READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN MONDAY

Baal HaSulam. Shamati, 245. Prior to the Creation of the Newborn

LESSON MATERIAL

245. Prior to the Creation of the Newborn

I heard in Jerusalem, Iyar 21, April-May

“Prior to the creation of the newborn, it is declared whether the drop will be a fool or a wise, etc., but righteous or wicked, he did not say.”

Accordingly, we should ask: After all, a fool cannot be righteous since “One does not sin unless the spirit of folly has entered him. It is also written, “One who is a fool all his days, how can he have a choice if he is destined to be a fool?”

And we should also understand what is written, “I saw the virtuous, and they are few, He stood and planted them in each and every generation.” We should interpret that the word “few” means that they are growing fewer, and by planting them they multiply. We should understand the allegory of “planting them,” and also that the word “few” is in present tense. so how do the plants multiply?

We should interpret that fool or wise refer only to the preparation, as in “will give wisdom to the wise.” This means that there are people who are born with a strong will, a broad heart, and a keen mind, and we call this “wise” because he is capable of receiving His wisdom. Conversely, there are people who were born fools, meaning they are narrow people whose thoughts and desires are only about themselves. They do not know what it means to feel others since they do not understand what is bestowal upon others, so how can they achieve the degree of righteous? It is impossible to be righteous until we achieve love of the Creator, and if one has no love of others, he cannot come to love the Creator, as is explained in the words of Rabbi Akiva, “love your friend as yourself is a great rule in the Torah.” Accordingly, such people have no choice. And yet, “He did not say ‘righteous or wicked,’” which means that they do have a choice.

We should understand this the way our sages said, “I saw the virtuous, and they are few.” Virtuous means people who are capable and are ready for Dvekut [adhesion] with Him; these are few. This is why He planted them in each and every generation. Thus, the fools already have a choice—to go and unite and adhere to the righteous of the generation. By this they will receive the strength and the ability to take upon themselves the burden of the kingdom of heaven. They will be able to do the holy work since the righteous will bestow upon them their thoughts and desires. Through the assistance they will receive from the righteous of the generation, they, too, will be able to rise to the degree of righteous, even though inherently, they do not have these qualities. Yet, through the Dvekut with the virtuous ones, they will receive different qualities.

It follows that by planting them in each and every generation, the virtuous can raise their contemporaries to the height of the degrees. Had the virtuous been in one generation, the fools would have no way to ascend to the trail of holiness.

By this we will understand the correction of planting them, for the planting multiplied the virtuous. Likewise, placing a plant in the ground causes many branches to grow.

We can also understand the matter of choice. If one is born a fool, meaning far from matters of bestowal upon others, through connection with the virtuous, they will receive new qualities from the virtuous, who will influence the fools when they make a choice, meaning submit themselves to go and accept the guidance of the virtuous. Without it, their Torah will become to them a potion of death. Only through Dvekut with the virtuous will they be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator.

It is known that when two people stand opposite from one another, one’s right is opposite the other one’s left, and one’s left is opposite the other one’s right. Therefore, when speaking of two ways, 1) of the right, meaning the path of the righteous, whose interest is only to bestow, and the path of the left is the way of the wicked, for their interest is only their own benefit, for which they are separated from the Life of Lives and are regarded as dead, as our sages said, “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’”

It therefore follows that even when a person learns in the path of the right, he is still opposite the left side of the Creator. It follows that his Torah becomes to him a potion of death, for through the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], if it is in the manner of the left then his intention is to increase his body. This means that previously he wanted only to satisfy his body with pleasures of this world. Now, by observing Torah and Mitzvot, he wants the Creator to also satisfy his pleasures of the next world. It follows that through the Torah, his vessels of reception grow. That is to say, previously he wanted only the wealth of this world; afterward, by engaging in Torah and Mitzvot, he also wants the wealth of the next world. Thus, the Torah causes death, for by this he is completed with a real will to receive.

It is even more so when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot on his left side, meaning that his initial intention is only to receive, which is regarded as left. This is certainly wrong. However, we should try to achieve Dvekut by becoming one with the Creator, and then there is no right or left; he achieves equivalence of form with the Creator. At that time, his right is the Creator’s right. It follows that his body has become a clothing for the soul. Then, when he comes to engage in bodily matters, he will not engage in the needs of his body more than is suitable for his soul. Similarly, when a person makes a clothing for his body, he will not make the garment longer or wider than his body. Rather, he will try to make the garment exactly fitting for his body. Otherwise, he will not wear the garment.

This is like a tailor who brings a suit to a man. When the man wears the suit on his body, if the garment is too long and too wide, he will return the suit to the tailor. Likewise, man’s body should clothe the soul, and the body should be no bigger than the soul, meaning the needs of his body must not be too much, beyond what he needs for his soul.

However, we must know that it is not easy to achieve Dvekut with Him, and “Not all who want to take the Lord may come and take. This is why we need the righteous of the generation. By adhering to a real teacher, whose desire is only to bestow, and then one should do things that his teacher likes, meaning hate what his teacher hates and love what his teacher loves, then he can learn Torah that will not be a potion of death.

This is the meaning of “He stood and planted them in each and every generation,” so that by this they will be able to connect to the virtuous, and they, too, will be able to achieve real Dvekut with Him.

Let it not be perplexing to you that there is a need for fools in the world. After all, they could all be wise. However, everything must have a carrier. This is why there is a need for fools—to be the carriers of the will to receive. By this, those who want to walk in the ways of the Creator can receive assistance from them, as it is written, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me, for their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.” As our sages said, they will be ashes under the feet of the righteous, for by this the righteous will be distinguished, so they can praise and thank the Creator for bringing them closer. This is called “ashes under their feet,” etc., meaning that they will be able to go forward by seeing the end of the wicked.