413. The Difference between Books of Ethics and the Books of the Baal Shem Tov

May 1980

When a person wants to buy an object and he must pay for it, a mediator between the seller and the buyer is required. The mediator lets the buyer understand that this object is worth more than the sum he is asked to pay, meaning that the seller is not asking for such a high price for merchandise that is worth a lot.

For this reason, ethics books help us understand what a person must relinquish in corporeality in order to attain spirituality. They teach that all the corporeal pleasures are but imaginary pleasures and are worthless. Thus, they do not yield such a great reward in order to attain spirituality.

The books of the Baal Shem Tov gave the primary weight to the merchandise, meaning they help understand the value and importance and greatness of spirituality. Hence, although there is merit to corporeality, something must be relinquished, but with regard to the merchandise, which is “for they are our lives,” it is written, “nicer than gold and from much fine gold, and sweeter than honey.”