Likutei Moharan 18:2/ליקוטי מוהר"ן י״ח:ב׳

12. Know! the purpose of <all> creation is the delight of the World to Come. Yet it is impossible to bring this purpose closer to the thoughts of men, as it is said of this takhlit (Isaiah 64:3), “No eye has seen it….”

2Even so, the tzaddikim are capable of comprehending <in their intellect and thought> even this goal of the World to Come. And each individual Jew, in accordance with the root he has in the <true> tzaddik’s soul, receives <this> goal from him—to the extent that anger is undone by mercy.

3In other words, when a person becomes angry, he should not act cruelly out of anger. On the contrary, he should mitigate the anger with mercy, as in (Habakkuk 3:2), “In wrath, remember mercy.” By virtue of this <mercy>, a crown is made for the humble who flee from honor and positions of authority by their making themselves inconsequential. But when they are ennobled with the crown of mercy—as in (Psalms 103:4), “Who crowns you with kindness and mercy”—then they receive the honor and authority <even when they don’t want it>. This corresponds to (Megillah 15b): “‘Ateret tzvi (A crown of glory) … for the Sh’aR (residue) of His people’ (Isaiah 28:5) —for the one who makes himself like ShiRayim (remnants).”

4Because this that the tzaddik flees from positions of authority and honor, and doesn’t want to lead the <generation>, is [based on] a thought which comes to them from the concept of the concealment of God’s countenance. It is due to the Jewish people’s lack of faith. This is because commensurate with the extent of heresy, heaven forfend, is the concealment of God’s countenance. He [the tzaddik] <therefore> does not want to lead them.

5This concealment is synonymous with His anger and wrath. It is the result of idolatry. As in the teaching (Sifri 13:18): As long as there is idolatry in the world, there is charon af (burning anger) in the world. And even when there is no <real> idolatry, but faith is not as complete as it should be, then there is also burning anger and His concealment is commensurate with this lack of faith.

6However, because the burning of His anger is short-lived—as is written (Psalms 30:6), “For His anger endures but a moment”—it is not felt except when there is <real> idolatry in the world. But when there is no idolatry, only a lack of complete faith, then the small degree of burning anger, <because it is so infinitesimally small and [lasts but] a moment>, certainly cannot be felt. The concealment of His countenance also goes unrecognized.

7Even so, when the evolution of the burning anger reaches the tzaddikim, they then hide their faces from the world, and refuse to lead the world. And because the burning anger is only an infinitesimally small fraction of a moment, they do not attribute the concealment of their faces to the wrath. Rather, they attribute the concealment of their faces to their own inconsequentiality. They make themselves as “remnants” and maintain that they are unfit to lead the world. In truth, they too are unaware of and don’t feel the burning anger, it being so infinitesimally small.

8Thus, when Moshe downplayed his ability to go to Egypt and become a leader, <and said> (Exodus 3:11), “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”—it is <later> written (ibid. 4:14), “God’s anger burned in Moshe.” The meaning is as follows: this downplaying, that he did not want to be a leader, was due to God’s burning anger which evolved into Moshe, as explained.

9Nevertheless, when the wrath and burning anger are mitigated through mercy, then the mercy also mitigates the burning anger which is in the tzaddikim. They are then overcome with [feelings of] mercy and take pity on the world. They are reconciled to its supervision and take upon themselves the authority of leadership. And with this mercy they lead the world, as in (Isaiah 49:10), “For he that has mercy on them shall lead them.” From this we can conclude that this mercy is their crown—it ennobles them with the quality of dominion and leadership.

10And this is:

11this basket into which jewels and pearls had been set — Basket, as Rashbam explains, is an argaz (a chest). [The word] aRGaZ corresponds to the RoGeZ (wrath) mentioned earlier. “Jewels” corresponds to the crown/mercy mentioned above.

12Surrounding it were fish of the type called BiRSha — This alludes to faith, as in the teaching (Megillah 10a): “‘In place of the thorn will sprout a B ’RoSh ’ (a cypress tree) (Isaiah 55:13) —this is Mordekhai.” He is called a Jew <because he believed in God and> denied idolatry, as in the teaching (ibid. 13a): “Anyone who rejects idolatry is called a Jew.”