I use the word "Stimulator" to call the system that we must now build because it comes from the Greek word “Stimulus,” meaning a sharp, pointed stick used to poke donkeys in order to keep them moving. Our “donkey” (“Hamor” in Hebrew) is our egoistic desire (“Homer”) which only understands the language of a “stick.” Yet, instead of driving this “donkey” by painful poking, we want to awaken the human being in us who looks ahead and yearns for the future on his own. We need a stimulus, but a positive one. We need to be driven by “lovesickness,” the desire to attain this state. This should be the only force driving us ahead, instead of corporeal pain pushing us from behind.

We have to invoke just one kind of suffering inside us, the question, “Why haven’t I attained unity with the Creator yet? Why am I not in awe of Him?” The first stage in returning to the Creator is “repentance from fear,” which occurs when I put forth efforts to cultivate an inner sensation of awe regarding the spiritual goal, the Creator, and bestowal, instead of running ahead because I fear painful blows that come after me. That is how I change my motivation or Stimulus.

If I run ahead motivated by the strikes (fears about things in this world or punishment in the world to come) then I am not returning to the Creator. In fact, this is how humanity has advanced naturally for thousands of years, but it isn’t spiritual evolution. It is the evolution of desire where we replace an unpleasant state of existence with a new, hopefully better one.

Yet, returning to the Creator is described as “Tshuva (return of) Hey to Vav,” which means that I invoke my own inner fear of not having the quality of bestowal and love. But what can I do if in actuality I am not concerned about this and feel no fear? Where can I get it? The answer is only from the environment!

If the environment paints a picture for me that makes me realize how horrible my condition is and, at the same time, that there is something incredibly wonderful awaiting me, then I will strive toward it. This is the correct, spiritual stimulus that enables us to advance. This way of advancing is correct because it is voluntary, and we therefore make this entire process an “awakening from below.”

However, if I don’t arrange an environment that instills this yearning for advancement in me making me run because I fear that I haven’t attained this goal yet and terrible misfortunes are following me because of it, I will never move into the next moment! In fact, I won’t move one bit.

That is why we need a “stimulator” and a positive one!

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Before Baal HaSulam there were two methods of correction (or of studying Kabbalah): through the mind (the method of the Ari) and through the heart (the method of Baal Shem Tov). Baal HaSulam took both of these approaches and unified them into the middle, third line, creating an effective, precise, and simple method that is suitable for the modern souls. It is the only means enabling us to attain correction.

The scientific part of Kabbalah is based on the Ari, while the inner work comes from Baal Shem Tov. Baal HaSulam wrote the book, Talmud Eser Sefirot based on The Tree of Life by the Ari, adapting it to our generation. However, if you look at his entire teaching as a complex, then the four compositions Talmud Eser Sefirot, Panim Meirot, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” and “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” are devoted to the "physics" of the Upper World and are based on the teaching of the Ari, while all the other articles are devoted to a person’s inner work and are based on the method of Baal Shem Tov.

The Light of Correction comes to us while studying the "physics" of the Upper World, but it only comes through the group. If the group is not organized correctly, does not study together, and does not desire to unite, then it is impossible to attract the Light. The group is the magnet that attracts the Light that Reforms. And it must have a form that makes it ready for correction. Everyone must expect it!

We must reveal two things: 1.) our evil and lack of unity, 2.) the desirable state, the state of universal connection. We must expect that we will go from the first state to the second state with the help of the force called “the Light that Reforms.” The group is obligated to understand this very clearly since otherwise what kind of Light would you be able to attract? The spiritual vessel or desire must precede the Light.

This is why all of creation was created and why it develops until the very World of Infinity: It is in order to create a need to reveal the Creator in creation. We are not required to reveal the Creator or the Light! We have to reveal the creation! We have to understand that creation was not created in order to remain a point and to live as an animal. Rather, its destiny is to become an independent individual that has freedom of will. Therefore, our desire must always come first (Kli Kodem Le Ohr).

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/9/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: What did Baal HaSulam add to the soul’s correction that the ARI began?

Answer: The ARI did not write anything himself. His student Marchu (Chaim Vital) wrote everything and the records were published over the course of three generations after the ARI’s death.

Baal HaSulam explained and systematized all of the Ari’s teaching. Before him, the teaching of the ARI was not arranged in an orderly fashion, and therefore it was impossible to study. That is why many people who began to study the ARI’s teaching gave it up and instead studied the works of the Ramak.

I also studied the Ramak until I discovered Baal HaSulam, and I encountered many Kabbalists who studied the Ramak instead of the ARI because everything is clear and orderly in the Ramak’s books. On the other hand, the ARI’s works were not orderly. Baal HaSulam systematized, detailed, and explained them, and gave them shape: three lines, the First and Second Restriction, the Creator and the creation, the definition of the worlds, Sefirot, Partzufim, NRNHY, KHB, ZON, he created a compilation of graphs of the Upper Worlds – The Book of HaElan.

Even though certain parts are missing which he could have put in order as well (such as Adam HaRishon and the impure worlds of BYA), apparently he did not want to work on this. Without Baal HaSulam, we would not have the teaching of the ARI and it would be impossible to understand the ARI.

When you read other Kabbalists now, you understand them because you are familiar with the works of Baal HaSulam. Without him, you would get confused. No matter what texts you look at, whether books on Hassidut, the Ramak, Agra, or others, you will only be able to understand them because you studied Baal HaSulam.

In addition, without the Rabash’s articles we would not be able to understand what is required of us and what the work of the Creator is. Without these two Kabbalists, Baal HaSulam and Rabash, who supplement one another, we would not have the right approach to the method of correction.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Today we are celebrating the anniversary of the death of the ARI. We will commemorate this day by joining together in a festive meal; many students around the world will participate as well. We honor this special soul that revealed spiritual redemption for us: the way to come out of the last exile and to achieve the revelation of the Creator. The revelation of the Creator is the revelation of love and bestowal, which connect us all together. And to the extent that we unite, we reveal the Upper Force, a higher, spiritual life within us.

If we talk about the ARI as a person who lived and died, rather than as a soul that exists eternally in spiritual space, then the ARI was a person who threw the end of the rope to us who are existing in this world. By grabbing onto this rope we can begin to ascend to the spiritual world from our present state.

This is why we are so thankful to the ARI and we honor him so much. We want to be as close to him as possible since he represents the desire of the Creator, thanks to which we ascend. Baal HaSulam writes that he did not add a thing to the ARI’s teachings; he merely explained them. Every Kabbalist that came after the ARI helped to develop his teachings a little more since the ARI laid the foundation for the method of correction.

You might ask: “What about Abraham, the father of the nation? Doesn’t the method of correction belong to him?” During the times of Abraham we had not gone through the breaking of the souls and the destruction of the First and the Second Temples; the period of exile had not yet come to an end.

The ARI lived during the very end of the last exile, and from his time and on the “labor pains” of the time of redemption, the need to ascend, began. The ARI took the method of Kabbalah from the time of the Patriarchs and the time of the exile and made it into a method for correction of the souls. That is why he is especially dear to us. Let us hope that we will merit becoming true students of the ARI.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, Pri Hacham, Igrot (Letters), Letter 39

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Baal HaSulam, Letter #39: Itzhak Cohen, one of the Ari’s students, said that he entered the Ari’s room when he was dying and wept because the students were losing the hope they had during their teacher’s life to see a world full of goodness, wisdom, and the Light of the Creator. The Ari replied, "If there was at least one complete righteous man among you then I would not be taken away from this world before my time."

The student asked him, "What should we do next?" To which the Ari replied, "Tell the friends on my behalf that from this day on they are not to touch the science I taught you because you did not understand it properly. Therefore, only Chaim Vital will continue to study it quietly and in secret."

The student exclaimed, "So we don’t have any hope?!" And the Ari replied, "If you merit it, I will come to you and teach you."

The student objected, "How will you come to teach us if you are already leaving this world?" The Ari replied, "What do you understand of the concealed secrets and paths of my return to you!" With these words, he immediately passed away to enter life in the world to come…

Indeed, this is a sad picture. Everything was arranged from Above so that during the Ari’s death his group of students was not next to him. Just one student was present, Itzhak Cohen. Even Chaim Vital, the leading student of the Ari to whom the Ari transferred the paths of this wisdom, was not present next to his teacher at this time.

Apparently Itzhak Cohen did not possess great attainment at the time since he did not even understand what was happening and asked, "How will you come to teach us!?" This means that he did not yet understand that there is no difference between the worlds, and that the Upper Level is always able to descend and manifest on the lower levels whenever they are ready to accept it!

The Ari tells us, "As soon as you make an effort and are ready, I will make contact with you! As soon as you rise to the spiritual level, we will immediately meet and there you will receive all the fulfillment and help from me!"

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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At the end of exile, we’re being given an opportunity to speed up our liberation on our own. Only during this segment of time and for the first time in our long development, there is now a window of opportunity for freedom of choice and our personal involvement. There will be no other chance like this; it only exists on this part of the path.

