1. There Is None Else Besides Him
I heard on Parashat Yitro, 12 Shevat, February 6, 1944
It is written, “There is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what one sees, that there are things in the world that deny the upper household, the reason is that this is His will.
This is deemed a correction called “the left rejects and the right pulls closer,” meaning that what the left rejects is considered a correction. This means that there are things in the world that, to begin with, aim to divert a person from the right way, and by which he is rejected from Kedusha [holiness].
The benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a complete need and desire for the Creator to help him since he sees that otherwise he is lost; not only is he not progressing in the work, he even sees that he regresses. That is, he lacks the strength to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] even Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], for only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles, above reason, can he observe the Torah and Mitzvot. But he does not always have the strength to overcome above reason; otherwise, he is forced to deviate, God forbid, from the way of the Creator, even from Lo Lishma.
And he, who always feels that the shattered is greater than the whole, meaning that there are many more descents than ascents, and he does not see an end to these states, and he will forever remain outside of holiness, for he sees that it is difficult for him to observe even in the slightest bit, unless by overcoming above reason. But he cannot always overcome, so what will be in the end?
Then he comes to the decision that no one can help but the Creator Himself. This causes him to make a heartfelt demand that the Creator will open his eyes and heart and truly bring him closer to eternal Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. It therefore follows that all the rejections that he had were all from the Creator.
This means that it was not because he was at fault that he did not have the ability to overcome. Rather, for those people who truly want to draw near to the Creator, so they do not settle for little, meaning remain as senseless children, he is therefore given help from above so he will not be able to say, “Thank God, I have Torah and Mitzvot and good deeds, and what else do I need?”
Only if that person has a true desire will he receive help from above, and he will always be shown that he is at fault in the present state. Namely, he is sent thoughts and views that are against the work. This is in order for him to see that he is not in wholeness with the Creator. As much as he overcomes, he always sees that he is farther from holiness than others, who feel that they are in wholeness with the Creator.
But he, on the other hand, always has complaints and demands, and he cannot justify the Creator’s behavior, the way He behaves with him. This pains him: Why is he not wholly with the Creator? Finally, he comes to feel that he has no part in holiness at all.
Although he occasionally receives an awakening from above, which momentarily revives him, soon after, he falls into the place of baseness. Yet, this is what causes him to come to realize that only the Creator can help and really bring him closer.
One must always try and adhere to the Creator, namely that all his thoughts will be about Him. That is to say, even if he is in the worst state, from which there cannot be a greater decline, he should not leave His domain, namely that there is another authority that prevents him from entering the Kedusha [holiness], that can bring benefit or harm.
That is, he must not think that there is a force of the Sitra Achra [other side] that does not let a person do good deeds and walk in the ways of the Creator. Rather, all is done by the Creator.
The Baal Shem Tov said that he who says that there is another force in the world, namely Klipot [shells], that person is in a state of “serving other gods.” It is not necessarily the thought of heresy that is the transgression, but if he thinks that there is another authority and force apart from the Creator, he is committing a transgression.
Furthermore, one who says that man has his own authority, that is, he says that yesterday he himself did not want to follow the Creator’s ways, this, too, is considered committing the transgression of heresy, meaning he does not believe that only the Creator is the leader of the world.
But when he has committed a transgression, he must certainly regret it and be sorry for committing the transgression. But here, too, we should place the pain and sorrow in the right order: Where does he place the cause of the transgression, for this is the point that should be regretted.
Then, one should be remorseful and say, “I committed that transgression because the Creator hurled me down from holiness to a place of filth, to the lavatory, the place of filth.” That is to say that the Creator gave him a desire and craving to amuse himself and breathe air in a place of stench.
(You might say that it is written in books that sometimes one comes incarnated as a pig. We should interpret this as he says, that a person receives a desire and craving to derive vitality from things he had already determined were litter, and now he wants to receive nourishment from them).
Also, when one feels that now he is in a state of ascent, and feels some good flavor in the work, he must not say, “Now I am in a state that I understand that it is worthwhile to be a servant of the Creator.” Rather, he should know that now the Creator favored him; hence, the Creator brought him closer, and this is why now he feels a good taste in the work. He should be careful never to leave the domain of Kedusha and say that there is someone else who operates besides the Creator.
(But this means that the matter of being favored by the Creator, or the opposite, does not depend on the person himself, but only on the Creator. And man, with his external mind, cannot comprehend why now the Creator has favored him and afterward did not.)
Likewise, when he regrets that the Creator does not draw him near, he should also be careful that it would not be in relation to himself, meaning that he is removed from the Creator, for by this he becomes a receiver for his own benefit, and a receiver is separated. Rather, he should regret the exile of the Shechina [Divinity], meaning that he is causing the sorrow of the Shechina.
One should imagine that it is as though a small organ of the person is sore. Nevertheless, the pain is felt primarily in the mind and in the heart. The heart and the mind are the whole of man, and certainly, the sensation of a single organ cannot resemble the sensation of a person’s full stature, which is primarily where the pain is felt.
Likewise is the pain that one feels when he is removed from the Creator. Since man is but a single organ of the Shechina, for the Shechina is the common soul of Israel, hence, the sensation of a single organ is not like the sensation of the general pain. That is, there is sorrow in the Shechina when the organs are removed from her and she cannot nurture her organs.
(We should say that this is as our sages said: “When a man regrets, what does the Shechina say? ‘It is lighter than my head.’”) By not relating the sorrow of remoteness to himself, he is spared falling into the trap of the desire to receive for himself, which is considered separation from the Kedusha.
The same applies when one feels some closeness to Kedusha, when he feels joy at having been favored by the Creator. Then, too, he must say that his joy is primarily because now there is joy above, in the Shechina, at being able to bring her private organ near her, and that she did not have to send her private organ out.
And one derives joy from being rewarded with pleasing the Shechina. This is in accord with the above calculation that when there is joy to the part, it is only a part of the joy of the whole. Through these calculations, he loses his individuality and avoids being trapped by the Sitra Achra, which is the will to receive for his own benefit.
Although the will to receive is necessary, since this is the whole of man, since anything that exists in a person apart from the will to receive does not belong to the creature, but we attribute it to the Creator, but the will to receive pleasure should be corrected to work in order to bestow.
That is, the pleasure and joy that the will to receive takes should be with the aim that there is contentment above when the creatures feel pleasure, as this was the purpose of creation—to do good to His creations. This is called the joy of the Shechina above.
For this reason, one must seek advice how he can bring contentment above. Clearly, if he receives pleasure, there will be contentment above. Therefore, he yearns to always be in the King’s palace and to have the ability to play with the King’s treasures, and this will certainly bring contentment above. It follows that all his longing should be only for the sake of the Creator.