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Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord Our God,” in the work?

Article No. 45, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

It known that in observing Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/ good deeds], there is the act, and there is the intention. An “act” means that a person should observe Torah and Mitzvot with all its details and precisions, in return for which a person should believe that he will be rewarded. It is as Maimonides says at the end of Hilchot Teshuva, “Hence, when teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little by little.”

It follows that they are looking at the practice of Mitzvot as being for sake of those engaging in them. This is called “the revealed part of the work.” It means that a person can see if his actions are in order, and when another person looks at how he observes Torah and Mitzvot, he, too, can see. This is called the “revealed part,” since the actions that a person does are revealed to him, as well as to others.

This is not so with the intention, meaning to aim that these actions will be for the sake of the Creator. With the intention, a person does not see the truth. He might deceive himself because a person cannot see the truth. Because one does not find fault in oneself, it follows that the intention is called the “concealed part.” That is, it is concealed from the person himself. He cannot know the truth.

And especially, the intention is concealed from his friend, for one cannot see what his friend intends when he performs Mitzvot. This is why this part is called the “hidden part” of the work.

Accordingly, in our work, we should discern a revealed part, which is called “actions,” a concealed part, which is called the “intention for the sake of the Creator,” and we should discern between the work of the general public and the work of the individual. In the work of the general public, a person sees that he is making progress. That is, each time, he acquires more Torah, more Mitzvot, and therefore has motivation to work and is always happy. He cannot understand why all people do not connect to Torah and Mitzvot, since he feels a good taste in Torah and work.

This taste shines to the general public as Surrounding Light, and it is called “still of Kedusha[holiness].” In other words, as in corporeality, all the plants emerge from the still, so in the work, every “vegetative” in the work comes from the “still of Kedusha.” Without the “still,” there is no “vegetative.” This Surrounding Light shines in the general public if they take upon themselves the burden of Torah and Mitzvot.

But the main point is that they have no intentions that go against the “body,” called “self-benefit,” since with the general public we should learn as Maimonides says, “in order to receive reward.” To the extent that they believe in reward and punishment, they already have fuel to advance in the work happily and willingly.

This is not so when a person wants to walk on the path of meriting to work in order to bestow, which is against the body’s nature. At that time, the body immediately begins to resist his path. Then, the faith that illuminated for him as Surrounding Light is not enough for him, and he sees that he is lacking faith in the greatness of the Creator, to have the strength to overcome the body’s questions.

Then begins a procession of ascents and descents, and the person thinks that he is not worthy of being a worker of the Creator with the aim to be able to do everything for the sake of the Creator. He sees that foreign thoughts keep coming to him, which he cannot overcome.

However, according to what Baal HaSulam said, we must believe that the Creator sends us these thoughts so that by this we will receive a desire to pray to Him from the bottom of the heart, as it is written in the article “Other Gods,” from the year Tav-Shin-Hey. Thus, we must only increase our prayers to the Creator to give us the desire to bestow, and we cannot obtain that desire by ourselves.

We must only seek advice in two manners: 1) to seek advice how to feel that all that we are missing is the power to bestow, 2) to ask Him to give us this power. This is called “613 Eitin [Aramaic: counsels],” meaning 613 counsels how to come to have a Kli [vessel], called “lack,” and the filling, which is called “light.”

In other words, the Creator gives the desire to bestow. This is called “Whatever you can do with your hand and strength, that do.” At that time, the Creator gives him the second nature, called “desire to bestow.” Only once we achieve the desire to bestow can we be rewarded with 613 Pekudin [Aramaic: deposits], which is the light that is clothed in the 613 Mitzvot.

According to the above, we should interpret the verse, “The concealed things belong to the Lord our God.” This pertains to the intention, which is to aim that all his actions will be for the sake of the Creator. This belongs to the Creator. In other words, it is not within man’s power to obtain this force by himself. For this reason, a person needs to know, when he sees that he will never be able to come to work for the sake of the Creator, at that time a person wants to escape the campaign because he sees that he will never achieve it. This is why the verse says, “The concealed things belong to the Lord our God.” This means that the concealed part, the aim to bestow, is out of one’s hands, but in the hands of the Creator to give the second nature, called “desire to bestow.” This is why it is written, “concealed,” and it belongs to the Creator, as He should give this.

However, when a person is rewarded with the desire to bestow, he should not pray for the will to receive to die, since then, if the will to receive dies, the person will not be able to see the lowliness of the will to receive. It follows that the will to receive within him will die without repentance, but the person wants the will to receive to repent, for by this he takes vengeance against the will to receive.

That is, a person sees how the will to receive must work according to the will of the desire to bestow, for “repentance” means that the will to receive surrenders to the desire to bestow, and the will to receive must now work in a manner of receiving in order to bestow. But if the will to receive were to die before a person could subdue it, so it receives in order to bestow, it follows that the person did not correct the will to receive.

According to the above, we should interpret what is written (Psalms 59:11), “The God of my mercy shall meet me.” RASHI interprets, “Will help me before the hand of my enemies governs me. ‘Will see me in my victory,’ Which I crave to see. ‘Do not kill them,’ as this is not an apparent vengeance, ‘lest my people forget,’ for all the dead are forgotten. ‘Move them with Your power and bring them down,’ Rather, move them from their assets so they become poor. This is a vengeance that will be remembered for many days.”

We should understand who David cursed like that, telling the Creator not to kill his enemies but leave them alive and poor, whereas if He kills them, they will not suffer, so he asks Him to keep them alive but poor. Only in this manner will he be able to take revenge from them, by bringing them down from their governance, as it is written, “Bring them down.”

How is this matter interpreted in the work? First, we must understand who is David. David is called Malchut, which is the kingdom of heaven. Malchut of Kedusha is the desire to bestow, and its opposite is the desire to receive for oneself, which is called Sitra Achra [other side]. This is the opposite of Kedusha and is the enemy of Kedusha, as it is written, “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to put him to death.” That is, the will to receive wants to kill the desire to bestow.

David, who is the Merkava [chariot/structure] for Malchut of Kedusha, prayed that his enemy, the will to receive—who wants to kill the desire to bestow, which is Kedusha—that the Creator will hurry His salvation so that the will to receive, meaning the enemy, will not be able to govern him.

This is the meaning of “The God of my mercy will meet me,” meaning that the Creator will deal mercy with me first. In other words, the desire to bestow, called Hesed [mercy/grace], will govern the will to receive. However, “Do not kill them,” for this is not an apparent vengeance, “lest my people forget,” since the dead are all forgotten. “Move them with Your power and bring them down,” meaning move them from their assets and make them poor. This is vengeance that will be remembered for many days.

To understand these curses in the work, we should interpret that he was cursing the enemy, the will to receive for himself, that it would not die. That is, if the will to receive were to be cancelled, the will to receive would not witness the domination of the desire to bestow. In other words, “vengeance” means that the other one sees how he must be subdued. Here, it means that the wholeness is the sweetening of the judgments, which is called “delighting Gevurot.”

For this reason, if the will to receive is cancelled and only the desire to bestow governs, this will not complete the purpose, since the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations, and not for the creations to bestow upon the Creator delight and pleasure. It is known that the reason why the creatures must bestow contentment upon the Maker is only a correction for the creatures, so there is no apparent vengeance here, since the will to receive does not surrender to the desire to bestow, since the will to receive is no longer in existence.

But when the will to receive is alive and must accept the governance of the desire to bestow, this is called “apparent vengeance.” In other words, it is apparent to all that the will to receive is now working only thanks to it, meaning by taking upon itself the desire to bestow. This is called “receiving in order to bestow.” That is, it accepted the purpose of creation to do good to His creations, and at the same time, he is in Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, for he wants to give contentment to his Maker. At that time, he feels what he can give to the Creator so He will enjoy. He sees that only by receiving from the Creator delight and pleasure the Creator enjoys, as this was the purpose of creation.

According to the above, we should understand the meaning of the sweetening of the Gevurot. Gevurot means Hitgabrut [overcoming], which pertains primarily to when a person works and uses the vessels of reception. Normally, we learn that the acts impact the intention. Therefore, when he uses the vessels of reception and wants to aim the opposite of the act, meaning to bestow, this requires extra overcoming. Usually, the Gevurot are called “judgments” because there were Tzimtzum[restriction] and judgment over the vessels of reception, that it is forbidden to use them without the aim to bestow.

Hence, when a person is placed under the rule of the desire to receive, these desires cause him a state of bitterness and he wants to get rid of them. He always thinks, “How can I get rid of them?” They poke his mind and if he could kill them so they would vanish from the horizon, he would be so happy!

But this is what David says, “Do not kill them, lest my people forget. Move them with Your power and bring them down.”

“Move them” means move them from place to place and bring them down from the height of their wealth so they are poor. That is, let them not receive anything in their vessels of reception but be poor without any abundance. His vengeance will be that the will to receive will surrender and take upon itself the control of the aim to bestow. His curse will be that they will all come into the Kedusha, called “reception in order to bestow.” This is called “sweetened Gevurot.”

This is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah [beginning of the year], called “terrible days.” The ARI says that Rosh Hashanah is the building of Malchut, called “the quality of judgment.” Malchut [kingship] means that the whole world follows her quality, since Malchut is called “the assembly of Israel,” in which all 600,000 souls of Israel are included, and the whole work of Rosh Hashanah is to accept the burden of the kingdom. This is why we pray, “Reign over the whole world with Your glory.”

In other words, Malchut means that we must accept and crown His kingship over us, so it does not have the form of Shechina [Divinity] in the dust, but a form of glory. This is why on Rosh Hashanah, we pray, “And give glory to Your people.” That is, we ask that the Creator will let us feel, so we will feel the glory of heaven. Since Rosh Hashanah is the kingdom of heaven, which is in a state of Shechina in the dust, therefore, Rosh Hashanah is the time when we must ask the Creator to feel the glory of heaven, meaning that the kingdom of heaven will be glorified in our eyes.

And since when we want to ask the kingdom of heaven to be revealed throughout the world, meaning that “the whole earth is full of His glory” will be sensed the world over, as it is written, “And will bring everything to Your servants,” this prayer applies to both the general public and the individual. That is, since “Man is a small world,” it means that he is included with the whole world. At that time, we ask that within our bodies, there will be no residue of desire to work for our own sake. And likewise in the whole world, meaning that it will be “The whole earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord.” In this manner, all the prayers on Rosh Hashanah are general prayers.

The order of the blowing [of the Shofar] is also according to the order of the work, which is in three lines. That is, when we begin with the work of the Creator, we begin with one line, since we can speak of “right” and “left” only when we have two lines. One line is called “wholeness,” and this is regarded as beginning with action.

That is, a person must say that since it is written, “This day, the Lord your God commands you,” and our sages said, “Each day, they should be as new in your eyes, as though today you were commanded them,” it follows that each day is a new beginning. Hence, when he begins with one line, he should be happy that he has the privilege of observing the law of the Creator.

Afterward, he shifts to the intention, meaning to criticize how much he needs to do everything for the sake of the Creator. At that time begins the real work, since then he sees that he has not a single organ that wants to do anything for the sake of the Creator. This is already called “left line,” as our sages said, “the left rejects.” That is, he sees how far he is from the Creator, and he must believe that the Creator pushed him away so that by this he will exert to make more efforts.

Afterward, he returns to one line, called “wholeness.” But now the one line is called “right line,” since the left line makes the one line become “right.” Then the person is rewarded with the middle line, called “the Creator gives the soul.”

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is an Optional War, in the work – 2?

Article No. 44, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

RASHI interprets the verse “If you go to war against your enemies,” that the verse speaks of optional war. We should understand the meaning of “If you go to war against your enemies” in an optional war. What is an “optional war” in the work, and what is a “non-optional war”?

It is known that there are 248 commandments to do, and 365 not to do. These are called 613 Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds]. These must be observed in every detail and precision; otherwise, it is regarded as a “transgression.” It is said about them, “Do not add and do not take away.” This obligation pertains to actions, meaning that as far as actions are concerned, a person must do, or not do what is forbidden.

This is not so concerning the intention. Thus, to aim to work in order to bestow, this war is optional. In other words, it cannot be said that this work pertains to everyone, but rather to those who have an inner drive, who feel that observing Mitzvot in the way that they are observing has nothing to do with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. They see that instead of where a person should achieve love of the Creator, they see that in all that they do, they have no other intention other than their own benefit. This work, called “in order to bestow,” belongs to them.

But the general public was not given this thing. This is why the work of bestowal is called “optional war,” and not mandatory. This is as Maimonides says at the end of Hilchot Teshuva: “Therefore, when teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and to be rewarded. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught this secret bit by bit.”

This means that the matter of Lishma [for Her sake], called “in order to bestow,” does not belong to the general public but to people who have acquired much knowledge. Thus, it means that the work of bestowal is specifically for those who have gained much knowledge. This is why the work of bestowal is called “optional war,” and not “mandatory war,” since this is not required of the general public, but of those “who have gained knowledge and acquired much wisdom. Then they are taught that secret bit by bit.”

We should also add about the optional war, since the matter of Dvekut with the Creator is annulment of one’s own authority. By nature, man is born feeling only his own authority, that he is the landlord and does what he wants. In order for him to know that there is the authority of the Creator, that He is the leader of the world, a person must believe this, that the Creator is the King of the world.

A person must believe that this concealment, where a person does not feel that there is a King to the world, the Creator did this, and this is called “the correction of the Tzimtzum [restriction].” However, one must believe and make great efforts until he feels in his organs that the Creator is the leader of the world. And not just a leader! Rather, one must believe that His guidance is in the manner of good and doing good. A person must do all that he can to be able to attain this, as this is expressed in two manners:

1) A person should work on having a desire and yearning to want to annul his authority, as our sages said about the verse “If a man dies in a tent,” since the Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.” This means that he wants to annul his self, meaning he must achieve a state where he has but one authority—the authority of the Creator. In other words, a person does not do anything for his own benefit, but sees only to the benefit of the Creator. This is called “singular authority,” and it is called “optional war.” In other words, he is fighting against himself to obtain this singular authority, and this is called “optional war” in the work.

2) After all the efforts that a person makes in order to achieve this authority, regarded as a person acquiring a second nature, where he previously had only a desire to receive for his own benefit, he wanted to annul that authority and receive a new one: the desire to bestow upon the Creator. This is the meaning of Dvekut. In other words, as the Creator is the Giver, so a person wants to bestow upon the Creator.

However, a person cannot receive this authority, but only the Creator. As He previously gave him the authority of the will to receive for his own benefit, the Creator can give him a different authority, meaning the singular authority of the Creator. This is regarded as the Creator giving him a second nature, which is the desire to bestow upon the Creator.

It follows that when a person is born, he has only one authority, his own. Afterward, when he takes upon himself the kingdom of heaven, to observe the Torah and Mitzvot, he comes into two authorities. In other words, he works in order to receive reward, as Maimonides says, “When teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people in order to receive reward.”

Afterward begins the work in the optional war, meaning to annul his own authority, which is called “self-benefit,” and to yearn for the Creator to give him the singular authority, meaning the authority of the Creator. This is regarded as a person having to acquire a second nature, called “desire to bestow,” to have a desire to bring contentment to his Maker.

This is the meaning of what is written, “If you go to war against your enemies,” meaning in the optional war. It is impossible to conquer the enemy, called “will to receive for oneself,” meaning annul this authority. Rather, the text promises us, “and the Lord your God delivers him into your hand.” In other words, the Creator will give you this power, this authority called “singular authority.” Put differently, the Creator will give you a second nature.

In order for a person to be ready to ask for this authority, there needs to be a prayer from the bottom of the heart. In other words, a person should feel how much he needs this power, called “desire to bestow.” For this, we were given the 613 Mitzvot in the form of Eitin [Aramaic: counsels], called “613 counsels.” Through them, a person takes the lack, to feel how much he needs the desire to bestow, since this is all that detains him from achieving the completion of the goal.

Also, in that regard, meaning about the fact that he does not feel the real lack, that he does not have a real need to bestow, a person should pray for this, as well, that the Creator will give him the lack over not having a lack to obtain the desire to bestow.

In truth, when a person has faith in the Creator and believes that He is a great King, a person must annul “as a candle before a torch.” At that time, there is no question of choice because he naturally annuls. But when a person begins to work in order to bestow, foreign thoughts come to him, which weaken his faith. It follows that the fact that a person cannot work in order to bestow is for lack of faith.

This is as it is written (Psalms 42), “My tear has been my bread day and night, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” In other words, thoughts of Pharaoh come to him, who said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” It follows that at that time, a person should pray for two things together: 1) for faith that the Creator will not hide Himself from him, as it is written, “Do not hide Your face from me,” 2) to bring him closer, meaning to give him the power of the desire to bestow. Through this desire, a person comes closer to the Creator, which is called “equivalence of form.”

The reason why when a person wants to work in order to bestow, foreign thoughts come to him, is that as long as one is working for himself, the body does not resist him so much, since he promises the body that it will receive a great reward, that it is worthwhile to observe Torah and Mitzvot, since the reward sweetens the labor, as in physical work and labor. Hence, the body does not ask any questions about its work in Torah and Mitzvot, and a person lives in peace. He is content with his work, since he believes that his reward is growing every day. For this reason, he leads a peaceful life and feels tranquility in his life. And if he can also observe the Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], “Reprimand your neighbor,” he is certainly pleased.

