29- The Creator Observed Their Works

“The Creator observed the works of the righteous and the works of the wicked, and did not know which the Creator wanted, whether their works”—when he says, “And the Lord saw the light, that it was good, and divided”—it means the works of the righteous.

We should understand how there can be doubt and say, “He does not know what the Creator wants.” Is it conceivable that the Creator wants the works of the wicked?

According to the explained rule, that before one is rewarded with emerging from self-love, while he is still controlled by the will to receive, all the good deeds that a person does, if he wants to aim in order to bestow, he sees that the body disagrees with it because it is against its nature.

It follows that in every single act that one does in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] he has tremendous efforts because the bad in him resists it. At that time, that state is called “the works of the wicked,” when the bad is still within him and overcomes him every day.

But afterward, when he is rewarded with correcting the evil in him and becomes righteous, his works are effortless because the bad in him no longer objects to his aiming all his actions in order to bestow, since he implements “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,” with both your inclinations. It follows that his works are called “the works of the righteous.”

Then the question is, Which does the Creator want? That which a person labors and must constantly exert. It follows that the person shows his effort, meaning that a person does according to what he is. But with the works of the righteous, he no longer has any effort. Instead, at that time he is in a state of peace of mind.

Thus, the question, Which does the Creator want, whether the work where a person exerts or the work of the righteous, although then he has no labor, as it is written in The Zohar, “In a place where there is labor there is the Sitra Achra [other side],” meaning that as long as one has not corrected the evil in him to be good, he has labor.

Hence, he brings evidence from “And the Lord saw the light and divided,” meaning the work of the righteous, since from the Creator’s perspective, the goal is for the created beings to attain the thought of creation, which is to do good to His creations.

However, since it is impossible to obtain this without equivalence of form, when a person engages in equivalence of form he has labor. This is from the perspective of the Creator. However, for man’s part, he should always yearn for labor.

Thus, when one is rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, there is no Sitra Achra and no labor. At that time, a person should yearn for labor. However, at that time he cannot have labor.

Therefore, the advice for this is as it is written in The Zohar, that his fear is from the past (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 118), meaning that when he has no work and labor, he must yearn for labor from the time when he was in a state of the works of the wicked, and then he has wholeness.