[Issue 9]

March 2013

The Wisdom Of

Kabbalah
The Creator is the Absolute Good. He watches us in complete benevolence
without a hint of evil, and in purposeful guidance.
That means that His guidance compels us to undergo a series of phases, by
way of cause and effect, preceding and resulting, until we are qualified to receive the
desired goodness. And then we shall arrive at our purpose as a ripe and fine-looking
fruit.

Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

Special magazine for inmates

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL ................................................................................................................................................. 3
INTENTION ................................................................................................................................................ 4
ARVUT ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
The Prayer of Many – A Single Demand ................................................................................................. 5
Hold On To the Teacher.......................................................................................................................... 5
Derech Eretz (The Middle Road) Warmed by the Sun ............................................................................ 6
KABBALAH FUNDAMENTALS ..................................................................................................................... 8
The Wisdom of Kabbalah, Lecture 8 ...................................................................................................... 8
Baal HaSulam: Everything is Preordained ............................................................................................ 19
ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND .......................................................................................................... 20
Eradicating Egoism .............................................................................................................................. 20
The Search for the Creator ................................................................................................................... 26
AUTHENTIC KABBALAH TEXTS ................................................................................................................. 31
Rav Laitman: Lesson on the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”. Part 5 ....................... 31
DAILY LESSON & RAV’S BLOG: SELECTED EXCERPTS ................................................................................ 42
You Have All the Cards in Your Hands .................................................................................................. 42
The Language with Which the Creator Speaks To You ......................................................................... 42
How Can We Justify The Unjustifiable? ................................................................................................ 43
Checking By Action ............................................................................................................................... 44
Decide Who Will Rule over You ............................................................................................................ 45
How Do You Learn From The Upper? ................................................................................................... 46
Look In the Right Place and You Will Find ............................................................................................ 46
The Correction of Evil: Going All The Way ............................................................................................ 47
Everything That Happens Is For Our Benefit ........................................................................................ 48
Like Dough in a Baker’s Hands ............................................................................................................. 49
Joyful Are Those That Seek The Creator ............................................................................................... 50
“A Thousand Times the Righteous Will Fall And Rise Again” ............................................................... 50
Reaching the Other Is Reaching Yourself ............................................................................................. 51
FEEDBACK ............................................................................................................................................... 52
SMILE!  ................................................................................................................................................. 55

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 EDITORIAL
Dear friends,

Greetings!

We are very happy to present you with the 9th issue of the magazine. We hope it
finds you all well. After a few rocky months we are given another chance to connect through
the wisdom of Kabbalah, to rise above our personal partial and egoistic perceptions of the
world and find the point in which we all exist together “as one man with one heart” full of
ultimate peace and love.
As always, this issue comes with the knowledge and instruction of the ancient
teaching as to how we can do it. The lessons that you are going to find on the following
pages will add to your understanding of the whole world as one integral system. This system
is your own soul, the only thing that has been created to gradually develop to the point
where it will want to correct itself.
As a Kabbalistic group we are brought together because we have reached that point
and ready to complete our personal correction. We are called for this work. This correction
can only happen between us in the context of the group. We have to find the lost form of the
soul, to change the attitude towards each other and attain the mind of the Creator.
The picture of reality that is being revealed to me now is a reflection of the broken
soul that had lost its connection and similarity to the Maker and therefore is unable to
perceive His presence and love.
It is up to us now to decide whether we will keep living on the edge or will start
connecting all the pieces together through unity and love instead of separateness and
hatred. Despite the confusion and disarray of my heart I want to justify the Creator and His
higher purpose for the life that I am leading, for the critical circumstances that I wake up to
every morning, and for a heavy burden of my grievances. This is the only way to earn back
my right to stand upright and be independent of the evil inclination inside of me.
We know that every step on this path is a step “against a current”, against stormy
surges of Ego claiming its authority over our minds and bodies. The Ego grows in proportion
to our efforts towards the Unity, i.e. the harder I try to break away from the deadly ties of
Ego, the stronger it grows. This is why we need our group in order to succeed. As a group
can we reach the intensity of the common desire to the goal sufficient to attract the Light that
reforms. It is only through accumulated internal effort on a part of each one of us that we can
raise a “prayer of many” that will be heard and accepted. By connecting to the group I
connect to the Upper Force that resides between us.
Therefore, let’s lock our points in the heart together and help each other to exert an
inner effort that each of us hasn’t been able to exert before.
We have our group and Rav, the magazine serves as our books. All we need is to
persevere in the work of personal correction that we have been called for.
Our prayer is to the Light to guide us through every situation and encounter of our
lives and to enable us to see His eternal love and benevolence in everything that comes our
way. No matter what sensations are being revealed in our egoistic desires we are asking for
the strength to resist the voice of the Ego prompting its easy-to-follow decisions to only lead
me further into self-deception and vanity. We are asking for the faith above reason to be able
to choose bestowal over reception and to build the connection.
Friends, we cannot fail for He is looking after us and is yearning to see us coming
closer.

Only together,
Editors of the “Wisdom of Kabbalah” magazine

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 INTENTION

Connecting the Entire World to the Creator

The main point we constantly should guard as our inner goal is the principle of “There
is none else besides Him”. The Creator is the reason for every state, every thought, every
perception, for everything that happens. There is only one force managing me and the world
around me, and nothing but that.
It is all meant so that I, through my connection with the world, at every moment, in
every event and in every action, both internally and externally, will reach the understanding
that “There is none else besides Him” within the global circle.
This is called adhesion within the general vessel. This is our work, and this is what
we focus on.

My persistence in searching for the right direction to the goal

constantly corrects my intention.

The efforts I invest need to be in an inner concentrative

force and not in physical action.

What’s important is persistence – no matter what state that

comes to me, I proceed forward.

I need to be stubborn and locked on the goal, and search for

the right path to reach it in flexibility and persistence, this effort
corrects our intentions.

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 ARVUT

The Prayer of Many – A Single Demand

Question: What is the prayer of many? Is it when we have one need or when I don’t
have a single thought about myself, but only the desire of the group, of the world?
Answer: The prayer of many is when you can unite all the desires of all creatures in your
request to raise them to the Creator, to give Him an opportunity to be revealed because this
is His joy.
Question: How can I achieve this?
Answer: You are trying to sense them, to get out of yourself, and to begin to feel them,
thus you inject their desires into yourself. In fact, you don’t need to cover the whole world
and feel absolutely everyone. That will come later because you will perceive this single
desire in this way. The Light will affect you and show you all this, evoking your feelings. But
until then, you make such attempts as much as you can.
This is a time-consuming work because the process of preparation is the longest, most
difficult period since we are operating in the dark. But then, each degree will have its own
specific entrances and exits, internal process, analysis and synthesis of all that I do,
manifest, and feel from others.
This inclusion of all desires into myself is what is called bestowal: when I start to feel the
desires of others as my own. The desires mean aspirations for the Creator. And if there are
none, it does not matter. When I start to connect with other people, first in the group, I begin
to feel within the group that they strive for the Creator, even if they do not understand and do
not know. I start to see and feel this desire everywhere: in people, animals, and plants. After
all, the desire for life is also the yearning for the Creator, for the Light.
From the Kharkov Convention “Uniting to Ascend” 8/18/12, Lesson 5

Hold On To the Teacher

Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose” Go and ask a
botanist how many phases the fruit undergoes from the time it becomes visible until it
is completely ripe.
The problem is that I don’t see the purpose on my way to it; I don’t feel what the end
of correction will be like. It isn’t by chance that it says, “Why don’t you show a fool a work
that is half done?” In the middle of the way I cannot see the end.
It is clear to me that I am a fool since I don’t see the final wholeness, but what can I
do about it? What can be demanded of me at this point? My life isn’t going well corporeally
or spiritually, everything goes wrong in my life so why should I justify the Creator all of a
sudden?
Wise people may know that the apple is destined to ripen, but I don’t see anything; it
is bitter and that’s it.
This means that I need “the faith in sages,” the faith in those who have already been
through this path; I have to adhere to a wise person, a teacher, to such an extent so that I
can use his wholeness, only then will I be able to justify the creation and the Creator. But
until then, I don’t hear what they say to me. Without the feeling of wholeness that is acquired
from the upper, which means from the group and the teacher, I will always be a chip of wood
floating in the sea, being thrown from side to side by the waves.

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 Question: But still, examples like the apple or the worm in the radish give us some
clue?
Answer: They calm you down and help us quiet our conscience: “All this is not in
vain; it cannot be that nature will not allow the apple to ripen. It means that all our sufferings
will pay off…”
It is true, but this is already religion. People are fed these “conclusions” in order to
calm them down: “Wait, soon you will reach Heaven…”
We see it differently: I want to attain wholeness now, and it is possible only by
adhesion to the group and the teacher. I need the final result now since otherwise I will not
make one step forward.
However, if I cannot use this means, I will not be able to advance. In Shamati, article
25, it says: Instead, there is only one counsel then, to cling to his teacher and to the
books. This is called “From the mouth of books and from the mouth of authors.” Only
by cleaving to them can he change his mind and will for the better. However, witty
arguments will not help him change his mind, but only the remedy of Dvekut
(adhesion), for this is a wondrous cure, as the Dvekut reforms him.
In other words, all the concepts upon which he builds his building, saying one
must always follow in the path of the Creator, is founded in the Dvekut with his
teacher. Thus, if he loses the foundation, then all the concepts are powerless, since
they will now be lacking the foundation.
Hence, one must not rely on one’s own mind, but cleave once more to books
and authors, for only that can help him, and no wit and intellect, as they are lifeless.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/13,”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Derech Eretz (The Middle Road) Warmed by the Sun

Correction is possible by great sufferings that cannot even be described since
it requires the full recognition of evil in each individual property in order to refuse to
receive in each one and to move on to the path of bestowal. This path is impossible
since a person cannot bear such sufferings.
Therefore, the advancement is usually somewhere in the middle, between the path of
sufferings and the path of the Torah (the path of the Light), between “I shall hasten it” and “in
its time,” along what is called “Derech Eretz (the path of earth).” A person advances as he is
pushed from behind by the sufferings or drawn forward by the Light. He cannot be on the
same path all the time.
It’s impossible to move to the path of the Torah from the beginning, unconditionally,
but to the extent that we try to do it—especially by actually building the Shechina, which
means by building the connection between us in mutual bestowal, according to our exertion
and our responsibility for others—then, to that extent, we leave the path of suffering and
advance towards the goal along “Derech Eretz,” along the middle road.
It isn’t that the “middle line” is better for our spiritual ascent, but the “middle road” is a
compromise between the two roads on which we should remain. The only choice is to
strengthen our group, our spiritual society so that it will influence everyone. We should see
the friends as the area where the Creator will be revealed, the attribute of bestowal. Thus I
see my soul and not myself.

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 A person can check himself and his advancement according to how he worries about
the friends and the group so that the revelation will take place in them, like a mother who
worries about her babies. Then one can be sure that he understands what advancement
means, that he knows what to add to it, and that he can actually fulfill this in this world now
and bring his intention to wholeness.
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/13

CALL FOR ACTION

Changing the Attitude to the Reality

The Daily Advice for the Follower of the Path
When troubles are revealed in my relationships with someone or in the process of
work, it is reasonable to rethink the state as if everything is perfect.
When troubles and distinctions between my work and my feelings are revealed, I
should take the state as if it is perfect from the external point of view. This is called “Faith
above Reason”.
From the internal point of view, my state is not perfect. On the contrary, it is opposite
to the external state, and it is called “Against the Reason”. This is how we can clarify the
difference between the internality and the externality. And little by little, the external state
that I adapt gets clothed in the internal state.

We shall do, and we shall hear

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 KABBALAH FUNDAMENTALS

The Wisdom of Kabbalah, Lecture 8

Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam

Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
lowercase italics: emphasized words
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew

The science of Kabbalah did not come about as some product of human thought,
detached from genuine reality. Rather, man investigated the surrounding reality as a whole
and achieved a state when he revealed reality beyond the level of perception of his five
senses. The science that studies this Upper Reality is called Kabbalah.
One of the people who revealed the Upper Reality was Abraham. He began to ask,
“Where did I come from, why do I exist? Why do the sun, moon and stars revolve the way
they do? What is this world and why does it need to exist? Who am I in this world?” As the
Midrash narrates, Abraham began to ask these questions in spite of the fact that he
previously thought that the world was nothing more than regular and familiar nature, being
precisely the way we treat it.
The second example after Abraham is Moses. There was nothing particularly special
about him either. People wrote that he was raised in Pharaoh’s house and he apparently
received the corresponding upbringing. He was a prince and a favorite of Pharaoh’s
daughter, Batya, and of Pharaoh himself. The Midrash narrates about how he behaved in
Pharaoh’s house when he was a child and a young man. He was given everything a king’s
son could receive. At a certain moment, the Creator became revealed to Moses and he ran
away from Pharaoh’s house. That is, he perceived that he was unable to remain in his
previous state any longer.
Abraham left his father Terach in the same way, since he was unable to remain
within the boundaries of a materialistic worldview; he felt as if he was in prison. The Upper
Nature or Upper Force became revealed to him as an answer to his questions, which were
brought about by grief and disappointment. In this way, both Abraham and Moses
discovered what exists beyond nature. Thanks to their revelations, other people followed in
their footsteps, using their help and advice, and also attained the revelation of the Upper
Nature. In addition, these people have told us about this.
The science of Kabbalah can become revealed naturally to literally every person,
even to someone who does not read books, study in various institutions, or is a disciple of a
sage. A moment occurs in a person’s life when he receives a push and ponders the
question: “What is the meaning of my life, why do I live?” As a result, this question gives him
potential access to the Upper Reality. Based on his attainment, he begins to understand why
everything is made the way it is, and for what sake everything is constructed, what his role is
in life, and what is the correct worldview.
In the article The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Baal HaSulam says that the
science of Kabbalah is a cause-and-effect order of the roots’ descent to man’s level. This
gives man the opportunity to use these roots, or forces, to reveal the Upper Force, connect
with it, and to thereby achieve the level of eternity and perfection. In other words, it gives
man the ability to rise above the nature that man currently perceives, and to unify with the
Upper Nature.

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 As Baal HaSulam says, this kind of attainment contains a general as well as a
particular aspect. The particular aspect consists in the fact that there exist individual special
souls. A huge desire unexpectedly surfaces in them and they independently penetrate
beyond matter’s boundaries, attaining the forces and properties that control matter. These
sort of people include the great Kabbalists, the spiritual leaders of the nation: Abraham,
Moses, Rashbi and the ARI. In addition to the particular aspect, there is also the aspect of
the general. Baal HaSulam says that all of humanity must ultimately attain the highest
existing level in nature, called the World of Infinity, and attain its existence within this level.
If this is so, then why is our history so confusing, complex and incomprehensible?
How can we see that all Upper Roots, as the Kabbalists narrate, gradually become revealed
in this world and, ultimately, bring every person in particular and all of humanity as a whole
to the question about the purpose of life, for us to ascend to a higher level, to a spiritual
existence? How does this process transpire over the course of history?
As the science of Kabbalah teaches and as Kabbalists have clarified, there exists the
Ratzon Lekabel, or the will to receive pleasure. All material of creation as a whole is the will
to receive pleasure. It contains five levels of Aviut, or five levels of the desire’s size. There
exist small desires, slightly greater desires, even greater desires, and so on, until the size of
the desire of the fifth level. The desire can be depicted as a Kli or a vessel with five levels of
Aviut: Shoresh (the root or level zero), Alef (the first level), Bet (the second), Gimel (third)
and Dalet (fourth).

