QUESTION:
Is there an explanation as to why throughout most of the world, the younger popular is not as affected from catching the virus, even though it is mostly the younger population who usually get all kinds of diseases, whereas most of the older population come down with very bad symptoms right away from the virus?
ANSWER:
Yes. It is because right now there are two different outcomes of the epidemic, there are those who are allowed to be in groups not more than 10, and there are those who have to be quarantined alone, by themselves. The younger population has more of a social life and that is why they can still be in groups of people not more than 10, whereas the older population [has less of a social life] and they are more drawn towards being alone, and therefore it is they who are being quarantined alone.
QUESTION
The Rav explained in the first derasha that the world has started to become spiritually ruined since the year 5760. What exactly happened during that year which changed the world?
ANSWER
In that year, the power of Amalek began to dominate the world, and it will be that way until This World ends.QUESTION
We can see that Italy has been hit very hard by the virus. Is this because Italy [the country identified by our Sages as Amalek] is the root of the ruination of our generation?
ANSWER
The Gemara says that on the day Shlomo married the daughter of Pharoah the angel of Gavriel stuck a piece of land in the water which became the country of “Italy, a country of Greece.” The first country of Amalek (Greece) and the last country of Amalek (Greece) are both rooted in the same place.
QUESTION
Many people have a carefree and joking attitude towards the orders which the Board of Health [in Israel] is giving to stay healthy now. What is the attitude that we really need to have about it?
ANSWER
Don’t listen to them at all, because they are not to be trusted at all. We are in an “exile to the doctors” as the Steipler said. That is our exile, and we have no choice but to listen to what the doctors say. If the doctors would be G-d fearing Jews, we would have to listen to them, but the doctors today [on the Health Ministry in Israel] are not to be trusted at all.
QUESTION
But there are some Rabbanim and Poskim who say that we should listen to the doctors…?
ANSWER
That is because they have no choice, and as the Steipler said, that we are in an “exile of the doctors.” If the doctors today would be G-d fearing then of course we would be commanded to listen to them. We have no other alternative today, and therefore we have no choice but to obey these doctors. But the true reality is that these doctors are not to be believed at all. However, we can certainly be wary of what they say.
QUESTION
The Rav explained in the derashah that there are 3 parts to our inner avodah now: To connect to oneself, to connect to the Torah, and to Hashem. The Rav emphasized a lot about becoming connected to oneself. Is this the 49th level within the 50th level [of holiness] or does a person need to begin by connecting inwardly to himself and then use that inward connection to become further connected to the Torah and to the Creator?
ANSWER
This is an approach which emphasized how we can negate the 49 levels, which are only “outside” of a person, things which a person does but which he has no personal connection to. When a person connects inwardly to his very soul, that is the 50th level of holiness.
QUESTION
Does this mean that a person needs to work with his 4 elements of the soul?
ANSWER
It is a very fundamental way. There are other ways as well for a person to reach his soul. The point of the derasha was that the Creation now is returning to the original state of man when man was created as an individual. The 4 elements is the very design of Creation, but it is only one of the ways in which a person can reveal his true self. It is very fundamental, but it is not the only way in which a person can penetrate to his true self. The path that was stressed in the derashah was the fundamental concept that Hashem created a person as an individual and that our avodah now is to returning to being alone as an individual.
QUESTION
What is the avodah of accessing the 49th level within the 50th level of holiness?
ANSWER
It is two-fold. One part is by separating ourselves from the world, by separating ourselves from all of the 49 levels of tumah in the world. The other part is to become more in touch with our own soul and reveal it, but at that level we are still not touching our very soul, because it is only at the 49th level of holiness within us [and only at the 50th level of holiness within us do we reach our very soul itself].
QUESTION
How does a person reach the 50th level of holiness?
ANSWER
It is accessed when a person can alternate between two different states, the state of thinking and the state of non-intellectual simplicity. At times a person needs to use his mind to think and at other times a person needs to leave his thinking aside and become simply and non-intellectually attached with Hashem. The 50th gate of holiness is when a person has this balance of going back and forth between these different states.
QUESTION
What is the point that we are supposed to be reaching?
ANSWER
When you arrive at the simple understanding that the Creator exists and that there is none other besides Him. As the Kotzker said, “Ain Od Milvado” means when you know that there is nothing else to know other than the fact that Hashem exists. That is the deepest place in the soul to reach.
