The Creator sends troubles and problems to the one whom He wishes to advance, that is, He puts him in the “dark cellar.”And the more a person develops, the more distressed he feels because he does not understand why he is given such a bitter life in comparison to others. What does he get and how does he advance by working in the dark?

Even if he does not compare himself to others, he still cannot understand why the Creator, the father, treats him in such a way. How can it be that the Good Who does Good gave him such a hard and bitter life, for such a long time?

He does not understand this until he finishes his work. After all, a person grows even in the cellar. He learns more about his state and begins to understand that the cause of his feeling of being in the dark cellar is his own attitude towards his father.

He tries, despite the feeling of darkness, to perceive this as a special treatment. He must connect these conflicting feelings and adhere to the Creator above them, to justify Him until he grows up because of this. Then, he will start treating the darkness of the cellar as the Light. He begins to connect with his father’s helpers, with all these forces and conditions that bring a new light, the light of a “candle,” in the dungeon, and not that light which is available outside to all the inhabitants of this world.

And then the light of a candle is lit for him in the dungeon, but not because somebody brought him from above the same light that everybody else has. But they bring him another light and help the king. Then, namely in this dark state, a person begins to see that this is not darkness but a big Light, only different, new! This is a new level, new world.

He grew up because for all these 20 years he worked in the cellar rather than simply waiting for his release. Every moment, he had to make an effort, and that is why this moment went by and passed into the next one. Thus, he connected all the moments.

He turned darkness into light by finishing all these steps. And all the troubles and sufferings that he had experienced became fulfillment suitable for the Creator who gives them to a person who now understands and feels Him and can enjoy all His treasures and fulfillment like the Creator, and not like other people.

That is, a person has to grow due to darkness and his own efforts to the point where he understands what the Creator enjoys and what kind of pleasure He wants to give to man. Thus, a person comes out of the cellar.

However, he enters another world, his world, his level, worthy of a king’s son. He is not like all the people around him, whom he once envied. All that bitterness and suffering which he had experienced in relation to this world helped him break away from it, learn his attitude towards the Creator, and turn this relationship from bad into good by faith above reason.

Now, he realizes that it is exactly what the king’s wealth is, and not those petty pleasures with which the inhabitants of that city, this world, fill themselves. The real pleasure is in bestowal, and not in reception of some crumbs that comfort all the others, hanging around the city streets.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/2011, Baal HaSulam’s letter

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Question: We read primary Kabbalistic sources that contain the Light. Is there any other way to attract it?

Answer: You have to learn to keep connection with the system in which people are in bestowal. You have to keep connection with Kabbalists, with the primary sources, since the Light fills them.

We all are in the single system of Malchut of the world of Infinity. Everything that happens further is merely garments, concealment, and curtains behind which our state becomes darker. However, this all is the same Malchut.

Therefore, wishing to awaken the next states, you establish contact with people, souls, and desires, which are already corrected—with the Kabbalists. You read what they have written for you to keep connection with them, to be as close as possible to their place in the general system.

How else can you attract the Light that Reforms? You need at least a thread to the same idea, to the Kabbalist’s message. Even if you read the text in translation, even if its presentation is difficult for you and you prefer an easy, adapted version, but the idea itself is essential for you. At least in something, you should be connected with the desire of Baal HaSulam, Abraham, Rabbi Akiva, Ramchal, the Ari, Moshe, and so on. You need a thread that leads to the corrected part of the system.

How could it be otherwise? Would you talk about mutual guarantee on the streets? What do the egoists who chant similar slogans think about? Like soccer fans, they are ready to beat the tar out of anybody because love between them is always directed against something else. This is what egoism is, and it does not understand anything else.

The word “fascism” also means connection, unity, but only in opposition to someone. This is what may happen if we do not give people the Light that will neutralize this attitude and spread mutual guarantee worldwide, rejecting the possibility to love some and hate others.

Otherwise, without this message, Nazi regimes will be installed. People will unite to combat the crisis and then will turn against each other.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/2011, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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In our times physical actions don’t determine anything. Nature is demanding the right attitude from us. And this is the problem. We shouldn’t give out free help to people or take the last shirt off our backs. What’s required from you is a different attitude. You have to change yourself rather than the way you act.

Until now we acted physically, the way our egoism or false altruism desired. We gave out bread to the poor and generally speaking, tried to change the world any way we liked. But it’s been enough. The results speak for themselves. From now on, we are the ones who have to change.

Instead of changing the world, we want to change ourselves with the help of external forces. This is the new tendency. On this path we will see how everything we have managed to concoct is becoming corrected.

But it’s difficult for a person to grasp this. He thinks, “What, I have to change? Why don’t you just take 10% more in taxes from me instead.” And therefore, this requires the public opinion. It will make easy what now seems difficult. And then it won’t be so difficult anymore. If everyone starts thinking about this, then I will happily join them. After all, the influence of the people around me works by itself. It does not depend on me, I don’t determine anything. I depend on others.

