A question I received: Why do Kabbalists often write that they don’t want to add to what was already stated by their teachers?

My Answer: It is written that there was no greater prophet than Moses. So what can the Kabbalists after him possibly write about? What can be added to what is said in the Torah? They try to give a greater explanation of Moses’ revelation of the Creator. They receive nourishment from this primary source and try to present it to their students in a way that will allow them to understand the inner meaning more correctly.

Let’s suppose that we both went to a store, bought the same foods, and later prepared this food, but each according to our own taste. It is written that “everything that any Kabbalist is destined to reveal has already been revealed by Moses on Mount Sinai.” He revealed the Light of Infinity, which contained everything. Meanwhile, by correcting ourselves, we reveal parts of what already exists.

The Kabbalists of the past knew much more than their followers, but they did not know how to reveal their attainments. With our work, this generation is completing the general development and revealing the greatest desires (NHY – Netzah, Hod, Yesod) and therefore the most immense Light (the level of Neshama). The great Light of Hochma comes into the desires (Kelim) of the patriarchs (KHB – Keter, Hochma, Bina) and with every lesson a greater understanding of the system of creation is revealed to us.

So what is the essence of Baal HaSulam’s revelation? He arranged everything in order, in a system where everything is connected. The science of Kabbalah is a revelation of inner connections, an analysis and synthesis acting in parallel with each other, the analysis of parts and their connection. And all this occurs within the created being while he is supplied with vital energy, starting from the level of food on the animate level and continuing all the way up to the spiritual degrees. Our whole life consists of processes of fission and fusion.

For the time being, we are unable to reveal this order. We act according to the principle: “Do everything in your power.” Certainly this order already exists, but you just haven’t clarified it for yourself yet. For the time being you are not replicating all of the Creator’s actions; you are fussing like a foolish child. However, gradually your actions will become more and more sensible, and you will be careful not to do anything that is senseless. This is how a person grows in spirituality.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/1/10, Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot

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A question I received: What should I do if after the lesson, I am unable to stay focused on spirituality throughout the day?

My Answer: Each person goes through different time periods. There is a time when we want to study Kabbalah for hours and can’t get enough of it. Other times, we distance ourselves and stop striving toward it.

However, in the long run we see that everything is organized in the best possible way for each of us, and if we use our free time correctly, the Creator arranges more hours that can be utilized for the realization of what we studied. We encounter all sorts of problems: distractions with our work, problems with our boss, unsympathetic surroundings, as well as distractions in our thoughts and desires. Yet we feel that in spite of all these troubles, we have to stay connected with spirituality.

After the class ends, we have to go back to the “big world” that erases the impressions that we got from spirituality and confuses us, but these are the most effective circumstances for our advancement. We have to try to stay tuned with the spiritual world and to keep in mind the source of all these troubles and why they were sent to us. As well, we are to remember what we are supposed to adhere to and why, meaning that “There is none else beside Him, Who is Good and does good.”  We have to constantly feel our inner connection with the Creator as if staying in touch with someone we love and cherish.

Try to retain this state throughout the day. You’ll start to feel that all those unfortunate circumstances are brought to you by the Creator within some imaginary world which gives you a chance to seek connection with Him through all the hassles and illusions you get.

You’ll see that this world is “invented,” and that it is just an outer shell; you’ll sense that the troubles simply constitute the shapes of your desires that convert within you all the time. Those are the desires that you have to “link” to the Creator; if you do, they will turn into their spiritual forms.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: How can I be sure that my request is correct and that it is directed at correction?

My Answer: If a person studies together with us, his intentions are constantly corrected, one after another, and they unite. It’s as if a “viral” correction occurs between friends. We give each other the opportunity to be corrected since we are connected into one system of souls. This is the greatest correction of all possible corrections.

On his own, a person is not capable of anything, but if he has a desire and tries to unite with others, this will work as much as his ego (also called Pharaoh and the heaviness of the heart) will allow. Therefore, a person doesn’t need to perform a calculation for himself alone as to whether his efforts were successful. On his own, a person will never correct himself and he cannot even correctly evaluate his intention.

We need to learn jointly, to feel our unification before the studies, and to aspire to learn like one man with one heart in order to draw the Surrounding Light onto us.

