{"id":264581,"date":"2007-12-25T19:42:25","date_gmt":"2007-12-25T19:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/%d7%9c%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%a7%d7%98%d7%92%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%94\/within-the-suffering\/"},"modified":"2024-08-22T13:54:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T10:54:09","slug":"within-the-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/264581\/","title":{"rendered":"Within The Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
When Pharaoh\u2019s astrologers told him that the redeemer of Israel was soon to be born, he issued a decree that every male, Hebrew child to be born should be thrown into the Nile.  This decree lasted some eighty-three years (Pirkei d\u2019Rabbi Eliezer<\/i>, chapter 48). Hundreds of thousands of Jewish children were killed.  Finally the astrologers told Pharaoh, \u201cToday the redeemer of Israel has been born.  However we do not know if he is the son of an Egyptian or of a Hebrew.\u201d  Therefore, Pharaoh commanded that even the children of his own nation be drowned, for perhaps the redeemer was one of them.  Thus the verse states:  \u201cAnd Pharaoh commanded all his<\/i><\/b> <\/i>people, saying, every son that is born you shall cast into the river\u201d (Shemot 1:22, see Rashi on this verse<\/i>).<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Despite all this, providence decreed that Moshe (Moses) grow up in Pharaoh\u2019s very house, on his very lap!  The Midrash relates that Batya, Pharaoh\u2019s beloved daughter, was afflicted with leprosy, a disease for which there was no known remedy.  But the minute she lifted baby Moshe out of the Nile, she was cured (Pirkei d\u2019Rabbi Eliezer, <\/i>ibid).  Pharaoh was afraid that if he killed Moshe, his daughter\u2019s leprosy would return.  Since there was nothing the king wouldn\u2019t do for her recovery, he took Moshe and raised him in his own home.  Instead of Moshe fearing Pharaoh, Pharaoh was afraid of Moshe.  God hid Moshe precisely in the lap of his greatest enemy, who had slaughtered hundreds of thousand of children on his account, even his own people! <\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This is how God\u2019s mysterious hand works.  Sometimes a person feels that he is about to drown in a sea of problems.  It doesn\u2019t occur to him that God can send him deliverance in the midst of his troubles.  \u201cWithin the suffering, show us deliverance and relief,” we plead. (Slichot<\/i> prayers)  From the heart of the suffering itself, the deliverance will sprout forth.  As Rebbe Nachman said, \u201cThere are times when God turns everything around for the good\u201d (Likutey Eitzot<\/i>:  Encouragement 36) [Editor Note<\/em>: in English Advice<\/a><\/span><\/i>].<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Encouragement vs. Admonition<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
On the surface, encouragement and admonition seem to be opposites.  Admonition is a direct command that we must take account of our lives.  It tells us that we are not acting properly; that we must change our ways and return to God.  In contrast, encouragement inspires a person, assuring him that he still has hope and that he must not give up his efforts.  Even if he has sinned, he can still come close to God, for God desires his repentance and loves him like a father loves an only son.  <\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The truth is, encouragement itself is the greatest form of admonition.  Encouragement doesn\u2019t mean patting oneself on the back, as if to say,   \u201cThings are no so bad.  Everything is fine.  Continue as before,\u201d without feeling the need to improve oneself.  It doesn\u2019t mean covering up one\u2019s sins, or imply that a person can simply follow the whims of his heart and desires.  Absolutely not!  The whole point of encouragement is to reveal the potential in every Jew to subdue the evil inclination and to come closer to God.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Revealing the Inner Good<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There is a portion of God in every single Jew; a deep desire to be close to his Maker.  But one must deal with the \u201cleaven in the dough\u201d (A term for the evil inclination. Brochot <\/i>17a); the downswings and despair that can attack a person daily.  The same evil inclination that first entices a person to sin later tortures that person with depression because of the act he committed.  It causes him to lose hope and pushes him away from holiness, until he feels that he will never be able to return.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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But when a person receives a bit of encouragement, no matter how low he may be, if he hears that all hope is not lost, and that God sits and waits for him to return, then the goodness hidden in his heart is aroused, and the evil disappears.  With this new-found strength, he can run with tremendous longing to God, like one of the greatest tzaddikim.  Really, it was only the hopelessness that obscured his thoughts of returning to God.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This means that the best way to admonish a person is to reveal to him his hidden good.  