Questions I received on descents and how to deal with them:

Question: Sometimes I lose the right intention and feel like I’m straying from the spiritual path. Sometimes I feel afraid and empty in relation to this world. There are even times when I feel inspired and I make many actions, but I still feel like this is a lie and that I lack the right intention. When I have these feelings, should I try to see the Creator and what He is trying to “tell” me through them?

My Answer: You will have to collect even more impressions in order to begin feeling the Upper State. What should you do? Just continue. (Read the texts of Baal HaSulam and Rabash that talk about this). No one knows ahead of time what volume of their soul has to become fully revealed in every Reshimo and on every degree, in order for the soul to then ascend to the next degree. Therefore, the only thing we should do is “push” in one direction, “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.” “It’s not up to you to complete the work, yet you must do it constantly and persistently, and you aren’t free to leave it,” and then the correction will come as “redemption at the hands of the Creator, instantly and unexpectedly,” according to the principle “you made efforts – and you found it.”

Question: When I am in the state of descent, should I immediately open up a book, or should I try to overcome this state on my own first?

My Answer: It is best to open up a book, go to our website, or to my blog – to read or watch something that your feelings will respond to. For beginners I recommend my fourth book – Attaining the Worlds Beyond, as well as quotes by Kabbalists.

Question: Is it possible for a person to be advancing too fast and risk falling because of it?

My Answer: Descents are useful, and they have to happen between the degrees. They won’t go by quickly or slowly depending on whether a person puts in all his efforts or not. It’s because he isn’t the one to determine this; it is determined by the nature of the degrees – the next degree becomes revealed to him as soon as he is ready to go on to it – as soon as he has prepared his Kli to perceive it. In other words, the corrected, ready Kli becomes filled with the property of bestowal, the Light, or the Creator.

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Questions I received on what to do with a boyfriend who doesn’t study Kabbalah and women who hate dissemination:

Question: A woman becomes fulfilled spiritually through a man – I feel this very clearly. However, all I can think about is my boyfriend, who doesn’t study Kabbalah. I broke up with him when I encountered Kabbalah, but now we are back together and I am still studying Kabbalah. I feel like I prefer spending time with him over going to the lessons, and this scares me because I’m neglecting my purpose and the Creator’s goal for me. I can’t leave you and the group and the entire world Kli. I need you and you need me. But on the other hand, I am drawn to my boyfriend. I really want to be on the path and develop my Kli together with a man, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to manage without my boyfriend.

My Answer:
1. Calm down.

2. If he loves you then he won’t interfere with your Kabbalah studies.

3. If you still can, choose another man who will study Kabbalah for sure.

4. Don’t force him to study, but gently and lovingly get him involved in passive participation. We’ve had cases when husbands got involved in Kabbalah this way, and then continued studying even when their wives left Kabbalah.

5. In any case, creating a family is more important than Kabbalah! After that your priority should be your work, and then Kabbalah.

Question: Can one woman teach another woman in the Bnei Baruch group?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: What should we do with women who only want to study and hate the idea of dissemination?

My answer: When a woman first comes to study Kabbalah, then she should be taught the basics – just like a man. After that she should be offered a chance to take on “extra weight,” such as participating in dissemination and paying Maaser. If she doesn’t agree to this, then we don’t continue working with her – let her study at home on her own – the Internet is free. We’ll think twice before letting her attend a Congress, and might even decide against it. People who don’t disseminate are depriving themselves of the opportunity to advance because they don’t develop their Kli by adding the desires of others to it, in order to reach the necessary critical mass.

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I had a conversation that was recorded with Israel’s leading criminal attorney, Sasi Gez.

Sasi was born and grew up in the country’s most criminal neighborhood – Pardes-Katz, but by a “lucky chance,” instead of learning to steal, be a pimp or a drug dealer, he became the defense attorney for his childhood friends. His “happy childhood” (mostly blood mixed with snot) turned him into a “mafia’s attorney” – a recognized criminal defense attorney of the state. It was amazing to see his “Don Corleone” manners, and to find out how much “the cops and the thieves” can have in common.

