Audio Version Of The Blog – 5/17/25
Posted on May 17th, 2025
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Question: What happens to a person when they isolate themselves and are left alone with their thoughts?
Answer: It depends on the person and on the purpose for which they seek solitude. If one is striving toward a special spiritual goal, then it makes little difference whether they isolate themselves in the middle of Manhattan or in a true desert.
Question: If a person goes into the desert with the intention of clearing their thoughts and listening to their inner voice, is there a chance for them to understand who they really are?
Answer: If a group of people goes into the desert, far from the rest of the world, in order to attain an inner, shared spiritual goal, then such solitude certainly makes sense. Undoubtedly, the desert is a more suitable place for this than a forest, because it is silent, empty.
The desert leaves a person with no illusions, it makes it absolutely clear that nothing good can come out of life in it, just as nothing good comes from ordinary human life. That is why in the desert we feel in tune with nature.
I love the desert because there you have nothing but earth and sky, especially at night. It gives a person a special mood, impression, and feeling, especially when many people are together there, searching for the meaning of life. Then the desert and the heavens begin to speak to them, showing: “This is all there is, and you are here alone in this empty vacuum. So seek the hidden source of life!”
Question: You are talking about a group of Kabbalists going into the desert with a special purpose. But if an ordinary person isolates themselves in the desert, is there a chance for them to discover their inner essence?
Answer: On their own, it is impossible. I believe that even the Torah, when telling about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, is referring to whole groups. Because a single person cannot be spiritual; one does not exist in relation to spirituality as a separate element, but only in connection with others, ideally no fewer than ten.
Question: Isn’t it a contradiction: “solitude in a group”? Isn’t it either solitude or a group, one or the other?
Answer: Solitude is only possible within a group! Because the solitude of the individual is just an animalistic act, physical isolation of the body. But solitude within a group is spiritual solitude.
Being connected with one another, we begin to reveal how much we lack the meaning of life and the force that sustains it.
[217820]
From KabTV’s “New Life 925 – Inner Solitude.” 11/28/2017
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Question: If a person is divided in two, between egoism and the point in the heart, how can they build a mechanism that would constantly give them the strength to be on the right side and not on the side of the evil inclination?
Answer: How can one build a mechanism that helps us attain the feeling of mutual guarantee (Arvut)? That is precisely what we are building. It is the group.
From all my internal qualities and all the external conditions surrounding me, the only thing in which I can act freely is in choosing my environment. Because my character and all my qualities are predetermined for me. And society, if I do not choose it, acts upon me however it wants. I am in its power, and whether I like it or not, I absorb everything from it.
It turns out that I am capable of making a choice when I am given such an opportunity from above, and I make efforts in that. Only that is called free choice.
Either I choose a good environment that advances me toward mutual guarantee and final correction (Gmar Tikkun), or I am a puppet, a marionette, completely devoid of freewill, and in that case, there is no reward, no punishment, no one to ask, and no one to complain to. Everything flows according to nature.
So who then is a sinner? The one who wants to become righteous. Who has free choice? Only the Kabbalists. And the rest? The rest are like animals. As it is written: “He is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalms 49:13). There is nothing to demand from them; they have no choice because that is how the laws are set: either you choose mutual guarantee or you do not.
Remember how elections used to be held in the Soviet Union?
– “We are choosing the city’s mayor!” – “How many candidates are there?” – “One!”
It is the same with the Creator. If it is the truth, it has to be one. Not ten! What does it mean, ten candidates? It means nine liars and one honest one. But the idea itself is right.
You are not choosing one out of ten. The idea is different: there is one true One, and you decide whether you are really choosing Him. Essentially, through your choice, you examine yourself, do you truly intend to “cast your ballot” as confirmation that you agree with the corrected state. That is called a choice.
[343810]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/7/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
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Question: In the article “The Arvut,” it is said that each individual among the people was asked whether they agreed to accept the Torah, and further, it is written that if even one person does not agree, then no one can fulfill the condition of Arvut [mutual guarantee].
Answer: The point is that even in final correction (Gmar Tikkun), there will remain a certain layer of people who simply will not feel what is being asked of them. They will say: “Fine, I am ready. If I need to, I will go along with you.”
It is not that within them arises any awareness or sense of necessity, for by their nature, they are incapable of that. That is simply their level.
Yet, they too will feel perfection and eternity. Only their level of participation in the general Arvut will be something like: “Alright, I will sign. What I sign does not matter.” There are such types of people who are that close to the inanimate level.
In other words, the correction happens gradually, both in quantity and in quality. If we are now speaking about the correction of the Kelim with Aviut of Shoresh, then let’s consider who belongs to this level. How many are there in the world? Then comes Aviut Alef. Aviut Alef may include, say, half a billion people. Aviut Bet, two billion. And so on.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/7/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
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Question: Why was The Book of Zohar, a commentary on the Torah, written? Was the Torah that Moses wrote not enough?
Answer: No, The Book of Zohar was written after the fall of the Second Temple from the level that the authors of The Book of Zohar were at, so they could attain the ultimate highest state. It says so in The Book of Zohar.
It was the last generation after which darkness set in.
The Book of Zohar is intended for us in our current state, to begin to rise to the ultimate correction with its help.
Question: Literally at the same time, the Mishnah was written, which is studied to this day, and it was not hidden. After a few hundred years, the writing of the Talmud was completed, and everyone studies it too. But The Book of Zohar was hidden. How are they different?
Answer: The fact is, The Book of Zohar is written in a special language. It describes the system of the upper world, how we can approach it, and what to do.
Like the science of Kabbalah, it was not supposed to be revealed for 2,000 years from the fall of the Second Temple to our time.
This state of “2000 years” is called “exile from spirituality,” when there was a rejection in the breaking of the Temple and a descent to the level of our world, i.e., into the darkest state, from which we must begin to attain the highest state.
For this, we need guidance, which is The Book of Zohar. All Kabbalists grew with it.
Question: If anyone starts reading The Book of Zohar, the Talmud, or the Mishnah today, they would not understand a word of it. Why was The Book of Zohar hidden, but the rest were not?
Answer: The Book of Zohar is written in the language of Kabbalah. This is why it was hidden.
In addition, it was written in a state of spiritual elevation. Its authors were ten disciples of Rabbi Shimon, the great Kabbalist, who brought them together, united them, and explained how to attain the upper world. Whatever was revealed in their connections, they wrote down. This became The Book of Zohar.
The Mishnah and the Talmud tell about the upper degrees, but in a more obscure, allegorical way. Therefore those who study them think they are talking about our world. This is first of all.
Secondly, the people who wrote the Mishnah and the Talmud were not at the same level of attainment as the authors of The Book of Zohar. There is a big difference.
As Baal HaSulam notes, those who wrote The Book of Zohar were at the level of the Third Temple, that is, at the highest level of attainment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/2017, “The Chain of Knowledge 57 Centuries Long. History of the Kabbalah Methodology”
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The Special Feature Of The Book Of Zohar
The Magical Mechanism Of The Book Of Zohar
The Key To The Book Of Zohar
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