A question I received: You say that the only important thing to reveal the Light while reading a text is the intention to reveal the Light, to change ourselves and to become like the Creator. So, if I have this intention but I read other spiritual books like the Gospel, Dharmapada or the Quran, if I read them with the intention to change, will I change and reveal the Light? I find some of these books very emotional and I feel that they help me to change just like Kabbalistic books do.

My Answer: The fact is that Kabbalistic books were written by people who attained the Upper World or the Creator through their corrected qualities, and who then wrote their books from that spiritual level. The same people also drew special connections between their writings and our world.

Hence, if we want to raise our qualities to their spiritual level, to become similar to them or to the Creator (which is the same thing), then the Light of their spiritual levels descends from those levels to us only when we study their books, which describe the qualities of their levels. This Light shines on us from afar, gradually reforming us to match the qualities of these levels (qualities).

It says in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” that the authors of the Talmud made special spiritual corrections so that when we study their books, we can receive Upper Light (Ohr Makif) from the study. No other means can help us reform ourselves, and this has been verified for millennia! In our days, the only thing that can withstand the egoism of our generation, the only texts that can help correct our souls, are the compositions of Baal HaSulam. The choice is yours.

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Questions I received on the goal, the Ten Commandments, humor, Aviut, the point in the heart, and Torah and Mitzvot:

Question: One of our salutatory expressions is: “One Goal!” What singular word best sums up that one goal?

My Answer: Dvekut (adhesion).

Question: What is the Kabbalistic meaning of the Ten Commandments?

My Answer: Correction of the ten fundamental qualities of the soul.

Question: Could you please elaborate on how Aviut changes its qualities during Zivug de-Haka’a in each of the five levels, and what happens with Kashiut alongside?

My Answer: I explain this in great detail in my book The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha).

Question: Does humor have any value in the spiritual world?

My Answer: Yes, because it’s created by a combination of opposites.

Question: Can a Kabbalist see whose point in the heart has truly awakened?

My Answer: Yes. But more importantly, the person must feel this on his own and realize his point in the heart. He can do this by developing it in a group (being in contact with other points) and through study.

Question: In the Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot, Baal HaSulam says that observing Torah and Mitzvot is the attainment of real life. What does it mean to observe Torah and Mizvot for someone who isn’t religious and has no Jewish cultural background?

My Answer: It means to correct one’s natural intentions in all of one’s actions, from “for the sake of oneself” to the intention “for the sake of others.” This is done by means of Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) that descends onto a person during the study of Kabbalah.

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A question I received: Does Kabbalah see the Jewish nation as the chosen people of G-d?

My Answer: The chosen people are a group of people who may have any earthly features or qualities. The important thing is that they have “points in the heart” – an aspiration for the goal of creation: adhesion with the Creator through equivalence of form. This group must also have a sense of its mission: to master the method of correction and to teach it to the whole world.

The group is called Israel (from the words Isra – straight and El – the Creator) because it is directed “straight to the Creator” – to bestowal and love for one’s neighbor. Anyone in this condition is named Israel, and is “chosen.”

We all came from the ancient civilization in Babylon – one nation. Some of the people in ancient Babylon accepted the method of correction that Abraham offered to everyone, and because of their intention, this group was named Israel.

Today, we – the whole of mankind, are recognizing that we’ve reached a dead end of the egoistic development, which has lasted for 4500 years, since the times of ancient Babylon. This recognition will compel us to rise above our egoism, and together to reach the Creator’s level. This is Nature’s plan.

Those who feel and recognize this call have the task of leading all of humanity, all of Babylon. That’s what makes them chosen. Here is what Baal HaSulam writes in item 19 of his article “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”:

Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, author of The Book of Zohar, clarifies this concept even further by saying that it is not enough that all of Israel be responsible for one another, but that the whole world must be included in that bond… The end of the world’s correction will come when all the nations of the world join together in their aspiration for the Creator. He will then reveal Himself to all, as the sages said: “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord shall be one and His name one. And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, and all the nations shall flow unto Him.”

The role of Israel toward the world is that they are obliged to ascend spiritually and to prepare all of humanity to accept the exalted work of “love for one’s neighbor,” which is a means, a ladder leading to the goal of creation – adhesion with the Creator.

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A question I received: Today the wisdom of Kabbalah isn’t passed down the way it was in the past, from a Rav to a student. Instead, it is implemented in a big group. Spirituality is attained in a group, where all 600,000 people reach attainment together like at Mount Sinai. Is it true that there are no more individuals who can attain spirituality by the old method? Is this the reason why the mutual guarantee, “love your neighbor as yourself” in a group is now the method for attaining equivalence with the Creator?

My Answer: Kabbalah was revealed by Abraham in ancient Babylon. It’s a method of correcting the egoism of the whole civilization, bringing it to equivalence with the Creator – eternal and perfect existence. However, since the people of Babylon did not want to correct their egoism, but wanted to develop egoistically, we have now reached the dead end of such development, just like The Book of Zohar predicted.

