Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Does a Person Have Freedom of Choice?

We are all like machines, operating and creating through external forces, pleasure and pain, which push and pull us to their will, to where it sees fit. It turns out that no one here is free or stands on his own two feet.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

When we examine the acts of an individual, we find them compulsory. He is compelled to do them and has no freedom of choice. It’s because the upper governance has placed him between pleasure and pain. And there is no difference here between man and animal. And if that is the case, there is no free choice whatsoever, but rather the upper governance leads everyone wherever it wants, without asking their opinion in the matter.

Moreover, even the type of pleasure (what to eat and how to dress) is entirely out of one’s own free choice, but follows the will of society. Furthermore, in most cases, I do all of it against my will, which is to behave simply and dress comfortably. So you tell me, where is my freedom of will?
– Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”
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A person who begins studying Kabbalah and uses all of its tools eventually reaches a critical point when he must stop to develop by force, unconsciously. The first stage is intended to get him acquainted with his state, and this stage is necessary.

However, then he reaches a bifurcation point, a sudden change of a previously stable state, a breaking point when he must evaluate and reexamine his entire attitude toward development, life, his desire, the Light, and all the tools at his disposal. He completely changes his entire previous paradigm, his entire life philosophy, and his perception of the system where he exists.

Previously, this system controlled him because he fully operated within nature, and he only imagined himself to be above it from his lack of understanding. Now, he understands his full dependence on nature, its forces and laws, and he must take its governance into his own hands, as it is written: “My sons have defeated me.” Then, the person understands the special breaking point where he is.

Before, he only thought that he changed something in his life, but in reality, he obediently followed nature’s orders without any freedom of choice. Now, he is given freedom. He begins to see the world as something chaotic, without any order. He is given this sensation on purpose so that he, himself, would want to bring everything into order, connect everything, and control the world.

Here, he receives an opportunity to ask the Creator for strength, understanding, and advancement through faith above reason because he desires to be related to higher states. He wants to receive a new mind and new qualities from there and thus bring his world into balance. This is because the world is the reflection of the inner order in man, according to his inner perception of reality, and not the external perception.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/2011, Shamati #21

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In the News (Weizmann Institute of Science): (June 30, 2011) — “How easy is it to falsify memory? New research at the Weizmann Institute, Israel, shows that a bit of social pressure may be all that is needed. The study, which appears in the journal Science, reveals a unique pattern of brain activity when false memories are formed – one that hints at a surprising connection between our social selves and memory.”

“The experiment…took place in four stages. In the first, volunteers watched a documentary film in small groups. Three days later, they returned to the lab individually to take a memory test, answering questions about the film. They were also asked how confident they were in their answers.

They were later invited back to the lab to retake the test while being scanned in a functional MRI (fMRI) that revealed their brain activity. This time, the subjects were also given a ‘lifeline’: the supposed answers of the others in their film viewing group (along with social-media-style photos). Planted among these were false answers to questions the volunteers had previously answered correctly and confidently.”

Study results showed that under the influence of “public opinion,” the participants changed their initial answers and “conformed to the group on these ‘planted’ responses, giving incorrect answers nearly 70% of the time.”

“But were they simply conforming to perceived social demands, or had their memory of the film actually undergone a change?

To find out, the researchers invited the subjects back to the lab to take the memory test once again, telling them that the answers they had previously been fed were not those of their fellow film watchers, but random computer generations.

Some of the responses reverted back to the original, correct ones, but close to half remained erroneous, implying that the subjects were relying on false memories implanted in the earlier session.”

Comment: This experiment proves once again how much people depend on the surrounding society. According to Kabbalah, only by choosing the environment can we correct ourselves by becoming like it. Thus, through the choice of the environment, we can change ourselves to the point of similarity to the Creator. Please refer to Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom.”
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In essence, what we study in Kabbalah is the process that we have to go through. The science of Kabbalah explains to us what is the world, why and for what  it exists, and how we exist in it and realize the goal of creation.

Kabbalah points to the part we have to realize ourselves by setting it apart from everything else, which does not depend on us. We have to concentrate all of our forces precisely in the area that depends on us, making this victorious breakthrough and attaining success on the path to the goal.

