Article No. 30, 1991<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Zohar<\/em> says (BeHaalotcha<\/em>, Item 66), \u201cRabbi Yosi said, \u2018man, man\u2019 twice. Why? He replies, \u2018A man who is a man, fit for reception of a high soul, but has blemished himself because he caused himself to be blemished.\u2019 \u2018Man, man\u2019 means he is worthy of being a man, \u2018or on a far off way,\u2019 since a person who defiles himself is defiled from above. And since he is defiled above, he is on a far off way from that place and that road to which the descendants of Israel grip. Rabbi Yitzhak said, \u2018It is written, \u2018If [any one of you] becomes impure for a soul or on a far off way,\u2019 which is the meaning of the word \u2018or.\u2019\u2019 Rabbi Yosi said, \u2018Here, when it says \u2018impure for a soul,\u2019 it means before he is defiled from above. But when it says here, \u2018a far off way,\u2019 it means after he was defiled from above and fell to a far off way, which is the Sitra<\/em> Achra<\/em> [other side]. This means that both will be devoid of Kedusha<\/em> [holiness] above, and will not do the Passover when Israel do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our sages said (Shabbat<\/em> 104), \u201cWhen one comes to defile, it is opened for him; when he comes to be purified, he is aided.\u201d We should understand what is written here, that \u201cwhen a person who defiles himself is defiled from above.\u201d He does not say that it is opened for him, but that he is defiled from above. Also, we should understand why it is opened for him, since \u201cthe Creator does not complain against His creations.\u201d RASHI interprets that the Creator does not slander His creations (Avoda Zara<\/em> 3), so why is he given from above some assistance that is to man\u2019s detriment? On the contrary, he should have been assisted, as it is written, \u201cHe who comes to be purified is aided.\u201d If he is not given help for his benefit, at least they should not do above an act that is to his detriment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are certainly many explanations in the literal, but we should interpret this in the work. It is known that when one observes Torah and Mitzvot<\/em> [commandments\/good deeds] in the manner of the general public, meaning to receive reward, and does not pay attention to the issue of the aim to bestow, he sees that each day he advances in the work, since this is the truth. In the practice, everything a person does is registered to his name, and in that state, called Lo Lishma<\/em> [not for Her sake], one cannot see that it is Lo Lishma<\/em>, meaning that he cannot see that there is a matter of deficiency here, that it should be Lishma<\/em> [for Her sake], while he is working Lo<\/em> Lishma<\/em>. Instead, the things he does generally illuminate for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, a person cannot see any deficiency in himself. That is, in terms of the general public, there is a correction that the things he does illuminate for him as Surrounding Light, which is a correction on the level of actions. Hence, one must be careful not to slight the practice of Torah and Mitzvot<\/em>, even if it is only in action and without any intention. That is, even if a person does his deeds by coercion, it is still considered a great thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, people who still cannot work with the aim to bestow have a correction that they do not find any fault in the things they do, so they will be happy with their work, as it is written, \u201cServe the Lord with gladness.\u201d Conversely, when a thought and desire come to a person and he begins to feel that there must be the matter of intention in observing Torah and Mitzvot<\/em>, and he awakens to act not in order to receive reward, but in order to bestow, then begins a new order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order is that at that time, a person shifts to working on the left, when he begins to criticize his actions, whether they are in order to bestow, and he enters the work called Tuma\u2019a<\/em> [impurity] and Tahara<\/em> [purity]. This means that he begins to work on the purification of the Kelim<\/em> [vessels].<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is impossible to work on purity before we know what is Tuma\u2019a<\/em>. That is, it is not enough that it is written that there is the matter of Tuma\u2019a<\/em>, but one must feel what losses the Tuma\u2019a<\/em> causes, what he loses by knowing that he is defiled, meaning what he would gain if he were not impure, and what he loses now that he has been defiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, although before he began the work of bestowal he knew that there was the matter of impurity and purity, he did not know why impurity was bad and purity was good. Therefore, one must engage in recognition of evil, meaning to try to grasp that the will to receive for oneself is called Tuma\u2019a<\/em>. That is, this Tuma\u2019a<\/em> removes him from Kedusha<\/em> [holiness], meaning from the Creator, as it is written, \u201cYou will be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.