Nehora School Presents The Kabbalah Of Rabbi Ashlag

The stories of the Torah are actually elements represented within ourselves. By identifying our inner Cain and our inner Abel we can find alternative means of behavior that prevent our inner Cain from "murdering" our inner Abel.

What does the Torah refer to when it says that God made the Children of Israel dwell in Succot when they came out of Egypt? Going beyond any historical fact the succah has an inner significance of the entire coming year helping us build a vessel for the light of faith.From the teaching of Rabbi Ashlag

Yom Kippur is a day of prayer and supplication. But do I know what I really want to pray for? How do I know what my deepest needs really are? If I express them with the sorrow and pain I feel, will they be answered? From an essay by Rabbi Baruch Shalom Halevi Ashlag

Our relationship with God is a dialogue. Our thoughts, words and actions, and, even more, our intentions affect this most intimate of our relationships profoundly. Nowhere is this dialogue seen more clearly than at this time of the year, when "the King is in the field" and our soul is close to us. From an oral talk by Rabbi Ashlag given to his students.

A holy dialogue increases the life and goodness in the world. The Zohar teaches us that God's only desire is to give goodness to His created beings. Therefore all that He wants to give us is ready for us. However, we cannot always receive the goodness He wants to give, because we become separated from Him by receiving for ourselves alone. Blessing God for everything we enjoy is a simple and wonderful way that Judaism teaches us to change the one-way flow into a productive dialogue.

Jerusalem is known in the Bible by different names: "the city"," the city of David", "the epitome of beauty", "the city forever joined". In the Kabbalah we learn that Jerusalem represents the soul, the focal point of our self. By learning the significance of our inner Jerusalem we learn also why we mourn for her in these three weeks and how each one of us may rebuild our inner Jerusalem. From the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag.

We all have times when we feel connected, and times when we seem to lose it. How do we stay in contact with our soul, with the Shechinah, through the ups and downs? The Zohar, interpreted by Rabbi Ashlag, gives clear and helpful guidance.

The Torah is the great repository and record of our connection with the Divine. Its very words are vessels which hold within them the Divine relation, as it was, as it is and as it will be. Its very essence is one with the Divine. It is both the garments for the Divine and it is one with the Divine who is clothed within it.

All over Israel people are gathering to recite psalms or offer up prayers for the safety of the three kidnapped children. The outpouring of prayers from all sectors of the community, secular as well as religious, is unprecedented. In this podcast we learn why prayer works and offer up our own prayers for the boys' safety. From the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag.

The giving of the Torah is an eternal act that never ceases; for God is always giving. So why is it that we don't feel the revelation of God in our lives now? To receive the light of God we have to want it. What brings us to want the revelation of God's light in our lives now, and how did the Children of Israel achieve this state at Mount Sinai? From the teachings of Rabbi Ashlag

"God is my strength and my song; He will be for me a salvation." This phrase from the scriptures finds unexpectedly beautiful and intimate interpretations given to it by the Sages of the Zohar. Their words spoken and recorded two thousand years ago reverberate for us today, helping us in the here and now. A lesson from the Zohar itself.

"Every person needs to see him/herself as if he or she came out of Egypt." In these words the Haggadah tells us that we all suffer from the Exile and yearn for the redemption. In this talk Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag teaches us that Pharaoh is not just the historical figure but an aspect of ourselves. How do we deal with the inner Pharaoh?

Why can't I sense my soul? Why is it that I don't always feel like doing actions that I know are good and kindly? Rabbi Ashlag, the great Kabbalist, teaches us that we have awareness of the paradigm related to receiving but there is a fundamental reason why acts related to altruism seems unreal to us. How do we get to act "out of the box"?

Rabbi Yoseph, the son of Rabbi Joshua Be Levi tells of his near-death experience in which he  saw what is truly real. People who we venerate in this world were often at the bottom of the scale in the world to come. Our values of this world are truly upside down! 

The Torah commands " Make for Me a sanctuary so I may dwell within them." The Netivot Shalom teaches us that the Sanctuary in the wilderness was a map of the soul. Making a sanctuary for God today means making an appropriate vessel for His light to enter into our hearts. The planning and building of this inner sanctuary is equivalent to that of the Sanctuary built then. From the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag

In the Kabbalah terms like " the light", "the vessel", "the Sephirot" are common. But these are often depicted in misleading ways such as in diagrams. Their real meaning is much richer and multi- dimensional as the Ari himself taught. and Rabbi Ashlag enlarged on.

When we start to learn the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag and we learn that most of our desires are driven by our own egoistic desires that separate us from the Creator, it comes as a shock. We notice that even our good deeds seem tainted with our selfish ways. We feel stuck, even paralyzed. How do we move forwards now? From the teachings of Rabbi Ashlag

Rabbi Ashlag teaches us that the true purpose of learning Torah is in order to correct the heart. But what does he mean by "heart" and why does it need correction? How does the Torah help with this? A podcast

When we start on our inner work and we understand that we want to give to our fellow man, and to God, unconditionally, we feel we can just get out there and do it. To our dismay we find, that even with the best of intentions somehow things don't work out the way we plan. Eventually we realize we can't do it alone. We need the Creator to help us. We need a miracle, the miracle of Chanukah. From the Kabbalah of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag

Learning the Kabbalah implies learning a new language of behavior and emotions. The language of giving instead of our inbuilt responses of receiving. From the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag .