A question I received: Spiritual attainment could be both individual and general. Can there also be an individual and general exodus from Egypt?

My Answer: According to the spiritual law – the law of Nature – everything that happens in the particular happens in the general as well, and vice versa. In our time, an individual exodus from Egypt (exodus from egoism, crossing the Machsom) is no longer possible; the exodus can only be general.

The science of Kabbalah describes the process of exodus: The nation has the spiritual leaders, such like Moses and Aaron, yet it escapes from Egypt in its entirety. In other words, by connecting with each other, a large number of people come out of the exile. They rise above their egoism particularly by interconnecting, helping each other, and escaping from Pharaoh (our ego) together. That’s why specifically disseminating the science of Kabbalah and connecting among us can bring us redemption and take us out of Egypt.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Freedom From Exile For The Entire World
Laitman.com Post: Escaping The Rule Of Our Desire
Interview with the Future: “The Exodus from Egypt – from Corporeality to Spirituality”

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Spiritual roots also have an influence on their material branches. Everything is determined by the order of dissemination of the forces of Light, which affect our material, the desire to receive pleasure. There is a special periodicity and causality in the affect of these Lights.

They have a mechanism, which puts into gear and controls everything from the head of the World of Atzilut. From there, from Arich Anpin, Aba ve Ima, YESHSUT, and ZON, which exist in special relationships to each other, we receive changes, which are called: year, month, week, days, minutes, nights, as well as many different more internal states.We are talking about qualities and the combination of qualities, which have a great influence on this world.

If a person wishes to connect himself to the spiritual root and to place himself under a greater influence of the Upper Light, in order to become closer to it, then one must use these periods of a special influence on us from above. If one wishes to ascend spiritually, then during such periods in our world, which are called holidays, he needs to unite with the intentions that pertain to such influences.

In ARI’s book, The Gates of Intentions, he explains how a person should act during such special periods of influence on our world, as Rosh HaShana, Sukkot, Pesach (Passover), Shavuot, and so on. If we are talking about Pesach, then its most significant characteristic is the Light of Hassadim. When a person receives the Light of Hassadim for the first time in his life, he acquires the quality of bestowal and rises above his ego.

Therefore, it pays for us to think more about the Upper Light, which, at this time, has a greater power to raise us above our egoism and to keep us above it, in the quality of bestowal. Subsequently, we will already be able to advance further and to feel the spiritual world with all its details.

Thus we should spend all the days of Pesach thinking about the unification between us and the Upper Light, which raises every one of us above his personal egoism. This needs to be our main intention over the course of the whole holiday.
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In his book, Gates of Intentions, the ARI explains the meaning of all the spiritual actions of Passover and their reflections in material customs. The commandments (Mitzvot) refer to the correction of the 613 egoistic desires (of the soul) to altruistic ones with the help of the Upper Light (the Torah). Many are familiar with their reflections or corporeal copies in the customs or traditions (Minhagim) of the holiday.

Many follow these traditions because they are willing to carry out corporeal actions (customs) under the condition that they will help them achieve the results, the execution of corporeal actions (commandments). This is the only reason these traditions are followed.

The more we ask ourselves about the goal and the meaning of every material action (tradition), the more it will help us connect more tightly to their spiritual roots. In this manner, we will learn about the Upper World from the lower world. It is only its connection to the root that gives a custom importance and the right of existence.

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Until we limit ourselves according to the conditions set forth by the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet), we continue to live without a screen and stay “shattered.” That’s why we’re subject to the influence of the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph).

It’s mandatory to bring our desires into compliance with the conditions of the Second Restriction, the state we were in before the shattering of the vessels occurred. The desires that are associated with these conditions symbolize the “exodus” from ourselves into other souls. Who are those “other souls?” They are my own desires that were cut off from me as if I had already been circumcised. It wasn’t me but my Upper Father and Mother (Aba ve Ima) who performed this circumcision on me before I even started to sense myself, my soul.

Since anyone who lives in this world has to reach the correction, Aba ve Ima decided to facilitate this task for us by cutting our spiritual vessel into two pieces: our inner and outer desires. This was in order to give us a chance to work with only our outer desires and thereby prevent us from making a mistake.

Hence, our world is clearly divided into two parts: me and the world outside of me. Even though my inner desires seem more important to me, I still have to work on my outer desires since they are my desires of the higher, “speaking” level. Staying within my desires, I have to learn how to make a preference toward the desires of others which means that I correct myself and work with the desires at the level of the Second Restriction.

The desires of the Second Restriction are located outside of me whereas the desires of the First Restriction stay inside. My whole desire is split into two parts, outer and inner, and it really is of great help to me.

