Zohar and Rebbe Nachman on Learning Torah

Heavenly GPS

If even the worst sinner would take upon himself a set practice to study a fixed amount of Torah every day, he would be able to escape from the ensnarement of evil…

By: Yehoshua Goldstein Update date: 2/9/2016, 19:28

We all know that when you need to get around in this world, there are navigation software programs such as GPS and Waze where you can simply type in the address and be guided to your destination. But what will be in the next world, after the soul is separated from the body and you can’t use your little phone machine anymore to give you directions? How will you then know how to get around?

In the Zohar Parashat Vayishlach (175 b) we are given the answer…

Rebbe Yehuda opened and said, “For the ways of Hashem are straight (Hoshea 14)” – All the ways of The Holy on Blessed be He are all straight and ways of truth, and people do not know and do not pay attention to what they have available for themselves. This is the intent of the verse, “And the Tzaddikim go in them,” for the Tzaddikim know the ways of The Holy One Blessed be He and they toil in the Torah. For all those who toil in the Torah, they know how to go in those ways (of Hashem), and they do not err to the right or to the left. “And the sinners stumble in them,” these are the evil ones who do not toil in the Torah and do not look into the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He, and they do not know to which destinations these ways lead. And since they do not know to look into and toil in the Torah, they stumble in their ways in this world and also in the next world.

Come and see, each person who toiled in the Torah, when he leaves this world, his soul will be able to ascend along those very same ways and paths of the Torah. Those ways and paths of the Torah will be known to him. Those that know the ways of the Torah in this world will be able to travel along them also in the next world, after they leave this world.

And if one did not make efforts in the Torah in this world, and is unfamiliar with its ways and paths. When he leaves this world, he will not know how to travel on those ways and paths in the next world, and he will stumble in them. Then he will travel on other ways that are not the ways of the Torah and there will be aroused upon him many judgements and he will suffer on account of them.

And someone who does toil in the Torah, what is written in his regard?

“When you lie down it will guard you and when you awaken it will be your conversation (Mishlei 6).” When you lie down – In the grave, the Torah will guard you from judgements in the next world. When you wake up – When the Holy One Blessed be He will arouse the souls to revive the dead, the Torah will be the defending agent for your body, to ensure that your body who toiled in the Torah will also receive the merit to return from the dead. And these bodies will have priority in returning from the dead and will merit eternal life since they toiled in eternal life which is the Torah.

Let’s have a look now at a few short conversations of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev recorded by his follower Rebbe Natan in the book ‘Sichot HaRan’ which we can use to help us further understand this piece of Zohar.

Sichot #28: Attempt to go through all of our sacred books in the course of your lifetime. You will have then visited every place in the Torah.

The very rich constantly travel from land to land. They spend huge amounts just so that they should be able to boast that they have been to some faraway place… You should likewise travel everywhere in the Torah. In the Future Life you will then be able to boast that you have visited every place in our sacred literature. At that time, you will also remember everything that you have ever learned.

Sichot #26: In the future, G-d will make every person remember everything he ever learned, even if it was forgotten during his lifetime.

Sichot #23: If a person lacks clothing in this world, others can take up a collection and buy it for him. Such pity is impossible in the Future World. The clothing one needs in the Future World is Torah and good deeds, and these cannot be given as charity. (The Rebbe explains that people will try to offer food and clothing to those crying and suffering in the next world and how they will respond) No! No! We cannot use such food. What we need is the food of Torah and devotion. (And) No! Such clothing is absolutely useless to us. We need Mitzvot and good deeds to cover ourselves with.

The Rebbe then said, “Happy is he who is worthy of eating many chapters of Mishnah, drinking a number of Psalms, and clothing himself with some good deeds.”

Lastly for one who feels that he simply cannot learn Torah because of his great many sins and because of the improper way he has been leading his life up to now, the Rebbe had this to say, Sichot #19: I have a great longing to institute a rule that each person study a fixed amount in our sacred literature each day without fail.

He said that this should even apply to those who are very far from holiness, even those who are caught in the evil trap and sin habitually, heaven forbid. Still, the strength of the Torah is so great that it can free them from their habitual sins.

If even the worst sinner would take upon himself a set practice to study a fixed amount every day, he would be able to escape from the evil trap. The Torah’s strength is so great that it can accomplish everything.

Hashem, please help me merit to make the learning of Torah a fixed practice in my life. May I be consistent in it and never miss a day of my fixed amount of learning. May the power of the Torah that I learn help guide me along the right path in life and may it also help me free myself of all my bad character traits and desires to sin.

May it be my food and clothing in the next world and may it guide me along to all sorts of wonderful delights in the Future World, which no eye has ever seen.

(Leilui Nishmat Shmuel ben Baruch HaLevi A”H and all the other passed on souls of Am Yisrael)

From Breslev Israel, here.

Moshe Feiglin, Identitarian

Why Zehut? By Moshe Feiglin

Feb-04-2013
Because at the root of Israel’s woes is the question, “Who are we?”

Because the great debates, the essential rifts, the real challenges that we face – all revolve around the question of Israel’s identity.

The answers being offered in Israel in the face of the diplomatic/security challenge do not deal with security or peace. They deal with Israel’s identity.

The answers being offered in Israel in the face of the economic/social challenge do not weigh social justice against economic effectiveness. They deal with Israel’s identity.

And the answers being offered in Israel in the face of the religion and state challenge do not deal with religion or state. They deal with Israel’s identity.

The initiators of Oslo and the Expulsion from Gush Katif continue to claim that their intention was – and still is – to bring peace and security. Despite the fact that they brought just the opposite.

Those who push the economy toward more and more government interference pretend to be fighting poverty. Despite the fact that capitalistic countries always suffer less poverty.

