The Zohar, “Introduction to The Zohar,” “The Night of the Bride“: There is a book of remembrance before the Creator about the sins and transgressions taking place in the world. For He needs them for the day when He will perform a miracle (Segula).

Question: What is Segula?

Answer: The Upper Force, or the Creator, or the Light, is inside the group. I can receive corrections only if we study the primary sources together with the group.

This is Segula – the special means, the works of Kabbalists, which make it possible to unite a person, the group, and the Creator into one whole. Their unity is possible only on the condition that the system they are in is used correctly.

Even now we are part of it. The worlds and Partzufim are all here, but in order for them to come through we have to evoke the influence of spiritual forces upon us. Desire alone is not enough. We need a means that will set the system in motion so it will start working on me through the group.

The system is set in motion with the help of the primary sources. That is why we study the works of Baal HaSulam, Rabash, Ari, and Rashbi. Without this I cannot establish a connection with the spiritual system and set it in motion.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/10, The Zohar
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The Book of Zohar requires a special preparation on our part. It is the most powerful source of Light and the force that will change our nature if we correctly prepare ourselves for working with it.

First of all, in our current state we have to maximally correspond to the Upper Light that The Zohar brings us. This is why, as much as we can, we are trying to become similar to the authors of The Zohar, Rabbi Shimon and his nine students. They explain that in the beginning of the spiritual work, the revelation of The Zohar, the Light of Hochma of the World of Atzilut, they are suddenly overtaken by mutual hatred. The Light they attract shines into their desires, and despite their yearning for unity, what arises among them is repulsion. Standing before the illumination of The Zohar, they see that they are opposite to it.

The path begins with the revelation of evil; a person has to feel this every time. Otherwise his first step will be incorrect. It is written, “I created the evil inclination and I created the Torah as a spice because the Light concealed in it returns us to the Source.” This is talking about three lines. The evil inclination is the left line, the Torah or spice is the right line (the Light that Reforms), and the middle line is our corrected soul, the desire of the left line that has been corrected by the intention of the right line.

The evil inclination, egoism, does not come by itself, but under the influence of Light. Then we turn to the right line, the Torah, and the Light that comes from Above returns us to the Source, the Creator, the middle line. The revelation of evil is the beginning of every phase on the path to coming closer to the Creator from zero until the End of Correction. Even the group of Rabbi Shimon, which was on very high levels, went through the same phases.

Without revealing our enemy, we cannot study Kabbalah and attract the Light. We are trying our best to unite, but then we feel that our heart is deaf and that a stale taste lingers in our mouth.

Yet the goal is great and it evokes the need for the Light, the Creator who will come and correct us. We will no longer leave Him alone until He appears and establishes a connection between the friends so we will become a common Kli in mutual guarantee, as one man with one heart in one desire. This is what I demand. Even if I don’t know exactly what this means, even if I don’t have the smallest inclination to unite, I am still shouting together with everyone.

That is how we are approaching the reading of The Zohar, from the desire to unite. Unity will enable us to attract the Upper Light. At first every person is by himself, and then by way of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), we will come to unity.

In this unity we acquire the Upper World. The spiritual degree surfaces inside our interconnection. At first we reveal the evil inclination between us and then we demand the Light that will unite us. Then the Light does its work and unites us in the middle line, in the common desire.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeHukotai (In My Statutes),” Item 50: “And I will chastise you, to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.”

Even though we are talking about actions that aren’t done for the sake of reward, in actuality such an action cannot exist in nature. We always require a reward as energy for our action. After all, only crazy people and little children act purposelessly.

However, our goal is to attain revelation, to see the true state, to understand its reasons, and to realize what our place is. We need the full scope of the truth, here and in all the worlds.

The revelation of this truth is the revelation of the Creator. This is our reward. That is how the essence of the science of Kabbalah is defined: It is the revelation of the Creator to the creatures in this world.

We aspire to the highest reward, yet we don’t acquire it in the form of egoistic fulfillment, but in our aspiration from falsehood to truth. My entire life can seem like luxury that’s so sweet, it’s nauseating. However, at the same time I feel empty because there is no truth in it. Then I change my goal: Instead of receiving direct fulfillment with sweetness, I want to acquire the fullness of truth.

