Sivan – 20th of Sivan – Khmelnytsky Massacre in Uman – BeHaAlosekha – Kiddush HaShem – Ketores from a Klaf – Centrality of Tzaddik Emes (Entire Shiur)Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. Shiur given at the Shaarei Chesed Breslov Shul, 7 Sivan 5779 (2019-06-10).
00:00 – Although Torah study is greater than all the mitzvos, it’s not enough to simply be aware that HaShem exists. Connection to HaShem is done with the heart and is achieved through tefilah (prayer). As we say in the prayer Aleynu every day: וְיָֽדַעְתָּ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם וַֽהֲשֵֽׁבֹתָ֘ אֶל־לְבָבֶ֒ךָ֒ “And know this day, and place it on your heart…” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 4:39).
01:03 – לֵ֤ב חָכָם֙ לִֽימִינ֔ וֹ וְלֵ֥ב כְּסִ֖יל לִשְׂמֹאלֽוֹ: “The heart of the wise man is toward his right, but the heart of the fool is toward his left.” (Koheles/Ecclesiastes 10:2).
01:57 – Ahavas Olam/Ahavas Rabbah.
05:29 – Overview of the summer months: Sivan, Tammuz, and Av.
*06:30 – The 20th of Sivan was established as a traditional day of commemoration of the countless Jewish men, women, and children murdered during the era of the “Council of Four Lands” (1580-1764). On this day the Breslov community commemorates the Khmelnytsky massacre in Uman, when an estimated 30,000 Jews were killed.
08:00 – In the Likutey Halakhos, Rav Nasan of Nemirov explains how the year 1648 was designated by HaShem for an exceptional kiddush HaShem (honor of HaShem). If Am Yisrael is worthy, this light of human awareness of the Divine takes place through kindness. If not, it is achieved through sanctification of HaShem’s Name through the loss of Jewish life – Chas v’Shalom – may Heaven protect.
09:03 – There are ten levels of holiness in the world and all are rooted in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). However, the power of the generation’s Tzaddik Emes surpasses that of Eretz Yisrael, through the concept of Mikdash Me’aht (Miniature Sanctuary) as in “…Thus says HaShem: … I have scattered them among the nations and have become to them a Miniature Sanctuary …” (Yechezkel/Ezekiel 11:6). Rabbi Yitzchak said: “this [Miniature Sanctuary] refers to the synagogues and houses of study in Babylonia” (Talmud Bavli, Megillah 29a).
14:03 – BeHaAlosekha: why is the Hebrew word “to elevate” used in reference to kindling the menorah in the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple), instead of the more usual word “to light”? The answer is found in an account in the Zohar HaKodesh. Rabbi Elazar b’Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yossi, and Rabbi Yitzchak, three Tanaaim, were once traveling together they saw dark, threatening mountains, found refuge in a cave, and discussed how the lighting the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash is related to the ketores (the incense offering).
*21:00 – Question: what is the equivalent of ketores and the menorah today? Response: in his work Seder HaYom, Rav Moshe ibn Chaviv (the Maharam Chaviv, 1654–1696) addresses this and brings the custom of counting the ingredients of the ketores on one’s fingers when reciting them during shacharis (morning prayer).
22:54 – Brought in the Zohar HaKodesh that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his students were able to deflect a deadly plague by reciting the Ketores. The ketores brings wealth, and the Seder HaYom assures that reading the ketores from a Klaf (parchment) serves as a protection and blessing. The current practice to actually do this is an oral Breslov tradition received by R’ Nasan Maimon from his teachers, the leading Breslov rabbis of the previous generation.
26:33 – BeHaAlosekha: the fact that the flames of the menorah face the center flame alludes to the centrality of the Tzaddik Emes as the ultimate Torah source in any given generation.
30:58 – The concept of Tzaddik Emes as singular Torah source is also brought in Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers) 1:1 – “Moshe (Moses) received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua…”
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