Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
"Joy is considered love, which is existence." It is unclear why joy is a manifestation of love. Maybe, joy emerges as a result of love? Is it completely unclear why love is the essence of existence, after all, it seems that our entire existence disappears in love?
"Similarly, one who builds a house for oneself without making any holes in the walls, you find that he cannot enter the house, as there is no hollow place in the walls of the house by which to enter the house. Therefore, a hollow space [defects in the wall] must be made through which one will enter the house."
"Hence, where there is love, there should be fear as well, as fear is the hollow. In other words, one must stir up the fear". Fear has to be stirred up at a time when a person does not feel it because he is absorbed by love. From love comes joy and he is overwhelmed by these feelings that do not allow him (or he does not allow himself) to come out of this state.
Therefore, Baal HaSulam says, when you are in the state of love and joy you are obliged to stir up the fear. The question is only in this, should the fear awakened by me in myself decrease my love, should it lessen my joy or not? - Not!
Why? - By stirring up the fear, I do not decrease the love or lessen the joy. The fear that I add is really an additional element needed for correction in addition to love. What kind of fear should it be? - "What if one will not be able to aim in order to bestow."
This means that I examine my love; I desire to raise it to a higher level, and go into the depths of my desires and thoughts relative to my Beloved (the Creator).
"It follows," when I simultanouesly sense "both, there is wholeness." One supports the other, "otherwise, each wants to revoke the other." If I sense only love, I have no desire to feel fear since supposedly it revokes my love. But if I feel fear then I do not desire to love. How is it possible to fear and love at the same time?
Love and fear must be tied together with the help of the efforts that one exerts in attempting to create the right attitude toward them. One must add fear to love. This means that one first attains love and then adds fear to it. What's more, one brings in fear in order to love more.
Initially, one does it to expand his Kli in order to cling to his Beloved more: "Can I bestow more to Him in a way that my attitude towards Him deepens and my love appears from the very depths of my heart?"
"For this reason one must try to have both of them in one place." In other words, only one intention or aspiration should motivate the need to strenghten the connection between them "this is also the meaning of the need for love and fear. Love is called existence, whereas fear is called dearth and a hollow. Only with the two of them together is there wholeness. Also, this is called "two legs", and precisely when one has two legs can one walk" and constanly advance.
During the course of our entire path, starting from a so-called point in the heart which the Creator inserted and awaken in us, until He brings us to the Final Correction, we, in essence, are revealing His love, tuning ourselves to it, and growing a similar attitude towards Him with the help of fear.
I feel His love. Now comes a question: can I treat Him the same way? If His love did not make me feel good, would I be able to feel the same love for Him? And then comes the fear.
Fear is a Kli for love. As Baal HaSulam said, I advance on two legs - right and left. I take fear from the left side, from my Kelim and I examine my Kelim each time. Can I delve deeper into them hense increasing my love for the Creator?
This means, "revelation in fear from the spiritual work point of view." We discover the Creator in the Kli of fear. It seems to us these two feelings - fear and love - cannot exist simultaneously. How is it possible to fear and love at the same time? However, they have one, common foundation. If I fear that I won't be able to love, then my fear refers to the same meaning. Therefore, it only increases and strengthens my love.