In November 2010 we will be holding an International Kabbalah Convention in Tel Aviv, Israel where all those studying Kabbalah with us in Israel and the whole world will come together. It will be three days of unity!

The main reason why we organize such conventions is that the Kabbalists instruct us to hold meetings and conventions in order to unite. Rabash and Baal HaSulam write about this, but it follows even from the compositions of the Ari and Ramchal, as well as the writings of Rabbi Shimon and Abraham.

Correction takes place only by virtue of a connection among the souls, and connection starts with communication. Yet, there is one idea present in the communication: to attain the kind of unity that is called “the Creator,” bestowal, or the spiritual world.

Within this kind of unity we reveal the worlds (Olamot). They go from being concealments (Alamot) to revelation and therefore the Creator becomes revealed more and more instead of hiding behind the worlds or concealments. In other words, in the connection between us we reveal bestowal and love more and more, and that is called the revelation of the Creator. When this quality becomes revealed between us, we begin to feel that we live and exist inside it, and thus we ascend above the sensation of this world.

The revelation of the Creator can be attained on the condition that we carry out actions within the framework of this world. We start here and then continue the actions in the spiritual realm which becomes revealed in the connection between us. That is why it is necessary for us to meet and unite in this way using all the opportunities that this world has for us, physical or virtual, in order to build closer connections.

We would like to announce this event to everyone and to connect as many people as possible to it without any limitations. Any person from any corner of the world can attend and participate if he feels attracted to this idea. The task of those studying with Bnei Baruch is to prepare this convention, but the convention itself is intended for anyone wishing to attend!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/10, A Lesson About the Role of the Nation

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Why don’t we gather only those around the world who belong to the most active part called “600,000 souls” and work on their spiritual correction? Why worry about the rest? It is because today we must be in the general, integral flow from the very beginning.

We see that global cataclysms are affecting the whole world and there is a general awakening. All the phenomena are starting to be so connected and related to everyone that it forces us to worry about the general organism.

The general, full, spiritual redemption (Geula) is the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah among all the nations, and for this reason all parts of the common soul must help the other. Some of them do it by attaining mutual guarantee, another part supports them, and there are many other circles.

The active part called “Israel” must be the first to complete its correction in order for this wisdom to then spill over to the whole world. However, the rest of the world must also help this part accomplish this because we thereby accelerate our path. The choice between the path of Light and the path of suffering does not depend only on those who have a point in the heart. We see in practice how mutual help influences everyone and strengthens all of us.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/11/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: What does The Zohar mean by, “When a person lies asleep and the soul leaves him and testifies to that person” (Chapter “Lech Lecha [Go Forth],” Item 359)?

Answer: The soul is the Light in the desire (Kli). We can correct our desire to receive only in the Sefirot of Keter, Hochma, and Bina, while correction in the Sefirot of Zeir Anpin and Malchut can only be partial. For this reason, the largest Light that can manifest in us for now is the Light of Neshama, while the Lights of Haya and Yechida can serve only as small supplementary illumination from below upwards.

Therefore, our collective desire is called “the soul” (Neshama), by the name of the greatest Light that the soul can contain within it until the end of correction. If the desire exists in a state where it is able to attain the Light of Neshama, it is called the soul (Neshama). That’s because we name desires by the names of the lights which fill them. However, if the desires cannot contain these lights and be filled with them due to the lack of the screen, there is no soul. It is because the filling is the screen and the Reflected Light, the property of bestowal.

The soul is not my reception of Light from Above. The soul (Neshama), like all of the Inner Light in the desire, is formed by my giving this Light to someone else, by passing it through myself and thereby getting filled by it. This is called my Light, the Light that I receive. I receive the opportunity to bestow, and that’s what fills me.

This is why “at night,” when I am not yet able to correct my desires and gain control over them with the help of the screens (the property of bestowal), I receive a negative impression in my desire called darkness. But what is “darkness”? Darkness is when I cannot bestow and this state feels as “night,” meaning the lack of bestowal on my part. I feel regret and prepare to correct my desires.

I merit the “day”  through my work “at night.” I got up at dawn to attend the Kabbalah lesson and united with my friends; I made various corrections and obtained new desires and screens. In all of these screens and desires I create a new form of bestowal that fills me. This means my “day” has begun.

