Today, the entire world is in crisis, and we are slowly approaching even greater problems everywhere and in every area of life. All we have done in this world was done poorly because we grew under the rule of our egoism. We cannot expect good from anywhere because we have always worked just for the sake of our ego.

Now, evil is gradually revealed, drop by drop, at different locations and at any opportunity so as to prevent us from being withdrawn into our own pain. If the pain becomes too strong, we will not be able to think about anything else except how to get rid of it. We will no longer be interested in its cause and effect; we will want only to stop this pain.

However, if the pain comes in waves and all the time either subsides or becomes more severe, leaving me enough time to reflect on it, then I start seeking from where and why it comes and how to get rid of it. The Creator plays such a game with us, and as a result, we find a solution.

First of all, we need to study the cause, and it is in the oppositeness of our nature. Our properties are opposite to the Creator, and therefore, as He gets closer, we feel bad! And the closer He approaches, the worse we feel! It is like in the case of the thief whom it is better to keep away from the treasury and not to give him an opportunity to commit a crime. The same is with us.

Therefore, especially now, in our time, the Creator is revealed very slowly and gradually, in order to give us time to think. He is revealed slightly, and we feel bad. For example, a couple of years ago, a crisis erupted, and now people say that it is allegedly over. But it did not pass; we are simply given time to think and explore! Soon, another blow will strike, at several levels and of several types. And then a period of calm will take place.

Thus, the Creator teaches us and gives us opportunities to look for reasons so that ultimately, we would reveal Him as the source of all that happens. And in relation to our egoism, He appears as the source of all evil. Then, we will understand why we feel bad: It’s because of our oppositeness to the Creator.

What can we do to feel good? The Creator is perfect, and we have to change only ourselves. Thus, gradually, we will realize that we must correct ourselves. Humankind will certainly arrive to this under the methodical, periodic blows that will come in all forms to any nation, to any person, teaching us thereby.

However, we have to reveal the method to people so that they learn sooner from where and why these blows come. By this, we will facilitate the development of entire humanity. This is called “bringing the Light to the nations,” that is, to people who still do not understand why they get hit.

To develop consciously, people need to discover the cause, necessity, and purpose of the blows. As a result, the whole course of development changes very much. Those who possess the method of correction must do this for the entire world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah World 6/24/2011, Shamati #241

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Comment: In our age of satiation I know in advance that I need not exert effort to buy a Mercedes because in a month or two the charm will evaporate and I’ll begin to want something else.…

Answer: That’s true, but we’re talking about a spiritual goal now, not a Mercedes. If there’s something more important for you than the goal, then you will stray off the path. That’s obvious.

Comment: But the spiritual goal itself isn’t clear to me. I don’t even know what it is.

Answer: This begs a question: Does that prompt you to search for the truth? If it doesn’t, then you’re not advancing. Every day you need to conduct an inner calculation: “What do I have on the one hand, and what do I lack on the other? And when will I obtain that which I lack?”

Otherwise, if you’re missing the direction and the pressure, how will you advance to achieve your desire? If you don’t set a goal before yourself at every moment, you will not achieve it. Or do you presume you’re riding in a train with a paid ticket?

In other words, you’re being lazy like the others, waiting until suffering starts spur you forward and convincing yourself that simply putting in the time will have an effect. Is that it?

Comment: Naturally. But how do I compel myself to conduct these daily checks? It’s not like I have power of my thoughts.

Answer: Ask your friends to egg you on. They are one thousand degrees above you, so why aren’t you jealous of them? Why aren’t you ashamed before them?

There are people around you who have crossed the Machsom. Granted, you don’t know what that is, though you’ve heard the word before. These people sense spirituality, to a small measure, but still. And what about you?

But you don’t see this and that is why you aren’t jealous of them. That is correct. But you don’t see it because the intention to bestow reigns in them. If they were to reveal it to you even a little, you would run right back to your Mercedes. And that is why they don’t reveal themselves. Still, try to be jealous of their attainment somehow. You simply must.

