Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom” starts with the words “’Harut (Carved) on stones; do not pronounce it Harut (Carved), but rather Herut (Freedom), to show that they are liberated from the angel of death.” What does a person need in this world while he is still unable to feel the Upper spiritual worlds and simply worries about his life like any other animal? At this time, a person’s primary concern is the issue of life and death. There is a reason that it is written that freedom means liberation from the angel of death. The science of Kabbalah is the method of achieving eternity, and it is fundamentally important for everyone.

Humanity subconsciously hides the issue of death from itself; this issue has no solution, but it reduces all of us to a level of worthless beings. Everything we do in this world (culture, education, work) is done in order to conceal the certainty of death. We try to push it further away and not think about it, as though it does not exist. However, if this question arises within a person, one feels completely powerless since nothing can be done to stop a person from dying. We can deal with anything and achieve anything except for one thing – eternal life.

The inevitability of death cancels out the human being in me. Therefore, everything that humanity engages in subconsciously comes from this one thought. We don’t understand to what extent we would view life differently if we were immortal. Our whole attitude to our existence, to reality, to other people, and to ourselves would be completely different.

From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, Article “The Freedom”

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The most important thing while reading The Zohar is to unite with the text. If we remember that the Light influences us, this is sufficient.

A small child lives among adults, but what does he understand from their conversations and behavior? Does he know their world? No; it’s all a secret to him. We are built by nature like a child among adults: Without understanding anything or being ready for it, a child perceives everything by means of the “surrounding glow.”

This is the manner in which development takes place: gradually, indirectly, from outside, a child begins to absorb everything from adults and tunes into them without understanding what is happening ahead of time. By entering them through his desire, he begins to feel and then to understand. This develops new senses and desires (Kelim) in him, and then the mind.

When we are adults, we don’t develop, but merely fill ourselves with knowledge and sensation. Our senses no longer develop. They can only develop on the condition that a person enters an “area” where even without understanding or feeling anything, he desires to become similar to it. By means of his desire and drive, without understanding or knowing anything, he begins to absorb forces from this area and that develops him.

Adults do not undergo the same inner development as children. They merely fill their previous desires. Both in our world and the spiritual world, new desires can only grow when you want to feel and discover where you are.

When I read The Zohar, I don’t know what it is talking about. But because I desire to reveal this picture, I develop the senses through which my soul perceives. This is why it is written, “The study does not happen through reason” (Lo HaHacham Lomed).

Our spiritual development takes place in exactly the same way as a baby develops in our world. It can only happen when the lower level completely annuls itself before the Upper Level. After all, we are learning to feel a whole new world!

Kabbalists write about this in many articles. Baal HaSulam writes in “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar” that a student has to cancel himself before the Rav just as children do before adults. That is the only way you can attain a higher state.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 40: We open our eyes and see the wheels of the holy Merkava traveling in their journeys, and the sound of singing, sweet to the ears, to Bina, and beautiful for the heart, Malchut, rising and falling and walking, and not traveling.
…and Hochma is obtained only by journeying from line to line in the three points – Holam, Shuruk, Hirik – the sound of singing is heard. This is illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina, primarily through the middle line, Tifferet, called “voice.” And it is imparted from him, from the heart, to Malchut.

A question I received: Singing is an exalted spiritual action that begets “illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina,” the Light of Hassadim. How is this connected to the music put out by Bnei Baruch?

My Answer: I really like the songs written by my students Moti Mor and Arkadi Duchin. They are born from an impression of a person who is already on the spiritual path and aspires to spirituality. The fact that he hasn’t yet attained exalted levels does not matter.

Baal HaSulam writes that even a simple person may intuitively assign correct names and connect corporeal branches to their spiritual roots. For instance, some time ago some person saw the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and thought that it was good for growing olive trees. Thus he named it Mount of Olives. Today we accept this appellation as sacred.

Baal HaSulam explains that thereby the spiritual clothes the corporeal, and the connection between the root and the branch manifests. The spiritual root affects its branch, and the branch as though “speaks” out of the root, naturally, without even knowing why.

