Two questions I received on the notions of “righteous” and “wicked”:

Question: You explained in one of the morning lessons that a “holy man” is defined by the amount of efforts he made. On the other hand, you explained that a “holy man” (Tzaddik) is one who justifies (Matzdik) the Creator on the level of his spiritual attainment, and that to justify is not to talk about it, but to discover it for yourself and to value the Creator’s actions as a result. So holiness is defined by one’s equivalence of form with the Creator. But what difference does it make how many efforts you made if holiness is measured by the result, by how much one justifies the Creator?

My Answer: It’s because in order to attain the level of a “righteous man” – in order to reveal and justify the Creator’s actions, every person has to make the same amount of efforts, although the efforts are specific for every person and are “counted” relative one’s abilities and strength.

Question: In Shamati #86, “And They Built Store-Cities,” it says: It follows that the righteous receive the strength to go from strength to strength through the wicked, and the wicked have become dust under the feet of the righteous, and the righteous walk on the discernments that remain as wicked.

Hence, in retrospect, this work specifically is important. And it is not because of necessity, as they first thought, while there was evil inclination. Now they see that even without the evil inclination it is worthwhile to work in bestowal and faith.

In this excerpt, what is meant by “the righteous” and “the wicked?”

My Answer: The righteous and the wicked are the past and present states in one person.

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A question I received: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam calls upon people to not violate the laws of nature, as if laws of nature are like traffic rules where a person can cross the street in the wrong place or drive onto an oncoming lane. For example, humanity has been violating the law of gravity since the times of the Wright brothers. Nonetheless, this law is still in effect; we simply go around it. And so what?

Is it possible to make a list of nature’s laws, or are they known only to Kabbalists?

My Answer: Every time man violates the laws of nature, his actions evoke a negative influence upon him, to the point of death. The law of behavior in the global community did not manifest as a law of nature until our times, but it is now starting to manifest because we are now entering the final phase of our development, the level of “human,” whereas before we were going through lower levels called still, vegetative, and animate.

The laws of nature are stricter than traffic laws because nature has no pity and demands the “exact payment.” We cannot go around the laws of nature, but we can study them and learn to use them correctly. Globalization obliges us to unite in order to match the governing forces of nature. If we will do this, then we will be using the laws of nature to our advantage. But if we won’t act as a global community, then we’ll crash like the poorly constructed original airplanes, until we learn how to use the laws of nature correctly!

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A question I received: Why do you say that the word Mashiach (Messiah) originates from the word Lishmoch – to pull? I think it originates from the word Limshoach – to anoint, and it refers to one who is anointed for service.

My Answer: To be anointed means to draw the Upper Light of Hochma upon a person. In our world, this Light is represented by oil. This is how a person ascends to a level required to serve the Creator.

This procedure was done by a prophet who was on such a high level that he could pull a person up to the spiritual level of service to the Creator. Kabbalah doesn’t talk about “whom, how and with what to anoint,” but tells us about the essence of this phenomenon: about the reception of the Upper Light that actually gives a person the force and right to be God’s anointed, to be close to the Creator. I “translate” these words to get directly to the essence of what is happening.

By the way, these letters are interchangeable in Hebrew. However, if you feel more drawn to corporeal anointment, then you should read the non-Kabbalistic explanations. Everything written in the Torah can be understood directly, as physical actions, and/or according to its true, inner meaning. Still, by understanding the text literally, one does not reveal its true meaning. It is because the Mashiach is the force of liberation from egoism, and not a person.

It says in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Item 70: “Alas, these people, who make the spirit of the Messiah vanish from the world, so as never to return, make the Torah dry, without the moist of mind and knowledge, for they confine themselves to the practical part of the Torah, and do not wish to try and understand the wisdom of Kabbalah, to know and educate themselves in the secrets and the reason behind the Torah and Mitzvot…”

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Three questions I received on Kabbalistic texts:

Question: If Kabbalah lifts man above his animate and psychological levels, how are the Kabbalistic texts emotional?

My Answer: Because of the force of the Upper Light that they evoke, since they speak about the Upper World.

Question: Can a person cross the Machsom without knowing the structure of the spiritual worlds and without understanding the Talmud Eser Sefirot, but by just evoking the Surrounding Light?

My Answer: A person does not have to understand the Talmud Eser Sefirot in his mind in order to cross the Machsom, but he does have to strive to find out how he is governed and where is his root. For more on this, see item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: What books should a husband and wife read together and separately?

My Answer: They should read the parts of the Kabbalistic materials that they like reading. It’s best to read together for up to half an hour a day, and even better to do it every day.

