It is written: “I created the evil inclination and the Torah for its correction.” We have gotten used to all these sayings and think that they are just pretty words about the Torah. However, in reality, this is all very profound and serious. If we do not approach the Torah studies correctly, we suffer from it. The Light is a powerful force that influences us, and with its help we can reach either goodness or the opposite.

This “opposite” is also a path, meaning that revelation of evil lets us achieve goodness as well. We see this through the example of the last exile. Exile means that we are torn away from spirituality and have no chance to reach a connection with the Creator until the end of the exile. However, how can we study the Torah while we are disconnected from spirituality and have selfish intentions? All your studies will be for the sake of self-gratification, receiving a reward, not even “Lo Lishma,” that is, they will be completely devoid of the right intention.

Yet we already understand that precisely because we study the Torah (the external Torah, not Kabbalah) during the exile, we thereby draw the Surrounding Light. But instead of bringing us closer to correction, this Light distances us from it. This means that we use the Light of the Torah as a “potion of death.” However, thereby we discover that we are immersed in evil, and with the descent of the generations, when “the face of the generation has become like the face of a dog,” we reach a state about which it is written: “And the sons of Israel cried out from this work.”

In other words, whether we are in the state of spiritual attainment or the exile, we constantly use the Light of the Torah, doing so either from the negative or the positive side. Without this we would never be able to reach a sensation of exile, the need for redemption.

Therefore, now, when we exist in such a special state which Baal HaSulam calls “the generation of the Messiah on the threshold of redemption,” it is very important for us to understand that all this is a condition given to us from Above. We, however, haven’t accepted it yet. What does this mean? It means that we were given an opportunity to start using the same Light that Reforms, the Light that returns one to the Creator, in a new way, so that it will return us to the Source instead of distancing us from it as it did during the exile.

During the exile our intentions were constantly directed at ourselves: how can we benefit by using the Torah in this world and in the future world? Now we need to change our intentions. Due to this we will change the influence of the Surrounding Light on us, and it will truly return us to the Source – directly to it, rather than through its reverse side.

Hence, now we need to primarily think about the intention with which we approach the studies. The more clarified, desirable, and precise our intention will be, the better we will organize ourselves in such a way that our prayer will become a “group prayer,” and we will all unite into one whole standing opposite to the single Source. The more we do this, the more we will advance.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/10, The Zohar

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Question: Is the whole process of the creature’s development and the measure of its bestowal predetermined?

Answer: Nobody is restricting you in any way! You have free choice and every opportunity. Even the prophets could not predict the way we will advance. In all the prophecies of the days of the Messiah and the war of Gog and Magog, the revelation was only in the left line, the line of natural development and not in the three lines.

Nobody knows ahead of time the extent to which we will be able to sweeten this path. That is, we cannot predict what may happen at the Mega Congress. It is entirely possible that we will cross the Machsom and continue our spiritual ascent!

Or we can rise over it for some time and fall again, needing to cross it several times so as to ultimately stay in the spiritual world. Everything depends on how we organize and realize our connection.

The other essential factor is how we will accept this revelation. If we have prepared ourselves to accept it only for the sake of bestowal, and do not yield to the pleasure it offers, then together through mutual guarantee, we will be able to use all the revelations, pleasures, and states that will come and continue our path upward in spirituality.

But everything is in our hands. Everything is ready!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/10, Article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out) – Part 1,” Item 127: For this reason, Leah did not appear but Rachel, to attract Jacob’s eye and heart with Rachel’s beauty, so he would set up his dwelling there. And thanks to her, Leah, too, was coupled with him and bore all these tribes. How did Jacob know who Rachel was? After all, he did not know her? The shepherds told him, as it is written, “And, behold, Rachel his daughter comes with the sheep.”

All these properties -  “well,” “water,” “Haran,” “Jacob,” “Lavan,” “Rachel,” “Leah,” “shepherds,” and “herd” -  are within us. The Torah explains how to distinguish and sort these forces within ourselves.

It can be likened to a construction set. We have to discern our inner desires and, by referring to the picture that the Torah draws for us, position each of them in the right place. We continue doing so until we get the whole internal picture that shows the connections between all the desires and properties that the Torah describes, between – the “herd,” “well,” “water,” and so on – at their inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels, in the entire spiritual reality.

As soon as I organize this picture correctly according to the Torah instructions, I am captured in a film sequence and I move to the next frame. This is how we advance from one sequence to another one, one degree after another. At each step, the Torah tells us how to develop from one level to another through inner changes.

By changing our internal forces and properties in accordance with the Torah story, we advance along with the Torah narrations. This is when the Torah stories turn into revelation.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: What is “faith” before crossing the Machsom (barrier to the spiritual world)?

My Answer: Before a person crosses the Machsom and enters spirituality, he has no faith. The concept of faith in Kabbalah is totally different from what is customarily referred to in ordinary life. In Kabbalah, all of these concepts are defined at a completely different level.

Faith is sensing the Creator. If I sense the Creator, I believe in Him. Note how different it is from what I thought before. In our regular lives faith is something that we don’t see or know, but believe in as though it actually exists in reality.

