Article No. 22, 1985<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is written in The Zohar<\/em> (Shmini<\/em>, item 1): \u201cRabbi Yitzhak started, \u2018The whole Torah is one holy name of the Creator, and the world was created in the Torah,\u2019 which was His tool of craftsmanship for creating the world.\u201d It is written there in item two: \u201cMan was created in the Torah, as it is written, \u2018And God said, \u2018Let us make man\u2026\u2019 It is written in plural form. He said to her, \u2018You and I will establish him in the world.\u2019 Rabbi Hiya said, \u2018The written Torah, which is ZA<\/em>, and the oral Torah, which is Malchut<\/em>, established man.\u2019\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see three things here: 1) the whole Torah is one holy name; 2) the world was created with the Torah; 3) man was created with the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our sages said about Beresheet<\/em> [in the beginning] that it is because the Torah is called Resheet<\/em> [beginning], and because Israel were called Resheet<\/em>, for the creation of the worlds was in order to do good to His creations, meaning for the souls, so the souls would receive the delight and pleasure. It follows that from the perspective of the Creator it is to bestow, and all that the creatures need is to receive. We already learned that to have equivalence of form the creatures must obtain the Kli<\/em> [vessel] called \u201cdesire to bestow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But since we do not have the desire to bestow by nature, we need something to give us that force called \u201cdesire to bestow.\u201d That force, which the lower one receives, so as to be able to bestow, is through the Torah, since \u201cthe light in it reforms him.\u201d It follows that as Resheet<\/em> is Israel, we also need the Torah so we can receive the delight and pleasure. Therefore, the Torah is also called Resheet<\/em> because one does not work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know the words of The Zohar<\/em> that \u201cthe Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.\u201d Accordingly, by Israel\u2019s exertion in Torah they are rewarded with the Creator, meaning with the \u201cnames of the Creator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that we should discern two things in the Torah: 1) the light of Torah, which comes in order to reform him. This is the correction of the Kelim<\/em> [vessels]. 2) Obtaining the light of Torah, which is the \u201choly names,\u201d called the \u201crevelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world\u201d (see in the essay Matan Torah<\/em> [\u201cThe Giving of Torah\u201d]).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It therefore follows that when we study Torah we should discern the two above matters: 1) to extend light so it will create for us vessels of bestowal. It is impossible to obtain these Kelim<\/em> [vessels] without the light of Torah. Therefore, what does he expect? To be rewarded for studying Torah. His only desire is to obtain that Kli<\/em>, called \u201cvessel of bestowal.\u201d This is precisely once he has begun the work of bestowal and has made great efforts to be able to do things only with the intention to bestow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only then can he come to know that the will to receive that was installed in him by nature cannot be cancelled. At that time he begins to understand that he needs \u201cheaven\u2019s mercy,\u201d and only the Creator can help him be rewarded with vessels of bestowal, and this help comes from the light of Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, during the study we must always pay attention to the purpose of the study of Torah, meaning what we should demand from the study of Torah. At that time we are told that first we must ask for Kelim<\/em>, meaning to have vessels of bestowal, called \u201cequivalence of form,\u201d by which the restriction and concealment that were placed on the creatures are removed. To the extent that this is so he begins to feel the holiness and begins to have a taste for the work of the Creator. At that time he can be happy because Kedusha<\/em> [holiness] yields joy, for the light of doing good to His creations shines there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if he has not yet decided that he should always walk on the path of bestowal, as our sages said, \u201call your works will be for the Creator,\u201d this is regarded as \u201cpreparation of the Kelim<\/em>\u201d to be fit for reception of the upper abundance. He wants to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal through the study, as our sages said, \u201cThe light in it reforms him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And once he has been rewarded with vessels of bestowal, he comes to a degree called \u201cattainment of the Torah,\u201d which is the \u201cnames of the Creator,\u201d as The Zohar<\/em> calls it: \u201cThe Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this we will understand what is written there in The Zohar<\/em>, item 2: \u201cMan was created in the Torah.