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The Lord Has Chosen Jacob for Himself

Article No. 16, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

In The Zohar, Teruma (item 1), Rabbi Hiya interprets the verse, “The Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself.” These are its words: “Rabbi Hiya started, ‘For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His merit.’ How beloved are the sons of Israel by the Creator, Who desires them and wishes to unite with them and bond with them, and He has made them a unique nation in the world, as it is written, ‘And what one nation on Earth is like Your people Israel,” and they desired Him and bonded with Him. It is written about it, ‘The Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,’ and it is written, ‘For the Lord’s portion is His people.’ And to the rest of the nations He has given ministers and rulers over them while He took Israel for His portion.”

We should understand the following about the above words of Rabbi Hiya:

1) He begins to interpret, “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself.” This means that the Creator has chosen Jacob because he says that He wanted them and wanted to unite and bond with them. Afterwards he interprets to the contrary and says, “They desired Him and bonded with Him,” as it is written, “For Jacob has chosen the Lord for himself.”

2) What does it mean when he says, “and He has made them a unique nation in the world,” as it is written, “And what one nation on Earth is like Your people Israel”? After all they are a nation among the seventy nations of the world, so what does “one nation” mean? It seems to imply that He made them be one nation.

3) He interprets, “For the Lord’s portion is His people,” to mean that He has given the rest of the nations ministers and rulers over them, and took Israel to His portion. We should understand what it means that He has given the rest of the nations ministers and rulers, but took the people of Israel to His portion.

It is known that there are two types of guidance: the first is called “private Providence,” and the second is called “guidance through reward and punishment.” They contradict one another, and Baal HaSulam interpreted that one cannot attain this with the external mind, but only when one has achieved one’s wholeness in one’s inner degree can one attain this.

The order of man’s work is that we were given the work of the Creator with guidance through reward and punishment. This is why one must not say, “I am waiting for the Creator to give me desire and craving to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, and when He feels that I am feeling a good feeling I will keep the Torah and Mitzvot. It is forbidden to say that since we are as “clay in the hands of the potter,” in the hands of the Creator. How does our overcoming help to work against the view of our bodies? We are told that we must not look at our bodies, which demand that we satisfy their wishes. Rather, we must accustom our bodies and convince them to follow the rules of Torah whether they agree or not.

We must believe in reward and punishment—that everything depends on our actions, to the extent that we persuade our bodies to follow the laws of Torah. Our sages said, “The reward is according to the labor (Avot, Chapter 5): “Ben He, He says, ‘The reward is according to the labor.’”

Baal HaSulam said that we must keep the two above types of guidance in the following manner: Before the act, meaning during the preparation, when he is about to keep the Torah and Mitzvot, he must believe in Providence of reward and punishment. Then, “Everything that is in the might of your hand to do, that do.” That is, everything depends on man’s work: to the extent of one’s strength to overcome in Torah and Mitzvot, so he will be rewarded.

But after the work he should say that he believes in private Providence. It follows that since it is difficult for a person to say after all the efforts he put in, how can he say that it is private Providence? It follows that afterwards he is still working in reward and punishment. That is, if he tries to believe that it was private Providence he will receive reward for this. If he cannot believe in private Providence, it follows that he is punished for not wanting to believe in private Providence.

Therefore, by believing in private Providence and that it is not up to him, but the Creator has chosen to connect with him, he must praise and thank the Creator for choosing him. This applies to each and every discernment. That is, for even the smallest action in spirituality that one is rewarded with doing he should thank the Creator for giving him a thought and desire to do this thing.

One should accustom oneself to this work. When he rises before dawn, whether he woke up by himself or a friend woke him up, he should believe that although he overcame his idleness and got out of bed—with great effort, and he certainly deserves gratitude and a great reward for such great effort—he should still believe that the Creator has given him the desire to overcome all the thoughts he had when he rose out of bed.

It follows that it is the opposite of what one thinks, meaning that the Creator deserves gratitude for giving him the power and desire to overcome all this thoughts and desires. It follows that on the one hand the Creator has chosen him, and this is called “private Providence.” On the other hand, Jacob has chosen the Creator, and this is the meaning of reward and punishment.

Now we will explain what we asked, “What does it mean when he says, ‘and He has made them a unique nation in the world’?” After all, there are seventy other nations in the world, and the verse says, “And what one nation on Earth is like Your people Israel”?

It is known that singular and plural in spirituality are interpreted as disparity of form and equivalence of form, as it is written (Exodus, 19:2), “And Israel camped there before the mountain.” RASHI interpreted, “As one man with one heart.” This is why it is written, “camped,” in singular form (in Hebrew]. However, the rest of the pauses are with complaints and disputes, this is why it is written there “camped” in plural form [in Hebrew]. It follows that singular refers to equivalence of form.

With the above said we should interpret that the Creator has made the people of Israel. Although they are many, as in “As their faces are not similar to one another, their views are not similar to one another” (Berachot, 58). Still, He has made them a unique people in the world, which is a great novelty. That is, although they are a nation, meaning plural, they still have the singular form through equivalence of form. As it was at the time of the giving of the Torah, so should be the wholeness of the people of Israel, meaning to become one.

It is presented in the article “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)” (item 23): “This is why the text refers to them in singular form, as it is written, ‘and there Israel camped before the mountain,’ which our sages interpret ‘as one man in one heart.’ This is because each and every person from the nation completely detached himself from self-love… It turns out that all the individuals in the nation have come together and become one heart and one man, for only then were they qualified to receive the Torah.”

We therefore see that the Creator made it so the people of Israel would achieve wholeness by giving them the power to all be of equal form, which is to bring contentment to one’s Maker.

We should also explain the third question. We asked about His giving the rest of the nations ministers and rulers, while taking Israel for Himself, for His own portion. We should interpret this in the work in one person, meaning in one body. When a person attributes everything that happens in the world to the Creator, who does and will do all the deeds, he is regarded as a part of the Creator because there is no other authority in the world. At that time he is considered a part of the Creator. When he does not attribute everything that happens in the world to the Creator, but says that they are other forces, which are not Kedusha [holiness], he is in a state of “nations of the world,” meaning having appointees and ministers. However, this is when he is in a state of “the rest of the nations of the world.”

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

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What Is the Need to Borrow Kelim [Vessels] from the Egyptians?

Article No. 14, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written (Exodus 11), “Speak now in the ears of the people that each man will borrow from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor vessels of silver and vessels of gold. And the Lord gave the people’s favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.”

Our sages said (Berachot, 9b), “The disciples of Rabbi Yanai said, ‘‘Do’ means please. The Creator said to Moses, ‘Please go and tell them, Israel, to please borrow vessels of silver and vessels of gold from the Egyptians so that that righteous will not say, ‘He kept, ‘And they enslaved them and afflicted them,’ and then, He did not keep ‘And they will come out with many possessions.’’’”

This is perplexing. If the Creator wanted to keep His promise to Abraham, as it is written, “And afterwards they will come out with many possessions,” could He not make the people of Israel wealthy without borrowing vessels from the Egyptians? It seems like fraud, for it seems that they initially borrowed by deceit, meaning without intending to return.

We should also understand why the Creator said to Moses to implore Israel to borrow vessels from the Egyptians, as is said above, that “Do” means please. Also, what is this imploring? It seems to mean that the Creator knew that they would object to it, so He asked Moses to speak to Israel. Thus, we should understand the reason for Israel’s objection to this.

We should also understand the words, “And the Lord gave the people’s favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.” How can we understand such a thing, which is completely contradictory? Although anything is possible from the perspective of the Creator, but from the literal perspective this is difficult to grasp, as it is written (Exodus, 1:12), “And the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, and they detested the sons of Israel.” Our sages said, “It shows that they were as thorns in their eyes” (Sutah, 11).

It follows that from thorns, meaning being unable to stand the people of Israel and seeing them as thorns, they now turned completely around and the Egyptians liked the people of Israel.

In the Creator’s promise to Abraham, “And afterwards they will come out with many possessions,” we should understand the whole matter that is presented there (Genesis, 15:6), “And He said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it.’ And he said, ‘Lord God, by what will I know that I will inherit it?’ And He said to Abram, …‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years …and afterward they will come out with many possessions.’”

Here, too, we should understand the answer that Abraham received to the question, “By what will I know that I will inherit it,” since the Creator’s answer was to this question, as it is written, “And He said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years …and afterward they will come out with many possessions.’” Thus, the question was about guarantees on the inheritance, and the answer was to the guarantee was that the people of Israel will be in exile. But is exile a guarantee for inheriting the land?

Baal HaSulam explained the meaning of this question: It is known that there is no light without a Kli[vessel]. That is, it is impossible to receive filling if there is no lack. A lack is called a Kli, and when Abraham saw what the Creator wanted to give his sons he said, “I do not see that my sons will have a need for that spiritual inheritance of the land.” He said, “If they receive a small illumination they will be content because the smallest degree in spirituality brings more pleasure than all the corporeal pleasures in the world. Accordingly, when they receive some small illumination they might think that there are no greater degrees than what they have attained, and will therefore have no need to ask for anything more.”

And because this Abram’s question to the Creator was, “By what will I know that they will have the need to inherit the spiritual land?” Thus, he was asking the Creator to tell him how it might happen that they will have light without a Kli. Abram understood that the Creator gives the light, but the Kelim, meaning a desire for greater lights than they already received, who would make them see that they need to achieve greater ascension than they feel now?

There is a rule in spirituality that anything spiritual that comes to a person makes him feel unsurpassable wholeness, since anything spiritual is a complete feeling, without any deficiency. Otherwise it is not regarded as “spiritual,” for only in a corporeal matter can there be pleasure, and still we feel that there is a greater pleasure. This is not so in spirituality.

Thus, Abraham wondered how and through what they would have a need to ask the Creator to give them greater degrees, called “inheritance of the land.” He said that the Creator’s reply to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs” means that from here, meaning from the exile in Egypt they will have a need to ask the Creator to give them greater strength each time.

The reason is that when a person begins to advance in the work of the Creator and wants all his actions to be in order to bestow, he sees that he cannot prevail. At that time one asks the Creator to help him, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify if aided,” and the holy Zohar asks, “How is he aided? With a holy soul.”

Indeed, everything that they overcame in the work sank in the earth, as he says about their building of Pithom and Ramesses. That is, each day they had to start their work anew because everything they built went into the abyss and they always saw themselves as though they had never begun to work because they did not remember any word of Torah that concerns work and always reflect on themselves, “Where is our work, the efforts we put into the work? Where did they go?”

It is even more difficult to understand how the Klipa [shell/ peel] of Pharaoh could swallow all their work to the point that they did not feel that they ever engaged in serving the Creator, that their goal was to achieve wholeness, and they knew what they wanted. Suddenly, they have come to a state where they forgot everything and no Reshimot [recollections] remained in them from their work.

All this was deliberate. The Creator has prepared a Klipa for this purpose so as to constantly keep them in a state of beginning. It is known that all beginnings are tough, so they will be forced to ask the Creator to help them, as said above, that “He who comes to purify if aided,” and as the holy Zohar says that each time they receive a “holy soul,” which is a force from above, meaning that each time they receive additions to the soul. This accumulates into a great amount, as it is known that “What is given from Heaven is not taken back” (Hulin 60).

However, although each illumination received from above departs for the time being, in the end, when he completes the amount of labor that one must do, as in “Everything that is in the might of your hand to do, that do,” he receives at once everything he had received one at a time. He thought that it all went to the Klipot, but then he receives everything back.

According to the above, it follows that the whole matter of the exile in Egypt was in order to receive Kelim [vessels] and a need for the great lights, called “inheritance of the land.” This is what Abraham was perplexed about and said that he did not see that his sons would have a need for these great lights. And since there is no light without a Kli, it turns out that even if there is a desire to give them, they have no Kelim in which to receive.

For this reason they were given the exile in Egypt where through the questions and arguments of the Egyptians they will be continuously emptied from what little Kedusha [holiness] they had acquired, for they suckled from them. For this reason they will always need to ask the Creator to illuminate their way for them so they can go forward. But they say that they kept going backwards, which is why the ARI wrote that at the time of the exodus from Egypt the people of Israel were in forty-nine gates of impurity until the King of Kings appeared to them and redeemed them.

This seems to contradict reason, since it is known that Moses and Aaron came to Egypt and spoke to the sons of Israel about the Creator wanting to bring them out from Egypt. They performed all the tokens in Egypt, and they saw the ten plagues that the Egyptians suffered, and this must have brought Israel closer to Kedusha, and not the opposite—that they kept failing to a deeper gate of Tuma’a [impurity], to the point that when it was time to come out of Egypt, meaning when they had to have the best preparation for reception of the light of redemption, we see that when they received the light of redemption they were in forty-nine gates of Tuma’a. Is this possible?

As Baal HaSulam explained, the exile in Egypt was in order to obtain the Kelim of the Egyptians. But it was only to borrow, and later to return to them. He interpreted that this matter of the Creator saying to Abraham, “Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,” was a guarantee of the inheritance. This meant that they would have a need to receive the abundance from the Creator, since wanting to come out of the enslavement of the Egyptians can be only through the help of a holy soul. Then they will need the Creator’s help each time, and from this they will have a need to draw higher degrees.

Now we will explain the meaning of the exile in Egypt and the lending of the Kelim from the Egyptians. We see that when Moses and Aaron came to the sons of Israel, as it is written (Exodus, 4:29), “And Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel, and Aarons said all the words that the Creator had said to Moses, and performed the tokens before the eyes of the people, and the people believed and heard.”

We see from this that as soon as Moses and Aaron came to the sons of Israel they accepted all the words that the Creator had said to Moses with faith above reason. And everything that the Egyptians made them understand with all the questions and doubts about the faith of Israel did not count at all because they went above reason. For this reason, the fact that the whole time they were in exile could not impact them at all now.

That is, once Moses and Aaron came to the sons of Israel with the Creator’s desire to take them out of exile they promptly took it upon themselves not to listen henceforth to the arguments of the Egyptians, who came in the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt—that it is better for them to remain under their governance, and who tried to make them see that the way of the Egyptians was true and they should not listen to what Moses and Aaron were telling them. “We see that you are yelling, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ This made you think that you should leave Egypt and follow them. And we understand that you want to listen to all that they are telling you with eyes shut. Can this be, while we are making perfect sense? You have nothing to reply to us, yet you insist that you are willing to go all the way according to the words of Moses and Aaron.”

From this we see that after Moses and Aaron came with the message of the redemption—that now they were coming out of enslavement, for they were unable to do the holy work, they were happy with this message and did not need any exaggerations of flavors of Torah and Mitzvot. Rather, they were happy precisely with this, meaning with being able to simply observe in practice. This gave them complete satisfaction and they delighted in doing their Master’s will, as it is written, “Therefore they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God’” (Exodus, 5:8).

