• Angel
• Laughter
• Sodom and Gomorrah
• Not Looking Back
• A Pillar of Salt
• Expulsion
• Tying
• And Behold, Three Men

Angel

An angel is a force of Nature, such as gravity or electromagnetism. An angel is one of our soul’s forces. The forces of our soul contain right, left, and middle, Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and so on.

Laughter

Laughter is connection to a higher degree where we still cannot connect to it through our cognizance and understanding. We laugh at opposites, when we have no time to scrutinize the matter at that moment.

Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah are desires expressing an attitude toward others called “let mine be mine; let yours be yours.” It is an attitude that is not connecting, hence, when the next degree arrives—the beginning of my connection with others—I cannot work with them and must leave them, while committing to take the desires that belong to me out of there, meaning Lot. In the next degree, the upper light comes and begins to tend to me, to my soul, inverting these desires, which I will later use for further degrees.

Not Looking Back

It seems quite simple to not look back. Let bygones be bygones; what happened was meant to happen because “there is none else besides Him” (Deuteronomy, 4:35), “I am the first, and I am the last” (Isaiah, 44:6). The previous moment was not up to me, and should have happened as it did. What happened, happened; we must not regret it; we must look only forward.

A Pillar of Salt

A pillar of salt is a desire that I still do not use. It is a desire that I put on hold until I can tend to it. This includes all the desires we cut out and seemingly throw away: Ishmael, Esau, Sodom and Gomorrah, a pillar of salt, and so forth. Every event where we seemingly kill kings or nations actually speaks of corrections within us. These desires all awaken to be used properly after some time, and especially toward the end of correction.

Expulsion

Expulsion is a desire you do not use. You expel it, depart from using that desire.

Tying

Tying refers to limiting the use of the desire in a certain way so that after some time you will be able to use it. It is like the world of Akudim (tied), in which we first close in all the light of Ein Sof (infinity), or like the four species on Sukkot.

And Behold, Three Men

“All three angels are required. One is for curing him from the circumcision, which is Raphael, who is the healer. One was to tell Sarah that she would have a son. This is Michael, since he is appointed over the right side and all the blessings and the good from the right side were given into his hands.”

Zohar for All, VaYera (The Lord Appeared), item 54