Jerusalem (“Ir shlema“) is translated from Hebrew as the perfect city. The word “Ir – city” in Kabbalah is the inner state of a person when everything he does is assembled in him into one single perfect structure. It is like his home and he wants to relate his inner state to the Creator.

This happens either within one person or the whole of humanity when one supreme value is formed over all existing disagreements between people. This is why Jerusalem is called the heart of the world, the capital of the world.

In addition, it is also called the City of David in honor of King David who lived 3,000 years ago and revealed the perfect state in himself.

But Jerusalem existed long before that time. According to the sources and what is passed down from generation to generation, we did not build anything new here. On the contrary, we accepted everything that was already on this earth and only raised it to the next degree.

Basically, Israel prides itself on taking the inanimate level and elevating it to the spiritual.

Question: What is the difference between Hebron and Jerusalem from a spiritual point of view?

Answer: Before coming to Jerusalem, King David ruled seven years in Hebron (from the word “hibur – unity”). And when he attained perfect awe, he realized from his inner attainment that he needed to move to Jerusalem and build the Temple there.

In spiritual terms, Jerusalem strives upward and Hebron yearns downward. Hebron is connected with the desire of Malchut, and therefore, the graves of the forefathers are there in the cave of Machpelah: Adam and his wife, Abraham and his wife, and Jacob.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/22/22

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Baal HaSulam writes that the nation of Israel was based on just one principle, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the law of mutual guarantee. But they could not observe it because egoism grew, evolution continued, and they had to build the Temple with an altar in the material world.

If earlier a person sacrificed his egoism, later in the external world it began to manifest itself in the form of animal and plant sacrifices, where supposedly all kinds of egoistic qualities of a person were taken and sacrificed for the soul’s ascension.

But this is an external manifestation of a person’s inner correction when he is ready to give everything that is in him in order to turn the qualities of reception into the quality of bestowal, to change his egoistic movements to altruistic impulses.

Question: If we talk about nature as the Creator, as an upper force that controls everything, how can this reconcile with the fact that there are some stones where some unfortunate animal is taken, killed, and some words said? And how does this relate to the correction of the soul?

Answer: It is very hard to understand. If we were in an ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, we would see that it is like a slaughterhouse where cows, calves, and sheep were slaughtered, bread was baked, and wine and water were poured on stone tables upon which animals were butchered. This is some kind of incomprehensible work like in a slaughterhouse.

But in fact, it is all internal work. Unfortunately it should be held at this level too because this is the lowest level of egoism of a person who is corrected in this way.

We consist of two levels: animal and human. The human level is corrected by the fact that we change ourselves from receiving to giving, from all bad and negative egoistic qualities to positive, altruistic qualities. While doing this, we should not forget, at the same time, that we are in this world.

How can we perform such actions in our world? We take the animal that is in us— this is personified by any kosher animal—and kill it within ourselves, that is, kill the animal nature in yourself and then burn it in a certain way and eat it, which means, use it correctly.

In other words, we must raise it to the level of service of a person within himself who is already in connection with the Creator. This is an allegorical personification of correcting our qualities and raising them to a spiritual level.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/22/22

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Question: Is there any difference if a book was written by a single person like Baal HaSulam or by ten people like Rabbi Shimon and his students?

Answer: In Kabbalah either one person writes a book about what one attains, as Baal HaSulam did, or a group of people who are connected together write a book. Between them, there are various states in which they begin to perceive the Creator differently. This is what they describe.

Moreover, the states that Rabbi Shimon and his students went through among themselves, they described in the form of journeys to some earthly places. But in fact, they did not move from the cave they were in. Everything happened only in one place and in connection between them.

The more they increased their connection with each other, the more they attained the Creator. And vice versa, the more they became estranged from each other, the less they felt the Creator. Those scrutinies of nearing and distancing between each other in the ten and accordingly with the Creator is what they recorded. And they are included in The Book of Zohar.

Baal HaSulam wrote that the students of Rashbi attained all 125 steps. This means that they revealed all their original egoism, rose above it in connection with each other, and felt the single upper force in this connection.

Accordingly, they became similar to it as one man with one heart and attained the Creator in their common desire.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/15/22

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Question: It is written that when a person dies, he is brought before the high court: heaven or hell. What is this high court?

Answer: These are terrible states when a person reveals his attitude toward the world, how he lived, and how bad he was. At the same time, he is full of regret and sorrow, and understands where it all came from. But this is no excuse for him. In other words, everything that a person begins to realize about himself is called hell.

What we imagine about standing before the high court and being judged for some actions in this world, none of that is true and there is no point talking about it. Everything that happens in the upper world is nothing we can imagine in our egoistic thoughts.

Comment: But if one did not have such notions about the high court, he would do whatever he pleases in our world. This way at least there are some limits.

My Response: I don’t think it keeps people from misbehaving. Who really knows or believes these fables? People are not afraid of anything.

A while back they used to be more primitive. It is quite possible that such notions restrained them. But all the same, a person’s egoism prevails over everything. So if one does not strive for his correction and to really build a different person out of himself, someone above egoism, then nothing will help him.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 1/11/22

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When one corrects himself consciously and automatically puts his spiritual life above the level of the body, he does not require blows or physical suffering. He runs toward the goal, ahead of the rod that drives him to happiness. But if he does not work on correction, then he moves under the blows of this stick. This is the only way.

If necessary, this life is taken away from him. Next time the soul will dress in a body and will exist again. We are given chance after chance because nature is obliged to bring all its parts into harmony. This is its general law, the law of universal balance.

