Questions I received on male and female roots in the spiritual world:

Question: Are there male spiritual roots for the word “sister”?

My Answer: Every spiritual creation (every soul) can act as a receiver – female, or as a bestower – male. Of course, in either case it acts with the intention of bestowal. For example, suppose that I receive from the Creator – then I act as a female Kli, and if I pass that on to others – then I act as a male Kli.

Female actions are described with various female names, and male actions are described with male names. The names are taken from our world, according to the vocabulary of “Root and Branch.” See Part 1 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Inner Reflection (Histaklut Pnimit).”

Question: What is the meaning of the women’s Niddah, how does it reflect in spirituality, and is there any reason for it in corporeal life?

My Answer: Everything that exists in our world descends from above. Our world is the world of results, not of beginnings. Everything begins exclusively in the Upper World. In the Upper World, a Nukva’s Niddah is the part of the desires that could not be corrected or turned into an embryo.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On the Men and Women Inside Us
Laitman.com Post: Men’s and Women’s Desires
Laitman.com Post: Men and Women in Kabbalah
Kabbalah & Women: “Coming Together – The Real Meaning”

Filed under: Women - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar. Chapter “Rabbi Shimon’s Departure from the Cave” (abridged)

185. Rabbi Pinchas stood (in all of his 10 Sefirot, Gadlut) before Rabbi Rachuma (who was equal to him in his small state – Katnut, sitting) on the shore of Lake Kinneret. He was wise, old, and almost blind (corrected with the Light of Hassadim, filled with the Light of Hochma, almost blind – complete correction makes it impossible to receive the Light, to reveal). He said to Rabbi Pinchas: “I have heard that our friend Shimon Bar-Yochai has a jewel, a son (a degree higher than RASHBI). I have looked upon the Light from that jewel (that fills him), and it shines like the light of the sun (Keter) and illuminates the entire world (Malchut).

186. And that Light extends from the Heavens (Bina) down to the earth (Malchut) and illuminates the whole world (his entire soul) until Atik (Keter); appears and sits upon its throne (becomes the uppermost Sefira), which occurs at the end of (the soul’s) correction. And that Light abides entirely in your household (because the daughter of Rabbi Pinchas was wife to Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar was therefore his grandson, the third degree). And a tiny ray of Light (called “the son of the household,” Rabbi Elazar) separates from the Light that fills the household, comes forth and shines upon the whole world. Happy are those who merit such a destiny! Come out, my son, come out! Go after that jewel, which illuminates the world, for it is a good time (GAR of Atzilut) to do so!

187. He came out before him and stood waiting to board a ship (the property of Malchut in Bina). Two women (Malchut, desires that are still unfulfilled ) were with him. He saw two birds soaring over the water. He raised his voice (MAN) and said, “Birds, you soar over the sea (the Light of Hochma); have you seen the place (degree) where (over which) one could find Bar-Yochai?” He waited some and said, “Birds, O birds, fly away.” They flew away and disappeared into the sea.

188. Before he boarded the ship (raised Malchut to Bina), the birds approached again, and in the beak of one of them was a letter (revelation). It read that Rabbi Shimon, the son of Yochai, had left the cave together with his son, Rabbi Elazar. Rabbi Pinchas went to them (ascended to their degree) and found them completely changed (with regard to corrections): their bodies (desires) were covered with sores (like holes in the ground – see the Talmud, Bava Batra, 19:2) from staying in the cave (Bina staying in Malchut) for so long. He wept and said, “Woe that I have seen you so!” (This is how he assessed their state. Similarly, we assess the Upper One, the property of bestowal, as darkness.)

Related Material:
Free eBook Download – The Zohar: Annotations to the Ashlag Commentary

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: Baal HaSulam writes in his article “The Last Generation” that altruistic deeds will lead to a better society only if they are made “for the sake of the Creator.” Please give an example of an altruistic deed and explain how one must aim his thoughts, or what image one must have in mind, in order for his deeds and intentions to be for the sake of the Creator. Your explanation will be important for work I am doing with a group of children.

