All our senses operate according to the principle of revealing the opposite – translating everything that is perceived inside them to something that is opposite. What is seen as external is actually inside us because we turn it around in our brain, seeing the reverse picture only afterward. We don’t have any other way to perceive the world since we were all created such that we can only reveal something based on a lack or flaw in us. And we call that lack, “Light.” For this reason, spirituality is seen as dark and repulsive; we don’t agree with it and don’t want it. It doesn’t seem reasonable to us to love our neighbor and give to others.

The Zohar tells us about the Creator’s qualities, but how can we grasp this when we only know how to receive? How can we feel bestowal? This is a world that is hidden from us, a reality that we are unable to feel. The Zohar explains how to start perceiving, little by little, what is not presently felt by the heart or the mind. I am unable to put it into words since words express a feeling or understanding, but if there is no sensation behind them, then I simply do not feel the words.

If I read The Zohar together with others, hoping that it will help me, then a revelation will occur. The spiritual world is located here, right in front of us, but we are unable to perceive it with our heart or mind. It is a tremendous accomplishment to gradually begin to feel that it exists somewhere nearby, although we are unable to detect it. We need to continue feeling this lack when we study so that The Zohar will begin to tell us more.

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The Creator enjoys playing with man just like a father enjoys playing with his child. In our world, nature has instilled in parents a desire to bestow to their children. However, this comes from the spiritual root. This corporeal example can help us understand the spiritual world. Just like we enjoy caring for our children, the spiritual parent, which is the Upper System, enjoys caring for its spiritual children. We are those children; we just don’t see it.

When playing with a child, the game itself does not matter. What matters is our attitude toward the child and his attitude toward us in return. When the child stops reacting, the game stops being pleasant to us. We only receive pleasure when the child receives pleasure, when he understands what we do for him, and when he appreciates what he receives from us. This requires a similarity of our desires and qualities. In our world, we don’t understand this because the bigger the children grow, the further they grow apart from their parents. However, in the spiritual world, it’s the other way around: the older the child gets, the closer he becomes to his parent and the stronger he bonds to him.

However, this doesn’t mean that the child becomes dependent on his parent. The child’s dependence ceases just as it does in our world, yet the connection between them strengthens. This same thing happens to parents and children in our world who share common activities and a goal; they unite.

The Creator and creation are connected through a common goal because they want to fulfill one another. They want to return pleasure to each other so that each would understand how much the other values what he has received and to discover love in this reception. Otherwise, we would never feel and understand the Creator.

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The Machsom is the boundary where I receive the force of bestowal. This is exactly what we want to attain – unity among us and the force of mutual bestowal. The moment we succeed at this, it will mean that we have passed the Machsom.

How can we imagine this common Kli, our spiritual vessel? Let’s say each of us comes holding one glass of water and we all pour it into one big bucket. Then it will be impossible to differentiate where is your part, where is mine, and where is someone else’s. This is called unity and mutual inclusion of the desires, which goes on until we all attain a certain volume or measure called “Se’a,” inside of which we begin to feel life.

It’s similar to how there’s a difference between an aquarium and a large water reservoir in that beyond a certain boundary, a water reservoir starts to have its own life, whereas life in an aquarium must be supported artificially. Someone has to feed the fish, supply them oxygen, and clean the aquarium. But if the water reservoir reaches a certain size, it begins supporting its own life. You no longer have to supply it with food and oxygen; it starts to live naturally, on its own.

This boundary is a critical landmark: beneath it things start to die, and above it, things come to life. “Se’a” is the boundary I reach while ascending from below upwards; once I exert a certain amount of effort, I cross the boundary and enter the realm where life begins to support itself. This is exactly how we have to unite our desires.

When we want to revive a dead lake or a lifeless body, we have to put in additional efforts in quantity as well as quality, until we succeed in bringing it to life.

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If we don’t correct something inside of us in time, then this “tail” keeps dragging behind us and greatly complicates our lives, like a heavy burden we are carrying. For example, what did a newborn baby do to suddenly receive so many problems and suffering in this world? The matter is that the baby is born into this world with all the “baggage” of the past, all the things he went through and did not correct in the previous lives. All of this becomes revealed to us because we will have to correct it at some point or other. It’s impossible to “skip” anything.

For example, suppose I was a bad student in first grade and I am now starting second grade even though I don’t understand half of the things being taught there because I missed that material in first grade. The teacher tells me, “You have to make up for everything you missed before. Go and fix it quickly now. You have to, since otherwise, you won’t be ready for second grade.” But how can you even tell what you missed in the previous grade?

