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SCOPUL CREAŢIEI
2.01 Baal HaSulam,
“What the Wisdom Is About”
General—the whole of humanity, obligated to eventually come to this immense development, as it is written, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea” (Isaiah 11, 9). “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31, 33), and he says, “Your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, and your eyes will behold your Teacher” (Isaiah 30).
2.02 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item No. 39
The Creator’s desired goal for the creation He had created is to bestow upon His creatures, so they would know His truthfulness and greatness, and receive all the delight and pleasure He had prepared for them.
2.03 Baal HaSulam,
“The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
All the conducts of creation, in its every corner, inlet, and outlet, are completely prearranged for the purpose of nurturing the human species from within it, to improve its qualities until it can sense the Creator as one feels one’s friend.
These ascents are like rungs of a ladder, arranged degree by degree until it is completed and achieves its purpose.
2.04 Baal HaSulam,
“Matan Torah” [The Giving of the Torah]
The aim of the Creator from the time He created His creation is to reveal His Godliness to others, since the revelation of His Godliness reaches the creature as pleasant bounty that is ever growing until it reaches the desired measure.
By this, the lowly rise with true recognition and become a Merkava [chariot/structure] to Him, and to cling unto Him until they reach their final completion: “The eye has not seen a God besides you.”
2.05 Baal HaSulam,
“The Shofar of the Messiah”
The purpose of creation is invaluable, for a tiny spark such as man’s soul can rise in its attainment higher than the ministering angels.
2.06 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of Religion and its Purpose”
His guidance is purposeful and aims to eventually bring us to Dvekut [adhesion] with Him, so He would reside within us
2.07 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 17
“The purpose of the soul when it comes in the body is to be rewarded with returning to its root and with Dvekut [adhesion] with Him while clothed in the body, as it is written, “To love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, and to adhere to Him.”
2.08 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item No. 39
This purpose does not apply to the still and the great spheres, such as the earth, the moon, or the sun, however luminous they may be, and not to the vegetative or the animate, for they lack the sensation of others, even from among their own species. Therefore, how can the sensation of the Godly and His bestowal apply to them?
Humankind alone, having been prepared with the sensation of others of the same species, who are similar to them, after working in Torah and Mitzvot, when they invert their will to receive to a desire to bestow and achieve equivalence of form with their Maker, they receive all the degrees that have been prepared for them in the upper worlds, called NRNHY. By this they become qualified to receive the purpose of the thought of creation. After all, the purpose of the creation of all the worlds was for man alone.
2.09 Baal HaSulam,
“The Acting Mind”
Every person is obliged to attain the root of his soul.
2.10 Baal HaSulam,
“Matan Torah” [The Giving of the Torah]
The purpose of the whole of creation is for the lowly creatures to be able, by observing Torah and Mitzvot, to rise ever upward, ever developing until they are rewarded with Dvekut with their Creator. But here came the sages of The Zohar and asked why we were not created in this high stature of Dvekut with Him to begin with. What reason did He have to burden us with this labor and burden of creation and the Torah and Mitzvot? They replied, “He who eats that which is not his is afraid to look at his face.” This means that one who eats and enjoys the labor of one’s friend is afraid to look at his face because by doing so he becomes increasingly humiliated until he loses his human form.
Because that which extends from His wholeness cannot be deficient, He gave us room to earn our exaltedness by ourselves, through our work in Torah and Mitzvot.
2.11 Baal HaSulam,
Introduction to “From the Mouth of a Sage”
The meaning of the souls of the children of Israel is that they are a part of God above. The soul cascaded by way of cause and consequence and descended degree by degree until it was suitable to come into this world and clothe the filthy corporeal body. It ascends degree by degree until its stature is completed by keeping the Torah and observing its Mitzvot. Finally, it is worthy of receiving its complete reward, which has been prepared for it in advance, meaning attaining the holy Torah as the names of the Creator, which are the 613 Pekudin.
2.12 Baal HaSulam,
“The Love of God and the Love of Man”
The purpose of creation applies to the entire human race, none excluded.
