The difference between the Light and the desire compels us to move forward. When the Light fills the desire, we (the desire) calm down. We are pacified so much so that we are unable to move because we don’t feel the need to; we don’t feel any lack whatsoever. We begin to worry and strive for inner balance only to the extent that the Light differs from the desire.

We strive for balance both in terms of its quantity and quality. When the Light created the desire to enjoy and filled it (Phase One, Behina Aleph), the creature did not feel any problems since the Light came first. Only afterward does the difference emerge between Behina Aleph filled by the Creator and the Creator Himself.

A certain addition occurs. The Light begins to introduce new properties into the original desire, and the creature starts sensing the source of pleasure. “There is someone who fills me! It’s higher than me, it comes before me. It’s someone who gives; it is my Maker, the Creator.” Thereby an additional sensation is introduced into the desire of Phase One. This sensation forces the creature to compensate for it; it compels us to develop.

The kind of “friction” determines everything. In Phase One, Hochma, the friction was the sensation of the Upper One. In Phase Two, Bina, this will be the sensation of insufficiently realizing the desire to bestow.

Bina wanted to give, became filled with the Light of Hassadim (Hafetz Hesed), and therefore didn’t want to move anywhere or do anything. But then felt: “The Creator is truly giving, and what do I give?”, which produced the feeling of discontent. Hence, movement starts, which leads to a new state. In this way, the incompatibility between the Creator’s and creature’s properties, the Kli and the Light, the desire and fulfillment, brings about constant movement or development.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/29/10

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 90: …“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” means with both your inclinations—the good inclination and the evil inclination, so the bad qualities of the evil inclination will become good… Then there will certainly be no difference between the good inclination and the evil inclination and they will be one.

In our world we aren’t aware of the qualitative difference between good and evil, and therefore we don’t understand that they define and support each other and cannot exist one without the other. We would like to immediately annihilate all the evil and leave only the good, meaning whatever we consider good at this moment.

Spirituality, however, is revealed upon the contrast of opposite qualities, rather than through attempting to eliminate or destroy one of them. Both qualities exist in order for us to discern both of them, and the spiritual state is built from both of them – the Light and darkness together.

Initially we do not have the right inner definitions; we don’t understand what is Light and what is darkness. Once we identify them and can tell what is Light and what is darkness, and once we choose the Light over the darkness, we can then fully use all of the Light and all of the darkness to build our spiritual state.

We do not erase either one because if we were to remove one of them, the other would disappear as well. We build the middle line from both of them. In our world this structure does not exist. This phenomenon, the middle line, is unknown to us. We always strive to eliminate anything we don’t desire or feels unpleasant to us. It seems to us that there is no room for them in the world.

However, in spirituality, there is room for everything and everything has to remain forever. Only when both things unite with each other in the right way, is there room for the existence of both and one does not exist without the other.

Therefore, the wicked and the righteous, reception and bestowal, faith and knowledge are all built one upon the other. Therefore, they are equally important for attaining the goal. It is written, “A person must be grateful for the bad just as for the good.”

The correction of evil lies in using it correctly, together with goodness. Then the two participate equally and together to reveal their Source, the Creator. The middle line, the soul, is created from both of them. It is the revelation of their Source, the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/3/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: How do I recognize the form I’m being taught from Above?

My Answer: The science of Kabbalah speaks of very logical things and reveals a great deal of new knowledge about man in this world and the force that governs us all. By doing so, Kabbalah supplements our knowledge of human psychology and our general outlook on the world.

Yet the science of Kabbalah is meant for those who already sense spirituality and have five spiritual “organs of perception”: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Until a person acquires these higher organs of perception, Kabbalah is not a science for him, but rather an encoded message, a book of mysteries.

What can I do if I am unable to understand a single word that I read? I don’t exist in the reality that converts every word I read into a concrete sensation. If I lack such a connection with the world under investigation, it’s not considered a science. Only when I have all research data and can experiment with it, does it become a science.

