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The Yanuka’s own words in this shiur, translated into English by Lehallel · 3,864 words · 19:44. Press a time to hear it said.
0:00 You would be tzaddikim, Rabbi Shimon writes, [unclear] to Tikkun ten, a great Tikkun, page 22, that one who wants to receive all the time, only wants hav, hav, to receive, we sound like animals. One must always pray for the Shechinah, to pray for this beis midrash, [unclear] of Rabbi Shmuel Chaim, in honor of Purim, our symbol, but this is to teach us that this is how cows sound, when they speak, We need to be - and 'the advantage of man over the beast is ayin,' that we merit, we can raise the Shechinah to the level of ayin.
0:35 Ayin is the complete, absolute self-nullification, showing that everything we have here in this world is a revelation of the kingship of Hashem, blessed be He. This is the uniqueness of man over the animal. But one who all the time lives with how he takes, and gathers, and receives, and receives, and receives all the time, that is how we sound. We do not want to sound like that, we want to give, that is the voice of man.
1:00 When a person every time speaks and asks, Rabbi Shimon says, it sounds like hav, hav. All the time requests, that is how it sounds. When a person thinks about the Shechinah, therefore he says, 'the advantage of man over the beast is ayin,' ayin, because this corresponds to the Shechinah. Because when the Shechinah reaches the level of ayin, there will be a holy union [unclear], the Jewish people go out from the exile. That is it. What does this mean? We must always do our deeds for the sake of Heaven, for the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He, with love for the Creator, to love the Creator, to connect to the Creator, this is the most important thing. And now, when we learn, with Hashem's help, to read the Megillah and hear a little of the Torah,
1:40 you should all concentrate. It is important to use the full power of imagination that you, thank Hashem, Hashem gave us the imagination. What is the reason there is imagination? People imagine all kinds of imaginings, dream dreams. It is only in order to use this power of imagination for holiness. Now when we read the Megillah we need to really imagine and see everything - 'Mordechai knew all that was done.'
2:06 What is 'Mordechai knew all that was done'? It should have been written 'and Mordechai heard all that was done,' and Mordechai thought about all of this, he knew. What is 'knew'? The more one rises to a level like this it is called ruach hakodesh; this is the difference between a person who has ruach hakodesh and the power of imagination. The power of imagination, a person can imagine what is done but one who truly wants to know everything that was done, knowing is in da'as, it is already an attainment in da'as, there ruach hakodesh is found, and therefore [unclear] 'Mordechai knew all that was done,' he already had ruach hakodesh. So we, thank Hashem, have not yet merited, all of us; maybe there are some here who did merit, we merit to reach such a level through the power of imagination, we begin and then we reach da'as.
2:52 So therefore to imagine, to use the power of imagination and imagine everything we read to imagine Mordechai the Jew, the appearance of Mordechai, to imagine Haman the wicked, how Haman the wicked looks, and Achashverosh and the kingdom of Achashverosh and everything that was and all the distress and the pain of Esther the queen, as she cries and pleads, to imagine, really to see the Megillah [unclear], really to see it as if, as it were, it is happening.
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3:18 And then the story about the Admor HaEmtzai, son of the Admor HaZakein, who was accustomed every year on Purim to hear the Megillah from his holy father, the Gaon Rabbi Shneur Zalman, author of the Shulchan Aruch, the Admor HaZakein. Every year he would go to hear the Megillah from him and he was particular about it. Although he was a rebbe in his own right and had students and would travel from town to town, when Purim came he would give his all to be at his [unclear] during the reading of the Megillah.
3:47 So once he came to a certain town and everyone honored him [unclear] of the Admor HaZakein. Once he sat there, they began to read the Megillah, the rabbi of the place read the Megillah. And as soon as the reading of the Megillah ended, the Admor HaEmtzai went over to him, really crying and excited, and says to him, What is this beautiful story that you read? So he looks at him, he says to him, he [unclear] what to answer him, he laughs, What, what is the story?
4:17 He says to him, what is this story? I do not know this story that you read. He said to him, how can you say such a thing? He said, you are making fun of me, it is Megillas Esther, what is this question? He said to him, listen, it is a beautiful story, very moving, what you read. I do not know it, when my father reads it is a completely different story. It is beautiful. So this, with Hashem's help, teaches us that we need to feel it this way, vividly, the reading of the Megillah, because then you see everything, everything, everything happening before your eyes, and then you also receive all the holiness and everything you see, also when you read the weekly parsha, read a parsha in the Torah, to use the power of imagination only for holiness. And what happens when a person does not use it for holiness?
