A question I received: If human history is just a movie that exists only in our perception, then why is it so long?

My Answer: It’s not long, since in reality – there is no time. Time is Reshimot creating this movie inside you.

Once you connect to everyone else, you will compress time so much that all actions will happen very quickly, one right after the other. You can either feel time like a star that exists for billions of years, or like a little bug that lives for just a few hours and dies; everything depends on your sensation of time.

We feel time only because our egoism switches on, stretching out time between actions, between Reshimot. If not for our egoism, Reshimot would externalize instantly, without any intervals, and would all be constrained into one point.

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A question I received: Is all of human history just something that appears within me?

My Answer: I perceive reality only here and now. I imagine inside me that there is a history taking place “over time,” that something “was” and “will be”; however, all this is but my own imagination. Did this really happen in the past? It only took place in my consciousness; I perceived it as happening. However, there is nothing outside of me; everything exists only inside my will to enjoy.

History is a process that I imagine taking place over time. But there is no time! There is no movement, and there is no space; we only image them. There is only a “place” called “the will to enjoy,” and around this desire there are records of information called Reshimot passing by, like a reel of film being unraveled and giving me the sensation that I live inside this movie.

Within my desire, all of realty divides into “me” and “the rest of nature,” which includes the inanimate objects, plants, animals, and people. This division into two distant and opposite parts was created in me deliberately, so I would correct my ego by uniting the two parts of my desire together.

One part of my desire hates the other, because one part appears to me as external, such as the people outside me, and the other part appears as internal, myself. This is why I reject others and do things that seemingly benefit myself.

As a result of my studies, I have to understand that the things which appear external to me only seem this way in order for me to overcome this division and correct my desire. I have to change my desire to one of bestowing by ceasing to see the difference between my two desires – the external and internal. Therein lies my salvation, which enables me to come out of my current egoistic state and attain bestowal, thus entering a new reality. By acquiring the intention to bestow, I will feel the spiritual world.

This does not mean that I go through the preparation here and later on I will be “transferred” to another place. Rather, to the degree I reveal love for you instead of hatred, I will begin to feel the spiritual world, the world to come. It is comprised of desires that I attach to myself. So I shouldn’t look for faraway worlds, because it’s all here. Everything lies in the connection between me and those who now seem distant and hateful to me.

Later on I will reveal that I had hated myself and only harmed myself. The more harm I inflicted on others, the more I will have to correct myself later on.
[8246]

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Kabbalists gave us The Book of Zohar so that through it we would see the spiritual world and reveal the Creator. The science of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the created beings (see the definition in Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”).

The Book of Zohar talks about me. Although its narration is rather strange, it describes what happens to me inside – and only inside! Much like my animate body consists of many parts and systems, so my spiritual body, the soul, consists of analogous parts and systems.

The matter of my animate body is the desire to receive and be fulfilled. The matter of my spiritual body is the desire to bestow and to fulfill. Only the spiritual body or the soul is the human being in me because the animate body cares only for itself, the animal, and exists only as long as this animal is alive.

So who is the human being in me? It is someone I have to discover, expose, and examine; this is the only thing that the science of Kabbalah and The Book of Zohar talk about.

I have to try to recognize my inner desires and their forms (qualities), which are described in The Book of Zohar through various names taken from our world. For example, the human being in me contains qualities called “Yaakov” and “Eisav,” a “bull” and a “mule,” “birds” and “trees,” “Adam HaRishon,” “Noah” and the “ark.” These are all qualities that exist inside me.

What do I get from engaging in this inner search? Do I actually discover all of these qualities? In truth, I do not! I will not find anything by searching. However, by exerting effort, I awaken the Upper Light – the revelation of the Creator. My attempts to recognize the Upper Qualities in me elicit the revelation of the Light and its Source, according to the principle, “Higati ve Matzati” – "I labored and found.”

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A human being is created from the unification of Malchut and Bina, the qualities of reception and bestowal. This is also what makes us capable of being corrected. Bina connects with Malchut, and this gives rise to a third reality – a reality that includes both but does not belong to either of them.

