Shavuot with Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

(16) Your God יהוה commands you this day to observe these laws and rules; observe them faithfully with all your heart and soul.

(1) היום הזה ה׳ אלהיך מצוך THIS DAY THE LORD THY GOD COMMANDETH THEE — This suggests: each day they (God’s commandments) should be to you as something new (not antiquated and something of which you have become tired), as though you had received the commands that very day for the first time (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 1; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 11:13). (2) ושמרת ועשית אותם THOU SHALT THEREFORE KEEP AND DO THEM — A heavenly voice (בת קול) pronounces by these words a blessing upon him (the worshipper): “You have brought the first fruits today — you will be privileged to do so next year, too!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 1).

(1) Come, let us sing joyously to the LORD, raise a shout for our rock and deliverer; (2) let us come into His presence with praise; let us raise a shout for Him in song! (3) For the LORD is a great God, the great king of all divine beings. (4) In His hand are the depths of the earth; the peaks of the mountains are His. (5) His is the sea, He made it; and the land, which His hands fashioned. (6) Come, let us bow down and kneel, bend the knee before the LORD our maker, (7) for He is our God, and we are the people He tends, the flock in His care. O, if you would but heed His charge this day: (8) Do not be stubborn as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah, in the wilderness, (9) when your fathers put Me to the test, tried Me, though they had seen My deeds. (10) Forty years I was provoked by that generation; I thought, “They are a senseless people; they would not know My ways.” (11) Concerning them I swore in anger, “They shall never come to My resting-place!”

(1) “Today! if you heed His voice.” (Psalms 95:7)

(2) This is an important rule in the service of God: One should focus only on today. Whether with regard to his livelihood and personal needs—he should not think about one day to the next, as is brought in the holy books—or with regard to his serving God, he should not consider anything beyond this day and this moment.

(3) For when a person wants to enter the service of God, it seems to him a heavy burden; he cannot possibly bear such a heavy load. However, when a person considers that he has only that day [to deal with], he will find it no burden at all.

(4) In addition, a person should not procrastinate from one day to the next, saying, “I’ll start tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll pray more attentively, and with the right enthusiasm”; and likewise for the other devotions. For a person’s world consists only of the present day and moment—tomorrow is a different world entirely.

(5) Today! if you heed His voice—Specifically, “Today!” Understand this.

(1) “For I know that God is great, our God above all others” (Psalms 135:5).

(2) These are King David’s words. “I know": I alone — for the vision of God’s greatness cannot be shared (cf. Alim LeTerufah #135). You may have a vision, but even with yourself you cannot share it. Today you may be inspired and see a new light. But tomorrow you will no longer be able to communicate it, even to yourself. “I know” – I as I am now. For the vision cannot be brought back.

(3) The Rebbe said: Look at the next verse, “All that God wants, He does, in heaven and on earth.” It is a different thought, speaking of something else entirely. King David says, “I know,” and can go no further, for words are no longer adequate.

(4) A perception of God cannot be communicated. It is so lofty, higher than high (Ecclesiastes 5:7), that words cannot express it.

(5) It is written, “Her husband is known by the gates” (Proverbs 31:23). The holy Zohar states that the husband is the vision of God which each man perceives through the gates he makes in his own heart (Zohar I, 103b). The heart is hidden and the gates do not open to another.1See “His Wisdom” #177, #217, #299; Likutey Halakhot, Keriat Shma #5; Alim LeTerufah #16, #160, #393, #423. Also see Tzaddik #566, that this is the main perfection of faith.