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There exists the upper force or the Creator, and governing forces descend from this upperforce into our world. We do not know how many forces there are, but this is actuallyunimportant. We exist here in our world. We are created by some upper force that we call ―theCreator.‖ We are familiar with various forces in our world, such as gravity, electromagnetismand the power of thought. However, there are forces of a higher order that act while remaininghidden from us.We call the ultimate, comprehensive force—―the Creator.‖ The Creator is the sum of all of theworld‘s forces and the highest level in the line of the governing forces.This upper force gave birth to the upper worlds. There are five worlds in total. The so calledMachsom—a barrier that separates the upper worlds and our world—follows them. From theupper force—the Creator, also known as ―the world of Infinity‖—the forces descend throughall the worlds, giving birth to our world and human beings.The science of Kabbalah does not study our world and humans in it, as traditional sciencesdo. Kabbalah investigates everything that exists beyond the Machsom.Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag says that ―this wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence ofroots, which hang down by way of cause and effect, in fixed, determined rules.‖ There isnothing other than forces descending from above in accordance with precise laws. Moreover,these laws, as Ashlag writes, are fixed, absolute and omnipresent. Ultimately, they are alldirected so that one can reveal the ultimate governing force of nature while being in our world.Why Kabbalah?Source (http://www.kabbalah.info)One who has a desire for spirituality differs from one seeking earthly and human fulfillments (i.e. thedesire stages 1-to-4 outlined above). We already know how to fulfill our earthly and human needs, butwhen the desire for spirituality awakens, we no longer know how to soothe it.Most people with a desire for spirituality today aren't even aware that they have it. Some of these peoplewith a desire for spirituality might even be despising the very word "spirituality" thinking that it issomething unrealistic and unrealizable. Such people feel their lives empty and purposeless, withoutknowing that it is due to this new, more evolved desire for spirituality awakening in them. They areunaware that this is the reason for their dissatisfaction and discontentment with life.As children, many people ask themselves, "What am I living for?" But as the years go by, we areinundated by desires and temptations that divert us from this question, and the need to find a genuineanswer withers away.Nevertheless, at some point, the desire for spirituality awakens, and with it the questions. Those whoinsist on finding the answers come to Kabbalah, which was specifically designed to provide the way totheir answers.The Truth About RealitySource (Rav Michael Laitman, PhD. A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah. Chapter Two)In Hebrew, the word Kabbalah means ―reception.‖ But Kabbalah isn‘t just that—reception. It‘sa discipline of study, a method that teaches you how to receive. Kabbalah helps you knowwhere you truly are in relation to where you think you are. It shows the boundaries of our fivesenses and opens up the part that they can‘t reveal by helping you develop a ―sixth sense.‖This sixth sense not only enriches your life with a new dimension, but opens a door to a―brave new world.‖ There is no death in this world, no sorrow, no pain. And best of all, youdon‘t have to give up anything for it: you don‘t have to die to get there; you don‘t have to fastor restrain yourself in any way. In short, Kabbalah doesn‘t take you away from life; it adds awhole new meaning and strength to everything that happens.-7-

10 Myths About KabbalahSource (http://www.kabbalah.info)Myth #1: Kabbalah is a religion.Fact: Kabbalah is a science - the physics of the overall reality. It is a wisdom thatreveals the comprehensive reality that is normally hidden from our senses.Myth #2: Kabbalah is connected to red strings and holy water.Fact: There is no connection. Red strings, holy water and other products are alucrative commercial invention created in the past two decades.Myth #3: Kabbalah is reserved for a minority of persons and only men over 40years of age are allowed to learn it.Fact: During the exile Kabbalah was only studied by a few select individuals.However, since the time of the Ari (the 16th century), it is available to all.Myth #4: Kabbalah deals with magic.Fact: Kabbalah does not deal with magic or any other sorcery; rather, it deals with apragmatic investigation of reality.Myth #5: Kabbalah is a sect.Fact: Kabbalah is a wisdom and a science open to every person without anyrestrictions.Myth #6: Kabbalah is related to “New Age” and is a trend - a passingphenomenon.Fact: Kabbalah is humanity‘s oldest wisdom. Its beginnings were approximately5,000 years ago.Myth #7: Kabbalah is related to tarot cards, astrology and numerology.Fact: Tarot cards, astrology and numerology, in their mystical practice, have beenmistakenly associated with Kabbalah.Myth #8: There are amulets in Kabbalah.Fact: In our world, there are no physical objects that bear any spiritual contents.Amulets can only help a person as a psychological support.Myth #9: Kabbalah involves meditation.Fact: Kabbalah does not involve meditation. Meditation is another element that wasconnected to the word ―Kabbalah‖ amid its confusion in the last few centuries by nonKabbalists.Myth #10: One needs to have studied the Torah and Talmud prior toapproaching Kabbalah books.Fact: Without Kabbalah, one cannot understand the spiritual meaning of these texts,and is stuck with thinking that they refer to physical events and actions.-8-