Sasi wrote a very thick book on criminal law. (In the picture above, it lies next to him on the table; and beside it, the somewhat more modest looking Book of Zohar with my commentary.) Sasi’s close work with his childhood friends and acquaintances (who include leaders of the underground business) and his ability to defend them in court have turned him into one of the most influential people in all social circles. It gave me great pleasure to meet a classic hero – the mafia’s attorney, face to face.

On his end, Sasi completely agreed with the fact that man in our world has no freedom of will, and that our world lacks the means to educate and reeducate people. He agreed that Kabbalah can help do this.

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A question I received: What are angels and other spiritual creatures mentioned in the Torah?

My Answer: All Kabbalistic books mention Ofanim, Hayot, and Kruvim. It says in The Zohar (Beresheet, item 77, page 81): “Ofanim are angels of the World of Assiya, Hayot are angels of the World of Yetzira, and Kruvim are angels of the World of Beria.” They all represent a small Light (Vak de Hochma) in each world, and they depend on the human souls. For example, when a person corrects himself, then Kruvim face each other, as it says in the Torah.

There are also spiritual forces that are referred to as lion, ox, eagle, and man; they correspond to Sefirot Netzah, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. In addition, Kabbalistic books sometimes refer to different levels in the spiritual worlds by the words South (Hochma), North (Bina), East (Zeir Anpin), and West (Malchut). And there are many other terms.

All of this speaks only about the state of the Light in the Kelim (desires) according to the law of equivalence between them – to the degree that the Light and Kli share the property of bestowal, which is attained through our efforts. Instead of getting lost in all these names, I advise you to start using Kabbalistic (scientific, physical) terms, such as Sefirot, Olamot, Masachim, Partzufim, Reshimot, Orot, and etc. After all, no matter how you look at it, not one word in Kabbalah speaks about our world. All the confusion only wears a person out and takes him away from the goal.

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Questions I received on whether Kabbalists ever wrote about the age of the world and past civilizations:

Question: In many lessons you have said that our world is several million years old, but that according to the Hebrew calendar we begin counting the world’s age from the moment that the point in the heart awakened in a person named Adam (from the moment he decided to become similar to the Creator). What Kabbalistic sources did you get this information from?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam says in his article, “The Last Generation,” that periods of the Earth’s formation lasted 30 million years each. This indicates that the Earth has existed for millions of years.

Baal HaSulam also writes in his letters that Adam was the first person in the world who revealed the Thought of Creation. Obviously, Adam had parents and relatives, and wasn’t the first person in this sense, but he was the first person to attain or reveal the Creator. In every other regard, all of nature evolves because of the Reshimot that surface and become actualized, going from the still level of nature, to the vegetative level, to the animate level, and then the human level. This happens step by step, and on the surface it appears just like Darwin thought. However, it doesn’t happen through natural selection, but through sequential revelation of the Reshimot according to the pattern of HaVaYaH.

Question: Dear Rav, from what I heard in your lessons, I understood that Baal HaSulam was a man of great attainment. At one of the lessons you said that Baal HaSulam wrote about the Earth’s formation and the numerous shifts that took place between the liquid and solid phases, each lasting for 30 millions years. Have Kabbalists ever mentioned anything about past civilizations?

My Answer: No, because they aren’t interested in this one bit. Kabbalists direct all of their attention upward, above this world – to the goal of creation, rather than backwards – into the depths of history.

There are no intelligent civilizations besides ours. This fact becomes very clear from studying the descent of the Light and Kli from the World of Infinity into our world. We exist in the World of Infinity even now, but our distorted senses depict it as our world. The Ari begins his revelation of the universe from the moment when only the Light exists, and then the embryo of the future creature appears. The only thing that emerges from that point inside the Light – is us.

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We exist in a sea of information. We are floating inside it like croutons in a bowl of soup. Everything and everyone is inside the soup. There is no time here, and that’s why it doesn’t matter whether you are watching a live broadcast or a recording of the lesson – because everything and everyone is inside this sea of information, including Abraham, Rashbi, Moses, the Ari, and Baal HaSulam. Whether you are part of the lesson in “real time” or not is only a psychological impression of a person who hasn’t yet come out of the boundaries of our world.

