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Man Is Rewarded with Righteousness and Peace through the Torah

Article No. 03, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

In The Zohar (Lech Lecha, item 1), Rabbi Aba explains why Abraham was rewarded with the Creator telling him Lech Lecha [Go forth] more than all his contemporaries. It writes, “Rabbi Aba started and said, ‘Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness.’ ‘Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted’ means how hard are the hearts of the wicked. They see the trails and ways of Torah and do not look at them. Their hearts are hard since they do not return to their Master in repentance. This is why they are called, ‘Stubborn-hearted who are far from righteousness,’ meaning far from the Torah, and hence far from righteousness.”

Rabbi Hizkiya said, “They are far from the Creator. And because they are far from the Creator they are called stubborn-hearted.” The meaning of the verse is “far from righteousness.” Why? It is because they do not wish to approach the Creator, for they are stubborn-hearted. And because of it, they are far from righteousness.

Because they are far from righteousness, they are far from peace, meaning they have no peace, as it is written, “‘There is no peace,’ said the Lord to the wicked.” What is the reason? It is because they are far from righteousness, hence they have no peace.

We should understand why when Rabbi Aba says that being far from righteousness means that they are far from the Torah, and therefore far from righteousness. On the one hand, he says that righteousness is called Torah, and then he says that by moving away from the Torah they move away from righteousness. This implies that the Torah is the reason for righteousness, but we do not see any connection between Torah and righteousness.

We see that the nations of the world have no Torah, as our sages said, “He says His words to Jacob,” and still they give Tzedakah [righteousness/almsgiving].” Does giving Tzedakah requires believing in the Creator and keeping the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], and only then can one give Tzedakah? Rather, he says that they are far from Tzedakah because they are far from the Torah.

He also said that because they are far from the Torah, they are far from Tzedakah. This implies that the Torah is the reason by which we can keep Tzedakah. That is, the most important thing for us is to achieve Tzedakah. How can we achieve such a high degree? Through the Torah.

Thus, we should understand the greatness and importance of Tzedakah, which means that the Torah is a lower degree than Tzedakah because through the Torah we can achieve Tzedakah. We need to understand this.

Also, it is difficult to understand the words of Rabbi Hizkiya in what he adds to the words of Rabbi Aba and says, “Who are the stubborn-hearted? Those who do not want to approach the Creator. And because they do not want to approach the Creator they are far from Tzedakah.” How can we understand this? Does this mean that through approaching the Creator they will be rewarded with a higher degree, which is Tzedakah?

We should also understand why Rabbi Hizkiya says, “Since they are far from Tzedakah, they are far from peace.” This is even more perplexing because once he has clarified for us the importance of Tzedakah, meaning in Rabbi Aba’s view, Tzedakah is more important than Torah, and in Rabbi Hizkiya’s view, Tzedakah is greater than approaching the Creator. Now he comes and says that if they do not have the degree of Tzedakah, they cannot achieve the degree of peace.

Thus, we should understand what is the degree of peace. It is implied that after all the work he will achieve the degree of peace. That is, the first degree is either Torah or approaching the Creator, the second is Tzedakah, and the third is peace. This requires clarification.

We find that Tzedakah is called “faith,” as it is written about Abraham, “And he believed in the Lord, and He regarded it for him as righteousness.” Thus, because faith is regarded as Tzedakah, we can already know the importance of Tzedakah. It is not as it seems literally. Rather, Tzedakah implies faith.

What is faith? It is regarded as Tzedakah? We see that one who gives Tzedakah [almsgiving] to the poor does not expect the poor to repay him in some way for the almsgiving he has given him. It is especially so with concealed almsgiving; he certainly does not plan to receive anything in return. Therefore, Tzedakah means that he is doing something without any reward.

But since the faith we should take upon ourselves must be without anything in return, it means that we must believe in the greatness of the Creator, which holy Zohar calls, “For He is great and ruling.” He is to have no thought that he is taking upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven and by this he will receive from Him some reward. Rather, he is working entirely in order to bestow. This is why faith is called Tzedakah, to interpret for us the form that the faith we are taking on ourselves should have.

However, we must pay attention to how we achieve such faith, which is in order to bestow. Our nature is only to receive and not to bestow. Therefore, what can one do in order to achieve bestowal? He is telling us that it is done precisely through the Torah, as our sages said (Kidushin 30), “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”

In the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” (item 11) he says, “However, we find and see in the words of the sages of the Talmud that they have made the path of Torah easier for us more than the sages of the Mishnah. This is because they said, ‘One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma.’ That is, the light in it reforms him. Thus, they have provided us with a new means instead of the penance presented in the above-mentioned Mishnah, Avot: the ‘Light in the Torah.’ It bears sufficient power to reform one and bring him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma. ”

By this we will understand the words of Rabbi Aba, who said that “far from Tzedakah” means that they are moving away from the Torah, hence they are far from Tzedakah. We asked, “Is the Torah the reason for achieving Tzedakah? Is it impossible to give Tzedakah without Torah?” The thing is that Tzedakah refers to faith. It is impossible achieve real faith before one has equivalence of form with the Creator, meaning that all of one’s actions are only in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator.

He says in the “Introduction of the Book of Zohar” (item 138): “It is a law that the creature cannot receive disclosed evil from the Creator, for it is a flaw in the glory of the Creator for the creature to perceive Him as an evildoer. Hence, when one feels bad, to the same extent, denial of the Creator’s guidance lies upon him, and the Operator is concealed from him.”

The reason is that before a person is rewarded with vessels of bestowal he is unfit to receive the delight and pleasure form Him. It follows that he feels bad and therefore cannot be awarded real faith before he has corrected the evil in him, called “receiving in order to receive.”

It follows that through the Torah, which reforms him, meaning that by receiving vessels of bestowal he will be rewarded with faith, which is called Tzedakah, which is “faith because He is great and ruling,” and not that the basis of his faith is in order to receive some reward.

Now we will understand what we asked about the words of Rabbi Hizkiya, where he explains the meaning of “stubborn-hearted.” He explains that because they move away from the Creator, they move away from Tzedakah. We asked, “Can approaching the Creator be a reason that we will have the ability to do Tzedakah? What is the connection between them?” It is written in the Sulam[commentary on The Zohar], “Rabbi Hizkiya does not dispute Rabbi Aba. Rather, he interprets more than him.” We asked, “But Rabbi Hizkiya’s explanation is even more difficult to understand!”

According to what we explained above, Rabbi Hizkiya explains more what it means that they are called “stubborn-hearted,” for which they are far from Tzedakah, since regarding what Rabbi Aba says, that they have moved away from the Torah, they think that they simply need to learn Torah and by this they will be rewarded with Tzedakah, called “faith.” However, Rabbi Aba’s intention is that through Torah they will achieve equivalence of form, called “vessels of bestowal,” since they cannot achieve real faith before they have vessels of bestowal, as it is written in the Sulam (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar”).

This is why Rabbi Hizkiya elaborates more and says more simply that “stubborn-hearted” are those who move away from the Creator. That is, they do not want to approach the Creator because they are stubborn-hearted, therefore they are far from Tzedakah. This is as we said above, that it is impossible to be rewarded with faith, which is Tzedakah, before we are rewarded with nearing the Creator, called equivalence of form, which are vessels of bestowal.

Perhaps that reason why Rabbi Aba does not interpret the same as Rabbi Hizkiya is that Rabbi Aba wants to tell us two things at once, meaning the reason and the advice. The reason why they have no faith is that they have no vessels of bestowal. The advice for this is to engage in Torah, where by the light of Torah they will be awarded equivalence of form, regarded as all their actions being only to bestow. At that time they will be rewarded with Tzedakah, which is real faith.

And concerning Rabbi Hizkiya addition that through Tzedakah they will be rewarded with peace, we asked, “If Tzedakah is such a great thing, which refers to faith, then what is peace? It implies that peace is even more important!”

We should interpret that peace is the completion of the work. Before one is rewarded with vessels of bestowal he has no room for faith. Once he has vessels of bestowal and has been rewarded with faith, he obtains the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. This means that then he feels the delight and pleasure that the Creator has created to do good to His creations. At that time one is rewarded with peace.

But before one has been rewarded with Tzedakah, which is faith, on the basis of vessels of bestowal, he does not have the Kelim to obtain the delight and pleasure, since the good is lacking the correction of not being the bread of shame, for which there was the correction of Tzimtzum Aleph[first restriction]. Only once the creatures have that correction, called “vessels of bestowal,” there will be a place where the light of the Creator, which is to benefit His creations, can be present.

Prior to this he is in strife with the Creator, as he says in the Sulam (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 175): “Peace, too, complained that he was all strife because he cannot engage in Mitzvot[commandments] in order to bestow, but with a mixture of self-pleasing.” By this he is always in strife with the Creator, since he thinks he is a complete righteous and does not feel his faults at all. That is, he does not feel that his entire engagement in Torah and Mitzvot is Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], and he is angry at the Creator for not rewarding him as much as a complete righteous should be rewarded.

Thus, we see that before one is rewarded with Tzedakah, which is faith in the Creator on the basis of vessels of bestowal, which brings one to approach the Creator, it is impossible to have peace. It follows that the end of the work, when the goal is achieved, is when we achieve the degree of peace. That peace cannot be achieved before we go through the preliminary stages, which are approaching the Creator, then faith, called Tzedakah, and finally the goal, which is called “peace.”

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

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

Lend Ear, O Heaven

Article No. 02, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

“‘Lend ear, O heaven.’ Rabbi Yehuda started, ‘I opened for my beloved. ‘The voice of my beloved knocks.’ He says, ‘The voice of my beloved knocks’ is Moses, who admonished Israel in several arguments, in several quarrels, as it is written, ‘These are the words,’ ‘You have been rebellious,’ and ‘In Horev you provoked,’ as it is written, ‘knocks.’” (In the Sulam [Ladder commentary], items 1-2) “Although Moses admonished Israel, all his words were with love, as it is written, ‘For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God,’ and ‘The Lord your God has chosen you to be His people,’ ‘but because the Lord loved you,’ as it is written, ‘Open to me, my sister, my wife,’ affectionately.”

We should understand the words of the holy Zohar.

1) If he gives so many praises to the people of Israel, as it is written, “For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God,” and “The Lord your God has chosen you to be His people,” how can we speak of admonition? If they are a holy people, what else is missing in them?

2) What does that teach us for posterity, since they are two opposites in the same carrier? That is, either they are a holy nation, or they are not!

3) There is a rule: “Love covers all transgressions.” The writing says (Deuteronomy, 7:7), “The Lord did not desire you nor choose you because you were more numerous than all the nations, for you were the fewest of all peoples … but because of the Lord’s love for you.” Therefore, how is it possible to find transgressions in them, since “Love covers all transgressions”?

The thing is that it is known that there is the matter of two writings that deny one another until the third writing comes and decides. “Lines” in spirituality means that the quality of Hesed [mercy] is called “right line.” Hesed means that he only wants to do good to others and wants nothing in return. He longs for the love of the Creator and has no concern for himself. Rather, all his aspirations are only to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and for himself he is content with little. That is, he has no regard for what he has, namely good flavors in Torah, in prayer, or in Mitzvot [commandments], but is happy with his lot.

Here, in spirituality, when a person introspects and says that he believes in Private Providence, that everything comes from above, meaning that the Creator has given him a thought and desire to serve the Creator and engage in Torah and Mitzvot although he feels no flavor in Torah and Mitzvot. Still, he does not mind it and says that he is satisfied with being able to keep the commandment of the Creator. This, alone, is to him as though he has made a fortune. And even though he does not attain the greatness of the Creator, whatever he does have satisfies him and he believes it is a gift from Heaven that he was given the thought and desire.

He sees that others were not given this. Rather, all they aspire for is to attain corporeal things, meaning to be favored by people or delight the body with things that animals use, as well. But he, on the other hand, was given a thought and desire to serve the Creator, “and who am I that He has chosen me?” It is as we say, “Blessed are You, O Lord, who chooses His people, Israel, with love.”

It turns out that we bless the Creator for choosing us, meaning that we were given a thought and desire to keep Torah and Mitzvot. Therefore, when he looks at others, who haven’t that desire for Torah and Mitzvot that he has, he says that He has chosen him over others to serve Him. Although He has given him only a small service, without any intellect and reason, he says that even this service, the least of the least, is more than his own worth because when he looks at himself through the eyes of the greatness of God, he says that he does not deserve even this. Therefore, he is certainly as happy as though he has been rewarded with a service fit for great men.

The right line comes from the upper Sefirot. This discernment is called the Sefira [sin. of Sefirot] Hesed, pertaining to equivalence of form with the Creator—as He gives, so the lower one wishes to give to the upper ones. This is regarded as equivalence of form, where he does not regard what he has in vessels of reception. Rather, his only measurement of wholeness is his ability to bestow.

Even if he cannot bestow much, he settles for this because he examines his lowliness compared to the Giver, and compared to other people whom he sees as more virtuous than him. Still, he was given from above a thought and desire that they were not given, and he does not say about anything, “My power and the might of my hand.”

For this reason, he is always satisfied and has nothing to add to his work. Rather, he thanks and praises the Creator as much as he can, and thanks and praises Him in all kinds of praises. And even when he does not give the praise and gratitude that he thinks he should give to the Creator, he does not regret this because he says about himself, “Who am I to always speak to the King, as is suitable for important people, and not to lowly ones like me?” It follows that he is always in wholeness and has nothing to add.

