Chapter 25: “Very Near to You”: The Love That Is Always There

This is the meaning of the verse, “For the thing is very near to you…”: at every time and every moment, it is in a person’s hands and in his power to rid himself of the spirit of folly and the forgetfulness inside him, and to remember and awaken his love for the One G‑d, which is certainly hidden in his heart, without any doubt.

This is what is meant by “and in your heart”. Included in this love is also awe: the dread of being separated in any way from His unity and oneness, blessed be He, even at the cost of actual self-sacrifice. This comes without any reason or understanding, but from a G‑dly nature.

All the more so when it comes to breaking one’s desires, which is easier than the pains of death. The thing is even nearer to him: to conquer his inclination, first in the area of “turning away from evil”, even from a light sin that is only a rabbinic prohibition, so as not to go against His will, blessed be He. For through it he is separated from His unity and oneness exactly as through actual idolatry, at the time of the act. And even after idolatry one can do teshuvah afterward.

[And although “one who says, ‘I will sin and then repent’ is not given the means to repent”, this means that he is not given help so that the right moment for teshuvah comes to him. But if he pushes through on his own and does teshuvah, nothing stands in the way of teshuvah.]

And even so, every Jew is ready and prepared to give his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, and not to bow to an idol even for a moment and then do teshuvah afterward. This is because of the light of G‑d that is clothed in his soul, as explained above, which is not in the realm of time and hours at all. It is above time, and it rules over time and governs it, as is known.

So too in the area of “doing good”: to strengthen himself like a lion, with might and courage of heart, against the inclination that weighs down his body and casts laziness on him, which comes from the element of earth in the animal soul, keeping him from exerting his body with alacrity in every kind of effort and heavy work in the service of G‑d that involves effort and toil. For example, to toil in Torah, with deep study and aloud, so that “his mouth never stops learning”, as the Sages said: “A person should always put himself under the words of Torah like an ox under the yoke and a donkey under its load.” So too to pray with kavanah, with literally all his strength. So too in serving G‑d with money, such as the service of tzedakah,

and similar battles with the inclination and its tricks, which try to cool a person’s soul so that he will not spend his money freely or tax his health. To stand against it and conquer it is very near to a person when he takes to heart that to defeat his inclination in all this, and more, and even to do its exact opposite, is very light compared with the pains of death, G‑d save us. And he would have accepted the pains of death, G‑d save us, with love and willingly, so as not to be separated from His unity and oneness even for a moment by bowing to an idol, G‑d forbid.

All the more so should he accept with love and willingly [the effort], in order to cleave to Him forever and ever. That is: when he does His will, blessed be He, in this service, the innermost Supreme Will will be revealed in it, “face to face”, with great revelation and with no hiding at all. And when there is no hiding of the face in the Supreme Will, then nothing at all is separate, existing as a thing in its own right.

Therefore his divine soul and his vital soul, and all their garments, will be united in perfect unity with the Supreme Will and the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, as explained above.

And this union above is eternal, forever, because He, blessed be He, and His will are above time. So too the revelation of His will in His word, which is the Torah, is eternal, as it is written: “The word of our G‑d shall stand forever”, and “His words are living and enduring…”, and “He will never change or exchange His law…”.

But below, it is under time, only during the time that he is busy with Torah or a mitzvah. For afterward, if he busies himself with something else, he is separated, below, from the supernal union. [That is, when he busies himself with utterly idle things, which are of no use at all for the service of G‑d.]

Even so, when he afterward comes back to the service of G‑d, to Torah and prayer, and asks G‑d’s forgiveness for having been able to learn Torah then and not learning, G‑d will forgive him, as the Sages said: “If he transgressed a positive commandment and repented, he does not move from there before he is forgiven.”

For this they instituted the blessing “Forgive us” three times every day, for the sin of neglecting Torah study, from which no one is saved any day. It is like the daily tamid offering, which atoned for positive commandments.

And this is not “I will sin and then repent”, unless at the very moment of the sin he relies on teshuvah and sins because of it, as explained elsewhere.

With this we can understand why Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, commanded in Mishneh Torah [Deuteronomy] the generation that entered the Land to read the Shema twice every day, to accept upon themselves the kingship of Heaven with self-sacrifice. Had he not promised them, “The fear of you and the dread of you, G‑d will place…”? The answer is that keeping the Torah and its mitzvos depends on this: that he always remember his readiness to give his life to G‑d for His unity, so that it be fixed in his heart literally always, day and night, never leaving his memory. For with this he will be able to stand against his inclination and defeat it always, at every time and every moment, as explained above.