Question: I have arrived at the convention in the desert, and seeing such great friends around me, I am asking: why was I honored to be part of this great society because I myself have nothing special?

Answer: None of us chose this path by ourselves, but we were brought from Above. If we understand this, we have to give thanks for this. The Creator brings a person to the good fate and tells him, “Take this!” Everyone was brought here because the time had come for his soul to begin correction and become consciously included in the general mechanism, called Malchut or Divinity.

But if the Creator brings a person to this choice, it does not mean that everything will continue without our efforts. Our efforts have to become more and more conscious. Everyone has already been disappointed in his life, in his desires, and has gone through a lot: graduated from a university, worked in a few places, served in the army, got married and divorced.

But I did not do all that. When I look back, I do not believe that I have done all that and it all happened to me. I start to realize that I was led through all these events from Above. Although I empathized emotionally, my sensations were evoked in me from Above.

But from now on, I am given freedom of choice, which I can use. There are many that come and go. As a result, they will come back some time in the future. Before the convention, I received many letters from my former students who have long left the study, became disappointed, but now decided to return.

This is also fate; we should not think that it was their own decision; the upper management ordered them. Therefore we need to accept them back, and so we opened this convention for everyone.

Everything that has been done with you until today happened because you were allowed to strengthen yourself and take care of others, and we need to give thanks for it.
[98229]
From the Arava Convention 1/17/13, Lesson 1

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Question: Some people are in great inner tension during the convention; others are joyful and going along with the flow. What should be our correct state?

Answer: Both are correct, and it is necessary to join these two states so with all your strength and great tension to try to go with the flow, to stay as close as possible to the center, and move together with it. We need to be included in the flow of the convention like two liquids that are mixed together.

But for this, I need to apply efforts, of course, because every moment I must feel that I move. I cannot go towards the goal without this movement, I must keep the same direction all the time, like a rocket which constantly adjusts its trajectory: alternately, once the force of reception, then the force of bestowal, the force of reception, then force of bestowal.

I keep balance between the two, without erasing any of them; I do not lose the awareness of my desire (Aviut), but connect all this together and advance.

There are people who naturally integrate into the general flow because their desire is lighter in comparison to others. No one is to blame or to be praised; everyone has his own natural character. And there are people with more severe, internal tension who cannot go with the general flow, and it takes them great efforts.

The first ones, who easily merge with the environment, add inspiration to everyone. And the second, for whom it is difficult to be with others, add effort. It turns out that there is the Reshimo from the screen and from the desire (Reshimo de Hitlabshut and Reshimo de Aviut), and thus general connection occurs.
[98226]
From the Arava Convention 1/17/13, Lesson

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Question: What is special about The Book of Zohar?

Answer: First, it is special since Kabbalists wrote it.

Humanity climbed down from the trees and began to evolve until the first eruption of the ego during the time of ancient Babylon. Then the method of correction was revealed in this first egoistic wave. Because people couldn’t overcome the great ego by themselves, they began to look for means to do so and found the wisdom of Kabbalah that enables a person to overcome the evil inclination through connection.

Those who began to use this method in order to correct themselves are called “Israel” which means Yashar—El, “straight to the upper” (ISRA-EL).

In the meantime, the ego continued to grow even more and all the other nations went on as usual.

Then the ego grew in the Israeli nation and as a result they went down to Egypt. Some went a bit further down, and others received the Torah in order to overcome the separation. It is about the same Kabbalistic method, and the difference is that now it is adapted to the great ego that was revealed in Egypt, which is already specified and divided into different strange desires that have to be corrected under different conditions, in different events, connections, etc. In order to go through this process we need a method called “Torah.”

Abraham’s work in Babylon was easier if we may say: to rise above the ego to the Creator (Boreh) in love and connection and to do what is good for others, for strangers, since the ego wasn’t specified then.

Abraham gave the rest of the world religions (Dat).

By that he paved two paths, but the difference between them wasn’t so big yet. Yes, these are two opposite attributes, in order to receive and in order to bestow, but in a rather minor “thickness” of the desire.

On one hand, a great ego called “Pharaoh” was indeed revealed in Egypt, and on top of it everything that is in a person, everything he is made of internally: attributes, discernments, thoughts, and desires. This means that in the time of Moses (Moshe) the crisis of the shattered soul was revealed (Neshama), which was unknown before. This is already a totally different level and so accordingly the Torah was revealed.

Later as the ego grew, the children of Israel built the first Temple with the help of the Torah and by that attained their end of correction. After the destruction of the Temple they built the second Temple and then the long descent began.

