The Zohar, Chapter “Chayei Sarah (The Life of Sarah),” Item 220: …‘I said that you are all angels and sons of God,’ meaning upon the reception of the Torah. And since you damaged yourselves, meaning sinned, you will indeed die as humans. Hence, that evil serpent that darkened the world cannot govern anyone who engages in the Torah.

Because we study Kabbalah, the Upper Light holds us up like a magnet, while the serpent, the egoistic desire that takes life from us, remains below, and is unable to rule over us. Man rises above his animate life and does not even feel it. We only need a desire for the Light to change us while we are reading The Zohar.

Kabbalah is a wisdom that explains everything that happens in our world and our entire path, but if we want to rise above it, we need a force to raise us to a higher degree. Our mind and our feelings will not help us; we must acquire a new development from the higher degree. We are unable to understand what it is like to live in spirituality, just like a rock is unable to think like a plant and a dog or a cat is unable to understand what it is like to be human; it is the same thing. This is why we need the Upper Force to make this change within us. And we will acquire it from The Zohar.

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Rabash, “The Meaning of Torah and Work on the Creator’s Path”: When one intends to study the Torah, he should keep the goal, the reason for which he intends to study, before his eyes. The goal, that is, the benefit which he wants to extract from the Torah is the Light that Reforms that’s in it.

Essentially, we don’t need anything else. We should imagine and attempt to feel that everything happens because of the Upper Light, that “there is none else besides Him,” that He is the ruler and the lord, and only He performs everything.

Therefore, we only need to desire and wait for His actions and their consequences. Our entire work consists of attracting His actions upon ourselves, feeling that we are the lower degree, while He is the Upper One, and becoming similar to the Upper degree, the Light. He will act upon us and make us similar to Him in as much as we will aspire toward Him, that is, desire to become like Him.

So it follows that our work is very simple. It’s not important what passage of The Zohar we are reading or what it is about; it’s not important how much we understand what we are reading. There exists a system of connection between us and the Upper Light, called “The Book of Zohar.” We have to utilize it and aspire to become similar to the Light during the study.

This desire will awaken the Light, and it will act upon us. Slowly, we will begin to feel the results of its influence.

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Lately I received many questions and complaints regarding why we have begun to study The Zohar if we don’t understand anything in it! Others, on the other hand, write, “If The Zohar brings the Surrounding Light, why didn’t we begin to study it earlier? Why have we lost so many years?”

Those who have been studying for many years and recently began to study The Book of Zohar feel that they could not have approached this earlier. First, preparation and a mature desire are necessary. This includes an understanding that there is no choice and that without The Zohar we will not be able to achieve anything. The preparation involves understanding that there is a special, wonderful power in The Zohar and only it can help us. Ultimately, it is not in my power to ascend this mountain on my own; the only choice that remains is to await salvation from above.

In order for a person to begin to search for the Light that Reforms, one first needs to lose faith in his own strength and see that on his own he will not achieve anything. As it is written about Egyptian slavery: “And the sons of Israel cried out from this work.” In other words, you raise your arms up in despair, realizing that there is nothing else left to do – you have tried everything and you see that nothing helps.

To reach this point, a person needs to be “old” and experienced; this maturation occurs through studying Kabbalah for several years. This feeling is not given to a person without a reason, and the years spent are not wasted! There is a huge benefit in them, and this benefit will be revealed to us.

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A question I received: What should I do if out of an entire hour of reading The Zohar I could only spend a few seconds thinking about the Surrounding Light that brings me correction?

My Answer: This is not good. There’s a legend about a person who dies and goes to the upper court of judgment. There he is asked, “Did you engage in Torah and await salvation?” You won’t be asked anything else there but this. The Torah refers to the Light that Reforms. So did you desire this or not? After all, this was the only reason you were sent to this world. This is the only thing that counts out of your entire life.

You may be studying Kabbalah and have a burning desire, but that is not your own accomplishment. It was given to you by the Creator. He brought you to the Kabbalistic group and gave you the means. But what happened afterward? What did you yourself do within the system that influenced you? Did you desire salvation, correction? This is what you will have to answer.

