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What Are Spies in the Work?

Article No. 33, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (Shlach, Item 18): “I looked in this verse, since Solomon said, ‘For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other, and there is one spirit to all,’ for here there is an opening for the faithless. He replies, ‘He repeats those words that the fools of the world say—that this world is runs on chance and the Creator does not oversee them. Rather, the fate of man and the fate of beast is the same.’ What did Solomon (tell) them? He said, ‘Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, if it ascends upward? And the spirit of the beast, if it descends down to the earth?’ Does it go up to the high place, and the spirit of the beast, does it descend down to the earth, as it is written about it, ‘He has made man in the image of God,’ and it is written, ‘Man’s soul, the Lord’s candle.’”

It follows that there is a question: Since Solomon said, “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other, and there is one spirit to all,” The Zohar asks, Does this mean that Solomon opens a door to those who are faithless? It replies that Solomon said this in the eyes of the fools. When Solomon looked at the fools, he called them “beast,” as it is written, “I said to myself concerning the sons of men: ‘God has sorted them to see that they are but beasts.’” “Sorted” means that God sorts them out so they remain alone and do not connect to people and bring this view to people.

What did Solomon reply to them? “Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, if it ascends upward?” meaning to a high place, a holy place, to feed on the upper light, while the spirit of the beast, which descends down to the earth, and not to that place that is for all the sons of men?

We should understand this in the work. That is, how we learn this in one person, who consists of all those states, meaning has all the questions. The thing is that when a person wants to begin to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], the person sends spies to spy on the work of the Creator to see if it is worthwhile. At that time the evil inclination shows him images of those who engage in Torah and Mitzvot, that they are concerned only with their own benefit. They say that they are servants of the Creator, but he sees that they are working for themselves. The only difference is that they say that they want the Creator to pay for their work, and secular people say that they settle for payment from a person like himself. Yet, they all work for their own benefit.

But we heard that you say that our sages said, “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead,’” for because the Creator is the giver, those who work for their own benefit are separated from the Life of Lives and are therefore called “dead.” They even present evidence to their words in what our sages said (Berachot 17), “Anyone who engages in Torah Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] is better off not being born.”

Therefore, The Zohar says about the spies within man that Solomon said about them, meaning repeated those words that the fools of the world say—that this world runs on chance and the Creator does not watch over them, but rather the fate of man and the fate of beast are the same; as one dies, so dies the other, and all have the same spirit. That is, both are called “dead”; whether religious or secular, all work for their own sake.

Solomon said, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, if it ascends upward? And the spirit of the beast, if it descends down to the earth?” That is, we must believe the words of our sages, who said (Pesachim 50), “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even if Lo Lishma, since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma [for Her sake].”

Therefore, although when he begins the work, he begins Lo Lishma, meaning for his own sake, like the people who are as beasts, meaning engage only in beastly lusts, but those who engage in beastly lusts, what degree will they ultimately achieve? Solomon said about this that they will achieve the degree, “the spirit of the beast,” which “descends down to the earth.” That is, they will remain in earthliness, in vessels of reception for their own sake, which is the lowest thing, called “earth.”

But those who engage in Torah and Mitzvot, although it is Lo Lishma, meaning for their own sake, still, from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma. For this reason, they will emerge from self-love and achieve equivalence of form called “Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator,” and will be rewarded with life, as it is written, “And you who cling to the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.”

This is why Solomon says, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, if it ascends upward,” to a high place? “Who knows” means we must believe in the words of our sages, who said, “And from Lo Lishma, he comes to Lishma,” and “He who comes to purify is aided.” Thus, he who knows how to appreciate this and believe in the words of our sages will therefore achieve Dvekut with the Creator, which is regarded as “the spirit of man.” That is, it is those who engage in the quality of “man,” although they are still in the quality of “beast,” meaning still engaging only for their own benefit.

Baal HaSulam interpreted the verse, “will give wisdom to the wise.” A common question is, It should have said, “will give wisdom to the fools.” He answered in regard to this, that he who wants to be wise is already called “wise.” But one who has no desire for wisdom is called a “fool,” as it is written, “The fool has no desire for understanding.”

Therefore, those who want to be “men,” as our sages said, “You are called ‘men,’ and the nations of the world are not called ‘men,’ where “nations of the world” means the self-love within a person; this is called “the nations of the world.” But “Israel” means Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], meaning that within “Israel,” everything he has is straight to the Creator.

For this reason, one who wants to walk on the path toward achieving the quality of “man,” the verse says about him, “the spirit of the sons of men, if it ascends upward,” to the high place, meaning to the Creator, as it is written about it, “He has made man in the image of God,” and as it is written, “Man’s soul, the Lord’s candle.”

This means that “in the image of God” means that as the Creator is the giver, so man should achieve this degree of being a giver. Yet, since man begins the work in Lo Lishma, how can he achieve the degree of a giver? The answer is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” The Zoharasks, “With what?” and it replies, “with a holy soul.” That is, the Creator gives him a soul by which he receives the assistance. This is the meaning of “Man’s soul, God’s candle.”

This is the meaning of the verse, “I said to myself concerning the sons of men: ‘God has sorted them.’” The Zohar interprets that “sorted” means that God sorted them out so they remain alone and do not connect to the sons of men, so they will not express this view to people. In the work, this means that a person should be careful from the argument of his spies, who want to bring him the view of the beast and say that he should not mind the view of man, meaning that the body can achieve the quality of man, and their beastly view does not let them consider the view of man. For this reason, Solomon warns them that they need extra care not to be lured after their view.

This is why he says, “sorted,” meaning he sorted them so they remain alone. This means that the spies come with complaints that they have the same fate, meaning that both remain as “dead,” meaning separated, since they both work for their own sake, and both are called “the wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’” Yet, we must brace ourselves and not listen to the spies or look at their view when they say it is a waste of work since in any case, you will remain as “the wicked in their lives are called ‘dead,’” so why work for nothing if you know you will not gain anything? By this, these fools, who are as beasts, govern man’s body.

But the main argument of the spies is that it is true that it would be worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator if the taste of Torah and Mitzvot were revealed, at least to the extent that the pleasure in beastly lusts is revealed. But we see that in Torah and Mitzvot, of which we say that “They are our lives and the length of our days,” we have no taste of feeling, while in beastly lusts we do feel the taste. So, why did the Creator place such a concealment before us? It would be better if the Creator revealed Himself to the lower ones. Why do we need to do everything in faith, since the path of faith pushes people away from walking in the path of the Creator? Therefore, the spies say, this way is completely unacceptable.

Baal HaSulam said about this, that if the taste of Torah and Mitzvot were revealed, it would be impossible to have free choice, meaning to do something for the sake of the Creator. In corporeal pleasures, we see that there, the ARI said that all the flavors we have in corporeality are but a tiny light compared to what is found in spirituality, and how difficult it is to direct them in order to bestow. Certainly, with great pleasures, it will be utterly impossible to observe them in order to bestow.

We could ask, If His Providence were revealed in the form of The Good Who Does Good, all creations would annul before Him “as a candle before a torch.” The answer is that when the delight and pleasure are felt, the will to receive cannot look at the shame. Instead, it wants to receive despite the shame, just as in corporeal lusts, a person does not look at any shame, and the passion drives him to receive. Only afterward he regrets, meaning after the passion has left him, he begins to be ashamed of how he behaved like a beast, without any shame. This is the meaning of what our sages said, “The wicked are full of remorse,” for in the work, “wicked” means that the person himself comes to feel that he is wicked. Then he begins to be ashamed of what he had done.

It is likewise in spirituality. If the delight and pleasure were revealed, the person would receive it in order to receive. Only afterward, once he has satisfied his wish, he would be ashamed. But he would have no way to correct himself. But while there is concealment, and a person begins to work with faith above reason, the person begins to exercise prohibiting self-reception. For this reason, once he has exerted in the work of bestowal, although the person cannot achieve this degree without help from above, when he asks for help, he asks to be given help to have the strength to receive in order to bestow. For this reason, it cannot be said that the person would see the greatness of the Creator and would annul before Him. Rather, he would receive a pleasure of the will to receive for himself.

But when a person first works in order to bestow during the period of concealment, he says to the Creator, “I want to serve You unconditionally, even if I do not feel Your greatness. I want to believe that You are great and worth serving.” It follows that he agrees to serve the Creator unconditionally. Although he cannot, he asks the Creator to give him this power to serve even without any feeling, but only for the sake of the Creator.

When a person achieves this degree, where he is willing to work without any reward, our sages call this learning “Torah Lishma,” without any reward. At that time, he is rewarded with the revelation of the secrets of Torah.

At that time begins the work of the Masachim [screens], when he can already see the meal. However, at that time he must calculate how much of the meal he can receive in order to bestow. That much he should take, and not more.

It follows that we should discern here, for example, that he sees that he was given, for example, five dishes of food. Yet, he only sees them. He does not know how they taste because he has not tasted any of them. But since he is a faithful person, meaning he is certain that he will not receive in order to receive, he can already see the meal, since he has achieved the degree of not receiving in order to receive.

For this reason, although he sees the meal, he still did not taste, prior to making a Zivug de Hakaa[lit. coupling by striking] called the “intention,” how much of the meal he can receive in order to bestow. Once he has made the Zivug de Hakaa, he tastes from the meal. But if he still cannot receive in order to bestow, the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment are still on him and he cannot see a thing. Hence, precisely when a person can work without any reason or intellect, but only above reason, which is called Lishma, then he is rewarded with the secrets of Torah.

It follows that the primary sin of the spies is that although they do not lie, but tell the truth, for they speak according to their intellect and reason, therefore, the whole sin is that they do not believe that the Creator helps everyone, that we must believe that “The Lord supports all the fallen.” If a person says that he is so lowly that the Creator cannot help him, he is blemishing the faith, for he does not believe that the Creator is almighty. In such states, when such thoughts come to a person, it is very difficult for him.

And the hardest is that a person thinks he sees the truth. He does not blame anyone for his escaping from the campaign, but says, “It’s true that the Creator is righteous, but what can I do if I haven’t the power to overcome my will to receive, since my bad qualities are not like those of others? Therefore, I must leave the work and I have nothing more to hope for.”

But sometimes he says otherwise: “I am not saying that my friends are better. Rather, it is that they do not really see the truth and think that they are doing something in spirituality. For this reason, they do not feel the situation in the current state—that they are not moving one step forward. This is why they can continue the work and no lack is apparent in their work. This is why they are always content.”

It does not matter what is the reason for which a person escapes the campaign. What matters is that at that time, it is difficult for a person to believe that the Creator can help everyone, that with respect to Him, it cannot be said that He can help only the great ones, but not the small ones. It follows that by this he blemishes the faith in the Creator. Instead, a person must believe what is said, that “The Lord supports all the fallen.”

It therefore follows that the matter of spies is for lack of faith. That is, all the faults they mention to a person: 1) That it is difficult because it contradicts the body’s nature, since the body wants to exist, and here it is told that it must serve the Creator “with all your heart and with all your soul.” This is from the perspective of the heart. 2) We must believe that all the work is based on a foundation that is above reason. Thus, how is it possible to walk on this path?

We therefore see that these spies are not lying. So what is the sin in the words of the spies, who slandered the land of Israel, as The Zohar says, that the land of Israel means the kingdom of heaven, called “the land of Israel,” and this pertains only to the quality of “Israel”? But they said, “We do not see that it is possible to be rewarded with it for the two above reasons.” Thus, the sin is that they did not believe in the greatness of the Creator, that He is almighty, and had no faith in the sages, who said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

Hence, the correction is to pray to the Creator, that only He can help with this, and believe that “You hear the prayer of every mouth,” as Baal HaSulam explained that “every mouth” means even the lowest possible mouth.

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

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

What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called “Good Deeds” in the Work?

Article No. 32, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (Balak, Item 43): “‘The wise, his eyes are in his head.’ He asks, ‘Where else would man’s eyes be? Perhaps in his body or on his arm, as the wisest in the whole world told us?’ We learn that ‘One must not walk four steps bare-headed.’ What is the reason? It is because the Shechina [Divinity] is on his head, and any wise man, his eyes and his words are in his head. That is, on the same line. It stands on his head, which is the Shechina, and when his eyes are there, in his head, which is the Shechina, he should know that that light which burns on his head needs oil, since man’s body is the wick, and the light burns above the wick. King Solomon shrieked and said, ‘Let not oil be lacking on your head,’ since the light in his head needs oil, which is the good deeds. It is about this that he says, ‘The wise, his eyes are in his head,’ and not elsewhere.”

We should understand why if the Creator wants to give the light of the Creator to a person, the person needs good deeds, like the oil. That is, according to the amount of oil in the wick, to that extent the candle burns. In other words, in corporeality, we see that the wick can burn only according to the amount of oil in it. Yet, how does this relate to spirituality? Why is it that when there is a lack of good deeds, the Creator cannot give to a person, so the light will not stop from him? After all, the fact that the Creator gives light to a person is because of the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. Thus, why does the Creator need the lower one to give Him good deeds?

To understand what we asked, If He wishes to give delight and pleasure to the created beings, why does He need them to give Him oil? The answer is that in order to achieve the completion of His works, there was the matter of concealment and hiding, so that His guidance will not be in open Providence. Only once the created beings correct their Kelim [vessels] from the will to receive for themselves and achieve equivalence of form, called “desire to bestow,” by this the matter of shame—which derives from the oppositeness of form from the Giver—will be corrected.

It therefore follows that although from the perspective of the Giver there is no cessation of abundance, but as it is written, “I the Lord do not change,” from the perspective of correction that was carried out in the first receiver, called Malchut de Ein Sof, this correction is derived, where as long as the lower one cannot receive everything in order to bestow, the light stops shining to the lower one. Therefore, in order for the light to shine on one’s head, he must do good deeds, meaning acts of bestowal. This will lead him to do everything in order to bestow, and then there will be a place where the light can be present permanently.

Now we can interpret what is written, “The wise, his eyes are in his head.” Baal HaSulam said that “wise” means that one who wants to be wise is already called “wise.” Accordingly, this means that one who wants to be wise should look in his own head, meaning believe that the Shechina is on his head, which is the reason why our sages said, “One must not walk four steps bare-headed.” We explained that man’s head means man’s mind, and the mind must not be revealed, meaning he should cover his mind and reason as though he has no reason and go above reason, for precisely above reason can he receive everything in order to bestow. In this way, a person can be rewarded with feeling that the Shechina is over his head, meaning above reason, by which he will come to feel.

This is as Baal HaSulam says, that when a person comes to feel that now he is in ascent, he should not say, “Now I do not need to believe that His guidance is in the form of good and doing good because now I feel that this is so.” By this he goes back within reason and promptly loses his degree, since he has flawed the faith above reason by saying that now he no longer needs to go above reason.

This is called falling once more into self-love, on which there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, for which the light departed from him and he remained in the dark. When it says, “His eyes are in his head,” it means he is looking at the Malchut [kingdom] of heaven in his head, which is precisely when his head is not revealed but covered, and he goes above reason. This is called “good deeds.” And what is the good deed? It is that he covers his head by going above reason.

It follows that man’s body is the wick that needs the light in his head, and the light shines as long as he has oil. When he has no oil, the light departs from the wick.

As was said above, “oil” means good deeds. As long as he adds oil, the candle burns, meaning that as long as he “covers his head,” meaning his feeling, that is, he is not taking this ascent—meaning that now he feels the light within reason—as support.

This means that now he has something on which to base his kingdom of heaven. It follows that now he no longer has oil, meaning good deeds, called “above reason.” Hence, the wick is quenched for lack of oil. This is the meaning of what we asked, “What does it mean that oil is called “good deeds”?

The answer is that good deeds are like the oil in the wick. When the oil runs out, the light stops. Likewise, when the good deeds stop, the light departs and descends once more to the place of lowliness.

Baal HaSulam said that when he comes into a state of ascent, meaning that he feels that it is worthwhile to work in order to do everything in order to bring contentment to his Maker, he should not say, “Now I have a basis on which to build the kingdom of heaven, since now I no longer need to go above reason.” Rather, he should say, “Now I see that I must go specifically above reason, and the evidence of this is that specifically by going above reason, the Creator brings me closer and loves me.”

How does he know that the Creator loves him? Baal HaSulam said a rule about this: If a person has love for the Creator, he should know that it is because the Creator loves him, as it is written, “The Lord is your shade.” “Therefore, from here on I take upon myself to go only above reason, for in this way I see that the Creator brings me closer.” Thus, he does not relate to the ascent as a basis, that because now he feels, he wants to be a worker of the Creator. Rather, he takes this ascent as proof that the way of the Creator is specifically above reason, and henceforth, he will try to go only above reason.

Accordingly, we can understand what The Zohar says (Balak, Item 71), “‘And it shall come to pass that when you eat from the bread of the earth you will raise a contribution to the Lord’ was said about the sheaf of the “wave offering.” Why “wave”? Is it a wave because the priest would wave it up? How does it concern us if he waved up or lowered down? We said that Tnufa [waving] means Tnu-Peh [give-mouth], which are the letters of Tnufa [in Hebrew]. It means, “Give glory to the Lord your God, since Peh is glory, meaning Malchut, which is called “glory,” which should be given to the Creator. For this reason, we must raise her, since there is glory to the upper one, ZA, only when Israel establish this glory, which is Malchut, and give it to the King of Glory. This is the meaning of Tnu-Peh, “give glory.” This is certainly elevating, meaning raising Malchut to ZA.

