Lesson 15: Preparation for the Kabbalah Convention "Awakening from Below" - “Hitkalelut” [Incorporation] - Kabbalah Group

Lesson 15

Topic: Preparation for the Kabbalah Convention "Awakening from Below" - “Hitkalelut” [Incorporation]

Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. From: Baal HaSulam, "The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence"

"The greatest wonder about this wisdom is the integration in it: All the elements of the vast reality are incorporated in it until they come into a single thing—the Almighty, who contains them together."

2. From: Baal HaSulam,"Man’s Actions and Tactics"

"Afterward, all the souls in the world must unite and merge into one soul, truly one, which emerges out of all the souls and they truly become one, as in the beginning of creation, when only one man [Adam] was created, and from his Zivugim [couplings], he engendered sons, and the sons follow in his ways, making Zivugim until this world is made, with seventy nations, and from within them, the seed of Israel. At the end of correction, they will merge in one another until all of them will become one man like Adam HaRishon."

3. From: Baal HaSulam, "A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar"

"The body with its organs are one. The whole of the body exchanges thoughts and sensations with each of its organs. For example, if the whole body thinks that a certain organ should serve it and please it, this organ immediately knows that thought and provides the contemplated pleasure. Also, if an organ thinks and feels that the place it is in is narrow, the rest of the body immediately knows that thought and sensation and moves it to a comfortable place.

However, should an organ be cut off from the body, they become two separate entities; the rest of the body no longer knows the needs of the separated organ, and the organ no longer knows the thoughts of the body, to serve it and to benefit it. But if a physician came and reconnected the organ to the body as before, the organ would once again know the thoughts and needs of the rest of the body, and the rest of the body would once again know the needs of the organ."

4. From: Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 33, "The Lots on Yom Kippurim and with Haman"

"The world was created filled with so many people, each with his own thoughts and opinions, and all are present in the same world.

It is so deliberately, so that each and every one will be incorporated in all of one’s friend’s thoughts. Thus, when one repents, there will be benefit from this Hitkalelut [mingling/ incorporation].

It is so because when one wants to repent, he must sentence himself and the entire world to the side of merit, since he himself is incorporated in all the foreign notions and thoughts of the entire world."

5. From: Baal HaSulam, "Peace in the World"

"Each and every individual in society is like a wheel that is linked to several other wheels placed in a machine. This single wheel has no freedom of movement in and of itself but continues with the motion of the rest of the wheels in a certain direction to qualify the machine to perform its general function.

And if there is some malfunction in the wheel, the malfunction is not evaluated relating to the wheel itself, but according to its service and role with respect to the whole machine."

6. From: Baal HaSulam, "600,000 Souls"

"It is said that there are 600,000 souls, and each soul divides into several sparks. We must understand how it is possible for the spiritual to divide, since initially, only one soul was created, the soul of Adam HaRishon.

In my opinion, there is indeed only one soul in the world, as it is written (Genesis 2:7), “and breathed into his nostrils the soul [also “breath” in Hebrew] of life.” That same soul exists in all the children of Israel, 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. In other words, first, the body divides and completely denies him of the radiance of the soul, and by the force of the Torah and the Mitzva [commandment], the body is cleansed, and to the extent of its cleansing, the common soul shines on him."

7. From: Baal HaSulam, "Letter No. 4"

"You lack nothing but to go out to a field that the Lord has blessed, and collect all those flaccid organs that have drooped from your soul, and join them into a single body.

In that complete body, the Creator will instill His Shechina incessantly, and the fountain of intelligence and high streams of light will be as a never ending fountain."

8. From: Baal HaSulam, "Anyone Who Is Sorry for the Public"

"“To the extent that one appreciates, so one is allotted” (Megillah 12, Sotah 8). That is, according to the size of the hole in the Kli [vessel], meaning the receptacle and its insides, that lack will always be filled, not less and not more. Therefore, a servant of the Creator who is not sorry for the public but feels only his own personal lack, his receptacle for abundance is also not greater. As a result, he will not be able to receive the collective revelation of Godliness in the form of the comfort of the public, since he did not prepare a Kli to receive this collective discernment, but only his individual discernment.

Conversely, one who is sorry for the public and feels the troubles of the public as his own trouble is rewarded with seeing the complete revelation of the Shechina."

9. From: RABASH, Letter No. 42

"Our sages said, “As their faces are not similar to one another, their views are not similar to one another,” so how could they be as one man with one heart?

Answer: If we are saying that each one cares for himself, it is impossible to be as one man, since they are not similar to one another. However, if they all annul their selves and worry only about the benefit of the Creator, they have no individual views, since the individuals have all been canceled and have entered the single authority."