Only this will prevent him from sinning, and inspire him to return to God.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Story of Rabbi Akiva<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We find this lesson in the life of Rabbi Akiva.  The Arizal writes that until Rabbi Akiva was forty years old, he had such evil buried in him that he could neither return to God, nor study Torah.  It never occurred to him that he had the potential to become the great \u201cRabbi Akiva\u201d.  This holy potential was buried under a thick mantle of depression and despair that did not allow him to even dream of what he could achieve.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Talmud relates that one day, while tending his flock, Rabbi Akiva came upon a stone that had been pierced through by drops of water from a spring.  \u201cIf water can penetrate this stone,\u201d he thought, \u201csurely the Torah can penetrate my heart\u201d (Avot d\u2019Rabbi Nosson<\/i> 6:2, Succah<\/i> 52a.  The evil inclination is called a stone, as the verse says, \u201cI will remove from you your heart of stone: <Yechezkel 36:26>).  Rabbi Akiva accepted upon himself the yoke of Torah, which is compared to water.  Thus, he weakened the rock-like force of the evil inclination that had completely convinced him that all was lost. <\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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It was not forceful, admonishing words that changed Rabbi Akiva\u2019s life.  It was the simple reassurance that hope was not lost.  Each drop of Torah caused the goodness in him to shine brighter and brighter until the evil disappeared completely, just as the water eroded the stone.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Rabbi Akiva\u2019s desire to return to God was incredibly powerful.  For forty years a pure spirit burned within him, a Divine spark that demanded him to become great, but bitterness and negativity stood in the way.  His enthusiasm could not overcome his despair.  However, the very moment he realized what he could achieve, he overcame all the evil within him.  With the passing of time, his awesome holiness was revealed.  He was transformed and became the leader of his generation, of whom Moshe said to God, \u201cIf You have such a man as this, why are You giving the Torah through me?!\u201d (Menochot<\/i> 29b)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Revealing the Goodness<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Talmud tells an amazing story about how Rebbe Yehuda HaNasi brought Reb Yosi ben R. Eliezer back to the path of repentance (for he had fallen very far).  What did Rebbe do?  He ordained Reb Yosi and gave him the title “Rabbi\u201d.  This was meant to encourage him (Bava Metzia<\/i> 85a).  Rav Tzaddok HaKohen writes:  \u201cIt was not a lie to call him Rabbi because, when Reb Yosi\u2019s greatness was eventually revealed, it became obvious that it had existed there from the beginning, only it had been hidden.  (Tzidkot HaTzaddik<\/i> 113) (31)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Just a Little, and There Will Be No Wicked<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rebbe Nachman commented on the verse, \u201cJust a little bit and the wicked will be gone\u201d (Tehillim<\/i> 37:10<\/i>), that if we judge a person favorable, and find some little bit of good within him, we can arouse him to do teshuva<\/i>.  The good will outshine the evil.  Then, \u201cYou will consider his place, and he will be no more\u201d (ibid<\/i>).  That is, no more as he was, for he will have become and entirely different person, completely good (Likutey Moharan<\/i> I:282).<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Spark that Became a Flame<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I saw an amazing story about the great chassidic Master, Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, the Apter Rebbe.  In a Polish city not far from his own there lived a Jewish apostate.  This Jew had become very powerful, and was actually one of the king\u2019s advisors.  However, in his heart he harbored a burning hatred towards his own people which led him to afflict the Jews of his own province mercilessly.  If the king called an assembly of noblemen to discuss the welfare of his citizens, this Jew-hater would besmirch the Jews using every possible means.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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It happened during one of these meetings that another of the noblemen, also a Jew-hater, began to slander the Jews.  He described to the king how, in one of his cities, a gentile woman had mysteriously disappeared on her way to draw water.  This happened on the eve of Pesach when the Jewish People were busy baking their matzos.  After a thorough search, it was discovered that the Jews were responsible for the disappearance of the young woman.  They had murdered her and used her blood in their matzos.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The king and his advisors were aghast.  In their anger, they decided to issue and edict against all the Jews of the country.  The document was prepared and passed around the table for the noblemen to sign.  When it came the apostate\u2019s turn to sign, he paused.  