Coming Together – The Real Meaning

The men draw the Light and the women provide them with the desire for correction.

The phrase "man and woman coming together" brings up images for all of us that have absolutely nothing to do with what it really signifies. To us, we see corporeal men and women relating to each other as their bodies, minds and emotions direct them.

In Kabbalah, the coming together of man and woman is not about Adam and Eve or even about men and women. It is about a part of humanity that is masculine and a part that is feminine. The reason for their coming together is to complete one another and bring about the general correction of mankind. When the men study the wisdom of Kabbalah and draw the Light, the women provide them with the need, the desire, the fuel to fire their energy for this correction. Each has their part, neither is more important than the other, and neither can do without the other.

Eve - Just a Tool in the Creator's Hands

Adam and Eve are two forces of nature that were tricked by the Creator to perform the sin.

In the book of Genesis, Eve is depicted as treacherous, seducing and cunning, as breaking the laws. And Adam is a kind of martyr who is being led and tempted by a woman. Can we learn something from this about a man and a woman in our world?

As tempting as it is to say 'yes,' Adam and Eve do not describe a man and a woman of our world. They refer to spiritual forces which bestow (man) and receive (woman), meaning two forces of nature. This is, in fact, the Creator and the created being. The Bible talks about the connection between them, how the created being derives pleasure from the Creator, is filled by it and then becomes an egoist. This is the sin, the fall of the souls into this world and so on.

In other words, the story of Adam and Eve is about our highest spiritual roots and it isn't about a man and a woman. We are descendents of Adam and Eve, but they are the spiritual forces that gradually materialized and reached this world after thousands of steps.

In Eden, the female part called Eve wanted to become even more sanctified and to rise even more. Therefore, it wished to copulate with the male part and to ascend to the level of the Creator. This is what is written and that is what these forces - these souls - understood. In this manner, they become close to the Creator, to bestowal.

Eve didn't do anything wrong. She brought everything into development. Adam himself wasn't able to perform this sin, but with her help it was done. They were tricked into it by the Creator so that they would sin, because the whole chain of events has to come down into this material world. And from it, we have to reach the highest spiritual level once again.

Conditions for Women's Spiritual Advancement

Women need fewer conditions to advance spiritually than men do.

Kabbalah states that if a man wants to advance spiritually, he is obliged to marry and have a family. It is his responsibility to fulfill these obligations. Otherwise, he cannot advance spiritually.

A woman, on the other hand, can advance spiritually even if she is not a mother or a wife. Moreover, if she has the means for existence, she may also choose not to work. That is, in comparison to a man, a woman is relatively self-sufficient and can grow spiritually without many external conditions that apply to men. Thus, from the spiritual point of view, she is a considerably more perfect creature than a man.

A man has to overcome himself, to constantly convince himself that it's worth staying on the spiritual path. He is less susceptible to spiritual advancement than a woman, who naturally aspires toward everything spiritual. She is ready to accept, feel and understand all of the spiritual transformations that are happening in her. She yearns for this.

The need for the spiritual ascent is manifested much more in a woman. She feels unsatisfied with our world, disappointed in family and work. A man looks for foolish passions, such as football, beer, friends and so on, and then gets lost in them. He lives pursuing false goals. A woman is unable do this. She perceives emptiness more internally and acutely. She cannot appease herself with such petty goals and temporary painkillers. More often she embarks on a spiritual search and comes to study Kabbalah.

We see this happening all over the world. More than half of the 1.3 million students studying within the framework of the Kabbalah Institute are women.

A Woman's Spiritual Attainment

Nature obligates both women and men to attain spirituality while still living in this world.

Women, by nature, are so involved with concerns of daily life that they sometimes wonder if it's possible to reach spirituality. Kabbalah explains that both men and women - whether consciously or by force - need to attain their spiritual root, from which they descended into our world and acquired a material form.

During our existence on this planet, whether in this life or in the next one, we all need to attain our spiritual root and exist simultaneously in both worlds as one.

The sooner we do so, the better, simpler and happier our lives will be. The more we balk from this path, the greater suffering we will undergo, like a stubborn child, who resists his parents' will, but at the end is forced to do what is required of him.

Our spiritual root is our goal, which we must attain. Kabbalah helps us recognize this root and the purpose of our existence on earth.

As soon as we discover this, we begin to gradually harmonize ourselves with the goal and our life immediately becomes far more stable, peaceful, and secure.

A Woman's Lack of Fulfillment

A lack of fulfillment in women has a spiritual root, and can be satisfied only by spirituality.

It is no secret that in our world, women suffer more than men. Every woman, be it a queen or a tribal woman in Africa, is somewhat dissatisfied with her life; she has some difficulty, feels dependent, or is somehow unfulfilled. She wants more warmth and love; she longs for more sympathy and support.

It is not that the world is built this way. This inner lack of fulfillment is embedded in woman's nature, and since the reason lies in spirituality, it can be resolved only by spirituality.  A woman will never be fully satisfied or fulfilled except by spiritual attainment.

We see how much deeper a woman's lack is as compared to that of a man in our world. A man derives pleasure just by looking at a woman. What woman derives pleasure by simply looking at a man? A man has multiple pleasures: football, women, beer, TV and adventures. A woman wants something deeper than that.

Kabbalah explains why our world is built this way. It says that in spirituality, the woman is the one who feels the lack of fulfillment first. She only needs to formulate it correctly and use it to propel a man to reach the spiritual goal, draw the Light from Above and bring it to her.

Presently, we don't fully understand how it all works. But our task is to follow the recommendations of the Kabbalists and let them open our eyes. We will then see how this great lack that the Creator has given to women in this world - her despair and anxiety, her lack of satisfaction, support, security, lack of warmth and love - how all this can be used in a purposeful way to achieve the spiritual goal. It is from there that the Light comes and fills all the lacks that a woman feels.