ספר שיחות מוהר"ן אות - שז

And we have many discourses about this — that all such conversations of the world are entirely from the Evil Inclination, which multiplies such conversations to increase the pain and magnify the worry of livelihood — as if now, Heaven forbid, there is no hope. But in truth it is falsehood and lies — for Hashem Yisburach provides sustenance and supports the world always, and in every generation and every year there are those who rise and those who fall. And if we look carefully at every year and every time, we will certainly always find many people who were poor and servants and the like in previous years — and now they have become wealthy. And even they mostly say that times are not as good now as before — because they always want more wealth, and they conduct their households in a grander manner, so their expenses increase. And they say that now times are not as good as before — even though we remember that just some years before they were poor or servants and the like. And in any case, what does it matter — all this constant crying that earlier times were better than these? For Shlomo [the king] already cried out about this and refuted their words. He said (Koheles 7:10): "Do not say that the earlier days were better than these — for it is not from wisdom that you ask about this." And although Rashi explained there that it is all according to the merit of the generations — even so, Torah has many faces,[483] and a verse never loses its plain meaning.[484] For Shlomo the King, peace be upon him, who was wiser than all men, said in his wisdom and holy spirit that this is great foolishness — what people say that earlier times were better than these. For people always say this. And in truth we see that every time the world grows wealthier and conducts itself on a grander scale with more expenses than in earlier times. And in truth — what does it matter? On the contrary, if the world is now in greater straits, one must flee to Hashem Yisburach and engage in Torah and service. For there is no place to flee from the troubles and suffering of this world except to Hashem Yisburach and to the Torah — for "man is born to toil" (Iyov 5:7). And as it is written in the Midrash (Sanhedrin 99b): "Man is born to toil — fortunate is one whose toil is in Torah." The meaning: since however it will be, whether one is rich or poor, etc., even so one will certainly have toil and anger all one's days — for the troubles and sufferings of every person are very many. As it is written: "And all his days are vexation and pain," etc. (Koheles 2:23). And as it is brought in the Shla"h (vol. 2, 138a) in rhyme: "There is no moment without misfortune, no hour..., no day..." etc. Therefore certainly fortunate is one who flees from the toil of the misfortunes of this world to the toil of Torah. And then certainly fortunate is he and it is good for him in this world and in the World to Come. But as for one who says that earlier times were better than these — and in the greatness of his worry and preoccupation and pain about livelihood and money, ever increasing — through this he will accomplish nothing, only spending his days in pain and worry and anger and suffering, and wasting himself from Torah and prayer, etc., because of worries and conversations and such foolishness. And in the end (Koheles 5:14): "He will carry nothing from his toil." For (Koheles 6:4): "In vanity it comes and in darkness it goes," etc. For in truth one who has eyes to see and a heart to understand the truth in truth will understand with his mind and see that also in the earlier times the world was full of worries and preoccupations about livelihood. As we see in all the books that were composed hundreds of years ago — most of them write in their introductions that they had many troubles in their times and lack of money and the harsh difficulty of livelihood most oppressive of all — and even so they composed many holy books. For (Koheles 1:9): "That which was is that which shall be," etc. And the general rule: also in earlier times the world was full of livelihood worries — as Shlomo the King, peace be upon him, wrote (Koheles 2:23): "And all his days are vexation and pain," etc. And it is written: "Man is born to toil, short of days and full of agitation," etc. And similar verses many of them. And even then it seemed to everyone that in times of such straits one must worry only about livelihood — and through this their days were lost and they went from the world without delight. And even so in every generation there are found righteous and God-fearing and upright people who did not attend to this and fled from the toil of this world to the toil of Torah and service and merited it for themselves and for their generations — fortunate are they. And so too now — certainly free choice exists, and certainly there is power now too, for each and every person, to flee from such worries and sad conversations — to flee from them and to trust in Hashem and to accept upon oneself the toil of Torah in place of the bitter toil of worry about this world. And certainly Hashem Yisburach will provide for him — for Hashem Yisburach supports the world always, then as now. On the contrary — Hashem Yisburach manages the world more beautifully each time. The general rule: this world is full of worries and sorrows and pain and suffering always — then as now — as was decreed from the sin of Adam the first (Bereishis 3:17): "In anguish