Evening Zohar Lesson – 01.27.10
Posted on January 27th, 2010
The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 136
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 136
Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio
The Zohar, Chapter Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh), Item 63: There is a great and peaceful river. And because its Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut fell into Keter and Hochma of the small rivers during the small state (Katnut), when the big state (Gadlut) comes and the peaceful river once more elevates its Bina, Tifferet and Malchut to itself, Keter and Hochma of the small rivers ascend with them and receive GAR from it.
There is a great and peaceful river, which is connected to all the small rivers through their Galgalta ve Eynaim. This great river cancels its AHP (which is why it is called peaceful) in order to give the smaller ones the opportunity to connect to it. It waits for them to connect to it, and as soon as they do, it begins to elevate them together with itself. That is how they ascend from their degree onto the next. And at the higher degree there is another “peaceful river,” and they connect to it and ascend further still. That is how the “spiritual elevator” operates.
Everything that appears as darkness to us is in fact Light in the state of concealment. There is no darkness; the only reason we see darkness is because we relate to Light egoistically. This is why it hides from us, and shines upon us from the reverse side. That is why the word Ohr in Hebrew means “Light,” while in Aramaic a similar word, Ohrta, means “night.” These two languages are opposite to one another like two sides of a coin.
In fact, there is no darkness. It exists only with respect to our uncorrected desires, but darkness is entirely absent when one’s desires are corrected. Therefore, whenever we feel a lack of inspiration or a bad mood, it means we are being given the opportunity to awaken to a greater degree of connection with the Upper One. This connection can be attained precisely through the darkness that we presently feel.
A question I received: We have just completed the virtual 2010 World Mega-Congress in which many countries took part, and in February 2010 there will be a large Zohar Convention 2010 in Israel which will be supported by the whole world Kli. What is the best way for us to combine the study of The Book of Zohar with our gatherings and Congresses?
My Answer: All of this combines together wonderfully. All of our gatherings, our regional and worldwide Congresses are intended to unite us together. By uniting with each other, we allow the Light to be revealed according to the law of equivalence of form. The Light is one, and it needs only one desire, one vessel. When we unite in practice, bringing our union to life and making it real, then to the degree we make efforts and desire to actualize this, the Light comes closer to us.
For now the Light shines upon us from afar. It is Surrounding Light rather than Inner Light because we still aren’t united even in the smallest degree in order to be able to perceive it as Inner Light. If I cancel myself completely, then I pose no obstacle to unity since I nullify myself before the others. This means that I enter the spiritual womb, composed of all the other souls. They are all corrected in relation to me; I am the only one who’s uncorrected. If I cancel myself and my egoism before them, desiring to unite with them, then I will be like a drop of semen in a womb.
If a person attains this minimal state, then he enters spirituality as an embryo. The Creator is revealed inside the union among us, as it is written, “I dwell among the people.” He dwells inside His people – in the unity among the souls. When I am alone, I am like a foreign body in relation to the others, while all the other souls are connected together.
Therefore, one must first and foremost cancel oneself relative to the other souls by connecting with them. This is what each of us is trying to achieve at all our gatherings and Congresses, including the upcoming Congress whose focal point will be Israel.
The Zohar, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 57: And He planted that seed in one righteous man, which is Yesod de Zeir Anpin.
I have to imagine that I have this quality – Yesod of Zeir Anpin, which is called a righteous man, and this is where my seed is planted, being the point from which I grow.
He is the garden’s gardener. And the seed in the garden, which is Malchut, is the concealment and hiding of that Light. This means that the concealment is not absence, but on the contrary, it is a seed of blessing. The concealment itself will become Light once more, like a plant that buds from the seed.
In his article, “Freedom of Will,” Baal HaSulam gives this example: We have to try to plant ourselves in a Kabbalistic group like planting a seed in the soil, where we annul ourselves completely before the environment. Then we will become a seed that has to disintegrate completely and “rot” in the soil in order for a tree to grow out of it.
What is The Zohar teaching us? We know from the science of Kabbalah that the Creator created one desire, inside of which all further development takes place. This one desire includes numerous particular desires, which are interconnected into one system called “Adam” – the common soul.
Then, according to His program, the Creator began corrupting the connection between the parts of that desire. They began losing the connection between each other, similar to the organs in an ailing body that stop correctly interacting with each other. This causes an imbalance and we feel symptoms of the ailment, such as rising pressure or temperature, the wrong chemical composition of the blood, and so on. These are all signs that the organism is not balancing itself, and we call it a disease.
Why does the Creator do this to the souls? He does it in order for us to feel corruption and then to correct it. The disease is a corruption of the connections between us, who are parts of a single system. As this corruption permeates us, we begin to feel less and less connected with each other.
There are 125 degrees in this loss of connection between us. It is a descent from infinity, where we are infinitely connected with each other, to the state where this connection completely disappears.
Moreover, there is a level called “Parsa” along these 125 degrees where a greater corruption emerges; instead of a positive connection or absence of it, we form a negative connection. Now everyone wants to use the others for self-benefit. The organism is not simply dying, but is consuming itself completely.
