Our world exists and is sustained by the tiny spark of the spiritual light that broke through the border of the spiritual world and slipped into our world. Now imagine the spiritual world which consists entirely of the light, millions and millions of times bigger than the spark, containing all the pleasures of our world. The pleasure that exists there includes sensations of eternity, freedom, and complete fulfillment.
This is the reason why we are given the Torah. The Torah is a collection of rules that govern the world. It is the description of the laws of creation. These are the spiritual laws. They resemble a net that lies beneath all the worlds and rules over them. In the beginning only one net was created. Later coarse matter formed in it. More subtle matter is "spiritual worlds” and the coarsest matter is called "our world".
The Torah was written by Moshe (Moses), a Kabbalist. The Torah describes the laws of the worlds. However, it does so allegorically, in earthly language and thus it seems to us that the Torah is a historical narrative. But does the Torah really speak about? The Creator created a creature, Adam, and gave it a capacity to evolve. As the result of this evolution (at its tenth degree), there was a need to implant the property of Bina (bestowal/mercy) into creation. Otherwise, creation would self-destruct. Ten generations (i.e. ten Sefirot) separate Adam and Noah: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. This is how the Torah narrates the events that followed:
Chapter Noah
And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the LORD said: 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.'
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah: 'The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. …And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that is in the earth shall perish.
What is Noah? What is an ark? No words can express the depth of one sensations in the revelation of the Upper world in the Book of Zohar. The Torah, in contrast, renders the secrets and magnitude of the Existence in simple words and stories that seem like historic descriptions. This completely confuses us and prevents us from focusing on genuine understanding of multi-layered structure of the universe. Moreover, if we relate to the events described in the Torah in a superficial manner, we bring it down to the earthly level. The Torah loses its entire value of providing the instructions for entering the Upper World.
However, if you approach the Kabbalistic books correctly, you will uncover the deepest layers of Existence. You will find yourself beyond time and space of this world, and realize what the author of the Torah, the Creator, has in mind. This chapter says that "all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth". Does this currently apply to us? The answer is that it applies to all generations. This is an on-going process in each of us.
The Torah does not speak about the events that happened at some point in the history of mankind. The Torah explains that this is man's condition. This is the state in which man sees all of his animalistic desires, and wants to "sort" them by discerning which desire is personally his, which desire can help us in our spiritual progress, and which desires we have to drown.
Noah – Property of Bestowal in a Man
Our spiritual desires are inside of ourselves, however, they are completely suppressed by all other desires. We are born into and live in the society which dictates to us our desires through advertising. Today, this is like a dreadful plague. We are constantly subjected to an intellectual and emotional assault. This is because the Creator created both forces against each other. The more opportunities man has for spiritual elevation and growth, the stronger are the hindering forces that oppose this process. These forces are necessary for our spiritual work, for analysis and realization of our properties.
Initially, man has only one force called "the point in the heart'. This is the center of our desires that connects man to the Creator. However, this point is totally suppressed by all the other desires and urges that the surrounding world lashes upon man. It is necessary to extract from all these forces and desires that exist inside of man, only one most important and personal desire. My personal desire is turned only upwards. The soul is the only personal aspect of man, and everything else is corporeal and absolutely foreign. Only the genuine and pure desire is called "Noah inside of a man".
Man completes the evolution of creation. It is known that the purest creation is made first. As for man, he is the coarsest creation out of all existing in the world. But when man acquires a screen of the strongest anti-egoistical power and pushes the light away, he later receives this light within. He reaches the highest level out of all creations of the world. This is the secret of "Tselem Elokim" (God's image). By receiving the strongest desire and building a corresponding screen, man reaches the upmost level. When the screen of such degree gets broken, the scattered vessels (Kelim-desires) fall lower than the others. "Tselem Elokim" represents Bina, desire to bestow.
Part of "Tselem Elokim" exists inside of us, so that we could understand, at least a little, what is bestowal and what is the Creator. This is why man has a right to choose. If we bring ourselves to the correct correspondence to the Creator, we will be able to use our egoism in order to bestow, and by doing so grow and advance.
However, if we want to use the pleasure that we receive from the Creator selfishly, we fall lower than all the rest. "Tselem Elokim" is the power given to us from above so that we use our egoism correctly. No other creature received anything like this.
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all wherewith the ground teemeth, and upon all the fishes of the sea….
In nature, the young feel humility and tremor in front of the old. When man sinned with the Tree of Knowledge the high level of light that he received earlier disappeared. What remained was only the emptied desire, the biggest desire created on earth. Then man felt that he was the lowest creature on earth. "Tselem Elokim" is the part in us that resembles the property of Bina - bestowal. This part in us is that what allows us to grasp the Creator and His properties. By choosing correctly and restricting our desires, we can work for bestowal. "Tselem Elokim" is the power of bestowal that the Creator gave exclusively to us.
The Flood
Usually water refers to purifying the environment, the light of Hassadim (mercy). However here the strong streams of water surrounding man became inundating and deadly. What are these forces that outwardly resemble waters, but in reality bring along death? When external and all sorts of conflicting thoughts and desires overwhelm a person, this becomes like the Flood. Although the Flood comes as a very harsh force that can destroy everything, this very force purifies with its harshness.
