Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 76

What Does the Upper One Do After the Lower One Raises MAN?

“By this, the upper raises his AHP. ‘Raising’ means that the upper one can show the lower one the merit and the pleasure that exists in the Kelim of AHP that the upper one can reveal. Thus, from the perspective of the lower one, it follows that he raises the Galgalta Eynaim of the lower one, and by this itself, the lower one sees the merit of the upper one. It follows that the lower one ascends together with the AHP of the upper one.”

All levels consist of ten Sefirot. The Sefirot Keter, Hochma, and Bina are called “Galgalta ve Eynaim” (GE), and the Sefirot Zeir Anpin and Malchut are called “Awzen, Hotem, Peh” (AHP). This structure applies to every upper and lower one. The upper one lowers its AHP (its Zeir Anpin and Malchut) into the lower one and seemingly empties them, as though there is nothing within it.

If the upper one’s AHP is empty and devoid of light, the lower one feels emptiness. Why does the upper one empty its AHP? So that the lower one can correct its GE, as the AHP of the upper one resides within the GE of the lower one—its “vessels of bestowal.”

What are “vessels of bestowal”? These are vessels that want nothing for themselves. If we want nothing, we feel no emptiness. Therefore, the emptiness brought about by the upper one is meant to help the lower one acquire the correct measure, and understand the level and extent to which it needs to correct its GE.

Initially, there is a flaw in the GE of the lower one. The lower one must bring these vessels to a state of “delighting in mercy” (Hafetz Hesed), desiring nothing for itself, vessels of bestowal. When these vessels reach the state of delighting in mercy, the lower one will no longer hold a negative and empty perception of the upper one. This is how the upper one shows the lower one its emptiness and provides a measure for the extent in which the lower one needs to correct itself.

In our current state, we feel a harsh sense of emptiness, as though we have nothing. This is the influence of the upper one’s AHP. We should not dismiss this feeling or deny our state. Instead, we should add effort.

Therefore, it is written, “Everything that is in your power to do, do.” This happens so that we add vessels, screens, and forces that enable us to sense that even in our current state, where it seems that the upper one has nothing, we suddenly begin to feel that the upper one contains everything. The upper one is perfection; it lacks nothing. This realization is not because we become indifferent due to a lack of vitality, but because the upper one is inherently good, contains everything, and nothing is lacking.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 75

What Is Choice?

“At that time, there is room for choice, for the lower one to say,”—not verbally, as words hold no true value here, but rather by reaching an inner understanding, an awareness, a state of recognition in heart and mind—“that this whole concealment that he feels is because the upper one restricted himself for the sake of the lower one.” What is choice? It is to reach the understanding that restriction, confusion, and feelings of emptiness are all meant to provide the opportunity for choice.

“This is called ‘When Israel are in exile, the Shechina [Divinity] is with them.’” The Shechina represents the upper degree. In our current perception, it appears to be in exile. “That whatever taste he feels”—in relation to the upper—“so he says,” meaning we determine our worth of the upper one based on that sensation. “That is, it is not his fault that he does not feel the taste of vitality. Rather, in his view, there really is no vitality in spirituality.” Our judgment always stems from what we feel and have.

So then, what is choice? “If a person overcomes”—“overcomes” means doing everything within our power, with all available effort, and acting accordingly. There is no clear path, but in the meantime, we should engage in various external actions within the group: studying together, helping friends, and drawing inspiration from them in order to gain additional strength.

“And says that the bitter taste he finds in these nourishments”—meaning in the upper one—“are only because he does not have the proper Kelim to receive the abundance because his Kelim are to receive and not to bestow, and he is sorry that the upper had to hide himself, for which the lower one can slander.” In this state, we become critical of the upper one, thinking that it holds no worth. “This is regarded as MAN that the lower one raises.” Frustration and discontent transform into a plea. By taking deficiencies from others around us, through mutual study and receiving light from above, this deficiency and dissatisfaction with life becomes MAN, a request that the lower one raises. We ourselves do not know how we raise this request, but nonetheless, such a relationship with the upper one is called “raising MAN.”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 74

Where Do We Have Free Choice, and Where Do We Lack It?

