Baruch Ashlag

Publications

Ashlag's primary engagement was interpretation and expansion of his father's compositions. Ashlag's essays are a far easier read than compositions of earlier kabbalists, since they are written in a simple language. Ashlag dedicated most of his efforts to elaborate on an individual's spiritual path, from the very first steps, when one asks, "What is the meaning of my life?" to one's climb toward the revelation of the spiritual reality. His disciples testify that "the Rabash believed that any person, man or woman, and even the youngest child can study the internality of the Torah, if they only wish to complete the correction of their souls".

His primary publications:

Shamati ("I Heard"): This is the Ashlag's personal notebook, where he wrote what he had heard from his father throughout the time he was studying with him. The uniqueness of the book is in its content, and the (conversational) language in which it is written. The book contains essays that describe the spiritual states one experiences along the spiritual path. These essays are the only documentation that we have of the conversations the author of the Sulam commentary had had with his disciples.

The book title comes from the writing that appeared on the cover of the notebook in which it was written, where Ashlag himself wrote, "Shamati" (I heard). From the 2nd printing onward, the book also contains "The Melodies of the Upper World," music notes to 15 of the melodies Baal HaSulam and Ashlag composed. Igrot Rabash ("Letters [of the] Rabash"): These are letters Ashlag had sent to his disciples while he was overseas. In his letters, Ashlag answers his disciples' questions concerning their spiritual path and progress, indicates the spiritual meaning of the Jewish holidays according to Kabbalah, and addresses many other issues. Dargot ha Sulam ("Steps [of] the Ladder"): This is a two-volume publication containing primarily utterances and notes that Ashlag had written in the course of his life. These were mostly written as drafts on scraps of paper and served as headlines, drafts for essays and answers he'd written to his disciples. This book can teach a lot about Ashlag's state of mind and thoughts, and it continues the essays in the book Shamati. Shlavey ha Sulam ("Rungs [of] the Ladder"): A comprehensive five-volume composition containing all of Ashlag's essays between 1984 and 1991. In this publication, Ashlag explicates in detail his kabbalistic doctrine, beginning from man's work in a group, which is a fundamental element in this teaching, through a kabbalistic interpretation of the Torah (Pentateuch) as an allegory to a person's spiritual path in our world.

Social doctrine

Ashlag asserted that a human being is a social being and that one cannot exist without a society that provides for one's basic needs, and projects its values upon its members. As his father before him, Ashlag believed that an individual is constantly affected by the environment he is in. From the moment a person enters a certain society, he no longer has freedom of choice and is completely subordinate to its influence. According to Ashlag, one's only choice is the choice of the environment that will project the values one wants to adopt.

Ashlag spent many years formulating the fundamentals of building a co-operative society that strives to achieve spirituality, the way kabbalists perceived it throughout the generations: achieving love of God by means of first attaining love of man. For this reason, the bulk of Ashlag's essays are dedicated to explication and simplification of the principles of the spiritual work of an individual within such a society. The actual spiritual work is revealed through study and a process of internal transformation. Therefore the teaching cannot be understood simply intellectually and is dependent on the inner processes the disciple experiences.

Correct approach to study

Ashlag asserted that two elements are imperative to one's spiritual path. First, one must find an environment that will promote one as safely and as quickly as possible toward "equivalence of form" with one's Maker. Next, one must know how to approach the study of Kabbalah correctly, so that no time is lost. Once we've explained the first element in the previous item, let us now explain the second: Kabbalists throughout the generations believed that during the study, a Light shines on a person's soul, a "Surrounding Light." To receive that Light within the soul, one need only want that Light to permeate one's soul. In other words, one needs to want to experience the states that the kabbalist who wrote the book is describing. However, this is a complex process, requiring time and considerable effort on the part of the student, since one must reach a state of "prayer," i.e. to formulate a complete desire to discover the Higher Reality. The emphasis in his teachings is not on understanding the material, but on the individual's desire. From the moment a person acquires a complete measure of desire to reach spirituality, the spiritual world opens and one discovers the Upper Worlds described by the author.