It follows that now that they are coming out from the exile in Egypt with Kelim that do not need anything, but as it is written, “And the people believed and heard,” and they have no need to inherit the land that the Creator had promised to Abraham, as it is written, “Know for certain … and afterwards they will come out with many possessions,” meaning that the exile was a guarantee that they would have the need to receive the delight and pleasure, which is the inheritance of the land that the Creator sought to give to his descendants but they still did not have the Kelim for this and were content with little.

This is why, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak now in the ears of the people that each man will borrow from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor vessels of silver and vessels of gold.’” According to what Baal HaSulam interpreted we should say that it means that they will take the vessels of silver and vessels of gold that the Egyptians have, meaning take their desires and longings, namely all the doubts that they had about the way of the people of Israel.

The Egyptians were always demanding that everything you do must be with reason and understanding, and your engagement in overcoming in order to exit self-love and to do everything in order to bestow is the wrong way because the Creator is good and does good. When He created the world, He certainly did it to benefit His creations, meaning that we, creatures, will enjoy the delight and pleasure. But you are leaving the right path and taking on a path that is completely against the purpose of creation. You are telling us that this is the true way, that you do not need anything for self-love but to do everything in order to bestow contentment upon the Maker.

But whenever the people of Israel heard Egypt’s slander about the path of bestowal they would run from them, meaning they ran from these thoughts when they came to confuse the thoughts of the sons of Israel and instill their views in the hearts of the sons of Israel.

For this reason, the Creator knew that they would not want to hear Egypt’s questions and doubts of “who” and “what,” but they did not have the Kelim in which to place the many possessions, since there is no light without a Kli. That is, a person cannot be given anything for which he has no desire. Therefore, if He were to ask the sons of Israel, “What do you want Me to give you?” They would say, ‘We do not want anything from You. On the contrary, our only aspiration is to give to You, and not that You will give to us.” Thus, how can they receive the delight and pleasure, called “many possessions,” which is considered that He wants to give them Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida? They have no need for this!

This is why the Creator wanted them to take the Egyptians’ Kelim, meaning their questions and doubts, and all their desires, which are the Kelim of the Egyptians. But they were not to really take those Kelim, only borrow them. That is, they would take the Egyptians’ Kelim only to have a need to satisfy those deficiencies, but not to really keep those Kelim because the Kelim, meaning these thoughts and desires do not belong to the people of Israel. It is only a temporary borrowing, so as to later return to them.

That is, afterwards, meaning once they received the filling that belongs to these questions, precisely through them it will be possible to bestow upon them the filling. This is similar to receiving the lights that belong to their Kelim, which are called “vessels of reception in order to receive.” However, they promptly threw away their Kelim and used the lights that belong to their Kelim, but received everything in order to bestow contentment upon the Maker.

This is similar to what Baal HaSulam interpreted regarding Haman and Mordechai. He said that we see that when Ahasuerus wanted to glorify Mordechai, as it is written (Esther 6:3), “And the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordechai for this?’ … and the king said to him, ‘What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?’ … Haman said to the king … let them bring royal apparel.’”

Accordingly, he asked, “How can such a thing be? If the King wants to honor Mordechai, he asks Haman ‘What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?’” He answers that this implies to the order of imparting abundance upon the lower ones. The Creator certainly wants to give honor and greatness to the righteous, which is Mordechai the righteous. But should He ask the righteous, “What do you want Me to give you?” the righteous will say that he does not want to receive anything. On the contrary, all he wants is to bestow upon the King.

This is why he had to ask the Haman in him, who understands that it is good to receive, and then he said “And do so to Mordechai the Jew,” meaning that he will receive the honor and greatness not in the Kelim of Haman, which are called “receiving in order to receive,” but in receiving in order to bestow.

Similarly, we should explain concerning the borrowing of the Kelim from the Egyptians, when the Creator asked Moses to ask Israel to borrow Kelim from the Egyptians. We asked, “Why did the Creator have to ask Israel for such a thing? Why would the people of Israel not want to borrow these Kelim? The answer is that when Moses and Aaron came as the Creator’s emissaries to bring the people of Israel out from the exile, it is written, “And the people heard and believed,” meaning with faith above reason. They did not need anything or had any desire for high degrees. They were content with being able to engage in Torah and Mitzvot without any disturbances from the Egyptians.

This is similar to what we said above, that he said that if the king were to ask Mordechai the righteous, “What honor and greatness do you want me give you?” He would reply that he does not want to receive anything from the king, but on the contrary, he wants to give to the king. This is why the king asked Haman what to do with a man whom the king desires to honor. Haman knew what to ask. He said, “Let them bring royal apparel which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed.” This is why the king needed Haman’s Kelim, meaning what Haman understood that one should receive from the king.

For this reason he had to ask Moses to ask Israel for a favor—that they will borrow the Kelim of the Egyptians, meaning temporarily, so they will have desire and craving to satisfy all the lacks that the Egyptians demanded to satisfy. He had to ask because the people of Israel would settle for what they had and would always run from their thoughts and desires, but now they hear the questions and doubts of the Egyptians.

And since He promised Abraham that afterwards they will come out with many possessions, He needed them to take the Egyptians’ Kelim only as lending and then give them back. That is, they have nothing to do with their wishes, and what they took was only temporarily, to be able to receive the lights, called “inheritance of the land,” which the Creator had promised to Abraham.

Now we can understand what we asked about how the matter was turned from one end to the other, since the writing says, “and they detested the sons of Israel,” meaning that they were as thorns, and afterwards, “And the Lord gave the people’s favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.” Wanting to hear their questions gave “favor” because they thought they were going their way. “And the Lord gave the people’s favor” by telling them to borrow the Kelim from them, since this was what the Egyptians wanted.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

What Is the Main Deficiency for which One Should Pray?

Article No. 12, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is known that Creation is called “deficiency.” This is why it is called “existence from absence.” Man was created full of deficiencies. Therefore, for man to succeed in the work when he is going to satisfy his deficiencies he must first know what is the main deficiency to which he should give preference over all his deficiencies. Since there are spiritual deficiencies and corporeal deficiencies we must first clarify which we defined as “spiritual” and which we defined as “corporeal.”

In the essay, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (item 11) it is written, “Now you can understand the real difference between spirituality and corporeality: anything that contains a complete desire to receive, in all its Behinot [discernments], which is Behina Dalet, is considered ‘corporeal.’ This is what exists in all the elements of reality before us in this world. Conversely, anything above this great measure of desire to receive is considered ‘spirituality.’”

It follows that corporeality means that which relates to satisfying our will to receive. Thus, everything that one does for one’s own benefit is called “corporeality,” and what he does to benefit the Creator is called “spirituality.”

It is therefore clear that we do not need to create the Kli [vessel] for corporeality, meaning the desire to satisfy the self-gratification, a Kli of wanting to receive in order to receive, since the Creator gave us such Kelim [vessels] at the onset of Creation, as it is known that the thought of creation, called “His desire to do good to His creations,” created the will to receive existence from absence, that we should want to crave to receive delight and pleasure. Also, the Creator satisfies that Kli as He wishes. Thus, we do not need to ask for vessels of reception.

Therefore, the prayer we give for corporeality is only for the filling, meaning that the Creator will satisfy everything we feel we need since the sensation of lack is what makes us suffer. And the suffering we feel are the reason that we do everything we can to satisfy our wishes.

This is not so when we need to pray for spirituality, that the Creator will satisfy our deficiencies, since the lack for spirituality was the reason for the prayer that the Creator will grant our wishes since we are suffering because our deficiency has not been fulfilled, as this deficiency has yet to be born in us, meaning the lack to satisfy the Kli called “vessel of bestowal,” which is the difference between spirituality and corporeality. The corporeal Kli is called “vessel of reception,” and wants to satisfy its self-gratification. A spiritual Kli is called “a Kli that wants to satisfy the benefit of the Creator,” contrary to one’s own benefit.

This Kli is absent in the nature of creation since by nature, man is born with only a Kli for self gratification. The reason we say to our bodies that we must work to benefit the Creator is that it does not understand what is being said to it, as it cannot grasp not considering its own benefit and thinking all day about benefitting the Creator. It is especially so when it hears that we should relinquish pleasures that pertain to self-love in favor of benefitting the Creator.

This thing is so foreign to the body when it hears that one should work only in order to bestow that it immediately becomes a smart aleck and asks, “I would like to know if you see other people walking in this line for whom you, too, want to do the same? True, I would agree with you, but see for yourself how many people you see whose every thought in life is only to see to the benefit of the Creator and not their own? If we assume that you know that there are people who are walking on this line, how much time and effort did they put into having the ability to do everything only to bestow? And especially, how long should this take, a month, two months, a year, two years?” And it becomes even more of a smart aleck and asks, “Did all those who invest time and effort achieve this degree of being above to aim all their works to bestow?” With these words they can divert a person from the work pertaining to the path of bestowal. It follows from all the above that concerning spirituality, called “bringing contentment to one’s Maker,” a person has no such deficiency. On the contrary, if he does get a thought that we should do something to bestow upon the Creator without any reward, all the body’s thoughts and desires immediately protest and cry out, “Do not be a fool and an exception to go against the majority, who know that the reason that compels one to work is self-benefit.

Only with this force he can engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]. Although he knows that he should engage Lishma [for Her sake], but there is a general answer to this, that he is keeping what our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] because from Lo Lishma he will be rewarded with Lishma.” However, he should not be concerned with this, meaning to test if he has really come closer to Lishma. Rather, he knows that the good is bound to come, meaning that he will certainly achieve Lishma, so he does not need to think about the meaning of Lishma because he need not scrutinize the details of things he is not supposed to do. Rather, he lives like the majority.

Therefore, there is a big difference between the prayer that one prays for corporality and the prayer one prays for spirituality. For spirituality, one must first pray for the Kli, meaning for a deficiency, to feel pain and sorrow at not having this Kli, called “desire,” meaning to crave to bring contentment to one’s Maker.

It therefore follows that he need not pray for satisfying the deficiency, as in corporality when he has a need and asks for the satisfaction of the need, since he still has no Kli of spirituality. Hence, when one comes to pray for spirituality he must pray for the Kli—that the Creator will give him a Kli of wanting to bestow upon the Creator. Afterwards, when he has a Kli that pertains to spirituality he will be able to pray for the abundance to enter the spiritual Kli.

It follows from the above that the real deficiency for which one must pray to the Creator should be the Kli. This follows the rule, “There is no light without a Kli.” When he prays for a real deficiency that he is lacking comes the granting of the prayer when the Creator gives him a new Kli, as it is written, “And I will remove the stony heart from you flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

I heard about this deficiency from Baal HaSulam, who said in the name of his teacher, the ADMOR of Pursov, about the verse, “Command Aaron (Leviticus, 6:2). “RASHI interprets, ‘‘Command’ means rushing promptly and for posterity. Rabbi Shimon said, ‘the writing should rush primarily where the pockets are empty.’’” He interpreted it to mean that “pocket” is a Kli in which to put money. Usually, we exert and worry about getting money. And he said, “One should be most concerned where the pockets are empty, meaning where there is no Kli. ”

It is as we explained that in spirituality one need not pray that the Creator will give him abundance and lights. Rather, first he must see that he has a Kli, meaning a desire and craving to bestow upon the Creator, since by nature we want only to receive and not to give.

It follows that when one enters the holy work and wants to achieve completion, he must exert with all his might to obtain the desire to want to bring contentment to one’s Maker. This is where one should focus all one’s prayers—that the Creator will help him and give him this new Kli. He must say before Him: “Lord of the world, as You have given me when I first came into this world a Kli to only receive for my own sake, I now ask that You will give me a new Kli, to have a desire to only bestow contentment upon You.”

We might ask, “How can one pray to be given a Kli called ‘desire to bestow,’ when we say that he does not need this Kli because he does not feel that he will lack it?” How, then, can one ask for something that one does not need?

Although he sees that he does not have the Kli called “desire to bestow,” it does not mean that one needs everything that he does not have. It is written about the upper Sefirot that the Sefira [sin. of Sefirot] Bina desires mercy although we learned that through Tzimtzum Bet [second restriction] she departed from Rosh de AA. Still it is regarded as though she did not depart, for although she has no Hochma, it is not considered a deficiency because she does not need it.

We see that something that one does not have is regarded as a lack precisely when he needs it. Moreover, one must feel pain at not having. That is, even when he feels he needs it but is not tormented at not having it, it is still not considered a deficiency. Hence, how can one pray for something for which he has no deficiency?

This is why one must think about the purpose of creation, which we know is to do good to His creations. When one begins to criticize that good, which is among the creatures, meaning their delight in the world from the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to give to them, yet he cannot find it among the creatures, it makes him realize that there must be a reason that denies the delight and pleasure from the creatures, and for which the upper abundance cannot be revealed, and why the purpose of creation cannot be completed.

When he looks at himself he says that everything he sees—that the creatures did not receive the abundance—must be because they are not observing Torah and Mitzvot as one should observe the commandments of the King. It is as our sages said, “The Creator wished to reward Israel, therefore He gave them plentiful Torah and Mitzvot [commandments].” This means that through Torah and Mitzvot we can be rewarded with the delight and pleasure.

However, the question is, “Why are we not observing the Torah and Mitzvot as is appropriate when serving the King? He says that it is because we lack the sensation of the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, and that we lack the importance of the Mitzva [commandment] that He has commanded us to keep His Torah and Mitzvot.

At that time a person comes to a resolution that only the Creator can correct this. That is, if He reveals to us a little bit of light of Torah and Mitzvot so we may feel the pleasure in them we will certainly be able to serve the King with our hearts and souls, as it should be with those who feel the greatness of the King. Hence, for what should we pray to the Creator? To give some upper abundance. Then everyone will engage in Torah and Mitzvot properly, without any negligence.

However, we see what the holy ARI says, that the Nukva was improper there, hence there was the breaking. The Ohr Pnimi [“Inner Reflection,” commentary inside The Study of the Ten Sefirot] interprets the words of the ARI that since the upper abundance should come into the Kli to receive the abundance in order to bestow, since the light was greater than the Kli was ready to receive—meaning that the Kli should receive light precisely according to its ability to aim in order to bestow, and it could not aim to bestow with such a great light—the light had to enter Kelim [vessels] whose desire is in order to receive.

This is called Klipa [shell/peel]. It follows that the Kelim broke. Thus, should abundance come into these Kelim it will all go to the outer ones, to the Klipot [pl. of Klipa]. This is similar to saying that the Kli was broken so we do not place anything in it because it will all spill out.

Therefore, one must not pray to be given abundance from above, since it will all go to the outer ones. Instead, he should pray to the Creator to give him a Kli, which is a desire and craving to bestow upon the Creator. When he has that Kli, the upper abundance will appear to man and he will feel the delight and pleasure that were in the thought of creation to do good to His creations. Therefore, we should ask the Creator for what we really need, which is a vessel of bestowal, and we need not pray for anything else.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

A Real Prayer Is over a Real Deficiency

Article No. 11, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

The writing says, “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt. …And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. …And the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously … And it came to pass that the sons of Israel sighed because of the work, and they cried out, and their cry because of the work went up to God …and God heard their groaning.”

