The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah), Talk 2
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Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
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Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
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lowercase italics: emphasized words
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Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
We are continuing to study the article, Matan Torah (The Revelation of Godliness), from the book Kabbalah LeMatchil ( Kabbalah for Beginners), page 112.
It is a very special article, the first article written by Baal HaSulam for the purpose of the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah “among the people,” as he writes, meaning “for everyone.” And there is a reason why it is called Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), [referring to the question] “under which conditions does one receive the Torah?”
Torah means Light, the light of life, an eternal Light, an endless life, without limitations, without any pains, a life filled with joy. So under which conditions does one feel life as being eternal and complete?
That is what Baal HaSulam is actually explaining to us, saying that the condition is simple: "love thy friend as thyself." If you reach such an attribute, you discover within it, specifically, a life that is eternal and complete. Then he goes on explaining to us about the origin of this obligation, meaning, why is it a necessary requirement for us, on the one hand. And on the other, he says that whether we like it or not, we have to perform the acceptance of the Torah , being that the giving of the Torah from above is already being realized.
Why is it that we are required to perform that particular correction, "love thy friend as thyself" and not some other corrections or things? And why is it that our entire work must be aimed towards it? What is the actual definition of "love thy friend as thyself," and to what extent do I have to love another in order to reach the acceptance of the Torah? We’re really just beginning now to examine this whole thing.
Reader: Again, we are reading from the book Kabbalah LeMatchil ( Kabbalah for Beginners), page 112, item 4, in the article, Matan Torah ( The Revelation of Godliness.
And if this is still not enough for you, let me tell you that the simple explanation of that precept of loving your fellow man is even harsher—that we have to put the needs of our friends before our own...
Meaning, just as it is written: "love thy friend as thyself." Now the meaning of “as thyself” is not the same as what we might say: “half for me and half for you.” Given that “half for me and half for you” is actually called “a Sodomite Rule," “not for me and not for him,” or “same for both me and him,” or “divide everything equally among all.” That isn’t love. Love is when one gives everything and keeps nothing for even himself.
Why then is it called "as thyself?" Because that is how I actually love myself. I want to get everything for myself and leave others with absolutely nothing, not even a penny. And that is how I thus have to relate now to others, leave everything to them while keeping not even a penny for myself.
...as our sages have written regarding the verse “because he is happy with thee” (Deuteronomy 15, 16), regarding the Hebrew slave: “when sometimes he has but one pillow, if he lies on it himself and does not give it to his slave, he does not observe “because he is happy with thee," for he lies on a pillow and the slave on the ground. And if he does not lie on it and does not give it to the slave either, it is Sodomite rule. It turns out that against his will, he must give it to his slave, while the master himself lies on the ground.
Because that is how we actually want it to be for us. So that is how we should relate to others. That is the actual meaning of “as thyself.”
We also find the same instruction in the sentence about the measure of loving our fellow man, for here too it compares the satisfaction of the needs of his friend to the satisfaction of his own needs, as with the example of “because he is happy with thee” regarding the Hebrew slave. So here too if he has but one chair and his friend hasn't any, there is a verdict that if he sits on it and does not give it to his friend, he breaks the commandment of “love thy neighbor as thyself," because he does not satisfy the needs of his friend as he satisfies his own. And if he does not sit on it and does not give it to his friend either, it is as evil as Sodomite rule. Therefore he must let his friend sit on it and he should either stand or sit on the ground. It is understood that this is the law regarding all the needs that are at his disposal and his friend lacks. And now go and see if this precept is in any way feasible.
Baal HaSulam expands here for a reason. Because we are used to saying: “sure, you sit right next to me and I’ll give you a half” and we think that’s a just sentence. But it is not just, it is Sodomite Rule. By that, I don’t show that I love the other as I love myself. Here there is only a matter of concession. "As myself" means without taking myself into account, just like I don’t take the others into account, when I talk about “self-love."
Question: Baal HaSulam wrote this article for us, for the people. So let's say I now open the book. Does this mean I should be trying to put that into practice with chairs and pillows or is there something deeper here?
No. He is taking us through the explanation of the concepts first, what “love of another” means. If you start doing these things now, say I start giving away everything I have, spreading it all among others, am I then acting for love of another or not? Does this really mean that I now have the attribute of love for the other or not? If you ask that person, he might yes or he might say no. Some people might say this while others might say that.