We have to be grateful to the Creator for granting us the dual perception of reality that shows us how to act and how to avoid making mistakes. Our desires at the Second Restriction level have been cut off from us and clarified already: they constitute the reality outside of us. Our work consists of changing our attitude toward an “outside part” of us and enhancing its importance with the help of the group and the Upper Light.

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The most important thing in spiritual development is educating children and adults. A person needs to be educated for a new reality. Gently and lovingly, the world in which he exists needs to be opened for him, so that he can understand the reasons for suffering, and so he can acquire a positive goal. This development needs to occur warmly, like in an incubator. In such a loving way, a person will feel that it is worthwhile for him to open up his eyes slightly in order to find out how to realize his life in a better way.

We can use as an example the work of American author, Dale Carnegie, who explained how a person can look at the world differently. He taught people a new outlook on life, on a simple, psychological level; it made life sweet for people. A person’s life did not change materially after reading Carnegie’s approach, but it became easier to live, and people liked this. They took it as a psychological medicine, like an elixir of life.

We have the real elixir of life to share with the world. We have already performed a great amount of work, and we are ready for people who come to Kabbalah actively seeking spiritual advancement. We have already built a degree that allows one to touch upon spirituality and to advance further. We have opened the door, which a person can walk through.

Before this, there were no comprehensible books, no translations into dozens of languages – and now all this exists, in all the different types of media. Therefore, now instead of just paying attention to those who are already knocking on our door, wishing to return to the spiritual world, we need to go outside of our premises and reach every person.

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A question I received: Do you have any recommendations to enhance the effects of reading The Zohar text while listening to the simultaneous translation during the daily Kabbalah lesson?

My Answer: People who gather around a Hebrew text reader unite even though they have no command of any other languages other than their native tongues; they sense how much the words of The Zohar influence, correct, and fill them.

We stay within a system that is called “The Zohar.” The Zohar is not just a book. Each of its words “presses” some buttons and triggers its elements to move. This is how we launch it. We have no idea what this system really is. Even if we knew the correct, clear, and accurate translation of each word, we wouldn’t know a thing. We don’t know what we activate by pressing the buttons.

Therefore, an accurate and beautiful translation into any language won’t help much. For a person who speaks Hebrew and for whom it is his/her native language, it becomes even more complicated. They listen to the familiar words, but don’t know what they mean.

If you heard a translation of my current words you would hear some abstract sounds, and yet you would strive to reach the spirituality that is hidden behind my words. Those who hear these sounds and at the same time understand what I say feel as if they are already satisfied. It is as if their desire to be pleased has been filled and they have received something. For them, it is much harder to penetrate deeper into the inner meaning of the words. They think about the “earthly” meaning of words in The Zohar like “banners,” “people,” “animals,” and “colors.” They listen to the text and draw pictures in their imagination.

But you don’t. You hear an alien language without any understanding of its meaning. That’s why you can link anything you want to the words you hear. You can be sure that we talk about the soul, the spiritual conditions under which it becomes filled with the Light, and about the revelation of the spiritual world. Imagine! It is the best!

After you learn Hebrew, it becomes more difficult for you. There is an advantage in NOT knowing the language. The mixture of the languages happened specifically to help us connect with each other. This “perversity” triggers the connection among us. In fact, it is not a perversity; but rather, a revelation of the remedy that helps to establish a union among us.

It seems to us that the mixture of the languages happened for the sake of separation. It is not true. It occurred intentionally to make our connection possible at the spiritual level rather than at the level of “everyday common language.” It is worth confusing our worldly relations to the extent of being unable to communicate with each other if, as a result of this confusion, we wish to attain a “heart-to-heart connection.”

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The Zohar tells us about the upper system which includes all of us. However, there is no need to explain it in great detail, because we simply follow the story and wait for it to influence us. Then the picture becomes clearer, as though appearing through the fog. It’s like a child who gradually becomes familiar with the world, learning about various things around him, how they’re connected, and how to use them.

Similarly, we naturally grow this way in the new world. Now we’re approaching that world and it is beginning to emerge more clearly before us. First we begin to “hear” something, and later on we start to recognize these sounds. This is the way we enter the sensations of the spiritual world.

Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to explain a lot since spirituality must be revealed in sensation, inside the desire rather than inside the mind. Instead of studying spirituality theoretically and being satisfied with that, we have to enter the spiritual world.

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A question I received: What happened during the breaking of the common soul that enabled correction to be possible thereafter?

My Answer: The breaking brought about an inter-inclusion, mutual penetration, and true unity between different qualities. Prior to the breaking there were two incompatible qualities that did not overlap and even repelled each other: reception and bestowal. Later they came closer to one another and started to be expressed within one object – Nekudot de SAG. However, this closeness was similar to oil that’s poured over water, or two pieces of metal that are glued together; they still don’t have anything in common.

