Question: How do you see The Study of the Ten Sefirot? To me, it seems like something totally abstract. How could someone write it?

Answer: You are right. When I first came to Kabbalah and saw that it uses incomprehensible terms to describe some unclear interrelationships between who knows what, I didn’t understand what kind of wisdom, belief system, or religion it is. It was simply very strange, just like reading about something that is totally unfamiliar, just like finding a diary of total strangers.

Then, for a long while, I read and studied it by heart and tried to make sense of it. Thanks to the close relationship with my teacher and my dissemination activities, I began to understand that by studying the totally unfamiliar ties between unfamiliar objects, I evoke their influence upon me. By the way, this is quite ordinary in our world: We begin to deal with something that is totally unfamiliar to us, we learn about it, and it becomes clear to us.

After several years of studying, the same thing happened to me: I began to feel much more clearly that I exist in some network of connections between people. They were certainly not among the bodies, but rather among their essences, among their desires and their thoughts. Everyone is part of this network: those who lived in this world, are living in it now, and haven’t been born into it yet, and they exist there as equals, regardless of their physical bodies.

Everything I learned in the wisdom of Kabbalah turned into the explanation of these ties, from the strongest to the most broken ones. It explained the conditions under which these ties improve, what the quality of the ties depends on, the limitations on our deeds, and more. This perception was very theoretical, in the form of the network of connections between the “self” of every individual. By the way, I wrote about this network created by the upper force, upon which all the worlds including ours rest, in my first Kabbalah book in 1983.

The more you exert yourself so that the network between your “self” and everyone else’s “self” is revealed, the stronger is the influence of this network that you evoke upon yourself (the Surrounding Light, the Light that Reforms, the Light of the Torah), and this network, the mutual connections of all of creation, becomes clearer and clearer to you. Thus, our world grows pale in contrast to the upper network of forces that determines everything.

Afterwards, it becomes quite clear which of your efforts (desires) evoke certain reactions in the network. Thus a conscious movement begins (conscious actions) through the correct inclusion (bestowal) in the network.

By attaining this network (the spiritual world, these ties), we begin to attain the entire development of our world: to draw closer towards this network and reveal the self (the Creator) in it. We begin to understand the reasons for the global crisis and its solution in order to hasten our inclusion in the network—in the upper world, in the attributes of love and bestowal that reign there.
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When we study The Study of the Ten Sefirot or “Pticha” (“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”), we should first learn the diagrams mechanically. Then, when you have the whole system before your eyes, you can ask: “Why is it so?”

First, we have to accept everything that is written there “as is,” meaning as reality, and then you will start distinguishing the reason why everything is arranged this way. We cannot swallow the whole wisdom at once because our vessels grow, become clearer, and connect in a certain order.

Hence, there is no point in building new theories; rather, we have to learn everything from nature. In nature, we are moving from externality to internality. So, first we perceive the picture (the sketch), and then we penetrate further in, deeper and deeper, until we come to the essence.

Otherwise, we corrupt the entire approach for the revelation of reality. Ninety nine percent of the people who quit studying are those who fail to arrange for themselves the right approach to revelation. We all are here to reveal the upper world. However, he who does not understand that “there is none else besides Him,” that all there is comes from the Creator, that we need to justify Him, that we need to see all negative things as “help against me” and arrange them in such way that specifically thanks to these obstacles we would rise and clarify more exalted, inner, and subtle concepts, such a person will not succeed.

If a person fails to arrange those things one after the other so as to reach the right perception, it turns out that “a thousand enter a room, but only one exits towards the Light.” We have to follow the example of children and learn from Nature. A child doesn’t know much; he doesn’t know what his father does, but he wants to do the same. He copies adults’ actions without getting their internal sense and plays with a plastic hammer without thinking too much. This is what we need: Without too much deliberation, we need to draw a sketch of Keter, Aba ve Ima, Arich Anpin.… For now, it’s sufficient for me.

Then I start penetrating deeper and deeper. This is the only way to advance; it is a science, and it is supposed to be learned this way. It is not The Zohar that we study as a “miraculous remedy” (Segula). The Study of the Ten Sefirot and “Pticha” are all about diagrams and drawings; otherwise, you’ll be detached and will simply wait for the Light that Reforms. But it won’t happen this way. We still need to get inspired from this wisdom since we want to find within ourselves all the elements that are being described in the books in the language of Kabbalah.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/2011, “Pticha”

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In the past, Kabbalists who wished to reveal the spiritual world had to start in our world and work through it, through various sciences, with enormous efforts and suffering, meaning they had to pull themselves directly from matter itself to the revelation of the spiritual world and reveal the correct system of connections between people.

