Coordinating Intentions – Recognizing One’s Place, Integration, and Finding Personal Order | Zohar Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787 (Auto Translated)

Zohar Shiur Erev Shabbos — Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787

Opening: The Structure of the Erev Shabbos Shiur

Dear brothers, today is Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787, and I believe this is already at least the tenth time that we are learning this shiur every Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov, and so we hope that we will merit to continue this shiur for at least many more decades. This shiur is a shiur from Sefer HaZohar, and its purpose is to express somewhat more internally — that is, in a more truthful manner — and using the language and expressions of the mekubalim of the Zohar and of the Chassidic sefarim, which reveal chiddush, a light of renewal. And to explain the way how to speak from our being Jewish, and consequently how to be Jewish, for our neshamah is built from these words, from divrei Torah, from divrei tefillah that we speak and that we contemplate in our thoughts.

And thus one must recognize: a new thing begins, a page turns, the order of the cycle of the year and the period of the year turns, and all are expressions of circles that revolve and go. We must remember “from where you came and where you are going” (Mishnah Avos 3), and with whom we are going and with whom we are coming. All the chaveirim, all the rabbanim that we learn from, that we learn with, that they learn from us — this is the part, this is part of the structure, part of divrei Torah themselves, from the light of Torah itself: the chaveirim, the chaveirim who listen, the chaveirim who critique, the chaveirim who listen until the end, and the chaveirim who don’t listen until the end, perhaps even them.

Although until now — Am Yisrael, with Hashem’s help — we will merit to make a chaburah where we will learn together every Friday morning, and there will be much more vitality and much more taste in it, and may it be His will that this will be fulfilled this year as well. But for now I am learning the shiur privately, and it is only recorded, and there is great reason why it is so. We will overcome this and find a way to do it even in a chaburah.

The Chaveirim as Part of the Yichud

But nevertheless, the chaveirim and the listeners are part, according to the din of Torah itself, for there is always the aspect of yichud zachar u’nekevah, which is the aspect of Kudsha Brich Hu and His Shechinah. Every “two who sit and engage in divrei Torah, the Shechinah is between them” (Mishnah Avos 3), and its explanation is always according to Kabbalah: one of them is a merkavah for the Shechinah, and one of them is a merkavah for the aspect of the one who gives shefa to the Shechinah. And there can be higher levels, that if a rav taught Torah, he is in the aspect of pnimiyus Abba and Imma. And just as a father, “a father of his father who sustained him for the life of this world,” this is the aspect of chitzoniyus Abba and Imma, or Yisrael Saba and Tevunah, which is the level of a physical father.

The Structure of Torah Learning and the Reality of the Worlds

The structure of Torah learning is the structure of the reality of the worlds, the reality of the Sefiros, the inner way how the world truly functions. And everyone knows that the foundation of foundations of the structure that we learn from the Zohar is that nothing happens without a mekabel, and everything depends — “everything depends on the Shechinah,” “with this shall Aharon come into the holy place” (Vayikra 16:3). This is the Shechinah that is truly hinted at on Rosh Hashanah, which is the day of Malchus. Everything depends on the Shechinah, just as everything depends on the lower ones.

The Pshat of the Ramak: Light Requires a Receiver

And we learn many times in the name of the Ramak, and this is how he understands the holy Zohar, that the upper shefa — that is, from the aspect of what it is in itself — it makes no difference to it regarding students, it makes no difference to it whether it has students at all. Let us illustrate: if there were a person who is a tzaddik for himself alone, it would make no difference who his students are. Seemingly, from the aspect of his state in himself, which we call the aspect of Ein Sof in relation to itself, the aspect of the mashpia in relation to itself.

But the entire essence of light, the entire essence of intellect, is that it is compelled to bring forth and give shefa from the power of “the nature of the Good to do good.” And it cannot give shefa unless there is someone who will receive. Even though it is full of all good, full of everything, it cannot bring itself forth, it cannot give its shefa if there is no one who will receive it. This then is the first step in understanding: the lower ones, the Shechinah — everything depends on the action of the Shechinah, on the action of the lower ones, who are hinted at in the Shechinah, who bring the thing to the Shechinah, to the aspect of the mashpia and to the aspect of the mekabel.

The Need of the Receiver: Why Does a Person Write a Book?

And so it is, as I say, that we understand that this is the aspect of the students that emerge from everyone — perhaps not yet emerging from everyone at that level, but the need: if there is no one to speak to, there is nothing, the light does not come into being, the reality does not occur.

And many times, as I said here in the shiur, and so it is in general: when a chacham or tzaddik writes something. For example, sometimes a person speaks directly, and about this it is said “happy are your men, happy are your servants who stand before you always and hear your wisdom” (Melachim I 10:8), as the Queen of Sheba said to King Solomon. This is great happiness, great honor, great joy, that a person has — both for those sitting and for the chacham himself — that they hear his wisdom.

But there are even more hidden ways, more concealed ways, like “send your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it” (Koheles 11:1). For there are people who write, and so many of the revelations, so many of the powerful chiddushim — not small chiddushim, for there is always someone to say an explanation on a pasuk or a halachah — but so many of the great chiddushim. I believe that even the holy Zohar, and perhaps other mekubalim, and the Rambam certainly in the Moreh Nevuchim, it is so. That is, many of the great revelations of the secrets of Torah that we have were written by people who did not have students properly who would hear from them, but what did they have? They had a pen, and they wrote sefarim.

