The Labor Is the Most Important

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

 

My dear son, Baruch Shalom,

I have received your letter and I congratulate you for the Semicha (rabbinical ordination) that you have obtained. This was the first wall that blocked your path from marching forward. I hope that from this day forth you will begin to succeed and go from strength to strength, until you enter the King’s Palace.

I would like you to obtain another Semicha, but from this day forth, hurry yourself to spend most of your time preparing your body to muster strength and courage “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load” so as not to lose even a single moment.

And should you ask, “Where is this preparation?” I shall tell you that in the past, it was necessary to obtain all seven secular teachings and undergo terrible self-torments prior to attaining the Creator. Yet, not many were rewarded with the Creator’s favor. But since we have been rewarded with the teachings of the Ari and the work of the Baal Shem Tov, it is truly within everyone’s reach, and no further preparation is required.

Should your foot tread upon those two, and with God’s mercy upon me, I have been favored by Him, and I have received them with both my hands, and my mind is as close to you as a father is close to his son. I will surely pass them on to you when you are fit for receiving mouth to mouth.

But the most important is the labor, to wish to toil in His work. This is because the ordinary work does not count at all, but only the bits that are beyond the ordinary, which are called “labor.” It is like a person who needs a pound of bread for satiation—his whole meal is not considered a satiating meal, except the last bit of the pound. That bit, for all its smallness, makes the meal satiating. Similarly, from each work, the Creator draws only the surplus beyond the ordinary, and they will become the Otiot (letters) and the Kelim (vessels) for the reception of the Light of His face.

The Lord Is Thy Shade

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

 

The Baal Shem Tov gave a clear sign by which to know how much the Creator is playing with one—to examine one’s own heart and see how much one is playing with the Creator. So are all the matters, by way of “the Lord is thy shade.”

Hence, one who still feels a distinction between “knowing” and “cherishing” still needs to unite the heart. This is so because from the Creator’s perspective, they are one and the same, and the Creator truly dwells in the heart of everyone from Israel. This is so from His perspective. Hence, does one need? Only to know it. The awareness changes and the awareness completes, and this is the meaning of “the Lord is thy shade.”

An Allegory about the Rich Man’s Son in the Cellar

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

 

It would seem that one should be precise with the word Teshuva (repentance/return); it should have been named “wholeness”—that everything is predetermined and each soul is already in its utmost Light, benefit, and eternity.

It was only for the bread of shame that the soul emerged through the restrictions, until it clothed in the murky body, and only through it does it return to its root from before the restriction. Also, its reward for the terrible move it had undergone is that the real reward is the true Dvekut (adhesion). This means that it is rid of the bread of shame, since its vessel of reception has been turned into a vessel of bestowal and its form is equal to its Maker.

Now you understand that if the descent is for the purpose of ascension it is regarded as ascension and not as a descent. And indeed, the descent itself is the ascent, since the letters of the prayer themselves are filled with abundance, while with a short prayer the bounty falls short because the letters are missing. Also, our sages said, “Had Israel not sinned, they would have been given only the five books of Moses and the book of Joshua.”

What is it like? It is like a wealthy man who had a young son. One day, the man had to travel far away for many years. The rich man feared lest his son would scatter his possessions unwisely; hence, he devised a plan and exchanged his possessions for gems and jewels and gold. He also built a cellar deep in the ground, and locked all his gold and gems in there, along with this son.

Then he called his loyal servants and commanded them to guard his son and not let him out of the cellar until he was twenty years of age. Every day, they were to bring him down his food and drink, but under no condition should they bring down fire and candles. And they should also inspect the walls for cracks, so no sunlight would penetrate. And for his health, they were to take him out of the cellar for one hour a day, and walk the streets with him, but carefully watching, so he would not escape. And when he turned twenty, they were to give him candles and open a window and let him out.

Naturally, the son’s pain was immeasurable, especially when he walked outside and could see all the youths eating and drinking and rejoicing in the streets, without guards and without a time limit, while he was imprisoned with but a few moments of light. If he tried to run, he would be beaten mercilessly. And he was most hurt and depressed when he had heard that his father himself had brought all this pain upon him, for they were his father’s servants, doing his father’s command. Clearly, he thought his father was the cruelest man of all time, for who has ever heard of such a thing?

On the day of his twentieth birthday, the servants hung down one candle, as his father had commanded. The boy took the candle and began to examine his surroundings. And what did he see? Sacks filled with gold and every royal bounty.

Only then did he understand his father—that he was truly merciful—and that all he had done, he did for his own good. And he immediately realized that the guards would let him out of the cellar and go free. And so he did; he came out of the cellar, and there were no guards, no cruel servants, and he was the greatest of all the land’s wealthy.

