Questions I received on movement, celebrities, the Masons, and pop music that uses prayers for lyrics:

Question: Dear Rav, I envy everything that moves. What can I do about it?

My Answer: Also move! (Meaning spiritual movement!)

Question: Why do you have conversations with celebrities, with people who are famous, instead of ordinary people? Do you really need the publicity? Do these talks with celebrities flatter your ego?

My Answer: Famous people meet different people thousands more times than ordinary people do. After my conversations with them they gain an understanding of the great value that Kabbalah has for every person and for the whole world, and they begin disseminating Kabbalah on a broad scale, or rather – they bring the Kabbalistic idea to the world. Experience proves this!

The reason I’m doing this is to accelerate man’s recognition of evil so he wouldn’t have to actually go through it in reality. As the Soviet satiric writer Zhvanetsky once said, “The difference between a clever person and a wise person is that a clever person gets out of a difficult situation with huge efforts, but a wise person never gets into that situation.” I want to be wise and I wish the same for everyone else.

Question: What is the connection between the Masons and Kabbalah, if there is any?

My Answer: There is no connection at all. Even my attempt a few years ago to give a lecture for the Masons in Jerusalem failed – they were scared. Secret brotherhoods of any type feel sick in the stomach at the thought of Kabbalah, because Kabbalah promotes wide dissemination to everyone, while the Masons aspire to maintain secrecy. However, there are no hidden forces there, but only traditions and a belief in their exclusivity.

I’m sure that the wave of world-wide change will soon overtake them, as well as all the other philosophies and religions. The only things that will remain will be man, the Creator and the connection between them, while the Masons’ protocols and religious faith “in something” will disappear.

Question: Recently we often hear the song “אנא בכוח,” with moving lyrics that go straight into the heart. Can you explain this text?

My Answer: Why does it move you so much if you don’t know the meaning of the text? Who taught you to think of this prayer in a special way? You wrote, “Recently we often hear” – but I’d like to ask you: who hears it, and where? I have never heard about it! I only know this prayer from the prayer book. In religion and in Kabbalah, no one treats it in a special way. This is just another “sensation” – someone just wants to stand out!

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Two questions I received on whether spiritual correction requires observance of physical rituals:

Question: You say that it’s possible to attain spiritual correction without physically observing the commandments of Judaism. Maybe you’re just saying this out of your concern for Kabbalah’s dissemination around the world? Or maybe what you really mean is that people can’t understand these commandments by simply reading them? If you can’t publish the answer on the blog, I would like to receive a private answer.

My Answer: The Creator created the will to receive pleasure with an intention “for one’s own sake,” and this is how we find ourselves in this world. We were created this way in order to correct our intention to “for the sake of the neighbor or the Creator,” on all of our 613 desires. This correction happens under the influence of the Upper Light, Ohr Makif, which descends during the study of Kabbalah.

This bears no relation to the observance of religious rituals. A person can attain correction and spiritual attainment without physically observing the commandments, or rather – the traditions. This is true for both Jews and the nations of the world. Moreover, every person can keep his religion, because religion is no more than a nation’s cultural framework. Kabbalah only teaches us about the intention “for the sake of the neighbor,” how to love and bestow to others – and nothing else.

Question: You’re all about spirituality and the love revolution. But what about connecting the root with the branch? After all, the still, vegetative, and animate levels are also levels of the will to receive. You always speak about the internality without any externality, and this confuses me. Baal HaSulam writes at the end of the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” that the internality should be preferred over the externality. But it looks like Bnei Baruch gives 100% of their attention to the internality, and 0% to the externality! This is difficult and confusing. Why not make a small change and pay a little more attention to the externality? Why not combine both parts? Dedicate 90% of your attention to the internality, and 10% to the externality. This will really help everyone! What do you think?

My Answer: We at Bnei Baruch actually do this – we follow the traditions. But do you really think that all the people in the world – who are now approaching correction – have to observe the physical commandments of Judaism, even if it isn’t their tradition? In the article “The Future Generation” Baal HaSulam writes that every person can keep his religion!

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Two questions I received on whether it’s necessary to know the Torah before studying Kabbalah:

Question: I have been examining Kabbalah from every angle: science, religion, faith, spirituality, and so on. Are you sure that a person who studies Kabbalah with you and reads Baal HaSulam’s articles is able to understand what you are saying correctly? This wisdom is great and there is nothing like it in the entire world. Should it really be so easily available to every person who wants to study it? Maybe these people don’t even understand what they are reading.

I am asking this because I’ve met students who explain Kabbalah in a completely different way, and they have preconceived notions that are difficult to change. Shouldn’t they first learn about Abraham, Moses, and the stories from the Bible? Shouldn’t they first understand the simple meaning of the Torah before they start studying the spiritual part of the Torah?

My Answer: I brought many new students to my teacher, Rabash. They were secular and didn’t know anything about Torah, yet he accepted them to be his students. Rav Kook also wrote that the study of Kabbalah does not require any preliminary preparation. It doesn’t matter how a person understands the material, because this wisdom isn’t learned through common sense, but by attracting the Upper Light in order to reveal new qualities in the student. And to the degree that the student acquires the Light’s qualities, he starts understanding the Light.

