We don’t yet fully comprehend what a serious task has fallen into our hands. Billion of years of the evolution of the Universe, all of Earth’s nature, and the accumulation of human history up until our time are pressing on us so that we (with the still, vegetative, animate and human levels of nature standing behind us) establish a connection between the Creator. The whole mass of this will to receive must merge with the Creator through a tiny hole: the quality of bestowal that we must attain. The responsibility to pull all of the egoism created by the Creator through the “eye of the needle” has been laid upon us.

We sense that we are facing the wall of our egoism, but we don’t yet understand what kind of wall it is. This wall is the force of the Creator. Our ego is the force of the Creator! We think that it is an ordinary vice that we can beat or discard. That won’t work. We will have to recognize that only the Creator can change our egoistic nature. He must do it, but only at our request, our prayer.

In fact, the entire path of the descent of the spiritual worlds from the very World of Infinity, from Above downward, including all the human evolution in the corporeal world that followed, is now coming to the point of culmination, to merging with the Creator. It is our duty to draw it to the Light. Just imagine how much creation has gone through, and now we must implement this merger.

Our mission seems too grand, but the Creator has placed it on all of us. How many times in the Torah does Moses complain to the Creator that he is incapable of completing his task, but the Creator orders him to continue? Today, we are in Moses’ shoes; we have received strife to rise above our nature. We are to play his role for our generation. ("Moses" or "Moshe" comes from the verb “Mosheh,"  to pull.)

This is why we have to understand that our task is extremely delicate and subtle; it works through the eye of the needle that we can barely discern. However, if we focus the efforts of all who are studying within our system around the world, we will succeed.

We are given all that we need for this from Above; there is no doubt. We just need to have a clear vision of our goal and ask the Creator to assist us. We are that very creature that must come to adhesion with the Creator, and through that, we give all souls an opportunity to ascend to the state of perfection. Unlike the Kabbalists of the past who were only preparing the path for us, we must complete this path by realizing it on ourselves and the others.

The wall before us is the Creator Himself. He stands and waits for us to "break" Him in order to rejoice that “His sons have defeated Him.”

From the Talk during Friday’s Festive Meal 6/25/10

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A question I received: Does the Creator hear my prayer? Can He change for me?

My answer: No! He is unchangeable, but still you ask Him to change. In essence, you tell Him: “You know, yesterday You weren’t very nice to me. Today, I beg You, please be good!” But how is He going to change?

If you don’t understand, then why do you pray? If you pray, ask Him to change you, then you will receive a different attitude from Him.

Look at the example of parents and young children. Do parents change their attitude to the child? They always treat him with love, but sometimes the child says: “Mom is bad!” What makes the mother change in the child’s perception from being “bad” to “good”? How does the child make it so that the mother is good? The child changes.

The example clarifies what needs to change: Change yourself!

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/4/10, Shamati #8

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“Exile” is a state in which a person lacks an anti-egoistic screen and has no contact with the Light. A person is unable to correct himself and perform the act of sacrificing.

“Sacrifice” stands for a corrected desire. Time after time, a person has to take a part of his desire of the still, vegetative, or animate level and elevate it to the speaking level. But while in exile, a person has no strength to correct any of his desires. This is because he is totally deprived of spiritual powers until the Surrounding Light reaches him and leads him out of his state.

Getting out of exile and obtaining the power to withstand a desire, to rise above it and work for the sake of bestowal, means that a person has reached the “desert” (a state in which desires are still small like in a desert) or that he has arrived at the “land of Israel” (a state of higher desires and work on a higher level). Where a person arrives after he gets out of exile is solely dependent upon the size of the desire that he is able to overcome and rise above in order to work with for the sake of bestowal.

After 40 years of its correction and redirection towards bestowal, the desire that previously was a “desert,” turns into a desire that is called the “land of Israel.” It means that the desire becomes suitable to work with for the sake of bestowal.

So far we don’t have the power to correct, and therefore, we stay “away from the land of Israel” (land – “Eretz” is derived from the world “Ratzon” – desire). We don’t have the power to work with our desires for the sake of bestowal; we only imagine what “correct spiritual work” is.  It signifies that instead of sacrificing we pray. We replace the real work with our desires by our request to be granted a power to perform real correction.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/25/10, The Zohar

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What did the Kabbalists of the past prepare for us? They built the system that connects all of the broken souls with the Light of Infinity. They joined their corrected souls with a net that is reminiscent of  a fishnet. Through it, they pass the Light on to us, lowering it to our level.

If, by reading The Zohar, we attune ourselves to the reception of the Light of Infinity, it descends upon us. If not for the Kabbalists of the past generations, this net of Light we can connect to, would not exist. There would be only simple abstract Upper Light.

However, the Kabbalists performed the corrections by creating the web of connections among their souls. This way, they built the entire system of weakening and adapting the Lights, as well as passing them down toward us, degree after the degree, generation after generation. This makes the Light fit for our souls.

