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This is a link to a preview of my new moon of Cancer video for 2008

Enjoy!

For the full length video go to:
http://tv.kabbalah.com/categories.php?cPath=506

Chodesh Tov!

This weeks Parashah, there’s a lot of really amazing concepts.

But one. It says that Moshe Rabeinu, in this weeks Parashah there’s a discussion of the completion of the Tabernacle. When Moses completed the erection of the Mishkan.

Now it says that for the first seven days Moshe would take down the Mishkan and put it up. Take it down, put it up.

And, those of you who’ve been to the grave of the Bal Shem Tov know that there’s one of the people buried next to him is the Ze’ev Kitzes who was one of the great students of the Bal Shem Tov. And he explains, he asks a question.

It says vayehe. The word vayehe in the Torah, when it’s used usually denotes sadness. Usually, and this is something that’s spoken about in the Zohar and in the Midrash. Vayehe is a word that always denotes sadness. It says on the day that Moshe finished the process of putting together the Mishkan, isn’t that, isn’t that a day of joy, a day of happiness?

And he explains that what it’s talking about, it’s talking about the work, the spiritual work that each one of us does. And that the way we have to view our work, and this is not easy, is the work of the first seven days of Moshe. On the eighth day the Mishkan was put together. It was perfect. The job was over.

And what he explains, that there’s two consciousness, two types of consciousness that a person can have in their spiritual work.

One is of the seven days where you build and push down, you take down. You build, you take down. Meaning every day you realize you have to take down the entire edifice you put together the day before. And you have to start brand new.

Another way is . When you look at it all, oh it’s pretty good. Let me make this a little bit better, make this a little bit better.

The idea being that if a person hopes to be a person, we spoke about this on Rosh Chodesh, but this is something that’s spoken about in this week’s Parashah as well. If a person wants to be a person who’s constantly moving and growing then every day he has to be taking down all of his work and starting new. Every day. Or, vayehe. Which denotes sadness.

When is it sad? When a person says . I finished. Or at least I’m close to finishing putting together the framework of my spiritual work.

And that’s the choice that we make. Are we going to be like Moshe in the seven days? Meaning, every morning when we wake up are we realize “wow, I have to start all over”. I have to renew everything. I have to take everything down from the day before and start it new. Then we’re growing.

If we are already on the level of the eighth day, , the building is set, let me make it a little bit more perfect, but it’s pretty good. Vayehe. It’s a day of sadness.

And what he says, is that Moshe, in this week’s Parashah, gives us the ability to have this consciousness.

And to the degree, and this is what he says, the only way, and this is the way we know. The only way to know if we are the part of Moshe that is growing, or the part of Moshe that is diminishing, is how we view our spiritual work every day.

If every day we come to the prayers in the morning, if every day when we come to the Zohar we say wow. The way I did it yesterday was completely, it’s wasn’t completely wrong, but it was not the way it was supposed to be. I have to do it new. I have to do it different today.

If I am like Moshe, and that’s why for the seven days, putting it up, taking it down. Putting it up, taking it down. That’s the right consciousness. Every day I’m looking at the edifice and saying it’s not there. And you take it down. Then you start it up again.

If a person’s on the eighth day, he sees the edifice, it’s pretty good, vayehe. It’s a day of sadness.

Because when a person starts looking at his spiritual work, the framework of his spiritual life, and the framework of his spiritual work, and he says it’s pretty good, that is the complete indication that he is not, certainly not growing, but also not connected to the Light of the Creator.

Because if a person’s connected to the Light of the Creator he’s connected to the first seven days.

And the second thing I want to share, which is not from this week’s Parashah, but it’s a concept that we’ve been talking about. And during this Hallel on Rosh Chodesh I realized something from one of the verses that connected to this concept.

We spoke about, if you remember, I think it was last class or the class before, the idea that our spiritual work needs to be a little bit beyond our comprehension.

You know, most people, both, and this is true, you know, when a teacher is teaching a student, and when a person is doing his own spiritual work, when a person is studying. We like to keep things within our comfort zone; within the levels that we understand. But the reality is that we have to be pushing. Everything that we study has to be a little bit that we don’t understand.

If everything that we read we understand, then we’re not reading the right things. Everything that we study, there has to be something we don’t understand. Every time we teach, we have to try to make sure that there’s to be something that a person won’t, isn’t ready for it yet. That there’s something a little bit above them.

Every time we do spiritual work we have to make sure there’s a little bit that we’re doing of it that is not comfortable for us; that is beyond us. This idea that our entire work needs to be infused with a little bit of beyond. A little bit beyond our comprehension, our understanding.

And this came up a few weeks ago. I was talking to one of the teachers in the Centre how, you know, we always want to make sure the students to understand, that it’s on their level. No.

