Question: How does The Book of Zohar fit into Kabbalah?

Answer: The Book of Zohar is the main book in Kabbalah. We study it every day. I have just finished going over The Zohar in order to simplify its language and replace all of the Aramaic words. We are now translating this book into other languages and soon it will be published.

This book explains the laws by which the spiritual, global world operates. The difference between the spiritual world and the material world is not that spirituality is somewhere up in the sky, beyond all the galaxies. The spiritual world is right here, in the same place, but we do not feel it because it works at a different frequency, so to say.

We are looking at the world through our egoistic senses where each person perceives only what is beneficial to himself. But if we change our senses and attitude to the world and desire to see it as being single, great, and one whole, then we will see the world as an integral system of forces right here and now.

This is the world that The Book of Zohar tells us about. However, this book is written in a way that takes the reader and without him even noticing, leads him into the sensation of the new world. That is why it is such a powerful and unusual book. The Zohar works through our mind and feelings, influencing us from all sides.
From my lecture in Paris on 2/1/11

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Question: How do we teach children the language of branches so they will come to understand the roots as quickly as possible?

Answer: I would read the Tanakh (the Pentateuch) with your child and explain the inner meaning to him. Children have good memories and imaginations, and they can easily translate the superficial tale into the internal process that you explain to them.

Then I would suggest to them to do the opposite by writing down the things they see in our world from an internal point of view, using the language of roots instead of branches.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 2/10/11, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: There are situations in life when someone insults me, making me feel very wounded and degraded. What is the exact order of analyzing this kind of situation?

Answer: In our current state, we are unable to tell what the right attitude to reality is. We are confused, being halfway between the sky and the earth. I haven’t revealed the Creator yet, but I am no longer in full concealment either. I perceive all sorts of wise sayings like quotes, expressions, and pieces of knowledge, as revelation, but that is not so. Everything has gotten mixed up inside of me.

That is why Baal HaSulam writes in “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that during these years, a person has to maximally focus his development. This is a period of great confusion when I cannot understand the truth, but I no longer agree with the lie. I am simply thrown about from side to side.

On one hand, there is no one besides the Creator. I am standing in front of Him. So how should I treat reality if the only thing around me is Him? And where am I? If He has screamed at me, should I scream back at Him? But it’s the Creator, so does that mean I have to hold myself back all the time? Should I remain totally humble, even in the face of a death threat? At times one looks at things this way.

In reality, there is not a great deal of advice we can give people in these cases because a person is subject to change at every second. That is why Kabbalists prescribe a specific order of actions for us, which is determined by concealment.

Why do they give us this advice? Because we are subject to the influence of two forces. The Creator did not create a very simple state were I stand before Him and reveal Him without being distracted by anything. Who am “I”? I am the forces of disunity and separation from the Creator. Moreover, these forces appear to me as myself as well as what is around me, but not as the Creator. To me the Creator is an invisible and imperceptible ideal.

The forces of disunity conceal Him from me and I have to unite them into one whole. These forces separate and distance me from the Creator, covering Him up. They divide into two worlds: inner and outer. In essence they belong to one nature of disunity, the egoistic desire, but appear to me dually, as opposites.

I have to unite them with each other and discern precisely the disunity in them. Looking at actions, thoughts, desires, and anything there is around me, I connect the inner and the outer, doing so only in order to attain unity. In that case, if I am able to do this, then I do not err.

We have to apply just one principle here: “A person judges things according to what he sees.” I do not try to reach the One who is concealed from me. But as soon as I unite all of the forces—my own and those of others—into one whole, I discover the single Creator inside.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What stages does a person go through when attaining the science of Kabbalah?

Answer: When a person begins to study, he first learns to perceive this world correctly, even though he studies a higher level, the following dimension where we are all united together, meaning an integral world. Yet, by studying it, we actually begin to understand how separated we are from one another here in this world, and how each one of us eats up the entire system instead of working to complement it together with everyone.

Every person exists like a cancerous cell inside the common body. This sensation and understanding comes precisely by studying the global state of the system. Then the difference between these two levels: the upper one that’s united in harmony, and our level, which is completely divided into individualists and egoists, begins to be felt very acutely.

