Question: What do we have to do so The Zohar will find its way into the deepest recesses of the heart, into our desires and thoughts?

Answer: Open your heart. Nothing else is needed. The most important thing is not to despair and not to relax, and to make efforts precisely when the going gets rough. The article “Donkey Driver” in the Introduction of The Zohar is exactly the place where it explains that when you are walking along and your “donkey” (in Hebrew “donkey” is “Hamor,” originating from the word “Homer,” matter, the will to enjoy) can no longer carry its burden, you are sent a “donkey driver” that helps your “donkey” to ascend.

This driver stings the “donkey” with a sharp stick and it’s unpleasant. However, it makes you move forward. Therefore, if you agree to have a driver like that, you will receive him. But you have to ask for these “stings.”

Question: I know how to ask for good things, but how can I ask for the “stings” of the donkey driver?

Answer: If I don’t identify myself with my ego and want to be liberated from it, then I think the opposite: The more “stings” it receives, the more able I am to distance myself from it, to run away from it and ascend above it.

These “stings” do not wound me, but my ego. If I separate and detach from it, then we are separated by a distance and I therefore do not feel the “sting” that passes over it. The sting comes only in order for me to part with my ego. Then I don’t perceive these blows as happening to me, but to my “Pharaoh,” and in the meantime I ascend.
[32291]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/11, The Zohar

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Question: How do we achieve “a plea from the depth of the heart”?

Answer: Depth is when from our present state, we dive into more internal, exalted states, where our interconnection gets enhanced, until “one heart” is formed. This is what the “depth of the heart” is since in spirituality, each more inner degree is the more exalted one.

If in our work we strive to get to the “depth of the heart,” we have to find oneness there. And it isn’t just some desirable supplement, but rather a Kli (vessel), our correction. Nothing else is up to us since fulfillment, according to the law of equivalence of form, will unfold in the Kli to the degree that the Kli corresponds to it.

Therefore, we should think solely about unity. It depends on mutual agreement of the group and provides a positive effect even if it lasts for just a little while. Since habit becomes a second nature, it is worth making a deal that everyone will think about unity for a certain period of time during the day.

In our world, any phenomenon eventually declines and expires because the notion of time affects it. Since we haven’t yet reached a state where time doesn’t influence us, it is advisable to make an effort to hold an unbroken thought of unity for a few hours a day, to the extent that everybody will feel how everything is up to him since all the others are already connected.

As a result, he will unveil new phenomena which will be approaching the Light; it is quite possible. It is very likely that while at it, a person will discover resentment, reluctance, and inability to bond. At the same time, a person can feel that with the help of some external force, he is able to rise above himself and unite, as if rising above matter. If this force comes to surface, he will feel it for sure.

Inside the matter (desire to receive), he can do nothing. But since he desperately wants to ascend and unify with the others, he feels that there has to be a certain force which can help him. Passing through the chain of revelations and sensations, a person feels where and what has to happen. He understands the causes of the events and uncovers them step by step.

Our nature, Pharaoh, sits in us not allowing us to unite. In order to rise above it, we need strength, and we have to ask for it all the time. As a result of these revelations, we will want to turn to the Creator to build a connection in us. The first degree of such network is called exodus from Egypt.
[32205]
From the Talk “Questions about Unity” 12/31/2010

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Question: What were the final efforts you made before the Creator answered you? What did you do before passing the Machsom?

Answer: The question is incorrect because this happens unexpectedly. What works is the sum of all the different efforts, some of which you do not even suspect are there. Only later, when you sort out the “accumulated collection” do you start to understand that everything you went through was necessary for you to attain what you just attained.

However, as long as the end result of all the efforts is not revealed to you, you do not know how much is left. That is why it is impossible to say that some specific effort brought you to completion.

Question: What was special about your efforts?

Answer: I think nothing besides patience, persistence, and consistency (of course, with the background of worries and everything related to them). Baal HaSulam writes about this in the famous example in Item 133 of “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“: “And only the heroes among them, whose patience endured, defeated the guards and opened the gate. And they were instantly awarded seeing the King’s face….”

