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What Is the Meaning of Failure in the Work?

Article No. 2, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

It is written (Hosea 14), “Return, O Israel unto the Lord your God, for you have failed in your iniquity.” The RADAK interprets “You have failed in your iniquity,” that you see that you failed in your iniquity because nothing raises you from your fall but your repentance [return] to Him. It says “unto” as in “to.” Our sages said, “Great is repentance, for it reaches unto the throne, as was said, ‘unto the Lord your God.’”

We should understand what is “for you have failed in your iniquity.” It seems as though he did something and there was a failure, some blunder that he did not see in advance. But if a person commits iniquities, what failure is there here? From the start, he intended to do something inappropriate, for he committed something that is forbidden to do.

A failure means that it is not really the person’s fault, but that he failed in it. And we should also understand the meaning of the words “unto the Lord your God,” in singular form, “your God.” Also, we should understand the meaning of “unto the throne.”

We should interpret that “for you have failed in your iniquity” means the first iniquity that Adam HaRishon sinned with the tree of knowledge, where the blunder was that he heeded the serpent’s advice. The Creator told him not to eat from the tree of knowledge but he listened to the advice of the serpent, that if he worked in order to bestow he was permitted to eat.

The serpent said that the Creator commanded not to eat from the tree of knowledge because in the state he was in, he was unfit to eat it. But if he mended his ways, certainly, in such a manner the Creator did not forbid him to eat from the tree of knowledge.

It follows that with Adam HaRishon there was a blunder and a failure. That is, he did not intend to act against His will. On the contrary, following the serpent’s advice, he intended to perform a great correction, as the serpent advised him, that it was to the contrary and the Creator would enjoy this action (see “Introduction to Panim Masbirot,” where he interprets the matter of the sin of the tree of knowledge).

This was the failure of Adam HaRishon, that he heeded the serpent’s advice, who told him that this work of eating from the tree of knowledge is considered a Mitzva [commandment/good deed], and not a transgression. But in the end, he saw that he had sinned, as it is written, “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”

RASHI interpreted “and they knew that they were naked”: “Even a blind person knows that he is naked. So what is the meaning of ‘and they knew that they were naked’? They had one Mitzva in their hands, and they were stripped off of it” (stripped off means naked, bare, undressed).

That is, he saw that he should not have heeded the serpent’s advice, although the serpent made him think that everything he said to him was for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, as he told him that if he prepared to purify himself and aim for the sake of the Creator, on this, there was no commandment of the Creator (see “Introduction to Panim Masbirot,” Item 17).

By this we should interpret what our sages said (Sanhedrin 38), “Adam HaRishon was a thief.” RASHI interprets that he “leaned toward idolatry.” We should understand how such a thing can be said of Adam HaRishon, who spoke to the Creator, that we can say he was an idolater.

According to what we learn, faith means that he believes above reason. Therefore, although he himself heard from the Creator that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge, and it cannot be said that he had to believe in the commandment of the Creator, but it means that after the serpent came to him and made him understand within reason why the Creator told him not to eat, Adam HaRishon should have told the serpent, “Although within reason you are correct, meaning that if I eat from the tree of knowledge with the aim to bestow, the Creator will have contentment from this eating, and I see that you are one hundred percent correct, still, I am going above reason. I want to observe the commandment of the Creator without any intellect or reason, since what you add to faith is already called ‘leaning toward idol-worship.’”

But Adam HaRishon added to what the Creator had commanded him. It is about this that they said, “Adam HaRishon was an idolater.” From this sin extends to us the concealment in the work, for it is hard for us to move away from self-love. Naturally, it is difficult for us to believe in His guidance in the form of good and doing good, so we will have the power to praise and thank Him for all the things that a person feels—that it is only good.

This lack of faith in His guidance, that He leads His world as the good who does good, causes us to be so far from the Creator. A person can serve and do things that are even beyond his power, if he feels for whom he is working. But as long as one is in self-love, he cannot feel His existence as is required for having permanent faith.

This is as it is written (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 138), “When one feels bad, denial … lies upon him,” meaning he cannot have faith before he has equivalence of form. “It is a law that the creature cannot receive disclosed evil from the Creator, for it is a flaw in the glory of the Creator for the creature to perceive Him as an evildoer, for this is unbecoming of the complete Operator.”

By this we should interpret his expulsion from the Garden of Eden into concealment and hiding, and for which all the generations following him have much work in that they must believe that there is a leader in the world, and that He also watches over with a guidance of the good who does good. When a person does not have such faith, it causes him all the sins that he commits, since it extends from the first iniquity of Adam HaRishon that man has the quality of self-love, and naturally, he is incapable of taking upon himself the burden of faith.

It follows that everything extends from the first failure, when Adam HaRishon fell into self-love. This caused the following generations to have work of simple faith, since when a person is in self-love, the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment are on him, and the upper light cannot shine for him. For this reason, a person can believe in the Creator only above reason, since the will to receive causes him denial.

Thus, the failure that Adam HaRishon had with the tree of knowledge caused us absence of faith. Naturally, from this we come into all the sins. Therefore, the only counsel is to be rewarded with faith, for man to feel Godliness personally, so he will not need the general public, to have faith from the whole of Israel. Instead, a person must repent to the extent that it is “unto the Lord your God.” That is, he should feel that “the Lord is your God” personally, and then the flaw of the tree of knowledge will be corrected.

By this we can interpret what is “unto the Lord your God.” Because the failure was that he heeded the serpent’s advice—who told him what was His intention according to the intellect—a person must repent until he is rewarded with “the Lord is your God” personally, and not be taken after anyone.

That is, he should not follow the general public when he sees in what ways, meaning with what intentions the order of the work should be, as well as the manner of the work. In other words, he should not consider the goal that a person from the general public aspires for. Rather, he must repent until he is personally rewarded with “The Lord is your God.”

This is as it is written (“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 54), “When the Creator sees that one has completed one’s measure of exertion and strengthening in faith in the Creator, the Creator helps him. Then, one attains open Providence, meaning the revelation of the face. Then, he is rewarded with complete repentance, meaning he clings to the Creator once more with his heart, soul, and might, as though naturally drawn to Him by the attainment of the open Providence. …It is written, ‘What is repentance like?’ … ‘when He who knows all mysteries testifies that he will not turn back to folly.’” That is, when can one be certain that he has been rewarded with complete repentance? “When He who knows all mysteries testifies” to him. “This means that he will attain the revelation of the face, at which time one’s own salvation will testify that he will not turn back to folly.”

Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, What is “unto the Lord your God”? It means that a person should repent, meaning do all that he can until the Creator helps him and he is rewarded with open Providence, meaning the revelation of the face. Then it is regarded as “the Lord your God,” meaning that he has obtained the revelation of the face of the Creator personally. This is called “unto the Lord your God,” meaning that he was rewarded personally, and this is called “the Lord your God.”

Now we will explain what we asked about the meaning of what our sages said, “Great is repentance, for it reaches unto the throne” (Yoma 86). It is known that it is impossible to correct anything unless we see the corruption. For this reason, it is impossible to repent if he does not see the sin. In other words, the evil cannot be corrected if one does not see the evil in its true form.

As in corporeality, if one does not see the weight of something, one cannot lift it. Hence, when a person does not see the real form of evil within him, he cannot ask for complete help so he can overcome the evil. It is known that “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day, and were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not be able to overcome it.” For this reason, if a person does not see the measure of the evil, his prayer is incomplete.

If, for example, a person asks the Creator to help him with a little bit of evil, so that by this he will be rewarded with repentance, as a result, the help that comes from above is only in order to revoke a little bit of evil and not all the evil within him. This is akin to a person coming to the doctor and telling him that he has a fever and asking the doctor to give him a pill to lower his temperature. The doctor asks, “What is your temperature?” and he says, “38°(centigrade)” [100.4°F]. The doctor gives him a pill but the pill does not help. So the doctor says to him, “You must have a higher temperature.” So what does the doctor do? He takes his temperature himself and sees that his temperature is more than 40°(centigrade) [104°F]. Then the doctor gives him a medicine suitable for someone with 40°(centigrade) temperature.

The lesson is that since a person must pray, which is the tool to receive salvation, and if a person does not pray for the real evil within him, but thinks that he has a little bit of evil, his prayer does not draw help from above, but only for someone who has a little bit of evil. Therefore, when a person begins to walk on the path of truth and asks for the Creator’s help, the Creator shows him each time a little bit of the evil within him. Consequently, the person begins to think that each time he overcomes in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], he grows worse than before he began the work of truth.

At that time he comes to a state of “pondering the beginning.” That is, he regrets having started this work. The whole reason why he started this work was in order to thereby draw closer to the Creator. But now he sees the opposite, that he is going backward instead of forward.

However, a person should believe that he is making progress in the work, except he sees that each time he is getting worse. As in the above allegory, where the doctor takes the temperature and not the patient, the Creator “takes his temperature,” meaning shows him each time how he is immersed in evil to such an extent that he cannot believe that such a thing can be.

That is, a person does not understand how there can be such a state where a person begins to increase his labor in Torah and Mitzvot, and should have seen that each day he becomes better. But in reality, he sees that he is getting worse.

The answer is that when a person begins to walk on the path of truth, to the extent that he overcomes in the work, to that extent he is sown the evil in him, so he can ask the Creator for help over the actual evil. That is, at that time a person sees that unless the Creator helps him, it will be utterly impossible for him to emerge from the control of the evil, as the control of the evil within him grows more powerful each day. But all this is in order for him to need the salvation of the Creator, for specifically then he receives a desire and need for the Creator’s help.

This is as it is written in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 138): “The concealment is the reason for the revelation. After its correction, at the time of revelation, the concealment becomes revelation like a wick to the light that grips it. And the greater the concealment, the greater the light that will cling to it and be revealed when it is corrected.”

Accordingly, we should interpret the meaning of “Great is repentance, for it reaches unto the throne.” Baal HaSulam said that we should interpret Kisse [Throne] in two ways: 1) from the word Kissui[cover], that it covers, 2) from the word Kisse [chair] that is fit for the King to sit on.

It follows that by a person achieving the recognition of evil, where he sees how far he is both in mind and in heart, that everything is blocked and covered, that he sees no inlet making it possible to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, this is called the “covering throne.”

This degree is regarded as a Kli [vessel] and a real need for the salvation of the Creator. On this throne, the help of the Creator is later revealed, as in “He who comes to purify is aided.” It follows that this throne, that was in such lowliness, meaning that he felt a state of lowliness and degradation, has been rewarded with the glory of the King being on it. It follows that that same lowliness has become the throne.

By this we can interpret, “Great is repentance, for it reaches unto the throne.” That is, when does one know that he has repented? The sign is if the previous throne has been rewarded with the revelation of light. This is until the King of Glory, who sits on the throne, becomes revealed.

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What Does “May We Be the Head and Not the Tail” Mean in the Work?

Article No. 1, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90

Our sages said, “Be a tail to the lions and do not be a head to the foxes” (Avot, Chapter 4). Therefore, what does it mean when they say, “May we be the head and not the tail”?

The order of the work is that when wanting to walk in the path of correction, called “in order to bestow”, the basis of the work should be faith above reason. That is, when the body sees that a person wants to work for the sake of the Creator and not for oneself, the body comes with the question of wicked Pharaoh, who asked the “Who” question, and the question of the wicked one, “What is this work for you?” Reasonably thinking, we should answer these questions with the mind, which is the intellect, and not answer as though we have no head. In other words, we should delve and scrutinize with our minds what to answer to these questions.

It was said about this that we should say to the body, “In terms of the intellect, you are correct and I have no reply to you. However, the path of Torah is that we must go above the reason and the intellect.”

Accordingly, we should interpret “Be a tail to the lions and do not be a head to the foxes.” That is, when the body comes with the “Who” and “What” questions, do not answer it with the head, meaning with the intellect and within reason. Rather, “Be a tail to the lions.” A “lion” is the quality of Hesed[mercy], since in the upper Merkava [structure/chariot] there are a lion and an ox, which are Hesedand Gevura, and a vulture, which is the quality of Tifferet. He says “to the foxes” because the questions they ask are in the intellect and a fox is considered clever; this is why they are called “foxes.”

A person should reply, “I do not reply to you with the intellect, meaning with the mind. Rather, I am following the lions as a tail follows the head. As for me, I have no head, but I am following the quality of Hesed, which is covered Hassadim [mercies].” That is, even though he does not see that they are Hassadim, meaning that it is covered from him, he still believes above reason that they are Hassadim.

This is called “Be a tail to the lions.” This means that he says, “I am following the quality of Hesed, which is only to bestow. A person should say that since he believes above reason that the Creator watches over the world with the quality of good and doing good, he therefore believes that although he sees concealment on Providence, since according to a person’s eyes it should have been otherwise, he still believes that the Creator wants that this way it will be better for man if he can accept everything with faith above reason, for by this he will be able to emerge from self-love and work for the sake of the Creator.

