Article No. 10, 1985<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJacob went out.\u201d According to RASHI\u2019s interpretation, \u201cIt should have written only \u2018Jacob went to Haran.\u2019 Why does it mention his exit? It says that the exit of a righteous from a place leaves an impression. When the righteous is in town, he is its splendor, he is its brilliance, he is its majesty. When he exits it, its splendor exits, its brilliance exits, and its majesty exits.\u201d Thus far his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We should understand the above in the work. What is a righteous, and what is the impression that a righteous makes upon his exit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We should interpret that the Creator is called \u201crighteous,\u201d as it is written, \u201cThe Lord is the righteous, and I and my people are the wicked.\u201d This means that when a person is close to the Creator, meaning feels that the Creator is close to him, he feels how the Creator does him good. At that time he feels good taste in Torah and in prayer, and in all his engagements, he feels that the Creator is close to him. Whatever he does, he does it with joy and elation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afterwards he comes into a descent, feeling tastelessness in the study of Torah and good deeds. However, he is left with the impression that he had during the ascent, when he felt good taste in Torah and Mitzvot<\/em> [commandments], and was in a state of joy. That remaining impression make him long to return to the previous state. That is, after some time he awakens through the impression left in him, so as to seek advice how to return to the state he had, which was called a \u201cstate of ascent,\u201d while now he feels his lowliness\u2014how remote he is from anything spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings up the question, \u201cWhy did he get this descent? Who is gaining by this?\u201d Or, perhaps it came to him as a punishment, for now he must correct himself for his sin. However, he does not know what was the sin for which he has descended from the state of ascent he was in. Thus, he does not know what to correct. It follows that on the one hand he does not see any deficiency in himself that could have caused him a descent, so he is compelled to say that it came from the Creator. This begs the question, \u201cWhat did He gain from lowering him from his degree?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we can interpret what our sages said, \u201cThe exit of the righteous from the place leaves an impression.\u201d During the ascent it is regarded as the Creator being present in the place, meaning in the body. At that time He causes him the sensation of excitement from Torah and Mitzvot<\/em>. But he could not give that importance\u2014that the Creator is in him, as it is written, \u201cI am the Lord, who dwells within them, in the midst of their impurity\u2014to appreciate it, to know who is in him and pay the due respect. Thus, they could never help him receive a higher degree, since he was satisfied with the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, he was lowered from heaven so as to know once more how to appreciate it, since from above they raised him and brought him closer, but he did not value it. If you should ask, \u201cWhy must one value his state of ascent?\u201d It is as I heard from Baal HaSulam, that there is no distinction of degrees in the light. Rather the matter of Gadlut<\/em> [adulthood\/greatness] and Katnut<\/em> [infancy\/smallness] depends on the attainment of the Kelim<\/em> [vessels]. According to the vessels\u2019 attainment of the light, so is the measure of the light. This is why he said that if a person receives something from above, and has the sense to value it, to that extent the illumination grows for him and he does not need a greater light at all. Rather, by himself, by appreciating (the illumination), it grows and illuminates for him each time on a higher degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that the whole sin for which he fell from his degree was that he did not value his condition and was content. It therefore follows that he would have had to stay in this degree forever. Therefore, the descent he had received was for his own good, so as to give him the ability to ascend in the degrees of holiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, \u201cThe exit of a righteous from a place leaves an impression. When the righteous is in town, he is its splendor, he is its brilliance, he is its majesty,\u201d means that all the importance was in it, but he did not know how to appreciate its value. Hence, \u201cits splendor departs, its brilliance departs, and its majesty departs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that \u201cThe exit of a righteous from a place leaves an impression.\u201d He should know that when the righteous was in town, he did not pay attention to appreciating it: its splendor, its brilliance, and its majesty.