Article No. 13, 1986
The Zohar asks, “It is written, ‘Come unto Pharaoh,’ but it should have said, ‘Go unto Pharaoh,’ etc. Since the Creator saw that Moses was afraid and other appointed emissaries could not approach him, the Creator said, ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his Niles.’ The Creator had to wage war against him, and none other, as it is written, ‘I am the Lord,’ which they explained, ‘I and not a messenger.’” Thus far its words (in the beginning of the portion, Bo [Come]).
The difference between “come” and “go” is that “come” means that we should walk together, like a person who tells his friend, “Come.”
We should understand it because The Zohar asks why the Creator needed to go with Moses. It is because Moses alone could not fight him, but the Creator Himself and none other. Thus, why did he need Moses to go with the Creator? After all, it says, “I and not a messenger.” Thus, what is the point of the Creator going to Pharaoh, who is called “great monster,” with Moses? He could have gone to Pharaoh without Moses.
We should also understand what our sages said (Kidushin [Matrimony] 30b), “Rish Lakish said, ‘Man’s inclination overcomes him every day and seeks to kill him, as it is said, ‘The wicked watches the righteous,’ and if the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it, as it is said, ‘The Lord will not leave him in his hand.’’”
Here, too, arises the question, “If a person cannot prevail by himself and needs the Creator’s help, why this doubling?” In other words, either the Creator gives a person the strength to overcome alone, or the Creator will do everything. Why is it that two forces seem to be required here, one of man and subsequently the force of the Creator? It is as though only the two of them can conquer evil, and one force is insufficient.
It is known that man’s perfection is that he must reach the purpose of creation to obtain the purpose for which the world was created, which is called “to do good to His creations.” In other words, the creatures should come to receive the delight and pleasure that He contemplated to delight them.
Prior to that, creation is still not considered a creation that befits the Creator, since it is known that from the perfect Operator, perfect operations should emerge. This means that everyone should feel the beauty of creation and will be able to praise and glorify creation, that everyone will be able to glorify and thank the Creator for the creation He has created, and that everyone will be able to say, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world.’” In other words, everyone should bless the Creator for having created a good world filled with pleasures, where everyone is joyful and happy from the contentment they feel from all the pleasures they are experiencing in the world.
However, when a person begins to examine if he is truly satisfied with his life and how much contentment he is really deriving from himself and from his environment, he sees the opposite—everyone is suffering, in torment, and each person suffers differently. But one should say, “Blessed is He who said, ‘Let there be the world,’” so he sees that he is only saying it superficially.
However, it is known that the delight and pleasure cannot appear in the world before the world has Kelim [vessels] of bestowal, since our vessels of reception are still contaminated by self-reception, which is heavily restricted in its measure and separates us from the Creator (meaning that there was the first restriction on the vessels of reception so the abundance would not shine there, see in the “Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” p 138).
Obtaining the vessels of bestowal is where disputes and wars begin, since it is against our nature. And this is why we were given Torah and Mitzvot, to achieve the degree of bestowal, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the spice of Torah” (Kidushin 30).
Also, we were given the Mitzva [commandment/good deed] of “love thy friend as thyself,” and Rabbi Akiva said, “This is the great rule of the Torah” (Beresheet Rabbah, Parasha 24). In other words, by working in love of friends, a person accustoms himself to exit self-love and achieve love of others.
However, we should understand what we see before us, that there are people who exert in love of friends and still do not come an inch closer to love of the Creator so they can work in Torah and Mitzvot, due to the love of the Creator. This means that they say they are in fact advancing a little in love of friends, but they see no progress in love of the Creator. However, we should know that in love of friends, too, there are degrees, meaning we must contemplate the obligation of love of friends.
We can compare it to a two-story building with a ground floor, as well. The King is on the second floor, and one who wishes to come to the King—whose only goal is to converse with the King face-to-face—is told that he must first climb to the first floor, since it is impossible to climb to the second floor without first climbing to the first floor.
Certainly, everyone understands that this is so. However, there is a reason why they must first climb to the first floor—it is called “corrections.” In other words, by climbing to the first floor, one can learn how to address the King face-to-face, and will be able to ask the King for his wish.