For some mysterious reason a pure spirit entered into him and, instead of enthusiastically joining the rest, he stood up and declared that he too was a Jew, and that the entire accusation was absurd.  Eating blood was one of the most despicable acts to the Jewish People.  He knows this because he grew up among them and is familiar with their every custom.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The honesty of his words immediately placated the king and his advisors, especially since they had always known him to be a sworn enemy of the Jews.  His words had a ring of truth to them, and so the edict was dropped completely.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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After this incident, a holy fire began to burn in this apostate\u2019s heart.  The great mitzvah of saving countless Jewish lives ignited a hidden spark, and he began to yearn for his people, for God and for Torah.  Yet repentance seemed impossible.  He had long since abandoned his faith and was deeply entrenched in the gentile world.  His breach seemed irreparable, and hope seemed lost.  Nonetheless, he decided to travel to the Rabbi of Opte: perhaps he could help him find a way to return.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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That same night, with a broken heart, the apostate arrived at the home of the Apter Rav.  When the tzaddik saw this well known Jew-hater at his door, he became concerned.  What new evil was this oppressor scheming?  Seeking to avoid him, the Apter Rav claimed that he was too tired to receive anyone at that time of night.  However, the apostate refused to leave and begged the Rav to let him speak.  But the tzaddik had already made up his mind.  He ordered his servant to remove the man.  \u201cWhen my walking-stick sprouts grass, I\u2019ll listen to him!\u201d he declared.  At those very words, the walking stick besides his chair began to sprout grass!  The tzaddik was amazed.  He called the apostate back into his house and gave him permission to speak.  With a broken heart, the man immediately related the entire chain of events, and announced that he wanted to repent and abandon his evil ways.  He begged the Apter Rav to help him do teshuva<\/i>.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Apter Rav agreed to work on his spiritual rectification.  The apostate was to remain in Apte.  The Rebbe sent a message to the Rav of the Jew\u2019s city, requesting that he keep them informed of any changes in the apostate\u2019s house.  Then he gave the apostate a path of repentance that he should start to observe immediately.   Two weeks passed and the Rav of the city wrote to the Apter Rav informing him that the apostate\u2019s house and all his belongings had been destroyed in a fire.  Nothing of his previous life remained.  The Apter Rav immediately informed him that his repentance was accepted and that he could now return to the Jewish community and build his life again.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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We see that even an apostate, who had already sinned countless times, still had a pure Jewish soul.  His one mitzvah aroused the unbreakable point and he remembered that no matter what, he was still a Jew, bound to God and Torah.  One mitzvah led to another, until he abandoned his evil ways and returned to his people.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Smell of His Garments \u2013 His \u201cTraitors\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
On the verse: \u201cAnd he smelled the scent of his garments \u2013 B\u2019GaDi <\/i>(Bereishit 27:27<\/i>), the Talmud comments:  \u201cHe smelled the scent of his traitors \u2013 BoGDiM<\/i>.\u201d  That is, even the sinners of Israel retain a good smell that enables them to return in teshuva<\/i> (See Rashi on this verse, based on Sanhedrin<\/i> 37a).<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Talmud tells the story of Yosi Mashisa.  During the destruction of Jerusalem, the Romans sought to enter the Temple.  \u201cLet one of the Jewish traitors themselves enter,\u201d they said, \u201cand be the first to desecrate their sacred vessels.\u201d  They told Yosi Mashisa that, if he went in, he could keep whatever he found.  He entered, and came out with the golden Menorah.  \u201cThis is not for the likes of you,\u201d the Romans told him, and took it away.  \u201cGo in again, and take whatever you want.\u201d  However, he refused to enter a second time.  They promised him the taxes of the entire city for the next three years if he would reenter, but he still refused.  \u201cIsn\u2019t it enough that I angered God once,\u201d he said, \u201cmust I anger Him again?!\u201d  So the Romans tied him to a thick plank and sawed him through.  \u201cOy!  Oy!  Oy!\u201d he cried, \u201cthat I angered my God!\u201d (Bereishit Rabbah<\/i> 65:18).<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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How powerful is the inner spark of a Jew, that even a sinner like Yosi Mashisa, wicked enough to enter the Temple and remove the Menorah, did such complete repentance that he cried out with his last strength, \u201cOy, that I angered God!\u201d  About those like him it was said, \u201cAnd he smelled the smell of his traitors.