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84 | A New Light 3 Chapter Three: | 77

He gave the Torah to human beings with all of their limitations. heaven forbid, you are going backward. Only the work of intent
He is here and close to us. He gave everyone the power to attain changes a person, and only the work of intent prevents him
everything and achieve everything. But this power that exists in from degenerating.
every human being is deeply hidden from our eyes. We do not
recognize it, nor do we recognize the simple ways of applying it. You Are Transformed into a New Person
Therefore, we must discover this great secret, the secret of life.
A woman returned to her home in Israel from an overseas trip
If you do not devote time every day to want to change,
you will not change! to the gravesites of tzaddikim, deeply moved and overwhelmed by
the intensity of the powerful feelings that she had experienced. On
That is the answer to the questions with which this chapter her return home, she told her husband, “You are beyond hope
began: How do we attain will? How are the wonderful words of of improving yourself!” When he asked her why she said that, she
will transformed into a practical tool? How do we actually change? answered him, “I visited these holy places just once, and I have
How can we reach a state in which, with the power of our will, we been transformed into another person. How is it possible that you
are directed from heaven? Only when we apply our will in work have gone on this trip several times, and you have always remained
and we dedicate time every day to this work can we attain a true the same?” She is right. Her husband should have changed and
and powerful will. Only in this way do we strengthen our will. been elevated every time he went.
Therefore, only when we apply the will in work is it possible to say
What is the difference between them? Why did the woman feel
that “nothing stands before the will” in the simple meaning of the power of change at the gravesites of the tzaddikim, whereas her
the phrase.
husband, who went many times, did not experience any change?
If a person does not engage in the work of the will, he is in truth You already know the answer: she worked, whereas he went on
“a person who intended to do a mitzvah and was thwarted and a trip, a visit. As it were, “he stamped his time card.” She sat
did not do it.” Because he has a weak will, he does not succeed in alongside each holy gravesite to which she came, and pleaded and
actualizing it. It is true that his will is very good and it is not lost. wept profusely for a long time about some particular matter that
His will to do something good is considered like the deed itself disturbed and afflicted her. Therefore, she saw a change. But her
(as mentioned in the previous chapter), and fortunate is he and husband—although he prayed, recited some psalms here and there,
fortunate his portion. But he will not change, and he will not be made a few entreaties, and even wept, so that he certainly attained
led from heaven. Only as a result of applying the work of the will what he attained and the tsaddikim prayed to bring about salvations
can a person be led from heaven. Therefore, the work of the will on his behalf—did not sit by each gravesite for many hours. He
is the sole key for everyone to rise upon the road to his personal was not steadfast, he did not beg to attain the rectification of his
rectification. soul. Therefore, he did not see any transformation in himself. That
is because without work we do not bring about any change. If on
In accordance with this, I will interpret the concept of “free every trip that he took he would choose a goal and stubbornly
choice” in a new light. The previous chapter taught that the central entreat and beg Hashem to have mercy on him and give him what
nexus of choice is not located in a person’s mind but solely in his he asks for in the merit of the tsaddikim, each time he would return
will. In accordance with what has been written in this chapter, when home a new person and attain goal after goal.
we truly choose to engage in the work of the will, we can without
a doubt implement that will in action. That is because, when we The gravesites of the tzaddikim are a magnifying glass. The work
appreciate the will, when we understand that it is our central tool that a person does there expands and rises to heaven. If he works