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I understand what you are referring to in terms of spiritual desires that we will only possess in the causal/spiritual world and are not related to the desires we have in the manifested/physical world.
I just can’t believe that such a specific number such as 613 would randomly be both the number of spiritual desires and the number of Mosaic laws.
There must be some relation.
Hi Ben,
There are 613 desires that we need to correct. Corresponding to each desire, there is a law or commandment. These are the INTERNAL processes by which we correct that specific desire. In other words, Kabbalists don’t look at the 613 commandments as physical actions to be performed by our hands and feet, but rather as allegories to the internal process of correcting our desires.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/02/mitzvot-commandments-the-correction-of-desires/
Keep in mind that these 613 desires that we are learning about are spiritual desires, meaning desires that we don’t yet have. This is similar to how a single cell in a body only has some basic desires. But when that cell is part of a greater body, it reveals there higher desires which are impossible for the individual cell to have: desires for money, honor, power, etc. Same with us, until we integrate with the general body of Adam HaRishon, we don’t reveal or understand these 613 spiritual desires. We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced lessons.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/12/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-613-desires/
Albert @ KabU
So I keep hearing in the lessons that everyone doesn’t have a soul, but it can be cultivated. But many people don’t have the point in the heart when they pass away. They are content in this life, and you say that is ok. They come back in another life to continue their progress of correction. However, you also say that we all have a spiritual counterpart, since this world is just a reflection of internal states, and so by this definition the soul is not the thing that perpetuates the individual person, so what exactly is a soul and how does that differ from the soul of Adam HaRishon?
Hi Sean,
There are different levels to this thing called a soul. In the beginning, we all have an animalistic soul, meaning a certain force that enlivens our animalistic body, similar to any other animal. But the human level of the soul is not something we have by default, but rather something that we acquire by correcting our egoistic nature. In other words, each one of us has a human soul in potential which we call the point in the heart. If we correct that point, out of it, we can build the full level of the soul. If not, that same potential continues to reincarnate again and again until it gets corrected.
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
Hi ! Can you tell us more about 613, please ? The creator did put 613 desires in the creature, 613 screens, 613 laws ?
Thank you
Hi Basma,
There are 613 spiritual desires and corresponding to each desire there is a law, or a process by which we correct that desire. So 613 is the number of corrections that need to be placed over the spiritual desires. This number is further divided into 248 desires of bestowing in order to bestow and 365 desires that operate on receiving in order to bestow.
Keep in mind that these 613 desires that we are learning about are spiritual desires, meaning desires that we don’t yet have. This is similar to how a single cell in a body only has some basic desires. But when that cell is part of a greater body, it reveals there higher desires which are impossible for the individual cell to have: desires for money, honor, power, etc. Same with us, until we integrate with the general body of Adam HaRishon, we don’t reveal or understand these 613 spiritual desires. We’ll learn how to do this practically in the more advanced lessons.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2008/12/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-613-desires/
Albert @ KabU
I am not sure if i have a right understanding of the word “Reshimo”… is a Reshimo a spiritual state that you once experienced and that now is played out for you in a situation in your daily life, and so if you succeed to see that situation through the eyes of the Creator, you will remember that spiritual state you were once in ? Or do i understand it completely wrong ? 🙂
Hi Ilse,
The reshimot are our spiritual genes. Just like when we investigate our corporeal genes, we reveal our entire ancestry, where we came from, as well as the reasons for our inclinations, tendencies, etc. Similarly, the reshimot are our spiritual genes. They are all the states that we have gone through and all the states that we will need to go through in the future.
In other words, they detail the process we need to undergo starting from the initial thought of creation all the way until the end of correction. Essentially our entire path of development is preset in these reshimot. So all the forms we need to evolve through and all the desires that will awaken in us is also preset there. The only choice we have is in the pace we go through it. It’s like all of life is one big strip of film or a movie reel. Every new moment is a new frame, a new reshimot is shown to us. And we cannot change the movie at all, but only to fast forward or go one frame at a time.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2010/07/the-whole-world-is-inside-the-reshimo/
Albert @ KabU
Thank you Albert, so its all about how we go through the movie, and not about the movie itself… I still have another question: one of the ways of coming in balance is to place the desires of my friends before my own. But by doing that, don’t I run the risk to become their slave ? I have the tendency to put others before myself, and so once my therapist told me that i have to be careful not to become a doormat…
Hi Ilse,
Friend (חבר Haver in Hebrew) comes from the word connection (חיבור Hibur in Hebrew). So when we say “friend” in Kabbalah, we’re not talking about our corporeal acquaintances and buddies, but specifically the Kabbalistic group where people are aspiring towards a spiritual connection within which we reveal the Creator. That’s where we put everything we learn here into practice.
So in the Kabbalistic group, we try to put our friends desires before our own. That means that their spirituality is more important to me than my own spirituality. And my goal is to not think about myself but rather to help them reach spirituality. In doing so, I rise above my own ego and truly attain the spiritual qualities of love and bestowal.
As for the corporeal friends, don’t practice these things there, they might indeed take advantage of you, or even if they don’t, it wont lead to attaining spirituality. So in corporeality, it’s best to act normal, just like everyone else.
We’ll learn about these things in greater detail in the advanced semesters of KabU where everyone will receive their own virtual Kabbalah group with whom they can practice these things.
Albert @ KabU
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