After we have just completed reading The Zohar today, are you able to say that you were inside what was being read? It’s too late to think about this during the study itself because everything depends on the preparation. You have to come to the lesson prepared, burning with desire and demand, as if you are coming to a doctor and asking him, “Doctor, give me some kind of medicine! Otherwise it’s all over for me — that’s how bad I feel!” When you come to the lesson with this mindset, you await salvation during the study. But if you initially came there without a demand to receive medicine because you don’t feel your evil, your egoism, and your inability to unite with the friends, and if you aren’t looking for love for your neighbor, then you won’t remember about it during the study either.

You have to reveal these deficiencies, your evil inclination even before you open The Zohar because when you open up The Zohar it will already be too late to change anything. Our entire work takes place during the preparation. Everything depends on it alone.
The pain must already be felt inside you in order for you to desire to soothe it with The Zohar, instead of trying to artificially remember that at this time you are “supposed to” ask for a connection with your neighbor. You can’t deceive the Creator. He reads what is in your heart and sees such a deep inner desire that you don’t even suspect it is there. Meanwhile, He considers: Should He give you an answer to this desire or not? If it assists your spiritual advancement and creates the middle line within you, then the Light helps you. But if not, then the Light pushes you forward from the opposite side through suffering until you finally connect everything together correctly and receive the true answer.

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A person studying Kabbalah has to secure external support in the form of the group, the study, and dissemination so that they are always by his side, ready to help during a state of descent. It is written, “A righteous man falls a thousand times and rises again.” This is the path towards achieving spirituality.

Along this path, different situations and states occur to me. Throughout all of it, the most important thing is to remain in an environment that will always be supportive and inspire you when you face the descents. In the end, you will feel the Light that lies within this inspiration. The Upper Light will no longer be concealed from you, but will be revealed.

If we come to The Zohar Convention 2010 with the same inspiration that we experienced during our preparations for it, then the Convention will be very successful. We will be able to make great internal corrections and will feel the Creator’s revelation inside our connection with each other. It is my great wish that this will happen.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Metzorah (The Leper),” Item 8: When the morning comes, all the armies and camps above praise the Creator.

Morning is a state where a person values the quality of bestowal. It is when one understands, knows, and feels that bestowal is the greatest thing possible.

Prior to that, love, bestowal, and connection with others appear as darkness because a person does not feel any benefit from them. He thinks, “What will I gain from this? It’s pointless, so why should I do it?” It seems tasteless to him.

However, if a person persistently continues to study and work in the group, then he is influenced by the Light that Reforms. This is called “working at night.”

This is followed by a new state: the quality of bestowal, the intention of giving. When this intention awakens in a person, it means morning has arrived.

Therefore, it is all talking about our inner states, rather than any external changes.

Then, several gates open to all sides (to the right and to the left), and Abraham’s gate, Hesed [mercy] opens in the assembly of Israel, Malchut, to summon all the people in the world to enjoy the Hassadim [mercies].

This is where we begin – kindness, Hassadim. How does a person achieve the state of morning? First he corrects himself through the quality of Hesed (mercy), and then he sees the Light of morning – the Light of Hassadim. Therefore, the morning prayer is called “Abraham.”

It is written, “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba,” since Malchut is called Beersheba, and Abraham planted the tree of Hesed [mercy] in it.

All the changes that we see, such as day and night, the sun and the moon, occur only in regard to the person. Through our inner processes we awaken these forces one after another or all of them together, and in this manner we feel the passing of time.

“The sun comes up” means that a person is able to reveal the Light of Hochma which is clothed into the Light of Hassadim. If one is able to reveal only the Light of Hassadim, it is still morning, but before the sunrise. If one cannot reveal even the Light of Hassadim through his desires, it is called night.

We are situated in an infinite ocean of the Light of Hochma, but we don’t have the desires of bestowal, Hassadim, and thus we cannot reveal any Light.