Waving implies work. That is, although the literal meaning is that we must raise the sheaf, as it is written, “the sheaf of the wave offering,” but The Zohar asks what this comes to teach us in the work. It explains about this that we must raise the kingship to the Creator, for Peh [mouth] is called kingshipand Peh is also called “glory,” as it is written, “Give glory to the Lord your God.” Thus, we must give the Peh, which is the kingship [Malchut], to the Creator.

We should understand what it means that we must give the kingship to the Creator, and what it means that they should give the Peh, meaning glory, to the Creator. When we speak about observing Torah and Mitzvot individually, meaning in order to thereby achieve Dvekut with the Creator, which is equivalence of form, namely relinquish self-benefit and do only that which benefits the Creator, this work is called “Shechina [Divinity] in the dust,” or “Shechina in exile.”

In other words, when a person works for his own benefit, meaning to receive reward for his work, he has fuel to work because he considers the reward. But when a person wants to work not in order to receive reward, the body asks, “What is this work for you?” Therefore, at that time, this work tastes like dust to him. Although he overcomes and observes the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], he works with great efforts since the body does not enjoy it.

Conversely, if a person says to the body, “If you ask me why I observe Torah and Mitzvot,” the person should say, “Until now, I worked for you. Now I have come to realize that we must work for the sake of the Creator. Since I cannot fight, as you are stronger than I, as it is written, ‘And redeemed him from the hand of he who was stronger than him,’ therefore, I want to observe Torah and Mitzvot and I believe in our sages who said, ‘The light in it reforms him,’ that by observing Torah and Mitzvot, I will be able to overcome you. Therefore, I ask that you will not disturb me, or I will not be able to annul you.”

Clearly, what does the body answer? There is the known rule, “He who comes to kill you, kill him first.” Naturally, the body does what it can. It brings him many bad thoughts, to the point that he cannot overcome it.

What should one do when he sees that he cannot overcome it by himself? His only choice is to believe in our sages, who said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” That is, at that time he must pray to the Creator to help him from above so he will have the strength to defeat his body.

For what should one ask for the Creator’s help? He cannot defeat the evil in him, called “will to receive for his own sake,” because the Shechina is in the dust. In other words, since there is a natural law that the small annuls before the great as a candle before a torch, a person cannot work for the sake of the Creator because the King is not important in his eyes. This is called “Shechina in the dust.”

It follows that he asks of the Creator to raise the Shechina from the dust. In other words, the Shechina is called “kingdom of heaven,” and its value is the same as that of dust. It is as we say in the blessing for the food, “The Merciful One will raise for us the fallen hut of David,” where the “hut of David” means the kingdom of heaven, which is lying in the dust. We ask the Creator to raise the kingdom so that we can see its importance, and not as it appears to us, that it is lying in the dust, which is why we cannot annul the evil in us.

Conversely, if the glory of heaven were revealed, the body would annul like a candle before a torch. This is the meaning of what we say in the Musaf [supplemental] Prayer: “For our sins, we have been exiled from our land and drew far off from our land.” That is, because of the sins, called “vessels of reception,” we have become “far off from our land.” Adama [land] comes from the words, “Adameh [I will be similar] to the Upper One.” Similar to the upper one means that the lower one, too, wants to be as a desire to bestow, like the upper one. He drew far off from it because he wants only to receive for himself.

For this reason, we ask of the Creator and say, “Our Father, our King, reveal the glory of Your kingship upon us soon.” That is, by the Creator revealing His glory to us, meaning raising the Shechina from the dust and glorifying Malchut [the kingship/kingdom], we will be able to annul our will to receive through the rule, “the small annuls before the great.”

Yet, the question is, Why must we ask the Creator to raise Malchut from the dust? Why does He not show the importance of Malchut on His own, but made it so that in our eyes, she is lying in the dust?

The answer is that if the glory of Malchut were revealed, we would not be able to make a choice, and everything would go into the vessels of reception. It would be utterly impossible to emerge from the control of the will to receive for oneself. But while there is concealment on the kingdom of heaven and we must accept the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason, it is rooted in a person that there is a prohibition to receive abundance in vessels of reception. For this reason, a person begins to work not in order to receive reward, but because of the glory of the King. Hence, he asks the Creator not to hide Himself from the lower ones, but to “Reveal the glory of Your kingship over us” so we will have the strength to annul ourselves and work only because of the glory of the King.

Now we can understand the meaning of Tnufa, which he says means Tnu-Peh [give-mouth]. We should interpret what it means that the created beings must give a mouth to the Creator, which is Malchut. It means that the lower ones should take upon themselves the kingdom of heaven, meaning that they must elevate Malchut, which is lying in the dust, and say that she is not lowered and lying in the dust, but that her place is in heaven. This is called “the kingdom of heaven,” meaning that she is raised from the dust and placed back in her place, which is her important place—in heaven. Then, Malchut is called Peh.

It says, “Give glory to the Lord your God,” since Peh is glory, for there is no merit to the high King unless when Israel establish this glory, which is the kingship, and give it to the King of Glory.

That is, all our work is to aim all of our actions to raise the Shechina from the dust, meaning to raise Malchut. This means that we take upon ourselves the kingdom of heaven to make her respectable, to understand her merit, and that it is worthy to work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake.

Yet, this work is difficult because it is against nature. Hence, this work causes us many ascents and descents, until sometimes a person despairs and says, “This work is not for me,” and wants to escape the campaign since he sees no progress in the work. Moreover, he sees that he has regressed and not progressed, namely that now he is more immersed in self-love, and that before he began the work of bestowal, he was not so worldly.

It follows that now he sees that he has more evil. But the question is, What is the truth? Was all the effort he had put into achieving love of the Creator pointless and useless? According to the rule that our sages said, “One should always see oneself as half guilty, half innocent. If he commits one Mitzva[singular of Mitzvot], happy is he, for he has sentenced himself to the side of merit.” Thus, the question is, Once he has sentenced himself to the side of merit, how can he be half guilty, half innocent, since now he is mostly worthy?

We should answer according to what our sages said (Sukkah 52), “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him.” But why is he given a greater evil inclination? The answer is that each time a person subdues some evil and the evil enters the Kedusha [holiness], he is given a bigger portion of evil to correct. It follows that now that he has subdued the previous evil, he is given evil once again, and more of it. That is, according to the measure of the good, so he is given a measure of the bad.

Thus, according to the rule, “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him,” it means that the good and the bad are always of equal weight. It therefore follows that the evil is recognized only according to the extent of good that a person has obtained, and to that extent, the evil in him appears.

Accordingly, one who has only a little bit of good will have only a little bit of bad, for otherwise he will not be balanced and will not be able to make a choice, for the bad will be more than the good. For this reason, a person is shown the evil in him only to the extent of the good in him, meaning that a person is always in a state of half good and half bad.

It turns out that through descents and ascents, the evil is gradually corrected, and a person must always remember and believe what our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” However, a person must give an awakening from below, and then he is rewarded with a Peh of Kedusha, as was said, “Give a mouth, give glory to the Lord your God.”

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

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

What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol-Worshippers in the Work?

Article No. 31, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (Hukat, Item 2): “It is written there, ‘But Zot [This] without the addition of the Vav, is the statute of the Torah,’ which is Malchut, called ‘Statute,’ and comes from ZA, who is called ‘Torah.’ Yet, not the Torah itself, which is ZA, but only the judgment of the Torah, the decree of the Torah, which is Malchut. Conversely, ‘This is the Torah’ is to show that all is in one unification, to include the Assembly of Israel, which is Malchut, in the Creator, so all will be one.”

We should understand why The Zohar calls Malchut by the name “statute.” That is, why must Malchutbe only a law, without intellect, as RASHI interpreted, “‘This is the statute of the Torah,’ since Satan and the nations of the world count Israel to say, ‘What is this Mitzva [commandment/good deed] and what point is there to it?’ Hence, it is written about it, ‘It is a statue, a decree before Me; you have no permission to doubt it.’”

Thus, when is it considered a law? Only when the nations of the world ask, “What is this Mitzva”? and we must answer them. What is the answer? A law, a decree.” This implies that man upholds the law precisely when they ask “Why?” Then it can be said that he is observing the Mitzva because of a law. Otherwise, there is nothing that shows that he is observing this Mitzva because it is a law.

We should also understand this: Would it not be better had this Mitzva been clothed in intellect? That is, it would be easier to observe the Mitzva. Why does the Creator want it to be as a law, which is harder to observe the Mitzva? After all, there is a rule, “The Creator does not complain (comes with libel) against His creations” (Avoda Zarah 3).

We should understand why He wants this Mitzva as a law. When speaking of the work, we must discern two things: 1) the practice, 2) the intention.

In the corporeal world, we see that a person looks mainly at the reward. That is, if a person works for an employer who gives him the work and tells him, “I want you to work for me, but you haven’t the brains to understand why I need this work. You may think that it would be better for me if I did not need to command you to do the things that I am commanding you, but I cannot explain to you why I need you to do these things for me. In return, tell me how much you earn working for other people, with whom you do understand why you are working, and since I want this job, I will pay you ten times more than you would earn with others.”

Certainly, many people would jump on such a job, since they are all looking at the reward and the salary, since he is paying ten times more. For example, the usual pay is $1,000 a month, and he will pay $10,000. Certainly, with such a job, he will not say that they are working above reason, that their job is called “a law,” since it is within reason that it is worthwhile to do this job, as it is common sense that the main reason that a person works is for the pay. Hence, one who pays more, there you need to work. This is called “within reason.”

What do the created beings call “above reason”? When one must work without any pay or reward, this is called “above reason.” This is so because of the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, meaning for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, which is called “desire to receive for oneself.” That is, everything he does will be for the sake of the creature, for so was His wish. For this reason, when a person is told that he must work without reward, it is called “above reason,” which is against the intellect, meaning against the purpose of creation.

Then, when a person is told that he must work in order to bestow, there immediately comes the question of the wicked: What is this work for you, that you are not caring for your own benefit but for the benefit of the Creator? Clearly, we must provide a reasonable answer, since he is making a straightforward argument, saying “You want to go against nature!” But what did our sages say about what to answer? “Blunt his teeth,” meaning there is no answer to this, only a law.

When we want to overcome him and say that it is worthwhile to work for the King, he becomes smarter and begins to ask the question of wicked Pharaoh, who says, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” It follows that there are two just arguments here. And according to what Baal HaSulam said, it is only one argument, except he wants to remain in self-love, and therefore argues like a wise one. That is, “In truth, I am a mighty man, not one of the ordinary folk, who cannot overcome. However, I don’t know the Creator. If the Creator were revealed to me and I would not have to believe in Him, I would immediately work for the sake of the Creator.”

It turns out that he is in pride. That is, he wants to remain in self-love, and therefore makes the argument of the wise one, that he is not like other people who cannot overcome, who are like little children who want what they see and have no power to overcome and see if this is good for them or not. “I, on the other hand, am what is called ‘a man,’ and I can control myself. But if the Creator wants me to work for Him, He shouldn’t hide Himself so we can’t perceive Him and must only believe in His Providence. This doesn’t make sense.”

It turns out that he is clothing the self-love in a garment of pride. That is, his will to receive for himself causes him to be proud. In other words, everything that a person says, that he does not want to believe, is really that he does not want to annul his will to receive for himself.

Baal HaSulam said about this that we must believe that this path of faith above reason, and also the fact that we must work for Him and not for our own sake, is not because the Creator wants all those things for His own sake. Rather, it is all for man’s sake. In other words, the Creator’s desire to give to the created beings delight and pleasure, and to have in this complete delight, meaning that they will not to feel any shame while receiving the delight, He has given us an advice: to work for Him. By this we will be able to receive delight and pleasure and will not feel any unpleasantness while receiving the delight.

For this reason, in order not to feel shame, we were given another thing, called “faith above reason.” “If Providence were revealed,” as he says in the introduction, “it would be utterly impossible to do anything for the sake of the Creator. Rather, everything would have to be for one’s own sake,” if the pleasure in Mitzvot [plural of Mitzva] were revealed more than in corporeal pleasures. We see how difficult it is to relinquish corporeal pleasures and to say, “I will receive the pleasure only when I can aim for the sake of the Creator. Otherwise, I do not want to receive the pleasure.”

With the flavors of Torah and Mitzvot, we must believe what the ARI says, that because of the breaking, holy sparks fell into the Klipot [shells/peels]. The Zohar calls it “slim light,” meaning a small illumination from the Kedusha [holiness]. From this come all the pleasures in the corporeal world.

By this we can calculate that if it is difficult to make a choice over small pleasures and say that he is careful not to receive the corporeal pleasures only for the sake of the Creator, meaning he is willing to relinquish every single pleasure he receives if he cannot aim for the sake of the Creator, how difficult it is, it is much more so if the delight and pleasure clothed in Torah and Mitzvot were revealed. Then the creatures would not be able to choose to do everything for the sake of the Creator, but would receive the delight and pleasure for their own sake.

Therefore, in order for the creatures to be able to correct themselves, in order to have Dvekut[adhesion] and equivalence of form while receiving the delight and pleasure, there was the Tzimtzum[restriction] and concealment. Then, if the delight in Torah and Mitzvot is not revealed and a person observes Torah and Mitzvot because of faith, meaning that he chose Torah and Mitzvot not because he derives pleasure from Torah and Mitzvot, since the delight and pleasure is still not revealed, since before a person corrects his vessels of reception, so everything he does will be for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake—on that person there are still concealment and hiding. At that time, there is room for choice, meaning to choose and see if he is working for his own sake or for the sake of the Creator.

Conversely, if the reward and pleasure were revealed, the created beings would be compelled to remain in a state of receiving for themselves, since they would not be able to retire from Torah and Mitzvot because of the open Providence. It is as he says (in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 43), “If, for example, the Creator were to establish open Providence with His creations in that, for instance, anyone who eats a forbidden thing would suffocate on the spot, and anyone who performs a Mitzva would discover such wonderful pleasures in it, like the finest delights in this world. Then, what fool would even contemplate tasting a forbidden thing, knowing that he would immediately lose his life because of it, just as one does not consider jumping into a fire?Also, what fool would leave any Mitzva without performing it as quickly as possible?” It follows that this matter of faith, and this matter of work in order to bestow and not for one’s own benefit are all for man’s sake.

According to the above, we can understand the question we asked, Why were we given the order of the work by way of faith above reason? It makes sense that if the Creator were to give us the work in Torah and Mitzvot within the reason and the intellect, it would be easier to do the holy work, and the Creator does not complain against His creations, so why did He do this?

The answer is that only by way of concealment and hiding is it possible for the created beings to achieve wholeness, meaning to receive the delight and pleasure in wholeness, meaning not to feel unpleasantness while receiving the pleasures. Therefore, it turns out that precisely when we can go with our hearts and minds toward the Creator, precisely this way is the most successful, and not as everyone thinks, that if the Creator gives us the work in the intellect, meaning to have open Providence, from this the created beings will achieve wholeness. We can say about this, as it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts.”

According to the above, we can interpret what we asked, Why is Malchut called a “statute,” as it is called “the statute of the Torah”? The Zohar says there that Malchut is called “the statute of the Torah,” and not the Torah itself, the decree of the Torah, which is Malchut, but we must include Malchut and the Torah in one unification.

We asked, Why is Malchut called “statute”? The answer that Malchut is called the “kingdom of heaven,” which is faith, to believe in the Creator, that He watches over the world with a guidance of good and doing good.

When a person begins to introspect, he sees that he is full of faults. Thus, how can the body understand that these are all bestowals? Although we are given the prayer for the bad states that we feel, whether in corporeality or in spirituality, but afterward, meaning after the prayer, when a person prayed but his prayer was not answered, if he sees that he is in utter lowliness, whether in corporeality or in spirituality, at that time he needs to overcome and say that the name of the Creator is The Good Who Does Good.

This is a lot of work, since he has no rational answers to the questions that the body asks. Instead, he must say, “I take upon myself the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason and say that such is the decree of the Creator.” Our sages said about this, “Since the nations of the world count Israel to say, ‘What is this Mitzva and what is its taste?’ What should we reply? ‘I have set a law, a decree before Me, and it is forbidden to doubt it.’”

This is why the kingdom of heaven is called a “statute.” However, it is the law of the Torah and not the Torah itself. That is, in order to be rewarded with the Torah, we must take upon ourselves the rules that the Torah has given us. Otherwise, it is impossible to receive the Torah. When a person takes upon himself the kingdom of heaven, he is called “Israel,” since through the kingdom of heaven that a person takes upon himself above reason, he exits self-love, and then he is able to receive the Torah herself.

Otherwise, if he was still not rewarded with vessels of bestowal, all the Torah that he takes will go to the Sitra Achra [other side] and not to Kedusha. That is, that light of Torah, which is the delight and pleasure that the creatures must receive, will go to the Klipot. This is why there was the Tzimtzumand the concealment, so that everything would enter the Kedusha. Hence, precisely when a person is rewarded with being Israel, when he has already been rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, namely that in everything he does, he has no other thought but to bestow contentment upon his Maker, then he can be given the Torah.