Drawing No. 1
Ultimately these levels of Aviut must help us correct our nature, meaning to change
the nature of a receiver to the nature of a Giver. A mechanism of correction was created
from the beginning in order to make this possible. According to this mechanism, the Kli
undergoes the process of correction. Who determines this process? It was originally
established by nature itself, whose attribute is absolute bestowal.
As Kabbalists tell us, the Upper Light (or termed differently, the Upper Nature or the
Creator) desires only to bestow. He is the Giver. Therefore He created a desire to receive
pleasure, or a receiver to whom He can give the greatest pleasure. This greatest pleasure is
the level of the Giver Himself. Since the Giver relates to the receiver with love, He must
correspondingly bring the receiver to the same state in which He Himself exists, since
nothing better or more perfect exists. After all, only He who gives or who is capable of giving
exists in perfection. He does not have any faults or needs, because He has everything.
Thus, the first law states that, on the one hand, the Giver, the Creator or nature (the
Gimatria of the word Teva—nature, is identical to the word Elokim—God), must create a
receiver or something opposite to Himself in order to have someone to give to. On the other
hand, He must bring the receiver’s attributes to equivalence with the Giver. Sameness of
attributes with the Giver is called closeness or union with Him.
We observe an analogous phenomenon in this world, in the relationships between
people. When measuring the distance between two people according to their inner content

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(rather than their bodies’ spatial position) we must look at all the attributes of both people,
compare them and analyze the degree to which one person’s attributes coincide with the
other person’s attributes, or the degree to which they differ. According to this, we are able to
tell the degree to which these people differ and how far away they are from each other.
In this way, when we compare people in our world we can evaluate them not only
according to height, skin color and other external signs, but also according to their essence.
People are either close to or distant from each other according to their worldviews, their
character traits, their habits, and everything that comprises their essence.
If two people are so far away from each other that one person’s opinions are one
hundred per cent opposite to the other person’s opinions, then we say that they are polar
opposites and an infinite abyss lies between them. Why is it infinite? It is because they do
not have even a single point of contact. If two people have a kind of relationship where they
are, for example, ninety percent similar to each other, then the space between them is not
very large. Only ten percent separates them.

Drawing No. 2
Another way is to say that if two people have something in common then they have
contact with each other in this aspect. For example, two people’s opinions are so similar that
they are one person regarding this opinion. If they have more than one opinion in common,
then they enter into each other (so to speak), that is, they have a common territory. These
people can be accomplices with regard to many things.
If one person is exactly similar to another, then they unify together and there is
nothing in one person that goes beyond the other’s boundaries. This phenomenon is called
“union.” Literally every part of one person unifies with every part of the other, and their every
part as well as the two as a whole become as one person. This is how people describe what
occurs in the Spiritual World, because in this case they are not talking about bodies but
rather about inner attributes. People use these concepts not only to talk about the Spiritual
World, but also about things that relate to our world. For example, psychology uses concepts
such as “close” or “far” when describing relationships between people.
Two people who are close to each other in spirit or according to their inner attributes,
and who are separated by a distance of thousands of kilometers, do not cease to feel their
closeness. We know of such a phenomenon as when a mother literally feels what is
happening with her baby, who is located far away from her.

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 In this way, both in our world and in the Spiritual World, people measure closeness
and farness between each other in the same way. However, in the Spiritual World, people
contact each other with their desires and aspirations, which are oriented on that which is
beyond our world. Thus, the receiver must attain the same state that the Giver is in. One
who originally receives one hundred per cent is removed from the Giver. His attributes are
so far away from the Giver’s attributes that the relationship between them is called “hate.”

Drawing No. 3
This means that the receiver, or creation, does not contain even one thought or one
desire that is similar to the Creator’s attributes. Therefore it is impossible to describe to the
creation (which has not achieved even the slightest contact with the Creator), who the
Creator is, what is the Upper Force, what is the Upper Nature and what is the attribute of
bestowal. Creation cannot even imagine these things, since it is so far away from the
Creator.
Question: Does this mean that the Creator hates us?
It is said that “The Creator hates bodies.” That is, he hates our external form. What is
hate? In spirituality, the concept of “hate” means something completely different than what it
means to us in this world. Hate signifies that there is no point of contact between two objects
and there is no closeness between them. We can recall thousands of sayings on the topic
that the Creator is good and kind and he does good for good and bad people. However, in
spirituality, hate is the opposition of two objects or two states. In our world, when someone
hates another person, this means he wishes evil for him. Here, however, we are talking
about a total lack of mutual understanding.
A question arises: “Can it really be the case that the Creator does not understand
creation?” However, we are not looking at the situation from the Creator’s point of view, but
rather exclusively from the point of view of the creation. We are talking about the way in
which we investigate the world. “People do not discuss that which their eyes cannot see.”
Therefore we talk about the Creator only from the point of view of our perception. When you
pray to the Creator, asking something from Him, wishing that you feel better, by doing this
you are saying that He is bad, that He brings evil to you and does not love you. After all, you
want the Creator to improve His treatment of you, isn’t that right? This is how we judge the

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Upper’s Relation toward us. “Every person judges to the degree of his own incorrection.”
This is how we see and understand things.
Now let us return to our subject of discussion. We were originally created by the
nature of the Giver in the form of the desire to receive pleasure, and we must bring our
desire’s attributes to equivalence with the Giver, or union with Him. Only in this case do we
become included in the state “He is Good and He does good” in an infinite and boundless
form. This is the complete final goal of creation.
Why is it necessary for us to go through this entire process? It is necessary in order
for specific categories to become formed in us that will allow us, beginning from the state
when there is a great difference between us and the Creator and when we see how different
we are from Him, to study this entire infinite contradiction, to understand what spirituality is
and to begin to gradually come closer to it and build the best state for ourselves—the state
of Infinity.

Drawing No. 4
Accordingly, in addition to the fact that a person independently creates the perfect
state, he also becomes aware of it and therefore derives pleasure from it in literally every
one of his desires, even within the smallest desire.
How does this occur? This process is called “three lines.” Kabbalists have
discovered, and they tell us, that there is a Giver called the Creator Who created the Kli and
then had to distance it from Himself, placing it in a state where it completely lacks the
perception of the Creator’s Light. In other words, a total separation was formed between the
Creator and creation. Since creation was created consisting of five parts of its desire to feel
pleasure: Shoresh (the root), Alef (the first), Bet (the second), Gimel (the third) and Dalet
(the fourth); there had to be a concealment for each of the parts in order for creation to be
completely independent of the Light. This is why there exist five worlds: Adam Kadmon,
Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira and Assiya.

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 Drawing No. 5
There remains a point after all these concealments. All matter and our entire
Universe were created within this point. This took place about fifteen billion years ago. The
sun, the entire solar system and the earth formed about twelve billion years later. Life began
to develop on Earth about three billion years ago.
As Baal HaSulam wrote, the forces of nature needed to interact with each other for
millions more years until the surface of the earth formed, upon which plants were able to
grow, and animals were able to reproduce and so on, until man began his existence. After
many years of evolution, the geological process continued, and over its course human life
emerged on Earth. Thus, the still or inanimate nature appears in the beginning, which is
followed by the vegetative nature, then comes the animate nature, and finally the speaking
or human nature.
Question: What existed before the material world began to form fifteen billion years
ago?
Matter did not exist before the emergence of the world. After all, the matter of our
world is located within our perception. There is a problem: how does reality appear when
there is no one to perceive it? We always say that there is no reality without a person who
perceives it. For example, you say that there is a star in the sky. How do you know? Let’s
suppose someone saw it. But if he did not see it, then would this star exist or not? It would
not exist, because it only exists in relation to the one who perceives it.
The problem is that we can never investigate, analyze and perceive that which is
beyond the boundaries of our perception. It is for this reason that discussions about things
no one has ever seen or felt are groundless. Therefore everything in science is divided into
mysteries and discoveries; all of reality is divided into what we have attained and what we
have not yet attained.
A question arises: do we even have the right to speak about reality that existed
before man appeared in this world? We know that we apprehend all that we know of reality
with our five senses. The picture that appears before us comes to us precisely in this way
because our five senses are designed as such. Will I be able to perceive anything if I cancel
all of my senses? I will not perceive anything. I will even cease to perceive myself. In other
words, if we turn off all of a person’s senses (theoretically we are unable to do this, but let’s
suppose that we can turn off one or two of our senses) a person will then not perceive
himself and that which surrounds him. A question then arises: does anything exist or not?
Nothing exists with regard to this person.
We can object and say that we are conducting an experiment with only one person.
In the meantime other people perceive the reality around them. However, they perceive it in

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the same way as the person whose perceptions are turned off, or in other words, with their
five senses. Will reality exist if we turn off all of their perceptions as well? We do not know.
The fact of the matter is that our perception, which tells us that we are located within an
existing reality, is produced by our senses. They depict the following picture before me: I and
something outside of me. If I alter my senses, then I will perceive a different reality. We
perceive this and clearly see this when we broaden our perception by way of studying the
science of Kabbalah.
The issue of reality’s perception never presented itself as a problem for man before.
This issue first emerged during Newton’s time. As he investigated nature he began to ponder
the question: do nature’s laws exist on their own, or do they exist only relative to man? The
scientists of that period developed a worldview that the laws they discovered were absolute.
That is, they thought that the Universe and its laws exist regardless of whether or not man
exists in the Universe. This concept is called Newtonian theory. This was the first time a
formulated worldview was made by people who investigated the world in which they lived. I
am not talking about Kabbalists, who revealed the truth ever since Abraham’s time by
attaining the forces standing behind matter.
Newton, and other researchers and philosophers before him, made their discoveries
inside of matter. Therefore a theory emerged that the world exists on its own, regardless of
whether man lives in it or not. The development of science continued and scientists arrived
at a state when they began to have doubts. Why?
It is known that various species of animals whose senses differ from ours perceive
reality in a different way. For example, a dog sees much worse than a human, but it smells
much more acutely. A dog’s sense of smell is highly developed, rather than its sight (which
man uses to perceive ninety-nine per cent of information about his surrounding reality); and
this allows the dog to perceive many shades of smell. This is how a dog perceives the world,
and its perception is no worse than man’s. It constantly checks its entire environment with its
nose.
Obviously, smell is a more limited sense than sight. Using sight, one can perceive
something located at a relatively far distance, and sight can also be intensified. There are
animals who do not have the same sense of smell as that of a dog, but they survive using
other perceptions.
Thus, we do not know how reality appears in its true form since every type of creation
perceives it in its own way. This means that our perception of reality is not absolute. If we
broaden the boundaries of our senses’ perception, reality will appear differently. For
example, if we alter a person’s range of sight from the regular light wavelength toward the
direction of infrared, ultraviolet or radio waves, then he will see heat waves, infrared
radiation, and so on. That is, my senses are built in such a way that what appears before us
is a regularly perceivable reality.
However, this does not mean that reality by itself exists in this form.
As scientists developed biology, studying various living things and broadening their
senses’ range of perception with the help of various devices, they saw that our perception is
relative. Then Einstein came forth and said that literally every aspect of reality is relative and
depends on the speed with which we move. The way I perceive any object changes when
my speed of movement relative to the object I observe changes.
The comparison of speeds is of great importance. While moving at a constant speed,
it is practically impossible to determine whether or not we are actually moving at all. We can
only check the difference of the movement between two objects, or the speed of one object

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relative to another. However, a person who moves without changing speed thinks that he is
at rest.
Then there was a different kind of problem. The issue is not how a person perceives
reality, but rather that his perception is not merely the sum of his senses’ perceptions. In
addition, it also depends on the way he interacts with his environment, and how similar or
different he is to it.
Thus, the first theory asserts that everything I perceive is located outside of me and
exists independently of whether I perceive anything or not. According to the second theory,
what is located outside of me changes according to my attributes. When my attributes
change, my perception changes accordingly, and what I see acquires a different form.
For example, depending on whether I see our universe and our world in ultraviolet or
infrared light, X rays or in any other form, then completely different images correspondingly
appear before me. That is, everything depends on the changes occurring within me.
There is one more theory, which states that I perceive everything outside of me
according to how I influence it. In other words, I do not see something that is absolutely
separated from myself. Rather, with my feelings, I perceive a reality that changes according
to changes that occur within me. When I investigate an object, whether or not I want to, I
introduce changes to it. Therefore it is impossible to say what this object was like before I
began to research it. In other words, I perceive a certain combination of myself and the
object I observe. I do not perceive a world that exists by itself, but rather the world as I see it.
The image appearing before me is the result of my attributes and the attributes of the world
around me. This is another concept that exists. All aforementioned theories have various
variations, and lots of time can be spent discussing them.
There also exists another worldview—the worldview of Kabbalists. Over the course of
history this worldview did not develop within matter, as was the case with scientists who
came to see and realize their limitations. Kabbalists developed their worldview by
investigating the Upper Nature. They discovered that the Upper Nature is simple and
unchanging Light, without any forms or images. In short, it is a single force that they defined
as the Creator or Giver, since everything comes from Him. He is in the state of total rest and
does not change in relation to us. It is a certain absolute. I perceive it according to the
degree my attributes are the same as His attributes.
Scientists have also come to the deduction that we perceive our reality according to
the degree our attributes are the same as its attributes. My ear can hear only external
sounds that correspond to the frequencies to which its inner mechanism is attuned. For
example, my ear’s mechanism is attuned in such a way that it perceives the range of
frequency from twenty to two-hundred thousand Hertz. This means that I hear only sounds
whose frequency is from twenty to two-hundred thousand Hertz, no more and no less.
An old man whose sense of hearing is decreasing hears within the range of fifty to
ten-thousand Hertz. He therefore thinks that there are no sounds of higher or lower
frequencies outside of him. The same thing is true with regard to sight, and so on.
Everything we perceive from the outside corresponds to the parameters that one of our
senses is able to reproduce.

