Three questions I received about spiritual correction:

Question: As a student of Kabbalah, I naturally want to experience the sensation of the Creator, but it seems that the more important thing is being changed or corrected so that my desire is to bestow to others. I am uncertain about something. Is feeling the desire to bestow to others experiencing the sensation of the Creator, or is there more? Is experiencing the sensation of the Creator like a kind of “high” or euphoria?

My Answer: Even before acquiring the quality of bestowal you will sense the Creator slightly, from a distance.

Question: I understand that you need to have the need for correction deep in your heart and pray for it to happen. However, the more I look at the people surrounding me and their actions, the more I hate them. For example, I feel this way every time they play loud music at 4 a.m. or drop all kind of things on the ground, or are violent with each other. How can I love this society? I hate it completely, but on the other hand there’s the need for correction.

My Answer: It’s not them tormenting you. The Creator does this so you will turn your attention to Him!

Question: What should one do if he has no desire to function in his day to day life, such as at work?

My Answer:You should earn what is necessary for your sustenance, and leave it to the Light to perform the spiritual correction.

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A question I received: If a person doesn’t study Kabbalah but only reads The Book of Zohar, what will he get out of doing that?

My Answer: The Zohar is the central book in the wisdom of Kabbalah. For us The Book of Zohar with the “Sulam Commentary” is the most effective and powerful source for the correction of the soul.
The broken soul exists in each of us and it’s completely concealed inside. We don’t know what it is. It is, in fact, an enormous, endless desire (Kli) and it exists in every person. We have to find, reveal, and correct it. Precisely in this soul we will sense the eternal reality called “Creator.”
I identify myself with this soul when I reveal and sense it. In the end it turns out that the Creator and I become one.

However, all of this can be carried out only by the Upper Light. It is the force which acts upon us and develops within us the sensation that we exist in the spiritual system in addition to the sensation of this world.

If a person only reads The Book of Zohar with us, it’s not enough. Baal HaSulam preceded The Book of Zohar with four prefaces. It’s not an accident that he wrote them as prefaces to The Book of Zohar and not as separate works.

“Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” introduces a person to the wisdom of Kabbalah. “Preface to the Book of Zohar” provides the correct approach to The Book of Zohar that will help a person to open this book. “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” describes the entire structure of the spiritual system by way of the three lines. And finally, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” talks about the general system of creation, including the three states of creation, about the research and the fundamental questions, and about the rungs of the spiritual ladder by which a soul ascends.

A person doesn’t need anything else after these prefaces and The Book of Zohar because these texts contain everything. However, there is one more very special preface, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot.” However, when a person studies The Zohar he will see what is written in the “Study of the Ten Sefirot” and in the introduction to it. He will sense internally the same explanations which Baal HaSulam provides in other articles.

A person will feel all these conclusions and facts from The Book of Zohar, provided that his study is combined with its four introductions. Therefore, there should be a special course preceding the study of The Zohar. A person can study The Zohar together with us, but at the same time he should be taking this course. That should be enough for him.

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It is only by virtue of The Book of Zohar that we will be able to come out of exile to redemption, and there is no doubt that we are now in a special state. We have to thank the Creator for choosing us for this mission; and on the other hand, it is a great responsibility. Let us have faith that the Creator will lead us through all the obstacles and they will only make us stronger.

I am fearful and inspired, and at the same time worried and anxious. We have to be aware of our great responsibility. All the generations of Kabbalists, the people who attained the goal of creation and the Creator’s desire, are inside the same system that we want to belong to. They have already corrected themselves in this broken system of the common soul (Adam HaRishon) and have prepared it for us, enabling us to accept it as a global system where it is no longer separate, corrected souls that are revealed, as was the case during the times preceding Rabash. He was the last in the lineage of Kabbalists who transmitted Kabbalah, the method of correction, to us. These special souls were instilled in all the generations like drops in an ocean.

Now, for the first time in history since the times of the last exile, we want to attain the last, final redemption. This is the real exodus from Egypt. Moreover, it’s happening at a special time – right before the holiday of Purim, which symbolizes the End of Correction. These conditions are completely extraordinary.

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A question I received: The Zohar Convention 2010 is getting closer and it feels like a holiday or festival is approaching. In what state should we strive to be during this period?

