הגאון הינוקא לכבוד הילולת האור החיים הקדוש | הסוד של יוסף הצדיק – איך מתגברים על הניסיונות

2:48 On the one hand there was also a yeshivah for everyone, all the simple people — everyone knew that yeshivah. When Rabbi Gershon of Kitov, the brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov, traveled to the Land of Israel, he said to him: Tell the Ohr HaChaim, Rabbi Chaim ben Attar — tell him to take you to the yeshivah of my select ones — of the select ones, where the holy Torah scholars are, where the lions sit and learn Torah, and where the seekers of Hashem are.

3:21 Meaning, not in this regular place — that is, to go to the place of the seekers of Hashem. So he came — Rabbi Gershon of Kitov — Rabbi Gershon of Kitov comes to him and whispers to the Ohr HaChaim: Where can I learn things? And he tells him: Here, on such-and-such street, in my beis midrash. He went there. He sees everyone, but he comes to the Ohr HaChaim and says to him: No, I want to see where the servants of Hashem are, where the seekers of Hashem are.

3:48 Take me to your hidden yeshivah. And then the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh understood that he has ruach hakodesh, Divine inspiration. I mean, who could know this? No one knows. It's not like today, with us — all over the world today, one person tells a secret about another and the whole world knows the secret. One says to someone: You hear? Come, let me reveal to you a secret that was revealed to me with Eliyahu HaNavi. No one knows — and already Eliyahu HaNavi is appearing to everyone [unclear].

4:14 Today is not like it used to be. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh was astonished. He said: How does he know, this Jew? He has ruach hakodesh. And then he told him about his brother-in-law, the Baal Shem Tov. And then he understood that there is someone across the sea, a man of attainments like him, a man of high level. But the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh attained far more than he did.

4:39 [unclear] — the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. And even during the Amidah prayer — there were a few individuals who could see it, of course — when he would pray with his holy group, the holy group, in the hidden synagogue of the outstanding Torah scholars he would sit with in the group — from their great power, the power of the holiness of the place, when he prayed, he would float in the air.

5:04 He was almost four amos in the air. When he would pray in the regular synagogue — he would pray in the synagogue of the group. Rabbi Gershon of Kitov said to him — he said to him: Teach me. In his beis midrash he drew from the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh so, so, so, so much. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh was whole in his mind, whole in his soul, and there was no wholeness like his.

5:30 So much so that Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin said that a home where they learn the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh — it lights up the home, lights up his soul, lights up his neighborhood and lights up his city. It can be seen — those who have sight can see that a light shines, radiating in the place where they learn the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. Any place where one sees there is a certain lofty light — it is because they are learning the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh in that place.

5:59 See the greatness of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh: there were tzaddikim — Rabbi Aharon of Belz and many more holy ones, many tzaddikim — who would not welcome Shabbos until they learned the Noam Elimelech — they learn Rashi, which comes before all other learning — but also the learning of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. In the time of the Steipler, among the sages of Jerusalem — in Jerusalem they would test on [unclear], the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh.

6:23 They would test on the learning of the Ohr HaChaim — they would test it like Rashi, because the learning of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is so very, very important. About learning it they say that even if a person is like a rock and has no children, through the power of learning the Ohr HaChaim, even a rock can be granted children. Is there something? A rock. We see this with Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin, [unclear] his hilula. We see about him that if he would bless a rock that it should have children, that rock had children.

6:53 That is what we see with Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin. So the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh — by learning it, a person repairs his soul, lights up his face, his mind and his soul, and can receive immense holiness. And a little of the outlook of the Ohr HaChaim, of his [unclear] — simple words, things, whatever one can grab and learn — some pearl, some diamond from the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh — that is a great virtue. Now we will learn a diamond from the words of our master, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, and we'll see what he teaches us — the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh — so that it will be of benefit to us.

