A question I received: Students experience the practical side of Kabbalah at the conventions. What is the practical side of Kabbalah?

My Answer: We were born, created in a state where the ego separates us. According to the plan of creation, we must become connected in brotherly love. This is something that is impossible to realize using our own strength because we’re all simple egoists.

Egoistically we can feel only this world. It is whatever each individual perceives in their small egos. Once a person comes out of the ego and actually starts feeling the others, he starts feeling, in this new attitude towards them, a reality called the spiritual world, or the next world, or the upper reality.

This is precisely the very practical thing that we can do together in this kind of convention. It is through that connection between us. We can tangibly feel it. To actually realize that is what we intend to do.

I really hope that it will happen, and if not in this convention then maybe the next one. But we are going towards that and what we’re going to do are really tangible, practical things that the wisdom of Kabbalah writes about, that The Zohar writes about, here and now, on the face of earth, between human beings.

From an Interview with the Learning Center Director 4/5/10

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In the News (From Cursor.co.il): Mr. Mordechai (Moti) Shklar, CEO, Israel Broadcasting Authority, stated during his speech at the Sammy Ofer Communications School, IDC, Israel [summary]: We turned into a society which destroys any values, a society of individuals alienated by society, where individuality stands in the center and there is no place for collective values.

Commercial TV educates the society on low naked emotions, and such a society has no future, no right for existence. Today we already feel an opposite reaction: an increasing number of people are looking for meaning in their lives, and along with entertainment programs, want to see TV channels with meaningful charge.

We need an alternative channel to commercial TV. Possibly, the content of such shows won’t suit the young audience, but it will fit mature people over 40. In this way, we first have to conquer the audience above 40 and ultimately, young people will also start searching for alternatives.

My Comment: Mr. Shklar apparently is unaware of Channel 66, our Kabbalah TV channel in Israel. Otherwise, he would replace the Israel TV Channel 1 with it!

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A question I received: Yesterday I went to the Creator’s restaurant and ordered steak for 100 dollars, but today with just 80 dollars available, I can only order chicken. If I’ve never tried the chicken, how can I calculate the pleasure against the desire using the screen (price)?

My Answer: This is a very deep and important question since it determines the difference between all the states and degrees by which we ascend or descend. Every fulfillment differs from another, like the pleasure from music differs from the pleasure from art, and so on. So can we perform this calculation or not? If we can’t, then how do we advance in spirituality?

How do I perform a calculation based on yesterday’s steak for 100 dollars with today’s chicken for 80 dollars if I’ve never tried the chicken, and yet nonetheless want to perform the maximum calculation for bestowal? If bestowal is not 100%, then it’s not called bestowal. Furthermore, if I receive more than what is possible, it will go to the Klipa (egoism) which should be avoided.

Therefore, I perform a calculation on Dalet-Itlabshut (the fourth level of pleasure) and Gimel-Aviut (the third level of desire), meaning a calculation on how much of yesterday’s meat I would receive for 80 dollars. Yesterday I received steak for 100 dollars, and today with only 80 dollars it appears to be the same steak, only smaller. I cut off the Light of Yechida from it, and leave only Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, and Haya.

As a result, I begin to feel the difference between the fourth and the third level. Accordingly, instead of performing a calculation on the steak that I now reject, I perform a calculation on the money: What does 100 dollars mean in relation to 80 dollars? The difference is in the pleasure that I now reject. Hence, I now understand the value of 80 dollars, and so I perform a calculation regarding the maximum that I can receive from it for the sake of bestowal.

This is one of the principles of education: to understand one thing from another (“Lilmod Devar Mi Toch Devar”). I perform a calculation regarding one thing, then connect it to another, and go on to a third calculation.

