115: The Arizal Sees Peoples Aveiros In Their Neshama

00:17 Hello, shalom aleichem. We have recently had the yahrtzeit of the Arizal. Hayov was the yahrtzeit of the Arizal. The Arizal was the, one of the greatest people, greatest tzadikim we had that spread and taught Kabbalah. As you know, Kabbalah is the inner deeper side of Torah, very deep part of Torah. Um, he's, he's the one who taught it to many, many people, and all the teachings of Hasidis are based on, on Arizal's teachings, so he's very important. As you know, the Arizal lived in Tzfat. He came in Tzfat after living in Egypt for a while. He was born in Egypt and he lived there for till he was his early 30s, and then he moved to Tzfat with his wife, and he started a shul and a yeshiva where people came to learn from him Kabbalah. As soon as he came to Tzfat, a lot of great, great Rabbanim, tzadikim, gaonim, great people noticed him and they became very, very attracted to him. They became drawn to him, and they wanted to learn from him. They saw he was a great, great person, even though he was very young, and some of his talmidim were like twice his age. That means he was in his early 30s and some of his talmidim were over 70, yet they were his talmidim. So that's how great he was. Now, in the city of Tzfat, there were two very great people. These were big Mekubalim that knew a lot of Kabbalah and a lot of Torah. Holy people,

02:16 very great tzadikim. There was an uncle and a nephew. The uncle's name was Rabbi Moshe Galanti, and the nephew's name was Rabbi Avraham Galanti. Rabbi Avraham Galanti wrote some very famous seforim, a Pirush, a commentary on the Zohar. Very famous commentary, Zohar Chama it's called. These two Rabbanim, great, great tzadikim, they lived in Tzfat, and when the Arizal came to Tzfat, they did not pay so much attention to the Arizal. They didn't say anything against him, but they just didn't care for him. They just did their own thing and they didn't go to see him. They didn't go to learn Torah from him like all many other Rabbanim and great people. Now, Rabbi Avraham, the nephew, Rabbi Avraham Galanti was also a very great tzadik and a great gaon, and he wrote Sefarim in Kabbalah, as I said before. He had a minhag that he would fast every day. Literally, he would fast the whole day and only eat at night. Now, the Halacha is when you wanna take on a fast, you want the fast to count to Hashem as if you did an amazing thing. You fasted for Hashem. It says in the Gemara it's like bringing a Korban, because when you fast, you get skinnier, right? Some of your fat goes away, it goes down because you didn't eat. So it's like a Korban. When you brought a Korban in Beis Hamikdash, they took the fat of the animals and put it on the Mizbeach. So when you fast, it's like bringing

03:55 a Korban. But in order for a fast to be special and Hashem should accept it like a Korban, you have to make a neder before. That's what the Gemara says, and that's the Halacha. That bef- on Mincha, Mincha you daven late in the day. So during Mincha time you s- you make a neder. During Mincha time you say that, "Tomorrow I'll be fasting." So if you make a neder by Mincha, then you keep the next day because you made a neder, and then the neder, the t- the fast day is counted like a very special thing for Hashem, and it, uh, makes a person holier and a greater tzadik and, and a lot of great things happen to the person through fasting. Although the Alter Rebbe says today we shouldn't do this anymore because we're not so strong, and we should better that we eat and preserve our strength and our good health for learning Torah, because if you fast and you get weak, then you can't learn Torah well. But in those days, especially great tzadikim would fast a lot. So this Rabbi Avraham fasted every single day, and in, but the Mincha before, he would make a neder that next day I'm gonna take a fast day. Another thing, Rabbi Avraham never told anyone about it. It was top secret. Nobody in the world knew that Rabbi Avraham fasts every single day. Now, as I said before, Rabbi Avraham and certainly his uncle, Rabbi Moshe Galanti, the great Rabbi Moshe, they never went

