Article No. 12, 1985
“Jacob dwelled in the land where his father had lived, in the land of Canaan.” It is written in The Zohar (Vayeshev, item 11): “Rabbi Hiya started and said, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.’ But the righteous who fears his master, how much affliction he suffers in this world so as not to believe or partake with the evil inclination? And the Creator saves him from them all. This is the meaning of what is written, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.’ It does not say ‘many to the righteous,’ but ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous.’ This indicates that that one who suffers many afflictions is righteous because the Creator desires him, since the afflictions he suffers remove him from the evil inclination, and therefore the Creator desires that person and saves him from them all.”
We should understand these words:
This implies that one who suffers many afflictions is righteous, and one who does not suffer many afflictions is not righteous.
Why must he suffer many afflictions if he does not want the evil inclination to partake with him?
Do the words, “And for this reason the Creator desires that person and saves him from all of them,” mean that the Creator does not save other people, God forbid? Can this be?
Even more perplexing, on the one hand it says that the troubles he suffers remove him from the evil inclination. On the other hand it says that the Creator saves him from all of them, meaning saves him from many afflictions. Thus, he will bring himself close to the evil inclination once again, since the reason that removed him from the evil inclination has been cancelled.
We should interpret his words. Here is a verse that concerns this (Kidushin 30b): “Rabbi Shimon Ben Levi said, ‘Man’s inclination overpowers him each day and seeks to put him to death, as it was said, ‘The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.’ Were it not for the Creator’s help, he would not have overcome it, as it was said, ‘God will not leave him in his hand.’’”
In Masechet Sukkah (p 52), there is another similar verse: “The evil inclination has seven names. Solomon called it “enemy,” as it is said (Proverbs, 25), “If your enemy is hungry feed him bread; if he is thirsty give him water to drink, for you are burning coals on his head and the Lord will pay you.” Do not pronounce it as Yashlim [pay], but as Yashlimenu [complement] you.
According to RASHI, “If your inclination is hungry and craves transgression, feed it bread and trouble it with the war of Torah, as it is written (Proverbs, 9): ‘Go, eat of my bread.’ ‘Give him the water of Torah to drink,’ as it is written about it (Isaiah, 25), “All who are thirsty, go to the water.’ ‘Will complement you’ means that your inclination will be completely with you, love you, and will not incite you to sin and be lost from the world.”
To understand all the above we must know that the essence of the evil inclination—which is called the “essence of creation,” which the Creator created existence from absence—is the will to receive. It is known (see in the introductions) that this is something new that did not exist before He has created it. Man’s work is only to work the opposite of his nature, meaning that he will want only to bestow. But since it is against his nature—since by nature he needs to see only to the needs of self-love—he has no desire to work for others.
Although we see that sometimes people do work for others, this is possible only if they see that they will be rewarded for their work, namely that the will to receive will be satisfied by it. That is, the reward should satisfy the self-love; otherwise one cannot exit the vessels of reception by nature.
However, being able to perform acts in order to bestow and not receive any reward is unnatural. And although we see that there are people who kill themselves for their country and do not want anything in return, it is because their country is very important to them, and that importance is also natural, as our sages said, “The favor of the place is with its dwellers.”
However, there is certainly a difference in the measure of favor, for not everyone favors the same. This is why there are many who volunteer to the army because of the importance of their homeland, but think that this is not so dangerous that their lives are at stake, “because I see that many people return unharmed from the war.”
And if there is sometimes a danger of certain death, they are not willing to go to certain death, except for a chosen few for whom the homeland is important. But here, too, the power of reward is involved, because he thinks that after his death everyone will know that he was dedicated to the public and that he was above everyone else because he cared for the public’s well-being.
But in the work of the Creator, when a person is walking on the path of truth, he must work in humbleness so that the external ones will have no grip. That is, in serving the Creator he will not have the grip of working for the outer ones, meaning that people outside of him will know about his work, so he is working devotedly so that people outside will say that he was above the common folk. This assists him in his ability to work without return, so that people outside will say that he was working only for the Creator. The Creator gave this power to the creatures because “from Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] he will come to Lishma [for Her sake],” and he will not have any assistance from outside. He can achieve that if he first has Lo Lishma, but he should not remain in Lo Lishma, God forbid.
