A question I received: When I read The Book of Zohar I cannot connect to it. What should I do? We have looked forward for so long to this cherished moment when we would open The Book of Zohar, but now we feel disappointed.

My Answer: Baal HaSulam wrote that there is no better moment in a person’s life than when he senses complete disappointment in everything he has done up to this point. He sees that nothing has helped him, that there is no source of salvation, and no hope of spiritual ascent if everything continues as is.

Once he reaches this realization, he then reveals a new feeling of hope. However, he does not know who he should rely on. Eventually he realizes that only the Creator can help him, and that’s when he cries out: “Save me!” That is when he receives help.

Studying The Zohar is not like regular study where you receive knowledge immediately, by the principle, “You apply effort and receive.” In this case, another principle comes into force, “You apply effort and find.”

You probably hoped that as soon as you opened The Book of Zohar, miracles would start happening. But nothing can happen in the very beginning. My teacher Rabash gave an example of a man who bought a little gosling and wanted to turn it into a big, fat goose. So he started incessantly stuffing food down its throat. He would stuff the gosling and then immediately check whether it got fatter, which it didn’t. He kept stuffing more food into it, but the gosling still didn’t gain weight. Smart people told him: “You should wait a month or two to begin to see the difference.” The same applies to a child – the parents have to invest a lot of effort before the child can get up, walk, and become strong.

If we observe our soul we’ll see that it grows in the same way. When I want my point in the heart to grow into a soul, I have to treat it as a newborn baby within me that has just started to develop. It will take time for a soul to grow out of this point.

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A question I received: Baal HaSulam writes that we are in the World of Infinity. What is infinity?

My Answer: Infinity is total unity with the Creator. It is a Kli (vessel) that is boundlessly filled with Light. It is one Law, one reality, where “He and His Name are one.” It is the implementation of the plan of creation.

The Creator created this infinite state. But in order to enable us to freely gain our own awareness of this state, we were given sensations that make us feel as if we are not in it; we lack awareness and understanding, and are in a state of confusion.

When a baby is born into this enormous world, we reduce the size of the entire world for him down to a small crib. Instead of fancy food, we feed him oatmeal, and we don’t give him anything besides toys. But all of this is done to make sure that he will grow gradually and develop correctly.

Baal HaSulam provides an even harsher example in a letter to his students: a dark cellar (our world) where the King’s son is raised (the person whom the Creator chose in order to bring him closer to Himself). It is a metaphor of our spiritual growth in the “cellar” – the dark sensation of our world.

Sometimes we are allowed to come out of the cellar for a little while, and then we suddenly sense our world as being brilliant. And at other times we experience pain from making fruitless spiritual efforts. That is how the Creator pushes us to make a firm decision to ascend above ourselves.

At some point, unexpectedly, after working for many years, we are suddenly revealed the way out of the cellar and into a great world full of Light. It’s not the same world we used to come out to on occasion, where we felt jealous of those who are able to enjoy it. Rather, it is the world of Light. We then see that there was no reason to envy those who seemed successful because in reality they don’t have anything.

On the other hand, we have spent our entire life in “the dark cellar” studying the wisdom of Kabbalah and working in the group, but now we have completed the preparation phase and have come out to the Light.

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A question I received: Baal HaSulam writes that attainment is the highest degree of understanding. What is the highest degree of understanding?

My Answer: Understanding refers to Bina. It is written, “The way to understand is with the heart,” where attainment is vision, Hochma.

Bina and Hochma together bring a person to Keter – the Light of Hochma clothed in the Light of Hassadim. That is when one achieves attainment. The level of attainment is defined by one’s ability to attract the Light of Hassadim inside the Light of Hochma and thus to illuminate the darkness.

Related Material:
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Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Growth Is Analogous To The Stages Of Human Growth
Laitman.com Post: Our Entire Life Occurs Between Two Lights – Hochma and Hassadim
The Path of Kabbalah: “Entrance and Exit of Lights in the Partzuf”
Shamati #149: “Why We Need to Extend Hochma”

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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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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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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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When reading The Zohar, one must always think about oneself. The Torah does not say a word about history. However, every spiritual root has to touch a material branch, which is why all of these events also took place in our world.

Did the people described by the Torah understand who they were? This is indeed a question worth asking. Baal HaSulam writes that there was a time when someone “accidentally” decided to name a hill he saw “The Mount of Olives” because he thought it was a good place for planting olive trees. In reality however, he gave the mountain this name in a natural manner, instinctively, because every person acts according to his spiritual root. This root is instilled in every person from Above, and we carry out its commands.

So did Noah really exist? Yes, he did. Was he the most righteous person in all the generations? Did he understand what he was doing? This is a good question that we will discuss at some point in the future. Did he have sons called Shem, Ham and Jafeth? Yes, he did. Were they also righteous, and did they understand the Creator and speak with Him? All of this requires an explanation.

However, I am not interested in all of this history. The entire spiritual world has to be imprinted in a material form, inside me, in some way. It has indeed been imprinted there, but this isn’t important as far as I’m concerned. I have to arrange all of this in an orderly manner for myself in order to further my own advancement.

