Morning Lesson January 01, 2023 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 1:
1. Zohar for All. "Introduction of The Book of Zohar". Lock and Key. #43
1. Rav’s Introduction (0:30): Yes, this is a very special article explaining to us the connection between the upper lights and our work. How do we work in order to connect to our sources of light and this way achieve a state where we essentially control both the key and the lock of the paths of abundance from above to us?
Reading (01:09): “There are many hidden treasures…”
2. S. (11:22) What does it mean that the lower Hey enters the Peh, mouth?
R. Where does it say that?
S. He is describing here that they elevated their vessels of AHP and fill up YESHSUT through the Mochin and then the bottom Hey necessarily goes down to the Peh. So what does it mean that the lower Hey descends from the Partzuf?
R. Malchut had to descend to the lowest ordinary place but it did not happen because the second restriction is not yet fully canceled. It will happen only at the final correction.
S. It says here that Malchut is locked.
R. Right, that is why it is called a lock, Man’ula.
S. So what can we open?
R. We cannot open the Malchut itself but the Malchut that is in Bina, in such a way we can continue our path all the way to the final correction and only there the true Malchut will be opened up and then the final correction will happen. That is what everyone is afraid of, that when the true Malchut will be opened and the true ego, that we are not familiar with, will be revealed and then we will see what we are truly required to correct.
S. What does that mean?
R. The true ego, the fundamental, foundational ego that the Creator created as existence from absence that is frightening.
S. You are saying that everyone is afraid, do Kabbalists fear this situation too?
R. Kabbalists wrote about it too throughout the generations that they are very fearful of such states, yeah, because you can imagine the incredible forces that they will stand against and whether the people would be able to cope with such an incredible ego.
3. S. (14:24) Where do we take the key to this ignoble ego?
R. Bit by bit, gradually, using many ploys.
4. S. (14:49) When Malchut of Malchut, two Malchuiot, when you spoke to the friend in Russian for a few minutes it was difficult to understand. What is Malchut and what is Malchut of Malchut and what is the difference between them?
R. There is the general Malchut, there is Malchut in each and every degree, Malchut in each Sefira, in each Partzuf, and then there is also Malchut of Malchut, which is the real Malchut, the common Malchut, the Malchut that is common to all and it is the most difficult. It includes in it all of the particular Malchuiot and requires correction for all of them. Therefore, that Malchut we do not correct and we learn how we can correct it because in truth that is the only Malchut that needs correction but we cannot so we correct rather all of the parts of Malchut that appear in the meantime, the particular pieces of the Malchut and they help us reach that common Malchut, the general Malchut and correct it in a way that we do not touch it but instead only through such indirect actions, that is the correction, we will speak about it more.
5. S. (17:04) What are the gates and how do we open them?
R. Gates are those conditions that we need to resemble, and how do we pass through them, by coming closer and becoming compatible to certain qualities and then part of the gates open and part of them are cancelled, and part of them, how to say, part of them are corrected through incorporation. We will review all those conditions and learn how to correct the gates.
6. S. (18:24) You said that there is great fear of revealing our ego and yesterday we also talked about it in the morning lesson, you said that the Creator gives it to us in very small portions each time. So will we, when we reach the final correction, will we be ready to reveal?
R. No, we will never be ready to reveal the fiftieth gate, if that’s what you’re talking about, we just have to prepare ourselves to it gradually and this is how we advance. There are still many conditions here to achieve the general final correction and we will see how it is done, we have to feel it within, there has to be a response to each and every correction.
7. S. (19:31) What is the meaning of the doors being sealed in four directions?
R. This means that we truly need to open and correct them with the complete name of HaVaYah.
8. S. (20:04) Is one of the conditions to achieve general final correction, overcoming the fear of revelation of the ego, revealing the darkest side of the ego?
R. Yes, of course that is also included in the correction, our fear, our anxiety, us being cautious and staying away from it, yes, because we have to feel how incapable we are and only with the Creator’s help, with His force, when I grab hold of Him like a little one grabbing the hand of the upper one, the adult and feels dependent on Him and then he is not afraid. So we need that fear, that anxiety and insecurity, all those things calm down only through our contact with the Creator and the connection starts from external to more and more internal.
9. S. (21:35) The bottom Hey, does it have the same form as the upper Hey in the corrected Malchut?
R. The upper Hey is Malchut that is connected with Bina and the bottom Hey is Malchut, itself.
10. S. (21:58) He writes here that the bottom Hey is in the closing and opening are not done in the bottom Hey but in Ateret Yesod?
