"What are the powers which are needed for work"

It is important for us to understand what is this matter of "don’t believe’. Are we talking about people who speak lies? Does it not refer to people who are involved in the service of the Creator, and certainly they are worthy people, and so why should one consider that they are lying, and what is the concept where it is said: "believe!", or "don’t believe!"?

And, in order to understand this, we first need to know what is toil. We’ve already spoken many times about this, that it is called toil when at the time when a person must do actions which are against one’s nature. That is to say, being that we are born with the desire to receive to ourselves, and being that from the reason that in order that there should be attachment, equivalence of form (since only in this way is there the situation where one receives good, and enjoyment without there being an aspect of shame), therefore a correction was made: that it is necessary to do every thing in order to bestow. Otherwise, we are found to be in the empty vacuum - empty of light, that this is called concealing and concealment, that no holiness is felt, when one is involved in self love.

Therefore, when one begins to work in order to bestow, and this goes against ones nature, this is called "toil". since the body (refers to ones wills and desires) opposes it, being that any movement which the body does not see that it will be use for itself, it opposes with all of its strength, and tremendous powers are needed to overcome it. And here begins the main work , which on it is said: "I toiled", or "I didn’t toil"; and on this we asked the question of how is it possible that if people come and say "I didn’t toil, and I found, don’t believe it." Are we not referring to people who have already merited to the aspect of "I have found", and certainly these people are worthy people, and its not applicable to them to say that they are lying. If so, how is it possible to say "don’t believe" to them, as if they were lying, and that the truth is that they did give toil. If so, why do they say that they did not give toil, as they say: "I didn’t toil, and I found"?

The answer to this is, as above, that when a person begins to enter into the work to bestow, the body begins its opposition, and the person begins to do the actions with special remedies (Torah and Mitzvot), in order that he should have the power to overcome the evil in him, and the help which he needs to receive from the Torah and Mitzvot; he sees that the opposite occurs:

That this which he thought, that each time he was making a step forward, and he felt that it was not worthwhile to work because of self love, and he thought that the time had already arrived that the evil had already submitted to him, and he believes that certainly this feeling was given to him from Above, and certainly from today and onward he will not have any connection with the evil; and suddenly he sees that he once again is in the lowest of lowliness, and he is self love, and once again feels the hiding and concealment from the goal of creation, which is to do good for His created beings; and while he believes that in order to merit that, he has to first merit to love the Creator, and he sees only how he loves himself, and with respect to nullifying himself before the Creator, and saying that there is no other dominion in the world, but everything belongs to the Creator, and the lower does not even gain mention; with this situation the person is not capable of coming to terms, and so, at a time when a thought of nullification to the Creator comes to him, his body (desire to receive) stands up to him, and gives him to understand: "How do you want to nullify yourself to the Creator, and that you should not have any existence of your own, but that there is only one dominion, that of the Creator, and you don’t even want to go up with a name; is that not against nature, being that a person, as long as he is living, he wants to exist, and to feel his entity, and how can one say to him that he must nullify himself to the Creator, to lose his entity?" And then the body says that it does not agree to this; and this is called the aspect of exile, i.e., that all the desires that are within a person rule over the aspect of Yisrael that is in him [Yisra’el means yashar - El, that is to say that the person does not want any existence on his own, but wants to nullify himself yashar l’El (directly to God)]; and like it was in the the exile of Egypt, that the Egyptians were ruling over the nation of Yisra’el, and they could not escape from their control, but as it is written: "I, God your Lord Who took you out of the land of Egypt".

That is to say, that a person by himself does not have the power to overcome, and go out from the domination of the body, but only the Creator Himself and in His honor is able to redeem them from this exile.