It therefore follows that in the work, the prohibition on teaching Torah to idol-worshippers means that it is impossible to learn Torah as long as one is in a state of idol-worshipping, when he is still immersed in self-love. That is, faith above reason, called “kingdom of heaven,” which is a statute, is a way to emerge from self-love and thereby be rewarded according to the order of the work that is given when a person wants to take upon himself the kingdom of heaven in mind and heart. At that time a person is rewarded with the quality of “Israel,” meaning that all his actions are only for the sake of the Creator. Then is the time when he can receive the Torah, and the Klipot cannot suck from the Kedusha.

By this we can interpret what our sages said (Hulim 89), “The world exists only for one who restrains himself during a feud.” We should understand why if a person does not restrain himself but replies to the other during a feud, because of this the world cannot exist. In the work, this means that the “world” is the person himself, as it is written in The Zohar, “Every person is a small world in and of itself.” Therefore, this means that when a person begins to quarrel with the body and wants to obey what our sages said, “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination,” and RASHI interpreted that he should make war with it, called “the war of the inclination,” meaning when a person demands of the body to do everything for the sake of the Creator, this infuriates the evil inclination as he wants to annul its authority altogether, and everything a person does, he wants it all to be for the sake of the Creator, at that time, the body comes to him with just arguments that the body is making rational arguments.

But if a person wants to live, meaning he wants to achieve the complete wholeness and observe the will of the Creator, whose desire is to do good to His creations, meaning to be rewarded with the light of Torah, which is the delight and pleasure in the thought of creation, at that time it is forbidden to answer the body with rational arguments, meaning to say that he is going within reason, since within reason must be in order to receive. Instead, he restrains himself during the feud and tells it, “From the perspective of the intellect, you are correct, but I am going above reason.”

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

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

What Is the Preparation to Receive the Torah in the Work?

Article No. 29, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

Our sages said (Shabbat, p 87), In the matter of preparation, which was there, at the time of the giving of the Torah, that there was the matter of the kingdom of priests, and the Mitzva[commandment/good deed] of limiting, and the matter of abstention. This was for the general public.

There are people who observe Torah and Mitzvot [plural of Mitzva] in general, meaning only in practice. That is, they mean that the Creator commanded us to observe Torah and Mitzvot, and in return for obeying Him, He will reward us for the labor or relinquishing many things that the body craves. This is a great effort for us not to obey what the body demands, yet we try to observe the voice of the Creator, meaning what the Creator wants. That is, we annul our will before the will of the Creator. In return for this, He will reward us in this world and in the next world, as was said, “Happy are you in this world, and happy are you in the next world.” This is the work of the general public.

And then there is the work of individuals. They want to observe Torah and Mitzvot individually. That is, they do not care what the general public does; they want to know why the Creator commanded us to observe Torah and Mitzvot. Is He deficient, needing someone to do Him a favor and observe his Torah and Mitzvot? Rather, it must be that the Torah and Mitzvot He has given us is for our sake. Then, they begin to think and pay attention, what benefit will come out of this to the created beings if they observe the Torah and Mitzvot. That is, what they lose by not observing, and what they gain by observing what the Creator has commanded us.

This is as our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2), “Be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one, for you do not know the reward for the Mitzvot, and consider the cost of a Mitzva compared to its reward, and the reward for a transgression (the joy you experience in the transgression) compared to its cost.” Therefore, when they begin to think about the benefit of observing Torah and Mitzvot, meaning who gains from this, they see what our sages said (Avot, Chapter 1), “Be as slaves serving the rav [great one] not in order to receive reward, and the fear of heaven will be upon you.”

This means that the fact that we must work not in order to receive reward means that it is because observing Torah and Mitzvot is not for the Creator, that He needs to be served. If this were true and He needed our work, He would certainly have to pay, just as we work for someone in this world. If a person needs the work of an employee, he certainly pays, as this is how the world works. Since our sages said to work not in order to receive reward, the reason must be that this work is for us, meaning for our sake.

Thus, how can we say that one who does some work for his own sake, meaning that he needs the work, but someone only gave us the work-plan so we would know how to work so it results in a complete product that we will enjoy, can we say that the person who he gave him the work-plan should also pay him for his work? In our world, we see the opposite: A person has to pay for the work-plan he has given us, and the one who gave the work-plan does not pay the person for working according to the work-plan he has received.

This is similar to one who wants to build a house. He goes to an engineer to make a work-plan for him. Then, who has to pay? Is it the engineer to the person who received the work-plan or does the person pay the engineer for giving him a work-plan by which he can build himself a house? Clearly, the person pays the engineer.

According to the above, it is clear that the Creator has given us the Torah and Mitzvot in order to correct ourselves, so we will have a structure of Kedusha [holiness]. Thus, who needs to pay for the plan? It is certainly we, since without Torah and Mitzvot, which is our plan for a structure of Kedusha, it would be utterly impossible to build us a structure of Kedusha. This is as our sages said, “If not for My covenant day and night, I would not put the ordinances of heaven and earth.” That is, without Torah and Mitzvot, namely the ordinances of heaven and earth, which is the structure of the world, it would not be able to exist. Rather, specifically if we build the world according to the Torah, the world can exist.

From this we understand that although we have nothing with which to pay the Creator for giving us the plan of Torah and Mitzvot, and we can only thank and praise for it, we should not ask for a reward in return for observing Torah and Mitzvot, that He should pay for our observing Torah and Mitzvot, meaning for using His plan to build for ourselves the house.

People who understand this are regarded as “walking in the work of the Creator on the path of individuals.” They have a different perspective on the issue of observing Torah and Mitzvot compared to the way that the general public understands the observance of Torah and Mitzvot—that the Creator should pay them for following the laws of the Torah, which is the Creator’s work-plan. They understand that the Creator wants them to follow the plan He has given them, and that it is for the sake of the Creator. Therefore, He should pay for this work of following His plan.

This is as our sages said (Midrash Rabbah, Portion 1:1), “Another interpretation: Amon is a craftsman [Uman]. The Torah says, ‘I was the working tool of the Creator.’ When a flesh and blood king builds a palace, he builds it not with his own skill but with the skill of an architect. And the architect does not build it out of his head, but employs plans and diagrams (which are books containing various diagrams of buildings by which the craftsman makes a plan how to build the palace). So God looked into the Torah and created the world.”

We should understand what this comes to teach us about the way of the work, how there was the creation of the world, that the Creator looked into the Torah, meaning that the Torah is the plan by which He created the world.

It is known that the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations. This was the reason for the creation of the world. For this reason, the Creator created in the creatures a desire and yearning to receive pleasures, and without pleasure, it is impossible to exist.

As we see, one who commits suicide, it is because he cannot see that he will get pleasure anywhere now, which is called “the present,” and he also does not see that in the future, he will be able to receive pleasure. Instead, he sees that the world has grown dark on him and does not shine for him. Then he has no other option but to commits suicide because he thinks that by this he will escape the torments.

For this reason, the fact that a person always wants to receive pleasures is the nature that the Creator created, that each created being aspires only to receive pleasures. We must know that everything we call the “evil inclination” is only this quality called “desire to receive pleasure in order to satisfy the yearning.”

The reason why the will to receive for oneself is called “evil inclination” is explained with respect to the correction of creation that was done. That is, when the creature receives from the Creator, there is disparity of form in this, which results in a person being ashamed to receive for himself from his friend. For this reason, a person is ashamed to eat the bread of shame. It follows that if a person would receive the delight and pleasure in vessels of reception, he would feel unpleasantness while receiving the abundance. Hence, there as a correction that as long as one does not revoke the Kelim[vessels] of the desire to receive for himself, he cannot receive delight and pleasure. It follows that the only obstructor on receiving the delight and pleasure is the will to receive for oneself. This is why this will to receive is the evil inclination.

However, how can it be revoked, as it is written, “Annul your will before His will”? He is the Torah, as our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” This means that the Creator says, “The fact that I created the will to receive pleasure, and that this is the nature of creation, as was said, that creation is called ‘existence from absence,’ means that a new thing was created here.” This was said about this will to receive. The Creator said, “I created the Torah as a spice.” That is, through “the light in it reforms him.”

It therefore follows that if there were no Torah, there would not be existence to the world, for because of the concealment and hiding that was because of the correction of the world, the creatures would have had to remain in the dark, without light. Naturally, there would be no existence to the world. This is the meaning of the Creator looking in the Torah, meaning that the Torah is the work-plan. That is, according to this plan, the world will be built through the Torah and there will be existence to the world. This is called “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”

Concerning the study of Torah, our sages said (Hagigah 13), “A word of Torah is not to be given to an idol-worshipper, as was said, ‘He did not do so for any nation, and let them not know the ordinances.’” We should understand the meaning of idol-worshippers in the work. In the work, we learn everything in one body, as it is written in The Zohar, that man is a small world. Thus, what are idol-worshippers in the work, and what is Israel in the work?

We already said that Israel means that he wants all his actions to be for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake. This is called Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], meaning that all his actions are directly to the Creator. The idol-worshipper is the complete opposite: All his actions are for his own sake. That is, he wants two authorities. This means that he wants to extract delight and pleasure from the authority of the Creator into his own authority.

In other words, he wants there to remain two authorities in the world—the authority of the Creator and his own authority. This is called “idol-worshipping,” which is work that is foreign to us. “Israel” means that he is working for the sake of the Creator, meaning that he is considered a “worker of the Creator,” whose actions are all for the sake of the Creator. But if a person works for his own sake and not for the sake of the Creator, this is regarded as his work being idol-worship and not work for the Creator.

It follows that the whole difference between idol-worshippers and Israel in the work is that “Israel” means that he wants to work for the sake of the Creator, and although he is still enslaved to the evil inclination and cannot subdue it, because he is walking on the path that leads to working for the sake of the Creator, he is already regarded as “Israel,” since he wants to achieve this degree.

But when a person wants to work in a state of “Israel,” which we said is regarded as working in the state of “individuals,” then all the bad in a person stands against him. That is, before he decided to go as “Israel” and his work was in the manner of the general public, he looked at the things he was doing and believed that for every single action he would receive a reward—a reward of this world and a reward of the next world. It was easy for him to do good deeds because this was not against the evil inclination, called “will to receive for himself.”

But now that he wants to work in order to annul his own authority and leave only one authority in the world—the authority of the Creator—the will to receive for himself objects to this. Then comes the wicked’s question, who asks, “What is the work for you? The fact that you want to work not for your own sake, what will you get out of it?” There is no answer to this, but as it is written, “Blunt its teeth.”

It follows that then a person needs help in order to be able to emerge from the control of the evil inclination. At that time, his only choice is what the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” It follows that now is the real time when a person needs the help of the Torah to pull him out of the control of the evil inclination.

According to the above, what should one prepare in himself in order to receive the Torah? It is the need for the Torah, and a need is called a Kli [vessel]. There cannot be filling without a lack. This is similar to a person asking his friend when he invites him to come in the evening for a meal that he has prepared for him, “How should I prepare myself for eating at your place?” He will probably tell him, “Be careful not to eat at home before you come to me because then you will not be able to eat at my place.”

Likewise, in order to receive the Torah, a person must prepare himself—to have a need called a Kli, that the Torah can fill. This applies specifically when he wants to work for the sake of the Creator, for then he encounters the resistance of the body, which yells, “What is this work for you?” But a person believes in the sages, who said that only the Torah can deliver a person from the control of the evil inclination. This can be said only of those who want to be “Israel,” meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator]. They see that the evil inclination does not let them emerge from their control, and then they have a need to receive the Torah so the light of the Torah will reform them.

Now we can understand what our sages said, “A word of Torah is not to be given to an idol-worshipper, as was said, ‘He did not do so for any nation, and let them not know the ordinances,’” since they have no need for the Torah. One who does work that is foreign to us, meaning for his own sake, can live without the Torah, for he does not need the help of the Torah. Only Israel—those who want to work for the sake of the Creator—need the light of Torah, for “the light in it reforms him.” That is, it is impossible to defeat the evil within him without the Torah.

By this we can interpret what our sages said, “The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.” We should understand the word “exists.” What does it tell us? We should interpret this according to what our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’” That is, the Torah should be a spice. In whom is this so, since “There is no light without a Kli, no filling without a lack”?

For this reason, they said that those who want to put their selves to death, meaning want to put to death the will to receive for their own sake, and want to do everything for the sake of the Creator, see that they cannot do this on their own. To them the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”

But in those who do not want to annul themselves and want there to be two authorities—meaning that man’s authority will remain and the Creator will give them and they will extract the delight and pleasure at His disposal and hand it over to the receivers—the Torah does not exist. That is, the Torah does not become a spice for them, since they do not want it to be a spice, and if there is no desire and need, which are the Kli, there is no light.

Now we can understand why it is forbidden to teach Torah to idol-worshippers in the work. It means that one who is practicing work that is foreign to us, meaning works for himself, since the Torah is for the evil inclination, so that one who wants to revoke it but cannot, it was said about him, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”

But one who wants to work for his own sake—which is idol-worship—has no need for the Torah. Therefore, if he learns Torah, the Torah will not exist in him in terms of what the Torah is meant to give. Thus, what is the preparation for the reception of the Torah? The need for the help of the Torah. And this is done by wanting to aim everything for the sake of the Creator. Then we need the Torah to give the help.

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

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

What Is the Meaning of Lighting the Menorah in the Work?

Article No. 30, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988/89

Concerning the verse “When you raise the candles,” RASHI interprets—after the rising of the heart. It is written, “when they are lit up,” implying ascent, that they must be lit until the flame rises by itself.

“The seven candles will shine before the front of the menorah [lampstand].” There are many interpretations to “the front of the menorah.” Literally, it means that all seven candles will shine before the front of the lamp. Thus, who is the front of the menorah? We should understand the whole matter of the menorah in the work.

It is written, “A candle is a Mitzva [commandment/good deed] and the Torah [law/teaching] is light.” This means that through the Torah, we light the candle. Also, “The Lord’s candle is man’s soul.” We see that in corporeality, we need to light a light so it will shine only in a place of darkness, as it is written, “as the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” This means that “there is no light without a Kli [vessel],” and a Kli is a lack and a need. This means that a Kli is not something that is empty without anything in there. This is not regarded as a lack. Rather, a Kli that is fit to receive filling must have a lack for the filling. That is, anything that a person wants to receive is in order to enjoy receiving it.

Otherwise, although he may receive something without a lack, enjoying it depends on the measure of the yearning for what he lacks. Thus, the yearning determines the measure of the pleasure. Therefore, in order to enjoy the light so it will shine, a person must provide for it a lack and yearning for the light. This cannot be achieved without a need. In order to provide a need, the only way is to think about the purpose of creation, meaning why the Creator created creatures, and what should the creatures do in order to satisfy the Creator’s will.

In other words, once a person believes in the purpose of creation, that it is to do good to His creations, when a person calculates and wants to see how much delight and pleasure he feels all day, for which he should thank the Creator for receiving from Him only delight and pleasure so he can say, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world,’” since he enjoys the world so much, at that time he begins to see that all his days are few and bad. Sometimes, his life is meaningless, and instead of saying, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world,’” a person says, “Better not created than created.”

When a person believes in the purpose of creation, which is to do good, he begins to contemplate the reason that he does not see the delight and pleasure revealed to all. When he wants to know the reason for the concealment hiding on the delight and pleasure, he must also believe in the sages who said that there was a correction on the purpose of creation.

That is, in order for the purpose of creation to be complete, without shame, it is known that by nature, every branch wants to resemble its root. Hence, as the Creator gives, likewise, when a person must receive for himself, he feels unpleasantness. To correct this, there was the Tzimtzum [restriction], concealment, and hiding, so as to give room for choice. That is, through the concealment and hiding there is room for work, if a person wants to work in order to bestow. In other words, there is room for work so that after his work he will be able to receive in order to bestow, which is called “equivalence of form.”

Conversely, if the delight and pleasure clothed in Torah and Mitzvot [plural of Mitzva] were revealed, as it is written in The Zohar that there are 613 counsels during the period of concealment and hiding, where by observing the Torah and Mitzvot as counsels we are then rewarded with 613 deposits. It is written in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] that it means that afterward, after the completion of the process of 613 counsels, we are rewarded with 613 deposits, which are 613 lights deposited in the 613 Mitzvot. Only then does what exists within the Torah and Mitzvot become revealed. These are called “holy names,” which are details that reveal the general name of the Creator, who is called The Good Who Does Good. In the words of The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and the Creator and Israel are one.”

Accordingly, we can understand man’s work, meaning what man must do in order to carry out the Creator’s purpose of creation for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure and for the Tzimtzum and concealment to depart. There is only one thing, and it is called Dvekut [adhesion], “equivalence of form.” This is all the correction that the created beings should do, since all the bad in us disrupts us from receiving the delight and pleasure because of the disparity of form, called “separation.” This is what we must correct, and then everything will fall into place.

However, since the nature we are born with is a desire to receive for ourselves, and not to bestow, when a person wants to walk on the path of the work to achieve the truth, meaning that a person wants to acquire a desire to bestow contentment upon the Creator and not for his own sake, the body begins to resist with all its might.

