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How do we reconcile the history of Kabbalah presented here with that of academic historians and scholars of Kabbalah like Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel?
Hi Logan,
I’m not a historian, nor have I studied their work, so I cannot comment on what they teach.
As for what we’re learning here, Kabbalists are practitioners, not historians. Meaning that we’re not interested in dry knowledge, rather we’re interested in learning how to practically reach spirituality. And if we do bring up something from history, it’s for us to learn something about our inner spiritual work.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2023/01/the-real-history-of-the-world/
Albert @ KabU
Why 10 Sefirot and not 9 or 11 ?
Kabbalah explains the cause and effet between the world above and the world below. Kabbalah seems to have no connection with religion, but why are images and allegories found in some Kabbalah writings?
Does Kabbalah speak of what becomes of us after our time on earth? Do we live another live on earth for another experience , or do we pass to another step with an awareness of our experience on earth?
Thank you
Hi Guy,
1. 10 is not an arbitrary number, rather it’s based on the structure of the upper worlds. We’ll learn this structure in great detail in the upcoming lessons.
2. I’m not sure which images or allegories you’re referring to. But in general, Kabbalah is a science. Just like a scientist can draw a graph to help us understand the relationships between certain concepts, likewise in Kabbalah, we occasionally use graphs and charts to help us understand the relationships between certain spiritual concepts. And just like a teacher can draw an allegory to make a certain topic more relatable, likewise in Kabbalah we use allegories to make the concepts more understandable and relatable.
3. Each person has a point in the heart. That is their spiritual potential. If they use this life to fully realize that spiritual potential, then they build out of it a desire called a soul and continue to experience life within that desire. If not, that same spiritual potential will continue to reincarnate again and again until it gets realized.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/06/what-happens-to-the-soul-after-death/
Albert @ KabU
I’m curious about how to practice Kabbalah, after understanding the basics concepts , I just wonder, what is the main thing a Kabbalist should do in his daily life , or how this big knowledge fits in our routine and how altruism is manifested , thank you
Hi Andres,
First we need to keep in mind that our very nature is egoistic, meaning it’s completely opposite to spirituality. And just like a PC cannot just reprogram itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just change our own nature. We require outside help to make this change. This help comes to us from the light. The light is a special force that has the ability to change our nature. Our work essentially boils down to extracting more and more of the light, especially during the Kabbalistic studies, and it does all the rest.
So the most practical action that you can do towards revealing the spiritual quality of bestowal is to set aside some time to regularly return to the source of the light, meaning to the Kabbalistic sources, videos, lessons, books, etc. Such a habit will help you throughout your entire spiritual development.
And in the more advanced semesters, we’ll learn how to do this type of spiritual work within the Kabbalistic group. The Kabbalistic group is like a lab where we practice manifesting the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal. In the group we build a strong connection with other points in the heart that are together with us on the spiritual path. This becomes like a nucleus. Once we build that nucleus, we will be able to add to it wider and wider circles of the world, until we’ll come to include the whole world in that connection. But this is gradual work. And until we build that nucleus, we have nothing with which to do any spiritual work towards the world.
We’ll learn about these things in greater detail in the more advanced lessons, in the meantime, 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
I want to make sure that I am understanding everything correctly, and am correlating them in the right ways. Here is what I have learned so far, but please correct me if I my understanding is lacking. Thank you.
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Totality of Reality (Eternity) – Ein Sof
1.Adam Kadmon (World of Primordial Man)
2.Atzilut (World of Emanation, closeness to God)
3.Beriah (World of Divine Essence)
4.Yetzirah (World of Formation)
5. Assiyah (World of Action)
All worlds and beings, except for the Creator, are a single entity called Malchut.
Malchut eventually fragments into smaller parts. The total number of the smaller parts of Malchut are called Shechina.
The Light of the Creator, His presence, and the Divine filling of the smaller parts of Malchut (Shechina), are known as Shochen.
The time required for the complete filling of all parts of Shechina is called “the time of correction”.
Our true purpose is to connect to our True Source. This requires us to further our perception of the Creator, which will allow the Shochen to penetrate our souls. This is why we need to study and learn the Kabbalah. In so doing, we will increase our perception (faith) of the Creator.
As our perception grows, so does our desires. These desires are known as Kli, which means vessels. Once we develop these vessels, then Shechina can take place. This means that once our desires are cultivated from an increase of perception, then they can be filled with the Light of the Creator.
The more our vessels are filled with light, the more we progress through the five worlds. As we progress through the five worlds, we also see progress through the ten spheres (sefirot) of the Tree of Life.
Hi Justin,
It’s a good start. Just keep in mind that the 5 spiritual worlds are not places like we think, but rather levels of concealment. World (Olam in Hebrew) comes from the word Concealment (ha-alama). So the 5 worlds are 5 levels of concealment between us, the desire to receive, and the Creator the general force of love and bestowal. To the extent that we correct our own opposite, egoistic nature, for it to also operate in the direction of bestowal, to that extent we reveal these worlds, these higher qualities.
Regarding the order and meaning of each world:
First is Adam Kadmon (primordial Man) this is the first form of the desire to receive that became similar to the Creator, but it operates in a different way then the rest of the system, so it’s called primordial.
Atzilut (from the Hebrew words etz lo: at his place, in his possession). This is the place where the Creator exists, meaning the pure desire to bestow.
Beria (creation), comes from the Hebrew word Bar, meaning outside of. Meaning that it’s already a distinct degree of remoteness from the quality of bestowal.
Yetzira (creation), also means creation but this time it stems from the Hebrew word yetzer, inclination. Meaning there is already an inclination of its own to the Creator.
Assiya (action), this completes the action of creating the desire to receive.
Keep in mind that we usually don’t translate these words when we use them in the lessons. A lot of times it’s better to use the Hebrew word instead of being confused by the translation.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/04/everything-is-attained-by-the-equivalence-of-form/
Albert @ KabU
Hello, How can you know that we are progressing internally in the right way ?
My second question: Why does it seem as though the world is getting worse despite the influence of Kabbalah on the spiritual and corporeal world ?
Thank you!
Thank you for the feedback. Your insight helps me tremendously. I typically try to translate the Hebrew words in order to better understand their meaning. It seems as though they don’t make sense to me until I do this. However, I am also the type of person who has to pick everything apart until I understand it. Thanks again for your help. Love and Light!
Hi Guy,
1. We’re still in the preparation period prior to the spiritual ladder. But once we start to do real spiritual work, we can measure our progress in our attitude towards other points in the hearts. That I’ll feel how my attitude towards them changes, from complete indifference, all the way until I feel them as pieces of my soul. We’ll learn more about this in the more advanced lessons.
2. We learn from the lesson on the perception of reality that the external world is a reflection of my own internal world. If I’m not corrected, I will see in front of me an uncorrected and bad world. If I correct myself, I’ll look at the same world and the same people, but now they will appear the opposite.
It’s like I have these dirty glasses through which I see the whole world as dirty. The moment I clean my own glasses, I’ll look at the same world, but now it’s clean and perfect.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/04/in-neutral-gear/
Albert @ KabU
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