Therefore, in our calculation we always account for the Rosh de-Itlabshut (the former Light) of the past spiritual state (a former Partzuf). From there we can already descend to Rosh de-Aviut (desire) in order to perform a calculation on a new fulfillment.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/10, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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Any state is defined by two parameters: the Light and desire (Kli). In addition, when there is no Light and no desire for it (which is why the Light left), then what remains is a “record” (Reshimo) of both the Light and desire.

Suppose I had a desire and enjoyment within it, but now the state has changed: There is neither that previous Light nor the desire for it. In the new state I have a new desire, but how can I determine what Light to accept within it? I have a distinct desire that I sense right now, but I have not yet received the Light within it because the Light has to come from outside. In this case I use information (Reshimo) about the Light from my previous state and information about the desire from my current state.

Supppose I was in a restaurant yesterday where I enjoyed a meal costing 100 dollars. Today I come to the same restaurant with only 80 dollars and don’t know what to order with this money. Although I understand that I cannot order as much as I did yesterday, now I have to figure it out what to order based on what happened yesterday. I have to order a bit less and must determine precisely how much less. I remember the enjoyment (the Light) from yesterday, which is my only reference since enjoyment always comes from outside. There is only money (Kli) in my pocket and I know that today I have less of it.

Every spiritual state always contains information about desire (Reshimo de Aviut) and information about the Light that was clothed in the previous desire (Reshimo de Hitlabshut). Based on these two Reshimot it is always possible to understand what is occurring. Without these Reshimot (reminiscences) a person would lose his memory and reason. He would not know what happened a moment before and would not understand how to behave in the following moment.

We act only according to Reshimot. This data is built into us; we make all our comparisons and calculations based upon them.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/10, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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A question I received: What game is the Creator playing with us and what is its purpose?

My Answer: As it is written, all of creation is a game. The Creator made the universe and man in it so that through the correct connection with the surrounding universe we would develop and reach similarity with the One (Creator) who created them both. This is called a game because in developing we grow and rise to a higher level of development rather than just simply accumulating knowledge.

We all have to rise to the first spiritual degree. We don’t see it. It’s like in a game: We play and we don’t know what is happening. The outcome of the game is unknown.

The same process is occurring in the development of plants and animals. Everything develops in the form of a game. A game means that one exists on a certain degree, but he cannot discern the next one. However, one makes all possible efforts in order to attain it.

Children, too, play all the time, and through their games they suddenly become smarter and begin to talk and understand. They don’t study a language or science the way we do. They absorb the surrounding world with their desire to understand it.

This is the same for us in relation to the spiritual world. We only need the desire to sense it, and after feeling it, we have to understand and perceive it within ourselves. Suddenly, the spiritual world manifests within us – and we feel it. After all, we are a vessel of sensation, a desire. The understanding and intellect follow the desire.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/21/10

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Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #221 “Multiple Authorities”
If revealing eternity in which I exist is truly important to me, then this importance will determine each moment of my life.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Korah,” Item 20
The Creator is unalterably perfect.  We assign changes to Him so that we’d have the opportunity to change ourselves and acquire similarly to perfection.
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Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 99, Lesson 34
In Klipa Noga, the good is combined with evil, which becomes the basis for spiritual work.
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Lesson 2
False connections between people are doomed for failure. We only unite in our aspiration toward the Light which will truly correct us.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Korah,” Item 1
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Rabbi Akiva said, “Love your neighbor as yourself; that is the great rule of the Torah!” Why is love for one’s neighbor a great rule, the foundation that categorically divides us into two halves: animate and human? If I love myself, then I am an animal, and if I love my neighbor, then I am human. As an animal, I only feel this material life, but when I begin to love others, I feel the Creator and the spiritual world.

Spirituality is felt inside the force of love that is called my spiritual vessel or Kli. Right now my vessel is egoistic love, the desire to love myself. The world I feel today is felt inside this desire. In this egoistic reality, I reveal only that which is good or bad for me.

