Page 16 – below to the middle of the page. Line starts, “ki yachol lihiyot”
All terms applied Above are only allegorical. We use a human counterpart and say this is how we refer to that element Above, but there is not similarity. What is the significance of this allegory?
So we start with oneg / pleasure here below. A pleasure caused by something, “this is a tasty piece of cake” is not a soul pleasure – it is an experience of the palate not the neshamah. Sechel is reflective of the deeper kochot of oneg and ratzon. Does this mean that sechel is arbitary? “I understand the way I want to understand?” so we have to go to a deeper level. In our superficial understanding of man we see him as being exclusively reactive. As if to say, if there were no external effects why would man wake from his bed? As if all actions are reactions. Delving into sechel shows the fallacy of this approach.
We want to live. Not due to a fear of dying. There is nothing like life. It is beyond intellect. It is a G-dly gift. This is a spark of G-d. What is G-d? He is beyond the natural world and not dependent on anything. He is that which cannot, not be. His presence is of Himself. His presence is an imperative. We have no way to relate to these terms with our sechel. So in what way do we relate? We don't question the existence of the world - “it is G-d's will” and that extends itself to everything in our experience.
We realize this G-dly spark and we define it as oneg and ratzon (pleasure and will). Oneg is the only thing for which we do not seek an explanation. Our oneg is still an experience. Oneg Above is an inherent truth. “He had a desire / longing to make the world.” This longing is a truth in itself and limitless. By doing a mitzvah you are connecting to that level of desire and it is the most satisfying thing in life possible. This is possible only when passing beyond the limits of our rationale. One has to first get free from the clutches of the world and the body.
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When the servant does the work down here, what does the Master get? There is an inherent oneg and he elicits it. Through his work the Master has oneg. Why does the Master have pleasure? The Master decided he needs it. That He decided it will give him oneg is also sourced in oneg. This is a G-dly element that defies explanation.
Not doing the ovodah / work means you are not using the soul powers that He put into you. The oneg in the Master is inherent, not reactive. A father sees his children and notices they are being kind to each other. So he may think, “that's great they'll support each other and me when they grow up” or he can see, “they have a real sense of reality and goodness” - it is a satisfying reality, without personal benefit. Hashem is like the father and he gets pleasure from seeing the children.
Inside the text the rebbe is asking what brings the cycle of ratzu and shuv and maintains it. The rebbe is saying there must be something that forces the cycle, since by himself, one would just stay in ratzu.
Katnus is a level of self satisfaction – this is like the cleaving the encompasses his powers. And this lacks reality because it is in his mind. It has not become a stand-alone reality. Gadlus sees it through to completion.
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