The Meaning of “Being Together”

drugs A question I received: How should we prepare throughout the day for reading The Zohar, especially now that the Zohar Convention 2010 is approaching?

My Answer: We should aspire to the Light that Reforms together. This is a very simple motto where “being together” means uniting. But what are we uniting for? It’s in order for each of us to be influenced by the Light that Reforms, which will correct our evil nature, namely, our lack of desire to unite.

Everything can be found inside one notion. There is Malchut, the assembly of souls, and we have to unite within it through a common demand to Yesod, asking it to give us the Light of Correction and the Light of Fulfillment. That is all. This should be our intention at the upcoming Congress.

If we think about this and understand that our entire future depends on this unity because it makes us similar to the force of bestowal, then we don’t need anything else. We should reread the story about the reception of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai because we are in the same exact situation. It is written that every person should see himself as standing beneath Mount Sinai and receiving the Torah.

The Torah is given every day. But we will only be able to receive it if we all unite as one man with one heart, standing opposite the Creator, who is also One. We will then establish contact with Him and receive the Surrounding Light.

We have to prepare for this state where our souls refuse their individual egos and connect together in order to attract the Light of Correction. The Light will make our unity happen and inside it, we will reveal the Creator.

A Chance To Bring Light To The World

economics.jpgWhen studying The Zohar, we should feel that we are standing at the foot of Mount Sinai opposite our egoistic desire, our nature. We have already checked and been convinced that we are unable to be in control of our nature; we cannot succeed with it even in our material lives.

According to the Upper Plan, our nature is deliberately leading us to greater failures. This is why we have to ask for the Light that Reforms, called the Torah. It is written, “I created the evil inclination and I gave the Torah for its correction,” because the Light of the Torah reforms us.

This is the state of standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, where we feel hatred among everyone. But we hate that hatred for one another, and this results in a tremendous request because only the power of the Torah – The Book of Zohar that illuminates us with the Light that Reforms, is able to change our nature. This book will help us to open our eyes and heart and attain the spiritual dimension.

If we study The Book of Zohar with this intention every day, then we will be at the foot of Mount Sinai. As we approach the great event called “- The Zohar Convention 2010 ,” if we unite all our efforts and concentrate all our forces toward this common request, then there is a great opportunity for us to bring Light to the world.

Understanding The Zohar

clip_image001The Zohar tells us what happens in the spiritual world. It describes the creature’s actions of bestowal. However, because we are incapable of such actions yet, we are unable to understand them. We exist in our egoistic desire. We only know about receiving pleasure and fulfillment and the actions that get us there.

Therefore, the actions described by The Zohar appear to us like they are written in some foreign language, like a secret code. It seems to speak about something utterly unreal. It doesn’t matter whether it’s written in the language of Kabbalah with Sefirot, Partzufim, and worlds or in fairytale-like allegories with the sun, the moon, mountains, people, animals, and so on. We don’t understand or feel any of it because we don’t exist in the quality (meaning, nature) of bestowal, but in the quality of reception.

If our corporeal egoistic qualities were replaced from Above with spiritual qualities of love and bestowal, we would immediately understand what The Zohar is telling us. As we read it, we would reveal the Upper World. It would be revealed not just in our imagination like when reading an adventure novel, but in reality.

Although we don’t have these spiritual qualities yet and the text remains unreal for us, our reading of The Book of Zohar is called Segula, a special remedy. Even if we don’t understand it, we read it and try to draw onto us the forces from that other world described in the book. By wishing to change and to feel the text, it “shines” on us with the “Light that Reforms,” (Ohr Makif – the Surrounding Light).

This force influences us and reveals new qualities of bestowal inside us, which are described by The Zohar. It was written in the nature of bestowal, not reception, and thus it can only be understood in keeping with the nature of bestowal.

Give Your Soul A Magnificent Present

A question I received: I know you and your group only through the television screen. I’m scared of going to the Zohar Convention 2010 and feeling alone in a room full of people. How do I deal with this fear?