A person says to his body, “Know that by wanting to exist in the world for your own sake, without caring for anything else in the world, where your only concern in everything you do is how much the will to receive will gain from performing acts of bestowal, and without even wanting to think about the benefit of the Creator, by this you obstruct the purpose of creation, which is that the Creator wants to give to the created beings delight and pleasure. You are the obstruction, and I cannot revoke your reason, but I believe in the words of our sages, who said that the Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’ Therefore, I want to observe Torah and Mitzvot, by which I will be able to completely revoke you. I want to observe what our sages said, ‘The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.’ Therefore, I want to put you to death with the Segula [remedy/virtue] called Torah.”

Thus, he tells the body, “Leave me alone with your views, since I want to learn Torah so I can put you to death.” Naturally, at that time the body resists with all its might and follows the verse, “He who comes to kill you, kill him first.” For this reason, the evil inclination exerts with all its might to obstruct him from observing Torah and Mitzvot with this aim. Either it interferes with his actions, or disrupts him through foreign questions and thoughts that it brings him every time in order to disrupt his holy work.

As a result, those who want to walk on the path of truth and revoke the will to receive for themselves and do everything for the sake of the Creator go through ups and downs. This is not so with people who observe Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward. They do not have such descents because they are not going against nature, namely against the evil inclination. However, since “From Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], we come to Lishma [for Her sake],” at times, these people, too, experience descents.

But for people who want to revoke the evil inclination and this is why they engage in Torah and Mitzvot, this is a daily battle. That is, sometimes a person receives help from above, as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided,” and thinks that now he is on top of it, meaning that now he will advance and climb the rungs of Kedusha [holiness]. But suddenly, he falls back down. Such is the procession of the war against the evil inclination, until he comes to a state where he is rewarded with permanent faith, which is called “rewarded with opening his eyes in the Torah.”

It is written about it (in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 98), “Every person can labor in the Torah until he finds the attainment of His open Providence. When one attains open Providence, the love extends to him by itself through the natural channels. And one who does not believe that he can attain this through his efforts, this must be because of disbelief in the words of our sages, ‘I labored and found.’ Instead, he imagines that the labor is not sufficient for every person.”

Accordingly, we should interpret the meaning of the menorah in the work, which RASHI interpreted that it is written “when you raise” after the rising of the flame. It is written, “When they are lit up,” as in ascent, that they must be lit until the flame rises by itself.

We should interpret that the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, is the light, and the created beings are the Kelim [vessels] receiving the light. However, the Kelim must be made suitable. They must be clean so as not to spoil the light extended into them. Since, as we learned, the essence of the creature is the will to receive for oneself, as it emerged from Ein Sof [infinity/no end], that Kli, as it is, lacks correction.

In other words, although the Creator created the will to receive to desire and yearn to receive the delight and pleasure that He wants to give, the completeness of His works was still missing, namely, there was shame that the lower ones feel upon reception of the abundance. This is called “the correction of the Kelim.” That is, the bad, which is called “separation,” due to the disparity of form between the receiver and the giver, this bad, called “will to receive for oneself,” must be cleansed. When the Kli is cleansed from the will to receive for oneself, it will be fit to receive the abundance, called “delight and pleasure.” As in corporeality, a person will not pour wine into a vessel filthy with waste, since the waste spoils wine. Therefore, the vessel must first be cleaned, and then it can receive the drink, and not before.

This is what took place with the menorah. The amelioration of the candles, when the menorah would be cleaned from residue of oil and coal, and afterward the oil would be placed in them, implies to us that in the work, our bodies must be cleansed of the waste in them, which is the will to receive for oneself. Subsequently, the body can receive the light of Torah. But before the body is clean, it cannot contain the light of Torah.

However, it is very difficult to cleanse the body from the will to receive for oneself, so all his works will be only for the sake of the Creator, since it is against the body’s inherent nature. We were given Torah and Mitzvot, by which to cleanse the evil in it, so that the light of the Creator can be in it, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” But at the same time, in itself, observing Torah and Mitzvot is not enough to be able to cleanse the will to receive; it requires prayer, as well.

Prayer means that he should know that the Torah and Mitzvot he is observing are not for the sake of the Creator but for the sake of the created being. This means that since he wants to purify his heart, as it is written, “Purify our hearts to serve You in truth,” it follows that through prayer, when a person prays for the purification of the heart, he will remember that the Torah and Mitzvot that a person observes is for man’s sake. At that time, he sees how the evil controls a person and he cannot emerge from its governance. In other words, by observing Torah and Mitzvot and praying, these bring him the purity of the heart.

But before a person begins to think about the purity of the heart, he thinks that everything is up to him. That is, he thinks that if he wants to do things only for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, since he does not wish to use these desires, it is up to him. This is so because a person cannot appreciate the evil in man’s body. This becomes revealed gradually, according to man’s work. When he wants to revoke the evil in him, to that extent the evil within him is revealed until he comes to feel that unless the Creator helps him, he is doomed.

At that time, a person begins to ask, “Why did the Creator do this? That is, on one hand, He tells us we must make a choice, meaning loathe the evil, which is the will to receive for ourselves, and choose the good, namely the desire to bestow upon the Creator. But at the same time, I see that I cannot emerge from the governance of the will to receive for myself and work in order to bestow.”

The answer is that only when a person comes to a state where he says, “Salvation by man is in vain,” meaning that one cannot help himself and choose the good. In other words, when a person sees that this matter is difficult from every angle, then the help from above comes to him and the verse, “He who comes to purify is aided” comes true. That is, when a person comes to purify and begins to walk on the path of achieving bestowal and uprooting the evil from within him, he sees that it is out of his hands. At that time, the Kli is completed from man’s perspective, meaning the lack, when he becomes needy of the Creator to help him emerge from the control of the evil.

Prior to this, he thought that he could defeat the evil in him by himself. In that case, he would not need the Creator and would receive the purification of the body from the will to receive by his own strength. In that state, he had no importance for Dvekut with the Creator as it should be, and this was considered a flaw.

This is similar to a person who is given a vessel of gold and he considers it a vessel of copper. He thanks the person for it as one would thank a person for a vessel of copper. What sorrow that person would inflict upon the giver of the gift, although the giver does not need the gratitude that he would give in return for the gift. Rather, the giver’s sorrow is because the giver wants the receiver to have great pleasure. When the receiver feels great pleasure, this is the giver’s joy. It follows that when the receiver cannot appreciate the importance of the gift, the receiver is not delighted as the giver intended. Thus, the giver of the gift feels sorrow.

The lesson is that when the Creator gives something to a person, it is in order to enjoy it. Yet, a person cannot appreciate anything according to its importance, but according to how the receiver appreciates it. It is written about it, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness,” meaning that the darkness is how a person feels the lack in him. According to the sensation of the lack, he will later be able to enjoy the light.

I once said that we can see about ourselves that thank God, we are walking on our legs. Certainly, we enjoy the fact that we can use our hands and legs. But where is our joy? We should be delighted that we have such important things that we can use, like hands and legs.

For example, if we were to walk into a hospital where there are paraplegics, one in the leg, one in the hand, or in both, and we would tell them that we have a cure that as soon as you take it you will be able to tend to yourselves, meaning you will be able to walk on your legs and use your hands. Can we imagine the joy that they would feel? We cannot even appreciate the true elation that they would feel.

It follows that all we need in order to be as happy as they are is darkness. That is, if we felt the darkness that they feel, we would be as happy as they are.

Now the question is, Should we really be happy that we can use our hands and legs, meaning that it is an important thing and we should thank the Creator for it and be happy about it?

Or, in fact, this is a small thing, not worthy of rejoicing over and saying, as we do, this is how it should be. That is, we are not obligated to be happy about it because we do not feel the importance of the matter. Or, perhaps, we should in fact thank the Creator for not being paraplegic, and rejoice over this?

However, we see that even if we introspect and thank the Creator, we cannot receive joy from this because as said above, the advantage of the light is from within the darkness. By this we can see why the matter of choice, choosing the good, namely the desire to bestow, and loathing the bad, is so difficult. It is because we must taste the taste of darkness.

However, we must not be shown the darkness as it truly is. If we saw the measure of bad within us, we would immediately escape from the work. Then we would not feel darkness because he does not mind that the will to receive for himself is the ruler as he does not feel this as darkness. Only one who labors and works as much as he can, and goes through ups and downs, can say that he tastes the taste of darkness because he cannot overcome his will to receive for himself.

Thus, the descents that a person receives when he wants to walk on the path of truth are instruments for the sensation of the help he will receive. We must believe the words of our sages who said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” A person must not escape the campaign when he sees that he is not making progress. Sometimes he gets thoughts of the spies, who said that this work is not for us and requires special people who can walk on the path of overcoming.

All this comes to him because he understands that each time, he must see how he is making progress. However, it does not occur to him that he must advance in obtaining darkness, that this is the only Kli he needs to acquire. A Kli is a need for a filling. That is, if he has no filling for the lack, he feels that he is in the dark. For this reason, a person must not say that he is not advancing in the work.

Hence, he wants to escape the campaign, for it is not the truth, since he sees each time how far he is from obtaining the light, meaning for the Creator to give him the Kli called “desire to bestow.” He cannot obtain the desire to bestow by himself, and then he comes to feel that the world has grown dark on him. At that time, the light comes, meaning help from above, as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

Accordingly, in the work, the menorah implies the body, that the body must be lit so as to shine, as it is written, “The Lord’s candle is man’s soul,” meaning that the body must obtain the soul. At that time, the name of the Creator is named after the person, as was said, “The Lord’s candle.”

When is the body regarded as the Lord’s candle? It is when we must light it so it will shine, which is when a person obtains the soul, meaning acquires the desire to bestow. This is regarded as a soul, as The Zohar says, “He who comes to purify is aided.” The Zohar asks, “How is he aided?” and it replies, “with a holy soul,” meaning that he is given from above a soul. At that time, the body is called “The Lord’s candle,” since the soul of the Creator is clothed in the body. That is, preceding the arrival of the assistance from above, the will to receive for himself was clothed in a body. Now the desire to bestow is clothed in the body.

However, until one obtains help from above, a person is in the dark. Each time he overcomes and lights up the menorah, meaning the body, so as to be in the form of “All your works will be for the sake of the Creator,” he experiences ups and downs. For this reason, the verse calls the lighting of the menorah, “When you raise the candles,” since the flame does not go up as soon as it is lit. That is, during the overcoming, he lights up the body and begins to do the holy work, but afterward he descends from this degree.

It follows that when a person lights the menorah, so the body will work in order to bring contentment to his Maker and have love of the Creator, “as cinders of fire is the Lord’s flame,” it stands to reason that when he overcomes and begins to walk on the path of doing everything in order to bestow, the fact that he received a descent in the middle of the work and fell once more into the vessels of reception, although afterward, he receives a desire and yearning to work in order to bestow once more, but again he falls from his degree.

This repeats itself until he sees that this is endless. Therefore, he says, “I see that there should have been progress in the work,” that this would be a sign that the work he is doing is for Him, meaning he will accomplish what he wants, meaning come to do everything for the sake of the Creator. Yet, he sees the opposite. Therefore, a person wants to say, “This thing, that I want to light the menorah, meaning the body, is not for me. Otherwise, I would not have such descents in the work.”

For this reason, the text tells us, “When you raise,” and not “when they are lit,” to tell us that everything that appears to our eyes when we engage in lighting the menorah, everything—all the states—are ascents. In other words, even the worst descents that we receive during the work belong to ascents, since the advantage of the light is from within the darkness.

This means that a person cannot say that this work to bestow is not for him, as he sees by his descents. The verse says about this, “When you raise the candles,” in order to tell us that everything is regarded as an ascent. Hence, one should not say that this is not for him but for more gifted people. In order to know more, that this is the order of the work of bestowal, the verse comes and says, “This was the workmanship of the menorah, hammered work.”

It is written in the Midrash [Beha’alotcha (When You Raise)]: “The workmanship of the menorah, how was it? When Moses went up, the Creator showed him on the mountain how He would make the tabernacle. When the Creator showed him the workmanship of the menorah, Moses was perplexed. The Creator said to him: ‘Behold, I do in front of you.’ Still, Moses was perplexed about it. He said, ‘The menorah will be made of hammered work,’ meaning it is very difficult to do. The Creator said to him, ‘Throw the gold into the fire and the menorah will be made by itself, as was said, ‘the workmanship of the menorah was hammered work.’”

RASHI interprets the verse, “This was the making of the menorah”: “It was done by itself by the Creator.” We should understand what it implies to us in the work that it was difficult to make the menorah. The menorah indicates the body, that the body must be lit so as to do the holy work, such as a menorah is lit up so it will work in corporeality.

However, this is very difficult because in order to work for the sake of the Creator and not for one’s own sake, it is against nature. Hence, Moses found it difficult. That is, how could he say to all of Israel that they should do the work of the menorah, that it must be lit before the front of the menorah, where “before the front of the menorah” is the Creator?

In other words, the Creator is the one standing before a person, as it is written, “The Lord is ever before me.” When the body is lit up, it must shine not for its own sake. Rather, the body must shine for the sake of the Creator. This is called “The seven candles will shine before the front of the menorah,” where the seven candles are the six days of work and the Sabbath. This means that the body must shine from the light of the soul, as in “The Lord’s candle is man’s soul,” where everything must be “before the front of the menorah,” meaning it should all be not for his own sake, but for the sake of the Creator.

By this we should interpret, truly perplexing, why the Creator said, “This was the workmanship of the menorah, a hammered work of gold.” That is, why did the Creator say “hammered work,” which means that making the menorah should be difficult? We should interpret that this is the meaning of what our sages said, “When the Creator showed him the workmanship of the menorah, Moses was perplexed.” That is, he asked, “Why did the Creator make it so it would be difficult?” We should answer this with what was said above, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” This is why He made the menorah deliberately difficult, so they would taste the taste of darkness and will know the importance of nearing the Creator by His giving them vessels of bestowal.

However, Moses asked, “It is true that there should be darkness so as to distinguish between light and darkness. However, since they are unable to emerge from the control of the will to receive, what is the benefit in it being difficult? True, they will taste the darkness, but they will never be able to come to the light. Thus, they will never be rewarded with the advantage of the light from within the darkness. In other words, they will receive darkness but how will they ever be rewarded with the light, meaning with vessels of bestowal?”

We should interpret that it is about this that the Creator’s reply came. “The Creator said to him, ‘Throw the gold into the fire and the menorah will be made by itself.’” This means that it is true that the Creator agreed with Moses that man cannot obtain vessels of bestowal by himself. And your question, “How then will they obtain vessels of bestowal?” Tell them, “Throw the gold,” meaning the will to receive, which is called Ze-Hav [Hebrew: “give this,” but also Zahav (gold)]. In other words, only if they want to throw away the will to receive for themselves, the menorah, meaning the body, so it will shine “before the front of the menorah,” and before the menorah is the Creator, this means that the menorah will be done by itself.

Naturally, the Creator can certainly give a person vessels of bestowal, as He has given man vessels of reception. This is the meaning of what RASHI interpreted about the verse, “This was the workmanship of the menorah.” The question is, Who made the menorah? Through the Creator, it was made by itself. It follows that one should not look at the descents he has, for everything is regarded as ascents, as it is written, “When you raise.”

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

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

Who Needs to Know that a Person Withstood the Test?

Article No. 28, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

The Zohar says (BaMidbar, Item 7), “When the Torah and the tabernacle were erected, the Creator wished to count the armies of the Torah, how many armies are in the Torah, in ZA, and how many armies are in the tabernacle. …For this reason, Israel, who are the armies of ZA and Malchut, are counted, so they are known by them.”

We should understand this matter, to know that the Creator wanted to count Israel in order to know how many armies there are. Who needs to know? Is it the Creator? But everything is revealed and known to Him. Does He need to actually count them below in order to know the number? Thus, for whose need can we say that the Creator said to count Israel in order to know the number of the armies of ZA and Malchut, as it is written, “the Creator wished to count the armies of the Torah, how many armies are in the Torah”?

Baal HaSulam asked a similar question concerning what it says in regard to Abraham: “And He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God.’” He asked, Did the Creator not know that Abraham feared God before the test? Thus, what does “for now I know” mean? He said that “for now I know” means that you know that you fear God, since you withstood the test.

Still, we should understand for what purpose a person should know that he fears God. This can give him satisfaction in the work, since what else is there to do in the world, as our sages said (Berachot33), “Rabbi Hanina said, ‘Everything is in the hands of God except for the fear of God.’” This means that the Creator does everything, and all that man needs to do is fear God, as was said, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but fear?” Thus, why does one need to undergo a test in order to know that he fears God? It would be better if he did not know whether he fears God, and this would make him need to increase the holy work so as to come to be God fearing.

We see that our sages said (Berachot 61b), “Raba said, ‘One should know in one’s soul if he is a complete righteous or not.’” Here, too, there is the same question: Why does one need to know one’s state, since knowing this will give him satisfaction, so what is the benefit in the work from knowing this?

To understand all this, we must remember the two tenets we have in the holy work: 1) The purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, namely for the created beings to receive delight and pleasure. Before we achieve this state, of receiving delight and pleasure, we have not achieved completion, meaning the purpose of creation. 2) The correction of creation. It is known that in order not to have the bread of shame, meaning for the creatures to feel unpleasantness upon reception of the delight and pleasure, the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were made, so they would not feel the delight and pleasure in the purpose of creation, and would be able to work for the sake of the Creator and not for their own sake. This would remove the shame from man because everything he enjoys in the world would not be for his own sake, but because the Creator wants the creatures to enjoy in the world, and this is the only reason they enjoy. For themselves, meaning to enjoy because they want to enjoy, they do not want this and relinquish all the pleasures in the world.