7:28 May his merit protect us. Let's see. After that we'll say l'chaim. "From the G-d of your father, Who will help you, and with the Almighty, Who will bless you — blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts and the womb."

7:57 The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains that a person who overcomes a nisayon, a trial — yes, of course everyone has his own nisayon that he goes through. Many people go through trials in this world that are very hard for them. There are people for whom making a living is hard, life is hard, serving Hashem is hard, everything is hard.

8:24 Every single thing — everyone knows how hard it is. In everything there is difficulty. A struggle. And then comes the great difficulty, the difficulty of the trials as well. The yetzer hara tries to shake a person and tell him: All right, you are struggling with the difficulty of making a living, the difficulty of life, the difficulty of health — come, let's give you another difficulty.

8:49 "He too will join our enemies and fight against us." Come, let's give him the trials of the yetzer hara as well. And then comes that yetzer, the Satan, that evil affliction, and tries to confuse the person. He tries to confuse him in this world, puts imaginings into him, puts into him [unclear] and thoughts that are not good, and the yetzer hara, and despair, and losing hope. He tries to confuse him, and also, of course, in the end to [unclear].

9:16 So always remember the simplest rule there is, the simplest rule — the simplest rule: that the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world — we'll give you chizuk on the words of the Ohr HaChaim. I'll give you an example. What will happen to a person who takes sugar — yes? White sugar, brown, it doesn't matter — sugar — and takes teaspoons, tablespoons of sugar, and eats.

9:40 Spoonfuls of sugar — it's sweet, sugar is sweet. So — oh, if it's sweet, it's a sign that this is the healthiest thing for the body. So let's eat a lot of sugar. He'll eat another spoonful, and another, and another, and another, and another, and two cups of sugar, and loads of candies and chocolates, and that's all he'll eat all day, every day, all day.

10:04 What will happen to him? He'll be going to the doctor — to all the doctors, I think — and to the dentist, and to the eye doctor, and to the ear doctor, and for the heart, and for diabetes, and for everything, right? And also [unclear], on the side. The Holy One, blessed be He, showed us something — see how strengthening this is, see how much this strengthens.

10:29 I thought about this. Everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in the world — whatever is healthy for the body is not pleasant to a person; whatever is pleasant to a person is not healthy for the body. All the desires — all the desires there are in this world, all the desires, all the trials, all the desires that give enjoyment to the body and pleasantness to the body — they harm the soul, and one sees this plainly, that it truly harms the soul.

11:03 It doesn't harm a little — it harms the soul a great deal. If we find that a person ate a lot of sugars — which could be the very best thing — in the end, what did he do to his soul? To the soul — maybe how much did he harm? He harmed, I don't know, maybe the desire for eating — he spoiled a little, something, but not so terrible, not like more serious sins.

11:29 But he harmed himself — but his body he harmed much more. From here you see. It is as if the Holy One, blessed be He, showed us: Don't be pained about the world going after desires [unclear], because in the end they harm their souls and harm their bodies. "Out of the strong came forth sweetness." People think that if they follow the way of Hashem, they are losing out, that maybe they don't get this, don't get that. No.

12:02 You are saving yourself, and you are living the best, sweetest and most pleasant life. For here is the proof: a person who eats more cucumbers and more vegetables — true, it isn't tasty, but it is far healthier than eating chocolates and candies. Because if he eats a lot of sugar, it can harm him — it truly harms the body.

12:27 And if he eats... What's that? Sugar and salt are [unclear]. It's the silent killer, that's what it's called. Sugar — salt is the silent killer. It is no less harmful than sugar. Sugar — everyone is afraid of it, but salt they are not afraid of. Salt, too, is very, very dangerous. High saltiness, [unclear] in the body, can cause kidney stones and many things — to him, and to the systems, and to a person's filtering, and to many things.

