ערך התחזקות

Israel — through their prayers — arouse His compassion, blessed be He, little by little each and every time — until soon He will be aroused, as it were, from His sleep. As the verse says: "Then G-d awoke as one asleep" [Psalms 78:65] — and will redeem us soon. For in truth there is no sleep before Him, blessed be He — as it is written: "Behold, He neither slumbers nor sleeps — the Guardian of Israel" [Psalms 121:4]. Only that through the attribute of strict justice He, blessed be He, is as it were hiding His face from us — to the point that it seems as if He is asleep, G-d forbid. And we are obligated to pray and cry out to Him, blessed be He, always, and to arouse His compassion, blessed be He — as one who rouses another from sleep, as it were — in the aspect of: "Awaken — why do You sleep, O G-d?" [Psalms 44:24]. Until through the multitude of prayers He will be aroused, as it were, in perfection — and He will return to us and have mercy upon us. The error that many people make about themselves — thinking that their soul is not holy from its root, and that it is difficult for them to return to G-d and to be a truly righteous or truly upright person like other Tzaddikim and upright ones — as is common on people's lips: when they are told of a truly righteous or truly upright and G-d-fearing person, thoughts of repentance are awakened within them as well, to draw close to G-d. For all of Israel are full of thoughts of repentance and drawing close to G-d always. But then immediately they say: "Who can compare himself to this righteous man, etc. — for he had a holy soul from his youth." As if the righteousness of the Tzaddikim and the upright comes only from the holy soul they possess from their birth. And in truth this is not so — for the essential righteousness of the Tzadik comes only through his toil and his effort in his service of G-d for many, many days and many years. And he strengthened himself and fortified himself every single time, and did not allow himself to fall in any way. And he multiplied prayer and supplication until he merited what he merited. And every person can be like them — for free will is free, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "The crown of a good name is laid up [for all], etc." [Avos 4:13]. And in truth the matter of this error — where they think their soul is not holy from its root, and because of this do not strengthen themselves to act like the Tzaddikim — all of this derives from the aspect of the heichalos ha'temurah [palaces of substitution], from which comes the aspect of the exchange — that the prince was exchanged for the slave's son, as explained in the story-tales. And because of this he fell to where he fell and walked in ways that were not good, until he doubted himself as to whether he was a prince's son or a slave's son. And likewise it is with every person who is distant from G-d — especially at the height of the end of this bitter exile, when the baal davar has intensified very — [very] — greatly to the point that many people despair of themselves, as if their souls are not suited at all for the service of G-d. And all of this is only the enticement of the yetzer hara. For in truth a person must know and believe that the soul of every single person of Israel is very, very lofty and precious — and they are all in the aspect of children of kings. And they can merit to very, very lofty and holy levels — just like all the Tzaddikim and the upright. For such thoughts and such weaknesses of mind also passed over them — but they were wise enough not to allow themselves to be misled. And they strengthened themselves and fortified themselves greatly — until they merited what they merited. Fortunate are they. And this is the aspect of: "And his heart was elevated in the ways of G-d" [2 Chronicles 17:6].

Just as a person must stand firm in a test so as not to go after his desires — whether in what is permitted or in what is forbidden, G-d forbid — so too he must strengthen himself to stand firm in the test if he has already stumbled, G-d forbid, and whatever has passed over him has passed — so as not to fall through this entirely, G-d forbid. For the reason that many people are found who fall in their minds and say that it is impossible for them to walk in the straight path any longer — this comes only from their desire and their yetzer hara, which seeks a pretext and an excuse to depart from after the Omnipresent, G-d forbid — so that they can go after their evil desires, G-d forbid. For the pretexts and excuses that the baal davar finds for every person are beyond counting — and for every person he finds specific pretexts. Most of them are through deficiency of livelihood and obstacles that obstruct, etc. But even so, every single person of Israel — his soul is bitter to him over this. For he knows he will have to give an accounting. And therefore the good within him is fortified every single time and he is awakened to return to G-d. But in no matter does he find for himself so effective a pretext and exemption as through the aforementioned strategy of the baal davar — who brings him down in his mind every single time and shows him as if all hope is lost, G-d forbid. For he sees with his own eyes that he has already striven many times to return to G-d — and fell afterwards — each person according to how he fell. And so it happened many times without number. And therefore he considers himself already exempted from striving further to return to G-d. But in truth all these thoughts and the falling of the mind as such — they are only the work of the baal davar, who finds for him a pretext to depart from after the Omnipresent, as above. For in truth there is no despair in the world at all — and every person must pass through a great deal before he merits to enter into holiness. And who is greater than Adam the first — who separated from his wife and returned in complete teshuvah for one hundred and thirty years. And specifically throughout all those one hundred and thirty years, spirits came and warmed themselves against him, etc., as our Sages of blessed memory said. And certainly his mind became very weak from this every single time. And certainly the baal davar lay in wait for him and wished to cause him to fall in his mind entirely every single time. But he strengthened himself against him at every moment and did not abandon the ways of teshuvah that he engaged in — until at the end of the one hundred and thirty years he merited to beget Shas, from whom the world was established, and from whom the Fathers came forth, and Moshe, and Mashiach. And Adam the first himself was also throughout all his days a Tzadik and pious one, and departed with a good name. And even though the blemish he caused still needs repair in every generation — even so, if he had not strengthened and fortified himself to repair what he repaired — certainly the repair would have been made very much harder even for the Tzaddikim who came after him. And likewise it is truly with every person even now. For this is the essential test: that he strengthen himself through all the falls and descents in the world, G-d protect us, through whatever comes upon him. And he should train himself every single day to begin anew. And he should picture in his mind as if he were born today, etc. And then whatever he merits to repair through his complete teshuvah — certainly how good it is. And what he does not merit to complete the repair of — let him be confident in the power and merit of the holy Tzaddikim, who have the power to transform everything for good. As long as he does not despair of waiting and hoping to G-d — hope after hope — and multiplying his crying out, beseeching, and supplication before Him, blessed be He. For with G-d is the kindness, and with Him is abundant redemption, etc.

All the confusions of every person — who desires all the desires, and even so wishes to know and understand everything with his crude intellect. And every single time he has many difficulties against G-d and against the Tzaddikim, etc. And even if he has difficulties against himself — this too is not good. For this too is the work of the baal davar, who weakens his mind through the difficulties he has against himself: "How do you wish to pray with intention and fervor, when in the previous hour you did such and such, etc." — and the like: confusions without measure. And all of this derives from the defilement of the serpent — who confuses a person's mind, wishing to understand everything. For in truth we know nothing whatsoever — and even Shlomo the King, peace be upon him, said: "For I am more brutish than any man, and I have not the understanding of a human being" [Proverbs 30:2]. And likewise in Psalms it is said: "And I was brutish and knew nothing — I was like a beast before You" [Psalms 73:22]. How much more so — infinitely, by a thousand-fold kal v'chomer — ordinary people, especially in these generations. The general principle: a person does not know at all. He must only begin anew every single time in the service of G-d. And "whatever your hand finds to do with your strength — do it" [Ecclesiastes 9:10]. And then it will be good for you forever, and in the end you will reach the ultimate good that is eternal — in this world and in the World to Come.

Every single day G-d sends new salvations to rescue the person from the sitra achra that overpowers him every day. And this is the aspect of: "Tell of His salvation from day to day" [Psalms 96:2]. And likewise in the Shemoneh Esreh [Amidah] prayer we say: "And for Your miracles that are with us every day, etc." And as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Every single day the person's yetzer hara overpowers him — and were it not for the Holy One, blessed be He, helping him, etc." [Kiddushin 30b]. It is thus found: that every single day entirely new things happen to a person — and the Holy One, blessed be He, helps and saves him every day. Therefore a person must not confuse himself at all from one day to another — for who knows how great the new salvation is that G-d will send him today, if he merits to strengthen himself and begin anew.

A person must strengthen himself to draw close to G-d always — from all that passes over him in body and soul and money. For there are those who mislead themselves that they cannot draw close to G-d because of the great abundance of sufferings and travails and financial strain that pass over them. And if he looks with the eye of truth — he will see that all the sufferings that pass over him are through great kindness. And they did not come upon him to distance him through this from G-d, G-d forbid. Rather, on the contrary — to draw him closer and to arouse [him] in teshuvah, and to redeem him through this from harsh punishments, G-d protect us, and from the judgment of gehinnom [purgatory] — and to cause him to merit the World to Come. And in particular — within the very affliction and the suffering themselves, one can find great expansions [harchavos gedolos] — in the aspect of: "In my distress You have expanded me" [Psalms 4:2]. And as is explained elsewhere. And likewise there are those who mislead themselves — that they cannot draw close to G-d because of the very abundance of their blemishes through which they have been greatly distanced from G-d. And it has already been explained in our words many times — that it is forbidden for a person to despair of himself, G-d forbid. For even if he is as he is, even so he can still seize Torah and commandments and merit a good portion in the World to Come. And he must strengthen himself greatly in the good points he still finds within himself. And he should know and believe that there is still hope for him to return to G-d in truth. And if he says: "It is true that the sufferings are in great kindnesses, and I also still have good points within me — but even so, what shall I do, that the abundance of blemishes and corruptions have overpowered him so — [him so] — greatly, that it is difficult for me to bear even the small amount of suffering. And likewise the very smallness and weakness of mind that are in my heart from the abundance of my blemishes and corruptions — even so, through strengthening himself and looking at the kindnesses and the expansions, and likewise at the good points — through this he will be able at least to strengthen his heart to pour out his conversation and his prayer before G-d with abundant mercy and supplication. Until G-d will save him in perfection and rescue him from all the sufferings — and forgive him for all his sins — and cause him to merit complete teshuvah. (The following is from the translator, not from the original text.) These five sections form the heart of the Bais-Gimmel-Dalet-Hei portion of the Alef-Bais and present some of the most practically urgent teachings in the entire work:

But in truth all these thoughts and the falling of the mind as such — they are only the work of the baal davar, who finds for him a pretext to depart from after the Omnipresent, as above. For in truth there is no despair in the world at all — and every person must pass through a great deal before he merits to enter into holiness. And who is greater than Adam the first — who separated from his wife and returned in complete teshuvah for one hundred and thirty years. And specifically throughout all those one hundred and thirty years, spirits came and warmed themselves against him, etc., as our Sages of blessed memory said. And certainly his mind became very weak from this every single time. And certainly the baal davar lay in wait for him and wished to cause him to fall in his mind entirely every single time. But he strengthened himself against him at every moment and did not abandon the ways of teshuvah that he engaged in — until at the end of the one hundred and thirty years he merited to beget Shas, from whom the world was established, and from whom the Fathers came forth, and Moshe, and Mashiach.