A question I received: What does it mean that we have to desire to study The Zohar together? How should we do this or feel it?

My Answer: Correction means that all desires are united together. When our desires are separated from one another, we feel this reality or this world within them. When we unite our desires together, then inside them we feel a reality called “the spiritual world.” Everything is very simple and it does not involve space or time. Everything depends on the unity of desires into one whole or their separation from one another.

Right now we feel this reality because our desires are disconnected and each one stands on his own. Inside your own small desire, which is aimed only at your own good, you feel what you are able to feel inside it. You feel Light, but when the Light appears inside this desire it seems to you as what you see now. Do you want to see something different? Well, you won’t be able to do anything with these earthly desires all the way until the End of Correction.

When this earthly desire is revealed and grows within us, we feel that we live. Afterward it dwindles and we feel that we die. Then it comes to life again and dies as if it is revived in order to be used and then goes back into concealment. However, besides it, there is another desire called “the point in the heart,” which comes from another, spiritual level. This is a desire we can connect to others. We cannot connect the desires of this world, which are desires of the still, vegetative, and animate levels. They exist in their regular form, where every person is connected with others to the degree that nature obliges him to, and not more than this.

However, we can unite our desires called “the points in the heart,” and then we will feel the spiritual world within them. This is why I have to imagine this common desire (Kli or vessel). It is very tangible and it really is in our hands. If we could unite our desires for spirituality, our points in the heart, together through mutual help and mutual connection, then we would feel the spiritual world. However, the sensation within them has to be mutual. It cannot take place in each separate individual because it is revealed through the unity of desires.

What is it that becomes revealed? It’s the connection among the desires. This connection is called fulfillment, the Creator, or the Light that fulfills the desire. We don’t reveal the Light by itself. We only reveal our impression of the Light, the quality of bestowal that clothes into us. It clothes precisely into our relationships of love and bestowal to one another.

There is a force that enables us to unite together and treat each other with mutual bestowal. My bestowal to another person is called “Light,” and the mutual bestowal that I reveal among everyone is called “the Creator.” This is the meaning of the verse, “From love for the created beings to love for the Creator.”

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The Zohar, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 162: “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin…on the evidence of two witnesses.”

We have to take into consideration that the language of The Zohar is not always smooth. This book came to us after being collected from detached pages. Sometimes it lacks certain chapters and there are many unfinished sentences. Often Baal HaSulam replenishes it with comments saying that some content is omitted or that there is no connection between its parts.

Nevertheless, by no means can we change anything in it, even though it is obvious that the text was compiled of the pieces that were available. What we consider to be The Book of Zohar is actually a very small part of what was originally written.

On the other hand, we should understand that this fact doesn’t reduce the book’s strength or ability to deliver the Light to us. The fact that we have this book in its current form means that it is exactly what we need for the correction of our souls. The language of the book is not always clear and we come across vague portions of phrases in many places. This is proof of the authenticity of its text.

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We don’t feel that we exist in a special system. Once there was a story on the news about the security system at the diamond exchange. Invisible rays penetrate the whole place but the web of rays remains undetected by the eye.

We exist within the spiritual system in the same manner. We are already in it; we are its parts; we activate it, and it activates us. This system exists, it lives. The Light in it comes from the Partzuf of Arich Anpin of the World of Atzilut, meaning from a very high level called our End of Correction. This Light is called “The Zohar.”

Therefore, The Zohar is not a book; it is an instruction manual of how to put into gear the influence of the Light that is coming from the End of Correction, so that it influences and carries us with it to the final corrected state.

When authentic Kabbalistic sources reference The Zohar, they do not say “The Book of Zohar;“ they simply say “The Book” because it is obvious that there is nothing else. Everything else is not considered a book.

We have to realize that it is not just a book. A “book” means “revelation,” and this is precisely what occurs when we come into contact with The Book of Zohar. Even when a person simply reads, watches, or listens to how others read this book, without understanding or knowing much, something changes in him though he doesn’t realize exactly what that is.

So let’s continue to read it with the intention that we are all together, since correction is possible only in connection among people. In it, we will then reveal the Upper Force, the Creator. We aren’t just reading this book; we are putting a system into gear in order to reveal it.

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The system of nature is organized in such a way that everything is aimed only at helping the human level develop. This is the only level of the desire to receive pleasure that has freedom of will. Only this level can raise MAN (a request to the Upper Level) and thus take all the other levels along with it (the inanimate, vegetative, and animate) so all of reality will reach the End of Correction. None of the other levels have freedom of will, but they still take part in the same kind of advancement. They will ascend to the level that the human being brings them to.

