Audio Version Of The Blog – 8/5/25
Posted on August 5th, 2025
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It is written, “The Lord is high and the low will see,'”that only the low can see the exaltedness. The letters “Yakar” [precious] are the letters of “Yakir” [will know]. This means that one knows the exaltedness of a thing to the extent that it is precious to one.
One is impressed according to the importance of the thing. The impression brings one to a sensation in the heart, and according to the measure of one’s recognition of the importance, to that extent, joy is born in him (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 26, “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”).
It all depends on the degree of importance, which depends on the environment. If people are talking about spirituality everywhere, I am ignited with desire and begin to appreciate it although I have no idea what it is. Then I have the fuel, the strength, to follow the path and acquire something ephemeral, the subject of everyone’s conversation, which escapes my field of vision. This is not a problem; I am ready to follow others with my eyes closed.
This is how society “hypnotizes” me and pushes me forward. In our world, it ends up with me meaninglessly buying things I don’t have the slightest need for. But in a group, it pushes me toward a spiritual goal, which I gradually reveal until it comes out in its entirety. This whole path, all the steps of the spiritual ladder, are conquered only because I am imbued with the importance of the goal from the environment.
Thus, if one knows his lowliness, that he is not more privileged than his contemporaries, meaning he sees that there are many people in the world who were not given the strength to do the holy work even in the simplest way, even without the intention and in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], even in Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma, and even in preparation for the preparation of the clothing of Kedusha [holiness], while he was imparted the desire and thought to at least occasionally do holy work, even in the simplest possible way, if one can appreciate the importance of this, according to the importance one attributes to the holy work, to that extent he should give praise and thanks for it.
This is so because it is true that we cannot appreciate the importance of being able to sometimes observe the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Creator, even without any intention. In that state, one comes to feel elation and joy in the heart.
The praise and the gratitude one gives for it expand the feelings, and one is elated by every single point in the holy work, he knows Whose servant he is, and thus soars ever higher. This is the meaning of what is written, “I thank You for the grace that You have made with me,” meaning for the past, and by this one can confidently say, and he does say, “and that You are destined to do with me (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 26, “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”).
There is no one worthy to come to the Creator. Moreover, no one deserves to come to the Creator before others do. What kind of merit can there be?
Therefore, if a person is at least involved in the process, is drawn to spirituality although in fact the Creator is pulling him toward Himself, one should be grateful for it, it should be given great importance and significance. Because of the degree of importance and sensitivity a person has cultivated in himself, he feels how the Creator draws him upward in a mutual relationship. It turns out that the Creator is behind his entire story, behind all crimes and missteps through which He deliberately guides a person right up to the present day. Then a person begins to acquire a sixth sense—the sensation of the Creator. This is only in the measure of the importance he has.
Why is the formula so simple? Why do we only need to give importance to spirituality in order to evoke a response from the Creator?
In fact, this awareness of importance includes everything. For its sake, I must bow my head, as it is said: “The Lord is high, and the low will see.” I raise Him in my eyes, i.e., the property of giving, and lower myself, i.e., the property of receiving.
I take strength for that from the environment, which means I have to join it as a small one. After all, it is the small one who can learn from the great one because he really perceives them as such. That is why I join a group, and by doing so, I already develop the quality of bestowal, love for my neighbor, and unity.
At the same time, I also need to study the actions of the Creator: how He set up the whole reality. Also, I have to spread this message to others. After all, I honor Him, and therefore I find out what He wants. He wants to reveal Himself to everyone, to bestow to others, and so I act in this direction.
It turns out that the mere concept of the importance of the Creator is enough to add everything necessary, everything that exists in me, in the vessel, and before the light to this action.
[71872]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”
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It is written that “The Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one” (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 78); all these three components must be united. Baal HaSulam explains that Israel is a person who wants to return to his root as united, in similarity, that is, in mutual love with the Creator.
Torah is the stages he goes through in preparing himself for the need to unite in a group, a common desire, a request. Then the light comes, which manifests itself in a welded vessel.
But with regard to a broken vessel that wants to unite, this light is called the surrounding light that returns to the source. It corrects desires as much as possible, at the level friends are at, that is, at the level of our connection. Then their action is called the fulfillment of the 613 commandments, the correction of desires.
They perform these corrections at every opportunity available to them when the light awakens them to the next state. The light comes from infinity to their level and pulls them up a little higher each time. If they work this way, they eventually reach the final state, the goal of creation.