Question: Is a person asked whether he wants it or not?

Answer: A person is not asked anything! What does one understand in this life?

Comment: Then it is not so clear. On one hand, a person has the freedom to choose how to develop in relation to nature, toward the goal or against it. On the other hand, he is not asked anything.

My Response: We exist in a system of still, vegetative, and animate nature. We are shown the imbalance between us so that upon reaching the balance we come to a higher level—being similar to the Creator.

How incongruent we are with the general global nature and the harmony we lack between us is gradually revealed. If we overcome this with the help of Kabbalah, we rise to the next degree. If we do not overcome, nature still pushes us forward with suffering and forces us to reveal the method of correction.

We cannot correct ourselves except by the method of Kabbalah because this is the only way to attract the upper light to ourselves, the only way to reach contact with the Creator, with the upper force that corrects our egoism.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Partnership Agreement” 4/7/10

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The famous Kabbalist of the XVI century Ramak wrote in the book Ohr Yakar that people studying The Book of Zohar awaken forces of the souls of the righteous together with the force of Moses. After all, a person who studies The Book of Zohar is in connection with the source of the upper light, with the force of bestowal and love. Therefore, he passes the upper light through him to all the souls that are below him.

There is a point in each of us that distinguishes him from others. It is within this point that he is the only one above all the others. This is how each of us passes the upper light through him to all other souls.

Therefore, we do not need to change the world. By changing himself, a person changes everyone else because he is in connection with them.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/15/22

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The wisdom that one should know: to know and to observe the secret of his Master … (Zohar for All, Song of Songs, 482-483).

Question: What secrets does the Creator have?

Answer: The Creator has no secrets, all secrets are in us. If we connect with each other better and better so that any inner distance disappears between us altogether, then we reveal the universe more and more. This is what The Book of Zohar talks about.

He needs … to know himself, to know who he is, how he was created, where he comes from and where he is going, how the body is corrected, and how he will be judged by the King of All.

By the body we mean the egoism of a person. And our physical body does not belong to the level of a human, but to the level of an animal.

The trial means that a person must reach a state where he can soberly assess his actions, correctly understand them, and judge himself.

To know and to observe the secret of the soul. What is the soul within him? Where does it come from, and why does it come into this body, which is a foul drop that is here today, and in the grave tomorrow?

A person must attain the source of his existence, where he comes from, and what he is here for.

To know the world one is in, and for what will the world be corrected; to gaze upon the sublime secrets of the Upper World, and to know one’s Master. And one observes all that from within the secrets of the Torah.

These are the tasks of The Book of Zohar.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/15/22

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Question: A person begins one’s spiritual path with some harmony like it was before the construction of the Tower of Babel when everyone lived as one nation. Then his desires begin to grow, which lead him to the state called Babylon where everything is confused and there is no harmony. Then he comes to the state called Canaan (from the word “Ahnaa –Diminishing”) when he diminishes his ego.

It turns out that first he reveals it within himself, and then we see historically that he really goes to some place.

What kind of law is this that the spiritual root manifests itself at least once in the material world?

Answer: It is said that any root should gradually grow in a person and reach a spiritual state, since our earthly structure, the structure of the entire universe, should express itself in parallel in a material and spiritual form.

That is why it is like this: once there was physical conquest and physical correction, and now we only have to add our internal, psychological, spiritual correction to this.

When describing the spiritual phases of development of a human soul, the sages encoded them in various symbols and words of this world. For example, entering the land of Canaan means diminishing egoism. When a person rises above the ego and begins to work for the sake of bestowal, then this land (desire) is already called Israel.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/22/22

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Question: The Book of Zohar was written 2,000 years ago. Do you know the current location of the original book, its first scrolls? After all, there were a huge number of scrolls, and only 5-10% reached us.

Answer: Yes, initially The Book of Zohar consisted of 100 volumes, but a maximum of three or five of them have reached our time.

Question: Can the original source itself ever be revealed?

Answer: I think it can be, but why reveal it? If a thousand more pieces of parchment are revealed, like the Qumran scrolls, for example, so what?

The Book of Zohar must be revealed in people. People need to understand its meaning, its basis. This is the most important thing.

Question: Baal HaSulam notes that this book has made a very strong impression on the world. Where are the consequences of this visible in our world?

Answer: We don’t see that, but, in principle, if such knowledge, such force, is manifested at least in something, in people, in forces at the level of our world, then this should give the world a big boost in its movement toward final correction.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/15/22

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The Tanakh often mentions the city of Jerusalem and its importance. The Tanakh was written by people who attained the upper force and described how to reveal a spiritual state called Jerusalem (Yerushalayim or Ira shalem).

“Ira” in Hebrew means awe and “shalem” means perfect; “Ira shalem” means absolute awe before the quality of bestowal of the Creator.

It means that a person reaches a state where he is completely in awe, but in good trembling. He experiences this not because he is afraid and trembles from the possibility of receiving some kind of punishment, but he trembles because he wonders whether he can really do to the Creator the same thing that He does to him, all that goodness, the upper abundance, everything that He pours out on him.

We are not talking about a simple person in our world who is in concealment, but about someone who reveals the universe and sees how the Creator did everything for his benefit—eternity and perfection. And at the same time, he reveals an adequate attitude to the Creator. This is called the state of “iraa shlema” or “Yerushalayim,” that is, absolute awe, absolute aspiration.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/22/22

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