The Zohar: And though the essence of the heart of stone (Lev HaEven) cannot be corrected, its color nonetheless becomes corrected, for its black color is included in the three colors of holiness (bestowal) of the first nine Sefirot and receives luminescence and correction from them, This enables it to exist and be fit for being discerned in the future (at the End of Correction).

As I increase my desire to become similar to the Creator through my actions, by using my desire (Malchut) to be like bestowal, I sense the actions and qualities of the Creator in the first nine Sefirot of my soul. Meanwhile, I neutralize and cease using the desires belonging to Malchut (the heart of stone). As a result of this analysis and my effort to avoid working in the desires of Malchut (the heart of stone), Malchut becomes permeated by a tiny luminescence.

Later, once I become completely similar to the first nine Sefirot in my desire to bestow, by correcting my desires as much as possible and making them “for the sake of bestowal,” I discover that even the heart of stone can be used for the sake of bestowal. I find that it is precisely because I’ve always rejected and distanced it from myself and was unwilling to use it that it received an impression of bestowal. Thus it came to include within itself all the shades of the colors that I’d used in the first nine Sefirot.

There are only several colors – white, red, green and black, and I can use all of them except for black. Because I do not use the color black, the other colors allow it to include them within itself to a certain degree, and as a result it becomes fit for use. This is the meaning of the verse, “In the future the angel of death, egoism, shall become a holy angel, the quality of love and bestowal.” In other words, at the End of Correction the notion of “forbidden” will be revoked, as we’ll have the strength to use all of our desires for the sake of others.

Then all the restrictions and prohibitions will vanish in all axes of time, motion and space. This state is called the World of Infinity – a world without limits, where my existence is unbounded and I have unlimited opportunities.

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I am a small word, and I perceive everything within myself. As Baal HaSulam explains in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” there is a “camera” within me that projects the picture of this world on a screen in the back of my head. Thus, the world is presented to me through the following system of coordinates: “world, year, soul.” Therefore, in order to see the true picture of the world, I have to properly arrange my desires, through which I perceive the world.

By correcting every one of my desires from reception to bestowal, I gradually begin to convert the pictures of this world, presently perceived in the light of reception, to a picture of the world in the light of bestowal. Then, step by step, I will draw closer to the true picture of reality – one that is outside of me and independent of my corrupted vessels of reception (Kelim). I will see reality in its true form, outside of me; stated differently, I will “see” the spiritual world.

All I have to do to accomplish this is to change the method of utilizing my desires from reception to bestowal. Therefore, I must first and foremost imagine that the whole world that I presently feel and seem to dwell in is actually my desires; it is in these desires that I dwell, which are all aimed at consumption (reception).

As I gradually begin to convert them from reception to bestowal, to exit out of them to the outside, the picture of the world will change. This is very difficult for me to understand because I am accustomed to perceiving the world as it appears to me at this moment. However, the whole picture of the world is created by forces descending from Above, like a picture on a computer screen. I can change my desires, and then I’ll perceive a different reality.

We are living in a special time, when all the forces, all the conditions, and all the states that we go through help us to discard our current perception of the world, a perception of the corporeal reality, and develop the desire to acquire a different perception of reality – that of the spiritual world.

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The Zohar: “Hence they shall not eat… the femoral vein (Gid HaNasheh). It is forbidden even for pleasure, and it is forbidden even to a dog.

Why is it called “Gid HaNasheh”? Because it causes movement (“Menashe”); it moves people farther away from serving the Creator. And therein the evil inclination is instilled.

Here The Zohar explains which desires out of the sum total of our desires we can use, and which we cannot, as well as how to correct them and connect to them with one another. All these desires are egoistic, for the sake of self-enjoyment, and therefore, we have to place certain restrictions in effect when using them.

We can correct desires with Aviut (coarseness) below a certain level by using them for the sake of bestowal – that is, to receive for the sake of bestowal. As for desires with Aviut above that level, we can use them only by bestowing for the sake of bestowal.

