A question I received: Originally Adam had only one woman, Eve. Will we return to monogamy when corrected? Or will we not care when we are corrected?

My Answer: Sexual union in our world comes from the spiritual union between the Upper Light and the soul, called “Zivug de Hakaa” by means of a screen. In this spiritual union between the soul and the Creator (the Kli and the Light), the Creator or the Light is the male part which bestows, and the soul or Kli is the female part which receives. In the process of correction the soul (Kli) acquires the property of bestowal, and then it is ready to accept the Light in order to satisfy the Creator’s (the Light’s) desire “to bestow.”

The process of union (merging, Zivug – spiritual coupling) happens in the common desires of both “to fulfill the other with pleasure,” to feel pleasure only to the extent that will give pleasure to the other partner. Hence, what happens is a constant comparison of common desires and intentions (in the Rosh of the Partzuf, before reception inside its Toch), which becomes expressed in our physiology as the movements of sexual intercourse, preceding the outpouring of the Light of Hochma (Ohr Pnimi, semen) into the soul (into the Kli, from the Rosh into the Toch of the Partzuf).

These alternating and progressive mutual movements are meant to create a complete desire in each spiritual partner, by way of interrupting and resuming contact. This creates the possibility of wholesome pleasure: when this level is attained, the Light passes from Peh to Toch – the pleasure enters the desire, as written in the Torah: “As an arrow hits the desired target at the desired time, in the desired woman, and in the desired place.”

Thus, when one’s soul attains full correction, one views sex as the physiological expression of the spiritual connection. And if there is no spiritual connection, then there is no incentive or reason for a bodily connection.

Related Material:
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Questions I received on perceiving spirituality:

Question: I am absolutely convinced by the way Kabbalah explains everything – the creation, life, and the end of all of this. But in my heart I feel that I need something tangible, something that I can sense with my ordinary five senses, some kind of a clue, sign or miracle. I know that this is not how Kabbalah works and I feel it is rude and ignorant to desire such things, and I should not do it. What do you advise me to do with such thoughts and desires?

My Answer: You will become more and more detached from this desire, because you’ll begin to understand that spirituality is attained differently – inside you. Actually, you even perceive our world, all the corporeal things, only inside yourself. Nothing exists outside of you. Gradually you will begin realizing this, to the extent that you will gain a perception of the world of souls, the Creator, in parallel to your perception of this world.

You shouldn’t do anything forcibly, but only include yourself in the group. Then the desires you receive from the group will draw the Upper Light, which will change you and make you just how you should be, without your intervention.

Question: When you talk about the sixth sense, you don’t mean just one more “sixth” sense in addition to the other five, but five new senses that exist in parallel to the ones we already have, and that operate differently from them?

My Answer: It’s a new type of perception comprised of five parts (from Keter to Malchut with Ohr Hozer). It is called a “soul” and it perceives like the Creator, inside the quality of bestowal, in the Reflected Light. Of course, it is not just an additional sense, as I sometimes say to avoid scaring off the beginners.

After a person gains the ability to perceive in the Reflected Light, in bestowal, he also begins to perceive differently in his five bodily senses, perceiving new relationships and connections between forces, objects, and actions. In addition, he always retains the ability to descend to the regular perception, to be like an ordinary person, to understand him.

Related Material:
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A question I received: I read that Rabbi Nachman said the following about a Mikveh (ritual immersion): “When a man immerses in a Mikveh (a basin filled with rain or spring water, or in an ocean or river), his enemies are destroyed, and all his troubles and disturbances disappear, which prevented him from serving the Creator.” Is this talking about a combination of a Kabbalist’s inner work with the corresponding mechanical actions of his biological body?

My Answer: It means the following: “When a man immerses all his desires into the property of bestowal, then all his egoistic intentions disappear and nothing prevents him from being similar to the Creator.” There is no need for any physical actions of the body, because when a Kabbalist’s body dies, his soul still continues to feel its existence through similarity to the Creator.

The soul exists outside of the body, independently of it. It does not incarnate into the body, and it cannot be affected by any physical actions performed with the body. The soul is a part of the Creator from above, whereas the body is a form of existence of protein matter.

