Ratzon: The Power of Desire

Translated and adapted from a talk given in Tsfat, 5760/2000
Based on Likutei Halachot, Arev, Halacha 3
 

Ratzon, Part 1

The Baal Shem Tov greatly praised the spiritual level of his daughter, Udel, since all day long, her heart was directed Above – her only yearning and desire was to please G-d. Every Jew should seek to attain this high level, that his or her heart be constantly directed toward G-d in order to please Him.

The foundation of our Divine service is ratzon – will or desire. Our ratzon to come close to G-d and to please Him always should be strong. Although in general we may desire to do what G-d asks of us in this world, not all desires are equal. In a matter of a few minutes, we may experience tremendous differences and distinctions in our ratzon. Nonetheless, the guiding principle is constantly to desire and yearn for G-d.

Reb Noson says that it is impossible to describe in writing the greatness of our ratzon and yearning to do the Will of G-d. He explains that the entire reason the soul is compelled to descend from the upper worlds into this physical world is only for the sake of ratzon. Only here can we merit to attain complete and perfect desire.

G-d wants the Jewish people to receive the true complete good. Since the ultimate good is to attain the level of perfect ratzon, the soul must be coerced to come here in order to attain a strong desire for G-d. The farther away from the object of love, the greater one's desire. For example, while a son is with his father, even though his love is very strong, we cannot say that he desires and yearns for his father, since he is right next to him. But when the son travels away from his father, then he begins to miss him. The farther away the son is from his father, the stronger his yearning and desire. This is why the soul must leave her elevated place to enter this material world. It is only here, in a world of free choice, that the soul may achieve completion and perfection of ratzon. When we overcome the spiritual distance and arouse our inner desire for serving G-d, then precisely through this, we perfect our souls.

The soul, the neshama, is "hewn from beneath the Heavenly Throne." She constantly yearns for her root, and longs to be connected to her source. Reb Noson discusses at length the concept of a "soul root." He explains that the souls of the Jewish people have a uniquely exalted origin. This is the place of the Upper Will and Desire that the Zohar calls "Desire of Desires." Every Jewish soul comes from there, and ultimately every soul returns there. It all depends upon ratzon.

Material Desires

There are, however, many other desires that a person confronts while living in the world. Reb Noson writes that this is all for the best, since a spark of G-dliness may be found within all profane desires, as well. When we find those Divine sparks, we elevate the profane desires in which they were hidden to the realm of the holy.

Moreover, without material desires, we would be overwhelmed by our innate desire for G-d – we wouldn't want to be here at all. The desire of the soul to return to her source is so all-consuming that existence within a body would be impossible even for a short time. Therefore, G-d created us with a need to sustain ourselves through eating and drinking. This allows the soul to exist in the body, despite its innate and intense desire for G-d. Food attracts a person: the taste, sight, and smell of food stimulate the desire to eat. If there were no pleasing smell, taste, and appearance, we would be disgusted by our food. Therefore, G-d created these characteristics.

The fallen "holy sparks" that the world contains originated in the Ratzon HaElyon, the Supernal Will of the Creator. If a person wants to use everything according to the Divine Will, then he or she will eat and drink according to the requirements of the Torah. This means eating only permitted food and making the proper blessings before and after eating. The "fallen" desire is then elevated to its holy root. Therefore, the fact that we have a desire or craving for material things is ultimately for the best, since it enables the world to exist and provides us with an opportunity to engage in acts of Divine service. This is all the Will of G-d, and a wondrous thing.

The Mitzvot and Desire

These are deep concepts that form the basis of Judaism. G-d created everything according to His Will and Desire, and there is nothing that obligates Him. The Arizal states that preceding Creation, there was only G-d's Infinite Light, called the Ohr Ein Sof. It then arose in the Divine "thought" to create the world. It is known that the souls of the Jewish people preceded the world: G-d first created their souls, and afterwards He created all the worlds for their sake (Likutei Moharan I: 17 and I:52). The Ein Sof is the source of ratzon, G-d's Will and Desire, and this ratzon is clothed within all of the details of Creation.

Reb Noson explains that it was out of G-d's chesed, loving-kindness, that He gave us the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. The mitzvot purposefully involve material things. The essence of every mitzvah is that it is an articulation of the Creator's Will. For example, He desired that the seventh day be the Sabbath, and that we observe the Sabbath according to the laws written in the Torah. Since the 613 mitzvot are an expression of G-d's chesed, loving-kindness, through their observance we can experience G-d's love and desire for us, His people. In this light, we can understand that the Torah and mitzvot were not given in order to make our lives burdensome. Rather, the opposite is true. We should rejoice in them, since G-d gave them to the Jewish people in order to benefit us. When we believe in G-d and fulfill His mitzvot, we can experience G-d's ratzon, as it were; then our desire to come closer to G-d will be awakened. Thus, all physical desires can be repaired and elevated to their Source.

However, because desire is clothed in physical things as well, the Other Side, the realm of unholiness, has a hold upon them. Therefore, a person needs to be very careful not to fall into selfishness and physical desire. If he does, he creates a blemish in the Ratzon D'Kedushah, Holy Desire. This is why it is important to make do with a minimum of material things in this world, in order to prevent blemishing Holy Desire. Through simplicity and wholeheartedness, a person can fulfill G-d's Will even through physical things, by using them according to the laws of the Torah. If one acts against the Will of the Creator, G-d forbid, by utilizing the material world outside of a Torah framework, then the forces of unholiness can have a hold on the physical things. A person then can be distanced tremendously from G-d. One needs to be very careful about falling into physical desires and blemishing Holy Desire, Ratzon D'Kedushah, the spiritual place of origin for which the soul yearns.

Anger, too, flows from one's blemished desires. When we are worthy to elevate all our desires to G-d's ratzon, then we live in tranquility, without anger or jealousy. We know that if G-d wants to give us something, He will give it; if He gives it to someone else, this, too, is His Desire. With this awareness, we can experience all of the other person's pleasure and happiness without jealousy. Hate, anger, and jealousy all come from blemished desire.

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Reprinted with kind permission of the Breslov Center, www.nachalnovea.com.