For example, according to our time in the year 2010, we should have raised our whole world, including all its levels of inanimate, vegetative, and animate, as well as ourselves on all the levels, and the spiritual world on the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels (that is, the “chambers,” the “clothing,” the “angels,” and the surrounding souls) ten degrees higher in relation to the Upper Light. We were supposed to make this upgrade in spirit, connection, force, and fulfillment.

Because we did not do this, the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature are now pressuring us to correct ourselves. All the degrees of fulfillment that they failed to receive from us exist in them in a negative form. They pressure us on the human level since only we have freedom of will and therefore, we need to hasten the correction. Therefore, natural disasters, catastrophes, and disasters will increase in our world because we are not performing the right actions on the human level. We are not drawing all the other levels (the inanimate, vegetative, and animate) after us.

This is the case in the spiritual world as well as in the material world. Therefore, a person depends on everyone and everyone depends on him.

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A person who consciously seeks spirituality is influenced by different developmental laws than a person who walks the natural path. It’s similar to the difference between classical physics, which deals with large material objects, and quantum physics, which studies elementary particles. The difference between them is like the difference between light and dark. Regular physics speaks of matter, while quantum physics speaks of light, because a quantum particle is a particle of light. In other words, it is a different level of nature, even though it is still within the boundaries of this world, and it differs greatly from what we are accustomed to.

With regard to spirituality, if the sparks of correction aren’t awakened within a person, he is corrected in a similar fashion as all of nature – by being incorporated inside those who do have the spiritual spark, those who aspire toward spirituality and ask the question, “What is the meaning of my life?” Some carry out the spiritual work, while others help them either by supporting or by hindering. Thus, all advance together.

That is why the science of Kabbalah must be disseminated among all people, for as long as it hasn’t in some way reached even one person, he will not participate in correction. It’s similar to how at first glance it seems that humankind bears no relation to what happens in some galaxy millions of light years away from earth. But in fact, we simply don’t yet understand just how dependent we are at the end of correction on every gram of matter, even at some distant star, because it too must be part of us in order to result in perfection, Malchut of Infinity.

This principle applies all the more so to every person in this world, even one who leads the simplest existence and doesn’t have a care about spirituality. This person, nonetheless, pertains to the process of correction to whatever extent he is able, and therefore, we must bring the knowledge of Kabbalah to him as well.

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All the worlds clothe each other; each Sefira receives Light from its root – the main Sefira in the World of Infinity. For example, all the particular Sefirot of Bina receive Light from Bina of the World of Infinity; all the particular Sefirot of Tifferet receive Light from Sefira Tifferet of the World of Infinity, and so on.

On its way to the place of destination, the Light goes through all the Partzufim and Sefirot, although it only goes through them in transit as it connects to the Sefira from its root or source. We correct ourselves in this manner. Therefore, all the Sefirot and Partzufim that are on the Light’s path toward me correct themselves partially by helping to bring the Light of Tifferet to me.

I correct my connection with them because they bring the Light of Tifferet to me, but the most important correction of the quality of Tifferet occurs in me. All the other corrections occur due to our mutual inclusion into each other, and in this manner we reach a state where everyone is included in each other, and we form a circle or a sphere – a symbol of perfection.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 95: This is when the sinner gives strength to the Sitra Achra (evil inclination) to extend from the left, from above downwards [meaning egoistically], as did Cain. Then the serpent, called “sin,” which crouches at the door of Malchut, discloses the first point, which is hidden in Malchut, and all the lights depart from the root of the soul of the sinful person…

A person starts his correction from the lowest critical point when the serpent and Malchut, which is unable to receive any Light, are revealed. This serpent has a very important mission. This is why “the sin crouches at our door” is written in a good rather than in a bad sense.

The Creator prepared a serpent to help us enter the spiritual world. The serpent causes us to make the most basic revelation: that we are unable to receive the Light inside our egoistic desires. Don’t even try; you will be beating your head against a brick wall and will never succeed. Leave your egoistic desires because you won’t be able to do anything with them. You have to rise above them in order to “leap” above this world. This is what the serpent is explaining to a person.

The serpent comes like an angel sent to us by the Creator in order to push us towards correction. Yet, we should be grateful to the serpent for its help.

