Duties of Salvation (Hovot HaYeshua)
Holy letters to guide souls and to be built upon the path of the Tree of Life
From our master, light of the world, the Admor Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, may he live for good long days, Amen.
Tuesday, 24th of Shevat, 5786
“If its owner is with him, he shall not pay; if he is a hired person, it has come for its hire.”
And our master the “Or HaChaim,” of blessed and holy memory, asks: When a person is judged in the World to Come, the Master of the Deposit, who is the Master of the World, will come to claim the soul that He entrusted to the hand of man to guard. As it is written: “Only take heed to yourself and guard your soul diligently” (Deuteronomy 4:9). And when the time comes to claim His deposit from each one, and it is found stolen or lost or broken or dead—for all these aspects are found through the transgressions a person commits.
And here, our master explains: We must know that the Torah of our master and the teachings of the holy ones of Israel are the memory of the soul, and they are like a defense for the person against the “Satan” (Accuser) who seeks to prosecute and harm him. Within these teachings, there is a legal defense for man, just as in the law of a “Watchman” (Shomrim).
The explanation of the matter is found in the Gemara regarding “His owner is with him” — a person who goes to his friend’s house and sits there, and in his mind he intends to ask a favor of him, even before he asks to borrow the object — the owner of the object, by providing for his needs, is already considered a “hired person” or an “employee” of the borrower. After he receives the object from the owner, the borrower is exempt from damages because the “owner was with him” during the borrowing.
And this teaching of our teacher is a claim toward Heaven. Behold, the soul is a “borrowed” object, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave it to us. But He also gives us life, health, and sustenance every single moment. Therefore, God is “with us” every moment, and thus it is called “His owner is with him.”
And here, in the race of life, a person’s soul is in the category of being stolen or broken or captured or dead, as a person’s soul is stolen by sins, or broken by bad deeds, or dead literally. Will the person be exempt in Heaven by the claim of “His owner is with him”?
Our teacher continues: This is the law of the Gemara (Bava Metzia 96): Even if he said to his friend, “Give me water to drink,” and he borrowed the object from him, this is a case of “His owner is with him.” This law applies to all watchmen. And since the Master of the World feeds and sustains the person from the day of his birth, He is the one who blows the breath of life into man’s nostrils and deals with his needs, beyond that which He does for the whole world, renewing the act of creation every single day. Therefore, He is called “His owner is with him” from beginning to end, and thus the souls are exempt, even though they were not returned as they were given.
Our teacher answers these two answers with all his words, and here we will explain the first answer.
Behold, the Gemara (Bava Metzia 94) says: The owner of a deposit can stipulate that the “Unpaid Watchman” (Shomer Chinam) shall be liable like a “Borrower” (Shoel). The reason for this is that in monetary matters, any stipulation is valid.
Behold, the world we live in and are accustomed to, man builds in his head. The first root is in the head, and it is a pure intellect, which is a sanctuary. And there is intellect that is acquired through life experiences. And there is the intellect of the Torah and faith that people must learn to live by, according to the intellect of the Torah, which is beyond any human logic.
And just as there is intellect at the head of the person, which is the most central place, there is also intellect in the heart of the person, in a lesser quantity than in the head. As it says, “A wise heart knows,” and a person knows that in his heart there is the truth of every matter, and this depth is found in the intellect of the heart.
And so too, there is intellect in the intestines of a person, that they have “eyes” inside the structure of the intellect. Therefore, eating that is not kosher muddies the person’s mind. For its power is like an evil thought that damages the person, because eating that is not kosher damages the person’s mind. And a large meal is a cause for closeness, because eating brings knowledge closer.
Thus, we find in our holy grandfather “Abir Yaakov” (of blessed memory), when the great men of Israel would come to him, they would discuss lofty matters and make a meal in their honor, saying, “Feed me and I will save.” There is in eating the power to straighten the intellect of man.
