The Creator wanted to create the creature identical to Him. And this is a true blessing. Why then didn’t the creature become like Creator in the first place? It’s because the creature must construct itself.

The relationship between the Creator and the creature is performed by way of reception and bestowal. The Creator readily bestows fulfillment to the creature and, in addition, gives the creature an opportunity to do the same in return. The more important the Creator is in the eyes of the creature, the more it can give Him. In the end, it will indeed become independent and equal to the Creator.

Thus, they establish total reciprocity. Man receives fulfillment ascending to the level of the Creator, but only if he wants to become identical to Him.

This additional desire that we need to find is called aspiration. It stems from realizing the importance of Creator. We observe the same in our world: If someone is important in my eyes, I strive to give something to that person. For instance, a child is important for parents, and they endeavor to give him gifts.

It turns out that I have to constantly work towards realizing the importance of this rung, the property called “Creator.” In this way, we achieve similarity with the Creator, naturally finding what is important to us: the property of bestowal.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/10, “The Creator Created the Evil Inclination and the Torah as a Spice”

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We evaluate everything solely by how fulfilling it is for us, and there are two types of fulfillment: for our own sake and for the sake of bestowal. If I wish to please myself, I cannot receive more than our material world. I have an enormous vessel (desire), but all that I am able to receive in it is a tiny part called “this world.” And even that which I am able to receive is comprised of temporary pleasures that enter me and immediately depart. And this is my entire life.

Thus, in the course of history, I continued seeking pleasure at an increasingly higher level: still, vegetative, and animate. But in the end, I felt even greater emptiness. At first, my desire was small and gradually grew more and more until it reached its limits: the twenty-first century.

There are no greater egoistic fulfillments at this point because I have reached the limit at the degree where I consume, absorb. Hence, I ask: “What have I achieved in all of my history, in thousands of my incarnations (Gilgulim)? What is the purpose of my existence in this world for thousands of years?” The informational records (Reshimot) about the journeys made have been preserved in me, and therefore, I demand an answer.

And at this point, one special informational gene (Reshimo) unfolds in me by which I suddenly begin experiencing my outside part of the will to receive (desire) that pulls me forward, toward further development. But first, I approach this new external desire in an old fashion and check how I can receive into it, absorb something. I don’t understand that it needs a totally different approach, and the pleasure must come not from receiving, but from giving.

It takes time for me to get adjusted to this new thought, begin to comprehend it, and transition to the outside from inside. This is what we refer to as the time of preparation, when I gradually come to understand that pleasure lies in bestowal, not reception.

Baal HaSulam regards this as the “psychological barrier” (Machsom). I must agree that the act of mutual connection and bestowal, a thought about someone else, can bring pleasure. We start doing such exercises in the group, gradually absorbing the exalted nature of bestowal.

If we remained in this alone, we would repeat the communist experience in Russia. But we have one more component, the Light that Reforms, and it constantly affects us to the extent of our effort. It is this Light that reforms our nature! I suddenly begin to truly value bestowal and feel pleasure in it.

This is called a miracle. I suddenly discover that there are infinite hidden pleasures in bestowal, and the ability to bestow is limitless! But the most important and confusing component for us is the Light that Reforms. In the meantime, it still eludes us.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/10, “The Freedom”

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“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Letters of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba,” Item 26: He told her, “Tzadi, you are Tzadi, and you are Tzadik, but you must be hidden. You should not be so disclosed as to begin the creation of the world with you, to not give the world excuses.”

Question: If the letters of my name point to a Klipa (shell), do I have to change it?

Answer: We are not talking about someone’s name here, but about the names of spiritual actions, Partzufim. "Letters" are the properties awakened in the vessels by the Light. We do not discuss the Light itself; it is unattainable for our perception. We perceive only the reactions of the Kli (vessel) which, in conformity with the Light, enters a certain state.

At all degrees, the desire to enjoy finds positive aspects in 22 states of Malchut or, in other words, in 22 "letters." And it is indeed so: There is nothing superfluous in creation. Even a part of the Klipa, the force of impurity, can claim to be worthy of becoming the basis of the world’s creation if the spark of Light settles on it.

The Book of Zohar explains to us that not a single state of Malchut is perfect except the one created by the letter Bet. Yet even Bet is not perfect by itself, but only thanks to its dependence on Bina. This is why the letter Bet in particular is worthy of creating the world by it.

On the other side, the rest of the letters are not only included into Bina; they are also connected to Malchut, which prevents them from becoming the basis for correction of the world. In all other forms of connection beside "Bet," there is a deficiency which will necessarily hinder the path.

Hence, each letter is a symbol of the degree of Malchut‘s similarity to Bina. The words put together from the letters are the acts of the Lights, concrete corrections.

There is no connection with the names given by the parents to their children in our world. You may change or add a name; it will bear no change in spirituality. If we were able to influence the world with such tricks, we would have brought it to ruin long ago.

The hopes to change reality by simply re-arranging the letters of one’s name are futile. Reality will change only when we will change ourselves, when we draw closer to the Light in our properties. When you change yourself, you change the world. After all, only our Kelim are changing.

