Fixing Your Earth [Laziness] - 009 Difficulty With Finishing

דע את מידותיך – הדרכה מעשית – עפר-עצלות מפורט 009 – עפר דרוח דעפר

 Earth-of-Wind-of-Earth: Difficulty With Starting and Finishing

With siyata d’shmaya we continue to learn about the element of earth and its resulting trait, laziness. Now we will learn about laziness that stems from “wind”-of-earth. We will begin with earth-of-wind-of-earth.

The element of earth, in general, is the root of laziness. Wind-of-earth is the root of movement which results from such laziness [i.e. slowed movement]. Earth-of-wind-of-earth is when one begins with laziness\earth and ends with earth\laziness, with an intermediate stage of wind\movement.

Chazal state, “All beginnings are difficult.”[1] There is a difficulty when it comes to starting anything, and that’s one kind of difficulty. Another kind of difficulty is in finishing something. When a person starts something, he may have difficulty in finishing it.

The difficulty in beginning something comes from the element of earth, which weighs a person down and causes him to be lazy, so he doesn’t want to make any changes. The difficulty in ending something, though, is because a person needs strength to put a stop to something. We see that even in the physical world, in order to put a stop to something and bring it to halt, strength must be applied. When it comes to the soul as well, there is a need for inner strength in order to finish anything.

Thus, a person finds it difficult to begin something, due to the element of earth in the soul, and Chazal refer to this as “All beginnings are difficult”, and it can also be difficult for a person to finishing what he started, which is also a use of the element of earth. In between the beginning and end is the movements and actions a person will take to try to finish what he has begun, and this is the “wind” aspect. So he is working in an order of earth, then wind, and then earth. Thus, when a person has difficulty starting and finishing, his laziness stems from earth-of-wind-of-earth.

When a person finishes learning a tractate of Gemara, there is a custom to say, “Just as I merited to begin other tractates and sefarim, and to finish them.”[2] This shows us that there is a difficulty in beginning as well as finishing.

At the beginning of Creation, man was created on the sixth day and he sinned already on the first day, and then he received the curse, “You are earth, and to earth you shall return.” The Creation began with difficulty, with the element of earth. This brings out the depth of “All beginnings are difficult.” There is also difficulty at the “end” of Creation, which immediately precedes the period of Redemption.  At the end of this 6,000 year exile, there are difficulties, which herald the redemption. This exile is long and drawn out, “all of the ends [the ideal times for the redemption] have finished”, and Mashiach still hasn’t come yet. We acknowledge that there is difficulty in ‘getting to the finish line’ of this exile.

Thus, there is difficulty at both the beginning and end of Creation. All of the years in between the beginning and end of Creation, which lasts for 6000 years, are the middle point in between the beginning and end. This intermediate stage, is like one big movement of wind, in between the “earth” at the beginning of Creation (the difficulty of beginnings) and the “earth” at the end of Creation (the difficulty of getting to the end).

Here in this lesson, we will focus more on the difficulty of finishing, and less with the difficulty of beginning.

The Difficulty In Finishing – When One Wants To Get It Done Already

The depth of why a person has difficulty in finishing something is because the earth in the soul makes a person want to speed up the process of working at something, so that it can be over with already. On one hand, a person has a difficulty with finishing, and at the same time, a person also wants to finish it already. What is the result? The person gains nothing, and he remains in the middle of his work.

The nature of earth causes a person to want to finish, when it is unrealistic to do so. When a person wants to finish something very quickly, most of the time, even if he gets it done, he hasn’t really finished it. He is trying to bring a quick finish to something, when really he needs more time to finish. Often when a person tries to finish something already, he will get stuck before he does so.

In a different scenario, a person wants to get something done already so he performs very quickly in order to get it done. But many times, there can be a different scenario: The person is not acting quickly to get it done already, but he has difficulty in finishing and therefore he remains stuck in the middle of his work. Because he gets stuck, he never really gets started.

If a person gets things done quickly, his “wind” is pushing his earth to move. But many times, a person might be moving to get something done, yet he doesn’t finish, and he remains in middle of his work. This is impaired use of the element of earth.

When the element of earth is repaired, his earth can ‘carve’ things in place and keep it there. When one’s earth is impaired, the result can be compared to a miscarriage. When a person doesn’t finish something, he has not really done it. It is a broken act, and whatever he did so far was like gathering air. Chazal state that “Melachah, an act of work, is defined by its end.” The end of a person’s act says it all. When a person doesn’t get to the end, his actions are broken up, interrupted, and incomplete. When a person doesn’t finish things, not only doesn’t he do it, but his work is broken up and he has done nothing except gathered air.

Repairing Earth-of-Wind-of-Earth

What is the root of the remedy to this nature?

1) Working Your Way Backwards - It is well-known that Reb Elchonon spoke with the Chofetz Chaim about the difficulty his yeshiva students were having in finishing the tractate they were learning. The Chofetz Chaim suggested that they should begin from the end of the tractate and work their way backwards.

