The Light’s revelation in the spiritual world is called “day.” Hence, “morning” is followed by “noon” and the afternoon prayer. The desire to enjoy grows inside of a person and he feels that he passes through various states. The “daytime hours” go by until this new egoistic desire grows so strong that the Light begins to be restricted and the sun begins to set. The person no longer has a sufficient amount of the Light of Hassadim in order to retain the Light of Hochma. His desire to enjoy has grown before receiving corrections.

As a result, “evening” sets in when he no longer can discern the desire to receive from the desire to bestow or the light from the darkness; everything is mixed together. He enters a “recumbent” state when Rosh-Toch-Sof (the head, body, and extremities of his soul) of his spiritual Partzuf are on the same level. He makes no calculations as he’s incapable of any.

The only thing he can do is maintain his “still” level and so he “goes to sleep,” which is a state that is very close to death. It’s in that state of “night” that he re-attains “unity,” the bond between souls and their union with the Creator, so that the Upper Light upholds him even in descent.

From here, we need to draw conclusions as to how to prepare ourselves for darkness at this preparatory stage before reaching the spiritual degrees. This is done by binding ourselves to the group, the Kabbalah books, and the study to form as many connections or “support blocks” as possible. When we make this correction, the “night” will end and “day” will begin anew.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 04/04/10, The Zohar

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Shamati #16: “What is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord in the Work” – Lesson 1

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The Zohar, Chapter "Shemot (Exodus)," Item 250: For fear that they would mingle the tribes with the rest of the nations… He exiled them to Egypt, who were proud and despised and loathed Israel. And they were there until the iniquity of the Amorites was full and they came to their own land, for there was no longer fear of mingling with the rest of the nations.

How do we draw closer to the desired state when we build the middle line within ourselves? The middle line which is our similarity to the Light, to the One who bestows, or the Creator happens precisely due to the state called "the Egyptian Exile" that becomes revealed within us.

My egoistic desire becomes so big that I feel that I am locked in it and that it controls me. Then, I begin to discern between myself and my nature, between myself and my egoism, or between myself and my properties.

I would like to change my properties, but I’m incapable of doing that. I see that they harm me; I realize that I corrupt myself, my life, the lives of those who are close to me, and the entire world. I put myself and everyone else in danger because I exist in this endlessly growing egoism that I can’t temper. Yet I’m unable to do anything with it.

Then, there comes a state where a person begins to realize that the force acting in him is an alien force. He doesn’t identify himself with it any longer. He begins to perceive it as his bitter enemy. This is called, "Now a new king arose over Egypt” (Exodus, 1:8). A person begins to feel that a new dominion has been revealed, and that this is not him but someone else who sets up all this for him. It could be Nature or the Creator, but it’s not him. He doesn’t know how to free himself from it.

As if from the side, a person now sees his desire to receive pleasure as something alien to him. He begins to discern the Creator as the one Who organizes all of this for him. He already has the same attitude both to the Pharaoh and to the Creator.

He then experiences an internal split, the realization that there exists the Upper Force which determines everything that happens with him. However, this revelation doesn’t happen on its own, but only after multiple hours of study, uniting with friends in the group, and working in dissemination during which the person is practically engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 247: Sixty is Malchut, the mighty ones above, from the side of Gevura that cling to carvings, meaning to the externality of the holy Haya of Israel, which is Malchut. This is why they are named after her, sixty queens [Malchuts]. Those are angels appointed over the nations. Eighty maidservants are the angels appointed by the carvings of Malchut, beneath the sixty queens. This is why they are called maidservants and not queens. And there is no number to the maidens….

Everything that we read in The Zohar transpires within desire. There is nothing else but desire. We are reading about its inner phenomena, changes, and various relationships between its parts.

It is a great device, collectively called Malchut, which needs to change, each time bringing itself to greater equivalence to the Light. Therefore, all the names and terms written in The Zohar exist within Malchut, within our desires, in their various interrelationships.

Hence, we need only think of how to draw the Light to the desire described by The Zohar. Though we don’t understand specifically which qualities or changes are being depicted, or anything that’s going on there, still we await redemption: for the Light to influence this desire, for us to understand and sense the desire and the Light that fills it, and to feel them together. Indeed, it is impossible to feel one without the other, but only if there is contact between them, even to the very first, minimal measure.

That is what we are waiting for. And all the words and letters that we read in The Book exist only in this desire – in our soul.

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A question I received: What should one’s intention be while reading The Book of Zohar: to reveal the Light between the friends, to reveal the text within oneself, or both of these together? And which is more important?

My Answer: I don’t consider the two separate. We talk about how the whole world is inside a person, and the entire reality that I perceive exists within me. Even though I currently exist inside an illusion, thinking that I see friends in front of me, the surrounding world, enemies, houses, stars, and everything else, the fact is that all of this is my own desire. That’s how I perceive it.

