Question: Why did Kabbalists keep the wisdom of Kabbalah secret for so many years if someone who isn’t ready for it can’t use it?

Answer: The science of Kabbalah was open to anyone who wanted to study it until the ruin of the Temple. The destruction of the Temple was the destruction of the spiritual sensation in the people of Israel.

Just as it is dangerous to reveal regular science to egoists who lack the correct vision of the world and its purpose since disclosing the knowledge would arm them with weapons that can hurt them and others, similarly, people who fell from the spiritual degree of brotherly love into the unfounded hatred were banned from studying the science of Kabbalah. After all, they could have used it incorrectly and become confused.

They were unable to use it once they fell into the egoistic desire which was beginning to develop. They first had to become entangled in the desires of this world, to plunge into the darkness, to mingle with the desires of all the peoples; in fact, this was the purpose of the nation of Israel going into exile.

How would it have been possible to give people the wisdom of Kabbalah at that time; it would have been contrary to the purpose. The people fell from the spiritual degree and lost that knowledge precisely in order to live on the same level as all the other nations. Up until the end of the Middle Ages, the people of Israel and all other nations led a very simple and primitive life. It was a time for their mutual inclusion.

But despite the fact that the people of Israel lost their spiritual degree, the high, inner spirit persisted in them, and there were many sages (Kabbalists) and people who understood the purpose of creation.  It wasn’t like today’s state of complete lack of understanding of the purpose of existence.

This decline happened in the past 100-150 years, but before that, there wasn’t a person among the people of Israel who didn’t know what he was living for. That allowed them to endure all the years of exile and preserve themselves despite all the persecution, inquisition, and pogroms. After all, it wasn’t just blind faith: They felt and knew that there was a purpose.

However, the wisdom of Kabbalah had to be kept secret from the people of Israel precisely because they had to mix with the desires of other nations and to complete the period of exile. That was the reason why Kabbalists concealed it, alienated the people from it, and intimidated them so as not to confuse them and to give them time to correct what needed to be corrected.

This was the form in which they were performing the correction at that time. After all, we can’t see the inner development that was going on inside. For billions of years, all matter has been evolving unconsciously, but we can’t grasp the process in its entirety with our limited mind. If we maintain this view of reality, we can’t justify anything in it. If we want to understand anything, we first need to reveal the entire picture.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/2011, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Every day there is a completely different illumination, which comes by virtue of the influence of Zeir Anpin, consisting of 6 Sefirot, upon the 7th Sefira, Malchut. Over the course of these “6 days” Malchut becomes corrected and joins Zeir Anpin.

Once all 6 Lights—Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod have influenced Malchut and corrected her, they unite together. This is called the 6th day, Friday. On this day an illumination comes that is made up of all the Lights that were received during the week. This is called Yesod (foundation), after which the Sabbath begins.

On the Sabbath all the previous Lights shine together with one great Light and there is nothing new on our part, from the “awakening from below.” That is why there is no work, discernments, or corrections made on the Sabbath. It is the result of the work done throughout the week, the result of all the preceding clarifications and corrections.

Then an ascent takes place by virtue of this additional illumination, which happens “on the 5th hour of the 6th day of the week,” meaning from the 5th Sefira of the 6th day, because the 6th day, Yesod, contains its own Sefirot: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod. This time is the beginning of entering the 7th day, the Sabbath.

This Light brings additional clarification, understanding, and bestowal. This is the addition of the Sabbath called “an additional soul.” This is the reason why the Ari introduced a custom to wear two jackets on the Sabbath instead of one. It symbolizes the fact that a person needs a double screen against the new additional Light that he receives from Above.

This Light influences Kelim or desires and raises them because it is impossible to remain in the same place while receiving Light.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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In the world, in reality, there are only two forces: the force of the Creator and the “force” of the created being that the Creator intentionally gave to it in the opposite form. This force is opposite to the Creator, thanks to which the creature steps outside the boundaries of His degree and acquires its own reality. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to exist.

In our world, a “created being” is someone who possesses matter of the still, vegetative, or animate degrees. If spiritual existence signifies a personal reality outside of the upper force, then in our world, the upper force doesn’t manifest to us openly, which is why we define reality by the existence of matter.

In spirituality, it is not the matter but autonomy that counts. In order to be a created being, one has to be autonomous. The degree of the creature’s independence determines to what extent it can consider itself as an authentically existing being.

In our world, we do not take babies and children seriously because they have not gained independence yet. Only as an adult does a person become autonomous, and then he is treated accordingly.

Likewise, in spirituality, no matter what rung the creature is at (the still, vegetative, or animate), the determining factor is whether it has a personal status before the Creator. And in order to stand before the Creator, a person first has to become aware that the Creator exists, meaning that He exists before him, and that they are opposite to each other.

Then, in this opposite state, the work begins. A person divides the entire reality into two: the Creator and I, the reality that I observe. And afterward, he chooses what is more important.

