What Is the Reason for which Israel Were Rewarded with Inheritance of the Land, in the Work?

Article No. 44, 1991

The verse says (Deuteronomy 9:5), “It is not for your righteousness or the integrity of your heart that you are going to inherit their land, but it is because of the wickedness of the nations that the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and in order to fulfill the oath that the Lord swore to your forefathers.”

We should understand this, for it implies that the reason that the Creator gave the inheritance of the land to the people of Israel is as it is written, “because of the wickedness of the nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you.” That is, were it not for “the wickedness of the nations,” there would not be any interest in giving the inheritance of the land. We should also understand the second reason. He says that it is because “the Lord swore to your forefathers.” Were it not for the oath, would the Creator not need to give the land to the people of Israel?

This is difficult to understand. Our sages said, “The world was created only for Israel.” This means that all the good things that exist in the world are for Israel. This implies that it is for different reasons that the people of Israel are given the good, expansive, and coveted land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The text provides two reasons: 1) the wickedness of the nations, 2) the oath that He swore to your forefathers.

Yet, the writing tells us that we should not be mistaken that the reason He is giving us the inheritance of the land is our righteousness and the integrity of our heart. Rather, it is for the two above-mentioned reasons.

Baal HaSulam said about what is written (Genesis 15:7-14), “And He said to him, ‘to give you this land to inherit it.’ He said, ‘how will I know that I will inherit it?’ And He said to Abraham, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will torment them four hundred years, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.’”

He asked, what is the answer that the Creator replied to what Abraham asked, “How will I know that I will inherit it?” The Creator said, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” This means that the answer was to the question, “How will I know?” That is, Abraham says that he wants guarantees about the inheritance, so the Creator answers him so that by this answer he will be certain of the inheritance of the land. Thus, we should understand the answer, for it contains a guarantee of the inheritance.

He said that this means that when the Creator told him “to give you this land to inherit it,” Abraham saw the greatness and importance of this land, since the matter of the inheritance of the land refers to Malchut, which receives all the lights from above and bestows upon the souls, since Malchut is called “the assembly of Israel.”

Abraham saw according to the rule that “There is no light without a Kli,” meaning that “there is no filling without a lack,” that if the Creator were to give to Israel a little bit of illumination and awakening from above, they will settle for little and will have no need for higher degrees. As a result, Abraham saw that there was no way for the people of Israel to receive the inheritance of the land, since they have no need for it.

This was the question, “How will I know?” It is not that he did not believe what the Creator had told him. Rather, his question was that he said that he could not see them having a need for it. It is like giving something precious to a person who has no need for it. He cannot enjoy it. It follows that even if they are given the inheritance of the land, without the need, they will not be able to enjoy it. Although from the perspective of the giver, everything is fine, if the lower one has no need, what can the giver do? This is what Abraham asked.

The answer was “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers.” That is, they will be in exile in Egypt, which is called “a land that is not theirs,” meaning that the people of Israel, who want to work for the sake of the Creator, the Egyptians will control them. Each time, the people of Israel will want to come out of exile, as it is written (Exodus 2:23), “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and their cry went up to God from the work.” Generally, the nations of the world are called “will to receive for oneself.” However, there are many desires in the will to receive, and each desire is attributed to a specific nation. This is why they are called in general, “the seventy nations of the world,” corresponding to the seventy discernments in the desire. This extends in a manner of “one opposite the other,” meaning opposite the seven Sefirot of Kedusha [holiness], which are HGT NHYM, each of which consists of ten Sefirot, which together make seventy nations.

Also, there is the discernment of “Israel,” which are named after Yashar-El [straight to the Creator]. These are opposite from the will to receive for oneself, but are rather discerned as the desire to bestow upon the Creator. In other words, he wants to bring contentment to his Maker.

Therefore, since the Egyptians controlled them, they had to do all their work for the Egyptians, and not for the Creator. This is why it says, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work.” It means that the children of Israel wanted to work for the sake of the Creator but the Egyptians controlled them; this is why they sighed. That is, they saw that not only were they not progressing, they were retreating. This is why it is written, “And their cry went up to God from the work.”

Then, when they saw that they could not emerge from exile by themselves, they asked the Creator, as it is written, “And their cry went up to God.” That is, the Creator helped them come out from the exile in Egypt. This is as The Zohar says about what was said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” It asks, “With what?” And it replies, “With a holy soul.”

It follows that specifically when they are under the governance of evil do they see—each time more so—the governance of evil. At that time, a person comes to feel two things: 1) The will to receive, which is the governance of the Egyptians, is so bad that it removes him from the Creator. That is, before he began the work in order to bestow, he did not know how much harm the will to receive causes him. This is so for the known reason that a person is not shown the power of the evil at once. Rather, he is shown bit by bit, for otherwise he will immediately escape from the work and say that this is not for him.

According to the above, we should interpret the words of Maimonides, who says that the matter of Lishma [for Her sake] is not revealed to a person at the beginning of the work, but “Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are shown that secret little by little.” We should understand what it means that “they are shown that secret little by little.” We should understand how there can be such a thing as “little by little.” After all, when a person is told that he must do everything Lishma, everything is revealed to him. What else is there to reveal?

We should interpret that when he says “they are shown,” who is it who shows them this secret of the matter of Lishma? We should also understand what he says, “Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom.” Who knows that one has been rewarded with “Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom”?

We can understand this as The Zohar says about the verse, “Or make it known to him that he has sinned.” He asks, “Who made it known to him?” and he replies, “the Creator.” We should understand why he says that the Creator makes it known to him that he has sinned. In what way did He inform him? We should interpret this in the manner that is written in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] (Beresheet Bet, Item 103), “If one engages in Torah and Mitzvot even for his own pleasure, through the light in it he will still feel the lowliness and the terrible corruptness in the nature of receiving for oneself. At that time he will resolve to retire from this nature of reception and completely devote himself to bestow contentment upon his Maker. Then the Creator will open his eyes to see before him a world filled with utter perfection without any deficiencies whatsoever.”

Now we can understand how the Creator informs him “that he has sinned.” We should interpret that even when a person learns Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], the light in it informs him that the will to receive is the cause of all the evil, the obstructor to man’s ability to receive these delight and pleasure that He wishes to give to the created beings. And the light in the Torah is regarded as the Creator notifying to a man that he has sinned.

We should also interpret why Maimonides says that we must begin to accustom a person to work in Lo Lishma, and not in Lishma. This is so because the matter of Lishma is revealed to a person by his receiving the light of the Torah. It follows that if he does not engage in Torah even if Lo Lishma, from where will he take the light of the Torah? This is why Maimonides says that we must begin with Lo Lishma.

By this we will understand what we asked, “Who knows if they have been rewarded with “much wisdom,” so it is permitted to reveal to them the matter of Lishma? The answer is that the light in the Torah knows how much they are inspired by the light of Torah, and to that extent it is possible to reveal to them the matter of Lishma.

By this we will understand what Maimonides says, that they are shown that secret little by little. It means that the matter of for the sake of the Creator means not for one’s own sake. A person must feel what is not for one’s own sake, and this reveals to him the light of the Torah. Hence, each time, the light shows him the amount of bad that is in the will to receive, since through the light that a person receives from the Torah, he sees each time a little bit of the bad that there is in the will to receive. This is why he says that he is shown “little by little.”

Evil is interpreted in two manners: 1) the quality of the evil, meaning how much one loses by receiving for himself 2) how much the body objects to the work of bestowal.

Those two, a person receives from the light in the Torah little by little. This is the meaning of the words “They are shown that secret little by little.” That is, through the light that he receives from the Torah in Lo Lishma, he reveals the two above matters. In other words, the measure of the evil found in the will to receive, and the measure of resistance of the body, each time to a greater extent, when one sees that he is able to overcome. This is why it says, “little by little,” meaning that each time, the light reveals to him, which is called that it is impossible to reveal to him at once.

Now we can understand what we asked, Why does the writing say that specifically through the wickedness of the nations, they were rewarded with the inheritance of the land? The reason is as the Creator promised Abraham, that in this way, meaning if Israel suffer from the Egyptians in exile, meaning all the nations of the world, with all the bad qualities in them, want to control the people of Israel, and the people of Israel want specifically to do everything for the sake of the Creator and not for the sake of the seventy nations. At that time, they feel the lack and they will see that they are powerless to overcome them.

Then it will be as it is written, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and their cry went up to God from the work.” At that time, the Creator will give them the required help for this. That is, each time, they will be rewarded with a “holy soul,” and this will be the reason that the children of Israel will need to receive the inheritance of the land, since they will receive it out of necessity, to save themselves from the control of the nations of the world.

This is the meaning of the words, “but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out from before you.” In other words, specifically through the wickedness of the nations, the Creator can give them the inheritance of the land of Israel, since the sensation of bad when they reveal that this evil obstructs from achieving nearness to the Creator, for this is all that we need, since the matter of “near and far” in spirituality is the matter of equivalence of form. When there is equivalence of form between the light and the Kli [vessel], the light dresses in the Kli.

Hence, the sensation of evil, called “wickedness of the nations,” causes the need to be rid of the bad, and then a person begins to purify himself from reception for oneself, and sees that it is out of his hands. At that time, he begins to pray to the Creator to help him, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.” As said in the words of The Zohar, he is given a holy soul. In other words, each time, he receives help from above by being given a soul. It follows that the ascents and descents are the reason that cause the need and desire to receive the inheritance of the land.

This is why he says that the reason is that “the Lord swore to your forefathers.” That is, it is not that the reason is that He swore to your forefathers, and this is why He is giving them the inheritance of the land. We asked, but our sages said about what is written, “Beresheet [in the beginning], there is no Resheet [beginning] but Israel.” It follows that it was all for Israel and not because of the oath He swore to the forefathers.

Yet, we should interpret that when the people of Israel are qualified to receive the inheritance of the land, when they have a need for the inheritance of the land because, as he says, “but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out from before you,” this is the reason that the children of Israel will inherit the land.

It is known that “land” is called Malchut, and Malchut is called “the assembly of Israel,” since she assembles within her everything that there is in ZA, who is called “Israel.” This is called “the unification of the Creator and His Shechina [Divinity].” Through this unification, abundance pours out to the souls.

