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What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work?

Article No. 23, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in Shaar Hakavanot [Gate of Intentions], “This is the meaning of the Maror [bitter herb], which is ‘death,’ in Gematria. They are the judgments in her, in which the Klipot [shells/peels], which are called ‘death,’ grip, and to sweeten her by drawing of life. This is also why he must taste bitterness, and if he swallows it, he does not do his duty, since the grinding of the teeth sweetens through the thirty-two teeth.” We should understand what is the bitter herb, which is called “death,” in the work, and what it means that through the chewing of the teeth, which are thirty-two, the bitter becomes sweetened, and if he swallows it, he no longer tastes bitterness. How is all this clarified in the work?

To understand this, we first need to know why we need work in the first place. We see that even in corporeality a person does not achieve anything without effort. The answer to this is known, that since every branch wants to resemble its root, and since our root, which created us with the aim to do good to His creations, meaning to bestow, therefore, when the created being receives, it feels unpleasantness when receiving the abundance from another. This is why we were given work.

When a person receives reward for his work, there is no shame. We say that a person is not willing to eat the bread of shame because in return for the bread, he gives work. This seems like a tradeoff, where they swap with one another, where one gives work and the other gives bread, or money, and so forth.

In corporeality, among people, this is very clear. But between man and the Creator, how can we say that the person works in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and in return, He rewards him? After all, our sages said that we should work not in order to receive reward. Thus, what is the benefit from the work in Torah and Mitzvot? We can understand that in corporeality, we need to work because reward without work causes shame. Therefore, when he wants to receive reward, there is a correction on the reward that a person works for the reward so it will not be as bread of shame upon the reception of the reward.

For this reason, we understand that the work is a correction on the reward. But in working not in order to receive reward, why do we need the work? What purpose does the work serve if there is nothing to correct, since he is not receiving any reward, so why the work? Concerning the work, we should also understand that in corporeality, when a person needs to work, it is because the work that one does for another, the other needs that work. For example, a bakery owner needs employees, or he will not be able to produce the amount of bread he needs. This is not so with regard to the Creator. Is He deficient and needs the creatures to complement what He is lacking by their work for Him?

It follows that the question has two aspects: 1) We were given work in order to be able to receive reward in return for the work. By this, the shame will be corrected so it is not as though he eats the bread of shame. This cannot be said regarding the work of the Creator because we work not in order to receive reward. 2) This can be said between man and man because his friend needs his work. But between man and God, how can we say that the Creator needs man’s work?

The answer is that in truth, we should ask why our sages said that we should work not in order to receive reward, since the whole matter of the work was established so there would not be the bread of shame? Therefore, we see that in corporeality, too, between man and man, this rule of not eating the bread of shame applies, as well, because of the shame. Thus, why do we need to work without reward with respect to the Creator, if the work corrects the delight and pleasure so there will not be shame in it upon reception, for then it is no longer considered a gift or charity? Rather, now the delight and pleasure acquire a new name: “reward.” Accordingly, why do we need to work not in order to receive reward?

The answer to this is brought in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 1, Histaklut Pnimit, Item 7), where he asks about what our sages said, that in order to correct the bread of shame there was a correction that He created this world. Here, there is a reality of work, “for they take their reward from the Whole One in return for their work, and by this they are saved from the blemish of shame.” He asks there about this: “But their answer is odd indeed. What is this like? It is like a person who says to his friend, ‘Work with me for just a minute, and in return, I will give you every pleasure and treasure in the world for the rest of your life.’ There is indeed no greater free gift than this, since the reward is utterly incomparable with the work, since the work is in this world, a transient, worthless world compared to the reward and the pleasure in the eternal world.” And there (in Item 20), he replies, “Since there is disparity of form between the Creator and the created beings, which causes the shame, through engagement in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bring contentment to his Maker, they invert the vessels of reception of the soul into vessels of bestowal. That is, for herself, she has no desire for the momentous abundance, but she receives the abundance in order to bestow contentment upon her Maker, who wants the souls to enjoy His abundance.”

Now we can understand what we asked, that we can understand that between man and man, the work that a person does for a reward is in order for him not to eat the bread of shame, as it is known that this causes shame, and through the work, the blemish of shame is corrected because he receives reward for the work. But with respect to the Creator, what is the correction of the work, if we must work not in order to receive reward?

Also, we said that we can understand that between man and man, a person needs his friend’s work, but as for the Creator, why does He need man’s work? Is He deficient and needs man’s work?

Indeed, between man and God, it cannot be said that the work corrects the reception of delight and pleasure so the flaw of shame will not be felt. This is so only between man and man, since the giver of the work pays him according to his work. It follows that work for a reward is a kind of tradeoff where they swap with one another, and there is no shame here anymore, since both receive—one receives work and the other receives reward. But with respect to the Creator, there is no equality that we can say that one receives work and the other receives reward.

This is so for two reasons: 1) It cannot be said that the Creator receives work from man, since the Creator is not deficient or needs man’s work. 2) As he says there in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, the reward that a worker of the Creator receives is not equal to the work, since the work, compared to the reward, is like a person working for his friend for one minute, and in return receives provision for the rest of his life, for the worker of the Creator works only in this world, and in return receives reward in eternity. But between man and man, this is not so.

Therefore, as it is written there, man’s work in Torah and Mitzvot is not for the purpose of tradeoff, as between man and man. Rather, the work is that through work in Torah and Mitzvot, a person will receive something new, a second nature. That is, instead of the nature of wanting to receive for himself with which he was born, by engaging in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow and not receive reward at all, he will receive reward in return for his work.

Yet, what is the reward he expects to receive for his work in Torah and Mitzvot? It is that the Creator will give him a second nature: vessels of bestowal. Until now he had vessels of the will to receive in order to receive. Now he will obtain new Kelim [vessels] called “vessels of bestowal.” Hence, during the work in Torah and Mitzvot, he should aim to engage in order to bestow. That is, all the time during the work, he must aim which reward he hopes that the Creator will give him in return for his work in Torah and Mitzvot.

There are two things in this intention that he aims in order to bestow: 1) to know which reward he hopes for, 2) to feel a good taste in the reward, meaning to enjoy this reward. That is, the measure of the reward depends on the yearning for it. In corporeality, there is a great reward and a small reward, which is measured by the importance of the matter, since normally, something that is rare, that not many people have and is difficult to obtain, is regarded as important in corporeality.

Likewise, everyone thinks that he can come to do everything for the sake of the Creator since it is only an intention, to aim during the work that he wants the work to be for the sake of the Creator. The person thinks that only actions are hard to do, but intentions are very easy, and depend only on his will, and if he wants to, then he can.

But those who begin to walk on this path, who want their actions to be for the sake of the Creator, the more those people increase their efforts in actions and intentions to bestow, the more they discover the truth that they are far from it. That is, there is a Segula [power/remedy/quality] in this work—the truth is revealed to him from above, that he has no connection to acts of bestowal. But before a person begins the work of bestowal, there is a correction that we cannot see the truth that a person is far from this path, as it is against nature.

Man is born to do everything for his own sake. In order not to feel shame, he must do everything for the sake of the Creator and annul his entire being. How can the body agree to this? As The Zoharsays about the verse “Or make his sin known to him,” the Creator makes this known to him, meaning that from above, when they see that a person wants to correct the will to receive for himself, they alert him to the truth that he is far from it. Then he begins to see that not anyone can achieve this reward, and he begins to see the importance of the matter.

It follows that only then does he begin to see how this reward, called “vessels of bestowal,” is hard to merit, and only the Creator can give him these Kelim. As a result, his reward becomes important in his eyes since it is a precious thing that not just anyone can achieve.

Accordingly, we see the importance of this reward—to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal. It is impossible to understand the importance of the matter before one sees how difficult it is to obtain. When he obtains vessels of bestowal, he sees that he has been rewarded with a great reward, which is such a precious thing since he cannot obtain this great thing by himself, and only the Creator Himself can give him these Kelim as a gift.

Thus, their saying that it is forbidden to work in order to receive reward is because if he wants reward for the work then he escapes from the real reward. By this we will understand why we need to work, since the Creator does not need our work, to help Him in any way. The answer is that this work is only for us. That is, through the work, we obtain the importance of the reward. And it is not merely importance, but through the work, we attain that the importance is because it is our entire life, for without Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, we are far from Him, and all the delight and pleasure that the Creator created in order to do good to His creations depends on having equivalence with the light.

As the ARI says, the reason for the breaking of the vessels was because the Kelim could not tolerate the light. Hence, the lights departed and the Kelim broke. This means that there is an inverse relation between the light, which is the giver, and the Kli [vessel], which is the receiver. In order to have equivalence, there was a correction that the receiver does not receive because of his own benefit, but because he wants to do the Creator’s will, who wants to do good to His creations, and only for this reason does he receive the delight. This is called “equivalence,” since now both are equal for they are both considered givers. That is, as the light gives by giving to the Kli, the Kli receives only because it wants to bestow upon the Giver.

Now we can understand what Baal HaSulam said about the words that Moses asked of the Creator (Exodus 33:18-21): “And he said, ‘Show me please Your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘Here is a place with Me.’”

He said, “What is the meaning of ‘Here is a place with Me’?” He said, “Iti [with me] is an acronym [in Hebrew] for faith, prayer, and labor. That is, this is the place by which we can be rewarded with the glory of the Creator. We can interpret the glory of the Creator the way we pray (in the Eighteen Prayer of Rosh Hashanah) “Give glory to Your people,” which means that the glory of the Creator will be revealed within the people of Israel, so each and every one will feel the greatness of the Creator to an extent that people’s only worry will be to do something, to bring some contentment to the Creator, and nothing else will interest them.

Conversely, when it is the opposite, when the Shechina [Divinity] is in the dust, the greatness of the Creator is concealed and we neither see nor feel the importance of the Commander, who commanded us to observe Torah and Mitzvot, it is not because He needs our work. Rather, He wants to reward us. We were given Torah and Mitzvot because as our sages said, “The Creator wanted to cleanse Israel, hence, He gave them plentiful Torah and Mitzvot,” as it is written in the beginning of the essay, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah.” Therefore, to achieve the glory of the Creator, we can interpret that this is why he said, “Show me Your glory.” Although there are many interpretations to this, in the work, this is how we should interpret the verse—“Show me Your glory” means that the glory of the Creator will be revealed.

We should interpret that the order of “a place Iti [with Me]” is that one should take upon oneself faith, to believe that each and every one can be rewarded with the glory of the Creator. When he believes this, he must know why the glory of the Creator is not revealed even before he begins the work, and only the concealment is revealed. He must believe the words of our sages that this is a correction so that man will be able to acquire equivalence of form, regarded as “giving to the Creator and not for himself.”

For this reason, concerning the faith that one should take upon himself, he should also believe that it is impossible to be rewarded with the glory of the Creator, meaning that the hiding and concealment would be removed from him, if he has not been rewarded with “fear of heaven.” Fear means as it is written (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar”), “He cannot have faith before he has equivalence of form.” In order to have equivalence of form, he must try to have fear in everything he does, as it is written (there), “Fear means that he is afraid lest he will diminish in bringing contentment to his Maker.”

It follows that when one begins the work, he begins with faith, but the body resists this work, and then comes a state of labor, when he must overcome the body and seek all kinds of counsels, as our sages said, “In trickery shall you conduct war,” since the body does not want to relinquish self-benefit. To the extent that he exerts, to that extent he begins to feel that he is incapable of doing anything since in his view, he has done everything he could. After the labor, he comes to know that only the Creator can help, and it is out of his hands. Then comes the third state—a prayer—and then the prayer is from the bottom of the heart, since it is utterly clear to him that no one can help him but the Creator.

However, even when he comes to know that the Creator can help him, and he understands that the real advice is only prayer, the body comes and makes him see that “You see how many prayers you have already prayed but you received no answer from above. Therefore, why bother praying that the Creator will help you? You see that you are not getting any help from above.” At that time, he cannot pray. Then we need to overcome once more through faith, and believe that the Creator does hear the prayer of every mouth, and it does not matter if the person is adept and has good qualities, or to the contrary. Rather, he must overcome and believe above reason, although his reason dictates that since he has prayed many times but still received no answer from above, how can he come and pray once more? This, too, requires overcoming, meaning to exert above reason and pray that the Creator will help him overcome his view and pray.

It follows that although faith, prayer, and labor are three successive things, in truth, they are indeed three things, yet these three things are intermingled. That is, in every state, he works with all three together. In other words, although we begin with faith, all other discernments are included in faith, since when he begins to overcome, he must believe in the sages, who said, “Man must say, ‘If I am not for me, who is for me?’” In other words, a person must toil and achieve the goal by himself. When he sees that he cannot overcome and exert, he must believe that a prayer helps, as it is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth,” although he sees no change when he prays for the Creator to help him. Thus, here, too, there is the matter of above reason. However, the general order is to begin with faith, then labor, and then prayer.

It follows that the most important is faith, since with it we must work in everything we do. That is, the basis of all the Kelim with which one works is faith. This is why the light that is revealed is called “light of faith,” after the Kli. This Kli is built on the basis of faith in the sages and faith in the Creator, as it is written, “And they believed in the Lord and in His servant, Moses.”

Now we can understand what our sages said, “If he swallows the bitter herb, he will not come out.” The ARI said that Maror [bitter herb] is death in Gematria. We should understand what this implies to us that Maror is death in Gematria, that it is the judgments in her, to which the Klipot grip. We should interpret that it is as we say (in the Passover Haggadah [story]), “This Maror that we eat, what for? For the hard work with which the Egyptians made their lives bitter.”

The hard work was that the people of Israel wanted to emerge from the control of the Egyptians, called “self-love,” that when they overcame to do something in order to bestow, thoughts of the Egyptians immediately came to them, asking the wicked man’s question: “What is this work for you?” To work for the sake of the Creator. Every time they prevailed, the questions of the Egyptians immediately came. This is called “hard labor,” that it was difficult for them to emerge from their control because the Egyptians made their lives bitter.

The ARI says about this, that Maror in Gematria is death, meaning that the Egyptians did not want to let them out of their control, but to remain as they wanted, as the wicked man’s question. This is the meaning of staying in the form of “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’” It follows that this is not just bitter, but it is actual death. Thus, “made their lives bitter” means that they wanted the people of Israel to remain dead.

It therefore follows that hard labor, when they tasted bitterness, means that they tasted the taste of death by working for their own sake. This is the meaning of what he says, that Maror is regarded as death, and judgments to which the Klipot grip, where judgment means that they were under judgment, meaning forbidden to use the vessels of reception, and all the nursing of the Klipot comes from the vessels of reception, which want to receive in order to receive. Then, when a person is in a state of reception, the person is in a state of concealment and hiding from spirituality.

Its correction is as it is written, “This is the reason why he should taste bitterness, and if he swallows it, he does not do his duty, since the grinding of the teeth sweetens through the thirty-two teeth.” We should interpret that it is known that the thirty-two teeth imply the thirty-two paths of wisdom, meaning that specifically by a person achieving a state of ascent, regarded as being in a state of life and wisdom, then he should chew the bitter herb, so as to taste bitterness, for only during an ascent can we feel what is Maror, meaning what descent tastes like, as in, “the advantage of the light from within the darkness.”

That is, it is impossible to taste a real taste in life and light unless he has the taste of darkness and death. Thus, the Maror is sweetened through the ascent, for only through the darkness, which is a descent, does he feel a taste in the light. It follows that the darkness has now been corrected. This is the meaning of the words, “And to sweeten her by extending life.”

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

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

What Is, “A Drunken Man Must Not Pray, in the Work?

Article No. 21, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

Our sages said (Iruvin 64), “A drunken man must not pray. And if he prays, his prayer is an abomination.” This means that it is better if he does not pray because his prayer is an abomination. But what does “abomination” mean?

We find the word “abomination” in relation to incest, too. In general, “abomination” means something loathsome, as it was said, “You shall not eat any abomination,” “Come and see the evil abominations they are committing here,” etc. We should understand this in the work. Why is it better if he does not pray if he is drunk, since this is loathsome?

The Zohar asks (Shmini, Item 61) about the verse, “Do not drink wine or ale”: “Rabbi Hiya opened, ‘and wine makes man’s heart glad.’ He asks, If the priest should be happy and in illumination of the face more than everyone, why is he forbidden to drink wine? since there is joy and illumination of the face in it. However, in the beginning, wine is gladness and its end is sadness. And the priest should always be happy. Moreover, wine comes from the side of the Levites, since the Torah and the wine of Torah are from the side of Gevura, while the side of the priests is Hesed.”

It is also written there (Item 66), “For this reason, when a priest enters the Temple in order to work, he is forbidden to drink wine, since his actions are secretive and wine reveals secrets. This is why it is to raise the voice,” and this raising of the voice pertains to the Levites.

We should understand what is a priest in the work, what “The priest’s work is secretive” means in the work, and what is a Levite. Also, why do the Levites need to raise their voices, the opposite of the priests, and why wine is gladness in the beginning and sadness in the end, meaning what is regarded as “beginning” and what is regarded as “end”?

First, we need to know what is work. It is known that there are two manners in the work of the Creator: 1) Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], 2) not in order to receive reward. This means that he believes in the Creator, that He is the King of the world, and to the extent of his faith in the greatness of the Creator, so he feels that it is a great privilege to serve the King.

But with what can he serve the King that the King will enjoy? The answer is that we must believe that the Creator has commanded us through Moses how we can serve Him: He has given us Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], as well as faith in the sages, to observe everything that our sages added to us, which is called Mitzvot de Rabanan [commandments of our great sages]. Also, He has given us customs to follow, which they have given us to observe. By observing all these, it is in order to bring Him contentment by observing the Torah and Mitzvot, and all of our pleasure is in having this great privilege, and from this we derive our entire life.

That is, since it is impossible to live without delight and pleasure, which extends from the fact that the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations, a desire and yearning to receive pleasure was therefore imprinted in the creatures, or else a person cannot exist in the world. For this reason, all the creatures, as soon as they are born, must receive pleasure.

The only difference between small and great is in the clothing. That is, the pleasure must be dressed in something. Hence, according to one’s maturing, the dresses for a person change accordingly. For example, a child enjoys games, and when he matures, he changes the dresses.

Likewise, a person begins to do the holy work in order to derive pleasure in observing Torah and Mitzvot. We must promise him a reward in return for his work, just as in corporeal work. Although a person derives great pleasure from rest, he relinquishes it and goes to work because the work will give him a reward, meaning things he will enjoy.

This pleasure, which he receives from the work, comes in two ways: 1) Payment, called “salary.” Through the salary, he will be able to buy things that will give him pleasure. 2) Some people work not in order to receive a salary for their work, but for respect. This is what they enjoy and what gives them fuel for work.

It is the same in the holy work. Some work in order to receive reward or respect for their work. In this, too, there are two manners: 1) The created beings will give them money or respect. 2) They want the Creator to give them money and respect, etc., in return for their work. As The Zohar writes, they want the Creator to give them the next world in return for their work. All this is called “in order to receive reward.”

However, those who want to work only in order to bestow, whose motivation is that they are serving the King, as The Zohar says (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” Item 191), “Fear, which is the most important, is when one fears one’s Master because He is great and ruling, the essence and the root of all the worlds, and everything is considered nothing compared to Him… And he will place his will in that place, which is called ‘fear.’”

Here, in this work, begins the main heaviness, since a person must muster motivation not from what is generally accepted, which the general public can understand, that he receives reward in return for work. That is, the work is in Torah and Mitzvot, but he receives the reward from something else, and only this, that he hopes to receive the reward, obligates him to work. That is, according to the reward he hopes to receive, he measures himself in the work, meaning how much effort to exert in the work, according to the reward he will receive.

But those who want to work for no reward at all, but in order to bring contentment to their Maker, their measurement is the greatness of the Creator. That is, to the extent that a person assumes the greatness of the King, to that extent he has the energy to work. It is written (“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 14), that there is partial faith, where each one has a certain measure of faith that determines how much effort he should put into the work of the Creator.

This is as he says in The Zohar about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates, each according to what he assumes in his heart.” This means that each person has a measure of greatness of the Creator, and the greatness of the Creator in a person is according to what he assumes in his heart. That is, there is no measure to the greatness of the Creator so that one can have the real measure of the greatness of the Creator, as it is written, “His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another.” We learn that the matter of “one generation to another” in the work is in the same person, meaning each state is called a “generation.”

Thus, during an ascent, a person has a certain measure of greatness of the Creator. During a descent, a person has a different measure of greatness of the Creator. This is called “One generation to another.” This means that through these generations, meaning through the ascents and descents, when a person calculates how much he appreciates His greatness in those two states, and he strengthens himself in the work, by this he is later rewarded with “will praise Your works.” That is, he sees that even the states of descent were for better and not for worse.

This is so because a person can evaluate something only from its opposite, as was said, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness,” as Baal HaSulam explains (Shamati, Essay No. 34, “As the Advantage of the Light from within the Darkness” [“The Profit of a Land”]). It follows that “One generation to another” means that from both together we come to the state, “will praise Your works.” Through these states, which are repeated every time, and there can be several states, called “generations,” each day, from all those “many generations” we achieve wholeness. However, it is provided we do not escape the campaign in the middle of the work.

Accordingly, we see that in order to have fuel to work in order to bestow and not receive any reward, but the work itself will be the reward, we must believe in Him, meaning believe in His greatness. We must make great efforts to obtain faith in the greatness of the Creator. Without faith in the greatness of the Creator, there is no power to work in order to bestow. That is, precisely when we feel the greatness of the Creator, a person is ready to work without any reward.

Instead, the work itself is the reward, since serving a great King is more valuable to him than any fortune in the world, compared to this service, that the Creator permits him to come in and serve Him. Hence, we must focus all our thoughts on how to come to feel the greatness of the Creator, and then everything follows that point.

It is known that when we begin the work, we must begin on the right line, called “wholeness.” That is, a person should try to believe above reason as much as possible, and say that although he can only do a small service in Kedusha [holiness], he should believe that it is very important and he does not have the brains to appreciate the importance of the matter.

This is as our sages said, “Walks and does not do, the reward for walking is in his hand.” This means that one should appreciate even a tiny contact with spirituality, in whatever manner. The Creator accepts everything and registers it under that person’s account, and penny by penny join into a great amount.

This is as it is written in Baal HaSulam’s essay, “The Order of the Work,” that we should address the work to the Creator and believe that He accepts our work, and it makes no difference how this works seems. That is, the Creator takes everyone into consideration if he does something in the work, and it makes no difference what aim a person has at the time, but the Creator takes everything into the account. For this reason, the person, too, should certainly think about everything that is something in the work of the Creator, and a person should derive delight and joy from everything, in that he has the privilege of having any contact with spirituality.

A person must give many thanks to the Creator for rewarding him with anything in spirituality, as was said, that even if he walks but does not do, the reward for walking is in his hand. Thus, one must thank the Creator for at least rewarding him with going to the synagogue. When a person thanks the Creator for this, and not merely thanks, but he should be happy with it, this is called “right,” wholeness, and this is the quality of Hesed [mercy], the right line.

In other words, he says that the Creator has dealt mercy with him by permitting him to do something in spirituality. This quality is called “priest,” meaning that he is regarded as doing the holy work.

When a person walks on the right line, he can always be happy, called “desiring mercy.” That is, he is content with his lot, with what he has, and does not slander the Creator. In other words, when a person is happy, there is no room for slander since when he is happy, he has no complaints to the Creator that He does not treat him as The Good Who Does Good. In that state, a person is regarded as “blessed.”

It is written in the essay, “Faith in His Rav [Teacher],” this is when a person can be awarded a high degree because “the blessed cling to the blessed.” But when a person slanders, even if he wants the Creator to give him spirituality and not corporeality, there is still no difference between them. Rather, when he has complaints and discontent with his situation, and he cannot say that the Creator treats him as The Good Who Does Good, this is considered slander, and the prohibition on slander is known to all.

Therefore, when a person walks on the right line and slanderous thoughts come to him, he should reject them and say that it is forbidden to listen to slander. He should do all that he can to repel and expel from himself all the bad thoughts that slander, although when these thoughts come to a person, they say, “We are not foreign thoughts. On the contrary, we want you not to deceive yourself, but to see that the state of your work is incorrect and fix it. Thus, we bring good thoughts about the person.”

At that time, he should say, “If you are saying this for my sake, why don’t you come to me when I am on the left line?” meaning when a person concludes that he should be walking and not standing in one state. “Right” means that he is content with little. But it is known that two are required, and to tell me where I am wrong.

“Instead, precisely when I want to walk on the right line, you come to me. Hence, I do not want to listen to you.” This is called “the wholeness of the right.” This quality is always in wholeness, since he is content with his lot, and is not interested in anything but to give many thanks to the Creator. This quality is considered a “priest,” and it is perpetual happiness.

However, this work is regarded as concealed, meaning it does not reveal its wholeness outward. This is called “covered Hassadim [mercies],” meaning that he cannot show its importance outward because he has nothing to show to the external ones, for they will immediately ask him, “What are you looking at? We see that you are happy and content with your lot, so do show us what you have, what possessions have you acquired in spirituality, for which you are happy.”

He answers them, “I am content with my share.” But they tell him, “We see that you have nothing real in spirituality, yet you are still happy. Thus, you are fooling yourself.” And what is the truth? He says, “I am going above reason, so I have no need to answer the questions you are asking me within reason.”

However, we must know that “external ones” does not mean other bodies. Rather, the person himself consists of many thoughts, as it is written in The Zohar, “Man is a small world and consists of all the nations of the world.”

Now we will explain what is a Levite, why he raises his voice, contrary to a priest, whose work is secretive, meaning above reason. Since there is wholeness there, he can always be in gladness. The Levites are “left,” which is illumination of Hochma, and Hochma comes in vessels of reception. Conversely, Hassadim, which are regarded as a priest, come in vessels of bestowal.

Vessels of reception require constant guarding so they will not be taken after the Kelim [vessels] that engage in reception. Their guarding is that they also draw Hassadim, and these Hassadim look after the intention to keep it in order to bestow. This is called “receiving in order to bestow.” As soon as he is taken after the act, which is reception, he falls from his degree, since he becomes separated from Kedusha.

Hence, the work of the Levites is with a raised voice, meaning that illumination of Hochma shines there, called “revealing the Hassadim.” Revealing is called “raising the voice,” since it is revealed outward, in vessels of reception. This is why he says that in the beginning it brings joy, and its end is sadness.

We asked, What are the “beginning” and “end”? “Beginning” means when he is mingled with Hassadim. At that time he can use the Hochma, too. But in the end, when his Hassadim ends, as much as he was mingled with Hassadim, he remains with the core, meaning only with Hochma. At that time, it is impossible to use Hochma without Hassadim, and this brings him sadness because he always needs the clothing of Hassadim, but he does not have it.

Conversely, a “priest,” who must always be content, should walk only on the right line, which is Hesed, for “he desires Hesed [mercy],” and he is happy with his share and has no need for Gadlut[greatness, adulthood]. Naturally, he can always be in gladness.

This is similar to what was written (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 14). It is written there that there are two discernments: 1) blessing, 2) freedom, which is carved. He interprets there in Ohr Pnimi [Inner Light] that “covered Hassadim are called ‘free,’” when he lacks nothing because he needs nothing. For this reason, he feels himself free, that he has no enslavement by something he needs to receive. It follows that he is enslaved to nothing.

This is so precisely when he is content with his share, and this is called a “priest,” whose work is secretive and he does not reveal what he has outwardly. That is, he does not need the possessions to be revealed outwardly, but believes above reason that everything he has is enough.

However, the Levites belong to the left, meaning Hochma, which is “the wine of Torah.” The Torah should actually be revealed because the Torah should be with knowledge, for Daat [knowledge] is called the “middle line,” which decides between right and left, meaning that he will not take more Hochma than he has Hassadim. If he wants to receive more Hochma than Hassadim, it is considered “drinking more wine than he can.” At that time he becomes “drunk” and loses his Daat, called the middle line, which weighs to see that he does not have more Hochma than Hassadim.

By this we should interpret what our sages said, “A drunken man must not pray. And if he prays, his prayer is an abomination.” That is, when he loses the Daat, which is the middle line, and he prays to be given more Hochma than Hassadim, this is called “abomination,” for it is loathsome because he prays to the Creator to give him Hochma without Hassadim, which will go to the external ones and not to Kedusha.

Accordingly, we should interpret what our sages said (VaYikra Rabbah 1:15), “Any wise disciple in whom there is no Daat, a carcass is better than him.” That is, he receives more Hochma than Hassadim. It follows that there is no middle line in him, called Daat, which decides between “right” and “left.” As was said, “a carcass is better than him,” meaning he is loathsome since there is no Daatin him, and he is considered a “drunk” who “drank more wine than he should,” meaning more than Hassadim. When he prays in this way to be given Torah, called “wine of Torah,” his prayer is an abomination, meaning that he is regarded as loathsome.

We can understand this as our sages said (Avot, Chapter 3), “Anyone whose wisdom is more than his actions, what is he like? a tree whose branches are many and roots are few, and the wind comes and uproots it.” That is, action is called “right,” Hesed, and he need not understand with his knowledge and intellect that it is worthwhile to do the holy work in order to bestow. Instead, he can go above reason, although the reason comes to him with Pharaoh’s questions, who asks, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice,” or the wicked man’s question, who asks, “What is this work for you?” To this he replies to them that he is going above reason. This is called “an act,” since he does not answer them with wisdom and intellect. Rather, he answers them that he is working in practice, and not in theory, and this is all of his joy, that he maintains faith above reason.