Today that entire Babylonian civilization has spread around the whole planet, and it is reaching the conclusion that it’s necessary to implement the method of egoism’s correction. There is simply no other way to go, as otherwise we will destroy ourselves. The way to implement the method of correction is for everyone to unite into one soul, to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In the Torah, this is explained as the condition of the Creator’s revelation at Mount Sinai.

Throughout the past 4000 years the method was preserved and adjusted to fit the times. This was done by a lineage of individual Kabbalists who lived in every generation. Today it is presented to us through the compositions of Baal HaSulam in a form that’s ready to use. I am a faithful student of Baal HaSulam’s oldest son, Rabash (as stated in Rabash’s obituary in the newspaper “HaModia” on September 15, 1991) and my role is to help people understand these materials.

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A question I received: In this blog entry you say that Israel is “a nation that worships life at a time when it’s surrounded by enemies that worship death.” In fact, it is with such arrogance, insensitivity and crass generalizations, that violence is perpetuated. The way you speak of Israel’s neighbors is shameful. They suffer too, or did you not know that? As Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) says, “Sweet words dispel wrath.” Will peace really come from a tongue like yours, Laitman? Dr. Arthur Cohen

My Answer: Dear Dr. Cohen! It’s useless to keep waiting for people to love you! Hasn’t history taught you that people can only hate you? If you really desire peace and love, then disseminate the method of man’s correction – Kabbalah.

When I said “those who worship death,” I meant the terrorists who praise death, regardless of their nationality. I have many Arabic students, and unlike you, they understand me perfectly. Meanwhile, you’re still worried that people will stop loving you.

Israel isn’t a nation, nor the Jews. Rather, it’s all the people who aspire toward the Creator (Isra-El means “straight to the Creator”). I recommend that you study Baal HaSulam’s main articles – then you will understand where the hostility comes from, why people hate you, and how to dispel the antagonism.

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A question I received: I cannot focus on studying The Book of Zohar, even though it is my greatest desire to understand this book. The most prevalent commandment in Christianity is, “Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah” (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus taught that we have to love those who hate us and pray for those who haunt us. Isn’t this also a principle in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Every religion puts itself above other religions and teachings, and this is because all religions emerged from man’s egoism. This is the reason for the hatred between different religions and nations. Even within one religion, there is hatred between its different branches.

The commandment “Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” is incomplete. Kabbalah teaches us to love not only our own people, but all the people in the world. Looking back at history, we won’t find anyone who loved those who hated and haunted them. On the contrary, history is full of hatred and violence, which are spawned by religion to this day. Religion has always divided and separated different nations from each other, instigating them one against the other and imposing itself on the people by fire and sword.

All religions will die out because they arose from egoism after the destruction of the Temple. This was when the people of Israel fell from the level of “love for one’s neighbor” to the level of “unfounded hatred for one’s neighbor” – and they are still on this level, along with everyone else. Kabbalah is above religion; it appeals to everyone in the world because it teaches that we are all part of the common soul of Adam, without any difference between us. Every person is equally necessary in order for everyone to attain the full correction. If even one person is missing, then it is less than perfect!

Kabbalah appeared in ancient Babylon when the whole civilization was falling apart from the growing egoism. Kabbalah, represented by Abraham, pleaded with people to unite. And now, after our entire bitter history, Kabbalah is telling all of us the same thing again: “Unite, otherwise you’ll destroy yourselves!” And to this day, the religions are still preaching separation – and that is because they were produced by egoism. The religions appeared when the nation of Israel fell from love for one’s neighbor to hatred, from the spiritual level to the corporeal, egoistic one. That is when Judaism appeared, then Christianity, and then Islam.

Baal HaSulam writes that religions will remain as the cultural traditions of the nations. The religions will have to take their proper place and stop engaging in something that is beyond them – the soul and its correction. They don’t have a connection with the Light and the Creator in order to engage in this, and this is what we are witnessing today by the results of religion’s impact on people.

The period of the Light’s concealment from man is over, and hence the period of religious domination over people is also over. The Light is becoming revealed, and religion is becoming substituted by Kabbalah. Religion will then remain as a cultural tradition.

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A question I received: Apparently Rav Baruch Ashlag (Rabash) wrote many books, including commentaries to the Talmud Eser Sefirot, to the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” to the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” and others. What do you think about these books, and why don’t you disseminate them?

My Answer: Rabash only wrote his notes (Dargot HaSulam – the archive he left to me, which I published), articles (Shlavey HaSulam, which are articles written by his students), and letters (Igrot Rabash). In addition, it’s possible that some people have additional letters that were addressed to them. However, none of Rabash’s compositions were published during his lifetime! I was next to Rabash for twelve years as a secretary, assistant, student, treasurer and archive manager, and I can assure you that he did not write anything else.