4:58 The power of imagination comes and takes him, comes to speak, takes him to forbidden places, and begins to put imaginings into the person, and imagines to him all kinds of things, do this and that, and you will be very rich, do this and that, and begins to imagine to him all kinds of imaginings, do this and that and do not get married now and get married later, and imagines to him all kinds of imaginings, and so he leads him in delusions and imaginings and leads him so that he truly, and he knows the truth and justice is with him and the Holy One, blessed be He, is with him, and he is the right one, and he is the one who knows, he knows everything; there are some who come to them, [unclear] He is common sense.
5:41 And the Adversary is happiest about this. Why? Because this person is not at all [unclear], as we learned before, he is not 'Mordechai knew all that was done,' only Mordechai knew all that was done, and he has not yet reached the end of it. So you in general, one can say that you are in your power of imagination, and the imaginings. And therefore most of the world, everything you see in the world, lives because of the imaginings. Look, think, the whole world today exists from the power of imagination.
6:10 Everyone imagines, and according to the imaginings they run to attain their desires. When a person goes for a livelihood, goes to make a deal, goes to do such a thing, he falls into the desires and vanities of this world, where does it start? From the power of imagination. Where do sins begin? From the power of imagination. And therefore one must nullify the power of imagination and begin to use the power of imagination in amazement at the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He.
6:35 When you cannot contemplate the creation, imagine the greatness of Hashem, His power, [unclear], fills the world, the thunder and the lightning at the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, all the powers, all the influences, all these things draw to a person all the strength and all the holiness and all the true purpose, because this causes a person to understand that truly this world is nothing, it is fleeting and perishable and it is forbidden to follow it.
7:00 And a person must say this to himself all the time, because the moment a person does not understand this, he can follow his intellect, and then what happens, he will think that he is going truly. What happened with the tribe of Ephraim? The tribe of Ephraim decided to leave the land of Egypt [unclear]. He thinks that we already know how to leave. We already, we have the redemption, we know. That was the power of imagination. And of course they left, of course in the end, with Hashem's help, it is for the good, [unclear], and all will be for the good, I understand.
7:30 But let us look at things with true da'as. Look and see how much the power of imagination caused even this. Because truly, whoever left Egypt, there is this time, that was one who nullified himself to the da'as of Moshe. What is the da'as of Moshe? The da'as of Moshe is clean da'as without the power of imagination. Clean, clean, clean. And this we see with Mordechai the Jew. Therefore it is written about Mordechai, 'and Mordechai knew all that was done.' You must understand what this says.
8:01 'Mordechai knew all that was done,' it is an awesome thing to say. 'Mordechai knew all that was done,' who can say, say now about someone, he knows all that is done; you must contemplate that this is something that brings an idea to say this. Why? Because he was completely clean of the power of imagination. Because he merited to attain ruach hakodesh. And how does one attain ruach hakodesh? When a person clarifies his will, so that he has a clean, clean, clean, clean will.
8:27 He does not think about anything, of personal interests and things like that, and he has a purpose. When Hashem [unclear] sees from Heaven, the angels see him. Every place he treads, even the trees, [unclear], they know who he is. They say, this one, [unclear], every moment is going to bring this redemption. All the forces of the angels and holiness yearn for this angel. What is this tzaddik? That is how they look at him. That is how they look at Mordechai. He goes, every place he goes he looks. Everyone is drawn after him and wants to save him.
8:57 Hashem arranges around him all the salvation. This was because of Mordechai the Jew. And he takes this salvation and gives it to Esther the queen, because Mordechai goes here in the world and thinks all kinds of thoughts about the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, and [unclear] in the Holy One, blessed be He, and his heart is drawn after the Holy One, blessed be He. He knows that all of this world is fleeting and perishable, you know, time passes, time passes, and people run after the desires and the animal urges, and in the end they lose the time. So what does the yetzer hara do?
