Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: As there is no perception of the Creator whatsoever, so it is impossible to attain the essence of any of His creatures, even the tangible objects that we feel with our hands.

We perceive the Creator according to the principle: “Come and see.” I don’t know what the essence of the Creator is, but I can “come and see.” In order to do that, I perform certain actions and by them I know the Creator, as it says, “From Your actions we shall know You.” All of reality, all His actions and the ways He is revealed, are a result of our self-correction and by that we perceive Him in our feelings. I perceive everything in my vessels because it is there that I discover different phenomena, including the Creator.

The “Creator” is the uppermost level that I can attain. It is bestowal and love that controls all of reality. I discover the law of to do good unto His created beings, the Good that does Good; I discover the phenomenon that resides in all the vessels, in all my parts, in all my soul and my desires; I see and perceive that He is the first, the original. It turns out that even before I began to understand, to perceive and to feel, there was something determining my thoughts, desires, and actions.

But how could it be that first I perceive this and then I acknowledge and admit that He existed first. Can it be? Yes. Within the action itself I perceive and discover that He was first. So everything only stems from the actions. In spirituality I can’t recognize and identify something that doesn’t move and doesn’t act.
[93804]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/12, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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If we stayed at the still, vegetative, or animate level of nature, we would follow all the laws of nature instinctively. But there are desires on a higher level within us and in them we don’t feel an obligation to act in a certain way. Things become unclear.

This is felt especially in our times. Throughout history men in society rose according to the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature; we developed gradually, in stages, not thinking about who or what we are, or where we’re headed. We were pushed forward by different urges and they all brought us to one simple clarification: How do we make the most of the current state? In other words a person keeps the laws of nature in a more or less organized way relative to animals because of conditions that are much more complicated. Accordingly, there are wise men who know how to take advantage of these conditions for the benefit of their ego and others have to “settle for less.”

But today we are losing the ability to advance this way. I would like to advance as I used to, to choose what’s best for me, but these attempts never succeed. It’s as if another element has appeared in my perspective which is concealed for the time being, as if someone who is invisible constantly puts sticks in my wheels. I want to fix the financial system, the economy, education, the family, but nothing works out. I’m very logical, I have scientific data, I have experts and advisors, but I can’t arrive at anything. So, what’s going on?

A new dominion is revealed here, a new law that has been unknown until now. We have to learn it, but it’s obscure and incomprehensible. What’s more, that which is gradually being revealed about this law is something that we don’t want to accept. We want to carry on like before and to succeed in everything that we do, and instead we have to agree to a condition that will turn our egoistic nature around. The condition is that we are connected and that if we make a decision it has to be in everyone’s favor. Here we stop, not knowing what to do, throwing our hands up in despair.

This is the state we are in today, like slaves in Egypt who “have a new king,” we feel that there is a new dominion. Previously the ego helped us advance in spite of obstacles; we conquered nature and space, we took care of ourselves in different ways and suddenly we despair of everything. It has been several years now that we don’t find the old goals attractive anymore. Why? Because our instincts tell us: There will be no compensation for our egoistic desire here.

It’s as if I am going to make a million dollars now, but there is man with a gun in my way. “You are going to make a million,” he tells me. “But you will leave yourself only a thousand and bring all the rest of the money to me.”

I have to make an effort worth a million dollars and I only receive a small part “to cover expenses.” But my desire doesn’t provide me with enough fuel for this work. So what can we do?

It’s either fear that will force me to do it or I need to see that the man with the gun is my best friend, my dearest friend, my closest friend. Then I’ll be ready to receive only a thousand dollars to cover my basic needs and I will gladly leave him all the rest. What’s more, I will thank him, since without his gun I would have continued to take for myself. Thus I reach something new and am happy to give you what I have made, since by that I get closer to you and to the new goals that are revealed to me.

How much does a person have to go through until he reaches the recognition of this state…?
[93715]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/12, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Question: I have kids from Ashkelon staying at my place since their town is being bombarded now, and I have four kids of my own. Yesterday we also heard a siren, and now all the kids are asking: “Why are missiles falling on us?”

Answer: This problem is a constant part of our existence which is above nature. We have to find out why there is a balance between the forces that constantly bring us to such a critical state. We have to examine this state more internally, and then we may find an answer. After all, how much longer can we live from one war to another?

For the first time this war gives us a new feeling since the whole country is on the frontline. It has never been that way, but today it is safer to live near the border than in the central part of the country. The whole nation including families and small children are under the same threat.

The Gulf War in 1991 was perceived as a temporary threat that came from a distant place and only certain parts of the country were under attack. But now we see that a missile can reach everywhere and those who fire them do not take anything into consideration. Their goal is to hurt the civilian population as much as possible and to annihilate us.

