The Zohar, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item  129: …The offering of the poor is the lightest: two turtledoves or two young pigeons. And if not, he brings a little flour and is thus forgiven. At that time, it is declared and said, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the lowliness of the poor,” since the offering of the poor is the most praised.

This is talking about a person, with what degree of desire (Aviut) he can work in order to bestow.  In the measure that his will to receive is revealed to him, he takes parts from it, the thicker and coarser ones, and if he is able to work with them in order to bestow, he is called rich. And if he can take only the smaller, weaker ones from his will to receive and bring them as a sacrifice, that is to bring them closer to the Creator, he is called poor.

The word “sacrifice” (Korban) derives from the word “bring closer” (Lekarev). According to what part of his will to receive a person brings closer to the Creator in order to use it to bestow, he is called rich or poor.  The rich brings more, and the poor less; each one to the extent that he is able to work with his will to receive in order to bestow. “Sacrifice” is called the will to receive that I previously used in order to receive but now bring closer to the Creator, and in doing so transform it from a receiving to a bestowing one.  Because of this new will to receive, I came closer to the Creator and made one step forward on the ladder to adhesion with the Creator.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, On Major Corrections

Adam was the first person to reveal the order of actions that lead to spiritual success. He passed on this wisdom to his disciples “mouth to mouth.” And everyone can add to his friend (Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”).

One: The Creator is One, all of reality is included in Him at all times; everything stems from Him; He is perfect despite the seeming imperfection of creation. Kabbalists call this investigation “One.”

Abraham laid down the basis of this investigation. In his Book of Creation, he arrived at the conclusion that there are not two different authorities of good and evil, but rather everything is ruled only by good (Baal HaSulam, “The Character of Kabbalah”).

The Book of Zohar, Preface (abridged)

1. Abraham is the root of mercy in the souls. That is why he corrected the common soul (Shechina) and made it suitable for fulfillment by the Light of Mercy.

But if the Light of Mercy (Hassadim) stayed in the souls of Abraham’s disciples (the “people of Israel,” the group he created), they wouldn’t be able to exercise their desire to receive pleasure. That is why the correction of mercy didn’t bring the Thought of Creation to completion. This is because the main idea behind the Thought of Creation is to please the creatures specifically by receiving fulfillment from Him.

2.  This is the reason why Abraham (the property of bestowal) gave birth to Isaac (the property of receiving). As a result of Abraham’s correction, Isaac discovered the existence of the common soul which was in the state of a complete perfection filled with the Light of Mercy. He then sensed its desire to receive the entire perfection that was pre-determined by the Thought of Creation.

In other words, Isaac awakened in it the desire to receive from the Creator for the sake of bestowal which means that the desire to receive emerges only because of the desire of the Bestowing One; if the Bestowing One didn’t desire it, the soul wouldn’t possess even the tiniest desire to receive anything at all from Him.

This type of receiving for the sake of giving is considered bestowal since it is a quality that is not supported by egoism. It completely corrected the general desire (Shechina) to receive the entirety of abundance that was programmed at the time of creation.

3.  However, since the world was not ready for complete correction, the villain Esau appeared and corrupted the process of correction.

Esau didn’t follow “receiving solely for the sake of bestowal” as per Isaac’s correction; he sinned by receiving “for his own sake.” Even when he came to understand that the Bestowing One didn’t want him to receive, he still continued to receive pleasure for his own sake and that’s why Klipot “bonded” with him.

Since Jacob was aware of Esau’s “defect,” he corrected the Soul within the property of trepidation. That’s why it is said: “his hand grasping Esau’s heel.”  As a result, the corrections of Abraham and Isaac were united and no wrongdoing occurred.

4. But this correction was not final since it resulted from fear of sin that comes from “Esau’s heel.”  When complete correction takes place, the fear of “Esau’s heel” is annulled, and trepidation appears out of the greatness of the Creator. Jacob’s fear serves to correct all generations of the people of Israel until complete correction is attained.

5. Everybody has to go through correction, and by doing so perceive the soul created by the Creator. This means obtaining the “qualities of the forefathers.”

Only after the acquisition of such properties, correction of the soul commences; it takes off from the same place which Jacob left for us, meaning elevating trepidation to a degree at which it depends solely on the greatness of the Creator. Afterward, the Upper Light is attracted through this elevated property of trepidation to guide us towards complete correction.

