In the News (From Top.rbc.ru): “According to Professor Dimitrios Karussis, member of the Executive Board of the Israel Society of Neuroimmunology and the Head of the Multiple Sclerosis Center, Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, scientists were able to identify a soul in a human being by using MRT technology (magnetic resonance tomography).

Research indicates that Kabbalah study activates a part in the brain which the researches called “faith apparatus.” It activates brain activity and increases manyfold an organism’s resistance to diseases that have left modern medicine helpless.”

My Comment: How can we reveal the soul? It depends on what we want to discover. If that’s the force activating an animal body, then surely it’s doable. Back when I was a student, research about “the weight of the body before and after death”was already being conducted in the world, to define the weight of the soul that allegedly leaves the body.

Everything depends on how we define a soul. Sometimes a man and a woman address each other as “my soul-mate.” If that’s how you define the soul, then you can weigh it. But if we understand that the soul is a part of the Creator from Above, the force of bestowal, then, similar to other forces of our world, it can be identified only by the results of its actions. By perceiving the force of bestowal within the property of bestowal (the desire to give, Kli), we thereby reveal the Creator within us and thus call Him Bo–re, from the words "Bo" -"Come" (attain it with your property of bestowal) and "Re" – "See" (discover).

There is no Creator without the creature. We are unable to say anything about Him, as He is outside of us, since that’s the essence or the abstract form which we can’t discuss. Kabbalah, being a purely experimental science, forbids us to engage in such philosophical reasoning, as Baal HaSulam states in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “the judge has nothing but what his eyes can see.”

We need the material on which this spiritual force could act. This material along with the force acting in it will be called the “soul.” Why? It is because the material itself – a part of the Creator from Above that possesses the same property of bestowal – would resemble the Creator.

How can the scientists discover the soul if it exists in the property of bestowal? What kind of devices can they use? What can help them? To discover the soul, one needs the material that would have the property of bestowal.

That could only be when a person has reached such a correction. Then, whatever clothes that material would be called the Light of the soul. The Kli itself, the desire, the material that has the property of bestowal, would be called the soul’s body. Without possessing such qualities, a person of this world is unable to perceive neither the body of the soul nor its Light.

Hence, if we define the soul according to Kabbalah, as a part of the Creator from Above, then scientists have no way of approaching it. One can attain the soul only the help of Kabbalah.

Everything depends on our intention. If we aspire to reveal spirituality, the Light will come and correct our material (desire), so that it becomes bestowing. When the material will resemble the Creator, become the Creator’s part from Above, the soul will arise within us.

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If we were to bestow to the Creator due to the desire that He had instilled in us, could there be love more superficial than that? Essentially, we would love Him because He made us love Him. Love is possible only if the desire originates in us.

That is why it wasn’t an option to create us with a ready desire to love Him, for that would have been disgusting. Love must be completely genuine in its root, it must blossom in an empty space, absolutely selflessly and independently of any received pleasures.

How can we attain such an absolute, pure, and eternal love, utterly selfless without demanding any reward? How can the creature attain the same attitude toward the Creator as He has for it? This desire, the need for bestowal, must be developed by us. Herein lies our entire development from this world and to the World of Infinity: to attain the need for love.

Because we develop it within ourselves, this need for love does not disappear. We hold on to this lack, thanks to which we can love and bestow. For this reason, the spiritual vessel can never be overfilled. It cannot be filled; we merely cover it from Above, as it is written: “Love will cover all sins.” The act of covering only increases the lack. We cover it, but it keeps growing, continuing to blaze brighter and brighter.

That is why the process we undergo cannot be any different, as it stems from the end goal. Indeed, if the Creator wishes to bring us to mutual love, the same love He has for us, then there is no other choice. The entire spiritual ladder has already stretched from the end point to us, to the beginning of the path, and we must continue our journey all the way to the end.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 157: How much longer was I given to live in this world? I have no permission to inform you this, and a man is not informed of this. But Rabbi Shimon was in great joy on the day of his demise, and there was great joy in all the worlds because of the many secrets he had revealed then.

The death of a righteous person resembles the purification (Hizdakchut) of a Partzuf. When a person leaves his degree and transitions from one world into the other, and especially when he leaves the lowest of all degrees – this world – it is a big joy.

However, we think otherwise, and believe that we live in a wonderful world. We simply haven’t seen anything better besides this world. We have to reveal the spiritual world, as it is said, “See your world in this life.” Then we will realize where in fact we are now.

If a person completes his mission, he doesn’t have to return to this world as it happened to Rabbi Shimon who attained the final correction. From now on he stays only in the higher dimension and doesn’t reincarnate into the lowest material form. Whoever hasn’t achieved the final corrected state in a given reincarnation has to be reborn and live in this world again.

It goes without saying that Rabbi Shimon is blissful not because he finally got rid of the work and can now enjoy rest but because he brought the Torah (the Light that Reforms) to the whole world. This of course overwhelms him with joy.

Lecture on Lag BaOmer 5/1/2010

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Everyone asks the same question: if the Creator is omnipotent, why does He put us through the suffering of this whole life that sometimes is worse than death? If He treats us with love, then why does He plunge us into such horrible states? If there is none else beside Him, then how can He do this? Why did He have to create in us an evil nature and demand that we come to goodness through such a long path of suffering?

The fact of the matter is that there’s no deficiency in the Creator, and we need to bring ourselves to a feeling of deficiency on our own. This is impossible without hard work. We are not working hard in order to receive fulfillment, but in order to feel a deficiency. This constitutes the whole process that we go through.

It seems to us that we try to fill ourselves, but this is not the case. We only work on building a giving “Kli,” a desire to bestow within us. The higher we rise, the greater is the deficiency of bestowal, the need to bestow. When we reach Infinity, this will be an infinite, empty vessel (Kli) with an infinite sensation of a lack of bestowal. This is the ultimate achievement of the creature.

From this, we understand that we cannot complete the process in any other way. There’s no deficiency in the Creator to begin with; the very concept of the Creator lacking anything is nonexistent. It is we who need to reach a sensation of a deficiency and particularly of bestowal.

Yet, isn’t His desire to please the creatures a deficiency? No, it’s not. This desire of the Creator comes from perfection. We’re unable to understand this since our desire is a consequence of deficiency. The Creator and I are standing opposite to each other, mutually bestowing to each other with equal desires, but our desires are from completely different roots. His desire comes from perfection since He is initially perfect, and my desire comes from deficiency which I have developed within myself on my own.

Therefore, this deficiency isn’t to my detriment; it’s my virtue and I have reached it myself. I’ve built love for Him within me as the lack of bestowal or the desire to bestow, is, in fact, love.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

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A Question I Received: You said that there are three components of the intention while reading The Zohar: 1) Everything I read in The Zohar occurs inside of me; 2) I feel that I’m studying The Zohar together with my friends, and I feel them; and 3) Unification between us is possible only due to the Upper Light. How is it possible to maintain these three intentions simultaneously and continuously;  which should be given priority?

My Answer: The intention should always consist of all three components together. As Baal HaSulam writes, a person constantly should be in the intention, “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.” If one singles out one of them over the others, he strays from the path.

We’re talking about a single reality called the World of Infinity where the Creator, creature, and the entire universe with all of its qualities (the good and the evil, the past, present, future, and everything that we can possibly imagine), are revealed in one point which is the connection called “adhesion.” Thus I should think only about this state, constantly feel as though I exist in it, and aspire to it. All the interferences that are revealed are only meant for me to direct myself more and more correctly to this point of adhesion where all the qualities complement each other.

Therefore, the group, the Creator, The Book of Zohar that I’m reading, myself, and everything happening inside me become included into Infinity together. We wish to reveal one reality which is the only one that exists. We exist in it even now, but, in order to reveal it, we need to aspire to this picture.

Every degree or each of my states is the same Infinity. We reveal it only as we draw closer to it in increasingly higher resolution and with greater precision. However, every degree is the same ten Sefirot which are revealed more: from a drop of semen (a point) to a full Partzuf.

The intention should consist of the fact that everything is situated in the state of Infinity where I, too, exist. I just desire it to be clarified to me and for its minor details to become larger and to complement each other so that the group, the Creator, all the states, and I are revealed as being one whole. All that is needed is the effort, and it will come. We shouldn’t think about how to connect all the components. On the contrary, we should try to see the final, perfect picture where we exist.

The Surrounding Light comes from this picture with which you wish to be connected. It’s precisely what we need in order to reach revelation. Any deviation to the individual components of this picture just weakens the Surrounding Light.

We need to strive to “learn” as Baal HaSulam writes in Item 155 of “The Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.” To “learn” means to reach adhesion, a connection with that same picture that I’m trying to imagine now. As it’s written, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/29/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: The World Zohar Convention will start in New York in just two days, and it seems like everything has already been said about it, such as how to prepare for it and what will happen there. Still, could you provide some final summary instructions?

My Answer: The summary is to attain a connection among our hearts. This is the only thing we have to correct and this has to be the most important thing to us.

You should not worry about now being able to see and hear everything, or not being able to understand everything. The most important thing is your heart: You have to worry about connecting it with all the other similar desires of the people participating in this world assembly.

There will be over a thousand people present at the actual convention, and they will be joined by hundreds of thousands around the whole world. If these hearts desire to unite in a single desire to attain the revelation of the Creator, to attain bestowal and love through their unity, then it will happen! This goal is attainable. It can be achieved, and it will happen one way or another in the very near future.

In previous years I did not talk about love and unity, but now we are already at the threshold of practically revealing the Creator, the quality of bestowal and love, in our world. Therefore, we are entering this Convention with hopes for great success.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/10, “Matan Torah”

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A question I received: This weekend there will be a convention in North America, titled The World Zohar Convention, where our friends from the whole world will gather. You once said that when you were in a similar situation of general inspiration, you asked Rabash, “What do we lack for attaining the goal?” He answered, “An attack!” What is an attack and how can we attain this state this weekend at the Convention, or even now, at this very moment?

