Question: How do our efforts to unify during our reading of The Book of Zohar impact the world? What changes does it instill?

Answer: There is no world per se. Your efforts build this reality for you. Right now, it seems to you as you see it. To the degree of your exerted efforts, you create another reality, a different world. What you make is what you get.

Spirituality has no image. It doesn’t have any specific picture unless a person forms it within himself, within his desires that he collected and linked in one.

We should reflect on this as much as possible in order to get accustomed to this view of reality. This isn’t about spiritual attainment. I am saying that every person in our world, who hasn’t attained any spirituality yet, can still choose to view reality as suggested and in so doing begin experiencing certain sensory impressions.

Question: But how do our efforts to unify affect the desires of the most coarse level within us, where there is no yearning to unite? It seems that at the deepest level, I don’t have the slightest aspiration or desire to unite with the others….

Answer: I am made of desires of all kinds and forms, of all levels of Aviut (thickness, coarseness), including desires that don’t change until the final correction. These desires unfold in me in all possible combinations which I am not the one to set up.

I must, to the best of my ability, mold them into a spiritual form, meaning to bring them to unification with the desires that seem alien to me and which I reject, despise, and wish to have nothing to do with: “Who are they, anyway?! Why do I need to unite with them?”

I must overcome this resentment and try to unite with them if they have a desire for spirituality similar to mine. For now, it’s only with them. And if we try to rise above our mutual resentment and unify, we build the “place” for revelation of a more inner degree.

Question: Sometimes, I feel as if I am standing against the wall, trying to push through it with all that I”ve got, but it won’t move. What do I do in this state?

Answer: Ask the friends for help….
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/2011, The Zohar

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Question: What can one do when one feels very weak and his family and environment are unable to support him since they do not feel a great importance of the goal?

Answer: Baal HaSulam explains why we experience so many difficulties on the spiritual path in Shamati (I Heard), Article #4: “One comes to a state as if the entire world stands still, and he alone is now seemingly absent from this world, and leaves his family and friends for the sake of annulling before the Creator.”

It is like a person becomes suspended in the air. But the Creator arranges all of this for him on purpose so he would not look for solid ground to stand on, but on the contrary, would search for a way to become similar to the upper one in his thoughts and ideas and would aspire towards the upper one in order to adopt His spirit. In other words, you need to aspire to reveal the Creator as the quality of love and bestowal in the desires of another, and then you will rise above your own desire through “faith above reason.”

When you feel suspended in the air without the support of your usual corporeal environment, it is your invitation to cleave to the upper one in bestowal. Instead of looking for support in rational, reasonable proofs, you need to look for support in faith above reason.

Baal HaSulam says: “There is but a simple reason for this called “lack of faith.” It means that one does not see before whom one nullifies, meaning he does not feel the existence of the Creator. This causes him heaviness.” But on the other hand, this is our invitation to reveal the quality of bestowal, the Creator.

From the highlighted parts we see again that faith is a clear revelation of the Creator. To see means to believe, and the one who sees Him is said to believe in Him. This shows us how distorted the meaning of these words has become and how incorrectly we read the sacred texts. They are  “sacred” because they talk about attainment and revelation of the Creator, and He is holy, He is the property of love and bestowal. Books that describe how to reach this property are called sacred books.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Everything becomes revealed in the connection between myself and others. Once we were in the world of Infinity where I or other souls did not exist: Everyone was one whole.

Then I developed the sensation that there exist me and others, the outside world: the still, vegetative, animate nature, and people, a multitude of different objects that connect, interact, and create the vanity of this world.

But why am I given this sensation instead of the peace and perfection of Malchut of Infinity? It is so I would start figuring out this mess that I am feeling and connect everything into one, as it is written: “He and His name are one,” like in Malchut of Infinity. This connection can only be realized through the quality of bestowal and love, which connects all of these different things back into one. After all, love unites!

The force of bestowal cancels our evil egoistic inclination which becomes revealed between the scattered and distanced parts, separated by the force of evil, the force of destruction. But I need to overcome this force of hatred and separation and its limitations specifically by opposing it and to build a connection between us. And then I will build a system that connects all these parts.