The Creator is ready to give us Infinity, but we’re unable to receive anything but the thinnest illumination that He sends to sustain our present existence. You need to think about how to achieve shame, and for that you need exercises between you and the group. Otherwise nothing will happen.

Until you build a system of relationships with the group as you would want to have with the Creator, nothing will happen or will be revealed to you. It’s like you were given a construction kit with lots of little pieces to put together into a certain structure. If you do it, you’ll be given a more grown-up challenge.

But without it there is no advancement, for better or worse.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: It is said: “Do good.” But how can we do good if only evil is created, and we still know nothing about good?

Answer: Evil is purposely created in our sensations so that we turn it into good. In reality, there is no evil. Our perception is turned inwards, and because of that everything good that we receive appears to us as evil. Everything that is perceived inside us is felt as evil because we compare ourselves with what exists outside of us. That is, evil is the division between me and others.

Evil does not exist on its own. Namely this paradigm, this method of egoistic fulfillment, this inward direction is evil. As soon as we change it, it immediately disappears and so does our sense of all evil in the world.
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From the Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah 6/19/2011

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words”: Question 18. What is Hochma? This Light is the basis of the life of the emanated being.

From the perspective of the emanated being, the upper Light which has created the desire to enjoy is divided into two forms because two types of attitudes arise in the emanated being: 1) the attitude toward fulfillment and 2) the attitude toward the Giver of this fulfillment. Therefore, when speaking about the Light which has created the desire to enjoy, fills the desire, and cares for it, this Light is called Hochma (Wisdom). And when we are talking about the Light of correction which fills the emanated being with the quality of bestowal, it is called the Light of Hassadim (Mercy).

In truth, the Light outside of the emanated being is uniform. The upper Light always remains at absolute rest. And all the qualities and phenomena in it, such as the “round Light” and a “line” or “Inner” and “Surrounding” Lights, are nothing but the creature’s impressions from the influence of that same Light.

When referring to the life of the emanated being, this Light is called the Light of Hochma, and when speak of our bestowal to the Creator, it is called the Light of Hassadim. These are the two main types of Light, which further divide into many sub-types.

In conclusion, the Light that acts through the creature’s desire to enjoy is called the Light of Hochma.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The Torah, the method of correction, was revealed in ancient Babylon where desires emerged, both related and not related to correction. Since then, this method of correction has existed in humanity.

Why did only a small part of humanity learn it? In Babylon, it was absorbed by those who were drawn to it originally, those who by the law of equivalence of form felt that it was for them. Others took “a detour.”

The question here is not about any given nation, but about the entire world. Why doesn’t everyone find this method? Why don’t desires and intentions directed to correction manifest in all people?

To find the answer, we have to turn to the breaking of the vessels and see why everything happened that way. Some vessels relate to the receiving desires and others contain more of the giving desires. They were intermixed with each other, and as result, let’s say, 99 percent of all the vessels are unable to aspire to correction themselves. They demand the point directed straight to the Creator to pull them forward, to become the connecting link between them and the Light that Reforms.

Similarly, people with the point in the heart also need the connecting link: the books through which the Light is drawn. A “book” means revelation in Kabbalah. The book helps attract the Light to the group, meaning to the desire that needs to be united. Thus, on the spiritual path, the role of an “adaptor” is played by the teacher, the group, and the books. However, people without the preparatory base only suffer and need to be connected with those who by now are ready for development.

This order is the result of the breaking of the vessels. The fact is that the receiving vessels cannot correct themselves before the giving vessels, the Light of Bina, connect with them, meaning with Malchut. Only this combination between Bina and Malchut allows them to rise.

Some of the giving vessels are related to the world of Atzilut, to Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE). However, the vessels of the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya are related to AHP (Awzen-Hotem-Peh). Because of the breaking, GE fell into AHP. By making corrections, we raise GE back up, and AHP rises if it adheres to GE. First, only the vessels of Galgalta ve Eynaim rise because Israel corrects itself. Then, it corrects AHP as well.

