We undergo four exiles, one after the other. They root in the four phases of the collective soul, HaVaYaH (Yod, Key, Vav, Key). Long before, in the World of Infinity, the common will to receive was created in four phases. Hence, all evolution and correction occurs in the same four phases.

Until we reach the final stage, Malchut, we must undergo the alterating expansion and disappearance of the Light from the desire, between the degrees, which repeats four times. When the Light enters, it is redemption (from its absence or darkness), and when it departs, it is exile (disappearance of the Light).

The presence of the Light in the vessel is regarded as the presence of the Creator in the creature or revelation of the Creator. Therefore, redemption (clothing of the Light in the vessel or soul or desire) is always followed by exile of the Light, its departure. There is no growth without this, as it is written, “Getting filled with the Light and becoming empty makes the desire suitable for achieving the goal (equivalence to the Creator).”

This is why even the first Kabbalists knew what humanity was going to experience. Abraham used to ask the Creator, “How can I know that my descendants will inherit this land?” When he received the answer that they would go into exile, Abraham felt contented for he knew that after four exiles and four redemptions, everybody would come to the final correction.

We are now at the threshhold of exiting the last exile, in the system of the fourth level which contains all the previous exiles and redemptions. We only have to perform the final, complete redemption (of the entire Malchut) which is very near.

However, to reach redemption, we must experience exile. Long before exile comes, we need to contain within, in the negative form, the complete form of this future redemption, the form of the corrected world, meaning that we must expect that it will come not only to Israel, but to all humanity.

For the first time in human history, Israel (our world group) acts as a conduit for the Upper Light, and we must unify for the sake of the correction of the world. Redemption means being in full adhesion with the Creator, the property of bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/10, “This is for Judah”

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Question: The Convention is our next state. What do we need to do now in order to come to it with the correct desire or demand?

Answer: At present, we still need the feeling of lack, aspiration, and longing, just as before an anticipated meeting and expectation of a joyous event. We need the desire to unfold the connection between us so that it would open in all its might and, within it, the force of bestowal, the Creator, the Light that fills this collective soul, would emerge.

Right now, we are preparing ourselves for this revelation. However, we should not seek the lack itself. Rather, we should constantly think about the desired state. As a result of this seeking, from my ideas about unity, I will start feeling that I don’t possess it. Because of this, the void (the desire) will appear within me. The Light creates the desire!

A person who doesn’t seek a good state of existence will not feel what he is lacking. After all, when you seek it, the Surrounding Light of that state affects you and increases your desire for it. You will yearn for the good states, for love and unification, and, accordingly, you will discover the opposite states: rejection and hate. In fact, we all act in two opposing systems: reception and bestowal, the left and the right lines.

Man is the reversed imprint of the Creator, the form of egoistic desire. All the Lights that affect us only turn our form inside out, bringing us to the authentic form from “for the sake of reception” to “for the sake of bestowal.” This is what the Light does with me. But in the beginning, I always discover the reverse or egoistic form.

If I aspire to the good form, then, inevitably, the descent will come, and I will discover hate and resentment. However, there is no need to dive into the depth of evil and make discernments. This egoistic form will emerge on its own and will force me to study it. Inasmuch as I make efforts to get rid of it, will I get to know all its details in order to transform it into bestowal.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/10, “This is for Judah”

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Question: What happens at the Convention?

Answer: Something very simple happens there. Imagine that we are in some kind of box. It contains our desires, each of which must unite with the desires of others and become included in them. Suppose there are 24 desires inside the box; then each of them will have a force equal to 24.

This is the first level of unity, the first spiritual level, when each person includes everyone else inside him once: 24 desires, and each of them consists of 24. This is the mutual guarantee.

If we attain the state, then we become equivalent to the Light of Nefesh, which then fills us. Why? It’s because we have attained the state where we are all included in everyone, where every person loses himself inside everyone and each one absorbs everyone inside him. This is the first level of our equivalence to the Light.

I have canceled myself in relation to others and acquired their desires as my own. This is called “love your neighbor as yourself,” and thus I become equal to the Light of Nefesh, which fills me.

Now if we increase the degree of our mutual inclusion and bring it to greater depth, I will include everyone else inside me and every other person will include 24 desires (24 x 24). In other words, I go from a small system of mutual inclusion to a more inner, qualitative, and complex system. Then instead of the Light of Nefesh I will be filled by the Light of Ruach, and thus I will ascend to a higher spiritual degree.

This way, to the degree of our mutual inclusion in one another, we reveal completely different forms of mutual inclusion. In order to receive the Light of Nefesh, this took place inside a two-dimensional plane, but in order to receive the Light of Ruach our inter-inclusion acquires the form of a three dimensional space. Then I already have a completely different attainment, one that includes depth. Gradually our mutual inclusion turns into a multidimensional system whose form resembles a honeycomb.

