The Zohar: “Who is that rising from the desert like pillars of smoke?” (Song of Songs), at the time when Israel walked across the desert.

A person on the spiritual path goes through states of darkness, emptiness and various problems, and he must constantly rise above all of this by acquiring the quality of bestowal.

The Shechina walked ahead of them, and they followed it.

If a person asks for help so he will have something to follow, and if he chooses to follow the Creator instead of his egoistic nature, then he sees a “pillar of fire” and “clouds of greatness” – signs that help him ascend up the spiritual ladder.

“The Shechina walked ahead of them” means that their only thought was about how to unite together into one gathering of souls, called Schechina.

The Shechina walked accompanied by all the clouds of greatness. And when the Shechina ascended, so did Israel, as it is written, “When the cloud rose above Sinai.”

When the Shechina ascended, the cloud rose to the highest peak. And all those inhabiting the world saw and wondered, “Who is that rising from the desert, like pillars of smoke?”

The desires that are able to follow the Shechina do so. And those that aren’t yet able to follow her are called “the nations of the world.” However, they also receive a revelation, and when everyone ascends, these desires also advance with them.

This is how a person advances by clarifying which desires within him are called “Israel” (straight to the Creator), “the nations of the world” (the desires that he is unable to correct for now), “Klipot” (desires that are completely unfit for correction until the end of all corrections). A person continuously sorts his desires and sacrifices them, causing the sacrificial smoke to rise, which means that he changes their use from “for my own sake” to “for the Creator’s sake.” Smoke (“Ashan” in Hebrew, also translates as “world, year, soul”) is the Reflected Light.

If a person works on himself in this manner, sorting his desires and attaching them to the Creator, then He attains similarity to Him. Thus, he raises the Reflected Light and opens the way to his next degree. In other words, he constantly reveals a new world, a new year, and a new soul.

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The science of Kabbalah is the method of developing the soul. However, while developing my soul, I don’t really understand the process. I don’t know what is good or bad for its development, what kind of desires should increase in me and to what extent. It’s as if I wander aimlessly between egoism, disdain and self-sacrifice.

Here we need to obey a simple rule: love for the Creator will come after love for others. I will attain Him exactly inside the connection between myself and others. Our entire study is devoted to this.

At first thinking of others seems like the most repulsive thing to me. I am sick of it, and I would prefer to just study and work on myself, but not depend on others. However, I soon discover that there is no other way to go.

Although we are not familiar with the program of our development, we can still try to establish an interconnection among us. But the fact is that the Light does all of the work. It reveals various properties inside us, revealing them individually in every person depending on the root of his soul. Therefore, one person advances in huge steps while someone else advances by small steps. Someone reveals anger in himself and someone – apathy. There are no exact templates and standard rules.

The thing Kabbalists explain to us are what belongs to everyone with no exceptions – what is the goal we all have to reach and how to exert efforts on the path to the goal. Kabbalists reminds us time and time again that no matter what is happening, we shouldn’t forget to push on the gas, always strive to accelerate and always move straight ahead.

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The Zohar: It is known that there is World, Year, and Soul in everything. In the stony heart (Lev HaEven), too, there are World, Year, Soul. World is the primordial serpent (Nahash Kadmoni), which Samuel rode; Year—the ninth of Av; and Soul—the thigh-vein sinew (Gid HaNasheh).

The Zohar tells us that there are two ways of perceiving the reality that we feel. There is the perception “for one’s own sake,” where one feels an egoistic “year, world, and soul,” which belong to the stony heart (Lev ha-Even). There is also the altruistic “world, year, and soul,” where one’s perception of reality is directed in the opposite direction, away from oneself. One perceives through bestowal rather than reception, and therefore one perceives the Upper “World, Year, and Soul,” because it is perceived through bestowal (sanctity).

What’s the difference between the perception of reality by way of absorption and reception, when one separates the perception into world, year, and soul; and the perception of reality by way of bestowal, when one also separates the perception into world, year, and soul? This is, in fact, a big difference between these sensations, because by absorbing into oneself, one is limited and feels that he exists in rigid boundaries of time. One feels that he lives and dies; he feels suffering and problems. One constantly wishes to fill himself, but this fulfillment fades immediately. One’s whole existence in these egoistic bounds of “world, year, and soul” takes place in reception, in the stony heart (Lev ha-Even), in absorption “into oneself.” However, in spite of the suffering, one is forced to continue existing in this manner because one’s environment conditions him that this is how he has to live. The environment obliges a person to strive to be successful at this egoistic absorption, and one is compelled to listen to them and thereby to kill oneself.

However, it is possible to perceive reality different – through bestowal, by exiting out of oneself. There, “world, year, and soul” are infinite dimensions, not limited by the considerations of how a person can fulfill himself. One feels the spiritual world, eternity, and perfection.