Here, before the end of the descent, The Book of Zohar was written. On one hand, great discernments of the previous level were still kept here, but on the other hand, the last level of the ego began to appear. Therefore the authors of The Zohar relied on all the 125 degrees with regard to the destruction and with regard to the attainment.

This is why The Book of Zohar is very special: It includes all the Light that will be revealed in our times on the background of the biggest ego that will bring us to the complete end of correction. The Book of Zohar symbolizes this state and tells us about all the states of the end of correction. These are the states Rabbi Shimon’s son Rabbi Elazar especially speaks about.
[98164]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/13, Writings of Rabash

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We have been through an interesting phase of the general human evolution.

After humanity has evolved for hundreds of thousands of years, it has reached the end of its development. In our time, we feel it as a general crisis that is not just an individual transition in technological, political, social, and economic aspects of our life, but something that is totally new!

Therefore, we have no idea what this new world is, this new regime, this new state. It is impossible to see them in our ego because they have to be revealed in a totally different attribute, in the attribute of bestowal. For the first time in history we will go through such a change, such a transition phase, and we have to pass through it.

By evolving for ages, humanity has reached its full egoistic ripening, and if the fruit is not eaten on time it begins to rot. We have reached this phase, which according to the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the “recognition of evil.”

Negative states will force us to correct ourselves, either by suffering or consciously.

Until today humanity has evolved automatically, instinctively, as the ego pushed us from the inside and people were not free to do anything by themselves. People acted unconsciously by the force of desires and their formations that were revealed under the pressure of external forces, but this is over now.

The correction must be conscious. This means that first there is the recognition of the actions and the actions against one, since otherwise it will be automatic, egoistic actions again without any participation on our part. It is because the rest of our evolution is built only above the ego and in contrast to it. Here we have to develop a second component which is above the egoistic, an altruistic one, and to advance together.

We have come along a certain way in our egoistic development and now this phase is over. Starting from the 21^st century, the egoistic and the altruistic evolutions should be parallel.

The upper component (see the drawing) are our efforts and the lower component is the way by which the Creator pushes us forward by summoning uncompromising actions in us, disregarding our responses. Thus we advance.

Later, nature, the Creator, will push us forward, but it will already be by considering our efforts.
[98083]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 5

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Arava Convention Day Two “Yeshivat Haverim“

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Arava Convention Day Two, Workshop 3

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Arava Convention Day Two, “Only Questions,” Workshop 3

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Arava Convention, Day Two, Lesson 4

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Arava Convention, Day Two, Workshop 4

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Arava Convention, Day Two, “Only Question,” Workshop 4

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Arava Convention, Day Two, Lesson 5

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati, 241, “Call Upon Him While He Is Near”: Hence, when the Creator wishes to bring him out of the dense forest, He shows him a remote Light, and the person gathers the remains of his strength to walk on the path that the Light shows him, in order to attain it.

But if one does not ascribe the Light to the Creator, and does not say that the Creator is calling him, then the Light is lost from him, and he remains standing in the forest.

Every moment of our lives happens under the influence of the Light, the property of bestowal, the Creator. And if a person tries to reveal this influence from Above, to connect his path with the Creator, although he does not see, does not feel this connection yet, then all the moments of his life he attaches to the First Cause, to the upper force.

The Creator gives him opportunities to apply efforts, in darkness and light, in various conditions. Due to this, a person creates and calibrates his sense for perceiving the Creator, and then with each step, with every event and state, in every situation, he sees the force of the Creator more clearly as the cause of what happens until he reveals Him on a constant basis.

Initially, a person had only a tiny feeling from within, from some hidden source. This source manifests itself in all kinds of circumstances, and gradually a person becomes aware that this is the Creator demonstrating these or those forms of relations towards him. A person learns to connect everything with one Cause, besides which there is nothing. Rising above the events of his life, he understands: They are all designed for him to reveal the Creator all the time. That is why he needs to pass through diametrically opposite states.

Now a person sees that everything is for the best, and he builds a basis inside himself, “There is none else besides Him, the Good Who Does Good.” Whatever may happen, a person understands that the Creator awakens him, forms him at every second of his life. Everything is directed at the connection with the Creator, Who sorts and corrects all the properties of a person, so that in each of them, a person feels only Him, as the Good Who Does Good.

