Just the Gist

• A ladder was made as we came down; now we can use it to climb back up

• 125 spiritual degrees

• Reshimot—your spiritual databank—and what you can do with them.

• Free choice and the choice of your friends

In his “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam depicts three states that souls experience. The first state is the beginning of creation, which contains everything that will later evolve in the soul, like a seed contains the plant that will grow. The second state is the birth of the soul, somewhat like the seed’s stages of growth. The third state is when the soul realizes its potential to the fullest, reaches the level of the Creator, and bonds with Him. In the third state, the soul returns to the first state, but this time it is a conscious and mature act.

Another way to think of these stages is like a baby’s growth: in the first stage the child is at its mother’s height because she’s holding it next to her chest. In stage two, the child stands and begins to grow from below. In the third and last stage, the child has become fully grown, once more reaching the mother’s level, but this time as a conscious and mature adult.