What Is, “There Is Nothing that Has No Place,” in the Work?
Article 20, 1991
Our sages said (Beresheet Rabbah 68:9), “Why is the Creator called ‘Place’? It is because He is the place of the world, and the world is not His place. From what is it written? ‘Here is a place with Me.’ Thus, the Creator is the place of the world, and His world is not His place.” It was also said (Avot 4:3), “There is nothing that has no place.” We should understand what this comes to teach us in the work.
In the work, a “place” is a place of deficiency. That is, if a person has some lack, we should say that he has a place in which to receive a filling for the lack. But if he has no lack, it cannot be said that it can be filled, since there is no one to fill. For example, if one is not hungry, he cannot eat. This is considered that he has no place to fill his hunger. Or, if he is not thirsty, he cannot drink water, since he has no place in which to receive the filling.
According to the above, we should interpret the difference between “the place of the world,” and “Blessed is the place,” meaning the place of the Creator. In the work, we should interpret that the Creator is the place of His world. That is, the correction of creation is that the place of the Creator, meaning the lack, called “the place of the Creator,” is that the Creator wants to bestow, meaning the deficiency.
The deficiency that can be said about the Creator is that He wants to do good to His creations. That desire to bestow, when the world is deficient because they want to bestow like the Creator, at that time the world will exist in wholeness. At that time, the Creator will be able to bestow upon them delight and pleasure. Why? Because the reception of delight and pleasure will be in a manner of correction.
However, His world is not His place. That is, the deficiency, meaning the desire that is in the world, is the very will to receive. This does not belong to the Creator, since from whom would He receive? Hence, He, meaning the desire to bestow that the Creator has, is what His world must take upon themselves, and not use the nature of the will to receive, the lack with which creation—which is called “existence from absence”—was born. This is called “the place of the world.”
Man’s work is only about how to emerge from the nature of the desire that is in the world and acquire a different desire, which is the desire to bestow. This is hard work, and it can be obtained only through the Torah, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” Specifically through the Torah can we emerge from the control of the will to receive for ourselves and obtain the desire to bestow, since this is a second nature, to which only the light of Torah helps.
It follows that He, meaning the Creator, is the place of the world, meaning that the world must obtain the deficiency of the Creator, who is the desire to bestow. However, His world, which is the will to receive, meaning the lack that is in the world from the perspective of creation, which is the will to receive for oneself, this is not the Creator’s lack.
This is why we say, “Blessed is the place.” That is, when one has been rewarded with receiving the lack of the Creator, which is the desire to bestow, the person thanks the Creator for giving him His place, meaning the desire to bestow, which is what the Creator has. A person should achieve this degree of having the desire to bestow. This is why we say, “Blessed is the place,” for giving us the place, meaning His deficiency, which is the desire to bestow, for with this desire of the Creator, the Creator can satisfy it with delight and pleasure.
Accordingly, we should interpret what we asked, What is “There is nothing that has no place” in the work? It means that this thing that a person wants to obtain, meaning the desire to bestow, which is what a person feels he lacks, a person must first work so that the thing he wants to obtain, namely the desire to bestow, must first have a place, meaning a real lack.
This is expressed in two ways: 1) to feel deficient, 2) to feel that only the Creator can help him, and the person himself is utterly unable to emerge from the governance of the will to receive for himself.
This is the meaning of “There is nothing that has no place.” It means that the order of the work is that one must first prepare the place, meaning the lack, and then the Creator gives the filling of the lack.
However, we should know that although the heart of man’s work is to come to know that he lacks the desire to bestow, and to pray for the Creator to satisfy his lack and give him that desire, one should also walk with the right line, which is regarded as wholeness. That is, a person should feel himself as whole, in order to be able to thank the Creator, for when one prays for something, that the Creator will satisfy his deficiency, he is considered “cursed,” and “The cursed does not cling to the Blessed.”
This is why our sages said (Berachot 32), “One should always establish the praise of the Creator and then pray,” since when one establishes the praise of the Creator, it is certain that if a person sees the praise of the Creator and praises Him, in that state he is in a state of wholeness, meaning that man is in a state of blessing, and naturally, “The blessed clings to the Blessed.” At that time, a person can extend the blessing from above.
The order should be that one should find within him something good that the Creator has given him. Although now he is deficient, he should invoke within him Reshimot [recollections] of something good he had from the Creator, and for which he can be grateful to the Creator. It does not matter what one enjoys, but only that he enjoyed it and thanks the Creator for it. Then he is in a state of wholeness.
In other words, then he was at peace with the Creator because He delighted him, so he can already be in gladness from what he had, and now he can come to the Creator to help him because now he is not in a state of sadness, where he feels that he is worse off than all other people, a state called “cursed,” and “The cursed does not cling to the Blessed.” Rather, now he is in a state of “blessed.” Hence, a person should look within him for something that will enable him to be thankful to the Creator.
This is the meaning of the verse, “And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.” We should interpret that when one comes to ask for something from the Creator, he should not be empty-handed, meaning that he has nothing. Rather, one should first try to find within him something that the Creator gave him and for which he blesses the Creator.
Afterward, he can ask of the Creator because he is thinking about what he received from the Creator. Thus, he already has connection with the Creator, for the Creator has given him something, whatever it is, but what matters is that he can thank the Creator for it, and already has a connection with the Creator in that he is pleased with the Creator for bestowing upon him.
Hence, since now he is in wholeness with the Creator, it is a Segula [remedy/cure/virtue] for the Creator to grant his wishes. This is as Baal HaSulam said, that by this, “The blessed clings to the Blessed.” Hence, one must be very careful not to fall into the Klipa [shell/peel] of sadness, for then one is apart from the Creator, unlike when he is in a state of “blessed.”
And most important, a person should try to be in a state of “rewarded,” meaning to pray to the Creator that he will be rewarded, for when one is in a state of “rewarded,” he has a yearning for Torah and prayer, and he likes everything he sees in Kedusha [holiness]. This gives him high spirits because he feels the taste of life in everything that pertains to Kedusha.
But when he is “not rewarded,” it is the complete opposite—he has no desire for Torah or prayer. Anything he does in Kedusha is forced on him, and when he introspects, he says about everything that pertains to Kedusha that it is to him as the potion of death, that he wants to quickly run away from all those things around him.
Although he sees that people around him engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] and have high spirits in the work that they do, his body excuses itself by saying that if the people had the same taste that he is feeling, they would not be any better off than he is. Sometimes, he does not even contemplate explaining why they can and he cannot. That is, their enthusiastic engagement in Torah and prayer is not enough to give him a yearning in the work. In truth, we should say that since this person is in a state of “not rewarded,” his Torah becomes to him a potion of death.
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Yoma 72), “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, ‘Why is it written, ‘This is the law that Moses set.’ If he is rewarded, it becomes to him a potion of life; if he is not rewarded, it becomes to him a potion of death.’”
We should interpret in the work, that if a person is rewarded, his Torah becomes to him a potion of life. This means that he feels the taste of life in the Torah and in prayer, and in everything of Kedusha. And if he is not rewarded, his Torah becomes to him a potion of death, meaning that he feels in the Torah and in the work the potion of death, meaning the taste of the potion of death, and wants to escape the campaign and the work, and all that he does is by compulsion.
However, we should know that the order of man’s work is in two ways: 1) Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], 2) Lishma [for Her sake], meaning in order to bestow. As he says in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” (Item 29), “Know that our work during our seventy years is divided to four divisions:
“The First Division is to obtain the excessive will to receive without restraints, in its full, corrupted measure from under the hands of the four impure worlds ABYA. If we do not have that corrupted will to receive, we will not be able to correct it, for ‘one cannot correct that which is not in him,’ for the Klipot [shells/peels] will dominate it and give it of their lights, to provide one with all the material he needs to work with and correct.” This is until the completion of thirteen years.
“The second division is from thirteen years and on. At that point, the point in his heart, which is the Achoraim [posterior] of the soul of Kedusha [holiness] that is clothed in his will to receive since his birth is given strength. However, it only begins to awaken after thirteen years (for the above reason), and then one begins to enter the system of the worlds of Kedusha. The primary intensification of the will to receive is only in spirituality. And yet, it is a much more important degree than the first, since this is the degree that brings one to Lishma, as our sages said, ‘One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, as from Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma.’ And the final degree in this division is to fall passionately in love with the Creator, until the object of passion remains before one’s eyes all day long and all night, as the poet said, ‘When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep.’
“The third division is work in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma, in order to bestow and not to receive reward. This work cleanses the will to receive for oneself in him and replaces it with a will to bestow. To the extent that one purifies the will to receive, he becomes worthy of receiving the five parts of the soul called NRNHY.”