Yes, we have to make sure. Obviously you don’t want to give a class where nobody understands everything. But you do give something they can understand, but always make sure there’s, there’s something that isn’t left to understand.

And to understand this, at least in a , is that if a person’s comprehension of the wisdom is “oh yes, I can understand that,” then that’s how much Light he receives. Once you open up the gate for him to say well, yes, there’s something I understand, but there’s some that I don’t. Well, how big is that lack of knowledge? And to whatever degree that lack of knowledge is, that opens them up to Endless Light.

We say in Hallel, we say in Hallel, . Literally translated that means, this is from the Creator, it is beyond us. . It is something we can’t comprehend.

And what I think, there’s obviously all levels of understanding, of explanations to this verse. But I think one way to understand this verse is how do you know if the work you’re doing, if the study you’re studying, if what you’re teaching, is from the Creator? Is if (Hebrew), if it’s a little bit beyond your comprehension. It’s a little bit beyond what you can do. It’s a little beyond what the student can understand.

If your work is always a little bit more than you can understand, a little bit more than you can do, a little bit more than the student can understand, . It’s coming from the Creator. If it’s not, (Hebrew). If there’s nothing that you are teaching, if there’s nothing that you’re learning, if there’s nothing that you’re doing that is beyond you, that you can’t understand, that you can’t do, then it’s not from the Creator.

How do you know that your study, that your work, that your teaching, is from the Creator? . If it’s a little bit beyond your comprehension.

And Rav Ashlag would always say, people think that the work that we, that the spiritual work needs to be up until, all the way to the limit of our ability. And he says that’s not true. A person’s spiritual work needs to be beyond their abilities. And that’s when it’s true spiritual work.

And this is the idea. And this is true both in the physical, spiritual work that we do, in the study that we do. If the work that we do, if the study that we study, if the teachings that we teach, are within the realm, even all the way to the edges of what people can understand and what people can do. It’s not from the Creator.

How do you know that our work, that our study, that our teaching is connected to the Light of the Creator? . Is there a part of it that’s too much? Is there a part of it that’s too difficult? Is there a part of it that you can’t understand? Is there a part of it that the student can’t understand? If yes, (Hebrew), it’s coming from the Creator.

So in this week’s Parashah is the whole idea of counting. And the Ramban explains. He asks the question. Why did, and if you read the Torah it’s amazing. Moshe, Moses, and Aaron they go and they count every single one of the B’nai Israel. Each one of them has to come in front of Moshe and he counts them.

And they ask why did Moshe have to count each one of the B’nai Israel? Why can’t he go, let’s say to the head of the household, let’s say to the head of the tribe, and say how many people in your family? Twenty people. Write it down. Or go to the head of the tribe. How many people in your tribe? Fifty thousand people. Write it down. Why did Moshe go to each one of the B’nai Israel and count them?

And the Ramban, Nachmanides, and again, the words are beautiful in Hebrew. But what he says is that what was happening here is that Moshe was blessing each one of the B’nai Israel.

And what he explains further is that, is that the whole purpose of a Prophet, of a Navi. And this is something that is explained by many of the commentators. The Gaon m’Vilna, in his commentary on the Prophets explains this.

Why would a person go to a Prophet? And think about it, many of us, or even let’s say not us, but certainly other people we know, or students of ours. If you have a chance to go to Moshe Rabeinu, to Moses; if you have a chance to go to Yeshayah Levit, Isaiah the Prophet, or one of the Prophets, you want to hear what’s going to be in the future. Or you want to maybe get a blessing.

The single purpose, the single purpose for Moshe counting, the single purpose for people going to see the Prophets, when there were Prophets, was to attach them to their Supernal Source. On a deeper level to attach them to the reshimu (impression).

What Moshe Rabeinu is doing this week’s Parashah, and this is what he says, the Ramban says. The Ramban, those of you who know, he’s one of the earliest kabbalists in Spain. Because during the time, there’s a discussion about this, but he was probably one of the first kabbalists to get the Zohar. There were many people before, before the Zohar was revealed again in Spain who achieved high levels. But the Ramban is unique in the fact that he was towards the beginning of that revelation.

And throughout his commentary on the Torah there’s, like last week’s Parashat there’s a really interesting section, if you get a chance to read it, where the Ramban says there’s a secret here from the secrets of the Torah. And a lot of the secrets that the Ramban writes about, and he writes about them very cryptically, he gets them from, he got them probably from the study of the Zohar.

But in this week’s Parashat is just one or two lines where he talks about the importance, why Moshe himself did it. And he says because this is the way they got their blessing; by Moshe attaching them to their Supernal Source. Counting them. Counting them means attaching them to their Source. More deep than that, attaching them to their Supernal Desire.

What is the problem that each one of us has? What is the problem that every student that we have has? Is that they are not attached to the true Desire. Most people’s desire, physical, even in a sort of, on a higher level, you know, even physical for the sake of sharing.