We should understand why it is written, “and their cry because of the work went up to God.” Did they not have greater torments in Egypt? Here it seems that their cry, meaning their torments, were only from the work. It is also written, “And God heard their groaning,” meaning that hearing the prayer was over their groaning, which is only about the work.

We shall interpret this according to our way. It is known that before a person begins to work in order to bestow, but for reasons that are written in the holy Zohar (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” items 190-191), that there are two reasons for engaging in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]: 1) to have the pleasures of this world. If he does not observe the Torah and Mitzvot he is afraid that the Creator will punish him. 2) To have the pleasures of the next world. His fear that he may not be given causes him to observe Torah and Mitzvot.

When the reason that compels him to observe Torah and Mitzvot is his own benefit, the body does not resist so much because to the extent that he believes in reward and punishment he can work and feel that each day he is adding more. And this is the truth, that each day of performing Mitzvot and engaging in the Torah joins the day before, and so he adds to his possessions of keeping Torah and Mitzvot.

The reason is that his intention is primarily the reward, and he is not thinking about the intention, meaning that his aim will be to bestow. Rather, he believes in reward and punishment, and that he will be rewarded for what he is doing. Therefore, his aim is only to do perform proper actions in every detail. Otherwise, if the actions are improper, it is certain that his work will not be accepted so as to reward him for them. When he sees that the work he is doing is fine, he has nothing more to worry about.

For this reason, his concern is only with the quantity, meaning that he should try to do more good deeds. If he is a wise disciple then he knows he should delve deeper into his learning and be more meticulous in the Mitzvot he is performing—to keep them according to the law according to everyone’s view. He always tries to be rigorous with judgments that are usually treated more lightly, while he tries to be more rigorous, but he has no other worries.

It follows that such people—whose reason for observing Torah and Mitzvot and assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven is to be rewarded in this world and in the next world—do not need the Creator to have the strength to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, since to the extent of their faith in reward and punishment the body allows them to keep, each according to his degree.

This is not so with people who want to do the holy work in order to bestow without any reward, and want to observe Torah and Mitzvot because of the greatness of the Creator, and it is a great privilege for them to be allowed to serve the King, as it is written in the abovementioned holy Zohar: “Fear, which is the first, is that one should fear one’s Master because He is great and ruling, the essence and the root.”

He interprets there, in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar], that there are three manners to fear of the Creator:

1. fear of punishments in this world,
2. fearing punishments of Hell, as well.

Those two are not real fear because he is not keeping the fear because of the commandment of the Creator, but for his own sake. It follows that his personal benefit is the root, and fear is the branch and results from his own benefit. But fear that is the essence is that he will fear the Creator because He is great and rules over everything.

It follows that the greatness of the Creator is the reason that compels him to observe Torah and Mitzvot. This is regarded as his desire being only to bestow upon the Creator, called “bestowing contentment upon his Maker and not for his own benefit.”

Here begins the exile, meaning that he is not permitted to aim his work to be in order not to receive reward, since it is against nature. And although one can force oneself although the body disagrees, just as one can practice abstention although it is against nature, but this pertains to actions. That is, to do things against the body’s will he can go above reason, called “against the body’s will.”

However, he cannot go against his feeling and intellect, meaning to say that he feels otherwise than he does. For example, if a person is cold or hot, he cannot say that his feeling is untrue, and force himself to say that he understands otherwise than what his mind does, or that he feels otherwise than what he is feeling. His only option is to say what he sees.

It follows that when one wants to keep Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow upon the Creator, it is the nature of the body not to move at all unless it sees that it will have some reward. Thus, he has no way to work for the Creator and not for his own benefit.

Here begins the exile, meaning the torments that as much as he works he sees no progress. For example, if he is twenty, he can say that he has acquired possessions of twenty years of engagement in Torah and Mitzvot. On the other hand, he can say that he has been keeping Torah and Mitzvot for twenty years but has not achieved the ability to do anything in order to bestow, rather everything is built on the basis of self-love.

It follows that all the torments and pains he suffers are because he cannot work for the Creator. He wants to work in order to bestow, but the body is enslaved to the Klipot [shells/ peels] and does not let him have this aim. At that time he cries out to the Creator to help him because he sees that he is in exile among the Klipot, they govern him, and he sees no way that he will be able to emerge from their control.

It follows that at that time his prayer is regarded as a real prayer because he cannot come out from this exile, as it is written, “And He brought Israel out from their midst, for His mercy is forever.” Since this is against nature, only the Creator can deliver Israel from this exile. But since it is known that there is no light without a Kli [vessel], meaning that there is no filling without a lack, and the lack is the Kli that receives the filling, for this reason, before one enters exile, meaning if he does not see that he cannot deliver himself from the exile by himself, it cannot be said that he should be brought out. This is so because although he cries, “Get me out of the state I am in,” it is not a real prayer because how does he know that he cannot come out by himself?

Rather, this can be said precisely when he feels the exile, meaning that he will pray from the bottom of the heart. There are two conditions for praying from the bottom of the heart:

1) His work must be against nature. That is, he wants to do everything only to bestow, and wants to exit self-love. At that time it can be said that he has a lack.

2) He begins to exit self-love by himself and exerts in it, but cannot move an inch from his state. At that time he becomes needy of the Creator’s help and his prayer is real because he sees that he cannot do anything by himself. Then, when he cries out to the Creator to help him, he knows this from the work, as it is written, “And the sons of Israel sighed because of the work.” This means that by working and wanting to achieve the degree of being able to bestow upon the Creator, they saw that they could not emerge from their nature so they prayed from the bottom of the heart.

By this we will understand what we asked about the verse, “and their cry because of the work went up to God.” This means that the worst torments, over which was all their crying out, was only over the work, and not over other things. Rather, it means that they were crying out over their situation—that they could not emerge from self-love and work for the Creator. This was their exile, which tormented them—that they saw that they were under their control.

It follows that in the exile in Egypt they obtained Kelim, meaning a desire that the Creator will help them emerge from the exile, as we said above that there is no light without a Kli, for only when we pray a real prayer, when one sees that he cannot be saved, and only the Creator can help him, this is considered a real prayer.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning Prayer

Article No. 10, 1986

Our sages said in Masechet Taanit (p 2): “To love the Lord your God and to serve Him, this is a prayer. You say, ‘This is prayer,’ or is it only work?’ We should say, ‘with all your hearts.’ Which is work in the heart? It is prayer.”

We should understand why prayer is regarded as work. Is it work to pray to the Creator to grant our wishes and requests? And if our sages said so then they want to imply to us that there is a special meaning to the prayer—that it is work and not simply a prayer. Thus, what is the issue to which our sages imply?

Indeed, it cannot be said that a person prays and asks to be given something if he has no desire for it. Only when a person feels he lacks something does he go and ask for that filling, related to the lack, from the one who can fulfill it, since one asks only from one who has what he needs, and he also knows that he wants to give and to do good to others.

Accordingly, when a person comes to pray and ask the Creator to satisfy his need, his prayer should be clear. That is, he should clearly know what he needs. That is, when he comes to ask from the Creator he should picture himself speaking to the King, and the King can make him the happiest man in the world at once because nothing is missing in the King’s house. Thus, first one must carefully examine before the prayer so he knows what he really needs, that if the King fulfills his lack he will not need anything more and will be the most complete man in the world.

According to what we learned—that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations—it follows that on the part of the Creator there are no hindrances on bestowing delight and pleasure upon the creatures. This means that the reason why the Creator created in the creatures a lack, called “desire to receive,” was in order to satisfy the deficiency. As we explained, a lack is called torment and affliction if he cannot satisfy his need.

Therefore, all the lack that was created was with the intention to feel pleasure through it, since the lack is included in the intention to do good. This follows the rule that the craving for something gives the pleasure from satisfying it. It is known that even when we give to a person a meal fit for kings, if he has no desire for the meal he cannot enjoy it.

Therefore, when a person feels a lack and has no satisfaction for it, he comes to ask the Creator to grant him his wishes. In general, a person asks only for delight and pleasure. As we learned, on the part of the Creator, a person does not need to pray that the Creator will give him delight and pleasure because His wish is to do good to His creations. Therefore, no one should be asked for anything if the Giver wishes to give.

It follows that before one goes to ask of the Creator to grant his wishes, he should first examine what he needs. This is what he should ask of the Creator. It seems as though the Creator does not give to a person without a person asking first. This means that because asking is not included in the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, but is something that emerged later, from the creature, for this reason the creature must ask the Creator to give him. But we should not ask that the Creator will want to give delight and pleasure because this is His wish, as said above, that His wish is to give delight and pleasure to the lower ones.

However, we should know that since there was the matter of the Tzimtzum [restriction], called “correction of creation,” as it is known that it is so that the Creator’s gift will not be unpleasantness, called “bread of shame.” And since we attribute this correction to the lower one, called Malchut de Ein Sof, who is called “the Kli [vessel] that received the upper light,” and once this receiver received the abundance, a craving for equivalence of form awakened. This is why she did the Tzimtzum.

He says in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (p 9, “Inner Reflection”): “The upper light does not stop illuminating to the creatures for even a minute, and the whole matter of Tzimtzum and Histalkut [departure] of light that are mentioned here relate only to the impression and reception of the Kli, meaning the middle point. This means that although the upper light does not stop illuminating, the Kli still does not receive any of its illumination because it diminished itself.”

As said above, not receiving in order to receive does not relate to the purpose of creation. Rather, it is attributed to the correction of creation. It is an act of the lower one who strives for equivalence of form. It follows that the lower ones cannot receive delight and pleasure although the upper one wants to give because they need vessels of bestowal, and this pertains to the receiver and not to the giver, as we said, that the lower one, called Malchut de Ein Sof, made the Tzimtzum. This is why this Kli relates to the lower one, meaning that the lower one will want to receive only if it can aim in order to bestow.

For this reason, when a person comes to pray to the Creator to give him what he needs, we should say that he actually needs something that does not come from the purpose of creation. Rather, what he needs is something that comes from the lower ones. That is, Malchut, who is called the “lower one” because she receives abundance from the upper one, made a new Kli to receive abundance only in this Kli called “vessel of bestowal.” Therefore, all he should pray for is that the Creator will give him this Kli because this is all he needs.

However, here there is room for scrutiny. If the lower one must make this Kli because it pertains to the lower one, as we said above that Malchut did it, then why does a person not make this Kli by himself, but must ask the Creator to give him this Kli? Moreover, we say about this Kli that the lower one must make it. We tell him that this is all he needs to ask from the Creator, but if this pertains to man’s work then why does he need to ask the Creator?

The matter is clarified more in the words of our sages who said (Berachot 33b), “Rabbi Hanina said, ‘Everything is in the hands of the Creator except for fear of the Creator, as it was said, ‘And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but fear?’”

RASHI interprets “Everything is in the hands of the Creator” as follows, “Righteous and wicked do not come by heaven. He has given this to man and has placed before him two ways, and he must choose fear of heaven.”

The matter of fear is explained in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 203): “Indeed, both the first fear and the second fear are not for his own benefit, but only out of fear that he will lessen bringing contentment to his Maker.” According to the above, it means that fear is that person must aim everything he does to be in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator.

We asked, if this is so, and bestowal is something that man must do, why did we say that he should ask this from the Creator, since it was said, “Everything is in the hands of the Creator except for fear of the Creator”? We should know that man cannot go against the nature with which he was created. Since the Creator created man with a nature of wanting to receive, as we said that it is impossible to enjoy the pleasures without a desire for the pleasure, and we learned that the essence of creation, regarded as “existence from absence,” is the will to receive, hence when one wants to do something in order to bestow it is considered going against nature. This is why we cannot change our nature. Accordingly, if man cannot change nature, why did our sages say, “Everything is in the hands of the Creator except for fear of the Creator?” This implies that man does have the strength to change it.

We can interpret that there are two things here: 1) a desire, regarded as only a potential, that he wants to bestow; 2) that he also has the ability to carry out his thought in actual fact.

Therefore, we should interpret that the demand from man to choose to walk in ways of bestowal, he should know that this is the Kli to receive the purpose of creation—to receive the delight and pleasure—and if he hasn’t these Kelim he will remain in darkness without light. Once he knows this in complete certainty and begins to intend to carry out acts of bestowal, he sees that he cannot go against nature.

Here comes the time of prayer, and not before, since there is no such thing as asking for urgent help—asking for vessels of bestowal, which are Kelim in which he can receive life and without which he is regarded as dead, as our sages said, “the wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’” This is because by nature, man asks for help only when he cannot obtain what he wants by himself, since prior to this there is the matter of shame, as our sages said about the verse, “Chrome gorges for the sons of men.” “When man needs people, his face changes to be as chrome. What is chrome? There is a bird in the cities near the sea, whose name is Chrome. When the sun shines on it, it turns into several colors” (Berachot, p 6).

It is known that the corporeal nature that we were given is such that through it we learn spiritual matters. Therefore, before one knows that he cannot obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, he does not ask the Creator to give them to him. It follows that he does not have a real desire for the Creator to answer his prayer.

For this reason, one must work to obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, and after all the work that he has put into it without obtaining it begins the real prayer from the bottom of the heart. At that time he can receive for help from above, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

But since this prayer is against nature, since man was created with a desire to receive, which is self-love, how can he pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal while all the organs oppose this desire? This is why this work is called “prayer,” meaning he must make great efforts to be able to pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal and annul man’s force of reception.

This is why our sages said, “‘And you shall work’ is prayer, the work in the heart.” By this we will understand why they refer to prayer as “work in the heart.” It is because one must work a lot on himself to cancel self-love and assume the work of obtaining vessels of bestowal. It follows that on the desire to have vessels of bestowal he must work with himself to want to pray, to be given the force of bestowal.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning Help that Comes from Above

Article No. 08, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

Our sages said (Sukkah, 52), “Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish said, ‘Man’s inclination overcomes him every day and seeks to to put him to death, as it is said, ‘The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to put him to death.’ If the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it, as it is said, ‘The Lord will not leave him in his hand or condemn when he is judged.’’”

It is written in The Zohar (Vayishlach, item 10): “Rabbi Hizkiya said, ‘Why then is it written, ‘And Jacob was left alone’? Where were all the camps of messengers that you say surrounded him and came with him?’ Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘Since he brought danger upon himself by remaining alone at night and seeing the danger with his eye. Since they came to guard him only from an invisible danger, they parted him.’ Then he said, ‘I am not worthy of all the mercies and all the truth that You have shown Your servant.’ These are the camps of holy messengers that surrounded him and now parted him for he had put himself in evident danger. Rabbi Yitzhak said, ‘This is why the holy messengers parted him. They surrounded him and have now parted him because he put himself in evident danger.’”

Accordingly, there is a question: “When did the messengers part from him?” They parted when he put himself in danger. That is, first he put himself in danger, and then the messengers parted from him. It was said about this, “And Jacob was left alone.” That is, when they saw, they parted. We should say—“as one comes in and one comes out.”

