“Ein Od Milvado” – The Segula of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin

“Ein Od Milvado” – The Segula of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin

“Inyan Gadol ve-Segulah Nifla'ah” – The Segula-Matrix of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Gaon Rav Chaim of Volozhin (zechuto yagen aleinu), in his book Nefesh HaChaim (III:12–13), quotes the Gemara (Chullin 7b), which teaches that if a person internalizes the pasuk: אין עוד מלבדו – “Ein Od Milvado” – (there is none besides Him) (Devarim 4:35), he will be protected from all negative forces. When a person accepts Hashem’s absolute sovereignty, he submits himself completely to His protection. Although life contains many destructive elements, a person of faith understands that they are merely puppets in the hands of the Creator. He alone can help us, both collectively and individually. Just as Rambam teaches in the first 13 Principles of Faith: “He alone does, did, and will do every deed.” The Torah says (Devarim 4:35): “You were shown this, so that you would know that G-d is the Almighty; there is none besides Him.” “You were shown this” – explains Ramban – refers to Hashem’s revelation at Mount Sinai. Moshe received both the Written and Oral Torah from Hashem at Mount Sinai. Therefore, whenever a person deviates—even to the slightest degree—from “Halakha le-Moshe mi-Sinai,” his understanding that “there is none besides Him” is seriously weakened. “There is none besides Him” means that everything in the world happens because Hashem decrees that it should happen. No one can raise a hand against Hashem’s will. Thus, if someone harms or insults us, it is pointless to blame that person or become angry with them. Rather, we should conduct a cheshbon hanefesh, understand that Hashem does everything for our ultimate good, and pray to Hashem to help us understand the message and correct whatever needs to be corrected. Faith in “There is none besides Him” is the only reliable bridge that safely carries us from this world to the next. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin teaches that the “Inyan Gadol ve-Segulah Nifla'ah” erases and annuls “harsh judgments” when a Jew embeds in his heart the conviction that the Almighty is the true G-d and אֵין עוֹד מִלְּבַדּוֹ (Devarim 4:35)—there is no power besides the Almighty. Whoever does this will receive the Almighty’s help through “natural” forces that are in fact supernatural means, as the Gemara teaches us (Ta’anit 25a). Remember the incident when the daughter of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa confused oil with vinegar and poured vinegar into the lamps instead of oil. Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa said: “The One who commanded oil to burn will command vinegar to burn as well.” The Brisker Rebbe and “Ein Od Milvado” There is a well-known story about the Brisker Rebbe, a descendant of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, when he fled German-occupied Warsaw and wanted to reach the Soviet-controlled area, from where he could then cross over to Lithuania with his students. Throughout the journey, he concentrated on “Ein Od Milvado,” contemplating that there is no reality besides the Almighty. As long as he thought about this, there were no obstacles; but as soon as he relaxed and stopped thinking about it, a German officer stopped them. Only when he lost his concentration was he noticed by the Nazis. As soon as he regained his concentration, he became “invisible” again. The Degel Machaneh Ephraim—the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov and the son of Adel—Rabbi Ephraim of Sudilkov—also mentions that in serving the Almighty, one should act as though there is no one besides oneself and the Almighty. It also speaks there of “Oneness,” which means “Alefo,” as well as “Alufo Shel Olam.” There is an interesting connection here. The letter א “alef”, written in Hebrew as אלף, has the numerical value 111. The first letters of אין ע׳וֹד מִ׳לְּבַדּו also equal 111. (from the “Yodei Binah” Yeshivah, Hadera, http://zchusavos.blogspot.com/2007/05/reb-chaim-of-volozhin.html)