Likutei Yam HaChochmah
Increasing Our Achdus With Others
Rav Y. M. Morgenstern

The word MITZVAH = Hashem
מצוה = הוי"ה
(scroll to bottom)

Adapted from Parashat Pinchas 5784

May Hashem have compassion upon us, that the Jewish people should act as one unit, doing good for one another, that we should be awakened to love and to do kindness with other Jews.

For Hashem loves His people, Klal Yisrael, with a love beyond logic and reasoning ("lema'ala mita'am v'daas").

Therefore, each person must love his fellow Jews on a level that goes beyond all logic and reasoning, even when it seems logically that the other person does not deserve our kindness and love. For we need to emulate Hashem’s love.

Ultimately, He will redeem us for His own sake, even if we are undeserving, as the possuk states, “For My sake, for My sake, I will do it” (Yeshayah 48:11).

The sefer Me’ohr Einayim says that the Beis HaMikdash was primarily a place that revealed da’as (awareness of Hashem).

Thus the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was a destruction of da'as, resulting in katnus ha’mochin [denoting low-level spiritual consciousness or limited comprehension]. Thus, rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash depends on developing gadlus mochin, on expanding our consciousness. The mind becomes expanded through the heart. The heart sustains the entire body, and so we should desire to help other Jews, the rest of our “body”. We should not think only of ourselves; we should be joining in the pain of others.

Even if another is ‘throwing stones’ at you [i.e. he insults you or hurts you in some way], you should continue to be good to him and you should not become discouraged, though this may be very difficult. Instead of becoming discouraged, you can connect yourself to a higher level than before, by contemplating on Elokus and G-liness.

Moshe Rabbeinu commanded the leaders that they should remain as the heads of the Jewish people, meaning that they should not fall into katnus ha’mochin.

Even when someone whom you were good and kind to insults you and is not careful with your honor, so not pay any attention to this at all.

For the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed because of sinas chinam, baseless hatred, and the Geulah depends upon ahavas chinam, baseless love – the ability to love another even when the other has done harm to you, where you continue to daven for his welfare even after he has hurt you.

This all comes from true da'as, to know the greatness of each Jew and to be aware of the true Yichud – every failure of any Jew is only at an external level.

For at the inner level, every Jew wants nothing other than the Yichud and oneness of Hashem. It is just that the Sitra Achra falsifies and confuses a Jew to think otherwise. But the truth is that all Jews are really part of one complete unit. They are all connected to the oneness of Hashem.

The entire need to mourn the Beis HaMikdash is because there is a lack of mochin, a lack of da'as. Each person has to see to it that he will build the Beis HaMikdash, so that he will not be the one who is holding back Mashiach.

"חינם נמכרתם ולא בכסף תגאלו"
“We were sold for free, and it is not with silver that we will be redeemed”
i.e. It is not with “yearning” alone that we will be redeemed

he Chida says that the word חנם / chinam ("for free") is referring to the sin of sinas / כסף chinam (baseless hatred) which caused our exile. The word kesef (silver) can be referring to כיסופין / kissufin (yearnings), i.e. It is not with “yearning” alone that we will be redeemed. It is good and proper to yearn for higher levels of mochin (intellectual perception) and to yearn to build the Beis HaMikdash, but these yearnings alone will not be enough for us to be redeemed from exile.

Rather, we must see to it that we fix the damage – to become “heads” of the Jewish people as Moshe Rabbeinu commanded us – and make ourselves into benevolent kings for others who will assist and do good for them. (The Rambam in the laws of the Beis HaMikdash codifies that in order to build the Beis HaMikdash, a king must first be appointed over the Jewish people. This is a hint that in order to have the Beis HaMikdash, we must first become a “king” who can bestow goodness and kindness on our people.)

Every Jew understands and feels the loftiness of Torah and tefillah (prayer). But there are some “mitzvos which people trample upon with their heels”, such as the mitzvah to do chessed for another, which is very easily ignored. Hashem told Avraham Avinu, “In you, it will be sealed” [Rashi to Beraishis 12:2, citing Talmud Bavli Pesachim 117b], alluding to the fact that the galus will be sealed – it will finish - through doing chesed and being kind to others, which is the mida exemplified by Avrohom Avinu.

Every one of us should be involved with performing chessed all the time, day and night. Of course, we need to learn Torah and daven too, but no one is exempt from doing chesed because of this.

We should not be concerned about how the other person is behaving towards us – rather, we should continue to be good and kind to others, to remain connected in friendship and kindness with another Jew.

We can do so through holding strong onto our connection with Hashem, because in our source on high all Jews are really part of one totality.

It is related that Reb Yechezkel of Kozmir zy"o was once asked by someone who was in the middle of reciting the Kinnos on Tisha B’Av, that a friend had asked him to do a favor, and he wanted to know if he should interrupt Kinnos to go help his friend? Reb Yechezkel responded, "You should definitely interrupt your Kinnos to do your friend a favor. By being good to another Jew, you are ensuring that we won’t need to say Kinnos again next year!”

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( LIKUTEI MOHARAN #2:5)

Rabbi Nachman says foreign thoughts
through tefilla are like clouds covering the eyes

עננין דמכסין על עינין
the words CLOUDS and EYES have the same shoresh

Hashem, You have covered Yourself with a cloud, so that tefilla could not pass through. - Eicha3:44

clouds covering the eyes:
when mishpat (making decisions) is blemished. When the eyes are beclouded, a person is destracted by foreign thoughts which disrupt her prayer.
The is because the words of tefilla can only be ordered properly if one has the quality of MISHPAT.
 
The Zohar teaches that the clouds that cover a person’s eyes, spiritually obscuring her sight, correspond to the klippot that stop the tefillot from ascending. These kelipot / clouds are Eisav and Yishmael, the detractors who corrupt Mishpat.

In the Future, the concept of Mishpat will be restored
Yeshaya: 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed through mishpat and her captives through tzadaka. “ Then, the clouds that cover the eyes will pass, as in “for eye to eye they see Hashem returning to Zion
And this is wy Yosef is called bein porat Yosef alay ayin.
when one merits to guard the brit through the quality of Mishpat, she has the ability to overcome the clouds that impari her vision. Like Yosef, he is “aley ayin” above the eye
ABOVE A CLOUDED VISION. He can therefore  direct his tefillot to the target. 

Ayn Yakov corresponds to the right side
we are promised shefa and bracha when the Jewish people are united and righteous. Undfortunately, such a perfected state has proven to be as rare as it is lofty. We realize tha nation is falling away from thisideal rather than drawing closer to it. So the navi Amos davened that shefa descend for Am Yisrael bChinam. Even when we do avairot. . Ayn Kaakov corresponds to corrupting Mishpat by inclining to the RIGHT SIDE. Rabbi Nachman equated tefilla to the NOSE which is in the center of the face and between the two eyes.

Tefilla must be centered, balanced between right and left