Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Importance of Disseminating the Wisdom of Kabbalah

The great spiritual questions [about the Creator’s revelation to man in this world], which used to be solved [after the destruction of the Temple, during the 2000-year-long exile] only by the great and the excellent [special souls], must now be solved on different degrees for the entire nation, to lower exalted and sublime matters from the height of their tower to the depth of the common and ordinary [because we have completed the period of exile and entered the period of the humanity’s general, complete redemption from egoism and attainment of the upper world].

This requires tremendous and great richness of spirit along with constant, regular engagement, for only then the mind will expand and the language will be made clearer, to the point of expressing the deeper matters in a light and popular style, to revive thirsty souls.
– Rav Kook, Ikvei Ha’Tzon (By the Footsteps of the Flock), 54
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Question: I feel threatened when we read these texts. I don’t understand them. How can I properly work with this feeling?

Answer: Maybe it’s a good feeling. We exist in a reality which is unfolding only within us. Right now, I am speaking with “you,” a part of my soul, and with other people all over the world, but all of them reside within me. And beside me, there is only the upper force split into multiple parts.

I should arrange all of my desires in order to mutually connect them with each other, incorporate all those who seem alien within myself, and love them as myself. I must merge with all of reality and become one whole with it. Then, I will see that all of it is mine, and there is only one Light that fills one desire.

And until then, I naturally get confused and undergo very obscure states. But it doesn’t threaten me. I must perceive the reality correctly, meaning that I have to begin feeling that all of this is happening within me. It is my “I,” and it is only due to my inner division that I mistakenly perceive my own parts as being outside of me.

For example, I had a surgery under local anesthesia. I didn’t feel anything, but in the mirror I saw what the surgeons were doing: inserting a needle and cutting a part of the flesh that didn’t seem to belong to me. I didn’t feel it as mine because of the anesthesia. However, since I was still aware that it was my part, despite the fact that I didn’t feel it under a local anesthetic, it was interesting for me to watch what was being done to it.

In essence, we are precisely in such a reality. But as soon as this “anesthesia,” the fog, dissipates, you start to experience and feel reality as your own, and everything looks different! Then, you see that you are dealing only with the Creator, the “Good Who does good.”

It turns out that your ability to feel the “Good Who does good” instead of a threat, to sense eternity, perfection, and harmony instead of your current state, depends on how you attach all of these seemingly alien desires to yourself.
[29630]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Question: It is written that Rabbi Shimon cried while writing The Book of Zohar because he feared to reveal the secret. "Woe if I tell it and woe if I don’t. If I do, then the sinners will learn to work for their master. And if I don’t, then the friends will lose this great asset." What is the great secret concealed in The Book of Zohar that Rabbi Shimon cried about?

Answer: The secret of The Book of Zohar is that by relating to it the right way, it is possible to draw Upper Light from it that returns us to the Source. This Light can become the elixir of life for us as well as a deadly poison, depending on our attitude to The Zohar and to the Torah in general.

However, we see that there was no prohibition on studying the Pentateuch or Talmud even though they were also written by Kabbalists. Only The Zohar was concealed and prohibited for many years, and that is because there is a very powerful Light concealed inside this book which we are able to attract. Of course, the Torah also contains Light, but it is nearly inaccessible because of it’s exceeding height.

The Light of The Zohar is closer to us, but if a person is still inside his ego, he will want to use this Light egoistically. Then this Light will turn into a deadly poison for him.

If I want to attain bestowal, then this Light will be the elixir of life for me and will help me attain it. If, however, a person studies the Torah without intending to achieve bestowal, then he becomes more egoistic and starts to consider himself special, greater than others, and righteous. The Torah becomes a poison for him and increases his ego. Instead of lowering himself and feeling that he is smaller than others, he starts to feel the opposite, pride.

For the most part all of this happened recently, over the last century, when egoism reached a new level. That is why Kabbalists feared that people will start studying the science of Kabbalah egoistically as well, taking pride in it, and turning it into a business that sells "magical means" such as red strings, holy water, and blessings.

This will confuse people and push them away from correction, making them lose many life cycles until they finally reveal that this approach is a swindle and lie. But how much time and suffering will it take to get there!
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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The Zohar, Chapter “Otiot de Rav Hamnuna Saba (The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba),” Item 31: This is the playing of the Creator with each of the twenty-two letters, by giving each room to show her governance according to His wish until they sort out by themselves—out of their own desire—which of them is worthy of leading the world. This is why it was said that 2,000 years before He created the world, the Creator was looking and playing with them.

The Light created the Kelim upon four phases of expansion. Then a restriction took place whereby a screen was established and Malchut decided to receive pleasure only for the sake of bestowal. That is how she interacts with the Light, the Creator, becoming similar to Him according to the law of equivalence of form.

Malchut wants to adopt the quality of Bina and in the process of doing this work, 22 forms of the desire for pleasure form inside her. It’s as if this quality is outlined and comes through by these contours, which accumulate to the degree that Malchut connects to Bina.

