Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 249

How Does the Creator Bring About the States We Go Through?

It is written that the light shakes the vessel. This is the only way. The more or less it shines, the more the vessel rises or falls. There is no other force besides the light that can influence the vessel. But the light influences the vessel and its parts selectively, according to the vessel’s ability to advance. The light itself is a simple, abstract light that shines upon the vessel like a simple flashlight, but it creates a special system between itself and the vessel called the “worlds.”

The light that passes through the worlds and shines upon the vessel acquires a special form that illuminates precisely the part of the vessel that is supposed to become active at that moment. The light shines with exactly the intensity and in exactly the manner required for a particular organ to act now, to correct itself, and to feel something. In other words, the worlds that stand between the light and the vessel adapt the light precisely to each individual vessel according to its nature. Then each vessel receives exactly what it needs and responds and becomes corrected accordingly.

Therefore, it is said in Kabbalah that the worlds are a system of control, a system of governance, a system of providence. What are the worlds for? The worlds are built in accordance with the vessels, only in an opposite form. That is, they understand the deficiencies in the vessels, and they exist in the worlds in a positive form. When we study the world of Atzilut, not technical studies, as Baal HaSulam writes, but when we truly begin to see how the world of Atzilut prepares its influence for the souls, with what wisdom it knows exactly how and for what purpose to prepare its influence in each and every soul, the picture is truly magnificent.

In Kabbalah, we simply learn that the worlds were created as a copy. There was the shattering of the world of Nekudim, and from that shattering the worlds were formed. Therefore, we begin counting the worlds from the world of Atzilut onward, whereas the world of Adam Kadmon, the world of Keter, is the light that shines from Ein Sof (Infinity). Ein Sof is completely abstract light. That light is divided in the world of Adam Kadmon into five original lights, according to the five parts that exist in the original vessel, the four phases of direct light. Afterward, the world of Atzilut, which arose from the remnants of the shattering, channels the lights to the souls that exist in the worlds of BYA and arranges them so that they influence each and every part, in every soul, exactly according to the order of corrections that each soul requires.

Therefore, we study primarily the world of Atzilut because it explains everything that happens, and through it we can learn about the souls. The world of Atzilut is in complete correspondence with what should exist in the soul. Therefore, we do not study souls directly. We study only ourselves. “From Your actions we know You.” The study of the world of Atzilut is, in fact, the study of the souls, one corresponding to the other. The study of the world of Atzilut is fascinating and awe-inspiring. Through it we understand what change each individual detail undergoes when the light descends upon it, what it is about to correct, what within the soul is awakened, how it responds both consciously and unconsciously, and how the created being begins to awaken and come into existence from a state in which it was not yet a created being at all. It is a wondrous picture, truly a marvel.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Sukkot 2003, Lesson 12 (10.16.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “There Is One Who Buys His World in One Hour” (1.27.2017)

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Question: Is faith always the most important thing that a person must attain first?

Answer: It is not merely the most important thing. Faith is the only thing we must attain, and nothing else besides it. “The righteous will live by his faith.” Besides the screen and the reflected light, the light of Bina, in which the Ohr Hochma (the light of wisdom) is clothed, there is nothing else. Therefore, this is the only thing we should be concerned with.

What is the connection here with the holiday of Sukkot? After a person has passed through the period of the exodus from Egypt and received the Torah, through its light he sees himself as weak and contemptible in his original qualities, with which he was created.

In this way, he attains a full awareness of his soul, which is represented by Yom Kippur (the Day of Judgment), and approaches the stage of his correction called Sukkot. Sukkot is Schach (the covering of the Sukkah), and Schach is the screen and reflected light.

What does “Tzel” (shadow) mean? “In His shadow I sat, and I delighted…” To delight while sitting in the shade means to delight in bestowing upon the Creator, rather than in the Light that comes without being clothed in the shadow, that is, without being clothed in the light of Bina.

These are all symbols. In essence, we should see this in every commandment and in every matter: There is nothing besides the light, the Kli, and the screen between them; everything, in essence, comes down to one thing.

Sometimes, when we do not understand very well what is being discussed, we begin to enter into the details of a commandment. In general, such a major commandment as Sukkot, which is equal in importance to all the other commandments, is more or less clear, and all the actions involved in carrying it out can easily be imagined.