12:55 That is — at some opportunity, to tell a little about Doctor Shlomo, a little of what — I don't understand medicine, but I learn a little from people, whatever can be learned. But to see how much one can look after the body — that is very important. But from here we see, in the wisdom of Hashem, that He showed us: Look at this — don't be pained, because look: whatever you do that gives pleasure to the body — what happens to a person who sleeps a lot? Sleep is sweet, everyone loves sleep, it is pleasant to them.

13:27 What happens when a person sleeps too much? The brain degenerates. Once a person sleeps a great, great, great deal, the brain can no longer think, the brain does not encode, the mind is not straight and not clear, and it damages the mind. That means sleeping in moderation — everything in moderation, not too much. And here we see that precisely when something is pleasant to the body — what does it cause the soul? It harms the soul.

13:54 But more than that — what is the new thing we learned today? That it does not only harm the soul; it harms what? The body itself. If you thought it only harms the soul, you are mistaken; it also harms the body itself. And what does the Rambam say about that known desire? Hilchos De'os: It is all of a person's strength, it is all his essence — in chapter 4, the Rambam answers and says that the more that goes out, Heaven forbid, the more old age will leap upon him.

14:25 His strength fails, [unclear] worn out, he has no strength, [unclear] strength. And the Torah — what does the Torah give? Strength! But on the other side, what does it also do? It wears down his strength. But which strength does it wear down? In Tractate Nedarim, page 49a, Rashi at the end of the page — Rashi says that Torah scholars are weaker, since they have abstinence.

14:52 It is that they sacrifice themselves for the Torah, because they sacrifice themselves for the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in the world but the Torah. Torah is the most exalted thing in the world: a person could wander around here in the world and go after this and this and this — he says to himself: Move! He goes to the books, he puts his mind into the Torah; some verse interests him, some Rambam interests him, some Mishnah, some page of Gemara, the view of the Sages, Abaye and Rava — he learns, he puts his mind into the revelation of G-dliness — at that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, also speaks to all the troubles and the sufferings. What does He say to them?

15:30 Move away from him. What happens to one who throws off from himself the yoke of Torah — what is he given? The yoke of government and the yoke of making a living. Listen — you don't want Torah? "Man is born to toil" — you want to choose? Why do you want to be without a yoke? There is one who is busy already in the toil of Torah. And sometimes our trial is to cope with all the difficulties, and to know that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not leave us. That is what it teaches us: "From the G-d of your father, Who will help you," says the Ohr HaChaim, "and with the Almighty, Who will bless you." Pay attention: the overcoming of Yosef HaTzaddik, which was with Potiphar's wife — he asked the Holy One, blessed be He, for help.

16:14 The Holy One, blessed be He, gave him the help to be saved. Do you think that Yosef HaTzaddik — without the strength that Hashem, blessed be He, would give? No one can be saved. Who makes the tzaddik a tzaddik? The Holy One, blessed be He. Who grants us the merit to pray? The Holy One, blessed be He. Who gives him the strength to learn Torah? He gives us everything. And so writes the Ohr HaChaim — pay attention, this is his holy wording: "It further means, in saying 'Who will help you' and 'Who will bless you,' in this way: that although G-d helped him and the Almighty [unclear] him, and he was saved from [unclear], even so, he is given the credit for it, [unclear] and he is blessed as though the thing had come from him."

16:58 Did you notice what beauty, what… It is simply unbelievable, what an interpretation. Did you notice? We walk about here in the world. We overcome — each one overcomes his trials and the difficulties of his, and the trials and the challenges he has to overcome. He credits it to himself. Fine — says the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh: from Heaven they helped you, and you are given reward for it, you are given the merit of the blessing, as though you — from Heaven — overcame it on your own.

17:30 And so, the greatness of a person who overcomes every difficulty and offers it to the Holy One, blessed be He — every difficulty that is hard for you. And know this: the greatest gifts are the greatest constrictions a person has in life. When a person is in a time of constrictions — the whole time of the constrictions — remember it. When those days pass and good things come to a person, and abundance opens for him, he will have a good life, everything will work out for him; when suddenly he has some [unclear], suddenly he has some miracle — he needs healing, and he is like this, and he is like that — it is in the merit of the days of the constrictions, the days of difficulty, the troubled days, the days of the obstacles,

18:16 the days of the sufferings, the days when it was hardest for you, it didn't go, nothing — a day passed for you, from when you got up until the moment you went to sleep, the yetzer hara, and trials, and difficulties. That is what the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh teaches: know that when you also stand up to all the struggles — that is to say, will you not remember that the One who gives you the strength to succeed — not only in livelihood, in spirituality too, "Who will help you" — is Hashem, blessed be He.

18:43 And then you will be able to. The more a person knows Hashem, the more he draws upon himself the grasp of His G-dliness, blessed be He, the revelation and the Hashgachah of the Holy One, blessed be He. Everyone wants salvation from Hashem. But what must one do for salvation from Hashem? One must also give something. One must prove it: you want something from Me? Prove it to Me. What — why should I give to you? Who are you?

19:09 You ask? Everyone asks. They ask — listen, we all want a livelihood, want Jerusalem, want sons, children. Fine, I ask. But what do you prove to Me — that you truly want Me? Do I know that you are for the way of Hashem, that you are for My way? Prove it to Me. And then the person comes and shows you that he makes himself holy, that he learns, that he prays.

19:38 And more than that — what is suddenly most beloved to Him? That He says: Look what My son is. Even when he withstands trials, he attributes it to Me — the strengths. As though he says: Hashem also gave me the strength to overcome. He sanctifies Me in this moment too. Instead of saying to himself: I overcame, I am strong, I am mighty — he says: even in the moment of the trial, I bring it into… — and I will make him king over the whole world.

20:05 That is what he deserves. And who was that? The Ohr HaChaim says: Yosef. Yosef HaTzaddik — think, look at the example that the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh gives. And I specifically want to explain what the Ohr HaChaim says here, so that it will be clearer and clearer to you. Yosef HaTzaddik — yes? the Torah stresses that he was "of beautiful form and beautiful appearance," successful, wise, wealthy, held in esteem, coming from a house of royalty, of kings, of the tribes.

20:37 Yaakov Avinu was not some old man sitting in some trailer with a few children, yes? They know that he was a prince, he was a king over the kingdom. All the wealth and all the royalty that there was — I am not speaking of the famine that there was in that period, and having to go down to [unclear]. Let us speak of the standing that there was. The standing was that Yaakov Avinu was a very great man in the eyes of the world.

21:04 And Yosef HaTzaddik was his beloved son, and he was of beautiful form and beautiful appearance. And suddenly, from Heaven, there comes his way a life that is not simple, to Yosef HaTzaddik. From the highest place, from the house of his father, Yaakov, who loved him and nurtured him and gave him a striped coat out of his great love for him — Yosef HaTzaddik finds himself sold as a slave, and he simply goes to a dark place, to darkness, to a pit, where he looks and he sees no hope, [unclear] darkness — and when he looks a little and tries to feel, between his knees, a place to lie down, he feels snakes and scorpions climbing on him.

21:55 It happens to a person that he feels the most frightening thing, and he feels that he is at [unclear] of life, and says to himself: What am I doing here? How? I have come to a place so narrow and dark — from so much power I come to such a pit? But Yosef HaTzaddik knows a secret, and this secret takes him out of the pit, and this secret brings him all the wealth that you will see later on, and even more than that — to withstand trials, to defeat Potiphar's wife, who was beautiful of form, and to defeat her and to be king over Egypt, to be the provider over the land of Egypt, to save his brothers who are in exile and to bring about for them the redemption, which is the splitting of the Yam Suf,

22:42 even after his passing, and to store away the wealth that is destined for the King Mashiach — and what Antoninus and Korach received, but the last is destined for the King Mashiach — and all of it Yosef HaTzaddik stored away in the depths of the sea. And no one can understand what the secret is that Yosef merited to discover. And this is all the strength of Yosef.

