We do not go through the stage of the forefathers, through what happened in the beginning: Adam HaRishon, Babylon, the land of Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons, and the descent into Egypt. We begin to reveal ourselves already in Egypt. The earlier period refers to the “forefathers” and is included within us as spiritual genes (Reshimot), inner qualities.

Our actual work starts in Egypt where we eventually realize that we are in an egoistic desire and must escape from it since it gives us less and less life forces. It takes years to recognize this and to flee.

If we are together in a group during this process, we help one another. It is written: “And the children of Israel sighed from the work,” meaning “all together.” The entire exodus from Egypt happens together.

The Exodus is the departure from separation toward connection. It is not a physical departure from a geographical location. In Egypt, we discover that we are separated by our egoism. All the work during Egyptian slavery is in the fact that we attempt to connect to one another and fail. We come to see that Pharaoh stands between us and prevents our connection.

We keep working on our connection, and each time we reveal that it is impossible. Then Moses appears, kills the Egyptian, and flees to the desert for 40 years. All of this is constant ongoing work toward connection until Moses returns, goes to Pharaoh, and demands: “Let my people go”; that is, “allow us to connect.”

I want to connect with those who now seem alien to me. It is Pharaoh who shows them to me as strangers, and makes them appear as though they are not part of me. But I ask for the ability to unite with them. Let Pharaoh remain; I want to unite above him. Therefore I need a greater force, stronger than all his vast desire and egoism that twists me any way it wants.

It turns out that I need to ask for my egoism to shrink, to stop ruling over me. This is what I ask of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh replies: “Should I descend from my height, from my throne?!” He only hardens his heart, and so I need the Creator to be even stronger than Pharaoh.

This is Pharaoh’s role: to elevate the Creator in my eyes so I am forced to increasingly value the general force of bestowal that governs nature. Only it can give us the ability to connect with one another.

We must understand correctly what Egypt is. The Creator must constantly grow in my eyes or I will never be able to unite with my friends, which is what the Exodus means, and I will remain in slavery forever.

Egypt is separation. But where am I fleeing to? I want to unite above that separation, above the hatred, that is revealed to me, Mount Sinai (“the mountain of hatred”), and that is why I leave Egypt. This act is called the Exodus.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 2/05/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam “And It Came to Pass in the Course of Those Many Days”

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Question: What are the “vessels of the Egyptians?”

Answer: They are egoistic desires in their purest form. The golden vessels symbolize the degree of Behina Dalet, the silver ones symbolize Behina Gimel.

Question: We are learning that I should rise above my egoistic desires as much as possible, not use them, and unite with my friends. What does it mean that I borrow these desires from the Egyptians?

Answer: You ask the Egyptians for desires and intentions to bestow, and you use the little light they have.

You use it in your egoistic desires that go through the stage of recognition of evil, your oppositeness to the Creator. Thus you begin to rise above egoism by gradually rejecting it. This is when your exit from Egypt begins.

Question: The vessels the children of Israel borrow from the Egyptians, do they bring them along into the desert or do they later bring them into the land of Israel?

Answer: These are very good Kelim (vessels); they keep them. Later, at each stage, we can delve into what happens to them.
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From the 1^st part of the the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/16/24, Writings of Rabash “What Is the Need to Borrow Vessels from the Egyptians?”

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Question: How do we correct the Kelim (vessels) of the Egyptians in practice?

Each of us lives in our own “Egypt” and at the same time we strive to connect with our friends during the lessons. And it is like two different worlds. How can we correct these Kelim?

Answer: Try to connect with other friends with your Kelim and thus feel the common Kli in your unity. And it will already pull you up.

Question: It is said that the best way to increase the desire is to fall into egoism. Where is the guarantee that when I fall Moses and Aaron will come and get me out of there with my big desires?

Answer: It depends on how you work. You must descend into egoism with the intention, with the hope of, pulling out new Kelim from there with which you can move forward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/24, Writings of Rabash “What Is the Need to Borrow Vessels from the Egyptians?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 103

What Is the State of Rest?

Spirituality exists beyond the speed of light. It is in constant motion, not just in motion, but in a state of continuous acceleration. In spirituality, a constant speed is considered zero speed, a complete stop at rest. Only changes in speed, whether positive or negative, acceleration or deceleration, are perceived.

We can also observe this concept in aspects of this world. If a vessel is consistently filled with pleasure, it does not feel that it has received anything. There must be a new vessel, an additional desire, and accordingly, additional pleasure. More desire leads to more pleasure; less desire results in less pleasure.

But there must be a distinction between what was before and what follows. If what was before lasted ten hours, all those hours are perceived as a single moment. That which does not change is like a single instant. Whether it be a million years or a single second, it is the same.

Therefore, in spirituality, a state of absolute rest is actually a change in speed. This speed itself does not determine anything for us. We anticipate it throughout our every correction and remain constantly ready for change. This is the end of correction. The end of correction is called “eternal rest.” Some mistakenly think of it as death. In general, in our world, it is commonly thought that the next world is the dwelling place of the dead.