In fact, in order to give independence to the creature, the Creator brought it outside Himself and gave it a sensation of existing on its own. And now, the creature must make a correct use of getting to know itself outside of the Creator, as if He doesn’t exist at all, as if He disappears from its view, from its desire. With the help of forces and instruments that the Creator provides, the creature must find the correct attitude to Him. And this means that it has to accept the Creator’s power over itself, over its independence, without annulling it.

Then, on one hand, the creature keeps its status outside of the Creator, meaning it continues to receive pleasure into the receiving desires, without nullifying itself before the Creator. But on the other, by being autonomous in regard to the received pleasure and over it, the creature acquires equivalence to the Creator. Thus, the created being receives complete, total, autonomy.

However, it can occur only if the creature obeys both these conditions: It is willing to annul its attitude to the Creator if it doesn’t harm its desire (the will to receive). Thereby, the creature evolves in the middle line. On one hand, it keeps the desire for pleasure, while on the other, it acquires the form of bestowal that is the attribute of the Creator. In this way, the image of man, Adam, gets formed in it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What do you think about “practical Kabbalah,” a connection with the Sefirot?

Answer: I regret having to disappoint you, but none of this has anything to do with true attainment. There are no red strings, holy water, or ceremonial actions in Kabbalah.

Any person in the world with the desire to learn, regardless of their sex, religion, or nationality, can attain through the proper study and only through it. It’s as if they do not have a body. In other words, clothes, habits, and traditions do not matter. All of these things have absolutely nothing to do with Kabbalah.

Kabbalah is a science, and when we study it, we begin to perceive this world as a more connected, global world. This gives us a new perspective and a new life. We rise from a level where everything ends inside my body to a global, external level where I float outside of time.

This needs to be felt. I promise you that if you were to begin studying and enter this wisdom, you would feel that this is the way this works. A person of our world must rise to the degree of eternity.

Everything Kabbalah predicted has come true. Two thousand years ago, Kabbalists wrote that the world will enter a new phase of development when The Zohar will be revealed, and we will have to begin to work on our correction. I did not believe this when I started studying Kabbalah in the mid-seventies, but this really happened twenty years later, in the mid-nineties.
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From my lecture in Paris 2/1/2011

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Question: What is the Creator?

Answer: The Creator is the upper force that controls and brings into action the entire system. We reveal Him as much as we resemble this integral system. To this extent, we connect with the Creator, the general governing force, and become as eternal and perfect as Him.

This is the degree that every person must reach, sooner or later, if not now. Every person will have to become aware of this common system and attain the Creator.

Question: Do angels exist in the spiritual world?

Answer: Angels are forces. “Angel” (Malach) comes from the word Malchut, force.

Question: What are Sefirot?

Answer: Sefirot are specific qualities that are present in every soul, but in different combinations. This determines all the differences between us.

Question: What is “correction?”

Answer: Correction is the adjustment of our vision, our perception, which enables one to see the way the world is connected in reality. Nature is global and integrated. It does not break down into separate parts, the way we are used to dividing it in biology, zoology, botany, geography, and so on.

Nature includes everything. It is the general picture. Correction is in my newly acquired ability to see everything connected into one picture, and I, myself, also enter it together with everyone else. This is why holistic medicine is so popular in our time as it approaches the entire organism and the world in general as one whole.

Question: What is a soul?

Answer: Our soul is the part of the eternal system that we attain. We become included into this system over 125 degrees until we merge with the entire system in general. Every person must ascend the entire 125 degrees.

We have at most 230 years left (until the expiration of the 6,000 years) to complete our correction, to reveal the global, integrated world, and become completely included in it. However, we can do this sooner.

Question: What is “reincarnation?”

Answer: A person who has not completed the correction of his inclusion into the common, global system must keep reincarnating to continue his correction until he will stop being included into the common system as its part, and every one of us will “diffuse” or “spread” throughout the entire system. We will continue to reincarnate in this world until we correct ourselves this way.
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From my lecture in Paris 2/1/2011

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Question: What is the Surrounding Light that we are trying to attract?

Answer: The Light is the upper force, the one, single, and only existing force in the universe. Besides this Force there is only desire, which becomes revealed to us as a receiving desire. Yet by using the force of the Light we can change it to bestowal.

There is nothing besides Light (the Creator) and desire. We simply call Him by different names (such as Surrounding Light, Inner Light, or the Light that Reforms) in order to provide more precise definitions.

The Surrounding Light influences me if I aspire to my next form. Even though I don’t know exactly what that form is like, I study it through a book that describes all sorts of Partzufim, worlds, and Sefirot. That is how I express my desire to ascend there and attain, and that is how I attract this state that I want to attain to myself. It begins to influence me to the extent I aspire to it.

I open myself up and become more sensitive to this influence, to the next state that I must reach. I simply accelerate my development, adding a little bit of my own desire to the natural force that develops me.

I receive this additional desire from the environment. That is how I realize my free choice and receive from them the sensation that it is important to advance to the next state. After all, being in the next state means being more connected with others, canceling myself more, and bestowing more.