Afterward, when he is rewarded with Hochma, he does not want to use the Hochma as support, and say, “Now I no longer need faith because I have the intellect as a basis.” This is called “His knowledge is more than his actions.” However, he receives the Hochma because the Creator wants him to receive. He receives, but not for his own sake.

If he wants to receive Hochma more than his actions, this is called “drunk” and his prayer is an abomination. Thus, everything should be with reason, which is the middle line, so there is no more left than right.

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What Does It Mean that the Evil Inclination Ascends and Slanders, in the Work?

Article No. 20, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar, Tzav (Item 20), “‘This is the law’ is the assembly of Israel. Malchut that ascends is an evil thought that comes up in one’s mind to divert him from the way of truth. It is the burnt-offering that ascends and slanders a person, and must be burned in fire so as not to allow it to slander.For this reason, On its firewood upon the altar all night.’ Who is the ‘Night’? It is the assembly of Israel, Malchut, which is the one who comes to purify the man from that desire. For this reason, it must never be quenched, but an everlasting fire shall burn in it.’”

We should understand the meaning of a bad thought that ascends and slanders a person. We should also understand what it means that “night” is called Malchut, and what it means that with the fire, we burn the bad thought so it does not slander above, and what it means that this fire will not be quenched. What is this fire?

It is known that our basis is faith. That is, although we do not feel or understand everything our sages told us, we must believe. Without faith there is nothing to talk about. That is, we must believe what they told us, “I labored but did not find, do not believe.” Rather, once a person has put in the necessary effort, we will achieve what our sages told us.

That is, first we must believe that the purpose of creation is “to do good to His creations.” But the creatures do not attain the delight and pleasure right away, meaning that each one can say, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world,’” meaning that each one will rejoice in being created and in being able to enjoy a world that is full of abundance. However, we see that all creations suffer, whether less or more. They all ask, “Where is that delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give us?” The answer is that there was a correction in order to bring to light the perfection of His deeds. That is, so that the creatures will not feel shame when receiving the delight and pleasure. For this purpose, there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, where the delight and pleasure are concealed from us until we obtain the Kelim [vessels] that are fit to receive the good, and that they feel no deficiency in it, called “bread of shame.”

For this reason, we must believe that although we still do not see the good, if we qualify ourselves to obtain the Kelim that are suitable for this, we will receive the abundance, as our sages said, “I labored but did not find, do not believe.” Rather, anyone who exerts to obtain the vessels of bestowal will receive the delight and pleasure. Therefore, a person must not decide that if some time has passed in his engagement in the work of bestowal and he has labored for it, he must believe that he must have not given the required effort, and this is why he has not been awarded these Kelim.

However, in order to receive these (Kelim), meaning vessels of bestowal, there is the opposite work here. That is, normally, when a person learns a trade, each day he makes some progress, some more, some less. All those who quit the profession do not leave because they see no progress. Instead, they are advancing, but very slowly, and see that at the very least, they will need to learn this profession many years since they are advancing very slowly. Therefore, they drop out.

However, in learning the work of bestowal, the order is to the contrary: Not only do they see no progress in the work, they even see that they are going backward. Indeed, the question is, Why do they need to regress, meaning see that instead of what he should have seen, that the will to receive for himself separates him from Kedusha [holiness], and each time he must loathe the bad, meaning not want to work for self-reception, but always crave to work for the Creator, now he sees that he has received a greater yearning for self-love and cannot do anything in order to bestow?

Baal HaSulam said about this that in fact, a person does advance, meaning that each time he advances toward seeing his true state—that he is so immersed in self-love. This is so because there is a correction from above not to see one’s true state before he can correct it. Therefore, to the extent that it is seen above that he exerts to emerge from self-love, to that extent the evil in him is revealed to him, so he will know that he is the worst person in the world. That is, in other people, the evil is not as exposed as it is in him. For this reason, he sees what he is lacking, and then he can ask the Creator to save him and bring him out of the bad within him.

By this we should interpret what is written, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” That is, in truth, they see their lowliness, that they are lower than the rest of the people and are unable to emerge from the control of the evil in them by themselves. For this reason, this is called “who call upon Him in truth,” since they see that it is utterly impossible to emerge from the control of the self-love.

For this reason, they have a complete thing, meaning a complete desire for His help. It is as Baal HaSulam said, “A prayer makes half.” That is, when a person gives an awakening from below, called “a prayer makes half,” meaning the Kli [vessel], called (desire) for the thing he wants the Creator to satisfy. When the half of the Kli is completed, the filling comes. Here, “half” means that he sees that he has a deficiency but no vessels of bestowal.

It turns out that when he knows about himself that he is utterly unable to correct his lack, meaning that he has already done all that he could to be able to obtain the desire to bestow, he can say that he knows one hundred percent that if the Creator does not help him, he will remain in self-love. This is called “having a complete Kli,” meaning a lack. At that time, the satisfaction of the lack comes, as the Creator gives him the desire and yearning to bestow.

The order is as our sages said, “There are three partners in a person: the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father gives the white,” as it is said (Nida 31), “Our sages said, ‘There are three partners in man: the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father sows the white, his mother sows the red, and the Creator places in him a spirit and a soul.’”

“Right” is named after his father, meaning the light of Hochma, which is the light of the purpose of creation. The light of Hochma is the light of “doing good to His creations,” and this light comes specifically to the vessels of reception. There were Tzimtzum and concealment on that light, so it will not illuminate to the vessels of reception before they are corrected and can aim to bestow.

Therefore, when this light shines, we see that along with it shines the fact that there is also a Tzimtzum, meaning that through this light, we feel that we might come to separation. At that time a person becomes worse than he was. That is, he wants to receive spiritual light and pass it on to the Klipot [shells/peels], which want to receive abundance in order to receive. For this reason, a person takes upon himself not to use the vessels of reception any longer. This is regarded as his father, called Hochma, gives the white, meaning that he “whitens” a person not to use the will to receive for himself, since the light made him see how engaging with the will to receive for oneself removes one from the Creator. Hence, he decides not to use the will to receive any more, and this is called “white.”

Yet, without a desire, it is impossible to do anything, and for himself, he no longer wants to receive. For this reason, “His mother gives the red.” “His mother” is called Bina, whose quality is the desire to bestow. It is known that Malchut is called “black,” meaning the will to receive, who is called Malchut, on whom there was a Tzimtzum, meaning that the light will not shine into her. This is why she is called “darkness.” When Malchut is included in Bina, Bina is called “red.” This is the meaning of his mother, meaning Bina, giving to a person the desire to bestow, and then a person can perform acts of bestowal. This is regarded as the Creator “giving a spirit and a soul,” meaning upper abundance that comes into the vessels of bestowal. This is called “the birth of the Partzuf,” meaning that a new degree is born.

It follows that everything comes from above. That is, the power to throw away the will to receive is not in one’s own hands to do on his own. Rather, this is called “His father gives the white.” Also, it is not within one’s power to be able to do everything in order to bestow. Rather, this forces of wanting to perform only acts of bestowal comes to us from above. This is called “His mother sows the red.”

According to the above, we can interpret what we asked, What is the meaning of saying, “She ascends and slanders a person”? It is written, “This is the Torah,” meaning the order of the work, which gives one forces from above. He says that the Torah is called the “Assembly of Israel,” Malchut, and a person should take upon himself the kingdom of heaven. Then comes the order that first a person begins to feel the bad in him, since before he began the work of bestowal, it appeared to him that he was already righteous, since he was sitting and learning Torah and observing Mitzvot, and what else should he do?

Certainly, there are greater righteous, who learn more and are more meticulous about the Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], but nonetheless, he is also righteous, though he believes that there are greater righteous. Because of (this), he feels his lowliness, that he is not as righteous as they are, and he takes his lowliness only from this.

However, when a person begins to come into the work on the path of truth, which is the work of bestowal, a person begins to see each time that he is immersed in self-love, and cannot do anything in order to bestow. Rather, each time he sees that by observing Torah and Mitzvot, the will to receive for himself will enjoy it, he is able to work. Otherwise, he is completely powerless.

This is called “This is the Torah [law] of the burnt offering.” The Zohar says, “It is a bad thought that comes up in a person’s mind to divert him from the path of truth.” That is, who is the one giving him the bad thought that will come up in his mind? After all, before he began the work, he was righteous, and now, why does he get a bad thought?

Reasonably thinking, it should have been the opposite, that now that he wants to work on the path of truth, he should have had good thoughts and not bad ones. The answer is that “This is the Torah of the burnt offering,” meaning the Assembly of Israel, who is Malchut, sends him these bad thoughts. Otherwise, if she does not notify him of the thoughts of wickedness, he would never be able to correct.

It turns out that the Torah sends him the bad thoughts, but then he falls into despair. He comes to such lowliness that he cannot believe that the Creator can help him, judging by the lowliness he sees, that he is so immersed in self-love. This is the meaning of what is written, “She ascends and slanders a person.” This bad thought comes up in one’s mind and makes him see that he is not worthy of the Creator’s help. Rather, the Creator helps only people who are more important than you. This is the meaning of “ascending and slandering” in the work. We must burn with the fire of the Torah, as it is written, “Such is my word, like fire.” However, the Creator helps every person.

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Why Is Shabbat Called Shin-Bat in the Work?

Article No. 19, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (VaYakhel, Item 180): “What is Shabbat [Sabbath]? Why is it called ‘Shabbat’? Is it because that dot ascended and her light shines? At that time, she is crowned in the fathers, who are HGT de ZA, to be one, and everything is called ‘Shabbat.’ That is, Malchut together with the fathers are called ‘Shabbat.’ Shabbat has the letters Shin-Bat [daughter], since the three Vavs [3 times Vav] in the Shin [ש] imply the three fathers HGT, and she, who is called Bat[daughter], crowns in them.”

It is also written there (Item 181): “The meaning of the matter is that the dot, wherever it is, is the heart of the eye. That is, it contains Hochma, which is called “eyes,” and it is called Bat [daughter], as he said, ‘Keep us like the pupil of the eye.’ Because she is the heart of the whole eye [pupil], she is called Bat. That is, there are three colors in the eye, which are HGT. The fourth color is a black dot, which is Malchut, and only in it is the Hochma—called Ayin [eye]—revealed. This is why it is the heart of all the colors of the eye.” There (Item 177), it says, “All those six days— HGT NHY—unite at a single, holy point, which is Malchut, and all the days unite in her.”

We should interpret this in the work. Baal HaSulam asked according to the above said, that the six days of work imply ZA, which are HGT NHY of ZA, and Shabbat implies Malchut. If this is so, then the six weekdays should have been more important than Shabbat, since ZA is a higher degree than Malchut.

He said, “It is true that the six weekdays imply ZA, but the whole world is under the governance of Malchut, since Malchut is called ‘the assembly of Israel,’ which means that she contains all the souls of Israel, and anything that is not in Malchut is not revealed in this world. However, as long as there is no unification between ZA and Malchut and the abundance of ZA does not extend to Malchut, it is called ‘weekday.’”

Shabbat is regarded as unification, meaning that ZA unites with Malchut, which means that all six Sefirot of ZA illuminate in Malchut. This is why she is called “a Shabbat of holiness,” since the Kedusha [holiness] of ZA extends to Malchut. “Weekday” means that they separated from each other because Malchut, who is the Kli [vessel] that receives the abundance for the lower ones, “the receiving Malchut,” is in disparity of form from the Giver, who is ZA. The lower ones must be fit to receive the abundance that Malchut wants to bestow upon them, meaning (to be) in equivalence of form, to work in order to bestow.

This is why we were given the six workdays to correct ourselves through work in Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds]. To the extent that we engage in bestowal, to that extent each one corrects the root of his soul above, in Malchut, into working in order to bestow. It follows that through the six workdays, Malchut is corrected by the lower ones, and then Malchut is in equivalence of form with ZA, and the abundance of ZA extends to Malchut.

For this reason, Shabbat is regarded as Malchut and is more important than the six weekdays, although the six days imply ZA, which is a higher degree than Malchut. However, all the degrees are measured by the extent to which they bestow upon the lower ones. Since on the six workdays they are in the midst of the work of correcting Malchut into working in order to bestow, ZA still cannot bestow. Only on Shabbat, when the work of bestowal of Malchut is completed, Shabbat is considered more important because then the degree of ZA shines to the lower ones through the correction of Malchut. This is why Shabbat is called “the secret of the One,” which is the unification of ZA and Malchut through equivalence of form. This is why she is called “Shabbat of peace,” meaning that it is considered that on Shabbat there is already peace between ZA, regarded as the giver, and Malchut, regarded as the receiver.

On Shabbat, Malchut is already corrected into working in order to bestow and there is no separation between them whatsoever. For this reason, it is called “a blessed Shabbat of peace,” for then the blessings extend to Malchut and to the lower ones. For this reason, Shabbat is more important than the six workdays.

Our sages said (Avoda Zara 3), “The Creator said to them: ‘Fools, he who toiled on the eve of Shabbat will eat on Shabbat. He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?’” This means that the Shabbat meal is regarded as a reward for the work. If a person did not work, from where will he be rewarded? Without work, it is possible to receive almsgiving or a gift, but not a reward [Sachar means both “reward” and “salary”], as there is reward specifically in return for work. This is why the Creator said to them, “He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?”

Yet, this is truly perplexing. Why did the Creator say, “He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat”? After all, the Creator can give them as almsgiving or as a gift.

The answer is that without work it is impossible to enjoy the meal due to the known reason that in order not to have the bread of shame upon the reception of the pleasure, a correction was made, called “Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment on the upper light,” and the delight and pleasure that the Creator wishes to impart upon the creatures is not revealed.

Instead, through labor in the Segula [remedy/virtue] of Torah and Mitzvot, we obtain the vessels of bestowal, and to that extent the concealment is removed and it is possible to receive the delight and pleasure. But before we obtain the vessels of bestowal, it is impossible to enjoy the purpose of creation, which is the delight and pleasure. This is why there is no point saying that the Creator should give him as a gift or as almsgiving, since there will certainly be shame there, and this shame spoils the taste of the pleasure.

As we see in corporeality, a person is ashamed to eat the bread of shame [receive handout], but specifically through labor. Here, the labor is to turn the vessels of reception, with which man was born, and to provide for himself vessels of bestowal, which are against nature, and anything that is against nature is hard to do and requires great efforts to obtain the vessels of bestowal. It was said about this, “He who comes to purify is aided.” That is, without His help, a person has no chance of being able to obtain them.

Now we can understand that the six workdays constitute the matter of making the vessels of bestowal, which pertains to ZA, for the degree of ZA is to bestow upon Malchut. In order for Malchut, who receives the abundance from ZA, (to be able to) give to the lower ones, we must correct Malchutinto being a giver like ZA. This is called “unification,” meaning equivalence of form.

