"And Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents." (Gen. 25:27)
"The steps of a man are arranged by G-d, who delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be cast down." (Psalms 37:23-24)
A person must do everything possible to perfect himself. He must examine his personality traits and his opinions to see if he is flawed in any way. Thus the verse says, "Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalms 34:15); look into yourself to see if you have flaws, and seek to perfect yourself in that area.1 However, this only applies to a person who can perfect himself; if he cannot, he should "pursue it" - perhaps he will find a wise man who can help him fix himself.
Via the Torah a person learns, he can restore the lost fragments of his soul….
At times, a person can perfect himself where he lives, in his town, without needing to travel afar, for parts of himself have not fallen there.2 At other times, though, parts of his life-force have fallen to other places where he must travel to redeem them. He can extract them all with the greatness of his Torah, because Torah study is equal to everything. Thus the verse says, "The Torah of G-d is perfect, it restores the soul" (Psalms 19:8), meaning that via the Torah a person learns, he can restore the lost fragments of his soul. Also, "One who studies Torah selflessly, merits many things"; that is, he merits to extract the life-force from all places, because all these places themselves were created from the Torah.3
Others, however, must travel to different places in order to repair their life-force….
However, it is rare to find a person who can do this. This was the quality of Jacob, who could extract the life-force scattered in all places by means of his Torah study - thus, he was "a simple man, who dwelt in tents." 4 Though he studies Torah in his one tent, where he lived, it was as if he dwelt in many places and many tents.
Others, however, must travel to different places in order to repair their life-force. Sometimes a person wishes to travel to one destination, yet ends up arriving somewhere else. This is no accident, for he must repair his life-force that has fallen there. At times, it may be enough to merely eat or drink in that place in order to perfect himself.
[Adapted by Eliezer Shore from Sefer Baal Shem Tov,
Ohr HaChochmah, Vayera;
Reprinted with permission from www.baalshemtov.org]
LOGIN
ASK THE RABBI
Comment
