It is written, “I created evil and the Torah to correct it” because the Light in the Torah reforms. Correction occurs only according to a person’s intention. As the Ari explains through his student Chaim Vital in “The Preface to the Tree of Life” and as Baal HaSulam says in “Preface to Talmud of Ten Sefirot,” everything depends on the intention of a person who studies the Torah. All the books that talk about the correction of the soul are called “Torah.”

A person reaches a true demand for correction only if he intends to correct his soul and wants to attract the Light in order to be corrected. He has to reach the feeling that he needs to correct his qualities, which is attained by studying his qualities compared to the qualities of the Creator. Then he sees that there is a great distance between these qualities and understands the state that he must attain. At that point a demand for correction emerges in him.

Books that were written by the Kabbalists who reached spirituality and attained the Creator are called “sacred books” since they talk about bestowal and love for one’s neighbor. This is why it is written that people study the Torah only if they strive to reach bestowal.

“Torah” means the Light that comes to a person in order to correct him. The words of the Torah fill a person’s soul to the same degree as his level of correction. It says in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar” that the Torah is divided into 613 corrections (Taryag Eitin) and 613 fulfillments (Taryag Pkudin), where “613 corrections” signify the Lights that come to a person in order to correct his 613 desires to receive for himself, turning them into desires to receive for the sake of others. Thus, the Lights transform all our desires into the desire to bestow. The “613 fulfillments” are the Lights that fill our corrected desires with the Light of the Torah. This is why we always need to begin The Zohar lesson with the correct intention – each person on his own and all of us together. Our correction and our bright future depend on it.

There’s no doubt that when many people join together, they have much more power and strength than each one had by himself, especially now that they strive to reach the same goal together – the revelation of the Upper Force which governs them. A union such as this has much more power, making the intention even more important. This is why it is extremely important for us to learn to achieve the correct intentions before the lesson starts.

Baal HaSulam gives a detailed explanation of this in the “Preface to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” where he writes: “Therefore, each student has to reinforce his faith in the Creator and know that He governs over us,” where “reinforce the faith” means the strength of bestowal. In other words, before the lesson starts, I have to desire to attain the properties of bestowal. This is the reason why I study. “Then,” continues Baal HaSulam, “his heart will be ready because ‘Lishma’ will extend from ‘Lo Lishma.’” This means that out of our natural desire to receive, we will attain a true intention – the desire to reach the Upper Force – bestowal. It is the intention that defines the quality of our studies as well as all the results we can expect.

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson | Add Comment →