05:26 to see the Arizal. They didn't think, uh, much of him, and they just went about their own thing. They had their own talmidim. They taught their own Torah, et cetera. One day, the Arizal decided to make a big meal, a feast in a small town. It's like a settlement. It's called a small town right next to Tzfat. It's called Ein Zeitun. It's still there. You can see it. Ein Zeitun. It's a cl-- tiny little place. It's right next to Tzfat. And the Arizal was gonna have a big meal on that day for a certain reason. It doesn't say in the story why. But he wanted to make a big meal, and he told his shamash, the guy who was helping him, his aide, his helper, "Please go quickly to Rabbi Avraham Galanti. He doesn't know me, but just go to him and make sure you get to his house before Mincha, before he makes a neder that he's going to fast tomorrow, and tell him that I asked him not to make that neder because tomorrow I want him to eat. I want him to come to the meal that I'm going to set up with my talmidim in Ein Zeton." Uh, the shamash, the aide, the helper, went quickly to Rabbi Avraham's house. He arrived right before Mincha, so Rabbi Avraham didn't have time yet to make this neder. And he said to Rabbi Avraham, "I was sent to you by the Arizal to ask you not to make a neder for tomorrow because

06:59 he wants you to come. He's inviting you to come to his meal in Ein Zeton, and he would like you to eat at that meal." At first when Rabbi Avraham heard this, he said... He was a get angry. "What? The Arizal, how does he know that I'm fasting? Nobody knows that. Why is he, uh, telling me this? He... How, how come he knows this?" But then he thought to himself and said, "Wait a second. If he knows this, that means he has Ruach Hakodesh. Whoa. You know what? Tell him I'll come. I won't make a neder for Mincha, by Mincha, for the next day. I will come tomorrow." And so the next day, the Arizal made this big party, and Rabbi Avraham, the great Gaon and tzadik Rabbi Avraham came to the meal. And the Baal Shem To- the, the Arizal... Sorry. The Arizal, before he started the meal, he would always first give a ma'amar, a whole talk about some deep inion in Kabbalah. Kabbalah is one of the deepest parts of Torah. He would give like a whole deep Torah, the words of Torah on, on Kabbalah, and then they would wash and eat for the meal, eat at the meal. When the Rab- when the Arizal gave his whole ma'amar, his whole, uh, the words of Torah on Kabbalah, he was also a big Mekubal, the, the Rabbi Avraham Galanti, so he said to, to the Arizal, "Wait a second. I got a question on what you said, 'cause there's a place

08:26 in the Zohar that contradicts what you said." And he told him which place in the Zohar. The Arizal listened, and then he responded and said, "Well, that place that you just mentioned from the Zohar, I think you didn't understand it correctly. If you understood it correctly, you would see that there's no question against what I said." And the Arizal went, uh, you know, uh, explained to him what the Zohar really says. And Rabbi Avraham listened, and he said, "Oh, yeah, he's right." But he said, "I have a different question from a different part in the Zohar." And again, the Arizal showed him that he didn't fully understand properly what the Zohar is saying, and, and if he understands it properly, he'll see that there's no question against what the Arizal was saying. And so the same with the third place, finally Rabbi Avraham saw that the Arizal is really, really, really a great, great Hakham and a great Gaon in Kabbalah. He knows Kabbalah really well, and he was very impressed. So he decided not to ask him any more questions because people were hungry. They wanted to eat. And they sat down for the meal, and they ate. At the end of the meal, Rabbi Avraham walked over to the Arizal. He was so impressed with the Arizal, so he said to him, "Can you tell me what's wrong with my neshamah?" In other words, you know, a great tzadik, I'm always worried that the neshamah... You know, the neshamah comes into the world

