The Center of The Ten - Selected Passages From the Sources (2019)

1. Baal Ha’Sulam. Letter 2
The most important matter is called “love”, which is the spiritual connection between Israel and their Father in heaven, as it is written, “And You shall bring us, Our King, to Your great Name Selah, in truth and love”, and as it is written, “Who chooses His people, Israel, with love”. This is the beginning of salvation and the end of correction, when the Creator reveals to His creations - which He has created - all the love that was previously hidden in His heart.

2. Maor VaShemesh, Haazinu

The whole purpose of creation was that bestowal would come down only through an awakening from below and raising of MAN that the assembly of Israel awakens. When they raise MAN, by this all the words ascend and add passion to adhere to their root. This is the main joy of the Creator, when Israel cleanse themselves from the depths of corporeality and yearn to adhere to their Creator.

3. Rabash. Letter 76
It is known that “The whole earth is full of His glory.” This is what every person should believe, as it is written, “I fill the heaven and the earth.” However, the Creator has made a concealment so that we cannot see Him so as to have room for choice, and then there is room for faith—to believe that the Creator “fills all the worlds and encompasses all the worlds.” And after a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot and keeps the commandment of choice, the Creator reveals Himself to him, and then he sees that the Creator is the ruler of the world. Thus, at that time a person makes the king who will rule over him. That is, a person feels that the Creator is the ruler of the world, and this is regarded as a person making the Creator king over him. As long as one has not come to such a feeling, the Creator’s kingship is concealed. This is why we say, “On that day, the Lord will be one and His name, ‘One.’” That is, the glory of His kingship will appear over us. This is the whole correction we must do in this world, and by that we extend abundance in the world, for all the bestowals from above are drawn by engaging in Torah and Mitzvot with the aim to extend His kingship on us.

4. Baal Hasulam. Article 557. Concerning Ohr Hozer [reflected light]
Why not everyone has the sensation of Godliness, since it is written, “I fill the heaven and the earth,” and “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and yet we do not feel anything. The answer is that where there is no clothing called Ohr Hozer, the upper light is regarded as nonexistent from the perspective of the emanated being, and because the whole meaning of the Ohr Hozer is that he receives only according to the intention to bestow, as long as one has not emerged from self-reception, he does not have this Ohr Hozer. Thus, although “The whole earth is full of His glory,” it is regarded as nonexistent from the perspective of the lower one. It follows that the only thing that one must do in order to achieve the goal is to focus all of one’s work on one point: to be able to dedicate all of one’s free time for the sake of the Creator. This is the meaning of “Everything is in the hand of heaven but the fear of heaven.” This means that the Creator gives everything. The upper lights are already prepared for a person, as in “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to nurse,” and all we need is a Kli [vessel]. After the Tzimtzum [restriction], this Kli is called Masach and Ohr Hozer, and this is what connects the upper with the lower. That is, through it, the lower one connects to the upper one. When this connector does not exist, the lower one cannot see the upper one, and the upper one is regarded as nonexistent from the perspective of the lower one. Hence, to the extent that one begins to work for the sake of the Creator, to that extent he acquires connection with the upper light. And by the measure of his connection, so is the measure of his attainment.

5. Rabash. Notes. Article 940. The Point in the Heart
It is written, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell within them.” This pertains to the point in the heart, which should be a Temple where the light of the Creator dwells, as it is written, “And I will dwell within them.” Hence, one should try to build his structure of Kedusha [holiness], and the structure should be able to contain the upper abundance called “abundance poured from the Giver to the receiver.” However, according to the rule, there must be equivalence of form between the Giver and the receiver so the receiver, too, must have the aim to bestow like the Giver. This is called “action,” as it is written, “Let them make Me a Temple,” where the acting applies to the Kli [vessel] and not the light, since the light pertains to the Creator and only the action pertains to the creatures.

6. Baal Hasulam. A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

The Creator does not think of Himself—whether He exists or whether He watches over His creations, and other such doubts. Similarly, one who wishes to achieve equivalence of form must not think of these things, as well, when it is clear to him that the Creator does not think of them, since there is no greater disparity of form than that. Hence, anyone who thinks of such matters is certainly separated from Him and will never achieve equivalence of form. This is what our sages said, “Let all your actions be for the sake of the Creator,” that is, Dvekut with the Creator. Do not do anything that does not yield this goal of Dvekut. This means that all your actions will be to bestow and to benefit your fellow person. At that time, you will achieve equivalence of form with the Creator—as all His actions are to bestow and to benefit others, so you, all your actions will be only to bestow and to benefit others. This is the complete Dvekut.

7. Baal HaSulam. Shamati 36. What Are the Three Bodies in Man
One must think only of the inner body, for it is a clothing for the soul of Kedusha. That is, one should think thoughts that are after one’s skin. This means that after the body’s skin is called “outside one’s body,” meaning outside one’s own benefit, but only thoughts of benefiting others. This is called “outside one’s skin”... When one persists with thoughts that are after one’s skin, he will be rewarded with what is written, “And after my skin they broke this, and from my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19, 26). “This” is the Shechina [Divinity], and she stands after one’s skin. “Broke” means that it has been corrected to be a pillar “after my skin.” At that time, one is awarded “and from my flesh shall I see God.” It means that Kedusha comes and clothes the interior of the body specifically when one agrees to work outside one’s skin, meaning without any clothing.

8. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 42. What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work
It is written, “Annul your will before His will,” meaning annul the will to receive in you before the desire to bestow, which is the will of the Creator. This means that one will revoke self-love before the love of the Creator. This is called “annulling oneself before the Creator,” and it is called Dvekut [adhesion]. Subsequently, the Creator can shine inside your will to receive because it is now corrected in the form of receiving in order to bestow. This is the meaning of “so that He will annul His will before your will.” It means that the Creator annuls His will, meaning the Tzimtzum that was because of the disparity of form. Now, however, when there is already equivalence of form, hence now there is expansion of the light into the desire of the lower one, which has been corrected in order to bestow, for this is the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, and now it can be carried out. Now we can interpret the verse, “I am my beloved’s.” It means that by the “I” annulling my will to receive before the Creator in the form of all to bestow, it obtains “and my beloved is mine.” It means that My beloved, who is the Creator, “is mine,” He imparts me the delight and pleasure found in the thought of creation.

9. Rabash. Notes. Article 128. Exalt the Lord Our God
“Exalt the Lord our God and bow before His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.” “Exalt” means that if one wants to know the exaltedness and greatness of the Creator, we can obtain this only through Dvekut [adhesion] and equivalence of form. Thus, what is “equivalence of form” and how does one achieve equivalence of form? “Bow before His holy mountain.” Bowing means surrendering. It is when one lowers his reason and says that what the reason understands or does not understand, I annul and subjugate it. Before which quality do I subjugate it? Before “His holy mountain.” Har [mountain] means Hirhurim [reflections], meaning thoughts. “His holy,” for “holy” means separated from the matter. This means that he removes himself from the desire of reception. “Bow” means submitting the body, even though it disagrees, and taking upon oneself only thoughts of Kedusha [holiness]. This is the meaning “Bow before His holy mountain.” Why must we submit ourselves to thoughts of Kedusha, meaning retire from receiving in order to receive? It is because “The Lord our God is holy,” for the Creator only bestows. For this reason, one must be in equivalence of form with the Creator, and by this we can obtain the exaltedness of the Creator. Afterward, we can achieve the attainment of the exaltedness of the Lord our God.

10. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 57. Will Bring Him as a Burnt Offering to His Will
We must evoke a desire from above to administer below. It is not enough that we have a desire, but there has to be a good will on the part of the Giver, too. Even though above there is a general desire to do good to His creations, He still waits for our desire to awaken His desire. In other words, if we are unable to evoke His desire, it is a sign that the desire on the part of the receiver is still incomplete.

12. Degel Machaneh Ephraim, VaEtchanan

“The Lord is one and Israel are one”; hence, they are adhered to the Creator, since it befits the One to cling to the one. And when is this? It is when Israel are bundled and attached together in complete unity. At that time, they are regarded as one, and the Creator is upon them, for He is one.

But when their hearts divide and they are apart from one another, they cannot be adhered to the One and the Creator is not on them. Rather, another God is on them. This is implied in the verse, “And you who are adhered,” meaning when you are adhered and united with each other, “You are alive every one of you.” When they are in one unity. Then it befits the One to cling to the one, and the one Creator is upon them.

13. Rabash. A Congregation Is No Less than Ten
Our sages said (Sanhedrin, 39), “In every ten there is Shechina.” It is known that Malchut is called “tenth.” It is also known that the receiving Kli is also called “the Sefira Malchut,” who is the tenth Sefira, receiving the upper abundance. She is called “will to receive,” and all the creatures extend only from her. For this reason, a congregation is no less than ten, since all the corporeal branches extend from the upper roots. Therefore, according to the rule, “There is no light that does not have ten Sefirot,” in corporeality, something is not considered a congregation that can be regarded as important unless there are ten men there, such as the upper degrees.

14. Rabash. What Does the Rule "Love Thy Friend as Thyself" Give Us
“A sacred audience,” we are referring to a number of individuals who have gathered and formed a unit. Afterwards, a head is appointed to the audience, etc., and this is called a Minian [ten/quorum] or a “congregation.” At least ten people must be present, and then it is possible to say Kedusha (a specific part of a Jewish prayer) at the service. The Zohar says about it: “Wherever there are ten, the Shechina [Divinity] dwells.” This means that in a place where there are ten men, there is a place for the dwelling of the Shechina.

15. Rabash. Article 1 - Part 2 (1984) “Purpose of Society - 2”
Since man is created with a Kli called “self-love,” where one does not see that an act will yield self-benefit, one has no motivation to make even the slightest motion. And without annulling self-love, it is impossible to achieve Dvekut [adhesion)] with the Creator, meaning equivalence of form. And since it is against our nature, we need a society that will form a great force so we can work together on annulling the will to receive, called “evil,” as it hinders the achievement of the goal for which man was created. For this reason, society must consist of individuals who unanimously agree that they must achieve it. Then, all the individuals become one great force that can fight against itself, since everyone is integrated in everyone else. Thus, each person is founded on a great desire to achieve the goal. To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than his friends can no longer unite with them.

16. Rabash, Vol 1, Article 8, Make for yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend - 2, 1985
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.

17. Maor VaShemesh, Ekev

It is known that in every ten there is Shechina [Divinity], and this is a complete level. In a complete level, there are head, hands, legs, and heels. It follows that when every person regards himself as nothing in society, then he regards himself as a heel compared to the society, while they are the head, the body, and the higher organs. When each one thinks of himself in this way, they make the gates of abundance and every lushness in the world open up to them. And the most important is that righteous who can best grasp a discernment that is more “null” than all of them. Through him, all the abundance flows.

18. Rabash. Article 6 (1984) Love of Friends - 2

Several individuals must come together with the desire to abandon self-love, but without the sufficient force and appreciation for bestowal to become independent, without help from the outside. Now, if these individuals annul before one another, since each of them has at least potential love of the Creator, though they cannot actually keep it, then by each joining the society and annulling oneself before it, they become one body. For example, if there are ten people in that body, it has ten times more power than a single person does. However, there is a condition: When they gather, each of them should think that he has now come for the purpose of annulling self-love. It means that he will not consider how to satisfy his will to receive now, but will think as much as possible only of the love of others. This is the only way to acquire the desire and the need to acquire a new quality, called “the will to bestow.” And from love of friends one can reach love of the Creator, meaning wanting to give contentment to the Creator.

19. Avodat Israel [The Work of Israel], Portion Shlach

Our sages said, “Dispersion is good for the wicked and gathering is good for the righteous.” This is according to what the ARI said, that in the worlds of Igulim [circles], one Igul [circle] does not touch another, and there the breaking happened until it was corrected in the world of Yosher [straightness]. The meaning of the matter and the allegory is that the mind of the Igulim is that it is as one who surrounds and encircles himself, and becomes separated from his Maker. It seems to him that he will lead himself by his own will, and he is haughty and says, “I will rule,” and this was the shattering. Likewise, among the righteous, the heart of each one is haughty, saying “I will rule,” which is why they are in the world of separation and cannot connect, like the circles, as we can evidently see, for they cannot sit together. To them, dispersion is good. Conversely, although each of the righteous serves his Creator in a different style, they all aim at the same thing—their father in Heaven. They gather and assemble one by one, as one man with one heart, and each one diminishes himself and glorifies the work for the sake of the Creator, who gives him the strength and intelligence by which to serve Him. Hence, one will not be arrogant toward his friend, and they are in the world of straightness and unite with one another.

20. Maor VaShemesh, VaYechi

The essence of the assembly is for everyone to be in one unity and for all to seek but one purpose: to find the Creator. In every ten there is the Shechina [Divinity]. Clearly, if there are more than ten then there is more revelation of the Shechina. Thus, each one should assemble with his friend and come to him to hear from him a word about the work of the Creator, and how to find the Creator. He should annul before his friend, and his friend should do the same toward him, and so should everyone do. Then, when the assembly is with this intention, then “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to nurse,” and the Creator approaches them and He is with them, and great mercies and good and revealed kindness will be extended over the assembly of Israel.

21. Rabash. Letter 42
It is written, “And the people encamped, as one man with one heart.” This means that they all had one goal, which is to benefit the Creator. It follows… We should understand how they could be as one man with one heart, since we know what our sages said, “As their faces are not similar to one another, their views are not similar to one another,” so how could they be as one man with one heart?
Answer: If we are saying that each one cares for himself, it is impossible to be as one man, since they are not similar to one another. However, if they all annul their selves and worry only about the benefit of the Creator, they have no individual views, since the individuals have all been canceled and have entered the single authority.

22. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 19. “What Is “The Creator Hates the Bodies,” in the Work?”
It follows that the importance of the work is precisely when one comes to a state of zero, when one sees that he annuls his whole existence and being, for then the will to receive has no power. Only then does one enter the Kedusha.

23. Rabash. Letter 65

A person must decide that he wants the Creator to give him a desire to completely annul before Him, meaning not leave any desire under his own authority, but that all the desires in him will be only to give glory to the Creator. Once he decides on complete annulment, he asks the Creator to help him execute it. This means that although in the mind and the desire he sees that the body disagrees with him annulling all his desires before the Creator instead of for his own sake, he should pray to the Creator to help him want to annul before Him with all the desires, leaving no desire for himself. This is called a “complete prayer,” meaning that he wishes that the Creator will give him a complete desire without any compromises to himself, and he asks of the Creator to help him always be with his righteousness.

24. Baal Hasulam. Introduction to the Book of Zohar. Item 13
By the very thought to create the souls, His thought completed everything, for He does not need an act, as do we. Instantaneously, all the souls and worlds that were destined to be created emerged filled with all the delight and pleasure and the gentleness that He had planned for them, in the final perfection that the souls were destined to receive at the end of correction, after the will to receive in the souls has been fully corrected and has turned into pure bestowal, in complete equivalence of form with the Emanator. This is so because in His eternalness, past, present, and future are as one. The future is as the present, and there is no such thing as time in Him. by the very thought to create the souls, His thought completed everything, for He does not need an act, as do we. Instantaneously, all the souls and worlds that were destined to be created emerged filled with all the delight and pleasure and the gentleness that He had planned for them, in the final perfection that the souls were destined to receive at the end of correction, after the will to receive in the souls has been fully corrected and has turned into pure bestowal, in complete equivalence of form with the Emanator. This is so because in His eternalness, past, present, and future are as one. The future is as the present, and there is no such thing as time in Him. Hence, there was never an issue of a corrupted will to receive in its separated state in Ein Sof. On the contrary, that equivalence of form, destined to be revealed at the end of correction, appeared instantly in His eternalness. Our sages said about this: “Before the world was created, there were He is one and His name One,” for the separated form in the will to receive had not been revealed in the reality of the souls that emerged in the thought of creation. Rather, they were adhered to Him in equivalence of form by way of “He is one and His name One.”

25. Baal Hasulam. Letter 25
One who repents from love is rewarded with complete Dvekut [adhesion], meaning the highest degree, and one who is ready for sins is in the netherworld. These are the farthest two points in this entire reality. It would seem that we should be meticulous with the word “repentance,” which should have been called “wholeness,” except it is to show that everything is preordained, and each and every soul is already established in all its light, goodness, and eternity. But for the bread of shame, the soul went out in restrictions until it clothed in the murky body, and only through it does it return to its root prior to the Tzimtzum [restriction], with its reward in its hand from all the terrible move it had made. The overall reward is the real Dvekut, meaning that she [the soul] got rid of the bread of shame because her vessel of reception has become a vessel of bestowal and her form is equal to her Maker, and I have often spoken to you about that. By this you will see that if the descent is for the purpose of ascending, it is regarded as an ascent and not as a descent. Indeed, the descent itself is the ascent as the letters of the prayer themselves are filled with abundance, and with a short prayer, the abundance is small for lack of letters.

