Who are these “felons of Israel”? The discussion concerns a person’s relation to the Creator, since in reality there is nothing besides the Creator and the creature.

Everything else that appears before our eyes exists only within this imaginary corporeal world. If I realize that in my connection with the Creator all my actions, or part of them, are not directed for His sake but for my own benefit, then I call myself a felon of Israel.

A person may think that they are righteous, that they are working for the good of the country, society, or family, but of course this is self-deception. If they do not work for the sake of the Creator, then it means they work for himself. And if they wish to work for the Creator, they must first direct themselves toward Him and only then turn to all the means available to them in order to use them for connection with the Creator. Then even in disturbances they will be able to see help for strengthening the connection with the Creator. Everything depends on the intention.

Therefore, one who directs oneself straight to the Creator and wishes to clarify his or her state must examine one’s relation to the Creator from all sides, and from this decide who he or she really is. If a person calls oneself a felon of Israel, that is, directed not straight to the Creator but in the opposite direction, it means that one has made a deep analysis of one’s qualities and intentions. This is already a very high degree, a springboard toward correction.

Before a person becomes a felon, he cannot become righteous, as it is said that “a person does not perform a commandment unless he first violates it.” First there must be the revelation and recognition of evil, and only afterward will there be distancing from evil and good deeds.

A felon of Israel is a state in which a person can see whether he has deviated from the direct direction toward the Creator (Yashar-El). To a person who strives to become Israel, the light comes and shows him that in fact he is opposite.

If he tries to direct himself precisely to the Creator in a straight line without deviating even slightly to the right or to the left, then he discovers that he is turned to face exactly the opposite direction, not toward the Creator, but toward himself.

As long as a person deviates from the direct line toward the Creator, one will not even fall into a Klipa. Various disturbances only arise for a person in order to return him or her to the straight line, straight to the Creator. But if a person aligns oneself precisely with the Creator, then one will see the Klipa. Therefore, until a person directs oneself straight to the Creator, he will not see himself as a felon.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/26, Rabash, “The Felons of Israel”

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