The Zohar, “Introduction to The Zohar,” “BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride),” Item 128: …Zeir Anpin unites with Malchut, and she sees her husband…For she will not be able to see her husband until they all gather. And they depend on one another.

Malchut incorporates all the souls. Without them she is merely a point in the World of Atzilut, a point of Keter that has nothing of her own.

The broken souls, in other words, I and the group are found beneath in the Worlds of BYA. I want to unite with my friends, and my desire rises towards Malchut. From there it rises towards Zeir Anpin, and from there even higher toward Infinity (Ein Sof). Then as a response from her, I receive the strength to ascend. This way, the only thing that goes to Malchut is my desire to become part of the group, when I force myself into it.

I want it even stronger, and only this kind of pressure rises above to become incorporated in Malchut de Atzilut. Only it constitutes MAN, the actual appeal for correction.

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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/10, “Hakdama, Laila de Kale (The Night of the Bride)”

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Our world is egoistic. Everything here is based on egoism, authority, status, and power. That’s why a woman plays a secondary role in this world.

A man enjoys more power and independence than a woman. He is not as attached to his house and children. He conquers space, discovers continents; his imagination and enthusiasm are stronger, and he is more passionate in playing games. Men go “wild” in this world.

A woman, by nature, is more moderate and represents a more serious force. She balances out this world, she embodies the power of a household and family. From the point of view of continuation of the human race, she is the most important part of nature.

But since our world is egoistic and aggressive, men who possess strength, freedom, and ability to break through usually hold positions that they don’t deserve. Consequently, they define many things in this world, whereas women treat them with lenience and compliance.

This applies to everything: religion, science, everyday life, career advancement, and salary. Men leave to women only those places that they are not interested in. This is how unfairly our egoistic world is built.

But the wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about a totally different (reverse) reality where everything is governed by the force of bestowal and love that evens out all dissimilarities and contradictions. We have to give weight to everything which is worthy of it. This is what nature, harmony, and perfection demand from us, not to mention the wisdom of Kabbalah.

If we transition from receiving to bestowal, we will see a reverse world in which a woman (Malchut which translates as “Kingdom”) occupies an essential place. She is the one who rules!

It is derived from the structure of the spiritual worlds. A woman (Malchut) is positioned in the core of all the worlds, and everything there is exists only for her sake since she is the one who gives birth and develops a new world.

That’s why only with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah a woman can reach her genuine purpose and attain an adequate and fair status that she naturally deserves.
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From Kabbalah for Beginners, “Men and Women” 10/14/10

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It is possible to follow a commandment only if you initially hated someone but then managed to correct this with the help of the Light that Reforms, the Light which can be attracted only through the study of Kabbalah in the group (in the right environment) by attaining a state of “mutual guarantee.” In this case it is considered that one “performed a commandment” and maybe not just one but all of them, and thus reached a personal “final correction.”

However, for that, we have to follow certain conditions: perform actions that lead us toward unity in the correct environment and get impressed by the environment rather than do something that occurs to us. Each time, I strive to choose a better environment that can transfer to me its values and to implement them as if they are my own.

In other words, I cancel myself in relation to the opinion of others and strive to be “included” in them, meaning into the system of spiritual principles that they follow, rather than in them as ordinary people. If I manage to do so, we act as one, follow our common direction, and implement the same principle. This principle will turn into our prayer (MAN, Mayin Nukvin or Female Waters) to which we will receive a response (MAD, Mayin Duchin or Male Waters), the Light of correction, and will establish a contact with the spiritual world.

This contact will be founded on our unity; no one can attain spirituality on his or her own. Spirituality exists only within the connection, in the Creator, the force that connects our souls.

Therefore, I cannot grab “a piece of spirituality” from the group, leave them behind, and go home with it. I remain within this unity and increase my input into it even more. This is where I reveal spirituality. If I think about myself and, therefore, separate myself from others for a fraction of a moment, I return to the sensations of this material world which is what I feel now.

Why don’t I feel anything at the moment? It is because I am not bonded with others. As soon as I connect with others, I begin to sense spirituality, whereas when I disconnect from others, I sense corporeality.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/10, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

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Man is born loving only himself. This is our nature, and we can’t do anything about it. We always live inside it and cannot step out of it. All our actions are only for our own sake; otherwise, it is impossible to move forward. Therefore, I need a foreign force which would act against my nature and change it.