That person, who hears that he must first climb to the first floor and subsequently to the second floor, understands it very well. But since his only wish is to see the King’s face and he cares for nothing else, this makes what he is told—that he must climb to the first floor—a burden and a toil for him.
However, he has no choice, so he climbs to the first floor. He is not interested in seeing what is there, although he heard that the first floor is where one learns how to speak with the King. But he pays no attention to that, for this is not his goal. His goal is the King, not what he can learn on the first floor. His goal is not the study, but to see the King’s face. Why should he waste time on trifles, since everything is naught compared to the King? Thus, why should he take interest in what is taught on the first floor?
Hence, when he climbs to the first floor, he has no desire to stay there. Instead, he wishes to quickly climb to the second, to the King Himself, for this is all he wants. However, he is told, “Without knowing the rules that abide on the first floor, you will certainly blemish the King’s honor. For this reason, you cannot hope to be able to climb to the second floor before you learn all that there is to learn on the first floor.”
Similarly, with love of friends, we heard that it was impossible to be rewarded with love of the Creator before one was rewarded with love of friends, as Rabbi Akiva said, “love thy friend as thyself is the great rule of the Torah.” Therefore, while engaging in love of friends, he is not considering love of friends as being valuable, but as redundant.
He keeps it because he has no choice, but he is constantly looking for the time when “I will be rewarded with the love of the Creator, and I’ll be able to rid myself of the love of friends. This work is burdensome to me because I can hardly stand my friends, for I see that they all have different traits than mine and I have nothing in common with them. But I have no choice, since I was told that without love of friends I won’t be able to achieve love of the Creator. So against my will, I sit with them.
“However, I can ask myself, ‘What am I getting from the friends?’ Only one thing: I am correcting myself through self-torment by sitting with them and tolerating their talks, which I dislike and which are against my nature. But what can I do? I am told that I must suffer in this world, so I do: I sit and wait for the time when I can run from them and avoid seeing the lowliness that I see in them.”
It turns out that he is not taking from the love of friends the remedy called, “love of others,” but only because he was told that he has no choice, for otherwise he will not achieve love of the Creator. This is the reason why he engages in love of friends and keeps all the obligations to which the friends commit him. But what he should learn from them is miles away from him.
This means that he is not exiting self-love and he is not reaching love of others. He is observing the love of friends not out of love, but out of fear, since he is not allowed into love of the Creator before he enters the love of friends. As a result, he fears not observing love of friends because he will not be allowed into love of the Creator.
This is similar to the allegory about not being allowed onto the second floor where the King sits, until he climbs to the first floor. The idea is that he will learn the rules of how to keep the King’s honor, so it would seem reasonable that he would be happy to go onto the first floor, since now he is learning how to be watchful of the King’s honor.
It would benefit him because afterwards, when he enters the King’s palace, he will not blemish the King’s honor. And therefore, while he is on the first floor, he pays attention to all the rules that apply there and to becoming accustomed to them, since he wants to come into the King, to bestow upon the King, and not at all to be contemptuous of the King’s honor.
This relates only to one who wishes to come before the King to give contentment to Him. But one who wishes to come in before the King for self-reception considers what is found on the first floor as redundant. It is of no interest to him. He goes up to the first floor only because he is afraid, since he knows that he will not be allowed to climb to the second floor before he climbs to the first floor. He feels no need to study the laws that are taught there—how to avoid blemishing the King’s honor—since the only reason he wants to come before the King is for purposes of self-love.
Therefore, we should know that we were given love of friends to learn how to avoid blemishing the King’s honor. In other words, unless he has no other desire except to give contentment to the King, he will certainly blemish the King’s honor, which is called “Passing on Kedusha [holiness/sanctity] to the external ones.” For this reason, we mustn’t underestimate the importance of the work in love of friends, for by that he will learn how to exit self-love and enter the path of love of others. And when he completes the work of love of friends, he will be able to be rewarded with love of the Creator.
We should know that there is a virtue to love of friends. One cannot deceive himself and say that he loves the friends, if in fact he doesn’t love them. Here he can examine whether he truly has love of friends or not. But with love of the Creator, one cannot examine oneself as to whether his intention is the love of the Creator, meaning that he wants to bestow upon the Creator, or his desire is to receive in order to receive.