RABASH writes about where we have free choice in his article, “The Association of the Quality of Judgment with Mercy”: “The main work is the choice, meaning ‘choose life,’ so there will be Dvekut [adhesion], which is Lishma [for Her sake]. By this, one is rewarded with Dvekut with the Life of Lives.” Among all the actions we perform in life, just one action is given for free choice.

If we conduct a scientific examination on ourselves, we find that in all of our body’s biological and physiological processes, including the complexity of our brain (of which only around two percent is utilized), nothing operates voluntarily. Everything functions automatically. Even the brain, thought processes, and apparent decisions operate like a computer preprogrammed with data, operating based on initial parameters and our inherent nature.

We discover that we are no different from any other creature and act solely according to nature’s laws with no ability to choose or introduce new parameters. There is no source from which to draw this input, nothing external to teach it. Everything that enters our “computer” is already predetermined.

Therefore, we have no free choice. Baal HaSulam explains in “The Freedom” that in life, we have only one action of free choice: “And you shall choose life.” There is no need to focus on any other action, he emphasizes, as other actions unfold automatically, whether we want them to or not. If we focus on this single point of choice, we succeed in building our true self.

RABASH continues, “When there is open Providence, there is no room for choice.” There is no person in such a state. What is open Providence? The whole of reality and all created beings operate according to an inner plan and programming, making it as if the person is nonexistent.

“For this reason, the upper one raised the Malchut, which is the quality of judgment, to the Eynaim [eyes].” This is because under open Providence, there is no choice, and the purpose is for us to be independent, to establish something of our own. Why? It is because, through our independence, we will feel who we are and we will know what we are. By acting from our own self, we can rise on our own to the level of the Creator, for “to adhere to Him” means to reach that same level, absolute identification, and to adhere as equals with the Creator.

“This created a concealment, meaning that it seemed to the lower one that there was a drawback in the upper one.” The concealment of the upper one is designed to give us free choice. How is free choice given to us? We are sent a feeling, a thought, that the upper one, the spiritual world, is nonexistent, and that we merely live in this world like animals, with no one watching over us. This concealment is given specifically to those who want to advance, to those whom they want to elevate, to turn into human beings and grant them free choice.

The beginning of this concealment is what we feel in our current state. How? Anyone who wishes to attain something of the unknown already experiences some concealment. The AHP of the upper one (the lower part of the upper degree) begins to act on us, drawing and enticing us to seek it through the concealment.

“There was no Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] in the upper one.” It is what we feel. If we feel this way, we fall into despair. The study ceases to attract us and the path becomes unclear. This means we have already entered the process.

“Subsequently, the qualities of the upper one are placed within the lower one, meaning they are deficient. It follows that these Kelim [vessels] have equivalence with the lower one, namely that as there is no vitality to the lower one, so there is no vitality in the upper qualities.” The lower one perceives that even in the upper one there is no vitality. Why? It is because the upper one deliberately strips itself of light, showing the lower one that it has nothing.

“In other words, he feels no taste in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] for they are lifeless.” This is why it is said that studying Kabbalah is dangerous. Even for people who observe Torah and Mitzvot and do all that is required, when they are in a state of descent, everything appears tasteless and meaningless, to such an extent that they begin to belittle even these practices.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 73

How Do We Progress Without Knowing What to Do?

The solution is simple: Study the process of the four phases of direct light, where the light creates the vessel, builds it, gives it all of its qualities, and then turns the vessel from good to evil and from evil to good, that acts upon it according to its wishes. The same light must continue to work on us; there is no other solution.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes in item 155 of his “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”:
“Therefore, we must ask, Why then did the Kabbalists obligate every person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Indeed, there is a great thing about it, which should be publicized: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning… .”

Understanding is not required, only desire and yearning. If we have a yearning, we have the ability to advance. Without yearning, we cannot do anything.

“Through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the lights that surround their souls. This means that every person from Israel is guaranteed to finally attain all the wonderful attainments… .”