And if he sometimes forgets about matters of work and his mind is immersed in worldly matters, and after some time he remembers about spirituality and sees that the whole time he was dealing with corporeal matters of this world, he still does not think about the time he was separated. Instead, he is happy that the Creator has summoned him from among all the people and told him, “Where are you?” He promptly begins to thank the Creator for reminding him that he should think about spirituality.

It follows that even in that state he does not think about deficiencies and regrets that he has completely forgotten about work-matters this whole time, but he is happy that at least now he can think about the work of the Creator. It follows that now, too, he is in a state of wholeness and will not come to a state where he is weakened from the work, but will always be in wholeness. This is called “right line,” Hesed, which is wholeness.

However, this depends on the extent to which a person believes in Private Providence, meaning that the Creator gives everything—the light, as well as the Kli [vessel]—meaning both man’s desire and deficiency for this, that he is not so adhered to the Creator, and also the feeling in his body of lack of keeping of Torah and Mitzvot. The Creator gives everything. The light is certainly something that the Creator must give because the flavor in Torah and Mitzvot certainly belongs to the Creator. It is as we say on the night of Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], “For she is like clay in the hands of the potter. When He wishes He gives abundantly; when He wishes He gives sparingly. So are we in Your hands, Keeper of mercy.”

It follows that if a person sees that a desire to study awakens in him, even one hour a day, and when he is praying he sees that for a few minutes he knows he is praying and does not forget that he is wrapped in a Talit [prayer shawl] and Tefillin, and his heart thinks every thought in the world, and then he remembers for a few minutes that he is crowned in the Talit and Tefillin and that now he is in the middle of a prayer, and he begins to think to whom he is speaking during the prayer. He feels that he is not simply speaking, but is standing before the King, and he believes in “You hear the prayer of every mouth.” Although he sees that he has already prayed many times and his prayer was not answered, he still believes above reason that the Creator does hear the prayer, and the reason his prayer has not been granted is that he probably did not pray from the bottom of the heart. Therefore, he takes upon himself to pray more intently “and the Creator will certainly help me and grant my prayer.” Then he promptly begins to thank the Creator for reminding him that he is now crowned with Talit and Tefillin. He feels good since he looks at other people, how they are still asleep, while with me, “the Creator has awakened me in the middle of the prayer,” so he is joyful.

If a few more minutes pass and he forgets once more where he is, and thinks about the ox and the donkey, and he is suddenly awakened once again from above, it makes sense that he would complain that he has forgotten about the whole thing—that he is in the synagogue now. However, he does not want to hear about it. Rather, he is happy that he has been reminded. It follows that in this way he only looks at “do good,” meaning that he is happy that now he was able to do good and does not notice that until now he was roaming the world of separation.

He can feel all this to the extent that he recognizes his value, that he is not better than other people, and that they even have the spirit of heresy and no affinity to Judaism. He also sees that there are people who do not even pay attention to Judaism, but they live like all other animals, with no concern for any purpose in life. Rather, they think that their whole lives, which they regard as being at a higher level than that of animals, is that they are also concerned with respect, and they understand that sometimes it is better to relinquish lust in order to obtain respect. But as for Judaism is concerned, even if they were circumcised by their parents they themselves pay no attention to it because other things interest them more.

When he looks at them, he sees that he does not know why he has been privileged more than them with the Creator’s giving him a thought and desire to engage in Torah and Mitzvot even if only in action. That is, he sees that he is still far from achieving the degree of Lishma [for Her sake], but he says, “In any case, I have been privileged with Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], as our sages said, ‘From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma.’ Thus, at least I’m on the first stage of Kedusha [holiness].” He contemplates how happy he is that the Creator has ushered him into the first degree of Kedusha, called Lo Lishma, how much he should thank and praise the Creator, especially that if a person is rewarded and is given a thought of engaging in the secrets of Torah, although he does not understand a single word that is written there, it is still a great privilege that now he is adhered to the study of the internality of the Torah.

In other words, he believes that they speak only about Godliness and he has room to delve in his thought, since “everything I’m learning is of the holy names, so I must be very fortunate. Therefore, all I need to do is thank and praise the Creator. That is, the vitality of the whole world comes only from nonsense, while I have been rewarded with entering the first stage of Kedusha, called Lo Lishma.” This is regarded as “right line,” meaning wholeness, which requires no correction.

However, it is written, “right, and left, and between them a bride.” That is, we also need a left line. We really need to understand this: if he feels that he is in wholeness and can thank and praise the Creator all day and all night, what else does he need? However, he himself knows that it is Lo Lishma, and man’s purpose is to work for the Creator, and he says that he has not achieved this degree. So how can one rise in degrees if he does not feel deficient?

There is a rule that if a person is asking something from the Creator, it must be from the bottom of the heart. This means that one should feel the deficiency in the heart, and not as lip-service. This is so because when one is asking for luxuries, which you can live without, no one has mercy on that person when he yells and cries for not having something many others do not have. And although he yells and cries to be given it, it is uncommon that there will be people who will pity him. However, when one is yelling and crying for a deficiency that he has, but the rest of the world has that thing and he does not, then when he yells and cries out for people’s mercy, then he is heard, and anyone who can help tries to help him.

It is the same here in the work of the Creator. When he tries to find wholeness in the right line, although he knows he has to try to make all his works be for the Creator, he also knows that man must keep what is written, “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalms 1). He does not observe this but he is trying with all his might to feel wholeness in the right line. At that time, although he knows he still has no wholeness, he still cannot ask the Creator to give him strength to be able to keep “And in His law he mediates day and night,” and cry out to the Creator to help him achieve Lishma, unless as luxuries and not as necessities.

This is so for the abovementioned reason that when one asks for something and yells and cries for not having it, but other people in his town also do not have it, he cannot say that this is a necessity, but rather a luxury, and one does not cry or beg for luxuries. But here, when he is walking on the right line and sees that what he has, other people do not have, since only a tiny portion of the world has what he has in spirituality, then how can he say that his demand of the Creator to bring him close so he can engage Lishma? This is a luxury, and one cannot ask for luxuries from the bottom of the heart, meaning that that deficiency will teach the depth of the heart. He himself is saying that what he has is already a great thing, so how can he ask the Creator to have mercy on him concerning a luxury, to give him the strength to engage Lishma, meaning in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker?

It follows that it is impossible for one to ask the Creator to guide him how to walk on the path of truth, since he does not have such a need, for we say about luxuries, meaning about something that others do not have, “troubled shared is troubled halved.” Therefore, he has no chance of ever achieving recognition of evil, that the fact that he cannot engage in Torah and Mitzvot for the Creator is bad. It follows that he accepts the state of Lo Lishma, and although this way is called a “path of falsehood,” and not the “true path,” he will never feel that he is marching on the path of falsehood, as it is written in the “introduction of The Book of Zohar” (item 175).

Therefore, one must also walk on the left line. However, one must allocate only a small amount of time for scrutinizing the left line. Most of the time he should be in the right line, since only those who have an inner attraction to achieve Lishma are allowed to walk on the left line, too. However, those who feel that they are not among workers, who think that they cannot overcome their desires, they must not walk on the left line. For this reason, even those with an internal attraction to achieve Lishma, although they can walk on the left line, they need to be careful not to walk on the left line for more than a short period of time, and only at a set time. And not at any time but according to the time each one allots himself to scrutinize the left line.

The schedule should be that either one sets one’s daily schedule, or a weekly schedule, or a monthly one. It is each according to his feeling, but he should not change the schedule he had decided on in the middle. If he wants to change in the middle because the body comes to him and lets him understand that “it is more like you to have a different schedule than the one you have arranged for yourself,” then he must tell his body, “I have my schedule. When I make another schedule, meaning if I have made a schedule for the whole week, when the week is over I will begin to make a new schedule, then you can come to me and tell me to make another schedule than the one I want to make. But I cannot change the schedule in the middle.

However, we should know the meaning of the left line, since there are many discernments in the left line. There is a left line that is complete darkness. This is called “Malchut being the quality of judgment and rising in each and every Sefira and becoming darkness.” That is, no light shines there. There is also a left line called “Hochma without Hassadim.” This is also called “darkness,” but the darkness there is only with respect to the light. With respect to the Kelim, his Kelim have already entered Kedusha, meaning that he can aim when he uses the vessels of reception in order to bestow, as well.

It follows that that left line is a great degree. It is called “darkness” due to the plentiful abundance that appears then. As long as he hasn’t a clothing of Hassadim, he is forbidden to use that light because while using he might fall into receiving in order to receive due to the plentiful abundance that he cannot overcome and receive in order to bestow. This is why we need the left line; this is why the left line is very important.

First we need to know that there is no time or space in spirituality. Therefore, what is the meaning of right and left lines?

The thing is that anything that does not require correction is called “right line,” and something that requires correction is called “left line.” We find this matter concerning the placing of Tefillin. Our sages said (Minchot 37), “Rabbi Yosi Hachorem: ‘How do we know that we place on the left? He learned it where Rav Natan learned it: Rav Ashi said that it is written, ‘from your hand,’ with a blunt Hey. RASHI interpreted that writing with a blunt Hey implies female, left, as he said that she is as powerless as a female.”

This means that “left” is regarded as weak and powerless, and that it must be given strength. This is why we see that wherever we want to give an example of something that requires correction we call it “left.” This is why after the left line we need the middle line, which corrects the left line. And this is why we call that which needs correction by the name, “left,” so as to know that now we need to make corrections.

The corrections that correct the left are called “middle,” since the line shows the deficiencies in the right, meaning that the right itself does not show any deficiency until the left line comes. That is, by his engagement in the left line he sees that there are deficiencies in the right. Once he has entered the left he loses the wholeness he had in the right, therefore now he is in a state of deficiency.

However, there are many discernments we should make in the deficiency that the left line shows, meaning what is the reason that there is a deficiency in the left. That is, the left says that there is a deficiency in the right. But sometimes we do not see any deficiency in the left line, and then who is showing that there is a deficiency in the left line, too, once the left has shown that there is a deficiency in the right? Thus, the way of the left must be wholeness. Hence, what is the reason that there is a deficiency in the left, for which he calls it, “left”? there are many discernments about this; it is all according to the issue because in any situation, a person finds a different reason and it is impossible to determine the reason. Rather, it is all on a case-by-case basis.

The left in the beginning of the work is criticism on the right—if it is right to remain in falsehood because we were given Torah and Mitzvot because we have the bad, called “self-love,” meaning to care for nothing, but rather every means is acceptable in order to obtain the goal of satisfying our will to receive with every possible satisfaction. It is called “bad” because it obstructs us from achieving Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator and exiting self-love, as the animate mind necessitates. Rather, the goal is to be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, after which he will receive the delight and pleasure that exist in the thought of creation, called “His desire to do good to His creations.” With this one can please the Creator because by this the Creator completes His goal from potential to actual—for the creatures to feel the delight and pleasure He has contemplated in their favor.

Since this will to receive, regarded is self-love, is all that obstructs this, it is called “bad.” To exit this bad He has given us Torah and Mitzvot, to reach the degree called “servant of the Creator.” It is not that he is working for himself, but rather to achieve the degree of Lishma.

In the right, he delights with the wholeness of Lo Lishma, which means that he is walking on the path of falsehood and wants to stay there. But although he knows he is in the degree of Lo Lishma, why is it considered that he wants to stay in Lo Lishma?

This follows the rule that one cannot ask the Creator from the bottom of the heart about a deficiency for a luxury, but rather only for a necessity. Since he is already happy that he is in Lo Lishma, even after all of his excuses he has—that it is good to be happy even in Lo Lishma, he nonetheless can no longer feel a deficiency to need this necessarily. Rather, this will be as luxury for him if we can engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma. Thus, he must stay in the right line.

Therefore, he should work with attention and criticism on the right line, meaning to see the deficiencies in the right line. Because of it, to the extent that he feels the deficiencies, meaning that the deficiencies he sees mean nothing because man’s impression with the deficiencies depends on the extent to which it touches his heart to feel the deficiency as incomplete and his inclination toward the truth and his loathing of lies, so if that deficiency touches the heart, meaning that the situation he is in pains him, then the previous state of right line, when he had wholeness, is inverted in him to suffering. At that time he can pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart because now the Lishma is as important to him as life because through it he clings to the life of lives. But when he was attached to the right line, the Lishma was a luxury in his eyes, meaning that he could live without it, too, but one who wants to improve his life and be above others has to try to achieve the degree of Lishma.

When one sees that he does not regard Lishma as luxuries, meaning to be above others, but that now he feels that he is the worst of them because he sees how far he is from the Creator and from the quality of truth, more than the rest of the people, although he does not see them going on the path of Lishma, it does not change anything that he sees no one going on the path of Lishma because with matters that concern the heart, one is not impressed by others. Although it is said, “trouble shared is troubled halved,” these maxims do not change his situation.

By way of allegory, if a person has a toothache and is crying and yelling, and he is told, “Why are you yelling? Can’t you see that there are other people here, at the dentist’s clinic, whose teeth are hurting just as yours?” We see that he does not stop crying because of his toothache. The fact that there are other people like him changes nothing for him. If he is really in pain, he cannot look at others so as to find relief for his own pain, if he is really hurting.

Similarly, if a person has really come to feel that he is far from the truth, he will not be comforted by the fact that everyone is taking the path of falsehood. Rather, day and night he longs to come out of that state. At that time a person acquires the need to achieve Lishma because he can no longer tolerate the falsehood.

