219. Seek Peace and Pursue It

In the verse, “Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34).

There are two forces in the world that give man the motivating force that will compel him to revoke his rest force. That is, the force of rest, which is in the qualities of the soul, yields to two other forces, meaning become revoked, and by this the soul takes upon itself the force of movement: 1) the rejecting force, 2) the attracting force.

The rejecting force is from something bad and loathsome that compels one to run away. The attracting force is good and nice things that one is compelled to chase. However, a single force, whether attracting or rejecting, is insufficient to revoke the force of rest.

“Turn away from evil” is called the “rejecting force,” if a person feels that it is bad. “Do good” is called the “attracting force” if a person feels that this is good and he must chase it and obtain it.

“Seek peace and pursue it.” The question is, What is the war that one must try to make peace, and even pursue it?

The war is the war of life, where each one is fighting with the other and by this acquires what he wants. For example, the merchant is fighting with the buyer and wants to defeat him in order to get what he wants, meaning money for no merchandise, or the worst possible merchandise. It is likewise to the contrary—the buyer with the seller—the least money for the best commodity.

The employee with the employer—the employer wants more output and more hours for a lower salary, and the employee is to the contrary, a higher salary and more rest. In other words, in the quantity of time and quality of output, we should understand who causes this whole war.

But first, we must understand what man is and how one is measured as great or small. It is said that a person has a big heart, is heavy-handed, and narrow-minded, meaning that it cannot be said that a person is the flesh and bones. Thus, what is man?

We should discern three qualities of desire: big, small, and nothing-to-it. The power of desire is measured by the suffering. A big desire means that if one does not get what he wants he will suffer terribly. A small desire means that if one does not get what he wants he will suffer very little. A nothing-to-it desire means that if he does not get what he wants he will still not suffer.

From where does the will to receive stem? From the thought of creation to do good to His creations.

We believe that “The whole earth is full of His glory,” “For it is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life and the length of your days,” “For they are our lives and the length of our days.” Moses said all this, and the sages of Israel who established the prayers said this.

And what do we say and feel? We want to derive vitality and pleasure from other things, and the Torah takes away from us many pleasures that we could obtain if the Torah permitted us.

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