\u201d This means that you will be removed, meaning that as the Creator gives, so man should try to make all his actions be with the quality of bestowal, and this is called Kedusha<\/em>. The opposite of this is called Tuma\u2019a<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person should ask the Creator to help him grasp the evil that is found in the will to receive for oneself, meaning that the Creator will help him feel the loss that the will to receive for oneself causes him, and how much he could gain if he had the power of the desire to bestow. In other words, great Tuma\u2019a<\/em> or small Tuma\u2019a<\/em> and great Kedusha<\/em> or small Kedusha<\/em> are not measured by the size of the Tuma\u2019a<\/em> or Kedusha<\/em>, but by the measure of harm that the Tuma\u2019a<\/em> brings, and the measure of importance that the Kedusha<\/em> brings, meaning how much he suffers when he knows that he is impure and how much pleasure he would feel when he knows that he is in Kedusha<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the above, we should interpret what we asked about what our sages said, \u201cHe who comes to defile, it is opened for him.\u201d We asked, \u201cThe Creator does not complain against His creations,\u201d so why is it \u201copened for him\u201d? This implies that he is shown that he can go further into the Tuma\u2019a<\/em>, whereas before he came to defile, the place of Tuma\u2019a<\/em> was closed, and only when he came to defile it was opened for him. From above, there should have been mercy on that person, as it is written, \u201cAnd His mercies are on all of His deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should interpret the meaning of \u201cHe who comes to defile.\u201d It means that one who wants to begin the work of bestowal cannot work in order to bestow unless he knows the loss of working in order to receive, which is why he now comes to know the measure of the bad that exists in the will to receive for oneself, meaning what is the measure of the bad that is found in the will to receive, which is called Tuma\u2019a<\/em>, which is the opposite of Kedusha<\/em>. He asks the Creator to let him know the measure of the bad that is found in the will to receive that is called \u201cimpure,\u201d meaning impure for the soul. When he asks the Creator to help him, the answer to that is \u201cit is opened for him\u201d to see the bad that exists in the Tuma\u2019a<\/em> of the will to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two discernments: 1) coming to defile, 2) seeing that he is already impure and wanting to see more than he sees now. If he asks to see more, he is helped from above, as it is written here in The Zohar<\/em>, \u201cA person who defiles himself is defiled from above.\u201d In other words, once it is opened for him and he sees that he has been defiled, and he asks for more, to be shown the truth\u2014that he is so far from Kedusha<\/em>\u2014then he is defiled from above. That is, he receives help from above by being shown the loss that is found in the will to receive for oneself. This is regarded as arriving at a state of \u201crecognition of evil.\u201d At that time, a need is born in him, called a Kli<\/em> [vessel] that the Creator will help him and give him the purity, as it is written, \u201cAnd I will sprinkle on you pure water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we can interpret what we asked, Why does The Zohar<\/em> say, \u201cA person who defiles himself is defiled from above\u201d? After all, the Creator does not complain against His creations! The answer is that being defiled from above is help, meaning he is assisted from above to see the truth of how the will to receive is bad and impure, since now he is asking for this help because he wants to see the truth about what is evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, we should interpret what Rabbi Yitzhak asks about Rabbi Yosi, who says about the verse, \u201cIf a man, man, is impure for a soul or on a far off way,\u201d that a far off way is also regarded as Tuma\u2019a<\/em>, but when he is defiled from above it is called \u201ca far off way.\u201d It is written, \u201cor on a far off way,\u201d meaning that they are two things, meaning that a far off way is not Tuma\u2019a<\/em>. Rabbi Yosi explains, \u201cWhen it says, \u2018impure for a soul,\u2019 it means before he is defiled from above. And here, when it says, \u2018on a far off way,\u2019 it means after he has been defiled above and fell to a far off way, which is the Sitra<\/em> Achra<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should interpret that there are two discernments in Tuma\u2019a<\/em> in the way of the work: 1) He who comes to defile, meaning comes to see if the will to receive is Tuma\u2019a<\/em>, meaning that it inflicts stupidity of the heart. At that time, it is opened to him to see the evil. But before a person comes to defile, meaning to see the bad in him, there is a correction from above that a person cannot see the evil, since there is a rule that one is not shown more than one can correct in oneself. It is as in corporeality, when one is not told one\u2019s true illness if the illness is incurable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, precisely he who comes to defile, who wants to see the truth, it is opened for him. If he wants to advance and prays to be shown the true measure of the bad that is found in the will to receive for oneself, he is assisted from above, meaning he is defiled from above. That is, he is shown from above the harm in Tuma\u2019a<\/em>. At that time, he begins to pray from the bottom of the heart that the Creator will give him the desire to bestow instead of the will to receive that he has by nature, and to be given a second nature, which is a gift from above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we should interpret what is written, \u201cThis means that both will be devoid of Kedusha<\/em> above, and will not do the Passover when Israel do it.