Besides this, there are other desires that we mustn’t use at all, but only restrict them. The words “mustn’t” and “impossible” mean “unable to.” This is the only kind of prohibition that exists in the spiritual world.

However, because our desires are corrupted to begin with, as it is written: “I have created the evil inclination,” the first step on our path is exposing the evil. After that we advance by correcting our desires – by changing our intention of using them from “reception” to “bestowal,” from the easy to the difficult, from the simple to the complex.

The Zohar explains that we are given the change to reveal the full picture in every state; however, we can only reveal it to a small degree, as if it were compressed, as if we are zooming in on it. Therefore, in every state we have all the desires, the complete soul. In other words, the same World of Infinity is continually being shown to us at a different measure or resolution.

But whatever the case, we must discern every desire in every state. Therefore, although we haven’t yet attained the state of being able to correct great, lofty, and special desires, nevertheless by reading about these desires, which haven’t yet been revealed to us in our individual spiritual work, we awaken the Lights at those levels, and these Lights in turn correct us.

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Baal HaSulam writes that “There is nothing higher than the truth and nothing lower than falseness.” But how can we know what is the truth and where to find it? Things only seem true in our imagination and fantasies, but we know that whatever seems true today will turn out to be a lie tomorrow. This is because our desire changes, and when it does, all the facts that we perceive, also change. Because the matter changes, the form that was present in matter yesterday is no longer visible to us today.

It turns out that today we are operating according to a form clothed in matter, and we consider this to be the truth. But tomorrow we will discard it and say that it was a lie, depending on what we see tomorrow. We always have to act based on the desire and the form in which it is clothed during the moment we are in that form. We don’t care that we used to think differently a hundred years ago, and that we will think differently two hundred years from now. Everything will be new; we will have a new life, a new sky and a new earth. Nevertheless, today we have to make all decisions based on today’s facts.

It follows that we have no right to judge others, those who are above or below us. How can we judge someone on a level beneath us if he is not yet corrected? After all, he is right in relation to his position.

All the mistakes, problems and punishments are given to us in order to “stuff” us into a form clothed in matter, so we won’t separate from matter and engage in abstract reasoning. It is extremely important to keep this in mind while studying The Zohar. After all, The Zohar is intended to lead us into the spiritual world, and in this area we are very tempted to give in to fantasies and mysticism. Our body really desires this since it will feel less suffering that way.

We have to make efforts to keep ourselves grounded within the framework of matter. By doing so, we will be performing a correction. We have to insert the form of bestowal into our egoistic form of reception, but they don’t fit one inside the other; they are absolutely opposite, and therefore our task is extremely difficult!

This is why The Zohar takes so much effort to be watchful of what is happening to us and what forms are clothing into us. After all, by separating from matter, we might imagine that we are already in the world of bestowal and Infinity.

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While studying The Zohar, we are not trying to explain every phenomenon that we study; instead, we want to feel it. How is it even possible to explain something that a person doesn’t feel or see? That’s why we are talking only about the effort that a person makes when he wants to reach something he doesn’t know, see or grasp, but would do anything to move closer to it.

I am teaching you how to focus on the spiritual world. When you acquire spiritual vision, you will feel, and later on you will also understand. This is the meaning of the verse, “A judge has nothing but what his eyes see.” What’s the point of trying to memorize names if you don’t know what they refer to? We are now learning how to attain them, because attainment is when you feel something with utter clarity in all of your senses and heart. You exist in it, are completely immersed in the spiritual world, and actually become one with it.

We are talking about how to enter the sensation of a new world, like a baby that’s starting to perceive this world simply and naturally. We don’t explain anything to the baby from the beginning. He must first be filled with various impressions about our world, and then, by being able to differentiate between different qualities (cold vs. hot, light vs. darkness, hard vs. soft), he begins to form a mind that understands what he should aspire to and what he should move away from. He starts to discern what is pleasant and unpleasant, what is good for him and what is bad, what is true and what is false, what he likes and what he doesn’t.

However, with regard to spirituality, all of this comes only after we have revealed a fragment of the Upper World in our sensations. Right now we desire to attain this revelation, and therefore we don’t want to explain what is inside it; we only want to facilitate these new sensations in us.

