Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
It is written (Song of Songs, 2), "Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away." We must understand what are shadows in the work and what are two shadows."
There are many (shadows); a minimal amount is two.
"The thing is that when one does not feel His Providence, that He leads the world in a manner of "Good that doeth good,"."
Can we feel the reality in a bad way? No, because the Creator is concealed. We cannot feel that the Creator does bad things. We can feel that something bad is happening in the world, while the Creator simply does not exist. However, to feel that evil comes from the Creator is utterly impossible. Here the restriction works. The concealment of Providence is that we do not feel that the Creator is "Good that doeth good".
"...it is considered a shadow that hides the sun.
In other words, as the corporeal shadow hides the sun, it does not change the sun in any way, and the sun shines in its fullest power, so one who does not feel the existence of His Providence does not induce any change above. Thus, there is no change above (only we sense this as changes), as it is written, "I the Lord do not change. (Ani HaVaYaH lo Shiniti)"
HaVaYaH is the revelation of the Creator's relation to the creature. It comes directly from the Creator until the creature starts acting independently. The Creator relates to the creature through four phases of the direct light, before the creature first reacts. By this we can learn what "Good that doeth good" is, for we discover all the other names of the Creator as our reaction. This is why it is written: "I the Lord do not change (my name)".
"Instead, all the changes are in the receivers. We must observe two discernments in this shade, meaning in this concealment:
1. When one still has the ability to overcome the darkness and the concealments that one feels, justify the Creator." How can one do that?
2. "...and pray to the Creator, that the Creator will open his eyes."
If the Creator is "Good and doeth the good", everything happens only in relation to us, in our Kelim, and we have to pray for the Creator to open our eyes and correct our Kelim.
"...to see that all the concealments that one feels come from the Creator, and that the Creator (although He is "good and doeth good") does all that to a person so that one may find one's prayer..."
The only reason why the Creator treats us this way is that He is waiting for our response. He wants us to build our Kli on our own, and turn to Him.
"...yearn to cleave unto Him."
That is, I justify the Creator's attitute towards myself, realizing that even though it is true that I feel bad, I justify this evil because it occurs in order to draw me towards the Creator. We thank the Creator for helping us. We love the Creator for reminding us about the work and calling us towards Himself.
" This is so because only through the suffering that one receives from Him, wishing to break free from the trouble and flee from the torments, then one does every thing he can."
In this state we clearly understand where we are and where the Creator is. We also understand why the Creator acts on us in this particular way, what we feel, what our reaction should be.
"...Hence, when receiving the concealments and the affliction, one is certain to make the known cure, to do much praying."
This is because we know and realize (based on our understanding and feelings) that this will bring us salvation. Thus we act in accordance with the correct sensation.
"...that the Creator will help him (he is convinced that He would) and deliver him from the state he is in."
This is because the Creator put us into this condition so that we will start praying. If we do, the Creator will deliver us.
"In that state, one still believes in His Providence."
This is called the period of reward and punishment. The Creator puts a person through all of these states so that He could deliver and correct him. We may say that there is a mutual understanding between him and the Creator about what they should do and how they should intereact with each other. Regardless of whether they are in a good or bad state, everything is clear for both of them, as they are partners who have to reach a certain final state. One of them is not corrected, and they both work to correct him.
It is like a doctor and a patient: both of them tend to the sickness of a patient so that he would be healthy.
However, there is another kind of concealment.
"When one comes to a state where he can no longer surmount and say that all the suffering and pains one feels are because the Creator had sent them to him.."
We come to a state in which suffering increases. When this happens, we immerse into suffering more and cannot think clearly, justify or apprehend why this is happening. We simply feel bad. Our mind stops working on connecting with the Creator, and we contemplate only on how to get rid of evil. We do not feel that the Creator sent this to us,
"...so as to have a reason to ascend in degree..."
To reveal the power of prayer and to plead.
Then, G-d forbid "...one comes to a state of heresy."
What is this heresy?
"This is because one cannot believe in His Providence." We do not feel that the Creator sends us this suffering.
Here we need faith and the knowledge that all torments come from the Creator. But if we felt good, would we still have faith that this comes from the Creator? If we really saw that everything comes from the Creator, would we also call this faith or is it now vision, knowledge? What exactly is our attitude towards the Creator that we call faith? When does it appear?
Let's return to the state described in the article: if one comes to a state when one can no longer justify the Creator,
"...naturally, one cannot pray. It follows that there are two kinds of shadows."
Meaning, there are two kinds of concealment: concealment that the Creator is benevolent and also concealment that this comes from the Creator.
"...and this is the meaning of, "and the shadows flee away," meaning that the shadows will flee from the world."