R. Right, Ateret Yesod meaning connected to something above the Malchut that’s connected to the forces of bestowal.
S. He writes “with respect to AVI, she remained above and with respect to YESHSUT, she descended to the Peh”.
R. Yes, we will learn that, all the things with regards to AVI and YESHSUT, correction above, correction below, above the Chazeh, below the Chazeh, we’ll get there.
11. S. (23:03) Malchut of Malchut, is this the lowest degree?
R. Malchut of Malchut is the last degree, however, it is the hardest for correction.
S. So the correction of the Malchut of the Malchuiot starts from the upper one and as we progress we can almost get to the Malchut of Malchut?
R. Right, correct, it is correct, from the easiest Malchut to the heaviest Malchut.
S. So all of us have to?
R. That is only at the very end.
12. S. (24:07) What type of vessels do we need to build in the ten so we can consciously reach the fiftieth gate, what is this deficiency of the fiftieth gate?
R. It is a force of bestowal that is above all of the force of reception.
13. S. (24:42) Is it correct to thank the Creator in studying the Zohar, or giving us, for letting us see between truth and falsehood and really thank Him above our vessel?
R. Yes, I am happy to hear that you understand it and talk about it!
14. S. (25:17) Why is it impossible to correct Malchut of Malchut?
R. It becomes corrected through many different actions, as a result of all these different actions but the issue is that Malchut, herself which is a will to receive, to bring to her a correction in order to bestow, we haven’t discussed this yet but it is incomprehensible how that is possible, how that can be. And there are complete articles about this, we will get there; but know that Malchut, herself, to approach it and correct it where it has incorporation with vessels of bestowal that’s doable, but where there is almost no or completely no with vessels of bestowal, what will you do, what can you do? You can’t hear, it cannot incorporate, it cannot feel so how can you make any corrections; rather by shattering and shattering, many shatterings by which the vessels of reception are incorporated by the vessels of bestowal, then ultimately, probably, it will become possible to correct the will to receive to an intention in order to bestowal. We’ll talk about it more, it is not simple.
15. S. (27:24) Which of the Malchuiot are stopping us, is it the last one already or is each Malchut on it's own degree, what is separating us from the Creator?
R. Malchut in each degree and they all work on the final Malchut and this is what is stopping us.
S. So you cannot correct it?
R. Yes.
16. S. (28:15) It says here that “Moses attained the fifty gates”, “the fifty of Tuma’a, but he didn’t enter the land of Israel”, that should have been going through the fiftieth gate, no?
R. I cannot answer this for now, we’ll study it, we’ll learn it. You always find something that you know from your general knowledge around the Torah and we do not want to use this because many people do not know this.
S. Thank you, Rav, we are one Kli and hopefully we will be, here too!
17. S. (29:17) What opens at each gate?
R. At each gate, more and more desire to bestow opens up, more proximity, that is, to the Creator, more understanding of the whole system that links the Creator and the created being and so each gate we go through, we go deeper into the Palace of the Creator.
S. So what opens at the fiftieth gate, the final gate?
R. At the fiftieth gate, everything opens up, the whole Malchut which is entirely bonded with the higher force, that is the fiftieth gate.
18. S. (30:54) You have said that it is impossible, it is not clear how to correct all those Malchuiot that are corrected before Malchut of Malchut is revealed, is it like a preparation process to the final correction of Malchut?
R. Yes these are particular forms of the general Malchut?
S. What is the uniqueness of this form of ego, of Malchut of Malchut?
R. It is just a broader and more serious ego.
S. What is in it that does not exist in the previous Malchuiot?
R. The general, egoistic desire to conquer all and to rule over all.
19. S. (32:30) Can we say that in order to reach a gate in Bina before that, the person has to reach the corresponding gate in Tuma’a?
R. Repeat please.
S. Let’s say the person is about to reach the fiftieth gate of Bina, but before that, can we say that the person has to hold down the corresponding gate in coarseness in Tuma’a?
R. In principle, yes, but we will see how it is nevertheless possible to make a shortcut here.
S. We generally, in our excerpts we say, even if you fall to the forty-ninth gate of Tuma’a but we do not say when if you fall to ‘the fiftieth gate of Tuma’a, so it awakened the thought in me that the fiftieth gate of Tuma’a is somewhere that it’s not easy to be safe from it, not easy to get salvation out of there. What is the special state, it feels that only the Creator can take the person out of ‘the fiftieth gate of Tuma’a, and nothing else?