Therein lies the entire Kabbalistic method: to show man this point, the tiny button among thousands of various buttons and switches that are not connected to anything. It’s like you are standing in front of a huge control panel to the world, but in reality it’s a dummy.

Only one button is connected to the system, and that button is lost among huge switches, bulbs, and color coded panels. Your whole life you press on buttons, click tumblers, tug at levers, shift sliders, spin wheels, and tune dials, but there are no results and you die as if you did not spin anything.

And moreover, all of your efforts accumulate into one tremendous negative charge, which you will still have to correct in the future. After all, egoism grows in every generation.

Therefore, at the end of the day, the science of Kabbalah explains to us where this secret button is found, which cannot be distinguished or recognized among thousands of others. This is precisely the button we must constantly press in order to advance.

Thanks to it, we begin to understand the system, to guess what is happening behind the panel, to surmise how the other buttons are confusing us and why only one of them works. In short, we reach the understanding of who we are, who is on the other side of the mechanism, and how this mechanism operates to connect the Creator with creation and creation with the Creator.

From everything there is in this world, we have to press one button called “love for the neighbor.” Only by means of this button will we be able to activate the system. All other buttons are a bluff, a lie. Together with billions of your contemporaries, you can press, spin, click, and nudge at these counterfeits, just like the past generations did just to pay their last debt in futile attempts.

Therefore, we have to understand how to find this special button and how to press it, how to use our free choice to act correctly, without letting anything go by us. We have to explain this to ourselves and to others so it will become clear to all of us: other actions, which are not connected to pressing this button that commutates (reverses the direction) love for the creatures with love for the Creator, are futile and useless. Moreover, they just increase the minus in our accounts and we will still have to return to them.

If your actions lead toward the goal, they get recorded in your account. Thanks to them, you advance forward, understanding and feeling more. However, if your actions are false, then you will have to become aware of this lie, of your mistake, and the harm you caused in order to correct it and then to keep moving further.

Thus, it turns out that we accumulate a highly undesirable addition, and therefore, we have to be cautious of actions that are inherent to the “correctors of the world.”
All the corrections that we have to carry out, meaning presses on the right button, are called “using the Torah and commandments.” I consist of 613 desires and by pressing on the button, I evoke a certain force that corrects me with its influence, turning my 613 desires into actions of bestowal.

If I restrict the desire, creating a screen and reflected Light above it by correctly interacting for the sake of bestowal, then this desire transforms from a transgression to a commandment. That is how I have to correct all of my desires on all five levels of Aviut of each of them. This is my work, which we have to perform by pressing the right button, meaning by establishing the right connection with the neighbor.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/11, Matan Torah

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Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”: It is said: “Harut (carved) on the stones”; do not pronounce it Harut (carved), but rather Herut (freedom), to show that they are liberated from the angel of death.

It is said: “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.” What is the Torah? It is the tool that contains the Light that Reforms.

Thus, we can attract the upper Light, and it brings us back to the Source so that from the evil inclination we turn ourselves into the good inclination. In this way, we change from the receiving desire called “the angel of death” to the giving desire called “the angel of life.” This is freedom from the angel of death.

Indeed, in our receiving desire, we can perceive nothing but this world, that is, an animate existence. We live, suffer, and eventually die. We cannot even imagine how low and defective this life is.

Until we reach bestowal, all our life here is an escape from suffering for the sake of  such meager pleasures that they have no place in the spiritual world. The smallest spiritual degree is myriad times greater, fuller, and more whole than all the pleasures of this world at all times. It is impossible to imagine.

To sustain such a great spiritual pleasure, it is necessary to prepare the vessel with the intention to bestow. Be that as it may, we will be able to rise above the angel of death only in the property of bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/2011, “The Freedom”

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Question: We say that excessive consumption is consumption at others’ expense. However, in order to see the evil contained in it, do we have to peek at the end of the movie?

Answer: No. The Creator does not have a shortage of minerals, vitamins, oil, gas, water, or anything else. He arranges troubles for you in this world so you would begin becoming aware of your loss. You are losing out.

The Creator does not show you that in reality you are letting the spiritual world pass by because then you would lose the freedom of choice. Instead He puts you under the blows of this world, from which you begin to realize the evil of your nature. You don’t reveal the Creator as being the cause of your troubles, but your own egoism.