6. The reason for all afflictions that emerge in this world is exclusively to correct the desire to receive within souls so that they become ready to receive all of the abundance included in the Thought of Creation.

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By studying Kabbalah, we come into contact with the Light itself. By uniting with others who desire the same goal and studying together, we actively tune into Malchut of the World of Infinity where all people exist in their inner oneness, as one whole. As we desire to exist in this state actively, we draw the concealed Light to ourselves from this perfect state, thereby hastening our spiritual development. This is called becoming Isra-El, aspiring “directly to the Creator,” one who “hastens time,” who draws the Light to himself on his own through his studies and forces Him to be revealed. It also means one who “illuminates time,” meaning one who wants the Light to direct him to bestowal (Sanctity is the quality of bestowal).

It turns out that studying in a Kabbalistic group gives us the “reins” or the “steering wheel” through which we can control ourselves – our forms of development and its speed – as we become independent of the Light. However, on the other hand, the Light is very powerful and it has a program of development for each of us, as well as for all of us together. Therefore, when we try to hasten our development on our own, suddenly we begin to feel how dependent we are on this Light, on its awakening. Only with its help can we advance.

The Light raises and lowers me, which rouses within me the desire to develop in order to make myself “similar to the Creator,” a human being, by rising above this animate level and this whole material life. I wait for the Light to begin to influence me. I prepare myself to surrender to it completely, to attune as much as possible to the studies, the group, dissemination, and to solve all the questions that have accumulated during the darkness and the concealment.

I am like that “rooster” from the parable about the rooster and the bat that waits for the dawn. I am waiting for the Light to come and illuminate the path for me, and I rejoice when the Light comes. However, the “bat,” who does not prepare himself for the coming of the Light, perceives the awakening from Above as darkness.

Although we exist in one common system, only those who await the coming of the Light perceive it as something desirable; for them it is truly Light. On the contrary, those who do not wish to draw closer to the Light, to bestowal, and to love one’s neighbor, will feel continuously greater crises and problems in this world.

We all exist in the World of Infinity, but everything depends on our preparation. We can either feel infinite Light or infinite darkness there, or we can feel nothing at all as though we are unconscious and merely carrying out an animate existence. Everything depends on our desire to become human, meaning “similar” to the Creator in His love and bestowal.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/10, Shamati #241

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The more we strive toward the Light, the better our future will be since we rouse the revelation of the Light ourselves. The Light illuminates this world more and more, and those who head toward it perceive this state as good, while others perceive it as bad. First the Light develops the whole world (our Universe, the terrestrial globe, and everything it contains) according to the inanimate, vegetative, and animate degrees, cultivating only the egoistic desire. This is material development, at the maximum of which is the animate level; in this manner, the Light develops matter.

However, when egoism grows to the animate level, there is nowhere else for it to grow. It feels its complete powerlessness; it feels that it has reached a dead end and there is only darkness ahead. This is how the world comes to crisis and despair. However, all this occurs under the influence of the Light which shows us that there is nothing else with which we can fill the will to receive. Actually, we never could fill it; we only hoped for the future and aspired to it constantly.

However, once the future stops shining before us, and we have completely depleted our desire on the animate degree, we do not feel any possibility of development ahead. Why? What for? At this point, humanity finds itself at a dead end without any goals or hope for the future.

This is why the science of Kabbalah is being revealed today. It explains to us the purpose as to why all this is being done. It is so that now we can become partners with the Light on our own and reach the degree of Human, which is similar to the Creator. Rising from the animate level to the human level is our next stage of development.

This is impossible without the realization of the Upper plan. Malchut of the World of Infinity is finally reaching the conclusion of the purpose of creation as conceived by the Creator who wanted creation to come to know Him, meaning to become independent yet similar to Him. And creation is currently beginning to realize this Upper plan.

We are the first generation in which this special informational gene (Reshimo) is being revealed. It pertains to the human degree and we must realize it. Therefore, the Light which is now acting in this world will always be to the detriment of the egoistic desire expressly for the purpose of helping us to ascend.

At the same time, the Light will help those people who wish to realize this “gene of bestowal” in them. The Creator has come closer to us…He has revealed to us the informational gene (Reshimo), the science of Kabbalah, the world crisis, the whole situation, and all the means that allow us to discern this new direction of development and to execute it. We only need to reach for the Light on our own and we will see His Goodness.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/21/10, Shamati #241

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