However, it only purifies us if we, as Noah did, erect the ark around ourselves. Noah represents a person who falls into a state in which the heavy waters of the Flood try to distract him from the path. If a person continuously consorts with foreign forces and intentions, they will turn into the Flood. He will not be able to escape them. He will be constantly bombarded by the deadly desires of the surrounding people, dictating to him what he has to do.
Some crave money; others want power or fame, etc…Everything around us is impregnated with somebody else's desires. Only one thing can save one's soul: an even deeper connection with the purpose of creation. We have to build a surrounding layer, a screen, around ourselves. This screen will protect us from outside obstacles that attempt to distract, seduce or frighten a person. If we cannot construct the protective shield that will shelter us from all the useless folly of this world, we will not able to progress spiritually. The ark represents a make-shift screen, this is a shielding force that one builds for themselves. One who holds the purpose of creation cannot be exposed to any other influences. The ark is only one of many actions that we need to perform if we want to advance spiritually.
Man Becomes Slightly Better – Slightly Better Becomes the World
Noah is the next man after Adam. He starts the entire journey on Earth. In Hebrew, earth is "Eretz"; it is our internal desire "Ratzon". One cannot embark on their journey on Earth (transform something inside) without first securing this power, support, and internal system which will free man from any external obstacles. The ark is the means that Noah (that is, the soul that reached this spiritual degree) chose in order to progress towards the goal.
The entire world exists inside of our soul. Representatives of the entire existence and the root of the world are inside of it. We exist at the highest level of our world, meaning that our soul includes all the animate, vegetative, and inanimate souls.
The entire world changes in accordance with us: we become slightly better – slightly better becomes the world. By ascending, that is correcting ourselves by overcoming obstacles we elevate the rest of nature along with ourselves. In this Chapter, the example of Noah shows us how we should behave when we find ourselves in a peculiar environment or face obstacles. In such a state, we have to take the already corrected parts of our soul (i.e. animated, vegetative, and inanimate, what is called “male and female of all flesh”) and build around ourselves an ark. That is, a surrounding shield that will protect us from all external obstacles. This shield has to be absolutely altruistic. If we need nothing, if we are completely indifferent to all but the purpose of creation, then nothing around can harm us. If we are connected with the purpose of creation we simply raise above all the obstacles so much that we stop feeling them. They cannot affect us or alter our path.
The Creator instructs us how to build our protective shield from above. It is said that Noah enters this shield and the Creator "closes the door behind him". Enormous impure and infringing forces separate Noah from the Creator. Noah had to work against them all the time so that he could correct all these infringing forces during the next stage – the Flood. This is the essence of our advancement.
It is necessary to try isolating oneself, to limit oneself from external influences. This is what is called making the ark. We need to examine ourselves a little; to brake away from all infringing forces of this world and try not to interact with the cruel environment. We need to do it in order to bear something inside of ourselves that will subsequently trigger the development of humankind. "Humankind" refers to the forces that help one to attain the Creator. Then all the forces that are about to drown us are gradually corrected, their correction allows us to reach the purpose of creation. However, under no circumstances should any influence be interpreted as a negative one. On the contrary, one should relate to everything as necessary, and as the desired means for the attainment of the goal.
This is why the powers that emerge as obstacles are not really harmful. On the contrary, one should feel in them the Creator's call to use them for the next spiritual correction. Afterwards, we will be able to step on the new land. This land will be purified for us, and we will look at it differently. Then, truly, we will be able to continue our spiritual ascent and our spiritual growth.
When Noah Goes Forth From The Ark, The Creator Offers A Covenant With Him
Noah resides in his ark until the land, that is, all the desires ("Eretz" – land, from the word "Ratzon" – desire) are completely immersed in the waters and drawn in it, meaning in the light of Hassadim (in Kabbalah, water refers to the purifying light of Hassadim). Until the rest of the desires are sufficiently purified, Noah remains in the ark so as to utilize them correctly, that being only for the sake of his inner personal desire. How did this happen? First, Noah managed to separate his desires from the desires of other people, developing his yearning for the spiritual as the sole driving force. He then turned back to the remaining desires, the actions of this world, and began using them for spiritual progress.
When Noah goes forth from the ark, the Creator offers him a Covenant, that is, a connection, a union with Him. Why was this Covenant offered? Its purpose was to receive strength from the Creator and commence living. Meaning Noah has to use these newly received desires, the new bare ground that emerged out of the waters, and cultivate his further states on top of them. The correction Noah performed (that is, had kept all of his inner spiritual forces suppressed), resulted in his worthiness of having the ground emerge. The land previously cursed by the Creator now yields fruit and bears life, which gradually brings man towards the correction, the purpose of creation.
