Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 56

What Additional Desire Can We Gain from Society?

We can gain an additional desire for Godliness from society. This is the entire matter of the soul’s fragmentation into many parts. If the collective soul had not divided, we would be unable to determine anything. In its original state, the soul is one vessel full of light, completely sealed, where everything comes from above—Reshimot (records), lights, and desires. When the light departs, the vessel remains as it is, but without light or desire. It would fall and become corrupted even as a single part. Then the light would return, awaken the vessel, and cause it to begin moving.

However, the division of the collective soul into many parts lets us (on our own level and not above it) make an act of free choice. Since the action is on our level, we can take additional desire from other parts; that is, we can be inspired by them. It is impossible to take the original desire of other parts.

We do not determine the meaning of “I” and answers to the questions: “Who am I?” “What am I?” and “How does the Creator give to me?” They are the vessel. We cannot change the contents of the vessel or determine the light that will enter it. The light within the vessel determines our state, thoughts, and desires. The only free choice we have is to be inspired by the adjacent vessel because we are connected at the root. If we were not connected there, it would be impossible to be inspired by a friend.

Two vessels that were connected at the root became separated when they descended into the corporeal world. When they seek to connect in some way, they perform an act of unification, similar to their connection at the root. They seemingly unite the two desires into one. If one takes a desire that is seemingly corrected—a yearning for spirituality, a desire for the Creator—from a friend, regardless of how corrected it is, it is as if they connect the two vessels together above.

This is the only action we are given as free choice, and as a result, we create two vessels within ourselves and also receive the friend’s desire. We then draw light from above that belongs to both souls. In such a way, it is possible to integrate the desire of every friend.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 55

What Is the First Action Required of a Person?

We cannot be compelled to act because every action must be voluntary and arise from internal effort. This effort, or required action, is born out of our innate nature and the extent of light received from above.

This does not mean the vessel suddenly desires change of its own accord. Instead, the vessel possesses Aviut (“thickness” or “coarseness”) and Reshimo (“record” or “spiritual data”), which guide its direction and choices, seemingly working in harmony with the light to bring about change.

However, in truth, we cannot dictate what we will want to do. Every moment is preordained. The only choice granted is to engage in learning. Through study in a supportive environment, we absorb additional desires from the group—desires that are not originally ours.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 54

What Does “Change” Mean?

Change means perceiving the Creator’s qualities instead of the pleasure emanating from Him. Through the light of correction, the Creator shows us His greatness, which reveals the superiority of His qualities.

Revelation of the Creator takes place in two ways:

1. As light of correction.
2. As light of fulfillment.

Therefore, we should first pray for correction and only then for fulfillment. We learn about this in The Study of the Ten Sefirot.

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Why Is the Goal Called “Adhesion with the Creator” and not “Correction of the Soul”?

The goal is referred to as “adhesion with the Creator” because it involves attaining a specific state, while correcting the vessels is a means to that end. Correcting the vessel is necessary, but the primary focus is the ultimate purpose for carrying out the correction.

Correction without understanding its meaning is not genuine correction. One could simply be a “good person,” but the Torah demands more—it demands adhesion, equivalence of form, and becoming Adam (man, human)—a term derived from “Adameh leElyon” (“I will be like the most high”).

How can we know what to correct without knowing the Creator? It is through “From Your actions we will know You.” We need some level of revelation of the Creator to emulate Him and understand what we need to become. When we truly seek revelation to understand what we need to correct, the Creator reveals Himself to us. This is called “From Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma” (from “not for the sake of the Creator” to “for the sake of the Creator”).

Initially, we seek the Creator’s revelation for personal benefit. However, with the revelation, our attitude shifts—we start valuing and desiring the Creator Himself. The Creator reveals Himself to the extent that this revelation changes us and not merely fills us with pleasure.

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Who Is the Creator?

Every corrupted trait in a person corresponds to a corrected trait in the Creator. We can know the Creator only after correcting our corrupted qualities toward the intention to bestow. We can only perceive what dresses within our vessels. Without correction, we cannot recognize the Creator.

When we become corrected, we gain awareness of our corrected vessels, and through them, we come to know the Creator. Everything depends on the degree of equivalence of form with the Creator. We perceive the Creator according to the state of our vessels, indirectly, through our corrected qualities.

This is the meaning of “All who judge, judge through their own flaws.” We evaluate everything based on the extent to which our vessels are corrected.

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What Is the Reception of the Torah?

Torah is the general light that fills the soul infinitely. This light is called “the Creator,” as it is through this light that the vessel experiences the Creator. Outside the vessel, the Creator cannot be perceived.