We learn that if a person performs an act of giving or if he has a desire to give, it is because he gets more out of it than what he is actually giving, if he is still not corrected. Or maybe he is already corrected and then he gives. Or perhaps he has a natural love like a mother has for her child. Yes?
So let’s say I now read that we have to give everything and then we get the Torah. “Come on guys, I’m giving it all away, who wants it? Now give me the Torah.” Is that really giving? Or maybe, having read that I have to love the others, I decide internally to love the other from now on?
In other words, we are talking about the correction of the Kelim, the correction of our desires which we do not own. We are neither the owners of our desires nor are we in any way the owners of their correction. We can induce it, we can ask for the correction, if we really decide it is the best and most desirable thing, albeit against my nature. And then, the force that corrects the desires will come from Above. “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” And it’s not that if I so decide, it will just happen.
So giving away my entire property now to everyone is just redundant. It’s just a physical, egoistic act. So deciding that from now on, I will love everyone: “how are you? wonderful,” “sweetie,” “bleeding hearts” and so on, will give me nothing. We see that the world is filled, de facto, with the kind of people who seemingly relate nicely to others and give away things and so on. That doesn’t yield any good results.
The correction is realized through the Upper Force and it isn’t in our hands. Reaching the necessity for that to occur, however, is (in our hands).
That is why we need to understand that physical acts come last if they are to take place. The corrections, however, are internal and are realized within the actual desires. As if there were atoms, molecules or electrons within our desires in which the Upper Light actually operated, putting our desires together that way. This is how the correction of the desire must take place, within the unseen things, those things that are hidden from us.
But on the outside, I know that I have this and that desire, I discover the evil in it and determine that it is bad. It is bad in what sense? Is it bad for me or because it gets in the way of my reaching the attribute of bestowal, the Gmar Tikkun, the equivalence of form with the Creator? If the latter is true then this desire is considered bad in its present form.
Then, to the extent that I see this desire as bad, I can get to the point where I wish to get rid of it. This hatred then, for that form of desire, actually comprises half of my MA”N, of my prayer. The other half consists of seeing that the Creator is the actual force for correcting that desire and that I absolutely need Him to do it. I need Him. And it’s all for the purpose of my clinging unto Him.
In other words, there are many elements here that have to come together in the correction of the desire, for it to become a genuine prayer for the correction of the desire. And then it will happen. And all of these are internal things only, which is why it is called the “Wisdom of the hidden.”
It's not that I’d start giving out things: who wants a pillow? who wants a chair?, come on over, I have a few, take them all. By that, we will correct neither ourselves nor anyone else in the world. We might even cause greater corruption for the things we get for free only corrupt us. That’s it.
So we have to understand what the Kabbalists mean when they say that you have to care for every last failing person in the world, to ensure they lack nothing. They are talking about the measure of correction here. Or else, you seem like a person who keeps running around, seeing all that is corrupted everywhere in the world: “this is corrupted and now I have to correct it.” The Creator seemingly corrupted, and “I will correct it.” Yes? You are going to correct what the Creator “had ruined in His creation.” Is this the approach? It is foolish.
Question: Let’s say, that I now watch our lesson on television and that I’m a total egoist and perhaps I’ve even started suffering from my egoism or something. And now I hear these beautiful words: Creator, corrections. What is that and what do I actually do to reach that? What must be done in order to realize any kind of correction?
We don’t have a choice. We still have to interpret the articles of Baal HaSulam and not steer away from the source. Hence, we have to read about the love for others and about the correction of our ego. No matter how pleasant or unpleasant it might be to the people, to the viewers, and whether or not they are willing to listen.
Of course, everyone hates it. Everyone has already had enough with these beautiful words. But on the other hand, people must understand that the cause of all our torment and disasters is human nature alone. It is the only thing that is subject to correction and that needs to be corrected. The still, vegetative and animate levels of existence, that is, the whole universe except for humankind is completely corrected, only humans are corrupted.
What is corrupted in humans is their ego that wants to dominate everyone, to exploit everyone for its own benefit. The correction is in its conversion toward the opposite, whereby it will resemble the Creator. And humanity has no choice. It will have to discover that this is it, that we have no other alternative.
It might take us five or ten more years, where we might be able to hear about it or not or even try to escape it, after which we will return through greater clouts. But sooner or later, along with the scientific explanation of how reality is constructed, the connection between its parts, the worlds, the structure of the person, the perception of reality and so on, we will have to explain that the essence of matter is the will to receive and that this is what needs to be corrected.
