Evening Zohar Lesson – 03.06.10
Posted on March 6th, 2010
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bamidbar (In The Wilderness),” Item 1
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bamidbar (In The Wilderness),” Item 1
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio
New York, May 7th – 9th
You’re invited to join friends from all around the world to discover a new reality together. The World Zohar Convention 2010 is an intensive 3 days of studies and workshops on The Zohar with Dr. Michael Laitman and the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education and Research Institute, open for all who wish to sense the eternal, complete reality.
The Zohar holds the key to discovering the complete, eternal reality, where humanity is united in perfect harmony as one soul, in the shortest time possible. The World Zohar Convention is aimed at giving its participants a taste of this reality, and by doing so, accelerating everyone’s advancement toward it.
The World Zohar Convention 2010 is for anyone with a desire to change oneself and better the world we live in. Students currently studying with Bnei Baruch via Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Learning Center on their own or through Kabbalah TV or the Kabbalah Academy are especially welcome.
If one is new to The Zohar or the wisdom of Kabbalah, then we recommend going through the free introductory course we have available at the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Learning Center. Sign Up For A Free Introductory Course
The Zohar, Chapter “Ve’Eleh Toldot Itzhak (These Are the Generations of Isaac),” Item 172: Because Jacob trusted the Creator and all his ways were for His name, his enemies made peace with him. And Sam’el, who is Esau’s authority and strength, made peace with Jacob. And because he made peace with Jacob, he thanked him for the blessings, and then Esau, too, made peace with him.
But as long as Esau did not make peace with that appointee that was appointed over him, which is Sam’el, Esau did not make peace with him. This is so because in all places, the strength below depends on the strength above. And as long as the offender above is not weakened, which are the ministers appointed over them above, it is impossible to weaken the offender below in this world.
It is forbidden for a person to think that there are forces that work against him, forces that resist the work of the Creator and do not want a person to reach the goal of creation. There is no such thing. All forces, both the right and the left line, work together for the same goal. We believe that evil comes to destroy us and lead us astray, but it’s not true. Evil exists to show us our mistakes so we can see when we are doing things that are opposite to the goal. It is the mission of both angels, evil and good, to accompany a person on the path to the goal of creation.
The Zohar, Chapter “BeHaalotcha (When You Mount the Candles),” Item 118: …After he explained the first two banners, which are the middle line and the right line, he now explains the third banner, which is the left line, called “the face of an ox” in the animals, and “Gabriel” in the four angels. It is known that after the middle line decided and united the right line and the left line with each other, only the light of Malchut remained in the left line, which is the illumination of Hochma from below upwards, meaning VAK, while the GAR disappeared.
Two full lines, the right and the left (Hassadim and Hochma), come to us from Above. The breaking of the vessels occurred because the creature tried to fully unite Hassadim and Hochma, to receive all the Light of Hochma clothed into the Light of Hassadim for the sake of bestowal. However, it was unable to do so due to the absence of such a big screen. Therefore, the intention for bestowal (Kli) broke and the screen vanished.
Now we need to correct this breaking. By correcting it, we also begin to understand what happens within the creature, why the Creator created it this way, and what He wished for when doing so. The breaking isn’t something negative; it’s a way to prepare for putting our world together into one whole with understanding, realization, and sensation. After all, if we existed in a world that was ready for us, we wouldn’t understand it.
However, since the Creator created the World of Infinity and then broke it, He gave us an opportunity to gather the World of Infinity once again as one; to tune into the Act of Creation (Maase Merkava) and the Primary Act (Maase Beresheet) ourselves, thereby to understand Him, feel Him, and become like Him.
We certainly aren’t building all this from scratch, or from nothing, since we ourselves are created “from nothing.” However, the parts that we gather into one whole give us a full understanding and sensation of what we need in order to become similar to the Creator. That is, they give us all the information about all the parts, elements, and the depth of the universe.
Therefore, the entire Book of Zohar, all the commentaries, and the entire science of Kabbalah, tell us how to correct the broken desires (Kelim), how to connect them properly to each other, and bring them back to one whole desire (a spiritual vessel or Kli), the whole Light that previously filled the World of Infinity.
But the creature needs to carry this out with its own effort. Thereby, it achieves an understanding, sensation, perception, and power over the whole universe.
Additional pictures from first ever Zohar Convention that took place February 22-24, 2010, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Below are pictures from the first ever Zohar Convention, which took place from February 22nd to 24th in Tel Aviv, Israel with nearly 6,000 people in attendance:
The original text of The Zohar is not divided into paragraphs, chapters, or item numbers. It’s all one smooth text. Moreover, The Torah is written without any spaces at all from beginning to end.
