In the article “What ‘Israel Do the Creator’s Will’ Means in the Work,” Rabash explains that the path of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the masses, the opinion of an ordinary person. An ordinary person is one who follows his nature directly according to the desire to receive that the Creator created within him. Such a person works in a very simple way, according to the principle of reward and punishment, understanding that to the extent he invests effort, he will receive a reward.

However, in this way one can reveal only very small pleasures within the desire to receive, only what can be received in the desire “to receive for the sake of receiving.” These are limited pleasures, called corporeal or animalistic pleasures.

They are called “corporeal” because of the intention for reception. This is how the whole world advances, it pursues these pleasures and receives rewards according to the effort invested.

But there are people who begin the true work. This means that they do not work according to desire and the pleasure corresponding to it. Rather, they make efforts to acquire a screen that separates the desire to receive from the pleasure. The screen operates according to the principle of bestowal through the desire to receive, that is, contrary to the original nature that exists in reality. On this path, everything is different.

A person who works like the rest of the world invests effort, and the more effort he makes, the more he acquires within his desire to receive. But a person who develops the desire to bestow and wishes to receive the reward within it must evaluate what he receives through the “eyes” of the desire to bestow. If he begins to develop the Kli of the desire to bestow, then he must examine himself and his progress according to the principles of bestowal.

The problem is that we are confused. On one hand, I am in the right environment, studying according to the correct method, and I am being directed to develop the Kli called the desire to bestow. Yet how much I expect to receive in that Kli, I still measure according to my original nature. As a result, it seems to me that I have nothing. Worse still, the more I study, the emptier I feel.

And this is indeed so. We build one Kli, the desire to bestow, but we measure its fulfillment by the standards of another Kli, the desire to receive. That cannot work. Therefore, one who is advancing toward spirituality, that is, toward the intention to bestow, must view it as an opportunity to bestow even more, rather than as a means of receiving greater pleasure.

Such a person reveals his own nature as evil, sees himself as increasingly egoistic, and feels that he is moving farther away from the desire to bestow. Yet he must relate to this as an ever-greater revelation of the Kli, his reward, and rejoice in it.

Until he has fully revealed the Kli of his desire to receive, until he regrets and is pained that everything he does is with the intention for self-reception, until he has examined himself and become convinced that he is incapable of correcting himself, and begins to cry out for help, asking to be given a screen, saying, “I want to become different!”, until this work has been done on the entire Kli of the desire to receive, he will not enter spirituality, will not cross the Machsom, and will not receive the light.

Therefore, the more he advances, the more he discovers his own emptiness, how weak he is and how opposite he is to spirituality. Yet he should rejoice in this, because if he examines himself through the new Kli “for the sake of bestowal,” he will see that he is constantly gaining.

He should not examine himself through the Kli “for the sake of receiving,” because advancing toward spirituality and measuring oneself according to the receiving Kelim cannot take place simultaneously. Here the work consists of making efforts to acquire the Kelim of bestowal while, at the same time, examining and measuring everything correctly, according to the Kelim of bestowal.

Therefore, there is the work of the mind and the work of the heart. There is an inner fracture, an inner duality, where a person still exists within the Kli of the desire to receive, yet must look at everything as though he were already within the Kli of bestowal. Naturally, such a state creates an inner contradiction. And this continues until he crosses the Machsom.

As Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” only the heroes among those whose measure of patience endured truly overcame the guards standing at the entrance and entered the King’s palace. Only by patiently revealing more and more evil, feeling ever more unpleasant states, yet seeing in them a good result, an addition to the Kelim of bestowal, does the work cease to be difficult.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/24/26, Rabash, “What ‘Israel Do the Creator’s Will’ Means in the Work”

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The Kabbalists tell us about free choice. They do not conceal the fact that we are animals. What does “animals” mean? It means having no free choice and acting according to a predetermined program. They say that our free choice lies only in the choice of environment. But even this choice, although concealed from us, is the result of our internal and external conditions.

Nevertheless, it seems to us that we choose for ourselves, and we must make use of this. You cannot simply take a law of a higher degree and say that there is no free choice, that nothing matters and that you live like an animal, so come what may.

But if it is  truly “come what may,” then do not breathe, do not eat, and do not do anything at all. Are you capable of that? No. Therefore you must conduct yourself according to the concept of free choice according to the degree at which you are. Previously, nothing was said to you about free choice. Now you are told that you have no other choice except the choice of environment. Live within this contradiction!

This is what is meant by “If I am not for myself, who is for me?” on the one hand, and “There is none else besides Him” on the other. If “There is none else besides Him,” then is there no free choice? But if “If I am not for myself, who is for me?” there is free choice, is there something that I do?

Use them both! The Kabbalists do not hide this from you. They are preparing you for the true free choice, which you do not yet know. It will come.

But do not be a philosopher. Do not say that now everything is already clear, that you know “There is none else besides Him,” and that is the end of it. Have you attained this? What does it mean that you know? You have not attained it; you have simply read about it. The Kabbalists are there, not you.

Therefore a person must conduct himself according to the state in which he finds himself. And if he does not make use of it, then he is not making use of his Kelim. About this it is written: “His wisdom is greater than his deeds,” and because of this he becomes a fool, for he takes some slogan that he heard somewhere, and steps outside reality. Such things do not come from wisdom.
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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 203

Where Do We Begin?

We begin with the question: “What is the meaning of our lives?” And the answer is: “Taste and see that the Creator is good.” Between the question and the answer lies the entire wisdom, how to get from one to the other.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 33 “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet” (1986) (9.29.2002)

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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘A Layperson’s Vessels,’ in the Work?”

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