Tzama Nafshi in English - Parshas Yisro
ה’’תשע
Transcribed
and translated from previous recordings of
HaRav
Eliezer Berland Shlit”a
“And Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” (19:2)
Why is “encamped” written here in the Hebrew singular form? Rashi
explains: “As one person with one heart” – i.e. they went together, united as
one. In Parshas Beshalach, when referring to the Egyptians it says, “And Egypt
followed them in pursuit” (using the singular form), Rashi says a similar
explanation, only in reversed order: “With one heart as one person.” Why is it
that when referring to the the Egyptians, Rashi chooses to state first the
heart and then the body, whereas in the case of Am Yisrael (the Jewish
People), he chose to state first the body and only then the heart? Is this to
say that we are so connected to our bodies? Are the people of Israel tied to
materialism? Are the other Nations people of heart and spirit? On the contrary!
We are a nation of ‘heart’ and they are nations of the ‘body’!
The book, “Ma’ayanah Shel Torah - The Well of the Torah,” answers this
perplexity and explains that the meaning of “one heart” in the verse regarding
the Egyptians, refers to their ‘special’ desire, the desire that unites
together all of the nations of the world, which is the desire to kill and
annihilate Am Yisrael. That is the one thing that unites them! That is
the meaning of “one heart”. It doesn’t mean they have a heart; they have no
heart at all! They are completely heartless! However, they share a desire - one
desire, one purpose. There are no disputes or differences of opinions when it
comes to this mutual purpose. They all look forward to the return of
“Auschwitz”. All of the nations are just waiting to see who will succeed in
killing off the Jewish people. That is the “one heart” of all of the nations of
the world, without any exceptions whatsoever. With regards to Am Yisrael, the
meaning is entirely different. Am Yisrael are one! They are one body! All of
the Jews are one person! That is the reality! We are all one! Am Yisrael is one
person containing 248 limbs and 365 sinews! Every person is a part of that one
body, a limb; one person can be part of the head, while another is part of the
arm, one is part of the foot while another can be a finger, a vein or the skin,
etc. They are all a part of that one body.
Am Yisrael is the living meaning of “unity”. The Jews are one body, one
soul! No person in the world would willingly part with any limb of his body,
not a finger nor even the nail of his pinkie! Nothing at all! If a person were
to approach another and ask, “How bad would it be if we cut off part of your
finger? It wouldn’t be so terrible to lose just a third of your finger, would
it? What do you need it for, anyway?” The reply would unquestionably be, “No
way! I’m not prepared for you to cut off even a speck of my finger!” The same
applies to Am Yisrael; no Jew is dispensable. We must all love every
single Jew with all our heart and all our soul.
The Rebbe of Vorkin comments on the verse, “And Israel encamped there”
and explains that the Jews that came out of Egypt had an immense love for each
other. They recognized the beauty and grace in each other (translators comment:
grace in Hebrew is “chen” and in the literature the Torah says, “Vayachon”
which means “And they encamped”, however the root of “vayachon” is also
“chen” – i.e. grace), and conceded to one another. They saw and
acknowledged the uniqueness in each other - their virtue, their greatness and
righteousness. Each person felt that the holiness and righteousness of every
other Jew had by far exceeded his own; that is the meaning of “And Israel
encamped there.”
“As one man!” Every Jew cared deeply for the other and truly wanted the
others to be happy and successful! They wanted only the best for each other! The
love and special feelings they had towards each other was what enabled them to
receive the Holy Torah.
Our purpose in this world is to observe the commandment of “Ahavas
Yisrael; to love each other and be united as one! We must nullify ourselves to
that reality! Every person must feel the suffering of his brethren and try to
sense what is causing them pain. We must make sure not to do anything that can
hurt people or cause them any type of grief. We should love every Jew with all
our hearts and all our souls and never speak against anyone! Even if a Jew is
causing you the most terrible suffering and troubles and even if he beats you,
you must not fail [in your responsibility to love him]! Don’t respond! Don’t
say one word! Am Yisrael is one body; they are one person! If you
accidentally hurt yourself, G-d forbid, would you then hate the limb of your
body that wounded the other limb? Of course not! You must realize that the Jew
(who hurt you) is the diamond in the crown of Hashem Yisborach! After all, that
Jew dons Tefillin every morning, keeps Shabbos, learns Torah and wakes up to
learn at chatzos (midnight). You should know that the purpose of the
slander that he speaks about you is to sweeten the Heavenly judgment against
you! It atones for all of your sins! It moulds you into a vessel with which to
receive the Torah.
When a person lacks love for his fellow Jews, he cannot grow to any
higher spiritual levels. The Torah itself spiritually burns the person because
the only vessel with which one can accept the Torah is “ahavas chinam”
– unconditional love. You must understand that the first priority of a person
who is truly connected to the way of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov is that he has love
of his fellow Jew, only once he loves every Jew with his heart and soul can he
merit understanding the Rebbe! He will merit drawing the greatness and the
essence of the Rebbe’s teachings down into this world.
People have plenty of strength to go out and work for 24 hours a day in
order to sustain their family and that just proves that they have enough
strength to give their very lives for the sake of another Jew. A person becomes
an existing reality only in as much as he is obsorbed in the Jewish people as a
collective! The expression “I” doesn’t exist at all! I am only a reality
if I am able to nullify myself for the sake of another, everyone is a
single existence, one soul, there is no such a thing as “alone”. There is no
“one”. If a person becomes “one”, he has cut himself off from the rest, in
which case, he is nullified; it’s as though he doesn’t exist at all! When does
a person become “me”? Only when he is capable of sacrificing his own life for
the sake of others, for the only reality is that of the Jewish people
collectively and of Hashem Yisborach. There are no individuals! Anything that
is individual is nullified and non-existent; it is just a figment of
imagination. The essence of the Torah and the mitzvos and the essence of a
Jew is giving; giving to other people, giving to everyone! When a person
separates himself from the klal (the Jewish people collectively) and is
only concerned with himself, he becomes a non-reality. He has wiped himself
off the face of the planet! A person becomes existent, he becomes a reality
only according to the way he includes himself within the klal and within
Hashem. The only reality is to be included within the klal and Hashem.
That is the only reality! Every person must know that whenever he thinks only
about himself and has no concern for others, he is simply non-existent!
Contrarily, when he forgets about his own needs in his concern about others, he
loves everyone and doesn’t speak against any other Jew and only thinks about
the klal and about Hashem - then he exists!
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