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I am a small word, and I perceive everything within myself. As Baal HaSulam explains in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” there is a “camera” within me that projects the picture of this world on a screen in the back of my head. Thus, the world is presented to me through the following system of coordinates: “world, year, soul.” Therefore, in order to see the true picture of the world, I have to properly arrange my desires, through which I perceive the world.

By correcting every one of my desires from reception to bestowal, I gradually begin to convert the pictures of this world, presently perceived in the light of reception, to a picture of the world in the light of bestowal. Then, step by step, I will draw closer to the true picture of reality – one that is outside of me and independent of my corrupted vessels of reception (Kelim). I will see reality in its true form, outside of me; stated differently, I will “see” the spiritual world.

All I have to do to accomplish this is to change the method of utilizing my desires from reception to bestowal. Therefore, I must first and foremost imagine that the whole world that I presently feel and seem to dwell in is actually my desires; it is in these desires that I dwell, which are all aimed at consumption (reception).

As I gradually begin to convert them from reception to bestowal, to exit out of them to the outside, the picture of the world will change. This is very difficult for me to understand because I am accustomed to perceiving the world as it appears to me at this moment. However, the whole picture of the world is created by forces descending from Above, like a picture on a computer screen. I can change my desires, and then I’ll perceive a different reality.

We are living in a special time, when all the forces, all the conditions, and all the states that we go through help us to discard our current perception of the world, a perception of the corporeal reality, and develop the desire to acquire a different perception of reality – that of the spiritual world.

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Kabbalists tell us that we exist in an invariable state called “the World of Infinity.” The Creator wishes to fulfill us infinitely, to give us infinite pleasure, and to bring us to a sensation of Him. Then we will feel perfect harmony, a luminous and perfect world where we are filled with the Upper Light. In addition, we will understand and feel the world in its entirety.

We are in this state even now, but are unaware of it. This is our only problem – that we are insensitive to it due to not having the sense that can feel this reality.

I have one sense, which I perceive as my physical body. This body has five senses of its own: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. With the help of this cumulative sense called the “body,” I feel myself and the world.

Besides it, there is also another body called “the body of the soul.” If I reveal it, I will discover five senses there as well: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, which can also be called “spiritual vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.” Through the body of the soul, I perceive the spiritual reality, myself, and the world.

So what is the problem – why is it so difficult for us to reveal this spiritual sense and through it to feel that we are situated in the World of Infinity, that everything around us is filled with Infinite Light and there is no life, death, or any other limitations? The problem is just one thing: the lack of the Light of Hassadim. The only way for our soul to develop from the point that we currently have, for that point to expand and burst open, is by acquiring the Light of Hassadim – the quality of kindness (Chesed), love, and bestowal, the ability to come out of ourselves. We are situated in an ocean of Light – the Light of Hochma, the Light of the Creator, but we will only be able to reveal it if we open up to the outside by means of the Light of Hassadim.

Therefore, the darkness that is revealed in us is the pressure of the Light of Hochma in the absence of the Light of Hassadim, which comes from the soul. Our soul is still incapable of opening up and revealing the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim – of seeing “day” instead of “night.”

We see the spiritual world, our spiritual life, in greater or smaller degrees of the Light of Hassadim. The entire process of our spiritual development and formation occurs between these two Lights – Hochma and Hassadim, or between two desires where these Lights are revealed – the desires of reception and bestowal.

Stated more accurately, there is one desire, but it can be implemented by us in two different ways: with the intention “for myself” or with the intention “for others.” Therefore, developing the Light of Hassadim, the quality of bestowal and love, the ability to come out of oneself, is the same as revealing the soul. We reveal the Upper World, the World of Infinity, to the extent that we develop the Light of Hassadim, the intention of bestowal inside us.

There are five levels of Aviut (thickness of desire) inside the point in the heart – the drop of semen of the soul, the Reshimo that is in us. By acquiring the Light of Hassadim on each of the five levels of desire, we reveal five parts of our soul and thereby open up an opportunity for the Light to enter it step by step, through the five degrees called five worlds (degrees of the Light’s revelation).

This is how we gradually ascend along the degrees of the worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon – until we reach unlimited revelation, called “the World of Infinity.” Everything in this process depends on how much we acquire the quality of bestowal because through the quality of bestowal, we reveal the point in the heart and it becomes the soul, the Shechina, the receptacle for the Light.
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The Zohar. Chapter: “Let me go, for the day is breaking.”

When the Creator revives the sons of Israel and delivers them from the exile, a very narrow, small door to the Light opens for them. And then another door opens for them, slightly bigger than the first. This continues until the Creator throws open the upper gates, which face all four corners of the earth.

Therefore, deliverance does not come to them all at once, but like a morning dawn that blossoms gradually, until the day sets in.

We are guaranteed this deliverance – the acquisition of the quality of love and bestowal that exists in the Creator, leading to adhesion with Him.