9:24 First of all he lets a person think that he knows, and after that he distances him from holiness, and after that he imagines to him that he is truly. Slowly as he leads him, and suddenly he turns against him, he shows him that it is all foolishness and that he erred, and then makes him sin and destroys him from both worlds. This is the danger. And this is what we learned about Haman the wicked. Haman the wicked and Achashverosh were very great wicked ones, but I want to reveal to you a chiddush, that [unclear] on Esther in a hint [unclear], without a vow, we will merit afterwards also a bit like this, to see all kinds of wonderful chiddushim, and I will tell you each time a commentary, different, I say on [unclear] and I will say without all kinds of nice chiddushim every year,
10:08 I will give you a question and the answer, to see if you will say something, I will give you a slightly different chiddush on this, but where was I a moment ago, let us say something, It is in the Yalkut Shimoni, that Achashverosh hated the Jewish people more than Haman the wicked, more than Haman the wicked, and therefore one who reads the Megillah backwards has not fulfilled his obligation. Because if we read the Megillah backwards, it comes out that the whole story of the Megillah comes out about the compassion of Achashverosh.
10:41 Because it comes out as if Achashverosh is a tzaddik and has mercy on the Jews and gives them salvation, gives them a day to make a celebration, to do what they want to their enemies. It is a great joy, it comes out as if from here that Achashverosh is a great man, he loves the Jews. But this is not true. Therefore one who reads the Megillah backwards has not fulfilled his obligation, because it comes out that Achashverosh comes out at a high level, that he is an important person, he is a tzaddik, but this is not true.
11:12 Rather the Sages teach us that Achashverosh hated the Jewish people more than Haman the wicked. So what does this mean? All of us, immediately we hear Haman, we hit him. We hear Achashverosh, we do not hit. And also the one who was the authority to carry out the riots and to cause the distress and to [unclear] in peace, this is Achashverosh.
11:37 Haman is only the adviser, he is only the counsel, Why do we not hit Achashverosh? We need to hit Achashverosh. If the Sages say that Achashverosh hated the Jewish people more than Haman, and Achashverosh is the one who rules [unclear], it cannot be reversed if it is something written in the king's ring. So what do we want from Haman at all? Haman is nothing. One must always say, what is Haman.
12:02 Haman is nothing. We go to the root. Achashverosh, immediately we hit. We do the [unclear] of Achashverosh. [unclear] Achashverosh. What do we want from Haman all the time? Rather everything starts from the counsel. Everything the Holy One, blessed be He, hates is those wicked ones whose counsels and whose [unclear] are foolishness and ignorance and folly.
12:26 Those wicked ones because of whom all these exiles, who followed their intellect and wanted to impose their da'as and their intellect on the Jewish people. And therefore, that Achashverosh was wicked and all this does not matter. We do not care. The main thing is that he not have within him, in his hatred, the da'as of Haman. One had to insert into all this wickedness and evil the da'as of Mordechai.
12:55 And therefore the whole Megillah actually and the whole war of Mordechai and Haman, who fought one another, was not a war like we fight today with bow and arrow and sword, it was a war of da'as. Who will succeed in imposing his da'as on the king? Will the da'as of Haman win and then the halachah will be like Haman, Heaven forbid, or will the halachah be like Mordechai the Jew.
13:28 And therefore the Megillah uses the language of 'knew,' the language of da'as, because the whole essence and the whole level and the whole importance was to change, that Achashverosh now, it all does not matter, but the main thing is that we not follow the counsel of the wicked. Therefore David HaMelech opens in Tehillim 'Happy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked.' And immediately what does he mention? 'And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water.' This planted tree is a hint to the tree on which Haman the wicked was hanged, for they hanged him and his sons on the tree.
14:00 The tree corresponds to the counsel. Therefore the counsel is Haman the wicked, who tried to give wicked counsel, because of that the Holy One, blessed be He, repaid him that they hanged him and his sons on the tree. Therefore David HaMelech mentions that the man did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and then he mentions 'and he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water.' Because, thank Hashem, a person merits to repair the tree, to repair the counsel, to follow a holy and pure [unclear], complete and absolute nullification to the [unclear] of the Sages, he leaves nothing in his intellect, but complete and absolute nullification, he can know and be sure that they will not hang him on the tree and he will not rise on the tree.
14:35 But Heaven forbid, those who follow their intellect, it could be that in the end the person will find himself hanging on the tree, Heaven forbid. Therefore this comes to teach us in the Megillah always always to understand what is emunas chachamim, what is the da'as of the Sages, and what is 'and he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water,' that we do not take counsel from those people who are not whole in da'as, and did not refine themselves, and did not serve Hashem, as one should to cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He.
