Preparing For A Historic Event

Question from a Student: Sometimes in life there are situations of incredible opportunity. In a month and a half there will be an international Kabbalah Congress in Israel dedicated to The Zohar, which will be attended by thousands of people. How should we prepare for this Congress if we want real changes to take place?

Dr. Laitman's Answer: This is, indeed, a very special situation. For the first time in history, we are given the opportunity to solve all our problems, both in Israel and the whole world. This is what the revelation of The Book of Zohar can do.

This Congress will give every person the key to the solution; the solution can be partial or complete; it can be personal or national or even global; it can even pertain to the existence of all reality, because everything originates from one root.

At the Congress, we still study what Baal HaSulam explains-how we can truly change our destiny. Right now we have all the tools and opportunities for this at our disposal; we only have to use them correctly. We will study all of this and we will implement it in practice when we meet.

I think that every person whose wish is not to simply hear about everything Kabbalah says from a distance, but who wishes to actually implement this wisdom and to change his life and fate for the better, will participate in this Congress, whether virtually or physically. I expect that there will be people in attendance who have only heard of Kabbalah a month or two ago, and who revealed it at the last moment. There will be room for everyone there.

If a person is searching for a way to change his life and wants to find out a little more about himself, his future, and the opportunity to change things, then the wisdom of Kabbalah enables him to do this. And there is no other opportunity.

The Creator’s Work

As we open The Book of Zohar again and again, that initial inspiration eventually passes.

Indeed, this inspiration is given to us from above, like the point in the heart that brings us to the science of Kabbalah. It is called an awakening from above (Itaruta de-Leila), given to us by the Upper Force.

Naturally, this "fuel," the desire for the Upper, pushes us to aspire forward with burning eyes. More and more we want to feel what is hidden there, within the book, what exactly it speaks of. From above we are awakened to seek contact between ourselves and the book.

And then this inspiration passes. It passes because we become engulfed by new desires, ones that lack the Creator's awakening from above.

Now we must add our own awakening from below, and that is how we continue to advance-by independently searching for the answers to questions like "Why do I need this work? What is it for?"

Each time the Creator wants us to reveal the importance of the Upper ourselves, to reveal the pressing need for contact with Him, the value of all the means to achieve that contact (The Book of Zohar); and to keep searching for these inner notions within ourselves again and again.

And then we come to a state wherein we must realize that we're engaged in "Bezalel's work"-building a spiritual vessel inside ourselves, a Temple with all its contents. It is a great and slow work that requires a great deal of preparation.

In truth, we never actually do anything; all that's required of us is the willingness, desire and intention.

Everything is realized by the force of Bina above, though prompted by awakening from below. Therein lies our work. That is what it means to fulfill our work.

Therefore, on the one hand our work lies in exerting efforts and making discernments at every step. But on the other hand, it is called "the Creator's work," because it is done by the Creator, and not by us.

Indeed, we need only to achieve the desire, the appeal, the prayer; everything else is done by the Creator ("half a shekel, the Creator shall complete the rest").

What Is The World In The Book of Zohar Like?

When we are reading The Zohar, I don't want to give theoretical explanations and confuse people, giving them the false impression that they've understood something.

All these qualities must be sought within yourself. Just as a small child doesn't understand the difference between one and the other, you don't understand it either. Understanding comes later, naturally.

In this context understanding means attainment. You must feel everything in order to say: "Ah, now I see, I feel, I taste, I live with it!" You need only aspire to penetrate this picture, and then you'll understand!

The Zohar shouldn't be studied theoretically. There's nothing to study; you must simply enter it and discover for yourself, just as a child attains this world.

Does the child know where he needs to develop? No, he merely absorbs from the world all that he can, and that's how he grows. So you should develop, and those should be your thoughts and intentions during the study.

The only difference is, a child has his room, the care of his mother, all kinds of games, all those things make up his world. But your world, the one in which you must develop, is The Book of Zohar. So behave like a child that has to discover it for himself this world.

A child doesn't ask what he should think about; he opens his mouth and eyes wide, and greedily absorbs all the information with all of his senses.