What Is, “The Smell of His Garments,” in the Work?

Article No. 9, 1991

“Rabbi Zira said about the verse, ‘And he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him. And he said, ‘The smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed’ (Genesis 27:27). ‘The smell of his garments,’ do not call it Begadav [his garments], but Bogdav [his traitors], for even the traitors among them have a smell to them’” (Sanhedrin, 37a).

We should understand the words of Rabbi Zira. What is the connection between “garments” and “traitors”? “Garments” are clothes that a person wears, meaning there is a connection between the clothes and the person. It is a good thing that the person has clothes. But “traitors” are the complete opposite, since when one person betrays another, it is a bad thing for that person. In other words, a person feels so bad in his situation that he wants to come out of that state, and he has no other choice but to betray the person who put him in the bad state he is in. Therefore, how come Rabbi Zira explains about the verse that “garments” means “traitors”?

It is known that the order of the work is that person should correct himself and enter Kedusha [holiness], since man was born with the evil inclination, which comes to a person and as soon as he is born, it is with him. The Zohar says about it (VaYeshev, Item 1), “And when one comes into the world, the evil inclination immediately appears to partake with him, as it is written, ‘Sin crouches at the door,’ for then the evil inclination partakes with him.” It says there (Item 7), “‘An old and foolish king’ is the evil inclination. From the day he was born, he never parted from his Tuma’a [impurity]. And he is a fool because all his ways are toward the evil way, and he walks and incites and lures people.”

It is known that the order of the work divides into the work of the general public, meaning what the general public can do, and the work of the individual, what the general public cannot do. This is expressed by the words Lishma [for Her sake] and Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. In other words, the work of bestowal pertains specifically to individuals. But work that is in order to receive reward is work that the general public can do, as well. Maimonides says about it, “Therefore, when teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain much knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little-by-little” (Hilchot Teshuva, Chapter 4).

Therefore, when a person wants to walk on the path of individuals, to do everything in order to bestow, the evil inclination, called will to receive, which is concerned with its own benefit, can work only in order to receive reward. When a person wants to work for the sake of the Creator, the evil inclination objects to this work, since it conflicts with the nature with which he was born. Hence, here begins man’s work with a hard battle, since the person tells his body when the body asks him why he observes Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], “What will you get out of it?” The person tells him that our sages said, “The Creator said, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.’”

“Therefore, since I haven’t the power to annul you, by engaging in Torah I will have the strength to annul you and remove you from your kingship over me, as it is written, “You are an old and foolish king.” Therefore, I want to remove you from your governance that you govern me, and take upon myself the governance of the King of all kings, the Creator.”

What should the evil inclination, called “will to receive for oneself,” do? It has no other choice but to interrupt with all its might. However, normally, a person does not make efforts to obtain something if he can obtain it easily. Therefore, when a person begins to work and makes little efforts to emerge from its dominance, the body does not need to resist a person with all its might. Rather, the evil in a person emerges gradually, with greater force each time, depending on man’s work.

In other words, the order of the work is balanced, so that one will have a choice to elect the good and reject the bad. This is as our sages said, “One should always see oneself as half guilty, half innocent. If he performs one Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], happy is he, for he has sentenced himself to the side of merit” (Kidushin p 40b). The reason one should see oneself as “half guilty, half innocent” is so as to have a choice. Conversely, if one thing is more than the other, he can no longer make the decision.

Therefore, if a person performs one Mitzva, he has already sentenced to the side of merit, so how can he make a choice once more, since the side of merit has already prevailed? The answer is that if the bad in a person sees that the person has overcome it, the evil uses greater force, meaning brings him just arguments why it is not worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator. It makes one taste the taste of dust when he wants to do something to bestow, and gives him a greater flavor in work for self-benefit.