This means that if Providence were revealed to all, even before a person has obtained vessels of bestowal, it would be utterly impossible for man to be able to receive the good in order to bestow. Rather, once a person has made every effort to obtain the vessels of bestowal, he can receive the delight and pleasure in order to bestow, as the correction should be.

It is known that our sages said, “Everything is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven.” This means that the Creator gives everything but the fear of heaven. This, the Creator does not give.

Indeed, we should ask, Why does He not give it? But first we should know the meaning of fear of heaven. As it is explained in the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (Item 203), fear is that he is afraid that he will “decline in bringing contentment to his Maker.” Therefore, he is afraid to receive the abundance. This is as it is written, “And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look.” Our sages explained that “In return for ‘Moses hid his face,’ he was rewarded with ‘The image of the Lord he beheld.’” It follows that we attribute to the Creator only giving, and not giving does not pertain to the Creator. This is why we say that fear of heaven pertains to the created beings, who detain themselves from receiving as long as they are uncertain that it will be only for the sake of the Creator.

This is all the work of the created beings, that they must work above reason. It is impossible to do anything without faith in the sages, who arranged for us the order of the work. Once a person has accepted his work as “a tail to the lions,” he follows the sages, to walk only as they had arranged for us.

This is as our sages said (Avot, Chapter 1:4), “Be dusted by the dust of their feet (of the sages).” The Bartenura interprets that you should follow them, for one who walks kicks up dust with his feet, and one who follows him fills up with the dust that they raise with their feet.

We should understand what our sages imply to us with this allegory. We should interpret that one who goes after faith in the sages looks at their way, and they say that we must go above reason. Then, a person begins to be as spies, to see if it is truly worthwhile to follow their path. This is regarded as the feet of the sages kicking up dust, which goes into the eyes of their followers. That is, when a person wants to understand the path of the sages, they tell us that we must follow them with our eyes shut, or dust will enter. Something unimportant is called “dust,” meaning that there cannot be greater lowliness than this.

Since man was given the reason and intellect in order to understand everything according to the intellect, and here we are told to walk by accepting faith in the sages, and a person wants to understand this path, and since as long as one is placed under the governance of the will to receive for himself, he cannot know what is good and what is bad, but must accept everything the way the sages determined for us, or dust and dirt will enter his eyes and he will not be able to move forward, but when we do not criticize the words of the sages and do not want to accept their words within reason, specifically by this we are rewarded with knowledge [reason] of Kedusha [holiness].

This is so because the whole reason why we need to go above reason is that we are immersed in self-love. Hence, through faith above reason, we are rewarded with vessels of bestowal, and then the delight and pleasure in vessels of bestowal is revealed. In the words of The Zohar, this is called “Reason spreads and fills rooms and corridors.” That is, when the Kelim [vessels] are proper, reason spreads both in the inner Kelim and in the outer Kelim.

By this we should interpret what we say, “May we be the head and not the tail.” It is known that there is the order of the purpose of creation and the order of the correction of creation. Therefore, in the order of the correction of creation, we must obtain vessels of bestowal, or it is impossible to receive the delight and pleasure. Therefore, the conduct is “be a tail to the lions,” and then the conduct is everything above reason.

Later, when he is rewarded with the vessels of bestowal through it, he is rewarded with a mind of Kedusha, called “reason of Kedusha,” as it is written in The Zohar, that the reason fills rooms and corridors. In other words, the reason of Kedusha in a person who is rewarded is called the “head.” Therefore, when we ask of the Creator and say, “May it be,” we ask to achieve the purpose of creation, which is “reason” and “head.”

This is the meaning of “May we be the head and not the tail,” meaning that we will not remain a tail of the Sitra Achra [other side], who has no reason, as it is written, “Another God is sterile and does not bear fruit.” Rather, we will be rewarded with “reason,” which is the fruits one obtains following the work of obtaining vessels of bestowal, which are Kelim that are fit to receive the delight and pleasure that He wishes to bestow upon His creations.

For this reason, if a person sees that he has still not been rewarded with “reason of Kedusha,” called “head,” it is a sign that he has still not been purified from vessels of self-love. This is why he still has no “reason.” In other words, it is because he did not initially walk in the manner of accepting faith above reason, by which one is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, which are Kelim where the Kedusha can clothe. This is why he has no reason of Kedusha.

This is similar to what the Sayer of Duvna said about the verse, “You did not call upon Me, Jacob, for you labored, Israel.” If a person still feels labor in the work of the Creator, it is a sign that he is still not working for the sake of the Creator, but is rather working for his own sake. This is why he has exertion in his work. Conversely, when he has corrected his Kelim so as to work in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, he enjoys the work because he feels that he is serving a great King, and this is worth a great fortune to him. It follows that a person should come to a state of head, intellect, and reason of Kedusha, since this is the purpose of creation.

According to the above, we should interpret what The Zohar says (Pinhas, Item 143), “Rabbi Aba said, ‘I remember something I had heard from Rabbi Shimon, who had heard from Rabbi Eliezer. One day, a sage from the nations came to Rabbi Eliezer and said to him, ‘Three questions I would like to ask you: 1) You say that another Temple will be built for you, but there can only be building twice … for the writing called them ‘The two houses of Israel.’ Also, it is written about the SecondTemple, ‘The glory of that last house will be greater than the first.’ 2) You say that you are closer to the High King more than all other nations. One who is close to the King is always happy, without sorrow … but you are always afflicted, in trouble, and in more grief than all the people. 3) You do not eat carcass or nonkosher food so that you will be healthy, etc. We eat whatever we want and we are robust in strength, etc. Old man, old man, tell me nothing for I will not hear you.’ Rabbi Eliezer raised his eyes, looked at him, and turned him into a pile of bones. When his anger subsided, he turned his head and wept. …These words that the wicked man asked him, I asked Elijah one day, and he said that in the seminary of the firmament, the words were laid out before the Creator, and so they are.’”

We should understand why when the gentile asked him the three questions, Rabbi Eliezer turned him into a pile of bones, while he was rewarded with the revelation of Elijah and asked him the same three questions. Why was Rabbi Eliezer permitted to ask those questions?

According to the above, meaning that we must go above reason, there is no room for questions. That is, it is forbidden to be a head to the foxes, meaning answer the questions with the head, meaning with reason and intellect, namely the questions of “Who” and “What.” Rather, “Be a tail to the lions,” meaning we must say that common sense is as the body says, but we are going above reason. By this we are later rewarded with “reason of Kedusha,” which is being the head and not the tail. In other words, we are rewarded with the head of Kedusha.

By this we should interpret what is this act, that he tells us the argument that Rabbi Eliezer had with the gentile. What does it give us in the work? In the work, we should interpret this in one person. That is, when the body asks questions and wants to understand everything within reason, we must tell the body, “Your questions do not interest me, since I am going above reason.” This is the meaning of the saying that he “looked at him and turned him into a pile of bones.” That is, turning him into a pile of bones refers to his questions, since when one goes above reason, there are no questions and everything is canceled. Afterward, “when his anger subsided” over the questions that the wicked man asked him, he was rewarded with the revelation of Elijah, and Elijah gave him the reason of Kedushaon all the questions, according to what is learned above.

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The Daily Schedule

Article No. 41, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

1. Midnight Correction: to mourn over the exile of the Shechina [Divinity].
2. Establish the faith in quantity and quality.
3. Concerning the bad: Depict the suffering and pain that the bad causes in the worlds above and below, in this world, that it inflicts death upon the created beings, and causes suffering to all of creation. For this reason, the bad of the individual causes the general, since the general and the individual are equal and there is no difference between them.
4. Also, to hate the evil because “You who love the Lord, hate evil, who preserves the souls of His followers; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked,” and his aim will be to separate the bad completely.
5. Depict the state of the souls that are robbed, and ask for mercy for them.
6. Depict the exaltedness of the Creator.
7. Depict the love in manners of revealing love.
8. The order of the learning should be Lishma [for Her sake]. This means that he wants the learning to bring him the light of Torah so the light will reform him, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.” Without help from above, a person cannot work in true faith and bestowal, without fooling himself saying that he has faith in the Creator, and he is ready to work in order to bestow without the Creator’s help, for only “the light in it reforms him.”

For this reason, it is good to dedicate a fixed time for learning only matters that speak of faith and bestowal, since when he learns these matters, he clings to such thoughts and then it is easier to accept to cling to the light of Torah.

However, we obtain this only to the extent that we work on hating evil. Hating evil is called “doers of His word,” and the light of Torah is called “to hear the voice of His word.” Both together are wholeness, for everything must [consist of] two things: right and left, meaning the hatred of evil and the love of the good, which is like light and Kli [vessel].

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “Every Day They Will Be as New in Your Eyes,” in the Work?

Article No. 40, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

Our sages (RASHI, Tavo 3 (Deuteronomy 26:16), in Yitro 13:10) said about the verse, “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul,” “Each day, they will be as new in your eyes, as though you received them today from Mt. Sinai, as though on this day you were commanded them.”

We should understand what “as though on this day you were commanded” adds to us. Why is simply, “as you received the Torah then, on Mt. Sinai,” not enough, and we need to take them upon ourselves “as though today you were commanded them”? What does this add to us in the work?

He says in Shaar HaKavanot [Gate of Intentions] (Part 2) that “The Shema reading [section in every prayer] and the prayer we pray every day always three times, evening, morning, and noon, on weekdays and on Shabbat [Sabbath] and good days, know that there is a big difference between the prayers on weekdays to those on Shabbat and beginnings of months, and the prayer on a good day or the weekdays of the festival. Moreover, even among the good days themselves, the prayer on Passover is not the same as the prayer on Shavuot [Feast of Weeks]. Also, during the weekdays, there is a big difference between the prayer on one day and the prayer of the next. There is not a single prayer since the world was created until the end of the world that is like another, and there is not a person who is like another, and one corrects what the other does not correct, since the purpose of the commandment of the prayer is to make the sorting of the seven kings of Edom who died. Each day, each and every prayer sorts out new sparks.”

In order to understand the matter of the shattering of the seven kings of Edom—which we must sort through the Torah, Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and prayer—we must remember the two known things: 1) the purpose of creation, 2) the correction of creation. The purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, meaning for the created beings to receive delight and pleasure. The correction of creation is that when they receive the delight and pleasure, they will not feel the shame due to the disparity of form between the receiver and the Giver. The way is that there was a correction that the light no longer shines on receiving in order to receive for oneself. Therefore, when a person is immersed in vessels of self-reception, concealment and hiding are on him and he cannot feel the importance of Kedusha [holiness], since there is Kedusha precisely where one wants to bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.

Prior to this, as long as one has not been rewarded with vessels of bestowal—for the upper light is present only in those Kelim [vessels]—a person must accept everything on faith, to believe that the Creator leads the world by way of good and doing good, and believe in the greatness of the Creator “because He is great and ruling.” He should believe that it is a great privilege to serve a great King.

But saying that it is a great privilege does not mean verbally. Rather, a person must feel great delight in serving a great King. That is, when can one say that he is serving a great King? It is when he feels great delight. If he is still not delighted when serving the King, it is a sign that he has not achieved a degree where he believes that he is serving a great King.

We must believe what is written, “His kingship rules over all.” Baal HaSulam said that there is no other force in the world, but that He alone does and will do all the deeds. Also, the Kedusha sustains the Klipot [shells/peels], and the Klipot have no vitality but that which the Kedusha gives them. This is the meaning of the words, “You sustain them all.” The meaning of “His kingship rules over all” is that Malchut de Atzilut gives them life, or they would not be able to exist.

It therefore follows that what we learn, that the Creator created the will to receive in order to receive pleasure, it must receive pleasure and delight or it cannot exist in the world. That is, although a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were placed on the will to receive for oneself, so delight and pleasure do not reach there, in order for this desire to exist—for if it were revoked, there would be nothing to correct—hence, in order for it to exist, it receives minute vitality so it will not be revoked. This vitality that they receive comes from the breaking of the vessels, when holy sparks fell into the Klipot so they would receive vitality and would not be canceled.

It follows that without pleasure, we cannot live. However, as long as one has not taken upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, that person receives vitality only from the Creator. But the person does not have faith in the Creator, to say that the Creator gives him his life. For this reason, he says that his life comes from nature.

But we must say that in truth, the Creator hides himself in those dresses from the secular ones. Yet, they do not believe this, meaning that the Creator hides Himself from this person, for that he will not be able to believe that the Creator is the bestower. The Creator hides Himself in a clothing of separation, so the pleasure of the Creator comes to a person clothed in dresses, and the pleasure is clothed in these dresses.