Kabbalah says that this is not faith, but merely a fantasy. Kabbalah relies exclusively on realistic, true inner sensations: To the extent I feel the Creator, I receive the strength to work against my ego. One force against the other; positive against negative. This is what we call “faith above reason,” that is, faith above egoism and the sensations within it. I rise above all this because I am able to use the Upper reason and sensations. Yet if I don’t have them, how can I work? Based on stories told by someone else?

This is not what we call faith. It’s a game people play in this world because they don’t know of a better way to reassure themselves. To attain faith, we have to reach revelation. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to the creatures, and this is called “faith.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/11/10, Shamati #50

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We should be very grateful to the Creator for concealment. Without it, we would remain animals, constantly chasing after pleasures that have been revealed to them.

Concealment helps me stay in the darkness, even though it’s unpleasant, I build myself through the concealment. That’s why it’s impossible to see whether we advance correctly or if our actions will be rewarded. The reward is to walk in concealment attempting to perform actions of bestowal. The best reward is not seeing a reward for this.

Otherwise, we won’t come out of the Creator’s rule. Only in concealment can we seemingly not be subject to Him. He watches us, yet gives us an opportunity to reveal Him and the greatness of His actions in the concealment that has been formed after the restriction in the World of Infinity.

We don’t’ ask about revelation. That would mean that a person, motivated by his natural aspiration, wants to return to the beastly state. Knowing is the worst thing that could happen to us. If we acquire knowledge after “faith above reason,” we then reveal the new knowledge in the properties of bestowal and not reception. This is already Divine knowledge.

However, we first have to perform a restriction, to pass to the other side, and reveal the new knowledge there and not before.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/13/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYigash (Then Judah Approached),” Item 120: …Also, it is written, “I will go down to Egypt with you,” meaning that Divinity went down to exile with him, and wherever Israel exiled, Divinity exiled with them.

It wouldn’t be an exile otherwise. Exile means that you feel concealment. You feel that spirituality (the Creator) exists, yet you sense His reverse side. It shines to you in a way that allows you to feel the Creator’s presence, but in a concealed form. That is when it is called exile.

If your sensation of the Creator’s concealment is absent, this is not exile. As far as you’re concerned He simply doesn’t exist, meaning you exist at a level below spirituality. Exile is a spiritual sensation which is above the level of our world. Therefore, we cannot say that people in this world are in exile.

However, if you know that something spiritual ought to be here, if you have that feeling or are somehow familiar with what is concealed, then you are in exile. This is a connection that shines via its reverse side, in a black light instead of white. It follows that “Israel in Egypt” is a spiritual degree. They have a Light, a special illumination, so they are not detached from spirituality. Whereas we are “like mortal beasts” if we have no sensation of exile.

Today, as we read The Zohar, we gradually awaken from our beastly existence, and the reality of our exile is slowly becoming apparent. It is no small feat to ascend to the level of exile. For that you need to truly feel the concealment, the striving (desire) for the spiritual world, to discern from the darkness Who it is that is concealed from you, and how you can grab onto Him.

Exile is a spiritual degree which is the reverse side of the same degree of revelation. The sensation and work of this reverse side is part of the Creator’s work.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/9/10, The Zohar

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When the time comes to attain the Creator, He slightly opens Himself to us, showing us His kindness. Later on, He increases our egoism and it makes us feel like He is not good to us. In this way, the Creator invites us to raise above our egoism and acknowledge that “Everything is good; it is me who feels bad inside my egoism. If I manage to rise above it, I will see that everything is good.”

Afterward, the Creator reveals more of His kindness to us, which allows our egoism to grow even more, and then He hides behind it. We feel bad again, but have to rise higher beyond egoism by “faith above reason” and understand that we see evil only through our egoism. Meanwhile, His rule is always benevolent.

In other words, the higher we rise, the greater the concealment, but each time we possess more power to rise above our egoistic desires and realize that concealment exists only in respect to our egoism. When we transition to bestowal, the concealment disappears. To be more precise, the concealment doesn’t really disappear; rather, we rise above it.

All the stages (double concealment, single concealment, and revelation) are created by us against the simple, even Light. If we want to receive the Light, we have to raise above the ego and receive it over the screen, that is, into a desire to bestow. To reveal the desire to bestow within oneself amounts to revealing the Creator.

However, to be in concealment means to lack the revelation of the Creator or the property of bestowal. Do we suffer because we don’t have the property of bestowal? Such suffering indicates the degree of one’s concealment. So the question is does the concealment intensify or diminish as we advance?

We grow and concealment gradually disappears, which results in more revelation and less concealment. Yet in terms of its quality, concealment is stronger and we suffer from it more. I correct part of my desire and, by becoming similar to the Creator, attain revelation. But in other parts of my desire I remain in concealment. That’s where I feel how much I need Him and He hides from me because I am uncorrected.