It isn’t easy to achieve this. In Hebrew the word truth consists of three letters – אמת. Alef is the first letter of the alphabet, Mem signifies Bina, the quality of bestowal, and Tav is the last letter of the alphabet. In other words, all my qualities must come together around Bina, the intention for the sake of bestowal, and then I will understand what this is and will reveal the Creator.

Truth is the criterion of my exile. If I see that I am in exile relative to the truth, that means I am in exile relative to the Creator. In the final, desirable state we are united, merged, and fused together in one, perfect, unceasing Zivug. And that means that right now we are both in an undesirable state. In other words, both me and Him are in exile.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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Question: What does it mean to think about unity during the reading of The Zohar in order to have the entire group cross the “Red Sea” and enter the spiritual world?

Answer: The Zohar reveals that what happens from the perspective of the spiritual vessels (desires), that is, different types of connection. It does not describe the picture from the Light’s perspective. There are Kabbalistic books that contain descriptions from the Light’s perspective: how different Lights come and how they spread. It is like we are being told what is depicted in a certain picture.

To provide a description from the desires’ perspective, however, is to explain how a picture was drawn, not what is actually drawn. It is like saying what colors one needs, how they are mixed, how to apply them on the canvas, or what technique and brush to use.

It turns out that a spiritual picture is not simply made by freely drawing whatever I want, like from the Light’s perspective. No, at first, everything needs to be arranged as if you were using a ruler and other graphing “tools” (Kelim, vessels); everything needs to be calculated. This is because it comes from the side of the desires, the spiritual vessels, and they need to be well-prepared in the first place.

This is the narrative style of The Zohar and the entire “practical” Kabbalah that comes from the side of the created beings: the depth (Aviut, coarseness) of the desire that is needed, the screens, different actions including screens, and that which will be consequently revealed. We need to use this description and draw the picture ourselves, instead of simply enjoying it.

If we already were in these states, we would be able to enjoy the picture in a different way. We would read and receive the explanations of the picture that we would already see. However, so far, we are unable to be impressed by the picture. We arrive from the side of the desires and learn to draw the picture. The Zohar tells us step by step where we need to arrive and hands us the instruments that we need to create this “canvas.”

We create this picture in the group, in the unity between us, and all the names, lines, and all the objects only stand for different types of interconnections of the desires. Once you connect them and create even the initial, minimal connection, you will attain the first spiritual degree, and the picture will become revealed.

It’s essential for us to understand the way everything operates, the way everything needs to be connected for the system to work. It is like constructing a vehicle, connecting all the parts and the power supply, putting in the gas, the oil, all the necessary fluids, completing the construction, turning on the ignition, and, voila, the car powers on! This is the result we need to reach.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/27/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (And Pharaoh Sent)” Item 37:  Because of the mixed multitude, they were not called “the children of Israel,” or “Israel,” or “My people,” but simply, “the people.” When they rose from Egypt and the mixed multitude had not bonded with them, He called them “the children of Israel.” When the mixed multitude bonded with them, He called them “the people.”

Speaking of what occurs in a person, the “mixed multitude” (Erev Rav) are the desires that seem to be walking a spiritual path and choose it, thinking that it is the way to advance. However, every time they decide to advance, they intend to use the Creator, the Upper Light, for themselves, for reception.

This is the most treacherous, impure force (Klipa, shell). They wish to use the Torah to satisfy various demands of egoism in their corporeal life. All the problems of the nation occur because of this Klipa regarded as the “mixed multitude.”

It is easy to discern them on the spiritual path if you recognize that it is an egoistic form that has no relation to spirituality. If I desire any pleasures of this world (food, sex, family, money, fame, power, or knowledge), such desires are regarded as the “nations of the world” in me. They want only this kind of fulfillment.

But when I start studying the Torah and want to receive earthly, egoistic fulfillment (the very same money, fame, power, and so forth) with its help, this is called the “mixed multitude.” I engage the Torah, the force of advancement and Light, in order to use it for my egoism.

