Questions I received on physical observance and Kabbalah:

Question: I study over the Internet, and I am a secular person, but I am not clear on what to do about the commandments (such as Kashrut, Tefillin, Tzitzit, Kippah, prayers, and so on). Even after listening to your lessons on religion, I’m still not clear on this: is the path of personal correction enough or do I have to start observing the commandments in addition?

My Answer: Kabbalah encourages every person to remain the way he is. Only the Upper Light can correct a person; therefore one does not have to do anything else other than study (which includes the group, Maaser, books, dissemination, and for a man, it’s preferable to be married). All the corrections inside you will be done by the Upper Light (Ohr Makif).

Question: Should one observe the commandments or only study? And how do people get to the point of completely nullifying their egoism and attaining love?

My Answer: Live just like you did before, and study Kabbalah. The Light will guide you as to how you should change.

Question: Should a married woman who studies Kabbalah observe the corporeal commandments? If yes, then which commandments should she observe? And what is the spiritual root of a family’s ritual purity?

My Answer: The purpose of all the corporeal commandments is to preserve the boundaries of one’s existence, but not to correct one’s soul. We at Bnei Baruch observe them as a cultural heritage or tradition. Kabbalah does not obligate anyone to perform any physical actions.

Question: Aren’t the commandments that were commanded to us advice that we received on how to build the proper vessels suitable for our spiritual root? Then, once we acquire experience in building the proper intention, we will come closer to creating a vessel for the Light that will fill it?

My Answer: Certainly, you are correct. All 613 commandments are the correction of the 613 desires of the soul by means of 613 Lights that shine and correct them during the study of Kabbalah.

Question: If one is living in such a circumstance of being in a community where the outward observance of Mitzvot and Halakah are a norm, then isn’t one required to live in accordance to this social decor? One may remain inwardly “secular,” or constantly questioning the validity of their own intentions and desiring to know (not believe in) Ribono Shel Olam (the Creator), correct? May we be inwardly connected to the World Kli, studying with Ari Online, being part of the group, and yet outwardly walk in clothing of Orthodoxy?

My Answer: Of course, and this is what the Torah demands of you: while following the external rituals, to add their inner, true observance. Or in other words: to add the true Torah to the simple Torah. Kabbalah is referred to as Torat Emet – the true Torah, and also as Pnimiut HaTorah – the inner Torah.

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Two questions I received on being angry at the Creator:

Question: When we feel so much pain, feel angry with others, the corporeal world, and ourselves, due to our egoism, are we permitted to get angry with the Creator as well?

My Answer: No matter who you are angry at, you are really angry at the Creator, and that’s how He perceives it. After all, it is He who creates your picture of the world at each and every moment.

Question: You teach that according to equivalence of form, a person sees bad qualities in others only to the degree he has those qualities. What do you do when you hate the evil in you and in others, if everything around us is the Creator, who is Kind and Benevolent? It turns out that by hating evil, I hate the Creator!? How is it possible to combine hatred for evil and justification of the Kind and Benevolent?

My Answer: Only if you correct yourself and become kind to others, will you then become kind to the Creator and justify Him. This is equivalence of form.

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Questions I received on hell and heaven, dreams, and mental disorders:

Question: I’m starting to get interested in Kabbalah, and my first question is: do heaven and hell exist?

My Answer: Hell is the recognition that one’s egoism is evil, and shame for using it in the present (no one is judged for the past). Heaven is the feeling of delight from being similar to the Creator, from aspiring to selfless bestowal and love.

Question: A few months ago I was watching your morning lesson broadcast where you explained that sometimes a person confuses the means to the goal with the goal – the hostess with the maid. Can you please explain this again?

My Answer: The most important thing in life is to always make a clear distinction between what is the means – the entire world, and what is the goal – the Creator. For more on this, see the “Introduction to Talmud to Eser Sefirot.”

Question: I have a question about dreams. I had a dream this week that my teeth broke. The dream was pretty scary, and the next day I read from a Kabbalistic book of dreams that this means something bad. I wanted to ask you what to do in this case?

