Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (“Pticha”) – Item 1, summary:

1. The Creator’s plan is to create the creatures in order to delight them. This is why He created the will to receive pleasure – the pleasure that He wishes to bestow. This desire is the creation that was created.

The Creator’s desire to fulfill is infinite, and therefore the desire to enjoy He created is also infinite.

The pleasure (the Light) creates a matching desire (Kli or vessel) for itself. Hence they are completely interconnected from the very beginning. Nevertheless, the pleasure is primary, and the desire it created is secondary. The pleasure determines the desire, although both stem from the Creator.

The Light exists in the Creator from the very beginning, whereas the will to receive (pleasure) He created is something essentially new, which never existed before. That’s because the only desire the Creator has is to love and bestow.

Desire is the essence of the creation, its matter. All of the various creatures originate from it; they are different “portions” of the desire. All the events happening to them are changes in their desires.

Everything that the desires or creatures have, everything that fulfills their desires, is Light or pleasure which comes directly from the Creator.

Therefore, everything that exists is comprised of the Light and the Kli, and comes from the Creator. It either comes directly – as Light, or indirectly – as the desire, which is absent in the Creator, but was created by Him for delighting the creatures.

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Questions I received on the soul’s correction:

Question: Which actions bring about the soul’s correction?

My Answer: When the quality of bestowal is born in a person, helping him rise above his egoism.

Question: How is this expressed on the corporeal level, among people who study and don’t study Kabbalah?

My Answer: It doesn’t. No one around you will notice anything. How could they?

Question: How is love for others implemented if the corporeal aspect is not used?

My Answer: Through thoughts and intentions. If possible, also through actions – the dissemination of Kabbalah.

Question: What is the purpose of this blog?

My Answer: To explain the purpose of the world’s creation and how to attain it through the good path.

Question: What is the purpose of man’s existence?

My Answer: To attain the purpose of his creation.

Question: Why don’t these two things coincide?

My Answer: Because people do not want to actualize the method of attaining the goal and instead prefer to be on the path of suffering.

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A question I received: Are you still collaborating with the scientists who were in the film, “Ups and Downs in San Francisco”? The film’s ending was very promising for future collaboration. I’ve also found another community of scientists on the Internet. Perhaps you’d be interested in working with them as well?

My Answer: Although scientists are revealing the crisis (and you don’t have to be a scientist to see it), mankind as a whole – scientists included – do not yet understand the nature of the crisis nor its consequences. They don’t understand that our global connection has made us completely different from what we were before. We are now a unified community. And Nature (or the Creator) regards us completely differently as well: today He demands that we be equivalent to Him; He demands unity!

Since people don’t realize this yet, conventional science continues to receive funding, which means that the old science continues. If something will happen to make people pause and reflect, then it’ll spell the end of the funding. This is why I continue to conduct TV interviews with scientists in my studio, but I no longer look for opportunities to give lectures in their midst.

I think that it’s time to make a new movie about the crisis and its solution, similar to “What the Bleep Do We Know!?” – but this time, about the global, human crisis of our civilization, which includes small crises such as the financial and social ones.

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News report (translated from Utro.ru): V. Makarov, president of “Russoft,” announced that the Russian segment of the Internet must be protected from the rest of the World Wide Web with a special gateway filter. Similar gateways are already operating in China and Singapore. The gateway consists of hundreds of thousands of servers that receive information from international sites and then filter it. The project is estimated to cost 1 billion dollars.

My Comment: According to Kabbalah, everything that goes against drawing closer together, communication, integration, and globalization, also goes against Nature. Nature’s objective it is to develop man and society, to bring mankind to unity, reciprocal love and bestowal. Projects like this will bring the people who implement them nothing but crises and miseries!

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A question I received: I think that the main problem that people have with you is that you teach Kabbalah to everyone, even secular people and non-Jews.

My Answer: Here’s a quote about this by the Rabbi from Breslav in Likutei Yedut Meshulash, chapter “Emet Ve Tzedek”:

“In every generation there is judgment over the righteous. This argument is mostly about the righteous who draw closer the souls that are most alienated from the Creator, because the quality of opposition is revealed on the scale of the souls and jealousy arises in the heart of the world. Sometimes jealousy arises in the hearts of the sages, forcing them to contradict those who are righteous who bring the souls so close that it seems to them that their actions are wrong. This happens again and again, and continues, and it started back when the tribes of Israel argued with Joseph.”

So I’m not worried, and I suggest you relax as well!

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Two questions I received on prophecy:

Question: You don’t say whether there are any great Kabbalists in our time. What about prophets?

My Answer: As my answer I’ll quote the following news report (from livescience.com): “Hours before China’s worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely. Three days before the earthquake, thousands of toads roamed the streets of Mianzhu, a hard-hit city where at least 2,000 people have been reported killed. The day of the earthquake, zebras were banging their heads against a door at the zoo in Wuhan, more than 600 miles east of the epicenter. Elephants swung their trunks wildly, 20 lions and tigers, which normally would be asleep at midday, were walking around, and five minutes before the quake hit, dozens of peacocks started screeching.”

Question: Are these animals prophets?

My Answer: A prophet is someone who is connected with Nature (the Creator). If one unifies with Nature, then he perceives it beyond time – not in relation to himself, but the way it truly is. The past, present, and future converge into one. So go ahead and make predictions!

A Kabbalist is someone who has restored a part of his connection with the Creator, and to that degree he understands His thought, plan, and goal. He can continue increasing his similarity with the Creator (the quality of bestowal that exists in Nature) to the level where he can fully comprehend Him – the level of a prophet.

