Article No. 12, 1991<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baal HaSulam said about what is written, \u201cThese candles are sacred and we have no permission to use them, but only to see them,\u201d that we must know the difference between the miracle of Hanukkah and the miracle of Purim. On Hanukkah, the decree pertained only to spirituality, that the people of Israel were prevented from observing the Mitzvot<\/em> [commandments\/good deeds]. The miracle was that when they prevailed over the Hasmoneans, they could observe the Mitzvot<\/em>. Since spirituality has no Kelim<\/em> [vessels], since Kelim<\/em> are called specifically \u201cvessels of reception,\u201d which is called \u201ccreation existence from absence,\u201d which is the will to receive, this is why the intimation comes, \u201cThese candles are sacred and we have no permission to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not so with the miracle of Purim. Then the decree was over the bodies, too, as it is written, \u201cTo destroy, to kill, and to annihilate\u201d (Esther 3:13). It follows that the miracle was on the bodies. \u201cBodies\u201d are called \u201cvessels of reception.\u201d Hence, on Purim, it is written, \u201cJoy, feast, and a good day,\u201d where a feast pertains to the body. On Hanukkah, we were given the miracle, \u201cno permission to use them, but only to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of what our sages said, that Hanukkah means Hanu-Koh<\/em> [parked here]. He asked, What is the meaning of \u201cparked\u201d? He said that \u201cparked\u201d meaning parking, and he gave an allegory about it. Many times, in the middle of a war, soldiers are given a vacation and they go home so that afterward they will have the courage to be brave soldiers. After the parking they return to the battlefield. But some fools think that the soldiers were given a vacation because the war must be over so they are not needed anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the smarter ones among them understand that they were given a vacation in order to rest, so they would be re-energized to fight against the enemy. Therefore, they understand that the rest is in order to acquire strength to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is likewise here. On Hanukkah, the redemption was only on spirituality, since the decree was only on spirituality, as it is written (\u201cAbout the Miracles\u201d), \u201cWhen the wicked kingdom of Greece arose over Your people, Israel, to make them forget Your law and remove them from the rules of Your will, You with Your great mercies stood by them in their time of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that the redemption was only about spirituality, and in the work, \u201cspirituality\u201d is called \u201cvessels of bestowal,\u201d called \u201clight of Hassadim<\/em> that dresses in vessels of bestowal.\u201d But here, when we are rewarded with vessels of bestowal, it is only half the work, half a war. That is, a person must be rewarded with the vessels of reception also entering the Kedusha<\/em> [holiness], meaning to use them with the aim to bestow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the vessels of reception have also entered the Kedusha<\/em>, this is considered that he has Kelim<\/em> to receive, as well. At that time, this degree is called \u201csweetening of the Gevurot<\/em>.\u201d In other words, before he obtained the vessels of reception that work in order to bestow, he could not use the light that was revealed over vessels of bestowal, for vessels of bestowal means that a person gives something, and in return for the giving, he does not want anything, since he believes that he is serving a great King. Therefore, he is happy that he has been rewarded with serving a great King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when he uses the vessels of reception, meaning takes pleasures from the Creator, since through reception he becomes separated from the Creator because of the disparity of form, these vessels of reception are called \u201cbitter Gevurot<\/em>,\u201d because it is bitter for him that he is far from the Creator. Gevurot<\/em> means that a person has two kinds of Kelim<\/em>: One is called Hesed<\/em>, meaning he gives, and one is called Gevura<\/em>, which is that he receives. It is called Gevura<\/em> since there is the matter of Hitgabrut<\/em> [to overcome] here, not to receive. If he does receive, he will be far from the Creator, and that state is bitter for him. Hence, when he can place the aim to bestow on the will to receive, then the previous Gevurot<\/em>, where he used the vessels of reception, are bitter for him because of the disparity of form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now they have been sweetened, meaning that now that he is using the vessels of reception, he feels some sweetness because his intention is in order to bestow, and this is already regarded as equivalence of form. Hence, now he can enjoy them, since in reception in this manner, in order to bestow, there is no bitterness and all is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We say (in the song Mighty Rock of My Salvation<\/em>), \u201cGreeks have gathered over me, then in the days of the Hasmoneans, and broke the walls of my towers.\u201d \u201cGreeks\u201d are those people who go within reason, who cannot do anything if it is against reason. At that time, there was the governance of the Greeks, meaning this dominion governed over the people of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This authority is called \u201cthe wicked kingship of Greece,\u201d whose role was to make them \u201cforget Your Torah and move them from the laws of Your will.