מהבעש"ט מה' מצעדי גבר כוננו ודרכו יחפץ, כי יפול לא יוטל, הכוונה שאדם צריך לעשות הכל כדי שיהיה שלם, וצריך לעיין על עצמו אולי יש חסרון במדות ובדעות, על כן כתיב (תהילים ל״ד:ט״ו) בקש שלום ורדפהו, ר"ל בקש ועיין בעצמך אולי יש לך חסרון, על כן יבקש להשלים את עצמו או במדות או בדעות, וכל זה אם יכול להשלים על ידי עצמו ואם לאו, ורדפהו, אולי ימצא איש חכם להשלים אותו, ולפעמים אינו צריך להשלים את עצמו אלא במקומו, בעירו בלבד, ואינו צריך לנסוע למקומות אחרים, מאחר שלא נפל ממנו למקומות אחרים, ויש גם כן שאף על פי שנפל ממנו לשאר מקומות אף על פי כן אינו צריך לנסוע ולטלטל את עצמו להשלים מאחר שהוא גדול בתורה שכתוב בה (תהילים י״ט:ח׳) תורת ה' תמימה משיבת נפש, ר"ל אם נפל חיות מנפש בשאר מקומות, על ידי תורה שלומד יכול לברר כל החיות אפילו מה שנפל לשאר מקומות כי תורה כנגד כולם (פאה פ"א משנה א') וזהו (אבות פ"ו) הלומד תורה לשמה זוכה לדברים הרבה, ר"ל, זוכה לברר החיות מכל המקומות, כי בתורה נבראו כל המקומות, רק זה אינו שכיח, כי זה היה מדת יעקב על ידי תורה שלמד היה מברר החיות מכל המקומות, על כן היה איש תם יושב אוהלים (בפרשת תולדות) רצה לומר כשלמד יעקב באוהל אחד במקום שהיה דר, נחשב כאילו ישב בכל המקומות ואוהלים, ויש מי שצריך לטלטל את עצמו למקומות, כדי לתקן בכל מקום שבא לשם, החיות שלו, ועל כן לפעמים יקרה דרך מקרה שרצונו לנסוע למקום אחד, ובא למקום אחר, כל זה גם כן לא בדרך מקרה, רק מאחר שצריך לתקן במקום זה גם כן מהחיות שנפל ממנו, ולפעמים אין צריך רק לאכול או (לשמוח) [לשתות] וצריך לתקן כדי להיות לו שלום: (אור החכמה פ' וירא)
“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). That is, look into yourself to see if you have flaws, and seek to perfect yourself in that area.26The root of the Hebrew word for peace, SHaLoM, is the same as that for the word perfection, SHeLeiMot. 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. At times, a person can perfect himself where he lives, in his town, without needing to travel afar, for no parts of him have fallen there.27According to the writings of the Arizal, when G‑d created the world, due to a flaw in creation, sparks of holiness were dispersed throughout the world. It was the job of Adam to reunite these sparks with their source. When Adam sinned, he cause even more sparks to be scattered, and the job of collecting them fell to all of humanity, and ultimately, to the Jewish people. This explains the reason for the many exiles the Jews have suffered – their purpose was to regain the lost sparks of holiness. The Baal Shem Tov implies here that this process occurs on the individual level as well as the cosmic; that is, each soul, on descending into this world, also experiences a dispersal of essential sparks, which must be regained in the course of ones life, and integrated into the service of G‑d. This is the true path of self-perfection. At other times, parts of his life-force have fallen to other places, and he should have to travel to redeem them; however, if he is great in Torah, he can extract them all from where he is, because Torah study is equal to everything.28Mishnayos Pe’ah 1:1. The mishnah lists various mitzvos for which a person receives reward in this world and in the next, such as respecting one’s parents, welcoming guests, visiting the sick, and concludes that the study of Torah is equal to them all. By quoting this mishna, the Baal Shem Tov implies that all these good deeds serve the purpose of redeeming lost sparks. However, the act of Torah study, which “restores the soul,” can accomplish the same effect, without the physical exertion. See later, parashas VaYetze 9, and parashas Ki Tavo 1, for more on this idea. Thus it says: “The Torah of G‑d is perfect, it restores the soul” (Psalms 19:8), that is, by means of the Torah a person studies, he can restore the lost fragments of his soul. It also says: “One who studies Torah selflessly, merits many things.”29Pirkei Avos 6:1. That is, he merits extracting the life-force from all places, because all these places themselves were created from the Torah.30The Midrash states that G‑d looked in the Torah and created the world, and that He used to Torah as a blueprint of reality (Bereishis Rabbah 1:2). Since all reality is based upon the Torah, a person who learns Torah can extract the sparks of soul that are scattered in all places of the world. 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.”31The verse uses the plural. Rashi explains that this means the study halls of the prophets Shem and Ever. Though he studied 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 various 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. Ohr HaChochmah, Vayerah