That is, to reach the end of correction and adhere to Him, “with which the Creator contemplated in the thought of creation to delight every creature.” Every one of us is already in the state of the final correction, but we must uncover this state for ourselves, as it is written, “And you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new” (Leviticus 26:10).

“And one who has not been awarded in this life will be granted in the next life, etc.” Such is the process “until one is awarded completing His thought, which He had planned for him.” We reincarnate into this world until we reach the experience of Ein Sof, which is where we already exist, but cannot yet feel.

In our current state, we are unconscious. Gradually, we cleanse our vessels of perception and we feel more and more until we reach the end of correction. What do we correct? We correct our vessels and expand our capacity to feel the state called “the end of correction.”

If we study correctly according to the conditions set by Kabbalists, we receive a force from above that guides us to the goal of creation. This force leads us in various ways, intentionally bringing failures and disappointments so that we feel the need for the Creator’s help. Progress happens solely through the light, so there is no other path but through the study of Kabbalistic books.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 72

What Should We Do in Every State to Progress?

We need not do anything. If we decide on a certain action that we seemingly need to do, we then ruin the entire process. How can we know what we need? There is but a single force that can help us: the reforming light.

We have no understanding or prior knowledge of how to move from one state to another. Before entering a certain state, we feel as if we encounter it for the first time. Without a new vessel, we have no idea about the new state’s structure, how to correct it, or how to fill it with light.

At every level, we must follow the process of left, right, and middle again and again. From the left, we attain the vessel; from the right, we correct it; and afterward, in the middle line, we fill it. As long as we have yet to reach a certain level, we have no understanding of what we should do. This is why Kabbalists call the spiritual path “steps.” What we have yet to attain is nonexistent.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 71

What Is the Purpose of Creation: Is it “to Adhere to Him” or “to Benefit His Created Beings”?

“To benefit His created beings” is a state, while “to adhere to Him” is an action. Through “adhering to Him,” we receive the thought of creation, which is to benefit His created beings. If we progress correctly toward the goal, we follow the middle line, which is neither right nor left but a union of both. From the left, we receive desires; from the right, we correct them with the intention to bestow, and from both, we ascend in the middle line.

In Baal HaSulam’s “Letter 17,” he describes how to perform this action: “Let me explain to you the meaning of the middle pillar, which is the meaning of ‘The Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one.’”

• “Torah” – the light, the laws, and the rules of spiritual progress.
• “The Creator” – the goal.
• “Israel” – the person, the soul yearning to return to the degree of adhesion with the Creator.
• “One” – States 1 and 3 are one, and a person must, through their own efforts, ascend to this state.

“The purpose of the soul when it comes in the body.” Why in this world are we composed of body and soul? So that the soul will “be rewarded, while clothed in the body,” during our lifetime here in this world (Kabbalah never speaks of the afterlife, only of what we should attain during our lives here in this world), “will return to its root, with adhesion with Him.” In this lifetime, we need to climb all the rungs of the spiritual ladder, starting from the degree called “this world,” which is the degree opposite to goodness and the goal, and reach the end of correction. Whoever does not complete the path in one lifetime will do so in several lifetimes.

Throughout the generations, the same souls reincarnate and return to this world until, at the end of the process, they reach State 3, “as it is written, ‘To love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, and to adhere to Him.’” The ultimate goal is “to adhere to Him,” as it was before the soul was clothed in a body.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 70

How Is the Choice Between Good and Evil Made from this Middle Point?

“Middle” means that good and evil seem equal. But how can we distinguish between them? In our world, there are no labels of “good” or “evil” attached to desires, temptations, or actions. If there were such labels, we would have no free choice. We are positioned between and surrounded equally by all kinds of possibilities.

But if the possibilities are equal, how can we choose? What choice can there be in Klipat Noga, in something half good and half evil, if we do not know what direction to take? After all, we are clueless as to what lies ahead of us. If we knew in advance, what choice would we have? How, then, do we make a choice?