2.13 Baal HaSulam,
“The Arvut” [Mutual Guarantee], Item 23
The purpose of creation lies on the shoulders of the whole of the human race, black, or white, or yellow, without any essential difference.
2.14 Baal HaSulam,
“The Love of God and the Love of Man”
If the whole purpose of the Torah and all of creation is but to raise the base humanity to become worthy of that wonderful sublimity, and to adhere to Him, He should have created us with that sublimity to begin with instead of troubling us with the labor of creation, and the Torah and Mitzvot.
We could explain this with the words of our sages: “One who eats that which is not his is afraid to look at his face.” This means that anyone who feeds on the labor of others is afraid (ashamed) to look at his own form, for his form is inhuman.
Because no deficiency comes from His wholeness, He has prepared for us this work, so we may enjoy the labor of our own hands. This is why He created creation in this base form. The work in Torah and Mitzvot lifts us from the baseness of creation, and through it we achieve our sublimity by ourselves. Then we do not feel the delight and pleasure that comes to us from his generous hand as a gift, but as the owners of that pleasure.
2.15 Baal HaSulam,
“The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Part One, “Inner Observation”
If the purpose of the creation of the worlds was to delight His creatures, why did He create this corporeal, turbid, and tormented world? Without it, He could certainly delight the souls as much as He wanted; so why did He bring the soul into such a murky and filthy body?”
They explained it with the verse, “He who eats that which is not his own is afraid to look at his face.” This means there is a flaw of shame in any free gift. To spare the souls this blemish, He created
this world where there is work. And they will enjoy their labor, for they take their full pay in return for their work and are thus spared the blemish of shame.
2.16 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 4
The only tactic is to examine the end of the act, that is, the purpose of creation, for nothing can be understood in the middle of the process, but only at its end.
2.17 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
The Creator is the absolute good. He watches us in complete benevolence without a hint of evil and in a purposeful guidance. This means that His guidance compels us to undergo a series of phases, by way of cause and effect, preceding and resulting, until we are qualified to receive the desired benefit. At that time, we will arrive at our purpose as a ripe and fine-looking fruit.
2.18 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
His guidance over the reality that He has created is in the form of purposeful guidance, without taking into consideration the order of the phases of development, for they deceive us and prevent us from understanding their purpose, being always opposite to their final shape.
It is about such matters that we say, “There is none so wise as the experienced.” Only one who is experienced has the opportunity to examine creation in all its phases of development, all the way through its completion, and can calm things down so as to not to fear those spoiled images that creation undergoes in the phases of its development, but believe in its fine and pure end.
2.19 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
We understand that any being of the four types—still, vegetative, animate, and speaking—as a whole and in particular, are under a purposeful guidance, meaning a slow and gradual growth by way of cause and effect, as a fruit on a tree, which is guided well toward its final outcome of becoming a sweet and fine-looking fruit.
Go and ask a botanist how many phases the fruit undergoes from the time it becomes visible until it is completely ripe. Not only do its preceding phases show no evidence of its sweet and fine-looking end, but as if to anger, they show the opposite of the final outcome. That is, the sweeter the fruit is at its end, the more bitter and unsightly it is in the earlier phases of its development.
2.20 Baal HaSulam,
“The Peace”
The corrupt conducts in the states of humanity are the very ones that generate the good states. And each good state is nothing but the fruit of the work in the bad state that preceded it. Indeed, these values of good and bad do not refer to the value of the state itself, but to the general purpose: Each state that brings humanity closer to the goal is considered good, and one that deflects them from the goal is considered bad.
By this standard alone is the “law of development” built—the corruption and the wickedness that appear in a state are considered the cause and the generator of the good state, so that each state lasts just long enough to grow the evil in it to such an extent that the public can no longer bear it. At that time, the public must unite against it, destroy it, and reorganize in a better state for the correction of that generation.
And the new state, too, lasts just as long as the sparks of evil in it ripen and reach such a level that they can no longer be tolerated, at which time it must be destroyed and a more comfortable state is built in its stead. And so the states clear up one by one and degree by degree until they come to such a corrected state that there will be good without any sparks of evil.
2.21 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 155
Why then did the Kabbalists obligate every person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Indeed, there is a great thing about it, which should be publicized: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the lights that surround their souls.