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 Drawing No. 6
Spiritual attainment is based on the same principle. As Kabbalists say, I am located
within an ocean of the Upper Light that is absolute, altruistic and giving. On the other hand,
my attributes are exactly opposite: I am the receiver and He is the Giver. Therefore our
attributes are not the same. My entire internality is directed toward reception, while His entire
externality is directed toward bestowal. For this reason I am unable to perceive or see Him.
This is precisely the reason why He is concealed from me.
In this case, what should I do? If I want to perceive the Upper Reality, I need to
correct myself inside in such a way that I will be equivalent to the Giver. Then, to the degree
I am equivalent to Him, I will begin to perceive the Upper Reality. When my attributes are
completely distanced from Him, I do not perceive Him. When I have a point of contact with
Him due to one equivalent attribute, I touch Him with this one point since I have corrected
one of my attributes and I begin to perceive the Giver at least in some way.
Thus, when I correct my attributes I gradually perceive Him more and more until I
finally reach the state when we are together. That is, in order to overcome the difference
between the Creator and creation, the receiver must bring himself to sameness of attributes
with the Light in order to become a part of It and to perceive It. To discover or reveal the
Light means to perceive It.
Question: I would like to return to the example with the old man whose sense of
hearing decreases. He has a memory that allows him to remember sounds he perceived in
the past. In a way, he hears them. How can this be explained?
The old man’s sense of hearing has decreased. However, impressions about the way
in which he once heard or saw remain in him from past experience. All of this is within his
memory. Our memory is like a computer’s memory, where nothing disappears. The difficulty
is only in taking out and renewing what is necessary from it. As in a video camera that
records on film, everything passes through our senses, becomes fixed in our memory and
remains there until it comes to life once again. Sometimes we unexpectedly remember
something that happened thirty years ago. I can perceive a smell and it will remind me of
events that happened twenty years ago. Today, when I suddenly perceive a smell or see
something, I remember how I was a child in my mother’s house and the various things that
happened there.
All feelings are recorded in memory along with the episode related to them. You can
derive an entire image from your memory as if from a search engine by using just one of
many parameters of a tiny image fixated in your memory such as smell, color, or another
small fragment located outside of you, which reminds you about the past episode. There are

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many conditions that make it possible or impossible for you to derive something from your
memory, and there are various techniques that teach people how to do this. (But we are
concerned with something else; we do not need this.) Thus, through the senses all data
becomes transferred to memory. It is the determining factor in these cases.
Since age weakens memory, a person ceases to recognize the reality before him. He
is unable to derive yesterday’s events from his memory. The same image he saw yesterday
is today, completely new for him. He may even be unable to remember what happened a
moment ago. This is how a person loses his memory. In essence he does not lose it, but he
is unable to derive anything from it.
Question: How do people use memory during spiritual advancement?
In the spiritual path we study our structure, and our feelings become more and more
acute. We begin to use all our attributes and in addition, on their basis we acquire new
attributes of a higher level. Attributes related to the body die together with the body.
However, if we acquire new attributes that are beyond the body, meaning attributes of the
Giver, we then remain forever with these attributes of the Giver. Baal HaSulam’s article “To
which level does a person have to reach in order that he should not need to be reincarnated
a second time?” speaks about this.
Question: Can a scientist today who studies nature in a scientific way arrive at
Kabbalistic investigations?
A scientist observes nature through his five senses, various devices and his mind,
without enacting the “point in the heart” that is connected to forces beyond nature, forces of
bestowal. We have previously analyzed the structure of Adam ha Rishon. The Creator
created a Kli which is called Adam ha Rishon. We are all located within it as elements of the
general construction. Every part is a desire, a soul.

Drawing No. 7
In this initial state the desire’s nature is identical to the Giver. Afterward, the particular
souls descended, meaning they lost their attributes’ equivalence to the Giver. Simply
speaking, they became egoistic. These egoistic desires have five senses. It is in this way
that scientists conduct experiments by way of the five senses that are used to perceive
reality. This received information is processed by the egoistic mind.
If the question “What is the purpose of life, why do I live?” emerges in a person, a
desire becomes revealed in him that remained within the ego in the form of a tiny point

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called “the divine particle from above.” Each of us contains this point, which gives us a
vague feeling that we come from somewhere above, from another world. When this desire
surfaces in a person, he does not know where it comes from, but he feels that it does not
come from this world, and so he begins to yearn for something that is located beyond us.
When a person begins to investigate from this point, he becomes a Kabbalist. If he
conducts his investigations by way of five senses, based on the ego, then he will simply be a
scientist. Therefore the path of science ultimately leads to failure and, in principle, this is
where scientists have arrived. Man’s development in all areas of his activity lead to the state
of emptiness when he feels that all his activities do not give him anything, do not make the
world better, and man remains empty. This is when the point becomes revealed called “the
Creator’s particle from above” or “the point in the heart,” and after all sorts of scientific tricks,
man begins to yearn for his root.
Question: Does a Kabbalist attain the beginning point?
When Kabbalists say that we must reach the Giver’s level, this means they attain
Him completely and entirely. That is, they attain not only the point of our conception, but also
the thought, desire, program, and existence prior to our birth or our creation. This is called,
to become equal to the Giver. Equivalence of form with the Giver means to attain His mind
and to be the same as Him.
As a person changes himself, he does this with his own forces and with his own free
choice. As he ascends independently, step by step, he studies his own nature in comparison
to the Giver’s nature and copies the Giver’s nature within himself. He corrects his own nature
and by doing so he acquires the Creator’s mind and attains the Thought of Creation. In this
manner, he ascends to the highest level, and becomes limitless, because the Upper Force is
absolute in every way.
Question: Kabbalists say that everything outside of me is Light, and that which is
inside of me is a sensor that perceives reality. In this case, why does nothing change when I
want to immediately appear in Spain (for example), or change the image around me?
You are saying that around me is Light that contains many possibilities and
variations, or all the images of the world. These fragments depend on me. As soon as I
change my inner Kelim, combine them in a special way, place them in a special relationship
with each other, I then immediately find myself in any reality I want to be in. This is correct.
In this case, what is the problem? Is it to know how to do this? First of all, what kind of
perception are you talking about? About the five earthly senses and the egoistic mind? Or
are we talking about the five spiritual Kelim: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut
with the altruistic desire or Masach (Screen)? Where do you want to transfer yourself?
We cannot move around within our earthly feelings and we cannot do anything with
them. I am unable to connect my desires in such a way that I will see a different image,
because these feelings are inanimate, dead, and they do not undergo correction. Even when
I become the greatest Kabbalist, I still remain in my body with its organs of perception. When
I get old, I will hear and see worse, even if I will perceive the world in its entirety in my
spiritual Kelim. The five earthly feelings are constant in us. They are inanimate and we are
unable to change them. It is impossible to see the world in X rays simply by desiring to do
this, no matter what sage I may be.
Question: Where does this come from, if we are saying that a person is able to
change himself?
You can change only that which you are able to change. The body’s attributes—the
five senses and the accompanying egoistic attributes—do not undergo correction or change.

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What you are able to change is to attune the spiritual Kli above the “point in the heart” or
above the “Creator’s particle from above,” to be equivalent to the Giver.

Drawing No. 8
This kind of Kli already exists. I receive a tiny particle within this Kli and I gradually
rehabilitate this particle into an integral Kli whose attribute is equal to the Giver’s attribute.
This Kli descended down into this world on purpose. Right now it is located within me in the
form of a point of yearning for something; however, I do not know for what. I then gradually
ascend back and become equivalent to the Creator with my attributes. This is precisely what
undergoes change. However, I do not change within my five earthly senses.

Baal HaSulam: Everything is Preordained

All is set ahead of time and each and every soul is already in all its Light, goodness,
and eternity. It is only for the bread of shame that the soul came out restricted until it clothes
in the murky body, and by its power does she return to her root prior to the restriction, with
her rewarded from the whole of the terrible journey that she performed. And the entire
reward is the real Dvekut [adhesion].
This means that she was rid of the bread of shame because her vessel of reception
has become a vessel of bestowal and her form is equal to her Maker’s.
Baal HaSulam, Letter no. 25

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 ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

Eradicating Egoism
The path of Kabbalah is different from other paths. Even though there are pleasures
in our world, we can break away from egoism by having faith (above reason) in the purpose
of creation. In this way, we may go beyond listening to what our bodies and our reason tell
us.
When we do so, we start experiencing love for the Creator, as well as feeling His love
for us. This is the path of peace and joy, and of faith in the fact that the long way is, in fact,
the short way without suffering. When we are not capable of receiving the Light into the
self—the inner Light (ohr pnimi)—our spiritual development will take place only under the
influence of the surrounding light (ohr makif).
This path of spiritual development is called “the natural way” or “the way of suffering”
(derech bito). This is the path of all humanity.
Another alternative for our spiritual development is to establish a personal bond with
the Creator, characterized by the work in three lines. This way is called “the way of the
Kabbalah” (Derech Kabbalah, Derech Ahishena. It is much shorter than the way of suffering.
Thus, the Kabbalists say that an individual who wishes to go directly toward the
Creator shortens the time of correction. Although it is difficult to have faith if suffering does
not force us to do so, it is very important for us to believe that the results of our work depend
only on our efforts.
That is, we should believe in the Divine rule by reward and punishment. The Creator
rewards an individual by awarding good thoughts and desires. We should obtain faith from
fellow students and from books.
However, once we have attained faith—the perception of the Creator--we must
convince ourselves that it was given to us by the Creator. The Upper Spiritual
Power may be a medicine of life if it provides strength and the will to work. However,
it is considered poison if we believe that all is determined from Above and nothing depends
on our efforts.
The principal effort should be the preservation of the lofty aspirations given to us from
Above. First, we are sent spiritual sensations from Above. Then, we are elevated, followed
by a time of hard work, and of constant effort to remain on that particular spiritual level by
our own strength. We should concentrate on appreciating the value of our spiritual elevation.
As soon as we begin to disregard what we have acquired, or derive self-gratification
from it, we begin to lose the attained spiritual level. All that falls under the power of egoism is
situated in the central point of creation (nekuda emtzait).
Everything that does not wish to gratify the self is placed above that point. Thus, it is
said that the line that represents the descent of the Light (kav) makes contact (thus
imperceptibly reviving the creation) and does not make contact (does not fill the creation with
the Creator’s Light) with the central point.
It is said that one who aspires to advance spiritually is helped by being given a soul—
a part of the Creator—the Light. As a result, one begins to feel like a part of the Creator!
How does the Light of the Creator generate the desire to derive joy from Him?
For example, in our world, if a person were given unexpected honors, which were

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then taken away, that person would crave the familiar pleasures derived from those honors.
The desire to get back the taken pleasure is known as a “vessel” (kli). The Light gradually
makes the vessel grow in order to fill it with pleasure (from the Light.
Abraham asked the Creator: "How can I be sure that You will save my descendants?
How can I be sure that my children will be able to break away from egoism with the help of
the Kabbalah? Why give them the Light if they have no yearning for it?"
The Creator answered that they would be given a sensation of enslavement by their
egoism, and so, for contrast, they would be given a sensation of the Light. In attempting to
overcome our desires, we need to recognize that our bodies do not understand the
dimensions of time, and thus do not perceive the past or the future, but only the present.
For instance, if it is crucial to exert an effort for five minutes in order to be able to rest
afterwards, the body will still resist putting forth that effort because it is unable to grasp the
benefit that will follow shortly.
Even when we remember the pleasure we previously attained after hard work, our
bodies will still withhold the necessary strength to complete the task. This can be similar to a
case where a person gets paid for work prior to its completion, and does not truly want to put
forth a good effort to finish the job.
Therefore, it is important not to delay the struggle against the body, but instead to
use every opportunity at a given moment to counter the body with loftier thoughts.
Since we are all 100% egoists, we will never voluntarily wish to form a bond
with the Creator. Only when we are convinced that this bond will bring a certain
benefit will we desire connection.
Thus, we can conclude that simply seeing our own evil and understanding that only
the Creator can send help is still insufficient impetus to seek help from the Creator. Only by
realizing that coming closer to the Creator, and forming a bond with Him, will bring
redemption will we have the incentive to seek help.
Kabbalah offers us its path, rather than the path of suffering. Time changes the
conditions around us: two thousand years ago, only a precious few searched for a
connection with the Creator, as in the time of Rabbi Shimon.
In the times of Ari and Ramchal, small groups were already engaged in the study of
Kabbalah. In the times of Baal Shem-Tov, the number of groups grew to dozens.
Finally, in the times of Baal Sulam, the numbers increased even further. In our times,
the barrier that separates the masses from Kabbalah has been obliterated altogether, and
there is hardly any resistance to the teaching. If in the past only those of very strong
character could attain the connection with the Creator, today beginners --and even
children—can reach the same results simply by studying Kabbalah under the proper
supervision.
We are unable to separate the good from the evil, just as we are unable to discern
what is good for the self and what is detrimental. Only the Creator can help us in this respect
by opening our eyes. Only then do we begin to see everything, which means "to choose life."
But until we come to realize our absolute necessity for the constant connection to the
Creator, He will not open our eyes. In this way, He will induce us to ask for compassion.
Inside the internal sensations of the Kabbalist exist a part of the Higher Level, of the
future state (AHP). One who perceives a Higher Spiritual Level as an unattractive vacuum,

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rather than a state full of Light, does not receive from the Higher level.
Even though the Higher Level is full of Light, the lower level perceives the Higher
only to the degree that the lower qualities permit one to do so. Since the present qualities
are not sufficient to receive the Higher Light, the individual does not perceive it.
The concealment of the Creator causes each of us to put forth a tremendous effort to
attain the level of existence customarily accepted by our society. We blindly move forward,
guided by the quiet internal whispers of our egoism. Acting as the ego’s blind tools, we rush
to carry out its commands to avoid being punished through suffering, thus propelling us to
accept the ego’s will against our own will, consequently carrying out its wishes without
thinking twice.
Our egoism is rooted so deeply inside us that we have begun to accept it as a
basic part of our nature, one that represents our true desires.
It penetrates all the cells of our bodies and forces us to evaluate all our perceptions
in accordance with its desires. It also forces us to plan our actions in accordance with its
design, thus increasing its benefit from our actions.
We do not even imagine that we can shed the influence of egoism, and cleanse
ourselves of it. But it is possible to expel the egoistic cloud that takes the form of our body,
penetrates us, and garbs itself with our flesh. Once we have been left without these desires,
the Creator will accord us His altruistic aspirations.
As long as the egoistic presence remains within us, however, we are unable to
imagine any benefit that would make us want to eradicate it. Moreover, altruistic thoughts
and desires appear to us as unacceptable, silly, not serious, and certainly unable to form the
basis of our society, much less that of the universe.
But this takes place only because our thoughts and desires remain under the
influence of egoism. In order to be objective about our own condition, we must attempt to
consider egoism as something outside of our essence, as an enemy who tries to pass itself
off as a friend.
We must try to see egoism as something foreign to us, which was placed in us by
the Will of the Creator. Such actions are considered to be our attempts to recognize the evil
that stems from the ego. But this is possible only to the extent that we can sense the
Creator’s existence and perceive His light, since everything is understood merely in relation
to other objects, by the perception of opposites.
Thus, rather than concentrating all our energy on the search for the evil within us, we
should make the utmost effort to perceive the Light of the Creator. All creations, with the
exception of human beings, operate according to the laws of altruism.
Only human beings and the world surrounding us (our world, Olam Azeh) are created
with the opposite, egoistic qualities. If by chance we got a glimpse of the Creator and of all
the spiritual worlds, we would immediately understand how minute our world is in
comparison to the spiritual worlds. Therefore, the egoistic laws of nature operate only in a
tiny, pea-sized world.
Why, then, did the Creator conceal Himself, after placing us deliberately in a world
that is full of darkness, insecurity and sadness? When the Creator was creating us, His goal
was to bestow on us an eternal existence together with Him.
However, we must reach this state by our own means, in order not to feel ashamed