26. Rabash - Notes. Article 645. By Your Actions, We Know You
It is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” as it is written in The Zohar, “There is no place vacant of Him.” Yet, we do not feel it for our lack of tools of sensation. We can see that with a radio receiver, which receives all the signals in the world, the receiver does not create the sounds. Rather, the sound exists in the world, but before we had the receiving device, we did not detect the sounds although they did exist in reality. Likewise, we can understand that “There is no place vacant of Him,” but we need a receiving device. That receiving device is called Dvekut [adhesion] and “equivalence of form,” which is a desire to bestow. When we have this machine, we will immediately feel that there is no place vacant of Him, but rather “The whole earth is full of His glory.”

27. Rabash - Notes. Article 557. Concerning Ohr Hozer [reflected light]
The upper lights are already prepared for a person, as in “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to nurse,” and all we need is a Kli [vessel]. After the Tzimtzum [restriction], this Kli is called Masach and Ohr Hozer, and this is what connects the upper with the lower. That is, through it, the lower one connects to the upper one. When this connector does not exist, the lower one cannot see the upper one, and the upper one is regarded as nonexistent from the perspective of the lower one. Hence, to the extent that one begins to work for the sake of the Creator, to that extent he acquires connection with the upper light. And by the measure of his connection, so is the measure of his attainment.

28. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 54. The Purpose of the Work – 1
The will to receive is also incorporated in the desire to bestow of the lower one (but the will to receive can be used with corrections), or else there is no connection between the giver and the receiver. This is because it is impossible that one will give and the other will give nothing in return, yet there will be a state of partnership. Only when both show love to one another is there a connection and friendship between them. But if one shows love and the other shows no response, such a love is unreal and has no right to exist. Our sages stated about the verse, “and say unto Zion: ‘You are My people’” (Isaiah 51), do not say Ami [My people], but Imi [with Me],1 “to be My partner” (Zohar Beresheet p 5), meaning that the creatures are in partnership with the Creator. It follows that when the lower one wants to bestow upon the Creator, the lower one, too, should receive from the Creator. This is called partnership, when the lower one gives, and the upper one gives, too.

29. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 57. Will Bring Him as a Burnt Offering to His Will
We must evoke a desire from above to administer below. It is not enough that we have a desire, but there has to be a good will on the part of the Giver, too. Even though above there is a general desire to do good to His creations, He still waits for our desire to awaken His desire. In other words, if we are unable to evoke His desire, it is a sign that the desire on the part of the receiver is still incomplete.

30. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 42. What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work
It is written, “Annul your will before His will,” meaning annul the will to receive in you before the desire to bestow, which is the will of the Creator. This means that one will revoke self-love before the love of the Creator. This is called “annulling oneself before the Creator,” and it is called Dvekut [adhesion]. Subsequently, the Creator can shine inside your will to receive because it is now corrected in the form of receiving in order to bestow. This is the meaning of “so that He will annul His will before your will.” It means that the Creator annuls His will, meaning the Tzimtzum that was because of the disparity of form. Now, however, when there is already equivalence of form, hence now there is expansion of the light into the desire of the lower one, which has been corrected in order to bestow, for this is the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, and now it can be carried out. Now we can interpret the verse, “I am my beloved’s.” It means that by the “I” annulling my will to receive before the Creator in the form of all to bestow, it obtains “and my beloved is mine.” It means that My beloved, who is the Creator, “is mine,” He imparts me the delight and pleasure found in the thought of creation. Thus, what was hidden and restricted before has now become disclosure of the face, since now the purpose of creation has been revealed—to do good to His creations.

31. Rabash - Notes. Article 777. A Prayer for the Exile of the Shechinah
From the perspective of the worlds, there are two states: the state of the first nine, regarded as vessels of bestowal, and Malchut, which is regarded as a Kli [vessel] for reception, from whom the Klipot [shells/peels] nurse. In spirituality, one does not mix with the other. For this reason, there is the discernment of time for man, where until age thirteen he is under the governance of the Klipot, and from age thirteen onward he begins to obtain the first nine. At that time, because he consists of Malchut of reception, he can correct her so it will be reception in order to bestow, and then the verse, “The darkness will shine as light” will come true. This means that Malchut is called “reception and knowing.” At that time, he inverts his Kelim. Conversely, if he consisted only of the first nine, he would not be able to correct anything. This is why we need the work of the lower ones. This is the meaning of the Creator craving the prayer of the righteous, meaning those who pray and want to be righteous, meaning ask the Creator to help them invert the quality of Malchut to the quality of the upper nine.

