Opinion: Sean O’Grady (Economics Editor, the Independent): “In an updated and expanded version of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has identified five “global shocks” that will destabilize the world economy with increasing frequency in coming years.

Rather than the traditional perils of conquest, war, famine and death, the OECD identifies viral pandemics, cyber attacks, financial crises, socio-economic unrest and geomagnetic storms as the five “global shocks” that will have to be endured….

The financial crisis of 2008 was the first such episode.” The OECD explains the increase in frequency of crises by “increasing inter-connectivity” of the world economy.

My comment: When individual, uncorrected (egoistic, narrow-mindedly focused only on their own profit) people, nations, and countries turn into a single, whole body, an inter-dependent system where every one is doing only what is beneficial for them, the chances of such system experiencing a shock increase greatly and unpredictably.

Inter-dependency creates unpredictable combinations of causes of any future state. Whereas we lack knowledge of this system to comprehend and estimate it. To do it, we need to start sensing it as our own. And this is feasible only if we ourselves become integrally connected with each other.

This is possible only if we ourselves assume its qualities and properties by correcting ourselves with the help of the method of Kabbalah, which is called revelation of the Creator to the created beings. After all, relative to us, the Creator is the revelation of our corrected properties within us. This is why He is called Boreh or “Bo,” come, and “Reh,” see, reveal it within. …Or you can take the book of Prophets and find out what awaits us if we do not appease Nature with our balance with it.
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In the News (From bog.com): The Boston Consulting Group reports that despite the global crisis, “millionaire households grow in number and wealth. They represented just 0.9 percent of all households but owned 39 percent of global wealth, up from 37 percent in 2009. The number of millionaire households increased by 12.2 percent in 2010 to about 12.5 million.” In other words, there is one millionaire for every 500 people on Earth.

My Comment: The tendency toward the growing number of millionaires indicates a rapid movement toward the realization of evil, inequality, that goes against total balance, the main law of nature. But how will we realize it: through catastrophes or reason? How will we become so aware of it that we will introduce one law of unification and equality in reasonable consumption?
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Question: The Torah tells a story about how the people who were wandering around the desert faced death from lack of water and Moses turned to the Creator for help. The Creator instructed Moses to go and talk with a rock in front of all the people so it would give him water.

But instead of talking to it, Moses hit the rock with his staff, and “the waters of discord” flowed from it, named so from having disobeyed the Creator. Why did Moses, the leader of the entire nation, disobey the Creator’s instruction?

Answer: The rock is the ground, Malchut, the desire to receive pleasure, which needs to be corrected in order to be used “for the sake of bestowal.” This correction can either be in the form of a “blow” or a “talk,” depending upon the degree. It is in this way that it can produce an act of bestowal: the water flowing from it.

The water is the force that gives life to the desire to receive pleasure and turns it into the desire that receives for the sake of bestowal. When you “talk” with the rock, Malchut, you tune into it on the human level, the “speaking” level, the degree of Bina, and the water you derive from it carries life, bestowal, mercy (Hassadim).

But when you hit it, you derive “the waters of discord.” And even though it is water (the symbol of Bina, bestowal), this water is not kind (it carries the force of Gevurot); it has fallen under the influence of Malchut. This is the origin of all the typhoons, floods, and tsunamis. All these things are a reflection of the force of Bina controlled by Malchut.

“People” are all the private desires, and Moses is the highest quality which has the ability to receive the water of Bina by raising Malchut to it, the desire to receive pleasure. But Moses sees that there is not enough strength to lift all the other desires called “people” out of their current state and pull them over to the degree of Bina with him. And this is why instead of rising to a higher degree and “speaking,” he “hits” the rock, which means that instead of connecting with it on a higher, “speaking,” level, he only connects with it on the level of an “action.”

From the side of Moses, he was punished for this apparent sin. But we need to understand that all the “punishments” described in the Torah are corrections. He was simply unable to do it any other way, even though it was clear to him that at that moment he needed to attain the “speaking” degree: a certain level of connection between Malchut and Bina.

This is a result of his spiritual revelation, and it is called: “The Creator tells him.” But it is easier to carry it out quickly and correctly on the level of an action, and he does not see any other opportunity for correction.

This is why Moses was forced to “sin,” and his correction is in his “punishment” of not receiving permission to enter the land of Israel. He dies as he reaches the actual border. Even though he was not able to enter it (it is not his degree), he is called “a loyal guide,” and the maximum he can reach is Bina. And others continue after him.

A border is the line where I stop my actions of bestowal due to the lack of strength of the intention. This forces me to stop and no longer use my desire; I restrict myself.

To die means to lack the ability to do actions for the sake of bestowal.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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Kabbalah books use different images to describe the connection between Malchut and Bina. For example, they use the image of a well, either empty or full of water. An empty well, Malchut, consumes everything and remains empty. Whereas a well full of water is the proper connection of Malchut and Bina. Or the other way around, Malchut’s desire rises to Bina, into the sky, and derives water from it. This is why it rains.

Another description of a connection between Malchut and Bina is a “red heifer,” a purifying sacrifice, whose ashes purify some and, on the contrary, makes others impure. All these transitions are related to the way Bina and Malchut become included in one another: Whether Bina becomes included into Malchut or Malchut into Bina and which one of them dominates as one connection brings purification, and the other, impurity.

The “heifer” symbolizes the force of Bina, the force of bestowal, because it gives milk (the Light of Hassadim or Mercy). But if it is red (Aduma), which means that it is connected to the ground (Edom), then it is mixed with Malchut. And when the forces of bestowal and reception, Bina and Malchut, connect, it is man who determines what the resulting force will be.

If man intends to correct himself and reach bestowal, he will derive the force of bestowal specifically from this connection of forces called “a red heifer” and will purify himself. But if he was already pure, then a new egoistic desire becomes revealed in him, and if he is yet unable to work with it, he becomes impure.

The Torah provides detailed instructions on finding a red heifer and burning it, and what then needs to be done with the ashes. These are not simple actions because none of this exists in our world, even though scientists are searching for the traces of a red heifer to prove that it once existed, but now has disappeared.

During the times of the Temple, the entire nation was on a spiritual degree due to the wisdom of Kabbalah, as it is written: “Every adolescent knew the laws of impurity and purification,” which is the difference between egoistic reception and bestowal. In other words, their level corresponded to the connection of Bina and Malchut, called “a red heifer,” and they could understand to what the Torah refers.

The entire Torah is a description of the order of correction, an “instruction” (Oraa) on the correction of the soul.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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

The Subject of the Purpose of Creation Is Man

The value of one person from the speaking level equalizes with the value of all the forces in the still, vegetative, and animate levels.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 3

Man is the center of Creation. And all other creatures do not have any value of their own but to the extent that they help man achieve his perfection. Hence, they rise and fall with him without any consideration of themselves.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 18
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We are created with the desire to receive pleasure, and in order to correct this desire, our intention must be “for the sake of bestowal.” By doing so we correct ourselves and attain the purpose of creation: total adhesion with the Creator. But to attain correction, we must unite with the force of bestowal.

The force of bestowal is called Bina, and the force of reception is referred to as Malchut. These two forces of bestowal and reception have to enter one another. When they unite, then according to the combinational analysis of these two forces, it creates four outcomes: Malchut in Malchut, Malchut in Bina, Bina in Bina, and Bina in Malchut.

If Bina enters Malchut, it creates an evil force because Bina falls under the reign of Malchut. Malchut rules over it and dominates it, making Bina its slave. This state created all evil forces in the world.

Sometimes these forces pretend to be good in order to lure and bribe a person and then draw him into evil. This is a special sly, egoistic force (Klipa), contained within Malchut. With the help of this force Malchut conquers Bina and begins to use it. It is written that no evil can exist in the world unless it initially pretended to be good. This is how the evil forces operate, and for this reason they exist.

If it is simply Malchut, then it is a simple desire to receive such as the still, vegetative, animate world and human, in whom only the forces of the still, vegetative and animate levels are at work. That is, it is a simple human who’s living a primitive corporeal life.

When Bina is present in a person’s desire to receive pleasure, that person becomes very smart and cunning. He knows how to help you and give to you, and then exploits you to the fullest. These are very evil forces caused by the inclusion of Bina into Malchut: the forces of bestowal that have fallen under the rule of egoism.

Opposite inclusion occurs when a person uses his own efforts to elevate Malchut into Bina. Then he connects to Bina because he wants to enter it and become a slave, an inseparable part of the force of bestowal, like a fetus in the mother’s womb. Bina is called Ima Ilaa (the upper mother). That is, he wants to develop only through connecting and being guided and protected by the force of bestowal, the Creator. Then, good forces are created, which choose parts of the egoistic desire and gradually correct them from within.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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We represent the desire to receive pleasure which feels that it exists by receiving small “injections,” blows of Light. These small blows create the perception of reality within us by painting an internal image of reality in which we perceive the people that surround us, the air, the world, and ourselves.

All of this arises from the small blows experienced by our desire to receive pleasure. And then it receives an impression as if it exists together with the surrounding reality. If the desire did not receive these small “injections” hitting it, it would neither perceive itself, its reality, nor its environment. This is the way it exists. And there is nothing else beside it: the will to enjoy that receives small blows from the Light.

The Light imposes the tiniest blows inside the desire to receive pleasure without a single conscious reaction on the desire’s behalf; this is the state we are in. When the desire becomes capable of developing a reaction to the upper Light, that is, becomes more sensitive to these blows and raises its sensitivity towards them, it wishes to no longer receive them, resists them, and intends to push the Light back one way or another, hit it back. This is called a “screen.”

And then by virtue of my resistance, opposition, and clashes I begin to attain Who is doing this to me, what for, what He wants from me, and what I can attain through this. This is our entire work: the desire to receive pleasure and the blows, clashes with the Light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: It’s unclear why creation makes a restriction and pushes the pleasure away? Why can’t it be close to the Creator and receive from Him?

Answer: I don’t push away pleasure, but an unpleasant sensation. At that moment I no longer feel pleasure. If you give me some kind of exquisite dish, but it causes me to feel ashamed, then I stop feeling pleasure from that dish. This infinite fulfillment doesn’t make me feel good any longer!

Afterwards I will have to awaken my taste for this pleasure all over again. When I acquire the quality of Bina and start acting for the sake of bestowal, and then I start to receive for the sake of bestowal, I must once again reawaken the taste for pleasures within myself.

However, these are no longer the same tastes I felt before, but a completely different kind of pleasure which I offer to the Creator. First of all, I take His desire and fulfill it. I check with what kind of love He gave me this piece of pleasure and I want to fill the empty place in Him. It’s empty because I did not accept this fulfillment from Him.

I think about His enjoyment, about what kind of pleasure He will receive when He fulfills me. And because I feel what kind of pleasure I give Him, I now understand what kind of fulfillment I have to take from Him and in what form I should enjoy Him.

When I begin to experience pleasure from bestowal, I no longer feel the old taste of pleasures inside of me because I approach them with a new intention. Just like shame ruins all of the pleasures from reception for me, so the intention of bestowal revokes the simple taste in me. That is why it is called the acquisition of new vessels or desires.

Both the bestowing and the receiving desires in me are completely new, which is called “613” times more than what I had before. This multifold multiplication comes precisely from the shame that enables us to increase our desires and pleasures by 613 times.

This is the shame from the difference between myself and the Creator, the difference between our situations. This is not just some kind of sensation, but a precise measurement of how much He is entirely bestowing and above me, since I am a receiver. It’s precisely equal to the height of that shame.

And the difference does not arise due to any material reception, but it’s a difference in our intentions. Therefore, if we work on this shame in order to turn it into respect and honor, then we attain this “613-fold’ increase.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/11, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Question 43: What is separation?

Two degrees without any Hishtavut Tzura [equivalence of form] on any side are regarded as completely separated from one another.

Our desires are like two circles: They can coincide completely, superimposing on each other and thus becoming one circle. Or they can overlap and be partially one inside the other. Or they can come in contact with one another with one point, their common desire.

Total separation means that we don’t have a single common quality or desire. That is to say, the first is not similar to the second in any way and we do not attain any form of bestowal with one another that would allow us to be one inside the other.
If I don’t take a single desire from you in order to bestow to you, and you don’t take a single desire from me in order to bestow to me, then we do not touch each other and are completely separated.

If at least one desire to bestow to one another appears between us, then there is already contact between us. And if there are several desires like that, then we are already partially one inside the other: I am inside your desires and you are inside mine.

That is how we advance until you take my desires and I take all of yours, and through them we bestow to one another: I give everything to you and you – to me. This is called adhesion.

These definitions from Talmud Eser Sefirot are unusually important. Memorize them mechanically, because that is useful as well. Later, by perceiving them on the level of feelings and intellect, try to gradually unite the mind and the feeling.
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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