Page 1 - 20780

32 | A New Light
1
of the deed, that comes from Hashem, may He
be blessed. As the verses state, “All of our deeds You
performed for us” (Isaiah 26:12) and “What does Hashem
your God ask of you but to fear” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
That [intention] occurs in the heart, as the Gemara states
on the verse, “The heart is missing” (Proverbs 17:16; Yoma
72b). But as for deeds, they are within the parameter of
“everything being in the hands of heaven.”

Commentary: Rabbi Tzadok states that all actions, including a
person’s deeds, come from Hashem. All that Hashem wants from A New Light
a person is his will and intent. Based on this premise, Rabbi Tzadok
reaches the incredible conclusion that we must always bear in mind By
that the essence of the role that a person plays and the essence of
his efforts consists of his desire and will! Rabbi Shalom Arush

Rabbi Tzadok incidentally provides a wonderful definition of the Translated by Yaacov David Shulman
concept of “the fear of heaven.” He states that the fear of heaven
means intent. Therefore, all of the traits in a person’s heart are
nothing but various sorts of intent. That being the case, our sages’
statement that “everything is in the hands of heaven except for the
fear of heaven” (Berachot 33b) means that the only thing within a
person’s control is his will and intent.

And even if a person intended to perform a mitzvah
but he was thwarted so that he did not do it, Scripture
considers him as though he did it, as the Gemara states
(Shabbat 63a). And that is because he did his part
with his thought and intent. If not for the Gemara’s
words, we would think that a person’s thought and will
are effective only if he succeeds in joining them to a
deed.

Commentary: Rabbi Tzadok here explains the Gemara’s statement
in Berachot (6a) that “if a person intended to perform a mitzvah
but he was thwarted, Scripture considers it as though he did it.”
This statement strongly supports the notion that the essence of
what is wanted from a person is his will and not his deed.