The Zohar, Chapter “BeHukotai (In My Statutes),” Item 50: “And I will chastise you, to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.”

Even though we are talking about actions that aren’t done for the sake of reward, in actuality such an action cannot exist in nature. We always require a reward as energy for our action. After all, only crazy people and little children act purposelessly.

However, our goal is to attain revelation, to see the true state, to understand its reasons, and to realize what our place is. We need the full scope of the truth, here and in all the worlds.

The revelation of this truth is the revelation of the Creator. This is our reward. That is how the essence of the science of Kabbalah is defined: It is the revelation of the Creator to the creatures in this world.

We aspire to the highest reward, yet we don’t acquire it in the form of egoistic fulfillment, but in our aspiration from falsehood to truth. My entire life can seem like luxury that’s so sweet, it’s nauseating. However, at the same time I feel empty because there is no truth in it. Then I change my goal: Instead of receiving direct fulfillment with sweetness, I want to acquire the fullness of truth.

It isn’t easy to achieve this. In Hebrew the word truth consists of three letters – אמת. Alef is the first letter of the alphabet, Mem signifies Bina, the quality of bestowal, and Tav is the last letter of the alphabet. In other words, all my qualities must come together around Bina, the intention for the sake of bestowal, and then I will understand what this is and will reveal the Creator.

Truth is the criterion of my exile. If I see that I am in exile relative to the truth, that means I am in exile relative to the Creator. In the final, desirable state we are united, merged, and fused together in one, perfect, unceasing Zivug. And that means that right now we are both in an undesirable state. In other words, both me and Him are in exile.
[25772]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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Question: In “Introduction to The Study Of Ten Sefirot,” Baal HaSulam writes that a person must strive to understand what he is studying. Does this apply to studying The Zohar?

Asnwer: Of course! After all, in both TES and The Zohar we understand nothing. But to understand means to aspire to know. Know, not understand! Understanding comes later. First, we must know, meaning we must reveal the Upper world and connect with it in the equivalence of form, as it is written: “And Adam knew Hava (Eve).”

In spirituality, mind (the Light of Hochma or Wisdom) comes in the degree of the desire’s corrections, in the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), and not according to the excellent work of the cells of the cerebrum, memory, or electrical impulses passing through the brain. We can attach electrodes or add memory cells to the human brain, but it won’t help to attain knowledge! It is described as: “Not the wise one learns.” It all depends on the correction by the Light of Hassadim since then the Light of Hochma has something to clothe in.

The connection between Hochma and Hassadim is regarded as “And Adam knew Hava, his wife.” Adam is Hassadim, and Hava is Hochma clothed in Hassadim. We can advance only in accordance with this principle.

Hence, no matter what we study, The Zohar or TES, we must think solely about the correction of desire, the place which the Light of Hochma will clothe. Thereby, we will indeed become wise for we will obtain inner wisdom, when the Light of Hochma will clothe in the inner Light of Hassadim.

We see little value in the external wisdom that characterizes “Kabbalists from Jerusalem,” as Baal HaSulam labels them. No matter how well a person has memorized everything written in the books, it will only confuse him.

It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know these texts, but we must aspire to have them revealed as the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim. We shouldn’t strive to fill the mind with information from the book.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, The Zohar

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Question: Leading up to the Convention it appears that some people that were aspiring toward the goal a moment ago suddenly fall back just as we reach the decisive point. How can we use this state in order to grow, and not to run away?

Answer: This is correct. The entrance into the spiritual world is preceded by labor pains. On the hand there is an internal pressure, on the other, an external barrier. And so it is until these forces bring you to the moment of truth.

At the last moment nobody wants to leave Egypt. This is why the escape transpires in haste, darkness, and fear, under pressure of negative forces. This state is depicted by an ancient metaphor, where a serpent sneaks up to a doe, bites her, and then it gives birth.[25530]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, “And the Children Racketed Within Her”

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When the Pharaoh Sent),” Item 297: When the Temple was built, the Creator was crowned in that crown and sat in His throne, Malchut. And from the time when the Temple was destroyed, the Creator does not decorate his crown, and the delight the light of Bina, is hidden.

There is no time in spirituality, and it’s just a matter of degrees, meaning the extent to which we can move from one degree to another, passing along the layers of spirituality. Therefore, the future, the present, or the past, today, tomorrow, or yesterday, the time of the destruction of the Temple or other times, all of that is just an expression of our place on the same ladder of spiritual rungs. It can be compared to us watching a film and moving our glance from the past to the present and to the future.

The difference between all these states is determined by our ability to identify ourselves with the network of connection between us. The strength of our link to the network determines our position on the ladder, that is, what kind of our connection we can reveal.

Degrees of connections inside the common network are, in essence, the degrees of revelation of the Upper World and the Creator.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, The Zohar

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Question: Is the fulfillment, which I experience from time to time, reception with the intention to please myself? After all, I don’t feel the screen.

Answer: For now, yes, since present fulfillments are impressions from the Surrounding Lights in still unprepared desires (Kelim or vessels) which are unable to perceive these Lights and translate them from external to internal.

The Inner Light can be received solely with the help of the screen, according to my capacity to perceive another’s desire as my own. The value of the attached desire (Aviut or coarseness) is used to measure the value (thickness) of the screen.

Suppose I can absorb 10 ounces of your desire and accept it as my own so that it would exist in me as an embryo (Ibur) and I would take care of it. In other words, the measure of “mine-yours” connection is 10 ounces of your desires that I can fill. What I feel in your desire filled by me is regarded as the Inner Light, Ohr Pnimi.

Next, I suddenly feel rejection: A new revelation of egoism has surfaced. Above it, I connect with the past 10-oz desire and take care of it despite the egoism, meaning with an increased screen which is regarded as “nurturing or feeding” (Katnut, Yenika) when we are separated by a great distance, but I still overcome it. Then, I feel a greater rejection. I rise above it yet again, but this stage is called “adulthood” (Gadlut, Mochin).

In relation to whom is it called “embryo,” “feeding,” and “adulthood”? It’s in relation to me since I perform this work, and you are probably unaware of it.

This is how we evaluate the magnitude of the screen and get impressed by the Surrounding Light, Ohr Makif, or Inner Light, Ohr Pnimi.
[25438]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should we do with our “animal” desires? Should we enjoy them or limit them?

Answer: Don’t do anything with them. Just leave them alone. Let the animal graze out on the grass as befits it. If it lets the human in me act according to my mission, then a person will use the animate part of him correctly whenever necessary, and leave it to its own devices the rest of the time.

I have separated from the “donkey” and in the meantime I am going about my business. The human being in me must establish a connection with other people. I am working on elevating and raising him. The time will come when I will direct my attention to the animal in me, but for now I am simply giving it what’s necessary.

After all, I wouldn’t treat a cow to steaks and salads. It has its grazing field and it happily eats there. If we treat our animate body correctly, it won’t need any excess. On the contrary, any excess would harm it. An animal needs only the things that support its balance with nature.

Therefore, provide it with the vital necessities and “leave it out on the pasture.” If your head yearns for the “skies,” for spiritual attainment, then your animal won’t demand anything extra from you and won’t break through the fence. After all, now all the excesses for you belong to the human degree.
[25766]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Will the Convention be our exodus from the egoistic Egypt?

Answer: We must be certain that we will, undoubtedly! We are gathering at the Convention, connect together, and realize how paramount it is despite the fact that we may not be attracted to bestowal to the friend and to the Creator.

The condition of exodus is feeding on Matzot (unleavened bread, bread of affliction) specifically in the rich, successful, prosperous Egypt, dripping fat. Exile starts at the moment when you feel it. Return from exile is not a change of residence, but the exit to the revelation of the Creator, discovering the property of bestowal that starts illuminating…in you, in the same very Egypt where you used to be.

Therefore, right now, before breaking free, we must get to feel how we lack spiritual freedom. Then, we will come to the revelation of the Creator and the Upper world, the property of bestowal, in our desire.

Everything takes place within one and the same desire, not by way of moving from one place to another. The very same Eretz Goshen (Land of Goshen), which used to be the most prosperous in Egypt, turns into the Sinai Desert for us.

In the spiritual world, there is no space; everything occurs within the will to receive that undergoes all these states: Eretz Canaan, the descent into Egypt, the good and the bad Egypt (seven years of plenty and seven years of famine), the fleeing from Egypt to the Sinai Desert and, through it, to the promised land. All of this occurs in one place, the will to receive, depending solely on our experiences in it.

When in 40 years we reach the rung of Bina in this desire, then in this desert we find the land of Israel (“flowing with milk and honey”) and the completely corrected state. It all occurs in one place called the central point of Malchut of the World of Infinity. The only thing that changes is how we relate to the desire and evaluate it.

To the extent that we will be willing to include into Malchut the properties of the first nine Sefirot, accordingly, Malchut will receive all kinds of attributes, from the worst to the very best. Everything depends solely on Malchut, our desire to absorb the properties of the Upper One and become identical to Him. Everything takes place solely within the desire of a person.
[25445]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “This is for Judah”

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Rabash, Shlavey ha Sulam, 1985, Article 19, “Come to Pharaoh”: It is written: “Come to Pharaoh.” In other words, let us go together since I am coming with you in order to change your nature. And I only wish that you ask Me to help you change the nature and reform it from the will to receive to the will to bestow.

Our egoistic desire is small, and we haven’t realized yet the degree of our evil and lowliness. On the contrary, we think that we are quite good. The truth can be found only in the Light. When a person is awakened from Above, he starts seeking the purpose of his life, something beside the “beastly” existence in the body.

Then, with the help of the books and environment, he gradually discovers changes in himself. He is led out of the ordinary state of existence, and he advances while receiving various and frequently radical impressions.

Finally, he gets to realize that it has to do with a change in his nature. This understanding gains his focus starting with the moment when he begins to realize that his state is not as it is supposed to be.

For many years, a person may be listening to this and not hear it within. But the moment comes when he feels that he is the key and it is necessary to change his essence. At this point, the Torah or the method of correction of egoism tells a person about himself. Then, the person focuses on himself. He doesn’t wish to correct others and doesn’t’ get distracted by anything external. His attention acquires a reverse vector, and the person starts gazing inward.

Now he can use the method in practice. He already has a connection with it whereas previously he was connected only with general wisdom. It is written: “Trust the wisdom among the nations, and don’t trust the Torah among the nations.” The “nations” involve those who do not yet wish to correct themselves. And, contrary to that, a Jew (“Yehudi”) is a person who, regardless of his genetic background, has realized that he needs to achieve oneness (Yehud), the similarity of qualities or bestowal.

Having focused on himself, a person sees that until he changes, there is nothing to expect since all changes start within. Then he remembers that he had read about it in the Kabbalistiic texts before. From now on, he is connected with the method. It becomes dear to him for he feels that he depends on the source called the Torah, the texts, the teacher, and the group.

Only then does the person understand what these words mean: “Come to Pharaoh.”
[24141]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/10, “Come to Pharaoh”

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 311: The Creator is destined to revive all those kings that have afflicted Israel and Jerusalem: Hadrian, Lupinus, Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, and all the other kings in the world. He will give them dominion as in the beginning, and the rest of the nations will gather with them and they will wage war on Jerusalem.

And the Creator will avenge them openly around Jerusalem, as it is written, “And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem.” … And this is written for the time when the Messiah comes; this song is an eternal song.

This is not talking about times, but about Surrounding Lights that come to us, giving us the sensation of time. Therefore, everything we will reveal in the future, in greater Aviut (thickness, coarseness) of desire, are heavier parts of Malchut such as Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and others that become revealed at the very end of all the corrections.

That is why it is called the “time” when the Messiah (redemption from egoism) comes, the time of the general correction, the result of all the corrections. This correction takes place by the Surrounding Lights (Ohr Makif) and Kelim (desires, Lev HaEven) that were impossible to correct until this time, and now they are corrected.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, The Zohar

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I constantly imagine the net of our interconnection. It disappears, but I continue to weave it in my consciousness again and again until it settles in my head, becoming part of my life.

Then I live in this persistent sensation, constantly illuminated by our unity. After that I desire not only to observe it from outside, but to step inside, so my world will become the global system of interconnection among all people. Thus, observation becomes replaced by participation; I penetrate deeper and start to experience myself inside of the friends.

Then begins the opposition from foreign thoughts, desires, and actions. I sort them and use them to see where I am still uncorrected, unconnected. They show me the qualities that lack a connection, enabling me to correct my flaws.

This gives me more strength, more feeling and reason, more details in the picture of the world, and thus I advance. The most important thing is to depict a single net to your mental vision. This is enough. The rest will come by itself.
[25660]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, Writings of Rabash

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