But we should know that after all the corrections that man is given to do without the Creator’s help, he will not be granted any progress in the work of bestowal. And we asked, “Why, then, should one do things in order to later be rewarded with the help of the Creator? After all, the Creator can help even without the work of the lower ones, and man’s work on progress in the work will not help in any case.”
However, if one does not begin to work, he doesn’t know that he cannot triumph over the inclination. But when a person begins to walk in the work of the Creator and does what he can do, then he can offer a true prayer for the Creator to help him.
But why would the Creator want him to offer a true prayer? With a flesh and blood, you can say that he wants him to make a genuine plea because when a person makes a genuine plea of his friend, his friend gives him true gratitude. The flesh and blood, who chase honors, the gratitude that he gives him is as though he is belittling himself before him and he enjoys it.
But as for the Creator, does He need to be given people’s respect? Therefore, why would the Creator want a person to make a heartfelt prayer?
The thing is that it is known that there is no light without a Kli. It is impossible for one to give something that is very important, and if one has no desire for something, he will slight it and discard it. It will be lost because the need for something matches what he needs; this gives the importance. To the extent of the importance, he keeps the gift from being lost, for otherwise everything will go to the Klipot.
This is called “nursing the Klipot,” meaning that everything goes to the vessels of reception, which take into their authority everything that a person slights in matters of Kedusha. From this we know why one should begin the work. But why doesn’t the Creator give one the strength to complete the work alone, without His help?
It is known what The Zohar interprets concerning what our sages said, “He who comes to be purified is aided.” It asks, “With what?” And it says, “With a holy soul,” meaning he receives illumination from above, which is called Neshama [a soul], called “attaining Godliness,” which means that he is included in the thought of creation to do good to His creations.
It follows that by having a Kli and a desire for vessels of bestowal, he receives the light, called Neshama. Thus, both are required. In other words, a person should begin, and by that he receives a Kli. And by being unable to finish, he cries out to the Creator for help, and then he receives the light.
Now we can understand what is written, “Come unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these signs of Mine within him.”
A question arises, “Why did the Creator harden Pharaoh’s heart?” The text answers, “That I might show these My signs in the midst of them.” And the interpretation is, “Why has the Creator hardened man’s heart and he cannot win the war against the inclination by himself?”
The answer is, so man will cry out to the Creator, and by that will have the Kli. And then the Creator will be able to place the letters of Torah within him, inside the Kli. This is the soul that the Creator gives him as help.
This is considered, “The Torah and the Creator are one.” “My signs” refers to the letters of the Torah, as in the names of the Creator. This is the “doing good to His creations,” which is the thought of creation to do good to His creations. This comes to a person specifically when he has a Kli, and this Kli comes through the hardening of the heart, for then there is a place where he can cry out to the Creator for help, and He helps him with a holy soul.
Now we can see the matter of “Come unto Pharaoh,” meaning both of us, together. In other words, a person should begin and then see that he cannot defeat it, and this is implied in Moses being afraid to approach him. And then the Creator said, “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh,” meaning that then comes the help from the Creator. And with what? With a holy soul, as written in The Zohar.
It follows that the hardening of the heart, in the words, “For I have hardened his heart,” was to make a place for a prayer. And this prayer is not like one of flesh and blood, who wants respect, to be asked so he will be respected. Rather, the purpose of the prayer is for him to have a Kli, a need for the help of the Creator, for there is no light without a Kli. And when a person sees that he cannot help himself in any way, then he has a need for the Creator’s help.
This is the meaning of what our sages said, “The Creator craves the prayer of the righteous.” Here, too, there arises the question, “But does the Creator need man’s surrender, that he will ask of Him?” However, since His wish is to benefit His creations, but there is no light without a Kli, He craves the prayer of the righteous, for by that they disclose the Kelim [vessels] into which He can impart. It follows that when a person sees that he cannot overcome the evil in him, this is really the time for asking for the help of the Creator.