We have to “unfocus” our vision from this world and stop seeing it in order to start seeing through a new focus, by concentrating our attention on something else. It’s like those 3-D pictures that first appear like a chaotic collection of disorderly shapes. But if you change the focus of your vision and stop concentrating on the surface of the image, if you try to peer inside, not focusing on the picture itself, but deliberately penetrating inside – then you begin to see it. We have to make the same effort – but through feelings rather than vision – when reading The Book of Zohar, and then through the sensations of this world, we will feel the Upper World.

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Kabbalists tell us that we exist in an invariable state called “the World of Infinity.” The Creator wishes to fulfill us infinitely, to give us infinite pleasure, and to bring us to a sensation of Him. Then we will feel perfect harmony, a luminous and perfect world where we are filled with the Upper Light. In addition, we will understand and feel the world in its entirety.

We are in this state even now, but are unaware of it. This is our only problem – that we are insensitive to it due to not having the sense that can feel this reality.

I have one sense, which I perceive as my physical body. This body has five senses of its own: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. With the help of this cumulative sense called the “body,” I feel myself and the world.

Besides it, there is also another body called “the body of the soul.” If I reveal it, I will discover five senses there as well: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, which can also be called “spiritual vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.” Through the body of the soul, I perceive the spiritual reality, myself, and the world.

So what is the problem – why is it so difficult for us to reveal this spiritual sense and through it to feel that we are situated in the World of Infinity, that everything around us is filled with Infinite Light and there is no life, death, or any other limitations? The problem is just one thing: the lack of the Light of Hassadim. The only way for our soul to develop from the point that we currently have, for that point to expand and burst open, is by acquiring the Light of Hassadim – the quality of kindness (Chesed), love, and bestowal, the ability to come out of ourselves. We are situated in an ocean of Light – the Light of Hochma, the Light of the Creator, but we will only be able to reveal it if we open up to the outside by means of the Light of Hassadim.

Therefore, the darkness that is revealed in us is the pressure of the Light of Hochma in the absence of the Light of Hassadim, which comes from the soul. Our soul is still incapable of opening up and revealing the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim – of seeing “day” instead of “night.”

We see the spiritual world, our spiritual life, in greater or smaller degrees of the Light of Hassadim. The entire process of our spiritual development and formation occurs between these two Lights – Hochma and Hassadim, or between two desires where these Lights are revealed – the desires of reception and bestowal.

Stated more accurately, there is one desire, but it can be implemented by us in two different ways: with the intention “for myself” or with the intention “for others.” Therefore, developing the Light of Hassadim, the quality of bestowal and love, the ability to come out of oneself, is the same as revealing the soul. We reveal the Upper World, the World of Infinity, to the extent that we develop the Light of Hassadim, the intention of bestowal inside us.

There are five levels of Aviut (thickness of desire) inside the point in the heart – the drop of semen of the soul, the Reshimo that is in us. By acquiring the Light of Hassadim on each of the five levels of desire, we reveal five parts of our soul and thereby open up an opportunity for the Light to enter it step by step, through the five degrees called five worlds (degrees of the Light’s revelation).

This is how we gradually ascend along the degrees of the worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon – until we reach unlimited revelation, called “the World of Infinity.” Everything in this process depends on how much we acquire the quality of bestowal because through the quality of bestowal, we reveal the point in the heart and it becomes the soul, the Shechina, the receptacle for the Light.
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Preparation to the Lesson
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYishlach (And Jacob Sent),” Item 121
The Zohar lays out the spiritual anatomy of my soul. It is a guide to working with my desires.
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“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 90, Lesson 37
The lower degree shows the Upper Degree that it’s willing to grow by annulling itself. This obliges the Upper One to take care of the lower one.
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“Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Item 15
The world won’t find a solution to its problems until it stops confusing the desired with the reality.
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYishlach (And Jacob Sent),” Item 99

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If I feel evil forces, it means I am able to understand what good forces are, which are situated across from them. However, I am not under the influence of the good forces; I instead fall into the domain of the evil forces.