Who is a hero? It’s a person who had enough patience, who did everything possible not to veer off the path.
[32263]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: On one hand, you say that the Torah is not a historic narrative, but on the other, you refer to our forefather Abraham as a real person who started disseminating Kabbalah at a certain point in life. So, is Abraham an actual person from history or some special force?

Answer: The Torah describes to us the path of spiritual development of a soul, any soul. Moreover, everything described in it also manifests at the level of our world once, according to the principle: “The spiritual root must manifest in corporeal consequence.” For this reason, all these spiritual degrees have also manifested in our world in specific people and events.

This is why our approach to the study of the Torah has to be based on two aspects: On one hand, we study our history. All these people, such as Adam HaRishon, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so on, really lived at different times. But on the other, the fact that all these historic events really took place does not matter to us. More important is the fact that this refers to the inner properties of our souls. When we begin correcting ourselves, we reveal these properties, forces, and states called “Abraham,” “Egypt,” “Isaac,” and so on within us.

Question cont.: Are these forces present in every person?

Answer: Absolutely in everyone.

Question cont.: So what is “Abraham?”

Answer: It is the property of bestowal, Hesed, the right line. The property of “Hesed” in man is called “Abraham,” while the property of “Gevura” “Isaac.” “Tifferet” is “Jacob”; “Yesod” is “Joseph” in the state of Katnut (the small state) or “Israel” in the state of Gadlut (adulthood), and so on.

Question cont.: Does this mean that I suddenly begin to feel Abraham within me during the process of my spiritual development?

Answer: You feel the property called “Abraham” within you. You stop connecting the text of the Torah with actual people and events. Instead, you begin to feel these actions happening within you, you reveal your inner properties and changes behind all the historic characters. This is how you read The Zohar, the Torah, and all the other holy books.

Looking at the words: “First God created heaven and earth,” you understand that this refers to Bina and Malchut, and God or Elokim is the general force. You feel all these properties!

Question cont.: What does this feeling give me?

Answer: You experience the entire Torah internally. You correct yourself in such a way that you begin to perceive the tale you are reading as happening within you. And this goes on until you “finish the entire Torah,” that is, attain your individual final correction by completely correcting your soul.
[32198]
From a TV Program “Ask the Kabbalist” No. 186, 7/7/2010

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The purpose of creation is to do good to His creatures, to make them similar to Him. Anything less than that is not considered good.

To realize that goal, we have to observe two conditions: On one hand, the creature has to be separate from the Creator, being seemingly a reality of its own. On the other, the creature has to be similar to Him.

How can we combine the two opposites into one? For that purpose the Creator created an attribute of reception that is opposite to Him and then imparted this receiving desire with His own attribute of bestowal. Thus, a creature has two attributes: desire to receive and desire to bestow.

But a person doesn’t know what to wish for. Caught in the middle between the two equal desires, he won’t be able to do anything, to choose any of them. That’s why the Creator always awakens the desire to receive, the primordial, fundamental nature, which separates man from Him. As for the desire to bestow, one should be asking for the Creator to awaken him, to give him strength.

Being on ‘”friendly terms” with desire to receive, a person is at peace with himself, while remaining opposite to the Creator. If he demands that the desire to bestow reigns in him, he prefers to be like the Creator. That’s how we grow, not as a “function” of the two desires, but by constantly preferring an even greater similarity to the Creator. The key for us is not to shift from bestowal as the goal all the way along the path.

Let the Creator constantly stir up the desire to receive. Our work is to “bypass” the Creator, staying ahead of our egoism, and agree with its growth only under the condition that the desire to bestow will prevail.

It turns out that we are in competition with the Creator: He raises Esau in us, and we demand that He raise our Jacob. In the course of that race a person grows and achieves his or her purpose. At the finish line one will achieve a fully-blown desire to enjoy and a full clothing upon it: the attribute of bestowal.