We can help the Kabbalists of the past by raising upward our prayer, MAN, our desire, in response to which the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that Reforms comes to us from Above. The prayer is born as the result of the recognition of evil, as it is said, “I created the evil inclination and Torah (the Light) for its correction.”

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeHukotai (In My Statutes),” Item 24: …This is so because justice is neither corrected nor completed but in righteousness, as it is written, “In righteousness shall you be established.” This is said to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, which is completed only in righteousness, as it is written, “And do them,” which is done by the awakening of the lower one.

What do MAN, appeal, tears, charity, “gates of tears,” and prayer mean? It all means that I want to become like the Creator. It is only under the condition that being like the Creator is the only thing I ask for, that I will awaken Zeir Anpin, so that He influences Malchut.

Only when the lower wants to become like the Upper, can the Upper influence him and lift him to the next degree giving him strength and understanding of what it means to be the Upper. After all, what else can the Upper give? The Creator only has perfection, and He can only pass the degrees of this perfection to us, gradually and according to the state that we are in.

This is why we have nothing to ask of the Creator except for the opportunity to gradually become like Him, where every time our qualities become equal to a greater degree. He has nothing to give us besides our correction. We would really like to become like Him; this is our connection with the Creator.

Therefore, this is why all the other cries and tears that we shed in this world do not lead to anything. Looking back at history we can see that it does not help. The only thing that works immediately is when I attain the “switching point.” Beginning with this point, which is that I want to be like the Creator, when I determine precisely who He is, what He represents, what I lack, what I really need to strive to, and when I make my desire into a desire like the one He has – this is what is called the beggar’s prayer, tears, the gates of tears and charity.

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Any concepts that exist in the world are divided into the degrees of HaVaYaH, according to the four stages of direct Light – in any quality, influence, definition, and in any division. This separation can be spread onto all of reality:

· The stages 0-1-2-3-4 “Shoresh-Aleph-Bet-Gimel-Dalet,”
· HaVaYaH “the tip of the letter Yod-Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey,”
· Sefirot “Keter-Hochma-Bina-Zeir Anpin-Malchut,”
· Senses “vision-hearing-smell-taste-touch,”
· Partzufim “Galgalta-AB-SAG-MA-BON,”
· The worlds “Adam Kadmon-Atzilut-Beria-Yetzira-Assiya,”
· The Lights “Yechida-Haya-Neshama-Ruach-Nefesh,”
· The four natural elements “fire-air-water-earth”….

Our prayer should always be generalized: a prayer of the society, for the society, a prayer of many. It should contain all the levels, all the degrees, a full HaVaYaH. If a person merely screams about something, this is not a prayer. His request should contain his understanding and sensation, the past, the present, and the future. If he makes an appeal in precisely this manner, then his prayer will truly be mature and ripe, and it will be awarded a reply.

Baal HaSulam’s book Beit Shaar HaKavanot represents this precise, general approach, a global view of creation and all of reality. Instead of discerning small, individual details, it explains how to unify them. Talmud Eser Sefirot is an analysis, where the common whole  is broken up into parts, and Beit Shaar HaKavanot is a synthesis, where the parts unite into one whole.

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A question I received: How come problems do not go away even when you understand the cause?

My Answer: This means that you lack the understanding, meaning, the attainment of the cause and the source. Where do these problems come from? They come from my egoism. Why do they come? They come because I am opposite to the Creator. What do I need to do? I need to demand help from the Surrounding Light so I will acquire the quality of bestowal and attain a connection with the Creator; these are my initial goals.

Basically, I need to go through several stages. The ten Sefirot of the Direct Light awaken the ten Sefirot of the Reflected Light within us, causing us to feel pain starting with the first Sefira (Malchut). After the first nine Sefirot, I feel the evil as a stab or a blow when the Light comes from Above and collides with Malchut. And then I must turn this evil into a proper reaction – the nine Sefirot of the Reflected Light.

In other words, I need to understand that this evil did not come from the Creator, but from my egoistic desire, which is opposite to Him. But why am I opposite to Him? Didn’t He create me this way? I need to understand why I was created this way and what I need to do. I have to rise above my egoism, unite with others, and attain the form of Bina. I rise from Malchut to Bina to acquire the quality of bestowal to the full extent, so that Malchut will be included in Bina and the quality of bestowal will influence and fulfill me.

I remain in it, but that’s not all. After that I’ll need to rise even higher – from Bina to Keter. I rise to Keter in order to attain reception for the sake of bestowal, until I unite with the Creator completely. This is the goal, and the reason why I am now receiving the first blow in Malchut, which I perceive as pain. It’s so that I will be able to attain Keter. The entire process must occur inside me inside Malchut of the Direct Light, or stated differently, inside Keter of the Reflected Light. It must take place within the creature’s initial reaction to the Creator. I need to examine all of this, comprehend it, and solve it, so that as a result, a prayer will emerge inside me where I ask, “Give me the strength to ask”! Because I don’t even have that yet.

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A question I received: Why does spiritual work always have to be done joyfully?

My Answer: Joy is a sign that you are acting for the sake of bestowal and that you are not doing it by coercion, because you have no other choice or because you are afraid of bad things happening to you. We know how happy a mother is when she succeeds at feeding her child well, because she receives pleasure from this. Bestowal that comes from love, like with the case of the mother, always comes with joy. Joy is a sign and a consequence of good deeds (bestowal).

However, if a person is under the power of his ego, he feels tense and is angry at the Creator. Therefore, the force of kindness and faith is expressed through serenity, rejection of oneself in the face of the Upper Force, a willingness to receive its influence and its correction, which will change your qualities to bestowal. Then the Upper Force comes and gives you strength, and all of this is accompanied by joy.

A true plea to the Creator cannot occur without joy. If a prayer is heard by the Creator, it is called “the gate of tears” (Shaar ha-Dmaot), which means that a person wishes to be similar to the Creator (from the word “Dommeh” – similar). Therefore, he “cries,” meaning that he really wants to become similar to the Giver. However, these are not tears of sorrow; rather, a person feels joy because he has reached this great desire.

An appeal to the Creator cannot be sorrowful. If you cry, it means you blame Him for arranging all of this for you and are unhappy about your path, which you follow out of hopelessness. Then you cannot be righteous. Therefore, if a person does not feel joy in every state that comes to him (be it the greatest state imaginable or the worst possible state), this means that he is in his egoism and has no way to appeal to the Creator.

A person has to ascend in order to always remain in joy. Then he won’t care what is happening to him, since his only request is to acquire the force of bestowal. In that case, he will receive it.

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When we read about the structure of the Upper Systems in The Book of Zohar, the most important thing is to always think about where these systems are found. They are inside each one of us, and we have to reveal them.

When we hear the names of the Partzufim, Sefirot and various actions (such as Atik, Arich Anpin, Parsa separating one from the other, ascents, descents, unifications, divisions), we should be waiting for just one thing to happen: “When will I feel that this is all happening inside me!? Where are these qualities and actions within me, within my sensations? Oh – here’s Atik, and there’s Arich Anpin, and here, in the middle, is Parsa. And it’s the Parsa that isn’t letting me feel it!”

All of this has to be revealed inside us, because spirituality is inside of us. We think that the spiritual world is somewhere far away, in some kind of other realm. However, when we study about perception of reality, we learn that all of reality is perceived inside us, and spirituality is perceived as the deepest, innermost layer within us.

That is why each one of us has to be like a surgeon that is going inside in order to discover the Upper System described by The Book of Zohar. We are trying to find it at the very depth of our sensations. Then, when reading phrases like, “the Upper Plan,” “RADLA,” “Atik,” “Arich Anpin,” and “ascent to Keter,” we will be able to feel how all of it is happening inside us. You have to desire for every word written in The Book of Zohar to evoke a response and sensation in you. When you constantly work on this, it means that you are really trying to reveal spirituality. We should never forget about this!

Before every lesson and every excerpt we read in The Book of Zohar, we have to return to the right intention and remember that we are now studying the inner part of the Torah, the Torah’s internality, which becomes revealed inside a person. We have different thoughts, desires and qualities, and the spiritual reality that we read about in The Book of Zohar becomes revealed at their very depth. That is why all our attention and all our expectations should be focused on what we are about to reveal inside us. This should be our primary concern and we should always be thinking about this, trying to discern inner movements and reactions to the words we read. Even if you just imagine them – it doesn’t matter; the most important thing is to try and feel these inner movements inside you.

This aspiration in and of itself is already a prayer. First we have to get used to treating the text in this way, and later we will add to this habit a connection among us. In the end, The Book of Zohar was written only in order to create a connection between us. But this connection does not take place between the bodies; it transpires inside each one of us – between the points of all the souls, which are all inside me as well. I have to build this connection inside me: a connection between the image of “myself” and the image of “everyone else.” Inside this connection, which I create within, I will build my spiritual vessel of perception (Kli), and in it, I will reveal spirituality.

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A question I received: What does it mean to hear the Creator’s voice? Does it mean just remembering that there is none else besides Him?

My Answer: No, we need to try to feel this inner Voice inside of us, as we can do so by means of the Surrounding Light’s influence. We have to increase our soul’s sensitivity in order to feel that we need to hear how the Creator is addressing us. The Upper Force wishes to be revealed and is knocking at our hearts, but we are still incapable of feeling It.

The Creator is inside me, but I don’t feel Him! What do I lack? The truth is that I don’t place enough value on the quality of bestowal, on coming out of myself and rising above my egoism. However, if I come out of myself and enter the group, I will feel His voice inside the connection between us.

I don’t have a transmitter inside with which I can tune into the Creator. This transmitter is outside of me, in the connection between those who aspire to the Creator. If the quality of bestowal begins to dominate my qualities, then I will feel Him.

Search in your heart for what you can discuss with Him. It doesn’t matter whether it is good or bad, but it should come from the bottom of your heart. This is called a prayer – work in the heart regarding your thoughts, intentions, and desires – everything that can be connected to the Creator.

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