Moshiach encounter of the Besh"t

 B"H

Happy Chai Elul! 

Adoption of the letter the holy, R’ Yisrael Baal Shemtov, of blessed memory, wrote to his brother-in-law upon his ascent on Rosh Hashana in the year 5507 -1747

I summoned the soul’s ascent, as you know

and I saw wondrous things in a vision,

things I had never seen before,

since I stood fully awake in my consciousness.

What I saw and learned in that ascent

is impossible to put into words, even mouth-to-mouth.

When I returned to the lower world of flesh

and saw how many souls, the living and the dead,

those I knew and those I did not, were traveling back and forth,

countless and beyond measure,

ascending from world to world

through a column of light known to those who know Kabbalah,

my heart overflowed.

There was such great joy

that my mouth could not tell it

and the physical ear could barely bear to hear.

Many wicked ones were drawn back to repentance;

their sins were forgiven, for the time of favor was great.

It astonished me how many were received in Teshuvah,

even some you personally knew.

Among them rose an extraordinary joy;

they too ascended in those very elevations.

All of them, as one, begged me, implored me so earnest

it shamed me, saying:

raise the stature of Your honored Torah,

grant us, by G-d’s grace,

heightened understanding

so we might grasp and know these matters;

ascend with us to be our help and support.

(Because of the great rejoicing I witnessed among them,

I resolved to ascend with them.

I saw in vision that the Accuser rose

to his accusations with a joy unlike any before

and he set in motion decrees of annihilation

against certain souls, decrees

that would slay them by strange deaths.) 

Terror seized me and I felt my very life trembling.

I begged my master and teacher to come with me,

for it is a great danger to go and ascend

into the higher worlds alone,

since the day I became aware,

I had not gone up in such mighty elevations as these.

And I rose, level by level, 

moving up through one level after another,

until I stepped into the hall of the Moshiach.

There, Moshiach was studying Torah

together with all the Tannaim and the righteous

and the seven shepherds.

A joy lived there so vast and intense

it swallowed language;

I could only stand in it, stunned.

I could not tell what made that joy

and for a moment I feared (G-d forbid)

that it was because I had been released from this world.

Later they told me that I had not died at all;

rather, those above take delight when I, below,

bind unifications through their holy teachings.

Yet the true source,

the very essence, of that joy,

I still do not know, even to this day.

I asked Moshiach’s mouth, “When will the master come?”

He answered: “You’ll know this by one thing:

when your teachings will be spread around the world

and the wells you’ve opened pour outward with that I taught you

and all you grasped and when others are able, too,

to do the same unifications and ascents you do,

then the grip of the kelipot will be exhausted,

and a time of favor and deliverance will come.”

I was stunned by that

and a deep sorrow settled over me

for how long how long until such a thing could be.

But what I learned while I was there steadied me:

three potent remedies (Segulot) and three holy Names.

They are simple enough to learn and easy to teach

and when that settled into me, my mind grew calm.

I began to imagine that by these means my contemporaries might also rise to such a level and state as I: that their souls could ascend, learn, and grasp as I did.

Yet this secret was never granted to me in the days of my life

to reveal. I begged that it be taught to you, but I was not permitted at all. I swear and I stand firm on this oath that I was refused.

And yet this I can tell you

may Hashem be your help, may your path stand steady

before Hashem and never slip: (Especially in the Holy Land)in your prayer, in your study,

in every word and sound that passes your lips,

intend that it unite the Name.

For in every letter there are

worlds, souls, and Divinity.

They rise and intertwine, each with the other.

Then the letters themselves unite and form a word

and the word becomes bound in true union with the Divine.

Let your soul merge with them at every level.

Let all the worlds be drawn together

into one great ascent.

And out of that ascent arises joy and delight beyond measure.

To even grasp it,

imagine the celebration of bride and groom in earthly terms

and then magnify it infinitely,

for the joy of the higher realms is beyond compare.

Surely, Hashem will be with you

and in all you turn toward you will succeed and grow wise.

Give to the wise and he will become still wiser.