2019-07-07 – LM1 – Torah 163 – Rescuing the Power of Speech; Torah 164 – Everyday Conversations of the Tzaddik

Podcast (shiurim): Download (Duration: 1:08:14 — 93.7MB)

Text: Likutey Moharan I. Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon.
00:00 – TORAH 163. Life and death are in the power of speech.
06:07 – Speech is an aspect of sarah (rulership). Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld z”l pointed out that the word sarah in atbash (interchanging letters in opposing order of the alef-beis) is 95. Her other names are Milkha and Yiska, both of which have the value of 95.
11:37 – The forces of evil (an aspect of “Egypt”) are always trying to capture the power of speech. The three evil forces are parallel to the three ministers of Pharaoh, which are associated with an excessive desire for food. These opposing forces relate to the windpipe (trachea), the foodpipe (esophagus), and the jugular veins in the throat.
21:40 – Parshas Korach.
27:55 – A person whose speech is imprisoned by forces of evil is compared to a person who is starving, cold, or so ill that he has no appetite.
32:09 – If we turn away from Hashem, He turns away from us, reducing our ability to perceive His Presence in our lives. This disconnection from the Divine light is an aspect of ערף oref (“back of the neck”).
43:39 – A custom introduced by the Baal Shem Tov HaKadosh: on Friday afternoon before Shabbos we say Tehillim/Psalms 107, which speaks about the challenges we went through during the six days of the week, when the 39 curses issued to Adam and Chava, which resulted in the struggle for parnassah (making a living).
45:19 – Question and response about the tzaddik’s part in the process of purifying speech: nefesh corresponds to malkhus and to speech. The tzaddik has the responsibility to do this at a higher level, as the Sages taught: “Who rules over Me? The Tzaddik.” (Mo’ed Katan 16b)
47:20 – Question and response about when a soul is ensnared and needs rescue.
49:01 – Summary of this Torah and its practical application in our lives today.
53:42 – TORAH 164. The everyday conversations of the true Tzaddik. Based on the concept taught by the Sages: “Even the everyday conversations of the Sages require study.” (Avodah Zarah 19b).
*57:03 – Sometimes the Tzaddik, in order to cure a particular soul, needs to hide the Torah in a disguise, or mitigate the remedy, making it weaker so they can bear it. “If a person is worthy, the Torah can heal a person, but if a person isn’t worthy, it can be a lethal poison.” (Yoma 72b)
60:07 – Question and response about how the Tzaddik relates to Hashem just as Moshe Rabbeinu did.