The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out) – Part 2,” Item 373: With all the offerings, it does not say, “Observe,” as it is written, “Shall you observe to offer,” since observing [(Tishmeru) is ”keep,” (Shamor)] is the Nukva, who should bring closer above, to ZA, as it is written, “Shall you observe to offer unto Me,” offer the Nukva in its time, in the right and left [lines] of ZA, who are Abraham and Isaac.

The whole essence of sacrificial offerings is to come closer, to build the middle line by classifying desires. Whenever possible, desires should be used for merging and connection. The ones that are impossible to use that way should be removed as obstructions and filed. One should connect the right and the left lines so that the “fire blazes” and the Returning Light rises to the Creator. All discernments are performed only through the “sacrificial offerings” of one’s egoism.

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We have many different desires inside and each of them must go through correction in a specific order. Depending on the connection of desires inside the soul, a person reveals his connection with other people.

Therefore, we do not know the true reasons for the states we go through, but we have to understand that their order is predetermined. The only thing that depends on us is how to go through them: by way of Light or by way of suffering. In any case, without understanding why it is happening, we will have to accept the revelation of any state as a useful occurrence.

We don’t have any control over the things that are already happening. We have to accept the things that come to us with gratitude, correct them, and move on. We should never try to reject the next state because we thereby refuse to accept the means that are given to us for our advancement.

There are no states that do not facilitate advancement. Therefore, we shouldn’t torture ourselves with doubts: Is this a good state or a bad one? We shouldn’t give them any personal attitude. It’s best to look at the things happening to you “from aside,” as if you are an outside observer. I have to go through this state, and that means I act, go through it, and advance onwards. Everything is for the best (HaKol Le Tova)!

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/2010, The Zohar

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At the recent Mega-Congress we received sparks of Bina. We were filled by the sensation of bestowal, common unification, and society. Now we don’t have any of this, but the need for it or an empty desire has remained. It causes us to suffer, and our task is to immediately restore our connection with others, draw the Light, act together with everyone, and build a whole mechanism for accomplishing this.

All of this is a sensation of my first spiritual desire! For the first time ever I have received a spiritual vessel. Previously I only had animate and “universal” desires, but now I have received the emptiness of Bina – a sensation of the neighbor which is completely built on bestowal. I felt that there is someone else besides me in the world, and not just an object for me to use! This feeling came to me from Bina.

“The desire to enjoy” doesn’t feel this. A lion that wishes to have a deer for dinner does not relate to the deer as an individual. It just sees a hundred pounds of meat before him and needs this meat in order to survive. It sees everything that moves in front of it from this point of view, but it has no personal relationship with his surroundings and does not wish to inflict harm on anyone.

However, Bina, which is situated in us, is a part of the Upper One. It is the Creator’s quality and it reveals our inner relationship to “people.” During a Convention such as the Mega-Congress I acquire this attitude to the neighbor; I realize his importance and receive pleasure or fulfillment through him.

When the Convention is over, I feel unwell. This is not because my desire simply grew, but the feeling is now coming from a different field altogether, from the spiritual dimension. It is a part of the world to come! Therefore, it can be filled only from there with the help of the group, the studies, and other common, mutual actions.

This is the remedy called “proceeding by the path of the Light.” It is when we build a desire inside us on our own and take care of its fulfillment ahead of time. Then we advance like an old man who walks hunched over and searches for something ahead of time, as through he has lost something.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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When a person comes to study Kabbalah with the question, “What am I living for and why?” it is necessary to explain to him the following:
1. What this desire is that has emerged in him and what kind of fulfillment it demands;
2. What is human nature (the ego, the source of evil), how to correct it, and that this is our only free action (freedom of will).

To accomplish this it is necessary to study Baal HaSulam’s articles with him, especially “The Freedom” and “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” which explain that the revelation of the Creator to the created beings is the means to attain the goal of creation. Other articles by Baal HaSulam help a beginning student form an integral picture of existence: the worlds, the beginning, the development, the goal of every element of creation, evil and suffering as the force of movement, and so on.

When a person has the general picture, he goes on to discern: How does advancement and correction take place? He learns that the soul is the main creation which was broken by the Creator and then becomes corrected by us. To accomplish this one already needs the articles of Rabash. Their purpose is to put a person into his place inside the society in order to discern the breaking and what needs to be corrected. How do you correct the breaking of the souls?

That is why we are studying together using Kabbalah books, in particular, the books of Baal HaSulam because they are able to give our generation the force, the Light that Reforms and corrects us until we reach the level of the Source.

It is not necessary to go through this material in order because a person goes through different states. A beginner finds himself in the middle of the study process, but that doesn’t matter. What counts is that he is working together with everyone because we are all inter-included and intertwined in our souls and desires.

