The Zohar Will Do Everything

learningtolearn A question I received: How will The Zohar affect our unification in anticipation of the worldwide virtual Congress and other such meetings?

My Answer: The Zohar will do everything. We just need to add our intention and desire to see ourselves in a more advanced state. The Zohar will perform this work, but only according to our desire.

You can’t just sit there and read this book, even though the fact is that it will affect you by just reading it as well. If you come to a lesson and see that you have no desire – that your heart and mind are deaf, then you will still receive this influence, since you are sitting among everyone else and are connected to them. Even if you are unable to connect to the friends now, you still have a connection with them from past days, like a sick person in an unconscious state who is cared for by other people since he is human.

However, in any case, we have to try our hardest to place ourselves under the influence of The Zohar.

All The Corrections Happens By Virtue Of Righteous Women

What Does the New Year Hold In Store for Us A question I received: Yesterday we held a worldwide women’s conference which was devoted to women’s spiritual development and questions of upbringing and education of the younger generation. What would you say to a woman studying Kabbalah to help her implement Kabbalah in the world?

My Answer: I am very happy that this gathering took place. I was also happy to have the opportunity to speak to women there. I have always said, and I continue to reiterate, that spiritual advancement is impossible without women. Whenever the Torah tells a story about a man, it always mentions the word “Et,” which refers to his female desire, Nukvah. That’s because without a woman, Nukvah, the Shechina, the desire, there is nothing we can accomplish.

We always talk about the Light, but it has to have a place to come and clothe into. This is why women’s desires, their connection with the science of Kabbalah, and their participation are so important. I really hope that even more women will come to Kabbalah and take part in the process of the world’s correction. Then we can be sure that the correction will really happen, and happen quickly.

It is written that the nation of Israel came out of Egypt by virtue of the righteous women. The same is true for all the corrections, and the same was written about the reception of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai. Whenever men accomplish great deeds in the world, they do it because women obligate them to do it.

Therefore, I hope that this will happen to all of us together and that we will hold many more such meetings and many more women will attend in order to help all of us and to fulfill this holy work together of revealing the Creator to all the people in the world.

The Creator Hears A Woman’s Desire

What is True Prayer Nukvah (the female desire) receives everything from Zeir Anpin (her husband), including the Light of Correction that turns her into a vessel (Kli) at night, and the Light of Fulfillment that fills her when she attains the state of adulthood and receives Light for the sake of bestowal, a state called day. The daylight hours are different states when she receives Light for the sake of bestowal to varying degrees.

Time is a change of illumination inside Nukvah, depending on her ability to unite with Zeir Anpin and the amount of Light of Correction that she receives from him. Time is the stages of Nukvah’s correction, which she must gradually go through. Nukvah does not determine what stage she is going through, but only the rate at which the changes take place.

Morning is always followed by afternoon, and afternoon is followed by evening, and then by night. This order is impossible to change. However, the rate of how quickly these states will come to replace one another depends only on her request (Hitaruta de-Letata – “awakening from below). Nothing will come from Above unless she desires it.

This is the law operating in the spiritual world, governing the relationships of the Upper Level with the lower level, the Creator and the creation. And we observe the same thing in our world. It seems to us that the male desire rules the world, but in reality, everything is determined by the woman’s desire. It is her desire that causes all the changes in the world.

She Who Rises Up From The Desert

What Is Sin In Kabbalah The Zohar: “Who is that rising from the desert like pillars of smoke?” (Song of Songs), at the time when Israel walked across the desert.

A person on the spiritual path goes through states of darkness, emptiness and various problems, and he must constantly rise above all of this by acquiring the quality of bestowal.

The Shechina walked ahead of them, and they followed it.

If a person asks for help so he will have something to follow, and if he chooses to follow the Creator instead of his egoistic nature, then he sees a “pillar of fire” and “clouds of greatness” – signs that help him ascend up the spiritual ladder.

“The Shechina walked ahead of them” means that their only thought was about how to unite together into one gathering of souls, called Schechina.

The Shechina walked accompanied by all the clouds of greatness. And when the Shechina ascended, so did Israel, as it is written, “When the cloud rose above Sinai.”