All my thinking and energy keep working for the purpose of filling and comforting myself. But there is one point in me that is pushing me to step outside of my nature, rise from the animate level, and reach the Creator, that is, to attain the human level. Only this point in me belongs to the human level, the level of the Creator since “man” is similar to the Creator.

I belong to the material world entirely, but this one point in me belongs to the spiritual one. If it doesn’t awaken, a human being lives solely in this world and doesn’t suspect anything more; he is satisfied with this materialistic life. If, however, this point is awakened in his heart, he feels uncomfortable in this world and strives to rise from it. He is influenced by two forces: One pushes him from behind out of the material world, and the other pulls him from the front, from the spiritual world.

Without renouncing oneself (one’s egoism) and rising above one’s nature, it is impossible to reach adhesion with the Creator. I have to decide which nature I wish to be related to: to the nature of the Creator or that of the creature, that is, to choose bestowal or reception.

Since giving is opposite to our nature, there is only one means to move from the material to the spiritual: a Kabbalistic group. The group has immense power because we work together and everyone annuls the egoistical desire that prevents him from fulfilling the purpose for which man is born. The purpose is to become similar to the Creator. The Creator is the force of bestowal, love, and annulment of self. This is why I need the group as an external foreign force that works as a lever which allows me to turn my nature around.

In order for this force to be great and invigorating, the group must be united and strong within itself and burn with the desire to fulfill the spiritual purpose. Then, everyone in it can use this power and step out of the enslavement of egoistic love.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/10, Article “The Purpose of the Association –2”

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A question I received: The whole nation existed in spiritual attainment during the First and the Second Temples. Why wasn’t it possible to go through the destruction of the Temples only in spirituality and to reach the Third Temple without the material manifestation of destruction?

My Answer: All descents and ascents of the souls have to be reflected on the lowest inanimate level – our world. Up until the end of correction, ups and downs of the souls have to go through all layers of the desire to receive, through its entire depth, ending in this material world.

Therefore, we have no possibility to escape events that occur in this world, meaning in our egoistic desire which we feel as “this world.” Our big or not so big successes in the spiritual world, in our relations with the Creator, will always be felt as events happening in this world.

It is impossible to separate occurrences in the spiritual and material worlds because they are the same. A desire to receive with its different layers of Aviut (coarseness) covers the entire depth from this world to the World of Infinity.

A person who is at the bottom of the spiritual ladder raises his MAN to the World of Infinity. Thereby he determines the Light which descends from the uppermost level through all layers (worlds) of the desire to receive pleasure to his rung and further below. When a person exists somewhere in the middle of the spiritual ladder, the entirety of the Aviut of the desire below him is included in his MAN. Then the Light that comes as a response to the prayer goes through a person and spreads out further below to the very end. This is why every person has an impact on the entire thickness of Malchut of the World of Infinity.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/10, The Zohar

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What did the Kabbalists of the past prepare for us? They built the system that connects all of the broken souls with the Light of Infinity. They joined their corrected souls with a net that is reminiscent of  a fishnet. Through it, they pass the Light on to us, lowering it to our level.

If, by reading The Zohar, we attune ourselves to the reception of the Light of Infinity, it descends upon us. If not for the Kabbalists of the past generations, this net of Light we can connect to, would not exist. There would be only simple abstract Upper Light.

However, the Kabbalists performed the corrections by creating the web of connections among their souls. This way, they built the entire system of weakening and adapting the Lights, as well as passing them down toward us, degree after the degree, generation after generation. This makes the Light fit for our souls.

We can help the Kabbalists of the past by raising upward our prayer, MAN, our desire, in response to which the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that Reforms comes to us from Above. The prayer is born as the result of the recognition of evil, as it is said, “I created the evil inclination and Torah (the Light) for its correction.”

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A question I received: Why is it that in spirituality men need to go through circumcision (Brit Mila) even though men embody the quality of bestowal in the spiritual world and not women who correspond to the quality of reception?

My Answer: Indeed, if we’re talking about Malchut’s correction, it follows that it is the female (receiving) part that should be corrected. So, why is it that the correction (circumcision of three impure desires or Klipot) is done in Zeir Anpin which is the symbol of male qualities?

Before the End of Correction, my intention to bestow only applies to the desires above Tzimzum Bet (Second Restriction). These are the desires connected to the qualities of Bina while all the other desires still can’t be corrected. For this reason, they are cut off from use and become usable again only at the End of Correction.

