תורה 21

11. “Nachamu, nachamu (Be consoled, be consoled) my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1).

All the troubles, hardships and exile are only as [difficult as] one’s lack of knowledge. And when knowledge is made complete, then all that is lacking is made complete, as in (Vayikra Rabbah 1:6), “If you have acquired knowledge, what could possibly be lacking?” And it is written (Isaiah 5:13), “Therefore My nation has been exiled, for they have no knowledge.”

And the quintessence of eternal life will be in the future world, because of the knowledge [that will predominate]. Knowledge will increase, with everyone knowing God. Through this knowledge they will be encompassed in His unity, then to live an eternal life as He does. For by means of the knowledge, they will be encompassed in Him, as in the statement of the wise man (Kuzari 5): “Were I to know Him, I would be Him.”

And the quintessence of this knowing will be in the future, as in (Isaiah 11:9), “For the earth shall be filled with knowledge.” Because of this knowledge nothing good will be lacking, and it will be all good. As our Sages teach (Pesachim 50a): “Is He now not One?” To which they replied, “In the future, ‘Who is good and beneficent’ will be said at all times.”

Even the gentiles will know, with increased knowledge, but not like us. They will also know that the greatness which was theirs and the lowliness which was ours during the exile, was all actually our greatness. And even though it is presently impossible to understand all this, for reality cannot be denied, nevertheless, there will be an increase of knowledge and everyone will understand that the greatness of the gentiles was actually our greatness. To them belonged the lowliness.

And though apparently this is a great [level of] knowledge, for us, in light of the knowledge we will have, it will be a matter of derision and laughter.

This is (Psalms 126:2,3), “Then our mouth will be filled with laughter…. Then they will declare among the nations, ‘God has done greatly with these.’ God has done greatly with us.” They will know and say: The greatness which He gave to us, i.e. to the gentiles, “God has done greatly with these”—this greatness was for the Jewish people.

Even so, “Then our mouth will be filled with laughter.” In other words, we will laugh at and deride their knowledge and comprehension. For our knowledge will then be without termination or end.

Now, knowledge has both the aspects of transcendent and transcendent of the transcendent, as is brought above concerning the verse, “When you raise up the candles.”

This is the meaning of: Be consoled, be consoled — Namely, transcendent and transcendent of the transcendent. For knowledge is the consolation of all suffering. And how is it possible to achieve this knowledge? Through:

says your God — This is “saying quietly” (Zohar II, 25b), the aspect of oil, corresponding to the “seven candles.” God [alludes to] “raises its call.” This corresponds to (Psalms 83:2), “God, do not hold Yourself silent”—the cries of the woman in labor, mentioned above.

{The explanation is as follows: It is explained above that by means of crying out we merit bringing forth the mentalities from their concealment. And by sanctifying the seven candles, we merit internalizing the transcendent intellects. This is because two things are necessary in order to comprehend the holy knowledge. At first, it is necessary to bring forth the mentalities. There are times when the mentalities and the Godly influx are concealed, as above. For this, it is necessary to cry out in order to give birth to them. Afterwards, when the mentalities have been brought forth, they still have [the aspects of] immanent and transcendent. And for this, it is necessary to sanctify the seven candles, so as to make the encircling aspects and Godly influx internal—making the transcendent immanent. Study there and understand.

And this is the explanation of the verse “Be consoled, be consoled.” It is meriting to comprehend the transcendent intellects, i.e. comprehending the knowledge [of God]. As explained, this is the main consolation. We merit this by means of two aspects: crying out, through which the transcendent intellects are brought forth; and sanctifying the seven candles, through which the transcendent intellects are internalized.

And this is: “says your God.” “Says” alludes to “saying quietly.” It is the aspect of oil, which is “quietly,” as is written in the Zohar (III, 39a), “Wine raises its call, but oil [pours] quietly.” And oil is synonymous with the “seven candles,” which were of oil. “Your God”—God corresponds to “raises its call”/crying out.

By virtue of these two aspects, we merit comprehending the transcendent intellects/the holy knowledge, which is the main consolation. This is the concept of “Be consoled, be consoled”—i.e. transcendent and transcendent of the transcendent, as explained above.}

The above brief explanation of the verse “Be consoled, be consoled,” which is Rebbe Nachman’s own language, I heard from his holy lips in somewhat greater detail. I wrote it down for myself as I heard it, and I have therefore not refrained from publishing it. At fir st, he began by speaking about the subject of life and death. He said: “The difference between life and death is no more than the measure of a single cubit. Presently, a person dwells here; afterwards, he dwells there { pointing with his hand in the direction of the cemetery}.” Subsequently, he went on to discuss the subject of eternal life. That is, someone who merits true knowledge—to know Him—sees no difference between life and death. This is because, whether alive or dead, he is attached to and encompassed in the Holy One. The only thing is that now, while he is alive, he resides here; but afterwards, he resides there, as mentioned. And then, I heard all of this from his holy lips. As follows: