“The Greeks have gathered against me during the days of the Hasmoneans, they broke the walls of my fortress, and have defiled the holy oils…” (Excerpt from a song, sung during Hanukkah)

The Greeks in me are fighting against studying the Torah, against the knowledge that was left to us by Kabbalists who reached spiritual attainment so we are able to correct ourselves and also reveal the upper force. After all, the Creator’s desire is to reveal Himself to the creatures, and the wisdom of Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to the creatures in this world.

The revelation of the Creator is the revelation of the quality of bestowal. And when man studies with this specific goal in mind, disseminates this wisdom, and strives to connect with his friends for the sake of attaining the quality to bestow, then he studies the Torah and comes closer to revealing the Creator in him. After all, the only purpose of the Torah is to create a common vessel through loving thy neighbor as thyself and to reveal the Creator in it, to become so attached to Him that this quality would clothe inside us.

But those who only study for the sake of knowledge or use it for to take pride in it before the others, to despise them, which is even worse, turn it into a deadly poison. This is the difference between people who wish to correct themselves and return to the Creator and those who have no aspiration to return, who only wish to acquire knowledge, which naturally is not the purpose of creation, the purpose of man and the Creator.

When man aspires towards a true goal, he strives to raise his faith above reason, to make the quality to bestow his most important objective. After all, he understands that by acquiring the quality to bestow, he enters a higher dimension than the world where he now exists.

And then he begins to perceive the entire system of creation, which descends from above, from the Giver, the governing force, instead of feeling like he is locked in a limited world without the understanding of being fully controlled from above. Or maybe he did feel that he depends on nature, but he did not reveal the system through which he is being controlled, or the actual governing force.

The quality of bestowal, which man now acquires, opens a new vision for him “in the reflected Light,” the Light of Hassadim, to acquaint him with the system that governs the entire universe, and thus become closer to the revelation of the force which governs the entire reality.

This is what the war inside man is about—it is between his desire which compels him to attain everything inside the mind as it is a custom in our world and the understanding that it is necessary to develop new senses inside. The philosopher in him is fighting the Kabbalist. The philosopher says that the only way to advance is through science and knowledge, the external mind. And this requires some money, good fortune, or a sharp mind, and special external actions.

When man deems these things important, then the Greeks in him are victorious. But when he resists all these disturbances attacking him, feels that he is unable to defeat them, and needs the help of the upper force, the Creator, he understands that it is impossible to defeat them on his own, only the power of the Upper can do it, and this is why we must merit meeting Him and attaching ourselves to Him.

This is why we must value this inner war, because it helps us experience a strong desire and the need for the Creator’s help. Revealing Him is what saves man and what is called a miracle! This is how we rise above the Greeks in us.

These two forces: the Greeks and the Maccabees are equal when one is revealed against the other, and they are unable to defeat each other. Only a third power from above can conduct a middle line between them.
[64425]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/11, Writings of Rabash

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