Therefore, those who study Kabbalah create the right art even if they have not yet reached the heights of absolute spiritual sensation or attained the true nature of sounds and the deep meaning of words. The depth and richness of the impression they possess is much greater than they themselves realize. Everything that a person creates out of his connection with the Source already carries within it a spiritual spark.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/12/10, The Zohar

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What is the Egyptian exile? It is the revelation of love for yourself. Accordingly, the exodus from Egypt is when you are able to feel love for your neighbor for the first time.

I can “come out of Egypt” only if I really desire to acquire love for others. As Baal HaSulam writes in the article, “For Yehuda,” the essence of the forthcoming redemption must be clear while one is still in exile. You have to understand what you desire. What do you consider to be exile? What are you exiled from?

If you see that exile means that you are enslaved to self-love, and redemption is when you acquire the force of love for others, the ability to unite and become a single soul the way it was before the breaking of Adam, in order to reveal the Creator inside the unity, then you really feel the exile and are ready for redemption. And then it comes to you!

If you have prepared your desires, then the Light that Reforms comes to you and leads you out of egoism. Everything depends on your desire to come out of your egoistic concerns to freedom. This is the purpose of the exile, and this is why we are not ready for redemption – because it consists only of this. Spirituality is bestowal. If we desire it, it means we are ready to be freed.

Right now we are prolonging our exile because we don’t consider it exile and slavery. We feel good in it. We only want more money, power, and other sources of fulfillment. We want to be left alone and not be told about love for the neighbor. We don’t want that love!

Hell is the inability to bestow. Heaven and hell are very different from people’s regular notions about them. People don’t want either of them, and don’t feel either within. This means that a person is not wicked or righteous; he is simply an animal that is not in exile.

A person who is wicked knows that he is an egoist and desires to become righteous, bestowing. Therefore, he calls his uncorrected state, “hell.” One who is righteous has attained the quality of bestowal and love and feels that he is in heaven.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/12/10

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A question I received: Perfection always emanates from the Upper One; the role of the lower one is to figure out his attitude towards perfection. The Zohar says: “Everything that occurs Above is perfect. Everything, whether it is a miracle or a judgment, is one whole and occurs in one place. It’s not split into two, where one half is a miracle, and the other, a judgment.” Why is that so?

My Answer: When we play with a child, we use various images so that he can discern within himself various states and relationships, react correspondingly, and thus grow.

We undergo changes all the time. Our advancement is built upon our perception of Upper properties that are not always enjoyable. Particularly by triggering within us unpleasant feelings, the Upper One compels us to grow. As Baal HaSulam writes in his story about a servant, the Creator assumes the form of a rebel, robber, or murderer.

What is the purpose of the system of the worlds? It serves as our permanent educator. It is a system of filters that hides the infinite, benevolent, and perfect Light from us. By passing through the worlds (filters), the Light educates us.

We constantly face (oppose) this system, yet each time it has an impact on us in the best possible way. It gives us exactly what we need at each given moment. Our job is to find within ourselves the correct reaction to it. If our reaction is right, the system encourages us: “Good for you! Now, you’ll be getting the next impact!” If our next reaction is adequate, the system encourages us once again: “Wonderful! Now you’ll get the next one!” This is how we advance.

To us it seems that the Creator constantly changes His attitude as if he wants us to see Him from different angles: sometimes He turns to us with his benevolent side and sometimes we see His “evil” side. It is similar to the theatrical masks that consists of a laughing and crying face.

This is how the Upper One constantly relates to the lower one in order to raise him; this is how the system of worlds treats us.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/10, The Zohar

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As Baal HaSulam states, the whole world is one family. Hence the on-line system that we want to create must work on each person like a Kabbalistic group that helps him build new connections and new attitudes about himself, his friends, and the world at large.

We would like to lay the foundation of this structure on the Internet so that we all connect in one system regardless of user language, location, or any other factors whatsoever. It should be an independent self-driven structure that helps all of us advance spiritually.

In other words, we need to create an artificial system of spiritual connections among us, which is identical to the union that exists between our souls. Kabbalists advise us to join a group and begin to build relationships with it as if you were already in spirituality.

From A Talk about a New Internet 4/4/10

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A question I received: What is a Kabbalist’s position on sports and a healthy lifestyle?

