The Zohar, Chapter “VaYakhel (And Moses Assembled),” Item 432: And now that Divinity needs correction, to bond with her husband, ZA, that redemption of Egypt must be shown to contain four redemptions. And with the awakening of the Mochin of the exodus from Egypt, she is corrected to bond with her husband because she has become liberated from all four Malchuts.

Shechina (Divinity) must go through four exiles which will be followed by the final redemption, the exodus out of the final exile. Malchut comprises four layers of the desire to receive pleasure. Thus, each time she must reveal a greater egoistic desire and exit out of it, meaning to use it for the sake of giving; and then once more reveal an even greater desire to receive pleasure, and again correct it with the intention to give. And so on four times over according to the structure of Malchut of Infinity. In so doing, we will conclude her correction, and she will be completely corrected.

Presently we stand on the threshold of the final redemption. The greatest desire to receive pleasure, which is being revealed today in the souls, must be corrected with the intention to give. And then there will be no more exiles.

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

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If I, along with my friends, wish to reveal within myself the inner qualities described in The Zohar, they will be revealed. I only need to desire greatly that the property of mutual bestowal, love, and guarantee will be revealed in all of us. By doing so, I affect all the parts of my soul whom I see as strangers so that each of them would awaken himself.

You are a part of me, but I can’t act in you directly as we are separated by our egoism which acts as a divider. I have no access to you even though you are a part of my soul. So, what should we do? I realize that I can reveal the Creator or the Upper World only inasmuch as I restore the soul. I search for ways to influence you in order to awaken and revive you since you are my part. I affect you and, when you correct or revive yourself, it is my doing. Thus, this corrected part belongs to me. In this manner, I adjoin the whole of creation to me.

It’s written, “the corporeal of a friend is the spiritual of you.” That is to say that I rouse him to correct himself through corporeal actions and thereby bring a part of my soul closer to me. Everyone acts in this manner and returns everyone else to himself. It turns out that I never work against someone else. By bestowing to others and by loving the neighbor, I simply relate to parts of my own soul in a different, correct, “egoistic” form. Later, it will be revealed to me that these are parts of my own soul.

For example, I hate the son of my neighbor for disturbing me by playing the piano. Then, suddenly, I discover that he’s my own child and I repent my hatred bitterly. In other words, I take the mistakes and the transgressions of the past and turn them into merits.

In the same manner, we reveal our sins right now on the stage of preparation for spiritual revelation. We reveal our hatred in regard to everyone. Later, we learn that it’s all our own and correct it.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/6/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: What is a Kabbalist’s position on sports and a healthy lifestyle?

My Answer: Kabbalists are in favor of healthy lifestyles. Baal HaSulam used to like to swim out to the ships in the harbor. My Teacher Rabash and I would frequently go to the gym, the sauna, and swim at least 400 strokes in the sea. I currently ride a bike for 1.5 hours, swim 400 strokes, power walk for 1 hour, and work out every morning. A person needs to take care of his body, otherwise it can’t serve him.

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Our thoughts and desires are interconnected. Therefore, right now, as we study The Zohar, if someone is being lazy, this weakens everyone else. That person will be punished for his deed in that it will be even more difficult for him to keep studying.

We are all in one common boat. Either I am drilling a hole in it, or I’m trying to the best of my ability to move our common boat with my intention.

The less energy I have, the more difficult it is for me. Yet, if I overcome all these obstacles, then I contribute great efforts to the common effort to evoke the Light. I thereby influence everyone else and this comes back to me through them. As a result, I end up a winner.

Therefore, the more difficult it is during the study, the better it is. I have to feel the responsibility I have because we have all signed a group contract, a mutual guarantee, and this fact has to obligate me to act.

It is impossible to read The Zohar by myself; I need an environment. That environment is the people who are studying all over the world and expecting results from the study. The Creator has awakened several million people in different parts of the world, who are now reading The Zohar together with us.

Every person sitting in front of his TV or computer screen has to understand that if he is being lazy at this moment, then he influences all others! This transgression will come back to him and will push him away from attaining the goal in the same measure that he caused harm to all of us.

