Do Not Catch The Snake By The Head

Dr. Michael LaitmanWritings of Rabash, Igrot, Letter 66: So, even if a person deals with the Torah and Mitzvot, if it is not for Heaven’s sake, it is like a person who has no God because, if he did have a feeling of Godliness, he would surely do it for Heaven’s sake. So, a person should do his best to find the power to overcome his attributes in order to turn them in favor of others.

When a person is in trouble, he tries to find a way out. There are different kinds of troubles, both corporeal and spiritual. One way or another, a person feels pain and sorrow.

However, if, at the same time, he begins to study the Torah and even the wisdom of Kabbalah, he is in great danger because the Torah can be the “potion of life” or the “potion of death.” The snake reveals this tool to us, which eventually will either destroy the person or help him escape it and control it.

Baal HaSulam says that it is possible to catch the snake by the head or by the tail. When we study, we encounter several dangers.

First, we can be satisfied in studying the text technically and dryly in order to understand all the detail about the spiritual worlds that Kabbalists describe. This is very appealing because while you read the book you seem to understand and feel these details. You come to know the material; you have a “map” and a list of definitions. This false feeling of control is the first danger. There are those who are satisfied in the study itself, even without any real understanding.

Later, if we study in order to reach correction, there are more dangers along the way. I may want to acquire the power of bestowal to adhere to the Creator. There are other options, but a wrong direction may divert a person. If we go off the track of “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator,” we will draw further away from the goal with every step we take.

Therefore, the principle of “first think, then act” is very important here. I feel the entire world as part of me, and I lead it toward adhesion with the Creator.

Our world cannot be perfect if we do not want to include all of humanity, all of reality, within us. It is only then that we will attain the true attribute of bestowal in the correct intention of in order to bestow, and not in any other manner.

In contrast to the ten discernments of holiness, there are ten discernments of the “shell,” and they are very different. In every form of bestowal and in every form of receiving there is a special method, a special philosophy.

There is an entire world concealed in every attribute of holiness and in every attribute of the shell that is opposite to it. This is the origin of all religions and beliefs, all confusions, and all the justifications that a person finds in life,

We should understand that the love of others should be based on the principle of unity: Israel, the Torah, and the Creator. There are no separate “others.” Everything is one; everything is part of the upper force.

We must pay attention to everything, including dissemination and the necessity to reach the most remote parts of humanity. If we implement selection, the general vessel will not be whole, and we will lack the intention of “in order to bestow.”
[75418]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/16/12, Writings of Rabash

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