This is from a lecture I gave to the teachers at the Kabbalah Centre.

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(from a lecture I gave recently)

We know that every time we have the departure of a great soul, that their energy is awakened on the day they left this world. On this day, the thirty-third day of the Omer, is probably one of the most powerful days of the year in regard to the connection to a perfect world.

One of the most important understandings to have is one of the most important lessons from Rav Ashlag, the greatest Kabbalist from our generation.

He explains before the creation of this world, the Creator had the thought of creation.  That thought of creation is what is included in the perfect world, what we will all achieve; the world without pain, without suffering. That concealed Light is what Rabbi Shimon revealed.  The Light of the perfect world is the essence of the Zohar.

It’s not just the connection to a great soul, but very particularly today is the day, that in the seed form we can connect to the seed Light of our perfect life.

In order to maximize that connection we will read from the Zohar that discusses Rabbi Shimon leaving this world.  It’s not something that happened a few thousand years ago.  Every year on this day that Light is awakened.  We can connect to the essence of what Rabbi Shimon revealed.  We can connect to the perfect world.  The perfect world for us personally, and the perfect world globally.

The Zohar tells the story that as Rabbi Shimon was about to leave this world (reading and translating from the Aramaic words where the true Light is concealed).

On that day that Rabbi Shimon wanted to leave this world, and we know Rabbi Shimon achieved such a level of connection that even death had no power over him.  He chose to leave on this day because he knew the world needed this revelation.  The Angel of Death had no power over him.  All the friends, the students, came to his house.

His son Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Aba, and all the other friends.  Just to reiterate, as we read this, we are not simply hearing the story, we should meditate and understand we are living this.  It is occurring now as it occurred 2000 years ago.

Rabbi Shimon lifted his eyes and saw the whole house was full.  He cried and said at another time, when I was ill, only my father-in-law, Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair was with me.  Now it seems anyone can come in without any respect to me.  Rabbi Shimon opened his eyes.  The Zohar said he had a vision.  The fire came and surrounded the house.  After the fire came everybody left.  Only Rabbi Elazar his son, and Rabbi Aba were left.  All the other students were left sitting outside.

Rabbi Shimon turned to his son Rabbi Elazar, and told him go find the friends, the specific group that were with him as he revealed the Light of the Zohar.  Rabbi Elazar goes and brings those friends.  Rabbi Shimon stood up.  He was smiling and was happy.  He raised his hands and prayed a specific prayer.  The Zohar makes the point Rabbi Shimon was full of joy.

All of the friends that were with me in the Idra Rabba, the Great Assembly.  All those friends should be here with me.  It’s important that we remind us, we are not simply hearing the story, but we are reawakening this Light.  It happens as we read this.

Rabbi Shimon says now, this day, the thirty-third day of the Omer, is a day of tremendous openings, tremendous desire, awakening tremendous gates in the supernal world.  Rabbi Shimon said I desire when I go up to the supernal world that I go with no secrets that I have not revealed in this world.  The great secrets that I have not revealed I want to reveal. So that it cannot be said I left this world without every secret being revealed.

I want to reveal these secrets. He is not talking about wisdom or deeper understanding.  He is talking about revealing another layer of Light. Ultimately, the Light he is revealing here today, on the day he left his world, encompasses all the Light that we personally and that the world is lacking.

Rav Ashlag writes that although his Light was revealed today, every one of us has to make the opening to receive that Light today.  The revelation of the Light we need, that the world needs, was awakened on this day, but it is incumbent on every single one of us personally to reveal that Light.

Rabbi Shimon says this is the way this will be placed.  Rabbi Aba will be the scribe.  My son Rabbi Elazar shall repeat the words as I say them. The other students should repeat the words in their heart.  Rabbi Aba, the scribe, was sitting behind Rabbi Shimon and he got up to sit in front of him.  Rabbi Shimon said to his son, move over so Rabbi Aba can sit in front of me.  Rabbi Shimon covered his head completely as he sat down.

He began with a verse in Psalms that says the dead cannot reveal the Light. They can assist us, but the actual revelation must be done by the living.  He goes on to say how different this day is from the first revelation, the Great Assembly.

