If you listen with your heart to one famous question, I am sure that all your doubts as to whether you should study Kabbalah will vanish without a trace. This question is a bitter and a fair one, asked by all born on earth: “What is the meaning of my life?”
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, Introduction to Talmud Esser Sefirot
Among all the texts and notes that were used by my Rabbi, Baruch Shalom Halevi Ashlag, there was one particular notebook he always carried. This notebook contained all the transcripts of his conversations with his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Halevi Ashlag, the Rabbi of Jerusalem, and a Kabbalist. He was the author of a 21-volume commentary on the book of Zohar, as well as the author of a six-volume commentary on the texts of the Kabbalist, Ari, and of many other works on Kabbalah.
Not feeling well on Jewish New Year’s Day in September, 1991, my Rabbi called me to his bedside and handed me his notebook, saying, “Take it and learn from it.” The following morning, my teacher perished in my arms, leaving me and many of his other disciples without guidance in this world.
He used to say, “I want to teach you to turn to the Creator, rather than to me, because He is the only strength, the only Source of all that exists, the only One who can really help you, and He awaits your prayers for help. When you seek help in your search for freedom from the bondage of this world, help in elevating yourself above this world, help in finding the self, and help in determining your purpose in life, you must turn to the Creator, who sends you all those aspirations in order to compel you to turn to Him.”
In this text, I attempt to convey some of the ideas from his notebook as I perceived them. It is impossible to fully relate to what is written there, as each of us can only understand what we read within the limits of our immediate grasp, since each of us is limited by the qualities of our individual souls. Therefore, in the course of interacting with the Supreme Light, each of us will interpret these ideas as our souls perceive them.
May the thoughts of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag penetrate this world through the words of his eldest son, my Rabbi, and may they help all of us unite with the Creator in the course of our lives here in this world!
Rabbi Michael Laitman