And the war is to straighten the mind, the intellect that disappears from every idea that rules over man, and not that which leads to the theft of the soul or its breaking or its destruction from the world. If so, our teacher is difficult: why is man exempt by the claim of “His owner is with him”? So that the person is saved from the defect of his actions or the destruction of his soul.
And here, the Holy One, Blessed be He, the Owner of the deposit, gave the deposit and even stipulated with His people before the giving of the deposit that man would be liable. Even if “His owner is with him,” he is still liable for damages. And every person, before receiving his soul, the Holy One, Blessed be He, makes him swear: “Be righteous and do not be wicked,” and He swears him regarding the fulfillment of the commandments.
And here, this is a stipulation, and a strong stipulation, that even in “His owner is with him,” he is liable for every damage. And so the claim of “His owner is with him” falls, and he is judged by the law of “His owner is with him.”
And here we must be most careful, to gather all the broken pieces and all the bad habits that are judges from smallness, or the defective habits that are part of the person. And the work of man is to recognize his mistakes and immediately start a hard war within his mind, to know that he has the holy Torah which gives us strength to do valor and this is the straight path.
But there is a “yeast in the dough” (evil inclination) and slavery to habits that are built into our minds through the head, heart, and intestines, accustomed to other worlds from the Torah and the straight path. And the knowledge begins for man to understand, and then to push away the habits that arrive in the form of a way of life and a construction of an incorrect perception and vision. And these things are rooted from smallness and inherited from our fathers, and these influences are part of every person’s world perception.
And man lives in a world of lies, in a covering of truth, and finds all the permissions for himself. And when a matter does not align for him in the correct form and way he desires, all the forces within his soul stand up and all of them gather, and he feels sadness, anger, and bitterness. For these are the things he accustomed them to, and they are his very life.
But when a person clarifies his knowledge with truth and in what he is mistaken, and in what his ways are not straight and correct, and he strengthens himself with strong kabbalot (resolutions) and adherence to the holy Torah and its boundaries, which limits himself and makes true repentance, and returns and receives and educates himself with foundations of truth, slowly he pushes away and builds a new world. And so, “all of his current existence and all of his ways will be called a new world,” and he will be called a “new person” who has been created.
And so a person is found in his decision either to continue his life as they are, in smallness that grew with him with all the defects and mistakes he learned and gathered in his days, or he pushes away all of his defective past and leaves the good in him and builds a new world. And as much as a person is younger in days, the matter is easier. As much as he roots his way, the matter is much harder.
And man knows that no one can help him more than he can help himself. For no one knows how your face looks better than you do. You know only to light the great light on the things you live in incorrectly, to identify the things, to understand the mistakes, to take the truth and build a new world. Because we have a condition from when we received the deposit which is the soul, and no excuse will exempt you from the mistakes.
And so Elazar ben Durdaya, he tried in every way to blame the mountains, but everything was impossible, because his way was the one he accustomed himself to, and he thought he would be judged by the force of education of the parents and habits. But no thing could exempt the person from judgment, and it is upon man to pay for his actions. And even if a person sits and learns Torah, if he does not behave in the proper way and push away the habits, it will not avail him at all in judgment, and his power will be like a partner of the Sama-el (the Accuser).
And here, our grandfather “Abir Yaakov” (may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing) explains the verses in his holy book “Pituchei Chotam”: “Behold I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared; beware of him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your transgression, for My Name is in him; for if you truly obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries… and you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.”
And this language of our teacher: it is possible to hint at the verses regarding the Good Inclination (Yetzer HaTov). For the Good Inclination was created by the Holy One, Blessed be He, for the benefit and good of man, to guide him on a straight path in this world, to merit life in the World to Come. And man is obligated to listen to him, as King Solomon said (Ecclesiastes 4:13): “Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.”
And here it is explained: The Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us the Good Inclination, which is the angel He sent before man to guard him on the way, which is the path of life that every person walks upon. And we must listen to the voice of the Good Inclination, which helps the person go on a good path. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, warns us to listen to the voice of the Good Inclination, the good angel, for only he helps man and the name of God is within him.
