| The poem The Tree of Life was written by a great | | | | kept on falling. For thousands of years, our sense of |
| 16th century Kabbalist, Isaac Luria (also known as the | | | | isolation and egoism grew. We suffered and cried out |
| Ari) to show us the origins of our existence. It begins: | | | | from the pain. When it became unbearable, the cry |
| Behold, that before the emanations were emanated | | | | formed into a question: Why? What is the purpose of |
| and the creatures were created, | | | | our existence, our suffering, our life? When asked in full |
| The upper simple Light had filled the whole existence. | | | | earnestness, the question awakens a single “point in |
| And there was no vacancy, such as an empty | | | | the heart,” a point that had lain dormant for all those |
| atmosphere, a hollow, or a pit, | | | | years that had gone before. This point remembers the |
| But all was filled with simple, boundless Light. | | | | abundance of the Light and longs to reconnect with all |
| In the midst of this Light, the thought of creation | | | | the other sparks and return back to its Source. |
| appeared. It was the epitome of a mother’s womb, | | | | Thus the quest begins, but the road to return is not |
| and the Light surrounded the fetus with warmth and | | | | easy. It involves personal struggle, revelation of the true |
| nourishment, providing for all its needs. Kabbalah | | | | nature of the soul. On one hand, we experience the |
| teaches us that we began our journey in this womb | | | | desires and motivations of this world, which is all we |
| as one united soul called Adam HaRishon, or “first | | | | know. On the other hand, there is this elusive pull of the |
| man.” | | | | point in the heart, which tells us that this is all a dream, |
| In the perfection of the Light, we were united as one | | | | and that there is something much greater available to |
| soul, but like a fetus, the soul was unaware of its own | | | | us. If we allow that point in the heart to pull us forward |
| existence or the process it was undergoing. In order to | | | | and upward, we begin to get glimpses of the |
| advance from this state of unawareness, Adam | | | | abundance that awaits. |
| HaRishon had to pass through several spiritual states | | | | Using these glimpses to drive us onward, we climb the |
| until it reached a point where the soul could experience | | | | ladder of life, returning through the exact same path by |
| its own existence and a desire for the Light. Along the | | | | which we descended. Through these remembrances |
| way, a breaking occurred which Kabbalists refer to as | | | | of our previous states, one begins to understand that |
| “the breaking of the vessels.” | | | | the descent was there for the purpose of ascent. |
| Through this shattering, the soul split into individual | | | | From this perspective, this world is only a stepping |
| sparks which became detached from the Source of | | | | stone for the soul in the world to come. |
| Light and abundance. Just as light can only be | | | | So, if you have that yearning, the desire for answers |
| appreciated if you know darkness, the soul could only | | | | to the deeper meaning of your life, Kabbalah can help |
| appreciate the abundance surrounding it by first | | | | you see that it’s because you are more than your |
| experiencing scarcity. For this to happen, the Light had | | | | body. We are all more than our bodies. We are a |
| to be concealed from the soul. Each tiny fragment of | | | | collective piece of one soul, and deep down we yearn |
| the soul began to sense itself as separate and unique: | | | | for that connection. It is through reconnecting with each |
| a person. This detachment from our Source and from | | | | other while we live in this corporeal existence that we |
| each other, or the absence of Light within each soul, is | | | | attract the Light that moves us back to our Source. |
| what we feel as “this world.” | | | | Through this process, we begin to experience the |
| We fell into this world, but this was not the end. We | | | | abundance of beauty, joy and love intended for us. |