Winning the War

Selected excerpts to reinforce the World Kli and for peace in the world

• Fighting the evil inclination

• The Creator Heals with What He Strikes

• Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him

Fighting the evil inclination

1. RABASH, Article No. 6 (1989), "What Is Above Reason in the Work?"

Tzava [army] are men of war. These are people who go each day to fight the evil inclination. They are called “army.” Therefore, after they have been rewarded with redemption, meaning after they conquer the evil inclination and emerge from the control of the evil, their conduct in the work is by way of ascents and descents, which is called Tzevaot [plural of Tzava (army)]. Meaning, at times they emerge from their control, and then are under their control again. Thus, the name for ascents and descents is Tzevaot.

2. RABASH, Article No. 6 (1989), "What Is Above Reason in the Work?"

During the work, a person should say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” At that time in the work, they think that they themselves are doing the ascents and descents, that they are men of war, called Tzava, “mighty men.” Afterward, when they are redeemed, they attain that the Lord is of hosts [Tzevaot], meaning that the Creator made all the ups and downs they had.

In other words, even the descents come from the Creator. A person does not get so many ups and downs for no reason. Rather, the Creator caused all those exits. We can interpret “exit” as “exit from Kedusha [holiness],” and Ba [comes] as “coming to Kedusha. The Creator does everything. Hence, after the redemption, the Creator is called “Lord of Hosts.”

3. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1985), "Jacob Went Out"

It is known that Eretz [earth] implies the will to receive, which is the foundation, since all of creation and all the bad that exists in the world extend from this desire, as it is known that all the wars, murders, and so forth are rooted in the will to receive

4. RABASH, Letter No. 5

And when you feel that you are at war, each of you will know and feel that he needs the help of his friend, and without him, his own strength will wane, as well. Then, when you understand that you must save your life, each of you will forget he has a body he must preserve, and you will both be tied by the thought of how to defeat the enemy.

5. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 118, "To Understand the Matter of the Knees that Have Bowed to Baal"

One who has a choice yet struggles to go by the path of faith is called “a man of war.”

6. RABASH, Article No. 440, "Pinhas Saw"

One should always be in a state of overcoming. This is considered that he is always at war, as our sages said, “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination” (Berachot 5a), and RASHI interpreted, “make war with it.”

If a person always walks in a state of above reason, the Creator says, “Behold, I give him My covenant of peace,” as it is written, “I will hear what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace to His people and to His followers and let them not return to folly” (Psalms 85).

This means that after the Creator makes a covenant of peace with a person, he has no more wars, as it is written, “When the Lord favors man’s ways, even his enemies will make peace with him.”

7. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, "What Is 'The Creator Hates the Bodies,' in the Work?"

One should believe that the obstructions of the will to receive in the work come to him from above. One is given the force to discover the will to receive from above because there is room for work precisely when the will to receive awakens.

Then one has close contact with the Creator to help him turn the will to receive to work in order to bestow. One must believe that from this extends contentment to the Creator, from his praying to Him to draw him near in the manner of Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” discerned as the annulment of the will to receive, so it is in order to bestow. The Creator says about this, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, I gave you the will to receive, and you ask Me to give you a desire to bestow instead.

8. RABASH, Article No. 14 (1987), "The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror"

Why He has made the work of bestowal so hard was that He wanted the mighty hand to be revealed, as it is written, “for with a mighty hand he will send them, and with a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”

In which way is a mighty hand necessary? It is precisely when the other party resists with all its might. Then it can be said that we must use a mighty hand. But if the other party is weak, it cannot be said that it requires a mighty hand to deal with it. It is as the allegory that Baal HaSulam said, that normally, when two people are disputed, sometimes they move into a fist fight. The one who sees that he cannot overcome the other takes a knife against him. When the other one sees that he has a knife, he takes a pistol, and when that one sees he has a pistol, he takes a rifle, and so forth, until the other one takes a machine gun, and if he has a machine gun, the other one takes a tank. However, we have never heard that if someone takes a stick and wants to hit with it, the other one takes a tank to fight the one who took the stick.

It is likewise in the work. It cannot be said that we must go against Pharaoh with a mighty hand if Pharaoh does not resist very strongly. And since the Creator wanted to show him a mighty hand here, the Creator had to harden Pharaoh’s heart, as it is written, “for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may set these tokens of Mine within him.”

9. Meshivat Nefesh, Item 40

Our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him everyday.” Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” Rather, man must only commit to strengthening himself each time anew, and not retreat from this war or cause oneself despair under any circumstances.

Certainly, in this war, it is impossible to evidently see who is the winner, since the war is still long, the exile is intensifying, and each one experiences what he experiences. Yet, as long as we are holding our weapons in our hands—and our main weapon is the prayer—and as long as we do not cause ourselves despair from this war and keep gripping to our weapons, we are winning for sure, since as long as one strengthens oneself in prayer and outcry to the Creator, he is winning the war, as this is essentially the victory.

10. RABASH, . Article No. 380, "Anyone Who Sanctifies the Seventh – 2"

Our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day. If the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it.” We should understand why the Creator did not give us the power to defeat the evil inclination. But if this is not within man’s hands, why does the Creator not do everything?

In other words, why must one fight with the evil inclination while the Creator only helps him, but if the person does not begin the war, the Creator does not help him? Also, why does the Creator need man to make the war and then He will come and help him, as our sages said, “One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination,” and RASHI interpreted, “make war with it” (Berachot 5a)? This implies that first, one must begin the war and then the Creator helps him.

11. RABASH, . Article No. 380, "Anyone Who Sanctifies the Seventh – 2"

A person must begin the war so as to have Kelim and a need for salvation and the help of the Creator, as was said, “If the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it.” It follows that He did not give man the ability to win the war on purpose, since through the war one obtains the Kelim and need for the abundance.

Hence, we need both: to enter the war so as to obtain Kelim, and the help that is required is that specifically the Creator will help him, since through the help he obtains the inheritance of the land.

12. RABASH, Article No. 8 (1989), "What It Means, in the Work, that If the Good Grows, So Grows the Bad"

Our sages said (Berachot 5), “Rabbi Levi said, ‘One should always vex the good inclination over the evil inclination.’” RASHI explains that he should wage war against the evil inclination. We need to understand what is the purpose of this war. Would it not be better if a person saw that the bad in him did not awaken? Why does he need to awaken it and fight it? It would be better if he did not risk himself, for he might not be able to defeat it, as our sages said, “One must not put oneself in danger.”

In the work, when we want to achieve bestowal, we must say [...], that we want to do everything with the aim to bestow. This is called vexing the good inclination over the evil inclination, since when a person says to his body, “We must work for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake,” the body immediately becomes angry and resists with all its might. It tells him, “You can do anything, but for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake? This is out of the question.” It follows that if he does not vex it, he will never be able to achieve the truth.

13. Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to The Book of Zohar", Item 19

All this agony is felt only by the Klipa of our body, created only to be perished and buried. This teaches us that the will to receive for oneself in us was created only to be eradicated, abolished from the world, and be turned into a desire to bestow. The pains we suffer are but revelations of its nothingness and the harm in it. Indeed, when all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves and have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and jeopardy in the world would cease to exist. We would all be assured of a whole and wholesome life, since each of us would have a whole world caring for us, ready to satisfy our needs.

Yet, while each of us has only a desire to receive for oneself, this is the source of all the worries, suffering, wars, and slaughter we cannot escape. They weaken our bodies with all sorts of sores and maladies, and you find that all the agonies in our world are but manifestations offered to our eyes, to prompt us to revoke the evil Klipa of the body and assume the complete form of the desire to bestow.

14. Baal HaSulam, "The Writings of the Last Generation"

I have already said that there are two ways to discover the completeness: the path of Torah or the path of suffering.

Hence, the Creator has given humanity technology, until they have invented the atom and the hydrogen bombs. If the total ruin that they are destined to bring upon the world is still not evident to the world, they can wait for a third world war, or a fourth one. The bombs will do their thing, and the relics who remain after the ruin will have no other choice but to take upon themselves this work where both individuals and nations will not work for themselves more than is necessary for their sustenance, while everything else they do will be for the good of others. If all the nations of the world agree to it, there will no longer be wars in the world, for no person will be concerned with his own good whatsoever, but only with the good of others.

15. Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death], "Behold, How Good and How Pleasant", No. 65-66

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together.” These are the friends as they sit together, and are not separated from each other. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill one another. Then they return to being in brotherly love. The Creator says about them, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together” The word, “also,” comes to include the Shechina with them. Moreover, the Creator listens to their words and He has contentment and delights with them.

16. RABASH, Letter No. 8

At the end of the day, this is a group of people who have gathered in a certain place, under a certain leader, to be together. With superhuman courage they face up to all those who rise against them. Indeed, they are brave men with a strong spirit, and they are determined not to retreat one inch. They are first-class fighters, fighting the war against the inclination to their last drop of blood, and their only wish is to win the battle for the glory of His name.

17. RABASH, Article No. 162, "Love of Others"

I look at one tiny dot, called “love of others,” and I think about it: What can I do in order to benefit people? As I look at the general public, I see the suffering of individuals, illnesses and pains, and the suffering of individuals inflicted by the collective, meaning wars among nations. And besides prayer, there is nothing to give. This is called “He who aches because of the affliction of the public”

The Creator Heals with What He Strikes

18. RABASH, . Article No.289 “The Creator Is Meticulous with the Righteous”

The blow that one receives from the Creator, when He takes from him the flavor of the work, by this itself He heals him because then he has no other way to serve the Creator but with faith above reason. It follows that the blow that he received from the Creator, from this itself he can be healed, for otherwise, he will remain in separation.

By this we understand what our sages said, that by the blows of the Creator, He heals (Mechilta BeShalach). In other words, this is the healing—that He gives him room to work with faith without any support.

19. Rabash. Notes.133. It Is All Corrections

“All the illnesses that I had placed on Egypt, I will not place on you, for I the Lord am your healer” (Exodus 15:26).Our sages ask, “If I do not place the illness, what is the need for a healer?” (Sanhedrin 101a).We should interpret that since I am the healer, why should I place on you an illness if I must heal the illness? What do I gain by placing an illness? It must be as a punishment, and if I must heal the illness, what kind of punishment is it? It is as though I work for nothing.

For this reason, I will not place illness upon you, and what you think is illness, you are wrong about it. Rather, all the states you feel, if you attribute them to Me, are all corrections by which you will approach Me in Dvekut [adhesion].

20. RABASH, Article No. 15 (1984), "Can Something Negative Come Down from Above"

The important thing is to know what is the real illness. It turns out that the large sum you pay a great expert compared to a doctor who is not an expert is to determine precisely what is the illness.

It turns out that determining the flaw, which is considered negative, is nonetheless positive. That is, knowing the illness is actually a correction because now he knows what to correct. It turns out that knowing the illness is part of the healing of the illness, since it is impossible to heal the illness if he does not know the cause of the illness.

21. RABASH, Article No. 30 (1991), "What Does It Mean that One Who Was On a Far Off Way Is Postponed to a Second Passover, in the Work?"

There is a correction from above that a person cannot see the evil, since there is a rule that one is not shown more than one can correct in oneself. It is as in corporeality, when one is not told one’s true illness if the illness is incurable.

For this reason, precisely He who comes to defile, who want to see the truth, it is opened for him. If he wants to advance and prays to be shown the true measure of the bad that is found in the will to receive for oneself, he is assisted from above, meaning he is defiled from above. That is, he is shown from above the harm in Tuma’a. At that time, he begins to pray from the bottom of the heart that the Creator will give him the desire to bestow instead of the will to receive that he has by nature, and to be given a second nature, which is a gift from above.

22. Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Al HaTorah, “Three Partners”

It is impossible to attribute the bad to the Creator since he is the absolute good. Hence, as long as one feels bad states, he must say that they come from elsewhere, from the environment. But in truth, when one is rewarded with seeing only good and that there is no bad in the world, and everything is turned to good, then he is shown the truth, that the Creator did everything because He is almighty, and He alone did, does, and will do all the deeds.

23. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 5

I rejoice in those revealed corruptions and the ones that are being revealed.

I do, however, regret and complain about the corruptions that have still not appeared, but which are destined to appear, for a hidden corruption is hopeless, and its surfacing is a great salvation from heaven. The rule is that one does not give what he does not have. Hence, if it has appeared now, there is no doubt that it was here to begin with but was hidden. This is why I am happy when they come out of their holes because when you cast your eye on them, they become a pile of bones.

24. RABASH, . Article No. 60, "A Request for Help"

When a person suffers from some corporeal affliction, he should be sorry that the Creator punished him, that he is afflicted. If he is not sorry, it is not a punishment, since a punishment is that which hurts a person and he cannot tolerate his situation, whether sorrow over provision or sorrow over illness.

If he says that he does not feel the sorrow, then he did not receive the punishment that the Creator has given him. We must know that the punishment is a correction for his soul. Thus, if he is not sorry, he has lost the correction.

One should pray to the Creator to take away from him the suffering and sorrow that he feels, since a prayer that stems from suffering is a greater correction than the correction of the punishment.

As I heard from Baal HaSulam, the Creator punishes a person not as a revenge, punishing him for not obeying Him, as do people. Rather, the punishment is a correction.

25. RABASH, Article No. 60, "A Request for Help"

When one prays to the Creator to take away from him the punishment, it is as though he is asking the Creator to take away from him the correction. He asked, How can a person ask the Creator to take away from him the correction, if the correction is in man’s favor? And he explained that through the prayer when one asks the Creator to help him, he acquires connection with the Creator, and this is a greater correction than the correction that a person receives through the punishment.

26. RABASH, Article No. 1 (1991), "What Is, 'We Have No Other King But You,' in the Work?

A person should say that the fact that he in a lowly state is not because now he has become worse. Rather, now, since he wants to correct himself so that all his actions will be for the sake of the Creator, from above he is shown his true state—what is in his body, which until now was concealed and was not apparent. Now the Creator has revealed them, as it is written in the book A Sage’s Fruit.

A person says about this that it is mercy that the Creator has revealed to him the bad in him so he would know the truth and would be able to ask of the Creator for a real prayer. It follows that on one hand, now he sees that he is far from the Creator. On the other hand, a person should say that the Creator is close to him and tends to him, and shows him the faults. Hence, he should say that they are mercies.

Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him

27. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 1, "There is None Else Besides Him"

It is written, “There is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what one sees, that there are things in the world that deny the upper household, the reason is that this is His will.

This is deemed a correction called “the left rejects and the right pulls closer,” meaning that what the left rejects is considered a correction. This means that there are things in the world that, to begin with, aim to divert a person from the right way, and by which he is rejected from Kedusha [holiness].

The benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a complete need and desire for the Creator to help him since he sees that otherwise he is lost.

28. Zohar for All, Introduction of The Book of Zohar, "On the Night of the Bride", Item 138

It is a law that the creature cannot receive disclosed evil from the Creator, for it is a flaw in the glory of the Creator for the creature to perceive Him as an evildoer, for this is unbecoming of the complete Operator. Hence, when one feels bad, denial of the Creator’s guidance lies upon him and the superior Operator is concealed from him to that same extent. This is the greatest punishment in the world.

Thus, the sensation of good and evil in relation to His guidance brings with it the sensation of reward and punishment, for one who exerts to not part from faith in the Creator is rewarded even when he tastes a bad taste in Providence. And if he does not exert, he will have a punishment because he is separated from faith in the Creator.

29. Baal HaSulam, Letter 18

One has no choice but to direct all the present and future moments to be offered and presented to His great name. One who rejects a moment before Him for it is difficult displays his folly openly, for all the worlds and all the times are not worthwhile for him because the light of His face is not clothed in the changing times and occasions although one’s work certainly changes because of them. This is why thanks to our holy fathers, faith and confidence above reason have been prepared for us, which one uses in the tougher times effortlessly and tirelessly.

30. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 18

First thing in the morning, when he rises from his sleep, he should sanctify the first moment with Dvekut with Him, pour out his heart to the Creator to keep him throughout the twenty-four hours of the day so that no idle thought will come into his mind, and he will not consider it impossible or above nature.

Indeed, it is the image of nature that makes an iron partition, and one should cancel nature’s partitions that he feels. Rather, first he must believe that nature’s partitions do not cut off from Him. Afterward, he should pray from the bottom of his heart, even for something that is above his natural desire.

Understand this always, even when forms that are not of Kedusha [holiness] traverse you, and they will instantly stop when you remember. See that you pour out your heart that henceforth the Creator will save you from cessations of Dvekut with Him. Gradually, your heart will grow accustomed to the Creator and will yearn to adhere to Him in truth, and the Lord’s desire will succeed by you.

31. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 18

One who assumes the complete burden of the kingdom of heaven finds no labor in the work of the Creator, and can therefore adhere to the Creator day and night, in light and in darkness. The Geshem [“rain,” but also “corporeality”]—which is created in coming and going, changes and exchanges—will not stop him since the Keter, which is Ein Sof, illuminates to all completely equally. The fool—who walks under a flood of preventions that pour on him from before and from behind—says to all that he does not feel the cessation and the lack of Dvekut [adhesion] as a corruption or iniquity on his part.

Had he sensed it, he would certainly have strained to find some tactic to at least be saved from the cessation of Dvekut, whether more or less. This tactic has never been denied of anyone who sought it, either as in “the thought of faith” or as in “confidence,” or as in “pleas of his prayer,” which are suitable for a person specifically in the narrow and pressured places, for even a thief in hiding calls on the Creator.

32. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 138, "Concerning Fear that Sometimes Comes Upon a Person"

When fear comes upon a person, he should know that there is none else but Him. And even witchcraft. And if he sees that fear overcomes him, he should say that there is no such thing as chance, but the Creator has given him a chance from above, and he must contemplate and study the end to which he has been sent this fear. It appears that it is so that he will overcome and say, “There is none else besides Him.”

But if after all this, the fear has not departed him, he should take it as an example and say that his servitude of the Creator should be in the same measure of the fear, meaning that the fear of heaven, which is a merit, should be in the same manner of fear that he now has. That is, the body is impressed by this superficial fear, and exactly in the same way that the body is impressed, so should be the fear of heaven.

33. RABASH, Article No. 6 (1990), "When Should One Use Pride in the Work?"

A person should pay attention to this and believe that the Creator is tending to him and guides him on the track that leads to the King’s palace. It follows that he should be happy that the Creator is watching over him and gives him the descents, as well. That is, a person should believe, as much as he can understand, that the Creator is giving him the ascents, since certainly, a person cannot say that he himself receives the ascents, but that the Creator wants to bring him closer; this is why He gives him the ascents.

Also, a person should believe that the Creator gives him the descents, as well, because He wants to bring him closer. Therefore, every single thing that he can do, he must do as though he is in a state of ascent. Therefore, when he overcomes a little during the descent, it is called an “awakening from below.” Each act that he does, he believes that it is the Creator’s will, and by this itself he is rewarded with greater nearing, meaning that the person himself begins to feel that the Creator has brought him closer.

34. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1990), "Why Is the Torah Called 'Middle Line' in the Work? – 2"

One must believe that “there is none else besides Him,” meaning that it is the Creator who compels him to do the good deeds, but since he is still unworthy of knowing that it is the Creator who commits him, the Creator dresses Himself in dresses of flesh and blood, through which the Creator performs these actions. Thus, the Creator acts in the form of Achoraim [posterior].

In other words, the person sees people’s faces but he should believe that behind the faces stands the Creator and performs these actions. That is, behind the man stands the Creator and compels him to do the deeds that the Creator wants. It follows that the Creator does everything, but the person regards what he sees and not what he should believe.

35. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 1, "There Is None Else Besides Him"

One must always try and adhere to the Creator, namely that all his thoughts will be about Him. That is to say, even if he is in the worst state, from which there cannot be a greater decline, he should not leave His domain, namely that there is another authority that prevents him from entering the Kedusha [holiness], that can bring benefit or harm.

That is, he must not think that there is a force of the Sitra Achra [other side] that does not let a person do good deeds and walk in the ways of the Creator. Rather, all is done by the Creator.

36. Zohar for All, Introduction of the Book of Zohar "Two Points" Item 121

All the many contradictions to His uniqueness, which we taste in this world, separate us from the Creator. Yet, when exerting to keep Torah and Mitzvot with love, with our soul and might, as we are commanded—to bestow contentment upon our Maker—all those forces of separation do not affect us into subtracting any of the love of the Creator with all our souls and might. Rather, in that state, every contradiction we have overcome becomes a gate for attainment of His wisdom. This is so because there is a special quality in each contradiction—revealing a special degree in attaining Him. And those worthy ones who have been rewarded with it turn darkness into light and bitter into sweet, for all the powers of separation—from the darkness of the mind and the bitterness of the body—have become to them gates for obtainment of sublime degrees. Thus, the darkness becomes a great light and the bitter becomes sweet.

Hence, to the extent that they previously had all the conducts of His guidance toward the forces of separation, now they have all been inverted into forces of unification, and sentence the entire world to the side of merit.

37. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 172, "The Matter of Preventions and Delays"

All the preventions and delays that appear before our eyes are but a form of nearing—the Creator wants to bring us closer, and all these preventions bring us only nearing, since without them we would have no possibility of approaching Him. This is so because, by nature, there is no greater distance, as we are made of pure matter while the Creator is higher than high. Only when one begins to approach does he begin to feel the distance between us. And any prevention one overcomes brings the way closer for that person.

38. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 70, "With a Mighty Hand and with Fury Poured Out"

When one overcomes all the hardships and the disturbances, one is not easily repelled, but with a mighty hand. And if one overcomes even the mighty hand and does not want to move from the place of Kedusha [holiness] whatsoever, but wants to adhere specifically to Him in truth, and sees that he is repelled, then one says that fury is poured out on him. Otherwise, he would be allowed inside. But because fury is poured out on him by the Creator, he is not admitted into the King’s palace to adhere to Him.

It follows that before one wants to move from one’s place, and breaks in and wants to enter, it cannot be said that he feels that fury is poured out on him. Rather, after all the rejections that he is rejected, and he does not move from his place, meaning when the mighty hand and the fury poured out have already been revealed upon him, then “I will be King over you” comes true. This is so because only through bursting and great efforts does the kingdom of heaven become revealed to him, and he is rewarded with entering the King’s palace.

39. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52

When a person introspects and feels his poor state, he awakens to return to the Creator and pours out his prayer in great longing to adhere to the Creator. He thinks that all those prayers and all that awakening are by his own power. He sits and awaits the Creator’s salvation, small or great. When time passes and he sees no sign of welcome from the Creator, he falls into despair because the Creator does not want him, since after all this longing, He did not turn to him at all.

It is written about this: “Seek the Lord while He is found.” That is, when the Creator presents Himself to you for asking, then you will necessarily seek Him, too, for it is man’s way to move first. In other words, the Creator first gives you the heart to seek Him. When you know this, you will certainly grow stronger, as strong as you can ask, for the King is calling you.

40. RABASH, Article No. 28 (1987), "What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?"

He must believe above reason and imagine that he has already been rewarded with faith in the Creator that is felt in his organs, and he sees and feels that the Creator leads the entire world as the good who does good. Although when he looks within reason he sees the opposite, he should still work above reason and it should appear to him as though he can already feel in his organs that so it really is, that the Creator leads the world as the good who does good.

Here he acquires the importance of the goal, and from here he derives life, meaning joy at being near to the Creator. Then a person can say that the Creator is good and does good.

41. RABASH, Article No. 23 (1989),"What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work?"

When one begins the work, he begins with faith, but the body resists this work, and then comes a state of labor, when he must overcome the body and seek all kinds of counsels, as our sages said, “In trickery shall you conduct war,” since the body does not want to relinquish self-benefit. To the extent that he exerts, to that extent he begins to feel that he is incapable of doing anything since in his view, he has done everything he could. After the labor, he comes to know that only the Creator can help, and it is out of his hands. […] and then the prayer is from the bottom of the heart, since it is utterly clear to him that no one can help him but the Creator.

42. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 1

Everyone believes in private Providence, but do not adhere to it at all.

The reason is that an alien and foul thought … cannot be attributed to the Creator, who is the epitome of the “good who does good.” However, only to the true servants of the Creator does the knowledge of private Providence open, that He caused all the reasons that preceded it, both good and bad. Then they are adhered to private Providence, for all who are connected to the pure are pure.

Since the Guardian is united with His guarded, there is no apparent division between bad and good. They are all loved and are all clear, for they are all carriers of the vessels of the Creator, ready to glorify the revelation of His uniqueness. It is known by the senses, and to that extent, they have knowledge in the end that all the actions and the thoughts, both good and bad, are the carriers of the vessels of the Creator. He prepared them, from His mouth they emerged, and at the end of correction it will be known to all.

43. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 8

There is a sublime purpose for all that happens in this world, and it is called “the drop of unification.” When those dwellers of clay houses go through all those terrors, through all that totality, in His pride, which is removed from them, a door opens in the walls of their hearts, which are tightly sealed by the nature of creation itself, and by this they become fit for instilling that drop of unification in their hearts. Then they are inverted like an imprinted substance, and they will evidently see that it is to the contrary—that it was precisely in those dreadful terrors that they perceive the totality, which is removed by foreign pride. There, and only there, is the Creator Himself adhered, and there He can instill them with the drop of unification.

44. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, "What Is 'The Creator Hates the Bodies,' in the Work?"

One’s hope should be that since he cannot break free from the power of the will to receive, he is therefore in perpetual ascents and descents. Hence, he awaits the Creator, to be rewarded with the Creator opening his eyes, and to have the strength to overcome and work only for the sake of the Creator. It is as it is written, “One have I asked of the Lord; her will I seek.” “Her” means the Shechina [Divinity]. And one asks “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

Additional Excerpts (45 - 72)

• Dispute as a Basis for Peace

• Peace between Opposites

• Peace among Friends

Dispute as a Basis for Peace

45. RABASH. Article No.36 (1991) “What Is, “Peace, Peace, to the Far and to the Near,” in the Work?”

peace being specifically where there is a dispute, so why did the Creator create the world with a dispute to begin with? The answer is that a dispute exists wherever there are opposite things. Since the world was created with a Kli [vessel] of a desire to receive, since otherwise, if there is no desire to receive something, it is impossible to enjoy it; therefore, creation emerged with a nature of wanting to receive for oneself. Afterward, in order to correct it so there will not be the matter of shame in it, the creatures must acquire a second nature, meaning to acquire the desire of the Creator, whose desire is to bestow. For this reason, a dispute emerged from this.

46. RABASH. Article No.36 (1991) “What Is, “Peace, Peace, to the Far and to the Near,” in the Work?”

It follows that the dispute is necessary. That is, if the creatures do not understand the matter of the dispute, they can never achieve the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, since it is impossible to correct anything if we do not know what is missing. Hence, once we know the dispute between the desires, we can make peace between them.

47. RABASH. Article No.36 (1991) “What Is, “Peace, Peace, to the Far and to the Near,” in the Work?”

What is a dispute? It is removing and repelling above and below. One who wishes to repel the correction of the world is lost from all the worlds. A dispute is removing and repelling of the peace. One who disagrees with peace disagrees with His Holy Name, since His Holy Name is called ‘Peace.’

48. RABASH. Article No.36 (1991) “What Is, “Peace, Peace, to the Far and to the Near,” in the Work?”

“Peace” means that peace was done between the Creator and the created beings, meaning that the name of the Creator, that He is good and does good, becomes revealed. Through the dispute, called “disparity of form,” the good cannot be revealed. It follows that the created beings are disputed with the Creator. But when peace is made from the perspective of the vessels, meaning from the perspective of the desires, when it becomes that there is one desire in the world, called “desire to bestow,” then all the delight and pleasure in the world become revealed.

49. RABASH. Article No.34 (1989) “What Is Peace in the Work?

Sometimes, during the ascent, we are at peace with the Creator and say about Him that He leads the world as the good who does good. But during the descent, we haven’t the strength to say that He behaves with a guidance of the good who does good. Hence, we are always in dispute.

Indeed, why is the order of the work so difficult that it requires ascents and descents? The known answer to this is what is written, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” In other words, it is impossible to receive light if he has no lack and need for the light.

For this reason, when a person sees that the nations of the world in him object to the Creator, and he cannot tolerate the enemy of Israel within him, he becomes jealous for his God and does not look at any descents he has, and does what he can and cries out to the Creator to help him be able to defeat the wicked ones within him.

By this he overcomes and does not escape the campaign. At that time, the Creator gives him the covenant. That is, he makes a covenant with Him that there will be peace between him and the Creator, by receiving a gift from the Creator, which is the vessels of bestowal.

