Before starting to read The Book of Zohar, we must attune ourselves to its correct comprehension. It is a closed, secret, and ciphered book that requires a specific code in order to be understood.

How can we break this code and open up this book, as we would a safe? The key to The Book of Zohar is the correct perception of reality, as it is written, “Man is a small world.” This is the secret to it.

Everything exists inside me, including the world I perceive and everything I feel. Every person that I see next to me is perceived inside my brain. It only seems like everything I see, hear, smell, and touch is outside of me, because my senses depict it this way for me, making me feel like I am dealing with something outside of me.

The science of Kabbalah says that there is only desire and nothing else. This desire consists of five parts: vision, hearing, scent, taste and touch. I perceive impressions inside my desire in a way that makes it seem as if there is an external world existing outside of me. It is a feeling that an object is not inside of me, but outside.

It is presented this way inside my desire because my desire is divided in two parts: Me and the external world. Stated in Kabbalistic terms, the desire consists of five parts called: 1.root 2.spirit 3.body 4.clothing 5.palace (external space).

Root, spirit, and body are my feeling of the “myself,” whereas clothing and palace are phenomena that seem external to me. However, they only seem as happening outside of me because I am structured to perceive a part of my internal feelings as being separated from me, as if they are foreign or external.

This desire is so detached from me that I don’t even feel that whatever happens there is related to me. Someone else is in pain, but I don’t feel anything. Someone else dies, but I don’t feel anything. Moreover, it is so detached and far away from me that I enjoy when it suffers. That is how blinded we are!

Additionally, there are abnormal cases in our world where people enjoy bringing pain to themselves. In fact, however, the rest of us are the greatest masochists of all! But because everyone else feels the same way, hurting “others” (who are really parts of us) is considered a norm.

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The story of the Exodus from Egyptian slavery depicts all the details of a Kabbalistic group’s spiritual path. It seems like we are ready to come out of Egypt and gain our freedom (out of egoism and into the quality of bestowal), and yet it is so difficult. We undergo the “seven years of famine” and the “Egyptian plagues” so that every one of us feels the Pharaoh (the evil rule of egoism over us) lurking within. We undergo a terrible inner struggle with a part of us willing to come out of Egypt (forsake egoism), but with another part unwilling to escape.

The escape from Egypt (the night of Passover) happens suddenly while we are in darkness, in a hurry, out of fear, and is prompted from Above. It is when we feel a force pushing us forward, toward bestowal. We are willing to flee into the darkness, which is how we perceive the quality of bestowal. However, the Creator leads us to freedom via the long path, by surrounding us with the Pharaoh’s followers (Erev Rav – mixed multitude).

Even when we tear ourselves away from true egoistic desires known as “Pharaoh’s forces,” we are still left with the “mixed multitude.” They are those who want to have their cake and eat it too, seeking to remain egoistic while at the same time receiving pleasure from the Creator and spirituality.

These desires bind us in exile, preventing us from escaping. And when we finally do escape, they may still attach themselves to us because they have a connection to the Creator. That is why they are called “mixed” – because both their desires are immediately apparent: hoping for a good life here in this world, as well as in the world to come. They are the ones holding us back.

Thus, the story of the Exodus talks about desires and intentions that exist in every one of us. When we come to the Red Sea, we aren’t ready to jump in – the sea seems like death. To cross it, we must reveal the single, special force that is capable of leading us across.

And when after all that we finally reach Mount Sinai, we are given the final and most difficult condition: “Unite as one man with one heart.” After all our discernments and efforts toward spirituality, we eventually reveal that we aren’t willing to unite with others.

However, this is the only condition that we must meet and we have no choice but to agree: “We are willing, but incapable.” If we really want this mutual guarantee, then the Creator has to be our guarantor – But do we really want that?

When we agree to this condition, we receive from Above the strength for the mutual guarantee and the Creator’s revelation. The Creator reveals Himself within us so as to give us a chance to bestow.

It is a very long and complex process, and The Book of Zohar teaches us how to be more sensitive to the changes taking place within us so that we can imagine every detail. All this takes place within us and nowhere else. That is why we must learn to recognize and understand these qualities internally. As we train ourselves to maintain such an inner vision, we move increasingly closer to perceiving the spiritual world.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Bo (Come Unto Pharaoh),” Item 1
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Sometimes The Zohar talks about things that I already know from studying the structure of my soul, such as the left or right sides, Hassadim, Hochma, Cohen, Levi, three lines, Bina, Zeir Anpin, Malchut. This system is already clear to me and I visualize it as a picture, a chart, or a drawing; and I try to recognize it from within.