By studying together with other friends from the whole world, he begins to attract the force of development to himself, which gradually influences him. This force is present inside nature and it begins changing him and making him more connected to others. As a result, he begins to perceive this world as a single, common system.

This happens naturally, from within, but not artificially, the way we forcefully connect one thing with another today. Then a person’s attitude to the world, to life, and to himself changes, as well as his plans for life. And because he begins feeling the world better, more correctly, and more globally, the world becomes transparent for him.

He sees the connections operating behind the external picture of the world, among all the parts of reality. It is like embroidery: on the front side you see flowers, while on the reverse you see the connecting threads that tie all the parts together.

A person sees all of this and is no longer in the dark. He feels how everything is connected together. Thus, he becomes wise and no longer acts foolishly. This is the first phase of attaining the science of Kabbalah.

Next, when a person penetrates deeper, he begins to reveal the levels of connection between all parts of reality. He begins working with all of these connecting forces. Then it becomes clear to him that everyone in this world acts like puppets on strings.
He sees how everything is controlled by these strings, which extend from the reverse side of the “embroidery.” We, who live in this world, have no freedom of choice. Our behavior is determined by genes, hormones, and the forces governing us. But this person attains the level where decisions are made and can determine on his own how to behave and what kind of future he wants to see.

That’s because he sees the general system correctly and becomes included in it, becoming of one opinion with it. His desire begins acting together with the desire of this system. This is the second phase of attainment. After that there are more phases—all together there are five.
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From my lecture in Paris on 2/1/11

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The language of branches is attained when you ascend from this world, and then in the upper world, you reveal the roots of everything existing in this world. But the goal isn’t simply to connect the branch with the root. This language does not connect us with the spiritual world, but with our teachers! This is the means that helps them to teach us.

We do not understand the spiritual language they speak as we did not learn it. And we do not have to know it because we are already familiar with it from our world. That is why we can hear it and learn from them about what happens in the spiritual world.

You open up the book in which some kind of words are written. If you were not living in this world, then you would not understand anything. But from our world, you are already familiar with what Kabbalists talk about, and you desire to attain the root to find out what they are pointing to in the upper world since they do not say a word about the material world.

Kabbalists do not describe our world with even one word. The Torah is not connected to our world and a person who interprets it this way materializes it and commits the greatest crime, creating “idols” for himself. It is talking only about the spiritual world. But in order to speak the same language as you, Kabbalists describe the spiritual world using words of our world in order to awaken some kind of connection or attitude to them within us.

This was deliberately planned in the thought of creation so we would begin rising from our world to the spiritual world. Thus, we have to take all of the means for this existing in this world.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/11, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: How can I accelerate the revelation of the broken desire between myself and the friends?

Answer: We go through states where we are always sent an awakening of evil. The question is: How do I accept that evil? Do I perceive it as a disturbance? Why do I discover that I hate others? Why do conflicts between us keep surfacing?

If you give in to the hatred and don’t want to see one another, then go home, stop uniting, and don’t set your sights on spiritual work. However, this work lies precisely in revealing the evil, the hatred (Sinah), all the way until Mount Sinai. We have to know that this is the path: We are revealing destruction, the breaking.

And no matter how big the extent to which it is revealed, we do not correct it artificially. We do not hold fraternity parties with rowdy toasts following a hearty meal, and we do not “make up” like kids in kindergarten. Rather, we want to correct the evil by means of studying, by means of the Light that Reforms. With the understanding that on the external level there is hatred and repulsion between us, we do not cover it or try to smooth it out. We want the Light to come and change this hatred and repulsion, to turn it into connection, all the way until love.

No matter how much hatred becomes revealed, we do not touch it. We do not strengthen or weaken it; do not suppress it or correct it. We do not do anything to it, but only wish to bring it like a valued treasure to the Light that Reforms.

“Finally I revealed a little bit of hatred! This is the Upper World, but in the reverse. It is the opposite side of the spiritual Kli. When it turns to connection and love, it will become a full-fledged vessel for the Light!”