We should understand why the messengers did not come to guard him in the face of evident danger. It is as though we say that they are unable to keep him from real and evident danger. If so, when can they keep him, when it is not evident? And if the danger is not evident, who knows that there is danger here that requires keeping? That is, to whom should it be evident, to the person? Or if the messengers see that there is evident danger they leave although the person does not know?

To explain this in the work, we first have to know what is the danger there. Afterwards we will explain what is “evident danger.” It is known that the work begins from the right line. “Right” means something that does not require correction. That which requires correction is called “left,” as our sages said, “We place the Tefillin on the left, as it was said, ‘And it shall be a token on your hand.’” Yad-Koh [your hand]. Our sages said, “The left pushes away and the right pulls closer.”

For this reason, when a person is taught to walk in the ways of the work he begins from the righ because the right there poses no danger to the spiritual life, since he can always add because the right line is called Hesed [mercy]. This means that a person appreciates the Torah and Mitzvot[commandments] and says that the Creator has been merciful with him by giving him a thought and desire to observe Torah and Mitzvot. And even the simplest intention, meaning that he does not know what thoughts to think during the performance of Mitzvot and while engaging in the Torah, but simply knows that he is observing the commandment of the Creator, who commanded us through Moses, this is enough to commit him to observe the Torah and Mitzvot according to his ability, and this is enough for him.

Therefore, upon each and every deed he does in Torah or engagement in Mitzvot he thanks and praises the Creator for being merciful with him, giving him a thought and desire to observe the Torah and Mitzvot. Hence, in each and every Mitzva [sin. of Mitzvot] he thanks and praises the Creator for awarding him with a grip in Torah and Mitzvot, regardless of how much. Rather, whatever time he has when the body lets him learn he learns, and as much as he can he exerts to keep the Mitzvot. He is happy that he can keep the Creator’s will, which was not given to other people like him, meaning that the Creator did not give them the understanding and desire to keep the commandments of the Creator.

One who walks on this line is still not regarded as walking on the right line because we see that when there is only one line and a person does not see another line, it is impossible to say that this is called the “right line.” We can say “right” only when there is another line. Then I can say that one is “right” and one is “left.”

Therefore, when guiding a person to walk in the path of the Creator he is told, “Know that the Creator does not want anything from you but only that you will observe the Torah and Mitzvot in utter simplicity. This is enough for you. You do not need great intentions like the great righteous. Rather, the Creator requires man to observe Torah and Mitzvot according to man’s understanding, each according to his quality, meaning with his innate talents. It is impossible to require man to engage in Torah and Mitzvot the same as those who are very capable or brave, but each according to the quality with which he was born.

It is as the holy ARI says, “There is not a day that is like another or a moment that is like the next, and there is no man who is like another, and the galbanum [type of incense] will correct what the frankincense [another type of incense] will not correct.” That is, each person should correct his self and the quality with which he was born. One is not required to do more than the might of the mind and strength with which he was born.

It follows that one line is when he is told that he does not need to find deficiencies in his work. Rather, if he keeps Torah and Mitzvot in utter simplicity it is a great thing since he is observing the King’s commandments. Man should calculate and appreciate his work in utter simplicity. That is, if he is praying and saying a verse or a blessing, whether the blessing on the Mitzvot or the blessing on pleasure, he should think then to whom he is speaking. Certainly, to the extent that he pictures before whom he stands he will feel differently while saying the blessings and while praying. Even if he does not know the meaning of the words, it is still very important because it does not matter what he says but to whom he is speaking!

Therefore, when observing some Mitzva, such as wearing Tzitzit [prayer shawl], he looks at the fact that there are some Jews in the world who were not given the opportunity to wear a Tzitzit, but he was given the privilege of keeping the commandment of the Creator. He should be very thankful to the Creator for this!

Therefore, to the extent of his simple mind, according to his belief in the greatness of the Creator and that it is a great privilege that he can do what the Creator wants, for these reasons he says the blessing, “Blessed are You, O Lord.” That is, he blesses the Creator and thanks Him for rewarding him and giving him what He did not give other people.

Also, when he blesses on pleasures he also thanks the Creator for rewarding him with believing that the Creator has provided him with the pleasures that people can enjoy. But other people do not have this reward of believing that the Creator has given them all the things with which people can enjoy. And also, a person says during the Eighteen Blesses in the morning, “Blessed are You, O Lord, for not making me a gentile,” thanking the Creator for making him Israel.

We therefore see that we must thank the Creator for the smallest things we have in Kedusha[holiness/sanctity], and regard it as great. Although we cannot appreciate it, we should still believe it. I heard from Baal HaSulam who once said that as much as we understand the importance of Torah and Mitzvot Lishma [for Her sake], in truth, Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] is far more important than we appreciate Lishma.

This means that we cannot appreciate the contentment that the Creator derives from our desire to do His will. And each act that is done below, in this world, causes awakening above, in the upper world, as it is said in the holy Zohar, “An act below awakens an act above.” Since man has not yet been rewarded with entering the King’s palace and attaining the lights that are renewed by the works of the lower ones, we must believe that this is so.

That is, when a person comes to the synagogue and says there one verse for the Creator, to the Creator, this act is priceless because at that time a person does the deed, and there is nothing more to add in the action. This is a sign that there is wholeness in the act, and it is as important to the Creator as though he has kept it with all the intentions of the complete righteous. In other words, he is told that there are righteous who add only intentions to the actions, but there is nothing more to add to the act itself, as said above. It was said about the act, “Do not add and do not subtract.”

However, he is told that the work of intentions is not for him, that it belongs only to a chosen few. Thus, if this is his wholeness, he puts all his energy into keeping what he received by upbringing. By this he knows that all he has to do is maintain the quantity. As for the quality, meaning to improve the intentions, namely the reasons that make him keep Torah and Mitzvot, he knows what he was told in his upbringing that in general he will have this world and the next world for his work in observing Torah and Mitzvot. This is called “one line” and not the “right line” because there is still no left here, of which we can say that this line is called “right,” since there is no “right” without “left.”

In this way there is no danger that he might lose the spiritual life of Kedusha [holiness]. Rather, he is always advancing because his calculations are measured by the action, and each day he adds new actions. Therefore, he is always moving forward because he always sees that each day he adds new actions. For example, when he reaches the age of twenty he knows that he has seven years of observing Torah and Mitzvot. And when he reaches the age of thirty he has acquired seventeen years of Torah and Mitzvot.

It follows that this path is secured and there is no danger here to his spiritual life since he has a basis on which to look and measure his progress. Hence, this path is regarded as a safe path and there is no danger here to his spiritual life. That is, on this way he will not fall from his degree or ever despair because he sees that he is not succeeding in his work. Instead, he will always be at peace. His only regret in the work will be that it pains him that other people around him do not serve the Creator like him. This is his only regret in his work. But in himself he finds that he has much to be happy about, that thank God he has possessions of Torah and Mitzvot.

However, when he is told that there is another way, called “left line,” which means that on this way a person sees that although he engages in Torah and Mitzvot he must still correct himself during the work, and that the correction is not on the action, but that he must correct the intention, meaning with what intention he does what he does, namely the reason that makes him keep Torah and Mitzvot, this is already regarded as a dangerous way.

This is so for two reasons: 1) He is told that it is true that it is impossible to work without reward. Rather, any person who does any work, whether great or small, needs fuel that will give him strength to work. If he is told that the reward is that he will bring contentment to the Creator, meaning that “His wish will be only to bestow upon the Creator,” the body does not understand this reason as sufficient to give him strength to work, since it is against human nature because the substance of man is the will to receive in order to receive.

For this reason, when he works in one line, meaning that the basis of his work in this world is that he will receive reward in this world and in the next world, the body can understand that for himself, meaning to enjoy and be rewarded it is worthwhile to work.

However, when he is told that he must work with intentions and aim with each action he is doing to bring contentment to his Maker, he is left powerless in the work since then his body demands explanations: “How can I work and relinquish many things that the body can enjoy so the Creator will enjoy?” There is danger in this path that he might lose all of his spiritual life, even what he has acquired while engaging in one line.

2) The second reason for danger is that even if he prevails each time and wants to work in order to bestow, he sees that he cannot overcome in the intention, but always sees the opposite—that when he worked in one line he saw he was advancing. That is, if he spent ten years of work then he had ten years of Torah and Mitzvot, and if he has been engaging twenty years in Torah and Mitzvot then he has a possession of twenty years.

But here, on the right line, it is to the contrary. If he has spent three years and cannot aim his work in order to bestow then he is more shattered and broken since he has been working on the path of bestowal for three years but he has nothing to show. That is, he has no possession even though he has put in three years of work. It is even more so if he put in five years and so forth. Therefore, the longer he has exerted in the work, the more he sees that he is worse.

But Baal HaSulam said that in truth, on the one hand we can say that a person did advance toward the truth, in recognizing the evil. Before he began the work he thought he would be able to overcome his evil. It is as our sages said (Sukkah, 52), “To the wicked, the evil inclination seems like a hairsbreadth, and to the righteous like a high mountain.”

But on the other hand a person needs to see the truth as it is, meaning that by this his evil did not move an inch, and this might put him in danger of despairing because he would say that Lo Lishma[not for Her sake] is worthless, since the essence of the work is to bring contentment to the Creator, and he sees that he will not be able to overcome. It turns out that by walking on the left line he might God forbid be repelled completely from spiritual life, for he has already flawed the Lo Lishma. It turns out that he is empty both ways and has no grip on the life of Kedusha.

For this reason, people are guided by only one line. If they wake up by themselves and have a drive of their own to start searching for the truth, if they are guided to walk by this way forever or only when in the beginning of the work, they are not shown the left line—that they must correct themselves to do all their works for the Creator.

This is as Maimonides says (end of Hilchot Teshuva), “Sages said, ‘One should always engage in Torah, even Lo Lishma, since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma. Therefore, when teaching children, women, and the uneducated, they are taught to work out of fear and to receive reward. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are told that secret bit-by-bit and are accustomed to this matter with ease until they attain Him and know Him from love.”

Therefore, we must walk on the right line, as well as on the left line, means that even if he knows that there is a truth called Lishma, still, the way he walked in it when he had only one line, now that line has received a new name and it is called “right line.” However, what does it add to us that now we call the one line, “right line”? The explanation is that now there is an intention on the right line. That is, by changing the name, “one line” to “right line,” a special intent is attached to this name, which did not exist when it was called “one line.” This is why it is forbidden to cancel the left line and walk on the right line, since there is no right without left. Thus, we must say that when he was walking in one line, he did not know if there is another way. But now that there is the left line opposite it, the one line is called “right line.”

This means that the wholeness he is receiving now is not because he is walking without deficiencies but because he feels whole and happy with his work as before he went into working in the left line, but for a different reason. Here, in the right line, the wholeness is because he sees that he is a simple person and knows that there is a true path, meaning that you must engage for the sake of the Creator, but he sees that he is far from it. That is, his body does not allow him to annul himself completely before the Creator, that his only direction in life will be to bestow. And yet, he sees that the Creator did give him strength to have some contact with holiness, and others do not have this power. It follows that he thanks and praises the Creator for this. It follows that in such a state he is in wholeness.

However, now that he has begun to work on the left line and understood that the work of bestowal is the main thing, it is difficult for him to be content with less. If he should work, he should work in order to achieve wholeness. But to make efforts to be rewarded with only a touch on the holy work, for this the body has no fuel. This is called as it is written, “Wherever there is a deficiency in Kedusha, there is grip for the Klipot [shells/ peels].” That is, the Klipot make him think, “Should you work so hard for such a small reward, meaning to have such a small grip in Kedusha?”

It follows that the Klipot have the strength to remove him from the Kedusha to a great extent. That is, he is not told that it is not worthwhile to exert for Kedusha. “Kedusha, meaning serving the King, is certainly a great thing, but you see for yourself that you haven’t the strength for it.” Therefore, at that time awakens the danger that he will fall from the work completely because now the body has a grip in his work since man himself sees his deficiencies in the work.

But in the work on one line he knew that this was his wholeness because he was instructed from the beginning that Lishma belongs to great people who were born with great natural talents and good qualities, and with great powers to overcome their bodies. That is, they control themselves and can carry out what they like, and no one can stop them.

As for you, what’s required of you is only according to your ability. That is, do what you can, and by that you have done your duty, since the Torah was not given to the ministering angels but to all the people, each according to his ability.

However, once he begins to walk on the left line he feels that he, too, should achieve Dvekut[adhesion] with the Creator and work in order to bestow, and henceforth he will not be able to feel wholeness in the work of the right line because the left will be obstructing him. Here begins the work of faith above reason. That is, he must believe that the work of Kedusha is very important work. Therefore, he does not mind if he is rewarded with true wholeness or the wholeness he deserves. That is, he still does not have the great privilege of doing the holy work completely, but to a very small extent. But he regards it as a great fortune, whose value he cannot even measure.

It follows that in this work, when he walks on this line, he appreciates the Kedusha so it constantly increases its importance. This is so because he should believe in its greatness above reason, although he still does not actually feel it. He must tell himself: “The reason I must believe above reason in the importance of Torah and Mitzvot is that I am still not worthy of feeling its importance and greatness, as it is known that as long as one is still immersed in self-love, he is unfit to feel the delight and pleasure that is clothed in them. But in truth, when I am worthy, I will see it in actual fact.”

It therefore follows that the reason must believe above reason not because of lack of light that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot, but rather the lack is in the Kli [vessel] of the lower one, that he is still unfit for it, and the Creator knows when I am fit, and will certainly let me feel the taste of Torah and Mitzvot.” It follows that we should believe above reason not because we cannot feel the good in it because the light is concealed and we cannot attain it. If that were so then what does it mean, “For they are our lives,” which is said about the Torah and Mitzvot? Rather, he should believe above reason as long as he has not corrected his vessels of reception. But when he completes his correction, the delight and pleasure will spread in everything holy in which he engages.

Therefore, if he walks on the right line and believes above reason in its importance, to the extent of importance that he appreciates the Torah and Mitzvot he can appreciate even the smallest thing, meaning even a touch, meaning even Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma can also delight him because with this act he is observing the commandment of the Creator.

However, afterwards he must shift to the left line, meaning criticize the work—whether the work he is doing is a way to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice,” if he is really going toward this purpose. This is regarded as putting himself in danger. When he is on the left line, his work is mainly to pray, meaning to cry out to the Creator to help him from above, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify if aided.”

By this we can interpret the meaning of the angels who surrounded Jacob, as mentioned in the words of the holy Zohar, that the angels came to guard him, meaning that it is help that comes from above to assist him so he can continue his way. However, help comes from above when a person has already begun the work and stands midway and cries out for help. But before he has begun the work he is not given assistance.

