אות-ט

Even when a person is in exile — in materiality and in spirituality — even if he has fallen, G-d forbid, without limit, even there Hashem, may He be blessed, contracts Himself and conceals Himself in the wondrous ways of His awesome providence, and reminds him each time through many and various hints, each day and in every place — so that he should return to Him. And then all is transformed to good: specifically through the overpowering of the evil eye and the Ba'al Davar and the sitra achra — through which the light was greatly diminished and contracted — through this specifically a great good reached that the great Tzadikim can raise and elevate even those who have fallen very, very deeply. For through the light being so hidden by many contractions until it was hard to grasp and understand the hints — and the Tzadikim through their great toil with self-sacrifice merited to attain the light from within the force of the concealments — through this they attained great attainments. Until with their very wisdom they clothe the light for us in wonderful contractions, in a way that each person in his place can receive hints and advice and awakening in every place he is, to hold on to Hashem, may He be blessed, always. For the concealment is for the sake of the revelation, as is brought in the writings of the holy Ari, of blessed memory. (Halachos of the Blessing of Sight, Halacha 5, Ois 77) When a person begins to look at himself and sees he is far from good and full of transgressions — he can fall through this and be unable to pray at all. Therefore he is obligated to search and seek and find within himself some good. For how is it possible that he has not in his life done some mitzvah or good thing? And even when he begins to look at that good he did, he sees that the good itself is full of wounds and has no wholeness, for the good is mixed with ulterior motives and much dross. Even so it is impossible that there not be within this little good some good point. And so he must search and seek until he finds within himself yet another good thing — and even if this good is also mixed with much dross — even so, at any rate there is within it some good point. And so let him keep searching and seeking, until he finds within himself more good points. And through this — finding within himself some merit and good — through this he truly exits from the scale of liability to the scale of merit and can return in teshuvah. And through this he can revive himself and gladden himself somehow, and then he can pray and sing and give thanks to Hashem. (ibid., Ois 282)