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Chapter Four: as are the evil inclinations of greed and the desire for acclaim; and pray, the stronger your intent will be, and the stronger your intent,
in addition some people have more specific cravings. Each person the more you will pray at length. Ultimately, you will change your
The Laws of Life has one and only one solution: to proceed in accordance with this nature entirely, because heaven will guide you on the path of
holiness. That is the essence of the service of Hashem, the essence
book and all of the principles stated above, and to engage in a daily
half hour of prayer until he overcomes his craving. of why you came into this world.
All of us truly want to change. All of us want to set aside time
to engage in the work of the will. In this chapter, you will learn a Even if you must invest years in doing this, that makes no Everyone has his own test, his own evil inclination, his own
number of spiritual laws upon which the work of the will is based. difference. That is your service of Hashem. Do it with joy and with craving. The service of every individual is to apply the work of
great enthusiasm, and do not be bewildered by what you undergo the will to that craving, which besieges him so forcefully, which
on the way. At the moment that you do your work, you attain attacks him so fiercely, that he does not understand why it does
First Law: We Require Assistance a tremendous level, because you are fulfilling your role and your so. This appears to be unfair, it appears to dwarf his capabilities
mission. and it seems to keep him from serving Hashem. But you must
The Gemara states, “Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: A person’s know, first of all, that everything has been crafted with the ultimate
[evil] inclination rises up against him every day and seeks to kill The Old Books precision in accordance with your mission and in accordance with
him. As the verse states, ‘The wicked one looks at the righteous everything you need to rectify in this incarnation of yours and in
person and seeks to kill him’ (Psalms 37:32). And if not for the other incarnations. Secondly, this struggle does not disturb your
fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him, he could not Let us take as an example the craving for eating. This is the most service of Hashem, because this struggle is itself your service. This
overcome it. As the verse states, ‘Hashem will not abandon him difficult of the desires, because everyone must eat in order to live, is what heaven wants from you: that you engage in the work of the
into its hand and will not condemn him to His judgment’ (ibid. 33)” but a person does not have to eat for the sake of eating. Everyone will to overcome this craving that assails you day after day, however
(Succah 52b). knows that there are many harmful types of food, such as sugar, long it may take, until you annihilate it completely.
saturated fats, food colorings and so forth. Secondly, many people
The Gemara here states explicitly that a law exists that the Holy overeat—they are well aware that this is very harmful, yet they During this time, do not condemn yourself. You are not guilty
One, blessed be He, created an evil inclination in man and gave it cannot stop their craving for food. They try all sorts of diets and for the fact that this craving assaults you, because this is a test from
the power to overcome him, and that a person cannot overcome all sorts of attempts at self-control, but in the end they fail, and heaven. You are not guilty for all of your descents, because the
the evil inclination by himself, without the help of the Holy One, they feel more and more depressed and despondent. They blame evil inclination has very great power, and if not for the fact that
blessed be He! The essence of the evil inclination is the penchant themselves, and as a result they overeat even more. And they the Holy One, blessed be He, helps you, you could not overcome
for engaging in forbidden relations. As the holy Zohar teaches, constantly read new books and pay for new devices, but they do it. You only need engage in the work of the will until you become
“The essence of the evil inclination is [the desire for] forbidden not find relief for their problem. someone who possesses intent. In the meantime, do not look at
relations.” And Rabbi Nachman states that working on this issue others and do not envy anyone else’s work, because everyone has
is the central rectification for whose sake a person was sent into We must turn expressly to the old books, the books of our holy his own task. Hashem is happy with you and takes pride in you as
the world (Sichot Haran 115). Regarding this matter, which is man’s rabbis, who knew all of the secrets of creation and the laws of life, you are, and you give the Creator great pleasure when you battle
most difficult challenge, the holy Ohr Hachaim testifies (Leviticus and who taught us that it is not in our power to overcome craving, your evil inclination.
18): that only Hashem can help us. And they taught us that by engaging
in much prayer we change nature, and that when a person has Some evil inclinations are common to everyone and bombard
It is known that all of the mitzvot that Hashem a strong and forceful will, Hashem will help him and lead him. everyone, and all people must engage in the work of the will to
commanded His holy nation are mitzvot that a person can Therefore, a person who suffers from the craving for eating must battle will until heaven will nullify them. And some individuals
successfully keep, bending his will to do them—except do the core work every day—i.e., he must engage in a half hour have a particular evil inclination and particular craving, a special or
daily of the work of the will, with great regularity and with much
for the mitzvah of separating oneself from forbidden prayer, until it will have an effect. difficult addiction that constitutes the essence of their rectification
relations. That is something that a person’s spirit desires and work. The evil inclination for forbidden relations is shared by
everyone; the evil inclination for overeating is shared by most people,

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