On the seventh day of Creation, after a step-by-step examination of one’s own egoistic qualities compared to the Creator’s bestowal, the person reaches the opportunity to bestow like the Creator.
The Self-Scrutiny during the First Six Days of Creation
All of man’s work, the reason for his existence, amounts to acquiring the qualities of the Creator, which are the qualities of bestowal. Man corrects himself through these qualities, and in the process of the correction he ascends along the spiritual ladder toward infinity and perfection, growing closer and closer to the Creator.
What were we doing over the course of the previous six days, the six degrees of correction? We were looking at our egoistic desires through the prism of the quality of bestowal. At every degree we compared ourselves to the Creator and saw that we still had a lot of work to do. In so doing, we seemingly delved into our “I.”
Working Towards Similarity with the Creator
A Kabbalist is someone who is connected to the spiritual world, who feels this connection very clearly.
His objective is to build himself similar to the Creator. He thinks of only one thing: “What can I do to make our communication pleasurable for Him, how do I change my egoistic desire into a desire to bestow? On this degree He is so pure and bestowing. I want to be like Him, and I know that He wants this, too. I cannot achieve this directly because in His Light I am exposed as a true egoist. I understand that this is my nature, so can I circumvent it?”
Following these thoughts, a person seemingly tells the Creator: “You were the One who created me this way, to receive pleasure, so what can I do to receive yet bestow at the same time? For in this lies the true, eternal pleasure for which You have created me, and not for the fleeting egoistic one. What can I do to delight You, like a son who wishes his father to be happy?”
Becoming Similar to the Creator by Changing the Intention
The answer lies in the question itself: To receive so as to give joy. How? By changing the intention. Instead of the typical self-serving intention, I need to form an intention whereby my actions delight the Creator. This is possible only if, at a particular degree you start to “see” Him. That is, you clearly feel the magnificence of the quality of bestowal, and the utter baseness and barrenness of the ego. If the Creator heeds your pleas and grants you this revelation, you will be able to change your intention.
You will desire to be in bestowal, realizing that there is no greater joy for the Creator than this. If that happens, it means that you have built a “screen.”
“What Is the Meaning of ‘the Seventh Day of Creation’ in the Bible?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.