The question is why are the missiles falling on us? This is usually attributed to the fact that we cannot reach an amicable agreement. As if it were possible to achieve peace, even with some concessions. We have already conceded one thing and then another, and even a little more, and then signed a peace agreement, and as usual, it was immediately thrown in the trash. After that, we had to fight again, and then re-enter into an agreement, and yield. And so on without end.

But this cannot continue indefinitely because we can see that each time the war and the threat is taking on a new character and larger scale. After all, today it is not just a clash at some borders; the whole country is open to attack from any direction. While the threat comes from only in the small piece of land in Gaza, what would happen if we were attacked on all borders and from the sea? In this form, it is simply impossible to exist.

So what is the answer to the threat, when it is clear that we cannot achieve any peace agreement with our neighbors? If you look at this situation from a rational point of view, it is clear that in the future, far or near, we cannot continue to exist. And what can help us survive and lead a normal life in this region and in the world?

Today’s missile attacks are only part of our problem. We know that we are surrounded by hatred. It isn’t only the Arabs that hate us, but the whole world. Anti-Semitism is growing every year in every country, and we cannot close our eyes and ignore this problem.

We have to start a deeper examination of the problem since we are living under illogical conditions and exist in an illogical way. It’s not clear why we have existed for so many years surrounded by a sea of enemies. So far it was thanks to the wisdom of our people and our success in armament. But we have to understand the forces, thanks to which we exist, and the actions we should take with regards to other nations, to ourselves, and the global nature.

After all, we are constantly drawing a negative response from everyone upon ourselves. So let’s find out what we are doing wrong. Apparently we have brought so much good to humanity! There is a long list of famous people who belong to the Jewish people, who have discovered great things and did so much for the world and its advancement. So why, despite all that, is there still such a negative attitude towards us?
[93704]
From Talk 1 “The Solution is in Unity” 11/18/12

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In order to reach the goal of creation, we need to develop a desire towards that goal, a vessel, a place, in which we will be able to imagine, feel, and realize this goal. Everything depends on the type and the character of the desire we need to prepare.

For that reason, there is an initial stage when a person leads a beastly existence, caring only about the materialistic needs: food, sex, family, wealth, respect, and knowledge, meaning natural desires he was born with.

Then follows a stage when a person starts to search for the real meaning of life. He feels that regular earthly pleasures no longer fulfill him and finds it hard to believe that he was born to live a life like this. He doesn’t believe that the whole endless universe exists only for man to be born, live somehow, and die. There has to be a more exalted goal here!

This is a sign that the point in the heart started talking in a person, which compels him to search. Now from this point he needs to develop a whole vessel. This stage is called “a scanty and unhappy life.” It’s so even if a person has all of the material blessings, and it will not help him if he limits himself artificially, living on “bread with salt and water.”

Humanity went through several stages during its development: 2000 years times three, a total of 6000 years of world’s spiritual development. The first 2000 years there was chaos, followed by 2000 years of the Torah, and the last 2000 years is the era of the Messiah, the final correction.

That is why different laws were in effect during each time period. Each period corresponds to its level of desires: HBT, HGT, and NHY, and each level is further divided into the same levels of HBT, HGT, and NHY. This way we can divide the whole process of development into increasingly smaller stages, 6000 levels. And accordingly, we will be able to understand what changes occur in each part and during each segment of the path.

That is why during this period of time, the qualities of the souls coming into our world for the correction suit the concrete stage of development and belong to HBT, HGT, or NHY. In our time, the correction is only possible by the Light that Reforms. During previous generations, before the time of Talmudic sages, it was possible to correct oneself by restraining corporeal desires. After all, people at that time acted at the zero level of the desire to enjoy.

Of course, life is felt as scanty precisely in the spiritual sense. It can also be divided into three stages: A person finds himself in Kabbalah and at first doesn’t know what is happening, where he ended up. He studies Kabbalah theoretically, hoping to become wiser. He dreams only of his own success, augmenting his egoistic desires, until he understands that achievement doesn’t mean that he develops the receiving desires but rather that he acquires the bestowing ones.

The Surrounding Light illuminates upon him and gradually changes him. Like a penny that helps to a big capital so does he eventually begins to understand that this is not the goal and that he will not get anything this way. The egoistic form in which he tried to fill his egoistic desires becomes unacceptable for him. Now he is ready for everything just to transition to the bestowing desires.

This turnaround is a sign of the transition into a state of Lo Lishma. That is, a person discovers that he is not in Lishma (Lo Lishma), not in bestowal. Everything he did in his life, not in the everyday life, but namely in terms of his participation in the group, the studies, and different states he went through, all this was only for his own sake, consciously and unconsciously!

This is revealed to him, but to the extent that he wouldn’t get completely upset and could go on, that he would appeal with a prayer and wouldn’t run away completely. This is how a person advances until he discovers all of his desires, which depends on his hastening of time and perseverance. And most important is the support from the environment, mutual help that allows him to transition from Lo Lishma to Lishma.

This becomes possible because he has formed the vessels, the need for reaching the goal. This is expressed as raising the prayer, MAN, the desire aimed at the Light, at the Creator, the only one who can do anything, even change man’s nature. There is no other source.

When a person obtains the intention to bestow, this intention is realized in the very desires that previously were aimed only at the beastly fulfillment. Then he expected to fill them with the help of Kabbalah, egoistically, and afterwards, during the period of exile, attempted to reveal the quality of bestowal in them. But in the end, he receives an opportunity to bestow in the same desires, and sees it as liberation. This state is called Lishma, in which he becomes worthy of the true life, both in this world and in the world to come.
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Preparation to the Lesson

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 31, Lesson 11

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Emor,” Item 193, Lesson 15

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 8, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 9, Lesson 40

“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Conveyance from a wise Kabbalist to an understanding

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 25: Examine the first question, where they imagine that they can keep the whole Torah without the knowledge of the wisdom of Kabbalah. I say to them: Indeed, if you can keep the study of Torah and the observance of the commandments appropriately, Lishma, meaning only in order to bring contentment to the Maker, then indeed, you do not need to study Kabbalah. This is because then it is said about you, “One’s soul shall teach him.” But if you have been practicing the Torah in Lo Lishma for more than three years, as Rabbi Yosi says, and five years, as the Tana Kama says, then the Braita warns you that you will not see a good sign in this path you are treading! Why delude your souls with false hopes when you have such a near and sure tactic as the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We can correct our desire so that it will be totally aimed at bestowal only by uniting “as one man with one heart.” Then we will become a vessel, a desire that is ready for bestowal, and will eventually attain the goal: adhesion with the Creator.

The question is whether this is possible without studying the wisdom of Kabbalah? As we know, the answer is no, it is impossible because the Light that comes to correct a person is revealed only by the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is what brings the Light to our coarse and corrupt souls, and no other wisdom can help us here.

Besides, without the wisdom of Kabbalah we don’t even know what we study for. This is because Kabbalah includes introductions, explanations about why man was created, why the Torah is necessary, and how to use it correctly—only for the correction of human nature, for establishing closer relations between people so that they will become one whole and thus resemble the Light, so that the partition called “Pharaoh,” which separates us from one another and rules over us, will break.

By studying the wisdom of Kabbalah we will understand what our freewill is and where exactly we should apply all our efforts. But if a person just studies the Holy Scripture: the Bible, the Talmud, and so on, it isn’t enough to understand what is required of him.

At the end of the exile we have reached such lowly desires that even with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah it is difficult to assess and translate the terms and the definitions correctly, directing it to the person himself, to what is happening inside him. From the part called “The Perception of Reality,” we know that everything is actually inside us. And still, it is very hard for us to change our perspective, to look from the outside inwards, and to see that the whole world is in here, and that this is the place that needs correction.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/12, “Introduction to TES“

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Preparation to the Lesson

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,”  Item 27, Lesson 10

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Emor,” Item 177, Lesson 14

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 8, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 59, Lesson 39

“The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” “The Language of the Kabbalists Is a Language of Branches,” Lesson 7

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The Book of Zohar, just like the whole Torah, is only about the connection between us, as we unite, our connection reveals a new force. Each time we exert ourselves in order to connect to one another, as if trying to penetrate the center of our mutual connection with a force of several “kilograms.” Once we have created the sufficient force to connect, a special type of connection is revealed called “the world of Assiya.” When we create greater tension, the connection called “the world of Yetzira” is revealed. And so we ascend the spiritual levels. There is nothing more than that.

So while reading The Zohar we constantly try to find out how to connect more strongly to one another and to find out what our connection is. By the connection that you discover, you attain the level of mutual bestowal, and according to the level of the mutual bestowal, you begin to discover a special force, the Creator. This is called “from the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator.”

This is the only state we should think about, because there is nothing but this state. On every level there is only the concealment of this state, and the revelation. To the extent that you have to be connected, but are not connected yet, you feel sufferings: missiles, financial problems, in everything, without exception. All for one reason only: You are not connected strongly enough to others.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/12, The Zohar

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Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: …this wisdom (Kabbalah) is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world…

The wisdom of Kabbalah discloses to all of humanity in general and to each of us in particular a mandatory step-by-step pathway of advancement that conforms to absolute laws of nature, and leads us up from our current state to the end of correction. Kabbalah explains which tools help us follow this path and what forces act upon us while we inevitably advance in accordance with the will of nature, as well as when we self-develop due to our conscious, mindful participation and willful contribution to the process. We discover all parts of reality, from the current state to the end of correction, in the system called “the wisdom of Kabbalah.”

