Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 170

Does All Spirituality Grow from the Small Spark?

All spirituality grows from this calculation, from that small spark. Through study, the spark receives the grace of Kedusha, and then we develop and nurture it. Initially, we certainly have no understanding of what spirituality is and no real desire for spirituality. Rather, from what enters us through the grace of holiness—called Lishma—we begin to want to be in order to bestow. This attitude begins to form within us, which is truly something miraculous: within the will to receive, sparks of bestowal begin to emerge.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 169

How Can We Not Want to Receive Something If We Never Received It in the First Place?

Since spirituality is concealed, we seemingly want it, but in reality, we mainly want to get rid of our suffering. We are given various kinds of suffering in our state in this world, and we need to escape from the suffering. Then it appears to us that we are attracted to spirituality because we truly want it. However, in truth, we cannot want it before we have seen and felt it. Even the charm of the unknown that we imagine for ourselves is not spirituality. Spirituality is in order to bestow, not what we imagine it to be. Time after time, a different character and picture of spirituality becomes clarified for us, and as we progress, the form of spirituality constantly changes for us.

Therefore, we cannot want spirituality as it truly is because it is opposite to us. We get pushed to spirituality because it seems like it will solve our problems. Then the small will to receive that we have for spirituality, which is essentially simple curiosity, we gradually develop through study, by hearing from the environment, from the society: “It is worthwhile,” “It is important,” “It is great.” This attracts us, and we obligate ourselves to study, work, and perform actions that will help us. This study and these actions help us attract the surrounding light.

When we attract the surrounding light, we receive a grace of Kedusha that we never had before. Even though it seemed that we so greatly desired spirituality, the grace of Kedusha that we receive is entirely different. Grace of Kedusha means that we begin to agree with the fact that we must reach “in order to bestow.” This is a very strange and unnatural phenomenon, where within the general Lo Lishma (“not for Her sake”) there begins to appear a little Lishma (“for Her sake”). In other words, we want to do the work so that both we and the Creator will have something. Of course, if nothing were to be gained from it for ourselves, we would not do the work, but a certain intention already appears that it will also be for the Creator.

This state is called “Lo Lishma that leads to Lishma.” The transition already appears there, similar to the shattering of the vessels, where in the vessel, in Malchut, there is a spark from Bina through which Malchut can later receive correction.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 168

Chapter 17. Slander

In this world, at our level, we are in concealment with respect to the next level, which is already beyond the barrier (Machsom). It should be understood that at every level, the lower one is in concealment with respect to the upper one. The concealment is intended to let the lower one acquire vessels of bestowal. If there were no concealment, and we saw the enlightened and complete state in which everything is known and revealed, we would certainly have no way of detaching from the will to receive. It would be like thinking about something very attractive, detaching from it, and then thinking about that same thing only in order to bestow. How could that be possible?

Therefore, the pleasure in Kedusha (holiness) is concealed, but holiness itself is not concealed, and we can feel it. The moment we give up on the pleasure for ourselves that exists in Kedusha, we immediately see Kedusha and feel it. In other words, Kedusha itself, spirituality, is not concealed; only the direct pleasure that can be received from it in the vessels of reception is concealed. This is all that is under restriction (Tzimtzum). This is because when we correct ourselves and wish to not use the vessels of reception, we immediately discover spirituality, and we realize that it was not concealed even beforehand. Instead, since the vessels were aimed at receiving for ourselves, it appeared concealed.

This means that within us there are, as it were, two channels. We can perceive spirituality through one, and the disturbance exists only in the second channel because we want to draw spirituality for the sake of receiving. However, if we wish to perceive spirituality not for ourselves, but in order to work with it as it itself deserves, in equivalence of form with it, then it becomes possible to see it and to work with it. Accordingly, we learn that the vessels of reception conceal spirituality from us.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 167

In Spirituality, “Female” Refers to the Will to Receive That Requires Correction, a Deficiency, a Vessel Ready to Be Corrected and Filled With Light. So Why, Traditionally, Do Men Study Kabbalah and Not Women?

The distinction is not about biological superiority, but about different inner structures and roles in correction.

A woman, by nature, is generally more connected to concrete reality and to the natural order of this world. Her desires are more grounded in life itself, that is, to the home, family, and stability. Due to this deep connection to nature, it is more difficult for her to detach from it.

A man, on the other hand, is naturally more detached from the immediate reality. This detachment causes him to make more mistakes in worldly matters, but it also enables a greater capacity to abstract, to disconnect from nature, and to yearn for something beyond it. In general, women tend to function in this world more stably and realistically than men.

Therefore, the deficiency for spirituality does not depend on physical gender, but on the extent to which we can rise above our nature and long for adhesion with the Creator.

