Chapter 38

A long time afterward, I saw him at the Western Wall for Minchah, and I addressed him with a pleasant countenance: “Please, how are matters, and how is your service proceeding?” He answered me that, blessed be Hashem, his perplexities had subsided from the time I had spoken with him, and matters were proceeding in proper order for him. At present, however, he was entirely distant from me and from all the members of our fellowship in general, and he no longer believed in the matter of Rabbainu at all. On the contrary, the entire matter of Rabbainu was disqualified in his eyes—may the Merciful One save us—because distinguished and prominent opponents, Perushim from the Shaarei Chessed neighborhood, old Litvaks, had spread a net at his feet. They were studying with him and had instilled such evil poisons within him, and so forth.

In sum, I began speaking with him in the manner we had followed previously, in order to break these things out of his heart. He would not allow himself to listen at all, however, and did not even wish to hear me. I told him angrily that his sins and wickedness were leading him about by the head—“His sins are leading him around by the head”—and that ultimately he would regret these words very, very deeply. For there was no possibility whatever that he would be able to revive himself without the matter of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, under any circumstances in the world. Ultimately, he would have to return here and would be ashamed of himself for having spoken and uttered such things against the one who had rescued him from the nethermost pit and brought him beneath the wings of the Shechinah, and so forth, and so forth. My body literally recoiled from the intensity of my anger, and I resolved in my mind that I would have no further dealings with him and would not speak with him at all.

A long time then passed during which I neither saw him nor spoke with him. Afterward I saw him joining the young men among the members of our fellowship who served Hashem, and going at chatzos to the Western Wall and from there to Shimon HaTzadik. This was repugnant in my eyes: that they should draw such a person near at all, and especially that they should immediately entrust him with such devotional practices. I did not speak with him at all, nor did he speak with me, as stated above. Nevertheless, I spoke to no one and related nothing at all concerning any of the arguments and conversations that had passed between him and me, whether concerning Judaism in general or concerning the words and denunciations directed against the matter of Rabbainu, of blessed memory.

A short time passed in this manner, and he again distanced himself from them. In the end, ultimately all the words and deeds he had performed, and all the toil and exertion through which he had sought to know the truth, took effect within him. It was literally as with Yisro, who said, “Now I know that Hashem is greater,” for he had served every form of idolatry in the world, and in the end drew near to Hashem, blessed be He, saw the truth, and said, “Now I know”; thereby His blessed name was magnified and sanctified. So too, this man had been in every kind of filth and had gone around on every side, but in the end he was compelled to return himself to Rabbainu, of blessed memory.

The outcome was that he received a rent-free apartment beside our bais midrash in the Old City, literally one house adjoining the other, and moved there with his wife and daughters. (His wife had likewise been a secular Zionist, but she too repented and began observing the Jewish religion properly, and so forth.) Since then, for more than a year, he has been very closely attached to Rabbainu, of blessed memory, has occupied himself extensively with the service of Hashem and with matters of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, and has observed the Jewish religion duly and properly. He is literally unrecognizable, with long peyos and a long beard, as though he had been born from the womb into such a Jewish way of life. He conducts his household and educates his daughters in the ways of Judaism as is proper.

For a time he enjoyed repose here. Afterward, people incited his wife to quarrel with him so that he would send his daughters to secular schools. He displayed self-sacrifice in the matter and was already prepared that there should be a divorce between them. Hashem, blessed be He, however, helped him: she was reconciled to him once more and agreed to everything he wished. He also began supporting himself by serving as a fund-raising emissary for a yeshivah. In the meantime he speaks with many secular people in order to draw them near to Hashem, blessed be He. He has a very great desire to draw those who are distant near to Hashem, blessed be He; and he is particularly able to occupy himself with this, for because of all that had passed over him, he knows how to speak to others and strengthen them.