And now there arises the question, if a person puts in a large amount of toil, and he goes through many ascensions and many fallings, and many times he comes to an aspect of giving up hope, that is to say that he already arrived at a decision that the matter of "all of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven" is not for him, but it applies only to exceptional people with special abilities, and to people of strength, who are courageous of heart, but that he himself is not capable to arrive at this, and he already decided that he must leave this system-framework, and afterwards, he once again receives an awakening from Above, to such an extent that he already forgot what he had decided before this present situation, and he sees that he is already "on the horse", that I too can arrive at the state of bestowal, and to depart from self love. Suddenly, once again, he falls from his level, and also there is customary the matter of forgetting, i.e., he already forgot what he said before this, that he is capable to reach the work of bestowal, and it did not even occur to him that another time he would fall from his level, but he was certain that now he would progress forward, and now he sees that is not like he thought, and thoughts and situations like these happen to him without end.

And from what was said, it turns out that when the Creator Himself helps him, and takes him out of exile, he doesn’t know what to say. He sees that one hand, all of his toils which he gave didn’t bear any fruit, but he within his understanding that if the Creator had not helped him, he would of already abandoned the scene, since many times he had such thoughts. If so, he can’t say "I toiled, and I found", as he sees that with his toil he did not gain anything. And, the fact which he did merit to the aspect of "I found" was only because of the deliverance of the Creator. And therefore he comes and says "I didn’t toil, and I found". That is to say, that the toil which he gave didn’t help and didn’t hurt (had no effect, was irrelevant).

Now we can understand the question as to how we could suspect him, that he was saying a lie, and from the above it is simple: he says what he sees, and he sees that all of his toils didn’t help him at all, and so he claims a true claim, "I didn’t toil". That is to say, with respect to the matter of achieving the goal, he didn’t do anything. I.e., from all of the toil which he gave, he remains is a state of lowliness, even more lowly than he had felt in the beginning of his work, being that the time he began the work of bestowal, he thought that he had only a little evil, and certainly he would have the strength to overcome it, and it would be within his grasp to do the work of bestowal, and not to receive anything for himself. And, what did he gain from the work and toil which he invested? He arrived at the lowest of the lowliness, of which there are none like him. If so, how can he say that "I toiled, and I found"? Did not the toil cause him to achieve more evil, and not that he should find the holiness, and to enter in to the holiness? If so, he is making a true claim, namely that the toil was not worth anything. And, if so, certainly the toil is not the cause of the achieving of that which he has found. Therefore, he says "didn’t toil", "and I found", and he doesn’t say a lie according to what he sees with his eyes.

And now one can ask why do they say "don’t believe"? Is he not saying the truth? If so, what are we finding in his words, something which isn’t true, that for this reason the Kabbalists said "don’t believe".

But the matter is as follows. There is a general rule: "there is no light without a vessel". That is to say, it is impossible for there to be a filling without a lack. Therefore, when a person gives a toil, and invests strengths and efforts in order to arrive at the state where he is bestowing to the Creator, and the more that he invests powers, there is awakened in him more lack for the filling, that is to say, according to the degree in which he toils to reach level of bestowing, he sees that he is far from it. And who makes him understand that he is far from being bestowing? It is the work itself.

And this is comparable to a person who grabs a thief, and the thief wants to escape from him. Thus, if the person holds the thief, and the thief doesn’t show much resistance, the person doesn’t need a lot of powers (strengths) to hold on to the thief. However, if the thief begins to show a greater resistance, then the person must give greater powers, in order that the thief should not flee from under his grasp, and if the thief shows greater powers than the person has, and he sees that very soon he will escape from him, the person begins to scream for help and says "HELP!".

