Chasidut · Breslov

Likutei Halakhot, Orach Chaim, Laws of Morning Conduct 1:2/ליקוטי הלכות·אורח חיים·הלכות השכמת הבוקר א׳:ב׳

אוְזֶה בְּחִינַת הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה, כִּי כְּשֶׁאָדָם רוֹאֶה שֶׁרָחוֹק מֵהַשֵּׁם־יִתְבָּרַךְ וְכוּ׳, זֶה בְּחִינַת שֵׁנָה שֶׁהִיא אֶחָד מִשִּשִּׁיׁם בּמְִיתָה (ברכות נז:). וּכְשֶׁמְּחַפֵּשׂ וּמְבַקֵּשׁ וּמוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמוֹ אֵיזֶה נְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה עֲדַיִן, וּמְחַיֶּה וּמְשַׂמֵּחַ אֶת עַצְמוֹ, וּמְעוֹרֵר אֶת עַצְמוֹ לַעֲבוֹדַת הַשֵּׁם־יִתְבָּרַךְ עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה, זֶה בְּחִינַת הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה.

1ARISING FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBERReb Noson begins his discourse on the deeper meaning of rising in the morning by linking the finding of good points with waking up from spiritual slumber.This searching for one’s good points is the concept of waking up from sleep. When a person recognizes that he is far from HaShem he is likely to be despondent, to feel low in both energy and spirit; this is akin to being in a state of sleep, which, Chazal teach, is “one-sixtieth of death.”¹¹ 57b. But when he seeks and searches and finds inside himself some remaining good point, and he revives himself and cheers himself up, using that fragment of good to rouse himself to serve HaShem—that is the concept of waking up from sleep.

בוזְֶה בְּחִינַת (תהלים ג, ב): ״ה׳ מָה רַבּוּ צָרָי, רַבִּים וְכוּ׳״, הַיְנוּ הַצָּרִים שֶׁל הַנֶּפֶשׁ, שֶׁהֵם הַחֲטָאִים וְהַפְּגָמִים שֶׁל כָּל אֶחָד, שֶׁזֶּה עִקַּר צָרוֹת הָאָדָם, וּכְשֶׁהֵם מִתְגַּבְּרִים עַל הָאָדָם, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אֲזַי הֵם רוֹצִים לְהַפִּיל אוֹתוֹ לְגַמְרֵי, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, כְּאִלּוּ אֵין לוֹ עוֹד שׁוּם תִּקְוָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם. וְזֶהוּ ״רַבִּים אוֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לוֹ בֵּאלֹקִים סֶלָּה״ – וַאֲזַי הוּא בִּבְחִינַת שֵׁנָה כַּנַּ״ל. וְזֶהוּ ״אֲנִי שָׁכַבְתִּי וָאִישָׁנָה״ – כִּי זֶה בְּחִינַת שֵׁנָה, כַּנַּ״ל.

2Before showing how he reads Rebbe Nachman’s lesson into the words of the Shulchan Arukh (he will address this in §5 and §6 below), Reb Noson first explores a number of verses that show that people’s good points wake them up from sleep. He begins with the words of David HaMelekh in Tehillim 3.This is the significance of the verse “O HaShem, so numerous are my tormentors, so many …” These “tormentors” are the tormentors of the soul—namely each person’s sins and spiritual blemishes, which are the source of mankind’s greatest suffering.¹² 120:1) “In my distress I called out to HaShem,” Midrash Shmuel (on Avot 2:4) teaches that whenever David HaMelekh cried out to HaShem about his suffering and the torment of being pursued by his enemies, he was referring to the spiritual anguish of his soul. The soul’s torment is greatest when its principal enemy, the Yetzer Hara, induces it to sin (see also LM II, 101 and II, 125). When they overpower a person, they seek to defeat him totally by making it seem as if he has no hope, chas ve-shalom. This is the meaning of the verse that follows, “Many say of me, ‘He will never be saved by HaShem,’ selah.” On account of a person’s many sins, the Yetzer Hara tricks him into thinking that all is lost. Then he is conceptually asleep, as in “I lay down and slept.” This alludes to the hopelessness and downheartedness of spiritual slumber.

גאֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת הָאָדָם אָסוּר לְיָאֵשׁ עַצְמוֹ, וְצָרִיךְ לְהִתְגַבֵּר לְעוֹרֵר מִשֵּׁינָתוֹ עַל־יְדֵי הַמְעַט טוֹב שֶׁמּוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמוֹ עֲדַיִן כַּנַּ״ל. וְזֶהוּ ״הֱקִיצֹתִי כִּי ה׳ יִסְמְכֵנִי״ – שֶׁאֲנִי מִתְגַּבֵּר וּמִתְעוֹרֵר מִשְּׁנָתִי, כִּי אֵינִי מְיָאֵשׁ עַצְמִי עֲדַיִן – ״כִּי ה׳ יִסְמְכֵנִי״ – כִּי הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה שֶׁאָדָם מוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמוֹ – זֶה בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת, כִּבְיָכוֹל. כִּי כָל הַטּוֹב מֵאִתּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ.

3However, the truth is that a person is forbidden to despair. He must overcome any feelings of hopelessness and wake up from his spiritual sleep by means of the little bit of good that he still finds inside himself. Thus the verse concludes, “I awoke, for HaShem supports me.” Although “I lay down and slept,” I strengthen myself to wake up from my sleep. I keep myself from despair because I know that “HaShem supports me.” In this context, “HaShem” signifies a person’s good. The good point that a person finds inside himself is an aspect of Godliness, as it were, since whatever good exists in the world emanates from HaShem.

