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.

Lishma Is an Awakening from Above

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

  

It is not in one’s hands to understand how to be rewarded with Lishma (for Her Name). This is because the human mind cannot grasp how such a thing can be in the world. This is because one is only permitted to grasp that if one engages in Torah and Mitzvot, he will attain something. There must be self-gratification there, for otherwise, one is unable to do anything.

Instead, Lishma is an illumination that comes from Above, and only one who tastes it can know and understand. It is written about that, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Thus, we must understand why should one seek advice and counsel on how to achieve Lishma. After all, no counsel will help him, and if God does not give him the other nature, called “the Will to Bestow,” no labor will help one to attain the matter of Lishma.

The answer is, as our sages said (Avot, 2:21), “It is not for you to complete the work, and you are not free to idle away from it.” This means that one must give the awakening from below, since this is discerned as a prayer.

A prayer is considered a deficiency, and without a deficiency there is no fulfillment. Hence, when one has a need for Lishma, the fulfillment comes from Above, and the answer to the prayer comes from Above, meaning one receives fulfillment for one’s need. It follows that one’s work is needed to receive the Lishma from the Creator only in the form of a deficiency and a Kli (Vessel). Yet, one can never attain the fulfillment alone; it is rather a gift from the Creator.

However, the prayer must be a whole prayer, from the bottom of the heart. This means that one knows for certain that there is no one in the world who can help him but the Creator Himself.

Yet, how does one know that there is no one to help him but the Creator Himself? One can acquire that awareness precisely if he has exerted all the powers at his disposal to attain Lishma, and it did not help him. Thus, one must do every possible thing in the world to be rewarded with “for the Creator.” Then one can pray from the bottom of one’s heart, and then the Creator will hear his prayer.

However, one must know that when exerting to attain Lishma, one should take it upon himself to want to work entirely to bestow, completely, meaning only to bestow and to not receive anything. Only then does one begin to see that the organs do not agree to this idea.

From this, one can come to a clear awareness that he has no other counsel but to pour out his complaint before the Creator to help him so the body will agree to enslave itself to the Creator unconditionally, since one sees that he cannot persuade his body to annul its self entirely. It turns out that precisely when one sees that there is no reason to hope that his body will agree to work for the Creator by itself, one’s prayer can be from the bottom of the heart, and then his prayer is accepted.

We must know that by attaining Lishma, one puts the evil inclination to death. The evil inclination is the will to receive, and acquiring the will to bestow cancels the will to receive from being able to do anything. This is considered putting it to death, since it removes it from its office; and it has nothing more to do since one no longer uses it. And when the evil inclination is revoked from its function, it is considered that one has put it to death.

And when one contemplates, “What profit hath man of all his labor… under the sun,” he will see that it is not so difficult to enslave himself to His Name, for two reasons:

  1. In any case, willingly or unwillingly, one must exert in this world, and what has one left of all the efforts he has made?
  2. However, if one works Lishma, he receives pleasure during the work, as well.

This follows the proverb of the Sayer of Dubna about the verse, “Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob, neither hast thou wearied thyself about Me, O Israel.” He said that it is like a rich man who departed the train with a small bag. He placed it where all the merchants place their baggage and the porters take the packages and bring them to the hotel where the merchants stay. The porter had thought that the merchant would certainly take a small bag by himself and there was no need for a porter for that, so the porter took a big package to the hotel.

The merchant wanted to pay him a small fee, as he usually pays for this small bag. But the porter did not want to take it, and said, “I put in the depository of the hotel a big bag; I could barely carry it, and it exhausted me, and you want to pay me so little for it?”

The lesson is that when one comes and says that he exerted extensively in keeping Torah and Mitzvot, the Creator tells him, “Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob.” In other words, it is not my baggage that you took; this bag belongs to someone else. If you are saying you had great efforts in Torah and Mitzvot, you must have had a different landlord for whom you were working, so go to him to pay you.

This is the meaning of, “neither hast thou wearied thyself about Me, O Israel.” In other words, one who works for the Creator has no labor whatsoever, but, on the contrary, pleasure and elated spirit.

But one who works for other goals cannot come to the Creator with complaints that the Creator does not give him vitality in the work, since he did not work for the Creator, for the Creator to pay him for his work. Instead, one can complain to those people that he had worked for, to administer him pleasure and vitality.

And since there are many goals in Lo Lishma (not for Her Name), one should demand of the goal for which he had worked that the goal would reward him, namely give him pleasure and vitality. It is said about them, “They that make them shall be like them, every one that trusts them.”

