Lesson 16. The Contradiction in Providence – A Study of “The Peace” by Baal HaSulam - Fundamentals of Kabbalah 2025/2026

Lesson 16. The Contradiction in Providence – A Study of “The Peace” by Baal HaSulam

Selected Excerpts from “The Peace” by Baal HaSulam

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Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy - Global Course 2025/2026
The Peace
By Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal Hasulam)

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Original Publication of “The Peace” – Booklet No. 3 by Baal HaSulam

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(An empirical, scientific research about the necessity of the work of the Creator)
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lay down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”
“And it shall come to pass on that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again, a second time, to recover the remnant of His people, who shall be left from Ashur and from Egypt, from Patros and from Kush, and from Elam and from Shin’ar, and from Hamat, and from the islands of the sea” (Isaiah 11).

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“Rabbi Shimon Ben Halafta said, ‘The Lord did not find a vessel to hold the blessing for Israel but peace, as was said. ‘The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace’’” (end of Masechet Okatzin).

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After having demonstrated in previous articles the general form of His work, whose essence is nothing more and nothing less than the love of others, practically determined as “bestowal upon others,” meaning that the actual manifestation of love of others is bestowal of goodness upon others, love of others should therefore be determined as bestowal upon others, which is best suited for its content, aiming to ensure that we do not forget the intention.

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Now that we know for certain the conduct of His work, there still remains to inquire whether we accept this work on faith alone, without any scientific, empirical basis, or do we also have an empirical basis for this. This is what I want to prove in the essay before us.

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But first I must thoroughly prove the subject itself, meaning who it is who accepts our work.
But I am not an enthusiast of formative philosophy, since I dislike theoretically based studies, and it is well known that most of my contemporaries agree with me, for we are too familiar with such foundations, which are rickety foundations, and when the foundation fluctuates, the whole building tumbles.

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Therefore, I have come here to speak only through critique of empirical reason, beginning from the simple recognition no one disagrees with, through proving analytically [separating the various elements in an issue], until we come to determine the uppermost topic.

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And it will be tested synthetically [the connection and unity between matters, such as inference and the “all the more so”], how His work is confirmed and reaffirmed by simple recognition from the practical aspect.

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Contradictions in Providence

Every reasonable person who examines the reality before us finds two complete opposites in it. When examining creation, its reality and conducts, there is an apparent and affirmed leadership of great wisdom and skill, 1) both regarding the formation of reality and 2) the securing of its existence in general.

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Let us take the making of a human being as an example: The love and pleasure of the progenitors is its first reason, guaranteed to perform its duty. When the essential drop is extracted from the father’s brain, Providence has very wisely secured a safe place for it, which qualifies it to receive life.

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Providence also gives it its daily bread in the exact amount. Providence has also prepared a wonderful foundation for it in the mother’s womb so that no stranger might harm it.
It tends to its every need like a trained nanny who will not forget it for a moment until it has acquired the strength to emerge into our world. At that time, Providence briefly lends it just enough strength to break the walls that surround it, and like a trained, armed warrior, it breaks an opening and emerges into the world.

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Then, too, Providence does not abandon it. Like a loving mother, it brings it to such loving, loyal people it can trust, called “Father” and “Mother,” to assist it through its days of weakness until it grows and can sustain itself. As man, so are all the animals, plants, and inanimate; all are wisely and mercifully cared for to ensure their own existence and the continuation of their species.

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But those who examine that reality from the perspective of provision and persistence of existence can clearly see great disorder and confusion, as though there were no leader and no guidance. Each one does that which is right in his own eyes, building himself on the ruin of others, the wicked thrive and the righteous are trampled mercilessly.

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Bear in mind that this oppositeness, set before the eyes of every sensible, educated person, has preoccupied humanity even in ancient times. And there were many methods to explain these two apparent opposites in Providence, which occupy the same world.

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First Method: Nature

This method is an ancient one. Since they did not find a way and an outlet to bring these two evident opposites closer, they came to assume that the Creator, Who created all these, Who watches mightily over His reality lest any of it be canceled, is mindless and senseless.
Hence, although He watches over the existence of reality with wondrous wisdom, He Himself is mindless and does all that senselessly. If there had been any reason and feeling in Him, He would certainly not leave such malfunctions in the provision of reality without pity or compassion for the tormented. For this reason, they named Him “Nature,” meaning a mindless, heartless Supervisor. For this reason, they believe that there is no one to be angry at, pray to, or justify before Him.

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Second Method: Two Authorities

Others were more sophisticated. They found it difficult to accept the premise of nature’s supervision, since they saw that the supervision over reality, to secure its existence, is a far deeper wisdom than any human culmination. They could not agree that the overseer over all these is Himself mindless, for how can one give that which one does not possess? Can one teach one’s friend while he himself is a fool?

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How can you say about He who performs before us such astute and wise deeds that He does not know what He is doing, that He does it by chance, which it is evident that chance cannot arrange any orderly deed, devised in wisdom, much less secure its eternal existence? Hence, they came to a second assumption that there are two supervisors here: one creates and sustains the good, and the other creates and sustains the bad. And they have greatly elaborated that method with evidence and proofs along their way.

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Third Method: Multiple Gods

This method was born out of the bosom of the method of two authorities. This is because they had divided and separated each of the general actions for itself, meaning strength, wealth, domination, beauty, famine, death, disorder, and so on. They appointed each its own supervisor, and expanded the matter as they wished.