My Answer: The most important thing now is to focus on the intention. It’s wonderful to feel like you are going to a holiday or a festival, but in truth, we are coming together to do serious inner work. Therefore, our primary concern should be our intention; this is more important than anything else.

There is only one thing that’s of importance: During these three days, will I be able to have the right intention together with thousands of other people who are together with me in one hall, and with millions more people around the whole world who are also joining us internally.  Only the right intention will deliver us to the goal because it draws the force that corrects and unites us, establishing the connection that broke.

This connection was broken only in our perception. We are therefore correcting the “original sin,” and it can only be done through our intention, the raising of MAN, a plea, the “gate of tears.”

I feel that we are at an historic point and I am really concerned about its success. We have to be fearful regarding whether we will be able to attain what we have planned, because it is written that everything depends on the heavens besides fear of the Creator. If we are being given the opportunity to carry out this event, and we have been sent this idea, it means we really have reached the state of being able to study The Zohar and to reveal it to the nation. We can see how it opens people up and draws them toward the spiritual goal.

We want to give people The Zohar with care and love, the way we would treat our friends, loved ones, or outstanding individuals. This is an historic event because The Book of Zohar itself says that it is intended for the time of the End of Correction, the days of the Messiah, in order to lead Israel (meaning those who aspire “straight to the Creator”) from exile to freedom.

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The science of Kabbalah is a method of correction based on the two forces of attraction and repulsion. These two forces are intended to bring a person closer to correction through aiming him at the goal. Obstacles are set before him all the time that he has to overcome; these obstacles supply him with the building material that he needs to edify himself.

For that reason, the text is composed in such a way that a person enters it as if it’s a jungle. He doesn’t know what is happening there; he doesn’t understand how it’s organized or why. He enters the jungle and gets lost there. He doesn’t know where the path is and he’s scared of every tree. Gradually, however, he enters the text between the words and begins to see depth within. The text begins working on him and he begins working on it. Every word and notion comes to have a dimension and this is how a person advances.

He encounters many obstacles on the path that clearly are directed against his animate mind and feelings. These obstacles help him to disconnect from his material feelings and “break” his material mind. Suddenly, he acquires an ability to feel and understand something new. The “jungle” of the text becomes more understandable and he begins to feel that there is a pattern to it. For example, the monkeys that jump around in the jungle understand what is going on there because this scary place is their home. In a similar way, a person comes to feel at home in the text.

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A question I received: Prior to the reception of the Torah, the people of Israel performed a special preparation for three days. How can we prepare in the best possible way during the three days preceding the Zohar Convention 2010?

My Answer: These three days are called “days of restriction”; it is when you completely detach from everything you had before.

We know from the science of Kabbalah that the screen, which rises with the Reshimot when the Light exits the Partzuf, ascending from Tabur to Peh, needs to go through three stages. Once it reaches the third stage, it loses all connection with the first stage.

In the same way, a person who is in the first stage raises to the next degree, where there is an emanation of Reflected Light, which descends to the previous degree – the first stage. When the person rises one degree higher, he also emanates these Lights onto the two previous levels.

After going through these three stages or three days (limitations), one reaches a state where he has no connection to the “transgression” of the past. Therefore, we need to detach from everything we had or knew before and prepare for the correction of our desires. This is how we’ll be able to reveal the Upper Force inside us.

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The most important thing at the upcoming Zohar Convention 2010 is our inner work. We must have the right intention, which will give everyone who attends the Convention and the whole nation of Israel the feeling that if the quality of Israel (Directly to the Creator) that exists in every person, dispersed among the Klipot, will unite as one, this will cause the correction of the world.

Because this opportunity is being revealed to us, it is a sign that we don’t need greater numbers in order to attain spiritual revelation. Since we are given the opportunity to assemble this many forces in the whole world and in Israel, on such a scale, it’s a sign that all we lack is a connection among everyone, rather than lacking more people.

The current amount of people is already sufficient; unity is all we lack. If we unite, then the “candle” will light up. By connecting, we build a common screen, and then the Light will immediately ignite it.

We have the oil — the desire to enjoy, and the filter — the screen, and the Upper Light that is above the filter. When we have a screen that connects our desire to enjoy with the Light, then our desire becomes similar to the Light, since the screen is the force of overcoming, where a person desires to unite with everyone in spite of his egoism that separates him from them. Then, it happens — a connection emerges.

