These days, we commemorate the memorial day of the ARI (Isaac Luria Ashkenazi)—a unique person, a great Kabbalist. The fact is that the upper force, the reality in which we exist, is revealed in our world gradually. It was first revealed to a person named Adam, who is therefore considered the first man.

From him, this revelation was passed down along a chain of Kabbalists to Abraham, then to Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David, and so on. The entire Torah is revealed stage by stage, because our development is egoistic. From generation to generation, egoism grows, humanity evolves, and along with it, Kabbalah and the Kabbalists develop.

Before Abraham, there were only small groups of Kabbalists. But Abraham gathered a large group, which developed and called itself the “people of Israel,” meaning Yashar-El (straight to the Creator). This group went through many ascents and descents on the spiritual path, through shatterings, and eventually entered the final exile, meaning the last spiritual descent.

The soul of the ARI symbolizes the exit from this final exile and the beginning of the redemption, meaning the beginning of the revelation of the spiritual world, the upper force, to all of humanity. From within this world, we can now begin to reveal the world of infinity, to connect the two opposite poles of creation, and to move from this temporary, transient life to one that is eternal and perfect.

The ARI is unique in that he revealed the wisdom of Kabbalah to us in its complete form. In his time, the period of the final exile came to an end, and so he stood at the peak of the revelation of the vast egoistic desire. By correcting it, he was able to attain the entire creation and describe this wisdom in full.

He understood how all parts of creation are connected, in what form, and by which laws and formulas they develop, and how we, human beings, human souls, gradually reveal all of this as we progress toward complete revelation, our final correction.

All of this the ARI revealed and described in a way suited to the perception of the modern person, to the souls of our generation. That is why Kabbalists, who understand who the ARI was, hold him in the highest regard. Truly, he is a unique soul.

Baal HaSulam writes that he lacks the words to express the greatness of the extraordinary soul of the ARI and his contribution to the development of Kabbalah. The ARI left us all the keys to the attainment of the spiritual world. Today we are not yet capable, but we hope that one day we will come to understand his greatness.

Baal HaSulam writes that he was granted an inclusion with the soul of the ARI (Ibur Neshama), and that through this, he was able to write the Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar, and The Study of the Ten Sefirot—his commentary on The Tree of Life (Etz Chaim). All of this was made possible by the inclusion of the soul of the ARI within him, this special soul, this unique desire, corrected by the great Kabbalist.

Naturally, we must try at least a little to adhere to this exalted soul. To the extent that we are able to connect, to bond, and to nullify before him, to that same extent, we too will be able to enjoy some of his light, and perhaps attain something from his revelations.

The language of the ARI is entirely unique: flowing, beautiful, gentle, and close to us. He describes each detail that he chooses to explain with utmost precision. And all his explanations are primarily aimed at drawing the surrounding light so that through this study, we may attain spiritual perception.

This is how the book of the ARI Etz Chaim (The Tree of Life) begins:

Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,
The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.
And there was no vacancy, such as an empty air, a hollow,
But all was filled with that Simple, Boundless Light.
And there was no such part as head, or end,
But everything was One, Simple Light, balanced evenly and equally,
And it was called “the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity).”
And when upon His simple will, came the desire to create the worlds and emanate the emanations,
To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,
Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,
Then the Ein Sof restricted Himself, in His middle point, precisely at the center,
And He restricted that Light, and drew far off to the sides around that middle point.
And there remained an empty space, an empty air, a vacuum
Precisely from the middle point.
And that restriction was equally around that empty, middle point,
So that the space was evenly circled around it.
And after the restriction, when the vacant space remained empty…

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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/16 on the topic of “Memorial Day for the ARI”

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The Creator is the force of bestowal and love, and for one who loves, there is immense suffering in not having the opportunity to bring contentment to the one they love.

The suffering from unrealized bestowal is far greater than from not receiving, as it is written: “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to feed.”

When the big one cannot give from their perfection to the small one because the latter is incapable of receiving anything, this causes great pain.

The Creator is the desire to give and to bestow, the desire to love. And we should not think that this does not involve a sense of lack!

It is simply not from unfulfilled needs; it is from unshared perfection! Therefore, the Creator creates the desire to enjoy in order to fill it and express His love to it.

In our desire, all the preparations have already been made to receive all of the Creator’s light and His love.