Thus we advance, calling Him while He is near. When having put forth effort, a person recognizes that the current moments came from the Creator; he needs to understand that the efforts were also called from Above. The Creator wants a person to reveal Him. Even a small, slight contact is also closeness, and now it is necessary to strengthen the connection that has emerged.

But it is impossible to strengthen the relations in a person himself. After all, each of us has only a tiny dot, representing the beginning of the soul, an altruistic desire. This is just a spark of the Reflected Light—the intention to bestow that we had before the breaking. So, if I am close to this spark, if it shines brightly and tries to ascend above all the desires so that together with them can establish the connection with the Creator, then I must unite with other sparks, as it were before the breaking when they were all merged in the general flame, in the great Light.

We need this Reflected Light of such power that together we would prevail above the common desire at the first spiritual degree. Uniting our sparks in the general fire of the Reflected Light, we strive to be in bestowal, in unity above egoism, and thus we create the first spiritual vessel for bestowal, and in it, according to the law of equivalence of form, we reveal the Creator.

We have this opportunity, especially after so much invested effort. We must thank the friends who came from afar for their efforts because they come at the cost of a lot of work and money. All this is added to the screen, to the Reflected Light, to the overcoming, which we must realize for the sake of unity.

We create special conditions now to constantly strive to establish contact, not letting ourselves get out of the general intention, the common idea. We must live in it—this is the exercise that allows entry to the spiritual world. We are together and everyone feels inside that he includes everyone else in himself and that with them, he is like one force, one sensation, in adhesion.

Thus, we will reach a spiritual degree, and then we will be able to return to normal life, and it will not distract us, but will just add new layers of desires, “material” for burning, for the Reflected Light to grow.

After all, as one person cannot reveal the Creator with his spark, thus in our unity we can reveal the relatively small force of bestowal. In comparison with the current state, it will be a big Light, the revelation of the Creator, something huge. We will see and feel how interconnected all the parts of reality are, how the upper force affects everyone in the unified network—above time, in every epoch, in all individual souls. And then, coming out with this force, we will begin to come in contact with the current events of this world, on the way home, at home, at work…

Then, we will need to strengthen the force of bestowal, despite all the “disturbances”, which in reality are additions of the “material” that lets us maintain the fire. The receiving desire as it grows will add “firewood” in this flame, multiplying the Light revealed in unity between us, which becomes stronger in connection with the world.

So, here we should see the beginning of the great path. After all, our ultimate goal is not only to unite and reveal the Creator. There are three stages; the lower should see the upper one and be aware of the upper above him. Later, we will connect the force of disturbances from the entire world to us and will burn them in our “furnace.” This force will become “fuel” for us and will help us reveal the Creator between us more and more.

So, you should not be sorry for what happens after the convention, “Do I have to start everything from the beginning? Where do I return?” No, after our efforts, when we return to the world, we will be different. We will have forces to connect the world to ourselves, make it follow us, and it will provide us with the “fuel” which ignites the desire to bestow that reigns between us.

And it all starts with a small dot, when a person tries to reveal the Creator, Who stands behind his yearning for the friends and urges him to unite with them.
[98170]
From the Arava Convention 1/17/13, Lesson 1

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 53, “The Matter of Limitation”: The matter of limitation is to limit the state one is in and not want Gadlut (Greatness). Instead, one wants to remain in one’s present state forever, and this is called eternal Dvekut (Adhesion). Regardless of the measure of Gadlut that one has, even if one has the smallest Katnut (Smallness), if it shines forever it is considered having been imparted eternal Dvekut.

However, one who wants more Gadlut, it is considered luxury. And this is the meaning of “any sorrow will be surplus” meaning that sadness comes to a person because he wants luxuries. This is what it means that when Israel came to receive the Torah, Moses brought forth the people to the bottom of the mountain, as it is written, “and they stood at the nether part of the mount.”

A mount (Hebrew: Har) means thoughts (Hebrew: Hirhurim)). Moses led them to the end of the thought and the understanding and the reason, the lowest degree there is. Only then, when they agreed to such a state, to walk in it without any wavering and motion, but to remain in that state as if they had the greatest Gadlut, and to be happy for it, this is the meaning of, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”

We have to constantly keep ourselves in a minimal state. It is the most desirable state; this is pure bestowal, Hafetz Hesed, the constant state. Then if I am thrown off in the negative direction, to the “minus,” by the addition of more ego, I have to add Gadlut (greatness) in the opposite direction, the importance of the Creator, “plus.” This is how I advance.