Every lesson presents the opportunity to unify and draw the Light that Reforms, and so each lesson is like the reception of the Torah under Mount Sinai. After all, we need to receive the Torah which is the Light that Reforms. As it is written, “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a means to correct it.” Therefore, we are standing under Mount Sinai at every given moment. Receiving the Torah, the Light that Reforms, is on the condition that we become like one man with one heart.

Individual calculations aren’t applicable; success depends on everyone together, each one according to his ability, uniting in the conditions that are assigned from Above. Success depends on the united effort that comes from us below. Therefore, we need to continuously, tirelessly press on. As a result, our efforts will accumulate into one large account and, finally, revelation will occur.

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A question I received: How should a person feel after the lesson?

My Answer: A person should come away from the lesson with a few main impressions:

• I haven’t achieved anything yet!
• I have just received a very powerful, potent medicine which will bring me much closer to the goal. These hours of my life were eternal because their benefit is priceless. I will never lose what I have gained just now and no one can take it away from me.
• It is good that I feel empty. If I felt fulfilled, it would mean that I am content with my present egoistic desires.
• It is written, “Your heart will delight in the Creator,” which means that when I am corrected, I will feel fulfilled by fulfilling the Creator. This is the kind of correction I should expect to come to me.
• All the reception and all the bestowal should come “from me” in the middle line. The right line is where I receive the Light of Correction, the Light of Bestowal, from above downward. This Light corrects me if I am completely open to it, if I let it enter me. In the left line, I use my egoistic desires to the extent that they are connected to bestowal. This means working with the Light of Hochma from below upward.
• All the changes that I expect to take place within me will bring me closer to bestowal. If I think this way, then it is impossible to feel bad.

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A lesson is therapy for my desire, a means that allows my present desire to be changed and made equivalent to spirituality. The more therapy I receive through my attendance at Kabbalah lessons, the higher my chances of recovering and changing my nature.

However, simple visits aren’t enough. I have to understand why I make the visits and what their results will be. Thus, the main thing at the lesson is that I must have the intention to change my nature.

If I come to the lesson just to listen, with no intention to change, then nothing will help me to attain the Upper World, neither an excellent teacher, nor a strong environment. A lesson for me must be a conscious participation in the recovery of the broken soul.

The teacher gives me the correct direction and the environment supports me on my path to the goal. However, I must absorb the importance of the goal provided by the environment.

It is absolutely unimportant if I understand the studied material, the same as I don’t need to understand how the drugs prescribed to me work in order for them to work.  Doctors label illnesses and drugs with obscure names that don’t tell me anything. I just know that I feel bad and need something to help me feel better.

The same situation exists in the healing of a soul. It is enough for me to feel sick and to know that during the lesson, I will receive the remedy. There is a spiritual healing mechanism that works on my request, and I need to correctly prepare myself for the healing.

I expect the healing of the soul to occur during the lesson and therefore I prepare myself beforehand in order to be able to accept the cure.

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Preparation and Part 1 of the Lesson
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Part 2, on Chapter 2 of Talmud Eser Sefirot
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Part 3, on “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” Item 142
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Here are the lessons I gave at the North American Kabbalah Congress, which took place this weekend in the Catskills Mountains, New York:

 Lesson #1 on the article, : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #1 on the article, : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #2: The History of Human Development: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #2: The History of Human Development: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #3: Unity Is the Solution: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #3: Unity Is the Solution: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #4: Global Upbringing: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #4: Global Upbringing: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Children's Lesson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Children's Lesson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #5: The Importance of Dissemination: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Lesson #5: The Importance of Dissemination: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

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On 01.30.2009 at 7:00pm Israel time, about 300 of our friends from around the world, who had already arrived for the Congress, gathered at our Bnei Baruch center. We had a lesson in preparation to the Congress, on the theme, “Uniting for Good”

 Watch the Lesson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

 Listen to the Lesson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 

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A question I received: I am non Jewish, and I have been studying Kabbalah for several years. I am considering the path of conversion. However, I am trying to find information on the concept of Chasid Omot Olam. All I know is that this is a non Jewish person who lives his life according to the precepts and the cause of spreading Kabbalah. Is this correct? How can I find more information on this concept?

My Answer: There’s no need to convert. You have to correct yourself to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and today this is required of all people. Nationalities and religions will vanish, and our world will disappear from our perception. The only thing that will remain is the one common soul, united with the Creator in the state of the World of Infinity, just as it was at the beginning of creation. Read the section about the three states in Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar.”

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