Lesson 13

Topic: Preparation for the Kabbalah Convention "Awakening from Below"

Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. RABASH, Article No. 403, "This Shall Be the Law of the Leper"

"Everything requires an awakening from below, which brings him a desire and yearning for the matter, since it is impossible to give someone something that he does not want. Even if he receives it, he will throw it away because he has no need for it. Hence, a person must have an awakening from below so he will need the matter."

2. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, "Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?"

"We must understand why one should seek advice and counsels regarding how to achieve Lishma. After all, no counsels will help him, and if the Creator does not give him the second nature, called “the desire to bestow,” no labor will help him to attain the matter of Lishma.

The answer is, as our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2, 21), “It is not for you to complete the work, and you are not free to idle away from it.” This means that one must give the awakening from below, since this is regarded as a prayer.

A prayer is considered a deficiency, and without a deficiency there is no filling. Hence, when one has a need for Lishma, the filling comes from above, and the answer to the prayer comes from above, meaning he receives fulfillment for his lack. It follows, that the need for man’s work in order to receive the Lishma from the Creator is only in the form of a lack and a Kli [vessel]. Yet, one can never obtain the filling by himself; it is rather a gift from the Creator.

However, the prayer must be a complete prayer."

3. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 57, "Will Bring Him Closer to His Will"

"It is known that in order to extend abundance from above, one must precede an awakening from below. We must understand why we need an awakening from below. Because of this, we pray that there will be a will above. It means that we must evoke a desire from above to impart below.

It is not enough that we have a desire, but there has to be a good will on the part of the Giver, too. Even though above there is a general desire to do good to His creations, He still waits for our desire to awaken His desire.

In other words, if we are unable to evoke His desire, it is a sign that the desire on the part of the receiver is still incomplete. Hence, precisely by praying that there will be a will above, our desire is made to be a genuine desire, to be a fitting Kli [vessel] to receive the abundance."

4 RABASH, Article No. 26 (1991),"What Is Revealing a Portion and Covering Two Portions in the Work?"

"When he says, “I revealed a portion and I concealed two portions,” it means that those who have no need for the matter will not exert to work and reveal, while those who do have a need, when they are told, “I revealed a portion and I concealed two portions,” they are willing to work until they attain the portion he revealed, since the Creator helps them. When a person gives the awakening from below, he receives help from above.

It follows that He did reveal the matter to those worthy of them. Who is worthy? Those who make an effort. To them, the portion they revealed is revealed to them. That is, those who do not have the quality of the correction of creation cannot receive anything from the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations."

5. RABASH, Article No. 161, "Awakening – 1"

"Sometimes in life, a person does feel vitality in Kedusha. This can be for a short while, such as a minute of feeling the flavor of Kedusha, which comes to him by an awakening from above, and a person can awaken a Reshimo [recollection] from this, that once he had an awakening.

It therefore follows that every person has within him a Reshimo, and that Reshimo contains the Kli [vessel], meaning the heart, and by this, one can make an awakening from below."