This is because when you start from the end point, you don’t have the fear of trying to get to the end, because you have already seen the end. This is one way to deal with the difficulty of finishing – by starting from the finishing point, you lessen the difficulty of getting to the end.

2 – Chartering A Path (Tahalich)

a) Step By Step - An additional way to deal with this issue is by “chartering a path (tahalich)”. When you begin a tractate of Gemara, you traverse a certain path until you get to the end.

How do you traverse your way through? One way is to look at the entire tractate as one big structure, one long path, with many steps in between to take, until one finally gets to the end. When will a person encounter the end? Only at the end.

b) Gaining A General View - An alternative way of traversing your way through, is to gain a general view of the entire path from beginning until end, so that you are already glimpsing the end even at the start. Try to see all the way from beginning until the end, as much as you can, according to your own level of understanding.  

However, when one takes this approach, it might awaken fear and laziness, because the person may be overwhelmed when he sees the whole path from beginning until end. He may not want to begin at all. Even more so, he will only meet the end point only at the end itself, so it is difficult until then. Yet, if he doesn’t focus on getting to the end and he is only concerned with the details that he meets on the way there, he is being small-minded, by getting caught up in the details and losing sight of the goal. He will never get to the end in this way.

Integrating The “Step By Step” and “General” View Together

Instead, one needs an integration of these two views. He needs to know the general path from beginning until end, as well the details and steps in between. In this way, at each step of the way, he is found both in the beginning and in the end. In every step, he meets up with both the beginning and end. He won’t only meet up with the end at the end - instead, he meets the end throughout every step of his way. He will see each detail as part of a greater whole.

This is a deep perspective of how to view everything in Creation.

In different terminology, to focus on the general view is called “kelalus”, whereas focusing on the details is called “peratus”. Chazal also refer to these two different abilities as the views of chochmah and binah. But when a person sees details, either a person can see the details themselves, without seeing how they are part of a bigger picture – which is the small-minded view – or, he can see the details as being part of a greater picture, which is the more mature-minded view. Chochmah is the view of kelalus, and binah is the view of peratus. One needs to integrate these two views together, seeing the details as part of a greater whole.

An example of this is Sefiras Ha’Omer. Either we can see each day of the Omer separately, or we can focus on the totality of Sefiras Ha’Omer, which lasts 49 days. The integrated view is to see each day of the Omer as being part of the greater whole of Sefiras Ha’Omer. The example of Sefiras Ha’Omer shows us how to see each detail as being part of a greater whole, so that we keep meeting up with the end even at the start, as well throughout each step of the way. In this way, whenever one wants to finish working on or understanding a particular detail, and he is having difficulty, he should see it as part of a greater whole. This is a subtle ability of the soul.

4) Taking Apart The End - There is also another way to deal with the difficulty of finishing: by taking apart the end itself, to see what reaching the end itself will entail. This makes it easier to get to the end, after one has taken it apart.

To illustrate, one of the 39 forbidden melachos on Shabbos is makeh b’patish, the final-hammer blow. What does this transgression entail? It is an argument of the Rishonim, if it is one blow or if it takes several blows. The Meiri and other Rishonim hold that it takes several blows to transgress makeh b’patish. It is not just one act, but a combination of several acts. Thus, even an end of act contains several parts, until it can happen.

The idea we want to take out of this is that one can take apart the end itself, seeing the various parts that the end consists of, and in this way, he can more easily get to the end. Practically speaking, he should split up the end point itself into several parts, and in this way, he knows what reaching the end will entail. It is then easier for him to get to the end, now that he knows what to expect.

Working Your Way Backwards: Starting From The End

An additional way is to begin from the end, as mentioned in the beginning. Now we will explain the depth of this.

There are two different “paths” in Creation – the path of seder, orderliness, and the path of dilug, skipping. Generally, the path that we need traverse, in this current era, is seder. There is an orderly approach to everything, and we have to take certain steps in order to get anywhere, following the order. But there is also a concept of skipping. This will be the situation of the Redemption, which will “skip” towards us in an unpredictable manner.

When it is necessary to use the power of dilug? Whenever we are having difficulty getting to an end, we can use the path of dilug. To try to get to the end, step after step, can prove to be too difficult, with no end in sight.

On a more collective level, this is the situation of the end of our exile, where we need to get to the era of the Redemption. Since the Redemption is an era of skipping levels, we will need to “skip” towards it, as opposed to trying to follow certain steps to get there. Through dilug, we can “jump” past all of the difficult stages in between, and go straight to the end point.

The Depth of Overcoming The Difficulty In Finishing: Recognizing That Only Hashem Has The Power To Finish

And the truth is that we cannot get to the end, whenever we start from the beginning. The Sages say that “The task is not upon you to complete.”[3] We really cannot finish anything! It is simply not within our human power. Only from Heavenly assistance can we get to the end.

