The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out) – Part 2,” Item 373: With all the offerings, it does not say, “Observe,” as it is written, “Shall you observe to offer,” since observing [(Tishmeru) is ”keep,” (Shamor)] is the Nukva, who should bring closer above, to ZA, as it is written, “Shall you observe to offer unto Me,” offer the Nukva in its time, in the right and left [lines] of ZA, who are Abraham and Isaac.

The whole essence of sacrificial offerings is to come closer, to build the middle line by classifying desires. Whenever possible, desires should be used for merging and connection. The ones that are impossible to use that way should be removed as obstructions and filed. One should connect the right and the left lines so that the “fire blazes” and the Returning Light rises to the Creator. All discernments are performed only through the “sacrificial offerings” of one’s egoism.

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We have many different desires inside and each of them must go through correction in a specific order. Depending on the connection of desires inside the soul, a person reveals his connection with other people.

Therefore, we do not know the true reasons for the states we go through, but we have to understand that their order is predetermined. The only thing that depends on us is how to go through them: by way of Light or by way of suffering. In any case, without understanding why it is happening, we will have to accept the revelation of any state as a useful occurrence.

We don’t have any control over the things that are already happening. We have to accept the things that come to us with gratitude, correct them, and move on. We should never try to reject the next state because we thereby refuse to accept the means that are given to us for our advancement.

There are no states that do not facilitate advancement. Therefore, we shouldn’t torture ourselves with doubts: Is this a good state or a bad one? We shouldn’t give them any personal attitude. It’s best to look at the things happening to you “from aside,” as if you are an outside observer. I have to go through this state, and that means I act, go through it, and advance onwards. Everything is for the best (HaKol Le Tova)!

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/2010, The Zohar

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A question I received: Why were Aba ve Ima so blind to not have noticed the “stony heart” in the world of Nekudim, and consequently to have performed an action that resulted in the breaking of the vessels? Why wasn’t it clarified to begin with?

My Answer: Clarification is only possible when one requires it. If one doesn’t feel a necessity for it, what is there to clarify? Clarification follows the breaking of the Kelim, when they have all intermixed, when we find ourselves in front of fragments of desires, and don’t know how to sort them.

It is then that the Upper Light descends and illuminates what is what: which desires belongs to the right line, which to the left, which desires are on top or at the bottom, and so on. The desires are assigned Sefirot in accordance with the screens they lost, the Lights that departed from them, and with the Aviut that remained in them.

Everything was prepared for this action for the sake of bestowal; however, it wasn’t known in advance what would happen. This is because the property of Malchut de Malchut, which refuses bestowal, has never been revealed in creation before.

Malchut de Malchut reveals itself at this point because it meets GAR of the Light of Hochma (an enormous Light of the End of Correction). The desires, which were “built from nothing” (Yesh mi Ayin) and constitute the most inner core of creation were not revealed until that time because the Upper Light had always ruled over these desires.

“The breaking of the vessels” means that the Upper Light ceases to control the desires. As an example, imagine that you are constantly under my influence and control; I ruled over you and dictated to you how to act for the sake of bestowal. Suddenly, it is clear to you that I no longer control a certain quality of yours. In other words, you found a point of independence from me within you. Hence, you revealed something that doesn’t depend on and relate to me.

You’re not a slave; the Upper One doesn’t have complete power over you. He cannot control your stony heart by obligating your desire to act for the sake of bestowal. It is the beginning of your point of independence. That’s why the breaking is not a bad thing; it opens the door to the correction and ascent of humanity.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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What is the Egyptian exile? It is the revelation of love for yourself. Accordingly, the exodus from Egypt is when you are able to feel love for your neighbor for the first time.

I can “come out of Egypt” only if I really desire to acquire love for others. As Baal HaSulam writes in the article, “For Yehuda,” the essence of the forthcoming redemption must be clear while one is still in exile. You have to understand what you desire. What do you consider to be exile? What are you exiled from?

If you see that exile means that you are enslaved to self-love, and redemption is when you acquire the force of love for others, the ability to unite and become a single soul the way it was before the breaking of Adam, in order to reveal the Creator inside the unity, then you really feel the exile and are ready for redemption. And then it comes to you!

If you have prepared your desires, then the Light that Reforms comes to you and leads you out of egoism. Everything depends on your desire to come out of your egoistic concerns to freedom. This is the purpose of the exile, and this is why we are not ready for redemption – because it consists only of this. Spirituality is bestowal. If we desire it, it means we are ready to be freed.

Right now we are prolonging our exile because we don’t consider it exile and slavery. We feel good in it. We only want more money, power, and other sources of fulfillment. We want to be left alone and not be told about love for the neighbor. We don’t want that love!

Hell is the inability to bestow. Heaven and hell are very different from people’s regular notions about them. People don’t want either of them, and don’t feel either within. This means that a person is not wicked or righteous; he is simply an animal that is not in exile.

A person who is wicked knows that he is an egoist and desires to become righteous, bestowing. Therefore, he calls his uncorrected state, “hell.” One who is righteous has attained the quality of bestowal and love and feels that he is in heaven.

From the Evening Zohar Lesson 4/12/10

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Two questions I received on Kabbalists’ attitude to the world:

Question: Our Kabbalah study group in Seattle was asked to give a presentation on Kabbalah to a club that meets to learn about different spiritual traditions. The talk went very well and after it was over, one of the participants asked: “What do Kabbalists say we should do with desires when they rise within us?” How would you have answered such a question?

My Answer: We will fulfill them with the understanding of the Creator.

Question: If the Kabbalists do and have always known all, in my opinion, they are responsible for explaining to all of humanity and even individuals, why the Creator seemingly treats them so poorly.

My Answer: It’s you, not Kabbalists, who perceive the Creator’s attitude in this way. You will understand the rest on your own once your impressions of the world start changing.

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The Zohar, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 70: “…pangs of love are hidden from people.” Pangs of love is the state also known as “I am lovesick.” It means that I don’t need anything; I only want to give, to bestow. My only wish is to fulfill your desire.

This is an intermediate state where I very much want to give but I am unable. Since I haven’t yet acquired a screen, I am unable to receive the Light in order to fulfill your desire. Love is a state where I feel the desire of the other more than my own.

The Zohar, Chapter “Tazria (When A Woman Delivers),” Item 72: It is written, “Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden,” which means that open rebuke is better. And if the rebuke is out of love, it is hidden from people. Similarly, one who rebukes one’s friend with love must hide his words from people so his friend will not be shamed by them. And if his words are open before people, they are not with love.”

In our world we naturally desire to hide our relationships and the love between us because love requires discretion. We want to protect it from everything that might potentially hurt it. But what does it mean “to be ashamed” or “to reveal love in front of others” in spirituality? Who are those others? They are my desires.

If I attain connection with the Creator in one desire, then the other desires in which I cannot connect with Him are called “the others.” Therefore, I need to pay attention to them so that they don’t hurt my love, as well as keep in mind that everything is happening internally.

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I have this false perception that there is somebody existing outside of me, that there are people close and far whom I can push away, cheat, or exploit. But all of this is nothing but an illusion. It is an intricate game, an exercise that lets me scrutinize and invert my desire until I begin to love others more than myself. Then I will give others my last chair and my last pillow, because I will come to view their desire, which has been so abhorrent to me before, as more important than the one I used to regard as my own.

There are desires that exist in me from the beginning and which I perceive as my “self.” These are actually the weakest desires, pertaining to Aviut zero. The first level of Aviut appears as being separate from my “self,” such as my family and relatives. The second level is even further away, such as the people who provide me with all kinds of benefits and on whom my wellbeing depends on in some way – for example, doctors, scientists, and so on.

The third level is further still – these are people I want to exploit, but I’m willing to let them live. The farthest level is the fourth; these are my mortal enemies.

It follows that the further away the desire I perceive, the greater its power compared to my own desire. Therefore, when I attach these “external” desires to myself, I experience them as much stronger than those which previously appeared as my own. This is why I am so willing later on to give my “last pillow” to these desires.

I prefer them to my initial desire of Aviut zero because it is so weak. Indeed, what is really the extent of my current desires for food, water, family, money, and knowledge? They are truly insignificant when compared to my other desires, the desires of my “friends.” These are the desires that enable me to acquire the spiritual worlds and higher states.

If I manage to attach the desires of my friends to myself on the first degree by making them my own, this is called reaching the World of Assiya. What follows is the Worlds of Yetzira, Beria, and Atzilut. These worlds represent the distance between me and my friends.

Therefore, “love your friend as yourself” is not a slogan for this world, appealing for world peace. It’s talking about the correction of the soul, where I attach the entire universe to myself, correct my vision and perception of all reality, and attain eternity.

All the worlds are me; I am Malchut of the World of Infinity – the whole of reality created by the Creator.

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A question I received: How can I tune into the Light that Reforms while studying The Zohar?