Similarly, we see that there is food for man, who sits and eats a meal of meat, fish, and so forth. From this a man enjoys. The leftovers that remain from the food, he throws in the trash for the cats to eat this waste. But the cats enjoy the waste. We see that they are completely satisfied with the food they find in the trash. Therefore, we see that dogs, chickens, and so forth, all enjoy the food, but there is a difference in that man’s pleasure is not from the waste, whereas for them, the leftover waste is satisfactory.

It is likewise with the work of the Creator. Some people enjoy the waste, meaning the Klipot—the slim light that the Kedusha gives them—and derive complete satisfaction from this. Then there are people whose pleasure is what they receive like the rest of the people. These are regarded as “waste of Kedusha.” However, that food does not satisfy them because they have an inner drive where they feel that it is not worthwhile to be born to derive pleasure from waste.

In other words, they feel that it cannot be that the same food given to animals, meaning to beasts, animals, and poultry and so forth, will be food for man, who is regarded as “speaking,” that he will be similar to animals, meaning that the same thing that sustains animals will sustain the speaking. That sensation does not let them rest and they begin to search for another source of sustenance that they will be able to say that it is worth being born for and enjoying life.

This causes them to search for spirituality, and causes them to take upon themselves the burden of the kingdom of heaven and the burden of Torah and Mitzvot. But here, too, once they have taken upon themselves the burden of Torah and Mitzvot, some of them derive satisfaction from Lo Lishma[not for Her sake]. It is as Maimonides says, that first they are taught to engage in Torah and Mitzvotin order to receive reward. And so it should be, so they will not change the order of their work. However, “Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret bit by bit.”

The question is, How do we know that they are in the form of “until they gain knowledge”? The answer is that he receives an inner drive and feels that it cannot be said that this is the meaning of what is written, “For He is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations.” At that time it is evident that his knowledge has increased, and it is for him as Maimonides says, they “acquire much wisdom.” In other words, he has become wise and begins to feel that there is also internality in the Torah and Mitzvot.

Then “they are taught that secret,” that we must work on the intention, too, meaning that one should try to do all his works in order to bestow. At that time a person achieves Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator and is rewarded with the delight and pleasure of the purpose of creation. Then, the person feeds on the food suitable for man, and not on waste that the Kedusha throws to the Klipot so as to sustain them.

However, this is only a slim light, enough to sustain them so they will not be canceled from the world. If the will to receive is canceled in the world, there will be no one to correct. But as we learn, the heart of creation is the will to receive; it is all the substance of creation, except there is the matter of the correction of creation, meaning that creation is called “will to receive,” and this quality was created because of the purpose of creation. In other words, the desire to do good to His creations created the will to receive existence from absence.

The correction of creation is that the intention to bestow is placed on it, and then a person is fit to receive the delight and pleasure. At that time, by being rewarded with Dvekut, which is equivalence of form, we achieve the degree, “For He is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations.” That is, only when we emerge from the governance of the nations, called “multiple authorities,” and achieve the single authority, when a person has only the authority of the Creator, then we are rewarded with the light of Hochma [wisdom] and Bina [understanding].

However, although a person has already received an inner drive and wants to work in order to bestow, and not merely in an act in order to receive reward, the mind asserts that man must go forward and each day he should grow stronger than the day before. In fact, a new order begins here, which is completely irrational. That is, a procession of ascents and descents begins here, where sometimes a person says, “The first days were better than these.”

There can be several ascents and descents in one day or several ascents and descents in a single week, to the extent that a person often falls into despair and says that he does not see that he will ever be able to emerge from the control of the bad, and he must surrender under the will to receive.

But since he has already realized that the majority of the work in Torah and Mitzvot is not so important because the primary importance in observing Torah and Mitzvot should be in observing it for the sake of the Creator, this means that he realizes that the most important is to work for the sake of the Creator. This awareness causes him to feel lack of importance, meaning that it is not important to work in action without an aim.

Although he knows what our sages said, “One should always learn Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma [for Her sake],” at that time the evil in a person makes him think that it is true that it is important since from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma, but—says the evil in a person— you see that you cannot achieve Lishma. You can see this for yourself.

That is, first the evil in him makes him think that he must give up on achieving a degree where he can work for the sake of the Creator. After it has given him thoughts of despair, it tells him, “You, who have already come to know that the main point is for the Creator, you understand that not for the sake of the Creator is worthless.” Therefore, it makes him think that he does not need to make such efforts in order to sustain all the actions, since you already know from experience that the Lo Lishmais not so important. Hence, you can make allowances in the Torah and the prayer and so forth.

It follows that during the descent, a person declines and follows what his mind makes him think. When the person is in a state of descent with all his lowliness, he prides himself and says he sees those people who observe the Torah and Mitzvot with all the details, but although he sees that they are not working for the sake of the Creator, he cannot be like them.

He excuses himself with an excuse of pride. That is, they have not yet come to this important knowledge that what matters is to do everything for the sake of the Creator, whereas I am at a higher degree than they are, and I do know that for the sake of the Creator is what matters. For this reason, I do not see in observing only in action, without the aim for the Creator, much use, that it is worth exerting to observe with all the details.

This is called “transgression induces a transgression.” That is, the transgression of despair causes him to degrade the work Lo Lishma. Once he has degraded the work Lo Lishma, it causes him to come to the degree of pride, meaning to consider himself superior to others, that he knows better than the rest of the people, who do not understand the truth as he does.

If a person nonetheless does not escape the campaign, meaning he does not disclose his sins in public, after some time, he is pitied from above and is given another awakening, and he receives an ascent once more. Then, the evil comes to him once more to argue with him and the same sequence repeats itself. The advice is not to run from actions he was accustomed to do, but on the contrary, do more actions.

Yet, he can do this only above reason. A person must believe that this work he does during the descent, when he adds actions in externality on the basis of above reason, by this he takes big strides toward the goal, called “Dvekut with the Creator.” Baal HaSulam said about this issue, that this is the meaning of what is written, “For the ways of the Lord are straight; the righteous walk in it, and the transgressors fail in them.”

If he can add actions on the basis of going above reason in that state of descent, since his reason shows him a procession of “transgression induces a transgression,” and he grows stronger above the intellect, he brings the time of his work closer and can achieve the goal sooner.

Therefore, during the ascent, a person must put in order the actions and the intentions. That is, when he feels that the aim is what counts, he must think that the act is also very important, since he is observing the King’s commandments and we cannot grasp how important is the act to Him. As Baal HaSulam said, as much as we can appreciate the importance of Lishma, to the Creator, the Lo Lishmais far more important, and we cannot even fathom the importance of Lishma. Hence, during the ascent, a person must remember not to belittle the action he is doing.

But at the same time, a person must try to do his work only for the sake of the Creator. There is a rule: Anything to which a person is accustomed becomes to him like a conduct, meaning something he does not need to know why he is doing it. This is called “by rote,” meaning he is used to them.

But since the Torah and Mitzvot were given in order to cleanse people, it follows that while performing the Mitzvot, he must aim that this work will yield for him a state of Dvekut with the Creator. It follows that the person must know what he wants from this work.

Therefore, if a person works out of habit, he does not need any reward. Thus, on one hand, observing Torah and Mitzvot out of habit is also a sublime thing, as our sages said, “The Creator adds a good thought to an action.” That is, when a person is rewarded with a good thought, meaning he is rewarded with being able to aim his actions in order to bestow, then all the things he did, which were still not with the intention for the sake of the Creator, the Creator adds to all the actions that were done before and all of them enter Kedusha. It follows that the more actions he has, the more the thought for the sake of the Creator is on them later.

Now we will understand what our sages said, “Each day, they will be as new in your eyes, as though today you received them from Mt. Sinai, as though on this day you were commanded them.”

There are two meanings here: 1) As then they had preparation to receive the Torah, likewise, each day, a person must prepare to receive the Torah and Mitzvot. Through the preparation, we can attain it. But if a person works without preparation, but out of habit, by this, a person is not rewarded with the purpose of creation. Although this is a big thing, too, in a place where he can thereby achieve the degree, “know the God of your father,” which is certainly directly to the goal, for this reason, they said, “they will be as new in your eyes,” for by this they will achieve Dvekut with the Creator.

2) If they are not “as new in your eyes,” it will be to him as going “by rote,” meaning out of habit. At that time, he will not be able to observe the Torah and Mitzvot above reason because by working above reason, he later merits being rewarded with the knowledge of Kedusha. It follows that when he works out of habit, meaning feels that he should observe Torah and Mitzvot as a custom that is fixed into his schedule, he cannot advance. This is why they said, “Each day, they will be as new in your eyes,” for by this, the person will be rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is for the creatures to be rewarded with receiving the delight and pleasure.

According to what is written in the book Shaar Hakavanot [Gate of Intentions], “the meaning of “Each day, they will be as new in your eyes” is that because this is the truth. That is, each day a person corrects new discernments from those that have fallen during the breaking of the vessels, as explained there in the book. It follows that a person does not repeat the Torah he had received on Mt. Sinai, he does not repeat the same things. Rather, with the Torah that was given on Mt. Sinai he must correct new discernments each day. It follows that it is “as though on this day you were commanded,” meaning that each day there are other discernments to correct with the Torah.

From this we learn why a person needs to eat each day, and it is not enough to eat once a year so it suffices for the rest of the year. According to the words of the ARI, in each eating, new discernments from the shattering are sorted, although not each one feels it. However, this is given to the whole of Israel, and all the individuals in the collective should come to this degree, as it is written, “For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.”

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “The Torah Speaks Only Against the Evil Inclination,” in the Work?

Article No. 39, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written, “If you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you take her for yourself as a wife.” RASHI interprets, “The Torah speaks only against the evil inclination, that if the Creator does not permit her, he will marry her under prohibition.”

We should understand this. Would it not be better if the Creator had not empowered the evil inclination to incite him into transgression? Then, it would not be needed to permit her because he would not marry her under prohibition. We should also understand what RASHI’s interpretation means in the work, concerning the verse “If you go out to war,” that it speaks of “optional war.” What is “optional war” in the work?

Also, we should understand what our sages said (Kidushin 30), “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” It seems as though I have created the Torah for the evil inclination. That is, were it not for the evil inclination, there would be no need for the Torah. Here, too, we should ask, But He had another way, namely not to create the evil inclination, and then there would be no need for the Torah.

It is known that only thanks to the Torah, the world exists, as our sages said, “Were it not for My covenant day and night, I would not establish the ordinances of heaven and earth.” But here it implies that He created the Torah because of the evil inclination. We should understand this in the work.

We must know who is the evil inclination, for whom the Torah had to be created, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” We should also understand why the Torah is called a “spice.” We see that when we cook some dish for a meal, in order for the dish to be tasty, we put a spice in the dish. This means that the main thing is the dish, and the spice is only an addition that gives flavor. But according to what is said, the Torah is only a spice. It follows that the main thing is the evil inclination, and the Torah only gives flavor to the evil inclination. How can we understand this, since the Torah is the main thing, as it is written, “For they are our lives and the length of our days”?

According to what is explained in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” we understand that the evil inclination is the will to receive delight and pleasure, which is called “evil inclination.” This is the “heart of creation.” That is, the thing of which we can say that a new thing was made in the world, which did not exist before He created it, is only the desire to receive pleasure. This desire, the yearning to receive delight and pleasure, did not exist prior to the creation of the world, since in the Creator, there are no lacks or desires that He needs to receive.

He says there, Why did He create this desire? It is for the purpose of creation, since the creation of the world was because He desires to do good, and we see in our nature that the Creator created that there are delight and pleasure only from things the body craves. Moreover, the measure of delight and pleasure depends on the yearning. For this reason, He created in us a desire to receive delight and pleasure, and this is the heart of creation. In other words, if this will to receive did not exist in the world, there would be no one to receive the delight and pleasure that He wishes to give to the creatures.

It follows that the heart of creation is the will to receive delight and pleasure, and without it, it is impossible to speak of creation. However, we should understand why the will to receive is called “evil inclination,” and if it is truly evil, why did He create it?

The thing is that since the Creator wanted them not to feel unpleasantness when they receive the delight and pleasure, and it is also in the nature that the Creator created, that every branch wants to resemble its root, and since our root, meaning the Creator, is the Giver, and the created beings, who must receive from Him, are opposite from the Creator, they feel shame about this. For this reason, a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were placed, where the delight and pleasure do not shine for the Kelim [vessels] of the will to receive for oneself, but only where they want to receive the delight and pleasure because the Creator wants to give, as this was the purpose of creation, for His desire is to do good to His creations, and the creature wants to obey the King’s commandment and therefore receives.