We have to treat this hatred with great care, making it special, and then bringing it to the Light. Yet, what we do instead is cross it out as if everything is already OK, or we go our separate ways, or split up the group. True, sometimes there are hopeless situations because the people are still weak and cannot act or understand otherwise. Then a division is suitable as a temporary solution. But in essence the real work is done precisely on the background of hatred. So let’s not forget that this is our path: We are working on ourselves.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/11, Writings of Rabash

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Writings of Rabash, ““What Is He Who Does Not Have Children In The Work”: A tree that does not bear fruit is like a childless man who does not give birth to anyone. A person and the Torah are called barren if they do not have children.

Question: How can we refine the common intention that is aimed at help from above?

Answer: Help comes only in response to a desire to unite. That is why we study together to attract the Light of correction. All of us together must discern the desire to unite (the common prayer) because otherwise not one of us will have the right request or the strength to continue on the path.

A person has a basic desire: to feel good. Sometimes in addition to it the question about the meaning of life arises in him, which is a desire to acquire Light. That is when he begins studying the science of Kabbalah. Before he had this additional desire, he developed like an animal following the orders of his earthly desire. We take a person into account only from the moment when he aspires to something higher.

How does a person use all of the inclinations that are given to him? After all, development is only possible by virtue of a desire being added to him from the common Kli . But a person must include himself in it, similar to a tree that receives all the forces from the surrounding environment, such as the earth, air, sun, and so on. If a person knows how to accept everything for the benefit of his spiritual growth, then he will absorb this need from the environment and with it will request the Light that Reforms during the study.

This Light constructs one’s inner process whereby one’s inner qualities, objectives, and notions grow. That is how a person advances. He continuously thinks about how to receive an ascent from the environment. To do this, he has to lower his head before the friends and elevate them in his eyes as the best people of the generation. At the lesson he has to not forget why he studies. In the end, a person only receives an additional awakening from the group, but then the Light has to come and aim him correctly.

Thus, with the help of all of these factors, a person provides himself with the forces for growth. He has to check: Do these forces produce any fruits? On one hand, he advances in the left line, continuously revealing the evil inclination that the Creator made. Alternating with this, he reveals the Torah as a spice: He understands what to do with the evil inclination and how to discern the Torah with its help, which is the Light, the quality of bestowal.

Thus, as a person carries out the advice of Kabbalists, he reaches a certain sensation. Even if it is not a real vestment of Lights into vessels yet, nevertheless new details of perception emerge in him—specks of Light that clothe into Kelim. True, for now it is not felt as fulfillment, but as Surrounding Light—the Light that Reforms. A person is still on the path to the Source. He still hasn’t reached goodness, even to a small degree. Yet, he is moving forward.

Therefore, the most important thing is to fear that he will not have children, that he will remain without a strong desire, will stop halfway and wither by a dried up source. If you have a desire, it is necessary to discern the evil inclination in it, which is formless and opposite to spiritual advancement. Then one has to add the Torah as a spice, the Light that Reforms to this. If the Torah brings fruits, then it is no longer childless.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/8/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: We know from experience that there are ascents and descents on the spiritual path. What can help me avoid running away from the “battlefield”?

Answer: “Running away” does not mean falling off the face of the earth. Instead, you continue to sit at the lessons, you are friendly and good-natured toward your friends, you carry out all the rules of the group, take part in the duties, and pay Maaser, but in essence you have escaped to another place a long time ago with your thoughts and feelings. Or maybe the habit of being in the group has become second nature for you. This is running away.

You are in the right place physically, yet we don’t assess things by bodies, but by desires and intentions, which may have withdrawn far, far away a long time ago. And that means you are not here. In other words, you do not apply your mind and feeling, desires and thoughts during the study in order to merit the Light that Reforms. So it turns out that you have escaped.

You sit here for several years wearing out your pants, and later you ask, “So where’s my reward?” That means your egoistic notions about reward have not changed one bit.

Therefore, a person has to check: Is he escaping or not? This work has to be done ceaselessly, every moment. As Baal HaSulam writes in Item 18 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” it’s important not to get distracted from the most important thing: the Light that Reforms, which is concealed in the Torah.

