Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 16

What Is “Back” or “Behind”?

When the Creator reveals His actions as if they are not in humanity’s favor, it is considered a descent. All doubts come to a person indirectly from the Creator. Just as with Moses, who asked to see the Creator’s face, the Creator responds, “I will show you only My ‘back,’ for it is impossible to see My face.” This means that revelation always happens indirectly, through the “back,” or through vessels.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 15

Why Is it Written That the Creator “Descends” to Mount Sinai?

For the Creator, “Mount Sinai” signifies a descent. The term “Creator” itself implies descent, from the word that means “outside of the level.” The Creator is also called a “groom,” derived from the word for “landing” or “descending.” The myriad titles given to the Creator are based on His appearance before humanity, which is defined as a descent.

The Creator’s descent to Mount Sinai also has many interpretations, both in the literal sense and in Kabbalah. Essentially, it is unbefitting for the Creator to appear to humanity as a harmful force, but He does so in both positive and negative ways together in order to create correct discernments in humanity and to form a vessel. The vessel itself is formed from both the light and the lack of light.

It is impossible for only a lack or only a fulfillment to appear. A true lack always includes a Reshimo (record), some fulfillment, a small illumination. Thus, the Creator needs to reveal Himself to humanity in both forms, through suffering and fulfillment. These actions are essentially a descent on His part. The Creator’s name (“Boreh” in Hebrew) can also be divided into two words: “come” (“Bo“) and “see” (“Reh“). This all describes the descent of Godliness.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 14

What Is the Reception of the Torah?

The reception of the Torah is to stand at the foot of the mountain and receive the Creator who resides at its summit. The mountain itself symbolizes all the doubts that come to us. If we can overcome these doubts and all the questions that the Creator intentionally places between Himself and the person, then this mountain will become the vessel for receiving the Torah.

The Torah is received solely within these doubts, within feelings of despair. On one side is the Creator, who intentionally sets these challenges against us and for our sake. On the other side is us at the foot of the mountain, viewing all the doubts above us, with the Creator above them.

The reception of the Torah happens only after we succeed in forming a vessel from all these doubts. Then, within this vessel, comes the revelation of Godliness. We discover that the Creator is at the summit of all such doubts. Only when the Creator resides above the doubts that come to us do we reach the revelation of Godliness, the acquisition of the force of bestowal and the revelation of eternity and perfection.

We ourselves rise a level, not only the point in the heart, but “Moses” ascends Mount Sinai solely by means of these doubts, through his “people” who sanctify and prepare him, and then he fully receives the Torah. This relates to the topic of the holiday of Shavuot.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 13

How Do We Suddenly Realize that We Have an Evil Inclination?

The phrase “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” means that from the outset we have only one nature: the desire to receive for the sake of receiving. The desire to receive is not nature. It is matter. That is, it is neither good nor evil but merely a desire to enjoy. Divisions into good and evil depend on what exactly we want to enjoy.

The intention to enjoy for oneself is called “evil.” Why should a desire to enjoy be considered evil? It is because the Creator designed a system where the desire to receive for the sake of receiving causes suffering. It takes several years, however, to learn that the desire to receive for its own sake leads to suffering. Generally, it takes thousands of years for the soul to become consciously aware that the desire to receive for oneself is harmful.

In the incarnation where we receive the point in the heart, we start fearing our own thoughts, which constantly act out of self-interest. We sense that such thoughts bring trouble, yet we are clueless as to how we can escape them. How can we stop a thought that naturally operates beyond our control? We see this desire within us and try to uproot it, and in such a way, we realize that “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” In the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is referred to as a person’s encounter with the serpent.

Only after we observe ourselves from the perspective of the point in the heart, question who we are, and realize that we cannot confront our own desire to receive for the sake of receiving (since our entire being is absorbed in this desire, i.e., we were born to suffer and have only the thought that critiques and analyzes ourselves as support—do we turn to the Creator to release us from this affliction.

This is the correction. We can then understand how complex the situation is. A long time passes before we discover that “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” However, when we reach this realization, we become willing to impose a restriction on ourselves, the result of which is called “prayer.” The feeling in our heart of wanting to free ourselves from ourselves, which we cannot achieve, leads to this restriction. After the restriction, we live a different life.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 12

When the Soul Descends to This World, When Does the “Point in the Heart” Awaken?

Only after the soul has passed through the four levels (and the division is always into four) does it reach the fifth level, that of Keter, which encompasses all the others. Then the soul encounters a new desire: the “point in the heart.” After undergoing a process of refinement through many incarnations, we acquire this desire, the “point in the heart,” which connects us to spirituality because it belongs to the spiritual world, not to us people.

Since this desire comes from above, from the spiritual world, nothing in this world can develop it. Only the light that shines upon it during the study of Kabbalah can do so. If we develop this desire by reading books that describe the spiritual reality that are written from a spiritual source by a Kabbalist of the spiritual world, then the light reaches that spark within us, the point in the heart, which causes the spark to come alive, expand, and develop. Without the wisdom of Kabbalah, it is impossible to nurture and develop this spark.

From the moment we receive the point in the heart, everything depends on us. In our previous incarnations, our animalistic desire developed and the entire world opened before us. The world and society provided fuel and challenges to develop the desire to receive. Once the point in the heart awakens, nothing in this world can stimulate us to develop it, and we find ourselves needing to seek out the appropriate company and books that will nurture it.

