Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: But because of the descent of human nature to the lowest degree, which is the self-love that unrestrictedly rules over all of humanity, there was no way to negotiate with them and persuade them to agree to take upon themselves, even as an empty promise, to exit their narrow world, into the wide spaces of the love of others. The exception was the Israeli nation because they were enslaved in the savage kingdom of Egypt four hundred years in horrible torments.

These torments were caused by the attempts made by the sons of Israel to rise above their egoism (both individual and collective) in order to achieve the state of love among them. Would Babylonians really follow Abraham if he had told them exactly what they would undergo if they joined his group? Nevertheless, gradually, out of hopelessness, we come to a state at which all we aspire to is bestowal. We strive to give, although it’s irrational and illogical. We simply feel like giving and that’s it, since we are under the Light’s influence. This desire is so huge that we cannot run away from it. We look at our friends and each of them looks close, dear, and beloved. Afterward, it’s the entire world that we regard similarly.

Question: Still… Will I get rid of afflictions on my way?

Answer: By all means you will, but it will happen when your desires and plans will exactly coincide with the Creator’s wishes and ideas. So far, they are opposite to the Creator’s, so what can you expect? We all are in a state of a constant confrontation with Him.

At the same time, it doesn’t mean that we have to surrender and simply wait for the time when we enter spirituality. Even now, way in advance, we can make a decision from now on to view the world from the Creator’s point of view, from the angle of the property of bestowal. If we act this way and get used to this approach the world will suddenly change into a benevolent place in our eyes.

Moreover, after we manage to get rid of the obstacles, we will regard this world as the world of infinity. Today, we see it generally as a corrupt and dreadful place, but that’s how we currently regard infinity. This is the way we envision infinity… At the same time, we don’t want the Creator to change us, but rather the “picture” drawn in our imagination. Then again, it’s the Upper Light! It doesn’t change! Only our internal properties are subject to modification.

Let’s go back to affliction: They won’t go away immediately since we are not “jumping” into infinity by making one huge and powerful leap. Instead, we climb the stairs that sometimes are associated with quite unpleasant material conditions. However, at the other level there is a different type of calculations that are interlinked with the general system, not only with us personally.

We see that even the righteous people suffer, for example Rabbi Akiva. However, in fact, we cannot take the place of those who are already in bestowal.

When we watch their sufferings from aside, we don’t understand their internal world and their vision. Baal HaSulam writes about this in his article “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/22/13, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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