Hebrew is a special language, created by the union of the Lights and Kelim. Malchut unites with Bina, and this causes the emergence of the inclined border (Parsa) in the letter Alef.

The Light of Hochma comes down to Malchut from Sefira Hochma above, and is depicted by the letter Yud. The part that expands below forms the lower Yud. And if there is no Light below, the place of Yud will be occupied by Dalet. That is how the letter Alef is formed.

The letter Dalet is the combination of two axes (Delet means “door”) – the doors that close and open the Rechem (the womb of the spiritual Partzuf). The horizontal axis is the spreading of the Light of Hassadim, and the vertical one is the Light of Hochma.

The letter Shin reflects the three lines. The Ari explains the number and shapes of the crowns that are needed over each letter. The whole TANTA (Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiyot) – Lights, letters, dots, and crowns over the letters – are the reflection of the direct connection between the Lights and the Kelim.

That is why it is so important to know how this connection is expressed. After all, it isn’t merely language, but the connection between the Light and the Kli upon which the whole universe stands. Therefore, these letters and the language itself are called holy, for they show how the Kli wants to become similar to the Light.

When Malchut ascends to Zeir Anpin and Bina, she joins with them and thus the 22 letters are produced, reflecting Malchut’s likeness to the Upper Sefirot, up to ZAT de-Bina, where Malchut receives the qualities of Bina.

Ascending from Malchut de-Malchut (the black dot), she begins to deflect, thus creating a line to the right or to the length, lengthwise and widthwise, as well as all kinds of shapes or circumferences when she reaches perfection.

On every degree of the ascent Malchut connects to Bina and draws the forms of their unification. This is how letters are formed.

A kinescope works by the same principle. It contains a deflection system: a plus and a minus along the vertical axis, a plus and a minus along the horizontal axis, and in the middle an electrical beam which moves wherever all these pluses and minuses draw it to. As it moves, it draws all sorts of forms. With time these sequential forms overlay and clothe one another.

Similarly, via the joint work of two pairs of forces (potentials), Hassadim (left and right) and Hochma (above and below), the point is drawn from left to right and from above to below, thereby forming all the different letters. These forms clothe one another, and the letters form a sequence that we call the alphabet.

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The Zohar: When darkness comes and Malchut connects to it, she governs and shines in Hochma, which is her governance. And since she lacks the Light of  Hassadim, all her openings are blocked from all sides, for all the Lights freeze within her and there is no vent in her, through which any Light can appear.

She is filled with Light, but the vents are blocked. Afterwards, when the middle line awakens in her and opens the vents, they will receive the illumination of Hochma from her, which was blocked within her at that time. It is written that they crave to permeate the Nukva precisely when she is discerned as small ways and blocked vents, since only then is the Hochma in her complete.

The night is actually full of Light, but we are unable to see in the night since we lack the Light of love and bestowal (Hassadim) to see the Light. Only in the Light of Hassadim can we compel the Light of Hochma to reveal itself and to shine in the Light of Hassadim. The greater the Light of Hassadim, the greater the revelation.

Night or darkness is a state where I am in an ocean of the Light of Hochma, but I have no Light of Hassadim. If I begin developing inner qualities of love and bestowal (the Light of Hassadim), then the Light of Hochma begins to shine for me little by little. This means that I awaken dawn, the Light of morning, and then the day.

From noon and further on, the Light of Hassadim, my force of bestowal, weakens and I begin descending from the level of Hassadim that I once had. It is as if dusk, a lessening of the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim, sets in. That is when evening comes, followed by night. Stated differently, my desire to enjoy has grown and it leaves no strength for me to remain in bestowal and love (Hassadim); it gains more and more power over me. The dark forces of night seize me and I give up, descending into the darkness and becoming incapable of love and bestowal.

But then, while in this dark, I again accumulate the strength to give, and starting from midnight, I begin combining Hochma and Hassadim, so that one Light shines within the other. This is how I reveal the Light.

All of this is done by a person if he overcomes his desire to enjoy through his aspiration for bestowal; then he sees the Light. And vice-versa, he sees darkness to the degree that his egoism overcomes him. That is how we advance through our spiritual development, from day to night, again and again. Everything depends on the person alone, since on the part of the Creator, the Light permanently surrounds us, as it is written, “I did not change My HaVaYaH,” and, “The law is given and one cannot break it.” Everything is already given to you, and from now on you are welcome to do whatever you want.

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Kabbalists tell us that we exist in an invariable state called “the World of Infinity.” The Creator wishes to fulfill us infinitely, to give us infinite pleasure, and to bring us to a sensation of Him. Then we will feel perfect harmony, a luminous and perfect world where we are filled with the Upper Light. In addition, we will understand and feel the world in its entirety.

We are in this state even now, but are unaware of it. This is our only problem – that we are insensitive to it due to not having the sense that can feel this reality.

I have one sense, which I perceive as my physical body. This body has five senses of its own: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. With the help of this cumulative sense called the “body,” I feel myself and the world.

