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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A question I received: You have me completely convinced, but what specifically should I do from this moment on?

My Answer: From this moment forward you must understand that the future depends on you, to the extent of your dissemination of the science of Kabbalah in the world. This is because it is the method of correction for the whole world: It is for us to connect with each other and with the Upper Force.

If we will come to widespread dissemination of this principle, as a cure for all our problems, then we’ll succeed. We only need to make attempts to achieve it and the Upper Light will do everything else for us. To the extent of our efforts it works through us, on ourselves and the whole world.

Thus, I strongly recommend everyone who has the opportunity to come to our convention on March 24th, 2010 in Israel, as well as to our World Zohar Convention 2010 that will take place in New York, May 7-9, 2010 (registration is already open). These events influence spiritual advancement very effectively.

Baal HaSulam attempted to disseminate Kabbalah to the people some time ago, but he had no success because the time had not come yet. At that time, all that he wanted to do didn’t work out. However, everything that we now do in this direction is successful. It is evident that we are receiving a blessing from Above, and everything depends on us.

Let us hope that together with all our groups and friends around the world, we will bring the world to correction.

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To be fulfilled by the Light of Infinity depends only on our connection. It is for this reason that before we begin to read The Zohar, we must imagine connecting our points in the heart in our desire to unite into one soul and merge with the Creator, the One. And in doing so, then the only thing remaining will be: He and His Name as a single whole. We do not see physical bodies, only individual aspiration towards the Creator which binds us into a single desire. If we were to unite this way, we would discover the Light of the World of Infinity amongst us.

The tighter we come together in our connection, the higher we ascend in the spiritual world. This is because there is no top or bottom there. These words only represent our attitude towards the value of bestowal.

We now need to discover that everything happens in this one common desire and that there is nothing other than it. The only thing that exists is Malchut of the World of Infinity which divides into worlds, Sefirot, Partzufim, and different states. But all these things are located in the same place, the same desire. The Zohar is only concerned with revealing this desire, while we wish to connect to it and to imagine what happens within it.

Connecting to the desires of others does not mean that I am connected to these people with binding strings. Rather, I incorporate and embrace their desires as my own, and I then become the entire Malchut of the World of Infinity.

It’s like a mother who receives her child’s desires while he is physically inside her until he is born. This perception of your neighbors’ desires as your own, where you internally don’t differentiate between yours and theirs is called “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

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A question I received: What inner transformations should I expect during the The Zohar study, and how can I open myself to the influence of the Light more?

My Answer: The best way to test how The Zohar acts upon us is to examine our readiness to unite with everybody to be in Malchut of the World of Atzilut together. This is the condition for attaining the Light that Reforms.

The condition for the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai is becoming one man with one heart. The condition for being in spirituality is being like brothers who are sitting together. “Sitting” means that a person annuls himself, that he is ready to be together with everybody. People standing differ in height; people while sitting are all equal.

Therefore, if after studying The Zohar for a few weeks or months a person feels that his attitude toward the connection with others is changing; if he feels that he is willing to listen more, that a certain inclination to unite appears in him; if he reveals the importance of unification, begins to sense that everything really works this way, and he is ready to accept it, this is the sign of advancement, an indication that the Light is acting upon him.

Spiritual progress is determined only according to one’s willingness to unite with other souls. This is the test. Everything else bears no relationship with the science of Kabbalah, with the advancement toward the goal.

The goal is attained in uniting. The difference between us and the World of Infinity is that in the latter, we are totally, unlimitedly connected together. All the stages on the path to Infinity are defined by our connecting with each other more and more. This means that there are 125 degrees of connection, which are increasingly compressed and adjoining.

Therefore, a person can determine his advancement only by his readiness to unite with others. All other tests are completely wrong; everything else can occur in the egoistic properties as well.

Our movement toward spirituality is also egoistic. We aspire to attain spirituality, to unite with the others in order to reach the goal. However, this happens in the intention Lo Lishma (not for bestowal). We already understand that we have to let go of our ego in order to deserve something more exalted. For the time being, egoism still motivates us, yet it already acts toward the goal.

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Regardless of whether we understand The Zohar or not, we have to desire the Light of Correction to shine upon us during the study and expect a miracle to occur as a result of it. A miracle means there is no connection between the result of the reading and what I am now reading, understanding, and feeling. There is no logical connection between my action and the result because this connection is concealed.

We can speak to no end about the fact that The Zohar is an Upper System that conducts Light to us, and that we activate this system by tuning into it with our desire, similar to how a baby in this world makes efforts and grows without understanding how he grows. Nevertheless, he gradually matures and becomes a person. Yet, no matter how much we talk about this, it still doesn’t explain the essence of the miracle that is happening.

I might be imagining that I am in the spiritual world already and just don’t feel it. I can imagine that reality is unified and I cause it to influence me like a baby who doesn’t understand what he is doing. Yet, there are connections and influences upon me that are impossible to convey in words. All that remains is for us to take this like medicine.

It is written that the Creator created an egoistic desire in a person and created the Torah as a “spice” (Tavlin) for it. The Torah is the means to correct the egoistic desire because the Light contained inside it. Spices such as salt, pepper, and mustard are unpleasant to the taste on their own, but when combined with our egoistic desire, our nature, they create pleasant fulfillment.

Similarly, it’s impossible to use our egoistic nature because instead of pleasant fulfillment it brings us bitterness. This is why we have to connect the desire with the intention; then our life will become eternal and perfect in the Light of the Torah.

