READING: between after midnight and sunrise of Wednesday

Pesach (Passover) 2023

I am He, and not the messenger

I am He, and not the messenger – Excerpts from the sources

1. RABASH, Article No. 8 (1987), “The Difference between Mercy and Truth and Untrue Mercy”

Is written about the exodus from Egypt (in the Passover Haggadah [story]): “And in all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments. I am the Lord; I am He, and not the messenger. I am the Lord; it is I and not another.”

This comes to say that only the Creator can help one out of one’s enslavement in the exile in Pharaoh King of Egypt, who is keeping him from exiting self-love and doing only works that benefit his self-love, and he has no way by which to do something for the sake of the Creator. At that time comes the Creator’s help.

2. RABASH, Article No. 8 (1987), “The Difference between Mercy and Truth and Untrue Mercy”

After they had done all that they could in the work that pertained to them, and saw that no help was coming from here after all the work, for this reason, their cry was from the bottom of the heart. That is, they saw that no messenger could help them but the Creator Himself, as it is written, “I am He, and not a messenger.” This is when they were redeemed and came out of Egypt.

3. RABASH, Article No. 8 (1987), “The Difference between Mercy and Truth and Untrue Mercy”

The exodus from Egypt was done by the Creator Himself and not by a messenger. It is as they said, “And in all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments. I am the Lord; I am He, and not the messenger. I am the Lord, and not another.”

In other words, when a person has done all the counsels and tactics, which are as messengers such as the above mentioned doctors, but they did not help, then a person can pray from the bottom of the heart because he has nowhere to turn to for help, as he has already done all the counsels he could think of.

4. RABASH, Article No. 37 (1991), “What Is the ‘Torah’ and What Is ‘The Statute of the Torah,’ in the Work?”

A person sees that it is unrealistic that he will have the strength to go against nature.

At that time, one has no choice but to turn to the Creator and say, “Now I have come to a state where I see that unless You help me, I am lost. I will never have the strength to overcome the will to receive, as this is my nature. Rather, only the Creator can give another nature.”

5. RABASH, Article No. 15 (1990), “What Does It Mean that Before the Egyptian Minister Fell, Their Outcry Was Not Answered, in the Work?”

To the extent that the children of Israel thought that Egypt were enslaving them and impeding them from worshipping the Creator, they truly were in the exile in Egypt. Hence, the redeemer’s only work was to reveal to them that there was no other force involved here, that ‘I and not a messenger,’ for there is no other force but Him. This was indeed the light of redemption.”

6. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 1

All the actions and the thoughts, both good and bad, are the carriers of the vessels of the Creator. He prepared them, from His mouth they emerged, and at the end of correction it will be known to all.

However, in between, it is a long and threatening exile. The main problem is that when one sees some wrongful action, he falls from his degree (and clings to the famous lie and forgets that he is like an ax in the hand of the cutter). Instead, one thinks of himself as the owner of this act and forgets the reason for all the consequences from whom everything comes, and that there is no other operator in the world but Him.

7. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 1, “There is None Else Besides Him”

It is written, “There is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what one sees, that there are things in the world that deny the upper household, the reason is that this is His will.

This is deemed a correction called “the left rejects and the right pulls closer,” meaning that what the left rejects is considered a correction. This means that there are things in the world that, to begin with, aim to divert a person from the right way, and by which he is rejected from Kedusha [holiness].

The benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a complete need and desire for the Creator to help him since he sees that otherwise he is lost.

8. Zohar for All, Lech Lecha, “And It Came to Pass when Abraham Came to Egypt,” Item 116

All that there is in the world is from the Creator, for He alone did, does, and will do all the deeds in the world. He knows in advance all that will unfold in the end, as it is written, “Declaring the end from the beginning.” He watches and does things in the beginning in order to repeat them and to do them in wholeness after some time.