Chapter 101

On Tishah BeAv, amid the heart’s contemplation and weeping, I accepted upon myself to see to the fulfillment of the teaching, “Whoever mourns merits and beholds her joy.” It is therefore a great obligation to arise at midnight and mourn, and afterward to study and engage in the service of Hashem; this is then considered literally as though one were building the Beis HaMikdash. This applies especially on the night of the tenth of Av, for the Beis HaMikdash burned at that time: the fire was kindled on the ninth toward evening and continued burning until the tenth toward evening. Meat and wine therefore remain forbidden, and all that was prohibited during the Nine Days from Rosh Chodesh Av until then remains prohibited until the evening of the tenth. The heart surely continues to burn with the desire to arise at midnight, mourn, and lament.

We therefore arose at midnight and went to the Western Wall. We recited Tikkun Chatzos with weeping and wailing, followed by Tikkun Shalosh Mishmaros, likewise with weeping, wailing, and lamentation. Afterward we recited the aforementioned prayer for Bein HaMetzarim and the prayer for Tishah BeAv, as well as Tikkun Haklali, other prayers, hisbodedus, and our petitions.

The tenth day, Wednesday, then arrived. We had already taken leave of Tishah BeAv and had also merited seizing the opportunity for weeping, lamentation, bitterness, attentive contemplation, and participation in the anguish. Surely this was not in vain, Heaven forbid; precisely through it we will merit that Hashem “grant the mourners of Tzion beauty in place of ashes,” and so forth. Mourning practices still apply on this day: meat and wine remain forbidden, as do eating new fruits and reciting Shehecheyanu, and so forth. That night, too, we arose at midnight, and so forth.

Thursday then arrived, and the light of Shabbos was already beginning to glimmer as preparations for the holy Shabbos commenced. One surely already yearns, longs, and pines to receive Shabbos and the sanctity of Shabbos, which gladdens and consoles one from every manner of sorrow and sighing, and so forth—especially Shabbos Nachamu after anguish and grief such as this.

Moreover, we are consoled by the fact that we recognize the matter of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, and have drawn close to him. The principal consolation is daas, for “If you lack daas, what have you acquired? If you have acquired daas, what do you lack?” When one begins to contemplate that we have merited recognizing, studying, and drawing close to such true tzaddikim—the singular luminaries of the generations, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit protect us, amen, and the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory—and receiving their sacred daas into our minds, then we surely have cause to rejoice and be consoled. For they are literally an aspect of Shabbos, which is higher than the Beis HaMikdash, and an aspect of the Foundation Stone and the Holy of Holies. This is especially so because we anticipate and await that, in their merit, everything will ultimately be transformed for the good: “the troubles will be transformed into crowns, the griefs into rejoicings, and the lamentations into songs,” and so forth.

In particular, an extraordinary measure of affection has been made known to us: we are not opponents of our holy Rabbainu, the Light of Lights. On the contrary, we study his sacred works, rely upon him, and hold fast to him, for he guides us along the exalted paths of the great tzaddikim. We likewise anticipate that he will fulfill his promise not to abandon or forsake us. He said, “I have finished, and I will finish”; “What do you have to worry about? I go before you”; and also, “Why do you occupy yourselves with anxious thoughts? Give me stones and lime”—letters and vowel points—“and I will make wondrous buildings from them.” There are yet many more promises of this kind. We therefore surely have that with which to rejoice and console ourselves.

Thus, on that Thursday following Tishah BeAv, I already began traveling from time to time to Shaarei Chesed to teach before the gathering. I likewise began once again to take hold of the service of Hashem with joy and vitality, as before, and to prepare for Shabbos Nachamu and the Seven Haftaros of Consolation. In particular, after we had merited mourning over Yerushalayim and were now anticipating deliverance, consolation, and the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, we began already to rejoice and to experience consolation and joy within the mind as well—especially as Shabbos was approaching.

We thus merited reaching Friday, Erev Shabbos Nachamu. I engaged in the service of Hashem as on every Erev Shabbos, but with greater vitality and joy. We likewise received Shabbos Nachamu with joy and vitality. That Friday night there was a Shalom Zachar at the home of Rabbi Moshe of Poltisk. We went there after the Shabbos meal in our home and spent several hours there with joy and vitality. Rabbi Avraham likewise studied from the works of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, and spoke about Rabbainu and Moharanat, of blessed memory, and so forth. We sang melodies and performed many dances until near midnight, after which I returned home joyfully.

