The Book of Zohar is a guide for us, and that is why it was hidden for two thousand years, waiting for all of humanity to reach a crisis that requires a mandatory correction.
We are already in this period, which is described by Rabbi Kook, AGRA, and Baal HaSulam. In fact, it began with the holy Ari five hundred years ago already.
The great Kabbalist Abraham Azulai wrote that “I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the wisdom of truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E.). From then on is called the “Last Generation,” and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M’hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit the Messiah King welwill come in the future—and not in any other merit—it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah].”
Correction happens due to our study of The Book of Zohar even without understanding what is written there. But we realize that we need to unite, and the spiritual world will be revealed because of our unity. Indeed, there was a fall, that is, from the property of bestowal, mutual love, into hatred and mutual rejection. Now, we have to make the return journey from the bottom up, correction, unity; that is what is required from all of humankind.
In our time, we are already beginning to feel that the crisis is not economic and not even environmental, not in education and family. These are just small individual crises that naturally affect everyone and even extend to all of humanity in various forms. But the real crisis is integral and happens in relationships between people.
In other words, we must be united in one interconnected system, but we are not able to achieve this. In our world there is no force that can unite us. We will find this in relation to ourselves and all of humanity.
Studying The Book of Zohar is the means of revealing this force of unity and correction that allow getting rid of all the problems and starting to feel a completely new reality, to get a new perception. So, many years ago we began to work on the adaptation of this book, to make it accessible to everyone.
It is clear that we could not touch the text of The Zohar, written from a height of GAR of the world of Atzilut, the end of correction. But we have translated into Hebrew all the insertions made in Aramaic, deciphered abbreviations so that it is easy to read. That is, we made this book closer to the general reader as much as possible. Now, it is necessary just to know Hebrew to read it.
The more we study this book, the more we realize that it contains everything! All the thousands of generations that changed since the time of the writing of The Book of Zohar to the present day were nourished from this book like from a source with living water, each time drawing new strengths for correction, knowledge, clarification of all the degrees, the entire upper world.
Much is written about The Book of Zohar, and all of Kabbalah is based on this book. It does not matter when and who wrote a Kabbalistic book, the author’s basis has always been The Book of Zohar. As Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein of Zidichov said, “The one who never saw the light of The Book of Zohar, never saw a light in his life.”
We must understand that this is not just a “book.” Kabbalists do not write words in a book but create between themselves an interconnected spiritual system and express it in writing. But the main work is spiritual, created from the connections that they built. All the parts were cut off from each by the breaking and scattered, and Kabbalists connect them together into a single integral system and describe their work, the types of connections, the whole process that occurred, and they got results.
First, they reveal the breaking, which is quite unpleasant because they are ready to burn each other; they feel hatred, darkness, fog, confusion, helplessness, hopelessness. Everyone sometimes experiences this feeling; it not possible without this, as it is said, “And there was evening, and there was morning, one day.” The advantage of the light is always revealed from the darkness. Then, they reveal a connection, that is, how it is possible to connect these things and join them together.
Kabbalists do these spiritual actions in practice and then describe them in books. A book is only the result, a written statement of the changes made in the spiritual system that was first revealed to them in a broken form, as well as the final result, that is, how they managed to connect it.
That is why, from generation to generation, as Kabbalists advance in their correction, Kabbalah also changes. A person from the next generation does not have to repeat the corrections done by the previous generations. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah reaches him in a different form, and he himself is completely different. This happens with each succeeding generation.
[127075]
From the World Zohar Convention 2/5/14, Lesson 1
Related Material:
The Most Important Book For Humanity
Anyone Can Become A “Man Of Light”
The Power Of The Book Of Zohar
Filed under: Conventions, Dissemination, Spiritual Work, Zohar - 1 Comment →
Question: How do I nullify myself toward the group?
