Entries in the 'Rabash' Category

Different Degrees of Attainment

627.2Question: In his articles, Rabash refers to Rambam, then to his father and teacher, Baal HaSulam. Why doesn’t he speak for himself? It’s as if he relies on someone else. Has he not attained these degrees?

Answer: He cites the arguments and reasons of the great Kabbalists, on whom he can rely, and so can we.

Comment: But he went through these states anyway.

My Response: It is in your eyes that he has gone through everything, but not in his. For him, in any case, there is a difference between, say, Rambam and himself. These are different degrees of attainment.

Question: So should we study what the Rambam tells us?

Answer: In principle, what we read from Rabash’s writings is enough for us.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/23, Writings of Rabash “What Is the Reason for which Israel Were Rewarded with Inheritance of the Land, in the Work?”

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Lesson from Above

115Hasidism is a trend built on the exaltation of the teacher, the exaltation of the Creator. And a Kabbalist, besides this, also has a critical attitude toward a teacher because a person who studies Kabbalah consists of two properties: egoism and a point in the heart directed against the ego.

The fact is that the egoistic property of the Hasid is ready to submit to the teacher, just as small animals serve a person and they feel good next to him.

I remember when I began to study Kabbalah, literally a year or two later I met my friend, who by that time had moved to America, to the Lubavitcher Rebbe: “Michael, I found a Rebbe! I found a teacher!” He said this with such enthusiasm that I became envious: “And me? I don’t have any of this. And he is so happy, overflowing; he found the whole world.”

The next day I came to my teacher Rabash and told him everything. I was young, independent and said everything as it is: “I am, of course, uncomfortable in front of you, but I don’t feel that I have found a teacher that I am so happy that it fills me and I have everything in the world. I do not have anything. I didn’t find anything, I’m always under pressure, searching. In my life I have already gotten used to this, but why are the paths so different?

He replied: “You were given a good lesson from above—the feeling that you really have nothing in your hands.”

And it will get worse and worse until the person really screams, demands with all his might, feeling: either death or a decision. There can be no other. But to reach this point, he must invest a lot. He should not wait until it manifests itself, but put pressure on it all the time.

It’s very hard. It takes a lot of nerves, many, many years. All this applies to those who have a point in the heart. And those who do not have it, they have no complaints at all.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Hasidism” 10/1/11

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The Process of Spiritual Growth

630.2Question: If it weren’t for your explanation of Kabbalah, I would never even want to hear what it is. But when faced with your explanations, I felt that there is truth behind it. Usually, this feeling holds you for a while, and then gradually goes away. And you are left alone with a lot of criticism. What should a person do in this case?

Answer: I do not care about lulling a person, appeasing, calming, or giving him the strength to resist those criticisms that begin to brainwash him as if sympathizing with where he, the unfortunate, has ended up, and so on. I am not interested in that! This is the fate of man, he must cope with it himself or he will not become a Man!

I am not going to come to anyone’s aid! I am being completely serious. Not because I am indifferent to the fate of a person but because he will otherwise not survive! It is necessary to push the little chick so that it flies. There must be a push! There is no escape from this.

This will only make you stronger! Only in the fight! In no case should this opportunity be taken away from a person. That is why I never help anyone! I watch with compassion how one suffers and how he cannot find himself!

I remember how once, emotionally I said to my teacher with pain: “Well, help me!” And he grinned right in my face. I was ready to tear him to pieces! I was in such a terrible inner state that I could not see day and night. I was tormented, boiling, smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, I could not see anyone, I ate myself up. I had such inner experiences, searches, misunderstandings, malfunctions, that death is better than such a life!

And my teacher, who, in principle, was to blame for the fact that I felt this way, grinned and did not even help! In anything! He only said: “It is okay. A little more, a little more. It will pass.” What “will pass”? And so on for months and months.

It is a very complex process when a person acquires the quality of another world and accommodates two worlds: the material world, acting under the egoistic force of reception, and the altruistic world, acting under the force of bestowal. These are completely different, opposite, contradictory worlds! At the beginning of the journey they are not connected to each other. A person is either in this or that half. And only then can he build a middle line.

It is in such a struggle, confusion, and clarification that a person consisting of two parts of the world is born.

But this is not an endless process. For each degree there are a certain number of states that we must go through. This is our evolution. This is the only way we can develop. In fact, this is a wonderful way of development!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Insurmountable Criticism” 9/3/11

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Articles As Deep as Infinity

209Every time we read one of RABASH’s articles, it seems to us as if we are seeing it for the first time. It is because we are changing and everything is changing. After all, each of RABASH’s articles is connected to the upper force, and therefore receives replenishment from it and it passes to us. It works this way every time, like an adapter connecting us to the upper force.

These are amazing articles. RABASH achieved what no one had done before him. You still do not realize what is happening, and cannot access the correction he has made in the entire creation. RABASH was so modest that people did not understand who he was. He was extremely discreet concerning his spiritual work.

And in material life he was completely different, he could joke, tell an anecdote. He worked for many years as an ordinary laborer on a construction site and could easily communicate with other workers, just like everyone else, so that no one even suspected that he was a great Kabbalist. He was a special person.

And now, we have the opportunity to plunge into RABASH’s articles together and dive deep into them to connect with each other and with him. The necessary foundation for this already exists.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/23, Writings of Rabash “What is Unfounded Hatred in the Work”

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Feelings that Replace Language

961.2Question: Your teacher Rabash’s native language was Yiddish. How did it happen that you made contact with him without a common native language?

Answer: The teacher and I did not have a common native language, but we had a common mentality. He understood Poles and Russians perfectly because he grew up in Poland. In 1922 he arrived in Palestine during the time of the formation of the country, the nation, and he felt perfectly well what had happened here over the years.

But his Polish roots, especially the roots of Baal HaSulam, were felt very strongly. Therefore it was easy for me to be with him because I am from the same places that combine Russian, Belarusian, and Polish cultures, spirit, and even food.

Question: Although you shared a common mentality with Rabash, he still spoke to you in Yiddish. Did you have any problems with this?

Answer: No, I did not feel any special problems in understanding him as a person and being close to him. After all, we are practically from the same time, only slightly shifted. He was 45 years older. In fact, this is a small difference in feelings and in the approach to the world.

Of course, the fact that he was a Kabbalist and felt the world with its roots from above is another matter. But in general there were no problems.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Laitman’s Teacher” 2/5/11

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Rabash: Between Two Poles

919Question: Once Rabash undertook to teach young, non-religious people. What did he prove by this? That Kabbalah is not a religion? Or did he need a breakthrough?

Answer: I think he saw from my example that the next step is possible here and he could not restrain himself. He made a spiritual revolution.

Of course, Baal HaSulam could have done the same. He would do anything! This man was ready to break all boundaries. Rabash, however, could not afford it. He did not feel that high. He has always been under his father. Even in the photographs, Baal HaSulam’s gaze is directed upward, while standing next to him Rabash has his head lowered. It looks very symbolic.

But from working with me, he saw that there is something to invest in if I bring other students, and therefore he agreed.

Comment: It is probably difficult for many to understand what it means for Rabash, who lived all his life in a religious environment, to suddenly decide and accept as students those who had nothing to do with this at all.

My Response: Yes and no. On the one hand, the spiritual path puts a person in a state of constant fear, because he is lowered to the very bottom, and on the other hand, he is raised to the very top.

You are between two poles, and you have no other choice. You are literally shaking from every speck of dust, from every leaf, like a bunny under a bush, and at the same time you understand that there is no solution, you are obliged to act.

I felt it later. I think that my students also are gradually beginning to understand the gap that exists in the approach to the world in every soul.

Thus, we must consist of fear, as they say, trembling before the Creator, and of greatness and strength. These two opposites must be in each of us. The more they differ, the more powerful the person is.

I am sure Rabash had both. This constantly accompanies you; you cannot get away from this.

Moreover, both opposites must merge—both fear and strength, which makes it possible to move forward, constantly doubting and still realizing oneself. That is why he went for it.

It was necessary to urgently change the situation and bring it to a common denominator. I had a big job. But I quickly moved away from it, because I realized that if I got stuck in this, then I would not be myself. Therefore, we continued our personal line of communication with him.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book“2/12/10

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Insight of a Teacher

Question: Did Rabash feel when he should answer your questions and when he should not? Did you also feel this?

Answer: Of course! He was candid. First of all, he wanted to make it clear why he was giving an answer or not. After all, when you explain to a student how to answer and how to ask, you prepare a future teacher.

This is the art of communication between a teacher and students where he must teach them to ask questions correctly so that there is some kind of communication.

Question: Did he know that he was training you to be a methodologist?

Answer: I think everyone knew that. Once I visited my friend from the past, and he told me: “I remember one time I went to the beach with Rabash instead of you because you did not want to go. You were in such a state you did not want to and could not go. Rabash said: ‘Let’s call Michael.’ I called you and said: ‘Rav wants to talk to you.’ You answered: ‘I do not want to talk to him!’ I conveyed your words to Rabash and said: ‘How can this be?!’ Rabash replied: ‘You do not know what his condition is, and, in general, what kind of soul he has.’”

I am saying this to confirm that, of course, he was preparing me for teaching.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Rabash: Spiritual Revolution

961.2Rabash made a revolution by agreeing to teach people who were non-believers, absolutely alien in spirit, that did not have the mentality of Polish Jews of sitting separately somewhere in a corner, in a small community, and studying.

Suddenly forty students come to you from Tel Aviv, who are totally non-believers, and you accept them and give them your heart. All this happens in Bnei Brak, in a closed [Orthodox] community.

It was something incomprehensible: “What? Has Ashlag started teaching non-religious people?! And they are young and not married?! How can this be?!”

It was believed that Kabbalah was only for people over forty. I brought twenty-five-year-olds to him! It was believed that Kabbalah was only for the religious, those who already know the Talmud. I brought guys who never opened these books, did not know, and despised them to him! They only wore the kippah at funerals or if something happened.

He accepted such people to study Kabbalah against all customs—under forty, not married, not filled themselves with the Torah! How can this be? But he went for it. A different time had come.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Legacy of the Spiritual Teacher

919Question: A spiritual teacher waits for his students and prepares himself for him. Is this his life?

Answer: Yes, of course! This is what Baal HaSulam writes! The teacher is preparing for the student to come to him, and he will pass the method to him.

When I studied with Rabash, it was absolutely clear to me that I had to prepare to teach. I immediately began to record lessons on a tape recorder, draw, and write down what Rabash told me when we were walking in the park. I began to systematize these materials and put them in order.

I knew for sure that I would have to take the method from him and pass it on. I had a clear feeling that I existed in order to receive it from him.

I did not know how many years I would stay with him because he was a 70-year-old man when I came to him, but I was sure that after all my ordeals and searches for a teacher, I should receive the method precisely from him.

I just did not see anyone else, although I knew many and was searching. Rabash was completely directed toward spirituality—in spirit, in approach, in terms of source, in character, in desire, and in readiness. Therefore, I knew that I was receiving this media package from him, which I would have to pass on. He also knew it. Thus, his entire archive, his entire legacy, was passed on to me.

After the death of Rabash, I immediately revealed the entire archive to everyone. If someone else had the archive, he might have kept it and not given it away, or would have given it out one serving at a time for personal reasons, perhaps to feel that he has it and therefore is special.

But I immediately gave all his students a chance to make copies of the originals for their use. After that, I felt calm. The works of Rabash were not lying on my desk. I fulfilled my duty to my friends. I gave them everything.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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The Time of Global Spiritual Ascent

944Comment: You said that only connection between students will lead them to a spiritual breakthrough.

My Response: It seems to me that today there can be no other approach to spirituality; it will not work.

Question: Why can’t it happen again that you work with one student who will remain after you and lead everyone forward as it was with you and Rabash?

Answer: Neither I nor any of my students are inclined to start such personal work.

Question: Was Rabash inclined to this?

Answer: He had no other choice and neither did I. I say this absolutely precisely.

In addition, there were prerequisites that I really, really wanted this, although by nature I was completely different. There are people who know how to “place” themselves under another and at the same time feel comfortable and good.

I am absolutely not one of those people. I am a person who creates, commands, sees ahead—wrongly or not, that is another matter—but who wants to implement and generate something new. This is not a student who adapts to the teacher and like a small fish swims next to a big fish. It happened from above.

I think that today because of the global spiritual ascent that is taking place in humanity, this is simply impossible.

I have ten, maybe fifteen people I can rely on. If they work together with each other, not each one separately but only together, they will become the spiritual center that will be able to lead the world further.

Only their common effort to work together, to manage together, and to teach humanity together will bear even greater fruits than I did.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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