But when a person says to his body, “Until now I have been working in your favor, meaning everything I did, both corporeal things and in Torah and Mitzvot, was all in order to make you happy. That is, all my concerns were only for the will to receive for oneself, which is called ‘self-love’ or ‘self-benefit.’

“But now, meaning henceforth, I do not want to work for the benefit of the body any longer, but only for the benefit of the Creator.” At that time, the body begins to resist, why is he throwing it away. It does all that it can, bringing him questions from all over the world, meaning the argument of Pharaoh, who asked, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” and the argument of the wicked one, who asks, “What is this work for you?” These thoughts burden one’s work so much that often, the descents and ascents that a person has cause him to see that this is endless and he wants to escape the campaign.

And all that one can tell the body is that he wants to work in real fear, which is called in The Zohar, “Because He is great and ruling,” meaning for it to be a great privilege to him that he is serving a great King, and he wants to bring contentment to his Maker, and that this will be his only concern, and he does not want to worry about himself anymore.

Now we can understand what is written (Deuteronomy 26:16), “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these laws and judgments, and keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.” RASHI interprets “This day” as “Each day, they will be as new in your eyes, as though on this day you were commanded them.” We should understand what it adds to us, meaning what we gain by needing to exert to make each day as though on that day we were commanded. The thing is that there are two discernments before us in the work: 1) in order to receive reward, 2) not in order to receive reward, but because of the greatness of the Creator.

Those whose work is in order to receive reward do not need “Each day they will be as new.” Rather, when a person believes that he will be rewarded for his work, he has the power to work since the reward causes him to observe Torah and Mitzvot. Thus, there is no difference whether he believes in the reward that the Torah promises us, and he does not need to renew the imperative each day, for what will this add to him?

Conversely, those who want to work because “He is great and ruling,” meaning because of the greatness of the Creator, for this reason there is a need “as though on that day you were commanded,” since when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, each day he should discern how much he assumes the greatness of the Creator, for whom it is worthwhile to exert in order to serve Him.

It is as it is written in The Zohar, “Her husband is known at the gates,” that “Each one according to what he assumes in his heart.” This means that in the work of bestowal, there is the matter of ascents and descents. It follows that “no day is like another,” for sometimes he assumes he has a great King, and sometimes to the contrary. It follows that each they should be “new,” “as though on that day you were commanded them.”

In other words, the strength to exert is according to which King he serves at that time, great or small. In other words, if yesterday he thought that He is a great King, and today he does not think so, then he does not make the same effort as yesterday, but according to his faith today. This is why the verse tells us, “This day the Lord your God commands you.” That is, a person must know that each day, he has a different measure of faith in Him.

Therefore, one should not be alarmed if sometimes during a descent, there is a small king. This means that the person’s faith is small, and cannot obligate him so he can overcome his body. Instead he surrenders to his body and is contemplating leaving the campaign.

But one must believe that this descent he has received, and he does not have the power to overcome, to believe in the Creator that He will help him and deliver him from this lowliness where a person is, and he will later acquire greater faith in the Creator, and then he will certainly have powers to work, since each day is new, meaning new faith. This is why he says, “As though today you were commanded them.” Thus, everything is according to the faith he has on that day, to that extent a person works.

We should know that when a person begins to work in order to bestow and the body objects to it, the body brings him down to the worst lowliness. That is, the will to receive overcomes him and brings him down to sordid lusts. Sometimes he gets thoughts and desires he had never thought of. They come to him like uninvited guests, and the person is surprised and says, “How is today different from other days? That is, who caused me these thoughts and desires? Is it by thinking that one needs to work only for the sake of the Creator that these thoughts threw me into such baseness?” He asks, “But it is known that a Mitzva induces a Mitzva, so why does the desire to obtain vessels of bestowal cause a person to receive such thoughts in return for it? And also, what can one do in such states?”

However, a person must know, as Baal HaSulam says (Shamati, Article No. 1, “There Is None Else Besides Him”) that the Creator sends these thoughts to a person so he will not be able to tolerate such lowliness, so it will cause him to pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart to give him the strength to come closer instead of the thoughts that cause separation and remoteness from the Creator. At that time, a person must pray and cry out to the Creator, “Do not cast us from before You, and do not take away from us the spirit of Your holiness,” but rather that the Creator will give him the second nature, the desire to bestow, meaning to have only a desire to bestow contentment upon the Maker, and no concern for himself. Then all these thoughts and desires that the will to receive brings him will naturally move away from him.

In other words, since a person should believe that all those thoughts that the will to receive bring him are sent to him from above because he wants to walk on the path of bestowal, and in the meantime he is idle in the work, because he prayed that the Creator will bring him closer to being in Dvekutwith the Creator, which is equivalence of form, when it is seen that the person is idle in the work, he is sent the foreign thoughts that a person cannot agree to be under such a control. As a result, this gives a person a push, that he must overcome the state that he is in.

It therefore follows that from this bad, when a person feels that he is in such a lowly state that he never imagined that he could be under such governance, for this reason, he should not be alarmed and escape the campaign. On the contrary, he should believe that the Creator is taking care of him now, and He is bringing him closer through a state of Achoraim [posterior].

This is as it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1, p 139), “About the verse, ‘My beloved is like a gazelle,’ our sages said, ‘As the gazelle looks back when he runs, when the Creator leaves Israel, He turns back His face.’ Then the face returns to being in the Achoraim, meaning craving and longing to cling to Israel once more. This begets in Israel longing and craving to cling to the Creator, too, and the measure of the longing and craving is actually the face itself.”

We should interpret that he means that when a person is in a state of lowliness, it is considered that the Creator has moved away from him, and he has no desire or yearning for the work, this is regarded as the Creator giving a person a shape of tastelessness about spirituality. Moreover, a person wants to escape and forget about the work altogether. This is regarded as the Creator showing him the Achoraim.

The Panim [face/anterior] of the Creator is His desire to do good to His creations, and the Achoraim is the complete opposite. Why does the Creator show a person the Achoraim? It is on purpose, for by this a person gets a thrust toward Dvekut with the Creator, for he cannot remain in a state of lowliness. It follows that here, within the Achoraim is the discernment of Panim.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “You Shall Not Plant for Yourself an Asherah by the Altar,” in the Work?

Article No. 43, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

The verse says, “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah, any tree by the altar of the Lord your God.” Our sages said (Sanhedrin 7), “Rish Lakish said, ‘Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel.’ Rav Ashi said, ‘Instead of a wise disciple, it is as though he planted it by the altar.’”

We should also understand what is “judges and officers” in the work, and what is “in all your gates” in the work. It is known that “work” means the work that a person gives in order to achieve Dvekut[adhesion] with the Creator, which is that a person should achieve equivalence of form, called “cleave unto His attributes; as He is merciful, so you are merciful.” That is, a person should come to seeing only to the benefit of the Creator, and not to his own benefit. In this way, we learn the whole Torah on the individual level. That is, we learn both the quality of Israel and the quality of the nations of the world within one body. In other words, a person consists of the seventy nations of the world, from wicked and from righteous. For this reason, litigants, who come to judge in courthouses, we learn that they are also—both the litigants and the courthouse—in the same body.

We should understand why if a person wants to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] only for the sake of the Creator, it is considered “work,” and without the aim for the sake of the Creator it is not considered “work and labor.” After all, the fact that a person likes the rest, we learned that the reason is that our root is in a state of complete rest. Hence, when we make any movement, we must receive more pleasure than the rest. Hence, when the reward and punishment are revealed, it is not considered that a person is complaining that he must work, since during the work, he is considering the reward.

It follows that the reward sweetens the work so he does not feel the labor during the work. For this reason, we see that a person does not tell his friend, “Poor me, I got a job at a famous company where the work conditions are great.” Because the reward sweetens the work, the work and the labor are insignificant.

Therefore, when engaging in Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward in the work of holiness, although his aim is the reward, because the reward and punishment are not revealed, it is still regarded as exerting in Torah and Mitzvot although it is in order to receive reward, and he is careful not to transgress against the Torah and Mitzvot in order not to be punished. And since the main work is in practice, and “practicing” means that which is revealed, this work is called “the revealed Torah.”

We learn this Torah in the general public. Hence, we learn this not in one body, but in the world in general. In other words, in general, we discern many people in the same world, and there are many people in the world. As their faces are not similar to one another, so their views are not similar to one another. In that state, we learn the Torah between man and man, in two bodies. The same applies to wicked and righteous, and everything is likewise.

But in the work on the level of intentions, which is called “work in the heart,” none of this work is revealed outside. This work is called “the hidden part,” meaning that which is not revealed outside. It is even hidden from the man himself, for precisely through the work of Mitzvot, when the act is revealed outward, the Mitzva [commandment/good deed] is regarded as revealed to a person. That is, a person sees that he is observing the Mitzva in practice, and it cannot be said there that the person is deceiving himself during the performance of the Mitzva.

Conversely, in work on the intention, a person cannot see the truth by himself. He may think that all his intentions are for the sake of the Creator, and he cannot tell if there is a mixture of self-benefit there.

This is as Baal HaSulam said about the words, “Walk humbly with the Lord your God.” Although the literal meaning of “walk humbly” refers to another body, in the work, “walk humbly with the Lord your God” refers to his own body. That is, when a person works with “faith above reason,” this is called “walk humbly.” That is, a person’s reason cannot come to work above reason. Only above reason, a person walks without a gauge by which to see, monitor, and measure his work, whether he is walking on the right path or not.

When a person wants to see if this is true, he examines it with his mind and reason. Since he is going above reason, he has no one to tell him if he is fine or not, since man’s reason, which is his monitor, which should see if this is fine or not, cannot see anything because his work is above his mind, and the mind cannot see this. This is why this work is called “Walk humbly with the Lord your God,” when his body does not see this work.

It therefore follows that when a person works in order to achieve Dvekut [adhesion], which is to come to a state where all his actions are in order to bestow, the will to receive comes and resists it. At that time, a person comes to his litigant and establishes the arguments of the will to receive and the arguments of the desire to bestow. Each one claims that he is right, and then this judge must decide which is right.

Certainly, the will to receive, with reason and intellect, says, “What’s to decide here about ‘who is right’? Let’s go and see what everyone does, meaning how the world behaves, if the whole world works for the desire bestow or for the will to receive. The rule is that we follow the majority, and the majority of the world use only the will to receive, as our sages said, ‘I saw the ascended ones, and they are few.’ Hence, the quality of ‘Israel’ is one among seventy nations, so we must follow the majority.”

Indeed, this is regarded as the “people of Israel being in exile among the nations.” Because they are the majority, they control the quality of Israel. But with argument does not conclude the arguments of the will to receive. He comes and argues like one who is clever, whose arguments are all clear and there is nothing to reply to them. The verse says about this, “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.” In other words, since the will to receive argues only in its own favor, he is biased. Hence, he can no longer see the truth, since the eyes of his mind see only his self-benefit.

Therefore, when one wants to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, the body asks, “In whose favor do you want to work in Torah and Mitzvot?” If he tells him, “For the sake of the Creator,” the dispute promptly begins. That is, the dispute begins primarily during the work on intention, when determining with what intention he wants to observe Torah and Mitzvot. Hence, a person should see that this judge rules justly. And since the will to receive argues for its own benefit, it is impossible to listen to it, since it is biased. For this reason, all his clever arguments are incorrect, since “a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.”

We should also interpret that when a person begins to determine who is right, the question is, When should one decide? The answer is, “In all your gates.” This is as it is written in The Zohar about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates.” They said, “Each one according to what he assumes in his heart.” “Gates” means “measures.” That is, in each Behina [discernment/quality] where a person begins to work in holiness, he must determine there with “judges,” to see for whose favor he should work—for himself or for the Creator. That is, in everything a person does, he must first contemplate what he wants from this act, meaning for what purpose is he doing this act.

If he sees that his intention is improper, meaning that he sees that he cannot aim in order to bestow, then he has room for prayer. That is, the bad he finds within him through the calculation that he does with his litigant, he sees that the litigant is sentencing justly, except he cannot uphold the verdict.

Therefore, the question is, Where is the benefit in sentencing justly if he cannot follow what the judge says? It is written about this, “judges and officers.” “Judges” is only the verdict. That is, he sees the truth about what he must do. But when it comes to the execution, which is the “officers,” he sees that he cannot follow through.

At that time, a person says, “Now I can pray to the Creator” because I see that I will never be able to work for the sake of the Creator. Hence, then a person can make a heartfelt prayer that the Creator will help him. Put differently, at that time he has a Kli [vessel] called “lack,” which needs the Creator’s help to give him the desire to bestow, since without His help, he is helpless.

By this we should interpret what is written (Psalms 119), “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever mine.” We should interpret “my enemies” to mean “the bad within me.” I see that they interrupt me from doing Your will, for the Creator’s will is to bestow, and I am immersed in the desire to receive, which separates me from the Life of Lives. Hence, although I observe Your Mitzvot, they are still only an act, without the wisdom, for “wisdom” means that the light of Hochma [wisdom] is clothed in the Mitzvot, and the “light of Hochma” is called “the light of doing good to His creations,” which is the purpose of creation.

However, it is impossible to receive the light of the purpose of creation, called Hochma, before a person has the light of the correction of creation, called “light of Hassadim [mercies],” which are vessels of bestowal. Since a person sees how his enemies, meaning his will to receive, is in full control and they cannot emerge from its governance, he therefore prays to the Creator to be given the desire to bestow. By this he can later receive the Hochma, as well.

This is the meaning of what he says, “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies.” That is, the enemies caused him to be rewarded with Hochma. “Your commandments make me wiser” means that the enemies were the reason to be rewarded with delight and pleasure since the help he received from above brought him each time a higher degree than the one he had. Had he not felt that he had bad, he would have settled for what he had and would not have cried out to the Creator to bring him closer and reward him with vessels of bestowal, for only the vessels of bestowal are fit to receive Hochma. It follows that the meaning of “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies” is that in order for the Mitzvot to have Hochma, only those enemies caused me all this.

This is the meaning of the words, “for it is ever mine.” “It is mine” refers to the enemies, which are always my causes that the Mitzvot will not be without Hochma, but rather dry Mitzvot. Instead, I have been rewarded through the enemies. “It is mine” means that I do not have the choice to follow the ways of the Creator like the rest of the people, since my enemies are worse than those of other people. For this reason, I must stand and ask the Creator to help me, since I am worse than the general public.

From this we can understand the meaning of trials in the work: For whose sake should we know if a person has endured a trial or not? Clearly, the Creator knows everything. Thus, why does the trial come to a person? Many times during an ascent, a person says, “I do not need the Creator’s help anymore,” since I have something on which to base my faith, for I feel the Creator to some degree, so henceforth I will be able to adhere to Kedusha [holiness], and I will be able to observe Torah and Mitzvot once and for all.

What happens from above? Since they want the person to advance and mount the trail that leads to the King’s palace, where everyone works only in order to bestow upon the Creator, and during the ascent, that person built the foundation of his Judaism on the basis of feeling a good taste in the work, which is a basis of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], for this reason, the person is given some foreign thought. At that time, a person is tried, to see if specifically when the Creator gives him some flavor that the will to receive feels, he will be able to be a servant of the Creator. But above reason just like that, when he has no sensation at all, how can he do something? This is called “sending a person some trial,” so he will see that all his work is based on the will to receive, and then he will feel that he is deceiving himself in the work of the Creator. At that time, he has room to pray that the Creator will give him the strength to be able to work only in order to bestow, and not for his own sake.

Hence, every descent is a trial. If a person can endure the trial, meaning that the thought that comes to a person causes him to see if he is under the governance of Kedusha or not, during the descent, a person can see that at the time of ascent, his whole structure was built on the will to receive for oneself.

During the descent, a person cannot make any calculations. But afterward, when he receives nearing from above once more, which comes to a person by what is written, “I am the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their impurity,” meaning that even though a person is still in the authority of self-love, still, an illumination comes to him from above, called “an awakening from above.” At that time, he must awaken the state of descent that he had by himself, and think what was the reason he received the descent, and what he must correct so as not to come into a descent once more. A person must believe that the fact that he suffered a descent is because he was thrown from above. This is why he fell into such lowliness. At that time, he can work on himself, correct corrections so he does not fall again, since he must believe that the descent is a correction for him.

According to the above, we can understand what is written, “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah.” They interpreted, “Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel.” We should understand what is an Asherah in the work. Asherah is as it is written, “ Ashreihem [happy are they] every green tree.” “Happy are they” means that they are happy when they work for their own sake, that he feels that he is happy. This is called “Happy are they,” meaning when a person works for his own sake, meaning that only when he feels good in the work can he work in Torah and Mitzvot.

But when he does not feel good, he says, “It is true that if I worked for the sake of the Creator I could say that I can serve the Creator under any condition, and not necessarily when I feel good. But I am working in the holy work because I was told that in the work of observing Torah and Mitzvotthere is more flavor to feel than in corporeal work.” Hence, if he does not feel a good taste in the work, why should he work in Torah and Mitzvot? After all, his entire basis is only self-love.

Thus, what should one do when he wants to appoint a worthy judge? At that time, a person must look at the intention, meaning the reason why he wants to work on the path of truth. Certainly, he had an awakening from above that we should work for the sake of the Creator. And what is “for the sake of the Creator”? At that time, a person begins to work on the goal that the Creator will enjoy his work, meaning not as in corporeality, where if the owner enjoys the employee’s work, he gives him a raise to his salary. Rather, his reward is that he is delighting the Creator and he does not consider his own benefit. It follows that the judge he is appointing now is in order to see that he follows the right path, which is for the sake of the Creator. This is called “an altar.” That is, the judge lets him see that a person should sacrifice himself on the altar, meaning that we must observe as our sages said, “The Torah exists only in those who put themselves to death over it.”

If he is an unworthy judge, he lets him think that a person should provide for himself things that pertain to his own benefit. This is called “Asherah,” as was said, Ashrei-Hem [happy are they], meaning that the idol-worship of Asherah was that they would always look at what the body could enjoy, and were not interested to know if the Creator would derive from this contentment, but always looked at their own benefit.

However, there is a difference between Asherah and the general public. For those whose work is in practice, who do not think at all about the matter of Lishma [for Her sake], but as Maimonides says, “Women, little ones, and uneducated people are taught only to work out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little by little.”

It is about those people that we should interpret, “Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel.” In other words, the judge, meaning when he wants to do something and asks the judge in his heart, a person should be careful that his judge will not be biased. Otherwise, he will not give him a just verdict. This is called “It is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel,” meaning idol-worship.

If the judge is biased, he might permit any transgression, that it is permitted to do them, “for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.” This is called, “It is as though he planted an Asherah in Israel.” That is, pertaining to the whole of Israel, who engage only in the practice of the Mitzvot but not in the intention in the Mitzvot, meaning concerning the need to aim for the sake of the Creator, they have no interest in dealing with this and say that this work belongs to a chosen few.

Now we can understand why he says there, “Rav Ashi said, ‘Instead of a wise disciple, it is as though he planted an Asherah by the altar.’” We should understand what Rav Ashi adds to us by saying, “Instead of a wise disciple, it is as though he planted an Asherah by the altar,” whereas if he is not a wise disciple, “it is as though he planted an Asherah in Israel.” We should understand the difference.

We should interpret the difference between those who work in the manner of the general public. He said about them, “as though he planted an Asherah in Israel,” referring to the general public in Israel. But concerning a wise disciple, meaning those who want to be “wise disciples,” as Baal HaSulam interpreted, a “wise disciple” is one who wants to be a disciple of the Creator, who is called “Wise,” who bestows upon the whole world, and that person also wants to be rewarded with being a giver, meaning to work with the aim to come to work in order to bestow. If his judge is worthy, the judge advises him to sacrifice himself on the altar. If he is unworthy, he advises him only for his own benefit, which is “Happy are they.” This is why he says, “Instead of a wise disciple, it is as though he planted an Asherah by the altar.”

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Are a Blessing and a Curse, in the Work?

Article No. 42, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

The interpreters of the Torah ask about the verse, “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today. And the curse, if you do not obey.” The question is, Why does it begin in singular form [in Hebrew], “Behold”? And they also ask, why is it written specifically “today”?

It is known that the purpose of creation is His desire to do good to His creations, meaning that all created beings will feel that they are receiving delight and pleasure from the Creator. This is called “Blessed is our God, who created us for His glory,” meaning that the creatures receive delight and pleasure from the Creator, and it glorifies the Creator that the creatures receive from Him delight and pleasure.

It follows that each one respects the Creator, and from this, the Creator is honored. Conversely, if the creatures do not receive from Him delight and pleasure, it does not glorify the Creator. That is, by creating creatures that do not feel that the Creator gives them delight and pleasure, but rather that they are tormented and suffer in the world, this does not glorify the Creator.

This is as it is written (Psalms 50), “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” RASHI interpreted “and you will honor Me” as “Honor Me, as this is My honor, that I save those who trust in Me.” We should understand this: Does the Creator need respect, that the creatures will respect him? After all, His desire is only to bestow, to impart delight and pleasure. Why is it said that the Creator receives honors by saving those who trust Him?

The answer is that the Creator knows that the creatures know that He created the world in order to give to the created beings delight and pleasure only when the created beings respect the Creator for giving them delight and pleasure. It follows that the matter of “Blessed is our God, who created us for His glory” applies when the creatures respect the Creator because we received delight and pleasure.

It follows that the creatures thank the Creator for receiving delight and pleasure, and this feeling, from the pleasure that the creatures receive this pleasure, emerges from the hearts of the receivers and is revealed outward through gratitude. That is, to the extent of the reception of pleasure, the glory of the giver is revealed. We see in corporeality how a person respects his friend when he gives him a great gift, and how he respects him when he gives him a small gift. This means that the honor that the recipient of the gift gives to the giver of the gift establishes the measure of the size of the gift, meaning the measure of the recipient’s sensation.

For example, a person whom the Creator brings closer, meaning gives him a thought and desire to serve the King, there is certainly a difference in how he feels if he is serving a great King: He is certainly happy day and night that he has been rewarded with serving a great King.

That is, if a person prays to the Creator and imagines that he is standing before a great King, how impressed he is? Or if he is speaking to a small king, what is his impression? In other words, according to a person’s sensation to whom he speaks and prays is his joy and elation, as our sages said, “Know before whom you stand,” meaning before a great or a small king.

It turns out that to the extent that a person respects the Creator, to that extent he can see to which King he is praying, a great or a small King. It follows that honoring the Creator is not for the sake of the Creator. The Creator does not need to be respected. Rather, this respect is for man’s sake. That is, a person needs to know before what King he stands—small or great.

However, in order for the Creator’s will to be carried out with the completeness of the goal, meaning so there would not be shame, there was a correction called “Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment,” meaning that there was a Tzimtzum and concealment on two actions: 1) The Creator Himself is hidden from us and we must believe that He is treating us with private Providence over all creations. 2) The real delight and pleasure is in the 613 Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], which The Zoharcalls “613 deposits,” as is explained in the Sulam [Ladder Commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation,” Item 1) that in each Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], a special light is deposited. However, this, too, is concealed and we must believe that there is where we will find the delight and pleasure. Yet, this concealment was only for the sake of the created beings, so there would not be shame upon the reception of the delight and pleasure, meaning in order not to have shame by the creatures receiving the delight and pleasure because they feel like it, as this is opposite from the Creator. According to the rule that each branch wants to resemble its root, when the creatures receive the delight and pleasure, they will feel unpleasantness.

Therefore, the creatures must try to do everything for the sake of the Creator, meaning in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator, and then there is equivalence of form between them, meaning that the creatures, too, will do everything in order to bestow, like the Creator. Then there will be no place for shame, which is called “the perfection of His deeds.”

Yet, how can a person achieve this degree of doing everything for the sake of the Creator? After all, by nature, man is born with a desire to receive in order to receive. Our sages said about this, “He who comes to purify is aided.” That is, when a person sees that he is far from all his actions being for the sake of the Creator, he tries in everything he does. When he sees that on every act that he performs there is no intention to bestow, he asks of the Creator to give him the intention to bestow on the act that he performs.

In other words, he asks the Creator that thanks to the act that he performs, the act will be as an awakening from below, meaning a prayer that the Creator will send him the intention to bestow. It follows that the awakening from below is the Kli [vessel] that the Creator can fill. But when he has no actions over which to ask that the Creator will send him the intention to bestow for them, this is as is written, “There is no light without a Kli,” meaning no intention without an action.

For this reason, a person must do many actions, and the actions should be as a lack, that he will ask the Creator to satisfy their need. However, it is human nature that when he knows that the most important is that we must do everything for the sake of the Creator, and he sees that his actions are in utter lowliness, he becomes contemptuous of his actions.

He says that in any case, his work is worthless, so why bother exert so hard to do them? Therefore, when it is not difficult for him to work, he works. But when it is hard for him, he does not have the strength to exert himself and work because thoughts come to him from the world that there is no need to engage in Torah and Mitzvot because secular people do not believe in reward and punishment. Also, when he sees that his actions are lowly, he says about his actions that they are incomplete.

He says that he knows for certain that no reward should be given for such actions. It turns out that in this state, when he sees that his actions are so lowly that they merit no reward, it follows that then he is in a state where he does not believe in reward and punishment.

Since he cannot fool himself and say that he has a desire “for the sake of the Creator,” since he sees that the whole body objects to this, so when he says to himself, “If you do not aim for the sake of the Creator, you will be punished,” he does not understand this because he does not see how he will ever be able to say that he is working for the sake of the Creator.

Therefore, this is called “not believing in punishment,” meaning to say that because he will be punished, he will aim for the sake of the Creator. He cannot understand this because how can one be punished for something that is impossible? As for reward, at that time he says that he does not deserve reward for such actions. It follows that at that time he does not believe in reward and punishment, like secular people, who do not believe in reward and punishment. Therefore, he snubs them.

However, without faith in the sages, we cannot go forward. Rather, we must believe in the sages, who said that the order of the work is that there is no light without a Kli. For this reason, a person must believe that when he sees that his actions are not for the sake of heaven, it is a revelation from above, that he is shown the truth, how the will to receive governs a person, and he cannot do anything if it does not yield self-benefit.

A person can see this only when he wishes to walk on the path of truth, meaning to achieve Dvekut[adhesion] with the Creator. This knowledge is given to a person in order for him to need the Creator to help him and give him the desire to bestow. This desire attaches a person to the Creator, meaning that once he is rewarded with receiving the desire to bestow, the Creator can bestow upon him the delight and pleasure that was in the intention of creation to do good to His creations.

It follows that we should make three discernments here: 1) The person begins to feel that he is lacking the Kli called “desire to bestow,” but is immersed entirely in self-love. This deficiency does not come from the person himself. Rather, one must believe that this deficiency, that he cannot do anything in order to bestow, is help that comes to a person from above, and the help is that he feels a lack.

2) To ask of the Creator to give him a blessing, which is the desire to bestow, called “Kli of Hesed[mercy],” where he wants only to work in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. This is as it is written (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “Otiot de Rav Hamnuna Saba [The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba],” Items 37-38), “[Hesed] is a blessing, as it is written, ‘And I will pour out a blessing for you.’ This is the meaning of ‘I said, a world of mercy shall be built.’ The words Yibanne [shall be built] mean construction and understanding [in Hebrew], since He established it as sufficient distinction to distinguish those who adhere to Kedusha [holiness] from those who veer off from following the Creator to cling unto another God, as it is written, ‘And test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”

This means that before they receive the Kelim of the blessing, meaning vessels of bestowal, there are no Kelim to receive the delight and pleasure for which the world was created. This is so because everything will go to the Klipot and not to Kedusha, and the whole basis of the Kedusha is built on the desire to bestow.

3) When his 613 Mitzvot are as 613 deposits. This is the time when he obtains the 613 lights that are clothed within the 613 deposits. This is considered the delight and pleasure that is clothed in them.

However, the main work is in the first state, where the 613 are called “613 counsels,” meaning tips how to ask the Creator to give him vessels of bestowal. In that state, there are ups and downs because a person often decides that this work of ever receiving help from above, vessels of bestowal, is impossible, since concerning asking the Creator to give him these vessels, he sees that complete opposite—where the Creator should have helped him acquire vessels of bestowal, he sees that after each effort he makes, he receives an even bigger desire.

Therefore, a person thinks that there is no point asking for it, since it is as though there is no attention from above watching over him. As a results, he often decides that it is not worthwhile to work pointlessly.

Here a person needs great strengthening so as not to escape the campaign and say once and for all, “This work is not for me.” In that state a person needs heaven’s mercy. Here, a person must go only above reason because he sees that the reason is correct. That is, reasonably thinking, when he makes his calculation, he sees that he should escape the campaign, and he should thank the Creator for not running, for not being thrown from above outside the path that leads to the King’s palace.

That is, a person should be grateful and always thank the Creator that he did not accept the slander that the body always tells him, “This is not for you.” The body says to him: “You see that as much as you have labored, you are still standing in the same place as when you began the work.” It tells him, “If you want to know if you succeeded at all, you see that you regressed rather than progressed.” This is the reason [view] that separates him from Kedusha, since within reason, the body is correct.

It follows that the fact that a person does not escape from the campaign is also not by his own powers. Rather, he should say that it is only power that he is given from above so as not to run. In other words, a person should believe that on one hand, he is allowed to see how far he is from working in order to bestow, meaning that he is regressing. On the other hand, he must believe that the fact that he is not escaping the campaign and often believes above reason that he will be brought closer and will be rewarded with nearing the Creator, it follows that everything he does in the work is built only on faith above reason.

Now we can understand the verse “Behold, I set before you today.” “Today” means that each and every day a person must begin anew and say that today he will be rewarded with “Behold, I,” meaning with “I am the Lord your God,” and he will not escape the campaign. That is, he should not say, “I have already prayed many times for the Creator to give me the vessels of bestowal and to emerge from the control of the will to receive for myself, but I receive no answer to my prayer. Thus, what is the point of praying once again?”

It follows that the word “today” implies that “each day they should be as new in your eyes.” That is, a person must know that every beginning in the work is called a “day,” and the prayer that a person makes for the Creator to bring him closer to the work, that prayer is called a “day.”

Yes, since the prayer for nearing the Creator makes a person’s Kli, which is the need and desire, and the desire makes a person suffer because the Creator is not bringing him closer, therefore, each day it creates in a person one hole. Yet, there must be a deep deficiency, and to be recognized as a big deficiency so as to suit a big filling.

For this reason, each day we must begin a new overcoming. This means that each overcoming creates a new lack, until from each and every day it becomes one long day, when there is the ability for the Creator to impart the filling there, called “desire to bestow,” which is that he receives the blessing, which is the quality of Hesed, called “vessels of bestowal.”

By this we can interpret the meaning of “we will do and we will hear.” “We will do” pertains to the lower one. That is, the lower one must make the deficiency, meaning to need the Creator to help him obtain the vessels of bestowal, for all those who first say, “We will hear,” meaning that the body must first hear if it is worthwhile to do everything for the sake of the Creator, then he will agree to work, meaning to the work for the sake of the Creator. But if he does not see that it is worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator, how can he work for the sake of the Creator?

For this reason, the people of Israel—those who want to be Yashar-El [straight to God], meaning directly to the Creator and not for their own sake—see that the body will never agree to work for the sake of the Creator. Then they say, “We will perform actions with the intention for the sake of the Creator.” Although we see that we are not succeeding, as it is against nature, we believe that if we ask the Creator to hear our prayer, He will certainly hear the prayer. Then we will hear, meaning we will be rewarded with seeing that the Creator does hear the prayer, and He will give us the power of a desire to bestow.

This is the meaning of the people of Israel—although the evil inclination in the people of Israel also does not agree to work for the sake of the Creator and not for one’s own sake—still believed that the Creator hears a prayer, and if we ask Him to give us this power, that we do want to work for the sake of the Creator except the evil inclination in us objects to this, and certainly the Creator hears a prayer. We will certainly be rewarded with the Creator hearing our prayer, by receiving from Him the desire to bestow. Then we will certainly be able to say that the Creator hears.

We can interpret what Israel said, “For our part, we will do what we can do, and we will ask of Him to hear what we are asking of Him, and then we will be rewarded with ‘We will hear,’ meaning that the Creator will give us the vessels of bestowal, which are vessels of the blessing. That is, the upper abundance that the Creator wants to give, which is the delight and pleasure, can clothe in these Kelim because there is equivalence between the light and the Kli.”

It follows that first we must receive a lack, meaning for a person to receive a real need for the desire to bestow. In other words, he should feel that the deficiency is so great that no one in the world can satiate the need but the Creator Himself. At that time he is considered “needy of the Creator.” At that time, a person needs heaven’s mercy so as not to escape the campaign, for usually, when a person works and sees that he is not advancing, he escapes the work. Therefore, a person must ask the Creator to help him not flee in the middle of the work.

We can say about this that the person is making efforts to obtain the desire to bestow. The feeling that he has made great exertions is called “old age,” meaning that he has been a long time in this work. Therefore, we must pray to the Creator, “Do not cast us off in the time of old age; do not forsake us when our strength fails.” “When our strength fails” means that “We have run out of patience, that after all the prayers that we have given, that You will give us the desire to bestow, we have still not been rewarded with receiving it. Do not cast us off midway; give us the strength to endure and not to escape the campaign, and give us more strength to pray to You to give us the desire to bestow.”

We should know that in the work, “old age” does not pertain to years. Rather, “old age” means that a person has come to a state where he says, “I see that I have made great efforts in order to obtain something in spirituality, and I see that I am not succeeding.” Therefore, he accepts the situation he is in and says, “Perhaps younger people will come instead of me, who have more energy. I see that I am unfit.” This is called “old” in the work.

However, in the corporeal world we also see that sometimes people are old in age, meaning old in years, but are as energetic as young people. There could be a person who is already more than eighty years old but with more energy and works more than others who are younger than him, and still has desire and yearning to achieve something in the corporeal world. But in the work of the Creator, “old age” is certainly not about years. Rather, “old age” means that his aspiration to achieve the goal has ceased.

Now we can understand what they ask, why does it say “Behold” in singular form [in Hebrew] and then says, “I set before you,” in plural form [in Hebrew]? The meaning is as said (in Article No. 41 from Tav-Shin-Nun), that the Creator said “Behold” in singular form, “I set before you,” meaning that “before you” there is the authority of the many, meaning two authorities. “And I will give you the ‘Behold,’ meaning that you will be rewarded with seeing that there is not more than one authority. In other words, all your actions will be only to bestow upon the Creator, and the authority of the will to receive will be cancelled.”

By this we should interpret what our sages said about “It is carved on the tablets,” that they became free from the angel of death. We should understand what is freedom from the angel of death in the work. We must know that the will to receive for oneself is the angel of death. It is as our sages said, “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead,’” since they are separated from the Life of Lives due to disparity of form, which is the will to receive.