For example, when a person doesn’t know that the lesson isn’t being held in real time, then he watches it as if it were. It’s because this information doesn’t get old. And it doesn’t matter what time of day or night one studies, because everything that we study immediately enters and becomes revealed in the entire universe.

This information has never been revealed to man, and it is becoming revealed only now, with the help of the united group. This force already exists in the field that we must fill – in the entire volume of the World of Infinity. And we fill it. And then the rest of humanity also exists in this information, because they exist in the same field that we are adding our information to.

We are doing this, because following the Restriction, only a thin glowing line passes from Infinity to this world – to the center of the universe. Everything besides this thin line is empty space, and we fill that space with the work we are doing.

This is why the sensory and rational information that we extract already exists in this space. And all the people, regardless of their location, or whether they want it or not, are already spinning around it, in harmony with it.

There is a good example of this in nature. Have you ever seen a flock of birds fly in the air, and suddenly they all make a turn together? How do they know that they need to turn? It’s because they receive their information from one place. And it’s the same with all parts of nature. Physicists are already discovering that the field of gravity spreads immediately and that elementary particles immediately inform one another about any changes happening to them. Everything we learn already exists “around us” – so just tune in to it and become filled!

This is why there is no time and it makes no difference when you watch the lesson. You get in touch with the spiritual information that has already been revealed in this space – and this information exists there for you.

(Taken from the lesson I gave on 06-27-08.)

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A question I received: I’m Jewish. Can I study Kabbalah together with gentiles – people who aren’t Jewish by birth? The Book of Zohar says that every person who teaches even one letter of the Torah to a gentile is responsible for the destruction of the world, and that a gentile who wants to learn must first convert to Judaism. What should I do?

My Answer: “Jew” comes from the word “Ever,” to cross, so a Jew is a person who has crossed the Machsom. Israel is a person who has the intention of “Yashar-El,” “straight to the Creator.” “Yuhudi” comes from the word “Ihud,” meaning “union” (with the Creator). All these notions are properties of love, bestowal, or altruism.

“Goy” (gentile) means “a nation” in Hebrew. This word isn’t offensive; it only underlines the uncorrected, egoistic degree. In the Torah or Kabbalah, “Goy” (gentile) refers to egoism, and Jew, Israel, or Hebrew refer to love and bestowal.

We all start out as gentiles – uncorrected. When we choose the spiritual goal and begin the correction (even while we still haven’t attained it), we become Israel (Isra-El, straight to the Creator). Next, when we cross the Machsom, we become Jewish. And when we attain the goal – union with the Creator, we become Hebrew.

We all came out of Babylon, we are all egoists, and we must all correct ourselves and become like the Creator. When a gentile (an egoist) studies Torah (Kabbalah) for his own sake, he is only harming himself. One should study Torah (Kabbalah) only in order to attain spirituality, the property of bestowal. Hence, you should study with the people who have this goal!

In addition, you should ask: can you and should you study the Torah (Kabbalah) with yourself? Maybe you are a gentile (in your intentions and aspirations)? First you should check whether you want to become like the Creator and attain “love for your neighbor.” If yes, then you can study Kabbalah, because this is the only correction Kabbalah makes to a person. However, if you have a different goal – for your own sake, then you are a gentile, and Torah (Kabbalah) isn’t for you. It is written: “A gentile who studies the Torah must die,” because he attracts Light and thereby becomes even more opposite to It. This is how a person kills the gentile within him. It’s written that the entire Torah is the rule, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Conclusion: Everyone should study Kabbalah regardless of their intention! If they have the intention of a gentile, then they will kill the gentile within them and go from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of the Creator.”

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Questions I received on the pleasures felt by a Kabbalist and the Creator:

Question: Does a Kabbalist ever attain the state of feeling that he gives pleasure to the Creator?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: How is this feeling expressed?