For this reason, the six workdays are called “days without holiness,” due to this work of emerging from the will to receive for oneself and admitting it into Kedusha, meaning that it will serve the Kedusha. That is, the work is to make the secular holy. Although a person corrects one quality each day, where the first day [Sunday] corresponds to the quality of Hesed, the second day [Monday] to the quality of Gevura, etc., each correction does not become apparent right away.

Instead, when all six days have been corrected, the Shabbat becomes apparent. In other words, as long as the procession of the work of seven days has not been completed, the state of Shabbat does not become apparent in a person. This causes man not to be able to see or feel if he is advancing in the work or standing still in the same state as when he began the work.

Sometimes, a person sees the opposite—that he has regressed. That is, before he began the work of bestowal, he had more passion for Torah and work, and now he sees that his motivation for the work has weakened. This is so because each week is considered one degree. In the middle of the degree, it is impossible to see the situation as it truly is, for it is like a turning wheel, where that which was below before, ascends upward, and that which was above, descends, and as a result of all this, the machine moves forward.

Only at the end of the work, when Shabbat arrives, it means he has completed the six workdays that pertain to this Shabbat. Then it is considered that ZA, which are vessels of bestowal, have entered Malchut. This is called Shabbat.

For this reason, although the six workdays belong to ZA, they still do not shine in Malchut because the heart of our work is in Malchut, as it is written, “to correct the world in the kingdom [Malchut] of Shadai [the Lord].”

It follows that the work of the Kelim is to eject the will to receive for oneself and install instead the desire to bestow. This is called the work of the weekdays, which is the correction of the Kelim. This work is forbidden on Shabbat because Shabbat is called “the time of dining,” when the light can shine inside the Kelim. This is why it is written, “He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat,” meaning did not prepare the vessels of bestowal, “from where will he eat on Shabbat?” since he has no Kelimwhere the meal, which is the delight and pleasure, can clothe.

By this we will understand what we asked, Why can He not give them the meal as a gift or almsgiving? since with a gift or almsgiving, there are no vessels of bestowal there, where the delight and pleasure can enter, due to the Tzimtzum.

Yet, we find that Shabbat is called “a gift,” as our sages said (Beitza 16), “‘To know that I the Lord sanctify you.’ The Creator said to Moses: ‘Moses, I have a good gift in My treasury, whose name is Shabbat, and I wish to give it to Israel, go and let them know.’”

This is perplexing. Why did He say, “He who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat”? In the work, we should also ask, But He could have given them the Shabbat meal as a gift, since Shabbat is called “a gift,” which means that it is possible to give the Shabbat even without work?

However, we should ask about what our sages said, that the Creator said to Moses, “Go and let them know.” We should ask, For what purpose did He have to give them a fore notice about the gift? We understand that if we want something in return for the gift, then they should be notified so they will meet the conditions required for the giving of the gift. Therefore, it means that here, too, when He said, “Go and let them know,” He must be demanding something in return for the gift.

Yet, we must understand how one can ask something in return for a gift, since if the receiver of the gift gives something, it is no longer considered a gift? We should interpret that when He said, “Go and let them know,” He gave them awareness that since He wants to give them a gift, there was fear that it would be stolen from them. Therefore, the Giver of the gift required that they would make a safe place for the gift where no one would be able to take this important gift away from them. Otherwise, the Giver of the gift would not even be able to notify them of the importance of the gift, since those who should not hear would probably hear that it is important and would be able to take the gift away from them.

Therefore, in order for Him to give them the gift, He first needed to let them know that He wants to give them a gift, as it is written, “Go and let them know,” “and I will notify them of the importance of the gift so they will be able to enjoy the gift.” Then he let them know that they should do much preparation for the gift, so it is kept from the external ones, to prepare a place for the gift. It follows that the condition He had set in order to give them the gift was that they would prepare a safe place for the gift. This is not regarded as giving a present in return for the preparation.

What is the keeping from the external ones? It is that if they prepare vessels of bestowal, in these vessels they will receive the Shabbat, which is called “a gift.” This is called “keeping from the external ones,” whose whole grip is on the vessels of reception. This is not so with vessels of bestowal; from these they run away. This work of preparing the Kelim is called “weekdays,” where on each day we must admit the implied Kelim into the Sefirot of ZA, which are called HGT NHY.

When the work of bestowal is through, the light of Shabbat arrives, which is called “a meal,” and dresses in the Kelim that were acquired during the six workdays. It follows that the whole of the revealing of the work is apparent on Shabbat, which is called “the meaning of the One,” when Malchut, called “vessels of reception,” has been turned into bestowal during the work of the six workdays.

That is, the work of the vessels of bestowal that they acquired during the weekdays enter the Shabbat. This means that the fact that Shabbat is called “Malchut that shines in Gadlut[greatness/adulthood]” is due to the preparatory work prior to the reception of the gift. At that time the light of Shabbat, which is called “a gift,” can clothe in these vessels of bestowal. Then, the external ones have no control because the vessels of reception, to which the external ones grip, are absent. Hence, Shabbat is called “And all the judgments pass away from her.”

This is why a gift is called Shabbat, since the Creator did not give the Shabbat in return for labor, but gave the Shabbat as a gift. And the reason why we need to work during the six workdays is in order to make a place for her, meaning a safe place where the external ones cannot hold her, since on Shabbat, the vessels of bestowal have already been corrected and they flee from a place where they see that the vessels of bestowal govern.

For this reason, Shabbat is called “holy,” for the external ones run from the Kedusha of the Shabbat, when everything shines in vessels of bestowal because of the preparation during the six workdays.

According to the above, we should interpret what is written, “Moses will rejoice with the gift of his share.” We should understand why it is written, “He who hates gifts shall live” (Proverbs 15:27). If so, then what is the meaning of “Moses will rejoice with the gift of his share,” if “He who hates gifts shall live”?

The answer is, “For You have called him a faithful servant.” What is “a faithful servant”? It is as our sages said, “Be as slaves serving the rav [great teacher] not in order to receive reward,” meaning that all of one’s work is only to bestow and not to receive anything.

It follows that the fact that he does receive is because the Creator wants to give him. Thus, his reception is called “receiving in order to bestow.” It follows that the gift he is receiving is not because he wants to receive for himself, but because he wants to bestow. Since it is the will of the Creator to do good, he therefore accepts the delight and pleasure, to satisfy His wish, since he wants to delight the Creator.

But what does the Creator need? Certainly, it is for the purpose of creation to be carried out in full. Therefore, he accepts the King’s gift in order to please the King. This is the meaning of the words, “For you have called him a faithful servant.”

Now we can interpret the words of The Zohar, which asks, “What is the Shabbat?” and replies, “Shin-Bat, since the three Vavs in the Shin imply the three fathers, HGT, and Malchut, called Bat[daughter], crowns in them,” since in her is the majority of the Hochma, as it is written, “Keep us like the pupil of the eye,” which is the heart of the eye. There are three colors in the eye, which are HGT, and the fourth color is a black dot, which is Malchut.

In the three Vavs, each Vav implies the six workdays, which is the time of work, when a person must provide for himself vessels of bestowal. Indeed, each and every day, a person must walk on three lines, implied by the three Vavs in the Shin.

In other words, by walking on the right and left each day, we come to the middle line, which consists of both. In other words, we begin to walk on the right, called “the state of wholeness,” and then shift to counting, when he begins to count the profit he has gained through the labor. Afterward, he returns to the right.

Through this turn of left and right, we arrive at the middle line, born out of the two lines. Then, through the work of the three Vavs, we come to the state of Shabbat, where Shabbat is called “the dot of Malchut,” which is black, and is called “a black dot [or point],” since the Tzimtzum was on Malchut, which is called “the receiving Kli.” For this reason, the light does not shine on her own self. However, through the correction of the three Vavs, which is the work on the six workdays in their three lines, she can receive the light that belongs to her essence, which is the light of Hochma. She is called Bat-Ayin [“pupil” but also “daughter of the eye”], where Ayin [eye] is called Hochma, and in the black dot, the light of Hochma is revealed. This is the Shabbat, where through the workdays, the Shabbat appears.

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

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

What Is the Prohibition to Greet Before Blessing the Creator, in the Work?

Article No. 17, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

The Zohar writes in Tetzaveh, Item 51: “Rabbi Yehuda started, ‘Leave off the man whose breath is in his nostrils, for why should he be regarded?’ Was the prophet cautioning to avoid the rest of the people, and that the rest of the people should avoid him, so people would never draw near to each other? He replies that the verse speaks of one who comes to the doorstep of one’s friend to greet him before he blesses the Creator. It was said about this, ‘Leave off.’”

On the face of it, what is the prohibition if a person greets his friend before he blesses the Creator? It is that it seems as though he honors his friend before he honors the Creator. But does the Creator need honor, that we can say that if one does not bless Him before his friend, it is a blemish in His honor?

This is similar to a man walking into a henhouse and seeing that one rooster looks at another and does not pay attention to the man, who is the landlord. Can it be said that the rooster blemished the landlord? It is much more so with regard to the created beings compared to the Creator. His distance from man is far too great for man to be regarded as anything compared to the Creator, that we can say that he has blemished the glory of the Creator.

We should also understand what is written, “The verse speaks of one who comes to the doorstep of one’s friend.” Why is it specifically the doorstep of one’s friend? What does it imply? It is as though if he does not come to the doorstep of his friend, he is permitted to greet his friend? We should interpret this with regard to man’s work, for in the work, we speak of everything within one person, meaning that his friend and greeting are also in the same person.

It is known that man’s work is to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, called “equivalence of form.” Since we learn that from the perspective of the Creator, whose desire is to do good to His creations, He created in the creatures a desire to receive that is regarded as yearning to receive delight and pleasure. This is called “the purpose of creation.” Yet, in order not to suffer shame, a correction was made, called Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, so we do not feel the Kedusha[holiness] and the delight and pleasure found in Kedusha.

Although we say each day, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” there is still concealment on it, so we must believe it. Yet, as long as one has not corrected one’s actions to work in order to bestow, we do not feel it. Instead, it depends on man’s work in obtaining the vessels of bestowal. To that extent, the Tzimtzum departs and he begins to feel the existence of the Creator. This is all of our work, to achieve equivalence of form called “Dvekut with the Creator.”

In order to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal, there is a complete procession of work, as Baal HaSulam interpreted the matter of the three souls within man: 1) Nefesh [soul] of Kedusha, in which there is nothing to correct, 2) the Nefesh of the three impure Klipot [shells/peels], in which there is nothing to correct, as this will be corrected only at the end of correction, and 3) the Nefesh of Klipat Noga [Klipa (singular of Klipot) of Noga], which is half good and half bad. All of man’s work is in this Nefesh. If a person performs a Mitzva [commandment/good deed], this Nefesh connects to Kedusha. If he commits a transgression, this Nefesh connects to the Nefesh of the three impure Klipot. Hence, in this Nefesh [soul] he can determine between bad and good, and all the work is only in this Nefesh.

For this reason, when a person begins to engage in Torah and Mitzvot in truth, in order to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, he has two ways before him: The reward for the work he does will be for his own benefit and not for the sake of the Creator, regarded as wanting to nurse the Nefesh of Klipa, that she will receive the reward for his work, or, if he wants to nurse the Kedushathrough his work, meaning that the reward for his work will be only for the sake of the Creator, then his work feeds the Nefesh of Kedusha. This is considered that the Nefesh of Klipat Noga joins the Nefesh of Kedusha.

However, we should know that achieving the degree where “all your works are for the sake of the Creator” is not done at once. Rather, as our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day, and were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” That is, we see that our sages come to tell us two things: 1) It is impossible to subdue the bad in one time. Rather, each day there is new work, as it is written, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day.” 2) A person cannot subdue it without the help of the Creator.

These two discernments are called “light and Kli.” This means that the deficiency that a person finds—that the evil controls him—is the Kli. That is, he feels how far he is from working for the sake of the Creator and the matter of “Love the Lord with all your heart,” etc., and not for its own sake. The body cannot understand how can such a thing be, as it is completely against all intellect and reason for such a thing to be in reality.

A person can understand the matter of assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven only if by this, the Creator will give him all of his heart’s wishes. That is, a person can understand that the Creator will serve the man and provide for all his needs. But if it is to the contrary, meaning that man should serve the Creator and always think how he can please the Creator so the Creator will enjoy his work, as it is written, “The Lord will rejoice with His works,” meaning that the works of the Creator, who are the creatures, will delight Him, then a person asks, “What will I gain by pleasing the Creator?” since man’s body understands only that which pertains to its own benefit.

This lack that a person begins to feel, that he cannot work for the sake of the Creator, is called a Kli[vessel], meaning a need for someone to help him have a desire to work for the sake of the Creator. The help he receives from above is regarded as the Creator helping him, is regarded as “light.” Those two appear one at a time, and not at once.

This is why it was said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day.” That is, the light and the Kli are not completed in one day. Rather, it is as it is written, “Penny by penny join into a great amount,” until the Kli receives the full measure of the lack that is suitable to receive light in full.

This is as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 140), “‘Day to day expresses utterance, and night to night reveals knowledge,’ etc. This is so because prior to the end of correction, before we qualified our vessels of reception to receive only in order to give contentment to our Maker and not for our own sake, Malchut is called ‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil.’ This is so because Malchut is the guidance of the world by people’s actions. This guidance qualifies us to ultimately correct our vessels of reception in order to bestow and to be rewarded with the delight and pleasure He had contemplated in our favor. …Often, the guidance of good and evil causes us ascents and descents … Know that each ascent is regarded as a separate day … since all those nights are the descents, the suffering, and punishments that stopped the Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator until they became many days one after the other. Now, once the night and darkness have also become merits and good deeds … there are no more stops, and all 6,000 years connect into one great day.

“…This is the meaning of ‘Day to day expresses utterance,’ since the word that separated between one day and the next has now become a great praise and praises it, for it has become a merit. Thus, they all became one day for the Lord … since only all of them together, assembled, became worthy of receiving that great knowledge.”

It therefore follows that only through the ascents and descents, called “days and nights,” when they join into the complete measure to be able to receive the great knowledge, there must be a great Kli[vessel], meaning a great need. This happens because of the descents when he sees that each day he becomes more needy of the Creator to help him emerge from self-love. Each day means the ascents, meaning that each time he receives help, called “light and abundance,” for the light in it reforms him.

This is considered that the Creator helps him, for specifically through both we obtain a Kli that is fit to receive the delight and pleasure that the Creator contemplated in his favor. This is considered that he received the correction and the qualification to receive the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations.

However, the most difficult part of the work is that the order of the work is as two writings that deny one another. It is hard to understand how the two can be true.

For example, it is written in the essay about the order of the work by Baal HaSulam that “when attributing the work to the Creator, to believe that the Creator accepts our work regardless of how the work seems.” That is, it does not matter if he works with much knowledge and understanding, but if he attributes the work to the Creator, meaning works with the aim to bestow, the Creator accepts his work willingly, even if it is the simplest, without any understanding. However, he must aim to bestow. He said that one way or the other, we must believe that He will hear, even if he does not aim specifically to bestow, but aims that he is speaking to the Creator. Then, a person must believe that the Creator hears his prayer.