What is the meaning of this? Why does a person need to write a sefer, and it is not enough for him what he contemplates for himself? And we will immediately say the second aspect, and from it the matter will be better understood. Rather, the Torah requires a receiver, there must be someone to speak to. And sometimes the receiver is direct, as it is revealed, and then the matter is according to the level of the receiver who is there. And sometimes there is one who grasps things much deeper, who does not have among his generation chaveirim to whom he can explain them clearly, and even if he has — he cannot bring himself out one hundred percent, he does not have students to whom he can properly give shefa, and then he conceals the matter in writing.

The Secret of Writing: Revealed and Concealed

The Writer and the Receiver at the End of the World

Sometimes a person writes something, and it reaches another at the end of the world, to whom he is directing it. And do the matters need to pass through people in between? These become only in the aspect of a conduit, they are not the true receivers, they are not the aspect of the true nekevah for the thing, but they are aspects of a channel through which the thing passes. And thus you will learn sefarim like the Zohar, or other sefarim written in this way.

Rebbi Abba Will Write

There is an aspect in the Zohar called “Rebbi Abba will write.” Rebbi Abba is the writer of the Zohar, and Abba is certainly Abba of Atzilus in truth, “Rebbi Abba will write.” And this is also the secret of “and write us for life,” “and write us in the Book of Life.” The writer — the Arizal explains — is lower Chochmah, Chesed and Gevurah, but the source of writing is Chochmah. And the explanation of “Rebbi Abba will write” is that we are speaking to one who will in the future read what we are writing. This is the matter, for in this way it is possible to bring forth things even though the receiver is not before you, and therefore this is in the aspect of concealed.

Revealed Versus Concealed

Revealed means what the people who are here can receive one hundred percent. Concealed is what a person understands between himself and his Creator, the truth that he truly contemplates, but he does not always have to whom to say it, and therefore he brings it out through writing, or brings it out in other ways, or sometimes indeed says it.

There were Chassidic tzaddikim about whom they say that they would say things even though they knew that the listeners did not understand them, because the thing must be in the world. What is the meaning of being in the world? It means that the thing must reach some place; perhaps the chacham who hears and does not understand will return and say the thing to another, and that other will understand it. These are the hidden ways.

Kosveinu L’Chaim: A New Explanation in Dugma D’Le’eila

The Angel Sofriel and Writing Above

And I believe we should say, for everything is dugma d’le’eila. What we say on Rosh Hashanah “kosveinu l’chaim” is a great matter of writing in a sefer. And it is understood that this is a mashal, and we have had shiurim to explain what the nimshal is. But the nimshal for our matter today — what is the difference? They say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu speaks, and that Hakadosh Baruch Hu writes. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the malachim — there is a malach Sofriel, and we cannot grasp him at all. Malach Sofriel, and he writes. And what is that malach Sofriel? Malach Sofriel is that Rebbi Abba who wrote the Idra, who wrote the Zohar.

Speech: Vayomer Elokim and the Seven Voices

Malach Sofriel means the things that Hakadosh Baruch Hu speaks, and this is what is said in Ma’aseh Bereishis revealed, “Vayomer Elokim” (Bereishis 1), which is as it were generally the seven lower ones, the seven days of Bereishis that Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. Seven voices, as it is said “the voice of Hashem in power, the voice of Hashem in glory” (Tehillim 29:4) and so on. These are things that Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. That is, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu speaks, they always ask a question in Ma’aseh Bereishis: to whom did He say? “For He spoke and it was, He commanded and it stood” (Tehillim 33:9), to whom did He command, and there was nothing yet?

A good answer: there was the aspect of Malchus within Him, it was for the sake of the future. But something that is possible to grasp, that one can picture to himself as it were that there is someone who can understand Him. “Let there be light” (Bereishis 1:3) is such a statement that the world can still understand, the revealed part of it. And since the world can understand it — He said it. This is the explanation of “Vayomer” of Hakadosh Baruch Hu: there is clear revelation, clear speech that Hakadosh Baruch Hu says “let there be light,” “let there be a firmament” (Bereishis 1:6), and so on.

Torah That Was Written Before Him in Black Fire on White Fire

And therefore there was an aspect of Torah that was written before Him. This is an interesting matter. As we learn in the Midrash and in the Zohar, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu looked “gazed” at the written Torah “written before Him in black fire on white fire” (see Yerushalmi Shekalim 6), and from it, according to it, He spoke. As it were like one who reads from writing, like a person, just as King David built the Beis HaMikdash, “all in writing from the hand of Hashem upon me He gave understanding” (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19) — he wrote, the prophet gave a written plan for building the Beis HaMikdash, and the listeners and builders looked at that plan, and presumably told the builders how to build. Or a person looks at the Torah and reads, he reads in the Torah, and afterward does. For this is the purpose of reading the Torah, “to learn in order to do” (see Mishnah Avos), afterward he does.

