Chasidut к Кохелет 2:14

And our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “Anyone who learns not for its own sake, it would have been better for him if his placenta had been overturned” etc. (Kallah Rabbati 5.1); but another time they said, “A person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot, even if not for their own sake, since through [the performance of mitzvot] not for their own sake, [one] comes [to perform them] for their own sake” (Pesahim 50b). And we can understand this along these lines: for we can ask, how can you find the aspect of “not for its own sake” in the world, when the life-force of all things is the Torah — and who is it that gives life-force to the aspect of “not for its own sake?” But is it not the case that one learns not for its own sake on account of some evil characteristic, or because of human self-glorification or self-aggrandizement, or an account of desire for money and the like? And that is a characteristic of glorification that fell into brokenness; but its essence is glorification of the Creator and [God’s] desire. And this [person] took the glorification and desire for himself; but when he understands that this evolved from the Creator’s glorification, and from his love grasps onto the thing’s root and beginning — for The wise person has his eyes in his head as we have stated — we find that when he gathers the thought of desire and glorification into himself, he returns through it to its root, we find that he comes from the aspect of “not for its own sake” immediately to the aspect of “for its own sake.” And that means a person should always engage and teach himself that through “not for its own sake” he brings himself into “for its own sake.” But when he does not do this and remains in “not for its own sake” — that is when they said, “It would have been better for him” etc. Now, the Torah is called “light,” but the fool walks in darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:14), for he engages not for its own sake; but one who sites in darkness must kindle a light. And that is [the meaning of the verse], and darkness over the face of the deep, because he is immersed in worldliness and does not kindle the light of Torah; and on accont of this we find the aspect of “not for its own sake” in the world. Regarding this it says, And the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the waters, that through this one can return and bring oneself to the essential life-force and [God’s] Divinity as we have said.

The matter is that when Israel was in Egypt, the iron furnace, they were so clarified that after fifty days they were able to receive the Torah because of their bodies’ clarification. And because of this the Sea of Reeds needed to split for them so they could walk through the sea; this needed to be the order so that they could clarify more and more to the point that afterward, at the Giving of the Torah, our Sages of Blessed Memory said that their impurity ceased (Shabbat 146a). And they continued clarifying in this way, that the materiality continually diminished to the point that after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds they had clarified so much to the extent that they could receive Upper Life-Force without any garment, because of the clarification of their physical materiality. For the abundance flows from above according to the thickness or thinness of the recipient. And the life-force that comes from above is drawn by way of the speech that is fixed in a person’s mouth, as is known. Therefore immediately after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the passage of manna is stated, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that each person received Upper Life-Force without any garment, just Man eating the bread of the angels (Psalm 78:25). And by way of what will it be drawn? A day's portion [davar] every day, which is to say by way of the words [dibburim] that they speak from day to day in words of Truth and Torah, until after they have returned to their materiality and their physicality has thickened – therefore the flow descends from above garbed in several garments according to the power of the recipients. And if so, even today in the present there is the aspect of “manna,” but it comes by way of garments; for each person, his life-force is garbed in a vessel, each person according to his aspect, meaning the thing from which his sustenance comes. And the wise person has his eyes in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14) to understand that the Blessed Creator’s life-force is what is garbed in that thing, and [God] has contracted [God’s] self in that thing, and it is merely a vessel for the Upper Life-Force. Therefore Blessed God said to Moses, Take a jar, and put [an omer of manna in it,] and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations (Ex. 16:33), which is to say that since in the coming generations their physicality will thicken until they can only receive the life-force through a vessel – it needs to garb itself in the material vessel according to the recipients. And that is [the meaning of] Take a jar, which is to say a vessel, and put an omer of manna in it, which is to say manna, the life-force, is garbed within the vessel, which is the jar. And similarly today there is also the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and afterward the manna comes; for every day we recite the Song of the Sea, and one must imagine in his awareness as if he is reciting the Song at the Sea as in that time. And then it will truly cause the aspect of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds above, as is known, when he recites it with whole intention as is stated regarding this in the Holy Zohar. And afterward he receives life-force as we have said, each according to his aspect. Therefore the Shulhan Arukh wrote, “It is good to recite the passage of Manna” each day (Orah Hayyim 1.5), so that he will know that his sustenance comes from Upper Supervision, and understand this.