On the other hand, it is written in A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1, p 119) that a person must yearn to attain the Creator, meaning adhere to Him with complete recognition, that this is regarded as the Creator. This means that a person must walk on the right line, regarded as wholeness, and pray to the Creator and thank Him, even if he does not find within him anything that desires spirituality. But accordingly, how can he thank the Creator and say that the Creator hears what he says to Him, which is the meaning of attributing the work to the Creator, and He accepts his work regardless of how the work seems?

However, if he relates only to the Creator and says, “I am turning to the Creator and I believe that He can answer my wishes,” by this a person becomes happy and feels superior. That is, the rest of the people have no connection to spirituality, and he believes that the Creator has given him [a feeling] that he has no spirituality, in whatever way, but the fact that he has an interest in thinking about spirituality, it makes no difference if he has or hasn’t, or that he is now in utter lowliness, meaning that he sees that now he has no desire to ascend in degree and emerge from the lowliness, but he thanks the Creator because at least he is thinking about spirituality, while the rest of the people do not have any thoughts of spirituality.

If he can thank the Creator, it gives him joy, and from Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] he comes to Lishma [for Her sake]. By this he ascends from his state of wholeness and can thereby come to a state where even if he forgets the state of lowliness he was in prior to making the calculation and thanking the Creator, it appears to him as though he has always been in this state.

This extends from the discernment that “The blessed clings to the Blessed,” since the thanks he gives to the Creator makes a person feel whole, and to the extent of the joy he extends, so he can ascend in degree. We must say that this path is true, meaning that man hasn’t the power to assess the importance of Kedusha, but even touching anything of Kedusha is infinitely more important to the Creator than all the corporeal things.

About corporeal things, a person knows that it is worthwhile to thank the Creator for this, since the Creator gave the corporeal pleasures so that the person who receives them will feel joy and elation. Conversely, He gave the Kedusha for the purpose of correction, as we learned about the concealment and hiding. However, a person should believe that he can give much gratitude when the importance of a matter is revealed to him, but that which does not appear to him as important, a person does not appreciate. Nonetheless, one who wishes to come into the work of the Creator must believe in the sages and say that a tiny touch on Kedusha is regarded as a great thing. He should work on this and appreciate the matter until he can elicit joy from that small thing.

Our sages call this, “Who is rich? He who is content with his lot,” who settles for little. That is, even for a small thing he can be grateful as though it were a great thing. For this reason, any contact he has, even a negative one, is still regarded as positive.

In other words, the fact that a person sees and feels that he has no desire and yearning for work, which is truly negative, still, if he can extract from this and see how at least he has a thought to think about spirituality, he thanks and praises the Creator that he has dealings with spirituality, while he sees that there are people to whom the Creator did not even allow to think about the work. He believes that the Creator did choose him to give the knowledge that there is the matter of spirituality, and says that it is only that the Creator has not given him permission to enter and do the holy work. If he can derive joy from that state, it can pull him out of his state of lowliness and admit him into the Kedusha.

However, on the other hand, a person must awaken within him the value of the work on the path of truth, meaning what a person must correct. This is as it is written there, that a person must achieve wholeness, be rewarded with 620 times more than he had prior to the descent of the soul into the body. Although this contradicts the quality of the “right,” it is still true, meaning the wholeness is precisely to come to correct what he must.

Now we can understand what we asked about the prohibition to greet his friend before he blesses the Creator. We must know that in the work, every person is a whole world. It follows that his friend means the body, in the sense that it has Nefesh of Klipat Orla [Noga]. To “greet” means to have wholeness before he blesses the Creator. That is, his foundation must be to bless the Creator, meaning that everything he does is for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, which is the Nefesh of the three impure Klipot. For this reason, when he first tries to aim that everything will be for the sake of the Creator, he can then greet his friend, meaning that then he subdues his friend, in that he is subjugated to also work for the sake of the Creator.

It follows that if he blesses the Creator before he greets his friend, it means he wants the glory of the Creator to be revealed, as it is written, “When the Lord favors man’s ways, even his enemies will make peace with him.” This is how it should be, and not the other way around. This is the meaning of the prohibition to come to the doorstep of one’s friend, etc.

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

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

What Is the Prohibition to Bless on an Empty Table, in the Work?

Article No. 16, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar, Yitro (Item 437): “‘You shall not take the name of your God in vain.’ Rabbi Shimon started, ‘And Elisha said unto her: ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me; what do you have in the house?’ Elisha said to her, ‘Do you have anything on which the blessing of the Creator can be?’ We learned that a person must not bless on an empty table. What is the reason? It is because the blessing above is not present on an empty place.’” (In 442) It says, “Hence, we must not mention the holy name in vain, as it is written, ‘You shall not take the name of your God in vain.’”

We should understand why there cannot be an upper blessing on an empty table. After all, the blessing is that the Creator wants to give to the created beings delight and pleasure. Thus, why must the receivers first prepare in order to make room for the blessing to be, meaning that they must set up a suitable place to receive the upper blessing?

The thing is that the table is a place on which we eat, meaning the place from which one sustains oneself, and on which various pleasures are set in order to enjoy them. This is called a “table.” It must not be empty, but have something from which one enjoys, and only then can one bless the Creator. This means that if one blesses the Creator but there is no pleasure set on the table, it is forbidden, as it is written, “a person must not bless on an empty table.”

It is also difficult to understand what Rabbi Shimon brings as evidence, that Elisha asked her, “What do you have in the house?” The question was, Do you have something from which to enjoy? or else, the blessing cannot come. Yet, we see that the cessation of the oil, which is called a “blessing,” was because there were no empty Kelim [vessels], as it is written, “And he said, ‘Go, borrow vessels for yourself, empty vessels, do not get a few.’ …And he said to her, ‘There is not one vessel more,’ and the oil stopped.”

It follows that the cessation of the blessing was not because the table was empty. Rather, the cessation of the blessing of the oil was for lack of empty Kelim. This means that there must be empty Kelim, as well.

To understand this in the work, we should know about the oppositeness we have in the order of the work. On one hand, we see that a person should establish the praise of the Creator, and then pray. Clearly, while he establishes the praises, he says that the Creator is good and does good to the bad and to the good, and that He is merciful and gracious. At that time, it cannot be said that a person is deficient, meaning that he lacks something whether in spirituality or in corporeality. Otherwise, it means that he is merely saying but his heart is not with him. That is, in his heart, he thinks differently from what he says with his mouth. For this reason, it is impossible to sing and thank the Creator and say His virtues, but a person says about himself that he has abundance and that he lacks nothing. Thus, how can one say so when he finds himself bare and destitute?

Baal HaSulam said about this that a person should depict to himself as though he has already been rewarded with complete faith in the Creator and already feels that the Creator leads the world in a manner of good and doing good. Although when he looks at himself and the world and sees that he and the whole world are deficient, each according to his degree, he should say about this, “They have eyes and see not,” meaning above reason. In this way, he can say that he is a complete person and lacks nothing. Naturally, he can establish the praise of the Creator above reason.

He also said that a person should walk on the right line, which is to introspect and say that everything is under guidance and man has no free choice at all. Accordingly, The Baal Shem Tov said that before the fact, a person should say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” and after the fact, a person should say, “Everything is under Providence.” In other words, the Creator gave him a thought and desire to do something in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and chose him not only from among all the nations to give him a thought and desire to serve Him, meaning to observe Torah and Mitzvot, but even within the people of Israel themselves, He chose him from the rest of the people to give him a place to serve Him.

Although it is a small service, meaning that He let him work outside His palace, which is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], and still did not permit him to enter the palace, meaning He still did not receive permission from the Creator, namely a desire and yearning to work in order to bestow, and everything he does is only for his own sake, regarded as “outside the King’s palace,” but he considers this, too, a great privilege that He has chosen him from the rest of the people. He feels happy about this, and this can satisfy a person and make him praise and thank the Creator for rewarding him with accepting him into the work.

This is called “right line” in the work. That is, he feels happy when he looks at the rest of the people, who do not have this privilege of serving the King, even if Lo Lishma. Still, it is very important, since in terms of the action, he is serving the King, and on actions, we should not add. That is, even if he wants to add to the performance of Mitzvot, it is forbidden, as it is written, “You shall not add and you shall not take away.” Thus, he considers it a great privilege.

For this reason, when he looks at others, that they have no contact with Torah and Mitzvot, and sees their lowliness, in what they are immersed, meaning that all the pleasures they can have are only pleasures clothed in dresses that every animal enjoys, that they were permitted from above to enjoy only these dresses and have no connection whatsoever to Torah and Mitzvot, and he believes that everything comes from above, from this a person should derive joy and happiness.

Baal HaSulam said that if a person receives from this joy and happiness, through the joy he is regarded as blessed, and then “The blessed clings to The Blessed.” This is called “From Lo Lishma, we come to Lishma [for Her sake],” since the light in it reforms him, as now he feels that he is blessed and then the upper blessing can be on him, which is regarded as equivalence of form.

But if a person feels cursed, deficient, he has no equivalence with the Creator because the Creator is utterly complete. Consequently, there is no place where the blessing can be due to disparity of form.

That state is called “right line,” meaning wholeness, in which there are no deficiencies. And what should one do when he engages in a manner of “right”? He should praise and thank the Creator, and engage in the Torah, for then is the time to receive the light of Torah, since he is in a state of wholeness, regarded as being a person who has blessing and no lacks. Naturally, this is the time for the blessing to be on him, as said above, “The blessed clings to The Blessed.”

However, it is impossible to walk on one leg. That is, a person cannot progress on one leg. Since there is a rule, “There is no light without a Kli,” meaning “No filling without a lack,” and since on the right line he is in wholeness, it follows that he has nowhere to progress, no need for the Creator to satisfy his needs, since he has no needs at all.

For this reason, at that time a person must try to see his faults, so as to have room for prayer that the Creator will satisfy his needs. This is regarded as a person having to provide empty Kelim that the Creator may fill with upper abundance, which is called “a blessing.” If there are no empty Kelim, meaning deficiencies, with what can he fill them?

This is regarded as a person walking on the “left line.” In spirituality, “left” means something that requires correction. This means that a person should dedicate a small portion of his time to criticize himself and see how much effort he can put into working solely for the sake of the Creator, and not for his own sake, and if he can say that if he does not work in order to bring contentment to his Maker, he does not want to live, and so forth.

At that time he realizes that he cannot do this on his own, but only the Creator can help. It follows that now is the time when he can pray from the bottom of the heart. That is, he sees and feels that he is powerless to change the nature with which he was created, called “will to receive for himself and not to bestow.”

But in truth, one must believe that this lack, that he cannot change himself alone, namely his nature, this awareness comes from above. That is, from above, he is notified of this truth that he cannot work in order to bestow.

A person must know that not everyone is shown this. Usually, meaning for people who work like the general public, since they take strength for work like the sacred still, and have no connection to the vegetative, they do not see flaws in themselves. Rather, those who try to walk on the path of individuals, to the extent that they yearn to achieve the degrees of Dvekut [adhesion], they receive help from above to see the truth, how far the created beings are from being givers.

It therefore follows that the upper one does not necessarily give them the help to be able to work in order to bestow. Rather, the upper one also gives the Kli, meaning the need to get help from above, since they cannot work in order to bestow by themselves. In other words, the upper one also gives the need, meaning the empty Kelim—that they are unable to overcome the vessels of reception. This, too, the upper one gives.

Yet, help with this lack is given specifically to those who want to walk on the path of individuals. People who work in the manner of the general public are not revealed this knowledge, for the simple reason that they have no desire to work in order to bestow, so what will they reveal to them?

However, there is an issue here, that it is difficult for a beginner to walk on the path of individuals, and he begins to see that bestowing is difficult, and he cannot say that he was given this awareness from above as a gift. Rather, this awareness came to him due to the lowliness of the body itself. He says that all those who walk in the path of the work of bestowal is because “They do not have so much evil in their nature; this is why they can walk on this path. But for me, this is difficult.” It is hard for him to believe that this is hard for everyone by nature, and there is no way that a person will have the power to emerge from the control of self-love unless the Creator Himself helps him out of this governance.

This is regarded as the Creator delivering His people from the exile in Egypt, as it is written in the Passover Haggadah [story/narrative], “I and not a messenger, I and not a seraph [type of angel], I the Lord and not another.” We should interpret that the Creator said that only He had brought His people out of Egypt, as it is written, “I and not a seraph.” This means that the person had the power of the fire of a seraph, which is why he could emerge from self-love. Even if a person has a burning fire, he will still not have the strength to go against nature, but rather the Creator brought them out.

This is the meaning of the words, “I and not a messenger.” It means that it will not help a person that he wants to do God’s mission, and will thereby have the power to emerge from their control. Rather, nothing will help him. Even if he is the mightiest of the mighty, he will not be able to emerge from this control of the self-benefit, unless the Creator gives the strength to emerge from this exile.

For this reason, a person must say and believe that nothing is difficult for the Creator. Therefore, a person cannot say that this work of bestowal is not for him because it is hard for him. Instead, he must believe that all those descents he has are because with each descent, he gets a need for the Creator’s help, since a need is called a Kli, and in this Kli, the Creator can place light, as it is known that there is no light without a Kli.

However, the Kli is not made all at once. Rather, each descent gives one a need for His help. For example, one descent creates a one centimeter worth of need, and in the second descent, he gets a need once more, where he must say that only the Creator can help him. It follows that he has received another centimeter, and he has a Kli that is only two centimeters deep. When he has a hundred descents, he has a Kli that is one hundred centimeters deep. Thus, the Kli (grows), meaning the need and the desire that the Creator will help him (and give him) a big Kli.

Yet, we should ask, What is the measure of the Kli? Baal HaSulam said about this that a person should believe that the Creator knows how much need and desire the size of the Kli should have. When the Creator sees that the Kli can receive the light, the Creator immediately fills the Kli as much as He can. Thus, one should not be impressed by the descents. Instead, he should say, “The salvation of the Lord is as the blink of an eye,” and a person must believe that immediately following each descent it may be enough to give him a Kli, a desire that the Creator can instantly fill.

However, when he sees that he still did not receive the help from the Creator, he must increase his praying that the Creator will help him and not fall into despair. This order is called “left line,” meaning that specifically now he should feel his lowliness, how far he is from the work of bestowal.

However, he must not prolong this work on the left line. He should take only a short time of his work for the Creator to work with the lack. Most of the time, he should engage in work in wholeness, called “right,” when he is content with little. That is, whatever taste and feeling in the work he has, he is happy with his lot and feels complete, thanks the Creator for it, and feels that he is the happiest person in the world.

At that time he can bless the Creator because of this good that He has given him—that he has the ability to be a worker of the Creator even at the smallest degree, it does not matter for him. This is so because he sees that he is important to the Creator because he believes that the Creator has chosen him to stand before him and do even the smallest service, while to others, He has not given even this service. For this, he blesses the Creator.

