Evening Zohar Lesson – 06.07.10
Posted on June 7th, 2010
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYigash (Then Judah Approached),” Item 53
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYigash (Then Judah Approached),” Item 53
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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYigash (Then Judah Approached),” Item 2: However, everything was created in the Torah, and everything was perfected in the Torah. And as the Torah begins with Bet, the world was created in Bet. This is so because before the Creator created the world, the Nukva, all the letters came before Him and entered one at a time in reverse order, in the order of Tav-Shin-Reish-Kof and not in the order of Aleph-Bet-Gimel-Dalet.
Item 3: The letter Tav came before Him and said, “You wish to create the world with me.” The Creator replied, “I do not, since many righteous are destined to die in you. …This is why the world will not be created in you.”
Item 4: The three letters, Shin-Kof-Reish, approached each on his own. The Creator told them, “You are unfit for the world to be created in you for you are the letters used for reading Sheker [deceit/falsehood], and a lie is unworthy of rising before Me.”
This can be compared to how we ask the Creator to help us unite the desire (Kli). The letters are the formation of Malchut. Essentially, it is her that we are trying to construct from our points in the heart.
Hence, if we come to the Creator with our desire (although we don’t presently realize it), crying like infants not knowing exactly what to ask, it works as though we are appealing to the Creator in all kinds of forms and letters. Yet we get nothing in return until we discover the correct desire or the correct letter.
Item 5: The letters Peh and Tzadik approached, and so did all of them until they reached the letter Chaf. When the Chaf descended from the Keter [Keter written with Chaf in Hebrew], the upper ones and the lower ones were shaken, until everything came to exist in the letter Bet, which is the sign for Beracha [blessing], and in it, the world was perfected and created.
We have to attain a desire, a state where only the blessing from Above can give birth to our spiritual vessel. Only if we join the force of blessing and become one with the Creator (and not by any other efforts of ours) can we acquire the spiritual Kli.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/10, The Zohar
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There is no Light without a vessel, and no fulfillment without a desire. The Upper Light is in a state of complete rest; it fills and surrounds creation entirely. Everything depends solely on our desire, our vessels of perception. If we yearn for this particular fulfillment, we will perceive it. However, if our desire does not correspond precisely to the frequency or quality of the fulfillment (meaning there is no equivalence of properties between the desire and what fills it), then we don’t feel fulfillment. Multiple examples of the corporeal world attest to this.
We have to bring our desire to the Upper Light to be filled. To do this correctly, the desire has to correspond to the Light, that is, to be in bestowal. How are we going to acquire this force of bestowal? Kabbalists say that the power of bestowal exists in every person, but is very small and remains this way in the person alone.
It can grow only if a person unites with the others. If he wishes to attain bestowal and is willing to do whatever it takes in order to receive from the group and the friends their desires to bestow, then he acquires from them many such desires. He does so in the degree in which he annuls himself and exalts the friends in his own eyes. In this way he is able to receive from them a greater desire to bestow, in both quality and quantity. And if a person possesses the desire to bestow, then the Light during the reading of The Zohar will work on him; it will begin to organize his desire and fill it.
Therefore, preparation to reading The Zohar should take place in the group, in the mutual “incorporation” into each other, in order to form a strong desire. In this case, we will succeed. We can accelerate time and shorten it, without the need to submerge ourselves in prolonged corporeal suffering. We can transform earthly suffering into the torments of love, which means suffering from not having the qualities of bestowal, from not having the desire to give that we must attain. We can work with the group and friends, and in doing so acquire such a will.
As we see, everything is in our hands. We can actually condense time to zero. The Creator created only the point “existence from absence.” The rest He handed to us, so that we increase our desire from the size of the point in the heart to the expanse of Malchut of Infinity. This is only possible if we unite. Therefore we only have a single opportunity to attain the desire for the Light: to strive to be together within our small desires to bestow.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/10, The Zohar
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A question I received: Will my soul remember everything I learned in this life? Will I continue to learn Kabbalah and come to the group again in my next life?
My Answer: The only thing that a person takes with him from this life is the spiritual path that he went through; this does not vanish. After all, in regard to spirituality, we are, and continue to be in the same reality, but it is slightly hidden from us.
I am constantly situated in my soul, in spite of the fact that I don’t feel it, I continue to work with it and go through different states. All this occurs in my eternal soul. The fact that I now see physical bodies and this world around me is a “mirage” of my spiritual state.
If I work internally now, then I will begin my next reincarnation from a higher spiritual state, and I will come to a Kabbalah group faster and will be more successful in my studies. The entire previous path will remain within me in the form of spiritual genes (Reshimot); it doesn’t vanish. In the spiritual world nothing vanishes at all; things disappear only in our world because this whole world will eventually vanish. In the meantime, nothing that I have acquired through my egoistic desire remains, since the desire itself vanishes, only the external clothing remains.