My Answer: During a spiritual attack, one does not think about when will it finally be completed. An attack is when I gather all my forces and act with them.

In our world an attack is a concentrated blow, followed by a chance to rest. However, spirituality is perfect and therefore it cannot be transient. If your desire is authentic, then it is eternal! Therefore, a spiritual attack means a mobilization of forces, where you must continually concentrate them more and more, without a break or a breather. (Actually, you do receive a “breather” from Above, such as the state of “Hanukkah,” which comes from the words “Hanu-Koh,” stop here. This happens during a shift in one’s means for further advancement.)

This Convention offers great opportunities of advancement to all the students all over the whole world. Although we are getting together at the Convention in North America, there will be a direct broadcast of all the lessons. And of course, they will be devoted to the unification of this entire great desire, the spiritual vessel (Kli).

Let us hope that everyone will understand that the science of Kabbalah speaks precisely of this unity, rather than red strings, spells, and so forth. Through the unity of our desires we attain life in the eternal dimension. Let us hope that we will succeed!

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/10, “Matan Torah”

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A question I received: The World Zohar Convention is starting in just a couple of days. In relation to this, many people write to us about various obstacles that prevent them from coming, and about their fear and sudden reluctance to come. What can be done about it?

My Answer: If a person has an opportunity to come to our meeting, no reason should prevent him from doing so. One should come even if it involves spending a considerable sum of money or sacrificing vacation time. I can’t imagine what could be more important then spending a few days together:  It is a purely spiritual investment.

We don’t realize how such unification among people furthers our spiritual progress. Now we are experiencing the “hardening of the heart,” and receive an additional portion of egoism. And that’s great! This is precisely the state in which we need to act.

That is why one has to be aware of the reason for which he cannot come. Herein lies his or her free choice to advance spiritually or not. Only if someone is locked up in a prison and can’t get out of it, then it’s possible to understand his not coming.

People ask me, “What if I ‘ve been studying Kabbalah only for 2-3 weeks and there is no group nearby, isn’t it too early for me to come?” Even if a person encountered Kabbalah just by finding out about our convention, it’s still worthwhile for him to come. Who knows what will happen to him tomorrow? At least he will manage to get something out of this life.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, Article “Matan Torah”

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The Zohar, Items 16-21 (synopsis): The narrative of the Torah starts with the action performed on the soul which has already gone through the breaking of the vessels, the mixing of the broken parts, and the fall into hate and rejection. In other words, the Torah is talking about the soul which is ready for correction.

Being in the state of concealment, a person in our world doesn’t feel flawed, miserable, and full of hostility and hatred. Only the influence of the Upper Light will uncover and help us understand our true nature, which is under total control of instant gratification and pleasures.

In order to rid itself of egoism and come to the state of everlasting pleasure, the creature, Malchut, has to change its intention from “receiving for its own sake” to “receiving for the sake of bestowal.” This gives rise to the property of Bina which demonstrates how the desire to receive can become bestowing.

When the creature “restricts” its desires and annuls itself, it comes under the power of Bina, the mother who is teaching her daughter, Malchut, to work in bestowal. As soon as Malchut becomes included in Bina, the mother starts passing on to her daughter the “garments and precious adornments,” meaning the property of Hassadim. Under its influence the creature gradually becomes similar to the Creator.

As a result of her further spiritual development Malchut rises above Bina and obtains the property of “Elokim.” This means that she begins attaining her root and comes to the understanding of her place, function, and duty in the system of the common soul.

The Zohar Lesson in Russian 5/2/2010

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The Zohar, Chapter “Emor (Speak),” Item 129: Open for me an opening like the tip of a needle, and I will open the high gates for you. …This is why when David wished to come into the King, he said, “Open to me the gates of righteousness … This is the gate of the Lord.” The gates of righteousness is Malchut; it is the way to enter the King. “This is the gate of the Lord,” to find Him and to adhere to Him. Hence, “Open to me, my sister, my love,” to mate with you and forever be at peace with you.

In one of his letters, Baal HaSulam describes entering the spiritual world. There is a wall in front of us, we are walking along it, looking for the entrance, but can’t find it. However, the instant a person becomes similar to the One who is behind the wall, an entrance appears in the wall.

This is the way to enter the spiritual world. You have a solid wall in front of you which doesn’t have any opening, and then, all of the sudden, an entrance opens for you.
In the material world, we know that there’s a door in a certain place, it’s closed, but it can be opened. However, in the spiritual world, there is no door; nothing is visible in advance; everything is completely concealed. It’s utterly impossible to imagine that something can be opened here. Then, suddenly, an entrance opens.

Everything happens according to the similarity of properties of the person standing in front of the wall, and the Creator behind it. If they share at least one percent of similar properties, the person can enter inside. It happens on the condition that he wants to enter only to the extent of this percent and leaving the rest outside.

This means that a person wants to become connected with the Creator only through the desires that fit Him. Then, the entrance opens and he finds himself in the spiritual world. Corrections of our desires ultimately lead us to a desire called “gates to the Creator.”

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/30/10

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