Rav Baruch Shalom Ashlag
Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (also known as the RABASH) (January 22, 1907–September 13, 1991) was a the firstborn and successor of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, 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”).
Rabash studied with his father, often in private, for more than thirty years. He accumulated thousands of notes from these lessons with Baal Ha-Sulam with explanations of the individual’s spiritual path, which he compiled them in his personal notebook later to be published as “Shamati” (“I Have Heard”). Ashlag’s unique contribution was his ability to explain in great detail and a simple language one’s climb toward the revelation of the spiritual reality, starting from when one asks “What is the meaning of my life?”, to man’s work in a group, which is a fundamental element in this teaching, and through a Kabbalistic interpretation of the Torah (Pentateuch) as an allegory to a person’s spiritual path in our world.
