Forum Replies Created
- Replies
Hi James,
The 613 laws are the 613 commandments that the Torah speaks about in an allegorical way. Keep in mind that:
1) Although they are written in an allegorical way, it only speaks about corrections performed on our desires. So we don’t need to carry these things out physically, but only on the level of our desires.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/02/mitzvot-commandments-the-correction-of-desires/
2. In practice, we don’t work according to some kind of list, but simply with whatever is being awakened in the moment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/09/compliance-with-the-613-mitzvot-commandments/
3. The 613 desires are spiritual desires that we don’t yet have. 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.
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
Hi Salam,
1. There is no prerequisite to study the Torah or Gemara. Although these are indeed Kabbalistic books and there were countless other Kabbalistic books that have been written in the past, in our days, we mainly study from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. This is because egoism grows from generation to generation, so Kabbalah, the method for its correction, needs to get adapted in each generation for that level of egoism. For example it’s like in medicine, if a person has a headache he can just drink a tylenol and that’s enough to fix him. But if it’s not just a little headache but something cancerous, then that tylenol won’t do anything for him but he needs a completely different regime to heal himself.
This is why Kabbalah gets adapted in each generation to the level of egoism that is currently found in that generation. So although there were many different Kabbalists and Kabbalistic books throughout the generations, nowadays we mainly learn from the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, since their writings contains the light that is most suitable to correct the egoism that is found in our generation.
Check out this blog posts from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/11/the-great-kabbalists-and-their-works/
2. As for Judaism, if you wish to study Judaism, that’s completely up to you, but that’s also not required. This is because Kabbalah is not a religion and not connected to any religion. Kabbalah is a scientific method by which we can correct our egoistic nature and as a result of that correction, we reveal the Creator in our lives.
At the same time, Kabbalah is not against religions. In fact we have millions of students worldwide, from many different backgrounds and religions. Many of them do choose to maintain their religion or to perform certain religious customs while studying Kabbalah and there is nothing wrong with that. Just like with any other science, a person can be religious and also be a chemist or physicist. Likewise a person can be religious and also study the science of Kabbalah. Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full spiritual correction people can still keep their religions.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/12/the-wisdom-of-kabbalah-and-the-other-religions/
3. Yes, you can find the books in Hebrew. Here’s a link to the Hebrew bookstore: https://books.kab.co.il/
and a link to the Kabbalah Library in Hebrew: https://kabbalahmedia.info/he/sources.
Although if English is difficult for you, you can also try switching to the Hebrew version of this course: https://campus.kab.co.il/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Natalia,
You can say that Kabbalah is hard because it talks about correcting our nature. If we try to perform this correction by ourselves, not only is it hard, but it’s actually impossible. Just like a PC cannot change itself to run as a Mac, we too cannot just reprogram our very nature. We need outside help to perform this change. This help comes to us from the light. This is a special force that we can tap into in order to help us perform this change. We extract this force primarily from the Kabbalistic studies. Our entire work boils down to extracting more and more of the force of the light and it does all the rest. If we learn how to do that properly, then this path will not seem hard, but actually quiet simple and relatively easy to carry out.
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 Aaron,
Kli is Hebrew for vessel (Kelim is the plural, so vessels). A vessel is a container. What does it contain? Light. Light = pleasure. What vessel can contain pleasure? A desire. So kelim are desires.
We all have different desires, but these are corporeal desires for food, sex, family, money, honor, power, knowledge, etc. Kabbalah does not deal with these types of desires. Kabbalah only deals with the desire for spirituality.
But do we have a desire for spirituality? Not really. At most, we have a single point, called the point in the heart, out of which we can build a true desire for spirituality. How do we do that? By connecting our point with other points in the heart.
This is why we learn about the shattering in the system of Adam Harishon. This is the system of connections between our points in the heart. This is the only thing that was broken and the only thing we need to correct. Once we properly connect between us, we will rebuild that spiritual kli through which we can perceive spirituality.
Keep in mind that we do this type of work only in this safe environment that we call the Kabbalistic group. With the rest of the world we need to act in a normal way, just like everyone else.
We’ll learn more about these things in the more advanced semesters.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2014/05/puzzle-adam-harishon/
As for the restriction (tzimtzum in Hebrew), check out the Guest & Host Allegory in Chapter 3 of Attaining the Worlds Beyond:
http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/4180?/eng/content/view/full/4180&main
Albert @ KabU
Hi Sharlene, great questions!
1. Yes.
2. Kabbalah is not a system of beliefs. Kabbalists don’t “believe” in the Creator, they reveal Him in practice. And this revelation is not something mystical, but rather it works according to the law of equivalence of form.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/kabbalah-without-a-trace-of-mysticism/
3. Yes, you can say that.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2017/11/the-concept-of-god-in-kabbalah/
4. Yes, you can say that. The stories in the Torah are written in the language of roots and branches. It’s a type of code that uses words of our world to describe spiritual situations and phenomena. As such, these stories are not literal stories.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2016/05/dispelling-myths-about-kabbalah-part-4/
Albert @ KabU
Hi Marc, great questions!
But I’m not an expert in other methods, even others that seemingly teach “Kabbalah”, so I cannot comment on what they do or teach there. In general, authentic Kabbalah has been around for about 5800 years, but it’s been concealed for the past 2,000 years, so people don’t really know what it’s all about. Just picture a 2,000 year old game of telephone. So naturally, many different methods sprang up that are seemingly “Kabbalah”.
Some try to associate themselves with Kabbalah as a way to validate themselves, while others borrowed some principles from Kabbalah and created something else, which is how philosophy emerged and later on turned into science. Or it’s also possible that these methods sprang up as a result of the concealment of Kabbalah, this is how the modern religions emerged. But ultimately, authentic Kabbalah has nothing to do with any other method and for the most part precedes all of the modern religions, sciences, and philosophies.
Authentic Kabbalah is the method by which we correct our egoistic nature and as a result we become similar to and reveal in practice the Creator, the general force of love and bestowal.
Albert @ KabU