This is a correction called “receiving in order to bestow.” For this reason, two systems were made: systems of Kedusha [holiness], and systems of Tuma’a [impurity] and Klipot [shells/peels]. It is as it is written in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 10), “He imprinted the desire to bestow in the system of ABYA of Kedusha, removed the will to receive for themselves from them, and placed it in the system of the worlds ABYA of Tuma’a. Because of this, they have become separated from the Creator and from all the worlds of Kedusha.”

It follows that this will to receive is called the “evil inclination” because it causes all the evil in the world. Because of it, the creatures cannot receive delight and pleasure, and because of it they remain without vitality of Kedusha, since the light and abundance cannot shine in a place where using it was prohibited. This happened to us because of the cascading of the worlds, where from this will to receive emerged the Klipot into the world, and govern man, and he is utterly incapable of emerging from their governance, unless by the power of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], where there is the light of Torah, and “the light in it reforms him,” meaning sets him free from the governance of the will to receive for himself.

Now we can understand what we asked, why RASHI interpreted the verse, “and you take her for yourself as a wife,” by bringing the explanation of our sages (Kidushin 21), “The Torah speaks only against the evil inclination. Let him eat the flesh of slaughtered carcasses, but not the flesh of carcasses that were not slaughtered.” Some ask, Why did the Creator give the evil inclination the power to incite him into transgression? Would it not be better if the Creator had not empowered the inciter and there would be no need to permit him the forbidden? Our sages said about this, “The Torah speaks only against the evil inclination.”

The answer is that in the work, the evil inclination is called “the will to receive for oneself.” Without the will to receive, there would not be creation whatsoever. Wherever the will to receive sees some pleasure, it wants to satisfy its want, and by wanting to satisfy its want, it is possible to enjoy the thing for which it yearns. Since the Creator created this nature, it does not suffer changes. However, there is a place for corrections, which is not to cancel them but to add to them something by which this thing is corrected. However, this does not change nature, since the Creator created nature and the will to receive is something that the Creator created. Hence, man is powerless to cancel it.

The general correction is the intention to bestow. This is called “mitigation of the judgments.” That is, the judgment that was done, where it is forbidden to use the will to receive and enjoy for one’s own benefit, is because by this we come into disparity of form from the Creator. However, when receiving because the Creator wants us to receive, and for ourselves, we would rather not receive, by this the judgment of prohibition on reception is mitigated.

However, we must know that this quality of receiving in order to bestow is a real correction. That is, the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, cannot come true unless in this manner, when he does use the desire to receive pleasure, yet remains in Dvekut [adhesion], which is equivalence of form. That is, if he receives but does not enjoy, this reception is not regarded as “doing good,” since we do not speak of what he receives, but of what he enjoys. In other words, the upper one wants the lower one to enjoy, and if a person does not enjoy, then he has received nothing from the upper one. This is called “mitigation of the judgments.”

This is the heart of the wholeness. However, there are things that can be sorted from the perspective of the upper roots, so they work in order to bestow, and there are things that are forbidden to use, even in order to bestow. In other words, a person cannot say that he wants to do something that is forbidden, yet aim to bestow. If the thing is forbidden, it is because with respect to branch and root, there are things that the Torah prohibited and there are things that the Torah permitted.

In general, we should make three discernments in the Torah: 1) Mitzva [commandment/good deed], 2) permission, 3) prohibition.

We must be careful with Mitzva and with transgression, even with an act without an aim, for there is a matter of Mitzva in practice even when he has no intention. Likewise, with prohibition, there is a transgression in the action, even without any intention. But the main work on the intention is in what is permitted, when there is no Mitzva in doing it, yet no transgression if he does not do it. Then, when he does what is permitted, meaning when he aims for the sake of the Creator while performing the permitted thing, that permitted thing enters the Kedusha.

Then it is called a Mitzva. In other words, it emerges from being “permission” and enters the realm of Mitzva. And precisely here is the heart of the war against the inclination, since the body tells him that there is no prohibition, so why deny yourself from doing it? But when a person must answer it, he can tell it, “I must perform a Mitzva. Therefore, when I perform a Mitzva, I have done something. When I do not commit a transgression, I also have a Mitzva, as our sages said, ‘If he sat and did not commit a transgression, it is as though he performed a Mitzva.’

“However, when you tell me to do something that is permitted, even though I cannot aim for the sake of the Creator, this is not a Mitzva. Therefore, I have done nothing. And I do not want to be an idle worker, meaning to do things that are a waste.” It follows that with the work of Mitzvot and transgressions, the work is mandatory. But with what is permitted, where there are no imperatives pertaining to this act, specifically then the intention makes it a reality, admitting it into Kedusha.

According to the above, we should interpret what RASHI interpreted about the verse “If you go out to war,” that it speaks of “optional war.” In the work, we should interpret “permission” as having to aim in order to bestow. There is the main work on the inclination. Since there is no prohibition on the act, the inclination sees that the person wants to uproot it from the world. That is, with regard to Mitzvotand transgressions that a person does in action, the inclination does not show much resistance, since the person does not say that he wants to work only for the sake of the Creator. But when he begins to work on the aim to bestow and not for the sake of the body, the real work with the evil inclination begins.

Since the Torah and Mitzvot were given in order to cleanse Israel, as it is written (in the essay, Matan Torah [“The Giving of the Torah”]), “These are the words of our sages when they asked, ‘Why should the Creator mind if one slaughters at the throat or at the back of the neck? After all, the Mitzvot were only given to cleanse people,’ and that cleansing means the cleansing of the turbid body, which is the purpose that emerges from the observation of all the Torah and Mitzvot.”

It follows that only when speaking with the body concerning the intention for the sake of the Creator, when we want to annul self-benefit, then is the real dispute with the body. This is evident precisely when there is a war against the inclination on permitted matters. At that time, the war is not over the act, since there is no prohibition on the action. The war can be only on the aim, where a person wants it to be only for the sake of the Creator and not for the sake of the body. Rather, he wants to kill the body, as our sages said, “The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.”

Now we can interpret what we asked, Why did the Torah permit the beautiful woman, since the Torah speaks only against the evil inclination? After all, the Creator had an easier way, where He would not need to permit a beautiful woman, meaning He would not give the evil inclination the power to incite him and He would not need to change and permit something forbidden.

What is the answer? “The Torah speaks only against the evil inclination.” Literally, it is very difficult to understand the matter of the prohibition of a beautiful woman. It is just as there are those who ask, Why did the Torah not permit other prohibitions when he has a great lust for the prohibited thing? Indeed, we should answer about this that we have no idea about Torah and Mitzvot, that it is inconceivable to the human intellect. Instead, this is a spiritual matter that the Creator sentenced, as our sages said (Safra, RASHI, Kedoshim), “One should not say, ‘Pork flesh is impossible,’ but rather, ‘It is possible, but what can I do if my Father in heaven so decreed upon me?’” In other words, the whole of the Torah and Mitzvot are decrees of the Creator, and man’s intellect does not reach there. Naturally, we cannot ask, Why the Torah permitted a beautiful woman? (See in Ohr Chaim, Ki Tetze).

We should interpret what we asked, What is the meaning of “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice”? This implies that the evil inclination is the heart of the matter, and the Torah is not the main item, but is like an addition to the dish. According to what is explained in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” the heart of creation is the will to receive delight and pleasure. The reason why the Creator created the will to receive is that He wishes to do good to His creations. But due to disparity of form between the Giver and the receiver, it was given to us to correct it into working in order to bestow, by which the disparity of form in the will to receive will be corrected.

It therefore follows that what receives delight is mainly the will to receive. However, if it receives for its own sake, it is called “evil inclination” because the disparity of form in it causes it to separate from the Creator, and the delight and pleasure do not reach the separated Kelim because of the correction of the Tzimtzum. Hence, in order for the will to receive to be able to receive the delight and pleasure, the evil inclination must be given a spice, by which there will be a flavor in the will to receive, meaning that there will be delight and pleasure in the will to receive.

If it is not given the spice, which is the desire to bestow, there will be no flavor in the will to receive because it will have nothing, since the delight and pleasure does not reach there.

However, there are four discernments to make here: 1) The Kli, which receives the pleasure. 2) The pleasure that the Kli receives must have a pleasant taste. That is, it must not have shame in it, but they must feel a good taste. 3) The good taste is the will to bestow. This is called that the desire to bestow spices up the dish so it is tasty. 4) It is possible to receive this flavor, called “desire to bestow,” specifically through the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” This means that the Torah, meaning the light in it, gives the desire to bestow, and the desire to bestow gives a flavor that removes the shame from the dish, for the shame spoils all the flavor that can be found in the dish, and why the Giver cannot give any of the real pleasures, since when it reaches the Kelim of the lower ones, everything will be spoiled. This is all of our work—to obtain Kelim that are suitable for the abundance.

Now we can interpret, “The Torah speaks only against the evil inclination.” Everything that is forbidden or permitted is according to what the Creator decreed. That is, there are things that can be corrected and admitted into Kedusha even before the end of correction, and this is why we were given 613 Mitzvot. This is the reason why the Torah permitted the beautiful woman through the corrections presented in the Torah. This is above our intellect to attain what the Creator permits and what the Creator prohibits. Hence, we have no clue that we can ask, Why did the Torah permit? since the whole matter of Torah and Mitzvot is “to cleanse Israel with them.” Hence, the permission that the Torah permitted a beautiful woman through the corrections is also with the intention to cleanse people.

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Are Judges and Officers in the Work?

Article No. 38, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written, “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates.” We should understand what are “judges” and what are “officers” in the work. We should also understand what is “in all your gates” in the work. And we should also understand what is written, “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah [tree for idol-worship], any tree beside the altar.” Our sages said, “Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel.” We should also understand what is an unworthy judge in the work, and why is the prohibition so severe, as though he “plants an Asherah.”

In corporeality, we see that there is a courthouse, and the order there is that each one claims that justice is on his side, and the judges give the verdict and decide who is right. But even when the judges have already decided who is right, it is only in potential. We see the justice, but the one who was found guilty does not want to obey the justice of the judges, so the verdict is given to the police and the officers execute the verdict. That is, the officers overcome the guilty party and execute the verdict against his will. But as long as there is no court order to execute the verdict, the person says that the judges are fine, but he cannot obey the verdict although he does not dispute it.

The order is that when the officers come to execute the verdict, it is impossible to argue with the officers because they are only messengers of the courthouse. Therefore, there is no place to argue with the officers, since only in court is it possible to argue and say everything that is on one’s mind. When someone does want to argue, the officers laugh at him and say, “You are wasting your words; we must follow what the judges said.”

The same applies in the work. When a person wants to walk on the path of truth, a war begins between the good inclination and the evil inclination, where each one claims, “It is all mine.” That is, the evil inclination claims that the whole body belongs to it, meaning that the body should work only for one’s own sake. The good inclination argues that the whole body should work only for the sake of the Creator. And what should be done when two parties quarrel with one another? We go to a judge to give his verdict. The judge will say to whom the body belongs, meaning for whom the body should work.

Hence this judge in one’s heart—and a person wants to obey it, as he must say to whom the body belongs—this judge must be worthy. But how do we know if this judge is worthy? This depends only on the greatness of the judge. In other words, we must see to what extent the judge understands the greatness and importance of the work, meaning whether we serve a great or a small king.

“A worthy judge” means if he understands that he assumes in his heart that the King for whom we must work is a great and important King, worth relinquishing any pleasure that one can have in beastly lusts. He understands that the pleasure of serving the King is so important, more than all the pleasures of this world. This matter, that it is worthwhile to relinquish, can be only if the judge knows and has attained the greatness of the Creator.

Or, it can be otherwise: If he believes in the sages, who told us that we must believe in the greatness of the Creator above reason. That is, although he has not been rewarded with seeing the greatness of the Creator within reason, but on the contrary, each time a person wants to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason, it resists. And then, what can one do if the body, meaning the judge in his heart, is not impressed with everything the person tells it? Although he listens and does not say to the person that he is not making sense, but it is similar to what is written, “Like a deaf viper that does not hear the sound of the whisperers.”

First, he must say that the fact that he has come to a resolution that the body does not want to obey the arbiter and the judge that it is worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator, this is natural, since by nature, man is born with a will to receive for himself. Therefore, although the judge said that we should work for the sake of the Creator, he simply does not understand it, meaning how is it possible to do something that a person does not enjoy. But the judge told him that he should achieve a degree where all his concerns are the joy of the Creator. Although the judge brings him evidence from the Torah, which says, “Blessed is our God, who has created us for His glory,” and “All the works of the Lord are for His sake,” the body insists and says, “I see that I must do something against my mind and reason.”

Therefore, there are two manners to this state: 1) “I do not want to obey you, even though you are correct. Hence,” the body says, “I will not obey your order.” 2) It says, “Sometimes I do want to obey you, but I can’t because whenever I do something that is not according to nature, I suffer torments and I cannot tolerate such torments, meaning to work for the sake of the Creator. This is actual death, and how can I put myself to death?”

