Beginning with Adam, the earlier a Kabbalist lived, the closer he was connected with the root and the higher he stood. He was the source of Light for all who came after him. However, for those who desire to connect with the beam of Light expanding from Infinity, the main source is the latest or the nearest Kabbalist for it is he who “hooks up” and connects you with the Light, the Creator.

For us, such a Kabbalist was Baal HaSulam. He writes that he was given the privilege to hand the science of Kabbalah down to us. We are privileged that such a soul has been revealed to us who is passing the method of Kabbalah forth which allows us to uncover the Creator.

Baal HaSulam’s writings are the only works that can guide us to reaching our spiritual goal today. The books written by Baal HaSulam are the only texts that channel the Light that we need for our correction. And in order to prepare ourselves for them, we need the articles of Rabash.

The revelation of the Creator to the created beings, or our spiritual liberation, must be complete for everyone. This means that the teaching provided by these two masters is the teaching for the entire world.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Lesson for Commemoration of Baal HaSulam’s Passing Day

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

Following the Paths of Kabbalists

The order of things is such that even in the simplest things we cannot take a step or move a finger without help from the Kabbalists. So let us lower our heads before them, and then our eyes will be opened.
Book of Upbringing (Sefer HaKhinukh), Chapter “Truma”

And although the Kabbalists have passed to us their teaching of Kabbalah and continue to escort us like trusty guides, directing us to the path, in addition to all that they teach us about the path that they themselves have merited insight. And when we understand, we will acquire their wisdom and attain a true and real foundation upon which we will build an eternal and magnificent structure.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Wondrous Treasure of Remembering”

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We have a problem with perceiving The Book of Zohar because even though Rashbi wrote it for our times, he did so from the height of his soul and used an ancient style from 2000 years ago. Obviously, this book does not suit us in this form because we are at the end of the final exile, absolutely detached from the spiritual world. Therefore, we don’t know how to open up this book and how to use it to work on ourselves.

That is why Baal HaSulam created a "ladder" (Sulam) for us, so we can rise along it to the height of The Book of Zohar. This ladder is built so that there is commentary for every excerpt of The Book of Zohar. And it doesn’t matter how much of this book we understand! The truth is that we don’t understand the commentary or the book itself. Nevertheless, the commentary creates a connection between me and the original text of The Zohar.

The same happens on every degree. As we ascend along the degrees, we enter The Book of Zohar through the Sulam Commentary. Without this commentary it would be impossible to connect to The Book of Zohar.

The Sulam is not necessary in order to understand, but for us to attain inner unity. Even if I don’t understand the Sulam Commentary or The Book of Zohar, but I use them and connect to the source, The Zohar starts to influence me.

At first the Sulam is necessary in order to connect us to the Light that Reforms. Without this we would have no possibility of using this marvelous means.

As I read, I am influenced by the Light through the reading, the study, and the group, and the Light awakens new qualities in me. These new qualities enable me to really establish contact with The Book of Zohar and to start to feel what happens there, what is written there. Only then can we speak about understanding The Zohar.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Yahrtzeit Baal HaSulam

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

What is the Basis of the Science of Kabbalah?

The purpose of the science of Kabbalah is to attain the Upper Governance: Why the Creator created all these creatures, what He wants from them, and what will be the end of this whole cycle of life.
– Ramchal, “138 Revelations of Wisdom” (138 Pitchey Hochma), Item 30

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

Main Kabbalistic Sources: Baal HaSulam’s Commentaries on the works of the ARI and The Book of Zohar

This is what I have troubled to do in this interpretation, to explain the ten Sefirot as the Godly sage the Ari had instructed us, in their spiritual purity, devoid of any tangible [bodily, egoistic] terms. Thus, any beginner may approach the wisdom without falling into any materialization and mistake [that would distance him away from the revelation of the Creator]. With the understanding of these ten Sefirot [ten major concepts], one will also come to examine and know how to [correctly] comprehend the other issues in this wisdom.
– Baal HaSulam, Talmud Eser Sefirot, preceding Part One

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

Main Kabbalistic Sources: Baal HaSulam’s Commentaries on the works of the ARI and The Book of Zohar

We can see that all the interpretations of The Book of Zohar before ours did not clarify as much as ten percent of the difficult places in The Zohar. And in the little they did clarify, their words are almost as abstruse as the words of The Zohar itself.

