Teachings of the Sages – 8th Kislev, 5773

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

R’ Pinchas said: “‘Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). The term echad [one] in the reading of the Shema, which proclaims the unity of G-d, [requires us to] state that there is nothing in the whole world other than the Holy One, Who fills the whole earth with His glory. The principal intention [of the commandment to recite the Shema] is that we should consider ourselves null and void, and [understand] that there is nothing to us but the soul within us, which is part of G-d above. Hence there is nothing in the whole world except the One G-d. Our principal thought when reciting the word echad should be that the whole earth is full of His glory and there is nothing [in the universe] devoid of Him”

Likkutei Amarim, p. 14d, cited in Sefer Besht to Va’ethanan, no. 13, in The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary, by Norman Lamm, pp. 8-9 (B)

SOURCE: Two Tzaddiks

Teachings of the Sages – 1st Shvat, 5771

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

R’ Pinchas said: “‘If a man fulfills the commandments of the Torah, such as the commandment of the phylacteries, and says the formula prescribed by the Kabbalists, namely, “In the name of all Israel [I am doing this]” then he lifts up the whole universe to its “root” above, for the world is really G-d Himself, like the locust whose clothing is part of its own self [i.e. its own wings garb its body]. Therefore, he annihilates [by his action] the [outward] existence of the whole universe. And if we see that in spite of all this the world is still there, it is because the vital energy of G-d is always active and the world is incessantly renewed.’ In contrast, then, to classical Kabbalistic theurgy, where mitzvot transform the G-dhead’s inner state, for Hasidism, mitzvot transform the worshipper’s field of vision” ^*

^*Midrash Pinhas, 1872, 9b, 60 (A), cited in Devekut, or communion with G-d, by Gershom Scholem, in Essential Papers on Hasidism: Origins to Present, edited by Gershon David Hundert, p. 296 (B)

 

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Teachings of the Sages – 29th Tevet, 5771

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

“Rebbe R’ Pinchas spoke of the physical reality of millions of parallel worlds, long before it meant anything in physics or math. There is a word from him where he says that he believes with full faith that there are worlds that are now at every stage of creation, including some where the Maamad Har Sinai (Reception of the Torah) is happening right now” ^*

^*Per Yosher Dovor, personal communication, 5/20/2008

 

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Teachings of the Sages – 28th Tevet, 5771

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

R’ Pinchas said: “[At the time of creation the light of G-d flowed from the sphere of the spiritual down to the physical world through a series of vessels or emanations.] But the vessels proved unable to contain the Divine Light. They broke. This primordial catastrophe is called shevirat hakeilim, the Breaking of the Vessels. You can better understand it with an analogy. Think of a man who is deeply troubled and depressed. Suddenly he receives an exhilarating piece of good news. His troubles are over. Instead of jumping for joy, the man will break down crying. The “bright light” of the good news was too much for him. Similarly, shevirat hakeilim means that the vessels broke because they could not encompass the brilliant splendor of the luminescent Divine Light” ^*

^*Imrei Pinchas HaShalem, Bereshit 9 (A, B), cited in The Great Chasidic Masters, by Avraham Y. Finkel, p. 35 (B)

 

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Teachings of the Sages – 27th Tevet, 5771

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

R’ Pinchas said: “‘The whole earth is full of His glory’ (Isaiah 6:3). His glory [kevodo] should be understood in the sense of ‘His garment,’ i.e., that G-d is enclothed, so to speak, in the corporeal. Hence, the whole earth is full of his glory implies [that G-d fills] all corporeality. Thus ‘G-d’s glory’ refers to His clothing [i.e., ‘just as the body fills a garment, so G-d indwells in the world’]” ^*

^*Likkutei Yekarim, p. 17c, cited in Sefer ha-Besht, Bereshit, no. 15, in The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary, by Norman Lamm, p. 26 (B)

 

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Teachings of the Sages – 26th Tevet, 5771

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON THE IMMANENCE OF G-D

R’ Pinchas said: “‘Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). The term echad [one] in the reading of the Shema, which proclaims the unity of G-d, [requires us to] state that there is nothing in the whole world other than the Holy One, Who fills the whole earth with His glory. The principal intention [of the commandment to recite the Shema] is that we should consider ourselves null and void, and [understand] that there is nothing to us but the soul within us, which is part of G-d above. Hence there is nothing in the whole world except the One G-d. Our principal thought when reciting the word echad should be that the whole earth is full of His glory and there is nothing [in the universe] devoid of Him” ^*