We know that when Rabbi Shimon revealed great Light many of the angels had come.  Rabbi Shimon is saying this day is different.  It is greater.  Not only does the Creator come, and all the souls of the righteous, and all of the angels come.  Every righteous soul that ever lived came together to support Rabbi Shimon in his great revelation.

He goes on to reveal the concealed Light he had not yet revealed.  Rabbi Shimon says the verse: There the Creator left the blessing, life forever.  And he ended the verse.  Rabbi Aba says, and Rabbi Shimon is referred to as the Holy Light, the holy candle.  Rabbi Aba is saying Rabbi Shimon said the word cha’im, life, and he stopped talking.

Imagine Rabbi Aba is writing, and hears the word life, and thought to write more, but didn’t hear any more.  He says I couldn’t raise up my head because the Light was so great in the room.  I could not look.  I had to close my eyes.  I was shaken up.  I hear a voice, a heavenly voice that called out and said, let the days and years of life.  And then I heard another voice.  He asked for life, and He gave it to him.

We know that the soul of Rav Ashlag, that actually completed the revelation of the Zohar, that the last words he said when he left this world on Yom Kippur were almost the exact words of Rabbi Shimon.

The fire did not leave the house, and nobody came close to the bed of Rabbi Shimon because the fire was so great and surrounding Rabbi Shimon.  Rabbi Aba and all the friends were falling down on the floor.  They tried to stand but were too weak.  Finally the fire goes away and Rabbi Aba said I saw the holy of holies that left this world.  Rabbi Shimon was lying on his left side and he was smiling.  His son, Rabbi Elazar stood up, took the hands of his father and kissed them.

I, Rabbi Aba, was kissing the ground at the feet of Rabbi Shimon.  The friends wanted to cry.  They couldn’t make a sound.

After a while the friends were able to begin crying.  Rabbi Elazar fell on the floor three times.  He couldn’t open up his mouth.  As he gathered strength he said father, father, there used to be three great souls in the world (Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar).  Only Rabbi Elazar remains.

Rabbi Aba stood up and said until now Rabbi Shimon took care of us.  Now is the time to take care of him.  Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba stood up and began carrying the bed of Rabbi Shimon. The Zohar writes you cannot imagine the total of what was going on.  The entire house was filled with beautiful smells.  No one else took care of Rabbi Shimon, only Rabbi Aba and Rabbi Elazar.

Come and enjoy the feast, the great day of Rabbi Shimon.  Come in peace.  Rabbi Shimon, rest in your resting place.  Rabbi Shimon is that soul that the Creator draws joy from every day. Worthy is his place in the supernal world and in our world.

It’s important again that we remember, as we read this story, we are reawakening this Light. In Lech Lecha we are told the degree we awaken Light is to the degree we understand.

Every one of us will connect in a different way. How can we maximize our connection?  By appreciating and desiring to make a connection to him.

Based on many stories in the Zohar, we know wherever Rabbi Shimon was, no judgment could be present.  If Rabbi Shimon was there the judgment was removed.  His soul was unique.  Moses was able to reveal the literal Torah, the literal Bible.  But it was only the soul of Rabbi Shimon that could reveal the secrets.  He had the ability to make that tremendous supernal Light accessible to all of us.  Moses revealed the Light up there.  The power of Rabbi Shimon was he was able to take the highest Light and reveal it to us in this world.

Rav Ashlag speaks about as the generations get later and later all of us come from a lower level. We need Rabbi Shimon in order to make our connection.  This day is greater than almost any other day of the year.  Rabbi Shimon reveals the Light from the perfect world.  Simply, tonight, what we need to do is desire that connection.  We need to desire that Rabbi Shimon will reveal to us and give to us the Light we need and the world needs.

All that Light is concealed in the Zohar.  All that Light is concealed in the soul of Rabbi Shimon.  Tonight we have the Light of the complete revelation of the Zohar and the Light of the soul of Rabbi Shimon.  It is a tremendous day.

Every one of us will connect in a different way. Everything we are lacking comes from this light.   As we connect tonight we should have the desire to make an unhindered connection to Rabbi Shimon.  Understanding that because his soul was from the perfected world, where all our true needs, and all the true needs of the world are fulfilled.  We can make that connection tonight.

Chag Sameach.

This is the cave in Peki’in where Rav Shimon hid for 12 years, and where the Zohar was revealed to him.

Tonight is the death anniversary of the great kabbalist and author of the Zohar, Rav Shimon bar Yochai. It is a very powerful day, one on which we can all make significant connections.This is the entrance to the Grave of Rav Shimon.

(from a lecture over the weekend)

Those of you who have been around the Centre know we speak of the resurrection of the dead. When you look at the writings of the Kabbalists for thousands of years, you see everybody was talking about it.

One of the great Kabbalists, Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk — if you read the verse literally — talks about after the death of Aaron’s two sons. Rabbi Elimelech is talking about righteous people, and he is talking about us, about the righteous element of every one of us. We have the ability to change judgment to mercy. Even if, chas v’shalom, a person has upon them the decree of death, if they are supposed to die, a righteous person (the person every one of us should aspire to be) has the ability to remove that power of death.

How does this work? How can you change judgment to mercy, death to life? It’s very important to understand the way this process works.

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(a lecture I gave this weekend)

Those of us who have had the merit to connect to the writing of Rav Ashlag know that the teaching of the Centre, and the world, is to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I think for most of us this statement lacks a tremendous amount of meaning. In talking about the verse in this week’s Parashah, he says you will sometimes find people who want to share. Those of us drawn to the teachings of Kabbalah have an innate desire to do good. Nachmanides (RaMBaN) writes that many people have a desire to share, but there is hardly anybody who would want another person to have exactly what you have. Most of us share with a limit. We would give a lot, but not to give to the point that absolutely everything I have you have. At that point, are we willing to have everybody have exactly like we have? Most of us are not there.

I think the core of it is the lack of ability to love that most of us have. This is going back 30 or 40 years when the Rav began teaching Kabbalah. Whenever he would talk about “love your neighbor,” they would say that’s not part of Kabbalah, that’s not part of Judaism, that’s Christianity. But as Rav Ashlag writes, it is the basis of everything we do.

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(Translating) If you work hard for your connection, then you can trust that connection. If you do not work hard for your connection, don’t trust that connection.

At the time of the splitting of the sea, they received a tremendous connection to the Light. It was greater than the greatest prophets. There are tremendous revelations, and then immediately afterwards you find people falling.

This is the key. If we do not work, the Light will not stay. We are given a gift in these 7 weeks — through the difficulty of that earning we can trust the Light will remain with us forever.

These 7 weeks are about work. It’s a simple idea, and we might lose it. I guarantee if you do this small thing, it can change your life. Very often when we look at our spiritual work, we have a checklist in our minds. As long as we are doing a certain level of connections, we are happy.

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(from a recent lecture)

One of the unique things we have from the letters of Rav Brandwein to the Rav is the explanation of the power of Pesach. Rav Brandwein was very connected to Pesach and he left the world at this time.

When he is talking to the Rav, he says you have to be careful. The most important part of the connection is the joy, the happiness you have during the connection. The physical connection is not enough. If you do not have tremendous joy, happiness, you are not truly making the connection.

He quotes from the Ari, who asks a question. In the writings of the sages, there are many blessings that are said about connections, about long life, substance, righteous children. There are many places in the writings of the true Kabbalists that say if you make specific connections, you get specific blessings.

We see many people who make these connections and, chas v’shalom, it seems they are not true. The blessings don’t seem to flow. How do we understand this?

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(from a lecture I gave recently)

Those who have been around the Centre for a while know about Rav Ashlag and the Gift of the Bible. The essence of what the Centre is about is from this book and from the teaching of Rav Ashlag. Every time you read it, you connect to it at a deeper level.

I was reading this for about the 50th time. I would like to read this and share it with you.

Rav Ashlag was the first person to translate the Zohar from Aramaic into any language, and it happened to be Hebrew. When it was done, he went to Meron, where Rabbi Shimon is buried, to make the connection.

He told his students to sing a melody without words. He was feeling the joy of the merit to reveal this Zohar to the world. This was a few years before he passed away. At that gathering he gave a speech.

I would like to share one part of this speech.

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