R. It is a very good question because we can find the forty-nine in Kedusha, as well, and the fiftieth gate, we cannot find against it an exit from the fiftieth gate to Kedusha, if you enter it, so to speak, if you enter it you can’t leave. We will read about it.
S. I am afraid, Rav, I’m afraid!
R. Hold my hand, in general, we actually have to hold each other all the time and then we have nothing to worry about, we will all pass through smoothly and beautifully as long as we just discover each time how interconnected we are. And do not forget that “thanks to the righteous women the children of Israel came out of Egypt”, meaning that also from the Klipa, we can get out thanks to women, meaning we have to try to go together in our groups and dissemination and everything and support each other and then we'll succeed.
20. S. (36:31) What is the state in spirituality that something is blocked?
R. Something’s blocked, you have never felt in life that something is blocked from you, how can I give you an example from spirituality? That you have no solution, no path, nothing to do, you feel that you are in a dead-end.
S. And what is, why, what’s the purpose of this?
R. That you’ll understand that on your own you cannot find the path and you have to turn to the Creator.
21. S. (37:21) This story kind of reminds me of this labyrinth of mirrors, when we walk among mirrors that twist you, twist your image, and at the end of this labyrinth in the fiftieth gate we see ourselves as we truly are. Should we accept this reflection as it is or accept this whole labyrinth of reflections as what we did?
R. I cannot answer you with that because you are giving your example, which we can not know. Of course we can imagine it to ourselves but how much can we rely on it, I cannot say and I cannot teach others this way, so please do not give us your example, it simply can confuse people.
22. S. (38:35) The heart shrinks from fear and we have to hold on and the fiftieth gate is the gate of tears, so what do we do, we’re not all going to cry together. So how can we do this by hastening time and not to be afraid or it has nothing to do with hastening time.
R. We will keep reading and then we will understand how to do this.
Reading (39:21 - 50:24) “Within those gates, there is one lock..”
23. R. (39:59) So it’s like that it’s planned this way in advance.
24. R. (50:26) But we will open it.
25. S. (50:32) Can we assume that Israel is aimed at the final correction but in their actions they create such deficiencies that are suitable for the correction of the lower ones?
R. Let's put it this way, for the time being.
26. S. (51:02) When we try to imagine desires that are apart of Malchut of Malchut, is it correct to think of such desires of mankind that are regarded as hard crimes, like murder or incarceration or other such things, is it these desires?
R. No, it is all the desires that have a will to receive, it does not matter with what cruelty this desire is working against others, if it’s a desire to receive for oneself, that is enough.
27. S. (52:01) We say that in the process of learning we have faith in the sages, faith in the Rav, the Creator, what faith do we have to have in the Book of Zohar and what should it contain?
R. This book is a medium between us, the lower ones, and the Creator, the higher one, and this whole connection is done by the group of Rabbi Shimon.
28. S. (52:57) Why is the first verse in the Torah and the first words in the Torah, why do they describe a state of closing, something that’s blocked at the very begin?
R. Because this is the Torah, first it needs to organize these things in a closed way, by closing and then gradually, when we feel the closing, to the extent it can give you a key.
S. The first two words, they describe state of splitting, a situation we are in, and only from there we get to God, which is the state of connection.
R. Yes he explains it to us.
29. S. (53:56) What is “a narrow place in which to place the key” in the work?
R. “Narrow in Hassadim”, as we always learn, in mercy, and if I still succeed then I am ready for the opening of the lock.
30. S. (54:38) We just read about the key and the lock, so to summarize: what is the key and what is the lock?
R. I should have asked you these questions! The thing is that before us is a way and this way is like a lock and on every step of the way, we have to find the suitable key, the quality of bestowal in order to open it more and more and in that way, approach the goal.
S. So does that mean that really feeling the Creator more with the help of the key at a specific degree?
R. We will reveal ourselves and in this way approach the Creator.
S. What are we revealing in ourselves?
R. More and more of the quality of bestowal.
S. And what is the key that we need for it each time?
R. We need to find the key but the key has to correspond to your lock.
S. So, we have some lock which hides from us the quality of bestowal and we have to find the key for it?
R. Yes and that lock is basically the group.
S. What is that key, some accumulation of qualities of the ten, something in the relationships between us?
R. Yes, yes, yes, connection and love.
S. And these degrees described here in the text, so it’s each a different relationship of love in the ten?
R. Yes.
31. S. (57:15) The action of Malchut, when she wants to make way for the light to fill her in the first nine Sefirot, is this not an egoistic action?
