A question I received: How can another person’s desire become my own vital need?

My Answer: This can only happen if you really see that this is so. You shouldn’t force yourself to give out candy and flowers to people, or to smile at them all day long. And you shouldn’t hypocritically try to be a “nice person.” Rather, Kabbalah is talking about an inner correction that takes place consciously, as a result of you seeing the goal; you see how reality is arranged and you see yourself in comparison to it.

You then begin to move away from evaluating things by your sensations of good or bad, since they revoke your freedom of will and turn you into a helpless animal. Instead you begin to realize the greatness of the goal; it becomes the highest thing to you. However, you don’t value it out of the egoistic benefit it promises, but based on a completely different principle.

But how is this possible, if our whole life revolves around sensations of good and bad, fulfillment and emptiness? It’s because you actually acquire a new criterion of true and false which is not based on self-satisfaction, but on spiritual importance. It is brought to you by the Light, although you do not even realize this.

That is how the force of bestowal comes to you. It is something you have never felt before, and little by little, it begins to influence you, giving you the quality of Bina which is above all your current calculations. You acquire a different nature, one with which you are currently unfamiliar, and it becomes your yardstick for measuring all the actions and changes taking place.

However, in the meantime, everything you do is necessary only in order to awaken the influence of this force. The entire method of Kabbalah lies in learning how to attract the Light that will cause a change in you. Without its help, you will never change on your own. You will remain forever trapped in the labyrinth of philosophical intricacies. On the other hand, if the Light influences you, you will begin to see and will learn everything.

This is why we have begun studying The Book of Zohar: in order to give every person (even total beginners) an opportunity to be in contact with the Light, on which we depend completely.

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The Zohar: They came out of the Land of Israel and descended into Babylon, saying, “This is the place we will stay.”

We will rise to the heavens and will fight the Creator so that He doesn’t flood the world as he did in the beginning of time.

Parsa under the World of Atzilut is a special correction that was made deliberately to prevent the Light from descending lower. This is why they said: “Let us rise to the firmament and fight with the Creator so as to remove this border and allow the Light to descend from above downwards.”

A person gradually learns and begins to understand that he has to strive towards bestowal, but he doesn’t want to stay “in the Land of Israel” where everything is done for the sake of bestowal, since he can’t see the benefit in doing so. As new egoistic desires are revealed within him, he leaves the Land of Israel and moves towards Babylon, the land of reception.

He then starts to think that the wisdom of Kabbalah can be used for egoistic purposes, for personal fulfillment. He wants to conquer the Creator and make Him serve his own egoistic purposes rather than the other way around, just like in the Grimm fairy tale about the fisherman and his wife.

He starts to look for a lower, less noticeable place where he can hide from the Upper Force in order to avoid getting rid of his egoism. Thus, he builds a “city and tower” (ZON de Klipa) and lives in it. He thinks that the Creator has to fill his egoistic desires with Light, instead of fulfilling his clean desires, since the latter would require him to ascend and attain the property of bestowal, Bina. He wants his egoism to be fulfilled and argues with the Creator.

Each one of us can find these properties within ourselves. This is described in the Torah when addressing the builders of the Tower of Babel: “Rise to the heavens and fight the Creator!” “Fight” means to demand the Light from the Creator, to ask for revelation while remaining in one’s current egoistic state. One asks, “Why hasn’t the Upper World revealed itself to me? The Creator is unfair! I have waited for so long, so why hasn’t it happened yet?”

This is what is referred to as “building a city (Zeir Anpin of Klipa) and a Tower of Babel (Malchut of Klipa), which happens to us on every level. Each time, we have to make a choice of whether to follow the path of Abraham – the path of bestowal, or the path that the whole world chooses – the path of Nimrod.

There is a rule: “The whole is equal to any of its parts.” The whole Torah is present even in our smallest and lowest states, including the states called Noah, Babylon, Egyptian slavery, wandering in the desert, construction and destruction of the Temple, and the entire path until the end of correction. It repeats itself again and again on each level.

This is why when studying The Zohar I can find everything I read within myself, in every state I go through: an Egyptian slave, the people of Israel, the High Priest of the Temple, the Pharaoh, Bilam and his donkey, and so on. They are all inside me.

Our role is to try to imagine and sense these metaphors like a child that’s studying the world around him. The most important thing is to not stop making an effort. There is no other book in the world and no other way to lift ourselves into spirituality.