That is, he does not want to receive anything for his own sake, but in everything, he thinks that if receiving the pleasure and enjoying will bring contentment above, only then does he receive the delight and pleasure. Otherwise, he relinquishes it. This is called the “correction of creation,” meaning that the purpose of creation is received in a clothing, and this clothing does not let the shame come in when the pleasure is received. That clothing is called “desire to bestow.”

Now we can understand what is fear in the work. It was said about fear, “Everything is in the hands of God but fear of God.” But why is it not in the hands of God? As we learn, we attribute everything to the Creator, that the Creator gives everything to the created beings. Not giving does not belong to the Creator, since His will is to do good to His creations.

Since the meaning of fear is as it is written in the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (Item 203), “Fear means that he is afraid that he will decline in bringing contentment to his Maker.” For this reason, he avoids asking the Creator to impart upon him delight and pleasure, as it might not be for the Creator’s sake, but for his own, which is regarded as the abundance going to the Klipot[shells/peels]. It follows that fear not to receive pertains to man, meaning that man does not want to receive, for fear that it will not be for the sake of the Creator. This work pertains to man. That is, we attribute not receiving in order to receive to the lower ones, since from the perspective of the Creator, He only bestows.

This is called the name HaVaYaH, where there are no differences, as it is written, “I the Lord [HaVaYaH] do not change.” Rather, He always wants to give. For this reason, fear, where he is afraid to receive, belongs to the creatures, and this is all of their work. All the corrections in the world concern this point—correcting ourselves in order to come to a degree where we do not receive anything for our own sake, but as our sages said, “All your works will be for the sake of heaven.”

Now we can interpret this awareness—that he has fear of God. A person should know this in order to want to go and ask the Creator to give him the light of Torah, where there is the real pleasure, called “His will to do good to His creations.” He sees for himself that he has already been through several trials and have endured them because he already has fear of heaven, meaning that he is already certain of himself, that anything he receives will be in order to bestow. Otherwise, he would not have withstood his tests because the only reason a person cannot withstand a test is because he is immersed in his will to receive for himself. But a person who has already departed from receiving pleasures for his own sake, and in every pleasure, he first examines what contentment this will bring to the Creator, then he receives the pleasure.

This is called “for now I know that you fear God,” meaning a person already has this awareness. At that time, that state is called “bestowing in order to bestow.” Afterward, when he has acquired this degree of fearing God, which is called “man’s work,” a person should go forward and ask the Creator to give him the delight and pleasure that He wishes to give to the created beings, since he wants to impart pleasure upon the Creator, and his pleasure is in carrying out His thought—that the creatures receive from Him delight and pleasure. This is all of his delight. For this reason, a person needs the awareness.

Now we can interpret what we asked about what The Zohar says, “When the Torah and the tabernacle were erected, the Creator wished to count the armies of the Torah, how many armies are in the tabernacle.” We asked, Who needs to know this? Does the Creator not know even without actually counting? The answer is the same as with Abraham, “for now I know,” meaning that the Creator knows that now Abraham, too, knows that he fears God.

Likewise, we should interpret similarly, meaning that the people of Israel needed this awareness so as to know to which degree they now belong, whether to the quality of the Torah or to the quality of the tabernacle. He says there that Torah and tabernacle pertain to ZA and Malchut, meaning the “unification of the Creator with His Shechina [Divinity].” This is why The Zohar says, “how many armies are in the Torah,” meaning to know to which degree they belong, “how many armies are in the tabernacle,” meaning how many of them belong to the Shechina. It follows that the whole point of counting is only for man to know. But as for the Creator, He certainly knows everything without actually counting.

It follows that the most important is for man to know to which state he belongs. It is as Rabba said, “One should know in one’s soul if he is a complete righteous or not.” It is all in order for man to know whether he is on the right track, meaning knows what he must do in order to achieve the goal for which he was created, as was said, “so we will not toil in vain.”

In order to understand how an ordinary person can be taken after the general public, and in order for one to have the strength to emerge from what is accepted by the general public and become an individual worker, meaning to understand what he must do individually, and how to be extremely careful, how to be saved from having to work only for his own benefit, I will present here a story by The Seer of Lublin, presented in the book Talks of Life (p 34).

“The Rabbi of Mogalitza once said that when the Rabbi of Lublin was confined in his room on the eve of Shabbat [Sabbath] before the Kiddush [the beginning of the Sabbath], the rabbi suddenly opened the door and the house was full of great rabbis and sages from his greatest disciples. The rabbi turned to them and said, ‘It is written, ‘and repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them.’ The translation is, He pays His enemies with good deeds that they do in this world in order to lose them from the next world (explanation: The Creator pays His enemies for good deeds that they did in this world in order to lose them, so they will not have the next world). Therefore, I ask you, I can understand that if a wicked man is taken after money, fine, he is paid much money. And if the wicked man takes after respect, he is given great respect. But if the wicked man wants neither respect nor money, but rather loves degrees or wants to be a rabbi or a teacher, how is he paid? The good deeds he did in this world—to remove him from the next world (explanation: How are those people who did good in this world paid so they will not have the next world?). Indeed, one who wants to be a rabbi or a teacher is given this from above, and one who loves degrees is given degrees so he will lose the next world.’ Promptly, he shut the door.” Thus far the story.

This story shows that there are people who think that they are complete because they relinquish lusts and respect. They look at people who are immersed in lusts or pursuit of honor as unworthy of looking at, much less speaking with them. That is, they see people observing Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds] in order to satisfy their will to receive, though certainly it is permitted lusts, or they would not be regarded as doing good deeds, and also those who observe Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive respect, while they, meaning those who want high degrees or to be a rabbi or a teacher, probably think that they want this for the sake of the general public.

The Seer of Lublin said about them that they are those who hate the Creator. However, since they do engage in Torah and Mitzvot, the Creator rewards them according to what they want, meaning according to what they pray to the Creator to give them. It follows that the Creator fulfills their wishes. However, they must know that what they are receiving is because the Creator is fulfilling their wish, but they must know that by wanting the Creator to grant their wishes, they lose the next world since by this they become haters of the Creator, as it is written, “and repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them.” Thus, they must know that by receiving what they want, meaning by His fulfilling their wish, they will thereby lose the next world.

There are two things to understand here: 1) Why if they are rewarded in this world, they must lose the next world? After all, our sages said (Berachot 8a), “Great is he who enjoys his labor more than he who fears God.” And concerning one who fears God, it is written, “Happy is the man who fears the Lord.” Concerning one who enjoys his labor, it is written, “If you eat through your own labor, happy are you in this world and happy are you in the next world.” We therefore see that one who is rewarded in this world does not have to lose the next world. Thus, why, concerning those who hate the Creator, if he receives reward in this world, we say that he is losing?

2) We should understand, if he observes Torah and Mitzvot, which is called “good deeds,” why is he regarded as hating the Creator?

We see that the evil inclination is called “enemy” [hating], as it is written, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread.” We should understand why the evil inclination is man’s enemy. On the contrary, he advises man to commit transgression not in order for man to torment himself, but in order for him to enjoy himself. It follows that one who brings joy to a person should certainly be called “loving,” so why is it called “hating”?

We must believe in our sages, who said that all of our work in this world is to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. That is, He wishes to give delight and pleasure to the creatures, which is called “the purpose of creation.” Yet, this is impossible to give us before we correct our will to receive to work in order to bestow, or we will feel shame.

Therefore, we need Dvekut, called “equivalence of form,” meaning that all the delight and pleasure we want to receive from the Creator is not for our own sake, since we want to annul our authority and to have (only) one authority: the authority of the Creator. Then we will have the real pleasure, in that “He said, and His will was done,” meaning that the will of the Creator was fulfilled completely, meaning that the creatures can receive what the Creator wants to give them, namely the delight and pleasure.

It follows that the evil inclination incites a person not to work for the sake of the Creator but for one’s own sake, and thereby harms a person. This is why it is called “evil inclination.”

Now we can understand the question, Why is it that when one observes Torah and Mitzvot and does good deeds—and the evidence that they are good deeds is that the Creator rewards him for the good deeds—yet he is called an “enemy of the Creator,” as it is written, “and repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them”? This is so because although he does good deeds, it is not because he loves the Creator, but because he believes that the Creator will reward him for this. He does not work and observe Torah and Mitzvot because he loves the Creator, but because of his own benefit.

However, we must understand, 1) Does one who works for another and aims for the reward and does not work for him or does and observes his commandments out of his love for him, should he therefore be regarded as his enemy? We can only say that he does not work for him for love, but because that person loves himself. But why is he regarded as an enemy of the Creator? What makes him the Creator’s enemy if he is working for his own sake?

2) What is the meaning of the commandment to love the Creator? Does He want us to love Him? Does He need our love? Is He deficient and this is why He has commanded us to love Him, as it is written, “And you shall love the Lord your God”? The answer is that He has commanded us to love Him for our sake. That is, loving Him will make us observe Torah and Mitzvot. In other words, we observe Torah and Mitzvot because we want to please Him, to give Him contentment, for it is the nature of those who love that the love obligates them to want to bring them contentment.

It is like parents’ love for their children. They want their children to enjoy and try to give to the children because they love them, so they will enjoy life. The lesson is that they observe Torah and Mitzvot because of their love for the Creator. Naturally, they want nothing in return. Thus, they will not receive all the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give them in the vessels of reception, but in the vessels of bestowal. That is, they receive the delight and pleasure because they know that the Creator enjoys it, that the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, is carried out, as He wants it. In other words, there is wholeness in their receiving the delight and pleasure and there is no shame in them.

It follows that one who observes Torah and Mitzvot for a reward, meaning that he wants a reward, is considered the Creator’s enemy because he obstructs the Creator, delaying what the Creator wants—to give to the created beings, as this is the pleasure of the Creator, and that person delays carrying it out because the Kli [vessel] and clothing are missing there, which remove the shame upon reception of the abundance. This is why he is considered an enemy of the Creator.

A person should believe the words of our sages, who said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” This means that once a person has come to purify, meaning feels that he is in Tuma’a [impurity] and is still far from Kedusha [holiness], he should say that this awareness comes from above. That is, the fact that he came to purify is because he received help from above and was notified that he is far from Kedusha.

This means that he should appreciate this awareness and say that this is called “revelation from above,” when he was notified that he should feel about himself unpleasantness in that he is far from Kedusha. Normally, a person has no concern for lack of Dvekut with the Creator. A person might feel a lack about anything, and hurt because he does not have it. But to feel pain at being far from the Creator, although a person is remote, he does not notice it because he has more important worries whose absence he feels.

Only sometimes does he feel that he is beginning to feel shame that he is in such a lowly state. Before this, although he was previously in that state, too, he did not notice it. At that time, a person should believe that this came to him from above, as in “He who comes to purify is aided.” In other words, why has he now come to purify and cannot tolerate his state of lowliness? He should say that this came to him from above.

However, a person must not say, “I’ll wait until this awareness comes to me from above, and then I’ll think that I should purify myself.” Baal HaSulam said about this, that before the fact, a person should say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” meaning that only I can help myself, if I brace myself and do things that lead to Dvekut. Afterward, meaning after the fact, a person should say that everything comes from above and he must not say, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”

We therefore see that on one hand, a person should say that from all the tests that the person has withstood, he should know that on the one hand, he is a mighty man, as was said, “for now I know that you fear God,” meaning that the person is the mighty one. On the other hand, he must say, “The Creator helped me.” But from whichever side, he sees that he has withstood the test. Knowing this gives one confidence that now he can demand of the Creator to let him go and achieve the goal.

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

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

What Is the Meaning of Suffering in the Work?

Article No. 27, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

On Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], in the “Eighteen Prayer” (“My God, Until I Was Created”), we say, “That which I sinned before You, erase with Your many mercies, but not through suffering.” We should understand how is it that when we pray that we want Him to erase our sins, we stipulate conditions before Him, or else we do not want Him to erase our sins. Thus, what is the condition, “but not through suffering”?

The Zohar (BeHukotai, Item 42) writes, “Rabbi Yosi started, ‘My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His admonition.’ How beloved are Israel, that the Creator wishes to admonish them and lead them on the straight path. And out of His love for him His cane is always in His hand, to lead him on the straight path and so he will not stray right or left. One whom the Creator does not love but loathes, He removes His admonition from him. ‘But Esau I hated,’ which is why I removed from him the cane, removed from him the admonition so I would not give him a part in Me, for My soul loathes him. But you I love indeed, and do not loathe His admonition.’ What is, ‘Do not loathe’? It is, do not loathe it, as one who runs from thorns, for those kings who enslave Israel are as thorns in one’s body.”

We should understand this. Common sense mandates that the Creator should hold the cane for the gentiles, who act against the Creator. But to the people of Israel, whom He loves, it should be as it is written, “Love will cover all crimes.” So why does He afflict specifically Israel—whom He loves—with a cane?

We should also understand what it interprets, “Do not loathe His admonition,” that the kings’ enslavement of Israel is like thorns in a person’s body. Yet, it says, “Do not loathe,” meaning do not run away from the thorns, meaning from the enslavement of the kings. Can be it be that He tells them not to run from the kings’ thorns only because He loves them?

We should also understand the words “But Esau I hated,” which is why He removed from him the admonition, “so I would not give him a part in Me.” It seems as though if He did admonish him, he would have a part in the Creator. How are they connected? It is as though the suffering causes them to have a part in the Creator.

We should know that when speaking in matters of work, both Israel and Esau speak of people who observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and not of the nations of the world or secular people. Rather, it is only about people who have faith and observe Torah and Mitzvot. Thus, what is the difference between the quality of “Israel” in a person and the quality of “Esau” in a person?

According to the rule in observing Torah and Mitzvot, we should also discern the intention—if the observance of Torah and Mitzvot is in order to receive reward in this world or in the next world, or is his intention to bestow and not receive anything. In the quality of “Israel,” the aim is Yashar-El[straight to the Creator], when he does not want to receive anything in return but that everything will go straight to the Creator. This is regarded as the “quality of Israel” in a person in the work.

But if he does want reward in return for observing Torah and Mitzvot, it is regarded as “Esau.” Esau means Asu [did], meaning that he made a domain for himself and wants the Creator to fill his domain. He does not want to revoke his own domain, which is called Yashar-El, meaning cancel his domain and annul before Him, which is called “straight to the Creator,” and this is his only aim. This, he does not want. For this reason, we discern two qualities in man’s work: “in order to receive reward” or “not in order to receive reward.”

We should remember that man’s work in order to bestow, when he wants Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, is where one begins a procession of ascents and descents. That is, when a person focuses everything he does in the work on receiving reward in return for this, then, when he believes in reward and punishment, his inherent will to receive does not object to receiving greater pleasures.

However, when a person wants to walk on the path of not receiving reward, since it is against nature, the real war with the evil inclination begins, since a person wants to remove the evil inclination from the world, for only here is its existence. And concerning the name of the will to receive, “evil inclination,” it is because it depicts to us the path that the people of Israel want to march as bad. That is, it argues that a person’s desire to annul his own authority and annul before the Creator is suicide. Instead, what would be called “good”? That would be if a person demanded of the Creator to expand man’s domain and satisfy all his lacks, and not that man would work for the Creator.

In other words, the evil inclination asks a person, “Where is your brain, that you are working so hard in Torah and Mitzvot, and for what reward?” It is as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.” This means that since the evil does not want to annul before the Creator, but rather the evil in a person wants man to exist, man is advised that if he engages in Torah and Mitzvot he will thereby be rewarded. That is, without Torah and Mitzvot, it is impossible to receive such as great reward, and only by the power of Torah and Mitzvot can we achieve such a great reward that a person will annul before the Creator and man’s authority will not be apparent, and the Creator will take everything.

About such a reward, the evil inclination cries out, “But you are losing your very being! You are performing actions that will cause you to cease to exist! Should one work and toil for this?!” It follows that the evil inclination depicts to him bad pictures concerning the order of his work.

This is called “suffering.” That is, when a person wants to walk on the path of truth and achieve Dvekut with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” these questions come to him and he suffers a descent, meaning he cannot overcome its arguments. This manifests immediately, in mind and in heart. When that person recovers from the descent and begins to contemplate the situation he is in, he suffers from being far from the Creator.

Once he has been rewarded with an ascent in spirituality, he begins to think that from now on he will be strong and immune to the words of the kings of the nations of the world who slander the Creator. That is, they do not necessarily say that it is not worthwhile to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. Rather, they say that it is not worthwhile to engage for this reward of losing himself, and also that he wants all the labor to be for the sake of the Creator and not at all for himself.

This inflicts upon a person great sufferings, which are as thorns in one’s body, and he wants to escape the situation he is in. He says, “I am probably unworthy of this work, or I would not suffer descents.” It follows that these sufferings are that he hears from them that it is not worthwhile to work for Him with this intention.

Thus, there are two things here: 1) The kings’ arguments, who enslave Israel with their words. That is, a person falls under the control of the kings, who enslave a person so he can work only for his own sake because of the suffering of the bad depictions that the evil inclination depicts to him.

Generally, all the kings of the nations of the world are called “evil inclination.” Each king has his own view, and he says to a person, “Walk in my way; I will give you pleasure in the work.” In other words, all the kings say the same thing: It is better for you to work for yourself rather than for the Creator.”

