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Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What It Means that the Name of the Creator is “Truth”

Article No. 03, Tav-Shin-Mem-Het, 1987-88

It is written in The Zohar, Haazinu (Item 210): “Happy is he who has been summoned to the King and knows how to call upon Him properly. If he calls and does not know Whom he calls, the Creator moves away from him, as it is written, ‘The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.’ To whom is He close? He reiterates, ‘To all who call upon Him in truth.’ But is there anyone who calls upon Him in falsehood? Rabbi Aba said, ‘Yes, it is he who calls but does not know Whom he calls.’ How do we know? Because it is written, ‘to all who call upon Him in truth.’ What is ‘in truth’? It is with the seal of the King’s ring, which is the completeness of everything.”

It is very difficult to understand the answer of The Zohar to the question, Does anyone call Him in falsehood? To this comes the answer, “Rabbi Aba said, ‘Yes, it is he who calls but does not Whom he calls.’” This is very perplexing. Why does one who does not know Whom he calls is regarded as lying? We could say that he is mistaken, but not lying! Also, the evidence he brings to the interpretation, “truth,” saying that it is with the King’s ring, which is the completeness of everything, what evidence is this, that we must know whom we are calling or it is called a “lie”?

To understand the above, which is necessary because according to the words of The Zohar, “One who prays but does not know to Whom he calls, the Creator moves away from him,” can we understand this? But how can one know to whom he is calling? Certainly, every person calls upon the Creator. Otherwise, to whom does he pray? So, what does it mean “to whom he calls.” What is even more difficult to understand is why he says, “and does not know to whom he calls.” After all, we learned that one should believe and not know to whom he calls.

We need to establish the matter of the purpose of creation and correction of creation first, and then we will know what man must correct. It is known that the purpose of creation is for the lower ones to receive delight and pleasure, and for this reason He has created in them the will to receive pleasure, and otherwise they cannot exist in the world. This desire forces them to do everything they can in order to obtain pleasure, and by this they can exist in the world.

Yet, along with it, as it is written in the introductions, upon the reception of the pleasure, shame is born within this will to receive—that it receives in a dishonest manner. In order to correct this, there was the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, where the spiritual pleasure is hidden from us and is revealed only to the extent that the will to receive for oneself departs, to that extent, the spiritual pleasure is revealed. If the will to receive is present in some place, the abundance promptly departs from there, and both cannot be in the same place.

Accordingly, we can understand the correction of creation, when corrections are made so that creation will achieve the goal for which it was created—meaning to receive complete delight and pleasure without any bread of shame. We learned what is the order of the work, meaning what a person must do so the shame will be removed from him when he receives pleasure from the Creator, since before a person obtains this Kli [vessel], which is to receive with the aim to bestow, at which time there is no shame, meaning that while receiving, he will not feel unpleasantness due to oppositeness of form.

This means that as long as the lower one has no will to receive, and that will to receive will not make any disparity of form in relation to the light and the abundance, the Tzimtzum and concealment are still on it. This means that the upper abundance does not reveal, and anything of Kedusha[sanctity/holiness] he looks at, he sees as dark and not as light.

However, this applies to people who truly want to draw near to Kedusha. This order applies to them because from above, they do not want them to waste time needlessly, since they are fit to achieve the holy work in purity, meaning in order to bestow. In these people, if they do not aim in order to bestow, they see darkness and not light.

Conversely, in people who belong to the general public there is the matter of the general light, which shines for them as surrounding. They are satisfied by this and do not feel their lacks that they must correct. This light illuminates in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake].

However, when a person wants to emerge from the general public and be a servant of the Creator, built on the basis of faith above reason, when he does not want to receive the gift of flesh and blood—as we explained that sometimes when one’s faith is not enough to commit him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot—but since he is in an environment where all the friends engage in Torah and Mitzvot, he receives a gift from the friends. It is as though they give him part of their desire, and through the gifts of parts of desire he receives from the friends, it causes him to also engage in Torah and Mitzvot. It follows that the Torah and Mitzvot that he observes is built on the basis of the gift of flesh and blood and is not based on the Creator. In other words, the power of faith in the Creator that he has is not enough to compel him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. Rather, the reason that causes him to observe Torah and Mitzvot is the gift of flesh and blood.

Now we can interpret what we say in the blessing for the food, “And do not make us need, the Lord our God, neither the gift of flesh and blood nor their lending, but only Your full and open hand, so we will never ever be ashamed or disgraced.” When a person blesses the Creator and thanks Him for giving him food, during the blessing for the food a person should pay attention and think that thanks to the food he exists in the world, that if he did not have food he would suffer hunger, and now the Creator has provided him with food, and for this he thanks the Creator, for the good that a person feels that the Creator has given him.

From corporeal nourishments, a person must contemplate on spiritual nourishments, which spiritual nourishments he received from the Creator. A person has to know that without corporal food he cannot live in corporeality. It is likewise in spirituality, called “the life of a Jew.” It has many names: Some call it a “life of Torah” or a “life of Kedusha [sanctity/holiness],” and some call spiritual life by the name “life that is connected to the Creator,” meaning that he says that the Creator gives him everything.

Sometimes, the Creator wants a person to ask Him for something, and then He will give him what he wants. The reason is not that the Creator longs for the creatures to ask Him for a favor, and then He will give them, as with flesh and blood. Rather, we should interpret what our sages said (Yevamot64), “The Creator longs for the prayer of the righteous.”

The reason is that there is no light without a Kli. Therefore, the Creator cannot give them when they have no need or desire. It follows that “longing for the prayer of the righteous” is longing for them to have a need and a Kli for the abundance, since the desire and need of the righteous is in order to bestow upon the Creator, and this Kli and need can hold the abundance and it will not go to the outer ones, as with the breaking of the vessels. Conversely, He does not long for the prayer of the wicked, since their Kli and need do not gain anything because He cannot impart abundance, as it will go to the Klipot [shells/peels], and all the gains of the Creator is in what He bestows.

Accordingly, we should say that the life that a person wants to have contact with the Creator, whether in prayer, when he asks Him to give him something, or when he thanks the Creator for what He has given him, in the end, at that time he is speaking to the Creator. The connection of speaking to the Creator brings him life, if he appreciates the fact that he is conversing with the Creator and he extends life because at that time he lacks nothing. That is, if a person can pay attention and picture to himself that if he could speak to a flesh and blood king, which everyone reveres, it is inherent in nature that a person can give everything he has in order to speak with the king. That person, if he can strengthen his faith that he is speaking to the King of Kings, who does not speak with just anyone, then as we said, we should make three discernments in this:

1. The person does not know that this country has a king.
2. Even if he knows there is a king, he does not know that the king has come to town.

3) Even if he knows the king has come to town, he does not know the importance of his king, who is revered the world over, and all the kings and ministers in the world yearn to speak to his king, while he was fortunate to receive permission to speak to the king, and what else does he need? That is, he does not need the Creator to give him what he asks, for simply the privilege of speaking to the king is enough and gives him life. The reason he is asking something from the king is not so that the king will give him what he wants, since the prayer itself is enough for him, as though he has already granted his wish.

Likewise, when he thanks the Creator for what He has given him, he does not mind the size of the gift, but the fact that now he has the opportunity to speak to the King and thank Him—this is all His importance. This means that he does not consider the giving that the Creator has given him, or what he wants Him to give him. Rather, his entire importance is that he believes that now he is speaking to the King.

In such a state, when a person has no value for what he has, when he does not regard what enters the vessels of reception but measures the importance of what enters the vessels of bestowal, this is called “spiritual life,” since all his thoughts are about being rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator and not for his own benefit.

In these people, it is said that there is the matter of ascents and descents. At one time they feel the importance of Dvekut with the Creator, and sometimes there is the Tzimtzum and concealment and they feel the taste of death in the state they are in, without spiritual vitality.

Now we will explain what we asked about the name of the Creator being “truth,” and for this reason, one who calls upon Him in falsehood, He moves away from him. Rabbi Aba interpreted that falsehood is one who does not know whom he calls. We asked, Why is one who does not know called a “liar”?

To understand the meaning of truth, we will bring here what is written (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 13), where he explains the seventh correction of the thirteen corrections of Dikna: “Therefore, this Tikkun [correction] is called in relation to Him, ‘and truth,’ since by revealing these two holy apples below, the truth of His Providence over the lower ones is revealed. This is why the revelation of His Providence is called ‘and truth,’ for it is the truth of His will, and all the concealments present in the worlds come only to reveal this truth in His Providence, which is to do good to His creations.”

It therefore follows that what is written, that the name of the Creator is “truth,” means that the truth that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations is apparent. This is why Rabbi Aba says that “‘in truth’ means with the seal of the King’s ring, which is the completeness of everything.” We should understand what it implies to us that truth is the completeness of everything.

As we learned, the completeness of creation is for the creatures to achieve the purpose of creation, which is that the Creator’s will is for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure. The completeness of everything is that when they receive delight and pleasure from the Creator, they will not part from the Dvekut, called “equivalence of form.” This can be specifically that when they receive delight and pleasure, their intention will be to bestow. This is called “the completeness of everything.”

It therefore follows that when a person asks the Creator to satisfy his wish, he should know the name of the Creator when he calls upon Him. Otherwise, it is not regarded as truth but as falsehood and the Creator moves away from him.

We asked, Why is it considered a lie if he does not know His name, and why does the Creator move away from him? The answer is that when a person comes to pray to the Creator, he should believe that the name of the Creator is “truth.” That is, the Creator wants the quality of truth to be evident, that the Creator wants to do good to His creations. If he calls upon the Creator but does not believe that the name of the Creator is “truth,” that He wants the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, it follows that he does not believe in the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. Thus, he is calling in falsehood. That is, he is asking someone to do him a favor while not believing that that man can do him any good.

Thus, when he calls upon Him to do good to him, he calls in falsehood because he does not believe that the Creator is good and does good. Because of this, the Creator moves away from he who calls upon Him in falsehood.

In corporeality, too, we see that if someone asks someone for a favor, and the other one knows that he does not believe that he can do him a favor but he is asking him for no reason, clearly, that person will move away from him and will not even want to hear what he will say to him.

Likewise, the Creator knows that the person speaks falsehood, that he is not calling Him by His name, which is “truth,” that the Creator truly does good to His creations. Naturally, the Creator moves away from him.

It therefore follows that when a person comes to pray to the Creator to help him, if that person comes to pray to the Creator to bring him closer, to adhere to the Creator, the order is that prior to the prayer he should first examine to Whom he is praying, meaning to which name of the Creator he is praying.

That is, the Creator has many names. The names of the Creator are given after the operations that manifest from Him. It is as our sages said, that each angel is named after the operation.

For this reason, first and foremost, a person must believe that the name of the Creator is The Good Who Does Good, and that the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations, and that His name is “truth.” At the end of correction, His real name will be revealed, that His intention in our suffering was not vengeance, as is done among corporeal people. Rather, it was all with one intention—to do good to His creations. That is, the suffering they suffered were corrections that qualified them to receive the delight and pleasure.

When a person has this faith and he asks the Creator to bring him closer, meaning to give him strength from above to achieve the degree of qualification where all his actions are in order to bestow, and this is what he asks of the Creator—that His glory will be revealed in the world, and not as it is now, when the Shechina [Divinity] is in the dust—and he prays that His glory will be revealed in the world, this is considered that he knows the name of the Creator and is not calling Him in falsehood, but in truth.

Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is the Extent of Teshuva [Repentance]?

Article No. 02, Tav-Shin-Mem-Het, 1987-88

It is written (Hosea 14), “Return, O Israel, unto the Lord your God.” This means that the extent of Teshuva [repentance] is “unto the Lord your God.” However, we should understand the meaning of “unto the Lord your God,” for it implies that up to this place we must repent, and when arriving at that place he no longer needs to repent because he has returned to the place from which he came. We should understand what it means that a person walks away from a place and is told he must return to the place from which he came, which is called Teshuva [Teshuva means “returning”]. Accordingly, What is the place from which he went and to which he must return?

It is known that Kabbalists wrote that man’s soul is a part of God above, as it is written (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 2), “Inquiry No. 3: This deals with what Kabbalists have said, that man’s soul is a part of God Above, in such a way that there is no difference between Him and the soul, but He is the ‘whole’ and the soul is a ‘part.’”

It is also written (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 9), “And you find that in spirituality, the disparity of form acts like the ax that separates the corporeal things. From this we learn that since the will to receive His delight has been imprinted in the souls, that disparity of form that the souls acquired separates them from His essence. Through that disparity of form, the souls were separated from the Creator and became creatures.” It is also written (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 11), “And the worlds cascaded onto the reality of this corporeal world, a place where there is a body and a soul, and a time of corruption and a time of correction.” And it is also written (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 12), “And through Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], they finally turn the form of the will to receive to be as the form of the will to bestow. Then they can receive all the good that is in the thought of creation. Along with it, they are rewarded with strong Dvekut [adhesion] with Him, because through the work in Torah and Mitzvot they have been rewarded with equivalence of form with their maker, which is deemed the end of correction.”

It therefore follows that all we need to do in this world is correct and qualify ourselves to be able to receive the delight and pleasure that exist in the thought of creation. Thus, by being created with a will to receive, which is opposite from the Creator, it is considered that a person has departed from the place. From what place? From the root, since the soul is a part of God above. It has departed because of the disparity of form from the Creator and has descended into this world so as to be clothed in a body.

It was mentioned above that in this world there is a time of corruption and a time of correction. Through the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot, that which was corrupted will be corrected. Since the corruption is only that the will to receive removes a person from the Creator, once a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive the quality of the aim to bestow, which is called “equivalence of form,” it corrects the corruption.

By this we can understand the question, What is the place from which man emerged, as he is told that he should return to his place, which is called Teshuva? We should interpret that since the soul is a part of God above, and was removed from the Creator into being merely a part and not the whole, all this was because of the disparity of form. Therefore, when he corrects this through the power of Torah and Mitzvot with the intention that it will bring him the correction of the ability to do everything in order to bestow, he will naturally reconnect to the whole. This is called “Dvekut with the Creator,” and this is the extent that one should know how much he must work until he achieves Teshuva.

To this comes the answer, “Return, O Israel, unto the Lord your God.” “Your God” is said in singular form. That is, the will to receive that exists in man divides him into two authorities and he becomes removed from the Creator. When a person corrects himself and does everything in order to bestow, in this way he achieves Dvekut. It follows that the disparity of form divided man and removed him from his source. This is regarded as a person being removed from his place and that he has now returned to his place. This is called “your God,” in singular form, where nothing separates the Creator from the creature.

This is called Teshuva, when a person returns to his place, as he was prior to creation, when the soul was included in the whole. Subsequently, through the will to receive, she divided from the whole, and now the singular authority has been created and this is called Teshuva [returning]. This is the meaning of “Return, O Israel.” To what extent must he return? The prophet tells us, “unto the Lord,” until He becomes “your God,” the singular authority.

According to the above, we see that the writing wants to show us what is Teshuva. That is, the general public is taught to engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. There, in the general public, a person needs to repent for the act. That is, if a person takes care to observe Torah and Mitzvot with all its details and specifics, in this manner, a person must believe above reason that he has not done his duty in observing Torah and Mitzvot, and he always searches—perhaps he slandered or spoke idle words.

That is, if he wants to acquire wholeness, he is always busy looking into the work he does. But normally, a person does not see his own fault. Also, it is the same with humbleness, as our sages said, “be very, very humble.” In this, too, he searches for faults by which he will be able to tell himself that he is worse than others, since a person must be humble, and lying is certainly forbidden. Therefore, he is always concerned and thinks about finding some flaw in himself, so he will be able to say that he is worse than others.

Certainly, it is very difficult for a person in this state to repent. All he can say after all his efforts is that he might have prayed improperly, or perhaps slandered and did not notice. That is, he finds in himself a place where he can repent for sins he might have committed.

Also, about humbleness, he says, “Perhaps I am worse than others.” It turns out that his entire Teshuva is on a possible transgression. That is, he believes above reason that he probably still lacks wholeness. But, all this pertains to people who belong to the general public.

However, for people who belong in the individuals, whose aim is to be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, which is equivalence of form, meaning they want all their actions to be for the sake of the Creator, here begins a completely different order. Their gauge in Torah and Mitzvot is not necessarily the act. Rather, they want the intention to be for the Creator, too. That is, they do not settle for observing the Creator’s commandments only in action. They observe Torah and Mitzvot because the Creator commanded us to observe the Torah and Mitzvot, and not because the environment commits them to observe the Torah and Mitzvot. That is, they observe not so the environment will respect or disrespect them, and this is what obliges them to observe Torah and Mitzvot.

Rather, they do everything in concealment “with the Lord your God.” They do not demand from the environment respect and so forth, but rather want to observe the Torah and Mitzvot with the aim not to receive reward, but only for the sake of the Creator. They see that the body does not agree to this work. But since they want to achieve the truth, from above they are constantly shown the truth—according to the merit of their work—about how the will to receive is in oppositeness of form from the Creator. Yet, each time they overcome more forcefully in that they want to work only for the sake of the Creator.

