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The Yanuka’s own words in this shiur, translated into English by Lehallel · 3,526 words · 49:47. Press a time to hear it said.
0:04 I said that people would yet come here. It's on the recordings.
0:28 Like at Rabbi Shimon. There are recordings. There's garbage here... a year's worth of garbage here? That people would yet come here and pray here. Yes. Yes. I used to come here. There wasn't a living soul here. How long ago was that? More than twenty years. I was 14. I used to come here for hisbodedus, to be alone. I even slept here. Not much is known about this place. Nobody knows. There were snakes here.
0:53 With Keren Kayemes, I used to ride in a pickup truck to catch snakes here, to catch them with reptile catchers. We took them to... I ran here. They told me the Rav has some kind of gathering at the tomb of Shimshon (Samson). I was just now a sandak at a bris. Where? Here? - Down here. It's a seven-minute drive. So I said, I'll rush, three minutes. Maybe I'll still catch a few words of Torah from the Rav.
1:18 Hurry, hurry, and you'll make it. - I wanted to understand what is special about this tomb, that the Rav is drawn here so many times. I remember the story the Rav told about the snake. I looked the whole way and didn't find any snakes. But yes, I would like to know what is the special quality of this place. Besides, 'the whole earth is full of His glory.' If the Creator of the world is found throughout the earth, and 'who is like Hashem our G-d, whenever we call to Him' - and I know there is also the shul here, in Rishon, where there are many blessings, many salvations, many miracles, many good things.
1:56 What is special here? Why does one need to come here? There's good air here. There's good air here. One moment, one moment. First of all, Shimshon son of Manoach, son of Tzlelponis - in Tractate Bava Basra, page 91, it says that Shimshon's mother was called Tzlelponis. In the Book of Shoftim, chapters 13 through 16, the whole story of Shimshon is brought there.
2:22 In chapter 13 it says: 'The children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and He gave them into the hand of the Philistines.' When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Jewish people into the hand of the Philistines, it was because they did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem. But then the Holy One, blessed be He, begins to make a great light rise and shine - that of Shimshon son of Manoach: 'And the spirit of Hashem began to stir him in the camp of Dan, between Tzorah and Eshtaol.' What does it mean, 'the spirit of Hashem began to stir him'?
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2:47 What does it mean that the spirit of Hashem was pulsing within Shimshon? Shimshon's strength and power were not within the bounds of nature. His strength was something out of the ordinary. He was named Shimshon because Shimshon's strength, and Shimshon's very name, are likened to 'For Hashem G-d is a sun and a shield' - like the sun: the might of the sun, the power of the sun and the light of the sun. So too Shimshon was dazzling in his beauty and his strength, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him his strength and his power in order to redeem the Jewish people from the hands of the Philistines.
3:22 Now, it is written in the Book of Shoftim - the prophet Shmuel composed it - and in the last verse of chapter 16 it says: 'They buried him in the tomb of Manoach his father, and he had judged Israel twenty years.' So from here we already see, first of all - and there is also much tradition about it, Rabbi Binyamin of Tudela in Masa'os Binyamin, and the Kaftor VaFerach, several different versions about the tomb of Dan - that in fact it is not located here. For seemingly, if Shmuel wrote the Book of Shoftim, he should have mentioned the tomb of Dan.
3:49 The fact that he wrote 'They buried him in the tomb of Manoach his father, and he had judged Israel twenty years,' and it does not say 'They buried him in the tomb of Manoach his father at the foot of Mount Dan' - 'at the foot of Dan' is not written - this implies that in truth it was also not his portion to be up in the north, and so too according to the Kaftor VaFerach. So what is special here in this place: this is Shimshon, whose merit and whose strength we mention - in Tractate Sotah, page 9b and page 10a. Of course, there is a very great virtue in a person not going after his eyes. Because in the end, when someone sets his eyes on something, his own eyes, Heaven forbid, can be taken from him,
4:20 Heaven forbid. So: 'Shimshon went after his eyes; therefore the Philistines gouged out his eyes.' I once explained that a person is forbidden to go and stray after his eyes in this world, because in this world we cannot understand what we see, cannot see the world the way we think we do. We always look at the world, thinking we understand the Torah, thinking we understand Hashem, blessed be He, that we understand everything. And then we go by our own sense of what is right: 'Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.' A person thinks, by his own mind, that he knows the real truth and what is correct - and that is his mistake.
