Sit and Do Nothing—Better

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

 

…I can no longer restrain myself with all that stands between us, so I will try the true, open admonition, for I need to know the true value of a word of truth in our land. This has always been my way—to meticulously delve into all of Creation’s actions, to know their value, precisely whether it is good or bad.

My fathers have left me with only this boundary, and I have already found treasures in these passing, idle images, for there is a reason why this lot was placed before my eyes. These are lovely letters for phrasing every wisdom and every knowledge, which were created only for combinations of wisdom.

First, let us judge the attribute of indolence in this world. In general, it is not at all a bad and contemptible attribute. The proof of that is that our sages have already said, “Sit and do nothing—better.” And although common sense and some texts deny this rule, to be properly accurate about it, I will show that “both are the words of the living God,” and all will be settled.

It is certainly clear that there are no actions in the world except His actions. And all other kinds of actions, besides His, even in souls, if they concern one’s own self, would be better off to not have been created. This is because it turns things upside-down, since one has not changed from receiving to bestowing. This is an unbreakable law, “and had he been there, he would not have been redeemed.”

Thus, we need not discuss an operator or an operation whose doer is in the form of receiving, as this is complete vanity, and there is no doubt it would be better off sitting and doing nothing, since with such an act, one either harms oneself or others. It cannot yield any benefit, as we have said above.

I do not mind at all if some of your 248 organs feel uncomfortable about this ruling, and even openly protest against my words, as this is the nature of every word of truth: it does not require the consent of any woman born, great or small. And whoever is rewarded with the knowledge of the Torah becomes most insistent.

PARDESS

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

 

“Four entered a PARDESS,” [7] etc. Before the world was created, there was He is One and His Name One, because the souls were not considered souls, since the whole issue of name refers to when one turns one’s face away from Him, He calls upon him to turn his face back.

And since prior to Creation, the souls were completely attached to Him, and He placed upon them crowns and wreaths, glory, majesty, and splendor, even what they did not evoke, since He knows their wishes by Himself, and grants them. Hence, it is certainly irrelevant to state a name, which relates to an awakening from below of some side. Hence, it is considered Simple Light, since everything is in utter simplicity, and this Light was understood by every simple person, even to those who have never seen any wisdom.

This is why sages and the wise called it Peshat (literal), since the Peshat is the root of everything. Authors and books do not discuss it, as it is one, simple, and famous concept. And although in the lower worlds, two divisions are detected in the Reshimo of this Simple Light, it is because of the division in their own hearts, by way of “and I am a smooth man.” [8] Yet, in the above-mentioned place, there are no changes in any depiction you might make.

It is like a king who took his darling son and put him in his grand and wondrous grove. And when the son opened his eyes, he did not look at the place where he stood, since due to the great light in the grove, his eyes wandered far away, as the east is far from the west. And he cast his eyes only on the buildings and palaces far to his west, and he walked for days and months, wandering and wondering at the glory and the grandeur he was seeing to the west, before his eyes.

After some months, his spirit rested and his desire was fulfilled, and he was satiated from looking to the west. He reconsidered and thought, “What can be found along the way I have traversed?” He turned his face eastward, the side through which he had entered, and he was startled. All the grandeur and all the beauty were right beside him. He could not understand himself, how he had failed to notice it thus far, and clung only to the Light that was shining to the west. From then on he was attached only to the Light that shines to the east, and he was wandering eastward until he returned right to the entrance gate.

Now do consider and tell me the difference between the days of entry and the days of exit, since all that he had seen in the latter months, he saw in the early months, as well. But in the beginning, he was not inspired, since his eyes and heart were taken by the Light that shines westward. And after he was satiated, he turned his face eastward and noticed the Light that shines towards the east. But how had it changed?

But being near the entrance, there is room for disclosing the second manner, which the sages call Remez (intimation), as in “What do thine eyes imply?” It is like a king who hints to his darling son and frightens him with a wink of his eye. And although the son does not understand at all, and does not see the inner fear that is hidden in this hint, still, due to his devout adherence to his father, he promptly jumps from there to another side.

This is the meaning of the second manner being called Remez, since the two manners, Peshat and Remez, are registered in the lower ones as one root, as the meticulous ones write, that there is not a word that does not have a two-letter root, called the “source of the word.” This is so because no meaning can be deduced from a single letter; hence, the acronym for Peshat and Remez is PR(pronounced Par), which is the root of Par Ben Bakar (young bull) in this world. And Pria and Revia(multiplication) come from that root, as well.