But then the compositions of the Ari were revealed, in which he explains about the inner connections that unite us through various special systems of relationships: ZON, YESHSUT, Aba ve Ima, Arich Anpin, and so on. By that he explains to us what forms of connection we can be in, how their different connections influence us, and how we can influence them ourselves and awaken these forms of connection. What happens there is the same thing as in our world, but in the quality of bestowal.

Just like in our world where we are able to activate certain types of connections so they would in turn begin influencing us, the same net of relationships connects us in the spiritual world as well, except that it is more internal. Thus, we go from materialistic psychology to the spiritual one, and then we reveal the true connection between the souls, the people living now and the people who lived before. It does not matter whether a person exists in this world right now or not. What’s important is to tune into this net. Then it’s as if our world evaporates, loses its importance because it is just an external imprint through which we have to enter inside.

The Ari described all of this, and the Baal Shem Tov taught how to work with all of the soul’s loyalty (Mesirut Nefesh), saying, “The Creator is your shadow.” And now, after all of this, by working in the group (which was restored by Baal Shem Tov anew, after Rashbi) we can draw the Light that reforms from this net. We do not simply attain it with our desires and forces, but attract an illumination called the Light that reforms, the Light of the Torah, the Surrounding Light, to ourselves from above, from this net.

After all, if we study the structure of this system and aspire to it all together, wishing to organize the same forms of connection among us, then it doesn’t even matter whether we understand it or not—our effort will awaken the influence of this force upon us.

It’s just like in our world: If we want to attain any system, then we become part of it, study it in various forms, and gradually begin to feel it. Suddenly, a picture of this system comes together inside of us and we understand what this is and how it is possible to connect and work with it. The same thing happens in the spiritual world: Only a person’s intention changes. When he becomes included in the upper system, he does it for the sake of bestowing himself to this system. The more he becomes included in it, the further he advances toward revealing it.

This requires great work with the teacher, the friends, the whole world, and the studies. All of this connects together.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/2/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

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Question: I’ve been trying to place materials from your blog into the Facebook network, but I see that they don’t get through to people….

Answer: Look at how Baal HaSulam wrote the newspaper, “The Nation.” Is it something you can place in social networks? But a newspaper has to be close to people. In reality, he writes deeply and clearly. If you read it closely, you will simply be struck by his analysis and will truly enjoy it. However, he intends it for a specific level, for people who think and understand.

That is how I am built as well: I cannot lower my explanations completely. Others will do that. I am simply incapable of less. My blog is based on lesson and lecture materials, so don’t wait for anything extraordinary to appear here. This is your work. I have done my job by conveying to you the science of Kabbalah and all the principles of activity in the conditions of the modern world. You have all the keys. With time, as changes take place, I will add more, but in principle, you have already received everything.

And now you are coming to me with demands? I write my blog for those who are able to understand it, and for those who may possibly use it in a few years. You won’t receive anything more from me, not in the spiritual sense nor the corporeal. You have already received everything and the rest depends on how you use what you have received.

I convey to people what I can and how I can. This is what I received from my teacher Rabash and what I revealed with him and after his passing from the primary sources, which were mainly written by him and Baal HaSulam. Whoever wants to hear it hears it, and whoever doesn’t want to, doesn’t hear it. Anyone can come and listen, and anyone can leave without saying a word and never come back again.

This is how I act and this is my attitude. A person will perceive as much as he will. Let him come or leave. Let him carry out some of what he has heard, or let him not carry it out. I cannot control this and this is not my work. I let people have total freedom. And if anyone wants to work, whether for salary or for free, our dissemination system presents them with specific demands according to the work plan.

I am not planning to build anything besides this. If someone doesn’t understand what he has to do, it is his problem. I don’t have anything besides what I give at the morning lesson. Everything else is not my work.

You are sitting here and looking at me expectantly, and you can just keep looking. But I would not look in your place. A person has to come, receive the teaching, accept it as a mission or instruction, and carry it out. And this happens over and over again. Without the realization phase, one simply doesn’t advance but “bottles himself up.”

This is described by the verse, “More wisdom than deeds.” This kind of person has no future and his study only worsens the situation. It’s better for him to leave, and I am saying this with all seriousness. I prefer for that person not to be here. If a person does not realize himself as much as possible in dissemination and the world’s correction, then his leaving will benefit both him and me.

Therefore, I am not sorry when people leave and I don’t run after anyone. This is not done in spirituality. Everything depends on the environment that you build or fail to build. Everything depends on whether you are helping the world or not. My only task is to tell you about what you should be doing. But I am not meant to enact the realization.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/11, “The Nation”

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I heard from the Admor from Kalushin that in the previous times, the attainment of the Creator had to be preceded by the study of all seven external sciences called “seven maids serving the king’s daughter” and terrible asceticism.

