Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 284

How Can It Be That a Person Who Is in the Midst of the Path Suddenly Regrets “the Former Things”?

What does it mean to regret “the former things”? It means that we regret having started the path at all, having walked on it, and having reached the state we reached. We think that things were better for us at the beginning of the path, that we could have managed without it. Why does this happen each time? It is because we need to examine the reason for walking on our path, and not simply walk on it aimlessly.

In Kabbalah, it is said that the revelation of evil comes to a strong person, one who knows how to cope with it and correct it into good. If we advanced another twenty steps along the path: studied, did all kinds of things in the society, in dissemination, and suddenly we fall and begin to feel that everything is worthless and we regret the path, all the years we wasted on the group, the Rav, and the books, it is a sign that we must value the reason even more, as something greater now, in order to strengthen ourselves in it, and thus, through negativity, we are shown the extent to which we are on the path.

Each time we ascend a degree, we must regret “the former things,” as though examining them, and afterward continue onward. Just as we alternately fail and succeed along our path, so it also happens with regard to the reason for our studies, which is a good sign, but it is much harder to get through this than to survive the changing of various states or moods. If we regret, it is a sign that we are indeed changing degrees, and herein lies a danger. In order for us to truly ascend, so that the regret over “the former things” does not stop us, the society must support us much more than it supports one who simply falls. Here, this is serious work, all of which is preparation.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 283
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 282
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 281

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