When I started studying with him, I persuaded him to let me record his lessons. As a result, we now have over a thousand audio cassettes of his lessons. I made copies of all the cassettes and gave them to all his students. One of them edits and publishes these recordings, presenting them as the works of Rabash. Personally I believe that we have no right to pass off for original material something that was recorded while he spoke, then subsequently copied and edited into written form. Incidentally, this prohibition is a law in the Torah, and it applies to things that were not personally written. Moreover, there are many changes and additions due to the editing, and I think they distort Rabash’s explanations. Many of Rabash’s students agree with me on this. Hence, I recommend that you to listen to his voice – his audio lessons in the original, for example, the ones on this website – (it’s not affiliated with me or Bnei Baruch): http://ashlagbaroch.org/

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A question I received: Baal HaSulam writes in his article “The Last Generation” that altruistic deeds will lead to a better society only if they are made “for the sake of the Creator.” Please give an example of an altruistic deed and explain how one must aim his thoughts, or what image one must have in mind, in order for his deeds and intentions to be for the sake of the Creator. Your explanation will be important for work I am doing with a group of children.

My Answer: In order to really attain the intention of bestowal, of “not for oneself,” to come out of ourselves and have goals that serve others, we need a field in which to work, a place and model that we can use for correcting ourselves. We have to become similar to the Creator even though He is concealed from us. That is to say, the Creator cannot be that model because He is concealed from us. However, He broke the only creation He made, the soul, into many pieces – particular souls. Within each of these parts, He created a perception of self, its “I,” and of others opposite to it. This is our egoism.

When we unite, and when each of us fights his own egoism within, we will then be able to see whether we are attaining spirituality – the quality of mutual bestowal and love. Then we will discover that we cannot attain it and will turn to the Creator. We will discover Him and His readiness to correct our desires, provided that we are mutually responsible for one another and support each other in this regard – and if we turn to him precisely through this force of “Mutual Guarantee.”

Baal HaSulam writes that in our times, this is the necessary condition for entering the Upper World or the quality of bestowal. Hence, all altruistic deeds can only take place inside the group or virtual society, among friends who desire to attain mutual aspiration and support – the mutual guarantee.

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A question I received: I have been studying Kabbalah for two months. At first I felt filled to the brim by something good. But then the month of Ramadan started. I wouldn’t call myself religious, but for the past six years the one Islamic ritual I did observe is the Ramadan, where you fast for a full month.

This year I also started to fast on the first day of Ramadan, but horrible things started happening to me – my egoism started resisting it. My hatred of everyone, rage, and pain became so unbearable that I only lasted for five days, even though in prior years I had no problem observing the Ramadan fast from beginning to end. This time I didn’t just stop observing the fast on the fifth day, but also started feeling attracted to all kinds of “improper behavior” like alcohol, sex, and etc. I’m still studying Kabbalah, but I no longer feel inspired like before. What is happening to me?

My Answer: Kabbalah isn’t against religion as the cultural tradition of a nation. Baal HaSulam writes that even after all the corrections are completed, every person can keep his religion, meaning his traditions. I also observe the traditions of my nation, but only as traditions.

A religious person, on the other hand, observes religious rituals because he believes that he will be rewarded for it. But when one studies Kabbalah, he begins to understand that he is rewarded only to the degree that he corrects his desires, and the reward comes as the Light of fulfillment – the revelation of the Creator to man. Hence, spirituality or the Creator bears no relation to any physical actions in our world.

The religions were invented by people who are inside their egoism, and hence they do not have any of the truth of the Upper World. Nevertheless, if you take on the responsibility of observing the customs of your nation, viewing them as traditions that you want to respect, then it won’t be difficult for you to observe the Ramadan as a custom. As we say in Israel:Tzom Kal – have an easy fast!

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Questions I received on Kabbalah books and how to study them:

Question: Why do Kabbalists advise us to read The Book of Zohar even if we don’t understand or attain what is written there?

My Answer: You can find the answer to this in item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: Five years ago you started studying The Book of Zohar with us. When do you plan to resume teaching The Book of Zohar?

My Answer: We study it for about an hour every week – see the media archive.

Question: The books that help to correct us are the books of the Ari, Baal HaSulam, and Rabash. But I cannot read them yet, and I’m not sure if I will be able to in the future. Can’t I advance by reading your books?

My Answer: Of course, my books also contain the force of spiritual advancement, but the books of our Teachers – Baal HaSulam and Rabash, are more universal and their Light is more powerful. Nevertheless, I agree with you that my explanations are closer to you and easier to understand. My advice is to read the texts of our Teachers, and then study my explanations.

Baal HaSulam did the same thing – he based his teaching on the texts of The Book of Zohar by Rashbi and the texts of the Ari. He took these books as a basis and wrote his commentaries to them. This is also how I teach: first we read the original texts, and then I give my commentary on them.

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