And the Midrash says that so as it were Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, that before what went out and was said, there was the aspect of writing, Torah that was written before Him. And you will ask: if there is no world yet, how is there writing? Therefore they say that it is “in black fire,” for the fire comes to say that you should not understand the thing. For it is impossible to write in fire; one can picture to oneself that one writes in fire, but this is a mashal. And the mashal of fire expresses exactly this, that the thing is not written literally as it appears.

But what is the explanation of “written”? The explanation is that before there was a world, and also afterward in truth, there is writing. And writing is as it were what Hakadosh Baruch Hu records for Himself. There is speech in a person, and they always think that the speaker speaks to another; and writing is also to another, and this requires explanation. Thought alone — that is, before there is a sefer, for Hakadosh Baruch Hu desired to create the world “with sefer and sofer and sippur” (Sefer Yetzirah), and before there is a sefer there is nothing. There is thought, there is what He truly contemplates, but speech is one level after that. There are things that He speaks, and there are things that He understands, and understands that He must reveal them as well, but their time has not yet arrived.

Twenty-Six Generations Until Avraham Avinu

As Hakadosh Baruch Hu waited as it were twenty-six generations until Avraham Avinu would come, so that He would have someone to speak with. Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke with Adam, and spoke with Kayin, and they did not understand Him. In those weeks after the sin there was not His friend; He had to speak with them. To them He said as it were “let there be light,” “let there be a firmament,” to them He said. But He did not understand with them, there were no conversations.

Avraham Avinu came, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, and gave him the Torah. And afterward He gave Moshe Rabbeinu the Torah, “and the writing was the writing of God” (Shemos 32:16). And the Mishnah in Avos says that the writing is among the things that were created on Erev Shabbos at twilight. This is one explanation of the writing of the Luchos. That Avraham Avinu already spoke a little, and in any case there was also such a thing as writing.

Writing for the Sake of the Future

Now, finally, He found someone to say to him — Moshe, Avraham. And everything that He spoke with each one, all is good and beautiful. But there is the thing that I wrote, and I wrote it because I understood that I must bring it out, that if there were not one for the sake of the future — “the thought of Israel preceded everything” (see Bereishis Rabbah) — there would not be writing either at all. But now there is someone who can read my writings. You can read it, and you will see the things that are the inner intention, you will see the meaning of the world that Hakadosh Baruch Hu had to write.

And thus “for after many days you will find it” (Koheles 11:1), from afar, later they will be able to read this writing, to open the letter, and to understand that this is the secret of Torah, and this is the difference between Ma’aseh Bereishis and Torah.

Kosveinu L’Chaim: Remember Us in Torah

And when we say on Rosh Hashanah “kosveinu l’chaim” — there is writing, and after it on Yom Kippur the sealing — the explanation of “kosveinu l’chaim” is remember us in Torah. And therefore they say about everything on Rosh Hashanah, in Malchiyos Zichronos and Shofros, “as it is written and said,” as it is written in the Torah, “and through Your servants the prophets it is written,” everything is “written.” For the writing comes to say: indeed we can speak with You, and speech is what everyone can understand. But there are aspects that from afar as it were are better. We ask to hear what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wrote, we ask to read, to open our eyes and read what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wrote. This is an entirely different level, a much deeper level in understanding reality, in understanding the will of creation, the intention of creation, the intention of existence. This is the “kosveinu l’chaim.”

Kosveinu B’Sifrecha: The Hidden Yichud

An entirely new explanation: write us in Your book. When we say “kosveinu,” the intention is not simply that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has a book in which He says “who will live and who will die” (Musaf Rosh Hashanah). The intention is that we should be written, not in speech alone, not as His spoken word as it is for everyone. For “judgment for the God of Yaakov” (Tehillim 81:5), for everyone He makes judgment, and judgment before the King is generally by mouth, and there is a scribe who writes. And when they say “kosveinu,” they say this to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and not to the scribe. It is possible that He does this through a scribe, some angel, I don’t know. But the idea is that they say this to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They say “kosveinu” in the primordial Torah, in the Torah written before Him, which You can only write.

And therefore there must be the aspect of distance, for what a person writes is something he does for himself, alone. The writer writes, and afterward the thing reaches another. It is not that there is no yichud here, but rather a more hidden yichud. He writes to one; one does not write into the world, and one does not write to oneself, for to oneself there is no need to write, and he can contemplate. But this is a hidden yichud. And this is the hidden yichud called writing, which we intend on Rosh Hashanah. Even though it appears that it is a time of separation, a time that is not of yichud but of separation — its meaning is that they seek to find the writing. And the writing is on a body, as it were on the body of the nukva, which is as it were when they cut, where they write. And this is already for one who understands the secrets.

Return to the Foundation: Two Modes of Speech and Writing

Revealed and Hidden, Speech and Writing

Let us return to the place from which we began. We understand that always the mekubalim, the listeners, are part of the thing, but there are two modes in it: there is the revealed mode, which we now call speech; and there is the more hidden mode, which we call writing. And if I record a video, this too is an aspect of writing. And the avodah of Rosh Hashanah is to reveal both things. And one must conceal a little, and it is important to conceal, as something whose time has not arrived for revelation, as the Zohar writes it and knows that they will not read it today, and perhaps “after many days you will find it,” that at the end of days — as it is written in the Zohar — the sefer will be revealed. That is, the one who wrote the Zohar understood that he is not writing for his time. And why did he write specifically? Because he did not have to whom to speak; and once there will be to whom to speak. Once a generation will come, once people will come who will be ready to hear the words, to read the writings.

