Sometimes the language of The Zohar appears to be very odd, but in fact the story behind it is extremely simple. There is my “neighbor” and “myself.” There is a distance between us that is divided into five parts. The most remote part is felt as “this world.” If I connect with my neighbor completely and attain total unity with him, I will sense the “World of Infinity.”

My drawing closer to my neighbor occurs in five steps: I ascend into the worlds of Assiya, then Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon. Five worlds with 25 steps in each make up 125 steps of us drawing closer together. Before starting this process, while I am still in this world, I have to fully realize that I am separated from my neighbor (the realization of evil).

I perceive myself and the world around me in the connection between me and my "neighbor." The Zohar speaks exclusively about what is happening between us: The still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature described in The Zohar, in fact, represent my desires of the still vegetative, animate, and speaking levels in relation to my neighbor (other souls).

The entire Torah speaks only about the ways of building the connection between me and my “neighbor.” It is what is called the “method of correction.”

The Torah is the Light concealed in the text, and I can derive it to the measure that I desire to unite with the other. The moment I connect with the other, I reveal the Upper World within this connection and exist in spirituality to the extent of this connection.
[21379]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/10, The Zohar

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt),” Item 349
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 96
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Baal HaSulam  “600,000 Souls,” Lesson 1
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Question: How are we to understand the Sulam Commentary, or any other commentary to a Kabbalistic book?

Answer: When the concealed Light (Ohr Makif) influences a person aspiring to bestowal, the person starts to feel inner qualities of reception and bestowal in their various manifestations and connections. This is similar to our world, which we feel in many details and their interactions. However, in spiritual attainment, when a person discovers an entire world of qualities within, he also reveals the knowledge of their names.

Then, when he reads holy books, they start to tell him about what he reveals within him, and books written in the language of Kabbalah tell him about the qualities he discovers, similar to how the sciences of our world tell us about the qualities of the things we see. That’s why Kabbalah is the science of the Upper World, and only to the extent a person learns it can his soul understand its state and develop.

Reading The Book of Zohar without the Sulam Commentary can reveal the Upper World to a person similar to how our world is revealed to a simpleton: He sees it, but doesn’t understand it. However, learning the Sulam Commentary enables a Kabbalist to know and control his state and his abilities to come closer to the Creator, similar to how a connoisseur in our world has the ability to use the world to his benefit.

The same is true for all the commentaries to holy books written before HaShlah HaKadosh (the 17^th century). After that many authors did not even attain the Upper World. Likewise, we shouldn’t confuse the Sulam Commentary to The Book of Zohar with other, especially later commentaries to The Book of Zohar.

In order to help beginners come closer to The Book of Zohar, we have created a simplified Sulam Commentary called “Zohar for the Nation” (Zohar L’Am). In it we have removed some of the descriptions of images of the Upper World in Aramaic, making it limited in its comparison of the picture of the Upper World that a Kabbalist revealed, with the explanation of this picture by the science of Kabbalah. However, practice shows that precisely this form of The Zohar is best for beginners. And to the degree people reveal the picture of the Upper World, they will go on to the original Sulam Commentary.

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We have a problem with perceiving The Book of Zohar because even though Rashbi wrote it for our times, he did so from the height of his soul and used an ancient style from 2000 years ago. Obviously, this book does not suit us in this form because we are at the end of the final exile, absolutely detached from the spiritual world. Therefore, we don’t know how to open up this book and how to use it to work on ourselves.

That is why Baal HaSulam created a "ladder" (Sulam) for us, so we can rise along it to the height of The Book of Zohar. This ladder is built so that there is commentary for every excerpt of The Book of Zohar. And it doesn’t matter how much of this book we understand! The truth is that we don’t understand the commentary or the book itself. Nevertheless, the commentary creates a connection between me and the original text of The Zohar.

The same happens on every degree. As we ascend along the degrees, we enter The Book of Zohar through the Sulam Commentary. Without this commentary it would be impossible to connect to The Book of Zohar.

The Sulam is not necessary in order to understand, but for us to attain inner unity. Even if I don’t understand the Sulam Commentary or The Book of Zohar, but I use them and connect to the source, The Zohar starts to influence me.

At first the Sulam is necessary in order to connect us to the Light that Reforms. Without this we would have no possibility of using this marvelous means.

As I read, I am influenced by the Light through the reading, the study, and the group, and the Light awakens new qualities in me. These new qualities enable me to really establish contact with The Book of Zohar and to start to feel what happens there, what is written there. Only then can we speak about understanding The Zohar.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Yahrtzeit Baal HaSulam

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Shamati #52 “A Transgression Does Not Put Out A Mitzva”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt),” Item 333
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 86
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The Book of Zohar and Writings of Baal HaSulam, Selected Excerpts for Yom Kippur
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When we read The Book of Zohar, we try to create a common space where we aspire to connect our points in the heart. This is the meaning of “studying the Torah.” It’s impossible to "study the Torah" without such an intention.