“For me, Oslo means being able to forget that I am a Jew,” explained authoress Dorit Rabinian when the Accords were signed. The challenge of peace and security were never the reason. They were the means to the end; the end that would allow their proponents to forget that they were Jews.

The same is true for economics and the religion-state debate. All the sides are hiding behind the masks of different values that have nothing to do with the real reason. For the Left, it is not about Peace. It is about their desire to forget and be ‘normal’. For the Right, it is not about security. It is about settling the Land of Israel. For the Socialists, it is not about concern for the poor. It is about waging war against the rich. And for the Religious, it is not about religion. It is about influence and power.

So if the arena upon which we are waging our battles is not the security, economic, social or religious arena, what is the true arena?

The true arena is the Jewish identity arena. Zehut (Identity) is the political party that removes all the masks and speaks the truth. Zehut is not a party for religious or secular. Zehut is not about Right or Left. We do not care how you define yourself and what is more important to you: Education, human rights, the Land of Israel, economy, ecology, peace or security. As long as you are part of the large Jewish majority that wants to remember that we are Jews – your place is with us.

From Manhigut Yehudit [Defunct].

The State Just Granted Itself Further Liberties

Another Israeli State Law to be Used Against Jews

Monday, February 08, 2016

כ”ט לחודש האחד עשר תשע”ו

Think this is good thing? A great way to crack down on Arab terror attacks? Guess again.

YNET: ‘Stop-and-frisk’ bill gets final approval

Knesset passes bill permitting police to conduct body searches with probable cause; wording softened from previous version, but some fear that minorities will be unfairly targeted.

Omri Efraim, 02.02.16

A Knesset plenum approved on Monday night the “stop-and-frisk law” proposed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, which expands law enforcement’s authority to conduct searches. The law permits police officers to search someone’s body and belongings if there is a reasonable suspicion that he may be about to commit violence, or in the event that he uses threatening or violent language.

The bill permits police to search anyone in a group believed to be suspicious. Police will only be able to conduct weapons searches in certain places in accordance with the law, or in the event that there reasonable suspicion of someone carrying a weapon.

Furthermore, the law will allow the chief of a police district to designate a location in which there is suspicion of terrorist activity as a location where body searches are permitted in order to locate illegal weapons. This declaration would remain in effect temporarily and would be the result of heightened security.

The bill is essentially a softened version of the original, which was formulated by the Public Security Ministry and encountered widespread public opposition, including by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Attorney Avner Pinchuck, director of the association’s Civil and Political Rights Unit, said the bill originally allowed body searches without probable cause, “but the approved version threatens citizens no less.” Pinchuk argued that Ethiopian Israelis, Arabs, and darker-skinned Jews will remain vulnerable to harassment without any oversight. Indeed, the bill has raised fears of discrimination among Ethiopian Israelis and Arabs.

Minister Erdan, for his part, said passage of the law constitutes “an important boost to the police’s ability to more effectively fight terrorism and violence.”

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
The highlighted words and phrases above are all relative, if not completely subjective, the definitions of which will be selectively decided upon by the pawns of the Erev Rav controlled government.

This bill is the classic of governments worldwide, a response to terrorist attacks and other acts of violence. Governments use these events as excuses But, the ultimate goal is increased control over the populace. In Israel’s case, this contributes to the ultimate goal of shaping the country.

While the left has decried that this will be selectively enforced against Arabs. I believe that, in fact, the end result will quite the opposite. The targeting of those “settlers” and Haredim, who dare to hold Torah in a place of authority over the State, will be much easier now. The secular youth fed up with Arabs’ seduction and assault on our sisters, will be more easily “dealt with.”

The application of this law to the only real threat to our physically safety, the Arabs, will be seen by the public only minimally, just enough to keep the wool pulled over our eyes, maintaining our belief that this law is “for our own good.”

The Israeli Government is not nearly as concerned with the Arab threat, as it is with what it believes to be the existential threat to the State. Anyone who disagrees with its vision and direction for the Jewish People, assimilation into the global community of goyim, is high on its priority list.

And what about the rights of citizens based on the State’s own claim of being a democracy? In other words, expect the government to show us more examples of how it repeatedly breaks its own rules.

A friend of mine was once stripped naked in the middle of a group of female border patrol officers. Were his religious rights respected? No, they were not. And, yes, there are such a things. At least there are supposed to be.

We have also heard allegations of these rights of young religious women being violated in the Tirza prison, having been forced to appear in states of undress in front of male officers. However, reactions to these allegations by feminists and women’s rights advocates have conspicuously absent.

Enter additional proposed laws, the revocation of residency status of terrorists’ families, and/or the blowing up of their homes.

Not so long ago, a friend of mine was acquitted of “incitement to racism.” He was brought to trial for daring to suggest that we consider removing hostile (not all, but only hostile) Arabs from Azza (Gaza).

The so-called “right-wing” will undoubtedly being celebrating over these proposed laws. But, what happens when their children are labeled as terrorists, or even just suspected of violence or incitement? What happens when their own children become, or become confused with, the very hilltop youth they themselves make a hobby of demonizing?

Their tunes may change, but it will be too late.

From Esser Agaroth, here.

ספר משלי על עון השתיקה

אל תשתוק!

משלי כ”ד י’ – י”ב:

התרפית ביום צרה צר כחכה. הצל לקחים למות ומטים להרג אם תחשוך. כי תאמר הן לא ידענו זה הלא תכן לבות הוא יבין ונצר נפשך הוא ידע והשיב לאדם כפעלו.


דרך אגב, הזכרנו את המאמר לעיל גם ב”מדריך מעשי לשיחה עם אתאיסט”. כדי לקבל את המדריך המיוחד בחינם, הרשם לרשימת התפוצה שלנו כאן.