Question: Why does everyone remember about 613 commandments, but forget that above all of them there is the singular commandment of love?

Answer: There is only one commandment: a directive to attain love of others since by doing so we prepare the vessel of our soul to be filled with the Light and to attain adhesion with the Creator. To “love others as I love myself” means to unify all of the desires that are opposite and hated by you into one and in doing so, attain the magnitude that would allow you to reveal the Creator and become one with Him. Thus, we overcome the entire abyss that separates us from Him.

This commandment of love is divided into two parts: “repentance from fear” which is the level of Bina and “repentance from love” which is the level of Keter. I have to apply these two gradual corrections to all of my thoughts and desires, one by one.

The first correction is to stop hating the other person. I hate him from the start, but when I correct hatred, I cover half of the distance from the negative state, hatred, to the neutral state, zero. This level is the property of GAR de Bina where I don’t wish anything for myself, having risen over my entire enormous egoistic will to receive. I don’t wish to harm anyone. Even though it is revealed to me that I can, without any consequence, take everything away from others and destroy them, I want none of it; I don’t wish to put a scratch on anyone.

Then, from this level (the spiritual degree of GAR de Bina), I ascend to the level of love and correct my desires to the level of bestowal (the spiritual degree of ZAT de Bina). ZAT de Bina is the womb of a spiritual Partzuf, so I desire to bestow to all and fulfill all desires. In this way, from hate, I attain love.

So it turns out that there is only one commandment of love which we attain in two steps. Initially, we are opposite to love, and before anything else, we have to attain the neutral state. Then we ascend to love.

613 commandments are corrections of one will to receive pleasure, which has many properties and, therefore, requires various corrections although all of them exist to attain love. I must constantly think about this final destination; otherwise, I will not draw the Light that Reforms. Hence, we have to constantly think about the final, corrected state where I, the Light that Reforms me, and the Creator (Israel, the Torah, and the Creator) are one.

It may seem to a person: “Why should I be thinking about the Creator right now? He is so distant from me, so let me fix my relations with the society first!” But we can’t correct anything in society until we draw the Light that Reforms. It is the Light in particular that has to perform corrections, and the Light of correction is, in fact, the Creator, so we can’t forget about Him.

Hence, in all of the “613” corrections, the thought of  love of others (the main commandment of love for the Creator) must always be present. Without it, we do not draw the Surrounding Light and neither correct nor connect anything.
[22637]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Question: In a few weeks, more than 7,000 people from all over the world will gather together at the World Kabbalah Convention 2010. How, during this gathering, do we implement the law of “love thy neighbor” in practice?

Answer: I think that the magnitude of unity that we are about to discover with the help of the Creator will be truly enormous and powerful. We have prepared ourselves and “warmed up” the entire World Kli and all our friends who are going to come to this congress in person or participate in it virtually.

During this last month before the convention, we must thoroughly familiarize ourselves with what will be taking place at the congress as if we are already there. In advance, we must learn all the songs, the program of the convention outlined day by day, the topic of each lecture, the theme of every seminar, meeting, gathering of friends, and cultural program, and get ourselves acquainted with the place where the congress will occur.

We must learn as much as possible in order to free space in ourselves for new impressions. A person should learn in advance as much as he can about everything that is taking place during the congress.

I don’t want any surprises in the corporeal. Rather, let there be spiritual surprises in the connection between us. A person has to be open for them, not looking for what, where, and when everything is taking place. There should be total clarity so that a person won’t need to worry about anything, but rather, be more open to the impact of the environment. Only then does he absorb everyone’s enthusiasm, and that is what inspires him.

Judging from my personal feelings, we are going through great stages of preparation.
[22658]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Question: Why are there 12 tribes and only 10 Sefirot?

Answer: Sometimes, when we refer to Sefirot, we count ten of them, at other times, when we refer to the phases of the Light’s expansion from Above downward, we say that there are five of them, and when we speak about Zeir Anpin, we count six Sefirot. In truth, there are nothing but five phases. If we are adding something else, it is because we wish to emphasize that in Zeir Anpin there aren’t more than six Sefirot and, in that case, instead of the five, general Sefirot, we count 10.

Sometimes, we wish to underscore that these 10 Sefirot are aligned with the three lines. In that case, we say that each property, phase, or Sefira also has its own individual relationship with the other Sefirot according to the left, right, and middle lines. Then, instead of 10 Sefirot, we speak of 12: The 4-letter name of the Creator HaVaYaH (Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut) is multiplied by the three lines in each of them, totaling 12. This is merely a method to emphasize a specific characteristic.