\u201d We should understand the connection between the Torah and man that we can say that man was created from the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we must bring the words of our sages (Yevamot<\/em>, 61): \u201cRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai would say, \u2018The graves of idol-worshippers are not defiled in the tent, as it was said, \u2018And you, you are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are man; you are called \u2018man,\u2019 and the idol-worshippers are not called \u2018man.\u2019\u2019\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to know what the discernment of \u201cman\u201d is, meaning what is the degree of \u201cman\u201d that idol-worshippers cannot be called \u201cman.\u201d Our sages said about the verse (Berachot<\/em> 212b): \u201c\u2018In the end of the matter, all having been heard, fear God,\u2019 what is \u2018for this is the whole man\u2019? Rabbi Elazar said, \u2018The Creator said, \u2018The whole world was created only for this.\u2019\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It follows that man is someone in whom there is fear of heaven. Since man was created with the evil inclination, which removes him from fear of heaven, what is the advice that we can say that by this he will be awarded fear of heaven? To this comes the answer that through Torah he will be able to defeat the evil inclination, as our sages said, \u201cI have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice, for the light in it reforms him.\u201d Accordingly, we can interpret that \u201cMan was created by the Torah,\u201d since the reason why the discernment of \u201cman\u201d can emerge is specifically through the Torah. This is the meaning of \u201cMan was created in the Torah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this way we can interpret what he wrote there in the holy Zohar<\/em>, \u201cThe world was created in the Torah.\u201d This, too, is difficult to understand. What is the connection between the Torah, which is a spiritual thing, and the Torah being called the \u201cnames of the Creator\u201d? How does the corporeal world extend from it? According to the above, we can resolve that \u201cthe world was created\u201d refers to the whole world, meaning a world in which there are souls, for the purpose of creation was to do good to His creations, to the souls, for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure. Since the creation of the world refers to the will to receive, in order to have equivalence of form between branch and root, there was the Tzimtzum<\/em> [restriction], meaning concealment, so the upper light, which is delight and pleasure, will not be revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, how can the world exist, so they can receive and not die, as it occurred in the breaking of the vessels, which broke and died because they could not aim to bestow? Through the Torah, whose light reforms, they will receive vessels of bestowal, and with these Kelim<\/em> they will be able to receive abundance and pleasure and exist because they will be able to receive in order to bestow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of \u201cThe world was created with the Torah.\u201d The creation of the world, which was in order to \u201cdo good to His creations,\u201d was immediately with the intention to bestow, and this was done by the Torah. It follows from all the above that we must always consider the goal, which is to \u201cdo good to His creations.\u201d If the evil inclination comes to a person and asks him all of Pharaoh\u2019s questions, he should not reply with lame excuses, but say, \u201cNow, with your questions, I can begin with the work of bestowal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that we should not say about the questions of the evil inclination that it came to us in order to lower us from our degree. On the contrary, now it is giving us a place to work, by which we will ascend on the degrees of wholeness. That is, any overcoming in the work is called \u201cwalking in the work of the Creator,\u201d since each penny joins into a great amount.\u201d That is, all the times we overcome accumulate to a certain measure required to become a Kli<\/em> for the reception of the abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overcoming means taking a part of a vessel of reception and adding it to the vessels of bestowal. It is like the Masach<\/em> [screen], which we must place on the Aviut<\/em> [coarseness]. It follows that if one has no will to receive, one has nothing on which to place a Masach<\/em>. For this reason, when the evil inclination brings us foreign thoughts, this is the time to take these thoughts and raise them above reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is something one can do with everything one\u2019s soul desires. He should not say that now he has received rejection from the work. Rather, he should say that he was given thoughts and desires from above so as to have room to admit them into Kedusha<\/em> [holiness]. It therefore follows that it is to the contrary: because he is brought closer from above, he was sent work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was said about this: \u201cThe ways of the Lord are straight; righteous walk in it and transgressors fail in it.