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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When the sons of Israel agree not to use their big and burning ego, and through actions performed on egoism in order to neutralize its hindrances they begin to unite and reach the state of mutual guarantee (Arvut), this guarantee comes after actions, and is called “we will do and we will hear.”

This is when they receive a connecting and filling force from above called the Torah. With the help of this force, they begin to gradually correct the vessel itself with the Aviut degree of one.

This is called going out into the Sinai desert and raising Malchut to Bina for 40 years, correcting it, until 40 years later, they come to the land of Israel, that is, to Malchut united with Bina.

This is the land of Israel (Eretz Israel), the desire straight to the Creator (Yashar El, Israel). This is when they get awarded with the state where they build the Temple.

This means that they have a Kli that can truly contain the upper light within itself, that is, a vessel where the Creator is revealed.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/9/2025, Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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The state we are currently in, the corrupted state, appears that way only to us. In truth, we are still in the very same corrected state. Nothing has changed, as it is said: “I, the Lord, do not change” (Malachi 3:6).

Kabbalists, who reveal advanced spiritual degrees and ascend from one level to another, say that nothing changes. Everything is concealed only in relation to us and it is we who must uncover it.

This revelation is possible only through our own efforts when we truly want to return to the original state.

As Baal HaSulam explains in a letter in the book Pri Chacham, Letters, a person who ascends from the beginning of the path to his final correction (Gmar Tikkun) only attains that very same state in which he was already adhered to the Creator as a point in the root through his own effort.

By his efforts, he adds awareness, expands his perception of reality, and feels it 613 times more intensely than before.

Because previously, he was like a drop of semen, a point adhered to the Creator. But when he returns to that state through his own work, he arrives at the fullness of that level of Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator. He becomes equal to the Creator.

This is what is meant by “ZON of the world of Atzilut are in constant coupling (Zivug) at the same level.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Our spiritual work does not consist of simply acquiring knowledge, as in this world, in order to gather intelligence and achieve success with it. We do not ascend through this; we only develop our tools of perception, and that is where it ends. Especially now, in our time, when we are reaching the result of all our previous development. The still, vegetative, and animate levels within a person have completed their development, and there is no longer a possibility of being fulfilled egoistically. This is the main characteristic of the current crisis.

Now we must develop our desires ourselves—no longer only for reception, but also for bestowal. That is, the lower must become a giver like the upper, become similar to the upper, become human (Adam—from the word “Adameh,” which means “similar” to the upper). Now the human level is beginning to develop within us.

Equivalence of form to the upper means bestowal, which is the same quality as His. But how can the lower one do this if he does not know how? He has no possibility whatsoever because the upper revealed itself only as a source of wisdom, knowledge, intellect, and sensations that fulfilled the lower. But it did not develop the desires of the lower in the new quality of bestowal instead of or alongside reception.

In order to make this possible, the upper hides Himself and gives the lower one the feeling of concealment. This is exactly what we are beginning to feel in our world now, and this feeling will continue to intensify. A person who starts studying Kabbalah after some time begins to feel a bit of darkness and discomfort. It no longer draws him in as before, as if the source has closed off and everything became insipid.

At the same time, a feeling of helplessness arises, a lack of purpose, and a person loses the will to live and falls into despondency, and drags himself through life like a lifeless body. But this does not come to crush a person, but to give one the opportunity to add on their own what the upper has hidden.

The upper concealed a small part of His bestowal. This is called the concealment of the AHP of the upper. And that is why the lower one no longer feels that he receives any light from the upper. Before, he sensed some radiance from the upper, and now it is gone. As a result, a void is formed in the GE of the lower one, a lack of sensation, understanding, connection, purpose, mood, and confusion. He understands nothing, hears nothing, and moves with difficulty.

All this is done so that the lower one will fill in what he no longer receives from the upper. The upper one restricted His vessels, and the lower one must, so to speak, enter this space that has opened in the upper. The upper one has deliberately made room within Himself for him and says: “Come to Me!”

But to come to the upper one means to rise to the degree where you become a giver and not a receiver, to work in a form opposite to what you did before, to become like the Creator where it no longer matters what you feel in your egoistic desires, or how much knowledge, impressions, understanding, or emotions you receive.

Bestowal means complete giving solely for the sake of the other. And thank God, there is no shortage of others, you can always bestow to them. The whole world, the group, the study are all before you.

But right now, you cannot bestow because the upper one has taken His light away from you. So in that place add your own light of bestowal, the light of faith. You do not know how? Then ask the upper to give you this sensation of bestowal, the ability to bestow, to help you rise above your previous feelings and intellect, above the sensation that you are receiving, understanding, and advancing toward a goal in life.

Let go of all that and rise above it! None of it exists—it was all just an imagined world. Rise from it into a new state, which is beyond all egoistic calculations.