All this must take place in every person on the spiritual path. After all, everybody consists of everybody else as it is written, “There is no righteous man on earth who has done good and did not sin first.” Everyone will have periods (if they haven’t occurred yet) when, amidst his spiritual advancement, there will arise a desire to make money, have power, and so on. The only question is how quickly and how correctly he will exit this state.

Similar divisions exists in the corporeal world as well. There are “nations of the world,” those who desire to receive all that there is in this world. Their desires are simple, without any yearning for spirituality, for the wisdom of Kabbalah.

There are also people who strive for spirituality and yearn to attain it to the best of their capacity. And there are those who engage in spirituality as well, but not to uncover their “evil inclination,” correct it, and thereby get closer to the Creator, meaning to use the Torah as it was intended. Rather, they study the Torah in order to get all possible wealth, fame, and power from it. Hence, it is written that all problems after the exodus from Egypt took place because they brought with them the “mixed multitude.”

So it is in our generation: There are those in the nation who study the Torah in order to gain from it the Light that Reforms and correct themselves, and there are those who engage in the Torah in order to obtain power and wealth for their earthly life.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/20/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 36: When that deed [the sin of the golden calf] was done, it caused death; it caused the enslavement of the Malchuts; it caused the shattering of the first tablets, and caused several thousand [people] of Israel to die. All of it was because of the bonding with the mixed multitude that bonded with them.

Question: Who are these “thousands” that died in me?

Answer: These thousands are spiritual degrees. The ones are Malchut (Kingdom); the tens are Zeir Anpin (Small Face); the hundreds are Bina (Intelligence); the thousands (are Hochma (Wisdom); and the ten thousands are Arich Anpin (Long Face). Hence, when Zeir Anpin (6 x 10 individual Sefirot = 60) ascends to Arich Anpin, it multiplies in its power by 10,000 (Ribo). Therefore, it is written: “60 Ribo” (60 x 10,000) or “600,000 souls.” If it is written “100,000,” it means that the complete spiritual rung 100 ascended to the level of Hochma (1000 is Hochma). If it is written “500,” it is also a complete rung 5 which ascended to Bina (100 is Bina).

In other words, ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands are the spiritual steps, their might. Every time you ascend, your rung is multiplied by 10.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/20/10, The Zohar

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Question: If The Zohar talks only about the types of connection between the souls, then what is the Light that we reveal?

Answer: The Light is the sensation of connection between us. Nothing else becomes revealed.

If there are no changes in the connection between us, who are the parts of the common soul, then there is no Light, no sensation of life. Everything is dead. On the other hand, if the parts of the Kli feel unceasing changes in the connections between them, this means that there is life flowing through the Kli, there is Light in the soul. Since different interinclusions and unifications take place between the parts, these changes provide the sensation of life or Light inside the Kli.

If they stop for a moment, everything will be silent and dead, but if everything changes, it creates a sensation of Light, the sensation of life inside the body of the soul. Therefore, it’s wrong to think that the Light is external and foreign, or that it comes to the Kli from outside. Nevertheless, we do depict it this way on charts in order to schematically explain the phenomena happening inside the Kli, reception and bestowal, the inner and the outer. We are talking about the Light in relation to the Kli.

Therefore, to feel life means to continuously reveal new facets of our unity and constant changes in the connections between different parts of our common Kli (desire, vessel, or soul).
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 181: Then everything shone together because even though the light of Atik is covered in Hassadim, it contains Hochma, as well, since the Hochma in AA is necessarily received from him. Hence, the Hassadim of Atik are more important than the Hochma de AA and are regarded as containing it, and that Hochma and Hassadim shine in him together. This is why the sea made the upper laws, to drown the Egyptians and to save Israel, since the upper and lower were given into his hands. …since the crossing of the Red Sea depends on Atik.

The Upper Light comes and severs the coarse desires in us called “Egyptians” from the desires called “Isra-El” (straight to the Creator), which are ready to be corrected. This happens by the conditions of the Second Restriction (Tzimtzum Bet).