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for having unjustly acquired eternal pleasure. Thus, the Creator generated a world that was
opposite to Him in nature, and that epitomized the one quality opposite to His essence: the
desire to gratify oneself, or egoism.
Therefore, He endowed us with this quality. As soon as a human being is influenced
by this quality, that human is born into this world, and immediately stops perceiving the
Creator. The concealment of the Creator exists in order to give us the illusion that we
possess free will to choose between our world and the world of the Creator—the Upper
World.
If, despite our egoism, we were able to see the Creator, naturally we would prefer His
world over ours, since the first contains all pleasure and no suffering.
However, freedom of choice and free will can only exist in the absence of our
perception of the Creator while He is in concealment. But if, from the moment of birth, we are
so strongly dominated by the ego that we cannot distinguish between the self and the ego,
how can we choose to be free of the ego’s influence?
Also, what choice can there truly be if our world is full of suffering and death,
whereas the world of the Creator is full of pleasure and immortality? What is left for human
beings to choose?
In order to allow us to have free will, the Creator gave us two options:
1. At times, He reveals Himself to one of us to enable that person to see His
grandeur and Providence and, as a result, to experience calmness.
2. He gave us Kabbalah—the study of which (assuming that one truly wants to come
out of the present state and perceive the Creator) brings forth a hidden, surrounding,
spiritual Light (ohr makif). The process of our connecting with the Creator, starting from the
lowest level (where we live) and extending to the highest level (where the Creator dwells)
can be compared to climbing the steps of a spiritual ladder.
All the steps of this ladder exist in the spiritual worlds. The Creator resides on the
highest step, whereas the lowest step comes down to our world. Human beings are situated
below the lowest spiritual step, since our initial egoistic level is not connected with the first
spiritual state, which is completely altruistic.
We can perceive an Upper Spiritual Level when our qualities and those of the
spiritual state coincide. Then, our degree of perception will be proportional to the degree of
congruence between our qualities and those of the spiritual.
We can perceive the Upper Level because all the spiritual steps are arranged
sequentially from lowest to highest. Moreover, the subsequent states overlap with one
another; the lower half of the higher state is situated within the upper half of the lower state
(AHP of Upper falls into GE of Lower).
Thus, the lowest part of our Upper State is always present within us, but is usually
not felt by us. The Upper State above us is referred to as “the Creator” because it functions
as the Creator for us.
It gives birth to us and it gives us life and guidance. Since we do not have a
perception of this Higher State, we often insist that the Creator does not exist.
But if we are in a state in which we clearly see the Creator’s Upper Domain
over all the creations in this world, then we lose the possibility to choose freely.

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 We can see only One Truth, only One Force, and only One Will that operates in
everything and in everyone.
Since the Will of the Creator is to grant each human being a free will, then the
concealment of the Creator from His creations is necessary. Only if He is hidden can we
argue that we can aspire of our free will to attach ourselves to the Creator--to act for His
sake, without any trace of self-interest.
The entire process of self-correction is possible only when the Creator is concealed
from us. As soon as He reveals Himself to us we immediately become His servants and fall
into the control of His thought, grandeur and power.
At that point, it is impossible to determine what our true thoughts are. Thus, in order
to allow us to act freely, the Creator has to conceal Himself.
On the other hand, to give us a chance to break free from the blind slavery of
egoism, the Creator must reveal Himself. This is so because a human being obeys only two
forces in this world: the force of egoism—the body—and the force of the Creator—altruism.
It follows, then, that alternating the two states is necessary. These states are the
concealment of the Creator from us when we perceive only ourselves and the egoistic forces
governing us, and the revelation of the Creator when we feel the power of the spiritual
forces.
In order for one who is still under the influence of egoism to perceive the closest
Upper Object (the Creator), the Creator must equalize some of His qualities with those of the
lower being—the person seeking a connection with the Creator.
He will endow some of His altruistic qualities with egoistic attributes, and can then
come into balance with the person seeing connection with Him.
The Upper Part elevates the malchut-midat hadin to the level of His Galgalta ve
Eynaim. As a result, His AHP acquires egoistic qualities. In this manner, His AHP
“descends” to the lower part (the spiritual level of the seeker) and comes into a state of
equivalence with the qualities of the lower part.
Initially the lower part was not able to perceive the Upper Spiritual State. However,
because the Creator hid His highest altruistic qualities behind egoistic ones, He was able to
descend to the level of the person so that the person was able to perceive Him.
Because we perceive higher qualities as being egoistic, we are unable to truly grasp
their essence. It appears that there is nothing positive in the spiritual that may bring
pleasure, inspiration, confidence, or tranquility.
It is precisely at this point that we have an opportunity to exercise our willpower. We
may, instead, declare that the absence of pleasure and taste in the spiritual and in Kabbalah
is because of the Creator’s deliberate concealment for our own sake. Because we do not yet
possess the necessary spiritual qualities, it is therefore impossible for us to perceive the
Upper spiritual pleasures; rather, all our earthly desires are governed by egoism.
It is crucial for beginners to understand that they are given depression and
distress in order to overcome them.
They may direct their pleas for relief to the Creator, they may study, or they may do
good deeds. The fact that such people do not experience pleasure or vitality from spiritual
aspirations is directed from Above.

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 This gives them the free will to conclude that their lack of pleasure comes from a lack
of appropriate altruistic qualities in themselves. Hence, the Upper One must hide His true
qualities from them.
Therefore, we must remember that the first stage of perceiving the spiritual is the
feeling of spiritual deprivation. If the lower part is capable of realizing that the Upper One is
concealing Himself because of their incongruity of qualities, and if that lower part asks for
help to correct its own egoism by raising a prayer (Ma’N), then the Upper Part partially
reveals Himself (lifts His AHP) and displays His true qualities, which prior to this moment,
were disguised beneath egoism.
As a result, spiritual pleasure also becomes apparent. Thus, the lower part begins to
experience the grandeur and the spiritual pleasure felt by the Higher Being, Who possesses
spiritual altruistic qualities.
Because the Upper Part elevated His altruistic qualities in the eyes of the individual,
He thus elevated the individual to the middle of His State (He lifted GE of the lower together
with His own AHP).
This spiritual state is known as a person’s “lesser spiritual level” (katnut). The Upper
Part, in a way, elevates the lower part to His own spiritual level by revealing both His
grandeur and the grandeur of altruistic qualities. By seeing the magnificence of the spiritual
and comparing it to the material, we may spiritually rise above our world.
When we perceive the spiritual, regardless of our will, our egoistic qualities are
changed into altruistic ones, that is, into the qualities of the Creator. In order to allow the
lower part to take complete possession of the higher first level, the Upper Part wholly reveals
Himself and all His qualities to that lower part; meaning He reveals his Grandeur, makes
gadlut.
At this point, the person perceives the Upper Part as the One and Only Absolute
Sovereign of everything in the universe. At the same time, the lower part grasps the highest
knowledge of the purpose of creation and of the Upper’s dominion.
It becomes clear to the lower part that there is no other way to conduct oneself than
in the way prescribed by Kabbalah. Thus, the lower part’s reason now requires proper
action. As a result of this clear awareness of the Creator, one must deal with the
contradiction between faith and knowledge, between the right and the left lines.
Now, having acquired altruistic qualities (katnut), the lower part prefers to proceed
only by means of faith in the strength of the Creator. This serves as an indication of the
seeker’s sincere desire to come closer to the Creator.
However, the Creator’s revelation of His grandeur (gadlut) now obstructs one from
advancing by faith. Consequently, the individual must willingly dispense with the acquired
knowledge.
When one pleads to proceed blindly, relying only on one’s faith in the magnificence of
the Creator, rather than by realizing His power and grandeur, and only by using reason in
proportion to one’s faith, the Creator is compelled to limit His disclosure. When such an
action compels the Creator to diminish His disclosure of His general dominion, His
omnipotence, and His Light (ohr hochma), this is called “the screen of hirik.”
Through this screen, we are able to diminish the revelation of the Upper reason (the
left line) to the point at which this revelation can be balanced with faith, the right line. The
correct correlation between faith and knowledge is called a “spiritual balance, “ or the middle

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line.
We, as individuals, determine the state we desire to be in. Once the correct
correlation of faith and knowledge is in place, we can then attain perfection. This is known as
“the middle line.”
The part of revealed knowledge (the left line) that we can use in proportion to our
faith (the right line), by proceeding by faith above reason (the middle line), is added onto
those spiritual qualities that we possessed before, in the state of katnut. The newly acquired
spiritual level is known as gadlut, meaning big and complete.
After the first complete spiritual level has been attained, we will become equal in
qualities to the very first (the lowest) state of the spiritual ladder. As was mentioned earlier,
all the states, or steps of the ladder, overlap with each other.
Having reached the first level, we may discover the presence of a higher level within
us. Using the same principle as when advancing to the first level, we can proceed step by
step to the goal of creation— complete unification with the Creator on the highest level.
An essential part of our spiritual ascent is a special process that requires that, on
discovering a greater evil within us, we ask the Creator to grant us the strength to overcome
that evil. We then receive strength in the form of a greater spiritual Light.
This continues until we actually reach the original level and size of our souls: at that
point, our egoism is completely corrected and filled with Light.

The Search for the Creator

When we are distracted by outside thoughts, we feel that thoughts obstruct us from
ascertaining the spiritual, because our strength and minds are wasted on extraneous
concerns, while our hearts become filled with petty desires. At times like this, we lose faith in
the fact that only the Kabbalah contains the true life.
Once we overcome this condition, we come out of our state and move into the Light,
receiving a higher Light that helps us ascend further. In this manner, our extraneous
thoughts work to help us in our spiritual advancement.
We can overcome obstacles only with the help of the Creator. We can only work on
something if we perceive some personal benefit in the task. However, our bodies, hearts and
intellects do not understand what benefits can result from altruism.
Therefore, as soon as we try to make even the slightest altruistic move, we lose all
strength of the mind, heart and body. We are left with nothing else but to turn to the Creator
and ask Him for help. In this way, unwillingly and without any free choice, we advance
toward the Creator until we merge with Him completely.
We should not complain of having been born insufficiently smart, strong or
courageous, or lacking qualities that others possess.
If we do not advance on the right path, what difference does it make if we are
endowed with the best abilities and potential?
It may be that a talented person can become a great scientist, but without a
connection with the Creator, this person’s purpose will not be achieved, and will fail just as
the majority of people do.
It is crucial to attain the level of a righteous person; only then can we use all of our

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potential for the right tasks, rather than squander our strength in vain. Even the weakest and
most trivial abilities given to us by the Creator should be used for the sake of the loftiest
goals.
If we are in a state of spiritual descent, it is useless to try to convince us to cheer up,
or to subject us to listening to the learned wisdom of others. Nothing that others will say can
help us. The stories of what other people lived through and their advice will not enliven us
when depressed, because we have lost all faith in everything, including the achievements of
others.
However, if we repeat to ourselves what we used to say and feel when in a state of
spiritual exhilaration and full of life, as opposed to being spiritually dead as at present. If we
remember our own goals and spiritual progress, then we can grow to regain our good spirits.
By remembering that at some point we had faith and advanced in life by means of
faith above reason, we can help ourselves emerge from the state of spiritual death. For this
reason, we should always rely on our own recollections and experiences. Only these will
motivate us to forsake the state of depression.
The task of one who has reached a certain spiritual level is to make a selection from
the myriad of pleasures that arise, immediately discarding all those pleasures that cannot be
balanced by faith, since they are not fit for use. In Kabbalah, that part of pleasure that a
person receives for the sake of the Creator, for the sole purpose of strengthening one’s faith,
is considered “food.”
On the other hand, the other part that one is unable to receive is considered
“refuse.” If a person is incapable of distinguishing between the two and wants to devour the
entire portion (in Kabbalistic terms, “‘to become drunk from the excess of pleasure’”), then
that person loses everything and is left with nothing. In Kabbalah, such a person is known as
a "pauper."
All of us are “prescribed” in what we can and cannot do. If we decide to ignore
the “prescription,” then we are punished.
If we are unaware of the pain and suffering that may result from breaking the law,
then we are bound to break the law, since as a result we will receive pleasure.
Consequently, we will receive the punishment as well, in order that we realize that in the
future we should not act in this particular manner.
For example, there exists a law that one is not permitted to steal money. But if a
person possesses a strong pull toward money and knows where the money can be stolen,
the crime will be committed. This is so even if there is no doubt that a theft will be followed
by a punishment; the potential thief will still be incapable of realizing the full extent of the
suffering that will follow the transgression.
Therefore, the person will decide that the pleasure from acquiring the money will
exceed the suffering from the punishment that will follow. But when the suffering actually
arrives, the thief then realizes that the suffering far exceeds expectations, and is certainly
greater than the pleasure procured by the theft. At that point, the thief becomes ready to
follow the law.
Once a person becomes free, a warning is given that the punishment for the next
transgression will be much greater. This is done so that one does not forget the suffering
that was experienced.
Thus, when the desire to steal arises again, one is reminded of both past suffering

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and the warning that the next punishment will be much more severe than the previous. This
provides some incentive to hold oneself back from engaging in theft.
From the above example, and from many others that surround us every day, we can
see that suffering directs a person to a path that otherwise would not be chosen if one were
to follow the ego. It is always easier to steal than to earn, to rest than to think or to work, and
to receive pleasure rather than suffer.
A person who decides to learn Kabbalah should know that it is for one’s own good. In
other words, a person should realize that the ego will benefit from such actions. None of us
can take upon ourselves the burden of work that is completely selfless, that does not yield
money, honor, pleasures, or hope for a better future.
Moreover, we are incapable of engaging in work that does not yield any results or
any fruits; that does not bestow anything upon another; that does not result in any benefit
being conferred upon another, or that appears to produce only senseless efforts in empty
space.
It is natural that our egoistic reason and bodies are not prepared for such a task,
because they have been designed by the Creator to receive pleasure.
We are forced to feel and act “altruistically” because of the suffering we receive in our
daily lives, the complete loss of any delight or desire in life, and our strong conviction that we
are incapable of receiving even the smallest pleasure from our surroundings.
Thus, we try altruism in the hopes that we will find redemption on this new path.
Although this new approach to life cannot be considered to be ultimate altruism, since the
goal of our actions is personal well being and salvation, this approach nevertheless
approximates altruism.
It allows us to proceed gradually to the desired state, under the influence of the Light
that is concealed in our actions. By behaving altruistically, but still benefiting because we are
giving in order to receive, we begin to perceive the Light (pleasure) that is concealed in our
actions. The nature of this Light is such that it corrects us.
We can observe similar events in nature. For instance, it can rain extensively, but
not in the places where the rain would yield the greatest benefit. Thus, the rain may fall in
the desert, where it produces little effect, rather than in the fields, where even the slightest
precipitation can give rise to a variety of crops.
Similarly, a person can be engaged in the constant reading of spiritual texts, but the
fruits, the spiritual understanding of the Creator that should result from these efforts, may be
elusive. On the other hand, it is possible that by investing a much smaller effort in studying
the right portions of Kabbalah, one may reap a greater harvest from one’s efforts.
The same can be applied to the study of Kabbalah. If the entire process of studying is
dedicated to the search for the Creator, rather than to the mere accumulation of knowledge,
then the whole life-bearing effect of Kabbalah is rendered in the proper place.
But if the person is studying only to receive greater knowledge or, even worse, to
display and take pride in the intellect, even Kabbalah will not yield the right results. In this
case, it can, however, reveal the proper goal of studying, and thus help focus efforts in the
right direction.
This process of correcting the direction of one’s thought occurs while one constantly
studies Kabbalah, since every human being’s task is to steer thoughts and deeds in the right

