179. Against all kinds of controversy—whether in materiality or spirituality.

179. Against all kinds of controversy—whether in materiality or spirituality. Know that against all kinds of controversy—whether in the physical/material realm or in the spiritual realm—where one is unable to pray or carry out what is necessary in serving God, all of these fall under the general category of "controversy." That is, there are forces standing in opposition, disputing and seeking to nullify one's will and intention to act. To nullify such controversy, in whatever form it takes, and to bring about peace, one needs fasting. This is what our Sages said (Avot 2): “One who increases charity increases peace.” Charity (tzedakah) corresponds to the aspect of fasting, for the essence of fasting is charity. As the Sages taught ( Berachot 6b): “The reward of a fast is the charity [given in connection with it].” Controversy represents an opposing will that seeks to negate one's own. The special quality of fasting is explained in the Zohar ( Acharei Mot 68a) on the verse “On this very day you shall afflict your souls” (Leviticus 23:27): the virtue of fasting is that it subdues the heart and binds the will of the heart to the Holy One, blessed be He. Through fasting, the heart is humbled and weakened, all other conflicting wills are nullified before the will of God, and one's will bound to His. Through this, the controversy is nullified—those other wills that are not aligned with one’s own are nullified as well. As it is taught (Avot 2): “Nullify your will before His, so that He may nullify the will of others before yours.” Since through fasting, one nullifies his own will before God's (as above), God likewise nullifies others’ wills before his, thereby removing the controversy and creating peace—as stated: “One who increases charity increases peace.” Similarly, our Sages said (Rosh Hashanah 18b): “The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth… shall become joy and gladness.” It is called both “fast” and “gladness.” When there is no peace, it is “fast when peace exists, it becomes “gladness.” For in the absence of peace, controversy demands fasting (as above); but once peace is achieved through fasting, that very fasting becomes joy and gladness. Fasting builds the full stature of joy—because fasting possesses the power to awaken and revive the dead, i.e., the days that have passed in darkness without vitality. Every day receives an influx of divine abundance (

shefa ) from above. When one does mitzvot and good deeds on a given day, that day is vitalized and draws down abundant shefa . But if, God forbid, one does not perform mitzvot, the shefa descends in severe constriction, only enough to sustain basic life. And if one commits sin on that day, he extracts and consumes not only the limited shefa , but also the very vitality of the day itself—like a baby who nurses at its mother's breast: when milk is present, it drinks milk; but when the milk dries up, it draws the mother’s own blood and vitality. The result is that such days become like lifeless corpses. But through fasting, those days can be reawakened and revived—each according to the intensity of the fast. This can be understood even in physical terms: when one fasts, he lacks vitality and strength from that day itself, as he eats and drinks nothing. Nevertheless, he continues to serve God. That means he is serving with strength from the previous day. Since he serves today with yesterday’s strength, he brings vitality to that previous day. When he fasts again, his strength from the previous day is no longer sufficient, so he draws from days even earlier. Thus, each time he fasts, he brings vitality and illumination to earlier and earlier days—until, through prolonged fasting, he is drawing energy even from the days when he nursed from his mother’s breasts. In this way, all days are revived and illuminated. [Therefore, through fasting, the full stature of joy is built, as joy is composed of vitality, the inner aspect of all mitzvot—cf. Torah 178.] Note: This concept was not fully explained. The main point is that through fasting, one extracts the vitality of each past day and channels it into the service of God. In doing so, he revives the “dead” days which had been spiritually damaged, and thus the stature of joy is rebuilt (as above). This is what is written (Psalms 90:15): “Gladden us according to the days You afflicted us.” “Afflicted” here is a reference to fasting. That is, the joy will come in measure corresponding to the days of fasting—since it is through those fast-days that he revives the earlier days by means of his mitzvot and good deeds. In this way, joy is built (as above). So too our Sages taught (ibid.): when there is peace, there is joy—because peace comes through fasting (as above), and from that, joy emerges. This is the aspect of: “Gladden us according to the days You afflicted us”—i.e., the days of fasting produce the joy. As it says (Psalms 139:16): “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; and in Your book all the days were written—they were formed, yet not one of them was among them.” This refers to Yom Kippur [as Rashi explains], the fast day that revives all other days. For Yom Kippur contains within it all the days of the year. About it, it is written: “On this very day you shall afflict your souls”—that is, the inner will. As the Zohar (cited above) explains: “To include all aspects of the body and soul, and to subdue them on this day, so that their will be unified with the Holy One.” For the soul is associated with will; and the essence is to subdue that will. That is the meaning of “on this very day”—through the inner core of the day itself (which contains all days), “you shall afflict [your souls]” as above.