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A question I received: How can a person ask for bestowal if he does not know what it is?

My Answer: Spiritual growth is like the development of a child, for whom it is not enough to be just a passive participant in the process. This is natural development where a child reveals the world for himself in a natural way. He needs to taste it, hold it in his hands, recognize it, put it together, and break everything. He himself doesn’t know what he is doing since he is operated by nature. Later, having experienced everything, a child begins to think about and build connections between things; he begins to understand and demand.

This is very much like we act in regards to our spiritual development. No matter how smart we think we are, and no matter how many serious subjects we discuss, this is not what causes us to develop. Just like little children, we bring the force of development onto ourselves, which is the same force that develops a child.

Therefore, a person needs to reach a demand for bestowal on his own. There is no button you can press and immediately be allowed into the Upper World. If a demand, an aspiration is burning in you, you express it involuntarily within yourself. A “prayer” is work in the heart and is the innermost desire of the heart, which you may not even suspect exists.

After all, is it possible to compel yourself to pray? You can’t oblige the heart. Therefore, we need this force which develops in the material and the spiritual worlds and which constantly changes our desires. The Light created these desires, and it also reveals and transforms them through its influence. Therefore, our goal is to draw the Light onto ourselves with the help of books and our studies.

It is in our power to evoke a response, to turn to the source of Light in order for It to cause a faster development. This is the only means by which we can speed up this process. Nature develops us according to a designated program, in planned time frames; however, starting from this particular stage in human history, it has become possible to speed up the process.

Today we are able to activate the force of correction so that it influences us even more intensely. The science of Kabbalah is in fact that tool, that vehicle that allows us to achieve a shortened period of development.

The point is not in gaining more understanding. It is enough to “wave your arms and legs,” like a restless child, within the bounds of the Kabbalistic method – in lessons and dissemination. In other words, we must become animated and engaged in the process of our development. We intensify the Light by trying to aspire to It, rather than through our business-like manner and thoughtfulness.

Questions, answers, lessons, and discussions – all of this is here just for us to “play” with. A child is the same in this regard. When you play with him, something awakens in him and causes him to develop. This is called “the Light that returns to the Source.”

Whether a person is smart, phlegmatic, or sensitive is irrelevant. In the long run, whoever behaves in a more active, engaging manner will advance more rapidly.

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A question I received: Will the receiving force disappear when we come to final correction?

My Answer: If it disappeared, then creation would disappear as well. Is receiving really a bad thing? Kabbalah (receiving in Hebrew) is the science of how to properly use the force of reception.

Everything began from the Light that is the quality of bestowal or the giving force that created creation, the will to receive, or receiving force. In reality there are only these two forces, and this is why creation always has to receive or strive to receive. The will to receive is a necessary and enduring force. Otherwise, how can I possibly give? It is possible only if I learn how to properly receive; then I will be able to acquire the force of bestowal.

The One that purely gives is the Creator. I am the one who receives. The receiver can thoughtlessly swallow up everything that is  given to him, in which case he will find himself in an intolerable situation. In this case, anything a person receives will only leave him feeling more and more drained. It is  because delight is opposite to one’s desire and it neutralizes the desire. The next moment after I have filled myself, I feel empty. Why is this so? It is because delight is felt only during its brief encounter with the desire, which vanishes once it’s full. For example, I was hungry and anticipated a treat, but now that I am full, I can’t even look at food.

It follows that egoism kills itself and gives way to despair. Whatever I do, nothing remains. What else can I think of in this world to delight myself? How many different foods, movies, cars, or jets do I need? At some point, it all stops satiating me.

This is why the world has come to a crisis. The crisis is due to all of us having forgotten how to use our desire to enjoy, and therefore not being able to employ it as before. The world is at a dead end. So what should we do?  This is when a new desire called the “point in the heart” emerges in man. It says, “It is possible to enter a different dimension of pleasure. Let’s try it.”

This is how one comes to the science of Kabbalah. It teaches a person to give by means of the desire to be delighted. How does this happen? Only through love for others. Love towards others will be revealed in everyone, and people will suddenly feel that this love gives them fulfillment that does not vanish, is always there, and always increases.

When you begin to wish to give, you will sense that you are being fulfilled, and this never-ending fulfillment will be a sensation of eternal life.

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A question I received: What is the breaking of the Kelim, when the Creator’s qualities penetrate into the qualities of the created being?