32. Rabash. Article 36 (1990) What Is, “The Children of Esau and Ishmael Did Not Want to Receive the Torah,” in the Work
Man’s work is to obtain a lack and a need that the Creator will give him a desire to bestow instead of the desire to receive that He has given him upon creation, for by this he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator. Hence, although he asks for a different desire than the one that the Creator gave him, the Creator wants this. Baal HaSulam said about this that the Creator said, “My sons defeated Me,” in that they want a different desire than the one that the Creator gave them, meaning that they demand of the Creator to give them a different desire from the one He originally gave them. Yet, the will to receive that the Creator gave, which is called “existence from absence,” is the axis of the whole of creation. However, the will to receive must undergo correction, which is called “the correction of creation.” That is, creation is called “will to receive for oneself,” and on it, an intention to bestow is placed. It follows that in the end, the will to receive remains, but has acquired a correction of the aim to bestow.

33. Rabash. Article 1 (1984) Purpose of Society - 2
Since man is created with a Kli called “self-love,” where one does not see that an act will yield self-benefit, one has no motivation to make even the slightest motion. And without annulling self-love, it is impossible to achieve Dvekut [adhesion)] with the Creator, meaning equivalence of form. And since it is against our nature, we need a society that will form a great force so we can work together on annulling the will to receive, called “evil,” as it hinders the achievement of the goal for which man was created. For this reason, society must consist of individuals who unanimously agree that they must achieve it. Then, all the individuals become one great force that can fight against itself, since everyone is integrated in everyone else. Thus, each person is founded on a great desire to achieve the goal. To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than his friends can no longer unite with them.

34. Rabash. Article 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.

35. Rabash. Article 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.”

36. Rabash. Article 21 (1986) Concerning Above Reason
The same can be obtained by adhesion of friends—new qualities by which they will be qualified to achieve Dvekut with the Creator. And all this can be said while he sees the merits of the friends. At that time, it is relevant to say that he should learn from their actions. But when he sees that he is better qualified than they are, there is nothing he can receive from the friends. This is why they said that when the evil inclination comes and shows him the lowliness of the friends, he should go above reason. But certainly, it would be better and more successful if he could see within reason that the friends are at a higher degree than his own. With that we can understand the prayer that Rabbi Elimelech had written for us, “Let our hearts see the virtues of our friends, and not their faults.”

37. Rabash. Article 30 (1988) What to look for in the Assembly of Friends
Love of friends that is built on the basis of love of others, by which they can achieve the love of the Creator, is the opposite of what is normally considered love of friends. In other words, love of others does not mean that the friends will love me. Rather, it is I who must love the friends. For this reason, it makes no difference if the friend is slandering him and must certainly hate him. Instead, a person who wishes to acquire love of others needs the correction of loving the other. Therefore, when a person makes the effort and judges him favorably, it is a Segula [remedy/power/virtue], where by the toil that a person makes, which is called “an awakening from below,” he is given strength from above to be able to love all the friends without exception.

38. Rabash. Article 30 (1988) “What to look for in the Assembly of Friends”
A person should make an effort to obtain love of others. And this is called “labor,” since he must exert above reason. Reasonably thinking, “How is it possible to judge another favorably when his reason shows him his friend’s true face, that he hates him?” What can he tell the body about that? Why should he submit himself before his friend? The answer is that he wishes to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” meaning to not think of his own benefit. Thus, why is subduing a difficult thing? The reason is that he must revoke his own worth, and the whole of the life that he wishes to live will be only with the consideration of his ability to work for others’ benefit, beginning with love of others, between man and man, through the love of the Creator. Moreover, here is a place where he can say that anything that he does is without any self-interest, since by reason, the friends are the ones who should love him, but he overcomes his reason, goes above reason, and says, “It is not worth living for myself.”

39. Rabash. Article 22 (1985) The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name
We must always consider the goal, which is to “do good to His creations.” If the evil inclination comes to a person and asks him all of Pharaoh’s questions, he should not reply with lame excuses, but say, “Now, with your questions, I can begin with the work of bestowal.” This means that we should not say about the questions of the evil inclination that it came to us in order to lower us from our degree. On the contrary, now it is giving us a place to work, by which we will ascend on the degrees of wholeness.