Next appears the third manner, which the sages call Drush (interpretations). Hence, there was no Drisha (demand) for anything, as in “He is One and His Name One.” But in this manner, there is subtraction, addition, interpretation (studying), and finding, as in “I labored and found,” as you evidently know. This is why this place is ascribed to the lower ones, since there is an awakening from below there, unlike the awakening of the face of the east Upwards, which was by way of, “Before they call, I will answer.” Rather, here there was a powerful call, and even exertion and craving, and this is the meaning of “the graves of lust.”

Afterwards begins the fourth manner, which the sages call Sod (secret). In truth, it is similar to the Remez, but in the Remez there was no perception whatsoever; it was rather like a shadow following a person, and all the more so that the third manner, the Drush, has already clothed it.

Yet, here it is like a whisper, like a pregnant woman… you whisper in her ear that today is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), so the fetus would not be jolted and fall. And we might say, “Moreover, it is the concealment of the face, and not the face!” For this is the meaning of the words, “The counsel of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and His covenant, to make them know it.” This is why he made several circles until a whispering tongue said this to him: “He hath given Teref (food) unto them that fear Him,” and not Trefa (non-kosher food), as that soldier sneered.

You understood this answer by yourself, and you wrote me in your letter, though timidly, that you are a bachelor, and hence, naturally polite.

Since this verse came into your hands, I shall clarify it to you, as this is also the poet’s question, “The counsel of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” And why did he say so? It is as our sages’ question, where we find that the text wastes (eight) twelve letters, to speak with a clean tongue, as it is written, “and of the beasts that are not clean,” etc.

But your answer does not suffice the poet, for He could have given abundance to the souls, and with a clean tongue, as Laban said to Jacob, “Wherefore didst thou flee secretly, and outwit me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp.” The poet’s answer to that is, “and His covenant, to make them know it.”

This is the meaning of the cutting, the removal, and the drop of blood, meaning the individual thirteen covenants. Had the secret not been in this manner, but in another tongue, four corrections from the thirteen corrections of Dikna would be missing, and only the nine corrections of Dikna in ZAwould remain. Thus, ZA would not be clothing AA, as it is known to those who know God’s secret. This is the meaning of “and His covenant, to make them know it,” and this is the meaning of “ancestral merit has ended, but ancestral covenant has not ended.”

Let us get back to our issue, which is PR (pronounced Par), PRD (pronounced Pered), and PRDS(pronounced Pardess). This is their order and combination from Above downwards. Now you will understand these four sages who entered the Pardess, meaning the fourth manner, called Sod(secret), since the lower one contains the Upper Ones that preceded it. Hence, all four manners are included in the fourth manner, and they are to the right, left, front, and back.

The first two manners are the right and the left, meaning PR (this is the meaning of his words on the step at the Temple Mount: “All of Israel’s sages are worthless in my eyes”). These are Ben Azai and Ben Zuma, as these souls nurtured off the two manners, PR. And the last two manners are the Panim(front) and Achor (back), which is Rabbi Akiva, who entered in peace and came out in peace. They correctly stated, “it indicates that for every thistle, mountains of laws can be learned.”

Achor is Elisha Ben Avoia, who went astray (became heretical). Our sages said about that, “One shall not raise an evil dog within one’s home,” for it is going astray. Everything that was said about them—“peeped and died,” “peeped and was hurt,” “went astray”—is said of that generation when they have gathered closely together, but were all completely corrected, one by one, as it is known to those who know the secret of reincarnation.

Yet, after he saw the tongue of Hutzpit, the translator, he said, “Return, O backsliding children,” except for the other, and Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Akiva’s disciple, took his place. It is true that the Gemarah, too, finds it difficult: how did Rabbi Meir learn Torah from another? And they said, “He had found a pomegranate, ate its content, and threw its shell (another).” And some say that he corrected the Klipa (shell), too, as in, raising smoke over his grave.

Now you can understand Elisha Ben Avoia’s words: “He who teaches a child, what is he like? Like ink, written on a new paper,” meaning the soul of Rabbi Akiva. “And he who teaches an old man, what is he like? Like ink, written on used paper,” he said of himself. This is the meaning of his warning to Rabbi Meir, “Thus far the Shabbat zone,” for he understood and estimated his horse’s steps, since he had never come off from his horse.

This is the meaning of “the transgressors of Israel, the fire of hell does not govern them, and they are as filled with Mitzvot (good deeds) as a pomegranate.” He says that it is all the more so with the golden altar, which is merely as thick as a golden coin. It stood for some years, and the light did not govern it, etc., “the vain among you are as filled with Mitzvot as a pomegranate, all the more so,” as he says, that the Klipa, too, is corrected.