This is the state of our choice. And if a person understands and feels this—and not only one person, but the group—then we reach a true desire.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/2012, Writings of Rabash Article 195

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Question: It is known that people who sought spiritual development strove to be alone, to distance themselves from their familiar surroundings in order to be alone with their thoughts and inner search. History presents a long list of such examples of solitude in search for the meaning of life and truth: the Baal Shem Tov, the Prophet Elijah, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Buddha, and so on. Why is solitude associated with spiritual development?

Answer: Spiritual development is an inner process within a person immersed in himself. It requires solitude so that others do not interfere and a person can delve into himself, begin to feel himself, and speak with himself.

Therefore, solitude is practiced in many methods. Even among scientists and writers it is customary to take a creative retreat and isolate oneself in order to write new books.

It is obvious that if a person wants to concentrate on something, he must be alone with himself and not under the influence of the world, which distracts them with all sorts of meaningless goals. That is why solitude is so useful and accompanies a person in all his important endeavors in life—especially if they wish to create, build, or discover something. This applies not only to spirituality but also to material pursuits.

Spiritual development, naturally, requires even greater inner solitude and concentration of internal forces. A person must feel himself, examine, investigate: Who am I? Why was I created? For what purpose? How am I governed? Who governs me? Am I free or not? How can one become independent?

These are eternal questions that arose long before our generation. People have been asking themselves these questions for thousands of years and are seeking answers. There are many methods besides the science of Kabbalah, each attempting to answer some of these questions. But so far no results are evident. None of these methods has yet been able to offer humanity a solution, an answer to the question about the meaning and purpose of life.

Question: What is meant by the spiritual development that people seek?

Answer: A person wants to know why they live, who controls them, whether it is possible to change their fate, and whether they have freedom of choice. They want to know what will come of this entire difficult life in this world about which it is said: “Not by your own will were you born, not by your own will do you live, and not by your own will will you die.”

Why were we even given such questions? After all, an animal does not ask why it lives. Only a human torments itself with these questions. It turns out that we are the most miserable and insignificant of all beings since we live knowing that there is no meaning in this, and yet we continue to live. Our situation is far worse than that of any animal.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 925 – Inner Solitude,” 11/28/2017

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Counting of the Omer” (04.13.2021)

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Question: Is mutual guarantee a correction? I cannot correct myself, so apparently it isn’t my job to come to mutual guarantee?

Answer: Mutual guarantee is achieved through the work of each and everyone together. We must come to an agreement that mutual guarantee is necessary, that without it we cannot unite, that it is a condition for uniting all desires and all souls.

If we decide we want this, then due to us being below our corrected state, we attract the surrounding light through our desire to be in it. We want to be in this state, even though we do not know or really understand what it is, but it is enough that we simply want it.

Then the force descends on us from above in the form of the surrounding light, and begins to correct us so that we, by agreeing to be guarantors for each other, come to fulfill this condition and reveal our mutual inclusion in souls.

Strictly speaking, we reveal the only existing state, and all other states in which we are currently in, as it seems to us, are just different levels of unconsciousness.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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It is impossible to rise alone. After all, to rise higher means to connect even more with everyone, up to the very top level where we all merge without any differences between us. Therefore, the more support I get from the others and I myself support them, the larger the field we get for work.

After all, who is this upper? It is our connection. If we really unite now, we will be able to implement this action in practice and not just fantasize about the upper and our feelings. It is not for no reason that we live in our world of physical actions; it is so that we are able to experience these actions in it instead of the spiritual world and be able to perform them here, like children playing a game.

Due to this, we will connect more and more and envision that by this action we become like the upper one, because He bestows to everyone. The closer we connect, the closer we get to the AHP of the upper and attach ourselves there to the single source that affects everyone.

If we do this and strengthen each other, we will create our common request, a societal prayer with which we can demand the power of mutual bestowal from the upper.

After all, we feel that we are not able to connect. It is even harder for us than for someone who is alone. Alone, someone does not feel the lack of desire to bestow so strongly. And when we are actively working in a group, we feel that according to our verification, we have no way to connect. No matter how much we talk about it, sing together, dance, and jump, nothing works.

Our GE becomes similar to AHP of the upper; that is, we rise above our worries, problems, concerns, private calculations, and all our thoughts are above, like the AHP of the upper one. This is how we approach and cling to Him. Now we already have a partial spiritual vessel, our GE, with which we can cling to the upper one.

Of course, this is not yet a complete vessel but only a partial one. But after a certain number of actions, which are called “forty years of wandering in the desert,” the stage of Bina (Chafetz Hesed), bestowal for the sake of bestowal, the level of faith, we receive the ability in some part of our desire to connect with the upper, to rise to the same level with Him.

Therefore, if we feel darkness, and this is not an individual, unconscious experience, but a common feeling of the impossibility of our connection, if this is what we perceive as darkness, then this common feeling can be the beginning of a genuine prayer.

Then it is worth going to the desert to enhance this feeling and receive the glow of the AHP of the upper, which will help us with our GE, our desires to bestow, to attach to Him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/2012, Writings of Rabash Article 195

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