The second level of selflessness relates to the bright radiance of the flame. It is an exalted level of total self-abnegation, yet it is expressed in Torah and mitzvot.
Hence one must combine both the intense feelings in prayer, the desire to exercise teshuvah and to change one's negative qualities (the lower dark flame) -- with the upper bright flame which is manifest in good deeds.
The dark flame expresses "moving forward" (ratzo), and the bright flame expresses "return" (shov). In one's service of G-d one needs a balanced combination of both. ...Without intense feelings in prayer, moving forward, one cannot properly have the "return" of Torah and mitzvot... On the other hand... the ascent of the intense prayer without Torah study will not last at all.
This balance and interdependence is illustrated by the nature of the lamp, in which oil and wick are interdependent, and the two kinds of flame likewise draw on each other.
Thus the first ten chapters of the maamar end with a depiction of the subtle balance that is crucial in service of G-d.
10.
RATZO AND SHOV
Chochmah Level Two
After the surge upwards of the natural soul, in a mode of ratzo,1 "focusing one's heart on G-d,"2 subsequently, "the spirit draws the spirit"3 -- which spontaneously causes a flow of radiance which descends below and vests specifically in a vessel.4 This is termed shov, i.e., "these words which I command you" [mitzvot] which follows the love [of G-d] "with all your soul."
This is sovev kol almin expressed by Torah and mitzvot, manifested by the oil. For the consumption of the wick causes the primary flow of the light, and that the oil should be drawn and consumed. However, the oil that is drawn into the wick actually causes the clarity and brightness of the supernal radiance in the soul, [as it is derived] from sovev kol almin, the "bright radiance" described above.
This is the second aspect of chochmah, total koach mah, with the quality of the total Divine Ayin. This is the sense of lowness and humility, termed "absolute selflessness," that one's soul is utterly like dust to everything5 because the person completely lacks any sense of their own self.
Thus the two kinds of radiance are concealed in the oil itself, the dark radiance and the bright radiance. They emerge in the flames around the wick by the fact that the oil seeps into the wick and is drawn into the flame. For the clarity of the bright radiance depends specifically on the purity of the oil.
Intense Prayer and Teshuvah vs. Torah and Mitzvot
Nonetheless, the main thing is the consumption of the wick, which elicits supernal radiance, due to the aforementioned reason -- albeit that its brightness depends on the purity of the oil. In addition, it is the consumption of the wick that causes the oil to flow and to be consumed in the light. For the source of the wick -- the natural soul -- is higher than the level of chochmah.
Hence, without the "ratzo" of prayer, one cannot experience the "shov" of Torah and mitzvot. Similarly, one first needs teshuvah, and then good deeds.6
The proof for this is from the saying, "If one says 'I have only Torah study' -- he does not even have Torah"7: Without the consumption of the wick, the oil will not flow to the flame at all. On the other hand, it is also true that the oil of Torah enables the flame to join with the wick, and without the oil the flame would not last even for a moment. In the same way, the ascent of ratzo in prayer without [the "shov" of] Torah study will not last at all.8
(Hence, the oil joins the flame to the wick, and the wick joins the oil to the flame. This is like man, who elevates the vegetable element, and subsequently the vegetable and animal elements elevate him.9 The flame is made up of both qualities: the dark color, in which the wick and the oil are consumed, and the higher [bright] color that is drawn after the dark flame which consumes the wick and the oil. But its brightness is dependent on the purity of the oil (and on the extent to which the wick is consumed in the dark radiance.))
SUMMARY
The oil, which is chochmah, contains the two colors of radiance. These are: 1) the abnegation of the self before the Divine Ayin -- the consumption of the wick (dark radiance); 2) the elevation of the Animal Soul -- through lowliness and humility, termed "essential bittul" -- which elicits G-dliness to be vested into the vessel -- a pure light (bright radiance). These two levels are revealed both in the consumption of the wick and in the clarity of the radiance. Hence, the oil causes the flame to cleave to the wick (benefit one, above ch. 1); and the oil drawn to the wick produces clear radiance (benefit two).
In one's service of G-d one needs a balanced combination of ratzo and shov. The radiance of Torah (bright radiance, shov) is preceded by prayer (dark radiance, ratzo). One needs to combine both ratzo -- the intense feelings in prayer, teshuvah and transforming one's negative qualities (the dark radiance), with shov -- Torah and mitzvot (the bright radiance).
For if not for the consumption of the wick (the dark radiance), the oil (the bright radiance) would not be drawn.
This balance and interdependence is illustrated by the nature of the lamp, in which oil and wick are interdependent, and the two kinds of flame likewise draw on each other.
Thus ends the first ten chapters of the maamar with a depiction of the subtle balance necessary in the service of G-d.
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