And therefore, we don’t have to turn to every person individually. The most important thing is to change the environment, the general way of thinking in the world. And everything else will come along.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/11, “Arvut”
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Question: When a person starts listening to us, he naturally starts asking: What should I do?

Answer: You have to receive more and more information about the fact that the world’s well-being depends on the good connection between people. And it depends on that absolutely. Money, your place of work, pension, vacation, health, ecology, weather, education, marital relations – and anything you can only imagine cannot be built or corrected “head on.”

What seems to be the problem? If we have a financial crisis, then we’ll print more money and will give it out to whomever we have to. There’s a problem with Libya? Then let’s put pressure on Libya. This is nonsense, but not the kind we can laugh at. It is very bitter nonsense.

No matter what the problem is, today it is impossible to solve it head on, directly, even though this is precisely how we acted in the past. How easy everything used to be: Something happened here so we corrected it here, something happened there so we corrected it there. But that won’t work anymore. Now this is impossible.

We have ended up in a closed system, and while you are fixing one of its parts, another part breaks down. Today you have to know the whole system. Today you have to include it inside of yourself, think globally the way it does, and sense it globally. That is the only way you can achieve success.

Why are the G7, 8 or 20 meetings useless? Why doesn’t a single government program to come out of the crisis work? This is the whole reason.

We have to understand that mutual guarantee is the solution and the right approach to any problem.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/11, Arvut

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Question: Apart from the Light as the correcting force, how do we differ from other organizations that acknowledge unification as the only way to save humanity?

Answer: We don’t. Moreover, why don’t we collaborate with these organizations? If they do indeed wish to unite people, we can get in touch with them.

If one or another group, be it a religious, secular, or an international one, takes course toward unification, even if it is only for a short term goal, and if it isn’t a distracting maneuver on their part but a true aim, we are definitely with them. Them aiming at unification is an advancement in itself.

I don’t know whether such organizations exist. Those I have seen do brisk business behind a nice facade. But if there are some, we will be happy to cooperate since unity underlies the world’s success, especially during the time of a growing crisis. There aren’t any problems in unifying our forces with those who already see what the solution is.

In his time, Baal HaSulam went to Poland in order to join proletariat who rose in aspiration to achieve unity, socialism, and communism. Thereby, he wanted to test whether there was a chance to correct, to re-direct them a bit so that their solidarity would be authentic. You don’t really think that he brought the works of the Ari with him to study them with industrial workers, do you? Obviously, not. He didn’t intend to ask them to follow the Torah and commandments at the material level either.

Why did he go then? What did he think to find in the people so contrary to the image of a religious Jew? He wanted to explain to them a little more, to give them his strength so that their desire to unite would take the most correct form, at least to a certain degree.

His trip to Poland from Jerusalem is an example we do not yet comprehend. We view Baal HaSulam as naïve since we don’t see the spiritual aspect of it. There was an opportunity there, regardless of the fact that it didn’t get realized. But the upper force makes its own calculations in this regard. He went because there was a real chance to succeed.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/2011, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Two Ways to Discover the Wholeness

Two forces press us to develop toward similarity of properties with the Creator:

1. The path of pain, which pushes us without our own choice;
2. The path of Kabbalah, when we incite its pulling us forward and are aware of the importance of bestowal. Correcting ourselves in order to bring contentment to our Maker expedites the path of correction, and we benefit twice:

A. We do not have to wait for the recognition of evil to push us toward correction. On the contrary, the work for the sake of the Creator develops within us a relative recognition of evil without suffering, but rather quickly and pleasantly so as to delight the Creator. We feel how much egoism impedes us from sensing pleasure from bestowal to the Creator.

B. We save time since it depends on the recognition of evil, which is up to us.
-Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
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Shamati #122 “Understanding What Is Written in the Shulchan Aruch″
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” “Menorah Shekalim this Month,” Item 572, Lesson 23
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“The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” Lesson 2
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Question: It is very difficult to explain to people that the solution to the burning problems lies in the interconnection between people.

Answer: No, it’s not. After all, we are supported by many specialists—not just theoretical physicists, but scientists who research nature and current problems, including economists, politicians, sociologists, psychologists, bankers, and representatives of large companies.

Today everyone is talking about the economy because it is a connection between us: how much do you owe me and how much to I owe you. This is not culture or art, religion or ethics. It is money, a precise measuring device of our mutual bestowal. This is a net of the correct, egoistic, healthy, solid connection between us. We have ruined it with our “bubbles,” but by itself it was surprisingly adequate.

And so, we have to explain to people that this network is no longer working. And this has to be explained by the experts whom we will attract—thousands of people who stand at the head of the world: bank directors, corporate analysts, and so on. Let them talk while we will stand on the sidelines. After them the word will be passed over to the scientists, and then to representatives of the education system. Go ahead—take others and use them.

That is how I see it happening today.

