Question: What is the difference between a person who is controlled by Pharaoh and a person who is controlled by the Creator?

Answer: It is the same domination, the same power. Pharaoh is revealed very slowly as a great power until he is fully revealed in the full power of the 49 gates of impurity.

The Creator is also revealed slowly and gradually in the 49 gates of Holiness and then also in the 50^th gate of Holiness, after which we transcend to receiving in order to bestow. It is the same force that operates in an opposite manner.

I have to feel the darkness and with respect to it, the Light, then the darkness again and the Light on top of it. This is the only way I discover my years of slavery in Egypt, my state in Egypt. My background is black and on it I write with the white Light. And then the background will be white on which I will write with black ink.
[133400]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/14, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What is laziness in the work?

Answer: Laziness is heaviness in our work, a lack of motivation, a lack of vigor and fuel, meaning, a lack of importance. Rabash gives a simple example: If one’s house were on fire and one needed to escape the fire, nobody would be lazy and continue sleeping. Everyone would jump out of bed and flee.

If one’s life isn’t in danger, one can say no matter what happens, what will be, will be,  and might take a sleeping pill to sleep more deeply.  Everything depends upon the importance.

There is no laziness or excitement; there is only a sense of the importance of the goal, the next state. If we are talking about a process which is repugnant to our nature, which like all animals, egoistically is drawn to rest, to fulfillment; how can one work for the fulfillment of others? This is simply impossible.

Can a car travel without fuel? Certainly not, it needs fuel. Without this it will not move! Whereas we want to reach a state in which we can advance without fuel. So how is it possible to do this without fulfilling ourselves with a nice and tempting goal? We are not ready to do this.

And here we are confused and don’t understand how to advance, where, to what goal, how to go through this whole process? This is because we truly must begin to work without fuel for our desire for pleasure, to work without an attractive goal for the ego that says it must be filled. We must go to the perpetual motion machine, towards an engine that uses an absolutely different fuel and performs other work.

We just don’t understand how such a thing can exist in reality. This is like a machine that works by itself on some invisible fuel and gets the power of movement by acting for the sake of others, fulfilling them, and doing everything for their good.

I don’t require anything for itself. It’s a miracle, and everything works. I check, does it have fuel? There is no fuel! Is there electricity? There is no electricity! Maybe it at least enjoys benefit from what it is doing? I check, it has no benefit from this! So how can it work?! Thanks to a miracle, a wonder, the power of bestowal! Why? There is no answer.

So how must we proceed towards a state like this where we will be like that machine? This is the whole question. The process moves us towards this, and we must grasp only one thing in it all the time: Connection – connection – connection. And so we pass through the states that are called the forefathers, the entire history of their development after leaving Babylon, then the entry into Egypt, seven years of satiety, seven years of famine, the plagues of Egypt, and the exodus from there.

All this happened only thanks to some kind of higher power that is unknown to us. From the connection between us, I discover all these states called seven years of satiety and seven years of famine, the ten plagues, and the escape from the previous state.

I flee from this entire old paradigm because it cannot help me any more with anything. I see that everything that I have done until now lacks value, and I discover something new here: the possibility of understanding, feeling, and working like that perpetual motion machine that works without fuel, without self-interest, and without fulfillment.

This machine works completely on the basis of a higher power. Suddenly some kind of illumination reaches it from Above and it begins to spin by itself as long as the illumination is in it. And then it’s ready to connect with others, to perform actions, to radiate energy from itself. This is simply amazing; this is the miracle that we have been waiting for so much.
[133256]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/14, Writing of Rabash

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Preparation for the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 26

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Tetzaveh” 

Writings of  Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 

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Opinion (Olga Makhovskaya, PhD, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, fellow of the international scientific programs in Russia, USA and France, bestselling author for parents): “Despite the fact that formally the standard of living grows, its quality is not increased. Such ‘orphan’ regulation, which provides that that the child is nourished and has clothes, remains the main reference. From the point of view of psychology, it is the minimum task. A child becomes primarily an expense.

“Therefore, many children grow up with an orphan complex, emotionally hungry. Childhood itself became longer. Giving birth to children, we think that the main thing is to bring them to 18 years. But now adolescence is delayed until 25-27 years. The emancipation of children now is provoked mainly by parents – we start to ‘push them out’ of the nest …

My Comment: Previously, the family was a “natural” environment, with grandparents, games in the yard, hiking, and closeness to nature. In the 20^th century, we broke away from nature and family. In the 21^st century, we are confused and have lost our landmarks.

