240. Seek Your Seekers when They Seek Your Face

Slichot 1, from Baal HaSulam

“Seek your seekers when they seek Your face, answer them from the heavens of Your abode, and do not shut Your ear to their pleading cries” (Slichot for the first day). It is… that the purpose of the creation of the world was to do good to His creations. But for the correction to be completed, there must be the sweetening of the quality of judgment in mercy.

Judgment is discerned as Gadlut [greatness/adulthood]. But to avoid coming into disparity of form by this, there must be a discernment that is a kind of compromise: The judgment says she would have received more, but she was still in danger of coming into disparity of form. However, when mingled with the quality of mercy, she does not receive the Gadlut of the light, and can then come into equivalence of form. And the correction is done by turning the vessels of reception into reception in order to bestow.

Hence, when one comes to seek the Creator, he is still attached to reception, and one who has reception is considered lacking, and cursed, and the cursed does not adhere to the Blessed. But one who receives in order to bestow is called “blessed,” since he does not lack anything or need anything for himself. It follows that the only difficulty is for one to be in a state of blessed, as only by the virtue of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] can the vessels of reception be turned into vessels of bestowal. This is why we pray, “Seek your seekers.”

There are two kinds of seekers: Some seek only for Your face, seeking only to bestow. Hence, when they seek to receive some salvation, it is only for Your face. He said about that, “When they seek your face.” Those who seek for Your face, “answer them from the heavens of Your abode,” meaning that the heavens of Your abode will become revealed since they will no longer blemish above, as they are cleansed from reception. “Their pleading cries,” that all their prayers and pleas are still for themselves, that they want to be close to the Creator, meaning that they are still not cleansed from reception.

This is so because there are two qualities in the work of the Creator: There are those who want the Creator to be revealed in the world, that everyone will know that there is Godliness in the world. In that state, they are not in the middle, but merely want. In that state, it cannot be said that he has a quality of reception since he is not praying to be close to the Creator, only that the glory of Heaven will be revealed in the world.

And there are those who pray to be close to the Creator, and then he is in the middle. Then you can call it reception for oneself since he wants to receive abundance in order to come closer to the Creator. This is called “pleas,” and it is also called “cries.” Those who are still in a state of pleas, that is, to be closer, they can do the crying, and to them “do not shut Your ear,” for only one who is deficient cries. But for another, it is not a cry, only a demand, as in “give my regards.”¹ Hence, with the face, there is only a demand.

“From the heavens of Your abode” means Eynaim [eyes], light of wisdom, that they will receive the essence of the abundance, since their Kelim [vessels] are already in the form of reception in order to bestow. But those who are still in a state of pleading, “do not shut Your ear.” Ear means Bina; they need to extend strength so they will have bestowal… over the light of mercy.