In other words, each time, he gives him a greater pleasure is self-benefit. In other words, he never thought that there is so much pleasure in self-benefit, since when he makes more efforts, he sentences to the side of merit. Hence, he must give him more evil in order to be able to choose. That is, it does not mean that he gives him more bad deeds. Rather, it means that he gives him greater pleasure in self-benefit, to the point that it is difficult for him to retire from self-benefit and work in order to bestow.

This is regarded as a person suffering great descents. That is, when the evil appears to him with greater force and it is difficult to overcome it, the person sometimes comes to a state of “pondering the beginning,” meaning that he sees that he has labored and toiled in vain, since in fact, it is impossible to emerge from the governance of evil. Thus, it is a shame that I exerted for nothing. It follows that during the descent, he betrays the work of the Creator. Afterward, when the Creator sends him an awakening from above, he ascends to spirituality once more and thinks that now he will be in a state of Kedusha.

However, afterward the evil appears within him once again, and with greater force, and he suffers another descent, just as before. Each time he thinks the same, meaning that each time, he falls into betrayal in the work. It follows that “He who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him,” since otherwise, there would not be choice. It follows that one who is greater has more betrayals in the work, where as one who does not have the strength to overcome, the evil does not need to show its full strength.

Hence, the question is, If he has committed a transgression, woe unto him, for he has sentenced himself to the side of fault, since he has already decided, so how can he later make a choice? The answer is as our sages said, “Transgressed and repeated? It becomes as though permitted to him.” In other words, he does not feel the power of the evil that there is in the transgression, and naturally, he does not need excessive overcoming. Rather, with a small overcoming, he can choose the good and loathe the little bit of evil that is in him.

Conversely, one who is great, that person has many ups and downs. That is, often, he betrays the work of bestowal, as the complaint of the spies who slandered the land of Israel, which is the kingdom of heaven. In other words, his taking upon himself the kingdom would not be for his own sake, called Eretz [land] but because of the Shamayim [heaven]. Put differently, the person wants to take upon himself the burden of Torah and Mitzvot in order to bring contentment to his Maker, so the spies slandered it, as it is written in The Zohar (Shlach, Item 63): “‘And they returned from touring the land.’ ‘They returned’ means that they returned to the bad side, returned from the path of truth, saying, ‘What did we get out of it? To this day we have not seen good in the world. We have toiled in Torah and the house is empty. Who will be awarded that world? Who will come and be in it? It would have been better had we not toiled so. We learned in order to know the part of that world. That upper world is good, as we know in the Torah, but who can be rewarded with it?’”

We should understand the argument of the spies. After all, they said what they felt. When a person is in descent, he does not lie; he says what he feels. Hence, during the ascent, he wants to annul before Him as a candle before a torch, since he feels that he will be happy from this. Conversely, during a descent, he sees that all that the will to receive argues is correct. Thus, why does the verse say as it is written, “And they slandered the land”?

According to what Baal HaSulam says, the answer is that they had to believe that since the Creator promised to the people of Israel that He would give them the land of Israel, which is a land “flowing with milk and honey,” the Creator will certainly give them. But the situation that they saw was that they had to believe that this revelation of the bad came to them from above, meaning the revelation of the evil that exists in man by nature, and that one is unable to emerge from the governance of evil and be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. Rather, it is only the Creator Himself. They had to believe that the Creator would give them a second nature, which is the desire to bestow, and by this they will receive all the delight and pleasure called “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Then, when they have the vessels of bestowal, the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment are lifted from them and they are rewarded with the delight and pleasure that were in the purpose of creation. At that time, it is a “land flowing with milk and honey.”

It follows that these descents are required in order to reveal the evil, so that afterward they will know that only the Creator can help. His help comes specifically on a complete lack, for then the complete help can come. This means that if the evil were not completely exposed, there would not be a complete lack. Hence, first we must see that the evil is revealed.