Therefore, it is not so important which article you begin studying, but it is best to have a clear order of study which is directly aimed at the goal.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/9/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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It is said in Mishnah (Ta’anit 26:2): There are no happier days for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) for on them the maidens of Jerusalem used to go out dressed in white garments, borrowed ones, however, in order not to cause shame to those who had none of their own… and thus the maidens went out and danced in the vineyards, saying: ‘Young men, look and observe well whom you are about to choose?’

The pretty ones among the maidens, what did they say? "Regard but beauty alone because a woman is made for beauty." Those from the noble families among them, what did they say? "Rather look to a family for a woman is made to bear children." The wealthy ones among the maidens, what did they say? "Look at those with considerable wealth." The ill-favored ones among them, what did they say? "Take us for the glory of Heaven and crown us with the golden adornments."

The “ill-favored maidens of Jerusalem” is the last phase of Malchut, Dalet-de-Dalet, called “poor and wretched.” A person runs away from a work like this, having no motivation or desire for it because all this work is by “faith above reason.” But it is created this way on purpose to help one attain spirituality.

A person has to understand that if his egoistic desire doesn’t work any more, if he lacks any desire at all, or if the beauty or fulfillment doesn’t attract him any longer, then it is a sign that he needs another type of “fuel.” A person is given the chance to imagine a state in which he isn’t “bribed” by his egoism and to understand that if he continues working in the same manner, it will be “for the sake of bestowal.”

However, where does he get “anti-fuel” that will allow him to work without energy or fulfillment of his egoism? This is the state where a person starts to comprehend that he needs the Creator’s help. If he doesn’t get power from Above called the Light, he won’t be able to move at all. If someone wants to reach bestowal without being compensated by “wealth,” “beauty,” or “nobility,” but rather chooses a “poor and wretched wife” (according to an estimation of his own egoism), that is, if he chooses to bestow unconditionally, then he arrives at The Day (property of the Light) of Joy and Love (15th of Av).

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/10, Article “15th of Av”

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The first man was created with only bestowing Kelim, Galgalta veEynaim. He did not have desires to receive, the AHP, for he still needed to acquire them. And he did not simply need desires to receive, but desires that are ready for correction, meaning desires that include sparks of bestowal.

There is no need to correct the Galgata veEynaim since this is not a person; it is an angel in the Garden of Eden. What was needed was a person with a broken soul, with all the preparations for correction, and this is why the breaking occurred.

However, breaking alone was not enough since a person does not feel that he is broken – he was born this way! Being broken, he has no contact with the Light relative to which he could measure himself and realize his state. Now he needs to gradually accumulate the definitions inside himself in order to understand that he is broken. And he does this due to two components: his desire to enjoy and the spark of bestowal. They both need to be cultivated.

He engages in this until by checking one against another, he reaches a state of disappointment. Then he can begin the correction in order to become human.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/20, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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The nature of this world is egoistic, and we were born into desire whose nature is to receive. Hence, this desire is constantly pulling and pushing me toward pleasure, not leaving me alone for a second. Each moment it is creating a new need in me, enticing me with new sources of pleasure. It turns out that in this world I am under the persistent pressure of the force of nature that awakens in me the sensation of pain and suffering. Hence, if I do nothing, there is no punishment. The urge to do something derives from nature because I am controlled by the force that is pushing me “from behind.”

On the other hand, there is no pushing force in spiritual development since there is no coercion there. It is up to me to gain, collect, accumulate, and arrange a force within myself that will advance me. Therefore, in order to help us who reside within our egoism (the desire to receive pleasure) to advance spiritually, we are “punished” if we don’t work. That is, we are punished for inaction.

If we start paying attention to our feelings, we will recognize that they come from the Creator. This will greatly help us to react more correctly and advance. If we start seeing the Creator’s attitude to us, punishment for our idleness in work, in every state that we go through, we will be able to better prepare for each new action moment to moment. We will see that the Creator is always first and that He invites and guides us to act. All we need to do is pay attention to what He is saying, to how He is working within us, and according to that, discern the details of our work. Afterward, our entire work entails uniting our souls, where the Creator will reveal Himself to us.

Within this unity, sensing how the Creator is guiding us, we will begin to perceive the Direct Light, the Reflected Light, and all the other actions that we are studying in the wisdom of Kabbalah. We will begin to perceive how they manifest among us. In this way, the Creator pushes us to connect so that our desires correspond with His.

Hence, the Creator doesn’t punish but corrects our trajectory.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, Article, “I Am the First and I Am the Last”

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People think that prayer relates to religion and religious people, and that it is removed from regular, secular people. But that is not true! All of our external garments, physical bodies, and objects surrounding us in this world are expressions of desire. There is nothing but desire, which creates all these clothings for itself.

Therefore, without being aware of it, we determine our entire lives with our desires, including what state we will enter in the next moment and how we will experience this reality! Whether we want it or not, we are all always praying, or asking for some kind of fulfillment for our desire. We do it completely unconsciously. I don’t have to pray for someone or something intentionally. Desire comprises our entire inner essence, and my sensation that I lack something is called prayer.

We want something at every moment. That is how we influence reality, which contains nothing but desire and the force of desire. This means that at every moment I want something and I pray for it. Our desires connect with one another and control the entire universe, continually producing new pictures and new states for us.

We build this world with our prayers! Therefore, the only thing we need is to change our requests, despite the desire of our heart. Then we will reveal a new world because the whole world is the sensation inside my desire.

The science of Kabbalah is named after the word “Kabbalah,” reception, because it talks about what you will receive the next moment. Only you determine what the next moment will be, what you will receive and feel in it. Will you be able to change your vision of the world, directing your desire in the necessary direction (which is called prayer)? If you change your prayer so that instead of desiring what you desire now, you desire the right thing, then you will change the entire picture of the world and all of reality.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/10, “The Importance of the Prayer of the Many”

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What is the Purpose of Creation?
Questions about the post “Kabbalists On The Purpose Of Creation,” Part 5

Question: Aren’t the desire to receive and a material body the same?

My Answer: Yes, because bodies don’t exist; the desire to receive is the only creation.

Question: Is the law of cause and consequence the same at a certain degree as well as while “descending degree-by-degree”?

My Answer: The law of gradual consecutive development is the same for both the general and the particular.

Question: It is said that this world is an exact copy of the spiritual world.
1. Is the task of humanity to correct itself in order to allow this world to reclaim its place in spirituality?
2. Humanity’s correction directly depends on the correction of each individual. Can we arrive at the conclusion that the law of “love thy neighbor as thyself” will soon look as follows: The point in the heart will be revealed in every person in the world and people will try to sense their neighbors as themselves in order to fill them and thus become similar to the Creator (giving)?

Is it correct that in order to achieve this, each person will make a resolution to start giving, and, as a result, everybody will sense other people’s desires as their own? Then, will everybody start working with the desires of others as if they were their own? Will such work eliminate the necessity to materialize certain desires like murder, theft, and so on?

My Answer: All of this is absolutely correct!

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Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot, Item 5: Now you will understand what is written in The Zohar: “With this composition, the Children of Israel will be redeemed from exile.” Also, in many other books, it is written that only through the expansion of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the masses will we obtain complete redemption.

The sages also said, “The Light in it reforms him.” … Both the individual and the nation will not complete the aim for which they were created, except by attaining the internality of the Torah and its secrets. … Consequently, the expansion of the wisdom and the coming of our Messiah are interdependent.

Stated differently, it is impossible for us to achieve correction without the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah. A person is built such that he is incapable to connecting to the Upper World on his own because he is opposite to it. He can only do it “artificially.”

We exist in this world, in an egoistic desire that wants everything for one’s own sake. But within this desire it is possible for a small egoistic desire for the Upper World, the point in the heart, to awaken. In our heart, meaning the desires of this world, we feel emptiness and disillusionment. But in addition to this sensation of emptiness in our world, a point in the heart awakens within us, a vague aspiration that longs for something higher.

These two desires together, the emptiness of this world and the aspiration for the Upper World, are the preparation for perceiving the Upper World. This is the most a person can receive inside him in this world to further his spiritual advancement. He receives the rest from outside, from artificial means in this world: a Kabbalistic group, teacher, and Kabbalah books. These means have been prepared for us from Above, and this opportunity does not exist in our world.

It turns out that an embryo of the future, the point in the heart, is present inside a person. Outside of it emerges the embryo of the future environment: the group, teacher and books. Through this environment a person connects to the spiritual world.

Abraham revealed the emergence of the following in man: a point of the soul and the environment (the books, teacher, and group). This enables one to attract Light from the spiritual world, which develops the soul from the point. Once the soul develops, a person is able to ascend into spirituality.

The point and its environment constitute our smallest spiritual state which has been broken, meaning it became egoistic. By using it we are able to correct the point – the broken, egoistic embryo of the soul.

This is why the dissemination of the science of Kabbalah is absolutely necessary, since without it none of us would know what to do and how to develop the embryo of the soul, the point, with the help of the environment (the books, teacher, and group). When we develop and correct it, then inside it we perceive the spiritual world.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/30/10, Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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