However, according to that, it is perplexing. After all, we see that even when one takes upon oneself the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven without any other intention, he still feels no liveliness, to say that this liveliness compels him to assume the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven. And the reason one does assume the burden is only because of faith above reason.

In other words, one does it by way of coercive overcoming, unwillingly. Thus, we might ask, “Why does one feel exertion in this work, with the body constantly seeking a time when it can be rid of this work, as one does not feel any liveliness in the work?” And when one works in concealment, and has only the purpose of working in order to bestow, why does the Creator not impart him with flavor and vitality in the work?

The answer is that we must know that this is a great correction. Were it not for that, if Light and liveliness had illuminated as soon as one began to take upon himself the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven, one would have immediate liveliness in the work. In other words, the will to receive would consent to this work as well.

And why would it agree? Certainly, because it wishes to satisfy its craving, meaning it would work for its own benefit. Had that been so, it would never be possible to achieve Lishma, since one would be compelled to work for one’s own benefit, as one would feel greater pleasure in the work of God than in corporeal desires. Thus, one would have to remain in Lo Lishma, since thus he would have had satisfaction in the work. And where there is satisfaction, one cannot do anything, as without profit, one cannot work. It follows that if one received satisfaction in this work of Lo Lishma, one would have to remain in that state.

This would be similar to what people say, that when people chase a thief to catch him, the thief, too, runs and yells, “Catch the thief.” Then, it is impossible to tell who is the real thief, to catch him and retake the theft.

However, when the thief, the will to receive, does not feel any flavor or liveliness in the work of accepting the burden of the Kingdom of Heaven, if, in that state, one works with faith above reason, coercively, and the body becomes accustomed to this work against the desire of one’s will to receive, then one has the means by which to come to a work that will be with the purpose of bringing contentment to one’s Maker.

This is so because the primary requirement from a person is to achieve Dvekut (Adhesion) with the Creator through one’s work, which is discerned as equivalence of form, where all of one’s actions are in order to bestow.

It is as the verse says, “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” The meaning of “Then” is “before,” that in the beginning of one’s work, there was no pleasure. Instead, one’s work was coercive.

However, afterwards, when one has already accustomed oneself to work in order to bestow, and to not examine oneself—if he is feeling a good taste in the work—but believes that he is working to bring contentment to his Maker through his work. And one should believe that the Creator accepts the labor of the lower ones regardless of how and how much is the form of their work. In everything, the Creator examines only the intention, and that this brings contentment to the Creator. Then one is granted with “delight thyself in the Lord.”

Even during the work of God he will feel delight and pleasure, as now one really does work for the Creator, since the effort he had made during the coercive work qualifies one to be able to truly work for the Creator. You find that then, the pleasure that one receives relates to the Creator as well, meaning specifically for the Creator.

The Reason for the Heaviness in the Work

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

  

We must know the reason for the heaviness felt when one wishes to work to annul one’s “self” before the Creator, and to not care for one’s own interest. One comes to a state as if the whole world stands still, and he alone is now seemingly absent from this world, and leaves his family and friends for the sake of annulling before the Creator.

There is but a simple reason for this, called “lack of faith.” This means that one does not see before whom one nullifies, meaning he does not feel the existence of the Creator, and this causes him heaviness.

However, when one begins to feel the existence of the Creator, one’s soul immediately yearns to be annulled and connected to the root, to be contained in it like a candle in a torch, without any mind or reason. However, this comes to one naturally, like a candle is annulled before a torch.

It therefore follows that the essence of one’s work is only to come to the sensation of the existence of the Creator, to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory.” This will be one’s entire work, meaning all the vigor that he puts into the work will be only to achieve that, and not any other things.

One should not be misled into having to acquire anything else. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs, namely faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.

We must know that there is no difference between a small illumination and a great one, which a person attains. This is because there are no changes in the Light. Rather, all the changes are in the vessels that receive the abundance, as it is written, “I the Lord change not.” Hence, if one can magnify one’s vessels, to that extent he magnifies the luminescence.

Yet, the question is, “With what can one magnify one’s vessels?” The answer is, “To the extent that he praises and gives thanks to the Creator for having brought one closer to Him, so one would feel Him a little and think of the importance of the thing, meaning that he was rewarded with having some connection with the Creator.”

As is the measure of importance that one pictures for oneself, so the measure of the luminescence grows in him. One must know that he will never come to know the true measure of the importance of the connection between man and the Creator, because one cannot assess its true value. Instead, to the extent that one appreciates it, he attains its merit and importance. There is a power in that, since thus one can be rewarded with having this illumination permanently.