Sometimes, we speak of 13, at other times of seven (Zeir Anpin and Malchut), at other times of eight Sefirot (Zeir Anpin with its Malchut and a separate Malchut) and so forth. One should never think that by doing so we may cut off some Sefirot, some part of the Partzuf. We use various calculations solely to express the current state being undergone by our souls: the right line, the left line, the three lines, the small state (Katnut), or the big state (Gadlut).

For instance, we say that in the small state there is only Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE) and no AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh), but it is simply not being used since there is no force of the screen over it. All of the titles or names indicate to us only the force by way of which a 10-Sefirot desire is being engaged.
[22524]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/4/10, The Zohar

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Question: I have an opportunity to study with my group in New Jersey, but this group is new. Wouldn’t it be better for me to go to the Brooklyn group? They have many years of experience and a well equipped classroom?

Answer: I recommend staying where you are and building your own group. This advice does not only apply to you, but to all the new groups. Connect among yourselves and with us, my lessons, and the Learning Center. This is enough. Old groups often have their problems, and you need to advance. Be independent!
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Question: What is the purpose of creation? Is it to become an independent Kli (vessel), which receives pleasure from the Creator? Or is there some other purpose?

Answer: The purpose of all corrections is to unite with the Creator into a single system. I am the Kli, He is the Light, and together we unite with each other. For the time being, this is our goal: the final correction.

At the moment of creation we were united by the Creator’s force, but then He broke the unity that He had created in order to give us the opportunity to put it together on our own. Once we complete the “mosaic” with His help, we will become like Him, we will understand the program, the purpose, and the Creator in regard to our creation: what He wants from us and what His attitude towards us is.

“Creator” (Boreh) means “come and see” (Bo – Reh). I come and I see, I reveal what He is and who He is. This is what the end of corrections is.

What happens after? We do not know. Kabbalists give us clues, but it is impossible to understand them since we cannot even imagine the final correction. What does it mean to be like the Creator, to be on the same level, beyond time, movement, and space and perceive the endless reality? I do not perceive the other part of reality to speculate about it.

From the moment of final correction, we will be ready for something higher since we will be a corrected mechanism. What is it that we will be ready for? That is unknown. A little patience and we will know once we get there.
[22996]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/10, Shamati #161

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Question: If our primary goal is to achieve an inner connection, then why do we still have to start from a physical contact which the upcoming convention may help us establish?

Answer: What else can be done if you still don’t have the correct intention? You should perform actions without the intention! You will be like a child who is running back and forth. His actions are similar to our deeds that lack intention. However, gradually, a child becomes smarter and adds an intention, meaning sense to his actions.

The same can be said in regards to our actions and the convention itself: Whatever is in your power, do it! Not doing anything is the worst thing of all. You are unable to add the intention to your actions? But if before every action you admit that you can’t add the intention to it, it will become your intention! It will become a prayer.
[23093]
From the 4trh part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Question: Where in The Zohar can we find the description of mutual bestowal between a person and the group?

Answer: It’s everywhere and in every instant! The entire Book talks solely about it. The Zohar describes to us the point of connection between us: The souls unite together in Malchut and then, from their connection, they establish a connection with Zeir Anpin (ZA) or the Creator (Kadosh Baruch Hu). This is called “Israel (those who aspire to the Creator), the Torah (the Light), and the Creator are one.” The Zohar describes everything from the point of these three connected components: 1. every one of us, 2. all of us together, and 3. the Creator.

The text constantly speaks of the point of connection of these three components in their diverse manifestations: multiple states in their approximation and ascension, up to their complete adhesion. We feel the diversity of the spiritual world or even the variety of our corporeal sensations today from within the same point of connection or lack thereof. Beside this point, nothing else exists.

That same point of Malchut of the World of Atzilut, which feels that it isn’t connected with the others and the Creator, is called Malchut of this world. When this point starts acquiring a connection with the others and the Creator, then we can talk about the types of connection between us, and that is spirituality.

This continues until we reach the World of Infinity that we perceive within this Malchut as well, within the connection between the three components. When this connection becomes infinite, it is defined as Malchut of Infinity. In other words, only Malchut of the World of Atzilut in all its manifestations is the place where the connection between us and the Creator in it are revealed.

Therefore, The Zohar describes nothing but what is occurring in the point of connection and only adds information which can enable us to assemble a more accurate picture. This is similar to how I look at a blurry image on the computer screen and don’t know what the problem is. A specialist arrives and explains to me in detail what exactly needs to be corrected.

Thus, the Baal HaSulam’s Commentary to The Book of Zohar provides us with the detailed information about components that we should focus on in order to construct an integral picture.
[23080]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/10, The Zohar

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Question: How do I work on connecting with the friends in the group beyond the work on Kabbalah circulation?