Know that the great Rabbi Eliezer, and Rabbi Yehosha, too, are from the souls of PR, as are Ben Azai and Ben Zuma. But Ben Azai and Ben Zuma were in the generation of Rabbi Akiva, and were his students, among the 24,000. But Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehosha were his teachers.

This is why it is said that instead of Rabbi Eliezer, they were purifying the purifications (Peshat) that they had done over Achnai’s oven, since they cut it into slices (eighteen slices) and placed sand between every two slices. In other words, the third manner, the sand, joins the first slice, which is the second manner, and the second slice, which is the fourth manner. And naturally, the sister and the awareness are conjoined as one. And Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Yehosha as one are disciples of the great Rabbi Eliezer. And Rabbi Akiva is seemingly included in them. This is because a second good day, with respect to the first good day, is like a weekday in the eyes of our sages, since the Drush, compared to the Remez, is like a candle at noon.

But the sages of his generation defiled all those purifications and burned them, and the great Rabbi Eliezer proved with the aqueduct whose water rose that Rabbi Yehosha was a great sage, and the walls of the Temple will prove. And they began to fall before the glory of Rabbi Eliezer, and they did not fall before the glory of Rabbi Yehosha. This is complete proof that there is no doubt that he is pure.

But the sages took Rabbi Yehosha for himself, and did not wish to rule as with Rabbi Eliezer, his teacher, until a voice came down that Rabbi Yehosha was really his disciple. But Rabbi Yehosha did not connect to his place, and said that you do not pay heed to a voice: “It is not in heaven,” etc. Then, sages blessed him, for the Light of Awzen (ear) was cancelled from them, since they did not obey the rules of the great Rabbi Eliezer. And Rabbi Akiva, his favorite disciple, told him that his 24,000 disciples had died during the count, and the world was sickened, a third in olives, etc.

Elisha Ben Avoia and Rabbi Tarfon came from the same root. But Elisha Ben Avoia is the Achoraim(posterior) itself, and Rabbi Tarfon is the Panim de Achoraim (face of the posterior). To what is this likened? In one house lie bitter olives that are good for nothing; and in another house lays the beam of the oil-press, which is good for nothing. Then a man comes and connects the two. He places the beam over the olives and produces a wealth of oil.

It follows that the good oil that appears is the Panim, and the beam is the Achoraim. And the plain wooden tools are thrown away after they have completed their work.

Understand that this custom is in the expansion of the roots to the branches in worlds lower than itself. But at their root, they both appear at once, like a person who suddenly enters the oil-press and sees the beam, and under it, a large pile of olives with oil abundantly flowing from them. This is so because at the root, all is seen at once. This is why one is called “another” and the other is called “Tarfon.” One is “a beam” and the other is “oil,” which immediately flows through it.

This is also the meaning of going astray. After the desire has emerged, which is the soul of Rabbi Tarfon, the soul of “another” remained as “bad manners” in one’s home. This is the meaning of the letter-combination Sod (secret): Samech is the head of the word Sod itself, the soul of “another,” Dalet is the head of the word Drush, the soul of Rabbi Akiva, because they act, and the Vav in the middle is Rabbi Tarfon.

Notes

[7] Translator’s note: In Hebrew, Pardess means grove, but in Kabbalah, this word is an acronym for Pshat (the literal Torah), Remez (intimation), Drush (interpretations), and Sod (secret).

[8] Translator’s note: In Hebrew, Halak means both ‘smooth’ and ‘part.’

Raising the Slave through the Ministers

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

 

It is written, “for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they.” As a fierce answer is required, I shall answer you that everyone believes in Private Providence, but does not adhere to it at all.

The reason is that an alien and foul thought cannot be attributed to the Creator, who is the epitome of the “Good that doeth Good.” However, only to the true servants of the Creator does the knowledge of Private Providence open—that He caused all the reasons that preceded it, the good as well as the bad. Then they are cohesive with Private Providence, for all who are connected to the pure, are pure.

Since the Guardian is united with its guarded, there is no apparent division between bad and good. They are all loved and they are all clear, for they are all carriers of the Creator’s vessels, ready to glorify the revelation of His uniqueness. It is known by sensing, and to that extent they have knowledge in the end that all the actions and the thoughts, both good and bad, are the carriers of the Creator’s vessels. He has prepared them, from His mouth they have come, and this will be known to all at the end of correction.

However, in between it is a long and threatening exile. The biggest trouble is that when one sees some wrongful action, he falls from his degree, clings to the famous lie, and forgets that he is like an ax in the hand of the cutter. Instead, one considers oneself the owner of this act and forgets the reason for all consequences from whom everything comes, and that there is no other Operator in the world but Him.

