Part 2:

Baal HaSulam. Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. #14

Reading #14 (00:30) “In order to save the created beings from this titanic separation..”

1. S. (04:03) What does it mean that the vessel of Malchut expands and is extended according to the measure of the reflected light?

R. As their light reaches Malchut, the will to receive, the will to receive overcomes and rejects the light, although it is very pleasant to it and according to its nature it wants to receive the light inside, nevertheless it overcomes it's desires and it rejects the light and refuses to receive it because it makes him opposite to the Creator, then this reflected light that is going back up to the Creator from it, this is called reflected light, it later gives an opportunity to receive it inside, inside this fourth phase, which pushed the light and this light enters the fourth phase expands it and fills it.

S. When the will receive receives some pleasure, I don't know for example a cake, the desire rejects it. What does it actually want? Does it want to show itself to the Creator?

R. It is the same example as we had with a guest in the host. Although the guest would like to eat very much and the host has prepared everything he wants and he likes but when the host gives the food to the guest the guest rejects it, does not want to receive it. Why? Because he has shame in him and that stops him from receiving or he will decide, like in our example here, he does not want to be like a guest with a host, and he doesn't want to be the receiver, does not want to be different than the host, rather he wants to be similar to the host and similar means, at the very least, not receiving. Then he says I do not want to receive and then his rejection is called reflected light. This rejection actually equalizes him to the host. The host does not receive and he does not receive. Later he can develop the matter of receiving from the host because he does not want to receive rather only in order to give pleasure to the host. He will try the food, he will take some food, in order to bring containment to the host.

S. Nevertheless, he simply wants not to receive or is it that he wants to express his love?

R. In the beginning he wants to refuse reception. He overcomes his desire to receive and says I do not want to receive, I do not wish to use my desire, that’s it, that’s his response to the host and the host agrees; he does not force feed him. After that, after rejecting this food he makes a calculation whereby the host wishes to give him pleasure and by rejecting food what else does he do besides maintaining his honor, because this is actually worse, so he decides to receive from the host but to the extent that he can return the favor to the host, then the host gives him pleasure and he gives pleasure to the host and by that they are equal equalized with one another and they're in adhesion.

S. When you decide to receive for the host in order to give him pleasure, how do these two kinds of pleasure join into one where on the one hand I enjoy but I enjoy for him.

R. First of all we need to refuse reception. I do not receive anything and you need to remove yourself from it completely from now until the end of the world, after there is an agreement on your part with your decision, and the host reluctantly has to accept it. Now you can develop this attitude a relationship between two people who are equal where it does not matter where he is giving to you and you are receiving from him, but rather you wish to be together and you wish to do good to one another.

Then he does it by way of giving and you do it by way of receiving but there is no difference here between reception and bestowal between you because both of you wish to be equal, both want to be in adhesion and that's it. We also feel it sometimes when we stay with someone or someone stays with us as a guest and if I give him and he receives and I also sit with him and I eat with, drink, for us it's like a form of connection and it is pleasant for both of us as a result and you cannot tell exactly who here is giving who is here receiving because the food the refreshments we place on the table between us is only an opportunity for us to connect in our relationships.

2. S. (11:21) In order for me to completely go according to the scheme you describe we have to need to get the greatest of the Creator first.

R. Shorter please.

3. S. (11:50) How does the guest know that the host is enjoying it?

R. He can feel it on the host. Without the feeling of the host it is impossible.

S. Are there a few degrees in that?

R. Of course.

S. Why are we partners?

R. Because each one of you can give pleasures to the other.

4. S. (12:36) In item 14 he starts by saying, in order to save the created beings from this titanic separation the first restriction took place separating phase four from the rest of the Partzufim of Kedusha.What does it mean to save the created beings? Why should the created beings be saved, from what?

R. To save the created beings from the restriction?

S. Yes, I understand it’s from the restriction but why? What’s the reason?

R. To give them the possibility of receiving the upper light, to fill themselves like the Creator.

S. He writes that this great measure of reception remained as an empty space devoid of any light. Why should it be an empty space?

