The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 2, Chapter 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words” and Part 2, “Inner Reflection”:

35) What is Keter? (Part 2, Chapter 1, Ohr Pnimi, Item 200)
The impact of the Shoresh on a degree is called Keter (Crown). It comes from the word Machtir (Crowning), meaning surrounding. Because it is purer than the entire degree, it orbits around and above the entire Partzuf.

29) What is Hochma? (Part 2, Chapter 1, Ohr Pnimi, Item 200)
Knowing the definite result of every detail in the entire reality is called Hochma (lit. wisdom).

7) What is Bina? (Part 2, Chapter 1, Ohr Pnimi, Item 200)
Contemplating the conduct of cause and consequence in order to examine all the consequences that stem from something is called Bina.

24) What is Zeir Anpin? (Part 2, Histaklut Pnimit [Inner Reflection], Item 13)
Zeir Anpin means “Small Face.” Ohr Hochma is called Ohr Panim, as it says, “A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine.” That is why the general Partzuf of Keter in Olam Atzilut is called Arich Anpin, meaning “Great Face” for it consists primarily of Ohr Hochma.

Therefore, Behina Gimel (the third phase), whose essence is only the Ohr Hassadim (bestowal, mercy) that extends from Bina, but which also has He’arat Hochma (wisdom), though its essence is not of Hochma, is called “Diminished Face.” In other words, it is called Zeir Anpin, because the Light of its Panim is diminished and decreased compared to Behina Aleph (first phase).

39) What is Malchut? (Part 2, Chapter 1, Ohr Pnimi, Item 200)
The last Behina is called Malchut because the authority that extends from it is firm and in full control, as is the fear of the King.
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Essence of the Work in Torah and Mitzvot

These were the words of our sages (Beresheet Rabba 44) when they asked, “Why should the Creator mind whether one slaughters at the throat or at the back of the neck?” After all, the Mitzvot were given only to cleanse [from egoism and unite] people, and that cleansing means the cleansing of the turbid [egoistic] body [desire], which is the purpose that emerges from the observation of all the Torah and Mitzvot.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah),” Item 12

As our sages said, “The Torah and Mitzvot were given only so as to cleanse [unite] Israel [anyone who aspires to the Creator, the property of bestowal].” This is the cleansing of the body [from egoism] until one attains a second nature defined as “love for others,” meaning the one Mitzva: “Love thy friend as thyself,” which is the final aim of the Torah, after which one immediately attains Dvekut with Him.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah),” Item 15
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Essence of the Work in Torah and Mitzvot

One should crave being awarded the reward of a Mitzva (commandment/good deed) [performing a correction]. This means that through keeping the Mitzvot [corrections] he will be rewarded with [has to demand] adherence to the Metzaveh (Commander) [as it said: “The reward for performing a commandment is knowing the One who prescribed it].
– Baal HaSulam, Shamati (I Heard), Article no. 227, “The Reward for a Mitzva–a Mitzva”

When one can aim in order to bestow [to benefit another], this act is called “a Mitzva (good deed).”
– Rabash, The Rungs of the Ladder, “Concerning the Reward of the Receivers”

The work in Torah and Mitzvot [correcting egoism by the Upper Light] begins primarily after one has been awarded repentance from love [actions that stem from love of others]. Only then is it possible to engage in Torah and Mitzvot with love and fear, as we are commanded.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 133
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Commandments

The Mitzva is the Kli (vessel) [the essence of attainment] where the Light is clothed, meaning a Holy Name [manifestation of the Creator] that belongs specifically to that Mitzva [correction]. This is the meaning of “The Mitzva is a candle [the Reflected Light, Ohr Hozer] and the Torah is Light [the Direct Light, Ohr Yashar].”
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the book, From the Mouth of a Sage”

There are 613 Mitzvot, and in each Mitzva a light of a unique degree is deposited, which corresponds to a unique organ in the 613 organs and tendons of the soul [the Light] and the body [desire]. It follows that while performing the Mitzva [correcting our desire], one extends to the corresponding organ [the corrected desire] in his soul and body, the degree of light that belongs to that organ and tendon [that desire], and this [fulfillment by the Light, the revelation of the Creator] is an inner aspect of Mitzva.
– Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Importance of a Prayer of Many”

The 620 names, being the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah and the 7 Mitzvot de Rabanan, are in fact the five properties of the soul, meaning NRNHY. This is because the vessels of the NRNHY are from the above 620 Mitzvot, and the Lights of NRNHY are the very Light of the Torah in each and every Mitzvah. It follows, that the Torah and the soul are one.
– Baal HaSulam, Igrot (Letters), Letter 17, 63
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Kabbalists write about various states of the souls, which are states they have actually gone through. What matters is the extent to which we want to imagine these states and identify ourselves with them. They are all indications of how we give pleasure back to the Creator, and by virtue of this aspiration we reveal the same action from His end. That is how we enter unity with the Creator: He gives to a person and a person gives to Him.

These are the states that Kabbalists tell us about. The more we aspire to them, the more the force or Light from there influences us, bringing us closer to the states of unity and leading us into them.

This continues along the whole path. It doesn’t only happen now, when we are just getting ready for actually entering these states of interconnection, but also later on, when we will feel the spiritual actions better. One way or another, only our aspiration, only our raising MAN, a prayer for higher states of mutual bestowal and revelation of love, will help us ascend to newer levels each time.

This is the approach that the soul must follow until the end of correction. Only this kind of work will enable us to move forward.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, The Zohar

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

The Torah

Torah refers to the Light clothed in the Torah, meaning, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice.” This refers to the Light in it, since the Light in it reforms it.
– Baal HaSulam, Shamati (I Heard), Article no. 6, “Support in the Torah”

The Torah is the only spice to annul and subdue [stop using] the evil inclination [man’s egoism], as our sages said, “The Light in it reformed them.”
– Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Torah

The Torah is Simple Light that expands from His Essence, whose sublimity is endless.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, From the Mouth of a Sage”

The Torah being all the Names of the Creator, which belong to the creatures.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Acting Mind”

The word Torah comes from the word Horaa (instruction) and from the word Maraa (showing) and Reiah (vision), meaning complete awareness that leaves no filaments in its wake.
– Baal HaSulam, Letter no. 11
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Importance of The Book of Zohar

Because Israel [any person with the desire "Israel," "Isra" – straight, "El" – to the Creator] is destined to taste from the Tree of Life, which is the holy Book of Zohar [which corrects a person and reveals an eternal, perfect world to him], through it, they will be redeemed from [spiritual] exile [egoism and, hence, the Creator’s concealment].
– Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, The Book of Zohar, Portion Naso, Item 90

The redemption of Israel [from egoism and sensing in it only this world] and the rise of Israel [in the property of loving one’s neighbor] depend on the study of The Zohar and the internality of the Torah [the wisdom of Kabbalah].
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 69

It is known that the study of The Zohar is capable indeed [to correct and reveal the upper world]. Know that the study of The Zohar creates desire [to unite, bestow, love, meaning to correct the breaking of the souls], and the sacred words [sanctity is bestowal, the property of Bina] of The Zohar strongly evoke to the work of the Creator [correction].
– Rabbi Nachman of Braslev, Sichot HaRan [Talks of Rabbi Nachman], 108
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai and His Friends

Rashbi [the author of The Book of Zohar] and his generation [the last generation of the destruction of the Temple], the authors of The Zohar, were granted all 125 degrees [of correction, from this world to the world of Infinity] in completeness, even though it was prior to the days of the Messiah [the period of correction that is unfolding only in our days, after 2000 years].

It was said about him and his disciples: “A sage is preferable to a prophet” [because a prophet talks about what is instilled in nature, wihich is the path of suffering, while a sage offers the path of correction, short and easy, and hence is preferable to a prophet]. Hence, we often find in The Zohar that there will be none like the generation of Rashbi [in terms of the height of spiritual attainment] until the generation of the Messiah King [starting with our generation and on].

This is why his composition made such a great impact in the world [it is known in the entire world as a special book about the secrets of creation], since the secrets of the Torah [the Upper Governance and its purpose] in it [present there in the form that becomes revealed to the measure of one’s correction] occupy the level of all 125 degrees.
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Importance of Disseminating the Wisdom of Kabbalah

The great spiritual questions [about the Creator’s revelation to man in this world], which used to be solved [after the destruction of the Temple, during the 2000-year-long exile] only by the great and the excellent [special souls], must now be solved on different degrees for the entire nation, to lower exalted and sublime matters from the height of their tower to the depth of the common and ordinary [because we have completed the period of exile and entered the period of the humanity’s general, complete redemption from egoism and attainment of the upper world].

This requires tremendous and great richness of spirit along with constant, regular engagement, for only then the mind will expand and the language will be made clearer, to the point of expressing the deeper matters in a light and popular style, to revive thirsty souls.
– Rav Kook, Ikvei Ha’Tzon (By the Footsteps of the Flock), 54
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