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200 | A New Light
The Wholeness of Faith:
To Recognize Hashem
Whole faith is the faith that Hashem is all-powerful, that there is
no other than He, that He desires life, and that He only wants to
benefit everyone and save everyone. We must divide this faith into
a number of parts and explain each one.
Part One: The King Who Desires Life
1.Hashem wants to rescue everyone in the physical realm and
give him life.
2.Hashem wants to give life even to the most wicked person.
3.How much more, Hashem wants to give everyone eternal life.
4.Hashem wants to save us spiritually immediately, at this very
moment.
5.Hashem’s will is that even the most wicked person will live and
do teshuvah completely, and attain every spiritual level.
Part Two: He Is All-powerful, and Nothing Is Beyond
Him
1.Hashem is all-powerful in the physical realm.
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will help this person do teshuvah, which will mean that Hashem’s
intent will be fulfilled, and in consequence the person will be healed.
How much more does this idea apply when we pray for spiritual
matters. Then it is easy to understand that the entirety of our
prayer is on behalf of the will of Hashem, Who created a person
to serve Him and come close to Him, and not so that he will be
an animal on two legs. Every time we engage in prayer to free 7
ourselves from our animal nature and our cravings and to come
close to Hashem, we are engaging in prayer on behalf of Hashem’s
will and Hashem’s honor: that His children will appear as He wants
them to appear. Therefore, when we recite such a prayer, we may
ask for immediate salvation.
So too, when we seek to be rescued from sinning, we must pray:
“It is Your will that I not commit any sin. If You do not give me the
power to overcome my evil inclination, I will continue to sin. I need
You to give me the strength not to sin even one more time, because
every sin means death, and You want me to live. And I am only
alive when I cling to You and live in accordance with Your will. But
I lack the tools for that. Therefore, please give me the tools now
and the wholeness of will that Your intent will be revealed, so that
I will not commit any sin from this moment onward.”
The Glory of the King
Everyone must make this vividly real for himself by using a variety
of metaphors and images to help him understand how much Hashem
wants to assist him and save him. For instance, imagine a father
and mother whose son has grown completely alienated from them
and caused them endless pain. If he comes and tells them that he
wants to return to them, they will immediately rejoice and forget
the entire past, and give him everything with all their heart. As for
parents of a son who remains alienated from them, they would be
willing to give him so much if only he would want to return.
If this is true even of normal parents in this world, how much
more is it true of our Father in heaven, Whose love and compassion
are infinite, and Whose will is infinite. As the holy Baal Shem Tov