“We make nothing new, our work is only to illuminate what is hidden within a person.”
- Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Nature

• In nature there is an amazing unity - each element complements the other and is necessary for proper functioning.
• Nature is an integral system and all its parts are interconnected
• It is a system that develops us toward connection and cooperation in two directions:
  • On the one hand, there is a union of all the parts;
  • And on the other hand - differentiation and division, which leads to the creation of a great variety of natural elements.
• Humans are not above nature, but are part of a massive and complex system, and are connected to it by countless invisible connections.
• An imbalance between reception and bestowal in human relations causes an imbalance with the overall nature.
• As a result, humanity is subject to suffering, depression and various crises on the one hand, and on the other hand, natural disasters, economic and environmental crises, epidemics and so on.

Between Science and the Wisdom of Kabbalah

Science investigates physical reality, builds and organises knowledge, and tries to explain phenomena in our world through empirical methods:

• The principle of impartiality
• The principle of falsifiability
• Abstraction
• Consistency

“Our essence is as the essence of all the details in reality, which is no more and no less than the will to receive.”
- Baal HaSulam. Item 20.  “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

“The abundance itself is like an ocean. There is one who draws with a thimble, and there is one who draws with a bucket, and so forth.”

- RABASH, Assorted Notes. Article No. 798, "The Merit of the Little One"

“The whole of the wisdom of Kabbalah is only to know the guidance of the upper desire, why He created all those creations, what He wants with them, and what will be the end of all the turnings of the world.”

- RAMCHAL, Daat Tevunot

Characteristics of the will to receive

• Our desires are growing all the time
• Fillings, which are achieved by much effort, are felt for a short time and disappear.
• When the filling is gone - it leaves us with a greater emptiness
• As a pleasure increases in quality, the filling lasts longer
• Desires are not under the control of the person
• Desires are strongly influenced/controlled by the environment.
• Desires cannot be cancelled - it is possible to reduce them through sufferings
• Egoism = a person’s pleasures which come at the expense of others
• Desire as substance is neutral
• The ego = a natural hate (unfounded) for others, one will always prefer fulfilment for one’s own self over the fulfilment of others, and usually this will happen at the expense of others.

Definition of the Wisdom of Kabbalah

“This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots that hang down by way of cause and consequence, following fixed, determined laws that interweave into a single, exalted goal described as “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”"

- Baal HaSulam, The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah