Weekly Torah Portion Lesson – 05.28.10

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Bealutecha,” Selected Excerpts
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Let The Light Shine

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: Is bestowal an act or a desire to give?

My Answer: What can you give to the Creator if He doesn’t lack anything except your attitude toward Him? He doesn’t need even this. The only thing He lacks is for you to become like Him. This will delight Him. Why? It’s because, then, you’ll exist in the most comfortable state. “But I don’t want to be in the most comfortable state. I want to think only about bestowal!” If you’re thinking about bestowal, you’re thinking about how to attain the most comfortable state.

What motivates you is essential. If it is to give to the Creator,  for this sake you attain the perfect state, or if  you desire this state because it’s the best and giving to the Creator looks like a reward? What are you working for?

You can’t have the will to bestow without realizing it. If you have this desire, you must fulfill it. The act of bestowal and the desire to bestow are the same. In the spiritual world, there aren’t physical actions. To attain the will to bestow is our entire work. Indeed, what can we give to the Creator? It is the will to bestow onto Him.

We discover the Light of Hochma. In regard to whom must we uncover this Light, the creature or the Creator? The Light of Hochma fills the entire system. You only discover yourself or your own perception by sensing that you enjoy, bestow, and become infinite. Your will (Kli) is the only thing that changes.

“I am bestowing onto the Creator.”  What are you bestowing?  Did He really lack Light before and now He’s got it? You’re giving Him your attitude. Your attitude to Him is called action. Your will is already an act. However, this will must be complete. Otherwise, it isn’t considered a will.

The desire has to evolve through all four stages. Then, undoubtedly, from the 4th stage, its Reflected Light reaches Keter, and this is bestowal. However, where is bestowal in Keter? One feels the he is bestowing onto the Creator, and this is enough. The Creator has no desires (Kelim) for either reception or bestowal. He has nothing.

Yet, when you perceive that you are bestowing to the Creator, it is His pleasure because He’s within you. You allow the Light to shine.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/10, The Zohar

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How To Understand The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: Why is the spiritual system so complicated:  The creature asks for one thing and receives something entirely different?

My Answer: First of all, this is incorrect. The Creator and the creature can understand each other, work together, and have no disagreement provided they become partners. Then the creature receives what it asks for: The Creator knows in advance what the creature will ask for, gives it all that it needs, and there are no problems.

A problem arises only when the creature is not asking according to the order of the degrees, meaning it is asking for the sake of self-gratification. Then the creature naturally receives a burdening of the heart and suffering, in order for it to see that its state is not good and the aim is incorrect.

Therefore, it is only by incorrect communication between the creature and the Creator that makes it seem to the creature that the Creator doesn’t understand it, doesn’t do for it what is needed. With the incorrect aim, the creature presents numerous claims to the Creator: “So where is everything that I’m entitled to, why are you not correcting me, why are you not filling me?” However, as soon as the creature acquires the connection with the Creator, it knows exactly what portion of Light it is receiving, why, where to work by means of faith above reason, where by means of personal strength, and so on.

The Creator is interested in our getting to know Him and walking along His side. But where are we in communication with the Creator? In faith above reason. The creature desires to be in communication with the Creator under the Machsom, within the desire to receive, but the Creator tells him: “No, rise up to Bina, attain the qualities of bestowal. There we will understand each other, there you will have no problems with me!”

It is written, “The Creator created man to be direct, but people invent numerous calculations.” Numerous calculations are within the desire to enjoy, because there are a huge amount of all kinds of desires. However, if we cover all these desires with only an intention to bestow, then there are no longer numerous calculations. There is only one calculation, one destination.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/25/10, The Zohar

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A New Book In English: The Point In The Heart

My new book The Point in the Heart was just published in English. The book is a compilation of specially selected excerpts from my daily writings published on Laitman.com. The selections are pointed toward touching the hearts and souls of all those who read it whether they are current students or new to Kabbalah. It is a great introduction for beginners or those curious about Kabbalah. The Point in the Heart is truly a source of delight for everyone’s soul.

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Explorers Of The New Land

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: What does it mean that the Upper One supplies me with the Light of Hassadim, the properties of bestowal?

