Adapted from Sea of Wisdom, english teachings of Rebbe Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern Shlita
A a recent shiur for English speakers, a student asked the Rebbe Harav Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern shlita the following question: It says in the Torah כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו — The matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to perform. This means that avodas Hashem is close and accessible to us. If so, why does it feel so hard? How can we make that avodas Hashem shouldn’t feel so difficult, and truly be קרוב אליך מאוד?
The Rebbe answered as follows. Indeed, it says כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד — meaning that avodas Hashem is truly close to a person and attainable. The Tzanzer Rav explains that it is קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד specifically when a person fulfills the continuation of the pasuk that says בפיך — with your mouth. Meaning, a person’s mouth is what is close to them, therefore the avodah of בפיך is what is קרוב מאוד and then when a person goes into the avodah of בפיך the rest becomes easy as well.
Rebbe Nachman said that every person, no matter what situation they are in, can cry out to Hashem. This is what it means בפיך — open your mouth, that is what Hashem made easy. It’s not so hard to say the words רבונו של עולם, Master of the World.
Someone once told Reb Nosson that they have a student who knows one thousand blatt of Gemara by heart. Reb Nosson replied that he has a student who can say רבונו של עולם one thousand times a day. So even if you don’t yet know a lot of Gemara, and haven’t yet reached great spiritual levels, you can still say the words רבונו של עולם. Every person can say these words — or even just Tatteh / Abba (Father) — and speak to Hashem with even one word. You can say that one word many, many times throughout the entire day.
That is what כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד means. What is close to a person? בפיך — the mouth. You say avodas Hashem is hard — it could be. But as the Tzanzer Rav said, בפיך is not so hard. That is what is near. If you call out to Hashem, then indeed, avodas Hashem becomes קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד.
The Gemara (Bava Basra 31–32) teaches that if someone tries to take something that belongs to you, and you immediately protest or shout, that serves as evidence — a chazakah — that it is yours and that you did not agree to give it up. The same applies to avodas Hashem: when the yetzer hara comes to entice a person to do something wrong, and the person shouts out to Hashem that they do not want to follow the yetzer hara, and shouts out to Hashem that they want to come closer to Him, it removes the power of the yetzer hara, and ultimately, in the end, they will come closer to Hashem.
Rebbe Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin said that even though it seems that as the generations go by, each generation becomes lower and lower in regard to its spiritual level, the truth is that in the pnimiyus of the neshamos, we are going higher and higher. Because in the inner essence of the soul, there is a special zichuch (purification) taking place. Today, the neshamos are already so close to Hashem. Since b’pnimiyus we are very near to Moshiach, the neshama is crying out to Hashem.
So, if you fulfill what I said before — בפיך, speak to Hashem — then your neshama begins to be revealed.
The Maggid said that before Moshiach comes, it is easier to come closer to Hashem than ever before. If a person begins to shout out and speak to Hashem and learns Torah every day, then ultimately Hashem will draw them close, and they will be zocheh to attain the light of Hashem.
Now we are truly very close to Moshiach. We are near the revelations of Elokus. We should just cry out to Hashem, learn Torah every day, and ultimately, as it says, ki heim chayeinu ve’orech yameinu u’vahem nehegeh yomam valaylah. When we learn Torah by day and by night, we connect day and night, and with Hashem’s help we can merit that our neshama should become illuminated.
It says about Eretz Yisrael that it is an ארץ אוכלת יושביה — a land that consumes its inhabitants. Eretz Yisrael, which alludes to the avodah of tefillah, “eats you up,” meaning that just as when you eat something it becomes part of you, so too when a person davens to Hashem, they connect to Eretz Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael “eats you up.” Your entire body and being become part of tefillah and part of Hashem, connected to holiness and Elokus.
The pasuk says האמנתי כי אדבר I believe as I speak — this means that speaking to Hashem brings a person to greater levels of emunah. And in the merit of emunah, we can merit all of the geulos and all of the yeshuos that everyone needs. Hashem should help that everyone be zocheh to come closer to Him through this avodah of בפיך, and that avodas Hashem should be easy, as it says כי קרוב אליך. In the merit of בפיך, we will merit the continuation of the pasuk בלבבך לעשותו — to do all the actions of Torah and mitzvos and truly come close to Hashem.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 56.
