Earning a Living — Earning a Life

Earning a Living — Earning a Life
Parshat Re’eh 5766 — August 13, 2006
by Chaim Kramer
Breslov Research Institute © 2006

Shattering of the Vessels and Reincarnation

We begin this essay where we left off last week, about understanding our role in elevating the sparks. According to the Kabbalah, Adam was supposed to pray and perform good deeds, thereby elevating the sparks. Additionally, having been created on Friday and having come alive Friday Afternoon, he was also supposed to wait until Shabbat to complete certain devotions. This would have brought rectification to all the sparks, and would have guaranteed permanent bounty for the entire world.

But Adam ate from the Tree and lost his patience, not waiting for the commencement of Shabbat.

As a result, he caused a further shattering of the vessels, which spread the sparks of holiness even further from their Source than they had been before — into the realm of the Other Side. To repent, Adam abstained from his wife for a period of 130 years! During that time, though he was deeply engaged in fasting and prayer, he nevertheless spilled his seed, giving “birth” to demonic souls and spirits, who are empowered by sin to cause suffering in the world (see Talmud, Eruvin, 18b). This “catch 22” situation further caused Adam to “give birth” to more of those types of souls and it wasn’t until 130 years past that he was able to birth a human child, Sheth. Thus the difference between Sheth and the earlier souls was that Sheth had a body, a vessel, a human form and shape which would come to serve God and fulfill the purpose of Creation, unifying the sparks and elevating them. But the wasted seed had, and has, no form. It lacks a vessel within which to become rectified.

(By way of introducing the idea, each and every effort we make towards earning a living is a means of forming a vessel. Whether we are planting seeds or harvesting crops, whether we are mining raw material, developing a product or producing the final item, whether we are buying or selling stock or merchandise, each action is a part of forming the vessel for those sparks to be raised, by means of the final use of that item, by the human being who will wear those clothes, eat those foods, travel, or some other use. This idea will become central to our discussions in future essays.)

The idea, as explained in the holy writings, is that a person, by sinning, especially with wasted seed, causes souls and sparks of holiness to descend into the realm of impurity, where these holy sparks are forced to become the vehicles of punishment and suffering meted out in this world. These sparks always seek a vessel through which they can become rectified, but because of the impurities never seem to attain the level where they are entitled to become human and merit rectification. They remain in somewhat of a “twilight zone,” yearning to be redeemed from the Other Side but steeped in the realm of impurity, with no “body” or form within which they can be placed to become elevated. It is now the mission of man to redeem those sparks and elevate them from the impure realms into the realm of purity and unity, back to their Source, to God.

But how? Especially when we see that man has the knack of sinning again. And again. Our Sages teach that the Flood in Noach’s time was a result of the “flood” of wasted seed (cf. Niddah 13a). And so on. The ARI (Shaar HaPeskim, Shemot) details the long list of sinners from the time of Adam who had to be reincarnated, generation after generation, in order to begin rectifying Adam’s sin. The reason, again, is that the souls and spirits from Adam’s wasted seed had no “body,” they lacked form and corporeal substance which can be molded and shaped into a rectified vessel.

We thus find that all the sparks must be brought into some kind of vessel in order to effect rectification. But what about those sparks banished to the netherworlds? Herein lies the mystery of reincarnation, where these sparks—including all the souls and spirits—are returned to this world again and again, in order to be rectified, elevated and eventually purified. The ARI has a separate volume called, Shaar HaGilgulim, “The Gates of Reincarnation,” which details many ideas related to reincarnation. “Many ideas,” but far from “all.” It was the Baal Shem Tov and his followers of the Chasidic movement which began revealing many more of the mysteries of reincarnation, and Rebbe Nachman holds center stage throughout his writings regarding this mystery.