shall you eat of it" (Bereishis 3:19): "By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread." And there is no place to flee from this anguish and these worries that shorten and consume the days of man — there is no place to flee from them except to Hashem Yisburach and to the Torah, as mentioned above. And we have already spoken that this is what our Sages o.b.m. said in the Mishnah (Avos 6:4): "Such is the way of Torah: bread with salt shall you eat, and measured water shall you drink, and on the ground shall you sleep, and a life of hardship shall you live, and in the Torah shall you toil. If you do this, fortunate are you and it is good for you — fortunate are you in this world and good for you in the World to Come." And common people object: how is "fortunate are you in this world" applicable — since one must endure such hardship of eating bread with salt, etc.? And it has already been explained in some books with various strained interpretations by way of homily. But in truth — one who has eyes and a heart to look at the matters of this world in truth, one who has truly merited to draw from the awesome teachings and discourses and stories of our holy and awesome Rabbainu, may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing — for him the Mishnah is explained with complete simplicity, and one can explain the matter to any person with a true intellect who is somewhat familiar with the good conduct of the world. For all the wealthy and the great magnates acknowledge that this world is full of sorrows and sufferings. For their worries and sufferings are very, very great at every time and every day and every hour — as our Sages o.b.m. said there (Avos 2:7): "Increase possessions — increase worry." And although common poor people do not understand this and it seems to them that if they had wealth they would have no worries — in truth they are greatly mistaken, as is perceptible to the senses, and as our Sages o.b.m. said. And the poor and the householders also certainly have many worries, as mentioned above. Therefore there is no place to flee from the sufferings of this world — which is full of pain and suffering of various kinds — whether in the matter of livelihood, or in the matter of pain and suffering from one's wife and children, and women think they have suffering from their husbands, and there is also actual physical pain and suffering — for many suffer from remarkable illnesses and afflictions, the Merciful One protect us, in the world. Whether from all these and their like — there is no place to flee from all of this except to the Torah. For whoever desires to be well in this world, to live comfortably without pain — is full of troubles always. For everything he hopes for good comes to the contrary. And even if he sometimes has some imagined good — it is certainly always mixed with sorrows, as is perceptible to the senses to one who looks at the truth. Therefore in this world "there is no wisdom and no understanding and no counsel" (Proverbs 21:30) to live comfortably — except when one truly accepts to suffice with the absolute minimum and to live a life of hardship, as they said in the Mishnah mentioned: bread with salt shall you eat, etc. For then precisely — when one accepts upon oneself all the straitness and the life of hardship and to endure everything and to toil in Torah as it says there: "and in the Torah shall you toil" — then precisely one has true vitality even in this world. And fortunate is he even in this world. As it says there: "if you do this, fortunate are you in this world" — certainly. For he will have no suffering from the many misfortunes of this world that are very great for every person — since he accepts everything for the sake of the Torah, and all his life and goodness is the Torah, which is true good. And then certainly his life is true life, and fortunate is he even in this world. But one who desires the pleasures of this world, to live comfortably in this world — his life is certainly very bitter and very hard. For even the slightest breath disturbs him (Sotah 5a). For immediately when something contrary to his will comes upon him, he has pain and suffering. And it is impossible that everything should go according to his will — even if he were a magnate and lord and ruler, for this world is full of suffering as mentioned. Therefore there is no place to flee from the toil of this world and its sufferings — except to the toil of Torah. To accept upon oneself to go in the way of Torah — to eat bread with salt, etc. And then fortunate is he and good for him. Fortunate is he in this world certainly. And the matters are well understood and clear to one who is somewhat familiar with the sufferings of this world and its many worries, and who looks at the truth. And see about this in the discourses of Rabbainu, o.b.m., printed with the Stories, above — and see in the story of the Wise Man and the Simple Man, etc. Even the scholars and investigators of the nations of the world acknowledge all this — that this world is always full of suffering, as is explained in their books many times about this. And they said: there is no good in this world except endurance [seivel].