Therefore, once all the members of the nation agreed, they were immediately given the Torah, for now they were capable of observing it. But before they grew into a complete nation, and certainly during the time of the fathers, who were unique in the land, they were not truly qualified to observe the Torah in its desirable form, since with a small number of people it is impossible to even begin with engagement in Mitzvot between man and man to the extent of “Love your friend as yourself,” …. This is why they were not given the Torah (Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah]”).

A distinction must be made between the Torah of the forefathers and the Torah of the era of Egyptian exile. In Egypt egoism grew to the degree of Pharaoh, and it had to be corrected by the light that returns to the source. But the desires revealed in the times of the forefathers were very pure and did not require this light.

Even afterward, for almost a thousand years until the era of the sages of the Talmud, one had to humble one’s desires through asceticism and labor in the Torah. Only thanks to the corrections carried out by the sages of the Talmud is it sufficient for us to engage in joint study, which brings the light that returns to the source (the reforming light).

In any case, the form of correction of the forefathers differed from ours. In the present stage of development, we must attain love for one’s neighbor as for oneself, and from this it is clear how the Torah, that is, the Kabbalistic method, must be applied. At the end of the Preface to The Book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam explains that first of all it must be realized within the people of Israel, and afterward—in the entire world.

The application of the Kabbalistic method is possible among a great number of people who support one another and become guarantors for one another. Each is obliged to care for everyone else, and then a person has no worries about himself. For even his basic needs he receives because others care for him. As a result, a person completely disconnects from his egoistic desire and performs a restriction upon it.

This restriction is not based on forceful methods, not on self-coercion. It does not mean restraining myself from eating a tasty piece of cake. That would be a diet, not a restriction. What we are speaking of is the action of the light, which raises in my eyes, bestowal above reception, and then I simply cannot receive anything egoistically. Within me there remains the desire to receive, but above it reigns the desire to bestow.
[50127]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah]”

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