Kabbalah

Rabbi Ashlag as Translator

by Yedidah November 3, 2019

Rabbi Ashlag translated the language of Kabbalah— the language of Sephirot and partzufim— into ideas that can be understood by the ordinary person. Many people mistakenly think that if you know what the Sephirot stand for and you have some knowledge of the four spiritual worlds that makes you a Kabbalist. But Rabbi Ashlag taught that the Sephirot are simply the bricks to build with, they are the consonants and the vowels of a language of feeling, of intention, and of relationships; aspects of ourselves that, in our day- to- day language, we have no words for.

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Not Taking Torah Literally!

by Yedidah January 26, 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:02 — 16.6MB)

The Zohar itself declares we should not use the Torah as telling literal stories. These are its words:
Rabbi Shimon said: “Woe to the man who says that the Torah comes to tell literal stories and stories of people like Esau and Laban and such like. For if this were so, even in these times we could make a Torah out of the words of ordinary people — even nicer stories than these.”
In this podcast we look at Rabbi Ashlag’s disappointment to such a use of the Kabbalah and how it fueled his resolve to bring out the true wisdom of the Torah for all .

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Rabbi Ashlag: What he learned when he reached dvekut with God.

by Yedidah December 25, 2017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:32 — 22.6MB)

One evening in 1892 in a suburb of Warsaw, a seven-year-old boy was lying in bed when, suddenly, a book fell off the bookshelf, hitting him on the head. The boy picked it up and started to examine it. His father, hearing the sound, came in, and seeing the book in his son’s hand, took it from him and replaced it on the shelf. “This is a book for angels, not for you,” said the father. But the boy argued, “If it has been printed, it must be meant for everyone.” “No,” insisted his father, “it is not for you.” But the boy’s curiosity had been aroused, and he started to study it. It was a book of the Kabbalah and its light illumined his heart. The child was Yehudah Leib Ashlag who, one day, was going to change the way we see spiritual consciousness.

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Root and Branch: The Language of Kabbalah

by Yedidah November 23, 2017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:56 — 13.8MB)

When we read books of kabbalah, as for example English translations of the Zohar , or look at diagrams of the Sephirot, we often end up more puzzled than enlightened. This is because Kabbalah actually uses a specific language.

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The Words, Letters, and Sentences that Make up our Lives

by Yedidah June 19, 2017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:38 — 14.4MB)

The words of the Torah are the vessels for its wisdom. They are written as black letters on the white parchment . The white is the light of the wisdom of the Torah, but if it were not for the letters we would not know what it says. Similarly our lacks and desires make up the words of our lives. By learning the meanings of the words of the Torah and of the Kabbalah we can understand our own desires more accurately . We look at “zivug”, the union of opposites and see how it applies to relationships.

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Jacob’s Intentions: A Man of Truth

by Yedidah November 17, 2015

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:03 — 15.7MB)

If we don’t know the intentions of the other person we can so easily misjudge their overt actions. Nowhere is this truer than in the Bible stories. Learning the literal story alone, may even lead us away from the truth revealed within it. By revealing intentions, the Kabbalah teaches us the consciousness of the Torah in a way that we can grow ourselves. Nowhere is this more poignant than in the story of Jacob and Esau.

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