I reveal the world and the entire diversity of its shades only in relation to myself. All of the colors and sounds in the world depend on what is useful to me and what is harmful. I am afraid of one thing and I desire something else. I repel one thing and attract something else. Every influence is revealed inside my senses, which operate in relation to my love for myself. Therefore, I don’t see anything that does not pertain to my self-love; I simply don’t perceive its existence.

The fact is that I am facing infinity, but I don’t feel it. In relation to me it seems not to exist at all because it does not make me feel good or bad. Egoistic love determines the volume of the universe that I feel. Thus, out of the entire World of Infinity, I feel just a tiny sphere, my world.

When I start to come out of myself, then in my previous desire I feel what is good for others. In other words, I start to love my neighbor. This is called the Upper, spiritual world. When I reveal it, I reveal an entirely different universe.

If I tune out of egoistic thoughts about myself, even in a purely material sense, and start to think about my friend, then I will feel a completely different world, with completely different problems and solutions. When I reveal what is good for someone else, then in relation to me it will be called the Upper, spiritual world. That person will see the same thing as his material, egoistic world, but when I desire to dress into his reality and reveal his world from within him, it will turn into my spiritual world.

This exercise enables me to come out of myself and feel the Creator. I will feel Him inside of you, as it is written, “The Creator dwells inside His nation.”

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/10, “Matan Torah”

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A question I received: How does my point of view actually change when I come out of egoistic self-love and see the world through the desires of others? Will I see a different room, a different glass on the table in front of me, and will I see all these people differently?

My Answer: An animal will always remain an animal, and that pertains to every one of us. You always remain inside the point of your “self”; however, when you attain spirituality, you add a completely different sense (vessel or Kli) to that point – the desires of other people.

The Creator created a desire consisting of ten parts or Sefirot, called HaVaYaH. Right now you only feel the lowest layer of this desire, a black point. As you are born, live, and die, you return to the same ten Sefirot of your egoism, which is the sensation of this world. This continues from one generation to the next, from one life cycle to the next (or from one Partzuf to the next), each time going through the same states: embryo, feeding, and maturation (or from one Partzuf to the next), and then once again: embryo, feeding, maturation, and so on.

How can you feel the world in a different way, not just from within the black point, but through the desires of other people who are outside of you? When this happens, your “I” still remains, and your world won’t change. If you were to disappear, then in relation to what would you feel others? You have to feel others opposite of you, and see them as opposite and hateful to you. Moreover, this feeling has to keep growing.

An example of this is the group of Rabbi Shimon: They revealed the greatest possible hatred among themsleves. But above it, they built love and thus attained the revelation of the Light of The Zohar. When you have great hatred inside and great love above it, this provides the necessary contrast in which the Light of Hochma, the Light of Attainment, shines. There is enormous egoism inside, and above it there is a screen. That is the only way to reveal a great Light.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/10, “Matan Torah”

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I can desire correction for bestowal only if the environment supports me in this. The desire to bestow manifests and acts only in my connection with the others, and thus I need their assistance in the form of “mutual guarantee.” To the extent that I support them, they support me. This is a system. To the extent that I activate it, I receive from it.

By desiring to join the group and connect with the others, I trigger a counter-reaction toward me. The others pass me the correct forms of our connection without even being aware of it. Since we exist in a network, they show me the type of connection we have.

This connection is not simply a desire to bestow; rather, it is a guarantee that cements our connection. This results in response to my request. Then, I turn to them with my prepared vessel (Kli), with a prepared system of connections that consists of 613 (Taryag) elements. Without knowing it, I activate the whole system. Thus by connecting with each other we revive the whole system among us.

Mutual guarantee is a very deep concept. It refers to life and the activation of the inner system of connection between us. We only need to retrieve it from within and start using it.

Otherwise, I can scream about my desire to be connected with the others, but how can I know how to do it? Do I understand how to connect with each person and with everybody all together? It is because I awaken them that they begin to influence me and pass to me the forms of our connection. They may be aware of it; it’s not important. We nevertheless activate this system of connections.

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

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