But since that Kli [vessel] is not made all at once, meaning that the desire that the person receives from the left line is not made at once, but that desire forms in him gradually until it reaches the complete measure, and before this he still cannot achieve Lishma, since there is no light without a Kli, it means that he cannot be awarded Lishma before he desires it, and that desire grows within him slowly. Penny after penny joins into a great amount, meaning it is filled into a complete desire, and then the Lishma can dress in that desire because he already has a complete Kli, meaning a complete desire to be rewarded with Lishma.

However, we must know that when he is on the left line, meaning when he criticizes himself, he is in separation. This is so because he feels that he is immersed in self-love and does not care about being able to do something for the Creator. In that state he cannot exist because man can live only from the positive and not from the negative.

Therefore, a person must enter the right line once again, meaning keep Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishmaand say that there is wholeness in it, as we have explained above. We need to know the fundamental rule that there is a difference between Ohr Pnimi [Inner Light] and Ohr Makif [Surrounding Light]. Ohr Pnimi means that the light shines inside the Kelim [vessels]. This means that the light dresses in the Kli because there is equivalence between the light and the Kli, and the Kli can already receive the light in order to bestow. But Ohr Makif means illumination from afar. This means that although the Kliis still far from the light, since the Kli is on order to receive and the light is pure bestowal, yet, the light shines from afar, as in, surrounding the Kelim.

This is why when we engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma we still receive illumination in the form of Ohr Makif. It follows that through Lo Lishma we already have contact with the upper light, although it is illumination from afar. This is why it is called “positive,” and a person can receive vitality from this and exist. By appreciating the Lo Lishma, he appreciates the service of the Creator in general, that it is worthwhile to engage in Torah and Mitzvot in any manner. Baal HaSulam said that in truth, one cannot appreciate the value of keeping Torah and Mitzvot in Lo Lishma, for in the end there is nothing to add in actions. Rather, he keeps the commandment of the Creator and this is why this is regarded as the first stage in the work, of which our sages said, “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma.” For this reason, man should receive vitality and wholeness from the right line, at which time he receives the light of the Creator as Surrounding Light.

Afterwards he must criticize his actions once again, his engagement in the right line, and once again to shift to the right line. By this the two lines grow in him. However, these two lines contradict one another and they are called “two writings that deny one another until the third writing comes and decides between them.”

Yet, we should know that the Creator gives the third line, called the “middle line,” as our sages said, “There are three partners in man: the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father sows the white; his mother sows the red; and the Creator places a spirit and a soul in him.” According to the above, it turns out that two lines belong to the lower one, and the middle line belongs to the Creator. This means that the two lines cause him to be able to pray from the bottom of the heart to the Creator to help him out of self-love and achieve Dvekut with the Creator, since when a person prays from the bottom of the heart, his prayer is answered.

However, we should know that there are many aspects to the three lines.

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

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

Moses Went

Article No. 01, Tav-Shin-Mem-Vav, 1985-86

It is written in The Zohar (items 1-3): “‘Moses went.’ Rabbi Hizkiya started, ‘Leading to the right of Moses the arm of his glory, dividing the water before them.’ Three holy brothers walked among them. Who are they? Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. We have established that Aaron is Israel’s right arm, as it is written, ‘When the Canaanite, King of Arad … heard that Israel was coming through the sites.’ ‘Through the sites’ means that Israel were as a man walking without one arm, supporting himself in each place, since ‘sites’ means ‘places.’ Then ‘he fought against Israel and took some of them captive,’ since they were without a right arm. Come and see, Aaron was the right arm of the body, which is Tifferet, hence it is written, ‘Leading to the right of Moses the arm of his glory.’”

We should understand the allegory that he gives about the verse, “When the Canaanite … heard.” RASHI interpreted that he heard that Aaron had died and the clouds of glory had departed, as a man who is walking without an arm. What does it mean that Aaron was the right arm? We should also understand from the allegory that when one who has no arm walks, he supports himself in every place. We should know that everything we want to do must have a reason that necessitates doing it. According to the importance of the reason, so is the ability to exert in order to obtain one’s wish.

For this reason, when a person begins to walk in the work of the Creator and wants to work in faith and bestowal, he wants to know what is the reason that one must walk specifically in this way. Each one understands that if the work was based on reception and knowing, the work would be better and more successful. That is, the body, called “self-love,” would not resist this work so strongly, since although the body desires rest and does not want to work at all, if it were on the basis of reception and knowing, it would certainly be easier and more people would engage in Torah and Mitzvot.

Baal HaSulam said that the Creator wanted the body to resist so that man will have to have His help. Without help from the Creator, it is impossible to achieve the goal, and this was in order for man to be able to rise to a higher degree each time, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” The holy Zohar asks, “With what is he aided? With a holy soul. When one is born he is given a soul. If he is rewarded with more…” Therefore, man is given work so he can rise in the degrees of holiness.

But in the order of the work, meaning in order for a person to ask for the Creator’s help, we need to be careful because when one comes to work, the body tells him, “Why are you so upset? In any case, you cannot overcome your nature, called ‘self-love.’ You cannot come out of it, and only the Creator can help. So why are you straining yourself, making such great efforts to exit self-love? You’re working for nothing! Why do you need this work?”

Baal HaSulam said about this that before each work that one wants to do he must say that the choice is only up to him. At that time he must not say that the Creator will help him. Rather, he must make every effort he can, and he needs the Creator only to complete the work, and he cannot finish the work for the abovementioned reason.

Our sages said about this (Avot, Chapter 5, tractate 21): “He would say, ‘It is not for you to finish the work.’” Therefore, it can be said, “Why do I need to work? If I cannot finish it, what good is my work?” This is why the tractate continues, “Nor are you free to idle away from it.”

Thus, we see two things here that seem to contradict one another: On the one hand, a person is told to work “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.” This implies that the holy work depends on man, meaning that he can finish it. On the other hand, we say as it is written, “The Lord will finish for me.”

The thing is that both are needed. On the one hand, a person must make a choice, meaning have a desire to work for the Creator. If he could finish his work we would remain in his current state because he would feel that he is complete because he would see that all his actions are for the Creator, so what else is missing? Therefore, there is no longer any need to draw the light of Torah.

However, in order to have a need to progress in the Torah, since the Torah is the names of the Creator, which the Creator desired to reveal to the creatures, and according to the rule, “There is no light without a Kli [vessel],” then how can one receive the light of Torah when he hasn’t the Kli, called “need and deficiency”? For this reason, when one begins to work and sees that he cannot finish the work, he acquires a need and deficiency for the light of Torah.

It is as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.” And then, each time he wants to become purer, he must receive greater help from above. This is why we need both, and there is no contradiction between them, since each has its unique role.

This is similar to what we see in corporality, as every conduct that applies to spirituality extends to corporeality. We see that the order is that when a person is standing on the street carrying a heavy load, and he is asking passersby to help him lift the sack onto his back, everyone tells him they have no time, and “Please ask someone else, since there are many people here who can help you, and you don’t really need my help.” But if a person is carrying a heavy sack on his back and the sack is dropping off and is about to fall to the ground, and people pass by him and he is asking for their help to put the sack back on his back so it does not fall, we see that at that time, when the sack is about to fall off his back, no one will tell him, “I have no time; ask someone else to help you.” Rather, the first one next to him will immediately help him.

We should understand the difference between whether the sack is standing on the ground and he is asking for help, in which case everyone has his own excuse not to help him, and whether the sack is on his back and is about to fall, so the first person next to him helps him. We should understand that it is different with someone who is in the middle of the work, who has already begun the work and we can see that he is asking for help so he can continue the work, meaning that the load on his back is about to fall and so we help him.

But if he only wants to begin the work now, we tell him, “No rush. Pretend that the desire to begin the work came a little later; this is not so terrible.” For this reason, everyone sees that he does not need immediate help, but can wait until he finds someone with spare time to help him.

The lesson is that when a person waits for the Creator to help him and says, “Now I can work, but before the Creator gives me a desire and craving, I cannot overcome the desires of my body, and I sit and wait for the Creator to help me so I can begin the work of the Creator.”

This is similar to a person waiting for any person passing by him to place the heavy sack on his back. Likewise, that man is waiting for the Creator to give him strength and help him, and place the burden of the kingdom of heaven on his back, as it is written, “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.” He wants the Creator to help him with these burden and load and then he will begin the work. At that time he is told, “Wait for an opportunity, and in the meantime stay with the sack that of assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven below on earth.”

This is not so with one who has already begun the work, and is not saying that he will wait until the Creator gives him the desire to do the holy work and then he will begin to work. Rather, he does not want to wait because the craving to work and reach the truth pushes him forward although he does not see that he will have the ability to go forward alone, like Nahshon.

However, he sees that he cannot continue this work and is afraid that the burden of the kingdom of heaven, which he is now carrying, is beginning to fall off from him so he begins to call out for help, since he sees that each time, the burden he has taken on himself begins to fall. It is like a person carrying a sack on his back and sees that the sack is beginning to fall. We see that in corporeality, each one he asks for help helps him right away, and no one puts him off for later.

Similarly, in spirituality, one who begins to see that the burden and load are beginning to fall off from him, meaning the work he had previously assumed, to be “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load,” and he sees that soon he will be in descent, so he cries out to the Creator and receives help. It is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided,” as is written in The Zohar.

Conversely, Baal HaSulam said about one who waits for the Creator to help him first and then he will have the strength to work that it is as it is written (Ecclesiastes, 11), “He who guards the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds…” meaning that he stands and waits for the Creator to send a spirit of repentance. This man will never reach the truth.

Now let us return to the matter we asked, “What is the allegory about a person walking without an arm and is supporting himself in every place, and when Aaron dies the arm departs and then the Canaanite can fight against Israel?” We need to know that the right arm is regarded as Hesed[mercy], which is the vessel of bestowal. That is, he wants only to do mercy and bestow. By his power, Aaron drew this power to the people of Israel. Because of it no one could fight against the people of Israel, since it is the conduct of the body that it comes to a person and makes him see that if he listens to it, it will give him many pleasures. But if the body hears that his only desire is to bestow, he sees that it hasn’t the strength to speak with him.

They received the power of bestowal from Aaron the priest, which is the quality of Hesed, and were adhered to him. Therefore, they were under his governance. Hence, when Aaron died, he lost the power of bestowal and the war of self-reception began, for the body could now find a place to argue with him. This is why he gives the allegory of a man walking without an arm, having to support himself in every place he finds where he can find support.

Here the lesson is that since they lacked the power of above reason, called “mind,” as well as the power of bestowal, called “heart,” the body demanded support for every effort that it made. That is, it asked, “On what basis are you demanding of me to give you the strength to work?” Since he had no Hesed so he could say, “I am going above reason,” since this is the quality of Aaron, whose is regarded as Hesed, called “bestowal” and “above reason.”

This is called, “hangs the earth on nothing.” Baal HaSulam interpreted that faith above reason means that he has no support, but everything is hanging in midair. It says, “Hangs the earth,” where “earth” means the kingdom of heaven. “On nothing” means without any support.

Therefore, when Aaron died they had no one to draw this power so they went within reason and naturally supported themselves in each and every place. That is, wherever they saw that they could receive support so the body would want to work in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] they would accept it. This is called “through the sites,” as a person who is walking without an arm. Naturally, the Canaanite came to fight against Israel because within reason they have the dominance to fight. But above reason they cannot argue with this path because he does not need any support.

It follows that the whole exertion begins when a person wants to go above reason and needs to receive that power from above. This comes to them through the quality of Aaron, but now he himself must draw that force, meaning ask of the Creator to help him.

At that time he begins to discern between two things: 1) one who waits for the Creator to help him receive this power, and stands and waits for it, and 2) one who hasn’t the patience to wait for the Creator to help him, but rather begins to work and then yells for help from the Creator and says, “For the waters are threatening my life.” And because he has already come to a clear understanding that only the Creator can help him he receives the help.

The order of the prayer should not be as lip service. Rather, when he is faced with danger he should not yield before the governance of evil that come to him with strong arguments and want to distract him from the work of wanting to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven. They make every effort to disrupt him with everything they can do.

We see how the poet is giving us a clear picture of the evil that is standing before us. It is written in the Selichot (Selichot [prayers for pardon] for the fourth day of the Ten Penitentiary Days), “To You, O Lord, I call, O dreadful and terrible. Do not hide Your face in the day of trouble, when cursed ones arise against us … saying, ‘You must not accept God, bowing before Him dividedly, and without sanctifying He who does much pardons, nor fear the Godly dread. When I hear this, my heart trembles; this I will reply to my adversary: ‘God forbid that I should forget and leave the portion of the God of my father.’”

It turns out that when one wishes to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, and burden means “as an ox to burden and as a donkey to the load,” meaning that both the donkey and the ox resist assuming this work, but do it coercively. Why do they resist when they feel that they are working, but when they enjoy the work, meaning when they are eating, although this is also work, they are enjoying during the act so it is not considered “work”?

When a person has no right arm, regarded as desiring mercy, at which time he enjoys the work, the SitraAchra [other side] has no contact with this work so she can fight. But when Aaron dies, namely when he has not been rewarded with Aaron’s quality of Hesed, the outer ones come to him and tell him all kinds of words of heresy, and then it is work in two ways.

