We study that there are various actions performed by the Kelim (vessels) through the screen and through discernments. If we truly clarify the essence of these actions, we see that this is, first, an awareness of what is happening to me, who is doing it to me, why, and what is wanted from me.

After we discern all these states, they are replaced by new, better states. That is, a person has no control over the actions; the Creator performs them. But the person, being the sensing element, must discern within their sensations what is actually happening to them. And as soon as one discerns a given state, it is replaced by another one. They discern another state, and once again it is replaced by a new one.

The discernment includes the following elements: what I feel, who sent it to me, and for what purpose. This is called the work of correcting the perception.

In reality, we are already in the corrected state, in the world of infinity, and all that we need is to correct the obscurity (the clouding) in our organs of perception. In fact, I do not even need to correct them. What is important is to be constantly aware that I am in darkness, and then the darkness becomes clarified.

To the extent that I understand how negative the state of darkness is, I reveal the Achoraim, the reverse side. Then the Achoraim (concealment) is replaced by the state of Panim (revelation). Thus, all actions consist only of our inner effort.

We must make an effort to find a way to unite my “I” (myself) and the Creator into one whole. As Baal HaSulam writes in a letter: “Only upon this point must I concentrate my efforts, sharpening my focus more and more.”

And if I do this, that is my action. Then all this fog becomes increasingly clear until I discover myself in my original corrected state. I will reveal that I am already in the state of the final correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/26, Rabash, “What Is, “There Is None as Holy as the Lord, for There Is None Besides You,” in the Work?”

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Question: What does it mean to fulfill the commandments “in practice”?

Answer: “In practice” means performing an actual spiritual action, when you lay the foundation of a Masach (Screen) over your desire. In his articles, Rabash is not speaking about commandments such as putting on Tefillin every morning, but about correcting desire.

Why do you call putting on Tefillin in the morning a “commandment in practice,” rather than the inner action of correcting your desire? Within you there are 613 desires, and these are what you must correct. It is for this purpose that you have gone through many reincarnations.

Would you like another reincarnation? Very well. And another after that? You will have that as well. But in the end, you will have to correct the 613 desires in your soul. Precisely them, this is what the Torah speaks about. At the same time, you should perform the corresponding actions in this world, that is, observe the commandments as they exist in this world. But what you truly wish is to correct yourself with respect to the spiritual world.

Comment: There seems to be a certain distinction here.

My Response: There is indeed a distinction, but it should not lead you astray. What does this distinction consist of? Am I to blame because I am not a Cohen or a Levite? True, I cannot perform the commandments that apply specifically to Kohanim or Levites in this world. But spiritually, I must fulfill them.

Am I to blame because, for example, I am not a firstborn or  a woman? A woman has commandments that I do not. Thank God, I am neither a widower nor divorced, but they, too, have commandments that apply specifically to them.

Spiritually, however, you are obligated to fulfill all of these commandments, from “A” to “Z” You must pass through every state corresponding to all 620 of your desires.

In the corporeal world, it is different. For example, today we have no Temple, and I am not a farmer. Do you know what it means, according to the Torah, to be a farmer when the Temple exists? Do you know all the laws and ordinances that apply? I am also not a servant in the Temple, nor do I offer sacrifices. I am not the High Priest, with all that this entails.

In this world we are given only signs and hints. A person may observe them or not observe them, that is not what determines the spiritual path. In spirituality, however, you are obligated to correct all 620 parts of the soul, that is, the 613 commandments together with the seven commandments of the sages.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 7/2/26, Rabash, Article 21, 1988 “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work? ”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 179

What Should We Do Against Slander?

It is written, “Blunt his teeth,” because there is no factual evidence that can stand against one who speaks slander. A person who speaks slander appears to be right. They speak about visible facts and rely on the ego and on the surrounding reality that they see. They base their words on their life in reality, on the present situation: “You are a weak person. You have a family. There are many pressures on you. You are tired from the struggles of life.” They will tell you a thousand and one things, and everything they say will be right and justified. The problem is that according to the current level on which they exist, they are right.

One who speaks slander is like a mother who says to her son out of concern: “You are sick. You are weak. You have children, a family. I feel sorry for you. Take care of your health. How can you not sleep at night?” They are all true points, and the list is endless. On that level she is saying correct and justified points, except for one point, that there is a spiritual goal. She does not speak from the point in the heart. She simply speaks from the heart, from human mind, while ignoring the upper mind.

The only recourse to stand against the slander that weakens one’s strength is, as it is written, “Blunt his teeth.”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 32 “What ‘Israel Do the Creator’s Will’ Means in the Work” (1990)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”

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Question: While a child is still at an age when they can be influenced, do they subconsciously absorb the influence of their environment?

Answer: Yes. If a child remains in a specific environment until the age of thirteen, they will continue to develop according to its values. I saw this with my own children.

My youngest son suffered from allergies, and I was compelled to send him to Canada, a country with a northern climate. When he turned sixteen, I bought him a student travel pass, and with it, he traveled through twenty-seven countries in Europe. After that, he went to the Far East and India. In short, he traveled almost everywhere. I wanted him to discover the world.

After all that, he returned to Canada and said, “Never again! I do not need anything else.” Meaning, “Leave me alone.” Later, he got married, started a family, and that was it, no problems. Neither drugs nor anything else that could have negatively influenced him or affected him because he had been given a clear direction in life.

We see the same thing in our own children. Just look at how many examples there are here. You see an eighteen-year-old young man, strong and capable. You would think, “Go ahead and do whatever you want.” But no, he is interested in the wisdom of Kabbalah. He is here. He enjoys our television programs, our projects, and everything else we are doing.

Question: They like being here because they feel they have a kind of home base here. You create a certain environment for the children, a school and other activities, and they naturally gather around it. If this did not exist, where would they meet and interact with one another?

