Question: Before Baal HaSulam, did anyone write commentaries on The Book of Zohar?

Answer: There were commentaries, but they were very brief and limited. Baal HaSulam wrote that all the previous commentaries on The Book of Zohar did not cover even ten percent of the book, and that they were scattered and incomplete.

Therefore, he was the only one to provide a complete commentary on The Book of Zohar, along with four introductions. For this reason, before beginning to read The Book of Zohar itself, one should study these introductions, because without them it cannot be understood.
[214151]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 10/16/16

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Question: What is the condition for adopting the Creator’s perspective?

Answer: The condition is a correction that a person receives from above, when the Kli (vessel) of the desire to receive, in which fulfillment is absent, receives pleasure even if it is not the natural fulfillment that the Kli wants. The Kli wants to receive the light of Hochma, but instead receives the light of Hassadim and calms down.

This is a special action. I want to experience pleasure. My Kli feels only the presence or absence of the desired pleasure. Suddenly, instead of receiving the pleasure that the Kli wanted, instead of the light of Hochma, I sense the giver of pleasure within it. And this fills me. I need nothing else.

This can be compared to the transition from stage one to stage two where the vessel desires nothing more. If, within my desire to receive, I feel the Creator instead of the fulfillment I previously wanted (instead of animalistic pleasures, money, honor, or knowledge) if I perceive the sensation the Creator through all my senses, then that is it! I need nothing else.

I do not receive pleasure itself; rather, I sense the giver of the pleasure. And this is enough for me. Why? An animal would find this insufficient, but a human being, developed according to the four stages of desire, can be satisfied with Hassadim—the sensation of the Creator.

And now, when I am filled not by my natural pleasure, but by another kind of fulfillment, one that enables me to break free from the domination of Hisaron (the sensation of lack), I gain the possibility of becoming independent. Now I can examine, measure, and determine what kind of fulfillment I want: fulfillment according to my nature or fulfillment that I give to Him, according to another nature.

There are many nuances here, but this is the transition. You ask: “How can one cross from one side to the other?” We have everything needed for this except the sensation of the Creator. This is the correction of the Kli. For there are only two parameters: either the pleasure that fills me when I sense what lies before me on the table, or the sensation of the host standing beside the table. There are only these two possibilities.

I do not have many choices. It is either one or the other. One could say that I am always under the influence and dominion of one or the other. But there is nothing besides these two things.

I am a Kli facing two possibilities. Through suffering, by not giving me direct fulfillment from the table, the Creator teaches me that I must think about another fulfillment: filling myself with the sensation of His presence, and this will give me what is known as “independence.”

After that, I receive the same fulfillment from the table, but in a different form. I use my Kli as a means, not as a goal. The goal is no longer to fill the Kli, but through filling it, to attain something above it. The concept is very simple.
[361397]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/26, Rabash, “What Is the Work of Man, in the Work that Is Attributed to the Creator?”

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Question: Is it possible to return from the end of correction and begin everything from the start?

Answer: If we have corrected everything into the intention for the sake of bestowal, acquired all the inner discernments, can fill ourselves with the presence of the Creator, and have become similar to Him in qualities, then why would we need another incarnation?

The entire path we undergo is needed only so that we can unite our inner discernments and build a Kli from all kinds of impressions.

After I have felt everything, clarified everything, decided everything, and correctly connected it all, I then possess a true Kli (vessel). Into this Kli I now receive the revelation of the Creator in its full measure, since it is completely similar to the Creator; that is, the intention of the Kli coincides with the Creator’s intentions.

Everything has cause and effect. What reason could there be afterward to force me to enter the shattering and fall, and then correct myself again?
[361417]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,’ in the Work?”

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Question: What will happen when the whole world reaches the end of correction (Gmar Tikun)?

Answer: The end of correction means that all the souls will attain their final correction and become equal in their properties to the light of infinity, as they were in the beginning.

They do not become the light of infinity, but through their actions they become equivalent to the light, which is called the Creator.

After that, everything only begins, because until this point you were merely correcting your Kelim (vessels), whereas afterward you already have all the inner definitions necessary to continue the work.

Now you can be called an adult, equal to the Creator. You become equivalent to Him in your properties, and He takes you as an absolutely equal partner for something that we do not know about at present. These are already the secrets of the Torah.
[361455]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,’ in the Work?”

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Question: Must I first commit a sin in order to build a Kli?

Answer: In the second part of Study of the Ten Sefirot, in “Inner Observation,” we study that there are the concepts of “possible” and “intending,” and from these arise four combinations: “possible and intending,” “not possible and not intending,” “not possible and intending,” and “possible and not intending.”

In short, these are four possibilities. Therefore, we see that not everything, not always, and not immediately is interpreted as a sin. In fact, a sin is when you could refrain from enjoying, yet still intend to enjoy. Of all four degrees, this occurs only in Malchut.

All of this is not so simple. But we do not need to think about it or examine whether I intended it or not. This is not for us, who are below the Machsom. This is absolutely not our work.

Simply, from what is given to us, we need to try to understand something and carry it out. The main thing is not to run away from the “battlefield.” What matters is the process of study, the work in the group, conducting lessons, and other things of this kind that we carry out. Everything else that happens to us is completely unimportant.

The most important thing is that you do not violate anything that should be part of your daily schedule. If you have a daily schedule, then everything else will fall into place, and you do not need to pay attention to it. There are things to which you simply need to turn a blind eye. Let them happen to me, and that is that.
[360037]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/26, Rabash, “The Klipa [Shell/Peel] that Precedes the Fruit”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 241

Can the Connection with the Creator Be Strengthened Without Suffering? How Can We Be Connected with Him Only Through Goodness?

It seems that through suffering, we at least remember the Creator. It is worth understanding that our suffering is sent to us by the Creator, and through it we feel the Creator. The suffering is intended for this purpose, but it is not the goal. The goal is not to feel the Creator through suffering, but to feel the Creator through adhesion, through closeness.

The Creator reminds us of Himself through what is called the “path of suffering.” Through suffering, He reminds us how much we need Him. However, what happens after we realize we need Him? If we tell ourselves that it is worthwhile to suffer so as not to forget the Creator, it is the Klipot that are telling us this, leaving us in suffering. The situation can be described as the Creator reminding us of Himself through suffering. This is His tool, i.e., the Creator has placed a thorn in us, and we remember Him. But what do we think? Do we think that the Creator does us harm, and we remain with that thought? Is that the kind of connection we should remain in?

We are now in the system of the Klipa, which, through this connection and through our agreement to remain in suffering, draws nourishment from us and grows stronger. For what is a Klipa? It is the evil that we feel as coming from the Creator, and this is precisely the opposite of what we should feel. So how can we convince ourselves, while we are under the domain of the Klipot, to feel goodness and delight from the Creator? How can we reject the connection with the Creator through evil and instead be with Him in equivalence, in adhesion and connection, through a common joy?

Pain cannot be shared. Even the Klipa states, “Just as the Shechina is in sorrow, so am I in sorrow,” as though it aspires to elevate us even higher along the left line. Therefore, we must seek a connection that corresponds to the Creator’s qualities, because according to such qualities, it is impossible for us to remain in evil.

Then we seek how to bring pleasure to the Creator. Our suffering gives no pleasure to the Creator, and we try to rid ourselves of that feeling of sorrow. However, in the next moment, the Klipa once again throws us into sorrow, and we forget the joy. From one moment to the next, everything is erased, and this is called a “slingshot,” when we are tossed from side to side.

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