But what we’re supposed to get to, and this is, you know, that verse, (Hebrew)days are coming and there will be a hunger in the world. (Hebrew) The people, even people who are coming to spirituality, hopefully will come the time where they’re not coming for bread and water. They’re not coming for anything physical. (Hebrew) Only to connect. To hear and to connect to the Light of the Creator.

What happens in this week’s Parashat, that’s why it’s not, you know, it’s not, again, we don’t read this Parashat. But we connect it. What happens on this Shabbat is that every single person, and the world as a whole, becomes elevated again to that connection.

What Moshe did thousands of years ago in the desert, he comes back to us. Moshe comes back to us on this Shabbat. And he elevates us again to that connecting to our reshimu (impression), to our true Desire.

And what we have to ask for on this Shabbat, and not only ask for ourselves, but also ask for our students, and ask for the world, that Moshe, Moshe’s influence, through this reading, through this Shabbat, should be strong enough to connect enough people to their reshimu (impression), enough people to their true Desire, so that, as Rav Ashlag says, we’ll quickly come to the, to the re-revelation of that Light.

But it’s really, if you understand the gift of this Shabbat, it’s a tremendously exciting Shabbat. A tremendously exciting Shabbat for ourselves, but it’s important that we awaken within as many people as possible this consciousness. That on this Shabbat Moshe Rabeinu, Moses, and Aaron are coming to us and raising (Hebrew).

What is the idea of raising the head? It is reconnecting us back to our Source, to our Rosh. What is our Source? Again, without going into details, but the Olam Adam Kadmon, the kelim d’igulim, the vessels that, which now we know are the only ones that are called Keter, Chochmah, Binah, Zeir Anpin and Malchut. The ones that have that lack, that have the true Desire, that awaken the true Desire.

Shabbat shalom.

There is a very interesting section from the Talmud (Succah 45b) quoting Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says that I, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, can remove any judgment. I can do the work, I have the merit, my Light is enough to do the work to remove the judgment for all the people that lived in the world. For the millions of people who had been in the world from the moment of Rabbi Shimon’s birth until at least his death.

And then he says, and with my son Rabbi Elazar I can remove judgment from all the people from the time of Creation until now.

And then he says with Yotam ben Uziyahu, with one of the great, righteous kings, if the three of us were together, me, Rabbi Elazar and Yotam ben Uziyahu, we can remove the judgment from the time of Creation until the end of times, until the Gamar Hatikun.

There are a lot of things that need to be understood here.

First of all, so why didn’t they do it? Rabbi Shimon makes the statement that he can absolve the whole world of judgment. So do it. If you can do it, do it. What are you waiting for?

And then he says and if Rabbi Elazar was with me we can do even more; we can do from the time of Creation until now. Rabbi Elazar was with you. Why didn’t you do it?

Then he says and if Yotam ben Uziyahu would be with us we can absolve the whole world from Creation until the Gamar Hatikun.

It doesn’t make any sense. Rabbi Shimon is the greater soul. Doesn’t it make sense that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself can do, let’s say a thousand of years. With Rabbi Elazar’s help he can do another five hundred. And with Yotam ben Uziyahu maybe another five hundred. But it’s the opposite. Rabbi Shimon by himself can only do maybe eighty years. With the help of Rabbi Elazar they can do thousands of years. With the help of Yotam ben Uziyahu they can do everything.

We need to understand the idea of unity, to understand that the magnitude, the growth of Light that shines once you have unity is way beyond the merit of even the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

This is the second point. I asked why if Rabbi Shimon can do it with Rabbi Elazar and with Yotam why didn’t they do it? The point is they did it. They did it, but they’re waiting for us to reveal it.

I think what Rabbi Shimon was telling us, first of all, he’s telling us it’s there. Rabbi Shimon, together with Rabbi Elazar, together with Yotam did the work.

There’s a lot here, but two concepts we should, at least, walk away with.

One. We have to make sure that the work that we’re doing is attached to the work of Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar and Yotam. They did the work. All we need to do is attach ourselves to them and then it can shine as it was meant to.

And the second to understand the power of unity.

We have some conception of the greatness of the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. But what he was telling us is that even I, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, can do a lot more with unity than I could do with my merit.

Rabbi Shimon is saying, I with all the work, with the revelation of the Zohar, I can only take care of maybe eighty years. With unity with one other person, with my son Rabbi Elazar, we can do a few thousand years. With one other person, with unity amongst three people, we can do the work for all of humanity for all time.

If we understand what that means, there’s nothing that one can do of the spiritual work that can come close to what he can do with true unity. None of us will ever achieve the heights of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. So if we’re hoping to help the world through our spiritual work, that’s not going to happen.

But what can happen is through unity. If we understand how necessary unity is we can put everything else to the side. Everything else pales in the comparison to the power of unity.