In other words, the will to receive for oneself separates one from the Life of Lives. Thus, who is the angel of kills a person? It is the will to receive. It therefore follows that when a person is rewarded with the Creator giving him the desire to bestow, with which we are rewarded by observing Torah and Mitzvot, when the singular authority is made and the will to receive for oneself enters the singular authority, which is the authority of the Creator, he is liberated from the angel of death, since the will to receive for oneself does not operate in him because the Creator has given him the singular authority. This is the meaning of “Behold, I set before you,” as in, “I am the Lord your God,” “I set before you” that at that time there will be only the singular authority.

Afterward, the verse interprets more, to know what is a blessing and what is a curse. It says, “The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” In other words, “What is the blessing that I give? It is that you can obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” This is done specifically by being rewarded with vessels of bestowal. This is the blessing, as it is written, “the blessing that you will hear.”

“And the curse,” meaning that if a person sees that he cannot hear, he must know that he is under the authority of the Sitra Achra [other side], which is the opposite of Kedusha, as it is written, “A blessing is called ‘bestowal’ and a curse is called ‘reception.’”

It therefore follows that a person should exert every day with a new beginning so as not to appear as an old man. He should try to acquire the singular authority, for then he will be rewarded with receiving the delight and pleasure, which is the purpose of creation.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Are the Light Mitzvot that a Person Tramples with His Heels, in the Work?

Article No. 41, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

About the verse “And it shall come to pass,because you listen, and keep and do them, and the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy that He swore to your forefathers,” RASHI interpreted as follows, “If the Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] are light, which a person tramples with his feet, listen, and the Lord will keep, keep with you His promise.”

We should understand what it means to us that if a person observes the light Mitzvot then the Creator will keep with you the oath. We should understand this conditions, which implies that otherwise, it is as though He cannot keep the oath he swore to your forefathers. We should also understand what the interpreters ask, Why does he begin with plural form [in Hebrew], “keep and do,” and ends in singular form [in Hebrew], “will keep with you.”

To understand this, we first need to understand the meaning of the 613 Mitzvot that we were given. In the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (“General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation,” Item 1), “The Mitzvot in the Torah are called Pekudin [Aramaic: commands/deposits], as well as 613 Eitin [Aramaic: counsels/tips]. The difference between them is that in all things there is Panim [anterior/face] and Achor [posterior/back]. The preparation for something is called Achor, and the attainment of the matter is called Panim. Similarly, in Torah and Mitzvot there are ‘We shall do’ and ‘We shall hear.’ When observing Torah and Mitzvot as ‘doers of His word,’ prior to being rewarded with hearing, the Mitzvot are called ‘613 Eitin’ and are regarded as Achor. When rewarded with ‘hearing the voice of His word,’ the 613 Mitzvot become Pekudin, from the word Pikadon [deposit]. This is so because there are 613 Mitzvot, where in each Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], the light of a unique degree is deposited, corresponding to a special organ in the 613 organs and tendons of the soul, etc., and this is regarded as the Panim of the Mitzvot.”

“Doers of His word” is during the preparation, before a person is rewarded with “Hearing the voice of his word,” for “hearing” is when a person has been rewarded with vessels of bestowal, for only then is there a receptacle for the abundance to clothe in vessels of bestowal. At that time, he has “ears” to hear the voice of the Creator.

But while he is still immersed in vessels of reception, a person must work in “doing,” called “action,” although the body disagrees to work for the sake of the Creator. Rather, he must believe that although he is in a state of lowliness, meaning that the body disagrees with this work—to work for the sake of the Creator—still, the Creator enjoys this because in a state of lowliness, a person feels that he needs the Creator’s help. Hence, at that time he has close contact with the Creator, since he feels that he has no other way and only the Creator can save him and deliver him from this lowliness.

However, a person asks himself, “Where are the Creator’s justice and integrity?” He labors and observes Torah and Mitzvot, and he wants no reward for this. Rather, he wants to work for the sake of the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar, to work because he wants to serve a great King, meaning because He is great and ruling. When he asks the Creator to let him feel His greatness, and the person believes that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth, each day he stands and waits to have more feeling of the greatness of the Creator, but in the end he sees that he has come to greater lowliness. In other words, he feels that people on the street are not as immersed in self-love.

So, the person asks, “How come people on the street, who have no prayer that the Creator will deliver them from self-love, are fine?” He sees that they feel the order of the work as utter completeness, meaning they know that each day they are advancing, meaning that their possessions are growing. It is as I said once, that each of them has a log where he sees how many Mitzvot were registered to his name each day, and how many pages of Gemara he can write in his log. He, on the contrary, sees the opposite, that each day he is worse than the day before.

When a person introspects, he sees that he has several ascents each day until he sometimes thinks, “Now I am certain that I have reached my goal, not as it was until now.” But suddenly, thoughts that confuse him come to him and he forgets everything, meaning he completely forgets even about the ascents and feels nothing but lowliness. Now, after all the work he has done, he has become worse than ever. He begins to look at himself and finds not one good deed, and he feels as though he never observed Torah and Mitzvot.

The question is, How can a person explain these feelings to himself? Are they true or false? That is, with respect to reality, and reality cannot be erased, he certainly exerted and observed Torah and Mitzvot. But according to his feeling, it all disappeared. The question is, Where did they go, meaning who took them, since he does not feel them? He cannot say that he is suffering from amnesia and this is why he has forgotten everything. After all, he says that he does remember the bad things he did.

The answer is that we must believe in the sages, as it is said in The Zohar, which interprets what is written, “Or make it known to him that he has sinned.” He asks, “Who makes it known to him?” And he explains, “The Torah.” As we once explained, by learning Torah with the intention to achieve the truth, meaning to really be a servant of the Creator, meaning that by observing Torah and Mitzvot, he does not mean to work for himself, meaning that he will receive reward. Rather, he wants to observe Torah and Mitzvot as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” That is, he learns Torah as an advice by which to truly become a servant of the Creator, meaning that he wants to work for the sake of the Creator, so the Torah notifies him that he has sinned.

This means that the order of “the Torah as a spice” is that first, it lets him know that “he has sinned,” meaning how immersed he is in self-love. This is regarded as the Torah, which is the spice, gives him the Kli [vessel], meaning the lack, so he will need the Creator’s help. It follows that the Torah notifies him that his faith in the Creator is something foreign to him. Put differently, he feels how far he is from the Creator, that the Creator to him is like a stranger. As Baal HaSulam said about the verse “There shall be no strange God within you,” “God” means that the Creator should be to you like something foreign with which you have no connection.

A person is immersed in self-love, which is disparity of form from the Creator, since the Creator wants only to bestow while a person by nature wants only to receive. For this reason, “He and I cannot dwell in the same abode.” It follows that where one should have felt close to the Creator, he feels remoteness from the Creator. This is what the Torah makes him know, meaning one who learns Torah, since he believes in the words of our sages, who said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” This spice is given to a person so he will feel how far he is from the Creator.

It follows that the Torah gives man the Kli, meaning the lack, for man to ask the Creator to deliver him from exile, called “exile in Egypt.” It is known that Metzar-Yam [Mitzraim (Egypt)] means Tzar-Ayin [lit. narrow-eyed, meaning “jealous”]. That is, a person has no power to bestow, but only to receive. Although he sees that it is impossible to approach the Creator before all his actions are in order to bestow, he nonetheless sees that there is no way he will be able to achieve this without His help.

We already said many times why the Creator did this, meaning that there will be no option for a person to emerge from Pharaoh’s control. The answer is as Baal HaSulam said about what Abraham asked the Creator when He promised him the inheritance of the land, “How will I know that I will inherit it? And He said to Abram, ‘Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.’”

He said that Abraham’s question was that he saw what would be the inheritance of the land, which is Malchut that carries the upper abundance, which contains the five Behinot [qualities] NRNHY of Kedusha [holiness]. Also, it is known that there is no light without a Kli [vessel], meaning no filling without a need. Yet, Abraham saw that Israel have no need to obtain the completion of the degree. Rather, if they attain a little bit of illumination from above, they will be satisfied. Naturally, they would have no need to obtain the NRNHY of Neshama that is included in Malchut, which is called “the inheritance of the land.”

“So how,” said Abraham, “will they receive the light, when they have no Kelim [vessels], called ‘need’?” At that time, the Creator told him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.” In other words, the people of Israel will be in an Eretz [land], meaning a Ratzon [desire] that does not belong to the people of Israel. They will be under the governance of the will to receive, which belongs to Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

“They will be tormented,” meaning that the people of Israel will suffer because they are unable to work in order to bestow, which would bring them Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. At that time they will need the Creator’s help, as it is written, “And their cry rose up to God from the work, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham.”

Our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” The Zohar asks, “How is he aided?” and it replies, “with a holy soul.” In other words, first one is given Nefesh. If he is rewarded more, he is given Ruach. This means that to the extent that one comes to purify himself and demands help, the help he receives from above is considered part of the inheritance of the land.

According to the above, we should interpret what we asked, Why when a person begins to learn Torah for the reason that the Torah is called “a spice,” when one begins to walk on the path of truth, where the Torah is as Eitin, meaning counsels how to conquer the evil inclination, the person begins to see how each time, instead of feeling closer to the Creator, he feels that he has become farther?

We asked, “Is this the way of Torah, by which one becomes farther from the Creator?” The answer was that the Torah first gives him a Kli, meaning the lack, to see how far he is from the Creator. This is why The Zohar says that the Torah notifies him that he has sinned.

It follows that one should not say that he is learning Torah in truth, so why does the Torah not help him as a spice? The answer is that one should believe in the sages that the Torah does help him by revealing to him that he has sinned, meaning how far he is from the Creator, and because of it, he can pray from the bottom of the heart, since he feels that he is worse than other people.

Although if he asks himself, he will see that he makes more efforts to observe Torah and Mitzvot, so why does he feel that he is worse? A person cannot answer this, but he says that as far as feeling, he feels that now he is worse than when he engaged in Torah and Mitzvot before he began to walk on the path of truth. In other words, in everything he does, he sees that it is all halfheartedly, and not as before.

This is as Baal HaSulam said, that the Creator said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be tormented.” By this they will have a need to inherit the land. That is, by the lack that they will have when they are bare and destitute, they will be in a state of “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and their cry rose up to God from the work.”

In other words, the work itself, the fact that they are not progressing in the work, but on the contrary, will create their need, and then the Creator will help them each time they want to be purer. By this they will have Kelim [vessels] to receive the inheritance of the land.

According to the above, we should interpret what we asked, “And it came to pass, because you listen, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy that He swore to your forefathers.” RASHI interpreted, “If the light Mitzvot, which a person tramples with his feet, listen, and the Lord will keep, keep with you His promise.” We should understand this condition, that if you keep the light ones, the Creator will keep His promise; otherwise, He will not keep the oath.

The thing is that “light Mitzvot” means things that people belittle, referring to the mind and the heart. That is, all the Mitzvot, when observing them in order to receive reward, a person does not belittle these Mitzvot. Instead, all of these Mitzvot are called “serious,” since they might cause the loss of the reward. Therefore, the reward they expect to receive in return for them makes the Mitzvot important. In other words, the reward makes them valuable.

But when a person should work for the sake of the Creator, which is to him above reason, a person has no regard for this, since the body resists working for no reward. Therefore, when we say to the body that we must work only in order to bestow upon the Creator, the body says that this is far from the mind and it is not worth straining for such work. Then, the person sees that he cannot overcome the body. As Baal HaSulam explained, the fact that it is not within man’s power to emerge from the control of the will to receive for himself, the Creator did this on purpose, so that by this a person will acquire a need for the Creator’s help, for otherwise he is lost.

Hence, when a person asks the Creator to help him, by this he receives help from above. This is the light of the Torah, which “reforms him,” as said in The Zohar, that by this he receives Kelim and a need to attain the NRNHY of Neshama. This was the Creator’s answer to Abram’s question, “How will I know that I will inherit it?”

It follows that precisely when a person wants to observe the light Mitzvot, he needs the Creator’s help. Otherwise, if a person has no need to observe the light Mitzvot, which are contemptible Mitzvot, then he does not need the Creator’s help. And since he has no need for the Creator to help him by giving him NRNHY of Neshama, since he has no need for this, so Abram’s question, “How will I now that I will inherit it?” returns, since he has no need to obtain the inheritance of the land.

It therefore follows that the Creator cannot keep the oath concerning the inheritance of the land. For this reason, RASHI’s interpretation, where he says that if you keep the light Mitzvot, the Creator will be able to keep, “And the Lord will keep,” meaning that the Creator will keep His promise; otherwise, it is impossible to keep His promise.

Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, Why does it begin in plural form, “do” and “keep,” and ends in singular form? The answer is that when a person begins to work, he has two authorities: his own authority, namely the will to receive, and he also wants to work for the Creator. When a person sees that he has two authorities, he asks the Creator to help him cancel his authority and leave only the singular authority, meaning the authority of the Creator. Then, the Creator helps him annul the authority and leaves man with only the singular authority. This is why it is written in singular form, “And the Lord your God will keep with you,” meaning that the Creator will keep him so he will have only the singular authority.

According to the above, we can understand what is written (Deuteronomy 9:5), “It is not for your righteousness or the integrity of your heart that you are going to inherit their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, and in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your forefathers, to Abraham.”

We should understand this. If the Creator wants to give the inheritance of the land to Israel because He swore to “your forefathers, to Abraham,” it means that the reason He gave the inheritance of the land to the people of Israel was that He promised to Abraham the inheritance of the land. But here the verse says that the reason He gave the inheritance to Israel was the wickedness of the nations. This implies that were it not for the wickedness of the nations, He would not be able to keep His promise to the forefathers. We should understand why it is that if there is the wickedness of the nations, the Creator can keep the oath, and because of “your righteousness or the integrity of your heart,” the Creator cannot keep the oath.

According to the above, in the work, the wickedness of the nations means the evil within man’s heart. A person cannot defeat it and must cry out to the Creator to help him and liberate him from the governance of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. How does He help him? It is as it is said in The Zohar, “with a holy soul.” This means that each time he asks for help, he receives a holy soul. By being in exile and wanting to emerge from exile, meaning when a person feels that he has the wickedness of the nations, who are not letting him work for the sake of the Creator, but only for himself, this is regarded as having to work for the sake of the nations of the world within his body.

This is as it is written (Exodus 1:11), “And they built for Pharaoh cities of affliction, Pithom and Rameses.” Baal HaSulam interpreted that when they wanted to work for the sake of the Creator and overcame the control of the Egyptians, this is the meaning of Rameses, meaning that they overcame the self-love, like Ra’am [thunder] Sus [horse], meaning with great power, like a horse. They thought they had already emerged from the governance of self-love, but then they came to Pi-Tehom [mouth of the abyss], meaning that all the buildings they had built sank and were swallowed in the abyss, and not a remnant was left of the work. This is called “Pithom.”

In other words, each time, they had work in the manner of “Pithom and Rameses,” meaning that each day they had to work anew. That is, each day they felt that as though today they began the work of holiness, and felt as though until now, they had never engaged in the work. They ask themselves, Where did the work and labor they had done thus far vanish? But they do not know what to answer. As was said, it all sank and was swallowed in the ground.

They could not tell their bodies, “Why do you not want to exert today? After all, yesterday, you saw that when you labored, you received the strength to work. You cannot receive something from yesterday,” since he does not feel that yesterday he did something, for it was all swallowed in the ground. Indeed, why is this so? This is a correction.

It follows that if a person looks at himself and he has good deeds, he has no need to ask the Creator to help him, since anyhow, he has no place in which to receive help from the Creator, as there is no filling without a lack. Thus, the Creator cannot keep the oath concerning the inheritance of the land, since they have no need that He will give to them the inheritance of the land as help.

This is why he says, “It is not for your righteousness or the integrity of your heart that you are going to inherit their land.” Why? Because if they are fine, they have no need. This is the meaning of the words “It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out,” since because of the evil in his body, there is a need for help.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “For You Are the Least of All the Peoples,” in the Work?

Article No. 40, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

It is written (Deuteronomy 7:7-8), “It is not because you are more in number than any of the peoples that the Lord desired you, for you are the least of all the peoples. Because the Lord loves you, and because He keeps the oath that He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Our sages said (Hulin 89), “‘It is not because you are more in number,’ said the Creator to Israel, ‘that I desire you, for even when I bestow upon you greatness, you diminish yourselves before Me.’”

We should understand what this comes to teach us, that our sages said that the Creator said to Israel, “I desire you, for even when I bestow upon you greatness, you diminish yourselves before Me.” If the Creator said, “Although I bestow upon you greatness, you diminish yourselves before flesh and blood,” I would understand this. But our sages said, “You diminish yourselves before Me,” meaning before the Creator. What degree is it, that if the Creator gives a person greatness, he does not pride himself before the Creator because the Creator gave him greatness?

If the king gives greatness to a person and extols him before the ministers, does the person pride himself before the king, as well? Can this be? If so, why is it important that they do not pride themselves before the Creator but diminish themselves before Him? In other words, before whom do they diminish themselves? It stands to reason that when a person understands the greatness of the King, he lowers himself even more before the king.

In order to understand this, we must remember the order of the work, which is the correction of creation. That is, in order to achieve Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” meaning in order to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal, a correction took place, which is called “Tzimtzum[restriction] and concealment on the Kedusha [holiness].” That is, the taste of Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], where the delight and pleasure that He wished to give to the created beings became concealed. This is called “His desire to do good to His creations,” where everything He wanted to give to the creatures is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot, which The Zohar calls “613 Pekudin[Aramaic: deposits].”

