First, the world was created with the quality of judgment; He saw that the world could not exist, and associated it with the quality of mercy (Baal HaSulam, Introduction to The Book of Zohar, “Two Points“).

Our world exists in a combination of the attributes of judgment and mercy, but mostly within various constraints. We cannot simply enjoy things; we are constantly pursued by various sufferings. All of this is the attribute of judgment.

In Kabbalistic terms, the attribute of judgment is the desire to receive. However, the world could not exist if everyone only wanted to receive for themselves. There must still be some attribute of bestowal, and only then can interaction occur.

In other words, even if people give to each other with the intention of benefiting themselves, there is still some connection between them. We see from history that humanity developed only through collaboration, which is the fundamental attribute that transformed us from animals into humans. This is the manifestation of mercy in our world.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 8/6/23

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There are two points, one concealed, (hidden), and one disclosed. And because they are not separated, they are called first, meaning only one and not two (Baal HaSulam, Introduction of The Book of Zohar, “Two Points”).

The two points represent the beginning and the end of the universe. Both points are connected to each other since the end of the world is laid at the very beginning and the beginning is laid at the end.

Question: It is said that the world was created by the letter “Bet – ״ב with which the Torah begins—Bereshit. In this letter, two lines are connected: the upper and lower. What do they mean?

Answer: The upper line is the line of Keter, which is completely bestowing. The lower line is Malchut, which only receives. Both lines interconnected symbolize the beginning and the end of creation. As a result, they must match their properties of receiving and bestowing so that everything turns into a circle.

Question: Baal HaSulam writes that the top point in the letter “Bet” is called mercy, and the bottom one is judgment. What is it about?

Answer: Mercy is a property of the Creator, the highest property, bestowal. Judgment is the property of receiving, the property of Malchut. That is, there is a connection between the upper and lower lines, which they should pass through themselves.

Therefore, our work is to understand the bottom line from the top line and to understand the top line from the bottom line and connect them together so that there are no contradictions between them, so that each property in them supports the opposite property in the other line, and thus the program of creation would be fulfilled in its entirety.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 8/6/23

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Baal HaSulam gives an example of a guest and a host to illustrate the system of receiving for the sake of giving. The host offers the guest various dishes, but the guest first refuses, does not want to receive them, and makes a restriction.

This is a natural reaction, originally inherent in us. We do not like to be the receivers due to shame.
In that case, the first thing I have to do is have a screen. Then I still begin to receive, but this receiving will no longer be for my own sake but for the sake of the Creator, for the sake of the owner, for the sake of the giver.

Therefore, I can receive once I have pushed away the light; that is, I have demonstrated that I do not want to enjoy but only want to please the Creator. By pushing away the light, I begin to slowly accept it in a way that pleases the Creator.

If we consider this process in the example of a guest and a host, then first I am offered, say, water, and I consciously decide to accept it. Then, it could be salad and so on. And at the very end the meat dish. In other words, at first, I can accept only 20% for the sake of the Creator, then 40%, 60%, 80%, and in the end 100%. But all this is gradual.

The system gradually reveals to me more and more pleasures and checks if I can work with them.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/30/23

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Thus far, we have clarified the three foundations in the wisdom. The first is the light and the vessel, where the light is a direct extension of His self, and the vessel is the will to receive (Baal HaSulam, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 17).

The light comes from the Creator and cascades through the system of worlds, Partzufim, and Sefirot as it gradually weakens until it reaches the lowest degree where it is already completely concealed.

The Kli is a vessel that gradually reveals the light, and thus passes it from above from the Creator Himself to the lowest levels.

The second fundamental concept of the wisdom of Kabbalah according to Baal HaSulam is the ten Sefirot and the four worlds.

While cascading from the Creator to our world, the lowest of the worlds, the light passes through ten stages of weakening and concealment, called the degrees of cascading. We study them in order to be able to rise from the lowest degree, at which we emerge, to the highest, which we eventually have to reach. These are the degrees of concealment.

Many degrees of concealment, successively connect with each other, and form a ladder called worlds.

They connect to each other, each ten degrees into a greater degree, then ten by ten into even greater degrees, and so on until they reach the highest degree.

We measure them in different ways. There are dimensions where the whole ladder of attainment consists of 625 steps; there are others with more and less steps. In general, it depends on the way we measure them.

But the main thing is that the highest degree is the Creator, the lowest one is the lowest level of our world, concealment. All these degrees from above downward or from below upward indicate that on each of them there are created beings and the light that fills them.

In principle, there are five main types of concealment, i.e., five worlds, the degrees of which are divided into five, and five more, and so on.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 8/13/23

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Question: On the corporeal level, the Creator gives us all kinds of pleasures from money, power, honor, and knowledge. What pleasures does He give us in spirituality?

Answer: Spiritual pleasures are absolute. They practically do not end and are not limited by anything. To the extent that you have a desire, you can absorb these pleasures and feel that you are being fulfilled.

If in our world the light enters the desire, gradually extinguishes it, and the desire disappears; in the spiritual world it depends only on the extent that your desires coincide with your capabilities. As much as you can be similar to the light, you will be able to receive it.

Question: In principle, is the wisdom of Kabbalah a kind of patent for ideal endless pleasure? Is the patent actually receiving pleasure for the sake of the Creator?