But in our generation we have been rewarded with the Sulam [Ladder] commentary, which is a complete interpretation of all the words of The Zohar. Moreover, not only does it not leave an unclear matter in the whole of The Zohar without interpreting it, but the clarifications are based on a straightforward analysis, which any intermediate student can understand. And since The Zohar appeared in our generation, it is a clear proof that we are already in the days of the Messiah [complete and general correction of humanity], at the outset of that generation upon which it was said, “for the earth [“Eretz,” derived from the word “Ratzon” or desire] shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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In Letter #38 from the book Fruits of Wisdom, Baal HaSulam writes to his foremost student and son, Baruch Ashlag (Rabash) that a person cannot give up and stop in the middle of the spiritual path. Until a person reaches the goal, he needs the force of constantly overcoming greater and greater obstacles.

You cannot rely on past victories. On the contrary, everything you attained yesterday turns into a new desire today, which pushes you toward the goal even more. Therefore, the things you received yesterday cannot heal your wounds and let you rest.

Until a person attains the final correction, he must take care to ensure that his desire to reach the goal grows at every moment. Everything you attained immediately disappears. A person remains "naked" and that’s how he has to advance.

Obviously, Rabash performed a huge task while being next to his father, constantly being by his side and participating in all the lessons. He was very loyal to his father and always took his side in all the family quarrels that emerged among Baal HaSulam’s relatives. Some of them were opposed to the study of Kabbalah because it set them apart from the religious community.

Rabash was a successful student and he attained spiritual revelation. We cannot tell what height he rose to; he is too great for us to be able to measure that. We can only surmise about his greatness and his huge heart based on the explanations he gave to our states and the need to unite.

We don’t yet realize how deep his articles are and how vital his practical advice is. That is why we must study them all the time.

While working on the articles, the most important things are: 1) to make a concise summary of each article, and 2) to draw conclusions from the summary. Without doing this work, we are not really studying the articles.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, Baal HaSulam, Letter 38

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

Main Kabbalistic Sources: Baal HaSulam’s Commentaries on the works of the ARI and The Book of Zohar

Indeed, I know the reason: It is mainly because faith has generally diminished, specifically faith in the holy men, the wise men of all generations. And the books of Kabbalah and The Zohar are filled with corporeal parables. Therefore, people are afraid lest they will lose more than they will gain [from their study, and they will receive a greater breaking or egoism rather than correction], since [by reading what is written in the corporeal images] they could easily fail with materializing [rather than imagining the spiritual properties].

And this is what prompted me to compose a sufficient interpretation to the writings of the Ari [TES], and now to the Holy Zohar [Perush HaSulam]. And I have completely removed that concern [of possible incorrect and, therefore, harmful study of the Torah], for I have evidently explained and proven the spiritual meaning of everything, that it is abstract and devoid of any corporeal image, above space and above time, as the readers will see, to allow the whole of Israel to study The Zohar and be warmed by its sacred Light. [This means that, if one studies The Book of Zohar with the Sulam Commentary, he does not need to fear losing his way to the purpose of creation: adhesion with the Creator.]
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 58

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

Main Kabbalistic Sources: Baal HaSulam’s Commentaries on the works of the ARI and The Book of Zohar

You should know that after the ARI’s time to this day there was no one [no such Kabbalist] who understood [completely attained] the ARI’s methodology to the very depth of its [original spiritual] roots since it is easier to comprehend it through the intellect twice as big as the ARI’s rather than to follow his methodology [of attaining the Upper One]. [This is because] his methodology passed through so many hands from the first descriptor till the last compiler [who had described it] without having attained these things fully, till their Upper roots, and, consequently, each of them contributed to changing and confusing its content. [The level of a researcher’s spiritual attainment doesn’t depend on his intellect, but rather on the type of his soul].

Here I am – a reincarnation of ARI’s soul – not because of my good deeds, but according to the Upper will which is concealed from me, why I am chosen to represent this miraculous soul that no other man but I merited from the day of his death until today. However, I cannot talk much about this issue because it is against my rules to talk about miracles.
– Baal HaSulam, Igrot (Letters), Letter 39

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

Main Kabbalistic Sources: The Works of the ARI

Rav Isaac Luria troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah [methodology of correction] was given to Israel [those who are willing to correct themselves spiritually].

There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor. The doors of attainment were locked and bolted, and he came and opened them for us. …

You find a thirty-eight-year-old who subdued with his wisdom all his predecessors through the Genius and through all times. All the elders of the land, the gallant shepherds, friends, and disciples of the Godly sage, the RAMAK, stood before him as disciples before the Rav.

All the sages of the generations following them to this day, none missing, have abandoned all the books and compositions that precede him, the Kabbalah of the RAMAK, the Kabbalah of The First and the Kabbalah of The Genius [those who lived and worked prior to ARI], blessed be the memory of them all. They have attached their spiritual life entirely and solely to his Holy Wisdom.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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