BH
Rebbe Nachman once said that every lesson he taught could be found across the entire Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, Zohar, and beyond, revealing the incredible depth and interconnectedness of his teachings. In this spirit, we explore how Likutey Moharan lesson 24 connects with this week’s Parshah.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that doing mitzvot with simcha (joy) is incredibly powerful. While mitzvot can be done in a lethargic or even sad state, performing them with joy elevates them to a whole new level. This concept is echoed in verses like, “Serve Hashem with joy,” showing that simcha itself is a mitzvah. Joyful mitzvot ripple outwards, like molecules affecting other molecules around them. One mitzvah done with joy has effects that extend beyond the individual to impact the world around us and even the dimensions of creation. The joyful mitzvah “reproduces,” creating a product and aftereffect that influences others and brings blessings.
Rebbe Nachman explains that one of the primary blessings a joyful mitzvah brings is the blessing of knowledge. Knowledge of Hashem is the greatest blessing a person can receive, as demonstrated by King Solomon. When Hashem offered him anything he wished—whether wealth, honor, or power—King Solomon asked for knowledge of Hashem. Hashem was so pleased with this choice that He granted Solomon not only wisdom but also wealth and honor. This example shows that true fulfillment comes from knowing Hashem, as the Talmud states, “If you have acquired knowledge, what are you lacking? If you lack knowledge, what have you acquired?” The awareness of Hashem brings a deep sense of completeness.
However, knowledge alone isn’t enough; Rebbe Nachman teaches that it must be paired with emunah (faith). As we gain knowledge, the purpose is to deepen our realization of how much we still don’t know, which strengthens our emunah. This combination of knowledge and faith allows us to access the Keter, the highest connection point to Hashem. The Keter acts as a gateway to Hashem’s Infinite Light, providing clarity and insight. This Infinite Light guides us through life’s challenges, helping us fulfill our purpose and Tikkun (rectification) across lifetimes. By coupling knowledge with emunah, we receive this light, which serves as our compass in navigating life and choosing the right path.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that the transformative power of joy in performing mitzvot starts with being a Jew who embraces simcha. This joy then infuses mitzvot, creating a “domino effect” of momentum that eventually reaches the Keter, the gateway to Hashem’s Infinite Light. This concept is reflected in the opening of Parshat Lekh Lekha. Hashem commands Avraham, “Lekh Lekha,” literally meaning “go to yourself,” indicating that Avraham’s journey is both physical and spiritual. Hashem’s directive carries a deeper message: performing mitzvot with joy creates momentum that moves a person toward the Keter. In Hebrew numerology, “Lecha” has a value of 50, symbolizing the 50th gate of Keter.
Hashem is telling Avraham that to reach Keter through the joy of mitzvot, he must actively leave negative influences behind, moving toward simcha in the Holy Land, a place of spiritual freedom and blessing. This journey out of heaviness and negativity toward joy is the path that opens a person to divine blessings and the Keter, the ultimate source of clarity and connection with Hashem.
Rebbe Nachman explains that Hashem’s command to Avraham, “Lekh Lekha,” carries a powerful lesson in overcoming the barriers of sadness, melancholy, and worry, each of which stems from different internal and external sources. These barriers prevent a person from reaching the Keter, the 50th gate that connects to Hashem’s Infinite Light. The phrases “me’artzecha, u’me’moladetecha, u’me’beit avicha” (from your land, birthplace, and father’s house) signify three types of obstacles Avraham is commanded to leave behind.
- Artzecha (your land): Referring to “land,” artzecha also relates to artziut, the weight of physicality. Sadness and heaviness in life often feel as though they’re simply rooted in existence itself, dragging a person down with no clear reason. Depression and lethargy from this type of heaviness hinder a person’s joy in mitzvah performance, limiting their ability to reach higher spiritual levels.
- Moladetecha (your birthplace): This term suggests both birthplace and conception, relating to the human drive for physical pleasures, especially sexuality. People often seek out such pleasures in an attempt to fill an inner emptiness, but this never truly satisfies and often intensifies the feeling of void. Rebbe Nachman associates this yearning with melancholy and the “black bile”—a form of internal emptiness that makes one believe something external will complete them. Hashem tells Avraham to leave behind this feeling of lack, which is tied to desires that feed on and deepen a sense of emptiness.