My Answer: In order to really attain the intention of bestowal, of “not for oneself,” to come out of ourselves and have goals that serve others, we need a field in which to work, a place and model that we can use for correcting ourselves. We have to become similar to the Creator even though He is concealed from us. That is to say, the Creator cannot be that model because He is concealed from us. However, He broke the only creation He made, the soul, into many pieces – particular souls. Within each of these parts, He created a perception of self, its “I,” and of others opposite to it. This is our egoism.

When we unite, and when each of us fights his own egoism within, we will then be able to see whether we are attaining spirituality – the quality of mutual bestowal and love. Then we will discover that we cannot attain it and will turn to the Creator. We will discover Him and His readiness to correct our desires, provided that we are mutually responsible for one another and support each other in this regard – and if we turn to him precisely through this force of “Mutual Guarantee.”

Baal HaSulam writes that in our times, this is the necessary condition for entering the Upper World or the quality of bestowal. Hence, all altruistic deeds can only take place inside the group or virtual society, among friends who desire to attain mutual aspiration and support – the mutual guarantee.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do You Turn a Bat Into a Rooster?
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings”
Kabbalah Today Article: From Racial Rifts to Spiritual Harmony
Kabbalah Today Article: Rabbi Hya’s Vision

Filed under: Unity - No Comments →

Questions I received on family, relationships and Kabbalah:

Question: Can your wife who studies Kabbalah be your friend? Can you attain the Creator with her? If not, then what does “Man, Woman and Divinity between them” mean?

My Answer: She can! The real meaning of the phrase “Man, Woman and Divinity between them” is that the soul’s desires (the woman), together with the screen and the Reflected Light (the man), form a Kli (vessel). This is the condition for uniting with the Upper Light. The Light, the Creator, becomes revealed in their connection, called Zivug.

However, the same thing can be true in our world: when the husband studies, he automatically provides spiritual support to his corporeal wife, even if she doesn’t study on her own. And if she desires it, then he is obligated to study with her. Then they will advance together. Rabash used to speak about this to his students, advising them to read his articles to their wives.

Question: Can man a learn to be truly faithful to his wife through self correction and attainment of spirituality?

My Answer: This is not Kabbalah’s objective. Nevertheless, a person changes as he gradually goes through the corrections.

Question: I’ve been single for three years. When I try to date someone, the relationship ends because I am excessively focused on the world of Kabbalah. What is the Creator trying to tell me?

My Answer: Finding a partner means finding someone similar to you – someone who is also focused on spiritual life and the spiritual goal. Please contact our dating department.

Question: You say that a man must be married to study Kabbalah effectively. What about someone who can’t create a family due to being born with a disability?

My Answer: If your disability prevents you from running a normal household with a woman, then this condition doesn’t apply to you. However, I find it practically impossible to imagine a case where it’s impossible to create a family.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On the Men and Women Inside Us
Laitman.com Post: Men, Women, and the Soul’s Correction
Laitman.com Post: If He Loves You, He Won’t Come Between You and Kabbalah

Filed under: Family - 1 Comment →

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.”

Related Material:
Recorded Zohar Video Lessons

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: By disseminating Kabbalah you ascended spiritually and enabled Rabash to ascend even higher. This is why during his life Rabash did everything to make sure that you would continue to disseminate Kabbalah once he is gone – this was the purpose of his life. Before his death Rabash instructed you to continue disseminating Kabbalah. Does your dissemination of Kabbalah today play any role in Rabash’s afterlife?

My Answer: All the souls are absolutely interconnected. Even in our world studies already reveal that every one of us knows everyone else through a sixth acquaintance. Baal HaSulam explains that all the souls in our world go through correction over the course of 6,000 years, in the form of one Partzuf:

• At first, during the first 2,000 years, the world, common soul, Kelim Chabad are corrected with the Light of Nefesh;
• Next, over the second 2,000 years, the world, the common soul, Kelim Hagat are corrected with the Light of Ruach;
• Finally, over the last 2,000 years (and we are living at the end of this period), the world, the common soul, Kelim NHY are corrected with the Light of Neshama.