דכִּי אוֹרַיְתָא וְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כֹּלָא חַד (זהר אחרי עג.). נִמְצָא, כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אֵיזֶה נְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה, דְּהַיְנוּ אֵיזֶה מִצְוָה אוֹ דָּבָר טוֹב, זֶה הַטּוֹב הוּא אַחְדוּת גָּמוּר עִמּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, כִּי ״טוֹב ה׳ לַכֹּל״ (תהלים קמה, ט), וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (שם לד, ט): ״טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ כִּי טוֹב ה׳״, כִּי כָל הַטּוֹב שֶׁנִּמְצָא בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁהוּא, הוּא הַכֹּל מִמֶּנוּ יִתְבָּרַךְ. וְזֶהוּ ״כִּי ה׳ יִסְמְכֵנִי״ – הַיְנוּ הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה שֶׁאֲנִי מוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמִי, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת, בְּחִינַת ״טוֹב ה׳ לַכֹּל״, זֶה הוּא סוֹמֵךְ אוֹתִי וּמֵקִיץ אוֹתִי מֵהַשֵּנׁהָ.

4Reb Noson now brings further proof of the connection between HaShem and good.For the Zohar teaches that Torah, the Jewish people, and HaKadosh Barukh Hu are entirely one.¹³ III, 73a teaches that the three are bound together in a complete unity; see also LM I, 251:3 and Kedushat Levi, Masekhet Avot, s.v. ita be-midrash. It follows that when a good point exists inside a Jew—namely some mitzvah or something good that he did—that good is completely bound up in unity with HaShem.¹⁴.” Note 27 there explains that unlike man, HaShem and His will are one. Neither duality nor change can be ascribed to His will. It is therefore impossible to separate HaShem’s will or His thoughts from HaShem Himself. The same applies to the mitzvot of the Torah, which, as spiritual expressions of HaShem’s will, are in simple unity with Him. For “HaShem is good to all”—He is all that is good, the origin and essence of all the good in existence. This is also as the verse states, “Taste and see that HaShem is good.” Any good, no matter where it exists or what form it takes, emanates solely from Him. This is the significance of “for HaShem supports me.” In other words, David HaMelekh says, the good point that I find in myself—itself an aspect of Godliness, as in “HaShem is good to all”—is what supports me and also wakes me from sleep.

הואֲַזַי (שם ג, ז): ״לֹא אִירָא מֵרִבְבוֹת עָם אֲשֶׁר סָבִיב שָׁתוּ עָלָי״ – כִּי שׁוּב אֵינִי מִתְיָרֵא מֵהֶם אַף־עַל־פִּי שֶׁהֵם כַּמָּה רְבָבוֹת פְּגָמִים וַחֲטָאִים שֶׁעוֹמְדִים עָלַי לְהַפִּילֵנִי, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, כִּי מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֲנִי מוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמִי עוֹד אֵיזֶה נְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה, עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה אֲנִי מִתְעוֹרֵר מֵהַשֵּׁנָה וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה אֲנִי נִכְנַס בֶּאֱמֶת לְכַף זְכוּת וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה אֶזְכֶּה לִתְשׁוּבָה וְכוּ׳ כַּנַּ״ל, כִּי כָל הָרָע נִדְחֶה מִפְּנֵי מְעַט הַטּוֹב שֶׁמּוֹצֵא בְּעַצְמוֹ, וּמְחַיֶּה וּמֵרִים אֶת עַצְמוֹ בָּזֶה, כִּי מְעַט מִן הָאוֹר דּוֹחֶה הַרְבֵּה מִן הַחֹשֶׁךְ, כַּיָּדוּעַ.

5And then, strengthened by the support of his good point, a person can declare, “I have no fear of the many thousands who have arrayed against me on every side.” Instead, I am once again secure, unafraid of those who would persecute me. Even though the spiritual blemishes and sins that threaten to defeat me are many thousands, chas ve-shalom, I am untroubled. Seeing that I have found at least some remaining good point inside myself, I am able to wake up from my slumber. This genuinely brings me to a position of merit and enables me to merit doing teshuvah. In other words, all the evil of one’s spiritual blemishes and sins is cast aside by the little bit of good that he finds inside himself. And with this good, he revives himself and raises himself up, because just a little bit of light chases away a lot of darkness.¹⁵ 5, Perek 5.

ווזְֶהוּ בְּחִינַת (תהלים קלט, יח): ״הֱקִיצֹתִי וְעוֹדִי עִמָּךְ״, עַל־יְדֵי הָ״עוֹד מְעַט וְכוּ׳״ שֶׁלִּי, דְּהַיְנוּ הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה כַּנַּ״ל, בְּחִינַת ״אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹקַי בְּעוֹדִי״ כַּנַּ״ל, וְזֶהוּ ״וְעוֹדִי עִמָּךְ״, הַיְנוּ הָ״עוֹד מְעַט״ שֶׁלִּי שֶׁהוּא עֲדַיִן עִמָּךְ כַּנַּ״ל, עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה ״הֱקִיצֹתִי״, כִּי זֶה בְּחִינַת הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה, כַּנַּ״ל.

6This is also implied in the verse “I have awakened, ve-odee with You.” “I have awakened” by dint of my od me’at—that is to say, because of the good point still inside me, as in “I will sing to my God be-odee.”¹⁶ (139:18) that employs still) to allude to the good ,עוד) the Hebrew word od I am still) with ,ועודי) point: “I have awakened, ve-ODee still a little ,ועוד מעט) You”—because of my ve-OD me’at bit),” my good point, I can “sing to my God be-ODee בעודי) with what I still have left).” This is the meaning of “and I am still with You”: because of my “still a little bit” which is still completely bound in unity with You, “I have awakened”—this being the concept of waking up and rousing from slumber.