It turns out, when does the person scream for help? Specifically in a situation were a person is not able to save himself with his own powers himself. Then he begins to scream for help. Which is not the case if the thief is a young child, and the person grabs him in his hand, it is not the way of the world to scream "HELP!", and that you should help me, so that the child thief should not escape from him, because I don’t have the strength to hold him, since he wants to escape from me, since certainly everyone would laugh at him, since it is not the way of the world to request help in a situation were the person himself is able to do the matter without any help from someone, and the reason for this is that the order of the world is that there is no filling without a lack-need, and thus being that he has no lack and need for help, therefore when he requests help without a need, everyone laughs at him, since this is not in the order of the correction of the creation. From this it emanates that when a person does not need others, and he has a living, and he ask help and support, that they should help him with his livelihood, anyone who sees laughs at him, even though he stands and requests help, and we see that according to the degree which he requests and pleads that they should have mercy on him, and people know him, that he is not one who has a lack, they laugh at him, and don’t give him anything.

And, from what was said we can understand why when he says "I did not toil, and I found", The Kabbalists say "don’t believe", and according to what we explained he is making a true claim, as above. But, as we explained, that a filling is not given without a lack. Therefore, a person must work and invest toil, and to do all of the possible actions in order that he should come to the level, that all of his actions should be for the sake of Heaven, and according to the toil which he puts into the service, in this measure he becomes more needful that the Creator should help him. And, then, when he has a vessel, i.e., a need that the Creator should help him, namely that he sees that he has no other alternative that he should have the possibility to reach the level of bestowal, then is the time when he receives help from above.

And, according to this, it turns out that both of them are true. He must say "I didn’t toil", that is to say that his toil is not worth anything, since he sees that he did not gain anything from the toil that he gave, but just the opposite. That is to say, that as a result of the toil he gave, he came to a recognition that the toil was not worth anything, i.e., that one cannot acquire anything with the toil, and this he sees within his reason, and it is not applicable here to believe above his reason, the toil didn’t help him, being as he sees it in front of him. And then it is applicable to say "I didn’t toil, and I found’. Therefore he says to everyone, that his toil was not worth anything, and he says the truth according to his knowledge. And, upon him the Kabbalists say "don’t believe", that he didn’t give toil, and the reason for this is "there is no light without a vessel", "there is no filling without a lack". Therefore, one needs the toil, as that increases his lack each time, so that he would be needful for the Creator, that He should help him, until he receives a true lack, that the Creator knows what is the completing of a lack that would be fitting for a filling, and then the Creator gives him the filling.

It turns out according to this, that if the person does not give toil, there is no place for the Creator for to give him the filling. Thus we see that the toil does have value, to such an extent that without the toil there is no place for that which is found, as above, since "there is no filling without a lack". Therefore they said ; "I didn’t toil and I found; don’t believe!", but there must be toil, as this give us a place for the deliverance of the Creator.

Therefore, when a person comes and says "I toiled, and I didn’t find", they said "don’t believe". That is to say, if the person truly toiled, and received a need that the Creator give him the filling, certainly the Creator would have given him the filling; but, certainly he did not toil all that was necessary, in order for him to receive the filling. And when is the need complete? This, the Creator knows. Therefore it is incumbent upon a person to add and increase his toil, and not flee from the framework of the scene, until the Creator helps him.

And with this is understandable the question which we asked as to which powers a person need in order that he should be able to achieve the level of all of the actions should be for the sake of Heaven; does a person need to be tremendously talented, and have a very powerful will, and a very courageous heart, and other similar qualities. That is to say, that he needs to be a person of great strength to toil, or has great powers, as above, that a person who merited to the aspect of "I found", he says "I did not toil", as he sees that all of his toil didn’t do anything, that even if he was the person with the greatest powers in all of the world, it would not help him, since in order to reach attachment with the Creator, and to go out from the dominion of self-love, only the Creator can take him out from the dominion of the vessel which desires to receive for the sake of receiving , as it is written "I am God your Lord who took you out of the land of mitz’rai’im, to be your Lord", and there are no powers in a person which will help in this.