As long as we cannot use these two ingredients together correctly, we will suffer from our egoism and the “spice” to it. This state is called Lo Lishma; it is the time of preparation, before the food and the spices connect inside us correctly, pleasantly, and sufficiently. We constantly add more spice to the food and then taste it to see how pleasant it is; thus, in the middle line we can eat and enjoy.

However, as long as we haven’t attained this wonderful result yet, we have to patiently wait for the “food” to cook and be mixed with the “spice.” Then we will feel a pleasant taste from the study. Thus, The Book of Zohar is all about truly delicious and healthy “food.”

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A question I received: Why is it that after reading The Book of Zohar I feel confusion and heaviness?

My Answer: Confusion and heaviness are neither good nor bad. We must accept any state as a desired outcome. After all, The Zohar is “medicine.”

There are certain medicines that are stressful for the organism to use since they cause unpleasant reactions and side effects. But we still take them because we don’t have a choice. When the need arises, we even use such extreme treatments like radiation and chemotherapy that have significant side effects.

Actually all medicine is poison, and it’s no coincidence that the symbol of medicine is a cup with a snake. One affects the other according to the law of equivalence of form. Just as the evil that manifests from the poison of our egoistic desire can be neutralized and corrected with the help of another poison, so, too, can the desire to receive for oneself be corrected.

Therefore, it isn’t important that at times we are uplifted after studying The Zohar, while at other times we feel confused. We must accept all those states as medicine. If we’ve done all that we can, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with the outcome at all. Whether we are in a descent, confused and unable to feel anything, or in the opposite state of extreme delight, none of it matters.

We know that we must endure all these things for they are the effects from the treatment. We will grow used to them and no longer pay attention to them. Everything will pass. The important thing is to quickly transition to new states – that is the sign of progress.

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A question I received: At the last Convention I saw some long-time students who were irritated and in a bad mood. Why? Is this is a sign of one’s advancement if they feel hate instead of love?

My Answer: The Zohar says that when the students of Rabbi Shimon were getting ready to study, they would conceal their hatred for each other and would look for ways to feel love above the hatred. This love is the result they demanded from the study (see The Zohar, Chapters “Ki Tissa (When You Take),” Item 54 and “Aharei Mot (After the Death),” Item 65). And indeed, the miraculous force contained inside the Kabbalistic texts brought them that love and they rose above their initial, natural hatred. Moreover, the hatred was not revealed to them accidentally, but as a result of their study and great efforts.

When a Kabbalah Convention takes place, it is a very significant event that causes a person to go through many states. One cannot always be in a state of ascent where he deems bestowal and spiritual ascent above all the earthly things.

A large assembly of people attracts a powerful Light by virtue of their common desire, and this Light begins to “shake them up.” This is why the people there go through many contradictory states: love and hate, understanding and confusion, joy about how fortunate you are to be there, and the next moment, you find yourself wondering what you are doing there at all. This is the manner in which spiritual states are quickly processed within us. You go through more states in one day of the Convention than in half a year of study during regular life!

Nevertheless, in order to use the time of the Convention most effectively, one must go through these states consciously and be ready for them. Thus, everything depends on one’s preparation to the Convention.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Chayei Sarah (The Life of Sarah),” Item 201: “And the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it.” When the Creator created Adam, He took his dust from the place of the Temple and built his body from the four directions of the world. And each of them gave him strength. Afterwards, He poured over him the spirit of life, as it is written, “And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Then he rose and knew that he consisted of above and below, and then he adhered to the Creator and knew the upper wisdom [Hochma].

The four spirits of the world are Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut. They are called the four corners of the world, and they are also divided into the right and the left lines: Hochma and Bina; Tifferet is the middle line with Yesod at the end of it, followed by the place of adhesion with Malchut. This is how everything is divided into the right side, left side, and the middle, and the top and the bottom. Such is the structure of our soul, within which we reveal reality.

Even now we reveal our reality within our soul, but we call it our body only because this soul is small, uncorrected, and acts egoistically for the sake of receiving pleasure for itself. But in reality it is the same structure, the same desire, since the Creator only created one desire and not several. However, it is merely revealed to us to a very small extent, in a very uncorrected, tiny form. What we perceive within it is called “this world.” We must reveal this desire, make it bigger, change it slightly, and make it similar to the Light. Then, in it, we will perceive the soul or life in the future world.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Chayei Sarah (The Life of Sarah),” Item 248
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The Zohar, Chapter “Chayei Sarah (The Life of Sarah),” Item 155: …Hence, the righteous purify their bodies, which come from the force of the left, until they are worthy of receiving the Mochin from the middle line.” This is already the Light of Hassadim, with a little Light of Hochma clothed within it. “And upon the reception of the Mochin, the Guf that despises its authority is like Esau. And an impression of that degradation remains in the body after its passing, too, until it causes it to decay, meaning to completely annul its power of reception until no remnant is left of it….

Esau is my inner decision. It is when I begin to understand that I can no longer work with my desire to receive pleasure the way I previously worked with it, meaning for the sake of receiving egoistically. Moreover, this decision is final and irreversible.

“Selling the birthright” means that I do not use my desire to receive pleasure in its primal form, for the sake of receiving. What I “sell” is not the egoistic desires (Kelim) themselves, but the system of their use. With this my previous attitude towards life disappears.

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