\u201d In other words, both when a person is in the first state, when he comes to defile, and when he is in the second state, when he is on a far off way, when he is shown from above how far he is from Kedusha<\/em>, he cannot do the Passover when Israel do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should interpret that \u201cIsrael\u201d means that he is already in the quality of \u201cIsrael,\u201d meaning that he is already in a state of Yashar-El<\/em> [straight to the Creator], implying that all his actions are directed straight to the Creator. This is regarded as being in the right line, which is purity, meaning purity of the Kelim<\/em>, when all his actions are for the sake of the Creator. This is called Lishma<\/em>, as was said, \u201cRabbi Meir says, \u2018He who learns Torah Lishma<\/em>, the secrets of Torah are revealed to him.\u201d We should interpret that when a person is rewarded with the quality of \u201cIsrael,\u201d this is the time to make the Passover offering. Israel means purity, and when a person is purified, this is the time to sacrifice the offering to the Creator, where sacrificing the offering is regarded as wholeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is as it is written in The Zohar<\/em> (VaYikra<\/em>, Item 109), \u201cRabbi Yehuda started and said, \u2018Serve the Lord with gladness.\u2019 If you say that such is the work of the offering, this is not possible. Since that man has breached his Master\u2019s commandment, the commandment of the Torah, and repented before his Master, with what face will he rise before Him? Indeed, by what are they corrected? It is by those priests and Levites who complete the joy and singing for Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He interprets there in the Sulam<\/em> [Ladder commentary on The Zohar<\/em>] that this matter will be corrected by an order of three lines. This is why when speaking of the Passover offering, which is the matter of the exodus from Egypt, there must be the intimation in our work that first we must achieve purity, and then comes the nearing and we are rewarded with Kedusha<\/em>. However, a person must believe that when he is awakened to enter the work, that it comes to him from above, meaning he is brought closer from above, so he will have connection with the Kedusha<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Certainly, he must be thankful to the Creator for pulling him out from the state of lowliness and elevating him to the domain of Kedusha<\/em>, meaning that he began to feel that there is a higher place from which to receive provision, that his provision should not be as that of animals, but that he should receive provision from the \u201cspeaking\u201d level. And the more he is grateful, the more he increases that feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, at the same time, he must know that he should ask the Creator to raise him to an even higher state than the one he is now, to be rewarded with the Torah. That is, although he depicts to himself that the state he is in is very important, meaning that he cannot imagine greater importance in the world, he should still say, \u201cAs much as I depict my current state as very important, I still cannot depict the real importance. As much as I depict a state of greatness, I should say that although I am as thankful to the Creator as can be, above reason, I still believe that there is a higher state than the one I am in now, and I am asking You to give me a greater gift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we should interpret what is written (Psalms 71), \u201cI will always long,\u201d meaning that there are higher degrees than what I can picture to myself. Although one should know that as much as he appreciates the current state, it is truly more important because a person cannot grasp the value of a tiny moment of spirituality. Still, above reason, he believes and asks for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of the words \u201cI will always long,\u201d meaning that I will be able to depict that there is more greatness than I can depict. This is the meaning of what is written, \u201cAnd I will add to all Your glory.\u201d This means that although now I praise you, I am asking to be able to praise You more than I can, and I want to add to Your glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when one should reflect on his spiritual state, and the person is brought before the judge within his heart, so he would give the verdict, whether one is guilty or innocent, meaning that sometimes, the judge acquits him because he cannot pay the debts that he must pay. At that time, a person needs mercy. That is, at times, the judge within his heart belongs to the wicked, those who condemn their Maker and not themselves. It follows that these judges cause a person to go to the prison of the criminals against the King, as it is written (Psalms 107), \u201cDwellers of darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners of poverty and iron, for they rebelled against the words of God And spurned the counsel of the Most High.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although there might be good judges, they are taking a bribe. That is, the judge in his heart is concerned with his own benefit; therefore, he always sides with man\u2019s detriment. Then, a person has no other choice but to ask the Creator for mercy and to give him a real judge. The person sees that there is no real judge but the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that regard, we should interpret what King David said (Psalms 82), \u201cArise, O God, judge the earth, for You will inherit all the nations,\u201d meaning that the Creator will be the judge. At that time, a person receives the strength from the Creator, \u201cfor You will inherit all the nations,\u201d for then one inherits all the nations in his heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order of the work should be primarily about one thing: to work against man\u2019s reason. That is, when a person is told that he must work for the sake of the Creator and not for himself, this is against man\u2019s reason. After all, it is written, \u201cAnd lives by them, and not that he will die.