By correcting ourselves we receive the smallest Light – Nefesh, but due to our correction in the first souls (the forefathers, the great Kabbalists of the past), our corrections reveal the greatest Light – Neshama. The Kabbalists of the past prepared all the conditions for our correction, but it is we who correct the broken (devoid of a screen, of the intention “for the sake of bestowal”) and the mixed (Bina and Malchut) Kelim (desires). Hence, we and our actions are the most important in the process of creation’s development. We raise the entire universe up to the Creator!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Reshimot Surfacing Today Demand Spiritual Ascent of All Humanity
Laitman.com Post: Connected Through the Worlds
The Open Book, Chapter 7 – The Purpose of Reincarnation According to the Zohar

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

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.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: The Spiritual Rosh Hashanah
Kabbalah Today Article: Four Species and a Sukkah
Kabbalah Today Article: The Meaning of Yom Kippur
The Path of Kabbalah,Chapter 7.2 – “The Meaning of the Jewish Holdiays”

Filed under: Unity - No Comments →

Questions I received on memories of past lives and the resurrection of the dead:

Question: How much time does it take for a soul to reincarnate into a new body – days, months, or years?

My Answer: There is no time, and therefore it can happen at any moment.

Question: How do you explain it when a person has memories of a past life?

My Answer: These aren’t memories of a past life, but fantasies of this life.

Question: Why do we need cemeteries if everything stays in our memory, and especially since our soul reincarnates into a new body?

My Answer: When one of the soul’s 613 desires “dies,” it is “buried” – one stops using it. Then, as one continues the correction process, this desire is “resurrected from the dead” – in order to be corrected. This is how all the desires undergo death, burial, and resurrection, in order to reach the full correction.

Question: There are first and second restrictions, as well as the “resurrection of the dead.” When a person chooses the path of Kabbalah, starts studying the material and implementing it, then when does the “resurrection of the dead” take place?

My Answer: A person goes through these states one after the other: first the double concealment of spirituality, then single concealment, then single revelation, double revelation, resurrection of the dead, and the full correction.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: To Be Or Not to Be?

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Questions I received on Rav Ashlag’s descendants and how to get one’s family involved in Kabbalah studies:

Question: Are Rav Ashlag’s descendants involved with your center?

My Answer: No.

Question: Where do they live?

My Answer: Mostly in Bnei Brak.

Question: Do they carry on their father and grandfather’s teachings in their own way?

My Answer: No.

Question: What do they think of you carrying on their father’s teachings?

My Answer: I’m not interested in what they think, because I received instructions from my Teacher.

Question: Are your wife and children involved?

My Answer: Yes. My son is in charge of book publication and distribution around the world (with the exception of Israel and Russia). My eldest daughter has a PhD in biology and is married to the manager of our Russian dissemination department. My youngest daughter is doing her dissertation in Kabbalah and is about to be married to my student. I am sure that my grandchildren will also follow this path because they live in this environment at home. My grandson watches lessons together with my son every day. Besides, their time will be the time of humanity’s spiritual development.

Question: How do we involve our spouses and children?

My Answer: Lovingly. “There is no coercion in spirituality.” Kabbalah is not a religion – there is no persuasion, intimidation, or convincing. Love is the only means to show them that the correction of the soul is the best possible thing and it’s necessary to all.

It is written, “The Torah is not inherited.” Every person realizes it within to the extent of his desire and efforts. This is how one reveals the Torah, the Upper Light, or the Creator within. Moreover, history shows that the spiritual heirs of the great Kabbalists were usually not their physical heirs.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: You Can’t Teach Anyone Through Force
Laitman.com Post: To Be Born a Kabbalist
Laitman.com Post: Connected Through the Worlds
Shamati #145: “What Is Will Give Wisdom Specifically to the Wise”

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

Two questions I received on educating children and understanding their growth process:

Question: I’m a teacher. What is the best way to teach and educate young children (from the age of 5 to 12) within the framework of a profane school today?

My Answer: Through personal example – your goal and meaning in life.

Question: We learn that one reveals a completely new world on each level of advancement because one’s qualities undergo a fundamental change. So why is it that on our earthly level, the things that happen to a child in the first years of life lay a mark on him for the rest of his life, and it’s practically impossible to change his character traits later on? Why aren’t his qualities renewed when he grows up?

My Answer: It’s because everything in our world is pre-programmed. When a creature grows on the animate level, it develops the same qualities. However, when one grows spiritually, one increases his equivalence to the Creator and gains completely new qualities.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Children, Souls, and the Point In the Heart
Laitman.com Post: How to Help Teachers and Parents
Kabbalah on Education

Filed under: Children, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →