Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/19/24
Posted on December 19th, 2024
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 31
Where Is the Point in the Heart Located and How Does it Affect Prayer?
The point in the heart is internal and, in truth, is not merely a point but an entire system. Like a computer virus, which is not just a simple disturbance but a unique program that knows how to integrate into the hardware components of a computer, and thus disrupt it, this program has its own structure and logic devised by clever minds. Likewise, viruses in the body and cancerous cells are complex biological programs that develop in a destructive manner.
We tend to describe the point in the heart as just a point, a desire that a person suddenly receives from above, a spark from the Creator, from a vessel of bestowal that enters the person. However, in reality, the point is a mechanism, an entire system that gradually reveals itself within a person’s heart.
From a Talk on the Article “What Is Half a Shekel in the Work? – 2” 5/21/2002
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Comment: Sometimes very well-prepared people join our group, those who have gone through MAK (the Russian Language Kabbalah Academy). However, they still have a very strong left line, but they are so “on fire” with our idea, they want everything to be perfect, for the group to grow, and they impose a lot of demands.
My Response: Yes, this is understandable. But the thing is, their demands might be unrealistic.
We are dealing with a human being. And a human is the most disgusting, the most egoistic, creature in our world. We know from our own experience how much effort it takes to deal with ourselves, to at least partially fit into certain frameworks.
Especially when we talk about the need to rise above ourselves, to restrict all our desires and intentions, and to start clothing ourselves in a completely different nature—the opposite one: instead of Malchut, Bina; instead of ourselves, the Creator.
A person—Adam—comes from the word “Domeh,” which means similar to the Creator. That is, to the extent that our qualities become similar to those of the Creator, we become Adam, a human. Until then, we are the most terrible animals.
I understand that newcomers are “on fire.” We were on fire too. But the thing is, this fire needs to be placed within certain boundaries. They need to understand what they are dealing with. This is not easy at all.
After all, “understanding” in Kabbalah means that people begin to feel internal changes within themselves, to work with them, and to sense how much they resist these changes.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”
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Question: What does it mean to turn to the Creator wholeheartedly?
Answer: “Wholeheartedly means all our thoughts, prayers, and goals are aimed only for the sake of the Creator. But we are not there yet. We do not turn to the Creator in complete bestowal between us.
Question: How do you direct all thoughts and desires to the Creator?
Answer: When you imagine that you have the desire for bestowal and ask the Creator for it, He will do it.
After all, the desire for bestowal must prevail over all desires revealed in you. This is a filter through which you look at all desires.
Question: If I have many different desires, how do I place this filter before them?
Answer: Importance! To the extent of the importance to you, be it the Creator or someone else, you will be at one level or another.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/24, Writings of Rabash “Delight Them with a Complete Building – 2”
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Question: It is said that from the Creator’s side, a person can receive a palace full of all the blessings in one day. So do we need to “die” every evening and be “reborn” in the morning?
Answer: No, not necessarily.
We usually say that every day we start with a clean slate, and all merits remain in the day we have lived. That is true, but you do not have to die to do it.
The meaning of this phrase is that the end of the day is like the end of a person’s life.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/24, Writings of Rabash “Generations”
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Question: Is Eretz Yisrael an ordinary state of descent or is it something special?
Answer: This is a state of a very great descent where a person does not exactly know what they are doing, what state they are in, or how they can rise from it. Therefore, they must ask and pray for the Creator to help them.
Question: In such a case, should one strive to rise, or is it enough to accept this state?
Answer: It is possible that the person lacks the strength to ask to rise. However, simply agreeing with this state is also not good, because it is neutral—neither here nor there.
Question: Then what is the person’s effort?
Answer: Their effort is in pleading with the Creator to help them rise and draw closer to Him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/24, Writings of Rabash “And Behold, the Lord Stood Over Him”
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Question: It is said that the ladder (Malchut) is set upon the earth, and the rulers of all nations ascend and descend on it. What does this mean?
Answer: It means that the ladder of spiritual ascent is meant for everyone. All who wish to draw closer to the Creator must master the process of ascending it.
Question: How can one reach Malchut to begin ascending the spiritual ladder?
Answer: We strive to determine where we stand in relation to this ladder and work with it in such a way that we are constantly ascending.
Question: How can this be defined within the tens?
Answer: It does not matter. Wherever you are, you must imagine how you can ascend while bringing joy to the Creator through the results of your efforts.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/24, Writings of Rabash “A Ladder Set on the Earth”
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Question: Does a person have the right to expect results from his work?
Answer: You must! Otherwise there is no incentive to work. In any case, we need to advance. We still need energy to move forward.
We cannot neutralize our desire, but can only change the intention from for our own sake to the intention for the sake of our friend.
Here we must rise above individuality, above ourselves, and think of how to connect the whole creation into one whole. Today we are beginning to see how much we need to understand nature as one aggregate whole.
All this is built on aspiration, on desire. The more our desire increases, the higher we rise.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19
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“Behold, a ladder was set on the earth.” What is a ladder? It is a degree on which all other degrees depend, meaning the Nukva [female], which is the rest of the degrees (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 371, “A Ladder Set on the Earth”)
We see before us an opportunity to ascend to the Creator, and this opportunity is called a ladder. Therefore, we use it in every possible way.
Looking at this ladder and striving to connect with it, we are constantly trying to climb it. This is the key to our correct development.
Question: Can the ladder be associated with the qualities of the Creator and the opportunity to express ourselves in these good qualities?
Answer: Yes, during our spiritual work, we can constantly ascend and be in such connection with the Creator that ultimately our path ends with us lifting the Creator above ourselves, ascending to Him ourselves, and feeling only the upper world.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/24, Writings of Rabash “A Ladder Set on the Earth”
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Question: How can you properly direct pride in the right direction?
Answer: This trait is our inherent nature, our sense of “self” that separates us from the Creator. My “self” stands between me and the Creator and acts as a barrier or screen. Therefore, I need to transform my “self” into a screen that facilitates interaction with the Creator.
To the extent that I aim to rise above my “self” and connect with the Creator, not by annulling myself completely, but by rising above myself, I perform a restriction (Tzimtzum) on my egoism. This means I refrain from using my ego and begin working toward becoming similar to the Creator, striving to be like Him.
This is essentially our work: to transform the separating screen into one that controls our ego, confines it, and allows us to work above it. We develop a spiritual screen and reflected light that enables us to calculate how to bestow upon the Creator and, to some degree, become like Him.
Thus, pride is necessary, we should not destroy it; instead, we should transform it into similarity with the Creator. Our pride, our “self,” and our ego remain intact, but we clothe them in various forms of resemblance to the Creator.
We already use this principle in our everyday lives. For example, we don’t behave in public like small children running around naked and doing whatever they please. We adopt various societal norms, “dress” ourselves in these behaviors, and project a certain image. The same applies in the spiritual realm.
If we want to resemble the Creator, we reveal Him by becoming like Him. When we clothe ourselves in His likeness, we become Adam, meaning “human,” derived from the word “Domeh”—similar to the Creator.
Therefore, our pride remains within, but we continuously “dress” it in new layers of similarity to the Creator. As we do so, we gradually become more human, just as in the physical world, where a child grows into a mature, educated, and respectful adult.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”
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