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

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Hear Our Voice

Article No. 39, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

In the Slichot [prayers for pardon], we say, “Hear our voice, the Lord our God, have mercy and pity on us, and accept our prayer with mercifully and willingly.” In the Monday and Thursday litanies we say, “Have pity on us, O Lord, with Your mercy, and give us not to the hands of the cruel. Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Hear our voice and pardon us, and do not abandon us in the hands of our enemies to obliterate our name. In the end, we have not forgotten Your name; please do not forget us.”

We should understand why it ends, “In the end, we have not forgotten Your name; please do not forget us.” It implies that this is the reason why we ask that the Creator will help us, because it says, “In the end, we have not forgotten Your name.” What reason and cause is there in “In the end, we have not forgotten Your name,” for which we say, “please do not forget us”?

To understand the above, we must know how are the nations who are asking heretic questions, since we say, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’” We also need to understand why we say to the Creator, “Give us not to the hands of the cruel.” Who are the cruel? Also, it seems that if we were not placed in the hands of the cruel in exile, it would not be so terrible and we would not need to pray to be delivered form the exile among the nations.

We will explain this according to our way. Since we are born after the Tzimtzum [restriction] and the concealment, and only the will to receive for ourselves is revealed in us, it lets us understand that we should work only for our own benefit. By becoming enslaved to self-benefit, we become remote from the Creator. It is known that near and far relate to disparity of form and equivalence of form.

For this reason, when a person is immersed in self-reception, he is separated from the life of lives. Naturally, he cannot feel the flavor of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], for only when he believes that he is keeping the Creator’s commandment not for his own benefit he can adhere to the Giver of the Torah. Since the Creator is the source of life, at that time a person feels the taste of life and calls the Torah, Torah of life,” and the verse, “This is your life and the length of your days,” comes true.

But during the separation everything is dark for him. Although our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], and from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma [for Her sake],” there are many stipulations to this. First he needs to have a need to achieve Lishma. A person thinks, “What am I losing by engaging Lo Lishma, for which I should always remember the reason why I am learning Lishma? It is not in order to receive a corporeal or spiritual reward. Rather, the reason I am learning Lo Lishma is to thereby achieve the degree of Lishma.

At that time the question, “Why do I need to work for something I don’t need?” awakens in him. The body comes to him and says, “What will I gain by your desire to work in order to bestow, called Lishma, that if I exert in Lo Lishma, I will receive something important called Lishma?”

In truth, it is to the contrary. If he tells his body, “Work in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, which is the reason by which you will achieve Lishma,” the body will certainly disrupt him, if this is his purpose, to achieve Lishma. It brings many excuses to a person why he cannot do the work of Lo Lishma.

Perhaps this is the reason why the body disrupts people who learn Lo Lishma so that it will lead them to Lishma, and does not let them engage even in Lo Lishma, since the body is afraid “lest the man will achieve Lishma.”

This is not so for the kind of people who do not learn with the intention to achieve Lishma, and engage in Torah and Mitzvot because the Creator commanded us to keep His Torah and Mitzvot, in return for which we will be rewarded in the next world. During the study of Torah they do not aim to exit self-love and be able to keep Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow. It follows that since he is not going against the body, meaning against self-love, the body does not object so much to keeping Torah and Mitzvot, since the body’s view is that it will keep everything in its own authority, meaning in self-love.

But for those who intend during their engagement in Torah and Mitzvot to be rewarded with Lishma, it is difficult to observe even Lo Lishma, since the body is afraid that it might lose all the self-love and will do everything for the Creator, leaving nothing for the body. It follows that there is a difference even in the Lo Lishma, meaning in the intention of the Lo Lishma itself. If the intention is to remain in Lo Lishma and not to go further, meaning achieve Lishma, a person can persist in learning Torah because his body does not pose much resistance.

But if a person aims, while engaging in Lo Lishma, to thereby achieve Lishma, it contradicts the view of the body. While it is true that he is still engaging Lo Lishma, but since the aim is to achieve Lishma, the body will resist every single movement and will present obstructions over every little thing.

This means that when those who do not go for the goal of achieving Lishma look at the obstructions that people who are walking on the path to achieving Lishma, they laugh at them. They say that they don’t understand them, that they take every little thing as a tall mountain, and every little thing becomes a huge barrier for them, and they have to muster great strength for every single movement. They do not understand them and tell them: “Take a look for yourselves and see how unsuccessful your way is. We, thank God, study and pray, and the body has no power to deter us from engaging in Torah and Mitzvot. But you, with your way, you yourselves say that every little thing you do is as though you have conquered a tall mountain.”

We can compare this to what our sages said (Sukkah, 52), “In the future [referring to the days of the Messiah], the Creator will take the evil inclination and slaughter it before the righteous and before the wicked. To the righteous, it will seem like a tall mountain. To the wicked, it will seem like a hairsbreadth.” Although there it discusses the days of the Messiah, we can take an example from there, meaning explain here that those who intend to achieve Lishma are regarded as righteous, since their aim is to be righteous, meaning that their intention will be only for the Creator. To them the evil inclination is regarded as a tall mountain

Those who haven’t the goal of achieving Lishma, meaning to exit self-love, are considered “wicked” because the evil, called “receiving in order to receive,” remains in them. They themselves say that they do not want to exit self-love, and to them the evil inclination seems like a hairsbreadth.

This is similar to the story that is told about Rabbi Bonim: He was asked in the city of Danzig, Germany, why Polish Jews are liars and wear dirty clothes, while German Jews are truthful and wear clean clothes. Rabbi Bonim replied that it is as Rabbi Pinhas Ben Yair said (Avoda Zarah, 21), “Rabbi Pinhas Ben Yair said, ‘Torah leads to caution, cleanness leads to abstinence, and fear of sin leads to holiness.’”

Therefore, when the Jews of Germany began to adopt cleanness, the evil inclination came to them and told them, “I will not let you engage in cleanness because cleanness leads to other things until you finally arrive in Kedusha [holiness]. It follows that you want me to allow you to achieve Kedusha. This will not happen!” What could they do? Because they yearned for cleanness, they promised it that if it would stop interfering with their work on cleanness they would go no farther, and it has no reason to fear that they might achieve Kedusha, for they are truthful. For this reason, the Jews of Germany are clean, since the evil inclination does not disturb them.

When the evil inclination saw that Polish Jews are engaging in cleanness, it came to them, as well, and wanted to obstruct them because they would achieve Kedusha, and it opposes it. They said to it, “We will not go farther.” But what did they do? When he left them, they kept going until they reached Kedusha. When the evil inclination saw that they are liars, he promptly fought with them over cleanness. Therefore, because Polish Jews are liars, it is hard for them to walk in cleanness.

In the same way, we should understand those who engage Lo Lishma and say that our sages promised us that from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma, and therefore we need not make great efforts to achieve it, but that this will eventually come. Therefore, we have no business with the view that we should always remember that everything we do in Torah and Mitzvot is in order to achieve Lishma and this is our reward, and this is what we expect.

Rather, we will engage in Lo Lishma and in the end, it will come, as our sages promised us. This is why the evil inclination does not come to divert them from engaging Lo Lishma, since it sees that they have no desire whatsoever to achieve Lishma, so it does not bother them at all, as with the story about Rabbi Bonim.

But with those who do yearn to achieve Lishma, the evil inclination sees that they engage in Lo Lishma because there is no other way but to begin in Lo Lishma, as our sages said, “He should not engage Lo Lishma unless because from Lo Lishma we get to Lishma,” and they sit and wait, “When will I achieve Lishma already?”

When the evil inclination sees that they are exerting to achieve Lishma through the remedy of Lo Lishma, it promptly comes to them and does all kinds of things to disrupt them, so they do not achieve Lishma. It does not let them do even tiny things Lo Lishma because of fear, since they are exerting to achieve Lishma, as in Rabbi Bonim’s reply.

Accordingly, there are two discernments in Lo Lishma:

1) His purpose in Lo Lishma is to achieve Lishma. He always examines whether he has already taken a step in his work toward arriving at Lishma. When he sees that he has not moved an inch, he regrets it and pretends that he has not even started with the work of the Creator, since his gauge in Torah and Mitzvot is how much he can aim for the Creator. For this reason, when he sees that he cannot even aim the smallest thing for the Creator, he feels as though he hasn’t done a thing in the work of the Creator, and regards himself as a useless tool.

At that time he begins to contemplate his purpose. Days are passing and he cannot come out of his state; all he wants is self-love! Worse yet, each day, instead of looking at disruptions in the work as though they are nothing, he sees them as tall mountains; he always sees a great barrier in front of him that he cannot overcome.

Baal HaSulam said about such states that a person advances precisely in these states, called “states of Achoraim [posterior].” However, one is not allowed to see it so he will not regard it as Panim[anterior], for when a person sees he is advancing, his power of prayer weakens because he sees that the situation is not so bad since in the end he is advancing, though in small steps. It might take a little longer, but he is moving. But when he sees that he is regressing, then when he prays the prayer is from the bottom of the heart, according to the measure of suffering that he feels due to his poor state.

But this you will understand what we say in the litany, “Have pity on us, O Lord, with Your mercy, and give us not to the hands of the cruel.” We must know who are the cruel. We should know that when we speak of individual work, then man is the collective. That is, he contains within him the nations of the world, as well. This means that he has lusts and views of the nations of the world, and he is in exile among the nations of the world that exist within him. This is called “the hands of the cruel.”

We ask of the Creator, “Give us not to the hands of the cruel.” In corporeality, a cruel person is one who gives troubles to people mercilessly, not caring that he is hurting others. Likewise, in the work of the Creator, when a person wants to take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, the views of the nations of the world in him come and torment him with the slander he hears from them. He must fight them, but they are stronger than him and he surrenders and is compelled to listen to them.

This pains and torments him, as it is written, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work and cried out, and their cry from the work went up to the God, and God heard their groaning.” Thus, we see that man’s suffering from the evil inclination is the reason why he should have room for prayer. It follows that precisely when he is at war with the evil inclination and thinks that he cannot advance, precisely here he has room for progress.

Baal HaSulam said that a person cannot appreciate the importance of the time when he has serious contact with the Creator. It follows that a person feels that he is in the hands of the cruel, and the nations of the world in him have no mercy on him, and that their cruelty against him is especially when they ask him as it is written, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’” This is a question of heresy, that they want to obliterate the name of Israel from him, as it is written, “Do not abandon us in the hands of our enemies to obliterate our name.”

It follows that the main thing they want is to uproot Israel’s faith in the Creator. With these arguments they separate him from the Creator so he cannot connect to the Creator, to adhere to the life of lives and feel the taste of spiritual life. This is why he says that although he hears each day their spirit of heresy, as it is written, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’” but “we have not forgotten Your name,” meaning I still remember the address to turn to.

That is, although only the Creator is left within us, and not what there is in the name, since they cause the name that stays in us be dry and tasteless, still, “we have not forgotten Your name. This is why we ask, “Please do not forget us,” meaning that He will give us the strength to approach Him so we can attain what is contained in the holy name.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

A Righteous Who Is Happy, a Righteous Who Is Suffering

Article No. 38, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

The holy Zohar interprets the matter of “a righteous who is happy, a righteous who is unhappy (Ki Tetze, item 13): “One who is righteous and unhappy, it means that he is from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since evil is with him. There is not a righteous who will not sin in this evil because it is with him. A wicked who is happy is one whose evil inclination has overcome his good inclination, and it was said about it, ‘He is happy,’ for the good is under the authority of the evil. And because the evil governs the good, he is wicked, for the one who prevails takes the name. If the good overcomes the bad, he is called “a righteous who is unhappy, for the evil is under his authority. If the evil prevails over the good, he is called a wicked who is happy,” thus far its words.

To understand the matter of good and evil in general, we need to know that since the root of the creatures extends from the Sefira of Malchut, and Malchut at her root is called “receiving in order to receive,” this is the root of all the evil that is in the creatures. This is so because that desire separates us from the root, for we learn that the thought of creation is to do good to His creations, and created a deficiency existence from absence, called “desire to receive delight and pleasure.”

But since in spirituality Dvekut [adhesion] and separation pertain to equivalence of form, and since the Creator is the giver and the creatures are the receivers, there is disparity of form between them, and that disparity of form separates us from the Creator. Thus, we cannot receive the delight and pleasure that He wants to give us, and which was the purpose of creation. For this reason, to receive the good, we need to qualify the Kelim [vessels] to work in order to bestow, and then we will receive the good.

It follows that our evil, for which we have no delight and pleasure, is nothing less and nothing more than the self-love within us. This is what interferes with our receiving the delight and pleasure, and this is what causes us death, as it separates us from the life of lives. This is why we are called “dead,” as our sages said, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead.’”

When we consider our evil, the way it speaks with us and wants to control us, with what force it comes to us to listen to its arguments, we should make four discernments here: 1) We can resemble and attribute to repentance from love (although repentance from love is a great matter, here we are speaking only with respect to the attribution). 2) To approximately resemble repentance from fear. 3) He cannot overcome and repent, but still remains broken and shattered because he cannot repent. 4) He is not impressed by his inability to overcome the evil and repent.

We will explain them one at a time. It is known that when one wants to go on the path of doing everything for the Creator, where in everything he does he thinks what benefit the Creator will derive from this, and does not think of his own benefit, then the body comes to him with arguments. It begins to slander this path, called “the path of bestowal and not for one’s self-benefit,” and argues the arguments of Pharaoh and the argument of the wicked, which are regarded as “mind and heart,” namely “who and what.”

When a person begins to listen to their arguments, he begins to wonder because he has never heard such strong arguments coming from his body as the ones he hears now. When he began the work he thought that each time he would advance further toward the goal, meaning that each time he would see that it is worthwhile to work for the Creator.

