Don’t Fear Giants
Impressive rabbis, scholars of Torah, even miracle workers – although we must respect them, if they can't lead us on the path of simple emuna, they can't be our spiritual guides.
Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody
The Tale of the Lost Princess Part 34 from The Garden of Yearning
Afterwards, he saw a giant man, far beyond the normal human proportions. He was carrying a massive tree, the size of which is not found in settled areas. The man asked him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am a man.” The giant was amazed, and exclaimed, “I have been in the desert such a long time, and I have never seen a man here.” So he told him the whole story, and that he was searching for a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls. The giant answered him, “Certainly, it does not exist at all.” And he discouraged him and said that they had muddled his mind with nonsense, for it surely does not exist. So he (the viceroy) started to cry bitterly, for he felt certain that it must exist somewhere. And this giant discouraged him, saying that certainly he had been told nonsense. Yet he (the viceroy) still said that it must exist…The viceroy has now reached a spiritual level where he no longer has obstacles from his own bodily drives. He now faces obstacles in the form of outsiders, not even regular people but individuals of enormous proportions, which alludes to great tzaddikim. As it is hinted here, the viceroy meets a giant carrying a massive tree; this is an allusion to a tremendous Torah scholar, for the Torah is described metaphorically as a “tree of life,” (see Proverbs, ch. 3).
Our holy Rebbe Nachman is teaching us that people are the greatest obstacles in our journey to truth. Here, the viceroy hasn’t encountered some simple person, but a “giant”, a tzaddik and a scholar of magnificent proportions, who is capable of ruling over the animals, the birds, and even the winds, as we see in the continuation of our tale.
These tremendous individuals are telling the viceroy that he’s living a mistake! They say there’s no such thing as a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls! In essence, they are telling him, “Listen, friend – we have attained lofty spiritual levels. We’re telling you that you can’t live a supernatural existence of total reliance on Divine Providence without making some kind of effort.” The mountain of gold alludes to perfect trust in Hashem, a level of complete freedom from monetary lust. At this level, one need not lift a finger to make a living. The greater the emuna, the more one’s subsistence arrives automatically at one’s front doorstep.
The viceroy withstands this test successfully, refusing to listen to the giant and clinging to simple emuna. He lives his simple faith that Hashem cares for the needs of every creature with compassion, above the level of nature and logic. The viceroy doesn’t even need spiritual effort to make a living, for a person with perfect trust in Hashem receives his livelihood without even having to pray.
A Place in the World to Come
The principle test of a person’s emuna is in the area of income and making a living. Our sages teach that whoever says Psalm 145 three times a day merits a place in the World to Come, for Psalm 145 reminds us of Hashem’s Divine Providence, which sees to our needs every day and every hour, just as we need something. The obstacle that prevents most people from serving Hashem is the confusion about making a living. Only a person who believes that Hashem can sustain him with minimal effort on his own part can serve Hashem properly.
Now, the viceroy enjoys the strength of conviction that results from years of prayer and yearning for emuna. He has done exactly what the princess has told him to. No one can make him budge from his simple emuna, from the knowledge that there is no one or nothing other than Hashem, that His glory is everywhere, that everything is for the best, and that everything is conducted by Him in magnificent perfection. With this engraved on his mind and heart, there is no need for worry, stress, pressure, or anxiety. The main thing is to live emuna, prayer, happiness, and innocence.
Fear No One but Hashem
,Dear reader, stop and think for a moment: Imagine how amazed and awed you’d be if you saw a magnificent individual that knows the entire Torah and all its secrets by heart, a miracle worker of sublime spiritual stature who controls the forces of nature. Now, imagine that he snaps his fingers, and thereby summons all the animals, the birds, and the winds whenever he desires! Then, how would you react if you saw him conversing with the animals? Imagine how impressed you’d be! Now, this same magnificent individual tells you that you are fooling yourself and that there’s no way to live a life of simple emuna with no effort at all. Wouldn’t you listen to him? How could you argue with someone so awesome?
Here, we must stress that true, pure, and simple emuna is so concealed that few obtain it. The giants capable of carrying the “big tree” on their shoulders – impressive rabbis, scholars of Torah, even miracle workers – although we must respect them, if they can’t guide us on the sweet path of simple emuna, then they can’t be our spiritual guides. We shouldn’t let such “giants” scare us and deter us from the path of the true tzaddik that leads us to true emuna. Fear no one but Hashem.
Few people sincerely believe in the power of prayer and of emuna. Often, when they meet a person who earnestly and innocently yearns to cling to Hashem with pure and complete emuna, and lead a life of prayer and teshuva, they chide him and ridicule his emuna. “Hitbodedut? Who do you think you are, the Baal Shem Tov? Who needs it? The important thing is to learn Torah and make a living. Get those weird ideas out of your head! That’s not for you! You can’t cling to Hashem with pure emuna – that’s impossible!”
Retired Chassidim
Our holy Rebbe Nachman said that there are those that set out to serve Hashem, but later became discouraged. When these people see others who truly yearn to serve Hashem with earnest, praying at length and with enthusiasm, they make fun of them and try to weaken them. These “retired Chassidim” who have fallen by the spiritual wayside can’t stand to see others striving to serve Hashem.
Tenacity
The viceroy clings to emuna and cries bitterly when he hears the heresy that questions the truth. He’s tenacious and firm in his belief that there’s a path to simple emuna that’s open to everyone on every spiritual level.
As soon as a person desires to live by the advice and guidance of the true tzaddik, he arouses a mountain of resistance from within and from without. One must be tenacious, clinging to his faith in the true tzaddik with no reservations. If the tzaddik says we can reach the level of simple and pure emuna, it must be true! We must therefore fulfill the directives of the tzaddik in their entirety, just as Rebbe Nathan so meticulously followed everything Rebbe Nachman said with complete dedication, no matter how much other people – both family and strangers – hampered him. Even the opposition of Rebbe Nathan’s father-in-law, one of the greatest rabbinical authorities of his generation, couldn’t deter him from implementing every iota of Rebbe Nachman’s advice. After every lesson that Rebbe Nathan heard from Rebbe Nachman, he’d run to the forest and pray all night long that he’d be able to internalize and implement everything that he had learned. For that reason, he achieved what other disciples of Rebbe Nachman did not.
We see that once the viceroy was tenacious and steadfast in his convictions, then even the giant became submissive and helped him. Once again, we see the principle that if a person is strong and believes in what he’s doing, then the hindrances become assisting agents. With true and strong emuna, one’s parents, spouse, and even great rabbis will fall at his feet and come to his aid.
To be continued.
10/03/2008
Wow ! How wonderfully put. I am so grateful that I came across this site, this article has stated exactly how I feel about what is happening in my life right now. It has solidfied my faith and spoke to me beyond the words,Thank you so much! Baruch Hashem
10/03/2008
I am so grateful that I came across this site, this article has stated exactly how I feel about what is happening in my life right now. It has solidfied my faith and spoke to me beyond the words,Thank you so much! Baruch Hashem