In sum, blessed be Hashem, the verse “Firm is your dwelling,” and so forth, has been fulfilled in him. He is my friend, borrows books from me, and frequently consults with me concerning matters of the service of Hashem, blessed be He, and the drawing near of those who are distant. From this one sees the power of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, who said that he could draw the entire world near to Hashem, blessed be He—even gentiles, and so forth. Every person, even the worst of the worst and the lowest of the low—those who are literally lower than the nethermost pit—can draw near; there is no one who cannot do so, provided only that he wishes to seek the truth, removes his ulterior motives, and truly desires the truth. He can then readily become a complete tzadik.

I myself saw people of this kind in the places where I had been, both in Poland and in Russia. They had been complete evildoers in actual practice, violating the entire Torah and even doing so deliberately to provoke. (Some had married a gentile woman and lived with her for perhaps twenty years, and so forth; there were also those who had not circumcised their sons—may the Merciful One save us.) Afterward they drew near to Rabbainu, of blessed memory, and became complete tzadikim, true servants of Hashem. It was altogether impossible to believe that these very people had once been distant from Judaism.

Fortunate is one who merits to take pity upon himself while his soul is still within him and while he can still move any one of his limbs, who draws himself near to this holy light and fulfills his holy words with simplicity. Fortunate is he in this world and in the World to Come, for with Hashem, blessed be He, and with the tzadik one loses nothing at all. It is entirely easy to be a Jew, for “what does Hashem desire of you but to fear Him?” The Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal tyrannically with His creatures, and the Torah was not given to the ministering angels.

The Torah was given in such a manner that every person can truly fulfill it, if only he wishes, for “it is not in heaven.” What does it cost a person to wash his hands before eating and recite a blessing; to put on tefillin and pray each day; or to keep Shabbos and refrain from eating forbidden foods? What burden is there in this? If the matter is difficult for him to perform because he is under constraint in this regard or because he is ill, a different ruling already applies to him in the Shulchan Aruch. (Only those who surrender themselves to the service of Hashem through toil and self-sacrifice, endure poverty and privation, and so forth, and occupy themselves solely with the service of Hashem—these people take such things upon themselves of their own accord, and they experience in this all the pleasures in the world.)

The Torah, however, was given to every person in accordance with what he is capable of doing, and so forth. Ultimately, everyone will understand the entire truth and return to Hashem, blessed be He. Fortunate, however, is one who hastens to bring himself near while the trials are still great, for he is one who has truly drawn near. Later, when everyone sees the beauty of the truth, their drawing near will be only in the aspect of gerim gerurim [converts who are merely drawn along], and so forth.

As it says in Koheles: “Remember your Creator,” and so forth, before “the years arrive,” and so forth, “in which there is no desire.” Our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: These are the days of Mashiach, in which there will be neither merit nor guilt, for then there will be no trials and everyone will recognize the truth. Similarly, Rabbainu, of blessed memory, spoke on the verse “Avraham was one” (a verse in Yechezkel): all of Avraham’s greatness lay in the fact that he was one. No person yet knew of Hashem, blessed be He, and he alone began to recognize the Creator and strengthened himself against the entire world, and so forth.

May Hashem, blessed be He, grant us the merit to see the rebuilding of Zion and Jerusalem, and may the verse “He gathers the dispersed of Yisrael” be fulfilled, so that no spark of Yisrael will be lost, all will draw near to Hashem, blessed be He, and all will be called children of the Omnipresent. As Rabbainu, of blessed memory, brings many times in Likutay Moharan, concerning every Jew it is said, “Yisrael, in whom I shall glory”—even concerning the sinners of Yisrael. For as long as the name Yisrael is called upon him and he does not remove the name Yisrael from himself, Hashem, blessed be He, takes glory in him every day.

In particular, one cannot judge any Jew, for one has no knowledge whatever of what is in his heart, of the trials passing over him, or of how many thoughts of repentance pass through him. As Moharnat, of blessed memory, said: “I believe in every Jew. It need not be said when I hear no evil words from him; even when I hear him speaking very badly with his own mouth, I believe that only his mouth is speaking in this manner, whereas in his heart he thinks entirely otherwise.” Fortunate is the people for whom it is so.