What
Are
“Blessing”
and
“Curse”
in
the
Work?
Article
No.
27,
1987
It
is
written,
“Behold,
I
am
setting
before
you
today
a
blessing
and
a
curse.
The
blessing,
that
you
hear
the
commandments
of
the
Lord
your
God,
which
I
am
commanding
you
today,
and
the
curse,
if
you
do
not
hear
the
commandments.”
Here,
we
need
to
understand
the
following:
1)
Why
does
he
begin
with
singular
form
[in
Hebrew],
“Behold,”
and
then
speaks
in
plural
form
[in
Hebrew],
“before
you”?
2)
Why
is
it
written,
“today”?
3)
“A
blessing
and
a
curse.”
It
is
written,
“The
bad
and
the
good
do
not
come
from
the
mouth
of
the
upper
one”
(Lamentations
3).
Hence,
why
is
it
written,
“I
am
setting
before
you
today
a
blessing
and
a
curse”?
4)
We
see
that
in
the
corporeal
world
there
is
a
place
where
the
blessing
is
present,
and
a
place
where
the
blessing
is
absent,
but
there
is
also
no
curse
there,
and
there
is
a
place
where
the
curse
is
present.
It
follows
that
there
is
a
middle
between
a
blessing
and
a
curse.
But
here
it
says,
“I
am
setting
before
you
today
a
blessing
and
a
curse,”
meaning
that
there
is
nothing
between
them
but
either
a
blessing
or
a
curse.
The
interpreters
of
the
Torah
ask
these
questions.
To
understand
all
the
above,
we
must
reiterate
what
we
have
said
thus
far.
We
should
examine
what
it
is
we
have
to
know
in
order
to
know
what
we
must
do
while
we
are
in
this
world.
It
is
known
that
we
should
be
cognizant
of
two
purposes:
1)
the
purpose
of
the
Creator,
which
we
learn
is
to
bestow
upon
His
creations,
2)
the
purpose
of
the
creatures,
which
is
to
do
good
to
the
Creator.
We
should
know
that
the
purpose
of
the
Creator
is
just
fine.
We
must
believe
that
He
leads
the
world
in
benevolence,
but
our
purpose—to
do
good
to
the
Creator—is
far
away
from
us.
Since
our
goal
is
the
complete
opposite
of
the
Creator’s
goal,
and
since
the
purpose
of
the
Creator
must
be
fulfilled,
namely
that
the
creatures
will
receive
delight
and
pleasure
as
the
Creator
wants
it,
His
installing
in
us
a
desire
and
yearning
to
receive
pleasure
is
fixed
and
cannot
be
revoked.
This
means
that
a
person
cannot
exist
in
the
world
if
he
cannot
enjoy
life.
It
makes
no
difference
what
he
enjoys,
but
without
pleasure,
it
is
impossible
to
live.
Therefore,
when
we
begin
to
work
on
our
goal,
which
is
to
do
good
to
the
Creator,
and
not
use
our
will
to
receive,
which
is
what
the
Creator
gave
us
by
nature,
we
have
no
strength
to
go
against
nature.
For
this
reason,
when
we
begin
to
work
in
bestowal,
we
think
that
we
can
revoke
nature,
but
in
the
end
we
realize
that
we
cannot.
He
has
no
other
counsel
but
prayer.
It
is
as
our
sages
said,
“He
who
comes
to
purify
is
aided.”
Only
through
help
from
above
can
he
achieve
the
goal
of
the
created
beings
to
equalize
in
form
with
the
Creator.
That
is,
as
the
Creator
wants
to
do
good
to
His
creations,
the
creatures
should
want
to
bestow
upon
the
Creator,
which
is
called
“doing
good
to
the
Creator.”
The
order
of
the
work
should
be
that
we
must
believe
above
reason
in
the
importance
and
greatness
of
the
Creator.
When
we
feel
the
greatness
of
the
King,
by
nature,
we
annul
before
the
King.
We
do
not
need
to
exert
on
this,
since
we
see
that
by
nature,
the
Creator
has
given
the
small
one
the
power
to
annul
before
the
greater
one,
since
when
the
smaller
one
serves
the
greater
one,
it
feels
pleasure
in
this.
It
follows
that
the
pleasure
it
feels
while
serving
the
great
one
does
not
contradict
the
nature
of
the
creature,
called
“will
to
receive
pleasure,”
since
it
receives
pleasure
while
working
for
the
great
one.
It
is
known
from
the
allegory
that
a
famous
ADMOR
[distinguished
rabbi]
comes
and
many
people
greet
him
at
the
airport.
He
gives
his
suitcase
to
someone
to
take
it
to
the
taxi.