To do so, I have to find some emotional feedback within me. Each word and definition, such as “right,” “left,” “Cohen,” “Levi,” and “David” has to be connected to a certain sensation. When we don’t experience any sensations, we should at least imagine them as a certain scheme. When I read about Chesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Cohen, Levi, Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Netzhah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut, the assembly of the souls of Israel, and so forth, I have to imagine how these properties relate to each other within my inner space.

At first I visualize them in the form of a scheme showing how these desires and properties exist within me. As I imagine this system in this form, I have to find an adequate sensation to each word and observe how my body, my feelings, and my general desire react to each word in The Book of Zohar.

The same applies in our world: When we hear a familiar word, we immediately react to it. After all, we are a desire; we are ruled by our sensations, not our intellect. Therefore, behind the picture that becomes clear to me to varying degrees, I have to find an inner, emotional reaction to every word.

Everything described in The Book of Zohar is hidden from me and totally tasteless, but by trying to find sensations behind these words, I reach a demand for their revelation.

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Why did Kabbalists choose “the language of branches” to explain their thoughts to others? Let’s assume that I understood the connection between the root and branch on its very first level, while someone else managed to understand it at a higher level, and another person understood it at an even higher level. In any case, a branch will always remain a branch.

A child knows that if he plugs a cord into an electrical outlet, then his toy will start working. I know that there is electricity in the plug and that it comes to my house through wires. A person who is more technically advanced knows that there is a power station providing the electricity, and so on. We’re all talking about the same process, regardless of how well each of us understands the details or how deeply we see “the root.” Roots continue in the direction of their highest source, but a branch in our world remains a branch.

“The language of branches” originates from reality itself. Therefore, we don’t need to invent another language to express spiritual notions; it simply cannot be done. This language was created for us by Nature to be used for communication between us and with the Creator. In his book, The Torah, Moses was the first to use this language to describe the path of spiritual attainment at all levels.

The Book of Zohar explains Moses’s commentaries and adds its own language. It was written by Rabbi Shimon, who went through the same steps as Moses did, which are the same steps that each person will have to go through. His description of those steps provides additional explanations of the connection between a root and a branch. This is why The Book of Zohar is so useful in attracting the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) from the root to the branch, meaning to us.

Baal HaSulam described the connection between the root and branch in even more detail by adding Kabbalistic definitions and explanations of their connection through the three lines. However, all of these authors talk about the same exact picture and its roots; each Kabbalist just adds his own description of the connection. This increases the force of the spiritual ascent provided by the book and the amount of Ohr Makif that descends upon a person reading it, thus paving the path to the Upper World for him.

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The Zohar, chapter “Shmini (On the Eighth Day),” Item 8: All those who engage in Torah cling to the Creator and are crowned in the decorations of Torah. They are loved above and below, and the Creator offers them His right hand, mercy. It is even more so with those who engage in Torah at night, for they have established that they partake in Divinity and join together. And when the morning comes, the Creator decorates them with a single string of grace, so they will be among the higher and among the lower.

There is no time in spirituality. Therefore, “day and night” refer to a person’s inner attitude to his state.

If one’s desires are still uncorrected and egoistic, with the intention “for the sake of oneself,” then he feels that he is in darkness, in the state of night. He cannot bestow and interprets this as the darkness of the night. However, if he can bestow, he immediately considers it day because this state illuminates him.

These states do not depend on how well or poorly one feels, the way we are egoistically accustomed to saying that the whole world is “dark” for us when we feel bad. In the spiritual world, the ability to bestow is called day or Light, and the inability to bestow is called night.

Some people strive to read the Torah particularly during the night, in states of darkness. In other words, they want to correct themselves while in the dark, since there is no correction during the day. During the day, one only performs an action within a desire that was corrected at night.

It is written that the Torah consists of 613 “do’s” (corrections) and 613 “don’t dos” (states of being filled by the Light for the sake of bestowal). Correction occurs particularly at night, during concealment. Meanwhile, reception of Light for the sake of bestowal occurs during the day, because that is when one gains this ability.

The Creator helps the souls that try to perform all of this work to unite by tying them all together with one common thread. When each soul unites with the other souls, it acquires this common big Kli and is therefore able to ascend.

The ascent from one degree to another depends only on the extent of the connection between the souls, which is increased by continually connecting inside a greater and greater desire or Kli. The Creator unites those who perform such corrections at night and continue these spiritual actions during the day. Then, due to their unification, He allows them to rise.

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A question I received: How can we find the quality of bestowal inside us?

My Answer: I cannot find anything on my own; I only have to try to do it. The attempts I make will attract Light upon me that will change me. But it will only happen if I try to find these qualities inside me.