All those other things around it are very nice indeed. And with beginners, it is in fact preferred to start off by talking about those things that are around this central point of correction but that do not quite touch on the subject, for they all have an aversion to it. But there comes a time when you have to start talking to the point.
What is this whole reality that is before us? What was it given to us for? What is it that we are supposed to do? Where and how do we have a free choice? and so on. It’s true that it is not a nice thing to hear. It is quite unpleasant in fact.
I remember myself. I came as a scientist, wanting to know all about reality and about myself. I wanted to find out about the functionality of the world, its systems, all the formulas based on which it existed, and as a result of which I had hoped to know where I was, this world or that world and what the connection was between those worlds. It was all very rational.
But little by little as we progress in our studies, we see that these things are useless in and of themselves. You can study 20 years or more and it won’t do you any good. But after you are taught that reality is just an inner perception of yours, you start wanting to make changes in your world, in your sensations and your reality.
And then you are left with the question, how can I change my own perception? If I perceive the spiritual world, I will live in the spiritual world and if I perceive, in my Kelim, only this [physical] reality, then that is where I live. It’s my entire sensation, understanding and perception. My whole life depends on my perception and on nothing more than that.
We are merely a sort of apparatus that perceives reality and lives according to that perception. It’s good to know this philosophy, how everything is built and created. But the bottom line is how do I actually change my reality? How do I go from world to world? That’s the most important thing.
Or maybe I just want to do it theoretically, engage in philosophy and theory. If people want to engage in philosophy, there’s no problem. People have been dealing with it for years and it satisfies them, they love knowledge and love philosophizing. That’s alright, there’s no problem with that. We do not prevent anything from anyone. Everyone can advance according to the saying, “Train a child according to his way” (Proverbs 22:6). Meaning give them whatever they want.
But based on the extent of the torments that are already being felt and the ones that are still ahead of us, we should pay some attention as to how we can change our perception of reality. And that happens through this act with which he begins his book, his appeal to the nation. Look how sharp it is: “love thy friend as thyself.” That’s it. There is nothing more than that. And it is everything.
Where is the approach here, the understanding of what people are? Come on, you are approaching people who have already gone through these things. They have had enough of them. It seems as though he does not know human nature.
Still, there’s a kind of integrity, righteousness, sharpness, and cleanness to this approach in that you state this motto and then explain that there is no choice; that you will have to carry it out, today or tomorrow. You want another Tsunami, some other problem, something else? No problem, you’ll get it.
So it’s worthwhile stating it upfront since all the problems are only meant to get you to fulfill this motto of “love thy friend as thyself.” The fact that it’s unpleasant for our viewers to hear these things, well, it wasn’t pleasant for us either. Bit by bit, however, we start convincing ourselves that this is simply the primary correction and that we don’t have a choice. Our nature is egoistic and we have to correct it.
I realize that it’s a hard thing to start with. When I sometimes talk to strangers, I choose with what to begin, if they ask me to say a few words. And I hardly ever start with the need to correct human ego, because everyone talks about it. So, I talk about the Wisdom of Kabbalah, being the Wisdom that explains to us about the structure of reality, the souls, incarnations, Higher Spiritual Worlds, Upper Guidance, Spiritual governance from Above to below and how we actually influence the Upper Worlds.
I explain how a person can keep on evolving egoistically using this rich wisdom. How we can supposedly benefit ourselves with our egoistic power. And that is something which everyone gladly accepts: “let me have it!” Yes? If it can satisfy my Kelim, give me greater power and might to rule the world and to understand everything, then “let me have it!”
That’s the starting point. That’s what the Rambam writes about, that for women, little children and slaves, the disclosure of the secret is done little by little until they grow abundantly wise. And that’s actually the secret, that we must invert our nature. There’s nothing else.
But to the extent that humanity suffers more and more, and recognizes its suffering, and recognizes the fact that there is no solution and everyone is beginning to give up—I am talking about those who are already somewhat aware of what’s going on, not those who are just in existence, subsisting.
So according to the pyramid, the upper part of it, let’s say, we can already start talking about it in a different way because we have to correct human egoism. That is the only thing that’s bad in reality and as a result reality approaches us with clouts and suffering.
Here we can also be supported by science, common science, which is gradually revealing to us, giving us some scientific information that says that man is probably affecting the world with his egoism. Our thoughts, our desires, have the greatest impact on the world, on nature. It is quite obvious when it comes to human relations but it is true even with nature in general.