Besides it, there is also another body called “the body of the soul.” If I reveal it, I will discover five senses there as well: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, which can also be called “spiritual vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.” Through the body of the soul, I perceive the spiritual reality, myself, and the world.

So what is the problem – why is it so difficult for us to reveal this spiritual sense and through it to feel that we are situated in the World of Infinity, that everything around us is filled with Infinite Light and there is no life, death, or any other limitations? The problem is just one thing: the lack of the Light of Hassadim. The only way for our soul to develop from the point that we currently have, for that point to expand and burst open, is by acquiring the Light of Hassadim – the quality of kindness (Chesed), love, and bestowal, the ability to come out of ourselves. We are situated in an ocean of Light – the Light of Hochma, the Light of the Creator, but we will only be able to reveal it if we open up to the outside by means of the Light of Hassadim.

Therefore, the darkness that is revealed in us is the pressure of the Light of Hochma in the absence of the Light of Hassadim, which comes from the soul. Our soul is still incapable of opening up and revealing the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim – of seeing “day” instead of “night.”

We see the spiritual world, our spiritual life, in greater or smaller degrees of the Light of Hassadim. The entire process of our spiritual development and formation occurs between these two Lights – Hochma and Hassadim, or between two desires where these Lights are revealed – the desires of reception and bestowal.

Stated more accurately, there is one desire, but it can be implemented by us in two different ways: with the intention “for myself” or with the intention “for others.” Therefore, developing the Light of Hassadim, the quality of bestowal and love, the ability to come out of oneself, is the same as revealing the soul. We reveal the Upper World, the World of Infinity, to the extent that we develop the Light of Hassadim, the intention of bestowal inside us.

There are five levels of Aviut (thickness of desire) inside the point in the heart – the drop of semen of the soul, the Reshimo that is in us. By acquiring the Light of Hassadim on each of the five levels of desire, we reveal five parts of our soul and thereby open up an opportunity for the Light to enter it step by step, through the five degrees called five worlds (degrees of the Light’s revelation).

This is how we gradually ascend along the degrees of the worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon – until we reach unlimited revelation, called “the World of Infinity.” Everything in this process depends on how much we acquire the quality of bestowal because through the quality of bestowal, we reveal the point in the heart and it becomes the soul, the Shechina, the receptacle for the Light.
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The Zohar: When a person is filled with perfection he is considered to be living in the “house.” The word “house” stands for Nukvah of Zeir Anpin which emanates the Light of Mochin de GAR, as it is written: “Wisdom builds the house.” Therefore, everyone who receives from Nukvah is a resident of the house. However, when a person is in need of correction, as a result of his imperfections, he requires protection from those on the outside that could cling to him and lead him to commit a sin.

When a person reaches the state of being filled with the Light of Hochma, he is in need of protection and significant correction. The Light of Hochma provides a tremendous amount of pleasure and causes major corrections to take place, waking all human desires and fueling a thirst for fulfillment by the Light. This is why a person needs to be protected from his own egoistic desires to prevent him from stealing the Light from himself and maintaining the spiritual level already attained. But how can he protect himself?

As a result, he is forced to leave the house (to leave the state of being filled with the Light of Hochma), since he is not allowed to receive this exalted Light out of fear that external (egoistic) desires might latch on to him.

This is talking about a person who identifies himself with the property of bestowal. The property of bestowal (the Light of Hassadim) is filled with the light of Hochma, which fulfills the desire to give. But besides the desire to give, a person also has the desire to receive and is afraid that this desire will awaken and attach itself to the Light of Hochma (the pleasure felt through the desire to give) within the Light of Hassadim. That is why he has to leave this state and “step out of the house.”

By leaving the house, he remains on the same spiritual level, on the same step, only now on the side of Hassadim. If his uncorrected, egoistic desires, which lack the intention of bestowal, attract the Light of Hochma from above downwards, then he will fall from his spiritual level and become like all other sinners. The waves of the flood will rise and drown him.

By stepping out of the house, a person makes a significant correction. He becomes stronger and acquires an additional “screen” that he can use the next time he enters and stays in the house. As a result of these exits from the house (a spiritual act), a person acquires screens. This is how he attracts the strength to overcome which he can use the next time he enters and stays in the house filled with the Light of Hochma.

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A question I received: How does a Hassid differ from a Kabbalist?

My Answer: A Hassid wants to erase his egoistic qualities. He is fully immersed in the Light of Mercy (Hessed), which does not expand in height, but only in breadth.

In this situation, a person feels that everything is simple and good, the Creator is the only force present everywhere and in everything, there is nothing besides Him, I live in the Creator’s world, there is no egoism, I accept everything with joy, and I ignore all the doubts. This is a wonderful attitude to life for small people to have, because they immediately accept everything with gratitude to the Creator. This also provides enormous psychological help in dealing with all of life’s difficulties. However, when you have this attitude, you are not working with your egoism.

