Lesson Preparation

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 3

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Repentance (Tshuvah) means that I am able to feel the Creator to some extent and link my existence to Him. He creates all my states and leads me from one state to another, me and all of humanity. I want to be constantly connected to Him as to my Creator who creates every moment of life. The Creator is the one who creates every moment of reality.

The return happens after my separation from the upper force that created the whole reality: me and the whole world. I was unaware of the upper governance. If we feel nothing besides our animal life, we exist as if in a dream, in an illusory world. Suddenly, a force emerges that pulls me out of this dream to another understanding, awareness, and feeling of truth, which is the root cause called the Creator who controls everything: me and the world. Such awareness is called repentance (Tshuvah).

Understandably, this realization is also caused by the Creator. He plays with me, puts me through different states, forces me to exit the sensation of the Creator and His true world, and return to it again. Due to such entries and exits, stop-and-go cycles, He develops my sensitivity to Him.

Some returns happen out of fear of losing the sensation of the Creator and forgetting that He rules the whole world, that everything has a reason and that everything has an answer. I do not depend on my neighbor, my wife, the police, or my boss, but only on the Creator, who controls the entire reality.

It is such a wonderful feeling to connect everything happening to the Creator that I don’t want to leave it. Perhaps it gives me comfort in corporeal life. If all the problems come from the Creator, then there is no need to worry, for His goal and intentions are good and He knows what He is doing. This makes life much easier for a person and is called “return in awe.”¹

If I understand that I am going against the Creator’s wishes and still perform this act, by doing so I conceal the Creator from myself. After all, I seem to want the Creator to disappear from my horizon and not to interfere with me. The Creator says: “This should not be done! I do not want you to do this,” and I push Him aside, not wanting to notice, and do as I please. Therefore, an intentional crime negates the Creator.

Before, I knew that the Creator was hidden from me, but I understood that He exists. When I commit a crime intentionally against His wishes, taking advantage of the fact that I do not fully sense Him, I force the Creator to disappear. I then become “free,” not believing in reward or punishment, considering myself free to do anything.²

If a person wants to fulfill the Creator’s desire, it is considered a commandment, while the opposite, going against His will, is a crime. The Creator wishes for us to correct the broken common soul, that is, to restore the unity between us which would extend to all the lower levels of creation. This is our main commandment.³

We have to understand that we exist in a system of forces. If I am influenced by the force that sustains me at a certain level, then I behave like a righteous person. As soon as this force disappears, I inevitably become a sinner, according to the balance of powers. Therefore, I need the Creator to become the guarantor for me not to fall into sin anymore. I am in constant dependence on the balance of internal and external forces that hold me in a certain condition: the environment, the Creator, and me.⁴

I undergo a series of states, through concealment and revelation, making efforts, and it seems to me that everything depends on me. However, when the Creator is revealed, I understand that He played with me so that I would exert the necessary measure of effort to get a greater understanding and sensation of Him. The Creator requires no payment from me nor does He blame me for anything. Yet, without applying effort, it is impossible to acquire the right impression of what the light and the darkness are, the pros and cons of the Creator, giving and receiving, or my own strength and the force of the Creator.

Due to the Creator playing with me, guiding me through concealments and revelations, I understand my desires. This is how we teach our children. We do not want them to cry and would gladly do everything for them, but without efforts, children would never grow up or become wiser. They would not gain patience or understanding. Therefore, you cannot avoid making a child perform exercises, apply efforts, work, and sweat so that he will grow up and rise to our level.

It is the same here. When we return to the Creator and reveal His governance, we understand that life was a game to make us grow. We complain that our whole life is continual suffering. But a small child also cries and screams when something is not working out, it is a major tragedy for him.

Life ends, leaving nothing behind of our joys and sorrows. The only thing that lasts forever is our effort on the spiritual path, like a child who gains knowledge. Such efforts are not lost because we use them to make corrections in the system of the common soul, Adam HaRishon.

In fact, all our efforts in corporeal life also do not disappear. Their impact is on such a low level, on such a meager scale, that it is a pity to waste energy on them. It is said that even a tiny louse, making efforts to survive and eat, also contributes to the common sum. However, it is impossible to compare the significance of corporeal efforts and the desire to conform to the will of the Creator, to establish mutual relations with Him. This is a completely different level.

