Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 66

How, Then, Is a Connection Established Between Corporeal Actions and the Spiritual World?

The general desire to receive—humanity’s collective desire—has reached a level where fragments of the soul began descending from above. In other words, the desire to receive embedded in humanity started becoming illuminated by light from above in order to scrutinize it. When this light shines, a point in the heart emerges.

This point first appeared in Abraham, who was the first to discover the Creator. From him, the lineage of students and the concept of a group emerged. Without Abraham’s revelation, humanity would have continued existing without spiritual scrutiny and advancing according to the general timeline of the universe and reality.

From Abraham onward, people started having free choice. With the illumination of the light, we could start enabling actions from ourselves. What actions could we do? Actions that facilitate connection between souls. We thus need someone close to us, a friend we can admire and emulate. We cannot rely solely on someone distant from us.

The only free choice we have is to take an additional deficiency from someone equal to us. This choice is the same one that Abraham made in his time. When the Creator told him, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky” and “Your descendants will be strangers in a land not their own,” He was essentially providing conditions for free choice. For someone to be inspired by another, to take a desire from them, the role of a single Kabbalist was replaced by a group of close-knit individuals, a group of Kabbalists called “Jews” or “Hebrews,” who settled in the Land of Israel.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 65

How Much Are Daily Corporeal Actions Connected to Spirituality?

We need to distinguish between the soul dressed in human form and requiring correction and the body. What we do throughout the day in relation to our surroundings, whether through our body or our animalistic and human desires, does not pertain to the Torah, spiritual progress, or the Creator. People lived before they knew about Torah and Mitzvot. They had partners, children, homes, and the means by which to make a living. None of that relates to spirituality.

Ordinary life disconnected from Kabbalah does not relate to spirituality. It is a bodily, corporeal existence in this world. While such life is not entirely disconnected from the spiritual world, since everything exists as “branches” stemming from spiritual roots, it can be compared to the desire to receive as it manifests in inanimate objects, plants, animals, and humans within this world. In its slow progression, it advances to the end of correction according to the universal timeline of creation.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 64

Why Is it Forbidden to Read the Torah as a Historical Story? Why Is “Do Not Make for Yourself a Graven Image or Any Likeness” the Most Severe Prohibition in the Torah?

If we imagine corporeality instead of spirituality, then we cannot attain spirituality. This causes no harm to the Creator, or to the world, but we remain at the animalistic degree reading the Torah as if it were a novel. That is the reason for this prohibition. It is why there is an obligation to view the Torah as the names of the Creator, as solely this approach leads us to the goal.

Moses wrote the Torah in the form of a story because he had no other language that could convey the meaning he wanted to express. All other forms of writing (Haggadah, Midrash, Halacha, and the language of Kabbalah) make it much harder, almost impossible, to articulate all the nuances and details Moses sought to express. Therefore, he used the language of stories and metaphors.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 63

Why Is the Torah Called “the Names of God”?

The “names of God” refer to the way the light dresses in the vessel, and how the vessel experiences the light’s qualities. For instance, in relation to the saying, “As He is merciful, so you should be merciful,” if we correct ourselves to be merciful, then we also sense the Creator as merciful. This is called attaining or revealing the holy name, “Merciful.”

The Torah is composed of lights that dress within us that enable us to experience the Creator. The Creator is the totality of light, and we receive this totality incrementally according to our degree of correction.

If we receive the entire Torah—all the lights together—we sense the entirety of the Creator and experience Him fully.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 62

What Does It Mean to “Rejoice in Darkness”?

To “rejoice in darkness” means to be joyful about the purpose behind it. “Darkness” refers to the state of darkness we might be in, while joy stems from what the darkness brings. We might be in an unpleasant state, yet surrounding light shines upon us, enabling us to sense both the darkness and the positive outcomes it will yield in the future.

This is not the same “darkness” that we feel during the preparation stage, which consists only of confusion, emptiness, weakness, and helplessness. The darkness that comes from the illumination of surrounding light also contains a glimpse of the future—spirituality—called the “light of faith,” yet it is still darkness.

When Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai descended to the level of “Shimon from the market,” he determined, from that level, that he was in it, and deduced that the corresponding level would be the state of complete correction. When did he determine this? It was while he was still at the level of “Shimon from the market,” and not from another state.

Did he descend to the level of “Shimon from the market”? Yes, he descended, but it was Rabbi Shimon who descended. He did not become entirely “Shimon from the market,” but rather Rabbi Shimon dressed in the state of “Shimon from the market.” He was at that low level, yet determined from his overall state what this level would bring him.

Even before crossing the barrier (Machsom), we experience states of darkness differently in order to prevent excessive discouragement from descents. The states that take place after the barrier are felt in a certain way before the barrier as well, albeit within the material world, not the spiritual.