Subsequently, the filling called “help from the Creator” comes and fills his lack. This follows the rule, “There is no light without a Kli.” We could ask, Why must we wait so long? That is, there are many accents and many descents, but the bad could have appeared at once. The answer is that if the bad were revealed in full, no one would be able to begin the work, since the bad would prevail and there would not be room for choice. Hence, the bad appears according to the level of the good that a person increases in the work.

According to the above, we should interpret what we asked, What does it mean that Rabbi Zira interprets the verse, “And he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him.” He says, “Do not call it Begadav [his garments], but Bogdav [his traitors], for even the traitors among them have a smell to them.”

We should interpret that since Jacob was rewarded with wholeness, meaning that from all the descents he achieved wholeness, so that the help from above could come, since all the bad has been revealed in him. It follows that the descents, which are the betrayals, are called “sins.” When the light appears through them, we now see that the sins have become as merits, that were it not for the descents, we would not be able to achieve wholeness. This is why Rabbi Zira interprets that the smell of his garments was because he achieved his completion, meaning that the betrayals were also corrected. It follows that the betrayals were as fragrant as the merits, since everything was corrected in him. This is why he says, “the smell of his traitors.”

Therefore, when a person is in a state of ascent, he must learn from his state during the descent in order to know the difference between light and darkness, as it is written, “as the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” However, for the most part, a person does not want to remember the time of darkness because it pains him, and people do not want to suffer for no reason. Rather, a person wants to enjoy the state of ascent that he is in.

However, one must know that if he considers the descents while he is in an ascent, he will learn two things from this, which will benefit him and he will therefore not suffer from descents for no reason: 1) He must know how to keep himself as much as he can from falling into a descent. 2) “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” At that time, he will have more vitality and joy from the state of ascent, and he will be able to thank the Creator for bringing him closer to Him. That is, now a person has a good feeling from being in a state where he understands that it is worthwhile to be a servant of the Creator, since now he feels the greatness and importance of the King.

But during the descent, it is the complete opposite. The body asks him, “What will you get out of wanting to annul before Him and cancel yourself from this entire world, and care only about how to bring contentment to the Creator?” When a person considers both extremes, he sees the differences between them. At that time he has the values of a different importance than he thought about the ascent. It follows that by looking at the descent, the ascent rises in him to a higher level than he feels without looking at the descent.

It follows that when he thinks about the time of betrayals that he had during the descents, all the descents are sweetened and filled with the blessing of the Creator, since they are causing an ascent. Hence, when a person completes the work, everything is corrected into merits. This is the meaning of what he says, “And he said, ‘The smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.’” This means that then the smell of my son’s betrayals is as the smell of Malchut, who is called “a field that the Lord has blessed.” That is, he already received all the bestowals of delight and pleasure from the Creator.

Accordingly, we should interpret the words, “And the Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your abdomen, and one nation shall be stronger than the other.’” RASHI interprets “‘Two nations’ as ‘There is no nation but Malchut.’ ‘Will be separated,’ one to his wickedness and one to his wholeness. ‘One nation shall be stronger than the other,’ they will not be the same in greatness; when one rises, the other falls.”

We should understand what the RASHI interpretation adds to us. Here the writing brings the order of the work when we want to achieve Dvekut with the Creator. He says “nation” as “There is no nation but Malchut.” That is, a person must know that there are two discernments in Malchut: 1) an old and foolish king, 2) the King of all kings.

The evil inclination belongs to the old and foolish king, but there is also the good inclination in him, which pertains to the King of all kings. Therefore, he says, “‘Will be separated,’ one to his wickedness and one to his wholeness. ‘One nation shall be stronger than the other,’ They will not be the same in greatness; when one rises, the other falls.” This pertains to ascents and descents, where each wants to overcome the other, meaning that specifically by quarreling, each one grows, as was said, “All who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him.”