R. This you have to read several times over what we’ve read.

S. What is an empty space?

R. Empty space is the fourth phase after the restriction.

5. S. (13:44) What is the difference between reflected light becoming the vessel of reception vs. Malchut as a vessel of reception?

R. Malchut is the will to receive. Malchut in its usual form if it becomes the will to receive then it is the will to receive in order to receive. Whereas that reflected light that becomes a vessel or reception then it is a vessel of reception in order to bestow.

S. He says that the reflected light clothes the ten Sefirot of the upper light, what does he mean?

R. It means that He clothes on them and he wishes to resemble them.

6. S. (14:50) In the balance of reciprocity. the giving and receiving is in balance. Does the weight on this balance increase throughout our development?

R. The more we develop we maintain that same equilibrium. The Creator made one against the other. there is always a force against us, otherwise we would not be able to develop.

7. S. (15:49) Is the reason why the host wants to give because the guest wants to receive?

R. No, the host from the get-go created the desire to receive the guest and He fills the guest according to that desire. Later He stops pressuring the guests to receive and He gives him an opportunity to exercise his free choice to receive or not to receive and accordingly they check the vessel. They check the person how much he wants to resemble the Creator or not. You need to read these lines over and over and it will become clearer to you, what is happening here even between the lines.

8. S. (17:05) Reflected light. It's the desire of the created being to bestow upon the Creator right?

R. Yes.

S. What's the difference between reflected light and the light of Hassadim which seemingly is a desire to bestow?

R. These are great differences, we will learn about it, it's not for here. I need to think about everyone and what to say to them.

9. S. (17:43) About the example of the guest and the host,it sounds like all of man's work opposite the Creator comes from pride, seemingly he doesn't want to be ashamed it's because he has pride, that's why he works opposite the Creator, is that correct?

R. It doesn't sound like that, it's because he feels the greatness of the Creator that's why he wants to resemble him, that's why he wants to bestow to him, from identifying with and from seeing the greatness of the Creator.

S. What is he ashamed of?

R. He's ashamed of receiving and not being equal to the Creator.

S. Where is this annulment in this process?

R. By making a restriction.

S. Is there anything he can give back to the Creator? Can he truly give something or is it just the annulment?

R. By performing a restriction and saying I'm willing to receive it on the condition that this will benefit you, you need to read it a few times perhaps.

10. S. (19:15) Is this action where the will to receive refuses to receive is that a conscious action and is it also raising MAN?

R. Yes.

11. S. (19:54) The reflected light it was said that it becomes a vessel, is this like light that is accumulated this Light reaches our world?

R. No, it doesn't make it to this world, it comes only to that person who develops and it appears in a person who is willing to perform a restriction, screen, and reflected light.

12. S. (20:36) A question about the clothing, in the passage it indicates the raising of the reflected light from below upward and dresses in this Ten Sefirot of the upper light in the form of the Sephira of the Rosh, meaning of the roots to the vessel, since there can not be actual clothing there, does that mean that there's only clothing if the light expands from above downward but if the light is reflected then there's not an actual clothing?

R. Certainly, a clothing of light and vessels means that there's an agreement from the light and from the vessel and there's a direct light and a reflected light and everyone's clothes and everything else and we don't feel what's happening here except for this mutual clothing.

13. S. (21:53) It appears as though when a person makes a restriction he preserves his pride, will he be able to use this pride later on in future stages?

R. No he doesn't need anything. I also don't like really smart questions. what might be, we are learning from what there is right now.

14. S. (22:39) How should we understand that the king of the world prepared for me the tastiest thing there is but instead of that I started playing and pushing it off and rejecting it?

R. Because he knows your character and your taste and when you are rejecting it, you are rejecting it because you wish to resemble Him and to come closer to Him and that's why it turns out that through the rejection you actually come closer to Him. Then you'll have an opportunity to change this rejection with connection to receive an order to bestow that's what's happening next.

S. It turns out that there is a factor here where I am aware that I'm in the king's palace. I know his greatness and this is what becomes corrected?

R. Without it you wouldn't have even made the restriction. Of course, only the fact that you feel the Creator gives you the strength to perform the restriction and continue the work.

