Why do we need the science of Kabbalah? What’s the need for it?

We perceive the world through the five senses. We see the “picture” of this world, live in it, and arrange our lives in it. We develop the sciences in order to attain it. We have enough mind and feeling for that. We study the world and accommodate ourselves to it in joyful and troubled times. Then why do we need the science of Kabbalah, even if it’s not fantasies or lies? Is it to know how many angels there are in the sky? Or to become acquainted with the upper force, the upper world?…. Maybe it’s time to go visit a doctor?

We don’t understand why we need this. Even the people who admit that Kabbalah speaks about the spiritual world still don’t feel a need for it. Some people are a little afraid of it, some feel repulsed by it and are negatively disposed to it. There are plenty of hindrances. And no one puts them there deliberately. It’s just that this is how we are built, this is our nature. We erect the obstacles on the path ourselves: We neglect it, don’t desire it, and reject it. After all, we are driven by the egoistic desire, which is far from the spiritual world and opposite to it.

As a result, the science of Kabbalah appears unrealistic to us. When we come to it, we don’t understand how this happened and what keeps us here. We often leave it and return to our regular lives, to the place where we have strength, money, and power in our hands, instead of a “fog.”

When Kabbalists attained the spiritual world, they understood how important and great it is. After all, it opens up the true life to a person, instead of the perishable existence on the animate level. We act on the level of the animate nature and depend on the body: I am alive as long as it is alive, and I die together with it. My “I” is inside of it. On the other hand, Kabbalists master the human level—the level of being similar to the upper force, of existing in attainment, in the sensation and power that is equal to the upper force, and of being equal to it to some extent.

Thus, the science of Kabbalah is a great asset that gives us eternal existence instead of our current miserable, short lives. But there’s no one you can tell this to. That is why the science of Kabbalah was concealed for a long time, until humanity starting feeling a need for it instead of neglect, fear, and dislike. That is what happened to us as well: We did not think or plan on it, but suddenly we felt a need for it. It turned out that without this, our life is base, animalistic, and empty. We lack fulfillment.

In reality, Kabbalists did not care what people were saying about the science of Kabbalah and how they viewed it. The world was always confused about it and believed in all sorts of fables. Kabbalists knew about this and did not pay any attention to it because their primary concern was to guard people from the “unripe fruit.” And the unripe fruit is not the science of Kabbalah, but man’s desire. Man is the unripe fruit. He is still unable to “digest” his ego and transform it into something good, so it would benefit him.

When unripe egoism that isn’t able to correct itself yet encounters the science of Kabbalah, it rehashes it into mystical teaching, philosophy, religion, New Age, and so on. Baal HaSulam writes that the revelation of The Book of Zohar by Rabbi Moshe de-Leon’s widow caused great damage, all sorts of obstacles and problems. That’s because people took the wrong path to spirituality, following their egoism instead of the desire to correct themselves.

However, today we have entered a new era. Kabbalists assert this and we see this in our world as well. The world already realizes that it has found itself in a foul situation. The universal crisis is enveloping the worldwide village in which everyone is interconnected by egoistic bonds. We are discovering that our egoistic network has become global, that we are inseparably and incorrectly interconnected.

We cannot come out of this situation and we don’t have any possibility of being saved from egoism’s clutches, which are pressing on us more and more strongly.
In these conditions, we are revealing the need for the science of Kabbalah, which is the only method that offers the real solution to the problem.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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We don’t have any freedom of will in this world. It is a world of results, and this is what makes it so different from the spiritual world because when a person rises there, having achieved a spiritual level, he gains freedom of will in thought, decision, and action. That’s because it contains all the forces, while our world contains only their results.

Here we already receive the ready-made pictures and cannot change anything about them. If we want to act on our own, we have to rise to the spiritual level, the level of free choice, the level of forces. When we reveal these forces inside of us and feel them (considering that everything becomes revealed only inside a person), then we gain the ability to act by our own free choice and decide for ourselves which forces to activate—these or others.