The higher I rise, the greater the revelation and the more the concealment is diminished. If only 10% of the concealment is left, then I will suffer much more within that 10% than I suffered when I was at the bottom and 99% was concealed from me. With the strength of 90% revelation, my “dirt,” which is almost sterile, looks terrible to me because now I see what I am still lacking. So, the level of concealment decreases, but the sensation of its evil grows until we attain complete revelation.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/9/10, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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A question I received: What does it mean to justify the Creator? How does this process manifest inside a person?

My Answer: One justifies the Creator, all of creation, the entire process of development, and the Upper Governance when one goes through all 125 degrees behind which the Creator conceals Himself. When a person takes the concealment upon himself, he nullifies the Creator’s concealments and sees that the concealment was there for his own good, in order for him to build his own screen.

By virtue of working above the concealment, a person acquires revelation, understanding, sensation, and knowledge. Thus, he rises from the animate level to the human one. A person conceals himself so that the Creator does not need to conceal Himself. It is written, “Because Moses hid his face, he merited the revelation of the Creator’s face.”

The Creator can only be seen in the Reflected Light. When you conceal your will to receive pleasure, you perform a restriction on it, and thus create the Reflected Light. Then, in the Reflected Light you reveal the Direct Light.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/28/10, Baal HaSulam, Letter 1 – 1920

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYikra (The Lord Called),” Item 80: When he reached her, he saw that she was lying in the dust. Who saw the glory of the queen at that time, and the king’s requests of her? Finally, the king held her in his arms, raised her, and brought her to his palace. And he swore to her that he would never part from her again and will never be far from her.

Every time the breaking is greater and the exiles are more real. The last exile can not even be compared to the one before. This is because the difference between them is in the revelation of evil in the thickness of the egoistic desire (Aviut) on the level of Aleph (Ego-1), Bet (Ego-2), Gimel (Ego-3), and Dalet (Ego-4).

Ego-4 was revealed during the last exile while all the previous exiles were merely preparation for this one. After all, it is Ego-4 that needs to be corrected. All the other exiles (as well as all the other levels of the ego) do not exist on their own, just like the still, vegetative, and animate levels have to exist for the sole purpose of engendering the human kind, Ego-4.

Similarly, the fourth level of the development of desire, Malchut, cannot become revealed without the levels 0, 1, 2, and 3. But it is specifically Malchut on level 4 which is the goal; all the corrections happen in it.

This is why this last exile is special, it corresponds to the “human” level within the desire to receive pleasure. It is precisely in it that the needs, aspirations, desires, and the Creator’s goals regarding all the creatures (including levels 0,1,2 and 3), what He desires of them, become revealed.

Likewise, this fourth and last exile in its turn is divided into subcategories: still, vegetative, animate, and human. It began almost 2,000 years ago, but it is only now that we are entering the fourth, human level of the fourth exile. Now is when we reveal the lack of fulfillment on the human level. We witness depression, breakdown of the family unit, crisis in education, and all that relates to the “human” level. Hunger (animate level) is no longer the main problem. Now the main issue is the inner problems of the human level which did not exist in previous states.

This is why the King sent the queen into a long exile somewhere far away. On the other hand, He needs to give her the opportunity to come out of this descent, to ensure that this exit is towards a connection with Him, on a human level. Thus, He must gradually unveil this broken state and reveal Himself in it. The queen lies in dust, while the King must reveal Himself to her in this precise state.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/16/10, The Zohar

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On Lag B’Omer we celebrate the passing of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of The Zohar. He was a special person and the revelation he made signifies the giving of the Torah, the science of correction, to the whole world.

Humanity developed from one generation to the next in birth pangs until it reached Abraham, who revealed the science of Kabbalah above the crisis that developed in Ancient Babylon. Then the nation of Israel waited for the Egyptian slavery and the Exodus from it, followed by the construction of the First and Second Temples, as well as other ascents and descents. All the horrible events that befell this nation and all human history in general appear to be one never-ending trial.

However, the entire path that we went through until the arrival of Rabbi Shimon was just our preparation for correction. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel finally lost the sensation of spirituality and entered exile from it. But then we received this gift from the heavens, marked by the arrival of a sage from the times of the Temple (a Tana), a Kabbalist of great stature. His special soul incorporated all the previous souls and united them within itself. That is why, together with his students, he was able to attain an extraordinary height, the final correction in his generation.

Baal HaSulam writes that never in history has there been any attainment higher than the one achieved in the times of Rashbi and his generation. The likes of it can only happen again at the End of Correction, and we are now standing at its threshold.

Zohar is the name of the Light that becomes revealed in GAR of the World of Atzilut, in its root, which is a special place – the "concealed mind" of the system of Arich Anpin. Rabbi Shimon was unique in that he was able to connect this incredibly high level with our world. His attainment placed him on the level of the Final Correction, just as before the destruction of the Temple, yet at the same time, he lived a regular, material life in the times after the destruction of the Second Temple. This was when the nation fell completely from the level of brotherly love to unfounded hatred, and this fall caused a complete disappearance of the spiritual sensation.

Because Rabbi Shimon united these two entirely different poles within him, he was able to write this great Book, meaning to make a revelation. Without it, we would not have the opportunity to correct our souls and attract the Light that Reforms.

From the lecture in honor of Lag B’Omer 5/01/10

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