But the More They Afflicted Them
Rabash's article "But the More They Afflicted Them"
Fulfillment is not considered work. Work means what one is rewarded for.
Work - actions that one performs, only because he has no choice, since he craves to receive a reward. The reward is considered the thing that he craves. True craving - "I'd rather die than live" if it is not obtained. The craving is measured by the extent of the suffering.
Therefore if one wishes to receive some satisfaction, there must first be a lack. This is so because there is no Light without a Kli [vessel].
If one is suffering because of Egypt - self-love, because of the Klipa [shell] of Egypt - the general Klipa, from the nations of the world within him, to the nation of the sparks of Kedusha, "the people of Israel" the pain is at not being able to exit their governance, not because they were lacking reward, rather only to work for the Creator, as a result of the Klipa of Egypt, which only requests work, but the rule of the will to receive does not allow bestowal.
However, if it is not yet time to exit Egypt, is there no choice in being redeemed from exile? Must we await the completion of exile? ‘Until the king of Egypt died,' meaning he was lowered from his status, then the Creator remembered Israel and heard their prayer - it is not dependent upon time or quantity of affliction, but according to the feeling of affliction.
For example: If a person should make one kilogram worth of labor, which is a thousand grams of suffering in order to be rewarded, "The reward matches the pain," since "There is no Light without a Kli, since there is no fulfillment without a deficiency." And the labor that one gives is the qualification for feeling fulfilled. One thousand grams of lack can be given in quantity and quality.
The quantity of suffering: exertion for ten minutes a day, or he can regret his remoteness from the Creator for ten minutes a month.
The quality of suffering: that he remembers that he is remote from the Creator. It pains him, but it is not terrible and there are things that pain him more, things that he craves. A person must experience the process of labor and affliction until the state of, "And you will return to the Lord."
The choice: in quantity - to shorten the time of the process of affliction due to the prolonging of time, in quality - increasing the sensation of suffering at being remote from the Creator. There is a difference between quantity and quality in the manner of the work. Concerning time, a person can arrange his schedule, allocate time for himself, even by coercion, for the body does not wish to do so, since this is an act. But with quality, one cannot force oneself to feel remote from the Creator, he does not care - that causes the prolonging of the exile.
In that state, only the society can help him - if he comes among friends and does not criticize them in any way, to what extent they overcome states. For he cannot receive any assistance from the society if he has no Dvekut [adhesion] with them, if they are lower than himself. If he tosses his pride away, learning from them, he can shorten the time, meaning that the whole quantity and quality by which the suffering will appear can be shortened in a way that all the suffering will appear, yet in a short time.