Therefore, when Jacob has begun the work and has put himself in danger and asked the creator to help him, the angels were sent to keep him so he could win the war into which he has already entered. But when he has completed the work that he began and received help from the angels, and wanted to begin a new work, called “small cans,” and the beginning of the work is in darkness, called “night,” this is called “evident danger,” since a dark place, called “left line,” is dangerous, then he should start alone. Afterward, when he sees that he cannot, he begins to ask the Creator to help, and then he will receive help from above.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Confidence

Article No. 06, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written in the holy Zohar (Toldot, item 122-125): “Rabbi Elazar started and said, ‘Happy is the man whose strength is in You, happy is the man who strengthens in the Creator and places his trust in Him.’ We can interpret confidence as did Hananiah, Misha’el, and Azariah, who trusted and said, ‘If it be so, our God…’ meaning they trusted the Creator to deliver them from the furnace. But he says that it is not so. Rather, come and see, if He does not deliver them and the Creator does not become one for them, His Name will not be sanctified in the eyes of everyone. But after they knew that they did not speak properly, they restated, ‘But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king.’ That is, they said that whether He saves or does not save, you should know that we will not bow unto idols.’

“However, one should not trust and say, ‘The Creator will save me’ or ‘The Creator will do this and that for me.’ Rather, one should place one’s trust in the Creator to help him, as it should be when he exerts in the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah and exert to walk in the path of truth. And when one comes to purify, he is aided. In that, he should trust the Creator to help him. He should place his trust in Him and trust none other than Him. It is written about this, ‘His strength is in You.’

“‘Rails in their hearts’ means that one should establish one’s heart properly, so no foreign thought may come in it. Rather, his heart will be as that rail that is built to pass through it to every place that is needed, to the right and to the left. ‘And his heart shall be sincere,’ meaning whether the Creator does good to him or to the contrary, his heart will be ready and corrected never to question the Creator under any circumstances.

“Another thing: ‘Happy is the man whose strength is in You.’ It is as you say, ‘The Lord will give strength to His people,’ meaning Torah. ‘His strength is in You’ means that one should engage in the Torah for the sake of the Creator, meaning the Shechina [Divinity], who is called ‘Name’ because anyone who engages in the Torah and does not exert Lishma [for Her sake], it is better for him not to be created. ‘Rails in their hearts’ is as you say, ‘Lift up a song for Him who rides in the prairies, whose name is the Lord,’ meaning to extol He who rides in the prairies.

“Also, ‘Rails in their hearts’ means that one should engage in the Torah with the aim to extol the Creator and make Him respected and important in the world, meaning to aim his heart so his engagement in the Torah will draw abundance of knowledge for him and for the whole world, so the name of the Creator will grow in the world, as it is written, ‘And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.’ Then the words, ‘And the Lord shall be king over all the earth’ will come true.”

According to the above, it is difficult to understand the confidence that the holy Zohar interprets for us and says, “However, one should not trust and say, ‘The Creator will save me’ or ‘The Creator will do this and that for me,’” since we see that if someone asks his friend to do him a favor, if that person is his friend and knows that he has a kind heart then he trusts him to do as he asks. But how can it be said that he trusts him even if he does not do as he asks, as it is written, “One should not trust and say, ‘The Creator will save me’”?

Another perplexing point is that he says, “He should place his trust in … none other than Him.” It is written about it, ‘His strength is in You.’” We need to understand this, since on the one hand he says that he should not say that the Creator will save him, meaning that there should be trust even when He does not save him, like Hananiah. In that case, how can we speak of the doubt, that he should trust none other, which means that another will certainly help and save him?

That is, it is as though there is someone who can save him for certain, and this is why there is a prohibition on trusting someone other than the Creator, although he does not know if He will save him. How can it be said that there is someone who can save him? He brings the example of Hananiah, Misha’el, and Azariah, and there, how can it be said that they should not trust another, as though there is someone in the world who can save them from the furnace? Can this be said?

To understand the words of the holy Zohar we first need to remember the purpose of creation, meaning that there is a goal on the part of the Creator, which the Creator desired from Creation. And also, there is a purpose on the part of the creatures, meaning the purpose that the creatures must achieve, that we can say that they came for their purpose, meaning the reason why they were created.

It is known that from the perspective of the Creator, the goal is that He wishes to delight His creations. This is why He has created the creatures, so as to impart them with delight and pleasure. And since He wants the benefit He gives them to be complete, He has made a correction that before the creatures can receive in order to bestow, they cannot receive any abundance, called “delight and pleasure.” This is so because the nature of the branch is to resemble its root. And because the root of the creatures is to bestow upon the creatures, when the creatures engage in reception they feel unpleasantness.

Hence, a correction was made, called Tzimtzum [screen] and Masach [screen], where only by these can the creatures receive in order to bestow, and then they can enjoy the delight and pleasure that were in the thought of creation. The purpose of the creatures is that they must achieve Dvekut[adhesion], called “equivalence of form.” That is, as the Creator wishes to delight His creatures, the creatures should also arrive at a state where their only wish is to bestow upon the Creator.

For this reason, those who want to enter the path of truth, to achieve Dvekut, must accustom themselves to make every thought, word, and action have the aim to bring contentment to the Creator through the Mitzvot that they do and the Torah in which they engage. They must not consider what they can receive from the Creator for wanting to please Him. That is, they must not think, “What will the Creator give me,” meaning that they can extract from the Creator’s authority into their own. This would cause them to create two authorities: an authority of the Creator and an authority of the creatures, which is the opposite of Dvekut, for Dvekut means unification, when two things become one as they unite with one another.

Conversely, two authorities is separation. This reception when they think of themselves, of receiving something from the Creator into their own authority, makes them more separated than they were thus far.

By this we understand the words of the holy Zohar that were said about the verse, “Sin is a disgrace to any people, since “All the good that they do, they do for themselves.” This brings up the question, “Why is it not enough to say that they are not being rewarded when they engage in acts of mercy—meaning when they bestow, do good—since their intention is not the act of mercy but rather the reward they will receive in return, which is called “for themselves”? That is, they engage in mercy not with the aim to do good to another, but rather aim that the good that they do for another will bring them some reward. It makes no difference whether it is money or honor, as long as they receive reward for their will to receive.

However, we should understand that this means that saying “sin” implies that it would be better if they did not do the mercy. Can this be said? After all it is no crime to do mercy, so why is it considered a sin?

According to what we explained about people who wish to walk on the path of truth, meaning to be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, who aspire for equivalence of form, when they are in “sit and do nothing,” they do not demand anything for their vessels of reception. Thus, they are not doing anything to drive them away from the Creator.

But when they perform an act of mercy, they ask the Creator to give them some reward into their vessels of reception. Thus, they are asking for something that will separate them from the Creator. This is why the mercy is considered a sin (but this does not refer to Torah and Mitzvot because regarding Torah and Mitzvot, our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] because from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake]”).

However, according to the rule that it is impossible to do anything without pleasure, how can we work in order to bestow and not receive any reward into our own authority, but rather annul ourselves to Him and cancel our own authority so that only the singular authority remains, namely the authority of the Creator? What are the fuels that will give us the strength to work so we can work in order to bestow?

The fuel that gives strength to work should come from serving the King, and according to the importance of the King, since the Creator has placed a power in nature that we derive great pleasure from serving an important person. Thus, man feels pleasure according to the importance of the King. That is, if one feels that he is serving a great King, to that extent his pleasure grows. Therefore, the more the King is important, the more he enjoys his work.

The pleasure he receives from serving the King is that the greater the King, the more he wants to annul before Him. It follows that all the delight and pleasure he receives does not enter man’s authority, but rather he wants to annul before the King to the extent of the King’s greatness and importance. Thus, there is only one authority here, called “singular authority.”

But when he wants to receive some reward from the King for his work then he has two authorities separated from one another. It follows that where man should achieve Dvekut with the Creator, he achieves separation from the Creator, which is the complete opposite from the goal that the creatures should achieve.

It follows that the reason that gives him strength to work is only that he can bestow upon the King. But before one has reached a state where he feels the greatness of the Creator, he is at war with the body because it does not agree to work without reward, and it cannot work because of the great pleasure of serving the King because it does not feel it, as it lacks the sensation of the greatness of the King. Even more so, it is because it lacks faith, meaning to believe that there is a King in the world.

Our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2), “Know what is above you. The eye sees and the ear hears, and all your works are written in the book. When he has faith that there is a supervisor in the world, the calculations of His greatness and importance begin. When he has faith that there is a supervisor in the world, this faith brings him the sensation of importance even when he does not consider the greatness of the Creator. Still, he already has the strength to work in serving the Creator.”

However, since he lacks faith and has only partial faith (see “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” item 14), when he wants to work in order to bestow, the body promptly comes and yells out loud, “Are you crazy?! You want to work without pay, and you are saying that you want to serve the King, which is itself a great reward. This pertains to those who feel the King, and whom the King examines every movement that they make. They can say that they are working because it is a great privilege to serve the King, but not you!”

This causes the war of the inclination: at times he overcomes the body, and at other times the body overcomes him. He says to the body: “The fact that I don’t feel the greatness of the King is your fault because you want to receive everything in your own domain, called ‘receiving in order to receive,’ but there was a restriction and concealment on this discernment, so it is impossible to see anything of truth. Therefore, let me out of your desire and let’s begin to work in order to bestow, and you will certainly see the importance and greatness of the King. Then you yourself will agree with me that it is worthwhile to serve the King and nothing in the world is more important than this.”

For this reason, when a person wants to work only in order to bestow and not receive anything, and all his calculations are about bringing contentment to the Creator through his work—that he wants to bring Him contentment—and he does not regard himself at all, how can one know if he is really on that path? Perhaps he is deceiving himself and his intention is only to receive? That is, he is giving in order to receive and not walking on the path of truth, meaning that all he wishes is to be a giver in order to give.

Here one can criticize oneself, meaning one’s intention. When he prays to the Creator to help him with the war of the inclination so the inclination will not come to him and wish to control him with its complaints against his work, the Creator will give him a desire only to want to work for Him with all his heart and soul. And certainly, there is no prayer without confidence that the Creator hears the prayer, for if he has no confidence that the Creator will hear his prayer he will not be able to pray if he is not certain that someone hears his prayer.

This brings up the question: “If he sees that his prayer is not heard, meaning that it is not granted as he understands it should be granted—that he is given what he is asking because the Creator is merciful and gracious, and if He heard He would certainly give what one is asking—then why is his prayer not answered? Doesn’t the Creator hear the prayer? Can this be said?”

However, one should believe that the Creator does hear the prayer, as we say in the Eighteen Prayer, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth of Your people, Israel, with mercy.” However, we should believe what is written, that “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” That is, the Creator knows what is best for man, meaning for his wholeness, and what can obstruct his wholeness.

Therefore, we should say that the Creator always hears and answers according to man’s best interest, and this is what He gives us. Thus, one should believe that the states that a person feels are what the Creator wants us to feel because it is in our favor.

It follows that the confidence that we should have in the Creator is that the Creator certainly hears our prayers and answers them, but not according to our understanding, but according to the Creator’s understanding of what we should be given. It therefore follows that the confidence is primarily about trusting the Creator that He helps everyone, as it is written, “His mercy is over all His works.” However, the confidence should not be that the Creator will help us according to our understanding, but according to the Creator’s understanding.

There are people who think that the confidence is according to what a person thinks he needs, that the confidence should be with regard to that, and if he does not believe that the Creator must help him according to man’s understanding, it is not regarded as believing and trusting the Creator. Rather, one should have confidence precisely as man wants it.

By this we can understand the words of the holy Zohar when we asked about its saying, “However, one should not trust and say, ‘The Creator will save me’ or ‘The Creator will do this and that for me.’ Rather, one should place one’s trust in the Creator to help him, as it should be.” It brings evidence from Hananiah, Misha’el, and Azariah, who said, “Whether He saves or does not save.” The holy Zohar says there that when one comes to purify he is aided, and in this he will trust the Creator to help him and trust in Him and not place his trust in another besides Him.

It is written about it, “His strength is in You.” We asked, “What does it mean that he will ‘not place his trust in another’?” Is there anyone else who can help him, for which there is a commandment not to trust another? He speaks of trust in relation to Hananiah, and who could have saved them form the furnace, for which he had to give a prohibition on trusting another?

The thing is that when a person wishes to walk on the path of truth, meaning that all his works will be for the Creator, called “in order to bestow and not for his own benefit,” he must believe that the Creator knows what to give him and what not to give. In order for one to avoid deceiving himself and see each time if he is walking on the path of bestowing contentment upon the Creator, he needs to see himself, and whatever his state, he must be pleased.

He should trust that this must be the Creator’s will, so I do not mind what state I am in. Rather, I must toil and pray for what I understand, and trust in the Creator that He will help me, for my own benefit. But the Creator knows what is to man’s benefit, not man. Here one can criticize one’s engagement in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], if one’s intention is that he wants to bestow upon the Creator and not for his own benefit, meaning that his aim is not to bestow in order to receive.

For this reason, when one establishes the order of one’s work and goes to pray to the Creator, he should trust in the Creator that He will receive his prayer. At that time he should trust in the Creator, meaning that the measure of confidence concerns the Creator’s view, and not that he will trust another.

And who is the other? It is man himself. That is, the measure of confidence that the Creator will help him should be as the Creator understands, and not as man understands.

Man is called “other,” as our sages said (Sukkah, 45b), “We learn that anyone who combines work for the Creator with another thing is uprooted from the world, as it is said, ‘Only for the Lord.’ This means that it should be only for the Creator, without self-gratification, called ‘reception.’ This means that even when he aims the Mitzva [commandment] for the Creator but wants a little bit for himself, as well, he is uprooted from the world.”

What does it mean that he is “uprooted from the world”? Are those who are not rewarded with aiming all their works uprooted from the world? We need to understand to which world they are referring. According to what we learn, they mean the eternal world, called “the world of the Creator.” This means that the name of the Creator, who is called The Good Who Does Good, is apparent there. There, His thought is revealed—to do good to His creations.

This is the purpose for which He has created the world, and from that world he is uprooted. That is, he cannot be rewarded with the delight and pleasure being revealed to him because of the correction of the Tzimtzum [restriction], which was in order for man to be awarded Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form.” For this reason, when one wants to receive a little for oneself, as well, to that extent he moves away from Dvekut with the Creator and therefore cannot be awarded the delight and pleasure found in the purpose of creation. Thus, he is uprooted from that world.

It follows from all the above that if one wants to know if he is not deceiving himself and wants to serve the Creator with the intention only to bestow contentment upon the Creator, and the holy Zohar says that when he prays to the Creator to help him, he should certainly have confidence that the Creator will help him. Otherwise, if he has no trust, how can he ask? If he does not trust the Creator to help him, he has no room for prayer because one cannot pray and ask a favor of someone unless he knows that that person can do him this favor.

Therefore, he must certainly be sure while he is praying to the Creator that He will certainly help him. And if one sees that the Creator has not helped him as he understands, he doubts the Creator, that He might God forbid not hear the prayer. This is why the holy Zohar says that he should pray and trust the Creator that He will certainly help him as He understands, since that person wants to engage specifically in matters that are only for the Creator’s sake and not for his own sake.