The second thing is to make sure that we are attaching whatever little work that we’re doing to the work to Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar, Yotam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Because only by attaching ourselves constantly to their work does our work make any difference. If we’re doing our work in our own little universe it’s not worth it. It’s a very important work of consciousness to constantly be attaching ourselves back to the work they did. Then we can end the work that they began.

This week’s portion deals a lot with the kohenim. It says the kohen, the priest, is not allowed to become impure. The commentators explain.

The kohenim are doing their work in the Mishkan. They have a very important job. They do their work right by the Light of the Creator. It says it’s not right, it doesn’t seem fitting for someone that close to the Creator to see a dead body.

It’s talking about all of us who make a decision to be a priest. It’s talking about all of us who make a decision that I dedicate my life to the work of the Creator. If you want to be kohenim, if you want to be a person dedicating their lives to the Light of the Creator, you have to live in a consciousness of immortality.

It’s not right for a person to be a priest and be involved with death. The idea, if you really want to be connect to this work there has to be an element of you connected to immortality.

For those who had the merit to be around the Rav, you know the Rav has this. The Rav lives in immortality. And Rav Ashlag always speaks about this.

The lesson we should take is, and this is a concept that may be a little bit beyond us. It’s not fitting, the commentary says, that a kohen should see a dead body. It’s not fitting that someone so close to the Light of the Creator should see death.

If a person takes himself to be a priest, there is an element of him that should never see death. There’s an element of us that should be living in immortality. If we are people dedicating ourselves to the Light of the Creator it’s not fitting for us to live in the world of death.

Don’t connect to the world of death, meaning don’t connect to the world of Desire to Receive for the Self-Alone. Rav Ashlag makes very clear what death is? Death is a person connected to Desire to Receive for the Self-Alone.

If you really want to be a kohenim, if you really want to be a person who has dedicated their lives to the work of the Creator, you have to be separate from the Desire to Receive for the Self-Alone. The Desire to Receive for the Self-Alone is the impurity of death.

Rav Chaim Vital wrote a book called Sha’arei Kedusha the Gates of Holiness. He writes that every person, every one of us, can and is meant to merit ruach hakodesh, Divine Inspiration. Literally always constantly being connected to the Light of the Creator.
How do you do it? By becoming holy, by becoming pure.
One of the unique qualities of this Shabbat, this reading, is that it was said in the gathering of all the people. This is one of the only times when the Creator called everybody together. He gathered everybody together to tell every single one of us. Every single one of us can merit ruach hakodesh. Every single one of us can merit Divine Inspiration; a complete and total connection to the Light of the Creator, a complete and total bond. But it has to come with a strengthening of our purity.
Sometimes we allow ourselves not to be pure. We say you know, so what if I’ll be pure? Where will that get me to? As the Or Chaim, the great kabbalist Rabbi Chaim ben Attar explains, it’s a continual life-long process.
Knowing that we have that capacity, that we have that ability, that’s number one. The RaMCHaL, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Luzzatto the great Italian kabbalist, in Mesilat Yesharim writes the pathways. He quotes the saying of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair. Have clarity on the fact. Know and never forget that no matter where we are now every single one of us can and is meant to get to that level of ruach hakodesh, to the level of Divine Inspiration.
And number two, knowing how to achieve it. As Rav Ashlag learned from his teacher. Think: If it’s not tomorrow, if it’s not next year, it’s in my future. I’m going to achieve the Divine Inspiration, ruach hakodesh.
What does that mean about how I can allow myself to act? Or how I direct my life?
What happens is we often, not we, the negative side tells us: You know what, how high can you go? How high can you go? Because we don’t believe that we have the capacity for ruach hakodesh, for Divine Inspiration, we allow ourselves to act in ways that won’t bring us there.

This is a link to a preview of my new moon of Taurus video for 2008

Enjoy!

For the full length video go to:
http://tv.kabbalah.com/categories.php?cPath=506

One of the problems of illusions that we fall to is we get so involved in what is happening to us, what other people are doing for us, what we have to do for other people. We forget the only reason anything happens to me, the only reason for my interactions with other people. At the end there is only one purpose: My change.

In the Introduction to Ten Luminous Emanations Rav Ashlag quotes a section from the Talmud. It says every person needs to say “the world was created for me.” What does that mean?

Everything here, every interaction today, every interaction in my life, is only for me. Not for the good or the help I will give to others. It’s only for me. All the people in the world and all the interactions that I have in my life are to help me change. The entire world, everything in my life, is for one purpose: To give me the opportunities I need.

These interactions, the other people in the world, help me perfect my qualities. The only reason I have interactions with other people is to perfect myself. Rav Ashlag says that we perfect our qualities until they become the way they are supposed to be for the Light of the Creator.

It’s so easy to start thinking about what I have to do for other people in the sense that creates either worry or all kinds of disconnect from the Light of the Creator.