This means that every person from Israel is guaranteed to finally attain all the wonderful attain- ments with which the Creator contemplated in the thought of creation to delight every creature. And one who has not been awarded in this life will be granted in the next life, etc., until one is awarded completing His thought, which He had planned for him, as it is written in The Zohar.
And while one has not attained perfection, the lights that are destined to reach him are con- sidered surrounding lights. This means that they stand ready for him but are waiting for him to purify his vessels of reception, and then these lights will clothe the able vessels.
Hence, even when he does not have the vessels, when he engages in this wisdom, mentioning the names of the lights and the vessels related to his soul, they immediately illuminate upon him to a certain extent. However, they illuminate for him without clothing the interior of his soul, for lack of vessels able to receive them. Yet, the illumination one receives time after time during the engagement draws upon him grace from above, and imparts him with abundance of sanctity and purity, which bring him much closer to achieving his wholeness.
2.22 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 22.
One does not live for oneself, but for the whole chain. Thus, each and every part of the chain does not receive the light of life into itself, but only distributes the light of life to the whole chain.
2.23 Baal Hasulam
“The Arvut” [Mutual Guarantee]
It is upon the Israeli nation—through Torah and Mitzvot—to qualify itself and all the people of the world to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others. This is the ladder to the purpose of creation, which is Dvekut with Him.
2.24 Baal HaSulam,
“Emanation of the Soul”
Every person was created only to obtain a complete and illuminating soul from the Creator, worthy of perpetual and eternal Dvekut [adhesion].
2.25 Baal HaSulam,
“Peace in the World”
Everything in reality, good or bad, and even the most harmful in the world, has a right to exist and must not be destroyed and eradicated from the world. We must only mend and reform it because any observation of the work of creation is enough to teach us about the greatness and perfection of its Operator and Creator. Therefore, we must understand and be very careful when casting a flaw on any item of creation, saying it is redundant and superfluous, as that would be slander about its Operator.
2.26 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 14
Thus you necessarily find that on the whole, there are three states to the soul:
The First State is their presence in Ein Sof, in the thought of creation, where they already have the future form of the end of correction.
The Second State is their existence during the six thousand years, which were divided by the above two systems into a body and a soul. They were given the work in Torah and Mitzvot in order to invert their will to receive and turn it into a desire to bestow contentment upon their Maker, and not at all for themselves.
During the time of that state, no correction will come to the bodies, only to the souls. This means that they must eliminate from within them any form of self-reception, which is considered the body, and remain with but a desire to bestow, which is the form of the desire in the souls. Even the souls of the righteous will not be able to rejoice in the Garden of Eden after their demise, but only after their bodies have completely rotted in the dust.
The Third State is the end of the correction of the souls after the revival of the dead. At that time, the complete correction will come to the bodies, too, for then they will turn reception for themselves, which is the form of the body, to take on the form of pure bestowal, and they will become worthy of receiving for themselves all the delight, pleasure, and pleasantness in the thought of creation.
And with all that, they will attain strong Dvekut by the force of their equivalence of form with their Maker, since they will not receive all this because of their desire to receive, but because of their desire to bestow contentment upon their Maker, since He derives pleasure when they receive from Him. For purposes of brevity, from now on I will use the names of these three states, namely “first state,” “second state,” and “third state,” and you will remember all that is explained here in every state.
2.27 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 6
Our sages have already said that the Creator created the world for no other reason but to delight His creatures. And here is where we must place our minds and all our thoughts, for it is the ulti- mate aim of the act of the creation of the world.
2.28 Baal HaSulam,
“The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
Since there is no act without some purpose, it is certain that the Creator had a purpose in the creation set before us. The most important thing in this whole diverse reality is the sensation given to the animals—that each of them feels its own existence. And the most important sensation is the noetic sensation, given to man alone, by which one also feels what is in the other—others’ pains and comforts. Hence, it is certain that if the Creator has a purpose in this creation, its subject is man. It is said about this, “All of the Lord’s works are for him.”
But we must still understand what was the purpose for which the Creator created this lot. Indeed, it is to elevate him to a higher and more important degree, to feel his Creator like the human sen- sation, which is already given to him. And as one knows and feels one’s friend’s wishes, so he will learn the ways of the Creator, as it is written about Moses, “And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
Any person can be as Moses. Undoubtedly, anyone who examines the evolution of the creation before us will see and understand the great pleasure of the Operator, whose operation evolves until it acquires that wondrous sensation of being able to converse and deal with one’s Creator as one speaks to one’s friend.
2.29 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 1
It is written in The Zohar, Vayikra, Portion Tazria, “Come and see: All that exists in the world exists for man, and everything exists for him, as it is written, ‘Then the Lord God formed man,’ with a full name, as we have established, that he is the whole of everything and contains everything, and all that is above and below, etc., is included in that image.”
Thus, it explains that all the worlds, upper and lower, are included in man. And also, the whole of reality within those worlds is only for man.
2.30 Baal HaSulam,
“The Arvut” [Mutual Guarantee], Item 20
The end of the correction of the world will only be by bringing all the people in the world under His work, as it is written, “And the Lord will be King over all the earth; in that day, the Lord will be one and His name one.” The text specifies, “on that day,” and not before.
2.31 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Items 68-69
To understand this we must first acquire a genuine understanding of the nature of the love of the Creator itself. We must know that all the inclinations, tendencies, and properties instilled in man, with which to serve one’s friends, all these tendencies and natural properties are required for the work of the Creator.
To begin with, they were created and imprinted in man only because of their final role—the ultimate purpose of man, as it is written, “No outcast shall be cast out from Him.” One needs them
all so as to complement oneself in the ways of reception of the abundance and to complete the will of the Creator.
This is the meaning of “Everyone who is called by My name, I have created him for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7), and also “All that the Lord has worked was for His sake” (Proverbs 16:4). However, in the meantime, man has been given a whole world to develop and complete all these natural inclinations and qualities in him by engaging in them with people, thus yielding them suitable for their purpose. It is as our sages said, “One must say, ‘The world was created for me,’” for all the people in the world are required for a person, as they develop and qualify the attributes and inclinations
of every individual to become a fit tool for His work.
Thus, we must understand the essence of the love of the Creator from the properties of love by which one person relates to another. The love of the Creator is necessarily given through these qualities, since they were only imprinted in man for His sake to begin with.
2.32 Baal HaSulam,
“The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
When one comes to love others, he is in direct Dvekut, which is equivalence of form with the Maker, and along with it man passes from his narrow world, filled with pain and impediments, to an eternal and broad world of bestowal upon the Creator and upon people.
2.33 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 42 “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”
We must understand the purpose of creation, which is said to be because He wishes to do good to His creations. And because of the Tikkun [correction], so there will not be a matter of the “bread of shame,” a Tzimtzum [restriction] was made. And from the Tzimtzum extended the Masach [screen] by which the vessels of reception are turned into bestowal.
When the vessels are prepared to be in order to bestow, we immediately receive the light that is hidden and treasured for His creatures. It means that one receives the delight and pleasure that was in the thought of creation, to do good to His creations.
2.34 Baal HaSulam,
The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 8, Ohr Pnimi, Item 88
All our work in prayers and practical Mitzvot [commandments] is to sort once more and raise all those souls that fell from Adam HaRishon into the Klipot [shells] until they are brought to their first root as they were in it before he sinned with the tree of knowledge.
2.35 RABASH,
Article No.6 (1984), “Love of Friends”
The purpose of creation is not necessarily for a select group. Rather, the purpose of creation belongs to all creations without exception. It is not necessarily the strong and skillful, or the brave people who can overcome. Rather, it belongs to all the creatures.
(Examine the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 21, where it quotes Midrash Rabba, Portion, “This is the Blessing”: “The Creator said unto Israel: ‘Regard, the whole wisdom and the whole of Torah are easy: Anyone who fears Me and does the words of Torah, the entire wisdom and the whole of the Torah are in his heart.’”)