My Answer: I am created as a receiver and I only understand fulfillment. The Upper Light has influenced me and suppressed me – it showed me the quality of bestowal and instilled shame for my egoism. This was all done to me by the force of the Light. When I see the Light, I am willing to imitate it. However, inside I remain the same as I was previously.

It is as though I find myself in a profound group of people who talk about music, literature, and art, and I also want to be like them. I am proud of myself and when I think back to how I was before I came here, I feel ashamed. But then I leave there and see that everything is allowed: there are no shameful desires, it’s ok to lie and engage in all kinds of filth, and therefore I also begin to think and act this way, thinking that this is the truth of life.

In other words, the created being was under the influence of the Light, but this is not his inner essence; this is not the correction. We need darkness in order to begin to shine like Light, and to correct all of the filth within creation. The egoistic desire which was initially opposite to the Creator needs to be corrected, not just restricted.

So how can the created being be fooled into doing this and forced to reveal itself? It is as though you bug someone continuously until he shows his true colors. This is precisely what happens to the creation when the breaking of the Kelim (qualities) occurs.

However, the creation doesn’t know anything about this yet. It exists under the influence of the Light. It is as though I attach myself to a good group of people and then I also start to feel worthy, respectable, and clean. Then suddenly I am given some kind of assignment, and the whole truth is revealed – everyone finds out who I am. Imagine what shame I experience from this! I wanted to do the same thing they do: to receive for the sake of bestowal, but when it came down to business, all my evil became revealed.

The Creator and the created being are situated next to each other, and they are separated by a thin barrier called Parsa. If we break this wall, then creation will reveal all the evil that is in it, compared to all the goodness that exists in the Light. It seemed that they were near each other, but suddenly the wall (Parsa) between them broke and they now stand face to face!

You then see how kind and bestowing the Creator is – but look at yourself! Without this revelation of your nature in contrast to the Creator, we cannot achieve similarity to Him.

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The Zohar: The Creator said to Noah: “Enter the ark with your entire household.” One of man’s qualities, which he defines as the Creator, turns to another quality in him called Noah. Noah is the quality of bestowal and love, and the aspiration to rise above one’s ego. One’s quality called the Creator speaks to this quality, called Noah, in order to elevate it even higher. This is why the Creator says: “Enter the ark!” which means – fortify yourself in the quality of bestowal.

It is written of the entrance into the ark: “The Creator (HaVaYaH), Zeir Anpin, said,” and it is written about the exit: “Elokim said,” referring to Nukvah of Zeir Anpin. It is written that the master of the house, Zeir Anpin, allows Noah to enter the ark. The ark is the quality of bestowal, Bina. If a person (the quality of Noah that aspires toward bestowal) enters the ark, Bina, then he feels that nothing can harm him – he is safe from all of his other qualities, which disagree with Noah. All the rest of man’s qualities are egoistic and can harm his spiritual progress; this is why he wants to separate the quality of Noah from them and advance only with this quality. He leaves the other qualities alone for now and makes a restriction on them, hiding them away.

Then the mistress, Nukvah of Zeir Anpin, tells him to exit. He entered with the permission of the master, Zeir Anpin, but exited with the permission of the mistress, Nukvah of Zeir Anpin. This is talking about two forces that influence a person: the force of Zeir Anpin and the force of Nukvah, judgment and mercy. By influencing us with these two reins, we advance closer to the goal.

Thus we have found out that the master brought the guest into the house, and the mistress led him out of it, as it is written. “Elokim said to Noah: Come out of the ark!” Elokim is the masculine force, the force that overcomes. She is permitted to bring the guest out, but she does not have the right to let him in.

Even though these two forces are opposite to one another, they act together in order to advance us. We cannot advance with just the help of the one force that pulls us forward. We also need the force that pushes us from behind. We are always being controlled by them as if by two reins. If we understand that these two forces are influencing us for our own good and balance the left force with the right one, then we will connect them together and build the middle line.

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When I read The Book of Zohar, I want to connect to the Creator as much as possible and to “There is none else besides Him.” All of the characters I read about are living inside me, such as Bilam, Balak, and Noah; my thoughts are the waters of the flood, and the Creator is one of my inner qualities which tells me, “Go hide in the ark, the quality of bestowal! In order to increase the force of bestowal in you, Noah, I will drown the whole world, all your other egoistic desires. But I will let you, your only righteous desire, live, in order to increase and strengthen it – and to make you the progenitor of the descendants on earth (the desire).” I want to feel all of these qualities, desires, and impressions, and to sense that they are incredibly important and lofty, burning inside me.

