The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Third Commandment” (abridged)

204. The third Commandment is to attain, investigate and know that there is an Almighty Lord who governs the world, and to unite this every day (the revelation of the Upper Light in the soul) in the six Supernal limbs: HGT NHY of Zeir Anpin (parts of the soul), and to unify them in the six words of the prayer “Hear O Israel” (“Hear” is the property of Bina, Israel is the aspiration toward the Creator) and through this prayer to direct our desires upwards (toward acquiring the property of bestowal). Therefore, we must prolong the word ONE in the six words: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our Creator, the Lord is O-O-O-NE” (a sign of the aspiration upward).

205. It is therefore written, “Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered together onto one place.” This means that all the degrees under the Heavens will gather onto one place, to become perfect in the six ends (properties of ZA). Therewith, fear must be attached to the unity of the words: “Hear, O Israel,” which is done by prolonging the pronunciation of the letter Dalet in the word ECHAD. This is why the letter Dalet in the word echaD is written larger than the other letters. It is written, “Let the dry land appear” – let the letter Dalet (designating dry land) be attached to that unity.

207. It is written, AND THE CREATOR CALLED THE DRY LAND EARTH. This refers to the same unity below, by the words, BLESSED BE HIS GREAT NAME FOR EVER AND EVER, when the earth, called “desire,” became what it should be. For the word “earth” (Eretz) means desire (Ratzon). Hence, the expression “IT WAS GOOD” appears twice on the third day of creation: once for the Upper unity and once for the lower. For Malchut merges with both sides of ZA – with VAK de ZA and with her own VAK. Henceforth, the earth brings forth grass, for it has been corrected to yield fruit.

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A question I received: I cannot focus on studying The Book of Zohar, even though it is my greatest desire to understand this book. The most prevalent commandment in Christianity is, “Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah” (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus taught that we have to love those who hate us and pray for those who haunt us. Isn’t this also a principle in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Every religion puts itself above other religions and teachings, and this is because all religions emerged from man’s egoism. This is the reason for the hatred between different religions and nations. Even within one religion, there is hatred between its different branches.

The commandment “Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” is incomplete. Kabbalah teaches us to love not only our own people, but all the people in the world. Looking back at history, we won’t find anyone who loved those who hated and haunted them. On the contrary, history is full of hatred and violence, which are spawned by religion to this day. Religion has always divided and separated different nations from each other, instigating them one against the other and imposing itself on the people by fire and sword.

All religions will die out because they arose from egoism after the destruction of the Temple. This was when the people of Israel fell from the level of “love for one’s neighbor” to the level of “unfounded hatred for one’s neighbor” – and they are still on this level, along with everyone else. Kabbalah is above religion; it appeals to everyone in the world because it teaches that we are all part of the common soul of Adam, without any difference between us. Every person is equally necessary in order for everyone to attain the full correction. If even one person is missing, then it is less than perfect!

Kabbalah appeared in ancient Babylon when the whole civilization was falling apart from the growing egoism. Kabbalah, represented by Abraham, pleaded with people to unite. And now, after our entire bitter history, Kabbalah is telling all of us the same thing again: “Unite, otherwise you’ll destroy yourselves!” And to this day, the religions are still preaching separation – and that is because they were produced by egoism. The religions appeared when the nation of Israel fell from love for one’s neighbor to hatred, from the spiritual level to the corporeal, egoistic one. That is when Judaism appeared, then Christianity, and then Islam.

Baal HaSulam writes that religions will remain as the cultural traditions of the nations. The religions will have to take their proper place and stop engaging in something that is beyond them – the soul and its correction. They don’t have a connection with the Light and the Creator in order to engage in this, and this is what we are witnessing today by the results of religion’s impact on people.

The period of the Light’s concealment from man is over, and hence the period of religious domination over people is also over. The Light is becoming revealed, and religion is becoming substituted by Kabbalah. Religion will then remain as a cultural tradition.

