Lesson 10

Topic: Playing on the Spiritual Path

Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. From: Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 16, "What Is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord, in the Work?"

"For one to have the powers of bestowal, we need a second nature, so one will have the strength to achieve equivalence of form.

In other words, the Creator is the giver and does not receive anything, for He lacks nothing, meaning that what He gives is also not because of a lack, that if He has no one to give to, He feels it as a lack.

Rather, we must perceive this as a game. That is, it is not that when He wants to give, it is something that He needs. Instead, this is all like a game."

2. From: Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 16, "What Is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord, in the Work?"

"It is as our sages said regarding the queen: She asked, “What does the Creator do after He has created the world?” The answer was, “He sits and plays with a whale,” as it is written, “This whale You have created to play with” (Avoda Zarah, p 3).

The matter of the whale refers to Dvekut and connection (as it is written, “according to the opening of man and the connections”). This means that the purpose, which is the connection of the Creator with the creatures, is only a game; it is not a matter of a desire and a need.

The difference between a game and a desire is that everything that comes in the desire is a necessity. If one does not obtain one’s desire, he is deficient. But with games, even if one does not obtain the thing, it is not considered a lack, as they say, “It is not so bad that I did not get what I planned because it is not so important.” This is so because the desire he had for it was only a game and not serious."

3. From: RABASH, Letter No. 37

"The way is as one who goes to his friend’s occasion. He doesn’t think of himself—whether or not he is in a good mood—but must take part in his friend’s joy. He must not frown, but show a happy face. It is the same here: bonding among the friends should be such that each wishes to delight his friend, and precisely with corporeal things, since precisely here is the matter of “Buy yourself a friend.”"

4. From: Rabash, Article No. 2, (1984), "Concerning Love of Friends"

"One must disclose the love in his heart towards the friends, since by revealing it he evokes his friends’ hearts toward the friends so they, too, would feel that each of them is practicing love of friends. The benefit from that is that in this manner, one gains strength to practice love of friends more forcefully, since every person’s force of love is integrated in each other’s.

It turns out that where a person has one measure of strength to practice love of friends, if the group consists of ten members, then he is integrated with ten forces of the need, who understand that it is necessary to engage in love of friends. However, if each of them does not show the society that he is practicing love of friends, then one lacks the force of the group.

This is so because it is very hard to judge one’s friend favorably. Each one thinks that he is righteous and that only he engages in love of friends. In that state, one has very little strength to practice love of others. Thus, this work, specifically, should be public and not concealed."

5. From: Rabash. Article 30 “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends“ (1988)

"Each one should try to bring into the society a spirit of life and hopefulness, and infuse energy into the society. Thus, each of the friends will be able to tell himself, “Now I am starting a clean slate in the work.” In other words, before he came to the society, he was disappointed with the progress in the work of the Creator, but now the society has filled him with life and hopefulness.Thus, through society he obtained the confidence and strength to overcome because now he feels that he can achieve wholeness. And all his thoughts—that he was facing a high mountain that could not be conquered, and that these were truly formidable obstructions—now he feels that they are nothing. And he received it all from the power of the society because each and every one tried to instill a spirit of encouragement and the presence of a new atmosphere in the society."

6.  From: Baal HaSulam, "Foreword to The Book of Zohar", No. 33

"There is a Godly will here, that these similitudes, which operate only in the souls of the receivers, will appear to the souls as He Himself participates in them to greatly increase the attainment of the souls.

It is like a father who constrains himself to show his little darling child a face of sadness and a face of contentment, although there is neither sadness nor contentment in him. He only does this to impress his darling child and expand his understanding so as to play with him.

Only when he grows will he learn and know that all that his father did was no more real than mere playing with him. So is the matter before us: All these images and changes begin and end only with the impression of the souls. Yet, by the will of God, they appear as though they are in Him Himself. He does that to enhance and expand the attainment of the souls to the utmost, in accordance with the thought of creation, to delight His creatures."

7. From: Baal HaSulam, "The Writings of the Last Generation"

"Our demand of actors in the theater is that they do everything in their power until they persuade our imagination to regard their performances as actual reality. Likewise, we desire that those who explain the Kabbalistic method be able to speak to our hearts so deeply that faith in this method will take hold in our hearts with the force of actual reality."