אַרְבַּע מִדּוֹת בַּתַּלְמִידִים. מַהֵר לִשְׁמֹעַ וּמַהֵר לְאַבֵּד, יָצָא שְׂכָרוֹ בְהֶפְסֵדוֹ. קָשֶׁה לִשְׁמֹעַ וְקָשֶׁה לְאַבֵּד, יָצָא הֶפְסֵדוֹ בִשְׂכָרוֹ. מַהֵר לִשְׁמֹעַ וְקָשֶׁה לְאַבֵּד, חָכָם. קָשֶׁה לִשְׁמֹעַ וּמַהֵר לְאַבֵּד, זֶה חֵלֶק רָע:
Istnieją cztery typy uczniów w połowie: szybko rozumiejący i szybko zapominający —jego zysk jest zanegowany przez jego stratę. [Bo skoro zapomniał, czego się nauczył, po co mu szybkie zrozumienie?—dlatego jego strata jest większa niż jego zysk.]; zrozumienie z trudnością i zapominanie z trudnością—jego strata jest zanegowana przez jego zysk, [ponieważ to, co rozumie pomimo trudności, pozostaje z nim. Praktyczne zastosowanie. Jeśli przed nami jest dwóch uczniów i możemy udzielić lekcji tylko jednemu, zapominający z trudnością ma pierwszeństwo przed tym, co szybko zrozumie.]; szybkie do zrozumienia i trudne do zapominania—mądry (uczeń) ;. Zrozumienie z trudem i szybkie zapomnienie—to jest „zła część”. [Nie można tu powiedzieć „chasydzki” lub niegodziwca, gdyż nie zależy to od wolnego wyboru człowieka, ale jest czymś, z czym się on rodzi].
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 27;20 “they shall take to you pure oil of beaten olives for lighting;”we know that the evil urge is trying to seduce human beings by causing them to give in to lust and the desire aroused by what they see that appeals to them. It is his foremost desire to prevent man from carrying out the commandments of his Creator. What is the remedy that can stop the evil urge in his tracks? The remedy is for man to use logic. He should say to himself that if fulfilling his desire to satisfy his lust and cravings with merely physical objects, objects that satisfy only momentarily, how much more worthwhile is it for him to satisfy his ability to come closer to his Creator and to experience enduring satisfaction from the result?
When a person applies this kind of reasoning and as a result eschews sin in favour of carrying out what he knows to be G’d’s will, even the evil he had had in mind originally becomes a כסא, “throne, supporting stool,” for the good he does. When G’d created evil [only in its most primitive stage, ברא, Ed.] in the first place, He did so in order to provide His creatures with this additional merit when he decides to carry out G’d’s will although he had been given another option. By creating evil, G’d had, so to speak, placed man at a distance from Him. When man has to cover this distance in order to approach G’d more closely, G’d derives far more satisfaction from man’s efforts to serve Him than He would if such “service” would be “natural.” Any תענוג, pleasurable experience, regardless if it is experienced in our spheres of the universe or in the celestial spheres, retains its flavour only when it is not a continuously, repetitive experience. When it is experienced at relatively infrequent intervals it is especially welcome as such. When G’d observes how man in the attempt to come closer to His essence, has to break through repeated obstacles, this is what pleases G’d.
It is the tzaddik’s challenge to sublimate all those thoughts that could so easily have led him astray instead of confirming him in his pursuit of קרבות ה', close affinity to Hashem.
It is altogether not surprising that in this quest, even the tzaddik from time to time is assaulted by what we would term “unworthy thoughts;” this happens in order to afford him an opportunity to refine and sublimate such thoughts when he stands in prayer before the Almighty. Another challenge facing the tzaddik is to try and elevate others, so that they too will come closer to their Creator. If he were to be concerned exclusively with purifying his own soul and personality, he would have left unused a channel that could provide G’d with pleasure, a serious deficiency [as we know from Avot 5,12 where people who give charity without endeavouring to involve others in the same mitzvah are not complimented for their charitable activities. Ed.] If and when the tzaddik engages in helping others to establish closer ties with their Creator, G’d’s pleasure of his service will keep increasing even though he has been serving G’d constantly, without interruption. When applied to the symbolism expressed by lighting the menorah and keeping it burning, the commandment of ואתה תצוה וגו', contains the challenge addressed to every true servant of the Lord to elevate both himself and his peers.
