It says that the temple was destroyed because the children of Israel didn’t bless the Torah first. They studied the Torah without a blessing. What does that mean?

There are blessings in the Siddur, for example: “Blessed are You Lord, the giver of the Torah.” But what is the Torah? It is a means for correcting the evil inclination. It says: “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.”

How is it possible to bless the Torah? Only if there is such a deficiency when my initial inclination is revealed as evil. I feel that my desires are evil; I have to correct them, I can’t bear them. This is called the revelation of the true evil, when I cannot agree to it, when I have to get rid of it, to get it out of me as something that is very harmful.

Then I discover the means that can get these evil desires out of me, a special instrument that is called the Torah. It turns out that there is a special method for studying, a special book, special conditions, and all this is called the Torah. It isn’t the title of the book that says “Torah,” not the number of people, and not the place of study, but simply the fact that in answer to all my actions there comes a special force that changes the force that is inside me. It is because the desire to receive is actually the force by which I identify the evil and I want it to become good, as it says: “Since the Light in it reforms.”

So I determine that my desire to receive is the evil inclination and decide that I must make it good. What is “good?” It can only be the opposite of my current desire; there are no other options. Thus the concept of the Torah symbolizes my efforts, the group I work in, the books I study from, the teacher who teaches me this method. On the whole they are the ones who summon that force from Above that corrects me. “From Above,” since the force of correction is higher than me and stronger than the current force. Thus I acquire it and heal myself from the evil, which becomes good.

But if I study without this preparation, the Torah becomes the “potion of death” for me. In this case, I reach self-fulfillment by a long and difficult path. Along this path the Light also operates on me, but from its posterior and not in the desire that dresses and not in the desire that is dressed. I reach the recognition that I don’t discover evil the way I should, I don’t recognize the poison in it. This, of course, also leads me in the right direction, but along a long indirect path of sufferings.

So if a person is not in the direction of recognizing the evil, he is in “exile.” And when he recognizes the need to correct the evil in him, which means the desire to receive, he feels that he is under the domination of Pharaoh. The deeper this feeling is, the more he wants to get rid of the evil, which means to get out of “exile.” Then he uses the Torah correctly in order to draw the Light that changes the desire in him, which enables him to use the desire not for his own good but for the good of others. Thus the Light reforms him and changes him to the good.

As long as we don’t want to exit our desire to receive and enter the desire to bestow, from evil to the good, it isn’t considered exile. We don’t even feel that it is exile. Only the need for a means to turn the desire to receive into a desire to bestow indicates that we are ready to leave the exile. The exodus itself is that we begin to use the Torah correctly.

This is what we have to aim at while reading The Book of Zohar: Do we open it with the right deficiency? If not, then we don’t bless this action, but simply follow a timetable. This is a wrong and undesirable approach. We have to think about it the whole day before the lesson, to add the discernments that stem from different states, from the desire to receive that dominates us, into one picture. We want to ascend above it towards the friends, towards the Creator.

Then we will have something to bless in the morning lesson since we want to receive “the water of life” from the study, the healing force, and this means that we are truly studying the Torah.
[91966]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/01/12, The Zohar

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While reading The Book of Zohar we have to want to reveal unity and to attain what we are learning. In this book I read about spiritual states, but where are these states? If I would prepare a correct desire while reading this book, then I would reveal what’s written in it. This is called “attaining what is learned.”

All of these states exist. However, my problem is that I can only reveal them in according to the perception of my vessel (desire, Kli.) This is why while reading The Book of Zohar, which tells me about various spiritual states, I have to think of how I can position my vessel, my “plate” in order to receive the revelation of the described states.

What constitutes this vessel? What type and what shape should the desire be in order for me to receive and to reveal that which we read about in The Zohar? I have to think about this. That is, I have to take care of the Kelim, the vessels, the desires. Can I influence it in anyway? What depends upon me: the type of vessel, involvement of various desires and intentions in it. What do I need so that the “plate” where I’ll reveal the spiritual wouldn’t be broken, but empty and whole.
[91891]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/12, The Zohar

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Preparation to the Lesson

Shamati #30 “The Most Important Is to Want Only to Bestow“

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Kdoshim,” Item 124, Lesson 10

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Emor” Lesson 1

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 3, Part 8, “Ohr Pnimi” (Starting with: “It is written, ‘These Two'”), Item 45, Lesson 29

“Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 13, Lesson 7

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After all the efforts a person makes, being confused, running around and then relaxing, trying to do something in the group or by himself, in the study, in external dissemination, after all these attempts all these efforts concentrate in one point called a request, a prayer, the raising of MAN, a demand. This request, which is an urgent need for help creates the first contact between a person and the Creator, since as a result of all his efforts, both consciously and subconsciously, he summons upon himself the influence of the Light. We do everything because of deficiency, desire, it doesn’t matter what type it is, whether it’s for or against, negative or positive, there is only a desire, a deficiency and from it we act. So every time we discover a new deficiency, a new need for fulfillment, we evoke and summon the Light, since they are inherently connected. So we first evoke the Light, and then it operates.

Thus, by different actions, we just need to shorten the path. What do we mean by “to shorten?” If we operate with the right intention, the changes in us occur much faster and we increase the frequency of our changes. We can’t skip a thousand Reshimot (spiritual informational genes), to miss them, and then to skip several thousands again, and thus leap along the time axis. We can only “scan” all the Reshimot by processing each of them, but if I operate purposefully together with the environment that supports me, organizes, and pressures me, I process the Reshimot quickly.

