Leviticus, 21:1-24:23

This Week’s Torah Portion | April 27 – May 3, 2014 – Nisan 27 – Lyar 3, 5774

In A Nutshell

The portion, Emor (Say), begins with rules concerning priests, forbidding them to marry a divorced woman, a widow, or a whore, and permitting them to marry only a virgin. They are also forbidden to approach the dead. Only kin are permitted to be defiled and approach the dead. The High Priest is forbidden to be defiled even by his own kin have died. They are forbidden to shave their heads and beards, and they are forbidden to cast any flaws in their bodies. A Cohen (priest) with a blemish in his body will not be considered a priest, and will not be able to serve in the Temple. The portion also introduces laws of purity and impurity for priests, such as the prohibition on eating offerings, and the rules for a barren or divorced daughter of a priest.

The portion also mentions many rules concerning the Sabbath, Passover, the seventh of Passover, Shavuot, the Omer Count, and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The end of the portion speaks of a quarrel between two men, one of whom said the name of the Creator and cursed. He was punished by ejection from the camp and execution by stoning.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

What is so special about this portion that elaborates so much about priests and festivals?

The correction is only a correction of the heart, which contains all 613 desires we need to correct from using our ego in order to receive into using it in order to bestow, in favor of others and love of others. The whole Torah deals with the correction of the heart. The first stage in the correction of the heart is when we get rid of the ego. The second stage is when we use all of our heart in favor of others.

The portion describes all the levels of correction. It is written, “And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus, 19:6). This means that everyone must reach the highest degree (a Cohen [priest])——following the preparation described in the portions, Aharei Mot (After the Death) and Kedoshim (Holy). The Torah constantly promotes us until we enter the land of Israel and achieve Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator.

The portion starts with elaborating on the terms of the degree of priests. A person must correct the desires, as it specifies—prohibition on marrying a divorcee, a widow, or a whore. A priest must also avoid shaving his face and his head. He must also maintain these prohibitions until he is corrected and sees his desires in the image of man. It is as we learn regarding the perception of reality: the whole world is a reflection of our desires, an outward projection of our internality.

A priest must have natural desires that have been corrected into aiming to bestow. He must not impair his body, make any kind of paintings on it, or touch his hair. The hair is a special correction. The word Se’arot (hair) comes from the word Se’arah (storm). They are to be corrected and therefore must not be removed.

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• Cohen (Priest)
• Tuma’a (Impurity)
• Curse
• Divorcee, Widow
• Shaving the Head and the Beard

Cohen (Priest)

A priest is the highest degree in man’s correction, where one becomes similar to the Creator in all of one’s desires, in one’s entire make-up, and is in a state of bestowal and love. By that one matches oneself with the Creator and achieves Dvekut (adhesion) with Him. This is the purpose of creation.

Tuma’a (Impurity)

Tuma’a is intention for oneself. All manners of Tuma’a are the same intentions under different names, such as Pharaoh, Balaam, Balak, and all the other wicked.

It is to the contrary with the same desires once they have been corrected to aim to bestow. The desires remain the same, but the names one receives instead are Cohen, Levi, and Israel.

Curse

A curse means that a person discovers that he or she cannot agree with the Creator on the desire that one is in. A person discovers it as Balaam, Balak, and so forth. Such a person discovers the term of the upper force, the Creator, nature, which requires that a person works in order to bestow, in love and giving. Also, the person discovers that his or her desires are opposite, working in order to receive. Out of that desire a person curses, resists, collides with the Creator, and is opposite in form.

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Firstly, what is a soul? This is a completely separate question. People say that it exists in the body. But what if we change the body, begin changing and replacing all of its organs?

You know that this is already possible today, and if it impossible then we will be able to replace absolutely everything in 50-100 years. We can already transplant the heart; therefore it’s clear that the soul does not relate to the heart. Neither does it relate to the arms, legs or anything else. Well, perhaps it relates to our head? Let’s suppose that in a few dozen years we will be able to replace the head. What then? Will our memory disappear somewhere? It’s probably recorded here, in the head, so if we change the head, will the memory disappear? Maybe they will put a girl’s memory in me and I will have her memory? Or does this not matter?

