-- Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain of Donmeh-West
1. In Smyrna, I had a dream: I stood at the Gates of a Palace, you know the one I mean, and the Gatekeeper said to me, "Wipe your feet before you enter," and pointed to a Tallis [prayer shawl] lying on the ground. "God forbid!" I cried and picked it up, and clutched it to my heart, and ran with it through many streets, offering it to every Jew and Gentile I met along the way.
2. I'm told there's a Gemara [Talmudic Commentary] that says: "A pile of palm-fronds are muksa [untouchable] on Shabbat. But if, before Shabbat begins, one says, 'These palm-fronds are not muksa to me,' then one may use them even as a couch to rest upon."
[Editor-What does this saying mean? That by his kavanah [mystical intention] one can make forbidden things acceptable. This is why The-First-Who-Came [Sabbatai Zevi] said this brocha [blessing] over the fat of the lamb's kidney:
"Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who makest the Forbidden Things permissible."
3. The Rabbis of this city don't want you to know that a Torah Commandment can be fulfilled by breaking it. But I, an ignoramus in your eyes, reveal to you what they keep hidden: To eat an almond, you must crack its shell.
4. [A DISCIPLE ASKS HIM:] "Is it true that Mashiach [the Messiah] will come in a generation that is either wholly good or wholly evil?"
"Yes."
"Then which direction should we take?"
"The Evil Inclination is the Mother of the King; but Holiness will be the first to greet Him when He rises from the dust."
5. When I was a boy I read a Midrash [explanation of Scripture] that says: Because the dogs of Egypt did not bark when the Children of Israel fled to the desert, God rewarded them with the unkosher hind-quarters of cattle. Therefore, when a person who eats unkosher meat dies, he is met at the Gates of Heaven by dogs who say, "You may not enter because you ate our portion." What does this mean? That from the lowest to the highest there is Soul.
Otherwise, how could dogs be standing at the Gates of Heaven? From this we learn why The First [Sabbatai Zevi] entered into the Maw of Samael [Satan], and why I will lead you to the Place of Esau.
6. A Jew once saw me eating pork. "What are you doing!" he cried. I answered, "Here, too, are Holy Sparks, yearning to return from whence they came. If I don't lift them up, will you?"
7. Can only a Jew raise up the Fallen Sparks? No more than only a carpenter can saw a piece of wood.
8. You ask me why I sat on the Torah-Scroll in Salonika. Because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me to show the world how they shit on His Beloved Bride.
10. On his death-bed, the Holy Second, Baruchia, asked me, "And those whom God loves?"
"He afflicts with suffering," I answered.
"Well answered. But those whom He hates?"
"The Prophet says, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated'."
"And the descendants of Jacob?"
"Every hand is turned against them."
"And those of Esau?"
"They wear fine robes and swords on their belts, and every man calls them Lord," "Again, well answered, Yankif Leib. Go, then, and become a Gentile. Save the Jews from the curse of God's love, and receive the blessings of His hatred."
69.
The leader, who inspired Jacob, did not yet know the true road to take because no one is allowed to pass through there, as it is said, Puru durachti lewadi*. "I will walk through this vineyard alone." This came from God alone. Had Jacob vanquished Esau, the latter would reign now. Because of this Jacob says, "Walk, my lord, before your servant." Jawor ne Adojny lifne awdoy. For this reason the reign of Jacob will begin and last forever.**
* The Hebrew words, as pronounced in pre-Holocaust Eastern European (or Ashkenazi) fashion, were phonetically transliterated to the Roman (or Latin) alphabet following Polish pronunciation and are so taken without change from Kraushar's Polish text. If one would seek to reconstitute the sound of the original Hebrew words, it is apparent that the English pronunciation of Roman alphabet letters differs from the Polish version.-Editor
** Except that Frank has not spelled out that one must abase oneself to reach the Klippot so that one may cause the release of the imprisoned Divine energies and their restoration to Ain Sof so that the Divine stasis may be recreated-the Tikkun-to bring about Paradise on earth as wel1.-Editor
70.
Had the Patriarch Jacob not walked the path then, we would not know the road or the journey to be taken now.
73.
Though Isaac, the father of Jacob, was well-to-do, he sent his son to Laban in rags. Jacob said himself, "I crossed the Jordan with a staff." Ki bemakli uwarti es hajardin. He did not walk on the main road but on side paths. He fled from Laban in haste like someone tumbling off a mountain peak. However, we walk in the middle of the road, and I don't look to the right or the left. I walk with the strength of my God.
74.
When you see a dreadful place, you think that there is no God there. In Giurgiew, I saw a man sitting on a throne. I was frightened, but I was told, "Don't fear that there is no God here. There is only the one, whom you see, who reigns over the might of Ishmael."
77.
Why do Jews, upon entering a synagogue, begin with the words, "Oh, how goodly are the tents of Jacob!" Why don't they speak of either Abraham or Isaac?
82.
When I come to you from a certain place, you will not recognize me. Then, when you go to the Company, they will not recognize you.
83.
Jacob said, "Oh, how frightful is this place. God himself must be here." He was mistaken. There is nothing frightful about God. Yet, before God, before the Holy place of His Tabernacle, there is great awe.
84.
When the Angel was wrestling with Jacob, he asked him, "Jacob where are you going?" Jacob replied, "To the field of Edom," i.e., to Poland. The Angel then said to him, "Jacob, do you know what one can do there?" There is this and that to be done. At that, Jacob turned pale, becoming very fearful. The Angel then announced, Lo jekore aud schimcho Jankow, ki im Isruel. "Your name is no longer Jacob but Israel. There shall come another Jacob who will perform the task in Poland."
89.
He, who stands before God Himself after being given the honor to approach Him, will receive wisdom exceeding that of Solomon seven or even eight fold.
93.
Notice the advice that Rebecca gave to Jacob, to put on sheep skins, was that of a woman. The advice was not straight-forward, and so it didn't lead to the result it sought. But we are following the truth wholeheartedly, and therefore God will help us.
94.
There will come a time that a believer may be one hundred or even two hundred miles away from me and yet he will still be close to me. Remember what I tell you.
95. The Lord once said in Czestochowa, "We are chasing after illusions."
96.
You should have trampled over every law. A wise man should grasp that plant life must naturally come to its end. All of you should have listened, since you were honored to come in front of a tree of knowledge.
Home