291. Man and His Role
Before we begin to speak of some matter, we must know who is speaking and to whom. In this, we have no doubt that we are called “created beings,” meaning that we are living in a world that was created existence from absence. Baal HaSulam established in great detail in his books that the thing that is innovated existence from absence is only the will to receive within us, for as long as we exist in our world, we want only to acquire possessions of pleasure.
We see that concerning pleasure, there is no difference among people, and everyone wants to have pleasures. From a day-old child to one’s final day, we want only to enjoy.
The only difference is the clothing with which the light of pleasure is dressed in him, since pleasure is something spiritual and cannot be attained or grasped without clothing. In the books of Kabbalah, this is considered that there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. Hence, only in the Kelim [vessels] is it possible to distinguish one from the other. Some can receive pleasure only from a clothing of falsehood but are still unable to receive pleasure from a clothing of truth.
We see this with a baby who is playing with a doll that the boy or the girl made from rags. It is a false child, yet they like it and it gives them pleasure.
Conversely, a real child, meaning if there is a six-month-old baby in the house who is crying, and the mother asks her six-year-old daughter, “Why do you need to play with a false child? Play with the real one, so all three of us will benefit from this,” meaning the mother, who cannot stand the child’s crying, the child, who will enjoy your playing with him, and you will enjoy just as much as when you enjoy playing with a doll.
To this, the girl replies, “This is all very nice, but I find no taste or pleasure in this real child.” Should the mother say to the girl, “But you see that when I have time, I play with the real child and not with the doll,” the girl will answer, “I see that you don’t want to enjoy in this world; this is why you are playing with the real child. I want to enjoy, so I play with the doll.”
That is, one does not understand the other, since she still cannot derive pleasure from something real, but from something false.
In this we should discern between one and the other, meaning only in the clothing. But with regard to pleasure, everyone is the same and where there is no pleasure, one cannot enjoy. When he engages in something that is not enjoyable, this is only if he knows that in return for the labor he will receive pleasure later on.
We must understand where it comes from and what is the reason that we must receive pleasure and cannot live without it. This stems from the thought of creation to do good to His creations, as it is written in the Midrash, an allegory about a king who has a tower filled abundantly, and for this purpose, the desire to want only pleasure has been imprinted in us, like the meal, where if there is no appetite, we say that the meal is not good.