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The Torah, “Leviticus” (Metzora), 14:36:… After this, the Cohen shall come to look at the house.
A person who rises to the level of a Cohen (priest) and is able to correct his desires, no longer checks his body and his clothes since these desires already have been purified and he is in a corrected state in them, but the house is his external desires.
The more external a desire is, the easier it is to correct it. However, on the other hand, the easier it is to correct it, the more it stands out as an interruption.
Here there is an inverse relationship: It is easier to correct 1000 kilograms than 100 kilograms, and it is easier to correct 100 kilograms than 10 kilograms. So, on the whole, these values are interrelated.
This means that the light desires are everywhere, like bacteria, for example. There are so many that you need to protect yourself from them. There are such terrible desires inside you, like viruses, and you must correct them. It is a different kind of work, which is more internal. But there are fewer of these desires.
These are the bricks by which we later must build ourselves.
There are billions of different viruses and bacteria in our world that constantly attack us. They keep a general balance: homeostasis. It is impossible to live without them.
Of course, we can dismiss this, but, if we want to find meaning in life and understand who we are and what we are, we cannot do it without knowing a person’s inner attributes.
[141860]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/5/14
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Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”
The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about all of reality, and it is revealed to individuals throughout history and in general at the end of our history.
The abundance comes from above and below, there is the desire, a burning need. They cannot touch each other because there is an insulating obstacle between them, an essential precondition of adaptability. This is the main thing that we should know. This is the subject of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
There are many details, but this is what we need first and foremost: knowing how to adapt and make ourselves suitable for the perception of the Creator, for the perception of the abundance.
Accordingly, the Creator is revealed to the full depth of the desire in all its five levels.
As for the roots, we discover them according to Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction) and the Masach (screen), and creating the necessary adaptability.
[141752]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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Question: What was happening to the people of Israel during these last few weeks when the military operation took place? There was a miracle of unity!
Answer: The force of unity is awakening. It’s the upper force. We are in the period Kabbalists called “the end of correction” (Gmar Tikkun), the last generation, complete deliverance.
The Upper Light approaches us and encourages us to connect with Him. Since we are opposite to the Light; we perceive His closeness as something negative. If we are united or at least make efforts to unite, we regard the Light’s approach as kind and positive.
Various events are sent to us for the sake of helping us reconnect with each other. As the Light descends to us, we have to become similar to It. These events are sometimes pleasant, such as nationwide celebrations of holidays, etc. And disasters and wars are also sent to us.
Both good and tragic events are given to us with only one goal: to push us to connect. Then, the Upper Light, the general force of the universe that encompasses and completes everything there is into one sphere, will have a chance to manifest Itself to us.
This is why we get impressions from both ends: On one hand, we become much more sensitive under the pressure of afflictions and problems. On the other hand, sensitivity allows us to feel the presence of a special force of unity, the upper force that moves closer to us.
These days, all of us sensed that there was a very special atmosphere in this country and that we received a very unusual kind of fulfillment. Our task is to develop the same sensation of unity among us to the degree that wars disappear because of their total uselessness.
If we manage to do so, there won’t be a need to use an external influence that presses us even more in order to make us connect and stay together, uniting because of Hamas. If we unite voluntarily, the external malevolent force that pushes and obligates us to unite would be redundant.
All parts of the system work in synergy. It is said that the “Pharaoh brought the sons of Israel closer to the Creator.” The Pharaoh stands for a singular, general negative force. And soon, we will see how the whole world is becoming one negative force directed against Israel. It will pressure us from all sides and use any possible means to make us aspire to unity.
Approaching the Creator means re-connecting in one general desire and becoming as one man with one heart for the sake of implementing the rule: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” So, do we really need the evil Pharaoh? The entire world is called Pharaoh because in all countries anti-Semitism flourishes and nobody wants to help Israel.
I just returned from a trip to South and North America and Europe, and I can say never before have I felt such a huge universal hatred to Jews. Everybody thinks that the Jewish people are the source of all troubles in the world and that there is no room for them on the face of earth because they bring so many afflictions to everybody.
