"If you do well, shall you not be accepted"

Synopsis

If a person does not constantly elevate himself during his spiritual journey, he actually begins regressing. As if we were standing still on a downward escalator, making no effort forward allows us to be carried backwards. In these passages we receive the Light that will help us always strive for greater heights.

Abel Death Death and the Afterlife Lights Well

339. "If you do well, shall you not be accepted (also: 'raised')" (Beresheet 4:7). These words have already been explained. The word "raised" means, as Rabbi Aba explained, that you will ascend toward the upper rather than descend. THIS MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD RETURN THE LIGHTS FROM BELOW UPWARD AND STOP DRAWING THEM DOWNWARD FROM ABOVE, WHICH WAS HOW ABEL WAS KILLED. Rabbi Yosi said that this explanation, which had just been put forward, WAS NOVEL, but good. But I have heard that "raised" MEANS "REMOVAL" AND "PARDON," AS THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, SAID TO HIM, "IF YOU DO WELL, that cleavage to the unclean spirit will be undone, and you shall be forgiven."

339. הָלֹא אִם תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת, כְּמָה דְאִתְּמָר. אֲבָל שְׂאֵת, כִּדְאֲמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא, שְׂאֵת: תִּסְתַּלַּק לְעֵילָא, וְלָא תֵיחוֹת לְתַתָּא. אֲמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַאי מִלָּה הַשְׁתָּא אִתְּמָר, וְיָאוּת הוּא. אֲבָל הָכֵי שְׁמַעְנָא, שְׂאֵת: יְסַלַּק מִינָךְ, וְיִשְׁבּוֹק לָךְ, אִתְדַּבְּקוּתָא דָא, דְּרוּחַ מְסָאֲבָא.

Adam Aramaic Door Gates Judgment Sin Well

340. Rabbi Yosi quoted, "and if you do not well, sin crouches at the door" (Ibid.). AND HE THEN ASKS: "which door?" It is the upper Judgment, THE JUDGMENT OF MALCHUT, which is the doorway open to all, as it is written: "open to me the gates of righteousness" (Tehilim 118:19). ACCORDING TO THE ARAMAIC TRANSLATION, the words "sin crouches" MEAN THAT THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, SAID TO ADAM, that the side to which you clung and which you have drawn upon yourself lies in wait for you and will exact punishment from you.

340. וְאִי לָא, לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רוֹבֵץ. מַאי לַפֶּתַח, דָּא דִינָא עִלָּאָה, דְּאִיהוּ פִּתְחָא דְכֹלָּא. כד"א פִּתְחוּ לִי שַׁעֲרֵי צֶדֶק. חַטָּאת רוֹבֵץ. הַהוּא סִטְרָא דְּאִתְדַּבְּקַת בֵּיהּ, וְאִתְמַשְׁכַת עֲלָךְ, יְהֵא נָטִיר לָךְ, לְאִתְפְּרָעָא מִנָּךְ, כְּתַרְגּוּמָא.