I receive this inspiration from the group and then I take it with me when coming to study and aspiring to attain the future form that is more bestowing. Then I am influenced by Light from there because it has the same nature of bestowal that I want to acquire. We have the same desire, the same tendency, and therefore we are close according to the law of equivalence of form.

By myself I do not have any desire for bestowal or spiritual progress. I have zero desire. But then I turn to the group and from them I take "10 pounds” of desire to advance to bestowal and unity among us, and with that desire I come to study. I want to attain the next state with the same force of 10 pounds. My similarity to the Light is measured by this force of 10 pounds, and to that degree it influences my desire, making it similar to the Light.

This is the same Light that fills my next state because it already exists. When I aspire to that future state, the Light begins to shine on me. For now it is called “surrounding” because it must first correct me and only then clothe into me. It works in two stages, performing two actions.

The same phenomena exist in physics: If I come closer to a magnet, then I enter the field of its attraction and influence. Even you and I influence one another. There is a certain field around every person. In fact, there is not one physical body that isn’t surrounded by a field—not even any stone.

Everything operates by the same principle. The closest state you aspire to (your next state) is what influences you. However, there are many fields around you that you do not even relate to yet. You do not yet aspire to them or know anything about them. When you reveal the spiritual world later on, you will see how many different things are happening in it and how many different dimensions exist in it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Zohar, Introduction, “The Second Commandment,” Item 203: …Then fear clings to both sides, the side of good and love and the side of harsh Din, and she is included in them. If fear is included on the side of good and love, it is complete love, as it should be. …since there is love only in two sides—GAR and ZAT de Bina—and love is incomplete on either of the two sides unless there is fear in each of them, since there cannot be Hochma without Bina, which is love without fear.

This explains the completion of all of our work: How to attain love in Kelim (or desires) of bestowal and then also in the receiving Kelim. In essence this is already the full correction of creation in Malchut, which unites with Bina so much that it attains Keter, where its bestowal is perfect in all of its Kelim.

Question: What is fear?

Answer: Fear is the first commandment, meaning the first correction we have to go through. It is a person’s worry and fear: Is he able to attain bestowal to the Creator? This is fear: Will I attain this? Am I capable of this? Will I ever desire this? Then a person has work.

As a rule our work is aimed at maintaining what we have attained. Baal HaSulam writes about this in Letter #2 from 1920:

Wisdom only comes with experience. I advise you to awaken inner fear that the love among you might cool down, even though the mind rejects this view of things. You should go through the trouble anyway. If someone has the opportunity to add more love, but he doesn’t do it, this will be deemed a flaw.

It’s similar to how a person gives his friend a great gift. The love for his friend that becomes revealed at the moment of the action in the heart of the gift’s receiver, is not similar to the love that remains in his heart when the action is completed. Day by day it cools down, until it may reach total oblivion to the gift of love.That is why the person who received the gift has to invent tricks so as to look at it with new eyes every day.

Spirituality is built on the fact that we do not forget the inspiration that we have attained and we constantly keep the same inspiration while expanding it more and more.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/13/11, The Zohar

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Question: Do supernatural powers exist in our world?

Answer: The natural and the supernatural are measured in relation to man, according to his nature and the level of his development. For example, if a person living 500 years ago was shown a plane, he would be very scared at seeing this metal bird flying through the air without even moving its wings!

However, supernatural does not stand for anything more powerful than me. Right now there is something that controls me, but tomorrow I will control it. Supernatural stands for something “above my nature,” something that I will never attain naturally.

The nature of our world is completely egoistic. It is the desire to receive pleasure from everything possible, to come closer to beneficial things and farther from harmful things. The opposite nature, bestowal and love, is above this level.

The forces of bestowal and love are greater than our nature since they do not have the limitations that come from perceiving things only for the sake of one’s individual pleasure. These forces can only be activated on the condition that you acquire them by rising above your nature into the opposite nature. Then you will have a different perception of reality, as it is written: “I saw a reverse world.” This reality is not limited by time, space, and movement. It is infinite and harmonious, without collisions or boundaries. Once you attain it, you exist in it.

We do not feel that reality now because we possess opposite qualities. But those who have acquired qualities above their nature do perceive it. You could say that this kind of person, who is called a Kabbalist, has supernatural powers.
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From the program “Ask the Kabbalist” on 6/23/10

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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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When you receive spiritual attainment, first of all you will begin feeling certain spiritual phenomena inside your desire. Suddenly, you will understand what they are called and what this is.

And then you will suddenly begin to understand what the book talked about and will remember how you read about it or studied it at some point. You will suddenly remember everything relating to this spiritual phenomenon that has become revealed to you just now.

Everything will immediately unite inside of you—the word that names all of this, the understanding of this spiritual state, the memory about where it was written, and when you had studied it. All of this will become clear to you and connect with the spiritual phenomenon that you now reveal and feel.

However, first the sensation has to come to you, the attainment—without words! And then immediately after you will clarify the words, the definitions, and the connections to the degree you are ready for it.
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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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