The Captive

...the betrothed maiden screamed out, but there was no one to save her.

He does not want to be in that place. He feels himself a captive of his own desires, now a prisoner incapable of escape. Deep within him a voice screams—the scream of an innocent maiden under assault, yet hopeless that anyone can save her.

On occasion, he breaks free of the clutches of his captor, perhaps for a day, a week, maybe even an entire year—and then he is back again, and all seems futile.

It is never futile. The One who made him knows the struggle he fights. That brief victory, as fleeting as it may have been, is more precious to his Creator than the deeds of the most righteous. A precious soul has returned to Him, if even for a moment. And she returned because the soul, at her essence, is only good.

If only he would know that delight of his Creator, nothing could stop him. He would overcome all bounds and never fall back again. Because his Creator’s delight would become his delight, and the two would bond in an inseparable bond.

For in truth, they were always so bonded, only now it is no longer from afar.

Maamar Ani L’dodi 5726.

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The Fair Maiden's Hero

Ki Tavo

By Tzvi Freeman

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Subscribe and get your dose daily. To order Rabbi Freeman’s latest book, Wisdom to Heal the Earth, click here.

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12 Comments

Eleanor Skibo Pennsylvania, USA September 9, 2019

We can be our own worst enemies! It’s not the man down the street nor the woman across town, it’s me. I’m my destroyer. I clean myself up, make myself look shiny and bright as a bar of gold, but I don’t stay that way, before I know it I’m tarnished, bruised and beaten down like a shabby old old coin just rolling down the sidewalk and eventually into the sewer grate. Why can’t I stay clean and nice? Why is there always a voice talking to me inside, ‘you don’t belong, you’re dirt, you belong in the gutter, now go and crawl back in the sewer from where you came from, you maggot! Please G d make that voice stop! I’ll be good this time, I’ll do better, I promise, I do...do.. I want to please you, G d, so very badly. My heart aches just for you to love me and accept me as the person you created. Why can’t I be one with him the Almighty, the Light who shines down from above. If only, if what, if nothing; I’m too late and I’m too tired of beating myself up piece by piece! If only! Reply

Adam Gorny Thornhill September 9, 2019

What a perfect timing for this message. We are in Elul, evaluating our effort, as a Baal Teshuva, and here you/Rebbe/HaShem says that the efforts were noticed and accepted.
It set my day, and am sure it will set my upcoming year as well. Thank You Reply

Rita Forbes Clinton September 9, 2019

Rabbi Freeman,

The sentence, "...he would overcome all bounds and never fall back again. Because the Creator's delight and his delight are inseparably bonded no longer from afar." I contrast this to the Allegory of the Cave by Plato. I went back knowing I could never return. I went back because I wondered if there were silent screams of someone who wanted to come out of the Cave but was afraid to let the light lead them out. I went back to see if there was growth. My beloved watched. My beloved knows my heart and my passion because it's His. My beloved took me by the hand gently saying, "I know." My Creator and I continued lovingly on our journey together in the light admist the darkness. Am I not operating in the rabbinic thought of "tikun olam." Is that not a behavior requirement from G-d as His children? Reply

Michael Wilkinson Sidney October 13, 2016

This really hit a nerve and brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Rabbi. Reply

Tsivya Frieder October 9, 2016

This one arrived at the right time. After many victories, I find myself in the same battle once again. Reply

Anonymous Still on Earth October 1, 2014

Clearly. It also explains a question I have been harboring for a very long time, which I had actually been waiting to ask HaShem when my time came to stand before Him. Why did I do the things to myself that were self destructive, and put me completely off the track that I was on. The dichotomy of my soul, entrapped in the beast. Yatza Hara vs Yatza haTov. The good part of me was trying desperately to control,and make the beast do better, but still reveling in the pleasurable feelings of how I was behaving . Ever go to the beach and make a magnificent , beautiful, one of a kind sand castle. And when you were finished, thank about all the bad things some people have done to us, after we have worked so very hard to get to where we were, and destroy us, only to look at the fine castle, and step all over it, saying to myself, there I have done this before they could. Shana Tova Rabbi, and an easy fast, and meaningful Holiday. May you , and I both be sealed for a new year of life, study, and understanding , and good deeds. Reply

Tzvi Freeman October 1, 2014

For Anonymous on Earth This might become clearer in its fuller context: There's a passage in Deuteronomy 22:25 and on about a woman raped in the field. She cries out, but no one hears.

The Tzemach Tzedek interprets this verse allegorically: The woman is the soul. The rapist is the beast in which this soul has been invested. The beast does whatever it wants, and it forces the soul to go along with it. The soul is screaming out, but no one comes to rescue her.

In Hebrew, "no one" is "ain," which means nothingness. The Tzemach Tzedek interprets that as the nothingness of the Ain Sof—the Infinite, meaning G-d at His essence. It is to this person who is locked in struggle with his own self that the Infinite comes to rescue.

Is this helping? Reply

Leible Morrison Troy NY September 5, 2022

in response to Tzvi Freeman:

When you say "It is to this person who is locked in struggle with his own self that the Infinite comes to rescue." Is this the person's rational soul, the intelligent part of our animal soul that can empathize with The Gdly soul? This is always been a big question of mine. What part of the soul versus animal dynamic is my COGNIZANCE? I would really appreciate help on this. Reply

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman September 5, 2022

in response to Leible Morrison :

Yes, best described as the rational soul. That’s how we identify when in struggle.

See Likutei Sichot volume 19, pg. 281. Reply

Anonymous Earth September 30, 2014

B'H
Good morning Rabbi. Typically I find meaning in these dailty doses, and much inspiration in the readings. This one confuses me. The person feels captive, and doesnt want to be a place. But the analogy of the screams of a woman raped in the woods, feeling violated, and hopeless of being saved bothers me. Free from his / her captive for a fleeting moment ,for some period of time, then only to return to being captive. I am lost in the meaning of this reading. Sorry. Just confused. Reply

Shmuel Israel September 28, 2014

Beautiful Those daily doses of wisdom are fantastic! Reply

Anonymous September 28, 2014

Thanks I am very grateful for having encountered your work Reply

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