Only after each of the persons had been asked to take upon himself the fulfillment of the condition “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” i.e., to take care of others not less than he cared for himself, and once the whole nation had unanimously agreed and said: “We shall do and we shall hear,” they deserved to receive the method of correction...
The main subject of research for the science of Kabbalah concerns the interconnection of all parts of the universe. All the elements of a vast reality, indeed, all the five worlds ruled by the uniform law of nature interconnect and unite until they create a single whole whose parts are included in and bonded together one with the other...
We feel everything in our five senses. The combined picture of all that we perceive in our senses is processed and analyzed in our brain, compared with the already known and is forwarded to our consciousness as an image of ourselves and of the surrounding world. Thus, the person perceives both his own body and the world as a result of sensations in his senses. Neither the body nor the world exists by itself; they are but the consequences of our sensations...
There are three reasons for concealment of the Kabbalistic knowledge: No need to disclose; Impossible to disclose; The Creator’s personal secret. All three of the aforementioned bans are simultaneously imposed on every slightest detail in Kabbalah, and no permission to disclose the knowledge is received, unless all three conditions are met...
An increasing addiction to drugs is becoming a strategic problem of the entire world. Politicians do not take too much interest in this problem, because all they need is to rule over someone or something. Therefore, they do everything possible to hide it and do not even prioritize it during their election campaigns. This is because they feel their helplessness and regard this issue a failed mission. Yet if we pay attention not just to what is going on at the moment, but to also discern a tendency, we would certainly conclude that humankind, as an intelligent and volitional part of the universe, is entering a period of self-destruction...
History demonstrates that although the people of Israel were scattered among other peoples, they cannot mix with them in accordance with the prophecy: “The Lord will bring you out from afar, and you will seek and find Him.” Failure to fulfill their destination and reveal the upper force brings calamities on the people of Israel, so as to make them see the inevitability of Divine Providence...
Harmony between religion and the law of development or blind fate and among these nations you shall have no repose...
People in this world are all ordinary people. But to one Persian named Abram (and later Abraham), the Creator revealed Himself, and it is that revelation that made him special. He became a “Yehudi” (Jewish), from the word “Yechudi” (single-unique), that is he and the Creator became one. Who then is this Abraham? He is a man who was endowed with a spiritual spark, a sensation of the Creator. But other than that he was an ordinary person.
Man cannot exist in our material world without some elementary knowledge about nature’s laws, and of what is useful and harmful for him in the world and in people around him. Equally, man’s soul cannot exist in the spiritual world without the knowledge of its nature...
Sometimes no sense can be found in a seeming simplicity of the Kabbalistic texts. Their inner meaning is concealed from all, and only those who attain this true wisdom can understand it...
All the worlds, Above and below, are within man, and the whole of reality was created for man alone. This is written in The Book of Zohar. So why do we feel different? We feel that we are within reality, not that reality is within us. Moreover, why is this world not enough for us? Why do we need the Upper Worlds?...
We cannot possibly attain the Creator, because all of our attainments refer to the corrected desires, in which the Creator’s essence is dressed. As in all our measurements, we measure not the essence itself, but its manifestation in the measuring device, its interaction with it. Hence, the vision of the Creator’s Providence means the true revelation of Him...
Is There Free Will? An ancient prayer says: “Lord! Give me strength to change the things I can change, give me courage to accept the things I cannot change, and grant me wisdom to know the difference”. What exactly can we influence in our life? Do we possess enough freedom to change our destiny? Why can’t we naturally obtain this wisdom?..
Kabbalists are convinced that all people have to study the Science of Kabbalah. If they do not do it in this lifetime, they will have to come back to this world again and learn this science. What is specific about the Science of Kabbalah? Why is it that people have to master this science and if they did not, their life was not worth living? Why does the perfection of a human being depend on the knowledge of Kabbalah?..
It is said in the book of "Zohar" that all the worlds – Upper and lower, and everything that exists in them, are created only for the sake of man. All these levels are created for one purpose only – to bring all the souls to perfection; to the adhesion with the Creator at the level that is missing in them from the moment of the Thought of Creation...
“From behind and in front, you embrace me” – says a metaphor. That is, whether by means of a concealment (from behind), or revelation (from before) of the Highest Power to man, He governs everything – with the purpose of leading man to the previously marked target, “He dominates everything”, - and everything will return to its source. This is because “there is nothing that is free from Him”; - nothing exists outside of His power. The difference is only in man’s perception “from behind” or “from before”; in other words, how the overall power of the Creator manifests – in the ‘present” or in the “future”.
Science and religion are two parallel paths, which humanity followed while researching this world, when trying to understand the place and possibilities of Homo sapiens and to determine the purpose and meaning of its existence.