I dedicate my life to resembling the Creator, looking to Him, and asking if I am doing the right thing by wanting my actions to precisely resemble His wishes. If I truly want it, then the Creator begins to reveal Himself so that I can mimic Him and act according to His thoughts, like a child who learns from his father. This is called becoming a servant of the Creator, learning from Him.⁵
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/19, Writing of Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 57
1 Minute 6:00
2 Minute 19:36
3 Minute 22:30
4 Minute 23:38
5 Minute 26:17

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Lesson Preparation

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 1

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To subjugate myself does not mean to submit like a donkey so that everyone can ride me. I subjugate in relation to the Creator and enjoy this state, which comes precisely after the strongest eruption of egoism.¹

We come to connection from a desperate state, from feeling lost and powerless, when we are crying and demanding help from the Creator. Otherwise, we would be unable to feel connection in the right place—in the heart, in the desire.

Connection is a feeling in my heart, of life that happens in the heart of a friend. My heart only feels, but it lives the life of a friend. For this, I must convince myself that the Creator is in the heart of a friend and if I want to reach the Creator, I must come closer to a friend.

Connection is a feeling of mutual dependency, when I feel that I fully depend on others: on their success, achievements, health, on everything. That is why we are attached to our family, because we understand that we depend on it. If family members are healthy, it is good for me; if they are successful, this also benefits me. This is how our desire to receive works in its most primitive form: pleasure/suffering, detachment/connection, pain/absence of pain.²

The full measure (Seah), after which a qualitative change happens in us, is made up from the quantity and quality of changes that includes the number of actions, the number of years, and the total of invested efforts. Those are quantitative indicators, but from quantity comes a new quality.

All our efforts are aimed only at softening our hearts. The full measure means that the shell of our heart is broken. The heart is covered in a shell, and it must be broken “to get to the answer.” Even one crack is enough in order to begin feeling some contact with spirituality and our shattering. Prior to this a person does not even feel the shattering, his heart is just deaf.

It is impossible to break the shell with one blow. This is similar to the way a chick hatches from an egg: it knocks and knocks at the shell until it cracks and allows it to get out. However, in our case it is even more difficult because the shell not only does not break with one blow, it is also impossible to break it alone, but only together with the friends! This will take a lot of strikes that are made together.

Then whose shell am I breaking: mine or a friend’s? The shell is neither mine nor his, but it is between us. As it is written, “They helped every one his friend.” The friend knocks from his side and I knock from mine, and only together will we be able to break this shell between us.³
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 74
1 Minute 0:59:45
2 Minute 0:60:00
3 Minute 1:43:40

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If I want to connect with a friend, I find I need the help of the Creator. The more I ask the Creator for help, the more I feel my dependence on Him. To the extent the Creator strengthens my connection with the friends, I establish a connection with the Creator, I begin to understand and feel Him. All this is revealed within my connection with my friends, within human relations, not in some abstract feeling of the Creator.

I feel the Creator, I appeal to Him because I need Him as a mediator standing between me and my friend. When I reveal different types of connection with a friend, I attribute it all to the Creator. Between me and my friend there is a difference of potentials, which the upper Light, the Creator, fills, like a current flowing between two poles.

In this form, I attain the Creator, that is, not Him, Himself but His actions, as it is written: “By Your actions, we know You. ” The Creator builds and ruins the relationships between us, breaks them, leading us through all possible states, through darkness and evil, making me cry and curse Him. But then comes insight, sensation, the Light comes, and I understand that one cannot exist without the other because “…the advantage of the Light from within the darkness” is revealed. As a result of all these states, I begin to attain the Creator. Although He is hiding, I begin to distinguish His presence judging by the difference between the states.¹

The 613^th commandment is love for the Creator. We can fulfill 612 commandments, but not the 613^th. The last commandment comes from above.

The 612 commandments are the correction of the connection between the parts of the broken soul. 612 Lights glue and fix the shattered fragments of the vessel. The 613^th commandment is an addition to the full, complete Kli—the Light of Yechida—coming from the Creator himself. We ourselves are not capable of any action regarding this commandment.

The spiritual commandment is love for one’s neighbor as for oneself. If we perform it, then we come to the love for the Creator. I do not neglect the physical commandments, but the main thing is to know what we want to achieve with this. For example, washing hands means liberation from receiving after which our whole life should be only in bestowal.²

The Creator is between all the friends. Moreover, it is the feeling of a gap, of a distance between us—this is the feeling of the Creator. I look at a friend and see how different He is from me, what a discrepancy there is between us, what omissions—this is the Creator between us. And if we work correctly, we see that the Creator begins to unite us, as it is written: “A man and a woman, if they are rewarded, the Shechina [Divinity] is between them.”³

In Adam HaRishon before the shattering, there was no mutual inclusion of desires into each other. But after the shattering of the common soul, its parts were mixed and penetrated into each other in an infinite number of variations, which allows a person to deeply understand and feel the Creator.