09:44 when you're born. The neshamah is perfect. You know, it's a holy thing. It's a ve- the neshamah is very holy, right? It's, it's unblemished. It has no, no problems, right? It's, it's, it's totally pure and holy and, and close to Hashem. But when it comes into the world, sometimes you do aveiras, and the aveiras cause a little, uh, blemish. You know what a blemish is? It's like a little, uh, kind of a wound, like a wound, like a little... Something like a little damage to the neshamah. And, uh, great tzadikim of course don't do aveiras intentionally, but sometimes ew- unintentionally, and they maybe they don't even know that it happened, they, they did an aveira. Sometimes let's say somebody eats something, right? And they eat some... They didn't know that there was a problem with kashrus in this thing. It came from a good store from a good hechsher, but, but sometimes mistakes happen. So great tzadikim are always worried maybe they by mistake did an aveira. Now the neshamah became imperfect, right? The neshamah became a little bit damaged. Chas v'shalom. So Rabbi Avraham wanted to know, do you... He- they knew that the Arizal is such a great tzadik that he could see in your neshamah everything that goes outside your neshamah. He can see whether your neshamah has some problem, and if, if he... And, and show you how to fix it, how to make your neshamah perfect again. So he said to the Arizal, "Tell me what my neshamah needs to

11:10 be fixed, needs fixing. What fixing does my neshamah need?" And, uh, so the Arizal said to him, um, "I'll tell you what you need to fix. You need to make a decision that every day, instead of fasting every day, you're gonna eat meat and drink l'chaim, wine every day. That's your ticket. That's what you need to do, and that's how you fix your neshamah." Rabbi Avraham got upset. "What? Eating and drinking? That's how you fix your neshamah? Eating and drinking is like the nefesh habhamis, your animal soul. Well, your yetzer hara likes eating and drinking. How can that be fixing your neshamah?" He expected the Arizal to say, "Oh, you should daven more and learn Torah more." "No, no, no. You have to eat meat every day. That's what will fix your neshamah." So the Arizal said to him, "Listen, I understand what you think, but I want you to know that in Shamayim they're very upset with you because you fast every day." And you know that in everything that Hashem created, there's holy sparks. There's like these sparks of holiness in everything. And when a Jew eats the food, and he eats it l'shem Shamayim, of course l'shem Shamayim means that he eats it not just because it's tasty, and you wanna, you know, give into your taivas, right? You- you're- you're eating it because you wanna serve Hashem with that energy. Then what you're doing is you take the netzutz hakodesh, the holy sparks that are inside that food, and you elevate

12:45 it to Hashem. It's a very, very big special service for Hashem that we do. And he says, "You are not doing it because you're fasting every day." So they're upset in the heaven, Shamayim, they're upset at you for- for not elevating those sparks, and so therefore you have a blemish on your neshamah. There's a little, tiny little, uh, crack in your neshamah. You need to fix that, and the way you fix it, by eating and drinking. And of course, Rabbi Avraham, if he ate and drank, he did it l'shem Shamayim, with the right intentions to serve Hashem better. And of course, and then you're gonna elevate that food and the drinks. Rabbi Avraham heard this, and he became very excited, and he was very, very, very impressed with the Ari z"l, and immediately went to his uncle, the great Rabbi Moshe Galanti, and he said, "Uncle, listen, I have to tell you what I just experienced. I was just at this party of the Ari z"l, and this happened to me. You wouldn't believe, this man is so great. The Ari z"l is young, but he's really, really a great person. And I think you need to go see him too, because I think you will really, really benefit from him. You'll really enjoy him. Go, go take a look. You should go visit him." So Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe heard this, the uncle. He was already older, he was an old man, and he put on his, his coat and went to see... Went with