V’Hofa B’Hadar Gaon Uzecha: We Have Learned the Secrets of Torah

And the revelation of the secret, the revelation that we request on Rosh Hashanah, “v’hofa b’hadar gaon uzecha” (Musaf Rosh Hashanah) — its meaning is: teach us the secrets of Torah. That we should already understand what You wrote in Your plan before You created the world, and not only hear what You said afterward. And this is the parshah of the thirteen attributes of mercy, that after Moshe Rabbeinu requested “erase me now from Your book that You have written” (Shemos 32:32), Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him: I have even greater books that you do not know. “And Hashem passed before him and called” (Shemos 34:6) — He also essentially read, and it is possible that “vayikra” means that He read to him from His book. Moshe Rabbeinu thought that in Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s book is written only “a jealous and vengeful God” (see Nachum 1:2), “visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children” (Shemos 34:7). Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed him a greater book, a deeper book, the book of the thirteen attributes of mercy.

The Receivers Awaken the Giver

The Purpose of Light: To Give to the Lower Ones

There is another level in that the receivers awaken the mashpia. Perhaps it is connected to the deep level of yichud that we are now speaking about — what is writing? Perhaps not, and one must contemplate this. But this is what we say, that everyone who gives shefa, who is a rav, the rav also has pleasure from this. He can speak to another, or at least he has to whom to write, and certainly to whom to speak.

That is, since the purpose of the light, the purpose of the shefa that the upper ones receive, that the rabbanim and the upper levels receive, is in order to give to the lower ones, if there is no one who will receive, he too becomes dark. This is the principle of the matter. And just as when a rav has no students, what will he say? — as I said before, he is a tzaddik, he is a chacham, he knows for himself what we call according to his own need, what is necessary for him for the tikkun of his neshamah, this he knows. But there is much more to know. And in a certain sense even this is for the tikkun of his neshamah, for his neshamah is to be a rav, his neshamah is to be a mashpia. But if he has no one who will receive, he will not have this, and he will have only some little bit as is sufficient for him.

Important from the Side of Vessels and Talents

And know that in general it is important. Sometimes there is a person, and you would think it is important to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, to the Shechinah, that there should be a great chacham? Not so important. It is important because he has the talents, he has the vessels, he can speak with many more people — therefore it is important, and they give him the vessels, they give him the insights, they give him the wisdom to speak with others. But if there will not be others, he will not have even for himself.

He Gives Himself

And one cannot say that even if he will not have the part that he gives to another, as it were he is that part. For one cannot give in this way, and we will understand. When I divide this, one must understand that one cannot divide so nicely and say that what the lower ones influence upon the upper ones, that they determine how much light the upper ones will receive — that this does not touch the part, which we call the yichud. The constant yichud that is for the sake of the lower ones.

One must therefore understand that it is not so simple, for everyone understands that “words that come from the heart enter the heart.” Something that a person speaks, and it is not his, it does not touch him. The rav is not something that just says things, he is not in the aspect of a transmitter, as we spoke. The aspect of a transmitter is a very weak aspect. He is not a channel, that it is said about rabbanim that they are only a channel. Rather the way in which he is a channel is itself that he internalizes for himself, understands for himself the things that he teaches. If these are not things that take his neshamah, that take his nefesh and make him greater and clearer, he will not be able to teach them to another; he is not playing, he is not a mailbox, he is a person.

And thus, when one divides between the aspect of yichud and shefa for their own sake and the shefa for the sake of giving shefa, one must understand that the two types of shefa change the thing, change the upper one, change the mashpia. And therefore if there is no mekabel, if the mekabel is not capable, it is not only that the upper one does not have as it were an additional part, as if one could divide it into two parts. For one cannot divide into two parts. “He gives himself” — a true rav, the true measure of Chochmah, the beginning of the upper ones, the upper Sefiros, give themselves, they do not give something else. This is the characteristic of all shefa of Chochmah. A rav who teaches his student, he does not send him information that he took from another place, but gives him himself. He gives himself, just as Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives to the neshamos of Israel — Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the rav of all Israel, ultimately, and He gives Himself.

This is the knowledge. And therefore when the lower ones do not have, and when they do not have a vessel of reception, and they are not ready to receive, he does not have himself as it were. And you will ask: from his own side? From his own side that is in himself, amen may it be His will. But that “himself” may not be so interesting. His entire essence can be in clarification among people whose function is to be a rav. If he will not be a rav, he will not be a wicked evildoer, he will not even be perhaps just an empty vessel — he will not be himself. But because he has someone who will hear, and because he approaches in the way of revelation or in the way of concealment, he has to whom, and he does for another, and then he himself becomes something else as well.

Tenu Oz L’Elokim: Everything Depends on the Actions of the Lower Ones

This will be a deeper understanding of what we say “everything depends on the Shechinah,” everything depends on the actions of the lower ones. And therefore we say as it were “give strength to God” (Tehillim 68:35), that what we do depends on Him — that as it were the upper Sefiros themselves, the holy Names themselves, depend on our actions. Not only if one could divide, but rather that what they give is in themselves, and if they do not have someone who will receive it, they will not have even for themselves.