To begin with, the sparks were spread out throughout the world and they are found in everything: minerals (soil, water, oil, rocks, precious stones, etc.), vegetable (foods, flowers, herbs, perfumes, trees, etc.), animal (kosher and non-kosher, domestic as well as wild beasts) and human beings. As the ARI explains, the level of reincarnation depends upon the sins of a person. Some may have been lenient with certain laws but were quite scrupulous with most mitzvot, they are reincarnated directly to the human level. Some people commit greater sins, they are first committed to the animal level where they undergo rectification. If the animal is a kosher one (e.g., an ox), then the shechitah (ritual slaughter) begins the rectification and when a person who eats kosher meat recites a blessing on the meat, then the spark is elevated to the human level. The same idea applies to the vegetable and mineral realms. The incarnation is commensurate with the severity of the sin, and the rectification process takes that much longer. And it is not only for sins we are incarnated. It can be for “financial finagling,” or unpaid debts which really have to be paid back, and so on.

All these ideas will be presented and discussed in detail as we progress in these essays. What is important for us to know at this point is that just as there are many, many individual sparks, these sparks all came from one initial source. But, as time went on, some of us made vessels and rectified our sparks while others shattered their vessels and caused more sparks of holiness to descend into the lower realms. Now while those sparks which attained rectification are elevated, the person responsible for shattering his vessels has to either seriously repent in this lifetime or be reincarnated to rectify his lost sparks in another lifetime.

Bearing this idea in mind, we can now understand the necessity of “earning a living” and working for our livelihood.

We, as the descendents of Adam, have to work to rectify his sins, much as the heirs of an estate have to pay off the debts of the deceased prior to receiving their share of their inheritance. Additionally, we may have (and most probably did), make a few “debts” (i.e., sins and shattered vessels) of our own. Now, in this lifetime, it’s payback time. As punishment for his shattering of his vessels and eating from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam was cursed to work instead of living a carefree life in the Garden of Eden. We, too, have to work in which ever trade or profession we choose, in order to try to rectify our vessels and ascend above the curse of Adam. Each person, according to the sparks he damaged, ends up working in a field that relates to the level of rectification he requires in order to perfect his soul.

Thus, one might find himself as a contractor building homes (working with the mineral elements). He might be a farmer toiling the land and harvesting crops. Or, the person might be an accountant for those fields, or an engineer or lawyer who specializes in those professions. The trades of electrician, plumber or landscaping and so on also provide the means for people to connect to their sparks from the different realms which require rectification. There are those who choose careers working with animals. And, of course, teaching and/or interacting with people can bring a person in contact with his sparks on the human level. And we might find a person who is “a jack of all trades,” or with several abilities, while others have to struggle to perfect even one area.

All of these ideas are related to the mystery of reincarnation, where a soul must be present in this world to perfect itself and Adam’s sin, but from the individual’s unique position. Understanding this, we can now understand why some people choose one career, others choose other sources of livelihood, and, why quite a few people make mid-life changes, despite their apparent success. (Of course if one fails there’s no question why he changed professions, but that too relates to one’s incarnated soul: where it’s been, what is needs to rectify, and so on.)

What is left to be said is the part Shabbat plays in all this. Shabbat is the cornerstone of faith, a declaration that there can be a life without work, as in the Garden of Eden, yet mankind can still be provided with its every need. Shabbat is the reminder that, despite our life of toil, perfection can be attained. This was why it was so important for Adam to wait until Shabbat. And this is why it is so important that we do our best to honor and observe Shabbat. As the ARI explains, work is forbidden on Shabbat because work represents rectifying the sparks. Whereas, on Shabbat, this work is not necessary, the rectifications occur on their own!

The Torah reading for this week, Re’eh, which speaks a lot about the inanimate, vegetative and animal realms, as well as the obligations of the human being towards those realms. And towards the end, it speaks of the Sabbatical Year (Shemitah), a reminder that even in an agrarian society, the concept of faith must be strengthened. After all, a year without toiling the land? How will we eat? Yet, the Sabbatical Year teaches us that God can provide us after all. Then why work? Because we have to set right that which we spoiled.

And, as Rebbe Nachman concludes, “If you believe you can spoil, then believe you can repair!” (Likutey Moharan II, 112).

Have a good week.

Chaim