My Answer: Forget the dream and aspire toward the goal.

Question: From your post, Psychiatry and Kabbalah, I still don’t understand: can people with Bi-Polar Disorder study? ? I am a person with this disorder and it is very important for me to know if I can study or not. I don’t want to be wasting my time.

My Answer: I allow it in such cases, but only in moderate amounts.

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Two questions I received on doubts that arise along the way:

Question: Many people describe the moment they first encountered Kabbalah as a feeling of: “This is it! I finally found what I was destined for!” During my first encounter with Kabbalah I too felt that I found the most correct solution. What bothers me is that I still have constant doubts about this path, and I constantly push these doubts away with the help of the studies. Why don’t I have a sense of confidence?

My Answer: Other people also have the same doubts about the authenticity of this path, because every person must find and verify the authenticity of this teaching for himself. As a result of the doubts, in order to come out of them, a person develops and advances.

Our path is to study for ourselves what the Creator created. Therefore, if a person begins to look at himself from the point of view of an outsider and treats himself “from afar” or “from outside,” this helps him to study the Creator. The doubts will accompany you all the way until your full correction, because they are constantly generated by the new degree that is being revealed and it still uncorrected.

Question: Am I advancing in the right direction by studying the science of Kabbalah if I don’t accept everything I read or hear? Some things go straight into the heart and I accept them with all of my soul, but there are also moments of analysis and doubt.

My Answer: The authentic study is always built on examination. However, you should examine yourself as well: maybe it’s your egoism checking how profitable something is for it? An examiner must rise above himself and his egoistic interests, and be willing to accept things objectively. This should be the result of your examination. Only an “animal” doesn’t have any doubts, since it works by primitive egoism.

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A question I received: Since egoism has to go through all the stages of its development, can we tell exactly what stage of development a person is going through by what his aspirations are in this life? If, let’s say, a person is drawn to knowledge, does that mean that he’s gone through all the other stages already? And should we force ourselves to develop, finding ways to stimulate our desires?

My Answer: We shouldn’t pay attention to our desires. They emerge in us without our control, according to the laws of the soul’s development. We should instead focus on correcting our intention: how we relate to the desires that emerge in us, whether we wish to realize them “for our sake” or “for the sake of others” (by connecting to the group and studying the authentic sources).

Which desires emerge and change in you is something that does not depend on you. It depends on a multitude of reasons – the inner ones within you, and the external ones that are determined by the general state of all the souls, the system you are in.

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Two questions I received on religious observance:

Question: Weren’t the great Kabbalists such as Rav Ashlag , Moses Cordovero, and others religious? And why do you wear a Kippah (skullcap)!?

My Answer: You must distinguish between religion and a nation’s tradition or culture. When Baal HaSulam uses the word “religion,” he means only Kabbalah, which is for everyone. On the other hand, when he wants to speak about what we usually call “religion” in our world, he says “tradition” or “ethics (Musar).” See the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose.”

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full correction of the world, when everything will be revealed to all and there will be no place for faith (because “Everyone will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest”), the traditions will still remain as people’s culture. This is why I, who already live in this future, still respect the traditions of my nation, such as its holidays and other customs. This is also why I wear a Kippah (skullcap) and observe the rituals.

After the general correction of all souls in their earthly, bodily form, the souls will unite together into a one true soul of Adam on the level of the World of Infinity. At the same time the part of the souls that gives them a feeling of this world will also be corrected, and hence the perception of matter will also disappear. We will then continue to exist only in the form of the single soul of “Adam.”

Question: Why are there spiritual actions that we need to observe on the earthly level (such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group), as well as actions that we don’t have to observe physically (such as laying on the Tefillin)?

My Answer: Because actions such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group are real, whereas the others are still irrational for now, on your level, because you don’t yet have a screen to observe them. Regarding the actions that have a consequence in our world and the Upper World, each action is realized on its level and higher. The traditions should be observed by those to whom they belong by birth. This is one’s culture. Those from the nations of the world (non-Jews) who want to advance spiritually, don’t have to observe the corporeal traditions designated to Jews.