Hence, no other science is more important or more important to us, especially now that we have already completed development on the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels. Previously, we could not learn the wisdom of Kabbalah and use it; that’s why it was hidden from us. However, as soon as we become able to implement it and contribute its natural, timely development in order to accelerate it, in other words, as soon as we voluntarily hasten our growth, understand, and are aware of it, at this point, the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us and obliges us to implement it.

Here of course, we have to admit that we can’t continue developing the way we used to because we have reached the period of conscientious and mindful development in every step of the way. Without our awareness and active participation, we won’t advance from one state to another, nor will we climb to a higher level. At the speaking developmental stage, it’s absolutely impossible to advance “automatically” as on the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, when we were growing up under the impact of mandatory forces.

It’s similar to transitioning from the first grade to the second: If I’m not ready for it, I’ll be left for the second or third year of studies in the same grade. I’ll be punished for that, I won’t be allowed to play games, eat cakes, etc., until I complete all the lessons. I have to finish the first grade on my own.

It doesn’t work as at the previous developmental stages, which didn’t require any personal contribution. One must not advance as an animal, but as a human being, acquiring wisdom and the sense of consciously participating in the process.

If humanity continues to act in the old way, it will trigger new disasters so as to finally understand the necessity of conscious progress. We have to feel and understand the rules of our development and see the goal before us, and pursue it.

This is why the world won’t advance without the wisdom of Kabbalah, nor will it develop without picking it up from us and using it accordingly. Otherwise, it just will not happen. Woes will continue and people will suffer until they eventually hear and understand our message. This is the requirement of our era.

We, on the other hand, must show the most friendly, sympathetic, and gentle attitude while presenting a Kabbalistic methodology in various forms of offering our methodology to make it easier for everybody to absorb it. We must focus on the the user, as it is said: “Educate a child according to his own way.”

Nevertheless, until the people of Israel and the whole world closely connect with the wisdom of Kabbalah, disasters will continue in order to motivate everybody to search for it.
[92919]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/12, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Rav Kook, “The Lights,” “The War,” Item 9: The building of the world that is collapsing now before the terrible storms of the blood filled sword requires the building of the Israeli nation. The building of the nation and the revelation of its spirit is one thing, and it is connected to the building of the world that is falling apart and that is expecting a force that is united and supreme, and it is all in the soul of Knesset Israel. The spirit of the Creator is filled with it and it is impossible for man’s spirit, whose feeling of the soul is throbbing in him, to be calm in this great hour, without calling all the great forces of the nation: Wake up and rise to fulfill your role.

Things will not be corrected and will not improve unless the people of Israel understand their special role regarding themselves, regarding the whole world, and regarding the Creator and their obligation to everyone. This is the law of nature, which does not depend on our consent and doesn’t require our consent.

We will have to keep this law no matter what, either by the path of the Light or by the path of suffering. Humanity has to reach an equivalence of form with the Creator, and we are the part that is obligated to start the correction for everyone and to lead them by setting an example for the other nations. We have to acknowledge our mission and to accept it, either willingly by agreeing, understanding, and taking on the responsibility or by pressure of the general hatred that will be revealed towards us, the troubles, the problems, and the sufferings of the development press that is pressuring us.

We will have to acknowledge that the whole method of correction that leads us from the love of others to the love of the Creator is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. This wisdom tells about the connection among us, about the network of connections among us in which all of reality is included, the whole system of the worlds. By building and discovering the connection among us we discover the upper spiritual reality that is above the egoistic corporeal reality in which we are living today.

We will have to understand that the wisdom of Kabbalah is not about red strings, as the nonreligious believe, and not about creating statues that were already shattered in the days of Abraham, not mysticism, which religious people imagine, not blessings, and not prayers so that everything will change for my own good, except for me. So no one is thinking about self-correction, but rather they are asking for egoistic changes: not that I should change, but that everything around will change for my own good.

However, the wisdom of Kabbalah is God’s work by which, with help of the upper Light, with the help of the attribute of bestowal, we will want to change ourselves in faith above reason, in order to resemble the upper force and to reach an equivalence of form with it, to reach adhesion. This means to become Adam (human), which means “similar” to the Creator (Domeh), which has the same root in Hebrew.

This is what we should aim all the forces of the nation at, as Rav Kook says here: Only in the revelation of these forces will we reach the creation of the spirit of the nation and the assembly of all the souls of Israel, “Knesset Israel.” Then we will become a “nation of priests and a holy nation” for the whole world; we will become an example and guides for everyone.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/12

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