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direction. By doing so, they will commune uniquely with the goal of creation. This is
especially important while studying Kabbalah, since there is no stronger means of coming
closer to the spiritual.
In the Bible, Egypt symbolizes the supremacy of our egoism (it is thus known as
Mitzraim, from the words mitz-ra,the concentration of evil). Amalek represents the tribe that
waged war against Yisrael (derived from yisrayashar, straight, and el-Creator, that is, those
who want to steer themselves directly to the Creator).
Amalek personifies our egoism, which under no circumstances wants to permit a
person to become free of its power. Egoism is displayed (attacks) only in the desires of a
person who attempts to depart from the Egyptian captivity (egoism). Even if one is situated
at the very beginning of one’s path, Amalek will immediately bar that idividual’s passage.
A sudden increase in perceiving one’s egoism is sent only to those who are
distinguished and chosen by the Creator. Only those who are selected in order to attain a
higher understanding of the Creator are sent the Amalek. This is intended to invoke in these
people a real need for the Creator, rather than a mere need to improve their personal
qualities, or simply to "become good people."
An individual, so chosen, begins to experience great difficulties in the realm of self-
improvement. The desire to study, which was so strong in the past, suddenly wanes. The
body becomes heavy when faced with actions it must take. The struggle with the body (the
intellect, our "I") focuses on the body’s desire to understand who is the Creator, where the
body should go and why, and whether the body will benefit from each of the efforts.
Otherwise, without any benefit, neither the mind nor the body will give any energy or
motivation to do something. And in this they are correct, since it is silly to carry out actions
without knowing, in advance, the outcome. There is no way to transcend the limitations of
our human nature and enter into the spiritual meta-world, other than by acquiring the intellect
and the desires common to that meta-world.
These desires are opposite in nature to those of our world, since everything that we
perceive and sense, and everything that creates the picture of "our world," is the product of
our egoistic intellects and our egoistic hearts. Thus, only through the process of replacing
the existing notions with opposite notions (faith replacing reason, and ‘’giving” replacing
“taking”), can we enter the spiritual world.
But since we only possess those tools that we were originally created with, intellect
and egoism, and since our intellect works only for the benefit of our egoism, we cannot
produce the different tools of reason and perception internally. These must be obtained from
the outside, from the Creator.
For this reason, the Creator draws us to Himself, showing us in the process that we
are unable to alter ourselves without His help. Even though the body refuses it, we must
search for, and foster, a bond with the Creator, because only this bond will facilitate our
spiritual redemption.
We should not ask the Creator for the ability to see and experience miracles, falsely
believing that this experience will help us overcome the self and bring an appreciation of the
grandeur of the spiritual, rather than simply being overtaken by blind faith.
Kabbalah warns against such thinking when it tells the story of exodus from Egypt:
When Amalek attacked the people, Moses defeated them only by raising up his hands and
asking for the power of faith.

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 In the process of spiritual ascent, we constantly acquire a higher reason that
increases with each attained level.
As a result, we must constantly increase the power of our faith, so that it is always
greater than the power of the intellect; otherwise, we may once again come under the
influence of egoism.
This process continues until we are clinging only to the Creator. In the final stage we
attain the ultimate understanding, the utmost reception of Light (ohr hochma) without any
gradations. It is described as "the Light that was created in the first day of creation, in which
(light) the first man saw from one end of the world to another end;" and in the Kabbalah, it is
said: "at the beginning of creation, everything was engulfed in the highest Light."
In other words, when the Light shines on all, without distinguishing the levels, then
everything becomes clear. There is no beginning or end to this Light, there are no shades,
and everything is absolutely comprehensible.

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 AUTHENTIC KABBALAH TEXTS

Rav Laitman: Lesson on the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”. Part 5
Bnei Baruch, Israel
September 5, 2005

Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam

Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
lowercase italics: emphasized words
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew

"From the aforesaid their words are understood with utter simplicity: we have
seen that all the words and utterances our lips pronounce cannot help us convey
even a single word from the spiritual, Godly matters, above the imaginary time and
space. Instead, there is a special language for these matters, being The Language of
the Branches, indicating their relation to their Upper Roots."
Meaning, those who come to the Upper World, and feel, and see, and attain, -
attainment means the inner understanding of the matters, of the actions - and understand
them at their root, and how they happen, change, influence and come, then they can
determine names. Also, the names are taken from this world, because in the spiritual world
there are no names, only a sensation that one experiences in one’s Kelim.
Because all the worlds are one below the other, with the same details, and are all
interconnected from above downward, completely parallel to each other, alike and
complementary to each other, so that all the details in the Upper World are in the world
below it, and in the one below that, etc. That is why Kabbalists take names from our world
and them to designate forces in the Upper World, because the Upper World is only forces –
forces of bestowal, and forces of reception. Of course, only a Kabbalist, who is in this world
and in the Upper World, can develop this language, called the Language of Branches.
"However, this language, though extremely suitable for its task of delving in
the studies of this wisdom, is only so if the listener is wise in his own right…"
Meaning, there has to be a student who receives the study and explanations from the
Rav. The student, too, has to be in the same world, in the same place, where the great one
explains to him what is happening. Just like when we are in our world, where there are
grownups and there are children. We can explain to the children: “This is so, and that is
such…be careful of this". We explain to them in "this" and "that", without using too many
names or metaphors, and without getting into details. We teach them slowly.
But there has to be a common sensation between us, and we teach only the
connection between things that exist. But the adults and the young ones have to be in the
same world, with the same sensations, and the same understandings. The great one
descends to the degree of the lower one, and teaches him to the extent that the lower one
can perceive what the great one wants to explain.
That’s what he means when he says that only if the listener is wise in his own right.
Wise means that he attains the things explained to him. Meaning, he is in the Upper World.
"meaning that he knows and understands the way the branches relate to their
roots."
So, he is also in both worlds, only still not at the level of attainment of the great one.

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 "It is because these relations are not at all clear when looking from the lower
upwards. In other words, it is impossible to deduce any semblance in the Upper Roots
by looking at the lower branches."
Without the explanation of a Kabbalist, even if a person senses the Upper World, he
is like a child in this world. He lacks a guide that will explain and accompany him throughout
the days of infancy, until he understands the rules of the Upper World, the interconnections
between things. Then by knowing and with the preliminary experience, he will know how to
advance by himself.
Meaning, it’s not only the ingredients, the parts in the Upper World that are in parallel
to the lower world, but also the connections and the systems of behavior are also similar.
Just as we are with children, with their upbringing and growth, they afterwards begin to live
and function independently – it is so in the Upper World. The little one, the new one on its
way, must be tended to, educated, and acquire experience of the great one in order to
advance and acquire a certain amount of knowledge and experience – and then he will
advance alone.
There is some sort of package, which if he acquires, he can already advance on his
own. In this package there are Kelim, Orot (Lights), corrections, and Masachim (screens);
discernments between the Partzufim, degrees, Orot (Lights), Kelim and Reshimot. He has
enough there to serve him as a basis and example to advance onwards.
The thing is that without an example, no creature knows how to arrange the new
desires that appear in him – to live in a certain state. We always live out of memory, like
Alzheimer and diseases where the memory is erased. It’s terrible because the person
doesn’t even know what is before him; he is simply out of control. He was alive and suddenly
his memory was erased, and he does not know what is happening. There are such people.
They suddenly put a clock in the soup. All the connections are confused.
What does that indicate? If we don’t have memory, discernments, laws, relationships
and connections between the Reshimot, Masachim, Kelim, Partzufim, Orot Mekifim, Orot
Pnimiyim; a certain sum, a little internal world that we would have within, from which we
make deductions and advance to other desires. Without it, we won’t know how to advance.
Those who enter the Upper World, should not be fooled that everything is open to
them, they are as hosts, and "that’s it" they can go and operate. They do not operate
anything, just like a little one in our world. He just lies on the table, because he was put
there, does not know what to do with his hands and his legs like a newborn, and he cries.
That’s all he knows to do. That’s all. In short he is requesting help, not more.
That’s what Baal HaSulam says that this is regarding only if "the listener is wise in his
own right” - and not before this.
"Quite the contrary, the lower is studied from the higher. Thus, one must first
attain the Upper Roots, the way they truly are in spirituality, above any imagination,
but with pure attainment. Once he has thoroughly attained the Upper Roots through
his own mind, he may examine the tangible branches in this world and know how
each branch relates to its root in the Upper World, in arrangement, in quality and
quantity."
That’s a great thing that he is writing here. We marked it in bold here with good
reason. It means that we can never understand our world here, or ourselves, unless it is
from a higher degree. Meaning, all our sciences, everything we investigate, as much as we
may improve and excel in them, will not help us. Rather, in order to understand our world,
we have to ascend and understand the roots; and from the roots, come down to the

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branches. Then you will know why the branches exist the way they do, and are
interconnected and function the way they do. This is only on condition that one attains a
higher degree, and that’s how it is in spirituality too.
Where one stands and where one is, he doesn’t control it. He does not know what is
happening, just like us in our world. Do you know what’s going to happen next minute? No.
Do you know how you influence in your place? No. Do you know, what you receive and
why? Why things happen? No.
Why? – It all comes from a higher degree. So, we are never in a situation that we
understand, never; if I have ascended, I can then talk about my previous state, but not about
my current state. So, we should constantly go above reason, we don’t have a choice. No
choice. Always above reason. Take the control of the Upper One, of what happens to me,
and just follow it perfectly.
Take it as the best possible thing. Do you hear me? Yes, I can see how you listen. As
written: " the listener is wise in his own right" - he has his own mind.
Only with faith above reason, meaning Dvekut to the AHP deElyon (the Upper AHP),
or completion of the first kind as we learn as well, can he advance. Now we can understand
it. Meaning, we will never understand the present state – only the previous state. The
question is, am I allowed to use the foundation from the previous state to advance to the
next state? If you have advanced in this manner, then of course you will continue this way.
But if you go this way, you advance within reason. Even that is forbidden.
Meaning, in adhesion to the upper degree, I must not have an intellectual foundation;
my experience. But how can I do it? Can I get rid of my own experience? That’s why the next
degrees are always greater than the lower degree, because the great desire in it, erases all
my previous experience. In the previous life, it worked fine, but now it is not as before. Now it
is completely different, everything has changed; The forces are different, and everything has
changed.
Where is the Dvekut here, the Creator, or going above reason? It cannot be here, it’s
all opposite. The additions are always greater than the experience, than the reason, and that
helps one go above reason. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to exit the fact. Beforehand, I
saw already - is it hard for me to go along this path? It would be easier. I would add at every
degree, so with my experience in life I can acquire degree after degree. It would be better.
So, unlike this world, don’t think that it is easier in the next one.
"When one knows and thoroughly comprehends all that, there is a common
language between him and his teacher, namely The Language of the Branches. Using
it, the wise may convey the studies of the wisdom, conducted in the Upper, Spiritual
Worlds, both those he had received from his teachers and those he had discovered by
himself. This is because now they have a common language and understand each
other"
What is a common language? A language comes from the word Peh (mouth), Safa
(language) is like Sof (end,) where the Masach ends which stands at the Peh of the Upper
Partzuf. It’s not talking about our language, where one communicates with lips; we are
talking about a common study, Peh el Peh (mouth-to-mouth), in the common Masach that
they have; where one understands the other, when are they both in the Upper World, and
both have similar Masachim. Even though the one is great and the other is small, but they
have a common Masach.

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 Because the upper one descends to the degree of the lower one, just like a mother
can develop the embryo from the lowest degree of Kedusha. Despite that she is great
herself, she gives the Orot (Lights), corrections, and Kelim bit-by-bit to the Reshimo called
Zera (seed), and develops it; develops it onwards and onwards until it becomes a fetus.
Take a great and little one. What does it mean that they are in the same world, same
degree, in one language, one study? This means the great one descended to the degree of
the lower one, on the one hand. They have a common language and they understand each
other. But if the great one descended to the degree of the lower one and became like the
lower one, what can he teach him? Rather, internally the great one is still great, and
externally he just made himself small. It’s like when you baby-talk with children and play with
them, you know? But within this game there has to be a higher wisdom from an Upper
Degree. Then it is called studying.
How does the lower one receive it? He receives it because the wisdom is clothed in
his degree, as we learn it in Talmud Eser Sefirot. The milk that the mother gives that the
fetus receives at the time of Yenika (suckling), becomes Dam (blood). During the Ibur
(pregnancy the mother gives blood to the fetus, and then during the suckling she gives milk,
which becomes blood. The lower one receives what it can, and the upper one must convey
what the lower one needs.
The lower one does not know what it needs, but it has to be given in the right
clothing; that’s why the games have to be very sophisticated, to induce the right correction in
a person, the right progress. Meaning, the upper one descends to the lower one, and this is
called, clothing on itself a form like the lower one (Katnut), and inside it has to remain the
Upper One. Its purpose is to bring the lower one to his degree, of the Upper itself. Go on.
"However, when a disciple is not wise and comprehends the language on his
own, meaning how the branches indicate to their roots, naturally, the teacher cannot
convey even a single word of this spiritual wisdom"
Meaning, if a person still hasn’t crossed the Machsom (barrier), he cannot
understand what the spiritual world is, and not even the greatest Kabbalist can convey this
knowledge to him; a picture, an impression, a sensation. Rather, he will sense, understand,
and be impressed, but in his Kelim. Meaning, the picture will not be a true picture, of both
worlds. Yes.
"...much less negotiate with him in the scrutiny of the wisdom. This is so
because they have not a common language they can use, and they become like mute.
Thus, it is necessary that the wisdom of Kabbalah will not be taught unless he is wise
and understands with his own mind."
Meaning, it is possible for everyone to study the Wisdom of Kabbalah, it is not a
problem, but we have to understand that we learn the Wisdom of Kabbalah in order to attain
the Upper World. When we attain the Upper World, that is when we learn the Wisdom of
Kabbalah. But before that, we study it only in order to rise up there – only as a means.
We don’t study the Wisdom of Kabbalah itself; because studying the Wisdom of
Kabbalah means getting to know the connections and the spiritual phenomena themselves,
when one is already in them according to the equivalence of form with these forces, these
desires, these Masachim, directions, intentions, etc. Meaning, there is studying, which is like
a means, and there is studying which is already actual reception.
Then it is called Maase Merkava, Maase Bereshit. It is not something great or high,
just that, when you learn with corrected Kelim, where a person is already in spiritual
attainment. Then, accordingly, there is a relation between the teacher and the student, one

