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google translation of the questions:
Why were the texts written by the Kabbalists using the language of the branches? Please
Is it to protect their wisdom that you hid it?
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Yes, on the one hand, you can say that it’s to protect the wisdom. On the other hand, the language of roots and branches is the ideal form for passing spiritual information. There are no words or objects in spirituality, it’s a world of forces. But each of these forces have a corresponding corporeal branch in our world. So by using the names of the corresponding branch, Kabbalists can point out and talk about its spiritual root.
Check out these blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details:
https://laitman.com/2010/12/the-spiritual-decoder/
https://laitman.com/2013/09/from-root-to-branch/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Scott,
We’re not yet on any spiritual degree, 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.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Vania,
In the advanced semesters on KabU, we’ll learn how to do work in a group of ten. It’s then that everyone will be given their own virtual group of ten to practice this work.
Albert @ KabU
Hi Zorica,
0/1. There are 4 levels in nature. Still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. Within each level, there are 4 sub levels: the still of the still, the vegetative of the still, the animate of the still, the speaking of the still, etc. Humanity as a whole is currently found on the speaking sub-degree of the animate level. Meaning we have not yet reached the true speaking degree, which is a spiritual degree. We reach the speaking degree when we become similar to the Creator, meaning when we rise above our egoistic nature into the nature of love and bestowal.
2. Being able to choose is still ahead of us. In the preliminary stages, these choices too are made for us. There is a saying that the Creator puts man’s hand on the good fate and says “choose this for yourself”. Meaning He awakened your point in the heart and brought it to a good spiritual environment in which you can nourish it. After that, the rest is up to you.
But if the point in the heart is forcing me to be here, what needs to happen for me to start actualizing my free will? This desire then needs to be taken away from me little by little, and there I begin to reveal more and more the place of my freedom.
This is similar to how we teach a child to ride a bike. First the parent holds the child completely. Then as the child learns to pedal and balance himself, the parent lets go a little, then a little more and a little more, until the child continue to pedal without the parent holding him at all.
So we too need to learn to continue to do this work even when that initial desire for spirituality begins to disappear or when the ego grows and begins to pull us into many different directions. Here there is already a need for mutual work in the group, the spiritual environment. On one hand when I fall into my ego, they need to pull me out, and on the other hand I need to help pull others out when they fall. This is why Kabbalists have always studied in groups (physical or virtual).
We will learn more about this in the more advanced semesters on KabU, where you’ll receive your own Kabbalah group with whom you can practice these things.
3. At first we don’t feel the others. So at first we can bestow to the others only through ourselves. This is called “don’t do to the other what is hated by you”. Meaning that you don’t feel the other but you feel yourself, and there are things you hate. Don’t do those things to others. Later on, we will begin to feel the others desire and focus specifically on fulfilling their desire. Keep in mind that we do spiritual work primarily in the Kabbalistic group. With the rest of the world, we should act normal there, just like everyone else.
Albert @ KabU
P.S. Please post future questions in the questions forum.
Hi Zorica,
You’re right, Kabbalah studies don’t work in a typical way in which we learn to accumulate knowledge. In Kabbalah we’re concerned with reaching spirituality in practice, feeling it. And for that purpose, “it’s not the wise that learns”. Meaning we’re not learning this material simply to acquire knowledge, to store it in some box in our brains. After all, If knowledge was the path to spirituality, then a supercomputer loaded with all of the Kabbalistic texts would be the most spiritual being in the world. Obviously this is not the case.
So why do we spend so much time studying if not to gain knowledge? Because through the study, we draw the force of the light. This force is what makes all the internal changes, clarifications, corrections that need to be made. After we extract enough light and correct ourselves to a certain degree, then we won’t just intellectually philosophize about spirituality, but we will begin to feel it in practice. And only out of that feeling will we begin to truly understand it.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Richard, great question!
The Torah is entirely written in a type of code called the language of roots and branches. This code uses words of our world to describe spiritual phenomena. So none of it is literal. On the other hand there is a law that every spiritual root must touch the corporeal branch at least once. Meaning although these are spiritual phenomena, they must have a corresponding corporeal branch in our world.
For example, Egypt represents the uncorrected egoistic desire while Israel represents the corrected desire, those are the roots. But in our world these things exist as branches as well. There is actually a physical place that is called Egypt and Israel. Likewise with Moses, there was indeed a Kabbalist named Moses. Still, despite all the above, the Torah is not a history book, not a single word of the Torah speaks about our world, history, morals, etc.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
If you’re interesting in learning how to properly decipher the Torah, check out the books: Disclosing a Portion or The Secrets of the Eternal Book.
Albert @ KabU
