What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?
Our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2, 2), “Raban Gamliel, son of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, says, ‘It is good to learn Torah with work, for exertion in both, mitigates iniquities, and any Torah with which there is no work is ultimately canceled and induces iniquity.’” This verse is very perplexing to understand literally. Can it be that one who learns Torah without working alongside, the Torah stops being Torah? Moreover, Torah with which there is no labor induces iniquity!
The previous verse is also difficult to understand. Why is it that specifically exertion in both mitigates iniquity? After all, our sages said (Kidushin 30), “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” They did not say that in order to revoke the evil inclination, the Torah also requires labor in order to revoke the evil inclination.
We should interpret this in the work. It is known that the evil and iniquity is primarily the nature in which man was created, whose origin is the dust, as it is written after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 3:19), “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Dust is Malchut (as it is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 16, Item 43, Ohr Pnimi); it is the will to receive for one’s own sake. On this desire was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, which means that this place became a space vacant from light. That Tzimtzum was in order not to have the bread of shame. Rather, to the extent of equivalence of form, the concealment is removed and upper light comes instead of it.
For this reason, Maimonides says that when beginning to teach women and children and uneducated people, they are accustomed to learn Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. When they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret, meaning Lishma [for Her sake]. This is so because Lishma contradicts our nature, as we were born with a desire to receive for ourselves. For this reason, the only way to begin with Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is in Lo Lishma. However, through Lo Lishma we come to Lishma, as it is written, “By engaging in it, the light in it reforms them” (Midrash Rabbah, Pticha de Eicha).
It therefore follows that the whole work that we must do is to invert our will to receive so as to aim to bestow. But this work is very difficult, and it is also called “work.” That is, normally, the smaller one annuls before the greater one, and there is great pleasure in the smaller one serving the greater one. Accordingly, each one should have had a desire to serve the Creator in order to bring contentment to the Creator. Yet, this work is hard to keep, as well, and this is called “It is good to learn Torah with work.”
This is so because of the Tzimtzum and the concealment that was on the will to receive. For this reason, the light does not shine in this place, but there are rather darkness and concealment here in the vessels of reception for oneself. Hence, it is upon the person to take upon himself everything in faith above reason. Yet, this, too, is difficult because our will to receive is not used to doing things against reason. In order to be able to emerge from the control of the will to receive for himself, our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,’” meaning that “the light in it reforms him.”
Concerning “the light in it reforms him,” it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 2, p 159): “ The majority of the words of the Torah are for study. This reconciles why the Torah speaks at length on parts that do not concern the practical part but only the study, meaning preceding the act of Creation,” etc., “and, needless to say, legends and commentaries. Yet, since they are where the light is stored, his body will be cleansed, the evil inclination subdued, and he will come to faith in the Torah and in reward and punishment. …Clearly, when one ponders and contemplates words of Torah that pertain to the revelation of the Creator to our fathers, they bring the examiner more light than when examining practical matters. Although they are more important with respect to the actions, with respect to the light, the revelation of the Creator to our fathers is more important. …Since the whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah speaks of the revelation of the Creator, naturally, there is no better teaching for its task. This is what the Kabbalists aimed for—to arrange it so it is suitable to engage in.”
It follows that we engage in the Torah in order to subdue the evil inclination, meaning to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, so that all our actions will be only in order to bestow. That is, by ourselves, we will never be able to go against nature, since the mind and heart that we must acquire require assistance, and the assistance is through the Torah. It is as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice. By engaging in it, the light in it reforms them.”
However, this was said—that it is beneficial to elicit the light from the Torah—if he aims while engaging in the Torah, to learn in order to receive the reward of the Torah, called “light.” At that time, the learning of Torah is good for him. But when he is distracted from the purpose of studying Torah, the Torah does not help complete the work of making the vessels of bestowal and not using the vessels of reception for one’s own sake. Otherwise, his Torah vanishes from him. That is, the force of Torah and that should have subdued the evil inclination is cancelled. This is the meaning of the words, “Any Torah with which there is no work,” meaning when he does not aim for the Torah to do the work of turning the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, “is finally cancelled,” meaning that that force is cancelled.
However, we should understand why the Torah induces iniquity. Is it not enough that the Torah is cancelled, but it also induces iniquity? Can this be? The question is presented in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 39): “We need clarification so as to understand how and through what the Torah becomes a potion of death to him. Not only is he toiling in vain … but the Torah and the work itself become to him a potion of death.”
There (in “The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 101), he says, “It is written that the Creator hides Himself in the Torah. Regarding the torments and pains one experiences during the concealment of the face, one who possesses few transgressions and has done little Torah and Mitzvot is not as one who has extensively engaged in Torah and good deeds. This is because the first is quite qualified to sentence his Maker to the side of merit. …For the other, however, it is very difficult to sentence his Maker to the side of merit because in his view, he does not deserve such harsh punishments.”
Accordingly, we can understand why he says, “Any Torah with which there is no work is finally cancelled and induces iniquity.” It is so because on one hand, he sees that he engages in Torah and Mitzvot, so why does the Creator not treat him as he thinks he deserves? Therefore, there are two things here: 1) It is finally cancelled. 2) It causes iniquity.
For this reason, prior to the study, a person should examine with which purpose does he want to observe the Mitzva [commandment] of learning Torah? That is, does he engage in Torah because of the Torah itself, in order to know how to observe the rules of doing the Mitzvot, or is the learning of Torah itself his whole intention, and knowing the rules of doing the Mitzvot is a completely different matter for him? meaning he is learning Torah for two reasons.