In kabbalistic parlance every thought formulated, reflects the letters it contains if it were committed to paper or parchment. Alien thoughts, i.e. unworthy thoughts, are considered as “broken letters.” The word כתית, crushed, symbolizes such thoughts, and the function of the servant of G’d, primarily the priest representing the collective soul of the Jewish people, is to elevate, i.e. להעלות, to sublimate such unworthy thoughts so that they all point in the direction of the נר תמיד, “the eternal flame,” expressing the desire for communion with the Creator. That expression reflects the satisfaction, pleasure derived by the Creator from efforts by His people who crave His closeness.
When a person applies this kind of reasoning and as a result eschews sin in favour of carrying out what he knows to be G’d’s will, even the evil he had had in mind originally becomes a כסא, “throne, supporting stool,” for the good he does. When G’d created evil [only in its most primitive stage, ברא, Ed.] in the first place, He did so in order to provide His creatures with this additional merit when he decides to carry out G’d’s will although he had been given another option. By creating evil, G’d had, so to speak, placed man at a distance from Him. When man has to cover this distance in order to approach G’d more closely, G’d derives far more satisfaction from man’s efforts to serve Him than He would if such “service” would be “natural.” Any תענוג, pleasurable experience, regardless if it is experienced in our spheres of the universe or in the celestial spheres, retains its flavour only when it is not a continuously, repetitive experience. When it is experienced at relatively infrequent intervals it is especially welcome as such. When G’d observes how man in the attempt to come closer to His essence, has to break through repeated obstacles, this is what pleases G’d.
It is the tzaddik’s challenge to sublimate all those thoughts that could so easily have led him astray instead of confirming him in his pursuit of קרבות ה', close affinity to Hashem.
It is altogether not surprising that in this quest, even the tzaddik from time to time is assaulted by what we would term “unworthy thoughts;” this happens in order to afford him an opportunity to refine and sublimate such thoughts when he stands in prayer before the Almighty. Another challenge facing the tzaddik is to try and elevate others, so that they too will come closer to their Creator. If he were to be concerned exclusively with purifying his own soul and personality, he would have left unused a channel that could provide G’d with pleasure, a serious deficiency [as we know from Avot 5,12 where people who give charity without endeavouring to involve others in the same mitzvah are not complimented for their charitable activities. Ed.] If and when the tzaddik engages in helping others to establish closer ties with their Creator, G’d’s pleasure of his service will keep increasing even though he has been serving G’d constantly, without interruption. When applied to the symbolism expressed by lighting the menorah and keeping it burning, the commandment of ואתה תצוה וגו', contains the challenge addressed to every true servant of the Lord to elevate both himself and his peers.
In kabbalistic parlance every thought formulated, reflects the letters it contains if it were committed to paper or parchment. Alien thoughts, i.e. unworthy thoughts, are considered as “broken letters.” The word כתית, crushed, symbolizes such thoughts, and the function of the servant of G’d, primarily the priest representing the collective soul of the Jewish people, is to elevate, i.e. להעלות, to sublimate such unworthy thoughts so that they all point in the direction of the נר תמיד, “the eternal flame,” expressing the desire for communion with the Creator. That expression reflects the satisfaction, pleasure derived by the Creator from efforts by His people who crave His closeness.
Mevo HaShearim
He will not realize that regarding the early tzaddikim, who were truly able to purify and cleanse souls in such a lofty manner that we have no grasp, the hasidim came to listen and stayed by their rebbe for some time.493In other words, he is forgetting the ‘student’s obligation’ to invest in his own spiritual growth. And, if they were not able to stay for a long duration, they did come more regularly. All their desire was focused on receiving even one thing, even a movement or hint from their rebbe. They inclined their hearts to receive the light and holiness which the rebbe would send directly into their hearts without words nor speech.494See Psalms 19:4. Nor will he consider [the difference between] how the hasid traveled then and how he does now, as mentioned above; and how we no longer have among us the holy sages, and how even they were different, some quick to learn and slow to forget, others slow to learn and quick to forget,495See Mishnah Avot 5:12.etc., and, how it is impossible to inspire one who travels so infrequently. Even would the rebbe gird all his strength for an entire Sabbath in order to cleanse him and remove his garments and raise up his troubled soul and revive it from its weariness until it is capable of receiving of the rays of light he sends it—still, one Sabbath alone will not suffice. Especially when so much time passes between each visit until he returns, so that the rebbe’s avodah during the first visit has already weakened.