Then, unable to correct it, you begin to regret having it. That is how you gradually come to the realization of evil. So what should you do with it? How can you climb out of the trap? Slowly but surely, you come closer to the solution.

Lack of resources, natural disasters, and people stealing from each other are all artificial things at the end of the day. This is “small change” intended to help us eventually reveal the fact that we are stealing the spiritual world from one another.

In reality, why should I share what I have with you and satisfy myself with the bare necessities? It’s only in order to learn from this and acquire the desires that aspire to spirituality. This is the goal, and everything is structured precisely this way from the beginning. Otherwise every person would have gotten his own planet.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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We are in an unknown reality, and to this day, while existing in this world we still do not understand exactly where we are, by what program we develop, and what goal we are moving toward. We do not understand anything in our life, and being sheltered by concealment, we consider ourselves smart and intelligent, as if we have knowledge, our own opinion, and freedom of will.

But when blows and suffering catch up to us, we understand that we are incapable of anything, that we don’t understand anything, and don’t have any chance to behave intelligently. Especially now, during a time of crisis, we see that we do not have any chances of relating to reality correctly, that we are facing problems and don’t even have the slightest ability to understand them. Even if we sometimes understand something one millimeter ahead of time, this does not enable us to change our state or to behave differently. Even if we decide that we really do need to change and start behaving differently, we don’t have the forces to change our behavior. So what’s the use of these decisions if we can’t change ourselves, influence one another, and the whole world?

Even when we see that we only inflict harm and misfortunes upon ourselves, that we are, in fact, leading ourselves to death, we are still unable to stop ourselves. What insignificance, what ignominy! We would simply finish our lives inside of our will to enjoy, which completely kills us if we did not receive the Torah, the means to correct the egoistic desire so that starting from the lowest possible point, a moment before death, we could start raising it to the top, to the level of the Creator, the higher, opposite quality—the will to bestow.

This means, called “Torah” is more important than anything. Without it there is no chance to achieve anything. We cannot develop through suffering. The influence of suffering only makes the will to enjoy develop. Blows make it search for all sorts of means to get rid of the troubles, and in the end it leads itself to death in order to avoid suffering. When the desire feels unbearable suffering due to its absolute opposition to the Light, it is willing to nullify itself completely, anything but to suffer.

If so, then the Torah is the only means leading us to life, correction, and existence. That is why there is no path of suffering, no path without Torah. The Torah has to become revealed to humanity so people would be able to use it. And they have to reveal it in the right form—as the Light that reforms. But if they don’t use the Torah correctly, meaning that they don’t realize it, that means they are following the path of suffering. If they use it correctly, then they follow the path of Torah, the path of Light. And if they are in the middle between one and the other, they advance by “the earthly path.”

Therefore, Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” is very important since it tells us about how we can receive the Torah. There is a giving of the Torah from above, and there is a reception of the Torah from below. All of the suffering comes to us because we do not use the Torah correctly, the Light that reforms, that brings us back to the source of goodness. Everything depends on our efforts to become good. Therefore, we do not have a lack for anything besides this means. So let’s find out how to receive the Torah and come to goodness!
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)

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Question: What does Kabbalah say about original sin, and what does this lapse from virtue mean?

Answer: Kabbalah asserts that the entire tale of Adam and Eve and their lapse from virtue is an allegory. It refers to the events that took place in the upper Sefirot before the creation of this reality: our universe and us inside it.

There is no “sin” in any of this. We call it so because we fell from the spiritual degree on which we were initially created to our current degree, this world, across the entire 125 degrees. This is called the “sin,” but it was not our doing. It happened in our root.

Later, when we developed over thousands of years at the level of this world, this also was not our doing. We have developed unconsciously this entire time, without knowing how and where we developed. Egoism pushed us forward.

However, now is the first time in history that we have come to our freedom of choice. Either we will develop consciously and correct ourselves because we see and feel a benefit and purpose in it, or very big problems will come which will force us to do so through enormous suffering. In other words, at this point, we stand at the crossroads. We can choose the path of suffering or the path of attaining the entire reality. Naturally, there is a huge difference between these two directions.