Let’s hope that humanity will be able to listen, amidst the blows that it is going to receive. And from the combination of both the intellectual persuasion and the emotional persuasion from that cracked whip, humanity will reach the state where it has no choice, a state where it must absolutely and necessarily accept it.
The faster we start explaining these things to our viewers, in all kinds of ways, the better they will be, because by that we are actually giving them an opportunity to avoid the hard blows and suffering that are awaiting us.
Because the goal is there, everyone must reach it, we have no choice, there’s no escaping it. “The wise man, [whose] eyes are in his head, foresees the future,” and will somehow try and absorb these things and get used to them, and will start to gradually go along with them. He who isn’t a wise man, who foresees the future, will be beaten again and again and again until he acquires wisdom.
It is our duty, therefore, our obligation, to give people a chance to avoid the suffering, the terrible afflictions that are right before us, before humanity.
Question: All right, all right, so let’s say that I now got all excited about it and I want to embark on this journey but I live in the town remote from here. What should I do? Do I have to come to your group and integrate myself in it or are there any other ways to do it?
No, no, no. There is no need to come to the group. In our group here we educate teachers. Here, there are people whose profession is Kabbalah. Although Kabbalah is not really a profession, it is a method for the correction of man. We all need to know the Wisdom of Kabbalah to the degree of our own individual correction.
But there are those who have to teach the Wisdom of Kabbalah to others. So here is that place for those who take it upon themselves as a profession. Besides the fact that they have to correct themselves in order to have the strength and the connection necessary for absorbing the wisdom and teaching it to others, they must also be personally corrected. But they are actually instructors.
There are ordinary people who have to implement the wisdom and there are those who, apart from implementing it, must also have knowledge about the education, about how to teach it, how to bring it to others. And those are the ones who are here. And for everyone else, those who just want to be in it, and simply realize the correction upon themselves, it does not matter where they are located. It is enough for them to watch it on television, the internet and in books, and so forth, all over the world. We can’t have the entire world sitting in one place, or in just a few places. The Wisdom of Kabbalah is certain to be dispersed this way throughout the entire world.
Let’s continue for now.
Reader: We are continuing on page 112, item 5.
We must first understand why the Torah was given to the Israeli nation and not to all the peoples of the world. Is there, God forbid, nationalism involved here? Of course, only an insane person would think that. Indeed our sages have examined this question, which is what they mean by their words: “God gave it to every nation and tongue and they did not receive it."
But what they find bewildering is why then were we called the chosen people, as it says: “the Lord thy God has chosen thee (Deuteronomy 7, 6)," since there was no other nation that wanted it? Furthermore, can it be that the Lord came with His Torah in His hands to negotiate with those savage peoples? Such a thing has never been heard of and is completely unacceptable.
It is a fact; it is a fact that the Wisdom of Kabbalah is found within the nation of Israel, among the Jewish people. But first of all, is it a nation? It is not a nation. It is the result of Abraham’s group, of Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Aaron and Joseph and David and Rabbi Shimon, the Tanaim, the Moraim (Talmudic teachers) and all the Kabbalists through the Ari and Baal HaSulam, all the way down to us.
In other words, it isn’t a people, it is a collection of people that have a desire for spirituality. Just like Abraham built his group out of people who came to his tent, went in and remained in order to keep studying, so this group remained. So it’s not a biological nation, but in the word nation, we refer to their desire for spiritually, for the correction for the purpose of creation on the one hand.
On the other hand, in what is it the chosen [people]? It is chosen in that it holds this method, a method that no one wanted except for these people that have come together as a nation, that group of Kabbalists. In that, they are called “chosen.” And what else makes them chosen? It isn’t on account of the purity of their souls that made them want the Wisdom of Kabbalah. But they are chosen in that they have to convey the Wisdom of Kabbalah to the rest of the world. Because the correction is: “For they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them,” and, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations,” and so forth.
Moreover, it is written by the prophets that the nations of the world bring Israel to Jerusalem, for the correction and the construction of the Temple. Meaning that the correction cannot come about unless the nations of the world understand that the children of Israel must rise up to the level of the Temple in Jerusalem and that they must push them toward it, carrying them on their shoulders.
