First, it is important to understand that the Torah does not describe our world. The Torah is called “sanctity,” which in Hebrew means something different and separate to our world. It explains spiritual laws of the higher spiritual world, and it thus explains what is permitted and forbidden for a person who is in the spiritual world, who attains and perceives it.
We live in a bubble of sorts, the laws of which we have no real understanding. We learn a bit about the laws from the sciences of our world like physics and chemistry, but we are unfamiliar with the real laws.
The Torah, or the wisdom of Kabbalah, describes the spiritual laws that become revealed as the forces of the higher nature. The higher nature is called “the force of bestowal” or an altruistic force, and the nature of our world is the force of reception, or the egoistic force. There is thus one very simple law of the higher nature: that it is forbidden to be an egoist.
In the higher spiritual nature, any action we do for our own benefit is prohibited, while any action that we to for the benefit of others is called a Mitzva (commandment).
About the prohibitions in the Torah, it is written that Hillel told the proselyte that came to him: “Don’t do to others what you hate.” In relation to the Mitzvot, the actions of correction that we do in spirituality, those who are in spiritual attainment, who have revealed the spiritual world, have a clear picture of what is permitted and prohibited. In our world, however, it is not so clear. For instance, a regular person in this world does not see what kind of transgression or harm they commit when they light a candle or a lamp on the Sabbath—nor should they.
In short, in the higher spiritual nature, it is forbidden to use the ego, and it is allowed to use the force of bestowal and love.
Based on the video “What Are the Prohibitions in the Torah?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplas
Featured in Quora