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170 | A New Light
I cannot battle on all fronts at the same time.
Therefore, I do my part in the work that is most
important for me right now, and I know that this
is what You want from me at present.
Please, I beg of You, help me so that I will not
be disoriented by all of my imperfections and I will
not abandon this work, but I will continue until
I see tangible results. Then I will be able to move
onto another area, another issue that requires
rectification. And in the meantime, I take pleasure
in every day that I bond with You as I plead to
You in my desire to do Your will. This is the most
important thing. It is my purpose. If I did not
have so many issues to work on and rectify, my
life would be disconnected from You. Therefore, I
thank You so much that I have so much to repair.
Help me rejoice in my work, and may I not be
demoralized by the fact that it takes so long.
In addition, you must know that when a person succeeds in dealing
with one issue profoundly, that affects his entire life, because in
the depth of the service of Hashem all issues are connected to
each other. When a person has faith, that gives him joy, eradicates
his anger, improves relations with others, enhances harmony in his
home, and so forth. In the same way, rectifying the “covenant”
affects a person’s entire life, because it is the universal rectification,
as its name implies. As Rabbi Natan says in the introduction to
Sefer Hamidot, he heard directly from Rabbi Nachman of
Breslov regarding the topic of working on one’s traits: “All traits
are neighbors. Therefore, one trait can help another that is its
neighbor…” (see his lengthy explanation there). Therefore, when a
person changes for the better in one area, he is not ignoring other
issues, because improvement of one factor affects the totality of his
service of Hashem.
Thus, every point that a person works on has the power
to completely sweeten the judgments affecting him. He no
Chapter Five: | 183
is fine with him remaining as he is and continuing to sleep away his
life. Therefore, it leaves him alone. Why waste a bullet on him if he
is already one of the walking dead? It makes no difference how this
person defines himself spiritually. If he does not possess the work
of the will, he is said to be defeated, and he is in the pocket of the
evil inclination!
On the other hand, when a person holds a weapon—the weapon
of the work of the will—it makes no difference what he undergoes,
it makes no difference his spiritual level, it makes no difference how
many times he has failed and fallen, nothing makes any difference—
he always vanquishes!
And this is stated explicitly in the holy Zohar (Tikunei Zohar 29a):
“By what sign may we know that a person has been victorious?
The Holy One, blessed be He, answers: Look at those who hold
weapons in their hands, and you will know who has conquered in
judgment.” A person who grasps a weapon in his hand is the victor.
In our case, the weapon is prayer, and when a person constantly
grasps this weapon, it makes no difference what he undergoes—he
is the victor!
Nothing else can help at all. This is the rule of creation:
when you pray, you receive; when you want something, you
are led.