A person should believe that all those thoughts that the will to receive brings him are sent to him from above because he wants to walk on the path of bestowal, and in the meantime he is idle in the work.

When it is apparent that the person is idle in the work [and does not send signals of a desire to move forward], he is sent the foreign thoughts that a person cannot agree to be under such a control (Rabash, Article, 44, “What Is an Optional War, in the work – 2?”).

A person begins to feel pushed backward, and this awakens a deeper understanding within him that he is no longer on the path to the goal. He realizes how low his state has become, something he could not imagine before. He sees himself as having abandoned the goal, no longer thinking about it, striving for it, or actively pursuing it.

However, he must come to understand that it is precisely at this moment that the Creator is working with him. Even though it seems as if he has been entirely abandoned, that he has nothing left, and that the Creator is unwilling to give him good desires, this is not the case.

The person must realize through study, the help of friends, and work on himself that this state is a way the Creator draws him closer. He awakens negative emotions by seemingly pushing him away as if “flirting” with him. This distance arouses in the person a longing for the Creator.

As it is written, “My beloved is like a gazelle,” which flees yet turns its head back. In the same way, the Creator seemingly hides, turns His “head” back to stir within us a sense of separation.

This is done intentionally to rekindle our yearning for Him. When a person feels the longing and strives to reunite with the Creator, this begets in him longing and craving to cling to the Creator. This longing gives rise to the qualities and desires that allow him to reveal the Creator.

It is similar to how, in our world, we move closer to each other or further apart, awakening various states in each other. The Creator uses this same principle to constantly draw us nearer to Him, awakening within us a sense of distance and waiting for us to ask for closeness.

Thus, our forward movement is built on the feeling that we seemingly are distanced from the Creator, but this occurs along the left line. Subsequently, in the right line, we feel we are coming closer to Him.

The left step brings the feeling of separation from the Creator, yet it is actually a step toward closeness. It simply manifests as a feeling of greater darkness and distance, which leads to greater closeness. This process is natural. As in our world, the greater the love, the deeper the yearning; one cannot exist without the other.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writing of Rabash “What Is an Optional War, in the work – 2?”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Arvut,” On the Way to Lishma

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 5, “The Meaning of Sins Becoming as Merits”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 33

Where Should We Place Our Focus?

We should look only within ourselves, at our own qualities, and not at the world or others, which we cannot truly understand. Even when looking within, we must do so from a perspective that is aimed at correction. If we cannot examine ourselves from this perspective, we should not delve into our own qualities until we have prepared ourselves for proper self-reflection. Doubts, fears, and caution help us accurately perceive our current state and our resources.

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In each state we have two lines: the Creator and the created being, bestowing and receiving.

These two lines are opposite to each other; it is impossible to find any connection between them. And the more we advance, the further these lines diverge.

The middle line, which lies between them, is not exactly their connection. These two lines reach the very bottom, and the middle line begins above, in the upper one.

I will never be able to connect the two lines in my current state, only on condition that I include myself in the upper one, cancel myself before Him, and rise to the next level.

When I am already there, the two lines that I felt before, at the previous level, join into one, and no longer contradict each other, although before that they were absolutely opposite to each other.

The middle line is always above the other two, and it is reached by rising above reason, which means “at the next level.” And then the contradiction disappears.

We are given these contradictions on purpose so that we are not able to cope with them, and then they force us to rise higher.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/31/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam Letter 13, 1925

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Question: What does it mean to enter the quality of the Creator if I am opposite to this quality?

Answer: If you can nullify your egoism, then to that extent you can connect with a friend. To the extent that you can connect with a friend, you can connect with the Creator. That is all.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”

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Question: Does the Creator treat us like an experienced trickster treats a simpleton?

Answer: You can think of it that way. You have to always be on guard, because otherwise He will twist you around His finger and manipulate you as He wants.

And no matter how much you want to dissociate yourself from this, you will not be able to, because even before He begins to twist you again (and He twists you nonstop), He instills such thoughts and desires in you to which He initially knows your reaction. After all, where do all your actions, desires, thoughts, and your very essence come from? It is all from Him!

So He does not have to wonder about what your reactions will be; He does not need them; in fact, He does not need your entire path. It is you who needs it for your development.

Only as a result of the consistent, progressive development of “darkness–light” and “left line–right line” will you accumulate a certain amount of sensations that will ultimately give you the opportunity to feel Him, the Creator Himself.

This will develop in you awareness, feelings, and understanding of one against the other: darkness–light, different colors, different sounds, all the nuances of shades that you must master in order to perceive Him.

In other words, it is a progressive, sequential movement in your development, but the Creator personally does not need it. He is interested in your development to His level. The upper light desires to see you equal to itself, and that is why it acts upon you in this way. So there is no point to play games with the Creator, although you may do so on our path, and it is necessary.

Whether you view Him as a trickster or benevolent is up to you. The main thing is that you develop. You can relate to Him as you wish; it does not matter to the Creator, as He is the Absolute. All your reactions are clear in advance. They are of no interest to anyone in the spiritual at all, except yourself.

When it is said that a person introduces certain corrections or does something in the upper worlds, it is only in relation to the person himself. And the Creator does not need anything, as we think in our world.

