Question: On the one hand, we say that a person must constantly work on developing a feeling of lack for the light, even to the point of “Egyptian darkness.” On the other hand, it is said that until one accepts concealment as the best possible state for himself, he cannot attain revelation.

How can one reconcile building a deficiency, a thirst for the light that does not let him sleep, and agreeing with concealment?

Answer: This contradiction stems from the fact that within us there are two “systems,” called “Mocha” and “Liba.”

Liba is the heart, the desire, which can only feel. You cannot deceive it by saying, “You feel good!” when it feels bad, and vice versa.

Mocha is the mind, a person’s understanding of what is taking place.

For example, I have a toothache. What should I do? Even “against my will,” despite the protests of my animate nature, my heart, I make a rational decision and go to the dentist. He causes me even more pain, gives me an injection, removes the nerve, and so on, and I even pay him money and thank him. And all this because, in the end, I understand, not feel, but precisely because I understand that I will feel well after the procedure.

From this we see that if a person does not develop both of these systems, Mocha and Liba, within himself, he will remain merely an animal, and act according to his feelings, according to his nature.

Thanks to the mechanism of Mocha, he is capable of bringing the future closer, of doing something that carries no benefit whatsoever from the standpoint of the present moment. The more distant the future a person is able to take into account, the greater that person is.

We see that there are people who work for 20 or 30 years in order to achieve something, and they truly achieve a great deal. And there are others who are incapable of more than working in a small shop: give, receive, take payment “right on the spot,” a few coins, but immediately. A person is satisfied with a bird in the hand; a small mind is not capable of more.

We are required to develop a highly advanced mind, Mocha. I must be ready to go through the entire process of correction. It would seem that I am ready for this, yet it is not without reason that the Creator says, “Come to Pharaoh!”

On my own I am incapable of doing this, and I would not even be able to want it except in the case where I know that it is to my benefit to go together with Him and correct myself for the sake of the goal, perhaps a very distant one. Perhaps only after five, seven, or even ten years will I truly attain the upper one. But it is worth undertaking, because I see no other fulfillment in this life for which it would be worthwhile to live.

If a person constantly returns to the analysis of this point, he will not leave the battlefield.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Before the Egyptian Minister Fell, Their Outcry Was Not Answered, in the Work?”

Related Material:
First Mind, Then Feelings
There Must Be A Balance Between The Mind And The Heart
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