Thus, what difference does it make how he works to bestow upon the Creator? That is, he must believe that if the Creator sees that it will be to man’s benefit if he works in whatever state he is in, it does not matter what one thinks will bring the Creator more pleasure, if He helps him according to man’s understanding of what brings the Creator more delight.

Rather, he should trust in the Creator to help him according to His understanding. This is what the holy Zohar calls, “One should place one’s trust in the Creator to help him, as it should be.” This means that what the Creator understands, that the person should be only in that state. And concerning the state one is in he should ask the Creator to help him. (That is, in the state he is in, and he understands that this is what he needs, what he understands is what he will ask, but the Creator will do as He sees fit.)

When can it be said that he agrees to the Creator’s will and does not insist on saying that he wants the Creator to help him according to his wish? This happens precisely when one asks what one understands, and prays that the Creator will help him as he understands, yet annuls his will before the Creator’s will. Then it can be said that he has placed his trust in the Creator to help him as it should be, meaning as the Creator understands and not as man understands.

This is called “Cancel your will before His will,” as our sages said ( Avot, Chapter 2). But if he has no desire to achieve any purpose while he prays to the Creator to help him reach, it clearly cannot be said that he will annul his will before the will of the Creator and say, “I want what I want and what I understand that I need, but You will do to me as You see fit.” Then it can be said that he is annulling his will before the Creator’s will.

But why does one need to annul his desire? What if he has no desire to annul? It is as though it is not wholeness, since it makes sense that if one agrees with the Creator’s will it is certainly better than if he has a different desire than that of the Creator, and he must annul it, as though he has something bad and he must cancel the bad. Would it not be better if he had no bad at all?

The thing is that it is known that for the spiritual Kli [vessel] to be fit to receive the abundance of delight and pleasure it must meet two conditions: 1) to have Aviut [thickness], which is the desire to receive delight and pleasure, 2) to have a Masach [screen] not to receive according to one’s craving and desire for the delight and pleasure, but according to the Creator’s delight.. This is called “receiving in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker.”

However, if he has no vessels of reception, meaning no craving to receive delight and pleasure, he is unfit to receive abundance from above because there is no satisfaction without a need. For this reason, one must try to make for oneself a lack—to crave that the Creator will bring him closer and give him the abundance that the Creator can give, and which he is craving to receive. At the same time, he cancels his desire and trusts the Creator to help him and give him what the Creator understands to be in his favor. Therefore, at that time he has no complaints that the Creator did not help him according to man’s understanding.

This is regarded as cancelling his desire and saying, “I do my part,” meaning what I understand to be in my favor, “and I understand and believe that the Creator probably knows my situation better, and I agree to go and engage in Torah and Mitzvot as though the Creator has helped me as I understand He should answer my prayer. And although I see that He did not give me any answer to my request, I still believe that the Creator has heard my prayer and answered me according to what is God for me. For this reason I must always pray that the Creator will help me according to my understanding, and the Creator helps me according to what He understands is good for me.”

This brings up a question: “Since the Creator is helping according to His understanding anyhow, what is man’s prayer for?” The Creator does not answer the prayer that a person prays and does as He understands that He should do. Thus, how does man’s prayer help? What is His benefit from our prayer for what we understand that we need, while He answers as He understands?

We must know that the prayer we pray for what we need, and we certainly know what we need and we want the Creator to answer our prayer as we understand it—that if He grants our wishes we will be happy people because He has given us all that we needed, we should know that there is a rule: there is no light without a Kli. That is, there cannot be satisfaction without a need.

It follows that even if a person knows what he needs, it is still not considered a deficiency that is destined to be filled, since what man thinks he needs does not mean he has a deficiency. A deficiency means that he is truly deficient of something. A deficiency is not something we do not have. There are many things we do not have, yet they are not regarded as deficiencies that can be satisfied.

For example, if there is a citizen in a certain country, and there is elections for presidency in that country, and someone was elected as president, while the citizen remained an ordinary person. It does not pain him whatsoever that he did not become president. But there is another person in the country, who thought he would become the president. He exerted great efforts among friends and famous people to help him become president but in the end someone else became president and he was left with only his desire.

There is certainly a difference between those two people, although they have the same absence, namely that they are not presidents. However, there is a huge difference between the one who exerted to become president and was left dissatisfied, and the other one, who despite not becoming president does not suffer from not becoming president. That is, even if they wanted to make him president, he has no Kelim [vessels] for it, meaning knowledge how to handle presidency.

Rather, the Kli for the filling is the desire for something, and a desire means that he is tormented over the thing he wants. And even if he has a desire for something and thinks that this is already regarded as desire, it is still not a real lack making this desire fit for reception of the fulfillment.

The reason is that a deficiency means suffering over what one does not have, and filling means pleasure of obtaining what one wants. It follows that according to his suffering from the negation, so is his delight with the filling.

Now we will come to understand the meaning of the prayer we pray for the Creator to help us as we understand, and believe what is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth,” and at the same time trust the Creator to hear the prayer of every mouth. However, we should not trust that the Creator should help us according to our understanding, but trust that the Creator will help us according to His understanding.

We asked, “So what is my prayer for, if the Creator will do as He understands?” However, the prayer increases the desire for the filling because the more one prays, the more the deficiency in him grows. That is, he begins to feel a lack for what he prays. When he began to ask for fulfillment of his lack he still did not have the feeling that he really needed what he asked. He simply saw that others were asking some fulfillment and heard from the friends that we should ask the Creator for some fulfillment, so he, too, started praying to the Creator to give him what he wants. However, he did not truly feel that he needed what he asked; it still did not settle in his heart.

Because of the many prayers he prays he begins to examine if he really needs what he is asking, or is it only an accessory, meaning that he is asking for luxuries. That is, he does what must be done as a Jew, but he wants luxuries, meaning to have a better life in spirituality and not be an ordinary person like everyone else who are serving the Creator.

This examination of the prayers he prays makes him realize that he really needs the Creator’s help to keep anything in spirituality, since the prayers he prays each time bring him to notice that he is beginning to examine himself, why he is praying. These prayers, which our sages have established for us, do I really need what they said we should pray for, or do I need other things, meaning things that my body understands it needs to ask?

It turns out that as his prayers multiply he begins to acquire a real need until it torments him that he is lacking. This gives him a real desire for the Creator to bring him closer, and this is considered that the Creator is helping him, as it is written in the holy Zohar, “Rather, one should place one’s trust in the Creator to help him, as it should be,” meaning that the confidence should be that the Creator will help him with the prayers as the Creator understands he should be answered.

Now we will explain the rest of the words of the holy Zohar: “Another thing: ‘Happy is the man whose strength is in You’ is as you say, ‘The Lord will give strength to His people,’ meaning Torah. ‘His strength is in You’ means that one should engage in the Torah for the sake of the Creator, meaning the Shechina [Divinity], who is called ‘Name.’”

We should understand what he says there in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar]: “for the sake of the Creator, meaning the Shechina [Divinity], who is called ‘Name.’” It is known that our whole intention should be to bestow contentment upon the Creator. Thus, what does it mean that he says about what the holy Zohar says, that one should engage in the Torah for the sake of the Creator, meaning the Shechina, who is called “Name”? This implies that we should aim all the engagement in Torah and Mitzvot for the Shechina. We need to understand the meaning of “for the Shechina.” And also, we find in several places in the holy Zohar that we must aim the engagement in Torah and Mitzvot to “raise the Shechina from the dust.” Thus, we need to understand the different wording between the Creator and His Shechina.

In previous articles we presented what Baal HaSulam explained about the words of the holy Zoharwhere it says, “He is Shochen [dweller], and she is Shechina.” He said that it means that the place where the Shochen is revealed is called Shechina. Thus, they are not two things but one. That is, we have light and Kli. In other words, we attain the Creator only through the Kelim [vessels] that attain Him. Therefore, when we speak of the Creator, we speak only of how the Creator is revealed to us through the Kelim.

But we do not speak of light without a Kli at all. We call the thought of Creation, to do good to His creations, by the name Ein Sof [infinity/no end], meaning the benefactor. That is, the benefactor bestows upon the creatures. The Kli in which the abundance appears is called Malchut, who is called Shechina, in whom the delight and pleasure are revealed.

It therefore follows that the Creator wants to bestow delight and pleasure upon the creatures, but the lower ones have no Kelim to receive due to the oppositeness of form between the receivers and the giver. Thus, the delight and pleasure are not revealed. At that time there is evil inclination in the world because it portrays spirituality, meaning bestowal, as bad, and only what he can receive in order to receive as good.

For this reason, the lower ones have no place where they can work in order to bestow, since one does not harm oneself. Thus, a person cannot have the motivation to work in order to bestow, hence the upper abundance that is the delight and pleasure cannot be revealed to the lower ones.

It follows that the name of the Creator, the general name, Good Who Does Good, is hidden and concealed from the lower ones. This name is called Shechina, which is the name of the Creator with regard to the Good Who Does Good, and this name is in exile. That is, where one begins to work a little bit in order to bestow, one promptly feels exile in this work—that he wants to escape from such states. It is so because as long as one is immersed in self-love he has no idea about the work of bestowal, and when he begins to feel that he is walking on the line of bestowing and not receiving anything, it becomes dark for him and he wants to escape from that state like one who wants to escape from the exile he was given.

This is similar to a man who sinned against the government and was sentenced to exile. He always contemplates how to escape from there. Likewise, when one feels that the receiver will not receive anything from this work he has no desire to work and wants to escape the campaign altogether. This is why at that time it is considered that the name of the Creator, which is Shechina, is regarded as being in exile, meaning that a person tastes exile in this work.

For this reason we pray to the Creator and engage in Torah and Mitzvot “to raise the Shechina from the dust,” meaning that this place of the Shechina, which is the name of the Creator, meaning the good who does good, will appear in vessels of bestowal. But a person feels the taste of dust in this work, and this, too, is the meaning of the Shechina in exile, when one tastes in it the taste of exile and wants to escape from this work, meaning from the holy work, where Kedusha [holiness] means to bestow contentment upon the Creator.

For this reason we must ask for personal redemption, where each one feels that he has come out of exile. That is, when he works in order to bestow he should feel that he is in the land of Israel, meaning that his desire will crave only Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], which is called Eretz Ysrael[Land of Israel].

The sign of this is whether one can say wholeheartedly what we say in the blessing for the food: “Let us thank You, the Lord our God, for bequeathing our fathers with a desirable, good, and broad land.” That is, besides having to pray for the general redemption, we must also pray for personal redemption.

It follows that in a place, when he was in exile, meaning when he tasted the taste of exile, when the image of bestowal only for the Creator and not for himself would come to him, he felt the taste of exile and dust. And at the time of redemption, when he comes out of exile, he feels in the work of bestowal the taste of a desirable, good, and broad land.

Thus, the land of exile means that we feel that taste of suffering and always reflect on how to escape from that land. Coming out of exile means that he has come to a desirable, good, and broad land. We say about this land: “Let us thank You, the Lord our God.” This is called Eretz Yashar-El [a land (desire) straight to the Creator], and this is the redemption we should aspire to achieve.

However, a question naturally arises, “Why do we feel the taste of dust in the work of bestowal and want to run from it as one who is in exile?” Although there are many reasons for it, we should add another one: There is a rule that there is no light without a Kli, meaning that there is no fulfillment without a lack. Hence, first we must enter the exile and feel the torment in this work because the body, which is called “will to receive,” kicks and resists this work because it is against its nature, and through the suffering it feels in exile.

That is, precisely those who engage in work of bestowal and the body resists, but they do not surrender to the body’s arguments and suffer the torments of the body, meaning their body’s resistance, but they do not escape from the campaign but are always at war with the inclination. At times he prevails and at other times the body prevails, so he is always in ups and downs and his soul is never at peace.

Then he suffers because he is not like other people, who promptly flee from the work when they see that the body resists the work of bestowal, and do not suffer because they are not in this work of tasting exile when the body resists them because they surrender to the body’s governance and speak about it like the spies, who slandered the land of Israel.

As we said in the previous articles where we brought the words of the holy Zohar, they naturally have no Kelim [vessels] in which to receive the redemption, as explained in the essay, “The Giving of the Torah,” that the exile is a matter of absence that precedes existence, which is the redemption. Therefore, you find all the letters of Geula [redemption] in Gola [exile], except for the letter Aleph, which points to Alupho Shel Olam [Champion of the world/the Creator], as our sages said. This teaches us that the form of absence is but the negation of existence.

For this reason, when we say in the blessing for the food, “Let us thank You,” we say, “and for delivering us, the Lord our God, from the land of Egypt, and for redeeming us from the house of slaves.” This teaches us that to reach the desirable, good, and broad land, we must first go through a stage of making the Kelim, meaning to be in the land of Egypt, and see that we are slaves serving Pharaoh King of Egypt, and the torments of exile bring us a need to pray to the Creator to deliver us from exile, as was said (Exodus, 2:23), “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and they cried out, and their cry went up to God.” It follows that exile is a Kli, and redemption is the light and the abundance.

It turns out that the name of the Creator—which he explains there in the Sulam—being the Shechina, who is called “the name of the Creator,” when we asked, “How can it be said that we aim in the Torah and Mitzvot for the sake of the Shechina, we explained this with what Baal HaSulam said, that the Shochen [dweller] and the Shechina [Divinity] are one and the same, and the place where the Shochen is revealed is called Shechina.

We can understand this with an example: if we refer to someone as smart, rich, or generous, are these names different matters, meaning a different body than the person himself? That is, when the wisdom of they call him “wise,” or “rich,” meaning according to what others see. It follows that his name is only a revelation of the Creator.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning the Hanukkah Candle

Article No. 09, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written in Masechet Shabbat (23b): “Raba said, ‘Clearly, between ‘a candle for his house’ and a ‘Hanukkah candle,’ a candle for his house precedes because of domestic peace.” RASHI interprets that “candle of his house” refers to Shabbat [Sabbath], and he is poor and cannot afford to buy oil for two candles. As for domestic peace, it is as is said below, “My soul has been devoid of peace.” This is the lighting of the candles on Shabbat, when his household regret sitting in the dark.

However, a Hanukkah candle is not for domestic peace because it is forbidden to use its light, as we say after lighting Hanukkah candles, “These candles are holy; we have no permission to use them but only to see them.”

We should understand the following: 1) He explains that a Shabbat candle precedes a Hanukkah candle because of domestic peace. This requires explanation. Is this a good enough reason to cancel the Mitzva [commandment] of Hanukkah candles, which is so important because of the sanctity in them, to the point where our sages said that it is forbidden to use their light, as we say, “These candles are holy; we have no permission to use them but only to see them”? Do we cancel this Mitzva because of domestic peace, which is a corporeal matter? 2) We need to understand the connection between a Shabbat candle and domestic peace, which we learn from the verse, “My soul has been devoid of peace,” which is the lighting of candles on Shabbat.

To understand the above we must first explain the three above matters: 1) What is Shabbat? 2) What is domestic peace? 3) What is Hanukkah?