That person does not see that he has any merit in spirituality. He sees that he is more materialized than the rest of the servants of the Creator who engage in Torah and Mitzvot. And the reason is, as said above, that it is because that person exerts more efforts to reach the truth. Then, he is shown from above the true state of the evil. At that time he sees that he is unable to help himself, and he has a need, called a Kli [vessel], that the Creator will help him emerge from the control of the evil within him.

It therefore follows that the words “Return, O Israel, unto the Lord your God” were said so that a person would not deceive himself and say, “I don’t see any sins in myself,” and may doubt that he has transgressions on which he needs to repent. This is why the verse says, “Return, O Israel.”

And should you ask, What is the extent of the Teshuva, so that I may know for certain that I must repent? The verse says to us in this regard, “Return, O Israel, unto the Lord your God.” That is, if he sees that he still has two authorities, meaning that he wants the Creator to give delight and pleasure to man’s authority, called “will to receive for himself,” then he knows for certain that he is removed from the Creator, that he has become a separate part from the whole, and he should do all that he can to return to his origin and root, meaning return to his place, which is called “the Lord your God.”

This means that there is only one authority—the authority of the Creator—as was said, “On that day, the Lord will be one, and His name One,” meaning one authority.

Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Why Life Is Divided into Two Discernments

Article No. 01, Tav-Shin-Mem-Het, 1987-88

Our sages said (Berachot 18), “For the living know that they will die. Those righteous, in their death, are called ‘living.’” RASHI interprets, “Those righteous, how do they know they will die? They pay attention to the day of death, and avoid transgression.” “And the dead know nothing. Those wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead.’” RASHI interprets, “The wicked know nothing,” meaning “they pretend not to know and sin.”

It therefore follows that there is life that is called “death.” In other words, to the wicked, their lives are called “death.” Also, there is death that is called “life,” which is among the righteous.

That is, there are two discernments to life: 1) the life of the wicked, 2) the life of the righteous.

It is not written what the life of the righteous is called. Rather, what is written is that the death of the righteous is called “life.” And we should certainly say that if the death of the righteous is called “life,” then the life of the righteous is certainly a higher degree.

According to RASHI’s interpretation, it seems that in their death, meaning when looking at when they are discerned as dead, therefore they do not sin. Yet, how does this pertain to life? Does one who does not sin already have life? Also, RASHI interprets that the wicked in their lives are called “dead.” Why? It is because the wicked know nothing, meaning they pretend not to know. We should interpret that they do not know about the day of death.

This, too, we should understand. Does one who does not remember the day of death must sin? After all, our sages said (Berachot 5), “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination. If he defeats it, good. If not, he should engage in Torah. If he defeats it, good. If not, he should read the Shema reading. And if not, he should mention to it the day of death.” This means that even if he does not remember the day of death, he does not have to sin. Thus, what does it mean that RASHI interpreted that they pretend not to know about the day of death and therefore sin? Does this imply that one who does not want to sin must always remember the day of death?

In order to understand all the above, we should remember all that is ahead of us, meaning the purpose of creation, as well as the matter of the correction of creation, which is done later. We should also understand the rule that there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. It is also known that there is no light without a Kli. This means that there cannot be a filling without a lack. For this reason, the Creator created existence from absence a lack and craving to receive pleasures. This is called a “desire to receive delight.”

On this Kli, called “will to receive,” there was later a correction called Tzimtzum [restriction]. This means that since because of the reception of the abundance there was no equivalence between the giver and the receiver, and that Kli craved equivalence of form, called Dvekut [adhesion]. For this reason, she did not want to receive into her will to receive. Instead, on that discernment there was to be a Tzimtzum and she would receive only where she can aim to bestow. This is the correction of creation, so the creatures would not feel unpleasantness when receiving pleasures from the Creator.

Now we understand that the purpose of creation is for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, and the correction of creation is for the creatures not to feel unpleasantness upon reception of the pleasures. A Kli is called a “lack,” and “light” is called the “filling.” It follows that the Kli in which life is clothed is called “desire,” and the life that is clothed in her is called “light.”

From this we learn that we have two kinds of Kelim [vessels]: 1) a Kli without the correction of creation, called “receiving in order to receive,” 2) a Kli with the correction of creation, called “receiving in order to bestow.”

According to the above, life is called “light.” It follows that we have life that is clothed in the Kelim of the will to receive, by which we receive disparity of form from the Creator, which causes us to part from the Life of Lives. For this reason, this life is called “death,” due to the separation that occurs there.

There is also life that is called “light,” which is clothed in Kelim on which there is the correction of creation, called “receiving in order to bestow.” By this, although they are called “receivers,” since the aim is to bestow, they remain in Dvekut even while receiving the pleasures. It follows that the light that he receives, meaning life, is called “life,” since the light remains attached to the Life of Lives.

By this we can interpret what was said, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” since they receive all that they receive in vessels of reception, which causes separation. This is why it was said, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead.’” Also, this clarifies why “The righteous, in their lives, are called ‘living,’” since they receive the filling of the Kli, meaning the light and the pleasure, in vessels of bestowal, by which they adhere to the Life of Lives, although they become receivers.

However, according to this, how can we interpret what our sages said, “The righteous, in their death, are called ‘living’”? The thing is that in the order of the work, we begin in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], and from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake]. Thus, when a person begins the work, the intention is for his own sake, called “reward and punishment.” Afterward, he is rewarded and is shown from above—by an awakening from above—that he should walk on the path of truth, which is to do everything for the sake of the Creator.

When he is shown from above what does it mean for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, the body escapes from this work and no longer wants to work, at that time a person thinks that he is in a state of descent.

That is, when he began to work he was in a state of ascent, meaning that he was finer and not so materialized. Hence, the body did not object to his work. But now the body has become materialized and therefore does not want to work. It says, “This work is not for me because I see that not only have I stopped progressing, I am even regressing. Therefore, it is a waste of my time and effort. Since I cannot acquire spiritual life, at least I will acquire corporeal life like the rest of the world, which does not think of spirituality, but only of corporeality.

“I will be like them and at least try to enjoy what I can in this world. Otherwise, I will be left empty handed in both ways.” At that time, it says, “I will do what our sages said (Yoma 72), “Raba said to the Sages: ‘I beseech you, do not inherit a double Hell!’” RASHI interprets “double Hell” as laboring and toiling in Torah in this world. “And you will not observe it and you will inherit Hell upon your death, and in your life, you did not enjoy in your world.”

By this we should interpret that when a person comes to a state of descent, called “death,” meaning when he feels the taste of death, if he follows the path of bestowal, meaning that everything he does will be only to thereby bring contentment to the Creator, and for himself he wants nothing, it is called “serving the Creator devotedly.” To a person, this feels like death.

Indeed, this brings up the question we asked, It is known that “A Mitzva [good deed/commandment] induces a Mitzva.” Thus, why does a person come from a state of feeling the taste of life while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot [plural of Mitzva] to a state where when he only begins to say that he is going to observe Torah and Mitzvot for the sake of the Creator, he feels in this a taste of death and not of life? Where is the rule that a Mitzva induces a Mitzva, as it is written (Avot, Chapter 4, 2), “Ben Azai says, ‘Run to a light Mitzva and flee from transgression, for a Mitzva induces a Mitzva and a transgression induces a transgression, for the reward for a Mitzva is a Mitzva, and the reward for a transgression is transgression.’”

The thing is that when he begins in work Lo Lishma and dedicates himself to the work wholeheartedly, and takes upon himself everything seriously, he is therefore endowed from above with the knowledge that there is work in order to bestow and not for his own sake. The reason he is awarded to feel that knowledge in his organs was because a Mitzva induces a Mitzva, for not just anyone is rewarded with feeling what it is that all his work is for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake. This pertains specifically to those who work with all their might in Lo Lishma. By this, they come to feel the Lishma, and to this, the body certainly does not agree.

However, now that he sees that in the work of bestowal, the body has nothing to receive, the person stands before a dilemma: He can say that now he is in a state of descent, called “transgression.” At that time, he falls into despair and says that now he sees that the most important is to bestow, but he cannot work in order to bestow, therefore he must escape the campaign and return to at least enjoy the corporeal life. Or, he can say that when he began this work, all the actions were with the aim Lo Lishma. At that time the work was not against the will to receive, so the body did not object. But now that he has been rewarded with knowing about the existence of Lishma, called “working for the sake of the Creator,” the body should certainly object because it is against nature. So, how can we work for the sake of the Creator? The answer is that it is inherent in nature that the small can serve the great without any reward, since it feels great pleasure in serving it.

This brings up the question, Why does the body not agree to work for the sake of the Creator? The answer is that the body does not believe in the greatness of the Creator, for where there is a need to believe, the body objects, since faith is something unimportant. This means that if His greatness is not revealed within reason, but we should believe, a person regards it as “lowly” and “inferior.” The body cannot stand this work.

Therefore, we should ask why the Creator created the concealment and the Tzimtzum [restriction] so His greatness will not be revealed. Rather, if a person wants to feel the greatness of the Creator, he can achieve this only by faith. The answer is known. When a person is still not cleansed of vessels of reception, he will take everything, meaning all the revelations of the Creator, into Kelim of self-love. This will separate him from spirituality and will be as “knowing one’s Master and aiming to rebel against Him.”

If a person is righteous, as our sages said, that “righteous is he who justifies his maker,” meaning says that his current feeling of a time of descent is certainly not because the Creator has rejected him from serving Him, but it is rather a great correction for him. That is, now he was given room to believe above reason in the greatness of the Creator, and was also given the need to ask the Creator to illuminate His greatness for him.

He does not want to feel the greatness of the Creator because of the pleasure in this revelation. His intention is not to delight his vessels of reception. On the contrary, since he wants to cancel all the self-love in him, and the body does not want to surrender, he is asking the Creator to illuminate for him, and remove the concealment from him so that the will to receive for himself will annul before the Creator.

By this we will understand what Ben Azai said, “Run to a light Mitzva.” That is, a person stands before a dilemma: He can say that the descent, his falling from his previous degree when he had desire and craving for the work into a state where he feels a taste of unpleasantness in the work, without any vitality, but everything is done by coercion, this came to him from above. It is because they want him to walk on the path of truth, meaning with faith above reason, which is a light Mitzva, which a person slights because it is unimportant to a person when he must go above reason.

Or, he can say the opposite: It is not because “a Mitzva induces a Mitzva,” but simply that he is a coarser person and with worse qualities than other people. Therefore, he commits transgression and is unworthy of the work of holiness. Instead, “a transgression induces a transgression.” Since what I do now in Torah and Mitzvot is compulsory, and I have no love for the holy work, hence, I will commit another transgression and leave the path of coercion. When I am in good spirits, I will engage in Torah and Mitzvot. In the meantime, I will return to my corporeal life and at least enjoy this world, as in the words of Raba.

For this reason, when a person faces a dilemma, Ben Azai says, “Run to a light Mitzva,” meaning run and choose a light Mitzva. This means that this state is regarded as a light Mitzva, and was given to you from above so that you would walk ahead on the path that leads to the truth. The reason is that “a Mitzva induces a Mitzva.” Since you began in Lo Lishma, and your intention was to devote yourself wholeheartedly to Torah and Mitzvot, hence, “a Mitzva induces a Mitzva.” For this reason, you were given from above the knowledge of the matter of Lishma, and you began to feel it. This is the time when a person has the need for the Creator to bring him closer, since then he sees what our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day. Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.”

“…and escape from transgression.” That is, run from saying that the state you are in now is a transgression. Instead, say that a Mitzva induces a Mitzva and this cannot be a transgression. If you do not say so, but rather say it is a transgression, then know that “a transgression induces a transgression.” Hence, you will be forced to commit another transgression, meaning you will have to return to the corporeal life and leave the work you have begun because you will want to at least enjoy this world, as in the words of Raba, who said, “You will not inherit Hell upon your death, and in your life, you will not have enjoyed in your world.”

According to the above, we can understand what we asked about RASHI’s commentary, who said that it is written, “The living know that they will die; those righteous, in their death, are called ‘living.’” “How do they know that they will die?” They pay attention to the day of death and avoid transgression, while the dead know nothing. Those wicked, in their lives, are called “dead.” He says that they pretend not to know and sin.

According to RASHI, it seems that one who does not pay attention to the day of death is already a sinner. We asked, 1) about his interpretation that the righteous, in their death, are called “living,” since by knowing they will die they do not sin. It follows that one who does not sin already has life. What is the connection between one who does not sin and life? 2) It seems from the words of RASHI that he says about the righteous that “the living know that they will die,” that they pay attention to the day of death and avoid transgression. From his words, it seems they do not sin because they pay attention to the day of death, otherwise they, too, would sin. But our sages said that it is not necessarily the day of death that prevents sin (Berachot 5), as is said, “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination. If he defeats it, good. And if not, he should engage in Torah. And if not, he should read the Shema reading. And if not, he should mention to it the day of death.”

Therefore, we see that it is not necessarily the day of death that prevents a person from sinning. Accordingly, we should understand, and this is why we should be precise about what he said, “the day of death,” meaning it is when a person comes into a state of descent, when he feels no taste in the Torah and in the prayer, and everything he does in Torah and Mitzvot is compulsory, and he has no vitality, which really feels like death.

The person asks himself, “What is the reason I have descended from my previous state? That is, before I began the work of bestowal, I was happy and confident that I would be a worker of the Creator. This always invoked me to exert, and I did not know any weakness or idleness. Rather, I was always alert to everything. But once I have begun to work on the path of bestowal, I have lost all the vitality in the work, and I do everything lazily. I feel the taste of death in this work. Our sages said that a Mitzva induces a Mitzva, but now I see the opposite.”

Indeed, a person should pay attention to the state of death that he feels now. This is why he says, “The living know that they will die; they pay attention to the day of death and avoid transgression.” The meaning of “pay attention to the day of death” is that according to the rule “a Mitzva induces a Mitzva,” it should have been day now. That is, when he begins to work Lishma, he should have been more alive because now he is marching on the path of truth. So, why does he feel death now, which is darkness and not life, but is regarded as night?

However, one who is righteous justifies his maker and says, “Certainly, the descent that the Creator has now given me is to my benefit. That is, now the Creator has let me know what it means when a person is working not for himself, but only for the Creator. Of course the body resists this, as it is against its nature. Conversely, before he began the work of Lishma and was a servant to self-benefit, therefore the body did not resist it.

It follows that this is a sign that he was notified, so he would know that he is walking on the right path, since the body is resisting. Otherwise, the body would not resist. Therefore, now he has a need, called Kli, that the Creator will help him, as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided.” This is so because it takes the Creator’s help to go against nature, for anything that is natural, a person can do. But that which is against nature, this is called “a miracle from above,” meaning that only from above can he be given strength to be able to go against nature.

Thus, the meaning of “paying attention to understanding the day of death” is that this death that I feel is really a day and not a night. “The day of death” means that there is room for choice here, to say that it is “day,” called “life,” or say it is “death.” This came to me once I have labored honestly and extensively to achieve the goal for which I was born. And since I began in Lo Lishma, and Lo Lishma is not opposite from nature, the body did not resist.

But now, I have been rewarded from above with walking on the path of Lishma. This is why the body resists and does not want to give energy to work, as it is against nature. This is why now I feel the taste of death. Therefore, if I say that now is “day” and not “death,” I receive from that state confidence that I will succeed on the path on which I am now going.

I avoid saying that this state, where I feel death, is because I am in a state of transgression, called “a descent,” and because of it I have nothing more to do in the work, since I see that I am declining, so it is a waste of my time. Instead, I say that this state is not a descent, but an ascent in degree; I have embarked on the path of truth.

The words “avoid transgression” mean that they avoid saying that this state is a transgression, and naturally, a transgression induces a transgression, meaning it is better for me to leave the whole campaign. Instead, I say that I have ascended in degree because a Mitzva induces a Mitzva.

It follows that we can interpret “a Mitzva induces a Mitzva” in relation to the past and in relation to the future. That is, if he says that this state is a Mitzva, then a Mitzva induces a Mitzva, meaning that now he has faith and confidence that he will be rewarded with ascending in the degrees of holiness and will be rewarded with achieving the goal.

By this we will understand why we say, “Remember us to life, O King who desires life, and write us in the book of the living, for Your sake, the living God.” We should understand the ending, when we say, “for Your sake, the living God.” We can see that there are two kinds of life: 1) of the wicked, 2) of the righteous. The life of the wicked is in vessels of reception, called “separation from the Creator.” The life of the righteous is in vessels of bestowal, which is Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. For this reason, when we say “Remember us to life,” which life? “For Your sake,” meaning to bestow. That is, we ask for life in vessels of bestowal.

Inapoi la pagina 1988 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is Making a Covenant in the Work?