A Kabbalist, on the other hand, uses his egoistic desires (the left line) and adds them to the right line. The right line has to be present and you have to achieve it first and foremost. You have to start everything from it. But after that, once you have the power of the right line, you should immediately turn to the left line and select the egoistic desires (desires that oppose your spiritual progress) that you can correct.

By correctly combining both lines inside you, you build the middle line. This is done using the power of the left line – the desire, together with the intention of the right line, the intention “for the sake of bestowal.”

Spiritual growth takes place only in the middle line, by using egoism and rising above it. You then receive the Light of Hochma inside it and thus reveal and attain the Upper World, the Creator.

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The Upper Partzufim do not receive Light for themselves. The Partzuf Aba is full of the Light of Hochma, but Ima does not wish to receive it, pushes it away, and receives it only under the condition that the souls wish to accept this Light from her. This is why MAN, a request is necessary from the lower.

This principle is widely used in technology and everywhere in our lives, in any changing, living system. Any opening and closing, as well as any regulators, are based on this principle.

It is like a spiritual transistor; there is the Light of Hochma (a plus and a minus), and I send an impulse to the base, starting a flow of electricity. I send a very weak signal, a small desire, but due to this desire, enormous Light begins to flow within the system.

In the same manner, souls wish to receive just a little from Ima and open her up slightly, but she asks for the Light from Aba, and Aba asks from an even higher source, and hence this plea reaches the World of Infinity.

This plea causes enormous Light to be spread through all the worlds in order to bring us, who are at the very bottom, the small drop of Light, which we requested.

This is the principle of our whole life. If the system is integral, then even the smallest change leads to a change in the whole system. The spiritual is a reflection of the harmonious connection between all the elements. If we change even one very small part, we thereby completely change the whole system, causing it to reform in its entirety and reach a new state of balance.

The spiritual system is analogous to systems in our world. If a small impulse is sent towards the entrance of the system, the whole system experiences changes, from beginning to end, and in the opposite direction. It is only after it becomes balanced that the result becomes evident.

Therefore, if even the smallest possible soul somewhere at the very bottom performs a slight correction, it changes all the worlds. The lower this soul is situated, the greater Light it arouses above it. This is like a small valve, which blocks a huge pipe. Just a little bit of effort is necessary to move it, but it opens up the flow of an entire ocean of water.

(From the lesson on the “Preface to the Sulam Commentary of The Zohar” 10.29.09)

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A question I received: There is no time in the spiritual, but shouldn’t we act within the framework of corporeal time?

My Answer: When we enter the perception of the spiritual world, we act only in a field of forces – like in an ocean, where water surrounds us from all sides. In reality, this field is called just that – “water,” since it is primarily the Light of Hassadim (the Light of Mercy, “water”), where life, the Light of Hochma, is also present.

The Light of Hassadim fills everything with itself. It does not have right or left sides, a top or a bottom. Across the whole ocean of Light of Hassadim, from its center, circles disperse, which are levels of the Light of Hochma.  This is like a magnetic or electrical field, the strength of which changes as the distance from the center increases.

When a person enters spiritual sensation, he perceives everything with senses that have no perception of time, motion, space, or existence of reality, like in our world.

Although spiritual space has its own time, motion, space, and existence of reality, they are merely called an analogy to the corporeal ones. Time is what we call actions, which a person performs by changing himself.

The result of these actions, a person’s inner change and his relocation to the spiritual field, is called movement. He moves in this field according to his changes, becoming more and more similar to this field and drawing closer to its center.

Place is his disposition in the same field. He always exists in a point of his balance with the field, like a charge in a magnetic or electrical field.

The cycles, which he goes through sequentially, drawing closer to his center and performing inner changes in himself, are called worlds.

(From the first lesson of the North American Congress  10.16.09)

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Bina contains the entire Light of Hochma, but only in order to prefer the Light of Hassadim over it. In other words, it prefers bestowal over fulfillment. What does this mean?

It’s when I don’t want anything except to bestow! Someone gives me a million dollars, but I refuse to take it. They can give me 100 million or a billion, but I’ll still refuse it. This is called preferring Hassadim – bestowal – over reception.

It’s impossible to measure bestowal; it has no bounds. The only way to measure something is when it is inside the desires of reception. If I am able to receive a billion dollars and I want this money, but I prefer bestowal, then this is the measure of my desire to bestow. However, if I don’t have a desire to receive, then I don’t have anything with which to measure the desire to bestow.

These two opposite desires must come together: I need a great desire and a sensation of a great pleasure that I can receive, and at the same time, a screen over the desire. That way, I will prefer bestowal over anything else. But how can we possibly attain this correction?

Only the Light – Ohr Makif – is able to grant us this correction. When I prefer the Light of Hassadim and reject the Light of Hochma, then according to this, I measure the height of the Light of Hassadim, even though it expands outwards. The Light of Hochma, on the other hand, expands vertically, from Above downwards.

In and of itself, Bina has no height. If you want to bestow, go ahead. You shouldn’t care how much you bestow and to whom. But the height of bestowal is measured by the desires of reception, which are opposed to bestowal and can be overcome by it.

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