Therefore, a person must act coercively. That is, he must believe what our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” This means that a person must tell his body, “What you say—that you cannot do things that contradict nature—is true. However, we must know that the actions are mainly in the intention, meaning that the intention should be that the act he does will be for the sake of the Creator.”

Although the body cannot understand this, because it is against nature, meaning against the reason and the intellect, it does this only out of faith and not through its own intellect. This is why it is called “an act.” And when a person wants to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] in action and not in the reason, if a person wants to achieve the truth, he must say—when he wants to execute what the judges said—that we must work for the sake of the Creator. This is called “officers,” and with officers, we see that there is no point arguing with them, that there is no arguing with the officers, meaning that they do not hear what is being said to them.

It is likewise in spirituality. A person must not argue with the body when he goes above reason. He should say to the body, “It does not matter to us if you are right or wrong.” Perhaps the body is one hundred percent correct, but the officers follow the judge’s order, and a person should pray to the Creator to give strength to the officers so they can overcome the guilty one. In spirituality, this means that a person should pray to the Creator to give the power and might to his overcoming, so he can prevail over the body and execute what the judges said.

By this we will understand what we asked, What are “judges and officers” in the work? It is that we must appoint judges who will determine whose is the body. That is, when this body works, who profits from its work? Does the profit go to one’s own benefit or to the benefit of the Creator? Afterward, one needs the power to overcome, to execute the judges’ verdict, and the power to overcome is called “officers.” This should be “in all your gates.”

We asked, What is “in all your gates”? Literally, it seems to mean that in each gate there must be judges and officers. We should interpret “your gates.” It is as The Zohar says about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates.” It interprets that “in the gates” means “Each one according to what he assumes in his heart.” That is, in each measure that a person assumes in his heart the greatness and exaltedness of the Creator, a person should appoint there “judges and officers” in order to be able to carry out everything.

Now we can understand what we asked, What does “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah, any tree beside the altar,” mean? Our sages said, “Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel.” We asked, Why is the prohibition so severe that it is as though he plants idol-worship in Israel?

According to the above, since in the work, every person is a small world, it follows that when there is a feud between the evil inclination and the good inclination, each one claims, “It is all mine,” meaning “the body belongs to me.” The evil inclination claims that the body should work not for the sake of the Creator, but for one’s own sake, that working for the sake of the Creator is foreign work to us. And since we must obey the good inclination, which says that the body must work for the sake of the Creator, as a result, when a person appoints an unworthy judge, meaning who does not know to say that we must work for the sake of the Creator, but says that we must work for the sake of the body, it follows that he plants idol-worship in Israel, since the judge does not understand that we must work for the sake of the Creator but says that we must work for the sake of the body, which is foreign work to us.

This is why the prohibition on an “unworthy judge” is so severe, since the judge tells him to do idol-worship, called Asherah. Hence, if a person wants to know what to do and wants to trust the judge within a person, he must first see if this judge can give a judgment that is the whole truth, meaning to tell him to walk on the path of truth, meaning to work for the sake of the Creator.

According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Tanhuma 8), “Anyone who makes a judgment that is the whole truth is rewarded with the life of the next world.” This implies that one who wants to be rewarded with the life of the next world, there is a very easy way that does not require so much labor in Torah and work. Instead, if one tries to give a judgment that is the whole truth, he will be rewarded with the next world. According to the above, a “judge” in the order of the work is one who gives the verdict—to whom the body belongs, meaning whether the body should work for the sake of the Creator or for one’s own sake.

It follows that this judge, which a person establishes within one’s heart so as to give the verdict, to whom the body belongs, meaning for whose sake it should work, for the sake of the Creator or for one’s own sake and not for the sake of the Creator, if he is not a worthy judge and does not know to appreciate the greatness of the Creator, and he is still biased by the will to receive for himself, and the person says, “I will listen to what the judge decides and says about whom one should work for,” it follows that that judge seemingly plants an Asherah, meaning idol-worship.

That is, this judge, which a person wants to obey, tells him it is not worthwhile to work for the Creator. It follows that if he listens to this judge, he will have to commit idol-worship and not work for the sake of the Creator.

This is why our sages said, “Anyone who appoints an unworthy judge, it is as though he plants an Asherah.” We asked, What is the severity in the matter, that if the judge is not worthy, it is as though he commits idol-worship? The intimation is that in the work, it is truly idol-worship because he tells him that we need not work for the Creator. It says, “It is as though he plants an Asherah in Israel,” since every person should have the quality of “Israel,” meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], namely that “all your works will be for the sake of the Creator.” Yet, the unworthy judge says that it is better to work for oneself. This is called “idol-worship.”

By this you will understand what we asked about what our sages said, “Anyone who makes a judgment that is the whole truth is rewarded with the life of the next world.” Thus, why should we work and toil so much in order to be rewarded with the life of the next world? After all, there is an easier way—to try to make a judgment that is the whole truth and thereby be rewarded with the life of the next world.

In the work, this means that there is the “truth,” and there is the “whole truth.” “Truth” means that the judge within his heart tells him he must observe Torah and Mitzvot, but in order to receive reward. That is, the Torah and Mitzvot that he performs should be with a reward and punishment of self-benefit. It follows that on one hand, this is called the “truth.” It is as Maimonides says, “Therefore, 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 much wisdom, they are shown that secret bit by bit” (Hilchot Teshuva, Chapter 10).

This means that the judge gives a judgment of truth.

Conversely, the “whole truth” means that the judge tells him we must work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake. This is called the “whole truth,” meaning that the act is true and the intention is also true. This is called the “whole truth.”

However, we should interpret what is the meaning of the “whole truth.” It means that the truth is that it is true, that everyone admits that it is true, and not simply that he says that it is the truth. We can understand this according to what is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 13), where he interprets the seventh correction of the thirteen qualities, which are 1) El [pronounced Kel], 2) Merciful, 3) Gracious, 4) Erech [long], 5) Apaim [face. Erech Apaim means “long face” or “patient”], 6) Great in Mercy, 7) And True.

He interprets what is “And True.” In his words, “Therefore, he calls this correction by the name, ‘And True,’ since by the revealing of the two Holy Apples below, the truth of His Providence over the lower ones is revealed. Therefore, the revelation of His Providence is called ‘And True,’ for it is the truth of His will, and all the concealments in the worlds come only to reveal this truth about His Providence, which is to do good to His creations. For this reason, this correction in ZA is called ‘And True.’”

According to the above, we can understand the meaning of “Anyone who makes a judgment that is the whole truth is rewarded with the life of the next world.” It means that then, all the nations of the world in his body see the truth—that they are rewarded with the delight and pleasure found in the will of the Creator, which is His will to do good to His creations. And this is called the “whole truth.”

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is “A Road Whose Beginning Is Thorns and Its End Is a Plain” in the Work?

Article No. 37, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in Midrash Tanchuma (p 318b): “Behold, I place before you. It is written, ‘From the mouth of the upper one, the bad and the good will not emerge.’ Moses, too, set before them two ways—the good and the bad, the path of life and the path of death, a blessing and a curse. There is an allegory about an old man who sat by the roadside before two roads: One, whose beginning is thorns and its end is a plain, and one whose beginning is a plain and its end is thorns. He sat at the beginning of the two and warned passersby, telling them, ‘Although you see that this one begins with thorns, take it, for its end is a plain.’ Anyone who was wise, listened to him and took it. He exerts some, but he goes in peace and comes in peace. But those who did not listen to him went and failed in the end. Therefore choose life; you and your descendants.”

To understand this in the work, meaning in the work of observing Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], we should discern two ways: 1) Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], 2) Lishma [for Her sake].

It is known that in the work, we should discern between the purpose of creation and the correction of creation. The purpose of creation is for man to achieve wholeness, meaning to be rewarded with the delight and pleasure that the Creator wishes to give to the created beings. This is called “His desire to do good to his creations.” Because of this, all created beings yearn only to receive delight and pleasure.

Therefore, each and every day, a person yearns anew to receive delight and pleasure, and does not settle for what he had in the past. Rather, each day a person begins to receive delight and pleasure. This means that each day, a person must receive delight and pleasure. Some people receive pleasure now from what gave them delight and pleasure in the past. However, if they cannot receive pleasure from the past now, it is not regarded as enjoying the past now. That is, a person must feel pleasure every day. A person can feel pleasure even from what he gained yesterday, or he can feel pleasure today because yesterday he received respect, and so forth.

It follows that “His desire to do good to His creations” must mean that a person will feel each day anew that he receives pleasure. However, he can enjoy only from the pleasure he receives in the present from both the past and from the future. In feeling pleasure, if he enjoys in the present, this is regarded as having pleasure.

For this reason, in both corporeality and spirituality, a person must feel that he enjoys life now, regardless of the past or the future. Even with the greatest delight and pleasure, if he does not feel the delight and pleasure in the present, he could die because of the torments he is feeling now because he has nothing to enjoy.

But this depends on the level of suffering he is feeling now, and in this, meaning in the measure of the suffering, no two people are the same. Yet, all people must feel pleasure in the present. But as in corporeality, such as in eating, drinking, and sleeping, some people need to eat a lot, drink a lot, and sleep a lot, etc.

Likewise, in feeling pleasure, there are differences between people in the amount of need to feel pleasure. Some people need to feel a lot of it, and some can do with little. But they are equal in that they all need to feel pleasure in the present. If they cannot provide for themselves pleasure in the present from what they had in the past, and cannot depict for themselves some future pleasure that will shine in the present, they cannot exist in the world. This extends from the fact that the Creator’s will in the purpose of creation was His will to do good to His creations.

For this reason, each day we are given one hundred blessings to bless, as our sages said (Minchot43), “One must bless one hundred blessings every day. Also, each day, one must say four Shemareadings [text that is read four times a day]: ‘Shema of offerings,’ ‘Shema of Maker of Light,’ ‘Evening Shema,’ and ‘Shema by the Bedside,’ as well as to pray three times a day.”

This shows that in spirituality we must draw a unique light each time, which pertains to the work that one is doing. The reason is that the creatures are incapable of receiving the delight and pleasure that the Creator contemplated giving to the creatures all at once, due to the correction that took place, which is called Tzimtzum [restriction]. For the creatures to receive the delight and pleasure in vessels of bestowal and not in vessels reception in order to receive, according to the work of the creatures, the abundance extends down to them.

It therefore follows that when a person begins the work, since by nature he does not understand that it is worthwhile to do any movement unless it is for his own sake, Maimonides says that we must begin with observing Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward, since a person cannot understand otherwise. But afterward, a person is shown that he must do all his deeds in order to bestow.

Since the body cannot agree to this path, the person begins to ask, “Why can’t I work like the rest of the world, whose labor is all about the acts, and who have no work on the aim to bestow? But when I am told that I must walk on the path of bestowal, my work is twofold. That is, I have work observing Torah and Mitzvot in practice, as well as work on the aim to bestow. It follows that I have twice the work as the rest of the world. So,” his body yells, “What do you want from my life?!”

This means that the body asks, “Why do I deserve such a punishment, more than other people, in that I have extra work that the general public does not do? For this reason,” says the body, “I will not let you work even in action. Even though you cannot aim to bestow, I have no interest in them whatsoever. Therefore, I will object to your actions because you do not want to work for yourself.”

It follows that if a person wants to walk on the path of truth, he should make three discernments in his work: 1) Work to observe Torah and Mitzvot in practice, 2) Work on the intention. That is, he does not want any reward for observing Torah and Mitzvot, but works not in order to receive reward. 3) When a person wants to work, meaning observe Torah and Mitzvot without any reward, his work is twofold: on the action, meaning that he has great resistance to observing Torah and Mitzvot, even on the act itself, since the body objects to observing Torah and Mitzvot without any reward. It follows that although he still cannot aim to bestow during the work, since the body objects to these intentions, there is also resistance to the act itself, even without the aim. The body asks, “What are you doing?! You say that you do not want any payment for your work in observing Torah and Mitzvot.” It follows that he not only has work on the aim, which does not happen in the work of the general public, but he has twofold work in the act, as well, as it is more difficult to observe Torah and Mitzvot in practice.

Conversely, the bodies of those who work in the manner of the general public do not resist the work in practice all that much, since there, the body cannot ask, “What is this work for you?” because it gets immediate answers when he says to it that he believes in reward and punishment so he is not working for nothing, but he will be rewarded for his labor.

But with those who want to work on the path of truth, meaning in order to bestow, although reward and punishment apply to them, as well, meaning that they, too, believe in reward and punishment like people who work like the general public, yet, their reward and punishment are not similar to one another. The reward and punishment of the general public is in self-benefit. That is, they believe that if they observe Torah and Mitzvot they will receive reward for their own sake. And if they do not, they will be punished and will also lose the reward for their work.