Maybe memory is also not stored in the head. It only seems to us that it is stored there just as it seems to us that our feelings are located in the heart. The heart simply restricts and reacts to changes in pressure, and it seems to me, “Oh! I feel it in my heart.” But in reality this feeling is not in the heart. All feelings are completely not in the heart. An engine can work instead of the heart, and I will feel all the same. The same thing is true for memory.

What about the soul? Where is it located? Is it in the body?

Let us change the body, change everything, transplant all the organs; will it change then or not? Where is it, this soul? Maybe if I cut a piece of flesh out of me then I will simultaneously remove the soul? I will take another organ from someone else and transplant someone else’s soul, and then will we be able to implant souls? This already becomes interesting. Maybe if I put a couple of souls into myself then I will live longer?

In other words, in principle, if we delve into these questions, we find that we completely do not understand anything about them.

In Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” he tries to slightly explain it to us. Baal HaSulam says that the soul is a part of the Creator in man. What does “a part of the Creator in man” mean? This means that I somehow chop off a piece from the Creator (the quality of love and bestowal) and take it for me, and the same for every one of us, right?

As a result each one of us has a piece of the Creator. Where is this piece located? For some reason I don’t see this piece in any of you. You all don’t look anything like people who contain a piece of the Creator. And the same goes for me. We do not have anything eternal and perfect. Something that’s chopped off from Him is located inside of me? A piece means that it was torn off or somehow separated from Him? And so, the question we have to clarify is: what does “a part” mean, where is it placed in me, why do I need it, where can I discover it, what should I do with it, and so on.

These questions are quite complicated. Baal HaSulam answers them in “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” and they are also dealt with in an easier, step-by-step manner in the Free Kabbalah Course.

The Free Kabbalah Course is based on the articles of Baal HaSulam and provides step-by-step guided learning from experienced Kabbalah instructors of Kabbalah’s basic concepts based in Baal HaSulam’s articles. Baal HaSulam was the first Kabbalist in history who wrote articles not only for Kabbalists, but for the broad public, in order to explain Kabbalah’s fundamentals, because he understood the need that would emerge in humanity to answer deeper questions about life’s meaning and purpose. Therefore, if you’re interested in such topics, we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …

How can the Creator (the quality of love and bestowal), which is eternal, perfect and absolutely good, give birth to such insignificant and small creatures as us, who are egoistic, stupid, greedy, and absolutely opposite to Him? If this comes from the Creator, how can something imperfect and defected come out of or originate from the One who is Perfect and Eternal?

After all, if it comes from the Creator, this means that there is a root or thought about them in Him as well? And if this is present in Him, does it mean that He contains an imperfection? If not, then how could He have created something completely opposite to Him that was not present in Him? This is impossible to understand. However, in principle, even if a thought was conceived about such opposite and insignificant creatures, doesn’t this suppose that this is present in Him, and this speaks about an imperfection in Him? These are very serious questions of a philosophical type; they are very deep, and Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag) raises these questions and answers them in his article “Introduction to the Book of Zohar.”

Next, Baal HaSulam also asks the following questions: how can we imagine the appearance of something new at all? In our world we say, “Oh, look, something new suddenly happened.” How? It is because we do not observe all phenomena, since some phenomena are concealed from us. Something suddenly manifests, but we do not see the inner connection that caused this phenomenon to manifest, and therefore it seems to us that it is something new and supernatural. It is like a baby who looks and suddenly sees something, thinking that it is a miracle or fairy tale. The baby does not see all of the connections that give rise to this phenomenon. An adult does everything, doing something for this to happen for the baby. This is a mystery to the baby, a manifestation of something new from nothing.

Generally, how can we imagine anything “from nothing”? “From nothing” means that there were no preconditions of any kind at all. How can creation be absolutely new? That is to say, there was the Creator (the quality of love and bestowal), and from some moment on, creation (the quality of reception) appeared. If creation is not present in the Creator in any other form, then how can it suddenly appear? From what? From the thought? In that case it is not new, rather it existed, but only in thought rather than in matter; nevertheless, it existed.