The intention to bestow within me is called “man” and desire is called “woman.” This intention to bestow is called Zeir Anpin, man, or “overcoming.” I see how I need to arrange and cut off this intention and I see which form of bestowal to apply to make it suitable for the Creator. Malchut, the receiving part within me, is without form. However, the “bestowing” part in me must be given form, specifically to the extent of and depending on what I am willing to bestow. Then, I realize that I’m unable to work with my intentions and that my screen doesn’t cover the full depths of Malchut. It follows that I must reduce my intentions to some degree.

The part within my soul called “man” is the intention to bestow in my soul. It is this part that the circumcision applies to. We’re not talking about anything external; this is my inner “bestower” whose form must correspond to the Creator. That’s why I perform this correction of Brit Mila, meaning I restrict myself in the usage of certain parts of Malchut, and thereby advance in the spiritual world. Accordingly, this is why this commandment doesn’t pertain to “women.”

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeHukotai (In My Statutes),” Item 24: …This is so because justice is neither corrected nor completed but in righteousness, as it is written, “In righteousness shall you be established.” This is said to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, which is completed only in righteousness, as it is written, “And do them,” which is done by the awakening of the lower one.

What do MAN, appeal, tears, charity, “gates of tears,” and prayer mean? It all means that I want to become like the Creator. It is only under the condition that being like the Creator is the only thing I ask for, that I will awaken Zeir Anpin, so that He influences Malchut.

Only when the lower wants to become like the Upper, can the Upper influence him and lift him to the next degree giving him strength and understanding of what it means to be the Upper. After all, what else can the Upper give? The Creator only has perfection, and He can only pass the degrees of this perfection to us, gradually and according to the state that we are in.

This is why we have nothing to ask of the Creator except for the opportunity to gradually become like Him, where every time our qualities become equal to a greater degree. He has nothing to give us besides our correction. We would really like to become like Him; this is our connection with the Creator.

Therefore, this is why all the other cries and tears that we shed in this world do not lead to anything. Looking back at history we can see that it does not help. The only thing that works immediately is when I attain the “switching point.” Beginning with this point, which is that I want to be like the Creator, when I determine precisely who He is, what He represents, what I lack, what I really need to strive to, and when I make my desire into a desire like the one He has – this is what is called the beggar’s prayer, tears, the gates of tears and charity.

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Kabbalists tell us that man is an integral part of nature and is entirely governed by it. Hence, within the parameters of our world, we should not place emphasis on people’s outer actions or regard them as “causes” because all the actions in this world are actually effects or consequences of the forces that govern our lives.

The only true independence for a person is found in spiritual ascent, which occurs through the process of acquiring the quality of bestowal and love. This means acquiring similarity to the Creator, which is achieved through the Kabbalistic methodology of attracting the Upper Ruling Force, also called the “Surrounding Light.”  In other words, we do not have the power to achieve it on our own, but only with the Creator’s help and His Light.

Historic examples demonstrate how nature governs a human being and society as a whole by modifying the environment. For example, during the last glacial period (the minor ice age, 1650 – 1720 CE) when as a result of diminished solar activity all of Europe was seized by ice, multiple revolutions and riots resulted. This phenomenon took place in many parts of the world simultaneously. Yet, the truth of the matter is that only the human desire for self-improvement is capable of causing such a strong response from nature on the physical, earthly level, thereby creating adequate conditions to further our personal and social development.

Hence, only our inner progress and outer dissemination of Kabbalah (the method of correction) is capable of making society realize that not only does worldly self-improvement not work, but true improvement becomes possible only by means of involving the forces of the nature – the  Creator and His Surrounding Light.

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The entire material of creation is desire created by the Creator, who also sends the Light that fulfills the desire. Man is the correct correlation between the Light and the desire, and since man’s actions most always come from desire, his actions are therefore determined by the Creator.

However, if we aspire to reach connection between us by helping each other, acting “against the Creator” who created this separation between us, it truly becomes our own action.

The quality which the creature acquires by this action is called “a soul.” This soul doesn’t initially exist in us, and the Creator cannot give us a soul. Rather, a soul is created by our desire to connect above our egoism.

All states descending from the World of Infinity to our world (the last stage) exist in us in the form of records, which can be realized only by our efforts towards unification. Our descent resulted in separation, and our ascension is the action of moving towards unification.

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