A Shofar’s Power
From the Origins
The wisdom of Kabbalah is like a Shofar (a ram’s horn blown on special Jewish
holidays and events): When we do not use it, the enemies of Israel come and make
loud noises, giving us no rest.
Behind each seminal Kabbalistic text there almost always hides a
fascinating story about the discovery of the manuscript. The most
famous, and the most unique of those stories is the story of the
appearance of the writings that in time were compiled to create
the famous Book of Zohar. The manuscripts were collected as a
pile of papers that were used by Arab merchants for wrapping
fish in the market. The writings of the Ari, on the other hand,
were buried for years in the gravesite of Rabbi Chaim Vital, until they were dug out and
compiled into what we now know as “the writings of the Ari.”
After the departure of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, a.k.a Baal HaSulam (Owner of the Ladder), in
1954, many of his writings were scattered among his students and relatives. Some of these
writings found their way to the basement of his Yeshiva (seminary) in the town of Kfar Saba,
and were left there unattended and unnoticed.
“One day I asked Rabbi Yehoshua Klar to bring those manuscripts from the basement to my
rabbi (Rabbi Baruch Ashlag, Baal HaSulam’s firstborn and successor),” says Rav Michael
Laitman. “He retuned with a worn out cardboard box filled with manuscripts of Baal
HaSulam, and inside I found a big notebook. This dusty notebook contained exceptionally
broad sheets of paper, with long and narrow columns of texts written on it, much like a daily
newspaper. This intrigued me. I immediately recognized Baal HaSulam’s handwriting; this is
how he used to write. And in those papers I found the article A Messiah’s Shofar.
“After presenting the notebook to my teacher, Rabbi Baruch Ashlag (Rabash) to confirm that
it was his father’s handwriting, I passed it on to Rabbi Avraham Brandwein from Jerusalem
(the son of Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, who was Baal HaSulam’s student). Subsequently,
Rabbi Brandwein printed and published the notebook under the title Ohr Bahir (Bright
Light).” Today, the original manuscript is kept in Bnei Baruch’s archives.
“And the dissemination of the wisdom in the masses is called a Shofar. Like the horn,
whose voice travels a great distance, the echo of the wisdom will spread all over the
world so even the nations will hear and acknowledge that there is Godly wisdom in
Israel.” (Yehuda Ashlag, A Messiah’s Shofar).
A Messiah’s Shofar explains some of the most significant endeavors the people of Israel must
undertake in this day and age. This is why we consider it our duty to publicize its message in
the public.
It is hard to ignore the increasing popularity of the wisdom of Kabbalah in Israel and
throughout the world. Many reasons have been linked to it: a celebrity trend, a fad, a part of
the New-Age trend, etc. But can it be that we are at the outset of a profound revolution, which
the whole of humanity is experiencing? Is the voice of the Shofar a whole new voice, hitherto
unknown to humanity?
Additionally, it is known that the wisdom of Kabbalah has been studied by only a chosen few
in every generation, who secretly delved in its content. Hence, what is the reason for the
sudden interest, and why now specifically?
To answer some of these questions we must turn to the sources of authentic Kabbalah, such as
Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai’s The Book of Zohar, the writings of the Ari, and the writings of
their commentator, the greatest Kabbalist of the 20th century, Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal
HaSulam).
Perhaps once we have scrutinized original sources more deeply, we will understand that the
interest in Kabbalah and the quest for a serious answer to life’s meaning is not merely a trend
or a fad. Rather, we will find that it is sounding ever-louder, like the voice of the Shofar that
travels great distances, and which aims for Israel. This is the Messiah’s Shofar, asking to
accelerate the redemption of the people of Israel in our generation, and the subsequent
redemption of the whole world.
The question is, “How?”
Israel and the countries of the world have already tried to implement numerous solutions to
bring us our longed for happiness. We have tried uninhibited arms race, low-inflation
economy, developed a diverse culture based on various traditions, and brought about a hightech and scientific revolution. But we still haven’t found peace or love.