It is as it is said in the Sulam [“Ladder” commentary on The Zohar], that Pekudin comes from the word Pikadon [Hebrew: deposit], for in each Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot] there is a special light clothed in that Mitzva. But because of the Tzimtzum and the concealment over them because of the correction of creation, in order to reach the light that is clothed in them, and for a person to receive the delight and pleasure clothed in them, he must first acquire the suitable Kelim [vessels] for the light, since there must be equivalence of form with the light—as the light gives, so the Kli [vessel] should work in order to bestow.

However, by nature, man has a desire to receive for himself, and not a desire to bestow. Thus, how can a person change his nature, which the Creator created? Our sages said about this, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” In other words, the Torah advises a person how to emerge from self-love and acquire the desire to bestow. The Zoharsays that in that state, the 613 Mitzvot are called “613 Eitin [Aramaic: counsels],” meaning 613 counsels by which to acquire the desire to bestow, for only in the desire to bestow can the light, which is called “good and does good,” clothe.

Our sages said about this, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma, he will come to Lishma [for Her sake].” Because the light in it reforms him, by this he will achieve the degree of Lishma.

Concerning Lo Lishma, there are many discernments:

1) Learning in order to provoke. This manner is the worst. Our sages said about this (Berachot 17), “Anyone who engages in Torah Lo Lishma would be better off not being born.”

2) Learning in order to be called “Rabbi.”

In those two discernments, he wants reward from people, and does not want the Creator to reward him for his work.

3) Learning in order for the Creator to reward him in this world—to have life, provision, health, etc.

4) Learning so the Creator will reward him in the next world.

5) He engages in Torah and Mitzvot because he feels that he is serving a great King. Therefore, he derives pleasure from engaging in Torah and Mitzvot. That is, because of this joy that he feels, that he is serving a great King, it is worthwhile for him to work. It follows that one who works because he is serving a great King also cannot be regarded as pure Lishma, although he is working for the sake of the Creator, meaning that he does not want any reward for his work. Yet, he does yearn to feel a good taste in this work because he is feeling a great King.

So, we must know that this is still not considered pure Lishma, since in the end, he yearns for the pleasure he will feel during the work. The pleasure he feels during the work is the reason he wants to be a servant of the Creator. It follows that the pleasure that the desire feels during the work is the only thing that makes him engage in Torah and Mitzvot. Hence, this, too, is considered Lo Lishma. However, this Lo Lishma brings him to Lishma, since the light in it reforms him.

This is as it is written in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” (Items 30-31), “The second division is from thirteen years and on. At that point, the point in his heart—which is the Achoraim [posterior] of Nefesh of Kedusha [holiness] dressed in his will to receive—is given strength. At that time one begins to enter the system of the worlds of Kedusha, to the extent that one observes Torah and Mitzvot. The primary aim is to obtain and intensify the spiritual will to receive. Yet, it is a much more important degree than the first; this is the degree that brings one to Lishma, as our sages said, ‘One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, as from Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma.’

“This is considered the maidservant of Kedusha who serves her mistress, which is the Holy Shechina[Divinity]. The maidservant brings one to Lishma, and he is rewarded with the instilling of the Shechina. Yet, one should take every measure suited to bring one to Lishma. And the final degree in this division is to become infatuated with the Creator just as one becomes infatuated in corporeal love, until the object of infatuation remains before one’s eyes all day and all night, as the poet said, ‘When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep.’”

After all this, begins the order of Lishma, called “desire to bestow.” And here, a person cannot bring himself to work entirely in order to bestow, meaning to want only to bestow upon the Creator “because He is great and ruling.” Man has no idea how to achieve this. This is regarded as the desire to bestow being in exile in Egypt. A person can understand this desire only above reason, since within reason, there is no grip on understanding this.

In other words, a person cannot understand how it is possible to do something from which one does not enjoy. It follows that even if a person does not require any reward for his work, what compels him to work is that the Creator will enjoy. From this he derives his pleasure. Hence, there is already a matter of pleasure here, meaning that he enjoys serving the King; this is his pleasure. But how can it be otherwise, that he will work without pleasure?

Therefore, when it is said that man must work in order to bestow, this is called “above reason.” Anything that is above reason, the will to receive for oneself is absent there. In other words, a person is told that he must work only so the Creator will enjoy this work. At that time, it is said that the person should be happy that he is serving a great King.

However, if the great King were to reveal His greatness and importance, the pleasure would be within reason. That is, the mind understands that it is worthwhile to serve a great King. But when a person must have faith in the greatness and importance of the King, he feels that he is serving a small king. Therefore, when he says above reason that He is a great King, there is no room for the will to receive to agree to this work, since all the pleasure is built on above reason.

Thus, it is clear why the body does not want to work when it does not see the importance of the King. Rather, it is told, although the mind necessitates, if the greatness of the King is not revealed, there is no more room there for the will to receive for himself. Thus, how can one work “because He is great and ruling”? This would be good if it were revealed, but Pharaoh king of Egypt, who said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice,” governs this discernment of the greatness of the Creator.

Hence, the work is mainly in this place, meaning that here begins the matter of Lishma, meaning that he wants to work so the Creator will enjoy his work, and it does not matter to him what taste he feels. In other words, the work he does is to him as though he felt that the King is great, while in fact, he feels that the “Shechina [Divinity] is in the dust.” That is, he does not feel any importance, but tastes the taste of dust. And yet, he overcomes and says, “It is as important to me, as though I felt that I was serving a great King.” At that time, the will to receive certainly enjoys, as well, since he does not need to believe in the greatness and importance of the King.

However, how can one muster the strength to overcome the body when he feels that the Shechina is in the dust? What joy can he receive from this work? Even more perplexing, how can one need and want to work when he feels no taste in it? This would be understandable if he had no choice; we can understand when a person is forced to work. But how is it possible to want such a work, which feels tasteless? And since he does not have the strength to overcome and feel joy in such a work, how can he serve the King in such a lowly state, when he feels the taste of dust while serving the King?

Hence, in this regard, he does not ask the Creator to give him the revelation of His greatness, so he will feel a good taste in it. Rather, he asks the Creator to give him strength to be able to overcome the body and work gladly because now he can work only for the Creator, since the will to receive does not enjoy work that tastes like dust. Therefore, why is he working? Certainly, only for the sake of the Creator. There is no room for such work within reason, and in this work, a person sees that it is inherently impossible that he will want to work in such a manner.

In this work, in such a state, a person sees that there is no way that he will be able to work with the desire to bestow and not for his own sake. Such a thing can happen only through a miracle from above. And indeed, this is called “the exodus from Egypt,” meaning to emerge from the mind he has by nature, where it is possible to move unless he enjoys it. Conversely, here he is asking the Creator to give him the strength to work where he has no feeling or flavor, but to believe that the Creator enjoys this work, since it is all in order to bestow.

For this reason, this prayer is an honest prayer, since a person sees that he cannot hope to ever be able to do anything in order to bestow. It follows that a person feels that he is lost. At that time he has close contact with the Creator, and this is something that a person should appreciate—that he is asking the Creator to help him and there is no one in the world who can save him.

Yet, here comes the most difficult question: Who told the person that the Creator derives contentment from this work, which tastes like dust, and that this is the work that one should ask of the Creator because he wants to do everything only so that the Creator will enjoy?

The answer to this is “faith in the sages.” We must believe their words. It follows that this prayer that a person prays that the Creator will help him so he can work in a state of lowliness, and the taste is only the taste of dust, this can be only on the basis of faith in the sages, to believe them that only in this way can we achieve a state of Lishma, and not for our own benefit. In other words, only they know what is Lishma and how to achieve it.

According to the above, we can interpret what we asked about what our sages said about the verse, “It is not because you are more in number.” “The Creator said to Israel, ‘I desire you, for even when I bestow upon you greatness, you diminish yourselves before Me.’” We asked, Is it customary that one whom the king extols prides himself before the king? Thus, why do they tell us that Israel diminish themselves before the Creator?

We explained above that there are two discernments in the work: 1) When the Creator shines for him while he engages in Torah and Mitzvot and feels a good taste in the work, and feels the greatness of the Creator, that he is serving a great King and has already achieved the degree of “When I remember Him, it does not let me sleep.” 2) The work Lishma, meaning to bestow and not in order to receive reward. At that time, a person’s body resists because he does not feel any flavor in the work. However, he does not want any feeling of the greatness of the Creator because then this feeling gives him a reason that because of this feeling that he feels when engaging in Torah and Mitzvot, it compels him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. It follows that it is no longer only for the sake of the Creator, but his own pleasure is included in it, too.

And since this work is entirely above reason, since there is no intellect in the world that can understand such a thing, and this discernment is called “Shechina in the dust,” and a person must believe that specifically from this work the Creator derives contentment, this is called work in the manner of “You diminish yourselves before Me.”

That is, when the Creator let them feel the greatness of the Creator, they do not say, “Now we do not need to work above reason, since the body, too, when it feels the greatness of the Creator, annuls “as a candle before a torch.” Instead, they say, “We want to work in the manner for, ‘for you are the least of all the peoples,’” meaning that all the peoples in a person say that this work is contemptible, inferior, and lowly, meaning that it is “Shechina in the dust.”

As our sages said, “‘It is not because you are more in number,’ said the Creator to Israel, ‘that I desire you, for even when I bestow upon you greatness, you diminish yourselves before Me.’” “I gave greatness to Abraham.” Certainly, at that time, he should be happy because he already feels the greatness of the Creator and he will no longer have resistance from the body. Yet, he diminishes himself and says, “And I am dust and ashes.”

In other words, he said to the Creator, “I yearn for the state of the work that was in a manner of, “I am the Lord your God,” in the manner of dust and ashes, meaning to the time when the work was to him “Shechina in the dust.” At that time, he was certain that his work was entirely to bestow, that the will to receive has no part in this. It follows that this does not mean that he diminishes himself before the Creator, meaning that he does not pride himself before the Creator. Rather, it means that he is diminishing himself in order to work in a state of lowliness, although the Creator is giving him greatness.

Likewise, the Creator gave greatness to Moses and to Aaron, and they said, “What about us?” In other words, they yearned for work, for a time when to them the Shechina was in the dust. At that time, when they feel no flavor in the work, the wicked comes and asks the “What” question, meaning “What is this work for you?” that you want to work specifically in this contemptible work? The wicked asks, “What is this work for you?” because then they were certain that their work was completely to bestow, and the will to receive had no part in it.

It is the same with David. The Creator gave him greatness, and he said, “And I,” meaning “I am the Lord your God.” This work was to him—when he wanted to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, called “I am the Lord your God”—to his body, it was in the manner of “And I am a worm and not a man.”

The Even Ezra asks about the words, “And I am a worm and not a man.” He says, “It is unlikely that one will say about himself that he is not a man. He only speaks against the enemies, that they despise him and he is not regarded as anything in their eyes.”

Here, too, the meaning is that when the Creator gave him greatness, he did not say, “Now I no longer need to wage war against the body, since the body will annul before the Creator as a candle before a torch.” Instead, he said, “I yearn for a state of lowliness, so that my enemies, meaning the nations of the world within my body, will despise my work, since they said, “to work only in order to bestow,” and he would have no feeling in the work. This is a sign that he is not a man at all—when they despise the order of his work. This is regarded as “Israel diminishing yourselves before Me.”

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “Anyone Who Mourns for Jerusalem Is Rewarded with Seeing Its Joy,” in the Work?

Article No. 39, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

Our sages said (Taanit, p 30b), “Anyone who mourns for Jerusalem is rewarded with seeing its joy.” Taken literally, this is hard to understand. Certainly, there were many righteous who mourned for Jerusalem, yet Jerusalem was still not built, so how were they rewarded with seeing its joy? In the literal explanation, there are probably many answers to this, but we should interpret it in the work.

It is known that Malchut is called “Jerusalem.” Hence, when we say, “the ruin of the Jerusalem,” it refers to the ruin of the Temple. This is called “Shechina [Divinity] in the dust” or “Shechina in exile.” In other words, a person should take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven and believe that the Creator leads the world with a guidance of The Good Who Does Good, since it is hidden from us.

Malchut is the one who gives to the souls and to BYA. Everything that comes from above to the creatures is considered Malchut. Thus, Malchut is not respected by the creatures because they do not see her importance, meaning what she gives to us. This is called “Jerusalem in its ruin.” In other words, where she should have been giving delight and pleasure to the creatures, and where everyone should have seen her merit, they see that everything is ruined in her and she has nothing to give, instead. It is said about it (in the Nachem [comfort] prayer on the 9th of Av), “The mourners for Jerusalem, and the lamenting, ruined, degraded, and desolate city.” In other words, everything is ruined and destroyed, and this is called “Shechina in the dust.” Hence, when a person should take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, the body resists vigorously.

Thus, if a person overcomes and takes upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven although he sees no importance, and mourns for the importance of Jerusalem being so hidden from us, and prays about why Malchut has no importance, and asks of the Creator to raise Jerusalem from the dust it is in, to the extent that one regrets its ruin, he is rewarded with the Creator hearing his prayer.

And that man is rewarded with seeing its joy, meaning that it does bestow upon him delight and pleasure. It follows that the meaning will be that he who regrets and mourns for Jerusalem, for the Shechina being in the dust, that person is rewarded with seeing its joy, since there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. Since he has the Kli, meaning the lack—his regret that Shechina is in the dust—he is therefore rewarded with seeing the comfort of Jerusalem.

According to the above-said, we should interpret what is written (Isaiah 1), “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; Israel does not know; My people does not understand.” We should understand the difference between an ox and a donkey in the work, as well as the difference between Israel and My people in the work. Baal HaSulam said that the difference between an ox and a donkey is that an ox is considered “mind,” which is faith above reason. This is the meaning of “The ox knows its owner.” A donkey is considered “heart,” meaning the will to receive, which is “And the donkey, its master’s crib.”

Thus, there are two discernments to make here:

1) Those who work for a reward, who observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] in order to receive reward. Their question is primarily “How much reward will I receive, and what will be the reward, meaning is this reward worth the labor in Torah and Mitzvot?”

2) Those who want to work in order to bestow because, as it is written in The Zohar, “He is great and ruling.” In other words, they work only because of the greatness of the Creator. That is, they feel very privileged serving a great King. It follows that those who work in order to bestow need to know who they are serving, that He is truly a great and important King, worth serving.

However, when they begin to work in order to bestow, and the whole reason that they have the strength to work is the importance of the Creator, then begins the work in the form of “Shechina in the dust.” In other words, where spirituality, meaning working to benefit the Creator, should have been more important each time, a person gets such thoughts that demonstrate the opposite. And instead of a person going forward and working more gladly because he is serving a great and important King, he gets pictures of insignificance. In other words, he does not feel His greatness, and this causes him constant descents.

This means that even when he overcomes the descents he cannot always endure and fight against these thoughts. And what these thoughts show him is that the Shechinais in the dust. He wishes to work with joy for serving a great and important King, and this should bring him joy, but he feels the complete opposite—rejection. It is as though he is being repelled from the work.

This is called “Shechina in the dust”—this feeling that he is being pushed outside. In other words, he feels that while wishing to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, Pharaoh’s questions come to him, asking “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” This is considered that Malchut, meaning the Shechina, is in exile with Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who shows the lowliness of the kingdom of heaven.

At that time, one can only ask for Malchut [kingdom] to be built, meaning that Malchut will not remain in a form of lowliness, since one cannot receive joy from this lowliness when he sees that it has no importance. This is considered that one should pray for the ruin of the Temple, for the world not being able to see the receiving of the kingdom of heaven as a good thing, meaning consider working for the Creator a respectable, dignified work.

Hence, when one prays for the exile of the Shechina, he should not pray that it is in the dust only for him. Rather, one should pray about its lowliness in the whole world, that the whole world gives no thought to spirituality. And he prays for the whole world, as we pray, “And build Jerusalem soon in our days,” so it will be glorified in the whole world, as it is said in the Rosh Hashanah [the beginning of the year] prayer, “Be King over all the whole world with Your glory.” But since the general public does not feel the lack, how can they pray?

However, such a person, who was rewarded with obtaining the need, who has attained the exile, he can ask for redemption. But those who do not feel that there is an exile, how can they ask that He will deliver them from exile? It follows that a person’s feeling of being in exile is already considered an ascent in degree, and he must ask for fulfillment for the general public.

As was mentioned above, “Anyone who mourns for Jerusalem is rewarded with seeing its joy.” In other words, the one who feels the exile of the Shechina and mourns is the one who is rewarded with seeing its joy, since in terms of Kelim [vessels], only he has Kelim that are ready for redemption because Kelim are a desire for fulfillment.

Hence, he mourns when he feels how the Shechina is in exile and her greatness is not seen. But one who wishes to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven because He is great and ruling gets thoughts and imaginations, and these thoughts repel him outside of Kedusha [holiness], and only by overcoming and coercion above reason can he endure.

And each time he wishes to believe that His Providence is in the manner of good and doing good, he gets thoughts that slander the Creator and it pains him that he must hear slander. He believes that it is only because the nations of the world rule over the Kedusha, meaning that there is concealment, and for those who wish to enter the holy work, the Sitra Achra [other side] hides the importance of Kedusha. It follows that it is precisely the one who mourns who needs heaven’s mercy, to be able to overcome the evil in him, and he mourns and cries for the Creator to help him.

