אות-ז

It is impossible to be a true Jewish man and to serve Him, may He be blessed, as befits, except through great holy stubbornness and obstinacy [azus v'akshanus d'k'dushah], for many adventures and ascents and descents without measure must pass over every single person. And if one is not a great akshan [stubborn one] — unwilling to abandon even a little of his service that he has begun — it will be impossible for him to remain standing. Particularly when one wants to do something great — such as to travel and come to the Land of Israel, which is the essential holiness of a Jewish man and is the essential victory of the battle, as explained elsewhere — certainly it is impossible to win this battle except through very, very great stubbornness. And this is the essential glory with which Hashem glorifies Himself in Israel: the essential glory is in the stubbornness of the Jewish man who is knocked down each time yet strengthens himself always with great stubbornness and does not allow himself to fall in any manner. And the essential receiving of the Torah — which is the totality of the glory — is only through this, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Why was the Torah given to Israel? Because they are brazen [azim]." (Halachos of Birkas Hamazon, Halacha 4, Ois 12) An advice for strengthening oneself is speech — that is, even if he has fallen to wherever he has fallen, even so let him strengthen himself there too to speak words of truth — namely, words of Torah and prayer and fear of Heaven, and to converse between himself and his Maker, and to converse with his fellow — and all the more so with his teacher. For speech has great power to remind a person of Hashem, may He be blessed, and to strengthen him always, even in places very distant from holiness. See "Speech," Ois 19, and this is the language there: Also speech is in the aspect of em habanim [the mother of the children] — that is, just as a mother always walks with her children even to the impure places and does not forget them: so too speech walks with a person always, even in the impure places, and reminds him always of Hashem. Meaning: even if a person is situated, G-d forbid, on a very low level in whatever place he is — even so, through speech he can remind himself of Hashem, may He be blessed, forever. That is: even if he strengthens himself there to speak at least some holy words of Torah and prayer and conversation between himself and his Maker — or to converse with his teacher or fellow in fear of Heaven — he can remind himself of Hashem, may He be blessed, always, even in those places very distant from Hashem, may He be blessed, which are in the aspect of impure places — even if he has fallen to wherever he has fallen, G-d have mercy. For speech does not allow him to forget Hashem, may He be blessed. Understand this well — the greatness of the power of speech — and it is a wonderful and awesome piece of advice for whoever truly desires not to lose his world entirely, G-d forbid. (ibid., Ois 78)