40. Rabash. Article 22 (1985) The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name
Any overcoming in the work is called “walking in the work of the Creator,” since each penny joins into a great amount.” That is, all the times we overcome accumulate to a certain measure required to become a Kli for the reception of the abundance. Overcoming means taking a part of a vessel of reception and adding it to the vessels of bestowal. It is like the Masach [screen], which we must put on the Aviut[thickness/will to receive]. It follows that if one has no will to receive, one has nothing on which to place a Masach. For this reason, when the evil inclination brings us foreign thoughts, this is the time to take these thoughts and raise them above reason. This is something one can do with everything one’s soul desires. He should not say that now he has received rejection from the work. Rather, he should say that he was given thoughts and desires from above so as to have room to admit them into Kedusha[holiness].

41. Rabash. Notes. Article 572.
The order of one’s work in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] when he wants to work for the sake of the Creator is that one must fight and defeat the evil inclination. That is, it is human nature to toil when there is self-benefit. But when he sees that no self-benefit will emerge from this work, he cannot work. Instead, he complains and asks, “What is this work for you?” meaning what will you gain from exerting? When a person overcomes it and says that he wants to work against nature and bestow upon the Creator, the evil inclination comes with a different argument, asking the question of wicked Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” It is possible to work for the sake of others only where I know that the other receives the labor.
However, when he has two labors,
1) He must overcome and go against nature, and work not for his own benefit but for the benefit of others, for the sake of the Creator.
2) He must believe that the Creator receives his labor. These two questions are the main ones in the argument of the wicked one... It is possible to overcome these questions only by the power of faith, which is above reason. One must reply to the wicked one that from the perspective of the intellect, it makes sense to ask what he is asking. But above the intellect, in faith, when he believes in the words of the sages, this is the only way that is for the sake of the Creator. That is, when one gives all his energy and efforts for the sake of the Creator, this is his only purpose, and the world was created for this purpose, as our sages said, “The whole world was created only for this” (Berachot 6b), meaning for the fear of heaven. Hence, when he answers the wicked that he is going above reason, which is against the intellect, the intellect can no longer ask any questions because all the questions are within reason, whereas above the intellect there is no place for questions.

42. Rabash. Article 6 (1989) What Is Above Reason in the Work
In the work, “faith above reason” means we must believe although the mind does not see that this is so, and it has several proofs that it is not as he wants to believe. This is called “faith above reason,” meaning he says that he believes as though he sees it within reason. This is called “faith above reason” in the work. In other words, it is a lot of work for a person to take this upon himself; it is against reason. This means that the body does not agree to this, yet he accepts it nonetheless as though it were within reason. Such faith requires help from the Creator. For this reason, for such faith, a person needs to pray that He will give him the power to be similar to Him as though he had attained it within reason. In other words, a person should not pray to the Creator to help him understand everything within reason. Instead, he should pray to the Creator to give him the strength to assume faith above reason as though it were within reason.

43. Rabash. Notes. Article 68. The Order of the Work
When one believes in the delight and pleasure that exists in above reason, he comes to consciously feel, to know the evil within him. That is, he believes that the Creator imparts such delight and pleasure, and although he sees all the good above reason, he achieves recognition. That is, he feels in all the organs the power of the evil that is found in receiving for oneself, which prevents him from receiving the abundance. It follows that faith above reason causes him to feel his enemy within reason—who obstructs him from reaching the good. This is his standard. That is, to the extent that he believes in the delight and pleasure above reason, to that extent he can come to feel the recognition of evil. Later, sensing the bad yields the sensation of delight and pleasure, since the recognition of evil in the sensation of the organs causes him to correct the bad. This is done primarily through prayer, when he asks the Creator to give everything in bestowal, called Dvekut [adhesion]. Through these Kelim [vessels], the goal will be revealed in open Providence, meaning that there will be no need for the concealment because there will already be Kelim that are able to receive.

44. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 19. What Is “The Creator Hates the Bodies,” in the Work
One must not be angry when he has work with the will to receive, that it obstructs him in the work. One would certainly be more satisfied if the will to receive were absent from the body, meaning that it would not bring its questions to a person, obstructing him in the work of observing Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]. However, 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.