It is said: "Change of place, change of luck." "Place" is desire. Change your desire and you will truly experience transformations.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Letters of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba”

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

The Torah

Torah refers to the Light clothed in the Torah, meaning, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice.” This refers to the Light in it, since the Light in it reforms it.
– Baal HaSulam, Shamati (I Heard), Article no. 6, “Support in the Torah”

The Torah is the only spice to annul and subdue [stop using] the evil inclination [man’s egoism], as our sages said, “The Light in it reformed them.”
– Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
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The movie and television industries are transitioning to 3D imagery. So do we, too, have to part with the superficial two-dimensional perception and get to see the depth of spirituality in our reality.

In my perception, there are three dimensions: width, height, and depth. This is my screen. On this three- dimensional screen, I view people, animals, buildings, the sun, and the entire world that surrounds me.

I experience all of this in my will to receive (desire). Yet, it draws the picture of the world for me not on a flat surface, but in three dimensions within me. Since besides this picture there isn’t any other, I experience it as true and the only existing one.

This image assembled during the breaking of the souls (Kelim, vessels) when my parts detached from me: my “self” which is GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim) and, outside of it, my AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh) which I don’t experience as mine.

Now, finally, instead of manifestations of my AHP, I start working with the group and interact with the friends. They gravitate toward me, and I toward them.

We are trying to work together as if we are in Arvut (mutual responsibility or guarantee), and this practice helps me understand that the group as well as everything else are mine indeed. Having amended my attitude to the “external” reality, I discover that it becomes closer to me and “spills out” from outward inward.

Hence, the group is a sort of laboratory where we attempt to correct within ourselves the corrupted desires (Kelim) so that they would return the forfeited depth to our reality.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/5/10, “The Matter of Shechina”

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Question: Since I started studying the wisdom of Kabbalah and entered the group, I have been feeling how my desire for sex and other worldly pleasures are growing in me. How do I work with them?

Answer: It is written, “He who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than him.” During the entire course of our history, we have been developing egoistically; our ego has been constantly growing. In the end, we come to a state when we are utilizing all of the enormous egoism this world contains.

Therefore, people feel despair, fall into depression and abuse drugs; terrorism and other misfortunes expand. We don’t know what to do with our lives anymore. Now, we must leap further with the greater egoism in order to reach the spiritual world and the Creator.

Therefore, people who come to the wisdom of Kabbalah think that now they will be like “angels with wings,” as if wings were the only thing they lack when no worldly pleasures can fill them any longer. However, when a person starts studying, he suddenly discovers more desire for food, sex, traveling, and other corporeal pleasures.

Why is this so? The ego is increasing, and there is nothing we can do about it. Age doesn’t matter. A person can be 80 or 90 years old, and he still begins having desires as a young person would. I don’t want to advertise it or we will turn in a group of oldies. But, in truth, there is no salvation; in a person who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah, all desires must keep growing.

The foundation of all desires is sexual pleasure, the root of which is adhesion of the Light and desire (Kli, vessel), the coupling of the male and female parts of creation. For this reason, a person first experiences an increase in sexual desire to such a high degree as has never happened to him before.

Previously, he was a stable person, and all his desires were in check. However, now, they manifest in such a grotesque form that they start getting in the way of his normal life. All of this is true, and we know that as a person begins studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, all our desires and tendencies get renewed.

What do we do with this? As we may know from the wisdom of Kabbalah, we are prohibited from resisting our desires. Don’t challenge the “evil inclination” directly, as if you are about to battle it as a hero; you won’t win. Just submerge yourself in the studies, the group, and connect with them to the best of your ability so that the Upper Light could affect you more strongly. Only in this manner will you be able to go through this with all the kinds of obstacles surrounding you.

Besides, there is no other choice. All of it is designed to purify the intention and thoughts in order to seek in all of these obstacles the point of bonding with the group since your free will lies solely in it.

You are given such states so that you may forevermore settle in your choice, even on the foundation of all the desires for wealth, sex, family, and other pleasures of the corporeal world. On this ground, bond with the group tighter and realize your only free choice.

You don’t have the power to fight your desires. Don’t be a fool and start a war with them. After all, you are not the one in charge; it isn’t your job. You are given external conditions so that, thereby, you could exercise your free will to a greater extent.

This must be understood while facing any predicament in our life. Act normally in our world; there should be no change in home, family, vacation, and health. However, all your attention should be focused on your only free choice.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/5/10, “The Freedom”

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We have to understand that the more we try to come closer to each other, the more each of us discovers that he hates the others. That’s because every time I come closer to you, I discover how opposite you are from me. And the closer I come to you, the more I leave the place I came from where I was alone.

Suppose I take steps toward you, meaning that I get to know you more and more. The more I get to know you, the more my hatred for you grows. Why? It’s because I gain a greater realization of how opposite you are from me. This poses one obstacle to advancement.

The second obstacle is that the closer I come to you, the further away I get from myself. In order to get to know you, I have to leave my qualities and attain yours.

