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Chapter Six: that everyone will work hard until he attains and acquires one goal
after another. That is the only way to truly come close to Hashem.
Cause a New Light to Shine on Zion When a person experiences difficulties, he knows that he needs
Hashem, and he prays, seeks and entreats, and he thanks Hashem
for every success. If everything went easily for a person, he would
forget Hashem and grow far from Him, because he would be filled
The Perfection of the Work of the Will with pride.

We are dealing with the work of the will, which is the ability Therefore, you must know that the purpose of our existence is
to have an effect, to transform ourselves and truly come close to to be close to Hashem. When we do the work of the will and we
Hashem. As I explained earlier, the work of the will consists of want what Hashem wants day after day, that is called being close
regular, extended and stubborn prayer day after day on a single to Hashem, whether or not we succeed. We wait and look forward
topic until you see real, actual change. In this chapter, with the help to Hashem’s salvation. And so we must rejoice in the fact that the
of Hashem I will describe a new path in the work of the will, a path Creator created us finite, so that we can work on only one thing at
that is a new light, a very great light in serving Hashem. a time, and even that requires much work and toil, because that is
the only way to truly bring ourselves close to the work of the will
This is a very pragmatic chapter. But before coming to the and prayer.
practical part, I must delineate a number of important principles
on which that practical guidance is based. If a person only takes Therefore, it is forbidden to despair, even though you are aware
the guidance without having deeply internalized the fundamentals that the work is long and progress is slow. You must continue on
of faith and intent that this chapter will discuss, the practical aspect your way and work on issue after issue with a great deal of patience,
will have no value for him. He will be like a monkey imitating a doing your part. Whoever is living with this purpose, whoever wants
human being. That is because this chapter is dealing with a deeply to come close to Hashem and bond with Hashem, is never broken
internal process that is at the core of the work of the will, which is and never despairs—because what does it matter to him that the
a person’s inner essence. Therefore, this is not a chapter to be read work will take long? Every day he is bonding with Hashem in the
lightly, but a chapter that demands much attention and work so work of the will, and he has already attained the principal element,
that you will truly internalize these principles. which is faith.

What Is the Secret? This is a fundamental point that must be foremost in the
consciousness of everyone who goes on the path of the work of the
The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (18a) says: will: we need a great deal of patience, a great deal of steadfastness.
This process will certainly take time. And everyone must do his
We learned the following in a baraita. Rabbi Meir used part and tell the Holy One, blessed be He:
to say: Two people were on their sick beds with the same I want to rectify everything, all of my evil traits.
illness, and two people were on trial for the same capital I want to get rid of all of my cravings, all of my
offense. One sick person recovered, and the other did bad habits, all of my turmoil. I do not want to
not. One defendant was saved, and the other was not.
Why did one recover and the other did not? Why was commit any sin, I want to keep all of the mitzvot
one saved and the other was not? The answer is that one perfectly and I want to repent completely. But