\u201d  How very wonderful and pleasant is that smell\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sanctifying His Name<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I heard this story in the name of the Chofetz Chaim (heard from Rabbi Ezriel Peterson, of Lithuania).  It happened in one of the cities in Lithuania that the king issued a decree of forced conversion against the Jews.  Everyone was required to hang a cross on the front-door of his home, and failure to do so was punishable by death.  Among the citizens was a certain non-religious Jew, a pharmacist by profession, who had never shown any trace of Jewish identity.  But when that edict was issued, his Jewish soul woke up and he decided not to obey.  His gentile maidservant, who knew the punishment for not complying, begged him to fulfill the order of the king, but he refused to listen.  She even offered to do it herself, just so he should live, but he would not permit it.  He would rather die, he declared, than worship a false god.  Eventually, he was caught and executed.  This resulted in a tremendous sanctification of God\u2019s Name in public.  Everyone realized the preciousness of a Jewish soul, even when concealed in the depths of impurity.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Power of a Jewish Soul<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I heard this story from an old man, a God-fearing Jew from Germany named Tuvia Guttman.  He loved mitzvot and always prayed with sunrise minyan.  He told me a story that happened in Germany when he was young.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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There was a certain Jew who was very estranged from Judaism.  He was an extremely wealthy man, who had filled his extensive properties with gardens and orchards, and devoted his entire life to physical pleasure.  One day, his wife gave birth to a son.  However, despite the offers of the Jewish community to provide a mohel<\/i>, he refused to have the child circumcised.  He rejected this mitzvah which even the non-religious observe.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A short time later, his son died.  But, because he was uncircumcised, the burial society refused to give him a plot in the Jewish cemetery, and the father was forced to bury him in one of his gardens.  That same night, the child came to him in a dream and begged his father to have the circumcision performed. Every single night this dream would repeat itself, and every single day, whenever the father lay down to rest, his son would appear to him.  Finally, he could bear it no longer.  He went to the burial society and asked them to fulfill the wish of the departed.  They opened the grave and circumcised the child according to law.  From then on, the son stopped coming to him in his dreams, and his mind was at ease.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This father was an avowed sinner.  And yet the Jewish spark hidden in him eventually revealed itself in his son.  An amazing spiritual potential is buried within every Jew, even when he is far from his Father in Heaven.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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(Used with permission from the author. From the book “In all my Ways<\/strong>” Keren Ohr Publications)<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Pharaoh\u2019s astrologers told him that the redeemer of Israel was soon to be born, he issued a decree that every male, Hebrew child to be born should be thrown into the Nile.  This decree lasted some eighty-three years (Pirkei d\u2019Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 48). Hundreds of thousands of Jewish children were killed.  Finally the astrologers … Continue reading “Within The Suffering”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62109,"featured_media":1416520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[15186],"tags":[20992,26206,20677,16552,20711,16395],"author_post":[14334],"new_serie":[],"class_list":["post-264581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth","tag-divine-providence","tag-pharaoh","tag-rebbe-akiva","tag-teshuva","tag-suffering","tag-trials","author_post-rabbi-yaakov-meir-shechter"],"acf":{"intro_text":"

This is how God\u2019s mysterious hand works. Sometimes a person feels that he is about to drown in a sea of problems. It doesn\u2019t occur to him...<\/p>\n","breslev_id":"1973","post_views_count":"214","updatetime":"01\/01\/0001","special_content_in_the_post":"none","meta_title":"Within The Suffering","meta_description":"This is how God\u2019s mysterious hand works. Sometimes a person feels that he is about to drown in a sea of problems. It doesn\u2019t occur to him...","paragraph_first":"","paragraph_second":"","youtube":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264581"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4846631,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264581\/revisions\/4846631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1416520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264581"},{"taxonomy":"author_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_post?post=264581"},{"taxonomy":"new_serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_serie?post=264581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}