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14 | A New Light
permanent longing, seeking and desiring: “How may I do the will
of God? How may I please Him? How may I expand my service of
Hashem and go forward in my service of Him?”
Once, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was asked why the Baal Shem
Tov valued his daughter Adel so much. He answered: “Because
every day she came to Hashem with yearning, and she asked
herself, ‘What more can I do that will please God?’” (Siach Sarfei
Kodesh II 72).
In accordance with this, we may understand the Maggid’s words—
“If you know about the topic of will, then I have no words of Torah
to tell you”—because the trait of will contains the entire Torah.
A Great Torah Principle
The holy book, Orchot Tzaddikim, attributed to one of the
Rishonim (14th-15th century), speaks about will at length:
The entire Torah is included in the trait of will.
That applies to all of its rebukes and all of its blessings.
How is this? A verse tells that at the time of the giving
of the Torah [God told the Jews], “And now, if you will
truly listen to My voice and guard My covenant, then
you will be uniquely special to Me from among all of the
nations” (Exodus 19:5). The meaning of “you will truly
listen” is: you will accept with a positive will. And
they replied, “We will do and we will listen”—with a
positive will.
(And also:) Regarding the list of imprecations in
Deuteronomy, the verse states: “And it will be that if
you do not listen to the voice of Hashem your God, to
take care to keep fulfill all of His commandments and His
rules…” (Deuteronomy 28:15); and a passage states, “The
blessing: that you will listen to the commandment of
Hashem your God … and the curse: if you do not listen
Chapter Two: | 19
invited? How does a person with a healthy sensitivity feel if he is
forced to rely on others, to go begging from door to door? The
Gemara states that “when a person needs others, his face changes
colors” (Berachot 6b). And according to one view recorded in the
Gemara, “It is as though he is judged in fire and water”—i.e., his
face turns red as fire or white as water. All of this is true even if
a person just needs a loan—how much more when he receives an
outright gift. Everyone will say that he would rather work than
receive a loan, and certainly he does not want gifts or charity.
That is why giving charity in secret is immeasurably greater than
giving charity openly. In this way, the recipient does not know who
is helping him, and he is thus spared the suffering of shame. But
that is not yet the highest level of charity, because the poor person
still feels shame within himself shame. Therefore, the Rambam
states that the highest level of charity is creating work for a needy
person from which he can earn a living, so that he does not have
to depend on others (Mishnah Torah: Matnot Aniyim 10:7). Even in
this world, receiving the “bread of shame” generates a feeling of
powerful embarrassment, of suffering, internal strain and unceasing
discomfort—and how much more is that the case in the upper
world, which is a world of truth and eternity.
Similarly, imagine a case in which an employer told his workers,
“As soon as you finish your work, I will give you lunch.” All of
them worked energetically except for one, who was completely
idle. When the time came to eat, they all sat down at the table
except for the idle worker, who stood outside the dining room. The
employer asked him, “Why don’t you go in and eat?” He answered
that he feels ashamed, that he doesn’t deserve the food since it was
only meant for those who worked, whereas he didn’t work, and
that if he eats something that he doesn’t deserve, it is like stealing
and taking something that isn’t his. That is how the soul feels in
the upper world when it receives unearned delight. Not only is the
delight imperfect, but the soul suffers greatly from the fact that it is
receiving pleasure that it didn’t earn.