Prior to this, the sensation of the Creator by Adam was “circumcised,” as if in a small child. He did not have the tools to penetrate deep into the Creator. And due to the shattering and interpenetration of all parts that require working on their correction and asking for the help from the Creator, a man becomes acquainted with the inner world of the Creator and penetrates deep inside Him.

Before the shattering, Adam received the Light only into the body of the Partzuf at the level of Nefesh – Ruach. But thanks to the shattering, we can raise the reflected Light from the screen to the head (Peh de Rosh) upward, as if we are entering inside the Creator. And then the Light spreads from top to bottom to this height of the reflected Light, to the height of attaining the Creator, and we attain Him in ourselves. This determines the measure of our mutual inclusion, merging with the Creator: to the extent we attain the Creator in the head, to this extent we unite with Him through the body of the spiritual Partzuf.

And all this begins and ends in connection between the friends. This is our only goal, otherwise it will be not the goal of creation but some kind of surrogate. This determines our attitude to creation and shows whether we have the right to be called the last generation.⁴

The solution is only in connecting in the tens. Meanwhile, we cannot overcome the separation between us, our mutual rejection. We want to receive all the answers from our connection in the ten. Whatever happens in the world, I look into the ten and from there I get every answer. I arrange myself in this way and then I suddenly feel that there really is a system that can respond to any of my questions.

Everything that happens in the world and with me personally is a consequence of what is happening in the ten. This is an internal cause, which then causes all the consequences in my family, at work, and all over the world. It is only necessary to look inside the ten: to what extent are we united or do we lack unity—what happens in every corner of the world depends on, like a branch coming from the root.⁵
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/19, Writing of Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 64
1 Minute 47:55
2 minute 54:07
3 Minute 59:40
4 Minute 1:11:00
5 Minute 1:45:40

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New Life 170 – What Is A Funeral In Spirituality?
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

When a man dies, a group of people accompany him on his last journey. Why is it important to accompany the dead, what is death in spirituality, and what does it mean to be buried in the dust?

If a person invested in the wholeness of society, he has an eternal part in it. Only the body dies.
From KabTV’s “New Life 170 – What Is A Funeral In Spirituality?” 4/21/13

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Audio: Play Now | Download

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Lesson Preparation

Lesson on the Topic “Ibur (Conception)”

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol.3, Part 10, Item 14

Lesson on the Topic “Building The Future Society”

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Each progresses at his or her own speed and own style and passes through one’s own specific stages. There is no need to worry about it, one does not know why one’s soul is being corrected in such a way, rising from the opposite state. The higher the soul was before the shattering, the worse it is in the broken state and the higher it rises after the correction, returning to its place.

This is what a person is given. The Creator created him or her with a soul of a certain height, and He organizes appropriate conditions for the person: thoughts, feelings, and an environment. All conditions originate from the shattering of the soul. The Creator does not consider anyone personally, but looks at the general broken soul that needs to be corrected. The shattering should go down to the lowest limit in order to start the ascent.

Each one begins to climb up, like in the parable of the king who called upon his subjects to transfer his treasury to another place and gave each of them one coin. Each carries its part, with his or her internal properties, health conditions, environment, and various obstacles along the way. He either gets sick, goes to prison, gets a promotion, or wins a million dollars in a lottery. Everyone overcomes their own obstacles, everything is arranged in advance.¹

There is no need to worry about the states we go through, as if I myself am responsible for them. I am only responsible for drawing the Light in this moment. All that was and will be, was and will be arranged by the Creator. All my steps are already known. It is only the quality of the steps that is unknown. I have to move from point A to point B, but I can ride in a horse-drawn carriage, in a train, walk, or barely crawl.

The speed depends on me, but I have to go through all the states that are already predefined. There are people who anticipate future events. So what? I do not ask them for predictions because I do not want to think about what will happen to me. All that matters to me is to what extent I adhere to the Creator at every given moment. Apart from this, nothing matters: I either rise or fall, or I am thrown in all directions; the Creator will take care of me.

All the obstacles have already been built into my path according to my soul, and I have to go through them; otherwise, I will not correct my soul and will not rise from them. Therefore, they should not be taken as misfortunes. These disturbances will be revealed, and above each disturbance I will have to adhere to the Creator. The only disturbance is separation from the Creator. In each state, I worry only about how to adhere to Him more strongly, attributing all the states and all the salvations to the Creator.

It is not the states themselves that are important to me, but my attitude toward them: to what extent I justify the Creator in them and am in solidarity with Him. The Creator scares me only so that I will cling to Him and justify Him even more.