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Torah and Prayer” (abridged)

180. Rabbi Shimon opened (the way for the Light) and said: “It is written that Hizkiyahu (Hezekiah) turned his face (property of bestowal) to the wall (Screen) and prayed to the Creator (raised MAN).” Let us see how great and potent the power of the Torah (force of bestowal) is, and how high it rises above all (the egoistic disturbances). For he who engages in the Torah (self correction) has no fear of those Above or below (forces, obstructions), nor of any hardships or illnesses of this world, for he is connected to the Tree of Life and learns from it each day (realizes that all the obstructions are meant to help him learn to be similar to the Creator).

181. For the Torah teaches man how to walk a path of truth; it teaches him how to return to his Master and cancel what is predestined for him (correction through suffering). And even if man is shown that what is predestined for him cannot be canceled, it is nonetheless completely canceled and annulled, then disappears at once and does not prevail over him in this world. Hence, man should study the Torah day and night (when the Light shines or does not shine for him), and never abandon it (as a means of correction), as it is written: “Contemplate Him day and night.” Whoever abandons the Torah (his corrections), it is as though he abandons the Tree of Life (the ray of Light that connects him to the World of Infinity, to the root of his soul)

“Contemplate Him day and night” – “Him” implies the Creator! In another place in The Zohar, it is said that Hizkiyahu’s prayer was accepted by the Creator, for nothing (no egoistic desires) separated him from the wall (the Shechina, the sensation of the Creator, akin to the Wailing Wall).

182. Come and see – such is the advice given to man: when at night (powerless) he goes to bed (in the state of lying down, the body and the head are equally important – there’s no control over self), then he must accept the Creator’s governance from Above (above his reason, which is egoistically opposed to bestowal, and wholeheartedly entrust his soul to Him (rise above his egoistic desire). Thus, man is immediately spared all the (egoistic errors) illnesses, slander, and evil eyes, and they will no longer have power over him.

183. And in the morning (when the Light shines for him), when he rises from his bed (the head rises above the body and controls it), he must bless the Creator (for this) and enter (with his properties) His house, and bow before Him (take all the conditions of the Upper Nature upon himself) in fear and trepidation (because he will not be able to do it without help from the Light), and only then should he pray (attain the ability to be grateful, so that his “I” would agree to it). He should take advice of his holy Patriarchs (forces of the Upper degree), as it is written, “By Your great mercy shall I come into Your house, to bow in fear of Your holy greatness.”

184. Man cannot enter the house of prayer (reveal empty and uncorrected desires within him) unless he first receives permission from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov (the three lines), for they have corrected the prayer to the Creator (so that he could follow the middle line). It is therefore written, “And in Your great mercy shall I enter into Your house.” The aforesaid refers to Avraham, for his property is mercy, the Sefira Hesed (the right line). “I will bow before Your holy chamber” refers to Yitzchak, for thanks to him Malchut is called Heichal – chamber, the Sefira Gevura (the left line). “In fear and trepidation” refers to Yaakov, for his property is the Sefira Tifferet, called “fear” (the middle line). And man must first enter into these properties, and only then enter the house of prayer to raise his prayers. Such a state is described by the verse, “Here is My slave, Israel, by whom I am adorned.”

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A question I received: What is the Kabbalistic meaning of the Jewish holidays that are coming up?

My Answer: According to the program of creation, all of life is the process of correction of the created egoism so it will be used for love and bestowal to people, and from there – to the Creator. There is no other purpose, meaning or fulfillment in life. This process is comprised of regular actions of correction – the weekdays, and special actions – the Sabbath and holidays.

The Torah divides the holidays (the special actions of correction) into Hagim (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkoth) and Moadim. Moadim means “holy gatherings”; they are holy because “bestowal” is called holiness. This is when special corrections are done through greater unity (gatherings) of souls, and this is how the souls attain a special degree of closeness with the Creator. The great Kabbalist the Ari describes these states in detail in the book Ta’amei Mitzvot. However, in our time there are no Moadim because there is no Temple and we are not on the level of the gathering of souls into a single soul.