R. It cannot be because the egoistic desire does not belong to Malchut, it belongs to the created beings.
S. I am basically asking what intention has to be here so the action won’t be egoistic because it is as if her vessels, it’s all for her, like she feels herself.
R. The person has to disconnect from himself and connect to the ten, this is it.
S. What is the ten for him, how to correctly describe it?
R. The ten for him is the spiritual vessel that if he formats himself correctly so as to enter into this vessel, then just as through a lock with the right key, he gets to the Creator.
32. S. (58:44) According to what we have read, it turns out that it’s all a matter of the wholeness of the screen of Ateret Yesod?
R. Well, let's put it this way, yes.
33. S. (59:15) The key that opens the gate is bestowal, it is hard to reach bestowal but it's not blocked, why is it in the text insist that the key is being blocked?
R. You need to find the key, you need to study it, you need to try to match it with the lock to know how to place the key in the lock, how to turn it, turn the lock. And when you have the strength to turn the key in the lock then you open the lock, but know that when you put the key in the lock you are connected very strongly with the friends.
S. What mistakes can I make, where can I go wrong?
R. There are not mistakes but rather if you come in contact with the friends and annul yourself more and more and more, then in the end you enter the lock and then you are ready to turn it, but to turn the lock is not to enter the lock. Turning the lock requires turning to the Creator and asking Him for the strength to open the lock. There is the matching with the lock here and there’s there's the work in the lock and then the summary, the conclusion of the work. We will talk about it, they're not so difficult things but emotional ones.
34. S. (01:01:49) Is the true ego that appears in the created being is against the rule of the Creator over him?
R. It could be anything, it's all a matter of how a person feels.
35. S. (01:02:13) How might we lock the gate and how to watch out from it?
R. Again.
S. In what actions might we lock the gate and how can we avoid doing that?
R. Through connection between us, I don't see anything else that can stop the gate from closing.
S. Can I ask about the role of the women, I heard you mentioning that “thanks the righteous women, we come out of Egypt”?
R. Righteous women, we have to understand it's not about a sex in this world, it's about a person's relation towards the group, towards the Creator.
S. What is that attitude called “righteous women”?
R. A will to receive that demands righteousness.
S. What is this justice, what kind?
R. Justice means relating to the created being so that the Creator will judge him exactly according to one's actions.
36. S. (01:03:50) What is the meaning of Hochma concealed or blocked, why is she hiding?
R. So that we will attain it when it comes out from the Creator to us according to the equivalence of form with the Creator; so we will enjoy attaining the Creator, attaining the Hochma, so it will fill us and lift us.
37. S. (01:04:44) To put it simply, if we talk about lock and key, it's always the light in the new agree and the Kli that is right for that light in that degree that becomes the key, we're just talking about these things, right?
R. Yes.
38. S. (01:05:19) The previous student asked about the Ateret Yesod, what is Ateret Yesod, I don’t understand?
R. Ateret Yesod is when we don't use Yesod but only through Ateret Yesod, meaning in the vessels of bestowal in Yesod but not the vessels of reception in Yesod, we will learn it.
S. My second question is about the excerpt we had before about fear: we have a song that says the most important is not to be afraid and the narrowing of the bridge written by Rabbi Nachman; and I'm a bit confused because many times it says that Baal HaSulam is afraid of something or that we are afraid of something. Why should we be afraid, if we're afraid, it’s to me like we're praising other gods, faith below reason, so do we need to raise our fear above reason?
R. And if I might fall below reason and then my reason governs me, shouldn't I be afraid of this?
S. That you, that the group will take me out of prison?
R. I don’t know about the group, I'm asking about myself, that I might come to that situation, shouldn't I be afraid?
S. I don't think that being afraid is [..]
R. Then there’s no point talking to you about this, you haven't reached it yet.
39. S. (01:07:31) You said before that we really need to know what key, how to turn it, how to fit into the lock, everything has to be meticulous; on the other hand, we heard yesterday a friend mention we have to want to break the lock, can you explain the difference?
R. No not yet.
S. Following what you said about the women: what is role of women in coming out of the difficult coming states?
R. Yes, women should strengthen the society and work in such a way that the society will feel that it has got support from the women and that precisely through righteous women, the children of Israel will come out of Egypt, meaning those who want to come out from the will to receive is requires, needs, the support of the power of women.
S. What kind of support we need to give, can you detail?
R. No you have to pray and ask and request, and then you will understand, this is specifically women.