Entries in the 'Commandments' Category

Know the Great and Almighty Creator

237The third commandment of the Torah is “to know that there is a great and ruling God in the world,” which includes the entire universe.

At the heart of His attitude toward everything from micro to macro is that everything is filled only with love and care so that this world would exist in harmony with Him.

The instruction to know the Creator means not just to believe, but to feel within and around you that everything comes from the Creator and calls us to absolute love.

The fourth commandment says that the Creator is almighty. In other words, there is no other force except the Creator that governs the world and influences it in any way.

The fifth commandment calls everyone to engage in the Torah, i.e., to study the internal laws of the universe, accept them, and act according to them.
[322474]
From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 12/10/23

Related Material:
In the World of the Creator’s Love
It Is Commanded to Be in Joy in Spirituality
Moving Away from the Automatic Fulfillment of the Commandments

The Commandment of Correction

624.02The tenth commandment—putting on Tefillin [phylacteries] and to complete himself in the ‎upper form means in spiritual terms the correction of basic egoistic desires, which we must limit and turn into good desires.

Placing of Tefillin on the arm and on the head symbolizes correction of thoughts and correction of actions.
[322658]
From KabTV’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 12/10/23

Related Material:
Spiritual Signs
Mitzvot (Commandments) – The Correction Of Desires
The Creator And The Creation: A Hand And A Glove

In the World of the Creator’s Love

527.02The second commandment of the Torah is the commandment of love for the Creator. That means that we feel, attain, and define the Creator as an absolutely good force that holds the whole world and all of humanity. Therefore, if we want to be closer to the Creator, we must behave like Him with good to everyone.

It is said that even if the Creator takes away a person’s soul, one still needs to love Him. In other words, even if you see something in nature that seems wrong according to your understanding, you must understand that this is how you perceive reality.

All the laws of the Creator are good and are dictated by the absolute love of the Creator for the created beings.
[322424]
From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 12/10/23

Related Material:
“And You Shall Love The Lord”
To Feel Love, You, Yourself Have To Love
Evil Is Our Inability To Feel Love

Complete Fulfillment of a Commandment

509Question: What does it mean to fulfill a commandment completely?

Answer: It means annulling yourself and elevating the Creator above everything else in the world.

Question: If we fulfill a commandment without the greatness of the Creator, is this fulfillment incomplete?

Answer: This is not considered fulfillment at all because any commandment is in elevating the Creator and following Him yourself.

The higher we raise the Creator in our eyes, the higher the level from which His attitude descends toward us.
[322404]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “In the Place Where You Find His Greatness“

Related Material:
Compliance With The 613 Mitzvot (Commandments)
The Mechanism of the “Torah and Commandments”
What Does The Torah Tells Us?

It Is Commanded to Be in Joy in Spirituality

572.02Question: It is said that a person should pray to the Creator to help him be above reason, and his work should be in joy as if he had been awarded spiritual reason.

But when I am in joy there is some fear that I will start to receive for myself.

How can I overcome the fear of being in joy?

Answer: Why are you afraid to be in joy? On the contrary, it is a huge commandment. It is necessary to be in this state all the time and not fall from the level of joy that the Creator created you. It brings you closer to Him, and gives you a feeling of coming closer and connecting with Him.
[322243]
From the 1st psrt of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/23, Writings of Rabash “These Candles Are Sacred”

Related Material:
Work In Joy
Happiness Multiplied
Joy—The Result Of Good Deeds

The Commandments—The Code of Laws of the Universe

253Question: What is the Torah from the point of view of Kabbalah, and what actions are called commandments?

Answer: In the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains the structure of the whole universe, the qualities of the Creator and His attitude toward us, there is a section called the Commandments of the Torah.

The commandments are not the mechanical implementation of the laws of the Torah at the level of our world, but the laws of the upper world that we must implement if we want to correspond to them.

The point is, in our world, if we want to feel the positive reaction of nature to our actions, we must know how to behave with it, not to lead it to destruction, burnout, flooding, and other cataclysms. That is, do what is beneficial for nature, and then it will be good for us.

The same applies to the laws explained in the Torah called commandments. These are laws of the higher level. They are about our inner attitude to the spiritual nature: how I should treat people, inanimate, animate, vegetative nature, myself, my loved ones, and so on.

That is, the Torah in principle, explains to us the entire code of laws and rules of behavior in the world around us so that we can influence it properly, and then accordingly, the world too will be tuned to us correctly.
[321472]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

Related Material:
The Mechanism of the “Torah and Commandments”
What Does The Torah Tells Us?
What Does The Torah Speak About?

Understand the Inner Meaning of the Commandment

625.02Question: The Book of Zohar says: “A commandment without intention is like a body without a soul.” What does this mean?

Answer: This means that the most important thing is the intention: what do you want to get out of fulfilling the commandment?

Either you want to get closer to the Creator, make things pleasant for Him, or somehow put the forces of the world in order, into which you are incorporated. That is very important! Therefore, the most important thing is understanding the commandment’s inner meaning.
[321812]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

Related Material:
The Main Commandment
The Commandments Are Heard Only When We Reach Connection
Write The Torah On Your Heart

Commandments Dictated By the Upper Force

549.01Question: The great Kabbalist of the 20th century, Baal HaSulam, writes that there is only one commandment: “Love thy neighbor.” On the other hand, in the article “The Peace” he says that there are two more commandments: reception and bestowal. Then he writes that there are 10 commandments in the Torah, seven commandments of Noah, 620 commandments that the sages talk about. So, how many of these commandments are there in total? How can one understand this gradation?

Answer: I would say that 620 commandments are indeed a lot. The main one among them is “Love thy neighbor as yourself.” As Rabbi Akiva said: “This is the whole Torah.”

And the rest of the commandments are just its explanation. Strangely enough, the commandment “Love thy neighbor as yourself” includes absolutely all the laws of the world, light, nature, and the Creator.

Question: Strange indeed. Let’s say, if we take the commandments of Kashrut, how are they related to love for one’s neighbor, or how can they help us attain this love?

Answer: There is nothing strange about it; it can be understood. Ultimately, we will come to a state where it becomes clear to us that all the commandments were as if dictated to a person by the upper force, and if he fulfills them, he will begin to approach the Creator.
[321563]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

Related Material:
Love As The Law Of Nature
On The Way Towards Love
“‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. Do we really practice this in the world today?”(Quora)

Why Are We Given Commandments?

712.03Comment: There are commandments relating to the Creator, to one’s neighbor, or a person himself that we can understand. And there are commandments that relate, for example, to the Temple, the land of Israel, and to inanimate nature.

My Response: That is right. We must have a certain intention, purpose, and a specific attitude toward nature, home, animals, in general—to everything. Through our relationships, we can get closer or move away from each other. Therefore, it is very important to keep the commandments.

Question: The sources say the purpose of all commandments is to unite creation. How, for example, is the commandment about cultivating land related to the uniting creation?

Answer: You need to know how to treat the land, nature, water, air, everything to keep nature as healthy, whole, and holistic as possible. That is in the commandments.
[321674]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

Related Material:
The Commandments Are Heard Only When We Reach Connection
The Ten Commandments Of Connection
The Main Commandment

Incomprehensible Commandments

549.02Question: Some commandments can be explained logically, for example, washing hands helps maintain a person’s health. Observing the Sabbath commandment is also understandable, people need to rest.

But some commandments are completely inexplicable; they are just some actions to perform. How can this be understood?

Answer: The fact is we do not understand everything in nature.

In principle, commandments are a little irrational from our perspective; they lack common sense.

However, if we had a deeper understanding of nature, we would grasp where these instructions, which we call commandments, originate.

The point is that everything in them stems from an understanding of the higher nature. And if we delve deeper into the environment around us, we will see that all commandments are as rational and necessary as those we can comprehend and analyze.
[321721]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/21/23

Related Material:
The Commandments Are Heard Only When We Reach Connection
The Ten Commandments Of Connection
The Main Commandment