When the Shechina ascended, the cloud rose to the highest peak. And all those inhabiting the world saw and wondered, “Who is that rising from the desert, like pillars of smoke?”

The desires that are able to follow the Shechina do so. And those that aren’t yet able to follow her are called “the nations of the world.” However, they also receive a revelation, and when everyone ascends, these desires also advance with them.

This is how a person advances by clarifying which desires within him are called “Israel” (straight to the Creator), “the nations of the world” (the desires that he is unable to correct for now), “Klipot” (desires that are completely unfit for correction until the end of all corrections). A person continuously sorts his desires and sacrifices them, causing the sacrificial smoke to rise, which means that he changes their use from “for my own sake” to “for the Creator’s sake.” Smoke (“Ashan” in Hebrew, also translates as “world, year, soul”) is the Reflected Light.

If a person works on himself in this manner, sorting his desires and attaching them to the Creator, then He attains similarity to Him. Thus, he raises the Reflected Light and opens the way to his next degree. In other words, he constantly reveals a new world, a new year, and a new soul.

The Zohar Changes Anyone Studying It

threat A question I received: Does reading The Zohar affect me even if I don’t feel it?

My Answer: You will soon feel that The Zohar is working on you, because this influence is very powerful. Let’s take a look at you after ten lessons; you will already feel very great changes happening in you.

First of all, your view of life and your entire life focus will change. What you do and do not pay attention to will shift; your inner sensation will become more self-absorbed and you will be more concerned with your attitude to others. Suddenly, you will begin to think and dream about various actions which you read in The Zohar and to imagine how they are connected to our world in a more internal manner. And there will be a multitude of other changes.

It is clear that The Zohar changes a person very much. It calms him down, making him more internal, serious, and goal-oriented. In this regard The Zohar affects a person in a very powerful manner. And it happens irrespective of how much a person understands; it depends on one’s efforts – how much he tries to comprehend what is written in The Book of Zohar.

You Can’t Have Too Much Zohar Study

well A question I received: Can we be reading too much Zohar in one day?

My Answer: Right now we are reading and rereading The Zohar again and again. There is no sense talking about the inner definitions since we don’t feel them yet. After many hours of study (say, 100 hours) we will begin to feel and sense what The Zohar is talking about. It will be hazy and unclear at first, like seeing through a fog. We will feel something that draws us to an unknown place. This is called a “wonderful means” (Segula), which influences us.

After many hours of study, we receive impressions from various words, and each word starts to awaken a unique sensation in me. For example, cold, warm, up, down, bestowal, reception, GAR, VAK, Esau, Jacob, Leah, Rachel, village, animals, and so on are all words through which we accumulate specific impressions. Once we do, we will be able to talk about them with others.

Then we will be able to participate in a shared discussion. This is not particularly necessary, but nonetheless, it will give us a common language with our friends, since they will also feel and realize a new reality.

This special sensation is not easy to achieve. It is a true revelation, and it occurs after many hours of study.

The Gate Of Tears Is A Joyful Prayer

way We don’t understand how we can ask for something if we are already happy and don’t want anything. However, the greatest source of joy is when we have attained the right request – the request to be given the force of bestowal. We don’t ask for a change of our state or for fulfillment of our desire to enjoy; we are happy with everything and don’t need anything.

You cannot come crying to the Host of all reality because this would mean that you are dissatisfied with Him and are pushing away everything He has done. That is what you do when you feel bad in His world. So what should you ask for? You should only ask Him to make you similar to Him. This prayer is called “the gate of tears.” It is when you want to give even more to Him in return, and all of this occurs joyfully. The Creator and you are like two loving friends who understand the connection that binds you. The “Host” of this world and His “guest” reach a union and look for ways to unite even more in order to fulfill each other.

Joy is a very good sign. Remember this when you see people who cry and despair about prayer because they think that they should receive a reward for it. We should desire to be joyful because then we justify the Creator and can turn to Him with a request for correction.

We have to be happy when we come to this request – to “the gate of tears” which is full of joy. It is a state where we are overfilled with joy and the realization of how great this state is, because we are finally situated against the Creator with a request that is now being accepted. It brings us the Light that Reforms, which allows us to perform actions of bestowal.