It follows that the suffering that one sees—that he cannot work for the sake of the Creator—causes him to want to escape the campaign. These sufferings make him see that this work is not for him, for this path requires chosen people, a select few, and mere ordinary people cannot approach this work, called “working with the aim to bestow.”

Worse yet, the evil inclination comes to him dressed as a holy angel and says to him, “But you see that I am right. Look back at how vigorously you engaged in Torah and Mitzvot and how enthusiastically you used to pray. If you ask, Why was it like this before? It is as I am saying, since you worked for your own benefit, to receive reward. This is why you had the strength to work. Thus, what is the point in overcoming each time if you see that you keep descending, which is called ‘The shattered is greater than the whole,’ meaning that there are many more descents than ascents.”

The evil inclination also tells him, when it dresses in the clothes of a holy angel, “Previously, you advanced in the work and each day you acquired a possession of Kedusha [holiness] in Torah and Mitzvot. But you denigrate this and say that you want to work only for the sake of the Creator. But you see that you are going backward in this work, that you have descents, meaning that your bad is becoming increasingly evil. While you were observing Torah and Mitzvot in practice in the work, you were more successful. You saw for yourself how you progressed. But now, where are your energy and excitement in the work? Thus,” it says to him, “turn away from this path.”

It follows that through the words of the evil inclination, which is all the kings of the nations of the world, they enslave Israel and sting the bodies of those workers who want to work in order to bestow. This brings up the question, Why do these people, who want to walk on the path of truth, achieve Dvekut with the Creator and annul before Him, deserve such suffering, such descents that they cannot tolerate the suffering and want to escape the campaign?

And conversely, those who work in order to receive reward do not have the suffering of feeling that they are far from the work of the Creator. Instead, they feel that they are advancing every day. Certainly, when they see the progress, there is energy to work. They do not feel that they have any descents, but only that sometimes they advance more and sometimes they advance less, but they do not regress.

The answer is that when a person does not feel a lack and corruption in the work, he has nothing to correct. Therefore, these are people who can work only in practice, and on practical Mitzvot, there is nothing to add or subtract, as it is written, “Do not add, and do not take away.”

And since they still have no need for the intention, and intention means achieving equivalence of form, called “in order to bestow,” naturally, they do not want to adhere to Him. That is, they have no understanding about working not in order to receive reward. For this reason, the Creator does not give them suffering, namely the sensation of remoteness from the Creator, so they will ask the Creator to bring them closer.

This is as Maimonides writes, that “women, little ones, and uneducated people are taught to work in order to receive reward,” for they will not understand otherwise. When “they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret,” that we should work Lishma [for Her sake], which is in order to bestow.

Now we can understand what we asked, Why does the Creator afflict Israel, who are the Creator’s beloved ones? Moreover, He tells them, “Since I love you, I want you not to loathe the thorns,” since those kings who enslave Israel are as thorns in their bodies.

It is written, “Do not loathe His admonition,” meaning do not escape the campaign and say that this work on the aim to bestow is not for you. This means that those whom the Creator loves, referring to the quality of Israel, who want to annul Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], and the will to receive that exists in a person, this they want the Creator to give them the power to subdue it so he will annul before the Creator.

However, a person cannot overcome the will to receive, since the will to receive makes him see that the main reason why a person should labor and toil is to be able to satisfy his self-love. But that person wants the opposite—to revoke his self-love and be able to work only on what pertains to love of the Creator. That is, he does not want to work for his own sake, but for the sake of the Creator, meaning for what pleases the Creator.

That person says that he derives no satisfaction from having the strength not to work for himself, as there are many smart-alecks who say that man achieves wholeness if he does not work for himself. He, however, says that this is not why the Creator created the creatures, so they will not enjoy. Rather, the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations. Therefore, the creatures, too, should work in equivalence of form, meaning so all their yearning will be to do good to the Creator.

It follows that one who says that man’s purpose to achieve wholeness is only so as not to work for himself, that only this is man’s purpose and why he was created, this is not the truth. Instead, one should always examine oneself to see if he is working for the sake of the Creator, meaning that the Creator will enjoy. That is, he wants to replace self-love and achieve love of the Creator, for only in this way will the creatures achieve the goal for which they were created, called “to do good to His creations.”

Therefore, those who want to achieve love of the Creator, although this degree is still far from them, yet they nonetheless want to achieve it, these are called “those who love the Creator.” It is as Baal HaSulam said about the verse, “will give wisdom to the wise.” He asked, “It should have said, ‘will give wisdom to the fools?!’” Since they are already wise, what does wisdom give them? Also, from where would they have wisdom before the Creator gives them? Only afterward, when they already have wisdom.

He said that the meaning of “wise” is those who want to be wise. Although he still does not have wisdom, but he desires wisdom, he is already called “wise,” after his purpose. Hence, one who wants to be wise should believe that the Creator will give him wisdom.

In this way, we should interpret that one who wants to love the Creator is already regarded as one who loves the Creator. For this reason, the Creator wants to give them love, meaning annulment of self-love and to be rewarded with love of the Creator. The Zohar says to them that the Creator holds in His hand a cane to lead them on the straight path. That is, they should believe that the sufferings they suffer from the descents they undergo come from the Creator. That is, these foreign thoughts they are receiving, which are as thorns in their bodies, the Creator is the one who sends them.

Although a person understands it would be better if the Creator sent more ascents, and why do I need these descents, meaning what is their purpose, the answer to this is that this is called “the cane in the Creator’s hand to lead him on the straight path.” Otherwise, if a person remains in a state of ascent, he will think that he has achieved completeness and will remain in his state of lowliness because he will not feel any lack that he must correct.

For this reason, the Creator shows him his lowliness and shows him that as much as he already thought that he was superior, that he did not have such lowly thoughts that other people have, suddenly he sees that he has worse thoughts than people who work like the general public, who are regarded as working in order to receive reward.

He says that he wants to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, and he is certainly at a higher degree than they are. But suddenly, he sees that he is lower than they are. It follows that the suffering he feels causes him to need to ask the Creator to truly bring him closer. This is why this pertains specifically to people who are regarded as Israel, who want to be “Israel.” In order not to fail in the work, He sends them these descents. This is considered that He is “holding the cane in His hand, to lead them on the straight path.” The “straight path” is the path that leads straight to the King’s palace.

This is not so with those who are regarded only as Esau. This is only action, without the intention that the actions will lead to annulment of self-benefit, and they do not want to do things for the sake of the Creator, but settle for the action, without the aim that they will lead to Dvekut with the Creator and do not think of the matter of Dvekut with the Creator, as it is written, “And to cling unto Him.” For them, the Creator does not hold the cane in His hand to admonish them.

He says, “But Esau I hated, which is why I removed the cane from him, removed the admonition from him so I would not give him a part in Me.” That is, “I do not want him to have Dvekut with Me.” This is why He says, “My soul loathes him,” meaning that because their whole work is only for their own sake, “My soul loathes him,” and I will not give him a part in Me. That is, I will not give him suffering by which to cling to Me. Since they have no desire for Me, I have no desire for those who are in the quality of Esau, who feel themselves as whole. “Esau” means that he has already Asah[did] his bit and regards himself as whole.

Yet, what can one do in order not to undergo a descent, called “suffering” from feeling remote from the Creator? since all the suffering is in order for a person not to remain on a low degree because he is content with little, since he already thinks that he has already been rewarded with a spiritual degree. Therefore, it is necessary to lower the person in importance, meaning that he will see for himself how deficient he is. Then he will come to ask the Creator to deliver him from his lowliness.

Thus, how can he not fall into a state of lowliness? The advice for this is that if a person calculates and sees, through thought and desire, that he is still far from Dvekut with the Creator, meaning that even during an ascent he still considers himself, and begins to feel his faults, then he does not need to fall from his state, meaning to be given lowly thoughts until he feels that he is in a state of deficiencies.

Rather, even during an ascent he begins to seek advice how to ascend in degree. In that case, he does not need to be given descents from above, since he himself begins to seek advice even before he has fallen into lowliness. Now it seems that in the situation he is in, he is full of faults. By this he can rid himself of the need to be given descents from above.

However, normally, the order is that during an ascent, a person does not want to search for faults in himself. Therefore, he must be given descents from above.

By this we can interpret what our sages said (Shabbat 152), “What I did not lose, I seek.” That is, an old man walking bent, always looking at the ground as though searching for something. He says, “I have lost nothing, yet I search.” We should interpret “Old is he who has acquired wisdom.” That is, he is “Wise, who sees the future.” Since he can come to a descent in order acquire empty Kelim, so the Creator may fill them or he will remain in a state of lowliness because he will not feel deficient. Then, when he loses the state of ascent, he begins to seek advice how to ascent in spirituality once again.

Therefore, one who is old, meaning wise and sees the future, begins to search how to ascend in spirituality even before he loses the state of ascent. He begins to follow all the counsels about the ways to ascend on the spiritual degrees, and this is done by seeking deficiencies in the state he is in. In that case, there is no need to throw him down in importance so he will find and see deficiencies in himself, since he himself will be looking for deficiencies so as to have empty Kelim that the Creator may fill.

The best advice in a state of ascent is that when a person feels that now there is a state of spirituality, and he wants to find deficiencies, in that state he should delve in the Torah and find the connection between the Torah and man. From this he will be able to take knowledge about how to serve the Creator, as it is written, “a soul without knowledge is also not good,” and as it is written, “grant us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge from You.” In that state, he will see the lack in him and will have empty Kelim. By this, he will be saved from coming into a real descent.

Now we will explain the question, Why, when we pray to the Creator to erase our sins, do we stipulate before Him conditions and say, “but not through suffering,” meaning “not through descents”? During a descent, we are separated from Him, since during a descent, everything is in lowliness. This is called “Shechina [Divinity] in the dust.” Because we must feel our lowliness, we cause the Shechina to be in exile, too, just as we have drifted from the holy land. That is, we do not have the desire of Kedusha [holiness]. Instead, during a descent, we receive the desire of “the land of the nations,” and by this we degrade the Kedusha.

For this reason, we ask Him to help us erase our sins so we may enter Kedusha. However, that it will not come by suffering, called “descents,” for these descents cause the degrading of Kedusha, which is called “Shechina in the dust” or “Shechina in exile.” We pray that this suffering will not come, since we are causing the degradation of Kedusha.

Our sages say (Berachot p 5), “Rabbi Yohanan was weak. He went to Rabbi Haninah. He said to him, ‘Are you fond of suffering?’ He replied, ‘Neither they nor their reward.’” Everyone asks about this. After all, many righteous took upon themselves suffering, so why did Rabbi Yohanan say “Neither they nor their reward”?

Baal HaSulam interpreted this and said that they were arguing over the exile of the Shechina, which is delayed because not all the sparks of Kedusha that have descended into the Klipot [shells/peels] have been corrected. For this reason, although there is reward, namely that everything that descended to be among the Klipot will return to the Kedusha, which is a very big reward—that everything will be corrected—but in the meantime, until everything is corrected, the Shechina is in exile, everyone degrades her and exalt the maidservant, namely the Klipa [singular of Klipot]. This is the sorrow of the Shechina that he cannot tolerate. It is about this that he said “Neither they nor their reward.”

We see what is suffering in the work. It is that they suffer that the Shechina must be in lowliness because of them. To understand this, we should examine the essay “Divinity in Exile” (Shamati, Essay No. 1), where it says that when a person regrets being far from the Creator, that he is inside the will to receive only for his own benefit, like animals, which is unbecoming of the “human” quality, he should direct the suffering so it is not because he wants to be a man, and this is why he suffers, but rather that it is because of the sorrow of the Shechina.

He says an allegory about this, that a person who has a pain in a certain organ, feels the pain primarily in the heart and in the mind, which is the whole of man. Likewise, man is a specific part of the Shechina, called “the assembly of Israel.” She feels the majority of the pain, and this is what he should regret. This is called “suffering” in the work.

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

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

What Is “He Who Defiles Himself Is Defiled from Above” in the Work?

Article No. 26, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (BeHaalotcha, Item 67), “What is ‘Or on a far off road’? It is because a person who defiles himself is defiled from above. Thus, he is on a far off road from that place and road to which the seed of Israel adhere, for he has clung to a far off road, has moved away from approaching you, Israel, referring to the Sitra Achra [other side], which is far from Kedusha[holiness]. Rabbi Yitzhak said, ‘It is written, ‘If he is defiled for a soul or on a far off road.’ This means that they are two things.’ Rabbi Yosi said, ‘Here, when it says ‘defiled for a soul,’ it means before he has been defiled from above. And here, when it says, ‘on far off road,’ it means that it is after one has been defiled above and fell to a far off road, which is the Sitra Achra.’ This means that on both, the Kedusha of above will not be on them and they will not do the Passover when Israel do it.”

Also in The Zohar (BaHar, Item 46), it says, “‘His kingship rules over all.’ For this reason, the Shechina [Divinity] is called ‘an offering to the Lord,’ ‘a burnt offering to the Lord.’ Everything should be sacrificed to the Lord and to His Shechina. Afterward, the Shechina imparts to all, as it is written, ‘And gives prey to her household.’ Even food for animals, and even for dogs, she imparts everything, in order to fulfill, ‘And His kingship rules over all.’”

We should understand why one who defiles himself is defiled from above. Why is it man’s fault that he is defiled from above? Why is he punished with not being able to do the Passover, which The Zoharsays is the meaning of the words, “If he is defiled for a soul or on a far off road”? He is “defiled for a soul” before he is defiled from above, and “on a far off road” after he has been defiled from above, and neither will do the Passover when Israel do it.

We should understand this. If he has defiled himself, he can no longer do the Passover offering, so for what purpose is he defiled from above? Also, why is he defiled from above if Tuma’a [impurity] that is done from above is not his fault?

Therefore, we should understand the following: 1) For what purpose is he defiled from above if he cannot make the Passover offering because he is impure? 2) Why is he defiled, since choice is something that a person makes, and when he is defiled from above, this Tuma’a does not come to him by choice? 3) We should also understand what The Zohar writes about the verse, “His kingship rules over all,” that the Shechina [Divinity] imparts nourishments to all—to animals and beasts, and even to dogs and donkeys, which are the Klipot [shells/peels]. Why must the Shechina provide them with nourishments, as they are her adversaries and enemies of the Kedusha?

To understand the above, we must first know what are Kedusha and Tuma’a in the work. In actions, Tuma’a and Tahara [purity] are clear, as it is written in the Torah or what our sages added concerning Tuma’a, Kedusha, and Tahara. But in the work, what is the meaning of Tuma’a, Tahara, and Kedusha?

First, we must always remember our two tenets, that all the conducts in the world follow, and from which we have conducts in the work of the Creator, which often seem to be conflicting.

1) The purpose of creation, which is His will to do good to His creations, and for which He created in the creatures a desire and yearning to crave pleasures. This is called “will to receive for himself.” All creations, which are called “existence from absence,” emerged with this nature, meaning with this desire that was created, which is considered a lack that the creatures yearn to satisfy. This Kli[vessel] comes to a person without work, since we attribute this Kli to the Creator, and we have no work expanding the Kli, but wherever this desire (sees or feels) that it has some pleasure to receive, it promptly runs there with all its energy. It seems as though it is going to satisfy the Creator’s will, meaning what the Creator wants—that the creatures will enjoy the pleasure He wants to give them.

2) The correction of creation, so as not to feel shame upon the reception of the pleasures. It is known that this happens because every branch wants to resemble its root. Hence, a correction was made that from the perspective of his will to receive, a person wants to decline and not receive any pleasure. Instead, he comes to receive the pleasures because the Creator wants the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, as this was the purpose of creation. Then he will not feel shame because now there is equivalence of form, meaning that as the Creator wants to bestow, so the creatures want to bestow upon Him, so He will enjoy that “He said, and His will was done,” and only because of this they want to receive delight and pleasure.

However, this Kli, called “receiving in order to bestow,” is the complete opposite of the Kli called “will to receive for oneself,” which we attribute to the Creator, who created it existence from absence. Hence, if we want to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake, it is hard work, since we must fight against the Kli that the Creator created.

From this work come all the lacks we learn about, such as the departure of the lights, the breaking of the vessels, Kedusha, Tuma’a, Sitra Achra [other side], and Klipot. Also, all the names we see explained in The Zohar and in books of Kabbalah extend only from the correction of creation.

This is so because we attribute the Kelim of the correction of creation to the creatures, as it is written in the beginning of Tree of Life, and as he explains in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, that the first will to receive, called Malchut de Ein Sof, said that she does not want to receive in order to receive, but in order to bestow.

Naturally, if we want to go against the nature that the Creator created, which is the opposite, it comes to us by hard work. In the upper worlds, this caused the departure of the lights and the breaking of the vessels, and then the Klipot emerged and the distance between Kedusha and Tuma’awas made.

Kedusha is called “equivalence of form.” This is the meaning of Dvekut [adhesion], as it is written, “You will be holy for I am holy.” This means that as the Creator wants only to do good to His creations, the creatures should also want to be on a degree of doing good to the Creator and not to themselves.