However, there are commandments that speak of particular corrections of the Kli during the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet), of attaching the ascending AHP de Aliyah, when one makes a correction on Yesod rather than on Malchut, and so on. Here, the problem arises of how to accurately grasp all kinds of particular states. But in general, the essence of all spiritual actions, which are called commandments, is the correction of the screen. The size of the screen is called the measure of faith, and through faith one receives knowledge, the revelation of the divine.

The revelation of the Creator can also occur before faith appears, in order to give birth to it. This is called, “Know the Creator, your Almighty and serve Him.” We need the revelation of the Creator also because in this way the screen manifests within us and is built. If we ask the Creator to reveal Himself for this purpose, it happens, and a person, bowing before the Creator, submits to Him. This submission is our screen.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson for the holiday of Sukkot, 9/26/26

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On Yom Kippur, a confrontation takes place between the entire Kli (vessel), which is revealed in all its egoistic depth, and the light that must correct and fill this Kli.

Therefore, on Yom Kippur, a person does not eat, drink, or wash, has no marital relations, and does not anoint himself with oils, because oil symbolizes the light of Hochma, the body symbolizes the desire to receive, and the external reception of the light of Hochma symbolizes the process called Sikha—smearing or anointing. It is also forbidden to wear anything made of leather, because leather is considered a covering, an external garment, whereas at this time everything is exposed; there is not yet an external Kli.

A person has internal and external Kelim. The internal Kelim were formed in one during the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet). These are the Kelim for the lights of Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama. But for Haya and Yehida, for the light of Hochma, there are external Kelim, the Levush ve Heichal (garments and a house, walls).

We have three qualities that exist together within us: Shoresh, Neshama, and Guf (root, soul, and body). In addition, there is a garment over us and walls around us that we build as our own.

Garments and walls also exist in the material world because of the imperfection of our Kelim. If we were internally complete, we would not need clothing, as Adam HaRishon did not, nor walls, that is, any space in which a person resides.

These categories, these Kelim, would exist within us. But now we partially compensate for their absence through clothing and through a house. All this results from the defectiveness of our Kelim, from human imperfection. After correction, this gradually enters within a person, and he no longer needs either garments or a house.

The light that comes to us on Yom Kippur shows us how imperfect our Kli is; all its negative qualities are revealed within it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/26, Sitrin Convention, Sukkot 2003

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What does it mean that the Torah (from the word Horaah, instruction or method) is acquired? Everything is done only through light and vessels; there is nothing else. When one receives the light that can gradually correct the vessels, it is necessary that this light and the Kelim not simply exist as two things opposite one another, but that the light first enter the Kelim and impart its qualities to them.

This occurs after the upper light called Moses (from the word “Limshoch,” to draw, to pull egoism from below upward toward the light) descends. Moses embodies the aspiration of all a person’s qualities to be corrected and to attract the upper light to themselves. That is, after Moses draws this light to himself, since the soul initially possesses only a single quality, the point in the heart, the soul must undergo a shattering.

We know that every connection begins with the breaking of the Kelim (vessels). Subsequently the qualities of the light enter the qualities of the Kelim and establish a connection between them. Only afterward, through a different light, the light of correction, do the sparks of the light that fell into egoism during the shattering begin to align the ego with themselves and correct it.

Thus, the breaking of the Kelim must take place. Moses receives the Torah and descends with it from the mountain to the remaining qualities (the people) while they are making the golden calf. Moses symbolically breaks the tablets; that is, the light enters the vessel, and the breaking occurs.

The process of the breaking of the Kelim had already occurred in the world of Nekudim and with Adam HaRishon. Now the same thing is happening. It is one and the same process without which there would be no connection between the light and the Kelim. The light breaks these vessels.

This takes place on the 17^th of Tammuz. Moses breaks the tablets and the light enters the vessel. Then some time passes until the first of Elul, a new month, followed a month later, after the new moon, by the New Year (Rosh Hashanah).

This means that Moses again ascends Mount Sinai and receives the second tablets. In other words, the light within the vessel is processed again, and it again becomes possible to rise and ask for the light of correction. When the light of correction descends upon a person, they begin to see themselves within this light.

