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INTENŢIA
7.01 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 38, “The Fear of God Is His Treasure”
When one engages in Torah and Mitzvot with the intention to be rewarded with bringing content- ment to one’s Maker, that aim that rests on the acts of Mitzvot and the study of Torah brings one to attain it. Otherwise, one might remain—although he observes Torah and Mitzvot in every item and detail—he will still remain merely in the degree of still of Kedusha [holiness].
It follows that one should always remember the reason that obligates him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. This is the meaning of what our sages meant by “that your Kedusha will be for My Name.” It means that I will be your cause, meaning that all your work is in wanting to delight Me, meaning that all your actions will be in order to bestow.
Our sages said (Berachot 20), “Everything there is in keeping, there is in remembering.” This means that all those who engage in observing Torah and Mitzvot with the aim to achieve “remem- bering,” by way of “When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep.” It follows, that the keeping is primarily in order to be awarded remembering.
Thus, one’s desire to remember that the Creator is the cause for observing Torah and Mitzvot. This is so because it follows that the reason and the cause to observe the Torah and Mitzvot is the Creator, as without it one cannot adhere to the Creator, since “He and I cannot dwell in the same abode” due to the disparity of form.
7.02 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 18
The Creator, Who created it and gave the evil inclination its strength, evidently knew to create the remedy and the spice liable to wear off the power of the evil inclination and eradicate it altogether. And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either that he has been negligent in giving the necessary labor and exertion in the practice of Torah, as it is written, “I did not labor and found, do not believe,” or perhaps he did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.
This means that while practicing Torah, they did not set their minds and hearts to draw the light in the Torah, which brings faith to one’s heart. Rather, they have been absent-minded about the principal requirement demanded of the Torah, namely the light that yields faith. And although they initially aimed for it, their minds went astray during the study.
7.03 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 17
The student pledges, prior to the study, to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator and in His guid- ance in reward and punishment, as our sages said, “Your employer is liable to pay you the reward for your work.” One should aim one’s labor to be for the Mitzvot of the Torah, and in this way, he will be rewarded with enjoying the light in it, and his faith will strengthen and grow through the power in this light, as it is written, “It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones” (Proverbs 3:8). Then one can be certain that from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma, in a way that even one who knows about himself that he has not been rewarded with faith still has hope through the prac- tice of Torah, for if he sets his heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater Mitzva than this. It is as our sages said, “Habakkuk came and stressed only this: ‘A righteous
shall live by his faith’” (Makkot 24). Moreover, there is no other counsel but this.
7.04 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 4, “What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator in the Work?”
The essence of one’s work is only to come to feel the existence of the Creator, meaning to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and this will be one’s entire work. That is, all the energy one puts into the work will be only to achieve this, and nothing else.
One should not be misled into having to acquire anything. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs: faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.
7.05 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 19, “What Is ‘The Creator Hates the Bodies,’ in the Work?”
One must always examine oneself, the purpose of one’s work, meaning if the Creator receives con- tentment in every act that one performs, because he wants equivalence of form with the Creator. This is called “All your actions will be for the sake of the Creator,” meaning that one wants the Creator to enjoy everything he does, as it is written, “to bring contentment to his Maker.”
Also, one needs to conduct oneself with the will to receive and say to it, “I have already decided that I do not want to receive any pleasure because you want to enjoy, since with your desire I am forced to be separated from the Creator, for disparity of form causes separation and distance from the Creator.”
One’s hope should be that since he cannot break free from the power of the will to receive, he is therefore in perpetual ascents and descents. Hence, he awaits the Creator, to be rewarded with the Creator opening his eyes, and to have the strength to overcome and work only for the sake of the Creator. It is as it is written, “One have I asked of the Lord; her will I seek.” “Her” means the Shechina [Divinity]. And one asks “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
7.06 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 17
The path of truth is a very thin line that one walks until one comes to the King’s palace.
One who begins to walk in the beginning of the line needs great care so as not to deviate to the right or to the left of the line even as much as a hairsbreadth, for if at first the deviation is as a hairsbreadth, even if one continues completely straight, it is certain that he will no longer come to the King’s palace, as he is not stepping on the true line.
7.07 Baal HaSulam,
Letter No. 17
There are three discernments: 1) Israel is one who exerts to return to his root; 2) The Creator, namely the root he longs for; 3) The 613 ways of the Torah by which one purifies one’s soul and body. This is the spice, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” However, these three are actually one and the same. In the end, any servant of the Creator attains them as one, unique, and unified discernment, and they only appear to be divided into three because of one’s incompleteness in the work of the Creator.
7.08 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”
It is written, “Then shall you delight in the Lord.” The meaning of “Then” is that first, in the beginning of his work, he did not have pleasure. Instead, his work was coercive.
But afterward, when he has already accustomed himself to work in order to bestow and not examine himself—if he is feeling a good taste in the work—but believes that he is working to bring contentment to his Maker through his work, he should believe that the Creator accepts the work of the lower ones regardless of how and how much is the form of their work. In everything, the Creator examines the intention, and this brings contentment to the Creator. Then one is rewarded with “delight in the Lord.”
Even during the work of the Creator he will feel delight and pleasure since now he really does work for the Creator because the effort he made during the coercive work qualifies him to be able to truly work for the Creator. You find that then, too, the pleasure he receives relates to the Creator, meaning specifically for the Creator.
7.09 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”
May we merit receiving His light and following the ways of the Creator, and to serve Him not in order to receive reward but to give contentment to the Creator and raise the Shechina [Divinity] from the dust. May we be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator and the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures.
7.10 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
Prior to the study, a person should examine with which purpose does he want to observe the Mitzva [commandment] of learning Torah? That is, does he engage in Torah because of the Torah itself, in order to know how to observe the rules of doing the Mitzvot, or is the learning of Torah itself his whole intention, and knowing the rules of doing the Mitzvot is a completely different matter for him? meaning he is learning Torah for two reasons.
However, even while learning Torah for the sake of learning Torah, he should still distinguish with which intention he is learning. Is it to observe the commandments of the Creator, as it is written, “And you shall reflect on Him day and night,” or is he learning in order to receive the light of Torah because he needs the light of Torah in order to cancel the evil within him, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice”? It turns out that he is learning in order to obtain the spice, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.”
Certainly, prior to learning Torah, a person should examine the reason for which he is learning Torah, for any act needs to have some purpose that causes him to do the act. It is as our sages said, “A prayer without an aim is as a body without a soul.”
7.11 RABASH,
Article No. 27 (1985), “Repentance”
Our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even if Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma [for Her sake]” (Pesachim, 50b). Thus, in the act of Mitzvot and in the study of Torah there is a big difference between the revealed part, meaning the act, and the concealed part, meaning the intention, since no person can look at the intention, for the act that one does between man and God does not have a person in the middle who can criticize his intention. Normally, each one is busy with himself and does not have time to think of his friend’s calculations. It follows that only he thinks of the intention.
That is, when he engages in Lo Lishma, meaning expects reward, the work and the reward are not in the same place and in the same time. But here, when we are speaking of punishments, the trans- gression and the punishment are not in the same place and in the same time, since he receives the punishment after he commits the transgression, and afterwards he suffers the punishment—a pun- ishment in this world or a punishment in the next world. This applies only to the part of Lo Lishma. However, in those who work on the intention—to be able to aim their actions only to bestow— the reward and the punishment are in the same place and the same time, since his inability to aim the act of bestowing contentment upon the Creator is his punishment, and he does not need to be given any other punishments, for nothing torments him more than seeing that he is still far from the Creator.
The evidence is that he does not have the love of the Creator, that he wants to respect Him. All this is because he is in a state of Achoraim [posterior] and concealment from the Creator. This is what pains him, and this is his punishment. But here is his reward—if he has love for the Creator and wants to bestow contentment upon him. However, all this concerns specifically those who want come to work only for the Creator, and not in Lo Lishma. It can be said about them that the punishment and the reward are in the same place and in the same time.
7.12 RABASH,
Article No. 577, “Concerning the Goal”
Our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” In other words, the Torah and Mitzvot spice up the evil inclination so it becomes tasty, for the evil inclination is called the “will to receive.”
For itself, it is tasteless, for the Tzimtzum is on it and it remains in the vacant space. But through the Torah and Mitzvot, he achieves the intention to bestow. Then, with this Kli, called “will to receive,” he receives all the delight and pleasure.
7.13 RABASH,
Article No. 940, “The Point in the Heart”
It is written, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell within them.” This pertains to the point in the heart, which should be a Temple where the light of the Creator dwells, as it is written, “And I will dwell within them.” Hence, one should try to build his structure of Kedusha [holiness], and the structure should be able to contain the upper abundance called “abundance poured from the Giver to the receiver.” However, according to the rule, there must be equivalence of form between the Giver and the receiver so the receiver, too, must have the aim to bestow like the Giver.
