The Introduction

If you listen with your heart to one famous question, I am sure that all your doubts as to whether you should study Kabbalah will vanish without a trace. This question is a bitter and a fair one, asked by all born on earth: “What is the meaning of my life?”

--Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Not feeling well on the Jewish New Year in September 1991, my Rabbi called me to his bedside and handed me his notebook, saying, “Take it and learn from it.” The following morning, my teacher perished in my arms, leaving me and many of his other disciples without guidance in this world.

He used to say, “I want to teach you to turn to the Creator, rather than to me, because He is the only strength, the only Source of all that exists, the only One who can really help you, and He awaits your prayers for help. When you seek help in your search for freedom from the bondage of this world, help in elevating yourself above this world, help in finding the self, and help in determining your purpose in life, you must turn to the Creator, who sends you all those aspirations in order to compel you to turn to Him.

From Battling for the Perception of the Creator’s Oneness

We discern all notions and all events according to our own perceptions. We assign names to the events that take place according to the reactions of our sensory organs. Thus, if we speak about a particular object or action, we are expressing how we personally perceive it.

Each of us determines the level of evil in a particular object according to the degree to which that object obstructs our reception of pleasure. In some cases, we cannot tolerate any proximity to a certain object. Thus, our level of understanding of the importance of Kabbalah and its laws will determine the evil that we will discern in that which stands in the way of our observance of the spiritual laws.

Therefore, if we wish to reach the level of hatred toward all evil, we must work on increasing the importance of Kabbalah and extolling the Creator in our minds. In this way, we will cultivate within us love toward the Creator, and to the degree that we will succeed, we will develop hatred toward egoism.