My Answer: It means that instead of problems, suffering, darkness, and evil, I begin to perceive goodness, light, abundance, love, kindness, and mercy. Why has it changed? It is because my perception and my desires are beginning to change. My desires become corrected, and suddenly I see the very same darkness as goodness. I understand that bestowal is good. It isn’t darkness, but quite the opposite. It’s a new life that I hadn’t previously known. I perceived it as death, but it turns out to be the land of real life.

This happens to a person who unites with the others and wishes to connect to them, who does everything he can, but discovers that it’s not within his power. So, he asks the Creator to work with him and help him annul himself before the group. Thus, the Creator becomes his partner and all three unite: the person, the Creator, and the group. A person can’t enter the society without the Creator. He must invite the Creator to participate.

When I prepare my desires this way, I suddenly feel that bestowal is not darkness but life. The Light works on me so that subconsciously I begin to avoid reception and to value bestowal. My attitude to the others suddenly changes.

It seems to me as though this intrinsic change occurs in me on its own. I don’t yet understand how the Light has effected this change in me. First, I start to appreciate and honor this quality of bestowal from afar, as it were. However, soon, I desire it and yearn for it so much I simply crave it, and the Light grants my demand and reforms me.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/10, "Preface to the Sulam Commentary"

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What Do We Gain From Love Of Friends?

Dr. Michael LaitmanA “friend” is not just any person; he is a companion who stands opposite me. I gradually acquire love for him in order to reach love of the Creator. This formula is rigid and doesn’t change. First I appeal to the Creator, and in order to connect to Him, I have to unite with my friends.

I labor in love of friends because that is the necessary condition for attaining love of the Creator. A friend and the Creator are linked because with respect to my desire to receive pleasure, they are equal. The Creator and my friend are equally distant from me, and I relate to them in the same way.

The Creator is pure bestowal. I hate my friend as much as I hate bestowal, and therefore, I reject them both. If I don’t achieve this attitude and view my friend and the Creator in the same way, then I can’t work properly. It is similar to aligning one’s eye to aim at a target. If my aim is more toward the Creator, or more toward my friend, then it is no longer precise. I must aim precisely at the target, so that he who aspires for the Creator (Isra-El – straight to the Creator) and the Creator (the Light of correction) merge into a single whole.

What Do We GainA Kabbalistic group is a spiritual vessel, a system of souls, while the Creator is the One who fills it. The vessel becomes just like the Light. Then I realize that it is one and the same since there is no Light without a vessel (Kli).

Everything merges into one. The group becomes the model of the Creator for me. In my attitude toward them, I learn how to relate to Him, whether to love or to hate him. Certainly the only way to relate to the Creator is with bestowal. So, I am presented with the group to test how much I can bestow. My ego is what creates the distance, the disparity of form between the Creator and the group. If it weren’t for my ego, then there would be no difference between them.

So why do I feel a difference now? It is only because I receive pleasure from the Creator and nothing from the group. That is the only difference.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/10, Article, “What does ‘Love Thyself as Thy Friend’ Give Us?”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 05.28.10

Shamati #16 What is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord in the Work
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 373
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The Zohar Is For Those Who Yearn For The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanТhe Zohar is written for people who wish to attain the purpose of creation and yearn for the Light that brings them back to the Source. Without the Light, it’s impossible to correct our desires and unveil the Creator in them. This is why The Zohar, like the entire Torah, can either be the “elixir of life,” or a “deadly poison.”

One has to check his intention before approaching The Zohar and the Torah, in general. If with the help of studying he wishes to attain the Light that Reforms, the Torah becomes an elixir of life for him, as it is written: “I created the evil inclination and handed down the Torah for its correction, because the Light in it Reforms.”

If, however, a person isn’t yearning to bestow, meaning return to the Source, but studies The Zohar motivated by his will to receive pleasure and be filled; if he is pursuing other objectives (which is called “idolatry”), then, his studying turns into a “deadly poison” and distances a person from the purpose of creation.

Therefore, we must be cautious and remember that during our studies, especially while reading The Zohar, we are preparing our desires for the Creator. We want Him to give our desires the strength to bestow and as a result, to reveal Himself in these forces of bestowal.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/10, The Zohar

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