4:55 He needs to throw away his own mind and listen to the view of the Torah. And this is why we must always listen to the view of the Sages and to the Torah. Because it may be that what is right by your mind and your sense of rightness is an utter falsehood before Hashem, blessed be He. And so one must always, always, always search for what is right in the eyes of Hashem. And so: 'Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.' According to my eyes, my outlook, and the Tikkun that I want to make in the world, I need to do it through her. But he did not know that the mind of Hashem, and the spirit of Hashem pulsing within him, is that he should do what is right and correct before Hashem.
5:26 In the end, 'therefore the Philistines gouged out his eyes' - this hints that he removed his own mind entirely, and he merited to take a greater vengeance on them, twice over: 'Remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, just this once' - and he merited to bring down more in his death than in his life. This hints that he did rectify the eyes completely - which is the secret of sight - that he saw the true purpose. He saw Hashem, blessed be He, and he removed his eyes from the sights of this world. And this is the secret of Shema Yisrael - remembering to say Shema Yisrael. And this is what our father Yaakov saw in him, when all the sons gathered, and he expounded about him: 'Dan shall be a serpent on the road,' 'For Your salvation I hope, Hashem' - he expounded this about Shimshon.
6:01 And 'the Philistines gouged out his eyes' - this is the secret of the Shema, when we close our eyes: we close our eyes to the sights of this world and do not see this world. And Shimshon closed his eyes to the world. For when a person closes his eyes to the world while saying Shema Yisrael, he accepts upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and nullifies himself completely in the revelation of Hashem's kingship. So the complete and absolute self-nullification, when he closes his eyes to the sights of this world - which is Shema Yisrael, which is what Shimshon son of Manoach merited - through this we too draw down that complete and absolute self-nullification: to turn our eyes away from all the sights of this world and to seek the Holy One, blessed be He, who is found beyond my own mind and understanding. For a person cannot grasp the mind of Hashem by his own intellect and wisdom.
6:40 He must nullify his intellect and his wisdom before the Torah. And this is the true secret by which a person can merit to attain more and more closeness to Hashem, and to attain the mind of Hashem, blessed be He. That is the intent, that is the contemplation. And through Shimshon we merit to fulfill this completely: when a person closes his eyes, when a person does not touch this world and does not see this world, then he truly merits to fulfill all of His mitzvos, blessed be He, with kavanah - with intent. This is the secret of closing the eyes: to close the eyes so that he does not see, is not bound up with, does not cling to the world.
7:09 This is the secret of tzitzis, in what the Bach writes in siman 8, in the Beis Yosef, who brought that when we wrap ourselves in tzitzis, it is to fulfill all of His mitzvos, blessed be He. And one who did not have this in mind, as he ideally should, has still fulfilled his obligation after the fact. Why 'to fulfill all of His mitzvos, blessed be He'? Because wrapping oneself in tzitzis is an encompassing light. We wrap ourselves in tzitzis in order to separate ourselves from all the sights of this world, to be focused - in the tallis, in the tefillin, in tefillah.
7:34 For our master the Arizal says that the tallis up over the head is to humble the heart. The tallis causes a person to be wrapped up and closed off from this world, so that he has no connection to the world. This is the secret of being a nazir - for Shimshon was a nazir. It is like a kind of nezirus: the separation, the hair - that his hair was grown long - the tallis: everything that wraps a person is an encompassing light, to guard him so that he does not cling to the world. That is why Manoach brought a young goat.