- Beit Avicha (your father’s house): This phrase points to familial responsibilities and the anxieties that come with maintaining a household. Here, the concern isn’t about feeling incomplete but rather being overwhelmed by practical worries, like providing for family needs and making ends meet. These anxieties weigh heavily on a person and lead to sadness and a sense of defeat.
Depression, Melancholy, Worry – the 3 paths of sadness we must avoid
Hashem’s instruction to leave these three areas—artzecha, moladetecha, and beit avicha—means Avraham must separate from the negative influences of sadness, melancholy, and worry to reach the level of joy needed for connection to Hashem. By leaving behind these sources of sadness, he is journeying towards the Keter.
As Avraham embarks on this journey, Hashem reassures him with blessings. Rashi explains that traveling typically diminishes one’s productivity in three areas: family growth, financial security, and honor. But Hashem promises Avraham special blessings in each of these: offspring, wealth, and a respected name. This divine assurance allows Avraham to continue without fear of loss, knowing that Hashem will protect him in these vital aspects of life.
Avraham’s journey of “Lekh Lekha” thus becomes a model for embracing joy in mitzvah performance, shedding the weights of sadness and worry, and trusting in Hashem’s blessings to maintain his livelihood, family, and honor along the way.
In the journey of mitzvot done with joy, Rebbe Nachman teaches that each act carries the potential to create reverberations, influencing not only the individual but the world around them. As the mitzvah gains momentum, it begins to produce and expand, impacting other people, other mitzvot, and even the broader world. This is the idea behind Hashem’s first blessing to Avram in Lekh Lekha: “I will make you a great nation.” When one serves Hashem with joy, this joy spreads, becoming fruitful and multiplying, inspiring others to serve Hashem with joy as well. The first stage of the blessing is this increase of positive influence, just as having children extends one’s influence to future generations.
The second blessing Hashem gives to Avram, v’avarechecha (“I will bless you”), speaks to the blessing of intellect, which is the highest form of blessing. For tzaddikim, even material wealth is sanctified, as it becomes a vessel to understand and connect to Hashem. Rebbe Nachman explains that certain levels of divine understanding and clarity are only accessible through wealth because wealth itself connects to high spiritual sources. By granting Avram material blessings alongside the blessing of knowledge, Hashem ensures that every aspect of Avram’s life, even the physical, serves as a gateway to perceive Hashem. This makes wealth for tzaddikim an instrument of birkat ha’sechel, the blessing of intellect.
The third aspect of the blessing, agadela shemekha (“I will make your name great”), speaks to the honor, or kavod, of Hashem’s name. Name, honor, and emunah (faith) are deeply interconnected. Just as Hashem’s honor is cloaked in the Ananei Kavod (Clouds of Glory), one’s name is a garment, revealing but also concealing what lies within. Honor represents a person’s essence wrapped in an external form that inspires faith in what lies beyond the surface. This is also why emunah is tied to Hashem’s name; one trusts in the hidden divinity beyond the veil. The blessing of a “great name” therefore represents Avram’s role in embodying and inspiring faith in Hashem.
The final stage, v’h’ye bracha (“you will be a blessing”), hints at a deeper transformation. At this point, Avram has yet to receive the hey in his name, which represents the five voices of joy associated with true simcha (joy). Once he becomes Avraham, the hey becomes part of him, signifying the internalization of these levels of joy. This hey echoes the laughter in human speech, the “ha ha” sound, which symbolizes genuine joy. When one overcomes the obstacles of sadness, worry, and melancholy, they enter a state where simcha becomes intrinsic, transforming them into a blessing that radiates outward to others.
In Lekh Lekha, we see a profound connection to Lesson 24, which teaches that mitzvot done with joy propel us to the highest levels of divine connection. Just as Avram undertakes his journey, leaving behind sadness, worry, and depression, we, too, must overcome these barriers to reach the Keter, the 50th gate, the threshold of Hashem’s Infinite Light. May we all have a true Lekh Lekha, reaching the highest level of joy and connection with Hashem, and may Rebbe Nachman’s teachings bring this light into every aspect of our lives.
This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/the-walk-of-joy/
For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/4c9JHr3hxUM
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Shabbat Shalom and may we be blessed to carry simcha forward into the days and years to come.
Meir Elkabas
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