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permanent longing, seeking and desiring: “How may I do the will invited? How does a person with a healthy sensitivity feel if he is purpose is to choose correctly and pass these tests. That is the
of God? How may I please Him? How may I expand my service of forced to rely on others, to go begging from door to door? The entire meaning of our lives in this world.
Hashem and go forward in my service of Him?” Gemara states that “when a person needs others, his face changes
colors” (Berachot 6b). And according to one view recorded in the You must be aware that God’s individual providence oversees
Once, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was asked why the Baal Shem Gemara, “It is as though he is judged in fire and water”—i.e., his every individual to assure that he will have free will. At every
Tov valued his daughter Adel so much. He answered: “Because face turns red as fire or white as water. All of this is true even if moment and in every detail of a person’s life, he is placed in the
every day she came to Hashem with yearning, and she asked a person just needs a loan—how much more when he receives an precise conditions that will enable him to have free will. Everything
herself, ‘What more can I do that will please God?’” (Siach Sarfei outright gift. Everyone will say that he would rather work than that he has lived through until that moment, his exact state of
Kodesh II 72). receive a loan, and certainly he does not want gifts or charity. health (down to a slight scratch), his children, their every sob and
every smile, the situation of everyone around him, every rebuke
In accordance with this, we may understand the Maggid’s words— That is why giving charity in secret is immeasurably greater than that he receives and all of the encouragement that he is given,
“If you know about the topic of will, then I have no words of Torah giving charity openly. In this way, the recipient does not know who every difficulty and lack in his life, his economic situation to the
to tell you”—because the trait of will contains the entire Torah. is helping him, and he is thus spared the suffering of shame. But last cent—everything is under precise individual providence in
that is not yet the highest level of charity, because the poor person accordance with what his Creator knows to be the exact conditions
A Great Torah Principle still feels shame within himself shame. Therefore, the Rambam that will make it possible for him to exercise free will at every
states that the highest level of charity is creating work for a needy moment.
The holy book, Orchot Tzaddikim, attributed to one of the person from which he can earn a living, so that he does not have
Rishonim (14th-15th century), speaks about will at length: to depend on others (Mishnah Torah: Matnot Aniyim 10:7). Even in For instance, the amount of money you have is exactly what you
this world, receiving the “bread of shame” generates a feeling of need to enable you to have free will. If you were to possess one
The entire Torah is included in the trait of will. powerful embarrassment, of suffering, internal strain and unceasing dollar more or less, that would compromise your free will. The same
discomfort—and how much more is that the case in the upper applies to every detail in your life. Therefore, you must be aware
That applies to all of its rebukes and all of its blessings. world, which is a world of truth and eternity. that everything that you lack, all of your difficulties and problems,
How is this? A verse tells that at the time of the giving Similarly, imagine a case in which an employer told his workers, and all of the tests that you undergo are exactly calibrated to give
you free will in accordance with your rectification, your mission
of the Torah [God told the Jews], “And now, if you will “As soon as you finish your work, I will give you lunch.” All of and your purpose.
truly listen to My voice and guard My covenant, then them worked energetically except for one, who was completely
you will be uniquely special to Me from among all of the idle. When the time came to eat, they all sat down at the table “I Have Chosen to Take Refuge in the House of my
nations” (Exodus 19:5). The meaning of “you will truly except for the idle worker, who stood outside the dining room. The God”
listen” is: you will accept with a positive will. And employer asked him, “Why don’t you go in and eat?” He answered
they replied, “We will do and we will listen”—with a that he feels ashamed, that he doesn’t deserve the food since it was Let us continue and discover additional depths in the topic of
positive will. only meant for those who worked, whereas he didn’t work, and free will.
that if he eats something that he doesn’t deserve, it is like stealing
(And also:) Regarding the list of imprecations in and taking something that isn’t his. That is how the soul feels in As a result of choosing good freely, not only will a person receive
Deuteronomy, the verse states: “And it will be that if the upper world when it receives unearned delight. Not only is the reward and complete delight in the world-to-come, but even while
you do not listen to the voice of Hashem your God, to delight imperfect, but the soul suffers greatly from the fact that it is he is in this world, he will attain true delight and the pleasure
take care to keep fulfill all of His commandments and His receiving pleasure that it didn’t earn. of closeness to the Creator. Every time a person overcomes his
rules…” (Deuteronomy 28:15); and a passage states, “The evil inclination, he feels pleasure and delight. With the passage of
blessing: that you will listen to the commandment of time and with work, he begins to feel the true delight of closeness
Hashem your God … and the curse: if you do not listen to the Creator and of performing His will—specifically, out of the