It follows that before we achieve the correction of creation and while still immersed in self-love, a person cannot receive the delight and pleasure, and the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment that occurred are on him. That is, we must say that all the concealments we suffer are because such is the order of corrections, that by this, all the creatures will arrive at the end of correction, meaning that all the Kelim that emerged with the quality of receiving for themselves will be corrected into working in order to bestow. Naturally, they will be able to receive the delight and pleasure. It follows that then, at the end of correction, there will no longer be a need for the Tzimtzum and the concealment. This is the meaning of the words, “And your Teacher will no longer hide Himself.”

It follows that remoteness and closeness are that if a person does everything in order to bestow, he is close to Kedusha, as was said, “You will be holy.” If he does everything for his own sake, he is far from Kedusha.

Accordingly, we should ask, If the delight and pleasure cannot shine in vessels of reception because of the Tzimtzum that took place, how will the created beings exist in the world before their vessels of bestowal are corrected? From where can the creatures derive pleasure? for without pleasure, it is impossible to live, since such was the order of creation.

Therefore, we learn that promptly after the Tzimtzum, when there was the departure of the light, Reshimot [recollections] remained in order to sustain the Kelim. The first Kelim from which the light departed are called Kelim de Igulim [vessels of circles], and the Reshimo [singular of Reshimot] that remained of the light sustains the Kelim. Yet, this can be said only about the Kelim of Kedusha, as was explained that in the Partzufim of Adam Kadmon the Reshimot remained in the Kelim after the departure of the lights.

Conversely, in the world of Nekudim, where the Kelim fell to the Klipot after the departure of the lights, we learn that the Reshimot remained in the place of Atzilut, since the Reshimot, which are parts of the light, cannot enter the Klipot. Rather, only sparks fell into the Kelim to sustain them. That is, the Kelim that fell into the Klipot, and all of their vitality, is only because sparks of Kedusha fell into them. From this comes all the vitality of the Klipot, as the ARI interprets, only a “slim light,” called “very thin light” compared to what is found in the Kedusha, is all the vitality that fell into the corporeal world.

In other words, all the life and the corporeal pleasures that the entire world chases in order to obtain, since they feel that this is their entire life, are but a very thin light compared to the spiritual pleasures, and on the spiritual pleasures was the intention to do good to His creations, called “the purpose of creation.”

By this we will understand why the Kedusha must give nourishments to the Klipot, for otherwise they will not be able to exist, since the desire to do good to His creations causes that if the creatures have no delight and pleasure at all, they cannot exist and must die. Since man is born with an inherent nature to receive only for his own sake, he is under the control of the Klipot. At that time, it is impossible to receive vitality from the Kedusha. Hence, even when he begins to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, he must begin in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], or else from where will he have life? Therefore, the Kedusha gives nourishments to the Klipot so the Klipot will have life and nourishments, which sustain the creatures while they are under their control.

Only through the reforming light in Torah and Mitzvot, when they achieve Lishma [for Her sake], meaning when they can work in order to bestow, then the concealment and hiding called Tzimtzumdepart from them. Then, they can receive their vitality from the Kedusha, where the real pleasures are revealed, and not as they received, only a “slim light” of Kedusha, but real light of Kedusha.

By this we will understand what we asked about what The Zohar says, “And His kingship rules over all,” that the Shechina imparts nourishments to all, to animals, beasts, and even to dogs and donkeys, which are the Klipot. We should understand for what purpose the Shechina should sustain them.

Since it is impossible to exist without light and pleasure, and there is no other power in the world that can sustain them, as it is written, “There is none else besides Him,” hence, the Shechina sustains them and gives them nourishments so as to sustain them. The Shechina imparts the nourishments to each one according to his degree, as he says, “Although all the offerings are to the Lord, of them he gives to the dogs, which are the disqualified offerings, which he gives to Samel, who is called a dog, and some of them are as “ministering angels” and some of them are as “humans.”

This means that the Shechina imparts nourishments to each one according to his quality. There are people who are as “humans,” there are those who are as “pure beasts,” and there are those who are as “dogs.” The Shechina imparts nourishments to all. However, according to one’s efforts to ascend on the rungs of Kedusha, so is the abundance he receives. That is, if a person comes to a degree where his only pleasure is in serving the King, he receives abundance suitable for Kedusha. If the person can work only in order to receive for himself, he receives according to his merit.

For this reason, those who wish to walk on the path of truth but cannot overcome the will to receive for oneself, but want nourishments so they can overcome it, they receive from Kedusha, which is called “the light in it reforms him.” They receive nourishments according to their preparation. That is, they receive vitality in being able to perform acts of bestowal.

Conversely, those who are still as “dogs”—as it is written in The Zohar, that they howl as dogs Hav-Hav [Give, Give]—must receive vitality within the vessels of self-benefit.

This is not so with people who want to exit self-love. Sometimes they receive nourishments, meaning vitality, from wanting to work in order to bestow, but when they do not appreciate the nourishments they received with the vessels of bestowal, they are given some lust that they crave and they begin to think about the pleasure of the lust. At that time they completely forget about the spiritual work and suffer an immediate descent until they no longer feel the situation they are in. In truth they are in a state of unconsciousness, meaning that they do not recognize that there is the matter of spirituality, in which they previously engaged with all their hearts, but suddenly they have completely forgotten about it.

Finally, they recover and begin to feel that they are in descent. However, it is as though they were in a car accident and were left unconscious. When they recover, they see that they are in a hospital.

Likewise, a person who was walking on the path toward achieving the aim to bestow was suddenly hit by some passion, which entered his heart and he became unconscious. That is, he fell into the corporeal world. After some time, he recovers, meaning that he heard a clarion from above that he is not all right.

The matter of the passion is not the same for everyone. Sometimes, a person is encountered by a thought that it would be better for him to work for his own sake and not for the sake of the Creator. When this thought hits him, it is called a “road accident,” if he did not see the danger in advance, while he still had time to overcome the thought so it would not penetrate his heart. However, the form of the passion is not the same for everyone. In each person, the passion dresses in a different form. Even within the same person, not all times are the same, and each time, the passion dresses in a person in a different way, all according to the time.

The passion is like a bait. When we want to catch fish, we take the rod and hang on it some animal or a piece of meat. When the fish sees the meat, it sees the pleasure it can receive from it. And when it sees the pleasure, it has no other thoughts, and then it cannot conceive that by this, meaning if it bites into the bait, it will die, since the man will pull it out of the water so it will die. At that time, it has no interest in thinking about this.

Likewise, when a person sees some lust, it is a bait that lures him into receiving this passion, and then he has no time to think that by this he will die in the spiritual sense, that all the work he thought had to be done for the sake of the Creator, when he looks at the lust, it is a bait that pulls him out of the spiritual water where he lived. And as soon as he is pulled out of the spiritual water, he dies in spirituality and remains unconscious. In other words, he is unaware that he has already died in spirituality because he does not even remember that there is spirituality in the world, and he forgets about everything.

However, afterward, recovery comes to him from above, and he sees that now he is in a state of descent. That is, during the ascent, he looked at all the lusts as something separate from him, meaning that he was not attracted to them. He felt he had within the heart a rejecting force that he did not even want to think about them. But suddenly, he receives a direct relation to them, meaning that they become close to his mind and feeling, to the point that when he recovers, he does not understand how the relationship between them was created.

However, there is a rule: “When the upper one descends to the place of the lower one, He becomes like him.” That is, they become seemingly together, without any distance between them, as there were while the upper one was in His place above. Likewise, when the lower one ascends to the place of the upper one, he receives a common relation, as though he has always been in the place of the upper one. He receives distance from the state of the lower one (according to the rule: “When the lower one ascends to the place of the upper one, he becomes like Him”).

It follows that this bait is akin to “vision.” “Vision” is not necessarily with the eyes. Rather, “vision” is also thought, meaning the vision of the mind. In other words, if some sinful thought comes along, whether in the mind or in the heart, and there is a rule that “the eye sees and the heart covets,” so by seeing he will certainly come to covet. And although a person cannot be held accountable for seeing, meaning when some thought comes to a person, why is it his fault, or when he suddenly see with his eyes, what can he do?

Baal HaSulam explained about it, asking about what our sages said, “A person does not sin unless a spirit of folly has entered him” (Sotah 3). He asked, Why is a spirit of folly permitted to enter him so he would sin? Had the spirit of folly not entered him, he would not have sinned. Thus, why is it man’s fault that a spirit of folly has entered him? He replied that there is a rule that “the eye sees and the heart covets.” It follows that although seeing is not man’s fault, but if he does not repent the seeing, although he is as though misled in this, he must come to covet, and coveting is already a sin.

It follows that the fact that a spirit of folly entered him is a great correction for a person, so he will not blemish the Kedusha so much, since during the sin, he no longer feels the importance of Kedushabecause the spirit of folly is already in him, and naturally, the Kedusha escapes from him. That is, had he repented the mistake right away, he would not have come to an actual sin, which is the coveting. And if he does not repent, the spirit of folly comes.

Now we can understand what we asked, Why is it that when a person defiles himself, he is defiled from above, as The Zohar says about the verse, “If he is defiled for a soul or on a far off road”? The answer is that it is because he defiled himself in the work. We should interpret—in vision. If he defiled himself and did not repent, he must be defiled from above, meaning that they let a spirit of folly enter him.

This is for man’s best, for when one works without reason, it is as though he works without an intention to sin, since he has no reason that we can say that he acted deliberately. Hence, being defiled from above is a correction, and naturally, there is no question why he is defiled, since by this they do him a favor. Naturally, whether he is defiled only by seeing, which is certainly considered a mistake, and all the more so afterward, when he is defiled by coveting, they already show that they are not close to Kedusha.

Although seeing was by mistake, still, there was no spirit of folly in him. But at the time of coveting, he already had the spirit of folly. Although we could ask, but when he is defiled from above, there are two things in him, meaning seeing and coveting. Perhaps he wants to say that even when he had the possibility to be one thing, he was already unworthy of nearing.

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

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

What Is “He Who Has a Flaw Shall Not Offer [Sacrifice]” in the Work?

Article No. 25, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (Emor, Item 41): “‘Whosoever he be of your seed throughout their generations who has a blemish.’ Rabbi Yitzhak said, ‘The reason is that he is flawed, and one who is flawed is unfit for serving in the holy.’ We established that one who is flawed has no faith in him and that flaw testifies of him. It is all the more so with a priest, who must be more complete and full of faith than anyone.”

We should understand this: According to this, if a person is born with some defect, does he have a choice to achieve faith in the Creator or does he have no choice and must remain without faith? What should that person do if he is told, “First you must go to the doctors to see if they can heal you from your flaw, and then you can come to learn about faith.” Can this be?

The thing is that we learn everything from the perspective of branch and root. This is the revealed part in the Torah, that all the work of Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] were given to us by way of branch and root. But when speaking of the hidden, meaning the intention and not the action, we interpret everything with regard to the work. Thus, that which is called “flaws or defects” does not pertain to the act, but to the aim.

We should know from where the flaws and defects in spirituality extend. They come to us because of the shattering that took place, when sparks of Kedusha [holiness] fell into the Klipot [shells/peels]. Through these sparks, the Klipot gained the power to remove a person from the work of the Creator, by giving him pleasures when he engages in order to receive pleasure, and a person cannot relinquish the pleasure he receives in Kelim [vessels] of self-benefit and work for the sake of the Creator.

When he engages in matters of bestowal, a person feels in all those actions that they have no flavor or fragrance. When he overcomes and does perform acts of bestowal, this work is not with all the organs. That is, not all the organs agree to this work. It follows that he is flawed. That is, when he works with the aim to bestow and wants to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, even after all the overcoming, there are still some organs that disagree with this work. It follows that he is missing organs, which is called “flawed” in the holy work.

All this, meaning that the organs do not agree with his work, is because they feel that there is a flaw in the work of bestowal. Thus, they themselves, meaning the workers themselves, say that there is no wholeness in this work, but that it is completely flawed. In such a state, how can it be said that there is wholeness in the work, when they themselves say that there is a blemish in the work? And how can work with flaws be given to the Creator?

In corporeality, this is like a person who gives a gift to a king and wants to show him that he is a loyal subject. Yet, his heart is not with him. That is, he has organs that ask him, “What will you get out of working for the king? Do you think that the king will pay you for working for him devotedly?” It follows that the person himself says that this work is flawed. It is as it is written (Midrash Rabbah, Nasso 13), “Woe unto that dough whose baker testifies that it is bad.”

However, we should ask, Why does the person himself say that he is flawed? The answer is that he lacks faith. If the person truly had faith in the Creator, that He leads the world as The Good Who Does Good, and believed in the greatness of the Creator and His importance, it would not be possible that that man would have any resistance in him. This is so because we see in our nature that the small one annuls before the great one like a candle before a torch; it has no freedom of choice. As long as it has not been established in his heart that He is great, there is choice, meaning to choose and say that He is great—either by himself, since he attains that He is great, or by others, who tell him He is great and he follows their view. Afterward, he has no freedom of choice not to annul, but he is drawn like a candle before a torch. Then he considers it a great joy if he can serve the great one and he has no greater pleasure than this.

It therefore follows that anyone who has a flaw in the work, his work is flawed. Why is it flawed? It is because he has no faith in the Creator—that He is the King of the world and leads the world as The Good Who Does Good. Otherwise, he would not have a flaw at all, since all the organs would agree to serve the great King. But since he has no faith in the greatness of the King, his work for the sake of the King is flawed.

That is, since his work is tasteless, a person cannot do it with all the organs. It follows that there are several flaws in his work. Either an organ is missing, or it functions not as it functions with something that is tasteful.

Thus, what can one do when he sees that he is flawed? His only work is to ask the Creator to give him the power of faith, to have the strength to believe in the greatness of the Creator, meaning that in everything he does in Torah and Mitzvot, he should aim that through his actions that he does as an “awakening from below,” the Creator will give him the power from above to believe in His greatness with all his heart. At that time there will be wholeness in the things he does.

That is, there will be thought, speech, and action in his work, since in anything that is complete there are three discernments: 1) the act, 2) the thought, where through the act the Creator will give him the power of faith in the greatness of the Creator, 3) speech, meaning prayer, since the thought causes him to pray to the Creator, which is called “speech and prayer.” To the extent of attainment of the lack of faith, so the prayer is measured, since the lack that a person feels and wants the Creator to satisfy his lack, this is called a “prayer.” However, when a person sees with his mind that he has already prayed to the Creator but the Creator still did not help him, he loses the power of prayer.

But a person should also pray for the ability to pray. He must believe in the sages and say, “What I see and what the mind obligates me is called “within reason.” Yet, I must believe above reason in what the sages said (Berachot 32), “Rabbi Hama Bar Hanina said, ‘If a person sees that he has prayed but was not answered, he must pray again, as it was said, ‘Hope for the Lord, be strong, brace your heart, and hope for the Lord.’’” It follows that without faith in the sages, a person cannot do anything on the path of correction, as it is known that “The view of landlords is opposite from the view of Torah.” Hence, a person cannot make ways in the way of the Creator, except that which is accepted among the servants of the Creator.

The main lack is that when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot and the body does not resist him, meaning does not bring him foreign thoughts, in that state, a person does not think that faith is what he lacks in order to enjoy what he does as though he has obtained a great fortune in corporeality, for then he would certainly be very inspired and elated from obtaining something important that the whole world appreciates. What pleasure he would have then?!

If a person believes that he is serving a great King, why is he not elated now and full of joy over the matter of Kedusha in which he is engaging? The reason is that he lacks faith. For this reason, a person should not be content with little, since he is lacking what is essential, not a supplement. If a person does not pay attention to this, then he must remain in the state of “general public,” who work only in action. However, we must not forget that “An act without an aim is as a body without a soul.” Hence, a person must overcome and be unlike the rest of the workers, but rather join the servants of the Creator, who aim for the sake of the Creator.

Although we learn that a person should walk on the right line and say that he is not deficient, and he is happy with what he has, but on the right line, too, there should be great inspiration and elation because he is working for and serving a great King. Although he cannot value the magnitude of the importance of the Creator, he should still work on it, on being happy with settling for little as though it were a great thing. And the fact that he does not feel the great importance, for this, too, he thanks the Creator, for seeing that he has some grip on spirituality. For this, he gives great praise to the Creator.

Yet, in truth, the order is that he must shift from the right line, which is wholeness and settling for little, to the left, meaning to reflect on why he has no grip and why the Creator does not want to give him more grip on spirituality. There must be something missing here that should be corrected through good deeds, and not remain “poor in knowledge,” but make all kinds of efforts that the Creator will help him as He helps others who want to be considered servants of the Creator.

However, a person should be careful not to mix the lines with one another, or else he will not be able to see the actual reality of each line. Rather, once he sees the distances, he can go forward because now he can work on two legs. It is known that a person cannot walk on one leg, meaning that one leg is considered giving praise and gratitude to the Creator, which is the beginning. And the praise is in that he can believe, to some extent, that he is speaking to the Creator.

It follows that to the extent that he has some faith, he thanks the Creator. For everything he does, he thanks the Creator for rewarding him and giving him the thought and desire to observe His commandments. For this, he is able to bless the Creator and thank Him for this.

As we should bless for each Mitzva [commandment/good deed], we should also bless the Torah. We should know that “blessing” means that we bless Him for this boon. One who does not bless Him for this, it is because he does not feel the Mitzvot as something important, worth blessing Him for it. That is, the gratitude He gives us is like the gift, as it is customary that to the extent of the gift, so is the extent of the thanks we give.

