Likutei Moharan 59

Bringing others closer to G-d carries spiritual risk

The lesson in brief. One who constantly strives to draw other people closer to the service of G-d must guard himself so that the kelipot (husks/negative forces) and the evil of those people do not attach themselves to him. Such a person builds a Heichal HaKodesh (holy sanctuary) out of the souls he gathers, parallel to Avraham's "the souls they made in Charan." This sanctuary draws the honor given to G-d's Name, and it is rooted in, and clothed upon, the mevakesh's (seeker's) own heart and the chiyus (vital spirit) within it. Because this Heichal is built from souls still surrounded by many kelipot, there is danger that the chitzonim (external/negative forces) may attach themselves to the tzaddik's (righteous person's) heart through his very thoughts. The remedy is to kindle the "angels of the heart" — the fiery hislahavus (enthusiasm) that burns away these forces, like the fire of mishpat (judgment), through which a person judges himself. This mishpat, seated in the heart, becomes a "kisei kavod" (throne of glory), uniting the igula (circle) and ribua (square) of Shabbat, corresponding to the mem and samech that stood miraculously in the Luchot (Tablets). Through guarding Shabbat and this inner mishpat, a person merits "yad vashem" (a hand and a name) — the "yad" being the power to raise worthy talmidim (students), and the "shem" being a good name through which many souls wish to be included in his. This greatness comes through wealth (chomah/homah, a protective "wall") and through conquering anger, since anger destroys that wall and harms one's own nefesh (soul). Finally, the Rebbe warns that one may not draw close those wholly wicked people (like the Tarmudim) whose evil cannot be subdued by mishpat, for their closeness corrupts the "eyes" (representing chochmah and nefesh), illustrated by the Talmudic question of why the Tarmudim's eyes are crooked — because their success is so great that heavenly judgment cannot reach them.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5

Translation: Likutey Moharan Volumes 1-11, trans. by Moshe Mykoff. Breslov Research Inst., 1986-2012