Everything that Judaism advises one to do with the body is a tradition, a framework that helps one remain externally similar to the Upper World. But unfortunately, today – when it’s necessary to come out of the spiritual exile, the same framework that helped the Jewish people survive through the exile is holding them back from the correction they must perform today.

It is written, “As the Mikveh purifies the impure, the Creator purifies Israel.” Immerse into the Creator, the property of Bina, the waters of bestowal and mercy – and you will become pure!

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Shamati #79: “Atzilut and Bya”

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Night of the Bride,” part 1 (abridged)

125. Rabbi Shimon was sitting (Katnut) and studying the Torah on the night (absence of the spiritual Light, Galut – exile from spirituality) when the Bride, Malchut, unites with her husband, Zeir Anpin (precisely in Galut). And all the friends (the souls, parts of Malchut) present in the bridal chamber (Malchut of the world of Atzilut) on that night, the eve of the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost, the end of Galut), must stand together with the bridegroom (ZA, the Creator) under the Huppah (wedding canopy), and be with him this whole night, and rejoice (over being filled with Light) with him in the corrections of the Bride (the common soul), i.e., study the Torah, then Prophets, then Holy Scriptures, and finally the wisdom, for these corrections are the Bride’s adornments (the Light of Hassadim, into which the Light of Hochma clothes). And the Bride (all the joined souls) receives corrections (in the property of bestowal), adorns herself with them (obtains the Light of Hochma), and rejoices with them all of that night (the end of spiritual exile). And on the next day, on the holiday of Shavuot (the receiving of Light), she only comes to the Huppah (Ohr Hozer, Hassadim) together with them (the souls of those who participated in her correction). And her friends, who studied the Torah (their correction) the whole night (of the exile), are called the sons of the Huppah. And as she approaches the Huppah, the Creator asks about them, blesses and adorns them with the Bride’s adornments (the corrections of the Light of Hassadim). Happy are those who merit this!

126. This is why Rabbi Shimon and all of his friends stayed up that night, and each of them renewed the Torah again and again. Rabbi Shimon was joyous, and so were his friends. Rabbi Shimon said to them: “My sons, how blessed is your lot, for it is you who shall accompany the Bride tomorrow to the Huppah, for all those who correct Her and rejoice in Her this night shall have their names recorded in the Book of Remembrance. And the Creator shall bless them with seventy blessings and adornments of crowns of the Upper World.”

127. Rabbi Shimon opened and said, “The Heavens declare the Creator’s greatness. I have already explained this, but when the bride awakens to enter the Huppah on the following day, with all the friends who rejoiced with her through that night, she rejoices with them, corrects herself and shines with her adornments.”

128. And on the following day, a multitude of masses, hosts, and legions join her. And she, together with all these masses, hosts and legions, awaits all those who corrected her by studying the Torah on that night. This is so because Zeir Anpin unites with Malchut, and she sees her husband, and it is said: “The Heavens declare the Creator’s greatness.” “The Heavens” alludes to the Bridegroom (ZA), who enters the Huppah. “The Heavens declare,” i.e., shine, like the luminescence of a sapphire, upon the entire Malchut, from end to end.

129. The Creator’s glory = EL – is the bride, Malchut, called EL, as it is written: “EL rages each day.” She is called EL on all the days of the year. And now, on the holiday of Shavuot, when she already entered the Huppah, she is called GREATNESS and she is called EL, greatest of the great, luminescent out of the luminescent, dominion over dominions.

130. The hour when the Heaven (ZA) enters the Huppah and shines upon Malchut, all of her friends, who corrected her by studying the Torah, are known by their names, as it is said: “The Heavens declare the work of His hands.” “The work of His hands” refers to the members of this covenant, called “the work of His hands.” As you say: “Confirm for us the work of our hands,” which is the mark of the covenant, imprinted on man’s body.

131. Rabbi Hamnuna-Saba then said as follows: “Do not let your mouth cause your body to sin,” i.e., one must not allow his mouth to get close to evil and be the cause of sin for the sacred flesh, which bears the mark of the holy covenant with the Creator. If he does so, he shall be dragged to hell. And the ruler of hell, called Domeh, stands at the gates of hell with hundreds of thousands of angels, but he is forbidden to approach those who have kept the holy covenant in this world.