50. RABASH. Article No.36 (1991) “What Is, “Peace, Peace, to the Far and to the Near,” in the Work?”

Precisely by peace, the world can exist. Peace means that through peace, it is possible to feel that the Creator is good and does good, since they are receiving the delight and pleasure from the Creator, once peace has been established, meaning when the creatures accept the desire of the Creator, who wants the creatures to do everything for the sake of the Creator.

51. Baal HaSulam, "The Freedom"

The matter of social unity, which can be the source of every joy and success, applies particularly to bodies and bodily matters in people, and the separation between them is the source of every calamity and misfortune.

But with concepts and ideas, it is the complete opposite: Unity and lack of criticism are deemed the source of every failure and hindrance to all the progress and intellectual fertilization. This is because drawing the right conclusions depends particularly on increasing disagreements and separation between views. The more contradictions there are between views and the more criticism there is, the more the knowledge and wisdom increase, and matters become more suitable for examination and clarification.

The degeneration and failure of intelligence stem only from the lack of criticism and disagreement. Thus, evidently, the whole basis of physical success is the measure of unity of the society, and the basis for the success of intelligence and knowledge is the separation and disagreement among them.

52. Baal HaSulam, "The Freedom"

Just as the face of each and every person differs, so their views differ. There are no two people on earth whose opinions are identical, because each person has a great and sublime possession bequeathed to him from his ancestors, and which others have no shred of them.

Therefore, all those possessions are considered the individual’s property, and society is cautioned to preserve its flavor and spirit so it does not become blurred by its environment. Rather, each individual should maintain the integrity of his inheritance. Then, the contradiction and oppositeness between them will remain forever, to forever secure the criticism and progress of the wisdom, which is all of humanity’s advantage and its true eternal desire.

53. Maor Einayim, Portion VaYetze

Everything is one unity, for in the root, from which Daat is extended from the world of Bina, there are no division or dispute at all. Indeed, when all the disputes are elevated to the root of the source, to the world of unity, unity is formed over the names of the people of Israel.

Peace between Opposites

54. Baal HaSulam, "You Have Made Me in Behind and Before"

The whole path of creation that the Creator created is regarded as two opposites in one subject, and all the combinations in the world were made in this way, and this is the whole of the work of creation.

55. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Assorted Counsels, “Peace,” 10

The essence of peace is to connect two opposites. Hence, do not be alarmed if you see a person whose opinion is completely opposite from yours and you think that you will never be able to make peace with him. Or, when you see two people who are completely opposite to each other, do not say it is impossible to make peace between them. On the contrary, the essence of peace is to try to make peace between two opposites.

56. Zohar for All, Tetzaveh [Command], "And in the Desert Where You Saw", Item 86

There is no light except for that which comes out of that darkness. This is so because when that side surrenders, the Creator rises above and His glory grows. Also, the work of the Creator is only out of darkness, and there is no good except from within the bad. And when one enters a bad way and leaves it, the Creator rises in his glory. Hence, the perfection of everything is good and bad together, and to later depart to the good. And there is no good except for that which comes out of the bad. And in that good, the glory of the Creator increases, and this is complete work.

57. Baal HaSulam, "Peace in The World"

Everything in reality, good or bad, and even the most harmful in the world, has a right to exist and must not be destroyed and eradicated from the world. We must only mend and reform it.

58. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 34, "The Advantage of a Land"

It is known that nothing appears in its true form, only through its opposite, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” This means that everything points to another, and by the opposite of something, the existence of its opposite can be perceived.

Hence, it is impossible to attain something in complete clarity if its parallel is absent. For example, it is impossible to estimate and say that something is good, if its opposite, pointing to the bad, is missing. It is the same with bitterness and sweetness, love and hate, hunger and satiation, thirst and saturation, separation and adhesion. It turns out that it is impossible to come to love adhesion prior to acquiring the hate of separation.

Peace among Friends

59. RABASH, Article No. 8 (1985), "Make for Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend – 2"

Those people agreed to unite into a single group that engages in love of friends is that each of them feels that they have one desire that can unite all their views, so as to receive the strength of love of others. There is a famous maxim by our sages, “As their faces differ, their views differ.” Thus, those who agreed among them to unite into a group understood that there isn’t such a great distance between them in the sense that they recognize the necessity to work in love of others. Therefore, each of them will be able to make concessions in favor of the others, and they can unite around that.

60. Likutey Etzot, "Peace,” Item 10

One must not look at one's friend unfavorably, finding in him precisely that which is not good and searching for flaws in his friend's work. On the contrary, one must only look at the good and always search and find in him merit and good, and by this there will be peace with everything.

61. The Holy Shlah, Shaar HaOtiot, Vol. 2

Although your friend's virtues are not equal to yours, you must tolerate him and love him, for so the Creator created him.