To Magnify the Name

It emerges therefore, that besides the aspect of writing, in which we seek to bring out the yichud that exists specifically through writing, there is also the matter that we say that we seek to magnify the Name, to magnify the name of the mashpia, the name of the father, the name of the rav. And how do we magnify? Not because something is lacking to him, but we magnify through this — that there is to whom to speak, and then he himself will be what he needs to be.

This is the intention here, both for everyone toward what he gives shefa, and toward what he receives. A person needs to be sacrificing his place, everyone, and certainly every male, “every male shall appear” (Shemos 23:17). And in truth even every woman has an aspect of giving shefa. Every person in the world, except perhaps a small infant, literally a day-old infant, but at every age and every stage that he is already five or six years old, and he has younger siblings than him — in short, everyone that I speak with, I and my chaveirim, we are all in the aspect of givers of shefa and in the aspect of receivers.

And in order to find the shidduch, to find the proper connection, that there will be to whom to speak, and if not — that we can remember the secret of writing and try to express it. And also that according to how much he is my giver of shefa, I will direct toward the thing. Even the mashpia needs to direct toward the mekabel, if he is not contemplating this.

The Paradox of Shaar HaHakdamos

And it is very interesting that the way — this is like a contradiction that they learn in Shaar HaHakdamos — that according to how much the mashpia looks at himself, looks at what is above him, recognizes his place toward what is above him, which is the aspect of yirah, then he receives for himself, but he does not give to another, and as it were his side facing downward is dark. And if he faces downward, it will be as it were dark on the other side. This is like a paradox that one must deal with, and conduct a little this way and a little that way.

But one of the foundations is in order to rise above the paradox: that the way in which he receives what is above him is through the arousal of what is below him. The way in which the Shechinah receives light is that we arouse to her, and through this she receives from Z”A. The way in which Z”A receives light is that the Shechinah turns to him, and afterward he receives mochin from Abba and Imma, and so on, and so upward and upward. This is the normal way, the correct way. And in subtlety there are times either this or that, and the subtlety relates to the times that we speak about, which are like separation, because he needs to conduct this way or the opposite. But the tikkun of this, the avodah, is to show that it is the same thing.

Everything Is Not for Itself: The General and the Particular

Until here is Torah that comes from the heart, according to the reality, according to the situation that we are in in this shiur of Erev Rosh Hashanah. And we must mention, and as “Erev Rosh Hashanah” we have never forgotten this, as we are speaking now — that the reality of everything is not for itself. There is nothing in the world that is for itself alone, that stands before itself. Everything has things above it and things below it. Everything has things toward which it is a son, and things toward which it is a father, like the egg. There is no such thing absolutely, that something is disconnected from another.

The Mighty System: Ma’aseh Olam

And all that we do on Rosh Hashanah and throughout the year is to grasp where we are in the mighty system, in the system called ma’aseh olam, “You remember the work of the world” (Musaf Rosh Hashanah), and He gives each one his matter. But how much does a person understand exactly where he belongs, and he has to whom to speak, and he has from whom to receive, and he has with whom to receive.

Chaveirim: Mekablin Din Min Din

And there is the aspect of chaveirim, who are on the same level as him. But even the chaveirim — the matter is somewhat complex. People think that chaveirim means equal to equal, but equal to equal is not reality; if they were equal to equal, it would be the same thing. A true chaver is “and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18), he is like you. But almost in physicality, in this world there is no such thing. Always the chaveirim are as it is written “and they give permission to each other with love,” and the Targum says “mekablin din min din.” “And one calls to another” (Yeshayahu 6:3), the Targum says, “mekablin din min din.” In a hasty literal translation: I received from you and you receive

from me. We alternate, one moment this way and one moment that way, and perhaps at the same moment both can be. The thing can be very subtle and very complex, but the chaveirim in a general way are people who are like on my level.

Bishvili Nivra HaOlam: A Part, Not Disconnected

And one must remember this, the greater reality, the greater level in which we are placed, that everyone does his part, his function. There is an entire world, and part of the function of every Jew is to be a giver of shefa to the entire world, “a person is obligated to say for my sake the world was created” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4). And what will be imaginary — that I will pray and the entire world will change? About this one must understand clearly, recognize his place. In a certain sense yes, and even though I don’t know in what manner, and even though it is only a little, and all the other people need to pray as well, all the other people need to do — very good. But it is impossible that a person should feel that he is disconnected, impossible. There is not even one person, not even one Jew, who does not change something toward the entire world. It can be that he is a very small part, it can be that he is only… there are a billion people, and he is a billionth of a percent, you say. Very good. But he is a percent of the… not a percent disconnected from the thing.

The world is a system, a system built to receive shefa from above and to give it onward. And whoever is beneath the world, you should know. Somewhere are found the broken parts of the world, the parts of the breaking that still exist. So it is with every complete world. And therefore there are so many people. “A single person was created,” that he should say “for my sake the world was created.” But what is “the world was created”? It means all the other people. And why are there so many people? Because the world cannot be what it needs to be without every person, without all the people. Not in a disconnected way. Everyone has his part, but not everyone separately. This is an important distinction. They speak many times conversations, that everyone has his individuality, and he thinks that he can act separately from the entire world. But everyone can act specifically because he is somewhere between his father and his children. This is the reality of every person, both toward himself — as we call avodas Hashem, and to understand and to learn and to pray — and toward the rest of the world, toward everything.

