Baal HaSulam, “The Writings of Baal HaSulam Volume 1, “The Quality of the Wisdom of the Hidden in General,” This Superior Principle Is Defined in One, Unique, and Unified One: It is obvious that the upper one is one. He comprises the whole of reality and all the times—past, present, and future—for one cannot give that which one does not have. Had the whole of reality and the existence of reality not been included in Him they would not have emerged from Him, as is evident to any scrutinizer, and without minding that we find corruptions in the manners of the existence of reality.

Indeed, know that this is the study that the sages of the hidden call “one.” The first to study it was Abraham the Patriarch. (This is explained in the Book of Creation and is therefore attributed to Abraham the Patriarch.) This means that there aren’t two authorities here—good and bad—but only good.

The fundamental principle of the wisdom of Kabbalah is that there is only one force, one goal, one path, and one movement, in the universe, that is, only one source, besides which nothing exists. Hence the saying: “There is nothing else besides Him.”

All that seems to us to exist besides Him, is in fact, Him. The fact that someone somewhere and somehow sees that something supposedly exists is just a slight misalignment, a difference from the center, when you have to combine two lines so that they hit the target slot exactly. Then, the person will again begin to feel that there is none besides the Creator.

All deviations from the concept of “one, unique, and unified” are given to us so that we will repeatedly strive to confirm it and merge ourselves with it. This is the goal of our development. Development is to enter and dissolve in this unity.

It does not fit into our mind, memory, nor in our analytical capabilities because for this we need to completely redo our approach, our view of the goal, the world, space, time, motion, and in general, everything. We should relate everything to only one sensation: I exist or He alone.

Question: So, I do not exist? Is there only Him?

Answer: Of course, I do not exist. I exist only when I differ from Him or when I merge with Him.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/27/19

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Stages of Development of Creation

The Creator emanates the Light (+) of fulfillment, satisfaction, which gives birth to a desire for it, the Kli (vessel) (-).

The Light is stage 0 (Keter). The first stage, Hochma, is already a desire to receive that wants to enjoy the Light. This desire is natural, instinctive. We usually depict it in the shape of a cup receiving the Light.

After the Light created the desire, it began to transform. Now it wants to be like the Light, and therefore, it refuses to enjoy. The Light gradually transfers its properties of bestowal, and the desire, which now wants to bestow on its own and be similar to the Light, empties out. This is the third stage, Bina.

Question: If at stage one I wanted to receive, then in stage two, under the influence of the Light, do I suddenly want to bestow, become like the Light?

Answer: Under the influence of the Light you begin to change.

The third stage is a very interesting one. It is opposite from the first stage, meaning that here the created being achieves the state opposite to the one it was created in. Afterward, Bina decides: “If I want to bestow, I must realize myself.” Therefore, with its desire to bestow, it creates a new stage called Zeir Anpin.

This is a desire to receive but a very small one, not as big as the stage of Hochma.

Question: Why is stage two insufficient? After all, we become like the upper force that bestows.

Answer: No. We become like the upper force in our intention, but not in our form. We do not bestow anything in Bina, we simply refuse to receive. But when Bina realizes itself in Zeir Anpin, the third stage, this is how it realizes itself as similar to the Creator.

Therefore, Keter is the property of the Creator to bestow. Hochma is the realization of this desire, bestowal. Bina receives the property that Hochma passes on to it, and in turn, refuses to receive.

But for now, it has nothing to give and it does not even want to.

In the third stage Zeir Anpin, Bina realizes its property of bestowal. It is as if it has given birth to it, created this next property, and fulfilled it.

Question: So, in this third stage, I both give and take a little?

Answer: Yes. Zeir Anpin is complex, compound, as if it consists of two parts, as does Bina. Hochma also consist of two parts and so does Keter. Meaning, the desire to receive is always present.

When Zeir Anpin is completely filled by Bina, it begins to feel that what is most important to it is to be filled rather than refusing to receive. Therefore, the property that desires to be filled is called Malchut (kingdom)—the kingdom of desires.

Malchut is completely opposite to Keter. Meaning that finally the creation, which is completely opposite to the Creator, wants to realize what He has planned for it. Meaning that the Creator wants to bestow, and Malchut wants to receive what Keter wants to bestow.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah” 11/27/18

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The Plan Of Creation—To Bring Enjoyment To Creation

Question: What is the purpose of creation?

Answer: The purpose of creation is of utmost importance. It precedes everything created to where we are now.

The purpose of creation is to bring enjoyment to the creation. In order to accomplish this, creation has to have a desire to enjoy. Therefore, first there has to be a lack in creation, a sensation of what creation wants. The main quality of the matter of creation is the sensation that it lacks something. This is called “the desire to receive pleasure.”

