Audio Version Of The Blog – 8/16/26
Posted on August 16th, 2026
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Question: The Creator created the will to receive, and then withdrew from it. Is this an action of the Creator or of the Kli, the desire?
Answer: When we speak about actions in spirituality, it appears as though the Kli is performing them. But does the Kli actually do anything? Actions are never performed by the Kli. We say that the light comes, the screen repels it, and then decides how much to receive and how much not to.
Imagine a biologist studying the functioning of a cell. He adds an acid or something else to it, and the cell begins to behave in a certain way. Or something happens with a computer, and we say: “Look what it suddenly did to me!” What does “suddenly did” mean? You simply do not know how the computer is supposed to behave. Maybe it has a virus or something else, and that is why it behaves this way. But what does it mean that it “behaves”? Does it have a choice?
If you knew the whole system, you would of course not doubt how it would behave; you would know it in advance! Why is a specialist needed? Because he knows the system, and the causes of its behavior. He does not know the “character” of the computer; he simply approaches it or some system and says that here there must be such and such an input, and such and such a reaction.
Any system is a black box, and I do not care what is happening inside. But I know the inputs and outputs. Or let us say that there is some malfunction. I input something, and nothing comes out, or something comes out that should not. Then it needs repair. This is called a disease or malfunction.
That is how it is in any body—biological, mechanical, or electrical, it does not matter which. If you know its internal system precisely, its inputs and outputs, there is no difficulty in understanding how it will behave.
For example, yesterday I had a blood test. It was checked against 30 parameters, and from them I could see what in my body is in order and what not. That is, based on the system’s outputs one can determine that it is malfunctioning. But does the system itself possess any free choice regarding its behavior? Does the body choose how to behave?! No!
Therefore when we speak about all the Partzufim, worlds, and even souls, which supposedly have freedom of choice, this is not freedom of behavior, because there is a system of light, Kli (vessel), and what happens between them, and there is no mystery to it. Everything is clear beforehand; the game is fixed in advance. The input parameters are set on a higher level. Their cause is the sensation of the Creator, and that too is something predetermined from above.
Therefore we are speaking only about the attitude toward what is happening. But it turns out that the attitude too must be governed by law. So where is there any place for choice at all? This is what we do not know, and this is called “above reason.” If we investigate our actions and everything that influences us, we will not find any degree of freedom. According to logic, it cannot exist. It simply cannot!
This degree of freedom acts only in the spiritual realm. When the will to receive, situated in a particular set of circumstances, decides it wants to rise above itself, that specific intention can truly be free! Not in relation to the Creator, but in relation to the creation itself.
This is called “above reason,” and exists only in the spiritual. In our world, there is nothing of the kind. In our world, whether you will laugh in a minute or cry is the result of what is done to you. Whether you will run toward the goal or not is also set up for you. We are only in the stage of preparation for free choice.
We are gradually being taught how this is even possible in reality. But now, before the Machsom, we are all like animals. And beyond the Machsom, to the extent that the soul can create an intention for actions “above reason,” it is called “Israel.” This is already the measure of a human being, not an animal, and it is called “above reason.” This is creation.
[359865]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘A Layperson’s Vessels,’ in the Work?”
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There is only one path open to us leading to the Creator. If you wish, you may advance toward Him; if not, you do not have to. The pace of your advancement depends on you, but only if you choose the single path, out of all 360 directions, that leads straight to Him.
But if you decide to go in one of the other 359 directions, paths that seem to be an alternative, then you are not free to choose. In that case, you will be tossed from side to side, through various directions and all kinds of states, so that by becoming confused, doing various things, and struggling your way out of them, you will once again come to this point of choice.
If you do not wish to make that choice, then continue revolving in the closed circle. You are given the opportunity to break out of it: if you wish, you can exit in the designated direction; if not wish, then, like the hand of a clock, you will complete another rotation until you return to the same starting point.
Later, on higher degrees, but not now, it becomes evident that free choice truly exists and consists only in choosing this one direction.
The whole of reality was created solely for the sake of this point of choice. Otherwise, if nothing depended on a person, then why would it be necessary to lead him through countless different states until the final correction.
[359435]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/26, Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile”
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The choice of environment is in a person’s hands. He can place himself under the influence of the group, try to influence it himself so that this influence returns to him many times stronger, or simply elevate the group.
If he has chosen a teacher, then all that remains is to elevate the teacher as much as possible in his own eyes. The only work he can do with respect to the teacher is to place himself under the teacher’s influence as much as possible.
The lower he places himself, the higher the teacher will be in his eyes. With respect to the friends, however, there are several possibilities. He can try to change them, he can try to change himself, or he can try to change his relationship with the group.
But once the group has been chosen, a person will be under the influence of the environment that he himself has chosen. The only thing he can influence is his connection with the group.
[359370]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘Do Not Slight the Blessing of a Layperson’ in the Work?”
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Question: It is said: “I created the evil inclination and created the Torah as a spice for it.” The evil inclination is creation. What then does “created the Torah” mean?
Answer: You are asking: “We learn that the Creator created the evil inclination and also created the Torah; in that case, what does the creation of the Torah mean?
On the other hand, it is written that the Creator produced the light and created the darkness. Creation (Beria) means separation (“Bar“) from a level referring to darkness. If the Creator created darkness, then why is the same word used regarding the Torah—”created the Torah as a spice”?
The expression “created the Torah as a spice” implies the Torah, not in its direct meaning, but as a spice, for this is the correction contained within the desire to receive. There is light, and there is an action performed by the light inside the desire to receive. The meaning is that the light acts inside this desire, changing the desire to receive into the intention for the sake of bestowal. Then the result of the action of receiving for the sake of bestowal is such that the action itself becomes similar to the light.
Thus, the discussion is not simply about the Torah, but about its action inside the desire to receive. Therefore, the Torah is also called created, for this is something new.
Why new? Given that the light itself is pleasure, it created the desire to receive pleasure. But since the light is also a desire to bestow, it awakens a sensation of shame inside the desire to receive.
First the Creator treats me to delicacies, and subsequently, entirely unconnected to the first, shows that it is precisely He who prepared everything for me and did so for my own good. He stirs within me feelings of shame, awkwardness, and reactions of this kind. This in itself constitures creation.
I have stated many times that shame itself is a creation and the result of the action of the light. This is what is called “created the Torah as a spice,” since with its help the desire to receive undergoes correction, which is what is called “spice.”
[359235]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/26, Rabash, “What It Means that ‘Law and Ordinance’ Is the Name of the Creator in the Work”
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The state from which we begin the spiritual work is the attainment of the correct desire. The Midrash tells us that when the Creator turned to each of the desires, none of them agreed to receive the force of correction except for one special desire. This desire felt that it was opposite to the Creator and sought not equality with Him, but only the feeling of His presence. After the shattering of the Kelim, this desire came to be called “Israel.”
Why did the nations of the world not agree? The nations of the world are those desires that do not feel the presence of the Creator in relation to themselves, a presence that could lead them to aspiration and the correct intention.
From this we see that there is also an immense work of processing and refining the desires in order to bring them to the correct, genuine desires, which are called Klipot, that is, desires directed toward holiness, precisely aimed at spiritual concepts. When a person comes to such desires, he comes into contact with the quality of Israel, not yet in its corrected form, but in the form of its Achoraim (posterior side). Nevertheless, he already belongs to the quality called Israel.
Israel is one who feels himself to be uncorrected, opposite to the Creator, and from that state begins to understand that equivalence of form with the Creator must become his goal.
One who does not feel himself to be uncorrected and in need of correction is called a gentile (Goy). He has no need for the Torah, that is, for the light of correction that returns one to the source. He says, “Why do we need it?” And thus it remains until the part of creation called Israel corrects itself and receives the Torah, thereby becoming “a light for the nations.”
From Israel, the correct Hisaron (deficiency) spreads to all the other desires, because the mutual inclusion of all desires within one another is then revealed. As a result, these desires, called the nations of the world (Goyim), begin to desire that through which they can come to correction—the Torah.
[359758]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘A Layperson’s Vessels,’ in the Work?”
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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 202
How Do We Reach Bestowal to the Creator?
We can reach bestowal to the Creator through the small society we build. We bestow to our friends, the friends bestow to us, and together we form a group. Just as, in the end of correction, our souls are connected on the spiritual level, so we try to connect here and truly rise to that state.
By doing so, we attract surrounding light (Ohr Makif) into this world, and in a sense compel the Creator to increase the illumination, either through our own attraction of the surrounding light or through the light coming from the Creator in another way.
However, only our yearning to reach the purpose of creation neutralizes the Creator’s seemingly negative attitude toward the world. Then, the Creator does not need to awaken the world to correction through suffering.
No amount of activity based solely on direct relations between people will help, that is, bestowal to others with no connection to Godliness. Any form of bestowal on the level where a person currently exists, if disconnected from the Creator, is ineffective. We need to engage in bestowal to others only with the intention of reaching bestowal to the Creator.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” must be connected solely to correction. In the article “The Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam explains that this is the reason for the collapse of systems like those in Russia. They took the ideal of bestowing to others and detached it from the Creator. The same occurred in kibbutzim and other cooperative societies. They separated the ideal from its spiritual root and purpose, turning bestowal into a value in and of itself. This led to those systems’ complete collapse.
In other words, bestowal to others, when disconnected from bestowal to the Creator and from the purpose of creation, is out of alignment with the true goal and ultimately leads to destruction. What is the end of correction? It is a state in which every thought, action, and breath is connected to the purpose of creation. Anything disconnected from this purpose has no true existence and is considered lifeless. However, when we reach a state where everything in our life is connected to the end of correction, nothing limits us, and we attain a form of eternal life. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the method of learning how to reach this state.
Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 201
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 200
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 199
Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 2 “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?” (1991) (2.3.2003)
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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1
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Audio: Play Now | Download |
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