At first there was no system. They were simply united into one solid whole. And suddenly we get many parts, connected through a variety of different ties. It is like an electronic circuit filled with resistors, induction coils, capacitors, and transistors, which create different connection conditions.

I need to put together this kind of system on my own! Right now my ego is painting all these elements that interfere with connection: resistors, induction coils, and so on. They do not short circuit my circuit, but introduce a sort of resistance: sometimes “magnetic,” sometimes in the form of a “capacitor,” and sometimes with completely different conditions. And a circuit is made out of all this.

All the systems—human, electronic, and biological—operate according to this principle. In this circuit, I examine the creating force which operates within the one being created. I reveal the Creator within all these systematic connections! I do not have another opportunity to reveal Him, only by beginning to build this system within my egoistic desire.

I turn it on and make it work because the Light will be revealed in it if I have connected all the parts correctly. This Light begins to flow through this system like electricity, and then the mutual work of its elements, their program, and interaction become revealed The Creator becomes revealed!

And made all this happen? I did! And of course now I understand who and what He is. This is our work.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: The Torah tells a story about how the people who were wandering around the desert faced death from lack of water and Moses turned to the Creator for help. The Creator instructed Moses to go and talk with a rock in front of all the people so it would give him water.

But instead of talking to it, Moses hit the rock with his staff, and “the waters of discord” flowed from it, named so from having disobeyed the Creator. Why did Moses, the leader of the entire nation, disobey the Creator’s instruction?

Answer: The rock is the ground, Malchut, the desire to receive pleasure, which needs to be corrected in order to be used “for the sake of bestowal.” This correction can either be in the form of a “blow” or a “talk,” depending upon the degree. It is in this way that it can produce an act of bestowal: the water flowing from it.

The water is the force that gives life to the desire to receive pleasure and turns it into the desire that receives for the sake of bestowal. When you “talk” with the rock, Malchut, you tune into it on the human level, the “speaking” level, the degree of Bina, and the water you derive from it carries life, bestowal, mercy (Hassadim).

But when you hit it, you derive “the waters of discord.” And even though it is water (the symbol of Bina, bestowal), this water is not kind (it carries the force of Gevurot); it has fallen under the influence of Malchut. This is the origin of all the typhoons, floods, and tsunamis. All these things are a reflection of the force of Bina controlled by Malchut.

“People” are all the private desires, and Moses is the highest quality which has the ability to receive the water of Bina by raising Malchut to it, the desire to receive pleasure. But Moses sees that there is not enough strength to lift all the other desires called “people” out of their current state and pull them over to the degree of Bina with him. And this is why instead of rising to a higher degree and “speaking,” he “hits” the rock, which means that instead of connecting with it on a higher, “speaking,” level, he only connects with it on the level of an “action.”

From the side of Moses, he was punished for this apparent sin. But we need to understand that all the “punishments” described in the Torah are corrections. He was simply unable to do it any other way, even though it was clear to him that at that moment he needed to attain the “speaking” degree: a certain level of connection between Malchut and Bina.

This is a result of his spiritual revelation, and it is called: “The Creator tells him.” But it is easier to carry it out quickly and correctly on the level of an action, and he does not see any other opportunity for correction.

This is why Moses was forced to “sin,” and his correction is in his “punishment” of not receiving permission to enter the land of Israel. He dies as he reaches the actual border. Even though he was not able to enter it (it is not his degree), he is called “a loyal guide,” and the maximum he can reach is Bina. And others continue after him.

A border is the line where I stop my actions of bestowal due to the lack of strength of the intention. This forces me to stop and no longer use my desire; I restrict myself.

To die means to lack the ability to do actions for the sake of bestowal.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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Kabbalah books use different images to describe the connection between Malchut and Bina. For example, they use the image of a well, either empty or full of water. An empty well, Malchut, consumes everything and remains empty. Whereas a well full of water is the proper connection of Malchut and Bina. Or the other way around, Malchut’s desire rises to Bina, into the sky, and derives water from it. This is why it rains.