In addition to this, there are holidays that follow the dates of the calendar, that is to say, that follow the direct implementation of the program of correction. These are the Sabbath, Rosh Hodesh (the new month), Rosh HaShana (the New Year), and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement of egoism). So altogether there are five holidays: Pesach (in April), Shavuot (in June), Rosh HaShana (in September), Yom Kippur (in October), and Sukkoth (in October). Each holiday corresponds to a specific level of ascent along the 125 steps of the ladder of ascent toward the correction of the soul, from the egoistic level of our world until the soul’s absolute similarity to the Creator – the World of Infinity.

All the special days are states of ascent due to a special connection between the souls, where the souls attain greater unity in order to become One, like the Creator. All the holidays have been passed down to us from the time when the people of Israel were on the spiritual level and performed acts of correction according to the Creator’s design. However, in our time, instead of correcting egoism and unifying our souls, these actions have been replaced with ritual prayer gatherings.

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A question I received: I first heard about The Book of Zohar from a Christian preacher, Billye Brim. This book helped me better understand myself and my relationship with the Creator. At the time I didn’t feel that it contradicted my faith as a Christian, but after listening to your lectures, I understood that you don’t recognize the existence of G-d as an individual. For you G-d is Nature or the Laws of Nature. But then who do we pray to when we pray for correction? I know that when I sincerely ask G-d for something and believe that He hears me, that He is always good to me, and that I will receive what I asked for – then He always gives it me.

I started studying in your on-line courses a week ago, and a month prior to that I began taking courses about stock market operations. Who should I ask for help in my studies? How do I formulate my prayer? I am studying “for myself,” so how can I change this to “for the Creator”? And why would He even care about my education? If I get sick, how should I ask Him for healing? My body will be in pain, but why would the Creator care about my body if He only cares about the soul? I’ve reached a dead end, and I beg you to help me!

My Answer: First you should study Baal HaSulam’s articles “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose” and others. You will have to be patient, because it will take you time to figure this out. You have to go through an initial period of confusion and misunderstanding, and it may even take you many months for the material to enter your memory, settle there, be grasped by you and connect correctly with your corporeal perception.

Once this happens, you will be able to understand the things that happen to you and to the world so well that you will be able to answer your own questions. The only way to accelerate this process of understanding reality is by adopting a “mechanical” attitude to the world: work, study, family, Kabbalah lessons, and rest. Don’t pay attention to your feelings and the confusion, but only let a lot of Baal HaSulam’s material pass through you, like through a meat grinder. Later this material will settle inside you and start working. This is a period that cannot be skipped.

It’s possible that you won’t be able to go back to religion. Everything is simpler there – all you have to do is observe rituals and not ask any questions, and then you’ll receive a reward in this world and the world to come. However, you will probably stop believing in this – the lie will become all too obvious!

So if you want to reveal the Truth, my advice to you is to live just like you did before, with the addition of Kabbalah studies. And then the Light of Correction, Ohr Makif, will dispel the darkness you’re in.

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A question I received: How does one pray in Kabbalah? I pray every night, yet I find myself asking whether this is the correct way to pray. It seems so egoistic to pray only for my own desires and requests. Does Kabbalah have “instructions” on how to pray, or a general, single prayer that a person can say? Perhaps every person should pray individually, according to how he feels, or is it better to just stop praying altogether?

My Answer: A prayer is a desire that comes from the bottom of one’s heart – the desire to become similar to the Creator, to bestow and selflessly love. This is the only desire that the Creator perceives as a prayer – the desire to be similar to Him, or to attain adhesion with Him. Hence, He doesn’t feel all the egoistic prayers people say, and the entire history of mankind shows this.

This is how the system of Atzilut (the system of the Creator’s connection with the creation or soul) is built: AVI (Aba ve Ima) feel a MAN coming from Malchut (the soul), and react to it by giving Malchut the Light of correction or the Light of fulfillment, depending on what Malchut asks for.