So where does the division of the text come from? It is caused by the fact that we are so small that we are unable to accept everything and incorporate it within us. Therefore, the more we advance and the generations develop from the time of the Torah’s and The Zohar’s composition, the more we need to divide the text into parts, paragraphs, and chapters with titles. After all, it’s very difficult for us to take in rows upon rows of letters, to look at them and become similar to them in our intention. But this is, indeed, the work of correcting our desires, and its order determines the structure of the Kabbalistic Prayer Book.
This is why Baal HaSulam divided all of The Zohar into paragraphs and chapters. In addition, he wanted to add introductions, definitions, and clarifications preceding the text. In doing so he wanted to balance the text of The Zohar with his Sulam Commentary in a way that doesn’t just offer explanations, but designates the middle line in The Zohar’s text. Without his commentaries, we wouldn’t be able to balance the text inside us in order for it to clothe inside us correctly in the middle line.
Thus, Baal HaSulam doesn’t offer us mere explanations, but causes us to oscillate while reading the book, thereby attuning our vision, approach, and sensation in a way that makes them go through the middle line, “the golden middle.” Therefore, we have to accept all the commentaries with gratitude regardless of whether they are short or long. We have to go along with them and understand that we are building our middle line in this manner.
This is what the Sulam Commentary is intended for. Without it, The Zohar is only two lines, just like the rest of the Torah. We have to build the middle line ourselves, and the Sulam Commentary helps us do this. This is why it is called “Sulam” (Ladder). It is already built in the form of steps, and all that remains for us to do is to climb them. The ladder is already there, and now we just have to make efforts to climb it. We must only push ourselves forward slightly and we will be sure to follow the right path.
This is why Baal HaSulam writes that after the composition of his “Sulam Commentary to The Book of Zohar,” he is certain that it is impossible for a person to err. One will go through a wondrous spiritual ascent and thereby attain the revelation of the Messiah – the Light of Correction.
The Sulam Commentary isn’t simply an addition to the text of The Zohar. Baal HaSulam wrote it in a special manner so that when we read this commentary together with The Zohar, it acts like a teacher who takes the material and renders it into different forms with respect to us. In other words, The Sulam Commentary isn’t just a formal explanation using Kabbalistic terms which explains the mechanism of relationships between the spiritual worlds, Partzufim, and Sefirot. The Commentary helps The Zohar to express itself like a teacher who presents the study material to the student in a clearer, more suitable way.
When we listen to The Zohar with The Sulam Commentary, it’s like a translation with additional information which the translator adds to help us to feel the original better. It’s as if it is translated for us from Chinese, adding clarifications to the text about the country’s nature. It gives us information on attendant circumstances (similar to a list of exhibits attached to a document) in order to help us perceive the material more clearly and to feel close to the text. This explanation is built like a ladder (Sulam).
After all, The Zohar is this grand structure that contains all creation spanning from us until the very World of Infinity. In addition, we did not receive the entire Zohar; we have only a small part of it. With his Commentary, Baal HaSulam supplemented what we lack from The Zohar, in addition to organizing it like a ladder. Regardless of the order in which we read it, the Commentary passes through a certain matrix, and works by arranging within us the degrees (rungs of the ladder) which we can use to ascend upward, step by step.
A year or two down the line we won’t even remember how we used to exist any differently and how the wide public did not share our opinion. People will soon begin to clearly understand that the science of Kabbalah reveals the hidden part of reality to them, and that it is necessary to reveal this part of reality in order to attain a healthy and correct life. In addition, it will become clear that this revelation takes place by virtue of a miraculous force, rather than pure knowledge.
Using a purely scientific approach, we can only reveal nature on our level of perception, where our mind and feelings are operating. On the other hand, the science of Kabbalah miraculously reveals new levels of desire within us, in which we perceive a new reality. I expect that in the near future, we will witness this understanding and sensation being revealed in the masses. We will see this happen very soon.
Anyone that participated in the Zohar Convention 2010 went through tremendous changes, overcame many inner levels, and reduced the time of their development. Some people did not take part in the Convention physically, but they joined us virtually and thereby received the same ascent. Some people were distant from us (in their desire), but they were also influenced by the Convention. Even those who were not connected to us at all and didn’t want anything still received an influence because we are all part of one common system.
No one can avoid participating in this event because we all live in one, single reality. Therefore, when we hold such an event, it affects the whole world, even the people who hate us and are far away from us, as well as those who are close to us. It affects every person without exception, and it has an even greater affect on those who hate us than on those who are indifferent. Therefore, we will soon witness great changes in all layers of society.
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