A question I received: In your blog entry, “Faith And Science Are Incompatible,” you wrote: “Kabbalah is science: a person reveals a new reality and then scientifically (experimentally) researches it.”

As a scientist (a physicist doing research in the area of brain functioning), I don’t agree that Kabbalah’s approach is scientific. In conventional, earthly science, one reveals and researches reality simultaneously. If anything, the revelation follows the research rather than precedes it. What else can the revelation of the new reality be based on if not on scientific research?

However, in Kabbalah, it is impossible to avoid a religious explanation. Everything that is written in the holy books requires some kind of faith, whereas in my field of work, I do not leave anything to faith.

My Answer: In Kabbalah, one reveals a new reality to the degree one becomes similar to it. This is done by developing new qualities – those of bestowal and love – in one’s heart.

One then activates the brain (one’s thoughts and intelligence) in order to interpret what the senses have attained. So, in Kabbalah there is no place for faith, let alone religion.

The science of Kabbalah is based upon:

1. The gradual transformation of one’s qualities as one is influenced by the study material (the Upper Light, Ohr Makif)

2. The sensation of the new reality in one’s newly acquired attributes

3. Research and attainment of the new reality

4. To the degree one attained something, one’s heart and mind then proceed to a deeper adhesion, a more profound penetration of the new state

The above sequence of states repeats on all 125 degrees of the spiritual world, which are degrees of change in one’s qualities, desires, and intentions. They change from “for my own sake” to “for the sake of others, for the Creator.” This continues until the soul is completely corrected, whereby it attains the goal for which it was created.

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In order to reach the purpose of creation, we need a special force – one that is external, existing outside of us. Without its help, all our efforts to reach the Upper World (or in other words, to perform acts of love and bestowal) will be futile. It is because our entire nature is the will to receive. Therefore, every action we make is done in order to fulfill ourselves. Even if we weigh in the needs of others, we do it out of fear or because the person we give to is so close to us that we feel he is a part of us.

The engine of all our actions is self-love. Therefore, we cannot truly care for others and bestow to them. We have a desire to fulfill ourselves at the expense of others, which is called “egoism.” This desire is what differentiates the human level from the animate one.

When man is uncorrected, he is worse than an animal, but when he attains correction, he becomes equal to the Creator. Every person in the world feels unique and exceptional, but when this feeling is coupled with egoism, it turns into the worst, most destructive force in Nature.

However, this too has a purpose: we have to discover the utter lowliness of this state in order to single out the corrupted form of the feeling of being unique, exclusive and exceptional. We will then be able to truly plead with the Creator, asking Him to change the way we use this feeling. It will then transform into goodness and love for all, where every person’s love for everyone will be unique and special.

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A question I received: Are there any people who are considered saints in Kabbalah? Does this concept exist? How can you explain the phenomenon of imperishable relics left behind by saints or holy people? This is a concept that exists in different religions. Is it possible that these people attained the quality of absolute love and bestowal during their lifetimes, and therefore they did not die, but their souls simply left their bodies? And is this considered sanctity?

My Answer: Man’s body is an animal that eventually dies and decomposes into the basic elements. And the soul bears no relation to the body. Baal HaSulam even used to say, “I don’t care where they bury my sack of bones.”

A holy man is someone who attains equivalence with the Creator while living in this world, by developing the desire to “love one’s neighbor as oneself.” As for the body, you can perform every imaginable organ transplant, you can replace all of the body parts, and you can perform blood transfusions. This will not affect the soul in any way. Doctors are already able to replace the heart, and soon they’ll even be able to perform brain transplants. That’s because our information is not stored in the brain, but in the field surrounding it.

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Baal HaSulam writes in the articles, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” and “The Arvut,” that the overarching purpose of creation is for the whole of humanity to reach its correction, known as equivalence of form with the Creator. All the souls have a part in reaching this purpose, because there is just one creation, but it is divided into many parts in order to make the common correction happen more easily.

But besides creation’s division into many parts or souls, all of creation is also divided into the following two parts:

• The part that received the method of correction and implemented it, but later fell back into egoism. This part of creation is called “the people of Israel.”
• The part of creation that did not receive the method of correction. However, when the first part fell, it came closer to the second part of creation, and now both can reach the general, complete correction of egoism in all of creation.

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The general purpose of the whole universe is for humanity to reach the state where all people will be as one family. Everyone will take others into consideration and will be a guarantor for everyone else.

One of the causes that will bring this about will be the pressure coming from Nature’s Upper Law that is being revealed now. It is the law of everyone’s universal connection and dependence on each other.

But this won’t be the only cause. It will also happen because when people reach the level of mutual bestowal, they will want to shift to the new type of relationships, those of “love for your neighbor.” People will desire this consciously, on their own.

Nature governs the still, vegetative, and animate levels and balances them so they stay in mutual harmony. This is why all things in Nature consume only what is necessary to sustain their lives. Man, however, has to reach the same mutual balance with Nature by means of a conscious participation. Man has to study the structure of the universe and its unity in order to become similar to Nature. He will then be truly worthy of being called “man” (Adam in Hebrew, originating from the word Dommeh – similar to the Creator).

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A question I received: How can you prove that your method is the only one that can realize the goal of creation?

