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Petichah

The Gateway to the Wisdom of the Kabbalah: Petichah le Chochmat HaKabbalah

Why learn?

  • Each one of us 

 is a unique eternal soul placed in a mortal temporal body, in the complex package we call the human being.  Just imagine if you were suddenly transported to a city you didn’t know, you couldn’t speak the language and you didn’t have a map, and on top of it all you had an urgent mission to fulfill the nature of which is not fully clear to you.   That, for many of us, is where we stand in our lives. We feel confused, we make mistakes.

  • How different

our experience would be if, having already arrived in the city  we knew the language, had a map, knew where we came from and know what our destination is, and most importantly are clear about what we need to do.  

  • The holy Zohar 

 tells us     אורייתא קודשא בירך הוא וישראל חד הם   The Torah the Holy Blessed One and Israel ( the soul) are one.  That is by learning the Torah we can also learn the soul. The part of the Torah that speaks most directly to the soul is the inner aspect of Torah called Kabbalah.

Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag

 the great sage and kabbalist of the 20th Century was described as “the living Ari.” He organized the teachings of the Ari into a step-by-step form that is possible for us to understand.
One of his ground-breaking works is The Petichah le Chochmat Hakabbalah  (The Gateway to the wisdom of Kabbalah). Starting with Ein Sof, the Infinite, he shows us how the goodness of God  the desire for God’s goodness.  He teaches us how the worlds of consciousness within the soul  unfold, moving from the simple, to the complex,  from the perfect Creator to the imperfect in a step- by- step approach.

 I am opening a new course on the Petichah for English speakers. We will read the Hebrew text, which I will translate, and the discussion will be in English.  During our study we will learn :
  • Why we are composed of body and soul.
  • Why the yetzer hara, the egoistic side of ourselves is a precious part of creation and of ourselves. We will learn its origin and the part it plays in our lives.
  • Why we need to transform the directions of the actions of the yetzer hara , and why we find it so difficult to do.
  • The four worlds are expressions of consciousness within ourselves, as well as descriptions of reality.
  • The Sephirot are not entities in themselves but belong to the language of Kabbalah. They function like letters of the alphabet, and are a means by which we can describe spiritual reality.
  • The desire of our soul and how we can help it achieve its aim.
  • How we can balance the conflicting claims of both body and soul.
  • What brings us closer to God and what separates us from Him and from our soul.

What you will gain:

  • An understanding of the dynamics of our relationship with God and with ourselves.
  • We will gain a much deeper understanding of chassidic writings
  • we will begin to understand what he Zohar means when it tells us that the Torah is not a history book, but a book of instruction on our most intimate relationship of all our relationship with Hashem.
  • In order to gain all this we need the tools to read the map.
The Petichah leChochmat Hakabbalah is a technical type of work.  Most people who learn it only focus on its technicalities. We will learn both the technical aspects and  consider what these mean.    The goal of the study is twofold:
  1. to understand ourselves and our relationship with the Creator better,
  2. ultimately to  be able to access the Zohar with the Sulam commentary of Rabbi Ashlag, which opens up the inner meanings of Torah and especially Chassidut to an incredible and unimaginable degree​ ​
Starting such a course is quite an assignment for me, so I don’t start these groups very often.  Once we begin the group will be closed to others, so you won’t be able to join in the middle. This is because the learning is like a chain, one link leads to the next. Once the group is well into the material it will be impossible to join in the middle. So take the opportunity !!  I can’t tell you how much I personally have gained and still gain from this study and I want to give this gift to you too. You will open for yourself the gateway to the wisdom of the soul, the inner aspect of the Torah.

Requirements

  • Patience with yourself and the time it takes. You can’t rush this learning. The person who wins through is the person who commits and stays with it.
  • You don’t need any previous knowledge in Kabbalah to join the class.
  • I teach all Jews from the religious to the secular or unaffiliated. All are equally welcome.
  • Its Best if you have a n ability to follow a text in Hebrew even if you can't read it or understandit. But if you can follow the words, it helps.
NB, I cannot guarantee how long each semester will take. The pace of the material is according to the pace of the class. Different groups take different amounts of time. So I really can’t say how long it takes. But I will endeavor to keep a reasonable pace so that we don’t get stuck. The more people revise the material by themselves, the faster we will go. At the present time there is only an English translation of the first chapter of the Petichah available. After that there is no published translation. I will read and translate into English as we go.  We will learn the technical terms in Hebrew and even if you can’t understand Hebrew it helps if you can follow me when I am reading the  Hebrew text.  I will translate the concepts into English and all the discussion will be in English. There will be plenty opportunity to ask questions.

Syllabus

Semester One

  • The Ein Sof, the Purpose of Creation: Light and Vessel: Creator and created: The formation of the vessel, the Malchut
  • What brings spiritual entities together and what separates them
  • The Tzimtzum and its consequences: the Framework of Holiness and the Framework of Evil.
  • The origins of the soul and the origin of the evil inclination
  • The Sephirot and their characteristics
  • The four worlds

Semester Two

  • Adam Kadmon
  • The Masach and returning light
  • The will to give and the will to receive
  • The relationship between light and vessel and how they come into the spiritual entity
  • The structure of the spiritual entity
  • How the light creates the vessel
  • Inner light and surrounding light
  • The five levels of the Masach

Semester three

  • Tzimtzum B
  • The merging of Judgment and compassion
  • The prerequisite for the creation of the human being and his/her fulfillment
  • Breaking of the vessels

Semester four

  • The world of Atzilut
  • The world of Briyah Yetzirah and Assiyah
  • Learning from the Zohar

Testimonials

Dr Elliot Rosenbaum

Board certified psychiatrist in Jacksonville Florida. Listen to how this learning has changed his life.

Dr Susan Jackson , Efrat Israel,

Psychologist and lecturer at Truro College Hear the impact Rabbi Ashlag’s work has made on Susan

Tatyana Yasenov, Tsfat

Israel “It isn’t difficult! It make s it so much simpler! 

Price is $35 per session payable as monthly subscription, ($140) per month If you are unable to pay the full price but would like to learn , contact me, Yedidah at yedidahcohen@gmail.com or via her website at https://www.nehorapress.com and we will work something out together. I will get back to you. Time of class Thursday 10:30 -11:30 am weekly Class will take place over skype ​details on registration.