Thus initially, we study Kabbalah not to learn this wisdom, but to obtain the tools (Kelim) to attain it so that we can  begin to sense the object of our research. If my vision is bad, then to be able to see, I first need to get myself a pair of glasses. I earn money to buy the glasses, put them on, only then do I begin to see clearly. Only then do I begin to hear the explanations and understand what I am being told about.

That is why there is “preparation time” during which we work on ourselves in order to enter the spiritual world.We begin to sense it to the extent we acquire its properties. Later on, as they appear and develop within us, we proceed with investigation of the new world, much like a child who grows because of new properties that surface in him.

At the initial stage of developing new properties within us, we have nothing to ask about, because we have no ability to understand. Only one question is appropriate during this time: Are we aligning ourselves correctly in order to attract the Upper Light which forms new properties within us? Our success and future depend on the Light’s actions.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/29/10

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Preparation to the Lesson, Shamati #206 “Faith and Pleasure”
My environment has the power to fundamentally change my values and me and make me desire things that are opposite to my egoistic nature.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 77
By understanding that the entire world is a reflection of my own qualities, I begin to view reality as a testing ground for self-correction.
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Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 117, Lesson 37
The book, Beit Shaar HaKavanot, describes states that are closer to us, thereby sharpening our demand for correction.
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Lesson 5
Love is boundless and the pleasure it gives me doesn’t put out its flame.
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Lag Ba’Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer) is a special day, when the Light starts to enter Malchut from the Upper Sefirot. The Light comes to us from Infinity, passing through the World of Adam Kadmon, then the World of Atzilut, then through Partzufim Atik, Arich Anpin, Aba ve Ima, and Zeir Anpin, until it reaches the souls.

Zeir Anpin contains seven Sefirot, each of which contains seven Sefirot. Altogether, 7×7=49. Malchut is the 50th Sefira. That is how we count the days of the Omer, the entrance of the Light into Zeir Anpin, and on the 50th day, into Malchut. That is when our souls, which are included in Malchut, begin to receive the Light.

The unification (Zivug) of Zeir Anpin with Malchut takes place on the 50th day, but the Light enters Zeir Anpin completely on the 33rd day, when it enters Sefira Hod de Hod. Thus, there is Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, and Netzah, with seven Sefirot inside each one of them. This adds up to 28, and there are five more Sefirot in Hod (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod), which equals 33 (Lamed Gimel – Lag).

On this day we celebrate the entrance of the Light into Malchut of Zeir Anpin, meaning the Upper Light enters the system beneath which it already relates to the souls. If it reaches this place, then there’s no doubt that we will receive this Light. We begin to feel it and to prepare for its revelation.

The time from the 33rd day until the 50th day is already preparation. The Light continues to descend lower down and adapts itself for entering the souls. A person who is already in the spiritual world feels this preparation, which takes place before the reception of this special Upper Light, called Zohar.

That is why we celebrate this day. Rabbi Shimon left this world because he completed his mission. He no longer had anything to accomplish in this world because he passed the Upper Light through all the Sefirot down to Malchut de Zeir Anpin. With this, he completed his work.

Together with his students, he conducted the entire Light of Infinity through himself like through a special filter, preparing it to be received by our souls. This is the main work they accomplished. Now, when we look inside this book, even without understanding the words, with our desire we unite with the system they prepared for us, and through it we receive the Light.
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From the lecture in honor of Lag B’Omer 5/01/10

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On Lag B’Omer we celebrate the passing of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of The Zohar. He was a special person and the revelation he made signifies the giving of the Torah, the science of correction, to the whole world.

Humanity developed from one generation to the next in birth pangs until it reached Abraham, who revealed the science of Kabbalah above the crisis that developed in Ancient Babylon. Then the nation of Israel waited for the Egyptian slavery and the Exodus from it, followed by the construction of the First and Second Temples, as well as other ascents and descents. All the horrible events that befell this nation and all human history in general appear to be one never-ending trial.

However, the entire path that we went through until the arrival of Rabbi Shimon was just our preparation for correction. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel finally lost the sensation of spirituality and entered exile from it. But then we received this gift from the heavens, marked by the arrival of a sage from the times of the Temple (a Tana), a Kabbalist of great stature. His special soul incorporated all the previous souls and united them within itself. That is why, together with his students, he was able to attain an extraordinary height, the final correction in his generation.

Baal HaSulam writes that never in history has there been any attainment higher than the one achieved in the times of Rashbi and his generation. The likes of it can only happen again at the End of Correction, and we are now standing at its threshold.

Zohar is the name of the Light that becomes revealed in GAR of the World of Atzilut, in its root, which is a special place – the "concealed mind" of the system of Arich Anpin. Rabbi Shimon was unique in that he was able to connect this incredibly high level with our world. His attainment placed him on the level of the Final Correction, just as before the destruction of the Temple, yet at the same time, he lived a regular, material life in the times after the destruction of the Second Temple. This was when the nation fell completely from the level of brotherly love to unfounded hatred, and this fall caused a complete disappearance of the spiritual sensation.

Because Rabbi Shimon united these two entirely different poles within him, he was able to write this great Book, meaning to make a revelation. Without it, we would not have the opportunity to correct our souls and attract the Light that Reforms.

From the lecture in honor of Lag B’Omer 5/01/10

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 6: …each degree comprises GAR and ZAT, which is ZA, and there is attainment only in ZA of each degree, even in ZA de [of] GAR, called Daat. However, no one can attain in the GAR of each degree, even in the GAR of the degree of Assiya.

We perceive everything inside of Malchut. Malchut is called “the Creator’s image.” Presently we do not see the true picture of the world, but only what enters our five senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch) and is presented in our brain. We receive an impression from the information delivered to us by our senses, and sense reality that seemingly exists before us within, in the back of our brain.

The same happens to Malchut. Baal HaSulam explains in “Preface to the Book of Zohar” that along with Malchut, there exist the first nine Sefirot; however, Malchut does not know what those nine Sefirot are. She attains these Sefirot after including them within herself, sensing them as something that appears before her.

Thus, Malchut discovers the first nine Sefirot to the extent that she is able to act like them, from below upward. When Malchut becomes like Keter by repelling the Direct Light and forming the Reflected Light, from within the Reflected Light, she attains the fact that before her are the first nine Sefirot, that is, the lower one begins to act outside of itself, outward, and sees what is happening in the Reflected Light.

The same applies to us in this world. We see something that exists before us in accordance with our ego, depending on what is beneficial to us and what isn’t. Whatever doesn’t affect our ego, cannot bring us benefit or cause harm – we do not detect.

This stems from the spiritual roots: Malchut senses the first nine Sefirot only to the measure of the Reflected Light, which the Direct Light imprints within itself. This is the picture that appears to Malchut as though existing before her. Nothing else exists as far as she’s concerned, for she doesn’t sense anything above that.

If Malchut were to have the desire to enjoy of the Root (0) phase, she would not detect before her anything other than the Root phase. If Malchut were to have a greater desire to enjoy, she would see before her a wider picture of reality. Everything is determined by the thickness of our desire (Aviut) and the Light it reflects. That is why nothing in Kabbalah speaks of what truly exists in reality, for everything depends on the measure of one’s attainment.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/28/10

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A question I received: What does it mean that the Creator gets angry? If we’re talking about invariable spiritual laws, why does The Zohar portray the Creator as one who possesses human qualities, such as anger, envy, etc?

My Answer: The Torah uses the language of man to tell us what we feel and attribute to the Creator. I often use a computer as an example of this. Why do we get angry at a computer when it is nothing but pieces of metal and plastic? It has no intelligence, but merely executes its programmed commands perfectly. All its actions are correct.

If you press the wrong key, or if you lack the knowledge of how the program functions, you can smash the keyboard in frustration all you want, but the computer will still respond with the same error every single time. A computer isn’t a person who can change its behavior. A computer is inanimate, and cannot change. Yet, again and again, you relate to it as you would to a person, questioning it in rage: “Why aren’t you doing what I want you to do?”

We attribute to a computer our own qualities, our personalities, wishing for it to change as we do. In truth, we are uncorrected and we change, while a computer is not uncorrected; hence, its behavior is unvarying and always correct.