But in order for us to understand what He is doing and to feel what He is giving us, we must become like Him in stature and in qualities.

Therefore, only one component is missing here—our independence, our own desire to feel His love and to accept Him as our beloved.

After all, if this yearning does not come from us, it will not be love. Can love be bought with money? No.
With money, I can only buy services: I pay in a hair salon, in a clinic, or at a restaurant, and they take care of me wholeheartedly, but it is because they love money and not me.

So how can I make them love me? That, we do not know.

True love is only possible if I am completely independent of the other, and regarding the Creator, it is written: “I am the first and I am the last.”

Therefore, the Creator’s problem is how to create us, to bring us into being, and at the same time make us as if completely independent of Him.

And at the same time, He expects us to cultivate our love for Him within ourselves about which I must then say: “I am the first, and I am the last!”

This means that the ten Sefirot of the direct light are clothed in the ten Sefirot of the reflected light and they complement one another.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/10, Introduction of The Book of The Zohar “Lock and Key”

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Question: When I connect with the Creator, everything in life falls apart, and I hit rock bottom. Why does this happen?

Answer: I don’t know how you are connecting with the Creator or why this causes a fall. Generally it should lead a person to rise from their previous state to a higher one.

Therefore, you need to give yourself some examples, and then you will see your mistakes. For instance, what does it mean to be in a greater connection with the Creator than now, how do you do it, and what do you feel in doing so?
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/25, “Correction of The Heart “

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Question: In Baal HaSulam’s article “Man’s Connection to the Sefirot,” it says that we cannot correct our thoughts, but we can direct our hearts directly to the Creator.

How can we direct the common heart of the ten toward the Creator so that our thoughts throughout the day will be replaced with correct ones?

Answer: This should be done all the time, as much as possible. Thanks to these efforts, we will gradually begin to feel how much we are drawing closer to or moving away from the Creator.

We must think about this and imagine this in all our actions, during all the lessons, and we need to continue acting in this way.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/25, “Correction of The Heart “

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Question: When we ask the Creator for Hissaron (deficiency), we know for sure that He hears us, but sometimes we do not feel His answer. What should be done in such a case?

Answer: If you do not feel the answer of the Creator, it means that you are not yet able to raise your desires to His level.

You need to delve even deeper into the desires that are arising and developing in you, and then you will enter the realm where you will hear the answer of the Creator.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/25, “Correction of The Heart “

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Ask and Demand First”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “The Donkey Driver”

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Question: What did Baal HaSulam add to the correction of the soul that the ARI started?

Answer: The ARI himself did not write anything. It was his student Marhu (Chaim Vital) who wrote, and his writings were published over the course of three generations after the death of the ARI.

Baal HaSulam explained and systematized the entire teaching of the ARI. Before him, the teaching of the ARI was not arranged in a structured way, and therefore, it was impossible to study it properly. Many who began studying the ARI would eventually switch to studying the works of the Ramak.

I myself studied the Ramak until I discovered Baal HaSulam. I saw many Kabbalists who preferred studying the Ramak instead of the ARI because the books of Ramak are clear and organized.

The writings of the ARI were not structured. Baal HaSulam systematized, detailed, explained, and arranged them: the three lines, the first and second restrictions, the Creator and the created being, the definitions of the worlds, Sefirot, Partzufim, NRNHY KHB, ZON, and he even created a collection of diagrams of the upper worlds in the book Elan.

Although some parts are missing that he could have systematized further (like Adam HaRishon, the impure worlds of BYA), it seems he chose not to deal with them. Without Baal HaSulam, we would not have the method of the ARI. It would be impossible to understand the ARI.

Today when we read other Kabbalists, we understand them only because we are familiar with the works of Baal HaSulam. Without him, we would be confused.

Whatever you read, whether it is the books on Hasidism, the Ramak, or the Agra, you only understand them because you studied Baal HaSulam. Without the articles of Rabash, we would not be able to understand what is required of us and what the work of the Creator truly means.

Without these two Kabbalists Baal HaSulam and RABASH who complement each other, we would not have the correct approach to the method of correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam Preface “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Humanity is moving forward. Once it believed only in spirits, in hidden forces of nature: wind, sun, moon, earthquakes, sacrifices, etc. There are still many similar beliefs on Earth today that exist to this day. Some of them will only vanish with the revelation of the Creator.