All this comes from the beginning of the thought of creation, as our sages said, “There is no beginning but Israel.” This means that the purpose of creation, which is His desire to do good to His creations, refers to the children of Israel. But in what way will they receive the delight and pleasure? The text tells us about this, that the main reason by which they are made fit to receive is the “wickedness of the nations,” and also “to fulfill the oath that the Lord swore to your forefathers.” The inheritance of the land is as He notified Abraham when Abraham asked “How will I know that I will inherit it?” The Creator’s answer was that the children of Israel would be in exile, meaning in the “wickedness of the nations.”

It therefore follows that a person cannot ascend the rungs of holiness unless he feels a deficiency in the state he is in. That is, the deficiencies and suffering he feels give him a need to find a way by which to satisfy his deficiencies. But if he does not feel any lack within him, although he might know that there he has deficiencies in the work, but this does not pain him, so this lack cannot be satisfied because he does not seek counsels for it, and without an awakening from below, meaning without a person asking the Creator from the bottom of the heart, the prayer cannot be answered because if he is not suffering from the absence, he cannot ask with all his heart.

This is as it is written in the Midrash, “Seeking good” (Psalms 23), “‘For the Lord your God blessed you in all the works of your hands, even if you sit idly.’ The meaning of ‘all the works of your hands’ is that if he did, he is blessed, and if not, he is not blessed.”

We therefore see that without an awakening from below, meaning if there is no work on the part of the lower one, the blessing cannot come. The question is, Why? The answer is that when a person begins to work, the work gives him the need for it. That is, there is a difference in the need for the matter. This means that we should understand to what extent a person wants to obtain what he wants, since the work and the counsels that a person invests in order to obtain what he wants expand the lack for the matter, so when he obtains it, he will be able to enjoy it.

Therefore, when speaking in the work, although there is a need within man to ascend in the work, that need still does not make within him a necessity for the matter. So naturally, when he is given something from above, and he still does not know how to appreciate what he is given, he will lose it into the Sitra Achra [other side], since he will not be wise enough to know how to appreciate something in spirituality.

This is as our sages said (Hagigah 4), “Who is a fool? He who loses what he is given.” That is, when a person does not know how to appreciate when he is given some nearing from above, it promptly leaves him and he suffers a descent, since he does not know how to keep the nearing.

Normally, if someone is permitted to enter somewhat into the King’s courtyard, he is concerned and seeks ways by which to enter the King’s house and he does not settle for being in the King’s courtyard. Therefore, when a person is brought a little closer, he is happy that he was brought closer and does not worry about finding ways to go forward. Therefore, that person is thrown out. Then, when he suffers a descent, which is called “a road accident,” meaning that he had an accident as he was going to approach the King.

That is, another car crashed into his car, meaning that the car of the corporeal world crashed into the car of the desire to bestow, and then all the vitality that he had from the desire to bestow departed from him and he was left unconscious. In other words, now he feels that he no longer has spiritual life. Rather, until he gradually recovers and begins to feel that his entire vitality, on which he now lives, is only from the will to receive for himself, at that time, he begins to seek advice once more how to reenter the work of bestowal.

It follows that in order to have a deficiency, to need to ascend the degrees of the work of bestowal, he is given from above the descent, so he would have a need to advance, since without a real need, a person cannot receive what he should obtain. Hence, if a person wants to keep himself from having a road accident, he should keep himself so he does not crash with the car of the will to receive. By this he will be certain that he will not lose what he is given, meaning the ascent he has received.

According to the above, we should interpret what is written (Deuteronomy 5:15), “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there.” We should interpret that in the work, a person must remember that he had a descent before he came to an ascent, meaning that the Creator let him feel the bad in him. In other words, a person should believe that this feeling, that he is a slave among the Egyptians, namely that he has no permission to do anything for the sake of the Creator, but all that he does is only for the sake of the Egyptians within man, this comes from the Creator.

Afterward, he must remember that now that he is in a state of ascent and feels that he is somewhat close to Kedusha [holiness], he must remember that he should go forward. Therefore, now he must remember that as he was previously a slave, meaning that he was in a state of descent, now he also needs to find within him a lack, so he will need to go forward. Otherwise, he will have to be given a descent from above, since without a need, a person cannot advance and must stay in the state he is in. Therefore, in order not to need to be given a descent, during the ascent he must find within him a place of lack. This is the meaning of what is written, “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there.”

It therefore follows that a person should begin the work like the general public, meaning in practice, and to aim that it will be for the sake of the Creator. This means that a person observes Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] because the Creator gave us the Torah of life, where by observing what the Creator commanded us, we will be rewarded, as our sages said, “You can trust your landlord to reward you for your work.” By this, we will be happy in this world and happy in the next world.

The fact that we must believe that even if views and thoughts that do not let us believe come to us, we must ask the Creator to give us the power to believe. Afterward, there is a higher degree, which is “not in order to receive reward.” Rather, he is rewarded with feeling that observing Torah and Mitzvot is regarded for him as though he is serving a great King. From this, we come to inherit the land.