Initially the desire is formless like clay, but when it takes on the 22 forms of Bina, together they cause the desire to be similar to the Creator. So which of these forms is worthy of being the foundation by which the world is created? Which of them connects the beginning and end of creation? Which leads all the other forms after her? This is talking about the key intention, the main action, the calculation for making a striking interaction (Zivug de Hakaa) which is always done in the head of a Partzuf.

Following the reverse order, meaning from the side of the Kelim, all the letters appear before the Creator, or in other words, they raise MAN, a request. In reponse each of them receives MAD, an answer, telling it whether it is possible to create the world with it or not.

If no impurity latches on to the answer, it means that this is that very form. If, however, in response to the request from Above a force comes, but next to it Klipa awakens as well, then the world cannot be created using that form.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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The outline of all the letters is precisely determined. Every detail of the letters is a geometrical symbol of a certain spiritual quality, produced by the combination of bestowal and reception. That is why Hebrew writing has remained unchanged over the course of millennia. All other alphabets changed with time, sometimes even to the point of becoming unrecognizable, whereas the forms of the Hebrew letters are fixed by the combination of spiritual forces and are therefore preserved throughout the centuries.

The horizontal details of the letters’ outlines symbolize the influence of the Light of Hassadim, while the vertical ones symbolize the influence of the Light of Hochma. Hassadim belongs to the force of Bina, while Hochma belongs to the force of Malchut.

This can be compared to an oscillograph, whose signal is also made up of the interaction of two scales. In fact, all the pictures in our world are also based on the combination of two forces, although there is also chronological development superimposed on them. This is caused by the intrusion of Klipa, which “stretches” the process in time. As a result, a difference emerges between the beginning and the conclusion.

To the degree we correct the forces of impurity, they join the single whole, bringing the initial and final states closer until reaching total unity. Then the very notion of time disappears.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, The Zohar

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Question: What are Reshimot?

Answer: A Reshimo (informational record) is an impression that remains in the Kli (desire) after the Light that filled it departs. Hence, Reshimot are the Lights contained in the Kelim (desires).

What does “the Light departs from the Kli” mean? It means that it does not illuminate the Kli as before because there is no screen, no contact between the Kli and the Light. Hence, the Light shines only from afar, and it is therefore said that Kli contains a little bit of Light.

Reshimot are similar to reminiscences of my past. The Light fills my will to receive (desire) when I, with the help of the screen, acquire the connection with the Light and we merge together because the screen binds the two opposites with one another. But when there is no screen, the Light is not connected with the Kli. It stays in the Kli and doesn’t depart, yet the Kli cannot feel it or cause it to shine. The Light within it is barely perceived, and we call it a “Reshimo.”

We simply express it by saying that the Light departed and left a Reshimo in its place. Yet in truth, it isn’t the case. The Light remained in place and did not depart, but because we don’t feel it, the Light and the Kli are seemingly disconnected.
[29627]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question from Germany: How can we raise MAN correctly in anticipation of the great convention in Berlin?

Answer: On January 28-30, 2011 there will be a European Kabbalah Convention held in Berlin. We have to prepare for it more than for any other convention because Europe is the most problematic continent, the source of all wars and problems in the world. This was the case over the  entire course of history and continues to be so to this day.

Therefore, if we can help people to stop and think about true unity instead of mutually beneficial cooperation at the Common Market, then it will be a big step forward for the whole world. Otherwise unfavorable events will once again begin developing on this continent and I think Europe’s residents already feel how this is starting.

Therefore, all of us together must work on positively influencing Europe.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: How can the kind Light turn into a cruel fire?

Answer: You are right; many people asked me this question when the fire broke out in Israel. The Light comes from Above, but we turn it into a fire with our properties and actions that are opposite to it. Here is what The Zohar says about this (there are many such places in the Book).

The Book of Zohar, Chapter Beresheet (Genesis), Item 17, Article “The Earth was void”: Darkness is a strong fire. And this darkness covers the void, reigns over this waste, and becomes corrected from it. This way, darkness is not simply the absence of Light, meaning emptiness, but a category of an emptying action, which is similar to a strong fire that burns down and destroys any essence: It touches it and leaves its place empty.

Hence, it is said that darkness is the strongest fire that burns and destroys everything. This is how darkness eliminates and suppresses the Light in its place, and this darkness covers this void. It is called darkness and not fire because the force of burning that it carries within originates not in it, but from the fact that it rules over the waste called the void and receives from it.

For this is the inclusion of the property of judgment into the property of mercy. Malchut rose to the place of Bina to get corrected there with the category of the screen in her. And since Bina does not contain any judgment or fire, in order for Malchut to get corrected in the screen, the way the chaos was corrected, this darkness rules over the void, the place of the fire that turned impurity into the waste and void.

From there, darkness receives the force of the burning fire that resembles a strong desire in the void. This darkness covers the void, rules over this waste, and becomes corrected from it for it receives from the void the might of a strong and burning fire.
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “The Letters by Rabbi Amnon Saba,” Item 29, Lesson 4
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 8, Lesson 12
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Item 81
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress,” Lesson 7
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