For the first time in history, we’re situated in this exact stage. Only during this brief interval of time can we realize our free will and development by the good path (Achishena – by hastening time).

Our present state is meant particularly for this purpose. Before it, we were all controlled by nature or by the reverse side of the Light or exile. In a little while, the Light will be revealed with the help of the Creator and then we will be controlled by its front side. In the meantime, we’re situated between these two sides. Only here do we have freedom of choice.

We’ve been given a chance to become independent, and everyone should appreciate the uniqueness of this opportunity. It is being realized right here and now. This has never happened before and it will never happen again.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/12/10

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In the News: (from The TimesOnline): “Evidence for kings David and Solomon” Until 15 years ago, Professor Eric Cline notes in a new book, there was no extra-biblical documentary mention of even the House of David as ruling in Judea. “… we are still lacking any contemporary or near-contemporary inscriptions that mention Solomon: at the moment we do not have a single one,” Professor Cline says. “Moreover, there is still very little archaeological evidence for the existence of David.”

My Comment: This news clip is a brilliant example of how the media likes to present everything as a sensation: “There is still very little archaeological evidence for the existence of David,” signed by the scientific authorities.

For some reason, the word “science” is often used by those dabbling in speculations, theories, and assumptions that are not based on facts. In a similar fashion, philosophers wanted to present Moshe de Leon, who lived in the 11th century CE, as the author of The Zohar – and thus, he became its author.

However, for millennia, the Kabbalists knew that The Zohar was written by Rashbi, as it’s mentioned many times in The Zohar itself. Too bad none of those philosophers actually read it…

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A question I received: Kabbalah bases part of its reasoning on a certain chronological order, scaled by the millennia of the Babel Kingdom’s existence and by the dates of Adam’s life in Babylon. However, the work of a modern mathematician in the area of historic chronology (Anatoly Fomenko, Professor of Mathematics at Moscow State University and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences ), casts doubt on the generally accepted sequence and the dates of events. For instance, he dates the Egyptian pyramids to the 11th-14th centuries B.C.E. as per the dates of Zodiacal images found in them. This means that egoism wasn’t growing for 2000 years. The dates of the books can also be wrong, with manuscripts mistakenly dated as being more ancient, when, in fact, they were written later.

Kabbalah, being an extension of science beyond our world into the spiritual, relies on the sciences of this world, including history and chronology. What if the actual chronology is radically revised: can it be possible that the Kabbalists are also mistaken in their descriptions of historic events (the dating of Adam’s life as well as the lives of other Kabbalists?

My Answer: Up until now, all doubts about the Bible’s validity have been proven wrong, historically speaking, which confirms the authenticity of the Biblical story. The Biblical calendar starts with Adam – the beginning of man’s correction in this world, and it concludes with the final correction of all people, throughout 6000 years.

Over the past 5769 years, everything predicted by the Bible (as we, Kabbalists, know) has come true. The Book of Zohar, written 2000 years ago, says that our times (from the year 1995 on) is the time of this book’s revelation. And this is coming true! There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. However, everyone has the right to doubt everything in the world. This is the right of every scientist.

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A question I received: If the world does not unite and nature will destroy large populations of us until we go down to a small population, what will force us to unite? Wouldn’t this be the same as Ancient Babylon (small population and a large empty planet), and everyone will have more space to move around without having to interconnect?

My Answer: No, it won’t. The suffering of the population’s restriction, and other miseries that were described by the prophets four and a half thousand years ago, will force people to attain the Goal of creation: the level of the Creator.

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The law of nature is a force that pushes us to attain complete interaction and become an integral part of Nature. It influences us gradually, to the extent we develop, using reward and punishment to guide us like an intelligent judge or teacher. This law is strict and merciless toward us, like a strict judge, and we shouldn’t forget this.

However, we still don’t feel that we have to follow this law – the law of interaction between us, or the law of mutual guarantee. We have not yet been placed at the guillotine, where anyone who doesn’t carry out the law is put to death.

However, history already has a simple example that is understood by all: the Holocaust that befell the Jewish people. This process began to evolve slowly, and people could have changed themselves and the situation. That is, they could have corrected themselves by studying the science of correction – Kabbalah. In fact, this is what Kabbalists summoned people to do even before Ward War II began.

All the conditions for correction were given to the people from above, but the people didn’t meet these conditions consciously and correctly. And that is why the law suddenly began to act rigorously, like a volcano that erupts. And it affects everyone until people will follow it to the letter.

We should stop and think about the fact that history may repeat itself.

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