Now we can understand the question we asked, Why is the Creator unable to give His blessing unless there is some food on the table, and it is forbidden to bless on an empty table? The reason is that there must be equivalence of form, as our sages said, “The cursed does not cling to The Blessed.” Therefore, when a person blesses the Creator and derives pleasure from the fact that the Creator has given him the meal, meaning a grip on Kedusha [holiness], this is regarded as the table not being empty, and the blessing can be in it. This is called “right line,” and in this one should be most of the day’s work.

We should also interpret what he brings as evidence, that he asked the woman what she has in the house. He learns from this that the table must not be empty. But we see that we do need empty Kelim, since the stopping of the oil, called “blessing,” was because there were no more empty Kelim?

The answer is that in order to advance in the work, we also need the left line, called “deficiencies,” which are empty Kelim. However, it is one thing to make the Kelim, which is when he works on the left line, and the pouring of the abundance into the empty Kelim. This is done specifically when a person is in a state where he is blessed and lacks nothing, and “The blessed clings to The Blessed.”

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What Is, “The Righteous Become Apparent through the Wicked,” in the Work?

Article No. 15, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (Shemot [Exodus], Item 370), “‘My Beloved is mine and I am His, He pastures among the lilies.’ As the lilies have thorns in them, the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked. As the lilies would not persist without the thorns, the righteous would not be distinguishable without the wicked.”

This implies that we need the wicked just so that the righteous will be distinguishable. The question is, Who needs this distinguishing? This cannot be said with regard to the Creator, as He knows all the secrets. With regard to the world, it is written, “Walk humbly with the Lord your God,” meaning a person should hide his actions from people. Thus, it means with regard to the person himself.

The question is, Why does one need to recognize the righteous through the wicked? Why do I need this distinction? That is, what does knowing and distinguishing between righteous and wicked do? Is it not enough that he does what the righteous do, but he also needs to know the distinction in the righteous specifically through the wicked, as though otherwise it is impossible to be righteous?

It known that in the work, everything is said within one body. That is, both the wicked and the righteous are within the same body. Therefore, the question is, For what purpose are wicked and righteous required in the same body, as The Zohar says, that “the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked”? Since every person is a small world, it would probably be better if He led His world only through righteous. Why do I need the wicked? The answer is that it is in order for the righteous to be distinguishable. Thus, we need to understand the benefit in distinguishing the righteous through the wicked, meaning what we gain by this distinction.

The thing is that it is known that there is the practice of Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and the intention of Mitzvot, meaning what one wants for one’s work when exerting in Torah and Mitzvot. We learned that there are two manners of reward in this: 1) Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], 2) Lishma[for Her sake].

Lo Lishma means that one should be rewarded for his work both in this world and in the next world. As The Zohar says, this work is not considered the essence, as The Zohar says (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 190): “Fear that is Lo Lishma is not the main fear.” (In Item 191) It says, “The main fear is that one should fear one’s Master because He is great and ruling, and all is regarded as nothing before Him, and he should place his will in that place, which is called ‘fear.’”

From this it follows that there are two kinds of intentions while performing actions, both in learning Torah and in performing Mitzvot. The work of the general public is in order to receive reward, and the work of individuals is for the sake of the Creator, and their reward is if they can serve the King. That is, their whole pleasure, which gives them fuel so they can work in order to bestow, is to feel that they are bringing contentment to the King and are praising and thanking the King for giving them the thought and desire to work for Him and not to receive any other reward for their work.

They say that in order to receive reward, “We do not need to feel the greatness of the King. Rather, we need to consider the greatness and importance of the reward we will receive if we observe the Torah and Mitzvot.” But the Creator can stay for them at the same level of greatness and importance as He was for them at the beginning of their work.

However, if their intention is to bring contentment to the Creator, then if they want to increase the work, they must increase the greatness of the Creator, since to the extent of His greatness, to that extent they can annul before Him and do everything they do only for the sake of the Creator. It is as The Zohar says about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates,” each according to “what he assumes in his heart.”

Therefore, in order to have fuel to work, those who want to work for the sake of the Creator must try each day to exert to obtain faith in the greatness of the Creator, since the greatness of the Creator is what compels them to work for Him, and this is all the pleasure they derive from their work.

Hence, those people who sometimes think that they can settle for the measure of faith in the Creator that they have, and think that they are already righteous and do not need to increase the faith in the greatness of the Creator, when the Creator behaves with them as righteous, meaning gives them some nearing, and they receive a desire and yearning and taste in the work, they think that they are already complete people who do not lack faith, to believe in the greatness of the Creator. They have no need to advance, except in actions. But the greatness of the Creator that they have is enough for them. This is regarded as the Creator behaving with them as with righteous.

Therefore, in order for a person to progress on the path of the Creator, to be rewarded with all his work being for the sake of the Creator, and now he feels that he is in a state of ascent, what more should he do? For this reason, the Creator leads His world with wicked. That is, at that time the Creator gives him thoughts of wicked—that it is not worthwhile to work for Him, but only for himself. By this, he suffers a descent and thinks that the descent he has received is not because it was given to him so he would advance in the path of the Creator, to be rewarded with knowledge of Kedusha[holiness]. Rather, he thinks that he regressed because he cannot work in the manner of individuals, but needs to work like the general public. And since he has departed from the general public, he is left empty handed from here and from there, since he cannot return to the general public.

For this reason, in that state, a person stands between heaven and earth, and feels that his situation is worse than that of the rest of the people. At that time, he can ask the Creator with all his heart, and pray as it is written, “Pardon me, O Lord, for I am wretched. Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed, and You, O Lord, how long?” That is, how long will I stay in a situation where I feel that my condition is worse than any other person, that I have no grip on spirituality.

For this reason, he has no other choice but to believe what is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth.” Baal HaSulam explained that a person must believe that the Creator hears the prayer of every mouth, meaning even the worst mouth in the world, of which there cannot be lowlier and worse in the world. Still, the Creator hears him, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

He interprets about this in The Zohar: “He is given a holy soul.” It follows that the Creator gives him the thoughts of the wicked so he will be able to ask the Creator to help him. Otherwise, he will remain in the state he was in at the beginning of his work, and will remain this way for the rest of his life.

By this we can interpret what we asked, What does it mean that were it not for the wicked, the righteous would not be distinguishable? We asked, in whom do the righteous need to be distinguishable, and what is the purpose of this distinction? The answer is that it is because the Creator leads His world with righteous and wicked. But in this regard, we should also ask, Why does He need to lead His world with righteous and wicked? Would it not be enough to carry out the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, if He led the world only with the righteous? It makes sense that if He led His world only with the righteous, it would be easier to carry out the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. Thus, what are the wicked for?

The answer to this is that were it not for the wicked, the righteous would not be distinguishable. This means that the wholeness and greatness of the righteous would not be apparent—the degree that they achieve. Instead, the righteous would remain in the degree of the beginning of their work, and they would not make any progress in the degree of the righteous. For this reason, in order for the merit and greatness of the righteous to be apparent, He had to lead His world with righteous and with wicked. By sending the righteous to a person, the Creator brings one closer to the work of the Creator.

The person, if he did not suffer a descent, would be compelled to remain this way throughout his life, and he would make no progress in the mind of the Torah, where the delight and pleasure contained in the purpose of creation are concealed. The merit of the righteous would not be apparent, since for what purpose would he need a higher level?

Indeed, we must know that the merit of the righteous is as our sages said (at end of Okatzin), “The Creator is destined to bequeath each and every righteous 310 worlds, as was said, ‘To endow those who love Me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.’”

Therefore, in order to have a need to achieve the degree of “righteous,” and for their merit to be apparent, He had to lead His world with righteous and with wicked. It follows that in order for the righteous to be evident, wicked are also required, since precisely by leading His world with wicked, too, He gives the thoughts and desires of the wicked to a person, just as He gives the quality of righteous to a person. That is, He gives him the desire for self-love.

But this is done on purpose, so that man would know that the Creator does not want him to remain in the state that he understood the work of the Creator according to his mind at the time, in the beginning of his work in the manner of the individuals, when he assumed to himself what was the degree of the righteous. If the Creator did not behave with him in the manner of the wicked, meaning gave him thoughts and desires that are against the mind and heart, he would think that he is already at the degree of righteous, and the degree of righteous would remain in him in utter lowliness, since he would know that he has nothing to add.

This is regarded as “the Creator leading His world with the righteous,” giving man only the degree of a righteous, without feeling any deficiencies, that the Creator should give him a higher level in understanding the meaning of “righteous.” This is regarded as the righteous not being distinguishable, as was said, that the merit of the righteous is that he should come to obtain 310 worlds. He would have no need for this.

It is impossible to give a filling if there is no lack, since the person will not be able to keep the Klipot[shells/peels] from taking it into their own authority. Only the Klipot can gain from this, and this will damage the Kedusha, as our sages said, “Tzor [Tyre] was built only out of the ruin of the Jerusalem.” Hence, precisely when there is a lack, and he is given a filling for the lack, he knows how to be careful so that no benefit comes from this to the external ones.

It follows that a person must have faith in the sages and how they guide us, to believe in their worlds. He should not say that the fact that he constantly suffers descents comes because he is unworthy of achieving wholeness. Rather, all the descents come to him from above! It is in order for man to have a need to obtain all the NRNHY of his soul. It requires great strengthening to say that the Creator sends him the descents so he would overcome and work coercively. This is called “He is coerced until he,” the Creator, “says, ‘I want,’” as Baal HaSulam explained.

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What Is the Meaning of “Reply unto Your Heart”?

Article No. 14, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar (VaEra, Item 89): “Rabbi Elazar started and said, ‘Know this day and reply unto your heart that the Lord, He is God.’ He asks, ‘It should have said, ‘Know this day that the Lord, He is God,’ and in the end, ‘And reply unto your heart,’ since knowing that the Lord is God qualifies him to reply so to the heart. And if he has responded to his heart, he certainly has knowledge. Also, it should have said, ‘Reply unto Libcha’ [your heart with one Bet] instead of Levavcha’ [‘your heart’ with a double Bet].”

He replies that Moses said that if you want to insist on this and know that “The Lord, He is God,” then “reply unto your heart.” Know this: Your heart [with a double Bet] means that the good inclination and the evil inclination that dwell in the heart were mingled with one another and they are one, meaning in both your inclinations, turning the bad qualities of the evil inclination into good. At that time, there is no longer a difference between the good inclination and the evil inclination, and then you will find that “the Lord, He is God.”

We should understand what is it about knowing this, that if we know that “The Lord, He is God,” we come into “Reply unto your heart,” which is Rabbi Elazar’s question. We should also understand the answer he gives when he says it is impossible to come to know that “The Lord, He is God,” before we are rewarded with “Reply unto your heart.” What is the connection that one depends on the other, meaning that specifically when he serves the Creator with the evil inclination, too, we can come to know this?

To understand this, we must first present the matter of the purpose of creation and the matter of the correction of creation. It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. This means that the Creator wants all creations to receive delight and pleasure. Before they receive this, the perfection in the purpose of creation is not apparent, since there are still discernments in the world that did not attain the delight and pleasure.

For this reason, the perfection of the purpose of creation is apparent specifically when everyone attains the delight and pleasure. This is called, as the ARI says, that “Before the world was created, He and His name were one,” as it is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot. This means that the delight and pleasure that He wished to impart upon His creations, there was a Kli [vessel] there, called Malchut deEin Sof [Malchut of Infinity], which received the light. The light, called “He,” and the Kli, called “His name,” were one, meaning there was no disparity of form. This is the purpose of creation.

Afterward came the matter of the correction of creation, as the ARI says, that “To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, He restricted Himself.” He interprets there, in Ohr Pnimi [Baal HaSulam’s commentary on the ARI], that in order to avoid the shame, since disparity of form causes separation between the receiver and the Giver, and likewise, all things that are not present in the root, cause unpleasantness in the branches, hence, through the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment that were made, the lower ones were given a place to correct their vessels of reception so they work in order to bestow.

At that time, there will be equivalence of form between the receiver and the Giver, and then all the light that He wished to bestow upon His creations will be revealed among the lower ones, and it will once again be “The Lord is One and His name is One.” This means that the delight and pleasure that were revealed in the world of Ein Sof in vessels of reception, that light will be revealed in vessels of reception that are corrected into working in order to bestow.

Two things extend from this: 1) The will to receive, which extends from the purpose of creation, since His desire is to do good to His creations. Hence, He created in the creatures a desire and yearning to receive delight and pleasure. The bad, called “evil inclination,” whose quality is only to receive for its own sake, derives from this discernment. 2) The desire to bestow, which extends from the Tzimtzumand the concealment that were made in order to achieve the correction of creation. It is called the “good inclination,” since through the desire to bestow we achieve equivalence of form, which is Dvekut [adhesion], by which we receive the delight and pleasure that He wishes to give to His creations, and then the purpose of creation will be achieved in full.

Thus, when a person wants to begin the holy work, to work and toil in order to receive reward, that his reward will be Dvekut with the Creator, meaning that all his works will be for the sake of the Creator, at that time the body, which was born—because of the purpose of creation—with a desire to receive for itself, resists with all its might. It yells, “But the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and the Creator does not need the lower ones to give Him anything!

“Therefore,” he asks, “Why should I exert to make everything for the sake of the Creator without any reward? After all, this is the purpose of creation! If it were true that we must work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake, then why did He create within us a desire to receive for ourselves? Instead, He should have created in us a desire to bestow, then all the creatures would work for the sake of the Creator.

“Instead, you are trying to say that since He desires to do good to His creations, He created in us the will to receive, and then He wants us to work for the sake of the Creator. It is great suffering if we want to annul self-reception and revoke our entire selves, leaving nothing within us for our own benefit.”

As our sages said (Sukkah 45), “Anyone who mingles for the sake of the Creator with another thing is uprooted from the world.” This means that if one does everything for the sake of the Creator but mixes into it some for himself, this is called “another thing,” and he is uprooted from the world, meaning from the next world. In other words, he cannot be rewarded with the reward one receives for man’s work in Torah and Mitzvot.

It therefore follows that we cannot understand that His desire to do good to His creations has given us suffering in working for Him. Why does He need us to suffer when we must relinquish our will to receive? Therefore, when we work coercively and exert to overcome the will to receive in us, and we say to our bodies, we do not need to be smart.

Instead, we must believe in the sages who teach us that we must observe the Torah and Mitzvotwithout anything in return, but as they said (Avot, Chapter 1:3), “He would say, ‘Be not as slaves serving the rav [great teacher] in order to receive reward, but be as slaves serving the rav not in order to receive reward.’”

This means that we must believe that the Creator is not deficient or needs us to work for Him. Rather, we must believe that the fact that we must work for Him is for our sake. That is, by this we will achieve the purpose of creation—that the lower ones will receive delight and pleasure. However, this work is for the purpose of correction of creation.