All of these Biblical stories are talking about man’s inner world. Therefore, I don’t care about anything else. The rest may as well be non-existent, as if there has never been any history, or Ancient Babylon, or this entire world. It doesn’t exist until I discover it for myself, instead of hearing someone else talk about it.

Right now I am inside an empty space where there is nothing. Everything takes place inside me. But who am I, standing in the middle of this empty space? I am someone that feels. And what do I feel? I feel what The Zohar tells me – and nothing exists besides this.

This is how I, a point inside an empty space, study The Book of Zohar, building an entire world out of the material that I absorb. It is the only world there is – not the Upper World or the lower world, but the only one. I make efforts to understand how this world is arranged and where every quality and action being described by The Zohar are found in this world. This is what I am always trying to imagine. I am just a point that tries to find these qualities.

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The period of preparation is the most important and special time because it is particularly during this time of concealment and darkness that we try to discern all of our qualities, goals, means, and inner definitions. Later, when we rise above the Machsom, we only correct the evil in us which we exposed and prepared for correction during the period of preparation.

Baal HaSulam explains that during the period of preparation, we “perform” (reveal in ourselves) Zdonot (intentional transgressions) and Shgagot (unintentional mistakes or negligence). We correct these mistakes and negligence after the period of preparation, during the stage called “bestowal for the sake of bestowal,” and even later, we correct the intentional transgressions during the stage of “reception for the sake of bestowal.”

The period of preparation is a time of revealing all the “sinners” inside us. We reveal them gradually, to the extent that we are capable of doing so. But most importantly – we expose them to the extent that we are able to tolerate them in us, as much as we are able to reveal them without running away from the spiritual path! And until we awaken all of them, we will not be able to cross the Machsom.

We cross the Machsom under the condition that we rise above the transgressions and negligence. We should not engage in trying to correct them, but instead, to rise above them. Then, above the Machsom, we correct them and acquire the intention of “bestowal for the sake of bestowal.” We use them as they are, and we are willing to remain in them, but for the sake of bestowal. This means that we cross the Sinai Desert.

Then we correct them with the intention of “reception for the sake of reception,” which means that we enter the Land of Israel (the revelation of the Creator). It turns out that inside the very qualities that we revealed inside us before the Machsom, we later reveal the Upper World, the Creator.
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A question I received: When reading Baal HaSulam’s books, you can feel real a cry for spiritual ascent, but we don’t have this cry. Why is that?

My Answer: He cries for it because he knows and sees the real situation. When a mother knows that her child is sick, she cries within, but the child may not feel any pain yet and keep on playing in his crib. He has a fever but has no idea that it may be caused by pneumonia or a virus. The mother knows, but the child doesn’t.

Looking at us, Baal HaSulam cries indeed, but we aren’t terribly concerned. We’re kind of like a person that’s falling off a ten-story building but remains calm. “How’s it going?” Someone asks him as he passes the eight floor. “So far so good,” he answers.

And he’s right – so far so good. Therefore, we must regard the words of Baal HaSulam as seriously as we would a doctor’s opinion; however, not so they would scare us, but to prompt us to correct ourselves. Correction is the only remedy to our illness. And even though the remedy is not simple, it will not only restore our health, it will also help us attain perfection.

The science of Kabbalah is not intended to improve our situation in this world; on the contrary, we will never have peace here. The situations ahead will only get more dangerous until we understand that we must make the necessary corrections. We have entered a new age, one where all of mankind will ascend to a higher level. But there is a force prepared for us called “Mashiach,” which pulls (Moshech) us from the egoistic desire into the desire for bestowal. We must utilize this force.

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We will never perform the right action unless we bring the Creator into the connections between us. We have to get the strength and the intelligence to execute the action from Him. In addition, throughout this whole process, from the beginning to the very end, we should always pursue His revelation to us. This is the subject of the science of Kabbalah.

Baal HaSulam writes the following in the article, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: “The wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.” The Creator is a force that acts, gives us intelligence, feelings, and desires, and stirs our matter to move. He forces us to understand who we are and pushes us to develop, performing actions inside us and leading us toward the final goal.

Matter itself is merely a desire to enjoy; it is inanimate matter. It is like computer hardware that remains lifeless until provided the electrical power, programs, and data that it needs to produce an end result. We are the same: the “equipment” itself is invariable; what changes is its inner filling – the Creator’s force which clothes into the person. We are lifeless “equipment,” where everything besides the “hardware” – our mind, thoughts, desires, and feelings, as well as all their changes until the final result is achieved – all of this is the Creator that fills us.

Therefore, it is definitely not enough for us to unite with each other as elements of one mechanism, but it is important to know right from the start: by what program and for what sake we will act! The Creator is not just our companion who gets to have a part in our path and the outcome. He is, in fact, our entire fulfillment. All we can do is express our request for Him to reveal Himself, His program, actions, and qualities inside us.

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