First and foremost, this has to be done during the study. Even if a person has prepared, he might be running away from the goal in his thoughts at the lesson. If you kept the intention for five minutes and then lost it, then all three hours were wasted.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/11, Writings of Rabash

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We have to carry out several actions in order to ascend to a new level of existence. First of all we have to start feeling ourselves as more dependent on one another. And we really do feel that our world is becoming like that now. Besides, we have to learn the laws existing in this integral system. That is how we realize the science of Kabbalah and its advice.

On one hand, we maintain a virtual connection with one another, and sometimes we even meet physically. On the other hand, we study this new level of existence that is now being revealed to us—the global and integral world that is being revealed more and more from one day to the next as the right connection between all people and the entire human society.

Clearly, by knowing how to connect all of this together the right way, we will be able to build the family, society, all countries, and the whole world in a more corrected form. This mutual dependence between us will help us! It will work to our benefit because we will find out how to use every part for everyone’s benefit.

That is why Kabbalah remained concealed until our time—because there was no need for it. Now, however, it has become absolutely necessary to everyone and we have to disseminate it across the whole world as fast as possible in order for people to start understanding that they are already living a new reality! Our lack of correspondence to this new world is the cause of all our problems. That is why we should learn how to improve our state as quickly as we can.

In the very close future we will see the general crisis envelop the whole world. We won’t be able to make one deal or agreement between us unless we take this global law into consideration. And the problem is that we have never created such integral systems: not in technology, nor in medicine, nor in social networks, and that is because we are individualists by nature. Therefore, we will have to change all the connections that exist between us.

Let us hope that we will learn to do this quickly and will be able to realize it before nature develops to such an extent that it will show us our lack of correspondence to it. We have to forestall it rather than wait for this to become expressed in the form of problems and suffering, revolutions and wars as a result of our imbalance and disharmony with nature on the domestic, human, social, and ecological levels. This is the purpose of the science of Kabbalah.

Many results follow from this: a new perception of reality, a new world that we reveal if we don’t look at it with the personal, egoistic view, but do so through the prism of our connection with everyone else. Let us hope that we will be able to expand the circle of people who are interested in and study this science about the new world, the new dimension. It will be easier for us to reveal it together and we will do it faster, for the good of all humanity.

We hold daily studies within the framework of our open university. These studies are free and available to all and are translated to all of the main languages. Let us hope that the French group will also join these studies more closely, on one hand, and on the other hand, will join in the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah. By virtue of this we will be able to solve many problems existing in every country and every nation.

From the side of nature we can either advance by the path of problems or the path of good cooperation.
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From my lecture in Paris on 2/1/11

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Shamati #1, And only if that person has a true desire will he receive help from Above. And he is constantly shown how he is at fault in his present state.

What is the help from Above? It is that you are constantly pushed into your own inner filth, into your egoism, and are shown your own insignificance. This is what the Creator does: He constantly shows a person a huge, black darkness inside of himself, a garbage dump in his thoughts, desires, intentions, and calculations.

Why? It is only in order for him to come to need the Creator, to bring him to a state where he will no longer be able to stand his own stench. To do this, it is necessary to constantly pull him out of this feeling and to show him a different existence—one that is slightly higher, lighter, and higher than his egoism. Then he once again has to be shoved face-first into his own egoism: Look at yourself, see who you are. And then he once again has to be slightly pulled out of that swamp, and then once again thrust head down.

That is how everything happens until a person comes to feel that he really does not have any “holiness” or spiritual purity, and that everything comes only from his personal, small, egoistic being that was created in him and in which he was created.

Although he occasionally receives awakening from Above, which momentarily revives him, but soon after he falls into the place of baseness.

Of course, all of these are the Creator’s actions. But that doesn’t matter because a person feels them upon himself and inside himself. All we are is the sensation. There is nothing else in us besides sensation and we realize only what we feel. The mind only accompanies the feeling.

However, this is what causes him to come to [finally] realize that only the Creator can help and really bring him closer [to perfection]. This need or demand for perfection gradually ripens inside us precisely from these opposite states.
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From the 4th lesson of the Berlin Convention on 1/29/11

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