In the outer layers of our soul, we can access all kinds of knowledge and information. A person can “know” of Hashem and he can know Torah. But deeper in the soul than this is when one knows about “Ain Od Milvado”, that there is nothing else to know other than this knowledge that that Creator exists.
A person cannot live all the time at this understanding in his soul, because it can be only be accessed for a short amount of time and soon afterwards a person needs to return to routine.
On the outer layer of one’s soul, a person gains all kinds of knowledge, and the first thing that a person needs to get to know is the Torah, to gain knowledge in Torah, and from there he can receive all kinds of vast knowledge. But he will also need to access a deeper place in the soul and go to there at times: The place in his soul where he can become aware that there is nothing else to know other than the reality of Hashem’s presence. This is the meaning of the concept of “complete d’veykus (attachment) and hiskalelus (integration)” in the Creator.
QUESTION
Can a person try to do this even if he is doing it shelo lishmah (for self-serving motives)?
ANSWER
“From shelo lishmah comes lishmah.” If a person doesn’t strive to reach lishmah, though, he will remain with the “daas of the Serpent”.
QUESTION
There are always two ways of avodah, either to “begin from below, to above” or to “begin from above, to below”. Can a person do what the Rav is describing by working “from above to below”?
ANSWER
He can do it only if he is indeed able to reach above. In order to work from above to below, a person needs to be connected to above, or, he needs to have mesirus nefesh, which enables a person to penetrate to the highest levels. If a person is not at that level, he needs to begin from below, according to the level he is at.
QUESTION
If a person still hasn’t yet perfected his middos can he merit the Geulah?
ANSWER
One needs to become further connected with his most positive middah, and correspondingly, a person also needs to try to fix his worst middah. Practically speaking, though, a person enters inwardly into his soul mainly by consistently making use of his best middah. But that is all by using the path of middos. There is also a path [to reach the soul and thereby merit the Geulah] through Torah learning, and there is also a path [to reach the soul and thereby merit the Geulah] through having temimus and peshitus [earnest and simple connection to Hashem].
QUESTION
What are the levels of reaching the innermost place in the soul?
ANSWER
The first part is the lowest part of the deepest place in the soul, which is to reveal one’s individuality. At this level, a person feels his existence (Yeish).
After this stage is a further level, where a person can reach bittul (self-nullification) and nullify his sense of Yeish/existence.
What exactly does a person nullify? A person needs to nullify anything external to his self which is not who “I” really am. In addition, one also needs to nullify any qualities that were gained from others, because in reality, all qualities gained from others are all coming from the world of imagination [since a person only ‘gains’ qualities from others by imitating them because he compares himself to them, and this is all from the world medameh, which means “comparing” and which also means “imagination”.]
So a person needs to nullify the medameh [any qualities gained from others as a result of comparing himself to them, which all came about through using his imagination]. Then one can reach his true self. This is his true Yeish (existence).
Then, the final stage is for one to nullify even his true self, and to become attached in d’veykus to the only true Existence, which is Hashem.
QUESTION
Can the war of Gog and Magog [within the inner dimension] also spread to the outer world and become the actual, physical war of Gog and Magog?
ANSWER
Certainly. It cannot “spread” to the outer world – it is already going on!
There have always been wars taking place in the final years of our world. But all of these wars are just the final outcome of something deeper and more internal. All of these wars have been the result of the internal “wars” that have been taking place in the souls of people. The war of Gog and Magog will be revealed outwardly [in our world] as it will be, and it should make no difference to a person. If a person is busy thinking about it, he is wasting his time because he is not involving himself with priority.
[As mentioned earlier] the war of Gog and Magog has already been happening in the world.
QUESTION
No one is fighting any wars with anyone…?
ANSWER
You want to calculate how Hashem will run the world? A month ago if you would have tried to figure out what will happen, would you have been able to conclude anything? There is no need to think about these things and it should not make a difference to you. There is ikar (priority) and tafel (secondary) and our job is to deal with the ikar. We shall leave what’s tafel up to Hashem to do as He wills, and it is not our avodah to figure out things.
QUESTION
What should we daven for now?
