The Zohar, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 6: …each degree comprises GAR and ZAT, which is ZA, and there is attainment only in ZA of each degree, even in ZA de [of] GAR, called Daat. However, no one can attain in the GAR of each degree, even in the GAR of the degree of Assiya.

We perceive everything inside of Malchut. Malchut is called “the Creator’s image.” Presently we do not see the true picture of the world, but only what enters our five senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch) and is presented in our brain. We receive an impression from the information delivered to us by our senses, and sense reality that seemingly exists before us within, in the back of our brain.

The same happens to Malchut. Baal HaSulam explains in “Preface to the Book of Zohar” that along with Malchut, there exist the first nine Sefirot; however, Malchut does not know what those nine Sefirot are. She attains these Sefirot after including them within herself, sensing them as something that appears before her.

Thus, Malchut discovers the first nine Sefirot to the extent that she is able to act like them, from below upward. When Malchut becomes like Keter by repelling the Direct Light and forming the Reflected Light, from within the Reflected Light, she attains the fact that before her are the first nine Sefirot, that is, the lower one begins to act outside of itself, outward, and sees what is happening in the Reflected Light.

The same applies to us in this world. We see something that exists before us in accordance with our ego, depending on what is beneficial to us and what isn’t. Whatever doesn’t affect our ego, cannot bring us benefit or cause harm – we do not detect.

This stems from the spiritual roots: Malchut senses the first nine Sefirot only to the measure of the Reflected Light, which the Direct Light imprints within itself. This is the picture that appears to Malchut as though existing before her. Nothing else exists as far as she’s concerned, for she doesn’t sense anything above that.

If Malchut were to have the desire to enjoy of the Root (0) phase, she would not detect before her anything other than the Root phase. If Malchut were to have a greater desire to enjoy, she would see before her a wider picture of reality. Everything is determined by the thickness of our desire (Aviut) and the Light it reflects. That is why nothing in Kabbalah speaks of what truly exists in reality, for everything depends on the measure of one’s attainment.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/28/10

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A question I received: What does it mean that the Partzuf (soul) "lightens?" Does the desire disappear?

My Answer: “Lightening” of the Partzuf indicates the weakening of the screen, not the desire. Desire itself is never taken into account. The presence or absence of the screen determines everything.

Therefore, we only consider the screen. As for the desire, it becomes included in the act as long as there is a screen over it, since without a screen the desire is under restriction. Only the screen determines the degree of similarity to the Creator. It defines the character of the spiritual Partzuf, its magnitude, and height. Hence when we talk about a desire, we mean a desire covered by the screen, not simply a desire.

In our world, a person evaluates everything within his or her desire as well. However, other people are not interested in the desire itself; rather, they want to know how much the desire can be realized. You can’t simply scream, "I want!" You should pay and then you’ll receive.

The Hebrew word for "money" (Kesef) comes from the word "cover," or "screen" (Kisui). In this way, the desire is evaluated according to its screen.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/30/10, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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A question I received: How can I bestow to the others if I have to feel their desires as my own? Won’t I be giving to myself?

My Answer: No, I will feel them specifically “as” my own. The distinction between us, the hatred, will remain, and above this hatred I will build the bridge of love. Within me, there is an egoistic desire against the others, and above it, the screen and the Reflected Light, a desire to fulfill them rather than myself. When I fill these desires, it will be with the intention to bestow.

Sensing myself and others opposite to me, as well as  sensing their desires as my own, turns into a spiritual Partzuf of my soul. All desires that were outside of me enter the “body” of my soul now, because I fill them for the sake of bestowal. As the head or “Rosh of the Partzuf,” I can only fulfill these desires. The rest of my body is the desires of others.

If we were to picture a spiritual Partzuf, the head is the original “I,” while its body is the desires of all other people. Otherwise, who would I be fulfilling, myself?

I attract the Light to pass it on to the others; that is, I am the head which decides to take this action. When I fulfill the others, I become similar to the Creator in relationship to them.

This is why I feel that the Creator manifests inside the soul’s body, inside the desires that have become my own. This Creator is me, and it means that I merge with Him. The desires belong to the others and by fulfilling them I become similar to the Creator.

This is how a spiritual Partzuf is built: The head contains its thoughts, desires, the desires of the others, and the decision of how to act, while the body consists of desires of the others that have become as its own. Loving "thy neighbor as thyself,” it feels the merging with the Creator and its new world.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/27/10, Article “Matan Torah”

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If I don’t reveal a new “letter,” “word,” “sentence,” or “page” in my “Book of Life” at every given moment, I should be worried: Why don’t I have any sense of renewal, and why did I descend to an animal existence? Humanity is constantly looking for new fulfillment (by developing science, technology, and different kinds of entertainment) just to feel as though life goes on and everything changes. However, when a person receives something new, he sees that it fails to fulfill him. This is because nature pushes us to develop new Reshimot as we approach a new world.

Our story will be renewed and will move ahead. There will be new skies, which also means a new earth, or a new desire. The skies mean Bina, and if this force that comes from the skies (the force of Bina) rouses the Light in us, within Malchut, this will bring us the sense of renewal in life.

Everything advances only due to the Light that comes and reveals new desires, Reshimot, in us. We need to make sure that the environment and the books constantly rouse new desires in us, and that new times come to us. This should become a normal routine for us: Something new should be revealed all the time.

We cannot allow ourselves to simply drift with the flow of life; we need to constantly rouse it ourselves. Don’t wait for changes from Above. Every change should occur from a person’s demand; this is the only way for one to open the Book from the start. “Not the dawn awakes me, but rather I wake the dawn!” All the Light needs to come due to my request. Otherwise, darkness will force me to act, rather than Light….

From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/10, Shamati

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The Creator created us with the desire to receive pleasure. The fulfillment that we feel in it (either within it – egoistic fulfillment, or in others – for the sake of bestowal) is in fact, called our life or to be more precise, “our book of life” since it constantly needs to be renewed.

This “book” is renewed according to the data (Reshimot) that are instilled in us. If they are revealed on their own through natural means this is called that we are advancing through life “in due time” (Beito). However, if we ourselves rouse the force that hastens the revelation of new occurrences (Reshimot), this means that we are advancing through life by “hastening time” (Achishena).

Whether we wish to be successful in this world or in spiritual development, we need to hasten the revelation of the corresponding events (Reshimot). Spiritual development starts when a “point in the heart,” a spiritual Reshimo, awakens within us. Then gradually a person switches from natural development of this Reshimo due to help from Above to beginning to hasten the development of this Reshimo on his own with the help of an external force, the influence of the environment. In this manner, one switches to the path of “Achishena,” the path of Light.

We do not reveal a “new book.” The whole book already exists and it includes the whole World of Infinity, a desire that is infinitely filled with the Light. Yet everything depends on how quickly we “read” it, meaning to what extent we reveal the Reshimot of this infinite reality, which is called a “book.” And I become its “author,” since in order to open it I need to “write” this “story of “life” in my heart, meaning on my desires.

The “story” means revelation. I demand the Surrounding Light which rouses the next Reshimo in me, and I advance myself to the goal on my own. Therefore, I see everything in the Light of development, rather than as forced steps due to lack of choice, through darkness.

From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/10, Shamati

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A question I received: Why are people so preoccupied with sex?

My Answer: In the spiritual world, the soul is in the state of “Zivug” (coupling, merging) with the Light. This is the unity of two parts of creation, a male and female, which brings the greatest pleasure there is: filling the soul with the Light. A prototype of the spiritual merger in the material world is physical coupling. That’s why (attraction to the opposite sex) is considered a foundation, a root of all desires and pleasures of our world, and preoccupies us so much.

Sexual pleasure in our world beautifully demonstrates the difference between the spiritual and physical merging. A person (a man) thinks about sex all the time and envisages enormous pleasure that awaits him, but after the peak, the satisfaction immediately disappears. A chase after another pleasure begins again….

Why? It is because the Light and desire annul each other. In other words, by filling the desire, the Light neutralizes the sensation of pleasure, similarly to how plus and minus cancel out each other. The disappearance of both leads to double emptiness. That’s why it’s written, “Dying, a person does not receive even a half of the desired.”

