A New Book In Czech
Posted on August 19th, 2010
My book Basic Concepts in Kabbalah is being published in The Czech Republic.
My book Basic Concepts in Kabbalah is being published in The Czech Republic.
Question: I am an ordinary person and just want to live in peace. I get life’s blows from time to time but never think about the purpose of life. I see people studying Kabbalah and it does them good. But I just want to live in peace. Do I have to study Kabbalah too?
Answer: Yes, you do. It’s because the wisdom of Kabbalah will tell you how to attain a peaceful life. You don’t have to seek the Creator, the future world, or the spiritual worlds. But someone who does seek those will receive them. If you wish solely for comfort, you will have it.
Since the wisdom of Kabbalah leads a person to harmony with all, everyone will receive what they wish from such a state. It is called “Man” (manna) that “sustains in the desert” (the empty will to receive), and everyone obtains the desired taste in it.
You desire a peaceful life? Here you go! If you wish it the other way around, a life full of adventures, you will get it as well!
Question cont.: What if I want a million dollars?
Answer: A million dollars is a sensation of pleasure, not the amount of “green” paper bills. You will receive pleasure equal to that of having a million dollars for it merely measures to what degree we are filled.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events
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Kabbalah was the source of Rav Kook’s teachings. He viewed Kabbalah as the foundation for creating a new state and society in Israel where the prime directive would be the law of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Basic Concepts of Rav Kook’s Teaching
A nation represents a single organism and has to attain the same state of oneness through its own effort. In doing so, the nation becomes close to the Creator. Each member of society has to know their role and because of their uniqueness, not in spite of it, they become a part of the whole, the nation, and consequently the world. Only then does a person fulfill his purpose: reaches equivalence to the Creator. An individual cannot merge with the Creator unless he unites with the others: “From the love of others to the love of the Creator.”
The nation of Israel can exist only as a single entity that yearns for mutual love and bestowal for the purpose of uniting with the Creator through the equivalence of form. With this in mind, Abraham created this nation from the Babylonians, and mutual love was the foundation of their existence.
While in exile (opposite to the Creator), outside of the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel – the desire to be similar to the Creator), there is no nation of Israel. In order to restore their relationship with the Creator, the people returned to the Land of Israel and formed a state, an opportunity to correct themselves and become one.
Therefore, forming the State of Israel signifies the beginning of the correction of the nation of Israel and consequently all of mankind. Together, they will ascend to the level of the Creator. As to the religious laws, they should remain solely within the social and cultural aspects of our existence.
Forming a state helps to achieve a nation-wide responsibility for correction, first of the nation of Israel, and afterwards of all of humanity. Mankind has evolved and is now ready to absorb Kabbalah, the method of the revelation of the Creator.
It’s time for the nation of Israel to return from their spiritual exile and illuminate the path of revelation of the Creator for the nations of the world. This is the only way to receive support from all of the people of the world for building the state of Israel.
In case the nation of Israel fails to accomplish the mission assigned to them, if they are unable to bring the method of correction to the people of the world, then its state will be destroyed and its people will be exiled again.
Although Zionism doesn’t realize what is at stake, it must eventually acknowledge the need for Kabbalah and employ the method of revelation of the Creator (the Upper governing Force) as the state and world constitution. The unique mission of the nation of Israel lies in serving mankind on its path of correction and being the “light for the nations of the world” (Prophet Isaiah).
More about Rav Kook and his connection with Baal HaSulam is in my book The Two Great Lights (in Hebrew).
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The ARI is a great soul which descended into our world in order to open the gates of wisdom for us. Therefore, as Baal HaSulam writes, from the time of the ARI and onward, everything depends on a person: He has to correct himself and thereby reveal the Creator, come to adhesion with Him, and achieve the purpose of creation. Before the ARI, this door was closed altogether because the souls were not yet ready. They still needed to undergo a certain path of development and to mix together.
The ARI symbolizes the period of the Messiah which is why he is called Messiah son of Joseph. From his time forward, the science of Kabbalah began to acquire the form of a method of correction. Before then, it was intended only for a chosen few and was presented in a special form.
We ought to respect the Kabbalists who were living in Safed at the same time as the ARI as they recognized his greatness and appreciated him. The Ramak was already old, famous, and esteemed, but he went to the ARI’s lessons. He sat there as a student despite the fact that he was twice the ARI’s age and recognized as a great Kabbalist.
Thanks to the Ramak and several other Kabbalists who recognized the ARI’s attainment, the ARI was protected from the opponents of Kabbalah. After all, he had several young (26 year old) students, and the attitude toward Kabbalah at the time was far from positive. We may think that everything was allowed as some people tend to write nowadays, but this was not the case.
In this sense, the ARI’s life is similar to that of the Ramchal who was persecuted for studying Kabbalah and exiled from the ghetto of Padua, Italy where he lived. However, the Gaon of Vilna (Agra) testified to his greatness, and the Ramchal was left alone.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8: Our sages have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Indeed, that Godly man, our 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 was given to Israel. There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor.
The entire method of correction came to us from the ARI. He actualized everything that was prepared by all the preceding Kabbalists. The soul of the ARI has such a special place in the common system of souls that from his time onwards the Light begins to act upon all souls, bringing them to the final correction (Gmar Tikkun).
