Workshop In A Circle And Practical Kabbalah – Part 2

Question: What is the meaning of the workshop, discussions in a circle, as a method of practical work widely used in Kabbalah?

Answer: A “workshop” is a joint action of ten men or ten women who perform exercises according to the recommendations given in the Kabbalistic sources or under the guidance of a teacher, like athletes under the guidance of a coach. Only these are not physical exercises, like in sports, but internal ones based on inner efforts to connect with each other to such an extent that inside this connection the Creator will be revealed.

It might seem good if this could be realized in one action. However, usually this requires a lot of exercises for many months or even years. Such an exercise with an aim of creating a special connection between us, inside which we will be able to sense the upper force of bestowal and love, is called a “workshop.”

There are many different types of workshops, but as a rule they are held as a preparation for Kabbalah lessons. During the workshop, we check connections between us, how much they correspond to the nature of the Creator, bestowal and love. Once we reach such bestowal and love for each other during the workshop, or conversely, we cannot reach them, but discover our oppositeness to each other—we move to studying.

Then through the study, we demand from above the force of bestowal, the Light that returns to the source, that is, the force that exists in the Creator. This is called the study of the Torah, about which it is written, “I created the evil inclination” that separates us in the ten and “in addition to it, I created the Torah, the Light that returns to the source”.

It turns out that if we study Kabbalah in the ten in order to get closer and connect with each other, then we can use the force of the Torah. During the study, we learn what it means to be connected, how spiritual objects (Partzufim) and worlds are built, what the ladder of spiritual degrees is, and how all this connects together and joins us to itself.

In this case, we attract a special force to ourselves called Torah, Surrounding Light, or the Light that returns to the source, which influences us and brings us closer to each other.

In this way, we build a network of connections in which we eventually reveal the special phenomena called the manifestation of the upper force, the revelation of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/20/17