23:08 Who can tell me what was the strength of Yosef HaTzaddik? - Guarding the covenant. - Right, right, of course, of course — but I mean the root of it. - [unclear] guarded his eyes, - Nice, [unclear] — a fine answer.

23:41 I accept this answer, and it does not seem to me that one can add to it. A fine answer, well done. - [unclear] - I will sharpen it more. Let us explain it in a simpler way. The Maggid of Mezritch says, in Likkutim Yekarim, a very beautiful explanation. Now, when Yosef HaTzaddik came in to where Potiphar's wife was, what did he see that suddenly caused him to flee and go out of [unclear]?

24:10 He saw the image of his father's likeness, right? He saw the image of his father's likeness. The Likkutim Yekarim explains: what does it mean, "he saw the image of his father's likeness"? He says: he contemplated the fact that he does not exist. He contemplates the fact that she, too, does not exist. He saw: from where does this come to him? It is a putrid drop; he too is a putrid drop, she is a putrid drop — and in truth, nothing exists in the world.

24:36 And it returns to its root. That is to say, only the Holy One, blessed be He, exists in the world. Nothing exists. So he saw Hashem. It is as though it says: "he saw the image of his father's likeness" — he saw. That is "the image of his father's likeness" — he saw the Holy One, blessed be He. He saw, as it were, that there is only Hashem in the world. Nothing else exists in the world. And this is the strength of Yosef HaTzaddik. When he was in the pit, he saw that there is only Hashem. When he came out of the pit, he saw that there is only Hashem.

25:01 When he was king over Egypt, he saw that there is only Hashem. Therefore, when the Jewish people went out of Egypt and the sea had to split for them — for the Jewish people the sea did not split; but for the one who saw that there is only Hashem — what happened to the sea? "The sea saw and fled." What is "and fled"? Who "fled and went outside"?

25:27 Yosef HaTzaddik. He fled and went outside, away from Potiphar's wife. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Your children too — [unclear] Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov — we, the Jewish people, when we reach the Yam Suf, the sea will have to flee before us, to run and move aside, because of the holiness of the Jewish people — corresponding to the self-sacrifice. When a person sacrifices himself for the Torah, sacrifices himself for the mitzvos, for kedushah, he shows the Holy One, blessed be He, that for him there is only Hashem.

25:59 So the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Come — if that is all you see in the world, what do you want? What do you want? He gives him everything. Therefore, always remember: this whole world is vanity of vanities. But that does not mean that if a person [unclear] — it is all vanity of vanities. I want to know that everything is falsehood and vanity of vanities, and not to let anything of this world mislead us, ever, and to remember the real truth, our true and eternal purpose.

26:28 To think about the purpose, to focus on Hashem. May we merit, with Hashem's help, that in the merit of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, whose thought we have learned now — and we also explained and added new insight on the wondrous things he wrote — may his merit protect us, and may we have salvations and good tidings and a good life. I read the new insight in Bereishis, in chapter 49, verse 25.

26:54 What we learned now was the Ohr HaChaim's commentary on this verse. I explained the words of the Ohr HaChaim in my own language, and I also explained it to you at greater length, and with additions to his words. May his merit protect us, may we have salvations and good tidings — and now let us make a l'chaim in honor of the hilula of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. Let each one ask, briefly, for a moment — ask his requests for a few seconds — in the merit of the Ohr HaChaim, as though we [unclear] the Ohr HaChaim, Rabbi Chaim [unclear].

27:36 Many salvations, [unclear] — l'chaim, You see — you received both a word of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, and a new insight, and [unclear] words, and sustenance too. Thank you very much. Amen, amen, amen.

28:06 Thank you all very much. Give thanks to Hashem, for His kindness endures forever.