Nefesh haChayim Gate 1 - 002 The Will of Hashem

 נפש החיים 002 שער א פרק ב

1] The Nefesh HaChaim (Shaar 1, Perek 2) writes that Hashem is called Elokim, which means the “all-capable Being.” Simply speaking, this means that Hashem encompasses every possible strength that we recognize.

However, this needs understanding: Of what relevance is to our avodah if Hashem is all-capable? Is it just another facet to our belief, and it has no relevance to our own avodah? If we look at it like that, then we can compare this to someone learning Hilchos Chanukah during the year; he’s learning it to know about Chanukah, but it has no relevance to him during the rest of the year…

This is a superficial perspective! The fact that Hashem is called Elokim is not just another random piece of knowledge; it is not just another part in our belief. It is something that shapes our attitude towards life! It is practically relevant, for every day of our lives! It’s l’maaseh (to be practiced)!

2] After explaining what the meaning of Elokim is [that Hashem is all-capable], the Nefesh HaChaim continues that because Hashem is all-capable, He created everything from nothing, and He continues to sustain it as long as He wills so. A human cannot build anything unless he has raw material to start out with, while Hashem built everything from scratch.

What needs to be understood here is: What does the original time in Creation have to do with our current Creation? When we look at the sky, isn’t it the same sky that Hashem originally made at the beginning of Creation? Yet, the Nefesh HaChaim tells us that it’s not! The sky you see now is not the same sky at the beginning of Creation, because Hashem keeps renewing Creation!

In addition, the Nefesh HaChaim says, Hashem keeps renewing Creation through His will. Hashem wants Creation every second to stay, and that is what enables Creation to keep existing. In contrast, humans cannot do this. If a human being wants something to last, that won’t make it last. Humans do not have the power of Hashem, who can sustain things with His mere will.

But we can ask: What difference does it make in our avodah if Hashem is constantly desiring to sustain Creation? What difference does it make to us that the current sky is not the same sky as in the original act of Creation?

It is because if I look at the sky and I think it’s the same sky that Hashem made at the beginning of Creation, then I am simply identifying that it is Hashem’s creation. But if I realize that the sky I see is not the same sky as the original sky of Creation, and that it is constantly being re-created through Hashem’s will – then I am connecting myself to Hashem’s will.

Therefore, the Nefesh HaChaim continues, we have to see Creation as the continuous will of Hashem that is allowing it to go on. Otherwise, we just view Creation with a superficial perspective - that it is simply Hashem’s Creation and nothing more than that. The true perspective to have on Creation is that everything is surviving only because Hashem wants it to.

3] Man is created in the image of G-d. Now we attain greater understanding in this concept: that the root of our will is coming from Hashem’s will. Therefore, it is not simply that man has to do what Hashem wants – rather, it is that man has to get his own will to reflect Hashem’s will. We should want that our very will should be what Hashem wants. As the Mishnah in Avos states, “Make your will into His will.”

If we have this perspective, then we can see how everything in Creation serves to reveal the will of Hashem. This deeper perspective is not something that comes from our own human perspective, but rather, a viewpoint from Hashem’s will. It is to see everything through the viewpoint of Hashem’s will.

4] However, the various retzonos (desires) that we have are getting in the way of seeing Hashem’s will. Even people who want to do the will of Hashem find it very hard, and there are many people who want to know, “What does Hashem want me to do…?” yet they can’t figure out what Hashem wants from them. We cannot label this as an incorrect mentality to have in life, but when a person thinks like this, he doesn’t develop his soul.

The truer perspective to have is that we must perform all our actions with the mentality that Hashem’s will is our will. It’s not that a person has to get overcome his own will for Hashem’s will; it is rather that his very will should be only to do Hashem’s will.

This is why the Nefesh HaChaim tells us that Hashem is all-capable, and that He sustains everything with His ratzon. It is because we have to see how everything is run by Hashem’s will – and therefore, in our own avodah, all that we should want is what Hashem wants.