The result of the contest is a victory over the Creator, as it is written: “My sons have defeated me.” And then comes the universal rejoicing described by Baal HaSulam in the parable about the raising of the slave.
[31715]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/2011, “What Does It Mean That if the Good Grows Also the Evil Grows at Work”

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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What Are the Powers Which Are Needed for the Work”
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “Yitro (Jethro),” “You Will Behold the Secret of the Lines in the Palms,” Item 154, Lesson 7
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The Book of Zohar — Introduction: “The Donkey Driver,” Lesson 1
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 52, Lesson 29
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy,” Lesson 10
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The key to reading The Book of Zohar is intention since while reading it we draw the greatest Light, if we know how to do it. Of all Kabbalistic writings, none contains a greater Light than The Book of Zohar. That is why this book gained such great fame and popularity over the course of history, and why it was hidden and underwent many fateful events.

It is becoming revealed only today because it is the source of the Light that Reforms. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what exactly we read in The Book of Zohar at the moment because we do not understand a word of it correctly anyway. Yet, we aspire to penetrate through the image that is being described, to feel it rather than to understand it since we cannot comprehend it in our corporeal mind.

We strive to step into it, to unveil it. It is written by Kabbalists who attained the spiritual world and are sharing with us what they found there, just like an adventure novel that tells a story about travelers exploring new islands and continents. In a similar manner, Kabbalists tell us about the spiritual world. They describe what internal instruments they use to reveal spirituality, while also letting us know what they see and feel. In other words, they tell us about the actions they perform and what they find as a result.

On our part, we look, read, and listen to it although we do not understand any of it. Nevertheless, we are motivated to experience these states and live in them. As children, when we felt excited while reading adventure books, we experienced what the protagonists did in our imagination. On the other hand, in our case we actually enter the spiritual world and are able to feel it even more than how we perceive ourselves in this world. As a matter of fact, our present perception of this world is extremely distorted and blurred compared to what else is out there.

In spirituality, there is incredible clarity and transparency, which is impossible to imagine now, along with the deepest understanding of all the events and forces that stand behind us, including the causes, effects, and the source of all that occurs. This is what we should aspire to while reading The Book of Zohar. We should stop feeling like “old men” and instead feel like children who are absorbed in a book of exciting adventures.
[32110]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/11, The Zohar

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Question: If the spiritual system operates by the principle of “the lower one awakens the upper one,” does our transformation depend on the desires of the new generation, our children?

Answer: We depend on everybody and must pass our knowledge of the wisdom of Kabbalah (or at least some of it, as much as we ourselves understand) to everyone. Our current state obligates the entire world to awaken the upper Partzuf, the system of the upper governance.

We are witnessing how the world is haunted by global disasters, and everybody feels helpless not knowing what the next day will bring. All of this is due to the fact that we must begin studying what the upper system wants us to do and how we can motivate it correctly instead of just screaming about it and trying to get even with one another, or demanding the impossible from nature.

We are approaching a state when the upper governance will demand from all of humanity a conscious response, when all of us together will appeal to this force of nature, the Upper Force, in full understanding what action is required of us and what plea must come from us.

Obviously, we are unable to achieve anything on our own. But “He who makes peace in the Upper World will make peace upon us.” The Upper One can bring us to perfection and peace here, between us. We have to at least ask for it first. And only afterwards, from this collective “Lo Lishma” (not for Her name) of all humanity, we will come to “Lishma (for Her Name).”
[31976]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/2011, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Adolescence is a very important, decisive point. This is the time when the results of upbringing have to manifest. Its entire success depends upon the previous years, from six to eleven, as problems begin past this age: the influence of hormones and inner struggles.

We need to make sure ahead of time that by this point the child will already have a method and a proper environment with which to help him overcome this critical period and use this exploding egoism as a catalyst to ascend over it. And then we will immediately have a mature spiritual person.

Children can easily cross the Machsom at that age. They are ready for anything! They have this desperate decisiveness. Adults are not able to tolerate the same kind of suffering as adolescents whose fire is still burning. Adolescents can do miracles with it.

It is not an accident that nature has planted this period in the process of our development. Our entire hope in raising a spiritual person from a child falls specifically between the ages of six-seven to fourteen-fifteen years.