^*Likkutei Amarim, p. 14d, cited in Sefer Besht to Va’ethanan, no. 13, in The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary, by Norman Lamm, pp. 8-9 (B)

 

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Teachings of the Sages

 

5th Adar, 5770

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Raphael said: “Two things I learned from my Master during my last visit to him: ‘The less one talks, the nearer he is to holiness’; and ‘Only that good deed is valuable of which no one knows’”.^*

^*Midrash Pinhas, p. 49 (A), cited in The Hasidic Anthology: Tales and Teachings of the Hasidim, by Louis I. Newman, p. 321. Reprinted with permission of Ann Newman (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages

 

3rd Adar, 5770

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “When you speak evil of another man, the Satan will compel you to be his witness against the object of your words. Would you become the Satan’s assistant? Blame the fault, not the man”.^*

^*Nofeth Tzufim, p. 49 (A), cited in The Hasidic Anthology: Tales and Teachings of the Hasidim, by Louis I. Newman, p. 512. Reprinted with permission of Ann Newman (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages

 

2nd Adar, 5770

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “In everyone there is something precious which is in no one else. That is why it is said: ‘Despise not any man’”.^*

^*Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters, by Martin Buber, p. 127 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 27th Shevat 5770

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “Sometimes, a man whose deeds are corrupt will live to be 70 years old because of one word he uttered or one gesture he made in complete sincerity, entirely for the sake of G-d. It was essential that he be born for this solitary word or gesture. It could not have been done by anyone else, for no two people were created exactly alike, since the beginning of the world until the end of days”.^*

^*Imrei Pinchas HaShalem, Darkei Avodat HaShem 1 (A, B), cited in The Great Chasidic Masters, by Avraham Y. Finkel, p. 36 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 26th Shevat 5770

The Teachings of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz and His Disciple, Rebbe Raphael of Bershad

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “It’s possible for a person to be created and live an entire lifetime just for the sake of uttering one word or making a single gesture that he performs for the Holy One”.^*

^*The Way into Jewish Mystical Tradition, by Lawrence Kushner. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001, p. 109 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 25th Shevat 5770

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “There are no words which, in themselves, are useless. There are no actions which, in themselves, are useless. But one can make useless both actions and words by saying or doing them uselessly”.^*

^*Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters, by Martin Buber, p. 127 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 20th Shevat 5770

ON LANGUAGE, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND DREAMS

R’ Pinchas said: “the holy Torah was originally created as an incoherent jumble of letters. In other words, all the letters of the Torah, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, were not yet combined to form the words we now read, such as ‘In the beginning G-d created’ or ‘Go from thy land,’ and so on. These words, on the contrary, were not yet present, for the events of Creation that they record had not yet taken place. Thus all the letters of the Torah were indeed jumbled, and only when a certain event occurred in the world did the letters combine to form the words in which the event is related. When, for example, the Creation of the world or the events in the life of Adam and Eve took place, the letters formed the words that relate these events. Or when someone died, the combination ‘And so-and-so died’ came into being. So it was with all other matters. As soon as something happened, the corresponding combinations of letters came into being. If another event had occurred in its place, other combinations of letters would have arisen, for know that the holy Torah is G-d’s infinite wisdom”.^*

^*Ge’ullat Yisrael, Ostrog, 1921, 1d-2a (A), cited in On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, by Gershom Scholem, pp. 76-77 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 19th Shevat 5770

ON AVOIDING SELF-DECEPTION

R’ Pinchas said: “He who is filled with self-importance lies to himself and he fools others to believe his importance”.^*

^*Ideas and Ideals of the Hassidim, by Milton Aron, p. 289 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 16th Shevat 5770

ON AVOIDING SELF-DECEPTION

R’ Raphael said: “The Sages teach that the greatest labor of man should be to avoid self-deceit. But how can a man do so when he is deceived and believes his action to be right? By obeying the counsel of his friend, since his friend cannot profit by permitting the deceit to continue. We are also taught that he who labors for truth creates for himself an Angel of Truth who acts as a monitor to warn him of falsehood”.^*