This descent into the desire to use others goes on until it reaches the state where we completely lose all connection between each other – both a positive connection for bestowal and a negative connection for receiving. In this state, we exist in total nonconformance to spirituality, lacking all attainment and knowledge. This is a result of our separation from each other where we perceive this world, an imaginary reality. Why is it imaginary? Because it was purposefully set up by the Creator to give us an illusion of His absence.
What we are to do? We must understand that we have to correct the connection between us. The ascent of the soul from our world to the World of Infinity occurs to the degree that we strengthen the connection is between us. Recovery of connection between us creates the ascent.
Therefore, the more we imagine our state in connection with other souls, the more we will enjoy The Book of Zohar. After all, it was written from the elevation of the World of Infinity. The authors of The Book of Zohar wrote this masterpiece from the elevation of the 125th degree where they were connected together.
While studying The Zohar, we need to feel a desire to connect together. There is no need to be “smart.” It’s enough to simply remember that we attain everything inside the connection with each other.
Actually, The Zohar talks only about the connection between the souls. It explains our connection within the global system called “Adam” with all the other souls, and how we use them to connect together in a sound, healthy, and correctly functioning system.
When we read The Book of Zohar, we not only try to imagine our inner desires and qualities behind all the words, we also try to see that one Upper Force whose presence permeates all these inner definitions. This Upper Force desires that we reveal it in this manner.
There are three dimensions here:
1. Me – the one who feels, reads, and understands these words in a simple way;
2. The words which I wish to imagine in the form of my inner forces and qualities;
3. The Upper Force which conceals itself behind these forces, and which I attempt to penetrate trying to interpret them correctly.
As Baal HaSulam says in the article, “Thou Hast Hemmed Me In Behind and Before,” regardless of whether a person is in the state of revelation or concealment and throughout everything he feels and imagines, all of his efforts are aimed at revealing one single force – the Creator. This is the force that is constantly governing us.
However, He desires to be revealed by me through my efforts to become similar to Him, meaning according to the similarity of qualities. This is why He acts in this manner.
Therefore, The Book of Zohar is a collection of exercises which, starting from the very first word, we need to carry out continuously. We then begin to perceive all these words on the sensory level rather than with the mind, making it not as difficult to penetrate. The text begins to become clearer for us through the forms and combinations of letters, and we do not need to “think” about this.
This is the same way that a little child learns. He does not think about why things are called this or that in particular or why he imagines and recognizes them in such a manner. This is clear to him. We are the same in this regard. However, in addition to the fact that we try to recognize some inner quality of ours behind every word, we also need to see the goal behind it – that same force which supports us, thereby giving us an opportunity to reveal it.
This is much like an adult playing with a child. The Creator plays with us this way as well. He gives us certain exercises and how successfully we perform them depends upon us. The system exists. The law is established and cannot be violated.
Therefore, we need to try to see that single force – the Creator, through all the words that we read in The Book of Zohar. And although we are reading about different forces which are foreign, opposite to one another, good and evil, we need to recognize the only force that exists behind them: a force that is good and does good, which controls everything only to our benefit, in order to draw us closer to the goal.
We have to read The Zohar over and over until the Light begins to influence us. At first people feel very inspired when reading The Zohar, and this feeling lasts for the first month or two. During this period they do not understand anything yet, but they become very inspired by whatever is happening.
Then this feeling disappears and everything begins to appear dull. When you read The Zohar, you start feeling this way very fast. All of a sudden we have nothing to hold on to in the text, and we simply read it with the understanding that this is what we need to be doing even while we feel indifferent to the material, it seems “tasteless,” and even repulsive.
The reason we feel this way is because we are being revealed an additional egoistic desire which aggravates the connections between us. The Zohar shines upon us to the extent that we connect with one another. At the very beginning we are given a connection of the points in the heart. As we begin to read The Zohar using the initial connection that was given to us, our points in the heart awaken and desire to reveal something new and unknown. The name itself, “The Zohar,” inspires us.
As we begin to read, the Surrounding Light shines upon us and helps us to raise the points in the heart above our regular egoism, leaving it beneath. This is why in the beginning we feel a connection between us and an aspiration towards a common spiritual goal. All of this happens because of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) which comes and creates this state for us.
But a month or two later, our egoistic desire grows due to the Light’s influence. On one hand, the Light causes us to be inspired, but on the other hand, our egoism becomes bigger and because of this, every person feels heavy within, as if there is a force pulling him down. There is only one thing we can do to save ourselves: increase the connection between all of us. Nothing else can help.
We need to use all the possible methods, even artificial ones, to renew this connection. If we increase this connection even slightly, then we will be able to rise above the burdening of the heart and our egoism because we will return to the connected system of creation.
