In the article “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called “Good Deeds” in the Work?” again and again, Rabash emphasizes that as a person advances spirituality, concealment increases.

We know it from the story of the Egypt exile and the exodus. “And the people of Israel sighed from the work,” and then they stood before Pharaoh and went through the ten plagues, the ten blows, until they were rewarded with the exit from Egypt.

All these things tell us that concealment grows and obstacles multiply. We need a lot of patience to perceive these things as the correct result of our efforts. We know from our nature that the more we invest, the more we receive.  Yet here, because we must emerge from the desire to receive, the more effort we exert, the sense of emptiness within that desire must grow so that we may eventually rid ourselves of it.

Hence, according to one’s intellect, one can somehow understand, and maybe even sometimes justify this path, this process of spiritual development in a person that bears no resemblance to what we are used to in this world. To closer a person draws to spirituality, the more they see themselves as further from spirituality.

The more energy they invest, the more they see themselves losing. Consequently they feel drained of strength.  It goes against my nature: how can I exert effort only to receive in the end?  More effort and another blow? Who would ever want to work at all if the only result is a series of blows?

Eventually a person falls into despair and does not know what to do. Based on what they read and according to what they hear, they may somewhat agree with this process with their mind, that it is likely the way to break free from the desire to receive and reach the second nature. But what do we do?

It is stated beautifully and correctly, but is it actually feasible?  What is a person situated with the desire to receive supposed to do?

In truth, there is nothing for a person to do except acknowledge the greatness of the Creator. A person is incapable of doing this on their own, human nature possesses no such strength. A person can only be helped by the group by hearing how great the Creator is, that everything depends on Him, that this is His will, and that He is capable. This refers to the environment—the group, the Rav, and the books—everything surrounding a person. A person’s internal forces are incapable of achieving anything.

“And the children of Israel sighed from the work.” Here one needs to come to a state where truly it is “I and not a messenger.” Meaning, one needs to turn directly to the Creator and cry out and sigh. But it is not in a person’s strength to be able to do it by oneself, unless one is a virtuous one that is helped from above or is fortunate enough to find strength among the friends, in the group, the books, and the Rav.

Only then do they truly turn correctly to the Creator knowing that they have done everything possible and they realize their own powerlessness. They reach a state of despair. It is only through this despair that one fully surrenders oneself to the Creator’s will and allows the Creator to do whatever He pleases. Until a person clarifies exactly what the Creator demands and what He wants, a person cannot cross the Machsom (barrier).

The essence of our choice lies in shortening the path while we are in darkness and exile, a state where the further we advance, the more empty we feel. Rabash writes that during the Egyptian exile, a person might fill the Kli (vessel), but the vessel is riddled with holes and all the contents leak out. A person fills it again and once again the vessel is emptied once more.

A person exerts efforts, yet receives nothing from this labor. When realizes they no longer have any strength to do anything with this vessel, the only option remaining is to turn to the Creator to have it corrected.

How are the holes in a perforated vessel sealed? By means of a screen used for the sake of bestowal. Then the vessel becomes whole and complete. In other words, a “colander” turns into a “ladle.”
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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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We are at a point that is absolutely opposite to the purpose of creation, and there is no more terrible and distant place from the Creator. We need to clarify what this place is and truly feel where we are actually situated, because as long as we do not realize this, we cannot really feel it. The true sensation of where we are begins from the Machsom and above.

Nevertheless, our work begins with the recognition of the evil of our present state. When a person begins this work, it does not matter whether he received a religious or secular upbringing, whether he is intelligent or not; it does not matter how developed he is intellectually, emotionally, or sensitively.

After some time, the surrounding light begins to work on him, and he begins to feel his state in relation to this light, meaning his desire to receive, which is opposite to the light in every quality.

Then the person begins to experience a feeling of being divided. On one hand, he already somewhat feels the divine, not yet in itself but through the surrounding illumination. On the other hand, he sees how opposite he is to spirituality. And this is despite the fact that his conception of spirituality is very far from what it actually is. And what it actually is is billions of times greater than anything one can imagine!

Nevertheless, he feels something of spirituality, while at the same time he sees himself as opposite even to the most minimal conception of spirituality. And each time, the gap between the sensation of spirituality and him grows.

A person perceives everything solely based on his sensations. We can say that we are sensing beings, while our brain is intended only for the “decoding” of sensations. It was created in order to make the best possible use of sensations and to fulfill the desire to receive.

The desire to receive is the creation, while the brain is an auxiliary system for fulfilling this desire. Therefore, when a person feels bad, the intellect can practically do nothing to help him emerge from this state. Of course, he should tell himself that “my bad feeling is connected to the fact that I am now seeing the true picture, which I did not see before.” But all these wise thoughts do not really have much effect on us, because the feeling rules over us.

