Question: What does it mean to engage in Torah and commandments?

Answer: Engaging in Torah and commandments (Mitzvot) with the help of the reforming light means doing everything described by Kabbalists who have attained Lishma. They advise us which actions can help us attain Lishma. For the time being, we call these actions Torah and commandments.

Lishma is the work with Masachim (screens) for the sake of bestowing upon the Creator, for the sake of His Name. Once I enter into work with Masachim, it becomes clear to me what Torah and commandments are. I already know which actions I can perform in my desire to receive that bring me closer to the Creator, that is, increase my intention to bestow. Then these actions are called commandments.

By correcting my desire to receive through the intention to bestow, I fill it with the light called Torah.

And now, while I am below the Machsom (barrier), my intention, although not yet very clear, is directed toward my desire to reach the beginning of true spiritual work, a genuine relation with the Creator, to bestow upon Him, to cross the Machsom, and acquire a Masach. I do not yet know exactly what this means, but I can somehow imagine it. Therefore, if I perform any action that the Kabbalists advise me to perform, this is called Torah and commandments.

And the actions that I perform with my body (with my feet, hands, or various objects) are the ones we must do within the framework of our corporeal world. They have nothing to do with spiritual work whatsoever. Therefore, I keep saying that they do not advance a person toward the Creator. They merely keep a person within the framework of the inanimate spiritual level (Domem de Kedusha).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/26, Rabash, “What Should One Do If He Was Born With Bad Qualities?”

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In order to bring a person to the final state where their Kli becomes as great as possible, meaning their aspiration toward the Creator becomes truly immense, the Creator must lead them through a wide variety of states. In each of these states, the person essentially learns the difference between the state of the Creator and the state opposite to it, or between the lights and the Kelim, between light and darkness.

After all, only by the existence of a thing and its opposite can one learn about that thing and its opposite, as well as about both of them and the relationship between them.

Can a person do this? It is the Creator who does it. A person must only feel and realize what state they are in.

The Creator influences a person both in darkness and in light, as it is said: both in exile and during the time of redemption. He enters every state and literally does everything.

“I, the Creator, dwell with them amidst their impurity. I go with them into exile in order to teach them what Galut (exile, dispersion) is. And I will bring them to redemption, drawing them out of exile by showing them how terrible it is, so that they will desire to leave it. And to the extent of their desire to free themselves from oppression and come out of exile, I will bring them out.”

Thus, everything is done by the Creator, the person only needs to determine their attitude toward it, accepting everything that exists and everything happening to them exactly as it is while also arriving at a state of gratitude for the worst state just as for the best, because through this, they connect to the goal that is more important to them.

They understand how necessary their current adverse state is for attaining the goal and that there are no other states more conducive to achieving it. They must realize this, accept it, and wish to remain in such a state, regarding it as a stage of advancement toward the goal.

However, since being in a state opposite to the Creator does not correspond to His desire, one must strive to come closer to the Creator. But the reason for doing so should not be that I feel bad now and want to feel better. We must learn to discern these differences as we gradually accumulate various states and advance toward the goal with them.

In every state, a person must first realize, “I am suffering,” and subsequently, “The Creator is suffering.” From the perspective of the goal, this state is beneficial for the person; however, from the perspective of the purpose of creation, it is unfavorable for the Creator because He has established that the goal is adhesion with Him. In other words, the degree of closeness to the Creator, the degree of advancement, is determined by the created being’s capacity to bestow.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/26, Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile”

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I cannot directly change anything within myself. I cannot “touch” myself at all. I have no access to my will to receive.

For example our vision. Scientists traced the path from the eyeball to the optic nerve, from there to other more complex systems of the organism, and discovered along the way what we see, how we see, and how vision can be corrected.

Eventually they arrived at what is called the pleasure center. If you begin to examine this center, you will quickly discover that it is a specific structure in the brain that operates through biochemical reactions.

But behind it, beyond the reach of a scalpel, lies a part of us known as the “feeling” self; this is the spiritual Kli. There is no way to reach it. It is a desire! Everything else is merely the material garments of the desire, the means through which it operates and expresses itself. But we cannot reach the desire itself.

So what do my eyes perceive? Sparks of light clothed, let us say, in a beautiful painting. I look at a beautiful picture and enjoy it. What does this mean? There is no pleasure in the picture itself. There is a spark of light in it that corresponds precisely to my Kli. Someone else may look at the same picture with indifference, or even disgust. But it fills me with pleasure.

In other words, the spiritual spark that is clothed in the picture is perceived by me through my eyes, passes through all the systems until it is finally released at the end of the material, biological chain, and enters the source of my spiritual pleasure: the spiritual desire.

The entire path that it travels—from the picture, to the eyes, and through all the systems of the organism—is merely a channel of transmission. At the beginning there is a spark of light and at the end the will to receive. That is all! All our sense organs are merely transmission channels.

This is how we live in this world: the same lights and Kelim, only with an intermediary between them. From this we see that we have no power over the light and the Kli. They are completely separate from us and exist outside our bodies, and we can change them only by drawing the surrounding light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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Question: Does the preparation for the upcoming congress grow according to the same levels of any development in nature: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human?