Every Occupation Is Connected to the Entire World

Just as a person has an occupation, and simply he does — he takes some input that he receives, and takes some intellect that he also received from somewhere, and makes it a little better and gives it onward. This is part of the entire world. There is not one occupation in the world that is not connected to all the rest of the world.

B’Soch Ami Anochi Yosheves: Private Requests on Rosh Hashanah

The Mistake of Not Praying for Oneself

The matter of Rosh Hashanah, as we speak from the Zohar, “b’soch ami anochi yosheves” (Melachim II 4:13). “B’soch ami anochi yosheves” does not mean that people should not have private requests — a complete mistake, a complete mistake. People say that one should not pray for oneself. What kind of thing is this? How will I begin? I am not from myself. Impossible. A complete mistake. “B’soch ami anochi yosheves” means that the man of God says to Elisha: I do not need protection. For there is a king or a minister of the army, a kingdom forever with its hosts, Hashem Tzevakos.

The Prayer of Chanah: Hashem Tzevakos and a Private Request

What does Chanah say “Hashem Tzevakos” (Shmuel I 1:11)? Hakadosh Baruch Hu is King over all the hosts, upper and lower, over all the angels, over all the ministers, over all parts of nature, over everything in the world. And what does she say, what is its meaning? The Gemara deliberates: she is the first who said “Hashem Tzevakos,” and what is its relevance here? What Chanah says is a private request. How can one say that one should not request a private request on Rosh Hashanah, when Chanah stands on Rosh Hashanah, and sings the song of Torah, and requests? “And give to Your maidservant seed of men” (Shmuel I 1:11), that He should give her a son. And it is understood, whoever learns further in the sefer sees that that son is not for her, for she said clearly “and I will give him to Hashem all the days of his life” (Shmuel I 1:11), she gave him to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And Shmuel HaNavi was equal to Moshe and Aharon, he revived all of Israel as it were, just as the redeemer redeemed Israel as it were from the distress of the period of the Judges, from the brokenness that they had, and he established the monarchy. Shmuel HaNavi — without him there is no Judaism.

And it all began with Chanah, and we see that the prayer of Chanah, which is the subject of the Haftarah that they say, speaks of the entire world, “and He will raise the horn of His anointed” (Shmuel I 2:10). And what is “His anointed”? His anointed is the king, the leader, this is not simple.

You Are Not Born from the Air

And the simple meaning is very simple, and I believe there is no confusion. There is no such thing. Certainly a person needs to begin from himself, but he understands that he is not alone, that he is not born from the air, and he is not going to the air. He belongs to his father, belongs to his family, belongs to his people, belongs to the entire world in the most general way. He belongs, we say, to the families of man. For there are animals, “man and beast You save, Hashem” (Tehillim 36:7), for there are trees, everything exists. He belongs — we belong a little to all these, everyone belongs to all these things, and a little he receives from them, and a little he gives shefa to them. This is the system in which the world operates.

Vatispalel Al Hashem: Olam HaTikkun

And when Chanah sees that something is lacking in the world, the meaning of the thing is a lack. “And she was bitter of soul and she prayed to Hashem” (Shmuel I 1:10). She saw, as the Chassidic sefarim explain “and she prayed to Hashem,” that she needed to request for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. What is “and she was bitter of soul and she prayed to Hashem”? For it is written “and she was bitter of soul,” she is broken, she has no children, and she also has matters of shalom bayis, matters of troubles, “and she prayed to Hashem.” Very simple: she says, come here Master of the Universe, Hashem Tzevakos, You are the God who does everything. There is an order, we are as it were an army, that is an army. Everyone has his function. And if one soldier is missing a hand, missing a leg, he is broken in some way, he cannot be a soldier, he cannot function. There are greater soldiers, there are ministers of armies, and everyone has his place, it makes no difference. Everyone is necessary. And from the side of Your being Hashem Tzevakos, You must help me.

Do Not Cross the Line

And the Zohar says: do not think that they need to speak, “is there anything to speak for you to the king or to the minister of the army” (Shmuel II 4:13), do not think that they need to make special protection for you, that you should cross the line. You do not need to cross the line from the place where you are, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu as it were will speak with you. Just as you, you are a woman, you need children, and you received children directly exactly according to your place. On the contrary, this is Olam HaTikkun. Olam HaTikkun is Hashem Tzevakos, that everyone in the place where he is, there he receives his shefa that is necessary for him and necessary for those dependent on him, and necessary that he can be a true receiver for those who give shefa to him.

This is the reality of the world. What a person prays for his needs, he prays for the needs of the world, he prays for the honor of the Shechinah — these are not two other things, but two things that are one. A person who is small-minded, this is a lack of da’as, a lack of knowledge. Certainly one needs to understand the Name Tzevakos. This is a lack of knowledge, that they do not know the Name. Until Chanah no one knew the Name, and there was indeed a problem with this. Whoever learns the period of the Judges sees that everyone said to make Shabbos for himself. But if one understands the Name Tzevakos, there is no problem with this.