8:01 The young goat, the gedi izim, that he brought is the secret of azus - boldness. Boldness: to bring as an offering the boldness of holiness - the boldness of the Sitra Achra, the Other Side, into the boldness of holiness. And Shimshon took all the boldness in the world and brought it into the boldness of holiness. He revealed in all the souls of Israel that they must be strong and not break, no matter what they go through - never to break. Even if they fall to the most disgraceful and lowly places, they must know: 'From there you will seek Hashem your G-d, and you will find Him, if you search for Him with all your heart.' And we must fulfill all the mitzvos with kavanah.
8:29 That is why, regarding the mitzvos - in siman 60, se'if 4, Maran the Shulchan Aruch ruled that mitzvos require kavanah. That is to say, one can also ask, if mitzvos require kavanah: is that between man and G-d, or between man and his fellow - do those mitzvos require kavanah or not? You mean, like, he does a kindness? - Yes, if I do a kindness... Tzedakah? First let him do it; afterwards let him think. In the Responsa of the Rashba, part 1, siman 18, he writes about tzedakah - that for tzedakah, the reason we do not make a blessing on tzedakah is because it depends on the other person's will.
8:57 You can't - yes, perhaps he won't agree to take it, I don't know - you can't make a blessing on it. - Seemingly, if he doesn't have in mind that he is doing it in order to do the mitzvah of kindness, then he is doing it out of his good nature. - Yes, but whether 'mitzvos require kavanah' is between man and G-d, or perhaps also between man and his fellow. - Seemingly yes. - Between man and his fellow, do the mitzvos also need it? Seemingly yes, because otherwise it comes from good nature: he does a good deed because by nature he wants to do good, not because of Hashem's command. Correct.
9:22 Does anyone know where this is written? Somewhere they discuss this. There is a responsa called Dor De'ah, part 1, siman 57. There he writes that mitzvos between man and his fellow do not require kavanah. 'Mitzvos require kavanah' - because between man and G-d, kavanah is needed. Between man and his fellow, what kavanah would he have? What would you have in mind? - The mitzvah of Hashem. The mitzvah of Hashem, yes, but in the end, the mitzvah of Hashem. But Hashem's mitzvah was fulfilled. - Hashem's mitzvah was fulfilled, all right. There are two sides.
9:49 The day of the geulah, the day of redemption: the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring us to a day before which all times will be nullified. For the more we are gathered into the ultimate purpose, all the days are gathered into something great. I'll give you an example: all six weekdays, right?
10:17 What are they gathered into? Into the day of Shabbos. Right? Shabbos is the gathering-in of the six weekdays; in time, they are gathered into the day of Shabbos. The hours of Shabbos are the highest hours, because the more you condense the time, you condense the day, the appointed time, then the greatest light gathers in that appointed time, in that moment - something that does not shine at any other time. Now, Chol HaMoed: holy days. But when the seventh day of Pesach arrives, then the days - the day, the seventh of Pesach - is the gathering-in of everything, from Seder night until the seventh of Pesach.
10:50 So the Exodus - why? Because the splitting of the Yam Suf, the Exodus from Egypt, that power and that contemplation of the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Yam Suf - it is all included within the seventh of Pesach. The further you go - and afterwards, when we reach Shavuos, then all of Seder night, with Chol HaMoed, with the seventh of Pesach and all the days of Sefiras HaOmer, are gathered into the festival of Shavuos - the festival of Shavuos, the receiving of the Torah.
11:14 The further you go - and everything was a preparation before it. That is why the days of Sefiras HaOmer are destined to be the Chol HaMoed of Shavuos. Each one has a Chol HaMoed - Shavuos... Sukkos, Pesach and Sukkos - but Shavuos has none. The Chol HaMoed of Shavuos will be all the days of Sefiras HaOmer. That is to say, everything is gathered in at the end; ultimately, everything is gathered into the end. So all the generations are included in this generation? So the further down you go - this is 'its end is rooted in its beginning.' Rosh Hashanah - the whole year is gathered into it.