Another description of a connection between Malchut and Bina is a “red heifer,” a purifying sacrifice, whose ashes purify some and, on the contrary, makes others impure. All these transitions are related to the way Bina and Malchut become included in one another: Whether Bina becomes included into Malchut or Malchut into Bina and which one of them dominates as one connection brings purification, and the other, impurity.

The “heifer” symbolizes the force of Bina, the force of bestowal, because it gives milk (the Light of Hassadim or Mercy). But if it is red (Aduma), which means that it is connected to the ground (Edom), then it is mixed with Malchut. And when the forces of bestowal and reception, Bina and Malchut, connect, it is man who determines what the resulting force will be.

If man intends to correct himself and reach bestowal, he will derive the force of bestowal specifically from this connection of forces called “a red heifer” and will purify himself. But if he was already pure, then a new egoistic desire becomes revealed in him, and if he is yet unable to work with it, he becomes impure.

The Torah provides detailed instructions on finding a red heifer and burning it, and what then needs to be done with the ashes. These are not simple actions because none of this exists in our world, even though scientists are searching for the traces of a red heifer to prove that it once existed, but now has disappeared.

During the times of the Temple, the entire nation was on a spiritual degree due to the wisdom of Kabbalah, as it is written: “Every adolescent knew the laws of impurity and purification,” which is the difference between egoistic reception and bestowal. In other words, their level corresponded to the connection of Bina and Malchut, called “a red heifer,” and they could understand to what the Torah refers.

The entire Torah is a description of the order of correction, an “instruction” (Oraa) on the correction of the soul.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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We are created with the desire to receive pleasure, and in order to correct this desire, our intention must be “for the sake of bestowal.” By doing so we correct ourselves and attain the purpose of creation: total adhesion with the Creator. But to attain correction, we must unite with the force of bestowal.

The force of bestowal is called Bina, and the force of reception is referred to as Malchut. These two forces of bestowal and reception have to enter one another. When they unite, then according to the combinational analysis of these two forces, it creates four outcomes: Malchut in Malchut, Malchut in Bina, Bina in Bina, and Bina in Malchut.

If Bina enters Malchut, it creates an evil force because Bina falls under the reign of Malchut. Malchut rules over it and dominates it, making Bina its slave. This state created all evil forces in the world.

Sometimes these forces pretend to be good in order to lure and bribe a person and then draw him into evil. This is a special sly, egoistic force (Klipa), contained within Malchut. With the help of this force Malchut conquers Bina and begins to use it. It is written that no evil can exist in the world unless it initially pretended to be good. This is how the evil forces operate, and for this reason they exist.

If it is simply Malchut, then it is a simple desire to receive such as the still, vegetative, animate world and human, in whom only the forces of the still, vegetative and animate levels are at work. That is, it is a simple human who’s living a primitive corporeal life.

When Bina is present in a person’s desire to receive pleasure, that person becomes very smart and cunning. He knows how to help you and give to you, and then exploits you to the fullest. These are very evil forces caused by the inclusion of Bina into Malchut: the forces of bestowal that have fallen under the rule of egoism.

Opposite inclusion occurs when a person uses his own efforts to elevate Malchut into Bina. Then he connects to Bina because he wants to enter it and become a slave, an inseparable part of the force of bestowal, like a fetus in the mother’s womb. Bina is called Ima Ilaa (the upper mother). That is, he wants to develop only through connecting and being guided and protected by the force of bestowal, the Creator. Then, good forces are created, which choose parts of the egoistic desire and gradually correct them from within.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 6/27/2011

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We represent the desire to receive pleasure which feels that it exists by receiving small “injections,” blows of Light. These small blows create the perception of reality within us by painting an internal image of reality in which we perceive the people that surround us, the air, the world, and ourselves.

All of this arises from the small blows experienced by our desire to receive pleasure. And then it receives an impression as if it exists together with the surrounding reality. If the desire did not receive these small “injections” hitting it, it would neither perceive itself, its reality, nor its environment. This is the way it exists. And there is nothing else beside it: the will to enjoy that receives small blows from the Light.