“The nations of the world” in us are all the desires that cannot be corrected until the very End of Correction (Gmar Tikkun). This includes the Klipot and all the desires that are directly connected with the Light of Hochma.

The desires of “Israel” (Yashar-Kel) include all the qualities of Bina and by their nature they belong to Galgalta Einaym. Therefore, the Light of Hochma that comes makes a split in the entire depth of the desire or vessel, separating the desires that can be corrected (the ones belonging to Galgalta Einaym that are able to become AHP de Aliya) from the desires that are completely incapable of correction. That is why the “splitting of the Red Sea” took place: to separate “Israel” from the “Egyptians.”

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/27/10, The Zohar

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None of the Kabbalistic texts are intended for us to understand anything written in them because it is impossible for our earthly mind to understand the Kabbalists’ explanations. These texts are written from the height of a completely different, opposite mind – one that’s based on bestowal instead of reception. This is a completely different program, a different understanding and direction of thoughts.

No matter what we do, we won’t understand these texts until we attain the same state that the author is in, or at least a state that’s somewhat similar to his. As long as we are opposite to the author by our having opposite qualities, this opposition rejects everything we can receive from the texts.

I am not talking about the articles and letters by Kabbalists where they speak about our states before we enter the spiritual world. These texts are intended to prepare us for the spiritual world, to tell us how to enter it, to help form us, and to accompany us on the spiritual path. However, texts such as Talmud Eser Sefirot, The Book of Zohar, and The Tree of Life, which describe the spiritual world to us, are talking about the higher state that we can feel only when we correspond to the laws of the spiritual world, the laws of bestowal.

If we reveal the quality of bestowal, the net of connection between us just like between the cells of one organism, then inside this net, we will reveal laws, states, and pictures of the Upper World that the Kabbalists tell us about. Then we will understand all the words they wrote in The Book of Zohar and Talmud Eser Sefirot because they are talking about what we will see, feel, and reveal.

The entire Torah will become the Torah of life for me and I will reveal it inside my desires because my desires and thoughts will be arranged with each other and together with the desires and thoughts of other souls. This will happen to the degree I reveal the ability to connect with others and I will see this in the Book. Then the book will become a guide for me, since the Torah comes from the word “Oraa” – a guide or instruction manual. We will reveal the entire body of the common soul of Adam and all the connections between his organs.

Therefore, when reading The Zohar we have to attain the sensation that we really are connected together, and that inside the inner, global, integral connection between us we now reveal the forms of this connection. This is what The Zohar tells us about.

The Zohar talks only about the forms of connection on the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels inside the net connecting our souls. It doesn’t say a word about animals, plants, and inanimate objects of this world. There is nothing besides the souls. All the descriptions of inanimate objects, plants, animals, and people are talking only about the The Book of Zohar and Talmud Eser Sefirot.

When our points in the heart, our desires, our aspirations to unity among us, come together correctly, then we will reveal everything written in The Zohar. We will reveal it in the connection between us. What we reveal is called “the World of Infinity” – the world of infinite, unbounded connection among all people.

Let us try to imagine this between us!
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/10, The Zohar

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The Book of Zohar states, “Everything will be clarified in thought.” The Creator is an all-enveloping thought. He controls our desires with His thought and we need thought in order to use our desires. Unlike the Creator, our desire is primary and our thoughts are the result of the desire.

The plan of creation is similar to a field that fills all of reality and is one thought. Interestingly, many astronauts and astrophysicists who spend a long time studying extraterrestrial reality and who research cosmic space and objects start to feel that the cosmos is an expression of some kind of thought. And that is, in fact, so.

This thought creates creation, controls it, and brings it to the desired goal. We are the expression and result of this thought, which forces us to act. Our freedom of will lies in our ability to gradually rise to the level of this thought, to reveal the plan of creation, to start moving together with it in one direction, and to carry out all the actions not by being forced, but willingly and consciously.

Then we will attain the plan of creation even before it is actualized. We will think together with the Creator instead of receiving desires from Him and realizing them only afterwards. That is, we will go from being a passive part of creation to being an active part.
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From the lesson on 10/21/10, “The Power of Thought”

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