In any case, we must attain the complete correction of the world before the expiration of the 6,000 years which began with the first man, Adam. So, we have approximately the next 230 years. In other words, all of us must complete the correction and every person must acquire a soul. Then all these souls connect into one common soul and rise to the next degree.

If we follow the conscious path as we attain the universe and do the work ourselves, we will be able to complete this correction in several years, here and now! If not, we will still advance, but in the bad way, which will not last more than 230 years.

This is determined by the spiritual structure of the six upper Sefirot: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod. This is why we must attain correction over the course of 6,000 years.
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From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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Question: What do we celebrate during holiday Shavuot?

Answer: During Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of the Torah. It’s the day when all who are regarded as “Israel” (“Isra-El,” meaning “straight to the Creator”) were given the Torah, the method of self-realization through free will, rather than coming to the pre-programmed state of fulfillment under the impact of the Light pushing them to it.

On the contrary, they are able to see themselves, the entire reality, and even the Creator. Instead of Him doing it, they can decide that they truly desire to reach this goal, as if He wasn’t the one who supplied it.

We celebrate that we are able to understand, feel, and attain the upper force that works within us and can identify ourselves with its acts. Clearly, this upper force, the Creator, works either way. However, we attain how He works; we desire for Him to work on us, and even before He takes any action, we already strive toward Him. This is how love is measured.

Question: So, only with the giving of the Torah did we obtain free will, the freedom to accept the method and realize it willingly, whereas previously, we didn’t have any such free will, did we?

Answer: Correct. Hence, it is regarded as freedom from the angel of death, “being a free nation in our own country (our desire),” being free. What does such freedom entail? Now I am able to express my own view of the purpose of creation and our path.

Can you switch to another purpose? You can’t. Can you choose a different path? No. What is so unique about it then? I take my part in it; I make a decision; I choose this desire; I am present in this process. Otherwise, I’m not. The Creator gave us a chance to participate. This means I assert myself and my independence, which happens in the degree I identify myself with the Creator by becoming similar to Him. I am either a beast or a human.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/2011, Shamati #40

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The science of Kabbalah is special because it allows us to reveal how to control the two forces of nature: the force of reception and the force of bestowal. All of nature is comprised of these two forces. We see them everywhere: plus and minus, bestowal and reception. Their combination is what creates the essence of our lives.

On the still level they build atoms and molecules, dipoles, crystalline patterns, and so on. On the vegetative level the combination of a plus and minus produces life: a plus provides useful things whereas a minus excretes waste, which enables a body to live and develop.

On the animate level a plus and minus become even greater and their interconnection not only causes useful things to be absorbed and harmful things excreted, but also brings about movement, reproduction, and the individual life of a separate animal. This is already a special sum of two influences.

However, as paradoxical as it may be, on the human level only one of two forces was operating to this day. As a result, any pleasure that entered us immediately waned. That’s because our desire is egoistic and we did not have any chance to oppose it, to add a second force against it so we could excrete the harmful things from our desires and thoughts, from our hearts and minds, which belong to the human level.

Now a second force is being revealed in us—the point in the heart, which stands opposite to egoism. It enables us to form ourselves, to decide which thoughts and desires to bring inside and which to take outside. As a result, out of thousands of thoughts and desires, we can gather a new structure and build a special level inside of us called “human” (Adam) or ”soul.” It consists of ten Sefirot and is also called “Partzuf”—a spiritual structure.

This is what we form inside of us by virtue of the fact that two forces have finally begun developing in us. For hundreds of thousands of years, only one force operated in us on the human level. We were constantly activated by the desires and thoughts that awakened in us. That is how we lived.

But now, together with several million people from the whole world, we have received a true gift from above—the bestowing desire in addition to the receiving desire. And now we are forming a new creation inside of us. We must build the human in us ourselves. This is the entire purpose of man’s existence in this world. Otherwise, why does he exist here? What can he possibly do here?

Today we are advancing together with all humanity. We are the first, and others will come after us. From one day to the next new people are awakening and joining this process of building a person inside of each one of us. You and I are learning how to become human in the true sense of the word.
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From the 1st lesson at the Madrid Convention 4/6/11

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