Often, certainly those of us involved in the spiritual work, and all of us to one degree or another, are teachers of other people. We often get involved with the affects of that work. We forget the only reason for this interaction was for me to grow, for me to change, for me to become a better person.

The situation we are in is because the Creator knows we need to have this interaction to become what we need to be. Everything that is happening in my life is for only one purpose. It is for me to change, for me to grow. If I’m so involved in everybody else, and things that I have to do externally, that I forget that everything that happens is for me to change, for me to grow, I missed everything. No responsibility, no interaction, no work, is for any other purpose than for me to change.

We live in the world of illusion. We think we need to create an outcome. None of that. All these things are in my life because I have to change from them and through them. All the situations, good things and bad things, chaos and positivity, are not here for me to solve or take care of. They are here for me to grow from.

If we really understand it and live it, it can diminish so much worry, and our minds won’t be diminished by this worry.

Tonight is the death anniversary of Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk. There is a lot that can and should be said about Rabbi Elimelech. One interesting thing that I was reading tonight.

We know that the Noam Elimelech, the book of teachings, does not have any Torah on Vayak’hel. It skips and goes straight to Pekudei. One of the students writes the reason is because Rabbi Elimelech passed away in Vayak’hel. The pieces of Vayak’hel were included in Pekudei. They felt the need to leave Vayak’hel empty to one degree to indicate the darkness or lack that was created.

This is true about all tzadikkim. Why do we come together on the death anniversary of a righteous person? The idea is when the souls leave our world they go to a different place. Certainly righteous souls. And we speak in the Endless World where everything is complete. There is no good or bad.

That means their connection to the pain is also diminished. We come together on the death anniversary to awaken them to our pain, to say don’t forget us and come back to help us. It’s easy for them to see the good, but we are still in pain. Please, don’t forget about us and help us.

I want to share something from this week’s Parashah from Noam Elimelech, two or three stories.

We know as we read the words of a righteous person we awaken their soul, we awaken their Light. We know Rabbi Elimelech did not write a will, teaching before he died. Most kabbalists do. They explain the book is his spiritual work. Depending on a person’s spiritual level, to that degree you can understand the book.

A righteous person, as we just said, the reality is he is in the Upper World. He doesn’t really deal in our world. But because they have a strong desire that the Creator should send down to us all kinds of blessings, therefore a righteous person has to detach themselves a little bit from the Upper World to come down into our world.

And this is something that Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk speaks about a while. This is something if you are serious about your spiritual work you question yourself. There is always the desire to make yourself perfect, and to help others. The more time you spend with others the less focus on your own spiritual growth. There is always the balance that has to be kept to perfect ourselves and to assist others.

Rabbi Elimelech says how can we awaken people’s desire to connect to the Light of the Creator? We know Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk, throughout his writing he talks about the righteous souls. All of us have that spark of righteousness within us, and he is talking to all of us.

This is a new teaching from Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk. How can we awaken people? One way is to teach, to explain to people. But there’s another level. When people see your great desire to do good for them, that simply by people seeing your great desire to do good for them, that injects within them an awakening of a desire to connect to the Light of the Creator.

It’s an important understanding. Very often when you are teaching, trying to teach people, it’s important to focus on the teaching, to what you are trying to awaken in them. But there is this additional pathway into hearts and souls by showing how great your desire is for them to have happiness, fulfillment, blessings. That revelation of your desire for goodness to come to them can awaken their desire to connect to the Light without any understanding on their part. Simply by showing them your desire for goodness to come to them, it awakens their desire.

This is true with our students, our children, our family and friends. It’s important that we speak and reveal our desire for goodness to come to them. It’s not enough to teach, to explain. If it’s not there, we have to awaken it. If to one person I’m only teaching, not awakening within my heart a desire for them to have good, I’m not a complete teacher. There are different pathways we have to explore. One path is teaching. A second pathway is to show our desire for them to have goodness.

It says Aaron raised his hands, and I think this is a cute teaching from Rabbi Elimelech. He says, sometimes when you are becoming awakened in your spiritual work, sometimes from the excitement, the joy of being awakened you start clapping your hands. Therefore the spiritual work can be called the work of the hands. But what type of work. The clapping that comes from your awakening to the Light of the Creator.

What Rabbi Elimelech is saying, when it says Aaron raised his hands to the people, on some level he was excited from the spiritual connection and he started clapping his hands. This is another interesting idea. If our spiritual work, at least at sometimes, does not fill us with such excitement and joy that we cannot help ourselves from clapping there is something missing.

Rabbi Elimelech says the spiritual work is called the work of the hands. Why? Is has to come to the point we are so excited and full of the Light that we start clapping. I like that story.

There are three stories that I’d like to share.

