Introduction · Part 1: Chapters 10-15

Introduction to the Series and Book 0:01

Our series is based on the שער היחוד, the Gate of Unification of the מיטעלער רבי, the second ליובאוויטשער רבי, the holy רבי, ר' דוב בער,

and this this book is called the Key to קבלה and חסידות. It is also sometimes called the קונטרס ההתבוננות, the book of contemplation. The book is made up of basically two parts. The first part explains what התבוננות is, what kabbalistic contemplation is, and the second part, starting in chapter 10, explains what to do the contemplation on.

The first part is a direct sequel of another book from the מיטעלער רבי, which is called קונטרס ההתפעלות, the book of the awakening of the emotions, meaning that that how to awaken the godly emotions, love and fear, etc., for God.

In which book he explains that there's no real התפעלות, there's no real awakening of godly emotions without it being preceded by proper התבוננות, proper kabbalistic contemplation.

What is תבוננות? Not Meditation 1:35

In the first part of שער היחוד, of the Book of the Unity of God, which is also called the Book of Contemplation, he explains that התבוננות is not like most people think, meditation, which meditation is based on concentration, but rather that the kabbalistic the kabbalistic contemplation of התבוננות is really a synonym for what in the תלמוד is called עיון, which means deep, repetitive, analytical study.

In other words, the type of analytical study which one would have to do on any subject basically, which means that you go over and over the subject and each time you try to look at it in a new, a slightly new way, when and every time you go over it, you discover new angles in it.

Mastery Requires Detailed Analytical Study 2:43

So, he explains also further that in order to do in order to become an adept at any subject, one must do this analytical study in detail. So, for instance, in a subject like medicine for instance, or engineering or anything else, just knowing the subject in general does not make you a doctor or an engineer. In other words, most of us know in general what medicine is all about or in general what engineering is all about or what chemistry is all about, but this does not make us a doctor or a chemist or an engineer.

In order to be an adept, like a doctor for instance, one has to know the particulars of the subject matter, like in the in the case of a doctor, he has to know all the particulars, the details of medicine.

He has to know all the parts of the human body, all the different medicines, all the different maladies, etc., and what medicines work for what malady, etc., etc. Same thing with any other subject matter.

And he further explains that the the deeper the subject matter, the more one has to study it, and the more detail one needs in both the explanations and the different kinds of explanations that one needs to learn in order to become an adept at that subject matter.

Why Study Kabbalah for Godliness 4:19

He goes on to explain that in the subject matter of קבלה and חסידות, which the main thing of that subject matter is godliness, this is therefore the deepest study there is, and therefore there is the most amount of study necessary in order to become an adept.

So, basically what he explains is that it's not possible to just go to a cave someplace and meditate on godliness and expect to become an adept at godliness.

The only way to do that is through studying the קבלה which God gave to us on Mount Sinai. The reason for that is because really the subject is really totally unknowable by the human mind and cannot be researched and arrived at just by human efforts. But God Himself was able to give us in the תורה when He gave the Bible along with the oral Bible to Moses on Mount Sinai, He also gave him all the explanations of the Bible, including the kabbalistic explanations of godliness.

Now, in general, the התבוננות, the contemplation, must be done as as we explained before, התבוננות is deep analytical study. And And And in order to do it properly, it has to be followed also by concentration both concurrently and afterwards. In other words, after one studies the subject, one has to think about it. And also during the study of the subject, one must concentrate, otherwise he will not get any benefit out of the studying.

Method: Concentration and World Chaining 5:50

So, basically, the way that the kabbalistic התבוננות is done is one must learn the what is called the סדר השתלשלות, the chaining down of the worlds from the infinite light through the creation ex nihilo, meaning something from nothing, of all the four universes, the em- the universes of emanation, creation, formation, and action all the way down to our physical universe.

And he has to know all the details of how these worlds come down from the infinite light all the way down to the physical universe, and then he must contemplate upon what he already learned. This

This what I just explained now is basically a synopsis of the first part of the book, which basically, as I said, explains what התבוננות is, what kabbalistic contemplation is, which I will repeat again, what it is is not meditative concentration or the type of meditation that is usually considered meditation, which is basically to concentrate the mind or focus the mind on a single thing.

But rather a deep analytical study of all the details of the kabbalistic knowledge, meaning the chaining down of the worlds from the infinite light all the way down to our worlds.

And we will study the We will We will begin the study of the course from Chapter 10 because that's basically where we start the actual the actual subject of what the התבוננות will be on. The As I said, the first part of the book really explains what התבוננות is. The second part of the book explains what to do the התבוננות on.

I'm sorry. That should have been we're going to start at Chapter 10 because Chapter 10 is where the book starts explaining the subject matter of what the התבוננות will be on.

Framework of Creation and Light Diminishment 8:50

And now for an introduction of the general framework of the קבלה, meaning the general framework of how the four worlds come down from the infinite light. It explains in the various kabbalistic books that before the worlds came into being, the entire space where the worlds are now was full of the absolutely infinite light of godliness.

And in order to create a world, because it the there needed to be a space where to create this world since it was already this space was full of the infinite light, God had to, so to speak, remove the light from a certain place. In other words, a circular or rather like a ball. He moved it like from like a sphere where he left a place where the world could be created.

And within that circle or sphere, he emanated a a A very thin line of light, in other words, a finite line of light in comparison to the infinite light from before, and from this finite line of light, through various more and more צמצומים, meaning lessenings of the light, He finally brought it down to this very finite world that we live in now. To recap, He removed the light that was in the space, so to speak, this was called the first צמצום, the first lessening of the infinite light, and then there was left over a רשימו, an impression of the light, and from this רשימו, from this impression that was left over of the light, He emanated out a very thin line of light, meaning a finite line of light, from which the worlds were created.

And in each world there is less and less light, so that in the world of emanation there is more of the divine light, going down through all the worlds, so through the world of creation, formation, and action, and at the end of the world of action is the world of the קליפות where we are.

In other words, this world, this physical world, which is the world of the קליפות, meaning the shells, meaning the externalities, external influences which are sometimes called evil influences, and therefore in this world there is an actual possibility of evil and a possibility of it seeming as if there is no actual God.