332. Concerning Equivalence of Form
August 1979
Concerning equivalence of form, which is a correction to avoid the bread of shame, we can interpret in a literal manner, that since what is permitted about Him—the discernment of by-Your-actions-we-know-You—that He has contentment when He bestows upon the created beings, called “His desire to do good to His creations.” For this reason, the lower ones should also achieve this quality of having pleasure when they are bestowed upon. In the words of our sages, this is called “cleave unto His attributes, as He is merciful, so you are merciful.”
But since the creatures were born in the opposite state, since the upper desire, called “to do good to the created beings,” created in the created beings a desire to receive and not to bestow, and we desire to bestow only if we can thereby obtain a greater pleasure and we will receive some reward in return for our bestowal, but without pleasure, one cannot bestow anything, it follows that we are opposite in form from the Creator, and in spirituality, oppositeness of form is regarded as separation.
When one is separated from the Creator, how can he connect? Indeed, this is all the bad that there is in the creatures, which they must correct, and this is called “recognition of evil,” that one should come to recognize that nothing in the world hinders him from obtaining delight and pleasure, except for the will to receive. But our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice” (Kidushin 30b). This is thoroughly explained in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot.”
It therefore follows that when one engages in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], the reason for his engagement should be to come to a state where the Creator gives him a reward for his work in Torah and Mitzvot, and his reward should be that he will be rid of the bad and achieve the good, meaning to be able to adhere to the Creator, who is called “Good.”
One should always have the reason before his eyes—that he wants to achieve the degree where he enjoys acts of bestowal, like the Creator, who enjoys being a Giver and does not need the creatures to give Him anything.
Likewise, man should ask the Creator to give him reward for his work, and the reward is that he will be able to work not in order to receive reward, that he will not need any reward for his work but will receive delight and pleasure during his acts of bestowal.
It follows that a person overcomes himself and performs acts of bestowal because he needs overcoming and coercion. It follows that on one hand, he has equivalence that he is not receiving but only bestows, yet he does not have delight and pleasure while bestowing without a reward. Thus, he has no equivalence of form with the Creator.
This means that one’s main work should be to enjoy while performing acts of bestowal. This is the meaning of what is written, “Serve the Lord with gladness” in order to have equivalence of form. Just as He enjoys when He bestows, as our sages said, “His desire to do good to His creations,” so man should achieve this degree.
This should be man’s entire reward, and this is called “bestowing in order to bestow” without any reward because he has no greater pleasure than this.
But once he is rewarded with this degree where all his pleasure is in bestowing upon the Creator, he sees and feels that he cannot give anything to the Creator that will please Him, other than to receive from Him the pleasures that He has prepared for His creations, which was the purpose of creation.
Hence, at that time, he is at a degree where he says to the Creator, “Give me greater pleasures because I want to give You contentment.” And since the Creator does not lack a thing, and the only discernment of a lack that we can speak of is for creation to achieve its goal, which is to delight His creations, it follows that not in order to receive reward means that a person has achieved a degree—which he was given as a gift from heaven—that his only pleasure is that he bestows upon the Creator. However, if he bestows and derives no pleasure, then he has no equivalence of form because he has no pleasure while bestowing and only yearns to be given something for his work in bestowal.
Conversely, when a person engages in matters of reception, he does not ask the Creator for anything in return or as a reward for his work in matters of reception. For this reason, the goal must always be in front of him, what he is asking in return for his work in Torah and Mitzvot, which is only that the Creator will grant him equivalence of form, which means that he will derive pleasure from engaging in bestowal.