Malchut is the quality of judgment, from which nothing can be built. Bina is the quality of mercy, which does not have the power to create. The creative force can only be produced by their unification. Suppose we take some cement, water, and sand, mix them together to get concrete, and make building blocks. We produce a construction material which consists of these qualities. While the qualities themselves become lost in the material, a new reality is born.

What is so special about a drop of semen that enables it to go from a father into a mother, to grow, and then for a child to be born who later becomes an individual, a human being? Why is it that he suddenly separates from his parents and ceases to belong to them when he becomes an independent being?

At first an infant behaves according to natural instincts, which we understand. But when he reaches the age of 6 or 7, he suddenly becomes independent and begins to have his own opinion. It is no longer just the animate nature that controls him, but a new personality is born, which does not exactly replicate the father and the mother. He seems to include both of them, but at the same time, he is on his own. We don’t understand how this happens, since we don’t see the root of the occurrences.

However, this is precisely what the Creator desires: for a new life – the middle line (the human being) to emerge from the forces of reception and bestowal that He created, from two opposite forces that come together. His goal was not to create a desire, since a desire is just a material that automatically reacts to “good” and “bad.” Rather, the Creator and the human being exist outside of matter. The Creator wished to create a point that is above the desire and that emerges from the unification of the quality of reception and the quality of bestowal. This is a completely new reality, which is your “self”!

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It is impossible to use the forces given to us by the Creator to correct the desire He created – Malchut of the World of Infinity. Suppose that we received everything that is humanly possible with the intention “for the sake of bestowal”; all that would result from this is a thin ray of Light (Kav Dak) in the center of infinite emptiness. All the other desires except the ray would still remain empty.

Let’s say we received just 1% and we cannot give it back to the Host. His attitude to us is 100% good. Even if we didn’t receive anything for ourselves, we still wouldn’t perform any correction by this. However, if the Host gives us the power to receive all 100% for the sake of bestowal, then what is the sense in this? After all, it will come from Him!

Therefore, it is necessary for a point of freedom to be created, a point that is independent of the Creator and the human being. Then a new creature could develop, one that is equivalent to the Creator rather than just a mechanical being. To the Creator, the worst thing is for everything to happen according to His desire. This means that there is no creation. If the Creator creates something that just blindly carries out His desires, this belittles Him. He has to create someone with the freedom of will.

This is why He creates a human being whose desires are completely opposite to His, who neglects the Creator and is opposed to Him in every way. These are the most necessary qualities of the created being. Only from this point, the point where a human being is opposite in all aspects to the Creator, from the point of total hatred and global opposition, can there emerge someone capable of attaining Him.

People say that the greatest hero is one who turns his enemy into a friend. The Creator does not force man to come to him; He does not make any compromises and He does not play an unfair game with us. Even though it is written, “There is None Else Beside Him” and the Creator governs completely over creation, He governs particularly in order to make sure that the created being will not reject its freedom!

This is His primary concern, since otherwise there is no creation; there is only a controlled element. It would be a blow to the Creator’s dignity if He allowed creation to blindly follow Nature, regardless of whether it is good or bad. For the Creator, both of these options are no good.

He wants only one thing: for the created being to be separate and independent of Him, and to act while being in this independent position. Only a creature like this can be called a “human being.”

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We have done enough work throughout history to reveal the evil; now is the best time to reveal the medicine, which is the greatness of unity and our rising above the material world. But in order to do this, we have to realize that there is nothing higher than our spiritual goal, and our whole former development was aimed precisely at this.

All the problems in our lives come from the Creator in order to urge us to come out of our animate state. In this world we are no different from animals, whose head is on the same level as the body. What does my head think about? It thinks only about the body, and therefore the body and the head are on the same level. So are we humans or animals who walk upright? By making all of these discernments, we come closer to the goal, because we gain a greater understanding of what we lack.

“There is none else besides Him,” and we have to justify Him because everything that happens is in order to advance us towards the goal. What is important to us is to become humans instead of remaining animals. This can be done only by raising our heads higher, and to do this, we need the force of the Creator, who controls our nature. Otherwise we will remain within our egoism.

