Envy in Kabbalah

"“Envy,” “lust,” and “honor,” bring man out of the world (Avot, Chapter 4:28). He says there that through the envy and respect, it is possible to change the inclinations to lust into the degree of vegetative, where he begins to work for the sake of others for the purpose of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. Likewise, through envy, he can shift to the level of knowledge, as our sages said, “Authors’ envy increases knowledge.” And likewise, through Lo Lishma they can also shift from the animate level to the speaking. Yet, how does the Lo Lishma help if one does not have the real inclination to the degree to which he enters? Our sages said about this, with respect to the Torah, “The light in it reforms him.” It turns out that through Lo Lishma, we come to Lishma [for Her sake]. This is why they said, “One should always learn Lo Lishma, as from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma.”"

RABASH, Article No. 4 (1990), "What It Means that the Generations of the Righteous are Good Deeds, in the Work"

We have only one counsel, which is to strive to attain the greatness of the Creator. That is, in all our engagement with Torah and mitzvot [light and the correction of the desires], we want our reward to be the sensation of the Creator’s greatness. All the prayers we pray should be for “raising the Shechinah from the dust,” since the Creator is hidden from us due to the restriction that occurred, and we are unable to appreciate His importance and greatness. Therefore, we pray to the Creator to remove His concealment from us, and to elevate the importance of the Torah [the force of correction]. For this reason, a person must strive not to forget the goal while studying Torah, and always keep before his eyes that what he wants to receive from the study is that the study will impart to him the greatness and importance of the Creator. Likewise, when performing the mitzvot, he must not forget the intention: that by fulfilling the mitzvot, through this segula, the Creator will remove from him the concealment that rests over spirituality, and instead he will attain the sensation of the greatness of the Creator. Through this, he will merit closeness to the Creator, will attain the greatness of the Creator, so that he will be able to bring Him contentment out of the importance of the Creator—that this will be his reward, and he will have no desire for any other reward for his work.

Rabash - Lishma and Lo Lishma

From lesson of Rav:

Everything depends on importance. And this is the problem: how do we attain importance? How much time do we waste during the day on all kinds of nonsense? How is it that we cannot be concerned, every moment, to remain focused on the intention? For only through our yearning can we draw the reforming light. And if “I did not labor, I did not find.” So how can we obligate ourselves to labor? For important things, for work, for all sorts of matters, people are willing to run every day—I see people flying, running, worrying. And what are we lacking? Importance. Rabash would always say that you cannot buy such a medicine at the pharmacy, some pill you swallow and suddenly it becomes important to you. This is a problem. So how is it done? There is only one thing: the influence of the environment.

Therefore, as it is written, “Either companionship or death.” Either we truly organize a strong society that gives a person inspiration, so that he begins, through envy, lust, and honor, to envy others, to see how much stronger they are than he is, how special they are—this provokes him, awakens him, and then he is aroused. And if not, then there is no chance. In the end, everything depends on the environment, as Baal HaSulam writes: after a person enters an environment, he is subject to it, and everything depends on it. The environment can raise him or lower him. According to the strength of spirit that the environment has toward the goal, so will the person advance—no more and no less. Provided that he does not belittle them, and strives to be attached to them. But he must invest in the environment, and the environment, in turn, must invest in him, in each and every one.

Thus, we must always be concerned and attentive, constantly examining and reviewing whether everyone is in a state of importance. Suppose now we are studying in the lesson, and some of our friends are working at the new house. We must care for these friends. I am very concerned about those who work there whole days without pause and do not attend the lessons. This is not good. We must ensure that even the most important person there also comes to the lesson, alternating between here and there. There are such people, especially professionals, who are there and do not come to the lesson, as if they cannot. This is impossible—a person must attend the lesson at least twice a week in order to maintain a sense of importance within. Otherwise, they will fall. It must always be so: “Torah is good together with worldly occupation”—both this and that. I hope that in a few weeks this will be over.

"Our sages said, “Envy among authors increases wisdom.” That is, when all the friends look at the group and see that they are on a high level, both in thought and in action, then by nature, each one is compelled to raise his own level higher than what he possesses by the quality of his own body.

This means that even if, by birth, he does not desire great pleasures and does not have a strong inclination toward the desire for honor, nevertheless, through envy, he can acquire additional strengths that he does not possess by nature, those with which he was born. Rather, the measure of envy within him gives rise to new strengths that exist in the group. Through them, he acquires these new qualities—strengths that are not found in him from his parents who gave birth to him. Thus, he now has new qualities that the group has given birth to within him.

It follows that a person has qualities inherited from his parents, and he has qualities that he has acquired from the group. This is a new acquisition. And this comes to him only by virtue of connection with the group, and through the envy he feels toward the friends when he sees that they have more beautiful qualities than he does. This gives him the drive to acquire from them their good qualities, which they possess and he does not, and he envies them.

Thus, he gains new qualities from the group, which he adopts for himself, by virtue of seeing that they are on a higher level than he is, and he envies them. This is the reason he can now become greater than if he did not have a group, for through the group he acquires new strengths".

(Rabash, Article 21, “Concerning Above Reason,” 1986)

"Do save us from envy of one another, and let no envy of others come into our hearts, nor our envy of others. On the contrary, let our hearts see the virtues of our friends and not their faults, and let us speak to each other in a way that is seemly and worthy before You, and let no hatred rise in one towards another. Brace our ties of love to You, as it is known to You that all will be for bringing contentment to You, and this is our main intention. And should we not have the wit to aim our hearts to You, You will teach us, so we may truly know the aim of Your good will."

Noam Elimelech - Prayer before Prayer

Discussion:

How can we avoid negative envy?

How can we increase positive envy?

Q&A