But those who work in the way of the individuals, their reward is that the Creator gives them the privilege of working only for the sake of the Creator and not for their own sake. All of their pleasure is in being able to bring contentment to the Creator, and the punishment is if they stay under the governance of the will to receive for oneself. This is their whole punishment.

They believe in what our sages said, that the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” That is, they learn in order to receive reward, which is that they will emerge from the control of the evil inclination, which is the will to receive only for themselves, and will be able to work solely for the sake of the Creator. Certainly, on such an aim, the body, which is the desire to receive for one’s own sake, must resist giving one the powers to be able to uproot it from the world.

It is as our sages said with regard to King David about the verse, “And my heart is slain within me.” Our sages said that David killed the evil inclination by fasting. Naturally, even to the act—when a person still cannot aim in order to bestow—the body immediately resists and does not let him make a single move, since the body knows he wants to use those actions in order to kill it, as said about King David.

It follows that even when actions are without the aim, the body already shows great resistance. The only way is that in everything he wants to do, he must have the Creator’s help. That is, for every little thing a person wants to do on the path of individuals, he must ask the Creator to help him do them. Yet, we must know that the fact that the person must ask the Creator for every single thing he wants to do because it is difficult for him, this is a great correction by which one gains the need to always pray to the Creator.

In other words, a person has what to pray for. Otherwise, it might happen that a person will not need the Creator’s help. Therefore, a person gains in that he is always connected to the Creator in that he needs Him. Otherwise, a person might do the best deeds, but the deeds will not obligate him to remember the Creator while performing the act, although he goes to do good deeds. This can be because he has been brought up this way, and it can also be without remembering who commanded him to do so, but simply out of habit.

Conversely, when it is hard for him to do those deeds, he must ask the Creator to help him. It follows that during the act, he remembers the Creator because he is asking Him for help to do the act. This is a great benefit that a person should pay attention to the fact that he has something that reminds him that there is a Creator in the world and we must serve Him.

According to the above, we can understand what we asked, What is a road whose beginning is thorns and whose end is a plain, in the work? The thing is that there are two ways in the work of the Creator: 1) for one’s own benefit, 2) for the Creator’s benefit.

The way of self-benefit is called “whose beginning is a plain,” since the body does not resist it so. Because the body believes in reward and punishment, it agrees to work although it exerts itself in this work. But when it looks at the reward, this work is regarded as “whose beginning is a plain,” meaning that the body understands that this way is acceptable because it is for one’s own sake.

But “its end is thorns.” That is, in the end, he sees that he cannot feel His Providence as The Good Who Does Good, as it is written (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 138), “As long as the receivers have not been completed so they can receive His complete benevolence, which He had contemplated in our favor in the thought of creation, the guidance must be in the form of good and bad, reward and punishment. It is so because our vessels of reception are still tainted with self-reception. When we use the vessels of reception contrary to how they were created, we necessarily sense evil in the operations of Providence in relation to us.”

Thus, “its end is thorns.” “Thorns” means that this way inflicts pain, meaning that after all the work that one has exerted in Torah and Mitzvot, he still does not feel His Providence as good and doing good.

This causes him the matter of reward and punishment in his work. That is, the fact that His guidance is in the form of good and evil, from this extends reward and punishment, as it is written there in the Sulam [Baal HaSulam’s commentary on The Zohar], “Hence, when one feels bad, denial of the Creator’s guidance lies upon him and the superior Operator is concealed from him to that same extent. This is the greatest punishment in the world.

“Thus, the sensation of good and evil in relation to His guidance brings with it the sensation of reward and punishment, for one who exerts not to part from faith in the Creator is rewarded even when he tastes a bad taste in Providence. And if he does not exert, he will be punished because he is separated from faith in the Creator.”

According to the above, we can understand what we asked, What is a way whose beginning is a plain and whose end is thorns in the work? It means that the way that the general public works, in order to receive reward, “its beginning is a plain.” That is, the body does not resist this way because it is told, “You must believe in reward and punishment for your own benefit.”

That is, if it observes Torah and Mitzvot, the self-benefit will gain. And if it does not observe, the self-benefit will lose. A person can understand this because this is man’s inherent Kli [vessel], called “will to receive for oneself.”

But “its end is thorns.” That is, in the end, he does not achieve wholeness, the reward of seeing that His Providence is in the form of good and doing good. Instead, he is placed under the governance of good and evil. It follows that although “He alone does and will do all the deeds,” this is nonetheless hidden from those who feel good and evil, since at the time of “bad,” the Sitra Achra [other side] is given the power to conceal His guidance and the faith in Him, as written in the Sulam. Thus, they will “die without wisdom.” This is called “its end is thorns.”

Conversely, the way “whose beginning is thorns and its end is a plain” means that those who want to walk on the path of truth and achieve the degree of bestowing contentment to the Maker, its beginning is thorns, since when a person wants to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for himself, the body objects to every single thing he does, and each time, he must overcome anew, and every time he overcomes and the body resists, it stings him and afflicts him like thorns.

It follows that the way he is walking is as though walking on thorns, and each time, he wants to escape from the campaign. But “Anyone who is wise, listens to him.” That is, one who has faith in the sages listens to him. “He takes it. He exerts some, but he goes in peace and comes in peace,” as it is written, “For her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace,” since afterward, when he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, he walks in a way that is on a plain.

This is as it is written, “When the Lord favors man’s ways, even his enemies will make peace with him,” since then he is rewarded with the delight and pleasure found in the thought of creation, which is to do good to His creations. When they are rewarded with vessels of bestowal, it is written there in the Sulam, “At that time, His private Providence will be revealed throughout the world, since now, once the evil and the punishments have become benefits and merits, it will be possible to attain their Doer, for they have now become fitting for the work of His hands. Now they will praise and bless Him,” as it is written, “Therefore choose life; you and your descendants.”

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is “For It Is Your Wisdom and Understanding in the Eyes of the Nations,” in the Work?

Article No. 36, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written (Deuteronomy 4:6), “So keep and do them, for it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding nation.’”

We should understand this, since we do not see that the nations of the world are saying that Israel is a “wise and understanding nation.”

Also, it appears from the text that specifically by “keep and do them,” the nations will see the wisdom and understanding in the people of Israel. Even within the people of Israel we see that the secular despise the religious for observing the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], so how can we say that the nations of the world will respect the people of Israel for keeping them and doing them?

We should interpret this in the work. It is known that in the work, the person himself is a small world consisting of all the nations in the world. Since each nation has its own specific lust, as it is known that there are seven qualities of Kedusha [holiness], and opposite them seven qualities of Tuma’a[impurity], and each quality consists of ten, thus, in general, there are seventy nations. Then there is Israel.

The seventy nations want to control the quality of Israel, since Israel want all their actions to be for the sake of the Creator, for Yashar-El [straight to the Creator] indicates that all his actions will be for the Creator. But the nations of the world in a person want specifically that everything they do will be only for their own sake. We call the evil inclination, “nations of the world,” and we call the good inclination, “Israel.”

The order of the work is that when a person wants to work only for the sake of the Creator, the evil inclination, which is the nations of the world, come and resist with all their might. Each one makes a person think that he should go its way, according to the root of the lust in each and every nation. They make a person think that they are correct through intellectual and reasonable arguments.

Each time they see that the person does not want to listen to them, they come with stronger arguments and clearer evidence that they are right. They are certain that according to the reasoning and arguments that they make a person understand, he will have nothing to reply to them. Hence, they are certain that they are the smartest in the world, since they see, according to their intellect and reason, that man’s mind, can only give them silly answers, and the answers will be dismissed before their intellect and reason. Then, naturally, the person will have to follow the path of the nations of the world and idol-worship, meaning do work that is foreign to us, to the Kedusha, since Kedusha means working for the sake of the Creator, while they want to work for their own sake. Their entire certainty lies in their intellect, that they are making sense.

Indeed, how can a person defeat his evil, even though his evil speaks with reason, wisdom, and knowledge, and know that they are the smartest in the world? They are so sure of their arguments and that man will stay with them, under their control, forever.

We must know that the power of Kedusha is faith above reason. That is, when they come with their arguments and show how correct they are, one should not tell them that their arguments are wrong. Instead, he should tell the nations of the world within him, “Know that everything you say is true. Reasonably speaking, you are correct, and I have nothing to reply to you. However, we were given the work above reason—that we must believe above reason that you are incorrect. And since the work on faith must be above reason, I thank you very much for your correct arguments that you have brought me, since it cannot be said that a person goes above reason unless he has reason and intellect. Then, it can be said that he is going above the intellect.

But when there is no reason, it cannot be said that he is going above reason. That is, “above reason” means that this path is more important than the path within reason. However, when there is no other way to tell him, “Walk in this path!” it cannot be said that he chooses the path of faith above reason. For this reason, precisely through the power of faith above reason is it possible to defeat the views of the nations of the world within man.

Now we can understand what we asked, What is the meaning of, “for it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations”? The writings says, “keep and do them.” We asked, What does “keep and do them” imply?

According to the above said, that all the power we have against the arguments of the nations, who come with sensible arguments that their way—within reason—is the path of truth, all we can reply to them is by way of faith above reason. Above reason means “doing,” since they are not given an answer within reason. When we answer not with reason, this is called “doers of His word.”

This is the meaning of “Man and beast You save, O Lord.” Our sages said, “Those who are as cunning in reason as men, and pretend to be as beasts.” That is, they go above reason as though they have no reason, and by this they defeat the nations of the world within them.

It is as it says (Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes, p 12) about the verse, “I said to myself concerning the sons of men.” These are its words: “‘Concerning the sons of men,’ concerning words that the righteous say. And why did God create them? To clarify to them the measure of their righteousness, so they will see that they are beasts, to see and to show the nations of the world how Israel follow Him like a beast.”

We should understand why we need to show the nations of the world how Israel follow Him like a beast. According to the above, the nations of the world means the nations of the world within man’s heart. They must be shown that the fact that we want to work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake, we do not do this within reason, as you want to argue with us who is right. Rather, we do everything with faith above reason. We do this like beasts, without any rhyme or reason. Therefore, do not think that we will ever listen to your views because for us, everything is above reason.

We ask the Creator about this, that He will help us from above to overcome all the answers you require. Your questions are included in two questions, called “Who” and “What.” We believe with faith in the sages that we must seek the Creator’s help, and He will certainly help us, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” That is, He will help us follow Him above reason, to show the nations of the world how Israel follow Him like a beast. This is the meaning of the works, “So keep and do them, for it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations.”

That is, your observing the action, which is the above reason, and by not veering off from this path, you will certainly succeed in emerging from the control of the nations of the world, and the nations of the world within you will annul before the Kedusha, as it is written, “And you will love the Lord your God with all your heart.” Our sages said, “With both your inclinations,” meaning that the evil inclination will also turn to good. It follows that his “nations of the world,” called “evil inclination,” will also be servants of the Creator.

Then, the nations of the world in man will see that once they, too, have been rewarded with the good, since all the wisdom—by which they could defeat the nations of the world and admit them into Kedusha—was faith above reason, called “do them.” That is, all the wisdom in the quality of Israel is specifically in acting like a beast, and this was their entire wisdom.

This is the meaning of the words, “who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding nation.’” That is, the nations of the world, too, once they have also been admitted into Kedusha, as in “with all your heart, with both your inclinations,” when the evil inclination, which are the nations of the world, also enters the Kedusha, then they see that all the wisdom that Israel had was that they heard the statutes, which is an act.

Then they are a wise and understanding nation, for all their wisdom was not as we think, that we will obtain wisdom only with inquiries and intellect. On the contrary, they were rewarded with wisdom precisely by following Him like a beast, meaning that precisely by “doing,” which is called “working above reason,” they were rewarded with wisdom. It follows that they are called a “wise and understanding nation” because they followed Him like a beast, and not with wisdom. This is all of the wisdom of the people of Israel.

Concerning doing, which is called “above reason,” we should interpret what it says (Midrash Tanchuma), “‘And it shall come to pass that because,’ as the verse says, ‘Why should I fear in the days of evil, the iniquity of my heels shall surround me (encircle me).’ Because there are light Mitzvotamong them, which people do not notice, but throw them under their heels, meaning that they are light, for this reason, David feared the day of judgment. He would say, ‘Lord of the world, I do not fear the grave Mitzvot; what I fear is the light Mitzvot.’”

We should understand the meaning of light and grave Mitzvot in the work. “Light” means that it is unimportant. The fact that a person should work above reason, a person finds no importance in the matter, and this work tastes like dust to him. It is called “Shechina [Divinity] in the dust.” That is, the fact that a person must take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason, this work is “in the dust.”