What does Kabbalah Teach and What does Studying Kabbalah Dofor Me?Source (http://www.kabbalah.info)The science of Kabbalah is unique in the way it talks about you and me, about all of us. Itdoesn‘t deal with anything abstract, only with the way we are created and how we functionat higher levels of existence.One of its sections talks about the descent of the higher forces from the world of Infinity.The world of Infinity is our initial state, and there we exist as a single, unified system ofsouls, completely interconnected. Then, from the world of Infinity, we study the sequenceof worlds, Sefirot and Partzufim as they descend to the world we live in.Many Kabbalistic books have been written about it, starting with Abraham the Patriarchfour thousand years ago, who wrote a book called Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation).The next important work is The Book of Zohar, written in the second century CE. ThethZohar is followed by the works of the Ari, a renowned 16 century Kabbalist. And thetwentieth century saw the appearance of the works of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag.Ashlag‘s texts are best suited for our generation. They, as well as other Kabbalisticsources, describe the structure of the upper worlds, how they descend and successivelybring lower worlds into existence, and how our world came into being, the universe, ourglobe, and how life evolved. Studying how that system was created and how it descendsto our world allows us to master the method of entering this system and governing it.We, for the most part, study the six volume textbook Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study ofthe Ten Sefirot), written by Yehuda Ashlag. It is designed as a study aid with questions,answers, materials for repetition and memorization, explanations, graphics and drawings.This is, if you will, the physics of the upper world, describing the laws and forcesgoverning the universe.This material gradually transforms the students, because when searching how to enterand begin to live in the spiritual world, one gradually adapts oneself to the material.The science of Kabbalah does not deal with life in this world. Instead, by studying thissystem we re-attain our level before we descended, the same level where we will be atthe end of our ascent from this world. During this ascent, the study of Kabbalah buildswithin the student a system equal to the higher system.This system begins to organize and manifest itself in the person who wants to achieve it,and who studies it for this purpose. Just like a drop of semen can potentially evolve intoan entire human being, and subsequently grows into a mature grown-up, the science ofKabbalah develops our desire to attain a higher level of existence.At first this is a tiny desire, called ―a point in the heart.‖ This point is like the embryo of ourfuture states. By studying the structure of the upper world, we develop the ―genetic‖information within it, and as it grows, the structure resembling the higher levels formswithin us.This is why studying is so rewarding. Even if we do not understand a single thing aboutwhat we are reading, simply trying to understand the Kabbalistic texts nurtures the point inthe heart, the desire for the Higher One, and the point begins to grow. The more it grows,the more we feel the appearance of a new creation, a new and different feeling of a worldwithin ourselves.In so doing, the science of Kabbalah gives us the opportunity to feel the upper worlds, tounderstand everything that happens to us, and most of all, to control this process forourselves.-9-

Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (1884-1954) is known as Baal HaSulam(Owner of the Ladder) for his Sulam (ladder) commentary on The Bookof Zohar. Baal HaSulam dedicated his life to interpretations andinnovations in the wisdom of Kabbalah, disseminating it in Israel andthroughout the world. He developed a unique method to the study ofKabbalah, by which any person can delve into the depth of reality andreveal its roots and purpose of existence.Baal HaSulam was born in Warsaw, Poland on Sep 24, 1884. At the age of nineteenhe was ordained as a rabbi by the greatest rabbis of Warsaw, and for sixteen yearshe served as a Dayan (Jewish orthodox judge) and a teacher in Warsaw.Baal HaSulam‘s teacher was Rabbi Yehoshua of Porsov. In 1921, Baal HaSulamimmigrated to Israel and settled in the Old City of Jerusalem. The word of his comingquickly spread among Jews who emigrated from Poland, and he soon becameknown as an authority in Kabbalah. Gradually, a group of students formed aroundhim, attending Kabbalah lessons in the wee hours. Later on Baal HaSulam movedfrom the Old City and settled in Givat Shaul, which was then a new neighborhood inJerusalem, where for several years he served as the neighborhood rabbi.Baal HaSulam spent the years 1926-1928 in London. During his time in London hewrote the commentary to the Ari‘s Tree Of Life— Panim Meirot uMasbirot, which heprinted in 1927. Throughout his stay in London, Baal HaSulam conducted extensivecorrespondence with his students in Israel, which were assembled in 1985 in a booktitled Igrot Kodesh (Letters of Sanctity).In 1933 Baal HaSulam published the tractates Matan Torah (The Giving of theTorah), HaArvut (The Bond), and HaShalom (The Peace).Baal HaSulam‘s two major works, the result of many years of labor, are Talmud EserSefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot), a commentary on the writings of the Ari, andPerush HaSulam (The Sulam Commentary)onThe Book of Zohar. The publications ofthe 16 parts (in six volumes) of Talmud Eser Sefirot began in 1937. In 1940 hepublished Beit Shaar HaKavanot (The Gatehouse of Intentions), with commentariesto selected writings of the Ari. Persuh HaSulam on the Zohar was printed in 18volumes in the years 1945-1953. Later on Baal HaSulam wrote three additionalvolumes containing commentaries on The New Zohar, whose printing was completedin 1955, after his demise.In his Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam writes as follows (item 58):And I have named that commentary The Sulam (ladder), to show that the purpose ofit is, as with every ladder, that if you have an attic full of goods, then all you need is aladder to reach it, and then all the bounty of the world is in your hands.Baal HaSulam wrote a series of introductions that prepare the student for properstudy of Kabbalistic texts. Some of these introductions are Preface to the Book ofZohar, Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,Preface to the Sulam Commentary, General Preface to the Tree of Life, andIntroduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.- 10 -