Say you are a salesman and I am a customer. You name your price and I offer mine, and gradually we bargain, reaching a compromise. But the more I go in your direction, the further away I move from my initial words. It becomes more and more difficult for me because I leave behind my previous opinion in order to come closer to you. Even though you also grow distant from your opinion, this does not worry me. I am worried only about myself.

Thus, to the degree I come closer to you I discover: 1) Your opposition and 2) Distancing from myself. Therefore, the more we advance and move closer to the Creator, to corrections, the more our Aviut or thickness of desire increases, and the heaviness that we feel grows exponentially as well. It becomes more and more difficult for me due to the realization that you are opposite to me and that I have to move away from you more.

To the degree we advance we always acquire additional Kelim, desires for correction, and increase them. We suddenly discover desires that are much greater than we thought before. And this is good because then I have what to correct, and I have much more than before. Previously I thought: "Who cares, I need to correct just 10 ounces." But suddenly I discover that it isn’t 10 ounces, but 50 pounds. However, by correcting them, I earn 50 pounds of Light.

Question: So when does correction happen?

Answer: Correction will happen when you reject the great hatred you feel and neglect the great separation from yourself because the most important thing for you will be to connect with me. This is a rejection of us both. Do you want to exist in love? Then show that you love! How? By rejecting hatred and neglecting separation from yourself. In our world everything is simple: You buy a ring for your bride and she is yours. But in spirituality this rejection is very difficult.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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If the world provided correct upbringing to the growing generation today, then in 15 to 20 years, we would live among new people, a new humanity. We wouldn’t have to worry about what to do with the adults. Beginning at the age of three or four, we would methodically educate a child to have a new perception, an aspiration to bestowal.

Up to the ruining of the First Temple, the entire nation of Israel was raised and lived by this idea. It is written that from Dan in the north to Beer Sheba in the south, meaning across the entire country, there wasn’t a child who would not know what “in order to receive” and “in order to bestow” meant. In those times, they were following the method received from Abraham upon his departure from Babylon.

We will have to do the same with time, but the opportunity is presented to us even now. In the end, we will teach our children how to get along with each other, how to establish a connection, be friends, interact, and love.

In the present conditions, it is very difficult because children are subject to the modern system of education and all the problems it entails. Yet, we are trying to explain to them that love of others as themselves is a universal law of nature. There is no way to escape it. Resist or fight as you might, in the end, you will only hurt yourself. History demonstrates to us how empires fell, and the victorious nations, after all their triumphs, ended up in the gutter.

Blindfolded egoism thinks that success in a competition brings profit, trophies, and power: “Watch me be a hero!” However, looking farther or even closer ahead, it turns out that this attitude doesn’t pay off. We are bound by nature, and we need reciprocity.

This is why we add to modern, professional education the rule of love of others as we love ourselves. To achieve this, we utilize various forms to present it such as games, songs, talks, debates, and discussions in order to lead children to the new perception of reality.

We find ourselves at the very beginning of the journey. Let’s hope that this year, we will manage to arrange an international educational network that will encompass all our groups around the world. We will produce films, books, and educational brochures, work with psychologists and other specialists, and, in a few years, we will see how our children will benefit from it.

Today, it is simply necessary to develop and expand healthy upbringing so that our children won’t grow up with the laws of the jungle and become misanthropes as it is at present. While growing up, our children will be successful in all areas such as in the sciences, professional preparation, behavior, and in their attitude to society and the world. It will be so because they will internally be equivalent to the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends”

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All that we feel and see around us is only a play between the Light and the vessel (Kli), the Light and desire. And since they differ in their properties, in the middle between them, there is the world, the reality that we perceive. It represents exactly what we still lack in order to attain the world of Infinity.

That’s why the word “world” (Olam) means “concealment” (Alama). All forms of life that we observe around us, namely, the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels either in the material or spiritual world, show us the deficiency that we need to “fill” in order to reach Infinity.

After all of them disappear, we see only the Light that completely fills all desires, the entire sphere; it indicates that we have reached the corrected state. Until then, we feel all kinds of forms, and this is a sign that we have not corrected all the desires to become similar to the Light, the property of bestowal.
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From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Perception of Reality” 10/20/10

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Question: Who am “I,” and how can I separate myself from the reality “show?” If all my thoughts and sensations are simply a “movie,” then where am I?

Answer: At this time, you are unable to separate yourself from the “movie” you are watching because you are within it, within the pure desire to enjoy. However, if you manage to live within both desires (the desire to enjoy and the desire to bestow), you’ll command both powers: the power of the Creator and that of the creature. If the Light illuminates you and grants you its property of bestowal, you’ll be able to tell the difference between you and the movie.

Today, you are incapable of analyzing your own world because you have only one desire: to receive pleasure. You have no clue whether the Light works on you or not. You are like a baby that doesn’t know who takes care of it and what’s going on. The baby cries because he feels bad, but he doesn’t even know to whom to address his cry for help.
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From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Perception of Reality” 10/20/10

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