238. Happy Is the Man Who Does Not Forget Thee and the Son of Man Who Exerts in Thee
“Happy is the man who does not forget Thee, and the son of man who exerts in Thee” (a supplement for the Rosh Hashanah prayer). When one advances by way of whiteness, he should always remember that everything he has been granted is only because he assumed the discernment of blackness. And he should exert precisely in the “Thee,” by way of, “and all believe that He is a God of faith,” although he currently does not see any place where he has to work in faith, since everything is revealed before him. Nevertheless, he should believe above reason that there is more room to believe by way of faith.
And this is the meaning of “And Israel saw the great work… and they believed in the Lord.” Thus, even though they had been awarded the discernment of “saw,” which is seeing, they still had the strength to believe by way of faith.
And this requires great exertion; otherwise, one loses one’s degree, like Libni and Shimei. This means that if it is not so, it means that one can listen to Torah and Mitzvot precisely at a time of whiteness; it is like a condition. However, one should listen unconditionally. Hence, at a time of whiteness, one should be careful of blemishing the blackness.