People are not coming to the Convention to study, but only for their souls to become mutually included. This happens on the inner level and a person does not know how. For three days you are among a huge amount of people and this connection constantly works inside you.

It turns from a point into a line, from a line into a square, and from a square into various other forms, until it turns into a sphere – the symbol of perfection.
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From the talk on 10/27/10

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Once, there was a belief that it is the heart that pumps the blood through the entire body. But after some studies, it was discovered that this is incorrect.

It was believed that our heart needed to be an enormous and powerful “pump” in order to move the blood through the entire organism. After all, there are extremely thin capillary vessels in the organism, and we thought that only a huge, powerful pump would be able to pump through them, and only under the condition that the walls of the blood vessels will be able to withstand the pressure.

However, later the scientists discovered that the heart only sets the speed and nothing more. The rest is done by the organism itself. There are valves in the circulatory system, in the entire “pipeline.” As the muscles contract, the capillaries open the valves and allow the blood to circulate in the necessary direction. By themselves, they operate like a pump.

In other words, this entire circulatory network activates itself. This is a live connection, and, essentially, it is precisely this connection and not the heart that supports the functioning of the body. The heart only manages the process; it sets the rhythm.

From this we need to understand that when it comes to the system of connection of the souls, the entire job is laid on us. It is we who must make the connection between us come alive by opening and closing the “valves” at the right time, creating “pressure” in the right places in order to move the Inner Light (the spiritual life energy) between us.

When we bring life into this system though our search, our inner work, it’s only then that we reveal the life force in it. Before our revelation, this entire system is a spiritually dead formation, “a drop of semen” which is still to develop.

This is why nothing becomes revealed in its complete form; nothing prepared can exist. There is only that which we enliven. And the main principle is cooperation, the mutual guarantee, just like in our physical body.

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From the Preparation to the Lesson 10/29/10

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Question: How can I stop pursuing the pleasures of this world and acquire an interest in connecting with others?

Answer: The external “race” stops when we include ourselves in a group and start concentrating on its interests. Baal HaSulam and Rabash explain to us that in this world, we should only pursue our immediate needs. That doesn’t mean that we have to limit our requirements to plain biological necessities in our everyday life. The limitations concern mostly mass media.

If we need to get information for further dissemination of Kabbalah or for our professional advancement, then it really is mandatory for us. Nobody forbids us from listening and watching the mass media, nor demands that we isolate ourselves from the world. However, you have to understand how to choose the right information since it clearly affects us.

It is impossible to absorb something and, at the same time, manage to stay away from it. When you let the information flow through you, the impression stays. That’s why we have to protect ourselves from the wrong information. Otherwise, we expose ourselves to the whole world, and it “infiltrates” us.

Maintaining connections with other people is essential, but they have to be thoroughly calculated. The measure that we have to absorb in order to advance spiritually is called “necessary” or “essential.” Of course, no one suggest that you cloister in a monastery or go back to living in a cave, but at the same time, it is not good to expose yourself to the mess that the world around us produces.

In everything else, we have to stay under the right influence of our environment and study the authentic sources. With the correct intention and the help of the group, we will enhance our desire and will view our goal more clearly.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “The Need for Love of Friends”

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Question: Now, when so many people are about to arrive at the Convention, will each of us be able to attain the sensation of the spiritual world?

Answer: This entirely depends on us. I think that we are going through very good, advanced states and the right preparation. Lately there are many drastic ascents and descents happening every day and I am very happy about that.

These states are wonderful because in order to unite correctly, we have to reveal both the evil and the good. Both the evil and the good become revealed one after the other, alternating.

All the states we are going through are the preparation a person goes through with awe and excitement. We should not be feeling rest or a static state, but as if we are about to enter an important event and go through inner sensations.

We have to understand that all the states we are now going through are given to us from Above and each of them is absolutely necessary. In spite of these states we have to carry out everything that is incumbent upon us.

If I place myself under the influence of the friends, if I cancel myself as if I have closed my eyes, and I completely don’t care about what I want and my only desire is to feel their influence, then it is a blessing from Above. This might seem like easy work, but when you do it you are immediately faced with obstacles and worried thoughts. They come to us deliberately and we will have to overcome them and remain under the influence of the environment.

People who know how to work this way will benefit a great deal. They don’t separate from the problems, but “swallow” each of them, and above every obstacle they advance by faith above reason, explaining to themselves that what is happening at the Convention now is more important to them.