However, even while learning Torah for the sake of learning Torah, he should still distinguish with which intention he is learning. Is it to observe the commandments of the Creator, as it is written, “And you shall reflect on Him day and night,” or is he learning in order to receive the light of Torah because he needs the light of Torah in order to cancel the evil within him, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice”? It turns out that he is learning in order to obtain the spice, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.”
Certainly, prior to learning Torah, a person should examine the reason for which he is learning Torah, for any act needs to have some purpose that causes him to do the act. It is as our sages said, “A prayer without an aim is as a body without a soul.” For this reason, before he comes to learn Torah he must prepare the intention.
This is what he says there, in the “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot” (Item 17): “Hence, prior to the study, the student must pledge to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator and in His guidance in reward and punishment … In this way, he will be rewarded with benefitting from the light in it, that his faith, too, will strengthen and grow through the remedy in this light. Thus, even one who knows about himself that he has not been rewarded with faith, still has hope through the practice of Torah. For if one sets one’s heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater Mitzva than that. …Moreover, there is no other counsel but this.”
It therefore follows that a person must make a great effort before he comes to learn so that his learning will bear fruit and good results, meaning so the learning will bring him the light of Torah, by which it will be possible to reform him. Then, through the Torah, he becomes a wise disciple.
What is a “wise disciple”? Baal HaSulam said that it is a student who learns from the wise. That is, the Creator is called “wise,” and a person who learns from Him is called a “disciple of the wise.” What should one learn from the Creator? He said that a person should learn only one thing from the Creator. It is known that the Creator wishes only to bestow. Likewise, man should learn from Him to be a giver. This is called a “wise disciple.”
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Nedarim 81), “Why are no wise disciples emerging from among them? Rabina says, ‘It is because they do not bless in the Torah first.’” We should understand these words in the work, meaning that it all applies to one body. Hence, we should interpret the question, “Why are no wise disciples emerging from among them?”
It is known that “father” and “son” are called “cause” and “consequence.” That is, the first state causes the second state. Accordingly, when a person learns Torah, this is called a “wise disciple.” Also, we learned that “the light in it reforms him.” What does “reforming” mean? It is as our sages said, that the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice, which cancels the evil inclination.” When the evil is cancelled, and evil is the will to receive for himself, he becomes a wise disciple, according to the interpretation of Baal HaSulam.
For this reason, the answer to the question, “Why are no wise disciples,” which is the first state, “emerging from among them?” That is, the second state does not emerge from them, which is that he should become a disciple of the wise, to be rewarded with all his actions being only in order to bestow.
But there is a rule, “The light in it reforms him,” and we do not see that the wise disciple has the ability to elicit sons who are wise disciples. To this comes the answer that they did not bless in the Torah first.
Yet, this answer is also difficult to understand. We see that anyone who comes to study, first says the blessing of the Torah before the learning. Thus, how can they interpret that the reason they are not begetting sons who are wise disciples is that they did not bless in the Torah first?
We should interpret the words, “they did not bless in the Torah first.” Since we see that one who is going to make a substantial purchase, where through the merchandise that he will buy he will make great profits, his friends bless him with luck in this activity. That is, that he will make a lot of money.
It is likewise here in the work. When a person comes to learn Torah, there should be a purpose before his eyes, namely the reason he is going to study. Clearly, it is in order to benefit from the study of Torah, for without a benefit it is impossible to work. Hence, he must know that the purpose, meaning the benefit he needs to acquire from the Torah is “the light in it,” which “reforms him.”
In the work, where we speak of one body, he should bless himself with success in his learning and with obtaining much light from the Torah that he is now going to learn. Otherwise, if he does not bless prior to learning Torah, he does not remember the goal he must elicit from the learning, which is called “sons.” The sons are the result of the study, as was said, that the Torah is the reason, the father, and the light he elicits from the Torah is the son.
Accordingly, prior to learning, each and every one must contemplate the purpose of the study, meaning why he exerts in the Torah. Certainly, one should not exert without reward, and certainly, when a person learns Torah, he believes in “You can trust your landlord to pay for your work” (Avot, Chapter 2, 21). But to which reward is he aiming? He should pay attention to keep the reward always before him, meaning to have confidence and faith that the Creator will pay his reward.
The reward he hopes to receive should give him energy to work. That is, the reward is the fuel on which his work is based. Clearly, the greater the reward, the more energy there is to work. But if the reward is not so important, that reward cannot give him the strength to work devotedly, meaning to make him see that the Torah is so important, as it is written, “For they are our lives and the length of our days.” Certainly, if a person feels this way, that it is truly the Torah of life, each person, according to his feeling, would give his whole life to obtain life.
However, feeling the vitality in the Torah requires great preparation to prepare his body to be able to feel the life in the Torah. This is why our sages said we must begin in Lo Lishma, and through the light of Torah he obtains while still in Lo Lishma, it will bring him to Lishma, since the light in it reforms him. Then, he will be able to learn Lishma, meaning for the sake of the Torah, which is called “Torah [law] of life,” as he has already attained the life in the Torah, for the light in the Torah will have given such qualification to a person as to be able to feel the life that is in the Torah.
In the “Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot” (Item 38), he asks, “Why is complete engagement in Torah and Mitzvot regarded as Torah Lishma? We should understand this title, Torah Lishma, why the complete and desirable work is titled Lishma. According to the literal meaning, one who engages in Torah and Mitzvot must aim his heart to bring contentment to his maker and not for his own sake. This should have been named and defined as Torah Lishmo [for His sake] and Torah Lo Lishmo [not for His sake], meaning for the Creator. After all, the text proves that Torah Lishmo, meaning to bring contentment to one’s maker, is still not enough. Instead, we also need the engagement to be Lishma [for Her sake], meaning for the sake of the Torah, for it is known that the name of the Torah is ‘Torah [law] of life,’ as was said, ‘For they are life to those who find them’ (Proverbs 4:22). As was said, ‘It is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life’ (Deuteronomy 32:47). Therefore, the meaning of Torah Lishma is that engagement in Torah and Mitzvot brings him life and longevity, for at that time the Torah is as its name.”
According to the above, it implies that once a person has reached the degree of bestowing contentment upon his maker, as this is regarded as engaging in Torah and Mitzvot for His sake, then begins a second degree, when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot for Her sake, meaning for the sake of the Torah, as the name of the Torah is “Torah of life.”
In order for a person to achieve a degree of doing everything for the Creator, called Torah Lishmo [for His sake], it requires the light of Torah, for this light reforms him. That is, he will be able to emerge from self-love and do everything for His sake. Only this light can help him, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” That is, once he has been rewarded with the light of Torah, he can be rewarded with the Torah itself, called “Torah of life.”
Accordingly, we should interpret what our sages said, “Should one tell you, ‘There is wisdom in the gentiles,’ believe. ‘There is Torah in the gentiles, do not believe’” ( Eicha Rabbah 2, 17). When a person learns Torah, he should discern two things in it: 1) the wisdom and the intellect in it, called the “clothing of the Torah,” 2) who is wearing the clothing of the Torah.
We must believe in the words of The Zohar that the whole Torah is the names of the Creator, meaning that the Creator is clothed in the clothing of the Torah. Hence, we should discern two things in the Torah: 1) the clothing, 2) the one who wears it.
It is as it is written in the book A Sages Fruit (Vol. 1, p 118): “However, the Creator is the light of Ein Sof, clothed in the light of Torah that is found in the above 620 Mitzvot. …This is the meaning of their words, ‘The whole Torah is the names of the Creator.’ It means that the Creator is the whole, and the 620 names are parts and items.”
It follows that one who has faith in the Creator can believe that the giver of the Torah is clothed in the Torah. Conversely, a gentile, who has no faith in the Creator, how can he learn Torah, since he does not believe in the giver of the Torah? He can learn only from the clothing of the Torah, but not from the one who wears it, since he has no faith. The outer clothing is called “wisdom” and not “Torah,” since Torah is specifically when he is connected to the giver of the Torah.
By this we understand what our sages said, “Should one tell you, ‘There is wisdom in the gentiles,’ believe.” It is so because they can learn the clothing with the one who wears it, which is only called “wisdom,” without any connection to the giver of the Torah. But “Should one tell you, ‘There is Torah in the gentiles,’ do not believe,” since they have no connection to the giver of the Torah.
Since the essence of our work is to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, as it is written, “to cling unto Him,” it follows that the Torah is the means to adhere to Him. That is, while learning Torah, we should aim to be rewarded with connecting to the one who wears it. This is done through the clothing, which is the Torah, in which the Creator is clothed.
In the above-mentioned verse, “There is wisdom in the gentiles, believe, there is Torah in the gentiles, do not believe,” when we interpret this in the work, we should know that “gentiles” and “Israelis” are in the same body. That is, before a person is rewarded with faith, he is still regarded as a “gentile.” Only after he is rewarded with faith, he is called “Israel.”
However, if a person wants to achieve complete faith, although he has still not been rewarded with complete faith, he is already regarded as Israel. It is as Baal HaSulam said about “Let wisdom be given to the wise.” He asked, Should it not have said, “Let wisdom be given to the fools”? He said that a person who seeks wisdom is already called “wise” because any person is judged by his goal, meaning by what he expects to achieve, after this a person is called. Accordingly, we should interpret that all those who want to achieve complete faith are already called “Israelis.”
For this reason, if in the beginning of his study, when a person comes to study, there is no desire to thereby achieve complete faith, which he can achieve through the light in the Torah by wanting to adhere to the one who wears it, who is clothed in the Torah and gives the light of Torah and none other, it follows that he is learning Torah, which is the clothing of the Creator. Through it, he wants to achieve complete faith, adhere to the one who wears it, who is the giver of the Torah.
Here there is unification of three discernments: 1) the Torah, which is the clothing of the Creator, 2) the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, and 3) Israel, the person who is learning Torah with the above intention.
This is called “unification,” called “the Torah and the Creator and Israel are one.” Although The Zohar speaks to those who have already been rewarded with “the names of the Creator,” which is called that they have been rewarded with a “hand Tefillin,” called “faith,” and a “head Tefillin,” called “Torah,” yet, those who walk on the path of achieving Torah and faith also receive a surrounding from this unification.
Now we can understand what is written, “There is wisdom in the gentiles, believe.” That is, if a person does not aim to be rewarded with faith in the Creator through the study of Torah, then he has no connection to the Torah, since Torah means the clothing and the one who wears it together, namely the Torah together with the giver of the Torah.
Although he still does not feel the giver of the Torah, still, the purpose of the study is to come to feel the giver of the Torah. If a person does not place the goal of reaching the giver of the Torah in front of him, he is regarded as a gentile, meaning one who has no need for faith. That is, he should have the need to seek advice to achieve faith. This is why he is still considered a gentile and not “Israel.” Hence, regarding wisdom, believe that he has it, meaning only the clothing without the need for the one who wears it. This is the meaning of the words, “there is Torah in the gentiles, do not believe,” since he has no connection to the Torah.
However, believing or not believing also does not refer to two bodies. Rather, believing or not believing refers to the person himself. The person himself must pay attention to whether or not he has Torah. Since a person exerts and makes efforts, the intention is certainly to be rewarded with the Torah. The person thinks that even without the aim to achieve complete faith he can be rewarded with the Torah. Our sages said about this that one should know that it is impossible to be rewarded with the Torah without complete faith.
For this reason, prior to the study, a person must pay attention and introspect with which aim he is making his effort in learning Torah. That is, what does he want to achieve by learning Torah? Certainly, when a person makes an effort, it is because he lacks something. Through his effort, he will be given what he thinks he needs and his lack will be satisfied in return for the toil. A person should believe what is written, “I labored and found.”
For this reason, sometimes a person understands that what he lacks is the knowledge of Torah. Hence, all his thoughts are toward being rewarded with the knowledge of Torah. This is the clothing of the Creator, and he feels that all he needs is the outer clothing of the Torah. This is called “wisdom.”
But Torah means that he needs the one who wears, who is clothed in the Torah. That is, he still lacks complete faith in the Creator and he feels that there is evil in his heart, and he wants to be rewarded with the mind and heart that will be all for the sake of the Creator.
Since our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms it,’” it follows that he needs the Torah as a means, where through the Torah he will be rewarded with complete faith in the Creator. Afterward, through the Torah he will be rewarded with the Torah that is called “Torah of life,” since he will be rewarded with the one who wears together with the clothing.
That is, he will be rewarded with the clothing called “Torah,” together with the one who wears it, called “the Creator.” It is as The Zohar says, “The Torah and the Creator and Israel are one.”
This is the meaning of what is written (Midrash Rabbah, Truma, Chapter 33), “‘And let them take for Me a contribution.’ You have merchandise that he who sells it is sold with it. The Creator said to Israel, ‘I have sold to you My Torah [law]. It is as though I have been sold with it,’ as was said, ‘And let them take for Me a contribution.’”
According to the above, we should interpret the words of the Midrash where it says, “It is as though I have been sold with it.” The Torah is regarded as “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one,” since the Torah is the clothing of the Creator, and through the Torah, man must be rewarded with the one who wears it, which is called “adhering to the Creator,” it follows that we must be rewarded with two things: the Torah and the Creator. This is the meaning of what is written, “It is as though I have been sold with it.”
For this reason, there is completeness of three things here: 1) Israel, 2) the Creator, and 3) the Torah. It is as it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1): “What can a person do in order to come to feel the need for the Torah, in which the Creator is clothed? It is our sages said, that the Creator said to Israel, ‘I have sold you My Torah. It is as though I have been sold with it.’ This is the meaning of having a merchandise that one who sells it is sold with it.”
This means that the Creator wants that when a person takes the Torah, he will seemingly take the Creator with him. Yet, a person does not feel he needs this. Primarily, a person takes after the majority. And since when beginning to teach women, children, and the general public, Maimonides says we should begin in Lo Lishma, and normally, everyone takes after the beginning, meaning that the reason they were given for why we need the Torah are reasons of Lo Lishma, and not because “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” Naturally, the majority of the world does not even understand that there is a reward called “Dvekut with the Creator.”
For this reason, the view of the majority controls a person—that he does not need to study Torah so that by this he will be able to achieve the real intention. That is, that through the Torah he will be able to aim in order to bestow and not for his own benefit, that it will bring him Dvekut, to adhere to the Creator. For this, meaning in order to correct the creatures so they achieve Dvekut, the multiplicity of worlds, Partzufim, and souls were made.
It is all in order to correct creation, called “will to receive.” Through the reception, creation has moved away from the Creator, and by these corrections that were made, it will be possible to correct everything so it works in order to bestow. When all the vessels of reception work in order to bestow, this will be the end of correction.
This is called “the perfection of His deeds,” as the holy ARI said (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1), “When it came up in His simple will to create the worlds and emanate the emanations, to bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names and appellations, which was the reason for the creation of the worlds, Ein Sof restricted Himself and there was room where the emanations could be.” There (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1), he interprets in Ohr Pnimi as follows: “It follows that the very reason for the Tzimtzum [restriction] was only the craving for the new form of reception in order to bestow, which is destined to be revealed by the creation of the worlds.”
Accordingly, we see that the creation of the worlds and souls was primarily with one intention—to correct everything so that it works in order to bestow, which is called Dvekut, equivalence of form. The Creator said about the Torah, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” That is, once man receives the Torah as a spice, the evil inclination will be corrected to work in order to bestow, as it is written in The Zohar, “The angel of death is destined to be a holy angel.”
A person cannot see all this because he takes after the majority, called “the whole of Israel.” It was said that the beginning of the education everyone receives is in Lo Lishma, meaning that the engagement in Torah and Mitzvot is in order to receive reward in Kelim [vessels] of self-benefit, and the Lishma is forbidden to reveal to a person upon the admission of a person into the observance of Torah and Mitzvot, as mentioned in the words of Maimonides.
This causes a person to understand with his intellect that he needs to learn Torah only in order to know the rules, how to observe the Mitzvot, as our sages said, “An uneducated person is not a Hassid.” Although they also learn Torah that does not pertain to practical Mitzvot, learning that part of the Torah is because of the commandment to learn Torah, as it is written, “And you shall reflect on it day and night.” That is, he learns because it is a Mitzva, just like the rest of the Mitzvot.
However, concerning what our sages said, “You have a merchandise that one who sells it is sold with it,” when the Creator said to Israel, “I have sold you My Torah, it is as though I have been sold with it.” To this, one has no connection, for what will it give him if he believes that the Creator is clothed in the Torah? Should one who takes the Torah know that the Creator is clothed in the Torah, and he should be rewarded Dvekut with the Creator, who is clothed in it?
All of his work is with the intention Lo Lishma, and all he hopes for is to observe Torah and Mitzvot with the intention for self-benefit. Naturally, he has no connection to the one who is clothed in the Torah, but rather settles for just one thing: To the extent that he has faith in reward and punishment, to that extent depends his work in observing Torah and Mitzvot, since he looks at nothing but the reward. But the essence of the Torah and Mitzvot that he performs does not interest him.
Conversely, if a person wants to work and observe Torah and Mitzvot without any reward, only because he wants to serve the King, then he needs to know the greatness of the King, for the measure of his work depends on the extent of his faith in the greatness of the King, for only the greatness and importance of the King gives him fuel for work.
It is as it is written in The Zohar about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates.” It means that each according to what he assumes in his heart. By this, he tells us that to the extent that a person assumes in his heart the greatness and importance of the Creator, to that extent he dedicates himself to serving the King.
For this reason, people of this kind, who want to work only in order to bestow, and the whole reason that compels them to engage in Torah and Mitzvot is the importance and greatness of the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar that “The essence of fear is to work because He is great and ruling,” when these people believe that the Creator is clothed in the Torah, and believe what the Creator said to Israel, “I sold you My Torah; it is as though I have been sold with it,” when they learn Torah they want to elicit the light of the Torah that reforms him. This is the meaning of what our sages said, “He who comes to purify,” through the Torah, “is aided,” since the Creator is clothed in the Torah.
Accordingly, we should interpret what we say (“Everlasting Love,” prior to reading the Shema), “Enlighten us in Your Torah.” It seems as though the words “Enlighten us,” should be said of a place of darkness and concealment, but in regard to the Torah, it should have said, “Let us understand Your Torah,” so what is “Enlighten”?
According to the above, we should interpret that since we should discern within the Torah, the clothing of Torah, in which the Creator is clothed, and this is concealed from us because we see only the clothing, and not the one who wears it, we therefore ask the Creator to enlighten us so we may be rewarded with seeing and feeling the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah. This is the meaning of “Enlighten us,” that we may see that You are clothed in Your Torah.
We should also understand what is said in The Zohar about the verse, “They who seek Me will find Me.” They asked about this, “Where do you find the Creator?” They said that you find Him only in the Torah. Also, they said about the verse, “Indeed, You are a God who hides,” that the Creator hides Himself in the holy Torah.
It is written in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 41) concerning what our sages said, “You have merchandise that he who sells it is sold with it.” This means that the Creator is clothed in the Torah, except a person must seek and find Him since He hid Himself in the Torah as long as the learners of Torah are unworthy of it. But through the labor and prayer, they find Him.
It was said about this, “I labored and found.” The question is, What is the connection between laboring and finding in the Torah? Through the labor, we find the Creator, how He is clothed in the Torah. This means that one should not say, “I learned much Torah but I do not find the Creator, how He is clothed in the Torah.” Instead, we should seek Him and not despair, but believe what is written, “They who seek Me will find Me,” since the concealment is a correction that a person will not attain Him before he has vessels of bestowal, which is called “equivalence of form” and “ Dvekut with the Creator.”
Accordingly, we should interpret what our sages said (Nedarim 81), “Be careful with the sons of the poor, for from them Torah will emerge,” as was said, “Water will flow from his bucket,” for from them Torah will emerge. It seems to mean that Torah will emerge specifically from the sons of the poor, but from the sons of the rich it will not. Can we say this?
In the work, we should interpret that “poor” is as our sages said (Nedarim 41), “One is poor only in knowledge.” For this reason, when a person learns Torah and wants to achieve the Torah, meaning to a state of “Enlighten us in Your Torah,” meaning to adhere to the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, for “Your Torah” refers to the Creator, who is clothed in it. Yet, he sees that as much as he has exerted and worked to find the Creator in the Torah, he cannot find Him. Although it is written, “They who seek Me will find Me,” he sees that he is poor in knowledge. Yet, he wants to keep what is written, “Know the God of your father and serve Him,” and what is written, “A soul without knowledge is not good,” but he is far from it, for each time he sees that it is utterly impossible to find Him in the Torah. This is called “poor in knowledge.”
At that time a person understands that finding the Creator in the Torah was not said for him, since he thinks that he has already looked for Him in the Torah but has found nothing, and he wants to escape the campaign.
This is why our sages came and said, “Be careful with the sons of the poor, for from them the Torah will emerge.” The reason is according to the rule, “There is no filling without a lack, no Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] without Katnut [smallness/infancy].” This means that if we want to give something to a person but the giver is afraid that if he is given immediately, as soon as the receiver asks of him, the receiver will not be able to appreciate the giving and will probably lose it, or other people might take that thing from him.
Since the giver knows the importance of the matter, he does not want the receiver to spoil it. For this reason, he does not give him what he asks immediately. Instead, he wants the receiver to ask him many times. Thus, through the demand, a need for the matter is formed in the receiver. Otherwise, he would have had to stop asking.
When he does not stop asking him, this can be only if each time he must understand the necessity of the matter. That is, if he wants to ask of him again—that the giver will give him—a person must contemplate whether he really needs that thing, for only then does he have the strength to ask again, once he has already asked but received no answer to his question.
This is so because a person cannot ask of someone who takes no interest in his requests. However, since the thing that he is asking is necessary, and his whole life depends on it, the necessity of the matter does not let him rest and he goes even above reason to ask time and time again. He has nowhere else to go because he understands that this is his life and without it, he says his life is pointless, since he has come to feel that it is not worth living for other things.
It follows that he has no choice since he has no satisfaction in his life. That is, since there is a rule that a person cannot live without provision, since the Creator created the creatures with the intention that they will enjoy, which is called “His desire to do good to His creations,” and the three things that can give a person provision—to sustain the body so it is satisfied, and which are called “envy,” “lust,” and “honor”— do not satisfy him, for this reason a person must seek spirituality. If he is a Jew, he believes that through Dvekut with the Creator and His law he can obtain provision, to provide for the body and be able to say wholeheartedly, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world,’” since he enjoys it if he is rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, as it is written, “And you, who cling unto the Lord your God, are alive everyone of you today,” for then he will be rewarded with real life.
This gives him the strength not to despair from asking the Creator to bring him closer and open his eyes in the Torah. It is written in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 83), “The first degree of the revelation of the face comes to a person only through His salvation, when he is rewarded with opening of the eyes in the holy Torah with wonderful attainment, and he becomes like a never ending stream.”
However, this depends on the extent to which he believes that the Creator hears a prayer and can justify Providence and say what he thinks, that he did not receive what he asked for not because the Creator did not pay attention to his prayers, but he believes that the Creator stands and waits for his prayers and collects them, as in, “Penny by penny join into a great amount.”
In other words, since it is known that if you give something important to a person who does not know its value, and there are people who do know its importance, that thing will move to those people either by theft or by losing it, for the person will not know how to keep it, and there are people who know its value and they will steal or find it and not return it to the owner.
It is known that opposite Kedusha [sanctity/holiness] there is the SitraAchra [other side], who do know the value of spirituality. For this reason, there must be keeping so it does not come into their authority. This is why the Creator does not give him what he wants, but stands and waits. By prevailing each time with faith above reason to ask the Creator to help him and open his eyes in the Torah, and he believes in faith in the sages, who said that working on faith is the best way to be rewarded with the importance of the goal, which is Dvekut with the Creator. When the Creator knows that he already knows how to keep the King’s present, the Creator will certainly help him and grant his prayer, which is his request that the Creator will open his eyes and he will be rewarded with opening the eyes in the Torah, and He will certainly give him.
This is the meaning of the words, “Be careful with the sons of the poor.” That is, do not underestimate the situation where he feels that he is poor in knowledge because he has not been rewarded with opening the eyes in the Torah and he has not been rewarded with “The light in it reforms him,” since “from them, Torah will emerge.” That is, he should believe that by feeling that he is poor in knowledge, and each time he must overcome, he must believe that these descents come to him from the Creator, and by this he will receive the vessels and the need to appreciate the gift of the Creator from the outer ones, meaning that not everything will fall into the vessels of reception, which are Kelim [vessels] that belong to the Klipot [shells/peels]. By overcoming with faith that the Creator hears a prayer, and each and every prayer that he asks of the Creator, the Creator adds it to the great amount until a person knows the value of the matter.
This is the meaning of what is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1, p 88): “For this reason, this Klipa [singular of Klipot] is called Pharaoh, with the letters [in Hebrew] Peh Ra [evil mouth]. In the exile in Egypt, that Peh Ra had control and they returned to their bad ways. For this reason, even though they were rewarded with some illumination from the upper nine, it could not be swallowed in the Guf [body] because the Peh Ra, which is the opposite of the Peh [mouth] of Kedusha, namely the back of the neck, stopped the abundance that came down from the Rosh [head] and sucked all the abundance that began to come down for Israel.”
It therefore follows that we should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You.” 3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith. 4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator.” In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures.
And concerning what RASHI interpreted about the verse, “You shall contemplate it day and night,” he says “look in it. Every thought in the Torah is in the heart.” We should understand what he means by saying that the thought is in the heart, since when we learn Torah, it is in the mind and not in the heart, so why does he tell us, “Every thought in the Torah is in the heart”?
We should interpret that this does not pertain specifically to the Torah that relates to rules he learns in order to know how to observe the Mitzvot. Instead, he wishes to say that the Torah also includes the last two discernments just mentioned: 1) that he learns in order to receive the light of Torah, 2) that he is then rewarded with the Torah, called “the names of the Creator.”
Those two belong specifically to the heart, as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says (in the “Introduction to the book Panim Masbirot,” Item 10), “Know that all the Mitzvot that are written in the Torah or the accepted ones, which the forefathers have established, although the majority of them are in deed or utterance, they are all in order to correct the heart. This is because the Lord wants all the hearts, and He understands the inclination of every thought. It is written, ‘To those whose hearts are straight,’ and conversely, ‘a heart filled with thoughts of transgression.’ Know that the Torah was given only to men of heart.”
We should interpret the words of RASHI, as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says. Accordingly, we should note about the above four discernments, that the last two pertain to the work of the individual, while the first two pertain to the general public. It is as Maimonides says, “When teaching children, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little by little, and are accustomed to it calmly until they attain Him and serve Him with love.”
We see from the words of Maimonides that the beginning of the work of the general public is in Lo Lishma and in order to receive reward. Therefore, they must learn Torah in order to know the rules how to observe the Mitzvot. This is the first discernment. Also, his learning of Torah is in order to know with the intellect what is written there, that he will be rewarded through the Mitzva of learning Torah. This is the second discernment. Those two do not belong to the work of the heart, as said in the words of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra.
But the last two discernments already pertain to the heart because they pertain to Lishma. When one wants to walk on the path of Lishma, he is shown, as Maimonides says, that “What we told you before, that you should learn Lo Lishma but in order to receive reward, was because by nature, a person cannot work for the sake of the Creator, but only for his own sake. Therefore, now we are telling you that you must know that the real work is Lishma. But how do you achieve this? The advice is “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma because the light in it reforms him.”
The question is, What is the evil we should correct so as to be good? We are told that it is our inability to do anything for the sake of the Creator. Only the light of Torah will correct the heart, for the heart is called “desire,” and by nature, it is a desire only to receive. But how can a person go against nature?
This is why the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” It follows that he is not learning Torah for the intellect, to understand, but he is learning in order to understand so as to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, and this pertains to the heart. Through the light he will receive, it reforms him, meaning that the will to receive for his own sake can receive strength from above that enables it to work for the sake of the Creator.
It follows that when he wants to begin the work of Lishma, which pertains to the work of the individual, he is shown that learning Lo Lishma is not the end of the road, as he first thought, in the beginning of his learning. Rather, the learning Lo Lishma should aim to bring him into learning Lishma. For this reason, once he has learned about the intention to achieve the aim to bestow by receiving the light of the Torah, he comes to the fourth discernment in the study of Torah, called “Torah of life.”
It is written ( Avot, Chapter 6), “Rabbi Meir says, ‘Anyone who engages in Torah Lishma is rewarded with many things and the secrets of Torah are revealed to him.’” This means that then he is rewarded with the “Torah, which is the names of the Creator.” This is what The Zohar calls, “The Torah, and Israel, and the Creator are one.”
Accordingly, we should make two discernments in the Torah, which pertain to the heart: 1) The light of Torah pertains to establishing faith in the heart. This is the meaning of “The light in it reforms him.” 2) Torah that pertains to the heart, as it is written (Exodus 28:2), “And you shall speak to all the wise-hearted whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.” In the words of The Zohar, this is called, “One who does not know the ways of the upper one and the commandments of the upper one, how will he serve Him?”
It is written about it in the book A Sage’s Fruit (Vol. 1, p 119), “Hence, you’d best grip unto 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?”
Thus, the meaning of “Torah and work” is that he learns Torah in order for the Torah to bring him the light of Torah. By this, he will be able to invert the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, and with these Kelim he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, called “learning Torah Lishma.”
By this we can interpret what our sages said (Kidushin 40), “A good thought, the Creator adds it to an act.” When a person learns Torah in order to come to actions, meaning an act of making the vessels of bestowal, since a person cannot do this by himself due to the evil in his heart, when the Creator sees that a person has a great yearning for this act, the Creator gives him the light of Torah, which reforms him. This is the meaning of “the Creator adds it to an act.” That is, now He does the act. By giving him the light of Torah, an act results.
Accordingly, we see that in truth, from man came nothing more than a good thought. That is, he thought that vessels of bestowal were a good thing. But in truth, who did the work for man to be rewarded with these Kelim? Only the Creator—by giving him the light of Torah, which is the one who wears, who is clothed in the Torah.
This is why it is written, “A good thought that a person has, the Creator makes it so there will be an act here, too.” It is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” It turns out that on the part of man, there is nothing more than coming to purify, which is called a “good thought.” Afterward, the Creator gives him the assistance, adding it to an act.
In light of the above, we should interpret what is written, “And you will speak to all the wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.” We asked, What is the connection to the wise-hearted, since wisdom pertains to the mind? The thing is that we should make two discernments in the Torah, which pertain to the Lishma: 1) Kli, 2) light.
The Kli that is fit to receive the light must be in equivalence with the light, for on this was the Tzimtzum and the concealment. We learned that Malchut de Ein Sof, which is the root of the creatures, desired Dvekut, called “equivalence of form,” and all the corrections are only about performing this correction, to correct the vessels of reception so they work in order to bestow.
Therefore, a person who is born with the will to receive and wants to correct it into working in order to bestow, since this is against nature, he has only one counsel: Only the light of Torah can invert him into working in order to bestow, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” and the light in it reforms the heart. It is said that “evil” is receiving for one’s self, and “good” is when his heart is only about bestowal and not about reception.
For this reason, those who engage in Torah not necessarily in order to know the rules and customs how to observe the Mitzvot, but have another, exalted role, that they are learning Torah in order to correct the heart, these are called “wise-hearted,” since everything is named after its action. For this reason, the Torah they learn with this intention is called “wise-hearted” and not “wise-minded,” since they need the Torah in order to correct the heart.
In this way we should interpret what is written, “Whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.” Once they have Kelim that are suitable for the light, where as the light that comes from above is to bestow, so the Kli should aim to bestow, since they already have this Kli, which they have obtained through the light of Torah, they are called “wise-hearted,” since they learned Torah in order to correct the heart. That is, they have suitable Kelim; therefore, they should receive the Torah, which is called “Torah of life.”
This is the meaning of the words, “whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,” pertaining to the light. That is, the light, too, goes to the heart because once they have acquired new Kelim, called “vessels of bestowal,” and they want to bestow contentment upon the Creator, they see that only one thing is missing in the King’s house. Since our sages said ( Midrash Rabbah, Beresheet), “The Creator said to the angels when He came to create Adam HaRishon and the angels slandered him, What is this like? Like a king who has a tower filled abundantly but no guests. What pleasure has he from his work?”
Therefore, when a person wishes only to bring contentment to the Creator, his heart, which wants to enjoy giving something to the King, to please Him, finds only one thing that the King can enjoy—that they will receive from Him the delight and pleasure that He wishes to give to the creatures. Since there is a tower filled abundantly, and he wishes to be the Creator’s guest, he should come into the tower and receive from Him delight, as this is the King’s pleasure. It follows that the light of Torah that a person wants to receive as “Torah of life” is for man’s heart, so he will have something with which to delight the King.
This is the meaning of the words, “And you will speak to all the wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.” That is, the spirit of wisdom filled him. Whom? The wise-hearted. This pertains to the light, for the light comes to the wise-hearted. The heart is called “desire,” and it wants to receive the Torah of life in order to thereby delight the Creator, as in the allegory about the king who has a tower filled abundantly but no guests.
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Berachot 58a), “He would say, ‘A good guest, what does he say? What trouble has the host gone through for me, and all his trouble were only for me.’”
It is known that it is possible to be a guest only where there is a host. Therefore, when a person believes in the Creator, that He is the landlord of the world, and a person feels that he is a guest, yet wants to adhere to Him, as our sags said about the verse, “And to cling unto Him,” which means “cling unto His attributes: as He is merciful, so you are merciful,” this is called a “good guest.”
The meaning of “good” is as is written (Psalms 85), “My heart overflows with a good thing; I say, my work is for the King.” It means that all of his actions will be only for the King, meaning for the Creator. This is called “a good thing.” When all his actions are in order to bestow, then he is regarded as “wise-hearted,” and comes to a state of “Torah of life,” which is the names of the Creator, where the delight and pleasure that He wished to give to the creatures is found.
At that time, he says, “Everything that the host did, he did only for me,” and not at all for himself, as in the allegory about the king who has a tower filled abundantly but no guests. Now we can interpret the “secrets of Torah,” meaning which secret the Torah reveals.
We should interpret this in two discernments: 1) The Torah reveals something new to a person, which he did not know before. This is so because man is born with a nature of wanting to receive. When told to work with a desire to bestow, it is to him unimportant and despicable. The body wants to run away from such desires, since it can only lose if it uses the vessels of bestowal.
However, when a person learns Torah with the aim to be rewarded with the light of Torah because this light reforms him, this light of Torah reveals something new to him, which he did not know before. That is, now he knows the complete opposite of what he thought before. Before he was rewarded with the light of Torah, he knew that what is important to man is primarily the vessels of reception, for with the vessels of reception he can receive the joys of life in this world. Conversely, with acts of bestowal he can only do good to others, that they, too, will enjoy the world through his help.
However, this is only for the purpose of Mitzva, because he feels sorry for others who cannot provide for themselves, and he is helping them. Certainly, he expects those people whom he benefits not to be ungrateful and respect him.
But now, by being rewarded with the light of Torah, which reforms him, something new has been revealed to him: By using the vessels of reception, he loses life and delight and pleasure for himself. If he uses the vessels of bestowal for the sake of others, he will receive true delight and pleasure for himself. Only through vessels of bestowal does he gain for himself delight and pleasure, whereas with vessels of reception he loses delight and pleasure. This secret has now been revealed to him through the light of the Torah.
By this we can interpret what our sages said (Pesachim 50a), “I saw an opposite world, the upper ones below, and the lower ones above.” We should interpret that something new has been revealed to him: What is regarded as “upper ones” in the world of falsehood, meaning vessels of reception, which is an important thing called “upper ones,” in the world of truth, meaning when one is rewarded with the light of Torah, regarded as being “rewarded with the truth,” then we see the lower ones above.
In the world of falsehood, the vessels of bestowal are regarded as having inferior importance and are degraded. Sometimes, when a person must work with them, he tastes in them the taste of lowliness, since he does not see what the will to receive for himself gains from them. But there, in the world of truth, they are of superior importance because only through them it is possible to acquire any delight and pleasure. Therefore, it turns out that the lower ones are of superior importance.
This is the meaning of the words, “upper ones below.” The vessels of reception are appreciated in the world of falsehood, for we use only the vessels of reception for ourselves because we think that through them we can enjoy. But in the world of truth, when one is rewarded with the light of Torah, we see something new that has been revealed—the vessels of reception only cause us losses in life. They interfere with our attainment of the delight and pleasure. It turns out that the upper ones are of inferior importance. This is the secret for which the Torah is called the “secrets of Torah,” as it reveals the truth to man.
2) The Torah reveals that the name “secrets of Torah” is given for before he attains the vessels bestowal through the light of Torah, he attains only the clothing of Torah, where the Creator is clothed in the clothing. Now, the one who wears, who is clothed in the Torah, also becomes revealed to a person. This Torah is called “Torah of life,” which is the names of the Creator. This is called “the Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.”
By this we will understand what we asked, What are Torah and work, in the work? The answer is that he learns Torah in order to be able to do the work, which is called “which God has created to do.” That is, the creatures must do the work of turning the will to receive into a desire to bestow, by which they will have Dvekut, which is equivalence of form, and they will also be able to receive the delight and pleasure, which is the purpose of creation.