Question: If a person is divided in two, between egoism and the point in the heart, how can they build a mechanism that would constantly give them the strength to be on the right side and not on the side of the evil inclination?
Answer: How can one build a mechanism that helps us attain the feeling of mutual guarantee (Arvut)? That is precisely what we are building. It is the group.
From all my internal qualities and all the external conditions surrounding me, the only thing in which I can act freely is in choosing my environment. Because my character and all my qualities are predetermined for me. And society, if I do not choose it, acts upon me however it wants. I am in its power, and whether I like it or not, I absorb everything from it.
It turns out that I am capable of making a choice when I am given such an opportunity from above, and I make efforts in that. Only that is called free choice.
Either I choose a good environment that advances me toward mutual guarantee and final correction (Gmar Tikkun), or I am a puppet, a marionette, completely devoid of freewill, and in that case, there is no reward, no punishment, no one to ask, and no one to complain to. Everything flows according to nature.
So who then is a sinner? The one who wants to become righteous. Who has free choice? Only the Kabbalists. And the rest? The rest are like animals. As it is written: “He is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalms 49:13). There is nothing to demand from them; they have no choice because that is how the laws are set: either you choose mutual guarantee or you do not.
Remember how elections used to be held in the Soviet Union?
– “We are choosing the city’s mayor!” – “How many candidates are there?” – “One!”
It is the same with the Creator. If it is the truth, it has to be one. Not ten! What does it mean, ten candidates? It means nine liars and one honest one. But the idea itself is right.
You are not choosing one out of ten. The idea is different: there is one true One, and you decide whether you are really choosing Him. Essentially, through your choice, you examine yourself, do you truly intend to “cast your ballot” as confirmation that you agree with the corrected state. That is called a choice.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/7/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
Related Material:
Strengthening One’s Choice
Mutual Guarantee: The Decision Is Ours
Mutual Guarantee as the Law of Life