But he should certainly pray for the whole public, or it is considered that he is praying only for his own sake, that is, that only he will be delivered from exile. And if one truly asks for the sake of the Creator, to have the glory of heaven revealed in the world, how can he ask only for himself? Thus, one should ask for the glory of heaven to be revealed to the whole world, as our sages said (Baba Kamah 92), “Anyone who pleads mercy for his friend, and needs the same, is granted first.”

In the work, we should understand why a person is answered first if he pleads mercy for his friend. It seems as though the mercy he is asking is not because he wishes to evoke mercy on his friend. It seems like deceit. Because our sages said that he will be answered first, he is pleading mercy for his friend.

And yet, we should understand why he is answered first. Can’t the prayer be granted for both of them together? Must it be one at a time and not both at once? We should understand what is it about him being answered first.

We should interpret that when a person asks for mercy for his friend in the work—when one begins to walk on the path of achieving Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator through observing Torah and Mitzvot, considered that all his actions will be for the Creator and not for himself—the body begins to resist this work. It brings him thoughts of how this work is not for him, since the nature of the body is for its own sake, while he wishes to work for the sake of the Creator. Thus, the body, called “will to receive,” always shows him that it is not worthwhile to work for the Creator. And since one cannot make a single move without pleasure—for this is the nature of creation, since He wishes to delight His creatures, which is the reason for creation—hence, one cannot work unless he receives pleasure from the work.

Thus, everything that a man does is only to enjoy, meaning receive reward for the exertion he is making. Therefore, in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], when one believes in reward and punishment, one has fuel for work during the labor because he is looking at the reward he will receive. But when one works in order to bestow, meaning he does not wish to receive any reward for the labor, how can he work without pleasure?

The Zohar says about this that we must work because the Creator is great and ruling, meaning because of the greatness of the Creator. This is so because we see that in nature, the smaller one receives pleasure when serving the greater one, since naturally, one has strength to work in service of an important person. Especially, it is a great pleasure to serve a great king. One does not need to work on it; it is in the nature of creation. What one shouldwork on is to know and to feel that he is an important person, and then he will be able to serve him.

Therefore, particularly when one wishes to work because of the greatness of the Creator, bad thoughts come to him and do not let him feel the greatness of the Creator, but actually show him the opposite. Indeed, this concealment governs the whole public. But for those who do not work because of the greatness of the Creator, the body does not need to hide the greatness of the Creator from them, since as long as they do not make the greatness of the Creator the reason for the work, the body is not working for free because it considers the reward, not the giver of the reward.

It follows that particularly for people who wish to work only because of the greatness of the Creator, there is resistance and the nations of the world cover and hide the Israel in man. Thus, naturally, the majority of slander against the greatness of the Creator is in those who wish to achieve Dvekut with the Creator. Those who feel that discernment called “Shechina in the dust” are the ones who feel the need to ask of the Creator to deliver her from exile, from being among the nations, meaning that the nations rule over her and hide the greatness and importance of the holy Shechina.

Therefore, those who feel that the Shechina is in the dust should pray for the glory of heaven to be revealed throughout the world. However, it is not the whole world that needs it—to raise the Shechinafrom the dust—and so he is answered first, since he needs the same thing. But afterward this brings disclosure to the whole generation. And yet, as long as they do not have the proper Kelim for it, it cannot be so disclosed in them. It is as our sages said, “If he performs one Mitzva[commandment/good deed], happy is he, for he has sentenced himself and the entire world to the side of merit.”

Thus, only that person—who feels the concealment over spirituality, over the desire to bestow because of the greatness of the Creator—must ask for mercy for the whole generation. And since he needs the same thing, he will be answered first. This is why it is said about him, “Anyone who mourns for Jerusalem is rewarded with seeing its joy.” And the reason is, as we said above, that he needs the same thing, and not the public. This is why he who pleads mercy for his friend, they cannot both receive the granting of the prayer at once because only he needs that thing, meaning that salvation—to feel the greatness of Kedusha [holiness] called “raising the Shechina from the dust.”

But those who work in the first above-mentioned manner, who work for a reward, they consider the reward. There is a rule: The one who gives is important. It follows that if they believe that they will receive reward, that the Creator will pay their reward, then He is already important to them. But those who are not working for a reward should now feel His greatness, and on that there is the concealment that is placed on the Kedusha—its greatness is unseen. For that, we were given the request from the Creator to remove the concealment, as it is written, “Hide not Your face from me.”

Now we can understand what we asked about what is “Israel does not know,” and what is “My people does not understand.” Israel are those who work with the aim to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, to be rewarded with achieving the degree Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], and not for their own benefit. They belong to the intention called “knowing,” since they need to come to clear knowledge that they must achieve the greatness of the Creator. This knowledge comes specifically through faith above reason, since the reason is dominated by the nations of the world, who hide the greatness of the Kedusha and degrade the kingdom of heaven to the dust.

And particularly by overcoming with faith above reason, when one carries out his actions by coercion, when bad thoughts of the Sitra Achra come to him, which slander and say that it is not worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator, that the reason for this work is only the greatness of the Creator, then there is nothing one can do except believe in the sages, who tell us that it is specifically this work that a person does above reason that the Creator enjoys. It is as Baal HaSulam said, that the majority of the work is when a person gives something to the Creator precisely when he goes above reason.

This means that reason tells him that it is not worth it to do things in order to bestow. But one overcomes it and works above reason. This is considered that a person gave something to the Creator. But when the Creator gives him an awakening from above, there is nothing that one can do, about which he can say that he is giving something to the Creator, since then a man is annulled before the Creator as a candle before a torch, without any choice.

In that state, one is giving nothing because he has no choice. But when he must go above reason, since reason states otherwise, he can say that he is giving something to the Creator. And he said that we must believe that this work is more important to the Creator than the rest of the works.

The prophet said, “The ox knows its owner.” This belongs to the quality of Israel, who are considered the heads of the people. Israel means Li Rosh [The head is mine]. Knowledge belongs to them, and this is why he said, “Israel does not know,” since they were not engaging in labor in order to come to know the Creator, as it is written, “Know this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God.”

And the prophet said that they were not engaged in this. Also, the prophet spoke to the public, meaning to the populace, whose work is only to receive reward and this is why they engage in Torah and Mitzvot. They did not consider the matter of “And the donkey, its master’s crib.” The donkey, as we said above, is the will to receive called “only self-love.” And then the prophet told them that the donkey, meaning he who looks at his master’s crib—the reward—did not consider that the Creator is giving them the reward, meaning that by considering, they will receive the love of the Creator, just as there is love for one who gives presents to people. But they did not notice the Giver; they only thought that they would have reward.

It follows that what they did, they did for reward were without love and fear, meaning they did not give any thought to “His master’s crib,” meaning to the landlord—that the Creator is the Giver. Instead, they cut the Mitzvot from the giver of Torah and Mitzvot and did not think of the Giver of the work during the work. Also, when they thought about the reward, they were not thinking of who was the Giver of the reward.

This means that the prophet stands and warns both Israel—who work on the intention but do not give sufficient heed to achieving Dvekut with the Creator—and those who work only in action and their aim is only to receive reward, and they do not consider who it is who gives the reward. This is why “My people does not understand.” And naturally, they lack the love of the Creator.

It follows that a man should reflect on what to pray for before he comes to pray. This is why Baal HaSulam said that one should pray for only one thing, and this includes many things: It is that he asks of the Creator to give him a desire to work in order to bestow and not for his own sake. This is so because to have a desire to bestow, he must have faith in the Creator and believe in the greatness of the Creator. But the prayer that he wishes for the Creator to give him the desire to bestow means that a person tells the Creator, “I want that while I engage in Torah and Mitzvot, the intention will be that I will believe that the Creator takes pleasure in my actions.”

In other words, even though one does not taste or feel anything during his labor, he will have the strength to say to his body—while the body argues, “You see that the study of Torah and the prayer are tasteless to you,” a person wishes to have the strength to tell the body, “since I am working only for the Creator’s pleasure, why should I care if it feels tasteless to me or not? If I were working for my own benefit, you would be right in what you are telling me, that you are tasting nothing in your work. Likewise, a person who does not enjoy his food does not eat. I, however, am working to benefit the Creator, so it makes no difference to me what flavor I am tasting.” This is what he asks of the Creator, and this is called unconditional surrender.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “A Cup of Blessing Must Be Full,” in the Work?

Article No. 38, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

It is written in The Zohar (Pinhas, Item 630), “‘Full,’ which is said regarding a cup of blessing, is as it is written, ‘A cup full of the blessing of the Lord.’ So a man should be whole, as it is written, ‘And Jacob came whole.’ There must not be any flaw in it, for ‘all that has a blemish will not approach.’ Likewise, the letters Aleph-Lamed-Mem [mute] with Yod-Hey are the letters of Elokim [God], are as the count of ‘cup,’ namely eighty-six [in Gematria]. For this reason, the cup must be full, for if you reverse the word Ilem [Aleph-Lamed-Mem, mute], you will find Maleh [full], for the [word] ‘cup,’ in Gematria, is ‘full,’ Yod-Hey.”

We should understand the following:

1) What does it imply that when wine is poured into a cup and it is full, it is called “a cup full of the blessing of the Creator”? This means that if the cup is not filled with wine, the blessing of the Creator cannot be?

2) Why does it say, “So a man should be whole,” like the cup with the wine? What does it add to us by this? After all, if the cup is already filled with the blessing of the Creator, why does man also need to be like that, implying that otherwise he cannot receive the blessing? Therefore, with regard to whom is the cup called “blessing of the Creator”? Does the cup need the blessing?

3) The most perplexing is what he says, that man should be whole, as it is written, “All that has a blemish will not approach.” This implies that one who has a flaw can no longer approach the Creator. This means that one who is missing a limb can no longer approach the Creator and must stay far from the Creator and has no freedom of choice.

4) What does it imply that he says Ilem [mute] and Maleh [full] are the same letters, that a cup in Gematria is Maleh Yod-Hey [filled with the Creator]?

To understand all the above, we must remember the whole order of the work that we were given to do, as it is written, “Which God has created to do.” We said several times that there are two opposite discernments before us, which are called 1) the purpose of creation, which is His desire to do good to His creations, meaning for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, 2) the correction of creation, for the creatures to strive to bestow upon the Creator, so He will enjoy. That is, the will to receive for oneself wants to enjoy, and the Creator gave him this desire, but he relinquishes this desire and wants only for the Creator to enjoy.

It follows that the two are opposites. Hence, it is hard work to achieve such a desire called “desire to bestow contentment upon one’s Maker,” and relinquish the desire for self-benefit.

In order to be able to emerge from the control of the will to receive, we must begin in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], meaning for our own benefit. In other words, by observing Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], he will be rewarded in this world, as it is written in The Zohar, that he will have life, health, and sustenance. Otherwise, he will not be able to enjoy the corporeal life in this world. When a person believes this, he has someone who compels him to observe the Torah and Mitzvot. This is called “believing in reward and punishment, meaning that he observes Torah and Mitzvot because he is afraid of punishment and expects to receive reward.

Sometimes the reward and punishment are expressed in a person as reward and punishment in the next world, where there are the Garden of Eden and Hell, and this is the reason compelling him to observe Torah and Mitzvot. And since from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake], meaning that the light in the Torah illuminates to him that there is a different manner of reward and punishment—where the reward is to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. At that time, he can feel the greatness of the King, that this is the reward he expects, and he regards as punishment when he sees and feels that he is separated from the Life of Lives and that he is far from the Creator. This, to him, is the biggest punishment.

It follows that even when a person already has some sensation of Torah and Mitzvot, which the Lo Lishma has caused him, when sometimes he begins to feel a little bit of the greatness of the Creator, this causes him to want to annul before Him as a candle before a torch. At that time, a person cannot understand why he wants to annul before Him now, and annul all of his own reality before the Creator. Rather, this comes to him as though it is a natural thing, meaning that even though he does not understand what is being done with him now—that he wants to annul—but in reality, so it is. This is called “an awakening from above,” where a person’s hand does not reach. “Hand” means attainment, from the words “When a hand attains,” meaning that person does not understand why he wants to completely annul before Him.

However, later, when the awakening departs from him, a person begins to yearn to achieve annulment before the Creator, and wants to obtain the feeling he had while in ascent, but now he begins to see how far he is from this, and all his organs resist such ideas as annulling self-benefit and that all his concerns will be how to bring contentment to his Maker.

At that time, he sees that the world has grown dark on him. He cannot find a place from which to receive vitality, and then he sees that he is in a state of descent and lowliness. When he comes to such a descent, he sees that no one has such bad thoughts. However, one should believe in the sages that such thoughts come from above, meaning that from above, they want this person who now wants to approach the Creator to suffer descents because by having descents, he will feel the need for the Creator to lift him.

This is as it is written, “He lifts the indigent from the trash.” That is, precisely when he feels that he is in the trash, meaning that all those things that he regarded as trash, as animal food, who eat the waste that people throw in the trash, and of which they say that it is food that is unfit for human consumption, as he himself says during an ascent.

But now that the Creator wants to bring him closer, a person should feel his lack, and then he can receive a filling for the lack. It follows that precisely when a person is in the trash and from there searches for his food, when he sees to what state he has come after all the labor he has given in order to obtain the desire to bestow contentment upon his Maker, then he can make an earnest prayer. Yet, a person does not always have the strength to believe.

However, when a person is already standing near the place from which he will receive the help from above, and “near” means that the Kli [vessel], meaning the desire to bestow, is far away from him, then he sees that only the Creator can save him. As Baal HaSulam said, this is the most important point in man’s work, for then he has close contact with the Creator because he sees one hundred percent that nothing can help him but the Creator Himself.

Although he believes this, still, this faith does not always illuminate for him that specifically now is the best time to receive the salvation of the Creator, that specifically now he can be saved and the Creator will bring him closer, meaning give him the desire to bestow and emerge from the control of self-love, which is called “exodus from Egypt.” In other words, he comes out of the control of the Egyptians, who afflicted Israel and did not let them do the holy work. “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and their cry rose up to God,” and then the Creator brought them out from the exile in Egypt.

In other words, since the people of Israel felt the enslavement and wanted to escape from this exile that the Egyptians were enslaving them, when they came to this important point of feeling their lowliness, the Creator brought them out of Egypt. This is as the ARI says, that when the people of Israel were in Egypt, they were already in forty-nine gates of Tuma’a [impurity], and then the Creator brought them out from Egypt.

This means that they already came to the worst lowliness, the lowest that can be, and then the Creator brought them out.

It follows that when a person sees that he is in utter lowliness, he should believe that specifically now is the time when the Creator will bring him closer. And if the faith does not shine for him then, on the spot, he escapes the campaign.

It follows that the whole order of the labor that He has given is seemingly for nothing. But later, he is given another awakening from above, and once again he forgets what he had during the descent, and thinks once more that he will no longer have descents, and so on repeatedly. A person needs great mercy in order not to escape the campaign. Although he uses the counsels that our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” but the person says that he has already used this advice several times to no avail.

He also says that he has already used the advice “He who comes to purify is aided,” and it is as though all the counsels are not for him. Thus, he does not know what to do. This is the worst state for a person, meaning he wants to escape from these states but has nowhere to run. At that time he suffers torments at being between despair and confidence. But then a person says, “Where will I turn?”

At that time, the only advice is prayer. Yet, this prayer is also without any guarantee, so it follows that then he must pray to believe that the Creator does hear a prayer, and everything that one feels in these states is to his benefit. But this can be only above reason, meaning although the mind tells him, “After all the calculations, you see that nothing can help you,” he should believe this, too, above reason, that the Creator can deliver him from the will to receive for himself, in return for which he will receive the desire to bestow. Then, when a person receives from the Creator the desire to bestow, he becomes whole with the Creator, meaning he has been rewarded with equivalence of form, which is called “unification.”

At that time, a person is considered “unblemished,” since all of man’s blemishes are that he has bad thoughts about spirituality. That is, instead of feeling the importance of Kedusha [holiness], that it is something very important, when he wants to annul before Him, when he has love of the Creator because of the yearning for the Creator, to him it is the opposite. That is, he feels the resistance of the body.

All this comes for lack of faith in the greatness of the Creator, and how can he approach the Creator with the blemishes he has within him? This is the meaning of what we asked, How did they say that one who has a blemish shall not approach? for it means that he no longer has any choice to be able to approach the Creator. In other words, the verse, “therefore choose life,” was not said about him. Can this be said?

However, in the work, we should say that a “blemish” means a lack, meaning lack of faith in the Creator. Thus, “all that has a blemish will not approach,” meaning cannot approach the Creator. Instead, first he must correct his blemishes, meaning do good deeds with the aim to be rewarded with faith in the Creator, that He watches over the world as The Good Who Does Good.

Now we will explain what we asked why it is implied that “a cup of blessing should be filled with wine,” otherwise it is not regarded as a cup of blessing. And he says, “So a man should be whole.” But what is the connection between the cup and the man, that if the cup must be full, so should man be whole?

The answer is that the cup is the Kli in which wine is placed. A Kli is called “a lack,” and in the lack enters the filling. Wine is called “abundance,” and with respect to the abundance, there is never a lack, since “Nothing is missing in the King’s house,” and as it is written, “I the Lord do not change,” meaning that there is never a deficit in the light. Rather, everything depends on the receiving Kelim[vessels], so they are complete Kelim and not broken ones.