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News Report (translated from gazeta.ru): Americans chose Barack Obama as President hoping that he will solve all their economic problems. However, experts believe that it is too late to reverse the development of the crisis. There is nothing that governments can do about the collapse of the global financial model or to prevent the crisis from unfolding. No matter what measures they will take, consumption will continue decreasing, recession will last for a long time, and the world will witness a new wave of bankruptcies and other consequences of the crisis, but this time in the real sector of the economy. The International Monetary Fund makes pessimistic predictions, forecasting a recession of leading world economies.

My Comment: The world can only be helped by realizing the true meaning of humanity’s global state, which we have reached. We are a single organism, and as such, we should live in equality, with universal equal distribution, absolute bestowal of one’s entire profit for society’s benefit, and love for one’s neighbor. This is similar to the way an organism operates: all cells and organs operate in absolute harmony, as otherwise there would be illnesses (crises), even to the point of death (extermination).

All this must happen gradually, but it is necessary! Hence, our main objective is to provide humanity with a global education, in order to teach it the meaning of a “single organism” using examples from nature. People – especially the leaders – must realize that there is no way back to the old rules. For the first time in history, the world has become different. It must become similar to the Upper World, or in other words, people must acquire the quality of “bestowal” instead of the quality of “reception.” They must change to the exact opposite.

We have to speak about this and gradually become used to it. There is no other way to go. Otherwise another world war may break out in the world, but even after it’s over we will still have to face the same problem: to become similar to Nature or the Creator, because this is what we must attain according to the plan of creation.

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Two questions I received from students around the world:

Question: Here in Africa people don’t really want to know what lies beyond our world, but ever since I was young I have always been fascinated by the world and I have always wanted to find out the whole truth. Lately I have been thinking about how to help people change their ways and give meaning to their lives. I started telling others about goodness and coming closer to the Almighty, and I find much pleasure in what I am doing for others. I used to wait for a reward for my actions, but I do not want it any more. My greatest wish is for all of us to get closer to God. I found myself praying and saying to God that instead of being in heaven with Abraham I’d rather be here on earth until the last one of us is there with us.

Why do I feel responsible for the world? Why does my happiness depend on others’ well being? Is it a sign from God or is it just wishful thinking? Please tell me something about this state of mind. Thanks in advance for your help. Alhain Kadima

My Answer: You have simply revealed a new desire inside you: a desire for bestowal, for the Creator – a desire that others don’t have. You should actualize it, and then you will give a great gift to yourself and to the world!

Question: I am a new student and I’d like to ask you the following question. Can we say that we only acquire the knowledge and the true vision of reality (Hochma) as we are able, in some measure, in order to forward this truth to others (Bina)? Meaning that we can only discern the structure of the law of love as we experience it in all aspects of life? Thank you. Tiago.

My Answer: Yes, by bestowing to others we build a collective desire, in which we then perceive the one and only force in the world – the Creator.

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Two questions I received on the spiritual advancement of children:

Question: If there are still 232 years left until the full correction, then why do we call our children “the children of the last generation”?

My Answer: Because the “last generation” starts from our generation on – it’s the generation of egoism’s correction and ascension to the Creator.

Question: Do children and youth go through the same degrees on the spiritual path as adults? If a child expresses worry about evil, what’s the right way to deal with this?

My Answer: The soul is ageless, and this is why Kabbalah can be taught to anyone and at any age. One must go through all the states. This is determined by the emergence of the Reshimot (the chain of informational data about each state). It’s because the soul must go through the same states it went through during its descent from above downward, but now it must go through them in the reverse order, ascending from below upwards.

However, the rate of one’s advancement through every state depends on the environment (the group), and can be virtually instant. The best remedy for all the “problems” along the way is communication with friends and watching our materials.

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Three questions I received on the modern study method of Kabbalah:

Question: You wrote that the Mashiach Ben Yosef is the great Ari’s revelation of the modern method of correction, Kabbalah, in the 16th century. Can we make an analogy that the Mashiach Ben David is also a revelation – the one that was made by Baal HaSulam? Or will there be other revelations of the method that will be more complete and have a more powerful effect?

My Answer: In Article #102 of Shamati, Baal HaSulam writes the following about the Ari: “That is why the holy Ari, who was the Mashiach son of Yosef, was able to reveal so much wisdom, for he had the permission from ‘the revealed world.’”

As for the Mashiach Ben David, there are many mentions of him, but they all indicate something different and can only be understood through personal revelation, but I prefer to quote the primary source texts.