132. When this happened to King David, fear enveloped him. Right then, Domeh ascended before the Creator, and said: “Master of the world, it says in the Torah: ‘And the man that commits adultery with another man’s wife…’ David broke his covenant, is it not so?” The Creator replied to him: “David is righteous, and his holy covenant remains pure, for it is known to Me that Bat Sheva was destined for him since the creation of the world.”

133. Domeh said to Him: “Master of the World, what is revealed to You is concealed from him.” The Creator answered: “Whatever David did was done with My permission. For no man goes to war without first giving his wife a Get (document of divorce).” Domeh then said: “But if this is so, David should have waited three months, which he did not.” The Creator replied: “This extension is only necessary to make certain that the woman is not pregnant from her previous husband. But it is known to Me that Uriah never went near her, for My Name is imprinted in him as testimony. Indeed, Uriah is Ohr–Iah, the Creator’s Light, though it is written Uriahu = Ohr + i + a + hu (Yod-Hey-Vav), without the last Hey, Malchut, which proves that he did not use Malchut.”

134. Domeh said to Him: “Master of the World, this is exactly what I have said: if You knew that Uriah had never laid with her, then who revealed it to David? He should have waited three months. And if You will say that David knew that Uriah had never laid with her, why did he send Uriah to his wife, saying: ‘Go down to your house, and wash your feet?’”

135. He replied to him: “Of course, David did not know, but he waited more than three months, as four months had passed. As we have learned, on the 15th day of Nissan, David ordered all the people of Israel to prepare for war, Yoav – on the seventh day of Nissan. They conquered the lands of Moav and remained there for four months, until he went to Bat Sheva in the month of Elul. And on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the Creator forgave him his sin. But there are those who say that David dispatched his orders on the seventh day of Adar, the troops assembled on the 15th day of Iyar, he went to Bat Sheva on the 15th day of Elul, and on Yom Kippur the Creator forgave him and spared him from death at the hands of the angel Domeh.

136. Domeh said: “Master of the World, I have nonetheless one claim against him: why did he open his mouth and say: ‘The Lord is righteous, for a mortal does so,’ thus condemning himself to death. Hence, I have the power to bring death upon him.” The Creator replied to him: “You are not allowed to bring death upon him, for he has repented and confessed: ‘I have sinned before the Creator,’ even though he did not sin. But he did sin in one matter – the killing of Uriah. I have recorded his punishment, and he had received it.” Then Domeh immediately gave up his complaints, and returned, despondent, to his place.

137. And David said to this: “Were it not for the Creator’s help, Domeh had nearly claimed my soul.” “Were it not for the Creator’s help” means “had the Creator not been my guard and guide against the angel Domeh.” “Nearly” means that only the distance as thin as a thread separated me from the other, impure side, so close was I from Domeh dragging my soul to hell.

138. Therefore, man should be careful not to say what David said, for one cannot say to the angel Domeh that “It was an error,” as it was with David, when the Creator won the dispute against Domeh. “Why should the Creator be angry over your word,” i.e., for what you have said. “Destroyed the work of your hands,” i.e., the sacred flesh, the holy covenant, which you have broken, and are therefore to be dragged to hell by the angel Domeh.

“The Night of the Bride” – full commentary

Related Material:
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A question I received: You said that religion did us a service by showing us how to coexist with each other, and that human egoism became tolerable thanks to religion. Now let’s imagine that religion never existed. Egoism would have torn human society apart, and because of the great suffering we would have reached our logical conclusion much faster – study of Kabbalah and attainment of the goal of creation. Doesn’t this mean that religion is not just harmful, but very much so?

My Answer: The role of religion in man’s (the soul’s) development will become clear only after we attain the Governing Force. In the meantime we have to learn from reality: This is how our world develops, first going through the primitive beliefs, then faith in religions, then faith in science, and finally – the science of Kabbalah. This is when you gain the possibility of opening up your eyes with the help of a new quality and seeing the universe for what it really is.

Kabbalists compare the state before this to sleeping or being unconscious. So while you still don’t have the ability to perceive the true world – while you’re asleep, you should just accept what you feel, and keep advancing. Then the Light of Kabbalah study will “awaken” you.