One cannot reach such a request, or the true prayer, alone. This can only be done through a group, by trying to unite with it into one whole, as requested by AVI, and as it was before the breaking of the soul. In addition, it can only be done through studying authentic Kabbalistic books – the original books of Baal HaSulam, because then one is influenced by a special Upper Force called the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif). (See item 155 in the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”)

Precisely this Light creates the true prayer in a person, which immediately receives an answer from the Creator in that He reveals Himself to the person. This revelation of the Creator is called the evidence (Edut) of the fact that a person will never sin again, that is, that he will never act egoistically under the influence of this revelation. This is why the Upper World becomes revealed to him.

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Questions I received on movement, celebrities, the Masons, and pop music that uses prayers for lyrics:

Question: Dear Rav, I envy everything that moves. What can I do about it?

My Answer: Also move! (Meaning spiritual movement!)

Question: Why do you have conversations with celebrities, with people who are famous, instead of ordinary people? Do you really need the publicity? Do these talks with celebrities flatter your ego?

My Answer: Famous people meet different people thousands more times than ordinary people do. After my conversations with them they gain an understanding of the great value that Kabbalah has for every person and for the whole world, and they begin disseminating Kabbalah on a broad scale, or rather – they bring the Kabbalistic idea to the world. Experience proves this!

The reason I’m doing this is to accelerate man’s recognition of evil so he wouldn’t have to actually go through it in reality. As the Soviet satiric writer Zhvanetsky once said, “The difference between a clever person and a wise person is that a clever person gets out of a difficult situation with huge efforts, but a wise person never gets into that situation.” I want to be wise and I wish the same for everyone else.

Question: What is the connection between the Masons and Kabbalah, if there is any?

My Answer: There is no connection at all. Even my attempt a few years ago to give a lecture for the Masons in Jerusalem failed – they were scared. Secret brotherhoods of any type feel sick in the stomach at the thought of Kabbalah, because Kabbalah promotes wide dissemination to everyone, while the Masons aspire to maintain secrecy. However, there are no hidden forces there, but only traditions and a belief in their exclusivity.

I’m sure that the wave of world-wide change will soon overtake them, as well as all the other philosophies and religions. The only things that will remain will be man, the Creator and the connection between them, while the Masons’ protocols and religious faith “in something” will disappear.

Question: Recently we often hear the song “אנא בכוח,” with moving lyrics that go straight into the heart. Can you explain this text?

My Answer: Why does it move you so much if you don’t know the meaning of the text? Who taught you to think of this prayer in a special way? You wrote, “Recently we often hear” – but I’d like to ask you: who hears it, and where? I have never heard about it! I only know this prayer from the prayer book. In religion and in Kabbalah, no one treats it in a special way. This is just another “sensation” – someone just wants to stand out!

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A question I received: Kabbalah teaches us that this world is just an illusion we depict inside our five senses, which conceals the true reality and the reason why the Creator created us. Since our egoism is related to our body, which is matter clothed in form, and since egoism is evil, then would it be correct to conclude that matter is evil, and our goal is to see beyond it into the spiritual realm? Or even more than that – to transform matter into its spiritual form? The more I study Kabbalah, the more I feel that it’s making me reject what my five senses are telling me. But of course I’m still operating and functioning in this physical world. The force of the physical world is very powerful and seductive, but it’s our obligation to fight against it.

My Answer: You shouldn’t fight against anything, except your own laziness in carrying out the instructions of Kabbalists in order to draw the Upper Light onto yourself. It will correct you, and then you’ll see how the two worlds are included one inside the other, and how everything adds up. Nothing was created in vain, but only to be used correctly. It’s a common human mistake to think that you have to correct yourself. The Upper Light created the desire, and only the Upper Light can change it. Nothing depends on the person, except making the correct plea for the Light to influence him.

Therefore, we are robots in every regard, and our only free action is a MAN – the request for correction – and Kabbalah teaches us how to do this. The fact that a person is completely governed is concealed from him, so that he won’t be coerced into reaching a connection with the Creator, but will reach it voluntarily. However, if we were to see how we are governed, we would immediately and involuntarily turn to the Light, the Creator.

