[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Erik,

Regarding fate, the purpose of creation is to bring everyone into complete adhesion with the Creator. This purpose is preset, we cannot change that at all. Meaning that at some point in our development, each and every single person will reach that state. The only choice we have in the matter is the path we take to get there: whether by the path of light of the path of suffering.

Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/01/lets-go-with-the-light/

Regarding free will, choosing to be influenced by the spiritual environment is how we reach freedom in practice.

It’s like with a seed, what happens to the seed depends entirely on where you plant that seed. If you plant it in fertile soil, it’ll get the right nutrients to grow and develop. If you just keep it on your shelf, nothing will come out of it. Likewise with us. Our entire spiritual future depends on which spiritual environment we plant ourselves in. Even our good thoughts and actions are a result of placing ourselves in the spiritual environment. Meaning that the work of attributing everything to the Creator is a RESULT of placing ourselves in the spiritual environment.

We’ll learn about this in depth in the next semester, in the meantime, here’s a quote on the topic from Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom”:

“However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart to him good concepts. If one does not do that, but is willing to enter any environment that appears to him and read any book that falls into his hands, he is bound to fall into a bad environment or waste his time on worthless books, which are abundant and easier to come by. In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds, in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in that there is definitely a choice.

Therefore, he who strives to continually choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. But here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts and deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment, which brings him these good thoughts and deeds.”

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Nika,

1. We learn that “there is no coercion in spirituality”. If a person wants to leave, we cannot stop them.

2. The course does not promise to get us to any particular state. Rather, by taking the course, we learn about such states. And whether we actually reach it in practice or not depends on whether we ourselves put in the necessary efforts to reach that state.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Nika,

The example with the lighter was to illustrate how Kabbalah is not something mystical, but rather it’s ground within the laws of nature.

Just like with the lighter, a person who has never seen such things might think it’s magic, but a modern person knows that there is nothing magical about.

Likewise with Kabbalah, a person who has no understanding of Kabbalah might think it’s mysticism, but a person who is actually practicing it knows that there is nothing mystical about it.

That’s the extent to which this example is meant to illustrate.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Curtis,

Essentially he is asking the question that if there is but a singular goal of creation, why are there so many different systems in creation? And he gives the example of a small animal whose only goal is to live long enough to procreate, but if you zoom into their anatomy, you also find a huge, complex system. So just like that small animal needs all those systems in order to carry out its goal, likewise, we too need all of these huge systems of Partzufim, Sefirot, and Worlds in order to help us reach the purpose of creation.

As for different words meaning the same thing, like with the example of the body, you can just say that the body is made up of cells and that would be correct. But we see that science does not stop there, but calls one grouping of cells a heart, and another grouping of cells a brain, etc. It’s all referring to cells, but the specific names help us to zoom in and talk about specific parts of the body.

Albert @ KabU

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Hans,

613 is the number of corrections that need to be placed over the spiritual desire. 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. We’ll learn how this number is derived in the more advanced lessons on KabU that deal with the structure of the upper worlds.

See my reply below to Helen for more details.

[Albert – KabU Instructor]

Hi Philip,

Those books were written by Kabbalists, so for sure each one of them is priceless. But whether they will have the same effect on a person as the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, I cannot say. The writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash were written specifically for our generation, so they would of course have the strongest effect on us, on the level of egoism that we’re working with.

See my reply 375236 to Rade below for more details.

Albert @ KabU

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