Daily Kabbalah Definition

Definitions in the daily Kabbalah lesson guide a precise, spiritual approach to terms, & disqualify materialized corporeal definitions

Intoxicating Wine, Rejoicing Wine

What does the term "wine" mean in spirituality; when is it considered "intoxicating wine" and when is it considered "rejoicing wine"?

"Wine" means the Light of Hochma (Wisdom), which we shouldn't draw directly from top down, starting with Tzimtzum Bet (Second Restriction) and on. When we draw the Light that way, it is called "intoxicating wine"; it is considered as drawing the Light without the screen, and as a result, the shells immediately arise.

"Rejoicing wine" is the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) that we receive by revealing Hassadim (Mercy), upwards, which is a sign that we work in the "receiving in order to bestow" mode, rising up, when Malchut (Kingdom) joins Binah (Intelligence). In this way, we may receive the Light of Hochma.

-from the 1^st part of the daily Kabbalah lesson (minutes 4-6)

Daily Kabbalah Tip

Advice in the daily Kabbalah lesson is recommended, practical tasks for advancing spiritually

Are Obstacles Good or Bad?

How should we relate to corporeal obstacles while studying? 

Studying should be sensed within. I must pass the study through me, to feel it inside me. Thus, we should get used to the obstacles that are always with us, just as the good thoughts. It isn't good to be in one state without the other state. That is called that you are "hanging in the air." Angels are in one state only. This is why man is called "a man," since he is composed of two forces: right and left.

We need to accustom ourselves to the existence of obstacles, each person with his own obstacles. Ultimately, a man needs to accustom himself to contain the obstacles within, so that they don't escape, but that they stay below, and with The Zohar, with the intentions and the group, to contain them above. We need to keep this order. We must maintain the connection all the time between these two things, with the right and the left. If you escape to corporeality or you cut yourself off from the study and become "animate," and if you forget the obstacles and just concentrate on the study, then you won't know where you are.

The clarification is especially between these two things; thus we don't need to delete the bad, but to give it a determined place, and to take care that it stays there. This is a constant struggle. The obstacles themselves can change, but they always need to stay under our control. 

 -from the 1^st part of the daily Kabbalah lesson (minutes 25-30)