My desire contains spheres. Some of them are my inner spheres, called root (Shoresh), soul (Neshama), and body (Guf). Then there is a more external sphere, called garments (Levush) as well as a more external one called house (Eichal).

This is why I perceive myself inside the inner spheres (the root, soul, and body), and in the external spheres (the garments and house) I perceive the world, which seems to be outside of me. This is so because during the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet), the two external spheres separated from me and became outside in relation to me. That’s why they surround me. However, in reality they are mine. They exist inside of me and I only perceive them as external.

Since my inner desires are Keter, Hochma, and Bina, or root, soul, and body, inside them I perceive the Inner Light – NaRaN. In the desires surrounding me (garments and house) there is a weak surrounding glow and that’s why I don’t consider them very important. I depend on them to some extent; for example, the stars and the sun shine for me and the world surrounds me, but the most important thing is me.

I don’t even suspect that my most important desires are precisely the ones outside of me. And they are all mine. It’s just that I exist inside an illusion where they seem foreign to me.

So where is the group, the teacher, the Creator, The Book of Zohar, the entire world, my spouse and my children? They are all inside my desires. Who did I marry? My desire. Who did I yell at today? Who did I laugh at? It was all my own desires. All of it is me.

You might say, “So you’re saying that I am inside of you, but I say that you are inside of me, who’s right?” The answer is that both are correct.

As long as we don’t ascend above this world into spirituality, we won’t be able to free ourselves from this illusion. However, if I view the whole world as my desire, then it’s much easier for me to go from this illusory perception of reality to the true sensation of reality.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Chayei Sarah (The Life of Sarah),” Item 172: “And he made the camels kneel outside the city by the well of water.” “Outside the city” means in the graveyard. “By the well of water,” which precedes the revival of the dead in the graveyard. Those are the ones that negotiated in the Torah, since what is the first thing that one is asked when he goes into the grave? If he set times for the Torah, it is written, “And the stability of your times.” It is even more so when he comes out, there is no question about reviving them first.

A question I received: How does Torah study help a person when he goes into the grave?

My Answer: One studies the Torah and because of this he “dies” at the previous level and goes down into the “grave.” This death is required before a person renews himself and is reborn on a new level.

The desire for pleasure remains in the form of a “fetus” (Ibur) until it completes this stage and has to be born. The prior state turns into the “grave.” The mother’s womb that once comprised the whole life of the fetus, and which one knew in every detail because he grew up in it, now transforms into “the grave.” The egoistic desire that a person starts to reject and is unable to work with any longer is forced to turn itself into a new state.

This is why a person is asked: “Did you set times for study of Torah? Did you want the Light to act upon you?” Now a new state will be revealed. You applied all your efforts toward spiritual growth while staying in the mother’s womb. Now, the womb turns into the grave, and you are born with a new desire.

How else could we come to a new degree? Why can’t we just leap over the degrees? It is because we have to accumulate the desires that are associated with each prior step. By  going through them, a new degree becomes obvious for us. A new degree doesn’t just descend to us from Above. One’s former desires that were previously worked on perfect themselves, thus transforming into a new level.

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Everything depends on the desire; everything is revealed within the desire. Therefore, we only need a properly organized, formed, and goal-oriented desire. In order to mold our desire, to give it the right form, which is ready to be fulfilled by the Creator, the Creator plays a “hide and seek” game with us: He alternately conceals and reveals Himself. A person doesn’t always recognize this game, but it occurs constantly with every person until one is corrected.

It is necessary to recognize all the time that the whole world is no more than the manifestation of the Creator in various images: people we hate, people we love, people that help, people that interfere, ones that are close,  ones that are distant from us, friends, and completely unknown people. Everything comes from the Creator: all these people as well as inanimate nature, vegetation, animals, and all the thoughts and desires of a human being – everything except the point of our “I.” This point, this “I,” is the point of view, from which a person wishes to grow and become similar to the Creator.

The Creator uses all these manifestations of images, thoughts, and desires in the game He conducts with us. As He conceals and reveals, He brings us closer or further away; however, the Creator does both only with one intention: to stir us, as it is written, “The Upper Light stirs and evokes desires.” If, despite the fact that we are thrown from side to side all the time, we use all our strength to try to keep ourselves in the thought that everything comes from the Creator, since “There is none else beside Him,” and the Creator is undoubtedly “Good and does good,” our desires become broader and deeper this way.

If one truly “holds on with his teeth,” not allowing himself to turn away from the thought and the sensation that it is the Creator who carries out all the actions in regard to him, then a person sees how to properly use every minute of life. After all, every opponent is actually not an opponent, but rather a helper to allow one to hold onto the Creator in extreme states.