Now we can understand what the Creator said (Exodus 6), “And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
In Masechet Berachot (38a), our sages wrote about it as follows, “‘Who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’ The sages ... Thus said the Creator unto Israel: ‘When I bring you out, I will do for you something to show you that it is I who brought you out from Egypt, as it is written, ‘That I am the Lord your God, who brought you out.’’”
This means that it is not enough that the Creator brings the people of Israel out of Egypt, that they were liberated from the torment that they suffered there. When speaking of the work of the Creator, there arises the question, “Was this not enough?” Now they have been liberated from the enslavement of the exile after not being able to serve the Creator due to Pharaoh’s rule, and all that they built for themselves, whatever position in the work, was all swallowed in the earth, as our sages said (Sotah p 11), “Pithom and Ramses. Rav and Shmuel, one said her name was Pithom. And why was her name Ramses? For his head Mitroses [splinters] first.” RASHI interprets, “When they built some, it would splinter and fall. They would rebuild, and it would fall. And one said, ‘Her name is Ramses, and why was her name Pithom? It is because first is first, it was swallowed by the Pi Tehom [mouth of the abyss].’”
We therefore see that there is no dispute between Rav and Shmuel regarding the facts, only regarding the interpretation. The fact was that everything that they built would fall. This means that every time they built for themselves some structure in the work, the Egyptians came, meaning the alien thoughts of the Egyptians, and ruined all their work. In other words, all the work that they did with all their efforts to overcome and to serve in the work of holiness was swallowed in the ground.
Thus, each day they had to start over, and it seemed to them as though they were never engaged in the work of holiness. Moreover, each time they contemplated moving forward, they saw that not only did they not progress, they even regressed, since new “who” and “what” questions would always surface in their minds.
Accordingly, we should understand this exodus from Egypt as their finally having the ability to serve the Creator without the alien thoughts of the Egyptians. Thus, what does this knowing in the words, “And you shall know,” come to tell us? That we must know that it is the Creator who delivered them from the land of Egypt. And there is more we should wonder about, since we began the examination at the enslavement in Egypt, when they were being worked in hard labor, and they were liberated from that, so what else did they miss?
But what is hard labor? Our sages explained the verse, “All their labors which they rigorously imposed on them” (Sutah 11b). “Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nahmany said, ‘Rabbi Yonatan said, ‘They replaced men’s work with women’s work, and women’s work with men’s work. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve Ba-Parech [with rigor].’’ Rabbi Elazar says, Be Peh Rach [with a soft mouth].’”
We should also understand the matter of hard labor in the work of holiness. We should make two discernments:
The act called “the revealed part,” which a person can see and where one cannot say that he is erring or deceiving himself, since it cannot be said that there is a mistake about something that is visibly apparent. This is so because with the act of Mitzvot and the study of Torah, he sees, and others can also see if he is carrying out actions of Torah and Mitzvot or not.
The intention. This is called “the hidden part,” since others cannot see the intention behind one’s acts. And he, too, cannot see the intention in the act, since with intentions, it is possible to mislead himself and deceive himself, for only in apparent things, called “the revealed part,” everyone can see the truth. But when it comes to intentions in the heart or thoughts in the mind, one cannot trust himself. It follows that this is hidden from himself and from others.
Now we can interpret the meaning of hard labor, which was said to be “Replacing men’s work with women’s work.” “Men’s work” means that he is already a Gever [man], that he can Lehitgaber [overcome] his evil and engage in Torah and Mitzvot in action. Thus, what should he do when he is already called “a man,” meaning a man of war, who can fight with his evil in action? Now it is time for him to begin his work in the second discernment, meaning in the concealed, which is the intention. In other words, henceforth, he should try to aim all his actions to be in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator and not for his own benefit.
And what did the Egyptians do when they saw that he was a man who could exit their rule and enter holiness? They swapped their work and gave them women’s work. This means that all their work was in women’s work, that is, the Egyptians made them think, “Who needs intentions? The actions are what count, and here, in actions, you will succeed, as you can see—you are a man, you can prevail over the evil in you and engage in Torah and Mitzvot in every detail and precision, and you must put all your efforts into being more meticulous in Torah and Mitzvot.