So there is an issue here that we must understand correctly as well as the meaning of the concepts: chosen people, the Israeli nation, the nations of the world, and so forth. We must see that these are just the Kelim, the vessels of the creatures, or of one creature divided into such Kelim in which there is the aspect of Israel, which due to its purer Kelim, is the first to be qualified to understand and to appreciate the Wisdom of Kabbalah, to absorb it and implement it on itself. And from the Kelim of Israel, Galgalta ve Eynaim, the Wisdom of Kabbalah then expands to all the nations.
And there is a reciprocal correction, when all the nations [of the world] awaken and bring Israel to a higher level called “the Temple in Jerusalem.” Whereas, without the joining of the vessels of reception from all the nations, there cannot be a Third Temple, for it must contain within it, the Light of Hochma as well as the Light of Hassadim.
The first Temple was Ohr, Light of Haya; the second was Ohr, Light of Neshama; the third should be Ohr Yechida, theLight of Yechida, containing all these things jointly. Thus it can only come about by first of all joining to itself the vessels of reception.
What’s been happening until now is just the “preparation period.” And the correction of the world is certainly for every single one of the billions within which there are souls, and that’s what he is about to explain to us.
So we are a chosen people because we have to implement the Wisdom of Kabbalah on ourselves and teach it to others. In that, we are chosen and it is not that there is any kind of nationalism here. Also, we must understand what is written that the Creator turned to all the nations and no one wanted to receive it so He gave it to the people of Israel: “Hey guys, do you want it?” “Yes, we do.”
We need to understand what is written here. It pertains to the nature of creation, that there are desires, the AHP that cannot absorb the correction directly. But the phases of correction are such that Galgalta Eynaim absorbs it first and then they break in the first and second Temples and enter the AHP, among the nations of the world, called “the exit to exile of the people of Israel.” And after an intermingling span of 2000 years in exile, this intermix reaches a form that is capable of correcting the Galgalta Eynaim from within the AHP, then the Galgalta Eynaim that is within the AHP and finally the real AHP. These are the phases of correction.
That is why it is explained in such a way, that the Creator turns to the AHP, to the vessels of the nations of the world: Do you want it? No, we don’t. It is so, because they are unable to receive this correction directly without the inner participation of the Vessels of Bestowal, the attributes of Bina, the attributes of Galgalta ve Eynaim. That is why He gives the Torah to Israel. And Israel adopts the Torah and then breaks, permeating the nations of the world. And this whole historical process has been going on up until now. And now it is the end of the exile and the time of the Messiah as determined by Baal HaSulam and Rav Kook and others, and we now have to start the general correction.
But when we fully understand the essence of the Torah and mitzvot that were given to us and their desired purpose, as our sages have instructed us, which is the purpose of the great creation that is set before our eyes, then we shall understand everything. For the first postulate is that there is no act without a purpose. And there is no exception here apart from the lowest of the human species or infants. Therefore, it is certain that the Creator, whose exaltedness is beyond conception, would not act, be it a great or a small act, without a purpose.
In other words, we have to understand that the entire world, all of reality is built precisely for the purpose of creation. It means that nothing was redundantly created, either in the corporeal or in the spiritual life, whoever one is and in whichever degree he happens to be.
But in order to understand the situation that we are in and where we have to reach, we must definitely know and research the entire reality and utilize it all, because everything that was created, was created to serve us for without using each and every part of creation, we will not be able to attain correction.
So you might say that a person who advances and builds himself toward the purpose of creation, engulfs, recognizes and encompasses in his perception, in his discoveries and his attainment, the whole of reality. And then that person reaches correction, the Tikkun.
In order to make what he wants to say a little easier, we have to understand that the way we perceive reality, is through our 613 desires. Each desire is in fact, a perception cell for the Upper Light. Meaning that all the cells, the 613 cells with which we perceive the Upper Light, are just like sensors or photoelectric cells for perceiving the Upper Light.
So what we perceive is called “our perception of reality,” the emotional, sensory, mental and intellectual, everything is in it. There is not reality that exists in and of itself outside of us. But whatever enters our senses, is what exists. Outside of us, there is nothing.
So by correcting our 613 desires and to the extent that we correct these desires, depends all of what we feel, in which world we live and in which state. Right now, it is hard for us to imagine how relative this thing is and how much it depends on our correction.
If I could turn right now, the correction of my desires, if I could change them a little bit, my perception of them, I would then feel myself in an entirely different dimension, in an entirely different form of existence. Everything happens through my desires. That is why we have nothing more to do than to correct our perception, to correct our desires.