Rabbi Elimelech had many students. One of them wrote a book called….one of the close students. He quotes his teacher many times in the book. He tells this story. Towards the end of Rabbi Elimelech’s life, for a few days. He had four bothers at least. Rav Zusha was 15 years older than Rabbi Elimelech. He brought his brother to be a student in the path of the Bal Shem Tov, but he never met the Bal Shem Tov. Rav Zuash lived 15 years longer than Rabbi Elimelech, so he was 30 years older than Rabbi Elimelech when he passed away.

It is getting closer to the passing of Rabbi Elimelech, and he keeps telling his student day after day prepare yourself, prepare yourself, become stronger.

One night around midnight Rabbi Elimelech wakes the students up. Rabbi Elimelech takes his staff and he walks with his students to the cemetery. They came to a place in the cemetery where Rabbi Elimelech stopped. He said to his students, make sure you are strong.

At midnight, it was as if a window opened up in the heavens and a strong light, fire came out. They saw, they had this vision of this Light throwing sparks all over the world. The student, ….., couldn’t take this Light that shown through out the world. He had to cover his eyes not to see this tremendous Light.

After that window closed Rabbi Elimelech told his student, now you can understand who the Bal Shem Tov was. That was the Light of the Bal Shem Tov.

Rabbi Elimelech said he didn’t want to leave this world until he saw the Bal Shem Tov. Because of his work he merited to see the revelation of the soul of the Bal Shem Tov to him.

It says that before he passed away he told his students that he wanted to be buried on the spot where he was standing when the soul of the Bal Shem Tov was revealed to him. He is buried on that spot where the revelation of the soul of the Bal Shem Tov came to him.

A second story is about …Moshe. He was in the time of the Bal Shem Tov but never met the Bal Shem Tov. His son became very sick. He sent two students to go to the grave of Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk. He told them when you come to the gate of the cemetery you should say, you should announce to all the graves that we are going to give money for the sake of any one of the souls that becomes awakened to tell Rabbi Elimelech that we are here to pray.

The Zohar speaks of the fact that sometimes you need a lower soul to awaken a higher soul.

He says to make a note of these messengers, of the moment when they came into the cemetery.

The son who had been in a coma for a long time he began to wake up. He tells his father I know I will be healed, I will be healthy. His father asks how do you know? The son says a vision came to me, an old man, Rabbi Elimelech of Lejensk, and he blessed me. I know I will be healed.

When the two messengers came back he asked them what time were you there. The exact time they got to the cemetery and made the announcements to the souls was the exact moment the son was awakened and began to be healed.

We know that as we tell these stories we are awaken this Light in our world. We are awakening the Light from Rabbi Elimelech to give all of us the ability to awaken these miracles for ourselves and for the world.

The second to last story. And this is a story told in many different places. During World War II, as the Nazis were going through Poland then came to Lejensk. They killed as many people as they could find. Many people went to hide by the grave of Rabbi Elimelech. The Nazis came and wanted to destroy the grave before they killed the people. As they dug in the ground they saw Rabbi Elimelech dressed in the clothes he was buried in and his face was shining. They covered the grave and left. And all the people there in the room were saved.

The last story is a story that many of us know. But it’s important that we remind ourselves. One of Rabbi Elimelech’s and Rav Zusha’s brothers was Rabbi Nachum. He became very sick with a disease. The doctors said nobody should be next to him, he was going to die, and it was contagious. One of the older people in the community said at my age it won’t make that big a difference and he took upon himself to take care of Rabbi Nachum in his last days.

The old man is in the room, helping Rabbi Nachum to eat, but he knows it’s clear that he only has a few days to live. The old man lit a candle and sat on the side of the room. Suddenly Rabbi Nachum becomes completely quiet and the old man is sure he has died.

We know that when a person leaves this world, as soon as possible the body is moved to the floor. The old man was getting ready to bring the body down.

Suddenly he sees as if a new soul comes into the body of Rabbi Nachum and he becomes awakened. That next morning Rabbi Nachum was like a healthy person. The old man says what happened? Obviously this is not a normal recovery.

The old man says I saw you already dead, and I’m about to put your body on the ground and you become awakened. Rabbi Nachum says I can’t tell you. The old man says I risked my life to take care of you, I think you owe me to tell me. He becomes tough. He says I command you to tell me the truth.

Rabbi Nachum tells the old man he died. His soul left his body. There he met his brother Rabbi Elimelech. His brother asked what are you doing here? Rabbi Nachum said the decrees came that I am supposed to die so I’m here in heaven.

Rabbi Elimelech says how can you kill someone so young? He has children, a wife to take care of. He said I don’t agree with this decrees. I ask that the supernal court sit down again and come to another decision.

Suddenly Rav Zusha comes. Rabbi Elimelech was talking, trying to change things. But Rav Zusha doesn’t’ fool around. He says take his hand, let’s go. The supernal court says you can’t just grab the soul after it’s been decreed that they shall die. How dare you, Rabbi Elimelech and Rav Zusha, send his soul back down.