Elokei Ma’arachos Yisrael

And this is the most important thing to understand. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is “God of the armies of Israel” (Shmuel I 17:45), Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the Name Tzevakos, of all the armies of the world, the host of heaven in the heights and the kings of the earth on the earth. We are part of this. And everyone exactly according to his place where he is. Sometimes a person needs to move, that he himself is part of the thing, but he is not in the right place — like a soldier who is not in the right unit, who is not in the right brigade of the army. Then his prayer is: move me to my place, for You see that here I am not fitting, here I am not integrating, change place — he must change his place. Very good.

But the foundation of the matter: let him not think for one moment that we are private things. We are not private things, but rather a particular from a general. There is no such thing, a particular without a general does not exist. And what we pray, what we do, we do in the name of all Israel, with all the Jews, with all the people of the world, or certainly ma’aseh olam, all the creatures of old, with all the generations that were and that will be. And when we say generations — when a person has children, he contemplates his children, his grandchildren, his father, his grandfather. And this is his place within the greater system, of all the generations that were, until Adam HaRishon, until Noach, until all the ways, until Mashiach, from all the ways.

Adam HaRishon: Neshamos Dependent on Every Limb

And we are created that they have a body like an animal, and they also have the part of the plant like plants, and they have the part of the inanimate like all inanimate, and it truly comes from them. The minerals in the body of man are part of the world, from the order of the quarries in the world. And this is all the more. To pray for the entire world is not different from praying for all of oneself.

And the correct wisdom, the correct prayer of Rosh Hashanah, is like Adam HaRishon, who knew as it were, as it is written in the Midrash, and the Arizal explains this with great strength in his derashos and in Shaar HaGilgulim, that Adam HaRishon knew that there are neshamos dependent on every hair of Adam HaRishon, on every limb. He knew, for to be Adam HaRishon means that a person knows — and this is as a picture, as a mashal: there are parts in the world that belong to my hand, there are those that belong to my fingernail, there are those that belong to my head, there are those that belong to my foot. And through all being included in him, through being included from all, in his place he prays for all, acts upon all, repairs the entire world. This is the second important introduction that we must say, that we are obligated to say before Rosh Hashanah.

The Third Thing: The Order of Avodah and the Private Detail

The General and the Particular in the Order of Tefillos

The third thing is simple matters that exist in the order of avodah of Rosh Hashanah, in the order of tefillos, in the order of customs of Rosh Hashanah and of all the holy days. So many details, so many things that pass, there is no measure to the things. And somewhat as we spoke now about the general and the particular, the thing confuses people very strongly, at least people who have a little intellect in their matters, and they are not only in the aspect of a servant as we spoke. He is not only a servant who does everything, and it does not touch him, and it makes no difference to him what is written in the machzor, but he says: what is he doing? And he seeks some flavor, some understanding.

And here there is an entire list, a mighty order. Here they say Selichos, and here they say Hataras Nedarim, and here they say a small Akdamus, and here they say Shemoneh Esrei, and here they say Malchiyos Zichronos and Shofros, and so on all Pesukei D’Zimra. So many things, when they pray in a shul that lengthens or shortens, in any case so many things that they do.

Al Tifrosh Min HaTzibbur: Two Other Dinim

And what one needs to do: a person, as they say “b’soch ami anochi yosheves,” that it is impossible to be separate. There is no other way. There is some separation, there is some Olam HaShevira, this is not the completeness of the nefesh, that a person cannot be at all in any way separate from the beis midrash, from Klal Yisrael and what they do — that they do Kapparos, Selichos, teshuvah and Tashlich on Rosh Hashanah etc. etc. This is a very basic thing that is necessary. But a person cannot be confused, he cannot be just one who does everything that is written, or he seeks that he should have taste, vitality, awakening in the way that they learn — which is called about everything, it too is not relevant.

And what we always say is that it is very simple that there are two other dinim. What they need to be a part, “do not separate from the community” (Mishnah Avos 2), this is the aspect of the community, as much as the community requires. If one is the baal tefillah, he needs to pass before the ark in everything, and to sing and to do. And if he is not, he needs to participate as much as is necessary, not more than this, but from the side of participation with the community. And what relates to the person himself? What relates to the tikkun of his private nefesh, through which he can include himself in the community truly in the other ways?

One should not go according to that order. And not only should one not go, but it is impossible to go according to that order. The order, what is our machzor, is like the completion of tens and hundreds of generations, that each one added his chiddush in it and made his order, and from this it became. What they customarily practice generally became some process equal for every nefesh in some way. Correct, and I am not saying that it is difficult.

But a person who has a certain feeling, who has a certain request, for example, he understands what he must do. He must find one of the sections, one of the tefillos that speak to him. Or there is a way that they use everything in order to arrive. A person seeks to arrive at a certain spiritual level, at a certain feeling, at a certain thought, at a certain kavanah, and he says the machzor until he arrives there. This is one of the pieces of advice, which is written in the Baal Shem Tov — he does not say exactly this, but this is one of the ways that one can take. Or he makes for himself an order according to what he understands: what is d’Oraisa, what is d’Rabbanan, what is custom. I don’t know if specifically the d’Oraisa one needs to emphasize more, but what is more essential, what is more central for him, that he makes an order and that he does. This is the way to do things.