In these cases, it’s possible to apply an external force in order to overcome the mutual repulsion. This will force one quality to enter inside the other. Yet, even then, both qualities will still continue to exist. For example, we can mix liquids together by way of vibration, or cause metals to merge together by way of fusion. This produces different types of metal alloys that are soft or hard, malleable or rigid, as well as the type that can be made into thin sheets. However, this is not true unification.

In spirituality we have to attain true unity between opposite qualities. We don’t yet understand what this means. This isn’t just simply taking a little bit of Malchut and a little bit of Bina and mixing them so they would exist side by side. Spiritual unity is when each one helps the other and each enters inside the other. The qualities of Bina penetrate the qualities of Malchut, and the qualities of Malchut enter Bina. Thus, they exist together, complementing each other for the sake of attaining a mutual goal.

First their qualities grow closer, until reaching a common boundary during Tzimtzum Bet. Only then can they intermix with each other and penetrate one inside the other. However, they still don’t unite, as the Zivug takes place over Tzimtzum Bet, in Nikvey Eynaim Rosh SAG. But then, under the influence of the most powerful Light, which comes from Zivug AB-SAG, they receive a blow and break. That is when their qualities “melt” and a new, mutual quality is born.

This is how the unification of Bina and Malchut takes place as a result of their striking unity and breaking (Shevirat HaKelim). New spiritual Patzufim of the Worlds ABYA come out, in which Bina and Malchut work together, jointly. This is why it is called “unity” of the qualities of reception and bestowal, where you are “instead of me in every way, and I am instead of you in every way, and both of us are together.” This unity is possible only when the Upper Light maintains it and does not let it disappear.

Thus, the Worlds of ABYA, which conduct Light through the quality of Malchut and Bina as one whole, are able to correct the broken soul of Adam – his parts, our souls.

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A question I received: If the Creator is the quality of bestowal, how can we bring delight to a quality? Does He really need anything from me?

My Answer: The Creator needs you to enjoy. The host wishes only one thing: for the guest to enjoy. However, He places a condition before you; you can enjoy only when you become like Him.

After all, we don’t want a child to receive pleasure only on his tiny level. We want him to continue growing, to become more mature and smarter. In order to help him develop, we surround him with toys that cause him to advance, rather than to just bring him pleasure. We seek an additional benefit in the activities for children.

The Creator treats us in much the same manner. He does not want us to remain as little animals. At the level of receiving for ourselves, we merely feel a brief life, and even over the course of this life we are never really able to enjoy.

However, if we enjoy while fulfilling the Creator, it does not vanish. We continuously feel even the most minor pleasure that we give Him in His desires to which we connect ourselves.

Why is it that all the pleasures that we feel in our life vanish? We want them to stay. Why should they fade? It is as though we consent to this, but why?

The spiritual world is called eternal. If you feel pleasure there once, it remains and fills you all the time. This is because the pleasure does not annul the desire, since the pleasure exists in one place while the desire exists in another. Therefore, you do not face any problem, you simply add more and more all the time. By this, there is an ascent by the spiritual degrees.

Meanwhile, in this world, everything occurs in one plane, where you move from one loss to another, until life ends, and that’s it.

Let’s hope that we will understand the unique opportunity that is contained in the science of Kabbalah – a science on how to receive infinite and eternal pleasure, and that we will realize it.

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Unity amongst us builds our new reality. I’m not speaking about creating this unity ourselves and “behaving” as if we are united. This unity isn’t on the level of this world as in when everyone is on good terms with one another. Unity is the revelation of the spiritual connection between us in the vessel for the Light. We only need to want the Upper Force to realize this unity for us.

The wisdom of Kabbalah wasn’t revealed to build communism and kibbutzim in our world. Kabbalah helps us reveal the spiritual relations between us, not material relations. The goal is completely different in its essence.

Don’t try to build good corporeal relationships, but strive to reveal the Creator between you. In this way, your spiritual connection will be realized. We need to attract the Light of Correction to do this work, to build spiritual connections between us. It is precisely in these connections that we will feel the Creator. This will be the optimal solution for all the problems.

This isn’t what idealists dreamed of in trying to build the “City of the Sun” on this planet. We’re not building a good life in this world. We have a much greater goal before us; although of course, our corporeal life will also become corrected at the end. Once we attain inner harmony, we will also experience perfection in our corporeal world. However, this only will happen under the condition that we attract the Upper Light which will correct our connection with one another. Our trying to do this with our own strength won’t make it happen.

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