11:42 So you say, 'Bring near the day that is neither day nor night' - meaning, you are asking for something like the eighth day. An eighth day: a day that is above time, into which all the days will be gathered. And then one day will come that contains all the days, all of them - which is in fact neither day nor night. Because if there is day, there will be night, and if there is night, there will be day. So: 'Bring near the day that is neither day nor night' - that such Godliness be revealed, such a day before which, in effect, everything can be nullified - all are nullified before it. Therefore, when you see the geulah, the whole Torah will be expounded in one book, in one Torah, in one verse, in one word,
12:27 in one letter, and in one niggun. So it will be in the time to come. For the more you are gathered in - this is the secret of Bereishis, the Tikkunei Zohar on Bereishis: the whole Torah is gathered into 'Bereishis.' The higher you rise and the more you are gathered in, the more you are gathered into that which is above. Tanta: ta'amim, nekudos, tagin, osiyos - the notes, the vowels, the crowns, the letters. The letters are gathered in, until the pronunciation of the letters is gathered into the letters themselves, which are gathered into the crowns and their pronunciation.
12:54 The more you rise and are gathered into the root, you rise to Kesser, you rise to the highest place - which is the secret of Rabbi Akiva, who expounded on the crowns of the letters. On the tip of the letter Yud - that is above thought. And when one rises above thought and attains da'as in its completeness, the Tikkun, Kesser in its completeness, the complete and absolute self-nullification - on a day and at a time in which there is no seeing of the sights of this world, when he sees no reality of evil at all - then he can attain the true revelation of Hashem: he sees the Holy One, blessed be He, in everything He does in the world; he...
13:27 he has no hold in evil, he does not see the evil, he has no battle with it. He is in a place where he sees the greatness of Hashem, as King David said: 'For I know that Hashem is great, and our Master is above all gods.' So, what you said about... What did you ask about? About a holy place? - A holy place. - Ah, why travel? After all, Hashem is... right. So in truth, the more it is revealed - why do you travel to a tzaddik, why do you go to such holy places, why anything? Because this place revealed Godliness.
13:56 In this place there is no hester panim, no hiding of the Face. When one goes to a holy man, to a tzaddik, when one prays at the grave of a tzaddik, one comes to a place of kedushah. This place itself has absorbed so much revelation of Godliness. The tzaddik revealed Godliness in the world, revealed Hashem, blessed be He, in the world. In his bones, in his flesh, in his sinews - everything cries out Godliness. And that is why Chanah - she came to pray - the Chasam Sofer learned from this - she came to pray within the four amos of Eli.
14:22 Even without... just to pray within his four amos - he thought she was drunk - she prayed within his four amos, and it was accepted. As the Chasam Sofer explains: to pray within the four amos of a tzaddik, even without speaking with him - to pray to Hashem, blessed be He - is a segulah for the tefillah to be accepted. That is why Chanah, when she prayed and 'Eli thought she was drunk' - it was that she prayed simply within his four amos. So when you come to a holy place, you come to a place of kedushah, of one who revealed Godliness, who gave his very life for the Jewish people and revealed His Godliness, blessed be He, in the world - then there are no screens, there is no barrier at all.
14:54 But when one is in other places in the world, where there are sins, transgressions, pride, arrogance, things that are not good, it is hard to draw close to Hashem. That is why, when we come to holy places, it is more possible to draw close to the Holy One, blessed be He. And that is why the Kosel, which is 'Talpiyos,' where everyone has come to pray, at the Kosel - in Shemos Rabbah, parashah 2, it says that the Shechinah never departed from the Kosel HaMaaravi, the Western Wall - from the place, from Hashem who dwells in Zion, from this place, this holy place - 'peering... watching through the lattices' - where the highest, the greatest revelation of Godliness is revealed, in our Beis HaMikdash, our Holy Temple and our glory, where all the Jewish people walked up on the pilgrimage festivals and prayed from this holy place,
15:31 and gave their very lives for this holy place. So in this place there is endless awakening to return in teshuvah to Hashem. And therefore this place reveals Godliness throughout the world, and everyone can come to an awakening in this place. And you feel that when you come to a holy place, there are no partitions and no hiding of the Face in drawing close to Hashem, blessed be He. With Hashem's help, may it be His will that we merit this. Thank you very much.
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