45. Rabash. Article 502. “If Man Wins, the Creator Is Happy”
The intention of the Emanator is for the lower ones to receive pleasure. Yet, man uses the Torah in the opposite manner, wanting the Creator to receive pleasure. He receives this power from the Torah, from that spice. It follows that he is fighting with the Creator, meaning that the Creator wants man to receive pleasure, and man wants the Creator to receive pleasure. Thus, he uses the Torah in the opposite direction from the seller. It was said about this that the Creator says, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, they fight against the will to receive that the Creator imprinted in their hearts, where if the man wins, the Creator is happy.

46. Rabash. Records. Article 5. The Meaning of Sins Becoming as Merits
Similar to a flame that is tied to the wick. The foreign thought is considered the wick, which wants to install a flaw in his work. That is, the foreign thought makes him think that from the perspective of the mind and reason, he has nothing to do in His work. And when he gets the foreign thought, he says that he does not want to make any excuses, but everything that the reason says is correct except he is walking on the path of faith, which is above reason. It follows that the flame of faith is tied to the wick of the foreign thought. Thus, only now can he observe the Mitzva of faith properly. It follows that the questions have become to him as merits, since otherwise he would not be able to accept any merits from faith. This is called “rejoicing in suffering.” Although he suffers from the foreign thoughts that afflict him and cause him to slander and gossip and speak badly about His work, he is nonetheless happy about it for only now, at such a time, he can observe in a manner of faith above reason. This is called “the joy of Mitzva.”

47. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 33. The Lots on Yom Kippurim and with Haman
What appears to one as things that contradict the guidance of “The Good Who Does Good” is only to compel one to draw the upper light on the contradictions, when wanting to prevail over the contradictions. Otherwise, one cannot prevail. This is called “the exaltedness of the Creator,” which one extends when having the contradictions, called Dinim [judgments]. This means that the contradictions can be annulled if one wants to overcome them, only if he extends the exaltedness of the Creator. You find that these Dinim cause the drawing of the exaltedness of the Creator. This is the meaning of what is written, “and cast his mantle upon him.” It means that afterward he attributed the whole mantle of hair to Him, to the Creator. That is, now he saw that the Creator gave him this mantle deliberately, in order to draw the upper light on them. However, one can only see this later, after one has been granted the light that rests on these contradictions and Dinim that he had had in the beginning. This is so because he sees that without the hair, meaning the descents, there would not be a place for the upper light to be there, as there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. For this reason, he sees that all the exaltedness of the Creator he had obtained was because of the Se’arot and the contradictions he had had. This is the meaning of “The Lord on high is mighty.” It means that the exaltedness of the Creator is awarded through the Aderet

48. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 13. A Pomegranate
There is emptiness only in a place where there is no existence, as in “The earth hangs on nothing.” You find that what is the measure of the filling of the empty place? The answer is, according to one’s elevation of oneself above reason. This means that the emptiness should be filled with exaltedness, meaning with above reason, and to ask of the Creator to give him that strength. This will mean that all the emptiness was created, meaning it comes to a person to feel this way—that he is empty—only in order to fill it with the Romemut of the Creator. In other words, one is to take everything above reason. This is the meaning of the verse, “God has made it that He will be feared.” This means that these thoughts of emptiness come to a person in order for one to have a need to take upon himself faith above reason. And for this we need the help of the Creator. It follows that at that time, one must ask the Creator to give him the power to believe above reason. It turns out that it is precisely then that one needs the Creator to help him, since the exterior mind lets him understand the opposite. Hence, at that time, one has no other choice but to ask the Creator to help him. It is said about this, “One’s desire overcomes him every day; and were it not for the Creator, he would not overcome it.”

49. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 14. What Is the Exaltedness of the Creator
The Romemut [exaltedness/sublimity] of the Creator means that one should ask the Creator for the strength to go above reason. This means that there are two interpretations to the Romemut of the Creator:
1. To not be filled with knowledge, which is intellect with which one can answer one’s questions. Rather, he wants the Creator to answer his questions. It is called Romemut because all the wisdom comes from above and not from man, meaning that man can answer his own questions. Anything that one can answer is regarded as answering everything with the external mind. This means that the will to receive understands that it is worthwhile to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]. However, if the above reason compels one to work, it is called “against the opinion of the will to receive.”
2 The greatness of the Creator means that one becomes needy of the Creator to grant his wishes. Therefore:
1. One should go above reason. Then one sees that he is empty and becomes needy of the Creator.
2. Only the Creator can give him the strength to be able to go above reason. In other words, what the Creator gives is called “The Romemut of the Creator.”