But
the
More
They
Afflicted
Them
Article
No.
16,
1985
It
is
written,
“But
the
more
they
afflicted
them,
the
more
they
multiplied
and
the
more
they
spread
out,
so
that
they
were
in
dread
of
the
sons
of
Israel”
(Exodus
1:12).
The
meaning
of
the
words,
“But
the
more
they
afflicted
them”
is
that
they
will
multiply
and
spread
to
that
same
extent
that
they
are
afflicted.
It
seems
as
though
it
is
a
condition—that
there
cannot
be
multiplication
and
spreading
in
the
work
before
there
is
a
basis
of
affliction
first.
But
to
understand
the
above
written,
we
must
know
our
tenet,
meaning
know
what
is
our
essence.
As
it
is
explained
in
the
introductions,
it
is
only
our
will
to
receive.
And
certainly,
when
the
will
to
receive
fulfills
its
wish,
that
fulfillment
is
not
considered
work,
since
work
means
that
for
which
one
is
rewarded.
In
other
words,
work
is
actions
that
man
would
avoid,
and
he
does
them
only
because
he
has
no
choice,
since
he
wishes
to
receive
some
reward.
The
reward
is
considered
the
thing
that
he
craves,
and
his
only
desire
and
wish
is
for
that
thing.
True
craving
means
that
this
thing
touches
his
heart
so
deeply
that
he
says,
“I’d
rather
die
than
to
live
if
I
cannot
obtain
it.”
It
follows
that
if
he
has
no
affliction
or
pain
for
not
having
what
he
craves,
it
is
not
considered
a
craving.
And
his
craving
is
measured
by
the
extent
of
his
suffering.
It
therefore
follows
that
if
one
wishes
to
receive
some
satisfaction,
there
must
first
be
a
lack.
This
is
so
because
there
is
no
light
without
a
Kli
[vessel],
and
no
one
can
fill
it
with
anything
if
there
is
no
deficiency.
For
example,
one
cannot
eat
without
appetite
or
enjoy
rest
without
fatigue.
Hence,
one
is
not
suffering
because
the
Egyptians
in
his
body
are
afflicting
him
unless
he
does
not
want
to
obey
them
and
wishes
to
go
by
a
way
that
displeases
them.
The
root
of
reception
in
man
is
called
“self-love,”
and
this
is
regarded
as
“Egypt.”
There
are
many
nations,
which
are
generally
called
“the
seventy
nations,”
that
are
the
opposite
of
Kedusha
[holiness],
which
are
the
seven
Sefirot,
where
each
Sefira
[singular
of
Sefirot]
consists
of
ten,
hence
the
number
seventy
nations.
And
also,
each
nation
has
its
own
unique
desire.
The
Klipa
[shell]
of
Egypt
is
a
general
Klipa.
It
is
where
the
sparks
of
Kedusha
fell,
which
the
people
of
Israel—who
were
in
Egypt—had
to
correct.
Thus,
first
there
must
be
pain
and
affliction
for
not
being
able
to
exit
their
governance,
as
it
is
written,
“And
the
children
of
Israel
sighed
from
the
work,
and
they
cried
out,
and
their
cry
came
up
unto
God
from
the
work.
And
God
heard
their
groaning.”
We
should
be
precise
about
the
words
“from
the
work”
being
written
twice.
We
should
explain
that
all
the
sighs
were
from
the
labor,
meaning
that
they
could
not
work
for
the
Creator.
Indeed,
their
suffering
was
from
not
being
able
to
make
the
work
that
they
were
doing
be
for
the
Creator,
due
to
the
Klipa
of
Egypt.
This
is
why
it
is
written,
“from
the
work”
twice.
1)
All
the
sighs
were
not
because
they
were
lacking
anything.
They
lacked
only
one
thing,
meaning
they
did
not
wish
for
any
luxuries
or
payment.
Their
only
lack,
for
which
they
felt
pain
and
suffering,
was
that
of
not
being
able
to
do
anything
for
the
Creator.
In
other
words,
they
wished
that
they
would
have
a
desire
to
give
contentment
to
the
Creator
and
not
to
themselves,
but
they
couldn’t,
and
this
afflicted
them.
This
is
called
“wanting
to
have
some
grip
in
spirituality.”
2)
The
second
“from
the
work”
comes
to
teach
that,
“And
their
cry
came
up
unto
God,”
that
God
heard
their
groaning,
was
because
their
only
request
was
work.
This
is
implied
by
the
second
“from
the
work.”
It
turns
out
that
the
whole
exile
that
they
felt
was
only
because
they
were
under
the
rule
of
the
Klipa
of
Egypt
and
they
could
not
do
anything
to
make
it
only
in
order
to
bestow.
It
is
written
in
The
Zohar
(Exodus,
Item
381
in
the
Sulam
Commentary),
“Rabbi
Yehuda
said,
‘Come
and
see
that
this
is
so,
as
Rabbi
Yehoshua
of
Sakhnin
said,
‘As
long
as
their
minister
was
given
dominion
over
Israel,
the
cry
of
Israel
was
not
heard.
When
their
minister
fell,
it
writes,
‘The
king
of
Egypt
died,’
and
promptly,
‘And
the
children
of
Israel
sighed
from
the
work,
and
they
cried
out,
and
their
cry
came
up
unto
God.’
But
until
then
they
were
not
answered
in
their
cry.’’”
For
this
reason,
we
can
say
that
if
it
is
not
time
to
dethrone
Egypt’s
minister,
there
is
no
room
for
choice,
to
repent
and
to
be
able
to
come
out
from
the
exile.
He
says
(Exodus,
Item
380
in
the
Sulam
Commentary),
“‘In
those
many
days.’
‘Many’
refers
to
Israel’s
stay
in
Egypt,
that
is,
that
the
end
has
come.
And
since
their
exile
has
been
completed,
what
does
it
say?
‘The
king
of
Egypt
died.’
What
does
that
mean?
It
means
that
the
minister
of
Egypt
was
lowered
from
his
status
and
fell
from
his
pride.
This
is
why
the
writing
says
about
him,
‘The
king
of
Egypt
died,’
since
decline
is
regarded
for
him
as
dying.
As
when
the
king
of
Egypt—who
was
their
minister—fell,
the
Creator
remembered
Israel
and
heard
their
prayer.”
The
Zohar
asks
this
question
about
the
verse,
“In
your
distress,
when
all
these
things
come
upon
you”
(Deuteronomy
4).
It
means
that
before
everything
takes
place,
it
is
impossible
to
achieve
perfection.
It
turns
out
that
you
give
an
excuse,
a
pretext
that
all
the
things
that
one
should
go
through
can
be
experienced
through
suffering,
and
this
is
measured
by
neither
time
nor
quantity
of
affliction,
but
by
the
measure
of
feeling
(see
in
The
Zohar).
We
can
understand
it
through
an
allegory.
If
a
person
should
make
one
kilogram
worth
of
labor,
which
is
a
thousand
grams
of
suffering,
the
reward
comes
for
that
as
well.
As
our
sages
said,
“The
reward
matches
the
pain.”
This
means
that
the
labor
that
one
should
exert
before
he
receives
the
reward
is
because
there
is
no
light
without
a
Kli,
since
there
is
no
fulfillment
without
a
deficiency.
And
the
labor
that
one
gives
is
the
qualification
for
reception
of
the
need,
so
that
afterwards
he
will
be
able
to
receive
the
filling
in
it.
Let
us
say
that
that
person
can
give
the
thousand
grams
of
deficiency
intermittently,
which
are
discernments
in
quantity
and
quality.
A
person
can
exert
for
ten
minutes
a
day,
meaning
regret
his
remoteness
from
the
Creator,
or
he
can
regret
his
remoteness
from
the
Creator
ten
minutes
a
week,
or
ten
minutes
a
month.
It
is
similar
with
the
quality
of
his
suffering
when
he
remembers
that
he
is
remote
from
the
Creator.
Although
it
pains
him,
it
is
not
so
terrible
and
there
are
things
that
pain
him
more,
things
that
he
craves.
It
turns
out
that
in
quality,
too,
one
should
contemplate.
Thus,
a
person
has
a
choice,
although
he
must
experience
the
whole
process
of
labor
and
affliction
through
the
end,
until
he
comes
to
a
state
of,
“And
you
will
return
to
the
Lord
your
God
and
listen
to
His
voice.”
Thus,
man
has
a
choice
to
shorten
the
time
of
the
process
of
affliction
due
to
the
prolonging
of
time,
which,
as
we
said,
is
called
“quantity,”
and
to
add
in
quality,
which
is
the
sensation
of
suffering
at
being
remote
from
the
Creator.
But
we
should
know
that
there
is
a
big
difference
between
quantity
and
quality
in
the
manner
of
the
work.
When
considering
quantity
of
time,
a
person
can
arrange
his
schedule,
meaning
the
amount
of
time
he
allocates
to
himself,
even
by
coercion.
This
means
that
even
though
the
body
does
not
wish
to
sit
for
the
whole
time
of
the
lesson
that
he
decided
on,
he
must
sit
for
several
minutes
or
hours
and
regret
being
remote
from
the
Creator.
