In the following interview, I offer advice on how anyone in the world can support and participate in the Zohar Congress 2010, which will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel from February 22-24.
A question I received: Does the preparation for the forthcoming The Zohar Convention 2010 intensify according to the same levels — still, vegetative, animate and speaking — as does any development in nature?
My Answer: Yes, this happens with any development, including the evolution of desires. They also go through the four stages of the Direct Light, HaVaYaH (Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey), and the same applies to the Congress as well. When a person starts thinking about the Congress and preparing for it, he goes through ascents and descents. Sometimes he wants to attend the Congress and sometimes he doesn’t. But if at the end of it all he reaches a final decision to attend, then he comes to the Congress truly prepared.
He has to understand why he is going and what he wants to get out of it, as well as where the rest of the world, including his job, family, and health stand in relation to it. He has to calculate everything and arrive at the question: “What is the meaning of my life?” Which cannot be answered by anything besides Kabbalah.
Experience has to show him that at the end of the day, everything else in life depends on some unknown factor, whose Source is revealed to us by the science of Kabbalah. This Source is the Upper Force, and by connecting to it a person gains a tool that enables him to correct everything he has in this world and in the spiritual one.
If a person discerns everything fully according to the HaVaYaH structure, then there is no doubt he will come prepared to the Congress.
The Zohar, Chapter ”Metzorah (The Leper),” Item 20: “She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who support her.” The tree of life is the Torah, a high and mighty tree. It is called Torah (teaching) because it instructs and reveals what was hidden and unknown. She is called “life” because all the upper life is included in her and stems from her.
The “Torah” stands for the Light of Correction, which is the Light that Reforms. This Light is attracted through the study of Kabbalah. It influences our intention and changes it from the natural, egoistic one to an intention of giving. By changing our intention, our desire is redirected from “for my own sake” to “for my neighbor’s sake,” or in other words, from receiving to giving.
The desire itself is neither receiving nor giving. Desire is defined by the intention. To the extent of our similarity with the Creator, we reveal Him and the Light that fulfills us.
Correction of our intentions is referred to as carrying out the commandments or the Creator’s directions. When we correct the 613 intentions that are “for my own sake” by transforming them into “for the sake of bestowal,” it is called the execution of 613 commandments. The 613 Lights or “613 advices” (Tariag Eitin) correct us by filling the 613 desires.
“Isra-El” (directly to the Creator) refers to a person who strives to attain the Creator by correcting himself. Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut is called the Tree of Life because it brings the Light of Correction to us.
Quality is much more important than quantity. There is an infinite variety of plants in the world, but the significance of one flower is equal to all the still matter in the whole universe. One animal is equal to all the plants in the world. And one person is equal to all the rest of nature. This is how different the levels are; they are separated by an abyss.
If we were to gather all the stones in the whole universe, it would be impossible to make even one flower grow out of them, because a flower contains life. It develops, which is a quality that the still level of matter lacks. A person’s development is entirely unique and cannot be understood through a simple analysis. It would seem that every person has a very small force, whereas in reality, that force actually has great quality.
Therefore, an event such as The Zohar Convention 2010 where we unite produces a very powerful force. All the stars in the universe are practically worthless compared to the value of human thought. Today scientists are revealing that our thoughts influence physical processes, such as the behavior of elementary particles in the Large Hadron Collider.
In reality, our thoughts control all the stars, as well as everything on the vegetative and animate levels of nature. All of this is the result of man’s attitude, thoughts, and desires. This is why it is written that all parts of nature are inside man, and there is nothing for us to correct besides our thoughts. This is how we correct the whole world.
Light comes into this world through a system called “man,” because this system is higher than all the rest, and the Light expands from above downward. To the extent this system is united or disunited, meaning corrected or not, that is the extent to which the Light reaches all the other parts of nature (still, vegetative, and animate), and it determines how we see the world.
Therefore, it is written that all of nature is inside a person and it ascends or descends along with him. If I ascend, I attain a greater connection with others and thereby correct the common soul. Through me, a greater Light comes to all of nature, and thus nature also connects and reaches greater harmony.
I am the center of all of nature. I am surrounded by the still, vegetative, and animate levels, but I am the one who determines their correction. When I complete my correction, these levels will disappear and become part of me, because they really are parts of me and my own reflection.
A question I received: What is “sin” from the perspective of Kabbalah?
My Answer: Sin is separation from the Creator regardless of a person’s spiritual level. He might have gone through 99% of the spiritual ladder or just 1%, but no matter how powerful his connection is with the Creator, if he disconnects from this connection, it is considered sin. He falls into reception instead of bestowal, where bestowal is synonymous with connection.
There are several levels of sin. The smallest sin is when a person separates from the Creator but does not yet lose his connection or similarity to the Creator. A greater sin is when the Creator disappears; this means that a person’s qualities are opposite to the Creator. A sin that’s greater yet is when a person submerges into darkness and senses the opposite side of the Creator. But the greatest sin of all is when a person becomes opposite to the Creator and unites with the Pharaoh through his hatred for the Creator. Thus, there are different degrees of sin, from simple distancing to total opposition.
The opposite of sin is “commandment” – unity, adhesion, closeness. It also has different degrees, just like the three phases of conception, feeding, and adulthood, which are degrees of adhesion. Both sin (separation) and commandment (closeness) can only take place and be experienced in a group, because the group is the unity of desires or souls. And through them, these qualities are felt in relation to the Creator. All good and evil are measured inside a person’s connection with the environment. This is the only way to check and correct any state (spiritual or corporeal), and the only way to always preserve and strengthen unity and love.