15:05 Because to serve the Holy One, blessed be He, there are several kinds of service, but to serve, a person can be a servant, anyone. But only in the shadow of Moshe Rabbeinu, is it mentioned that Moshe was the servant of Hashem. A person can be as much as he can, you can serve a little, you can be a less good servant, a slightly better servant, but you cannot be a servant like Moshe Rabbeinu, that is already in the highest levels.
15:30 We must always receive from the true, whole and clean da'as, because that is how one learns the Torah, and this is the way and this is the right thing, to be close to the Holy One, blessed be He. So therefore, with Hashem's help, may we all be faithful servants and stop following the animal urges, because in the end, when a person is not true with Hashem, is not true with this da'as, then he serves himself.
15:57 You, Creator, blessed be He, he can never truly attain, arrive. He can stay 70, 80, 100 years at the same level, he will not change. He will remain with the same evil he had at age 20, and he will have the same evil at age 80. The same views that he had such and such, and the scariest is that he is approaching the purpose, the last day, the day when they [unclear] him, the day when they will lead him to a narrow and dark place, he will have to give a judgment and accounting before the King, he goes for eternity, alone, to the most terrible and dreadful place, after his intellect. They say to him, go, come, take, you followed your intellect, you were the smartest, come lead us in Heaven.
16:32 Angels make sport of him, and so it is frightening. Therefore this world is a world of delusions, so that if it seems to a person that thousands and tens of thousands are with him here, he must always think, is Hashem, blessed be He, with me, not whether people are with me. Hashem, blessed be He, must be with me, and the more a person is attached to Hashem and to the will of Hashem, he will always seek after Hashem to be with him, then the Holy One, blessed be He, will be with him and then presumably the Jewish people will be with him. But one who does not think about this thinks that only [unclear] will be with him and he serves people, so in the end he also loses the Holy One, blessed be He.
17:04 He does not truly merit to serve the Holy One, blessed be He. And therefore, this is the whole story of the Megillah. They say how Mordechai the Jew, does not care what they say, what they will say, and therefore at the end of the Megillah it notes 'Mordechai ... accepted by most of his brothers.' He did not succeed in being accepted by everyone, he was accepted by most of his brothers. From here we always know that there are always those small ones who do not merit this thing. And therefore what Divrei Chaim of Tzanz brings, the most beautiful thing in the name of his rebbe, the holy Gaon of Ropshitz, that the thing, the greatest merit that they had, was those tzaddikim, it is a long story, I am telling it to you now, but without a vow you probably a bit,
17:42 if you ever heard from me about Divrei Chaim of Tzanz, that in Heaven they said that his livelihood was not so plentiful, although he was a great rebbe of many towns and [unclear] and taught Torah, and not many coins came into his hands like was by many rebbes of his generation. So the Rebbe, from [unclear], said to him, know. He said to him, in Heaven they say who is this and who is he who will give a golden rendel into the holy hands of Divrei Chaim of Tzanz.
18:12 One needs merit at all in order to walk in your way. And this is the same, Mordechai the Jew accepted by most of his brothers. One needed merit at all to follow the counsel of Mordechai. This is a merit, because in the end do not forget that we are going on a correct and straight way and we truly are doing the will of Hashem, we merit everything. Because there is nothing in this world more important than... Let us hear you. Good counsel.
18:37 Everything starts from counsel. Look at the beginning, at the sin of the first man, there was a corrupted counsel of Haman the wicked. 'The serpent deceived me,' here comes the serpent, here comes counsel, a little Achitophel, and everything goes down and declines from one lowering to the next into the abyss. And so in this Megillah, the whole story of the Megillah is because of the [unclear] called Haman, who tried to whisper counsels into the ears of the king.
19:04 And this the Holy One, blessed be He, does not like, those false opinions, those strange opinions, those opinions of a wicked one, those who try to give bad counsel. And therefore everything we do, we mention specifically Haman and not Achashverosh, although Achashverosh hated the Jewish people. So this way you have a little chiddush, if you want to ask like this and do like this learning with people, why do we mention specifically Haman with disgrace and not Achashverosh, after all the Sages teach that he hated the Jewish people more, and then try to hear the answers they will tell you.
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