It is only through descents and ascents, through failures. As it is written, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and did not sin.” From the failures and the feeling of how the situation is opposite to the spiritual degree, to perfection, to the Creator’s state, we come to recognize the Creator through negation and learn who and what He is, as is it written about “the advantage of light from within darkness,” and then we yearn for Him.

This is how we gather these yearnings until they build a genuine desire that leads to a cry to the Creator from which we receive strength, and we can then adhere to Him. This happens only through the feeling of failure.

The wars mentioned in the Bible with Amalek, the Klipot, and the many conquests are scrutinies of distinctions that must be made in order to reach the Land of Israel (“Land” [Eretz] meaning “desire” [Ratzon], and “Israel” meaning “straight to God” [Yashar-El]), a place where our desire aligns precisely with the desire of the Creator. It is a state where we receive a screen at the level of the light that dresses the level of Ein Sof.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 69

Why Is It Necessary to Awaken the Evil Inclination in a Person?

Baal HaSulam describes this entire process in his “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”:

• In State 1, the Creator created Ein Sof, and through the five worlds of Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya (AK and ABYA), lowered the created being down to this world.
• In State 3, the created being returns, by its own efforts, to the level of Ein Sof.
• The entire process of the created being’s return to Ein Sof is called State 2.

What is the difference between State 1 and State 3? In Ein Sof, the created being completely and perfectly exists in the thought of creation to do good to His creations. The light and the vessel are united in an unchanging state—the one and only state that the Creator created, which is eternal and perfect. However, in this state, the created being is like a fetus in its mother’s womb, at the root degree of the desire’s coarseness (Aviut de Shoresh), where it only feels the light of Nefesh, a basic, minimal light. To attain adhesion with the Creator, the created being must undergo the construction of its vessel, as if it itself creates the desire to adhere to the Creator.

The created being lacks this deficiency, the desire to adhere to the Creator. To develop it, the created being needs to descend into a state opposite to Ein Sof and, through its own will, ascend back to Ein Sof with this deficiency, which is a process called “raising MAN.” This is done through prayer and good deeds. In other words, through corrections, the soul ascends to Ein Sof.

To accomplish this work, we need to possess two opposing forces, two “angels.” These two forces, which are the qualities of the light and the vessel, already exist in Ein Sof in perfection and adhesion. For them to become opposites, a spiritual action called “the breaking of the vessels” takes place. In this process, the screen (the connection between the vessel and the light) shatters. Since nothing connects them, we start feeling two separate forces within ourselves: the struggle between the good and the evil forces, the good inclination and the evil inclination. The good force is the spark of the Creator called a “part of Shechina [Divinity] from above.” The evil force is the stony heart, Amalek, and the three impure shells (Klipot).

We are in the middle, between these two forces, good and evil, as Klipat Noga, which is neither good nor evil. It depends on which force we align ourselves with—good or evil. Therefore, Klipat Noga is called “half good and half evil.”

How can we know where there is good and evil? Our path is always filled with descents and ascents, ascents and descents. First, we enter the left line, see that it is evil, and move to the right line, then again return to the left, and once more move to the right. In such a way, we move between these two forces and ascend until the end of correction.

It is impossible to ascend a step directly. We need to first fall to the left, see that it is evil, and then move to the right. Why can we not just move to the right from the beginning? It is because, by nature, we are initially drawn to the evil inclination, as it is written that “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 68

Chapter 7. Free Choice

There is a distinction between someone who lives an ordinary life and someone who, in addition, seeks to progress spiritually. The difference is that a person with a desire to spiritually progress has “spies,” doubts, and must turn to the Creator for help. Such a person feels a lack of contentment in their life because the point in the heart within them demands fulfillment, a fulfillment that can only come about through feeling the Creator and experiencing the light.

Turning to the Creator for help is a unique feeling that draws us to study the wisdom of Kabbalah. Then, we encounter “spies” that give us no rest. They constantly awaken doubts about the spiritual path and make us question why we are on this path with questions such as: “Why is what we already have in our lives not enough?” and “What are we looking for that is so special through this path?”

