ערך יראה ועבודה

Through the Bircas Kohanim [the Priestly Blessing], the road is repaired from all the pain and suffering a person has on the way. And therefore it is customary to bless one who sets out on a journey with the Priestly Blessing. When a person sees that the yetzer hara and the desires are overpowering him very — [very] — greatly, and it appears to him that it is difficult to break them — he must know that certainly the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal with him with coercion [trunya]. And certainly if he did not have the power to break them, G-d would not have stirred up against him such a yetzer hara. Rather, on the contrary — let him know from this that certainly his soul is very, very precious and holy at its root. For this reason they overpower him so greatly — for "whoever is greater than his fellow, his yetzer hara is greater than him," as our Sages of blessed memory said. For it is not the way of true humility to consider oneself a complete wicked person, G-d forbid, and to diminish the stature of one's holy soul. Rather, on the contrary — one must know and believe that his soul at its root is great and precious and very, very lofty. And thousands of thousands and tens of thousands of tens of thousands of worlds without measure depend upon it. For even the soul of the least of the least of Israel is also very, very lofty. How much more so — and how much more so — the souls of those who engage in Torah. And in particular those who have great intellect — the more — [the more] — the intellect is greater, the higher the soul. Therefore a person of great intellect — when he sees that his yetzer hara overpowers him more — must know that certainly his soul is more lofty. And he must strengthen himself to have compassion upon himself — not to lose the very, very precious treasures and gifts that depend upon his soul, "an eye has not seen, etc." [Isaiah 64:3]. And he must strengthen himself with all his might to save his soul from destruction — from the theft and exchange, G-d forbid. And the essential [means] is through the abundance of prayers and supplications as above. And this is the aspect of: "And his heart was elevated in the ways of G-d" [2 Chronicles 17:6] — that one must elevate one's heart and one's mind in the ways of G-d, and say within himself that it is not fitting for him to perform such acts of an animal, G-d forbid — for his soul is very, very lofty.

Through seeing that in the path a person wishes to go — he is led along it, and he is helped from Above to accomplish his desire, whether for good or for the reverse, G-d forbid, as above — through this there are those who err and think that G-d, G-d forbid, has entirely nullified His will and handed everything over to the person according to the inclination of his will. [They say:] one who wishes to walk in the holy path of abstinence must guard himself very much not to stumble, G-d forbid — lest he fall thereby with no support. But one whose inclination is to go wayward in the path of his heart — no stumbling can harm him at all. On the contrary — etc. G-d forbid. And it seems to them that they have proofs for these opinions, G-d forbid. And in such errors there are many levels. For there are confused opinions even among people who are somewhat upright — that flow in great subtlety from such evil opinions, which are outright heresy [apikorsus gemorah], as will be understood by any perceptive person. And in truth "a brutish person does not know, etc." [Psalms 92:7]. For certainly it is His blessed will that every person do only good, and be fleeing from transgression and separating himself from the desires of this world — and not only from the permitted excesses, but even in the necessities he should minimize as much as possible, and sanctify himself in what is permitted to him. And only in this does G-d delight. And even though G-d also completes for the wicked the fulfillment of their will — as it is written: "For You behold toil and vexation — to take it into Your hand" [Psalms 10:14] — and as Rashi explains there — even so, certainly He looks upon the toil and cannot [bear it] at all. And the wicked are as a burden upon His countenance, as it were, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And what He fulfills even their will — this is only — [only] — for the sake of the power of free will. For were it not so, free will would be entirely nullified — which is not His blessed will. But the wise person who truly desires [good] will see and understand the difference between the upright and the G-d-fearing — whose success is eternal — and the success of the wicked, which is only momentary, in the aspect of: "Though the wicked spring up like grass, etc." [Psalms 92:8] — to be destroyed forever. And this too is only for the sake of the power of free will as above.