But there is nothing here except fulfilling the law of loving one’s neighbor as oneself. At each stage, when we ask for the reforming light, the light that returns to the source, it comes (that is, it awakens inside us), corrects, and unites us. This is called the Torah—its 613 lights that correct 613 egoistic desires by converting them all to bestowal.
Afterward, the revelation of the Creator is clothed in them; it is the general light that is revealed in the light of Hassadim, in the light of bestowal.
That is, all our work consists of: on the one hand, in annulling ourselves, on the other hand, in our growth, in order to be able to influence others, and in the connection between us realized by the light that returns to the source.
It is already among us; we just need to reveal it! After all, we do not feel the force of correction, but only ourselves when we become a little more corrected.
To become more corrected means to become inwardly closer to each other and connect, internally, not externally!. Due to this inner closeness, we begin to feel what connection means, the force of bestowal.
By getting to know the force of bestowal, we attain the Creator and begin to understand the purpose of creation, its program, reason, and the entire process we go through in revealing the actions of the Creator. In revealing the actions of the Creator to the creatures lies the pleasure we can give Him, so that all creatures recognize Him as a giver and bringer of goodness.
For those who want to advance and consider this the main goal, nothing will work except imagining a corrected state and always trying to get closer to it.
[50135]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/11, Writings of Rabash “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”
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…there is only one counsel then: to cling to his teacher and to the books. This is called “From the mouth of books and from the mouth of authors.” Only by clinging to them can he change his mind and will for the better. However, witty arguments will not help him change his mind…
In other words, all the concepts upon which he builds his building, saying one must always follow in the path of the Creator, is founded in Dvekut with his teacher. Thus, if he loses the foundation, all the concepts are powerless since they will now be lacking the foundation. (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 25, “Things that come from the Heart“)
When after many hardships, searches for the meaning of life, or attempts to suppress the inner questioning with antidepressants a path is finally revealed to a person, and he is brought to a Kabbalistic group and a teacher, he faces the task of changing how he sees himself and the world, transforming his perception.
To do this, he must follow the advice of the Kabbalists: “Make for yourself a Rav and buy yourself a friend.” In other words, he must attach to something outside of himself. If he replaces his own desire with the desire of another—of the teacher, the group, the friends, those close to him in spirit—he acquires a spiritual vessel through this.
He then moves from an egoistic approach where he perceives nothing more than this so-called world, to a perception through the group where he begins to feel the spiritual world.
Here, unity with the teacher is of great importance, because someone must bring the person into the group where he will acquire his spiritual vessel. Just as in life, there are childhood years before one grows up, and during this time one is guided and supported by parents, society, and an entire system.
When a person matures and enters life, he finds his place in this system and can exist independently. But first, someone must give birth to him, guide him through childhood, and help him stand on his own two feet. This guide, this educator, is the teacher—or as he is called in Kabbalah, Rav (great one). This is a spiritual concept and not a physical body.
Rav is the higher part of the general system, who cares for the students just as the spiritual Partzufim Aba ve-Ima care for ZON in order to raise them upward. Why are we given the sensation of this higher part of the system in the form of a physical person living in our world? So that we can be awakened in some way through events of this material life and feel that we have support.
The measure of a person’s spiritual advancement is how closely he follows the teacher’s advice regarding spiritual actions, how much he acts with faith above reason, that is, replacing his own opinion with the teacher’s, his own values with the values of the upper one. Along this path, there are many ups and downs: from love for the teacher to hatred toward him, many doubts, questions, and clarifications.
A person goes through many states and must experience them all. But the key is to hasten the process and realize that he has been given the opportunity to rise above himself and cling to the upper one even in a material way: through a physical person, through that person’s desires, thoughts, teachings, help, and submission to his advice, which is often contrary to one’s own opinion, calculations, and pragmatic logic.
Ultimately, he realizes that he cannot pass the exam of devotion and union with spirituality if he does not first pass it in relation to his teacher.
As Baal HaSulam says in his Speech for the Completion of The Zohar:
“Serving one’s teacher with body and soul leads to unity with him—that is, to similarity of form. In this way, the student receives the thoughts and knowledge of the teacher ‘mouth to mouth,’ through the merging of souls. By this, he attains the greatness of the Creator to such a degree that bestowal becomes reception, turning into the energy sufficient to place his entire soul and being into achieving adhesion with the Creator.”