This is the lesson. Although one knows it at first, still, in a time of need, one does not control this awareness, to unite everything with the cause, which sentences to a scale of merit. This is the whole reply to his letter.

I have already told you face to face a true allegory about these two concepts, where one elucidates the other. Yet, the force of concealment prevails and controls in between.

There is an allegory about a king who grew fond of his servant until he wanted to raise him above all the ministers, for he had recognized true and unwavering love in his heart.

However, it is not the royal manner to raise one to the highest level all at once, without an apparent reason. Rather, the royal manner is to reveal the reasons to all with great wisdom.

What did he do? He appointed the servant a guard at the city gate, and told a minister, who was a clever joker, to pretend to rebel against the kingship, and wage war to conquer the house while the guard was unprepared.

The minister did as the king had commanded, and with great wisdom and craftiness pretended to fight against the king’s house. The servant at the gate risked his life and saved the king, fighting bravely and devotedly against the minister, until his great love for the king was evident to all.

Then the minister took off his clothes and there was great laughter, for he had fought so fiercely and bravely, and now realized that there was only fiction here, not reality. They laughed most when the minister told of the depth of the imaginings of his cruelty and the fear he had envisioned. And every item in this terrible war became a round of laughter and great joy.

However, he was still a servant; he was not scholarly. And how could he be raised above all the ministers and the king’s servants?

Then the king thought, and said to that minister that he must disguise himself as a robber and a murderer, and wage fierce war against him. The king knew that in the second war he would discover a wondrous wisdom, and merit standing at the head of all the ministers.

Hence, he appointed the servant in charge of the kingdom’s treasury, and that minister now dressed as a ruthless killer and came to loot the king’s treasures.

The poor appointee fought fearlessly and devotedly, until the cup was full. Then the minister took off his clothes and there was great joy and laughter in the king’s palace, even more than before.

The details of the minister’s tricks aroused great laughter, since now the minister had to be smarter than before because now it was evidently known that no one was cruel in the king’s domain, and all the cruel ones were only jokers. Therefore, the minister used great craftiness to acquire clothes of evil.

Yet, in the meantime, the servant inherited wisdom from after-knowledge, and love from fore-knowledge, and then he was erected for eternity.

In truth, all the wars in that exile are a wondrous sight, and everyone knows in their kind interior that it is all a kind of wit and joy that brings only good. Still, there is no tactic to ease the weight of the war and the threat.

I have spoken to you at length about it face to face, and now you have knowledge of one end of this allegory, and with the Creator’s help you will understand it on its other end, as well.

And the thing you most want to hear me speak of is one to which I cannot answer anything. I have given you an allegory about it face to face, as well, for “the kingdom of the earth is as the kingdom of the firmament,” and the true guidance is given to the ministers.

Yet, everything is done according to the king’s counsel and his signature. The king himself does no more than sign the plan that the ministers devise. If he finds a flaw in the plan, he does not correct it, but places another minister in his place, and the first resigns from office.

So is man, a small world, behaving according to the letters imprinted in him, since kings rule the seventy nations in him. This is the meaning of what is written in the Sefer Yetzira(Book of Creation): “He crowned a certain letter.” Each letter is a minister for its time, making evaluations, and the King of the world signs them. When the letter errs in some plan, it immediately resigns from office, and He crowns another letter in its place.

This is the meaning of, “Each generation and its judges.” At the end of correction, that letter called Messiah will rule and will complete and tie all the generations to a crown of glory in the hand of God.

Now you can understand how I can interfere with your business of state, and each must uncover what he has been assigned to uncover, and all will become clear through the incarnations.

You Who Love the Lord Hate Evil

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  

In the verse, “O ye that love the Lord, hate evil; He preserveth the souls of His followers; He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked,” he interprets that it is not enough to love the Creator and to want to be granted adhesion with the Creator. One should also hate evil.

The matter of hatred towards evil is expressed by hating the evil, called “the will to receive.” And one sees that one has no tactic to be rid of it, and at the same time one does not want to accept the situation. And one feels the losses that the evil causes him, and also sees the truth that one cannot annul the evil by himself, since it is a natural force by the Creator, who has imprinted the will to receive in man.

In that state, the verse tells us what one can do, meaning hate evil. And by that the Creator will keep him from that evil, as it is written, “He preserveth the souls of His followers.” And what is the preservation? “He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked.” In that state one is already a successful person, since he has some contact with the Creator, be it the tiniest connection.