Our sages said that Shabbat is a similitude of the next word (Berachot, 57). Also, it is written in the Shabbat Evening Prayer: “You have sanctified the seventh day for Your name, the purpose of the creation of heaven and earth.” “Purpose” means that this is the purpose for which Heaven and Earth were created.

Also, it is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, meaning for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, and this is called “the purpose of creation.” What precedes the purpose is the time of work. This brings up the question, “If the purpose is to do good, why this work?”

The answer is that in order to avoid the bread of shame we were given work, which is called the “correction of creation.” This means that through this correction we will be able to receive the delight and pleasure because we will already have equivalence of form with the Creator in the sense that the creatures wish to bestow upon the Creator as the Creator wishes to bestow upon the creatures. It turns out that working in order to bestow eliminates the bread of shame.

According to this, the work that we were given refers to the correction of creation and not to the purpose because the purpose is to enjoy and not to work. Thus, our need for correction does not refer to the pleasure, since the Creator gives it, as it is the purpose. But in order to receive the complete delight and pleasure—and complete means that we can receive the delight without feeling unpleasantness—we were given work because the work is that we have to change the Kelim [vessels] we have received by nature, and obtain different Kelim, called “vessels of bestowal.” When we receive the delight and pleasure in vessels of bestowal there is no place for unpleasantness upon receiving the abundance.

Two states explain to us the two discernments we described concerning achieving the complete purpose of creation: 1) The order of correction of creation that we work in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] in order to bestow is regarded as using vessels of bestowal. This means that since there are deeds and there are intentions, in that state we use acts of bestowal, regarded as Torah and Mitzvot. These acts are regarded as engaging in the form of, “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.”

That is, man wants to bestow upon the Creator as the Creator wants to bestow upon the creatures. Therefore, if he acts like the Creator, meaning follows His ways, then the person wants the Creator to pay him for his work for the created beings. However, here there is also the work of the intention, which is to aim that the intention will be similar to the action because sometimes, although the act is giving, the aim is otherwise. That is, the reason he gives is in order to subsequently receive reward. This is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake].

For this reason if a person wants to perform an act of giving there is a lot of work. And the reason that compels him to engage in giving is that he has a reason that causes him to give and not receive, meaning that usually, when we love someone a desire awakens in the heart to give to the loved one, since this expresses our love for that person.

Alternatively, an important person also awakens in our hearts to disclose love for him by giving him a gift. This is called “His mouth and heart are the same,” meaning that the act and the intention are the same and his heart does not harbor a different intent from the act of giving because the reason is the intention to bestow. This is called Lishma [for Her sake].

It is explained that in the second state, which is the purpose of creation, we can use the vessels of reception. This means that we engage in reception of pleasures but the reason we want to receive pleasure is not to satisfy our wishes, that we crave pleasures and this is why we now want to enjoy. Rather, there is a completely different reason here—the opposite of our action.

We crave to bestow upon the Creator, and for ourselves, we do not want to receive into our will to receive because it would separate us from the Creator. However, what can we give to the Creator so He will enjoy it? What can we say, so to speak, that He needs? There is only one thing we can say: Since He has created creation in order to delight His creatures, we want to receive the delight and pleasure because we want to satisfy His wish, which is to do good.

Now we can explain the question, “What is Hanukkah?” As we explained the first state, it is the work of correction of creation, which is to obtain the vessels of bestowal, with which we can then achieve the purpose of creation. We can call this “spirituality” because we do not want to do anything for ourselves, but only for the Creator, as our sages said, “An offering, meaning a burnt offering, is all for the Creator, completely spiritual.”

The miracle of Hanukkah was about spirituality, as we say (in the blessing “On the Miracles”), “When the wicked kingdom of Greece stood over Your people Israel to make them forget Your law and move them from the laws of Your will, You, with your many mercies, stood up for them at the time of their plight.”

According to what we explained, “spirituality” means using vessels of bestowal. The domination of the Greeks is expressed in forbidding anything that has to do with vessels of bestowal because there was control over the work of Torah and Mitzvot there, as well.

This was on the outside. It is far more so in the thought—they would govern the thought so they would be unable to aim anything for the Creator. Rather, they wanted the people of Israel to be immersed in self-love, by which they will be separated from the Creator. All the thoughts of the Sitra Achra [Other Side] are only about removing them from the Creator, and remoteness and separation come only by disparity of form, known as “self-love.”

Baal HaSulam said about what our sages asked ( Shabbat, 21b), “What is Hanukkah?” He explained that the answer is Hanu [parked] Koh [here/thus far], meaning that they parked here. This means that Chaf– Hey [ Koh/25th] of Kislev [the date when Hanukkah begins] was not the end of the war, but only a pause. It is like an army that wants to start a new, major assault, so it lets the soldiers rest and regain their strength so they can continue the war. He said that there are fools who think that they received the order not to go forward into enemy territory but to rest because they have finished the war and there is no need to defeat the enemy anymore.

It turns out that Hanukkah is still not the completion of the goal, but only the correction of creation. It completes the vessels of bestowal, meaning acts of bestowal, and this is why it is forbidden to use the light of Hanukkah, since using is an act of reception, and the miracle was only on acts of giving—that they can do them and aim to bestow, which is called Lishma.

The miracle was that they emerged from the domination of the Greeks and could go with faith above reason. But the Klipa [shell/peel] of the Greeks was governing Israel so as not to do anything unless he knows why and what purpose this work will bring him, and especially to aim everything above reason.

According to what we explained, it follows that although a Hanukkah candles implies a spiritual miracle, which is that the people of Israel were liberated from the dominion of the Greeks, it was only half a thing. That is, only the vessels of bestowal were corrected by the miracle of Hanukkah, and this is regarded as correction of creation, but still not the purpose of creation.

But Shabbat, which is a similitude of the next world, is regarded as the purpose of heaven and earth, regarded as the “purpose of creation,” meaning the completion of the final purpose. That is, a likeness of what will appear at the end of correction illuminates on Shabbat.

Therefore, Shabbat is the time for reception of pleasure, meaning that we are using vessels of reception and only need to aim in order to bestow. This is regarded as all the people in the world having to achieve this degree, as it is written, “For no outcast shall be outcast from Him.” Rather, everyone will achieve the goal in full, meaning to receive, but in order to bestow.

Now we will explain what we asked about the connection between Shabbat and domestic peace. It is known that “house” is called Malchut, who is the receiver of the upper abundance in vessels of reception in order to bestow. However, Malchut has many names, and the name “house” indicates wholeness, as it is written in the Sulam (Ladder commentary on The Zohar, Noah, p 88, item 249): “You should know that when a person is in full wholeness, he is regarded as dwelling in the house. The word ‘house’ implies Nukva de ZA, who illuminates in Mochin de GAR, as it is written, ‘A house shall be built with wisdom.’ Therefore, those who receive from her are regarded as dwelling in the house. However, when a person needs corrections because he is incomplete, he needs keeping so the outer ones do not grip him and make him sin. Therefore, he must come out of the house because he is forbidden to receive these high Mochin for fear that the outer ones will suck from him. He must go out to the path of the Creator, meaning receive the corrections he needs. At that time he is permitted to receive Mochin from the Zivug of ZA and Leah, for because they are Ohr Hassadim that is covered in Hochma, there is no suckling from them to the outer ones. These Mochin are called ‘hostel’ because they are intended for travelers. Therefore, although Noah was righteous and wholehearted, he compares him to a traveling guest.”

Thus, we see that we should make two discernments in the order of the work: 1) a state called “house,” 2) a state called “traveling guest.” When a person is still incomplete, he must come out and be in a state of traveling guest, which is the path of the Creator, in order to receive corrections, by which he will achieve wholeness. This is why these people are called “traveling guests,” for they are still in the middle of the way and have not achieved the goal they should achieve.

Although they are righteous, like Noah, who was righteous and wholehearted, he was still deficient because he corrected only the vessels of bestowal, called “spiritual vessels.” As mentioned above, this is called the “correction of creation,” since he can already bestow in order to bestow, which his called Lishma.

By this we understand what the Hanu-Koh [Hanukkah] candle comes to imply—it is only a pause and not the end of the work. For this reason, it is forbidden to use the light of the Hanukkah candle because the miracle was on spiritual vessels, and vessels of bestowal cannot be used so as to enjoy the light. This is why they are only to be seen.

But a Shabbat candle—where Shabbat is regarded as “the purpose of heaven and earth,” which is a similitude of the next world—is called the “purpose of creation,” to do good to His creations: that they will receive delight and pleasure. Hence, this light is received in vessels of reception, called “receiving in order to bestow.” That is, they are using the vessels of reception.

This is called a “house,” as in “A house shall be built with wisdom,” where Malchut is the root of the souls, called “assembly of Israel,” and receives abundance for the souls. When the lower ones are fit for reception of Ohr Hochma [Light of Wisdom], it is called Mochin [light/pleasure] de Shabbat, meaning Mochin de Hochma, and Mochin de Hochma is the light of the purpose of creation. It follows that Hanukkah candle and Shabbat candle imply two dissimilar discernments.

Now we will explain what we asked about the connection between domestic peace and Shabbat, for which our sages said that it precedes the Hanukkah candle. The Sefira [sin. of Sefirot] Yesod is called “domestic peace” because it bestows upon Malchut, since Malchut is the root of the souls. When Malchut is as a dot, meaning that it illuminates only as a tiny dot, the souls do not have the abundance they need. This is called “Shechina [Divinity] in exile.” At that time the Klipot [shells/peels] prevail and wish to control matters of sanctity, and there is a lot of work for the lower ones. This created the division between Kedusha [holiness] and Tuma’a [impurity].

Upon the arrival of Yesod de Gadlut [adulthood/greatness], it imparts the upper abundance to Malchut, meaning imparts upon her the light of Hochma. At that time domestic peace is made, as it is written, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him.” This is why Yesod is called “peace,” since it makes domestic peace, when the powers of Klipa are cancelled, as it is written, “When Shabbat begins, it becomes unique and separates from the Sitra Achra, and all are crowned with new souls” (Kegavna [a prayer] on Shabbat Eve).

It follows that when the “house,” which is Malchut, receives the abundance of Shabbat, peace is made, and then all the judgments are removed from her. This is why the Shabbat candle implies the abundance of the end of correction, while the Hanukkah candle indicates the light attained in the middle of the work, which is in order to be able to continue and complete the work. This is why a Shabbat candle is called “domestic peace,” after the abundance that comes from Yesod to Malchut.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning Respecting the Father

Article No. 05, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written in the holy Zohar (Vayera, item 141): “Rabbi Shimon started and said, ‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master.’ ‘A son honors his father’ is Isaac with respect to Abraham. He asks, when did he honor him? ‘When he tied him at the altar… and he did not resist doing his father’s will. ‘And a servant [honors] his master” is Eliezer with respect to Abraham. When he sent Eliezer to Haran, who did there all that Abraham wished, he honored him, as it is written, ‘And the Lord has blessed my master.’ And it is written, ‘He said: ‘I am Abraham’s servant,’’ to honor Abraham. Indeed, a man who brings silver and gold and gems and camels, and who is respectable and handsome, did not say that he was Abraham’s beloved or his kin. Rather, he said, ‘I am Abraham’s servant,’ to raise Abraham’s merit and honor in their eyes.”

(In item 145) He says, “This is why it is written, ‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master.’ And you, Israel, My sons, it is a disgrace for you to say that I am your father or that you are My servants. ‘If I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’”

We should understand the words of the holy Zohar when it says that “The Lord says, ‘And you, Israel, My sons, it is a disgrace for you to say that I am your father.’” This implies that we need to tell someone that the Creator is our father, but we cannot say it because we are ashamed. So we must know to whom are we to say that He is our father. We must also know what the shame for which we are unable to say it, as it is written, “It is a disgrace for you.”

This is generally perplexing. After all, each day we say, “Our father, our King.” And during the Eighteen Prayer we say, “Return us, our Father, to Your law,” so to whom else are we to say that the Creator is our father and we are ashamed to say it, and for which the Creator is angry and says, “If I am a father, where is My honor?”

We should interpret this: We need to say that “The Lord is our father” relates to the Creator. We always say, “Our Father, Our King,” and for this the Creator is angry: how are you not ashamed to say to Me that I am your father while you show Me no respect, as it is said, “If I am a father, where is My honor?” That is, the Creator says it is a disgrace for you to call Me “Our Father,” and I see that to you, My honor is in the ground, which is called “Shechina [Divinity] in the dust.” Thus, how are you not ashamed to call Me “Our Father”?

“And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?” You say that you are all servants of the Creator, but I do not see that you have fear, meaning the fear of heaven that you should take upon yourselves. A servant is one has no authority of one’s own, as our sages said, “He who has bought a slave has bought his Rav.” Rather, he is annulled before the master, and all that he receives from the master is only so he can serve the master and not for himself.

But I see that you are taking the opposite rout. That is, you want Me to serve you, meaning that I will satisfy your self-love, and all you are coming to ask of Me is how to increase your authority. That is, you are the masters and I am your servant, and you walk around all day with complaints about Me that I owe you and that if you could receive from Me by force you certainly would.

What did the Creator do so they would not receive by force? He did something small: He created darkness in the world, called “concealment,” in case the creatures are unwilling to be servants and work for Him, called “receiving in order to bestow contentment upon one’s Maker,” as our sages said, “cleave on to His attributes.” It is known that as long as one is in vessels of reception, the more one receives, the worse one is, meaning farther from the Creator. Therefore, He has made a great correction that when the vessels of reception govern a person he does not see anything of Kedusha[holiness] from which he can derive pleasures.

Rather, he sees only those pleasures that he can see, called “pleasures of separation.” It is as the holy ARI says, that the Klipot [shells/peels] were given a slim illumination for all the corporeal pleasures so they may exist. This light of corporeality is all that we can see as having pleasure. But over spirituality lies a cloud of darkness that covers all the spiritual pleasures. Thus, they do not receive by force when the landlord does not want to give because they see no pleasures. Hence, those whose wish is only self-love flee from any true thing where there is delight and pleasure because darkness covers the earth.

For this reason, a person cannot begin to work Lishma [for Her sake] right away, but must begin in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. In Lishma, which is the true way, the body must flee from this work, as every kind goes to its kind. Since man was created with vessels of reception in order to receive, when he sees a thought, word, or action that does not yield anything for his vessels of reception he promptly flees from them because this is not his kind. His kind is the nature in which he was created—receiving in order to receive, and not to give anything.

In order for a person who begins the work of the Creator not to flee from the work of bestowal because this is not his kind, we must begin with Lo Lishma. That is, he keeps the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] that the Creator has commanded us in return for reward from Him for our work. This is so because we could work only for corporeal things, to make money and gain respect, and enjoy rest. We relinquish obtaining money, honor, and other lusts that the body requires of us to do, and which would delight us, and instead keep the Torah and Mitzvot that the Creator has commanded us.

We see that we when we demand something of the body, that it will relinquish the pleasures it thinks it can enjoy, it asks, “What will you get out of it?” That is, “These new works you want to do, will they give you greater pleasures? If not then why do you need to change your work-place? You are used to working for this landlord but now you want to work for the Creator because He needs your work? Will He pay you a higher salary, meaning more pleasures? Will you enjoy more than in the work you are already used to?”