Hence, “night” is also a spiritual state for it is the preparation of desires. And if a person doesn’t have a desire to attain bestowal, even the “night” doesn’t exist for him for we define “day” and “night” according to our spiritual states.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, The Zohar

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about passages from the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy

Since the day I have discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah and dedicated myself to it, I have distanced myself from abstract philosophy [its conclusions and reasoning] and all its branches as much as the east is from the west. Everything that I will write henceforth will be from a purely scientific  perspective, in utter precision [of definitions based on practical, repeatable experiment], and by means of simple recognition of practical, useful things.
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Needless to say, today our generation has already recognized that metaphysical philosophy contains no real [based on practical experiment] content upon which it is worthwhile to spend one’s time. Hence, it is certainly forbidden for anyone to take any spices from their words [for examining oneself, the world, and their reasons and purposes].
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

Philosophy loves to concern itself with His Essence and [seemingly] prove which rules do not apply to Him [based on negation]. However, Kabbalah has no dealings whatsoever with it, for how can the unattainable and imperceptible [that has no practical experimental data but only one’s own guess work] be defined?
– Baal HaSulam, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8: Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers, who impart to us their sacred Lights and dedicate their souls to do good to our souls. They stand in the middle between the path of harsh torments and the path of repentance. They save us from the netherworld, which is harder than death, and accustom us to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning, as we have said above.

We shouldn’t regard these great Kabbalists as people who lived some time ago; they are parts of an enormous system: the soul. A Kabbalist is a soul that attains the Creator, knows and feels Him, and resides in the collective system of souls, Adam HaRishon. He is its integral part and acts as an inter-medium that binds us to the spiritual world at a time when we do not realize or perceive it.

In other words, a Kabbalist not only leaves us his writings, he also actualizes a connection between our souls and the collective system. We ourselves do not perceive the souls of the Kabbalists. Yet, they connect our souls (points in the heart) with the common system, allowing us to connect with each other and become part of it. Thereby, a stream of Light that flows within the system reaches us and revives us so that we may become its integral active parts.

This constitutes the work of Kabbalists in all the generations: They ensure our life within this spiritual system. For the time being, we exist in it merely as points without consciousness. But Kabbalists assist us by transmitting the Surrounding and Inner Lights that are present in the system thereby awakening us.

Therefore, the life of a Kabbalist doesn’t end with the death of his physical body. When we speak of a Kabbalist, we are talking about a soul that exists in the common totality of souls and acts regardless of whether or not his body exists in the material world. This soul is the active and the part of the system closest to us (as, for example, Baal HaSulam or Rabash).

Our whole Kabbalistic group represents a certain spiritual organ of the collective soul, and they take care of us spiritually. This is written about us: “We should be grateful to our teachers who impart to us their sacred Lights.” They are imparting them to us right now!

We do not shift from one system into another. We always remain within the same system and only awaken toward more consciousness.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: Does the death of the ARI mean the death of Messiah ben Joseph (Messiah Son of Joseph)?

Answer: We are speaking about souls! What does the death of a physical body have to do with this? The soul can operate in the common system without revealing itself in this world. There are many souls like this. The body in our world is one of the external consequences of the soul that helps other souls.

Connection among souls is the only reality. We see and understand certain connections among souls whereby we work together and convey knowledge and feelings to one another. However, there is another type of connection whereby the souls are unable to feel their true state, and hence perceive their connection as a picture of this world.

What is the difference between this world and the spiritual one? In the spiritual world, the deep inner connection among our souls is revealed to me. Conversely, when I am unable to reveal this inner connection, I see it in its external form as this world, which manifeststs to me in a very unclear, uncertain, and blurry manner.

World (Olam) is a degree of concealment (Alama). I exist in the common system of souls, but the concealment affects me and presents this system to me in the misleading form of this world. Yet, it is the same system! Nothing else exists besides the single structure of Adam HaRishon, the system of connected souls. We are all parts of it. However, instead of perceiving all the souls and the network that connects them, we perceive this world.

This is why this world is called the last degree, meaning that it is completely cut off from our actual perception. It is similar to what happens during the loss of consciousness when a person lies with his eyes closed and sees hallucinations. However, I exist in the same system. I am just unable to perceive it and hence, imagine it in a distorted form, as is written, “Every person judges according to their own flaws.”

But once the true picture becomes revealed to me, I will be shocked at how everything is different from the way it initially appeared to me. There are no worlds separated from one another; there is one single structure which we reveal as we correct our desires. There are five levels of their correction, and according to this we reveal the five states of reality: the five worlds and 125 degrees.

This is what we live for because the Creator never created another world. Some parts of the common soul are already corrected and function actively, while the rest are still broken up and do not perceive the proper connection among all the souls. This is why we should understand our obligation to perform the correction, our duty to others, ourselves, and the common system which supports them and which we call the Creator.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8: Our sages have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Indeed, that Godly man, our Rav Isaac Luria, troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah was given to Israel. There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor.

The entire method of correction came to us from the ARI. He actualized everything that was prepared by all the preceding Kabbalists. The soul of the ARI has such a special place in the common system of souls that from his time onwards the Light begins to act upon all souls, bringing them to the final correction (Gmar Tikkun).