Every concept discussed in Kabbalah concerns the ten Sefirot called KaHaB (Keter, Hochma, Bina), HaGaT (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet), NHYM (Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut), and their derivatives. They are entirely adequate for uncovering the essence of any object or learning. But the beginner should be aware of a few rules for the correct study of the wisdom of Kabbalah...
Many people are not quite sure whether Kabbalah can be considered a science. Even if it is considered a science, is it a natural one like physics, chemistry and others, or is it similar to semi-sciences like philosophy and psychology? Or perhaps it is a special science that requires from the researcher not only knowledge, but a special property not given at birth...
The revelation of this world and the order of its existence is an amazing science. In the same way, the revelation of the Creator’s light in the world as a reality of levels and modes of influence constitutes a wonderful science as well. For example, physics, which represents a particular kind of knowledge relevant in a particular world, is something special in its own field and there is no other science that is included within it...
The value of any science in the world is determined by the value of its purpose. There is no such thing as a purposeless science. A science’s value is conditioned by its significance, by the usefulness and advantages it provides. Consequently, if the value of a science is measured by the material benefit it brings, the disappearance of such a benefit in the future will certainly degrade this science’s value. Although a science itself has a considerable advantage over the purpose, as it always has a higher basis, it is estimated in accordance with its purpose...
The general global crisis of humanity is obvious – depression, drugs, collapse of the family, terror, uncontrollable social systems, the threat of the use of nuclear weaponry, ecological catastrophes, and more. What is the cause of the crisis? Indeed, not only man, his health, and the forms of his relationships in society are in a critical state. The entire nature is advancing towards catastrophe together with man. Hence, in order to understand the sources of the crisis, we have to analyze the foundations of nature itself...
The world is created and governed by the law of universal bestowal. This law encompasses the entire creation and compels us to achieve its fulfillment either by conscientiously advancing along the path of Kabbalah, or forced by suffering. Thus, as a result, humankind will have to observe the law of mutual responsibility...
On the whole, science subdivides into two parts: the first is called the knowledge of matter, the second – the knowledge of a form. This means that there is nothing in the surrounding reality, in which matter and form could not be discerned. For example, let us take a table. It consists of matter, say, wood, and possesses a form of a table. Matter (wood) happens to be a carrier of a form (a table). The same is with the word “liar”: its matter is a man, and its form is “liar”, so that the matter called man bears the form of falsehood. This applies to everything...
There are two parts to the wisdom of Kabbalah: concerning man and the Creator and concerning man and man. Engage in that which concerns man and man, and thus you will also learn that which concerns man and the Creator...
The correction of the authentic human nature, the egoistic desires, should be carried out only for the purpose of convergence with the upper power, by means of a similarity in attributes and by acquiring the quality of unconditional giving. It is the same way that it works towards us; for the sake of giving in order to fill up our desire to receive...
All there is in reality, good, bad and even most harmful in the world has a right to exist. It should by no means be completely destroyed. Our task is to merely correct it and return it to the Source. It is enough to take an attentive look at the process of the creation to realize the greatness and perfection of the act and the One Who performs it. Therefore we should understand and be extremely careful to neglect any part of the creation and say that it is superfluous and unnecessary. Because it is slander with regards to the act of the creation...
As we know the essence of the Creator's commandments is in love, that we give the maximum attention and compassion to all people in society, just as we do to ourselves. Let us try to see if we can take this on faith...
Who am I and what do I exist for? Why was I born? Where did I come from? Where am I heading? Have I already been here? Will I return here? What is my role in the universe?..
Prayer is the labor of the heart. It expresses desires coming from the heart. Yet man has no power over these desires themselves. He has been created in such a way that he never really knows what to seek or what his own true intentions are. Therefore also the essential nature of his prayers is ungraspable...
In our opinion, a soul is a united, total system of the universe; the main feature of which is integrity, that is, the inability to reduce any system to a sum of its parts. This means that where one common soul, called "Adam" exits, only this soul truly exists...
The Creator acts upon us using the various elements of our world. Man must understand that events occurring to him are nothing but messages from the Creator. If man responds correctly to divine action, he will clearly grasp what the Creator expects of him and he will feel Him...
Kabbalah is known to be a secret wisdom. It is precisely this secrecy surrounding Kabbalah that gave rise to numerous legends, falsifications, gossip, ignorant arguments and wrong conclusions. Only at the end of the 20th century was the wisdom of Kabbalah allowed to be revealed to all and even circulated around the world. Therefore, addressing the reader at the beginning of this article, I feel obliged to tear age-old layers off this ancient wisdom that is common to all mankind...
There are several reasons for keeping the Kabbalah secret: 1. "There is no necessity"; 2. "It is impossible"; 3. "It is the private secret of the Creator". There is no single detail in the Kabbalah that is not covered by all of these three prohibitions...
The reason for creating man in the state, which he is destined to achieve at the end of his development, is his similarity to the Creator of merging with Him. All of nature’s laws are only aimed at the realization of this purpose. Man’s merging with the Creator occurs through reaching equivalence of form with Him, making man’s properties similar to the Creator’s...
