On the spiritual path, there is a place of work on the part of the Creator and a place of work on the part of creation. We say that “there is none else besides Him,” “everything comes from above,” “everything is in the hands of heaven but the fear of heaven.” The Creator determines everything; nothing happens without a decision from above; this is true.

However, there is an important component here, one of the four parameters that depends on the person: the influence of society. We are talking about the development of an external society that affects a person.

It is as if a seed were to determine the parameters of sunlight, moisture, rainfall, minerals in the soil, fertilizers, and various other factors that affect it in various stages of its development. It is as if the seed itself regulates their quantity and sequence. If the seed could do this, it would constitute free choice in its own development.

It is obvious that a person cannot transform himself into something else; however, he determines what develops. Through this process, they come to understand the forms of their own development and the entire system that controls, corrects, and holds dominion over them, that is, the thoughts, attributes, and actions of the Creator.

This means that the human truly takes the place of the Creator in creation. By learning and subsequently intervening in the parameters of their environment, they determine what unfolds. Thus, by choosing their environment, a choice made in accordance with their understanding of the Creator, His qualities and actions, His thoughts and purpose, the human attains the level of the Creator.

However, the foundations, that is, a person’s inherent qualities, do not change and cannot change. After all, a person does not understand what their foundation is just as they do not understand what Atzmuto (the essence of the Creator), or the unattainable essence of anything is. Only matter and form clothed in matter are accessible to him, but not abstract form and essence.

But by giving him the opportunity to perform the same actions upon himself as the Creator would perform, he is allowed to know the Creator, His attitude toward creation, His plans and thoughts, that is, to come to the Rosh (the head).
[361873]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/26, Rabash, “Rosh Hashanah”

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