Question: The average person will be curious to hear them out in his free time, but this is still far away from his personal cares and the troubles he encounters in life.

Answer: There is no other solution. We have to give time for the initial phase to transpire, until we convince man that this is where the problem lies. In order to understand the world’s troubles, it is necessary to study what is happening. It’s like a sick person who “plows” through the internet searching for information about his illness and the means to cure it. Thus, we only have to give people a “link,” a connecting cord between what is happening now and the solution.

This task is incumbent on scientists, and we have to act in this direction without any further delay. We will implant and disseminate their, not our, explanations, which are weighty and well-founded. In principle, we have to become an “advertising machine” that quickly brings the rush of information from the experts to the masses. Without mentioning ourselves, we will raise them in the ratings, publish them on sites, and promote them on networks.

We don’t even need our own portal. We don’t want to “win people over” to it from the territory they are used to. This is real work on dissemination.

Question: What should a small person understand from this who does not understand anything and eats whatever he is fed? Is it enough to give him the message that together is good and apart is bad?

Answer: Yes. And a “big person” also has to understand just this. You’re not really planning to tell him about the altruistic intention Lishma, are you? He is not ripe for this on the inside yet. It is written, “Raise a lad in his own way.”

Question: Does this mean that similar to the people who used Facebook as a means to force manufacturers to lower prices on their products, we should simply push governments to unite?

Answer: Yes. We are looking for experts, those who not only understand the idea, but are able to put together a working action and then to make it happen. There are several million people in the world who would like to and are able to join this work that will have to be carried out. This “army” only needs to be organized to carry out the task.

In the meantime, we will remain behind the scenes. Today we don’t need the television anymore. After all, all of humanity is on the internet already. That is the only way we will be able to organize ourselves and that is what our dissemination enterprise will be doing as well. These are the changes we have to start making now, without any further delay.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, “Arvut”

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First of all we have to change our paradigm, our outlook on life and the world. I have to change on the inside, change the boot disk, renew my standard for evaluating myself, the world, and society. Without changing man, we will not be able to change the world. After all, the world is his copy.

Human nature is the basis upon which society, the environment, learning, culture, economy, and all other spheres of activity are built. The world is an external projection of what is concealed inside a person. Therefore, it is precisely man who needs to be changed. All the efforts have to be concentrated precisely on this.

The problem is not the economy, production, or education. Everything will normalize when man changes. And for that he has to be educated. Education or upbringing is, in essence, man’s inner transformation. No external “band-aids” will help.

Maybe this idea should be presented to the UN, UNESCO, and governments, explaining that our only objective is to change man. After all, without that he will not change the world.

That is why today humanity’s best minds do not understand what to do and what to change. We have entered a level that demands new, qualitative changes from us. From now on we have to act in our world with the help of a quality called “guarantee.” We can only do it together. By yourself you won’t achieve anything.

For example, a person who opens up a business will discover that it is connected with all of the businesses of the world and therefore they must also be taken into account. Otherwise there won’t be any success.

From here on you cannot take one step without considering the common, global system. And therefore, you have to be global and united with everyone yourself, on the inside.

But I’m not global. So what should I do? Could it really be that I will never see success without that? True, I won’t see it. This is an immutable law. Without an integral interconnection you won’t achieve success in anything. Take a look: We are already immersed in multiple crises. And there is only one way out: To change ourselves.

How can we change? How can we reformat ourselves? How can we brainwash ourselves? How can we un-install the old program and install a new one? After all, from now on I have to have a common sensation and mind with everyone so my actions will naturally correspond to the new state. My very nature has to change.

This can be done by the “Light that reforms.” People will discover it anyway. Maybe they will do it by the path of great suffering, but there is no other way to go. You have to change in order to change the world, and you have the means for that.
However, you have to get to that Light by means of the realization of evil in order to understand what you lack, “I have to change!” But how do you know? And how exactly should you change? Do you have a desire that’s formed? Not yet.

That is why you have been given a field in which to work (the group), a means (the science of Kabbalah), and instructional advice (the teacher). Go ahead, act, start becoming included in the system of guarantee, playing it in order to discover the flaw that you have to correct. Then you will have something with which to turn to the Light for correction.

You won’t even have to go anywhere: To the extent your desires become formed and clarified, the Light will begin to act by itself. After all, you are inside of it, and therefore it immediately works in conformity with your efforts. As soon as you build something inside of you, the Light immediately influences you. This way, gradually, you change even without seeing the little wheels that spin inside of you.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, “Arvut”

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Question: How do you choose who you will speak with?

Answer: There are people who describe events. They study them like scientists or publicists. And there are also those who delve deeper into developments and research their general direction, inner meaning, and cause and effect; they can examine developments deeply, looking through and beyond them—at their connections and goals, as well as the purpose of the force that develops and directs them.

Kabbalists have an ability to analyze developments at the deepest level. But any researchers are of interest to me as it helps to expose a general tendency in the world at the level of scientists, publicists, and the masses.
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