We are dealing with the absolute, and all our internal changes are necessary only in order to begin to feel Him, to become similar to Him. That is, we will become as absolute as He is.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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If everything in the universe originates from the Creator, then what remains? What remains is a very intriguing component: my effort to sustain the perspective that everything comes from Him.

Let us suppose I have attuned myself to this perspective, but within a minute it disappears, slips away, or distorts. At one moment I might feel as if I exist independently, and the world around me revolves by the Creator’s hand. At another moment, it seems that all my parameters are shaped by the Creator within me, while the external world appears either stable or fluctuating, but somehow separate.

So if I want to reveal the Creator, I must continuously work within concealment. Concealment lies in recognizing that everything is conditioned by Him and that “There is none else besides Him.” My task is to properly perceive myself and the world, to separate what does not pertain to me from what constitutes my “self”—my efforts.

And even within these efforts, I must analyze what is truly mine in my efforts, and what has been created in me by the Creator. It may have seemed to me that something was my own doing.

Even if yesterday it seemed that I personally wanted to follow the Creator’s path, I must still correct myself and acknowledge that it was the Creator who granted me this opportunity and not my own doing.

Thus we see that the work within concealment begins to take shape as a clear delineation of where “I” ends and where the Creator begins. Does “I” even exist, and what is this “I”? It is evident that my physical body is temporary.

If my thoughts and feelings are not “me,” then it follows that only through correctly discerning our efforts to form a perception of “self and the surrounding world” might we find something that is truly ours.

Clearly, this “mine” will not encompass the fundamental parameters of the world or myself, as these were predetermined long before me. Therefore it is in my attempts to construct an internal view of the world that my “self” might be found, a result of my search for the Creator, for truth, and for the meaning of life. And this “self,” essentially, is what is called “my soul.” This is the essence of the work within concealment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”

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Question: It is hard for me to overcome egoism, maybe because I am a woman. I feel when the Creator is near, I have the greatness of the goal, I am drawn forward, and do not need to overcome anything. But when the Creator distances, something needs to be done, maybe some physical actions.

At the same time, it is said that when the Creator moves away, He waits for prayers and requests to get closer to us. Does it mean we must always think about the ten and pray for it?

Answer: Usually, women, as in our world, do a lot of work aiding in the advancement of men. This in no way detracts from their participation in spiritual work. On the contrary, women’s work is Malchut, Bina, and reaching Keter. Keter, Bina, Malchut, all these three components are feminine. The men are Hochma and Zeir Anpin, i.e., the influence of the upper light.

So don’t diminish women’s work in any way although it manifests itself precisely in dissemination, the processing of materials, and all types of help.

A woman, as in our world, is created by nature to maintain, shape, and strengthen our Kli. This is a binding material. It is impossible to do without it. Therefore, the female part is Malchut, this is its primary function.

You need to look at yourself as a woman, and then you will find your application in the correct decision of the women’s group because a women’s group cannot be the same as a men’s group.

Men can be directly connected among them. They run around, bounce, play something. Women cannot be that united. Everyone is on her own; therefore, they unveil themselves when helping the men’s group.

Therefore, we must consider the women’s group as a group that exists alongside the men’s. Although this is gradually being leveled nowadays, as in our lives, we still need to understand this is how the women’s group actualizes itself more. After all, men cannot do without their support.

It is the same in our world. How can a man live without a family and without being served? He is still a child. Therefore, this correct combination is critical in the spiritual movement.

In our world, a woman is a home, a support, an environment from which a person grows, and so it is in the spiritual world. Therefore, the women’s group should be stronger and more numerous than the men’s.

We see this everywhere: a small men’s group and, next to them, a pretty large women’s group. And that is right, that is how it should be. Of course it is not in such a proportion as in our world where there are 5% more women than men, but much more.

In Kabbalah, there are two to three times more women than men because a tree needs a lot of land to grow. This is how their combination should be to help each other in their spiritual realization.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Question: While working on ourselves, we begin to feel a sense of responsibility as we realize the value of the left line and learn to cover it with the right. When does this moment of responsibility arise?

Answer: The awareness of such responsibility and the ability to act on it come gradually.

It is one of the stages of our development when we understand that overcoming the egoism that separates us from our friends in the group draws greater illumination from the upper light or, in other words, brings the Creator closer. Therefore all the work lies in achieving closeness.

This is why the Creator shattered the vast vessel (Kli) that He created, which is the soul called “Adam,” from the word “Domeh” (similar to the Creator). This structure broke into countless fragments.

Imagine a piece of dough thrown into a bucket of water. Gradually, the dough absorbs the water, and the water fills its pores. The water, which fills the spaces between the fragments of dough, represents the egoism that pushes us apart.

Initially we were all gathered as one small piece, created by the Creator. Then His force of bestowal and love, the upper light, poured onto this small desire and caused it to shatter into pieces.

Now we must reassemble these pieces along with the water that separates them. By doing so, we will achieve a greater state compared to the original one, as the water that expanded the pieces will now contribute to their unity and allow us to feel the Creator within ourselves.

The water represents the Creator’s attribute, and we must unite with it. The very force that now divides us must be transformed into a connecting one. This process is called the gradual revelation of the Creator within us. It is our purpose and the essence of our development.

Thus, egoism is essential; we simply need to use it correctly.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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