To Achieve Unconditional Happiness The Desires Have To Be Increased, Not Decreased
We must understand that everything around us was created solely of sheer necessity for our spiritual adhesion with the Creator. Nothing was created in vain, or for another purpose. Hence, the single challenge is to wisely use all that exists around us and inside of us beneficially for the true, eternal, genuine goal. The goal in itself also has to be clarified: Is it indeed true and eternal? What is this goal exactly? All inner desires and surrounding pleasures were created not just for nothing. Hence, under no circumstances should man simply spurn anything.
Beginners often inquire: "Should we go into seclusion, turn away from everything, switch off the TV, stop reading newspapers, listening to the radio?" Absolutely not - such coercive limitations will not bear results. The finest remedy is to plainly take books and start "showering" oneself with this pure water, this light of Hassadim. As the result of correct study, this purifying light descends down, pouring over man from outside, and filling him from within. From all of our desires, this light will elucidate that which is called “Noah”, aspiring specifically towards the true Goal. Accordingly, those desires and forces which first must drown in water, will be kept there for a while, purified, and used only afterwards.
Noah appeared like everyone else, did not seclude himself until the Flood. What does "Flood" mean? It is the power that one needs to evoke on himself through the intense Kabbalah studies. When this force acts upon us in its full might, it forces us to enter the state called "ark". For this reason there is a period when man renounces all of his desires and goes into seclusion, needing to be alone (as in this Chapter of the Torah). Later, he attracts the remaining desires and uses them, since without them he cannot progress further. Egoism, the will to receive pleasure is the only driving force, as it is the only thing set forth by the Creator. Indeed, the great Kabbalists escaped the masses by going into seclusion, or hiding. However, they did so only for a specific purpose, while being at very high spiritual levels. Only after one completes his correction, his life's path, his mission on this earth, does he go into seclusion, in order to fully absorb the external world in that specific secluded state. Later, he returns and offers the new method of attaining the spiritual for the new generation or for the future generations to come.
Hence, any coercive renouncement and restrictions are out of the question. By approaching Kabbalah studies correctly (i.e. the laws of existence, the Creator), and "showering" ourselves with extensive amounts of the Upper light evoked by the study in the course of many weeks and months, we will separate our desires. We will realize how we can rule over these desires and forces, how to work with them; understanding what the right balance between these desires and powers should be, and which desire is called "Noah". Man has to attain the level that enables him to live both in our world and in the rest of worlds simultaneously. He has to feel the entire surrounding Existence the same way he feels our world. For the world is indivisible, and our task is to hatch from our inner shell, which prevents us from seeing our present or future, from understanding who we are, why we are born, and where we go after death.
The purpose of creation is for man to come out of this little shell and unearth the entire sphere of Existence. However, the problem is that one can study with one's mind, logically, or sensually attain perception of our world. It happens that we may know nothing about the spiritual world, but live in it because we sense it. I feel heat, cold, light, objects surrounding me, people, forces; I feel myself, after all. However, I do not sense myself in relation to the spiritual worlds and everything inside them, or how these worlds influence me.
And now we will open the Book of Zohar, Chapter Noah. Similar to the Torah, the Zohar is divided into Chapters, and although the language of the Zohar differs from the language of the Torah, these two eternal great books speak of the same purpose – man rising to the level of the Creator in order to receive eternal and absolute pleasure.
The Book of Zohar - Chapter Noah
38. Until Adam sinned, he had nothing of this world, meaning he had no Kelim (vessels) to receive the light of Hochma.
308. Grapes – is the light of Hochma. If the light of Hochma is received without the screen, one gets drunk; meaning loses the ability to receive for the sake of bestowal.
And when the light of Hochma is received garbed in the light of Hassadim, the wine brings joy from receiving the light of Hochma for the sake of bestowal.
327. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets tried the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and nevertheless remained alive.
It is known that the Tree – The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – brings death: he who partakes of its fruit, dies from the poison in them.
We will clarify that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Nukvah de ZA which must always be connected with the rest of Sefirot (other trees of the garden). Only then can one partake of its fruit and receive the delight from knowing. This is why Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets could painlessly eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
But for those who do not connect Nukvah to ZA, a husband, but delight exclusively in her herself, she turns into the angel of death. And as it is said, the day he eats from the Nukvah herself, he separates the Creator from His Shechinah and is sentenced to death.
There is no need to sentence man to death. Disappearance of light – this is death by itself. The Torah does not punish for transgression. Spiritual death is losing the connection with the Creator. We are yet to attain such a level while living in this world.
A person who has never had a connection with the Creator, does not feel its loss. Existing below the line of Machsom (boundary, separating spiritual and corporeal worlds), we do not perceive the spiritual, and thus are not considered dead. Only a person who knew he was alive and felt the Creator's light but later ceased receiving Him, can be called dead. If one is in this state, then only he alone can determine it so, and pronounce his own spiritual death. In this condition, he regrets what happened and suffers immense pain, which in itself is a force capable of subsequently bringing him back to life at even greater spiritual degree.
Without feeling spiritual death, one cannot feel life. There is not a single righteous man who hasn't sinned while doing good. Sin always forestalls the Commandment. And when one realizes the entire evil, sensing his own spiritual death, he then turns to the Creator and asks to grant him life.