I accept everything taking place in the world as things that are given to me for my development. I form an opinion about everything that happens only from this perspective. In our time religion must transform and give way to Kabbalah. It should only lay a claim to the cultural content of people’s lives, without any claim to the soul, the world to come and so on, since it doesn’t really know anything about these things. Its task is to give psychological support to weak people, like a psychologist or therapist, but no more than that. Then religion will be able to get out of the crisis it’s in, stop using threats and force to influence people, and earn people’s respect.

The relationships between man and God are explained in Kabbalah by revealing the Creator to man. I consider myself religious because this is the “religion” I follow, rather than the distorted and mechanical one that demands submissive and pointless observance (Musar).

When Baal HaSulam says religion, he means only Kabbalah, while referring to all the rest as culture, tradition, or ethics (Musar). Here’s an excerpt from the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose“:

“Many are mistaken and compare our holy Torah to ethics (Musar). But that has come to them because they have never tasted religion in their lives. I call upon them: ‘Taste and see (receive the Upper Light into your soul and reveal) that the Lord is good.’

It is true that both ethics and religion aim at one thing – to raise man above the filth of the narrow self-love and bring him to the heights of love of others. But still they are as remote one from the other as the distance between the Thought of the Creator from the thought of people. For religion extends from the Thoughts of the Creator, and ethics comes from thoughts of flesh and blood and from the experiences of their lives.”

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A news report (translated from cursorinfo.co.il): On Wednesday, September 10th, on the border of Switzerland and France, scientists will hold the largest physics experiment in history. They will circulate a proton beam with an energy of 450 Gigavolts through the entire length of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC – the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator), which has a 27 Kilometer long acceleration tunnel.

The objective of the experiment is to recreate the conditions of less than a millionth of a second after the Big Bang. But what are the possible outcomes of colliding protons at such high energy? It’s possible that a steady black hole will emerge, and the world will be annihilated inside it.

So, ladies and gentlemen, the end of the world is scheduled to take place on September 10th!

My Comment: Could it be that even scientists are now joining the ranks of everyone else who is predicting the end of the world? The end of the world (of this world) will happen only after the full correction of all the souls. The date depends on us, our correction:

1. We can accelerate it by attracting the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif), and then it will happen prior to 6,000 years (today we are in the year 5,768).
2. Or we can do it through the path of suffering, but no later than September 2,240 – 6,000 years after the first time that a man, Adam, revealed the Creator.

Our world (the universe) is under the full and absolute governance of a higher world, the World of Atzilut, which is programmed to bring about the general correction of all the souls of all the people who exist in our world. Our world is but a result of the Upper Governance.

We can influence the World of Atzilut only with our desire (MAN) to ascend to it with our corrected souls (desires of bestowal and love). Each and every one of us has access to the means of controlling our destiny – Kabbalah.

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Questions I received on the perception of reality:

Question: In the “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Baal HaSulam says, “All the worlds, both Upper and lower, are inside man.” Does the authentic meaning of these words mean that the entire reality takes place only in our imagination and is perceived through our senses (vessels of attainment)?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: If so, are physical bodies even real?

My Answer: “Real” is what I perceive.

Question: But we always learned that throughout all of its stages the soul is inside the insignificant physical body.

My Answer: I never taught this. Maybe I was talking about the soul’s body (not the physical body) – the Partzuf or Kli, and the soul is the Light inside it.

Question: If we accept this, then doesn’t it mean that everything around us (including our friends and family) doesn’t actually exist, but is just a figment of our imagination?

My Answer: Yes. However, instead of imagining things, we have to attain the state where we will perceive everything outside us as being inside.

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Questions I received from students who are starting out on the spiritual path:

Question: The way I see things now, I am not sure of anything: I don’t know what the truth is, whether the Rav is real, whether I am on the right path, whether I understand the books correctly, and if I have fallen beneath reason. There are things that I have to accept without knowledge, yet still be critical of them. However, my mind is limited, and hence my criticism is also limited. The way things are going, I might as well be using red strings or thinking that there are “souls” on a plate of food that I eat (“correct”). Is there some basic rule of thumb that I should accept, and then use it to discern the true direction, instead of remaining a puppet that’s controlled all the time?

My Answer: You should only accept the Kabbalists’ advice to study in a group, and wait for the Upper Light to make everything clear to you. I think that by fully participating, you will attain results in four to six months.

