Why Was There A Prohibition On Kabbalah Before?

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: Why did Kabbalists prohibit others from studying Kabbalah until very recently?

My Answer: There were several reasons for the prior prohibition of the study of Kabbalah for the general public:

1. The souls of Israel, which used to be in spiritual attainment, separated for the purpose of intermixing with the other souls that remained unchanged from the times of Babylon. The souls of Israel descended to the level of this world and have become equal to the other souls. That is, the souls of Israel had to descend to the level of this world since the intermixing gives the other souls an opportunity to become corrected.

2. Humanity had to go through all the stages until it reached complete disappointment from its egoistic development and saw itself empty, worthless, and situated on the threshold of the destruction of all its systems through which it hoped to achieve happiness.

3. Meanwhile, human beings developed internally, intellectually in their egoism, and this gave us the ability to grasp abstract forms that exist beyond time, motion, and space. We have only begun to speak about such things in the 20th century. Although it was written in The Book of Zohar almost two millennia ago that the Earth is a round sphere (The Zohar, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 142), people were burned in bonfires for such words even five hundred years ago.

Time was required for humanity to develop its mind and feelings, to come closer to understanding what the science of Kabbalah tells us about: an Upper dimension. Even now this is not easy to comprehend, but the next generation will enter a new vision of the world if we prepare the foundation for it. And the next generation is us in our new reincarnation. An ability to perceive in this way is already emerging in us. The current development has brought everyone to the same level, and it is possible to reveal the science of Kabbalah to everyone at the same time. People of all nationalities are coming to study it.

However, in order to truly understand it, we need to unite. First we can understand and feel what Kabbalah is talking about through our egoistic minds and feelings. But then attainment begins, and it is perceived only in the unification of souls. Unification gives birth to a new organ of perception: the soul. If we unite, the mutual inclusion will give each person his soul for perceiving the Upper World.

If Baal HaSulam had not received guidance from Above, he would not have disclosed the science of Kabbalah. A Kabbalist exists in contact with the Creator and carries out His orders, serving as a binding link between the Creator and humanity. Therefore, the decisions of Kabbalists to conceal or to reveal the science of Kabbalah comes out of necessity, from the obvious (to them) connection between the Upper Light and the readiness of people’s desires for correction and perception.

Today also there are certain limitations. There is an opportunity Above to open wider the flow of the Upper wisdom. However, people are not yet ready for this. I feel the opposition to new information. This is because it is opposite to egoism and we do not desire it. For this reason, there is a law in Kabbalah: “The desire should precede fulfillment.” Our primary task is to create a spiritual vessel. Meanwhile, the Upper Light is already ready to be revealed in it.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/10, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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