Question: Should I force myself to unite with the friends if I don’t feel the desire for it?

Answer: Of course, you need to force yourself. How else will we reveal Pharaoh if we don’t express our desire to free ourselves of him?

If I don’t pressure myself to unite with others, I don’t show my desire to exit egoism. It follows that I’m doing just fine in Egypt, meaning that I advance via the path of suffering (Beito) instead of “hastening time,” the path of Light (Achishena).

To “hasten time” means to exert efforts above desire, that is, against desire. I have absolutely no desire to unite with others, no desire to annul myself, no need for the Creator. All I want is a good life for myself and to discover the spiritual world, the way I envision it to be. That, too, is quite tempting, to rise above this world and soar alongside angels.

However, quite obviously, I don’t yet realize that the spiritual world means self-annulment and unification with others. If I remain in my regular “human” desire where I come to study and work in dissemination, but don’t pressure myself to unite with others and to annul myself with respect to the friends, then I’m not involved in the spiritual work. That is not advancement by way of “hastening time.” I can do a thousand things in the group, come to the lesson every day, disseminate, and speak beautifully, but none of that means that I advance spiritually, study Kabbalah, and follow the path of Light (Achishena).

Only if I pressure myself against my desire, forcing myself to connect to the group, in at least some form unite with everyone in one heart, even artificially, to be together with everyone in some measure of thought and desire, these efforts of mine are called Achishena or group work. Everything else is not.

That is why we have people who have studied in the group for years, but are yet to take even a single step forward. But if a person begins to take these steps forward, exerting inner efforts to unite with others in their inner desires, he achieves the exodus from Egypt very quickly. The key here is to grab on to this point and to influence it.

A few solid blows in this point, and we will make it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/2011, Shamati No. 90

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