Therefore, I do not fear the future, no matter what might happen. I fear only one thing: whether I will have the power to unite with the Creator and adhere to Him, like a baby who clings to his mother as if he wants to hide back in her belly.

I have to strengthen my faith, that is, to attribute everything happening in my world to the Creator. There is no other source. Everything happens only so that I can connect it with the Creator in my heart and mind. The evil inclination, Pharaoh, this is what wants to separate me from the Creator, from the sole cause of everything that happens.²

If it were obvious to me that everything comes from the Creator, then faith would be unnecessary because there would be clear knowledge. I have to be in touch with the Creator who pulls me by the strings like a puppet. This is how I become an angel, completely controlled, like a horse or any other animal. Therefore, on one hand, I want to remain separate from the Creator, and at the same time connect with Him by my own effort above the restriction, above the concealment, as if there is no concealment or restriction. This, I “as if” arouse by myself, and it is called the “reforming Light.”

If the king wants to check to what extent the slave is devoted to him, he pretends that his life is in danger. This is how it is possible to check whether the slave is ready to sacrifice his life in order to save the king. Therefore, first of all, we need to acquire the Light of faith in which adhesion with the Creator, the Light of Hochma, the Light of knowledge, is reached.

Knowledge cannot be above faith because it is not the faith that is known to us in our world. Faith above knowledge is the willingness to bestow everything without any reason. What is required of us is devotion, in exchange for what? In exchange for nothing. First, we reach the Light of faith, of devotion, and only then can we connect with the Creator.³

Adhesion with the Creator lasts one moment, but a person wants to adhere to this moment forever as if nothing else exists. He attributes all the past, present, and future to the Creator, seeing in Him the cause and effect of all his actions and achievements. And he himself remains only one point that states all this.

The Creator created the evil inclination, and He also created the good inclination. A person only decides that “There is no one else but the Creator.”⁴
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/26/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 17
1 Minute 0:8:40
2 Minute 0:14:11
3 Minute 0:24:30
4 Minute 0:32:20

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Lesson Preparation

Writings of Rabash, Vol. 2, Article 11 “What Does the Rule “What It Means that the Good Inclination and the Evil Inclination Guard a Person in the Work” (1991)

Lesson on the Topic “Ibur (Conception)”

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol.3, Part 10, Item 13

Lesson on the Topic “Building The Future Society”

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In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we study the actions of the upper Light upon our desire to receive, to the extent that we are ready for such changes. There is no coercion in spirituality.  A person must undergo all the changes with complete understanding, feeling, agreement, and subjugation, according to his own desire. The changes within him cannot take place automatically, without his participation, impression, and reaction. He must make efforts for this. Therefore, serious changes take place gradually and require a lot of preparation.

In essence, we learn how to help the upper Light implement the program of creation in us, how to fulfill the part of the process that depends on us. This is the entire purpose of the study and of our existence.¹

How is it possible for the egoistic desire to subjugate before the Creator and even enjoy annulling itself? The upper Light influences the desire to receive and changes it so that it begins to feel pleasure in subjugating before the Light. Any change in the desire is possible only because of the Light returning to the source.

The desire still wants to enjoy, but the type of the enjoyment changes. Before, it was enjoying reception, and now, it enjoys the fact that it does not receive. The previous pleasure was from a simple, natural fulfillment. Now this pleasure is from a different fulfillment, from the feeling of its surrender before the Creator.

The desire does not feel the Creator yet, but it already feels that it is subjugating before Him, before some kind of upper quality. The very action of subjugation gives it satisfaction, pleasure, calmness, and joy in its state. This is the influence of the upper Light on the desire. This happens even before the entrance into the spiritual world (before the Machsom), prior to acquiring the quality of bestowal.

Before this subjugation, a person usually experiences opposite states: rage, irritation, and anger. He is angry at being forced to surrender. The egoism is trying to escape from its cell by all means. This is an entire period at the end of which suddenly comes calmness and a person feels how wonderful it is to surrender himself.

A person experiences these two polar states in a very strong and emotional way: a great anger, and suddenly a complete calmness. He understands that subjugation is the best thing. This is the first correction that later accompanies a person throughout the entire path.

If a person is able to withstand a long period of frustration, irritation, pain from envy, and stinging ambitions that burn him from the inside and twist his soul, then at some instant, he suddenly comes out as if to fresh air.

It is like a missile that, with enormous efforts, overcomes the gravitational pull of the Earth and suddenly exits into outer space where everything is quiet, calm, and completely weightless.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/19, Writing of Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 74
1 Minute 0:20
2 Minute 23:20; 48:42

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