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

Article The Peace:

(An empirical, scientific research about the obligation of the work of the Creator)

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.

This is beginning of the article. 

It raise a few questions:

If this is about the work of the Creator, why is it call the peace? Why is it work? Why do we need this work? Are we free to not do this work? Why Baal HaSulam is calling this an obligation? 

(Discussion or Questions)

Explanation by Michael Laitman

The Kabbalists are people who penetrated beyond matter and discovered the laws that operate upon it. They had no prior preparation or knowledge; it was the desire to attain the essence of life that drove them to this discovery.

The revelation of the laws beyond matter can be compared to examining the back side of a knitted picture.

On the front, a clear image appears, while on the back the threads are tangled together in what seems like a meaningless jumble. Stepping beyond the boundaries of matter reveals to a person the system of connections and laws that join together and activate matter. All the forces that operate upon matter combine into a single force, which the Kabbalists call the “will to bestow” or “bestowal.” Such is the nature of this force; this is how the Kabbalists attained it.

All details of reality are included within the force of bestowal that operates over all of reality—whether human beings, souls, angels, or any other element.

From this derives a simple law: according to the degree of equivalence of form between any element of reality and the force of bestowal, that element feels itself to be in the same state as the general force of reality—namely, good, eternal, whole, unlimited—call it whatever you wish.

The effect of this law is also felt in our world: the more balanced a person is in relation to their environment, the better they feel. A person who is in balance with their surroundings does not feel pressure—neither do they exert pressure, nor is pressure exerted upon them. They are neither too cold nor too hot; everything is balanced. They feel themselves and the world as one, and they feel good. In summary, the general law of reality is a law of bestowal: to the extent that we resemble it, we feel better; to the extent that we are opposite to it, we feel worse.

New “Reshimot” (spiritual records) are revealed in a person at every moment, and their ego develops accordingly. Over thousands of years of human development, the ego has continued to intensify—both in the individual and in humanity as a whole. Thus, as time passes, a person feels increasingly opposite to the force of bestowal, and their negative sensations intensify. From generation to generation, suffering increases. Baal HaSulam explains that the purpose of the law is to show a person their true state. The law of bestowal indicates the degree of imbalance between a person and the force of bestowal, thereby compelling them to reach balance—to attain the good state. If we find balance with the force of bestowal, we will be like it in a perfect state, and we will feel eternal, unlimited life.

According to Baal HaSulam, the obligation to resemble the force of bestowal is expressed in a person as love of others. A person does not know how to equalize themselves directly with the law itself. But if the law is a law of bestowal, and bestowal is expressed as love of others, then through unlimited love toward all that surrounds them, a person will completely resemble the Upper Force—a force that is entirely bestowal.
 

To the extent that a person does not wish to equalize themselves with nature, with the Upper Law, the Upper Law will compel them to do so through suffering. One can therefore act wisely and take a step forward on one’s own toward equivalence with the Upper Force, or continue to absorb blows until nature forces us through suffering.

“Peace” means equivalence of form with the Upper Force.

Baal HaSulam says that the obligation regarding the work of the Creator can be proven to every person through scientific research based on empirical evidence.

In other words, on the one hand, a person is obligated to equalize their form with the Upper Force, and on the other hand, it is worthwhile to do so willingly, before suffering compels them. Baal HaSulam demonstrates this through scientific, experience-based research, point by point in the article

Baal HaSulam continue

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. 

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.

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.  

Explanation by Michael Laitman

Kabbalah is a science, a method, and for this reason it is called a wisdom. In Kabbalah there is no place for blind faith. The concept of “faith in the sages” means heeding the advice of the great ones in order to acquire their knowledge. A person who follows faith in the sages believes that the wisdom of the Kabbalist is greater than their own, like a child in relation to an adult. If one studies that wisdom, one will attain it. Implementing the sage’s advice grants a person the sage’s wisdom. The concept of faith in the wisdom of Kabbalah is similar to children’s trust in their parents; without it, one cannot ascend from degree to degree. If the younger wishes to develop, they must listen to the guidance of the greater. Faith in the wisdom of Kabbalah bridges the gap between one degree and the next—nothing more. It is not faith in something unattainable or unknown, nor does it refer to belief in the next world.

The investigations of Abraham and Moses serve as good examples of inquiry based on experience. The Midrash relates that Abraham would ask why he lived, why the stars were created, and for what purpose the entire world was created. This research, these questions brought him to the discovery of the one force operating in reality—the force of bestowal. 

A person’s desire reveals the nature of creation at the level called “the Upper Force.” The research in the wisdom of Kabbalah is based entirely on experience. “Faith in the sages” means learning from the great ones how to carry out our research.

Baal HaSulam:

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. 

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. 
 

Explanation by Michael Laitman

From the perspective of the order of creation, nature takes care of all its details. This care is especially evident in those elements undergoing a process of development. As long as development has not reached its completion, the developing entity passes through changing states. Nature supervises its development through these various states and provides support systems that assist its growth and strengthening.

This was so during the formation of matter at the inanimate level; it is so at the vegetative and animate levels—and all the more so at the speaking (human) level. The greater the will to receive, the longer the development required by the created being. A plant may complete its developmental process within a few hours; in other cases, it may take days or months. The will to receive at the vegetative level is small, and therefore its development is short. The animate level requires several years to complete its development, and the speaking level requires decades. The will to receive of the speaking level is great and demands multifaceted development in all its depth.

Nature ensures that all its details are led from their developmental states to maturity. The greater the will to receive, the more intensely nature pressures it to act and to change. Less pressure is exerted on the inanimate level, and more on the vegetative, animate, and speaking levels. In summary, nature’s attitude toward the created being is determined by the degree of development and the size of the ego, and during the process of development, nature relates to the created being benevolently.

In conclusion, within the human being there exists a part that must be completed by the person themselves in place of Providence. The Upper Force is concealed from us; it developed us through the levels of inanimate, vegetative, and animate, up to the speaking level. At the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, a person functions properly. But at the speaking level within a person, there is seemingly no supervision. The action of Providence at the speaking level amounts only to showing a person the difference between themselves and the Upper Force—and nothing more.

The Upper Force does not use personal example to compel a person to be good. The signs of imbalance with it are given through suffering, and suffering brings a person to ask “Why?”—to complain about the pain during development. At this point, a person is required to complete Providence, to act as part of the Creator, in His place. The Creator wants the human being at the speaking level to stand in His place.

At the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels there is no choice; in these levels, nature operates. At the speaking level, a person is obligated to become “Adam” (Human). “Adam” comes from the word *Adameh*—“I will resemble”—the Most High, meaning similar to the Creator. We must learn from the Upper One, as it is written, “From Your actions we have known You,” and as a result of this learning, become truly human—rise to the degree of the Creator.

This is the meaning of Baal HaSulam’s words: we must attain the degree of the Creator.