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Egoistic religion: Nature and Science, the two most quoted science magazines, have published synoptic articles on the origin of religion (“The Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality” in Science, and “Religion: Bound to Believe?” in Nature). This topic became popular again after the release of Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion. Dawkins supposes that the spread of computer and biological viruses is similar to the spread of religious ideas: that their spread is based on an egoistic mechanism, and this is why we are so susceptible to religious ideas.

Altruistic religion: Canadian psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Azim Shariff of the University of British Columbia went even further. In an article published in Science magazine they suppose that the value of religion must be tied to the stimulation of positive behavior and personal example, and with people’s egoistic need to constantly display their high moral qualities, trustworthiness and willingness to sacrifice their personal interests for the benefit of society.

Kabbalah: These ideas are surpassed by Kabbalah, which allows man to ascend entirely above his egoism and to make it “absolutely useful” to society, by giving everything and receiving only what is necessary in order to live and bestow. In this scenario the reward is not what one receives from society, but comes from the Creator – closeness with the Creator. This is what gives one the energy and inspiration to work wholeheartedly for the benefit of the society.

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Two questions I received on Kabbalah as a science:

Question: On one hand it says that Kabbalah only talks about the Upper Worlds, but on the other hand it says that Kabbalah is a science about all of reality. If Kabbalah speaks only about spirituality and not about electrons and other such things, then it would be pointless to hold discussions with scientists, such as Dr. Jeffrey Satinover! After all, Kabbalah talks about the reality that is above matter, before it’s perceived within our senses.

My Answer: Kabbalah talks about the Upper World and the descent of the forces into our world. This is why it is the foundation of the sciences of our world. Recently scientists have begun to understand issues that border the two worlds. When these people – such as Dr. Jeffrey Satinover – receive a positive impression of Kabbalah, they then help us to popularize it.

Question: You are certain that Kabbalah is a science and that a Kabbalist attains it by conducting an inner research of the world. Is it possible that this research is actually the subjective science of a specific individual, who revealed it as a result of a specific path? Would it be correct to say that Kabbalah isn’t a science in and of itself, but only when a person realizes it in practice? What do you think of those who constantly study but don’t advance toward the truth in action? How does Kabbalah regard this?

My Answer: You lack the basic knowledge from the articles: “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Kabbalah as a Root of All Sciences,” and “Preface to The Book of Zohar”. It’s impossible to explain all of this here. If you really want to know rather than to just negate, you’ll find the answers there.

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Questions I received on the spiritual path:

Question: I have been studying Kabbalah for a pretty long time (4+ years) and have been doing dissemination from the very beginning. From my first lesson and to this day, whenever I am especially impressed by something in the lesson (or by news of some great dissemination going on), I feel a clear physical sensation that is unique and that I never feel in any other situation. It feels like a wave of energy (like electricity) is going through my body, and is sort of a nice feeling. However, it always leaves me puzzled – I don’t know if this is normal, what it means, and how to relate to it. I know that spirituality is not supposed to be reflected in corporeality and shouldn’t be confused with it, but I’ve wanted to ask you this for a long time. What does it mean, and how should I relate to it?

My Answer: Gradually, everything will reach balance. You just need to alternate studying with dissemination.

Question: Would you please elaborate on how to measure one’s efforts? I may think that I am exerting a lot of effort where others might look at me and say that I’m not. And in which area should the efforts be made: dissemination or study?

My Answer: If you are always thinking about spiritual advancement, this means that you are making the necessary efforts.

Question: How do you explain it when a person who wasn’t sleepy at all before the lesson starts falling asleep during the lesson?

My Answer: This happens because the material you study does not coincide with your spiritual or physical interests and desires.

Question: I am on the path of suffering, but I never part with the book Shamati in English. What else should I do to make sure that everything I’m going through won’t be a waste?

My Answer: Study, connect to others, and disseminate. In particular, during the period of suffering, or in other words, while you still haven’t evoked the Upper Light upon you, you should focus most of all on dissemination together with the friends.

Question: I have been studying Kabbalah for two years and I have already had several descents. Right now I am in a state of a descent, which started a week and a half ago. It brought me to an environment of people who are not interested in spirituality. Now my depression is telling me that I need to go back to studying. How can I live with this?

My Answer: This is the Creator’s way of pushing you towards Him, because the descents also come from Him. You need a group, a thorough reading of the Shamati materials, and constant studies with us. Otherwise you won’t make it!

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A question I received: What exactly is the Machsom? I wanted to find a precise definition in Talmud Eser Sefirot and other technical studies, but couldn’t manage to find it. In fact, this concept doesn’t seem to exist in any article or book by Baal HaSulam or Rabash. So, my questions are:

1. Is it a technical Kabbalistic term (like Masach, for instance)?
2. If it is, why don’t the greatest Kabbalists of our generation mention it?
3. If it is not, why do you use it, and can the Machsom be explained by another non-technical term?

My Answer: The Machsom is a word that Rabash often used during our private conversations. In his public talks he used it rarely, because he never talked about the practical crossing of the Machsom. There are rare instances when it is mentioned in the text. Here’s one such instance:

תשמ”ה – מאמר כ’ 1984/85 – מאמר 20

אנו צריכים לדעת, שיש שני מפריעים, שעומדים נגד האדם ולא נותנים לעבור את המחסום, להגיע לאהבת ה’, היות שהאדם נולד עם רצון לקבל לעצמו…

Rabash’s 20th article from 1984-1985:

We have to know that there are two obstructions standing before man, preventing him from crossing the Machsom and attaining love for the Creator, because man is born with the will to receive for himself…

I advise you to look for it in the texts on your own. I’m sure that there are other instances, although they are rare.

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