“However, you should not engage in intentions! This work is not for you, but only for a chosen few. If you begin with the work of bestowing, meaning noticing that you must aim everything to be in order to bestow, you will not have the energy to be so meticulous in the revealed action, where you will not deceive yourself because you see what you are doing. Therefore, there is where you can expand in every detail and precision in your actions.
“But with regard to intentions, you have no real test. Thus, we advise you for your own good, and do not think, God forbid, that we want to divert you from the work of holiness. On the contrary, we want you to rise in the degrees of holiness.”
This is called, “Replacing men’s work with women’s work.” Where they should have done work that belongs to men, they explained to the people of Israel that it would be best for them to do women’s work, meaning what belongs to women.
“And women’s work with men’s work” means that those people do not have the power to overcome. Rather, “They are as feeble as a female,” meaning that they were weak in keeping Torah and Mitzvot and didn’t have the strength to keep and observe the Mitzvot, even in the revealed form, which is called “only in action.” And all the work of overcoming was only in the action, not in the intention.
The Egyptians came to them and made them think, “We don’t want to interrupt your holy work. On the contrary, we want you to be true servants of the Creator. In other words, we see that you wish to serve in the work of holiness, so we are advising you that the most important thing is not the action; it is the intention. Therefore, instead of exerting to overcome in action, accustoming yourselves to overcome your body, to study for another hour or to pray for another half hour trying to answer ‘Blessed be He,’ and ‘Blessed be His name,’ and ‘Amen,’ not to mention in the middle of the repetition of the cantor. Who needs it?
“The main aim is for the Creator. That is where you need to focus all your efforts. Why waste your strength on trifling things? Indeed, the Halacha [religious law] says that you must keep all those little things, but this work is not for you; it’s work for women. You need to engage in men’s work. The fact that you want to engage only in action is unbecoming to you. You should focus primarily on the intent, meaning use every bit of energy you have to aim that everything will be for the Creator. However, don’t think for a minute that we are trying, God forbid, to interrupt your work of the Creator. We want the contrary—for you to rise up the ladder of holiness and achieve perfection, meaning that all your actions will be only in order to bestow contentment upon your Maker.”
And since they were at the degree called “women” and still did not have the strength to overcome, not even in the part of the action—considered that they are as feeble as females—the Egyptians made them see that the important thing was the aim Lishma [for Her name]. By that, the Egyptians made certain that they would not have the strength to continue and overcome in the work of holiness.
It is as Maimonides says when he wrote (Hilchot Teshuva [Laws of Repentance], Parasha no. 10), “The sages said, ‘One should always engage in Torah, even in Lo Lishma [not for Her name], since from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma [for Her name].’ Therefore, when teaching the little ones, the women, and the illiterate in general, they must be taught to work out of fear and to receive reward. When they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are to be shown that secret bit by bit, and must be accustomed to it with ease, until they attain it, and know Him and serve Him out of love.”
The Egyptians advised those who were under the discernment of women not to follow the words of Maimonides. On the contrary, even though they were at the degree of women and little ones, they made them understand that they should immediately begin the work on aiming Lishma. By that, the Egyptians made certain that they would remain in their domain, outside of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity].
Thus, this is called “hard labor,” as Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nahmany interpreted, “Ba-Parech [with toil] means BePricha [fragile/crumbling].” And RASHI interpreted, “In crumbling and breaking of the body and the waist.” The reason is that when replacing men’s work with women’s work, and women’s work with men’s work, it will be as we explained, since men’s work was to overcome and advance and aim for the intention Lishma, but they weakened them in this work because the Egyptians resisted this work. Hence, besides having to toil in overcoming so they could aim in order to bestow, they had more work in that the Egyptians made them think that all of this work was redundant, that the work of bestowal did not relate to them, but only to a chosen few.
This is called “twofold work”: 1) straining to aim in order to bestow, and 2) fighting them and saying that it is not true, that they will be able to achieve Lishma, and not as the Egyptians said, that they should do women’s work. And this was the Egyptians’ whole intention, to prevent them from approaching the work of bestowal.