My Answer: The Light that Reforms is the force of bestowal that comes from Above and builds qualities of bestowal above our will to receive. But how can we attract this force if we are just egoistically thinking about wanting to bestow? This will not help. Instead, we have to tune into the system that influences us.

Our soul has to receive the influence of the Surrounding Light. This is why we were given The Book of Zohar, which tells us all kinds of stories about a donkey and a snake, different nations, three lines, Zeir Anpin, Malchut, the Temple, and many other things. I don’t know what desire I am working on now and whether I have the right intention, but while I am reading The Zohar with the right mindset, it operates as a connecting system between my soul and the Upper System.

There exists an Upper System wherein my soul is already included in a fully corrected state; meanwhile, my uncorrected soul is below. These two systems have an identical structures. The only difference between them is the use of the desire, meaning the intention, which determines how the desire is used. As I correct my desire, my soul will expand, starting from a point, and new, concealed desires will surface. But I need a mechanism to connect me and these two states:

The Book of Zohar functions as this connecting link. When I read it correctly, I reveal this connection. All I have to do is try to imagine myself in the corrected form. I have to tune into the text and start living inside it. I have to desire for it to “clothe” me so I will become the protagonist of everything being described there. It is talking only about me and my inner battle with my corrupted self, where I am fighting for a chance to be similar to the Creator. All the qualities and characters are me; it is all inside of me.

If this is how I prepare for reading The Zohar, then I will proactively attract the Surrounding Light to myself.

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If I look at myself from the side, as an unbiased psychologist, I begin to see how the Creator controls me. From this perspective I can respond to things more correctly, assume control over myself, set a goal, and make use of all my resources to achieve it.

I must always try to see what is controlling me and how I am being controlled. Sometimes I am dominated by overwhelming desires, and I simply lose my head and surrender. I forget that these desires have taken over me and that they are not me.

Still, I must remain my own judge and struggle for an opportunity to continue to push spiritually. But if I am to succeed, I must find an additional force, one that lies beyond the plane of corporeal desires; this force can only be received from the right environment.

Here is me with my physical desires, and there’s the environment with human desires for money, fame, power and knowledge. In order to advance spiritually I have to get out of this circle and connect to another kind of force – one of spiritual origin.

I have a point in the heart, but that is not enough. I need the group, the study, the books, and the teacher because they will give me that great force that I need in order to lift me out of all these corporeal desires and push me into the spiritual world.

It is not my plan to neglect these desires. I have to use them as a basis, and then, together with the help coming from this new force, I will be able to set the right course. This is how my point in the heart, which awakened within the rest of my desires, helps me to find a new environment – a new world. Therefore, without this environment, I would be left with nothing.

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The Zohar: “Who is that rising from the desert like pillars of smoke?” (Song of Songs), at the time when Israel walked across the desert.

A person on the spiritual path goes through states of darkness, emptiness and various problems, and he must constantly rise above all of this by acquiring the quality of bestowal.

The Shechina walked ahead of them, and they followed it.

If a person asks for help so he will have something to follow, and if he chooses to follow the Creator instead of his egoistic nature, then he sees a “pillar of fire” and “clouds of greatness” – signs that help him ascend up the spiritual ladder.

“The Shechina walked ahead of them” means that their only thought was about how to unite together into one gathering of souls, called Schechina.

The Shechina walked accompanied by all the clouds of greatness. And when the Shechina ascended, so did Israel, as it is written, “When the cloud rose above Sinai.”

When the Shechina ascended, the cloud rose to the highest peak. And all those inhabiting the world saw and wondered, “Who is that rising from the desert, like pillars of smoke?”

The desires that are able to follow the Shechina do so. And those that aren’t yet able to follow her are called “the nations of the world.” However, they also receive a revelation, and when everyone ascends, these desires also advance with them.

This is how a person advances by clarifying which desires within him are called “Israel” (straight to the Creator), “the nations of the world” (the desires that he is unable to correct for now), “Klipot” (desires that are completely unfit for correction until the end of all corrections). A person continuously sorts his desires and sacrifices them, causing the sacrificial smoke to rise, which means that he changes their use from “for my own sake” to “for the Creator’s sake.” Smoke (“Ashan” in Hebrew, also translates as “world, year, soul”) is the Reflected Light.

If a person works on himself in this manner, sorting his desires and attaching them to the Creator, then He attains similarity to Him. Thus, he raises the Reflected Light and opens the way to his next degree. In other words, he constantly reveals a new world, a new year, and a new soul.

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