In 1940, Baal HaSulam published the first and, as it turned out, the last issue of thejournal HaUma (The Nation). The journal was shut down by the British Mandateauthorities after having received malicious information that the journal propagatedcommunism.Baal HaSulam encountered enormous difficulties printing his books. We can learn ofthe importance he ascribed to printing and disseminating Kabbalah from the 2003Israel Award laureate Prof. Shlomo Giora Shoham‘s description of his meeting withBaal HaSulam in the early 1950‘s.I found him standing in a dilapidated building, almost a shack, which housed an oldprinting press. He couldn't afford to pay a typesetter and was doing the typesettinghimself, letter by letter, standing over the printing press for hours at a time, despitethe fact that he was in his late sixties. Ashlag was clearly a tzaddik (righteous man) a humble man, with a radiant face. But he was an absolutely marginal figure andterribly impoverished. I later heard that he spent so many hours setting type that thelead used in the printing process damaged his health. This excerpt was published onDec 17, 2004 in Haaretz newspaper, in a story by Micha Odenheimer.Baal HaSulam did not merely put his ideas on paper; he acted vigorously to promotethem. He met with many leaders of the Jewish settlement in Israel of the time,leaders of the Labor movement and many public figures. Among these figures areDavid Ben-Gurion, Zalman Shazar, Moshe Sadeh, Chaim Arlozorov, Moshe Aram,Me‘ir Yaari, Yaakov Hazan, Dov Sadan and the great poet Haim Nahman Bialik.According to Ben-Gurion, he met with Yehuda Ashlag several times, and wasapparently surprised: I wanted to talk to him about Kabbalah, and he wanted to talkabout Socialism (Ben-Gurion Archive, Diaries, Aug 11, 1958).In his essay Three Meetings and In Between (Amot, Tel-Aviv, 1963, p.49), DovSadan writes: Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag, among the greatest Kabbalists of the time,aimed at turning the fundamentals of Kabbalah into a historic engine of ourgeneration. Through his socialistic perception, which is based on the above, hesought contact with the Kibbutz Movement.It might be surprising to think that Baal HaSulam sought connection with the HebrewLabor Movement and its leaders, considering the mental and educational chasmbetween them. However, deep study of his writings reveals a fascinating andintriguing figure of an erudite who was very much involved in the events of his time,both in Israel and the world over, a figure whose ideas are considered revolutionaryand daring even to this day.- 11 -

Writings of Baal HaSulam: There is None Else Beside Him(Ein Od Milvado)The Book of Shamati, Article # 1I heard on Parashat Yitro, 1, February 6, 1944It is written, “there is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no otherforce in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what mansees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household, thereason is that this is His will.And it is deemed a correction, called “the left rejects and the right adducts,”meaning that which the left rejects is considered correction. This means thatthere are things in the world, which, to begin with, aim to divert a person fromthe right way, and by which he is rejected from Sanctity.And the benefit from the rejections is that through them a person receives a needand a complete desire for the Creator to help him, since he sees that otherwisehe is lost. Not only does he not progress in his work, but he sees that heregresses, that is, he lacks the strength to observe Torah and Mitzvot even in LoLishma (not for Her Name). That only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles,above reason, can he observe the Torah and Mitzvot. But he does not alwayshave the str

May 01, 2011 · under the name ―Kabbalah‖: spells, curses, and even miracles, all except for the science of Kabbalah itself. For over four thousand years, common understanding of the science of Kabbalah has been cluttered with misconceptions and misinterpretations. Therefore, first and foremost, the sci