Eventually, we reach the right deficiency, which according to its intensity and character are “Reshimot of dressing” and “Reshimot of thickness.” “Reshimot of dressing” is not inside, since it’s always on a higher level, but I understand it more or less, I imagine the state that I want to reach with the sufficient thickness. If this Reshimot is more or less adapted to the state of connection, to the contact with the Creator, then it happens.

Fulfilling the Reshimot most quickly occurs during the study of the sources, as it says in many articles that it’s desired to turn the study into a prayer. Usually all the efforts are revealed in a person during the study and the most efficient conditions are while reading The Book of Zohar.

If a person thinks about his correction in the connection with the group, in order to incorporate in it, to lose himself, to turn it to a general desire to reveal the Creator and by that to bring Him contentment, The Zohar is very helpful in fulfilling the Reshimot in this direction in the quickest way.
[91799]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/12, The Zohar

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As The Zohar says: “He has seen that the angel of death is approaching along with the flood and he hid in the ark.” Meaning, that he understood that the claims to the Creator and spiritual work deprive him of the spirit of life, and therefore he came to faith above reason, the properties of Bina, the desire to be only in bestowal, to receive nothing and rejoice in his share, considering slavery to the Creator as a tremendous honor.

A person’s task is to organize an environment that will continue to guide him to the goal, praising its importance. He should take care to make this environment as large as possible and to make important to himself. But on the contrary, he is prevented from doing this by being sent questions: “Who is the Creator that I should obey Him?” and “What does this work give you?”

He begins to doubt why he should do inner work, what is the point? There are all kinds of interference in this work, coming from the family and various other sources. And only the environment will help a person stay on this path; there are no other factors. A person must understand that he has no power himself.

There is a war between two forces: The right side is the environment, the society, radiating the force of unity and the importance of the goal within him. And on the left side are egoistic questions sent by the Creator: “Who?” and “What?”, which over time turn into a turbulent flood.

Everything comes from above, from the same source, but if a person tries to set a strong environment on the right side to support him, by this he realizes his only freedom of choice. And then on the left side, the Creator organizes disturbances.

Caught between these two opposing forces, a person is completely confused; he cries, feels helpless to the extent that he needs either to escape or to hope for a miracle.

And then in this hopeless condition, when a person is almost drowned in the treacherous questions “Who?” and “What?” and cannot get out of them, the idea of the ark is suddenly born in him. He understands that he will be saved only if he gets the property of Bina, bestowal, Hafetz Hesed that will be higher than all his requests.

These requests will remain, a person cannot completely get rid of them; it does not depend on him. But if in spite of all these problems, he enters the ark, deciding that these turbulent murky floodwaters, all these doubts and problems are not related to him, he can be saved.

From what and for what is he saved? It needs to be checked! After all, the questions “Who?” and “What?” (“Mi” and “Ma” in Hebrew) that generate the floodwaters (Ma-im, “water” in Hebrew) offer a very attractive material solution. An ark is intended for entering a state of unity, adhering to the same goal. Thus, a person will be able to advance.
[91910]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/12, Writings of Rabash 

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Preparation to the Lesson

Shamati #56 “Torah Is Called Indication“

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Kdoshim,” Item 123, Lesson 9

Preface to The Book of Zohar (Starting with: “He is called ‘Upper Adam'”), Item 38, Lesson 29

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “Article 4,” Lesson 3

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Kdoshim,” Item 113, Lesson 8

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 3, Part 8, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 45, Lesson 28

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The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, “Ha-Shavua” Selected Excerpts

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion, “Hayei Sarah” Selected Excerpts

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “Article 4,” Lesson 2

The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpt, Parashat “Kdoshim,” Item 97, Lesson 7

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 3, Part 8, Item 43, Lesson 27

Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)

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Question: You say that we lack unity in our intentions while reading The Book of Zohar, what does that mean?

Answer: We deal with corrections, and a correction is made by the force that created us; this force is called the Light that Reforms. It created, shattered and corrupted everything on purpose so that from the special corruptions we find ourselves in we will be able to understand and to attain the wholeness.

But in order to be able to ascend from our corruption we need the force to operate on us. This force comes only if we first want to be corrected, if we feel a deficiency in its action. Then it operates in perfect accordance with our deficiency in quantity and in quality.

This means that we have to know in advance which corrections this force is going to perform. But we don’t know which corrections are required, so how can we summon it? This is why we are given a kind of a game in our state in which we play connection and unity and getting closer to one another in discussions, as if we are corrected, as if we want to be corrected, as if we want to connect, etc.

If we are drawn to that during the game, since nothing more than that is required of us, if we fulfill this at least in some connection with the correction, the Light operates and influences us. There is a kind of an agreement: I do it “as if” and you do it “for real.” The lower needs to cry out and the upper, in response to these outcries, brings the correction. This is the order of the levels on every level.

So if this is the case, what should we do? All our prayers should only be for connection among us, since this is the correction of the shattering. The connection I try to reach is meant for that, so that I will know that I cannot do that and I need the upper force to do it.

So on the one hand, I am drawn to connection, and on the other hand, I know that I can’t fulfill it without the upper Light. Then the Light comes and does the work. This is the whole action.

This means that the preparation for the receiving of the Torah is a deficiency for the action of correction. The Torah itself is the method of connection, and the upper Light is the force that brings me the connection. There is nothing else but that.
[91395]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, The Zohar

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