On the other hand, people who “examine” this wisdom’s meaning with their corporeal qualities won’t be able to understand anything! The wisdom of Kabbalah differs from any other science, because in all other sciences, we can examine the world with the five senses that we already have, but in the wisdom of Kabbalah one first needs to acquire the sixth sense – similarity to the Light, and only after that, to the degree one is similar to the Light, he will be able to examine It.

Hence, this wisdom is much more practical, since we attain it within us, not outside of us. Using this wisdom, we reveal the Upper World, and we attain it from within, in a profound way. This attainment changes the student, since he studies everything inside himself only. This is why Kabbalah is called the wisdom of the inner, or the Inner Torah.

Question: If it’s impossible to understand the Torah without knowing Kabbalah, then why did most Kabbalists of the past say that before one can start studying Kabbalah, one has to learn the Torah in detail?

My Answer: It’s because the period from the 1st century until the 16th century (from the fall of the Second Temple until the Ari) was a period of exile from spirituality. During this time it was necessary to wait for the souls that fell from the spiritual level to intermix with the souls that have never been on that level. For example, Abraham was told ahead of time that the Egyptian exile was to last for 400 years. Similarly, Baal HaSulam predicted what would happen in our times – that beginning from 1995 on, there will be intensive, mass revelation of Kabbalah.

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Questions I received from women on how to be sure that one is advancing in spirituality:

Question: Can a woman cross the Machsom without participating in the group, by studying your books for at least two hours a day?

My Answer: To ascend spiritually, a woman has to study and disseminate.

Question: Is it possible to follow the path of Kabbalah incorrectly? What I mean is: If I study with you in Bnei Baruch and I physically do what is needed – disseminate, pay Maaser, study Kabbalah, and have contact with the group, then can I still be doing something wrong in my inner work?

My Answer: Check yourself against the articles and recommendations of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. With every lesson, we delve deeper into this decisive question.

Question: What is the difference between regular feelings and spiritual feelings? When I have regular feelings, should I keep in mind that they aren’t real? And if yes, then how can I trust my feelings?

My Answer: Right now you should only study, and the Light will bring you new, correct notions, which will enable you to measure and judge everything correctly.

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A question I received: I’m able to intrigue many people with a “trick” that lets them be in the present, after they discover that they are always thinking and feeling the past or the future. The moment they’re “enlightened” by this realization, should I talk to them about Kabbalah? If yes, then what’s the best thing to let them read? They usually have preconceived notions, so it’s better to give them something easy to start with. For example, maybe I can let them read something by the American mystic and spiritual teacher Gurdjieff?

My Answer: The first time you talk them, don’t talk about Kabbalah but rather show them what is the reason for the crisis – both the personal and general one, and explain that the correction lies in unification, attainment of the quality of bestowal. Show them that this is the only freedom of will we have, and we are like robots in every other regard. Moreover, the attainment of this quality has to be evident in one’s perception and mind.

However, we can’t change our egoistic nature, but only an external force – the force of bestowal – can make this change in us. Explain how one can attract this force, that there’s a method for it, and so on.

Mystics and philosophers such as Gurdjieff, Madame Blavatsky, Solovyov and many others were true seekers of a connection with the Upper Force, but they didn’t have the right Teacher and the authentic method. Hence, their compositions only express their attempts to use human qualities and reason to figure out something that’s impossible to attain with our qualities. This can only be done with help from above, through the Upper Light.

Kabbalah draws the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif) by combining the necessary “ingredients”:

1. The person
2. The group
3. The text that talks about one’s corrected state
4. The Teacher who guides the way

This is why Kabbalah is the only method of attainment that allows one to enter or clearly perceive the Upper World.

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I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic “Preparing for Childbirth,” as part of a series called “Family and Children.” I spoke with:

Dr. Yoel Shofaro – a specialist in treating infertility,

Hagit Telem – project manager at “Beit Kabbalah L’Am,”

Niv Navon – manager of the department responsible for disseminating our materials on the Internet.

We compared the processes of conception and the embryo’s development in the mother’s womb that take place in the root – the soul’s development in the spiritual world, with the branch – what happens in our world. Dr. Yoel Shofaro is one of the leading practicing specialists in the field of infertility treatment, and he explained what modern science knows about the conception of life and the main problems of infertility today. We compared this with cases of infertility in the Torah and the conception of our souls. Why did we talk about this? Because the most important event in our lives is when the Upper Parztuf – called “mother” (Ima) – is pregnant with us – with our soul!

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Questions I received on how to work in a Kabbalistic group

Question: In one of your lessons you said that the people in the group are sent to me by the Creator, and if I will love them, then the Creator will love me. This is clear with regard to the spiritual, Kabbalistic group of friends. But in my daily life I’m surrounded by other groups – my family, neighbors, coworkers, and others. Are the people in these groups there by coincidence, or must I have the same attitude to them as to my spiritual brothers?