My Answer:
1.  I do not want to prove anything to anyone. Kabbalah conceals itself instead of attracting people to join its ranks. Only a person who truly desires it will reveal and study this wisdom. There is no coercion for anyone to come or leave, just as there are no limitations or prerequisites for the study of Kabbalah.

2.  You are demanding for the future to be revealed, in order to have clear evidence that the study of Kabbalah is authentic. Yet, this would only be possible if the study happened at the level of this world. whereas the study of Kabbalah elevates a person higher. In Kabbalah, “to see” something means to actually feel it with your senses. If you are able to see and feel the final outcome, your future, without changing your perception, then the method you used did not change you. Therefore, this method does not make a person similar to the Creator.

3. “A person should always study where his heart desires,” “There is no coercion in spirituality,” “Teach a student according to his way,” and other similar proverbs of the Kabbalistic sages tell us that it is forbidden to persuade, convince, or prove anything to anyone. You can only show a person how to develop, so he will start to see the spiritual world on his own according to his level of development.

This is Kabbalah’s approach to a person’s development: there is no coercion, just examples. Any other method is considered coercive and does only harm to a person and to the world.

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Two questions I received on our relationships with others:

Question: Am I correct to understand that those who study Kabbalah will end up happy because they will understand reality and will feel well. But those who don’t study it will be unhappy and will remain in the state of suffering and need. Is this true?

My Answer: It is true, but on the other hand, everyone is connected to everyone within the general system of the souls. Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to feel goodness as long as someone else feels evil.

A person encounters many obstacles in the process of correcting his egoistic nature. These obstacles include those caused by his connection to all people. On the other hand, the world must still experience more suffering in order to desire correction. There is no other way for humanity to advance.

Question: The change we have to make is to create new relationships with people, that will be based on love for one’s neighbor. Will this also solve the problems in the world that are caused by improper relationships between people?

My Answer: This is precisely what will revoke all the misfortunes in the world! There is no problem in the world other than the improper connection between people. When there is a lack of the right connection, the Creator is concealed, and when we reveal the right connection between us, we reveal Him.

The return of the right connection between people is called “the return of the Creator into the creation.” The connection between people is called the Creator, from the word Bore: Bo – come, and Re – see. We see Him inside the connection between us.

This is why the commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the most important commandment, encompassing all of man’s corrected actions.

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A question I received: The universal equality that you talk about is a little scary. If everyone is the same, then where is my uniqueness?

My Answer: Your uniqueness lies in the fact that everyone is incorporated inside you and you desire to bestow to everyone. You are the only one who can give them what you have to give.

However, if you want to bestow to them, you must first acquire all of their desires. You must make everyone’s desires become your desires. You will then transmit Upper Light to these desires, connecting them to the Creator. By doing so, you will be unique, like the Creator.

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A question I received: Baal HaSulam wrote that the nations of the world “stole” the wisdom from Kabbalists. What does this mean?

My Answer: To “steal” means to use one’s egoistic desire. It is written that Adam HaRishon stole from the Creator, which means that he wanted to receive the Light of Hochma without clothing it in the Light of Hassadim. To steal means to receive for oneself, without the intention to bestow.

In the past, before the destruction of the Second Temple, the Jews did not conceal the wisdom of Kabbalah. They shared it openly with the nations of the world, which is what gave rise to all the earthly sciences that study Nature (the Creator’s hidden form), as well as philosophy (a system that uses the egoistic mind to make guesses about the Creator, who is concealed from the mind). Rav Kook wrote about the fact that philosophy originated from Kabbalah, as did Johann Reuchlin, a great philosopher of the 16th century, and many others.

When did Kabbalah become concealed? This happened after the nation of Israel fell from the high level of love for the fellow man into unfounded hatred. This, in turn, led to the destruction of the Second Temple. Rashbi, the author of The Book of Zohar, expressed great sorrow because from that point on, Kabbalah would have to be written in a form that concealed it from people, and this concealment would last until the 20th century. At that time, it would be revealed to the entire world, in order to benefit all the people.

Before the Second Temple was destroyed, there was no need to write about Kabbalah because people felt the Creator directly and the science of Kabbalah was simply their means of communication. However, if Kabbalah had not been “stolen,” humanity could not have developed. In order for humanity to develop, the egoistic desire has to contain a spark of Light that revives and sustains it. So, this spark of Light is what enabled humanity’s egoistic desires to develop from one generation to the next, causing progress in technology, culture, education and other social institutions.

Today, however, everything that the spark of Light had to give us has been realized. The ego has grown into one unified structure or system. It turned out that when egoistic individuals reached a connection among one another, they are no longer able to evolve egoistically, but can only degrade. This becomes expressed as a universal crisis in all areas man delves in, including culture, upbringing, science, trade and the economy.

From this moment on, we can use the science of Kabbalah to correct ourselves and our participation in the global system, until it will reach complete harmony.

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Hate for the fellow man is not expressed as the sensation of hate, but as the desire to use him for your own good. This is the feeling we have until we turn it into love – the desire to fill the other instead of myself.

My teacher Rabash used to say: You can picture yourself as a zero and your friend as a one, or you can see yourself as one and him as a zero. This depends on your desire – whether you desire to use him for your benefit, or to use yourself to benefit him.

To the extent that you desire to fulfill the other, the Light of bestowal and love will fulfill you.

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