This snake comes as medication; indeed, it is not a coincidence that the snake is a symbol of medicine and poison is the basis of all medications. The Creator guides us using bites from the two serpents until we suddenly feel the nature which is above our own. We then understand that we have to rise above both of these serpents, thereby finding the One who governs them.

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In relation to me all the other souls are in the corrected state. I have to recognize that I am the only uncorrected element in the whole universe. However, if they are all corrected and I am not, then doesn’t it mean that I am the only one who needs to correct myself? No, it doesn’t, and the reason is because my lack of correction is inside of me, since we all belong to one system.

If I am a sick organ in the body, then the whole body suffers because I do not carry out my work. Suppose I am a very important part of the body – say the kidneys, where my role is to cleanse everything there is in the body, but I am not functioning. Then the whole body cannot exist because this part is included in all the others and must serve them, providing its part of the common work. Without it, all the other parts are unable to function correctly either.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter if the whole rest of the body is healthy; I still make it sick to the extent that I am uncorrected. I have to realize that I am the only one who is uncorrected, and this ruins the whole body. Without me, they would all be perfectly healthy.

Therefore, my work is to connect with everyone and to see how flawed they are because of me. This is the meaning of the verse, “Every person judges others to the extent of his own flaws.” Then I will desire to correct myself and to elevate everyone along with me to the height of the final, corrected state.

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A question I received: You said that everything depends on the person. What depends on me, and only me alone, at the Zohar Convention 2010 that starts tomorrow?

My Answer: The science of Kabbalah teaches that all of reality is inside a person, and there is nothing in reality besides a person. Everything I imagine as existing outside of me, such as the group, the Creator, and all of reality, is all actually inside of me. Everything is depicted inside me, and only seems external to me, distant, or even opposite.

Our goal is to return to the correct, true state, to reveal the true reality and the One who fills and sustains it. Within this reality we have to attain unity, in order to reveal the One who gives rise to this reality, the One who governs it.

If this is the case, then everything is inside me and everything depends on me. What is the Convention, different gatherings, groups, and all our actions? It’s a demonstration of my own forces where the Creator gives me an opportunity to unite them.

No matter who attends, it means that I have received a special opportunity to unite precisely with these forces or qualities inside me. They are close to correction, to the state in which I can correct my connection with them.

Nothing depends on them. I am the only one who controls this entire system or scheme. What happens depends only on me, and no one else. If I am not in this state of awareness, it means I am on a lower level, in which case I’m worried about things that depend not just on me, but also on others.

I start to worry about wanting them to think and desire the same way as I do, so we will find a connection between us, so from the connection or the lack thereof, or even from our repulsion from one another, we would ask for correction, like at the state beneath Mount Sinai. It is written, “Either you will unite as one man with one heart, or this will become your burial ground.”

This is exactly the state we are in now. We must only desire to unite, since on our own we are incapable of any action, good or bad. All the actions are performed from Above, as it is written, “There is not a blade of grass below that does not have an angel above striking it and ordering it to grow.”

All the changes come from Above. We must only demand correction. The most important thing is our worry about the common unity, since inside it we will reveal the quality of universal bestowal and will feel the Creator. The science of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the creatures in this world – and this really can happen to us.

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At the time of the Messiah (the correction of humanity), evil increases and impudence and vice will be led by the heads of the mixed multitude (Erev Rav). Then the Hidden Light will appear from the Heaven – The Book of Zohar, followed by the writings of the Holy Ari. And this learning will root out the evil in our souls. We will be rewarded with cleaving to the Upper Light, and we will be rewarded all the virtues in the world. It is for this reason that this Light appeared.

And the essence of your study will be to attain illumination and Godly liveliness in your soul. The Ari said that at that time the hidden will become revealed.
The Hall of Blessing, Deuteronomy 208

Let not the eunuch say, “For I am a dry tree, and who am I to approach the holiness within, in the books of Kabbalah?” This is because all the righteous have already agreed that today this is the counsel of the evil inclination and a lie. And although a person does not understand what he reads, still, the words of the Holy Zohar have healing power for the soul, and are approachable for every soul. Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Horovitz of Backshwitz, Upright Guidance, Item 5.

Study of The Book of Zohar brings a miraculous force. Even if a person does not understand what he studies, it is important to the Creator and loved by Him, similar to how an infant does not understand what he speaks, but the parents rejoice at hearing his voice. Hence, one cannot complain that he does not know or understand.
Pele Yoetz, Chapter, “Zohar”.

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