The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 33: “Them that await His mercy.” “Them that await His mercy” are those who engage in Torah at night and partake with Divinity. And when the morning comes, they await His mercy.

The Zohar also talks about this in the article, “The Night of the Bride.” It describes all the days of exile as a dark night, during which we prepare our desires (Kelim) for the connection between the Groom and the Bride that will happen in the morning.

All who prepare for this meeting are called the dwellers of the King’s palace. The moment that they complete building the wedding canopy (Huppah, symbolizing a screen and the Reflected Light), the Creator (Zeir Anpin) unites with His Shechina, which is the union of all souls. This is the vessel for receiving the Light. Then the Bride unites with the Groom; the two compliment each other and attain a state of perfection and peace.

When a person engages in Torah at night, a thread of mercy extends upon him during the day….

It is impossible to engage in the Torah during the day, because the day is when unification happens. At that point, everything is revealed and there is no more work to be done. Our work lies in exercising our freedom of choice, while in fact we already exist in the perfect state. We just need to “prefer” it, meaning to choose day over night.

When we decide that bestowal is day, we will reveal it as being day. Through the Reflected Light, we awaken day and Light instead of darkness. This is why all the work happens at night; it’s because all our choice and efforts are concentrated there. There is no work that can be done during the “day.”

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The ten students of Rabbi Shimon who wrote The Book of  Zohar are the ten Sefirot of the corrected soul. This is why they are able to bring to us the Upper Illumination (Zohar), the Light that originates from the head of Zeir Anpin. This Light comes from the highest source, and as such, it is the highest possible Light that can reach us.

As I try to find the qualities that The Zohar describes inside me, I have to understand that all ten Sefirot exist inside me even on my small level. I just can’t discern them inside my desire, which is like a single drop. For now my desire still lacks aim, yet it is like a drop of semen that already contains everything that will happen to it later on – all the qualities and all of life. It is missing only my effort; this is what I have to add to that drop, which is like a drop of semen from which a person (me) will develop.

The effort is made by working with the environment (the group) and the book. The environment inspires me with a greater desire for the spiritual goal, but most importantly, it gives me the right desire. Sometimes a person is burning up with a great desire and thinks that he doesn’t need the group, but that is because he can’t see that his desire is incorrect and not aimed at the goal. It can only be a correct desire if he lets it pass through the group. His personal desire will never be aimed at the Creator because the Creator becomes revealed inside the connection between the souls (us). Therefore, we have to let all of our desires pass through the group. That is how we will receive the force of unity and bestowal from all the group members.

If you are simply burning up with a great desire for Kabbalah and the Creator, this doesn’t mean anything yet. You still don’t desire spirituality because spirituality is bestowal and love for one’s neighbor, and those are things you surely don’t desire very much. You have to let your enormous desire pass through the group, and then you will see how much it really is or isn’t aimed at spirituality. Maybe you will be left with five ounces out of the 100 tons of desire that is burning inside you. But those five ounces will be aimed at the goal and you will really be able to use them to turn to the Creator. As for the rest of the 100 tons, you are simply burning up with them but standing in the same place, not going anywhere.

This is why we have to bring our drop of “spiritual semen” into the right environment: It’s in order to receive the force of bestowal and the right direction from it. The group molds us like dough, which can then be placed into the oven in order to bake into bread.

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In the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam explains that the science of Kabbalah examines everything with regard to the soul. This is because we are not actually aware of anything outside of ourselves; rather, we reveal, perceive, and evaluate things through our feelings.

Therefore, when we read about the processes that occur between Zeir Anpin, Bina, and Malchut, and the connection and actions between them, it is all happening inside us, in the connection between others and me. We learn about what happens in our soul, or what our soul feels and reveals to us. Where it feels and reveals is only inside it.

That connection between me and others is, in fact, my soul. However, right now we feel that we exist in our inner corporeal body; this is our world because we don’t perceive anything else.

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In The Zohar, we read about all types of qualities and desires that exist within every one of us, as well as the states they go through. Together, we must exert the effort to try to recognize them within us.

It is not effective for every person, individually, to try and reveal these qualities and desires. Rather, we should all strive to reveal them within our common vessel of the soul (Kli) as if these desires, such as the Pharaoh, Moses, and others do not exist within oneself. A person doesn’t know who they are or what they symbolize. He cannot recognize these qualities, see the connection between them, or appraise their level. He only hears the sounds and the words. He must try to view them as a collective structure and as the ten common Sefirot of our soul.

Indeed, the authors of The Book of Zohar were ten friends who had united together into one whole vessel and attained the correction of all the degrees. In this same way, we must imagine our own state.

Of course, every person has their own personal sense with which to feel the spiritual world for everyone is comprised of the ten Sefirot. However, our work will not be complete unless we connect the common vessel of the soul, which also is comprised of the ten Sefirot, into the complete HaVaYaH.

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A question I received: Can we make a leap upwards at the upcoming Zohar Convention 2010 ?

My Answer: Of course! Everything depends on us. Everything is already present in our souls, in the informational genes (Reshimot). This entire system is now starting to connect globally and all the Kabbalists of the past – all the souls that united together – are now coming to the surface.

It’s not a coincidence that our world is becoming so global. It’s happening because the common system of souls is now being revealed together with the connection between all the people in the whole world.

The events that are unfolding are not following linear laws, but are coming from the general, perfect system. Therefore, it isn’t just a sequence of actions, but an operation of the entire system which is starting to be revived. Every part influences everything else and the whole process develops along a geometrical progression.