Every time the soul goes through a new reincarnation, it builds an environment for itself according to its ability and the necessity to correct itself. Why do I exist in this environment and not a different one? It is because my soul requires this. No calculation is performed in regard to the bodies; they exist in connection with each other, in this world, in all of the situations that are necessary for the soul’s correction.
Meanwhile, the body is not taken into account. Actually, it doesn’t exist at all; it is a virtual illusion that presents itself to us in this form. In actuality, only the soul exists, but we are unable to feel it. And its development clearly determines what happens to the bodies.
Therefore, in the end of “Preface to The Book of Zohar” Baal HaSulam writes that only the correction of the souls will help us correct our world and perceive this corporeal life as more kind. All the offenses that occur in this world are a consequence of the necessity for the soul to be corrected. At the same time, there are no actions or corrections in this world: changes are only possible through the soul.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/10, Article “Which Degree Should One Acheive?”
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The Zohar, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 114: There are five abstentions on the day of atonement—eating, drinking, bathing, lubrication, wearing shoes, and intercourse—to be assisted by the five upper sides, HGT NH, which the day of atonement, Bina, brought out, and which are her gates.
Since we must transition from the perception of reality in the egoistic desires to the perception of reality in the desires of bestowal, the authors of The Zohar (like all other Kabbalists), tell us about the various corrections we must make in our desire; we move from one rung to the next, in order to further advance each of our five senses toward spirituality. All five senses are connected with each other, and for this reason we always have a spiritual Partzuf, meaning a definitive perception of reality with limitations.
In order to transition from the current perception of reality to a more advanced one, we must increase our desire and attract the Reforming Light to it. In this way, we will build the next Partzuf that is our self on a higher level. We do this by opening more and more of the senses, the perception of reality. This is the way we advance.
All of the obstacles that the The Zohar describes, such as the “scapegoat,” the “five prohibitions,” and so on, are solely limitations. We perform these limitations according to the Kabbalists’ recommendations, and as a result, we come to corrections faster. After all, they tell us in advance what is worth doing on every step, in order to direct oneself to the perception of reality on a more complex, inner, and deeper level. Then, without fail, we advance with greater speed and certainty.
[15113]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar
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The Zohar, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 102: …When it was said, “Fetch two he-goats, one for Me and one for that delator, the Sitra Achra, so he will think that he has eaten from My own meal, and will not know of the joy of our other meal. He will take that part,” GAR of the left, which is sent to the desert, to the place of ruin, to give him back his dominion, meaning to the middle point of the ruined world….
We read in all the Kabbalistic books about actions that we need to do in order to reveal the real world by having proper vision and perception. For example, when I don’t know where I am, I try to make my senses more acute, I clean my glasses to clear the fog before my eyes. I try different things to help orient myself to the strange place that I can’t make out.
Kabbalists give us the same kind of prescription: the things that we need to do in order to clear our sensory channels: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch (five Sefirot), in order to orient ourselves in the new space and to be able to discern it. This is why The Zohar tells us that if there is a disturbance in our perception, the so called “GAR of the left,” then we need to stop using it, and “send it to the desert.”
In other words, The Zohar describes the way we are to work with our senses and what we need to do in order to become closer to the proper orientation in the space where we exist. Essentially, the entire wisdom of Kabbalah only speaks about attaining the perception of a new reality instead of perceiving this imaginary world.
After all, we’re not actually going anywhere, we don’t fly or move, we remain in the same place and state. We simply keep perfecting our senses. This is why Kabbalah is called the science of reception, the science of perception (in Hebrew, the word “Kabbalah” comes from the word “Lekabel” – to receive).
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar
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Baal HaSulam explains that the study of the Torah (Kabbalah) differs from all other activities in this world. No special qualities of this world can help a person study the Torah, be it intelligence, wisdom, creativity, a sharp mind, erudition, or knowledge. Only the Light, by acting upon a person, can help him advance. This advancement is in correction and not the accumulation of knowledge.
Therefore, the study of the Torah can be likened to a medical procedure that we undergo. Our coming to a Kabbalah lesson is similar to a person who comes to a doctor for a treatment. If a person desires it and prepares himself each time, expecting that it will make him better, then after many procedures (many Kabbalah lessons), the correction occurs.
Thus, we also need to check ourselves and determine if we approach the studies with the correct intention. Our intention is particularly important while studying The Book of Zohar since this is the most powerful and effective means for working against our nature. It is also necessary to check and evaluate ourselves after the lesson, after this “medical procedure.” “Have I advanced in some way toward the goal, toward love and bestowal, and toward the willingness to unite with the group? Do I feel an increased greatness of the goal?” If so, I feel the importance of the goal, the significance of spirituality, and the Creator to a greater extent, and this gives me energy and the desire to advance.
How much we understand The Book of Zohar is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if a person doesn’t know the original language of The Zohar or if everything it tells us about seems very distant and unfamiliar. Even people who have studied the Torah in its simple interpretation their whole lives, also don’t know what is written in The Book of Zohar. They are even more confused than those who have never studied the Torah.