But suddenly he sees that where he should have had a greater desire to serve the Creator, he hears rejection from the body, which tells him now, “Why don’t you want to go the way the whole world goes, where you should be meticulous with the nitty gritty actions, and concerning the intention you should say, “May it be as though I intended.” “But now,” says the body, “I see that you are paying attention specifically to the intentions, meaning that you can aim that everything will be for the Creator and not for yourself. Can it be that you will be different? Don’t you want to be like everyone else, who say that this is the safest way? And the evidence of this is to look at everyone else, how they behave.”

At that time begins the work of overcoming. That is, he needs to overcome their arguments and not surrender to their demands. He must certainly give them clear answers to what they are making him see, that his desire to intend that all his works will be only to bestow and not for his own benefit is against reason, since reason mandates that since man was created with a will to receive delight and pleasure, and there is a natural demand to satisfy it—or else, why does he need life if not to enjoy it, to satisfy the body’s demands—and so it lets him understand that this makes perfect sense, and there is no excuse to answer its arguments.

The clear reply should be that we believe in the words of the sages, who taught us that we must go above mind and reason. That is, true faith is specifically above reason, and what the mind understands is not all true, since with respect to the Creator, we learn that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor My ways your ways.”

Here begin discernments in the order of the work:

The first degree is when he tells his body, “All your arguments you’re telling me make sense, and I agree with you. However, you should know that since the real path, as I received it from faith in the sages, is above reason, but I did not have a chance to show that the way is really so, that I am going above reason. But now that you are coming to me with your arguments that we must go within reason, and slander the way of bestowal and faith, I am happy that you are coming to me with your slander because now I can show my thoughts, that the basis on which I built the work of the Creator is on the path of truth. That is, now I can say that I am going above reason. But before you came to me I did not have a chance to show my way.

“Therefore, I like your arguments because you did me a big favor by slandering before me. That is the slander I had heard from you caused me to repent, since now I must overcome with faith above reason. It turns out that the one who causes me to take upon me the burden of the kingdom of heaven in bestowal and above reason is specifically your slandering. Had you not come to me with complaints, I would not have needed to take upon myself the commandment of faith. But now I must repent.” Thus, he is not upset with the slander he had heard.

We can compare this to how we relate to repentance from love (although in truth, repentance from love and repentance from fear are two great degrees), as our sages said, “Repentance from love—sins become to him as merits.” We can also interpret here that sins became to him as merits.

We should understand how sins become merits. Sins means the a person is angry that sins came to him. Merits are when a person enjoys from having acquired merits. So how ca it be said that sins have become merits? What is the sin here that the body comes with its complaints about faith, which he took upon himself above reason? Also, how can there be a greater sin than one who slanders holy faith?

However, if he repents from love, meaning now that he repents and takes upon himself faith above reason with a clear mind, he decide to go specifically by the path of faith, since now he has two ways before him and he decides. Thus, he has room for choice. But before it came to him with slander, although he took upon himself faith above reason, it was not so evident that he has two ways before him. But now he is making a real choice, determining that he must go specifically with faith above reason.

It therefore follows that he is happy with the slander he has heard, and likes the slander that they spoke about faith, although it is sins. And since they caused him to have room for choice, so it becomes revealed to him that he really wants to walk on the path of faith above reason, it turns out that these sins are as important to him as merits, for without them he would not have room for choice.

It turns out that with the repentance he is making now, he is happy with the work that has come to him now, and this is regarded as repentance from love. That is, he loves the act of repentance he has now performed. At that time, his causes, which are the sins, are regarded by him as merits, meaning that he loves them as merits, for one does not go without the other. He has approximately the relation that light and Kli [vessel] have. That is, the deficiency that the sins caused him is called a Kli, and the repentance, that he has made the choice, is similar to the relation of the light. This is the first degree in the order of the work.

The second degree is that although he overcomes the slander that the body speaks about the path of truth, which is bestowal and faith, and he repents, meaning answers the body, “All I hear from you is only what you say, that the mind dictates, but I go according to what I heard, that the basis of the work of the Creator is faith above reason. That is, I do not go according to the dictates of the mind, but above the mind.” Therefore, this is real repentance.

However, he says he would be happier if he did not hear their slander because he was in danger of perhaps not being able to make the choice. It follows that this repentance is regarded as fear. That is, he fears the work of overcoming, for it is hard work, since when a person is tested it is very difficult to choose the good.

It follows that this repentance is related to repentance from fear, when sins become to him as mistakes. Because he has repented the sins, they become as mistakes, but not as merits, since merits mean that he is similar to merits. Thus, as a person longs for merits, he is happy with his work, with being given a chance to make choice. But when he fears slander, he himself is saying that this is not merits, but rather similar to mistakes.

It follows that although he has elevated the evil into Kedusha [holiness], meaning corrected the evil by repenting, that degree is lower than repentance from love, since he himself did not turn them into merits. Therefore, this is regarded as the second degree in the work.

The third degree we should discern in the work is that when the body comes to him with its known arguments, when it slanders the mind and heart, and he surrenders to them and cannot overcome them, he must descend from his degree. That is, where he previously thought that he was regarded as being among the servants of the Creator, now he sees that he is far from it, since before the body came to him with its known arguments, he thought that he was already fine, meaning that he had no desires for self-love and he is completely in order to bestow.

But now he sees that he cannot overcome its complaints. Although now he is not being actually tested—for now all the arguments are only in potential—he still sees that he surrenders to its arguments and cannot take upon himself faith above reason and say, “I want to walk only in a path of bestowal.”

Now a man sits and wonders at himself, how the situation has been overturned. It seems to him as though it is a repeating cycle, and he who always looked at his lowliness, has fallen in there himself and cannot come out of that place though he remembers how he always loathed those people and regarded them as small and childish, and always stayed away from them. Now he is there and cannot come out of there by himself.

Now he sees similarly to the story that is told about Rabbi Yonatan, who had an argument with a priest. The priest said that he could change nature, and Rabbi Yonatan said that it is impossible to change the nature that the Creator created. Only the Creator Himself can change it, but man himself cannot.

What did the priest do? He took a few cats and taught them to be waiters. He dressed them in waiters’ clothes, went to the king, and told him about his issue with Rabbi Yonatan. The priest prepared a meal and invited the king and the ministers. Before the meal, the priest reiterated the matter of being able to change into a second nature, and Rabbi Yonatan said that only the Creator can change it but not man.

Subsequently, the priest commanded and said, “Let us eat first, and then we will conclude our debate.” Promptly, the waiters, meaning the cats, walked in, dressed just like real waiters, and set the table. They brought the dishes to each and every one, and the priest and the king and ministers were in awe at the wondrous acts of the waiters. Now everyone saw that there is no point in arguing after the meal, and everyone were surprised at Rabbi Yonatan sitting so calmly, unimpressed with the act that proved unequivocally that man can change nature.

What did Rabbi Yonatan do then? It is said that once they finished the meal and the waiters stood and waited to serve the guests, Rabbi Yonatan took out a box of tobacco. When everyone thought he was going to smell tobacco, he opened the box and out came several mice. When the waiters saw the mice coming out of the box and running away, they promptly left the guests and chased the mice, as is in their nature. Then everyone saw that Rabbi Yonatan was right.

The same thing applies to us. When the body comes and begins its slandering, showing tangibly the taste of self-love, he promptly leaves the Torah, the work, and the Creator, and runs to obtain self-love, where the body shows him the pleasure of it. Then he sees that he is powerless to exit self-love.

It follows that here, in this situation—when he sees now how he is immersed in self-love because of our nature—it is regarded as having achieved a certain degree in the work. This means that he has reached the degree of truth, called “recognition of evil.” Now he knows that he must begin his work anew, for until now he was walking on the way and deceived himself, thinking that he was above everyone, but now he sees his real state.

Therefore, now he has a place of deficiency to pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart, since now he sees how remote he is from the work of bestowal, that one cannot come out, but only the Creator can help with it. This is the third degree, which is lower than the two previous degrees.

The fourth degree is the lowest compared to the first three degrees. Sometimes the body comes to him with all its arguments and he listens but does not answer at all. However, he takes its arguments seriously and even sees that it is natural that he cannot perform acts of bestowal. And he remains in self-love as he is used to, without any excitement. He is very composed about it and forgets the place and state he had a moment ago, before the body came to him with its questions, when he thought that he was not like the rest of the people, whose work is built on self-love. Rather, now he feels that this is the way to work, the same as everyone works.

It follows that from all the questions that came to him—which must have been a herald from above in order to give him a chance to rise in his degree, either as the first discernments, which is similar to repentance from love, or as the second discernment, which is as repentance from fear, or as the third discernment, which is to have a deficiency, meaning when he could still pray to the Creator—now he sees that it is impossible that man will be able to help himself by himself.

Now he comes to a state where he believes and sees what our sages said (Sukkah, 52), “Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish said, ‘Man’s inclination overpowers him each day and seeks to put him to death, as it was said, ‘The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.’ Were it not for the Creator’s help, he would not have overcome it, as it was said, ‘God will not leave him in his hand, nor convict him when he is judged.’’”

He sees that the body really does seek to put him to death, meaning that it wants to separate him from the life of lives with its arguments. Now he sees that he cannot overcome it by himself, and he waits for the Creator to help him. It follows that the questions that came to him were not in vain. Rather, they gave him room to pray from the bottom of the heart. But in the fourth degree, when he takes everything casually, it is as though the questions came to him in vain, pointlessly.

However, we must know that for a person who has started to walk on the path of bestowal and faith, nothing goes in vain. Rather, after some days or hours, he comes to from his situation after hearing the slandering and sees something new: how a person can fall from a high degree to a degree that is the utter lowliness compared to the state that he was in. And still, he had no sense of it. Rather, he felt that as though nothing has happened, and he took it all very peacefully, agreeing to remain in his current state. He is calm and in a reasonable mood, where previously he thought that if he could not advance in spirituality he would rather die than live. He was always quivering and agitated about how to advance, and always looked at calm people who engage in Torah and Mitzvot dryly, without any thought or mind, but simply going by rote.

But now he doesn’t feel that he should receive support from anyone, or that he lacks a deficiency. Rather, it is simply natural that person wants to live in peace and not search for faults in himself, but sentence himself to a scale of merit. That is, he has many excuses for everything he thinks is a flaw. But mainly, he wants to live painlessly because he remembers that previously, when he did think about spirituality, he was full of suffering and was always worried. Now, thank God, he has no concerns over spirituality and lives like all other people.

But later, when some awakening comes to him from above, he becomes concerned with spirituality again. At that time he sees something new—man is not his own boss. Rather, he is in a catapult, tossed from above as they choose, and he is in the hands of those above. That is, at one time he is given thoughts that he should throw away all the corporeal matters that pertain to his own benefit. Another time he is tossed down into the corporeal world, meaning he forgets about all the spiritual matters.

It turns out that even the fourth degree is a degree, for he is given a chance to learn from this to see the truth, for by this he can come to cling to the Creator by seeing that he is dependent on the Creator. At that time he will awaken to ask of the Creator to help him out of self-love and achieve love for the Creator.

However, this is a long way. The order is as Baal HaSulam said, that one should say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” One should say that everything depends on man, since the choice is given entirely to man, and he should not wait until an awakening comes to him from above.

But after the fact he should believe that it is all Private Providence, and man cannot add anything to His work. Rather, he must do as it is desired above, and he has no free choice. This is the best and shortest way, since one spares time and suffering, for one does not suffer due to the prolonging of time.

It follows that we find four discernments when a person begins to walk in the order of work of bestowal and faith:

1) When the body comes to him with its arguments of slander, he accepts them with love. He says, “Now I have a chance to keep the commandment of faith above reason, for otherwise I would be working only within reason.” This pertains to repentance from love, meaning that he loves this repentance.

2) When the body comes to him with its arguments of slander, although he overcomes them, he does not like this work, since it is hard work to overcome when he hears slander. This is similar to repentance from fear, when sins become to him as mistakes, as he would be happier if they did not come to him.

3) When the body comes to him with its slander, he surrenders under its arguments and hasn’t the strength to overcome. At that time he feels bad about himself because previously he thought that he was already regarded as being among the servants of the Creator, but now he sees that he has nothing. He regrets it, but he cannot help himself. It follows that the situation he is in pains him.

4) When the body comes to him with its slandering, he crumbles under its load, does everything the body tells him, and takes everything calmly. He promptly forgets that he was ever a servant of the Creator and feels good about himself, as though nothing has happened. Instead, he enjoys his situation because now he has no suffering from not thinking about the work of the Creator, and he wants to continue all his life in this state. Sometimes he doesn’t even think about that, meaning he doesn’t think at all about life’s purpose, but is simply happy as he is.

These four states can be compared to four degrees that our sages said:

1. a righteous who is happy,
2. a righteous who is suffering,
3. a wicked who is suffering,
4. a wicked who is happy.

Although our sages are referring to high degrees, with respect to the relation, we can still compare. We will call the first state, which is similar to repentance from love, “a righteous who is happy.” This means that he feels nothing as bad because the sins has become for him as merits.

We will call the second state, which is similar to repentance from fear, “a righteous who is suffering,” as The Zohar interprets above: “A righteous who is suffering—when the evil is under his authority.” That is, he controls it, for he has repented on the slander he had heard from his body. But since the sins have not become merits, it follows that he has sins but they are as mistakes, since the evil is under the authority of the good. It follows that he still has evil, but the good controls it.