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A question I received: How should we prepare throughout the day for reading The Zohar, especially now that the Zohar Convention 2010 is approaching?

My Answer: We should aspire to the Light that Reforms together. This is a very simple motto where “being together” means uniting. But what are we uniting for? It’s in order for each of us to be influenced by the Light that Reforms, which will correct our evil nature, namely, our lack of desire to unite.

Everything can be found inside one notion. There is Malchut, the assembly of souls, and we have to unite within it through a common demand to Yesod, asking it to give us the Light of Correction and the Light of Fulfillment. That is all. This should be our intention at the upcoming Congress.

If we think about this and understand that our entire future depends on this unity because it makes us similar to the force of bestowal, then we don’t need anything else. We should reread the story about the reception of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai because we are in the same exact situation. It is written that every person should see himself as standing beneath Mount Sinai and receiving the Torah.

The Torah is given every day. But we will only be able to receive it if we all unite as one man with one heart, standing opposite the Creator, who is also One. We will then establish contact with Him and receive the Surrounding Light.

We have to prepare for this state where our souls refuse their individual egos and connect together in order to attract the Light of Correction. The Light will make our unity happen and inside it, we will reveal the Creator.

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A question I received: You said that The Zohar can only be studied when you become a part of the vessel of the common soul. How do I become a part of it?

My Answer: A person cannot do anything on his own; it is the Creator’s work. You must only expect for Him to do this, meaning to desire, hope, and influence things in such a way that will make this happen, as much as you are able. You have to put all your energy into this and hope that the Creator’s salvation will come. That is all we can do.

We are standing around Mount Sinai and screaming, as it is written, “The sons of Israel cried out from the work.” The unity of the common desire attracts the Surrounding Light according to the principle of equivalence of form, because the Surrounding Light comes from one source. When we desire to become as one man in order to reveal the common vessel of the soul (the Kli), then it becomes revealed.

We have to prepare for the The Zohar Convention 2010 in February so we will be able to unite our desire and reveal one, common desire. It can only be revealed inside everyone together, inside the whole nation, which includes men and women. This is what we read in the story about the reception of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai, as well as the exodus from Egypt. It is written that this became possible thanks to the righteous women.

All of our desires have to unite, whether they are coming from the left side or the right, whether they are great or small – they have to become as one. We hope that when we undertake this mutual action, we will reveal a sufficient desire to be influenced by the Surrounding Light.

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A question I received: Does the duration of the preparation period depend on the root of a soul? Can The Zohar speed up this period, which is said to normally take “three to five years?”

My Answer: If you use your freedom of will and work on achieving the goal, then The Zohar helps to shorten the preparation time, saving you several more lengthy incarnations. This is the meaning of the verse, “I labored and found.”If you make efforts, you will be rewarded.

How much of an effort should you exert? As much as necessary according to the root of your soul. No one knows how much he should exert in advance. It is written, “The salvation from the Creator comes in the split of a second.” It comes suddenly, like the exodus from Egypt.

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A question I received: What conclusions for our inner work can we draw from the principle that all of reality is perfect in relation to the Creator?

My Answer: This indicates that all the flaws are inside us, not in the Creator, and we must only correct ourselves in order to feel perfection. In reality, we already exist in the perfect state.

I hope that by preparing for  The Zohar Convention 2010 in February and gathering together, we will attain such a powerful unity that we will actually feel this. Spirituality becomes revealed only inside the unity of souls, not in the souls themselves. Inside the individual souls it is only possible to feel our world, whereas the spiritual world is felt inside the connection among the souls.

This connection can be attained by virtue of quality, in which case it’s enough to have a small amount of people – even ten people suffices if they are very powerful. Alternatively, if there are many people, their number can make up for what they lack in quality.

Quality times quantity equals power. So let’s hope that the upcoming unity will connect newcomers and old-time students into one whole, and then every person will receive the entire force of this unity which will give us a push upwards, toward the understanding and sensation of a new, spiritual reality. Then we will feel it in addition to the mundane reality that we feel today.

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A question I received: We have just completed the virtual 2010 World Mega-Congress in which many countries took part, and in February 2010 there will be a large Zohar Convention 2010 in Israel which will be supported by the whole world Kli. What is the best way for us to combine the study of The Book of Zohar with our gatherings and Congresses?

My Answer: All of this combines together wonderfully. All of our gatherings, our regional and worldwide Congresses are intended to unite us together. By uniting with each other, we allow the Light to be revealed according to the law of equivalence of form. The Light is one, and it needs only one desire, one vessel. When we unite in practice, bringing our union to life and making it real, then to the degree we make efforts and desire to actualize this, the Light comes closer to us.

For now the Light shines upon us from afar. It is Surrounding Light rather than Inner Light because we still aren’t united even in the smallest degree in order to be able to perceive it as Inner Light. If I cancel myself completely, then I pose no obstacle to unity since I nullify myself before the others. This means that I enter the spiritual womb, composed of all the other souls. They are all corrected in relation to me; I am the only one who’s uncorrected. If I cancel myself and my egoism before them, desiring to unite with them, then I will be like a drop of semen in a womb.

If a person attains this minimal state, then he enters spirituality as an embryo. The Creator is revealed inside the union among us, as it is written, “I dwell among the people.” He dwells inside His people – in the unity among the souls. When I am alone, I am like a foreign body in relation to the others, while all the other souls are connected together.

Therefore, one must first and foremost cancel oneself relative to the other souls by connecting with them. This is what each of us is trying to achieve at all our gatherings and Congresses, including the upcoming Congress whose focal point will be Israel.

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