It is written: “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as a remedy for its correction for the Light in it Reforms.” On one hand, I collect my egoism, my evil; on the other, from the Creator, I take the force of bestowal, the Light. From these two components, I construct my new form called “man,” Adam, who is “similar” (from the Hebrew word “Domeh”) to the Creator. Inside this form resides my egoism; however, on the outside, it is equivalent to bestowal. In other words, I am reception on the inside and bestowal on the outside.

Therefore, my action is called “reception for the sake of bestowal,” and my work is in the three lines: right, left, and middle. The right and the left lines descend from Above, from the Creator, whereas the middle line ascends from below upward, from man to the Creator. The left line is represented by “I created the evil inclination,” the right line by “I have created the Torah as the remedy for its correction,” and the middle line by “for the Light in it Reforms.” Then, one becomes as good as the Creator. “I am good and do good, and so do you. Hence, you will be called ‘man,’ meaning ‘similar’ to the Creator.”

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, The Zohar

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We are created from the material of “the desire to enjoy.” Therefore, we need energy in the form of “pleasure” in order to perform any physical or mental action. In other words, nothing moves in our world without an egoistic stimulus. Consciously or unconsciously, we weigh everything in our “desire to enjoy,” and in the assessments of this desire each thing acquires “its own” qualities: color, weight, height, and distance.

In order to be successful in this world, we need to have the right scale of values, or in other words, the right set-up of “the desire to enjoy.” And this is what we teach our children: to strive for the good things and to avoid the harmful things. To distance oneself from evil means not to have the energy to work for it.

However, there is no motivation in our “desire to enjoy” for reaching the spiritual, “the desire to bestow”! After all, the spiritual world is opposite to me; it is the desire to bestow rather than to receive pleasure. This attribute doesn’t exist in me at all. Therefore, I do not feel the spiritual world. I can “see” only what I evaluate in “the desire to enjoy” as more or less valuable, determining it as something close and important to me or distant and insignificant.

In spirituality, “the quality to bestow,” all the criteria, thoughts, and actions are based only on bestowal. Yet my “desire to enjoy” does not understand what that is. Bestowal passes through me like an invisible illumination, which I do not sense in any way. Whole worlds and actions are performed beside me, and I do not notice them in my “desire to enjoy” just like an animal doesn’t understand the sensations of a human being.

What can I do if I am created this way? All the worlds and most importantly the One who controls me, the Creator Himself, remain unnoticed by me! In order to feel them, I need to begin to value “the quality of bestowal.”

This is why we are given the environment: the books, the teacher, and the friends so that they will instill the importance of bestowal into me. Although I personally don’t think so, they tell me this, and their opinion is important to me. I am created to absorb the influence of the environment, and what is important to the people that surround me becomes important to me.

Thus, even bestowal, which is of no value to me, begins to be important if everyone talks about it. It becomes important in my “desire to enjoy” as a good acquisition. I am willing to exert effort to attract the Upper Light which brings me “the desire to bestow” because this is important to my “desire to enjoy.” In Kabbalah this is called spiritual work for oneself, Lo Lishma.

However, the Upper Light that I draw changes me and replaces “the desire to enjoy” with “the desire to give enjoyment” (from Lo Lishma to Lishma). I then enter the perception of the Upper World.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/10, Shamati #15

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When we choose the quality of bestowal, “the ugly beauty” (as it appears to our egoism, a state called Tshuva Mi Iria), then after living with her for a while we start to experience the state of love (the 15^th of Av), reception for the sake of bestowal (Tshuva Mi Ahava). We have just completed the Mega Congress where by virtue of our efforts we revealed the “bride,” who is beautiful for attaining the Creator yet ugly to our egoism.

However, just as it often happens in life, now that the “wedding” is over we are revealing problems since egoism is always growing and changing. It is becoming apparent that you married an ugly and quarrelsome woman who is not satisfied with anything you give her. However, in reality she is demanding bestowal; but since you are being influenced by egoism, you are losing inspiration and desire to fulfill your egoism.

You will have to work by “faith above reason” (in bestowal against egoism) in order to understand that in reality it is precisely the selfless desire to bestow that is beautiful, wealthy, and dignified. It possesses all the good qualities, only you don’t see that!

Let’s hope that we will go through this new phase of egoism’s growth and attain correction. Then, instead of seeing the “poor and ugly” Malchut, we will see all of her beauty, which will be revealed in the quality of bestowal. This state is called “the day of love” (the 15^th of Av).
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/10, “15^th of Av”

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Question: How can I awaken fear of the Creator inside me if I only see our material world?

Answer: Once I’ve been in the group for a long time, the time comes when I suddenly "hear" that I have to unite with my friends in order to attain the spiritual world. Yet, I don’t understand why and for what because I still don’t feel the connection between the following components:

1. The Upper Goal, which I don’t feel or realize, but which I have to attain;
2. The Upper Force, which I have to attain and feel;
3. My attitude to the friends;
4. The state of unity with friends which we have to attain.

There is a chain of inner revelations of feeling that have to take place within me. After all, our entire life is sensations. We are made of a matter called "the will to enjoy." This is a desire that feels pleasure or suffering and nothing more than that.

Therefore, my entire attitude to anything amounts to my sensation. It is either present or absent. If I don’t have this inner chain of feeling, the connection of how I will attain the goal of creation from this moment on (through love for the Creator, worry about Him, fear of Him, care for the group, and unity with friends as one man with one heart), if I still lack the inner responses to this, the impressions and reactions, then I still have to do more work on myself.

What should I do? The condition for revealing the Creator is just like at Mount Sinai: having the desire to unite as one man with one heart. Then He will become revealed to you in your unified desire. Moreover, you only have to desire to unite, and the Creator will carry out the unification. We have to try to acquire a desire for unity.

But how can I try to do this if I don’t want it? You can develop a desire through action. This is the meaning of the verse, "We will do and we will hear!"

This is exactly why our false world was created, where we exist in bodies. You can perform false physical actions of bestowal to your friends and speak about unity with them without any desire for it.

You don’t have a desire for it? That doesn’t matter! You don’t live just in the desire. You also exist in an external shell called the physical body. So make physical actions of bestowal to your friend, acting as if you love him instead of yourself.

That is why it is written, "Buy yourself a friend." Bestow to him in all sorts of ways and you will feel how your attitude to him changes. Why? Because you invested your energy and efforts in him. You did not want it, but by acting this way you gained a special attitude to him.

This is called "We will do." Actions that you make without a desire bring you to "we will hear," to the quality of bestowal.  (“Hearing” is the quality of Bina). Then you already begin to hear the things the Torah speaks about. It is the instruction manual on the path to the Light. (Torah comes from the words Ohr – Light, and Horaa – instructions.)

Therefore, let’s try to unite all together even if we don’t have a desire for this. Let’s ascend above our feelings and then we will experience everything in a new way.

From the 1st lesson of the Mega Congress 2010

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Question: Will the world change if we pass the Machsom at this Congress? Will it happen immediately or gradually?

Answer: Right now we are able to unite our desires and awaken the Upper Light to such an extent that we will feel the Light. We will then feel the spiritual reality, the connection between us through mutual bestowal. I am not talking about love, total interconnection or "return due to love" because this is the second phase of correction. For now we are connecting on the first phase of correction just by ascending above our ego by the force of the Light.

This Light is like a magnet that raises us above our egoism, above the mountain of hatred, Mount Sinai. We can ascend above egoism and enter the spiritual world temporarily, for a certain amount of time, and then once again descend into the ego and return into the material world. Alternatively, we can ascend or enter it permanently, in which case from that state on we will begin the phases of development in the "desert," where we ascend up the spiritual ladder. We will then rise along 125 levels until the World of Infinity, the total correction of egoism into bestowal and love.

Let us hope that we will attain at least a temporary revelation of the Creator. However, even if this doesn’t happen, it means that we still lack the true desire for it, that our desire is not great or precise enough yet in order to get rid of egoism. In that case, it will happen next time when we accumulate sufficient force and the exact desire to ascend above ourselves. The most important thing is to be concerned about the connection between us and to reveal the Creator inside this connection. This is the purpose of the existence of the worlds and of man in this world.

Our quantitative and qualitative force is already sufficient for us to attain it at this Congress.

From the 1st lesson of the Mega Congress 2010

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Question: If Abraham and Lot are both within one person, how is one of them perfect and dwells in the abode of the Creator and the other stays with the wicked?

Answer: Can Abraham reach Elon Moreh (the place of union with the Creator, the state of Brit – adhesion with the Creator) without Lot? How will a person attain holiness (the property of bestowal) if he doesn’t have a Klipa (egoistic desire) in the first place?

It is written: “I have created the evil inclination and gave the Torah to correct it.” There is no holiness in the world. The Creator created Klipa or an evil, wicked intention. He did not create the good. He does not say: “I created the evil and the good inclination. Pick the good one.” On the contrary, He says: “You will do the good (by correcting the evil that I created). But it is I who created the evil.”

How will man reach Elon Moreh, the place of his first union with the Creator, if he has neither Lot nor Sodom? He will reach this state only after having made corrections. Therefore, Lot has to be close to Abraham until they separate. However, Lot returns numerous times. In this way, a person makes discernments.

Without discernments and corrections you have no holiness, the quality of bestowal. Holiness by itself does not exist – we build it. Let’s hope we will succeed!

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should someone who is just beginning to study the wisdom of Kabbalah do when he is sitting in front of The Book of Zohar absolutely clueless about what is written in it?