Article No. 31, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

It is written, “that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today.” RASHI interprets “that you may enter into the covenant” as “in passing.” “Thus would the makers of a covenant do: a partition from here and a partition from here, and they pass in between.” The writing also says there, “And not with you alone am I making this covenant, but with those who stand here with us today before the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today.”

We should understand the following: 1) What is the meaning of making a covenant in the work? That is, what does making a covenant give us, by which we will have correction in the work? 2) Why RASHI interpreted that makers of a covenant would make a partition from here? What does this mean to us in the work? 3) What does “those who stand here with us today … and those who are not with us here today” mean to us in the work? What are the two times in the work?

Baal HaSulam said, “What is the merit of making a covenant”? It seems redundant, for why are they making a covenant between them? If they think that they should love one another, then because they love one another, what does making a covenant add to us? He said that sometimes, they might come to a state where each one sees that the other is not behaving properly with him, and he should therefore hate the other.

When he makes the covenant with him, the intention is that even if he sees that he is not treating him properly, he will go above reason and say, “Since I made a covenant with him, I will not break my covenant.”

It follows that the covenant is not for the present but for the future. It might be that the love between them will cool off; therefore, they make a covenant so that the future will be as it is now in the present.

The work in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is primarily when beginning to walk on the path that leads to Lishma [for Her sake]. That is, when a person begins the work, he begins in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], as our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishmawe come to Lishma.”

For this reason, the beginning of his work was with enthusiasm because he saw that by observing Torah and Mitzvot he would achieve happiness in life. Otherwise, he would not begin. Therefore, in the beginning of his work, when he is still working Lo Lishma, meaning that when he works, he constantly looks at the reward he will receive after his work, he has the strength to work.

As in corporeality, a person is used to working in a place where he knows he will be rewarded for his work. Otherwise, a person cannot work for free, if not for his own benefit. Only when he sees that self-benefit will come from this work does he have the strength to work enthusiastically and willingly, since he is looking at the reward and not at the work.

The work does not matter if a person understands that here he will receive from this employer twice as much as he would receive from working for the previous employer, before he came to the job where they pay twice as much. This means that according to the salary, so the work becomes easier and smaller.

Accordingly, we should interpret in the work that making a covenant means that when a person takes upon himself the work, even if in Lo Lishma, he must make a covenant with the Creator to serve Him whether he wants to or not.

Yet, we should understand on what the enthusiasm depends. It depends only on the reward. That is, when there is a big reward, the desire for the work does not stop. But when the reward is doubtful, the desire for the work vanishes and he shifts to rest. That is, at that time he feels more pleasantness in rest.

It is so much so that he says, “I relinquish the work, and anyone who wants can do this work because it is not for me.” But making a covenant is when he begins to work even in Lo Lishma. And since now he wants the work, for who would force him to come into the work of the Creator, now he must make the covenant and say, “Even if there comes a time of descent,” meaning that he will have no desire for the work, “I still take upon myself not to consider my desire but work as though I have a desire.” This is called “making a covenant.”

However, we should understand the reason that he comes to a state of descent. In corporeality, we see that when a person works in order to receive reward, are there ascents and descents there? So, why do we see that in the work of the Creator there are ascents and descents?

We should understand this matter in two ways:

1) Even in a state of Lo Lishma, when he works in order to receive reward, we can understand the reward only by way of faith, since “The reward for a Mitzva [commandment] is not in this world.” This means that the reward for the Mitzvot is not given in this world, but he will receive the reward in the next world, as it is written, “To do them today and to receive the reward for them tomorrow,” meaning in the next world.

Since the basis of the reward depends on the faith, as it is written (Avot, Chapter 2), “You can trust your landlord to pay for your work, and know that the reward for the righteous is given in the future.” It is known that concerning faith, there are ascents and descents, since the whole matter of faith is to believe above reason.

This means that sometimes a person can go above reason, where faith contradicts the reason. For example, twenty percent of the faith are against reason, and he can overcome twenty percent. But sometimes he sees that there has been a change, since now he sees that faith contradicts by thirty percent, and to such an extent he is not immune and has the power to overcome and go with faith. Hence, at that time he must descend from his state, where faith illuminated for him.

This causes him descents and ascents, when it does not coincide with his power to overcome. This is not so with a corporeal reward. Faith does not apply to the reward; therefore, in corporeality, it cannot be said that he has a descent in corporeal work, since the reward is in this world and he does not need faith.

2) In a state of Lishma, he does not need anything in return for his work. The cause of the descents is also the reason that he bases his entire work on faith. But there is a difference: It is not about the reward but about the landlord. That is, to the extent that he believes in his landlord, that he is so important that it is worthwhile to serve Him, meaning that it is a great privilege to serve the King of Kings, who will pay for his work.

This means that the reward for the work coincides with the measure of faith in the greatness of the Creator. Since by the nature of creation, man derives great pleasure from serving an important person, as in the famous allegory that if an important rabbi comes and wants to let someone carry his suitcase to the taxi, a porter will certainly take money for it. But if the rabbi were to give it to a student, the student would certainly take no charge for the work, since the service he is giving to the rabbi is his reward and he would need nothing more.

Accordingly, “You can trust your landlord” means that to the extent of the faith, that he believes in the greatness of the Creator, to that extent is the measure of the reward, which is measured by the amount of faith he has in the greatness of the Creator.

It turns out that when he believes that the Creator is great indeed, his reward is greatindeed. If his faith in the Creator is not so great, his reward will not be so great either. It therefore follows that whether he works Lishma or Lo Lishma, the whole basis is only faith.

But the difference is this: In Lo Lishma, the faith relates to the reward; in Lishma, the faith relates to whom we serve. In other words, the amount of pleasure depends on the greatness of the Creator, as our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2), “Rabbi Elazar says, ‘Know before whom you toil, and who is the owner of your work, who will pay you the reward for your work.’”

As said above, we must believe in the greatness of the owner of the work, for upon this depends His paying the reward for the work. That is, the measure of the reward depends on the greatness of the owner of the work, who is the Creator. In other words, there is a difference in the pleasure between serving the greatest in the city, the greatest in the country, or the greatest in the world. Upon this depends the reward, meaning according to the greatness of the King.

Since the basis is faith, there are ascents and descents here because as long as one has not been awarded permanent faith, there must be ascents and descents. It follows that there could be a time when the love between them cools. For this reason, now, in the beginning of his work, he takes upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, to make a covenant, so that whether or not the body agrees to be a servant of the Creator, he takes upon himself not to change a thing. Instead, he will say, “I spoke once and I will not change.” Instead, I will go above reason as I have taken upon myself when making the covenant in the beginning of the work.

By this we will understand what RASHI interpreted, “that you may enter into the covenant” in passing. Thus would the makers of a covenant do: a partition from here and a partition from here, and they pass in between.” Accordingly, we should interpret that through the making of the covenant they would imply that sometimes there will come a time when there is a partition from here, meaning a partition that separates this one, and a partition from here, meaning that the other one would also have a separating partition.

In other words, even if both of them have a partition that stops the love that was between them, still, now they are taking it upon themselves not to part from one another. Instead, they will remind themselves the covenant that they had made, and this will make it possible not to break the covenant. They will pass in between, meaning that they pass over the separation that was made between them, and it is all by the power of the covenant that they had made.

In this work, this means that a person must make a covenant with the Creator. As he began the work now, and now he certainly has love for the Creator, otherwise who would make him take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven? So now he must make a covenant with the Creator forever. That is, even if there is a time when he feels that the love of the Creator has cooled in him, he will remember the covenant that he had made with the Creator.

But in the work, we must remember that in the matter of making a covenant between the Creator and a person, it might be that the love will cool only between man and the Creator. But how can it be said that the love will grow cold in the Creator? That is, since the covenant applies to both, it means that there could be a descent between the two of them concerning the making of the covenant, but how can we speak of changes or a descent in the Creator?

Baal HaSulam said that in both man and the Creator there is the matter of “As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.” He interpreted about what is written (Exodus 33:13), “And now, if I have found favor in Your eyes, let me know Your way that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes.” He asked, How did Moses know, when he said, “If I have found favor in Your eyes”? He replied that it is because beforehand, it is written, “You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes.’” By this Moses knew that the Creator favored him, since Moses favored the Creator, following the rule, “As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man” (Proverbs 27).

According to the above, we should interpret that when we say that the love cools within a person and he feels that he is in a state of descent, meaning that now he does not have such love for the Creator as he had in the beginning of his work, this causes him to feel that the Creator, too, does not love him and does not listen to his prayer, to what the person asks of the Creator. This causes the person an even greater descent because he begins to doubt what is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth.” At that time, he thinks that the Creator has no connection with the creatures, which causes him great descents as his faith grows weaker every time.

It follows that although there are no changes in the Creator, a person feels this way because “As in water, face reflects face,” he feels this way. This follows the rule that all the changes we learn in spirituality are according to the receivers.

Now we can understand what we asked, What does it mean in the work, “those who stand here with us today before the Lord”? The making of the covenant is whether he is standing today before the Creator, when he is at a time of ascent. However, he is taking it upon himself that even should a time of descent come, called “and those who are not with us here today” before the Lord our God, when he does not feel that he is standing before the Lord our God, he still takes upon himself, above reason, not to mind anything, but to remember the making of the covenant, and this will be unwavering.

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is a War Over Authority in the Work – 1

Article No. 30, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

RASHI interprets the verse, “When you go to war against your enemies,” that the verse speaks of a War Over Authority. Afterward, it is written, “And the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive. And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire her and take her as a wife for yourself, and she shall shave her head and do her nails.”

We should understand what all this comes to teach us in the work. Since the Torah is eternity, we should understand the following: 1) What is a War Over Authority? 2) What it means when he says, “And the Lord God delivers them into your hands.” Clearly, every Jew believes that any war can be won only with the help of the Creator. 3) What does a beautiful woman mean in the work? 4) What is the meaning of the corrections, what does it imply to us in the work that “she shall shave her head and do her nails”?

To understand all the above in the work, we first need to know what is work. That is, what discernment is called “work” when walking in the path of the Creator, and which reward we expect to receive in return for the work. It is known that no one can work without reward, for because our root is in a state of rest, we can exert only in return for a reward, which is pleasure that we obtain following the exertion.

Since we cannot live without pleasure, which is also because our root is the source of the pleasure, it follows that this is what makes us need pleasure. But there is another reason for our inability to live without pleasure: Since the Creator created the creatures because of His desire to do good to His creations, He has imprinted in the creatures a desire and craving to receive delight and pleasure.

For this reason, since labor is not in our root, if we want to do something that is not in our root, it is difficult for us to do it. And yet, we do the work because it is impossible to live without pleasure, so we relinquish the rest and make an effort in order to thereby obtain delight and pleasure.

It follows that labor is something in which there is no delight and pleasure. Therefore, since there is no pleasure in it, why do we do it? The answer is that thanks to the work, we will receive reward in return for it, and the reward is called “delight and pleasure.” We see that this is what is done in corporeality. But in spirituality, what is the work that we do not enjoy, which is called “work”? And, what is the reward in spirituality, from which we can derive delight and pleasure?

It is known that there are two discernments in the lights:

1) A light that is called “the purpose of creation.” This is the delight and pleasure that a person should receive, which the Creator wanted to give to the creatures, and for which He has created in the creatures a desire and craving to receive pleasure. However, in order to bring to light the perfection of His deeds, He has made a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, by which the matter of the “bread of shame” (shame) upon the reception of the pleasure will be corrected, as it comes because of the disparity of form between the giver and the receiver.

2) The light of the correction of creation. In other words, the correction is for the lower one to receive the lights in order to bestow, by which there will be equivalence of form, called “Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.” At that time the shame will be cancelled.

It follows that this light, called “light of Hassadim” [mercies], is named so after his will to do Hesed[mercy] with the Creator, meaning to bestow upon the Creator. Conversely, the light of the purpose of creation is called “light of Hochma [wisdom]” or the “light of life.” This is the light that the Creator wants to do good to His creations.

It therefore follows that since there was a judgment that it is forbidden to use the Kli [vessel] called “desire to receive for oneself,” although the Creator created this desire in the creatures, still, indirectly, shame is poured upon the receiver. To correct this, a person must cancel this Kli, which comes to him by nature. This is called “work” because it is against nature, for nature is that we should receive delight and not relinquish it. When a person does not receive delight, it is labor, since it is against nature. So why does he do this work? It is because he wants Dvekut, called “equivalence of form.”

However, in this work, when he relinquishes the delight and does not receive it, he still does not become equal. That is, by not wanting to receive any delight, it is not regarded as achieving the degree of equivalence of form because as the Creator bestows, if man, too, wishes to achieve the degree of equivalence of form, he should be a giver, too, meaning come to want to bestow upon others, just as the Creator bestows.

We should also say that by engaging in love of others, in bestowal, he still does not achieve equivalence of form if he derives no pleasure from performing acts of bestowal and not receiving any reward in return. This is so because the Creator enjoys giving to the creatures, for His desire is to do good to His creations, as our sages said (The Zohar, VaYera, Item 399), “Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘There has never been such joy to the Creator as the day when the world was created.’”

Therefore, if a person engages in bestowal but derives no pleasure, he certainly has no joy. Joy is only a result of a person’s enjoying something; this brings him joy. Therefore, if a person attempts to engage in bestowal but derives no pleasure from engaging in bestowal, then he is still lacking equivalence of form because when the Creator bestows He derives pleasure, whereas man does not derive pleasure. It therefore follows that when one wants to be rewarded with Dvekut, he needs to meet three conditions: 1) not to use the will to receive for his own sake, 2) engage in acts of bestowal, 3) enjoy while bestowing.

However, we should understand how one can enjoy giving everything to the Creator in a manner of coercion. It can be said that although the body does not agree to work only for the Creator, meaning that before he does anything, he will calculate if the Creator will enjoy the act he is going to perform, since this is against nature, and although we can understand that he is doing this compulsively, he is forcing and tormenting himself in order to do things that please the Creator.

Yet, there is no pleasure in what is done compulsively. For example, if a person goes to the hospital to undergo surgery, he is certainly doing this against his will, although he goes to the hospital by himself and no one is forcing him, and he also pays a lot of money to the surgeon. However, this, too, is regarded as coercion because he is not enjoying this. However, by having himself operated on, despite the suffering and the fear of danger, he knows that by this he can save his life. Yet, he would certainly be more pleased if he were healthy and did not need the operation.

It follows that although he is performing an act from which he is not pleased, by knowing that he will save his life, this awareness pleases him and he has the operation. Thus, we should note here that he is performing the act, and although he does not enjoy the act itself, but to the contrary, he suffers from it, yet because he is considering the reward of saving his life, he has the strength to do things he does not like.

It is likewise in corporeality. A person works and toils although he does not like the work, since he would prefer to rest. Still, when he considers the reward, he has the strength to work willingly, and this is not regarded as compulsory work, since he is not saying, “I relinquish this work and want to be paid for nothing.” Instead, because of the shame, he agrees to work on the condition that he will be paid. Conversely, a patient who admits himself into a hospital in order to be operated on would certainly be happier if he did not have to do this.

By this we see that we should discern three manners in man’s work in corporeality:

1) Work that a person does in order to receive reward, at which time he likes the work. In other words, he is not saying, “I would give up the work and I want only the pay,” since a person is ashamed to eat the bread of shame.

2) A person works in order to receive reward, though he does not like the work. In other words, he would be happier if he did not have to do the work, as in the allegory of the man who admitted himself to the hospital to have himself operated on. Although he does this work voluntarily and no one is forcing him, he does it because of the reward or the punishment. That is, he can either save his life, or avoid death, whereas if he avoids doing this, he will be punished with death.

3) He works for the sake of others. That is, he wants no reward at all, but only the benefit of others. It is as though he is going to work somewhere and gives his salary to charity. This brings up the question, From where does he take fuel for such a work? meaning to work without any reward. The simple reason is that there is the matter of honor. He is in an environment that respects those who work for the sake of others, and this gives him the strength to work.

In the essay “The Peace,” it says about it, “But when all the work of bestowal upon others is based solely on the benefit of society, it is a rickety foundation, for who and what would obligate the individual to toil for society?”

Not every person is fit to work for the sake of the society in order to receive respect. This is already a second degree to lust, and it is known that there are four discernments in man’s degrees, called “still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.”

It is said in the “Preface to The Book of Zohar” (Item 20): “Thus, in the first category—the necessary measure for one’s sustenance—and in the second category—the physical desires that exceed one’s measure for sustenance—one is nourished by things that are lower than the person: the still, vegetative, and animate. However, in the third category, the human desires such as power and respect, one receives and is nurtured by his own species, his equals. In the fourth category, knowledge, one receives and is nurtured by a higher category than one’s own—from the actual wisdom and intellect, which are spiritual.”