This is called “One nation shall be stronger than the other,” meaning that both grow, and each one grows through the other. In other words, the descents, which is the old and foolish king, his power grows through the ascents of the good inclinations. It is as our sages said, “To the righteous, the evil inclination seems like a high mountain,” since he has many ascents, which in plural form is called “righteous.” That is, in the work, when speaking of one person, that he is a small world, there are many righteous in a person, meaning many ascents. They come by overcoming the wicked. Concerning “many wicked in one person,” this is called “many descents,” since in each descent he becomes wicked. It follows that each one grows through the other. This is the meaning of “One nation shall be stronger than the other.”

Conversely, those who do not walk on the path toward achieving Dvekut with the Creator, which is to obtain the desire to bestow, are called “wicked” in that they are not walking on a path where they will be able to do everything for the sake of the Creator, but rather for their own sake.

Yet, here, “wicked” is a different discernment, a completely different interpretation. That is, there are no righteous there in the middle, but all their actions are as wicked, meaning not for the sake of the Creator, but for their own sake.

In the work, they are called “wicked,” but to the general public, who observe Torah and Mitzvot, they are called “righteous.” They are called “wicked” only in terms of the intention, in terms of the work, to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for their own sake. And since they do not have a quality of “righteous” in between, their evil does not receive an addition, for only if there is a righteous in between, meaning an ascent, when he wants to work only in order to bestow, then the bad must receive more bad so as to be able to lower him from his degree.

Hence, “To the wicked, the evil seems like hairsbreadth,” and the bad does not grow in them. Instead, “Transgressed and repeated? It becomes as though permitted to him.” In other words, he has no sensation of the evil. This is as our sages said, “And one nation shall be stronger than the other.” As RASHI interpreted, “They will not be the same in greatness; when one rises, the other falls.”

But how come when he rises he then falls? Each time, someone else receives an addition. Once the good receives an ascent from above and the bad falls, and when the bad receives bad from above, the good falls. This is the order of descents and descents, until all the evil within man is revealed specifically by a person receiving good each time, which is called “ascents.” This is the meaning of “And one nation shall be stronger than the other.” Hence, a person should not be alarmed by the descents. Instead, he should ask the Creator each time to bring him closer to Him.

According to the above, we should interpret, “Thus far, Your kindness has assisted us and Your mercies have not left us, the Lord our God.” We should ask, In which state is he in now, and what was his state before, of which he comes to say something new, as though now he is in a state of delight and pleasure? It seems as though he was not in a good state, but was in a state where he was not happy, and now he has come to realize that thus, what we felt have been help from above, from the side of mercy. Although he did not feel them as mercy, now he sees that that then, too, his feelings, which we felt as bad, were also from the side of kindness. “And Your mercies have not left us” means that then, too, Providence was from the side of mercy and not from the side of judgment.

We should understand how this is so, meaning to say that the bad state was also mercy. The thing is that there is no light without a Kli, since a person cannot be given something if he has no need for it. It is like a person who cannot eat if he is not hungry. Therefore, when a person begins to walk on the path of the Creator to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, he cannot receive help from the Creator because normally, a person does not ask for help from someone unless he cannot obtain that thing by himself.

Therefore, when one thinks that he can come to work in order to bestow alone, he does not ask the Creator to help him. Thus, when one begins to work for the sake of the Creator, and sees each time that he is incapable of achieving the degree of work in order to bestow, he becomes needy of the Creator’s help. It follows that all the descents he had, to the point that sometimes he despaired and came to “pondering the beginning,” and wanted to escape the campaign, and certainly, these state are called “bad states,” and he was in a state of “wicked.” But afterward, when he has satiated the lack of the Kli, when he saw that his Kli was full of lacks, the Creator gives him help, which is the desire to bestow, a second nature. At that time, he sees that thus far, the many descents he felt, and thought that the reason was that he was unsuitable for it, and this is why he suffered the descents, now he sees that thus far it was also help from the Creator.

This is the meaning of “Thus far, Your kindness has assisted us,” and it was all mercy, as it is written, “and Your mercies did not leave us.”