This is the order of correction. Initially, it is intended for AHP, and the goal is to correct it.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 5: We must first understand why the Torah was given specifically to the Israeli nation and not to all the peoples of the world equally. Is there, God forbid, nationalism involved here?

As we know, the Torah itself gives a negative answer to this question. It explains that Abraham, the forefather of the people of Israel, was a high priest in Ancient Babylon, among people who were far from knowing the reality of the Creator. He revealed the Kabbalistic methodology as if by chance, although obviously, he was already quite developed internally.

There were ten generations from Adam, the first man who revealed the spiritual world, until Noah and then another ten generations before Abraham. In fact, we are talking about the inner development of the points in the heart, the first of which was Adam. It is possible to imagine this process as concentric circles, radiating from the center outwards. The twentieth round of the development of desire is represented by Abraham.

Thus, Abraham already had a background, the internal preparatory base that was created initially from the degree of Adam. Abraham’s level was very high. While Adam revealed the Creator with a small receiving desire, Abraham revealed Him above the big egoistic desire that arose in Babylon. On one hand, he had the necessary base, and on the other, the burdening of the heart. As usual, one is consistent with the other.

As a result, Abraham was able to understand and develop the Kabbalistic methodology, while Adam, with a small vessel and a small Light which had not grown yet, could not develop, disclose, explain, and carry it to people.

Baal HaSulam explains the order of global development which is divided into three phases of two thousand years each: HBD (Hochma, Bina, Daat), HGT (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet), and NHY (Netzah, Hod, Yesod). Although the clean vessels of the first Kabbalists are close to the Light, it’s impossible to reveal the method without big, fierce desires that demand greater Lights for their revelation in richness of detail.

Essentially, it’s clear to us that to reveal the method to a certain depth, one needs big desires, big egoism, against which big Light is revealed. Only then will we have the opportunity to present new things so they are understood.

That is why Abraham became the founder of the method of correction. It could not be described properly before him because there was nothing to correct yet. The conditions in Babylon became the basis. The point in the heart awakened in Abraham and in thousands of his students, and they headed to the land of Canaan, to the desire intended for correction, so that it could become the land of Israel in the future.

Babylon is a corrupted desire which reveals the part that can be corrected. Working on this part makes it the land of Canaan. Over time, the egoistic desire appears in it, and it turns into Egypt, then into the desert, and finally, into the land of Israel.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Truma [Donation],” Item 217: The soul of every living thing” is a soul that exits the One who lives forever, Yesod de ZA. And because he is His, for all the blessings come forth from Him and are in Him, and He waters and blesses below, toward Malchut, this soul that comes forth from Him has permission to bless this place, Malchut.

Malchut is the desire that every time takes on new forms in its intention to bestow, and then it feels that it becomes filled by Yesod. This means that Malchut becomes similar to Yesod according to the law of equivalence of form. In reality, it becomes like the first nine Sefirot because Yesod comprises all of the nine Sefirot.

When Malchut resembles the first nine Sefirot, it signifies that the creature becomes similar to the Creator to some degree. To the extent of similarity between them, to the extent to their similar properties, Malchut obtains the same form as the first nine Sefirot and exists in adhesion and oneness with them.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, The Book of Zohar

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Question: Why didn’t the Creator create the will to enjoy that would be able to bestow right away? Why didn’t He create only bestowal without reception? Why should we reveal this property of bestowal ourselves, exercising our free will? Why do we need this “dual” attitude toward the creature where the matter itself, the will to enjoy, is egoistic and evil, and the form that it should acquire is good?

Answer: If I treat these two opposite forms properly, it is thanks to them that I set a correct attitude toward the Host. The correct attitude cannot appear if I do not contrast one against the other, meaning the desire to bestow that I can develop within myself against the desire to receive that is embedded in me in the negative form opposite to bestowal.

Thus, I give thanks for the negative quality as for the positive one, for the bad state as for the good one. After all, the negative form is necessary and correct, and together they combine into one form and lead to one goal.

