Welcome to our audio talks

These talks are always based on a text taken from the writings of Rabbi Ashlag. Often from the Persuh HaSulam, , the commentary that Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag wrote on the Zohar but also from his introductions or from the Sefer hama’amarim, the book of articles that his son, Rabbi Baruch Ashlag wrote on how to apply the principles of the Kabbalah in our inner work.
The talks are divided into three broad categories; 1) The Jewish Year: the festivals and other time-based events
2) the application of the learning in our daily lives
3) Concepts found in the study of the Kabbalah
PLEASE feel free to comment and give feedback. And most of all …enjoy! Yedidah Cohen

Exile and Redemption: Then and Now

by Yedidah December 28, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (15.4MB)

Rabbi Ashlag, in a letter to his students, points out the cause of the exile of the Children of Israel in Egypt. He shows that this very same cause operates in ourselves today causing us to become disempowered. It is our disconnection with the soul within us that enables us to become easy prey to fears and worries. When we reconnect value the soul within us as our own inner Sage, we reconnect with the God within us, and we leave our inner exile and come to our state of redemption.

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Brotherhood — Lost and Gained: A Prerequisite for Redemption

by Yedidah December 20, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:16 — 27.8MB)

Before the story of Joseph and the brothers, brotherhood does not seem to have been an important value in family life. In the selling of Joseph as a slave to Egypt, both Joseph and his brothers discover they have lost something precious and now have to work hard to regain it. But the gain is far greater than they imagined. In discovering brotherhood they lay the foundations of discovering the common humanity that binds us all together.

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Avram and Sara go down to Egypt: Approaching the egoism within ourselves— a cautionary tale.

by Yedidah October 28, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:04 — 15.8MB)

There is a famine in the land, and Abraham decides to go down to Egypt, taking Sarai with him. The Zohar teaches that the famine was a spiritual thirst for the light of God. In which case why go down to the consciousness of Egypt, known as a source of spiritual pollution? Why does Abraham ask Sarai to say she is his sister not his wife? This most peculiar story, found in the early life of Abraham takes on a new dimension when looked though the inner dimension of the Zohar, and tells us much about how we too, need to handle the different aspects of good and evil found within ourselves.

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Cain and Abel: A Story of Ourselves

by Yedidah October 14, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:17 — 13.2MB)

Both Cain and Abel are elements within our consciousness. The Cain within us is the part that wants to use our intelligence to try to fulfill the greatest desires a person has, to know God. Although it puts on the cloak of giving, underneath it really wants to receive. Abel on the other hand is the part of us that truly wants to give from the heart. Although from we stumble into the will to receive for ourselves alone, the Abel part of ourselves offers our turning back to God in faith as its gift, and feels itself blessed to do so. This is the gift that God heeds.

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Beginning the Torah Again: The Nature of Creation

by Yedidah October 5, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:39 — 9.0MB)

The word with which the Torah opens is Bereishit. This word is one of the most discussed words in the Zohar because it contains within itself the sodot, the inner meanings of the origin of creation, the inner meanings of the nature of creation, and of creation’s ultimate destiny.
In this short piece we will consider one aspect only: the word ברא bara creation itself. What actually was created?
The holy Ari teaches us that prior to creation, reality is entirely filled with the limitless light of God, His goodness. Since this goodness contains all that is, the only new creation that can possibly be, is a state of emptiness. So the word ברא implies emptiness. It describes a state of consciousness in which we are outside of the consciousness of light. It is a state of longing, a state of being incomplete. If our natural state is one of being filled with light, then the state of creation is therefore an unnatural one. Indeed, this is how we experience it. We all experience periods in our lives of dissatisfaction, of loneliness, of alienation; episodes when we ask, “What is my life about?” Sometimes these states of consciousness are short-lived, but sometimes these feelings of emptiness and of longing seem to characterize most of our lives. We sometimes try to deny these times, to fill them up with something to distract ourselves from our unease. But this is because we do not realize their potential. By understanding the word ברא we discover that this essential emptiness is actually the essence of creation. We need to harness the power of creation that is inherent in these difficult times.

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The Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is Eternal

by Yedidah May 16, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:28 — 16.1MB)

How did the Children of Israel reach the incredible spiritual state of “As one Man with one heart,” that enabled them to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai. If we were able to reach that same state, would we be able to stand at our own Mount Sinai and hear the voice of God speaking directly to us? Rabbi Ashlag assures us that the answer to this question is “Yes!”

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