^*Midrash Pinhas, p. 49 (A), cited in The Hasidic Anthology: Tales and Teachings of the Hasidim, by Louis I. Newman, pp. 491-492. Reprinted with permission of Ann Newman (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 14th Shevat 5770

ON AVOIDING SELF-DECEPTION

“It is told that R’ Pinchus used to warn his disciples: ‘Never fool yourselves! Above all a Jew must be thoroughly honest with himself!’ Once one of his students challenged him. ‘But Rebbe,’ he said, ‘one who fools himself actually thinks he is being honest with himself. So how are we ever to know if we are being honest, or just fooling ourselves?’ ‘You have asked wisely, my son,’ the Rebbe said. ‘The answer, however, is simple. It is written in Tanna d-Bei Eliyahu [an ancient Midrashic source] that anyone who is careful to speak words of truth will be sent a malach [an angel] who shows him the truth. One who speaks words of sheker [falsehood] will be sent a malach who fools and deceives him. So, if you will be careful to always tell the truth, you will never “fool yourself.” If not, well …’ This is a very telling incident. One can live his? her entire life in deception, of others and of himself, and not have even the faintest notion he is doing so. R’ Pinchus also used to tell his disciples: ‘It is better to choke, than to utter a lie’”.^*

^*“Truth and a Place Called Kushta,” by Eliyahu Hoffmann (C)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 13th Shevat 5770

ON TRUTH

“The wife of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz once bought a gold-plated Kiddush cup. When he noticed the new cup on Friday night, the Rebbe curtly asked, ‘Since when do we have golden utensils in our house?’ ‘Look,’ said his wife apologetically, ‘it is not genuine, it’s just a gold-plated cup!’ ‘That makes it even worse,’ said the Rebbe. ‘You not only brought snobbery into our house, but you compounded your mistake by introducing also falsehood and deceit.’ He adamantly refused to use the cup for Kiddush”.^*

^*Eser Orot, by Yisrael Berger, Warsaw, 1913, cited in The Great Chasidic Masters, by Avraham Y. Finkel, p. 36 (B); and, similarly, attributed to Priester der Liebe: Die Welt der Chassidim, by Chaim Bloch (A), cited in The Hasidic Anthology: Tales and Teachings of the Hasidim, by Louis I. Newman, p. 493 (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 12th Shevat 5770

ON TRUTH

“Rebbe Rafael of Bershad so often and so strongly condemned lying and speaking falsely that truth-telling became ingrained even in the children of his community. Once, three children were sitting talking about how Rebbe Rafael said it was forbidden to lie. One child asked, ‘But didn’t Abraham say about Sarah, “She’s my sister?”’ His friend answered, ‘Because of that he was punished by having a son like Ishmael.’ The second one asked, ‘Didn’t Isaac say about Rebecca, “She’s my sister?”’ His friend answered, ‘He was punished by having a son like Esau.’ The third boy asked, ‘Jacob too said, “I am Esau your first-born?”’ ‘Oh,’ said his friend, ‘that’s because he never met Rebbe Rafael. If he’d met Rebbe Rafael he never would have said that!’”.^*

^*Ma’amar Mordechai, vol. 3, p. 17, no. 6, cited in Truth-Telling, by Yitzhak Buxbaum, in Jewish Spirit Journal (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 11th Shevat 5770

ON TRUTH

“R’ Pinchas of Koretz once compared himself to R’ Yaacov Yosef of Polnoye, the ‘Toldos.’ ‘The Toldos loves “truth,”’ he said. ‘In fact he loves it so much that he speaks great quantities of truth everyday. And if a little bit of falsehood should creep in, it would be worth it for the great amount of truth that would have been spoken. I, on the other hand, abhor falsehood. Therefore I barely speak at all lest I utter a bit of falsehood’”.^*

^*“Tzaddik Talk,” by Nishmas Chayim (C)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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Teachings of the Sages 10th Shevat 5770

ON TRUTH

“Respect for truth was so profound among [R’ Pinchas’s] friends and followers that they dared not repeat his comments for fear of misquoting him”.^*

^*Four Hasidic Masters and Their Struggle against Melancholy, by Elie Wiesel, p. 20. Copyright © 1978 by Elie Wiesel. Reprinted with permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of Elirion Associates (B)

Source: Two Tzaddiks

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