Independence

The Creator created everything - worlds, Partzufim, Sefirot, and man, yet they are not regarded as creation. The term creation relates exclusively to something that begins to express an independent will. People, who live in our world and perform actions, are not regarded as creatures in the full sense of the word; a creature is only one who has an independent desire for the Creator.

For example: a person who comes to study Kabbalah was brought to it from above. Afterwards, when the first independent desire for spirituality appears in him, he will be called a “creature.” That desire surfaces in man when he crosses the barrier and stands at the lowest point in the spiritual world. It is called the conception of the soul, or a “fetus” in a body of a spiritual Partzuf called Ima. That is why only Kabbalists are regarded as creatures, each according to his own degree, because they are the only ones with an independent desire.

The rest are mere ‘robots,’ messengers of the Creator. To them, there are no reward and punishment, they haven’t any choice and they are led entirely by the Creator. The Creator gradually pushes them to accumulate pains that stem from their desire to enjoy only for themselves, from the egoism they were created in. The experiences of pains they gather will force them to understand that egoism is bad, and will rush them to choose spirituality, with the help of the Creator.

One’s character does not belong to that ‘spiritual egoism,’ which should be spiritually corrected. Any act of man can be spiritual or egoistic, depending on the direction he gives to his desires. What matters is not the act itself, but the intent that goes with it.