Once again, just as the first time, Moses remains in contact with the light for 40 days, at the level of Bina. Then he descends, meaning that the light begins to pass through to all the remaining qualities, to the entire people.

The descent of the light to Malchut and their complete opposition is celebrated among us as Yom Kippur. Through the shattering of the soul, a person begins to understand that they do not have a single good quality, and that everything must be corrected. But they learn this because within every egoistic quality of the soul there are already sparks of light that fell during the breaking when the light first entered. Now a second light shines, the light of correction, akin to the second tablets.

There is a difference between the first and second tablets, just like there is a difference between the First Temple and the Second Temple. Here, another light descends, the light of correction. It no longer needs to break the vessels, enter them, and mix with them. Instead, it must shine from afar and gradually correct the vessel. It possesses different qualities.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/26, Sitrin Convention, Sukkot 2003

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 248

Why Is It Said That We Should Ask for the Revelation of the Creator, and That Through This the Recognition of Evil Will Come?

It is constantly said that we should ask for the revelation of the Creator, for the importance of the Creator, for the greatness of the Lord, and that from this the recognition of evil will come. But when we are immersed in evil, we cannot ask from within it for the greatness and importance of the Creator. We are incapable of doing so because we are immersed in evil. We can emerge from this evil if we look at it from the outside and recognize it as evil in relation to the Creator. The more we emerge from the evil, the more we can recognize how opposite that evil is to the Creator. How do we emerge from the evil? By bringing our “I” closer to the Creator while our body remains where it is.

We begin to see how far we are from the Creator when we rise above the body toward the Creator, from the point of the “I,” the point of awareness. It is as though a certain point emerges from within us, from our body and from this pain, a point called “the point of our awareness,” and it draws closer to the Creator. As it draws closer to the Creator, it can already observe the body and see how far it is from the Creator, according to the extent that it feels the body’s distance from Him. It cannot measure how far away the Creator is. It can only measure how far the body is from the place from which that point emerged.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Sukkot 2003, Lesson 11 (10.16.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Awakening from Below

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Question: Were there Kabbalists who violated the rule against touching the secrets of the Torah prematurely, before they had completed their own corrections?

Answer: I do not want to go into this because we are not yet capable of discussing such topics. Questions will immediately arise: “How did they do it? For what reason? Why did the Creator allow this? Where was the general and individual governance? Was it a mistake or to the contrary?” There are many stories, and it is not for us from our degree to analyze them.

Why do we go above reason in order to ascend from degree to degree? Because the mind of the higher degree is literally opposite to my mind. I am simply incapable of discussing such degrees. We can only, so to speak, console ourselves with the formulations, and make some understanding in order to continue on the path.

In the same way, children are told fairy tales and fables so that they will grow. And when they become adults, they see that everything is somewhat different. However, they cannot yet grasp with their minds the full complexity of human relationships and world processes, and that is why they are presented with these things in a simple form corresponding to their understanding, and thanks to this they grow.

It is the same for us. It is impossible to take such questions seriously. It is good that they exist, but we must understand that every question is a Hisaron, the fulfillment of which can be seen not at our degree, but many degrees higher. Therefore, the question is different: how can a Hisaron (lack) arise in me, the fulfillment of which lies, say, ten degrees higher? What does its present revelation mean?

Actually, this is not even a question, because from this I must derive the understanding that I actually need to possess a yearning to reach the highest degree—even if an unconscious need.

I will put it differently. There must be a Hisaron, a need for a state of infinity within the limits of my current level, but a need for the state of infinity. Because at every degree it is precisely infinity that is revealed, only to a different extent, first a little, then a little more, then even more.

It is perfectly normal that I have questions about the highest degree because I must strive for infinity. In essence, I am already in it now, but only a very, very small measure of infinity is revealed to me, although it is revealed in every detail. In every detail, but in a very, very limited way. Limited, but equally present in all those details.

And if the smallest degree of infinity is revealed to me, then it will be revealed in all the details that exist in infinity. However, in my eyes it will appear so unclear that it will seem very small, very vague, but infinite to me.

Therefore questions will arise throughout the entire path up to the final goal, even at the smallest degree.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

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