Therefore, the depth behind the difficulty in finishing is because we really cannot get to the end on our own. So it is not just a difficulty, it is humanly impossible, to finish anything.

Any of the ways mentioned previously, in how to deal with the difficulty in finishing, involve our logical thinking and planning. Either a person sees the details as part of a greater whole, and that is how he gets to the end, or he takes the apart the end itself and makes it easier for himself to get to the end. These are approaches within our logic and within our own power to do. But now we are using a higher approach, which does not come from within our own power.

We cannot get to the end of anything because only “Hashem is the Last”, which means that only Hashem can finish things. We also cannot begin on our own, because only “Hashem is the First”. We cannot begin, nor can we end, on our own. All that we can do, as human beings, is to do all of the work in between the end. Hashem created the world and made it begin, and He will bring the end through the Redemption. Our entire avodah is the 6000 year period in between the beginning and the end. But the powers of beginning and finishing are entirely Hashem’s domain.

This is also the depth behind why “All beginnings are difficult”. It is because we do not have the power on our own to begin anything, for only Hashem can create beginnings. The simple reason of the difficulty in beginning, as we mentioned earlier, is because the element of earth weighs a person down and prevents him from making any changes to his situation, so he finds it hard to begin anything. But the deeper reason is because only Hashem can begin, and people are not able to begin on their own.

Thus, the difficulty in finishing something is not only due to the impaired element of earth. One certainly needs to repair his element of earth as well, in order to overcome the difficulty in finishing things, simply speaking. He can do so using the methods before that were mentioned, such as seeing each detail as part of a greater whole, etc. That is the elementary level. But the deeper part of the avodah, when it comes to overcoming the difficulty of finishing things, is to realize that we cannot reach the end on our own, because it is not within or human ability to do so.

Choosing “Yediah” Over “Bechirah”

To understand this on a deeper level, it is because there are two levels of bechirah, our power to choose.  There is simple bechirah, to choose between doing good and bad, and there is a deeper level of bechirah, which is to “choose not to choose” - to return our power of bechirah to Hashem, by letting Him take over and decide for us. It is also called “choosing yediah (Higher Knowledge) over bechirah (free will). You can “choose not to choose”, and to instead decide that only Hashem is choosing.

Before the sin, Adam had the higher level of bechirah, to choose yediah over bechirah. His avodah was not to simply choose between good and evil, but to choose between letting Hashem decide, where there is no possibility of evil, or choosing to let himself decide. After the sin, bechirah is mainly about on our own choice between good and evil.

We have the avodah now to return to the level of before the sin and to choose yediah over bechirah, meaning to let Hashem choose. Therefore, whenever a person is having difficulty in getting to the finish, he should “choose” to recognize that only Hashem can let him finish.

The Gemara says that in the era preceding Mashiach, “We have no one to rely on, except for our Father in Heaven”.[4] The depth behind this is because in order to make the transition from our era of exile into the era of Mashiach, where there will be no more bechirah, we must “choose” to want to live in such an era, where there is yediah rather than bechirah – where we are letting Hashem take over and decide, so that there is no possibility of contending with any evil in the first place. In this way, we have the avodah to “choose” that we cannot finish things on our own, and that only Hashem can do it.

This is the depth of how to repair the difficulty in finishing things. The element of earth causes a person to dislike change, because earth is about permanence. The power of bechirah is essentially the struggle between the soul and the body (or, in different terms, the struggle between the Divine soul, the neshamah, and the “animal soul”, the nefesh habehaimis, which is “partners” with the physical body, the guf). The element of earth essentially causes a person to remain in his lower level bechirah and to not want to choose the higher level of bechirah.

This is deeper way to understand the difficulty of finishing: A person’s element of earth weighs him down and prevents him from choosing the higher level bechirah. One must want the era of Mashiach, where there is no evil. He must want a situation in which there is no possibility of doing evil. This is the challenge upon a person, because a person doesn’t want to part with his power bechirah, besides for not wanting to part with his “I”. He wants to remain with his current state, where he has the power on his own to choose between good and evil.

The redemption, which will change the current state of the world where there is bechirah, and transform it into a world of yediah over bechirah, is like the element of wind. It will come suddenly, just as the wind appears suddenly. That is the antithesis to the element of earth, which stays the same and which is predictable.

So there is a deep avodah upon a person to choose higher level bechirah, of wanting Hashem to take over his decisions. One needs to be prepared to change his bechirah level, and allow Hashem’s view to take over, in which there is no possibility of struggling with evil. In order for a person to attain it, he needs to agree, deep in his soul, that he is returning his power of bechirah to Hashem, to let Hashem decide.

This is the depth of what is written, “I am the First and I am the Last”,[5] which will be revealed at the redemption.  At the end, we will return to the way things were in the beginning, where there was only Hashem’s will, with no possibility of evil. The more a person becomes aware of this concept, the more he will receive the power to finish things – not from his own power, of course, but from the power of Hashem, because he recognizes that “Hashem is the First, and Hashem is the Last”.