Question: What does it mean to reveal The Zohar in our common sensation?

Answer: Nothing is revealed in an individual person, but only in his proper connection with the friends in the group. My first ten Sefirot, the first spiritual vessel (Kli), is my aspiration to come out from myself and unite with others (the group). My spiritual state is determined by how much I will try to create this unification.

There is you and I. Between us, there are five worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon. When I draw closer to you until the distance between us fades, my state is called the World of Infinity. But not yours. The World of Infinity is when you and I, on my side, become as one whole. Therefore, the extent that I am able to draw closer to you determines the spiritual degree that I am on since all 125 degrees are between us.

We can conquer the distance between us together. This is much more effective because what matters is the unification between us, rather than you or I. I don’t need to accept you, receive pleasure from you, or unite with you. We need to unite together. This unification is in fact the Creator, the third component, as it is written: “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.”

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, The Zohar

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Question: If foreign thoughts come to me while we read The Zohar, does this mean that I am drilling a hole in the boat?

Answer: These foreign thoughts are not yours but “come” to you from somewhere. They don’t depend on you; the Creator sends them. So, relax. You are not drilling a hole in the common boat just with the thoughts that arise in you.

It’s important, however, what you will do with these “foreign” thoughts, meaning, whether you will remain with them and continue to think about them. If so, you will really be making a hole in the boat. Or perhaps you will resist these thoughts and throw them away from you at every given moment while wishing to stay together with your friends who are using all their might to bring this boat to the goal? This depends precisely on you.

This is always the case in Kabbalah: We work on what the Creator sends us, above the circumstances (Reshimot) that emerge. We don’t choose them, and we are not judged according to them. Only our reaction to them depends on us, and we should be judged based on it.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Va Yechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 152: In the midst of all that, Rabbi Elazar saw that the angel of death departed and said, “No sentence holds where Rabbi Shimon is.” Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Elazar, “Come here and hold Rabbi Yitzhak, for I see that he is afraid.” Rabbi Elazar came in and held him, and Rabbi Shimon turned his face and engaged in Torah.

Question: Why does a soul fear to ascend to its next spiritual degree? If it already sees its corrected state, why does it dread leaving the current one?

Answer: I am not prepared for it, and therefore I fear. The wisdom of Kabbalah often speaks about the awe before the Creator. The state of awe is a spiritual vessel (Kli, desire). It is the same in our case. I am afraid that I am not ready to exist at the level of bestowal in my present state, which I share with the friends and the teacher Rabbi Shimon, who becomes revealed as a mentor and guide on our path.

Suppose a teacher one day tells me that I have to jump from a plane. But I am terrified for I don’t think I can do it. This is an earthly example of how I feel in egoistic properties.

In spirituality, however, we talk about the property of bestowal, where the fear is even greater. I discover that I am not in bestowal and have no strength of my own for it. I am unable to pull myself together (as I would in the material world) and take the next step. It isn’t the same in spirituality, and there is always a question: Will I receive the strength, or, rather, will I be able to ask for it? This fear, the awe, is a very problematic state.

Awe before the Creator is the first commandment. I use it as a foundation on which I build everything else. It’s because I depend on the Creator, the Upper Surrounding Light that I receive. My position at a certain spiritual degree depends on the amount of strength the Light provides for me. And if it doesn’t bring me this strength, I will have none.

How can I participate in this? How close am I able to come with the others? How great is my present capacity to do so? This “death” (for my egoism) must come to me step by step. It has to be accepted by me and turn into life within me, as it is written: “The angel of death becomes the angel of life.”

Spiritual acts (of bestowal) that a person is yet to commit seem an enormous stumbling block. When you think about fulfillment, it is desirable (in our egoism). But when you think about the corrected desire (Kli) where it is revealed, rejection and fear arise: Am I good for it?

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/10, The Zohar

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “And the Children Racketed Within Her“
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt,” Item 165
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 4, Item 71
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 20, Lesson 21
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Bnei Baruch started shooting "The Zohar," a full-length, historic film based on the script written by Semion Vinokur. Months of preparation went into this event: a group of decorators led by Gia Basilaia made costumes that live up to the standards of the world’s best movie studios; all the attributes of the Roman army were recreated thoroughly; an ancient stone road was found. The scene was filmed with participation of the Bnei Baruch Israel students.

An in-depth study of The Book of Zohar strenghthens the desire to spread the knowledge about the Book and tells the story of its creation and unprecedented importance for humanity. This movie is a unique opportunity to achieve this goal. Let’s think together about the success of this project!

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Excerpts from my upcoming book, A Guide to The Book of Zohar

The connection between us can be likened to a picture that has not only been torn or broken into little pieces, but then incorrectly reassembled. If there were no connection between us at all, that wouldn’t be so bad, but the breaking has created a negative, egoistic connection. What is the reason for this? This negative connection between all parts of nature is “help against us” as it enables us to discover the Creator’s nature from outside of Him.

Without this negative connection between us, we would not be able to discover that the type of connection between us determines everything, and that it is the cause of all good and evil in the world. If this connection were good, we would not be able to attain the Creator for we would be inside of Him. And if there were no connection between us at all, we would not be able to reveal the reason for the evil in our lives.

By revealing that the connection between us is evil and is the cause of our suffering, we can transform it into good. So much so that, with the help of suffering that pushes us forward, we reach the Creator. Then we realize that otherwise we could not have reached Him.

Similar things sometimes take place in our life: There arises a situation which brings us closer with others. Before, there was no close bond between us; we were distant to one another although considerate and respectful. However, for some reason, we suddenly ended up together, bound by a common cause or problem.

We were brought close together, and now we begin to discover how different we are and how we clash with one another. That is when the evil becomes revealed between us. The evil has always existed, but wasn’t revealed until now.

