Restriction means that Malchut of Ein Sof diminished the will to receive in her. Then the light disappeared because there is no light without a vessel.

This is the meaning of the restriction, that the will to receive that is contained in the light of Ein Sof, called Malchut of Ein Sof, which is the thought of creation in Ein Sof, which contains the whole of reality, embellished herself to ascend and equalize her form with His self. Hence, she diminished her will to receive His abundance in phase four in the desire. Her intention was that by so doing, the worlds would be emanated and created down to this world.

In this manner, the form of the will to receive would be corrected and return to the form of bestowal, and that would bring her to equivalence of form with the Emanator (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot – Inner Observation).

After the restriction, Malchut of Ein Sof begins to transform itself from reception for its own sake to reception for the sake of bestowal, and in accordance with this, it gradually fills itself with light in its five parts. These measured receptions of the light for the sake of bestowal are called worlds.

In other words, the worlds are portions of light received by Malchut with the intention to delight the Creator.

Question: Is our world also a portion of some light?

Answer: Our world has nothing at all. It is imaginary, illusory, since it exists purely in an egoistic form. A restriction was made on it, and it exists only on the basis of a fictitious egoistic desire that appears to us in order to provide us with a point of departure.

Yet in our world, there still is a tiny spark of light called Ner Dakik (a thin candle) so that we are able to exist within this imagined reality.

Question: And this tiny spark has set in motion the whole world, all human concepts, and the entire history of humanity?

Answer: No, everything stems only from the light. The upper light is the only Creator.

Everything that we feel happens only relative to us. When we ascend above this state and enter the quality of bestowal, we will discover that our world does not exist.

Question: Does it mean there is a world and there is the one who perceives it?

Answer: No, the world exists only for the one who perceives it. It is nothing more than a subjective impression. We cannot determine anything outside of ourselves. Even a Kabbalist feels everything only in his own vessels, either of reception or of bestowal, but they are still his vessels. Outside of them, nothing can be perceived. One may assume anything, but that is no longer science.
[234891]
From Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 6/10/2018

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Spiritual entities become separated from one another only by disparity of form. In other words, if one spiritual entity acquires two forms, it is no longer one, but two. …

You now see that as a corporeal matter is divided, cut, and becomes separated by an ax and motion that increase the distance between each part, a spiritual matter is divided, cut, and separated by the disparity of form between each part (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot – Inner Observation).

The Creator created one general desire to receive, which was broken into 600,000 main parts, which in turn split into billions of parts (desires). The distance between various desires (the red and green circles in the diagram) is determined by the difference in their qualities.

If the difference in qualities diminishes due to one or the other, then accordingly, either the first desire moves toward the second, or the second toward the first.

When the difference becomes zero, they connect and become as one.

The program of creation lies in the fact that all 600,000 parts, which make up one general desire, must connect together.

At first, they organize into groups of tens (small green circles in the diagram). And then these tens gather together until they form one common Kli (vessel) called Adam. In this way, the system reaches its correction.

Question: Is there any correspondence in this to the human microcosm in which there is an enormous number of different microbes, atoms, and molecules? It is the same in the macrocosm,  there are a multitude of stars, planets, and celestial bodies.

Answer: There is absolute correspondence. Everything consists of the same small desires, each of which is in the same state: approaching, dissolving, and distancing from one another. All this is for the purpose of reaching one common denominator. All of nature is moving toward this.

Isn’t this evident from all of history, from what we study in the sciences? Today we say: the world is becoming integral, revealing itself more and more as one integral system. Previously, this was not revealed, but now we already see it.

Question: So both the macrocosm and the microcosm have a spiritual root?

Answer: Everything does! It is all one system that exists within one desire created by the Creator.

All the particular desires, as they are corrected, bring themselves to altruistic connection with the other parts and merge into one unified whole.

In the unified desire, they become similar to each other and differ from one another in no way at all. This is the very point of correction of all creation.
[231743]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 4/15/2018

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Question: In Kabbalah there are two fundamental concepts: the Creator and the creation. What are they?

Answer: Initially there is a incorporeal, nameless force without any properties that could be defined in any way and that has nothing to do with us.