\u201d Instead, he turned, meaning that he did not have the importance of all the above-mentioned degrees of importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is called \u201cleaves an impression,\u201d meaning that it had to be imprinted in him that the exit of the righteous from the place was because of the turning, meaning that in fact, all the degrees were there, but he did not notice it because he should have known that there are no changes in the light, but everything depends on the Kelim<\/em> [vessels]. It follows that we can say that this departure was not due to a sin, but so as to allow him to rise in the degrees of holiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should also interpret regarding the above-mentioned verse, that the exit of a righteous from the place leaves an impression refers to a person, for when the righteous is in town, it means that a person can justify Providence. Then, when he overcomes the state he is in and says, \u201cThere is no doubt that the Creator, who is good and does good, is behaving benevolently with me. However, He wants me to feel as I do.\u201d It follows that he is justifying Providence. At that time he immediately sees the importance of the work of bestowal and above reason. This is called, \u201cWhen the righteous is in town, he is its splendor, he is its brilliance, he is its majesty,\u201d for then he (sees) all the virtues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen he departs from there\u201d means that he has departed from justifying Providence and wants to see everything within reason. At that time he feels no taste in the work in order to bestow. And then, \u201cits splendor departs, its brilliance departs, and its majesty departs,\u201d and he falls once more into self-love. In other words, at that time he knows nothing but work that is built on a basis of within reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is regarded as the \u201cexit of the righteous from the place leaves an impression.\u201d It means that only then, through the exit of the righteous, when he thinks, \u201cNow that I feel good taste in the work, I no longer need to work above reason,\u201d it causes him the exit of the righteous from the place. This creates in him an impression, so he will know how to keep himself from exiting the work of above reason from here on. As I heard from Baal HaSulam, when a person says, \u201cNow that he has support and no longer stands between heaven and earth,\u201d he must fall from his degree because then he flaws the discernment of above reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It therefore follows that precisely the departure of the degree he had leaves an impression on him so he will know how to be careful next time and will not blemish the faith above reason, but always justify Providence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.\u201d The interpreters ask, \u201cIt should have said, \u2018descending,\u2019 and then \u2018ascending.\u2019\u201d To understand this in the work we need to explain that the ladder implies a person: A person stands below, on the earth, but the man\u2019s head reaches the heaven. That is, when a person begins to advance upward, he reaches the heaven, and he should not complain that the ladder is set on the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, first we need to understand what \u201con the earth,\u201d means. We see that the earth is the lowest thing. And yet, we also see that all the stately buildings and wholesome fruits come specifically from the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is known that Eretz<\/em> [earth] implies the will to receive, which is the foundation, since all of creation and all the bad that exists in the world extend from this desire, as it is known that all the wars, murders, and so forth are rooted in the will to receive. This is called \u201ca ladder set on the earth,\u201d for when a person first comes to the world, he is placed on the Eretz<\/em> [earth], from the word Ertzeh<\/em> [I will want], meaning I want to receive. This is regarded as lowliness, that there is nothing lower than that. However, \u201cits top reaching to heaven.\u201d That is, precisely through the ladder being set on the earth, I will want, for Ertzeh<\/em> [\u201cearth,\u201d \u201cI will want\u201d] has two meanings: 1) from the word, Ertzeh<\/em>, meaning \u201cI want,\u201d 2) from the word Eretz<\/em> [land], which is regarded as lowliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is known that the essence of creation is only the desire to receive, that in the beginning of creation only the will to receive emerged. Afterwards there were corrections, called \u201cequivalence of form,\u201d which means that the lower one, called \u201cearth,\u201d achieves equivalence with heaven, which is called the \u201cgiver.\u201d We can interpret this as man, although he is in worldliness, can still correct, by his head\u2014called \u201cthe end of the ladder\u201d\u2014reaching to heaven, namely being in equivalence of form with the heaven, which is regarded as receiving in order to bestow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As in the beginning of creation, the receiver emerged first, and then was corrected in order to bestow, so is the ladder, which is akin to a person standing on the earth. The beginning is on the earth, and then he reaches heaven. This means that we should not be impressed when we see that man is full of worldliness and has no sparks of bestowal, and he cannot believe that it is realistic that his body will ever agree to work only in order to bestow. Instead, he should believe that it is the way and the order of the work that the Creator wants it specifically in this way\u2014that a ladder will be placed on the earth with its top reaching to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we will understand what is written, \u201cThe angels of God were ascending and descending on it.