Yet, we must observe Mitzvot and do good deeds and learn Torah so the Creator will raise this work from the dust, meaning from its lowliness, as we pray—that the Lord will raise the Shechina from the dust, as it is written, “The Merciful One, He will raise for us David’s fallen hut.” The reason why she is in lowliness is the concealment that the Creator has made, so there would be room for choice, meaning so we will be able to work in order to bestow, called “Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.” This is why we were given this work in the form of concealment of the face.

Hence, the heart of our work is to make for ourselves vessels of bestowal through the preparation we make during the work at the time of concealment. We have vessels of reception from the Creator, and on these Kelim [vessels], there was a correction not to use them because they cause separation as they are in oppositeness of form from the Creator. Hence, we were given Torah and Mitzvot by which we will be able to obtain the vessels of bestowal.

For this reason, all the slanderers and accusers appear over this work and say, “We agree to serve the Creator, but the goal you want to achieve through observing Torah and Mitzvot, to this we do not agree. They bring a person many arguments, meaning thoughts that make him think that this whole purpose is not worth working for. Hence, if a person does not agree to change the goal of obtaining vessels of bestowal, they do not let a person observe Torah and Mitzvot for this purpose, and anything a person does comes to him with great efforts.

As soon as a person forgets the goal and begins to work like the general public, meaning to receive reward for the work, he once again has the strength to respect it and to work with energy, since the purpose of the work is not against man’s will. But when a person begins to work and forgets the goal, and finally awakens once again and wants to work in Torah and Mitzvot in order to obtain vessels of bestowal, the arguments of the spies rise against him once again and make him feel the taste of dust in this work. Then it is difficult for him once more to move ahead. This is called “light Mitzvot,” meaning working with the aim of obtaining vessels of bestowal, namely for the sake of the Creator and not for one’s own sake. There is reason to fear in this work because he has many dissidents.

This is not so with “grave Mitzvot,” meaning that which is important to a person. That is, if a person works in order to receive reward, he regards it as a grave matter, since his self-benefit would lose if he did not observe the Torah and Mitzvot. But if the reward and the loss are for the sake of the Creator, this is not so important to a person.

For this reason, here a person slights because he introspects and says, “Since in any case, I will not lose a thing,” since he says that he will not receive anything for himself, for he says that the Torah and Mitzvot should be done primarily for the Creator and not for his own benefit, then who can benefit from his work? Only the Creator. By this, a person slights and belittles in this work. Hence, a person often tells himself, “I should not even bother exerting in the work. If it comes easy, I can work. But if I have a small disturbance, I have no power to overcome.”

The reason is that working Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] is not important, so it is not worth exerting over it. At the same time, what will he get out of working Lishma [for Her sake]? Therefore, usually, a person says that it is best to go to sleep and get some rest from all these things, as they bring him nothing but despondency and discontentment. This is called “light Mitzvot,” “which people do not notice, but throw them under their heels.”

David said about this, “Why should I fear in the days of evil, the iniquity of my heels,” the light Mitzvot that a person slights? That is, when we want to go in the work of bestowal, I fear this —perhaps I will not be able to observe them. In this regard, meaning regarding obtaining the vessels of bestowal, only the Creator can help. That is, as the Creator gave man the vessels of reception, we must ask Him to give the vessels of bestowal instead of the vessels of reception.

That is, just as a person enjoys working for his own benefit, so he will receive great importance and pleasure from working for the sake of the Creator. That is, he will feel that it is a great privilege for him to serve the King, and we obtain this by “keep and do them, for it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations.”

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is, “He Who Is Without Sons,” in the Work?

Article No. 35, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

Our sages said (Masechet Nedarim 64), “Any person without sons as regarded as dead.” The Zohar(Pinhas, Item 92) writes, “A man without sons is called ‘barren,’ and his wife is called ‘barren.’ Likewise, Torah without Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] is called ‘barren.’ For this reason, we learn that it is not the learning that is most important, but the act.” Also in The Zohar (Item 91), it says, “The Torah is called ‘a tree,’ as it is written, ‘It is a tree of life for they who hold it.’ Also, man is a tree, as it is written, ‘For man is the tree of the field,’ and the Mitzvot in the Torah are as fruits.” In other words, since the Torah and man are called “tree,” therefore, as a tree that does not bear fruit is akin to a barren person, who begets nothing, so man and the Torah are called “barren” if they have no sons.

We should understand this. We can understand that a man and a tree who do not bear are called “barren.” But if a person learns Torah but does not observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, why is the Torah called “barren”? Why is it the fault of the Torah if a person does not want to observe the Mitzvot in the Torah? In this regard, he references what our sages said, “Great is the learning that leads to action.” This means that the Torah should lead to action, and if it does not, it is as though the Torah is to blame for not leading to action. Thus, it is as though the fault does not lie with the person, but with the Torah. Can this be?

To understand the above said, we should first understand the whole issue of Torah and Mitzvot that the Creator gave us, and for which we bless Him for this gift, as we say, “Who has chosen us from among all the nations and has given us His law [in Hebrew: Torah].” We understand the matter of Torah in two ways, as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation”): “The Mitzvot in the Torah are called Pekudin [commands/deposits], as well as 613 Etzot[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 Etzot,’ 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, and in each Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], the light of a unique degree is deposited, and this is the Panim of the Mitzvot.”

Yet, we should know and understand the matter of Torah and Mitzvot in general, how “doing” pertains there, and what is the meaning of “hearing.” That is, if hearing is the most important, for what purpose does one need to begin the order of the work as “doers of His word,” which is called Achor? Why do we not begin with Panim, called Pekudin, right away? It seems as though this work is pointless.

It is known that there are two matters before us: the purpose of creation and the correction of creation. The purpose of creation is that His desire is to do good to His creations, meaning that the created beings will receive from Him delight and pleasure. For this reason, He created in the creatures a desire to receive pleasure. In order to calm the yearning that exists in the created beings, this Kli [vessel], namely the desire to receive delight and pleasure, comes from the Creator because He created it for His purpose, for without yearning for something, it is impossible to enjoy it. It is known that the whole pleasure from something can be received only according to the yearning for it. This is the measure of the pleasure, and it does not matter what a person wants, but the yearning for something makes it important.

Therefore, this Kli that comes from the Creator has completeness. That is, wherever a person sees that he can elicit pleasure from something, he promptly does all that he can to obtain the pleasure. But the Kli that the creatures must make is in oppositeness of form from the Kli of the Creator, and this is very difficult to do because it contradicts the quality of the Kli that the Creator created. A person cannot create this Kli, as our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day, and were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.”

The question is, If a person cannot overcome it, what must he do if only the Creator can give the overcoming over the evil inclination? The answer is that a person must begin the overcoming, meaning he must see that he has a desire to defeat the evil inclination. If a person has no desire to defeat it, how can he be given help? Help means that a person wants something that is difficult to obtain. Then it can be said that he is given help to obtain what he wants. But when a person has no desire, how can we say that we are helping him get something that makes him suffer? “Help” means that a person is given help so he will enjoy, not that he is given help so he will suffer.

For this reason, if a person truly wants to do the work of the Creator in Lishma [for Her sake], which is in order to bestow, he must want to do everything for the sake of the Creator. When a person truly wants to work for the sake of the Creator, the body begins to show its might, that it wants a person to do everything specifically for one’s own sake, and resists this work with all its might, presenting him with all the arguments of the spies that it is right. Then, if someone comes and helps him, that person will be happy with this help and will be very grateful for the help. Then it can be said that he is receiving help from above, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

Yet, if a person did not begin this work, two things are missing: 1) He thinks that he does not need help, that he can do this if he wants to, that he is a man. Therefore, he has no need for help. It follows that he has no Kli for the light. 2) If he did not exert in order to achieve the state of “All your works will be for the sake of heaven,” then he does not even want to be given the strength not to work for his own sake but for the sake of the Creator. Instead, he wants to work for his own sake. If he hears that by observing Torah and Mitzvot he will have nothing for his own sake, he regards it as a curse, not as a blessing.

For this reason, he must begin this work on his own. Then, he gradually acquires a desire that it is worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator, and the procession of ascents and descents begins for him. That is, once he sees that it is worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator, and once he surrenders to the argument of the body, which asks, “What is this work for you?” Working for the sake of the Creator. Through the ascents and descents, he begins to understand the benefit in working in order to bestow, and what he loses if he cannot emerge from self-love.

When a person overcomes and does not escape the campaign, but overcomes and increases his prayer that the Creator will help him and give him the help required to be able to emerge from receiving for himself, then he needs great overcoming to believe that the Creator will help him. That is, he must believe that everything he sees, that it is harder to emerge from the control of the receiver, and sees that each time, he begins to see that his evil is worse than that of others, at that time he must say that now the Creator will certainly help him because “Now I have come to know the truth, that without the Creator’s help, it is impossible.”

All the actions he contemplated doing so as to help him emerge from the control of the receiver did not help him. On the contrary, the receiver grew stronger and shows greater resistance to the work in order to bestow. At that time, a person must overcome and not yield to the counsel of the spies, but overcome above reason that the Creator will help, as our sages promised us, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

However, from where can one receive the strength to overcome so he can have faith in the sages? This is only by the power of the Torah. It is as our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” That is, through the Torah, he receives the power to overcome during the war, when he must acquire Kelim [vessels] of darkness so that afterwards he will have the discernment, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” It follows that the Torah sustains him during the work until the Creator knows he has Kelim that are suitable to receive the light, and then he is rewarded with 613 Pekudin.

However, during the work, while he still has spies, the Torah and Mitzvot are called 613 Etzot, meaning 613 counsels how to be saved from the spies. Hence, when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot, he should aim that the reward he wants for his work will be the strength to fight against the spies.

It follows that he wants the Torah to give him this reward. If he does not receive this strength, then the Torah is like a tree that does not bear fruit, or a person who has no sons. In other words, the Torah did not beget for him the sons, which are the powers to fight against the spies. When the Torah does give him this strength, it is called “a tree that bears fruit,” and it is like a person who has sons.

By this we will understand what we asked, Why is man like a tree? It means that both must yield fruit. And as the tree must be given what it needs in order for it to bear fruit, which is called “tilling the land,” so man must give himself the nourishments he needs in order to be able to achieve the goal, called 613 Pekudin [deposits], meaning to observe Torah and Mitzvot with the aim that the light in it will reform him.

Thus, we need action, which is to turn the will to receive for oneself, which is man’s tool of action, into vessels of bestowal. This is called “turning the vessels of reception into vessels of bestowal.”

This is called “action.” That is, since man is unable to do this action, then as the Creator gave us vessels of reception, He should give us vessels of bestowal. However, “there is no light without a Kli,” as said above, “there is no filling without a lack.” For this reason, a person must work and execute all the tactics at his disposal in order to satisfy that need. To the extent of his work, he receives a need for the Creator to help him in this. At that time the Creator gives these tools of action called “vessels of bestowal.” This is done through the Torah and Mitzvot, since “the light in it reforms him.”

This is the meaning of what is written, “Which God has created to do.” As Baal HaSulam said, “created” means something new, existence from absence. This refers to the will to receive, which is something new because before He created it, there was no concept of reception in reality. It follows that the Creator created the will to receive, and the creatures must turn it into a desire to bestow. This is the meaning of “do,” to make of it a desire to bestow.

Yet, we cannot change the work of creation, and if the Creator created it in such a way that the will to receive is what operates, how can it be changed? The answer is that man must seek advice how to come to the desire for it. This is called “doing.” Although we said that a person cannot do this, but the Creator Himself must do this, since we cannot change the work of creation, it is still named after the person.

We can understand this through what Baal HaSulam said about the verse, “will give wisdom to the wise.” He asked, “It should have said, ‘will give wisdom to the fools.’” He replied that “wise” is he who seeks wisdom although he still does not have it, for a fool does not seek wisdom, as was said, “The fool will not desire wisdom.” For this reason, when a person seeks advice and tactics how to obtain vessels of bestowal, this is called “doing,” as was said, “to do.”

By this we can interpret what is written, “It is not the learning that matters most, but the work.” The Zohar brings evidence that if he has no Mitzvot but only Torah, he is called “barren” and the Torah is called “barren,” since the Torah has no fruits, which are Mitzvot, and man has no sons. This implies what our sages said, “Any person without sons is regarded as dead.” When we speak of work, this will mean that one who has no Mitzvot is considered “barren,” as The Zohar likens him to the Torah, when it says “tree of life.” Also, “Man is a tree of the field” means that the Torah being called “barren” if he has no Mitzvot was said about the person. That is, a person must know that for him, the Torah is barren if the Torah he is learning does not lead him to Mitzvot. The Zohar says about this, “For this reason, we learn thatit is not the learning that is most important, but the act.” Hence, if the Torah does not have the Mitzvot of the Torah, the Torah is considered barren.