We are receiving a revelation of our lack of correction and being shown how much we are separated from everyone else. When I try to oppose this separation, then the impression and inspiration from The Zohar immediately comes back. It works instantaneously! As soon as you begin to experience a feeling of heaviness, you should immediately do something to strengthen your connection with others. For example, start thinking about how much you want to unite with them and to become closer to them in order to connect your souls. This small, forced action is enough for you to immediately begin to feel the Light’s increased influence and for the to heaviness to disappear. You will then feel the same inspiration and excitement that The Zohar gave you during the first lessons.
This is how it works. You have to put all the necessary effort into it; you do not get any “discounts” in this regard. The effort lies in trying to unite among ourselves until we cry out for the Surrounding Light to come to us because only the Light can give us the inspiration and the feeling of how great The Zohar is. Then this text will suddenly come to life for us.
A question I received: You spoke of two types of inner searching while reading The Book of Zohar. One is more rational, where we look within ourselves for what it says. The other type of search is sensory where we attempt to feel everything it says. However, as I’m trying to sense something, I find that I don’t feel anything. I’m trying to find something within myself, but have found nothing. What should I do?
My Answer: Keep searching. You should desire to find within you all that The Zohar talks about. All of it is within you, including the Creator, man, animals, fish, the world, hills, mountains, trees, crocodiles, and it doesn’t matter what else.
There isn’t a single word that describes anything outside of you. Why is that? Every word consists of letters, with the letters being desires or vessels of reception – Kelim, which are ordered in accordance with the Lights. This is what you should desire to feel.
The desire is represented by a word, but it already exists. You should desire to know this word and feel it, to actually be within the letters, which are desires filled with Light. Each word is a model or a connection between you and the Creator, the Upper Light. You have to desire to sense this model within you and to find: where is it?
It’s similar to how when you read the word “lemon,” you might immediately start sensing the taste of lemon in your mouth. Well, you should desire to feel everything you read in The Book of Zohar the same way, without additional contemplation.
We experience feelings that are common for us all; for example, every person in the world will feel the same when he hears the word “lemon.” We can talk to scientists and they will explain why we feel the taste of lemon and what its chemical ingredients are. But when we ask Kabbalists, they will tell us what “lemon” means from the point of view of Kabbalah. If we ask a housewife, she will tell us how to make use of a lemon in preparing food. But in any case, everybody has a common understanding of what a lemon is.
Similarly, when we read The Book of Zohar, we should primarily desire to reach a common sensation. That is how we will attain a deeper, more detailed revelation as we proceed through all four stages and investigate the roots. But all of this has to be revealed naturally, meaning, by our aspiration for the Light. The Light will, in turn, influence our desire and uncover the root of our sensations, or why we feel the way we do.
After the sensations, you begin to reveal your intellect. Then you can say that when you hear the word “lemon,” the sound wave of this word reaches your ear’s membrane and goes to your brain, where it is compared to the information that is stored in your memory. This, in turn, triggers a certain signal and as a result you really sense a slice of lemon on the tip of your tongue.
In the wisdom of Kabbalah, however, understanding is the outcome of the advancement of our desires rather than the result of a learning process, as it happens in this world.
A question I received: While reading the names and titles in The Book of Zohar, should we find their spiritual definitions, which each of us is going through at this moment, or it it a common standard which we need to find between us?
My Answer: The Zohar is talking about our internality. It tells us what is happening inside us, and each of us includes everything within.
The Zohar describes the structure of our soul, as well as how to discern it and reveal everything taking place in it. The entire World of Infinity, the Creator, and all of reality exist inside the soul. We have to reveal all of this there, inside our soul.
Baal HaSulam writes that The Book of Zohar includes all 125 degrees and its narration leads us all the way until the end of correction. It’s not important where you are located on the spiritual ladder; this book is always good for every person along the entire path.
The Creator dwells inside the connection of all the souls that we refer to as the common soul of Adam HaRishon. We, the parts of the common soul, correct and revive the broken system of souls when we begin to connect with one another. In doing so, we create a multidimensional net where every piece is connected to others, just like the organs in the human body are connected through an infinite number of connections.
The connection between the souls once existed for the sake of bestowal to the Creator. In that state, all the souls were connected “as one man with one heart” for the sake of one Creator. This is the meaning of the verse, “He and His Name are one”; it refers to the state where the Creator and the creation were one single whole in the World of Infinity. However, this connection was broken because everyone lost their altruistic intention. As a result, the Creator disappeared, as did the sensation of Light.
This state, where the souls lost their connection with one another, is referred to as “the breaking” or “the exile” (from spirituality). This is our current state. Every person within this system is a separate individual and perceives only his own small world. He does not perceive the spiritual world because it can only be perceived in the connection between us. When there is no connection between us, we perceive just the material world.
The basic concepts to take away from this are:
Therefore, everything depends on our connection with one another – whether it is egoistic or for the sake of bestowal.
In about a month we will be gathering at a large Congress in Israel, the exact place where the breaking occurred and the first place that needs correction. Therefore, this Congress can be so immensely powerful that it will affect all of us and the entire world because we will bring the quality of bestowal closer to the egoistic desires.
Let us hope that we will succeed in uniting with the help of The Zohar, which we are now studying. It is a means through which we can attract the Upper Light that reforms and connects us.
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