As we learned, there was the matter of the breaking of the vessels, where from the breaking of the vessels emerged the Klipot [shells/peels]. The breaking of the vessels means that just as when a physical vessel breaks, if you place a liquid in the Kli, it all spills out, so it is in spirituality: If the cup, called a Kli, is not full, but the Kli is deficient with the Creator, the abundance exits to the outer ones, namely to the Klipot.

The intimation that the cup must be full means that the cup should be in equivalence of form with the abundance that comes from the Giver. Then the cup can be full and the abundance will not go to the external ones. In order to understand the intimation, they added and said, “so a man should be whole” and there will be no flaw in him. This is when the cup is called “a cup of blessing.”

In other words, man, who is the Kli that should receive the abundance of blessing, should be whole with the Creator. This means that all of man’s concerns should be only about the benefit of the Creator and not about his own benefit. This is called “a complete cup,” implying that man should be complete, and then the cup can be full.

In other words, if the Kli, called “cup,” implying to the receiving individual, the blessing can be full in the Kli, and it does not spill over from the blessing, meaning the Kli, to the outer ones, who are the Klipot. Rather, everything stays in Kedusha, since man has no blemish, for a blemish in spirituality means that there is a mixture of will to receive. If a person has corrected himself from all the flaws, which is the will to receive for himself, what remains is a cup full of the blessing of the Creator and no abundance flows out to the external ones.

Now we will explain what he says, Ilem [mute] with Yod-Hey is the letters Elokim [God], and it is the same number as “cup” [in Gematria]; hence, a cup must be full, for if you invert the [letters of the] word Ilem you will find Maleh [full]. We should understand what this implies to us.

The ARI explains the Lord, God [Elokim] after the name of the Kli that is fit to receive the abundance, called “light.” He says that the order of scrutinies is that the parks and Kelim must be raised from BYA to Atzilut for Ibur [impregnation] in Ima. At that time, 320 sparks ascend, comprising thirty-two Behinot [discernments], where each Behina [singular of Behinot] comprises ten, thus 320 Behinot.

The breaking occurred because of Malchut of the quality of judgment that was in each Malchut in each of the thirty-two paths. Hence, the first correction was that Abba, called Hochma, sorted and removed the Malchut of each Behina. This is regarded as removing the Malchut in each path, which is called Peh [mouth], which is Malchut, from which the degree is revealed and shines.

This is as he says in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 12, Item 246): “The Ubar [embryo] does not speak at all, for it is Ilem, from Elokim. Hence, it is mute, devoid of speech. This is the meaning of ‘Or who makes him mute.’” And it is written (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 12, Item 221), “Now (at the time of Yenika [nursing]), they will be filled with the letters Yod-Hey and become complete Elokim.”

We should discern between speech and mute in the work. Speech means revealing, when a person already has Yenika in spirituality, and he feels that he is nursing from Kedusha, for nursing on milk indicates Hassadim, for the quality of Hesed [mercy] is bestowal, when a person is rewarded with vessels of bestowal and all his actions are for the sake of the Creator and he has no concerns for his own benefit. This is regarded as the quality of Hesed.

However, before the Yenika there is Ibur, meaning that the upper one corrects him. This can be when a person is like an embryo in its mother’s womb, where the embryo annuls before the mother and has no view of its own, but as our sages said, “An embryo is its mother’s thigh, eats what its mother eats,” and has no authority of its own to ask any questions. Rather, it does not merit a name. This is called “mute,” when he has no mouth to ask questions.

This is so when a person can go with his eyes shut, above reason, and believe in the sages and go all the way. This is called Ibur, when he has no mouth. Ibur means as it is written (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 8, Item 17), “The level of Malchut, which is the most restricted Katnut[smallness/infancy] possible, is called Ibur. It comes from the words Evra [anger] and Dinin[Aramaic: judgments], as it is written, ‘And the Lord was impregnated in me for your sake.’”

We should interpret the meaning of “anger and judgments.” When a person must go with this eyes shut, above reason, the body resists this work. Hence, the fact that a person always has to overcome, this is called “anger, wrath, and trouble,” since it is hard work to always overcome and annul before the upper one, for the upper one to do with him what the upper one wants. This is called Ibur, which is the most restricted Katnut possible.

The correction is as our sages said, “Abba, who is Hochma, gives the white,” meaning he whitens the lower one from its will to receive, so a person begins to feel that the will to receive is waste, as it is written, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.” At that time, it is considered that “His mother gives the red,” meaning that Bina is called “light of Hassadim,” which is the light that comes into vessels of bestowal. That is, once a person has come to know that the will to receive is called “waste,” he receives the desire to bestow. All this is considered that the upper one works and the lower one annuls itself without any criticism. This is regarded as having no “mouth,” and this is called “mute,” which means he has no mouth.

Afterward come the states of “birth” and Yenika [nursing]. At that time, he already has a mouth, meaning that he has his own authority and he already knows what he is doing. He already has permission to make his own choices, which is regarded as being on his own. This is regarded as receiving Ruach, which illuminates when he already has his own authority in Kedusha. But in Ibur, he had only Nefesh, from the word Nefisha [rest/stillness], meaning still, which has no independent movement but the upper one moves it in every action.

At that time, he receives a complete name from Elokim, meaning that being in Ibur, Ilem [mute] from Elokim [God], meaning that he did not have his own authority, that he owned the work, but rather everything was attributed to the upper one. When he was born and has his own Yenika in Kedusha, he is a full name of Elokim. This is the intimation that that which was mute from its own perspective, has now become full. That is, he has been rewarded with Yod-Hey from Elokim, which implies a complete name, “cup” in Gematria, which is the number four— Elokim, which is 86—and then the cup is full.

In other words, when a person has corrected himself into the domain of Kedusha, it is called “a complete Kli,” and this is called “a cup of blessing,” meaning that the blessing can already be in it, since the Kli is corrected so that everything that it receives will remain in Kedusha.

By this we understand what it implies that the cup should be filled with wine. It implies to us that the abundance will remain in the Kli and nothing will spill out from there to the outer ones. Rather, everything will be in order to bestow. It follows that when speaking of the Mitzvot, it all pertains to branch and root. This is why a cup of blessing must be full, which implies to spirituality, meaning the order of man’s work to achieve the purpose of creation.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “The Shechina Is a Testimony to Israel,” in the Work?

Article No. 37, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

The Zohar says (Pinhas, Item 491), “‘For the Leader on Shoshan Edut.’ Moses said, ‘Shoshan Edut,’ the Edut [testimony] of the Shechina [Divinity], who is called ‘Shoshan Edut’ because it is a testimony standing over us and testifying about us before the King. It is holy help for us to praise in praises. This is why it is called ‘Shoshan Edut.’ Moses said, ‘It is called ‘Shoshan Edut’ because the Shechina is a testimony to Israel, who are her organs, and she is a soul upon them. She is help from heaven, as it is written about her, ‘And you will hear the heaven.’ She is holy assistance.’”

We should understand why the Shechina is called Shoshan. What does this color [Shoshan is a rose] of the Shechina imply to us? We should also understand what it means that the Shechina testifies to us before the King. We know that Edut [testimony] should be by seeing and not by hearing. Therefore, we should understand what seeing is there here, to say that the Shechina testifies to us with respect to seeing.

It is known that we have two opposite discernments in the work of the Creator: 1) On one hand, we learn that the purpose of creation is because His desire is to do good to His creations. For this reason, He created in the creatures a desire to receive delight and pleasure, since to the extent of the yearning for something, so is the measure of the pleasure. It follows that the purpose of creation was that the creatures will enjoy the world. In other words, He created a desire to receive pleasure for the creatures to enjoy, meaning that the whole purpose was for the creatures to enjoy. 2) On the other hand, we are told that it is forbidden to receive for ourselves. That is, a person must not do something in thought, speech, or action for his own benefit. Rather, one should be concerned with doing everything for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, as it is truly against the purpose of creation.

The answer is that a person needs to work for the sake of the Creator not because the Creator needs that others will work for Him or to be given something. Rather, it is a correction for the creatures. It is as the ARI says, that in order to bring to light the perfection of His deeds, meaning for this act, called “to do good to His creations,” for the creatures to enjoy and so that there will be wholeness in this pleasure, meaning so they would not feel shame in this, a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were placed on the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give.

Yet, this is only when they have the intention for the sake of the Creator, meaning that because the Creator enjoys His will being followed and receiving the good from Him because He wants this, this naturally removes the issue of shame that the disparity of form causes because there is a rule that every branch wants to resemble its root. As the Creator bestows, likewise, when the lower one bestows, he enjoys.

When the lower one must receive, he is ashamed. Hence, this correction was placed on the will to receive for one’s own sake, which comes from creation, that a person should place on the will to receive an intention to bestow.

However, when a person wants to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] with the intention that this will bring him a desire to do everything in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and since this desire contradicts human nature, which was created as a desire to receive only for one’s own benefit, so when a person says, “I want to do good deeds so that through them I will be able to aim everything for the sake of the Creator and not for myself,” the will to receive for oneself within one’s body, which is called “wicked,” yells, “What is this work for you?”

And what is the answer we should give to its question? The answer is brought in the Passover Haggadah [narrative]: “A wicked one, what does he say? ‘What is this work for you?’ For you, and not for him. And since he excluded himself from the public, he denied the most important. And you, too, blunt his teeth.”

This answer is very difficult to understand. He is asking a question; he wants to understand why we are going to cancel the will to receive, which is the desire that the Creator created. We must answer him, since he is asking according to his view, that he is correct. Thus, why did they say, “Blunt his teeth”?

Baal HaSulam said about this that since he asks, “What is this work?” meaning “Why must we work for the sake of the Creator and not for ourselves?” There is nothing to answer to this. In other words, a person is given an answer to his question so he would understand with his mind. Yet, here it is impossible to make it understand because he is asking, What will the will to receive have if he works in order to bestow? If he were to receive later, after he wants to bestow, meaning if we could say, “Bestow, and in return you will later be able to be a receiver,” that would be bestowing in order to receive. This is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake].

Therefore, when a person wants to work Lishma [for Her sake], meaning to bestow in order to bestow, there is nothing to answer it. This is called “Blunt his teeth.” In other words, the answer is that we must go with force, meaning above reason, since within reason, the wicked is right. This is called “Blunt his teeth.” He said that a person cannot defeat the evil at once, but that this work is in ascents and descents until a person is rewarded with winning it and taking upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven as faith above reason.

This is why Malchut is called Shoshanah [rose] or Shoshanim [roses] or Shoshan [another name for a rose], for the name is always given after the event, since we are not rewarded with the kingdom of heaven without the matter of blunting his teeth. This is why Malchut is called Shoshanah, after the act.

It follows that the meaning of Shoshan is “Blunt his teeth,” since there is nothing to answer to his question and we have to go by force, by coercion, although the wicked one, meaning the will to receive for oneself, disagrees. This is called Hakaa [striking], meaning that he fights with himself. When a person says to his wicked one, “It is worthwhile to serve a great King and we do not need anything in return, but only because He is great and ruling, meaning because of His greatness, a person should be satisfied when serving a great King,” the wicked one says to him, “How do you want to serve a great King? Do you feel His greatness, for which you are saying that it is worthwhile to serve Him?”

In these states, a person is sometimes unable to depict to himself any greatness of the Creator. Instead, he feels the lowliness in Kedusha [holiness]. This is regarded as “Shechina [Divinity] in exile” or “Shechina in the dust.” In other words, he does not feel any importance in the King. On the contrary, depictions come to him that push him away from the work of the Creator to the point that sometimes he even wants to forget about the work of the Creator, for while he remembers that he should work for the Creator and not receive any reward for the work, but the work itself should be his goal, this can be said when a person feels a taste in the work. At that time, the taste he feels commits him to continue the work and he does not need any reward.

But what can one do if when he comes to do the holy work and says that he does not want any reward for his work, then he has no reward that will obligate him and will be the reason for which he can work, and work gladly, for afterward he will receive a great reward because he is working not in order to receive reward.

Also, he does not feel that he will be working for a great King, so how can one work without any joy? He is told to work coercively, meaning without the body’s consent. This is called “Blunt his teeth.”

But from where can one derive powers to be able to force himself to work in order to bestow? And even if he overcomes himself, he cannot do such work gladly. That is, the work he does at that time is like that of a captive person who is forced to work. Each time, he says, “Perhaps there is a way I can escape from here so I would not have to work for others?” The only joy he has then is when he looks at the clock and sees that soon he will rid himself of the work.

It follows that when the work if full of sorrow and agony from having to work for others instead of for himself, can the owner look at how his employees are working for him, crying as they work, and saying, “When will I be able to rid myself of the work?”

The person asks himself: “Does the Creator want us working for Him compulsively?”

That is, they feel that man is far from the Creator, that he does not feel the love of the Creator, meaning that during the work, that he will love the Creator. He looks at himself and does not know what happened to the person. That is, where the work is for the sake of the Creator, the person should have felt closeness to the Creator during his work, meaning to have more desire each time to draw closer to the Creator.

But now it is the complete opposite. That is, he feels each time that he is drawing farther from the Creator, that the acts he does push him away. He feels each action as though he is pushed out, meaning that he is not permitted to approach and feel the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, and to feel some flavor in these actions. On the contrary, it is as though a distance has been created between them. It seems to him as though no one can stand the other, and all his actions, which he does by force, are to him as a burden and a load. He always contemplates escaping from these states, but he has nowhere to run except by sleep, meaning that he finds flavor only in sleep.

However, at that time, the question is, Why is it really so? That is, a person should ask, Why do I deserve this? Is this the Torah and is this its reward? Is it because I began to work on the path of truth—which is to come to do the holy work so it is all for the sake of the Creator—that I am being pushed out of the holy work?

Why is it that when the work was like the general public, meaning to do good deeds, and I did not think at all about the intention for the sake of the Creator, and I relied my work entirely on the general public, who think only about actions and not about intentions, I had a good taste in the work and in the prayer? I knew that I was praying to the Creator and that He hears my prayer, and I had the strength to continue with the prayer, and I never looked, when I was praying, whether the Creator hears my prayer. That is, I had no criticism over my actions and I was certain that everything was fine.

But now that I need to rise in the degrees of holiness, since I want to work for the sake of the Creator, in order to approach the Creator, what have I now? I am only growing farther where I should have been growing closer.

The truth is that we must believe in faith in the sages and not follow what human intellect dictates, but rely completely on what the sages told us. Baal HaSulam said that a person should believe that this is so although he does not see. Yet, a person must believe that the Creator does hear the prayer, as it is written, “for You hear the prayer of every mouth.” Since a person asks the Creator to bring him closer, the Creator wants to give him real closeness, meaning to give the person the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give. This is called “the purpose of creation.” For this reason, the Creator prepares for him Kelim [vessels] for this, and Kelim are called “need” and “lack.”

We see that there are only three things: 1) A person understands that if he wants to be a servant of the Creator, he must be abstinent and not enjoy anything, and then he will be a servant of the Creator. That is, in return for this, he will receive reward in this world and in the next world. 2) He understands that he must achieve the degree where he can work for the sake of the Creator, meaning that all his actions will be for the sake of the Creator, and he settles for this. 3) A person must achieve the purpose of creation, which is for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, and not that they will give, since giving—which is that we must bring contentment to the Maker—is only the correction of creation.

According to the above, we can understand what we asked, Why when a person asks the Creator to give him vessels of bestowal, he receives from above bigger vessels of reception than he had before he asked the Creator to be given vessels of bestowal?

The answer is, as we said in previous articles, that if a person receives a desire to bestow right away, meaning that he will be able to overcome the small will to receive, he would settle for this, and the will to receive within him would remain uncorrected because it would not be revealed to a person so he could ask for the strength to overcome it.

This means that the fact that a person sees, when he asks to be given the power to overcome the small will to receive, and in return for the prayer he is given a big will to receive, it is not as the person thinks, that initially, his will to receive was small, and then from above he was given a big will to receive.

Rather, it is as The Zohar says about what is written, “Or make his sin known to him.” He asked, “Who made it known to him?” And he said, “The Creator made it known to him.” This means that the Creator made him see each time to a greater extent how big was the power of the will to receive with which he was born, as it is written, “Sin crouches at the door.” That is, as soon as he was born, it was born with all its might. This is why it is called “a foolish old king.”

However, a person need not know the full extent of the will to receive. Rather, this revelation of the power of the will to receive is gradual. That is, the evil should be balanced according to the good that he has. In other words, to the extent that a person exerts to cancel the will to receive, to that extent it is revealed to him from above.

As we explained concerning, “To the wicked, it seems like a hairsbreadth, and to the righteous, the evil inclination seems like a high mountain,” we said that since the good and the bad must be balanced, as our sages said, “One should always see oneself half good and half bad,” since they always go together so as to have a choice what to decide.

It follows that the bad is within man. However, the bad is revealed according to the measure of the good in a person. Hence, when one begins to walk on a line of truth, the bad appears in him each time. However, for each bad state that he feels, he cannot do anything except ask the Creator to help him, as it is written, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day. Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” It follows that man is powerless to overcome the evil, but the Creator must help him.

However, we should know that this, too, is a correction. That is, the fact that a person cannot overcome the bad without help from above is deliberate. This is so because if a person has the ability to work for the sake of the Creator by himself, he will remain in a state of Katnut [smallness/infancy]. That is, he will not need to rise in the degrees of Kedusha, where a person should come to attain the Torah, where the delight and pleasure that the Creator wanted to give to the creatures are concealed.