15. S. (24:14) Is the first restriction before the exodus of Egypt or after the exodus of Egypt?

R. Of course it's before the exodus of Egypt, these are preparations for all of the actions and all of the corrections.

16. S. (24:46) How do we use this process which sounds like the process of connection. Who is the host in our Ten and the guest?

R. The host in the Ten and the guest in the Ten, is each and every one according to his role for now, that is all, in the Ten actually, all of us are equal.

17. S. (25:33 ) He writes that the reflected light that clothes the upper light expands the vessels of reception in the Malchut, what does it mean that theMalchut expands?

R. It expands according to the measure of reflected light, that the host gives the guest according to how much he feels the appetite of the guest, the guest wants to receive even more in order to do good to the host this is why he expands.

18. S. (26:15) From what we just read there's a feeling that the first restriction is something very harsh, it's a very harsh state like a revolution of sorts that's happening to the creatures,can we say that after the first restriction the filling is only a means for being in contact with the Creator and the goal is already the adhesion?

R. Yes, we can say so, yes.

19. S. (27:11 ) When I can't find myself in these forms of relationship to the Creator is it because I'm not reading the preface enough?

R. It's because you're not connected with the friends. You have to be more together with the friends to connect and create such conditions as we read about in the article.

S. Does it depend on me or on the friends also?

R. It depends on you and them.

20. S. (27:54) I just try to make a clarification inside of myself and I noticed that when I feel the restriction it's actually the time when I feel the greatness of the Creator, when I feel the greatness of the Creator inside of me suddenly it seems to me that a restriction is coming into action in the vessel can you say it this way?

R. Yes, you can say so.

21. S. (28:43) The fourth phase wants to do something for the upper one using a screen and a reflected light and later as he writes, you get a vessel of reception in place of the fourth phase, which is outstanding.The question is what is that first state and what is later? Are there many states between them?

R. Yes, there are many actions where phase four  performs a restriction on herself and she feels the upper light reaching it and makes a restriction and she rejects the light then she makes a calculation in what form she can be in order to cope with the Creator's attitude towards her, as the Creator loves her. She also wants to love the Creator and fill Him. This is how phase four becomes a vessel of bestowal instead of being a vessel of reception, in what? By deciding to receive not for the Creator, meaning in order to bestow contentment to the Creator. Then a restriction takes place and there's a screen, and reflected light and to the extent that she has reflected light, her relation to the Creator resembles the reflected light, the way that the Creator resembles her, phase four. To that extent, they clothed in each other. The upper light comes from the Creator in Phase four and the reflected light comes from phase four to the Creator.They clothe in each other the direct light and the reflected light. This is how it works. From that moment on, only this is truly considered the correct reception by the Creator and by the created being.

S. Following that all of the phases of the phases of Partzufim of holiness work on the same principle?

R. Yes, they work by the same principle.

22. S. (31:26) It's written here in the excerpt that Malchut expands in the vessel of reflected light from above down, why from above down?

R. The light that expands from the Creator to the created being, we say that it expands from above downward and the light or the relation of the created being to the Creator expands from above downwards. The light or the relation of the created being to the Creator, expands from below upward. We usually call it reflected light, it is light that brings the created being back to the degree of the Creator, to the form of the Creator.

S. After the reflected light works it says that the Malchut expands in the vessel of reflected light from above down

R. After that when they influence each other mutually the direct light and the reflected light they clothe in each other, and when both of them are clothed,this light that is now common between them fills the vessel of Malchut.

23. S. (33:06) What does it mean when they say that the only difference between redemption and exile is in the letter Aleph?

R. The difference between Geulah and Golah, exile and redemption is the letter Aleph, means the champion of the world, meaning the Creator that the whole difference between the exile and redemption is the revelation of the Creator during the redemption.

24. S. (25:45) He writes at the end, then the clothing of the light in the vessel and it was called the end of the degree meaning complete vessel, what are complete vessels and how are they going to be used by a Malchut in the following stages? What are complete vessels?

R. Complete vessels mean that they have on them coarseness, screen, restriction and reflected light and everything that the vessel needs in order to receive the upper light in order to bestow.