And with this can be explained what is written (in the song of Chanukah) Ye’va’nim gathered against me, then in the days of the Chash’mo’nai’im and broke down the walls of my tower, and contaminated all of my oils". Being that the matter of toil we need in order to reveal the lack, therefore in order to know exactly what he is lacking, this one can see specifically only when a person wants to draw close to holiness, that is to say to do all of the actions for the sake of Heaven, that this is called the aspect of Chosh’mo’nai’im, whose purpose was to bring out the holiness from the dominion of the impure powers which are called Ye’va’nim.

And specifically at the time when a person wants to draw close to holiness, which by means of faith above reason", then there is revealed at a person the opinions of the Ye’va’nim, which is the impure power which is opposed to faith, and then one sees the intellect of the Ye’va’nim, since before a person begins in the work of bestowal, the Ye’va’nim were not revealed in a person, and the person thought that he had sufficient faith in the Creator, and he has the power to keep the Torah and Mitzvot, and the only thing he is lacking is to increase his Torah and Mitzvot, which is not the case when a person wants to be as the Chash’shmo’ni’im, that is to say, that only holiness should rule in the world, then the Ye’va’nim which is the impure power which is opposing faith, is revealed each time with greater strength, and specifically wants to break through the walls of my tower, that faith is the wall that all of the greatness depends on the measure of the faith which a person has for the Creator, as it is written in the Holy Zohar on what is written "no’dah b’sh’a’rim ba’a’lah" - each one according to that which he estimates in his heart, that of the matter of faith in the Creator, everyone has a different amount of faith in the Creator, as it is written in the "Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot"; 14.

And, from what was said, we can understand that when the walls of my tower were breached, that is to say, that they saw that they didn’t have faith, that is to say, that they were not able to go above reason, specifically when they wanted to enter into the service of bestowing to the Creator, gathered against me, and the thoughts of the Ye’va’nim began to come, which only allowed him to go according to what the intellect necessitates as being worthwhile to do, which is not the case with something which goes against the intellect, they oppose it forcefully, and don't allow him to budge, even the slightest amount. And then begins the toil, that is to say, that specifically when one begins to go in the work of bestowal, that only then does one see that a person is not able to do anything against his nature, which is the desire to receive for himself.

Therefore, when the Creator made a miracle for them, that is to say, He helped them, then all of them saw that all of the work didn’t do anything for them. That is to say, that all of the work was for free, since they were not able to conquer them, as it is written "you handed over the mighty into the hands of the weak, and many into the hands of the few, etc.", that is to say that according to the ways of nature and intellect there is not any way that they could have triumphed over them, as they were weak, and few, etc. If so, they saw within their reason that the Creator helped them, and this comes to teach us that when the Creator helps, it is not correct to say that davka a mighty person He can help, which is not the case with a weak person whom He cannot help.

And from what was said we are able to see which great powers and good character traits needs to be found in a person, that the Creator should help him, that he should be able to draw closer to Him, and one can explain, "you handed over the mighty into the hand of the weak", namely, the powerful thoughts and the powerful desires of the Ye’va’nim, into the hands of Yisrael, which are the weak thoughts within a person, which are not talented, and their desires, that they should have a strong desire that they should be able to overcome all of the desires to receive which are only for the sake of receiving, this they don’t have, and nonetheless, you handed over these mighty ones into the hands of the weak, and this is called a miracle, being that it is not within the ability of nature, that they could prevail over them. And this comes to teach us that a person should not say that he is neither prepared nor talented to prevail on the nature, and even if the person would be the mighty of the mighty, but the Creator it is He that gives the help, as mentioned above, as they said "I didn’t toil and I found don’t believe". That is to say, that which was found - the vessels of bestowal - was given by the Creator.

And this is as it is written (Psalms 33) "The king is not saved by a great army, a mighty man is not rescued by great strength, etc., behold the eye of the Creator is on those that fear Him, on those who wait for His kindliness, to rescue their soul from death, etc.", whose explanation is, "behold the eye of the Creator", that is to say that the Creator looks to those people "who wait for His kindliness", that is to say, that wait for the Creator to give them the vessels of bestowal.