Question: I like downloading your lessons and playing them in the background while doing something else, for example, playing computer games. But later I start feeling guilty and thinking that I should either be serious about studying Kabbalah and dedicate all of my time and attention to it, or quit deceiving myself and stop studying altogether, because there’s no use studying the way I do. What do you think?

My Answer: Even this kind of study of Kabbalah is beneficial. However, soon you will decide that it’s time to leave the games behind and start paying more attention to the lessons.

Question (from a German student): I study Kabbalah and I would like to move ahead, but this is very difficult when studying alone. I am not Jewish, I don’t speak Hebrew, and I don’t know who to turn to. I am skeptical about the Kabbalah “experts” who have sprung up everywhere all of a sudden. Maybe I am just being too cautious and not trusting enough? Where can I get certainty about my path? Are there groups or individuals who help people like me find their way?

My Answer: Our German and Austrian groups, our online classes, and our entire archive are ready to help you immediately and at no cost!

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Bnei Baruch Learning Center

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A question I received: I would really appreciate it if you would explain the following quote from Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Freedom”:

“Whereas if there is no such spark in man, but all the sparks of his essence are dressed in bestowal of contentment to their maker, then it is neither absent nor dead. For even when the body nullifies, it only nullifies from the aspect of reception for self gratification, in which the will to receive is dressed, and has no right to exist but through it.”

I don’t understand – how is it possible that when this body dies (which you said is perceived as changing one’s shirt), the desire to bestow does not die with it? When I die, then even if I will still have the desire to bestow, I won’t be able to bestow anymore – I won’t be able to realize my desire!

Or suppose that instead of dying, I survived a car accident or a serious disease, but I lost my limbs and had brain damage; then even though I am still alive, I will not be able to bestow! Without a body you can’t bestow to your friends or participate in dissemination. So how does one’s desire continue to exist and be realized if the body no longer exists?

My Answer: Here’s an explanation of Baal HaSulam’s quote that you cited: “Whereas if there is no such spark in man, but all the sparks of his essence are dressed in bestowal of contentment to their maker, then it is neither absent nor dead. For even when the body (egoism) nullifies, it only nullifies from the aspect of reception (the desire) for self gratification, in which the will to receive is dressed, and has no right to exist but through it.”

The desires remain. What changes is their intention or “clothing.” We live inside these desires, and we also perceive our body, or its presence, inside a certain desire, which becomes revealed in our “I” for a period of time (our life), and then decreases and disappears. This is what gives us the feeling of life and the gradual death of the body.

Read the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar ” and you’ll see what Kabbalah means when it says:

• The death of the body – the death of the egoistic intention
• The revival of a body – the birth of the altruistic intention

We only perceive our animate body until we correct our entire soul; that is to say, until we correct all our desires from “for myself” to “for others, for the Creator.” Then the perception of the body will disappear, because the desire in which we perceive this body will be corrected into bestowal, and it will become eternal because it helped us correct all the other desires.

Take this as a foundation: There is only the Light and the desire, and you feel everything (this world or the world to come) inside the desire. Everything depends on the desires – their size, quality, and similarity to the Light.

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A question I received: You say that everything we experience in each reincarnation comes from the root of one’s soul. Throughout my life, and especially in childhood, I wondered, “Why do I perceive the world through my body, and not through someone else’s?” The answer to this is – because I have my root of the soul. But why do I have the root of the soul that I have? If I had a different root of the soul, then I would perceive reality differently. I understand that the Creator does not do anything by accident, so I’m sure that this question is justified and has an answer.

My Answer: The common soul of Adam divided into many pieces, called Bnei Adam (the sons of Adam, the word for “people” in Hebrew). Each part or separate soul descends, while worsening its qualities, to the lowest level – our world, where it perceives itself as a physical body with a world around it. This perception is the most detached one from the Creator, and it is fixed (permanent) – it cannot be corrected.

However, there is a “point in the heart” – one desire out of all the others, which can be corrected and raised up to its root in Adam. “The body” is the lowest desire, and it goes through life cycles in order to reach the state when it will be possible for a person to start developing this “point in the heart.” Each “point” of Adam corresponds to a particular “body” with its own destiny.

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