The point in the heart is “Israel.” "Isra-El" translates as “aspiring to the Creator.” Through the study, we want to attain the Torah: the Light that corrects us. Then, we reveal the Creator in the connection between us. In that connection and, accordingly, in revealing the Creator, there are 125 degrees, or 5 worlds, 5 Lights of NaRaNHaY.

Our world is the total lack of connection from which we commence our efforts to unify. The end point of unification between us is called the “World of Infinity.”

This is how the entire system of the common Soul, called Adam Ha Rishon, Shechina, or Malchut of Infinity is revealed. The form of this spiritual vessel (Kli) is called “the Creator” (Kadosh Baruch Hu): the quality of love and bestowal.

Everything exists within this system. The entire science of Kabbalah speaks only of how to reveal the Creator in accordance with the law of equivalence of form, as it is written, “From love of the created beings to love of the Creator.” By uniting together, we create a system between us which matches the Upper Force of bestowal.

This is the picture we must always have in our heads when we read The Book of Zohar. I must always check where I am on this ladder of connection between us, what The Zohar speaks of right now, whether I want to unite with others or I resist, and what is it that’s stopping me. The whole time I think of one thing only: how I (Israel) am connected with the others through a force which unites us (the Torah). Within our correct connection, I reveal the true quality of bestowal: the Creator.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, The Zohar

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Question: Yesterday in your blog post, Traveling In The World Of Desires, you wrote, “In the spiritual world there is no source of Light because the Light fills the entire universe. Therefore its influence is the same no matter where you are.” Does that mean that we can tell how close we come to the Source of Light, the Creator, only in the connection between us?

Answer: That’s right. There is no place besides the one we are in now. This is the only place that was created: Malchut of the World of Infinity. However, as a result of the gradual restriction of Light (the presence of the Creator in that place) through 125 degrees, we are now behind 125 filters. We are now behind the last level of concealment where we don’t even feel where we are in relation to all the levels.

In order to start revealing this place, Malchut of Infinity, without concealment, we have to imagine that we are in it nevertheless, but we don’t feel it because we are separated from each other by egoism. If we start to unite, then to the degree we do so we return along 125 levels of revelation to the sensation of Malchut of Infinity. In essence, we return to consciousness by taking away the veils of concealment.

Everything becomes revealed according to the force of connection between us. When we aspire to unite, then the force of opposition to that unity is called “the evil inclination.” When we desire to unite in our aspiration to become like the Creator, we discover an entire system of the wrong connection among us, which is opposed to unity. We reveal the system of the impure worlds of BYA (BYA de Pruda – the worlds of separation). By correcting our intention from “reception” to “bestowal,” we turn the impure BYA into the system of the pure worlds of BYA (BYA de Kedusha – holiness, bestowal).

In reality nothing broke. Only our connection became ruined. It turned egoistic, but now we are once again restoring it to the form of bestowal!

We are not broken, but are divided from each other. It’s just that our connection is incorrect. Instead of conveying goodness to you, I want to take it out of you and give you evil instead. That is how each of us feels, and it is called a broken system. However, in reality nothing in this system was broken. It’s the same system where we are all united with each other, only our connection is incorrect. When we discover that the connection between us is incorrect, it means we are already in the impure worlds of BYA, and that is already a spiritual revelation. But for now we are behind 125 layers of concealment of this connection. However, it’s just a lack of our awareness.

Therefore, everything depends only on our efforts to reveal the system of the right connection among us. Through this connection we reveal the force that governs creation: the Creator. There is no other opportunity to reveal Him.

In essence, we recreate our Kli (the common vessel of the soul) from the broken state in which all of its parts work incorrectly, like the organs of a sick person, until we attain harmony and the right connection. The healthy state that we return to, our proper functioning, the inner force that controls us, the necessity and the goal of its existence – all of this is called the Creator!

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, The Zohar

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What is the Advantage that There is in Work Which is More than the  Reward”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt),” Item 285
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 90
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Rabash, Dargot Sulam, “Yom Kippur”
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If we desire to unite in order to reveal the Creator, then the various forms and phases of our connection comprise all the steps of the ladder we have to go through. This ladder starts in our world, in the state of separation between us, and continues until the state of total unity called the “World of Infinity.”

All of the science of Kabbalah (or all of the Torah) speaks only about how to reveal the 125 degrees of unity among us. Therefore, if each of us prepares to unite with everyone into one whole while reading The Book of Zohar and desires to reveal the Creator (the form that our unity takes) inside this unity, then our aspiration is called: “Israel (those who aspire to the Creator), the Torah, and the Creator are one.” In that case we really open up The Book of Zohar in order to attain the goal.
[21143]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, The Zohar

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