By: Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
The Second Heh (ה)
“קַוֵּה אֶל ה’, חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ, וְקַוֵּה אֶל ה’”
“Hope in Hashem; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, hope in Hashem.”
(Tehillim 27)
“כַּתַּר לִי זְעֵיר וַאֲחַוֶּךָ”
“Wait a little longer, and I will reveal it to you.”
(cf. Likutei Moharan I, 6)
A person usually thinks that the path to Hashem consists of ever-increasing understanding.
But Rabbeinu points to a different path.
It is not understanding that brings a person to Hashem,
but persevering at the boundary of understanding.
That boundary is called in Kabbalah Keter.
Keter is the crown.
It is the highest point the human mind can reach.
There all explanations end.
There, no more answers begin,
but silence.
It is precisely there that Rebbe Nachman zt”l reveals a profound secret.
When a person reaches this boundary,
he must not attempt to push further.
He must wait.
Not because Hashem is silent,
but because the soul is not yet ready to receive.
Reb Nosson zt”l calls this state hamtana (המתנה) — waiting.
Not wasted time.
Not stagnation.
But the ripening of the vessel.
Perhaps here lies the secret of the second Heh of the Four-Letter Name of Hashem.
According to Kabbalah, the second ה corresponds to the sefirah of Malchut, the world of reception, revelation, and the Shechinah.
Malchut has no light of her own.
Her entire greatness lies in receiving.
And only one who has learned to wait
can truly receive.
That is why the letter Heh is open.
It is not a closed letter.
It contains an empty inner space.
Precisely this emptiness makes it a vessel for the presence of Hashem.
As long as the heart is filled with its own ideas and imaginations,
there is little room for Divine light.
Only when a person can say:
“Ribbono Shel Olam, I do not understand, but I remain with You,”
does the second Heh begin to shine within his heart.
Here begins the secret of hiskashrus (bonding).
Many understand this only as love or reverence for the tzaddik.
But Breslov teaches more.
The true tzaddik lives constantly at the threshold of Keter.
He does not live from his own intellect.
He waits for the word of Hashem.
His greatness lies not only in knowledge,
but in complete bitul — total self-nullification to the will of Hashem.
Therefore a person connects himself to the tzaddik.
Not so that the tzaddik will do his service of Hashem for him,
but so that he will learn how a human being truly receives.
For knowledge accumulates.
Wisdom waits.
Therefore a person needs the tzaddik.
Not to receive all answers,
but to learn to wait for Hashem
without ever losing hope.
Part 2
Reb Nosson zt”l repeatedly writes that every delay is a hidden form of mercy.
If Hashem would immediately bestow His light,
the vessel could shatter.
Therefore He first gives desire.
Then patience.
Then emunah.
And only afterward revelation.
That is the order of Heaven.
Not first light.
But first the vessel.
Not first the answer.
But first longing.
Not first fulfillment.
But first hiskashrus.
Perhaps we can therefore place three words side by side:
השם
התקשרות
המתנה
All three begin with the letter ה.
For the Heh is the letter of openness.
- Openness to Hashem.
- Openness to Torah.
- Openness to the counsel of the tzaddik.
- And openness to remain faithful even when the light is still hidden.
Therefore a Breslover is not afraid of times of spiritual dryness.
When prayer becomes difficult,
when Torah feels closed,
when hisbodedus consists only of silence,
he does not say:
“Hashem has abandoned me.”
He says:
“I stand before Keter.
Now begins the hamtana (waiting).
Now my vessel is growing.
Now I am learning to serve not from feeling, but from emunah.”
It is precisely there that true hiskashrus is revealed.
For as long as everything goes easily,
a person follows his enthusiasm.
Only when everything becomes dark,
and he nevertheless holds on to the counsel of the tzaddik,
does it become clear
that his connection is truly real.
Then the tzaddik connects his heart to Torah.
The Torah connects him to Hashem.
And Hashem opens the second Heh.
Then the Shechinah is revealed within the heart of man.
Not because he understood everything,
but because he learned to wait.
Here we can notice a subtle hint.
The word
מַתָּנָה (mattanah)
means “gift.”
The word
הַמְתָּנָה (hamtana)
means “waiting.”
Between them stands only a single letter:
the ה.
In simple grammar this is merely a linguistic prefix.
But on the path of drash, we may see a deeper hint:
perhaps this Heh is precisely the second Heh of the Divine Name.
Part 3
As long as a person only seeks the mattanah (מתנה),
the gift—
light, joy, answers, or inspiration—
his gaze is directed toward what he wants to receive.
But Hashem adds a ה.
From
מתנה
it becomes
המתנה
From gift becomes waiting.
Why?
Because Hashem does not only wish to give a gift.
He first wishes to form the person into a vessel capable of receiving it.
Therefore
המתנה
is not the opposite of
מתנה
On the contrary.
It is its preparation.
Its purification.
Its path.
Every true gift from Hashem is born through holy waiting.
Therefore the Breslover need not fear waiting.
And yes, this is not simple.
When prayer feels dry,
when Torah remains closed,
when hisbodedus consists of a single sigh,
he may know:
Perhaps Hashem is not giving me less.
Perhaps He is giving me more.
Not the gift itself,
but the ability to truly receive it one day.
Thus
המתנה
eventually becomes again
מתנה
Not because the Heh disappears,
but because the Heh has completed its task.
- It has opened the heart.
- It has expanded the vessel.
- It has taught the person that every delay that comes from Hashem is already an expression of His mercy.
Then a person realizes in hindsight:
“I did not only wait for Hashem.
Hashem was preparing my heart.”
Perhaps this is the deepest meaning of the second Heh.
It is the letter that transforms waiting into trust.
Desire into a vessel.
Patience into emunah.
Connection into living bond.
And ultimately
המתנה
into true
מתנה.
Part 4
And that is the greatest gift of all:
closeness to Hashem.
May Hashem grant us
that during times of waiting we do not become impatient;
that we bind ourselves with our whole soul to the Tzaddik of Truth;
that we learn Torah with joy and simplicity;
that we persevere in hisbodedus;
and that we make the second Heh within our hearts
a dwelling place for the Shechinah.
Amen.
Afterword
A remarkable idea emerging from this drashah is that the letter ה is not merely a grammatical addition, but becomes a symbol of the entire spiritual process. The transition from מתנה (gift) to המתנה (waiting) teaches that Hashem does not only wish to give a person a gift, but first shapes him into a suitable kli (vessel) to contain it. In this sense, waiting itself is already a form of Divine kindness.
The connection to the tzaddik, fidelity to Torah, the practice of hisbodedus, and growth in emunah are not separate paths, but together form the process through which the heart opens to the Shechinah. Thus the second Heh of the Divine Name becomes the sign of receptivity, humility, and ultimately the enduring presence of Hashem within the human heart.