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who still has not crossed the Machsom. You have to induce an acceleration of the whole
process, so that he crosses the Machsom quickly, and begins to study the actual Wisdom of
Kabbalah. In the meantime, he is not studying the Wisdom of Kabbalah, that’s why everyone
can learn.
Then, when he crosses the Machsom, he can also be taught according to his own
degree. It's just that the teacher has to know – not the student, but the teacher has to know –
what and how to give the student, so that he will advance correctly and as effectively as
possible. And the student just tries as much as he can in his state of Katnut, to accept the
advice of the teacher and complements him through his own efforts. Yes.
"We must ask further: How then, has the disciple grown so wise as to know the
relation of branch and root through tracing the Upper Roots? The answer is that here
one’s efforts are in vain; it is God’s help that we need! He fills those who capture His
keen with wisdom, understanding and knowledge to acquire sublime attainments.
Here it is impossible to be assisted by any flesh and blood!"
In other words, the Creator actually holds the power to take a person from
corporeality to spirituality, and promote him to spirituality up to Gmar Tikkun. Of course, this
power exists and is intended for every single one, and awaits every single one. When he
says, “We need a Godly help here”, that there is nothing here but assistance from above, it
is correct.
The light that reforms comes from above, but it’s not that it’s a wonder that when one
attains one does not according to some fortune. It’s not the case. Anyone who makes the
correct, necessary effort then has a Kli where the Ohr operates. It’s not that there is some
desire here, something he feels like, or does not feel like , as it might seem from these words
in our corporeal understanding.
There is an unbreakable law: the Orot Elyonim (Upper Lights) are opposite the Kelim,
the deficiencies, and if one has filled one’s cup, then comes the Ohr that takes him out,
called Messiah, that takes him from corporeality to spirituality. But here it depends entirely
on a person, and not on the Creator or the teacher either. But to the extent that the person
reaches a sum of exertion that he has made, which is demanded of him, then the salvation
comes to him.
Question: Has the teacher necessarily been through the same stages that the
student goes through, or similar?
Everyone experiences everything. Everyone must experience every discernment... I
don’t know how I can explain it. It does not matter which society, or at which time a person is
in. If he goes through this world, through his egoistic desires into spirituality, then he
experiences the same discernments. These are Reshimot that appear. What is this world?
It’s only Reshimot that appear, and that’s how you perceive the picture.
The Reshimot have to appear to everyone, being that we all fell below, and
accordingly, a person realizes them and reaches above; to a higher realization. They are the
same things, it doesn’t matter what a person actually experienced in corporeality in this
world. He might be an Indian, or some European living in different cultures etc., but with
respect to spirituality, he goes through the same discernments – he experiences the same
discernments. It’s, as we learn, there are corporeal pleasures compared to spiritual
pleasures, the double concealment, single concealment, etc.
Everyone experiences all those things. Anyone who is greater than his friend, of
course, has experienced what his friend has to experience regardless of where the friend
was born, with what attributes, with what fates he was seemingly born, never mind. He too

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experienced those things. If he didn’t actually experience it in this world, than he did in
potential, but he has to experience it because the Reshimot are the same Reshimot; the
degrees are the same degrees, which everyone feels differently, but the ladder of degrees is
the same.
It’s impossible that Baal HaSulam or Rabbi Shimon did not experience the same
disappointments, the same questions as we, as we do. Although, who are they and who are
we. It doesn’t matter.
"Indeed, once He has grown fond of a person, and has endowed him with the
sublime attainment, one is then prepared to accept the vastness of the wisdom of
Kabbalah from a wise Kabbalist, for now they have a common language."
For the time being, a Kabbalist prepares his student to give the right amount of
exertion, to yearn for the right goal as much as he can understand and clarify it, that by that
he will be loved by the Upper Force, the Creator. This is called being liked by Him. What
does it mean to be liked by Him? It means that I am similar to Him. Being liked by the
Creator means that one tries to find this attribute called bestowal, and be as much as
possible advancing toward it, yearning it, and to give the required amount of effort, especially
during the study, when the Light that reforms, comes.
Then he will receive the elevation from this world to the spiritual world; he will sense
and understand the spiritual reality. Then surely he can come to his teacher and receive
from him, the explanation of: “where have I come to, where am I, lost among the trees?”
Then the teacher teaches him differently, and explains to him like a grownup to a child about
the new world that has been opened to the student. At first, there is the work of the student
and the teacher, as a preparation, and then there is the salvation from the Creator, and then
the teacher’s work with the student as actual guidance.
"Appellations Alien to Human Spirit.
With all that is said above, you will understand why we sometimes find
appellations and terms quite alien to the human spirit in books of Kabbalah. They are
abundant in the fundamental Kabbalah books, which are the Zohar, the corrections to
the Zohar and the books of the Ari. It is indeed bewildering why these wise men used
such lowly appellations to express such exalted, holy notions?"
Well, there are words that we take from nature, like Zivug (coupling), Partzuf (face),
all the body parts, the inner organs, the outer organs; even love, hate… they are seemingly
mundane things. Or terms like Ibur (pregnancy), Yenika (suckling), Mochin (mind), Neshika
(kiss), Zivug deYesodot (coupling of foundations), Zivug deNeshikin (coupling of kissing), all
kinds of such things.
There are also terms like Awzen (ear), Chotem (nose), Peh (mouth), Tabur (navel),
Sium Raglin (end of the legs), Etzbaot Raglin (Toes of the legs). We could have taken higher
words. We are not talking about the physical body and about corporeal, beastly actions;
actually they are beastly functions. What more can you say about them? So, why did they
take these names? Also stealing, killing – they should have been perhaps more subtle with
words, maybe a little more cultured.
"Yet, you will fully understand it once you have acquired the above
conceptions. This is because it is now clear that no language in the world can be used
to explain that wisdom, except one that is intended for just that end, namely The
Language of the Branches, relating to their upper roots."

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 Meaning, we must call the roots, spiritual forces that operate the objects, forces,
relationships, everything in this world, by those names. So, if in spirituality, a birth of Partzuf
is a birth, a correction of the Partzuf is Ibur or Katnut or Gadlut. Connection is Dvekut.
Distancing is hatred – there is no choice. We have to use these words because our
branches are called by that in our world, and there is connection between the root and the
branch.
"Thus, obviously, no branch, or fraction of a branch, should be neglected
because of its inferior degree, or not be used to express the desired concept in the
interconnections in the wisdom, as there is no other branch in this world to take its
place."
Here we learn about the Dam Leyda (blood of birth), Dam Tameh (impure blood), all
kinds of such things… They couldn't replace these things, they are natural things found in
the body, meaning, in the functioning, in the growth of the body, and accordingly, in the
functioning in the growth of the soul; there are the same stages, the same process in
spirituality.
"As no two hairs suck from the same foramen, so we do not have two
branches that relate to a single root. Hence, by leaving an incident unused we lose the
spiritual concept corresponding to it in the Upper World, as we have not a single word
to utter in its place and indicate that root. In addition, such an incident would impair
the entire wisdom in all its vastness, since now there is a missing link in the chain of
the wisdom connected to that concept."
Meaning, we have to be extremely careful, we have to maintain the Language of the
Branches very meticulously, in whatever we do or don't understand, and we don’t
understand anything between the connections of roots and branches, because we don’t see
the root. So, we cannot talk about the connections.
My wife sometimes laughs at me: "this is not blue, it’s green". Sometimes I get
confused. It’s not that I am color-blind, but sometimes it just happens to me. It’s not that we
deviate a little bit from the matter. If I replace even a single word with a different concept, the
entire picture changes. We don’t see it, but the whole picture is shaken up, and it doesn’t
matter if I name the other things correctly or not, but I will not perceive it correctly. I will not fit
the picture in the right way.
That’s a big problem, how then can we study? What is he warning us about - that it’s
forbidden to replace a word for another word? But how would I know what I replaced and
what I didn’t? Where I went wrong, where I didn’t? Who are you talking to? If I can only see
half of a thing and not the other, and the language connects both parts, what can I be careful
of?
First, you blindfold me and then you say: “Drive and be careful.” How can I do that?
But this is the counsel, the most correct counsel and advice. You don’t understand that you
are in concealment. You are not in the Upper World, and you have to try, in this world, to
define the Upper World correctly as much as you can. Meaning, right now you see this
world. Try and see the Upper Forces through it, which conduct this world; what they are.
Give a spiritual definition to everything in this world as accurately as possible, and then
you’ll, seemingly, through the matter, enter the forces that operate behind it. That’s what
they are saying.
That’s why Baal HaSulam so strictly gives us the interpretation of the words, and the
matters, and everything. What does he say? He says, you have to know this dictionary, the
language of branches provided - the interpretation of the words. He says, you have to know

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it by heart, it has to be "placed in a box". Meaning, you don’t know what it is, but it has to be
defined, so that if you are told some word, instead of a cup, you would see a spiritual cup;
that you understand this force.
This way you start interpreting, instead of this world, you start interpreting spirituality,
and then you come to see and feel what happens behind matter, behind the picture of this
world. So, that’s why they say that on the one hand, of course, you don’t see anything, but
you have to interpret correctly, and woe onto you if you make a mistake. By that they give
you the urgency and caution to yearn for the precise spiritual picture.
Question: I am trying to understand. Right now I am in this world. If I understand the
advice correctly, I should start in this world to imagine that forces that operate all kind of
things from behind? Let’s say at work my boss yells at me, I should imagine the force that
operates him, or maybe the same for a table?
Answer: At least, with what we study. At least, during the study. Forget about this
world. If you behave with your boss this way, who knows how you interpret it. You might be
erring not in the study, but erring with your boss, and that’s another matter. But we should
absolutely try in the study. That’s the most important thing in the study of the wisdom. By
that you draw Ohr Makif (surrounding light).
By raising MAN this Ohr Makif comes to you, because you want to enter it, you want
to see this picture; you want to be in it. And you interpret the MAN correctly, this is in order to
bestow like this, like that, these are the forces of resistance, bestowal. You interpret the
picture correctly and you want to identify with it, with forces, attributes, and calculations of
bestowal. According to the equivalence of form, when you yearn to be equalized with it, you
draw the Ohr Makif. It is in complete rest, but you activate the forces for it, and then it comes
for you, and it gradually corrects you.
That’s why it so important, the correct interpretation and constantly being in it. Now, if
you want to do it in your ordinary life on the street, or only during the study, I recommend
both. During the study, of course. If you read books of Kabbalah or just any holy book, such
as The Book of Torah, Gemara, whatever.
Of course, you surely have to try and imagine what’s behind it, a spiritual world.
Kabbalists told us about how we should try and get along with the donkey, an ox, or with
your neighbor, or whatever. Is that what they were trying to explain to us; how we should
marry in this world, and do all kinds of things in the field? Do they care what you do in the
field? They gave it primarily to correct the heart, as Iben Ezra (a Kabbalist) writes, so that
through these things you will interpret the forces that stand behind them, and you will see
that it’s completely not what you imagine in this world.
Then this world will seem to you like an imaginary world, and that world, of those
forces will be the real; because actually they are the ones that build this picture for you in
this world, the picture of this world. It’s not the exterior picture that is important. A few
students of mine are now building the internet site. I approach them, and I say, “I want it to
be blue, I want it to be round, whatever.” So they go and internally do all kinds of
calculations, and I see letters and numbers, and all kinds of symbols. What does it have to
do with pretty pictures, being round, colorful, this way, that way? They tell me: “No, we have
to change the internal commands", these are forces. "On the outside you will see a picture in
just a minute".
And I see that after he enters a few numbers that the picture changes. So, what’s
more important, what is the determining factor? It is determined by the internal entries, in
forces, from which this picture is made. The ones who work with computers and internet

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sites don’t see an external picture; for them it’s the internal engine which they interact with.
And that’s how we are; we start to enter inside.
"Thus it mutilates the entire wisdom…"
if he makes a mistake even in a definition
"…for there is no other wisdom in the world where matters are so fused and
intertwined, by way of cause and effect, primary and consequential, as is the wisdom
of Kabbalah, connected head to toe just like a long chain. Therefore, upon the
temporary loss of but a small cognizance, the entire wisdom darkens before our eyes
for all its issues are tied to one another very strongly, literally fusing into one."
Why? [Rav drawing] Because the Creator created the creation from the Upper Light –
Malchut de Ein Sof (The Kingdom of the Infinite), and everything exists within Malchut de Ein
Sof. Here you have Tzimtzum Aleph, Partzufim, Olamot (worlds); you have Igulim (circles)
and Yosher (Straightness). Everything is inside; this world - that’s the point of this world,
that’s us here, at the centre. Everything that happens, happens within this Kli, here is the
abstract Ohr (Light), the Creator, and here inside this circle is the creature.
And what is the Wisdom of Kabbalah? It is the wisdom that explains to us what
happens to us inside: the process, the beginning, the middle, the end – everything that
happens, that’s all the Wisdom of Kabbalah. Except where we are found, in this world, where
we are detached, unconscious, of all the other things, being that we are only at that black
point here.
So here we have our own science; what we call natural sciences. That’s it. That’s for
the time being, when I am detached from the rest of reality. But, when I begin to know the
rest of reality, to exit it outwardly and see the forces that operate on me, that give us birth
and arrange us, that lead us, then these sciences become completely negligent compared to
this wisdom that surely contains them as well.
If we see that all of this one system, one body, one desire, that goes through a
general and particular process, and everyone is interconnected as one body with all its
ingredients; then surely if I err in any discernment here, then this whole picture changes and
becomes distorted.
Sometimes we think incorrectly about a person in just one thing, and then his entire
picture changes in my eyes. I then already take whatever he does incorrectly. Then this
particular thing is corrected, and now I perceive everything that that person does and thinks
in a different manner. That is why here we have to understand just how important it is to us
in The Wisdom of Kabbalah, the Language of the Branches, to be accurate, and be
protective of all the definitions that the Kabbalists wrote for us; not to interpret anything
ourselves, but always go according to the definitions of the writer.
"Now you will not wonder at the occasional use of alien appellations. It is so
because they have no freedom of choice with appellations, to replace the bad with the
good, or the good with the bad. They must always use the branch or the incident,
which precisely points to its upper root in all its necessary measure. Moreover, the
subject matters must be expanded so as to provide an accurate definition for the eyes
of their fellow observers."
Question: Previously we read that the lower one will only learn from the upper one,
meaning that only from the upper world can one understand what happens here. So, if I
understand this advice correctly, on what basis should I try and understand the spiritual

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forces behind entities and events that happen to me. Am I not doomed to failure, according
to this rule?
Answer: I would say no. First of all, now I want to understand myself, my life, and the
world that I am in. In order to understand it - this is all my degree - I have to rise to a higher
degree. There are the forces that give birth to me, operate me towards something. Knowing
them means knowing my degree.
When I acquire the higher degree, from there I know my own degree; I seemingly
raise my own degree to that root. Why? Because I no longer live on the level of my degree, I
understand what happens in it from the aspect of the roots. Meaning, with this world I
ascended up to the degree of the world Assiya.
Let’s say that I am on the degree of the world Assiya. So, what happens to me and
how I should behave, and what I should do, and what for, and why, and for what purpose, I
don’t know. I rise to a higher degree, understand why and how I behave and what happens
in the degree of the world Assiya, by raising the world of Assiya to the degree of Yetzira, and
so on.
A person who comes from this world to the world of Ein Sof (Infinite) is like a carpet
by which he rolls through all the degrees. When that person reaches the world of Ein Sof, he
then sees that all the worlds, everything, is incorporated together with him in Ein Sof, and
there are no Olamot (worlds). Olamot comes from the word Ha'alama (concealment),
hidden. So there are no concealments there, it’s all infinite, unlimited. An unrestricted
revelation. But until we reach Ein Sof, the Gmar Tikkun of our Kelim, there are always things
that we still haven’t discovered with respect to the current degree, but rather with respect to
the previous degrees –they are understood.
But even regarding the previous degrees, what does it mean that one understands?
We don’t attain the entire previous degrees. There are vessels there that we cannot use, like
Lev ha Even (stony heart), or vessels that are still not fully corrected. But relatively, we
understand the general functioning of the system.
Question: I also don’t understand the advice you gave, how to try and see the forces
behind the events in this world that operate them. Can you give an example?
How can I give an example? An example means that from this world to try and see
the spiritual world. The spiritual world is all forces. I gave the example of computer
programmers. They see through their picture what needs to be corrected. What is this
picture called in their language?
They do not describe this picture. When they look at the picture, they don’t look at the
picture, rather the forces that create the picture. For example, speak to painters. They don’t
say: “Oh, yes, this picture is beautiful !", and such things –no. They look at how a certain
color was used, what measure, what kind of brush was used, and so and so. They look at
the technique, because they understand that the exterior picture is what we see, but they
want to see the reasons for it.
In any profession it is like this. You see a beautiful car, it looks very flashy, something
unbelievable. For a mechanic, just remove all these coatings; he wants to see the engine; he
wants to see the chassis, the structure, and how it’s all built. “Oh, that’s a good car.” What do
you mean, "It’s a good car"? All you see now is a wagon after you take it apart. No, for him,
that’s the car – and not all the pretty covers. The expertise is in reaching the root and seeing
the inner arrangement – even in this world. But here we cannot discover it and penetrate
inwards. But through the right definitions, when you try and define each and everything
correctly for everything you see, everything you imagine.