In fact, the matter of evil remains and serves as Achoraim (Posterior) to the Partzuf. But this is done only by one’s correction: through sincere hatred of evil, it is corrected into a form of Achoraim. The hatred comes because if one wants to obtain adhesion with the Creator, then there is a conduct among friends: if two people come to realize that each of them hates what and whom one’s friend hates, and loves what and whom one’s friend loves, then they come into perpetual bonding, like a stake that will never fall.

Hence, since the Creator loves to bestow, the lower ones should also adapt to want only to bestow. And as the Creator hates to be a receiver, since He is completely whole and does not need a thing, man, too, must hate the matter of reception for oneself.

It follows that one must bitterly hate the will to receive, for all the ruins in the world come only from the will to receive. And through the hatred, one corrects it and enters the Kedusha (holiness).

The Time of Ascent

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

 

When one feels oneself in a state of ascent, that he is high-spirited, when he feels that he has no desire but only for spirituality, it is then good to delve into the secrets of the Torah, to attain its internality. Even if one sees that although one exerts oneself to understand anything, and still does not know anything, it is still worthwhile to delve in the secrets of the Torah, even a hundred times in a single thing, and not despair, meaning say that it is useless, since he does not understand anything.

This is so for two reasons:

A) When one examines some issue and yearns to understand it, that yearning is called “a prayer.” This is because a prayer is a lack, meaning that one is craving what he lacks, that the Creator will fill his lack.

The extent of the prayer is measured by the desire, since the greater desire is for the thing one needs most. According to the measure of the need, so is the measure of the yearning.

There is a rule that in the thing that one makes the most effort, the exertion increases the desire, and one wants to receive fulfillment for one’s deficiency. Also, a lack is called “a prayer,” or “the work in the heart,” since “the Merciful One wants the hearts.”

It turns out that then one can offer a true prayer. And when one studies the words of the Torah, the heart must be freed from other desires and give the mind the strength to be able to think and scrutinize. If there is no desire in the heart, the mind cannot scrutinize, as it is written, “One should always learn where one’s heart desires.”

For one’s prayer to be accepted, it must be a complete prayer. Hence, when scrutinizing in a whole measure, one elicits a whole prayer from it, and then one’s prayer can be accepted, because the Creator hears a prayer. But there is a condition: the prayer must be a whole prayer, and not have other things mixed in the middle of the prayer.

B) The second reason is that since one has separated from corporeality, and is somewhat closer to the quality of bestowal, it is a better time to connect with the internality of the Torah, which appears to those who have equivalence with the Creator. This is because the Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one. However, when one is in a state of self-reception, he belongs to the externality and not to the internality.

Lishma

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  

In order for a person to obtain Lishma (for Her Name), one needs an awakening from Above because it is an illumination from Above, and it is not for the human mind to understand it. But he who tastes, knows. It is said about that, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Because of that, upon assuming the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven, one needs for it to be in utter completeness, meaning only to bestow and not at all to receive. And if a person sees that the organs do not agree with this view, he has no other counsel but prayer—to pour his heart out to the Creator, to help him make his body consent to enslaving itself to the Creator.

And one should not say that if Lishma is a gift from Above, then what good is one’s strengthening in his work, and all the remedies and corrections that one performs in order to come to Lishma, if it depends on the Creator? Our sages said in that regard, “You are not free to rid yourself of it.” Rather, one must offer the awakening from below, and this is considered “prayer.” But there cannot be a true prayer if he does not know in advance that it is impossible to attain Lishma without prayer.

Therefore, the acts and remedies that he performs in order to obtain Lishma create the corrected vessels within him, to want to receive Lishma. And after all the actions and the remedies, then he can make an honest prayer, since he has seen that all his actions brought him no benefit. Only then can he make an honest prayer from the bottom of his heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer and gives him the gift of Lishma.

We should also know that by obtaining Lishma, one puts the evil inclination to death. This is because the evil inclination is called “receiving for one’s own benefit.” And by attaining the aim to bestow, one cancels the self-gratification. And death means that one no longer uses one’s vessels of reception for oneself. And since he has revoked the role of the evil inclination, it is considered dead.

If one considers what one receives for his work under the sun, one will find that it is not so difficult to subjugate oneself to the Creator, for two reasons:

  1. One must strain oneself in this world in any case, whether one wants to or not.
  2. Even during the work, if one works Lishma, one receives pleasure from the work itself.

It is as the Sayer from Dubna says about the verse, “Thou has not called upon Me oh Jacob, neither has thou worried thyself about me oh Israel.” It means that he who works for the Creator has no effort. On the contrary, one has pleasure and elation.