The Mashal of Selichos: Rosh Hashanah Is Not the Day of Selichah

And I believe that one can see this, and it is very interesting, and I ask to emphasize it: I believe that this is exactly what all the Jews in all the generations did. I will give a mashal: today is Erev Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is a mitzvah of tekias shofar, they say Malchiyos Zichronos and Shofros, they say the tefillos of Rosh Hashanah — everything is very clear what is the halachah d’Oraisa and d’Rabbanan. And they know that according to Rosh Hashanah it is the day of judgment, “on Rosh Hashanah they will be written” (Musaf Rosh Hashanah, U’Nesaneh Tokef) etc., all these are known things.

But the avodah of Rosh Hashanah is everyone according to his understanding. And we see clearly, at least in our custom — I don’t know if perhaps there are other customs — that on Rosh Hashanah they do not say Selichos. Rosh Hashanah is not a time to say Selichos, Rosh Hashanah is not a time to do teshuvah and to be reconciled. Yom Kippur is the time of selichah. I thought before, when they spoke about writing, it is very interesting that in selichah they do not say “may my selichah be written,” but they always say “and Hashem said I have forgiven according to your word” (Bamidbar 14:20). And it is possible that the thing relates to… one can continue it with the conversations that we spoke, and one must contemplate how. But in any case, Selichos are not a thing of Rosh Hashanah.

Why Do We Say Selichos on Erev Rosh Hashanah?

With all this, all the Jews say Selichos today before Rosh Hashanah, almost all the Jews. I don’t know if this was the custom from always — the Rambam says Selichos only in the Ten Days of Teshuvah — but all the Jews today say Selichos already before Rosh Hashanah, a little more or a little less. And what is the meaning of this? What is its relevance here? Rosh Hashanah is not the day of selichah. And I am certain that the explanation is — whoever examines the Selichos of Erev Rosh Hashanah, for example, can see this very clearly. And there are so many Selichos. I believe that they were not made so that one could say all of them. There is, as the Kotzker Rebbe said, that it is impossible to say Tehillim: King David took seventy years to say Tehillim, how can one say it in one day? A very deep vort, and it is very true.

The custom of the world already made something that is more or less equal for every nefesh, the system operates, and it is good for everyone. But in truth to say selichah — that is, each one of the Selichos was written by a person who was situated somewhat this way. A Jew thought: I desire to approach Rosh Hashanah, I desire to do the avodah of Rosh Hashanah with joy — and one needs to do it with joy, with elevation of mochin, one needs to do Rosh Hashanah. But he cannot, he has a problem, a personal problem, not a general problem. That there is a mitzvah to blow the shofar, and to say Malchiyos with joy — this he does, he has no problem. But he is a person, and he has his own nefesh, he too is a person. He feels that he sinned all year. So he feels. Not everyone is obligated to feel this way, but this is how the Jews felt. No one is obligated to feel this way, but generally a person feels this way, for a person is a person, and during the year he does in small and in large. There is a normal order. I am not saying that they are obligated, but most people feel that…

And he desires on Rosh Hashanah, desires to do the avodah of Rosh Hashanah. This is very real, this is the most real thing. But now he cannot. He feels that he must purify himself a little, that he must be reconciled a little with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that he must do something so that he can say Rosh Hashanah. What he does — all the Selichos of Erev Rosh Hashanah were written by people who tried in a personal way to be reconciled with themselves, with God, with Torah, with Judaism before Rosh Hashanah, so that on Rosh Hashanah they can do what they must do.

Write Your Own Selichah

And afterward it already became another order, that they already need to say Selichos. Very good, and I say that there is a way that some thing of verter is made, but it is very important to bring out this thing in every Jew. The true thing in avodah is that a person needs to write his own selichah, not a hundred. A person says: I do mine; and will I do five hundred Selichos, I don’t know what I said on other days? No! Each one of the Selichos, more or less, was written by one person in one year, because this is what he felt, this is what he needed in order to be reconciled so that he could do the year.

Whoever can write a selichah, writes and does a selichah. Whoever says Tehillim, finds one pasuk in Tehillim, one chapter that does what he must do. Or he does hisbodedus, or he says chiddushei Torah. There are many ways here in which he does things.

Two Additional Avodahs: A Rich Treasure

There are two additional avodahs, and I believe that a large part, even in the machzor of Yom Tov there are such parts, and we skip over a part, for it seems that they understood that it is not necessary for everyone. They say the Selichos, and there are places that skip over parts, because they understand that… But everyone needs — or he finds, it is a very rich treasure, the Selichos with the machzor, one can find from every aspect, from every point of view. One is not obligated to everything. One can say Torah. Why does one need here this and here this? Each one was written by a person who sought simply — besides what one needs to arrive at the general, to blow the shofar, to say Malchiyos Zichronos and Shofros, to do everything — he needed to find a way in which he seeks to prepare himself toward the thing. And this he did, and this everyone needs to do: either to find a section, or to find a time, or everyone according to his way that he knows that his tikkun operates.

Conclusion

And with this we will finish for today. May they learn with great strength the commandments about Rosh Hashanah and the mitzvah in the Zohar, but I do not believe that I have time now. And the shiur is already long enough, therefore we will finish here and wish each other a good year. For a good year may you be written and sealed immediately for life.