The purpose of everything that we feel in our reality, be it positive or negative, is to form us along the spiritual ladder. There is nothing that would be created for any other purpose or that existed by itself. Everything in this world – thousands of surrounding objects, actions, or forces – exists for a single purpose: my spiritual development. I incorporate, consciously or not, all that surrounds me into myself and hence ascend.

Indeed, if everything came from the World of Infinity down to the level of our world where it seemingly exists without being connected into a single whole, then how could objects and actions of our world not be bonded by a single purpose from which they descended down to us? How can there be anything in our world that has not come to it from the World of Infinity? And if it did descend from the World of Infinity, it means that it originated in unity that existed there and afterward, by descending down, took the form of the breaking, distancing, and isolation.

Hence, by climbing the spiritual ladder a person has to raise the entire reality, all of “This World,” along with himself. It is said that by ascending spiritually, a person elevates (corrects) the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature along with himself.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, “And Jacob Went Out”

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Kabbalah Moments: Private Providence

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Question: How do you reconcile the notion of Private Providence and one’s individual prayer with the notion of general spiritual laws that every person must comply with?

Answer: You will not understand this until you stop separating yourself from the general system. The “particular” is a type of connection between you and the system of souls, which stems from your state. Meanwhile, the “general” is the basic condition of the group.

A person can never receive anything for himself. Indeed, on his own he has no capacity in which to receive spirituality. A person’s individual spiritual capacity exists outside of him. It is in the desires of others that he is able to attach to himself with the help of the Upper Light, like a mother who lives within her child’s desires.

Aside from the desires of others, every one of us has only a “point,” their individual root. What can you do with a point? Only connect it to all the other parts of its soul: the desires of others.

This matter of connecting yourself to the general Kli is what we call Private Providence. The notion of “myself” as an individual (a point) does not exist in reality! This point feels itself only with respect to the environment, whether egoistically (our world) or altruistically (the spiritual world). Without the environment it cannot feel anything, even itself.

Therefore, our development relates exclusively to the environment, and our freedom of will lies only in choosing a better environment. After all, my environment today will be me tomorrow.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/10, “What is the Matter of My Making A Pact in the Work”

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How can we unite with each other? It is possible only if a person with his desire exists in the friend and the friend within him. Everyone has to absorb the desire of the other and work with it, and in doing so, they connect. Since their desire is aimed at the same goal, through their mutual work they create a common force of aspiration to go forth. This force guarantees their progress and is called Arvut (mutual guarantee).

Connecting occurs when I take part of your desire and experience it as my own, and all my desires serve to fulfill it. Moreover, since your desire is to reach the goal, it turns out that I lead you to it while you lead me. Thus, our desires unite in the common goal. Hence, it is written: “Make your desire as His, and He will make His as yours.”

This is a criterion to verify the extent of our connectedness. The distance between us amounts to 125 degrees (steps), 125 parts of my egoistic desire. But gradually, correcting it through the actions “for your sake,” I come closer to you in my work for bestowal.

That is what is called “love the other as you love yourself.” In other words, I employ your desire to annul mine before it and in so doing, I correct my desire. My desire remains but because I have gone such a distance to reach you, I have made my desire bestowing. Nothing has changed; I’ve only added the intention. And the distance between us disappeared for I annihilated it with my intention!

And what does this “other” want? He wants to attain adhesion with the Creator, just like you do. So, there is only one thing you need to help him with: to become one with the Creator (together with you). This single intention connects us all as one.

Hence we say that we are all in one boat, and it goes in one direction. The closer I come to you, the closer I come to the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/10, Shamati #50

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We need to feel our opposition to the Light and bring ourselves to its state. If we don’t draw the Light to ourselves, we feel suffering since it feels bitter to sense that we are opposite to the Creator. Therefore, in order to give us an opportunity to develop properly, we are brought into a system called a “Kabbalistic group.” Instead of existing in a vacuum and not knowing how to develop in the attempts to become similar to the Creator, I find myself in a group.

I can work on uniting with the group, with others who aspire to the same goal as me. Instead of focusing on something invisible, being in a void, and not knowing where the suffering comes from or what’s going on, I work on unification. And our connection solves all the problems!

How can unification of the souls substitute for similarity to the Creator? Originally, in the World of Infinity we were one soul of Adam. Later, we broke into many parts, individual souls, and instead of the World of Infinity we began to feel our (broken) world. Through the breaking, the Light created qualities in us that are opposite to it, and the soul became opposite to the Light.

However, if we correct the breaking together and reunite, our action lends itself to the revelation of the Light, becoming like it. Instead of equalizing ourselves to the Light which is concealed, we equalize ourselves to the desires which we feel and understand. It seems to us as though we are being summoned, like good children, to unite and annul our egoism. But by doing so we reveal the Light in the unification of our desires because this is where the Light concealed itself: inside the broken Kelim.

