The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 368: When Rabbi Elazar was sitting while fasting, he was praying and said, “It is revealed and known to You, the Lord my God and the God of my fathers, that I have sacrificed my fat and my blood to You, and I boiled them with the warmth of the weakness of my body.”

There is a tremendous difference in whether I read these words from a prayer book, or something happens inside of me that causes an explosion from within, an outburst toward the Creator.

The feelings form inside of me, and they build into the words and phrases. I may not even know this language. I don’t know how it happens, but it is the consequence of my effort to equalize my desires with the Light and unite with It. The reaction of the Light and the desires occurs in the soul. These words are realized in my brain, the brain transmits the orders to the organs of speech, and I utter the words without knowing where they came from.

This is what true prayer should be like, when everything comes from within. From the union of the Lights and the Kelim inside the depth of creation, gradually with the fulfillment of the desire by the Light, the whole TANTA (a full Kli – Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiot) is built, until it reaches an expression through the organs of speech.

It is clear that Rabbi Elazar did not read this prayer from a prayer book, but he uttered it while existing in this state about which he spoke to the Creator. Before the destruction of the Second Temple, the nation of Israel was connected with the Creator, in the qualities of bestowal and love, thus the feeling in Rabbi Elazar’s heart, in his desire, constituted a prayer. It is written: “What is a prayer? It is work in the heart.”

However, the sages of the Great Assembly (Anshei Kneset Agdola) were aware of the imminent descent into egoism and concealment of the Creator. Thus they gathered a collection of prayers – states that a person needs to reach. They called it “Siddur,” the order of spiritual states that we need to go through inside, in our hearts, in our desires.

But since we are incapable of doing this during the exile, without a connection to the Light or the Creator, while the Upper Force is concealed, we read the words from a prayer book mechanically. Some people try to imagine what it could mean spiritually. Yet only while studying Kabbalah will the Light provoke the feelings, thoughts, sensations, words, and phrases of our prayer inside us, as work in the heart, rather than work in the organs of speech.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/10, The Zohar

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When we begin to study Kabbalah, often we feel so inspired and uplifted that we burn with desire and are ready to turn around the worlds. Yet sometimes we fall into complete numbness and can’t make sense of anything; the world becomes immersed in darkness for us. In other words, we feel life within when we have a contact with the Light, and as soon as we disconnect from the Light and it stops shining on us, we feel dead.

Then the next stage comes. Through our actions (studying, disseminating Kabbalah, and creating connection with friends), there forms a system that shines to us even when we are going through states that aren’t very good, when we don’t attract the Light on ourselves. This system is similar to a person who is surrounded by others who can always help him when he needs it.

Such a state is no longer a “commandment” that shines at the moment it is performed; it is called the “Torah” that shines to us always (forget about the conventional understanding of “commandment” and “Torah”!). Even if we don’t feel so well and are confused, we have external support. It helps us look at ourselves from the side and realize that this is not so bad; it happened before and it passed. The Torah (the Surrounding Light from the group or from the environment) protects us even when we don’t study it, that is, when we are not close to the Light.

When we approach the Machsom, we feel a greater concealment, total Egyptian darkness. However, we also have the support of the environment, which safeguards our straying from the spiritual path into a purely animal state. We understand what kind of darkness it is; we feel it and know when it is coming to us and why. We are aware of what we need to do, and how to adhere to the Creator.

From this darkness we receive the Creator’s order to make signs of our union, “Mezuzahs on the doors,” to prepare the vessels for coming out of Egypt, and to run away exactly at midnight. This connection with the Upper Force is called the “Torah,” the Light that comes to us even if we are currently incapable of a “commandment,” of a personal connection with the Creator, which is called a “day.” This is how we advance.

The concealment no longer disconnects us completely, when we don’t understand or feel anything, as it sometimes happens to beginners. Now the concealment develops special forms; we begin to distinguish various shadows and qualities in them, and understand how to work with them.

