Idolatry

179 texts · Page 2 of 4

The prohibition against idol worship, the smashing of Abraham's father's idols, and the rabbinic war against avodah zarah.

How the Worlds Developed Through Baal HaSulam's Lens

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Especially when we delve into the profound teachings of the Zohar. But before we dive headfirst into those deep waters, we need a guide. Enter Baal HaSulam, Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLev...

What Happens to the Soul at Age Thirteen

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

It’s a question that’s plagued humanity for centuries, and one that the wisdom of Kabbalah addresses with profound depth. to an idea from Baal HaSulam, one of the most important co...

Transforming Selfish Desire into Desire to Give

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, that foundational text of Kabbalah, lays out a powerful idea: these levels are there to help us transform our innate selfishness – t...

Two Systems of Desire Built into Every Soul

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The great kabbalist Baal HaSulam offers a powerful answer, deeply rooted in the wisdom of the Zohar. And it all starts with desire. according to Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to Zoh...

Three States of the Soul Before Birth

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

It’s a question that’s haunted mystics and theologians for centuries. And, believe it or not, the Zohar, that foundational text of Kabbalah, has something to say about it. Specific...

Three States of Creation That Depend on Each Other

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

In his "Introduction to Zohar," Baal HaSulam delves into this very topic, laying out a framework for understanding the unfolding of creation. To make it easier for us to follow, he...

If Perfection Is Predetermined Where Is Free Will

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam—Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag—wrestled with this very question in his "Introduction to Zohar." He anticipates a challenge, a nagging doubt that ...

Why Am I Imperfect If a Perfect God Made Me

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

You look inward and see flaws, imperfections, maybe even a bit of, well, ickiness. But then you look up, toward the divine, and think, "Wait a minute… shouldn't I be amazing? If a ...

The Body Is a Temporary Garment for the Eternal Soul

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mysticism, especially through the lens of Kabbalah, offers a pretty radical perspective on that feeling. It suggests that what we perceive as our body, with all its flaws an...

Our Souls Emerge from Eternity in a Temporary Husk

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Specifically, he addresses how finite beings like us can emerge from an infinite source. His answer? We actually emerge from the Eternal in a way that is fitting for that eternity!...

What If Everyone Abandoned Self-Centered Desire

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

It’s a question that's been asked for centuries, and Jewish mystical thought offers a pretty radical answer. According to Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar (that found...

A Debt the Universe Promises to Repay

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mysticism offers a fascinating perspective on this feeling, one that mixes patient acceptance with unwavering hope. The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his "Introduction to...

Everything From Spirit to Stone Is Light and Vessel

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Is it the stuff you're made of, or something more... elusive? It’s a question that's been pondered for centuries, and it sits at the heart of what Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, has t...

How Our Deepest Desires Shape Everything We Are

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, points out a fundamental truth: we are all different. Our desires, our needs, our very thoughts, and even the way we educate ourselv...

Each Person Is a Unique Cocktail of Three Desires

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

According to Baal HaSulam, the great 20th-century Kabbalist, it all boils down to a fascinating mix of desires, each pulling us in different directions. Most of us, he explains in ...

The Body as the Embodiment of Selfish Desire

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mysticism has a lot to say about that feeling. Specifically, it delves into the nature of the guf, the body. But not just the physical shell we inhabit. In the teachings of ...

God Created an Enormous Desire for Pleasure in Us

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

It all boils down to one thing: pleasure. Not just any pleasure, mind you, but the ultimate, divine pleasure. According to Baal HaSulam, in his monumental introduction to the Zohar...

God's Plan of Creation Will Be Fulfilled Completely

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mysticism wrestles with this very idea, particularly when it comes to our own imperfections. The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam – Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag, known for h...

What Is Our Purpose in This Immense Reality

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

We all do sometimes. But what if that feeling wasn't just a downer, but a crucial starting point for something amazing? That's the question Baal HaSulam, one of the greatest Kabbal...

Four Stages of Spiritual Work and Desire

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mysticism, especially as illuminated by Baal HaSulam in his introduction to the Zohar, offers a fascinating perspective on this very human experience. It suggests this insat...

All Worlds Were Created for Humanity Alone

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

I think we all do sometimes. It’s easy to feel insignificant when you look up at the night sky or just consider the sheer scale of the world around us. But what if I told you that,...

Ephraim and the Sabbath

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Baal HaSulam, in his profound "Introduction to Zohar," offers a breathtaking insight. He tells us that God’s satisfaction in bestowing goodness upon creation is directly tied to ou...

From Pebbles to People in a Cosmic Staircase

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

We have rocks, trees, animals, and then…us. Humans. It seems like a strange progression, doesn't it? Like a cosmic staircase slowly climbing upwards. Well, according to the wisdom ...

Levels of Desire That Shape Our Spiritual Experience

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

And when we delve into the rich world of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, we find some truly fascinating answers. Today, let's consider a slice of Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi ...