This is the meaning of what our sages said (Sukkah, 45), “Anyone who joins working for the Creator with something else is uprooted from the world, as it is said, ‘Only for the Lord.’” The meaning of “only for the Lord” is that there will be no mingling of self-love at all, but only for the Creator. This is the meaning of the word, “only.”
Still, there is a fundamental issue to understand here. We should discern if a person is devoted in order to acquire something. Even if he receives the reward for the public, this is certainly a great thing because if the reward he is receiving is not for self-love but for love of others, because he loves the others and puts himself to death for them, to benefit the public, but there is no doubt that if he could achieve the same thing not by giving up his life, he would have chosen that other way. This is so because to him the key is to receive a reward for the public, and not the work. The contentment he can bring his homeland is what makes him work, therefore he does not regard the means by which to obtain that thing for the homeland. If he sees that specifically by giving up his life for the country (he can bring contentment to the country), he is willing to do this, too.
Conversely, with love of the Creator, we say that a person should work only for the Creator, meaning without any reward. This means that he is ready for complete devotion without any reward, without any return being born out of his devotion. Rather, this is the core—his purpose, that he wants to annul his self before the Creator, meaning (cancel) his will to receive, which is the existence of the creature. This is what he wants to annul before the Creator. It follows that this is his goal, meaning his goal is to give his soul to the Creator.
This is not so in corporeality with respect to love of others. Although this is a great degree, and not all the people can work for the general public, still, devotion is only a means and not a goal, and he would be happier if he could save the public without giving up his life.
Let us ask all those who volunteer to go to war for their country. If someone could advise them how to save their country without losing their lives, they would certainly be happy. But when there is no choice, they are willing to go, for the public, so that the public will receive the reward, while they are giving up everything. Although this is a great force, it has nothing to do with devotion to the Creator, where devotion is the goal, and what comes out as a result is not their purpose, as this was not their intention. Therefore, devotion in spirituality is worthless to corporeal people, since for them devotion is a means and not the goal, while in spirituality it is the opposite: devotion is the goal.
By this we will understand the meaning of receiving in order to bestow. Man’s purpose is only to bestow upon the Creator, for this is the meaning of equivalence of form, “As He is merciful, so you are merciful.” When he achieves the degree of devotion to the Creator because he wants to annul himself in order to delight the Creator, he sees that the purpose of the Creator, as it was in the thought of creation, is to do good to His creations. At that time he wants to receive the delight and pleasure that was in the purpose of creation—to delight His creatures.
This is called “receiving in order to bestow.” Otherwise, he might want to receive the delight and pleasure and this is why he gives everything, so he can receive. This is regarded as “bestowing in order to receive.” But if his purpose is to bestow, and he has no desire to receive for his own benefit at all, but only for the Creator, then he can become a receiver in order to bestow.
Concerning devotion, I heard from Baal HaSulam that one should depict devotion as we find with Rabbi Akiva (Berachot 61b): He said to his disciples, “My whole life I have regretted the verse, ‘With all your soul, even if He takes your soul.’ I said, ‘When will I be able to keep it?’ And now that this has come to me, will I not keep it?”
Certainly with such a desire to bestow, when a person says that he wants to receive delight and pleasure because this is the purpose of creation, he certainly means (only) to receive in order to bestow upon the Creator.
By this we will understand the four above questions:
Question no. 1) It seems from the words of The Zohar that only one who suffers many afflictions is righteous, but one who does not suffer afflictions cannot be righteous. Can this be? The thing is that afflictions refer to the evil inclination. That is, specifically one who feels that the evil inclination is causing him many afflictions by not letting him approach the Creator is called “righteous.” But if a person does not feel that it is removing him from the Creator and does not feel that by this it is causing him afflictions, is not considered righteous because he has not achieved recognition of evil, meaning that it hurts him.
