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soul is far from anything that partakes of even a trace of falsehood, to the commandment of Hashem your God…” (ibid.
dishonesty or any lack of integrity. Something that is unearned 11:27-28). And every instance of “listening” does
lacks a degree of integrity, because it is something that a person not only mean the listening of the physical ear,
wanted to gain without having worked for it. Therefore, it is hateful but it means that they should have the will to act.
to the human spirit. (Orchot Tzaddikim: Sha’ar Haratzon)

Even Laban the Aramean, the unscrupulous schemer, understood The conclusion of the holy words of the Orchot Tzaddikim is
that receiving something for nothing constitutes a flaw in one’s that “listening” to Hashem’s voice means that we want what He
character. Therefore, he told Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, wants. Therefore, when the Torah and the prophets repeatedly
should you work for me for free?” (Genesis 29:15). Ramban explains: call upon a person to listen to the voice of Hashem, their principal
“I know that from now on you will work for me, because you are intent is that he should want what Hashem wants.
a moral person who will not earn a living at the expense of others.
And I too do not want the work that you do for me to be gratis, And thus, the Orchot Tzaddikim concludes, “From all of
without full wages. So tell me what you request for your wages, this, we may know that the trait of will is great, and that
and I will pay it.” Receiving something without having earned it is the entire Torah is enfolded within it.”
repugnant to a moral, virtuous and rectified person—and certainly
to the soul, which is by its nature true and whose traits are unflawed.
Therefore, when the soul receives delight without having earned it,
it suffers unceasingly.

In this world, nothing is free. Anything that is free is only a trap.
As the holy Ohr Hachaim states in the name of the Zohar (Terumah
128a), the powers of impurity are called “unearned,” and they
rule over everything that comes without having been earned (Ohr
Hachaim on Exodus 21:4). The pure soul wants to earn its true delight
with its toil and effort, and not receive it for free. Therefore, the
soul suffers terribly from the shame it experiences when it receives
unearned delight. The suffering of that shame is the greatest suffering
possible, even in this world. Every person is prepared to die rather
than be disgraced and shamed before others—and how much more
is that the case in the world of truth. As Rabbi Nachman teaches,
“The suffering of shame is much greater than the punishment of
Gehennom” (Likutei Moharan I 22).

Judged in Fire and Water

Everyone can understand from his own experience the bad feeling
caused by the “bread of shame.” Consider: how would you feel if
you were to sit down to eat at a wedding to which you hadn’t been