To all the students, may the Lord be upon you.
I received the letter of Rabbi … and … and I will answer all the questions in general, including the questions of Rabbi... It is written in the Gemarah, “A sage stood before Rabbi Yohanan, ‘All who engage in Torah and good deeds, and buries his sons, all of his iniquities are forgiven’” (Berachot 5b). This means that as a person is obliged to engage in Torah and good deeds, he is obliged to bury his sons. Otherwise, all of his iniquities are not forgiven. I wonder, can this be?
We should interpret this according to our way. All the work we have is only to turn the reception to be in order to bestow. This is against our nature and desire. However, we were given the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot, by which we obtain the power and might to subdue our bodies, so that all of our intentions will be for the Creator. This is the meaning of engaging in Torah through the light in it, as well as to engage in good deeds, which is the meaning of loving others. By those two we can exit reception and be rewarded with bestowal.
In that regard, the accuser argues, “Go and see what people do. Since the day I understood, and all the great ones and famous ones in our generation do not concur that we should do these works. And also what I learned did not teach me that one must be a true servant of the Creator in concealment. That is, that the good deeds that they do are hidden from people. Meaning, even if one does good deeds and engages in Torah and Mitzvot (because they do not see), people say that it neither work nor Torah, and this is not the way.”
It turns out that as much as a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot, they do not see anything because they do not like it. It follows that this is called “concealment.”
It is said about that, “Buries his sons.” That is, he must bury all the concepts and perceptions he received and saw from his environment, which contradict the true path of the Creator. In other words, he should place all those perceptions in the ground. But those perceptions, too, will be revived at the end of correction. This means that when he is rewarded with Lishma (for her sake) and subdues his inclination, there will be vitality in them.
In other words, to the extent that they had caused him labor and work, and according to the effort, they deserve vitality and gratitude, for having obstructed his work for the Creator. But for now, they cannot be toyed with, meaning with the concepts and perceptions that interrupt him rom the true work of the Creator. Rather, they must be buried. At that time, all of his iniquities are forgiven, where iniquity means the first iniquity, namely faith above reason.
We should always try to make the fall due to the obstructers will not take very long, but immediately grow stronger, trust the Creator, and pray from the bottom of the heart. Meaning, when one has fallen into a deep pit, “I call upon you oh Lord.”
By that we understand the words of our sages in Berachot, “Abba Benyamin says, ‘Two things I regretted all my life: my prayer, that it will be before my bed.’” They interpreted in the Gemarah to mean “next to my bed.” “…and for my bed to be placed between north and south.” We should understand why is it so difficult to do this, that he had to regret it.
According to the above we understand that bed means down, falling, from the words, “fell down.” Therefore, he did not regret the fall, since the path of the Creator is to have falls and ascents. Rather, what did he regret? That it is not next to his bed. Meaning, when he falls down, he wants to immediately grow stronger and pray to the Creator to help him.
Also, if he must fall, which is down, it should not be to the east or to the west, which is the face and back, said about Hochma, but for his bed to be placed between north and south, which is right and left, which is Hassadim. That is, that the fall must be on the desire to receive in the heart, and not in the mind, which is regarded as Hochma (wisdom), since the Klipa (shell) against the mind is called, “Pondering the beginning.” But the heart sins only in the “what.”
And I shall end with the Gemarah, “The residents of Yehuda were meticulous with their words, and their Torah was true. The residents of the Galilee were not meticulous with their words, and their Torah was untrue” (Iruvin 4:53). In other words, they made sure that everything they said in Torah and Mitzvot will be in the holy tongue, meaning, with words of bestowal. Whereas the residents of the Galilee were not meticulous, and said that they could engage in Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive, to be proficient in Mishnah.
We can also say that the Torah of the residents of Yehuda, who learned from one teacher, was true, and the Torah of the residents of the Galilee, who did not learn from one teacher, was untrue. We should explain that there is no difference between the first explanation and the second explanation. Meaning one who has one teacher, namely, he is meticulous with the holy tongue, meaning, words of bestowal and concealment, and one who wants to learn in the rest of the tongues, meaning in the language of reception. It follows that he has two teachers—one from reception and one is Baal HaSulam, which is the language of bestowal.
It is my hope that the Creator will help us to be able to trust the Lord, and He will deliver us from all the darkness and we will be rewarded with cleaving onto Him, once and for all.
Regards to all of you,
Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag, son of Baal HaSulam