It is the task of Kabbalists, especially now, to provide each person whose point in the heart has awakened with books and resources for advancement. This is the purpose of disseminating written materials from the upper world. Without doing so, we have no means by which to develop spiritually. Indeed, many people suffer in this world because they lack such resources. Why do they suffer? It is because these resources have not reached them. Why have they not reached them? Everything has a reason, but ultimately, this is the role of those who engage in Kabbalah.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 11

Chapter 2. The Encounter Between Man and the Serpent

Man goes through many reincarnations. Each time, his soul is dressed in an additional desire to receive. This process is called “being dressed in a body.” The soul repeatedly undergoes these kinds of states, which are known as “reincarnations,” and thereby increasingly enhances its desire to receive in various forms through garments of power, wealth, honor, and knowledge. These garments are unnecessary for the soul. They are but desires for enjoyment. The question is, what is the source of this enjoyment?

Since the soul is dressed in a body, it seems to perceive that the light comes from these different garments—power, control, money, honor, and knowledge. The light assumes a particular form and reaches the soul that is dressed in a specific desire. The soul, now dressed in material desires, encounters the light which is also dressed in physical forms within these garments. In other words, we find ourselves in “this world.”

If both the soul and the light are dressed in physical garments, it is called “materialism.” If we remove our desires from all garments—from desires for enjoyment that are coverings such as honor, wealth, knowledge, sex, and so on—and even strip the pleasure itself of its covering, it is called “spirituality.”

The soul’s readiness to be naked, without a body or shell, and also the exposure of the pleasure requires progress through and growth within the four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking of this world. It includes the experience of all bodily desires and pleasures: raising a family, eating and resting, and especially the desire for sex. Afterward, it must advance through all of the social pleasures: wealth, honor, control, and knowledge.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 10

What Does RABASH Mean by “There Are People Who Do Not Know There is a King in the World”?

In this world, there are people who have yet to be given development toward the Creator. Why? It is because, within each person is a soul that extends from a different part of Adam HaRishon, the collective soul. Some parts need to develop now, whereas some were meant to develop 3,000 years ago, and others will only develop in another 200 years. We have no control over the timing of development. It is thus not worth questioning or debating it. The plan of development is beyond our understanding as it was created before we were born, before we separated from the collective soul. A person’s role is simply to do the work, not to complete it. It means that we must, in every moment, do whatever we can.

Therefore, all stages of development exist in every moment of humanity’s history. This is how it has always been and will continue to be. We need to act with understanding according to these stages. Some people are ready for spiritual progress and depend on the method of Kabbalah, while others still lack such preparation, so they respond differently to Kabbalah. Others are entirely unable to understand this concept and will always dress it in various physical forms. This, too, is a stage that exists, and such people should be left alone. We can learn such an approach from the example of Abraham and his father Terah. Terah was an idol worshiper, while Abraham worshiped the Creator.
From a Talk on the Article “What Is Half a Shekel in the Work – 1,” 5/15/2002

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 9

When Will a Person Feel the Content of the Words of Prayer?

A “word” is a special state that includes a specific number of components. All these components are vessels and lights that together create a sensation of Godliness in a person.

Only through the study of Kabbalah and only after many years of study does the heart begin to function from the “point in the heart” in alignment with what is written in the books, and only then do we understand the written content. Until then, everything we read in the Siddur is understood according to the physical vessels we possess. For instance, according to the physical vessels, we understand “merciful” as compassionate, “gracious” as forgiving, and so on. We interpret according to what we feel in our physical body.

After we reach spiritual sensations and the upper mind, the words begin to take on new content. With each word, we feel the Creator according to that word; we feel the word’s essence and meaning. Each word then becomes a genuine vessel and light, which appear together in our sensation.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 8

Are Prayers a Fixed Order of Corrections?

Every new state is a correction process. A new state is called “a new day.” This new state comes from above, and we have no influence over it, except through our effort to carry out that day’s corrections. The corrections at each level are essentially the same, but the external conditions change, and the person’s work changes accordingly.

The order of corrections remains the same since every structure of the vessel at each level comprises ten Sefirot. However, the feeling is completely different because the light and the vessel differ. Therefore, without refining our inner self, we view all prayers as a single prayer, i.e., one that we read from the Siddur. However, if we refine our inner self, then each prayer is new every time.

In Part 12 of The Study of the Ten Sefirot, it is written that the day begins in the evening; i.e., preparation for the next day starts from the energy of the previous day. This preparation includes the evening Shema, the bedtime Shema, and continues through the night thanks to the previous day. But from midnight onward, the vessels change. A completely new vessel is created, which is prepared through the morning sacrifices. Then follows the Shema for the sacrifices, the Shema for the Creator of Light, and so on.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 7

When Is Prayer Complete?

We reach a complete prayer when our heart fully agrees with the Creator, and there is nothing between us and the Creator to disturb the sensation that “He is good that does good.” Consequently, our prayer aligns with what is written in the Siddur (prayer book) or with what is written in Part 12 of The Study of the Ten Sefirot: the sacrifices, the Shema, the Eighteen Prayer, and so on.

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