It turns out that the opportunity to work in the group is the most practical and real application of Kabbalah. We perform actions that are available to us while, in essence, we reveal the Light that is situated beyond the breaking. In this manner we clarify our contrast to the Light, become equal to it, and unite. The Light and the vessel merge into one whole, and we return to the World of Infinity.

We reveal 620 states or degrees that separate us from each other and from the Light. By doing so we discover that we are opposite to the Light to the extent of 620 degrees and thereby understand the Light of Infinity 620 times better. We thus reveal the common soul and the entire Light that fills it: the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/10, Shamati #50

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Main Kabbalistic Sources: The Works of the ARI

And the same words that were said about the Rashbi should be said about the ARI himself—that his predecessors [even though they knew more than the ARI] were not given permission from Above to disclose the interpretations of the wisdom, and that he was given this permission. And also, this does not distinguish any greatness or smallness at all, since it is possible that the virtue of his formers was much greater than the Ari’s, but they were not given permission for it at all. For this reason, they refrained from writing commentaries that relate to the actual wisdom, but settled for brief intimations that were not in any way linked to one another.

For this reason, since the books of the Ari appeared in the world, all who study the wisdom of Kabbalah have left their hands from all the books of the Ramak, and all the first and the great ones [Kabbalists] that preceded the ARI, as it is known among those who engage in this wisdom. They have attached their spiritual lives solely to the writings of the ARI in a way that the essential books, considered proper interpretations of this wisdom, are only The Book of Zohar, the Tikkunim [Tikkunei Zohar] and following them, the books of the ARI.

[Since Baal HaSulam wrote complete commentaries to The Book of Zohar and the ARI’s books, our generation studies both sources through his works.]
– Baal HaSulam, “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “And Jacob Went Out”
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Shamati #42 “What is the Acronym Elul (1) in the Work States” 
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The Zohar, Chapter "VeYechi (And Jacob Lived)," Item 193: In regards to the rest of the wicked of the world, it does not say, “And the thing which he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord,” but here it is written, “And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked.” What he did was wicked in the eyes of the Creator because it is written, “And he spilled it on the ground.”

The ladder of the spiritual degrees by which we ascend from our world to the World of Infinity consists of 125 degrees (states), which themselves are divided into a multitude of different states. Each state consists of a vessel and the Light in it.

Hence, based on what’s written in the Torah, if I am at the degree of "Er," I perform an action called "he spilled it on the ground." And if I’m at the degree of Jacob, then, according to this degree, I form the three lines.

Therefore, when we read The Zohar we need to realize that in a given state a person enacts an image called Moses or Aaron, Abraham or Pharaoh, Bilam or Balak and performs actions inherent in each of them. These images refer to a person’s inner states which he has to undergo, receiving an impression from his "evil inclination" and the Light that Reforms. The sum total of these images and acquired forms is later accumulated into a general image of similarity to the Creator.

All the righteous and the wicked unite in it with all the voids (vessels) coming from the states of the wicked and all the corrections and fillings with bestowal from the states of the righteous. And thereby a person rises in Infinity.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/10, The Zohar

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Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

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There are two states in the advancement toward the spiritual goal. The first state is when a person has the sensation, the force, and the support of the group and the Creator. A person feels the importance of the property of bestowal, and this pushes him to draw closer to the Creator.

He has the sensation and the desire; the Creator shows him that it’s worthwhile to work on the spiritual goal. A person feels that there is a reward, meaning that he does not depend on faith: the property of bestowal within him. The sensation rouses love of friends and of the Creator.

In such a state, a person makes a covenant about love of friends and the Creator forever, for the future. What is this covenant with? It can’t be the Creator because in a state of descent, when one will distance himself from the Creator, he won’t feel His closeness, and the Creator won’t bind him.

That’s why the covenant has to be made with the group that can be felt in a state of descent as well. Through the group, we reach the agreement with the Creator: To always go by the path of bestowal to the Creator and the group. The group is a guarantee of the covenant. By making a covenant the entire group pledges to support each other and always hold the intention to bestow. They receive the Creator’s help to the extent of their connection.

The second state comes after some time, when the state of excitement and connection is replaced by indifference, inability to feel any importance of the goal, the Creator, or the reward for a good attitude toward the friends and the Creator. A person is unable to think about love, connection, and bestowal.

A) If a person does not receive support from the group, he falls, thinking that the Creator is unimportant and that there is no fulfillment or reward. He might leave the path altogether.

B) If the connection with the group awakens and attracts him, he is unable to drop everything and remembers the covenant that he has made. In a state of descent, the importance of bestowal vanishes since the reward disappears. And here a mutual guarantee, covenant, and connection with the group have to come to one’s aid.

In this way, a person returns to the covenant, to the state of goodness, love, and connection. He remembers that he has to go by faith above reason, above his current state of indifference as though the sensation that once gave him strength does exist and is even stronger!

In this way, a person wants to go by “faith above reason” (bestowal over reward). He then understands that he can receive strength from the Creator. And this brings him to a prayer.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/10, “What is the Matter of My Making A Pact in the Work”

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