What Does It Mean that a Judge Must Judge Absolutely Truthfully, in the Work?
Our sages said (Shabbat 10), “Any judge who judges absolutely truthfully, it is as though he becomes partners with the Creator in the work of creation.”
We should understand the following:
1) What is “truthful judgment” and what is “absolutely truthful judgment”? It seems as though there could be a truthful judgment, but the “absolute” will still be missing, although in general, it is truthful. Also, what does “absolutely” mean? That is, what does the “absolutely” add to us?
2) What is the meaning of “it is as though he becomes partners with the Creator in the work of creation”?
3) Why specifically if it is “absolutely truthful” can he become partners with the Creator in the work of creation, whereas if it is merely “truthful,” he cannot become partners? We should understand the reason, meaning the connection between being “absolutely truthful” and the work of creation.
It is known that the work of creation, which is the creation of the world and all that is in it, was with the aim to do good to His creations. In that sense, the world emerged with both the lack and the satisfaction of the lack. This is called “the world of Ein Sof [infinity/no end].” At that time, the upper light filled the whole of reality of creation.
However, in order to prevent the matter of shame, there was a correction called Tzimtzum [restriction], which is a concealment and hiding so the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to impart upon the creatures will not be apparent in the world before they can aim to bestow contentment upon the Maker.
For this reason, it is upon creation to correct the matter of shame, namely that they must aim in order to bestow. Since the creatures were created with a nature of a desire to receive for oneself, since the Creator wants the creatures to enjoy the abundance that He wishes to give them, He created in them a desire and yearning for the matter. Hence, if the creatures must act to the contrary, to receive with the aim to bestow, this is a lot of work. This is considered that we must make Kelim [vessels] that are fit to receive the delight and pleasure, and that there will not be any shame while receiving the pleasures.
It therefore follows that the Kli [vessel] that should receive the abundance from the Creator consists of two discernments: 1) a desire to receive pleasure, 2) the intention should be in order to bestow.
It follows that in order for the purpose of creation to be carried out, namely for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure, we should note two partners in the making of the Kelim: 1) the Creator, who gave the will to receive, 2) the intention with which the creatures should receive what they receive. This is called “receiving in order to bestow.”
The Kli that is fit to receive the delight and pleasure is made of those two.
Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, What does it mean that they said, “It is as though he becomes partners with the Creator in the work of creation”? We should understand what it tells us that they say “as though.” The thing is that from the perspective of the light, which is the delight and pleasure, only the Creator gives. In this, we cannot speak of a partnership. But with regard to the Kli, there we can speak of a partnership, since the Creator gave the will to receive and the yearning to receive pleasure, and the creatures give the other half of the Kli, namely the desire to bestow. In other words, we attribute the part of the Kli that is the will to receive to the Creator, and the other part of the Kli, the desire to bestow, we attribute to the creatures; this is what the creatures make. Thus, there are two partners in the Kli.
This is as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 67), “‘And to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’’ Do not pronounce ‘You are My people [Ami],’ but ‘You are with Me [Imi],’ with a Hirik in the Ayin, which means partnering with Me. As I made heaven and earth with My speech, so you.” That is, I started creation by creating the will to receive, and you must finish, meaning place the intention to bestow on the will to receive. This is called “partnership.”
It follows that the partnership stems primarily as a result of the Tzimtzum and the concealment that were made on the vessels of reception. That is, the light departed because of the correction of the Tzimtzum, but through the correction called “in order to bestow,” the light can shine once more, to the extent that the Kli has a desire to bestow.
Accordingly, we should ask: It is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and it is also written in The Zohar, “There is no place vacant of Him” (no place is vacant from the Creator). This means that there is no place of concealment or Tzimtzum in the world. Yet, we see that when a person comes to a descent, he is under the governance of concealment and Tzimtzum and does not feel any spirituality.
The thing is that from the perspective of the Creator there is no Tzimtzum and “The whole earth is full of His glory.” However, “You are until the world was created, and You are once the world was created.” We should interpret that just as before the world was created (Olam [world] means He’elem [concealment] and hiding), the Creator still filled the whole of reality; likewise, “once the world was created (when the concealment and hiding were created), the Creator also fills the whole of reality, and there was no place vacant of the Creator. However, He is concealed from the creatures; they do not feel Him because of the correction, so there will not be the matter of shame.
It follows that the concealment and hiding that a person feels in the work begins specifically when he wants to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, as it is written, “and to cleave unto Him,” which is the matter of equivalence of form. This means that as the Creator wants to delight His creations, man should try to make bringing contentment to the Creator his only concern in life.
In order for one not to fool oneself and say that he has no concern for himself, and his intention is only to bestow upon the Creator, when he is given a descent from above, when he does not feel any flavor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], a person can see his true state, whether he has no desire for himself and all his thoughts are for the sake of the Creator, or for his own sake. During the descent, a person should say, “I do not care how I feel when I engage in Torah and Mitzvot, since all my thoughts are to benefit the Creator. Therefore, I do my part and I believe that the Creator will enjoy it. Concerning the thought that we should think this way, I receive it from faith in the sages.” Conversely, when his aim is his own benefit, he says otherwise.