2.36 RABASH,
Article No. 267. “Man Was Created in the Torah”
It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. For this reason, a nature has been imprinted in man that he will want to receive pleasure for his own delight. This is called the “evil inclination” (as explained in the introduction to the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar]), as it is written, “For the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
It is called the “evil inclination” because by wanting to receive pleasure, a person becomes removed from the real pleasure because he has no equivalence of form. However, through the Torah, he will have a correction where through the Torah, it will be possible for him to receive the real pleasures, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice” (Baba Batra 16).
The spice is as our sages said, “I wish they left Me and kept My Torah [law], for the light in it reforms them” (Jerusalem Talmud, Hagigah, Chapter 1, Rule No. 7). It therefore follows that the Torah has the power to reform a person, referring to the evil within man, meaning the will to receive, that it will work in order to bestow.
In this manner, he will have Dvekut [adhesion] and will be able to receive the real pleasures and will not be considered a receiver. Thus, through the Torah, it will be possible to sustain man in this world, for the Torah will reform him.
This is the meaning of “Let us make man,” which they explained, “I and you will establish him in the world.” That is, from the Creator comes the will to receive and from the Torah comes the desire to bestow, and from those two, man will be able to exist in the world. That is, through those two, he will be able to receive abundance yet remain in Dvekut.
2.37 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
We should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You.” 3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith. 4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator.” In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures.
2.38 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
What are Torah and work, in the work? The answer is that he learns Torah in order to be able to do the work, which is called “which God has created to do.” That is, the creatures must do the work of turning the will to receive into a desire to bestow, by which they will have Dvekut, which is equivalence of form, and they will also be able to receive the delight and pleasure, which is the purpose of creation.
2.39 RABASH,
Article No. 1 (1984),”Purpose of Society – 2”
Since man is created with a Kli called “self-love,” where one does not see that an act will yield self-benefit, one has no motivation to make even the slightest motion. And without annulling self-love, it is impossible to achieve Dvekut [adhesion)] with the Creator, meaning equivalence of form.
And since it is against our nature, we need a society that will form a great force so we can work together on annulling the will to receive, called “evil,” as it hinders the achievement of the goal for which man was created.
For this reason, society must consist of individuals who unanimously agree that they must achieve it. Then, all the individuals become one great force that can fight against itself, since everyone is integrated in everyone else. Thus, each person is founded on a great desire to achieve the goal.
To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than his friends can no longer unite with them.
2.40 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
The creation of the worlds and souls was primarily with one intention—to correct everything so that it works in order to bestow, which is called Dvekut, equivalence of form. The Creator said about the Torah, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” That is, once man receives the Torah as a spice, the evil inclination will be corrected to work in order to bestow, as it is written in The Zohar, “The angel of death is destined to be a holy angel.”
A person cannot see all this because he takes after the majority, called “the whole of Israel.” It was said that the beginning of the education everyone receives is in Lo Lishma, meaning that the engagement in Torah and Mitzvot is in order to receive reward in Kelim [vessels] of self-benefit, and the Lishma is forbidden to reveal to a person upon the admission of a person into the observance of Torah and Mitzvot, as mentioned in the words of Maimonides.
This causes a person to understand with his intellect that he needs to learn Torah only in order to know the rules, how to observe the Mitzvot, as our sages said, “An uneducated person is not a Hassid.” Although they also learn Torah that does not pertain to practical Mitzvot, learning that part of the Torah is because of the commandment to learn Torah, as it is written, “And you shall reflect on it day and night.” That is, he learns because it is a Mitzva, just like the rest of the Mitzvot.
2.41 RABASH, Article No. 13 (1988),
What Is “The People’s Shepherd Is the Whole People” in the work?
He must believe in the sages, who said that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations.
When a person begins to examine creation with his eyes, meaning which form of good and doing good he sees that the creatures are receiving from Him, the opposite view appears to man. He sees that the whole world suffers torments, and it is hard to find one person who can say that he feels and sees how His guidance is in the form of good and doing good.
In that state, when he sees a dark world, and he wants to believe above reason that the Creator behaves with the world in Private Providence as good and doing good, he remains standing on this point, and all kinds of foreign thoughts come into his mind. Then, he must overcome above reason, that Providence is good and does good. At that time he receives a need for the Creator to give him the power of faith that he will have the strength to go above reason and justify Providence.