It therefore follows that before a person comes to perform a Mitzva and bless on it, he must first take upon himself faith above reason. That is, although he still does not feel the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, he should believe above his intellect that they are very important things. Because a person is still unfit to feel the greatness of Torah and Mitzvot, since there is a correction regarded as “avoiding the bread of shame,” for which there is a concealment on the Torah and Mitzvot, for this reason we must begin with work above reason and disregard our feelings. Rather, we must say, “They have eyes and see not.” To the extent that we overcome through faith in the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, to that extent we can give thanks. That is, the blessing that a person gives to the Creator depends on the measure of importance of Torah and Mitzvot.

According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Nedarim 81), “Why do wise disciples not yield wise disciples from their sons? Rabina said, ‘Because they do not bless in the Torah first.’”

We should understand how can it be said about wise disciples that they did not bless in the Torah first. After all, we see that when ordinary people come up to read the Torah [during service], before the leader of the prayer reads in the Torah, they say a blessing. But concerning wise disciples, our sages said that there are wise disciples who did not bless in the Torah first, and therefore their sons are not wise disciples.

The literal explanation has many answers. But in the work, where we learn within one body, what are wise disciples and the sons of wise disciples in the same body? We should interpret that the blessing we must give first pertains to the intention. That is, they do not set their hearts on appreciating the Torah in order to bless the Creator for giving us a great gift. Naturally, the blessing they do—namely the thanks they give to the Creator for the gift—is not as it should be. It follows that they lack the importance of the Giver of the Torah.

This is the meaning in what was said, that they did not bless in the Torah first. “First” means that before they said the blessing, they did not think about the importance, and from this extends that their sons, meaning their understanding, is not that of wise disciples. That is, it is those who learn Torah and see that they have still not achieved the view of Torah, meaning understood that the view of Torah is annulment of the authority, meaning that they must understand that working for self-benefit is what they must annul, and they see that although they are learning Torah, they still do not understand that the body should annul its entire being and work only for the sake of the Creator.

This is as our sages said about the verse, “If a man dies in a tent.” They said, “The Torah exists only in he who puts himself to death over it.” The person asks, “What should I correct so as to come to this understanding?” They said that the reason is that “they did not bless in the Torah first.” That is, the blessing on the Torah that they gave to the Creator was not with all their hearts, since they did not grasp the importance of the Torah, meaning what the Torah should give us and for what purpose a person needs the Torah and Mitzvot.

When a person reflects on the benefit and the degree that the Torah and Mitzvot should bring him, then, according to the importance of the matter, he will bless the Creator. But a person who does not make the real calculation, although he blesses the Creator, “his heart is not with him,” since he cannot appreciate its importance.

Therefore, when he hasn’t the preparation, meaning he does not have the intention before him, to aim why he needs the Torah and Mitzvot, a person cannot achieve an understanding of a wise disciple. This is as Baal HaSulam said when he asked Why did they say, “wise disciple,” and not simply “wise”? It is because “wise” means the Creator, and one who learns from Him the quality of the Creator is called a “wise disciple.”

This is as our sages said, “Cling unto His attributes: As He is merciful, so you are merciful.” It follows that the question, “Why do wise disciples not yield wise disciples from their sons?” means that they should understand that the most important is that they will take upon themselves the work of bestowal and not for their own sake. This is called “a wise disciple.” This is why they said that the advice to a person who wants to yield sons who are wise disciples is to understand that we must work for the sake of the Creator. Prior to the blessing, he must aim for what he is blessing, meaning why he thanks the Creator. This is called “Because they did not bless in the Torah first.” That is, before they made the blessing, they did not pay attention to what the Torah and Mitzvot should bring him.

However, when he aims that the Torah and Mitzvot were given in order to cleanse people, as Rabbi Hanina Ben Akashia said, it follows that all the gain from Torah and Mitzvot is the cleansing. What comes after the cleansing, meaning what will they gain by receiving the cleansing? The answer is that we must believe in the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, to the extent of His ability. Then, they will be rewarded with the delight and pleasure that a person cannot appreciate. As our sages said, this is regarded as “The eye has not seen a God besides You, will do for those who await Him.”

Now we can understand what we asked, What is the meaning of what The Zohar said, “A man in whom there is a flaw must not offer [sacrifice].” This is so because he is flawed, and a person who is flawed has no faith in him, and that flaw testifies to him. This is true for every person, but even more so for a priest. We asked about this, What can one do if he sees he has a flaw? Can he no longer have faith? Can it be said that there is a person in the world without freedom of choice although he did not commit any sin? Why is it his fault if he is flawed?

The answer is that when speaking of the holy work, meaning that his work will be in holiness, it is as it is written, “You will be holy for I am holy.” That is, everything they do will be for the sake of the Creator, is in order to bestow. This work begins in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], as our sages said, “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake].”

The reason why we must begin in Lo Lishma is as he writes in the book A Sage’s Fruit: “Since man is born with a Kli called ‘will to receive for his own sake,’ it follows that it is impossible to begin in order to bestow. Rather, we begin in Lo Lishma and “the light in it reforms him.” In order for a person to know that he does not need to stay in the state of Lo Lishma, there are flaws in his work when he wants to work for the sake of the Creator. At that time, not all the organs agree to this work. Therefore, we were given two lines to walk in, called “two legs.” Prior to this, he has flaws and defects, and all because he lacks faith. For this reason, one must ask of the Creator to give him the power of faith.

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

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

What Is “Do Not Slight the Blessing of a Layperson” in the Work?

Article No. 24, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

The Zohar (Nasso, Item 10) says, “Do not slight the blessing of a layperson.” This is, ‘In the daytime, the Lord will command His mercy.’” In the Megillah (p 15) he says, “Never slight the blessing of a layperson.”

We should understand what this comes to teach us in the work of the Creator, meaning when we learn within one person, what is the meaning of “layperson.” First, we need to understand the meaning of a “layperson” altogether.

In Masechet Megillah (p 12b), Rav Kahana said, “It follows that a layperson jumps first.” This means that the meaning of “layperson” is said in his condemnation, that he is a simple person, who nonetheless likes to show himself and appear as wise. Thus, how should we interpret “the blessing of a layperson” in the work? Also, we need to understand what The Zohar says, “Do not slight the blessing of a layperson.” This is, ‘In the daytime, the Lord will command His mercy.’” What is the connection between the blessing of a layperson and His mercy?

It is known that man’s work is in two lines, called “two writings that deny one another until the third writing comes and decides between them.” It is as our sages said (Sotah 47), “The left always pushes away, and the right pulls near.”

In the work, we should interpret “the right pulls near.” When a person is advancing in the work and wants to be in a state nearing the Creator, and does not want to see any deficiency in himself because now he wants to engage in songs and praises for the Creator, and if he sees some deficiency in himself he will not be able to thank the Creator with all his heart because he has deficiencies and he wants the Creator to fill his deficiencies. It follows that now he is praying for the Creator to fill the lacks. Thus, his gratitude is already deficient. That is, in the midst of saying thanks, he claims that the Creator has not given him everything he needs. Therefore, when he wants to engage in wholeness so that the thanks he gives to the Creator will be from the bottom of the heart, he must not see any lack in himself.

However, we must understand how a person can say that he has no lacks, and instead, he thanks and praises the Creator that he is working for the Creator, when he sees that his work is full of flaws. How can he lie when he sees his own incompleteness in the Torah and work? The answer is that when one introspects and sees his lowliness, that he is worse than the rest of the people in skills and qualities, and yet the Creator has given him a thought and desire to do something in Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], and he knows that this service is worthless and sees that there are many people more important than him, yet the Creator did not give them a thought or desire to do something in matters of Kedusha [holiness], and He did give him a thought and desire. For this he thanks the Creator as though he has obtained a fortune in corporeality. What spirit would the corporeal things yield in them? From this depiction, he receives joy and happiness and it gives him satisfaction.

This causes him to later have ears to hear things toward which previously his ears were deaf. Now, through the joy, all his organs have become alert and understand and contemplate everything, since the joy that came to him through the joy of Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot] causes him that in corporeality, too, he will be a completely different person now. All this came to him because he appreciated matters in Kedusha.

However, one must believe that even though he appreciates the importance of Kedusha with all his might, he still has not come to give the measure of importance where there is the real importance, because no person can evaluate the measure of importance of the Kedusha, and only those who have ascended know how to appreciate a spiritual matter.

Our sages knew what importance to attribute to spirituality, as our sages said (Berachot 7), “Rabbi Zira said, ‘The reward of learning is in running.’” RASHI interpreted that the reward of people who run to hear a lesson from a sage is mainly the reward for running, since most of them do not understand. The MAHARSHA interprets that “The wise do not need the learning, for they already know the laws, as was said, that in any case, their reward is the running,” meaning the reward for running.

“Abaye said, ‘The reward of the Kallah [Shabbat before a pilgrim festival] is in the squeezing.’” RASHI interpreted, “On a Shabbat before the pilgrimage, everyone gathers to hear the laws of the pilgrimage.” The meaning is that although there are people who do not understand the laws, they still have reward for standing pressed together. The MAHARSHA says about this, too, “If the listener is a wise disciple and has no need for this, he has the reward for squeezing.”

Accordingly, we can see how our sages appreciated the importance of spirituality, for they said, “Even if people do not understand what the sage is saying, they still have reward in that they run to hear the sage’s words.” Moreover, we see that the MAHARSHA says, that even those who are themselves wise disciples and know the laws on their own, still, if they come to listen to the sage’s words, they have reward. And certainly, reward is given only for work.

It follows that a person should be happy that he has been rewarded with the work of the Creator. Even if he comes to the seminary or the synagogue and does not learn, he has the reward for walking, meaning that it is defined as work of the Creator. The evidence of this is that there is reward for this work.

It follows that when a person walks on the right line and wants to engage in work of singing and praising the Creator, he must see that he has wholeness. That is, he must appreciate his lowliness and how the Creator has given him a desire and yearning at least to walk to the seminary, although he understands nothing, and to say, “I cannot appreciate the importance of my fortune that the Creator has chosen me for at least some service.” He should be happy as though he has struck a fortune in corporeality, how he would be happy. That joy gives him the strength to believe in the Creator, that He is good and does good.

But when a person begins to calculate how much he earned in spirituality through the labor he has already given, and begins to see that he did not advance, although what he sees is true according to his attainment, in that state, he is separated from the Kedusha [holiness] because in that state, he is slandering His Providence and cannot say that the guidance of the Creator is in the form of good and doing good.

It follows that by this he becomes more remote from the Kedusha. That is, to the extent that he sees that he is deficient, and sees all that he is lacking, and that he has prayed to the Creator several times but the Creator did not give him anything for his plea, he immediately blemishes the belief that “You hear the prayer of every mouth.”

It follows that in this state, he says that now he is walking on the path of truth and does not want to deceive himself that he is a person who has wholeness, and he is certain that the road he is marching is true. However, a person cannot make ways for himself, but must accept the path that our sages have arranged for us.

About such matters, Baal HaSulam asked about what we say (in “You Have Chosen Us”), “And lifted us from among all the tongues.” Yet, there is only one tongue in the world, that of the evil inclination. Thus, it should have said, “And lifted us from all the tongue.” What is the meaning of “all the tongues,” in plural form? He said that there are holy angels and there are impure angels. That is, sometimes, the evil inclination prevents us from doing something good through a power that incites us and says that we have no need to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, since we will not gain anything from this. Sometimes it comes to us and tells us, “You should not do this; it will only interfere with your engagement in Torah and Mitzvot.” It follows that it says to us the opposite, that he wants us to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, which is why he advises us not to do what we want to do, or learn, or think, etc.

It follows that when a person should walk on the “right line,” the holy angel comes to him and tells him, “Look at your baseness, see how you are devoid of Torah and devoid of faith, and you are also lacking in observing Mitzvot.” He lowers him to the netherworld and speaks to him like a holy angel.

And what happens? In the end, the person falls into a descent and cannot think of doing anything in Kedusha. For this reason, when he must walk on the right line, he must fight against all those who object to the wholeness of the right, and believe above reason that the Sitra Achra [other side] speaks to him dressed as a holy angel.

However, afterward a person must shift to the other side, called “left line,” where great care is required. He must be ready, when he sees his past, that he is full of flaws, to have the ability to pray for the flaws. Otherwise, it is forbidden to begin the work on the left, as it is written in The Zohar, that it is “forbidden to raise the hands without prayer and plea.” “Raising the hands” means that he looks in his hands, meaning what spirituality he already has in his hands, if he has advanced a bit or not.

It is forbidden to look, except in a way that he is willing to make an honest prayer and plea right away. Otherwise, he will fall into despair and sadness and melancholy, and will have to escape the campaign. It follows that where he should have received from the left line a place for prayer, that this is the only reason he should move to the left line, hence, if he cannot be certain that he can make an instantaneous prayer, he should remain on the right line until he is certain that by this he will have the strength to pray that the Creator will help him, and he will believe that “The Lord hears the prayer of every mouth.”

Otherwise, it is forbidden because in that state, he cannot give thanks and also cannot pray to the Creator to deliver him from that state. When a person is in a state where he begins to slander Providence, he immediately loses the power of prayer because the body does not believe that the Creator “hears the prayer of every mouth.” It follows that he remains empty handed both ways. For this reason, he must stay on the right line and not enter the left line.

This is the meaning of what our sages said (Yoma 16), “Any turn you take should be only through the right.” The meaning of “any” is “generally.” That is, generally, a person should walk on the right line. It is permitted to walk on the left line only when he is certain he will be able to pray for his deficiencies. Otherwise, he must remain on the right until he feels that he is ready for it.

Therefore, if thoughts that he is at fault have awakened in him against his will, and how can he speak words of Torah and prayer to the Creator when his thoughts tell him, “You are filthy! How are you not ashamed to engage in matters of Kedusha?!” About this, a person (must) say that it is written, “I am the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a [impurity].” That is, even though I am in the lowest possible baseness, I still believe what is written, that the Creator dwells even in the worst lowliness.

However, He is not among the proud, as our sages said, “Anyone who is proud, the Creator says, ‘I and he cannot dwell in the same abode.’” For this reason, when a person feels whole, according to the right line, when he appreciates his lowliness and says that nonetheless, the Creator has given him some grip on Kedusha, and that “some,” compared to the Kedusha that a person should attain, compared to the Kedusha that a person should attain, that “some” is called “layperson.”

But if he says according to his lowliness, “I thank and praise the Creator for this,” it can be said about this what is written, “I am the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a.” When he is happy about this, he can be rewarded with, “The Shechina [Divinity] is present only out of joy.”

It follows that through this lowliness, that because the Creator has given him some grip on Kedusha, he can climb the rungs of holiness if he only takes from this the joy and appreciates it. Then, a person can say, “Raise the poor from the dust,” “He will raise the destitute from the litter.” That is, when a person feels his lowliness, that he is meager, meaning poor, as our sages said (Nedarim 41), “Abaye said, ‘In our tradition, there is no poor but in knowledge.’” That is, it has been handed down from our father, a custom from our forefathers that “there is no poor but in knowledge.”

This is why he says that he is meager, meaning poor, for he has no knowledge of Kedusha—he is called “poor and meager.” Then, if there is any grip on Kedusha, even though he is poor, he says, “Raises the poor from the dust.” That is, he says a prayer, for even though he is poor, the Creator still raised him. “He raises the destitute from the litter.” Although he feels that he is destitute, the Creator still lifted him, and for this, he praises the Creator. If there is any grip on Kedusha, we can already praise and thank the Creator.

We can interpret what is written (Psalms 97), “Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to the memory of His holy name.” We should interpret that “righteous” is one who says that the Creator is righteous, since any grip that he has on Kedusha, he immediately says, “The Lord is righteous” in that He gives one who is as poor and destitute as him some grip on spirituality. These are called “righteous,” as it is written, “Who is righteous? He who justifies his Maker.”

The measure of grip on spirituality is that he can say about it, “I am happy with it.” The verse says, “And give thanks to the memory of His holy name,” meaning they thank “the memory of His holy name,” the fact that they remember His holiness—for this they thank and praise. This is the meaning of the words, “Give thanks to the memory of His holy name.” That is, if they merely remember the Holy name, for this alone they already thank the Creator, meaning on the mere remembering, they are immediately awakened to thank the Creator.

But one who has some pride and says that “The rest of the people, who have no brains, can come to be servants of the Creator without any intellect and reason, but a man like me, who has brains and is not as stupid as other people,” he says, “If the Creator wants me to work for Him, He must be considerate with me and give me the taste of Torah and prayer. Otherwise, I will serve the way I understand it and not the way You require.”

It is written about this, “The Lord is King, He dresses in pride.” That is, the Creator behaves toward such people a garment of pride and is not impressed with them, and they remain with nothing but their pride. This is why it is written, “The Lord is high and the low will see.” With his lowliness, a man can see. But one who is high, who considers himself higher than others, is called “And the high from afar,” meaning he moves afar from Kedusha.

Now we can understand what we asked, What is “Do not slight the blessing of a layperson”? It means that when a person feels that he is a layperson, that he has only a slight contact with Kedusha, which is considered “layperson” compared to the wholeness that one should achieve, still, when he blesses and thanks the Creator, “Do not slight it.” Rather, a person must appreciate it as though he has obtained a fortune and thank and bless the Creator as though he has attained true wholeness.

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