But as egoism develops in humanity, the ego begins to demand greater revelation, greater comprehension, and a stronger foundation for any action. A person becomes lazier and more egoistic; they want rewards, and demand clear understanding, knowledge, and compensation for their efforts.

That is why, in ancient times, over many centuries, various movements and forms of worship emerged. All of them were also tied to the specific characteristics of each nation that were beneficial to their elites.

But the key point is that all these beliefs are referred to as “faith,” that is, as blind faith—believing in something that a person does not reveal, does not see, and does not feel. Yet when someone begins to work with this, everything in him is purely psychologically shaped into a kind of knowledge, a conviction so strong that one is ready to give their life for it.

Question: Is blind faith close to faith with knowledge?

Answer: There is no actual knowledge here because no one is revealing the Creator. But gradually a person reaches a state where they must do so.

The first person to reveal the Creator was Adam only 6,000 years ago. Although for many centuries before that humanity sought to know the Creator, it remained in a state of faith and not knowledge. Adam HaRishon was the first who attained the Creator. That is, he gained clear knowledge, and the ability for mutual, two-way communication: “I speak to Him, and He responds.” Adam began to work within this interaction.

This kind of attainment of the Creator by a person in this world is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. Only then do we move from faith to knowledge.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is based on knowledge. It calls each person to rise either from the level of nonbelief—which is also a kind of faith, a belief in the absence of upper forces, a program of development, etc.—or from the level where upper forces are accepted on faith, to a state where a person reveals the Creator’s governance and begins to interact accordingly.

Thus, in our world there are two completely different approaches to human behavior. That is why there are over 3,000 various belief systems. We can see how much they differ across different regions of the world.

For example, in South America it is customary to dig up the bones of ancestors, wash them out of respect, and rebury them. In China, other types of worship exist, and in Japan, still others. People come up with all sorts of methods. This is one path.

The second path is Kabbalah. It is intended for those who cannot function within blind faith; they need knowledge.

Kabbalah leads them to the revelation of the upper force, not just belief in it where people invent various methods, systems of behavior, and interaction, but actual revelation. A person is shown models of behavior with the upper force, mutual closeness, communication, development, and so on.

Question: So when Baal HaSulam writes “religion,” should we always interpret it as “Kabbalah”?

Answer: Baal HaSulam specifically means Kabbalah because nothing else is connected to the upper force.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 7/10/2017

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Question: According to Kabbalah, the purpose of human existence is to reveal the the Creator. What exactly is revealed to a person?

Answer: We exist within a certain informational field, and we do not know where or what it is.

We do not know where we came from, how we exist, what governs us, or where our thoughts and desires come from at every moment. We do not know what directs us when we decide to act.

We float along the current of life, and it seems to us that we are doing things, but in truth, we are not.

In order to understand where we are and who we are, we must reveal the governing force.

This is precisely what the wisdom of Kabbalah is engaged in. There is no greater purpose in our lives than to reveal the upper force and its governance over us. Only then will we know who we are, why we are, and how we are.

Question: What does the word “revelation” mean in this context?

Answer: I do not even know whether I truly exist right now or not, and what my life really means.

Comment: But I feel that I exist in some kind of world.

My Response: But do you feel that you are being governed, and who governs you?

Comment: True, we do not perceive the root cause.

My Response: We perceive neither the beginning, nor the middle, nor the end.

The attainment of the Creator must reveal everything that I want to know about myself, my existence, and reality as a whole—where I am, why, and what for.

Question: So when the reason for my existence and its purpose are revealed to me, is that what is called the revelation of the Creator?

Answer: No, that is the revelation of His attitude toward me. But essentially, that is how He is revealed, only relative to us.

Question: Is this some kind of sensory attainment?

Answer: Of course, it is sensory, direct, and scientific.

Question: Where does this become revealed in a person? Let us say one person attains it, and another does not. What is the difference between them?

Answer: The one who has attained the Creator perceives our world as a part of a vast reality.

He sees how everything happens not only in this world but in all of creation. He understands why each action occurs, with him and with everyone. He feels the entire picture.

We cannot even imagine what that means. But from that picture, a person understands everything that is happening to him and to everyone, in all of history and geography. It does not matter where, he understands the whole of creation and the Creator who governs it.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah” 7/2/19

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