If
the
rabbi
were
to
give
the
suitcase
to
a
porter,
who
does
not
recognize
the
greatness
of
the
rabbi,
the
rabbi
would
have
to
pay
the
porter.
Sometimes
the
porter
would
even
argue
over
the
wages
and
would
want
more
money
than
the
rabbi
gave
him.
However,
if
the
rabbi
were
to
give
his
suitcase
to
one
of
his
followers
and
would
want
to
pay
him,
he
would
not
accept
it,
since
there
is
a
rule
that
one
cannot
do
anything
unless
he
feels
pleasure
in
it.
While
doing
it,
work
without
pleasure
is
called
“labor.”
That
is,
the
person
would
not
do
this
if
he
did
not
know
he
would
be
paid
for
the
effort.
It
turns
out
that
if
he
is
serving
the
great
one,
and
it
is
inherent
in
nature
that
there
is
pleasure
when
serving
the
great
one,
it
follows
that
he
does
not
need
a
reward
because
this
is
his
reward.
That
is,
he
is
receiving
reward,
called
“pleasure,”
while
serving.
It
follows
that
all
we
need
in
order
to
be
able
to
work
in
order
to
bestow
is
the
recognition
of
His
greatness,
and
then
the
body
will
naturally
annul
before
Him.
However,
since
there
was
a
concealment
on
His
light
for
the
purpose
of
correction,
so
that
the
will
to
receive
will
work
in
order
to
bestow,
for
this
purpose
we
were
given
the
work
of
faith,
to
believe
in
the
greatness
of
the
Creator
and
depict
His
greatness
every
time
so
we
will
be
able
to
work
in
order
to
bestow
and
receive
nothing
in
return.
It
follows
that
the
person
asks
the
Creator
to
remove
the
concealment
from
himself.
This
brings
up
the
question,
How
can
one
pray
to
the
Creator
to
remove
the
concealment
from
himself,
since
it
was
given
for
our
benefit,
so
that
the
shame
would
be
corrected?
Thus,
how
can
we
pray
that
the
concealment
will
be
taken
away
from
us?
The
answer
is
that
the
concealment
was
placed
because
man
is
born
with
a
desire
to
receive
for
his
own
sake,
and
there
is
no
greater
pleasure
than
being
in
the
King’s
palace.
Yet,
when
receiving
pleasure,
it
will
be
for
our
own
sake,
and
this
is
called
“disparity
of
form.”
For
this
reason,
there
was
a
concealment,
meaning
that
before
a
person
is
rewarded
with
vessels
of
bestowal,
so
he
can
receive
in
order
to
bestow,
a
person
feels
only
Tzimtzum
[restriction]
and
concealment
of
the
face.
For
this
reason,
although
man
has
not
been
rewarded
with
vessels
of
bestowal,
and
all
his
work
is
currently
in
order
to
be
able
to
bestow
in
order
to
bestow,
and
he
does
not
want
to
receive
anything
for
his
own
sake,
he
cannot
do
so
because
the
body
is
enslaved
to
self-love.
For
this
reason,
he
asks
the
Creator
to
remove
the
concealment
from
himself,
not
in
order
to
enable
him
to
enjoy
His
light.
On
the
contrary,
he
wants
the
Creator
to
remove
from
him
the
concealment
of
the
face
so
he
will
be
able
to
bestow
upon
the
Creator.
It
follows
that
the
intention
that
he
wants
the
Creator
to
give
him
is
the
ability
only
to
bestow.
His
intention
is
not
that
the
Creator
will
open
his
eyes
and
give
him
the
revelation
of
the
face
in
order
to
derive
pleasure
for
his
own
benefit.
This
is
called
“disparity
of
form.”
Rather,
he
wants
the
opposite
from
the
Creator—to
have
equivalence
of
form,
meaning
to
have
the
power
to
bestow
upon
the
Creator,
called
“equivalence
of
form.”
Once
a
person
has
been
rewarded
with
vessels
of
bestowal.
and
can
act
in
order
to
bestow
upon
the
Creator,
comes
the
work
with
vessels
of
reception.
That
is,
he
says
to
the
Creator,
“Now
I
want
to
receive
delight
because
Your
will
is
to
do
good
to
His
creations.
For
this
reason,
I
want
to
do
Your
will,
which
You
want
to
give
to
us.”
It
is
as
we
interpreted
Midrash
Rabbah,
Beresheet,
concerning
the
Creator’s
reply
to
the
angels
who
complained
about
the
creation
of
man.
He
said,
“What
is
this
like?
It
is
like
a
king
who
has
a
tower
filled
abundantly
but
no
guests.”
For
this
reason,
a
person
wants
to
receive
the
delight
and
pleasure
from
the
Creator,
so
as
to
delight
the
King,
as
said
above
(Article
No.
26,
Tav-Shin-Mem-Zayin).
By
this
we
can
explain
the
third
question,
about
the
verse,
“I
am
setting
before
you
today
a
blessing
and
a
curse.”
It
is
written,
“The
bad
and
the
good
do
not
come
from
the
mouth
of
the
upper
one.”
But
according
to
what
we
learned,
the
purpose
of
creation
is
to
do
good
to
His
creations.
Thus,
there
is
no
good
and
bad
in
this
purpose;
it
is
all
good!
Hence,
from
where
do
those
two
discernments
of
good
and
bad
come?
This
extends
from
the
point
of
Tzimtzum,
which
is
the
root
of
the
judgment.
Malchut
de
Ein
Sof,
which
received
the
light
in
the
vessel
of
reception,
desired
equivalence
of
form,
as
there
is
in
the
light.
For
this
reason,
she
performed
the
Tzimtzum,
not
wanting
to
receive
any
longer
with
this
Kli
[vessel].
It
follows
that
Malchut
has
made
all
the
boundaries
between
light
and
darkness,
and
this
is
why
we
attribute
the
Tzimtzum
to
the
lower
one.
It
is
written
(in
the
commentary
Panim
Masbirot)
that
“No
force
from
the
Emanator
is
revealed
as
a
boundary.
This
light
that
comes
to
them
is
called
Ohr
Pnimi
[Inner
Light],
yet
it
is
a
restricted
illumination
because
of
the
point
itself.”
In
other
words,
the
boundary
on
receiving
only
in
order
to
bestow
is
the
point
itself,
which
is
regarded
as
Malchut,
called
“a
vessel
to
receive
for
herself.”
She
made
the
good,
meaning
to
receive
in
order
to
bestow,
as
well
as
the
bad,
not
to
receive
in
order
to
receive.
And
because
that
which
is
a
will
in
the
upper
one
becomes
a
binding
law
in
the
lower
one,
for
this
reason,
one
who
wants
to
receive
in
order
to
receive
has
a
sensation
of
bad
and
separation
from
the
Life
of
Lives.
It
follows
that
the
reason
for
the
good
and
bad
was
made
by
the
lower
one.
That
is,
the
lower
one
made
a
reality
of
good
and
gad.
It
is
as
was
said
above,
that
by
Malchut
desiring
equivalence
of
form,
from
here
extends
good
and
bad
in
the
world.
This
means
that
if
the
lower
ones
follow
the
path
of
the
Tzimtzum
and
want
only
to
work
in
order
to
bestow,
they
will
have
delight
and
pleasure.
But
if
they
do
not
follow
this
line,
examining
everything
so
it
is
precisely
in
order
to
bestow,
they
will
have
darkness
and
not
light.
It
follows
that
from
the
upper
one,
meaning
the
abundance
that
emerged
from
the
upper
one,
it
was
all
good.
There
was
no
place
for
bad
there,
as
it
is
written
(beginning
of
the
book
Tree
of
Life),
“Before
the
Tzimtzum,
there
was
He
is
one
and
His
name
One.”
That
is,
there
was
still
no
issue
of
distance
between
the
light,
called
“He,”
and
the
Kli,
called
“His
name.”
Only
after
the
Tzimtzum
did
the
will
to
receive
become
different
in
form.
By
this
we
will
also
understand
the
fourth
question,
where
it
is
written
“blessing
and
curse,”
which
means
that
there
is
no
middle
between
them.
In
corporeality,
we
see
that
there
is
a
place
where
there
is
a
blessing,
or
a
place
where
there
is
a
curse.
But
there
is
also
a
place
where
there
are
neither
blessing
nor
curse.
For
the
most
part,
a
person
who
trades
or
goes
to
live
in
some
city
does
not
insist
that
it
will
be
specifically
a
place
of
blessing,
since
normally,
if
it
is
not
a
place
of
curse,
that
place
is
regarded
as
a
place
where
he
can
live.
Here,
however,
the
verse,
“I
set
before
you
a
blessing
and
a
curse”
implies
that
there
is
nothing
in
between.
The
answer
is
that
the
good
who
does
good,
who
is
called
“Life,”
if
we
give
vessels
of
bestowal,
it
is
possible
to
adhere
to
the
“Life
of
Lives.”
It
follows
that
only
in
this
way
can
one
be
rewarded
with
the
delight
and
pleasure
called
“blessing.”
But
if
a
person
has
only
vessels
of
reception,
he
must
be
separated
from
the
Life
of
Lives
and
he
has
no
Kelim
in
which
to
receive
the
delight
and
pleasure.
It
follows
that
he
is
in
the
dark
and
has
no
light
or
spiritual
life,
and
no
curse
is
worse
than
this.
But
in
the
corporeal
world,
we
see
that
there
is
a
middle
between
blessing
and
curse,
since
the
order
of
the
work
is
that
when
a
person
wants
to
commence
in
the
work
of
the
Creator,
to
work
for
the
sake
of
the
Creator,
he
must
begin
with
an
in
between.
That
is,
he
wants
to
exit
the
curse
and
enter
the
blessing.
But
since
by
nature,
he
is
in
a
state
of
“curse,”
meaning
that
there
was
a
Tzimtzum
and
concealment
on
the
will
to
receive
with
which
man
was
born,
so
the
light
of
life
will
not
shine
there,
he
wants
to
come
out
of
there.
For
this
reason,
there
must
be
something
in
between,
called
Lo
Lishma
[not
for
Her
sake].
This
means
that
the
things
he
does
are
acts
of
bestowal—both
between
man
and
God,
and
between
man
and
man.
However,
he
still
does
not
have
the
intention
to
bestow.
Since
from
Lo
Lishma
we
come
to
Lishma
[for
Her
sake],
this
is
called
“middle,”
between
a
curse
and
a
blessing.
Since
all
that
is
missing
in
order
to
be
rewarded
with
the
blessing
is
the
aim
to
bestow,
and
since
this
world
is
called
the
“world
of
action,”
meaning
the
“place
of
work,”
hence,
according
to
the
order
of
the
work
there
is
a
middle.
But
from
the
perspective
of
the
goal,
there
are
no
two
things
but
only
one
thing.
This
means
that
either
he
is
rewarded
with
the
goal,
called
“blessing,”
or
he
is
not
rewarded
with
the
goal.
It
follows
that
he
remains
inside
the
curse,
which
is
death,
as
it
is
written,
“The
wicked,
in
their
lives,
are
called
‘dead.’”
Therefore,
there
is
no
middle
here,
but
either
a
curse
or
a
blessing
in
that
he
is
rewarded
with
Dvekut
[adhesion]
with
the
Creator.
According
to
the
above
we
can
understand
the
first
question
we
asked,
Why
does
it
begin
with
singular
form,
“behold,”
and
then
says
“before
you,”
in
plural
form?
It
is
because
there
is
a
matter
of
a
giver
here,
who
is
the
Creator,
and
a
receiver,
who
are
the
people
of
Israel,
and
it
is
known
that
from
the
perspective
of
the
Creator
there
are
no
degrees,
as
it
is
written,
“I
the
Lord
do
not
change,”
but
all
the
changes
are
only
in
the
receivers.
Therefore,
when
speaking
from
the
perspective
of
the
giver,
He
says,
“I
am
placing
before
you
one
thing,”
since
from
the
perspective
of
the
giver,
the
light
of
doing
good
to
His
creations
is
called
by
the
name,
“one
simple
light,”
He
therefore
speaks
to
the
entire
collective
and
says,
“I
am
placing
one
thing
before
you.”
But
when
speaking
from
the
perspective
of
the
receiver,
there
are
many
degrees
in
the
receivers,
as
our
sages
said,
“As
their
faces
differ,
their
views
differ”
(Berachot
58).
For
this
reason,
when
speaking
to
the
receivers,
He
said,
“Behold,”
in
singular
form,
since
each
individual
has
his
unique
vision.
This
is
the
reason
for
the
singular
form,
“Behold,”
which
means
that
each
one
should
see
for
himself
and
should
not
rely
on
the
vision
of
one’s
friend.
It
is
as
the
ARI
wrote,
that
one
cannot
correct
that
which
one’s
friend
corrects,
but
each
one
has
his
own
correction.
Therefore,
the
word
“Behold”
refers
to
the
receivers,
who
each
receive
a
unique
vision.
And
when
speaking
from
the
perspective
of
the
giver,
He
gives
the
same
thing
to
everyone.
This
is
why
the
words,
“I
am
setting
before
you,”
speak
to
the
entire
collective.
Now
we
will
understand
what
we
asked,
What
does
it
imply
to
us
when
it
says,
“Which
I
am
setting
before
you
today”?
It
means
that
this
matter
of
blessing
and
curse
applies
each
and
every
day,
that
each
and
every
day
there
are
special
corrections,
as
the
ARI
says
(the
writings
of
the
ARI,
book,
Gate
of
Intentions,
in
the
beginning
of
“Intentions
for
Shabbat”),
“Moreover,
in
the
weekdays
themselves
there
is
a
big
difference
between
the
prayer
on
one
day
from
the
prayer
on
the
next
day.
There
is
not
one
prayer,
since
the
day
when
the
world
was
created
to
the
end
of
the
world,
that
will
be
similar
to
another
in
any
way.”
This
is
why
he
says
the
word
“today,”
as
it
applies
to
each
and
every
day.