June 1984
“The Creator created the evil inclination, He created for it the Torah as a spice” (Baba Batra 16).
We should understand what is the evil inclination and what is the spice. And there is more we should understand: When we cook a dish, the main thing is the dish, and the spices only give flavor to the dish. Thus, how can it be said that the main thing is the evil inclination, and the Torah is only a spice? Also, when it says that the Torah is a spice, it means that the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] are only a means, as our sages said, “The Mitzvot were given only in order to cleanse Israel with them” (Beresheet Rabbah, Portion 44). Does this mean that after the cleansing, we do not need to observe Torah and Mitzvot?
So what is the meaning of the evil inclination? It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. For this reason, He created in the creatures desire and yearning to receive delight and pleasure. In order for the created beings to have wholeness while receiving the pleasure, meaning that they will not feel any shame while receiving the pleasure, there was a correction called “in order to bestow,” which means that they will not want anything for themselves, but only to bestow upon the Creator. Then they will not feel any shame because they will not be receiving anything for their own sake, but only for the sake of the Creator and not for themselves.
However, we must know what we can give to the Creator that He will enjoy. Hence, the Creator notified us through Moses that He is giving us 613 Mitzvot, and we must observe these Mitzvot in order to bestow upon Him contentment. At that time, He will be able to give us abundance, since the Kelim [vessels] of the lower one are called will to receive only for himself, which is called “bad” because he does all the ruining, stealing, and murdering. This is what does bad to others.
Yet, we must know that the will to receive also harms itself, for besides causing harm in corporeality, it also spoils our entire spiritual state, since we cannot achieve the goal, which is to do good to His creations. We are meant to receive delight and pleasure, but it obstructs us because the will to receive is opposite from the desire to bestow, for the Creator is the Giver and we want only to receive, and without equivalence of form, we have no Dvekut [adhesion].
Therefore, we should be happy that He alerted us through Moses that if we observe the Torah and Mitzvot, we will receive the correction called “equivalence of form.” Had He not alerted us what He wants us to give Him, we would not know what to give Him. But now that He informed us that we should observe the 613 Mitzvot, we know what to give Him.
This is similar to a vegetarian, who enjoys only fruits and vegetables, and so forth, but he invited an important person over and wants to prepare a meal for him. He is used to preparing only meals that vegetarians eat, so it is a great effort for him to find out what the important person is used to eating. If the guest were to give him a plan for his meal, what he likes, he would be very happy that he knows what to prepare for his meal.
Likewise, we should be happy that He informed us through Moses what He enjoys. Therefore, we do not have much labor finding how we can delight Him, which is through the 613 Mitzvot that He has given us to observe. When we aim, during the performance of Torah and Mitzvot, that we want to please Him, we achieve equivalence of form, called “adhere to His attributes,” and by this we are rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.
But His wanting us to bestow upon Him, is it because He lacks something so we can delight Him? It has already been explained in several places that it is for the purpose of a correction for our sake, so the delight and pleasure He wants to give us will not be mixed with shame. But why did He choose specifically these 613 Mitzvot? It is said that He knew that specifically these Mitzvot will help us achieve the degree of bestowal and emerge from the governance of self-love, as this is a new quality that is not inherent in us. This is the meaning of the words of our sages, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”
However, we must understand that according to what we say, that the Torah and Mitzvot are only a means to correct the evil, called will to receive, what does observing the 613 Mitzvot give us once we have corrected our will to receive to work in order to bestow? To understand this, we must delve into what is written in the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (“General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation,” Item 1): “The Mitzvot in the Torah are called Pekudin [Aramaic: deposits], as well as Eitin [Aramaic: counsels]. The difference between them is that in all things there are Panim [anterior/face] and Achor [posterior/back]. The preparation for something is called Achor, and the attainment of the matter is called Panim.
“Similarly, in Torah and Mitzvot there are ‘We shall do’ and ‘We shall hear,’ as our sages said, ‘doers of His word, to hear the voice of His word. In the beginning, they hear, and in the end, they do’ (Shabbat [Sabbath] 88). When they observe Torah and Mitzvot as ‘doers of His word,’ prior to being rewarded with hearing, the Mitzvot are called ‘613 Eitin’ and are regarded as Achor. When rewarded with ‘hearing the voice of His word,’ the 613 Mitzvot become Pekudin, from the word Pikadon [Hebrew: deposit]. This is so because there are 613 Mitzvot, and in each Mitzva [sing. of Mitzvot] a light of a unique degree is deposited, which corresponds to a unique organ in the 613 organs and tendons of the soul. It follows that while performing the Mitzva, one extends to the corresponding organ in his soul and body, the degree of light that belongs to that organ and tendon. This is considered the Panim of the Mitzvot, and in that quality of the Panim of the Mitzvot, at that time they are called Pekudin.”
From all the above, it follows that the 613 Mitzvot give us two things:
1) During the preparation, when a person is still enslaved to his evil, meaning to the will to receive, and has no power to do anything for the sake of others, at that time a person is separated from the Creator because of the disparity of form. Then, the 613 Mitzvot give us the power to be able to emerge from their control. This is called “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” and then the 613 Mitzvot are regarded as a means.
2) Once a person has achieved Lishma [for Her sake], which is equivalence of form, he is rewarded with the revelation of the secrets of Torah, as said above. “Rabbi Meir says, ‘He who learns Torah Lishma … and the secrets of Torah are revealed to him’” (Avot, Chapter 6). At that time, the 613 Mitzvot become 613 organs of the soul, where each Mitzva is a special place for a special light. As in corporeality, we see that in everything corporeal that a person takes from corporeal pleasures, there is a different flavor. In bread there is one taste, and in meat there is another taste, and in fish there is also another taste, although all are regarded as foods for the body. Nevertheless, there is a different flavor in everything. In spirituality, it is much more so, that in each Mitzva there is a different flavor, and then the 613 Mitzvot are called an essence and not a means.
At that time, the whole Torah is the names of the Creator, as he says in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Items 135, 140): “However, when one is rewarded with the revelation of the face … it is said about him, ‘Your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, and your eyes will see your Teacher’” (Isaiah 30:20), since from then on, the dresses of the Torah no longer hide and conceal the teacher, and He is revealed to him forever, for the Torah and the Creator are one.
According to the above, we will understand what we asked, why our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” It implies that the evil inclination is what is important. It is similar to making soup. The main thing is the soup, and the spice only adds flavor to the soup. God forbid that we should say about the Torah that it is only a spice. Rather, as said above, the Torah gives us two things: One is called Kelim [vessels], and the other is called “lights.”
Kelim means that we are fit to receive the upper abundance. Kelim of Kedusha [holiness] consist of two discernments:
1) This is the main thing, the yearning for something. To the extent of the yearning for that thing, so we taste pleasure in that thing. The yearning, great or small, is measured according to the suffering he has for the matter. That is, if he does not receive the thing he yearns for, he will feel intense suffering. This is called “great yearning.” Conversely, if he does not suffer very much when he does not receive that thing, it is regarded as small yearning. To that extent, the measure of pleasure that he feels is measured while receiving the pleasure.
However, this does not complete the Kli to be fit to receive upper abundance, since while receiving the pleasure, he feels unpleasantness upon receiving the pleasure, which is the matter of the bread of shame.
It follows that although he will receive the pleasure, he will feel that the taste is flawed, like a soup with a missing spice. At that time, the Torah of the first kind comes and corrects the desire to work in order to bestow, and then the Kli can receive the pleasure without feeling any lack in it.
This is what we said about the matter of “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” In other words, the light in the Torah has the power to correct the will to receive in us to work in order to bestow, and then the Kli [vessel] is able to receive and there will be no flaw in that reception. This is considered that the 613 Mitzvot that came to give us the correction of the Kelim, meaning that by observing Torah and Mitzvot, it will invert our vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, and then we will be able to receive the abundance for the sake of the Creator.
The second discernment is that the Torah and Mitzvot came to give us lights, and then The Zohar calls the 613 Mitzvot, 613 Pekudin. That is, in each Mitzva [commandment], a special light is deposited, meaning that when he performs the Mitzva, in doing so, he extends a special light that belongs to that Mitzva. This is regarded that the 613 Mitzvot give us lights.
By this we will understand what we asked concerning the Torah and Mitzvot, that it implies that it is only a means and not the essence. This is so only during the correction of the Kelim, for then the Kli to receive the pleasure is only the will to receive. However, in order to have wholeness while receiving the pleasure, in order to have taste in it, the Torah and Mitzvot must give us the taste, like the spice in the soup.
But later, once the Kelim have been corrected and he comes to the second state, which is the lights, the 613 Mitzvot are regarded as the essence, and then they are regarded as “the names of the Creator.” At that time, the order is that the light comes and dresses in the Kelim. This is considered that he receives delight and pleasure, and at the same time, he is in Dvekut [adhesion].