Answer: Circulation has absolutely nothing to do with spiritual connection between us. It is a burden we have accepted as our duty so as to serve the world on the corporeal level. Obviously, it is desirable that dissemination were done solely by our people since they can infuse it with the spiritual spark, but in principle, we can recruit outsiders for it as well.

As to spirituality, it is defined as our unity above the level of egoism or our climbing the spiritual degrees by acting above reason. There is no other possibility. This work is not related to dissemination; it is personal and available to everyone, even if the person lives in Alaska in complete isolation.

True circulation is spreading one’s desire for connection and love in the entire network of connections between the souls.
[23051]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/10, “The Matter of Above Reason”

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Question: What does adhesion with the Creator imply?

Answer: Adhesion is a great correction, unification on the basis of equivalence of properties or “form.” We don’t need to change the substance of the will to receive itself. Yet, this substance has an egoistic form (intention) that is regarded as “evil,” opposite to the Creator.

The will to receive in itself isn’t considered bad and opposite to the Creator, just as the still, vegetative, and animate nature aren’t considered bad and opposite to the Creator. And until a person gets to feel that he is opposite to the Creator, he isn’t considered to have the “evil inclination” either.

First, it is necessary to recognize that your intention or the “form” of desire is opposite to the Creator. If not, a person has no evil: He simply acts in accord with his instincts. In Kabbalah, evil is defined as a property opposite to the Creator, the Good, or the Light. A person can sense evil only when the properties of goodness, connection, and love are revealed to him, and he can see himself as opposite to the Creator.

At that point, a person becomes a “human,” no matter how bad this human is at the moment. And this occurs only with the studying of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Before then, there is nothing to correct in a person and in all egoists of the world. It isn’t the form which requires correction.

Only the breach between me and the Creator demands correction. I must transform the form that is opposite to the Creator to a good one, similar to Him. And when we become equal with Him in mutual bestowal, then, as it is written, we attain connection called “adhesion” (Dvekut). This inner work (revelation of evil or brokenness and its correction) occurs solely by way of the Light that is drawn during the group studying of Kabbalah.

In one of his incarnations (Gilgulim), a person suddenly feels a “shot” into the heart, a “spark” that draws him to some new, non-materialistic life. He wants to rise above the mundane, earthly existence and comes to the studies and the group. As time progresses, he begins to feel how inadequate he is to bestowal. From that moment on, he realizes that his nature is opposite to the Creator. Only then can it be said that the “awareness of his evil” has surfaced in him.

But people usually think that “evil” means being just a bad person in the society, and not being against everybody’s unity with the Creator. Kabbalah doesn’t correct the earthly evil (not helping an old lady cross the street or not giving money to the beggars). This evil cannot be corrected at all; it only keeps growing untill we get rid of the spiritual evil.
[22862]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Question: What is selfless bestowal to another? What do I have to bestow to the friend outside of the egoistic pleasure?

Answer: You don’t need to give him anything material. In your desires you offer him support so that he wouldn’t forget about advancement toward the Creator. This is what your bestowal is exactly. What can souls give to one another when they are apart? They can only awaken each other and give each other strength. It isn’t required to fill the friend’s pockets or refrigerator. Only the correct interconnection is needed, and the Upper Light will fulfill all the needs.

Provide the friend with energy, involvement, and joy from the goal for this is your duty. Without this obligation and spirit there is no group. The Creator has made it so that we exist in one place, meaning one spiritual space, one collective desire of all the friends from all over the world. But it still doesn’t mean that we are a group.

A group begins with the promise to inspire each other. Moreover, we are not talking about external actions, but the inner desire where we are interconnected. Everyone passes the collective impulse and confidence in the path to the others, and this is what is called mutual guarantee.

If you lose capacity to inspire the others, it means that you are drilling a hole in our boat. “And if I am tired, can I rest?” If you do, then you are unable to receive inspiration from the others and are drilling a hole under yourself in the common boat, and because of you, all the others drown.

You either take part in the mutual guarantee or you don’t. This is the way we have to strengthen our troops. Everyone and all of us must see how we depend on each other more and more. This is practical work: A person examines his demand for connection with the group day by day. This is the exact point of interconnection that has to become a foundation for all our hopes.

The boat will reach the point of destination, and in the meantime, our job is to keep it safe from holes and see to it that the certainty in achieving the goal and awareness of its importance gets passed on to everyone. Indeed, there is nothing more important than unity and revelation the universal force of bestowal – the Creator, the Light – among us.
[22717]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/6/10, “In Everything We Must Discern Between Light and Kli”

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