כשם שצריכים להעלות את המחשבות והמידות הנפולות, שהרע והכיעור ניכר בהן, למקור שרשן בקודש, שאז רואים שהן הנן באמת מחשבות נשגבות ומידות טובות, כן צריך לרומם את המחשבות שהן כשרות, אלא שהן עומדות בתחתית המדרגה, שהרע והתוהו מחובר עמן אף על פי שהן פונות לקדושה, אל רום המעלה של האצילות האידיאלית, שהיא מכוונת רק אל הטוב הגמור והישרנות המוחלטת, עד שההתרוממות הולכת וגדילה עד העולם העליון, שהקודש הטהור מושל בו בגבורתו.
Just as [we] must elevate [our] fallen thoughts and traits in which evil and ugliness may be discerned to the source of their root in holiness, where we see that they are really exalted thoughts and good traits, so too must [a person] lift up [his] thoughts that are decent but that stand at the lowest level – where evil and chaos are united with them, even though they face holiness. [He must lift them up] to the most elevated level of the ideal sublime – [a state of being that] is directed only toward total goodness and absolute straightness – until the uplifting [of these decent thoughts] grows and [reaches] the supernal world, over which pure holiness rules in its might.
1. We have to fix our thoughts. That is a chiddush for some b/c our society only insists on proper actions but what goes on in one's mind is one's personal business and no real metric of one's moral and ethical standing.
This is not to the Torah view. We MUST fix our thoughts as they impact not only ourselves and who awe are intrinsically but also impact the entire world and the entire cosmos.
2. First - negative thoughts. For example - תאוות נשים. We get to the root of the thought which could really be a desire to be eternal [as we have discussed in the past and will hopefully also discuss in the future] and discard the impure husk of the תאווה. Or maybe it is about wanted to feel loved, accepted and connected. So again, we discard the unclean part of the raw desire and connect to what is pure which is a desire to fuse with another human being in the holiest way. Also, תאוות ממון. This can stem from numerous sources. For example - the desire for security. That is healthy b/c as human beings we NEED security. The Torah teaches that our ONLY security is in Hashem. [Source - Countless psukim....]. So we discard our excessive desire for wealth and seek security that is real and meaningful.
3. Then there are the thoughts which are an admixture of good and bad. Those must be rectified as well to the point where they are completely pure and holy!!!
