All “holy” books describe the spiritual work that takes place in different parts of Malchut on various levels and in various combinations with each other. A person has to reveal all these phenomena inside himself. Then he will know what they are called even without reading about it in a book. He will know what is Esau, David, the names of different angels, and so on. He will learn all these processes inside his soul. These are the processes that are described in the “holy” books; they all talk about bestowal and love. These qualities are called “holiness.”

When a person attains this, it becomes his life, his entire inner world where he lives. Then he understands the reason for why Kabbalists revealed this spiritual system to us through the “holy” books. It was to help us be integrated into this system through the text. Even if we don’t know or understand the words, and we can’ discern the spiritual roots behind them (since all the words in these books point to their spiritual roots), it doesn’t matter. What’s important is our “childish” effort to understand them. This is sufficient for the Light to influence us and cause us to grow. The Light enters our soul and corrects the qualities to which the words point.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 113: “And Joseph was the governor over the land.” Joseph is the sun, Zeir Anpin (ZA), since Joseph is Yesod de ZA, which governs the moon (Nukva), shines to her, and feeds her. He is the provider of all the people of the land, for all are fed by that river that stretches out of Eden, which is Yesod, called, “Joseph,” and from there the souls fly off to every person. This is why everyone bows before that place, for there is nothing in the world that does not depend on luck, which is Yesod.

Everything depends on the Light of Fulfillment and the Light of Correction that comes from Yesod to Malchut and to the souls that are included in Malchut. Malchut can receive these Lights when it, together with all the souls in it, reaches equivalence of form with Yesod.

Yesod contains all the qualities that are above it, all the Sefirot of Zeir Anpin. If the souls in Malchut are able to reach unity and become one, as Yesod, then they receive the Light called “Mazal” (luck), which corrects them.

This is why the condition for receiving the Torah is “to love your neighbor as yourself” and to unite “as one man with one heart.” If we are ready for this unification (despite not being able to make it happen, since only the Light does all the actions), then the Light actualizes this in response to our desire.

If we desire to unite, then even though this aspiration is still “Lo Lishma,” meaning it is purely external and artificial, nevertheless the Light understands it and affects us. Because of the difference between our levels, the Light understands similar to how we understand our little children: We know what each of them is capable of on his level according to his character and qualities.

If, according to our souls’ conditions, they are ready to be connected with each other and to become equivalent to Yesod, then there is a point of contact between Malchut and Yesod and the souls inside Malchut receive the Light that Reforms. Therefore it is written that everything depends on luck (“Mazal”) – on the Light coming from Yesod to Malchut.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 117: When a person rises in the morning, he should wash his hands from a Natlah of water, which is a vessel from which to take water [a special cup for ritual hand-washing].

“Morning” means that the Light of Hassadim comes and the illumination of Hochma is revealed. A person feels the spiritual quality of giving and love as darkness inside of his egoistic (receiving) desires. By correcting them, he awakens for morning and experiences the dawn, and then the day. Inside of his corrected desires he feels the Light of Bestowal.

All of this occurs inside the same desires. At first a person feels that the spiritual world is darkness – something that is repulsive and undesired because it is related to bestowal and the need to love the neighbor. He then goes through correction by studying during the nights (and according to the connection of “branch and root,” we also study at night). Thus, he prepares for the coming of day; he reaches the understanding that spirituality, bestowal, and love for one’s neighbor is day – that it is good, and therefore, he desires it.

Because of his intention, the Surrounding Light gradually begins to influence him, making the state that seemed like darkness to him before look desirable. The same state turns into day and begins to shine.

These corrections that a person performs to his desires are called “hand-washing,” since “hands” are the receiving desires, which need to be cleansed of egoistic intentions before they can be used. The “special cup for ritual hand-washing,” the Upper Vessel, Bina, pours the Light of Correction upon our receiving desires.

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Viewing the world correctly is called “Reflected Light,” and this is genuine bestowal. The moment we begin relating to the world with true bestowal (as opposed to egoistic kindness customary in our world), we immediately see complete perfection – an infinite world that is in harmony and eternity. We reveal this inside us, and at that instant we begin living in a perfect world.

