Every tzadik is unique, and many tzadikim had an area of Torah that was their ‘specialty’ — some within the revealed Torah (nigleh), some within nistar (the hidden Torah, i.e. Kabbalah), and some within both. The Komarna Rebbe zy”a, whose yahrtzeit is this week, was a tzadik whose ‘specialty’ was unifying all of the Torah, fusing together nigleh and nistar and even different pathways within nistar, blurring lines and holding on to all of them as one unified word of Hashem.
In the introduction to the sefer Zohar Chai, the Komarna’s son writes that his father once told him that he has within his neshama a piece of the neshama of both the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov. His son testified that this was clear to him as well, because not a day passed without hearing his father mention both the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov.
The Komarna helped bring many Yidden the yeshuos they needed, and in a letter he wrote to another tzadik he seems to reveal the ‘method’ he used to bring down yeshuos. He writes,
“It is a common occurrence that we see before our eyes Yidden who are so sick that everyone gave up hope that they can recover, and through strong emunah (אמונה גדולה) and pouring out the heart to Hashem (שפיכת הנפש להש”י), they recovered quickly.”
Simply put, the Komarna showed that strong emunah and strong tefillah are the keys to yeshuos.
In his focus on emunah, it seems that the Komarna was using his neshama-connection to the Arizal. Much of the Arizal’s focus was on revealing the depth of Ein Od Milvado, how there isn’t any space in the universe devoid of the presence of Hashem, and the entirety of existence is nothing more than manifestations of Hashem’s name.
In his focus on tefillah (shfichas hanefesh), the Komarna seems to be using his neshama-connection to the Baal Shem Tov. The tzadikim taught us that if one wants to know whether he is properly connected to the ways of the Baal Shem Tov, the indicator will be in the way he davens. The Baal Shem Tov taught us how important it is for every Yid, no matter what he or she is going through, to pour out their hearts to Hashem.
At first glance, these two pathways seem to contradict each other. If a person has a powerful emunah and can truly internalize Ein Od Milvado, to the extent that he feels there is nothing in the universe devoid of Hashem, then the natural conclusion is that everything is from Hashem and everything Hashem does is for the good. From that place, how can one pour out his heart to Hashem to be taken out of a tzara? If Hashem is here too, and this is for my own good, then there is no tzara!
But the Komarna taught that there is no contradiction between emunah and tefillah. It is true that if a person can fully experience the presence of Hashem, he will understand that whatever Hashem does is truly for his good. But the Komarna teaches that true emunah is revealed specifically when we do not experience Hashem’s presence. When things are dark, when the tzara is painful, and yet from that place we remember that a tzara is not the concealment of Hashem, but rather the tzara itself is also a revelation of Hashem — because Hashem is right there with you — that is true emunah.
Sometimes a person is davening and the yetzer hara comes along and whispers: “Why are you davening for a yeshuah? Don’t you know that whatever Hashem does is for your good, and Hashem is everywhere? If you are davening that the tzara should go away, that means you are lacking emunah!”
The response is to remember that if we are in a place of tzara where we do not fully experience Ein Od Milvado, that does not mean we lack emunah. On the contrary, we believe with complete faith that this place of distance was also created by Hashem, and therefore Hashem is here too.
If I know that feeling distant from Hashem is itself from Hashem, then I am not truly distant from Hashem.
As long as we know that it was Hashem who created the tzara, and that even a feeling of distance is also from Hashem, there is no contradiction between emunah and tefillah. Both can be true: I have a tzara and I am pouring my heart out to Hashem to bring me a yeshuah, and at the same time I believe with complete faith that Hashem is here, even while I do not fully experience Ein Od Milvado in this place.
If Hashem brought me a feeling of lacking which leads me to daven for a yeshuah rather than seeing the tzara as something I am completely at peace with, that means Hashem wants me to pour out my heart to Him. Hashem wants my shfichas hanefesh.
And since I know that this too is from Hashem, this tefillah is not a contradiction to my emunah.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 78.