By this we can interpret what we asked, Why is the Torah called “barren” is a person has no Mitzvot? The Torah is called “barren” with respect to him because “it is not the learning that is most important, but the act.” That is, since the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” it means that for a person to be able to defeat the evil in him, it takes the light of Torah. Thus, one who learns Torah but does not intend for the Torah to bring him the light, so he can do his actions for the sake of the Creator, which is against the evil inclination, for the evil in man wants to work specifically for one’s own sake, and resists with all its might to aim for the sake of the Creator, and it cannot be defeated. For this reason, the Creator has given us the counsel of the power of the Torah, meaning that the Torah should give us the strength, through the light in it, which reforms him.

This means that the Torah turns the bad in a person into good, meaning that through the Torah, he can obtain the vessels of bestowal. This is called “action,” as was said, “Which God has created to do.”

It therefore follows that if the Torah does not give the assistance it is meant to give, it is regarded that the Torah is barren in that person. And a person who receives the Torah without the assistance it is meant to give, both the person and the Torah are called “barren,” meaning they engender nothing.

Now we can interpret what our sages said (Nedarim 81), “Why do wise disciples not yield wise disciples from their sons? Because they do not bless in the Torah first.” The reason for this is very difficult to understand. We see that even simple landlords say the blessing of the Torah when they are invited for the reading of the Torah [on the Sabbath service]. They, too, say the blessing. So how can it be that wise disciples do not bless in the Torah first? According to the above-said, we should interpret learning Torah and not aiming why are they learning prior to the learning of Torah, meaning what they want to achieve in return for engaging in Torah, since nothing is done unless to bring them some benefit.

The answer is that they did not bless in the Torah first. That is, they did not have the initial intent that the Torah will bring them blessing, and blessing means bestowal. In other words, they did not intend for the Torah to give them Kelim of blessing, meaning vessels of bestowal. This is why their Torah cannot deliver sons that will be recognizable as wise disciples. Instead, the Torah they learn does not yield for them Mitzvot, which are acts of bestowal; they remain barren, and their Torah is barren.

In other words, these wise disciples who are learning Torah do not beget their sons, meaning the acts called Mitzvot, that it will be evident that they come from wise disciples, meaning that they are good deeds, called “acts of bestowal” that the light of Torah engendered. This is called “Wise disciples do not yield wise disciples from their sons,” meaning it is not evident by their actions that they had to be born by the light of Torah, which is called “wise disciple.” That is, they learn Torah and the light of Torah should yield actions, meaning that all his actions will be for the sake of the Creator and to be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, to adhere to the Life of Lives. Why do they not have it? It is because “they did not bless in the Torah first.” That is, prior to learning Torah, they did not aim their minds that they are going to learn in order to the light of Torah to bring them the Segula[remedy/power/quality] that it will reform them.

Accordingly, we can understand what our sages said, “Any person without sons as regarded as dead,” since sons are Mitzvot, meaning that all the Mitzvot he does are in order to bestow. This is called Dvekut with the Life of Lives. Naturally, if he has no vessels of bestowal, he is separated from the Life of Lives, and is therefore regarded as dead, as our sages said, “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’”

Now we can understand what our sages said about the verse, “Zion, no one demands her, meaning that a demand is required.” This means that Zion is called Malchut [kingdom/kingship], meaning the kingdom of heaven. This means that all of one’s actions should be for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, as it is written, “I remember God and I moan when I see every city built on its ruins, and the city of God lowered to the bottom of the netherworld.”

That is, that which concerns his own benefit is fine, and everyone tries that this will be in utter completeness. But the “city of God,” which is the holy work, to work for the sake of the Creator, this work is one of lowliness.

This requires the light of Torah. That is, one who learns Torah, before he learns, he must demand of the Torah to give him this light so he can work for the sake of the Creator.

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is Peace in the Work?

Article No. 34, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

The verse says, “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace … because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”

We should understand this in the work. 1) What is, “because he was jealous for his God”? 2) What is, “and made atonement for the children of Israel”? 3) What is “My covenant of peace”?

It is known that the order of the work is that a person must achieve the completion of the goal, which is that he will receive the delight and pleasure that was in His desire to do good to His creations. However, in order for man to merit receiving it, he must fight with the Sitra Achra [other side], which is the quality of the “nations of the world,” which opposes the quality of “Israel.”

“Israel” means that all their actions are Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], while the “nations of the world” are the opposite of Kedusha [holiness], and want everything for their own sake, for which they are separated from the Life of Lives. Because of this, they are called “dead,” as it is written, “The mercy of the nations is a sin,” and The Zohar interprets, “All the good that they do, they do for themselves.” This means that they only work for their own benefit, since man is born with a desire to receive for himself, which is a Klipa [shell/peel].

It is written in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” (Item 11), “And he remains under the authority of that system for the first thirteen years, which is the time of corruption. And by engaging in Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] from thirteen years of age onward, in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, he begins to purify the will to receive for himself, imprinted in him, and slowly turns it to be in order to bestow. By this he extends a holy soul from its root in the thought of creation. And it passes through the system of the worlds of Kedusha and dresses in the body. This is the time of correction. And so he accumulates degrees of Kedusha from the thought of creation in Ein Sof [Infinity], until they aid him in turning the will to receive for himself in him, to work entirely in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and not at all for his own benefit. By this one acquires equivalence of form with his Maker.”

It therefore follows that a person should qualify himself to have equivalence of form, for precisely through vessels of bestowal he can receive the completeness of delight and pleasure. However, in order to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal, which are vessels that work for the sake of the Creator, and which are against the nature with which man is born, since man is born the opposite—with a desire to receive only for himself—therefore, as long as he works for reward and punishment, called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], the body does not resist the work so much.

But when a person wants to engage in the holy work, to make it a means by which to obtain vessels of bestowal—which is completely against nature—the body comes with “who” and “what” questions, meaning questions corresponding to the mind and to the heart, which is called “spies.” Although the person overcomes each time, the order is that then the entire order of the work is in ascents and descents, and a person comes to a state where he wants to give up on ever achieving equivalence of form.

Also, many times he wants to escape the campaign because he sees that his work is in vain and he has no reason to hope that it will ever be good, as he sees from the past. For this reason, many people who begin the work of bestowal, see that it is too difficult and therefore leave this work and say that this work is only for great people, and not for ones like him.

This is the time when a person has complaints and demands to the Creator, and he is in dispute with the Creator and argues, 1) Why did the Creator create him with a nature of wanting to receive? 2) Why does the Creator want him to cancel his vessels of reception? After all, the Creator is good and does good, so why is He not behaving toward us as we understand? We understand the ascents and descents in such a way that sometimes, during the ascent, we are at peace with the Creator and say about Him that He leads the world as the good who does good. But during the descent, we haven’t the strength to say that He behaves with a guidance of the good who does good. Hence, we are always in dispute.

Indeed, why is the order of the work so difficult that it requires ascents and descents? The known answer to this is what is written, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” In other words, it is impossible to receive light if he has no lack and need for the light.

For this reason, when a person sees that the nations of the world in him object to the Creator, and he cannot tolerate the enemy of Israel within him, he becomes jealous for his God and does not look at any descents he has, and does what he can and cries out to the Creator to help him be able to defeat the wicked ones within him.

By this he overcomes and does not escape the campaign. At that time, the Creator gives him the covenant. That is, he makes a covenant with Him that there will be peace between him and the Creator, by receiving a gift from the Creator, which is the vessels of bestowal. This is regarded as making the covenant, which is the Klipa [shell/peel], called “will to receive for himself,” and instead of the foreskin, the Creator gives him vessels of bestowal, and by this they make a covenant, meaning peace.

It follows that through one’s jealousy for one’s God, when he sees that all the nations of the world in his body slander the work when a person wants to work for the sake of the Creator, even though a person often overcomes their views and says, “I am certain that the Creator will help me, as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided,” they laugh at him and tell him, “But you see for yourself how many times you said that the Creator would help you, yet you are standing in the same situation as when you started to work. Therefore, leave this path.”

Here, a person needs great strengthening, called “because he was jealous for his God.” At that time a person prays to the Creator and says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory. Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’”

It turns out that at that time, a person cries out for the glory of the Creator, how the nations within him mock him when he says, “I trust the Creator to help me.” At that time, they say, “Where is their God, for you, Israel, say that the Creator will help you?” And when a person is jealous for the Creator, when he is concerned with the glory of the Shechina [Divinity], meaning regrets that the Shechina is in the dust, and cannot stand how they despise the work in order to bestow, this is called what is written about Pinhas, “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace, because he was jealous for his God.’”

This is as it is written in the book Shamati [I Heard] (Essay No. 1), that when a person regrets the Creator not bringing him closer, he should be careful that it will not be for his own sake, meaning because he is far from the Creator, since by this he becomes a receiver for his own benefit, and a receiver is in separation. Instead, he should regret the exile of the Shechina, meaning that he is causing the sorrow of the Shechina. A person should depict to himself that it is like a person feeling pain in some small organ. Nonetheless, the pain is felt primarily in the mind and in the heart, for the mind and the heart are the whole of man. Likewise, the pain that a person feels when he is far from the Creator, since man is but a particular part of the holy Shechina, and the Shechina is the whole of the soul of Israel, for this reason, the personal pain is incomparable with the general pain. This is called the “sorrow of the Shechina.”

When a person regrets this, it is called “because he was jealous for his God.” To such a person, the Creator says, “I give him My covenant of peace.” “Peace” means as it is written (Psalms 85), “I will hear what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace unto His people and unto His followers, and let them not turn back to folly.” In other words, at that time the Creator tells them “Peace,” meaning that then, peace is made because the Creator gives him as a present, the vessels of bestowal, and naturally, he no longer has anyone who objects to working for the sake of the Creator.

But before he receives the covenant of peace, all the vessels of reception, which belong to the nations of the world, object to a person working for the sake of the Creator, as it is written, “I will hear what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace, and let them not turn back to folly.”

This means that they will no longer have descents, where they want to work for their own benefit, since a “fool” is one who does not walk on the path of Kedusha. But one who wants to walk on the path of Kedusha, that all his actions will be in order to bestow, is called “wise.” It is as Baal HaSulam said, “Who is a wise disciple? He who learns from the Creator, who is called ‘Wise.’” In other words, he learns from Him the quality, “as He is merciful, so you are merciful.” This means that when a person learns to be a giver just as the Creator is the giver, he is called “wise.” It follows that the opposite is called a “fool.”

Thus, the fact that a person has been rewarded with the covenant of peace is “because he was jealous for his God,” meaning that he saw that the nations of the world in him despise the holy work, which is to work for the sake of the Creator.

This is the meaning of what is written, “and made atonement for the children of Israel.” That is, he was jealous for his God in that he wants that by this there will be atonement for the children of Israel, so they will have the strength to work for the sake of the Creator, which is called Yashar-El, meaning that they will be able to work for the sake of the Creator. By this they are rewarded with His covenant, so he will not turn back to folly.

However, there is a difficult question here: What can one do if he hasn’t the power of jealousy, and when he hears the argument of the spies and wants to run away from them so as not to hear the slander they speak, but as much as he moves away from them, they awaken in him a desire and yearning to nonetheless listen to what they say, and at that moment he descends from his degree and falls into their net?

The only advice for this is prayer. That is, he should ask the Creator not to be taken after the view of the spies. But only when the thoughts of the spies chase him, this is the heart of the work not to be taken after the spies. But why indeed is there room for the argument of the spies? The answer is that it is impossible to feel a good taste in the light unless from within the darkness, as it is written, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.”

It is written in Midrash Rabbah (96): “Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. All that is written in the Torah, was written for the purpose of peace. And even though wars are written in the Torah, even the wars were written for the purpose of peace.”

We should understand what it means that the wars were written for the purpose of peace, and that because of it, the Torah is called “and all her paths are peace.” There must be explanations to this in the literal, but in the work, we should interpret that we asked, Why do we need the argument of the spies and all those descents?

We explained that the reason is that it is impossible to understand anything except according to the need for the matter. Since “There is no filling without a lack,” it follows that all the wars that were written in the Torah, when pertaining to the work, it follows that all the wars are in relation to work. And since it is impossible to feel a good taste in peace if there is no war, meaning that only when there is the war of the inclination, which wants to work only for itself, and a person wants to work for the sake of the Creator, then there is the matter of darkness, meaning ascents and descents. Then, a need is born within man that the Creator will help him, since he sees that by himself, he does not see how he will be able to emerge from the control of self-love.

At that time, he truly needs the Creator to help him. Then the Creator gives him “My covenant of peace.” That is, the Creator gives him a gift: vessels of bestowal, by which he is rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. And then the verse, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” comes true, as our sages said, “with both your inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination.” This is called “My covenant of peace.”

Inapoi la pagina 1989 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link