לְהַשְׂכִּילְךָ בִּינָה, כִּי לֹא זוֹ הַדֶּרֶךְ יִשְׁכּוֹן אוֹר ה׳, לִהְיוֹת חָפֵץ בְּחַיֵּי בְּשָׂרִים וּבְנֵי וּמְזוֹנֵי

This letter comes to enlighten you with understanding, that this is not the way in which the light of God dwells within a person, by desiring the life of the flesh, children, and sustenance, The letter opens with an unequivocal statement: The light of God does not reveal itself in a person whose innermost desire is directed toward worldly matters, including children, life, and sustenance. Children are a person's offspring, life refers to life and good health, and sustenance relates to livelihood. It is around these three elements that life generally revolves. These are things that bring a person joy, and when they are absent, he suffers. People dream about them and struggle to attain them, each in his own way.

כִּי עַל זֶה אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה: ״בַּטֵּל רְצוֹנְךָ כו׳״ (אבות פרק ב משנה ד), דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה רְצוֹנוֹ בָּטֵל בִּמְצִיאוּת, וְלֹא יִהְיֶה לוֹ שׁוּם רָצוֹן כְּלָל בְּעִנְיְנֵי עוֹלָם הַזֶּה כּוּלָּם, הַנִּכְלָלִים בִּ'בְנֵי חַיֵּי וּמְזוֹנֵי׳,

for concerning this desire for children, life, and sustenance, our Rabbis said, "Set aside your will in the face of His will" (Mishna Avot 2:4). That is, one's will should literally be subsumed in the divine reality, and one should not have any desire of his own at all for any of the matters of this world, which are comprised of "children, life, and sustenance," The author of the Tanya emphasizes the first part of the rabbinic dictum "Set aside your will in the face of His will," as if it were a statement that stands on its own. Setting aside your will means setting aside the very essence of your will, not just a particular desire when God desires something else. It means that your will is completely subsumed in the divine will. It is not that man has a will that he nullifies at certain points, but rather that he has no will of his own whatsoever.

וּכְמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה: ״שֶׁעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה חַי״ (אבות פרק ד משנה כב).

in accordance with our Rabbis' statement "It is against your will that you live" (Mishna Avot 4:22). When a person has no desire for life in this world, any involvement he may have in "children, life, and sustenance" is in the manner of "it is against your will that you live." He lives, takes care of his health, and raises children, not because this is what he desires and yearns for, but because it is something he must do, because this is the will of God. This does not mean that one should hate the need to be involved in these things, but neither does it mean that he should immerse himself in these matters and eagerly attend to them. These opening words of the epistle serve as a prelude to the loftier ideas that follow: that there is a sublime, spiritual goal to attain a close attachment to God and cause the light of God to dwell in the soul. The way to achieve this, by setting aside one's essential will, seems unattainable. But the rest of the letter will tie everything together. The author of the Tanya goes on to explain how this can be achieved with the tools at our disposal, those of deep contemplation and faith.

וּבֵיאוּר הָעִנְיָן הוּא רַק אֱמוּנָה אֲמִיתִּית בְּיוֹצֵר בְּרֵאשִׁית,

The explanation of this concept, how to attain this abrogation of one's will, is that this is only possible with true faith in the Creator of the universe, What enables such an attitude toward life, that "it is against your will that you live," so that one may remove his desire for all worldly affairs? The author of the Tanya tells us this is only possible with true faith in the Creator of the universe. This is faith that not only penetrates deeply into one's soul but is infused in every aspect of life.

דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁהַבְּרִיאָה יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן, הַנִּקְרֵאת 'רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה' וְהִיא חָכְמָתוֹ שֶׁאֵינָהּ מוּשֶּׂגֶת לְשׁוּם נִבְרָא.

that the creation came into existence from nothingness, which is called the "beginning of wisdom," and this is God's wisdom, which is not apprehended by any created being. When the author of the Tanya refers to true faith in the Creator of the universe, he is referring to the very beginning of Creation. It means that one believes that the world came into existence from nothingness, and this nothingness that preceded existence is called the "beginning," which is the level of the wisdom. The nothingness is a concept that belongs to the realm of cognition. It is not absolute nonexistence, the absence of existence, but rather that which is not subject to cognition, that which cannot be comprehended. This point of nothingness is the starting point of cognition, the first flash of wisdom, from which the realm of the intellect and the emotive attributes develop. When this process is completed, not within the soul, but in the creation of the worlds, it constitutes a transition from nothingness to the reality of the created worlds. This is what the Jerusalem Targum means when it translates the words "bereshit bara " from the first verse in Genesis as "with wisdom He created." The reality of the world begins with divine wisdom and was created through that wisdom.