מהבעש"ט מה' מצעדי גבר כוננו ודרכו יחפץ, כי יפול לא יוטל, הכוונה שאדם צריך לעשות הכל כדי שיהיה שלם, וצריך לעיין על עצמו אולי יש חסרון במדות ובדעות, על כן כתיב (תהילים ל״ד:ט״ו) בקש שלום ורדפהו, ר"ל בקש ועיין בעצמך אולי יש לך חסרון, על כן יבקש להשלים את עצמו או במדות או בדעות, וכל זה אם יכול להשלים על ידי עצמו ואם לאו, ורדפהו, אולי ימצא איש חכם להשלים אותו, ולפעמים אינו צריך להשלים את עצמו אלא במקומו, בעירו בלבד, ואינו צריך לנסוע למקומות אחרים, מאחר שלא נפל ממנו למקומות אחרים, ויש גם כן שאף על פי שנפל ממנו לשאר מקומות אף על פי כן אינו צריך לנסוע ולטלטל את עצמו להשלים מאחר שהוא גדול בתורה שכתוב בה (תהילים י״ט:ח׳) תורת ה' תמימה משיבת נפש, ר"ל אם נפל חיות מנפש בשאר מקומות, על ידי תורה שלומד יכול לברר כל החיות אפילו מה שנפל לשאר מקומות כי תורה כנגד כולם (פאה פ"א משנה א') וזהו (אבות פ"ו) הלומד תורה לשמה זוכה לדברים הרבה, ר"ל, זוכה לברר החיות מכל המקומות, כי בתורה נבראו כל המקומות, רק זה אינו שכיח, כי זה היה מדת יעקב על ידי תורה שלמד היה מברר החיות מכל המקומות, על כן היה איש תם יושב אוהלים (בפרשת תולדות) רצה לומר כשלמד יעקב באוהל אחד במקום שהיה דר, נחשב כאילו ישב בכל המקומות ואוהלים, ויש מי שצריך לטלטל את עצמו למקומות, כדי לתקן בכל מקום שבא לשם, החיות שלו, ועל כן לפעמים יקרה דרך מקרה שרצונו לנסוע למקום אחד, ובא למקום אחר, כל זה גם כן לא בדרך מקרה, רק מאחר שצריך לתקן במקום זה גם כן מהחיות שנפל ממנו, ולפעמים אין צריך רק לאכול או (לשמוח) [לשתות] וצריך לתקן כדי להיות לו שלום:
(אור החכמה פ' וירא)
“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). That is, look into yourself to see if you have flaws, and seek to perfect yourself in that area.26The root of the Hebrew word for peace, SHaLoM, is the same as that for the word perfection, SHeLeiMot. 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.
At times, a person can perfect himself where he lives, in his town, without needing to travel afar, for no parts of him have fallen there.27According to the writings of the Arizal, when G‑d created the world, due to a flaw in creation, sparks of holiness were dispersed throughout the world. It was the job of Adam to reunite these sparks with their source. When Adam sinned, he cause even more sparks to be scattered, and the job of collecting them fell to all of humanity, and ultimately, to the Jewish people. This explains the reason for the many exiles the Jews have suffered – their purpose was to regain the lost sparks of holiness. The Baal Shem Tov implies here that this process occurs on the individual level as well as the cosmic; that is, each soul, on descending into this world, also experiences a dispersal of essential sparks, which must be regained in the course of ones life, and integrated into the service of G‑d. This is the true path of self-perfection. At other times, parts of his life-force have fallen to other places, and he should have to travel to redeem them; however, if he is great in Torah, he can extract them all from where he is, because Torah study is equal to everything.28Mishnayos Pe’ah 1:1. The mishnah lists various mitzvos for which a person receives reward in this world and in the next, such as respecting one’s parents, welcoming guests, visiting the sick, and concludes that the study of Torah is equal to them all. By quoting this mishna, the Baal Shem Tov implies that all these good deeds serve the purpose of redeeming lost sparks. However, the act of Torah study, which “restores the soul,” can accomplish the same effect, without the physical exertion. See later, parashas VaYetze 9, and parashas Ki Tavo 1, for more on this idea. Thus it says: “The Torah of G‑d is perfect, it restores the soul” (Psalms 19:8), that is, by means of the Torah a person studies, he can restore the lost fragments of his soul. It also says: “One who studies Torah selflessly, merits many things.”29Pirkei Avos 6:1. That is, he merits extracting the life-force from all places, because all these places themselves were created from the Torah.30The Midrash states that G‑d looked in the Torah and created the world, and that He used to Torah as a blueprint of reality (Bereishis Rabbah 1:2). Since all reality is based upon the Torah, a person who learns Torah can extract the sparks of soul that are scattered in all places of the world.
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.”31The verse uses the plural. Rashi explains that this means the study halls of the prophets Shem and Ever. Though he studied 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 various 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.
Ohr HaChochmah, Vayerah