I was in the US during the time that a rabbi was killed in Miami. As he was walking down the street, someone shot him and walked away. Do you think there was an outrage in the city? Everything was very quiet, as if everyone was in agreement with this.
In the news are only reports that Israel is assaulting Gaza and killing Palestinian children. Nobody says anything about the missiles falling on the Israeli territory. The output from the mass media is that the Israeli army destroyed homes and killed a certain number of civilians. And what is happening in Israel as a result of the rocket and terrorist attacks is not mentioned. They either say that Israel deserves this kind of trouble, or they just don’t say anything about these events, as if they don’t know Israel is being bombed, as if there is no Hamas, as if Hamas is not firing thousands of missiles into Israel.
Miraculously, all the news gets filtered. It’s not intentional, not someone maliciously desiring to present biased facts. They see it this way and broadcast their vision on all channels; thus, the entire world regards Israel this way!
The world assesses the situation very simply: the people of Israel are bound to be a good and useful force that organizes and unites the world, leading the world to unity, harmony in all parts of nature. Instead, these people cause harm. They regard the people of Israel as the central source of evil in the world.
Each person who lives in this world has a built-in, deep feeling, which is impossible to change. The knowledge is imprinted in everybody as a cornerstone. Therefore the people of Israel have no other way but to fulfill their mission in relation to the rest of the world.
[141579]
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Question: Jacob is afraid of Esau, what is he afraid of?
Answer: Let’s say I came to visit you. Before coming over I had a good dinner and even though you offer different foods to me, I am not hungry, that is, my desire to receive pleasure is not big at all. I tell you: “You know, I do not want anything, but for you (for the sake of bestowal) I am willing to accept a small treat, for example tea and cake.” I receive my treat, and I feel no shame; I did it with the intention to please the host, and this makes both of us equal because when I do not receive for my own sake, it is referred to as giving to you, and this makes me full of self-respect.
We sit at the table, having a conversation, time is passing by and I start getting hungry. You say: “So, maybe you would like something?” But now, I really am hungry! I smell the food; they are “attacking” me! So what do I do? I am afraid to remain in this big desire. I am facing a big desire, will I be able to resist this big pleasure while having this big desire and can I perform the same action to please the host?
If I am acting for the sake of bestowal, I reveal the Creator, and if I do not attain it, I land in the so-called “hell”; I fall into the state called Esau rules over me.
This is called Jacob is afraid. He does not know whether he will be able to overcome his egoism, his desire to receive pleasure, because Esau is in it, he begins to demand, he is coming closer to Jacob and says: “We are brothers! Let us be together!” Our egoistic desire tells us: “Do you want spirituality? I am with you! Do you want to reach the Light? I love Light! Give it to me!”
We must push it away, confuse it, trick it, tell it, “All right, see you tomorrow,” and run as fast as we can and as far as we can. The Torah teaches us how to work with our egoism by gradually taking pieces from it for correction until we correct the entire egoism.
[29335]
The Weekly Portion 11/18/2010, The Zohar
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Question: How do we ask for the Light to change us if we don’t perceive it?
Answer: It’s true, first you must have the desire, and only then can you turn to the Light.
If I wrote on a piece of paper: “I need to ask the Light!” and read it a hundred times, nothing would happen. This would become a habit; I would keep repeating these words like a broken record and nothing more.
But we are given the opportunity to change our desire with the help of our environment. After all, we exist among other people and not alone.
When I listen to them and watch them through a prism of envy, lust, and honor, all these properties that are part of my desire to receive pleasure, then I want to receive all the good things that they have, and rise even higher than them.
If they want to become thieves, then I want to become the most important, powerful, and successful thief, because they respect this.
When my environment deems it important to attain the property of bestowal, then naturally I will want to succeed in it the most, because this will become important to me.
So I can change my heart’s desire through the environment. And so it is written: “We shall do and we shall hear” because I am able to do such things that as a consequence I will suddenly desire something that was not in me initially, such as bestowing to others, deeming this to be important, somehow egoistically wishing to bestow.
After all, I exist in an egoistic society, and if this society starts convincing me that it is worth it to bestow, naturally I, just like all my friends, will begin to think that it is really worthwhile to bestow.