In the article before us, Baal HaSulam, the greatest Kabbalist in the 20th century, declares the
necessity to disclose the only means at the disposal of the people of Israel, which can bring
peace and quiet to the Israeli nation and the world: “The children of Israel are redeemed only
after the wisdom of the hidden is revealed to a great extent, as it is written in the Zohar, ‘With
this composition, the children of Israel are redeemed from exile.’ (Baal HaSulam, A
Messiah’s Shofar).
Baal HaSulam determines that the abundance we long for depends on the revelation of the
wisdom of Kabbalah in the entire world, not just in Israel. And he continues: “We have
received into our hands that there is a precondition for the redemption: that all the nations of
the world will acknowledge Israel’s Torah, as it is written, “and the land shall be full of the
knowledge.” … This is why it is written that each of the nations will hold a Jewish man and
lead him to the Holy Land. …Know that this is through the dissemination of the true wisdom,
so they will evidently see the true God and the true Torah.” (Baal HaSulam, A Messiah’s
Shofar).
Disseminating the Method
The ultimate goal requires correcting the ego, which propels the whole of humanity into
motion. All of humanity is in “the same boat”; we cannot avoid it.
To begin with, a single nation sufficed to begin the process of the global correction. And this
was the nation of Israel. This change could not begin in all the nations of the world at once,
hence we were given the Torah as a means to bring the Light that will correct the human ego.
And this Torah is the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is appearing in Israel in this generation.
As we have said, the people should be the first to undergo this change. Following the
implementation of the method in the Israeli nation, it is the Jews’ mission to disseminate the
correction-method to the rest of humankind, so they, too, can adopt and use it. Disseminating
the method in the broadest manner is called Shofar. The engagement of the people of Israel in
the wisdom of Kabbalah will bring with it bounty that will be shared by all the people in the
world. In his article, The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee), Baal HaSulam stresses that the nation of
Israel is only a channel, a transition tunnel for the implementation of this method.
We are presently renouncing our imperative mission. In the beginning, being a Shofar was our
natural desire. It existed everywhere in the nation. But now it is about the greatest Shofar of
all, the Messiah’s Shofar, emerging out of a new, and higher desire, one that obligates Israel
to follow its vocation of disseminating Kabbalah in the world.
Alas, we have nurtured many stigmas concerning our vocation. Whenever the words “chosen
people” are mentioned in relation to the Jewish people, they stir up emotions of revulsion and
disgust. Thus, Israel is utterly resentful about its role.
“You must understand these intimations, that the horn is only the issue of the disclosure of the
wisdom of the hidden in great masses, which is a necessary precondition that must be met
prior to the complete redemption. …the generation is worthy of it, as it is the last generation,
which stands at the very threshold of complete redemption. And for this reason it is worthy of
beginning to hear the voice of Messiah’s horn, which is the revealing of the secrets.” (Baal
HaSulam, A Messiah’s Shofar).
But the meaning of renouncing its role as disseminator of the wisdom, meant pain and
suffering for the people of Israel, whose reason was unclear. The Rav Avraham Kook, a great
Kabbalist and the first Chief Rabbi of Israel said in that regard:
“When we are not blowing this horn, the enemies of Israel come and they blow in our ears for
redemption… they warn and make noise in our ears, and give us no rest. They force us to
heed the voice of the Shofar, and those who do not hear for their ears have been sealed, will
hear the voice of the Shofar of the Jews’ plight, that is, the suffering will force them to listen
to it after all.”
The wisdom of Kabbalah is a means in the hands of humankind to do good to itself, to the
environment, and to the whole world. It tells us about the true love of man, which is the cure
for all of humanity’s afflictions. The purpose of Kabbalah is to produce bonding and unity of
the people of Israel with all the nations into one soul, filled with Light. The wisdom of
Kabbalah holds within it the knowledge about the functioning of every nation in reality, and
how it fits into the structure of the common soul, called “humanity.”
This is the Shofar of the Messiah, beginning to sound in Israel and the world over: “And it
shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown” (Isaiah 27:13)—a horn of
peace, of unity, abundance and love.