My Answer: This is a common question. People are scared of coming to the Congress and feeling alone in a room filled with 6,000 people. Don’t worry, you won’t feel alone. If a person is really determined and aimed at the goal, he really mustn’t miss a Congress. Don’t be deterred by fear or any other worries. Simply close your eyes and come. You will be inspired by such a large gathering of people who all share one common goal. We will listen, study, and sing together.

You simply don’t have any other opportunity to attain this kind of unity. It’s impossible to attain it through a television screen. However, once it has been attained, this unity will work on you. Then, you can return to the TV screen for several more months of study.

You must be present for all three days because it’s not quite as simple as walking in and connecting right away. It’s a good thing that you are scared for your work lies in overcoming your fear.

On the first day, you’re only beginning to enter the spiritual work. Toward the middle of the second day, we begin to feel the connection, the warmth and the unity. A certain spiritual sensation begins to emerge within us. It’s very small, but it begins to prepare us for spiritual revelation. The third day brings the anticipation of parting, but the unity has been achieved, even if only for a moment.

In the spiritual world, a moment is all you need. If a contact has been made, it remains forever. Nothing is lost in the spiritual world. When you return to the TV screen, that sensation you’ve experienced and that contact you’ve established will continue to develop within you.

Everyone has to come to the Congress to feel together with everyone else. In doing this, you will give your soul a magnificent present.

Revealing The Shattering

clip_image001A question I received: How could Aba ve Ima (father and mother) allow the shattering of Kelim, since it was their fault that it occurred? In other words, did they allow the Light to descend because of too much love?

My Answer: No, this wasn’t a case of too much love, or the lack of understanding or weakness associated with a mother who is over-caring. The reason was the lack of knowledge of the one and only factor which was impossible to predict ahead of time.

Aba ve Ima (father and mother) didn’t know that when the connection with the Creator was revealed it would bring such tremendous pleasure to the creature. However, the creature didn’t have a screen (the correct intention to receive it).

Let’s recall the example of the guest and the host. The host wants to treat the guest from the bottom of his heart because he loves him. The guest, however, refuses and finally agrees to be treated only to please the host. In this way the guest expresses his love to the host rather than simply satisfying his own appetite, even though he is very hungry.

A person who wants to love the Creator and give everything he has to Him sees the treats laid out before him and knows he’ll get them; all the pleasures from this table have already been tried. However, he repays the Host with everything he received from Him.

By doing so, a person uncovers who he really gives back to. One reveals the Creator’s greatness as well as tremendous pleasure originating from the connection between that person and the Creator. And he has no power to resist that pleasure. This state is impossible to imagine before we receive the Light (the treat). By acting so, a person gradually rises to the level of the Creator and comes to receive the status of the Host.

Moreover, this sensation cannot be revealed from the start because the Creator wanted the creature to make this revelation independently in order to achieve this status on its own. All other actions of the creature are not independent, since they simply unfold through the chain of Reshimot (one’s inner informational genes).

The point of free action on the creature’s part lies in attaining the Creator’s status as well as making all the revelations that accompany this process. This point of free action is revealed precisely by virtue of the shattering of vessels (Shevirat Kelim).

The Creator cannot give this attainment directly to the creature, but only by way of a “detour”; so that the creature makes this discovery on its own and shatters. Shattering means that one understands that he can’t do it himself because it is beyond him. A person is unable to give away that much and sacrifice such tremendous pleasure. Thus, a shattering occurs.

After the shattering, a person acquires the chance to attain this status. It happens gradually, in small portions, with the exception of the “stoney heart” – the point at which the pleasure of attaining the status of Creator is concentrated at the moment of the shattering. However, eventually even this point is corrected.

In other words, the shattering is the great revelation of the chasm which separates the Creator and the creature, which the Creator doesn’t allow the creature to feel directly. This is why the creature must shatter and reveal its evil.

5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Kabbalah Lesson: Kabbalah Moments


Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 02.02.10

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Miketz (At The End),” Item 79
This world means that Malchut remains with its qualities. The world to come means that Malchut obtains the quality of Bina.
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 134, Lesson 58
During the correction process we must built the World of Atzilut within us.
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Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 20, Lesson 10
In the state of Infinity, the only thing I receive is the ability to love, which gives me boundless pleasure.
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