Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 03.07.10
Posted on March 7th, 2010
A question I received: If The Zohar and the Talmud Eser Sefirot describe the same system and both of them are attained not through the mind, then why are questions acceptable regarding the Talmud Eser Sefirot, but not for The Zohar?
My Answer: The Zohar is mainly intended for building intentions. I have to read and perceive it as a remedy (Segula). It is written in such a way that a person, himself, gradually reveals its inner logic, the relations between things, and explanations. After all, he constantly returns to the same thing within it. It’s always talking about the three lines (right line, left line, and middle line) and nothing else.
Therefore, our attitude toward The Zohar should have a singular focus, the desire that I want it to influence me. The Light of Infinity comes to me through this grid, this stencil, and builds within my matter (simple desire) a system similar to itself, meaning the system of the spiritual worlds.
In the Talmud Eser Sefirot and in The Zohar, I have the same intention, to receive the Light that Reforms; however, in the Talmud Eser Sefirot, I attach more reason, while in The Zohar I strive for more feelings. It is as though one intention is sensible and the other one is sensitive. This is how these two great books work. However, I have to demand from both of them only the Light which will transform and correct me.
A question I received: Why is The Zohar very complicated?
My Answer: I spent two years studying anatomy in college, where I learned an infinite number of details and names. And this science only studies individual parts of the human organism, not the links between them. But there are systems within it that we do not even know exist. Though we try, we cannot completely examine the systems that we do know because there is no end to their complexity. Basically, this question is not about The Zohar, but rather about why all of nature is extremely complicated.
The Zohar presents all of reality to us. This includes man, nature, all the worlds (this entire system), and not only its structure, anatomy, parts of this system, and links between them, but its entire operation, function, and its revelation to each one of us according to our position within it.
Our world is like a grain of sand in relation to all the spiritual worlds. There, every element is a billion times greater, not in size, but in complexity in all the connections. The higher the level, the more complicated it is because it incorporates all of the lower degrees.
Where does this complexity come from? In reality, it is infinite. But we need some kind of a boundary, otherwise the object escapes our sensations and attainment. “Lack of boundaries” is like the absence of everything; to me, infinity equals the lack of existence.
This infinite variety of the Upper World emanates from the opposite qualities of the Light and the desire (Kli). They are completely opposite and there is no connection between them. If I wanted to build something between them using their connection, I would get an infinite system.
I am speaking from the point of view of mathematics, and not a spiritual perspective. Take a “1” and a “0,” between these two points there is infinity. It is impossible to connect them. How many numbers are there between zero and one? An infinite amount.
Thus, it turns out that we are unable to perceive this with our brain and with reason in our world. But when we come out of our limitations of the desire to receive, rise above it to another dimension, the desire to bestow, the problem disappears. Everything shifts from the quantitative measure to the qualitative measure. And we easily manage qualities because we perceive them through feelings and not our brain. And our feelings have no problems feeling things that lack precise measure.
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bamidbar (In The Wilderness),” Item 1
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The Zohar, Chapter “Ve’Eleh Toldot Itzhak (These Are the Generations of Isaac),” Item 172: Because Jacob trusted the Creator and all his ways were for His name, his enemies made peace with him. And Sam’el, who is Esau’s authority and strength, made peace with Jacob. And because he made peace with Jacob, he thanked him for the blessings, and then Esau, too, made peace with him.
But as long as Esau did not make peace with that appointee that was appointed over him, which is Sam’el, Esau did not make peace with him. This is so because in all places, the strength below depends on the strength above. And as long as the offender above is not weakened, which are the ministers appointed over them above, it is impossible to weaken the offender below in this world.
It is forbidden for a person to think that there are forces that work against him, forces that resist the work of the Creator and do not want a person to reach the goal of creation. There is no such thing. All forces, both the right and the left line, work together for the same goal. We believe that evil comes to destroy us and lead us astray, but it’s not true. Evil exists to show us our mistakes so we can see when we are doing things that are opposite to the goal. It is the mission of both angels, evil and good, to accompany a person on the path to the goal of creation.
