Will Bring Him as a Burned Offering to His Will
About the verse, “will bring him as a burned offering to His will,” our sages said, “How is he coerced until he says ‘I want.’” We must also understand what we pray, “Let there be a will,” since more than the calf wants to eat, the cow wants to feed, so why do we need to pray, “Let there be a will above?”
It is known that in order to extend abundance from above, one must precede an awakening from below. We must understand why do we need an awakening from below, because of which we pray that there will be a will above. It means that we must arouse a desire from above to administer below.
It is not enough that we have a desire, but there has to be a good will on the part of the Giver too. Even though there is a general desire to do good to His creatures, He still awaits for our desire to awaken His desire.
In other words, if we are unable to arouse His desire, it is a sign that the desire on the part of the receiver is still incomplete. Hence, precisely by praying that there will be a will above, our desire is made to be a genuine desire, to be a fitting Kli (lit. Vessel) to receive the abundance.
At the same time, we must say that all that we do, both bad and good, everything extends from above (which is the meaning of Private Providence), that the Creator does everything. Yet, at the same time we must regret the bad deeds, though it too extends from above.
The mind necessitates that we must not regret, but justify the judgment, that we deserve the bad deeds. Nevertheless, it is to the contrary; we must regret not being permitted to do good deeds, which is certainly as a result of a punishment, meaning that we are unworthy of serving the King.
If every thing is guided, how can we say that we are unworthy, since there is no act below? Thus we are given bad thoughts and desires that distance us from the work of God, that we are not worthy of serving Him. For this reason there is a prayer that comes on that, that this is a place of correction to be worthy and capable of receiving the work of the King.
Now we can see how, if there is a prayer for some trouble, this trouble must have come as a punishment, and punishments must be corrections since there is a rule that the punishment is a correction. Thus, how do we pray to the Creator to take our corrections away?
Our sages say about the verse, “then thy brother should be dishonoured before thine eyes” etc. One must know that the prayer corrects a person even more than punishment. Thus, when prayer appears in a place of punishment, the affliction is lifted and the prayer is placed in its place, to correct the body.
This is the meaning of what our sages said, “Awarded, through the Torah; was not awarded, through affliction.” We must know that the path of Torah is a more successful way that yields more profit than the path of pain. This is because the Kelim (lit. Vessels) that will be fit to receive the Upper Light are broader, and can yield Dvekut (lit, Adhesion) with Him.
This is the meaning of, “He is coerced until he says, ‘I want.’” It means that the Creator says, “I want the deeds of the lower ones.”
The meaning of prayer is what our sages said, “The Creator craved the prayer of the righteous,” where by the prayer the Kelim are made fit for the Creator to later give the abundance, because there is a fit Kli to receive the abundance.