mountains, based on a similarity in the Hebrew words for mountains and parents, “hareem” and “horeem”. So the “mountains” are also the middos, the sefiros of love as exemplified by the attributes of Avraham, fear as exemplified by the attributes of Yitschak, and Tiferet – Beauty, Balance, and Pride, as exemplified by the attributes of Yaakov.) He raised the middos up on high. (This means he raised up all the behavioral contradictions in life up to the realm of Wisdom, Understanding, and Consciousness, where difficulties and judgments can be sweetened by the power of the intellect. “Uprooting mountains and grinding them together” means deep introspection into God’s final purpose in all events that He deals out to man in His infinite and hidden wisdom. ) It was a greater delight since he was the son of converts (Here the great Maggid says, “It is like the well-known parable,” but it is not known to me. Perhaps since Rabbi Akiva was the son of converts he saw how he was raising up the level of mankind by living the Torah.) This is, “be silent, for this is how it rose up in My mind.” That is to say, he brought everything up to the level of thought.

(The Great Maggid is referring to the following story from the Talmud, Menachot, 29b. Rab Judah said in the name of Rab, When Moses ascended on high he found the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged in affixing crowns to the letters. (“Crowns,” or “thorns,” are slight vertical ink strokes drawn on the top of many of the 22 Hebrew letters.) Said Moses, ‘Lord of the Universe, Who stays Thy hand?’ (Isn’t Your Torah already perfect? Why do You need to add crowns the letters?) He answered, ‘There will arise a man, at the end of many generations, Akiba son of Joseph by name, who will expound upon each crown heaps and heaps of laws’. ‘Lord of the Universe’, said Moses; ‘permit me to see him’. He replied, ‘Turn thee round’. Moses went (into the future,) and sat down behind eight rows (in Rabbi Akiva’s class.) Not being able to follow their arguments he was ill at ease, but when they came to a certain subject and the disciples said to the master ‘Whence do you know it?’ and the latter replied ‘It is a law given unto Moses at Sinai’ he was comforted. Thereupon he returned to the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, ‘Lord of the Universe, Thou hast such a man and Thou givest the Torah by me!’ He replied, ‘Be silent, for such is My decree’. Then said Moses, ‘Lord of the Universe, Thou hast shown me his Torah, show me his reward’. ‘Turn thee round’, said He; and Moses turned round and saw them weighing out his flesh at the market-stalls. (Rabbi Akiva was martyred by the Romans, his skin flayed from his bones while still alive.) ‘Lord of the Universe’, cried Moses, ‘such Torah, and such a reward!’ He replied, ‘Be silent, for this is how it arose in My thought.’)

This is, ‘send away the mother bird.” Even if the Shechinah (represented by the mother bird) is not hovering above your head. “And take the chicks for yourself,” that you should have the middos of love and fear (even in difficult times. The “offspring” of the Shechina are the real feelings of loving and fearing the Almighty.)