According to this traditional view, men are obligated in spiritual work because their nature allows (and requires) that upward striving. Women are not obligated in the same way, unless a genuine spiritual deficiency awakens in them.

There is a kind of “test” described:

A woman is first given what corresponds to her natural framework, that is, a husband, home, and children (what is called “a woman of the home”). If, after having these, she still yearns for Godliness, then the spark is considered authentic. If she seeks spirituality while lacking basic natural fulfillment, it might be that she is trying to compensate spiritually for unmet natural needs.

Why is a different test applied to men?

It is because a man does not naturally experience attachment to home and family in the same way. Therefore, he must also be grounded (married, responsible, and working) before engaging seriously in spiritual work. He too cannot escape worldly responsibility. A man without burden and responsibility is also considered unready. Therefore, both are tested according to their different inner structures.

Even when women study, traditionally the method is different because male and female souls represent different modes of spiritual structure. For that reason, serious study was not historically conducted in mixed settings.

An illustrative story is told about RABASH’s eldest daughter, who intensely desired to study. Baal HaSulam even taught her before her marriage. Yet once she became pregnant, her desire to study disappeared completely. Her thoughts became fully directed toward her child. RABASH reportedly observed this with amazement. This is presented as an example of how strongly nature operates.

Today, however, the situation is different. Many women who have stable lives, with a family, home, and fulfillment in this world, still feel a strong pull toward Kabbalah. This is considered a relatively new phenomenon. Sometimes the awakening could be influenced by environment or social context, but even that can accelerate the development of the point in the heart until it ignites independently.

In any case, if a genuine spiritual desire exists, a woman may certainly pursue spirituality. However, the traditional view maintains that the form of study and inner work differs, because the spiritual roots of male and female souls are different.

Ultimately, in spirituality, “male” and “female” are inner qualities present in every person. The female aspect is the deficiency, the will to receive. The male aspect is the intention to bestow. Both are required for complete correction.

From a Talk on the Article “What Is, ‘There Is None as Holy as the Lord, for There Is None Besides You,’ in the Work?” 6/11/2002

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 166

What Must One Do So That the Appeal to the Creator Will Be Detached from Oneself?

In order for an appeal to the Creator to be detached from oneself, we must examine our attitude to Him.

It is relatively easy for a person to imagine “I exist.” It is also not so difficult to imagine “my desire toward Him.” However, we cannot hold on to that sensation for long. We somehow grasp an inner image that tells us this is the Creator, but that image constantly changes, because we do not know what the Creator is in His ultimate form or inner sensation.

We can, in some way, position these two points of “I” and “He” in every state we are in. However, once these two points are present, the challenge is to examine the extent to which our attitude is directed at ourselves, and to what extent we imagine that it is directed at the Creator.

When we complete this scrutiny, we are given the next state, and the process continues accordingly.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 165

What Must One Do So That the Appeal to the Creator Will Be Detached from Oneself?

In order for an appeal to the Creator to be detached from oneself, we must examine our attitude to Him.

It is relatively easy for a person to imagine “I exist.” It is also not so difficult to imagine “my desire toward Him.” However, we cannot hold on to that sensation for long. We somehow grasp an inner image that tells us this is the Creator, but that image constantly changes, because we do not know what the Creator is in His ultimate form or inner sensation.

We can, in some way, position these two points of “I” and “He” in every state we are in. However, once these two points are present, the challenge is to examine the extent to which our attitude is directed at ourselves, and to what extent we imagine that it is directed at the Creator.

When we complete this scrutiny, we are given the next state, and the process continues accordingly.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 164

What Does It Mean to Prepare the Sensation?

According to the correction of the vessels, the Creator fills a person, dresses within them, and that is what the person feels. The preparation for this is the preparation of the sensations, the vessels.

A person who is hard of hearing buys a hearing aid. A nearsighted person buys glasses. Someone whose sense of taste is dull eats strongly flavored foods. A tired person drinks a cup of coffee to wake up a bit. If someone wants to heighten their sensitivity or stir their emotions, they might listen to special music. Various preparations are made in order to sharpen the senses.

Sometimes we see someone crying and it makes us laugh. At other times, someone tells us something ordinary and it brings us to tears. Everything depends on the person’s preparation.

We are in the most exalted state, that of final correction. However, due to our dull senses, we feel only a tiny fraction of it, and even in that tiny portion, we feel everything as the opposite of the final correction and curse our lives. The entire work of correction is the correction of our senses. This is “recognition of evil.” However, again the question arises: How can we know this if “the good” is concealed?