This force is called “Atzmuto,” which in Hebrew means existing by itself; that is, it is something we do not touch at all and cannot research.

Question: And we will never attain it?

Answer: We cannot say this because we deal only with our own correction. We do not know what we will begin to attain and reveal after we correct ourselves.

Atzmuto gives birth to the quality of bestowal and love. This quality is what we call the Creator. It can be defined only in relation to the creation. There cannot be the Creator without creation and creation without the Creator. They emerge from Atzmuto simultaneously: the light and the desire within it. The desire is called the creation, and the light is called the Creator.

The desire of the Creator is to bestow, to fill, to love. The desire of the creation is to receive, to be loved, to absorb.

Gradually, these two mutually opposite forces begin to develop through the four phases of direct light from which the desire to receive emerges that completes its formation in the last, fourth phase, Malchut.

From Malchut the worlds branch out: Adam Kadmon (the prototype of the future human), Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. Their purpose is the gradual weakening of the light and the simultaneous development of desire: the less light, the greater the desire. The desire develops all the way to our world by absorbing the light.

In the process of the development of the desire, many different actions take place. When it reaches our level, it breaks, absorbs the light into itself, and begins to develop into a semblance of the light. This is what is happening with us.

The fact is that corporeally, in the form we now perceive ourselves in now, we do not exist. Our world and we ourselves are an illusion in our sensations. We perceive everything only within ourselves.

Question: If we do not exist, then why do we feel each other and the world?

Answer: It is because we have a commonality of sensations through which we can interact with one another.

Very often, we do not understand each other because beside this commonality, we also have individual desires and thoughts. Therefore, we interpret what we perceive differently. But in sensations, we are in agreement with one another.

For example, we have a shared sensation that there is a table in front of us. Such natural agreements are initially embedded in us because we are all built on the same principle.

Question: If there is no corporeal reality, then what does exist?

Answer: Our entire universe, everything around us, and we ourselves are a set of waves. Even physicists agree with this today.

Question: Physicists say that if we look at electrons, we see them as corporeal particles. But if no one is looking at them, they behave like waves. Why is that?

Answer: It is because the waves outside of us are also us. Everything is spoken of and felt only in relation to us. There is nothing that we can perceive outside of ourselves.

Question: Why is this not taught in schools? People would treat each other quite differently.

Answer: When I was a child, we were taught that the universe exists eternally and is infinite in size. Today science refutes this and claims that the universe has existed for fourteen billion years and has definite dimensions. That is, we are constantly developing.

But this knowledge will not change the relationships between people. What difference does it make to a person what scientists say? First and foremost, one thinks about one’s livelihood, health, and diversion. A person is an ordinary animal organism that wants “bread and circuses.”
[226927]
From the Kabbalah Lesson 11/10/2017, “Kabbalistic Principles and Their Spiritual Meaning and Application”

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Question: Please explain the Kabbalistic principle: “The expansion of the light followed by its departure makes the Kli fit for its use.”

Answer: This principle also works in our world. When can I say that I sense something, that I came into contact with something, that I desire something? It is when I have tried it, tasted it, and felt pleasure, and then it disappeared, and a special yearning arose within me, a special attraction toward it.

This special attraction, which remains after the initial tasting, is what is called desire. The first time, it was not yet a desire. Someone simply told me that it was good, and I tried it. Nothing more.

In the story of Adam’s transgression, it is said: “He ate, and he will eat again” from the forbidden fruit. The first time, it is not considered a transgression, Adam simply absorbed the pleasure of the upper light. But when he sensed it, and then he himself reached out for it, this was already a sin.

The expansion of the light within the desire and its subsequent departure make the Kli fit for reception. It is the will to enjoy that defines the striving forward of the Kli.
[223092]
From the Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/2017, “Kabbalistic Principles and Their Spiritual Meaning and Application.”

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that the light was restricted in order to give the creations room to develop.

But we study that the light was restricted because of the shame of creation. Why did the restriction occur?

Answer: Indeed, the reason for concealment of the light is, on one hand, to give creation freedom, not to put pressure on it with force from above, and on the other hand, so that creation could, according to its decision, come closer to the Creator.
[347184]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/2025, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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Question: How does Malchut of the world of infinity feel the desire to create worlds and make creatures?

