QUESTION:
Regarding the Rav’s sefer Bilvavi (Part One), is this an avodah for every individual, or does each person have a different avodah based on his own level?
ANSWER:
A: It is impossible to write one sefer that will work for every single individual. No such sefer can be written.
Q: If a person learns how to recognize himself better will he know which points he needs to work on?
A: Correct, exactly. The better a person recognizes himself, he can work in the particular order that’s needed for him. The words written in sefer Bilvavi are written very generally.
Q: The avodah which the Rav describes in Sefer Bilvavi, which was written two decades ago – is this the main avodah even in our current times? Or – as some people have asked the Rav lately, that there are souls of “Rochel” and souls of “Leah” who each have different paths, with some people who don’t have the patience for long paths, whereas other people are more designed for avodah? Has the avodah of the generation changed, or does it always remain the same?
A: The sefer was not written before 5760 (2000) but after that. So it was written in the last generation [which begins from 5760]. I want to emphasize that it is not the only way to serve Hashem. The words of the sefer have definitely taken on greater sharpness as time continues. The actual inner structure doesn’t change.
Q: If the time period we are in is a factor that changes what our current avodah must be, then do we need to be focused on something else now (other than the avodah in sefer Bilvavi), now that the “50th gate of impurity” is in the world?
A: This is a complicated point. On one hand, each person has their specific avodah. Each person today is found in a time period where the 50th gate of impurity is pulling the entire world into it. Before 20 years ago, we could say that a person can focus only on his own personal avodah, and the time period of the world wasn’t such an important factor. But in today’s times, if a person doesn’t halt himself from the flow of all that’s going on in the world, he will certainly end up chas v’shalom getting pulled to the other side. So we cannot ignore today the fact that we are found in a time where there is the 50th level of impurity which dominates in the world today. Any person today has to separate from the 50th level of impurity, as part of his avodah. It has to be. Along with this, one needs to continue his personal avodah that’s aligned with his particular soul. But he can’t ignore the fact that he is surrounded today in a bad environment, and therefore as part of his avodah, he has to go against this flow, so that it shouldn’t engulf his soul.
Q: If a person learns how to recognize himself better will he know which points he needs to work on?
A: Correct, exactly. The better a person recognizes himself, he can work in the particular order that’s needed for him. The words written in sefer Bilvavi are written very generally.
Q: The avodah which the Rav describes in Sefer Bilvavi, which was written two decades ago – is this the main avodah even in our current times? Or – as some people have asked the Rav lately, that there are souls of “Rochel” and souls of “Leah” who each have different paths, with some people who don’t have the patience for long paths, whereas other people are more designed for avodah? Has the avodah of the generation changed, or does it always remain the same?
A: The sefer was not written before 5760 (2000) but after that. So it was written in the last generation [which begins from 5760]. I want to emphasize that it is not the only way to serve Hashem. The words of the sefer have definitely taken on greater sharpness as time continues. The actual inner structure doesn’t change.
Q: If the time period we are in is a factor that changes what our current avodah must be, then do we need to be focused on something else now (other than the avodah in sefer Bilvavi), now that the “50th gate of impurity” is in the world?
A: This is a complicated point. On one hand, each person has their specific avodah. Each person today is found in a time period where the 50th gate of impurity is pulling the entire world into it. Before 20 years ago, we could say that a person can focus only on his own personal avodah, and the time period of the world wasn’t such an important factor. But in today’s times, if a person doesn’t halt himself from the flow of all that’s going on in the world, he will certainly end up chas v’shalom getting pulled to the other side. So we cannot ignore today the fact that we are found in a time where there is the 50th level of impurity which dominates in the world today. Any person today has to separate from the 50th level of impurity, as part of his avodah. It has to be. Along with this, one needs to continue his personal avodah that’s aligned with his particular soul. But he can’t ignore the fact that he is surrounded today in a bad environment, and therefore as part of his avodah, he has to go against this flow, so that it shouldn’t engulf his soul.
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