# Torah 33 - Who Is The Man Who Desires Life

> מקור: https://rabenu.app/books/kitvey-en/33/torah-33/

a) A person has to search for peace, as it says, "seek peace" (Psalms,34,15), so that there be peace between Jews. Each person has to have peace in his attributes so that he won't have differences in them or in his reaction to different occurrences. He should always find the Holy One whether in good events or bad, like it says, "In G-d I will praise His word; in the Lord I will praise His word."(Psalms, 56:10).

b) Peace is achieved through Torah and through tzaddikim for both of them are called peace. By this, one can come to love G-d in every situation, whether good or bad, and to love one's fellow. Then there can be peace between all Jews so that they love each other. He will not panic or be confused by anything in the world, rather, he will know and believe that whatever happens to him each day, whether good things or suffering, troubles, worries and unpleasant events, Heaven forbid, are all for his eternal good. Specifically by all this he can come close to G-d if he truly wants. Even if he has suffering from his fellow, he should accept it and try to judge him on the side of merit, finding in him good points. Then he can turn it all into the good and say in his mind that his friend didn't mean it so badly as he first thought, and similar examples. Try to search for and ask for love and peace with all his friends and all Jews. Through this he will merit to love and peace in every place and situation so that he will have peace with everyone and everything.

c) You must know that "All the earth is filled with the glory of G-d" and there is no place without Him- He fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds. Even when doing business with the non-Jews you can't use the excuse that it is impossible to serve G-d because of the grossness and materiality that falls upon you every time when you do business with them. In all material things and all the languages of the nations you can find godliness, for without godliness there is no existence to anything at all, like it says, "You give life to them all" (Nechemia,9,6). The only thing is that this life-force and godliness that exists in all things is in a very contracted form, being just enough to give essential life and no more. However much more the thing is on a lower level, the godliness there is more restricted and hidden with more layers of 'clothing'.

d) So, you have to know that even if you are trapped deep in the dwelling of the husks and you are on the lowest spiritual level such that you think it is impossible to return again to G-d because you have become very distant indeed from Him, even if you have fallen into atheism, Heaven forbid, even so you should know that from your situation also you can find godliness for He gives life to everything, as it says, "And You give life to all things". From there you can attach yourself to the Holy One and return in complete repentance for He is not distant from you, rather, in your place there are many 'clothings'.

e) The further a person goes from one level to another, and come closer to the Holy One, the more he can know Him with more understanding, for the higher the level he reaches, the fewer the veils and contractions become and he can come closer to the Holy One. Then he can love himself with the Hoy One with a greater love.

f) There are good days and bad days. Days are called 'measures', as it says, "The measure of my days." (Psalms,39,5). The measures are the Torah for the entire Torah is full of measures of the Holy One, because it talks of love and fear and other attributes (in Hebrew 'attributes' and 'measures' are the same word). The worlds were created through the Torah, the letters of which give life to all things. It is just that the life force is very constricted, according to how low the level is. This means that the good days, the Torah and its letters, can be found even in the bad days which are the languages of the nations and their bad attributes. That is what it says, "On the day of good, be joyful; but on the day of adversity, look and consider." (Eccl.7:14). A person has to look very, very well then he will certainly find good days in the bad days by subduing his evil urge, that's to say the bad days, and overcoming it. Then he becomes like an angel of the Hosts of G-d (See Zohar, Pt.1:90A). Then he can collect letters of the Torah even from material things. Even when he talks to the non-Jews or sees their attributes he will know that there are letters of the Torah and holy life-force hidden and 'clothed' in them. The evil that dwells and veils the good, meaning the letters, will then fall and be nullified and the holy letters will stand out, be seen and shine clearly.

g) This is what it says, "we will do and we will listen" an aspect of "perform His bidding, listening to the voice of His word." (Psalms,103:20), meaning that first you make and build the letters of the Torah so they will stand out and join together (Yoma,71) and then one listens, one hears voices from above. That's to say, the letters of the Torah receive vitality and greater light than they had at first when they were 'clothed' in the languages of the nations and the bad days for then they received only a minimum of life force, enough to exist in that place (as brought in the Pri Etz Chaim in the kavanot of Purim, Ch.6).