הַבְּרִיאָה הַזֹּאת הִיא בְּכָל עֵת וְרֶגַע, שֶׁמִּתְהַוִּים כָּל הַבְּרוּאִים יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן מֵחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הַמְחַיָּה אֶת הַכֹּל.

This creation from nothingness occurs at every moment and second, so that all created beings come into existence from nothingness, through God's wisdom, which gives life to all. True belief in the Creator does not entail only belief that the world was created from nothingness at the beginning, but also that this creation from nothingness takes place at every moment and second. This is the meaning of the term "Creator of the universe," the word yotzer, Creator, being in the present tense. It conveys that even now, at every moment, all created beings come into existence from nothingness. The notion that the Creation was not a onetime event is one of the principles of Hasidism. It is true that God began the Creation at a certain point in time, but since then He continues to activate it without pause. God "renews every day, continually, the work of creation." At every moment and second, the existence of the world is renewed, from nothingness to existence, from incomprehensible divine wisdom to modes of reality that are known and familiar to us.

וּכְשֶׁיִּתְבּוֹנֵן הָאָדָם בְּעוֹמֶק הֲבָנָתוֹ, וִיצַיֵּיר בְּדַעְתּוֹ הֲוָויָיתוֹ מֵאַיִן בְּכָל רֶגַע וְרֶגַע מַמָּשׁ,

When a person contemplates this creation with the depths of his understanding and imagines in his mind how he comes into existence from nothingness literally every single moment, In order to attain true faith, a person must contemplate this process of creation from nothingness at every moment. How must he contemplate it? "With the depths of his understanding" – in an intellectual manner, to the best of his ability. Then he must also "imagine it in his mind." He must provide his intellectual understanding with an image he can relate to, an image that will also have emotional meaning. This is all to be understood "literally," and not as a metaphor. This matter, that one's existence is created from nothingness every single moment is literally so.

הַאֵיךְ יַעֲלֶה עַל דַּעְתּוֹ כִּי רַע לוֹ, אוֹ שׁוּם יִסּוּרִים מִ׳בְּנֵי חַיֵּי וּמְזוֹנֵי׳, אוֹ שְׁאָרֵי יִסּוּרִין בָּעוֹלָם?

how can it even occur to him that his situation is bad for him or that he is experiencing any suffering with regard to children, life, or sustenance, or any other kind of suffering in the world? After contemplating this, how the entire world, including himself, receives its life force and existence from God at every moment, and not through any specific mechanism or another, but rather through the decision of God Himself at this very moment concerning any particular being, it should not even occur to a person that his life circumstances are bad for him or entail any suffering. If God Himself is the direct cause of this reality, it cannot truly contain evil. There is no denial here of the reality of suffering, but along with sensitivity toward suffering, loftier sensitivities can develop in the soul, so that a person will not even consider that his situation is bad and that he is experiencing anguish.

הֲרֵי הָ׳אַיִן׳, שֶׁהִיא חָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, הוּא מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים וְהַטּוֹב וְהָעוֹנֶג,

After all, the state of nothingness, which is God's wisdom, from which everything is created, is the source of life, goodness, and pleasure, Divine wisdom is not only an intellectual concept, nor is it just the beginning of existence. In a certain sense, it reflects the innermost aspects of the divine essence. Wisdom, the source of existence and the source of life, is also the source of goodness and the source of pleasure.