We see in the corporeal world that atoms are built with a combination of two opposite charges, the minus and the plus, and with neutral particles. Thus, connections occur between different, opposite elements.

Then, atoms combine in various structures, molecules, and crystals. Chemical elements become connected according to their valence, that is, the number of electrons (the negative particles) existing on the orbit that are free to make a connection.

All life is based on unification and separation, on connection to all kinds of forms. All these are manifestations of the desire to enjoy. If a molecule has two electrons that are free to make a connection with others, that indicates its ability to connect. We always talk about desire which we measure either by the number of free electrons or relative to forces or some other qualities, such as the forces of attraction and repulsion.

As a result, it is always about desire. Yellow and green lights, different sounds, water, and the sky are various kinds of desires. We are inside this desire. Nothing but desire was created.

However, inside this desire, I have a sensation of self and the outside world: the inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels, or in terms of the spiritual qualities: “root, soul, body, clothes, palace,” which are also desires. I have to unite and manage all of them so that I can bestow with their help.

The entire picture of reality, the billions of people, the universe, and the spiritual worlds revealed in the connection between us are forms of desire. I cannot do anything besides revealing more and more of what is inside this system, this sphere. It is revealed to me depending on how much I am able to bestow with the help of all these forms of desire.

We live in our sensations, and that is why we do not understand what desire itself is. Rather, we understand: “I feel, I want.” Desire does not exist separately, but only as I sense it. The perceived desire is already “I.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”: Here before us is a clear law, that in all 612 Mitzvot (commandments) and in all the writings in the Torah there is none that is preferred to the commandment, “love thy friend as thyself.”

This is because they only aim to interpret and allow us to keep the commandment of loving others properly, since he specifically says: “The rest is its commentary; go study.” This means that the rest of the Torah is interpretations of that one commandment, that the commandment to love your friend as yourself could not be completed were it not for them.

“The Torah” is the Light that corrects our desires. We have to correct all our 613 desires and turn them into bestowal. It can be bestowal for the sake of bestowal (“whatever is hateful to you, do not do to another”), in the state of Hafetz Hesed when we do not harm another . And in addition, we can love the others as ourselves, meaning to receive for the sake of bestowal. In this way, we have to advance.

Only man exists in this world, and if he wants to correct his relationship with a fellow human being, then he reveals in himself 613 kinds of this relationship, which represent 613 corrupt desires. Then, he starts to correct them through the Light that Reforms by studying the corrected system. The Torah talks only about the corrected states, about fulfilling the “commandments,” meaning about the corrections that we have to go through.

The “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” explains that the Torah is divided into 613 counsels and 613 deposits. It is about 613 Lights that correct in us 613 egoistic desires directed to another.

We are talking about neither ourselves nor this world, but about the relationship with the other. Wishing to get closer to him, to reach him, I reveal 613 corrupt desires: This is the realization of evil. Then, I want to correct them, and in response to each desire a corresponding Light comes and performs correction. How it does it exactly, I do not know, and this is not my business. I just want to disclose evil and correct it to good, but I leave “technical details” to the Light.

As a result, my desires become corrected (obtain the intention to bestow instead of the initial intention to receive) and become filled with this altruistic intention. This means that the Light is present in them.

In reality, what can the corrected desire be filled with? It can be filled only with the following: I want and actually can bestow to the other. This is the fulfillment that we call NRNHY. Initially, from the side of the Creator who created the desire to receive, only the small Light of Nefesh was given, a spark, thin Light, acting in reality.

There are only a spark and the point of desire created as “existence from absence.” Everything else, without exception, comes only from the relationship between the Creator and the creature, who want to kindle the flame of love between them. According to the law of love, it is enough to give at least a fraction to the one who loves me, and then my attitude attached to this gift makes it infinite.

We should realize that by identifying our 613 desires that are revealed in relation to the other and correcting them from reception to bestowal, we obtain a large vessel of bestowal. And it is based on the very point of “existence from absence” that feels only its desire for pleasure. We have this point, and above it, we build a huge vessel which is all attitude, bestowal, and love.

