It's all about knowing how to listen, and learning how to climb the mountain!

"Vayishma Yisro.../And Yisro heard..." The obvious question arises, "What did Yisro hear that made him come running to Moshe to become a Jew? Rashi answers from the midrash. "He heard about the miracles of the splitting of the sea and the war with Amalek." Now just one second! Didn't we read in last weeks parasha "Shamu amim va'yirgizoo.../All the nations heard and trembled..."? Don't we know that every body of water around the world split? Everyone heard what had happened, so why was Yisro the only one to come running? The Ohr Gedalyahu says that Yisro is coming to teach us the power of listening. There is a word in Yidish "darher" which literally means to hear to listen, but really it means more than that it means to understand the meaning of what was said. It's like (l'havdil a billion havdalos!) that line from that movie "You can listen to Jimmy, but you can't hear Jimmy." Yes, all of the nations of the world heard what happened. Yes, all of the nations trembled when they heard what happened. But only Yisro "darheard", only Yisro understood the message. The message was, to come closer to Hashem so Yisro started running. Rav Yonasan Eibishutz says that the message isn't only one of listening, but in order to "darher" you have to humble yourself before the person that is talking. He goes on to say that had the brothers "darheard" Yosef then the whole story might not have happened and we could have gotten the Torah right away. Yisro wasn't a nebach looking for a new way of life. He was a priest, the leader of his people, a wealthy man who had everything going for him. But when he heard of all of the events that were happening to the Jews, he "darheard" and then humbled himself in front of his son-in-law of all people. There is a discussion as to when exactly this story took place, one opinion saying before Kabalas Ha'Torah and another after we received the Torah. According to what we just said it makes sense that it happened before, because in order to receive the Torah, in order to live the real good life, you have to be silent (like we said last week and I came across this same idea in the gemara {Megilla 18.} The best medicine is silence and a word is worth a selah and silence is worth 2) , you have to listen, and you have to humble yourself then you can get the Torah.

The following is quoted from www.breslov.com:

In this week's parasha, Hashem , witnessed by all of Israel, fulfilled the purpose of creation by giving the Torah. Moshe ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah and bring it back to the Jews. Why was it necessary for Moshe to climb a mountain to receive the Torah? Couldn't the Torah have been given by some other means? The fact that all of Israel watched Moshe climb up Mount Sinai on his way to receive the Torah and the fact that this was recorded in the Torah for all future generations to read, teaches us that coming close to Hashem and attaining true Torah values have something to do with climbing mountains. Based on the teachings of Rabbi Nachman and his chief disciple Rav Noson, let us together, climb some mountains of our own in exploring this topic.

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND TASTE OLAM HA'BAH

Rabbi Nachman taught that a person should always focus his attention on man's ultimate destination, Olam Ha'bah. In so doing, we draw the spiritual energies of complete goodness and bliss of Olam Ha'bah to ourselves, helping us diminish the suffering and pain of this world. This is because our thoughts are the mechanism through which spiritual energies are emitted and accessed. Rabbi Nachman says that drawing forth the spiritual energies of Olam Ha'bah is best accomplished with the eyes closed. The mind constantly draws to it spiritual energies from both this world and the upper worlds. When one closes his eyes, he blocks from his mind the energies of this world, which are filled with pain and sorrow. Then, the mind absorbs only the spiritual energies from the upper worlds, which resonate with joy and bliss and initiate healing of all of one's afflictions. Thus, for the brief time that an individual closes his eyes, he feels relief from his suffering, because he is somewhat connected to the bliss of Olam Ha'bah. However, when one reopens his eyes, he is greeted by an even stronger assault by the forces of evil, because they resent his attempt to outmaneuver them, to escape their grip in the realm of depression and suffering. This can be compared to two men fighting. When one sees that the other man is about to win, he fights even harder. [Note: The forces of evil are associated with and nourished by the spiritual energies of sadness and are repelled by the energies of joy associated Olam Ha'bah.] Rabbi Nachman says that the most effective means by which the forces of evil can be overcome is joyful Torah study, because Torah study connects our minds to the energies of the Olam Ha'bah, the realm of joy. (1 Lekutai MoHaran 65)

THE SLEEPING SOUL ASCENDS

During sleep, only a small fraction of the soul remains in the body, just enough to sustain it, while the majority ascends to the upper worlds. This is why when we sleep we are unconscious, almost lifeless. Through sleep, the soul becomes refreshed and revitalized. It ascends to the upper worlds where it basks in the spiritual energies of the hereafter. The holy Ari says that this is alluded to in the verse, "No [open human] eye had ever seen it [paradise--the reward of the world to come (Talmud: Berachot 34a), implying that people who close their eyes can see or experience the hereafter through their soul]." (Isaiah 64:3) When we sleep, our eyes are closed, "non-seeing," which the pasuk associates with Olam Ha'bah. The implication is that when we sleep, our souls ascend to Olam Ha'bah, where we temporarily escape the spiritual energies of harshness associated with the pain, suffering, and confusions of this world.

THIRST FOR THE WATERS OF TORAH

Hashem placed man in this world so that man would come to learn more about Hashem, and so that man could earn eternal reward by choosing to serve Hashem. In order to attach his mind, i.e. his essence, to Hashem, man must free himself from his constant struggle with his desires and from the mental confusions inflicted upon him by the forces of evil. This constant struggle wearies the soul. Therefore, Hashem created sleep, a safe haven through which the soul can become refreshed, so it can effectively continue in its struggle to attach itself to Hashem the following day. Without this respite, the soul would never be able to win its struggle, because the spiritual energies of harshness would eventually overwhelm the weakened and weary soul. Just as in the case of the aforementioned reopening the eyes, upon awakening in the morning, the forces of evil are there to greet the person with renewed and more intense ferocity, for as mentioned above, the forces of evil fight harder when they see that their intended victim tries to escape. This is why, by law, we are required to wash our hands three times alternately, immediately upon waking in the morning. Water accesses the energies of the Torah, which are associated with the joy of the hereafter, as the gemara (Taanis 7.) teaches, "Rebbe Chanina bar Idi said, '... the words of the Torah are compared to water, as it is written, 'Ho! Everyone that is thirsty, go to the water [the waters of the Torah]." (Isaiah 55:1) , and in yet another verse it says, "Behold, days are coming says Hashem, G-d, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Hashem." [The words of Hashem are in the Torah. Therefore, the verse implies that in the future, there will be thirst for Torah akin to thirst for water.] (Amos 8:11) As mentioned above, the waters of the Torah help diminish the power of the forces of evil.

A BRAND NEW TORAH EVERY DAY

When we sleep, our souls ascend to the upper worlds where they study Torah on ever higher levels, levels which cannot possibly be attained on earth. Through this, our souls encounter the spiritual energies of joy and true life, derived from Olam Ha'bah, the results of which are that in the morning, we awaken with a totally new and fresh mind. To counter our increased mental awareness, the forces of evil, in turn, renew their efforts with all sorts of new tactics to drag us down into the realm of sadness, in the attempt to destroy our minds. To this, we must respond with greater and newer weapons of our own, derived from an enhanced, deeper appreciation and awareness of our Torah knowledge, as the sages teach, "At the time when someone studies Torah, the evil inclination has no power over him." (Otzar Medrashim 569). To negate the escalating assaults from the forces of evil, the Torah urges us to daily renew our efforts to learn and understand Torah, to consider that Hashem gives us a brand new Torah each day, as the verse says, "And these words [of Torah] that I (Hashem) command you this day shall be upon your heart." [Each day that you study Torah, its teachings shall be new to you as "this day", the day when the Torah was first given.] (Deut. 6:6)

In order for us to access the residue of the new Torah that our souls acquired while in the upper worlds during our sleep, we must wash our hands three times in the morning, alternating right-left-right-left, etc. (left-handed person washes opposite) Washing in the morning concentrates the residue of the spiritual energies of our souls' newly acquired Torah, giving us the power to ward off new attacks from the forces of evil and, to a small degree, defeat them, because, as mentioned above, water contains and accesses the spiritual energies of the Torah. [Note: Only a small residue of the great light of Torah, that the infinite soul acquired while in the upper realms, can be drawn down to the very limited human mind.]