My Answer: Kabbalists are in favor of healthy lifestyles. Baal HaSulam used to like to swim out to the ships in the harbor. My Teacher Rabash and I would frequently go to the gym, the sauna, and swim at least 400 strokes in the sea. I currently ride a bike for 1.5 hours, swim 400 strokes, power walk for 1 hour, and work out every morning. A person needs to take care of his body, otherwise it can’t serve him.

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The division of people into the nation of Israel and the nations of the world, which Baal HaSulam describes in his articles, can be interpreted in two senses: inner and outer. When understood in the inner sense, it describes how qualities are divided within every person, with “Israel” designating one’s aspiration “straight toward the Creator” or the point in the heart that has awakened in a person, whereas the “nations of the world” are the desires of reception.

Any person whose point in the heart (aspiration to reveal the Creator) has awakened can be called “Israel,” which means “straight toward the Creator.” If one’s point in the heart has not awakened yet, then he belongs to the nations of the world, meaning to all other goals in life.

All the people can be categorized in this fashion and divided into Israel and the other nations. This is the same as what once occurred in Ancient Babylon.

When considering those whose point in the heart has not awakened yet, the science of Kabbalah must first and foremost be disseminated among the nation of Israel in the material sense. After that it should reach the other nations. In addition, the nations of the world include the ten tribes of Israel that fell to the level of “the nations of the world” from the height of the First Temple (Mochin de Haya).

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Baal HaSulam, Beit Shaar HaKavanot (The Gatehouse of Intentions): “The Moon waned on the fourth day of creation, for in the beginning Zeir Anpin and Nukvah were as two great lights, standing on the same degree, back to back, and Nukvah had a full spiritual Partzuf of ten Sefirot of the reverse side. [This means Nukvah contained spiritual vessels. Why, then, did she lack lights?] When the Moon made a complaint, saying that two kings cannot use the same crown (Keter), she was told, ‘Go and diminish yourself!’ Thus, she returned to a point beneath Yesod of Zeir Anpin, where she dwelled prior.

Malchut (creation) thought that she could be the same as Zeir Anpin; however, she could not shine as he. She ascended to Bina in order to receive Light like Zeir Anpin, but was unable to. This was for the reason that Zeir Anpin possesses the quality of bestowal. His nature is the Light of Hassadim and He feels perfection even when there is no Light of Hochma. He shines with the Light of Hochma anytime he wishes so because he always has the Light of Hassadim.

However, Malchut does not have the Light of Hassadim and she feels her existence in the Light of Hochma as darkness. This constitutes the complaint made by creation (Kitrug Yareach): “I can ascend to the height of the very World of Infinity, but if I don’t have the Light of Hassadim, the Light of Bestowal, then the Light of Hochma won’t shine for me and I will only feel greater darkness.”

When do we reveal that we are in the dark? It’s precisely at the time when we are being elevated! When we are slightly elevated upward, it makes us feel that we lack the corrected desires, the Light of Hassadim. This is what we perceive as darkness.

We don’t feel darkness because we fall, but because we ascend; however, it’s because we ascend without the garment of the Light of Hassadim, the Light of love and bestowal. What we consider descent is actually the ascent, but one that is not corrected. Likewise, what seems to us as an ascent is really a descent, because we receive what we are given into the desires of reception. Thus, everything is the other way around in the spiritual world.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Lately, as the systemic global crisis becomes more apparent, there is a sense that it’s necessary to create a proper system of global functioning. Baal HaSulam writes that we have to transform our society according to new conditions, which are nature’s demands. The crisis is making it apparent that we have to become similar to nature or the general interconnection.

I see that it is possible to gradually implement relationships of love and bestowal which are similar to nature. This can be done in the virtual realm; there all the people in the world can feel connected with one another and experience their existence together. Out of all the existing means of communication, only the Internet can serve as this place of connection; it can’t be done through television, newspapers, or books.

Only the World Wide Web, the Internet, can satisfy the demands of dissemination and unification in order to create a global system of upbringing for children and adults alike. Only it can provide the global connection in order to form a common force of unity. Then we will all feel each other through the channels of connection, and reach a spiritual connection.

From A Talk about a New Internet 4/4/10

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