After that it is almost impossible to do anything, it becomes very difficult. They have entered “life.” And you are now referring to a person surrounded with different life problems: age, sex, work, army, and who only thinks about the opposite sex and material success. All these screens will no longer let him hear you.

We need to begin telling them about Kabbalah from early childhood so it turns into a habit which “becomes a second nature.” That is, we need to do it before they dive into “adult life.” And then children will go through teenage rebellion, but they will use it correctly!

The Creator is purposefully provoking us towards this egoistic rebellion so that we will rise over it. When we rise above this egoism, it’s as if we were ascending the mountain of hatred, Mount Sinai (“Sina” means hatred), and we receive a spiritual degree.

We need to take advantage of this opportunity that nature gives us. It would be so helpful for my desires to burn and explode today as they did some time ago in my childhood. And if at the same time we are there near the children, properly directing them and showing them how to work with this, they can quickly turn into great Kabbalists. I hope that we will achieve this.

If we fail to use this opportunity given to us by nature, it will be very difficult to catch up. This is why it is written that raising a child is the same as writing on a blank sheet of paper, and this is completely different from writing on paper full of notes, trying to erase what others have written.

This is why education needs to start at the earliest possible age. Otherwise, instead of growing like a human, children grow like animals because they are only taught to search for fulfillment for their bodies, their egoism. Kabbalah defines this as raising an animal, the desire to receive pleasure.

Only the proper combination of two forces, reception and bestowal, is called human. So let us decide who we want to raise and begin preparing children for coming of age from the earliest age (at least from six to seven). This way, we will be able to draw the most benefit from all these years.

I am convinced that with proper preparation, a child can enter the spiritual world and rise to the mount of hatred that is suddenly erected in him under the influence of these incredibly powerful inner impulses of adolescence. All the emotions of a grown person who searches for spirituality are nothing comparing to this burning. This is what all of us really lack….
[31996]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”: … any spiritual quality equalizes with the corporeal quality like two drops in a pond. Thus, the relationships are of the utmost affinity and there is no separation between them, except in the substance: the spiritual consists of a spiritual substance and the corporeal consists of a corporeal substance.

If your matter works “to bestow,” it is spiritual and you experience spiritual phenomena; while if it is “for self gratification,” it is corporeal. All matter is contained within you since there is nothing outside of man.

There is a void, a “zero,” and inside it, a certain creature. And if this creature has an egoistic intention “for the self,” it perceives itself in a reality experienced within as “this world.” If a person has an intention to bestow, then the entire reality he feels, including himself, is regarded as spiritual. Outside of this person, there is nothing else that exists independently. Everything is present solely within man: either in his egoistic desires or the desire to bestow.

There is no “place” or reality that exists on its own. There is only a Law that has no definite image and is regarded as HaVaYaH (the Creator’s name). If we are corporeal, meaning that we wish to receive for ourselves, then we experience this Law as material bodies living in the corporeal world. And if we are in bestowal, we experience this Law as spiritual worlds and ourselves as souls.

As one so the other, both exist solely within a person, while in reality, both of these concepts are imagined. But we don’t regard spiritual forms as fictitious and illusory since all of them eventually get collected and put together as if folding up into a singular coil. They accumulate in the process of our advancement to finally bring us to the very initial form HaVaYaH that has existed forever, if only potentially.

It existed as a construction plan for a future house, while we have actualized this HaVaYaH as a result of our personal work. We as though created ourselves and the entire creation according to this plan, and the Creator within. We have unveiled the Creator within ourselves, so where has He been until now? We don’t know that; it was Atzmuto, His unattainable Essence, which doesn’t clothe in anything.

We have prepared a place for Him and a specific expression by our actualization of His HaVaYaH in our own will to receive (desire). Hence, everything exists only within a person rather than outside of him since there is neither a place, nor reality, nothing.

A person studying Kabbalah understands where he is, what imaginary reality he is experiencing, how to step out of it to the correct perception, and how to bring this correct perception to the absolutely authentic, perfect form.
[32005]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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