Before the ARI, all development occurred through the steps 0, 1, 2, 3, and only the ARI, through his corrections in the system of souls, entered the 4th stage and started building the true Malchut in its final form. He is Sefira Yesod (the last one before Malchut) and thus he is called Mashiach ben Yosef (Messiah Son of Joseph, where Joseph signifies Sefira Yesod), after which Malchut itself begins its correction.

All the previous souls pertained to the preparation stage of correction. And only with the ARI does the awakening of all souls begin. Obviously, this process takes hundreds of years, but the ARI opened the channel for the Light from the previous three stages to the last, the fourth stage whence the correction begins.

Messiah is the revelation of the Light in the common system of souls. This Light enters Malchut through Yesod. The ARI opens the gate for the Light, and therefore he is called Messiah Son of Joseph. Messiah is a force of correction. The ARI manifests this force that passes down through his soul. While he resides in the collective system, he performs corrections in his soul, and now the Light flows through it into Malchut and acts upon the souls.

Now, however, it is our job to prepare our souls for the ascent from Malchut to Bina. This process pertains to the correction of Malchut, Mashiach ben David (Messiah Son of David).

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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From Rabash’s article “These are the Generations of Noah”: A person in a state of negative desires and thoughts has to make big efforts to overcome arguments of the evil inclination that nag him with well-known questions of “who?” and “what?” (“Who is the Creator that I should obey His voice?” and “What does this work give you?”) And there is no other way for a person to overcome them but by the power of faith above reason.

In other words, a person does not work according to his egoistic reason defined by his current desires. Rather, he acts according to the reason of a higher degree, which is greater bestowal.

Indeed, if I obey my desire and reason that services it, then I am called an animal that has its head (reason) and body (desires) on the same level or height. If I want to be “man,” then my head has to be above my body, that is, above my desire. This means that my reason must service a higher desire, meaning bestowal that is outside me rather than the desire currently inside me.

Today the desire of bestowal is outside of me (“today” denotes my current degree), but tomorrow (at the next degree), it will already be inside me. This is why I try to serve my neighbor with my head all the time. It is how I work for the next degree, and thanks to this I am called “man” whose head is above the body.

This is the structure of spiritual objects: GE (the upper part) of the lower Partzuf clothes AHP (the lower part) of the Upper One and makes a calculation according to the Upper One by connecting to it and trying to be similar to it. That is, I connect to the group that serves as AHP of the Upper One for me, and use my reason to serve it instead of serving my egoistic desires (AHP) that are on a lower degree.

The upper spiritual object divides into two parts: its desire and the Light in it. The desire of the Upper One is the group and the spiritual environment. In other words, it is all parts of the common soul that I have not yet connected to myself, and because of this they are external to me.

Later on, everything will unite into one desire and the Light within it, as it is written: “He and His name are one.”
[18493]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/3/10, Article, “These are the Generations of Noah”

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Question: What is the unity between us that we demand from the Creator when we read The Zohar?

Answer: In truth, we don’t know what unity is. What does it mean to unite? Is it to be friends like in our world, where we connect through common interests, desires, and pursuits, and where we enjoy spending free time together playing soccer, fishing, drinking beer, or working out in the gym? Or, should we be like a solid submarine crew where everyone has gone through hard psychological training and is prepared to die for the others?

Unity in spirituality means something completely different. The spiritual life that you find in such unity is collective. It is similar to that of Siamese twins where, when one dies, so does the other. They can live only as one. There is no division into “mine” and “yours,” or “half for one and half for the other.”

This common life is called spiritual unity since everything that you gain is through the bond with the others. You share one “body.” It is a spiritual vessel called the body of the soul. Inside this spiritual vessel is the Light of the soul; it is one soul. If this oneness disintegrates, the body disappears and the Light with it. As a result, there is no soul or spiritual life.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/10, The Zohar

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages of the great Kabbalists. I promise to answer them. The comments within brackets are mine.

The Reality Contained in the Wisdom of Kabbalah

I have already written in several places that there is not a single word of our sages, not even in the prophetic wisdom of Kabbalah, that relies [exclusively] on theoretical bases [are based on reflection detached from matter]. This is because [everything comes only from one’s personal practical attainment based on sensation and one’s investigation].
– Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”

The need for Kabbalah is great [in order to attain the purpose of creation which we will have to achieve willingly or not, as it is predetermined in the Thought of Creation] and hence, we must know it [for choosing a preferable path of correcting our egoism not by suffering but by the Light] as it is said: “Know today and bring into your heart that the Lord is the Creator of all.” [That is, put the Creator, the property of bestowal and love, into your heart, your desires]. Meaning we should know [attain by ourselves practically] not just through faith [speculatively, theoretically], but through notions aligned with the heart [desires].
– Ramchal, The Book, The Wars of Moses, pg.1, Item 1

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