Thus, a person cannot work without any reward. Even for respect, not every person is able to work, but they are already regarded as a higher degree than mere ordinary people. Yet, sometimes a person can work for others because of jealousy. That is, although he relinquishes honor, meaning he cannot work and toil although by not working for the sake of others he will not gain respect. But because of jealousy, when he sees that those who work for respect, when he sees that they are respected and no one is looking at him, these torments—that another has respect—pain him. Because of these pains it is possible that he, too, will work for the sake of others.

However, when beginning to work in spirituality, meaning to observe Torah and Mitzvot, many things are complicated. The main reason is that in spirituality there is the matter of faith. That is, a person must believe in reward and punishment. And where one must believe, the body disagrees, since the will to receive for himself enjoys when it understands and sees the profitability in the matter. But when he is told that he should believe, the work in heaviness begins. This follows the rule, “Doubt does not precede certainty.” That is, he sees the labor, that he will certainly have to relinquish rest, but he is doubtful of the reward.

Therefore, then the Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] is also difficult to do because first he must take upon himself faith above reason and believe in reward and punishment. Once he has taken upon himself faith in the kingdom of heaven in general, comes the time to think about details. That is, he should discern between partial faith and complete faith, as he says in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 14), “It is like a person who trusts his friend and lends him money. He may trust him with a pound, and … he may trust him with all his possessions without a hint of fear. This last faith is considered ‘whole faith,’ and the previous forms are considered “incomplete faith.” Rather it is partial faith, whether more or less.”

In this there is a difference between spiritual work and corporeal work, since the reward is based on faith. Since the basis of Judaism is faith, we therefore have many discernments: 1) He has partial faith, and in addition, he adds a little bit of knowledge, meaning that the reward is in knowledge. This can happen while he is working Lo Lishma, but in order to receive money or respect. He does not need to believe in the money or the respect. Rather, he sees if he can receive money or respect, or avoid disgraces. That is, when he actually suffers disgraces, it causes him to work and toil. Or, when he is given honors and money, it is in actual fact. This is why there is no issue of faith in this.

It follows that in Lo Lishma, too, there are two discernments to make: 1) He does not like the work he does, as with the allegory of the person who is going to have himself operated on. In other words, one who works because of coercion does not like his work. He would be happier if he did not have to work. But this applies only to those who work and observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] because of punishment. That is, if his boss is religious and he tells him that if he does not observe Torah and Mitzvot he will fire him and he will remain without provision, then his need to observe Torah and Mitzvot is for fear of punishment. Hence, he awaits the day when he can be freed from observing Torah and Mitzvot.

It is likewise with one who observes because of disgrace. That is, assume he is used to learning the daily page [of Gemara] each night. And because of the commandment to learn Torah, how he is in a state where his faith is weak and he has no desire to come to the lesson on the daily page. However, because he is ashamed of the friends, who might despise and not respect him, he comes to study Torah. It follows that he does not like this work and would be happier if this reason, for which he must toil, did not exist.

2) The Lo Lishma that he learns in order to receive reward or respect or money and so forth—this work does please him. That is, he does not say, “I wish I did not have to work.” He cannot say this because a person does not want to lose gains.

However, there is a discernment called Lishma [for Her sake], meaning that he works because of faith and not because people are forcing him to work. Rather, the faith in the Creator is the reason why he observes Torah and Mitzvot. This is called “working for the Creator,” and not for people. This is a very important degree. Sometimes he wants to be certain that he has no thought of working because of people, so he does everything in concealment and no one in the world knows the measure of his work or how much effort he exerts in serving the Creator; only the Creator knows.

However, this degree, too, which is entirely for the Creator, is still not regarded as “work in completeness,” since the completeness of the work is to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” as our sages said, “As He is merciful, you are merciful.” That is, a person must work not in order to receive reward. Instead, he wants to completely annul his authority and wants there to be only one authority in the world, a singular authority, that only the authority of the Creator will be in the world, and wants his own authority annulled.

It therefore follows that the war of the inclination that a person has is done in several manners:

1) A War of Mitzva [commandment]—when he is at war with the evil inclination over controlling the evil inclination so it does not disrupt his observing of the Mitzvot. Or, the war is about having the power to overcome the evil inclination so he does not transgress. This is called “a war of Mitzva,” where his entire war concerns the observance of Torah and Mitzvot.

2) A War of Authority—when a person wages war with the evil inclination over the authority. That is, the evil inclination argues that there are two authorities: a) that of the Creator, b) that of man. His argument is that this was the purpose of creation, namely for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure from the Creator. It follows that the authority of the creatures should remain, so why do you want to revoke the authority of the creatures? The man, on the other hand, says the opposite.

In this work of the war of authority, a man is powerless to conquer the authority of the body and transfer it to the authority of the Creator. It was said about this, “He who comes to purify is aided.” Since annulling the authority contradicts nature, for as the body argues, the Creator created the world in order to do good to His creations, hence, it is imprinted within man to receive everything into his own authority.

It is written, “When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands.” We asked, what does the verse come to tell us? since it is known that all the wars where the people of Israel come to conquer is only with the help of the Creator. According to the above, the verse comes to teach us that we should know that we cannot win the War Over Authority. We should know that knowing this saves us from despair, since once a person has made efforts to conquer this authority so as to enter the Kedusha [sanctity/holiness], he sees that on the contrary, in his eyes, he has become worse than when he began the War Over Authority. In other words, while he was engaged in a War of Mitzva, he saw that he was advancing in the work, for each day he saw that he was conquering commandments and good deeds. But with the War Over Authority, he thinks he has regressed.

The verse tells us about this that specifically now that you have recognized that you are unable to win this war, do not escape the campaign. Rather, now is the time when a person can pray from the bottom of the heart because he sees that by himself, he cannot do a thing.

It follows that through the work that he has done thus far, he has gained the need for the salvation of the Creator. And since now he has a Kli [vessel], called a “need,” now is the time when the light can come and really clothe within that Kli, as it is written, “and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands,” for only the Creator can give you the conquest in the War Over Authority.

It follows that this knowledge is so important that it is difficult for a person to believe this, and he falls into despair. But if a person believes it—that specifically now is the time when the Creator will help him—he will certainly not escape the campaign and will now walk on the path of truth and will be rewarded with conquering this authority and taking the authority away from the Klipot [shells/peels] and admitting it into the Kedusha.

According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Sanhedrin 97), “Three come absentmindedly: the Messiah, finding, and a scorpion.” “Absentmindedly” means that in his eyes, he keeps falling into despair and has already stopped thinking about it. That is, many times he thought that this work of taking the authority away from the Klipot and giving it to the Kedusha, namely the War Over Authority, was not for him, for he saw that he was unfit for it.

The reason for this is very simple. He has already made great efforts, and in his view, he has regressed and not progressed. Each time he overcame above reason, yet nothing helps him. This is why it was said that one should know he must not regard what he sees, but say that the “Messiah,” which will redeem him from the exile of sitting among the nations, this authority of being enslaved to the seventy nations, the Messiah will redeem and take everything away from the authority of the Klipot, which are called “seventy nations of the world.” These correspond to the seven qualities of Kedusha, called HGT NHYM, and since each Sefira consists of ten, they are seventy.

Opposite them there are seven Klipot, and each consists of ten, hence they are seventy nations. The “Israel” is under their control and the Messiah will deliver us. Also, everything that exists in the general public, we learn within the individual. Thus, each and every individual must be rewarded with personal redemption.

According to the above, we should interpret what they said there: “Son of David does not come until all pennies are emptied from the pockets.” We should understand what “all the pennies are emptied from the pockets” means in the work. Money is something by which we buy good things that we need. Money is a substitute for labor. That is, a person works and labors, and in return receives money with which he buys for himself things that he needs.

Accordingly, when a person has done all that he could, and all the labor he thinks that he can do, he has already done, and he has no more labor to add, this is called “Ben David does not come,” meaning that redemption—when He redeems the authority from the Klipot and lets it into the authority of the Kedusha—will not happen before a person has made every effort he could make and he cannot make any more efforts. This is regarded that he has not a penny, meaning he has nothing more with which to buy Kedusha.

Then comes the time when he is pitied from above and is admitted into the Kedusha, called Ben David, referring to redemption. At that time, the verse “and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands” comes true, meaning that at that time comes help from above. The words, “and you take them away captive” mean that a person has conquered the authority of the body, which was under the control of the Sitra Achra [other side], and man is the ruler.

Now we will explain the third question we asked, What is a beautiful woman in the work? It is written, “And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire her and take her as a wife for yourself.” It is written (Avot, Chapter 6), “Rabbi Meir says, ‘Anyone who engages in Torah Lishma is rewarded with many things, and the secrets of the Torah are revealed to him.” It is known that the Torah is called a “woman,” as it is written (Kidushin 30b), “To teach him a craft. From where is this? Hezekiah said, ‘Behold a life with a woman you love, if she is a real woman. As he must marry him a wife, so he must teach him a craft. If it is Torah, as he must teach him Torah, so he must teach him a craft.’” Thus, they interpret that a woman is the Torah.

The souls come from Malchut, who is regarded as Rachel, which is the revealed world. This means that Hochma is revealed in her and she is called “beautiful,” as it is written (Genesis 29:17), “And Rachel was of good looks and good appearance.”

Baal HaSulam said that where it is written, “beautiful,” it refers to Hochma, for Hochma [wisdom] is called “beauty,” as it is written, “of beautiful eyes,” for eyes are called Hochma, as it is written, “the eyes of the congregation,” who are the sages of the congregation. This means that Torah is called a “woman of good appearance,” and the souls that extend from Malchut in the form of the revealed world are also called a “woman of good appearance.”

By this we can interpret “And you see among the captives a beautiful woman” to mean “once the Creator has given you” this authority that was in the hands of the Klipot. Then, when you engage in the Torah, it will all be Lishma, and you will naturally be rewarded with the secrets of Torah. That is, the Torah is the soul of Israel, as it is written in The Zohar, “The Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one.” And you see among the captives the soul of the Torah, and you desire her, meaning that then begins the work of the Masachim [screens].

That is, this is when a person begins to work with the will to receive spirituality, for it is known that each degree that is higher than its predecessor requires that the work begins anew, to receive it in order to bestow. Thus, although he has already been rewarded with learning Lishma, when he receives a higher degree than he had had, new corrections are required in order to receive it not out of craving, called “will to receive.” Instead, he must perform corrections, which are called Masachimin Kabbalah. It is as we learn that there are five Behinot [discernments] in the Masach [screen], as it is written in the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Item 17), “And these corrections, said the Torah, and shaved her head and did her nails.”

Now we will explain the fourth question we asked, What is “and shaved her head and did her nails in the work”? It is known that “hair” is called “judgments,” as it is written in The Zohar (Nasso, Item 78), “Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘A woman’s hair that is disclosed causes another hair to be disclosed, meaning the forces of the Sitra Achra, which grip to the hair and blemish her. For this reason, even the walls of her house should not see one hair of the woman’s hair, much less outside. Go and see how many flaws the woman’s hair causes—causes above and causes below.’”

But why does the hair blemish above and below? We should understand the meaning of hair in spirituality. We learned that “In the beginning, He created the world with the quality of judgment. He saw that the world could not exist, He associated with it the quality of mercy.” It is known that “judgment” means vessels of reception, for on them was the judgment that they must not be used unless one can place on them the intention to bestow. Yet, it is very difficult to go from one end to the other, meaning from the will to receive for himself, and do everything in order to bestow. For this reason, “He associated with it the quality of mercy,” which is Bina, bestowal. By this, through the power of Torah and Mitzvot, it will be possible to turn her into aiming to bestow.

It is written in the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Item 58), “He saw that the world could not exist.” That is, in this way, it will be impossible for man, who must be created from this Behina Dalet[Fourth Phase], to be able to adjust his works to bestowal and by him the world will exist in the desired quality of correction. Hence, He first took the quality of mercy and associated it with the quality of judgment. Through this association, sparks of bestowal were included in Behina Dalet, which is the quality of judgment, making it possible for man’s body, which emerges from Behina Dalet, to do good deeds in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. By this, the world will achieve the desirable correction from the creation of the world.

According to the above, we can understand the meaning of the hair. Hair is vessels of reception, which come from the quality of judgment and belong to the worlds before the correction, where they were still not regarded as hair. However, there, those Kelim received the lights, causing the breaking of the vessels. Hence, a correction was made not to use these Kelim any longer. For this reason, when the lights with these Kelim came to the world of correction, the lights departed, and these Kelim received the name Se’arot [hair], from the word se’ara [storm], since these Kelim lacked the lights they had had.

He says in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 13, Reply No. 112): “They are called Se’arot from the verse, ‘For He bruises me with a hair,’ which means storm. They are called so because of the force of the judgments that is in them, since they come from Malchut of Tzimtzum Aleph [First Restriction].” In other words, Malchut of Tzimtzum Aleph is called the “quality of judgment” and is not used in the world of correction.

By this we should interpret what is written concerning the corrections of a beautiful woman, “And she shall shave her head,” meaning not use the vessels of reception, called “the quality of judgment,” when the light illuminated in Gadlut [adulthood/greatness], which is called “And she shall shave her head,” meaning the Se’arot, which are the Kelim that come from the quality of judgment, but rather use the Kelim that are corrected with the quality of mercy, which is a smaller degree. For this reason, it will be easier for him to aim to bestow the secrets of the Torah called Neshama [soul].

But if he receives it as he is, he will receive the pleasure of the light of Neshama because “you desire her” and not because of a desire to bestow, for he will not have the strength to aim over the Kelim of the quality of judgment and receive the light in order to bestow. It is as our sages said, “The Creator saw that the world could not exist, He stood and associated with it the quality of mercy.”

In this way we can interpret the second correction, where it says, “And did her nails.” The Unkelus Translation interprets “did her nails” to mean that she makes her nails bigger. Yonatan Ben Uziel interprets “and did her nails” to mean that she made her nails bigger. In the work, this means that she will take her Gadlut [adulthood/greatness] from the nails and not from the flesh of the fingers.

To understand the meaning of the fingers, we need to know what is written in The Zohar (Beresheet, Item 129, essay, “Illuminations of Light; Illuminations of Fire”): “A man’s fingers are the concealments in the degrees and are upper secrets. There are Panim [anterior] and Achoraim[posterior] in them.” By this you will understand the words of our sages, who said (Taanit 31), “The Creator is destined to pardon the righteous. He sits among them in the Garden of Eden, and each one points with his finger, ‘Behold, this is our God,’ for the fingers are Mochin de Hochma, and Mochin de Hochma are seeing and the light of the eyes. For this reason, they said, ‘points with his finger,’ as the Achoraim of the fingers are in their externality, which implies the fingernails. For this reason, a person is permitted to look at the nails at the end of Shabbat [Sabbath] because then they illuminate from the same candle and illuminate from the same fire, to govern the weekdays. This is the meaning of the words, ‘And you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen.’ That is, a person should not look at the inside of the fingers while blessing at the end of Shabbat, ‘creator of the illuminations of fire,’ as they are regarded as internal Panim, of which it was said, ‘and My face shall not be seen.’”

It therefore follows that in the work, nails imply that the light called “illuminations of fire” can be received as “seeing,” called Hochma, but only as Achoraim, called “nails,” which is Katnut[smallness/infancy], and not as Panim, which is Gadlut. The prohibition is that in a greater degree, in which there is greater light, the passion is greater because the pleasure is greater and harder to overcome.

It is written, “And you desired her.” Hence, the Neshama that he obtains after the conquest of the authority of the body, called “self-love,” and all he wants is to bestow contentment upon his Maker, still, there is a distinction of degrees in the reception of the abundance, to have the ability to do everything in order to bestow.

It is known that there are four degrees in general: 1) receiving in order to receive. This is regarded as how a person is born by nature. He cannot understand how it is possible to do something without benefit for himself. 2) Bestowing, but on condition that he receives reward. This is called Lo Lishma. 3) Bestowing in order to bestow, which is called Lishma [for Her sake]. 4) He can receive pleasure and his intention is to bestow.

It follows that after the conquest of the War Over Authority, it is considered the third degree, which is Lishma. It is as Rabbi Meir says, “He who learns Torah Lishma is rewarded with many things and the secrets of Torah are revealed to him.” At that time he should achieve the fourth degree—to receive the pleasure of the light of Neshama, called “a beautiful woman and you desire her.” The secrets of Torah clothe in vessels of reception, and Lishma is in vessels of bestowal, since that light dresses in the Kelim of the reception of the pleasure and not in vessels of bestowal, which are Kelim that give and do not receive. At that time begins the order of corrections by which he has the ability to receive in order to bestow.

This is the meaning of the words, “And you see among the captives,” for “seeing” refers to the disclosure of the light of Neshama. It is to this that the words, “and she did her nails,” imply, as the Targum interprets, she makes her nails bigger. This means that her Gadlut will be in the form of Achoraim, called Katnut, regarded as “nails,” as in the words of The Zohar.

Now we can understand what our sages said (Berachot 63), “Words of Torah can be only in one who puts himself to death over it.” The question is, If he puts himself to death over it, who is the one observing the Torah and Mitzvot? since it is written, “The dead are free.” Our sages said, “When a person dies, he becomes free from the Mitzvot” (Jerusalem Talmud, Kilaim 9:3). We should interpret “Puts himself to death over it” to mean he should revoke the authority. When he says that it is for himself, he should cancel this authority and transfer it to the authority of the Creator, meaning to say that there is no other authority in the world, but everything belongs to the Creator. This is called “annulment of the authority.”

This is the time when the Torah exists in him. That is, everything that the Torah promises to a person if he keeps the Torah, all those things cannot be in a person until he has the ability to receive in order to bestow, and this can happen only when a person annuls his authority, called “self-love.” At that time he becomes a servant of the Creator, meaning that he is what is regarded as “He who buys a servant buys his teacher.” This means that the slave has no authority in which to place the delight and pleasure that the Torah has promised. Instead, everything, meaning all the delight and pleasure he receives, he puts into the authority of the Creator and the person has no other authority in the world. This is called “The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.”

But “the view of landlords is opposite from the view of Torah,” and everything he sees as worth receiving, he wants it all to be on his name, meaning in his authority, where he is the owner of all things. That is, he wants to take away from the authority of the Creator and place it in his own authority. By this we will understand the meaning of the War Over Authority.

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is “According to the Sorrow, So Is the Reward”?

Article No. 29, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

Our sages wrote (Avot, Chapter 5), “Ben Ha Ha says, ‘According to the sorrow, so is the reward.’” We should understand this condition. What can we understand from “The work is according to the reward”?

It is written (in the song, “All who Sanctify”), “His reward is plentiful, according to his work.” Therefore, we should understand what is “According to the sorrow, so is the reward.” Instead, it should have said, “According to his work, so is his reward,” so what is “According to the sorrow is the reward”?

This is similar to what we find in The Zohar (Ki Tetze, Item 54): “Likewise will be the redemption. If they are rewarded, they will come out with mercy, as it is written, ‘Before her pain came, she gave birth to a male,’ and they came out with mercy. If He does not precede mercy, they will come out with pain. It is better to precede sorrow and judgment in order to extend mercy. For this reason, the authors of the Mishnah established, ‘According to the sorrow, so is the reward.’”

The words of The Zohar require clarification: 1) Why does it require preceding sorrow and judgment in order to extend mercy, as it is written, “It is better to precede sorrow and judgment in order to extend the mercy”? 2) They said, “According to the sorrow, so is the reward,” meaning “according to the sorrow, so is the reward.” But our sages said (Avot, Chapter 1), “He would say, ‘Be not as slaves serving the great one in order to receive reward.’” Thus, why is it permitted to work for a reward, since they said, “According to the sorrow, so is the reward”? Are we not forbidden to work for a reward?

To understand this, we first need to know what they call “sorrow,” “labor,” and “judgment.” Which reward are they referring to in “According to the sorrow, so is the reward”? It is known that there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. That is, we cannot fill a lack where there is none. Rather, where there is a lack, it can be said that it requires filling. For this reason, the Creator created a lack called “desire and yearning for pleasure.”

This is called Malchut de Ein Sof, which is called “creation.” It is known that this is called “creator of darkness,” in order to give her light and pleasure. We learned that it is called Ein Sof because this discernment, called “will to receive” in order to satisfy the lack in the yearning for pleasure, did not put a stop. That is, she did not say, “I do not want to use this Kli.” Instead, she received the delight and pleasure.

Afterward, this Kli, which took the abundance, said, “I do not want to be a receiver. Rather, I want to be like the Creator, meaning a giver, too.” But how can this be? That is, if we are speaking of spirituality, and she is craving Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, how can she say, “I don’t want to receive,” which contradicts the intention of the Creator, since His will is to do good to His creations? How could Malchut say, “I don’t want the intention of the Creator to be carried out”? since the Creator’s will cannot come true unless the lower one receives what He wants to give. If the lower one does not receive, the Creator’s intention will never come true.

The answer is that Malchut said, “I do want to receive; I don’t want to go against the will of the Creator, who wants to give, as it is written, ‘His desire to do good to His creations.’ However, I don’t want to receive in order to calm my yearning. Although I feel a great deficiency and I want to satisfy my desire with upper abundance, yet, I do not want to receive for this reason. Instead, with this intention He will receive, meaning because of the will to receive in me. I want to relinquish this, meaning to leave a vacant space without abundance, and because the Emanator wants the lower one to receive delight and pleasure, for this reason I will receive. In other words, I will receive because the Creator wants to give, for His pleasure is that He gives. For this reason I will receive.” This is called “receiving with the intention to bestow,” since by this I am bestowing upon the Creator, whose will, which is called “His desire to do good,” is carried out.

In the words of Kabbalah, this is regarded as placing a Masach [screen] on the upper abundance and not receiving it until she calculates this abundance to see what percentage she can receive in order to bestow. This she receives. If she receives the rest, it will be in order to receive, and this will remain vacant, without abundance.

According to the rule, “A desire in the upper one becomes a mandatory law in the lower one,” it follows that Malchut saying, “I don’t want to receive in order to receive,” which is called Tzimtzum[restriction], caused a prohibition on receiving in order to receive from her and below. If we do want to receive, we become separated from the Creator, since He is the bestower, and the receiver is in oppositeness of form, and “disparity of form causes separation in spirituality.” From here, the place for the Klipot [shells/peels] was made, who are separated from “The Life of Lives,” and are called “dead.”

Afterward, two systems emerged from this: Kedusha [sanctity/holiness] and Klipa [singular of Klipot]. It is written about it (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 10), “And in order to mend that separation, which lays on the Kli of the souls, He created all the worlds and separated them into two systems, which are the four worlds ABYA of Kedusha, and opposite them the four worlds ABYA of Tuma’a. He imprinted the desire to bestow in the system of ABYA of Kedusha, removed from them the will to receive for themselves, and placed it in the system of the worlds ABYA of Tuma’a. The worlds cascaded onto the reality of this corporeal world, to a place where there is a body and a soul and a time of corruption and correction. For the body, which is the will to receive for oneself, extends from its root in the thought of creation through the system of the worlds of Tuma’a, and remains enslaved thirteen years, and this is the time of corruption. By engaging in Mitzvot from thirteen years onward, he begins to purify the will to receive for himself, imprinted in him, and slowly turns it into working in order to bestow. By this he extends a holy soul from its root in the thought of creation. It passes through the system of the worlds of Kedusha and dresses in the body. This is the time of correction.”

The above order, where he says that for thirteen years a man is under the control of the Klipot, is when one satisfies all his needs completely. There is no one who does not walk on this path of the time of corruption, since this way is natural. That is, everything he does, does not blemish the will to receive for himself.

But after thirteen years, when a person begins to work in Torah and Mitzvot with the aim to emerge from the governance of Tuma’a, and wants to work to the contrary, meaning that by the force of Torah and Mitzvot that he observes, he will have the strength to revoke the will to receive, which extends from the system of Tuma’a, the work becomes heavy, since it is against nature. [And I, Michael Laitman, heard from my teacher, the RABASH, that Baal HaSulam mentioned the number thirteen in order to obscure the matter.]

Man is born inside the will to receive for himself. Suddenly, he comes to the body and says, “Listen, until now you worked in thought, speech, and action for your own sake. From now on, I want you to work only for the sake of the Creator, meaning that everything you do will be with the intention to bestow contentment upon your Maker.”

When the body hears these words, it resists with all its might, both in mind and in heart. According to one’s prevailing, to that extent he reveals its resistance through all kinds of arguments, such as the arguments of the spies, who spoke about the land of Israel, as The Zohar interprets (Shlach, Item 59). It writes, “And they went up the Negev.” It means that people ascend in her in Negev[desert/dryness], meaning with an idle heart, as though one is working for nothing, with dryness, and thinks that there is no reward in it. He sees that the wealth of the world is lost for her, and thinks that everything is lost.

It is also written there (Item 63), “‘And they returned from touring the land.’ That is, they returned to the bad side and reverted from the path of truth saying, ‘What will we get out of it? To this day, we have not seen good in the world. We have toiled in Torah but the house is empty. We sat among the lowliest in the nation, and who will be rewarded with that world? Who will come into it? It would have been better had we not toiled so. That upper world is good, but who can be rewarded with it?’”

According to the above, we see that the complaint of the spies came only after the exertion, when they already began to work in order to bestow, as it is written in The Zohar, that they said, “To this day, we have not seen good in the world. We have toiled in Torah.” They also said, “It would have been better had we not toiled so.” That is, they had made great efforts to come to work in order to bestow, which is called “the land of Israel,” for Eretz [land] is called Ratzon [desire], and Ysrael[Israel] is called Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], meaning that they want everything to be straight to God, directly to the Creator, and not to the Klipot, whose control is in the will to receive for oneself.

Yet, the spies said, “That world is good, but who can be rewarded with it?” We see that the bad in a person interferes with entering the path of truth, which is to work only in order to bestow. It does not appear at once, but rather everything goes by way of “one opposite the other”: To the extent of overcoming in order to bestow, the “in order to receive” increases.

For this reason, a person thinks that he is regressing and not progressing. But in truth, he is progressing, and he can see this by the fact that the more he exerts to work in bestowal, the more attraction he receives toward the will to receive.

That is, before he exerted to walk on the path of bestowal, he did not have such an attraction for self-love. But once he has commenced in the work of bestowal, he sees that where the desire to bestow should have been stronger in him and the will to receive weaker, he is asking, “What have I gained from my work for “in order to bestow”? The will to receive has strengthened, meaning ascended in degree and became more important, while the desire to bestow grew weaker. In other words, it is at a lower degree in him after he has begun this work of acquiring vessels of bestowal.

It follows that only when he begins to work in bestowal comes the argument of the spies. Before he began to work in bestowal and his work was like the general public, he knew that he was learning Torah and engaging in Mitzvot, and he had no sorrow while engaging in his work in Torah and Mitzvot. But once he has begun the work of bestowal, he feels sorrow and suffering even during the work.

Indeed, concerning the argument of the spies that comes into his mind at that time, he sees that they are right in everything they say. This causes him to doubt the beginning. That is, he is angry with the one who admitted him into this work of bestowal. He lived in a world that was all good and felt that he was “happy in this world and happy in the next world.” But now he is hearing the argument of the spies coming from his body: “We labored in vain, and who will be rewarded with the upper world?”

It follows that he feels destitute because now he sees the truth—that the evil controls him and he has no permission to disobey it and go against the will and view of the will to receive for himself. He actually feels that he is completely separated from Kedusha and is in the group of the dead, as in, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” since they are separated from The Life of Lives. Now he can actually feel this.

Conversely, before he began the work of bestowal, he would tell himself that he belongs to the group of servants of the Creator, and all the energy he put into the work brought him pain and sorrow when he saw that there are people who are not walking on the path of the Creator. But concerning himself, he was more or less certain that he was already considered a “servant of the Creator.”

But now he sees what has happened to him because of the advice to walk in the above-mentioned way: only sorrow and pain for not having this world. That is, in this world, he sees that he is not fine with the Creator, meaning he feels that he would like to work for the sake of the Creator and does not find satisfaction in his own benefit. Although he cannot exit self-gratification, he also cannot find satisfaction in it.

Now, in the next world, how can he hope and tell himself that he will be rewarded in the next world, so now he sees the truth—that he has no intention to work for the sake of the Creator, to be able to say, “I deserve reward for working for the Creator.”

Accordingly, we see that precisely when a person begins to walk on the path of bestowal, he comes to a state of pain and sorrow, and feels the labor that exists in serving the Creator. That is, the labor begins to work when one wants to work for the sake of the Creator. Only then do the arguments of the spies come to him. It is very difficult to overcome them, and many people escape the campaign and surrender to the argument of the spies.

But those who do not want to move, but rather say, “We have nowhere to go,” suffer from not being able to always overcome them. They are in a state of ascending and descending, and every time they overcome, they see that they are farther from the goal that they want to be rewarded with Dvekutwith the Creator, which is equivalence of form.

The measure of sorrow that they must tolerate is because in truth, a person cannot emerge from the control of self-reception by himself, as it is the nature in which the Creator created man, which only the Creator Himself can change. In other words, as He has given the created beings the desire to receive, He can later give them the desire to bestow.

However, according to the rule, “There is no light without a Kli, no filling without a lack,” first one needs to obtain a deficiency. That is, he must feel that he is deficient of this Kli called “desire to bestow.” And concerning feeling, it is impossible to feel any lack if one does not know what he is losing by not having the Kli, called “desire to bestow.” For this reason, man must introspect on what causes him not to have the desire to bestow.

To the extent of the loss, he feels sorrow and suffering. When he has the real lack, meaning when he can pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart for not having the strength to be able to work for the sake of the Creator, then, when he has the Kli, meaning the real lack, this is the time when his prayer is answered and he receives assistance from above. It is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

By this we will understand what we asked, “What is the meaning of ‘According to the sorrow, so is the reward’?” It means that according to his lack, meaning to the extent that he feels sorrow at not being able to emerge from the control of the bad, and bad means that he feels that it is something bad, meaning he sees what bad that the vessels of reception cause him, then he feels actual sorrow. This gives him the need that the Creator will help him, and he receives the reward, meaning the reward for the sorrow he had had. This is the meaning of the words, “According to the sorrow,” to the full extent of the sorrow, meaning the understanding of the lack, is the reward. Then comes the time when the reward comes, for “there is no light without a Kli.”

Now we can understand what we asked according to what our sages said, “Be not as slaves serving the great one in order to receive reward.” In other words, it is forbidden to work in order to receive reward because receiving the reward separates us from the Creator, who is the giver, while man wants to receive.

The answer is that the reward he is asking for his labor is to be able to overcome the vessels of reception and be able to work in order to bestow. Such a reward will bring him Dvekut with The Life of Lives. That is, the reward he expects is to be given the strength to work without reward that comes to the vessels of reception, by which he becomes separated. Rather, the reward comes to the vessels of bestowal, by which he becomes close to the Creator.

By this we will also understand what we asked about what we sing in the songs of Shabbat [Sabbath], “His reward is plentiful, according to his work.” We should understand the following: 1) Is it permitted to work for a reward? If so why does he say, “His reward is plentiful”? 2) “His reward is plentiful, according to his work.” What is the novelty? In everything, if he works more he receives more reward. So, what is “his reward is plentiful”? I would understand it if he said, “His reward is plentiful although he did not make such great efforts, yet he received a great reward.”

According to the above, we should interpret that “work” does not pertain to corporeal work, where one is rewarded according to the output that a person produces. The output is positive, relating to what the worker did, and to the extent of the output so is his reward.

But here, “according to his work” means according to his labor and exertion without seeing anything positive in the work. On the contrary, each time, he sees more negativity in his work. That is, each time he sees that he does not want to work for the sake of the Creator. Thus, how can he ask for a reward, so as to say, “His reward is plentiful, according to his work,” although he sees no progress? On the contrary, he is regressing every time, yet he does not escape the campaign or grow idle in the work. Instead, he works as though he is advancing. It follows that “according to his work” means to the extent that he overcomes each time, and according to the sorrow and exertion that he puts into this work, it causes him to be able to obtain a real Kli and need for the Creator’s help.

It follows that unlike corporeality, where we are rewarded according to the output, meaning that one looks at the work he did. Here, it is the opposite.

Also, why is it permitted to receive reward here? It is because the reward he is asking is not a reward that will separate him from adhering to Him. Rather, he hopes that all of the reward he hopes to be given is the ability to bestow upon the Creator, and through this reward he will adhere to Him.

This is the meaning of what is written, “It is good to precede sorrow and judgment in order to extend mercy.” We asked, why the need for sorrow and judgment if we want mercy? The reason is that the sorrow is the Kli and the need, for there is no light without a Kli. And what is the “light”? It is mercy, as our sages said, “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.” This is what he should be given.

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?

Article No. 28, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

It is written (Deuteronomy 4:2), “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, to keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

The interpreters ask, we can understand that the Torah should say, “Do not add,” that you should not even think of adding, since it can be said that it is good to add because this will increase the glory of heaven. Yet, for what purpose do the words “and do not take away from it” come, saying that should not lessen? It is simple: If the Creator has given us Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], we must certainly observe them and not breach the Mitzvot of the Creator.

In the literal, there are many answers. But what does this teach us in the work? Also, we should understand why indeed we are forbidden to add. It makes sense that it is good to add to the Mitzvot, especially since in the work, the order is that a person adds each time.

It is known that there is a matter of one line in the order of the work, and there are two lines, called “right” and “left,” and there is a middle line, as is explained in previous articles. We will reiterate it here as needed.

We should also know that there is a rule, meaning one rule, which applies to everyone, to the whole of Israel, and there are also individuals in Israel. That is, there are people who cannot be like the general public, meaning behave in regard to Torah and Mitzvot like the general public. Instead, they understand and feel that the work of the general public and its aspirations—what the general public aspires to achieve through the work in Torah and Mitzvot—do not satisfy them. Instead, they have other aspirations and goals than the general public.

