The Sacrifices of God Are a Broken Spirit

The Sacrifices of God Are a Broken Spirit “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19) — [as taught in the language of the companions].

It is known that the elevation offering ( olah ) atones for the thoughts of the heart, as it is written: “What comes up in your spirit” (Ezekiel 20:32), and as explained in Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra 7, that an olah offering corresponds to inner thoughts — specifically the thoughts that originate in the heart, where the spirit dwells. Now, the Blessed Name does not associate thought with deed except in the case of idolatrous thoughts (Kiddushin 40a). This kind of idolatrous thought can befall any person: one begins praying or engaging in secluded meditation ( hitbodedut ) with sincere attachment, but during the process, he may fall from his spiritual level — this fall is considered a type of idolatrous thought. All spiritual falls stem from a corruption of faith. When faith is corrupted, a person turns his face away from the Blessed Name, and then the Blessed Name hides Its face from him in return. They become “back-to-back.” To rectify this, a person must bring a spiritual olah — namely, he must break his spirit and feel ashamed, contemplating within himself: “How have I fallen! I was as if in heaven, and now I am cast to the earth! I have turned my face from the Blessed Name, and now we are back-to-back.” Such remorse awakens deep mercy — for what greater mercy is there than this? effect this repair, one needs a nesirah (surgical separation), as occurred with the first human being: Adam and Eve were originally created back-to-back and later separated to be face-to-face ( Berachot 61a). This nesirah corresponds to the Divine Name Chatak . As taught in the kavanot (mystical intentions) regarding the verse “You open Your hand” (Psalms 145:16) — the final letters spell Chatak , implying a cutting or sawing action. One achieves this “cutting” through breaking his heart. When the heart is broken, the person sighs — a sigh that releases and draws in breath. This exchange of breath is considered two winds, or two times “spirit” (ruach), and the numerical value (gematria) of two times ruach is equivalent to Chatak This process leads from back-to-back to face-to-face — which is the true essence of an olah . Thus, “the sacrifices of God” — that is, the olah offering — is “a broken spirit.” This concept belongs to the broader theme of lowliness, as expressed in the phrase “Let each man remain under himself” (Exodus 16:29) — meaning that he sees himself as beneath his own level, holding himself as lowly. Once I heard in the name of the tzaddik, of blessed memory, that one who truly perceives his lowliness cannot be displaced or removed from his place — even his livelihood cannot be denied.

Why? Because someone who is genuinely humble is considered as nothing and is not bound by his position. Therefore, no one can force him out of it. This is the meaning of the verse: “Let each man remain under himself; let no man go out of his place” (ibid.) — through humility and lowliness (“under himself”), a person cannot be dislodged (“let no man go out of his place”), not even in terms of his livelihood, God forbid. Our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Sanhedrin 81a): “Anyone who descends to the profession of his fellow, it is as if he has violated a married woman.” For such a person attempts to remove another from his place and livelihood — thereby damaging the sacred aspect of humility and lowliness represented by “Let each man remain under himself.” “Married” ( me’ureset ) thus becomes an acronym for this same idea — that disrupting someone’s place is akin to violating something sacred and intimate.