Four Levels of Human Desire From Food to Spirit

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

See, Baal HaSulam, a towering figure in 20th-century Kabbalah, helps us understand the structure of desire itself. He outlines how our desires evolve, moving from simple self-prese...

What Makes Human Desire Different From Animal Desire

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

You're not alone. And this insatiable desire? It might just be what makes us uniquely human. The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar (a foundational text...

God Created the Universe to Give Pleasure to Us

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, offers a pretty compelling answer. It all comes down to pleasure – God’s pleasure, and ultimately, ours. Baal Ha...

Baal HaSulam's Metaphor for Human Limitation

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

I know, it sounds strange. But stick with me. It's a metaphor, a powerful one used by Baal HaSulam in his introduction to the Zohar, that helps us understand our place in the unive...

Baal HaSulam's Ladder Into the Depths of the Zohar

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, grapples with these very questions. And within Kabbalah, the Zohar, a foundational text, is often seen as the most challenging – and rewarding – source....

The World of Asiya and Five Sefirot of Malchut

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

And Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to this foundational text of Kabbalah, gives us a glimpse into why. He talks about the world of Asiya. Now, in Kabbalah, we often speak of dif...

Purifying Desire to Receive in Ascending Worlds

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

In his "Introduction to the Zohar," he lays out a fascinating map of spiritual ascent. And trust me, it’s a journey worth taking. But first, a little Kabbalistic housekeeping. We'r...

Purifying the Desire to Receive

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

And in the Kabbalistic tradition, particularly as illuminated by Baal HaSulam in his introduction to the Zohar, we find a path, a journey, towards that very connection. It begins w...

Isaac and the Patriarchs

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

A darkness, he called it. And it led him on a journey, one that would ultimately illuminate the most mystical and enigmatic of Jewish texts: the Zohar. But let's be honest, the Zoh...

How Baal HaSulam Unlocked the Zohar for Modern Readers

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The Zohar, if you haven't encountered it, is a foundational text of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. It’s dense, poetic, and… well, let's just say it isn't exactly light reading. It’...

Rabbi Shimon and the Secret Teaching of Leon

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Ever cracked open a really, really old book and wondered, "Who wrote this thing, anyway?" I mean, does it even matter who penned the words, as long as the wisdom inside shines brig...

Holiness of the Soil

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish tradition speaks of this very struggle. It’s not just about good versus evil in some abstract way, but about the constant balancing act we each perform within ourselves, and...

One Person's Actions Can Raise or Lower the World

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The way a river delta mirrors the branches of a tree? The way a family dynamic can mirror a national one? Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, suggests this isn't just a coinci...

The Danger of Neglecting Torah's Inner Dimension

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

We often think of the Torah as a set of rules and stories. But what if I told you that those stories and rules are just the tip of the iceberg? The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, w...

Who Was Baal HaSulam and Why the Zohar Needs Him

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

This isn't just any book. It's a foundational text of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. A mystical commentary on the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, brimming with secret...

The Zohar Describes Only What Happens Within Us

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The Zohar, a foundational text of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), can feel overwhelming. It's filled with layers of symbolism and allegory. But what's it all about? What's the point o...

Atzilut Versus Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya Explained

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Jewish mystical tradition, especially through the lens of the Zohar, offers a fascinating, albeit complex, peek behind that curtain. Today, we're going to explore a core concept th...

Atzilut Is Like the White Space in a Book

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

That’s kind of like trying to understand the highest realms of Kabbalah, especially the world of Atzilut (the World of Emanation). Atzilut… It's a Hebrew word that means "Emanation...

The Four Spiritual Worlds as a Heavenly Book

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

It's not just a collection of stories and secrets; it's a whole different way of understanding reality. And in his preface to the Zohar, Baal HaSulam gives us a key to unlock that ...

Everyday Awareness Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical tradition, teaches us that our everyday awareness is just the tip of the iceberg. And no book dives deeper into this hidden reality than the Z...

Four Modes of Perception in Kabbalistic Thought

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, in his "Preface to Zohar," delves into just that. He lays out four modes of perception, almost like lenses through which we view reality. Let's u...

Why We Can Never Grasp the Essence of a Person

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

And as Baal HaSulam, one of the great 20th-century Kabbalists, points out in his "Preface to Zohar," this essence, this "fourth mode," is incredibly elusive. We have no grasp of th...

Touch Is Our Most Powerful Sense - Or Is It

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

From solid, cold, undeniably there, to a puddle, and then…gone. But is it really gone? That simple transformation holds a profound secret, one that Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag, known ...

You Cannot Imagine What You Cannot Sense

Kabbalah Kabbalah & Mysticism

And it's a question that Baal HaSulam, in his preface to the Zohar, tackles head-on. He starts with something we all instinctively know: We can't imagine what we can't sense. Makes...