This state is called “the gate of tears,” which is contrary to what people normally believe it to mean. In spirituality, all the names are given in terms of bestowal and that is why they are different from the words and notions that we are accustomed to. We are not talking about cries and laughter in our world, but about spiritual states.

Joy Is A Sure Sign Of Bestowal

truemiracle A question I received: Why does spiritual work always have to be done joyfully?

My Answer: Joy is a sign that you are acting for the sake of bestowal and that you are not doing it by coercion, because you have no other choice or because you are afraid of bad things happening to you. We know how happy a mother is when she succeeds at feeding her child well, because she receives pleasure from this. Bestowal that comes from love, like with the case of the mother, always comes with joy. Joy is a sign and a consequence of good deeds (bestowal).

However, if a person is under the power of his ego, he feels tense and is angry at the Creator. Therefore, the force of kindness and faith is expressed through serenity, rejection of oneself in the face of the Upper Force, a willingness to receive its influence and its correction, which will change your qualities to bestowal. Then the Upper Force comes and gives you strength, and all of this is accompanied by joy.

A true plea to the Creator cannot occur without joy. If a prayer is heard by the Creator, it is called “the gate of tears” (Shaar ha-Dmaot), which means that a person wishes to be similar to the Creator (from the word “Dommeh” – similar). Therefore, he “cries,” meaning that he really wants to become similar to the Giver. However, these are not tears of sorrow; rather, a person feels joy because he has reached this great desire.

An appeal to the Creator cannot be sorrowful. If you cry, it means you blame Him for arranging all of this for you and are unhappy about your path, which you follow out of hopelessness. Then you cannot be righteous. Therefore, if a person does not feel joy in every state that comes to him (be it the greatest state imaginable or the worst possible state), this means that he is in his egoism and has no way to appeal to the Creator.

A person has to ascend in order to always remain in joy. Then he won’t care what is happening to him, since his only request is to acquire the force of bestowal. In that case, he will receive it.

Walking Through The Dark Cellar With The Light Of A Candle

newworld.jpg The Zohar: All the ways of the Creator are right, and His ways are true. Hence, “the just do walk in them,” since they know the ways of the Creator and engage in Torah, and anyone who engages in the corrections of the Torah knows the ways of the Torah and walks in them, and does not stray right or left. But transgressors do stumble therein.

This is not speaking about the material world, but only about a person’s soul if he uses all the possible means and his entire strength to try to attract the Light of Correction in order to merge with the Creator. A person wants to walk the right path, but along the way he sometimes experiences night and sometimes day.

That is why all of the “transgressors” described in the Torah (Esau, Bilam, Balak, Ahasuerus, the primal Serpent, the Pharaoh), as well as the “righteous” (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David) emerge in a person. He falls into a state of darkness, fear, war, troubles, and then he awakens, succeeds and advances forward. Then he goes through the same cycle again and again. He “sins” numerous times on the spiritual path because he has to reveal his entire uncorrected desire and feel how opposite it is to the spiritual goal. Only after that can he learn what kind of Light he needs in order to correct his desire and turn it into a bestowing one.

We don’t have any other matter through which to study what the Creator made and how He is acting inside us; we can only do so through the desire to enjoy, through empty, evil shells that are revealed in us. We can then convert the evil to goodness with the help of the Light to the degree that we gain knowledge about how to do this. A person has to sin first in order to understand that he uses his desire to enjoy for the sake of evil – against everyone and against the Creator. He then sees that he is full of egoism and it rules over him. While going though these states he is called a “transgressor,” and by correcting them he becomes “righteous.” So let us hope that we will become the transgressors about which the Torah is telling us, since these are elevated spiritual states.

These states come to a person who is ready to see his evil, provided that he does not submit to it but rather feels and discerns it. A special Light shines upon him, allowing him to discern the darkness inside himself. Similar to how we check Chometz with a candle light before the holiday of Pesach, a person should descend into the dark cellar within and, aided by the light of a candle, begin checking where is Chometz and where is food that is fit for Pesach.

Only the bestowing Kelim are good for Pesach, while all the rest is forbidden. We need at least a tiny candle light in order to go down to the cellar and begin checking it. That is how we prepare ourselves to exit from our inner Egypt. By revealing and checking the evil within, a person takes a step forward and comes out of the exile from the Upper World.