This is now being revealed to you. But how can you tell what happened to you in the previous lives if you can’t even tell whether the things that happened to you yesterday were good or bad for you? You can’t even judge the present moment correctly. Yet, if you are not attentive enough to the present moment and are unable to discern and correct your attitude to see that “There is None Else Besides Him” and “He is good and does good,” meaning that you are unable to stay in the middle line, which is the line by which one ascends, then you will have to correct this later on.

Don’t think that you will be “pardoned” from Above for everything you didn’t do. You won’t be able to ascend that way since all the levels are connected by a chain of cause and effect. So how can you predict the levels that lie ahead if you didn’t understand what happened on the previous levels?

In our world we simply don’t feel how absolutely interconnected and predetermined the system is. But in the spiritual world there can be no doubt about this because the system was created by the Light that entered the will to enjoy and expanded it, building an entire universe out of one point.

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We mustn’t overly contemplate the stages of development we are on. We think that the better we understand and feel the material, the more we will advance, but this is incorrect.

Some people are sensitive, while others are rational and intelligent. And then there are those who are limited in both respects. This doesn’t matter because we don’t study with the mind. In addition, a sensitive person does not necessarily receive the right impressions for advancement.

Advancement is not at all dependent on how well we feel or understand the material. Success depends only on our efforts, as it is written: “I labored and I found.”

There is no way to test our advancement similar to how we do it with all the other things in our world. We cannot check whether or not we’ve felt the right feelings or completed certain actions successfully or otherwise. None of these criteria exist in spirituality. Forget about all the systems in this world. They mean nothing with respect to the spiritual.

In spirituality, only the effort counts. Are you truly applying yourself to the full extent? That’s what seals the deal. That is the key to success. There is nothing else.

Nothing else is taken into account. No matter how many good or bad states you may have experienced or how many blows you’ve endured – these things mean nothing. At every moment you must think only about your efforts – to what extent can you force yourself to connect with the Creator through the group? That is bestowal in the purest sense.

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A question I received: How will The Zohar study at The Zohar Convention 2010 differ from what I am now watching on the computer screen?

My Answer: The Upper System descends to our world, where we perceive ourselves inside bodies, separated from one another by distance. Why can’t we just be in the souls, in the spiritual world? Why do we also need this world, the lowest of all the worlds?

This world is necessary because while we are in it, spiritually separated from one another, we can physically reduce the distance between us and thereby bring about spiritual closeness. In the spiritual world we are separated by spiritual distance, which can only be overcome by truly correcting one’s desire.

However, I can perform a correction in this world by coming to the Congress and being next to you. When I pay money to attend the Congress, to have the physical closeness, it helps me to carry out a spiritual correction. This is, in fact, the only reason our world exists; otherwise, there would be no need for it. It is a special reality where our material actions can help us to begin making spiritual actions.

You can turn on an engine by twisting a knob, and it will work. But how can you turn on the engine of love and bestowal if you’re an egoist? You can do it by physically coming closer to another person while thinking of a spiritual reward. If I try to come into contact with others who have the same goal as me, then by physically uniting with them, I can “turn on” the “spiritual engine.” This is how I set the Upper System in motion, which corrects me.

We aren’t expected to unite our hearts, since it’s obvious that we are egoists. It suffices for us to make physical efforts to draw closer to one another, in order to turn on the engine of the spiritual system. It then shines upon us with the Light of Correction, making us similar to the Creator.

The Light of Correction comes to us in response to our actions. It travels through us and begins to raise us. All of the descent of the worlds from above downwards took place only to enable you to turn on the spiritual system even while being at the lowest point – this world. You can do it yourself, independent of the Upper Level, through your material actions.

This is exactly what we do by coming to the Congress.

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In spirituality, “mutual inclusion” is an action that is carried out by a force that comes from the Creator. Although our qualities tune into each other, the mutual inclusion does not happen outside of us since it is impossible to accomplish on our level. I cannot take two qualities and fuse them together in one plate here on the table before me. I need to raise them to the source where they can unite into one whole in the Creator. I can work on their mutual inclusion there.

My desire to include these qualities is here in this world. However, in order to create their mutual inclusion, I need to raise them to the root (Keter) of the given degree and connect to the place where they exist as one whole. This is not a material unification where a few atoms unite into one molecule and create a compound through a chemical reaction.

