When reading The Zohar we have to understand two things:

1) That we don’t understand anything! This is a result of our opposition to this book. The Zohar shows us that our nature is opposite to the nature of the Kabbalists who wrote this book.

2) That we need to relate to this book as to a “miraculous tool,” the source of our correction and correction is the only thing we should demand from it.

You don’t need to demand understanding. Even if it seems that I understand what is being described in the book, such as when it is talking about Partzufim and Sefirot, or Moses, Abraham and Egypt, whether the words are familiar to me or not, the fact is that I don’t understand it. The words of The Zohar do not mean what I think they do.

There are two forms of nature: reception and bestowal, and both are described using the same words, symbols, and letters. But there is a huge difference between what is actually behind both of these worlds – the world of reception and the world of bestowal. There is nothing in common between them.

Thus, it’s useless to try to understand and interpret The Zohar’s text. In desiring to “understand” it, we shouldn’t aspire to a direct understanding (which is impossible), but to acquiring a second nature. We will then receive the Light that Reforms, which will influence and change our nature. Then, to the extent that our nature changes, we will understand what The Zohar talks about. It will suddenly become clear and the book will be revealed to us.

Therefore, we have to relate to the reading as a miraculous tool and understand that our lack of understanding is correct – it’s supposed to be so. We have to rely on the power hidden in this book, which influences the reader.

The more I desire to understand it through a change of my nature, the more this book will affect me. In order to understand what the holy Book of Zohar talks about, we must first acquire the same nature as that of the Kabbalists who wrote The Zohar. We have to attain the same form in which they expressed their thoughts.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →

We need to understand what kind of power is hidden in The Book of Zohar. It is a tool or a means of salvation given to us – the only instrument capable of making a spiritual and material revolution in the world. If we understand its importance, then with its help we’ll be able to change ourselves and reality. We will be able to affect our fate, both for every individual and for all of us together.

All of this is in our hands. This book is a special key given to mankind to unlock the system of the forces governing it. We just need to learn how to use this key to open the sacred door – the gate to the spiritual system. Then the key will open it up for us!

Every word in The Book of Zohar should be understood as existing inside each of us. The text talks only about our internal world. When I read the phrase, “Let’s go to the Pharaoh,” I have to imagine that the Creator, Moses, and I are all together inside me. I need to feel what it means “to go there” – what desire or quality I will be approaching, which is called “the Pharaoh” or “the evil inclination.” And the force that will help me do this is called the Creator.

I am incapable of going directly to the Pharaoh because I see how great he is and how much he governs me. It is only by holding on to the Creator (or to the right line, bestowal, the Torah, the Upper Light) that I can get closer to the left line (evil, egoism) inside me. And instead of destroying it, I can break free from its power and rise above it.

Then I will convert the evil force to the good force and the good will govern me instead of the evil. All of this is possible only by studying The Book of Zohar. Each word in it portrays some quality of mine, a force, the relations between them, and the processes I am going though.

I have to imagine all of this as parts of my soul; I am studying my own internal, spiritual anatomy. My efforts to do this will attract the Upper Light that Reforms and brings me closer to Goodness.

So, with these aspirations in mind and heart, let’s read The Book of Zohar.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 101: “And all her paths are peace.” Her paths are the trails that emerge from Above, from Aba Ve Ima (AVI), the lock that serves in AVI, of which the writing says, “And Your path in the great waters.” They are called so because they are not open to every person but only to a few. And all are held by the covenant alone, meaning Yesod, who is called, “peace”—peace at home. And he brings them into the great sea, when he is in power, and then he gives him peace. This is the meaning of, “And all her paths are peace.” Joseph was the covenant of peace, he was rewarded with those paths, and he was a king in Egypt and the ruler of the land.

The goal is for all the qualities to unite with the help of Yesod and by virtue of the work of Malchut. There is no need Above for the correction and the unification of Sefirot. All of this is the work of Malchut, which tries to understand and do the same way a child does when he plays and learns. If he succeeds in putting together the Lego pieces, he thereby learns how to do it correctly. However, this does not mean that the game itself is broken. It is purposely made this way for a child so that he would learn how to put it together.

In the same way, there are no limitations or small states in the Upper Partzufim. Only Malchut, which is called a “photograph of the Creator,” feels all these phenomena and decides that Zeir Anpin treats it this way, judging it according to its own limitations.

Yesod is called “everything” because it includes all the qualities, states, and forces that exist above it. According to the law of equivalence of form, we need to become similar to it. This is possible only if we all desire to unite into one point that will be similar to Yesod – one against the other.

When the souls unite within Malchut and are willing to cancel themselves in order to merge into one point in relation to Yesod, which is also one point – one against another, then we can receive the Light of Correction and the Light of Fulfillment from Yesod. Therefore, the only thing we need to do in order to receive the Light from Yesod is to unite into one point, as one man with one heart. This is the condition for becoming similar to it.

