One
Should
Always
Sell
Everything
He
Has
and
Marry
a
Wise
Disciple’s
Daughter
Article
No.
14,
1984
“One
should
always
sell
everything
he
has
and
marry
a
wise
disciple’s
daughter”
(Psachim,
49).
This
means
that
he
should
sell
all
the
possessions
that
he
has
acquired
through
his
labor.
That
is,
he
should
give
everything
and
relinquish
everything,
and
in
turn
take
the
daughter
of
a
wise
disciple.
This
means
that
if
he
does
not
take
a
wise
disciple’s
daughter,
all
the
labor
that
he
has
given
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot
[commandments]
his
whole
life
is
incomplete.
Only
if
he
marries
a
wise
disciple’s
daughter
will
he
be
rewarded
with
his
completeness.
This
is
why
our
sages
said
that
he
should
sell
everything
he
has,
meaning
that
it
is
worthwhile
to
sell
everything
for
a
wise
disciple’s
daughter.
Therefore,
we
should
understand
the
meaning
of
“a
wise
disciple’s
daughter.”
Baal
HaSulam
said
that
a
wise
disciple
is
one
who
is
a
disciple
of
a
wise,
meaning
he
learns
from
the
wise,
and
then
he
is
considered
a
disciple.
A
wise
is
the
Creator,
whose
quality
is
only
to
bestow.
One
who
learns
from
Him
the
quality
of
bestowal
is
called
a
“wise
disciple”
because
he
is
learning
from
Him
the
quality
of
bestowal.
By
that
we
will
understand
what
our
sages
said,
“One
should
always
sell
everything
he
has
and
marry
a
wise
disciple’s
daughter.”
That
is,
he
should
give
all
the
labor
he
has
given
in
Torah
and
work,
and
in
return
receive
a
possession
of
bestowal.
This
means
that
he
will
establish
in
his
heart
a
new
nature,
instead
of
the
one
that
he
naturally
has—a
desire
of
self-love.
Now
he
will
receive
a
second
nature:
the
desire
to
bestow.
That
is,
his
every
thought,
word,
and
action
will
be
only
in
order
to
bestow
upon
the
Creator,
for
this
is
the
whole
man.
This
means
that
one
should
achieve
only
this
degree,
for
all
we
need
to
attain
are
the
Kelim
[vessels].
But
the
abundance,
which
is
the
filling
of
the
Kelim,
comes
from
the
Creator,
since
more
than
the
calf
wants
to
suckle,
the
cow
wants
to
nurse.
Therefore,
all
we
are
missing
is
the
power
of
bestowal.
By
that
we
can
interpret
what
is
written
in
The
Zohar
(Pinhas,
p
78,
item
218),
“If
Israel
are
rewarded,
He
would
come
down
like
a
lion
of
fire
to
eat
the
offerings.
If
they
were
not
rewarded,
He
would
come
down
there
like
a
dog
of
fire.”
It
is
known
that
lion
implies
Hesed
[mercy],
which
is
the
right
of
the
Merkava
[chariot],
“If
they
are
rewarded,”
where
being
rewarded
means
pure,
meaning
bestowal.
Then
we
are
shown
an
eye
for
an
eye—that
from
above,
too,
comes
the
discernment
of
lion,
meaning
that
the
quality
of
Hesed
expanded
to
the
lower
ones,
and
then
the
abundance
was
plentiful
for
the
lower
ones.
“If
they
are
not
rewarded,”
meaning
that
they
did
not
engage
in
bestowal,
but
only
in
self-love,
then
from
above
the
discernment
of
dog
would
be
extended.
A
dog
implies,
as
it
is
written
in
The
Zohar
about
the
verse,
“The
leech
has
two
daughters
that
howl
as
dogs,
give
us
the
wealth
of
this
world
and
give
us
the
wealth
of
the
next
world.”
In
other
words,
two
daughters
that
bark
like
dogs:
“Give
us
the
wealth
of
this
world
and
give
us
the
wealth
of
the
next
world,”
which
is
only
about
reception
and
not
about
bestowal.
Therefore,
from
above,
too,
we
are
shown
that
we
cannot
bestow
abundance
downward,
and
this
is
called
an
“eye
for
an
eye.”
It
turns
out
that
our
work
is
only
to
be
rewarded
with
Kelim
[vessels]
that
are
suitable
for
reception
of
the
abundance,
which
are
vessels
of
bestowal.
Therefore,
a
person
should
focus
all
of
his
efforts
on
one
thing
only,
called
“vessels
of
bestowal.”
This
should
be
the
only
reward
that
he
wants
to
attain
from
Torah
and
Mitzvot
[commandments].
By
that
he
will
achieve
Dvekut
[adhesion]
with
the
Creator,
which
is
man’s
purpose:
to
achieve
Dvekut
with
the
Creator.
We
also
see
in
the
words
of
The
Zohar
that
it
was
said
about
the
verse,
“The
mercy
of
the
nations
is
a
sin,”
“All
the
good
that
they
do,
they
do
for
themselves.”
This
means
their
aim
with
all
the
mercy,
meaning
the
acts
of
bestowal
that
they
do,
is
not
to
bestow.
Rather
their
intention
is
for
themselves,
meaning
to
receive
reward
for
it.
Otherwise,
they
cannot
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
But
the
people
of
Israel
are
capable
of
performing
acts
of
bestowal.