This is why the Creator constantly sends us troubles so that we will wish to come out of the evil! He pushes us, helping us to rise! Otherwise, we would never wish to become human – perfect and eternal creatures. We would simply continue to be submersed in self-love just to somehow make it through the 70 years or so allotted to us, according to the principle, “Let’s drink and be merry today, for tomorrow we’ll die.”

Instead, we are not given a chance to rest and we are constantly sent troubles, which makes us think about how to cope with the hopelessness. At this point the science of Kabbalah becomes revealed, and it explains that we have all the means (the group, the teacher, and the books) in order to advance. Don’t be fatalists – strive for correction, and you will rise to a wonderful state.

In essence, this is a very easy task. The only reason this is so hard for us is that we don’t want to raise our heads from our feeding rack. We are afraid to tear away from it, to tear away from our stomachs. However, today we are being compelled to do this by the global crisis that is hitting us. The way people are thinking is changing, although it takes time to move such a huge mass of people.

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A human being begins his path like a little animal that can only sense whether it feels well or poorly. This is how one feels the Light in the Kli – in his desire. However, gradually new Reshimot (informational data) are revealed in him, and in addition to feeling good or bad, these Reshimot cause a person to make an additional analysis of true and false.

The feeling of good or bad is natural for the created being. All forms of creation react to negative or positive influences: they contract or widen, the way inanimate objects open and close, a flower lives and dies, and so does an animal. This is matter’s natural reaction to the Light’s presence or absence.

However, when the created being begins to reveal its dependence on the environment and to connect it to the feelings of good or bad, then an additional perception of “true and false” begins to appear in him. Thus, he begins to have two different approaches or analyses of his state, which depends on the environment and on himself. We make the assessment of true and false with respect to the benefit of the society, and good and bad (sweet versus bitter) with respect to our own well-being. Based on this clarification between the external and the inner desire (Kli), we develop the “human being,” Adam (similarity to the Creator) in us.

A human being differs from the animal in us because the human being’s perception takes place “outside,” in the society that surrounds him. A human being is able to feel the Creator, the Upper One, that which exists outside of one’s body. But actually, the environment, the society, and the Creator are the same thing.

This is because in regard to our egoism, everything that exists outside is the same. The perception of the external compared to the perception of the self is what separates spiritual development from corporeal development.

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Everything occurs inside the desire to receive pleasure that was created by the Creator. As it develops, this desire goes through changes. Initially I agree with that desire and am not in conflict with it. In fact, what conflict could be there if I don’t separate myself from the desire and act according to its orders?

I still have no clue that it is not me who wants anything, but rather it is the desire commanding me. I don’t yet realize or distinguish myself separately as:

1. A desire
2. A human being

When the point in the heart (the Creator) awakens in me and gives me the aspiration to bestow, then I realize that the desire is not my own. Now there is:

1. A desire
2. Me (the point in the heart)

By attempting to change the desires, I separate them from myself more and more and begin feeling that I am enslaved to them. Regardless of whether I enjoy my desires or suffer from them, I begin to understand that desires are being sent to me. My reality then seems to consist of three elements:

1. The Creator
2. The desires sent by Him
3. Me

Kabbalah explains that I have free choice to raise the importance of the spiritual goal above the interests of my body and my current life. This can be done under the influence of the group and the Upper Light. I can then change my desires in order to reach the goal. In this way, I will build my equivalence to the Creator, bestowal.

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The entire material of creation is desire created by the Creator, who also sends the Light that fulfills the desire. Man is the correct correlation between the Light and the desire, and since man’s actions most always come from desire, his actions are therefore determined by the Creator.

However, if we aspire to reach connection between us by helping each other, acting “against the Creator” who created this separation between us, it truly becomes our own action.

The quality which the creature acquires by this action is called “a soul.” This soul doesn’t initially exist in us, and the Creator cannot give us a soul. Rather, a soul is created by our desire to connect above our egoism.

All states descending from the World of Infinity to our world (the last stage) exist in us in the form of records, which can be realized only by our efforts towards unification. Our descent resulted in separation, and our ascension is the action of moving towards unification.

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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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