The Illuminated Mind

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

 
 
Who and what is a person? His appearance? His mannerisms? A person is that chunk of grey matter within his skull – the brain. You are your brain and your brain is you. Don't think that this is some trite statement. It's really very deep and I'll tell you why: the Tikunei Zohar says that Hashem and the Torah are one, for the Torah is Divine illumination. The brain houses the neshama, the Divine soul, which is also a spark of Divine illumination. The more we channel the light of Torah into our brains, the more we enhance the Divine illumination of the brain and reinforce the soul. In other words, the more one learns and internalizes the Torah, the more he is one with Hashem. Even more simply speaking, the more one is in unity with the Torah, the more he is in unity with Hashem. That's the true meaning of dvekut, of clinging to Hashem. One cannot cling to Hashem by clinging to anything other than Torah.
 
People complain about bad and undesirable thoughts. The brain works like a computer: what you put in, you get out. When a person's mind is occupied with the news, internet, and many other devarim betaylim – inconsequential things, such as TV shows, sports broadcasts and idle talk – the mind becomes a growth medium for negative thoughts. The negative thoughts are much worse when a person's mind is filled with things that are outright forbidden, not just inconsequential. On the other hand, filling one's mind with Torah is like filling the head with a spiritual germ-killer that inhibits the growth of negative thoughts. Fill your head with the wholesome light of Torah and you'll save yourself from dark thoughts. A true Torah scholar is a positive thinker because he has only positive thoughts in his head.
 
One of the superb ways to illuminate the mind is to learn the Zohar. The "Sde Chemed," Rabbi Chizkiyahu Medini of saintly and blessed memory from Hevron, writes that one should try his utmost to learn Zohar in lashon Hakodesh, in the holy language of Hebrew. Why? On a holiness plane, lashon hakodesh is on a much higher spiritual level than the Aramaic that the Zohar was written in. In fact, some sages maintain that Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai originally wrote the Zohar in lashon Hakodesh, but it was translated to Aramaic, the spoken language at the time, so that people could understand it. At any rate, the most important aspect of learning Zohar is to internalize its teachings. The Zohar is wonderful for enhancing emuna and personal holiness.
 
A true Torah scholar is one who has internalized the light of Torah. What are the signs of such a person? He has polished character traits and is  observant of all the mitzvas – the ones between man and G-d and the ones pertaining to man and fellow man. Such a person is loved both in the upper spiritual realm and down here on earth. Why? He is humble, considerate, and easy to get along with. He refrains from judging others or criticizing them, and if he does, he judges them fairly like the Torah tells him to. He is just as observant behind closed doors as he is in public. How do we know? A true Torah scholar has shalom bayit – marital peace. He speaks lovingly to his wife, never criticizes her, and helps her. As a Torah scholar, he knows what he promised his wife in the ketuba he gave, and he fulfills those promises.
 
The entire purpose of Torah is to refine our characters thus enabling to cling to Hashem. We must pray hard and study with diligence to internalize our learning. By doing so, we purify our minds. With the holiness of Torah on our minds, negative thoughts cannot exist.
 
We can now understand how Rebbe Nachman says that emotional sickness stems from pgam habrit, blemished personal holiness. The forbidden images that penetrate a brain are growth medium for evil thoughts, to the extent that such thoughts can even drive a person insane, Heaven forbid.
 
During these weeks of the Shovevim, we should all make a stronger effort to learn in earnest and to internalize our learning. By doing so, we purify both mind and body. May we all merit to taste the true sublime pleasure of Torah learning, which is literally a taste of the World to Come, amen.