HaRav Ginsburgh on Parshas Yisro

Shabbos Parshas Yisro

Lecture by Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh 10-11 Shevat 5769 (Part)

The Secret Weapon – The Secrets of the Secrets

What is the secret weapon that the king is handing out in our generation in order to win the final battle? In the most general terms possible, the treasure is the secrets and the secrets of the secrets of the Torah. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says that with this book (with the secrets of the Torah revealed in the Zohar) we will come out of exile with mercy and compassion. It seems that in our generation there are no more secrets. It seems that from the time of the Ba’al Shem Tov, and even more so from the Alter Rebbe and on, everything has been openly revealed.

Still, even among the secrets of the Torah, there are some secrets still unknown. In Kabbalah, these secrets fall under the category of the 32nd of the 32 pathways of wisdom, which unites with the 50th of the 50 gateways of understanding. This unification is the secret of the word “Lebanon” (לְבָנוֹן ) appearing in the verse, “A wellspring of water, a well of living waters, pouring from the Lebanon” (מַעְיַן גַּנִּים בְּאֵר מַיִם חַיִּים וְנֹזְלִים מִן לְבָנוֹן ).

The letters of this word can be broken up to read 32 (לְבָ ) and the name of the letter nun—נ  ) (נוֹן, whose value is 50.

This is our hidden treasure that no one has ever laid eyes upon. The 32nd pathway is hidden, not even the bird of prey—a symbol for King David —nor the falcon has ever laid his eyes upon, as in the verse, “There is a path, which no bird of prey knows and which the falcon’s eye has not seen.” And the 50th gate of understanding was not attained by even Moshe during his life.

This unification has to be understood by even the simplest soldier in a way that he can use it during the “battle” in order to win the war. This is referred to in Chassidut as a manner in which the individual can gain sustenance from it (יִתְפַרְנְסוּן מִינֵיה ). The distribution of these secrets of the secrets of the Torah, this is what the king is taking out now and distributing freely to anyone who wants to become his soldier.

We have talked about this many times.

In our generation, the generation that has to be victorious, there are no longer any secrets. The secrets have to be explained to even the simplest of soldiers in a way that he (or she) can integrate it fully into their understanding. Then they will be able to embark on their mission with joy, win the battle, and bring the Mashiach.

http://www.inner.org/lectures/11-Shevat-5769a.php