Yet, since it is against reason, a person does not agree to it, and must constantly overcome, since every overcoming works only for a time, and each time he must overcome anew. This state is called “judgment,” meaning that a person is still under the control of the Tzimtzum and judgment that took place so as not to reveal the light of His face, so all would feel how the Creator leads the world with a guidance of delight and pleasure.

Instead, each one sees how the quality of judgment is present in the world, since each one feels lacks both in corporeality and in spirituality. At that time, a person says that the world is conducted by the name Elokim [God], which is the quality of judgment. And yet, a person must believe that in truth, everything is mercy, but for the time being, he must feel this way, since everything follows the path of correction, where specifically by this it will be possible to achieve the purpose of creation, which is delight and pleasure.

Now we can understand what we asked about the connection between “Reply unto your heart” and the awareness that “The Lord, He is God.” Before a person achieves the degree where all his works are for the sake of the Creator, called “in order to bestow,” a person cannot see that everything that happens in the world is the Creator behaving with the world as the good who does good.

Instead, he must believe that this is so and say as it is written, “They have eyes and see not.” Instead, he sees that the governance of the world is through the quality of judgment, called Elokim. But afterward, when he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, which correct his vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, this means that he can work for the Creator with the evil inclination, too, since the evil inclination is called “the will to receive for one’s own sake,” from which derives all the evil that we see in the world. This also applies between man and man, as all the wars, thefts, and murders in the world stem from the will to receive for one’s own sake.

When he corrects the desire to receive pleasure so as to work in order to bestow, he receives equivalence of form. He receives Dvekut with the Creator, and the Tzimtzum and concealment that are present in the world depart from him. At that time he sees only good, and that everything he felt prior to being rewarded with Dvekut were only corrections, which brought him to equivalence of form. It follows that what he thought, that the governance of the world is with the quality of judgment, called Elokim, he sees that it is mercy, called HaVaYaH [the Lord].

By this we should interpret the connection of “Reply unto your heart” to “The Lord, He is God.” Before we are rewarded with replying to the heart, when it was in disparity of form and remoteness of place, since a receiver for himself is in disparity of form from the Giver, which is called “remoteness,” it follows that equivalence of form is regarded as returning the receiver to the Giver. This is called “Reply unto your heart” [in Hebrew, Hashivota means both “return” and “reply”].

At that time he sees that everything he thought, that the world was conducted by judgment, which is Elokim, now he sees that HaVaYaH [the Lord] is Elokim [God]. That is, it becomes revealed that to begin with, everything was with the quality of mercy, as it is written, “For the Lord, He is God.” However, before one is rewarded with returning the heart, called “equivalence of form,” we think that everything is the quality of judgment, called Elokim.

Accordingly, we should interpret what they ask, Why if the Creator wanted to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, He sent Moses to ask and beg him to permit the people of Israel to come out of Egypt? We see that He had made miracles there to our fathers in Egypt, meaning that all the plagues that struck Egypt, the people of Israel suffered none of the plagues. So why did the Creator not bring out the people of Israel against Pharaoh’s will?

In the literal, there are many answers, but we will interpret this in the work. It is known that every person is a small world, comprising seventy nations and the people of Israel, namely the quality of Israel in him, which is regarded as Yashar-El [straight to the Creator]. This means that everything he does is all for His sake. This quality is in exile among the Klipot [shells/peels], which are the seventy nations. Mitzrayim [Egypt] means that they Meitzerim [afflict/make narrow] the Israel in him, and Pharaoh King of Egypt is the quality that rules and controls the people of Israel. The Creator wants man’s body to make a choice, meaning that the evil within man will surrender, that the general will to receive in him will make room to emerge from the governance… (the rest is missing).

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What Is the “Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man” in the Work?

Article No. 13, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

It is written in The Zohar, Shemot [Exodus] (Item 21): “Rabbi Hiya started, ‘Do not eat the bread of an evil-eyed man,’ since it is not good to eat and enjoy the bread or the pleasure from that evil-eyed man. And had Israel not tasted the bread of the Egyptians when they went down to Egypt, they would not have been left in the exile in Egypt and they would not be able to harm them.” (In Item 23) It says, “There is no evil bread in the world but the bread of an evil-eyed man. What does it say? ‘Because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.’ This means that they could not look at the Hebrews eating. Thus, an evil-eyed bread.”

We should understand the prohibition of the “bread of an evil-eyed man,” to such an extent that had Israel not tasted the bread of the Egyptians, they would not have remained in exile. This is very perplexing. What is the connection between the “bread of an evil-eyed man” and the exile? Why does it cause them to be in exile, implying this is a grave prohibition? Is it included in the negative Mitzvot[prohibitions on certain actions] from the Torah or by our great sages, that it warrants exile?

To understand this in the work, we must always remember these two things before us: 1) The purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. This reminds us that we must achieve wholeness and merit receiving the delight and pleasure found in the purpose of creation. Prior to this, a person is regarded as deficient because he has not achieved the purpose of creation and is still in the middle of the work. In Kabbalah, this is considered that a person should be rewarded with attaining the NRNHY in the root of his soul. 2) The correction of creation. Since disparity of form creates separation, and since man was created in order to be able to receive the delight and pleasure, he must have a desire and yearning to receive pleasure, and that will to receive separates him from the root. Since the Creator wants to bestow, but the created beings have a desire to receive, this causes separation that removes the creatures from the Creator. Therefore, a correction took place, called Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, whereby the creatures cannot feel their root—meaning who created them—before they correct the separation.

It is written (in the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 10), “Thus, you find that this Nefesh, the light of life that is dressed in the body, extends from His essence, existence from existence. As it traverses the four worlds ABYA, it becomes increasingly distant from the light of His face until it comes into its designated Kli [vessel], called Guf [body]. And even if the light in it has so diminished that its origin becomes undetectable, through engagement in Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds] in order to bring contentment upon his Maker, he purifies his Kli, called Guf, until it becomes worthy of receiving the great abundance in the full measure included in the thought of creation, when He created it.”

Accordingly, we can understand that our work is to emerge from self-love, meaning that our sustenance should be from sustaining the body so it has life and can enjoy life not because the will to receive for oneself is enjoying, for it is called “evil-eyed,” meaning that it does not want to be a giver but wants only to receive for itself. This is called “evil-eyed,” when it does not want to give anything to others and is immersed in self-love.

This is called “evil-eyed.” Therefore, the nourishments that a person eats, which is called “bread,” are forbidden for a person to enjoy, as it is the “bread of an evil-eyed man.” That is, a person is enjoying and satiating himself on the bread of an evil-eyed man. That is, that which the evil-eyed man enjoys gives pleasure to the person. In other words, the will to receive, which is called “evil-eyed,” enjoys, and from this comes all the joy and high spirits that a person receives. This, he does not agree to receive because this pleasure causes him to part from the Kedusha [holiness] due to disparity of form.

Now we can understand what we asked, Why is the grave prohibition of “Do not eat the bread of an evil-eyed man,” for which Israel remained in exile? It is as it says, “Had Israel not tasted the bread of the Egyptians when they went down to Egypt, they would not have been left in the exile in Egypt.” “Exile” means that the people of Israel could not work in order to bestow upon the Creator, but only in order to receive for themselves. This is called the “exile in Egypt,” when they could not emerge from their control and the will to receive for oneself dominated. This is why The Zohar says that if, when they descended to exile in Egypt, they had been cautious not to eat—meaning not to enjoy what the Egyptians enjoy, meaning the evil-eye, which is the will to receive for oneself—they would not have come under their control in the exile.

It follows that the gravity of the prohibition of an evil-eyed man is because his bread is entirely in order to receive, and this causes all the separation from Kedusha. This is the prohibition of “Do not eat the bread of an evil-eyed man.” That is, all our work in Torah and Mitzvot is in order to emerge from the exile of the will to receive for ourselves. In other words, we must aim—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that our reward will be that by this we will be rewarded with emerging from the exile and enslavement in the will to receive for ourselves, and we will be able to work only in order to bring contentment to the Creator, and we will not demand any other reward for our work in Torah and Mitzvot.

In other words, we want to be rewarded with feeling—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that we are serving a great and important king, and that by this there will be love of the Creator within us, from feeling His exaltedness. However, all of our pleasure will come from serving the Creator; this will be our reward, and not that He will somehow reward us for the work. Instead, we will feel that the work itself is the reward, and there is no greater reward in the world than the privilege of serving the Creator.

Conversely, the bread of the Egyptians in the work is the complete opposite, as it is written, “Because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” “Abomination” comes from the verse, “for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians,” meaning that they despised the shepherds. For this reason, the meaning is that the Egyptians despised the food of the Hebrews, since all the bread of the Hebrews, meaning their nourishment, was in order to bestow, and to the Egyptians, all the bread is evil-eyed, namely to receive. When they heard that the Hebrews’ bread is to bestow, and bestowal is loathsome and despicable, since when they must work in order to bestow and not receive for their own sake, they regard this work as despicable and they do not feel any taste in it.

Therefore, as soon as the Egyptians heard that we must work in order to bestow, they came to feel that they must lower themselves, meaning that all their reason, which mandates that a person should see to his own benefit and they cannot do anything that does not yield self-benefit.

Therefore, when the body is under the governance of Egypt, as soon as it hears the slightest hint that we must work in order to bestow, it immediately despises this work and claims that it is still with all its wits and will not surrender and eat the Hebrews’ bread, as for them this bread is abomination because this bread is against reason.

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

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

What Is a Groom’s Meal?

Article No. 12, Tav-Shin-Mem-Tet, 1988-89

Our sages said (Berachot 6), “Anyone who enjoys the meal of a groom and does not delight him breaches in five voices.” We should understand why this meal is called “the groom’s meal” and not “the bride’s meal.” In the Torah we find in regard to Jacob, that Lavan [Laban] made the meal and not Jacob, as it is written (Genesis 29:22), “And Lavan gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.”

Concerning the dances at the wedding, we see the opposite: Our sages did not say, “How does one dance before the groom?” but “How does one dance before the bride?” (Ketubot 16b). These are their words: “How does one dance before the bride? Beit Shammai say, ‘The bride as she is.’ And Beit Hillel say, ‘Beautiful and graceful bride’! Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: ‘If she were lame or blind, does one say of her, ‘Beautiful and graceful bride’? But the Torah said, ‘Keep far from a false matter.’’ Said Beit Hillel to Beit Shammai: ‘According to your words, if one has made a bad purchase in the market, should one praise it in his eyes or criticize it? Surely, one should praise it in his eyes. Therefore, the Sages said, ‘Always should the disposition of man be pleasant with people.’’”

To understand these two phrases, we should interpret this in the work. The bride means the time of the exile, a time of working in concealment of the face, when the love of the Creator and the glory of the greatness of the Creator do not shine for him and are ever before him, and he will not fall from his degree but always ascend ever higher. Instead, the person is in concealment of the face, called “the time of exile.” This means that he is still under the control of the “nations of the world,” which is the will to receive for himself.

This means that as long as he did not emerge from the authority of the will to receive, the Tzimtzum[restriction] and concealment are still over him. Each time he must overcome the concealment, see the Creator’s guidance, say that He is really good and does good, and everything he receives from the Creator is only good. Naturally, he should be thankful and praise the Creator from the bottom of the heart for giving him abundance.

In this respect, sometimes he has the power to overcome what he sees and say as it is written, “They have eyes and see not.” But this is only during the ascent.

But afterward, thoughts of the will to receive come to him and demand to see and agree above reason that this is really so, that all that he is receiving from the Creator is good. The body does not let him believe this and he falls from his degree.

Although he knows that the way to emerge from a state of descent is through prayer, at that time he does not have the strength to pray. Although there is a rule that for anything that a person needs he should pray to the Creator, so he should also pray for his inability to pray. But sometimes, he does not have the strength to pray even for this. Hence, in that state, a person is in utter decline.

However, sometimes a person deteriorates to the point where he forgets and does not feel that he is in decline. As we have said several times, a person falls so low that he remains unconscious. That is, at that time he is unaware that he is at the “netherworld.” Only once he recovers, he sees that he is at the lowest point and does not even have the power to pray.

At that time, a person must brace himself and say, “Now I can say wholeheartedly, ‘The song of ascents; from the depths I have called upon You, Lord,’ since it is impossible to be lower in the ground than I am.” Certainly, if he asks from a state of truth, and at that time sees that unless the Creator helps him, he is lost, he will see that he cannot do anything by himself. Therefore, then he should tell the Creator, “I cannot even pray for You to save me. Therefore, only You can save me.” Then he says, “From the narrow place, I have called on the Lord; answer me in the wide expanse, Lord.” Through the descents and ascents, a need and lack for the Creator’s help form in a person. Then, each time, Kelim [vessels] manifest in man for the Creator to fill.

It is written in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 125): “The days of the exile are called ‘night,’ since this is the time of the concealment of His face from the children of Israel. At that time, all the powers of separation control the servants of the Creator. Yet, precisely at that time, the bride bonds with her husband—through Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds] of the righteous, who at that time are regarded as the ‘supporters of the Torah.’ All the sublime degrees called, ‘secrets of the Torah,’ are revealed by them, since this is why they are called those who make them, for they seemingly make the Torah.”

We see that “bride” is the name of the work during the exile, when there is concealment of His face. At that time, all the powers of separation control a person, meaning that thoughts come to him that cause him to feel separated from the Creator. At that time, he faces a dilemma: 1) Either he runs from the work and becomes completely separated from the Kedusha [holiness/sanctity], or 2) He does all that he can in order for the Creator to help him be saved from these thoughts. That is, the Creator will illuminate His face, and then there will be no place for the control of the powers of separation.

This means that he need not pray that these thoughts will depart from him. Instead, he should ask the Creator will shine His face to him, that He will not hide His face from him. That is, if he prays to the Creator that these thoughts will depart from him, then he has gained nothing from the powers of separation, and he will return to the state he was in before the thoughts of the powers of separation came to him. Thus, he has not gained a thing. This is regarded as suffering in vain. But if he asks the Creator to shine His face to him so that the powers of separation will surrender, then he has risen in degree by being rewarded with the nearness of the Creator.

It follows that “bride” is the work of “accepting the burden of the kingdom of heaven,” regarded as “faith in the Creator.” Opposite this are forces of separation, which do not let a person believe in the Creator above reason. Rather, according to how the external mind mandates, so the forces of separation separate a person from the Creator. Hence, there are ascents and descents in these states, since the whole basis of the faith is above reason. In consequence, the powers of separation have room, meaning they do not allow a person to go against reason.

By this we should interpret what we asked, why concerning a bride our sages said, “How does one dance before the bride?” Concerning dancing, we see that when we dance, a person goes up and down, and sometimes falls to the east, to the west, to the north, and to the south. That is, the falls during the dance are to all six directions. The falls come so that the person will feel the need for the Creator’s help. That is, it was done on purpose, so that the person will not be able to emerge from the control of the nations of the world within him by himself, without the Creator’s help.

