September 27, 1963 (Eve of Yom Kippur)
Hello and all the best to my dear friend,
I received your letter and may the Creator help you and your family be always healthy and well. And for the new year, may it be a year of blessings and success in all your works. I ask that you will write me more often since I long to hear how you and your family are doing.
On the Selichot [penitential prayers] that we say on the eve of Rosh Hashanah [Hebrew New Year’s Eve], we say, “How will I open my mouth, and how will I raise my eyes? I have neither deeds nor merits.” We also say, “And if You complement my measure according to my work, and I shall see that I am naked,” and also, “Neither by mercy nor by deeds we come before You. We knock on Your doors as meager and destitute.” That is, there is nothing good about us, yet afterwards we say, “You must not do such a thing: put the righteous to death together with the wicked, as though the righteous is as the wicked. You must not; You who judges the whole earth will not pass judgment.”
We should understand how it is possible that while saying that there are no good deeds in us, we complain to the Creator and say, “You must not do such a thing: put the righteous to death together with the wicked.” This brings up the question, “Who is the righteous?” (see RASHI’s commentary on the portion, Vayera, regarding this verse).
It is known that man is a small world, meaning comprising all the nations of the world, which are generally referred to as the “evil inclination.” This means that in each person there is every foul trait that exists in each and every nation. But he also consists of Israel, which is called the “good inclination.”
When there are no good deeds in a person, it is because the evil inclination is controlling the body. At that time a person is called “wicked” (See in Baba Batra, 16a: “Raba said, ‘Job sought to rid the whole world of the judgment. He said to Him: ‘Master of the world, You have created righteous and created wicked, who is stopping You?’ RASHI interprets there, ‘You have created righteous through the good inclination and You have created wicked through the evil inclination. Hence, no one is saved from You, for who will stop [You]? The sinners are coerced.’’” From this we see that the good inclination is called “righteous,” and the evil inclination is called “wicked”).
It therefore follows that when one has no good deeds, it is only because the wicked within one is leading, and the righteous within is trailing, meaning following the wicked without any permission to protest. This is regarded as the righteous being in exile, meaning that Israel in him is in exile, placed under the governance of the nations of the world, and has no authority of his own.
By this we can understand our complaint to the Creator: “You must not … put the righteous to death together with the wicked,” since the very life of the wicked is regarded as death. It is as our sages said, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” since the life they enjoy in this world prevents them from obtaining eternal life. Since the whole intention of creation, namely to do good to His creations, is unattainable while being far from the Creator, since “the cursed does not adhere to the blessed.” Therefore, the wicked in their lives are called “dead.” This is the meaning of the wicked being sentenced to death.
And while the righteous is under the governance of the wicked and has no power or might to overcome him, the righteous, too, is sentenced to death, since he cannot receive any goodness from the Creator, as the wicked within him interferes with adhering to the Creator. Thus, the righteous, too, is regarded as dead. This is the complaint to the Creator: “You must not … put the righteous to death together with the wicked.” That is, the righteous in us, the good inclination, cannot do a thing because the wicked do not let it draw spiritual life.
Therefore, when one sees that there are no good deeds within him, he knows that the reason is that the wicked in him is governing, and Israel, who is the righteous, called the “good inclination,” is in exile. At that time we ask of the Creator and complain to Him that He has given us a good inclination that is powerless because it is in exile, and for this reason the righteous is sentenced to death, as well. This is the meaning of “You must not do such a thing.”
However, the Creator will deliver us from the exile because what use is there in having a good inclination, called “righteous,” that is completely powerless? It follows that the good inclination was given to us for nothing. This is our complaint: “Putting the righteous to death together with the wicked, as though the righteous is as the wicked.” That is, it is as though both are doing the same thing. However, the Creator will have mercy on us and will deliver us from exile.
This pertains specifically to when we see that there are no good deeds in us, or that one knows that this is the only reason—that the righteous is in exile under the governance of the wicked.
This is why we ask of the Creator and mark a sign on Rosh Hashanah saying, “May we be the head and not the tail.” That is, may the Israel in us be the head, and may the wicked be the tail, and then we will be rewarded with long life and the goodness in the intention of creation, which is to do good to His creations.
May we be awarded good writing and signing,
Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag,
Son of Baal HaSulam