In fact, there is no innovation here at all, for it becomes apparent that he was of great wealth to begin with, all his days, and he only felt that he was poor and indigent, and utterly miserable. And now, in a single moment, he had been given immense wealth and rose from the lowest pit to the highest peak.

But who can understand this allegory? One who understands that the “sins” are the deep cellar and the careful guard that he will not escape. Thus, evidently, the cellar and the careful watch are the “merits” and the father’s mercy over his son. Without them, it would have been impossible for him to become as rich as his father.

But the “sins” are “real sins,” not “mistakes,” and one must not be forced. Rather, before one returns to one’s wealth, the aforementioned emotion rules in its fullest sense. But after one returns to one’s wealth, he sees that all these were the father’s mercies, and not cruelty at all.

We must understand that the whole connection of love between the father and his only son depends on the son’s recognition of his father’s mercy for him, concerning the issue of the cellar, the darkness, and the careful watch. This is because the son discovers great efforts and profound wisdom in these mercies of the father.

The Holy Zohar, too, speaks of it, saying that for one who is rewarded with repentance, the Holy Divinity appears like a kind-hearted mother who had not seen her child for many days. And they made great efforts to see each other, and as a result, suffered many a great danger.

In the end, the long-awaited freedom had come to them, and they were granted the meeting. And then the mother fell on him and kissed and comforted him, speaking softly to him all day and all night. She told him of the longing and the perils along her way, and how she was with him all along, and Divinity did not move, but suffered with him in all the places, only he could not see it.

These are the words of The Zohar: She tells him, “Here we slept; here we were assailed by bandits, and we were saved, and here we hid in a deep hole.” And what fool would not understand the multitude of love, pleasantness, and delight that gushes out of these comforting stories?

In truth, before they met face to face, it felt like torments that are harder than death. But with a Nega (illness/pain), the Ayin (the last letter in the Hebrew word) is at the end of the word. Yet, when speaking comforting words, the Ayin is in the beginning of the word, which is certainly Oneg (pleasure).

But these are two points that shine only once they exist in the same world. And imagine a father and son who were waiting anxiously for each other for days and years. In the end they met, but the son was deaf and dumb, and they could not play with one another. Thus, the essence of love is in royal pleasures.

One Is Where One Thinks

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

 

Keep your feet from suffering a man’s jolt prematurely, since “one is where one thinks.” Hence, when one is certain that he will not lack anything, he can focus his efforts in words of Torah, for “blessed cleave to blessed.”

But with absence of confidence, he will have to toil, and any toil is from the Sitra Achra, “and the damned does not cleave to the blessed,” since he will not be able to devote all his efforts to the words of Torah. But if one wishes to wander overseas, he must not consider these words at all, but return to one’s routine as quickly as possible, as though by diabolic compulsion, so he will not scatter his sparks in times and places that are not yet properly unified.

And know that no flaw is ascribed to the lower ones except in a time and place that are permitted, as it is now. I wish to say that if one embezzles, regrets, or despairs in the current moment, he throws away all the times and all the places in the world. This is the meaning of “A moment’s anger, what is its worth? A moment.”

Hence, there can be no correction to a person unless one aligns all the present and future moments and dedicates them to His Great Name. And one who rejects the current moment because it is hard reveals his foolishness to all—that all the worlds and all the times are not for him, for the light of his face is not clothed in the changing times, though man’s work is necessarily changed by them. For this reason, the belief and the confidence above reason have been prepared for us by merit of our holy patriarchs, which one uses effortlessly in dire times.

Walking the Path of Truth

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

 

Let me write to you with regard to the middle pillar in the work of God, so as to always be a target for you between right and left. This is because there is one who walks who is worse than he who sits idly. It is he who deflects from the road, for the path of truth is a very thin line that one walks until one comes to the King’s palace.

And anyone who begins to walk at the beginning of the line needs great care to not stray to the right or to the left of the line, even as a hair’s breadth. This is so because if at first the deviation is as a hair’s breadth, even if one continues completely straight, it is certain that he will not come to the King’s palace, as he is not stepping on the true line, and this is a true allegory.

Let me explain to you the meaning of the middle pillar, which is the meaning of “The Torah, the Creator, and Israel, are one.” The purpose of the soul, when it comes into the body, is to be rewarded with returning to its root and to cleave unto Him, while still clothed in the body, as it is written, “to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him.” You see that the matter ends in “to cleave unto Him,” as it was prior to clothing in the body.

However, great preparation is required—which is to walk in all His ways. Yet, who knows the ways of the Creator? Indeed, this is the meaning of “Torah, that has 613 ways.” He who walks by them will finally be purified until his body will no longer be an iron partition between him and his Maker, as it is written, “And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh.” Then he shall cleave unto his Maker just as he was before the clothing of the soul in the body.

It turns out that there are three discernments:

  1. Israel is he who strains himself to return to his root.
  2. The Creator, which is the root one longs for.
  3. The 613 ways of the Torah, by which one purifies one’s soul and body. This is the spice, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”

However, these three are actually one and the same. In the end, any servant of the Creator attains them as single, united and unified discernment. They only appear to be divided into three because of one’s incompleteness in the work of God.

Let me clarify it to you a little: you shall see its tip, but not its entirety, except when He delivers you. It is known that the soul is a part of God Above. Before it comes into a body, it is attached like a branch to the root. See in the beginning of The Tree of Life, that the Creator created the worlds because He wished to manifest His Holy Names, “Merciful” and “Gracious,” and if there were no creatures, there would be no one to have mercy on.

However, as much as the pen permits, as they said, “The whole Torah is but the names of the Creator.” The meaning of attainment is that “what we do not attain, we do not define by a name.” It is written in the books that all these names are the reward of the souls, compelled to come into the body, for it is precisely through the body that it can attain the names of the Creator, and its stature is according to its attainment.

There is a rule: The sustenance of any spiritual thing is according to the merit of knowing it. A corporeal animal feels itself because it consists of mind and matter.

Thus, a spiritual sensation is a certain discernment, and the spiritual stature is measured by the amount of knowledge, as it is written, “One is praised according to one’s mind.” However, the animal knows; it does not feel at all.

Understand the reward of the souls: Before a soul comes into a body, it is but a tiny dot, though attached to the root as a branch to a tree. This dot is called “the root of the soul and its world.” Had it not entered this world in a body, it would have had only its own world, meaning its own share of the root.

However, the more it is rewarded with walking in the paths of the Creator, which are the 613 ways of the Torah that return to being the actual Names of the Creator, the more its stature grows, according to the level of the names it has attained.

This is the meaning of the words, “the Creator imparts each and every righteous Shay (310 in Gematria) worlds.” Interpretation: The soul consists of two righteous: Upper Righteous, and Lower Righteous, as the body is divided from the Tabur (navel) upward and from the Tabur downward. Thus it acquires the written Torah and the oral Torah, which are two times Shay, being TaRaCh (620 in Gematria). These are the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah and the seven Mitzvot de Rabanan (of our great Rabbis).

It is written in The Tree of Life, “The worlds were created only to disclose the names of the Creator.” Thus, you see that since the soul came down to clothe this filthy substance, it could no longer cleave to its root, to its own world, as before it came to this world. Rather, it must increase its stature 620 times more than how it previously was in the root. This is the meaning of the whole perfection, the whole NRNHY up to Yechida. This is why Yechida is called Keter, implying the number 620 [9].

Thus, you see that the meaning of the 620 names, being the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah and the 7 Mitzvot de Rabanan, are in fact the five properties of the soul, meaning NRNHY. This is because the vessels of the NRNHY are from the above 620 Mitzvot, and the Lights of NRNHY are the actual Light of the Torah in each and every Mitzvah. It follows that the Torah and the soul are one.

However, the Creator is the Light of Ein Sof, clothed in the Light of the Torah, found in the above 620 Mitzvot, as the sages said, “the whole Torah is the names of the Creator.” This means that the Creator is the whole, and the 620 names are parts and items. These items are according to the steps and degrees of the soul, which does not receive its Light at once, but gradually, one at a time.

From all the above, you find that the soul is destined to attain all 620 Holy Names, its entire stature, which is 620 more than it had before it came. Its stature appears in the 620 Mitzvot where the Light of the Torah is clothed, and the Creator is in the collective Light of the Torah. Thus you see that “the Torah, the Creator, and Israel” are indeed one.

Let us return to the issue that, before the completeness in the work of God, the Torah, the Creator and Israel appear as three discernments. At times, one wishes to complete one’s soul and return it to its root, which is considered “Israel.” And sometimes one wishes to understand the ways of the Creator and the secrets of the Torah, “for if one does not know the commandments of the Upper One, how will he serve Him?” This is considered “Torah.”

And sometimes one wishes to attain the Creator, to cleave unto Him with complete cognizance, and essentially regrets only that, and does not agonize over attaining the secrets of the Torah, and also does not agonize over returning one’s soul to its origin, as it was prior to its clothing in a body.

Hence, one who walks upon the true line of preparing for the work of God must always test himself: Does he crave the three above discernments equally? Because the end of the act equalizes with its beginning. If one craves one discernment more than the second or the third, then one deflects from the path of truth.

Thus, you had better hold onto the goal of yearning for the commandment of the Upper One, for “one who does not know the ways of the Upper One and the commandments of the Upper One, which are the secrets of Torah, how will he serve Him?” Among all three, this is what guarantees the middle line most.

This is the meaning of, “Open for me one aperture of repentance, such as a needlepoint, and I will open for you gates where carts and coaches enter.” Interpretation: the aperture of the needlepoint is not for entrance and exit, but to insert the thread for sewing and for work.

Similarly, you are to crave only the commandment of the Upper One, to work. And then I will open for you a door such as an entrance to a hall. This is the meaning of the Explicit Name in the verse, “but in very deed [10] as I live and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.”

[9] Translator’s note: In Hebrew, Keter contains the same letters as TaRaCh.

[10] Translator’s note: the word ‘indeed’ is spelled like ‘hall’ in Hebrew.

If I Am Not for Me, Who Is for Me?

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

 

I have already said in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that prior to making a Mitzva, one must not consider Private Providence at all. Instead, one should say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” But after the fact, one must reconsider and believe that it is not “by my power and the might of my hand” that I did this Mitzva, but only by the power of the Creator, who planned it for me in advance, and thus I was compelled to do it.

This is also the order in worldly matters, for spirituality and corporeality are equal. Hence, before one leaves for work to make his daily earnings, he should remove his thoughts from Private Providence and say, “If I am not for me, who is for me,” and do everything that is done in corporeality to earn one’s living as they do.

But in the evening, when he returns home with his earnings, he should never think that his own resourcefulness has gotten him this profit. Rather, even if he were lying in the basement all day long, he would still earn his living, since this is what the Creator had planned for him in advance, and this is how it must be.

And even though it seems contradictory and unacceptable to the superficial mind, one must still believe so, as this is what the Creator has written of him in His law from books and from authors.

This is the meaning of the unification of HaVaYaH– ElokimHaVaYaH is Private Providence, where the Creator does everything, and He does not need the help of dwellers of clay houses. Elokim (God), in Gematria, is “the nature.” And one who behaves according to the nature He had imprinted in the systems of the corporeal heaven and earth, and keeps their laws like the rest of the corporeal ones, and at the same time believes in the name HaVaYaH,meaning Private Providence, unites them, and they become one in his hand. Thus, he renders much contentment to his Maker and brings Light to all the worlds.

This is the meaning of the three discernments: Mitzva (good deed/commandment), transgression, and permission.

  • Mitzva is the place of sanctity.
  • Transgression is the place of the Sitra Achra.
  • Permission is when it is neither Mitzva nor transgression. This is the battlefield over which the sanctity and the Sitra Achra struggle.

When one does what is permitted, and does not unite it with the authority of Kedusha (holiness), that whole place falls into the domain of the Sitra Achra. And when one prevails, and performs as many unifications as one can, where permitted, he brings permission back to the domain of Kedusha.

Thus I have explained what our sages said, “The healer has been given permission to heal.” This means that although healing is undoubtedly in the hands of the Creator, and human trickery will not move Him from His place, still, the holy Torah states, “and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed,” letting you know that this is permission, the battlefield between Mitzva and transgression.

Thus, we ourselves must conquer this “permission” and place it under the Kedusha. And how is it conquered? When one visits an expert physician, and the physician gives him a thoroughly tested medicine that has been tried a thousand times. And after one is healed he must believe that without the physician, the Creator would still heal him, for his lifespan has been predetermined. And instead of singing the praises of the human physician, one thanks and praises the Creator, and thus conquers the permission and places it in the domain of Kedusha.

It is similar in other matters of “permission.” Thus, he expands the boundaries of Kedusha and increases the Kedusha to the fullest. And all of a sudden, he finds himself standing completely in the HolyPalace, since the boundaries of Kedusha have so expanded that it has reached his own place.

I have explained all that to you several times, since this matter is a stumbling block for quite a few people, who have no clear perception of Private Providence. “A slave is comfortable without responsibility,” and instead of work, he wishes for the safest, and wishes even more to revoke the questions from his faith and acquire incontrovertible proof that is above nature. This is why they are punished and their blood is on their own heads, since after the sin of Adam ha Rishon, the Creator devised a correction for this sin in the form of the unification of HaVaYaH-Elokim, as I have explained.

And this is the meaning of “with the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” It is human nature that when one achieves through great efforts, one finds it very difficult to say that it is the Creator’s gift. Thus, one has room for work, to labor with complete faith in Private Providence, and to decide that he would obtain all that even without his work. Thus one corrects this transgression.

Sit and Do Nothing—Better

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

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

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

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).