10. From: Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations], "These Are the Generations of Isaac", No. 3

"There is not an organ in a man’s body that does not have a corresponding creation in the world. This is so because as man’s body divides into organs and they all stand degree over degree, established one atop the other and are all one body, similarly, the world, meaning all creations in the world are many organs standing one atop the other, and they are all one body. And when they are all corrected they will actually be one body. And everything, man and the world will be like the Torah because the whole of Torah is organs and joints standing one atop the other. And when the world is corrected they will become one body."

11. From: RABASH. Article 1 (1984),"Purpose of Society – 2"

"To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than his friends can no longer unite with them."

12. From: RABASH, Article No. 14, "The Need for Love of Friends"

"There is a special power in the adhesion of friends. Since views and thoughts pass from one to the other through the adhesion between them, each is mingled with the power of the other, and by that each person in the group has the power of the entire society. For this reason, although each person is an individual, he has the power of the entire group."

13. From: RABASH, Article No. 17 (1987), "The Meaning of the Strict Prohibition to Teach Idol Worshippers the Torah"

"It is impossible to receive the influence of the society if he is not attached to the society, meaning if he does not appreciate them. To the extent that he does, he can receive from them the influence without any work, simply by adhering to the society."

14. From: Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 99, "He Did Not Say Wicked or Righteous"

"If one does not have any desire or craving for spirituality, if he is among people who have a desire and craving for spirituality, if he likes these people, he, too, will take their strength to prevail, and their desires and aspirations, although by his own quality, he does not have these desires and cravings and the power to overcome. But according to the grace and the importance he ascribes to these people, he will receive new powers."

15. From: RABASH, Article 21 (1986), "Concerning Above Reason"

"Our sages said, “Counters’ envy increases wisdom.” In other words, when all the friends look at the society as being at a high level, both in thoughts and in actions, it is natural that each and every one must raise his degree to a higher level than he has by the qualities of his own body.

This means that even if innately he has no craving for great desires or is not intensely attracted to honor, still, through envy, he can acquire additional powers that he doesn’t have in his own nature. Instead, the force of the quality of envy in him has procreated new powers within him, which exist in the society. And through them, he has received those new qualities, meaning powers that were not installed in him by his progenitors. Thus, now he has new qualities that society has procreated in him."

16. From: Rabash. Article 30 “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends“ (1988)

"Each one should try to bring into the society a spirit of life and hopefulness, and infuse energy into the society. Thus, each of the friends will be able to tell himself, “Now I am starting a clean slate in the work.” In other words, before he came to the society, he was disappointed with the progress in the work of the Creator, but now the society has filled him with life and hopefulness.

Thus, through society he obtained the confidence and strength to overcome because now he feels that he can achieve wholeness. And all his thoughts—that he was facing a high mountain that could not be conquered, and that these were truly formidable obstructions—now he feels that they are nothing. And he received it all from the power of the society because each and every one tried to instill a spirit of encouragement and the presence of a new atmosphere in the society."

17. From: Likutei Halachot, Hoshen Mishpat, Hilchot Arev

"It is impossible to observe Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] except through Arvut [mutual responsibility], when each one becomes responsible for his friend, since the essence of observing the Torah, which is the desire, is through unity. Therefore, anyone who wants to take upon himself the burden of Torah and Mitzvot, which is mainly through the intensification of the desire, should be included in the whole of Israel with great unity. It follows that precisely through the Arvut, when all are regarded as one, precisely by this they can observe the Torah, since the essence of love and unity is in the desire, when each one is pleased with his friend, there is no disparity of desire between them, and they are all included in one desire. By this they are incorporated in the upper desire, which is the end goal of the unity."

18. From: The RAMAK, The Manner of the Righteous, The Thirteen Attributes

"Israel are responsible for one another since in each one there is truly a part of his friend. When one sins, he blemishes himself and he blemishes the part that his friend has in him. It follows that as far as that part goes, his friend is responsible for him. Therefore, they are related to each other. For this reason, one should desire one’s friend’s benefit and look favorably upon one’s friend’s benefit, and his honor should be as dear to him as his own, for he is truly him. This is why we were commanded, “Love your friend as yourself.”

One should want one’s friend’s purity and will not speak badly of him whatsoever, just as the Creator does not wish for our defamation or affliction or corruption. It should pain him just as though he were in the same affliction or the same joy."

19. From: Rav Chaim Vital, Pri Etz Chaim

"One should speak in plural form, “we sinned,” etc., and not “I sinned.” The reason is that all of Israel are one body, and each one in Israel is one particular organ. This is the mutual responsibility, when one person is responsible for his friend, should he sin. Therefore, although he does not have that iniquity, he should still confess it since once he has made him his friend, it is as though he had committed it. This is why it is said in plural form. Even if one confesses at home alone, [he should] say that his sin is regarded as though he and I committed it together, because of the mutual responsibility of the souls."