For example, I have a home, which is a good, warm, and safe place. But at night I find myself in a dark forest, where I feel scared and miserable because I have something good to compare it to. However, if I did not have a good, warm home, I would not suffer; I would simply accommodate myself to living in the forest. It would not seem dark and scary to me, but would be my regular life. In the same manner, we have gotten used to life in this world – the worst of all worlds.

This understanding should help us avoid being confused by the images that The Zohar describes. When we read about the scary characters, we have to tell ourselves that “all of this exists inside me.” These are my desires, in which I want to receive pleasure. All of these demons, spirits, and hell are right here.

We have to clearly understand this. Otherwise, we will picture all sorts of material images of hell and heaven, which are customary in religions that tell us: you are forbidden to go here, and allowed to go there. This is why Baal HaSulam created the commentary to The Book of Zohar; it was in order to help us get rid of all these made up images and to search for all of this inside of ourselves.

We are studying the inner part of the Torah, which tells us that everything is inside a person and a person is a small world. All of this is me, and there is no one except me in existence. The only thing that exists inside me is the Creator (the Light), or the opposite perception of Him. There is only He and I, and He tells me how to reveal Him from His own concealment. He purposely arranged everything this way, where as a result of my effort and my search, I would reveal Him.

By correcting my desire, I come to know Him, the One who created me in this form. By attaining the Creator, I attain myself – all of my qualities and capabilities. How do I attain this correction? I constantly ask for His help in collecting and understanding some parts of my soul. In response, He comes and reveals Himself to me, and we begin working together and uniting through this work.

This system that we work with becomes my soul, where He and I exist together. And The Zohar tells us about all of this.

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A question I received: When reading The Zohar, we are supposed to follow the text as though we are travelling within ourselves. However, don’t we also have to exert effort in order to demand our correction?

My Answer: The Zohar itself directs you to correction and the necessary thoughts. It will tell you what is good and what is bad depending on your specific state and what you in particular need to clarify.

The book itself will provide you with this approach. On our part, we must simply be able to adhere to it and its flow, to “swim” along with it obediently and to go wherever it wishes to bring us. We have to let our mind and heart swim smoothly along with the stream.

Everything is pre-assigned, including my desire, the Reshimot in it, and the Light which realizes the Reshimot. However, everything depends on my effort and my consent to give the Light access to the Reshimot.

I only allow the Light to act, but beyond that everything happens without my knowledge. I just witness everything that happens inside me. My effort is called “Avodat HaShem” – the work of the Creator; I am only an accomplice to it. The Creator said to Moses: “Let’s go to Pharaoh. I will do everything and you will watch how I act toward him.” This means that my point in the heart, the first spiritual Reshimo, brought me to the entrance into a new world, which I know nothing about. And now, through this point in the heart, I am hearing an explanation about this new world. To the extent that I learn about it and connect to it, I will be able to live in it.

Baal HaSulam writes that just like it is impossible for material bodies to live in this world without knowing its laws, rules, and conditions, so it is impossible for the soul to live in the spiritual world without receiving the necessary knowledge about it. Thus, right now we are trying to receive this necessary knowledge. When we receive it, we will feel that we already exist in the spiritual world, because in spirituality, knowledge and sensation is the same thing.

Right now I feel only my animate body – an illusory reality; but I also have a point in the heart which can potentially feel the Upper World. This point that I was given is a tremendous opportunity; however, it is the only thing I was given. I need to develop the rest on my own, which is why I am given The Book of Zohar, which provides an explanation for me.

I learn about the Upper World similar to how a baby learns about this world without knowing anything about it in advance. A baby cannot attain the world with his mind, by performing an analysis and a synthesis. I am the same in regard to attaining the spiritual world. I learn about it only by adhering to the book and attracting the Surrounding Light. This type of study is the most natural. We discover a new world in the same manner as we discovered this world when we were babies.

The Upper Level can never be attained with the mind, since we don’t feel, see, or understand it. However, we have to begin to feel it.

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