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The Zohar, Chapter ”Metzorah (The Leper),” Item 20: “She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who support her.” The tree of life is the Torah, a high and mighty tree. It is called Torah (teaching) because it instructs and reveals what was hidden and unknown. She is called “life” because all the upper life is included in her and stems from her.

The “Torah” stands for the Light of Correction, which is the Light that Reforms. This Light is attracted through the study of Kabbalah. It influences our intention and changes it from the natural, egoistic one to an intention of giving. By changing our intention, our desire is redirected from “for my own sake” to “for my neighbor’s sake,” or in other words, from receiving to giving.

The desire itself is neither receiving nor giving. Desire is defined by the intention. To the extent of our similarity with the Creator, we reveal Him and the Light that fulfills us.

Correction of our intentions is referred to as carrying out the commandments or the Creator’s directions. When we correct the 613 intentions that are “for my own sake” by transforming them into “for the sake of bestowal,” it is called the execution of 613 commandments. The 613 Lights or “613 advices” (Tariag Eitin) correct us by filling the 613 desires.

“Isra-El” (directly to the Creator) refers to a person who strives to attain the Creator by correcting himself. Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut is called the Tree of Life because it brings the Light of Correction to us.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Ki Tissa (When You Take),” Item 16: “All those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored.” The Creator is destined to do unto Israel all that good, which He had said through the prophets of truth, and for which Israel greatly suffered in the exile. Had it not been for all that good that they await and see, which is written in the Torah, they would have been unable to tolerate and stand the exile.

This means that a person gains a greater desire for correction, called “Isra-el” (directly to the Creator), by anticipating the goodness and abundance that will come later on. And moreover, his desire grows even stronger when he gains an initial connection with that goodness.

In our world, a person feels like he knows that he will receive a future reward for his suffering. But in spirituality, this is not the case. There, a person doesn’t receive psychological relief by thinking that evil will turn into goodness. One who is studying Kabbalah relates to this differently. When a person is on the path of truth, he knows that evil is there to help him attain goodness. He sees that the evil is actually within him and he has to correct it instead of simply enduring it. Then, instead of feeling the evil, he feels goodness.

A person does not expect a lucky streak to follow a bad one, but knows that the “unlucky streak” he is experiencing is the revelation of evil within him, which he has to reveal and then correct. In this manner, he attains goodness within. It’s not that the suffering takes place in one place and the reward comes in another, or that he makes an effort here and receives a payment there. Rather, by carrying out the correction, he transforms the “evil inclination” into the “good inclination” – and that’s the reward.

That is why a person rejoices when the “wicked are revealed” – because this gives him something to work on and to correct. It is thanks to this work that he attains spirituality, the Creator, the property of bestowal. Yet, everything happens in the same place: the desire to enjoy.

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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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A question I received: How do you tell if a person is ready to study Kabbalah or if it’s too early or potentially harmful for him yet?

My Answer: A person’s own desires will show him his path, as it is written, “Let a person study where his heart desires.” Therefore, Kabbalah never lures people in; it actually even pushes them away to determine if their heart’s desire is genuine.

Even when a person feels that he is finding all the answers in Kabbalah, it still doesn’t mean that he is in fact studying Kabbalah. Most people join our studies not exactly understanding why they have chosen to do so, similar to how in our world most people live by “whatever happens, happens.”

Such a person participates in the studies and even succeeds in acquiring knowledge. However, this knowledge is external because he doesn’t aspire internally to change his likeness to that of the Creator. And that is about 99% of the people coming to study Kabbalah. While they do carry out the intense job of correction, only a limited number of them have a persistent internal concern about the question regarding the goal – the precision and execution in attaining it.

Therefore, even those who engage in Kabbalah with a question about the meaning of life often remain entrenched as others in facing normal life challenges. They might even settle for religious observance or secular dogmas.

No matter who comes to study Kabbalah, we need to understand that the pyramid of desires in people is structured this way and therefore, it’s enough to have a limited number of people attain unification with the Creator. They will pave the way to Him for the others.

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