The power of one who listens and walks on the good path, by the advice of the Good Inclination, is great, for God is within him. And if a person is mistaken and follows the Evil Inclination, he loses his entire world, etc. And only by walking on the good path which is the advice of the Good Inclination, will man reach a world that is entirely good.
And man is obligated to listen to the Good Inclination, as King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes “Better is a youth… than a king.” Behold, there is a youth and there is a king, which are the habits that come by the Evil Inclination and enter him. And man grows only with the bad habits in him. And if from smallness a person guards himself and fights his inclination, he is greater than the “old king,” which is the Evil Inclination.
And why is he called a “king”? Because everyone listens to the Evil Inclination, and therefore he is also called “foolish,” for his ways are evil and his words are foolish.
And our teacher continues: If a person listens to his advice, what is good. And if not, our teacher counted several foundations that are dangerous to human life, and man must flee from them and escape for his life from the hands of the Evil Inclination.
A person who wants to rule over others, this is his root, all that moves the person. To rule over the world so that everything will be according to his thought and way, and he is a sick person and pursues the Evil Inclination to rule over others, and all his purpose is that control over others should be under him.
Behold, when a person listens to the advice of the Good Inclination, the Holy One, Blessed be He, helps him and assists him, for the one who comes to be purified is assisted. And on everything that the Evil Inclination incites him, and the Evil Inclination incites him because he does not sin, according to the many appearances of this world, and man finds himself in bad deeds, for he sees people taking pride in fine clothes, pleasures, and food and drink, and all to fulfill the desires of the Evil Inclination.
And on this King David (peace be upon him) warned: “Do not compete with the wicked, do not be envious of those who do evil,” for there are types of wicked people. There are those who want to rule over their friends, to be subject under them. And there are those whose desire is for food and drink, and they are not afraid of the commandments of God. And there are those who are immoral, and there are those who are gossipers and slanderers and deceivers in business, and there are gossipers and border-jumpers.
And since the person sees the wicked doing bad deeds and succeeding, as it is said (Jeremiah 12:1) “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” The Evil Inclination incites him to do like them. Therefore, King David (peace be upon him) warned: “Do not compete with the wicked” in any way, and do not be envious of their success “for they shall soon be cut down like grass, and wither like the green herb.”
Behold our teacher explained: When a person listens to the Good Inclination, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is with him and helps him, to one who comes to be purified they assist him. But a person must be most careful of “Envy” (Kin’ah), for envy destroys all of a person’s true knowledge. A person sees a person succeeding, and all his effort is in everything he does, out of the root of envy.
He works to be like his friend and even more than him, he does not work because he thinks to succeed in his deeds. The root of his effort is driven by envy, and it turns out that the root of everything a person does and does is based on envy and not a correct and true root from the source of his soul, for all his deeds are from envy.
The second thing our teacher counted that is the purpose of his life is the desire for food and drink. And the third thing is immorality.
Fourth thing: Gossipers and slanderers and deceivers in business, and border-jumpers, etc. And when a person sees these things in others, envy enters him.
And envy comes in various forms, and sometimes a person thinks he will attain things for the good, and the inclination incites him for the sake of a commandment, that he will do from the force of these things. But when a person falls into these difficult things, he loses his world and falls into the hands of the Evil Inclination and becomes a chariot for the Sama-el.
And here upon us at this time, all the hard and evil forces have gathered to fight a hard war in things, and envy is the force that overcomes and enters man with hard powers to rule over others, even among the righteous in the world, this for the sake of the Torah, for the sake of the general good, and for every thing and thing that our teacher counted, and man loses the Good Inclination which is the good angel, and falls into the hands of the evil angel who is the Evil Inclination, who leads him to his destruction.
And here, clinging to the Holy One, Blessed be He, and clear knowledge that one must fight, to push away all the natural habits embedded in him, a daily war and knowledge that there is no advice and no understanding against God. Not with him and no advice, this is the beginning of the path to reach a place where light dwells.
With great love,
And in prayer to the Holy One, Blessed be He, that He should show us the correct path, and save us from those who stray.
Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto
