552. He Who Comes to Purify Is Aided – 1

September/October

“He who comes to purify is aided.” The main purpose of “He who comes to purify” is in the action. “He is aided” refers to the thought, for only on the action can one overcome, but not on the intention.

This is the meaning of “I will bless you in all that you do,” since only on action can there be a commandment, while the intention is not within man’s hands. It is only in the hand of the Creator to give man the real intention. This is why it is considered that he is aided, meaning that the choice that was given to man was said only about the action but not about the intention.

This is the meaning of “We will do and we will hear.” When one observes the action, the Creator gives the intention, regarded as “We will hear.” This is the meaning of a prayer without an intention being like a body without a soul.

This is also the meaning of the three partners in man: the Creator, his father, and his mother. The Creator gives the soul, meaning the intention, and the father and mother are regarded as the giving force and the receiving force, where by these two forces, an act is born. In other words, the giving force does the deed, and the receiving force does not let him do the act of bestowal, which is why at that time he has room for choice.

One must increase the “right” over the “left,” meaning the giving force over the force of reception. However, this is regarded only as an act, which is tantamount to a prayer without an intention. The intention is called “the soul,” and the Creator gives it.

Through these three forces, the man is born. But when he has no room for choice, he does not need assistance from the Creator so he has no soul. It follows that man can be created only through these three forces.

This is the meaning of “Father gives the white, mother the red.” “White” means as it is written, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” “White” is when one has yearning for Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]. “Red” is the appellation of sins, as in “Though your sins be as scarlet,” the quality of Ima [mother], who is the female quality, meaning the will to receive, has no need or desire to do Mitzvot.

Specifically through those two forces, the quality of “man” emerges, and then the Creator gives him the “soul,” meaning the intention called “hearing,” as it is written, “In the end, after all is heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man.” Our sages said the whole world was created only for this.

We should understand the meaning of “all is heard.” We should interpret that “hearing” means the flavors of Torah and the flavors of Mitzvot, and we are rewarded with it specifically by doing. This is the meaning of “We will do and we will hear.” Also, this is the meaning of “In the end,” meaning that in the end he is rewarded with the quality of “We will hear.” We should engage in “fear God,” etc., meaning in doing, which is called “fear of heaven.”