This work is called the Creator’s work. After all, by gaining the ability to make the right choice in all of his actions, he gradually replaces the Creator in controlling the forces of nature. That is how he gradually reaches a point when all of reality comes under his power.

He constantly reveals new forces, as if it’s happening in a free form. After all, there are only two authorities: that of bestowal and that of reception. Both of these forces come from the Creator, but where is man here?

Man stands between these two forces, which act upon him in perfect balance. He finds himself in the neutral zone, which does not depend on the force of bestowal or the force of reception. The force of bestowal is called “holiness” and the force of reception, “impurity,” because it is egoistic. And the neutral part does not belong to either and is called Klipat Noga.

In this state, where a person does not know exactly “whose side” the truth is on: On the side of the egoistic force (Klipa) or on the side of holiness (bestowal), he finds himself exactly in the middle between them, and gains freedom of choice.

But a question arises: How is it possible to choose if you are exactly at the middle of the scale and you have absolutely equal chances on both sides: 50/50, and this is an exact, correct calculation? After all, a person does not feel that he is being bribed in some way or that he is lying to himself. So how can he choose which path to take, by virtue of what to advance in life: to try to receive more and more for himself or to nevertheless attain some spiritual form, bestowal?

This choice is what we discern by working on our environment. After all, a person does not know what to choose and he is left with this question. But if he really wants to make the right choice, then he has to place himself in the right environment. And then the environment helps him to see where the truth is.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, Writings of Rabash

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When a person attains the revelation of the true nature and reveals an inner vision, he starts to see one more reality inside of him in addition to the one he felt before. He perceives this new reality more intensely than our current one, and feels that it determines what happens in our reality.

Therefore, he calls this new reality that he has revealed, “the upper world.” This is a world of forces that becomes revealed to him. These forces, which act inside of his desire, bring him all kinds of experiences and impressions, depicting different forms and pictures inside of him. But he does not know what to call these forces, how to describe them, and how to talk about them.

After all, if he experiences a new sensation that has no connection with his entire past, then it’s unclear what to call it. But then he reveals the connection between these new sensations and the pictures that they project on the lowest screen that depicts this world to us.

He discovers that every force he reveals, every sensation in the upper world has its own result on the picture we see here, in the lower world. It’s as if every object or action of this world has its own force standing behind it, which supports him, manipulates him, and drives him.

He is left with just one way to explain the upper world—by taking names from this lower world for this purpose. This language is called “the language of branches.” Now, a person who is in the sensation of the upper world can talk about what he feels! He has names for every force, every spiritual action, every spiritual essence according to the results of these forces, which they depict and create for us in this world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: In the material world we know how to measure acceleration. But how can we do it in our spiritual progress, with the help of what?

Answer: You measure the acceleration by evaluating your connection with the group. You don’t have anything else. This is why one common soul was broken into many souls – so you would have a means to change, a place to work and make efforts, so you could assess how far or close you are to them – and not simply to people, but to their desires to reveal spirituality, the Creator. You check whether you are among these desires, together with them, so that in the right connection, in the mutual guarantee between you, you will reveal the Creator.

Therefore you can assess your spiritual state only in relation to these desires of your friends – how close are you together with them to the upper world.

Question: But where is the acceleration here? How can it be measured?

Answer: From one day to the next, from one minute to the next, you evaluate this connection. There is a distance between you and others, and you assess whether it is becoming reduced or not, how, with constant speed or with acceleration. Acceleration is speed that increases at every moment.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbaalh Lesson 7/22/11, The Zohar

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Shamati #174 “Concealment″: Concerning the concealment, which is a correction, had it not been for that, man would have been unable to attain any perfection, since he would not be worthy of attaining the importance of the matter.

We were created by the Light as the will to enjoy, and therefore we are entirely in its power and do not feel ourselves as existing. Today we don’t feel our existence yet. What we do feel is a deceitful sensation because it’s only possible to feel separated, distanced, and apart on the condition that you stand opposite the one you are apart from.

But we do not feel that we are standing opposite the Creator, against the Light, and therefore we cannot consider ourselves existing. After all, we are obligated to perceive everything on the contrast of opposites: as “me” and something outside of me. Then, in relation to this “outside,” I will be able to determine who I am.

But in the meantime I remain alone, just an object inside myself. I cannot say anything about myself because there is no one in relation to whom I could measure myself.

Therefore, before a person can stop himself and perform a restriction on his ego, meaning “pass the Machsom” (the boundary into the spiritual world) and stand opposite the Creator, he is not called creation yet. This is called the preparation period, when we are entirely governed from above.

Only after we are ready to take upon ourselves the concealment which arises between us and the Creator, we grow distant from Him and receive an independent existence. Concealment makes the higher goal important to me. To the extent I want to attain this quality and am unable to because it is concealed, that is how much I feel its importance.

Eventually I get to a point where I begin to value the concealment because it turns into my vessel for the Light. It is written, “Wisdom (Hochma) is given to the modest.” Because I make my will to enjoy modest, I am able to attain the Light of Hochma that stands opposite to me, accepting it in the Reflected Light, for the sake of bestowal.

Therefore, concealment expands my spiritual vessel by “620” times and gives me a new necessity—instead of pleasure, I want to attain the importance of the Giver. All of the qualities of the spiritual vessel are present in the actual concealment.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/11, Shamati

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Usually we make a very common mistake, thinking that we have to reveal the Creator Himself. We wait, “When is He going to be revealed already!?” As if the most important thing is for Him to appear.

But that will never happen. What has to appear is precisely the restriction, our desire to conceal Him from our will to enjoy, from our understanding, so we would have the opportunity to work with Him only on the condition that we give Him pleasure in return.

Then concealment, the aspiration for true bestowal, called “Lishma,” becomes our vessel. Inside of that concealment, we will be able to build the image of the Giver and to understand what bestowal is. Because we will aspire only to bestowal, without any other vestment of pleasure into our desires, we will therefore begin to really attain what spirituality means.

Every person would like to reveal the Creator in the depth of exile. But the issue is how to ask for none other than His concealment while we are in exile, how to preserve this concealment ourselves and elevate it. All the levels of ascent are separated from one another by how much we desire and are able to contain ourselves, to hold us back from revelation, and to reveal ourselves only for the sake of bestowal.

And inside of this attitude to the upper one, our desire to conceal Him, we build His image. The greatness of the Creator that is born inside of us by virtue of this concealment enables us to value him and start feeling His form. That is, the form of the Creator is determined by the form of the importance that we are able to give to Him.

This explanation does not lend itself to being understood easily, but it already directly touches upon the relationship between creation and the Creator in the spiritual world….
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/11, Shamati

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A person who keeps going forward without ever stopping, and who is not afraid to constantly be in the state of the minimal Light of Nefesh – in eternal clarifications, confusion, and fog, becomes continually smarter and attains his previous states. He becomes wise, but in relation to every current state he still won’t know anything. And that’s because we advance by faith above reason.

If he has just advanced by faith above reason, then he will receive a mind within which he will understand his previous states. That is how his mind will keep growing – only on this condition.

A person who advances above knowledge feels the Light of wisdom (Hochma) on all of his previous levels besides the last, current one.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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People come to Kabbalah with many illusions and incorrect ideas about this science, imagining it in whatever way their egoistic desire depicts it to them based on all kinds of rumors. People present it as mysticism and think that it is related to astrology, healing, blessings, miracles, holy water and red strings, and that it can be used to reveal the past and the future. After all, our ego is looking for some special kind of fulfillment for itself.

Therefore, at first everyone has a difficult time grasping the Kabbalistic principle, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Even if they agree with it, they approach it egoistically. This is the basis of all kinds of “spiritual” methods.

However, it takes special people to come closer to the true realization of the method of Kabbalah. This requires great endurance, many efforts, and mutual support from a group of people who are ready for this and who understand that otherwise they don’t have any chance of realizing themselves. Only through this mutual desire, the “common vessel,” can they receive the opportunity to become people and do something with themselves in order to rise above the material, animate existence to the “human” level.