The more we advance, the more we reveal the forms of darkness of these empty hollows. They clarify for us the form of salvation – on the other side of the Machsom.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/16/10, Shamati #39

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We can demand from the Light all the necessary corrections and fulfillments. All that we can possibly imagine already exists in the Light, since it is our source which has created us.

When we draw the Light via our actions (study, group work, dissemination of Kabbalah), the Light starts working on us, and after some time we begin to feel as though we face something unknown. That means the Light is approaching us; although we don’t yet see it, we feel its “breath” (Ruach) on us. Then we begin to take certain actions, afraid of losing the sensation of this Light.

Being afraid that the Light will vanish, we begin to build a relationship with it. It is a relationship of bestowal for the Light lets us know that if we don’t want to lose it, we must bestow. We begin to constantly check ourselves, striving to hold the intention and qualities that let us exit our ego. We then feel the Light’s presence, either around or inside of us.

That is how a person begins to build a “shadow” on his innate, natural desire to receive pleasure. The Light conducts an exercise on us by seemingly telling us: “Do you want to feel me? Then this is what you have to do. Otherwise I will vanish from you…” Gradually this game teaches a person to remain “in the shadow” until it becomes his second nature.

After acquiring a second nature, a person already wants to stay “in the shadow”; he feels that it is a special state, an ascent over his individual calculations. Thus one comes from “Lo Lishma” to “Lishma.” He sees that this state exudes eternity and perfection, meaning it is good for him. He begins to value the state itself, the very quality of love and bestowal toward others.

All this is done to us by the Light via this game when it draws closer and pulls away, casting a shadow from the side of the Light, and then from the side of the person. First the person conceals his egoistic desire, then the Light conceals itself, taking turns. This is how a person gradually builds his anti-egoistic screen (Masach).

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/16/10, Shamati #39

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 40: We open our eyes and see the wheels of the holy Merkava traveling in their journeys, and the sound of singing, sweet to the ears, to Bina, and beautiful for the heart, Malchut, rising and falling and walking, and not traveling.
…and Hochma is obtained only by journeying from line to line in the three points – Holam, Shuruk, Hirik – the sound of singing is heard. This is illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina, primarily through the middle line, Tifferet, called “voice.” And it is imparted from him, from the heart, to Malchut.

A question I received: Singing is an exalted spiritual action that begets “illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina,” the Light of Hassadim. How is this connected to the music put out by Bnei Baruch?

My Answer: I really like the songs written by my students Moti Mor and Arkadi Duchin. They are born from an impression of a person who is already on the spiritual path and aspires to spirituality. The fact that he hasn’t yet attained exalted levels does not matter.

Baal HaSulam writes that even a simple person may intuitively assign correct names and connect corporeal branches to their spiritual roots. For instance, some time ago some person saw the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and thought that it was good for growing olive trees. Thus he named it Mount of Olives. Today we accept this appellation as sacred.

Baal HaSulam explains that thereby the spiritual clothes the corporeal, and the connection between the root and the branch manifests. The spiritual root affects its branch, and the branch as though “speaks” out of the root, naturally, without even knowing why.

Therefore, those who study Kabbalah create the right art even if they have not yet reached the heights of absolute spiritual sensation or attained the true nature of sounds and the deep meaning of words. The depth and richness of the impression they possess is much greater than they themselves realize. Everything that a person creates out of his connection with the Source already carries within it a spiritual spark.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/12/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: The more you explain the structure of the spiritual worlds, the more confused I am. Why does this happen?

My Answer: Imagine that I go to a doctor and tell him about some of my external symptoms. He asks me to undergo medical tests, checks the results, and discusses them with another doctor. When they talk among themselves, I understand nothing although they are talking about me, my sensations, and my health. This is because their discussion about me is on a more internal, complex level, about what actually is occurring inside of me.