Still concerning observing Torah and Mitzvot, it is said, “You will have one law [Torah]” (Numbers 15:29), there is no difference between a complete righteous and an ordinary person. However, this is so with regard to actions, meaning that they should aim to keep the commandments of the Creator as He has commanded us through Moses, and this is called “the intention of the work of Mitzvot,” and in this, everyone is equal.

But regarding the intention, meaning what one intends while observing the Torah and Mitzvot, meaning what he wants in return for his work, when he relinquishes other things and dedicates his time and all his energy to observe Torah and Mitzvot, in this there are already discernments, which in general are called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], or that his intention is Lishma [for Her sake]. For the individual, there are many discernments in Lo Lishma and many discernments in Lishma.

Concerning Lo Lishma, the rule is that everyone begins in Lo Lishma. Afterward, there are individuals who emerge from Lo Lishma and come to the degree of Lishma. At that time they should be discerned by way of lines. That is, all those who, as long as they agree with Lo Lishma, there is a matter of correction in them. This is considered that they cannot see the true path of the work. Instead, they must feel that they are walking on the path of truth. Otherwise, they will not be able to keep observing Torah and Mitzvot, since naturally, a person needs to benefit from his work. If Lo Lishma is not the truth, but what is truth, it is that Lo Lishma is very important. But since they will not think of Lo Lishma, there is a correction that they think that they are working Lishma, so they will value their actions, for how can one benefit from a lie?

Baal HaSulam said that we should believe that to the extent that a person imagines that Lishma is very important, he should believe that Lo Lishma is even more important than he appreciates the Lishma, and that the importance of Lishma is beyond man’s ability to grasp.

In the work of the general public, there is only one line, meaning the action. This is one way. That is, he should know that with each and every act he does he is advancing, and many pennies make a great amount. It is as the allegory we said about it, that a person receives a rent from a factory that he has rented to someone. Each year he receives a certain sum, so he is certain that with each passing year, his fortune is growing.

It is likewise in the work of the general public. For example, if a person reaches the age of twenty, he has seven years of wealth of Torah and Mitzvot. If he has reached the age of forty, he knows that he has the wealth of twenty-seven years, and so on. It follows that he has nothing to worry about because his reward is secured. And so it is, since a reward is received for Lo Lishma, as well. But this is called “one line” or “one way,” and there are no contradictions here in the path of the work on which he is going.

However, when a person wants to break away from the path of the general public and enter the work of Lishma, we should discern two lines: 1) “right,” which is called “wholeness,” where there are no lacks. This can be in one of two ways. The first way that there is on the right is that he reflects and says, “Everything is in private Providence and man has no choice for himself.” If that is the case, he calculates and sees how many people there are in the world to whom the Creator did not give a thought and desire to observe the commandments of the Creator, while he did receive from the Creator a thought and desire to have some grip on Torah and Mitzvot. Although he sees that there are people who have been rewarded with higher degrees in quantity and quality, when he looks back he sees that there are people who have no grip on spirituality. Instead, their entire lives are about what they can find in corporeal lusts. They do not feel more than any animal, nor think of any purpose, that the world was created for some purpose. Instead, they settle for being able to satisfy the same wishes they had had as children. If they can satisfy those wishes, they consider themselves happy.

Yet, he sees that the Creator has given him mind and reason not to live like an animal, but to know that he is human, that being human means being at a higher level than animals, meaning having contact with the Creator—the ability to keep the commandments of the Creator. He believes that he is speaking to the Creator both in the blessing for the prayer and in the blessing for pleasure. He prays to Him for this little bit of grip that he has on spirituality, he walks about happy, and feels joy in life. He feels that he is not like other people, whose goal in life is only that of children, without any spiritual notion. This is called “right,” since he feels himself as a complete person who lacks nothing.

The second manner that is found on the right is as Baal HaSulam said, that one should believe above reason as though he has been rewarded with complete faith, that thus he should depict to himself, as though he already feels in his organs that the Creator leads the whole world as good and doing good, meaning that the whole world receives from him only benefits, and he is one of them. How elated he should feel at that time, when he is going above reason, as though he has a world filled abundantly, and he has only to thank and praise the Creator for awarding him with achieving the delight and pleasure. This, too, is called “right.”

This right line gives to a person that only here he has a place where he can thank the Creator for benefitting him, and only in this way he is regarded as whole and blessed because he lacks nothing. At that time he can be adhered to the Creator, since “the blessed clings to the blessed.”

From this a person can receive vitality because a person cannot live on negativity. It follows that through the right line he receives vitality in the work of the Creator because only from wholeness can one receive joy, and life without joy is not considered life.

There is another merit to the right line: By thanking the Creator for bringing him closer, although a person has only a small grip on spirituality, if he is grateful for a small thing, it causes the goal of serving the Creator to receive greater importance in his eyes each time. And since the Shechina[Divinity] is in exile, or as it is written, “the Shechina is in the dust,” meaning that spiritual work is unimportant, only corporeal things matter and a person appreciates them, and man is influenced by the public, hence, corporeality is more important than spirituality for him, as well. By walking on the right line, meaning by thanking the Creator for every single grip he has on spirituality, it increases his importance of spirituality.

Baal HaSulam said that by seeing above how a person appreciates everything that is spiritual, and the evidence of this is that he is thankful for everything, it causes some illumination from above to be given to him, since it is apparent that he will know how to keep it. It is as our sages said, “Who is a fool? He who loses what he is given.” The rule is that anything that is not so important is not kept from being lost. For this reason, an illumination from above is not given if a person does not know how to keep it. When they see that that person appreciates every little thing in Kedusha[holiness/sanctity], he will certainly keep what he is given. It follows that the person’s exertion to praise and thank the Creator for giving him the mind and reason to draw a little nearer to Kedushacauses him to be given some illumination from above.

However, one should also walk on the left line. Right and left are regarded as “two lines that deny one another.” The left is called “something that requires correction.” The left line entails criticism, when a person should see his true state in spirituality, if he is truly on the path of a desire to bestow or is deceiving himself, or is he altogether oblivious.

It is known that the most important is to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, which means thinking only about things that yield equivalence of form, and not the contrary. That is, he criticizes the order of his work, if he has already advanced in his work toward achieving the goal, or to the contrary, meaning that he is regressing and should think what he must do in order for his actions to be complete. In other words, he must see his powers in the work, whether he has the power to overcome, and if not, what should he do.

At that time he sees that only the Creator can save him from his state, so he can emerge from self-love and work only for the sake of the Creator. This means that he sees that only the Creator Himself can help him, as it is written, “I the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.” This means that the people of Israel were enslaved to the discernment of Egypt, which is the will to receive for oneself, and they were slaves to the Egyptians and had no possessions in Kedusha because the Egyptians, meaning self-love, took everything.

This is called “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” for “the poor is as important as the dead” because the Sitra Achra [other side] took all their possessions. Nothing went into the domain of Kedusha until the King of all Kings appeared to them and redeemed them. This matter is always valid, meaning that whenever a person is in exile and prays to the Creator to deliver him from exile, the Creator delivers him.

This is the meaning of “He who comes to purify is aided.” However, alone, a person cannot come out of exile and enslavement to self-love. It follows that the left line is a place where he should pray to the Creator to deliver him from exile. Otherwise, without a left line, he can never know that he is in self-love because while in the right line, it is impossible to see any flaws, so there is nothing to correct.

Now we can understand the order that we have in the prayer, of chants, singing, and praising, and the meaning of prayer and request. Our sages said (Berachot 32), “One should always praise the Creator and then pray.”

The question is, If a person wants to ask something from the Creator, he should first establish the praise of the Creator: why he should do this. We can understand that when we ask a favor from flesh and blood, it can be said that first he needs to show him that he regards him as important. It is as though he is bribing him, giving him pleasure, and afterwards asks him to do him a favor, as though the giver will return a favor to the receiver like the receiver did a favor to the giver by giving him the contentment of praising him. But with regard to the Creator, can such a thing be said?

As we explained concerning the need for the two lines, right and left, we should understand that when a person wants to come into the holy work, he must first know what it is about, meaning whom he wants to serve. That is, first he must appreciate the greatness and importance of the King whom he wishes to accept him as a slave, to be as “slaves serving the great one not in order to receive reward.” Who is it who gives him the desire to serve the King without any reward? Only the greatness and importance of the King gives him the fuel to want to work without any reward.

Therefore, the order is that he begins to walk on the right line, and then all his work is to imagine the importance of the King and thank Him for giving him the desire and thought to take part in spirituality. It could be anything, even if he is given a small thing, to have a little bit of a grip on spirituality, he regards it as great and important, as said in the clarification of the right line. It is the same with the second interpretation of the right line, as it is written in the name of Baal HaSulam, that “right” means “turn to the right.”

This means that he must believe above reason and imagine that he has already been rewarded with faith in the Creator that is felt in his organs, and he sees and feels that the Creator leads the entire world as the good who does good. Although when he looks within reason he sees the opposite, he should still work above reason and it should appear to him as though he can already feel in his organs that so it really is, that the Creator leads the world as the good who does good.

Here he acquires the importance of the goal, and from here he derives life, meaning joy at being near to the Creator. Then a person can say that the Creator is good and does good, and feel that he has the strength to tell the Creator, “You have chosen us from among all nations, You have loved us and wanted us,” since he has a reason to thank the Creator. And to the extent that he feels the importance of spirituality, so he establishes the praise of the Creator.

Once man has come to feel the importance of spirituality, which is called “One should always establish the praise of the Creator,” then is the time when he must shift to the left line. He must criticize how he truly feels within reason the importance of the King, if he is truly willing to work only for the sake of the Creator.

When he sees within reason that he is bare and destitute, that state when he sees the importance of spirituality, but only above reason, that calculation can create in him deficiency and pain for being in utter lowliness. Then he can make a heartfelt prayer for what he lacks.

But if he does not have the right line even though he has prayed to the Creator to help him, it is as though he is asking the King to do him a favor and save him and have mercy on him. Since the King is merciful, he is asking Him for money to buy himself some bread. But a person does not know that he is in prison among those who have been sentenced to death, and now he has a chance to ask the King to save his life, meaning pardon him, and the King will pardon him and give him a chance to live a life of happiness, and he asks the Creator to have mercy on him and give him bread, and he settles for this, it is because he has been incarcerated for so long that he has forgotten everything, that there is a world where he can lead a happy life.

This is the benefit from first establishing the praise of the Creator and then praying. The reason is that once he knows the importance of spirituality, that it is “for they are our lives and the length of our days,” hence, when he prays, he knows what he needs and for what he must ask the Creator’s mercy on him and to give him life. It is so because while he was on the right line, he felt that corporeal life is as “the wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead.’”

By this we will understand what we asked, Why should one establish the praise of the Creator and then pray? This is appropriate for a flesh and blood, whom we must first appease and praise, which makes the giver compassionate and giving, as the pleading person told him, that the giver has good qualities. But why do we need to establish the praise of the Creator before we pray?

According to the above, this is simple. It is in order for him to know what he is missing, for then he will know for what to ask the Creator’s help. This is similar to the allegory I once said, that a person was very ill, and a party of physicians came to examine him and diagnose his illness. The patient showed the doctors a tiny sore on his finger and told them he was in pain, but they did not want to look at it. He asked them, “Why aren’t you looking at what I’m telling you, and no one wants to look at it?” They replied to him, “You are in mortal danger, between life and death, and you want us to look at something so trivial?”

It is likewise with us. When a person has no idea what he is missing and he asks for something small like that sore, when in truth he is in the domain of Tuma’a [impurity], as in, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” how can they regard him from above when he is in the domain of the dead? He needs to ask to be given life, as it is written, “Mention us to life.” But although we say, “Mention us to life,” which life do we expect? This is the question!

However, once a person has begun to walk on the right line, he begins to know what he is missing. That is, afterward, when he shifts to the left line, he has an example from the right. Yet, this, too, is not acquired at once, but is constant work, as it is written in the prayer for every day, that we must first establish the praise of the Creator and then pray.

Yet, the two lines must be balanced, meaning that one will not be greater than the other. Instead, he must always walk as in the corporeal allegory, on two legs—the right leg and the left leg. It cannot be said that he should walk on one leg more than on the other, and walking on only one leg is altogether impossible. Therefore, those who want to walk on the path of truth and achieve Dvekut with the Creator, must walk on both the right and the left, but not walk on one leg more than on the other.

Now we should interpret what we asked, What is the meaning of “Do not add and do not take away from it”? We asked, How does it pertain to the work that we should not add in the work? And on the other hand, it is perplexing: “Do not add” can be said when the Torah tells us, “Do not add.” But why the commandment, “Do not take away”? How can we think that it is permissible to take away from the 613 Mitzvot, but the Torah should tell us that we are forbidden to take away?

According to the order of the work, we should interpret this in regard to the two lines. It means that it is forbidden to add on the right path. Instead, a person who wants to walk on the path of truth must dedicate a certain amount of time to the right path, and then he must walk on the left line. It is in this regard that the commandment not to add comes—on one way more than on the other, nor take away from the lines. That is, one should not say, “Today I want to walk on the right line,” or to the contrary, “Today I want to walk on the left line.” It is about this that the commandment, “Do not add and do not take away,” comes. Rather, as our sages said, “One should always establish the praise of the Creator and then pray.”

The right path is called “wholeness.” At that time a person can be very grateful to the Creator. Afterward, he must shift to the left line. On the left path is the time to see his real state, as it seems to him within reason. Then, he has room to pray, since prayer pertains precisely to a place of lack, and the greater the lack, the more heartfelt is the prayer.

This is the meaning of what is written, “From the depth I called You, O Lord.” Therefore, the two lines must be equal “until the third writing comes and decides between them.” Then, after the work in two lines, he is rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator. This is called the “third writing.” That is, the two lines pertain to man’s work, but the middle line pertains to the Creator. This means that by walking in two lines, from those two, a place is made where the Creator can place His blessing. This is called “until the third writing comes and decides between them.”

Now we can interpret what The Zohar says (Pinhas, Item 321), “‘Their leg is a straight leg.’ The authors of the Mishnah said that one who prays should correct one’s legs in one’s prayer, as the ministering angels, so that his legs will be straight.”

We should understand why if the legs are not straight, his prayer cannot be accepted. It means that his legs imply something, that for this reason, when he prays, he feels deficient and comes to the Creator to satisfy his lack, his legs must be straight.

According to the above, we can understand the meaning of his “legs.” The “right leg” is the right line or the right path. This is the place to praise and thank the Creator. The left leg refers to the left line and the left path, and the prayer cannot be accepted before both lines are straight and not that one is bigger than the other.

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?

Article No. 27, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

It is written, “Behold, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, that you hear the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, and the curse, if you do not hear the commandments.”

Here, we need to understand the following: 1) Why does he begin with singular form [in Hebrew], “Behold,” and then speaks in plural form [in Hebrew], “before you”? 2) Why is it written, “today”? 3) “A blessing and a curse.” It is written, “The bad and the good do not come from the mouth of the upper one” (Lamentations 3). Hence, why is it written, “I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse”? 4) We see that in the corporeal world there is a place where the blessing is present, and a place where the blessing is absent, but there is also no curse there, and there is a place where the curse is present. It follows that there is a middle between a blessing and a curse. But here it says, “I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse,” meaning that there is nothing between them but either a blessing or a curse.

The interpreters of the Torah ask these questions. To understand all the above, we must reiterate what we have said thus far. We should examine what it is we have to know in order to know what we must do while we are in this world.

It is known that we should be cognizant of two purposes: 1) the purpose of the Creator, which we learn is to bestow upon His creations, 2) the purpose of the creatures, which is to do good to the Creator.

We should know that the purpose of the Creator is just fine. We must believe that He leads the world in benevolence, but our purpose—to do good to the Creator—is far away from us. Since our goal is the complete opposite of the Creator’s goal, and since the purpose of the Creator must be fulfilled, namely that the creatures will receive delight and pleasure as the Creator wants it, His installing in us a desire and yearning to receive pleasure is fixed and cannot be revoked. This means that a person cannot exist in the world if he cannot enjoy life. It makes no difference what he enjoys, but without pleasure, it is impossible to live.

Therefore, when we begin to work on our goal, which is to do good to the Creator, and not use our will to receive, which is what the Creator gave us by nature, we have no strength to go against nature. For this reason, when we begin to work in bestowal, we think that we can revoke nature, but in the end we realize that we cannot.

He has no other counsel but prayer. It is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” Only through help from above can he achieve the goal of the created beings to equalize in form with the Creator. That is, as the Creator wants to do good to His creations, the creatures should want to bestow upon the Creator, which is called “doing good to the Creator.”

The order of the work should be that we must believe above reason in the importance and greatness of the Creator. When we feel the greatness of the King, by nature, we annul before the King. We do not need to exert on this, since we see that by nature, the Creator has given the small one the power to annul before the greater one, since when the smaller one serves the greater one, it feels pleasure in this. It follows that the pleasure it feels while serving the great one does not contradict the nature of the creature, called “will to receive pleasure,” since it receives pleasure while working for the great one.

It is known from the allegory that a famous ADMOR [distinguished rabbi] comes and many people greet him at the airport. He gives his suitcase to someone to take it to the taxi. If the rabbi were to give the suitcase to a porter, who does not recognize the greatness of the rabbi, the rabbi would have to pay the porter. Sometimes the porter would even argue over the wages and would want more money than the rabbi gave him. However, if the rabbi were to give his suitcase to one of his followers and would want to pay him, he would not accept it, since there is a rule that one cannot do anything unless he feels pleasure in it. While doing it, work without pleasure is called “labor.” That is, the person would not do this if he did not know he would be paid for the effort.

It turns out that if he is serving the great one, and it is inherent in nature that there is pleasure when serving the great one, it follows that he does not need a reward because this is his reward. That is, he is receiving reward, called “pleasure,” while serving. It follows that all we need in order to be able to work in order to bestow is the recognition of His greatness, and then the body will naturally annul before Him.

However, since there was a concealment on His light for the purpose of correction, so that the will to receive will work in order to bestow, for this purpose we were given the work of faith, to believe in the greatness of the Creator and depict His greatness every time so we will be able to work in order to bestow and receive nothing in return.

It follows that the person asks the Creator to remove the concealment from himself. This brings up the question, How can one pray to the Creator to remove the concealment from himself, since it was given for our benefit, so that the shame would be corrected? Thus, how can we pray that the concealment will be taken away from us?

The answer is that the concealment was placed because man is born with a desire to receive for his own sake, and there is no greater pleasure than being in the King’s palace. Yet, when receiving pleasure, it will be for our own sake, and this is called “disparity of form.”

For this reason, there was a concealment, meaning that before a person is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, so he can receive in order to bestow, a person feels only Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment of the face. For this reason, although man has not been rewarded with vessels of bestowal, and all his work is currently in order to be able to bestow in order to bestow, and he does not want to receive anything for his own sake, he cannot do so because the body is enslaved to self-love.

For this reason, he asks the Creator to remove the concealment from himself, not in order to enable him to enjoy His light. On the contrary, he wants the Creator to remove from him the concealment of the face so he will be able to bestow upon the Creator. It follows that the intention that he wants the Creator to give him is the ability only to bestow.

His intention is not that the Creator will open his eyes and give him the revelation of the face in order to derive pleasure for his own benefit. This is called “disparity of form.” Rather, he wants the opposite from the Creator—to have equivalence of form, meaning to have the power to bestow upon the Creator, called “equivalence of form.”

Once a person has been rewarded with vessels of bestowal. and can act in order to bestow upon the Creator, comes the work with vessels of reception. That is, he says to the Creator, “Now I want to receive delight because Your will is to do good to His creations. For this reason, I want to do Your will, which You want to give to us.”

It is as we interpreted Midrash Rabbah, Beresheet, concerning the Creator’s reply to the angels who complained about the creation of man. He said, “What is this like? It is like a king who has a tower filled abundantly but no guests.” For this reason, a person wants to receive the delight and pleasure from the Creator, so as to delight the King, as said above (Article No. 26, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin).

By this we can explain the third question, about the verse, “I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” It is written, “The bad and the good do not come from the mouth of the upper one.” But according to what we learned, the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Thus, there is no good and bad in this purpose; it is all good! Hence, from where do those two discernments of good and bad come?

This extends from the point of Tzimtzum, which is the root of the judgment. Malchut de Ein Sof, which received the light in the vessel of reception, desired equivalence of form, as there is in the light. For this reason, she performed the Tzimtzum, not wanting to receive any longer with this Kli[vessel]. It follows that Malchut has made all the boundaries between light and darkness, and this is why we attribute the Tzimtzum to the lower one.

It is written (in the commentary Panim Masbirot) that “No force from the Emanator is revealed as a boundary. This light that comes to them is called Ohr Pnimi [Inner Light], yet it is a restricted illumination because of the point itself.”

In other words, the boundary on receiving only in order to bestow is the point itself, which is regarded as Malchut, called “a vessel to receive for herself.” She made the good, meaning to receive in order to bestow, as well as the bad, not to receive in order to receive. And because that which is a will in the upper one becomes a binding law in the lower one, for this reason, one who wants to receive in order to receive has a sensation of bad and separation from the Life of Lives.

It follows that the reason for the good and bad was made by the lower one. That is, the lower one made a reality of good and gad. It is as was said above, that by Malchut desiring equivalence of form, from here extends good and bad in the world. This means that if the lower ones follow the path of the Tzimtzum and want only to work in order to bestow, they will have delight and pleasure. But if they do not follow this line, examining everything so it is precisely in order to bestow, they will have darkness and not light.

It follows that from the upper one, meaning the abundance that emerged from the upper one, it was all good. There was no place for bad there, as it is written (beginning of the book Tree of Life), “Before the Tzimtzum, there was He is one and His name One.” That is, there was still no issue of distance between the light, called “He,” and the Kli, called “His name.” Only after the Tzimtzum did the will to receive become different in form.

By this we will also understand the fourth question, where it is written “blessing and curse,” which means that there is no middle between them. In corporeality, we see that there is a place where there is a blessing, or a place where there is a curse. But there is also a place where there are neither blessing nor curse. For the most part, a person who trades or goes to live in some city does not insist that it will be specifically a place of blessing, since normally, if it is not a place of curse, that place is regarded as a place where he can live. Here, however, the verse, “I set before you a blessing and a curse” implies that there is nothing in between.

The answer is that the good who does good, who is called “Life,” if we give vessels of bestowal, it is possible to adhere to the “Life of Lives.” It follows that only in this way can one be rewarded with the delight and pleasure called “blessing.” But if a person has only vessels of reception, he must be separated from the Life of Lives and he has no Kelim in which to receive the delight and pleasure. It follows that he is in the dark and has no light or spiritual life, and no curse is worse than this.

But in the corporeal world, we see that there is a middle between blessing and curse, since the order of the work is that when a person wants to commence in the work of the Creator, to work for the sake of the Creator, he must begin with an in between. That is, he wants to exit the curse and enter the blessing.

But since by nature, he is in a state of “curse,” meaning that there was a Tzimtzum and concealment on the will to receive with which man was born, so the light of life will not shine there, he wants to come out of there. For this reason, there must be something in between, called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. This means that the things he does are acts of bestowal—both between man and God, and between man and man. However, he still does not have the intention to bestow.

Since from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake], this is called “middle,” between a curse and a blessing. Since all that is missing in order to be rewarded with the blessing is the aim to bestow, and since this world is called the “world of action,” meaning the “place of work,” hence, according to the order of the work there is a middle.

But from the perspective of the goal, there are no two things but only one thing. This means that either he is rewarded with the goal, called “blessing,” or he is not rewarded with the goal. It follows that he remains inside the curse, which is death, as it is written, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead.’” Therefore, there is no middle here, but either a curse or a blessing in that he is rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.

According to the above we can understand the first question we asked, Why does it begin with singular form, “behold,” and then says “before you,” in plural form? It is because there is a matter of a giver here, who is the Creator, and a receiver, who are the people of Israel, and it is known that from the perspective of the Creator there are no degrees, as it is written, “I the Lord do not change,” but all the changes are only in the receivers.

Therefore, when speaking from the perspective of the giver, He says, “I am placing before you one thing,” since from the perspective of the giver, the light of doing good to His creations is called by the name, “one simple light,” He therefore speaks to the entire collective and says, “I am placing one thing before you.” But when speaking from the perspective of the receiver, there are many degrees in the receivers, as our sages said, “As their faces differ, their views differ” (Berachot 58).

For this reason, when speaking to the receivers, He said, “Behold,” in singular form, since each individual has his unique vision. This is the reason for the singular form, “Behold,” which means that each one should see for himself and should not rely on the vision of one’s friend. It is as the ARI wrote, that one cannot correct that which one’s friend corrects, but each one has his own correction.

Therefore, the word “Behold” refers to the receivers, who each receive a unique vision. And when speaking from the perspective of the giver, He gives the same thing to everyone. This is why the words, “I am setting before you,” speak to the entire collective.

Now we will understand what we asked, What does it imply to us when it says, “Which I am setting before you today”? It means that this matter of blessing and curse applies each and every day, that each and every day there are special corrections, as the ARI says (the writings of the ARI, book, Gate of Intentions, in the beginning of “Intentions for Shabbat”), “Moreover, in the weekdays themselves there is a big difference between the prayer on one day from the prayer on the next day. There is not one prayer, since the day when the world was created to the end of the world, that will be similar to another in any way.” This is why he says the word “today,” as it applies to each and every day.

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What Is a Light Commandment?

Article No. 26, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

It is written, “And it shall come to pass that because you listen, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant which He has sworn to your forefathers, and He will love you and bless you.” RASHI interprets, “And it shall come to pass that because you listen” to mean that if the Mitzvot[commandments] are light [easy/unimportant], which a person tramples with his heels, “you will listen.” “[God] will keep” means He will keep with you His promise, thus far his words.

We should understand why it is written that if the Mitzvot are light, which a person tramples with his heels, you will hear, meaning that the Creator can give what He has promised to the forefathers. But if they do not observe the light Mitzvot, will the Creator not be able to give what He has promised us?

We cannot say that it means that even light Mitzvot should be observed. It should have said simply that if one Mitzva [commandment] of the 613 Mitzvot is missing, you will not receive what He has promised to the forefathers. However, the words “light Mitzvot” imply that because they are light Mitzvot, the Creator cannot give the delight and pleasure.

Therefore, we should understand why specifically the light Mitzvot are the reason, as though they prevent the giving of delight and pleasure to the creatures.

Our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2), “Be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one, for you do not know the reward for the Mitzvot.” We should also understand what is a “light Mitzva” and what is a “grave Mitzva,” as well as the reason for which we should be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one. It is implied here that we should be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one only because we do not know the reward for the Mitzvot. But if we did know the reward for the Mitzvot, would it be permitted to make distinctions in the caution? Can we say this?

In order to understand the above, we should first know the meaning of the 613 Mitzvot that we were given to observe, and for whose sake they were given. Our sages said (Avot, Chapter 1), “Rabbi Hananiah Ben Akashia says, ‘The Creator wanted to cleanse Israel, therefore He gave them plentiful Torah and Mitzvot.’”

In the essay “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (Item 1), he explains that cleansing Israel comes from the words “merit” and “purification.” This means that through the Torah and Mitzvot we can achieve Hizdakchut [cleansing/purification]. He explains there what we need to cleanse. He says that since we are born by nature with a desire to receive for our own sake, which separates us from the Creator because in spirituality, disparity of form causes remoteness and separation, and having equivalence of form, which is called “the power of bestowal,” is against our nature, it is therefore difficult to work in order to bestow. For this reason, He has given us Torah and Mitzvot, by which we will be able to receive the power to overcome and will be able to work in order to bestow.

Accordingly, we should interpret “The Creator wanted to cleanse Israel” to mean that through the cleansing they will be fit to receive the delight and pleasure that He wished to give us, but we did not have the suitable Kelim [vessels] for the abundance. It follows that the Torah and Mitzvot were given to us as qualification by which we will purify ourselves and will be able to receive the delight and pleasure.

It follows that observing Torah and Mitzvot is for our sake. That is, by this we will be able to receive the delight and pleasure. Hence, when can a person receive the delight and pleasure? Specifically when he can work without reward. That is, specifically when he is not concerned with his own benefit and everything he does is only for the sake of the Creator, then he is fit to receive the good, since he already has equivalence of form. Then, it is considered that he has Kelim in which the abundance can be without being spoiled. This is regarded as Kelim that are cleansed from self-love, and are corrected with the desire to bestow. For this reason, they have equivalence with the abundance, which comes only because His desire is to bestow, and in such Kelim the abundance can be.

Apparently, it means that one who wants to receive delight and pleasure, enjoy the world, and lead a happy life should obtain vessels of bestowal in order to later receive delight and pleasure. Accordingly, we should say that he bestows so as to later receive. This is similar to bestowing in order to receive, which is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake].

The answer is that indeed, a person should crave to adhere to the Creator, meaning to come to feel in his organs that any pleasure he wants to receive will be on the path of truth. The truth is that a person should come to a state where he can say wholeheartedly, “Blessed is our God, who has created us for His glory.”

This means that a person thanks the Creator for creating him for the glory of the Creator, meaning to increase the glory of the Creator in the world, meaning that everyone will see His greatness in the world.

It is written about it (Midrash Rabbah, Beresheet), “When the Creator wanted to create the man, the angels said to Him: ‘What is man that You should remember him, and the son of man that You should care for him? Why do You need this trouble?’ What is this like? Like a king who had a tower filled abundantly, but no guests. What pleasure has the king with the abundance? Promptly, they said to Him: ‘Do that which pleases You.’”

We need to understand what the argument between the Creator and the angels teaches us, as though the Creator had to have their consent to man’s creation. We should interpret that the argument with the angels comes to teach us about the purpose of man’s creation, meaning for which purpose man was created. The Creator said to them, “What is your question, Who is man, that You should remember him?”

That is, the angels asked Him, What could man receive from Your creating the world for the purpose of delighting His creations, and by this imprinted in him the desire to receive delight and pleasure? He will be in disparity of form from You, without any Dvekut [adhesion] or connection with You, so how will he be able to receive the delight and pleasure? To this comes the Creator’s reply that man should work in order to bestow and not in order to receive, as you think.

However, they will say, “But the King has created the tower filled abundantly, and what pleasure has He if He has no guests?” Over this allegory, man will receive the delight and pleasure, meaning that man relinquishes his own benefit and does not want to receive anything. Rather, he wants to bestow in order to bestow. But since the King derives no pleasure from creating a tower filled abundantly, for this reason they want to receive the delight and pleasure.

By this we will understand what we asked, that it seems to mean that man works in order to obtain vessels of bestowal in order to be able to receive the delight and pleasure. It seems that it is as though he is bestowing in order to receive, which is called Lo Lishma.

The answer is that after a person has achieved the degree of Lishma [for Her sake], meaning that he has no need to receive the delight and pleasure for himself because he has been rewarded with Lishma, then comes the allegory about the Creator’s reply to the angels, that it is like a king who has a tower filled abundantly but no guests, so what pleasure has the king from having made the tower filled abundantly?

With this intention, a person comes to receive the delight and pleasure. This is called “receiving the delight and pleasure in order to bestow.” In order for the Creator to enjoy, having made the tower filled abundantly, and so He may have guests, the person tries to be among the guests receiving the delight and pleasure, since this will please the Creator.

This is called that we must say, “Blessed is our God, who has created us for His glory.” That is, the fact that we receive from Him delight and pleasure is with the intention that we will be able to tell the glory of the Creator to everyone by their receiving of the purpose of creation, which is His desire to do good to His creations. This is called “the revelation of His Godliness to His creations,” and this is why he wants to receive the delight and pleasure.

It therefore follows that the lower one has no intention to receive reward for his work. Instead, all he asks of the Creator is to help Him so he can bring contentment to the Creator. In other words, since the whole body objects to this view that he should do nothing for his own benefit, but only that which pleases the Creator, he insists on this and asks the Creator to help him defeat his own body, so he will have the power to overcome self-love.

According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said, “Be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one, for you do not know the reward for the Mitzvot.” We said that this implies that we are looking at the reward because they said that you do not know their reward, and therefore should be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one. But then, they said, “Be as slaves serving the great one not in order to receive reward.” Thus, what does it mean that you do not know the reward for the Mitzvot?

We should interpret that the purpose of the creatures is to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, meaning to do everything in order to bring contentment to the Creator. This is why they said that you do not know, meaning that you do not want to know the reward for the Mitzvot because you are working without reward. Hence, what is the difference between a light Mitzva and a grave one? In any case, you do not want to work for a reward, but for free.

However, how can one know if he is truly working in order to bestow? For this, our sages gave us a place where we can discern: If we can be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one, and tell ourselves that we are working without reward and all our works are in order to bestow upon the Creator, then we are careful even with the slight thing as though it were a great thing.

Say, for example, that a person knows for certain that when he speaks inside the synagogue it is not an offense, for he would certainly not transgress in public, where everyone can see that he is committing so many offenses in one hour. But in truth, speaking inside the synagogue during service is an offense, but a person does not regard it as such. This is regarded as a person trampling with his heels because he does not feel that this is such a great offense that he should be careful with it.

Yet, if a person calculates and says, “I do not care if this is a great or small offense,” that is, if I were working for a reward, then I would distinguish between a light Mitzva and a grave one. But I am working without reward, but only in order to serve the King, so why should I mind whether I am observing a light Mitzva or a grave one? On the contrary, I want to be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one in order to know about myself that I am working only for the Creator. By this, I can know if I am considering the reward or the service of the King. If a person can exert the same efforts with a light Mitzva as on a grave one, he can be certain that his actions are just fine.