All of these questions are examined in Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book of Zohar.” In reality, we are unable to clarify them in such a short space as they are very deep and very interesting, voluminous. Also, it depends for whom: there are people who are more fascinated by this and others, less so, depending on each person’s development. Gradually you will reach a point when you will see that it is not for nothing that Baal HaSulam works through certain questions for us. As we ascend along the ladder of self-attainment, we will have to feel, study, and answer these questions ourselves. We will simply build ourselves out of them.

The Free Kabbalah Course is based on the articles of Baal HaSulam and provides step-by-step guided learning from experienced Kabbalah instructors of Kabbalah’s basic concepts based in Baal HaSulam’s articles. Baal HaSulam was the first Kabbalist in history who wrote articles not only for Kabbalists, but for the broad public, in order to explain Kabbalah’s fundamentals, because he understood the need that would emerge in humanity to answer deeper questions about life’s meaning and purpose. Therefore, if you’re interested in such topics, we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …

People began calling Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag “Baal HaSulam” after he wrote the Sulam Commentary on The Book of Zohar. He also wrote four introductions to the Sulam commentary. These are the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” and “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (also known as “Pticha”). In general, we can say that they are completely separate compositions rather than introductions to The Book of Zohar with the Sulam Commentary.

In the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam raises questions and then answers them.

• What is our essence?
• What is our activity in the process that happens to us, in which we participate without understanding what our participation is, and generally,
• Where are we going, where is life leading us?

When we look at ourselves, we find that we are very small. When we look at the entire world around us, even our world and our universe, we feel insignificant. But on the other hand, our world is like a grain of sand compared to the immense spiritual worlds. It is said that the human being is the greatest being, above and beyond all of these worlds, able to devour all of these worlds and expand above all of them. How can this be, if the person is so small?

Here, Baal HaSulam explains that it is our spiritual attributes that are important rather than our physical attributes. With regard to our physical attributes, of course we cannot compare ourselves to all the huge masses of billions and tons of rock that exist in the universe, or with infinite time. But when we compare ourselves in a different plane or dimension, namely in regard to spiritual forces, then naturally we are the biggest and greatest in this world. Then we really encompass everything in ourselves, the still, vegetative, animal and speaking nature inside of us and accordingly, we ascend above it all.

In principle, this process is the process of self-attainment. The person discovers everything around him through himself, by attaining himself. Why? (We will examine this in subsequent articles of Baal HaSulam.) Because by attaining himself, the person attains the entire surrounding world. This is because the whole surrounding world is nothing more than a reflection of our inner states.

Nothing exists around us. It is our inner attributes that are being projected this way on the hind side of our head, for instance, resulting in the picture of the surrounding world that we see.

In reality this surrounding world does not exist. There is nothing around me, you are not in front of me, these walls are not here, and this world is absolutely not here. All of this is how the structure in the World of Infinity is being depicted for me in my attributes.

However, I am not in the World of Infinity with my attributes, and I thus perceive the structure of the World of Infinity, where everything is connected together in one Kli (vessel/receptacle/tool) under one Light (quality of love and bestowal), on the level of our world where this whole structure of the World of Infinity appears before me and seems to me as this world. However, this conception is purely my personal one, inner and subjective.

This is why Baal HaSulam discusses the topic of perception of reality in this article. Even more so than in “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam discusses the topic of perception of reality in more detail in his article “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”

In general, the section of Kabbalah that examines our self-attainment and our attainment of others around us can be considered its most interesting section. The attainment of the world is called “perception of reality.” It is because in principle, it determines our states and how we can change them to the level where everything is revealed to us and there are no illusions of me, you, and everything else, but rather everything merges as one common Kli (vessel/receptacle/tool) filled by the Upper Force, the Creator (the quality of love and bestowal).

The Free Kabbalah Course is based on the articles of Baal HaSulam and provides step-by-step guided learning from experienced Kabbalah instructors of Kabbalah’s basic concepts based in Baal HaSulam’s articles. Baal HaSulam was the first Kabbalist in history who wrote articles not only for Kabbalists, but for the broad public, in order to explain Kabbalah’s fundamentals, because he understood the need that would emerge in humanity to answer deeper questions about life’s meaning and purpose. Therefore, if you’re interested in such topics, we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …