While I was by Rabash’s side, I was always surprised at how short and formal the burial ceremonies were. A person has to perform the ritual: come to the cemetery, say a few words over the grave, and leave. And he has to come back once a year, not more.

In the corporeal sense, this ritual is somber, but in the spiritual sense, it is joyful! We are actually holding a ritual that a person should be happy about. He should rejoice about getting rid of his “body,” about the fact that his egoistic desire has died and the desire to bestow and love, called the “soul,” has ascended to a new level. It rose from the earthly level, reception, to the “heavens” – bestowal!

When you return once a year to your buried desire, you check whether there is anything more you can take from it in order to correct it and ascend even higher. After all, the ascent can only take place by way of correction, by turning egoism to bestowal.

After that comes the “revival of the dead,” when we correct all our desires and nothing remains in the “grave.” The dead (desires) will then be revived and the burial rituals will no longer be performed.

Rabash was a person who acted as no Kabbalist had before. He accepted secular students into his group, which was located in the midst of the Jewish Orthodox populace in the city of Bnei Brak. And he taught these students the science of Kabbalah. In those times, this was a real revolution. He went against his family, the people close to him, and the social opinion of the entire Orthodox community.

Despite everything, he dared to do this, and he made a breakthrough. He started writing articles and giving lessons for beginners, including secular people. He did everything possible to spread the Teaching.

The most important thing he left behind is his articles and his spirit. Everything we have today, our entire foundation was laid by him. I always feel that I continue none else but his work. That is why I feel the inner forces to continue. The way we study, explain and formulate things, all comes from him. I hope to continue to transmit everything I have, including Rabash’s spirit, which I received from him, to you.

This person is essentially a bridge, an intermediate link connecting all the great Kabbalists of the past, from Abraham to Baal HaSulam, to us. Through his spirit, he passed the science of Kabbalah on to us. We are living inside his Kli, and he supports us.

We have to thank the Creator for giving us this soul, which continues to include us within and develops us even today. Any spirituality we attain is in virtue of his help, his force that acts among us. This is why we are called, “Bnei Baruch” – the Sons of Baruch. Let us hope that we truly will become the sons of Baruch Ashlag, the Rabash.
(From my talk at Rabash’s grave this morning, 09.23.2009)

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