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 You may imagine whatever you want – this world, the spiritual world, you and your
boss, and your wife, and your kids, and your friends. It does not matter how, but give it
correct spiritual definitions. You don’t know what they are, but go according to what’s written.
Try and live according to these definitions. That’s called entering into the picture.
Trying to enter inwards; to see through the pretty coatings of this world, to see the
inner engine. This is called the higher degree. The more you try, the more you will feel: “I
want to give, I want to bestow, I want to have these types of calculations, in connection with
other souls. Whether you like it or not, because of this interpretation, you will start to identify
with the spiritual nature. That’s all you need. This identification, this inclination, will be raising
MAN, raising of deficit – yearning. This will bring you the Light that reforms.
Question: So to summarize I have to give the right definitions?
Answer: Regarding giving the right definitions during the study. Where is this
written? Part One of Talmud Eser Sefirot (TES – The Study of the Ten Sefirot). Look at what
he writes in the “Order of the Study.” It’s at the end of the "Introduction to the Study of the
Ten Sefirot”. He writes at the end: “why did Kabbalists obligate each person to study the
Wisdom of Kabbalah?” Item 155. Then he writes, "Therefore, in order to rescue the readers
from any materialization, I compose the book Talmud Eser Sefirot. There I collect all the
principal essays concerning the explanation of the ten Sefirot in as simple and easy
language as I could. I have also arranged the table of questions and table of answers for
every word and issue".
He later writes that before he wrote Talmud Eser Sefirot, he wrote an interpretation to
the “Tree of Life” called Panim Meirot Umasbirot and then Ohr Pnimi, Histaklut Pnimit. Then
he writes "The Order of the Study". “First, study the Pnim (interior), meaning the words of the
ARI, printed at the head of each page till the end of the book.
Even though you will not understand, repeat them several times, until you know them
by heart. And then study the explanation of the Ohr Pnimi, and delve in it in a way that you
can study and understand the Pnim well, even without the explanation. Then study the
explanation of the Histaklut Pnimit, until you understand and remember it entirely… and the
questions…do the same for each question. Study and memorize them…", and so on. In
short, study everything and try as much as possible to correctly interpret the words in their
spiritual meaning. Because you are studying something - you don’t know what it is, and you
will never know. But intentionally through the correct interpretation, by yearning for the
correct thing, you will enter it.
All right, we’ll continue this topic onwards in the next articles of Baal HaSulam that
we’ll begin tomorrow. For now we've finished the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of
Kabbalah”. Tomorrow we’ll start the article “A Speech for the Completion of the Zohar.”

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 DAILY LESSON & RAV’S BLOG: SELECTED EXCERPTS
You Have All the Cards in Your Hands

In every spiritual state on the spiritual levels, there is the Inner Light and the
Surrounding Light. But in our state, as long as we do not attain restriction and a Masach
(screen), we can be assisted only by the Surrounding Light.
The force of the Surrounding Light depends on how much we value it, on our
appreciation of the upper, of the next level, which means the Creator. But we cannot value
Him. We were only given a couple of means by which we can develop an inner feeling of the
greatness of the upper. The upper for us is the group, the teacher, and the books, meaning
the study that tells us about the spiritual world and the Creator hidden behind all these
means.
We begin to value the upper who is external to us by using all these means: the
group, the teacher, the books, and the intention of attaining equivalence of form with the
Creator in order to bring Him contentment. Although we don’t feel it for the time being, even
if we just talk about it trying to feel it from time to time, we raise the greatness of the upper in
us by that. Then at a certain point He becomes so important that He allows us to feel His
presence next to us.
It’s because everything that is external to a person is the Holy Shechina, the Godly
presence. But everything depends on how much we value Him. All the other rules of
behavior in the group as to how we should speak, what to demand of it, and how to treat it,
stem from this condition, from the need to value the upper.
Accordingly, the Surrounding Light shines upon a person. It is the real upper Light,
but in the meantime it operates on the lower as the Light that Reforms, which means that it
brings about changes in us by gradually bringing us closer to bestowal. Then finally it will
give us the “restriction” and the Masach, which means the ability to work spiritually.
Then we will begin to understand where we are and what is happening to us, but at
the same time, we have to work in faith above reason and value the upper despite all the
problems the upper sends us and all the reasons for an opposite attitude. This is our work
that is based on our great appreciation of the upper until we adhere to the posterior of the
upper as if it were His face. Then we will see that it was never His posterior, but that He has
always turned His face full of light to us. Thus we leave exile and reach redemption.
At first it was as if you were unconscious, but then you begin to feel that you are in
exile, so, step by step, you begin to get closer to redemption and finally you leave exile and
come into the Light. These are the levels of ascent according to your appreciation of the
upper, and later your adhesion to Him.
We have all the means, all the roads are open, and everything depends on us. There
is nothing else that we need. The Creator has given us every possible opportunity and
everything else is up to the person. We will not be forgiven and there are no concessions
from Above if we don’t do our work, since otherwise we will not build our spiritual vessels.
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/13

The Language with Which the Creator Speaks To You

Question: What is the difference between a person who overcomes the evil that is
revealed in him through his efforts and the person who doesn’t make efforts in order to

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overcome and waits until the suffering accumulates to the extent that in the end it will force
him to move from his place?
Answer: By a person making his own efforts, he saves himself from suffering and
saves time. The sufferings that were spared multiplied by the time he saved gives a huge
advantage according to the intensity of the suffering that he avoided. And with all of that, one
needs to multiply by another factor included in this formula, the Creator. Through this state
He gives you the opportunity for contact with Him, but you degrade the opportunity and don’t
go toward the connection.
All of these opportunities that you degraded and didn’t realize accumulate with you
as additional Aviut (coarseness/thickness) and as punishment since you didn’t want to pay
attention to the fact that it was a call that came from the Creator. Rather, you turned it into a
regular problem, which came from relatives or from a friend that insulted you.
You didn’t see that the Creator sent His messenger to you, and according to your
level, you should have recognized it. So what do you suggest to do with yourself in this
situation? We are forced to give another few blows, pinches, so that you will feel that it isn’t
by accident that all these people are surrounding you, but everything comes from the
Creator since there is none else besides Him.
It’s because you are in a state of unconsciousness and don’t feel it. You need to be
brought back to consciousness so that you will be able to rise to the next level. Each level,
except your relationship, includes the relationship with the Creator: “Israel, the Torah and the
Creator are One.” But if you don’t pay attention that everything is connected to the Creator,
that from the beginning everything came from Him and in the end will return to Him, then you
will not complete your clarification.
Thus, you need to see the entire world as angels—whether good or bad, meaning
with pleasant sensations and unpleasant sensations—directing you towards the right path.
They can be relatives or your children, those who touch your heart, or they can be total
strangers, or it can be some event in the world.
No matter what form it comes to you—via your wife, your children, your friends, the
police, your manager at work, health problems, the weather, or the news—you must accept
it as different manifestations of the Creator. It is He who stands before you and asks: “Well,
when are you coming to Me? I so want to embrace you! Come climb my mountain already!”
However, you turn your back on Him and look down at your feet. You don’t pay attention that
the entire world is the language of the Creator who is talking to you
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/12, “The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

How Can We Justify The Unjustifiable?

Question: How can we justify the Creator if we see great suffering like with people
who are terminally ill?
Answer: It is impossible to justify it now because we don’t want to lie or pretend to
persuade ourselves or to comfort others. There are different psychological methods of
influencing a person that enable him to change his point of view with regard to tragic events
in his life. But Kabbalists say that real change is possible only if the Light that Reforms
influences a person and changes his state.
The current state is the level a person is on. So he will look at what is happening
differently, will feel and understand things differently according to a new level, which he

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attains thanks to the Light that Reforms. In this case, the change is not because those
around him have confused him and convinced him. After all, they are deceiving him and not
letting him see the truth, as if giving him a sedative. They are trying to show him that
everything is fine, and by that they lie to him and block the path to the truth for him.
We have a different method; we don’t calm, but only support a person so that he will
discover his ego. We help him discover his ego and deal with it.
A person can deal with every state he faces in two ways: One is to somehow blur the
problem and confuse himself, which is turning to religion, different beliefs, and mysticism.
This is what everyone in our world does.
But a person can do the opposite: open your eyes and desire wider and start working
in order to draw the Light that Reforms so that it will correct you. Then from this new level, a
person sees the correct picture.
How do I draw this Light? By justifying whatever happens, and that it all comes from
one source, “There is none else beside Him.” I want to discover the upper force, and nothing
other than that.
It isn’t that I simply accept what happens like a submissive believer, but I want to
discover the upper. I understand that all my feelings are clarions from the Creator who wants
the created beings to discover Him and to discover that “There is none else besides Him”
and that He is “Good and benevolent.”
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/08/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

Checking By Action

Striving forward towards the goal of creation, we discover destruction inside of

ourselves. Conversely, those who do not strive forward do not discover destruction inside of
themselves. In exactly the same way, one can reveal the malfunctions in an automobile only
if one starts the car and tries to move it. Otherwise, everything seems to be in order. I have
not yet found any problems inside of me, and I attribute evil to something else.
That is why only the one who strives towards the goal reveals destruction, only the
one who strives towards unity of the group discovers how far away he is from that.
Movement towards the good and striving for wellbeing brings us a bad feeling, the realization
of evil.
What for? So that on the next level I would cry out asking for help, raise the MAN
(prayer). And then I will receive changes, the qualities of bestowal. That is where movement
occurs and not in anything else. One must check oneself in this.
So, I have been applying efforts, I was uniting with the group, and I wanted to be
together with the friends in order to come out into the spiritual world, to arrive at bestowal, to
the Creator. And what did I receive as an answer? The realization of evil: how much I do not
want to go to the Creator, do not want to be in the group. I discover my true state; the truth
comes out into the light.
If I put down my hands now, then I will miss the opportunity that this revelation
presents. The Creator said: “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a
spice.” It means that now I am starting from the evil inclination, and up until now I carried out
work in order to reveal it.
First of all, in order to reveal the evil, I must be connected to the group, the study, the
Creator, and other means. As a consequence, the evil inclination has been revealed to me.

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Afterward, I address an appeal (MAN) for the Torah, spice, for the Light that Reforms
concealed inside of it.
In reality, all of that is good. Since if we were to judge it from the point of view of
bestowal, then the revelation of the evil is the essence of the good. But when will I attain
revelation?
And then, the next state comes to me; I receive the answer of the One above to my
appeal—MAD. This answer can be so great, that I will attain group connection and a vessel
in which I will reveal the Light. Then the Light and the vessel will become bestowal, which I
have attained after numerous similar actions.

This way, on the one hand, receiving, the evil inclination is always characteristic of
me, but on the other hand, I get the force of bestowal, the Light.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/12, Writings of Rabash

Decide Who Will Rule over You

We have to go through a long process of clarification. From the beginning of

creation to its completion, all we do is clarify how we can be pleased relative to the giving
force, the source, the Creator.
We go through some of our clarifications unconsciously, without our sensations and
understanding, as a preparation to the states that will follow and will require our
understanding and feelings. This is in the same way a small child grows or any other
development happens. You have to go through several steps and all kinds of calculations
and remain in them for quite some time until you start sensing that there is a new level of
sensitivity, comprehension, and clarification, and you ascend to a next level.
Later, the novelty of a new step as if is erased and slips from our memory: We get
used to it, and as we know a habit dulls the flavor. Over and over again, unconsciously we
try to break through and move ahead as much as we can until new sensations arise and we
arrive at new conclusions.
The major discernment is who will rule over us: the Creator or Pharaoh, the staff or
the serpent? Obviously, on the surface each of us is ready to rise to the level of the other
bestowing nature. But how do we get there?
That’s where the struggle between the Pharaoh and Moses or Aaron within a human
being takes place. It happens within a person. The dispute is over for whom do I strive?
When I am told that no matter how hard a person tries, it won’t help, why should I bother
trying?

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 On the other hand, it is said “No one can help me except myself” and “I have labored
and found!” The problem is that a person is unable to realize that changes have to be of an
internal nature and have to occur from within. Only due to inner changes does a person
enable himself to make a new round of calculations.
Any change totally depends on the mercy from Above: it will either happen or not. But
we still have to continue working, and our job is to find mercy in the Creator’s eyes that gave
us this support.
In fact, it really proves the phrase: “I labored and found!” That is, our request is not a
request per se, but rather a test of the intensity of our work that is split half and half. One half
is completed by us, which makes the Light, the other half, comes from Above and makes the
correction.
The staff must not be dropped to the ground because it will turn into serpent, which
means that we shouldn’t give up on our knowledge; on the contrary, we have to hold it up
high. “Faith above reason” stands for the work that we perform with our intellect to the best
of our capacity letting the Light manifest and correct us.
How Do You Learn From The Upper?

Question: How can the lower evoke the upper to help him?
Answer: To the extent that I annul myself, I give myself a chance to receive from the
upper force, thoughts, attributes, and desires correctly instead of my self-powers, thoughts,
attributes, and desires. In fact, I change my form. But the new form is so different from the
old form that it is as if I totally change myself.
In fact, only my values and my perspective change, but it seems as if I become a
totally different person.
The prayer, MAN, means that a void has been created in me, a deficiency for the
attribute of bestowal, instead of old desires to receive I had before. I don’t know what
bestowal is and what it should be like so that it can take the place of the desires I have
restricted, but I want that a new heart will enter the void I have prepared for it, a new mind.
This means that I raise MAN, a prayer, by making room inside my desire to receive for the
new use.
Then in response, I receive MAD, the force of overcoming. So this answer from
Above is called Mei Dechurin. In addition to the force, I receive a mind, since I begin to
weigh to what extent I can work with this force of overcoming, in order to build the head of
my spiritual Partzuf and to resemble the upper.
I already identify the upper and understand how I should work in order to act like
Him. It is of course not much in the meantime, just like a small child who tries to resemble a
grownup, but this is how we learn.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/11/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Look In the Right Place and You Will Find

Rabash, “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God”: What does it mean that the
Lord heals the brokenhearted, since we know that the main thing in a person is the
heart, that “a heart” is the vessel that receives the Holiness from Above. This is as we
learn from the shattering of the vessels, which means that if a vessel is shattered, it
cannot contain anything that is put in it.