After all, the family is something very natural, as if formed by itself. It is necessary to build a new format of the family and society on a new level where everything is built from the union with and similarity to nature.
[134041]

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Question: How do we acquire the power of faith?

Answer: We acquire faith through a request. But the request must be as close as possible to the power of faith. This means that I must clarify why I need faith and how I give shape to this demand inside of me. Through my demand, I attract the power of faith to me, like using a magnet, forcing it to be revealed in me.

The difficulty is that it’s impossible to want the power of faith without acquiring it. This is a closed circle, one contradicts the other. But in my physical state, I “pretend,” playing as if I need the power of faith and am bestowing, then this power illuminates me from a distance. It hasn’t yet reached me because I don’t yet have a true deficiency for it. But I pretend as if I have a deficiency for it, and this attracts the Light that Reforms to me that changes me.

With the help of exercises like these, time after time, I attract more and more Surrounding Light and begin to become familiar with the characteristic of bestowal. Even in the dark, I can identify which actions are greater or lesser acts of bestowal. I learn to orient myself in the dark, even work with Pharaoh, to play with him.

During this game, the power of faith begins to illuminate me from a distance. But only on condition that I invest effort in being like it; I attract it, draw it into me, so I am changing a bit all the time. This period of concealment is called work in Lo Lishma, through which we reach Lishma.

The only thing that we need now is the power of faith. And for this we must carry out physical actions, because in the spiritual world, we still cannot do anything. So we make a game in a group, with dissemination, we build systems that are like spiritual systems, like children imitating adults.

Children and even animal cubs do this naturally, and we don’t; so we need to play. Children also attract the Light that Reforms and that is how they develop. All creatures develop according to this principle.

This is the difference between inanimate matter and the matter of higher levels that are capable of development: the vegetative, animate, and speaking. They have the ability to play with the next level and do this to attract the Light that Reforms to themselves. This is the goal of the game with whose help plants, animals, and humans develop. Within their cells there is a mechanism that makes it possible for them to play at being more mature, which draws them towards reaching that. This is like our game in a group, but with them it is done automatically, mechanically. So plants or animals attract additional Light, and through this they grow. The same principle exists everywhere.

We must do this consciously, and with them, it’s not through desire, rather it’s done by nature. But every creature, meaning plant, animal, or human, all of them attract Surrounding Light. In humans this is expressed more prominently because they always aspire toward building something new, reaching new heights. That is how new Reshimot from a higher level are revealed, forcing us to attract the Light that Reforms.

The main thing is not to forget that it’s up to us to work, not in order to remove the concealment, but in order to attract the Surrounding Light, the power of faith. It’s up to us to go less deeply into bad thoughts, bad desires, and characteristics, for “you are wherever your thoughts are.” We must think how it’s possible to emulate the appropriate action for the Light more and more. And then the Light will influence us.
[133224]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/14, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can we help each other keep the happiness and gratitude towards the Creator during these difficult states that are discovered during the exodus from Egypt?

Answer: Certainly we discover difficult states. Lately, I have been getting complaints and claims from many groups. Lots of different people are writing about this; problems have intensified in the groups and friends are getting into arguments; they cannot even look at each other. Someone stops coming, someone completely leaves.

There are groups that have suddenly divided into several groups. Someone gets an idea to organize his own group and he takes some friends and disconnects from the rest. A lot of different problems are revealing. But we must understand that they are all contributing to progress on the way. These are breakdowns that one cannot do without. So I relate to them all very calmly.

If you see the lessons and somehow try to apply what is said practically, then you will advance. And if you don’t agree or hear and are not ready to realize it, then I cannot do anything. I am very limited in my work.

But you need to know that all these serious difficulties were created just before the approach of the exodus from Egypt. This means that we are under the control of our ego and it could be that we are already approaching the 49 gates of impurity.

Each and every level has its own 49 gates of impurity. Every level begins and ends with them. It is said, “Whoever is greater than his friend, his desires are greater.” And on the higher levels, much greater signs of the 49 gates of impurity develop than were in Egypt. But for us they are perceived as serious problems.