Also, they replaced the work of men with that of women, which, as we said, is worthless because it is keeping Torah and Mitzvot only in action. This means that their entire war against the inclination is only over the action, and not, as Maimonides says, that women’s work should be only about doing things and not teaching them that they must intend Lishma.
Therefore, when the Egyptians came and told them that they had to do men’s work, meaning aim to bestow, it was hard work for them: 1) Concerning Lishma, you are totally incapable of it. 2) Overcoming the body and keeping practical Mitzvot was harder for them before the Egyptians’ alien thoughts came and made them think that the act of Mitzvot without intention was completely worthless and degraded the importance of Torah and Mitzvot in Lo Lishma. Thus, now, through the Egyptians, the work in the form of women was degraded, and this caused them hard labor, as it was said that it is the breaking of the body and the waist.
It follows from all the above that there are three meanings to the word Perech [toil/hard labor], yet there is no contradiction between one interpretation and the other. Rather, all three things were there, and each interpreted according to his own issue:
In the first interpretation of Parech, Rabbi Elazar says it is “in Peh Rach [soft mouth].”
Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nahmany said “In Pericha,” which means breaking.
Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nahmany, “Rabbi Yonatan said, ‘They replaced men’s work with women’s work, and women’s work with men’s work.’”
However, they all interpret hard labor as Pericha [shattering], meaning the breaking of the body. And the reason why it was hard work to the point that they called this work, “Labor that breaks the body and the waist,” is that they replaced men’s work with women’s work, and women’s work with men’s work. This caused them the hard labor.
And yet, why did they listen to the views of the Egyptians? It is because they spoke to Israel with Peh Rach [a soft mouth], meaning that the thoughts of the Egyptians came to Israel with a soft mouth. That is, everything they told them to do was not to turn them away from serving the Creator, God forbid. On the contrary, they wished to guide them to walk in the ways of the Creator successfully, so they would not waste time in vain, meaning that they would see no progress in the work of holiness. And since they were spoken to with a soft mouth, it was hard for them to overcome these thoughts.
This implies that when he says that they replaced men’s work with that of women, he explains why they listened to the Egyptians. The answer is, because of the Perech—that they spoke to Israel with Peh Rach [a soft mouth]. Thus, it is for the two above reasons that they came to work in hard labor, as Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nahmany says, Perech means work of Pericha [breaking], which is work that breaks the body.
Accordingly, we should understand why it is not enough for the people of Israel that the Creator brought them out of Egypt, out of their enslavement so they could engage in Torah and Mitzvot, each according to his attainment, and the Klipa of Egypt didn’t have the strength to resist their work.
Indeed, how great is the miracle and who can appreciate the importance of the matter? When a person considers the amount of suffering and torment that he feels while being in exile under the enslavement of Pharaoh King of Egypt, and to the extent of the darkness of Pithom and Ramses that he assumes in his heart, which they were building. And now, the gates of the Klipa of Egypt were opened before them all at once and they came under their own authority. This means that now they were free to engage in Torah and Mitzvot as they wished, without any interruptions. What joy and elation it brings to a person when he compares the time of darkness to the time when it illuminates. It is as it is said, “He who separates between darkness and light.”
According to the above, we should understand the necessity to know that only the Creator delivers them from the burdens of the Egyptians, as our sages said, “When I bring you out, I will do for you something to show you that it is I who brought you out from Egypt, as it is written, ‘That I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’”
The thing is that we must always remember the goal that we must reach. And since the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, our goal is to receive the delight and pleasure that He has contemplated on our behalf. But for the purpose of correction, called Dvekut [adhesion], which is about equivalence of form, we have to work to obtain the vessels of bestowal.
Yet, this is only the correction of creation; it is not wholeness. Wholeness means knowing the Creator, knowing and attaining the Torah, which is called “the names of the Creator.”
Accordingly, it is not enough that we already have the strength to keep Torah and Mitzvot without any interruptions, for this is only a correction, not the complete goal. The complete goal is to obtain the knowledge of the Torah, as in, “The Torah, Israel, and the Creator are one.” This is why our sages said, “This is what the Creator said to Israel, ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out,’ I and not a messenger.” This means that every single one should come to know the Creator, and this is called “Torah,” the names of the Creator.