The Zohar, Chapter “BeHaalotcha (When You Mount the Candles),” Item 118: …After he explained the first two banners, which are the middle line and the right line, he now explains the third banner, which is the left line, called “the face of an ox” in the animals, and “Gabriel” in the four angels. It is known that after the middle line decided and united the right line and the left line with each other, only the light of Malchut remained in the left line, which is the illumination of Hochma from below upwards, meaning VAK, while the GAR disappeared.
Two full lines, the right and the left (Hassadim and Hochma), come to us from Above. The breaking of the vessels occurred because the creature tried to fully unite Hassadim and Hochma, to receive all the Light of Hochma clothed into the Light of Hassadim for the sake of bestowal. However, it was unable to do so due to the absence of such a big screen. Therefore, the intention for bestowal (Kli) broke and the screen vanished.
Now we need to correct this breaking. By correcting it, we also begin to understand what happens within the creature, why the Creator created it this way, and what He wished for when doing so. The breaking isn’t something negative; it’s a way to prepare for putting our world together into one whole with understanding, realization, and sensation. After all, if we existed in a world that was ready for us, we wouldn’t understand it.
However, since the Creator created the World of Infinity and then broke it, He gave us an opportunity to gather the World of Infinity once again as one; to tune into the Act of Creation (Maase Merkava) and the Primary Act (Maase Beresheet) ourselves, thereby to understand Him, feel Him, and become like Him.
We certainly aren’t building all this from scratch, or from nothing, since we ourselves are created “from nothing.” However, the parts that we gather into one whole give us a full understanding and sensation of what we need in order to become similar to the Creator. That is, they give us all the information about all the parts, elements, and the depth of the universe.
Therefore, the entire Book of Zohar, all the commentaries, and the entire science of Kabbalah, tell us how to correct the broken desires (Kelim), how to connect them properly to each other, and bring them back to one whole desire (a spiritual vessel or Kli), the whole Light that previously filled the World of Infinity.
But the creature needs to carry this out with its own effort. Thereby, it achieves an understanding, sensation, perception, and power over the whole universe.
The original text of The Zohar is not divided into paragraphs, chapters, or item numbers. It’s all one smooth text. Moreover, The Torah is written without any spaces at all from beginning to end.
So where does the division of the text come from? It is caused by the fact that we are so small that we are unable to accept everything and incorporate it within us. Therefore, the more we advance and the generations develop from the time of the Torah’s and The Zohar’s composition, the more we need to divide the text into parts, paragraphs, and chapters with titles. After all, it’s very difficult for us to take in rows upon rows of letters, to look at them and become similar to them in our intention. But this is, indeed, the work of correcting our desires, and its order determines the structure of the Kabbalistic Prayer Book.
This is why Baal HaSulam divided all of The Zohar into paragraphs and chapters. In addition, he wanted to add introductions, definitions, and clarifications preceding the text. In doing so he wanted to balance the text of The Zohar with his Sulam Commentary in a way that doesn’t just offer explanations, but designates the middle line in The Zohar’s text. Without his commentaries, we wouldn’t be able to balance the text inside us in order for it to clothe inside us correctly in the middle line.
Thus, Baal HaSulam doesn’t offer us mere explanations, but causes us to oscillate while reading the book, thereby attuning our vision, approach, and sensation in a way that makes them go through the middle line, “the golden middle.” Therefore, we have to accept all the commentaries with gratitude regardless of whether they are short or long. We have to go along with them and understand that we are building our middle line in this manner.
This is what the Sulam Commentary is intended for. Without it, The Zohar is only two lines, just like the rest of the Torah. We have to build the middle line ourselves, and the Sulam Commentary helps us do this. This is why it is called “Sulam” (Ladder). It is already built in the form of steps, and all that remains for us to do is to climb them. The ladder is already there, and now we just have to make efforts to climb it. We must only push ourselves forward slightly and we will be sure to follow the right path.
This is why Baal HaSulam writes that after the composition of his “Sulam Commentary to The Book of Zohar,” he is certain that it is impossible for a person to err. One will go through a wondrous spiritual ascent and thereby attain the revelation of the Messiah – the Light of Correction.
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