When we discover that the connection between us is evil, we typically try to distance from one another. However, if external conditions don’t allow for this, then we have no choice but to correct the relationships between us.

Is this not reminiscent of the state of humanity in our days? In the past, the connections between the nations were weak, and every nation was connected to only a small number of other nations. There was no real connection between us, and that is why the evil was not revealed.

However, with time, human society has become global, and everybody has been bound to and is affecting everybody else. We have nowhere to run from each other, so the hatred between us is being revealed. Yet, the same hatred will force us to correct the relationships between us.

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What is Day and Night in Work?”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt,” Item 144
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 4, Item 67
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 20, Lesson 20
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Question: How can I help a friend acquire the right intention?

Answer: When a beginner first comes to Kabbalah, he does not see, hear, or feel what it is talking about. He is immersed in his own thoughts and desires. He sits down and studies together with everyone like a baby who was just born and does not perceive anything or understand what kind of world he is in. Or it can be compared to a sick person who has lost consciousness.

I remember myself after a car accident when I lay in bed unconscious. Sometimes I would slightly regain consciousness and hear voices on the outside. Sometimes I could even reply to them, but I did not see anything or react in any way. This is similar to a person who comes to study Kabbalah: He is present and not present. He needs time and care from others, the way people take care of someone who is seriously sick or a baby. This kind of care can help him to advance slightly.

If the assistance does not help, then the person has to be left alone and given time to gradually make order for himself. This may take him several months or years until he begins to hear Kabbalah rather than himself.

When does a person really start to hear for the first time? It’s when he feels that unity with others opens up spiritual sensations for him and that this is exactly where the entrance to the spiritual world lies.

Therefore, the bigger and stronger the environment, the more it accelerates a person’s development and influences him, forcing him to move faster on his own.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item136: “One bird comes out to the south, right—the one that comes from a spark of Hochma. Also, one bird comes out to the north, left—the one that comes from the spark of Bina. One comes out when the day rises, from Hochma, and one when the day sets, at evening time, after midday, from Bina. Each calls and declares what it heard from that herald… from the illumination of the midnight Zivug, called ‘a herald’.”

This is speaking of a person’s inner states when he analyzes the self and undergoes various processes of discerning the three lines within himself. He examines to what extent is he positioned in equilibrium in the right, left, or middle line.

“Day” and “night” don’t come from outside. We always remain in the Light and our Kelim are divided into multiple types in which we perceive the right, left, and middle lines, as well as upward and downward, as well as all directions and times. The division into internal and external Kelim gives us the sensation of distance and space, close and far, and the classification of desires into “root, soul, body, coverings, and abode.”

All these peculiarities, as well as day, night, morning, evening, and various hours, are processes taking place in our desire. In fact, desire is the only thing we possess. Through dividing into numerous types and constantly unfolding them for us, the desire gives us the sensation of the occurring changes in time and space in the emerging states.

We classify them as four types of perception, “World, year, soul, and existence of reality.” All these modifications take place within us as a result of our correction since everything except us remains in absolute rest. Only the Reshimot keep unwinding and unfolding either “in its time” (Beito) or “Ahishena,” which is when we start accelerating this process and hastening the time.

Therefore, the “birds” that flew in “night,” “day,” “morning,” “evening,” all the planes such as “root, soul, body, coverings, abode,” and the existence of reality are perceived within a person in his desire. However, I think that I am surrounded by a world full of people, that everything is spinning and life goes on. Yet, only one thing is within my reach: What steps will I take toward the correct perception of reality?

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

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5 Minutes Of Light From The Daily Lesson: Find Balance Through The Middle Line

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The Zohar is just like the Torah in that there is no need to read it in an orderly fashion. You can open up the book anywhere you want to! It’s similar to Psalms; you can open up any psalm and read it. You can even begin reading any psalm starting in the middle of it.

The most important thing when reading holy books (meaning books written by those who attain the Creator through the quality of holiness, bestowal, Bina) is not what you are reading or the things you read about, but the intention: What do you want to attain by reading?

One way or another you are reading about the Upper World, which you don’t feel or understand. The Zohar is the highest source of all the holy books. It is the most powerful source of Upper Light, the Light of Correction. It’s like an infusion to a sick person, or like a medicine that you take.

What do you want to attain by taking this medicine? What does "being healthy" mean to you? Depending on this, the force of The Book of Zohar can be the elixir of life for you, or a deadly poison!

Therefore, before opening up this book, you must think and feel, attune yourself, prepare and discern: What are you hoping to receive from it now? You are hoping to receive medicine, which is symbolized by a snake. A snake’s venom can be truly poisonous, or it can be the remedy for every illness.

Therefore, before opening up The Book of Zohar, we must have the right intention so instead of attracting deadly poison, we will attract the elixir of life that saves us. When people study the Torah without the right intention, it becomes dry and lifeless. This is even more dangerous when we are reading The Book of Zohar, the greatest source of power.

It wasn’t an accident that for so long The Zohar was concealed from regular people and revealed to Kabbalists. A Kabbalist, meaning a person who attained the right desire, was sure to find this book in some way. It was sent to him through someone or in some other way. He was brought to the place where he could find it.

However, it was not revealed to other people because in the past we were unable to arm ourselves with the right intention. That’s why The Zohar would only have brought harm upon us. Today, however, we open up The Book of Zohar with the intention that it will bring us goodness, that it will become the source of life for us instead of turning into deadly poison.

The Zohar contains such enormous force that we must be careful to open it only together and with the right intention. That is why it has become revealed in our time and offers us incredible opportunities. We want to offer it to everyone.

However, every person must know that only the right intention while studying The Zohar can turn it into the elixir of life.

From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, The Zohar

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