My Answer: As union with the Creator and perception of Him.

Question: What are the signs that let a Kabbalist know that the Creator is really receiving pleasure from his actions?

My Answer: Mutual joy, their feelings expressed in one Kli.

Question: A Kabbalist receives pleasure from the Creator’s gifts, and by doing this he gives joy to the Creator. But how can a Kabbalist be sure that the Creator is really enjoying this?

My Answer: He knows this because they merge into one whole.

Question: Do Kabbalists feel pleasure from the small, material things in life?

My Answer: A Kabbalist still feels all the pleasures of our world. Moreover, he feels these pleasures even more than ordinary people do.

Question: The spiritual goal is the union of souls. When a person enters the spiritual world, he begins to feel the desires and thoughts of the other souls. Does he still differentiate between what’s “his” and what’s “someone else’s”, or does he lose the sensation of his individuality?

My Answer: He doesn’t lose it. Even though he feels everyone, he feels them through himself, like a cell that works for the entire body.

Question: You said that great Kabbalists have great egoism, but they know how to control it. How do they control their egoism?

My Answer: Through Light that comes from above; through the Creator, the way a child does this through an adult.

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Questions I received on studying, defining the spiritual goal, one’s desires, and one’s mind:

Question: What should I study every day?

My Answer: Study the same things we do, together with us.

Question: Should I study only Kabbalah, or are there other books worth studying as well?

My Answer: You should study only what we study. If you are a beginner, then you should study the first and third parts of our daily lesson together with us, but instead of the second part of the lesson (Talmud Eser Sefirot), you can study the materials for beginners on our website.

Question: Do we have to fight our lustful desires in the corporeal world, or should we just study Kabbalah without fighting these desires?

My Answer: Only the study of Kabbalah evokes the Light of correction – Ohr Makif. You will not become more corrected by fighting your desires or restricting yourself in some way. Don’t focus on your properties, but instead strive toward the Creator.

Question: I am somewhat confused about the spiritual goal. Is the goal for me to be happy, or for me to bestow, or to be like the Upper One, or is it to love my neighbor? Or, according to what you said in the latest lessons, is the goal for me to become master of my freedom of choice, or combine the paradox between the place of the Creator and the place of the creation? What is the goal?

My Answer: There is one goal, and it combines everything – all the opposites: The entire Light enters the entire Kli, filling it completely. This state already exists; we must only reveal it for ourselves. It’s similar to a child’s puzzle: There is an image printed on a piece of cardboard, then it’s cut up into small pieces and the child has to put it together. This is how the child learns to connect all the different parts into one whole – and we will have to do the same thing with all the elements of creation.

Question: Is the ego (my will to receive), my mind that observes the reality?

My Answer: That is absolutely correct. Inside your desire, you perceive yourself, the world, and your existence. The mind is produced by the egoistic desires, or derived from them. The mind comes into being and grows to degree that one aspires to fulfill one’s desires. The more desires one has, and the larger these desires are, the greater is the mind that accompanies them. Hence, since Kabbalah develops one’s desires, it also prompts the development of the mind (the brain).

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Question: You said that time doesn’t exist. Then do the past and future exist?

My Answer: What exists is a sequence of events. They take place in us as sequential revelations, the realization of Reshimot. As they sequentially follow one another, they create the sensation of time – of the past and the future. However, this is a subjective sensation that’s inside us, and it takes place quickly or slowly depending on one’s efforts.

It is impossible to skip over anything, because all the Reshimot have to manifest one after another. When a Reshimo is realized, it depicts inside us a picture of our relationship with the Creator. This picture is called “the world,” and it consists of “me” and “what surrounds me.” To the degree that the Reshimot become realized, one begins perceiving one’s surroundings as part of him.

Question: Sometimes the clock shows that five hours have gone by, but I feel like it’s only been five seconds. Who should I trust, myself or the clock?

My Answer: Obviously, you should trust the clock. Next time the same five hours may seem like five days to you.

Question: When a person with psychic abilities predicts the future, what does he see – the future or the present?

My Answer: For him it’s the present.

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