But if he sees that he cannot exert the same efforts on light Mitzvot as he exerts on grave Mitzvot, it is a sign that his intention is only the reward, and not the actions that he wants to please the Creator. Rather, it is all for his own benefit.

The allegory I have given, about the person who speaks during service at the synagogue, does not mean that this is a light or a grave Mitzva. I only used this as an example because it is common to slight this custom. But what is a light Mitzva or a grave one is a personal matter, and each one determines for himself what is grave and what is light.

According to the above we can understand what we asked, that it implies that the Creator cannot give what He promised to the forefathers, as it is written, “The Lord your God will keep with you the covenant which He has sworn to your forefathers, and He will love you and bless you,” for they will not be observing the light Mitzvot, which a person tramples with his heels.

The answer is that in order to be able to receive the delight and pleasure that He promised to the forefathers, this light must have suitable Kelim [vessels] for this, meaning vessels of bestowal. Therefore, if we have the vessels of bestowal, He will be able to give us the delight and pleasure. But if the creatures have only Kelim for reception for themselves, there is no place where the light of the Creator can be because of the disparity of form.

This is the meaning of what is written, “And it shall come to pass that because you listen.” That is, the light Mitzvot, which a person tramples with his heels, you will hear as though they were the gravest of the grave. But this can be only when a person does not consider the reward, and therefore does not mind whether it is a light Mitzva or a grave one, since he is serving the teacher not in order to receive reward, but only to bestow. Therefore, he does not mind what he is doing for the King, as long as he is giving contentment to the King. It follows that specifically with light Mitzvot it is apparent that a person is working for the sake of the Creator.

Accordingly, the meaning of the condition of the heel is not that specifically if you listen to the Mitzvotthat a person tramples with his heels, He will give the delight and pleasure. Rather, the meaning is that the Creator has given us a sign concerning observance of Torah and Mitzvot, that we said that it is that by the merit of Torah and Mitzvot we will be able to obtain the vessels of bestowal, with which we will be able to receive the abundance. The text comes to teach us that if we observe the light Mitzvot, which a person tramples with his heels, it is a sign that we are walking on a path toward obtaining the vessels of bestowal.

It is not so with one who chooses between the Mitzvot. What is he choosing? Where he can get more; this is what he chooses. This indicates that his intention by observing Torah and Mitzvot is not to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal. Rather, he engages in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, but for the sake of receiving reward. This is why he examines each and every Mitzva, where is there a greater reward.

For example, we see that our sages said, “Circumcision is great, for it is equal to all the Mitzvot in the Torah” (Nedarim 32), “Good deeds are greater than charity” (Sukkah 49), and there are many other examples from our sages.

It follows that when a person says, “I want to do this in order to please the Creator,” and he has no consideration of the reward, here is a place where the Creator can give all the blessings, since here is a place that is called “vessels of bestowal.” This is regarded as what is written, “Every place where I mention My name, I will come to you and bless you.”

The question is, it should have said, “Where you mention.” However, it means that if the Creator can say that this place is His, since a person has given this place to the Creator and has cancelled his own authority, this is why the Creator can “mention,” meaning say that the person is saying, “This place is the Creator’s.”

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is Heaviness of the Head in the Work?

Article No. 25, Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin, 1986-87

Our sages said (Berachot 30b), “One does not pray unless with heaviness of the head.”

RASHI interprets that heaviness of the head means subduing. Our sages also said there, “One does not pray out of sadness, and not out of lightheadedness.” RASHI interprets that lightheadedness means the opposite of heaviness of the head.

We should understand that when he says, “only out of heaviness of the head,” it means that if he does not have heaviness of the head he should not pray. But afterwards it is written, “One does not pray, and not out of lightheadedness.” This means that if there is no lightheadedness then one can pray, and there is no need [to wait] for heaviness of the head.

Rather, this implies that if he does not have lightheadedness then he has heaviness of the head. And also to the contrary, if he does not have heaviness of the head then he is already lightheaded. That is, there is nothing in the middle between heaviness of the head and lightheadedness. Because of it, there is no contradiction between the phrases. However, we should understand how it is possible that there is nothing between heaviness of the head and lightheadedness.

And mainly, we should understand what is the prayer, of which they said, “One does not pray unless,” according to the conditions that our sages said. In other words, what is a prayer? There must be these conditions there; otherwise, it is impossible to pray.

Our sages said (Taanit 2), “To love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart.” Which is work that is in the heart? It is prayer.

We should understand why a prayer is called “work in the heart,” more than the rest of the Mitzvot[commandments] in the Torah. Is the study of Torah not as great a work as prayer?

We should also ask why is it that specifically prayer is called “work in the heart.” We cannot say that only a prayer belongs to the heart and not the Torah, since the Torah belongs to the heart, as well. It is as Rabbi Eben Ezra says (presented in the introduction to the book Panim Masbirot), “Know that the Torah was given only to men of heart.”

Thus, we should understand 1) why a “prayer” is regarded as work more than the rest of the Mitzvot, 2) why specifically a prayer is called “the work in the heart,” and not “the work in the mind.” Concerning prayer, which is work in the heart, our sages told us, “One does not pray unless out of heaviness of the head.” This means that precisely through this his prayer will be in order. Thus, we should understand what is “heaviness of the head.”

To understand the above, we first need to reiterate what is known concerning the purpose of creation. Although it is clear, we should reiterate in order to remember the goal, which is a guarantee that they will not miss the goal. Concerning the purpose of creation, we should speak of only two topics: a) the Creator, who is the Giver, b) the creatures—the receivers of the abundance.

The purpose of creation, which is “His desire to do good to His creations,” has created creatures to receive what He wishes to give them, meaning to receive the delight He wishes to impart upon them. This is the meaning of doing good, since it cannot be said that one is receiving something good without enjoyment. In other words, if he does not enjoy it, why is it regarded as good?

Yet, we see that a person enjoys only what he craves. For this reason, He has created in the creatures a desire to crave to receive pleasures. This is called “will to receive for one’s own sake.” In the upper worlds, the will to receive for one’s own sake is called Malchut, and also Aviut [thickness], once the will to receive for oneself has been disqualified and it is forbidden to use this Kli [vessel] without corrections.

However, a correction was placed here on the will to receive, not to use it as it emerged upon its creation, meaning in the first root when it was born, due to the disparity of form between it and the Creator, since the Creator is the giver and the creatures will be receiving.

In order to have equivalence of form, meaning that the receiver, too, will be regarded as a giver, or else there will not be equivalence of form, causing the creatures to feel unpleasantness upon reception of the delight and pleasure, called “shame.” In order to spare the creatures this shame, a correction was made called “receiving in order to bestow.” This means that although he is receiving with his Kli, called “craving,” meaning that it is impossible to enjoy the benefit unless he craves to receive it, but the correction is that he should place an intention over the act. That is, he must see that although the desire to receive it is in full power, if he cannot aim to bestow contentment upon his Maker, he relinquishes the pleasure despite his yearning.

The reason he relinquishes it should be only because he wants Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” as our sages said, “As He is merciful, you are merciful.” From that correction extends to us a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment. That is, before the lower ones have this aim and can relinquish even the greatest pleasures if they cannot aim to bestow upon the Creator, there is darkness in the world.

In other words, the Creator is hidden from the creatures; they do not feel Him. Yet, we must believe above reason that He has connection with the creatures and He has created them in order to impart upon them delight and pleasure. This is not so with what appears to our eyes. Before we can aim to bestow, we are placed under the governance of the darkness and nothing spiritual illuminates. At that time the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, is not disclosed because at that time they see only suffering and pain in the world, and do not see the guidance of The Good Who Does Good. Yet, we must believe that the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, is the absolute truth, and the reason we do not see this is because of a correction for us, which is called “Tzimtzum and concealment of the face.”

This is as he says (in “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 10), “Thus, you find that this soul, which is the light of life that is dressed in the body, extends existence from absence. As it traverses the four worlds ABYA, it becomes increasingly removed from the light of His face until it comes into its designated Kli, called Guf [body]. And even if the light in it has so diminished that its origin becomes undetectable…”

This causes us to have work on faith because it is no longer apparent in our soul that it comes from the Creator. Instead, we need special work to believe in the Creator, that He is the one leading all the creatures. It therefore follows that all the heaviness we feel in the work of bestowal is not because it is hard for us to work without reward because of our nature, called “will to receive.” Rather, there is a completely different matter here, since according to the rule that Baal HaSulam said, there is a trait in our nature that every lower one wants to annul before the upper one, who is the most important to him. A common person derives pleasure from serving an important person, as our sages said (Kidushin 7), “With an important person, she gives, and he says, ‘You are hereby sanctified,’” for his reception, which is in order to delight the one who gives him, is regarded as complete bestowal and giving to her.

The reason for this is that by nature, a person enjoys giving and bestowing upon an important person. This brings up the question, Why is it difficult for us to observe Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow? The answer is that because of the correction of the bread of shame, a correction was made called “Tzimtzum, concealment, and darkness,” whereby as long as the creatures are under the control of the receiver for himself, they are so removed from their root that their origin becomes undetectable.

Instead, we were given the work above reason, where although we do not see or feel any spiritual matter, we must do everything above reason. This causes us the heaviness in the work of bestowal. It therefore follows that when we want to walk on the path of truth in the work, we must ask the Creator to give us the power of faith.

It is written (in the prayer of Rabbi Elimelech, “A Prayer before a Prayer”), “Set Your faith in our hearts forever, ceaselessly.” This means that the Creator will give us the power of faith so we will feel that we are serving the King of Kings, and our body will certainly annul “as a candle before a torch.”

However, since we are born with an inherent mind and reason, which is our leader, our guide, who tells us what is good and what is bad for us, for this reason, anything that we do not understand with our reason, it tells us it is not good for us.

Therefore, when we are given the work of faith above reason, our reason comes and makes us think that we should not walk on this path. Instead, it argues, “Did the Creator give us a mind for no reason? He certainly created everything for our sake,” meaning so we will enjoy it. And it brings as evidence the verse, “One should praise according to one’s intellect.”

All of a sudden, the person comes to the body and says, “It’s true that until now you have been my guide, and I never did anything against reason, meaning I followed your command. But henceforth, know that anything you tell me to do, I will not listen to you, but only according to what I heard from books and authors. I take upon me the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason, and I want to serve the Creator as befits a great king. From now on, I do not want to be concerned with it at all, but that my thoughts will be only for Your sake, the Creator.”

It therefore follows that in order to be able to get to the truth, all that a person lacks is faith above reason. The body resists this with all its might, and from this extends our lack of progress in the work of the Creator. This is called “heaviness of the head,” for “head” means man’s reason. If a person follows what the reason tells him, it is called “lightheadedness,” meaning it is something that is easy for the reason to tolerate, for one to do things that the reason dictates to him.

But if a person wants to go above reason, this is called “heaviness of the head,” meaning it is difficult for the reason, called “head,” to tolerate when a person wants to go against reason, and regards it as a burden and a load. This is called “heaviness of the head.”

By this we should interpret what is written, “One does not pray unless with heaviness of the head.” In other words, our sages advise us how one should pray. They tell us, “only with heaviness of the head.” This means that one should see what he needs before he prays, and on this lack he prays that the Creator will satisfy his lack.

Therefore, one should first check oneself to see if he can take upon himself to walk in faith above reason, called “heaviness of the head,” and only then will pray that the Creator will establish the faith in his heart, for if there is faith above reason, then he has everything, as was said, that the small one annuls before the great one.

This is the meaning of what RASHI interpreted, that heaviness of the head means subduing. What is subduing? It is when a person subdues before the great one and heeds the view of the great one. This means that if a little child tells something to a grownup, and the grownup sees that what the child is saying makes sense, the grownup will certainly listen to him. Yet, this does not mean that the grown one subdued before the little one.

Rather, what is subduing? If a person seeks the advice of the great one about what he should do, and the great one tells him, “Do this and that,” and the person sees that it makes no sense at all, and if he asked someone if he should listen to what the great one said, he would certainly tell him that it makes no sense and he must not listen to him, yet if that person subdues himself, meaning subjugates his reason and the reason of the public, which are against the reason of the great one, and listens to him, this is called “subduing,” when he listens to the great one above reason.

This is very difficult to do, and it is called “The matter is heavy to do.” It is also called “I am of heavy mouth and heavy tongue,” said about Moses. Mosses is called “the faithful shepherd,” since Moses is called “faith,” and with faith there is no mouth or tongue, for mouth and tongue mean that he explains the matters with mind and reason, while Moses is faith above reason.

From this we can understand what RASHI interprets about lightheadedness being the opposite of heaviness of the head, and why he does not interpret directly but says that it is the opposite of heaviness of the head. It is so because he wants to interpret to us more clearly what is heaviness of the head, that it is about faith above reason. This is why he tells us that lightheadedness is the opposite of faith above reason.

In other words, he explains to us that there is nothing in between them, but either faith above reason, called “heaviness of the head,” or within reason, called “lightheadedness,” since something that is clothed in mind and reason is easy for the head to agree for a person to do these actions, which are built on a foundation that the outer intellect understands.

But if a person is told to do things that contradict the mind and reason, it is heaviness of the head. That is, it is a heavy burden for the intellect to tolerate. Therefore, when one is told to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load,” he objects.

According to the above, we can understand why the Mishnah says, “One does not pray unless with heaviness of the head.” It means that if he has no heaviness of the head, he must not pray. The Gemara says, “One does not pray out of lightheadedness.”

We were wondering, for here it means that if he has no lightheadedness, even though he has no heaviness of the head, he can already pray. This means that there is no in between here. And according to the above, there really is no in between. Rather, either he has faith above reason, called “heaviness of the head,” or faith within reason, called “lightheadedness,” since it is easy for the mind to understand and agree if the intellect mandates that he should do these actions.

But in between, there is nothing. Therefore, one who wants to pray to the Creator certainly has faith, or he would not come to pray. However, a) either he prays on a basis of faith within reason, called “lightheadedness,” as RASHI interpreted, that he has no subduing, b) or he prays with heaviness of the head, when he has subduing. That is, he subdues his reason and does not look at it, as though it is worthless, and his entire basis is built on faith above reason.

Now we can understand the question we asked, Why is prayer called “work”? Moreover, it is called “work in the heart”! It is known that “work” means that a person needs to do something that the body does not enjoy doing. This is called “work.” For this reason, a person cannot work without reward. But if a person enjoys the work, it is not regarded as exertion.

This means that the same act that a person does, to one who does not enjoy doing it, it is regarded as “labor,” and to another, who enjoys what he is doing, it is not regarded as labor or work. Hence, naturally, he does not need to receive any reward in return for it. Because a person cannot do anything without pleasure, when he does something he does not enjoy, why does he do it?

The answer is that he is expecting to benefit from the work he is doing now at a later time, meaning that he will receive reward for the work and will enjoy. It follows that when one does something without pleasure, from where does he derive strength to work? We must say that he is looking at the reward, and this gives him fuel for the work.

For example, assume that the ADMOR of Lubavitch lands at the airport and he has a suitcase. He gives it to the porter, whose job is to take the suitcase to the taxi. Afterward, he will demand his payment for his work. This is so because he does not recognize the importance of the rabbi. Yet, if the rabbi were to give the suitcase to one of his followers, and the rabbi would want to pay him for his work, the follower will not want to receive, since he already received pleasure while working, for he considers it a fortune to serve the rabbi.

It is as we explained, a prayer should be with heaviness of the head, meaning when a person feels that he does not have faith above reason, meaning that the reason does not mandate him to work in order to bestow, yet the person understands the primary goal should be to be rewarded with Dvekut[adhesion] with the Creator. Since the reason objects to this, he must go against reason, and this is very hard work.

Since he is asking the Creator to give him something to which all of his organs object, it follows that each and every prayer he makes to the Creator has its special work. This is why a prayer is called “work in the heart,” meaning that he wants to go against the intellect and the mind, which tell him the complete opposite.

This is why it is not called “the work of the brain,” since the work of the brain means that a person exerts to understand something with his mind and reason. But here he does not want to understand with his reason that we should serve the Creator in a state of knowing. Rather, he wants to serve the Creator specifically with faith above reason. This is why a prayer is called “work in the heart.”

Accordingly, we should interpret “One does not pray,” for a prayer is a lack. When a person lacks something and cannot obtain his wish by himself, he asks others to help him. Therefore, when one comes to pray to the Creator to help him, he first needs to see what he really needs, meaning that if he were given what he asks, he will be a complete person who lacks nothing.

This pertains specifically to faith, for when a person is rewarded with permanent faith above reason, he is rewarded with everything. This is why they said, “One does not pray unless with a lack of heaviness of the head,” meaning for the Creator to give him the light of faith.

Inapoi la pagina 1987 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link