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Three questions I received on requesting from the Creator

Question: Does one pray to G-d or to the Creator? You have said that it’s written that the Creator hears no prayer other than to be able to bestow, because He is the quality of bestowal and this is the only thing you can ask of Him. And what about the “kibbutsnikim” in the Negev?

My Answer: Back then the desires of the “kibbutsnikim” and the Creator were the same. But in general, the Creator hears everything and everyone, but He reacts only to that which leads to the goal, to Him, to adhesion with Him. And He definitely hears and reacts to one’s requests for correction, for equivalence with Him. The Creator is a system of forces surrounding us. The Creator (Elokim) = Nature (HaTeva). We need to understand that He does not change His goal and action – at every single moment, everything is directed at reacting to our actions, in order to influence each and every person in such a way that they will be directed precisely toward the goal. This is how the Creator – this system of forces – reacts to our desires, thoughts, and actions. This is why Kabbalah says that He does not change. In other words, He does not change His influence on us, which directs us precisely to the goal.

Question: About the “kibbutsnikim” who asked for rain: How is it possible that they received something just by asking for it? I’ve asked for things a thousand times, and the most I received was a reason to regret the fact that I asked.

My Answer: Their requests did not contradict the Creator’s plans to have people settle in these lands. They were (egoistically) united with each other as one whole. They asked for the necessity and gave it everything they had. And it worked temporarily. But when they lost the desire to be united, they became opposite to the system of governing forces, and the Upper Forces evoked their disintegration.

Question: As I understand, a prayer is a person’s deepest and most real desire. So why is there is a custom to pray at certain times rather than when one feels like it? After all, one receives a response only to a real prayer. And what does prayer give a person, in principle?

My Answer: Religion does not deal with correcting the soul – changing one’s intention from “for the sake of oneself” to “for the sake of others and the Creator” in all of one’s actions, but rather it only trains one to make physical actions – the commandments of our world. Therefore, in religion to pray is to read at specific times something that was written for you by other people (by the sages of the Great Assembly, 2,000 years ago). One does not receive a response to such actions, and we see that religious people do not become corrected, but vice versa – as time goes by, their moral descent is becoming more and more apparent. However, such mechanical actions hold people within certain boundaries, and as such, during the period of the Creator’s concealment (from 0 until the 20th century), the religions had the role of providing life’s boundaries. This was established by Kabbalists, to last until our time, when “the point in the heart” surfaces in people and they begin the path of individual spiritual development.

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Three questions I received on shame and overcoming:

Question: In one of the lessons you teach, you said: “You have to do something that you will be ashamed of. Otherwise you won’t have any impressions (Havchanot).” What is this shame you’re talking about?

My Answer: It’s something you’ll understand in more advanced states. It’s practically impossible to explain, since it is attained from within. But you shouldn’t do anything shameful on purpose. The Creator will “set you up” as to reveal all of your worthless nature to you. Thanks to such a horrible revelation of your nature within you, you will desire to rid yourself of it with all your strength. And this desire – your request for correction – will be realized by the Creator. All the stages of correction will become revealed gradually, one by one, to the extent of your efforts. All you can do is accelerate this development through diligence and patience.

Question: Is shame the sensation of the revelation of evil within me? And in that case is the prayer for help during the lesson, a prayer to rise above yourself, with the purpose of attaining adhesion?

My Answer: That’s right. Shame is a sensation given from above, and as soon as you receive it, a desire appears – not simply a desire to avoid it, since such a desire is egoistic, but a desire to rise above it. Thanks to this, you attain a connection with, and adhesion to, the Creator. Moreover, you feel gratitude to the Creator for everything, including the sensation of shame He evoked within you, and you justify Him for doing this to you.

Question: Abraham endured a physical test. He overcame it, and this gave him the understanding that he fears the Creator. Do we, today, also receive all our tests only physically? That is to say, in order to attain the level of fear, will I also have to go through such a great test, which will show me that I fear the Creator?

My Answer: Just like Abraham, you will also go through these tests, but they will never be physical – only spiritual.

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