The third state is when he surrenders under the evil when he hears slander from the body. He doesn’t have the strength to repent on the slander and accepts it. However, he regrets not being able to overcome it. We can call this “a wicked who is suffering.” Although he is wicked, meaning he is not repenting, he feels unpleasantness in this situation, which means that he is suffering from not having the strength to overcome.

The fourth state is when he accepts the slander calmly, and doesn’t even feel that he has just heard slander. We can call this “a wicked who is happy.” That is, although he is wicked, he is happy this way and does not feel any flaw about himself.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

When a Person Knows What Is Fear of the Creator

Article No. 36, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

In the portion, Vaetchanan (item 68), the holy Zohar writes, “Afterwards in particular, meaning that when a person knows what is fear of the Creator, when he attains the quality of Malchut herself, which is fear out of love, the essence and the basis of love of the Creator, this fear makes him keep all the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah, so a person is a loyal servant of the Creator, as it should be.”

We should understand what it means when he says, “when he attains the quality of Malchut herself, which is fear out of love.” It means that since he has been rewarded with Malchut herself, she is regarded as love, and that love causes him fear. But why does love cause him fear? And also, we should understand what is fear once he has been rewarded with love?

We should interpret this according to what I heard that Baal HaSulam interpreted about the verse, “And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle” (Genesis, 13:7). Abraham is called “father of faith,” whose work was based entirely on faith above reason without any support, meaning something to support the entire building that he was going to build in his life. He went wholeheartedly, and precisely through faith above reason he could approach the Creator, when he saw only this as life’s purpose.

To be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator within reason, he saw that his mind mandated otherwise, for wherever he turned he saw contradictions in Providence, in how the Creator behaves with the creatures. Then he understood that the Creator wants him to serve Him precisely above reason. He understood that if the way of within reason was better suited for bringing man to Dvekut with the Creator, the Creator would certainly behave differently, “for who will tell You what to do?”

Rather, he believed that he has no other way but to go above reason, and that the Creator did so deliberately because precisely this way is to man’s benefit. Therefore, he decided that he wanted to serve the Creator specifically above reason. This means that if he can attain His guidance within reason, he will oppose it because he regarded his work above reason, that this was more certain that his aim would be only to bestow contentment upon the Creator. But what could he do if he saw that His guidance dressed in him within reason, and he no longer had the option of going above reason because everything was revealed to him?

Baal HaSulam explained that when he saw some disclosure of light and abundance appearing to him he did not say about it that now he was happy that he will no longer have to go above reason because this is work to which the body does not agree, for the body enjoys more if it has some support on which to rely. That is, on which basis is his entire effort built? All the buildings that man builds are founded on the intellect, meaning that the intellect compels him that he must do so. For this reason, where the intellect cannot say that everything he does is fine, it is certainly difficult for him to walk in this way.

Therefore, where he has a chance to attain something within reason, he promptly throws his foundation of above reason and begins to work on a new basis, built on the intellect. Then he has support on which his labor can rely and he no longer needs the help of the Creator. Because it is difficult to go above reason, he always needs the help of the Creator, to have the strength to go above reason.

But now that the mind is telling him, “Now that you have the support of the mind and reason, you can advance alone, without the help of the Creator, and attain what there is to attain. Then his advice, when he said, “Now I see that the real way is to go specifically above reason because precisely by going above reason, a way that pleases the Creator, I was now rewarded with nearing the Creator. The evidence of this is that now he feels a taste for the work of the Creator both in Torah and in prayer.

It follows that he does not take being rewarded with nearing the Creator and feeling the love of the Creator as a basis for the work, meaning support for the work of the Creator, since the intellect necessitates that it is worthwhile to keep Torah and Mitzvot and he no longer needs to go with faith above reason. Rather, he is careful not to flaw the faith, meaning to accept the way of within reason and throw away the faith.

Faith is called Malchut. Therefore, it is considered that he has degraded and blemished the faith, for now it is evident that to begin with, he had no choice and therefore took to faith, but otherwise he would not have taken it. And as soon as he sees that he can get rid of it he promptly degrades it and throws it, and takes knowing in its stead. It was said about this, “I will honor those who honor Me, and those who despise Me will be disgraced.” It is also written, “The ways of the Lord are straight; the righteous walk in it, and the wicked fail in it.”

Accordingly, we can understand what we asked, since he has already been rewarded with Malchut, it is regarded as fear out of love. We asked, “If he already has love, how can we still speak of fear, and how can we speak of fear when he has already been rewarded with love?”

According to the interpretation of Baal HaSulam, who explained concerning the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle, we can easily understand this. He said that the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle means that Abraham was pasturing the faith. Mikneh [cattle] comes from the word Kinyan[possessions], meaning that all the possessions he has been rewarded with were pasturing his faith. That is, he said, “Now I see that the path of faith is the real path because I was rewarded with nearing the Creator. For this reason, I take upon myself to henceforth go only by the way of faith above reason.

This was not so with the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. He took the possessions he acquired into the discernment of Lot. The holy Zohar calls Lot by the name of “land of the curse,” meaning that it is not a place of blessing, called a “field that the Lord has blessed.” Rather, it is a place of curse, which is within reason, meaning that he does what the mind mandates. However, when he began to walk on the path of the Creator, he also began with faith above reason, but he always waited for a time when he could be rid of this work of above reason.

The body always demands some basis on which to base his exertion in Torah and Mitzvot, since when the work is built on the intellect, and the intellect lets him understand that the work is worthwhile, the body makes great efforts and very persistently because the intellect compels it.

For example, a person went to bed at midnight, he is very tired, with fever, and is forbidden to get out of bed because he is shivering. But a fire breaks out in nearby rooms and he is told to quickly get out of bed because soon he won’t be able to get out of the house and he might burn. At that time, the intellect mandates without any doubt, if he regards his situation, that it is inconvenient for him to get out of bed for several reasons, then he might burn. Surely, he jumps out of bed without any arguments because the basis on which he has to exert, the intellect, mandates its profitability. Therefore he is certain to make every effort.

It follows that where the intellect binds the effort, one does not regard the effort, but only the profit, meaning what one can obtain through the effort. However, when working above reason one is always under the body’s pressure, which is asking, “What makes you certain that you’re on the right path? Is the effort you are making in order to achieve the goal really worthwhile? Is this even doable? Can you achieve the goal you’re seeking?”

Therefore, he is always going through ups and downs, where once the intellect prevails and once above reason prevails. He always thinks, “When will I be able to establish my work within reason and have a sound basis, since I will be able to build everything on the intellect? Surely, at that time I will not have any descents in the work of the Creator, as is with everything that is built on common sense.” However, he does not know what he hopes to attain will not give him a blessing, but a curse, since within reason is the place of the grip of the Sitra Achra [other side], and the Creator has chosen that those who want to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, specifically above reason is the real way to approach the Creator.

This is the degree of Lot, the cursed land, a land where there is a curse, and not a blessing. This is called the “herdsmen of Lot’s cattle,” who was always searching possessions for within reason, called Lot, meaning a curse. This is the meaning of the verse, “And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle.” That is, the quarrel was that each one said that he was right.

Those who were in the state of herdsmen of Lot’s cattle were saying, “If we can build our basis on the intellect, called ‘within reason,’ we will not have ups and downs because we will always be in a state of ascent.” This is so because where the intellect binds doing the actions there is no one to interrupt them. Therefore, when we have no choice we must go above reason. But when we can choose to go within reason, it is to the contrary: we must say that there is contentment above in that from this day forth we will have no descents in the work. Therefore, our way is certainly better.

But the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle are people whose basis was precisely on faith above reason. They said, “If the Creator wanted us to work on the basis of the intellect, He would not be concealed from us to begin with. Rather, this must be the best way. Therefore, we need not look for opportunities to be rid of faith above reason. Rather, if we receive some intellect and nearing to the Creator we will not take it as a basis for casting away faith, but to say, ‘Now I see that this is the real way because by this I was rewarded with nearing.’” Therefore, he should brace himself and accept that henceforth he will not search for any opportunities to be rid of the faith, but on the contrary, grow stronger with faith above reason.

By this we will understand the words of the holy Zohar, that once he was rewarded with Malchutherself, which is love, being fear out of love, we asked, “How can you speak of fear if there is already love there?” And also, “What is fear?”

According to the above said, it turns out that once he was rewarded with love, there is nothing greater that mandates the work because it is a basis within reason, for now the intellect mandates the work for him. This is so because naturally, we want to serve the one we love. Therefore, there is no more room for faith because at that time how can we speak of faith above reason then?

Therefore, he is afraid that he might blemish the faith because now the body will enjoy the work more since he has a basis of within reason. And if he blemishes faith, then it becomes revealed that the faith above reason that he had had was out of necessity to begin with, not out of respect, but that he constantly longed for a time when he could be rid of it and work with knowledge instead of faith.

Then, because he has blemished faith, he promptly falls from his degree and soon parts from the Creator, since knowing is receiving. It is known that we understand receiving, which is self-love, in two ways: 1) with the mind, 2) with the heart.

It turns out that when he has been rewarded with love, the love itself causes him fear. He is afraid that he will not be drawn to knowledge. Therefore, at that time he needs great care that he will not fall into the will to receive. At that time we understand that love itself causes the fear. Now we already know what is fear, which love causes, meaning that he is afraid that through this love he will fall into self-love.

With this we can understand the great rule that Baal HaSulam said, that although it makes sense that sin induces punishment, in internality, it is a very different meaning, which is a little difficult to grasp. He said that we must know that the sin is the punishment, and the punishment is already the correction!

We should ask about this: If the sin is the punishment, what is the sin? Through the above said we can interpret that the sin was actually during the ascent, that precisely when he was rewarded with love, he had a desire to take love as the basis, and cast away the faith, as is the view of the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle.

At that time he suffered a descent and fell once more into self-love, from which every kind of sin is derived. It follows that he failed precisely during the ascent, when he thought that by taking love as a basis and support on which to exert, and thought that by this he would not have any more descents, since where the intellect mandates is a healthy path and he will never fall, this was the actual sin. This is called “All who add subtract.” It follows that his fall into self-love is the punishment for flawing the faith, and the punishment he has received is a correction so he will rise once more on the degree of the straight path.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

And I Pleaded with the Lord

Article No. 34, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

“And I pleaded with the Lord.” RASHI interpreted that in all the places, Hanun [“gracious,” from the root, Hanan, the same root as for Etchanan (pleaded)] means Matnat Hinam [free gift]. Although the righteous can refer to their good deeds, they are only asking the Creator for a free gift.

It is written in Midrash Rabbah: “‘And I pleaded with the Lord.’ Out of all of them, Moses prayed only with a language of pleading. Rabbi Yohanan said, ‘You learn from this that one has nothing with one’s Maker, for Moses, the greatest of the prophets, came only with words of pleading.’ Rabbi Levi said, ‘Why did Moses come only with words of pleading?’ The allegory says, ‘Take care that the place of your words will not be caught.’ How so? The Creator said so to Moses: ‘I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.’ He said to him: ‘With one who has in My hand I will be merciful; I work with him with the quality of mercy. And one who has not in My hand I will pardon; I work with him with a free gift.’”

We should understand the above said: 1) How can it be said, “I will be merciful” in relation to someone who has in My hand? The words, “One who has in My hand” come from the words of our sages, “Count for Me in your hand,” meaning that he should be paid a debt. Thus, what does it mean that the Creator said that one to whom the Creator is indebted, the Creator tells him, “I will be merciful.” He should has said, “I will pay,” as it is written, “Who has preceded Me and I will pay him?” Therefore, how can it be said that paying a debt has to do with being merciful? 2) We should understand how it is possible to have two such conflicting views, where one view is that he deserves a debt from the Creator, as he says, “One who has in My hand,” and the other is that he has nothing in his hand. In what way are their arguments so remote from one another? What is the point from which they come to such opposite views?

To understand the above we should discern two kinds in those who engage in Torah and Mitzvot[commandments]. Although there is no difference between them in the actions, meaning that in terms of actions it cannot be recognized, but there is a huge difference in the intention between the two above kinds.

The purpose that the first kind wants to achieve through their engagement in Torah and Mitzvot is to receive reward for the labor, since there is a rule in our nature that it is impossible to work without reward. Thus, what compels them to keep Torah and Mitzvot is the fear of not getting the fulfillment for the deficiencies that they are feeling. They are deficient of this and that and have a strong desire and great craving to satisfy it.

Therefore, they do everything they can in order to obtain what they want. For this reason, this fear compels them to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. This is regarded as not observing the fear because of the commandment of the Creator, but because of self-benefit, as presented in the Sulam[commentary] (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 191): “It follows that his own benefit is the root, and fear is a branch derived of his own benefit.”

It turns out that this kind engages in Torah and Mitzvot so the creator will pay them. Thus, the Creator is indebted to them, since they made great efforts in the engagement in order to yield fruit. For this reason they come to the Creator with a demand: “Pay us for our labor.” By this we can interpret the words of the above homily [Midrash], when Rabbi Levi said that the Creator said, “With one who has in My hand,” meaning who deserves to be paid a debt, namely that from the beginning, his intention was for the Creator to pay for his labor in Torah and Mitzvot.

It turns out that he comes with an complaint, as it is said by our sages, “Count for Me in your hand.” By this we can explain the words of the above homily. However, we should still clarify why the Creator said about this argument, ‘I will be merciful.” What mercy is there here if he deserves to be paid a debt? How can it be said here, “I work with him with the quality of mercy”?