2.42 RABASH,
Article No. 496, “The Path of Truth”
Those who walk on the path of truth, who want to bring contentment to the Maker, see that every- thing they do is not for the sake of the Creator, so they pray to the Creator to see that they can work for the sake of the Creator.
At that time, the Creator says, “Wherever I mention My name,” meaning that you will give me the possibility to attribute My name to your actions. In other words, there will be an awakening from below, where I, says the Creator, will attribute My name to the actions. So how will you know that I am already attributing My name to them? You will see this if I “come to you and bless you.” In other words, the whole purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, cannot be revealed before you correct the matter of the bread of shame, meaning that you work in order to bestow. At that time, the purpose of creation will come true, which is to do good to His creations.
2.43 RABASH,
Article No. 10 (1989) “What Does it Mean that the Ladder Is Diagonal, in the Work?”
The two lines are needed, for by both, we achieve the middle line, for there cannot be a middle line unless there are two lines before it. Therefore, when there is a dispute, it can be said that “the third one comes and decides between them and makes peace.” But if there is no dispute, there is no need to make peace. That is, if we want to have peace, we must first produce a dispute, or there is no room for peace.
Yet, the question is, Why do we need peace? It would be better, so we understand, if there were no dispute and no need for peace. This is common sense.
The answer is that since we have these two opposites in our nature, it follows that this dispute is the reality, for nature has made us this way. That is, from the perspective of the purpose of cre- ation, we have a nature that the Creator gave a desire to receive delight and pleasure. And from the perspective of the correction of creation, we must go in the opposite direction, namely to bestow, like the Creator, “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.”
It follows that those two extremes are in us. And what we say is that a dispute is required, as our sages said, “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination.” As RASHI inter- preted, “He should make war with it.” This means that one should reveal the evil in him. He does not produce evil through the dispute. Rather, the evil within us is concealed, and if light of Kedusha [holiness] enters there, the will to receive in us promptly awakens and receives everything for itself. This will immediately go to the side of Tuma’a [impurity] and Klipot [shells/peels].
For this reason, we must wage war, by which the evil will come out of its hiding and fight with the good inclination.
It follows that specifically through war it becomes revealed, since it wants to fight with the good inclination. When it shows its real face, the person sees what a “high mountain” it is and realizes that the only way is to ask the Creator to help him subdue the evil and to be able to work only with the aim to bestow.
2.44 RABASH,
Article No. 10 (1987), “Purim, and the Commandment: Until He Does Not Know”
Our sages said (Kiddushin 40b), “If he performs one Mitzva [good deed/correction], happy is he, for he has sentenced himself and the entire world to the side of merit.” Therefore, since he is in a state where he has no concern for self-love but rather for love of others, it follows that by wanting to receive delight and pleasure from the Creator, he wants to keep the love of others between man and God, and between man and man.
This is as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” Item 67): “‘And to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’’ …Do not pronounce ‘You are My people [Ami]’ with a Patach in the Ayin, but “You are with Me [Imi],” with a Hirik in the Ayin, which means partnering with Me. … Happy are they who exert in the Torah.”
Although there it speaks of between man and the Creator, but the matter of interpretation of a partner can also be applied between man and man, since this implies that later, the whole world will receive the side of merit. It follows that he did good between man and man by causing the entire world to receive the delight and pleasure that exist in the purpose of creation.
It follows that he has become a partner of the Creator in that through him will come the assis- tance by which everyone will achieve the purpose of creation. Thus, he has become a partner of the Creator, as it is written, “I started creation by wanting to give delight and pleasure, and Israel exert to realize the goal by making Kelim [vessels] that are fit to receive the upper abundance without any flaw, called ‘bread of shame.’ Rather, even when they receive the delight and pleasure, they will not lose the Dvekut [adhesion], called ‘equivalence of form,’ for this was the reason for the Tzimtzum [restriction].”
2.45 RABASH,
Article No. 22 (1985), “The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name”
We must always consider the goal, which is to “do good to His creations.” If the evil inclination comes to a person and asks him all of Pharaoh’s questions, he should not reply with lame excuses, but say, “Now, with your questions, I can begin with the work of bestowal.”