ANSWER
We should daven that the light of the Redemption should shine, illuminate and purify all souls. From this it should spread also to the physical body of all people, so that should be a complete refuah shelaimah (a full recovery) for everyone. One should not only daven that there should be a refuah shelaimah alone, because then a person only wants recovery for people and he is fine if Hashem lets all the tumah remain in the world. Instead, we should daven that Hashem will send all sick people a refuah shelaimah by removing all the tumah from the world.
QUESTION
The Rav explained in the first derasha that the world has started to become spiritually ruined since the year 5760. What exactly happened during that year which changed the world?
ANSWER
In that year, the power of Amalek began to dominate the world, and it will be that way until This World ends.QUESTION
We can see that Italy has been hit very hard by the virus. Is this because Italy [the country identified by our Sages as Amalek] is the root of the ruination of our generation?
ANSWER
The Gemara says that on the day Shlomo married the daughter of Pharoah the angel of Gavriel stuck a piece of land in the water which became the country of “Italy, a country of Greece.” The first country of Amalek (Greece) and the last country of Amalek (Greece) are both rooted in the same place.
QUESTION
Many people have a carefree and joking attitude towards the orders which the Board of Health [in Israel] is giving to stay healthy now. What is the attitude that we really need to have about it?
ANSWER
Don’t listen to them at all, because they are not to be trusted at all. We are in an “exile to the doctors” as the Steipler said. That is our exile, and we have no choice but to listen to what the doctors say. If the doctors would be G-d fearing Jews, we would have to listen to them, but the doctors today [on the Health Ministry in Israel] are not to be trusted at all.
QUESTION
But there are some Rabbanim and Poskim who say that we should listen to the doctors…?
ANSWER
That is because they have no choice, and as the Steipler said, that we are in an “exile of the doctors.” If the doctors today would be G-d fearing then of course we would be commanded to listen to them. We have no other alternative today, and therefore we have no choice but to obey these doctors. But the true reality is that these doctors are not to be believed at all. However, we can certainly be wary of what they say.
QUESTION
The Rav explained in the derashah that there are 3 parts to our inner avodah now: To connect to oneself, to connect to the Torah, and to Hashem. The Rav emphasized a lot about becoming connected to oneself. Is this the 49th level within the 50th level [of holiness] or does a person need to begin by connecting inwardly to himself and then use that inward connection to become further connected to the Torah and to the Creator?
ANSWER
This is an approach which emphasized how we can negate the 49 levels, which are only “outside” of a person, things which a person does but which he has no personal connection to. When a person connects inwardly to his very soul, that is the 50th level of holiness.
QUESTION
Does this mean that a person needs to work with his 4 elements of the soul?
ANSWER
It is a very fundamental way. There are other ways as well for a person to reach his soul. The point of the derasha was that the Creation now is returning to the original state of man when man was created as an individual. The 4 elements is the very design of Creation, but it is only one of the ways in which a person can reveal his true self. It is very fundamental, but it is not the only way in which a person can penetrate to his true self. The path that was stressed in the derashah was the fundamental concept that Hashem created a person as an individual and that our avodah now is to returning to being alone as an individual.
QUESTION
What is the avodah of accessing the 49th level within the 50th level of holiness?
ANSWER
It is two-fold. One part is by separating ourselves from the world, by separating ourselves from all of the 49 levels of tumah in the world. The other part is to become more in touch with our own soul and reveal it, but at that level we are still not touching our very soul, because it is only at the 49th level of holiness within us [and only at the 50th level of holiness within us do we reach our very soul itself].
QUESTION
How does a person reach the 50th level of holiness?
ANSWER
It is accessed when a person can alternate between two different states, the state of thinking and the state of non-intellectual simplicity. At times a person needs to use his mind to think and at other times a person needs to leave his thinking aside and become simply and non-intellectually attached with Hashem. The 50th gate of holiness is when a person has this balance of going back and forth between these different states.
QUESTION
What is the point that we are supposed to be reaching?
ANSWER
When you arrive at the simple understanding that the Creator exists and that there is none other besides Him. As the Kotzker said, “Ain Od Milvado” means when you know that there is nothing else to know other than the fact that Hashem exists. That is the deepest place in the soul to reach.
In the outer layers of our soul, we can access all kinds of knowledge and information. A person can “know” of Hashem and he can know Torah. But deeper in the soul than this is when one knows about “Ain Od Milvado”, that there is nothing else to know other than this knowledge that that Creator exists.
