A question I received: You wrote that man developed from the ape because of a spiritual gene he has. Did you mean that man developed from an ape physically, or was it a spiritual process, which led to the emergence of a person with a soul?

My Answer: Man physically emerged from the ape when a new Reshimo (gene) emerged in it. However, in spirituality, a “man” is someone who has begun to acquire the quality of bestowal and love. A person then becomes Adam, which in Hebrew means, “similar to the Creator.” The great Kabbalist the Ari writes about this, as does Baal HaSulam in Chapter 3 of Talmud Eser Sefirot. The Biblical story about the creation of the world is also talking about the spiritual creation of the worlds and man, and in fact, the whole Torah is about this.

The physical matter was formed after the Big Bang according to the laws of nature. Baal HaSulam writes about the geological periods of gradual cooling and heating of the earth, with each period lasting 30,000 years. Kabbalah is a science – the physics of the Upper World, and it does not contradict other sciences. On the other hand, religion interprets the Torah (or the Bible) literally, without understanding that the Torah’s text is Kabbalistic.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Didn’t the Monkeys Come Down from the Trees?
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Explains the Emergence of Matter, the Universe and Humans
Article: “Kabbalah as a Modern Teaching”
Booklet: “The Secret Meaning of the Bible”
Baal HaSulam Article: “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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