When you will gradually acquire a screen and start working with it, this is called observance of 613 commandments (correction of your intentions over 613 desires of the soul from “for yourself” to “for the Creator”) through 613 corrections (Tariag Eitin) and 613 fulfillments (Tariag Pkudin). You will start observing them yourself, as it is written, “A person’s soul teaches him.”

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News Report (from AFP): A summit of Central American leaders on Friday agreed to adopt a common regional currency and passport, among other measures to bolster regional integration in the face of global financial uncertainty, they said in a statement.

My Comment: Integration is always a good thing. Hence, they will feel some improvement and rejuvenation. However, they should take care to ensure that in the aftermath, their integration won’t become opposite to the whole world, but will facilitate everyone’s unification.

News Report (translated from newsru.com): The Russian Federation’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, S. Lavrov stated that nations should cast aside their geopolitical games and work together to save the world from the financial crisis. Lavrov noted that salvation can only be collective, by creating a single economic space between Russia, the USA and the European Union. The global financial crisis has clearly demonstrated that international cooperation must come before politics if we are to overcome economic disasters.

My Comment: We’re beginning to see the good consequences of the crisis: hunger is compelling us to make peace with each other. Do you see how the Creator toys with us!? Whether by goodness or suffering, He will force us to grow up, stop playing war, and bring the world to happiness instead of destruction.

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Questions I received on egoism and its correction:

Question: Almost every day we read news reports from different countries about parents killing their children, children killing parents, wives killing their husbands and husbands – their wives, grandchildren – their grandparents and so on. What is this? Is this one of the expressions of the global crisis?

My Answer: It’s the expression of the last stage of egoism at its initial stage. The prophets wrote that there will come a time when “compassionate women will boil and eat their own children” (Eikha 4:10). This is what will happen unless we heed the prophets’ warning and go through these times in a different way, in the Light of Kabbalah that corrects egoism.

Question: One way or another, the Creator compels us to develop through suffering. So a person doesn’t develop according to his free will, but out of necessity. But isn’t the Creator’s plan to create someone equal to Him, a partner? What kind of equality is this?

My Answer: The entire period of free will and independent development is still ahead of you. However, you can only be brought to it through suffering. Otherwise your egoism will push you to everything but spiritual development. Throughout all previous times, we developed only through the development of our egoism, but now we have been given the opportunity to develop under the influence of the Light. So now you have freedom – freedom of how to develop.

Question: “I want to be good to You in order for You to be good to me” – this is a quote from your book in Russian, To Be a Chosen Nation, p. 324. Isn’t this an egoistic intention? Or is it the corrected egoism?

My Answer: It is the corrected egoism. However, it isn’t always possible to understand the intention, because the words can only convey one’s desires. In other words: “I ask You to correct me and I will do anything for it.” And “good” means the quality of bestowal and love.

Question: Today every one of us egoistically feels like an individual. What will every one of us feel after the correction? Will each of us feel that the Common Kli is him?

Answer: Definitely, because this is how we were created: as parts of one whole. Instead of perceiving ourselves, we need to perceive the whole organism. The perception inside oneself is our world, whereas the perception outside oneself is the Upper World.

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Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (Pticha).
Items 13-16, summary:

13. Similar to how corporeal objects are separated by space, spiritual objects are separated by a difference in qualities. Two people whose views are similar are close, whereas two people whose views are opposite are far. And even if they’re in close physical proximity, they still feel distant from one another. So spiritual objects are close or far from one another only through their qualities: A difference of qualities separates them from one another, while similarity of qualities brings them closer, leading to adhesion.

The desire was created by the Creator, and is neither good nor bad. The creature’s state isn’t determined by the desire, but for whose sake the desire is used. The Creator bestows, and therefore when the creature uses the desire “for the sake of bestowal,” it is similar and close to the Creator. On the other hand, a creature that uses the desire “for its own sake” (for the sake of reception), is opposite to the Creator and hence distant from Him.