But he who does not work for the Creator, but for other goals, cannot complain to the Creator for not giving him liveliness in the work, since he is working for another goal. One can complain only to the one he works for, and demand to be given vitality and pleasure during his work. It is said about him: “Anyone that trusts them shall be like them that maketh them.”

Do not be surprised that when one assumes the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven, when he wants to work in order to bestow upon the Creator, that he still feels no vitality at all, and that this vitality would compel him to assume the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven. Rather, one should accept the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven coercively, feeling that it is not to his benefit. Meaning, the body does not agree to this work, why the Creator does not shower him with vitality and pleasure.

The reason for it is that this is a great correction. Were it not for that, the will to receive would agree to this work, and one would never have been able to achieve Lishma. Rather, he would always work for his own benefit, to satisfy his own desires. It is as people say, that the thief himself runs and yells, “Catch the thief!” And then you cannot tell which is the real thief, to catch him and reclaim the theft.

But when the thief, meaning the will to receive, does not find the work of accepting the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven tasteful, since the body accustoms itself to work against its own desire, one has the means by which to come to work only in order to bring contentment to one’s Maker, since one’s sole intention should be only for the Creator, as it is written, “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Previously, when he was working for the Creator, he did not derive pleasure from his work. Rather his work was done by coercion.

But now that one has accustomed oneself to work in order to bestow, one is rewarded with delighting in the Creator, and the work itself renders one pleasure and vitality. And this is considered that the pleasure, too, is specifically for the Creator.

The Essence of One’s Work

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  

The essence of one’s work should be how to come to feel taste in bestowing contentment upon one’s Maker, since all that one does for oneself distances him from the Creator due to disparity of form. However, if one performs an act for the benefit of the Creator, even the smallest act, it is still considered a Mitzva (commandment/good deed).

Hence, one’s primary exertion should be to acquire a force that feels taste in bestowing, which is through lessening the force that feels taste in self-reception. In that state, one slowly acquires the flavor in bestowing.

The Difference between a Shade of Kedusha and a Shade of Sitra Achra

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  

It is written (Song of Songs, 2), “Until the day breathes, and the shadows flee away.” We must understand what are shadows in the work, and what is “two shadows.” The thing is that when one does not feel His Providence, that the Creator leads the world in a manner of “Good that doeth good,” it is regarded as a shadow hiding the sun.

In other words, as the corporeal shadow that hides the sun does not change the sun in any way, and the sun shines in its fullest power, so one who does not feel the existence of His Providence does not induce any change Above, as it is written, “I the Lord do not change.”

Instead, all the changes are in the receivers. We must observe two discernments in this shade, in this concealment:

1. When one still has the ability to overcome the darkness and the concealments that one feels, justify the Creator, and pray to the Creator, that the Creator will open his eyes to see that all the concealments that one is feeling come from the Creator, that the Creator is doing all that to him so he would reveal his prayer and yearn to cleave unto Him.

This is so because only through the suffering that one receives from Him, wishing to break free from one’s trouble and escape the torments, then one does everything he can. Hence, when receiving the concealments and the afflictions, one is certain to make the known remedy: to do much praying for the Creator to help him and deliver him from the state he is in. In that state, one still believes in His Providence.

2. When one comes to a state where he can no longer prevail and say that all the suffering and pains one feels are because the Creator had sent them to him so as to have a reason to ascend in degree. Then one comes to a state of heresy, since one cannot believe in His Providence, and naturally, then one cannot pray.

It follows that there are two kinds of shades. And this is the meaning of, “and the shadows flee away,” meaning that the shadows will flee from the world.

The shade of Klipa (Shell) is called “Another god is sterile and does not bear fruit.” However, a shade of Kedusha (holiness) is called, “Under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my palate.” In other words, one says that all the concealments and the afflictions one feels are because the Creator has sent him these states, to have a place to work above reason.

And when one has the strength to say that, that is, that the Creator causes him all that, it is to one’s benefit. This means that through it, one can come to work in order to bestow and not to benefit oneself. At that time, one comes to realize, meaning believe that the Creator enjoys specifically this work, which is built entirely above reason.

It follows that one does not pray to the Creator that the shadows will flee from the world. Rather, one says, “I see that the Creator wants me to serve Him in this manner, entirely above reason.” Thus, in everything that one does, he says, “The Creator certainly enjoys this work, so why should I care if I work in a state of concealment of the face? After all, I want to work in order to bestow, that the Creator will enjoy. Hence, I have no abasement from this work, meaning a sensation of being in a state of concealment of the Face, that the Creator does not enjoy this work.” Instead, one agrees to the leadership of the Creator, and one wholeheartedly agrees to however the Creator wants one to feel the existence of the Creator during the work. This is so because one does not consider what he can enjoy, but considers what the Creator can enjoy. Thus, this shade brings him life.

