A continuation of last week’s article about the trip of the tzaddik and author of Beyam Darkecha, Harav Pinchos Halbershtat shlita, to New York for Shabbos Parshas Lech Lecha.
In his essay on Kedusha, the Beyam Darkecha writes: “Kedushah is the gateway to all of avodas Hashem. Only through kedushah will one be successful in clinging to Hashem, so that the holy Shechina will dwell within him, and his neshamah will remain connected to its Source. Then, the klipos (evil entities) will flee from him, and he can live an authentic and proper life.”
The Rebbe’s mind, heart and soul were always ‘facing up’, but his eyes always looked down, never wandering. He is firmly in control of every move he makes with any part of his body. The gabbai told me that on the flight to NY and back to Eretz Yisroel, he had his eyes shut practically the entire time, to maintain his exalted levels of kedushah. (An exception was when he was inside an elevator in the airport, he asked his gabbai whether there was anyone else in the elevator. When he was told there was not, he allowed himself to open his eyes for a moment.)
In his essay on Achilah/Eating, the Beyam Darkecha writes: “when a person is hungry, the pnimius of his desire to eat is a spiritual desire to renew and strengthen his spiritual connection to Hashem. Through eating with the proper thoughts, one can reveal and access (and “release”) the spark of G-dliness within the food.
The Rebbe barely eats or sleeps, and keeps to a rigorous schedule of non-stop service of Hashem that simply seems to be physically impossible. When he does eat, it is a profoundly spiritual experience. The first brocha I saw him make blew my mind; I had never seen such an intensely holy expression of love and gratitude to the Creator of the world. When he was finally done with his brocha, he enjoyed his meal – a single slice of kiwi, chewing it with mindful intention and connection to Hashem: eyes closed, hand on his forehead. I merited to eat the Shabbos day meal with him, and his Kiddush and Hamotzei simply left the room stunned and teary-eyed, as he evoked within us the deepest kissufim: a powerful and emotional yearning to cling to Hashem.
The brocha he made before eating was intense and serious; oftentimes he’d stop mid-brocha and hum a tune or sit in silent contemplation, only continuing to the next words when he felt ready. His after-brocha seemed to have a different feel: one of “Thank you Hashem!” He would often sing it in a more upbeat way, with a huge smile on his face. Sometimes it seemed like he was almost laughing, as he expressed pure joy and gratitude to “Abba,” for giving him such an absolutely delicious bite of food!
In his essay on Torah, the Beyam Darkecha writes: “The words of the Torah are the body of the Torah, but the primary essence of the Torah is not its body, but rather its ‘neshamah.’ The neshamah of the Torah is the light of Hashem Himself. By learning Torah, we are accessing and connecting with the Shechinah. The more one toils in Torah – learning, analyzing, and dissecting its nuances and laws – the more one will cling to the Divine Presence and absorb this light. Therefore, those who love Hashem yearn for, and run after, every word of Torah that they can.”
Although the Rebbe seems to be in a state of pure dveikus at all times, he runs after every word of Torah with a fiery love and passion. He learns and writes Torah much of the day, but displays a special love for learning Gemarah. His gemarah was always readily available. After Shacharis and Mincha, he’d pull out the gemarah and learn before continuing on with his day. Before the Shabbos meal he learned gemarah, and he cut the meal short, sharing his desire to go learn. After Mincha, he told those around him to join him as he learned an amud of gemarah (see picture). He chose the mesechta and daf that his Kollel in Bnei Brak was learning, as a way of holding his beloved avreicheim in his heart and thoughts, and connecting to them from afar.
He told us that it’s very worthwhile to learn after every davening, even if we only have time for a few short minutes. He explained that the klipos are very busy trying to interfere with our teffilos to prevent them from reaching Hashem’s Kisei Hakavod. When we surround our teffilah with learning Torah, the Torah wraps around the teffilah and escorts it heavenward, preventing the klipos from ‘intercepting it.’ The klipos have no power to interfere with our Torah learning, he explained, unless we “give them the power outright,” by learning for the wrong reasons, such as to be given honor and so on.
This series of articles falls far short of “describing” the Tzadik. These are simply a few small examples of what a Yid can become. In an era where big tzadikim seem to be more associated with ‘a thing of the past,’ the reality is that is incorrect. Hashem sends us, and every generation, exactly the tzadikim we need to inspire and guide us through the unique challenges and opportunities of our time. We live in a time of hunger and thirst. Lo raav l’lechem v’lo tzama l’mayim, ki im lishmoya es divrei Hashem. Not a hunger for bread, and not a thirst for water, but rather to listen to the word of Hashem. Hashem sent Harav Pinchos Halbershtat Shlita, his holy seforim Beyam Darkecha, and all the other tzadikim of our generation, to quench the thirsty neshamos of our generation.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 15.