וְהוּא הָ׳עֵדֶן׳ שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מֵעוֹלָם הַבָּא.

and it is the level of Eden, which transcends the World to Come. The World to Come is the future world for the soul after life in this world. It is also called the Garden of Eden, literally, the "garden of delight," since it is the place where the soul delights. It is the place where the divine light is visible and where the soul apprehends, experiences, and basks in it. The source of the Garden of Eden is Eden: "And a river emerged from Eden to water the garden" (Gen. 2:10). The plain meaning of this verse is that Eden is the source and spring from which the river flowed. According to kabbalistic teachings, Eden is the point of Ḥokhma, Wisdom, while the river is Bina, Understanding, and the garden is Malkhut, Kingship. From this perspective, the Garden of Eden is the place where the divine rationale can be comprehended, which is not the case with Eden itself. While it is the source of all the apprehension and delight that can be found in the Garden of Eden, it cannot be apprehended or understood in itself.

רַק מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוּשָּׂג, לָכֵן נִדְמֶה לוֹ רַע אוֹ יִסּוּרִים.

It is only because this lofty level of Eden is not apprehended by the human intellect that it therefore appears to him that his situation is bad or that he is suffering. The Eden that is beyond the garden cannot be grasped. We have no comprehension or sense of this point of the wisdom that brings all of reality into existence at every moment. Since we do not see the source of things and events, we experience certain situations as evil or as suffering. It is only because our perception of reality is rife with holes, with parts we do not understand, that we relate to them in this way.

אֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת אֵין רַע יוֹרֵד מִלְמַעְלָה וְהַכֹּל טוֹב,

But in truth, no evil descends from Heaven, and everything is good, In the divine reality that is above the world, in the nothingness that cannot be comprehended, there is no evil. There is only good. When the flow of divine light and vitality descends and is revealed in the world, it is not evil, but may seem to be so because we cannot comprehend it. Evil exists in the apparent absence, in the negation, of divine reality. But if one believes that it is God who brings all of reality into existence and sustains it, and there is no other besides Him, it is impossible for evil to come down from above.

רַק שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוּשָּׂג לְגוֹדְלוֹ וְרַב טוּבוֹ.

only the goodness is not apprehended due to its greatness and abundant goodness. The difference between good and bad events from our perspective lies in how much we are able to sense the good. There is no objective definition, since it depends on our subjective senses. What seems to us as darkness, anguish, and pain is not inherently evil. It is only that our perception is incapable of perceiving the good in it. The less we perceive the source of things, and the more disconnected we are from the things we experience, the more suffering and anguish we feel. At the least, there is a sense of triviality and even boredom, but then they may escalate and become unpleasant, painful, and even excruciating. On high there is only good, and sometimes the perception of the good is even within our purview. But our entire human experience, both physical and spiritual, is restricted to a fairly small range. The spectrum of temperatures within which we feel good is very narrow. A few degrees more or less, and we feel uncomfortable, too cold or too hot. So too in all areas of life. Everything we receive, even when we ask for it, is good within a very limited parameter, and beyond that it is meaningless, and even unpleasant and painful.

וְזֶהוּ עִיקַּר הָאֱמוּנָה שֶׁבִּשְׁבִילָהּ נִבְרָא הָאָדָם, לְהַאֲמִין דְּלֵית אֲתָר פָּנוּי מִינֵּיהּ,

This is the essence of the faith for which man was created: believing that there is no space void of Him, A person lives in a world in which there is darkness and pain, because the Divine is concealed and hidden. When in spite of this one believes that God exists, that there is no place void of Him, he fulfills the purpose for which he and the world were created. The belief that "there is no space void of Him" is not just an abstract idea. It has emotional and practical consequences as well. This belief cannot cause pain to not be painful or evil to not be evil, but it can affect a person's attitude toward these matters, and as a result, his afflictions will not cause such anguish.

וּ"בְּאוֹר פְּנֵי מֶלֶךְ חַיִּים" (משלי טז, טו).

and that "life is in the light of the King's countenance" (Prov. 16:15). Not only is there no space void of God, but His existence in our lives constitutes life. Our life comes from Him, from the "light of His countenance," from His desire for us and for our good. The author of the Tanya here points to the light that comes from "the King's countenance," an illumination that shines from the face, so to speak. In this form, the flow of life and goodness is manifest and evident.

וְעַל כֵּן, ״עוֹז וְחֶדְוָה בִּמְקוֹמוֹ״ (דברי הימים א טז, כז) הוֹאִיל וְהוּא רַק טוֹב כָּל הַיּוֹם.