h) It is known that in the Torah, meaning the measures and days, G-d's love exists, as is written in the Zohar (Pt.1,46A) on the verse, "The Lord will command His steadfast loving- kindness in the daytime" (Psalms,42:9), G-d's kindness, meaning love, goes with all the days; the attributes are contractions to His godliness so that we can perceive Him, as it says in the Zohar (Pt.2,42B) "in order to know Him". The Holy One hid and 'clothed' His godliness in the measures of the Torah because of His love of the People of Israel. That is why there are 613 mitzvot, for G-d measured in His mind that by each mitzvah and contraction we would be able to gain a perception of Him and to serve Him. It turns out that in every measure and measure of the Torah's measures there is G-d's love for Israel, meaning that He loves Himself being with Israel. It turns out that when a person unveils the Torah from the clothing of husks through subduing his evil urge, he becomes close to peace, like it says, "All her paths are peace" (Proverbs,3:17) which refers to the Torah.

 i) There are two aspects in the Torah, the revealed and the hidden, the latter referring to the Torah from Atik which is hidden and will only be revealed in the future to come. This corresponds to two types of love- one is the love in days which is in actuality; the other love is in potential which is the love that existed between Israel and their Father in Heaven before the world was created when they were still only in the mind of G-d and that was above time and measures, which is the inner essence of the Torah. In the future the Holy One will unveil this inner essence of the Torah from all the coverings which conceal His godliness, coverings of the inner, hidden Torah. Then this Torah from Atik will be revealed. As a result, peace will spread through the world, as it says, "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Isaiah, 11:9). Love within understanding will be revealed. But, nowadays, this light of the Torah has been hidden. This is as the Sages said, "G-d saw that the light was good" (Gen.1:4) – "it was good to hide it" (Chagiga, 12). There are also tzaddikim who are called good as it says, 'Say of the tzaddik that it will be good with him" (Isaiah, 3:10). They are also called 'light' – "Light is sown for the tzaddik" (Psalms, 97:11). They are also hidden, for the world is not yet worthy of using them. In the future, when this love in understanding is revealed, "One day will be known as the Lord's" (Zechariah, 14:7), for love is called 'day' as it says, "the Lord will command" (Psalms, 42:9) "neither day nor night" (Zechariah,14:6) for that love is above time and attributes. At that time the hidden tzadikim and the hidden Torah will be revealed and then great peace will be revealed in the world such that all the opposites will join together, like it says, "The wolf will dwell with the lamb…" (Isaiah, 11:6).

j) Even the attributes themselves, each one is, relatively, an aspect of Understanding to the one below it. For example, the lowest level of the World of Yetzirah is considered Understanding in respect to the World of Asiah below it. Similarly, there could be a person whose love of the Holy One in attributes and time is considered love in Understanding, which is above time, with regard to the person who is on a lower level than him.

k) Every person is able to taste the light of the love in Understanding even now within time, each person according to his level. This is by attaching his heart to his understanding. For every Jew knows that G-d exists, so it is certainly fitting that he nullify all his cravings and bad attributes in the light of this understanding. However, the wicked are under the control of their hearts (Midrash Rabba, Noach, Ch.34) and all the attributes and cravings are in the heart. Therefore, each person has to see to it that he attaches his heart to his mind so that he can control his heart. Then he can subdue his heart's cravings to the mind's understanding, knowing of G-d in general that the glory of G-d fills all the earth, and by this break and nullify all the cravings. By knowing this and knowing the Torah all the traits in his heart become included in his mind's understanding and then they receive the light of the love in Understanding. As a result he can attain the hidden light in the Torah and the hidden tzaddikim, according to his level.

l) Through the mitzva of holding the Lulav (palm branch) and its other species one merits to reveal holy Understanding to the entire world, to make known that the earth is full of the glory of G-d; one reveals that G-d exists in every place, even in all the languages of the nations. One comes to recognize the Holy One and come close to Him even in the lowest of levels. One learns to attach the holy understanding to the heart so that the heart is under control and to attach himself to the Holy One with love. Then one comes to the light of love in Understanding which is the hidden light. Then the hidden tzaddikim and the hidden Torah will be revealed and great peace will spread throughout the entire world.