This is called, “Under its shadow I delighted,” meaning one covets such a state where one can make some overcoming above reason. Thus, if one does not exert in a state of concealment, when there is still room to pray that the Creator will bring him closer, but he is negligent in that, hence one is sent a second concealment in which one cannot even pray. This is so because of the sin—that he did not exert with all his might to pray to the Creator. For this reason, one comes to such lowliness.

But after one has arrived at this state, one is pitied from Above, and he is given an awakening from Above once more. And the same order begins, until finally one strengthens in prayer, and the Creator hears his prayer and brings him closer and reforms it.

Habit Becomes Second Nature

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  

Through accustoming oneself to something, that thing becomes second nature for that person. Hence, there is nothing in the world that one cannot feel its existence. This means that although one has no sensation of the thing, by accustoming to that thing, one can still come to feel it.

We must know that there is a difference between the Creator and the creatures regarding sensations. For the creatures, there is the feeler and the felt, the attaining and the attained. This means that we have a feeler, which is connected to some reality.

However, a reality without a feeler is only the Creator Himself. In Him, “there is no thought and perception whatsoever.” This is not so with a person: his whole existence is only through the sensation of reality, and even the validity of reality is evaluated only with respect to the one who senses the reality.

In other words, what the feeler tastes is what he considers true. If one tastes a bitter taste in reality, meaning he feels bad in the state he is in, and suffers because of that state, that person is considered wicked, in the work. This is because he condemns the Creator, since the Creator is called “the good who does good,” because He bestows only goodness to the world. Yet, with respect to that person’s feeling, the person feels that he has received the opposite from the Creator, meaning the state he is in is bad.

We should therefore understand what is written (Berachot p 61), “The world was created only for complete righteous or complete wicked.” This means the following: either one tastes and feels a good taste in the world, and then one justifies the Creator and says that the Creator gives only goodness to the world, or, if one feels and tastes a bitter taste in the world, then one is wicked, since he condemns the Creator.

It turns out that everything is measured according to one’s own sensation. However, all these sensations have no relation to the Creator, as it written in the Poem of Unification: “As she, so you will always be, shortage and surplus in you will not be.” Hence, all the worlds and all the changes are only with respect to the receivers, according to the attaining individual.

Support in the Torah

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Found in the book “Kabbalah for the student“
Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)

  
When a person is studying Torah and wants all his actions to be in order to bestow, one needs to try to always have support in the Torah. Support is considered nourishments, which are love, fear, elation, and freshness. And one should extract all that from the Torah. In other words, the Torah should give one these results.

However, when one studies Torah and does not have these results, it is not considered Torah. This is because Torah refers to the Light clothed in the Torah, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice.” This refers to the Light in the Torah, since the Light in it reforms it.

We should also know that the Torah is divided into two discernments: 1-Torah, 2- Mitzva. In fact, it is impossible to understand these two discernments before one is rewarded with walking in the path of the Creator, by way of “The counsel of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” This is so because when one is in a state of preparation to enter the Lord’s Palace, it is impossible to understand the Path of Truth.

Yet, it is possible to give an example, which even a person in the preparation period may somewhat understand. It is written (Sutah 21), “Rabbi Yosef said, ‘A Mitzva protects and saves while practiced, etc. The Torah protects and saves both when practiced and when not practiced.’”

“When practiced” means when one has some Light. One can use this Light he had obtained only while the Light is still in him, as now he is in gladness, since the Light shines for him. This is discerned as a Mitzva, meaning that he has not yet been rewarded with the Torah, but only elicits a life of Kedusha (holiness) from the Light.

This is not so with the Torah: When one attains some way in the work, one can use the way he has attained even when not practicing it, that is, while not engaging in it, meaning even while one does not have the Light. This is because only the luminescence has departed him, whereas one can use the way that one attained in the work even when the luminescence has departed him.

Still, one must also know that while practiced, a Mitzva is greater than the Torah when not practiced. “When practiced” means that now one receives the Light, which is called “practiced,” when one receives the Light in it.

Hence, while one has the Light, a Mitzva is more important than the Torah when one has no Light, when there is no liveliness of the Torah. On the one hand, the Torah is important because one can use the way one has acquired in the Torah. Yet, it is without vitality, called “Light.” And in a time of engaging in a Mitzva, one does receive vitality, called “Light.” In this respect, a Mitzva is more important than the Torah.