This is as it is written in the article “The Order of the Work” by Baal HaSulam (Item 4), “When attributing the work to the Creator, he should believe that the Creator accepts our work, regardless of how the work seems.” A person should only attribute the work to the Creator; this is enough.
Therefore, during the descent, he can see his true state in the work. But the main point is that at that time, he must strengthen himself with faith that “The whole earth is full of His glory.” Thus, even if a person is in a state of lowliness, he must not say that in this place, we cannot say that “The whole earth is full of His glory.” Rather, one should believe what is written, “His glory fills the world,” and it is only hidden from him, and that it was done so that he would have room for choice, and to work in order to bestow and not for his own sake, for because of his aim for his own benefit, he cannot work gladly, since the will to receive for himself does not feel any flavor.
At that time, a person can be pleased that now he has a place where he can say that he is working only for the sake of the Creator. If he cannot overcome and be happy about this work, he should say, “I am happy that I see the truth, that I am far from the work of truth. Hence, now I have a chance to ask of the Creator from the bottom of the heart to help me. Otherwise, I will be lost because I see that I am powerless to overcome and emerge from the governance of the will to receive for oneself.”
We therefore see that the order of the work is that a person should ask for reward for his work in Torah and Mitzvot, by which he will achieve working for the sake of the Creator. This is considered that a person must acquire vessels of bestowal by which he will be able to receive the delight and pleasure, as this was the purpose of creation “to do good to His creations.”
This is as our sages said, “The Torah and Mitzvot were given only so as to cleanse Israel.” That is, the reward they ask in return for observing Torah and Mitzvot is the cleansing, meaning the intention, that by observing Torah and Mitzvot they will be rewarded with the desire to bestow, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.”
Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, What does it mean that they said, “Any judge who judges absolutely truthfully becomes partners with the Creator in the work of creation”? The question is, What is “truth” and what is “absolute truth”?
The answer is, as I wrote (Article No. 44, Tav-Shin-Nun-Aleph), that there are two discernments concerning “for the sake of the Creator”: 1) He is not working for people’s respect or for money. Rather, he is working humbly with the Lord your God, and all his work is in order to observe Torah and Mitzvot, which the Creator commanded us. Therefore, he asks the Creator to give him in this world life, health, provision, and so forth. Also, He should reward him in the next world, as it is written in the Torah, “If you obey, I will givegrass in your field.” That is, the Creator will reward him. This means that the Mitzvot he observes are only for the sake of the Creator.
2) He works for the sake of the Creator, and even his intention is for the sake of the Creator. That is, he does not want any reward, but everything is for the sake of the Creator. This is regarded as the aim also being for the sake of the Creator.
Therefore, we should interpret that mere “truth” means that only his actions are for the sake of the Creator, but he still cannot make the intention for the sake of the Creator. Therefore, when speaking in terms of the work, it means that any person who wants to judge himself and see his situation in the work needs to be a truthful judge.
Although he is a truthful judge, who sees that all his actions are for the sake of the Creator, that judge still cannot be “as though he becomes partners with the Creator in the work of creation.” That is, the work of creation is the creation of the world, where the intention was to delight His creations. A correction was made so that in order to avoid the bread of shame, the creatures must make the other half of the Kli, which is the aim in order to bestow. And since he judges truthfully, he is still unfit to receive the delight and pleasure because there is still disparity of form between him and the light. Hence, he cannot be a partner.
Conversely, a judge who judges absolutely truthfully, meaning that the aim is also for the sake of the Creator, then there is already a correction of the vessels of reception, so there is equivalence between the Kli and the light. At that time, the light can shine in that Kli and that judge becomes a partner, since he gave the partnership of the Kli, meaning the desire to bestow that is on the Kli of the will to receive, called “receiving in order to bestow.” This means that only now that he has finished the Kli can the purpose of creation, which is the work of creation, be revealed to the lower ones, since the matter of shame has been corrected because they can already receive everything in order to bestow.
However, when a person places a judge to judge his situation, to see whether he prefers the love of the Creator to self-love, and the judge should determine the truth of the matter, this should not be his main work. On the contrary, his main work should be to exert in the “right,” meaning to engage in Torah and Mitzvot and receive from this wholeness and joy because he was rewarded with engaging in Torah and Mitzvot. It does not matter how much love he has at that time for Torah and Mitzvot. Rather, the very observance of the Mitzvot without any conditions, he believes that this is a great thing when a person attributes the work to the Creator, regardless of the form of his work, for the Creator accepts everything.
This work is called “right” and “wholeness,” and from this a person receives vitality, to have the strength to later walk on the “left,” as well, meaning to place a judge who will pass a truthful judgment about the real nature of his work. However, this should be only part of the time that he gives to serving the Creator. The majority of the time of work should be on the right. This is regarded as two legs, since it is impossible to walk on one leg and advance in the work.
By this we should interpret what is written, “‘Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ said the Lord, ‘and I will heal him.’” We should interpret “far” and “near” in the work. “Far” means left line. That is, when a person places a judge to judge how he behaves in the work, he sees how far he is from the Creator. “To the near” means when a person returns to working on the right line, which is when he sees only wholeness. That is, he values the work and considers even a small grip on Torah and Mitzvot as a fortune, since he does not even deserve the little bit of nearness. Hence, in a state of “right,” a person is considered “close to the Creator.”
But those two lines are disputed with each other, since they contradict one another. At that time comes the middle line and decides and makes peace between them. This is regarded as the Creator making peace between them, as it is known that the Creator is called the “middle line.”
It is known that the order of the work is that we begin to work on one line, which is the work of the general public, who regard only the action. There, everyone is more or less content with the work. We should know that on one line, the Surrounding Light shines in general, which is light that shines from afar. That is, a person is still far from equivalence of form, yet receives illumination from this light. At that time, there is no issue of “two writings that deny one another” in him, for he has only one way.
But when a person shifts to the left line, when he wants to repent, this can be only when he places a judge to examine his situation. If the judge is truthful, he sees that he is not all right, meaning that everything he does is for his own benefit. Then he has room to pray that he wants to repent, meaning to return to the Creator, to be adhered to the Creator and not to be separated. Then his one line becomes the right line.
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Midrash Rabbah 19), when Reuben started with repentance, as it is written, “The child is gone, and I, where do I go?” We should interpret that this indicates that the order of repentance is when a person says, “The child is gone.”
It is known that there are two forces within man: 1) an old and foolish king, 2) a poor child, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 4), “A poor and wise child is better than an old and foolish king.” This means that when a person begins to repent, he should know on what to repent. This is implied by what Reuben said, “The child is gone, and I, where do I go?” That is, the child, who is called “good inclination,” is gone, and all that one sees is that the body is completely controlled by the old and foolish king, which is the “evil inclination,” and it is known that the good inclination is called “desire to bestow,” and the evil inclination is called “will to receive.”
It follows that before a person sees that the will to receive controls him and that this control harms him, causing him to be far from the Creator, he still has nothing on which to repent. Only when he sees that “the child is gone” does he acquire a place of lack on which to repent, meaning to return to the Creator, which is called “Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.” That is, where he was previously far from the Creator, now he has become near to the Creator, and this is called “repentance.”
This is also called “left line,” following the rule, “Anything that requires correction is called ‘left.’” Since a person must also be in wholeness called “right,” it creates “two writings that deny one another, so the third writing will come and decide between them.” In other words, at that time the Creator gives him the desire to bestow, and then he obtains true wholeness. That is, then he is rewarded with the Torah, called “The Torah, and Israel, and the Creator are one.”
However, he should not forget that although the work should mainly be on the right, called “wholeness,” that a person takes fuel from the right, still, progress in the work, meaning achieving the completeness of the goal of receiving the delight and pleasure, depends specifically on the left, since there he sees his lack and has room to correct that lack through prayer that the Creator will satisfy his lack. A person advances only by the help of the Creator, as The Zohar writes, that the help that comes from above is called “a holy soul.” This is how he advances until he is rewarded with achieving the purpose of creation, which is the delight and pleasure.
Now we can interpret what is written (Psalms 78), “He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from the care of the sheep with suckling lambs He brought him up to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.” We should interpret why He chose David His servant; what merits did he have over others? He says about this, “and took him from the sheepfolds.” We should interpret “sheepfolds” as food. That is, what was his food? He says, sheep. Sheep, explained Baal HaSulam, means “exits.”
That is, when a person feels that he has emerged from the work of the Creator, that he is in descent, he should not be alarmed by this. On the contrary, this gives him room to pray to the Creator to deliver him from the control of the bad and bring him closer to Him. For this reason, each exit that he had gave him fuel and what to pray for. Conversely, when a person is always in ascent, he has no need to advance. This is the meaning of the words “and took him from the sheepfolds.”
Also, it is written, “He brought him up.” We should interpret that “up” means ascents. “Brought him up” means that after the ascents, which is descents, He brought him “to shepherd Jacob His people.” “Jacob” is considered Yod-Akev [heel], since heel is called “faith,” which is something that a person tramples with his heels. That is, it is something of inferior importance. In other words, specifically from states that are after the ascents, which are descents, specifically from the descents, he would shepherd his faith.
This means that from the descents, he took strength to expand the faith. This is the meaning of the words “Jacob His people,” meaning the Creator’s people. “And Israel His inheritance” means that after he has been rewarded through the descents into the state of Yod-Akev, which is faith, he was rewarded with the “inheritance of the land.” This is why it is written, “Israel,” for afterward, he achieved the degree Yashar-El [Israel, lit: straight to the Creator]. Then he achieved the inheritance of the land, which is the purpose of creation. This is the meaning of the words “Israel His inheritance.”
However, we must not forget that the primary attention in the work should be given to the right line. We advance from the state of the left, as well, but we cannot walk without the right, for a person must be in gladness, as it is written, “Serve the Lord with gladness,” and we can receive this only from the right line. Although this contradicts the left line, but since a person must be in high spirits, which is obtained only when a person believes in the Creator and has faith in the sages, who told us that a person should try to appreciate all his actions, even if they are still not in the manner that they should be, to the extent that a person thanks the Creator, even for small things that he can do, it connects him to the Creator.