On Shabbos morning I likewise prayed in accordance with my custom, including Mussaf at the Western Wall. Afterward we attended the kiddush at the home of the aforementioned Rabbi Moshe of Poltisk. Everything was conducted with joy and vitality.

Blessed be Hashem, this Shabbos following Tishah BeAv—Shabbos Nachamu—likewise passed over us with joy, vitality, and conduct in the service of Hashem, in accordance with the order of every Shabbos, but with greater joy and a more intense sense of vitality. For Shabbos is itself quite literally consolation, joy, and vitality, and is like the building of the Beis HaMikdash. Shabbos is higher than the Mikdash and shines illumination into the Beis HaMikdash, as is brought in the teaching “Bereishis—In the Sight of All Israel,” and so forth.

Surely, after the anguish and weeping of the Three Weeks of Bein HaMetzarim had passed—and especially the mourning, grief, anguish, and soul-deep weeping of Tishah BeAv—when one then merits receiving such consolation, vitality, and joy, namely this holy Shabbos that is entirely vitality and consolation, one receives it joyfully like a festival. One then receives this precious gift fittingly, as the Gemara states: “I have a precious gift in My treasury, and Shabbos is its name.” One senses the vitality, joy, and delight of this precious gift, for it is literally an aspect of the World to Come, as is stated in the zemiros: “A foretaste of the World to Come is the Shabbos day of rest.”

Fortunate are we that we have merited this precious gift, the holy Shabbos, which is equivalent to the entire Torah; and “whoever observes Shabbos in accordance with its halachah is forgiven all his transgressions.” Fortunate are we; how good is our portion in this. Everything stated above—and far, far more, beyond the mouth’s ability to express—applies to every holy Shabbos. On this holy Shabbos in particular, however, one experiences still more intensely the consolation, joy, and vitality that follow the anguish described above.

Thus Shabbos Nachamu passed over us with joy and vitality. On the night leading into Monday of Parashas Eikev, we attended the vachnacht of the aforementioned Rabbi Moshe. On Monday, the fifteenth of Av, we attended the bris at Rabbi Moshe’s home, and the bris was conducted fittingly. Later that afternoon we prayed Minchah at the Western Wall and went to his home for the bris meal. All our fellow Breslover Chassidim came there—from the Old City, Meah Shearim, and Shaarei Chesed—and we partook of the meal there.

Rabbi Avraham, may his light shine, spoke at length from the works of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, concerning bris milah. He likewise spoke extensively concerning the greatness of that day, the fifteenth of Av, for “There were no festive days for Israel like the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur,” and so forth, as is brought in the Gemara. Drawing upon Chassidic works, he spoke at length about the nature of that day and about its already constituting a preparation for the month of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. Afterward we spent many hours toward evening in melodies and dancing, and they spoke about Rabbainu, of blessed memory, and his disciples.

Afterward they sang the piyyut Yom LaYabashah by Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi, of blessed memory. It is among the piyyutim of the seventh day of Pesach and is sung at a bris milah in its distinctive melody. They then recited Bircas HaMazon over a cup of wine with a minyan, after which they sang the HaRachaman verses sung at a bris milah. We then prayed Maariv there in the home of the mother who had given birth. The mother likewise recited Bircas HaGomel, in accordance with the custom here in Yerushalayim. Afterward we performed a great dance with melodies, blessed the father of the infant, and returned home joyfully.

On Wednesday, the third day following the bris, he likewise made a certain meal, in accordance with the custom of some people. Thus these precious days following the middle of Av passed over us. They already constitute a preparation for the Days of Mercy, the sacred days of Elul, as is brought in the words of Moharanat, of blessed memory, in Likutay Halachos, that one must prepare oneself for the Day of Judgment beginning on the fifteenth of Av, and so forth. The Gemara likewise states, “From this point onward, whoever does not add,” and so forth. The holy Shabbos of Parashas Eikev, one of the Seven Haftaros of Consolation, likewise passed over us with vitality, joy, and service of Hashem.