If a person feels that he is fine, he has no need for the Torah. But if a person cannot overcome the bad, and in that respect, a person cannot be satisfied, since he sees how the evil governs him, so he sees that he has no grip on holiness, so how can he be satisfied?

At that time, according to the measure of his overcoming, he sees the truth more clearly—that there is no chance he will be able to emerge from the governance of evil. At that time, when he asks the Creator to help him, he asks with all his heart. Moreover, often he despairs and needs extra overcoming to have the strength to go above reason, that the Creator can help him.

It follows that by overcoming and asking for the Creator’s help, in what is he helped? It is as The Zohar says, “with a holy soul.” That is, each time, the help is with a greater illumination. This is why a person cannot emerge from the governance of evil by himself, but rather needs the Creator to help him. By this, he will reveal his NRNHY of Neshama [soul].

According to the above, we should interpret what we asked: 1) Why is the Shechina called Shoshan[rose]? 2) Why does the Shechina testify to us before the King? That is, what should she testify? 3) What does it mean when he says that the Shechina is called “Help from above,” as it is written, “And you will hear the heaven”?

She is called Shoshan because it is impossible to acquire the kingdom of heaven, which is faith above reason unless when the wicked comes and asks, “What is this work for you?” and wants to know within reason what he will have by working for the sake of the Creator and not for himself.

At that time, there is nothing to answer within reason, since within reason, he is right, as it is written, “And since he excluded himself from the public, he denied the most important.” That is, since he denied the essence of the correction, which was in order not to have shame upon reception of the delight and pleasure, it follows that the Creator does not need to be served. Rather, the fact that we should work for the benefit of the Creator is for our own benefit.

That is, through this correction there will not be the matter of shame. This is what he denied. Hence, it will not help him to understand anything, and instead, we must go by force, meaning by coercion, which is called “Blunt his teeth.” And since this work is ceaseless, it is called “Blunt his teeth a lot.” This is why the kingdom of heaven is called Shoshan or Shoshanah [both mean “rose”], from the words, “Blunt his Shinaim [teeth].”

And what does the Shechina testify to us? that we are fine. We asked, Where does she see this?

The answer is that it is because she helps us. Malchut is called “Assistance of heaven.” This means that Malchut herself gives the help. This is as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided.” Thus, she can testify that we are fine because she helped us in this.

Also, we asked, Why must she testify? We should interpret that once a person has been rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, when he can work for the sake of the Creator, he needs to be rewarded with the Torah, called ZA, a “King.” This is what she must testify, that he already has the kingdom of heaven, and is therefore worthy of the Torah, called “the names of the Creator,” which is the purpose of creation.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “The Children of Esau and Ishmael Did Not Want to Receive the Torah,” in the Work?

Article No. 36, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

It is written in The Zohar (Balak, Item 138), “When the Creator wanted to give the Torah to Israel, He went and invited the children of Esau, and they did not accept it, as it is written, ‘The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir,’ meaning that they did not want to receive it. He went to the children of Ishmael, and they did not want to receive it, as it is written, ‘appeared from Mount Paran.’ Since they did not want, He returned to Israel.”

It is said in The Zohar (Balak, Item 140), “Rabbi Shimon said to him: ‘This question is settled. The Lord came from Sinai, and from Sinai He came and was revealed to them. ‘And dawned on them from Seir’ means that from what the dwellers of Seir said, that they did not want to receive, from this it shown for Israel and added to them much light and love. Likewise, He appeared and shown to Israel from Mount Paran, from what the dwellers of Paran said, that they did not want to receive, from this, extra love and illumination were added to Israel, as it should be.’”

We should understand why it says that because the children of Esau and Ishmael declined to receive the Torah, it added extra love and illumination to Israel. It seems as though no one wanted to receive the Torah, and only Israel saved the day, and this is why He shown for Israel and added more light to them. It seems that otherwise, the additional love and illumination would be missing from Israel.

In the corporeal world, we can say that sometimes a person wants to give to someone something nice, but there is no one who wants to receive, and this pains the person. Therefore, someone feels sorry for him and accepts it, and then the person loves the person who did him a favor by accepting that thing. But how can such a thing be said with regard to the Creator, that the extra love and illumination that the Creator gives to Israel is because the children of Esau and Ishmael did not want to receive the Torah, while Israel did receive it?

To understand this in the work, we must remember that in the work, man himself is a small world, as it is written in The Zohar, that “Man consists of all seventy nations and contains the quality of Esau, the quality of Ishmael, as well as the quality of Israel.” As we learn, the quality of Israel is in exile under the governance of the seventy nations of the world, which are generally called “will to receive for oneself,” while Israel are called “desire to bestow upon the Creator.”

It is known that there are two discernments:

1) The purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, namely for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure. The Creator’s desire to bestow created in the creatures a desire to receive delight and pleasure, meaning that wherever the created being sees that there is something to enjoy, it immediately yearns to receive the pleasure. This is called “the Kli [vessel] that the Creator created,” as it is written, “Which God has created.”

2) The correction of creation. However, there is the matter of the correction of creation, meaning that in order to prevent the shame, a correction took place, where it is impossible to receive with the Klithat the Creator created, and which is called “will to receive for oneself.” Rather, man must make a new Kli, called “desire to bestow,” like the Creator, whose desire is to bestow upon His creations. Likewise, the creatures must make this Kli, or the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to impart upon His creations lie under concealment and hiding. This is the meaning of the words, “which God has created,” meaning the will to receive, “to do,” meaning what the creatures must do, which is the desire to bestow, which is absent in the creatures and they must make it, so they will have a desire to bestow.

We should ask, How is it possible to do the opposite of what the Creator created, which is the will to receive for oneself? How is it possible to revoke the work of the Creator, called “will to receive,” and do the opposite? It seems as though a person is acting against the Creator?

The answer is that man cannot revoke the will to receive that the Creator created. Thus, why is it required of us to do everything for the sake of the Creator, since it is against our nature?!

However, there is the matter of light and Kli. A Kli is called “desire,” and desire is called “a lack,” and “light” is the filling of the lack. The rule is, “There is no light without a Kli.” Hence, the creatures must provide for themselves a Kli, meaning a lack, for there is a rule that any lack pertains specifically to the creatures, and not to the Creator.

It follows that the creatures must perform actions and seek ways to find in themselves a lack, which is that they want all their actions to be for the sake of the Creator, but they cannot, so the creatures see and feel this lack of a desire to bestow, which they cannot obtain by themselves.

However, in order for it to be clear that they cannot obtain the desire to bestow, the creatures must first exert on their own. Otherwise, how will they know that they cannot obtain that lack by themselves? However, we should ask, Who needs this awareness that man is incapable of obtaining the desire to bestow by himself?

The answer is that man himself needs this awareness. Otherwise, he will not ask the Creator to help him, since he will think that he has time to do everything in order to bestow, since it is within his power to do everything in order to bestow whenever he wants.

For this reason, man must first work by himself to obtain the desire to bestow, and only then can he make an earnest, heartfelt prayer, meaning have a real need for the salvation of the Creator, that He will give him this desire to do everything for the sake of the Creator.

By this we can interpret what is written (Psalms 119), “Happy are those who treasure His testimonies, who demand of Him with all their heart.” We must understand the connection between his saying, “Happy are those who treasure His testimonies,” meaning that they observe the Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds] of the Torah, and “who demand of Him with all their heart.” As said above, we must obtain a need to feel that we are lacking the desire to bestow. Before we obtain this, meaning before we obtain the desire to bestow, we are unfit to receive the delight and pleasure, that the Creator wants to give to the created beings.

However, how can one obtain that lack? We are told that observing the Mitzvot of the Torah, this can bring one this awareness that he must obtain the desire to bestow. That is, by observing Torah and Mitzvot, when a person aims—by observing the Torah and Mitzvot—to come closer to the Creator, meaning to achieve Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” this can bring him to feel the lack of the desire to bestow. It is written, “Happy are those who treasure His testimonies,” meaning that this will give him a lack, after which he will be able to ask the Creator to give him this lack.

This is the meaning of the words, “who demand of Him with all their heart,” meaning that afterward, he can demand of the Creator to give him wholeheartedly, meaning to give him the desire to bestow, so that everything he does for the Creator will be with all his heart. It follows that then, by observing Torah and Mitzvot, he will come to a state where he can demand of the Creator to give him the quality of “with all his heart,” meaning that it will be for the Creator. In other words, he demands that the Creator will give him the desire to bestow, called “with all his heart,” since this is the only reward he demands in return for observing Torah and Mitzvot.

It follows that man’s work is to obtain a lack and a need that the Creator will give him a desire to bestow instead of the desire to receive that He has given him upon creation, for by this he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator. Hence, although he asks for a different desire than the one that the Creator gave him, the Creator wants this. Baal HaSulam said about this that the Creator said, “My sons defeated Me,” in that they want a different desire than the one that the Creator gave them, meaning that they demand of the Creator to give them a different desire from the one He originally gave them.

Yet, the will to receive that the Creator gave, which is called “existence from absence,” is the axis of the whole of creation. However, the will to receive must undergo correction, which is called “the correction of creation.” That is, creation is called “will to receive for oneself,” and on it, an intention to bestow is placed. It follows that in the end, the will to receive remains, but has acquired a correction of the aim to bestow.

It follows that we should ask, According to the above, when a person begins to ask of the Creator to give him the desire to bestow, meaning to be able to do all his deeds for the sake of the Creator, why does the Creator not give him the desire to bestow as the person demands and asks? In the order of the work, we see that when a person wants to walk on the path toward obtaining the desire to bestow, he sees that he is going backward instead of forward. That is, the evil appears in him more intensely than it was disclosed in him while he was working in order to receive reward.

The thing is that we must know that the desire to bestow is only the correction of creation and not the purpose of creation, for the purpose of creation is that His desire is to do good to His creations, meaning for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure. Hence, if He gave them what they want right away, meaning the desire to bestow, they would be satisfied with the work in that they are bestowing upon the Creator and have Dvekut with the Creator, so what else do they need? For themselves, they need nothing, which is called “desiring mercy,” and they have no need to receive anything from the Creator, so the matter of the purpose of creation, which is His desire to give to them, would remain untouched.

But the purpose of creation, which is the objective, as it is known that everything is calculated according to the goal and not according to the means, for the desire to bestow is only a means by which to achieve the goal, so if he were to receive the desire to bestow, he would be satisfied with it and the goal would remain as an unturned stone, since no one would need it because they would already be satisfied in the work.

This is as it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1, p 118): “From all the above, you find that the soul is destined to acquire all 620 holy names, its entire stature, which is 620 times more than it had before it came. Its stature appears in the 620 Mitzvot where the light of the Torah is clothed, and the Creator in the collective light of the Torah. Thus you see that ‘the Torah, the Creator, and Israel’ are one.”

This means that this is the purpose of creation—that a person must achieve his completion and be rewarded with the Torah in the manner of the names of the Creator. It is not enough that He wants to bestow upon the Creator. Although this is a great thing, it is not the goal. Rather, man must achieve 620 times the amount that his soul had had before it clothed in a body. However, if he were to receive the desire to bestow immediately after a few prayers and litanies, he would have no need to obtain the goal for which he was created. This is the reason why a person does not receive the desire to bestow, and moreover, sees that he is receiving an even more excessive desire to receive than he had before he began the work on bestowal.

However, we should understand why after a person makes efforts to come closer to the Creator, which means equivalence of form, called Dvekut, as it is written, “And to cleave on to Him,” and they explained, “Cleave unto His attributes, as He is merciful, so you are merciful,” it was enough that a person did not receive what he asked for, meaning the desire to bestow. But why is he now getting an excessive amount of the will to receive, each time more than he had before he prayed to be given the desire to bestow? It seems as though it is a mistake from above, as though it is thought above that he is asking for a desire to receive, and is therefore given a greater will to receive. But he asked for a desire to bestow, so why is he given from above a greater will to receive?

The answer is that in order for him to need to receive the purpose of creation, to be rewarded with the Torah, called “the names of the Creator,” he is given a bigger will to receive each time. That is, to the extent that he does things in order to achieve the desire to bestow, he receives from above a desire to receive. And since when he asks for help from above, since he sees that he cannot emerge from its control, what is the help? It is as it is said in The Zohar about the words, “He who comes to purify is aided.” He asks, “How is he aided?” He replies, “with a holy soul. If he is rewarded more, he is given Ruach.” That is, through the help he receives from above, he is rewarded with assistance until he obtains his NRNHY. It follows that each time, he sees that he has more bad, and must ask for greater help each time.

This is as I heard from Baal HaSulam, who said about what is written regarding Abraham (Genesis 15), “And He said unto him, ‘I am the Lord, to give you this land to inherit it.’ And he said, ‘How will I know that I will inherit it?’ And He said unto Abraham, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and tormented four hundred years, and afterward, they will come out with many possessions.’”

He asked about the answer that the Creator gave him, “How will I know,” that the people of Israel will be in exile in Egypt. That is, this is the guarantee by which Abraham could know that after this act of being in a land that is not theirs, from this Abraham knew for certain that they would inherit the land. He asked, What is the answer? meaning that Abraham understood that this was the right answer. As we see, Abraham could argue with the Creator in Sodom, where Abraham kept asking, “Perhaps?” But here it is implied that he understood that this was the right answer and asked no further.

He said that the answer was to the question that Abraham had asked. This is perplexing. There is a question about Abraham, of whom it is written, “And he believed in the Lord,” so why did he suddenly ask such a question as “How will I know that I will inherit it?” He said that Abraham saw what inheritance the Creator wanted to give him, namely the inheritance of the land, and the whole purpose of creation is included in this land. But since there is a rule that there is no light without a Kli, meaning no filling without a lack, he therefore asked how it was possible that they would inherit the land when they have no need for it. As soon as they would receive some spiritual illumination they will be satisfied and serve the Creator with gladness and will not worry about anything, since they do not need more. Thus, they will have no need to inherit this land, which is the purpose of creation. Therefore, the question was that he did not see that they would have any need, and without a need, nothing is given, especially something as serious as the inheritance of the land.

To this the Creator replied, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.” Eretz [Land] means Ratzon [desire]. That is, they will be under the rule of the will to receive, which does not belong to the people of Israel but to Egypt, and this is called “a land that is not theirs.” And they will be tormented four hundred years. “Four” is a complete degree, which the four Behinot [discernments/qualities] of HaVaYaH, which are from Bina, who is regarded as vessels of bestowal. It follows that “tormented” means that the Egyptians did not let them work with vessels of bestowal. “They will be enslaved and tormented,” in what? in “four hundred years,” meaning in the Sefirot of Bina.

It is known from the book of Sefirot that Malchut is called “units,” ZA is tens, and Bina is hundreds. This is the meaning of “four hundred,” that they were not permitted to work. When they prevailed and worked in the quality of Bina, which are vessels of bestowal, they had a big war with the Egyptians. It follows that Egypt enslaved Israel when the people of Israel worked in a manner of bestowal, and then they felt that they were in exile. But when we do not work with vessels of bestowal, we do not know that the Egyptians resist this work.

This is the meaning of what he says (Exodus 2:23), “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and they cried out, and their cry went up to God from the work.” That is, by asking for help, they had to be given new lights each time, as he says in The Zohar, that the help that is given from above is regarded as a “holy soul,” and by this, the people of Israel will need the great lights because otherwise, they cannot emerge from the control of the Egyptians.

It follows that the Creator’s reply was that He would give them the need to ask for help, which is that each time, He will show them more bad, so they will constantly need to ask for bigger help. By this, the light of the purpose of creation will be revealed to them. This is called “this land to inherit it.” It follows that had they received from above the desire to bestow when they asked for it, they would have been content and would have no need to inherit the land. But since He gave them the will to receive and not the will to bestow, they received a need for the Creator’s help, by which it became certain that they would not be satisfied, but would receive the inheritance of the land.

It follows that specifically by being in a lowly state, it caused them to receive the great lights. This explains why when they wanted a desire to bestow, they were given a desire to receive, meaning that the will to receive grows where the lower ones should have received the desire to bestow when they asked for it. Hence, a person cannot say that he sees that his prayer is not heard above, and the evidence of this is that he is not given the desire to bestow. Instead, he must know that his prayer is being considered, and the evidence of this is that he is given an answer from above by being given what is good for him now, since now he will have a need for wholeness.

According to the above, we should interpret what we asked, Why does The Zohar say, “and dawned on them from Seir,” meaning that because the dwellers of Seir said that they did not want to receive, it illuminated to Israel and added to them much light and love? Likewise, “He appeared and shown to Israel from Mount Paran,” from the dwellers of Paran saying that they did not want to receive, this added extra love and illumination to Israel, as it should be.

We asked, Can such a thing pertain to the Creator, meaning that in truth, the children of Israel did not deserve to be given much light and love? Because they did not want to receive the Torah, for this reason He gave to Israel, meaning added to them. Otherwise, He would not be able to add to Israel much light and love.

When we speak of the work, we speak of one person. That is, if the children of Esau in a person and the children of Ishmael in a person did not resist the Torah but would agree to take upon themselves the desire to bestow, the quality of Israel in a person would be content and would not need the purpose of creation, as mentioned in the Creator’s reply to Abraham, saying, “Know for certain that [your descendants will be] strangers.” Specifically by being enslaved under the governance of Egypt, they will have a need to ask to be given help. And through the help, it will be possible to reveal to them the purpose of creation. It follows that precisely when there is resistance in the body, when we do not want to receive the Torah, it enables the Creator to add to them much light and love.

Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link