This means that we should not say about the questions of the evil inclination that it came to us in order to lower us from our degree. On the contrary, now it is giving us a place to work, by which we will ascend on the degrees of wholeness. That is, any overcoming in the work is called “walking in the work of the Creator,” since each penny joins into a great amount.” That is, all the times we overcome accumulate to a certain measure required to become a Kli for the reception of the abundance.
Overcoming means taking a part of a vessel of reception and adding it to the vessels of bestowal. It is like the Masach [screen], which we must put on the Aviut [thickness/will to receive]. It follows that if one has no will to receive, one has nothing on which to place a Masach. For this reason, when the evil inclination brings us foreign thoughts, this is the time to take these thoughts and raise them above reason.
This is something one can do with everything one’s soul desires. He should not say that now he has received rejection from the work. Rather, he should say that he was given thoughts and desires from above so as to have room to admit them into Kedusha [holiness]. It therefore follows that it is to the contrary: because he is brought closer from above, he was sent work.
It was said about this: “The ways of the Lord are straight; righteous walk in it and transgressors fail in it.”
2.46 Zohar for All, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,”
“On the Night of the Bride,” Item 138
The complete benefit, in the great measure that He had contemplated for us, is only in bestowal, which is pleasure without any boundary and limitation. But reception for oneself is limited and highly restricted because the satiation promptly puts out the pleasure. It is written, “The Lord has made everything for His own purpose,” meaning that everything that occurs in the world was created from its inception only to bestow contentment upon Him. Thus, people engage in worldly affairs in complete contrast to how they were initially created, since the Creator is saying, “The whole world was created for Me,” as it is written, “The Lord has made everything for His own pur- pose,” and “Everyone who is called by My name, I have created for My glory.”
And we say the complete opposite because we are saying, “The whole world was created only for us.” We want to devour all the abundance of the world into our bellies, for our own delights, and for our own glory. Thus, it is no wonder that we are still unworthy of receiving His complete benefit. For this reason, His guidance of good and evil has been prescribed for us, with guidance of reward and punishment, for they are interdependent because reward and punishment result from good and evil. When we use the vessels of reception contrary to how they were created, we necessarily sense evil in the operations of Providence in relation to us.
2.47 Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations],
“These Are the Generations of Isaac,” Item 2
When He wished to create man, the Torah said to Him, “If man is created and later sins, and You will sentence him, why should Your deeds be in vain? After all, he will never be able to tolerate Your judgments.” The Creator told her, “But I have created repentance before I created the world. If he sins, he will be able to repent and I will forgive him.”
The Creator said to the world when He created it and created man, “World, you and your nature persist only by the Torah. This is why I have created man within you, to engage in Torah. If he does not engage in Torah, I will revert you back to chaos.” Thus, all is for man and the Torah stands and calls before people to engage and exert in the Torah, but no one lends an ear.
2.48 Zohar for All, VaYechi [Jacob Lived],
Four Species, Item 212
It is written about it, “Every one that is called by My name … for My glory,” so that I will be respected. “Whom I have created,” to unify Me. “I have formed him” to do good deeds unto Me, and “I have made him” to evoke the upper force through it.
2.49 Zohar for All, VaYera [The Lord Appeared],
“Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord,” Item 76
“Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?” All the people in the world do not see why they are in the world. They do not observe so as to know for what purpose they are living in the world, and the days go by and never return. And all those days that people live in this world rise and stand before the Creator, for they were all created and they are real.
2.50 Zohar for All, Zohar Hadash,
Song of Songs, “The Wisdom One Must Know,” Items 482-483.
The wisdom that one should know: to know and to observe the secret of his Master, know himself, know who he is, how he was created, where he comes from and where he is going, how the body is corrected, and how he will be judged by the King of all.
To know and to observe the secret of the soul. What is this soul within him? Where does it come from, and why does it come into this body, which is a foul drop that is here today, and in the grave tomorrow? To know the world one is in, and for what will the world be corrected. Afterward, one should observe the sublime secrets of the upper world, to know one’s Master. And one observes all that from within the secrets of the Torah.
2.51 Raaiah Kook,
Me’orot HaRaaiah
The Creator wanted the correction of the whole world. This is why our sages said (Shabbat 88b), “Each and every word that came forth from the Creator is divided into seventy languages,” indi- cating to the preparation that there is in the Torah to complement all the nations.
2.52 Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi,
The Tanya
The purpose of the creation of the world is the revelation of His kingship, that there is no king without a people.
2.53 Rav Chaim Vital,
Introduction of Rav Chaim Vital to Shaar HaHakdamot
The Creator delights in all that He has created in His world only when His children engage in the secrets of the Torah, to know His greatness, His beauty, and His merit.
2.54 Ramchal,
“The Rules of Opening Wisdom and Knowledge”
The first rule that we know about the intention of the Emanator is that since He wants to do good, He wanted to create created beings that would receive His goodness. In order for the goodness to be complete, it must be received by merit, and not by charity, so that shame will not blemish it, as one who eats that which is not his.
In order to be able to be rewarded, He created one reality for them to correct, which He does not need, and when they correct it, they will be rewarded.
2.55 Ramchal,
Da’at Tevunot
The rule is that the Creator seemingly refrained, meaning that when He created His creations, He refrained from making them according to His capability, but rather according to what He wanted and aimed for in them. He created them deficient so they would complete themselves, and their comple- tion will be their reward thanks to what they had exerted to obtain. And all this, only by His will to do complete good.
2.56 Ramchal,
Da’at Tevunot
The first foundation upon which the entire building stands is that the Upper Will desired that man should complete himself and all that was created for him, and this itself will be his merit and reward. His merit, since he engages and labors to obtain this wholeness, when he obtains it, he will enjoy only his labor and part in all his toil. His reward, for in the end, he will be the one who is complete and will delight in abundance forever and ever.
2.57 Likutey Moharan,
First Edition, Mark 5
Every person should say, “The whole world was created only for me” (Sanhedrin 37). It follows that if the whole world has been created for me, I have to look and delve into the correction of the world at all times, satisfy the needs of the world, and pray for them.
2.58 Ramchal,
Da’at Tevunot
God is certainly the absolute good, and indeed, it is the conduct of the Good to do good. This is why He wanted to create created beings, so He could do good to them, for if there is no recipient of the good, there is no doing good. Indeed, in order for the doing good to be complete, He knew, with His sublime wisdom, that those who receive it should receive it through their own labor, for then they will be the owners of that good, and they will have no shame left when they receive the good, as one who receives almsgiving from another.
2.59 The Holy Shlah,
Toldot Adam
The name Adam implies Adame LaElyon [I will be like the upper one]. This is the core purpose.
2.60 Rabbi Meir Even Gabai,
Avodat HaKodesh
The purpose of all the created beings is the complete man, and the man’s purpose is unification, which is knowing the Creator.
2.61 Likutey Halachot [Assorted Rules],
“Blessings on Seeing and Personal Blessings,” Rule No. 4
The vitality is mainly through unity, by all the changes being included in the source of the unity. For this reason, “Love your friend as yourself” is the great rule of the Torah, to include in unity and peace. The vitality, sustenance, and correction of the whole of creation is mainly by people of differing views becoming included together in love, unity, and peace.
2.62 Ramchal,
Mesilat Yesharim
The basis and root of the work is for one to clarify and verify one’s duty in one’s world and on what one should focus wherever he toils his whole life. Our sages instructed us that man was created only in order to delight in the Lord and enjoy the luster of His Shechina [Divinity], that this is the real delight and the greatest of all the delights that can be.
The place of that delight is actually the next world, since this is what was created with the required preparation for it. However, the way to get to our destination is this world, and the means that bring one to that purpose are the Mitzvot [commandments] that the Creator has commanded us, and the place for performing the Mitzvot is only this world. For this reason, initially, man was placed in this world so that through the means available for him here he will be able to reach the place that has been prepared for him, which is the next world, to satiate himself there with the good that he had acquired through those means.
2.63 Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk,
A Bush Burns in Kotzk
Man was made so as to lift the heavens!
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