Introduction to the Book of Zohar (PDF) - Kabbalah Media Archive

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I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B O O K O F Z O H A R Our advancement is directly connected with the higher spiritual level. We should try to demand the Ohr Makif from it , address all our questions to it and only from it receive the answers. The group, the teacher, and the books are only the means that help us to advance. This is the attitude we should adopt. Do not replace the Creator with Rav or the group, because they are only auxiliary instruments on our path to Him. Now we will find out how to advance towards the Creator. Baal HaSulam says: 39. We have shown that the Creator’s purpose is to bestow upon His creatures, so that they may know His genuineness and greatness, and receive all the delight and goodness He had prepared for them. We do not yet understand His purpose, but it will gradually transpire. It is most clear to the Kabbalists, on whose behalf Baal HaSulam speaks. They attain the purpose, the meaning, and the final result of the entire creation. After that, we (i.e., the Kabbalists) clearly find that this purpose does not apply to the still and the large planets such as the Earth, the Moon, or the Sun, however luminous they may be. The Creator’s intentions refer neither to the vegetative nor to the animate level of nature (although they live some form of a biological life), for they lack the sensation of others (they cannot even develop it on their own level, let alone on the higher one). They lack the sensation of others, of jealousy, envy, and real pleasures, even of the animate kind. Animals do not feel pleasure. All they do is dictated by their inner instincts. Since they are unable to absorb the desires of others, they naturally cannot enjoy the pleasures of others either. An animal may be either hungry or not, but it cannot get hungry by simply looking at another hungry animal. 208
I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B O O K O F Z O H A R Even on a primitive animate level, desires do not pass from one animal to another, even more the desire to attain a higher spiritual level, which is initially absent in us. Suppose I have no idea what it means to be a scientist, a professor, or an actor. However, I look at them and see how they enjoy it, so I want to be like them. With the help of “Kinah, Ta’avah ve Kavod” (envy, craving for pleasures and the desire for honor and fame), I can acquire from others the tastes that are totally unknown to me. This way, my Kli, my desire, can constantly grow, and I can infinitely develop it in our world by absorbing all the desires existing in the universe and even on the spiritual level. It resembles a hypothetical situation where, with the help of certain actions, a plant could turn into an animal, or an animal into man. However, only humans can rise to the Divine level. This is possible because the root of such a property is present in us – the sensation of another human being. This property is absent in the inanimate bodies, plants and animals. We are born with only animal desires, purely animal instincts that existed in primitive people. These are our bodily desires for such natural pleasures as food, sex, home and family. Besides, as a result of envy man develops a desire to receive something that another person has, even if he does not really need it. Even if I have all that my heart desires, but there is someone who enjoys something else; then I want to receive that pleasure too. Finally, the desires for power and honor bring me pleasure, because I feel people’s submission and respect. These are man’s ultimate aspirations in this world. It does not matter to me that I do not have it in my pocket; I enjoy people’s attitude toward me. This makes me bigger, more significant. Envy, craving for pleasures, and the desire for fame and recognition develop man to such an extent that he can attach additional egoism from others to his own and begin to advance spiritually. 209
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T H E L I G H T O F K A B B A L A H
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We wish to extend our gratitude to
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T O T H E R E A D E R For many cent
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PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF ZOHAR 1. The
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P R E FAC E T O T H E B O O K O F Z
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I N T RO D U C T I O N T O T H E B
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for suffering and pleasure, for tho
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and takes control over one’s life
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