A person can advance in this manner until he reaches a state, where he is willing to do anything and can withstand everything only to not part with the Creator. This is the only thing he asks for. He sees very important exercises in these obstacles, which are sent to him with love by the Creator. The Creator just awaits a person’s willingness so that He can reveal Himself to him.

A person advances in this manner until he completes this whole process, which is called concealment or the  period of preparation and then he achieves Lishma (for bestowal) from Lo Lishma (not for bestowal). When the Creator sees that a person has completed this whole process, He reveals Himself, and the “escape” (Brach) turns into a blessing (Barech) of the Creator.”

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A question I received: I feel bad right now, while it is written that the Creator is “Good that does good” and “There is none else beside Him.” How do I turn this negative feeling into a positive one in order to truly feel that the Creator is good that does good?

My Answer: If you turn your desire into a good one, you will feel that the One who caused all this for you is also good and does good, according to the law of equivalence of qualities. It is written: “Even when a sharp sword is raised over you, you will not despair in His kindness.” After all, this all comes from the Creator and every person receives a “hardened heart” (like Pharaoh whose heart was hardened by The Creator) in order to come out of his state of Egypt.
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A question I received: Baal HaSulam writes about things that humanity went through a long time ago – socialism and communism. Aren’t these things ancient history now, and we don’t want to go back to them?

My Answer: Our entire reality takes place inside our egoistic desire, which develops and undergoes different stages as it gradually grows under the influence of the Upper Light. This is also why the desire invents various theories regarding what kinds of relationships are more beneficial for it to have with its nature and with human society. It is according to this that its attitude to socialism, Marxism, and all other periods’ changes.

This is not determined by how “developed” or “undeveloped” we are, but only by the Upper Light’s influence upon us. It leads us through various social structures in order to develop our egoism. Therefore, we have to understand the way by which the Upper Light leads us through all the socio-economic formations because then we will understand what Baal HaSulam writes about in the newspaper, The Nation, and this will also help us to understand the things happening to us today.

Baal HaSulam thinks that Marx reached an awareness of the process of correction by the Upper Force, but thought that people would reveal their spiritual birth, which is inherent in nature, on their own, through practice. However, Baal HaSulam ascertained that this theory can only be applied in a developed society, rather than Russia, which was socially and politically retrograde.

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The spiritual goal is unity – the unification of a person who aspires to the Creator, the Light of Correction, and the Creator into one whole. A person has to remain inside this goal in every state and at every moment. Then he will advance toward it.

But how can he advance if he is already inside the goal? Where can he keep advancing if he has already “caught” the goal right now, at this very moment? The answer is that a moment later he will receive a greater desire to enjoy, and then he will have to “catch” the goal once again. That is how we advance, step by step.

Don’t think that the goal is shining for you from somewhere far ahead and you will reach it one day. You have to attain it right here and now, and not a moment later.

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Before creation reaches a state of fulfillment, there is a prerequisite process of obtaining a desire to get fulfilled. Everyday examples of this preparation for the anticipation of fulfillment are animals’ mating rituals or our “saving our appetite” for a special meal. The preparatory stage that creates a desire to get fulfilled is always more important that the fulfillment itself because it defines the measure and kind of pleasure we eventually experience.

In spirituality, everything depends on the desire since the Light (Pleasure) is everlastingly unlimited and absolutely tranquil. It completely fills the space around us at each given moment. What we lack is a desire to receive It and the tools to perceive It.

However, a desire to get the Light is being built in us gradually by adding “spices”: “pepper,” “salt,” “mustard,” and other “seasonings” that stimulate our appetite. It’s similar to a game of “flirting,” that the Creator plays with us by repeatedly letting us taste the pleasure and then taking it away from us. This “game” builds and refines our right attitude towards our future fulfillment.

The Torah is called “a spice” (Torah Tavlin) because it reveals to us the desire, teaches us how to grow it, and then how to correctly fulfill it. Specifically, it leads us toward the right pleasures and fulfillments that await us in the future. At present, we are trying to shape the correct desire with the help of the Torah; without it we won’t be able to sense the Light even though it is all around us.

We don’t have desires that target and help us to reveal the Light yet. It is like a radio that needs to tune into a certain frequency (wavelength) in order to receive the transmitted signal. The radio has to create a wavelength that sufficiently matches the one that exists outside of it, in order to attract the outside wave.

Due to our studies, we receive a small “taste of spiritual flavors” and attract the Light that elevates us, and then it lets us fall. Sometimes it feels good and other times not so good. However, this is how we build a vessel for the Light, a tool for its perception. In other words, we create “a wave” that is similar to the Light that exists outside of us; it is only then that we become able to attain It.

As soon as the “instrument” is ready, it starts to receive the Light. There is no secret to this. It seems a mystery to us only because we don’t see it and our desire is not ready for it yet. This is our only problem. There is nothing that is hidden outside of us; the concealment is within us.

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