Accordingly, "might and joy are in His place" (I Chron. 16:27), because He is only good all the time. Wherever one discovers God, that is "His place," and there one will find "might and joy." This is not the case in a place of concealment, where one might also find what appears to be evil. Yet just as God's presence in the vitality that He bestows on the world is everywhere at all times, so too should we rejoice in His presence everywhere and at all times.

וְעַל כֵּן, רֵאשִׁית הַכֹּל שֶׁיִּשְׂמַח הָאָדָם וְיָגֵל בְּכָל עֵת וְשָׁעָה, וְיִחְיֶה מַמָּשׁ בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ בַּה׳, הַמְחַיֶּה וּמֵטִיב עִמּוֹ בְּכָל רֶגַע.

Therefore, a person must first of all be happy and rejoice at every moment and hour and truly live by his faith in God, who sustains him and bestows goodness on him at every second. The gist of the matter is that "the righteous will live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4). The life of the believer, of one who walks in the path of the righteous, is intertwined with his faith in God. This is true not only in the simple sense, that he lives in accordance with the contents of his faith, but also in the sense that his vitality, desires, and yearnings are encompassed by his faith. Faith is the focus of his life, and it is where his innermost feelings are found. The righteous lives, not only in the sense that he is not dead, but in the sense that he takes pleasure and joy in life. His faith in God who sustains him and bestows goodness on him at every moment infuses him with life and constitutes his pleasure, excitement, aspirations, and satisfaction.

וּמִי שֶׁמִּתְעַצֵּב וּמִתְאוֹנֵן, מַרְאֶה בְּעַצְמוֹ שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ מְעַט רַע וְיִסּוּרִין וְחָסֵר לוֹ אֵיזֶה טוֹבָה, וַהֲרֵי זֶה כְּכוֹפֵר חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

But one who becomes sad and complains demonstrates about himself that he is experiencing some trouble and suffering and lacks some good, and he is thus like a heretic, God forbid. When a person is sad, he is essentially declaring that things are not going well for him, that something is missing in his life. Thus, he is like a heretic, God forbid. Anyone who declares that things are not good for him in a particular situation is in effect declaring that God is not there. He pushes God away, as it were, from that time and place, for it states, "Might and joy are in His place." God's presence is in itself might and joy, it is the very definition of the good. When a person argues that reality is not positive, he ostensibly proclaims that God is not present and does not belong in that point of reality, and thus he is like a heretic, God forbid.

וְעַל כֵּן הִרְחִיקוּ מִדַּת הָעַצְבוּת בִּמְאֹד חַכְמֵי הָאֱמֶת.

Therefore, the scholars of the truth, the kabbalists, vehemently rejected the attribute of sadness. The sages of the esoteric teachings, the kabbalists and the great hasidic leaders, totally negated the attribute of sadness, calling it an evil attribute from which one must absolutely distance himself to the extreme. Sadness results in a lack of progress and growth, in an inability to cope, of sinking to the depths in every sense. It is, unequivocally, an evil attribute, no matter its source and what lies behind it. This includes sadness stemming from sin or a person's defective spiritual state, and it is considered even worse than the sin itself. A transgression can lead a person to repentance, whereas sadness will always bring him down, so that he cannot find his way out. Moreover, sadness is not a static emotion, one that comes and goes, but it expands and proliferates and brings a person to sink into it more and more.

אֲבָל הַמַּאֲמִין לֹא יָחוּשׁ מִשּׁוּם יִסּוּרִין בָּעוֹלָם,

By contrast, one who believes in God is not perturbed by any suffering in the world, A true believer is not troubled by suffering because he believes in God and trusts in Him, and he knows that whatever comes from above is good. Faith does not change the fact that things hurt, but it changes the way one relates to them. This may be compared to a young child who cries in the dark because he feels alone and fears the unknown, but when he knows that his father is there, he is no longer afraid. The same is true of life in this world: We are in the dark and do not see the divine light, and that is why we feel anguish and pain. The essence of faith is when a person hears, as it were, the voice of God telling him, "I am here." He knows and believes that "there is no space void of Him," that He is right here. While outwardly the darkness remains darkness and the pain remains pain, when a person believes that God is there with him, he is no longer afraid. There is greater meaning and providence that envelops and embraces everything.