\u201d That is, if he is rewarded, he receives an ascent by it. If he is not (rewarded), he receives by it a descent in spirituality. The order of descents is gradual, each according to his order. Normally, a person forgets, meaning he forgets that there is the matter of work at all, that he must yearn for Dvekut<\/em> [adhesion] with the Creator. Instead, all the energy he had goes into corporeal things, meaning that at that time he finds more flavor in corporeal things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is, while he was connected to the work of the Creator, he was slightly removed from corporeal things. This means that he did not appreciate (corporeal things) as something to consider. But when he begins to veer off from the work, every corporeal thing, which he regarded as unimportant, becomes so important to him that the smallest thing becomes a great disturbance to him, and blocks him in the middle of the way, and he cannot move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, during the descent he has received, he remembers that there is such a thing as spiritual work. When he remembers it he is saddened, and this sadness makes him want only to sleep. That is, he wants to remove himself from the situation he is in, and he thinks that through sleep he will forget about his situations. Sometimes he gives up altogether, meaning he says, \u201cI don\u2019t see any progress in me. On the contrary, as much as I exert\u2014and I should have made some progress, according to the efforts I have made in order to obtain something in spirituality\u2014I see that I keep going backwards. It must be that this work, meaning work of bestowing, is not for me because I am unfit for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, people say, \u201cI have a weak character so I haven\u2019t the strength to overcome my desires.\u201d Sometimes they become smarter and say, \u201cI don\u2019t see anyone who was awarded anything in spirituality.\u201d So after all his arguments with his body, the body makes him see that he is one hundred percent right, which brings him into a state where he wants to escape the campaign, reenter the corporeal world like everyone else, and not be smarter than everyone, but go with the flow. And most of all, he is certain it cannot be any different from what he has decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does the Creator do? Once (one) has forgotten everything, he suddenly receives some awakening from the Creator and a longing for spirituality begins to seep into his heart again. He begins to work persistently once more, and the force of confidence works within him, as though he is certain to be rewarded with nearing the Creator. He forgets all the promises he has made with a clear mind and precise calculation to the point that he regretted the beginning, meaning that his heart regretted ever getting into this mess called the \u201cwork of bestowal.\u201d He was one hundred percent certain that his calculation was one hundred percent right, but the awakening from above he has received now makes him forget it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason is that so is the order of the real work: from above they want to show him that man is nothing, with all of his intellect, unless he asks the Creator to help him. If this happens, meaning that he knows for certain that it is impossible that he will be able to come out of the state he is in, under the rule of self-love, called \u201cexile in Egypt,\u201d which applies both in mind and in heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if a person only says and does not feel one hundred percent that he cannot do anything, then the real nearing does not come from above. Rather, what happened before repeats itself, namely that thoughts and desires from the body come to him once more, and he begins the old arguments once more, and falls into those states again, and decides once more to escape the campaign, and makes the above decisions once again. Later, an awakening from above comes to him once more, which is called a \u201ccall,\u201d when he is being called upon, and there is a desire to bring him closer to the Creator once again. But then, if he does not exert in the opportunity he is given, the same order as before repeats itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is similar to what we find in The Zohar<\/em> (Tazria<\/em>, item 6): \u201c\u2018Her price is far above pearls.\u2019 It should have said \u2018worth,\u2019 that it is harder to buy her than pearls. Why does it say \u2018price\u2019? He replies that she sells and turns over to other nations all those who do not fully cling to her and are not whole with her, as you say, \u2018And the children of Israel abandoned the Lord, and He sold them to the hand of Sisera.\u2019 And then they are all far from those high and holy pearls, which are the secrets and the internality of the Torah, for they will have no share in them. This is why it is written, \u2018For her price is far above pearls.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, we must not be frightened at the body sometimes showing us dark colors. Rather, we must always be strengthened above reason and not heed the body\u2019s advice, which tells us about separation from Kedusha<\/em>. Rather, we must overcome with true prayer and we are certain to be saved and come out from the slavery of the rule of Egypt and be rewarded with redemption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article No. 22, 1985 It is written in The Zohar (Shmini, item 1): \u201cRabbi Yitzhak started, \u2018The whole Torah is one holy […]<\/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-9709","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n