We
should
understand
why
the
people
of
Israel
can
perform
acts
of
bestowal,
and
we
should
also
understand,
according
to
what
we
hear
from
people
who
became
religious,
who
say
that
before
they
became
religious
they
were
more
capable
of
performing
acts
in
order
to
bestow,
but
afterwards,
meaning
once
they
have
become
religious,
it
has
become
more
difficult
for
them
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
To
understand
the
above
we
should
remember
the
known
that
a
person
is
called
a
“created
being”
only
in
that
there
is
a
will
to
receive
in
him,
for
this
is
called
“created
existence
from
absence.”
It
therefore
turns
out
that
by
nature
he
is
incapable
of
performing
any
act
of
bestowal
unless
he
receives
some
reward
in
return.
The
reward
does
not
have
to
be
that
he
receives
something
for
the
effort.
Rather,
it
can
be
some
pacifying
that
he
receives.
That
is,
if
some
compassion
awakened
in
him
toward
another,
and
his
conscience
does
not
let
him
rest,
to
the
point
that
he
must
help
another,
this,
too,
is
regarded
as
reward.
But
simply
doing
something
for
another,
for
the
other
to
enjoy,
then
he
tells
himself,
“What
will
I
get
out
of
it?”
But
the
people
of
Israel,
through
the
power
of
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
are
capable
of
obtaining
a
second
nature.
That
is,
instead
of
the
nature
they
were
born
with—a
desire
only
to
receive—they
will
receive
a
second
nature,
where
now
they
work
only
in
order
to
bestow.
He
obtains
this
through
the
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
which
instilled
in
him
sparks
of
bestowal
that
bring
him
a
sensation
of
wanting
to
resemble
his
root.
But
without
the
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
a
person
cannot
come
out
of
his
own
nature,
which
is
the
desire
to
receive
only
for
himself,
and
he
cannot
perform
any
act
of
bestowal
without
reward.
By
this
we
will
understand
what
they
asked
about
those
who
become
religious
and
say
that
before
they
became
religious
they
had
more
strength
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
But
later,
when
they
have
become
religious,
they
feel
that
it
is
more
difficult
for
them
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
We
should
reply
to
that,
as
is
explained
in
“The
Introduction
to
the
Book
of
Zohar”
(items
29-
30),
where
he
writes
that
at
the
time
of
his
birth
his
will
to
receive
is
only
for
corporeality.
Therefore,
although
he
has
obtained
the
excessive
will
to
receive
prior
to
being
thirteen,
it
is
still
not
the
end
of
the
growth
of
the
will
to
receive.
The
main
growth
of
the
will
to
receive
is
depicted
only
in
spirituality,
since,
for
example,
prior
to
being
thirteen
his
desire
to
receive
wants
to
devour
all
the
wealth
and
honor
in
this
corporeal
world,
which
is
revealed
to
all,
which
is
to
him
a
transient
world
that
is
accessible
to
everyone,
and
is
perceived
by
everyone
only
as
a
fleeting
shadow.
But
when
he
obtains
the
excessive,
spiritual
will
to
receive,
he
wants
to
devour
for
his
own
pleasure
all
the
delight
and
wealth
of
the
next,
eternal
world,
which
is
to
him
an
everlasting
possession
for
all
eternity.
Thus,
the
will
to
receive
is
completed
only
with
the
desire
to
receive
spirituality.
It
turns
out
that
before
they
have
become
religious
they
had
a
corporeal
will
to
receive,
which
is
not
yet
so
great.
This
is
why
they
had
more
strength
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
But
once
they
have
become
religious
and
their
will
to
receive
has
grown
with
the
will
to
receive
for
spirituality,
it
has
become
more
difficult
because
now
the
will
to
receive
has
more
strength
than
when
they
had
only
a
corporeal
will
to
receive.
Therefore,
before
they
have
become
religious,
they
had
some
strength
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
But
once
they
have
become
religious,
obtaining
the
spiritual
will
to
receive,
it
is
now
more
difficult
for
them
to
engage
in
matters
of
bestowal.
For
this
reason,
it
cannot
be
said
that
now
they
have
become
worse,
or
to
say
that
the
religious
are
worse
because
it
is
more
difficult
for
them
to
perform
acts
of
bestowal.
Rather,
the
will
to
receive
has
grown
bigger,
so
it
is
more
difficult
to
overcome
it.
For
example,
before
he
obtained
the
spiritual
will
to
receive,
his
evil
was
thirty
percent.
Afterwards,
once
he
has
obtained
the
spiritual
will
to
receive,
his
evil
acquired
another
seventy
percent.
Therefore,
now
he
needs
greater
powers
to
be
able
to
overcome
it.
However,
we
should
not
say
that
now
his
strength
has
diminished.
On
the
contrary,
now
he
must
find
the
remedy
to
defeat
the
evil
power
he
has
obtained.
And
the
remedy
for
this
is
keeping
Torah
and
Mitzvot
with
the
intention
for
the
light
in
it
to
reform
him.
It
therefore
follows
that
he
has
advanced
and
has
obtained
more
evil
in
order
to
correct
it.
But
every
beginning
is
difficult,
and
therefore
now
he
thinks
that
he
has
become
worse.
However,
he
should
know
that
each
time
he
is
given
more
bad
to
correct
until
he
is
rewarded
with
correcting
everything.
[For
the
continuation
of
the
clarification
of
the
article,
see
next
article]