READING: between after midnight and sunrise of Wednesday.

Lesson on the topic of “The Gates of Tears Were Not Locked”

The Gates of Tears Were Not Locked

1. RABASH, Letter No. 14

“The gates of tears were not locked.” Shaarei [gates] comes from the words, Se’arot [“hair,” or “storms”], which is overcoming. “Tears” comes from the word “tearing,” meaning that there is a mixture with other desires, and only in the middle of the desires there is a brief moment of a desire to overcome toward love and fear of heaven. “…not locked,” but rather that moment joins into a great amount. When the amount is full, the person begins to feel the spiritual clothing.

This is the meaning of the importance of tears, meaning that even if he is in the lowest state and has base desires, but still has the strength to overcome, meaning that from the point in his heart he yearns and craves the Creator, then that force is very important.

2. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 18, “My Soul Shall Weep in Secret – 1”

When concealment overpowers a person and he comes to a state where the work becomes tasteless, and he cannot picture or feel any love and fear, and he cannot do anything in Kedusha [holiness], his only counsel is to cry to the Creator to have mercy on him and remove the screen from his eyes and heart.

3. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 18, “My Soul Shall Weep in Secret – 1”

Crying is a very important matter. It is as our sages write: “All the gates were locked except for the gates of tears.” The world asks about this: If the gates of tears are not locked, what is the need for the gates at all? He said that it is like a person who asks his friend for some necessary object. This object touches his heart, and he asks and begs him in every manner of prayer and plea. Yet, his friend pays no attention to all this. And when he sees that there is no longer reason for prayers and pleas then he raises his voice in weeping.

It is said about this: “All the gates were locked except for the gates of tears.” That is, when were the gates of tears not locked? Precisely when all the gates were locked. It is then that there is room for the gates of tears, and then we see that they were not locked.

4. RABASH, Article No. 2 (1991), “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

A person prays to the Creator and says, “You must help me because I am worse than everyone, since I feel that the will to receive controls my heart, and this is why nothing of Kedusha can enter my heart. I want no luxuries, only to be able to do something for the sake of the Creator, and I am utterly incapable of this, so only You can save me.”

By this we should interpret what is written (Psalms 34), “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” That is, those who ask the Creator to help them so their heart will not be broken and will be whole, this can happen only if a person has been rewarded with the desire to bestow. For this reason, he asks the Creator to give him the desire to bestow, since he sees that he lacks nothing in the world but the ability to work for the sake of the Creator. It follows that he is asking only the nearness of the Creator, and there is a rule, “measure for measure.” Hence, the Creator brings him closer. This is the meaning of the words, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”

5. RABASH, Article No. 3 (1989), “What Is the Difference between the Gate of Tears and the Rest of the Gates?”

When a person knows that he is wicked, as in “the wicked in their lives are called ‘dead,’” when he has come to realize that the fact that he is placed under the control of the will to receive separates him from the Life of Lives, he knocks about this and wants to repent. That is, he wants to be given help from above so he can emerge from self-love and be able to love the Creator with all his heart. Thus, he feels that he is wicked, since where he should love the Creator, he loves himself.

It follows that his knocks, we understand that he does what he can to make the Creator bring him closer and take him out of the control of his own evil. This is called “real tears.” This is the meaning of what we explained, “Open a gate for us, when a gate is locked.” That is, since he sees that all the gates are closed, he begins to knock.

6. RABASH, Article No. 3 (1989), “What Is the Difference between the Gate of Tears and the Rest of the Gates?”

“When the gates of prayer were locked, the gates of tears were not locked.” That is, when were the gates of tears not locked? It is when a person has been to all the gates and saw that they were all locked before him. In that state, the wailing and the tears burst from his heart, when he sees that all the gates were locked and he has no hope of approaching the Creator. These tears cause the gates of tears not to be locked.

But mere tears, before a person sees that all the gates were locked, these tears cannot be accepted at the gate of tears. For this reason, before him, the gate of tears is locked, since he still does not have a real desire for the Creator to bring him closer. Rather, he thinks that he can approach the Kedusha by himself, as well. As a result, his prayer is incomplete, so he really needs the Creator to help him.