Our entire work, the concentration of all our efforts lies only in this point of unity between the screen and the “wick.” The oil is below, the Light is above, and in the middle there is the point inside of which we must all unite together. Then the candle will light up and begin to burn.

In the past we thought that our dissemination in the whole world and in Israel would bring us Light and revelation. But if we are given the chance to carry out such a great event — the upcoming Convention, the only thing that’s missing is our inner connection. We already have the critical mass.

Right now we must think together with all our friends around the whole world, about how much we desire to ignite this point of contact, this “candle.” We have all the conditions for doing this. We have the chance, and now everything depends on us. We have the oil, and the Light is also present; we have an assembly of souls and a certain degree of connection.

It doesn’t matter how much we know or understand. Every person must only add his own desire for unity between the Light and the oil, as much as he is capable. In other words, each person must overcome his ego to create a wick (bestowal) above the oil (egoism). Then it will happen. But we are the ones who have to create this wick — the screen and the Reflected Light.

It’s impossible to do it alone, but together, it’s easy.

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A question I received: Why do you insist that there is a need to reveal Kabbalah?

My Answer: Apparently,you are religious, and you have probably heard that the most important thing is “Avodat HaShem,” the work of the Creator.

The meaning of this phrase is not just to study, but to correct man, where correction is achieved by the Light of the Torah. And this Light can be attracted only by studying Kabbalah.

Kabbalah is called the inner part of the Torah because it contains the Light of Correction. As we can see from those who study the external part of the Torah, their study does not yield the same result.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 86: “Who keeps his mouth and his tongue, keeps his soul from troubles.” His soul, which used to speak, is now silent because of the evil words that she spoke. Then comes the serpent, for everything has reverted back to the beginning, as before he was rewarded with a soul. And when the evil speech rises by certain ways to being before the harsh serpent, several spirits awaken in the world, and an impure spirit descends from that side, of the serpent, and finds that the man evoked it with the evil speech. It finds that the holy speaking Ruach is removed from him, at which time the impure Ruach is upon him and defiles him, and then he is a leper.

Where do evil forces come from and what power do they have? They exist only if a person reveals them within himself and decides that they are evil. They are his own uncorrected properties or evil desires. However, if he wants to correct them, they become revealed for the purpose of correction and they aren’t considered transgressions. On the contrary, it is written, “One who comes to be corrected is aided.” That person receives help and doesn’t feel the burden.

However, the evil can also become revealed without a person’s participation, when he is least prepared for it. These are the evil forces he did not correct in the past and is not planning to correct now either. That is when the serpent and other frightening images appear, which are our evil inclination coming to destroy us.

These are all our uncorrected properties which don’t appear according to our desire to reveal and correct them, but in a natural way. They become revealed as evil and harmful forces that act against us.

The Zohar describes it as an outer, alien force which is opposite to holiness. However, it exists within the uncorrected desires of the person himself. Therefore, one shouldn’t think that some unexpected event takes place sent to us by the Creator, but that these events are unfolding only within us. We should always be ready to use any discovery for our correction. Then, it will be for our good.

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If we want to be born spiritually, we have to strive at making many good preparations. As a result, we begin to reveal our egoism (evil) because the darkness called the “serpent” emerges within us.

It is impossible to make an easy, peaceful transition to a new level. Similarly, birth in the material world is a critical and difficult process. It means that you “die” on the previous level, and only then are you born into a new world. Similarly, the serpent gives us new egoistic desires, thereby helping us break through into a new life. Thus, good and evil forces work together.

It is written, “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as its ‘spice’ (a remedy for its correction).”  In other words, the main component is our desire, which is the matter of creation, and the Torah acts only as the “spice” for our correction.

When we exit Egypt and approach the Red Sea, we must first throw ourselves into the water. Only when we act first and do so does the sea part. This is an act of birth, yet how are we able to do something like this? We are only capable of it if the evil (our egoism) pursuing us reveals itself, and through this act, forces us to be born.

We jump into the sea like a person who jumps from the 20^th floor of a burning building, for example. One jumps knowing just one thing – he must escape the fire; this is his salvation. Likewise, all we’re able to think about is how to get rid of the evil, and it doesn’t matter what will follow. This is precisely how we are born.

Therefore, we should value our egoism for its essential and indispensable work. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to reach the ultimate Goal. That’s why it is called “help against you.”

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