וּבְכָל עִנְיְנֵי הָעוֹלָם הֵן וְלָאו שָׁוִין אֶצְלוֹ בְּהַשְׁוָואָה אֲמִיתִּית,

and with regard to all worldly matters, yes and no are the same to him, truly equal, For a person who truly believes in God, yes and no should be the same to him. The absence or presence of any particular thing should not make any difference, and failures or successes should not change his attitude. God's presence is so real and significant to him that he relates to the rest of reality with complete equanimity. It is not that he denies the existence of things and events, but he experiences them without an undue emotional response. He views the events of life without engaging with them or attributing significance to them that they do not deserve. It is as if he is merely seeing the facts of the events from afar, some of which he understands and some of which he does not.

וּמִי שֶׁאֵין שָׁוִין לוֹ, מַרְאֶה בְּעַצְמוֹ שֶׁהוּא מֵ׳עֵרֶב רַב׳ דִּלְגַרְמַיְיהוּ עָבְדִין,

and one to whom yes and no are not the same demonstrates that he is a member of the mixed multitude, who act only for themselves, When the Jewish people left Egypt, members of other nations who joined the people of Israel went out with them. They were called "the mixed multitude." These mixed multitude worshipped God, but not because that was their essence, like it is for Israel, but for their own interests. They served God because at the present time it served them. By contrast, the inner truth of a Jew is to be God's servant, and if that is not the case, it is because now he is not acting like a Jew.

וְאוֹהֵב אֶת עַצְמוֹ

and that he loves himself These words are primarily a description of a person's emotional conclusions. The question is where his focal point lies, by what standards his values are measured. When a person loves himself, the focal point, the concrete standard for everything, is "I." What is good for me defines what is good, and what is inconvenient or unpleasant for me defines what is evil. The expectation here is very lofty, even from those who have thoroughly prepared themselves for such a level, in both the commandments governing the relationship between man and his fellow and the commandments governing the relationship between man and God. In order for a person to truly achieve this level, where he is struck by tragedy yet does not experience it as tragedy, his point of service must be completely selfless. As long as there is a trace of self-interest, he is still in a state of loving himself.

לָצֵאת מִתַּחַת יַד ה׳ וְלִחְיוֹת בְּחַיֵּי הַגּוֹיִם בִּשְׁבִיל אַהֲבָתוֹ אֶת עַצְמוֹ.

to the extent that he removes himself from under God's authority and lives the life of the nations out of his self-love. When one's starting point is self-love, when his focus is on what is comfortable and good for him, he removes himself from under God's authority. Self-love is a form of idolatry, since it establishes another central point, another absolute value in relation to reality, instead of the true center of reality: God Himself. Idolatry, even in its subtlest form, is no less idolatrous than a graven image before which a person prostrates. On the contrary, the same person who can mock fools who bow down to images of wood and stone is unable to acknowledge when he is in a similar situation, when he bows down to himself.

וְעַל כֵּן הוּא חָפֵץ בְּחַיֵּי בְּשָׂרִים וּ׳בְּנֵי׳ וּ׳מְזוֹנֵי׳, כִּי זֶה טוֹב לוֹ.

That is why he desires the life of the flesh, children, and sustenance: because that is what benefits him . These three things, children, life, and sustenance, even when sought after with honesty and integrity, maintain and serve a person's existence in this world and so express self-love. One who desires and craves them may also be considered a religious person, someone who fulfills the mitzvot and prays. He goes to synagogue because it is convenient, and perhaps even enjoyable, for him to do so, much like another person goes to a lecture or a concert. The problem here is not that the person has violated any sort of prohibition, but that the essence and center of his life, what he considers good, is his own life.

וְנוֹחַ לוֹ שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא, כִּי עִיקַּר בְּרִיאַת הָאָדָם בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הוּא בִּשְׁבִיל לְנַסּוֹתוֹ בְּנִסְיוֹנוֹת אֵלּוּ וְלָדַעַת אֶת אֲשֶׁר בִּלְבָבוֹ,

It would have been better for him had he not been created because the main purpose of man's creation in this world is to test him with such tests and to ascertain what is in his heart, Man's great challenge is not just to live in reality but to stand up to it. He was not created to be a part of reality. The soul did not descend into the body to be like the body. It came down to the body and to this world to prove something that would be impossible to know from the world itself, like a test, which if it succeeds, proves something very important, and if it fails, disproves it. But if a person does not put himself at all to the test, and does not even try to transcend the boundaries of this world, it is better for him had he not been created. But when a person stands up to the test for which he was created, it becomes clear that there is something deep in his heart, something larger and more important than the outside world.

אִם יִפְנֶה לְבָבוֹ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים שֶׁהֵם תַּאֲווֹת הַגּוּף הַמִּשְׁתַּלְשְׁלִים מִסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּבָהֶם הוּא חָפֵץ,

whether his heart will turn to other gods, which are the desires of the body that evolve from the sitra aḥara , and desire them, These "other gods" include, not only other religious rites or meditations in foreign temples, but also a wide range of human activities. Just as the names of the idols change from time to time – once they were called Baal and Ashtoret, and today they are called by other names – so too their forms and modes of service change. Put simply, other gods are the desires of the body that evolve from the sitra aḥara, the forces of the other side. There are idols of power, wealth, lust, and materiality, none of which require any special rite to worship them. This is what such a person desires. Here lies his innermost will, and it is in these desires that he truly delights. If a person's heart turns toward these other gods, he does not stand the test. He makes himself part of the material world and shows that there is nothing beyond that.

אוֹ אִם חֶפְצוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ לִחְיוֹת חַיִּים אֲמִיתִּיִּם הַמִּשְׁתַּלְשְׁלִים מֵאֱלוֹקִים חַיִּים,

or whether his desire and will is to live a life of truth, which evolves from the living God, The desired goal is that a person withstand the test and prove that there is something beyond the appearances of this world, that he wishes to live only a life of truth, a life that evolves from the Divine. When a person binds himself to all sorts of falsities and substitutes for life, he lives a life that is not true. On the other hand, when one attaches himself to the primary and only source of life, to the Divine, then one is living a life of truth. The test of life in this world lies in the fact that it does not reveal, and even conceals, the divine vitality in it. In order to withstand the test, a person must, in a certain sense, live in opposition to the world and what it says. This world has standards for assessing success in life, how much money a person has, whether he is healthy or sick, whether he is admired and respected by others. The question is, can a person assess himself using other standards, such as his connection to God?

אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל.

even if he is unable to actually live this kind of true life. These words are particularly pertinent to us. Note the preciseness of the author of the Tanya's wording: He is not saying that a person withstands the test only if he is able to actually live a life of truth. What he is saying is only that it should be one's desire and will to do so. Not everyone can truly live in this manner, of living by one's faith alone, but everyone can wish and desire that he be able to do so. From this it may be understood that this letter was written neither for people who actually feel and live in this manner, since for them it is unnecessary, nor for those who cannot at all relate to this point, because for them it is meaningless. Rather, it was intended for those who, though they are unable to live this way, wish and desire it. It is precisely in that place where the struggle happens. Sometimes one overcomes the struggles and sometimes one fails, but as long as they exist, there is something to talk about.

(צָרִיךְ עִיּוּן, וּבְאֵיזֶה כִּתְבֵי יָד לֵיתָא תֵּיבוֹת אֵלּוּ [אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל]. וּבְנוּסְחָא אַחֶרֶת מָצָאנוּ כָּךְ: ״אוֹ אִם חֶפְצוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לִחְיוֹת חַיֵּי אֲמִיתִּיִּם כו׳״. וּלְפִי נוּסְחָא זוֹ נִרְאֶה

[Printer's note:]( The matter requires further study. In some manuscripts these words, "even if he is unable," do not appear, while in another version we find as follows: "or whether his desire and will, even if he is unable, is to live a life of truth…." According

שֶׁתֵּיבוֹת [אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל] הוּא מַאֲמָר מוּסְגָּר).

["even if he is unable"] seem to be a parenthetical remark.) to this version, the words

וְיַאֲמִין שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת הוּא חַי בָּהֶם, וְכָל צְרָכָיו וְכָל עִנְיָנָיו מִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלִים בֶּאֱמֶת, בִּפְרָטֵי פְּרָטִיּוּתֵיהֶם, שֶׁלֹּא מִ׳סִיטְרָא אַחֲרָא׳

One should believe that he truly lives a life of truth and that all his needs and all his personal affairs truly evolve, down to their every detail, not from the sitra aḥara , but from the Divine, Even when a person does not feel that he lives a true life bound to God, he must believe that this is the case. He must feel that the life he lives, not only in general but down to the smallest detail, is a life that stems from God and from God alone. He believes that all his needs and everything else in his life come from God and from the side of holiness and not from the other side, that which the world calls chance, fate, luck, the economy, society, or whatever other name people give it.

כִּי ״מֵה׳ מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ״ (תהלים לז, כג) וְ״אֵין מִלָּה כו׳" (תהלים קלט, ד), וְאִם כֵּן הַכֹּל טוֹב בְּתַכְלִית, רַק שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוּשָּׂג.

for "the Lord sets the footsteps of man" (Ps. 37:23), and "even when there is yet no word on my tongue, truly, Lord, You know it all" (Ps. 139:4), and if so, everything a person experiences is ultimately good. It is just that it is not apprehended as such by the human mind. Everything that happens to a person stems from God and comes about through His providence. As the Sages said, "A person injures his finger below only if they declare about him on high [that he should be injured], as it states,'The Lord sets the footsteps of man'" (Ḥullin 7b). It is not only a person's actions that come from God, but even the words that a person utters, his thoughts, and even his desire to think. Moreover, not only do we believe that God "sets every footstep," but that everything He does, He does for good. If a person does not see things this way, it is because he does not understand how it is so. A person may not apprehend a particular event or course of events in reality because it is too complicated for him to understand, and therefore it appears to him as evil, as an injustice done to him. But true faith entails believing that even that which appears dark and negative is a divine revelation, and even through this God reveals His existence and His goodness. What appears to us as the difference between good and evil is only the difference between two types of good, between good at a level that we can perceive and good at a perhaps higher level that we are unable to perceive. The Talmud says something similar about "afflictions of love." Sometimes afflictions come, not as a punishment for sin, but as a manifestation of great love.

וּבֶאֱמוּנָה זוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת, נַעֲשֶׂה הַכֹּל טוֹב גַּם בְּגָלוּי שֶׁבֶּאֱמוּנָה זוֹ, שֶׁמַּאֲמִין שֶׁהָרַע הַנִּדְמֶה בְּגָלוּי, כָּל חַיּוּתוֹ הוּא מִטּוֹב הָעֶלְיוֹן, שֶׁהִיא חָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ שֶׁאֵינָהּ מוּשֶּׂגֶת,

When one truly believes this, that everything he experiences is good, everything becomes good even in a revealed sense, because with this faith, where one believes that even what appears to be openly evil really derives its entire life force from the supernal goodness, which is God's wisdom that cannot be apprehended by man When a person truly believes that this is the case, that everything he experiences is utterly good, the good is manifest and experienced as good even openly. When a person reaches this level and recognizes what appears to be evil, and he truly believes (or at least he wants to truly believe) that it is not actually evil but rather concealed good, there is already a change. He knows that there are answers, even if he does not see it. To illustrate, consider a young child who encounters a bizarre and threatening mask. The moment he realizes that behind the mask is his father's face, he is no longer afraid. A person fears what he perceives as threatening, as alien, as that which is an arbitrary independent force. But the moment he internalizes the knowledge that what he sees is nothing but a veil, that it is not arbitrary at all, but rather his Father, God, behind the mask, that which had been threatening is no longer threatening and that which had been strange is no longer strange.

וְהִיא הָ׳עֵדֶן׳ שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מֵעוֹלָם הַבָּא,

and which is the supernal level of Eden that transcends the Word to Come, Just as Eden is the hidden source that "no eye has seen" for all the delight attained in the World to Come (the "Garden of Eden"), so too that which is not apprehended in this world, that which appears to be evil and painful, is loftier than all that seems good and pleasant in this world.

הֲרֵי בֶּאֱמוּנָה זוֹ נִכְלָל וּמִתְעַלֶּה בֶּאֱמֶת הָרַע הַמְדוּמֶּה בַּטּוֹב הָעֶלְיוֹן הַגָּנוּז.

with this faith, the apparent evil truly becomes incorporated in the concealed supernal goodness. Here is an additional facet: The ability to see the Divine everywhere in the world, in the manner of "setting the Lord always before me," is also the key to seeing the good within the evil. In view of this, not only is the evil no longer evil, but it itself becomes the revealed good.