For the sake of brevity, in Kabbalah we use the terms: “will to receive” and “will to bestow,” but both allude to the usage of the same desire:

• “For one’s own sake” is called “to receive,” and
• “For the sake of the Creator (or for a friend)” is called “to bestow.”

However, one should never forget that the desire to bestow does not exist in nature. There is only the desire to receive (to receive fulfillment, pleasure). However, if this desire is used “for the Creator’s sake,” then it is absolutely equivalent to bestowal.

14. The fourth phase, which feels that it is opposite to the Creator, stops receiving the Light. This action is called Tzimtzum Aleph (the First Restriction). As a result, the desire remains empty. It then decides that it will only receive if this will please the Giver, the Creator.

15. Thus arises a new condition of reception – to receive only for the sake of the Creator. In so doing, the creature attains equivalence of form to the Creator. For example: a person comes to his friend’s house, who offers him to stay for dinner. Naturally, the guest will refuse the food, no matter how hungry he is, because he doesn’t like feeling like a receiver who doesn’t give anything in return (as he would in a restaurant, for instance). However, the host urges and persuades him, saying that the guest will please him greatly by receiving his food. When the guest feels that this is truly so, he agrees to receive the food, because he no longer feels that he is a receiver; on the contrary, he feels that he’s pleasing the host and doing him a favor by agreeing to receive from him.

It follows that despite the guest being hungry and unable to receive on account of the shame of receiving, the host’s persuasion and the guest’s refusal gave rise to a new condition: reception turned to bestowal. This happened due to a change in the guest’s intention. The guest receives, but his intention has changed. It is precisely the force of repulsion of the food, and not the feeling of hunger which is the actual desire, that became the basis for receiving the food.

16. We see that instead of using the desire directly, it is used in an “opposite” manner: the pleasure runs into refusal – the Screen, which stands in the Light’s way to the desire. Then the Reflected Light emerges – the desire to receive for the sake of the host. And only to the extent of this intention – the Reflected Light, the Direct Light is allowed to enter the desire. This reception of the Light is called “Zivug de Hakaa” (striking interaction) – first the strike, then the interaction.

The desires to receive for the Creator’s sake are called “pure” (from egoism). The desires to receive for their own sake are called “impure” (mired in egoism). They cannot receive the Upper Light and hence they are called “spiritually dead.”

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Globalization is the revelation of a new level of connection between us. It should be beneficial, but we see that it only brings us more and more problems. Why does this happen? It’s because we are using the global integral system backwards: in order to build ourselves up by bringing others down, instead of learning to work together. We are always trying to defeat, degrade, and be better than others.

This is happening because we have evolved to a point of total interconnection with each other, yet out interconnection is opposite to Nature, which is united. That’s because the interaction between us is absolutely egoistic: every person is ready to devour everyone else. However, the law of the system states that all of its parts must work together, in a coordinated fashion, according to the principle of “consider others as you consider yourself.”

When we attempt to build our interactions according to the most honest principle: “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours,” humanity as a system will deteriorate and we will elicit an even greater crisis. That’s because today, in our global interconnection, an egoistically honest person, business, bank, government, or regulator just “don’t work.”

So what should we do? We should consider the laws of the integral, locked system, which is like one body, and gradually correct ourselves according to it. In practical terms, this means:

• Arranging distribution so every person will receive only as much as he needs,

• Instituting a universal education system that teaches people about the law of humanity’s existence in a closed system.

Even the first movements we make in this direction will put an end to our opposition to Nature and bring us to harmony with it. Then the crises and suffering will vanish. Actually, the present crisis frees up enough people and forces in order to realize this project. Knowledge about the world we have suddenly found ourselves in will be met by everyone with understanding. The crisis taking place now has prepared us for this. Today we have to be reeducated about how to live in a closed, interconnected system, where “everyone is in one boat,” where the salvation of every person depends on everyone. We have to learn – and teach our children – about the new world.

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