Then they give me a pill; its content is also unknown to me. I take it, simply trusting that they and the prescribed pill will help me. Of course, they have confused me with their technical medical discussion and I should have never listened to them. Yet, in our world the pill will work regardless of one’s understanding of what the doctor says.

Here during the study, I read what these Kabbalistic “doctors” write about me: one Kabbalist writes to another describing what happens internally to souls in the system where the souls have to correct themselves. Of course, I understand nothing about it! However, because I get involved in this story and want to understand and feel it, I connect to them and get closer to becoming like them.

If I want to become a “doctor” like them, I use my connection with them and learn. If I feel confused but want to grasp the essence, if I feel that the book explains the correction of my soul, I  have no choice. I must learn their language (like Latin used in the medical field) and then I understand what they are talking about.

Kabbalists wrote these books for their fellow Kabbalists. They talk among themselves in the language that they understand because this language explains different worlds and spiritual concepts. At this point, I don’t understand what they mean at all.

However, if I aspire to understand what they teach me, and I strive to live in it and feel it, then I open these books and try to enter them. The level of my understanding does not matter. What matters is my wanting to enter inside with my feelings, rather than to my attempting to understand it with my external mind. I have to ask for revelation.

I have to see what they write about. They describe what they see and feel, and I have to want to feel this as well. This is why my lack of understanding, vision, and feeling will only push me to advance.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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The Creator constantly confuses a person by placing obstacles before him all along his spiritual path. And it so happens that the joyful occurrences confuse us even more than the troubles. We suddenly uncover extraordinary opportunities, find success in business, have a chance to go on an exciting trip, and many other small temptations that come to us at every moment.

This causes us to start revealing that we don’t have any ability to control our state without the support of the environment, which is called “mutual guarantee.” If I don’t have global, universal support, with thousands of people all over the world also aspiring to reveal the Creator, despite all the obstacles which He deliberately places before us, then I cannot go through the “49 gates” – the obstacles that separate me from the Creator. And then I cannot reach the last, 50^th gate, where I unite with Him. (40 designates the distance from Malchut to Bina, and 10 is my own structure. Together they add up to 50.)

If I am not connected to people who are doing the same thing, then it’s all over for me and I will never attain the goal. I will stretch this work out for several lifetimes, and unfortunately, this is what is happening to people.

Even conventional science is now revealing that human thoughts are interconnected and transferred miraculously from one end of the world to the other. Scientists explain this by saying that our very nature causes us to think in synchrony. However, we who study Kabbalah understand that we are simply connected to one another through our desires within one common net of souls. That is why my thoughts and desires are transferred to everyone else.

Moreover, if we aspire toward the spiritual goal, then with this thought we begin to actively influence everyone and it spreads all along the entire system. Mutual guarantee is this inner intention, rather than sending each other SMSs over the phone. Mutual guarantee is when I think about spirituality, I desire it, and I’m burning with the desire for others to think about the same goal as well. Then I am redeemed from the angel of death.

If others don’t think about this, then nothing will help me and I will never be able to make the right calculation. I will always be distracted by something else. I won’t have the basis, the connecting net that holds me inside like a mother holding a baby in her hands. Without this, it’s impossible to attain our goal.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: My friends sent me a video clip, “The Western Wall,” that was presented on a Christian video club site. There are sequences including footage of you that was shot at Baal HaSulam’s tomb. Could you please comment on this?

My Answer: Our archives contain movies that were shot during our trips to great Kabbalistic sites in 1999 including Safed and the Idra Raba cave. The titles of the movies are, The Nights of Kabbalah and We, Bnei Baruch. I have no idea where the creators of the video clip in question got the footage.

We’re well-known; many people study our concepts and materials. I’ve already mentioned in this blog that people write dissertations about us in universities all over the world (for example, at Cairo University). Also, in the United States, I’ve lectured at many universities, and there are quite a few people who study our activities. We have a large educational organization in the Midwest, in  St. Louis, that accommodates many Protestant and Catholic students. We’re open to everyone.