It is not that we feel the shadow of the Creator. We are completely unaware that this comes from Him. This shadow is when we feel that this came from Him in a form of a shadow, as His imprint or as His posterior. When we feel bad, this is one posterior of the Creator. The other posterior is when we do not even feel that it comes from Him. The fact that this descended from the Creator is hidden. The source is hidden.
There is a shade of Kedusha (Divinity) and the shade of Klipa (shell). What is the difference between them?
"The shade of Klipa (lit. Shell) is called "Another god is sterile and does not bear fruit.""
One of the upper forces is sterile and does not bear fruit. It follows as if there are two forces (powers) in the world: the Creator and something opposite to Him. We do not know which force acts upon us and we are under the influence of them both. If we are capable of seeing this, we can say that the other force is my ego. Alternatively, we can say that the other force that stands against the Creator is some other force that brings bad things to us, while the Creator bestows only good.
It does not matter how we imagine this. What matters is how we analyze this, despite the concealment in which we have to exist. We do not determine whether we should be in the state of concealment or not. This is conditioned by the readiness of our Kelim and our degree of correction.
Everything depends on how intense the torments are. If we suffer just a little we are capable of justifying the Creator for sending us afflictions to awaken us and draw us closer to Him; making us more sensitive towards Him. But when the suffering is immense, we stop feeling that this came from the Creator and that He is trying to show us something; to awaken us. At this time we are immersed in pains only.
If we nevertheless wake up and attempt to connect to the Upper Force, which upper force do we turn to? The Upper force is the force that governs us. Our will to receive governs us and so does the Creator's will to bestow. The Creator's will to bestow and the will to bestow is the same: this will is the Creator.
How can we determine and choose what to connect to, and to which force should we advance? Baal HaSulam writes that we can check this in a following way: if one of the forces does not bear fruit and does not yield any results despite all of our efforts and our connection with it. This is what Baal HaSulam has in mind, writing "the other god", meaning that it is not in Kedusha (lit. Sanctity). When we say "another" we always refer to the Creator's opposite.
""Another god is sterile." that is, it cannot yield any results and the light cannot come from it.
"...and does not bear fruit." In Kedusha (lit. Sanctity), however, it is called, "Under its shadow I delighted to sit."
Even if He gives me a shadow (i.e., conceals Himself), it is a good shadow: it helps me to grow my fruit.
""Under its shadow I delighted to sit,.." - was in a small state, growing, - "...and its fruit was sweet to my palate." I bore fruit and they were sweet to my palate.
"In other words, one says that all the concealments and the afflictions (what is called a shadow) one feels are because the Creator has sent him these situations so that one would have a place to work above reason."
The Creator sends us these states so that we can develop our correct Kli.
"When one has the force to say that,.." - we can say that all suffering falls upon us only because the Creator is building an inner state in us from which we can exert efforts. Let's imagine sand box in which we dig a ditch. We know in advance how the waters should flow and dig that ditch accordingly.
Putting a shadow above us, the Creator renders to us all the exact negative conditions. But these negative conditions and limitations a like the walls of that canal in which we flow like water in a exact right way that helps us build our correct Kli.
By exerting this influence upon us (which we feel as negative), the Creator builds in us boundaries for all our attainments, desires and thoughts. And if one aspires for this, one has only one choice - to press on "as ox under yoke or donkey under load". As one presses on, the Creator directs him correctly to where he has to arrive to.
This way, one needs only press without having any idea what he has to acquire or what this pressure will yield at the next degree or stage. With the help of these pressures, these negative influences the Creator builds our next exterior form. This is the manner in which each time we acquire more advanced forms.
"The shade of Klipa (lit. Shell) is called "Another god is sterile and does not bear fruit." In Kedusha (lit. Sanctity), however, it is called, "Under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my palate." In other words, one says that all the concealments and the afflictions one feels (when one is in Sanctity) are because the Creator has sent him these situations so that one would have a place to work above reason.
When one has the force to say that, that the Creator causes him that, to one's favor (all this concealment,), meaning that through that one can come and work in order to bestow (he is sure about this and agrees to it) and not for oneself, then one reaches consciousness. In other words, he believes that the Creator enjoys this work specifically, which is entirely built on above reason.
It follows that one does not pray to the Creator that the shadows will flee from the world (that the concealment will disappear). Rather, one says, "I see that the Creator wants me to work with Him in this manner,.." That is, this work is in concealment. This is because one can build the Kli specifically in the state of concealment, by faith above reason. Through this one can reach unconditional love.
