Ask anything about week 3 lesson and materials and get an answer from a senior Kabbalah instructor.

Hi Steven,

Bestowal is the Creator’s nature. While our nature is that of pure reception. So it’s impossible for us to truly bestow. At best we can perform more and more covert actions of reception.

For example, I go to the store and I give them my money, but obviously I want something in return. It’s the same with all of our actions of bestowal in corporeality. Either I do it to receive pleasure directly or indirectly from fame, honor, money, or even the pride of knowing that no one knows about this action, or even avoiding pain or guilt is also part of this same calculation.

So real bestowal, above any calculations for receiving for oneself, does not exist in our world. Real bestowal is purely the Creator’s quality. If we want to acquire such a quality, we first need to correct our nature. This is done by the force of the light we evoke through the Kabbalistic studies. This light begins to work on us, even if we don’t have the true desire to bestow. Even if we’re just like little kids, pretending to be spiritual grown ups. It takes this aspiration of ours and corrects it little by little, building in us a true desire for spirituality, for the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: http://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/

Albert @ KabU

Hi Daniel,

Yes, check out Tal’s course Love According to Nature.

Albert @ KabU

Hi Steven,

Our spiritual work is not directly in our hands, rather, it’s a result of the environment that we find ourselves in.

We’re like a seed. If we plant the seed in fertile ground, then it’ll get all the right nutrients and grow. If we put it in the desert or just keep it on a shelf somewhere, nothing will come out of it at all. So all of our work boils down to finding the best spiritual environment in which to plant that seed. And what will ultimately happen to it is a result of the environment we put it into.

The spiritual environment consists of the Kabbalistic books, group, and teacher. Our job is to place ourselves under the influence of that environment. So for now, perhaps that’s simply by setting time to return to the Kabbalistic texts and lessons and reading through these Q/A forums. And in the advanced semesters we’ll also learn how to do this type of work in a group.

We’ll learn about this in depth in the next semester, in the meantime, here’s a quote on the topic from Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom”:

“However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart to him good concepts. If one does not do that, but is willing to enter any environment that appears to him and read any book that falls into his hands, he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and easier to come by. In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in that there is definitely a choice.

Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts and deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and deeds.”

Albert @ KabU

Hi Tina,

Faith in Kabbalah is not referring to blind faith, rather it’s about acquiring the quality of bestowal.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/12/the-wisdom-of-kabbalah-and-the-other-religions/

Torah comes from the Hebrew word Ohr, meaning light. So when Kabbalists refer to the need for the Torah, they are not referring to the book but rather to the light. We need the force of the light to correct our egoistic nature.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/12/know-what-you-want-precisely/

As for judgement, a person is the judge over himself. Judgement is the internal process by which we judge ourselves in the process of correcting our egoistic nature.

Here’s an excerpt from a Rabash article on this topic:

“the judgment that a person is judged in the beginning of the year means that the person judges himself, and he is the arbiter and executor, for man is the arbiter, the litigant, and the knowledgeable one, and witness. It is as our sages said, “There is judgment below, there is no judgment above.”

And a blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2022/03/where-are-hell-and-heaven-revealed/

Little by little we’ll learn how to properly decipher all these words in our inner work so we don’t confuse them with how religions use them.

Albert @ KabU

Hi Steven,

Yes, you can say that the feeling of light is pleasure. Just keep in mind that we practice these things primarily in the Kabbalistic group.

If you practice this anywhere else, in the best case scenario you’ll build some good relationships, in the worst case, people will think you’re weird or try to take advantage of you. But either way it will not lead to the revelation of the Creator.

So generally, with the rest of the world, it’s best to just act normal, like everyone else. Meaning don’t make a saint of yourself and at the same time don’t cause harm to others or break the law, but just act the way normal people act.

As for practicing these things in the Kabbalistic group, it’s not simply by fulfilling another’s desires, rather it’s in fulfilling their desire for spirituality, meaning helping them to reach spirituality. In which case, there are a myriad of ways I can bestow to others. I can help them feel how important spirituality is, I can uplift their spirits if they feel low or discouraged, I can show them a good example of a serious student, etc. We’ll put these things into practice in the advanced semesters.

Albert @ KabU