A woman’s sin is to think that there is no difference between the spiritual work of men and women, and to be of the opinion that everything must be completely equal, down to erasing all the differences and boundaries. My advice is to try and develop the inner feeling of unity and love for other women in Bnei Baruch, even to the point of loving them. See how much you are capable of this. This will enable you to understand what nature really demands from a woman: to help and support the men, because they are capable of attaining the unity of souls.
The Zohar, Chapter “Metzorah (The Leper,)” Item 10: When the time comes for the soul to part with the body, the soul does not depart the body before Divinity appears before it. Then, the soul, out of joy and fondness of Divinity, departs the body toward it. If the person is righteous, he connects with Divinity and adheres to her.
This means that when a person ascends to a higher level, the previous state fades away.
And if not, Divinity leaves him and the soul remains and walks and mourns for the separation from the body.
Allegory: When the cat does not leave the fire, sharpen the knife and the cat will follow you because it will think that you are about to cut meat. Thus, it will part with the fire. Here too, when the soul does not wish to leave the body, Divinity appears before the soul and comes out toward it and parts from the body.
In order to rise to a new level, a person must be pushed by an indirect cause. It is written, “You rise in sanctity, but never descend.” There are many ways to advance. A new state emerges only after a new, uncorrected desire is revealed. This causes the Light to disappear, as it is forced to leave the desire.
If a person has reached the state of perfection, (the state of Hafetz Hesed, where one wants nothing for his own sake), or if a person has an intention for the sake of bestowal, then how can he leave this state and start bestowing less? He must do this in order to ascend to a new level, because a person has to separate completely from the previous state. He has to be reborn in a new state from zero. How is that possible? A person isn’t able to do that on his own. For him, it means having to fall. He simply is unable to part from perfection, saying, “I give to everybody, so what else do you want from me? I cannot stop giving.”
Therefore, an additional force must intervene. For example, let’s say that a mother is having a chronic problem feeding her child. A doctor examines the child and tells her, “Your child has a stomach disorder and must not eat for two days.” The doctor must use his authority to influence her to stop giving. In the same way, there must be an additional factor that draws a person away from perfection, which is the same as death.
A question I received: What is so special about The Book of Zohar that it awakens such powerful reactions in us?
My Answer: It’s not a book; it’s a mechanism whose buttons we press even without being aware of it. In addition, we study The Book of Zohar together in a large group of people all over the world. We are very different from each other but we all want the same thing. Because of this, we press these buttons very powerfully; we simply don’t realize this.
A crying baby doesn’t understand what a turmoil he is causing in the home. Adults cannot ignore a baby’s cry; it causes a great commotion inside us. We can tell an older child to go to his room and not to bother us. However, with a one-month-old baby, we cannot act this way. We fuss around him and drive ourselves crazy with worry. This is the kind of worry that we bring to the Upper Force and this is how The Book of Zohar affects us.
Actually, it’s not the book itself, but the whole system of the universe that is activated when a person studies this book. The desire to reveal spirituality is like a baby’s cry that wakes up the father (Aba), the mother (Ima), the neighbors, and the whole world. It forces factories to work for him in order to produce food, diapers, and everything else a child needs. Does the baby know what he is doing? No, he doesn’t, but just look at how many things the whole world produces for babies.
In the spiritual world, it works the same way. Everything is put into gear by love. We don’t understand that we activate a whole system which influences us in response. However, this doesn’t happen according to our infantile, egoistic demand. Instead, it teaches us gently, with great kindness, and helps us advance toward bestowal.
A person exists between two forces. His own egoistic force is below and the force of the Surrounding Light is above. These two forces pressure him from both directions and he feels like he’s stuck between heaven and earth. By opening The Zohar, he enters a completely different system – that of the Upper Force, and moves ahead by the path of Torah, which is the path of Light.
Up until this point, a person developed according to his need through the process of evolution, just like the rest of nature. His desire to enjoy was always searching for a better place and an escape from blows. However, he wasn’t advancing toward the Creator; he was simply looking for a more comfortable corner. This was our manner of development up to today, whereas now we are attracting a completely different force from Above onto ourselves.
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Ki Tissa (When You Take),” Item 101
Similar to the rest of the Kabbalistic books, the Zohar is a mystery that is waiting to be uncovered by us.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 1
The efforts to overcome disturbances during the study are what brings us the reward.
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 155, Lesson 64
Our plea for correction, a small impulse from below, evokes the diffusion of Light throughout all the world.
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“Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 34, Lesson 16
Only by pressing on the gas, can we shorten the path of development. This highway has no speed limit.
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The Zohar, Chapter “Metzorah (At The End),” Item 100: Therefore, we learned that when the Sabbath starts, all the wicked in hell rest, and they have freedom and rest. And when the Sabbath ends, we should evoke the upper joy upon ourselves, to be saved from the punishment of the wicked that are sentenced from that time forth. And we should awaken and say, “Let the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us.” This is the higher pleasantness, the joy of all, the Mochin de Yeshshut. And it is said about that, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness.”
“The wicked” refers to the desires that give us a feeling of being in “hell.” It is a sense of shame that is evoked because we recognize the property of bestowal, and in contrast to it, see our own uncorrected properties.
We have to learn to see each of our properties within such a state. The correction of our desires is impossible without sensing “hell” in each of our uncorrected properties, which are opposite to the Creator.
Therefore, when we’re able to recognize our uncorrected properties opposite to the Creator and arrive at correction, all roads turn into “roads of pleasantness.” We are the ones who decide that it’s so.
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