Question no. 2) Why must he suffer many afflictions if he wants the evil inclination not to take part in him? This means that there is no other choice but to suffer afflictions. According to the above-said, this is very simple: Afflictions refer to the evil inclination. If he does not feel that the evil inclination is causing him many afflictions, he does not regard it as evil inclination that he does not want to have a part in him. Rather, he regards it as a good inclination, which brings him only good, so why should it not have a part in him? But if he sees the afflictions that the evil inclination causes him then he does not partake with it.
Question no. 3) The Zohar says that the Creator desires a person who suffers many afflictions. This means that the Creator does not desire one who does not suffer afflictions. Can this be? The answer is that if a person feels that the evil inclination is causing him many afflictions, and the person cries out to the Creator to help him, the Creator desires that person. But when a person does not feel that the evil inclination is afflicting him, the Creator does not want him because he has no Kli [vessel], meaning desire that the Creator will save him.
Question no. 4) If the Creator saves him from afflictions, he will reconnect with the evil inclination.
Answer: Salvation that comes from the Creator is a different matter than salvation that occurs in corporeality. The evil that takes place at the time of the Achoraim [posterior], which is the time of concealment of the face, when he sees that he is under concealment, for it is known that the little one is annulled before the great one, and certainly here, in serving the Creator, a person must annul before the Creator as a candle before a torch. Yet, he sees that his body does not annul, and it is hard for him to subdue it and take upon himself faith above reason. At that time he sees that the body is afflicting him by not wanting to assume the burden of the kingdom of heaven, by which he is removed from all the spirituality.
It follows that one must believe that the Creator has created the world with benevolence, and the evil in his body removes him from all the good. That is, when he comes to learn Torah, he finds it utterly tasteless. And also, when he comes to perform some Mitzva [good deed/correction], he finds it utterly tasteless because the evil inclination in his body has the power not to let him believe in the Creator above reason by taking out every flavor. Whenever he begins to approach something spiritual, he feels that everything is dry without any moisture of life.
When the person began his work, he was told—and he believed what he was told—that the Torah is a Torah of life, as it is written, “For they are your life and the length of your days,” and as it is written (Psalms 19), “More desirable than gold, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”
But when one considers this and sees that the evil inclination is to blame for everything, and strongly feels the bad that it is causing him, then he feels on himself what is written (Psalms 34) “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” That is, that verse was said about him.
At that time, he looks at what the verse says afterwards, “but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” At that time, he begins to cry out to the Creator to help him because he has already done everything that he could think of doing, but nothing helped, and he thinks that “Everything that you find within your power to do, that do,” was said about him. At that time comes the time of salvation—the salvation of the Creator delivering him from the evil inclination—to the extent that from this day forth the evil inclination will surrender before him and will not be able to incite him into any transgression.
It is written in the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” (item 54): “When the Creator sees that one has completed one’s measure of exertion and finished everything he had to do in strengthening his choice in faith in the Creator, the Creator helps him. Then, one attains open Providence, meaning the revelation of the face. Then, he is rewarded with complete repentance, meaning he cleaves to the Creator once more with all his heart, soul, and might, as though naturally drawn by the attainment of the open Providence.”
It is also written there (item 56): “What is repentance like? When He who knows the mysteries will testify that he will not turn back to folly.” The words, ‘What is repentance like?’ mean “When can one be certain that he has been rewarded with complete repentance?” For this he was given a clear sign: “When He who knows the mysteries will testify that he will not turn back to folly.” This means that he has been rewarded with disclosure of the face, and then His salvation itself testifies that he will not turn back to folly.
This answers the fourth question, that if the Creator saves him from the evil inclination so it does not afflict him, and The Zohar says that the afflictions that the righteous suffers are in order not to partake with it, it follows that if the Creator saves him and he sees that He will not afflict him, then he will reconnect with the evil inclination, since the only reason that the evil inclination is afflicting him is in order not to partake with it. But since the reason has been cancelled, the situation returns as before.
However, according to what we explained, the salvation of the Creator is the revelation of the face, until the Creator testifies that he will not sin. The afflictions that the righteous suffers are for him to be able to ask of the Creator, as is said above, “If there is no Achoraim [posterior/back], there is no disclosure of the Panim [face/anterior].” It follows that when there is disclosure of the face of the Creator, everything is as it should be.