Thus, when one is without sustenance, one is considered “evil.” This is because now one cannot say that the Creator leads the world in a conduct of “Good that Doeth Good.” It is considered that he is evil since he condemns his Maker, as now he feels that he has no vitality, and has nothing to be glad about so that he may say that now he is grateful for the Creator, for bestowing upon him delight and pleasure.

One cannot say that he believes that the Creator leads His Providence with others benevolently, since we understand the path of Torah as a sensation in the organs. If one does not feel the delight and pleasure, what does it give him that another person is experiencing sensations of delight and pleasure?

If one had really believed that Providence is revealed as benevolence to his friend, that belief should have brought him delight and pleasure from believing that the Creator leads the world in a guidance of delight and pleasure. And if this does not bring one liveliness and joy, what is the benefit in saying that the Creator does watch over one’s friend with a guidance of benevolence?

The most important is what one feels in one’s own body—either good or bad. One enjoys one’s friend’s pleasure only if he enjoys his friend’s benefit. In other words, we learn only by the sensation of the body, regardless of the reasons. What is important is only if one feels good.

In that state, one says that the Creator is “good and does good.” If one feels bad, one cannot say that the Creator behaves toward him in the form of the good who does good. Thus, precisely if one enjoys one’s friend’s happiness, and receives high spirits and gladness from that, then he can say that the Creator is a good leader. If one has no joy, he feels bad. Thus, how can he say that the Creator is benevolent?

Therefore, everything follows the state one is in. If one has no liveliness or gladness, he is in a state of having no love for the Creator, no ability to justify his Maker, and no gladness, as would be fitting for one who serves a great and important king.

And we must know that the Upper Light is in a state of complete rest. And any expansion of the Holy Names occurs by the lower ones. In other words, all the names that the Upper Light has, come from the attainment of the lower ones. This means that the Upper Light is named according to their attainments. Put differently, one names the Light according to the way one attains it, according to one’s sensation.

If one does not feel that the Creator gives him anything, what name can he give to the Creator if he does not receive a thing from Him? Rather, when one believes in the Creator, every single state that one feels, he says that it comes to him from the Creator. And according to one’s feeling, one names the Creator.

Thus, if one feels good in the state he is in, he says that the Creator is called “Benevolent,” since that is what he feels—that he receives goodness from Him. In that state, one is called Tzadik (Righteous), since he Matzdik (justifies) his Maker.

And if one feels bad in the state he is in, he cannot say that the Creator sends him good. Therefore, in that state one is called Rasha (Evil), since he Marshia (Condemns) his Maker.

However, there is no such thing as in-between, when one says that he feels both good and bad in his state. Instead, one is either happy or unhappy.

Our sages wrote (Berachot 61), “The world was not created…but either for the complete wicked, or for the complete righteous.” This is so because there is no such thing as feeling good and bad simultaneously.

When our sages say that there is in-between, it is that with the creatures, who have a discernment of time, you can say “in-between” about two times, one after the other, as we learn that there is a matter of ascents and descents. These are two times: once he is wicked, and once he is righteous. But in a single moment, for one to feel good and bad simultaneously, this does not exist.

It follows that when they said that the Torah is more important than a Mitzva, it is precisely at a time when he does not engage in it, when one has no vitality. Then the Torah is more important than a Mitzva, which has no vitality.

This is so because one cannot receive anything from a Mitzva, which has no vitality. But with the Torah, one still has a way in the work from what he had received while he was practicing the Torah. Although the vitality has departed, the way remains in him, and he can use it. And there is a time when a Mitzva is more important than the Torah: when there is vitality in the Mitzva and no vitality in the Torah.

Thus, when not practiced, when one has no vitality or gladness in the work, one has no other counsel but prayer. However, during the prayer, one must know that he is evil because he does not feel the delight and pleasure that exist in the world, although he calculates that he can believe that the Creator gives only goodness.

Yet, not all of one’s thoughts are true in the way of the work. In the work, if the thought leads to action, meaning a sensation in the organs, so the organs feel that the Creator is benevolent, the organs should receive vitality and gladness from it. And if one has no vitality, what good are all the calculations if now the organs do not love the Creator because He imparts them with abundance?

Thus, one should know that if one has no vitality or gladness in the work, it is a sign that he is wicked, because he is unhappy. All the calculations are untrue if they do not yield an act, a sensation in the organs that one loves the Creator because He imparts delight and pleasure to the creatures.