Answer: It all happens inside her. She does not have to receive it from somewhere far. The light acts on her, reveals her desire, and fills it. We are studying the consequences of this process.

Question: It turns out that Malchut is impressed by the Creator, Keter. Then where does shame come from?

Answer: Since Malchut has not yet united with the Creator, there remains a difference between her and Him. The Creator gives absolutely everything, but she only receives from Him, and at the moment, cannot do anything about it.

Question: But does Malchut of the world of infinity still feel the Creator’s intention: the creation of worlds?

Answer: No, she feels that on the one hand, the Creator is concealed, but on the other hand, He reveals Himself in what He gives, fills, and everything that comes from Him, according to His will. Therefore, there is a difference between them.
[347181]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/2025, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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Question: Did the restriction occur on those desires that would be revealed after it?

Answer: We study the spreading of the light in the Kli that it creates. And therefore, apart from what is written, we cannot speak of anything else.

Question: We said that the restriction did not occur because of a difference in form, but because Malchut wanted to increase its connection with the giver. And when the light departed, the opposite was revealed. What does it mean that the departure of the light reveals the lowliness of creation? Or is it just revealing the difference in stages?

Answer: Yes, Baal HaSulam wishes to explain that despite the fact that the restriction was uniform in all its parameters, the light withdrew with equal force from the center it had in that circle.

Still, the light departs from the common center that is shared by all equally, and an absolutely even space remains.
[347266]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/2025, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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Question: What does it mean that the light restricts itself evenly in the central point?

Answer: It means that there is no preference given to any particular direction or quality. That is why everything happens in a circle.

Question: The restriction that the Creator made toward creation is the greatest quality of bestowal carried out by Him toward us. If we make a restriction toward Him, will this be the same quality of bestowal toward the Creator?

Answer: Try, and you will see.

Question: What action must we perform now in order to delight the Creator and make a restriction?

Answer: I don’t know, you must clarify that for yourself.

Question: Can we say that the desire to receive in our world does not grow but only rises and becomes purified, and therefore we lose the ability to enjoy it?

Answer: No, we are drawing ever closer to the desire to bestow. We are beginning to understand it more and more, and we feel ourselves coming nearer to it.
[347263]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/25,”The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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These ascents are like rungs of a ladder, set and arranged degree by degree until it is completed and achieves its goal. And you should know that the quality and quantity of these rungs is set in two realities:
1) the existence of material substances,
2) the existence of spiritual concepts.

In the language of Kabbalah, they are called “from above downward” and “from below upward” (Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence“).

The descent of the desire from above downward and the ascent from below upward is a gradation of our egoism. As we descend from above downward, the ego manifests as increasingly corrupted, but during the ascent from below upward, it will appear increasingly corrected.

Question: So nothing disappears? In fact, we ascend those very steps by which creation descended?

Answer: Of course! There is no other way. Egoism was created opposite to the light; the light filled it, fitting it precisely, and together they form the ladder of spiritual elevation.

Question: What is the difference between the order of the descent from above downward and the order of ascent from below upward?

Answer: The ascent from below upward happens through our unity and our appeal to the Creator for help to rise and become similar to Him.

Question: Is humanity still threatened by further descents?

Answer: No, there will be no more descents. What is corrected is corrected forever!
[228913]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/18, Writings of Baal HaSulam ‘The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence’

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Question: It is said that Malchut of the world of infinity adorned herself in order to come to equivalence of form with the upper light. What does this mean?

Answer: Malchut chooses the form in which it can receive, in order to be filled with the light of infinity that was revealed at the beginning of creation.

Question: What is the difference between reality before the Tzimtzum and after the final correction?

Answer: That the true reality becomes revealed.

Question: Is the Tzimtzum, essentially, the only action through which equivalence of form with the Creator is possible?

Answer: For now, yes. And afterward it will depend on how much and in what way the Kli receives. In this will be the equivalence.

Question: Is the act of Tzimtzum connected with the restriction of the desire to bestow?

Answer:Yes, the act of Tzimtzum is the restriction of our will to receive.

[347178]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson  8/15/25 ,”The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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