Answer: Yes, otherwise you will not be able to be fulfilled, because if the pleasure is for your own sake, then the light will immediately disappear.

This is the entire meaning of the wisdom of Kabbalah—to come to a feeling of infinite pleasure.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/30/23

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Question: According to the law of the first restriction, light is forbidden to enter the desire if it is not ready to receive it correctly. This is how it was originally intended, That is, the first restriction is the prohibition to receive pleasure for yourself.

Is it possible to see where this actually happens in our world? After all, people are receiving pleasure for their own sake.

Answer: Yes, but they receive pleasure only from microdoses of the upper light.

We were left with these microdoses so that we could exist by reaching for something, running for something, doing something, and passing it on to each other. But the law of the prohibition of reception, the law of the complete bestowal, does not apply to these microdoses. Therefore we need to understand where this law works and where it does not.

Question: In principle, the Creator is concealed from us, and we are given some small pleasures so that we have the energy to do at least some actions. What does concealment mean? What is forbidden to receive pleasure from? Is it the connection with the Creator himself?

Answer: It is forbidden to receive pleasure from the Creator himself, from the light for your own sake. Therefore, He cannot be clearly revealed within us.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/30/23

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Question: In the Introduction to the Wisdom of Kabbalah it is said that there are two systems: the system of holiness and the system of Klipot (Impure forces). What are they?

Answer: The fact is that the desire originally created by the Creator as a desire to receive can be corrected to a desire to bestow. If the desire to receive is opposite to the quality of light, wants to receive everything into itself, and be filled with light, then the desire to bestow, on the contrary, is similar to light.

And to the extent that it resembles the light, it comes closer to it.

Thus, from the desire to receive created by the Creator, the desire to bestow is formed as well, and we work with these two desires.

Therefore, the system of holiness and the system of Klipot work against each other. The desire to receive and the desire to bestow are opposite each other and play out between themselves either a direct or an inverse relationship to creation.

Question: Does the person not exist here yet?

Answer: The system called Man appears after everything is created and distributed. A person is someone who begins to consciously work with the systems of holiness and Klipot from down below, up.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/30/23

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To save the created beings from this titanic separation, the first restriction took place, separating phase four from the rest of the Partzufim [plural of Partzuf] of Kedusha [Holiness] so that that great measure of reception remained an empty space devoid of any light (Baal HaSulam, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, item 14).

The fact is that when the Creator created desire, He filled it with light, with the help of which He gave the desire the opportunity to develop. Then He made the light disappear from the desire, and it remained empty.

This limitation of the desire from feeling the light is called restriction (Tzimtzum). The light has reduced itself, withdrawn from the desire it created, and is, as it were, outside of it.

Then the Creator makes the light enter the desire in accordance with the action of the desire itself: “Ask me, and I will enter you. Ask me and I will fill you. Ask me, and I will come closer to you, I will shine upon you. Then you and I will become partners.” This is what the light wants from the created desire.

Here, a certain system of interaction and interrelationship arises between them. From this state onward, we can already talk about creation and the Creator, about desire and its fulfillment. This is practically the entire wisdom of Kabbalah, which studies how the creation receives fulfillment from the light and how it regulates the filling with the light inside itself.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/30/23

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Question: Kabbalists of the past created a calendar for 6,000 years. How could they calculate this time?

Answer: Everything that happens in our world is performed under the influence of the upper world. Zeir Anpin of the world of Atzilut, which influences us, consists of six parts: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Each of them must project a thousand-year development in our world from the first attainment of the upper world to the last, final one.

The count of the calendar starts from the spiritual birth of Adam HaRishon. It is said that it happened when he was 37 years old. Basically, that does not matter. He was the first to attain the upper world and is therefore called the first man, Adam HaRishon. After him, other Kabbalists began to attain spirituality.

From the first revelation to the last final attainment, the influence of the six degrees of Zeir Anpin must pass, each of which consists of 1,000, that is, it increases a thousandfold because Zeir Anpin must ascend to the level of Arich Anpin.

As a result, all 6,000 degrees must influence our world. When this happens, each of them turns into an earthly year, and therefore 6,000 years must pass both before a person first reveals the upper state, the full volume of the universe, and before the last one when absolutely all of us reach this level.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Kabbalistic Calendar” 9/3/11

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Now you can understand the real difference between spirituality and corporeality: Anything that contains a complete desire to receive, in all its aspects, which is phase four, is considered “corporeal.” This is what exists in all the elements of reality before us in this world. Conversely, anything above this great measure of desire to receive is considered “spirituality” (Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah“).

Question: What does it mean?

Answer: This means that everything that comes from the Creator and passes through the earlier stages to Malchut is still as if in the Creator Himself where only the light reigns. Once the desire appears, we can talk about creation.

The creation starts making such opportunities in receiving the light from the Creator, in which it studies the Creator to the point that it becomes similar to the Creator in actions.

Question: How can you define what is spiritual?

Answer: The spiritual is what allows us to become like the Creator.

Comment: But no one knows who the Creator is.

Answer: The Creator is the property of bestowal, love, and caring for others. It is His love that created the entire universe and our existence. Therefore, if we act like him, we are called true creations.

Question: So, if I want to become a spiritual person, I have to develop the quality of love toward the creatures?

Answer: Yes. Love another as yourself is the basic law of nature because in this way you become like the Creator. While the material world is the opposite; it distances you from the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 7/16/23

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