The same rule applies to the Creator. We’re not talking about the Creator Himself, but about “Bo-Re” (“Come and See”), that is, our perception of the Creator. We discern and conceive the Creator in our desires (vessels of reception, Kelim). And that is why we ascribe to the Creator the same qualities and reactions characteristic of us.

It is therefore written that the Torah speaks the language of man. In order to explain to us our correct behavior and to help us change, we need to imagine that the Creator undergoes changes though in truth He does not. Perfection cannot change, otherwise it would not be perfection.

By ascribing to the Creator our qualities and regarding Him as though He changes His attitude toward us, we can see ourselves in two manifestations: One, the way I am as is, the way I appear from the side and two, in the changes I undergo either in a constant or transient world.

This perceptual duality which allows us to imagine as though something changes outside of us is a great gift from the Creator. Because of it we come to perceive a different dimension, to understand the spiritual world, to enter into its perception freely and independently.

Therefore, our perception that reality exists and changes outside of ourselves is a true salvation from the prison cell of our world (the sensation of spiritual claustrophobia). It is a fundamental point which grants the creature the opportunity to rise above its creation, to become human: Adam, similar to the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/27/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaEra (And I Appeared),” Item 41: Also, the south grips to the east because the warmth in the south grips to the warmth in the east. And the east grips also to the north because its moisture grips to the moisture in the north. It turns out that south and east are tied to each other through the warmth in both; the east and north—through the moisture in them; north and west—through the cold in both; west and south through the dry in both; and all are included in one another, hanging down in one another.

If we are not building the middle line, then forces (of north and south) which are opposite one another are growing. Because they don’t come to reconciliation through the middle line, they collide and try to cancel each other. This causes an explosion. Then just like a volcano explodes in Iceland in our world, a war becomes ignited within a person or outside between people. Everything happens because these two lines, the right and the left, reached some magnitude and collided rather than united peacefully into the middle line.

People are the ones who have to perform the connection through the middle line at our level. Then peace will also come to all the previous, lower levels. We have ready the capability for us to create the middle line. If we are not building it then a short circuit occurs between the two poles and this leads to disorders on all levels: inanimate (problems with ecology), vegetative, animal, and human, or at all levels at once. This all happens because we did not reach the correct connection in the middle line.

The left and the right lines conceal a great danger when they are in direct connection with one another. If the Light and the vessel connect without the screen then the “breaking of Kelim” occurs, but only at lower levels. The Zohar says that even though North and South, East and West are opposite to one another, each of them still has a capability to complement the other. However, if we don’t provide a connection for them through the middle line, they will meet anyway, out of balance and lacking peace, like enemies….

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/29/10, The Zohar

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Zohar, Chapter “BaHar (On Mount Sinai),” Item 66: …there are two creations in man, creation for good and creation for bad. With the Torah, he separates them and the Creator gives him a soul from Him, to dominate over both—the one that is good and light, the next world, and the one that is evil and dark, this world—as it is written, “And He blew into his nostrils the breath of life.”

Our entire reality stems from the separation between darkness and light when we can truly “filter” the qualities that pertain to this world and to the world to come. We begin to build ourselves through discernments, by distinguishing the qualities for the sake of bestowal and those for the sake of reception.

All that we study in our world is our animal existence, meaning our nature. Why animal? This is because an animal doesn’t grow, but always remains at the same level with respect to its perception.

Therefore, until we begin to use the Light so as to build ourselves, by distinguishing the bestowing qualities from those of reception, until we amass these bestowing qualities, desiring to dwell in them, and build ourselves out of them, we exist only in this world.

Just as drops of semen begin to form into an embryo in the mother’s womb, so we must try to utilize the group, the environment, the study, the intentions, and various actions to continually add and accumulate the qualities of bestowal within. This is how a spiritual body will be formed.

Every time we reveal yet another part in bestowal and wish to gather them all together, this is called our next reincarnation. Indeed, we see our new life every time and a new opportunity to keep gathering and adding to us the qualities of the human level that are similar to bestowal and the Creator (the word “man” in Hebrew is “Adam” which is from “Edome,” similar).

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/10, The Zohar

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