Despite all this, a few found grace in the eyes of the Creator. However, from the time we have merited the teaching of the Ari and the service of Baal Shem Tov, it is truly suitable for every person, and people no longer need the aforementioned preparation.
– Baal HaSulam, Fruit of the Wise – Letters, pg. 116, Letter 38
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

There is a strict condition during the engagement in this wisdom: to not materialize the matters with imaginary and corporeal issues…. To rescue the readers from any materialization, I composed the book Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) by the Ari, in which I collected his major explanations and presented them in a simple and easy language.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 156

Most students materialized the matters explained in Kabbalistic books and although the spiritual concepts are above time and above place, pictured them as set in times and places. Additionally, they were confused by the fact material is expressed in corporeal terms.

Thus, I have come out with this preface, to connect the matters and the foundations of the wisdom in a concise manner, so it will be readily available to those who want to study this science.
– Baal HaSulam, “General Preface to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 1
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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Baal HaSulam, by his corrections in the upper world, prepared it so that any person can achieve Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator. Before him, one had to be an outstanding wise disciple to be rewarded with adhesion with the Creator. And before the Baal Shem Tov, one had to be among the greatest in the world. Otherwise, they would not be able to attain Godliness.
– Rabash, Steps of the Ladder, “The Deeds of the Nation’s Greatest”

The depth of wisdom in the holy Book of Zohar is enclosed and caged behind a thousand locks, and our human tongue too poor to provide us with sufficient, reliable expressions to interpret one thing in this book to its end. My Sulam commentary is a ladder to help the examiner rise to the height of the matters and examine the words of the book itself. Hence, I have found it necessary to prepare the reader and give him a route and an inlet in reliable definitions concerning how one should contemplate and study The Book of Zohar.
– Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Item 1
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Question: Where is the line between realizing your advice and blindly worshiping you?

Answer: The line is critical analysis. A person who works correctly does not agree with the teacher and feels hatred, antagonism, and total scorn for him, but at the same time he overcomes it, rises above himself, and accepts the teacher’s instructions from the bottom of his heart, completely annulling himself before the teacher.

A worshiper has just one side of the coin: He bends down without any criticism. He runs away from any negative thought like from fire. However, that is not the case with us. Yet, it also doesn’t mean that one must artificially try to evoke protest and repulsion within.

Simply start getting closer to your neighbor, and you will see how hateful he is to you. Hate has to become expressed in concordance with the need for love. Otherwise it won’t be creative. We do not fan it; it comes by itself.

Therein lies the verification: love and hatred act together, parallel to one another, while a person works in the middle line, above both of them.
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From the lesson on 9/9/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYakhel (And Moses Assembled),” Item 226: It is forbidden to read in the book of Torah, but only one alone, and everyone listens and keeps silent so that they hear his words as though they had just received it from Mount Sinai. And above the one who is reading the Torah there should be one standing above him, ascending to the Torah, and keeping silent so that only one speaking will be heard and not two.

One should not forget that we are talking about one person. The one who reads the Torah and the one who listens to it, the nation, the Creator and the creature, the mountain and the pillar by which people are praying, all these properties exist in one person. All of them are his inner states. We have to recognize them within ourselves and find out what exactly every word or property relates to.

We are dealing with the revelation of the upper nature to the creature according to the similarity of properties in the degree of the corrections it undergoes. Reading means revelation.

If a person is unable to imagine the true state, it is better to not imagine anything. Otherwise he will begin to imagine a corporeal picture: How they take the book of Torah from a cabinet, bring it to the raised platform from where the Torah is read, and start reading it. That’s all. However, this is not what The Zohar is talking about.

True, these are all symbols reflected in corporeality. However, from them a person has to rise to the original form. Instead of the imaginary world that is being revealed to us now, he needs to reveal the true world: the desire to receive pleasure corrected in all of its parts that manifest in some form, as well as the book of Torah, the revelation of the Light within the desire.

Our desire is constantly changing. It is similar to the letters constantly flying out and becoming revealed, while the vowel marks (Taamim, Nekudot, and Tagin) fill the letters. This way a person reveals the Light within the vessel or desire. This is called the reading the book of Torah, about which it is said that a person has to write the book of Torah on his heart. The heart is all his desires.

Then all my desires, all my properties, and everything existing within me will turn into the letters of Torah. When I want to organize them correctly, I fill these letters with “tastes (Taamim),” “dots (Nekudot),” and “crowns (Tagin).” Then I have the text of the book of the Torah, which I live and sense on myself. This is my spiritual life. The person himself becomes the flow of the text of the Torah. No person is separate from the Torah or separate from the letters of the Torah. All of it is the person himself.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/2011, The Zohar

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