But why does the Creator want a person to ask for His help? It is as Baal HaSulam said, since a person does not have the need and urgency to obtain Nefesh-Ruach-Neshama (NRN), which the Creator wants to give to a person, and since man is content with little, by asking for help, the help that the Creator gives him is NRN, as it is written in The Zohar, “He who comes to purify is aided. And it says, ‘With what is he aided? With a holy soul.’”

This means that each time he wants to be more cleansed, he is given help through a higher soul. It follows that according to the request for help from above, this is the cause that he will receive a higher degree each time, and by this he will receive his NRN. For this reason, the Creator wanting that we ask for His help causes us to have to extend a higher degree each time.

Now we can understand why they asked about the bride, “How does one dance before the bride?” and not before the groom. This is because dancing means ascents and descents that apply during the exile, called “concealment of His face,” when the powers of separation govern. However, the question is, What causes the existence of ascents and descents? In this there is a dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel.

Beit Shammai say “the bride as she is.” That is, to the extent of the flavor that he feels in the work, he should overcome and say, “Even if I do not feel its importance, I still take upon myself the kingdom of heaven with faith above reason.” And to say, “Since I want to work and serve the King, it does not matter to me what flavor I feel in this work.” Rather, it should all be above reason. That is, a person should say that he agrees to do the holy work “Even if I remain with this flavor my entire life.” This is called “the bride as she is.”

As Baal HaSulam said (in the essay, “Order of the Work”), we should believe only with faith that the Creator is the guide. That is, although faith has lower importance than his understanding within reason, he chooses to walk in this path.

Moreover, he is not going above reason because he has no choice. Rather, even if he is given knowledge, he chooses to go above reason. This is called “the bride as she is.” In other words, he takes upon himself the kingdom of heaven even though he has no feeling of importance, as one should feel when serving a great and important King. Yet, he does not mind what he is feeling, but takes upon himself everything with great joy.

Yet, since everything is above reason, there are ascents and descents in this work. Therefore, during the work in a state of a bride, there are ascents and descents, which are called “dances.”

Beit Hillel say that the dance is not necessarily as is the view of Beit Shammai, who say that we must say, “the bride as she is,” meaning that he takes it upon himself although she is of little importance to him, and that only in this way are there ascents and descents, called “dances.” Rather, in our view, we need not be so strict about those workers who want to take upon themselves faith in a way that it is of such little importance.

Instead, we should accept the faith in a way that he will not regard what he is feeling, but he should say that the bride is indeed beautiful and graceful (“graceful” means that a thread of Hesed [grace, but also mercy] is extended on her). What he does not feel is because he is still unworthy of feeling, but afterward he will really see her beauty, how beautiful and graceful she is. And yet, since now he does not have this feeling, there is the matter of ascents and descents, which is called “dances” in the work.

It follows that this applies only when the work is in a state of “bride.” This is why our sages said “How does one dance before the bride?” and did not say “How does one dance before the groom?” But when speaking of a meal, it is called “a groom’s meal” and not “a bride’s meal” because a meal is as our sages said (Avoda Zarah, p3), “He who labors on the eve of Shabbat [Sabbath], eats on Shabbat. But he who did not labor on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?” since the Shabbat is “the conclusion of the making of heaven and earth.”

Shabbat is a time of reception of delight and pleasure, which is the final purpose of creation. For this reason, Shabbat is called “the conclusion of the making of heaven and earth.” The giving of delight and pleasure pertains to the groom, which refers to the Creator, who gives delight and pleasure to the creatures. The Creator is called “groom” after what our sages said (Yevamot 63), “descend in degree and choose a wife.” A “groom” means he must descend to a lower degree and receive a wife, as it is written in the book Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah], “And the Lord descended to the top of the mountain.” With respect to the descent, the Creator was a groom, from the word, “descending in degree.”

We should interpret the meaning of descent with regard to the Creator. As is explained in the words of the ARI, in order for the created beings to be able to receive His light, there were many restrictions and diminutions of the light until it was suitable for the attainment of the lower ones. If the light is too big, the lower ones will not be able to receive His abundance because “they annul before the light as a candle before a torch.”

For the Creator, this is called “descended,” as in descending from His greatness. In other words, the lower ones are unfit to see His greatness. Rather, each according to his ability, to that extent the Tzimtzum [restriction] is lifted from him and the light appears. In this respect, the Creator is called “groom,” when He takes the people of Israel as a bride, to give her everything she needs, as it is written in the Ketubah [a formal letter outlining the groom’s responsibilities to the bride] that the groom gives to the bride: “I will labor and respect and feed and provide and sustain and clothe you.”

In other words, when the Creator takes the people of Israel as a bride, He will give her everything she needs. This is called “a groom’s meal,” when the Creator, who is the groom, from the words, “of inferior degree,” nourishes and provides for the created beings. That is, He must lower Himself so as to give each one according to his attainment, as because of this, all the restrictions took place, and from this comes the whole matter of multiplicity of names.

Clearly, when a person receives delight and pleasure from the Creator, it cannot be said that in that state, during the reception of the abundance, there will be ascents and descents. This is only when a person is in a state of concealment of the face, when he must overcome what he feels and say that the Creator is good and does good, and one cannot always do so.

But during the reception of the delight and pleasure, it is impossible to have states of descent, which are called “dances.” This is why they did not say, “How does one dance before the groom?” since the Creator is called a “groom” when He takes the “bride,” when there is union between the groom and the bride, and union means “equivalence of form.”

That is, when the people of Israel as a whole, or a single individual, achieves equivalence of form, this is called “union.” At that time, the concealment of the face departs and each one receives the revelation of the face of the Creator. This is called “a groom’s meal.” This is why they said that there, with the groom, the work is received in a different way at that time, meaning that we must delight the groom.

However, we should understand what our sages said (Berachot 7), “Anyone who enjoys the meal of a groom and does not delight him breaches in five voices. But if he delights him, what is his reward? Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, ‘He is rewarded with the Torah, which was given in five voices.’” We should understand what the groom’s meal symbolizes in the work, that anyone who enjoys a groom’s meal must delight him. In corporeality, it is difficult to understand why we need to delight the groom. Is he not already happy? Who forced him to be a groom? Of course he is happy, as it is written, “As the joy of a groom with a bride.” In corporeality, there are certainly answers to this, but what does this imply to us in the work?

The thing is that it is known that all of our work is to achieve equivalence of form through observing Torah and Mitzvot. That is, we must come to a state where all of our work should be in order to bring contentment to the Maker, and not to ourselves. The state of this work is called “bride,” meaning that there are ascents and descents there, called “dances.”

Afterward, when he completes this work on the part of the lower one, it is regarded as “Everything that is in your hand and in your strength to do, do.” At that time it is called “the conclusion of the work.” This is the meaning of “bride,” as it is written, “When Moses concluded,” which is the conclusion of the work from the perspective of the lower one. At that time a person is rewarded with permanent faith. That is, he has come to a degree where “All your work is for the sake of the Creator.” For this reason, the abundance he receives at that time from above, which is called “the King’s meal,” he must receive the abundance in order to bestow and not for his own sake.

In other words, at that time he must be willing to say that this pleasure he receives is not because he wants to delight himself, but because he wants to delight the Creator, because the Creator created the world in order to do good to His creations. If he does not receive the delight and pleasure, His intention will not be carried out. By his enjoyment now, the Creator is enjoying from His purpose being revealed in practice. It follows that by this he observes what our sages said, “Anyone who enjoys the meal of a groom and does not delight him,” but he does delight Him.

Indeed, we should understand the following: 1) How can we delight the groom? 2) Why do we need to delight the groom?

In the work, how can it be said that the people of Israel should delight the Creator? Can such a thing be said about the Creator, that He needs our joy, that we will delight Him?

3) Why does he breach in five voices if he does not delight him? Why specifically the five voices? 4) Anyone who delights him is rewarded. What is his reward? Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, “He is rewarded with the Torah, which was given in five voices.” We should understand this, too. Every person knows that the reward is in the next world. Why does he say that the Torah is the reward? It appears to mean the opposite, as it is written in Tanna Devei Eliyahu: “Anyone who recites rules each day is guaranteed to have the next world.” It follows that the reward we receive for the Torah is the next world. But here, Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi says that the reward is the Torah.

As was said, all of our work is that through observing Torah and Mitzvot, a person should aim that by this, he will achieve equivalence of form, as it is written, “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.” That state is called a “bride.”

Everything we receive from the Creator, whether corporeality or spirituality, but rather any pleasure we receive from the Creator, is called “a groom’s meal.” That is, everything that a person enjoys is called “a meal.” For this reason, all the pleasures that a person receives from the Creator are called “a groom’s meal.”

By receiving, a person comes into disparity of form, which causes separation, and on this discernment there were Tzimtzum and concealment so the light of His face is not revealed in a place of separation. The Creator gives him something to enjoy, and by the Creator giving him something, he should receive from this an ascent in degree. That is, he should be closer to Kedusha, since now he is better qualified to believe that the Creator is good and does good. Because of it, he had to take upon himself to love the Creator, since He nourishes and provides.

The evidence to this is that now he received nourishment. The body exists and leads a happy life not necessarily from eating and drinking. Rather, a person also needs nourishments that pertain to man’s spirit, meaning respect, knowledge, and service of the Creator. Each one, according to his own spirit, needs things that will lift his spirit. All this is called “nourishments.” For this reason, any pleasure that a person receives from the Creator will reasonably bring a person nearer to Kedusha. But in fact, by this one grows farther due to the disparity of form resulting from the reception of the pleasure.

For this reason, if a person, while receiving the pleasure from the Creator, tries to delight the King by receiving in order to bestow upon the Creator, and his joy is from trying to aim to bestow contentment upon his Maker, by this he obtains a Kli [vessel] of bestowal with which he delights the Creator because the purpose of creation is to do good.

This delights the Creator, since now the Creator can give delight and pleasure to man, since man is now able to receive in order to bestow. Then the verse “The Lord delights in His works” comes true, meaning with the work of creation, for His will is to do good to His creations.

Because of the Tzimtzum, the Creator had to hide Himself from His creations. But when a person aims while receiving the pleasure to receive it for the sake of the Creator, this gives pleasure to the Creator from giving to the creatures.

It follows that from every pleasure he receives with the aim to benefit the Creator, it creates within him a Kli called “receiving in order to bestow.” When that Kli grows in him, after each giving, what will be his reward from the growth of the Kelim [vessels]? That they will be in order to bestow. His reward will be that he will later be rewarded with the Torah, called “the names of the Creator,” since now what he receives will be in order to bestow.

It follows that the reward will be the Torah, as Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said. That is, what will happen once a person has been rewarded with a degree where he can delight the King? When he wants only to bring contentment to his Maker? And what is his reward? It does not mean that the person should receive reward for delighting the Creator. Rather, he says that his reward is that he can please the King.

How does he please the King? By receiving the Torah. Doing good to His creations is the benefit that the Creator wants to give to the created beings; it is the revelation of His Godliness to the creatures. This is called “Torah,” meaning “Torah, as in the names of the Creator.” It follows that his reward is that the Creator can give him the Torah, as the Creator enjoys this giving and it pleases Him.

It follows that “Anyone who enjoys the meal of a groom and does not delight him” means that he is still immersed in self-love and cannot say that everything he does is only for the sake of the Creator. Then, the Creator cannot give the Torah, as it will all go to the Sitra Achra [other side]. This is why they said that he “breaches in five voices.” It is known that five Behinot [discernments] contain all the worlds and all the degrees, which appear as the names of the Creator. These are the tip of the Yod, and the four letters, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey. In the worlds, they are called AK and ABYA, and in the souls they are called Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida.

Thus, the meaning of “breaches in five voices” is that he causes the five abovementioned Behinot not to manifest because they are not trying to achieve the intention that all the actions are only for the sake of the Creator and not for self-benefit. This is considered that where he should work to delight the Creator, he is concerned only with delighting himself. By this, he prevents the upper abundance from manifesting.

It follows that man causes the prevention of abundance below. This is considered that where man should have exerted to make the glory of heaven revealed—which is called “the revelation of His Godliness to His creations,” which is the purpose of creation—man is doing things that cause the glory of the Creator not to be revealed. Instead, the glory of the Sitra Achra is revealed and the Shechina[Divinity] is in the dust.

This is called “the Shechina in exile under the nations of the world” within each person. That is, instead of trying to make The Good Who Does Good be revealed, and the concealment to be removed by aiming to bestow, he causes the nations of the world in him to rise ever higher.

The nations of the world is the will to receive for oneself. When we work for it, it gains strength and its quality manifests. Then, Israel in man descends below it, and this is called “breaching in five voices.”

But if we work in order to bestow, Kedusha gains power and controls. “One who enjoys the meals of a groom and his intention is to delight him, it means that his reward is that he was given the privilege of delighting the Creator. The sign of the reward, meaning the way to know that his aim is truly to delight the Creator, is as Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, that “his reward is the Torah.” If he is rewarded with the Torah, meaning if his aim is really only to please the King, and this is his only reward, the Tzimtzum and concealment are naturally removed from him, and he must be rewarded with the revelation of the light of His face. This is called “the Torah of His names,” called “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures.”

It follows that “bride” means work of faith, meaning acceptance of the burden of the kingdom of heaven. But here there is a matter of ascents and descents, meaning what a person should give to the Creator, which is unconditional surrender. In other words, a person should accept faith above reason even though he has no feeling and no excitement over taking upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven. Nevertheless, he should agree with that state and say that this must be the will of the Creator that he will work and serve Him in this lowliness, so he does not mind what elation he feels about this faith because about himself, meaning his own benefit, he has no concern, but only about the benefit of the Creator. If He wants him to remain in that state, he accepts this unconditionally. This is called “unconditional surrender.”

In that regard, faith is called “below,” meaning that it is of inferior importance for man. It is as it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit: “Faith means below, since it is of low importance. For this reason, when faith is thrown to the ground, meaning when the greatness of faith is not valued, it becomes a serpent. In other words, in that state, a person becomes worse than when he began the work on faith. Prior to this, he was regarded as sacred still and did not lack faith. But now that he has begun to take upon himself faith above reason, his faith is unimportant because his reason does not let him believe without reason. Therefore, he falls into the Klipa [shells/peels] of the serpent. Hence, when he wishes to enter Kedusha, he grabs it by the tail, where “tail” is the last discernment in everything. In other words, he accepts faith with all its lowliness, meaning above reason. At that time it becomes a scepter. He interprets there that in the hands of the redeemer was a scepter. This is the meaning of the “faithful shepherd,” who has a scepter in his hand to direct the hearts of Israel to their father in heaven.

Conversely, the groom is the giver. Considering what the Creator does, His quality is to do good to His creations. This is why it is called “the groom’s meal,” as they said, “Anyone who enjoys the meal of a groom.”

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