Chapter 5.2 – Kabbalah In Our Lives

During the 6,000 years of its existence, souls descend to our world in a certain order and clothe the physical bodies of our world, which is the lowest degree of Creation in the universe. There is a clear and accurate order of the descent of the souls, from the finest with the least amount of egoism, to the coarsest, most egoistic souls.

The first souls to descend are the ones with the least amount of egoism, whose mere existence in this world is enough to correct them, and they do not need any external influence to guide them. After that, souls begin to come with a need for a guidebook, which we know as "the written Torah."

Although we have received the four parts of the Torah with their entire spiritual scope, including the wisdom of Kabbalah, over the years it has been used in many ways. At the same time, varying circumstances were organized from Above to keep the Mitzvot. For example, the ruin of the temple eliminated the possibility of keeping many of the Mitzvot that are connected with the temple and the land.

Although the souls that come to our world grow coarser and need further correction, the number of practical Mitzvot decreases. That is because these souls cannot be corrected by merely performing Mitzvot. These souls need a special guide to the wisdom of Kabbalah, because this is their final correction. These are souls that were purer in the past, but have sunk deeper and deeper into egoism over the cycles.

Therefore, the last correction should result in an exit from this world into the spiritual world. This is only possible with the help of changing our internal properties from egoism to altruism, not by any mechanical acts.

It is said: "A Mitzva without an aim is like a body without a soul." It is only the aim that determines the value of the action. A mere mechanical act, an aimless one, is also a lifeless one. It does not produce any spiritual influence and brings no result.

However, observing Mitzvot mechanically is still necessary for the (Jewish) collective because it preserves their identities from generation to generation, and prepares souls for their personal correction in one of the future cycles, for the realization of the aim Lishma (for Her name).

Keeping the Mizvot in the physical body purifies the spiritual "still" of man. Man's soul consists of four parts of Creation; these correlate to the name of the Creator: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. A person who keeps Mitzvot physically is turned from an "ordinary still" into a "holy still." We mustn't underestimate the level of this spiritual degree. It is that which keeps the Jews a nation.

A person in that degree is in the first degree of correction, though unaware of it. The person does not feel the spiritual world, just as a stone cannot feel spirituality. Rabbi Zidichev wrote in his book about the verse in Psalms 34, 15: "Depart from evil, and do good." This means that without understanding the wisdom of Kabbalah, man is like an animal, keeping the Mitzvot automatically, just like an animal eats its food. Even if he is proficient in every detail of the Mitzvot, he must still give some time to study the Kabbalah, the core of the Torah, for without it, one in no better than an animal.

Just as everything comes from the ground, so from this degree it is possible to attain higher degrees. That is why Kabbalists do not object to keeping Mitzvot in the physical body, but maintain that it must be accompanied by a spiritual intent, an aim that gives one the ticket to the spiritual world. However, it is only according to one's altruistic aim that one can rise to higher degrees in the spiritual worlds.

Although we have received the entire Torah, its hidden part, the Zohar, which was written at the time of the Talmud, was only discovered in recent generations. The Talmud was necessary to keep Mitzvot and was therefore immediately publicized, whereas the Zohar, because it was not necessary to the public, was concealed by the Kabbalists until they decided it was time to disclose it.

Because the souls of a different kind descend to our world in every generation, they also require a different kind of leader to correct their souls. The Creator sends a number of Kabbalists in every generation. By being simultaneously in this world and in the spiritual world, they can create the necessary conditions for the correction of the souls of that generation.

That is the reason for the coming of the soul of the Holy Ari, the great Kabbalist of the 16th century, to our world. He was the Kabbalist who wrote the contemporary interpretation of the Zohar, thus creating a solid foundation for a clear and understandable study of the Kabbalah for every person. Rabbi Yeshaiahi Halevy Ish-Horovitz (known as the Holy Shlah) said of the books of the Ari, that their appearance is tantamount to the giving of the Torah to the nation of Israel.

Rabbi Avragan Azulai writes in his book, Ohr Chaim (Light of Life), the "The concealment of the wisdom of Kabbalah from Above so that not everyone could practice it, was done for only a limited period of time, until the year 5330 (1570 by the Gregorian calendar). But since that year, the concealment has been lifted and it is permitted for everyone to study the Zohar."

It also says that "only if the masses study the wisdom of Kabbalah will the Messiah come, and not as a result of anything else, as others think..."

The Zohar itself mentions more than once that only the lessened value that we ascribe to the study is the cause of all our anguish and that of the last generation. It also says that this is the reason for our spiritual exile. However, the truth is that the only reason we suffer is that we are not correcting ourselves through the wisdom of Kabbalah; that is why we are marching on the path of pain.