We should thus understand that only a state in which we can accept ourselves without any limitation—all restrictions, fulfillments, concealments, and revelations—is called a state of rest. True rest is boundless. In such a state, we are no longer burdened by effort. Nothing prevents us from acting as we wish.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 23, “What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work? Part 1”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 23, “What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work? Part 2”

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The great Kabbalists of the past prepared a spiritual system for us, just as we have prepared this world for the next generation that can make use of it. Imagine thousands of details surrounding a newborn and then accompanying them year after year throughout their development.

How much we have done so that a person can grow and enter this life correctly! At every stage we try to create something that will develop them, support them, and push them forward. Humanity has conducted a tremendous preparation for their birth. It is the same in the spiritual realm. We cannot even imagine what the Kabbalists have prepared for us.

Today you take their materials and start explaining to others what has already been clearly and explicitly written, and they do not even understand what you are talking about even though it is all explained so simply and logically. You see the ends in this world, the beginning in the upper world, and try to explain this to them.

They do not even perceive what concerns our world: free will, the system of governance, human behavior, the development of humanity under the influence of egoism, the reasons for crises, or our interconnectedness. Only a few people in the world speak about this at all, and even then they do not feel or perceive it. So how can we do without the sources? If only we could learn from our own mistakes.

Comment: Still, when you explain many things, I think that for future generations your texts will become just like the articles of Rabash are for us.

My Response: Maybe so. I am, in some sense, an intermediate link between this or the next generation and Rabash.

Of course, I see myself as someone who can be a connecting link, an adapter, between the Kabbalistic texts and people, because I explain what Baal HaSulam and Rabash wrote. My task is to create a point of contact between a person and the sources.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Importance of the Sources” 7/15/10

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Our goal is to achieve infinity, that is, an endless, unlimited adhesion with each other and with the upper force that connects and fills us.

I don’t see anything in this idea that a person couldn’t imagine. You could even animate this topic with little dots trying to come together, to connect, but they can’t because at micro-distances, there are forces of mutual repulsion.

On the surface, it looks like they are connecting, everything seems fine, but they can’t get any closer. When they try to come into real, close contact, special forces arise (well known to physicists), and at that point, the Creator is needed.

That is when they begin to feel that they need a special upper force that can help them overcome the barrier between them. Only then do they genuinely feel the need for this force, the Creator, feel its presence in nature, and call upon it.

It becomes clear to them that it has to be this way, and a request to the Creator arises. Then this force is revealed within them and connects them from within.

Such an animation could illustrate this process very clearly.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Properties of a Friend” 7/18/10

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Question: I have noticed that when I study material at the lesson, even if it is very logical and clear, it gets muddled in my mind. I cannot hear the whole sequence of sentences the same way as when I read or listen on my own.

For example, when I listen to the same lesson during the day, I have a sensation that everything is clear and makes sense. Why do I get this chaos during the lesson and what should I do with it?

Answer: During the lesson there are many inner processes going on, all kinds of searches, even interferences, because you are included in the lesson together with other people. Your inner network becomes too overloaded. It is quite possible.

Of course when you are sitting separately, and if it is in the afternoon rather than in the morning, after you have become stabilized somehow, then you can better absorb the lesson. In general there are different times. It depends on the person.

Question: Usually when people study together they either read or listen. But how is it possible to read and hear at the same time? Is it possible only when you are explaining?

Answer: I do not know. This is a matter of a habit. When I came to Rabash I too used to be very surprised: people were sitting together, reading aloud like school kids, everyone followed the text in his book, and some of them were moving their lips.

It is a commonly acceptable method where they take any source, read it together, and then begin to use their minds. This is the way people studied Torah at all times since it has been written.

However, we study in a slightly different way: we study in a semi-university, lecture-like approach where we read and I explain. In addition, these explanations could be long, with questions and answers, and with discussions.

In the past people studied Torah predominantly in pairs. It did not involve so many people as we have now, where 300 people sit in front of me.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Interference in Studies” 7/13/10

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 102

How, in the End, Do We Emerge from a State of Descent?

We emerge from a state of descent by lingering in it, recognizing our state in depth, and accepting it as one of the states that will bring us the letters of the work.

What are letters? They are the very vessels through which we later perceive the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun), which is a state we are already in, but we lack the vessels to feel it. The missing vessels, through which we sense the world of Ein Sof (infinity) and the end of correction, include two extremes, one of which is called “descent.”

A descent does not mean a complete loss of connection with reality. Rather, it is an awareness of the state and acceptance of the fact that at the moment there is weakness and lack of discernments. If we enter this state with understanding, we extract the maximum possible discernments from it. We treat ourselves as one who has been in darkness for a long time and are trying to see through it, to orient ourselves, to distinguish shadows and shades.

Nevertheless, we cannot work in a descent as we do in a state of ascent. This does not refer to the lowest states where we simply have to wait and where we must determine for ourselves: “Now, I will lie down.” “Lying down” refers to the inner state called the “root” or “still” state. Even in this state there are several discernments. In other words, every given state, up to a state of complete death, contains several discernments, which are referred to as “death.”

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