The Torah is this light that divides within the collective soul into 613 parts or 600,000 parts. The Mitzvot are the corrections of each part.

In its final state, at the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun), the vessel becomes perfectly aligned with the specific light that fills each of its parts and with the general light designated for the collective correction. This is referred to as “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.”

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Chapter 6. Darkness Is Progress

Why was the Torah given? The Torah was given to lead us to action. What is “action”? In the human soul, there are 613 components. Initially, all these components exist within us in a corrupted state. Each one must be corrected, which is a process referred to as fulfilling the 613 Eitin (“counsels”).

If we indeed fulfill these 613 Eitin, each part of the soul becomes corrected, and accordingly, every corrected part of this vessel receives the specific light designated for it. This is called attaining the 613 Pekudin (“commands” or “deposits of light”). In other words, we correct the vessels and fill them with lights, thereby covering the entire structure of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) and the additional seven Mitzvot of our great sages (Mitzvot de Rabbanan) making up the full 620 components of the soul. These are referred to as “actions.”

The Torah, study, and effort must be aimed at achieving this action, and only then can we merit receiving the Torah.

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Does Thinking about the Creator Always Dispel Fear?

No, if a person does not link the fear to the Creator and recognize Him as its source, the fear persists. Only by scrutinizing that the fear originates from the Creator as a means of connection can the fear be resolved. This is discussed extensively in Baal HaSulam’s article that acts as a foundation for discussing these many states, “There Is None Else Besides Him” (Shamati, Article 1).
From a Talk on the Article “Why Is Shabbat Called Shin-Bat in the Work?” 5/27/2002

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Is It Possible to Grade Levels of Fear?

Each fear stands on its own, but in general, each level of fear reveals a higher, more spiritual fear. These levels progress from corporeal fears to human fears to spiritual fears. For example, at the lowest level, we fear physical pain. Next, we fear death, then shame. Eventually, we fear taking responsibility for selfish reception. Finally, we begin to fear matters related to the Creator.

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How Does the Transition from Animalistic Fear to Spiritual Fear Take Place?

All fears are interconnected in a process: fear within fear within fear. For example, fear might begin as dread of the police, later transform into fear of public shame, and so on. Yet the root of all fear lies above, at the place of adhesion with the Creator, where the ultimate fear is of not being able to give to Him. From this root, fear descends through many levels, and manifests in this world as fear of external things such as police, shame, or failure.

We sink into this illusory fear, much like a child is scared of an imaginary bear outside. The danger is not real, and there is no reason for fear. Yet, despite understanding rationally that there is no need to be afraid, the emotional vessel still experiences fear. No matter how many logical reassurances we receive, we remain trapped in this sensation.

Over time, through study, effort, and connection with teachers and a supportive group, our vessel begins to open. Gradually, we trace our fear to its root, and realize that the fear of the police, for instance, is actually tied to the Creator. We come to see that the Creator orchestrates this fear to draw us closer to Him.

At this stage, we begin to distinguish what it means to fear the Creator. We question why the Creator makes us fear external things and realize it is to prompt us to ask: “Which is stronger—the police or the Creator?” This inner scrutiny grows until we perceive all fears as emanating from the Creator.

Eventually, the two fears, fear of the police and fear of the Creator, merge into one. We no longer experience them as two separate forces but as one unified, upper source: the Creator. We begin to view the Creator through the lens of fear, fearing that abandoning Him will lead us back to fearing external things.

Through this process, we discern an even higher root. We understand that the Creator’s purpose in arousing fear is not to frighten us, but to connect us to Him. Moreover, this connection is not for the sake of instilling fear, but to lead us to adhesion and love. Since the law of love is bestowal, we embark on an inner search for how to give to the Creator. At this point, all fears and disturbances disappear, for they are the opposite of giving.

Where does the transition occur? The transition from ordinary fear to fear of the Creator—the fear of being unable to bestow—does not necessarily happen during moments of fear. It can arise from any unpleasant sensation, even a vague discomfort. All unpleasant sensations are signals from above urging us to seek our root.

Why does the Creator send unpleasant sensations? The Creator does not send unpleasant sensations directly. Instead, He sends hints of the perfect state above. However, as these hints pass through the layers of worlds and levels before reaching a person, they are perceived as negative, for the person’s vessels are oppositely shaped.

Through effort and labor on “There is none else besides Him,” we gradually arrive at the correct solution, which is seeing how the situation originated from the Creator to teach us. This understanding does not come spontaneously, but through deep inner work and scrutinies drawn from experience.

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