Thus they shift “back and forth,” each time entering and exiting various states, tuning out of the Convention and returning, as it is written, “The Torah will come out of Tzion,” meaning the Light will come out of the exits (descents).

The Torah comes out of these kinds of exits and entrances (into spiritual states), when there are obstacles and people constantly analyze their states; eventually, the Light appears inside them. If a person is able to behave this way and at the same time to sing and dance, then there is nothing better. If he holds himself this way, then he will definitely feel the spiritual world.

A person will suddenly feel that the world is eternal, that it is common and interconnected, and that he is inside the flow of a special Upper Force.
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From the lecture on 10/26/10

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When a person is worthy of spiritual advancement for the benefit of the common system of souls, the Light guides him forward toward self-realization. This way, one is brought to the group, and he has to believe that the group was given to him from Above.

From that moment on, a person has the freedom of choice to establish himself among the friends. Establishing oneself in the group begets several positive points:

1. The person abandons selfishness. The Light grows the person, raises him above egoism, and returns him to the Source so he would incorporate himself into the common network and reveal the Creator there.

We need to understand that now we are also interconnected in a single network. However, we are unable to feel it since we are overly grounded. We lack purity and fine sensibility in order to be able to see the system where we also exist at this moment.

According to The Zohar, our eyes are directed inward, and we do not see the actual reality and do not understand where we are. Moreover, we even despise this fine sensibility. We reject it and do not allow ourselves become even a tiny bit more sensitive toward the connection between us. However, the connection is present within. We only need to be attentive and look, and we will reveal it. Then, due to this revelation, we will begin to receive the Light that Reforms.

In reality, it is not the Light that comes toward us, but we go toward the Light. A person becomes closer to the Light to the extent of his gravitation toward the system of connection between the friends. This is because the common system is constant and perfect, but it manifests gradually, according to the extent of our sensitivity toward the Light. The Light is constant, and we only need the desires that are directed toward it.

2. The group allows one to resist the external environment. Now, he can save himself from the power of the surrounding world which influences every person with its desires, thoughts, and goals. A person enters the group, incorporates himself in it, wishes to submit to it, and he receives different kind of thoughts, desires, and goals from it, ridding himself of the external dictate.

3. A person receives the strength of the entire group, and now he also begins to represent the strength of its common soul. Naturally, this gives him a much greater aspiration toward the Light than the one that has brought him to the group.

Through this powerful impulse toward the Light and correction, a person evokes the Light’s influence over him, and the Light raises him from the egoistic intention, Lo Lishma (not for Her Name) toward the altruistic intention, Lishma (for Her Name).
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “The Need for Love of Friends”

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “What is the Foundation that Sanctity is Built Upon”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 364
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Lesson 15
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, “Exile and Redemption,” Lesson 3
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I discover unity by acting directly and indirectly. Acting directly, I care for the friends, assist them, make coffee and tea for them, serve them. In other words, I unite with them. This is customary in the corporeal world: We become close with people by giving them presents.

As to the spiritual actions, I must see my friends as the greatest people of our generation. They are bound as one, but I am outside of their bond and bow my head to become a single whole with them. I especially yearn for this correction while I study.

As a result of my efforts – internal and external, in deed and in intention – the illumination from the Upper degree that I see as corrected comes to me. I visualize that at that level we are all one and, together, we discover the Light among us, in accordance with the equivalence of form.

My work is now to renounce myself and evoke the influence of the Upper One. The key is not to interfere but only to connect. This period is called “three days of attachment of the semen to the uterus.” All I need to do is get absorbed inside it, deeper and deeper, constantly cancelling myself above egoism in order not to become an alien object inside the Upper One. Otherwise, poisoning will occur.

“The Upper One” is not some abstract notion but the friends. They look worse and worse in my eyes, and I must consistently resist this view by way of faith above reason. It seems that the outside world offers me a beautiful environment comprised of clever, healthy, positive people who know how to have a good time. And here, I find the opposite; I am irritated by the stupid talks and hypocrisy. But I work harder and harder so that in each state, I could find uniqueness and greatness in my friends.

The conception period is a lengthy process, and its goal is renouncement of self. I am in the mother’s womb, that is, in a unique group, among the friends with whom I have to unify and through whom I have to receive the help from Above. The state of embryo is a transition phase. An ascent to the first spiritual degree is the most difficult.

But how can that be? After all, I am told that correction is done from light to heavy. And still, Baal HaSulam writes in his article “One Law”: “The main moment of heaviness in serving the Creator is the first bonding.”

There is no other choice because we are talking about the shift of paradigm, attitude, and perception of reality. Numerous parameters shift in a person, and he starts seeing the world in a radically new way.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, “Which Degree Should One Achieve so He Will Not Have to Reincarnate?”

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