Audio Version Of The Blog – 11/17/25
Posted on November 17th, 2025
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A man’s prayer is the work of the Ruach [spirit], work from Behina Bet, which depends on the speech.It is in high secrets and people do not know that a man’s prayer breaches airs and breaches firmaments, opens doors and rises up (Rashbi, Zohar for All, Vol. 5 “VaYakhel,” “The Ascent of the Prayer”).
It is written that prayer should be offered near a pillar. This does not mean, in fact, a pillar near which one should pray. The point is that all the Partzufim from the world of infinity to our world are arranged in the form of a pillar, where the AHP of the higher Partzuf is located inside the Galgalta ve Einaim (GE) of the lower Partzuf, and so they are all nested into each other.
There is not a single Partzuf that is arranged differently. Each Partzuf is positioned so that its upper part is inside the higher Partzuf, and its lower part is inside the lower Partzuf.
That is, the upper part of my Partzuf is together with the lower part of the higher one, and the lower part of my Partzuf is together with the upper part of the lower one. It turns out that in my upper part (GE) I form the ten Sefirot together with the AHP of the highest, and in my lower part (AHP) I am in the ten Sefirot with the GE of the lower.
It turns out that in the ten upper Sefirot, I am connected with the higher one, and in the ten lower Sefirot with the lower. But where am I? I myself am the part that divides me into two halves; it is called Klipat Noga. It divides the Partzuf in the middle.
Klipat Noga is all of our free choice. If I decide to connect with the higher in the ten upper Sefirot (1) now in order to lift the lowest up (2), and I am working only for this, it means that I am exercising my free choice in Klipat Noga that is in the middle.
The free choice is that I connect with the Creator, with a higher level, in order to correct the lower one. That is how we work.
[52431]
From the Kabbalah Lesson 8/24/11, The Book of Zohar
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A thought is a result of the desire (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 153, “A Thought Is a Result of the Desire”).
This is indeed true, because the most important thing in a person is desire. Thoughts appear only to fulfill these desires.
Desires arise in the heart, and we listen only to it. The mind is activated only when it is necessary to realize the desires that come from the heart. Therefore, the main thing is desire, while the intellect is merely an auxiliary tool, a means to achieve what is desired.
A person thinks of what he wants. He will not think of what he does not want.
In our world this is natural. You can look at any person and, by understanding his desires, guess what thoughts he has. All his thoughts are directed solely toward realizing what he desires. And to the extent that his desires have a hierarchy, you can tell which thoughts dominate and which are less important, what occupies him more or less. In other words, desires practically rule us.
For example, a person never thinks of his day of death. On the contrary, he will always contemplate his eternity, since this is what he wants. Thus, one always thinks of what is desirable for him.
Thought is secondary, auxiliary. It develops only because a person has desires. And therefore, one develops intellect in order to attain what is desired. As the saying goes: “One beaten man is worth two unbeaten ones.” For the one who is beaten, who is forced and compelled, becomes wiser because he searches for ways to realize himself.
Thus, the mind always grows when there are great desires. And conversely, if there are no desires, there is no great mind. Therefore, if you wish to develop your children, you must awaken in them great desires, not spoil them.
To spoil means to try to impose some kind of fulfillment on a child before he even wishes for it. On the contrary, let him desire, let him experience a bit of lack, let him seek how to realize what he wants. From this his intellect will develop. Only in this way, and no other.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/14/19
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Question: Do you believe that the Jews of Israel will eventually bring about the correction of all of humanity?
Answer: It is precisely the circumstances in which they find themselves that will compel them to do so. Why does the world around them bristle against them?
This is eternal antisemitism; the perpetual feeling that you are hated and that you must defend yourself and justify your existence in the world. When all this passes over a person from generation to generation, it is transmitted through the genes; it leaves behavioral layers in one’s character, in one’s perception of the world, in one’s attitude toward everything. There is nothing like this in any other nation.
The Jews are not like the Gypsies, who are simply despised, nor like people who impose their culture, manners, way of life, or religion on other nations. In those cases, it all stems from a sense of superiority. But here, on the contrary, it comes from a sense of inferiority, smallness, and worthlessness.