The second kind is those who have a completely different intention, since the want to serve the Creator in order to bestow contentment upon the Maker without any reward. According to the rule that man was created with a desire to receive for himself, how can he work without any reward? A I said in the previous articles, there are those who work in order to later receive a reward, and there are those who work because they regard the work itself as reward and payment, and they have no greater reward than to be allowed to work.

This is similar to serving an important person. It stems from nature that there is no greater reward than to serve an important person. This means that he can give everything he has in order to have the privilege of serving the King. It follows that the work itself is the reward, and he expects no other pay. Rather, he expects to have the privilege of always serving the King, ceaselessly, and this is his whole life, the whole purpose of his life, and it is imprinted in nature.

However, we should understand why the Creator created such a nature, where if the lower one knows the importance of the upper one he wants to serve Him without any reward. Baal HaSulam said about this that since the Creator created the worlds in order to delight His creatures, He created in the creatures desire and craving to receive delight and pleasure. Otherwise, without a desire to enjoy, the creature cannot receive delight and pleasure, since there is no fulfillment without a lack.

However, along with it came the matter of the bread of shame—that there is no Dvekut [adhesion] here due to the disparity of form that has been born. For this reason, there was the correction of Tzimtzum [restriction], meaning to not receive, unless it is because he wants to bring contentment to the Creator. This is why he receives from Him, and otherwise he waives the pleasure.

However, this brings up the question, if he was born with a will to receive and this is his nature, from where can he receive a desire to bestow? This is against nature! This is why He has created a second nature—that the smaller one annuls before the greater one and derives delight and pleasure from serving the greater one. Then, when he has a desire to bestow upon the greater one, he thinks, “What can I give to the Creator so the Creator will enjoy?” since he wants to impart Him with pleasure so He will enjoy. At that time he sees that all he can give to the upper one, which you could say that the upper one lacks, is only one thing: that the lower one derives delight and pleasure. This gives pleasure to the Creator because this was the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations.

It therefore follows that all that man lacks in order to have the desire to bestow is the greatness of the Creator, for as soon as he obtains the greatness of the Creator he immediately wants to bestow upon Him due to the nature that the lower one, who is smaller, is annulled before the greater one.

This is why we were given the matter of wailing over the exile of the Shechina [Divinity]. This means that the whole matter of spirituality is degraded, which is called “Shechina in the dust,” when her importance is as that of dust, which is stepped on and is meaningless. This is the meaning of what is presented, that with each Mitzva [commandment] we must intend to raise the Shechina from the dust. That is, with every action one should intend that by this the glory of the Shechina will grow. It is as we say (In the Eighteen in the Supplementary Prayer of Rosh Hashanah [beginning of the year]), “Our Father, our King, reveal the glory of Your kingdom upon us,” namely that the kingdom of heaven will not be to us as dust, but rather glorified.

It follows that what this kind of people demands of the Creator is that He will reveal to them the glory of His kingship, and have nothing with the Creator since they do not require any reward from the Creator. Rather, all they want is to serve the King and please Him. They ask that the Creator will show them the glory of the kingdom of heaven.

Thus, they have nothing in the hands of the Creator that they can say that they gave something to the Creator for which they are demanding that He will satisfy their need, since anything they can do in order to bestow is only because the Creator has revealed to them with some importance, when they feel a little bit of the sublimity of the Creator. It follows that those people who have nothing of theirs in the hands of the Creator, whatever He gives them is only because “I will pardon,” I work with him with a free gift.”

But those who work in order to receive reward say that they have something in the hands of the Creator. That is, they give Him work and ask of the Creator to pay the reward for their work in return. And since the Creator does not deny the reward of any being, He pays them according to their work.

However, we must understand the words, “I will have mercy,” “I work with him with the quality of mercy [Rachamim],” since the Creator is saying that He feels mercy toward those who are walking on this path. And yet, the Creator does not deny the reward of any being, therefore He pays them according to their demand.

By this we will understand what we asked, “How can there be such a big difference between the two above views. The thing is that from the perspective of the Creator, we learn that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, but the creatures themselves turn it into two discernments, since those who cannot understand the importance of the greatness of the Creator have no way to begin the work, except in order to receive reward, as our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even if Lo Lishma (Pesachim 50). They feel that they are giving something to the Creator.

But those who want to work in order to bestow see that they cannot give anything to the Creator. This is regarded as not having anything. It follows that what they want is for the Creator to show them a little of His greatness. They ask this for the purpose of pardoning, and then the Creator tells them, “I will pardon,” “I work with him with a free gift.”

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

The Felons of Israel

Article No. 33, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

“Rish Lakish said, ‘The felons of Israel, the light of Hell does not govern them, much less from the altar of gold, etc., The felons of Israel are full of Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] like a pomegranate, as it is written, ‘Your Temple is like a slice of a pomegranate.’ Do not pronounce it Rakatech [your Temple], but Reikanin [empty] in you are full of Mitzvot like a pomegranate, all the more so” (end of Hagigah [Masechet]).

Concerning the felons of Israel, we should understand with respect to whom they are called the “felons of Israel”: 1) Is it with respect to the Torah, 2) or with respect to the whole of Israel that they are regarded as the felons of Israel, 3) or with respect to the individual himself? That is, he sees and feels about himself that he is the felons of Israel. Superficially, it is difficult to see how one can be full of Mitzvot like a pomegranate, yet be regarded as the felons of Israel.

If we interpret this with respect to the person himself, we can say and interpret, “Although they are full of Mitzvot like a pomegranate,” he sees that he is still the felons of Israel. We should interpret Rimon [pomegranate] from the word Rama’ut [deceit]. That is, he sees that he is deceiving himself, meaning that although he is full of Mitzvot, namely sees that he has nothing more to add in quantity, and according to his efforts, he should certainly have been Israel by now, meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], where everything is for the Creator. Yet, after his self-scrutiny, he sees that he is deceiving himself, that the main reason he engages in Torah and Mitzvot is self-love, and not in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, which is called Yashar-El, meaning that all his work goes straight to the Creator.

Since he saw that all his work was only in order to receive, he saw that he was a felon with regard to Israel. That is, he does not want his work to be for above, called “in order to bestow upon the Creator.” Rather, all his work is on the basis of keeping everything below, which is regarded as a receiver because the receiver is regarded as being of inferior importance, and the giver is of superior importance.

This extends from the root. Since the Creator is the giver, He is regarded as “above.” The creature, who receives from the Creator, is regarded as being of inferior importance. Hence, if his work is in order to receive, he is regarded as wanting his work in Torah and Mitzvot to remain below, meaning in reception.

This is called “transgressing in the aspect of Israel,” for instead of serving the Creator, where he wants to work to bestow upon the Creator, he does the opposite—wanting the Creator to serve man. And since they said that nothing is given for free, but the reward is given according to the labor, as is done in the physical world, this is how he wants to labor. He works for the Creator on condition that the Creator will pay for his labor. Otherwise he will have no strength to make any move without reward.

However, how can one come to see the truth, that he is deceiving himself concerning the quality of the goal, and cannot do the holy work in truth? Our sages said in that regard that one cannot see the truth before one has light. That is, one sees that he is doing many Mitzvot, meaning that he is full of deeds and sees no place where he can do more deeds that will help him become “Israel,” meaning only to bestow, without any need for self-love. He does not see that he will ever achieve this by himself unless he has help from above, and it is impossible that man will be able to do this.

It follows that the Mitzvot he has done caused him to see the truth, that thus far he was fooling himself thinking that a person can obtain the force that changes to the intention to bestow by himself. Now he has come to realize that this is not the case.

Now we can interpret, “even the empty ones among you are full of Mitzvot like a pomegranate.” It means that even though they are full of Mitzvot, they feel that they are empty because they see that they are like a pomegranate, from the words, “I called to my lovers; they deceived me” (Lamentations, 1), meaning deceit, whose work in Torah and Mitzvot was only for their own benefit and not to benefit the Creator.

But who caused him to know this? It is precisely that he is full of Mitzvot. This caused him to see that he should not fool himself into thinking that he can become “Israel.” Instead, now he sees that he is the “felons of Israel.”

It turns out that it is impossible to obtain real knowledge of one’s degree in spirituality, unless he is full of Mitzvot. At that time he sees his state, that until now he was in deceit, and now he is in the degree of the “felons of Israel.” But without Mitzvot is regarded as being without light, and then one cannot see the truth, that he needs the Creator to help him become “Israel.”

However, we should know that saying that if he is full of Mitzvot then he sees that he is as a pomegranate comes with a stipulation: It is said specifically when he is a person who is seeking the truth. At that time it is said that one who seeks the truth still cannot see the truth before he is full of Mitzvot, but not before.

Hence, this requires two things: 1) On the one hand he needs to engage in Torah and Mitzvot as much as he can, without any criticism whether it is on the path of truth or not. Only after the fact can he criticize, but not while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot, for at that time he needs to feel himself in wholeness, as 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.” Thus, for now it is unimportant how he is engaging because in any manner of engagement he is keeping the words of our sages. 2) After the fact he must criticize himself to see if his actions were for the Creator, or if something else was involved in it. From the two of them he can come to being “as a pomegranate,” according to what we explained above.

By this we will understand the words of our sages (Avoda Zara, p 17): “Our sages said, ‘When Rabbi Eilezer Ben Parta and Rabbi Hanina Ben Tardion were caught, … ‘Woe unto me for I was caught for one thing and I am not saved. You engaged in Torah and good deeds, and I engaged only in the Torah.’ It is as Rav Huna said, ‘Anyone who engages only in Torah is as one who has no God, as it was said, ‘and many days for Israel without a true God, without a teaching priest, and without Torah.’ What is ‘without a true God’? Rav Huna said, ‘Anyone who engages only in Torah, it is as though he has no God.’’”

We should understand why if he does not engage in good deeds he is as one who has no God. Another perplexity: why specifically the Mitzva [commandment] of good deeds? After all, there are other Mitzvot that need to be observed, so why specifically good deeds is akin to being without a true God? It is as though by good deeds it is possible to tell if the Torah he is learning is without a true God.

According to what we learn, all our work is in order to achieve equivalence of form, regarded as “as He is merciful, so you are merciful.” For this reason, during the study of Torah one must not criticize his Torah, meaning whose Torah he is learning, and then he can learn even Lo Lishma, which is also a Mitzva, as our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma [for Her sake].”

This is so when he tests himself, his situation with regard to equivalence of form, how remote he has become from self-love, and how close he has become to love of others, which is the meaning of “cleaving to His qualities.” This is why he makes the precision that the main thing to know is to test himself through the quality of Hesed [mercy], how much he engages in it, exerting for it, and contemplating various tactics and tricks to achieve equivalence of form, or he will not reach the path of truth.

It follows that at that time he does not have a “true God,” for “true” means as is explained (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 13), “The seventh correction of the thirteen corrections of Dikna is called ‘and truth.’” He interprets there in “Inner Reflection”: “At that time appears the quality of the Creator, who has created the world with the intention to do good to His creations, since at that time appears the Ohr Hochma [Light of Wisdom], which is the light of the purpose of creation, when everyone feels the delight and pleasure. At that time everyone says with clear cognizance that this, meaning the goal, is true.”

It follows that if he does not engage in good deeds, which is the power that can bring to love of others, by which he will acquire vessels of bestowal, as the upper abundance is drawn only into these vessels, and if he has no vessels of bestowal he cannot acquire the delight and pleasure that the Creator created in order to delight His creatures. It follows that in that state a person is regarded as being “without a true God.” That is the reality of His guidance, which is to do good to His creations, is God forbid untrue. This is called “without a true God.”

This can be obtained precisely by engaging in good deeds. However, without Torah, it is impossible to know one’s state, meaning where he is, since without light it is impossible to see anything. Rather, to see that he is a felon of Israel he needs to be full of Mitzvot, meaning both Mitzvot of learning Torah and the rest of the Mitzvot. The test is that after some time of engaging in Torah and Mitzvot he needs to examine, but not during his work.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Concerning the Reward of the Receivers

Article No. 32, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

It is known that man cannot work without reward. This means that if one were not given reward, he would not make a move. This stems from the root of the creatures, which is utterly motionless, as it is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 1, item 19): “We love rest and vehemently hate movement, to the point that we do not make even a single move if not to find rest. This is because our Root is motionless and restful; there is no movement in Him whatsoever. For this reason, it is also against our nature and hated by us.”

Accordingly, we must know what is the reward for which it is worth our while to work. To explain this we must look into what we know—that there is the purpose of creation and the correction of creation.

That purpose of creation is from the perspective of the Creator. That is, we say that the Creator created creation because of His desire to do good to His creations. This brings up the famous questions, “Why are the creatures not receiving delight and pleasure, for who can go against Him and say that he does not want delight and pleasure, if He has installed in the creatures a nature where each one wants to receive?”

We learn that only the will to receive is called “creation,” and “creation” means something new, which is called “existence from absence.” Therefore, He has created this nature in the creatures, which means that everyone wants to receive and He wants to give. So who is delaying?

The answer to this is presented in the words of the ARI (in the beginning of the book, Tree of Life): “To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, He has restricted Himself.” He explains there, in “Inner Reflection,” that it means that since there is a difference between giver and receiver, it causes disparity of form, meaning unpleasantness to the receivers. To correct this there was a correction that the abundance shines only to a place where there is an aim to bestow, for this is called “equivalence of form,” and “ Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.”

