Baruch Ashlag

Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (ברוך שלום הלוי אשלג) (also known as the RABASH) (January 22, 1907 – September 13, 1991) was a kabbalist, the firstborn and successor of Yehuda Ashlag also known as Baal Hasulam, the author of "The Sulam" commentary on the Zohar.

Among his writings: Shlavey ha Sulam ("Rungs [of] the Ladder"), Dargot ha Sulam ("Steps [of] the Ladder"), Igrot Rabash ("Letters [of the] Rabash").

Baruch Shalom ha Levi Ashlag (also known as the "Rabash") was born in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire on January 22, 1907.

He began his Kabbalah studying with his father's (kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag) selected students at the age of nine, and joined him on his trips to the Rabbi of Porisov and to the Rabbi of Belz.

In 1921, at age 13, he immigrated with his family to the Land of Israel, and continued his schooling at the Hasidic institution "Torat Emet".

Ashlag was ordained as a rabbi at age 20 by the chief rabbis of Israel at that time, Abraham Isaac Kook, Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, and Yaakov Moshe Charlap.

He did not want to use the knowledge of Torah he had acquired for a living.

For most of his life, he was a simple worker, doing road works, construction works, and low-level clerical work.

When Ashlag grew, he became his father's prime disciple.

He joined his father (Yehuda Ashlag, author of the Sulam commentary on The Book of Zohar) on his trips, did his father's errands, and provided for his father's every need.

He would often study with his father in private, and what he'd heard from his father he wrote in his personal notebook.

Thus, thousands of unique notes were accumulated, documenting Yehuda Ashlag's explanations concerning the spiritual work of an individual.

(Yehuda Ashlag is considered one of the foremost kabbalists of the 20th century. He is known as Baal HaSulam (Master of the Ladder) for his Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar.

He studied Kabbalah with his father for more than thirty years.

When his father, Baal HaSulam, fell ill, he appointed Ashlag to give the lessons to his disciples in his stead.

After the death of his father, Ashlag took his father's place as the leader of the Ashlag Hasidim, and dedicated his life to continue his father's unique way, to interpret and expand on his father's writings, and to disseminate Kabbalah among the people.

Due to disputes concerning the rights to publish The Book of Zohar with the Sulam commentary that his father wrote, Ashlag left Israel for three years, spending most of that time in the United Kingdom.

During that period, he also held discussions with Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Lubavitch, Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar, and other prominent rabbis.

He also taught kabbalah in Gateshead and in other cities in the U.K. Upon his return to Israel, Ashlag continued to study and to teach.

He did not want to become publicly known as a kabbalist; hence, as did his father, he declined any offers for official posts.

After the end of the 1960s, he changed his ways and began teaching kabbalah in broader circles.

He would travel to wherever there was even the smallest demand to hear about kabbalah.

Among the cities he frequented were Hebron, Tiberias, and Jerusalem.

In 1976, he expanded his seminary, and his humble home in Bnei Brak became a spacious synagogue.

He himself moved to the second floor of the building.

He would occasionally travel to Tiberias for purposes of seclusion.

In 1983, some forty new students joined the group of kabbalists that Ashlag had been teaching up to that point.

To help them "fit in" with the group more easily and quickly, he began to compose essays describing the spiritual evolution of an individual, and the basics of the work in a group of kabbalists.

From 1984 and up to his last day in 1991, he would write a weekly article and give it to his disciples.

In time, his disciples collected the essays he had written and published them in a five volume publication known as Shlavey ha Sulam ("Rungs [of] the Ladder").

Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag died on September 13, 1991.

He was interred on Har HaMenuchot.

Ashlag's primary engagement was interpretation and expansion of his father's compositions.

Ashlag's essays are a far easier read than compositions of earlier kabbalists, since they are written in a simple language.

Ashlag dedicated most of his efforts to elaborate on an individual's spiritual path, from the very first steps, when one asks, "What is the meaning of my life?"

to one's climb toward the revelation of the spiritual reality.

His disciples testify that "the Rabash believed that any person, man or woman, and even the youngest child can study the internality of the Torah, if they only wish to complete the correction of their souls".

His primary publications:

The book title comes from the writing that appeared on the cover of the notebook in which it was written, where Ashlag himself wrote, "Shamati" (I heard).

From the 2nd printing onward, the book also contains "The Melodies of the Upper World," music notes to 15 of the melodies Baal HaSulam and Ashlag composed.