This complex has developed very strongly over the last 2,000 years. It has already produced secondary and tertiary consequences, which gradually evolve and merge with all other philosophies of life.
All this has left a deep imprint on their attitude toward everything and has generated enormous internal stress within the people, especially among the European branch of the Jews who were forced to develop in order to elevate themselves above the surrounding nations in some way, to protect themselves.
We see, in the Middle Ages, how they suddenly experienced a leap in special character traits and intellectual abilities; it is not even clear why. Previously, nothing like this existed anywhere, not even among other branches of Jews in other countries where they lived more or less peacefully.
There is a great deal of research on this topic. And indeed, we see how many scientists, artists, and thinkers they produce. All this is the result of their defensive reaction.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call, The Jews of Israel,” 9/13/10
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Faith above reason means that I accept the view of the upper one even when it clashes with my own understanding, as it is written: “They have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear.” This means that I can lift myself to a higher level each time, as though pulling myself upward to the next rung, by choosing the upper one’s opinion over my own, even when it contradicts everything I know.
If a friend hands me an envelope with $1,000 and I do not check the amount because I trust him—this is faith below reason. My trust does not contradict what I know, and therefore it does not demand faith.
Knowledge is the mind and perception I possess within this material world, like a judge who relies solely on what his eyes can see. Faith, however, is what stands above this knowledge, as Bina stands above Malchut. And to rise from the degree of Malchut to that of Bina, I must advance through faith above reason.
If I count the money and find that there are $999 instead of $1,000, then $999 is my knowledge, and the remaining “$1” is the measure of my faith. But if the envelope contains only $1, or is completely empty, and still I believe the higher one, considering his view to be true, then I elevate myself above my own reason and begin to see from the vantage point of the upper one.
The mind of the upper one is the opinion of the group or the teacher. If I strive each time to rise to faith above reason, this means I am ascending spiritual degrees. If I make no effort to accept the mind of the upper one, I neither enter nor approach the spiritual world.
Faith above reason is the only point of free choice granted to a person in this world.
If I accept the upper one’s view and agree that the envelope holds $1,000, although I counted only $999, then I rise to his degree. And then I myself witness how the envelope becomes filled to the full measure, not with money, but with the greatness of the Creator.
Faith above reason is a special mechanism, a unique method that lifts us from the material degree to the spiritual one, and from a lower spiritual degree to a higher one. This is the only way to ascend: by taking on the opinion of the higher one.
Each time I am as if born anew on the next degree, again and again. I enter the new state like a newborn who carries nothing from the previous one; I cling to the mind of the upper one and proceed with it.
With my own senses I see only $1 in the envelope. Yet above my senses I must accept that it is $1,000. I do not nullify my knowledge, I leave it as it is. I clearly see the gap between what I know and what stands above knowledge.
This gap defines the difference between Malchut and Bina. On one hand, “the judge has only what his eyes see”—this is Malchut. Yet I must go against this knowledge and prefer the knowledge of the higher one—Bina, faith.
And within this interval—this divergence between Malchut and Bina, between knowledge and faith above knowledge—the upper world and spiritual reality begin to reveal themselves.
All the work in the ten proceeds by faith above reason. I may see no love among the friends; on the contrary, we seem ready to devour one another. Yet we work to love each other. In the eyes of the upper one our ten is perfect and stands in complete unity; in our own eyes it appears entirely otherwise. This difference is what we must examine and rise above.
And this contradiction remains. I cannot reconcile one with the other, for this distance is the very gap between Bina and Malchut, it cannot close; in fact, it continues to widen.
This is the difference between the Creator and the created being as it awakens within me. And the more I follow faith, the more I cleave to the Creator instead of clinging to my own mind and animal body. This is how spiritual advancement unfolds.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/20, “Work with Faith Above Reason”
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Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Work with Faith Above Reason” (9.9.2020)
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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, Chapter 5, Item 3
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3rd part of the Lesson — Conversations of a Kabbalist with His Students During the Day
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4th part of the Lesson — The Book of Zohar, “Beresheet – 1, ‘Taamim, Nekudot (Points), and Otiot (Letters)'”
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