ומי שמתעצב ומתאונן
But he who is grieved and laments
מראה בעצמו שיש לו מעט רע ויסורין
demonstrates29 that he is undergoing some hardship and suffering,
וחסר לו איזה טובה
and lacks some goodness;
והרי זה ככופר, חס ושלום
he is (heaven forfend) like a heretic, who denies G‑d’s omnipresence.
For if he would truly believe, he would realize (as above) that “In the light of the King’s countenance there is life,” and “Strength and joy are in His place,” so that he indeed lacks nothing.
ועל כן הרחיקו מדת העצבות במאד חכמי האמת
This is why the Sages of Truth, the Kabbalists, strongly rejected the trait of sadness, for it contradicts a Jew’s true faith that “There is no place devoid of Him.”
אבל המאמין לא יחוש משום יסורין בעולם
The truly faithful, however, is not perturbed30 by any suffering whatever,
ובכל עניני העולם, הן ולאו שוין אצלו בהשוואה אמיתית
and with respect to all mundane matters, “yes” and “no” are all the same to him, in true equality.
ומי שאין שוין לו
But he to whom they are not the same,
מראה בעצמו שהוא מערב רב, דלגרמייהו עבדין
demonstrates31 that he is one of the eirev rav, who act but for themselves;32
ואוהב את עצמו לצאת מתחת יד ה׳ ולחיות בחיי הגוים
he loves himself to the extent that33 he removes himself from under the hand (i.e., the authority) of G‑d, and lives the life of the gentiles, —
בשביל אהבת את עצמו
[all] because of his self-love.
ועל כן הוא חפץ בחיי בשרים ובני ומזוני
This is why he desires the “life of the flesh,”34 and “children and sustenance,”
כי זה טוב לו
for that is his good.
ונוח לו שלא נברא
[Indeed,] it would have been better for him had he not been created.
כי עיקר בריאת האדם בעולם הזה
For the main purpose of man’s creation in this world
הוא בשביל לנסותו בנסיונות אלו
is to test him by these trials and physical tribulations,
ולדעת את אשר בלבבו
to ascertain what is in his heart:35
אם יפנה לבבו אחרי אלהים אחרים
whether his heart will turn towards other gods,
שהם תאוות הגוף, המשתלשלים מסטרא אחרא, ובהם הוא חפץ
namely the passions of the body which evolve from the sitra achra, and desire these,
Since the kelipot and sitra achra, the forces of evil and unholiness, are termed “other gods,” the passions that they generate are likewise termed “other gods.”
או אם חפצו ורצונו לחיות חיים אמיתים, המשתלשלים מאלקים חיים
or whether his desire and wish is to live the true life which evolves from the living G‑d.36
ויאמין שבאמת הוא חי בהם
One must believe that he really lives it, i.e., the true life,
וכל צרכיו וכל עניניו משתלשלים באמת בפרטי פרטיותיהם שלא מסטרא אחרא
and that all his needs, and everything related to himself, truly evolve in all their details not from the sitra achra,
כי מה׳ מצעדי גבר כוננו
for37 “By G‑d are the steps of man made firm,”38
ואין מלה גו׳
and39 “While there is [yet] no word [on my tongue, You, G‑d, know it all].”
Thus, G‑d is aware of all man’s thoughts, words and deeds, even before man thinks, speaks or does them.
ואם כן, הכל טוב בתכלית, רק שאינו מושג
Accordingly, everything is absolutely good, except that it is not apprehended as such by man.
ובאמונה זו באמת, נעשה הכל טוב גם בגלוי
When one believes this truly, everything becomes good even on a revealed level.
שבאמונה זו, שמאמין שהרע הנדמה בגלוי
For by such a faith, in which one believes that what manifestly seems to be evil
כל חיותו הוא מטוב העליון
in fact receives its entire vitality from the Supreme Good,
שהיא חכמתו יתברך, שאינה מושגת
(i.e., from G‑d’s Chochmah which is not apprehensible,
שהיא העדן שלמעלה מעולם הבא
and which is the Eden that transcends the World to Come40), —
הרי באמונה זו נכלל ומתעלה באמת הרע המדומה בטוב העליון הגנוז
by this faith the imagined evil is truly absorbed and sublimated in the concealed Supreme Good, so that the good becomes palpably revealed to the physical eye.
Footnotes
1.Daniel 9:22.
2.Cf. Iyov 38:19.