Therefore, the study is not just my personal work. Right now all of us together are trying to attract the Surrounding Light and with its help to move our boat closer to the goal. It is written that one has to attain such a degree of love for one’s friend that one would give the friend one’s last pillow if the friend wanted it.

Now think: Your friend wants to advance toward the spiritual goal, and the two of you are moving together in the same direction. However, suddenly you abandon him! What kind of punishment does a traitor of this caliber deserve?

From the 1st Part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/10, The Zohar

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The division of people into the nation of Israel and the nations of the world, which Baal HaSulam describes in his articles, can be interpreted in two senses: inner and outer. When understood in the inner sense, it describes how qualities are divided within every person, with “Israel” designating one’s aspiration “straight toward the Creator” or the point in the heart that has awakened in a person, whereas the “nations of the world” are the desires of reception.

Any person whose point in the heart (aspiration to reveal the Creator) has awakened can be called “Israel,” which means “straight toward the Creator.” If one’s point in the heart has not awakened yet, then he belongs to the nations of the world, meaning to all other goals in life.

All the people can be categorized in this fashion and divided into Israel and the other nations. This is the same as what once occurred in Ancient Babylon.

When considering those whose point in the heart has not awakened yet, the science of Kabbalah must first and foremost be disseminated among the nation of Israel in the material sense. After that it should reach the other nations. In addition, the nations of the world include the ten tribes of Israel that fell to the level of “the nations of the world” from the height of the First Temple (Mochin de Haya).

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Preparation to the Lesson
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Shamati #22 “Torah Lishma (For Her Name)”
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 40
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYaera (And The Lord Appeared),” Item 462
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYaera (And The Lord Appeared),” Item 452
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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYaera (And the Lord Appeared),” Item 360: “He will keep the feet of His holy ones.” It writes “His holy ones” without a Yod [in Hebrew], which means a holy one, Abraham, with whom the Creator always went, so that others would not be able to harm him. “But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness.” Those are the angels that the Creator killed on the night when Abraham chased them.

The quality of Hesed (Abraham) is the foundation of all other corrections. It’s the first quality that becomes revealed in egoism during its correction. This is why we consider him to be the “father of the nation of Israel,” meaning that he is the father (foundation) of the nation (all other corrections) of Israel (Yashar-El, leading a person straight to the Creator).

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/6/10, The Zohar

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We’ve gotten used to the fact that when we wish to achieve something in our ordinary lives, we exert effort and receive a result. In order to reap a harvest for example, one needs to plow the land, plant seeds, care for crops, and so on. The fruit of the labor is a direct consequence of the effort a person invested.

Spirituality is also impossible to achieve without effort, but for a different reason: the effort builds a spiritual desire (Kli) within, where spiritual fulfillment can be felt. Spiritual fulfillment exists in abundance, but we are unable to sense and perceive it. Man’s efforts cause an influence of the Upper Light, which forms the person, adjusting him or her to its fulfillment. The Upper Light performs all of the work. Therefore, I put in effort to “desire Him,” and the Light works; the Creator and I are partners.

We constantly forget about our Partner, thinking that we need to change and correct ourselves while performing different changes in the society single-handedly, as if everything is centered around and performed by “me.” We forget that we only need to scream out and ask like a little child, and then it will happen. The Light will influence and do everything. The Creator will do “what is necessary,” while we need to guess “what is necessary” and ask Him for this, according to the principle “Make your desire as His.”

We advance too slowly because we constantly forget about correction through the Light by presuming we can win using our own strength. We attempt to transform ourselves and the world, connect the cause and consequence, do the work of the Light and see the result of our work.

At the outset, we forget about the main component, the Light, which gives us the desired form. Subsequently we believe that the outside needs changing and forget that the outside changes only as a result of our inner changes.

The outside world doesn’t change. Rather, our view of the world changes along with our inner qualities, our desire to receive pleasure. As a consequence, a new picture of reality emerges. Therefore, if we fall short of attuning ourselves correctly to spirituality, we can waste years without feeling advancement.

From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 4/2/10

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