Our sages tell us about that, that the world had not been created but for the purpose of observing Torah and mitzvot...
Mitzvot refer to the correction of each and every desire. That’s why we have 613 desires and 613 Mitzvot. And the correction of each and every desire is done by the Upper Force, the Upper Light called Torah. So the world was created, “world” is concealment, our situation was created so that through the Upper Light we would perform 613 corrections over our 613 desires. That is why we were given this present reality which we call “the world.”
...meaning, as we've been taught by our sages, that the aim of the Creator from the time He created His creation is to reveal His Godliness to others.
Meaning that in every corrected desire of ours we would feel the Upper fulfillment to satiation. This is what is called “the revelation of His Godliness to others.” Why does it say “others”? It is due to our actual oppositeness from Him.
Because the revelation of His Godliness reaches the creature as a pleasant bounty that is ever growing until it reaches the desired measure. And by that the lowly rise with true recognition and become a chariot to Him and cleave to Him until they reach their final completion: “neither has the eye seen a God beside thee (Isaiah 64, 3)." And because of the greatness and glory of that perfection, the Torah and the prophecy also refrained from uttering a single word of exaggeration here, as our sages said: “All the prophets did not make their prophecies, but for the days of the Messiah, but for the next world, neither has the eye seen a God beside thee."
It means that to the extent that one begins to work with the Upper Light and changes oneself, the revelation of Godliness comes to that person and fulfills him. The fulfillment does not mean that the person becomes fatter or fuller in some way but “fulfilling” means raising him to the higher and exalted levels of existence until he reaches equivalence of form with the Creator, called “Neither has the eye seen a God beside thee.”
And the end of this process is that ‘all the creatures were not created but for the days of the Messiah.’ “But for the next world, neither has the eye seen a God beside thee," meaning the attainment of the highest most sublime state possible, called, “the next world.”
Question: What is the connection between changing the perception of reality and the love of man, the love of friends as self and so forth? How does this all work, in practical terms?
"Love thy friend as thyself" is the correction of creation. And just as we studied, in order to enable the correction of the general soul called "Adam," it was divided into many, many parts, billions of parts, stretched over time and through actions that follow one another in sequence. It is an easier way to correct, if it does not happen all at once, in one blow or one force. But by dividing something into many parts and spreading it over a period of time, then it becomes possible to realize, even the most difficult things. And indeed, it is a very difficult thing to realize but this way makes it possible.
So the will to receive is our corrupted nature. It’s not that it was created like that by the Creator but it was deliberately corrupted so that we would feel ourselves standing opposite to Him and be able to reach by ourselves, with our own resolution and our own strength the state of being like Him, similar to Him, which is the purpose, to be like Him.
Why? It is because there is no better state than that. And that’s what the Creator wants the creature to have, the best possible state. From love, from being good and benevolent, it is impossible that He would want anything less than that. So He had to create someone like Him but someone like Him isn’t enough. It has to be someone like Him who knows and wants and who is as free as He is with all of His attributes.
That is why we have opposite attributes. And besides the oppositeness, we have what is referred to as the “point in the heart,” the attribute of the Creator. And in the difference and free choice between them, we resolve to be like the Creator and thus we attain it. The general correction is called the “love of man,” which means to turn the egoistic desire into an altruistic desire. By that, we attain equivalence of form, congruence with the Creator and become like Him. That is all.
Why does it happen this way? It’s done this way for several reasons. Later on, all these things come together and give us the whole picture. But for the time being, why does it happen this way? Why is it that way? For every question, there seems to be a separate answer. But it’s not like that. It is all in fact one single question with one single answer.
So why is it done this way? It is so because I cannot realize any corrections between souls but I can make corrections between bodies. In other words, I have enough people in front of me in this world with which I can start making corrections. But the actual corrections are not performed between bodies, I do it on the level of the souls. And here, we already rise from one world to the next.
We are in a group. We want to reach correction. We are not thinking of how to correct each other in anything physical. On the contrary, we must transcend corporeality and try to connect on a spiritual level among us, where our Kelim are, where our souls are. Souls, meaning where our desires for spiritually are; that is where we have to connect. We have to unite our “points in the heart,” and all of our corporeal things, our corporeal desires, let them remain below.