That is when the first contact with the Light will occur, and this contact is called the reception of the Torah.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

The Zohar, Chapter “Miketz (At the End),” Item 61: Nukva is called, “night,” and she is a mirror, which means illumination of Hochma. And since there is no illumination of Hochma in any Partzuf besides her, Nukva is called, “mirror” or “vision.” Accordingly, the name “night” is vision.

Nukva is the desire to be filled that is capable of becoming similar to the Creator, the desire to bestow, because it sees Him before it. All our desires rise to Nukva, to Malchut of the World of Atzilut.

If these desires are directed at bestowal and willing to unite with the other souls, they enter Malchut of the World of Atzilut and unite with each other. In this manner, they become similar to Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut and a connection emerges whereby Zeir Anpin and Malchut are in adhesion.

Nukva becomes similar to Zeir Anpin, or stated differently, the creature becomes similar to the Creator. When the creature prepares itself properly, the Creator is imprinted in it, and thus, creation becomes His “mirror.” For this reason, it is called a “photograph of the Creator.”

When our desire to receive pleasure takes on the same exact form as that of the Creator (in other words, when it becomes bestowing), it is called a “photograph of the Creator.”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →

When I explain The Zohar, I often draw formulas and graphs, and some people may want a more sensory explanation. Yet, when I look at these graphs, they represent feelings to me, such as Bina, Malchut, Yesod or Joseph in the middle, Jacob or Tifferet, Abraham, Isaak, and so on. These are incredibly powerful forces – a whole world with a multitude of details! You simply don’t understand it yet.

It’s similar to how a musician looks at some lines and circles drawn on a piece of paper and hears music, or how a doctor looks at an x-ray and is horrified by the malignant picture that he sees. Meanwhile, we don’t react to the same pictures in any way because we don’t know how to interpret this language. However, gradually, as we study, we come closer to feeling the spiritual world.

Baal HaSulam added an explanation to the original text of The Zohar using the language of Kabbalah. He explains it in terms of Partzufim and Sefirot, and gradually we will begin to feel that this is saying the same thing as The Zohar’s original text. We will begin to understand this language since we will become “specialists” in it, like musicians or doctors who understand their language. The language of Kabbalah will enable us to feel a clear sensation, and then we will be impressed by what we read.

For example, take the sentence, “And Joseph passed through the whole country of Egypt.” Do you know how much feeling is contained in this sentence? It should move you to tears! We have to learn to feel how the desire to bestow drowns in the desire to receive when it tunes into it, and how they work together, and so on. Eventually every word of The Zohar will resonate within you and cause great shifts inside.

We only need to expect for this to happen inside us.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

When studying The Zohar, we should feel that we are standing at the foot of Mount Sinai opposite our egoistic desire, our nature. We have already checked and been convinced that we are unable to be in control of our nature; we cannot succeed with it even in our material lives.

According to the Upper Plan, our nature is deliberately leading us to greater failures. This is why we have to ask for the Light that Reforms, called the Torah. It is written, “I created the evil inclination and I gave the Torah for its correction,” because the Light of the Torah reforms us.

This is the state of standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, where we feel hatred among everyone. But we hate that hatred for one another, and this results in a tremendous request because only the power of the Torah – The Book of Zohar that illuminates us with the Light that Reforms, is able to change our nature. This book will help us to open our eyes and heart and attain the spiritual dimension.

If we study The Book of Zohar with this intention every day, then we will be at the foot of Mount Sinai. As we approach the great event called “- The Zohar Convention 2010 ,” if we unite all our efforts and concentrate all our forces toward this common request, then there is a great opportunity for us to bring Light to the world.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

The Zohar tells us what happens in the spiritual world. It describes the creature’s actions of bestowal. However, because we are incapable of such actions yet, we are unable to understand them. We exist in our egoistic desire. We only know about receiving pleasure and fulfillment and the actions that get us there.

Therefore, the actions described by The Zohar appear to us like they are written in some foreign language, like a secret code. It seems to speak about something utterly unreal. It doesn’t matter whether it’s written in the language of Kabbalah with Sefirot, Partzufim, and worlds or in fairytale-like allegories with the sun, the moon, mountains, people, animals, and so on. We don’t understand or feel any of it because we don’t exist in the quality (meaning, nature) of bestowal, but in the quality of reception.

If our corporeal egoistic qualities were replaced from Above with spiritual qualities of love and bestowal, we would immediately understand what The Zohar is telling us. As we read it, we would reveal the Upper World. It would be revealed not just in our imagination like when reading an adventure novel, but in reality.

Although we don’t have these spiritual qualities yet and the text remains unreal for us, our reading of The Book of Zohar is called Segula, a special remedy. Even if we don’t understand it, we read it and try to draw onto us the forces from that other world described in the book. By wishing to change and to feel the text, it “shines” on us with the “Light that Reforms,” (Ohr Makif – the Surrounding Light).