The spies are the reasons and the vessels through which we progress. They seem like negative forces acting on us, but they are actually messengers of the Creator with a purpose of calibrating us to enter the Land of Israel in a more precise manner.

Why did the Creator design this entire process for us? It is because observing the commandments alone is not enough to achieve what is contained in the Torah. We need to acquire an additional desire, the desire for adhesion with Him. That is the ultimate goal. Moreover, the desire to adhere with the Creator becomes necessary only after we see that there is no other way to find resolve or fulfillment.

Therefore, the myriad disappointments and challenges brought about by the spies repeatedly frustrate us and makes us despair of achieving our goal through our own efforts. Gradually, a feeling, a readiness, and an understanding grow in our heart that without the Creator’s help, we will never achieve our goal. It is like children who desperately want something, but eventually recognize their helplessness and understand that obtaining what they desire depends on their mother or father, that only their mother or father can help them get what they want. Similarly, we gradually come to recognize our need for turning to the Creator.

It is written about human desires and human nature being completely opposite to the Creator that “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Therefore, without a sincere need, we would never turn to the Creator. It is thus through disappointments that we acquire the desire to turn to the Creator and, in doing so, attain adhesion with Him. We then see that all the paths that the Creator paved for us—the spies, disappointments, previous fulfillments, and the many levels—were solely meant for bringing us to the point of needing the Creator.

Our “I,” the will to receive, was created ex nihilo, opposite the Creator’s nature. The more we transform our will to receive into a will to bestow through an intention to bestow, the closer we come to the Creator until we adhere to Him through equivalence of form.

Thus, the correction is not in the desire itself. Since it is our nature, we cannot change our desire. We can only correct the desire’s modus operandi and the purpose of its use. If the use of the desire is aimed at adhering to the Creator and attaining equivalence of form with Him, then we start gaining proximity with Him. The closer we draw to the Creator, the more we become filled with the upper light, and thereby reach eternity and perfection.

We can only prepare our vessels, and then the abundance in Yud-Hey (of the name HaVaYaH) in Hochma and Bina fills us. How does this happen? Keter, as the root level, is the thought of creation “to benefit His created beings,” from which the light descends. Hochma and Bina, referred to as Abba ve Ima, prepare the light. This is the upper system, the upper light, i.e., the source of the entire plan of creation.

Zeir Anpin and Malchut, or ZA and Nukva (ZON), are the lower levels, the “sons,” our good deeds. To the extent that the lower levels align with the upper ones, i.e., to the extent that Zeir Anpin and Malchut align with Hochma and Bina, they become filled with the unlimited abundance that exists there. Then they reach the purpose of creation.

This is what Baal HaSulam writes in his “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” that the answer to the sense of emptiness that urges us to start asking about the meaning of our lives is “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” This is the upper light, which must fill the vessels—the soul of the created being.

Ultimately, Zeir Anpin must resemble Hochma, and Malchut must resemble Bina, as it is written: “MA will become AB, and BON will become SAG.” This is the condition to reach the end of correction.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 67

Why Do We Agree with the Disregard in Corporeality?

In spirituality there is no concept of agreement or disagreement with what happens. On the spiritual path, we acknowledge and accept the state we are in, which depends on the intensity of the light shining upon us. When a certain light shines and sustains us in a specific state, we can be called a “thief.” If less light shines, we are considered a “robber.” If more light shines, we are a “righteous person.” Therefore, there is no point in lamenting, “Oh no, I’m a robber!” The state arises naturally, and only then do we define and name it. We can deceive ourselves with the label, “I am righteous,” but this will not change our state or make us righteous. It will only alter how we feel.

We should thus focus on accepting our state as it is, instead of reacting to it. Whether we like it or not, agree or disagree, such is the reality. When we begin to engage with internality, we neglect corporeality almost entirely. This phenomenon is not subject to judgment as good or bad. Like in nature, we do not judge a lion for hunting a gazelle; its nature compels it to do so. Similarly, for those on the spiritual path, the nature of spiritual work requires constant renunciation of corporeality.
From a Talk 5/29/2002, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”

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