Baal HaSulam, “Thou Hast Hemmed Me In Behind And Before”:

Surrender, Division, Mitigation (Sweetening) 

There are three discernments required of a man in the desirable path: surrender, division, mitigation (sweetening), meaning “Lights with deficient writing,” since the Light of this world was created out of darkness, “as far as light excelleth darkness,” and “What good is a candle during the day?”, its light does not shine in the daytime. This is the meaning of the Klipa (peel) that precedes the fruit. For this reason, who becomes a partner to the Creator in the act of creation, brings the Light out of the darkness, meaning considers how lowly and base one is, compared to the sublime Kedusha(holiness), and how filthy are one’s clothes. Through it, the Light becomes surrounded.

And in regards to the Creator’s question, “to fear the Great and Terrible Name,” he intensifies with great strength to subdue the evil within, so the evil servant and evil maid will surrender to the mistress, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness, until he feels in his soul that the awakening for externality has expired and surrendered. At that time, he will be rewarded with “division,” distinguishing between the Light and the darkness, and will not replace bad for good and good for bad. And should he replace, meaning awaken to a necessary inclination, it will be dedicated to the Creator only. This is considered “mitigation,” the craving for the Creator, as in genuine love.

This discernment comes after he separates between the good and evil, between the Creator’s sublimity and his own baseness, and keeps “So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee” in himself, for he will be so very ashamed of its doers. Then he will be rewarded with mitigating the remains of his inclination, which cannot be rooted out, and elevate them to their genuine root.

Here again the basic principle with which it is so hard for us to come to terms with is mentioned. It isn’t so obvious in our world that the good is built only on top of evil. Sometimes, it does happen that way, but we don’t see a constant pattern.

We are attracted to the good in our world, unaware that it is built on evil because, of course, the connection between the branch and the root is kept. There is no appetite if you are not hungry, and if there is no appetite, you cannot enjoy a meal, and it is so with everything. People pay lots of money and invest great energy and effort in order to awaken the desire within them. When there is no desire, a person doesn’t want to live. He doesn’t want to enjoy or to move. The lack of desire is a very problematic state for a person.

But in the spiritual world, desire is all our matter. The entire spiritual world is made of desire. We are not aware of it in the corporeal world because the desire is dressed in different forms and appears to us in the form of the still, vegetative, and animate nature and humans. We need to get used to, understand, and get closer to the perception that there cannot be any good without the revelation of evil that precedes it. Therefore, it is created as the advantage of the Light from the darkness.

But we can distinguish the Light from the darkness. If I discover in all my senses to what extent my nature is egoistic—that it is only a desire to receive for myself, and I suffer from my recognition of evil—I can surrender and distinguish the good from the evil and then reach the stage of mitigation. These three phases are necessary in order to turn the darkness into Light.

I don’t erase the previous evil state. It always remains below so that in contrast to it, I will be able to build my stature, my attainment, the gap between the Light and darkness. This contrast is very important. So, if darkness disappears in spirituality, the Light also disappears.

Thus, we should be ready to face the fact that evil doesn’t disappear from the world, but it is actually above it that we build the good state, in faith above reason. These two states are kept one in contrast to the other, and that’s the way it is until the end of correction. This contrast seems to disappear there; good and evil are built one against the other by our exertion and they become one that stem from one force, from the Creator.

These three phases—surrender, division, and mitigation—match the three states of Ibur (Conception), Yenika (Nursing), and Mochin (Maturity). First, a person surrenders, then he differentiates between evil and good, and annuls his evil before the upper. Then, he begins to distinguish, check, and clarify which attributes are good and which are bad, i.e., he begins to grow inside the upper. Then, he begins to mitigate evil by building the good above it.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/21/14

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