Answer: Of course, it takes place in any development, and also in the development of desires. They also go through this process of the four stages of the direct light HaVaYaH (Yod‑Hey‑Vav‑Hey), and it applies to the congress as well.

When a person begins to think about it and to prepare for it, they experience ascents and descents, sometimes wanting to go, sometimes not. If they ultimately make a firm decision to go, they arrive at the congress truly prepared.

They must understand why they are doing this, what they hope to gain from it, and where the rest of the world (work, family, and health) fits into the picture.

They must weigh all these factors and ultimately arrive at the question, “What is the meaning of my life?” This is a question that cannot be answered in any other way.

Experience should show them that all other parts of our lives depend on some unknown factor.

The wisdom of Kabbalah reveals the source of this unknown, the upper force, to us. If a person connects to it, then they gain a tool capable of correcting everything in both this world and the spiritual world.

If they fully scrutinize all of this according to the stages of HaVaYaH, they will undoubtedly come to the congress, and arrive prepared.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/10/10, Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Book of Zohar“

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1. A person is a new Kli, called the soul, which can be formed within us through study when the illumination that comes returns one to the source. That is, it builds the sixth sense within us, the desire for the Creator with the intention of bringing Him contentment through a screen.

There is no place here for the desires of other animalistic passions, upon which a screen cannot be built, regardless of what calculations one might make regarding their use. All this does not belong to the work of the Creator.

Therefore there are two opposite forms of Torah. One Torah teaches how to exist in this world, below the Machsom. This is called the general Torah, through which the masses are taught how to live better, how to be a good Jew, that is, what is commonly called being religious. Accordingly, one is taught to govern one’s qualities, to be kind and decent, to love the created beings, to guard one’s speech, and so on.

I do not reject this in any way. Those who have not yet crossed the Machsom and who do not yet have the intention to cross it, should indeed observe this. Such is the Torah for the masses, which prepares them to pass on to the individual Torah.

The individual Torah is intended for one who wishes to develop individually, that is, for a human being (“You are called ‘man’…”) above the Machsom, one who already possesses a new Kli.

The desire for the Creator is called a new desire, a new Kli with the intention for the sake of bestowal. Within it various disturbances that are directed against the Creator are awakened, called Klipot. Then all of one’s connection and all of one’s work are directed solely toward the Creator. And whatever is directed toward the Creator is called spiritual, and is called “man” (Adam).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/26, Rabash, “What Should One Do If He Was Born with Bad Qualities?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 206

If the Concept of Punishment Does Not Exist, Why Does the Torah Speak About Punishments?

All the books of the Torah are called “holy books” because they all deal with the spiritual world. Spirituality exists from the level of the screen and above, and we do not feel it. Something separate and distinct is called “holy,” “sacred.” All the holy books describe only the spiritual world. The Torah does not speak about this world. It does not instruct us on how to be good to others, but how to be good to the Creator. Our yearning to resemble the Creator corrects our nature, and then naturally we also become better in this world.

How does the Torah describe ascents? Our ascents take place along two lines: the right line and the left line. From the right line come the qualities of the Creator, the first nine Sefirot, the forces of bestowal, and from the left line comes the will to receive. A person stands in the middle and corrects oneself. Therefore, the Torah presents two things, what will happen if you do not act and what will happen if you do act. Reading the Torah, especially the books of the Prophets, often gives the impression of calamity, and we feel rebuked. But in fact, what is being conveyed is a description of what happens at each and every degree. If you act one way, one outcome follows, and if you act another way, a different outcome follows. This is how the structure of the spiritual degrees is explained. There is no intention to rebuke as one would scold a child.

These stories describe, in a narrative language, conditions in the higher degrees. Therefore, all these books are meant only for those who are in the upper world, because in our world there is nothing to “do” in that sense. What a person does here is a result of what takes place above. For example, the Torah speaks about the ruin of the Temple. Even in the simple interpretation, it is explained that the ruin occurred because we fell from a spiritual degree, and then enemies entered. We ourselves caused this situation by descending from a higher spiritual level. Seventy years before the ruin, it was already foretold. Why? It is because based on the spiritual level of the people, it was possible to foresee what would happen, just as today we can observe the deterioration of human society and feel unable to stop it; some even predict the collapse of countries or of humanity itself.

In other words, everything depends on the inner state, which is reflected and expressed in physical form. The Torah speaks about these inner states. It does not describe what a person should do with their hands and feet, or physical objects. Our world is a world of consequences. If we perform corrections in the spiritual degrees, everything in this world will accordingly be arranged.

This world must rise to the final degree. We must reach the state of the end of correction, not only with the point in the heart, but with the entire heart, with all of our desires. In other words, we are required to elevate even our most corporeal desires to the highest level. Kabbalists say that a person must reach the state of the end of correction while still living in this world.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 27 “What Is, ‘Every Blade of Grass Has an Appointee Above, Who Strikes It and Tells It, Grow!’ in the Work?” (1990) (5.9.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 2

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