Young Group Discussion

[Zohar]

Very beautiful and heartfelt selections and motivations!

[Aaron Lessin]

Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 42

“Allegory: A man walks along the way and sees a lovely garden. He hears a voice calling him, coming from the king, who is walking in the garden. Excited, he jumps the fence in one leap and is inside the garden. For all his excitement and rush, he does not feel that he is walking in front of the king, and the king is near him, strolling behind him.

So he walks and thanks and praises the king with all his might, aiming to prepare himself to meet the king. He does not notice whatsoever that the king is next to him.

But all of a sudden, he turns his face and sees the king right next to him. Naturally, he is overjoyed. He begins to follow the king, praising and glorifying as much as he can, the king in front of him, and he, behind the king.

So they walk and stroll up to the gate. The man walks out the gate and returns to his initial place, while the king remains in the garden and locks the gate. When the man sees that he has been separated and the king is not with him, he begins to look for the gate through which he came out when the king was in front of him. But there is no such gate at all, but only as he came in the first time, when he was walking in front of the king and the king was behind him without his noticing.

So it should be now, but it requires great craftsmanship.”

This is a beautiful excerpt which awakens within me an inner feeling of the work of the left and right lines and how we must “jump the fence” in faith above reason, moving towards the Creator with yet no revelation of His presence. We see here a process of the king calling us, walking behind us, next to us, in front of us, and then leading us out the gate which we find doesn’t exist, only to understand that we must again enter by the way in which we came, “jumping the fence.” There is so much wisdom encapsulated in the short allegory from Baal HaSulam to be scrutinized and practically applied to our inner work.

[Monica]

483. A Hedge for Wisdom – Silence – 2
May-June

“A hedge for wisdom – silence.” That is, in order to be rewarded with Hochma [wisdom], one must first correct the Kelim [vessels] so they have the quality of bestowal. Hence, the correction is “silence,” meaning that in every matter, he shall answer himself as in “Silence! Such was My thought.”

Rabash, Assorted notes

[Sandra]

And from love of friends one can reach love of the Creator, meaning wanting to give contentment to the Creator. It turns out that only in this does one obtain a need and understanding that bestowing is important and necessary, and this comes to him through love of friends. Then we can talk about fear, meaning that one is afraid that he will not be able to bestow contentment to the Creator, and this is called “fear.”

Love of Friends – 2

I chose this excerpt because it is small and yet very profound as it summarizes the wisdom.

[Xavier M]

Therefore we must ask, why then, did the Kabbalists obligate each person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah Indeed, there is a great thing in it, worthy of being publicised: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the Lights that surround their souls.

Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the study of the Ten Sefirot, item 155

This excerpt reminds me that we don’t have to understand what we are learning with our intellect. We’re working with desire and intention as we study the materials, making an effort to connect between us and praying to the Creator for help connecting between us. We are drawing the Light.

I just remembered what it was like as a teenager to sit in class listening to a lecture in English (not my native language) and not understanding a word of what the teacher said. A few months later, I suddenly realised that I was able to follow the lesson! Similarly, when we study together with the right desire and intention, we will one day experience what we are reading.

I love being on this journey with you, friends.

 

[Gail Peacock]

4. RABASH, Article No. 21 (1986), “Concerning Above Reason”

A person has qualities that his parents bequeathed to their children, and he has qualities that he acquired from the society, which is a new possession. And this comes to him only through bonding with the society and the envy that he feels toward the friends when he sees that they have better qualities than his own. It motivates him to acquire their good qualities, which he doesn’t have and of which he is jealous.

Thus, through the society, he gains new qualities that he adopts by seeing that they are at a higher degree than his, and he is envious of them. This is the reason why now he can be greater than when he didn’t have a society, since he acquires new powers through the society.

This excerpt I chose because it made me realise that we are a family that empowers, motivates and inspires each other to work harder to stay connected and focused on this spiritual path.

[Larry]

30. The Most Important Is to Want Only to Bestow
I heard after Shabbat Vayikra, March 20, 1943

The most important is not to want anything except to bestow because of His greatness, since any reception is flawed. It is impossible to exit reception, but only to take the other extreme, meaning bestowal.

The moving force, meaning the extending force and the force that compels to work, is only greatness. One must think that, ultimately, the efforts and the labor must be made, but through these forces one can yield some benefit and pleasure. In other words, one can please a limited body with one’s work and effort, which is either a passing guest or an eternal one, meaning that one’s energy remains in eternity.

I chose the above excerpt as reception is the Creators gift to man. While we understand this it is fitting to mention that the receiving of earthly pleasures still leaves a void with us. Therefore we have to yearn to bestow to reach equavalence of form so that we can and reach eternal pleasure.

 

[Author]

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