"...which is entirely above reason." Thus, in everything that one does, one says, "Of course the Creator enjoys this work, so why should I care if I work in a state of concealment of face?""Because one wants to work in order to bestow, meaning that the Creator will enjoy, he has no abasement from this work,.."
One works without employing one's mind or sensations. If a person, in this state, has enough power to say that such work is desirable in the eyes of the Creator, then one obviously has enough power to work in this manner, and to continue one's work.
"...meaning a sensation that one is in a state of concealment of face."
Thus, for him, this is not concealment at all. This shade is not the shadow that hides the Creator. On the contrary, it is the means through which he comes to discover the Creator. And to the extent that he progresses by faith above reason, this shadow turns into the light. Yet at the beginning this shadow was needed to give a person a chance to build a Kli correctly and feel the Creator.
"...the Creator does not enjoy this work one is in a state of concealment of face." One does not say this any longer. "Instead, one agrees to the leadership of the Creator, meaning however the Creator wants one to feel the existence of the Creator during the work, one agrees wholeheartedly. This is so because one does not consider what can please him, but considers what can please the Creator."
What does it mean that the Creator can enjoy? It means that eventually one will also enjoy. However, one does not feel this right now; one looks at their final form.
"Thus, this shade brings him life."
It is like in our world, we always regard how one relates to something. Baal HaSulam writes in his letters about who is considered to be good at their work: a person who disregards the reward, and for whom the work itself is the reward. What is love? When one loves another, he does not think about himself, he thinks only of the other. The more one has an inclination to not consider onself, this is what we call cleanness of the attitude.
Thus, if one understands that the Creator is trying to bring him to such a state, he of course agrees to that shadow which acts against his ego and helps him to rise above his vessels of reception.
This is called, "Under its shadow I delighted," meaning one covets such a state (he aspires to such states, because he ssees that they bear fruit) where one can make some overcoming above reason."
One already justifies the Creator for He, with the help of shadows, gives him an opportunity to build his vessels. The Creator puts a person within various limitations and borders, and then one must press on, to acquire within these limits the right spiritual form.
"Thus, if one does not exert in a state of concealment, when there is still room to pray that the Creator will bring him closer, and he is negligent in that, (of opportunities that the Creator brings him) hence one is sent a concealment in which one cannot even pray."
One does not feel that this comes from the Creator, which is called "...and the shadows flee away".
"This is because of the sin (what sin did one commit?) of not exerting with all one's might to pray to the Creator (in a single concealment, and thus one received double concealment). For this reason one comes to a state (when one feels nothing) of such lowliness.
However, after one comes to that state,.."
Of course, one is incapable of anything in such a state but only to participate in group affairs or various systems that one determined for oneself in advance. Yet, one has no taste for this, and no contact with the Creator or sensation that this came from Him. This goes on until.
"...one is then pitied from above,.."
What does it mean "pitied from above"? If we do not do anything, we are almost never pitied. Of course, if the Reshimot are awakened in us again, we are drawn to the purpose of creation just like anyone. However, this is not done out of pity. We are pitied from above under the condition that we are doing something, and thus give a chance to be pitied from above. That is, one does not escape the system, even if it is of corporeal level that the Creator prepared for us; we do not run away from double concealment that gives no opportunity but to act at the corporeal level, without thinking or feeling. We have no feelings or thoughts, yet, we still carry out various actions, and by doing so lend the Creator an opportunity to pity us from above.
"...and once more one is given an awakening from above."
When one starts feeling that his heart and feelings awaken, the resurrection of the dead begins.
"We same order begins anew."
What begins anew? Yet again we are given an opportunity to make an effort above reason. That is, we are transferred from double concealement to single concealment; from two shades - to one shade. In the state of a single shadow lies the primary work of man. Here we must always be alert and not let it slip. When there is a single shadow, one as if stays on the edge, having to be constantly alert as to not fall into either side: good or bad. One always has to go above reason, reaching out for the the Creator, not for either good or bad feeling. Feelings do not matter for one has to aspire towards the Creator, go above that tip one is balancing on. This is what it means that being awakened from above, one has to exert efforts above reason.
"We same order begins anew, until finally one strengthens in prayer,.."
Why in prayer? Because one discovers that he is unable to act above reason. He discovers that he is completely dependent upon the Upper. Otherwise, this is not considered above reason.
Above reason means to cling to the AHP of the Upper, because one's own reason is something that exist in him, in his Kelim (vessels). Above the reason - this is already the Upper. To go above reason means to find the head, the mind of the Upper one, to follow His councils, enter Him, and merge with Him. If one tries to do that, only one prayer appears in him: to be in this state.
"...the Creator hears his prayer, and the Creator brings one near, and reforms him."