There are people who have been drawn after the ways of the philosophers — and they find it difficult [to understand] why G-d gave Israel so much Torah and commandments, which are difficult to fulfill. And according to their evil and confused opinion it would have been more meritorious for them if there had been only a few commandments. But in truth their mouths speak vanity. For in truth the essential purpose of a person is to break all the desires so completely — that there not remain within him even the trace of any desire whatsoever, even of what is permitted. And this is impossible to achieve except through the multitude of Torah and commandments — which address every particular detail of all worldly matters. And through this one can merit to draw upon himself such a lofty holiness — until one becomes clear and clean and holy entirely from all desires. As our holy Fathers — the Fathers of the world — merited. For this is why the Torah multiplies to tell of all their affairs and their deeds: how they dug wells, and how Yaakov set up the rods in the troughs, and the like. All of this — to reveal to us the greatness of their stature and their holiness: that they purified themselves so completely, until they merited to serve G-d through all their movements and all their affairs. And in every movement they had awesome secrets, the most hidden of the hidden [razin d'razin]. And all of this — to open our ears and our hearts, that we too should purify and sanctify ourselves even in all external labors and mundane affairs [iskei chol] — so that we too may merit to come to some aspect and level of the holy stature of our holy Fathers. As our Sages of blessed memory said: "When will my deeds reach the deeds of my fathers?" [Tana d'vei Eliyahu]. For free will is free in every generation — and as our Sages of blessed memory said: "There is no generation that does not have someone like Avraham, etc." [Bereishis Rabbah 56:7]. And therefore we find even in our own generations truly righteous Tzaddikim — very great and wondrous — who merited to serve G-d even in all mundane affairs. And many such stories are well known of the great Tzaddikim from the days of the Baal Shem Tov, of saintly and holy memory, until now. And therefore — since the essential purpose of Israel is to purify themselves to the ultimate holiness from all the desires in the world — certainly it is a great good that He gave us much Torah and commandments. So that we too should have the power to be awakened toward G-d and to draw upon ourselves great holiness in every matter and matter through the abundance of Torah and commandments — so that we merit the true ultimate purpose: the hidden light [or haganuz], which is impossible to reach except through this. And all of this is for those who merit to fulfill all the Torah. But even one who does not merit to overpower his yetzer hara and to fulfill all the Torah and the commandments — even for him it is also a good that there is much Torah and commandments. For through this even the worst of the worst fulfills many commandments. For even the sinners of Israel are as full of commandments as a pomegranate [mela'im mitzvos k'rimon], as our Sages of blessed memory said. And through this every person of Israel will certainly be purified — for the holiness of the commandments that each person of Israel fulfills does not allow them to sink into the impurity and desires into which they have fallen, and arouses them to teshuvah every single time. And as many penitents have already been found in the world — fortunate are they. And even if, G-d forbid, one does not merit complete teshuvah during his lifetime — even so, in the end he will certainly be purified. And the essential purification will come through the good and the commandments he merited to seize in this world — specifically because there is much Torah and commandments. And also because through the power of the truly righteous wondrous Tzaddikim of high stature — who merited to fulfill all the Torah in perfection, until they purified themselves so completely that they could serve G-d also in all mundane affairs — therefore they have the power to elevate us as well from the mundane to the holy, and from impurity to purity, until through this everything is transformed for good. And all of this is contained in the saying of Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya: "The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give merit to Israel — therefore He multiplied for them Torah and commandments" [Makkos 23b] — to give merit specifically: that they be completely purified, as mentioned above.

All the afflictions and all the exiles come only from pride — which is the aspect of excess [ribbui]. For it appears to a person as if his days are many and as if he has permanence in his world. And in truth a person must know that he has in his world only this very day upon which he stands — and he should strive to engage in it in the service of G-d: "Today, if you would but heed His voice" [Psalms 95:7].

And even though G-d also completes for the wicked the fulfillment of their will — as it is written: "For You behold toil and vexation — to take it into Your hand" [Psalms 10:14] — and as Rashi explains there — even so, certainly He looks upon the toil and cannot [bear it] at all. And the wicked are as a burden upon His countenance, as it were, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And what He fulfills even their will — this is only — [only] — for the sake of the power of free will. For were it not so, free will would be entirely nullified — which is not His blessed will. But the wise person who truly desires [good] will see and understand the difference between the upright and the G-d-fearing — whose success is eternal — and the success of the wicked, which is only momentary, in the aspect of: "Though the wicked spring up like grass, etc." [Psalms 92:8] — to be destroyed forever. And this too is only for the sake of the power of free will as above.