Baal HaSulam’s Letter No. 19, p. 70: “Know thou the God of thy father and serve Him.” Know means recognition because a soul that does not know is not good. This means that if a person does not know his master, even though he has a soul and yearns and longs to serve Him, it is not good.

Even though one has a soul, he is not ready to know Him, “Until the spirit be poured upon him from on high.” However, one must lend an ear and listen to the words of the sages and believe in them wholeheartedly.

It has already been written: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The Baal Shem Tov interprets: “The Lord is thy shade.” Like the shade that follows one’s movements, its inclinations lean every way the person does, so is man according to the Creator. It means that when love for the Creator awakens, one must see that the Creator has awakened toward him with intense longing, etc.

Even if the point in the heart emerges in a person, he doesn’t know how to wake up and cannot do it on his own, alone. He is awakened by the upper Light, the Creator, while a person, from all these pleasant and unpleasant awakenings, is supposed to understand and learn how the Creator deals with him. He must learn to speak the Creator’s language to communicate with Him.

We need to come to a desire, intensity, and longing, that corresponds with what is next, meaning the first spiritual degree that exists above us or the last step of the ladder that sprawls down to us, along which our soul had descended from the world of Infinity some time ago. That was the rung where we were still linked with the Creator, and therefore, today, we are supposed to achieve the same kind of determination, intensity,and  desire that connected us with Him there.

We come to this kind of yearning by using the exercises that the Creator provides for us in the time regarded as “wheels” (Ofanim). He presents us with various opportunities to become connected to Him, and we don’t know why it should be in this specific form and this kind of situation. He suddenly reminds us that He exists, and we start to feel that we are missing Him.

At this point, it is necessary to understand who caused this awakening. Did I wake up on my own, or was it the Creator who woke me up? What am I supposed to do with it? Do I give thanks for my awakening or blame Him for not calling on me and for my having nothing at all? To the extent that a person is aware of this whole process and constantly strives to receive a desire for oneness, he will come to success.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/1/2011, Baal HaSulam’s Letter 19

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