A voice came out and said the book that Zusha has under his arm is the holy Zohar. He studies the Zohar. Because he studies the Zohar, the voice said, he can do whatever he wants. Nothing can be held back from him. Therefore we have to listen and do everything he says.

Rabbi Nachum finished the story. My holy brothers, they woke me up. This all happened in a second. And that’s when my soul came back and when I began being healed.

There’s so much that can be learned. This idea, why Rav Zusha, and not Rabbi Elimelech. A lot of people study Zohar. Zusha has no doubt that because of his connection to the Zohar there was nothing he couldn’t do. Because he had no doubt, there was nothing he couldn’t do.

Certainly on this night, with the assistance of Rabbi Elimelech, to awaken within ourselves the spark of the tzadik that everyone has, and the power of the assistance.

During the blessing:

The reason we do mezonot and l’chaim, now there is a tremendous amount of Light of the revelation of the soul. How do we make sure we hold onto it? By ingesting the liquor and the cookies. We actually bring it into our world.

When we say l’chaim we should be thinking about the fact that it’s not only about the people here, but we want to draw the Light to the entire world. We draw the light of Rabbi Elimelech through saying l’chaim here into the whole world.

We’re here at Rav Ashlag’s, so it’s only fitting that our lesson this week has to do with Rav Ashlag.

We know that the appreciation is the vessel to draw the next Light. It’s important not only to have an appreciation for Rav Ashlag, but also to grow our appreciation for Rav Ashlag. The more we grow our appreciation for Rav Ashlag the more of a connection we have. We know of all the amazing things that Rav Ashlag did in his generation was because the generation was ready.

The Creator Reveals Our Filth for the Sake of Changing It

At a time when the Israelites were on a high spiritual level tsara’at, leprosy was a reality. It’s clear the Israelites only had the merit to have the whole framework of leprosy when they were on a high spiritual level. It’s an interesting paradox. On the one hand leprosy is not a positive thing. Who wants to have leprosy? On the other hand it is also viewed as a gift.

Rav Ashlag reveals that the Creator only shows us something that needs to be changed when we can do something about it. If we cannot correct it, if we don’t have the capacity, the desire, it won’t be shown to us. Because the Creator knows that we don’t have the capacity to change it.

Rav Ashlag asks why often when we look around ourselves, and certainly when we look out into the world, there are a lot of people that don’t have a desire to change. More than that, they don’t have an understanding of the need to change. Many people don’t see anything wrong with them.

The reason why so many people out there don’t see anything wrong is because the Creator knows they don’t have the capacity to change. The Creator will never show us something wrong about ourselves if we can’t change it.

Rav Ashlag uses the example of a person who has been working outside all day. When he goes to the mirror he sees a dirty person in the mirror. He spends 30 minutes cleaning the mirror. When he is finished he still sees a dirty person in the mirror. He takes a towel and soap and spends all day cleaning the mirror. At the end of the day he still sees a dirty person in the mirror. If he would take the time to clean his own face he would not see a dirty person in the mirror.

The lesson for us is we should be thankful when we see our negativity. What is tsara’at, leprosy? It is the coming out. When a person is pure inside, to whatever degree, then negativity has to be pushed out into the world.

If we are not constantly being shown what is wrong with us it is not a good sign. It is an unfortunate sign that the Creator is saying we can’t correct it, and therefore He cannot show it to us.

If the Creator is not revealing this tsara’at, leprosy to us it doesn’t mean we don’t have things to correct. It means there is so much darkness inside us that the new darkness can stay. It’s not a good thing to not see more filth.

When we see filth outside, it’s not because it is outside. As we see more filth we should be filled with joy and happiness because the Creator sees we are ready to correct. It’s a gift that the Creator gives us. This Shabbat we have to ask and beg that the Creator never gives up on us and that He keeps revealing this gift to us. We have to ask the Creator, beg for the gift to see the filth that is inside; beg the Creator to give us the ability to change ourself.

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The problem with life’s tests is that we always perceive before we go into a test that it will be difficult, but we think that whatever I understand now will sort of help me through it. In reality, when a person goes through a test, what he thought he had to sustain him has to be taken away or it is not a true test.

In the story of the Golden Calf, we know that the fall came in the last 6 hours before Moshe was supposed to return. The Midrash explains how the Israelites fell? There was a vision created of the death of Moshe. The Israelites saw Moshe was dead and being carried by the angels. Then came the question, are you going to have certainty in Moshe who said he would be back in 40 days, or are you going to believe your eyes?

When we go through tests of consciousness, whatever clarity we had is not there anymore. And not only is it not there any more, the opposite is there.

