Every person has the right to examine whether the place he chooses to study is good for him. However, after a short test, he should make up his mind and enter the study process at the selected place without any further doubts. Otherwise, he won’t be able to reveal the Creator and His world.

There are groups who claim that they study according to their own method. But how can there be a method that was not passed down through the chain of Kabbalists from master to disciple?

It is impossible to receive such a method on one’s own. Only Adam HaRishon received this method “from Heaven,” as it were, and discovered it on “his own.” However, all the others, including Abraham, obtained it through the chain of Kabbalists. At first, Abraham was “an idol worshiper,” meaning that he was engaged in a special spiritual work, only in its reverse form, after which he realized its inadequacy. Twenty generations past Adam HaRishon, Kabbalah was passed on to Abraham.

The method of attainment can be acquired solely through clinging to a teacher. This is the way it expands from Above downward through the chain of souls, from soul to soul. Can you really connect to the root if you are not Adam HaRishon himself? Only Adam HaRishon is tied to the Creator directly. All the other souls must receive from him through the chain of Kabbalists, depending on the soul’s place in it. Everybody receives from the one who stands before him, and is connected by a linked chain with one root.

It is a hierarchic system similar to a tree. I am positioned in it at a specific place and can receive only from the person nearest to me and above me. For this, I need to annul myself before him in the same way a lower Partzuf annuls itself before the Upper One in the spiritual world.

Therefore, when people claim that they receive “Light or enlightenment” from Above or while in sleep, they are not being serious. A spiritual contact can be attained solely by staying close to a Kabbalist while he is alive. If you manage to reach at least one such point of contact, from that point on, you can develop everything else.

However, without this initial point, you won’t have anything from which to advance further: You are cut away from the whole tree, from the entire system of souls. This is why people always ask, “Who was your teacher? Where did you come from?”

For this reason, out of all diplomas, the most precious piece of paper that I possess is a tiny newspaper article where I am named as a loyal student and the right hand of Rabash. It testifies, to the very least, how connected I was with my teacher.

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

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When we read The Book of Zohar, we should visualize being in a system or a mechanism to which my point in the heart, my spiritual gene (Reshimo) that desires to reach its practical realization, adheres. My further development, the impact of the system on me, depends on this adhesion.

I stand opposite to this enormous system. If I don’t tune into it correctly, I will not be able to get it to work on me. It will still affect me, but solely through suffering and pain which doesn’t count as it is the natural way of development. However, I have a chance to plug into this system through my personal, inner effort.

First of all, I have to try to understand what “oneness” or “connection” is. I should also realize that the connection with the system occurs inasmuch as I am connected with the friends. There is a basic law: If I am connected with the friends to 10%, I am connected with the spiritual system to 10% as well. If I am connected with them to 80%, I am also connected with the system to 80%.

There is no other way to plug into the spiritual system for me. The greater our inner effort is to become one, to annul our individual material baggage, and to unite in our points in the heart (the only part of us that belongs in the spiritual system), the sooner we will unite to the degree of our oneness in our points in the heart.

This is the very first preparatory stage. We must demand the strength to unite from the spiritual system since obstacles constantly urge us to escape. The system has to hand us the “glue,” the Light that Reforms that will connect us. It has to clothe us as one whole body and hold us together.

Later, indeed, it will start “gluing” us at my request as if we were thousands of droplets of water merging into one enormous drop. Like in a hologram, there aren’t big and small elements in it, but everyone contains the entire picture. In this one collective wholeness, everyone loses his independence. In this way, the Light makes us one.

Now, as we become a single point, the intention to merge with The Book of Zohar itself is emerging within me. What I am reading right now, all these properties, I wish to find between us. All of the characters The Zohar is talking about are types of connections between us, and they exist at each spiritual level. This is why the story always repeats itself at each spiritual degree. The entire Torah is present in any spiritual state. And it doesn’t matter what is read or in what sequence; you can read the Torah from any page.

So now I wish to see all the relationships described in The Zohar in the connection between the thousands of points in the heart. I wish to start perceiving the connection between us in unison with the flow of the text of The Zohar. In this way, I start to reveal the story in its true form and eventually reach the state when I read and immediately realize the content within myself.

However, where is that point of realization? It is in the connection between us. Through this connection, I discover a totally new world with new sensations and desires. I submerge myself deeper and deeper in another dimension in order to uncover this system together with the others and the Creator. I taste each word with my own senses, and this is what is called the Torah of Life.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, The Zohar

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During a descent, no calculations are being performed with us. We are given a burdening of the heart and mind through health issues, family problems, and so forth. We are not expected to react correctly.

It is necessary to draw conclusions after a fall and prepare ourselves during the next ascent, strengthening our mutual responsibility and connections with others so that it helps all of us when a descent comes. I look at my friend who lacks strength and realize that I am responsible for him. In fact, I signed an agreement to help him rise physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When one is in a descent and feeling helpless, he must realize that had he invested energy into the group, had he prepared for himself a reserve, a fund, an accumulation of forces, he could have used them now not only to minimize the fall, but to continue to rise! One would have sensed the fall, but only in order to use it correctly and rise again.