This desire should develop gradually because creation will be able to determine what is desirable and undesirable for itself, at what stages, in what form, etc., only if the desire develops in a gradual manner. In other words, creation cannot be created immediately. One can quickly build a machine that will perform a certain function, but in order for creation to be independent, for it to become similar to its Creator, for it to enjoy, the desire has to go through certain stages of development.

Question: It turns out that even the Creator cannot create a creation at once, without any stages of development?

Answer: The answer is no. If creation wouldn’t go through a gradual process of development, then it would not be a creation. It would be like a robot, similar to the inanimate, vegetative and animal levels of nature that automatically carry out their programming without any freewill and independent participation on their behalf.

To create a human being is to develop the desire to a point of independence, bringing it to an awareness who it is, what it is, who controls it, and why and how it has been created specifically the way it has. On one hand, this desire has to have qualities opposite to the Creator, and on the other hand, it has to have the opportunity to achieve the Creator’s properties. This is how creation can eventually reach perfection. Therefore, everything begins with the Creator’s influence on creation.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah,” 11/27/18

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Question: Is there a personality cult in Kabbalah? Do you believe in the infallibility of some authors or should everything be treated with a certain degree of skepticism?

Answer: Frankly speaking, I, with my little spiritual attainment, cannot afford to rate Kabbalists. Indeed, despite the fact that I feel, comprehend, attain, and dwell in some spiritual space, I am in it at the level of a fifteen-year-old boy in our world.

What can I say about it? In the spiritual world when you comprehend even at such a level, it gives you the feeling that you are just a young person, you still don’t know much, and therefore, you cannot open your mouth, criticize, or give any assessment.

Can I criticize such great Kabbalists like my teacher Rabash and his father Baal HaSulam or those who preceded them: Baal Shem Tov and the Ari? They are all in absolute attainment of the Creator. Therefore, I have nothing to say in this matter.

I accept their books as absolute knowledge. Those are people who made no mistakes in rising to their level, and their level is practically in the Final Correction (Gmar Tikkun).

The only difference between them is that each attained it from the root of his soul, so there is a difference in the presentation. But for me, it is actually good. I read from one angle about the attainment of the upper world, then from another, from a third, and it develops me.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/10/19

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Question: What is the difference in the system of writing between Baal HaSulam and Ramak?

Answer: There is a huge difference between them. As a matter of fact, Ramak explained everything from the perspective of the spreading of the light, whereas the Ari explained from the perspective of the correction of the Kelim, vessels, and desires. Since we are a vessel and desire, the system of the Ari is closer to us.

As for Baal HaSulam, he is like the continuation of the Ari; therefore, his writings explain the same system of the screens.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 03/10/19

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Remark: When Baal HaSulam found the Ari’s book The Tree of Life, he was very happy and was full of hope: “Finally I found it!” However, as your teacher Rabash recounted, he did not know that only after 20 years would he be able to understand what he had found and would begin to comprehend it.

It is not easy for a person to hear that all this will start to penetrate him in 15-20 years.

My Comment: No, it is not a problem. It is a natural and necessary condition of attaining the upper world because you have to build the elements to sense it in yourself, its awareness and attainment.

It is not easy because it is born in us and accumulates in small pieces. This is how our sensual and intellectual apparatus works, that is, the heart that feels and the mind, which evokes definitions and concepts. Therefore, this combination of two systems, sensual and thinking, we cannot comprehend. Our world does not have this.

In music, in art, in anything in our world, there is no clear connection between a sensation of understanding and feelings, how one depends on the other.

The connection between them occurs precisely in Kabbalah. That is why it takes so much time.

But it does not matter. It is important that you build this correct conjugation in yourself between sensation and understanding, in order from sensation to influence understanding and from understanding to influence sensation. This is the structure of the soul, and you need to build it in yourself.

Gradually, it is created in you, only it takes some time. So what? You are all mostly young. Even if there are elderly people among us, I assure you that they will have time to reach the level of the upper world, eternity, and perfection in this lifetime.

No one is given Kabbalah to simply touch on and stop there. If a person came to Kabbalah, if he heard about it, then it means that in this lifetime he can realize this opportunity. Everything depends on his efforts.
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From the Lesson in the Russian Language, 3/10/19

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Question: Why did Baal HaSulam burn about 50 of his articles like “The Last Generation,” and “Peace in the World”? What have we lost?

Answer: I cannot say what we have lost. He simply did not finish most of these articles because he was banned from publishing them.