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 In addition, if a heart is broken, it means that the desire to receive dominates
the heart and so the abundance cannot enter it, since everything that the desire to
receive receives goes to the shells and this is called “the breaking of the heart.”
The Creator can’t help a person unless the heart feels that it is broken, since until
then, there is no one to help. The heart is broken at once but we correct it in small parts, and
this is indeed a great easing in our work. After all, we don’t have to make great efforts in
order to correct everything all at once from our current egoistic state straight to the world of
Ein Sof (Infinity).
Instead, we can perform a gradual correction, in small portions, as if we are
transferring the King’s treasure, moving one coin at a time from one place to another. Still,
it’s hard for us to make the first move since it means moving to the opposite intention: from
in order to receive to in order to bestow. So it can’t take place unless we clarify our desires
and our intentions, unless we differentiate the desires and the intentions, unless we
understand what is in our power and what is not, and where it is our part and where it is not.
We must clarify all this so that we can discern exactly what a broken heart is, and
what exactly needs to be corrected. It takes a long time to clarify this discernment. This is
because we forget about the group, about others, and about the fact that the desire has to
be collective. Everyone begins to think about himself, about how he feels inside, and this has
nothing to do with a broken heart.
The heart is broken since it can’t connect with others. This is what the shattering is
about, but we don’t think in this direction at all. We try to imagine our personal shattering,
and it takes a long time until we locate it correctly. But the moment this happens, it becomes
clear that it’s a simple and concrete problem that needs to be corrected.
It takes a lot of work for the vessel to understand that nothing can happen to it
individually, but only collectively, that it’s only part of the general vessel and one part in the
Light. But the moment there is a diagnosis, there is no need to call the doctor and
immediately see how the correction and the filling appear in that place.
So it’s very important that we reach the general thought, the general feeling, so that
everyone will feel that he is in a force field of mutual guarantee. All our searching is done in
the totally wrong place, we are searching inside ourselves instead of searching between us,
and thus all our powers go to waste.
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/13/13

The Correction of Evil: Going All The Way

A person must discover the whole corrupt vessel of the desire. But he discovers it
only if he wants to reach bestowal, goodness. So if a person hasn’t started his spiritual work
yet and doesn’t connect with the group hoping to reach bestowal upon the Creator, he
doesn’t even approach the evil inclination.
So the evil inclination Kabbalists speak about doesn’t exist in our world. Our
corporeal desires are aimed at food, sex, family and the human desires are aimed at money,
respect, and knowledge. On the whole it is called the “animal” level.
As for the evil inclination, it starts on a higher level if a person is inclined to love,
connection and mutual guarantee. If he acts in this direction, then to that extent he
increasingly discovers the size of the evil inclination. At the same time the Light is revealed
to him, which evokes in him the desire to correct himself. Eventually, a person comes to a

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state where he can’t bear the evil and from that certain point he begins to turn it into a good
inclination.
There are two levels here: Bina, which means to bestow in order to bestow (the
correction of 248 desires) and Keter, to receive in order to bestow (the correction of 365
desires). Eventually a person corrects all the evil inclination.

But evil is first revealed when a person makes the first attempts to bestow. So the
evil inclination is not revealed in our world, which means not in a person who doesn’t draw
the Light that Reforms in order to correct himself. All the discernments that are revealed in
ordinary people don’t need correction since it’s their nature. Their desires and their attributes
don’t stand in the way of true connection.
The truth is only being revealed these days. In the center of humanity there are
Kabbalists (the forefathers) and we, Bnei Baruch, are around them. All the others do not
yearn for bestowal, but they will receive an “illumination” from us and then they will
understand that there is only one way—connection.

A person who tries to form a system of mutual connection is the one who discovers
the evil inclination, the force of resistance, his reluctance, and the unpleasantness of this
idea. So if a person doesn’t discover his connection with the environment, with the group, he
doesn’t discover the evil inclination since it’s only discovered in what is against the shattering
among us. So it’s a great thing to discover all the matter of creation, the whole evil
inclination, and only the one who advances further and further until Gmar Tikkun (the end of
correction) can do that.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/10/12,
“Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Everything That Happens Is For Our Benefit

Everything that happens is for our benefit. All the concealments, judgments,
and problems arising show us those places in which we need to put efforts at this

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time, at this step, in order to advance. Therefore, first of all, we should try to obtain a
correct view of the entire reality.
Everything that we see in front of us are our own faults, our inner world, that result in
this picture of the world. That is why we see only negative around us. If you want to use
every revelation correctly, you must rise above every state by faith above reason to try to
see a perfect picture, the world of Infinity, through this earthly reality that is visible to our
eyes.
If you cancel your negative attitude towards reality and approach it positively, then
instead of the picture that you see now, you will see the Light clothed in desires.
The main thing is to justify the states through which you pass, understanding that
they are given to you so that you would overcome them and decide that they are sent by the
Creator with the best intentions so that, through them, you would change your attitude.
Nothing needs to be changed but the attitude. A change in attitude, that is, intention,
changes the whole reality.
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/5/13

Like Dough in a Baker’s Hands

We constantly go through opposite states since basically there is a desire to

receive with all its egoistic attitude, understanding, and feeling. The Creator’s desire,
however, is a desire to bestow, and it is opposite from our desire.
We don’t know what this opposite attribute means for us; we don’t know it. We only
feel how it operates on us even if we don’t know what it is and who it is. We still have to
clarify this. This is why this world was created in which instead of the Creator we are
surrounded by different forms and creatures that seemingly influence us instead of Him.
We have to show understanding towards them; that it isn’t them who operate on us,
but rather the upper force who is behind all of that turning to us through different people or
through different events in life. I have to accept these actions and these influences as
essential, in order to mold me, like dough, and to create the right form that is ready to be
baked.
If I accept these things and try to find the powers to cope with the Creator’s work on
me, I begin to know Him through this work, and His hands that hug me like dough.
Thus I go through two phases: First I agree and am ready that He should perform all
the necessary work on me. I feel the strong pressure of His hands on me, like on a piece of
dough, until He molds me correctly, in the form of bestowal, the level of Bina, “to bestow in
order to bestow.”
I am ready for anything, as long as the Creator shapes me in this from. It is very hard
for me, since as He works on me, He applies strong pressure. Then I want to go on, even to
the state of to receive in order to bestow, in order to ascend and to rise like yeast. This
means that the desire to receive itself already participates in this motion and yearns for the
form that the Creator shapes him into. Thus we attain an equivalence of form with the
Creator. To bestow in order to bestow is called “Matzah,” and to receive in order to bestow is
called “Hametz” (leavened food), the real bread that in its corrected form joins the Creator’s
form that is imprinted in the created being.
But first all our work is to accept all the forms that come to us that imprint the attribute
of bestowal in us and to accept them as desirable. In order to do that, we should use the

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help of the environment as much as we can and all the means that were given to us in order
to prepare ourselves for the receiving the Creator’s bestowal, His work on a person.
It may seem to a person that he does that, but if he doesn’t use the external support
that is meant especially for that, then it is only an illusion that he is advancing towards
accepting the upper forms, but in fact, he is not ready yet to become a spiritual embryo.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/13, Shamati #15

Joyful Are Those That Seek The Creator

As it is sung in the song: “Sing for Him, Chant to Him…joyful are those that
seek the Creator”. All our work depends on it; are we capable of being in self-scrutiny,
criticism, inner unpleasant discernments, so by ourselves, in our forces, we reveal the evil
even before we stumble into it through compulsion, “in its time“? It is necessary to reveal it
before that, in “hastening time”: pulling ourselves into connection, even though it is against
our nature, revealing the evil, and finding a cure before the blow.
Because in the cure there is part of the poison, part of the snake, so it cannot be
pleasant. And if we are capable of finding the cure ahead of time, then we progress as
workers of the Creator, by requesting of Him.
Therefore one doesn’t need to be afraid of the revelation of evil and from the wicked
being revealed. The main thing is to see this revelation correctly. Until all the evil and flaws
are reveled to the end, we will not come to the good and only if we will reveal it together with
the correct preparation to reveal the illness in order to correct it.
Because there is no doubt that all the “wicked” already exist. If a thought, a desire,
and an urge come to a man, it is a sign that it was already in him before. But if we reveal it
by preparing ourselves correctly, then we open this “Pandora’s Box” and we quickly and
easily correct all the sins; this is called pleasant and short path. But if we are not ready for
such a revelation and do not want it, then we will go in a long, difficult painful path until it is
finally be revealed.
It is impossible to prevent the pain completely, but it needs to be a pain of healing as
a man that goes for surgery, treatment for a wound, or gets dental care. It is not pleasant,
but we agree to it; therefore, everything depends on preparation. And if a correct preparation
is made, then the group, the community, and the world groups are ready to see the
revelation of evil, and then “Joyful are those that seek the Creator,” and we will have what to
sing to Him about.
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/13

“A Thousand Times the Righteous Will Fall And Rise Again”

Question: Why is it that my mind understands that the Creator is worthy of being
justified for what He is doing to me right now, but I am feeling bad nonetheless? Why can’t I
affect my inner state with external actions such as a prayer?
Answer: What your desire is feeling at the moment is, in fact, you. In spirituality, you
can’t pretend and say something you don’t feel. You have to come to the correction of your
heart. And before anything else, we still have to figure out what exactly is in our hearts.
If you are crying, what is crying in you: your eyes or your heart? That’s the difference!
The problem is that everything we do is on the outside, while the science of Kabbalah is the
internal wisdom, the inner part of the Torah. You must dig into the heart of hearts, study, and
test it.

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 Then you’ll understand that external actions only stand in your way and cover the
authentic image up; they deceive and confuse you. You need to bare your heart and work
with it without any outer theatrics, laments, and tears!
If you take a sedative and stop raging, will it really turn a sinner in you into a
righteous one? No, everything is evaluated by the inner feeling in the heart. And we know
what it is like. We think that all we have to do is to become embittered and make ourselves
cry. Kabbalah doesn’t cancel external actions, but it wants them to reflect the internal state
since without it being true, our work is pointless, and we won’t fulfill our designation.
Therefore, don’t fear that you’ll have to become a “sinner” at one point and
“righteous” at another. They are two stages of the same spiritual degree, as it is said: “One
cannot carry out a Mitzva (commandment) unless one breaks it first.” This means that one
first undergoes the burdening of the heart (an additional load of egoism), and he is regarded
as a “sinner” who broke the “Mitzva” and feels to what extent he is unable to do it.
And then, he gets stronger with the help of the environment, demands the Light that
Reforms, corrects his desire, and becomes “righteous,” only to fall again. After all, he
receives another dose of egoistic desire and turns into a “sinner” once more, in order to keep
correcting himself in order to become “righteous.” It is said: “A thousand times the righteous
will fall and rise again.”
Every spiritual degree starts with a new load of egoism, and you start it as “a sinner.”
Afterward, you finish correcting it and reach adhesion with the Creator at this degree, and
then you are regarded as the righteous.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/2/2011, Shamati No. 16

Reaching the Other Is Reaching Yourself

Question: We often speak about the other; what is the desire to receive of the other?
Answer: All of reality that you can imagine is all about the other; in other words, it is
everything that is outside the “self.” We should understand that the “self” is merely a spark
and that’s all. Everything else is restricted and unimportant. You may eat, drink, and enjoy
life, but only in order to sustain yourself. Everything is determined by one’s intention.
You must see yourself as a spark. Everything else is the animal level and you should
provide what it needs, but all your attention should be aimed outwards, towards what is
external to the spark. There, outside yourself, is your desire, your spiritual vessel, everything
that you can only imagine: all of the still nature, the vegetative, the animal and the speaking
levels.
You can manage automatically with the first three levels of your external desires (the
still, vegetative, and animate levels) since there is no resistance on their part. But we have
trouble with human nature since, in it, you see yourself, your essence, what you are. It’s like
the atlas of your inner spiritual anatomy with all its components. Everything is in there, and
still, it’s your desire, and so you should work with it.
It doesn’t mean that you have to correct others. Simply by worrying about them, you
discover that they belong to you. This is why we disseminate. It’s as if you want to reach the
others, to pass on the method of correction to them, but in order to get close to them you
have to understand and to feel that it is your own “self.” Then, by really feeling yourself in
them, you begin to understand what is written in the books of Kabbalists.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/4/13,”Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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impressed and would like to receive the lessons as a student (Joe from Michigan)
…I found one of your newsletters here on the Unit that someone throws out. On the
front of it the title was “Kabbalah for the Student”. It was great, very informative. So I want to
ask you to please put me on your mailing list (Marty from Texas)
…I am writing this letter to thank you for sending me the Kabbalah for the Student
part 6 and for keeping me in your mail list. The studies are very interesting and informative.
The growth of the soul and realization of the truth is the most liberating feeling and reason
for enjoying the studies. I was moved to another prison facility and I would like to continue
with the studies and growth that it produce (Javier from California)
…The other day while on the phone a passerby handed me Issue 8 – October, 2012
magazine for inmates. It was very random, but my believe is it is for a reason, My conscious
/ subconscious attracted it through the help of the Creator. I have very much enjoyed what I
have read. I am requesting more teaching literature (John from Nevada)

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 SMILE! 

Between Left and Right

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 Friends,
If you want to acquire further books on the wisdom of Kabbalah

read the information below!

1. Please send us the information about the library in your facility; we will start sending
the books there right away (please include a postal address and any other additional
info that you think we need to have).

2. Direct your request and the library information to the address:

Bnei Baruch USA
Kabbalah Research Institute
2009 85th Street, Suite 51
Brooklyn, NY, 11214

3. Don’t send your requests to the Publisher because all the correspondence is
being redirected back to us.

Students from Pennsylvania: We have already sent the first collection of the books to all
the libraries of the Pennsylvania prisons. Those of you who are housed in these facilities –
request the book from your library!

We are going to do our best to provide you

with as many titles as we can afford

Friends,
It's important for us to know that those of you who get released from prison still stay
in touch with us.
You can start by visiting the website of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education Center at
http://edu.kabbalah.info where you'll be offered a number of self-study courses of different
levels
The center broadcasts live classes and provides students with other services like
access to the library of authentic Kabbalah materials as well as to a lesson archive and
Question and Answer Forum.
When you feel that you are prepared enough to move on, our main informational
internet resource at http://kab.tv/ will be your next step. Here you'll find Kabbalah TV Live
Stream with daily lessons of Rav Laitman and more.
Also you can join one of our local Kabbalah groups. Let us know about your location
upon discharge and we'll hook you up with the closest group in your area.

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