We therefore see that first we must work in Lo Lishma, meaning to obtain the desire and yearning for the light of pleasure that is dressed in Torah and Mitzvot. This work, which one should do only for his own sake, meaning to engage in the work in order to delight that will to receive with greater pleasures than corporeal pleasures. It follows that this work, called Lo Lishma, is because he works only in order to derive emotional satisfaction, and not in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. In other words, he works in observing Torah and Mitzvot for his own sake and does not think about the benefit of the Creator.
When one begins to work in Lo Lishma, in order to obtain emotional fulfillment, he begins to feel a good taste in Torah and work, and he has high spirits and begins to feel the love of the Creator. At that time, he has the grace of Kedusha. Yet, when he wants to begin the work of bestowal, meaning to work for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, the taste he felt while working only for his own benefit is taken away from him.
This is so in order for him to accustom himself to work for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake. Since he was used to feeling the taste of the work in the state of the second division, and now he does not feel that same taste of sweetness he felt while working Lo Lishma, he thinks that he does not feel a good taste in the work as he did before he began the work of Lishma because he has become worse than he was then. Therefore, he says that he sees that this work is not for him, and he wants to escape the campaign.
But in truth, a person should believe that the fact that he does not feel a good taste in the work is not because now he has descended from the degree he had before. Rather, it is that now he is being guided from above to accustom himself to work for the sake of the Creator, and not notice himself—whether he enjoys this work. Rather, he should accustom himself to work for the sake of the Creator. It is as Baal HaSulam said (in “The Order of the Work, by Baal HaSulam”), that one should believe that when he attributes his work to the Creator, the Creator accepts his work, regardless of the form of his work.
It follows that when one does not feel a good taste in the work, he should say that now he has an opportunity to work only for the sake of the Creator, meaning for the Creator to enjoy his work, since now he does not feel any flavor in the work, that he can say that he is attracted to the flavor.
However, when one overcomes and works in order for the Creator to enjoy his work, he should try to enjoy having a place to work only for the sake of the Creator, and from this one should derive high spirits. It was said about this work, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” That is, when one sees that he has work, meaning when he sees that he has a place to overcome, since the body wants specifically for the will to receive to enjoy his work, he should overcome and work specifically because the Creator will enjoy his work, since now he does not feel taste in the work, to say that the flavor draws him. This is called “work.”
From this work, a person should derive joy, from seeing that now he has a chance to perform work that will be only in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. Yet, here begin the ascents and descents, since each time, a person is made to feel the truth of why he is remote from the Creator, since it is against nature.
But we should ask, Why did the Creator make it so that man will be unable to overcome his vessels of reception by himself, but will need the help of the Creator? Baal HaSulam said about this, that if a person did not see that he cannot overcome the evil in him without the help of the Creator, he would remain outside of Kedusha. He said that the reason is that if man could overcome the evil in him, he would naturally taste a good flavor in the work and would be content with little. That is, he would feel “Thank God, I engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds],” and he would feel that he is doing everything for the sake of the Creator, so what else does he need? Therefore, he does not see what else he needs to add, since he really is working for the Creator. And since one cannot work without a lack, he would remain in Katnut [smallness/infancy] of Kedusha.
But if a person sees that he cannot overcome and work for the sake of the Creator, and each time he has descents and ascents, by which he sees that he needs the help of the Creator, and the help that the Creator gives is as The Zohar says about what is written, “He who comes to purify is aided,” it asks, “With what is he aided?” and he replies, “With a holy soul.”
That is, each time, he is rewarded with a higher soul, according to the help for which he asks—initially the light of Nefesh, then Ruach, until he is rewarded with the NRNHY of his soul. It therefore follows that the ascents and descents that one experiences come from above on purpose, so that through them, he will attain what pertains to his soul.
However, while one is still in Lo Lishma, and even when he has not obtained the Lo Lishma in the manner of the great passion for the Creator, as in the second division, as in “When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep,” he should still begin with the work of bestowal and not wait until he achieves the state of Lo Lishma called “When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep,” since one might remain in this state forever. But once he has achieved the state of Lo Lishma and feels a good taste in the work, he is given from above an awakening to want to work in order to bestow. At that time, the real work begins, until from above he is given the desire to bestow.