The Highest Level of Speech

Baruch Hashem, we have emuna and believe in G-d’s hashgachah pratit (Divine Providence), that everything that happens to us is under His direct control and that He is doing everything for our best. This being the case, why do we still sometimes find ourselves sad, worried, or upset? Why do we even let ourselves think for a moment that something is wrong in our lives? The answer is that ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ are two very different things. It is one thing to have this knowledge somewhere high up there in our heads, but to get it to come down and penetrate in our hearts is a very different and difficult task. This therefore is the real reason why we may know one thing, but yet still behave completely different from what we know. This is also the reason why only Eisav’s head is buried in the Maarat Hamachpela (the cave of the Forefathers), but not the rest of his body. Growing up in the house of Yitzchak Avinu, Eisav was a tremendous Torah scholar, however, all that knowledge remained in his head and he was unable to bring it down to his heart and let it influence his actions.
 
Rebbe Nachman tells us of the great power of speech and that it even has the power to influence our heart and actions. Here are a few teachings from the Likkutei Etzot (Rebbe Nachman’s Advice) on the topic of speech. 

• The way to study Torah is by speaking the words out loud. The words will then become a light which will illuminate for you all the places where you must repent and make amends. Eventually you will achieve perfect repentance, and then you will come to understand the very depths of Torah (Speech #2).
• You must strive to sanctify the way you speak until your words are the words of the “Holy Tongue.” Speak many words of Torah. Say many prayers and make many entreaties before G-d. Talk to Him; plead with Him. And at the same time be careful to avoid any falsehood and derogatory comments about other people. If you are careful about the way you speak, it will help you to achieve personal sanctity and to guard the Holy Covenant. And the more you purify and sanctify yourself, the more you will be able to perfect the way you speak (Speech #3)
• Speech is the vessel with which to receive the flow of blessings. According to the words, so is the blessing. One who attains perfection in the way he speaks can receive abundant blessings by means of the vessels formed by his words. This is why when we pray, we must actually pronounce the words with our lips (Speech #5)

Now what is gratitude? Gratitude is the highest level of using our speech. Rav Shalom Arush, may Hashem bless him, teaches that giving gratitude to Hashem is the deepest and most real way we can serve Hashem here in this world. The connection one forms with the Creator through gratitude is the most real connection there is, and as long as we are lacking in gratitude, then our relationship with Hashem is also lacking.
 
It is gratitude to Hashem which opens up all the heavenly gates and brings us into the innermost chamber with the Creator (as explained in the holy Zohar). Gratitude annuls all the heavenly accusers against us, because the thing which is the primary cause of us having accusers in heaven is because we do not say thank you. Giving thanks and acknowledging G-d is the main reason for the creation of man, as the Ramban explains in his commentary on the Torah, “If not for gratitude, the Holy One Blessed Be He would have no desire in this world.”
 
Gratitude is also the true test of one’s emuna. When a person sees all the good which Hashem is doing for him and acknowledges that it all comes from Hashem and nothing happened on its own or because of his own personal efforts. Also, when a person acknowledges and thanks Hashem for all the seemingly not good things that happen to him, this clearly proves that one has real emuna and and knows that everything is from Hashem (even what looks bad) and everything is for one’s best.
 
Through this act of giving thanks, a person will merit to receive “daat / knowledge,” that is, to know that there is no difference between judgment (Elokim) and mercy (Hashem). This is the true meaning of the words we say at the end of every prayer service in the Aleinu prayer, “On that day Hashem will be one and His Name will be one.” That is, in the future, we will all merit knowing that everything is from Hashem and everything is for our very best, no matter what our “sechel / mind” may be telling us. The bonus is that even if we don’t yet know it, but we “fake it” and say Thank You to Hashem for our difficulties, these words themselves will have the power to unlock the heavenly gates for us. This will remove any suffering we may be experiencing and it will give us the inflow of daat to know that even this is really for my good.
 
Now all we have to do is learn how to start saying Thank You to Hashem. For this, Rav Arush gives us a very practical advice which has been tried and tested to help us learn say thank you, which I will share with you now.
 
One who wants to accustom himself to see all the blessings and kindnesses of Hashem, and who wants to begin saying thank you should do this. Take a notebook and write in it all the kindnesses and salvations that Hashem does with you. Then simply thank Hashem for each and every thing written in the notebook. One who does this will first of all be filled with happiness for it will be revealed to him that his life is full of kindnesses and blessings, so much that his notebook won’t even be enough to contain them all. Secondly, he will continue to see more and more of Hashem’s kindnesses and miracles. Many people have tried this advice and their lives have switched into Gan Eden. Anyone who takes on this advice will receive Gan Eden in this world. This is called being happy with one’s lot, and one who is happy with his lot and receives everything that Hashem gives him with love – he is forgiven for all his sins. Even the sins which we are told have no form of repentance will be forgiven. Not only that, but all his sins will turn into merits for behold he has done teshuva from love. 
 
G-d Bless,
Yehoshua Goldstein