And Jacob Went Out

“And Jacob went out.” RASHI interprets, “It should have written, ‘And Jacob went to Haran.’ Why did it mention his departure? It is saying that the departure of a righteous leaves an impression because when the righteous is in town, he is its majesty, he is its glory, and he is its splendor. When he departs there, its majesty departs, its glory departs, and its splendor departs.” Thus far his words.

We should understand the above-mentioned in the work, meaning what is a righteous, and what is the impression that he leaves upon his departure.

We should interpret that the Creator is called “righteous,” as it is written, “The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” It means that when a person draws near to the Creator, when he feels that the Lord is near him, that is, when he feels how the Creator is doing good to him, then he has a good taste in the Torah, in the prayer, and in all his engagements, and he feels that the Creator is close to him. And whatever he does, he does with joy and high spirits.

Afterwards, when he comes to a descent, meaning when Torah study and good deeds seems tasteless, he is left with but an impression—that there was a time when he had an ascent, that he did taste a good taste in Torah and Mitzvot, and that he had a state of joy. And that impression that remains causes him to long to return to the previous state. That is, after some time he is woken up by the impression that was left in him to seek some advice to return to the state that he had, which was called “a state of ascent,” while now he feels his lowliness, how he is remote from anything spiritual.

This brings up the question, “Why did this descent come to him?” “Who benefits from it?” “Or, perhaps it came to him as a punishment and he must now correct himself for a sin he committed?” But he doesn’t know what was the sin for which he descended from his ascent. As a result, he also doesn’t know what to correct. It follows that on one hand he does not see any fault in himself that could have caused his descent, but he must still say that it came from the Creator, hence the question, “Who benefits from bringing him down from his degree?”

We can interpret what our sages said, that the departure of a righteous from a place leaves an impression. During the ascent, it is considered that the Creator is present in the place, meaning in the body. At that time, He causes him to feel excitement and inspired by the Torah and Mitzvot. But he did not give the importance of the Creator being in him, as it is written, “I am the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their impurities,” to appreciate it, to know who is within him, and to sufficiently appreciate it. Thus, he would never be assisted into receiving a higher degree because he would be satisfied in the work.

This is why he was brought down from heaven, to know how to appreciate once more that he was brought up and brought closer from above, and he did not appreciate it. And should you ask, “Why is it necessary for one to appreciate his state of ascent?” It is as I heard from Baal HaSulam, that there is no distinction of degrees in the light. Rather, the whole matter of Gadlut and Katnut [greatness and smallness] depends on the attainment of the Kelim [vessels]. To the extent that the Kelim obtain the light, so is the greatness of the light. This is why he said, if a person receives something from above and he has the wisdom to appreciate it, to that extent the illumination in him grows. He does not need any greater light. Rather, he himself increases the illumination by appreciating it. Thus, each time, it shines for him at a greater degree.

It follows that the whole sin, for which he fell from his degree, was that he did not appreciate his state and was satisfied. This means that he would remain in this degree forever. Hence, the descent that he received was for his own benefit, for by that he would be able to rise in the degrees of holiness.

Hence, “The departure of a righteous leaves an impression because when the righteous is in town, he is itsmajesty, he is its glory, and he is its splendor” means that all the importance was in it, but he did not appreciate its importance. Thus, “When he departs there, its majesty departs, its glory departs, and its splendor departs.”

It follows that “The departure of a righteous leaves an impression” means that he must know that while the righteous was in town he did not notice and did not appreciate his majesty, glory, and splendor.” Instead, he turned, meaning did not have the importance of all the above-mentioned degrees of importance. This is called “Leaves an impression,” meaning that it should be imprinted in him that the reason for the departure of the righteous from the place was because of the turning. In other words, all the degrees were really there, but he did not notice it because he did not know that there were no changes in the light, but it all depends on the Kelim. Thus, we can see that this departure was not because of a sin, but so he would be able to rise up the degrees of holiness.

We should also interpret the above words, that “The departure of a righteous leaves an impression” as referring to the individual. “When the righteous is in town” means when a person can justify Providence. Then, when he overcomes his state, he says that the Creator is certainly good and does good, and He is behaving with me in benevolent guidance, but wishes for me to feel as I do. Thus, he is justifying Providence. At that time, he immediately sees the importance of the work of bestowal and of above reason. This is called, “When the righteous is in town, he is itsmajesty, he is its glory, and he is its splendor,” since then he (sees) all the merits.

“When he departs there” means that he departed from justifying Providence and wants to see everything within reason. At that time, he doesn’t feel any taste in the work in order to bestow. And then, “Its majesty departs, its glory departs, and its splendor departs,” and once again he falls into self-love. This means that at that time he does not attain anything, only in work that is built on the basis of within reason.

This is considered that the departure of the righteous from the place leaves an impression. It means that only then, by the departure of the righteous—when he thinks, “Now that I feel a good taste in the work, I no longer need to go with the work above reason—this causes him the exit of the righteous from the place. This creates an impression for him so he will know henceforth how to keep himself from exiting the work above reason. And as I heard from Baal HaSulam, from the moment a person says, “Now that I have support, I am no longer standing between heaven and earth,” he has no choice but to fall from his degree because he blemishes the above reason.

It therefore follows that it is specifically the departure of the degree that he had that gives him the impression, so he will know how to beware the next time and will not blemish the faith above reason, but will always justify Providence.

“And behold a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reaches the heavens; and behold, angels of God are ascending and descending on it.” The interpreters ask, “It should have said ‘Descending’ and then ‘Ascending.’” To understand it in the work, we should interpret that the ladder implies to man, that man stands below, on earth, but man’s head reaches the heaven. In other words, when a person begins to go upwards, he reaches the heaven, and he should not complain that the ladder is set up on the earth.

However, first we should understand what “earth” means. We see that earth is the lowest thing; there is nothing lower than that. Still, we see that all the beautiful buildings and the best fruits come specifically from the earth.

It is known that earth implies to the will to receive, which is the foundation. The whole of creation and all the evil in the world extend from that desire, as it is known that all the wars and slayings, etc., are rooted in the will to receive. This is called “A ladder set up on the earth,” meaning that when a man first comes into the world, he is placed on earth, which comes from the words, “I will want” [in Hebrew], meaning “I want to receive.” This is considered lowliness, the lowest that can be. However, “Its top reaches the heavens.” This means that specifically by placing the ladder on the earth—that “I will want”—the word “earth” has two meanings: 1) from the words, “I will want,” meaning “I want,” and 2) from the word “earth,” which is lowliness.

It is known that the essence of creation is only the will to receive, that in the beginning of creation, only the will to receive came out. Afterwards corrections were made, which are called “equivalence of form,” meaning that the lower one, called “earth,” achieves equivalence with the heaven, who is called “the Giver.” We can interpret that even though a person stands in worldliness, he can still make a correction that his head, called “the end of the ladder,” will reach the heaven, meaning be in equivalence of form with the heaven, which is receiving in order to bestow.

And just as in the beginning of creation, the receiver came out first and was then corrected into being in order to bestow, the ladder, which resembles a person, is set up on the earth. This means that the beginning is in worldliness and he later reaches the heavens. Thus, he should not be impressed when he sees that man is filled with worldliness and has no spark of bestowal, and he cannot believe that it is even possible that his body will agree to work only in order to bestow. Instead, he should believe that the way and the order of the work that the Creator wants is for it to be specifically like that, that a ladder will be placed on earth and its head will reach the heaven.

Now we can understand what is written, “And behold, angels of God are ascending and descending on it.” The interpreters ask, but angels are in heaven. It should have written “Descending” first, and “Ascending” next. We should explain that this refers to man, that he is the Creator’s messenger, since an angel is called “a messenger.” And those who walk on the path of the Creator are called “God’s angels.” First, they rise—by the ladder being placed on earth—and reach the top of the ladder, which is called, “Its top reaches the heavens,” and then they come down. This means that all the ascents and descents are because there are two ends to the ladder: 1) “Set up on the earth,” meaning the place of lowliness; and 2) “Its top reaches the heavens.”

In other words, to the extent that he appreciates its top reaching the heavens, he can feel the lowliness of being set up on earth and regret being in worldliness. But if he has no real perception of its head reaching the heavens, he has nothing by which to be impressed from him being in a state of descent.

It follows that to the extent that his head reaches the heaven he can appreciate the measure of the lowliness of the descent. This is the meaning of why it first writes “Ascending,” and only afterwards “Descending.” It is because one feels that he is in a state of descent only to the extent that he assumes the importance of “To the heavens.”

This is the meaning of “Ascending” and then “Descending,” since the ladder on which one should climb in order to fulfill his mission—for which he was sent into this world on behalf of the Creator—begins from the degree of “A ladder set up on the earth, and its top reaches the heavens.” This means that in the beginning there is lowliness, the will to receive, due to his nature, and its “head,” meaning at the end of the ladder, he should reach the heavens, which is only to bestow. This is called “heaven,” since land is called “receiver” and heaven is called “Giver.”

We should still interpret “Ascending and descending.” One should know that when he feels that he is in a time of descent, such as when engaging in commerce, working at a factory, or simply walking on the street, and he suddenly awakens from his sleep and sees that he is in a state of descent, he should know that this awareness that he is in lowliness came to him as an ascent. This is the meaning of “Ascending” first and “Descending” next. If he did not have the ascension in degree by the awakening from above, he would not come to this feeling. However, he is summoned from above.

From all the above, it follows that our whole work is in the form of a ladder, “Set up on the earth, and its top reaches the heavens.” In other words, there are two discernments to the ladder of a person, and with both discernments he rises and climbs the ladder of life:

1. “A ladder set up on the earth” is the will to receive. It is placed on the earth in him, which is lowliness, since earth is called “a receiver,” Nukva, who receives from the heaven, where heaven is considered a male, a giver. “Its top reaches the heavens” means that bestowal, which is called “heavens,” is considered “head” for him, meaning an important thing. To the extent that bestowal is considered “a head” for him, to that extent the earth, which is the will to receive, is considered “earth,” meaning lowliness.

2. “Earth,” meaning “I will want,” is called “head” for him, and “heavens” is considered lowliness.

“And behold, angels of God” means those who consider that they came to the world on a mission from the Creator to make corrections, and then he is called “Angels of God are ascending and descending on it,” meaning seeing the ladder of life placed on the ground, that is, that the will to receive is regarded as lowliness.

“And its top reaches the heavens” means that the heaven is in him, meaning bestowal. This means that they await the arrival of bestowal because their work is primarily to give contentment to the Creator, and this is what they consider “Head.” And when they receive a desire so they are able to bestow, they consider it an ascension, and this is what they look for. Conversely, when they are placed under the governance of “earth,” they feel lowliness and await only to bestow upon the Creator.