[485] That is: in this world one must accept upon oneself to endure everything that comes upon one, etc. But all their words are of no avail to the world without the holy Torah that we the children of Israel have merited. For no person merits to accept upon himself the endurance of the sufferings of this world, and to not be disturbed by the troubles of this world — except through the holy Torah. For when a person truly settles within himself the truth to truth — that this world has no purpose whatsoever — for even if this world were full of goodness and wealth without any suffering or pain or worry at all, even so it would be vanity and emptiness, for time passes and goes in the blink of an eye.[486] (Psalms 144:4): "And our days are like a passing shadow" — not like the shadow of a palm tree, etc. And as it is written: "The years of our lives number seventy... and the best of them is toil and sorrow — for it passes quickly and we fly away." All the more so since this world is also full of pain and sorrows and sufferings and worries and preoccupations without measure — from great to small, from the greatest of the greatest wealthy men to the most utterly poor among the poor — all are full of worries and preoccupations of their livelihood expenses and other various sufferings and troubles and mishaps, as is known to all. And even emperors and kings and great princes are full of worries and sufferings and many fears without measure — as is known to one who is familiar with them and their ways. And all this is known and explained even to the scholars among the nations of the world. And even so — no one escapes from this except when one chooses one's portion in Torah and holy mitzvos and is willing to suffice with the absolute minimum of this world in order to engage in Torah and spend one's days on the Torah and the service. Then precisely one can flee from the toil of this world — to be rid of the toil and labors and preoccupations and the bitterness of soul of the worries of this world — and to live true life in Torah and the service of Hashem, which is the essence of true life in this world and in the World to Come. And certainly the words of the holy Mishnah are correct and faithful even according to their plain meaning. For one who chooses to endure in this world — to eat bread with salt, to drink measured water, to sleep on the ground, to live a life of hardship — for not everyone even has bread with salt and measured water in abundance, and therefore one needs with all of this to be willing to live a life of hardship — but all this one accepts upon oneself in order to engage in Torah, as it says there: "and in the Torah shall you toil." Then: if you do this — certainly "fortunate are you in this world" — certainly. For certainly one has true vitality — since one accepts upon oneself to endure all the sufferings of this world. And one has merited to grasp the truth that this world was not created for comfort and pleasure. On the contrary — one who wants to take pleasure in this world is full of suffering and anger and pain, as mentioned above. Rather one flees from the toil of this world to the toil of Torah, which is our life and the length of our days. Then — not only will one merit the World to Come, which is the eternal world that all this world is not worth even a blink of an eye against it — but also in this world fortunate is he, fortunate is his portion. For in this world there is no good like endurance — but it is impossible to accept the endurance of the sufferings of this world except when one flees to the toil of Torah and holy mitzvos, as mentioned. And the matters are very explained and understood to one who truly desires and does not wish to deceive himself. For one who mocks such matters mocks only himself — meaning he does not wish to accept our true counsel and turns his back on them. For he only wants to sink in the mire of the depths of this world — and who can prevent him? Let each one take his own path. (Psalms 20:8): "But we — in the Name of Hashem our G-d we will call out." And as Rabbainu, o.b.m., said about one person with whom he spoke at length — and Rabbainu's, o.b.m., intention was to extract him from the places in which he was sinking in endless waters. But that man gave a rebellious shoulder and hardened his heart and did not receive the words of Rabbainu, o.b.m., into his heart — even though he himself also understood that the words of Rabbainu, o.b.m., were true and wondrous. But he did not want to receive them. Rabbainu, o.b.m., answered and said: This man is like one who is drowning in water and going to ruin — and someone comes and extends his hand and wants to extract him from there. And he gives a rebellious shoulder and turns his back with insolence and does not want to allow himself to be grasped to be extracted — and flees from the one who comes to save him. And for the one who heeds — may it be pleasant for him in this world and in the World to Come. Tam veNishlam — Completed and Concluded — the book Sichos HaRan, with the help of Hashem Yisburach. The transcriber said: So as not to leave the page blank, we present here some discourses of Moharnat, o.b.m., from the book Kochvei Or: He said (Moharnat, o.b.m.): The recitation of the books of our Master and Teacher, o.b.m. — which are the Likutay Moharan, and the Sefer HaMidos, and the Stories, and his Discourses — the recitation alone is a segulah for the soul, like the recitation of the books of the Zohar and the Tikkunim. He also said that also during the holy days of Elul it is a mitzvah to recite them from beginning to end — and it helps very, very greatly. At the time when he sent to print his book Likutay Halachos, he answered and said: Of one