That’s why it is written that all sins are not committed during a descent, but rather in a state of ascent, depending on how a person uses it. We must do everything possible to accumulate these forces and invest them into the group rather than into ourselves.

Try to prepare yourself as much as you can while in an ascent, and then you will experience a descent with joy!

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, "And Jacob Went Out"

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Question: What is learning “from mouth to mouth” by which Baal HaSulam passed the teaching to Rabash?

Answer: Learning “from mouth to mouth” means sharing the screen because “mouth” (Peh) is the location of the screen. Such connection is regarded as “Rucha Be-Rucha” (at the level of Ruach), and this is the type of communication a student should attain with his teacher.

This is the degree of annulment of the lower one’s self, thanks to which he attains connection with the upper one. This spiritual state is not easy to achieve, but at least a student must do what he can in this world, by following his teacher’s advice as if it were a law for him. It is a simple practical recommendation that anyone can use, and it is regarded as the minimal degree of self-annulment before the upper one, which we are willing to perform due to our egoistic interests.

If I desire to gain spirituality from the teacher, I have to annul myself before him like in the army: If an order is given, it’s carried out. The teacher talks about building a correct intention, annulling oneself, exerting effort, participating in dissemination, and everything else that is required of a student. The student, in his turn, must listen. As a result, through the point of connection that emerges, he will receive the Light that Reforms and comprehend what he is told.

In the degree that a student annuls his egoism, he automatically transforms into a form where this understanding occurs through receiving an imprint of spirituality. And through this imprint, we begin to comprehend the teaching. If the lower one annuls himself, the upper one imprints his structure, his 10 Sefirot in the lower one.

Let’s hope that we will earn the reward of Rabash becoming our Teacher.

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

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Everything that The Zohar and the wisdom of Kabbalah talk about are forms or types of the connection between us. The Creator or the Upper Light has no form; we cannot feel Him. The types and forms of connection of bestowal and love between us by being equivalent to the Light, give the Light form, color, and gradations of qualities. I can distinguish and “pick up” the Light in my own qualities to the extent that they are similar to Him.

Therefore, whatever we read about in The Zohar always refers to types of connection between souls. We reveal the Light according to the forms of connection that manifest between us. Otherwise the Light is impossible to “pick up” (reveal). “There is no Light” if I don’t paint it with different colors. The Light that comes to me should necessarily be colored as the seven colors of the rainbow. Without this, I, as a created being, will not see it; I will be unable to sense or perceive it.

Suppose that there is a prism to which simple white light is directed. As it is refracted through it, it separates into the seven colors of the rainbow, from red to violet.

This is what is done by Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut: It brings the Light of Bina from above, breaking it down into seven colors. And I, Malchut, act the opposite way (through the screen): I gather all these lights/colors together, bring them back (Ohr Hozer, the Reflected Light) into the “prism,” which results in one Light.

I don’t feel the simple, white Light which comes to me since it has no color. However, I gather all seven colors that come from Zeir Anpin into Malchut in me and feel the initial simple Light. Malchut is called the “gathering” since it gathers together and incorporates all seven Sefirot of Zeir Anpin.

By making itself similar to this “prism” that splits white Light into seven colors, Malchut once again achieves white Light. This is how it feels or imagines this Light. It does not receive white Light, but by making itself similar to it, it can achieve it and merge with it, according to the rule of “I will know You from Your actions” (MiMaaseicha Ikarnucha).

From 613 actions, our corrections, we build an “image” of the Creator. After all, the Creator does not have an image; we create it from our qualities.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/8/10, The Zohar

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Question: How do we prepare ourselves for a descent during an ascent?

Answer: By no means should you anticipate a fall during an ascent! I should regard every ascent as the final correction of my soul. How can I possibly bestow if I am waiting for an imminent descent?

I have to be positive about the future. This is called “preparation for a downfall.” I do the maximum and expect complete correction as the outcome, believing that from now on nothing bad can happen to me in life. I completely cling to the One who is good and does good: the Creator. Each spiritual state requires absolute commitment and devotion of the soul; you should think only about bestowal and nothing else except that.

I am now going to rise, and no matter what follows afterwards as a descent, it comes as an ascent for me. This is what a person thinks about while he is in the state of ascent: “I am not afraid of anything at all, let the angel of death appear! I will tear him apart! It doesn’t matter which state I’m in, I will use it as a springboard to ascend further!”

This means that after the November Congress we all transition to a continuous ascent! There are no more falls! Every spiritual descent that we experience should be transformed into an ascent through our intentions.

