“Law” means that it is above reason, and the intention pertains to faith, and by faith above reason he becomes Israel. Conversely, before he was rewarded with faith above reason, he is regarded only as “sacred still,” called “dust” (Rabash, “What Is the Difference between Law and Judgment in the Work?”).
In this article Rabash describes two states in our work. The first state is called “law,” defined by conditions it is impossible to enter spirituality without. These are what is called Mitzva (commandment), Emuna (faith), Tzedakah (charity, giving), and Malchut Shamayim (the Kingdom of Heaven).
At first, these conditions are accepted by us as “an ox to the burden and a donkey to the load,” since a person feels no taste or joy in the work, only heaviness and unpleasant sensations. Working against the desire to receive is very difficult, and most importantly, we do not see what we are doing or for what purpose. Everything happens this way because we must exit the will to receive.
All our efforts are devoid of taste, conscious awareness, and apparent meaning and are carried out “above reason,” literally by coercion, so that we do not feel any spiritual pleasures that might tempt and pull us away from our current point into the Klipot (shells or forces of impurity) rather than holiness. In other words, so that we will not desire spirituality for self-enjoyment more intensely than during the initial awakening from above.
To prevent us from seeking to attain spirituality “for the sake of self-enjoyment,” we are shown (or made to feel) as though there is no flavor in it at all. But if you still wish to draw closer to it, then try to do so without any feeling of taste or joy. How? According to the law of faith above reason.
What is this law? For Malchut, which is entirely the will to receive, it is necessary to establish conditions under which this desire will no longer operate in its usual mode, but will perform actions without receiving a reward, like “an ox to the burden and a donkey to the load.”
How can one work against one’s own nature? If we were able to do this, then we could already enter the spiritual nature and begin the second part of the work, called the revelation of the lights, joy, and the first nine Sefirot that are above Malchut. Strength is required to carry out these laws in Malchut, and only afterward to attain the fulfillment of the Torah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/17/26, Rabash, “What Is the Difference between Law and Judgment in the Work?”
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