The Light imposes the tiniest blows inside the desire to receive pleasure without a single conscious reaction on the desire’s behalf; this is the state we are in. When the desire becomes capable of developing a reaction to the upper Light, that is, becomes more sensitive to these blows and raises its sensitivity towards them, it wishes to no longer receive them, resists them, and intends to push the Light back one way or another, hit it back. This is called a “screen.”

And then by virtue of my resistance, opposition, and clashes I begin to attain Who is doing this to me, what for, what He wants from me, and what I can attain through this. This is our entire work: the desire to receive pleasure and the blows, clashes with the Light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What should we think about all together, the entire world group, when we hold a Unity Day? How can we unite?

Answer: Every person has to delve into himself and there to feel the chain that connects him with others, the inner net that exists between us. Moreover, a person can be in this world or he might no longer be in it because this is a network between desires, between the souls and not the physical bodies.

Baal HaSulam and all the great Kabbalists of the past millennia are here, in this connection. They are all together with us, embedded in our common net. There are millions of us today, but in reality, there are many more because all of these souls throughout all of human history are together with us, amounting to hundreds of millions of souls. And all together they are a tremendous spiritual force.

If we wish to unite together in this net, then naturally not only will we influence each other and become part of this net so every person will acquire it for his own spiritual ascent, but we will simultaneously influence all the people in the world, who are tuned into this net involuntarily, without sensing it. We will start to awaken them.

Therefore, let’s start by reaching an agreement among us that we desire to clearly feel our common connection.
From the lecture on Unity Day, 6/26/11

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Inner Reflection,” Item 32: The thing is that the Otiot (letters) of the four-letter Name (Yod-Key-Vav-Key) do not imply and indicate the amount of Ohr (Light) in Ein Sof (Infinity). Instead, they indicate measurement of the impact on the Kli (vessel). The white in the parchment of the scroll of Torah implies the Ohr, and the black, being the Otiot in the scroll of Torah, indicates the quality of the Kelim (vessels).

When Baal HaSulam talks about white and black colors in the book, he does not mean physical paper and ink, or parchment made of animal skin. He talks about how and where we reveal the fourth phase “Dalet” (the last phase, corresponding to the external Kli, “skin”).

I take the “animal skin,” meaning my animate nature, its final fourth stage, and divide it, slice it into two parts, tearing the inner from the outer layer. Then, from the inner layer of the skin, “parchment” is made, on which I can write letters.

This is my final stage, which I still can correct. The outermost layer of desire remaining after this separation is impossible for me to correct. Thus, light and darkness within the creature are revealed at the most perfect degree. Nothing more is possible!

The big revelation of the Light will take place only at the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun) where we discover that there are no letters and no parchment, and it is possible to correct all the “skin”: the whole Malchut is included in correction. Then, the letters disappear, and it turns out that “He and His name are One.”

Malchut and Bina are fully connected and reach the degree of Keter, as it is said: “And they both will go together.” That is why the letters, originating from the Sefirot ZAT de Bina (the lower half of Bina) and below it, disappear. There is no more difference between white and black.

The Torah is given to us only until the end of correction. After that, this method is no longer needed. If we finish the correction, we do not need the Torah (the Light that Reforms). We will be in another, new state.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: We speak a lot about Lights and vessels but rarely examine the point of one’s own “I” that lies between them. What does it represent?

Answer: The “I” merely exists as my point of choice and no more than that. Everything else connects to it when it receives the desires of the others and fulfillment from the Creator. This point is like a pointer on a scale, the moment of choice, the section, the middle third of Tifferet. It doesn’t pertain to anything: neither reception nor bestowal.

The upper third of Tifferet pertains to the upper one, the qualities of the Creator, and the lower third pertains to the receiving desire, the creature. And there is literally nothing in the middle; it is a no man’s land.

Question: So what is there? After all, isn’t the choice realized according to certain criteria?

Answer: Once you get there, you will understand that this point is literally “hanging in the air.” You grow into a spiritual person out of this point; it is the initial point which exists in the middle, between the Light (existence from existence) and the desire (existence from absence). It is the miracle of creation.

We reach this point when we begin to connect to it all the desires and the Lights. Then as I act above these Lights and desires, I attain the point from which I act. It does not come from the Light or the vessel, but from the Creator’s essence.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/2011, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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