My Answer: In these other groups, you have to behave just like everyone else – function like a regular person, and conceal your spiritual questions and attainments. Otherwise people will feel that you are an “alien from another world,” that you are different from them, because you have different thoughts, decisions, and qualities – anti-egoistic ones. This will make them feel repulsed by you. So conceal yourself!

Question: I don’t understand what this means: “Lower and nullify yourself before the group, but not before other people, so you could firmly feel that you are worse and lower than all the people in the world.”

My Answer: All your spiritual discernments take place in your spiritual world, in the single soul, or in other words – only relative your friends in the group. As for the rest of the world – consider it just a place where your body exists.

Question: Is it correct to say that spiritual development is when you constantly try to feel “What is the force of bestowal?” through your connection with the group?

My Answer: That’s absolutely correct. There is only one creation – the common soul. To the degree you perceive it, and inside of it, you perceive the force that created it and enlivens it – the Creator. With every action you make, you must first define the objective of the action, and there is only one objective to all actions (whether they are unconscious actions taking place in all of nature, or conscious actions that we make) – to reveal the Creator in us.

Question: Baal HaSulam says that the only choice we can make is to choose the correct environment, in order for it to influence us. What happens once I’ve chosen the environment and I study in it? What should I do next? Where is my daily free choice then?

My Answer: The choice is the daily effort you make to be a part of the group. You’re incorrect in thinking that you made the choice when you came to the group. It was the Creator who brought you to the group (see the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” items 3 and 4), and now you have the freedom of will to participate in it by making daily efforts, in spite of your desire.

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Questions I received on making life choices, understanding Baal HaSulam’s Letters, and preparing for the future

Question: I have a problem on my hands: I’ve been studying Kabbalah for two years and now I’m supposed to go to the army for a year. I can get out of it by paying money (without violating the law!), which will also take about a year of work. If I go to the army, then I won’t be able to watch lessons or disseminate Kabbalah, but if I work for a year, then I’ll have time to disseminate and go to lessons. What’s better?

My Answer: If you will be working as you’re supposed to, studying Kabbalah, and working on inner correction and dissemination, then you will be more useful to the world as a Kabbalah student. So if it’s legal, choose this route.

Question: In reference to Baal HaSulam’s Letters (Igrot) that are included in the kabbalah.info Library section, to whom was Rav Ashlag addressing them?

My Answer: To you! Even though these letters contain some personal answers and comments, mainly they talk about things that are experienced by every person who’s going toward the Creator.

Question: You have disseminated Kabbalah to thousands of people, and I’m one of them. (Thank you. I’m an example of the benefit that comes from dissemination work, which unfortunately I don’t do yet.) I’d like to know: Are you preparing someone to be your successor, to continue the lineage of the wisdom? Or is there no need for a leader in the new era of Kabbalah’s revelation?

My Answer: The leader will be the group that is now learning to resolve the management issues. They are growing right beside me – and you are one of them. Every person who learns the wisdom of Kabbalah at least to some degree, will have to serve others, in order to help them learn and actualize the degrees of man’s transformation until the level of the Creator. This work of attaining equivalence to the Creator has already begun, and the leaders of the new spiritual upbringing of the common worldwide civilization will be determined from above.

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I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic of pregnancy and birth, as part of a series called “Family and Children.” I spoke with:

Rovit Shtern – midwife, birth preparation instructor, and head of the “Pregnancy and Birth” forum on YNet;

Hagit Telem – project manager at The Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education Center.

Niv Navon – manager of the department responsible for disseminating our materials on the Internet.

If we knew the laws of nature and followed them, we would avoid many mistakes. The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about the forces that operate during the spiritual pregnancy, when our souls are like embryos in the Upper System, and about the forces operating during the birth of our souls. By learning about this, we can understand that when we neglect these forces, we make a newborn predisposed to many problems.

Throughout the entire time of the fetus’s development, and especially during the birth process, up until the very last moment of the newborn’s separation from the mother, while he is still connected to her, precisely during the final moments of birth, the mother passes an enormous amount of information (hormones) to the child. Therefore, any interference with the natural processes of childbirth, for example – relieving pain without any special need for it and other auxiliary actions, are harmful for the child. I am glad that medical science is beginning to realize this.

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Questions I received about Reshimot

Question: I’d like to ask about Reshimot: The point in the heart is a Reshimo, and Klipot are also Reshimot, but broken ones. What other kinds of Reshimot are “registered” in Kabbalah? There are probably more of them than elements in the periodic table!

My Answer: Reshimot accumulated during the common soul’s descent from its spiritual level of love and bestowal into reception and love for oneself. Altogether there are Reshimot from 125 levels of descent, and we have to correct them in the reverse order. By realizing these Reshimot in order, we ascend along their levels and reveal our spiritual senses, which feel the Upper Light, the Creator.

Question: How can a person tell what level are the Reshimot coming from, according to the special qualities of his individual soul? Do the Reshimot always come to help us grow and develop? And what about the Reshimot of the Klipot – why do they come to a person?

My Answer: Reshimot surface in us one after another, from below upwards, and they always become expressed in the form of broken levels (Klipot, the ego). By correcting them, we build our soul – the vessel in which we perceive ourselves, our spiritual life.

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