Should he keep trying to hold intention for the entire 45 minutes of the lesson? It is so frustrating to sit in front of such an incredible book and get nothing out of it. What am I to do?

Answer: The only thing I need to get out of The Zohar is the force of bestowal, nothing else. If I have a minimal force of bestowal, I will start sensing The Zohar, my involvement with it, and the flow of text in it. I will start feeling how precious this book is to me. Gradually, through my reactions to its words, I will start feeling what it is talking about.

But all of this follows my desire above myself for the force of bestowal and my desire for an open heart. Only with such intentions should we open The Zohar. When you step “out of yourself” (out of your egoism), that is when The Zohar enters you.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, The Zohar

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A person grows in such a way that at first he receives new desires and fulfillments, which are necessary for his development and which work for his benefit. This is the direction given to him by nature, which desires to raise him and make him self-sufficient, the way children in our world grow.

This is not considered forbidden pleasure, since I have to go through this natural path of development until I become an “adult.” Indeed, we see how children are usually full of different desires and take pleasure in this life.

However, the moment I become an adult, I have to start growing and developing consciously, rather than by the power of nature. Suddenly, all the pleasures I receive start being detrimental to me because I do not aim them for the sake of bestowal.

Previously all the responsibility rested on nature. The Creator determined my path and led me along until the age of 15-20 years. Everything I took from this life was beneficial for my development. But as soon as I completed this period of “childhood,” I have to start determining my own direction. I now have to add the intention of bestowal of my own accord. Otherwise any pleasure I receive will no longer raise me and advance me forward, but will kill me! It will lead me backwards in order to make me feel that it is impossible to keep going this way and that instead of developing by way of my egoism and pleasures, I have to develop through the intention to bestow.

Therefore, all the pleasures that a person receives after the age of adulthood are detrimental to him, like a person who is picking at his wound. How deeply do we have to become immersed in this evil in order to understand that we cannot continue this way, like children who have grown up and whom nature no longer permits to enjoy life recklessly, but instead demands bestowal from them?

How deeply will we have to “pick at our wound” is something that depends on us. We are given all the means and explanations, and we are brought to the study, the books, and the group, which is the place where we have to get serious and think about what we need to add to our lives in order to develop correctly.

What we are adding is the “true vs. false” discernment, in addition to “sweet vs. bitter,” unlike children who only understand “bitter and sweet.” In order not to remain children for the rest of our lives, as it says, “What to do with children who have grown old?”, we have to start acting according to the principle of “true vs. false.” Yet, we should not erase “sweet vs. bitter,” but rather build a new attitude to life above it. This is possible only be evoking the Upper Light upon ourselves through the study of Kabbalah.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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It is written, “I dwell among My people.” It is impossible for the Creator, the Upper Force or the Light that fills Malchut of Infinity, to relate to one of its parts individually. The system is created as whole and common, and the Light resides only in its totality.

Even in all the degrees of the descent of the worlds, Partzufim, and Sefirot from Above downward, the system remains whole and perfect. Only the extent of the connection among its parts decreases. Therefore, in the descent of the worlds, we are talking about a decrease in the measure of connection among parts in a common system, while the number of parts always remains the same.

As long as a minimal connection, mutual bestowal, remains between them, they still exist in spirituality. However, as soon as mutual bestowal ends and they are no longer connected like one man with one heart (even with the smallest possible heart), this system immediately ends up in this world and the Creator no longer dwells in it. He merely shines from afar with Surrounding Light in order to rouse us to return to unification from this broken state.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/10, Article, “A Prayer of Many”

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The Attainment of the Purpose of Creation Rests Upon the Whole of Mankind
Questions about the post “Kabbalists On The Purpose Of Creation,” Part 7

Question: Will I be better off if everybody else is well?

My Answer: Yes, because you are part of everybody else, the only way you will truly be well is if all others are well.

Question: How can I stop wishing others well egoistically, and start wishing them well altruistically?

My Answer: Only the Upper Light can do it!

Question: Why is the Creator so selective toward the creations? Why are certain people or nations chosen? Why didn’t He create everybody equal?

My Answer: Precisely so we could help one another to attain Him.

Question: What is mutual bestowal to the Creator?

My Answer: From everyone according to his ability.

Question: I feel that the World Kli has long been trying to unite for the Creator’s work. If this is the purpose of creation, why doesn’t this infinite fulfillment for His sake take place?

My Answer: We are in the process of forming this unified desire.

Question: Quote: “According to Rambam, we see that everybody must come to the state of Lishma, the only difference being the time when it happens.” Why time, and not effort? Why are these types of “mistakes” not entirely uncommon in the Kabbalistic texts?

My Answer: Because effort refers to actions, whereas time refers to the realization of these actions, their result.

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