The Zohar talks very clearly of certainty referring to Jacob. Very often people mistake certainty as being certain in what I want to happen and the Light will make it so. That’s not certainty. As the Zohar makes very clear, certainty is in the Light of the Creator, and that what is right is going to happen. It’s a very great distinction. As Rav Brandwein explains in his letters to the Rav, certainty only works in its truest sense when my desire is the Light’s desire.

If I desire that everything will remain easy for me, I can have certainty forever and it’s probably not going to happen. That is not in alignment with what the Light wants for me. The Light wants that I will grow and change. If I want to be in comfort that is not certainty. True certainty is in doing what I need to do in life. When I am doing what I need to do, what the Light knows is best for me will occur.

Very often when something we perceive as negative happens, we think if that can happen then anything else can happen. Rav Ashlag and the Zohar explain that if a person’s certainty is moved by something that he doesn’t understand, or didn’t want to happen, it is never true certainty.

Rav Ashlag speaks about the concept of certainty beyond understanding. This is true certainty. If it is based on everything always going the way I want it to go, that is some sort of silly trick we put ourselves through. Real certainty is that assuming I’m doing the work, whatever is right for me is going to occur. That’s what the Zohar says. That means that my desire for the outcome is secondary to what I want the Light’s outcome to be. The spiritual work that we do is to remove the veils from the Light becoming manifested.

It says in the Zohar, a section the Rav always quoted, in the time we are getting closer and closer to, in the time of the greatest tests, in the time of Oy and Ashrei, it says worthy are those who keep their certainty in this time.

Times are changing, and in dramatic ways. We are coming close to the time of Oy and Ashrei, to the time when true certainty will be tested. Whenever something occurs that we don’t understand, we have two choices. We can drop our certainty, and who knows if we will recover, or we can say no, I will maintain and strengthen my certainty. One of the reasons things occur is to give us the opportunity, the merit, to strengthen our certainty.

There is no way that whatever certainty we have today will take us through the gamar hatikun. We have to make this distinction. We have to grow our certainty. It’s not to guarantee the result that I want. It’s to guarantee the realm the Light wants. If something happens that I don’t understand, does my certainty drop? Do I start worrying about everything else now?

We need to maintain and to strengthen certainty, for many reasons. Not the least of which is as we come closer and closer to the gamar hatikun, the test of certainty is because we need these tests. We need to have real certainty.

The test of certainty is not when things are the way you want them to be. The real test of certainty is when things are not what you want them to be. Are you at the level of doubt, or the level of certainty? We need to strengthen our certainty, not just because it helps, but because this is where we need to go.

This is a link to a preview of my Chanukah video.

click here to get the full video - Getting Chanukah

Today we launched tv.kabbalah.com…

The new TV.Kabbalah.com website is up and running.
Let me know what you think.

This is a preview of my new moon lecture:

click here to get the full video

This is a preview of my new moon lecture:

click here to get the full video

This is a preview of my new moon lecture:

click here to get the full video

click here to get the full video

This is a preview of my new moon lecture:

click here to get the full video

We are working on a Power of Kabbalah intro video. Here is a first draft. Please let me know what you think.

To watch a better quality: (300K)

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To watch the best quality: (1MB)

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This is a preview of my new moon lecture:

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

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I am working on a documentary that will tell the story of Kabbalah and my parents’ struggle
to get this wisdom out to the entire world.
I am working with director Tony Kaye (american history x).
These are a few rough cuts from what has been filmed.

WHAT IS RAISING MALAWI?

It is Michael Berg’s vision to bring light to all parts of the world. What better place to start than in the african nation of Malawi.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, suffering from famine, drought, poverty, and diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis.

Out of a population of 12 million, at least 1 million are orphans.

Raising Malawi is a grassroots initiative offering lasting solutions to the orphans of Malawi. Our approach is comprehensivee, compassionate, and effective. Unhindered by obstacles such as bureaucracy and red-tape, Raising Malawi is run and staffed by volunteers, allowing us to raise these children up from powerlessness into self-empowerment – quickly and directly.

Our solutions are:
•Provide immediate and direct physical support such as food, medical care, clothing, clean drinking water, psychosocial counseling, and schooling.

•Provide sustainability. We are partnering with agricultural, medical, and educational experts to teach Malawians how best to improve these areas in the long run in order to create continuity and prosperity.

•Create a sense of self empowerment. This is where real societal change begins. To this end we are co-creating a curriculum with local Malawian teachers (based on the principles of the Spirituality for Kids Program) that empowers children with universal life skills.

Through an improved inner dialogue and strengthened sense of empowerment, Malawi’s orphans will grow up in control of their destiny and able to reverse the destructive patterns that have permeated their society for generations.

for more information go to - http://www.raisingmalawi.org

Sri Lanka Kabbalah Centre efforts in Sri Lanka

Rav Brandwein Michael Berg is teaching about Rav Brandwein