But at the same time, I think that this will benefit me, that I will become important in their eyes, I will be great, I will attain the Upper World, and the Creator will be mine. So bestowing it is; what matters is for me to profit. This is called Lo Lishma.
When driven by this aspiration, I still want the Light to come to me and change me, it begins to change me, and I suddenly catch a “virus” of some sort; I acquire something I did not have before, something I did not want, and I did not intend to get. I suddenly really begin to think that bestowal is something special, good, and sublime.
Where does this come from? This appears like an illness that you really did not want to have. I seriously begin to think that it is a good thing to think about others instead of thinking about me, without any kind of benefit or reward in it for me.
Naturally, I go through a sequence of changes here. First of all, I think that I should pull away from my egoistic desire to receive pleasure and that this will make me feel better and freer.
Then I begin to think that I should bestow to others, because in this way I will still acquire some kind of superiority, because in the end I will become close to the Creator, and this is also worth something.
And so on, until the Light gradually influences me in such a way that I attain a pure intention called Lishma, exclusively “for the sake of bestowal” without receiving anything in return. And I feel it; I check that I do not receive anything in return.
[27765]
From the lesson 11/26/2010, Writings of Rabash
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Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.
We live in a certain reality and sense ourselves and things that surround us. We instinctively want to know what these things are. In essence, people are just egoistic desires to fulfill themselves. Naturally, awareness of our place in the universe helps us find out which things are useful for us and lets us avoid harmful influences, and allow us to achieve the most beneficial results.
We spend a certain amount of time in this reality and wonder about what was and what will be. We strive to be impervious and live in the best possible conditions to enjoy perfection and eternity. We are pushed to this need by our desires.
Thus, each one of us has a natural craving for reaching the authentic reality in which we all dwell.
At this time, we are not masters of our fate. We have no idea what will happen to us in a second and generally speaking we are unable to decide anything on our own.
This upsets us and as a result we build “lines of defense” to protect ourselves from heat and cold, robbers and wild animals, from everything that is bad for us: We construct houses and yards creating a distance between us and others. We always care about being in the safest situation. It stems from our desire to receive.
Therefore, a person wants to know exactly what is going on with him, where one is at each given moment, what reality one lives in. People develop sciences to be able to experience pleasant sensations every single moment of their lives.
At the same time, we toss aside everything away that doesn’t bring us pleasure, for example, space exploration. Previously, it was of great interest; however, nowadays we see that it is not worth investing heavily in this. Calculations have demonstrated that this program will not generate any gain. Where there is no profit, there is no reason. Likewise, we don’t pay as much attention to exploring the depths of the sea or the Earth anymore. People care about things that are close to their hearts.
However, if we view the whole picture, we’ll see that we lack knowledge of the system we are in. We see that everything in the system is in constant movement; everything is planned; everything is interconnected, including us; but we don’t know the essence of what is happening to and around us. Thus, the knowledge overall system is the most important thing. From it we learn everything.
Our attempts to develop a systematic approach have never reached any tangible success. We become disappointed with earthly sciences since they don’t provide us with clear knowledge that would allow us to control our destiny, our lives, nor do they allow us to correctly fulfill our existence or go beyond it.
This is where the wisdom of Kabbalah, the most ancient science, steps in. Before Adam, very few people possessed knowledge about nature. Their knowledge was based on their direct contacts with nature. Adam discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah; as a result, he caused the entire wisdom to be revealed.
We don’t require more knowledge. If we understand how to correctly influence the system that governs us and all other worlds, the entire universe, we won’t feel a need for the minor additions of physics, chemistry, etc. They don’t make any sense since the wisdom of Kabbalah encompasses everything. It teaches us what is worth doing in various spheres of life and what’s useless. We don’t need to go into details of molecular and atomic structures or comprehend the laws of the inanimate, vegetative, or animate world. When we feel the entire system as a whole, we sense each of its details and realize what our relationship with them should be so that it works to the best of our interests.
It means that all scientific disciplines can be explored through the wisdom of Kabbalah to their full depth, up to their final stage.