This is called “action,” as it is written, “Let them make Me a Temple,” where the acting applies to the Kli [vessel] and not the light, since the light pertains to the Creator and only the action pertains to the creatures.
7.14 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
The purpose of the study is to come to feel the giver of the Torah. If a person does not place the goal of reaching the giver of the Torah in front of him, he is regarded as a gentile, meaning one who has no need for faith. That is, he should have the need to seek advice to achieve faith. This is why he is still considered a gentile and not “Israel.”
7.15 RABASH,
Article No. 502, “If Man Wins, the Creator Is Happy”
The intention of the Emanator is for the lower ones to receive pleasure. Yet, man uses the Torah in the opposite manner, wanting the Creator to receive pleasure. He receives this power from the Torah, from that spice. It follows that he is fighting with the Creator, meaning that the Creator wants man to receive pleasure, and man wants the Creator to receive pleasure.
Thus, he uses the Torah in the opposite direction from the seller. It was said about this that the Creator says, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, they fight against the will to receive that the Creator imprinted in their hearts, where if the man wins, the Creator is happy.
It follows that the Torah of the Creator is according to the purpose of creation, and “His Torah” is when man uses the Torah with the aim of the spice, when he takes the Torah in order to please the Creator. This is why the Torah is named after man.
The Torah is named after its use: If a person wants to receive the Torah with the Creator’s inten- tion—to do good to His creations—so the creatures will enjoy, it is called “the Torah of the Creator,” when the Torah follows the line of the Creator. If a person takes the Torah so as to have the power to bestow, this is regarded as man’s intention, where man wants to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and then it is regarded as his Torah.
7.16 RABASH,
Letter No. 8
At the end of the day, this is a group of people who have gathered in a certain place, under a certain leader, to be together. With superhuman courage they face up to all those who rise against them. Indeed, they are brave men with a strong spirit, and they are determined not to retreat one inch. They are first-class fighters, fighting the war against the inclination to their last drop of blood, and their only wish is to win the battle for the glory of His name.
7.17 RABASH,
Article No. 1 (1984), “Purpose of Society – 1”
We gather here—to establish a society where each of us follows the spirit of bestowing upon the Creator. And to achieve bestowal upon the Creator, we must begin with bestowal upon man, which is called “love of others.”
And love of others can only be through revoking of one’s self. Thus, on the one hand, each per- son should feel lowly, and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for The Shechina [Divinity] to be among us.
7.18 RABASH,
Article No. 1 (1984), “Purpose of Society – 2”
There should be careful watch in the society, disallowing frivolity, since frivolity ruins everything.
7.19 RABASH,
Article No. 29 (1989), “What Is the Preparation to Receive the Torah in the Work? – 2”
Our sages said, “The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.” We should under- stand the word “exists.” What does it tell us? We should interpret this according to what our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” That is, the Torah should be a spice. In whom is this so, since “There is no light without a Kli, no filling without a lack”?
For this reason, they said that those who want to put their selves to death, meaning want to put to death the will to receive for their own sake, and want to do everything for the sake of the Creator, see that they cannot do this on their own. To them the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”
7.20 RABASH,
Article No. 13 (1989), “What Is the Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man, in the Work?”
All our work in Torah and Mitzvot is in order to emerge from the exile of the will to receive for ourselves. In other words, we must aim—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that our reward will be that by this we will be rewarded with emerging from the exile and enslavement in the will to receive for ourselves, and we will be able to work only in order to bring contentment to the Creator, and we will not demand any other reward for our work in Torah and Mitzvot.
In other words, we want to be rewarded with feeling—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that we are serving a great and important king, and that by this there will be love of the Creator within us, from feeling His exaltedness. However, all of our pleasure will come from serving the Creator; this will be our reward, and not that He will somehow reward us for the work. Instead, we will feel that the work itself is the reward, and there is no greater reward in the world than the privilege of serving the Creator.
7.21 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
It is beneficial to elicit the light from the Torah—if he aims while engaging in the Torah, to learn in order to receive the reward of the Torah, called “light.” At that time, the learning of Torah is good for him. But when he is distracted from the purpose of studying Torah, the Torah does not help complete the work of making the vessels of bestowal and not using the vessels of reception for one’s own sake. Otherwise, his Torah vanishes from him. That is, the force of Torah and that should have subdued the evil inclination is cancelled. This is the meaning of the words, “Any Torah with which there is no work,” meaning when he does not aim for the Torah to do the work of turning the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, “is finally cancelled,” meaning that that force is cancelled.