S. In the future in the next stage?

R. Right now what he's telling us about, he's telling us about the clothing of the light in the vessels.

S. My question is during these next stages those complete vessels have a certain role and they're going to serve the Malchut somehow?

R. Of course, complete means that they themselves are already corrected and now they can serve and they can operate with everything that is already made ready in them. 

25. S. (35:13) What sort of calculation and thereby action is needed in our 10 to that …. will cause the Ohr Hozer, the reflected light, to build this vessel bestowal? What calculation or action is needed in our ten?

R. To connect as much as possible it doesn't have to be according to certain degrees that we are not able to perform yet but to connect between you as much as possible and to try from the point of connection to direct ourselves to the Creator, and aim ourselves so that we want to fill Him, to enter Him and to fill Him, that is all.

S. What does that mean towards the friends connecting? How can I calculate and make an action so that the friends will be fulfilled? Is that the reflecting light also refers to the friends, or also to the Creator, or is it all the same?

R. To the friends first and to the Creator out of that. From the love of people to the love of the Creator. This is how it is.

26. S. (37:15) What is reflected light in the ten? Is it preparation for bestowal or merely our effort?

R. Reflected light in the ten is the connection of all the efforts of the ten to bestow back to the Creator, what we call contentment, that's it.

27. S. (38:00) How can we reject the light if we are to some extent in equivalence of form?

R. I don't understand the question.

S. How can we reject the light if we have a certain degree of equivalence of form? Isn't that the case with the Creator?

R. We can reject the light because we don't want to receive it in order to receive. This is why we connect between us so that all of us together can truly reject it from receiving in order to receive and in that we have a common vessel, by this we reach a common vessel between us of restriction screen and reflected light and then all of us together perform the opposite action, we receive in order to bestow, and this is actually our main action that we have to reach.

S. In that case the significance of it is that we are on a certain level of the intention to bestow?

R. Yes, of course, otherwise why do we expel the light on our side from within us?

S. In that case, in this state does it mean that we crossed the barrier, the Machsom?

R. Of course.

28. S. (40:11) When we receive in order to bestow, is there a place of fear that we are not able to return the light essentially as much as we receive? Is that a place for fear?

R. Certainly, yes, so it only blocks us, stops us, well it doesn't stop us so that we stop working, it only pushes us to check again and again where we are, am I guarding the vessels sufficiently? This is what we are in.

29. S. (41:16) By rejecting the light do we come to the gate of tears?

R. No, by the rejection of the light we become… we don't belong to what the Creator wants to do with us. Seemingly we distinguish we separate ourselves from the Creator and then we perform operations like the screen restriction and reflected light and we begin to bestow to the Creator, that same bestowal that we felt from Him, just like the guest and the host where the guest now tries to perform the same operations towards the host as the host earlier wanted to do towards him. This is how we advance.

30. S. (42:27) I have things to do during the day like study, work, or being with my family. Thus it seems impossible to connect with my friends and have an intention towards them in my mind under such conditions. What to do here so that I can think more about the friends?

R. Well you need to talk about this among you and hear advice each one from his friends and also there are a few articles about this that actually tell you the same thing that you have to sit and talk and each one should teach the others and how much you can help each other in that and how can you establish your connection in a circle so that each one will help the other to close the circle in such a way that you will always be as a complete group..

31. S. (44:06) Baal HaSulam describes here the fundamentals of creation and it looks so harmonious and whole and correct and falling into place and I'm not arranged like that. I don't feel that I'm inside connected to this correctly, I’m built properly. Is it okay to want to be organized like that?

R. It's okay to want to be organized like this but it's not okay that you are not yet organized like this. This is why I now want to give you fifteen minutes the remaining time so that you will talk with each other and tell whatever it is, what you want to propose, without redundant words. What is it that you want to propose to yourselves in order to truly succeed the exodus from Egypt. You have a week and a half, let’s say a week, and you want to get out of Egypt. How do you discover Egypt, how do you feel yourselves in Egypt, what do you have to do in order to get closer to the exit from Egypt? What does it mean to run away from Egypt, and how do we run away so that Pharaoh won't be able to catch up with you.

Workshop: How do you run away from Pharaoh?