Thus, I fill every descent and feeling of lowliness, which I must feel with the recognition of the one who gives it to me, where it comes from, and whom I have to reach an equivalence of form with. In that case I will constantly return to the constant state and constantly advance along the shortest straight line, no more and no less. I don’t need any luxuries, not even a shirt, like the righteous (Hafetz Hesed) living in the forest. Thus, I advance, and nothing can throw me off track.

It is the same when I feel Gadlut and am thrown towards the “plus”; I don’t take this into account. The important thing is to constantly yearn for a constant state, and although it is constant, I still advance under the external influence and go up the ladder from level zero to the 125^th level. But I don’t ask for anything for myself, except for staying in a constant state.

I am ready to remain in the same state I am in and I don’t even need the revelation or anything above that. To the same extent that I give up the revelation and refuse to accept it, I discover the spiritual world in the same vessels, so there is the opposite outcome, as it always happens in our work since everything is built above the vessels of receiving.

Of course, everything is done by the Light that Reforms. Without the Light nothing will happen, and it is only the Light that performs all the changes and the corrections. We should never feel sorry that we don’t have them, but we should feel sorry only about “where is the Light that can correct us.” If we feel that we don’t have corrections, it is good; it is already the revelation of what we lack. In that case the Surrounding Light will come, the Light that Reforms, and correct us.
[98096]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/13

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Question: The connection between the women in the convention allowed us to see how great our men are and that they are ready to receive the Light in the desert. How can we hold on to this image inside us?

Answer: It is a wonder, but thanks to the fact that the women connected, they felt how special the work that the men do is. Before they didn’t feel that, this is called “From Your actions we shall know You,” by performing the same action, the women understand the men’s state. Now the women understand how the men connect, hug one another, and how they attain connection by collective actions.

Before the women didn’t feel that, since they were not together, they were not one vessel, one desire; they didn’t feel any advantage in that or any attraction or inclination to connect. But now they begin to feel this state. It is an example for all of us that we need “to do and to hear”; that’s how it works.

Thus the women could see how great the men are. Even if this image disappears right away, we shouldn’t be afraid of a descent, but rather accept it as an ascent. When the “hardening of the heart” comes, we will overcome it as fast as we can. The more ascents and descents there are, the more stubbornly we will hold on to one another, thanks to the mutual support.

We shouldn’t be scared; on the contrary, we should be happy: Let the descents come; we will accept them as ascents! We should only hold on to one another and reach the finish line quickly. However, those who stop and don’t want to descend get stuck in one place. We shouldn’t be afraid of the unpleasant feelings, but rather rise above these feelings.

Are we that dependent on our feelings? If the next day everything that happened during the convention disappears, this is the place to work, to try and keep yourself in this state, as if we haven’t left the convention hall.

The “hardening of the heart” that we feel now is given to us so that we will evoke this importance of the goal inside us by ourselves. But can I do that, of course not! This is why we were given a group, an environment that we have already built. According to the power of the environment that has already been built, I am now given a descent. A descent is a sign that I have to connect to the group even more strongly.

How can I connect if the connection has ended and this special opportunity is over? We have to try to keep the connection as hard as we can, even together with some other people, two or three other women by whom I can be impressed is enough. Indeed, if a person connects with someone outside himself, it doesn’t matter how many people there are: a million, a billion or just one. The main thing is that it is someone else, someone on the outside. So the main thing for me is to find a connection as quickly as possible and not to lose it.

A descent is a state in which I am detached from the environment; otherwise, it isn’t a descent, but simply an egoistic bad mood that has nothing to do with spirituality. A spiritual descent is only when one is detached and drawn away from the right environment.

If we understand that, we begin to see that all the ascents and descents are only with regard to the environment. A descent is when I am being drawn away from the environment, and the ego comes between the environment and me. I, on the other hand, have to overcome this ego and despite the ego, return in order to adhere to the environment again.

Then the ego is inserted between us again, and I am drawn further from the environment and constantly overcome this resistance and return, like a piston in an engine. I constantly return to adhesion above the new ego that is evoked each time, and so I end my work quickly, fill the measure of my exertion, the exertion needed to keep myself in adhesion with the group.

If a person completes this work by staying in adhesion, the adhesion with the Creator is revealed to him, the first spiritual level. So we shouldn’t be afraid of the descents, but we should be prepared for them, and on the contrary, we “should awaken the dawn” by ourselves and not wait for the dawn to awaken me.

Different states will come along: “Let there be evening and let there be morning.” The evening has already arrived while we can awaken the dawn by ourselves!
[98086]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/15/13, Writings of Rabash

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