It is understood that the pressures on a child are much smaller than on an adult. But for a child these problems seem important and intolerable. So I warn the groups that feel crushed, that now is the best time to connect and come together. It could be that thanks to this, you will be able to make a leap that is called spiritual birth, the exodus from Egypt. This is possible precisely from states where you cannot get any agreement.

It is worthwhile to gather all of this sediment, all of these problems, all of the shattering, and to try to connect. Then new situations will be discovered where we cannot tolerate each other. And we again try to connect. And so within a short period, within a few hours, you will be able to reach spiritual birth.

But pay attention, until this has happened, the states will be intolerable and there will be a need to connect above the hatred, above the rejection, above the distances and above all kinds of calculations. This is not very easy or pleasant, but there is nothing else to do.
[133150]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/14, The Zohar

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Question: When I heard about the exodus from Egypt a couple of years ago, I imagined that we would soon come out of Egypt. But now I feel that I am very far from being born, and it seems that I haven’t even attained the state of an embryo. What should I focus on?

Answer: How did you picture this exodus? Like lovely drawings of your successes. You thought that you would come out of Egypt and become strong, would manage everything and discover all the secrets, all the information and feelings, and would be able to understand, feel, and become almighty, eternal, and whole. This is how you pictured your exodus from the ego.

But now you are forced to agree that the exodus from Egypt symbolizes the opposite. Before you assessed it egoistically, but in fact, the exodus from Egypt symbolizes that I have nothing and that I don’t want anything! I only want to connect with everyone in order to give everyone everything.

I want to exit myself, to pour myself into everyone in order to connect with them and to take care of them like a mother who takes care of her babies, without any self benefit, without any profit. The main thing is that I will be able to have the desire to take care of them, which means resembling the Creator.

This is what I want and this is what I call the exodus from Egypt. This is what I see as my redemption: to receive a desire and ability to resemble the Creator by that. I want to resemble the Creator not for my own sake, because I see my profit only in that, but in order to be able to bestow absolutely and not feel anything for myself.

Not to feel for myself can also be rewarding. If I suffer now by not feeling myself, then I also get rid of the pain. This means that any condition of exiting myself to bestowal can be interpreted as beneficial for the ego.

But if we also operate with regard to the group, then everything becomes simpler and more real. Then I only need to yearn to connect with everyone in order to serve them, take care of them, and give them everything that they need by providing them with all their corporeal and spiritual needs.

In corporeality we have to help within the limits of necessity, while in spirituality it is until the end of correction. This is redemption for me since this is how the Creator treats the created beings. Today you are closer to that than you were before, and the whole difference is made by the Light.

The story of the exodus from Egypt describes the advanced stages before the actual exodus as very fast. First, history develops very slowly: seven years of satiation seem very long with all the details.

But the last phases are restricted and concentrated, and you are actually in them right now. It’s possible to compress them to action immediately one after the other and then quickly exit. Coming out of Egypt, piercing the Machsom (barrier), as we once shouted, means to continue yearning for connection, for mutual service within the group.
[133146]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/14, The Zohar

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Question: How can dissemination during this special time of Passover contribute to the first connection between us?

Answer: Dissemination helps with this even more strongly than work with the friends. In going out, we feel an even greater need for the friends. We understand that our success or failure in external dissemination depends upon the group: on its dimensions and power, its support.

And besides this, we cannot leave Egypt without taking the Egyptian vessels. When we go out for external dissemination, we connect; we join these vessels, these foreign deficiencies, together. In the meantime, we don’t join them to our connection; we will need them later. But if we don’t gather these vessels now, we will not leave Egypt.

Otherwise we don’t have any reason to leave: What will we connect in the desert? We will be born, and what’s next? Through what will we grow? Growth is only possible due to the fact that even now, before the exodus from Egypt, we will go and gather the Egyptian’s desires. These are the regular materialistic deficiencies: food, sex, family, money, respect, and knowledge; the Egyptians cannot have other deficiencies.

But after this, we sanctify them: First, we pass them through the “Golden Calf,” and after that, we begin to correct. This means that we discover what these desires themselves are: “The silver and gold vessels of the Egyptians” that are cast into the Golden Calf are from Egypt, and after that we gradually correct it.
[133137]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/14, The Zohar 

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