Before the ARI, all development occurred through the steps 0, 1, 2, 3, and only the ARI, through his corrections in the system of souls, entered the 4th stage and started building the true Malchut in its final form. He is Sefira Yesod (the last one before Malchut) and thus he is called Mashiach ben Yosef (Messiah Son of Joseph, where Joseph signifies Sefira Yesod), after which Malchut itself begins its correction.
All the previous souls pertained to the preparation stage of correction. And only with the ARI does the awakening of all souls begin. Obviously, this process takes hundreds of years, but the ARI opened the channel for the Light from the previous three stages to the last, the fourth stage whence the correction begins.
Messiah is the revelation of the Light in the common system of souls. This Light enters Malchut through Yesod. The ARI opens the gate for the Light, and therefore he is called Messiah Son of Joseph. Messiah is a force of correction. The ARI manifests this force that passes down through his soul. While he resides in the collective system, he performs corrections in his soul, and now the Light flows through it into Malchut and acts upon the souls.
Now, however, it is our job to prepare our souls for the ascent from Malchut to Bina. This process pertains to the correction of Malchut, Mashiach ben David (Messiah Son of David).
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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If we fail to awaken the world to spiritual evolution, to the Light that shines ahead, it will be pushed from behind by suffering and thereby forced to advance. This path is very long, till torment forces man to contemplate why he suffers and what to do. Imagine how long it will take and how much pain it will bring!
However, if we somewhat assist mankind’s development by disseminating the science of Kabbalah, we quickly instill advancement and avoid all these blows. We know that everything that occurs at the inanimate (still) degree equates to a single act at the vegetative one. Everything that happens on the vegetative level is equal to a single act at the animate one. Just think about the difference between these states.
There have to be wars, torment, and horrific disasters in order to move us one step up, onto the higher degree. Instead, we can draw the Upper Light and avoid all these problems at the level of this world. We can replace a decade of suffering with our one minuscule individual effort toward spiritual advancement with the help of the Light.
This is how great the difference is between the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature. Hence, we must take serious responsibility for the opportunities handed down to us.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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News from Bnei Baruch San Francisco: Following the conclusion of the Mega Kabbalah Congress, the San Francisco group broadcast a 2-hour Q&A session this past Wednesday in preparation for the upcoming semester at the Learning Center.
The broadcast was extremely successful with over 620 connections. I hope that such broadcasts from the West Coast will become regular, and we will be able to awaken greater and greater numbers of dormant points in the heart.
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After the Mega Kabbalah Congress, many complain about experiencing heaviness and “hardening of the heart.” This is the Pharaoh, our ego, awakening in us. If we now use the power that we have received during the Congress in order to correct the heaviness that descended upon us, we will benefit!
We need to relate to the entire reality as to a single whole. Both ascents and descents are the stages of the same path. Advancement is impossible without these two forces acting one upon the other. The state of excitement is not yet advancement. This is not yet a step forward but only the force received from Above. Afterward, we need to realize it “below.”
If you receive this force and do not wish to realize it, you resemble a clogged pipe that is being pressured from within but is unwilling to pass this pressure further. Next time, you won’t receive anything! You will be forced to leave this path, and someone else will be chosen for this mission from Above.
We should understand that we received a force, and by itself, it doesn’t self-realize. It is our duty to continue working with it by ourselves. If you don’t utilize whatever was given to you, you won’t receive any additional strength and will become increasingly passive.
And on the contrary, anybody who now will quickly invest all the received forces into circulation of Kabbalah will feel himself receiving more and more from Above. We need to open the pipe and let the energy flow freely through it!
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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From Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”: Now you can understand their words (Sanhedrin 98a): “The Son of David comes either in a generation that is all worthy, or all unworthy.”…
Indeed, we should thoroughly understand that this matter of redemption and the coming of the Messiah that we hope will be soon in our days, Amen, is the uppermost wholeness of attainment and knowledge, as it is written, “and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying: ‘Know the Lord’; for they shall all know Me, from the greatest of them unto the least of them.”
When the Children of Israel are complemented with the complete knowledge, the fountains of intelligence and knowledge shall flow beyond the boundaries of Israel and water all the nations of the world, as it is written (Isaiah 11), “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,” and as it is written, “and shall come unto the Lord and to His goodness.”
Every person has to attain the degree called “Messiah.” This degree can only be attained by disseminating the knowledge of the Creator, meaning circulating Kabbalah in the world and to the nations. This has nothing to do with the power of the nation of Israel, but with circulating the idea of the correction of human nature, the idea which will be understood by humanity and will capture its heart.
This is referred to as the “king Messiah,” the kingdom of Isra-El, the intention to achieve the Creator by the way of equivalence of form, when everybody unites as equals in mutual bestowal, thereby revealing the Upper Force and eternal life. This work must be done by every person.
However, there is an added responsibility to complete it for the group of people that received this method of correction in Ancient Babylon. This group called the nation of Israel has already gone through correction in the past, then fell to the state of the rest of the “Babylonians,” mixed with them, and now must undergo correction first because this group contains the record of its past corrected states.
Circulating the method of correction in the world is called the time of the Messiah.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”
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