\u201d The interprets ask, \u201cAngels are in the sky, so it should have been written there \u2018descending\u2019 and then \u2018ascending.\u2019\u201d We should interpret that this refers to man, who is the emissary of the Creator, since an angel is called a \u201cmessenger.\u201d These men, who are walking on the path of the Creator, are called \u201cGod\u2019s angels.\u201d First they ascend, by the ladder being set on the earth, and reach the top of the ladder, regarded as \u201cits head reaching to heaven.\u201d Afterwards they descend, meaning that all the ascents and descents are because there are two ends to the ladder: 1) \u201cset on the earth,\u201d meaning the place of lowliness, 2) but \u201cits top reaching to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that to the extent that he appreciates \u201cits top reaching to heaven,\u201d he can feel the lowliness of being \u201cset on the earth,\u201d and regret being in worldliness. But if he has no real clue about \u201cits top reaching to heaven,\u201d he has nothing to impress him about being in a state of descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that to the extent that he ascends and \u201cits top reaching to heaven,\u201d he can appreciate the measure of lowliness of the descent. This is why it is first written \u201cascending\u201d, and then \u201cdescending,\u201d since one can feel that he is in a state of descent only to the extent that he feels the importance of reaching to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of \u201cascending\u201d and then \u201cdescending,\u201d since the ladder that one should climb in order to carry out his vocation\u2014for he was sent to this world by the Creator\u2014begins from the degree of \u201ca ladder set on the earth with its top reaching the heaven,\u201d meaning from the beginning of lowliness, which is the will to receive, which is his nature. \u201cIts head\u201d means that at the end of the ladder he should reach the heaven, which is only to bestow. This is called \u201cheaven,\u201d as earth is called \u201creceiving,\u201d and heaven is called \u201cgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should also interpret ascending and descending as a person having to know that when he feels that he is in descent, such as when he engages in commerce or works at a factory, or simply walks on the street, and he suddenly wakes up from his sleep and finds himself in a state of descent, at that time he should know that knowing that he is in a descent has come to him from the ascent. This is called \u201cascending\u201d first, and then \u201cdescending,\u201d for if there were no ascent in degree, owing to the awakening from above, he would not come to feel this. However, he is being called upon from above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows according to the above that our entire work is as \u201ca ladder set on the earth with its top reaching the heaven.\u201d That is, man\u2019s ladder has two discernments, and with those two discernments he ascends on the ladder of the living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) From his perspective, the \u201cladder set on the earth,\u201d which is the will to receive, is set on the earth, which is lowliness. Earth means receiving, Nukva<\/em> [female], who receives from the heaven, where heaven is called \u201cmale,\u201d giver. \u201cIts head reaching to heaven\u201d means that bestowal, called \u201cheaven,\u201d is to him the head, meaning important. To the extent that he regards bestowal as the head, he regards the earth, which is the will to receive, as \u201cearth,\u201d meaning lowliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) He regards the Eretz<\/em>, meaning Ertzeh<\/em> [I will want], as the head, and heaven is regarded as lowliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, \u201cangels of God\u201d means that one who makes the calculation that he has come to this world on a mission from the Creator to correct corrections is called \u201cangels of God ascending and descending\u201d on it. That is, they see the ladder of the living set on the earth, meaning that the will to receive is regarded as lowliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIts top reaching to heaven\u201d means that to him bestowal means heaven. That is, they are awaiting bestowal because the essence of their work is to bestow contentment upon the Creator, and this is what they regard as \u201chead.\u201d When they receive a desire with which they can bestow, they consider it elation, and this is what they wait for. Conversely, when they are placed under the rule of the earth, they feel lowliness, and are looking only to bestow upon the Creator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article No. 10, 1985 \u201cJacob went out.\u201d According to RASHI\u2019s interpretation, \u201cIt should have written only \u2018Jacob went to Haran.\u2019 […]<\/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-9427","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n