The correction of the screen over the desire to receive is called “an act,” meaning taking a negative desire and turning it into a positive one. The Mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah are 613 Eitin (counsels) on how to correct the soul, followed by 613 Pekudin (commands), directives for filling the corrected parts with light.

If we correct all of our parts and fill them with light called “Torah,” we attain the general Torah. Upon completing the correction of the entire vessel, the general light called “the Creator” becomes revealed.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 61

How Can We Hold a Sense of Spiritual Importance While Experiencing Darkness?

Even during the night we should maintain a sense of greatness and importance of the spiritual goal. If we view the darkness as beneficial, we can rejoice in it, bless the Creator, and then even during the darkness, we can cleave to Him. This is not done at our current level, but at spiritual levels. There we intentionally perform various corrections, such as “the sixty breaths of the horse,” corrections of the night, corrections of slumber (Dormita), and so on, to ascend from one degree to the next. These are wondrous occurrences.

Out of the darkness, all discernments become revealed. Afterward we just need to add intention and correct them. New desires emerge from the darkness.

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Can There Be Progress Even in Darkness and Feelings of Distance?

Darkness, too, is progress, but on the left line. It is the same ascent, just from the left. When we feel as if we are in darkness, we cannot feel complete. Otherwise, we would not perceive the darkness. The feeling of darkness is necessary for progress. The intention behind descending into darkness and the actions taken there are what matter most.

Part 12 of The Study of the Ten Sefirot discusses the concept of nighttime and evening corrections by Kabbalists. We need to make several corrections, descend into darkness, work within it, and perform corrections even during sleep. It is not about escaping our soul to take on a new one. Rather, it is about preparing for the “next day” during the “night.”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 59

What If We Feel That Everything Is Good?

If we feel that everything is good, that we are in spirituality, and that we are, as it is written, “full as a pomegranate,” it means that we are not investing enough effort, or that our efforts are only physical and not internal. This might indicate that our search has ceased and we seem disconnected from our friends, even though physically we might always be around them and working with them.

To truly connect with friends means seeing in them something that is lacking in ourselves. A person who feels that everything is good likely lacks the quality of envy. They are content with what they have. They operate solely on the “right line” and feel righteous and joyous. Such a state stunts growth and prevents the acquisition of new vessels. It is a real misfortune. While elevation of spirit is wonderful, it must always be balanced by the “left line.” Growth occurs when we gain new vessels and draw toward the right line.

What is the point of the right without the left? Without balance, growth is impossible. True growth derives from “flesh,” meaning vessels that require refinement. This refinement stems from envy, which is positive and beneficial envy that leads to wisdom. As it is written, “counters’ envy increases wisdom.” There can be no development without envy for the way a friend studies, how they write, what they do, and so on. This envy is neither competitive nor destructive. It does not seek to harm the friend or diminish their success. Instead, it expresses an aspiration to be like them, without taking away from them.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 58

Why Does it Seem that After Effort, Instead of Progressing, We Regress?

If we invest effort and feel that we regress, it indicates that we are undergoing the revelation of a new vessel. When does it seem that we are “going backward”? It is when there is a revelation of an empty vessel. This takes place when entering the left line, revealing a new vessel, or experiencing new Achoraim (the posterior side of the next spiritual degree). This is actually progress even though it feels negative; it is increased emptiness that will later be filled with corrections and light.

In such a state, we are in the left line and will later move to the right. The alternation of left and right creates what is called “descents and ascents.” However, these are not truly descents and ascents, but are two phases of correction. Such is the process of advancement—left, right, left, right. In the left, we feel empty and perceive ourselves as regressing. And indeed, we do go backward, away from spirituality. We are brought down to collect lower vessels, which indicates that we are ready to correct even those vessels.

Therefore, if we are experienced in spiritual work, we rejoice when feeling despair, confusion, or disarray. We are glad for these states of confusion and dispersion, as these feelings signal the addition of new vessels.

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What Can Be Taken from a Friend?

Nothing can be taken from a friend. We can only be externally inspired by the way they work or think. To be inspired by a friend, we need to observe them without their knowledge and learn from their actions. For example, we can observe how a friend constantly writes during a lesson, while we ourselves do not. We can then ponder why they write, and we might assume that they refer to their notes later at home. In seeking such examples, we should focus only on the positive aspects and overlook the negative ones.

Always judge the friend favorably, noting how much they study and strive. Observe various small details and derive benefit from them. This is called “judging a friend favorably”; it is seeing only the good in them because it is from their goodness that we draw benefit, fuel, and motivation.

Therefore, we are never obligated to act or refrain from acting. It is about every person’s personal correction. The Torah does not prohibit anything; it only offers advice for personal spiritual progress. All prohibitions and advice aim to improve the person. If we do not judge a friend favorably, we cannot harm them in any way, but we also cannot draw help or additional strength from them. In such a case, the loss is entirely our own.

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