There are many opponents of Kabbalah. Nowadays we also see on the Internet how many ill-wishers we have. But this does not prevent us from disseminating.

At that time, dissemination was impossible. An application was submitted to the British mandate, which was then in charge of the country, and Baal HaSulam was banned from publishing his articles. Therefore, he said: “This is a sure sign that I should not be writing.”

It is a shame, of course, because we lost a massive amount of unique material. However, probably, it should be so. Otherwise, there would be too much material for us and we would not know what to do.

Question: Why do you often say that the burning of manuscripts is also a revelation?

Answer: The fact is that when a Kabbalist writes and then burns the writing, it means this has already been written down in our world, already sounded, read, and passed through the sensation of man. That is, the upper force has realized itself in this person. If it has already been realized in someone, felt by him, then it will be achievable by others. After that, he can burn everything, it doesn’t matter anymore.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/10/19

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Israel is celebrating book week. It is clear that the publication and consumption of books increased dramatically over the last year. Despite the popularity of smartphones, it is evident that many new books were written and published. More and more people buy and read books.

Books will never die. Of course, it is very convenient to work on a computer preparing and editing texts and drawings. However, in order to get a full impression from a literary work of art, it must be in print. A book has a spiritual root that combines “the book, the author, and the story” (Sefer-Sofer-Sipur).

A book is not necessarily a printed volume. It can be a scroll or a carving on a stone, but it can never be on a screen because such text is not a work of human hands. A book is written by a person who has put an effort into its pages, into print. When I hold a book in my hands and read it, I feel that it belongs to me and I personally connect with its content.

I cannot, however, connect with a computer screen; it has no spiritual root. A computer, a screen, or a tablet do not exist in nature, but a book does. A book is created from natural materials in order to preserve knowledge and make a record of it in nature. I can never have the connection with the computer screen the way I have with a book because once the computer is turned off, everything disappears. The feeling comes from the spiritual root that is present in a book. There is an association between the person’s spiritual root and that of a book, which ensures our connection. Nothing, however, connects me with a computer. If you compare the impression received from the same work in a book format versus the computer screen, you will find that the printed text has a much greater effect on you.

The spiritual root of a book is connected with the root of the soul, and we can feel it. When I read a book, my soul unites with the spiritual root of the book and receives fulfillment. One can never get such fulfillment from the computer. A modern person cannot understand this because he has long forgotten printed books and lives in a virtual world. Computers are made of plastic, which breeds plastic knowledge and plastic hearts.

One does not print a text on the computer screen because a moment later, the screen will show something else. The text appears and then it disappears—it is not there. But if I pick up a book, it contains the thoughts and the desires of the author forever.

You must hold a book in your hands and read it letter by letter because it is an expression of the spiritual root. Thus, technology can further develop, but the book is eternal because it contains a spiritual root. Reading a book brings a certain pleasure, which is unachievable when reading from a screen. By reading from a screen, we obtain knowledge, but from the book we get the feeling.

The book unites the book-the author-the story (Sefer-Sofer-Sipur). There is a writer and his story conveyed to us in a book. A reader receives knowledge from the author and it becomes a part of him. Through the narrative, the author is able to deliver his story from inside the book, and share the root of his soul with a reader. There is no other way to convey an inner impression from one person to another.

Scientific knowledge, tables, and information can be transferred via the computer. But an emotional book that awakens love in one’s soul, a feeling of unity, is incomparable to a computer.

The people of Israel are called “the people of the book” because they were the ones who gave the world its main book that talks about the purpose of this world, about the structure of the entire system of the universe. There is only one book and all the others are its consequences, its small branches. The book of Torah explains the existence of the entire system of the world and our mission in such a system.

If I read a Kabbalistic book now, I am influencing its author although he died two thousand years ago because I am using the result of his work. Through our connection, through the unity in our hearts and souls, through my desire to influence the author, I have an impact on him. I elevate his soul as he elevates mine.
From A “Talk About ‘The Week Of The Book’,” 6/13/19

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Question: How can I check if I need the science of Kabbalah for my corporeal life?

Answer: I don’t know what you are looking for in your corporeal life.

The science of Kabbalah is not meant to bring you comfort in this life but to reveal the connection with the Creator, with the upper force of nature that governs us. If one asks himself a question: “Where do I come from? For what? What is the meaning of life?”—it means that a person wants to reveal it.

Kabbalah gives a person the answers to the questions about our existence, why we live and die, etc. It does not have to make your life in this world any better. This is not its purpose.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/9/19

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Michael Laitman and Len Saxe: Message for the Jewish People

Leonard Saxe, PhD
Director, Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies
Director, Steinhardt Social Research Institute
Brandeis University

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