I have to search for the qualities described in The Zohar, such as oil, wine, Cohen (priest), Levi, Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many others so that the picture will come through as if emerging from a fog. It’s enough to desire to reveal the spiritual world, similar to how a child does in this world. Even if we don’t act for the sake of bestowal yet and are not connected to others, we will still begin to feel change happening inside us.

I receive reactions like this from dozens of people all over the world. Some of them are in direct, live contact with us, some are connected through the Internet, while others have no technical connection to us at all. They include beginners as well as students who have been with us for years. Some of them attend all our Congresses, while others have never even met us. Either way, The Zohar causes changes in everyone. We only have to continue studying and keep trying to imagine ourselves, all the others, and the whole book inside of us. If we see all of our changes and all of reality inside of our inner world, then we will succeed. Our breakthrough will be called a miracle.

After that we will perceive all the other articles by Baal HaSulam in the same way, since he does not write any differently. And then we will understand that all people act no different than Kabbalists since they, too, carry out Nature’s orders. You will suddenly see the hand of the Creator in any event happening in the world, and will then understand that “there is none else besides Him” – there is not a place in all of existence that is not filled by Him. Your whole world will turn into an open Book of Zohar.

You won’t just imagine everything happening inside you during the lesson, but will also perceive your entire life and every situation in the same way at all times. And this won’t interfere with your mundane, day to day attitude to life; you will not get confused between the two approaches. In fact, other people won’t even understand that you perceive reality any differently because all of your inner perception will still remain inside of you; it won’t be revealed to the outside world.

Therefore, the only way to check your progress is by whether it is easier for you to imagine the whole world as being inside you. However, in your regular life, you will still remain a completely ordinary person.

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Why is it written that The Book of Zohar exudes Light and contains a special force? We know that the book itself does not contain any special power – it’s just paper. However, when a person attains the Creator through his desire, he paves the trail from this world through all the worlds, and his soul ascends up that trail to the World of Infinity.

As a person ascends up this trail, he establishes a connection with all the souls, similar to how in our world every organ is connected to all the others. A great Kabbalist is a great soul that wrote manuscripts and left them to us, and we now use them to receive the force of life and the Upper Light.

But why do we receive the Upper Light precisely through these books? It’s because a Kabbalist’s manuscript is his spiritual expression in relation to us, which helps us connect to him. It is a means of connecting with his soul.

Having paved the trail to the spiritual world and established a connection with all the other souls, a Kabbalist then left all of this for the whole world to use. Therefore, when we receive a book from a Kabbalist, we connect to his soul and to the connecting net that he created in the general system of souls. This, in turn, helps us connect with that great Kabbalist and take our own small steps with him by our side.

The Book of Zohar was written by ten great Kabbalists who correspond to the ten fundamental Sefirot, the primordial HaVaYaH. Therefore, they did not just pave a thin trail, but a wide, wonderful, and short path that allows anyone to receive the same forces as they had (to “fuel up” for the path) and ascend.

This is why The Book of Zohar is so special: It is not a book, but a spiritual system that enables us to establish a connection with the goal and provides us with everything we need to attain it. While reading The Zohar, we connect to this system, work with it, and it works with us. We must only desire to connect to it, to understand it, and to belong to it. If we have this desire, then the great souls of the Kabbalists have already prepared everything else that we need. They are able to lift us up, help us, and keep raising us higher and higher.

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When reading The Book of Zohar we should be concerned with only one thing: our desire to reach the next state, which is unity and integration. Throughout all of creation unity currently appears to be split into separate parts. Creation appears enormous and we have no idea where to look for it inside ourselves, as The Zohar tells us to.

Nevertheless, we should desire to see all of this within one general system where everything is connected, where all desires, thoughts, qualities, and actions work in harmony within one common soul. In addition, all of this is within me; the function of this corrected soul is the act of bestowal that I reveal inside myself.

The question arises: What does “bestowal” mean? Is it when the heart gives to the brain, the brain gives to the liver, and the liver gives to the lungs? Can we really call that “bestowal”? After all, how is bestowal possible within one body? If the organs don’t give to each other, they simply die. So how can we call these qualities “bestowal” if we see them as a part of one general soul? As soon as you start seeing them as a single unit and sense them as “your own organs,” it stops being considered bestowal because you cannot really give to yourself.

The answer to this dilemma is that all “sinners” and all “sins” that we reveal as a result of this process stay intact. The “evil inclination” always remains, even while we build connections with other souls above it. Therefore, even though the system of souls is revealed within me, at the same time all of my previous hatred for others continues to be present. However, above it I reveal love and connection between us all.

This is why there is no contradiction between the understanding that all that exists is one general system, and at the same time, that all parts of the system act in mutual bestowal.

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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “Shmini (On The Eighth Day),” Item 93
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