In spiritual unification, nothing remains from the right and the left lines. The middle line is a completely new entity. It does not consist partially of the left line and partially of the right. Rather, mutual inclusion produces a new quality that supersedes the qualities of which it is made.

The desire to enjoy (which connects to the screen) and the Reflected Light (the intention to work for the sake of bestowal) are depicted as a desire below and a screen above (the intention to bestow), as if the intention and the desire exist separately. They are depicted as if these are two separate components rather than one whole.

However, this explanation is only provided in this manner when using the terms of our world. In the spiritual world, the intention and the desire are forced to be completely inseparable, intertwined, and merged inside one another. The intention can completely change a desire by using it for the sake of reception or for the sake of bestowal.

Therefore, the work we do on the “third day” lies in merging with one another and creating one common body. Each person does the inner work of uniting his qualities from the right and the left sides into one whole in the middle line, tuning in to the Creator as a result. After all, the source of all these opposite things is situated in Him, where they all exist in unity. This is why on the third day, upon ascending to the Creator, a spiritual quality opposite to the Creator was revealed, which is the spiritual death of desires such as Shachem.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 85: Wherever the judgment is placed on Israel, and it says, “burden,” it is seemingly a burden on the Creator to punish Israel. This is a burden from both sides, as though He is burdened whether He punishes them or does not punish them. If He does not punish them, they will remain in the filth of the sin. And if He does punish them, He is seemingly suffering for the affliction of Israel. This is why it is bad when it writes, “burden,” concerning them.

It is impossible to make spiritual progress without revealing the will to enjoy. Our desire to be filled with pleasure is infinite, but it is concealed within us. When this desire gradually reveals itself in its uncorrected form, we begin to experience problems. Our heart becomes burdened and our advancement becomes even more difficult. Yet the process we undergo is inevitable because our correction occurs over our desire to enjoy. Therefore, it must be revealed this way.

Revelation of our uncorrected desires is a sign that we are ready to be corrected. This is why new layers of the uncorrected desire to enjoy are revealed, allowing us to work on them. For this reason, we must appreciate both the good and the bad.

There is no such thing as “bad,” but only what is called the “Revelation of Evil.” When that which was previously concealed becomes disclosed to us in the form of “wicked” (egoistic) desires, the process of correction is made possible.

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We think that the spiritual levels described by The Zohar are light-years away from us. But when spirituality becomes revealed, it happens very quickly, and if we unite at the upcoming The Zohar Convention 2010 , we will be able to attain the sensation of spirituality.

Besides, we have to keep in mind that all spiritual development until now took place on the individual level. It was done by select individuals, each of whom had to make extraordinary efforts.

But now is time of revelation, marking a shift in the number of people studying as well as the method of study. It is now the method of the whole world’s correction, the correction of the masses. The only thing required for this to happen is a slight desire on our part.

None of the Kabbalists of the past wrote about this state because they did not live in a generation such as ours. Now the correction has become global; it is the true correction where we must all unite together. Nothing like this has ever happened in history yet.

We are witnesses of the expansion and growth of this wave, which is enveloping more and more people. It is moving together with us, giving us support, and making us a necessary presence in the world.

Therefore, I have great hopes for the upcoming gathering, but everything will depend on you.

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The most important thing in studying Kabbalah is our feelings. It is impossible for us to reveal a spiritual impression within our external, earthly senses. It can only be felt within our internal vessels of the soul (Kelim).

Kabbalah books use the language of branches, where each word points to and is connected to its Upper, Spiritual Root. Each spiritual root has its corresponding branch in our world; however, the related word itself isn’t able to convey a feeling. This is because we actually need to be in the feeling itself.

A word represents a vessel with its fulfillment. This is the skeleton of the Kli, meaning a screen and the Reflected Light, and a state inside it which is the four-letter name of the Creator, HaVaYaH.

We build words and sentences from “pieces” called “Taamim” (tastes), “Nekudot” (the points under letters), “Tagin” (little crowns above letters), and “Otiot” (letters). This enables us to somehow describe spiritual states, connections, relationships, and the entire process of transitioning between states.

However, we cannot convey the states themselves because each of us has a unique vessel of comprehension. The only thing we can convey to one other is the external information about the preparation of the spiritual vessel and the level of connection between forces. Yet we are unable to convey actual feelings. Therefore, each of us must internally “visualize” (feel in his heart) the actions that are described by words.

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