Its essence is that very point. Expanding, being imbued with sensations, the desire remains the same. All it has is the sensation of what, how, and from whom it receives. In other words, it is the perception of the Creator’s attitude to it.

In the four phases of the Direct Light, there are just the desire and the Light of the first phase. Everything else comes from the reaction, the creature’s response as it perceives the Giver rather than gets filled. Once the first phase (a point of desire with the tiny spark of the Light of Nefesh) begins to feel itself at least a bit, it immediately starts to develop in relation to the Giver.

Thus, we must understand that the entire spiritual vessel, the entire spiritual world, is based on the interrelationship between the creature and the Creator. Nullifying this relationship, either through our own fault or not, we remain in our small, dark desire, which is our reality.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words”: Question 5. What is Ohr Hochma? An Ohr (Light) that enters the emanated being in the first expansion of the Direct Light and is the general sustenance and essence of the emanated being.

From the side of the Creator, creation ends at the four phases of the expansion of the Direct Light, Malchut of the world of Infinity. That is, He created the point “from absence” (Yesh mi Ain), which develops along the four phases under the influence of the upper Light surrounding it.

The Creator’s influence upon the point of creation is called the zero phase, Keter, and inside this point, the developmental phases of one, two, three, and four are occurring. The last, fourth phase of the development of the point “from absence” under the influence of the Light is called Malchut of the world of Infinity.

This is what the Creator wanted to give to the emanated being in order to develop the desire to enjoy in this point so that the perception, the feeling of the Light, the attitude of the Giver towards it is regarded as “infinite.” It is clear that we are not talking about physical distances here, but defining the qualities of the internal essence of this point. Now it perceives and feels the Creator, absorbs Him inside of itself without any restriction, which is called infinity, endlessness.

This point of creation completely accepts, without any restrictions from its side, everything that the Creator wants to give thanks to His qualities of being the good that does good. Everything that happens further is already the reaction of the emanated being having reached, with the help of the Creator, such a high, complete, and wonderful development.

Now, accepting everything that the Creator gives it, the emanated being begins to change itself internally and from its own side reacts to the Light that fills it. In other words, this is the guest’s reaction to all the good that he felt from the Host and the fulfillment given by Him. Now, he has to respond to this fulfillment and love that has been revealed to him.

This does not stop at the state of Malchut of the world of Infinity, although from the side of the Creator, the work is complete. Now, the emanated being builds all kinds of screens and concealments inside of itself. It rejects the treat; it wishes to conceal the relationship of the Host toward it until it reaches reciprocity.

Furthermore, all of this is happening inside of the guest, and it is as if the Host does not even know about it. The guest refuses and accepts, puts up various conditions, in order to accept the treat from the Host. Everything that happens below Malchut of the world of Infinity is the internal development of the emanated being desiring to become like the Creator.

That is why “the Light of Hochma is the Light that enters the emanated being in the first expansion of the Direct Light,” meaning during the first direct influence of the Surrounding Light felt by it. Indeed, everything exists in the upper Light, but to the extent of its development, the emanated being feels as if the Light is altering its influence on it. The very first influence of the upper Light onto the emanated being, which is “the general sustenance and essence of the emanated being,” is called the Light of Hochma (Wisdom).

In other words, I am sitting across the Host, and before anything, I see in front of myself all of the “food,” the source of life. Without it, I cannot exist; I will die.

However, after I receive this nourishment and begin to live (as it is said, “if there is no flour, there is no Torah”), I can make calculations regarding my reception. That is why the Light of Hochma is called the basis of life and is present, openly or concealed, in all mutual actions between the Creator and the creature.

Even when we are talking about the state in which there is only one Light, Hassadim (Mercy) and no reception at all, this is said to be “almost” separated from the Light of Hochma. It’s not completely separated from reception, but “almost.”

It is the same in our life up to some necessary, minimal level which is neither condemned nor praised since it is needed to support existence. This is the amount of receiving the bare necessities of life as defined by the emanated being itself.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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