A person cannot live all the time at this understanding in his soul, because it can be only be accessed for a short amount of time and soon afterwards a person needs to return to routine.
On the outer layer of one’s soul, a person gains all kinds of knowledge, and the first thing that a person needs to get to know is the Torah, to gain knowledge in Torah, and from there he can receive all kinds of vast knowledge. But he will also need to access a deeper place in the soul and go to there at times: The place in his soul where he can become aware that there is nothing else to know other than the reality of Hashem’s presence. This is the meaning of the concept of “complete d’veykus (attachment) and hiskalelus (integration)” in the Creator.
QUESTION
Can a person try to do this even if he is doing it shelo lishmah (for self-serving motives)?
ANSWER
“From shelo lishmah comes lishmah.” If a person doesn’t strive to reach lishmah, though, he will remain with the “daas of the Serpent”.
QUESTION
There are always two ways of avodah, either to “begin from below, to above” or to “begin from above, to below”. Can a person do what the Rav is describing by working “from above to below”?
ANSWER
He can do it only if he is indeed able to reach above. In order to work from above to below, a person needs to be connected to above, or, he needs to have mesirus nefesh, which enables a person to penetrate to the highest levels. If a person is not at that level, he needs to begin from below, according to the level he is at.
QUESTION
If a person still hasn’t yet perfected his middos can he merit the Geulah?
ANSWER
One needs to become further connected with his most positive middah, and correspondingly, a person also needs to try to fix his worst middah. Practically speaking, though, a person enters inwardly into his soul mainly by consistently making use of his best middah. But that is all by using the path of middos. There is also a path [to reach the soul and thereby merit the Geulah] through Torah learning, and there is also a path [to reach the soul and thereby merit the Geulah] through having temimus and peshitus [earnest and simple connection to Hashem].
QUESTION
What are the levels of reaching the innermost place in the soul?
ANSWER
The first part is the lowest part of the deepest place in the soul, which is to reveal one’s individuality. At this level, a person feels his existence (Yeish).
After this stage is a further level, where a person can reach bittul (self-nullification) and nullify his sense of Yeish/existence.
What exactly does a person nullify? A person needs to nullify anything external to his self which is not who “I” really am. In addition, one also needs to nullify any qualities that were gained from others, because in reality, all qualities gained from others are all coming from the world of imagination [since a person only ‘gains’ qualities from others by imitating them because he compares himself to them, and this is all from the world medameh, which means “comparing” and which also means “imagination”.]
So a person needs to nullify the medameh [any qualities gained from others as a result of comparing himself to them, which all came about through using his imagination]. Then one can reach his true self. This is his true Yeish (existence).
Then, the final stage is for one to nullify even his true self, and to become attached in d’veykus to the only true Existence, which is Hashem.
QUESTION
Can the war of Gog and Magog [within the inner dimension] also spread to the outer world and become the actual, physical war of Gog and Magog?
ANSWER
Certainly. It cannot “spread” to the outer world – it is already going on!
There have always been wars taking place in the final years of our world. But all of these wars are just the final outcome of something deeper and more internal. All of these wars have been the result of the internal “wars” that have been taking place in the souls of people. The war of Gog and Magog will be revealed outwardly [in our world] as it will be, and it should make no difference to a person. If a person is busy thinking about it, he is wasting his time because he is not involving himself with priority.
[As mentioned earlier] the war of Gog and Magog has already been happening in the world.
QUESTION
No one is fighting any wars with anyone…?
ANSWER
You want to calculate how Hashem will run the world? A month ago if you would have tried to figure out what will happen, would you have been able to conclude anything? There is no need to think about these things and it should not make a difference to you. There is ikar (priority) and tafel (secondary) and our job is to deal with the ikar. We shall leave what’s tafel up to Hashem to do as He wills, and it is not our avodah to figure out things.
QUESTION
What should we daven for now?
ANSWER
We should daven that the light of the Redemption should shine, illuminate and purify all souls. From this it should spread also to the physical body of all people, so that should be a complete refuah shelaimah (a full recovery) for everyone. One should not only daven that there should be a refuah shelaimah alone, because then a person only wants recovery for people and he is fine if Hashem lets all the tumah remain in the world. Instead, we should daven that Hashem will send all sick people a refuah shelaimah by removing all the tumah from the world.
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