A question I received: You always taught that Kabbalah is a path of individual spiritual development, but now it seems like it requires an individual to dissolve in the mass of humanity.

My Answer: I will answer with a quote from Nikolai Berdyaev’s “Philosophy of Creativity, Culture and Art” (V.1, p.115, M., 1994):

“Freedom of individualism does not create the cosmos but opposes the cosmos. Freedom of individualism is the freedom to separate and be alienated from the world, and separation from the world makes one a slave of the world. For an individualist, the world is always oppressing.

Individualism lowers a person, suppressing the global, universal human essence. The individualist is an enemy of individuality. A person is an organic member of the global cosmic hierarchy and the wealth of his internality is directly proportionate to his connection with the cosmos.”

By working to serve the entire system of souls – the only thing that was created by the Creator, a person merges with this system. It becomes his, and in fact – it becomes him. He then merges with the Creator, realizing his individuality and uniqueness.

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Without a doubt, every kind of suffering comes from the concealment of the Creator. Therefore His revelation will be the answer to the crisis.

Kabbalah states that the revelation of the Creator fills a person with pleasure and the sensation of eternity. How does the Creator become revealed to a person? Gradually, through the influence of the Upper Light that is drawn during the study of Kabbalah.

And don’t be surprised that one person can cause an ascent or a descent of the whole world, for there is a law that states: “The particular and the general are equal.”

In our times there is a need for Mutual Guarantee between all the people in the world. Hence, a global education is the biggest priority compared to all other issues.

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A question I received: I feel repelled by spirituality. I feel that I want to go through my life as a separate person, not as part of a group. I get this picture that the purpose of spirituality is to reject all pleasures. I mean, what is there to enjoy in the spiritual world? I’m not ready to reject my regular life for spirituality. How can I pray for another desire when, in fact, it isn’t my desire at all?

My Answer: The Creator (Kabbalah) won’t make you do anything forcefully. Instead, He forces us by giving us suffering in this life, and it pushes a person forward. However, it’s possible to accelerate our path of development and make it easier by using Kabbalah.

Either way, everyone will attain the goal they were created for: they will become equivalent to the Creator by uniting within one integral desire. This will happen either through The Path of Suffering or The Path of the Light that returns one to the source – to equivalence with the Creator (the quality of love and bestowal).

Right now everyone in the world is revealing a common suffering, which has just one cause – a lack of connection between all people within one desire. But the Creator will force us to unite!

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Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (Pticha).
Items 10 – 12, summary:

10. Thus, the Light of Life emanates from the Creator and, passing through the Worlds of AK and ABYA, it separates from the Creator until reaching the smallest desire, where its source – the Creator – is no longer felt. This state is called “our world.” However, by studying Kabbalah in a group with the intention to attain the Creator, one evokes the Light of the Upper Degree, which pulls the desire upwards, giving it the opportunity to ascend the degrees of the worlds all the way up to the World of Infinity. There, one can receive all the Light prepared for him by the Creator back in the Thought of Creation. It is hence written: “The Creator wishes to purify (from egoism) those who aspire to Him; to this end He has given them the Torah (the Correcting Light) and Commandments (the correction of one’s intentions from “for my own sake” to “for the Creator’s sake”).

11. The difference between spirituality and corporeality is this: The intention “for my own sake” is corporeal and its state is called “our world” (Olam Hazeh). The intention “for the Creator’s sake” (or “for one’s friend’s sake,” which is the same thing) is spiritual and its state is called “the Upper World” (or the Worlds of ABYA). The Upper World exists above the lowest of all degrees – our world.

All the ascents, descents, changes and movements that transpire in the Upper Worlds don’t take place in some imaginary space. They are changes in the size of one’s intention “for the Creator’s sake” and the accompanying desire. The greater the desire, the closer it is to phase 4 and the lower it is.

12. The essence of all creation is the desire (to receive pleasure, fulfillment). This desire requires correction. We are commanded to “purify” it with the help of:

• The Torah (the Upper Light), and
• The Commandments (changes of the intention from using the desire “for my own sake” to using it for “for the Creator’s sake”).

Otherwise we will not be able to attain the Upper Goal – the Thought of Creation.

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Three questions I received on women’s work in Kabbalah:

Question: What is a woman’s role in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Both in our world and in the society of the future, which will be corrected from egoism, a woman is a full fledged half and more, because all people complete each other in a single system. A woman can feel her own perfection and full value only through self-correction, by becoming loving and bestowing to the entire world. It’s precisely in her corrected state that the female part of the common soul feels equal, or even greater than everyone, because precisely the desire that’s embodied by the female part of the common soul becomes the reason for the revelation of the Creator (the Light).

Question: If Lo Lishma (לא לשמה) doesn’t push a person to attain Lishma (לשמה), then the group has to exert its influence on him. How can a woman elicit this pressure?

My Answer: With her desire, because she depends on the attainment of the Light by the men’s group.

Question: I want to open up a book, read it, and enjoy it. But ever since I started studying Kabbalah I no longer enjoy reading. What should I do?

My Answer: Learn to receive pleasure from the Upper Worlds!

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Three questions I received on souls and reincarnation:

Question: At some point you talked about how a single Soul descended into this world in different bodies throughout centuries: Abraham, Moses, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the Ari, and Baal HaSulam. As I understand, you and everyone who has crossed the Machsom (or in the process of crossing it) are in contact with this Soul. Has it completed its mission?

