Tomer Devorah

Chapter 6 - How a person can accustom himself with the trait of severity (gevurah): Know that all actions of the arousal of the evil impulse truly arouse the strong severities. Hence he should not activate his evil impulse, so that he not arouse Severity. And the explanation is that a man is created with two impulses - the good impulse and the evil impulse, this is Kindness and that is Severity. However they explained in the Zohar in Parshat Bereishit (p. 49a) that the good impulse was created for the man himself for his need, and the evil impulse was created for the need of his wife. See how sweet are its words - Splendor, which is the husband of Kindness inclines to the right; and all of His actions are with the right, the good impulse. And the Female (Kingship) is to the left and all of Its actions are with Severity. If so, it is fitting not to arouse the evil impulse for his own sake; as he so arouses the Highest Man in Severity and destroys the world. If so, any traits that a man arouses for himself that are from the side of severity harms the Highest Man. And from this, he should see how disgraceful anger and anything like it is - as it intensifies the harsh severities. Indeed, the evil impulse must be tied and bound, that it not arouse any action in the world, from the actions of his body - not for the desire for intercourse, nor for the desire for money, and not from the angle of anger and the angle of honor at all.

However for the need of his wife, he [should] gently arouse his [evil] impulse from the side of the sweetened severities, such as to clothe her [and] to arrange a house for her. And he [should] say, "Behold, with that which I am clothing [my wife], I am repairing the Divine Presence" - as it is adorned by Understanding, which is Severity that contains all of the severities, but they are sweetened by Her many mercies. Hence, all the arrangements of the house are arrangements (reparations) of the Divine Presence, which is sweetened from the evil impulse that was created to do the will of its Maker and nothing else. Hence, a man [should] not intend any pleasure of anything for himself; but when his wife enjoys a pleasant residence [from] him, he [should] intend [it] for the reparation of the Divine Presence which is repaired by the good severities of the left, from which there is wealth and honor. And from this angle, he [should] arouse his evil impulse for Her love, and then intend towards the left that is aroused, to bring it close with the secret of "His left is under my head" (Song of Songs 8:3): At first, he only connects from the side of the left, and afterwards - "and with his right, he embraces me" - he [should] intend to sweeten all of those reparations with his good impulse and to actually repair Her, to have Her rejoice in the matter of a commandment for the sake of the Highest unification. Behold, he [thus] sweetens all of the severities and repairs them with the right. And in this way [should] all desires coming from the side of the evil impulse be primarily for the arrangements of his wife, whom God has shown to him to be his helpmate. And he [should] transform all of them afterwards to the service of God, to connect them with the right [side].