7.22 RABASH,
Article No. 20 (1985), “He who Hardens His Heart”
One who wants to walk on the path of the Creator is called Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], which is directly to the Creator. This means that he wants all the actions that he does to rise straight to the Creator, and does not want to have any other intention.
7.23 RABASH,
Article No. 721, “The Segula of Torah and Mitzvot”
There is a Segula [power/cure] in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] that if he learns with this intention, although his heart disagrees with it, and all that he does with this intention is against his will and heart, yet through compulsory work, he is rewarded with inverting his desire from self-love to love of others.
We should understand what is written, that it is harder to attain the concept of bestowal upon others as this is against nature. Nevertheless, through the power of Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, we can be rewarded with inverting our nature into aiming to bestow.
There is a question: When one is immersed in the nature of self-love, how can he engage in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, since he has no desire or ability whatsoever to do anything unless it is for his own sake? Thus, how can one be educated into engaging in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow?
We should say that although man’s nature is only self-love, and that which is against it is hard for him to do, to the point that all his organs go against him, but there is the matter of coercion, meaning that when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot, he learns against his will, meaning that he wants it to be only for the sake of the Creator, and then he learns and thinks only about things that speak of the matter of bestowal.
And although the body disagrees, through the labor in which he exerts himself, forcing his body to work with this intention, although his heart’s desire disagrees with this intention, the light in it reforms him.
7.24 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.
7.25 Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations],
“He called – I Do Not Know the Day of My Death,” Item 125
One should engage in the Torah with the aim to extol the Creator and make Him respected and important in the world.
He tells us the meaning of Torah Lishma [for her name], which is highways in their hearts: to aim one’s heart so his engagement in the Torah will draw abundance of knowledge for him and for the whole world. Thus, the name of the Creator will grow in the world, as it is written, “And the earth shall be filled of the knowledge of the Lord.” Then the words, “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth” will come true.
7.26 RAMAK,
Know the God of Your Father
One who learns Torah in order to know, as one who learns in a history book, this will certainly do him no good in his learning and no benefit will come to him from it, and I wish that he will not lose. Rather, when one comes to learn Torah, his intention must be to learn that matter because they are Godly words whose great depth is concealed from him. By this, the breath of Torah that comes out of his mouth before the Creator will be good.
7.27 Rav Yitzchak Safrin of Komarno,
The Path of Unification
When you aim, with submission and fear, to awaken the surrounding lights and the Mochin above, although you do not know any essence or the surrounding lights or the Mochin of anything, still, by your knowledge, you awaken their existence. And although you do not know their essence, a great light is drawn over to you.
7.28 Elimelech of Lizhensk,
Noam Elimelech [The Pleasantness of Elimelech]
Do save us from envy of one another, and let no envy of others come into our hearts, nor our envy of others. On the contrary, let our hearts see the virtues of our friends and not their faults, and let us speak to each other in a way that is seemly and worthy before You, and let no hatred rise in one towards another. Brace our ties of love to You, as it is known to You that all will be for bringing contentment to You, and this is our main intention. And should we not have the wit to aim our hearts to You, You will teach us, so we may truly know the aim of Your good will.
7.29 Rav Chaim Vital,
Shaar HaGilgulim, Introduction, 38
To aim to love each one from Israel as his own soul, for by this his prayer would rise comprising all of Israel and will be able to ascend and make a correction above. Especially, our love of friends, each and every one of us should include himself as though he is an organ of those friends. My teacher sternly cautioned me about this matter.
7.30 The Baal Shem Tov,
“The Will of RIBASH and Upright Guidance”
When learning, one should settle within him before Whom he is learning, for sometimes, he distances himself in his learning from the Creator. For this reason, he must settle himself at each time and at each hour.
7.31 Rav Chaim Vital,
Pri Etz Chaim, Gate “Conducts of Learning,” Chapter 1
My teacher would say that the heart of the intention of reading in the Torah depends on aiming to connect one’s heart to its root through the Torah in order to complete the upper tree and complete the upper Adam [man] and correct him, for this is the whole purpose of man’s creation and the purpose of his engagement in the Torah.
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