"Hevruta" - following Lesson 13. From the shattering to correction

“…There is indeed only one soul in the world… That same soul exists complete in each and every one, as in Adam HaRishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut—which is rather a trait of corporeal things. Rather, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person.”

– Baal HaSulam, ”600,000 Souls”

“We have to know that all of the souls are extended from the soul of Adam HaRishon, for after he sinned in the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, his soul was divided into 600,000 souls. This means that the one light that Adam HaRishon had, which The Zohar called Zihara Ila’a [upper brightness], which he had in the Garden of Eden at once, spreads into numerous pieces.”

– RABASH, article 10, 1984 “What Is the Degree One Should Achieve in Order Not to Have to Reincarnate?”

“…the whole is found within each element, since in the end, all the souls will unite into one discernment, returning to their spiritual root.”

– Baal HaSulam, ”600,000 Souls”

Explanation from Michael Laitman (or clip 1)

The Creator, who created Adam HaRishon, needed to give Adam HaRishon the opportunity to recognize his own nature. So what did He do? That very desire that He created, in the form of Ein Sof (Infinity), which is one desire with one filling of Light, as they exist, was divided in order to give that desire the possibility to bestow and to reach equivalence of form. He divided that single desire into many, many parts. That is to say, we have the same desire, only now divided into many parts—let’s say seven billion; it doesn’t matter how many. They can be more as they gather together or fewer as they divide; it doesn’t matter. These parts are called souls. Each and every part is identified with a person in this world. These souls are egoistic desire, for themselves—broken parts. They were once a single desire with one Light, and then became thousands of separate parts, each with a small spark of Light within it. This is the descent, through 125 degrees. Now we are given the opportunity to ascend back to the same state as before, where there is again the World of Infinity, one desire and one Light, and to reach this by our own strength, by ourselves. It is as if we receive from the Creator raw material, dust of the earth, and from it we build the Creator within us. Therefore, we are called “Adam,” meaning similar to the Creator. We do this by connecting with one another. Through our connection, we attain everything, and we have all that we need to do so: the lack, the Light that reforms—the Surrounding Light. By connecting all the parts, all the souls, through the 125 degrees, we return to perfection, to our perfection.

What is the degree of Adam HaRishon?

“All the worlds, upper and lower and everything within them, were created only for man. […] In the beginning, they were restricted and hung down degree by degree and world after world, down to our material world, to bring the soul into a body of this world, which is entirely to receive and not to bestow,[…]. In that state, one is regarded as the complete opposite of Him, and there is no greater remoteness than this…

Afterward, through the soul that clothes within one, he engages in Torah and Mitzvot. Gradually and slowly, from below upward, he obtains the same form of bestowal as his Maker, through all those qualities that hung down from above downward, which are but degrees and measures in the form of the desire to bestow. […] In the end, one is awarded being entirely to bestow and not to receive anything for himself. At that time, one is completed with true Dvekut with Him, for man was created only for this.”

– Baal HaSulam. “Introduction to the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”, Item 9

Explanation from Michael Laitman (or clip 2)

There is a difference between the creature (in the 4 phases) and Adam HaRishon; they are two completely different things. Here, for the creature we are speaking of in terms of desire - the desire that reacts to the Light, a raw desire. Or one could say it this way: here we are speaking about a desire that begins to develop from existence from absence, from a single point. From one point, the desire develops under the influence of the Light upon it, and it continues to develop, develop, develop, until it reaches the form of the Still (or mineral - same word in hebrew), then afterward the vegetative, then the animate, and Adam HaRishon is already the “speaking” degree. The first “speaking” is Adam HaRishon. Likewise, when we speak of still, vegetative, and animate, we are not speaking about this corporeal world; we are speaking about the form of the desire.

Our role as part of the system of Adam HaRishon
 

“One who wants to taste a good taste in life should pay attention to his point in the heart. Every person has a point in the heart, except it does not shine. Rather, it is like a black dot. The point in the heart is a discernment of the Nefesh [soul] of Kedusha [holiness], whose nature is a vessel of bestowal. However, she is in a state of Shechina [Divinity] in the dust, meaning that a person regards her as nothing. Instead, to him she is as important as dust.”

– RABASH, Article No. 34, TANTA [Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiot]

Explanation from Michael Laitman (or clip 3)

Let’s say we have a machine, and in this machine there are thousands of gears. This is essentially like our body—it doesn’t really matter, right? From this we can derive several principles. First of all, each one of us is only a small part, not the entire machine. And just like in our body, all the systems are interdependent. If something goes wrong in even one system, all the other parts of the body feel it; all the systems already feel it as well. There cannot be a single movement without all the parts moving. In truth, the more we discover nature, the more we see that this is how it is. From this, things follow either positively or negatively.

That is, if someone acts according to their free choice—meaning, if there is someone here who is just an ordinary person from the street—then he is like a cog wherever they turn him, he turns. You cannot say about him that it is for good or for bad, or that he is doing something on his own. But if there is someone here who has received a point in the heart, and he already has—as we drew it—on one side the ego and on the other side the point in the heart, then it is very important where he now pulls himself, what his choice is. What is his choice? Either he wants… because choice obligates him to participate in something. He was given some freedom. Where do you want to turn the gear—with it, together, or against it? As if to say, if I do nothing—you cannot do nothing. You were given a choice. To the extent that you were given a choice, you are already obligated to participate with that choice, either together with the machine. ... 

That is, you must understand, to that extent, how the machine works. You must already connect to it. You must participate with it. You must raise a deficiency: “I want to participate with the machine. I want to be together with it. I want to work for the benefit of all. Help me, give me the ability—in the mind, in the heart, in strength.” That is, choice is very obligating. They already begin to ask you. It is like a small child who does whatever he wants—no one asks him, everything is forgiven. And suddenly you become grown—oy vey. Now I am grown, now I am responsible; everyone begins to demand of me, to pressure me; I must take care of everything.

And the more we grow, afterward we need to begin to turn. The one without a point in the heart turns freely, yes? He turns. Nature turns him, the Creator. I need, slowly, through my choice, to take upon myself to turn this machine myself. I need to take—let’s say this is “me”—all the rest of the machine besides me, all the rest of the machine besides me. This is called “strangers.” That’s it. I need to receive them as “your neighbor,” as parts of myself. And I, like the Creator toward them, must begin to turn them. Of course I receive strength from above, from the Creator. But I am, as it were, His representative toward the others. This is very obligating.

And each time, as we advance, as we grow from this world up to the World of Infinity—yes—then from zero choice I constantly rise until I receive from the Creator complete control over the entire machine. This is called becoming Malchut of Ein Sof. This is called being completely similar to Him. Imagine that you must attain all of reality—how it turns, why, and why each one is as he is. Therefore we say that a person must know about all the souls, about all the details—what happened to them in the past, present, and future, about everything, above all times. He must know how the Creator relates to them and how they relate, everything. You must attain everything. This is not a simple matter.

Therefore choice appears to us as something like this. Choice means that you must begin to work in the place of the Creator. That’s it—in His place. You will receive forces. Beyond that, everything is on you: to manage everything by yourself.

Workshop

What do you understand is our role as part of the soul of Adam HaRishon? What can the correction about?

Questions & Answers