Question: What does the dialog between letters and the Creator that is described in The Book of Zohar in chapter “Letters of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba” mean?

Answer: We want to clarify the properties of each force (a letter) relative to Keter (the goal, the white Light) that act in the general system of our universe that was made by the Creator. The system defines relationships between the power of bestowal and the force of receiving.

There are two forces: “something out of something” (Yesh mi Yesh) and “something out of nothing” (Yesh mi Ain) and there is a system of relationships between them. How is it possible to make “something out of nothing” similar to “something out of something?” How can the desire to receive become like the desire to bestow? The desire to receive cannot turn into a giving desire, but it can copy the latter by acting like it. This type of behavior is called “receiving for the sake of bestowal.”

For that, it is necessary to have a sensation of the Giver since we are not yet concerned about Him; all we worry about is how to fulfill ourselves. In order to receive for the sake of bestowal, we have to sense the one to whom we are giving and use our desire in accordance with what the Giver wants.

Our desire turns into a method of pleasing the Creator, so we need energy and properties that we did not have previously. We want to “get acquainted” with the One to Whom we bestow and we should understand why we are doing this. In other words, we have to detach from ourselves and start feeling somebody else’s internal world.

What properties, forces, and augmentations are necessary to achieve this goal? We have to resolve this problem. We have to go through a certain process in order to achieve the goal. This question is clarified to us by the letters. Malchut asks Keter if she can become similar to Keter with the help of the letter “Samech.”

Keter responds to Malchut that it’s not possible. She can only cover a part of the path to meet Keter; she can only go a small portion of the road, to the place where Malchut separates from herself and receives support (Simcha) (derivative of the letter “Samech”). At this point, Malchut does not depend on the desire that she had in the beginning of her journey. It’s as if she floats in the air.

What’s next? Correction cannot be accomplished this way. On the contrary, if Malchut wants to proceed, she has to receive for the sake of bestowal. “Samech” doesn’t want to receive. This letter aspires to bestowal, to “Hafetz Hesed,” nothing but that. It’s like a righteous man who lives alone in the woods and doesn’t have even a shirt, but he doesn’t need one.

That’s why it’s necessary to cancel “Samech” since the force that envelopes this letter becomes a hindrance to it. We need a developmental power of the letter “Mem” that consists of two letters: “Dalet” (two doors – Delet) that have to open and let the fetus go out in order to continue its development. These doors are two opposing forces that fight with each other. That’s why they are called the door hinges (Tzirim), or labor pains (Tzirim), meaning the pain of advancement. The second power that cancels “Samech’s” protection is getting stronger and the fetus starts getting additional desire to be pleased that was previously under the power of egoism, but now it transitions from receiving to bestowal.

There is nothing that is absolutely and entirely good. There is no letter or force that could help us in all circumstances with the exception of the letter “Bet” that means “blessing.” The letter “Bet” doesn’t depend on anything at all, only on the Upper. The ways of receiving its blessing (meaning the Returning Light) can be learned from the wisdom of Kabbalah. The remaining properties reveal and correct because of this blessing.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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