FROM THE UPCOMING ‘REBBE NACHMAN’S SOUL’, ADAPTED FROM HIS AUDIO SHIUR ON SICHOS HARAN 236

THE PAIN OF THIS WORLD DOES NOT COMPARE

In this week’s Parshah, Nitzavim, the Torah gives us one of the most powerful promises: “And you will return to HaShem, and HaShem your God will gather you from all the nations” (Devarim 30:2–3). Even from the farthest exile, HaShem promises to bring us back. Rabbeinu Z”L, in Sichah 236, explains that the greatest danger is not the sin itself – but the despair that follows it.

Reb Noson said that there was a person who was extremely ill, Rachmana litzlan. This person was lying in bed, incapacitated, with excruciating pain in his teeth and gums. After many months of torture, his face became so swollen that it was impossible for him to eat or speak. They summoned the biggest doctor who prescribed to extract the man’s teeth. This was done using the most extreme therapeutic methods, but the infection had already spread to his inner organs and he suffered pain throughout his body. He reached the point where it was not humanly possible to tolerate such a degree of pain – and this went on for years.

Rabbeinu Z”L said this person’s plight was pitiful and sad, but that there is a lesson to be learned from it: All the yissurim, anguish, agony and bitterness that this person suffered for so many years is not equal to even one singe in Gehennom. One second in Gehennom hurts more than all this man’s suffering combined, Rachmana litzlan.

This is a horrifying thought. If a person commits sins, the penalty is Gehennom. A rasha stays in Gehennom for twelve months. Some stay in Gehennom for years, and others – those who have no emunah in HaShem, those who do not believe that the Torah was written by HaShem, and those who do not believe in chiddush ha’olam – stay there forever, as Reb Noson explains (Likutey Halakhos, Tzitzis 5:15). The Gemara mentions other items for which a person loses his portion in Gan Eden and is sentenced to an eternity in Gehennom, Rachmana litzlan (Sanhedrin 90a). We can only try to imagine this type of suffering. How is it possible to endure something like that? The Gemara explains that the person is given enough strength and tolerance from Heaven so that he does not lose consciousness but rather, continues to endure this constant suffering.

The best way to avoid such an awful fate is not to do wrong in the first place. However, if a person did commit sins for which he is doomed to go to Gehennom forever, there is a way for him to have the sins completely erased and removed. He should not become despondent, dejected and feel that all is lost. As long as a person is alive, he can turn back to HaShem. He can call out to HaShem in hisbodedus, “I am genuinely sorry. I want to come back to You. Forgive me for everything. Erase all my past deeds. Remove all danger of Gehennom.”

THE GATES OF TESHUVAH ARE OPEN

A person can do this through the simple expedient of teshuvah. The gates of teshuvah are always open. There is a helping hand that is constantly outstretched to accept one who repents. There are certain times when the gates of Heaven are open still wider, such as during aseres yemei teshuvah. But at any time of the day or night, seven days a week, if a person truly wants to turn back to HaShem, he will find an outstretched hand, ready to accept him.

To accomplish this, a person needs to know two things:

1. Rabbeinu Z”L says that you must be careful of the slightest sin, because every sin is punishable. The Gemara says, “Cursed is the person who dares to say that HaShem will overlook any sin, no matter how small it is” (Bava Kama 50a) When a person comes to the Heavenly Court, he must pay for everything. There is judgment for every single action, word and thought. Therefore, a person should not commit even the most minor sin.
2. Even if he has done the worst sin in existence, he should not fall to a point of despondency and say, “All is lost. I cannot return,” chas veshalom. That sin of saying all is lost, yiush, is a greater sin than the actual sin he committed.

GEHENNOM OF ICE

There is a Gehennom of fire for the sins a person committed. But there is also a Gehennom of ice, which is worse, for giving up hope, because he cooled himself off from turning back to HaShem. Rabbeinu Z”L said to be careful of the smallest sin, but even if you committed the worst sin of all, do not give up hope. The sin can be corrected through teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah, and through emunah that HaShem wants you and will take you back. A person can be zokheh through tefillah and hisbodedus to draw close to HaShem. Not only will HaShem take him back, but he can even reach a point where the sins he committed will be converted into mitzvos. That big sin will now be classified on his record as a mitzvah. That is the ko’ach of teshuvah me’ahavah, when he returns because of his deep emunah and love for HaShem.