By all means, one can continue observing his own religion and stick to his or her traditions, but, in order to correct our egoism and advance spiritually, we have to study Kabbalah. Imagine that two things are excluded from each religion: 1) teachings about “afterlife” and 2) rules of controlling our destiny (which, by the way, have nothing to do with any religion). Without these two major elements, any religion simply turns into a set of routine traditions and becomes a sort of a “weekend get-together club.” There is nothing else to it.

“Afterlife” is revealed to a person through our current reality by attracting the Light while studying Kabbalah. It’s possible to control our destiny only by attracting Ohr Makif (the Surrounding Light) and by using The Book of Zohar, each and every one of us, for our personal benefit.

Kabbalists aren’t against any religion, but intend to treat them rather as cultural inventions of humankind and not more than that. If we stick to this approach, spiritual exploitation and religious dictatorship will cease to exist and humankind will attain enlightenment.

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Question: Why are men and women always separated when they study Kabbalah?

Answer: The professional opinion of neurologists is that the difference between a male chimpanzee and a man is significantly less than the difference between an adult man and an adult woman. The genetic dimorphism is a lot stronger within the human race than between a man and a male Bonobo chimpanzee.

Question: The best donor for human transplants is considered a pig. Which animal brain is most similar in structure to a human brain?

Answer: If we take into consideration protein composition and DNA, we’ll see that it is very similar to a chimpanzee’s brain. For example, the difference in structural proteins of Bonobo chimpanzees that inhabit Western Africa and human beings is less than 1%.

The whole process of evolution is in fact an implementation of the desires of egoistic monsters who only wish to consume food, propagate (reproduce themselves) and dominate each other.  This is how a pack of chimpanzees is organized and at the same time it is similar to how a human society is constructed even in the most democratic and civilized countries.

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We are in the seven special days of the holiday of Passover.Throughout these days we must maintain a correct, uninterrupted intention, because this is a special time. We don’t celebrate religious rituals or customs. We are very distant from actions people carry out simply because they were taught to do so as children, or because they are driven by egoistic goals to receive a reward, either in this world or the next.

First and foremost, those who study Kabbalah want to reveal the Upper World and the spiritual actions, and only after they see their consequences (branches), they are prepared to also respect and observe them with the same intention as the spiritual actions above.

Abraham and his students were the first to attain the connection between the roots and the branches. Before then, Abraham was an idol-maker and a priest in ancient Babylon. But having revealed the spiritual world and its consequence in the corporeal, having discovered the forces that descend from the spiritual world into our corporeal world and having set it in motion, he created the language of branches. This language is a description of the Upper World, the roots, using words of this world, the branches.

That was when he revealed the whole reality, both the corporeal and the spiritual, as one whole. That is why both the spiritual and the corporeal actions merged within him into a whole, and that is how he taught his students.

Of this it is written that the forefathers (the first Kabbalists) observed the entire Torah even before receiving it at Mount Sinai. Indeed, they have revealed the Torah by attaining the spiritual world with its spiritual actions. Based on that, they carried out the same actions in our world, perceiving all of reality as one whole.

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Question: I would like to know if I started to study Kabbalah in this life and don’t achieve correction before I die, will I come to Kabbalah again in a next life? Will I remember something about this wisdom in my next incarnation?

My Answer: You must be confident that you will attain the full correction now! If not, then in the next life you will quickly return to Kabbalah on the level that you have reached now.

Question: How should friends of a fellow Kabbalah student, who has died of an illness, relate this to the Creator?

My Answer: We cannot judge about the reasons because we do not see the system of souls and do not understand why death happens to each of us, as for example to the Ari who died at 38. When you will reveal the system of souls you will understand the role of bodies.

Question: What is the best and easiest way to explain death and incarnation to children according to Kabbalah?

My Answer: Explain it in the same way you explain it to an adult. They will accept it, be satisfied, and won’t be scared!

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