Thus, merging with the teacher is a means for spiritual advancement. Through it, one transitions from learning “mouth to ear” to the spiritual transmission of information “mouth to mouth,” through an internal channel that arises between the student, the teacher, and the upper system.
Of course, this is merely a means for attaining adhesion with the Creator. Just as a father and mother are the means through which a person is born, grows, and becomes ready for independent life, so too are these systems—the teacher, the group, and the books—absolutely essential. One cannot do without them.
[101770]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/1/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Things that Come from the Heart”
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“From above they give giving, and take, they do not take” (as all that is given from above is not received in return, but stays below). Hence, if one extends something from above and then blemishes it, it remains below, but not with the person. Instead, it falls to the sea of the Sitra Achra (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 35 “Concerning the Vitality of Kedusha”).
I drew the light, but I am unable to retain it. In the first moment, I reached equivalence with the light, and it was revealed within my desire. But already in the next instant, a new, uncorrected informational record (Reshimo) was revealed in me, which needed to be adjusted anew to the light.
But I didn’t do that, and therefore the previous light disappears from me. In truth, the light remains; it is just that I cease to feel it because my desire has been renewed.
From the illumination I received, I must learn how to continue next time: to prepare the desires, the foundation, the forces, the mutual guarantee, the confidence, in order to draw the light for the sake of bestowal. Each time, my participation must grow greater and greater.
At every following moment a new Reshimo is revealed that no longer matches the previous state. A stronger desire emerges, and opposite it a greater light. I must align the desire to the light by applying greater effort. But I did not do this; I was not prepared, and therefore I lost the illumination of the previous state.
The system is initially built in such a way that I am never immediately ready to receive the light. Since my vessel is broken, a corrupted desire is revealed along with a light opposite to it, which, of course, I am unable to receive at that moment. It is written about this: “There is no righteous person on earth who does good and does not sin.” And after every transgression, a correction, a commandment, is revealed, because “It is impossible to perform a commandment before transgressing it.”
First, there is always a revelation of the shattering. That is how we advance, we fall, and we rise. Without a descent, there is no ascent, no correct use of the desire to receive, because the desire is only revealed through the feeling of descent.
The desire becomes suitable for work only after being impressed by the qualities of the light. This occurred at the time of the shattering. Due to the light entering the desires, the shattering happens, the boundary between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow breaks down, and these desires intermingle.
Within creation, the qualities of the light and the qualities of the vessel mix. Thus, through the shattering, creation acquires the attributes of the Creator, even though it perceives itself as corrupted and broken. But this unpleasant feeling stems precisely from the sense of being opposite to the Creator, that is, because the Creator is present within creation and is revealed in it.
This is already their meeting, contact, and revelation. Therefore, only after the shattering can we truly speak of a creation that stands opposite the Creator. The creation can now neglect the Creator and desire to rule independently: this impure force (Sitra Achra) is our true nature, the sense of our opposition to the Creator.
This is an advanced state, because now there is a connection with the Creator and an awareness of its opposition within creation. The creation knows the Creator and knows itself, and still insists: “I will rule!” From this point on, correction becomes possible, but not before. This occurred during the shattering of the Second Temple and the subsequent exile, and therefore, only now, today, have we become ready for correction, and not earlier.
[256768]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/4/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Concerning the Vitality of Kedusha”
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Question: The ARI lived 500 years ago. At that time, there was a certain awakening. Today too, an awakening is taking place, as many are beginning to study Kabbalah. What is special about our time, 500 years later?
Answer: In the time of the ARI, his books did their work and attracted many people. Then Baal HaSulam hurried to meet the people with the commentaries he wrote on the books of the ARI.
It is the same today. We can go out to people and feel how the books of the ARI have become part of their daily use, they study them.
Essentially, there is nothing new here. The only thing we want is that the attitude of the ARI toward the wisdom of Kabbalah, toward the attainment of the Creator, toward ascending the steps of the spiritual ladder, could be realized by us.
That is why we study the conditions by which we must draw closer to the Creator.
[346689]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/2025, “”Memorial Day for the ARI””
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati #39 “And They Sewed Fig Leaves” (10.30.2021)
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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 74,(7.16.2006)
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3rd part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Correction of the Heart”
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