The Light of the King’s Face is surely life, and its concealment is the source of all evil.
Ramchal, Daat Tevunot ( Knowledge of Intelligence), 40
The reason for our great distance from the Creator, and that we are so prone to transgress His will, is for but one reason, which became the source of all the torment and the suffering that we suffer, and for all the sins and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow and pain. We will immediately be granted adhesion with Him in heart, soul, and might. And I tell you that that preliminary reason is none other than the “lack of our understanding in His Providence over His creations,” that we do not understand Him properly.
Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 42
All entanglement of people’s views and all the internal contradictions that each individual suffers in his views stem only from the obscurity of thought regarding the Godly concept.
Rav Raiah Kook, Orot [Lights], 124
Evil, in general, is nothing more than self-love, called “egoism,” since it is opposite in form from the Creator, who hasn’t any will to receive for Himself, but only to bestow.
Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
And although we have clarified (about the quality of uniqueness) that it comes from a sublime reason, that this attribute extends to us directly from the Creator, who is single in the world and the Root of all creations, still, out of the sensation of singularity, when it sits within our narrow egoism, it affects ruin and destruction until it became the source of all the ruins that were and will be in the world.
Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”
Pleasure and sublimity are measured by the extent of equivalence of form with the Maker. And pain and intolerance are measured by the extent of disparity of form from the Maker. Thus, egoism is loathsome and pains us, as its form is opposite from the Maker.
Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
Indeed, when all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves, and have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and jeopardy in the world would cease to exist. And we would all be assured of a whole and wholesome life, since each of us would have a whole world caring for us, ready to fulfill our needs.
Yet, while each of us has only a desire to receive for ourselves, it is the source of all the worries, suffering, wars, and slaughter we cannot escape. They weaken our bodies with all sorts of sores and maladies.
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 19
But if ... a person from Israel degrades the virtue of the internality of the Torah and its secrets, which deals with the conduct of our souls and their degrees, and the perception and the tastes of the Mitzvot with regard to the advantage of the externality of the Torah, which deals only with the practical part? Also, even if one does occasionally engage in the internality of the Torah, and dedicates a little of one’s time to it, when it is neither night nor day, as though it were redundant, by that one dishonors and degrades the internality of the world, which are the Children of Israel, and enhances the externality of the world – meaning the Nations of the World – over them. They will humiliate and disgrace the Children of Israel, and regard Israel as superfluous, as though the world has no need for them, God forbid.
Furthermore, by that, they make even the externality in the Nations of the World overpower their own internality, for the worst among the Nations of the World, the harmful and the destructors of the world, rise above their internality, which are the Righteous of the Nations of the World. And then they make all the ruin and the heinous slaughter our generation had witnessed, may God protect us from here on.
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 69
We learn from the words of the Tikkunim of The Zohar that there is an oath that the Light of Mercy and love will not awaken in the world before Israel’s deeds in Torah and Mitzvot will have the intention to not receive reward, but only to bestow contentment upon the Maker. This is the meaning of the oath, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem.”
Thus, the length of the exile and affliction that we suffer depends on us and waits for us to merit the practice of Torah and Mitzvot Lishma. And if we only attain that, this Light of love and Mercy, which has the power to extend, will immediately awaken, as it is written, “And the spirit shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding.” Then we will be granted complete redemption.
Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 36