Thus, we should open our hearts (rather than our ears and minds) to receive the medicine. It’s needed so that our egoistic heart can be transformed into an altruistic one, under the influence of “the wonderful quality” (Segula) contained in The Book of Zohar. We should accept every word that we read in The Zohar as a drop by drop infusion. Indeed, the Light comes to us drop by drop, and thus, they are called “drops of fortune” (“Mazalot,” from the word “Nozel” – dribble). For this reason, we should wait patiently for this medicine to affect us, drop by drop, until we reach “complete success.”
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/2/10, The Zohar
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Tetzaveh (Command),” Item 116
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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, Article “Ancestral Merit”
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Our entire work amounts to making the shift from perceiving reality inside egoistic senses to perceiving reality inside altruistic senses. This is the whole difference between perceiving this world and perceiving the Upper World. It is the difference between our current perception of reality (where we are living a lie, far away from the Creator, without knowing where we exist) and the understanding, perception, and knowledge of where we exist, or rather, inside Whom and with Whom we exist.
The switch in perception happens by virtue of a person’s effort. There must first be a desire to change one’s perception; this will occur only if we desire it. That is why we have to strive to imagine a higher reality and to create its image in ourselves according to how Kabbalah Books tell us to, as well as to build such relationships between us in the group.
Then when we read about this higher reality during our studies, we will demand for a force to come from Above and open these senses, to unlock the locks on our perception, to allow us to reveal where we truly exist, instead of remaining in this deceptive, imaginary, made-up picture, which is presented to us today in our clouded senses. Therefore, our whole work lies in finding the right definitions, which are called the true reality.
Each of us should use all his strength, to the extent that it is possible, to try to imagine and depict a higher image where we are all united in our desires together with the Creator, and there is no difference between us. There, the Creator (the quality of bestowal and mutual love) dwells among us, within us.
In reality there is nothing except this state. There are no imaginary pictures. We should ask this reality to affect us and to be embodied in us. This should be the result of our efforts. This is what a person should aspire to constantly while reading The Zohar and other Kabbalistic books. This is also the reason why these books tell us about the true reality. Otherwise, we could read other books, written in a different style, or there would be no sense reading them at all.
Thus, when we read about the Upper Reality in these books, we should try to attain it. As Baal HaSulam writes in Item 155 of “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“: “…through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.” The Lights come to us from the single state that exists, and in this manner we correct ourselves.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/3/10, The Zohar
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A question I received: What are the three lines?
My Answer: The left line is the uncorrected desire that must first be restricted (Tzimtzum Aleph). The right line is the force of bestowal, the force of Light. And the middle line is the result of the work of combining them, connecting the two lines.
Our entire work lies in the middle line, and all of Kabbalah’s materials speak of this. The right and left lines are given to us from Above, from nature or the Creator. If we don’t work in the middle line, we remain as animals, acting by compulsion of these two reins: the right and the left lines. However, when we receive the first spark from the middle line, called the point in the heart, it is an opportunity, an invitation, to gain control over our lives, and to stop moving like a horse, maneuvered by two reins from above.
We need to assume these reins and to become “human.” The point in the heart is the beginning of the human within us that will rein his animal, and move toward similarity to the Creator. The spiritual work consists solely of driving oneself, from within the point in the heart, toward merging with everybody else.
Then we relate to all our qualities as conditions given us from Above. We no longer identify ourselves either with our body and its inherent qualities, or with the Light, given to us to correct this body. That is, we relate to these two lines, the right and the left, as perfection created by the Creator, as an invitation extended from Him to begin to build ourselves.
I no longer worry, rejoice, or get distressed over the left or the right lines, instead I relate to the states given to me as an opportunity to properly combine these two lines and move forward, driving my animal and aiming it straight to the goal.
At every moment my animal throws itself this way or that, in a direction unknown to me. And I have to imagine the goal to myself: the Creator, merging with Him, and being equal to Him in properties as much as I can imagine it to myself. I have to try see my environment as a perfect, balanced system, linked and interconnected with all parts equal and in mutual guarantee, so as to be filled by the Upper Light.
Having clarified the goal, I have to correct my animal, so as to guide it in the proper direction via the two reins. This work does not stop for even a second. Every time I imagine the spiritual goal more clearly and in greater detail, and, accordingly, in greater confusion, for light is known only from darkness. I have to always strive toward this goal, that is, to plant myself in the general system as its inseparable component.
Therefore, when I read The Zohar I need to act like a car driver, pushing the gas pedal, watching the road, steering the wheel, and feeling the brakes, all at the same time.
Similarly, when I listen to what The Zohar speaks of, I want to imagine all of it before me. As though being on a tour, I try to move along with The Zohar and participate in it.
In other words, I want to know what it is that I study, to connect to this material, to be in this process. To know is to merge, as it is written: “And Adam knew Eve (his corrected desire).”
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/1/10, The Zohar
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