3.Cf. Mishlei 14:30.
4.Avot 2:4.
5.Cf. Moed Katan 28a.
6.Avot 4:22.
7.Note of the Rebbe: “In the words of the adage, ‘A constant delight is no delight.’”
8.Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 84.
9.I Divrei HaYamim 29:14.
10.Tehillim 111:10; Mishlei 4:7.
11.See footnote 25, below.
12.Note of the Rebbe: “As above in Shaar HaYichud Veha Emunah, ch. 2.”
13.Loc. cit.
14.Morning prayers; Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 44.
15.Cf. Bereishit Rabbah 51:3.
16.In ch. 26 of Part I, above.
17.Tehillim 94:12.
18.Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 62a.
19.Taanit 21a.
20.Note of the Rebbe: “Cf. Raaya Mehemna, Zohar II, 25a; the beginning of the [Mishneh Torah of the] Rambam; and above, p. 83b [i.e., Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch. 7].”
21.Note of the Rebbe: “From this phrase one may understand that from here on the Alter Rebbe adds a vital emphasis regarding the conclusion drawn from the above contemplation: (a) it should affect one at every moment and hour, and (b) one should truly live with it.”
22.Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 57.
23.Mishlei 16:15.
24.I Divrei HaYamim 16:27.
25.Note of the Rebbe: “For, as explained above, we are speaking of the Yotzer Bereishit [‘the One Who formed the first beginnings of Creation’].”
26.Note of the Rebbe: “This may be seen as a hint that [one should maintain this happy frame of mind at all times, despite the vagaries of life’s] 28 different and opposite ‘times’ (as listed in Kohelet 3:2 ff.). The same hint may also be perceived at the beginning of the present Epistle (‘at every time and moment’).”
27.Note of the Rebbe: “Since it is for the sake of [his faith] that he was created — and he is alive at all times and hours.”
28.Note of the Rebbe: “This is another reason why [the above-described train of thinking] should be maintained at all times and hours.”
29.Note of the Rebbe: “[The second word in the Hebrew phrase מראה בעצמו (here translated “demonstrates”; lit., “shows concerning himself”)] is seemingly superfluous and also unexpected. Perhaps it suggests that [such a response to hardship] runs contrary to the very essence (עצם) of one’s creation and existence (for [a faith in G‑d’s ever-present goodness is] the purpose, as stated above, for which he was created).”
30.Note of the Rebbe: “This echoes Yeshayahu 28:16; see the Targum there [which translates לא יחיש as לא יזדעזעון — ‘…will not be agitated’]. In our text, too, the verb should perhaps be spelled thus [with a yud replacing the vav]. See also the Targum of Kohelet 2:25 [which translates ומי יחוש as דאית ליה חששא… — ‘…who is apprehensive’].”
31.Note of the Rebbe: “As above, footnote 29.”
32.Note of the Rebbe: “Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 6, end of p. 22a; cf. Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of sec. 22; see also Part I [of Tanya], conclusion of ch. 1 (with regard to gentiles).”
33.The explanatory phrase “to the extent that” was inserted by the Rebbe.
34.Note of the Rebbe: “This [reason] was not stressed above for it is self-understood, and is the simple meaning of the expression as often quoted by our Sages. This, however, is not the case here: after the Alter Rebbe has focussed on life in the light of the King’s countenance, it is obvious that this is what should have been desired.”
35.Cf. Devarim 8:2.
36.In the text here follow the words, אף שאינו יכול — “though he is unable.” A gloss, inserted at this point by the original publishers of this Hebrew edition, notes the anomalous nature of this phrase and comments that it does not appear in some manuscripts. An alternative version reads, “…or whether his desire and wish — though he is unable [to actually do so] — is to live the true life.” According to this version the phrase is parenthetical.
37.Tehillim 37:23.
38.Note of the Rebbe: “The choice of this particular verse here might appear problematic, when numerous verses about Divine Providence appear in Scripture before this one. [Its relevance to our context] becomes clear, however, in light of a comment of our Sages specifically on this verse (Chullin, end of p. 7b): [‘A man does not (even have something trivial happen to him, such as)] bruise [his finger, without its having been decreed from Above’].“
Here too, then, we observe the extreme precision of the Alter Rebbe’s writing, even with regard to words that might seem to be mere stylistic embellishments.”
39.Tehillim 139:4.
40.Note of the Rebbe: “Cf. the teaching of our Sages in Berachot 34b.”