This force influences us and reveals new qualities of bestowal inside us, which are described by The Zohar. It was written in the nature of bestowal, not reception, and thus it can only be understood in keeping with the nature of bestowal.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Miketz (At The End),” Item 58
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

Before we read The Book of Zohar, we have to be aimed at the goal. All the previous life cycles we had gone through were developing us in the material plane, where we were closed off inside ourselves. We only aspired to increase our internal will to enjoy, trying to fulfill it as much as possible. We experienced a connection with others only in order to use them for self-gratification.

This developmental process eventually brought us to a point where we have exhausted all the possibilities of being fulfilled. This caused a feeling of disillusionment in our attempts to feel perfection or pleasure in this manner. We know we cannot attain a perfect, eternal life, even though our ever-developing desire hoped for this. We feel that there is nothing left for us to do with this aspiration for ceaseless self-gratification.

But suddenly, together with the disappointment from this life, we reveal the point in the heart – a desire to find the answer to the question of how it is possible to attain that sensation of a perfect, eternal life. This desire pulls us outward instead of inward, away from the place where we had always tried to find fulfillment and perfection in life.

“Outward” means changing your attitude to other people, although you will only realize this much later. You always aspired to use your neighbor in order to fulfill yourself, but now you have to understand that there are no other opportunities besides changing your attitude to your neighbor from reception to bestowal.

By bestowing to your neighbor, you acquire a new desire – the desire of others, who are actually inside of you. You will discover that their desires are actually yours; they are the desires of your soul. If you acquire the right connection with them, then all these desires will become yours. They will be your vessel of perception (your Kli).

But is this really possible? Indeed, it would never be possible if we tried to achieve this on our own. However, this is what we have to accomplish in order to acquire the sense to perceive the spiritual world.

The spiritual space lies beyond your body. It is your attitude to that which is “outside of you.” Right now it seems non-existent, unreal, and unattainable. You reject these desires, which are “outside of you.” You cannot imagine that they belong to you, and therefore you can’t imagine what the spiritual world is. You can’t even surmise that when you attain these desires, within them you will reveal a fulfillment called “the Creator.” In the meantime, however, they seem non-existent or empty to you.

This blindness keeps you from feeling that the spiritual world is comprised of those “foreign” desires which are outside of you. Right now you perceive your attitude of reception to them as “hell.” If your attitude to them changes to bestowal, then you will feel that you are in “heaven” because you will feel everything that fulfills them – and you will desire for all of it to fulfill them as well. In other words, you create hell or heaven yourself, “outside” of you.

Therefore, in the beginning of your spiritual development, the Creator brings you to a Kabbalistic group. However, you don’t see it as being great or spiritual. It is written, “Every person judges others to the extent of his own faults.” Baal HaSulam explains in the article “The Creator’s Concealment and Revelation” that your attitude to others determines what you will find in them: emptiness or fulfillment, this world or the spiritual world, and even the World of Infinity.

Therefore, you have to convince yourself that spirituality lies in your attitude to everything outside of you, which is beyond the limits of your corporeal desires. It is written, “The Shechina dwells outside of man” (beyond man’s skin or surface, which refers to one’s animate desire on the level of Aviut Dalet – the skin of an animal).

A person has to accomplish this inner change using help from outside – from the group, which will give him the right sensation, understanding, and confidence. The group will convince him of this because the environment is capable of convincing us of anything. This is our primary task. This is why we hold friends’ gatherings, meetings, congresses, and all sorts of events; it’s to enable every person to be influenced by the right environment, which will convince us that spirituality is attained precisely by changing our attitude to others.

The entire study of the science of Kabbalah is intended to help us understand this, to be convinced of it, and to reveal the right attitude of bestowal, even love, for our neighbor. Through this attitude we will also reveal our true selves – our soul, or more exactly, our common soul, Malchut of Infinity. We will reveal the Shechina and the Creator ruling over everything together, as it is written, “He and His Name are One.”

This is the intention we should have when reading The Book of Zohar.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →

A question I received: When we read The Book of Zohar, why is it so difficult to follow your advice, and why can’t we seem to find these qualities inside us?

My Answer: There is only one advice: Keep going. It is written, “I labored and found,” and, “One is rewarded according to one’s suffering.”

As a child grows, years pass. The years are made up of many months, months consist of weeks, weeks consist of days, days – of hours, hours – of minutes, minutes – of moments, and in this manner, moment after moment the child grows more and more.

Growth takes time. However, in spiritual development, time is the number of actions performed by a human being. In our world we labor for twenty years not to change our inner nature but simply to adjust to corporeal reality which compared to spiritual reality, has no real form. We consent to our slow maturation in the material world, accepting it as “reality.”

However, in the spiritual world it seems to us that we can enter without any effort: open it to me, and I will enter. Of course, we say this only because we don’t understand that the entry occurs to the extent that we are similar to the spiritual world.

There is a law of equivalence of qualities, meaning how similar we are to the quality of bestowal. As soon as we discover how to use the spiritual world correctly, we will be allowed to enter it. However, before this occurs, we need to go through all the necessary preparation work.

The Book of Zohar is meant to bring us to equivalence with the spiritual world in the most quick and comfortable manner.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - No Comments →