14:15 his shamash, he went to see the Ari z"l. And he said to the Ari z"l, "I heard what you said to my nephew, Rabbi Avraham. Now I would like you to tell me what I need to fix in my neshamah. Can you look into my neshamah and tell me what problems I have in my neshamah?" And the Ari z"l said, "Well, you're really an old Rav. Uh, you're asking of me? Who am I? I'm just a young person." And he begged him, says, "No, no, no, please tell me." And the Ari z"l told him like this, "I see... I look into your neshamah now, and I see that you have one aveira that you're guilty of that's causing a little damage in your neshamah, and it's theft, the aveira of stealing." Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe was shocked. "Stealing? I never even do business in my life. I never deal with money. I don't care about money. I just learn Torah all day and daven. And you know, people give my wife, she, she gets money, but I, I never... How can I ever steal money if I'm not dealing with money at all? I'm only learning Torah and davening. That's what I care about." So Ari z"l says, "What can I do? But that's what I see in your neshamah." So Rabbi Moshe went back home and he made an announcement. He told his shamash to go to all the shuls of Tzfat and put on all the shuls on the walls a notice and saying,

15:39 "Anybody who knows, has any kind of complaint that I once didn't pay him enough for something that he did for me, or I didn't pay him when I bought something, I owe him money, should immediately come to me and I will pay him right away." Um, nobody came. Nobody responded to the announcement because nobody had any complaints against Rabbi Mo- Rabbi Moshe Galanti. They, they had no, no complaints. No, he doesn't owe anybody money. But after a while, an old woman came and she said to Rabbi Moshe, "Rabbi Moshe, I heard that you are loo... You're searching for someone who has some complaint about money against you. Well, because you asked for it, I will tell you that I have a tiny little complaint." So he said, "Tell me, tell me, what is it?" And she said, "Listen, I have a job. My job is to br- comb and brush, make straight wool. Wool." You know, in the olden days, when you make clothes, you make it from wool. Even today, we do it from wool. But people used to go to the farm and take off the wool from the sheep, and then the wool is all jumbled, mumbled up. You need to make it straight and smooth so you can make threads, and from the threads you weave, and you make a sweater, or you make, um, a shirt. You make all kinds of things. Clothes. Her job was to brush and smoothen out the, the, the wool so you can make threads,

17:16 so then you can, uh, make clothes from it. "And I do this. People come to me all the time and I make them special wool. I, I fix the wool for them. I brush it. I make it smooth so they can then use it to make garments, to make clothes. Now, usually all the people that do this kind of job, they charge a certain fixed amount of money. But I, because I'm very good at this, and everybody knows in town that I'm really the best at doing this really beautifully and nicely, better than others, I take a little bit more money, right?" When you go to a tailor and you make yourself a nice suit or a dress, so if it's a better tailor that everybody wants to go to because he makes really, really nice, beautiful clothes, then he takes a little more money, right? The better you are, the more, the more you charge. So she would charge a little bit more than all the other people in town. And she says, "Once I brought to your wife, the Rebbetzin..." Rabbi Moshe's wife. "I brought her wool. She asked me to get a wool which is brushed and, and made very smooth, and I... She asked me what, what she needs to pay me for it. And I told her the price, and it's a little bit more than what everybody else's charge is. And I told her I take a little more because I do a very good job. But she told

18:37 me no, she doesn't accept that. She said she only pays what she pays everybody else. And she gave me the normal, uh, um, the normal fee, the normal amount of money that she pays everybody else, and she didn't give me that extra that I take extra over everybody else. So I say, Rebbe, I, I let it go, and I didn't... I forget about it, and I said, 'Okay, that's all she wants to pay. Fine, I'll give her for that price.' But inside, I really never forgave her because I really felt she should have paid me what I charge, which is more. So I'm telling you, uh, Rebbe, this is what, what happened." When the Rav heard this, he said, "Ah, great. Tell me what the extra amount of money is," and he gave it to her. The next day, he came back to see the Ari z"l, and the Ari z"l says, "I see on your neshamah that this blemish is no longer there. This is all they wanted in Shamayim from you. You didn't have any other sins in your neshamah. It's the only thing that was causing a tiny little damage, a little like black spot, you can say, a stain, a stain on your neshamah." So this shows us how great the Ari z"l was. He was able to look into people's souls, neshamas, and know everything that's wrong with them.