The Emuna Gateway

Translated by Aaron Yoseph
 
 
Rebbe Nachman opens for us the gateway into life. We need to start again and again, to come into Emuna. To remember the truth again. The Rebbe brings us into the gate of Emuna, a life of Emuna. Emuna is a simple thought, but it’s also Divinity. A person thinks about Emuna, he elevates the Shechina, the Divine Presence. It’s a thought that contains all holiness. Emuna is holiness. What is Emuna? It’s remembering that Hashem is here, He created the world. Hashem wants us. He wants the Torah. To believe in the Torah. To believe in the Torah and mitzvot – in our Tzitzit and Tefillin. Emuna shows us what each mitzvah achieves. How fortunate we are, how much delight we cause Above. Emuna grows in a person, there’s alight of truth, of spiritual awareness. The more he knows, he’ll never know it all. The more he knows, he feels Hashem’s presence properly – we wouldn’t be able to take it. How much is really here, how much each sin blemishes. But a bit of Emuna is also good. Hashem wants something from us.
 
There is nothing here. Why did Hashem make the Creation – so that we would fix the world. With what? With Emuna. Hashem wants Torah, teshuva. But what he wants the most is Emuna. The truth. Even if it doesn’t shine to us. Hashem always wants something different from us. Depression, and questions are things that we already have. For example, “Maybe Hashem doesn’t me?” And we have to overcome these with our Emuna – “I know that Hashem does want me!” There are no questions. Even if I don’t see a thing. Self-sacrifice. Peace in the home. Questions. Why hasn’t Mashiach come? Why is the world like it is? What’s wanted from you is simple Emuna. This is the gateway into holiness. There are thousands of ways that this is expressed each day. With a bit of Emuna in all these situations, we remember that Hashem is watching us and delighting in us.
 
What does a person go through who has Emuna? He lives in Gan Eden! He sees the King, he knows that he’s serving the King. He knows how much delight he causes. He learns just for Hashem. He prays sincerely. If he can’t learn, he lives with Hashem all day long, with yearnings and with doing what he can. This is what the R’ Shimon Bar Yochai revealed to us – what Emuna is. I am here. Don’t make a big deal out of anything in this world. Hashem will help you. Don’t take Hashem’s name in vain. Don’t say that your Torah and mitzvot are worthless. Don’t say that this world is meaningless.
 
Honor your mother and father. Emuna helps you honor your parents. Otherwise you say, “What do I have to thank them for? For bringing me here to suffer?”
 
When we received the Torah, the world shook. The central axis of the Torah is Emuna. When I eat kosher, I eat to cleave to Hashem. Hashem created the food. When we eat, we say a bracha. We elevate the sparks. Kedushat HaBrit, to separate ourselves from the kelipot. We can always fix things. To believe that Hashem is here. At Mount Sinai we saw how every mitzvah elevates and purifies the Shechina. We saw what we were created for. Every moment that we don’ sin – we’re elevating the Shechina. Every mitzvah is Hashem’s joy. The mitzvot aren’t’ just do’s and don’ts. When a person holds himself back from expressing anger – he knows that he’s achieved a great thing. The Torah gives us life. It’s a joy incomparable to anything in this world. The Torah shows us how to return to Hashem. The Torah shows us how Hashem is with us. All the billions of creations are all included in the Torah. Every day is a brand new creation. Every prayer. Today, I’m not the same person I was yesterday. This is the Torah that we received on Mount Sinai.
 
When a person falls, it’s hard to believe, but he can fight back, and this is the greatest delight Above – when  a person fights back against his negative thoughts. He fights against his bad traits. He wants to get better and improve. This all achieves so much. After Kabalat HaTorah there was the Egel (golden calf). We fell a long way down. But Moshe Rabbeinu, with his power, revealed the 13 attributes of mercy. We saw the need to believe in Tzaddikim. The Tzaddik goes up to the highest levels and can elevate our prayers and mitzvot. He can arouse Hashem’s mercy on us. In the Idra Rabba, R’ Shimon Bar Yochai said, “Only I can do this.” And this is the level of the Rebbe, too. This is the level of the greatest Tzaddik – the true Tzaddik. Without this, after Kabalat HaTorah, it would have been all dark. But Moshe Rabbeinu gave us the Torah back, he built the Mishkan. There was a way to fix everything. Everyone was so happy. At the time of the Beis HaMikdash, there was such joy.
 
After the churban, the Tzaddikim saw that it would be difficult to keep the Torah. People would forget about Emuna. Some people would learn, but they wouldn’t have Emuna. They wouldn’t have a way to keep the Torah. When we talk about Emuna, people think we’re mad. Talk about money, or at least say a good vort (saying) in the Gemara. What’s Emuna? But this is the main point – to believe in Hashem and be close to Him. We need to “hold” of Hashem. Nowadays everyone talks about who they “hold” by and who they don’t. We need to “hold” by Hashem. We still fall, but the Torah gives us ways to pick ourselves back up.