\u201d That is, the governance is to go specifically within reason. This is what causes the breaching of the wall that guards the tower. A \u201ctower\u201d means that within man, there is a certain measure of greatness of the Creator. This \u201cwall\u201d is called \u201cfaith above reason,\u201d and specifically by faith above reason one can come to feel the greatness of the Creator, as well as depict to himself the greatness of the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a person feels the greatness of the Creator, he is \u201clike a candle before a torch,\u201d annulled before Him. But the Greeks, meaning dominion of within reason, which did not let them go above reason, is regarded as \u201cbreaking the walls of my towers.\u201d In other words, the faith above reason, which is a wall. Within this wall we can build towers, meaning obtain the greatness of the Creator, which is called \u201ca tower.\u201d That is, specifically through faith above reason we are rewarded with the \u201creason of Kedusha<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that man\u2019s greatness, who is rewarded with feeling the greatness of the Creator, comes specifically by lowering himself, meaning lowering his reason. At that time he can be rewarded with the greatness of the Creator called \u201creason of Kedusha<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we can interpret what is written (\u201cAnd [the Lord] Will Give You,\u201d for After Shabbat), \u201cRabbi Yochanan said, \u2018Wherever you find the greatness of the Creator, there you find His humbleness.\u2019\u201d There is certainly a simpler explanation, but when we speak in terms of the work, we should understand what is written, that we find the Creator\u2019s humbleness, that He is humble. We should understand how is there the quality of humbleness in the Creator, for it means lowliness, and how can we speak of this quality in the Creator. Normally, it is written, \u201cThe Lord is King, He wears pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should interpret that this refers to the person. That is, wherever a person is rewarded with His greatness, to attain something of the greatness of the Creator, \u201cthere you find the humbleness of a person.\u201d According to the greatness of the Creator with which a person is rewarded, to that extent the person sees his lowliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, precisely when a person goes above reason, the reason comes to him and wants to obstruct him, and begins to argue with him. At that time, the person sees that he has nothing to reply. Then a person sees the evil within him, that he needs more strengthening so he can be saved from the reason of the evil inclination, which is called \u201cGreeks.\u201d At that time, he sees according to the evil that is revealed in him, that no one is as low as he, since the evil in him is revealed more than in the rest of the people. As said above, this is according to the good that a person does, if he walks on the path of truth and wants to do everything in order to bestow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that when one is rewarded with even a little bit of the greatness of the Creator, he does not know why the Creator helped him more than other people, since he feels that he is worse than all the people in the world. He tells himself that if the rest of the people knew the path of truth the way he understands it, they would certainly be virtuous people, not like him. It follows that when one feels a little bit of the greatness of the Creator, he comes to a state of lowliness at the Creator helping someone as base as he. This is the meaning of the words \u201cWherever you find the greatness of the Creator, there you find His humbleness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, when one says to the Creator, \u201cYou lend a hand to criminals and Your right is stretched out to welcome the returning\u201d (Conclusion prayer), this means that when one asks the Creator to bring him closer, it is regarded as stretching out the hand for reconciliation, \u201cand Your right is stretched out to welcome the returning.\u201d In other words, a person says to the Creator, \u201cI feel my situation, that I am more wicked and more criminal than the rest of the world.\u201d This comes to him because from above, he was shown the evil. As said above, a person is not shown more evil than what is in him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we interpreted what our sages said, \u201cTo the wicked, the evil inclination seems like a hairsbreadth, and to the righteous, like a high mountain.\u201d It seems as though it should have been the opposite. The wicked, who cannot overcome the evil inclination, should say that the evil inclination is like a high mountain, and the righteous, who did have the power to overcome, the evil inclination should have been in their eyes like a hairsbreadth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer is that a person is not shown the evil in him but only according to the good within him, so that the good and the bad will be balanced. Therefore, the righteous, who have many ups and downs, all the descents are from the evil inclination. As a result of the many descents, a \u201chigh mountain\u201d is built. The word Har<\/em> [mountain] means Hirhurim<\/em> [reflections\/thoughts]. This means that any reflection, where one doubts the quality of the Creator, when he does not believe in His Providence, that He is good and does good, this is called \u201ca bad thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, to the righteous, the evil inclination becomes a high mountain, whereas to the wicked, who have no ascents and descents, since it is impossible to descend before you ascend, as we explained concerning Jacob\u2019s dream, where it is written, \u201cBehold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it,\u201d where it should have written first \u201cdescending\u201d and then \u201cascending.