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

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
This is a quotation from “The Book of Zohar”, not the words of
Baal HaSulam or one of the modern Kabbalists.
Thus, all good and bad in the world is predetermined by the presence
or absence of the Upper light in it proportionate to the Kelim that
have already developed in the world – HaBaD, HaGaT, and NHY. It
therefore turns out that Israel, whose mission is to bring the Kabbalistic
method to the nations, is responsible for the state of the world, both
good and bad.
71. These words, as we have explained, concern those people who
study the outer part of Torah, treating its inner part as something
unnecessary, and pay little or no attention to it.
This fault is typical all over the world. The outer part of Israel influences
the inner part, meaning that common believers are openly hostile
to Kabbalists and are convinced that they are engaged in something
totally wrong. Accordingly, the outer part of the nations of the world
prevails over the inner.
All destructive elements raise their heads and wish to destroy the
world, and primarily the people of Israel. This is because they do not
fulfill their mission. The general governance is designed in such a way
that the inner part could influence the outer one, while the outer part
would in turn exert pressure and adjust the inner part.
After our grave sins, we have born witness to the sufferings predicted
by “The Zohar”. The finest of us perished, for “the righteous are the
first to suffer”. Of all the most prominent Kabbalists who used to live
in Russia, only a small number remained in this country.
Baal HaSulam says that 200-300 years ago there were many Kabbalists
in Russia and the Ukraine (the Baal Shem Tov with his disciples,
the famous cradle of Kabbalistic learning in Kotzk, Poland). All of them
have disappeared because, as he states, if the generations fall, the best are
first to perish.
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