FORTIFYING OUR MINDS WITH HASHEM-AWARENESS

To further defeat the forces of evil throughout the day, we must fortify our minds with new knowledge and perceptions of Hashem, because the forces of evil are repelled by greater awareness of Hashem. This is an important reason we put on the talis/tzitziz, the tefilin, recite the Shema, and pray the Amidah. These all enable us to renew and expand our minds, so that throughout the day to can continue to repel the forces of evil which try to destroy our minds, i.e. our main link to Hashem. Therefore, just as Moshe ascended Mount Sinai to bring down the Torah in the desert, each person ascends his own personal Mount Sinai nightly, and returns with new Torah knowledge that enables him to come close to Hashem, despite the attacks by the forces of evil. (Lekutai Halachot: Orach Chaim: Hilchot Netilas Yadayim Shachris 4:1, 2)

DIFFICULT ASCENT, HARDER DESCENT

Rav Noson points out that it is very difficult for the soul to ascend to great heights in the spiritual realms, and it is more difficult for the soul to return safely with the spiritual fruit it has gathered there. He cites several examples: The verse says, "Hashem turned to Hevel (Abel) and to his offering." (Genesis 4:4) The offering that Hevel brought raised him to very lofty spiritual realms, his soul merging with rays of Hashem's infinite light. However upon his soul's return from the upper realms, because of Hevel's great achievement, the jealousy of the forces of evil was inflamed, and through the agency of his brother, Ka'yin (Cain), they rose up and killed him. Hevel did not know how to draw down the awesome perceptions of Hashem that his infinite soul had while in the upper realms, to a level where his more limited human mind could grasp it. Too much spiritual light (ribui ohr) nourishes the forces of evil, enabling them to do great harm. Thus it is important to take lofty spiritual concepts, which generate very great light, and dilute them by placing the light into smaller vessels, i.e. the finite human mind. When light is contracted into vessels, the forces of evil cannot be nourished from it and so, cannot cause harm. This knowledge would have enabled Hevel to repel the attacks from the forces of evil. However, Hevel lacked such skill, so the forces of evil swallowed him up and he perished.

The same thing happened to the two sons of Aaron the high priest, the holy Nadav and Avihu. They offered the most holy of all offerings, the incense offering, which enabled their souls to ascend to the level of Hashem's infinite light, similar to that which Hevel had accomplished through his offering. And like Hevel, Nadav and Avihu created too much light, were ambushed by the forces of evil as they descended from the lofty spiritual realms, and both died, as the verse says, "The sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire pan, they put fire in them and placed incense upon them [and their souls thereby ascended to the lofty upper realms, generating a great amount of light]; and they brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them [and thus became subject to the attacks from the forces of evil]. A fire came forth from before Hashem and consumed them, and they died before Hashem [because they lacked the skill needed to return from the upper realms safely. They did not know how to reduce the great light they had acquired from the upper realms, and place it into safe vessels.]" (Lev. 10:1, 2)

In another, related incident, the holy Rebbe Akiva and three of his most worthy students, ascended to the upper realms, to a very high spiritual area known as Pardes, the Orchard. None of them had any problem ascending to this lofty area, but of all the members of this holy group, only Rebbe Akiva had the necessary skills to return safely. Each one of his three students was destroyed.

MOSHE OVERCAME THE GREATEST ONSLAUGHT EVER
BY THE FORCES OF EVIL

Knowing the difficulty of ascending to heaven and returning safely, King Solomon, through Divine inspiration, praised Moshe (Moses) for his awesome feat and skill in coming back unharmed, after climbing to the most awesome and lofty spiritual realms, bringing the Torah down to earth with him, as the verse says, "Who ascended to heaven and descended? Who gathered wind in his fists? Who wrapped the waters in a garment? Who established all the ends of the earth?" (Proverbs 30:4) This verse can be interpreted as follows: "Who ascended to heaven and descended [safely like Moshe (Rashi) and who took the Torah away from the angels (Mezudath David) who were angered by this act and who sought to harm Moshe]? Who gathered wind in his fists? [referring to the spirit of Divine inspiration that is contained in the Torah, as the verse says, "And the Divine Presence (lit. wind) hovered over the face of the waters (i.e. Torah, as mentioned above)." (Genesis 1:2) The fists refer to the Ten Commandments that Moshe held in his hands. (Rav Noson)] Who wrapped the waters in a garment [again, an allusion to the Torah. Moshe's garment refers to the small vessels i.e. the human mind, in which Moshe was able to place the great light of the Torah that he had condensed, thus preventing the forces of evil from attacking him. Moshe's garment is the tzitzis (the commandment to place one fringe on each corner of every four cornered garment). The entire light of the Torah is condensed into the tzitzis, in small, concentrated amounts, which influence the vessels of the mind to increase its perception of Hashem. This light of the Torah enables one to repulse the attacks from the forces of evil, as the verse says, "They shall make themselves tzitzis on their garments...[wear them]...So that you may remember and perform all My commandments [indicating that the tzitzis contains the light of the entire Torah in a condensed form] and be holy to your G-d [this condensed light enables the wearer to safely ascend to high spiritual levels and repulse the attacks from the forces of evil, enabling him to safely attain holiness.]" (Numbers 15:37, 40) Thus Moshe was able to bring down the infinite light of the Torah and reduce it so that it could be absorbed by the mind in a safe way. (Rav Noson)] Who established all the ends of the earth? [The sages teach that if the Jews would not have accepted the Torah, the world would have been destroyed, therefore it is Torah study that sustains the earth's existence. (Rav Noson)]" (Proverbs 30:4) In other words, King Solomon praised Moshe for his great skill in safely bringing down the entire Torah from its lofty spiritual realms. Similar efforts had resulted in the destruction of other holy men, who lacked Moshe's great expertise. Moshe was able to avoid the most severe attacks from the forces of evil ever launched,. Therefore, Moshe's accomplishment was one of the greatest feats in the history of the world, considering that he faced the most awesome opposition from the forces of evil that anyone had ever faced.

