How Can I Know What I Am Meant to Become?
Question: Why is our goal called adhesion with the Creator, rather than the correction of the soul?
Answer: Because the goal must be the attainment of a specific state, whereas the correction of the vessels is not the state, it is the means. You must certainly concern yourself with correcting this, but why you are correcting the Kli (vessel) is the essential question.
If you do not know why you should correct your Kli, then you become like those who observe the commandments simply because they have been told to do so. And if you were told something else, you would behave differently.
If you perform corrections without understanding their purpose, then they are merely pseudo-corrections. If, simply because you have nothing better to do, you want to become a good person, that is your personal choice. The Torah does not demand that. The Torah requires a person to attain adhesion, equivalence of form, to become Adam, similar to the upper one (Edameh leElyon). If you simply want to be good, that is fine; there are many people who say they are good.
So why should you correct yourself? What is the reason for correction? What will it give you? Some kind of personal satisfaction? You reason as follows: “I am told that my goal is to attain similarity to the Creator, to adhere to Him. As He is merciful, so I should be merciful; as He is compassionate, so I should be compassionate. But I do not know who He is, so how can I know what I am supposed to become?”
So you return to the same question: if I do not know who He is, how can I know what I am supposed to correct? You say you are willing to engage only in correction, but how can you correct yourself if you do not know the standard by which you are to measure yourself? On the one hand, it is said: “From Your actions we shall know You.” On the other hand, which actions? How am I to know what I am supposed to be?
“Why do I need the revelation of the Creator?” This is the question you are really asking. I need His revelation in order to become like Him, in order to know what I am supposed to be. If you demand His revelation for this purpose, then He will reveal Himself to you. This is what it means that one comes from Lo Lishma (not for His sake) to Lishma (for His sake).
Of course, you desire His revelation because you want to feel good. Yet at the same time there is already a certain attitude toward Him. You value Him, you want Him. Then the Creator reveals Himself to you, but only to the extent that this revelation will correct you, rather than merely fill you. What does it mean to correct you? It means that you receive His qualities, not the pleasure that comes from Him.
The light of correction means that the Creator imparts His greatness to you: “See how merciful I am, and how good this quality is.” As you perceive this, you begin to recognize that this quality is good, that it is higher than your own.
Thus, His revelation comes in two forms: either as the one who corrects you, or as the one who fills you.
Accordingly, this is what you should ask of Him. Prayer is correct when you first ask Him for correction, and only afterward for fulfillment.
[358584]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given out of the Darkness in the Work? ”
Related Material:
How Can We Prepare for the Revelation of the Creator?
The Revelation Of The Creator Is An “Upgrade” Of Creation’s Program
Do I Want The Revelation Of The Creator?




Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question