Question: What do you think about The Book of Bakhir?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam writes the following in the article “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”: Ever since the teachings of the Ari were revealed in the world, all Kabbalists abandoned all other books and study only The Book of Zohar and the books of the Ari.”

Question: You said that 1995 was the starting point of the current events. What happened in 1995 that you are referring to?

My Answer: I felt this because suddenly, the students that started coming to study with me were different: They were serious, diligent, and persistent in their pursuit of the goal. Today they still make up the core of the worldwide Bnei Baruch group. Of course, there were also inner changes that are concealed from the average onlooker – a clearer revelation of new spiritual forces in the world.

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Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (“Pticha”). Items 3-5, summary:

3. The order of distancing, of the weakening of the desire to bestow, resulting from the development and growth of the desire to receive, from above (from bestowal, similarity to the Creator) downwards (moving away from Him) – happens along five degrees or five worlds: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. The World of Assiya includes our world (HaOlam Hazeh). “World” – Olam comes from the word Olama – concealment, because to the degree one grows distant from similarity to the Creator, the Creator becomes concealed.

All creatures originate and have their root in the World of Infinity, in the Thought of Creation to “delight the creatures,” in their initial state.

4. The distancing of the creation from the Creator is necessary for the following reasons:

• To give creation (man) an opportunity to be independent. This is accomplished through the complete concealment of the Creator in our world.
• The gradual distancing occurs through the Light’s fulfillment and its subsequent expulsion. These contrasting states create sensations, realizations, and experience in the desire, giving it the opportunity to compare, and thus make it suitable to achieve its intended purpose.

The creation’s purpose is the following: after its forced descent into our world, it is to use its free will and awareness to compare and to choose bestowal over reception. Thus, by choosing that similarity to the Creator is the most important thing, creation must gradually ascend to Him, until reaching full equivalence and adhesion with Him.

5. The degrees, the structure of creation, and all the actions are determined by the nature of the Light and the desire.

Phase 0: Light (the Creator’s attitude to the creature) emanates from the Creator’s plan to create the creature in order to delight it by making it similar to Him (the small state is not considered complete). This phase is called zero or the root. It incorporates the future creature in the form of a point of the future desire, similar to a drop of semen or a seed.

Phase 1: The Light influences the point of desire, developing it to Its own size and then filling it. The desire feels the fulfillment, called the Light of Wisdom (Ohr Hochma). Because the desire is fully dependent on the Light, it doesn’t feel anything besides mere existence, like an embryo within a womb. This phase contains everything that the Creator had allocated for the creature.

Gradually the desire becomes aware of its distinction from the Light and wishes to become like the Light – bestowing. This new desire is defined as a new phase:

Phase 2: This is the desire to bestow to the Creator, to be like the Light. As a result of this, the desire feels a different kind of pleasure than in phase 1 – the pleasure of being similar to the Creator, the Light of Bestowal (Ohr Hassadim). However, gradually the desire realizes that it merely desires to bestow, but does not actually bestow. This realization results in the emergence of a new desire – “to receive for the sake of bestowal,” and this is already defined as phase 3.

Phase 3: The desire receives like in phase 1 (the Light of Hochma) with an intention like in phase 2, and feels that it bestows, like the Creator (the Light of Hassadim). Due to the sensation of being on the Creator’s level, a new desire develops – phase 4:

Phase 4: This is the desire to enjoy the Creator’s status or position by receiving the following from Him:

a) The pleasure of being filled with pleasure, and
b) The pleasure of being similar to Him.

Since the desire receives everything that can possibly emanate from the Creator, phase 4 constitutes a fully developed desire.

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A question I received: Lately I feel that many of my actions are not performed by me. It is as though I observe my actions from outside. This realization – that certain actions are not done by me – makes me wish to obtain freedom of choice. But the only free choice I have before the Machsom is the choice of the correct environment. What are these states and how do I work with them?

My Answer: Everything you say is correct! Keep doing what you’re doing, and continue strengthening your connection with the common Kli.

The technique of the process is as follows:
1. By pressuring yourself, put yourself under the influence of the environment (see the article, “Freedom of Will”).

2. The environment will exert a direct influence on your “heart,” and you will begin feeling the importance of bestowal and connecting with others.

3. During the lesson, don’t forget what is important to you, and you will then attract the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) upon you.

4. Under the Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will be created within you.

If you constantly proceed along this chain, then after a period of time (3 – 5 years at most) you will cross the Machsom, entering the perception (attainment, revelation) of the Upper World.

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