Entries in the 'Zohar' Category

A New Tale About Little Red Riding Hood

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What happens “behind the scenes” of my actions when during the reading of The Book of Zohar I make repeated efforts to return to the intention, but they seem futile to me?

Answer: Your efforts determine your qualities of perception, your sensitivity, and then you make the revelation. Everything is in front of you, but your lack of sensitivity does not allow you to reveal the system of connection between the souls that The Zohar tells you about. Your efforts and prayer build the instruments of perception inside of you in order to feel that picture.

Question: I repeatedly keep trying to build my intention anew, but it seems like I make the same efforts and feel the same thing I did a week ago, as if nothing changed….

Answer: Suppose I am among musicians. Looking at them, I see how they listen to every sound and discern the combination of different sounds, and I see how important this is to them. As I look at them, I learn about how to treat sounds. Then, as a result of my efforts, I become more sensitive and begin feeling them.

Then I ask the musicians questions and they explain things to me, but I don’t understand their explanations. “A fourth,” “a fifth,” “glissando, “forte”—these words don’t say anything to me, just like the unintelligible terminology in The Book of Zohar.

But I want to learn them! That is why I try to become a bit more sensitive to them and to feel them. Then, because we are in a special system, according to my efforts, desire, and aspiration, I begin to feel. That is how a child develops as well: He wants to become big and is always running around, never tiring and researching everything around.

We wonder: How can children watch the same cartoon or listen to the same story a thousand times over? However, it’s a thousand times to us because we don’t develop any longer. But a child lives in that story. When he listens to the tale about Little Red Riding Hood today, to him this is a completely new story, not like yesterday. You look at him and think, “Fine, I’ll tell him the story. Let him sit quietly, calm down, and enjoy it….” But he hears this story anew every time! And even though he also knows it by heart, when he repeats it together with you, he relives it all over again. It’s similar to how you have to eat today even though you ate yesterday. That’s what happens to him too!

Therefore, our entire work is to develop the sensitivity to acquire new qualities of perception.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, The Zohar

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.23.11

Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “The Ascent of Malchut to Bina
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation), ‘And They Will Take a Donation For Me,’” Item 265, Lesson 11
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 27, Lesson 30
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 14, Lesson 9
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 8, Lesson 5
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Let The Book Of Zohar Talk About Me

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: On one hand, all our work lies in correcting the connection between a person and a fellow human being. On the other, the correction is done through The Book of Zohar. How can I tie it all together?

Answer: Correction results from the Light concealed in the texts written by Kabbalists. Yet it happens on the condition that we desire to perceive and comprehend the reality they describe so that all that is written in these texts would clothe in us and we would be in the same system of relationships between us.

It implies the connection between all souls to such an extent that we reach unity, become a unified system: Malchut of Infinity. If I strive to achieve unity as in “love your neighbor as yourself,” if I desire this, then The Book of Zohar starts talking about me.

As a result, I receive the force of correction from The Book of Zohar and gradually advance by reading it. In fact, the book itself contains nothing, but by reading it and wishing to be in this system, I draw the power of the force field that does reside in Malchut of Infinity—and thereby I reach this system.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/2011, The Zohar

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.22.11

Writings of Rabash, “He Who Did Not Toil Himself on Shabbat Eve, What Will He Eat on Shabbat in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation), ‘Gold and Silver and Bronze,’” Item 249, Lesson 10
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 24, Lesson 29
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 13, Lesson 8
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 7, Lesson 4
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.21.11

Writings of Baal HaSulam, Letter 33
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation), ‘The Soul of Every Living Thing,'” Item 217, Lesson 9
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 18, Lesson 28
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 11, Lesson 7
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 5, Lesson 3
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.20.11

Writings of Baal HaSulam, Letter 26
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation)
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 13, Lesson 27
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 6, Lesson 6
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)
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When The Book Of Zohar Becomes Revealed….

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe goal of creation is to acquire the quality of bestowal, and through it to attain adhesion with the Creator. We exist in the opposite quality, in the intention to receive for our own sake.