This is a true miracle because we actually change our world by it. Moreover, it is not only the relationships between us that change, but we ourselves are the ones who change. It is not about trying to do less bad or more good. Rather, by changing ourselves, we find ourselves in an altogether different movie and begin living in a completely different way.

We are used to changing ourselves under pressure from the environment. We give to others either in order to receive more, or to avoid making enemies. However, this is simply an egoistic adaptation of giving for the purpose of feeling better.

The real change occurs when we awaken the influence of the Upper Light on ourselves for the first time. Right now we don’t even know what this is. We may occasionally feel elevated when something is suddenly revealed in our mind’s understanding or in the feelings of our heart; or on the contrary, a black cloud drifts over us and throws us down.

In this manner, before the revelation of the spiritual world (the world of bestowal), we are allowed to feel the changes that occur in us while we are still in our current state . For this reason, the Light is called “Surrounding,” since it shines to us from afar.

However, through these examples we begin to imagine genuine changes with the help of the “Light that Reforms.” And this makes something completely new out of us. It is a completely new person with a new view of the world. It is no longer me.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 34: “Joseph was sad,” sad in spirit and sad at heart, since he was imprisoned there. Since Pharaoh sent after him, it is written, “And they brought him out hastily,” meaning that he appeased him and replied to him with words of joy, words that delight the heart, since he was saddened by his being in the dungeon. First, he fell in the dungeon, but from the dungeon, he later rose to greatness.

It appears to us that the story about Joseph talks about material things and the changes they undergo. Joseph falls into a pit and then rises to greatness. We see a desert, a Pharaoh, the Pharaoh’s ministers, a prison, and so on.

However, in fact, it is Joseph, himself, who decides how to see reality. Joseph decides whether it is a pit he falls into or a king’s palace. He decides whether it is night or day. He perceives each of his conditions according to his level of revelation of the Creator, as well as what he thinks about his connection with the Creator and about the situation he is in.

In reality we are always in the state of infinite fulfillment. However, our uncorrected perception depicts pictures that are uncorrected as of yet. The scenes we see are a reflection of our attitude and judgment in regards to the Creator and His role in governing us. The situation in which we find ourselves is, in fact, our evaluation of the Creator’s attitude toward us. Therefore, we are the ones who create our own state.

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We have to reveal the Creator’s desire precisely while we are in darkness. We have to realize that, for Him, it is the most desirable and dignified state since there is no time in spirituality nor do any changes in states occur.

It is the person, himself, who changes his attitude and as a result, sees Paradise instead of Hell. He can see a rise instead of a downfall and Light instead of darkness. A person’s attitude is the only thing that is subject to change.

There are no changes in the state that the Creator prepared for us; it is permanent. We simply have to agree with it more and become more ready for it until we are able to accept it with love and gratitude, to see it as the most desirable state. Then we won’t want any other states. As a result, our consent, love, understanding, and devotion to the Creator’s plan widen and grow.

The Creator wants us to discover that everything depends only on our attitude toward the unchangeable condition in which we are already present. In this reality, nothing changes except our attitude.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Miketz (At The End),” Item 164
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 144, Lesson 60
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“Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 26, Lesson 12
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Miketz (At The End),” Item 137
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A question I received: Why should we read about all the numerous details described by The Zohar if we aren’t able to identify them inside us?

My Answer: We have to be like a child who looks at the world around him and doesn’t understand anything, yet he gradually develops. He gets excited when he sees a bus passing by because it looks like something very big that’s moving. There’s another natural phenomenon where newborn geese take the first moving object they see to be their mother, and they follow it. This causes them to develop.

In the same way, when we are reading The Zohar, there is a part we don’t understand at all yet, and another part that we can already connect to. This develops us. We have to realize that we aren’t able to understand it yet, but one day we will surely understand everything in its entirety. When we desire and try to understand what we are hearing, we awaken the force that develops us. Otherwise, how else could we develop?

The more we advance, the more taste we will feel in the study.

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