So when a person is in a society, he has an opportunity to practice “love of man,” spiritual practice. I’m here with 200 other people, yes? Our group, let’s say. And with these 200 people, I do not look at them as people. I look at their souls. Meaning that I want to bond with each and every one, but not with each and everyone and their corporeal things, their nature or their character, in that we are all corrupted. There’s no one to connect with. I myself am like that. Why would I need 200 more like that?
I, however, want to bond with their desire for spiritually. So we all rise above ourselves; 200 “points in the hearts” of us, rising above our lives, above our situations and building a connection among them, the spiritual Kli. And when we have Arvut (the mutual guarantee), which is the precondition for receiving the Torah, in that spiritual Kli, that is where we discover the Creator and our spiritual life.
Why was it necessary for the Creator to create this world precisely this way? It was done this way, because you exist in your physical form and at the same time you can rise with your point in the heart to become the creator of your own spiritual world. It is the only possible way. Maybe for now you can still say that you would have done it differently. But later on, you will look at how nature and its laws operate, and you will see that these things are absolute and that there is no other way to do it. It is all one closed circle.
This perfection is expressed in the words of the Torah and the prophecy and in the words of our sages in the simple word “adhesion." But from the common use of that word by the masses it has lost almost all its content. But if you linger your mind on that word for just an instant, you will be overwhelmed by its wondrous stature, for if you picture the exaltedness of the Creator and the lowliness of the creature, you can perceive what adhesion of the creatures with the Creator means and why we ascribe that word the purpose of the whole creation.
It turns out that the purpose of the whole creation is that the lowly creatures will be able, through observing Torah and mitzvot, to rise ever upward, until they reach adhesion with their Creator.
So as we've said, the Creator has created a perfect thing [Rav drawing], which is already at Gmar Tikkun, (the end of correction,) from His perspective. That is, an entire system that functions perfectly. In that system, there are Kelim called Galgalta Eynaim and Kelim of AHP. The Kelim of AHP cannot work the way they are, there’s just Tzimtzum (Restriction) and Ohr Hozer (Returning Light) in them like in Galgalta for example. In Galgalta Eynaim, however, we see it is possible to exist and function, and that is called the “creature” or Adam ha Rishon (the first man) or the “collective soul.”
Now, in order to correct the AHP, which is primarily the creature, the “will to receive,” Galgalta Eynaim is then filled with Light. That is referred to as the “birth of Adam ha Rishon in Gan Eden, inthe Garden of Eden.” Then, he is broken, instilling the vessels of Adam ha Rishon in the AHP. It’s in our spiritual roots. So then you have the breaking of the vessels, the fall of the breaking of the vessels.
The same thing happens afterwards on earth, in this world. [Rav drawing] We have people, in whom points in the hearts are appearing in conjunction with their hearts. These points that stand out in them all join together, for the purpose of becoming a group. And that is what Abraham did.
The group went through a process called “hardening of the heart” in the exile in Egypt. Through the Aviut of Mitzraim (Egypt) they went from Aviut Shoresh to receiving such an Aviut, that they performed additional corrections, called Arvut, a mutual guarantee or the bond. As a result of uniting the Kli within the new Aviut, they rose to the degree of Beit ha Mikdash (the Temple), in Mochin de Haya.
But this pertains to special souls who have the point in the heart. What do we do with the rest of them? They broke just like in that example. They broke and fell as broken Kelim among all the nations of the world and they went into exile again, our exile of 2000 years. Until they come to a state where once again, if they accept the condition of the Arvut, the bond, the mutual guarantee, then they will reach Beit ha Mikdash (the Temple) [at the level] of Mochin deYechida, the Gmar Tikkun (the end of correction).
That was the state of Gmar Tikkun from the Creator’s perspective, and this is the state of Gmar Tikkun from the creature’s perspective. Where does that bring the creature? The creature reaches the state of Dvekut (adhesion) by that, meaning the state of equivalence of form with the Creator. [Rav drawing] What is the equivalence of form? Just as the Creator gives the creature 613 bestowals, so does the creature that has 613 desires, set the intention to bestow back to the Creator over all those desires.
In this reciprocal act, they are in what we call Dvekut, where the creature is similar to the Creator, attaining Him and the purpose of creation, having constructed from itself the image of the Creator. And when the creature reaches the degree of being like the Creator, it is called “doing good to His creations," from the perspective of the Creator, where He had given the creature the best and most complete state possible. That’s it. And that’s what Baal HaSulam explains to us in this article. We will continue this further but for the time being, that will be the end of our lesson.