In order to correct our intention from reception to bestowal, we have to attract upon us the Light that reforms, that brings us back to the source, the Creator. This Light is on a higher level than we are, and it continually corrects us, raising us to higher levels of bestowal and love.

The Light comes to us during the time when we unite together in our hearts, in our desires, the intentions to become corrected, and when we study the same corrected system that the Kabbalists tell us about. By studying this system and wishing for the description in these texts to happen to us, to become revealed between us, we thereby attract the same Light that is inside of it on the levels of the proper connection between the creatures. Then we correct our connection and enter the same states that the book tells us about. And this means that the book becomes revealed.

The book with the strongest influence on the reader, with the greatest capability to bring him to the corrected state, to bestowal and love, is The Book of Zohar. Therefore, while reading this book, let’s desire to feel all of us together so that inside of the right connection between us we would reveal the general quality of bestowal, the One who is good and does good, the Creator who is revealed to the creatures.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/11, The Zohar

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.19.11

Writings of RabashWhat the Torah Being Called ‘The Middle Line’ Means In the Work
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation),” “As They” Item 163, Lesson 7
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 5, Lesson 26
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 5, Lesson 5
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 06.07.11

Shamati #161,The Matter of the Giving of the Torah
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter, Truma (Donation),” “The Watchman Says ‘Hear O Israel, Blessed Be the Name of the Glory of His  Kingdom Forever and Ever,’” Item 129, Lesson 6
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Vol. 1, Chapter 9, Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 35, Lesson 25
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Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “The Point in the Heart”
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Kabbalah Without A Trace Of Mysticism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How did the first teachers of the wisdom of Kabbalah receive this knowledge? Where is its origin? People think that Kabbalah is something close to magic, and many myths surround it.

Answer: Adam was the first Kabbalist who lived 5772 years ago. He was the first of all of humankind who discovered that an integral system of nature exists and it is possible to reveal it.

People had lived before him, but he was the first man in history who had questions: “What do I live for? What is the secret of life? Where is its source?” He wrote a book about this; it reached our days and is called The Secret Angel (Raziel HaMalach). An angel is a force. The “secret angel” means the “hidden force.” It is a small book, a few dozen pages.

The next book was written by Abraham around 3700 years ago and is called The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira). This book explains for the first time in a systematic form, the “Sefirot,” the 32 forces that descend to us and are connected among themselves.

At the same time, several Kabbalists together wrote one more Kabbalistic book, The Great Midrash (Midrash HaGadol), which means explanation or commentary. Many more books were created after that, until the greatest Kabbalistic book appeared, The Book of Zohar, which was written around 2000 years ago.

After that, plenty of books were written, up to the time of the Ari who lived in the 16th century. The Ari’s main book was The Tree of Life (Etz Chaim), which talks about Sefirot and worlds and is full of drawings and diagrams.

From the immense number of books that appeared after it, the most important for us are the books of Baal HaSulam, written in the 20th century.

All these books were not known to the general public. They were mentioned only occasionally, as though “leaked.” This formed a mysterious aura around Kabbalah as if it involves mysticism, secret forces, performing miracles, and predicting the future through Tarot cards. In reality, this is not related to Kabbalah at all!

Of course, Kabbalah uses symbols, diagrams, graphs, drawings, and Gematria (the numerical value of words). Kabbalah studies the soul and its stages of growth. But there is nothing mystical in it. I would say that it is simply the physics of the upper dimension.

Kabbalah is not associated with religion and any mystical practices. It is a science for people who want to know. Naturally, they have to work on and correct themselves. I would compare this with tuning a radio which is surrounded with many radio waves of various frequencies. If I tune the radio and create the wave that corresponds to the wave existing outside it, I receive that external wave and can hear the signal.

The science of Kabbalah helps us create these waves inside ourselves, and we begin to sense the force existing outside us, perceive, and study it. We develop the inner sense of hearing and inner sense of sight. The inner sense of hearing is called the degree of Bina (Sefira Bina), and the inner sense of sight is called the degree of Hochma (Sefira Hochma).
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From the Lecture in Rome 5/20/2011

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