62. RABASH, Article No. 17, Part 1, (1984), "Concerning the Importance of Friends"

How can one consider one’s friend greater than himself when he can see that his own merits are greater than his friend’s, that he is more talented and has better natural qualities? There are two ways to understand this:

1. He is going with faith above reason: once he has chosen him as a friend, he appreciates him above reason.

2. This is more natural—within reason. If he has decided to accept the other as a friend, and works on himself to love him, then it is natural with love to see only good things. And even though there are bad things in one’s friend, he cannot see them, as it is written, “love covers all transgressions.”

63. RABASH, Article No. 273, "The Mightiest of the Mighty"

“Who is the mightiest of the mighty? He who makes his foe his friend” (Avot de Rabbi Natan, Chapter 23).

In ethics, we should interpret that “mighty” is “one who conquers his inclination” (Avot, Chapter 4). That is, he works with the good inclination and subdues the evil inclination.

The mightiest of the mighty is one who works also with the evil inclination, as our sages said, “With all your heart—with both your inclinations” (Berachot 54), where the evil inclination, too, serves the Creator. It follows that he makes his foe, the evil inclination, his friend. And since the evil inclination is also serving the Creator, it follows that here he has more work, for which he is called “the mightiest of the mighty.”

64. Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death], "Behold, How Good and How Pleasant", Items 65

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together.” These are the friends as they sit together, and are not separated from each other. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill one another. Then they return to being in brotherly love.

The Creator says about them, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together” The word, “also,” comes to include the Shechina with them. Moreover, the Creator listens to their words and He has contentment and delights with them.

65. RABASH, Letter No. 5

You should do more in love of friends. It is impossible to achieve lasting love, unless through Dvekut [adhesion], meaning that the two of you will unite in a tight bond. This can be only if you try to “undress” the clothing in which the inner soul is placed. This clothing is called “self-love,” for only this clothing separates two points. But if we walk on the straight path, the two points—which are discerned as two lines that refute one another—become a middle line that contains both lines together.

66. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 11

I will also ask that you make great efforts in love of friends, to devise tactics that can increase the love among the friends and revoke the lust for bodily matters from among you, as this is what casts hate, and between those who give contentment to their Maker there shall be no hatred. Rather, there are great compassion and love between them, and these things are simple.

67. Maor VaShemesh, Devarim

The most important is true connection and love and affection among the friends. This causes all the salvations and sweetening of judgments. When you gather together in love and friendship, by this, all the judgments are removed, sweetened with mercy, and complete mercy and disclosed Hassadim [mercy/grace] are revealed in the world by connecting.

68. RABASH, Article No. 738, "A Covenant of Salt"

“On all your offerings you shall offer salt.” This is the covenant of the salt, which is a covenant against the intellect, for when one takes good things from one’s friend, they should make a covenant.

A covenant is needed precisely when each one has demands and complaints against the other, and they might come into anger and separation. At that time, the covenant they made obligates them to maintain the love and unity between them, for the rule is that whenever someone wishes to hurt the other, they have a cure—to remember the covenant that they had made between them.

This obligates them to maintain the love and peace. This is the meaning of “On all your offerings you shall offer salt,” meaning that any nearing in the work of the Creator should be through a covenant of salt, as this is the whole foundation.

69. Likutey Torah, Nitzavim 44b

By making the covenant, their love will be eternal love and will never fail. No prevention will part them, since they make between them a strong and steadfast tie, to unite and connect through their heart with a wondrous knot and above mind and reason. Although the mind and reason should have stopped the love or cause some hate, still, because of the making of the covenant, their love will exist forever. This love and this steadfast ties will cover all crimes since they have made the covenant of connection as though they have become one flesh. And as one cannot stop being loved himself, so he will not stop loving his friend.

70. Likutey Halachot [Assorted Rules], “Synagogue Rules,” Rule One

The ascension of the soul and its completeness is mainly when all the souls merge and become one, for then they rise to the Kedusha [holiness], since the Kedusha is one. Therefore, the prayer, which is regarded as the soul, depends primarily on the unity of souls. For this reason, a prayer is mainly in public and not alone, so that one will not be separated and alone, as this is the opposite of Kedusha. Rather, we must unite the holy congregation together and become one, and this is a prayer in public.

71. Baal HaSulam, Letter 53

... Indeed, you have caused me much work concerning the separation and hatred that has been sown and grown among you to an extent that I did not foresee. Each of the students, may they live forever, is like an organ in my own body, and behold, there is no peace among my bones because of my sin. Therefore, I must begin to cleanse myself like a newborn baby until I merit making peace among the students.

72. Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death], "Behold, How Good and How Pleasant", Item 66

And you, the friends who are here, as you were in fondness and love before, henceforth you will also not part until the Creator rejoices with you and summons peace upon you. And by your merit there will be peace in the world, as it is written, “For the sake of my brothers and my friends let me say, ‘Let peace be in you.’”