And this is what the Creator does to the sons of Israel… Israel refers to anyone who wants to draw nearer to the Creator, because “Isra-el” stands for “aspiring to the Creator,” regardless of one’s corporeal ancestry. After all, The Zohar speaks to all the “Babylonians” – all of us …and the righteous among them. This refers to those who desire to reveal the Upper Level in order to justify the Creator rather than accuse Him.

He delivers them gradually, not all at once. It is like a man who has lived in darkness all his life; if you want to give him Light, you must first reveal a tiny ray, like a needle’s eye, and then a bit more, and so on, gradually increasing it until he is illuminated with all of the Light.

This is talking about the Light of love and bestowal toward others, which can only be revealed when we collectively agree to desire, demand, and request it. This is why it is revealed to us gradually, to the degree we come to understand our nature and how opposite it is to the giving nature of the Creator.

That is how we reveal our soul – from the tiniest ray of Light until the revelation of the complete spiritual Partzuf, the whole HaVaYaH and the three lines, called the “12 tribes of Israel” – the 12 qualities of the soul.

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The Zohar: It is written of the sinner Bilam: “He walked in solitude… as a viper on the road,” as a snake that crawls alone, and a raven along meandering roads. So Bilam walked in solitude so as to strengthen his spirit of impurity.

So it is with every person who walks alone, even in a prominent place, even in a city, in known places, he draws upon himself the spirit of impurity.

Hence it is written: “Let not man walk in solitude on a road and in a city” – but only in connection with others, even where people walk and dwell.

And also: “Let not man walk alone in the night” – for during that time there are no people.

All of this is telling you: Unite with your friends. Kabbalists are saying that you cannot embark on the spiritual path alone. If you want to get on the road, but the road is dark and you can’t see anything because you have no Light (no quality of bestowal, you haven’t yet connected to the spiritual system, to other souls), then you must not leave your “house” alone. You are in the dark because you are alone.

You must not take even a single step; it will not benefit you because you’re not yet able to unite with others in spite of your egoism. You must not take even a single step, because this step will not be made in the right direction – toward bestowal, toward love, toward the Creator. First you must unite with others and then come outside. And once you unite with them, you will suddenly see that it isn’t night outside at all, but day.

But at night, you shouldn’t embark on a path, even when together, because it means that you haven’t yet achieved the required level of unity. As we see from The Zohar, when night falls, you must hide in a “cave” – the qualities of Bina (bestowal), like Noah in his shelter.

Now let us step back and ask: What is the meaning of all this? The Zohar’s aim is not to scare us with creepy stories. Rather, it is a holy book that tells us the correct approach to correcting our souls. We have to open this book with the desire to correct all of these forces within us, all the desires and qualities that we read about. They are all within us.

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In the wisdom of Kabbalah we study the soul – the sense that reveals the Creator. As a matter of fact, the Creator only created this specific sense, this specific space, and nothing besides it.

Right now we also perceive our lives with the same sense, but in a concealed form. This is the reason we refer to our current life as our body, this life, and this world. However, in reality, the Creator only created one desire. And the entire Book of Zohar describes how we can work with this desire in order to recognize the place where we have freedom of choice, where we can work and apply efforts in order to reveal this sense or this desire, and then perceive true life in it. This will not happen without our participation.

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During the period when The Book of Zohar was concealed from people – since its composition in the 2^nd century and until its discovery in the 11^th – no one called it “concealed” because no one knew anything about it. Today, however, every person in the world can easily buy The Book of Zohar and read it, so why is it called secret or concealed?

The Book of Zohar contains everything. It has the ability to reveal this world and the Upper Worlds to us in their entirety because it was written from the peak of all 125 levels, from the attainment of the entire universe, and it narrates about our entire path. The only problem is that this book remains closed because the person reading it is closing it to himself with his inability to concentrate, to attune himself correctly for seeing what is taking place inside the book. On his own, naturally, the reader is unable to position himself before the text the way he can do it by reading any other kind of text. He gets confused about the text of The Zohar, thinking that it describes images of our world, history, geography, physiology or anatomy. He erroneously connects the concepts, objects and actions using his earthly understanding.

Think of an electrical device with many wires and details, and you are connecting all of them incorrectly. Will you ever be able to make the device work? Obviously not! So is the case with The Zohar: Everything is lying open before us, but the problem is that we cannot reveal it because we are unable to properly involve ourselves with this system or to connect ourselves to it correctly. We simply don’t have the right approach to The Book of Zohar.

Before and during the reading, a person must constantly be learning to attune himself to a new focus, understanding and vision. In addition, he has to advance gradually, without rushing. The tuning process is necessary because if one simply opens up The Book of Zohar and starts reading it, he will only get confused, and later on it will be very difficult to correct the mess and return back to the beginning.

Therefore, the biggest difficulty lies in learning how to enter The Book of Zohar correctly. And that is why The Book of Zohar is accompanied by materials that talk about how to attune our instrument or perception – the soul.

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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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