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the work, all the people came into this world to carry out the mission of the Creator, and an \u201cangel\u201d is called a \u201cmessenger.\u201d Therefore, first one must ascend in the degree of the work, when feeling some nearness to the Creator, and afterward, there can be descents. For this reason, the wicked, who have no ascents, naturally have no descents. Indeed, why do they not ascend? It is because the evil inclination disrupts them from ascending. For this reason, they remain in the evil inclination that is only as a hairsbreadth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, the righteous, who have the real form of the evil, when the Creator helps them, they feel their lowliness, that the Creator brought them closer, and this is called as it is written, \u201cHe lifts the poor up from the trash.\u201d That is, the person says, \u201cI was in the trash, enjoying everything that animals take as their nourishments, meaning trash.\u201d This is the meaning of \u201cIn the place where you find the greatness of the Creator, you find His humbleness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, we should interpret this as said above, that one should not say, \u201cNow that I have been rewarded with the greatness of the Creator, I no longer need faith above reason because I have what to build my work on\u2014the basis that I have now been rewarded with the greatness of the Creator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather, as Baal HaSulam said, a person should be careful when he is rewarded with some nearness on the part of the Creator. He should not say that now he knows that it is worthwhile to do the holy work because now he feels a good taste in the work. Rather, he should say, \u201cNow I see that it is worthwhile to work above reason because specifically by wanting to go above reason, the Creator is giving me some nearness to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, he takes this nearing as a sign that he is walking on the path of truth. Therefore, he resolves that henceforth, he will not want to accept any work within reason. Rather, everything will be above reason. It follows that he does not take the nearing to the Creator as a basis on which he says that it is worthwhile to be a servant of the Creator, \u201csince I already have a basis.\u201d On the contrary, from now on he will work only above reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of what is written, \u201cIn the place of the greatness of the Creator, there you find His humbleness.\u201d That is, \u201cIn the place of His greatness,\u201d meaning in the place where one attains some greatness of the Creator, there you must find His humbleness. In other words, there, in the place where a person finds the greatness of the Creator, a person should find man\u2019s humbleness, which is faith above reason, called \u201clowliness,\u201d \u201chumility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since faith is regarded as being of inferior importance, faith is called \u201cbelow.\u201d That is, when one finds the greatness of the Creator, he should search and find a place to work in faith, and not in the sense that he has found a place of the greatness of the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since one should say that the fact that he has been rewarded with finding some greatness of the Creator, it is because first he went with faith, which is called \u201clow,\u201d \u201clowly.\u201d Hence, he continues on the path of faith above reason since he sees that this is the path of truth, and the proof of this is that specifically through this preparation, the Creator brings him closer to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of what is written, \u201cGreeks have gathered over me \u2026 and broke the walls of my towers.\u201d This means that a person should guard this wall, called \u201cfaith in the Creator above reason.\u201d In other words, a person must not wait until he understands that it is worthwhile to learn and to pray, etc. Rather, he should not consider what the reason advises him. Instead, he should follow the way that the Torah obligates a person. This is how one must behave. Only in this way, called \u201cunconditional surrender,\u201d can one be rewarded with the reason of Kedusha<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the most important is the prayer. That is, one must pray to the Creator to help him go above reason, meaning that the work should be with gladness, as though he has already been rewarded with the reason of Kedusha<\/em>, and what joy he would feel then. Likewise, he should ask the Creator to give him this power, so he can go above the reason of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, although the body does not agree to this work in order to bestow, he asks the Creator to be able to work with gladness, as is suitable for one who serves a great King. He does not ask the Creator to show the greatness of the Creator, and then he will work gladly. Rather, he wants the Creator to give him joy in the work of above reason, that it will be as important to a person as if he already has reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article No. 12, 1991 Baal HaSulam said about what is written, \u201cThese candles are sacred and we have no permission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6243,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[26],"class_list":["post-11096","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n