Religion assumes that the Creator changes His attitude to the person depending on the person’s actions. The science a Kabbalah however states that the Upper Force is invariable, and the actions of a person can in no way affect it. Instead, the person’s actions can change himself. He will be able to perceive the Upper Governance differently, if his own changes are aimed toward greater resemblance...
From here it follows that our main objective is to elevate the importance of the Creator in our own eyes, i.e., to acquire faith in His greatness and might. We must do this because this is our only possible means of escaping from the prison of personal egoism and entering into the higher worlds...
We distinguish among many levels and many distinctions in the (upper, spiritual) worlds. And it is known that when one speaks about levels and distinctions, one speaks (only) regarding the souls' comprehension of what is received from these worlds; according to the principle that what one cannot comprehend, one cannot know by name and that is because the word 'name' connotes comprehension...
The science of Kabbalah is a cause-and-effect order of descent of the Upper forces. It submits to invariable and absolute laws that are interconnected and aimed at revelation of the Upper force (the Creator) to man in this world...
The origin and time of the emergence of Kabbalah is considered to be one of the most difficult issues in its history. Anyone who has ever tried to tackle this question agrees that this topic is a constant object of dispute. Some scientists claim that Kabbalah is a new creation dated XII-XIII CE, while there are others who state that Kabbalah appeared much earlier...
All introductions composed by Rabbi Y. Ashlag (The Baal HaSulam) are written to allow a reader to enter the essential material, understand, and absorb it. As well, all introductions are separate Kabbalistic compositions, possessing their own spiritual power and depth...
It is thought that since Kabbalah researches the root characteristics of the universe for basic categories of our world that transcend human imagination such as space, time, and movement, scientists/Kabbalists use abstract definitions as terminology. In fact, the actual state of affairs in our science is completely opposite to the above opinion...
Words and letters provide a code that points to the spiritual object and to its unique situation. When one Kabbalist reads what another Kabbalist wrote, he can reconstruct the text and feel exactly what his fellow Kabbalist meant, just as a musician can reconstruct a musical piece that was written by a another composer 500 years ago through notes, or just as we mark the mathematical signs with notes that are numbers...
"But if you listen with your heart to one famous question, I am sure that all your doubts as to whether you should study the Kabbalah will vanish without a trace. This question is a bitter and fair one, asked by all born on earth: `What is the meaning of my life?' " (Rabbi Y. Ashlag, "Introduction to Talmud Esser Sefiroth Sections 2, 12-17, 44-57)
The Creator emanated Light. The Light constitutes His desire to create beings and bestow delight upon them. This phase of the Creation is called Phase 0 or Keter (lit.: a crown)...
Mankind is constantly searching for a logical substantiation of their existence. To this end, man has been studying the laws of nature for many thousands of years. Despite this, modern scientists are finding that the more they advance in their scientific investigations, the more confusing and unclear the picture of the world becomes. Answers to the question about the purpose of this world and mankind’s existence have not yet been found...
It is well known that we discover the world using our organs of perception. We are like a black box that only perceives things entering it from outside. To be more precise, nothing actually enters the box, it is only being affected or "pressured" and then reacts to it...
Science and philosophy advance along with the advancement of mankind. And today, all of the scientists and philosophers agree that man's investigation of the world around him is limited...
We know nothing about the Creator, except His will to create us and to give us the enjoyment. Upon His device, desire of enjoyment arose from nothing. The Creator's will of creation is called Keter (crown), since it surrounds like a crown his will to give us the enjoyment...
For a long time now I have felt responsible to give the public at large the true information about the wisdom of Kabbalah.
Prior to the appearance of the printing industry there were no books superficial in content, because there was no point in paying a substantial amount of money to a scribe for worthless merchandise. On the other hand, Kabbalists tried to conceal the wisdom of Kabbalah from those who had no real need for it. So if there appeared Kabbalistic books, they were quite genuine...
Upbringing is the central problem of all humanity. If we were able to raise at least one generation properly, then we could be certain that all of the following generations would be brought up suitably and exist optimally in our world, thereby reaching the necessary goal. This is because each generation that receives the right upbringing can and will be capable likewise to adequately raise the next generation...
Who am I and for what purpose do I exist? How did we appear here and where are we going? Is it possible that we have already been in this world before? Can we know ourselves and the universe? Why does man suffer and is it possible to avoid suffering? How can one find peace, satisfaction, and luck? How can we attain tranquility, fulfillment, and happiness?..
Philosophy believes that the spiritual generated the material and the soul created the body. This statement is problematic, because the connection between the spiritual and the material becomes essential. On the other hand, it is said that the spiritual has nothing to do with the material, so there is no way the spiritual can have any contact with the material and somehow set it in motion...