Likutei Moharan, Part II 7:14/ליקוטי מוהר"ן·תנינא ז׳:י״ד

114. This is the explanation of:

2Maaseh (There is a story) about Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua travelling by sefinah (ship). Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping, and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake. Rabbi Yehoshua trembled and Rabbi Eliezer woke up. “Mah (What) is this, Yehoshua?” he asked him. “Why did you tremble?” “I saw a great light in the sea,” he answered. “Perhaps it was the eyes of Leviathan that you saw,” he said. “For it is stated: Its eyes are like the glimmer of the dawn” (Bava Batra 74b) .

3Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua— This is the concept of son and disciple.

4Rabbi Eliezer is the concept of son, whose insight is mah, as in “Mah did you see?…,” as in “for no human shall see Me and live” and “no eye has seen it but You, O Lord,” as discussed above. This alludes to Rabbi Eliezer, because [the letters that spell] ELIEZeR are the first letters of Ayin Lo Raatah Elohim Zulatekha Yaaseh (“no eye has seen it but You, O Lord, Who acts”), which is the concept of son, as discussed above.

5Rabbi Yehoshua is the concept of disciple, whose insight is “the whole earth is filled with His glory,” as in “I beheld the Lord.” This is the insight of those who dwell below. One has to rouse and waken them so that they do not give up on themselves, as in “awake and sing out, you who dwell in the dust,” as discussed above. And, one has to show them that “the whole earth is filled with His glory.” This alludes to Rabbi Yehoshua, because [the letters that spell] YeHOShuA are the first letters of “May Your dead come to life, may my corpses Yekumun; Hakitzu V’ranenu Shokhnei Ahfar (arise; awake and sing out, you who dwell in the dust).”

6And Moshe Rabbeinu signifies the sage of the generation who enlightens both son and disciple, as discussed above. He therefore had a son whose name was Eliezer, and a disciple whose name was Yehoshua. Moshe’s son Eliezer is the aspect of the aforementioned Rabbi Eliezer the Great, as the Midrash notes on the verse (Exodus 18:4), “And the name of the one was Eliezer”—the one and the only (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:7). For Moshe Rabbeinu requested that Rabbi Eliezer be among his descendants, and so it was.

7This is: Maaseh about Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua….

8MaASeH— is MaH ShA, as is brought in the writings [of the Ari, of blessed memory]. This alludes to the makifim, which are the ShA (370) lights of the Light of the Face, the concept of mah, as discussed above. This is:

9they were travelling by sefinah— That is, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, the concept of son and disciple, were travelling in the Sea of Wisdom, in which the lights of the makifim are revealed. This is the meaning of SeFiNah, which connotes SaFuN (hidden) and concealed. It alludes to the makifim, which are hidden and concealed from all sight {the concept of “How abundant is Your good that You have stored away for those who fear You,” as discussed above}. And this is the meaning of “She is like the ships of a socher (merchant)” (Proverbs 31:14)—i.e., s’chor s’chor (round and round), the concept of makifim / sefinah.

10And this is: Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping, and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake. The insight of Rabbi Eliezer/son is the concept of sleep, corresponding to “no eye has seen it…,” and to mah, as in “Mah did you see?…” But the insight of Rabbi Yehoshua/disciple/those who dwell below is the concept of awake, corresponding to “I beheld the Lord,” and to “the whole earth is filled with His glory,” and to “awake and sing out, you who dwell in the dust.” This is the meaning of “Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake.”

11Rabbi Yehoshua trembled and Rabbi Eliezer woke up.

12Rabbi Yehoshua trembled— This alludes to meshing together son and disciple. It is necessary for the son to mesh with the disciple, to reveal the disciple’s insight to the son, in order that he possess fear of God, as discussed above. And this is:

13and Rabbi Eliezer woke up— In other words, Rabbi Eliezer, who signifies son/sleep, is incorporated into the disciple, whose insight is the concept of awake.

14“Mah (What) is this, Yehoshua?” he asked him— Specifically mah, the insight of a son, who is the concept of mah. This alludes to meshing together disciple and son. It is necessary for the disciple to mesh with the son, who is the concept of mah, in order that [the disciple] possess fear of God, as discussed above. This is “mah (what) does God your Lord ask of you? Only that you fear [Him]” (Deuteronomy 10:12). Specifically “mah,” because he has to mesh with the concept of mah in order to possess fear. This is: “Mah is this, Yehoshua?” In other words, Rabbi Eliezer brought Rabbi Yehoshua to the insight of mah, so that Rabbi Yehoshua, the disciple, meshes with the son, as discussed above.

15“Why did you tremble?” “I saw a great light in the sea,” he answered— He saw a great light in the Sea of Wisdom.

16“Perhaps it was the eyes of Leviathan that you saw,” he said— “Leviathan” alludes to Malkhut, the concept of “this Leviathan that You formed to sport with. All of them look to You…,” as discussed above. In other words, he answered him that he had seen Leviathan’s eyes—i.e., that Malkhut collects and gathers all the trust of all the people in the world, whose eyes are looking and hoping for livelihood. Malkhut /Leviathan gathers all this trust and enters with it into the Sea of Wisdom in order to receive the livelihood from there. It was because of this that “Rabbi Yehoshua trembled,” for fear of God had come over him as a result of his having entered the Sea of Wisdom where Malkhut, which had come to receive livelihood, is revealed. This is “the eyes of Leviathan,” which brings to fear of God, for Malkhut is the source of this fear, as discussed above.