Then, when he receives the delight and pleasure, he does not feel unpleasantness, and the abundance can come to the receiver because the receiver will not feel any deficiency upon the reception of the abundance. That is, he will not feel deficient because he is a receiver, since his aim is to bestow contentment upon the Creator, and not because he wants to receive pleasure for himself.

It therefore follows that if we introspect into what we must do in order to receive the delight and pleasure, it is only to obtain the Kelim [vessels], which is a second nature, called “vessels of bestowal.” This is called the “correction of creation.” Therefore, we should know what reward we should demand of the Creator to give us in return for our labor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]: it is that He will give us vessels of bestowal.

It is written in the introduction to the book, Panim Masbirot [Welcoming Face], the root of the reward is the Masach [screen] and the Ohr Hozer [Reflected Light]. Therefore, we need not demand pleasure and abundance in return for work, but vessels of bestowal, for this is all we need in order to receive the delight and pleasure. Before one obtains the vessels of bestowal, he suffers in his life, for he hasn’t the suitable Kelim to receive delight and pleasure.

We see that we should make three discernments in our actions in the order of our work: 1) forbidden things, 2) permitted things, 3) Mitzvot. With forbidden things it is impossible to speak of intentions for the Creator, that I can do something forbidden even Lishma [for Her sake]. We cannot even speak of doing them. Our sages call this a “Mitzva [commandment] that comes by transgression.” Only with the permitted things can it be said that we should aim for the Creator, or that he cannot aim, and then he has no Mitzva. However, when he can aim to bestow, this act is regarded as a Mitzva.

With acts of Mitzva, such as eating a Matza [Passover bread], eating in a Sukkah [Sukkot hut], etc., even when one does not aim to bestow with them, it is still regarded as a Mitzva, since Lo Lishma[not for Her sake] is also a Mitzva. But when he does aim with it in order to bestow, that Mitzvacauses him to be rewarded with the light in the Mitzva.

When he can no longer aim, but does the Mitzva Lo Lishma, our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma.” It follows that even when he does not aim, he is observing the Mitzvot of the Creator. But when he does permitted things, it is called “optional,” and this cannot be added to the count of Mitzvot.

However, when he commits forbidden things the transgression is written in his account. At that time he regresses from the path of Torah, becoming farther from the Creator. When he observes Mitzvot Lo Lishma he also becomes close to the Creator, but this is a slow path, meaning that by that he is nearing the Creator by a long route until he can cling to the Creator.

But when he performs the Mitzvot Lishma, by this he becomes more adhered to the Creator each and every time, until he is rewarded with the flavors of Torah and Mitzvot.

We can also discern from this if he enjoys the Mitzva or not. That is, when he eats a tiny piece of Matza, he cannot observe the Mitzva if he is not enjoying, for one who eats a tiny piece of Matza, below the threshold of pleasure, does not do his due. Rather, he must enjoy, or else he cannot bless.

Also, the delight of Shabbat [Sabbath] is a Mitzva. If he does not enjoy eating a Shabbat meal, he also did not do his due. Therefore, the rule is that on the Eve of Shabbat, close to the afternoon prayer, one should not eat until it is dark, so he will enjoy the meal. Our sages said about it (Pesachim, p 99): “‘One should not eat on the eve of Shabbat and good day from the afternoon prayer onward, so he will come into Shabbat hungry,’ the words of Rabbi Yehuda.”

Still, even if he cannot aim in order to bestow, he is still observing the Mitzva of eating a Matza etc. Also, in permitted things, even if he cannot aim in order to bestow, it is still regarded as not being more materialized by eating permitted things when they are necessary, meaning that without them a person cannot live. It is permitted to receive these things in any case, meaning even when he cannot aim to bestow with them.

But with permitted things that are not necessary, when one uses them he becomes more materialized even if he commits no transgression by eating them. On the one hand we can say that necessities stand one degree below Mitzvot when they are done Lo Lishma.

I therefore follows that we should discern from below upward:

1. forbidden things,
2. permitted things with which he cannot aim to bestow,
3. permitted, but necessary things,
4. Mitzvot with which he does not aim in order to bestow,
5. permitted things with which he aims in order to bestow. (However, a Mitzva without the aim and permitted things in order to bestow require scrutiny, which of them is more important because there is room for mistakes here. This is why I do not want to scrutinize it),
6. Mitzvot with which he aims in order to bestow.

It follows that the reward is only to obtain vessels of bestowal. When one attains these vessels he has everything.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link

One Does Not Regard Oneself as Wicked

Article No. 31, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey, 1984-195

Concerning “One does not regard oneself as wicked,” it is written in The Zohar (Balak, item 193): “King David regarded himself in four ways. He regarded himself with the poor, regarded himself with the Hassidim [pious/devout followers]. Regarded himself with the Hassidim, as it is written, ‘Preserve my soul, for I am pious,’ for one must not regard oneself as wicked. And should you say, ‘If so then he will never confess his sins,’ it is not so. Rather, when he confesses his sins, then he will be a Hassid, for he has come to receive repentance and takes himself out of the evil side, in whose filth he was thus far. But now he has clung to the upper right, which is Hesed that is stretched out to welcome him. And because he has clung to Hesed, he is called Hassid [pious/devout follower]. Do not say that the Creator does not accept him until he details all his sins since the day he came to the world, or even those that were hidden from him. This is not so. Rather, he only needs to detail the sins that he remembers. If he sets his mind on them to regret during the confession, all the other sins follow them,” thus far its words.

We should understand the following:

1) How can one say about himself that he is a Hassid? This is already a degree of importance, so how does he praise himself by himself?

2) He says that one should not regard oneself as wicked. On the other hand, he says that one should detail one’s sins, but says that he does not need to detail all his sins since the day he came to the world, but should detail only the sins that he remembers. Thus, when he details the sins he has committed, he is already wicked. So why does he say that one must not regard oneself as wicked? Is there a difference between saying that he did bad deeds, but not saying about himself that he is wicked? If he says that he did bad deeds then he is saying about himself that he is wicked anyhow. It is as we find in the words of our sages (Sanhedrin 9b): “Rav Yosef said, ‘A person came to force him; he and another conjoined to kill him. By his will, he is wicked. The Torah said, ‘Do not make a wicked a witness.’ Raba said, ‘A person is close to himself, and one does not regard oneself as wicked.’”

Thus, this means that if he says that he has sinned, he cannot be trusted because he is wicked. But here, when he confesses his sins, we must say that by this saying alone he is called “wicked,” since you are saying, “One does not regard oneself as wicked.” Thus, the question remains, how can he detail his sins during confession?

We should know why they said, that “One does not regard oneself as wicked.” It is so because “a person is close to himself.” By this we should say that since “Love covers all transgressions,” we cannot see any faults in the ones we love, since a fault is something bad, and one cannot harm oneself, for he is partial due to self-love. For this reason, “One does not regard oneself as wicked” and is not trustworthy to testify anything bad about himself, like a relative, who is disqualified.

We should know that when one comes to ask of the Creator to repent, and asks for the Creator’s help so he can repent, the question arises, “If he wants to repent, who is stopping him?” He can choose to repent, so why does he need to ask the Creator to help him repent? In the Eighteen Prayer we pray, “Bring us back, our Father, to Your law, and bring us close, our King, to Your work, and return us in complete repentance before You.” This means that without His help, one cannot repent. We should understand why this is so, that one cannot repent by himself.

In previous articles we explained that because the Creator created in us a nature of desire to receive, and that desire initially emerged in order to receive, only afterwards, we learn, there was a correction not to receive in order to receive, but in order to bestow. This is called the “correction of the Tzimtzum [restriction].” This means that before the lower one is fit for the aim to bestow, that place will be vacant from light. What extends from this correction down to the creatures is that before one emerges from self-love, one cannot feel the light of the Creator. For this reason, first we must exit self-love, or the Tzimtzum is on us.

However, a person cannot exit the nature that the Creator created because the Creator created that nature. Therefore, there is no other way but to ask of the Creator to give him a second nature, which is the desire to bestow. Thus, the choice we attribute to man is only in the prayer, to ask the Creator to help him and give him that second nature. For this reason, when one wants to repent, he must ask the Creator to help him exit from self-love to love of others. This is why we ask of the Creator and say and pray, “Bring us back, our Father.”

But when does one truly ask the Creator to bring him back with repentance? This can be only when he feels that he must repent. Before he comes to the decision that he is wicked, there is no place for prayer to be reformed. After all, he is not so wicked so as to need the Creator’s mercy. The meaning of the prayers that should be granted is precisely that the person needs mercy, as we say in the Eighteen Prayer, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth (so it is implied, but when?) of Your people, Israel.”

Accordingly, when does the Creator hear the prayer of every mouth? If a person feels that he needs mercy. This pertains specifically to when he feels he is in great distress and no one can help him. Then it can be said that he comes to the Creator to ask for mercy. But previously, when he came to the Creator to ask for luxuries, meaning when the state he was in was not so bad, that there were people whose state he saw as worse than his, then his prayer to the Creator was not because he needed heaven’s mercy, but because he wanted to be in a better state, superior to others. This is regarded as asking the Creator to give him a life of luxuries, meaning that he wanted to be happier than others.

Therefore, when one wants the Creator to grant his prayer, he first needs to see that he needs to be given life more than others, meaning that he sees that everyone is living in the world, but he has no life because he feels himself as wicked and sees that he is more immersed in self-love than others. At that time he sees that he needs heaven’s mercy not because he wants to live a life of luxury, but because he has no life of Kedusha [holiness].

It follows that at that time he is really asking for mercy, something to revive his soul. He cries out to the Creator: “Since ‘You give bread to the hungry; the Lord sets the prisoners free.’” That is, he sees that he simply needs faith, called “bread,” and he sees that he is sitting in jail, called “self-love,” and cannot come out of there, for only the Creator can help him. This is regarded as praying a real prayer.

We should know that prayer pertains to a deficiency. A deficiency does not mean not having. Rather, a deficiency is a need. Therefore, a great deficiency means he has a great need for the thing that he is asking. If he does not have a great need it means that he does not have a great deficiency, and so his prayer is not so great, because he is not as needy of the thing he asks. This is why the request is also not as big.

It follows from all the above that one cannot see a bad thing in himself. Accordingly, we should ask, “If a person knows that he is sick, and being sick is certainly bad, he goes to the doctor to cure his illness. If the doctor tells him that he sees nothing wrong with his body, he will not trust him. He will go to an expert, who will tell him that he has found something wrong with his body, and he needs to undergo surgery. That person will certainly be happy that he has found what was bad in him, and he pays him a large sum for having found his illness and for knowing how to cure his body so he can live and enjoy life.

We see that if we find the bad, it is a good thing, as with the illness. At that time it cannot be said that a person does not see bad in himself, since at that time he wants to correct the bad, so the bad is regarded as a good thing. It follows that at that time a person can find bad in himself.

Accordingly, we can understand the words of The Zohar when we asked how on the one hand he says “He does not regard himself as wicked,” and then says that he must detail his sins? After all, when he details the sins he had committed he sees himself as wicked by saying that he did this and that transgression. We can answer this differently: When he comes to ask of the Creator, He brings him closer because he is immersed in evil, meaning in self-love. If he wants his prayer to be granted, he knows that he must pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart, meaning that he needs more mercy than the rest of the people because he feels himself as worse than them.

At that time he must see for himself the bad that he has more than the rest of the people. Otherwise it is regarded as telling a lie that he is worse than them, and it is written, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth.” Therefore, if he finds evil in himself, then he can see about himself that he has a great need that the Creator will help him, it is regarded for him as a good thing. Therefore, when he details his sins, it is not regarded as “regarding oneself as wicked.” On the contrary, now he can make an honest prayer for the Creator to bring him closer to Him.

It follows that by finding bad in himself he becomes very needy of the Creator, and a need is called “deficiency.” Also, the prayer he prays must be from the bottom of the heart, since “from the bottom” means that the prayer he is praying on his deficiency is not superficial. Rather, that deficiency touches the point in his hear, meaning that all the organs feel his deficiency, and only then it is called a “prayer.”

By this we will understand the question we asked, “How he says about himself that he is a Hassid, since a Hassid is already a degree, for not everyone is called Hassid, so how could he say about himself that he is Hassid? According to what I heard from Baal HaSulam, he said, “‘He will give wisdom to the wise.’ But it should have said, ‘He will give wisdom to the fools.’” He said about this: “A ‘wise’ is named after the future. That is, one who wishes to be wise is already regarded as wise.”

Therefore, when he said “I am pious [Hassid],” it means that he wants to be pious, which is called “love of others.” First he said a prayer for the poor, meaning that he was in self-love, and “I want to be a Hassid.” This is why the holy Zohar ends there: “At that time he is a Hassid, for he has come to receive repentance, and he takes himself out of the evil side, in whose filth he was thus far. But now he has clung to the upper right that is Hesed that is stretched out to welcome him. And because he has clung to Hesed, he is called Hassid [pious/devout follower]. That is, now he has come to cling to Hesed, so he is called Hassid, after the future.

By this we will also understand what the holy Zohar says, “Do not say that the Creator does not accept him until he details all his sins since the day he came to the world.” This is not so. “If he sets his mind on regretting them during the confession, all the other sins follow them.” We should say that if he prays for the public and for the root, from which all the sins come, namely the will to receive, naturally all the sins follow them, meaning follow self-love.

Inapoi la pagina 1985 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link