who does not think about his ultimate end — what will be with him at the end when he will be lying on the ground, etc. — of this I do not speak at all, for this one resembles a literal animal. But one who thinks well about what will be with him at his end, and whose heart yearns and longs greatly for the service of Hashem Yisburach — and certainly something happens with him, for the strengthening is very great as is known to us — for the sake of this person I composed my book, for my words will strengthen him and will fortify him. (All this being understood to one familiar with his holy words.) Rabbi Simchah — son-in-law of the Rabbi Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak, o.b.m. — once asked him about the matter of how it is the way of the Tzadikim who are attainers to clothe their attainments in verses and sayings of our Sages o.b.m. — and sometimes they explain one teaching of our Sages o.b.m. in many different ways, and each time hint at other attainments within it. And he asked Moharnat, o.b.m.: Did the Tanna or Amora who authored the teaching himself also intend all of this or not? And he replied to him: No — only because through their good deeds they merited to a holy spirit — awesome and very lofty, drawn from Hashem Yisburach Himself Whose knowledge has no end — therefore within all their words spoken in such holy spirit, very great and awesome attainments beyond all measure and reckoning are clothed — matters that even they themselves did not know of. (And see Likutay Moharan section 281 where it is written that even a simple person when he sits over the book and thinks much — he can see wonders in it that even the author himself did not know of.) I heard from my father that once new people had come close to him, o.b.m. [to Admur, may the memory of the righteous one be for a blessing], and he was saying lofty Torah before them as was his custom, o.b.m. Afterward they reported before him about those people who say they do not understand his Torah — what does his lofty Torah avail them, for they need simple Torah and simple Torah words according to their simple and lowly level. And he, o.b.m., was angered at them and said then: One who says he cannot find himself in the words of his Torah — he is a heretic [apikores]. For in truth his Torah encompasses the entirety from the very beginning of all levels to the very end of all levels. (From the manuscript of the Rabbi of Tsherin, o.b.m.) He once spoke about the holy path of waking at night that Admur, may the memory of the righteous one be for a blessing, revealed. And he said then in these words: There will yet come a time when this path will be a well-trodden road for the masses (just as now it is a well-trodden road for the masses to don tallis and tefillin every morning). And regarding the fears that are involved in this — he said that about this it is stated in the holy Zohar in the portion of Shelach regarding Calev going to Chevron to prostrate himself on the graves of the forefathers — and he was not afraid of the giants. And it is stated there about this: "One who is in a state of urgency does not look around too much" — so too Calev since he was in a state of urgency did not look around too much, and went to pray on the graves of the forefathers, etc. And similarly — every person who truly knows and thinks well about himself that in the blink of an eye his days will fly and he will need to give a full accounting of all his deeds and nothing will be excused from him, etc. — one who thus thinks about himself will certainly not look at any obstacle from fears and the like. And all the more so since in truth there is no fear in this at all — as he said: if he were to send him alone at night to the field, he would not be concerned about anything. And he said this about every person — that one should not fear anything at all. (For those who perform a mitzvah are not harmed — especially in such a mitzvah as this.) He told that the Baal Shem Tov, may the memory of the righteous one be for a blessing, once prayed with his fellowship, and they prayed with very great blazing fervor as was their way. Afterward when they finished their prayer they saw that the Baal Shem Tov, may the memory of the righteous one be for a blessing, was with an angry countenance. Afterward he answered and said to them: While you were praying, the destroyer entered into each one of you thoughts of pride and haughtiness — that you pray with such blazing and cleaving — and through this a great accusation was aroused Above against you, and I had great toil until I sweetened this. And he told this so that they should know how much and how greatly one must multiply prayers about this — to merit to be saved from pride, which is an abomination to Hashem. For it can be that even when one is already cleansed of all desires and evil character traits, even so there remains in the heart hidden pride, Heaven forbid — as is explained in the Torah of "waking at night" mentioned above. And therefore for this alone one must greatly strengthen oneself with prayers and cries to Hashem Yisburach that He help to nullify this as well, as explained there — and to merit true humility. Tam veNishlam — Completed and Concluded. Praise to G-d, Creator of the World. 483. RAK: Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15. 484. RAK: Shabbos 63a; Yevamos 24a. 485. RAK: Alim LiTerufah, letter 441. 486. RAK: See Bereishis Rabbah 96:3; Koheles Rabbah 1:3.