If
he
has
a
strong
desire
and
he
is
not
of
weak
character,
he
can
sit
and
keep
the
schedule
he
arranged
for
himself,
since
this
is
an
act,
and
with
actions
a
person
can
do
things
by
coercion.
But
with
quality,
this
is
very
difficult
because
one
cannot
force
oneself
to
feel
differently
than
he
does.
If
he
comes
to
examine
his
feelings
of
pain
and
suffering
at
being
remote
from
the
Creator,
he
sometimes
comes
to
a
state
where
he
does
not
care.
At
that
time,
he
does
not
know
what
to
do
because
he
cannot
change
how
he
feels,
and
then
he
is
perplexed.
This
causes
the
prolonging
of
the
exile
because
it
is
hard
for
us
to
give
the
necessary
quantity,
much
less
the
quality.
And
when
he
begins
to
scrutinize
the
quality
of
the
deficiency,
he
sees
that
he
feels
no
pain,
that
he
is
seemingly
unconscious,
unfeeling.
And
although
remoteness
from
the
Creator
means
not
having
life,
it
doesn’t
pain
him
that
he
has
no
life.
Then
he
has
no
other
choice
but
to
pray
to
the
Creator
to
give
him
some
life,
so
he
will
feel
that
he
is
dangerously
ill
and
needs
to
cure
the
soul.
And
sometimes
one
comes
to
a
state
where
he
is
in
such
a
decline
that
he
doesn’t
even
have
the
strength
to
pray
for
it.
Rather,
he
is
in
a
state
of
complete
indifference.
This
is
called
“being
in
a
state
of
still,”
meaning
he
is
completely
motionless.
In
that
state,
only
his
society
can
help
him.
In
other
words,
if
he
comes
among
friends
and
does
not
criticize
them
in
any
way,
testing
if
they,
too,
have
the
same
obstructions
and
thoughts
but
have
overcome
them,
or
they
just
take
no
interest
in
introspection
and
this
is
why
they
can
engage
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
how
can
he
be
like
them?
At
that
time,
he
cannot
receive
any
assistance
from
society
because
he
has
no
Dvekut
[adhesion]
with
them
at
all,
as
they
are
too
small
to
be
his
friends.
Thus,
naturally,
he
is
not
affected
by
them
whatsoever.
But
if
he
comes
among
his
friends
not
with
his
head
high,
thinking
that
he
is
wise
and
the
friends
are
fools—but
rather
tosses
his
pride
away
and
follows
the
rule,
“Poverty
follows
the
poor,”
not
only
is
he
in
a
state
of
decline
and
feels
no
need
for
spirituality,
he
also
receives
thoughts
of
pride,
meaning
that
he
is
wiser
than
all
his
society.
Now
let
us
return
to
the
first
question,
regarding
what
The
Zohar
says,
“And
since
their
exile
has
been
completed,”
what
does
it
say,
“The
king
of
Egypt
died,”
since
he
regards
dethroning
as
death.
And
since
the
king
of
Egypt—who
is
their
minister—fell,
the
Creator
remembered
Israel
and
heard
their
prayer.
It
turns
out
that
there
is
a
pretext
that
no
prayer
will
help
before
it
is
due
time.
Thus,
there
is
nothing
that
can
be
done,
because
the
Creator
will
not
hear
their
prayer.
With
the
above
words
we
can
understand
the
matters
as
they
are.
This
is
the
same
issue
that
our
sages
described
about
the
verse,
“I
the
Lord
will
hasten
it
in
its
time.”
If
they
are
rewarded,
“I
will
hasten
it.”
If
they
are
not
rewarded,
“In
its
time.”
In
other
words,
when
the
time
comes,
an
awakening
from
the
Creator
will
come,
and
through
it
Israel
will
repent.
It
turns
out
that
the
choice
is
in
regards
to
time,
as
he
says
in
the
“Introduction
to
The
Book
of
Zohar”
(Item
16).
It
follows
from
all
the
above
that
one
should
not
consider
the
time
of
redemption—that
it
is
written
that
before
that,
their
prayer
was
not
accepted—because
this
relates
to
the
time
of
quantity
and
quality
of
suffering,
that
there
is
a
certain
time
at
which
suffering
is
completed.
However,
we
can
shorten
the
time.
The
whole
quantity
and
quality
by
which
the
suffering
will
appear
can
be
shortened
in
a
way
that
all
the
suffering
will
come
in
a
short
time,
but
all
the
suffering
will
have
appeared
there.