The spiritual action that we have to do is expressed in the execution of the “613 commandments,” meaning actions of unity among people who have decided that they have to unite.

This is what happened during the times of Abraham and during the times of Moses as well. And it’s the same in our day. The principle is still the same. If fragments of the broken soul that was created by the Creator are ready to unite together in order to restore the common vessel, then it becomes a great summary of the Torah – the vessel for the Light. The Light becomes revealed inside of that common desire, the common efforts, the mutual support and guarantee.

Therefore, it’s pointless for a person to think about spiritual attainment and his self-realization unless he perceives all of this through unification with others, with “neighbors,” meaning with the same kind of people as himself, who also desire to unite and who understand that only by uniting will they acquire a second nature.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/11, Writings of Rabash

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Starting from the first restriction on, Malchut starts to receive for the sake of bestowal to the extent she is able to return goodness to the Host. Naturally, she is unable to receive everything, all 100%.

But since she made the restriction on her own, by her free choice, she has the force to withstand the entire Light of the world of Infinity and to start gradually accepting it for the sake of bestowal.

But this is not easy at all because I reveal the pleasure of adhesion, the greatness of the Giving One, of my equivalence to him, from the fact that I become the same as Him. This adhesion contains “620 times” more pleasure.

Malchut can tolerate only a small part of this pleasure, and therefore it is called “a very thin line” (Kav Dak Meod), a thin ray from the whole Light. But this little ray is not from the Light that Malchut of Infinity felt before the restriction, because only the Light of Nefesh was present there.

Now in this line she reveals NaRanHY (Nefesh-Ruach-Neshama- Haya-Yehida) – very significant actions. They are “620 times” bigger – meaning all of the “commandments,” all of her corrections. When instead of receiving inside of her, she performs actions of reception for the sake of bestowal in each of her corrected desires, this is called carrying out 620 commandments which are filled by the Light of adhesion.

But where can she get a screen for such a great Light – for pleasure from adhesion? After all, I receive, thinking that I do it for the sake of the Host, but now I reveal what it means to be the same as Him – what an unusual pleasure this is, what height, and how good it is to be in adhesion with Him!

This is what becomes revealed inside of the spiritual Partzuf. And therefore, it’s clear that Malchut is unable to receive the entire Light of Infinity in this form.

If the task were simply to receive without thinking about the Host, then there’d be no problem, or even to receive in order to give pleasure to the Host – this is also possible. But the problem is that by giving pleasure to Him, I myself receive a very enormous, additional pleasure – one that’s “620 times” more than the previous. It’sNaRaNHY instead of the Light of Nefesh! And I don’t have the strength to withstand it.

So where will I get that kind of force? For that I descend lower and lower with all the worlds, increasingly feeling just how unable I am to accept the pleasure from adhesion, from the greatness of the Creator, and to stay in bestowal. Therefore, this leads to the downward descent of the Partzufim and worlds.

This is not because I cannot accept the pleasure that filled Malchut of the world of Infinity. But one more great pleasure was included there, which did not become revealed to her there – pleasure from adhesion, from unity. And if she had also responded, then an enormous force of mutual love would have become revealed between them.

But she is incapable of feeling that kind of pleasure while remaining in bestowal. Therefore, now she descends and continually checks the extent to which she is incapable of that kind of bestowal. Therein lies the essence of the descent of the worlds and Partzufim which were born during the descent of Malchut of the world of Infinity down to this world. That is, this is the realization of how enormous is the greatness of the Creator, the greatness of adhesion with Him – it is “620 times” greater than what I am able to bear.

I am able to perceive for the sake of bestowal my own pleasure from being filled by Light. But I cannot accept for the sake of bestowal the pleasure that becomes revealed as a result of the fact that I returned pleasure to the Host – this is adhesion, love, and Light that is born, that breaks through between us as the heat of love, the result of my response.

For this kind of pleasure, I am unable to create a screen and to reflect the Light in full, but only small parts of it, only as much as I can in order to cling to Him….

This means that the pleasure from bestowal also returns to the Creator.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/11, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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