EXPECTED SPIRITUAL UPS AND DOWNS

Based on all of the above, Rav Noson cautions that when a person is worthy to have a spiritual elevation, the great light that it creates causes the forces of evil to attack with greater ferocity, just as happened to the holy men mentioned above. This can cause a person to fall soon after he attains a measure of spiritual growth. Rav Noson says that even if one has fallen tens of thousands of times, after every spiritual climb, he should totally ignore the falls and continue to observe as many commandments as he can. No matter what has happened, he should continue to do whatever he can to serve Hashem. The main thing is just not to allow one's spiritual ups and downs to let him fall completely away from Hashem. Hashem expects a person to fall on a regular basis, and does not hold one accountable for this. However, Hashem does require that one should not totally give up completely, when a fall does occur. Then, one may ask, what purpose is there in trying to come closer to Hashem, if in the end he will fall away? Rav Noson answers that after all the spiritual ups and downs, a portion of the light that one accessed during his ascent remains with him, accumulating in his soul. That accumulated light eventually empowers him to rise above the filth of this world and merit the hereafter.

Concerning the spiritual ups and downs of life, King Solomon wrote, "Do not be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise, why should you destroy yourself?" [Through one's excessive righteousness, he generates too much light, far beyond his current level. His inability to condense that immense light into protective vessels within his mind leaves him an open target to the attacks by the forces of evil, which attempt to destroy him] (Eccl. 7:16) The next verse addresses the opposite situation, when one has the expected fall after attaining a higher level: "Do not be overly wicked. [If you have fallen into sin, do not give up the ways of Hashem entirely. To fall is expected, it happens to everyone.] You should neither be foolish [and sin even more than you already have]. Why should you die before your time [and throw away everything? Making a person feel that since he already sinned, he might as well sin more is a common trick of the forces of evil.] (Eccl. 7:17) (Lekutai Halachot: Orach Chaim: Hilchot Netelas Ya'die'yim Shachris 4:13-14, 16)

That Moshe brought down the Torah from Mount Sinai, most people take for granted. However, it was an act which required great skill, courage, and daring, and was not so easily accomplished. One reason why this incident is recorded in the Torah is to illustrate to every person, that everyday of our lives, we ascend and descend our own personal Mount Sinai, which like Moshe's original climb and descent, is no easy task. The episode's main point is that we will always have ups and downs throughout our lives, successes and failures. Rabbi Nachman teaches that we should disregard everything negative that happens and retain our firm commitment to continue on the path that leads to Hashem, everything else is just a diversion created by the evil inclination. Rabbi Nachman emphasized that no one, not even the greatest Tzaddikim (saints), has a smooth and straight path to reach Hashem, to reach the greatest possible Good. Therefore, as Moshe's climb up Mount Sinai illustrates, nothing should ever deter us from climbing the Mountain of Hashem, as the verse says, "Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem [who wishes to attain spiritual elevation and come close to Hashem]?..One who has...a pure heart [who is determined that no matter what happens, even if he committed the worst of sins, he will never be diverted from coming close to Hashem. Amen]!" (Psalms 24:2)

May we start to understand The Aseres Ha'dibros, and all that Hashem is telling us through the Torah and all the events of our lives and through that bring the Mashiach out of hiding in order to help us in the building of the third and final Beis Ha'mikdash, speedily in our days, Amen!!

Peace & Joy,

Etan