Baal HaSulam gives a parable about a wealthy man who locked his son in a dark basement with nothing but the food that was lowered down to him. The son cursed his father and saw him as a cruel torturer.. When he was finally taken outside and shown that there is another life beyond, his mental state worsened. He did not understand what was happening. He felt like the most miserable person in the world. These are exactly the kinds of states we go through.

Over time, we gradually learn from our state. What does “learn” mean? After his heart has been broken for twenty years, they bring light into the basement, and then he discovers all the treasures his father left there for him. He begins to understand that everything was done for his sake. And why was he in sorrow for twenty years? It was because he could not have digested all his wealth, in less time than that. Now he can. The vessel must be suited to the light, to the revelation.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 163

If Everything Comes from the Creator and the Person Does Not Truly Exist Independently, How Can We Understand Punishment?

That everything comes from the Creator does not erase a person’s existence. A person is the one who feels.

Who is the vessel? The vessel is the desire to enjoy from the Creator. The Creator fills the vessel with His presence. Aside from basic necessity, which is phase one of the four phases of direct light, all other fulfillments stem from the sensation of the Creator, from sensing the host, and not from what He has prepared for us. Therefore, the vessel is essentially what senses the reality of the Creator. The extent of concealment or revelation is the extent of emptiness or fullness in the vessel.

When we come to clarify the essence of actions from the side of the vessels, through screens and discernments, we see that the essence of these actions is awareness: “What is happening to me? Who is doing this to me? Why is He doing this? And what does He want from me?” After we clarify these matters, the states change, improve, and transform into the next states in line, and so on. In other words, we are not the doers. The Creator is the doer. But we are those who feel and who must, through our sensation, clarify what is truly happening to us.

The moment we clarify a state, it changes.

The entirety of these clarified sensations is called the work of discernment and the correction of sensation. Since we already exist in Ein Sof (infinity), we need nothing but the correction of our sensations. We need to correct our dullness of perception. Moreover, even the senses themselves are not truly corrected. Clarity comes from becoming aware that we find ourselves in dullness each time anew.

When we recognize the evil in a state, we reveal the posterior (Achoraim) of the Creator, which then turns into His anterior or “face” (Panim). This is how it is carried out each time anew. This means that our actions are only inner effort: exerting in finding that I, He, and the method are one, as Baal HaSulam writes in one of his letters. We must constantly sharpen this single point, again and again without pause, until the fog disperses more and more, until we discover that we are indeed where we have always been: in the final correction.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 162

Does Separation from the Creator Also Come from Him?

Certainly separation also comes from the Creator. Everything comes from Him. However, separation is punishment.

How should we respond to this state? We need to bless the good as we bless the bad and the bad as we bless the good. Yet separation from Godliness, or more precisely, the cessation of the ability to advance, meaning the ability to equalize our form with the Creator, is indeed the only punishment in reality.

In the corporeal world, this separation manifests as troubles that befall us, as negative events in our lives, and even as effects on the physical body. All the good comes from Him, and all the bad comes from the posterior (Achoraim) of the Creator, from concealment. The issue is not the concealment itself, but how we receive it and relate to it.

Punishment is punishment. Nothing can be done against it. The more we feel the concealment, the more we resist it. Concealment can be corrected through Hassadim (mercies). To the extent that we detach from our personal sensation and rise above it, we become those who delight in mercy (Hafetz Hesed), and then we perform corrections. In any case, anything less than final correction is considered punishment. However, we who are in this process view everything that happens to us as reward.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 161

What Should We Do in the Next Moment?

In the next moment, we must unite more deeply with our sensations, further sharpen our senses, and develop greater inner acuity in our contact with the Creator. This search, this connection, this discovery of contact, is given to us by increasing the illumination upon us. That is the reward.

We need to understand that advancement toward the final correction, even though it includes various states of alternating light and darkness, is itself the reward. When we are given a deficiency and the ability to realize that deficiency, that is our reward. How could it be anything other than reward?

Punishment is when we feel abandoned, when we feel as though we are not being attended to, as if we are in suspension. There is no greater punishment. “Why have You forsaken me?” That feeling itself is the punishment.

Kabbalists are people who yearn for Godliness, and who are indeed, as it is written, “Jews,” meaning from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How was Abraham different from the other nations? It is that he was a Kabbalist. In that he recognized his Creator and wished to unite with Him, he differed from his Persian neighbors.

To clarify, the Israeli nation is not unique by biological genes, but because it is a group of Kabbalists that separated from the Persian people. Therefore they called themselves “Jews” (Yehudim) or “Hebrews” (Ivrim). “Jews” because they seek unification (Yichud), and “Hebrews” because they cross over (Laavor) the barrier (Machsom) between our world and the spiritual world. That is our nation. When we fall from the degree of Kabbalists, we become called “gentiles.”

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