\u201d It follows that this contradicts the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can interpret this through Abraham\u2019s trial. On one hand, the Creator told him, \u201cfor through Isaac your descendants shall be named,\u201d but then it is written, \u201cTake now your son, your only son, and offer him there as a burnt offering.\u201d We should interpret this in the work. \u201cYour Ben<\/em> [son]\u201d comes from the word Bina<\/em>, meaning Havanah<\/em> [understanding]. \u201cYour only one,\u201d meaning the only understanding that there is in man, which man guards with his heart and soul so that no harm will come to it, namely the will to receive for his own sake. \u201cAnd offer him as a burnt offering,\u201d meaning slaughter the will to receive for one\u2019s own sake, cancel it, and work only with the desire to bestow and not with the will to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterward, He said, \u201cDo not stretch out your hand against the lad.\u201d We should interpret that we should not say that he should revoke the will to receive. Rather, one should work so he can use the will to receive in order to bestow, and the parts that he cannot direct in order to bestow are forbidden to use. We can interpret this by what He said to him, \u201cand Abraham went and took the ram instead of his son.\u201d \u201cRam\u201d is called Bina<\/em>, as it is written in The Zohar<\/em>, where he asks, \u201cWhy a ram and not a horn\u201d? And he answers that a ram is regarded as Bina<\/em> and a horn is Malchut<\/em>. We should interpret that Malchut<\/em> is \u201cthe will to receive.\u201d Therefore, the vessels of reception that we cannot aim so they work in order to bestow are forbidden to use. Instead of them, we use the Kelim<\/em> of Bina<\/em>, which are called \u201cvessels of bestowal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, we can understand that when a person feels that he is not all right, that he is a sinner, it does not come to him because he did many bad deeds, since there is a rule, \u201ctransgressing and repeating, it becomes to him as permitted.\u201d Hence, many sins do not make one feel his fault. Rather, the size of the sin is measured by man\u2019s feeling of how far he is from the Creator. In other words, to the extent that one feels and believes in the Creator, to that extent he feels how far he is from the great King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that when he feels that he is a sinner, he must know that the Creator let him feel a little bit, that there is a King in the world. This feeling, which he received from above, causes him to feel that he is a sinner. But when he has no connection to the Creator, how can he feel that he has sinned before the Creator and did bad things, which are against the Torah, when he does not know that there is the Giver of the Torah in the world? Rather, the sensation of sin is according to the measure of his faith in the greatness of the King, to that extent he can feel the measure of the sin. This means that the sin is measured in the one who flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is as our sages said (Baba Kama<\/em>, Chapter 3), \u201cThe matter of shame is all according to the one who shames and the one who is ashamed.\u201d We should interpret that if the one who shames is smart, he can know that if one shames one who is great, it is a grave sin. That is, the one who shames has the intellect to appreciate the size and importance of the one who is ashamed. It follows that he has committed a grave sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if the one who shames does not have the intellect to appreciate the importance of the one who is ashamed, it cannot be said about him that he has committed a grave sin and needs great atonement for the flaw that he has flawed in someone. Therefore, according to the sensation of the greatness of the King, so is the sin. Thus, if a person is righteous and has some understanding of the greatness of the King, his flaw is certainly greater than that of an ordinary person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that we always measure the importance of the King that a person has according to the person\u2019s feeling. Therefore, if one feels that he has sinned, it must be that he was given from above some nearing to Kedusha<\/em>, and this is why he feels that he has sinned. It is as Baal HaSulam said about what our sages said, that the Creator is meticulous with the righteous as a hairsbreadth, as it is written, \u201cAnd round about him was very stormy.\u201d He asked, Why do they deserve more punishment than others? He said that one who is righteous, says that the Creator is meticulous with him as a hairsbreadth. Therefore, when one feels that he has sinned, he should not be alarmed. On the contrary, it is a sign that he is being brought closer from above. Therefore, he must overcome and take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, and he will succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article No. 30, 1991 The Zohar says (BeHaalotcha, Item 66), \u201cRabbi Yosi said, \u2018man, man\u2019 twice. Why? He replies, \u2018A man […]<\/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-11114","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n