Even when I sense a fall, it allows me to realize that I haven’t yet reached the top of the ladder, but through my intention I am already in the World of Infinity. Let the emptiness manifest itself within my receiving desires, I am ready to rise above it. On one hand, I descend revealing my evil, and on the other, I immediately rise above it through the intention to bestow.

We want to experience such continuous progress after the Congress, so that whatever potholes and bumps are on our path, we will all perceive them as an ascent.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, Shamati #42

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The greater an obstacle on my path, the greater “help from the opposite” I see in it, meaning that I become similar to the Light according to the character and properties of my egoism. If I rise above my egoism, in all of its properties, I can become similar to the Light. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to equalize myself to it.

I have to feel all these obstacles to the smallest detail. I become included in them and I rise above them through the force of the Light. However, they are precisely what shape me in the form of the Light since neither the Light nor the desire to enjoy has their own form. How else can we achieve this similarity? How can we connect two absolute opposites: the desire and the Light?

For this reason they are divided by partitions, rungs of the ladder, or degrees as a way of connection between them. The desire to enjoy, by absorbing all these obstacles, eventually becomes similar to the Light. Inside it remains the same desire to receive pleasure. However, these filters help it become similar to the Light. It only needs to rise above these filters! It should not take them as obstacles which weaken the Light, but rather include them into itself in the opposite form. This is called to advance by “faith above reason.”

We need to rise from the state where Bina is included into Malchut and Malchut rules over Bina to the opposite state: where Bina rules over Malchut and the properties of Bina become the defining ones. All these forms between Infinity (Keter) and the final, fourth stage (Malchut) are called the names (properties) of the Creator. They serve as examples for the Light to create Malchut and influence her.

At the same time, Malchut can use the opposite HaVaYaH (from herself toward Keter) and be clothed in the Light (to converse with the Light) in order to become similar to it. These eight Sefirot between Keter and Malchut are like a common language possible between the Light and the desire, between the Creator and the creature.

For this reason they are called the holy names since a name is a revelation, meaning the attainment of the Creator’s specific property in relation to us, Malchut. However, whatever I do not attain I cannot define by a name.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/7/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: How do we help and support the friends who are in the state of descent?

Answer: First of all, support them internally, through a prayer, request, and collective thought about everyone. We have all “signed” an “agreement” about a mutual guarantee (Arvut) and mutual assistance on the spiritual path. Hence, we must make certain that everyone participates one hundred percent, and this depends solely on the group’s support.

I shouldn’t blame a friend if he is unable to exert maximum effort in reaching the goal; I should blame myself for his weakness, that I am unable to awaken him. In truth, he completely depends on me. A mutual support at the time when nobody has strength and yet each gives a hundred percent, this is called a mutual guarantee.

If I signed the agreement, it means that I pledged to provide spiritual advancement for all. I agree to help everyone attain the goal; like a co-signer on a bank statement, I guarantee that my friend will have the strength to stay focused on the goal.

If I signed it, it means that now it depends on me! If my friend falls, I have to understand that he falls in my eyes, in relation to me, in order to give me an opportunity to awaken him. And by reviving him, I revive a part of my soul.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, “And Jacob Went Out”

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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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When I read the text of The Zohar, it’s not good if the text conceals the purpose of reading from me. I must constantly check: What exactly do I desire by reading it?

First and foremost, I desire for the reading of The Book of Zohar to reveal my illness: egoism, and then to heal it by helping me acquire the quality of bestowal instead of it. I want to acquire unity with others who aspire to the same goal. This is called the intention before the study.

After preparing the intention or the reason why I read The Book of Zohar, I can then start to read it. If I am consistently able to maintain the intention, then I can allow myself to also listen to the text and its meaning.

This is similar to a sick person who is in a critical state: He reads a medical book only in order to find the remedy. Nothing else interests him! He doesn’t care about the style of the text or the details of the story. He only looks for the remedy (the elixir of life: the Light)!

Therefore, first and foremost we must have the right intention, and after that we can listen to the details about what The Zohar narrates. There is nothing more important than receiving the “medical procedure” because we don’t understand any of the actual story until we enter that state ourselves.

Why then did the authors of The Zohar write all of these stories for us? It was in order for us to make efforts to keep the intention. Only after that, to the extent it is possible, can we allow ourselves to listen to the story while desiring to reveal it through the intention. We have to realize that we are not living these states and don’t understand the text, but we do desire to reveal it and aspire to be inside the state that is being described. Then we can understand the text and connect to it.

My primary desire is to attain the spiritual quality through the right attitude to The Book of Zohar. After that I can pay attention to the text and be sure that I will understand it correctly. This is called “desiring to attain what you study,” as written in Item 155 of “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

The text of The Zohar is the place where I perform my inner work and make the inner discernments regarding where I am. First I must have an intention in relation to the goal, and then a sensation in relation to the text.

We have to feel the depths of the layers of attainment. This is called “Engaging in the Torah and the Commandments,” and “Studying the Torah.”

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, The Zohar

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