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Fourth Method: Left His Operation

Recently, when knowledge increased and they saw the tight linkage among all parts of creation, they recognized the concept of multiple gods to be completely impossible. Thus, the question of the oppositeness sensed in creation reawakened.

This led them to a new assumption—that the Supervisor of reality is indeed wise and caring, but because of His exaltedness, which is beyond conception, our world is deemed a grain of sand, nothing in His eyes. It is not worthwhile for Him to bother with our petty matters, which is why our livelihood is so disordered and every man does that which is right in his own eyes.

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Alongside these methods, there existed religious methods of Godly unity. But this is not the place to examine them, as I only wanted to examine the origins from which the foul methods and puzzling assumptions that vastly dominated and expanded at different times and places were taken.

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We find that the basis on which all the above methods were born and emerged is the contradiction between the two types of Providence detectable in our world, and all these methods came about only to mend that great rift.

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Yet, nothing is new under the sun, and not only is that great rift not been mended, it grows and expands before us into a terrible chasm without seeing or hoping for a way out of it.

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When I look at all those attempts that humanity has been making for several thousand years to no avail, I wonder if we should not seek the mending of this great rift from the Supervisor’s point of view at all, but rather accept that this great correction is in our own hands?

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Necessity to Practice Caution with the Laws of Nature

We can all plainly see that the human species must lead a social life, meaning we cannot exist and sustain ourselves without the help of society.

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Therefore, imagine an event where one retires from society to a desolate location and lives there a life of misery and great pain due to his inability to provide for his needs. That person would have no right to complain about Providence or his fate. And if that person were to do that, meaning complain and curse his bitter fate, he would only be displaying his stupidity, for while Providence has prepared for him a comfortable, desirable place in society, he has no justification to retire from it to a desolate place. Such a person must not be pitied, since he goes against the nature of creation. Since he has the option to live as Providence has ordered him, he should not be pitied.

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That sentence is agreed upon by all of humanity without dispute. And I can add and establish it on a religious basis and give it such a form: Since Providence is extended from the Creator, who undoubtedly has a purpose in His actions, since no one acts without a purpose, we find that anyone who breaks a law from the laws of nature that He has imprinted in us, corrupts the purposeful aim.

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Because the purpose is undoubtedly built over all the laws of nature, none excluded, just as the clever worker would not add or subtract even a hairsbreadth of the necessary actions to attain the goal, he who spoils even a single law harms and damages the purposeful aim that the Creator has set and will therefore be punished by nature. Hence, we, too, creatures of the Creator, must not pity him because he desecrates the laws of nature and defiles the purpose of the Creator. That, I believe, is the form of the sentence.

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And I believe that it is not a good idea for anyone to contradict this form that I have given to the sentence, since the words of the sentence are one. For what is the difference if we say that the supervisor is called “nature,” meaning mindless and purposeless, or saying that the supervisor is wondrously wise, knowing, feeling, and has a purpose in his actions?

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In the end, we all admit and agree that we are obligated to observe the commandments of Providence, meaning the laws of nature. And we all admit that one who breaks the commandments of Providence, meaning the laws of nature, should be punished by nature, and must not be pitied by anyone. Thus, the nature of the sentence is the same, and the only difference is in the motive: They maintain that the motive is necessary, and I maintain that it is purposeful.

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To avoid having to use both tongues from now on, 1) nature, 2) a supervisor, between which, as I have shown, there is no difference regarding the following of the laws, it is best for us to agree and accept the words of the Kabbalists that HaTeva [the nature] has the same numerical value [in Hebrew] as Elokim [God]—eighty-six. Then, I will be able to call the laws of God “nature’s commandments,” or vice-versa (God’s commandments by the name “nature’s laws”), for they are one and the same, and we need not discuss it further.

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Now it is vitally important for us to examine nature’s commandments, to know what it demands of us, lest it would mercilessly punish us. We have said that nature obligates humankind to lead a social life, and this is simple. But we need to examine the commandments that nature obligates us to observe in that respect, meaning with respect to the social life.

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In general examination, we find that there are only two commandments to follow in society. These can be called 1) “reception” and 2) “bestowal.” This means that each member must, by nature, receive his needs from the society and must benefit society through his work for its well-being. And if one breaks one of these two commandments, he will be mercilessly punished.

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We need not excessively examine the commandment of reception, since the punishment is carried out immediately, which prevents any neglect. But in the other commandment, that of bestowal upon society, not only is the punishment not immediate, but it is given indirectly. Therefore, this commandment is not properly observed.
Thus, humanity is being fried in a heinous turmoil, and strife and famine and their consequences have not ceased thus far.

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The wonder about it is that nature, like a skillful judge, punishes us according to our development. For we can see that to the extent that humankind develops, the pains and torments in obtaining our sustenance and existence also multiply.

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Thus you have a scientific, empirical basis that His Providence has commanded us to observe with all our might the commandment of bestowal upon others in utter precision, in such a way that no member from among us would work any less than the measure required to secure the happiness of society and its success. As long as we are idle performing it to the fullest, nature will not stop punishing us and take its revenge.

And besides the blows we suffer today, we must also consider the drawn sword for the future. The right conclusion must be drawn—that nature will ultimately defeat us and we will all be compelled to join hands in following its commandments with all the measure required of us.