Spiritual pleasure works within us differently. To be in the spiritual world means to have the intention (screen) – an ability to receive pleasure (Light) into a desire (vessel, Kli) in order to bring pleasure to the other (a friend, the Creator). That requires a person to acquire the property of the Creator, the property of love and bestowal. Then a person reaches the spiritual coupling, ceaseless merging, which continues and intensifies constantly, giving one the sensation of eternal life.

Essentially, somewhere deep inside, in the soul, we all unconsciously aspire to this particular merging, and are created for it.

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A question I received: What does it mean that the Creator gets angry? If we’re talking about invariable spiritual laws, why does The Zohar portray the Creator as one who possesses human qualities, such as anger, envy, etc?

My Answer: The Torah uses the language of man to tell us what we feel and attribute to the Creator. I often use a computer as an example of this. Why do we get angry at a computer when it is nothing but pieces of metal and plastic? It has no intelligence, but merely executes its programmed commands perfectly. All its actions are correct.

If you press the wrong key, or if you lack the knowledge of how the program functions, you can smash the keyboard in frustration all you want, but the computer will still respond with the same error every single time. A computer isn’t a person who can change its behavior. A computer is inanimate, and cannot change. Yet, again and again, you relate to it as you would to a person, questioning it in rage: “Why aren’t you doing what I want you to do?”

We attribute to a computer our own qualities, our personalities, wishing for it to change as we do. In truth, we are uncorrected and we change, while a computer is not uncorrected; hence, its behavior is unvarying and always correct.

The same rule applies to the Creator. We’re not talking about the Creator Himself, but about “Bo-Re” (“Come and See”), that is, our perception of the Creator. We discern and conceive the Creator in our desires (vessels of reception, Kelim). And that is why we ascribe to the Creator the same qualities and reactions characteristic of us.

It is therefore written that the Torah speaks the language of man. In order to explain to us our correct behavior and to help us change, we need to imagine that the Creator undergoes changes though in truth He does not. Perfection cannot change, otherwise it would not be perfection.

By ascribing to the Creator our qualities and regarding Him as though He changes His attitude toward us, we can see ourselves in two manifestations: One, the way I am as is, the way I appear from the side and two, in the changes I undergo either in a constant or transient world.

This perceptual duality which allows us to imagine as though something changes outside of us is a great gift from the Creator. Because of it we come to perceive a different dimension, to understand the spiritual world, to enter into its perception freely and independently.

Therefore, our perception that reality exists and changes outside of ourselves is a true salvation from the prison cell of our world (the sensation of spiritual claustrophobia). It is a fundamental point which grants the creature the opportunity to rise above its creation, to become human: Adam, similar to the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/27/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: What is the spiritual meaning of tithing (Maaser)?

My Answer: The tithe is the separation of the tenth part of Malchut. The Torah instructs us to set aside the parts which instead of being used for the sake of bestowal directly can only be used through society. This calculation is performed only with regard to the Creator, for the sake of bestowal to Him.

The Torah describes many types of taxes, but all of them are based on one principle: Because I am unable to bestow with certain desires that I have within me and the Light that comes to me, I pass these desires to the general desire (Kli). In a common desire, through a society, I’m able to carry this out.

My Kli is partial, meaning that for the time being, the screen covers only a part of my desires, in which I’m ready to receive for the sake of bestowal. How can I correct the part in which I’m incapable of bestowing?

I receive the Light for that part and transfer the desire to receive pleasure along with the received Light to an outside Kli. Thereby I prepare it for correction. By not using Maaser today (the tenth part of Malchut, which cannot be corrected), I prepare this part for correction through society.

In the science of Kabbalah, we study our desires called “garments” and “house.” They become corrected by my first seeing them as external to me, and then transferring them to my internality.

The same applies to Maaser. I seemingly transfer it for external usage, but then it becomes my internality and returns to me with the desires I did not previously consider my own. For the time being, in my sensations, I cannot correct that part in order to use it, by receiving for the sake of bestowal.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/10, The Zohar

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