Even though The Book of Zohar does not awaken powerful sensations inside me yet, nevertheless while reading this book, I want all of us together to feel that we are touching something great, similar to how people used to hold their breath while thinking of infinite cosmic spaces, far away stars and galaxies. Try to feel how you are being immersed in a raging sea of sensations inside you. An entire drama is being played out there.

But if you remain numb, then the friends have to awaken you! In our world it is very easy to make yourself feel and worry about something. All you have to do is read the details of a cruel crime or look at pictures. But here you have to make efforts in order to awaken feelings inside. This is exactly what we have to do. I have to organize myself and my environment so that I will go from being indifferent to being lovesick! This is my only desire: to connect and to love!

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From your studies, you need to expect changes that are brought to you by the Correcting Force – “the Light returning to the Source.” Kabbalists who wrote books were present in our world and the Upper Worlds simultaneously.

Therefore, if you desire to acquire the Kabbalists’ properties and vision, then by using your aspiration, you can draw the force of correction upon yourself and soon feel the result of its influence. This will be expressed as a gradually increasing feeling of the properties of bestowal within.

Under the influence of the hidden Light in the studies, you will gradually recognize that you don’t have even a bit of the quality of bestowal within you. All the good that you attribute to yourself is just egoism, which attempts to fulfill itself in this manner. This will be a clear recognition that whatever you do is only for self fulfillment.

At the same time you will feel that this is not good. It is seemingly okay, yet you will feel that it is actually bad because it limits you. Through bestowal, you will open up the infinite spiritual world, and by receiving, you will stagnate in this world. This realization is a step forward.

Then you will feel that there is actually someone, the Giver, filling all space around you. You are not familiar with Him as yet, but you want to feel Him, be equivalent to Him, become as Him, and unite with Him through the quality of bestowal.

In this way, you can gradually change under the influence of the Correcting Force that you draw upon yourself during the studies. This Force influences you, especially while studying The Book of Zohar. If you are ready and want to unite with other souls, then together with them, you will attract the most powerful Correcting Light from this book.

Only this Light will help all of us. All other efforts will be useless, other than uniting together to draw the correcting force upon us.

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All our perception is built on sensations of this world. All the products of our imagination are derivatives of our sensations, and we will never be able to imagine anything that has no connection to our former experiences.

Even if we were to try to imagine an animal from a different planet, the image will still be based on something with which we are familiar. It is impossible to imagine something that has no analogue in our sensations. Our actions always arise from them and we are limited by them.

We are prisoners of our sensations, but today, even scientists are discovering that on a practical basis, everyone needs to change their perception of the world.

We currently perceive this world inside the quality of reception, but we have to acquire the quality of bestowal and perceive the world from that perspective – not in the imagination, but in actual perception. This new perception will be the spiritual world.

Our attitude should be pragmatic and practical, since Kabbalah is a practical teaching which is in no way connected to abstract philosophical concepts.

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I see reality with the help of forces that depict the whole world to me like a movie playing  on a screen in my brain,. These pictures are three-dimensional, animated, and sensual. At least that is how I perceive them and the kind of impression they make on me. However, in actuality they are just forces or desires.

At the end of the day, I am the one that perceives everything. I perceive the inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human levels within my desire. All these forms are within me, on different levels of my desire. I perceive the inanimate nature in my inanimate desire, vegetative nature in my vegetative desire, and so on.

The Creator’s force depicts various forms within my desire, and I perceive them as my world. This force depicts the world within me, on the screen in my mind. This force that draws the world for me is the force of bestowal, the Creator’s force. I receive all the forms from Him, the Giver.

There are forms that are similar to Him and others that are opposite to Him. Altogether they constitute my world. This is why this world is so multifaceted and the reason that I see all kinds of objects within it. There is something positive and something negative in each object. Where does this come from? It’s because the Creator clothes into matter and creates all these forms within me, which are imprinted on the four levels of my matter – the desire to enjoy. In this manner He gradually teaches me the matter and the form of the matter (Haskala Homrit and Haskala Tzuratit).

This world that I see, with its multitude of forms, was given to me by the Creator. This is how He illustrates the world to me within my matter. The world that appears before me is the Creator’s form, but relative to me and according to my state. The matter is mine, and the form is His. This is why I can attain the Creator from within myself.

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