Answer: Naturally! How else could it be? Inevitably, we create such centers for them and for ourselves as well.

Wherever our friends are, they form groups, get together, hold lectures, lessons, and activities for children and women. They publish a newspaper and distribute it throughout their region. Naturally, their children also take part in all of this.

We are now opening a film school, as well as a video and audio production school. Our children will study there. Those who have a talent for writing children’s stories will start doing it there, and as they grow older, they will continue to advance. We want them to become dedicated disseminators.

We will arrange meetings with lawyers, psychologists, and other professionals for them. We will take them to museums, hospitals, and wherever else is beneficial. We will do everything possible to help a person discover the world.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalah for teenagers” 10/12/10

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Question from Facebook: I have always been certain that I live in Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem. But from what you say, it turns out that this is not really the case. From the Kabbalistic point of view, what are Jerusalem and Israel?

Answer: The Kabbalistic perspective is concerned not with geography or history, but with the development of egoism as a fundamental part of nature. Kabbalah speaks not about the physical planet Earth, where people, animals, and everything else exist, but about desire, the primary force of nature, and about how this desire is governed by the higher force of nature, the Creator.

There are two forces: the force called the Creator (the force of bestowal) and the force called the creation (the force of reception). The Creator, the upper force, governs the lower force. That is the entire picture. Therefore, all of history is the development of the lower force, the desire to enjoy, under the influence of the higher force, the Creator, whose desire is to delight His creation.

Question: So when you speak of Jerusalem and Israel, are you referring to desires?

Answer: Of course. Desire at the inanimate level is called “the earth.” Within it is Jerusalem, or the so-called Holy Mountain upon which stands the Temple, and so on. All of these represent desires, and they all exist within a person.

This is where people encounter difficulty; they do not immediately understand what is being discussed. All of this exists within a person, because there is nothing outside of us. We perceive everything only within ourselves even though it seems to us as if it is unfolding externally.

Question: What is the desire called “Israel,” and what is the desire called “Jerusalem”?

Answer: Israel is the desire directed toward the revelation of the Creator. The word “Isra-El” means straight to the Creator. Jerusalem represents an even more specific aspiration toward the Creator, beyond the general desire.

That is why there is the Land of Israel, called “Eretz Yisrael.” “Eretz” means desire (Ratzon). “Yisrael” means directed toward the Creator. Within the desire called the Land of Israel is Jerusalem, which is a more inward desire for the Creator. Within that is the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), then the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash), and so on.

Question: So my desires become increasingly refined and focused until they reach their highest point. What is at the very top? What is that ultimate desire?

Answer: At the very top is the point in the heart, the most hidden and innermost of my desires, that must attain complete contact with the Creator. This is the direction to which I aim it.

Contact with the Creator means that the Creator fills all of my desires that are directed toward Him through this point.

Therefore, our work is to correct our desires so that they are all directed toward Him. Ultimately, He fills them with Himself. In this way, throughout all of my desires, only one higher force is revealed, the force called the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/11/23

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Question: Can a thought be called the Creator?

Answer: The Creator is not a thought, but a movement of the soul. There is a desire and a vector of its direction: either toward oneself or away from oneself. If we build our world above the desire, directing it outward, beyond ourselves, it is called the spiritual world.

The Torah and the wisdom of Kabbalah enable us to direct our world outside ourselves. With their help, I can reorient it, expand it, and create an entire realm in which I exist outside myself, above myself. That realm is called the upper world, and it is into that realm that I move.

As I gradually enter it completely, I begin to see that everything in which I previously existed (my body, this world, and everything else) was merely a matrix that gave me the perception in which I lived.

People, history, my family, myself, the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature, all of these existed within my former perception of “within myself,” “for myself.”

But now, as I begin to perceive everything not inside myself, not within the bubble centered on myself, but within the bubble outside myself, I gradually give birth to the spiritual world, enter it, and live within it. I begin to feel that the previous bubble never truly existed; it was like a dream. This is why it is said in the Psalms of King David that when we enter the upper world, we see our previous state as though it had been a dream.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Question: Are you saying that there is no connection between corporeality and spirituality?

Answer: Yes, because they exist at different sides of the screen. Practically, we live in the same domain, but we perceive this world and that world in polar opposite ways: this world through the lens of egoism and the other through altruism.

Spirituality is perceived in completely different properties. If I sense this world in the property of receiving for my own sake, with the intention to receive pleasure for myself, then the upper world is the intention to bestow, to fulfill and give pleasure to others.

Question: Does it mean that everything depends on a person’s perception? Is something corporeal also spiritual, but just a part of some kind of picture?

Answer: Of course. What else is there besides the light and the desire? The light created the desire, and whatever is happening with the desire is done by the light. After all, our world did not appear from somewhere unknown. It is the final descent of spiritual states from above to below.

Question: Why do you distinguish between these two realms when you say “You can ask me questions concerning spirituality, but you should turn to other people if you have questions about corporeality.”

Answer: The thing is that the corporeal world where we try to work directly with egoism is doomed to failure and problems from the start. Therefore, I do not want to work with it.

A person can live in it comfortably only if he fully aspires to the upper one. Then whatever one is unwillingly obliged to do to maintain one’s existence in this world will be beneficial for them. Otherwise, there is no way. Any excess will do just harm. Although it is hard for us to agree with it, this is the most optimal existence.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Difference between the Material and the Spiritual” 9/25/10

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 178

Can Criticism in the Group Weaken in the Same Way as Slander?

No. There should be criticism, but it must be objective and constructive, such that, as a result, people gather to discuss a problem and ways to improve and correct it. Without criticism and without seeing the evil, it is impossible to progress.

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