גם כי יבואו איזה מחשבות זרות, קבלתי ממורי איך ידע איזה מחשבה מקו החסד שנפלה בסוד השבירה וצריך לתקנה ולהעלותה, אמנם יש מחשבות שהם הרהורי עבירה, וכאשר באה מחשבה זו, אז ידע האדם שיש עליו דינים ורוצים להענישו על כן יחרד חרדה גדולה ונעשה יחוד יראה ונורא ויתפרדו כל פועלי און, וכאשר פירש הפסוק (בפ' וילך) ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את וכו' ופסוק (בפ' תולדות) פן יהרגוני וכו' שהוא סימן העונש שיכנוס הרהור האשה בו: (כתונת פסים דמ"ב סוף ע"ד).
I also learned from my Master how to tell if a foreign though comes from the side of Chesed (“Love”), having fallen in the Breaking of the Vessels and that now needing to be rectified and uplifted. Whereas, on the other hand, there are also sinful thoughts. When these enter one’s the mind, a person should realize that there are Judgments upon him that want to punish him. In such a case, he should be extremely concerned and make a unification between “fear” and “awe.” Then “all the workers of iniquity will disband” (Psalms 92:10). Thus, he explained the verses: “And it came to pass, when [Abraham] approached to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife: I know now that you are an attractive woman” (Genesis 12:11), and “When the local men asked [Isaac] about his wife, he said: ‘She is my sister’; for he was afraid to say: ‘My wife’; ‘lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca, because she is fair to look upon.’“ (ibid. 26:7). For the fact that they thought about female beauty was a sign of impending punishment.9The Sages explain that before these occasions, neither Abraham nor Isaac recognized their wive’s beauty. According to the Baal Shem Tov, the fact that these Tzaddikim suddenly becoming attracted to physical beauty was a sign that there were Supernal Judgments upon them, as reflected in the Egyptians and the Philistines who threatened to kill them. Ketones Passim, p. 42d
גם כי יבואו איזה מחשבות זרות, קבלתי ממורי איך ידע איזה מחשבה מקו החסד שנפלה בסוד השבירה וצריך לתקנה ולהעלותה, אמנם יש מחשבות שהם הרהורי עבירה, וכאשר באה מחשבה זו, אז ידע האדם שיש עליו דינים ורוצים להענישו על כן יחרד חרדה גדולה ונעשה יחוד יראה ונורא ויתפרדו כל פועלי און, וכאשר פירש הפסוק (בפ' וילך) ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את וכו' ופסוק (בפ' תולדות) פן יהרגוני וכו' שהוא סימן העונש שיכנוס הרהור האשה בו:
(כתונת פסים דמ"ב סוף ע"ד).
I also learned from my Master how to tell if a foreign though comes from the side of Chesed (“Love”), having fallen in the Breaking of the Vessels and that now needing to be rectified and uplifted. Whereas, on the other hand, there are also sinful thoughts. When these enter one’s the mind, a person should realize that there are Judgments upon him that want to punish him. In such a case, he should be extremely concerned and make a unification between “fear” and “awe.” Then “all the workers of iniquity will disband” (Psalms 92:10).
Thus, he explained the verses: “And it came to pass, when [Abraham] approached to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife: I know now that you are an attractive woman” (Genesis 12:11), and “When the local men asked [Isaac] about his wife, he said: ‘She is my sister’; for he was afraid to say: ‘My wife’; ‘lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca, because she is fair to look upon.’“ (ibid. 26:7). For the fact that they thought about female beauty was a sign of impending punishment.9The Sages explain that before these occasions, neither Abraham nor Isaac recognized their wive’s beauty. According to the Baal Shem Tov, the fact that these Tzaddikim suddenly becoming attracted to physical beauty was a sign that there were Supernal Judgments upon them, as reflected in the Egyptians and the Philistines who threatened to kill them.
Ketones Passim, p. 42d