Baal HaSulam states that the wisdom of Kabbalah is the general knowledge that covers everything. It is revealed as a complete knowledge to all of us at the end of human development. And, the wisdom was opened to a chain of individuals beginning with Adam and further to his successors.
The ARI wrote that after the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, there appeared a man (Adam.) He had some similarity with a higher, new stage. However, later there showed up a genuine Man (Adam) who revealed and started to explore the system in which he appeared. That’s why his name is Adam HaRishon (the first Man).
Adam HaRishon’s perception and attainment is beyond others. He is the one from whom we trace from those called “Adam”—the chain of Kabbalists from ancient times till nowadays. The words “You are (named) a Man” is about them, whereas all the rest of us are still at the “animate” level.
And yet, at the end, all of humanity will have to reveal the level of Man and fully realize the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[141695]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam
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The Torah “Leviticus” (Tazria-Metzora), 14:10, 14:14-14:17: And on the eighth day, he shall take two unblemished [male] lambs…
And the priest shall take of the blood of the guilt-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleanses, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.
And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger before HaShem.
And the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt-offering.
This passage is about various types of correction. Priest (Cohen) is the highest quality of Bina. Blood (dam) from the word “domem” (inanimate) is the lowest property of a man.
Hands, feet, fingers, and ears signify the qualities with which one is supposed to work. For example, an ear stands for the property of Bina in a man. Fingers and toes symbolize ten Sefirot of Keter. The right arm and leg are the level of Hesed.
In other words, we come to a state when the Upper Light called Cohen starts correcting apparent, obvious properties in a person. The big finger of the right hand symbolizes Keter de Hesed. The big toe of the right foot denotes Keter de Malchut.
Anointing the tip of the left and right ears indicates the correction that is done with the help of blood and oil since the blood stands for “domem” (inanimate), whereas “oil” stands for Bina. Generally speaking, oil symbolizes the Light that comes from the Sefira Hochma. This is how correction happens.
In this world, there are two concepts: listening and hearing. Sometimes we say: “You don’t hear me.” What does hear mean? It means that there is a property in a man, but there is no implementation of this property. To listen and to hear are two different things. One can listen to sounds, but in order to hear them, one has to turn on one’s internal apparatus.
This is why when the inner apparatus that has the property of oil is turned on at the level of Hochma (the right ear), this property begins to perceive, feel, and attain the level at which it is positioned. In this case, one begins realizing and accepting the level that one is at. This is the point where one’s correction takes place.
Hands stand for the receiving vessels, whereas feet are the tools through which we give from what is repelled. The head is the entry point of everything that goes into our system and feet are the place through which everything goes out. This process is called circulation.
Usually, a lower system is originated from the feet since ten Sefirot of Malchut of the lower level have to grow up to Keter of the inferior Partzuf. This situation must be corrected, although there is actually nothing to correct since the remaining Sefirot will be altered by this action automatically.
Many religions have a ritual of feet ablution. It means that when one corrects, underneath him there will immediately emerge the next, inferior Partzuf, the lower system that is built of the ten Sefirot called ten toes.
Feet stand on the ground, i.e., they are positioned on the general desire. At this time, a viable object that can be further corrected and that is made of the general desire has to be shaped, meaning there is a need to form something concrete that requires correction. So, in order to self-correct, feet have to be clean.
Question: Why is there always something between the ground and the feet, for example., shoes?
Answer: There is a rule that one should never sit on the ground. One has to place something on the ground before sitting on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sheet of paper or any other object.
The ground symbolizes a completely uncorrected, non-scrutinized desire that is a mixture of the good and the evil. In order to start analyzing it, one has to stay outside of this desire, to float above it. That’s why it is not permitted to sit on the ground without an interlayer placed between the person and the ground, there always has to be either a layer of clothes or something else there.
Question: Does this rule explain why in order to receive the crops from the land we should first plow it?
Answer: No, it is a totally different scheme. The ground has to be overturned in order to sow it. If the ground is not plowed, the forces that make grain grow, won’t be released.
[141664]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/25/14
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