Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 46
What Does It Mean to Start Anew Each Day?
“Today” and “yesterday” are two different vessels. For example, yesterday I ate dinner and felt full. I did not imagine that I would want to eat again today. But after several hours, my desire became renewed, and today I feel a lack of satisfaction. This is a “new day.” A “day” represents the opportunity to derive pleasure, draw light, and reveal it.
In spirituality, no day is like a previous day, and no night resembles the one that follows. Spiritual desire evolves, while physical desire remains the same—static. In spirituality, the same desire never repeats itself. The process might seem repetitive, as if we encounter the same issue repeatedly, but the sages explain that each day is new, filled with fresh scrutinies and desires.
After countless “days” of scrutinies, although the exact number is unknown, we reach the end of our scrutinies and attain a complete vessel. This is the corrected vessel in which spirituality becomes revealed. Thus, it is written: “They shall be new in your eyes every day.” Time is a succession of new discernments, new desires.
These discernments often come in uncomfortable ways, manifesting as shame, fear, or failures stemming from fatigue, weakness, or impatience. But predominantly, they appear as fears, because the first Mitzvah (commandment) is fear, i.e., bringing a person from animalistic fear to spiritual fear, not fear of suffering in this world or the next, but fear of the Creator, wondering if we are connected to Him or have anything to offer in return.
The initial corrections revolve around reaching spiritual fear. Through worldly fears, or their semblance, a person is brought to fear only the Creator. Yet this fear is not fear of the Creator, but fear of not being connected to Him, and beyond that, fear of the inability to reciprocate or give to Him. This is what life’s myriad complexities ultimately revolve around.
This initial stage can take several years and appears in various forms. One person fears their boss, another worries about upsetting neighbors, a third dreads having committed an unforgivable act, and yet another fears an ongoing legal trial. The Creator has an endless array of such fears that He arouses in us, often in unimaginable ways. Sometimes, something prepared decades earlier suddenly surfaces.
Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 45
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 44
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 43