My Answer: No, it hasn’t. We are all parts of one soul. Its “lighter” parts have already undergone correction and are now helping all of us (this is called Zhut Avot in Hebrew). Gradually, one by one, they help us to do the same thing they did – connect to the single soul of Adam. All of humanity are parts of this single soul, the only created creature.

Question: What is a “ Kabbalistic soul”?

My Answer: It’s a soul that compels a person to attain the Creator. Actually, there are no other souls, because if a person still doesn’t have the aspiration to reveal the Creator, he still doesn’t have a soul. However, this aspiration will be revealed in the future, or perhaps in the next life cycle.

Nevertheless, even if a person doesn’t have this aspiration, listening to or reading Kabbalistic materials will accelerate the revelation of the aspiration toward the Creator and the revelation of the soul.

Question: If one is born a genetic Jew, does this mean that one always reincarnates as a Jew?

My Answer: Yes, just like anyone else. It’s because our world is an imprint of the Upper World, and a person is a copy of the soul.

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A question I received: I don’t understand the views of this world according to Kabbalah. You say that Kabbalah is against asceticism, and you also said that a Kabbalist has the biggest ego and wants to swallow the entire world. But in the Talmud it says, “The way of the Torah is to eat bread with salt, drink water from a cup, sleep on the ground, lead a life of hardship and labour at learning Torah.”

I also read this quote in Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “When a person, by means of his studies, reaches the level at which he wants nothing but spiritual elevation and at which he accepts only the bare necessities of life in order to sustain his physical existence, not for pleasure’s sake, this is the first step of his ascent to the spiritual world“ (Talmud, Psachim).

So, I’m confused by all of this. How are we supposed to behave in this world? Can you give me a precise answer?

My Answer: Before falling from the spiritual level 2,000 years ago, people could sustain themselves on the spiritual level (in love and bestowal) through restrictions and studying Kabbalah (the authentic, inner Torah). This way they were able to oppose the egoism that constantly increased inside them.

However, after the people fell from the spiritual level of “love for thy neighbor” into “unfounded hatred,” the sages of the Talmud made a special correction (addition) in the Upper Governance, as Baal HaSulam writes in item 11 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“.

Since then, only the “Light of the Torah” (Ohr Makif) can bring about a correction. This Light descends on a person who has gone through the proper preparation (in the group), during the study of Kabbalah with the right intention. It is written: “I created egoism and I created the Torah for its correction, because its Light returns one to the Source (to bestowal).”

Hence, only the correct kind of study will evoke the Light, which will make all the corrections and changes. So organize your studies – and relax!

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Two questions I received on the arts and spirituality:

Question: In a previous blog entry, in response to the question of whether works of art are spiritual, you said: “All art was brought about by man’s desire to express himself, or in other words, by the desire for glory, to stand out, to prove something (even if it’s to himself), to express his way of seeing things.”

But you have also said that “A desire cannot be bad if it is accompanied by the intention to bestow.”

My Answer: In order to acquire an intention of bestowal, a person has to study Kabbalah for at least three years. Then, as a result of the Upper Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will appear within him. There is no other means to correct your original egoistic intention and transform it into a spiritual one.

Question: An actor is connected with the audience and they understand each other. He gives fully of himself to them, and in return receives applause (fulfillment). The audience applauds with great emotion, giving all of their feelings to the actor, and in return they receive fulfillment from his performance. It is a mutual, yet egoistic connection. Should our adhesion with the Creator be something like this?

My Answer: In the example above you’re exchanging different types of pleasure. However, when it comes to the Creator, you must become similar to Him through the quality of bestowal, and this will determine the degree of your connection with Him.

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A question I received: I’m a social worker and I often work with drug addicts. I discovered that giving people basic knowledge of Kabbalah can cure them. I think that Bnei Baruch should contact drug rehabilitation centers with a specific proposal, and this could create points of Light in people who want to quit drugs and enable them to connect to the real source of fulfillment. What is your opinion?

My Answer: Unfortunately we don’t have that much manpower, but if you find people who are willing to work in this area, we will be happy to teach them the correct approach to drug addicts. We have had cases like this. In fact, many past drug addicts have long crossed the Machsom. Let’s work together to help drug addicts – we’re waiting for volunteers!

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Man is created out of a desire to receive pleasure – a desire to be filled by the Light. This is why he feels pleasure or its absence – suffering. A person is inside the all-enveloping Light of the Creator. To the degree he is similar or dissimilar to the Light, he feels either pleasure or suffering. This is how he determines the state he’s in.

Kabbalah explains how one can reach the maximum equivalence of form with the Light in order to obtain maximum fulfillment, to the point of receiving infinite (or unlimited) fulfillment while being fully equal to the Light or the Creator.

The global nature of the current suffering is moving all of humanity toward uniting into one whole creation that is completely equal to the single Upper Light. Man implements similarity to the quality of the Light – “Good and Does Good” – by implementing the law of “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Suffering will force us to understand that it is necessary to fulfill this law, but the science of Kabbalah will help us to understand Nature’s plan quickly and without the blows, and to consciously aspire toward fulfilling this law of similarity to Goodness. This will replace the suffering with pleasure and shorten the time it takes to attain a state that’s infinite, boundless, and absolutely good.

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