We should say to it: “Until now we had small gains, meaning imaginary pleasure, but now you will make great profit and your pleasure will be real pleasure because the Creator wishes to give you a spiritual reward. However, without work it will be bread of shame, which is why we were given Torah and Mitzvot, and we must believe that He will certainly pay us for relinquishing our needs, from which we could enjoy, in return for a real reward, which is a spiritual reward.

And although we do not know yet what is spirituality, we nonetheless believe it is a great thing compared to which all the corporeal pleasures are as a tiny candle, as explained in the words of the ARI, who says that due to the breaking of the vessels and the sin of the tree of knowledge, sparks fell into the Klipot in order to sustain them, so they would not be cancelled as long as they are needed. But the majority of the delight and pleasure is found in the worlds of Kedusha. Therefore, it is worthwhile for us to work in Torah and Mitzvot by which we will be rewarded with the next world in return for our work in Torah and Mitzvot.

However, once a person has begun the work of the Creator and wants to know the real work, he is told, “If I am a master, where is the fear of Me?” That is, the proper way is for the servant to work only for the landlord and not at all for himself. Yet, you are working only in order to be rewarded with the next world; you want reward for your work. The slave works without any reward, and the landlord provides his needs for him only so the servant will be able to work for Him, but the servant has no property that can be said to belong to the servant. Rather, there is only one authority there—the authority of the landlord.

Indeed, all our work in Torah and Mitzvot should be in order to achieve equivalence of form, which is Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. Engaging in Torah and Mitzvot is not as we thought before—that the Creator wants us to keep His Torah and Mitzvot and He will later pay us for this. Rather, the Torah and Mitzvot we were given to keep is because we need it! That is, by keeping Torah and Mitzvot we will receive the light of the Torah, and through that light we will then be able to achieve equivalence of form because the light in it reforms him.

Thus, what is the reward we should ask for in return for the body’s work? It is that we relinquish the needs of the body for the purpose of keeping Torah and Mitzvot. It is impossible to work without reward, since it immediately asks, “Why are you relinquishing the pleasures that you can enjoy? What will you gain?”

The answer is that all our gain is that we are rewarded with serving the Creator. This is very important because it is true, meaning that he will be rewarded with clinging to the King of Kings. But when all the pleasures he has are built on taking every delight and pleasure into serving himself, and receiving pleasure in clothes of reception pertains to animals and not necessarily to humans, the highest of all creature, so he enjoys the same dresses that animals enjoy. This is unbecoming of him.

Rather, all the dresses where man wants to receive pleasure should be garments of vessels of bestowal. That is, it is impossible to work without pleasure, but he measures his pleasures in how much he can bestow upon the King. That is, if he wishes to know how much work he receives from his work he should not measure how much he enjoys his work, meaning how much pleasure he derives from serving the King. Rather, he should measure by actions, meaning how much he wants the King to enjoy his work. It follows that all of his importance is in that he is serving the King.

It follows that if one wants to test if he is advancing in the work he should do it in two ways: 1) by looking at the reward he hopes to receive from the Creator. If he is receiving a greater reward each day then the gauge is the vessels of reception. 2) How much he enjoys delighting the Creator, and all his reward is that he is bestowing upon the Creator. For example, if he is serving the greatest man in the country, he enjoys it. But if he is serving the greatest in the generation he certainly enjoys it more. Therefore, he wants the Creator to be greater and more important in his eyes each day. This is the real measurement.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning Hesed [Mercy]

Article No. 04, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written in the holy Zohar concerning Hesed [mercy] (Lech Lecha, item 382): “Why was he not called Abraham thus far? We explained that thus far he was not circumcised, and now he has been circumcised. Once he has been circumcised he connected with the Hey, which is the Shechina[Divinity], and the Shechina was in him. This is why now he is called Abraham, with a Hey. It is written, ‘These are the generations of the heaven and earth when they were created.’ We learned that He created them with a Hey, and we learned, in Abraham, meaning that BeHibaraam [when they were created] has the letters of Be Avraham [in Abraham]. This means that the world was created for Abraham.

“He asks, ‘What are they saying?’ That is, ‘Why are they disputed in interpreting BeHibaraam?’ He replies, ‘It is Hesed. When he says that BeHibaraam implies to Avraham, who is Hesed, and the world, which is the Shechina, was created for Hesed. This is why he says that He created them with a Hey, meaning the Shechina.

“But one does not dispute the other because everything comes down together. That is, if there is Hesed in the world, the Shechina is in the world, as well, and vice versa. Hence, the two meanings —Hesed and Shechina—are one thing, and the world was created for Hesed and for the Shechina. We should understand why he interprets that BeHibaraam means Be Avraham, which is Hesed, meaning that the world was created for Hesed.”

We should understand concerning Hesed. Is this not something that concerns only what is between man and man? Did the Creator create the upper worlds—the world of the angels, and the seraphim—only so that each one will deal with mercy with one’s friend, so that Reuben will deal with mercy with Shimon? What will the Creator get out of this? Can such a thing be said? Accordingly, we must understand what is Hesed [mercy], as he said that the world was created for Hesed.

It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Therefore, we should ask, “Why are there two explanations about the verse, “These are the generations of the heaven … when they were created,” one because of the Shechina and the other because of Abraham, who is Hesed?

We should say that from the verse, “When they were created,” they explain only how to achieve the goal, called “to do good to His creations.” This means that the creatures must attain the complete delight and pleasure. That is, when they receive delight and pleasure, they should not feel any unpleasantness, called “bread of shame.”

To correct this, there was the Tzimtzum [restriction], which is concealment on the delight and pleasure. It is as the holy ARI says ( The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, p 1): “Know, that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures created, an upper simple light filled the whole of reality, and there was no vacant place. … When it came into His simple will to create the worlds … to bring to light the perfection of His deeds … then He restricted Himself.”

It follows that the concealment we see on spirituality, meaning, although we should believe that “The whole earth is full of His glory,” but if all the creatures in the world felt the glory of the Creator, who would want to engage in lowly things when they see the importance of the glory of spirituality? After all, a person can receive an image of what he had in the past.

If, for example, a person imagines that the most important period he had was when he felt that it was worthwhile to adhere to spirituality, and he looked at himself and the entire world, how time passes aimlessly and pointlessly, and engages only in trivialities. Then, when he is high-spirited, the world seemed to him like little children playing with toys.

Similarly, we sometimes see a little child taking a rope, putting it on another’s shoulder and telling him, “You be the horse and I’ll pull the reigns.” They both enjoy this game. And if we tell the children, “Why are you playing with false things? You are not a wagon-driver and he is not a horse,” they will not understand what we are telling them.

When a person depicts the time when he had the most important state in life, he looked at how people engage only in corporeality as a grownup looking at little children playing. It follows that all we need so we can engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is the revelation. That is, to reveal the delight and pleasure hidden in them so we will see them openly. Then, who would not want delight and pleasure? Who would be able to degrade himself and walk into a henhouse and peck in the trash like them, and be happy and joyful about it, when he can enjoy the life of a human? That is, his sustenance would be what delights people and not what delights beasts and animals. All this is said when he feels the difference between the vitality of people and the vitality of beasts, animals, and fowls.

But during the concealment, when he does not see any other life in the world but that the one that he enjoys is the vitality of the whole world, when he looks at other people relinquishing corporeal matters in search for spiritual life, they look at them as foolish, mindless children. Little children are allowed to play with important things, and they throw them away take meaningless things instead.

While they can enjoy corporeal things, they throw them away and contemplate attaining spiritual possessions. To them, the spiritual matters are meaningless, meaning things that have no value. But it is all because of the concealment on spirituality.

Now we will explain the two interpretations of the word Hibaraam [when they were created], where the first means Hesed, and the second means Shechina. We ask, “Is it worthwhile to create the next world and this world for Hesed?” As we explained above, according to the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, the delight and pleasure cannot be revealed before they can receive in order to bestow. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve the goal in full.

This is why we need to explain what is said about BeHibaraam, meaning that through them they will fulfill the purpose of creation, and without them it is impossible to achieve the purpose of creation in full. This is why interpreting that Be Avraham [in Abraham] is Hesed means that by engaging in the quality of Hesed they can achieve the quality of bestowal, after which they will be able to receive the pleasure, and that reception will be regarded as bestowal.

It is as he says in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 175), where he brings the words of our sages: “Upon the creation of the world, when He said to the angels, ‘Let us make man in our image,’ Hesed said, ‘Let him be created, for he does mercy.’ Truth said, ‘Let him not be created, for he is all lies.’”

He interprets there the words of our sages, that Hesed said, “Let him be created”: “But Hesed said, ‘Let him be created because he does mercy,’ since the Mitzva [commandment] to do good that he does is necessarily a clear act of bestowal by which he will gradually become corrected until he can engage in all the Mitzvot [commandments] in order to bestow. Thus, he is guaranteed to finally achieve his goal of engaging Lishma [for Her sake]. This is why Hesed argued that he should be created.”

It follows that saying BeHibaraam means that Hibaraam is needed only as a means but not as a goal, as it is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Rather, it is counsels how the creatures can receive the goal, meaning be able to receive the delight and pleasure. Because there must be equivalence of form between the giver and the receiver, and since they are opposite in form, they will never be able to receive the delight and pleasure.

This is why one is saying that the means is Hesed, where through the quality of Hesed that each does with the other, they will be rewarded with vessels of bestowal and be able to receive the delight and pleasure, and another says that it is BeHibaraam, meaning Hey Beraam [created them], namely the Shechina. This does not mean that he disputes him, but when he says that He created them with a Hey, it means that Malchut, which is the Shechina, is implied here in BeHibaraam, meaning a small Hey.

The holy ARI interprets (presented in Gatehouse of Intentions, item 43), “This is the meaning of BeHibaraam, BeHey Beraam [created them with a Hey], since all the creatures were five Partzufim, both in Atzilut and in BYA. This is the meaning of the small Hey of MalchutdeAK after she was diminished at the end of her ZAT.”

He interprets there (in Ohr Pashut [commentary below the text]) that the world of Tikkun[correction], called ABYA, emerged from another Malchut, that was mitigated by the quality of Rachamim [mercy], called Tzimtzum Bet [second restriction], where there was diminution in Malchut. This is why Malchut is called “small Hey.”

This means that the Hey in BeHibaraam, which is interpreted to refer to the Shechina who received correction called “the association of the quality of mercy with judgment.” This means that Malchut, called “the quality of judgment,” and which is the root of the creatures, namely the will to receive, the Kli [vessel] that must receive the purpose of creation—to benefit His creations—and is the vessel of reception for the delight and pleasure that is the substance of the creatures, meaning the desire to receive delight and pleasure from Him. But due to the correction of equivalence of form there was a rule that this vessel of reception must not be used unless it can aim to bestow. This is called “restriction and judgment.”

The world cannot exist without this correction, called “receiving in order to bestow,” or there is no disclosure of abundance to the lower ones due to the Tzimtzum and judgment that was made for the purpose of correcting the world. However, how is it possible to change the nature of creation, which is reception, into one of bestowal?

Therefore, to be able to correct the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, there had to be a correction called “association of the quality of mercy with judgment,” known as Tzimtzum Bet. This means that Bina, the quality of mercy, called “bestowal,” mingled with Malchut, which is reception. Through that merger of mercy with judgment that is done by the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] we can achieve the abundance although it is against our nature.

This matter is presented in “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (item 58): “This is the meaning of our sages’ words: ‘In the beginning, He contemplated creating the world with the quality of Din [judgment]. He saw that the world does not exist and preceded the quality of Rachamim [mercy], and associated it with the quality of Din.’ …’He saw that the world does not exist’ means that in this way, it was impossible for man, who was to be created from this Behina Dalet, to assume acts of bestowal. …Therefore, He preceded the quality of Rachamim and associated it with the quality of Din. Through this association, Behina Dalet— Midat ha Din—was incorporated with sparks of bestowal in the Kli of Bina.”

According to the above-said, it follows that we have the means by which to achieve the purpose of creation to do good to His creations, only thanks to the small Hey. This is because the judgment in the Hey, which is the quality of judgment, diminished into the quality of mercy. This means that part of the desire to receive diminished and received into it the quality of Rachamim, as was said above, that in the roots, the vessels of reception included the quality of bestowal, called Rachamim.

By this we will understand why the holy Zohar concludes that “one does not dispute the other because everything comes down together. That is, if there is Hesed in the world, the Shechina is in the world, as well, and vice versa. …and the world was created for Hesed and for the Shechina.”

This implies that it means that both, meaning the quality of Hesed and the Shechina, which was corrected with the quality of Rachamim, aim for the same thing—that through them the creatures would achieve the purpose of creation, which is to delight His creatures. This is why he says, “If there is no Hesed there is no Shechina.”

That is, without the correction of Hesed in the world, where through the quality of Hesed they can receive in order to bestow, there would not be the Shechina. That is, the correction that was done in Malchut, called “association of the quality of mercy with judgment,” would not help. However, the quality of Hesed does exist in the world, meaning that Malchut was corrected with the quality of Hesed, which is Rachamim, and this helps to achieve the goal.

However, we should understand why Malchut is called Shechina. Baal HaSulam said that the holy Zohar says, “He is Shochen [dweller]; she is Shechina.” This means that where the Creator is revealed it is called Shechina. This is called “instilling of the Shechina,” meaning that there the Creator is revealed.

For this reason one should always pray to be rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, also known as “faith.” That is, one should pray that he will be rewarded with faith. But there is a question: If he knows that he lacks faith in the Creator, then to whom is he praying, for only when he believes in the Creator can it be said that he is asking the Creator to give him what he wants?

We can interpret this according to what is written in the “Introduction to the study of the Ten Sefirot” (item 14): “‘He whose Torah is his trade.’ The measure of his faith is apparent in his practice of Torah because the letters of Umanuto [his trade], are the same [in Hebrew] as in Emunato [his faith]. It is like a person who trusts his friend and lends him money. He may trust him with a pound, and if he asks for two pounds he will refuse to lend him. He might also trust him with one hundred pounds, but not more. Also, he might trust him enough to lend him half his property, but not all his property. Finally, he may trust him with all his property 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.”

Thus, we see that there is partial faith. When he has partial faith it can be said that a person should pray to the Creator to help him since he has only partial faith, so he wants the Creator help him achieve complete faith. And since it is impossible to be awarded complete faith before one is rewarded with equivalence of form, as said in the previous articles and presented in the “Introduction of the Book of Zohar” (p 138), hence there are those corrections, as written above concerning BeHibaraam: 1) through the quality of Hesed they will achieve equivalence of form, which is regarded as Abraham; 2) he says that he is Hey, meaning the Shechina. That is, Malchut received into her the quality of Rachamim by which they will come into bestowal, and then the purpose of creation to do good to His creations will come true.

Inapoi la pagina 1986 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link