We need to accumulate a great deal of experience so as not to react emotionally to descents, not to relate to them based on our feelings, but to accept them in a useful form and work with them, understanding that the more a person advances toward becoming a servant of the Creator, the more evil he sees in himself, and the weaker and worse he feels.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/26, Rabash, “The Klipa [Shell/Peel] that Precedes the Fruit”

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Question: How can you annul before a friend when you are moving toward the goal and your ego is growing?

Answer: I can annul myself before a friend only if I understand that I have no other choice but to be connected with him. If I am in a commando unit where we really depend on each other and I understand that connecting with others is a matter of life and death, then I have no problem annulling before them.

There have been several times when my life depended on other people, and I annulled before them and felt joy in doing so. For example, in a hospital, a man comes to me and says that he will give me anesthesia, cut up my body, do something to it, “fix” it, and then I will be healthy. By doing so, he will save my life. I would kiss his hands and pay him money if only he would.

I want to be this man’s friend, because he brings me back to life. That is, my ego works in the opposite way; it drives me to build a friendly relationship with him. My egoism looks for a way to do something good for this person if only he would save me.

I have had other similar experiences. I learn from them. Or, for example, you see an employee you depend on. Naturally, you want to be his friend. Or my daughter comes to me to ask for money. At this moment, I am her friend. She does not need me afterward.

And that is correct; this is normal egoism. I have to depend on someone. I need an inner awareness, a feeling that “without him, I will not achieve it, I will not make it.” This is hard.

Comment: But if you see this is a mistake…

My Response: The importance of the goal obliges me to annul before a friend. It matters more than my ego or my personal life, and I cannot just stay at home. For me, the most important thing is to reach the goal. Therefore, I annul myself, as in that simple example with the doctor.
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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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We are at the lowest rung of the chain: Keter, Hochma, Bina, ZA, and Malchut. We are the last vessels: the coarsest and thickest that exist in the greatest concealment. By the time you manage to budge, the world turns upside down. If previous generations had exerted the same efforts we are making now, I do not know what would have happened.

But this was simply impossible in their Kelim due to the inverse ratio of lights and vessels. What is happening now is a miracle. In those days, everyone felt like Kabbalists: the generation of Moses, the generation of the desert, the generation of the conquest of the Land of Israel, all the way to King David, to the Second Temple. The fall begins with the destruction of the Second Temple.

But still, there were Prophets, everything was alive, Godliness was tangible to people at the level of sensations. There was no need to write any books. With their feelings, they understood what they needed.

Books began to be written only during the exile because a connection existed between those who were still in Divine attainment and those who had already entered into exile, into concealment. Before then, there was no need to write anything.

To whom would you describe what you feel and know when everyone around you feels and knows the same thing? As Baal HaSulam writes in the Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot: “Since the destruction of the Second Temple, an iron wall has formed between us and Kabbalah,” that is, between us and the revelation, the sensation of the Creator. Such a wall appeared where we do not feel anything; this is the source of all the problems.

We want to live well. For this, Divinity must be revealed to us! You will feel evil until the Creator is revealed in your Kelim. There are no other conditions! Baal HaSulam also writes in Shamati that the only cause of feeling good is the sensation of the Creator, and that the concealment of the Creator is the cause of all evil. Therefore, the only thing we are doing is looking for a way to reveal the Creator.

We want to live well. But at the same time, either we want a good life for ourselves, or we want to feel good about the purpose of creation. It all depends on the type of Kelim. Good above the screen and good below the screen have two completely different definitions.

Being below the screen, we are not allowed to tune in to what is above it. That is impossible! Therefore, the children of Israel fled Egypt in a hurry, in the dark, taking the vessels of others with them.
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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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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 232

Chapter 21. Understanding the States

There is work during an ascent, and there is work during a descent, and we should try to find which of these two states is closer to us. However, our primary obligation is to work during the ascent, because during the descent there is no one to hold accountable, as at times we are in a state of not hearing and are unable to move ourselves. Sometimes this is not only inwardly, but outwardly as well.

However, during an ascent, when we experience upliftment, we should not become immersed in the pleasure of the good we are experiencing and think that we are in a perfect state. We need to understand that the perfect state was given to us from above not because we deserve it as a reward for our efforts, but instead that the ascent is given to us from above just as the descent is, all in order to advance us.

There is no reward and punishment. We do not receive a reward in the form of a good feeling because we previously suffered. This is an incorrect approach to the process we undergo in spiritual work.

The state of descent is given to us so that we can feel our own qualities, and the state of ascent is given to us so that we can feel the Creator’s qualities. In both of these states, when feeling our own qualities during a descent and the Creator’s qualities during an ascent, we need to work and derive benefit from them for advancement. If we pass through these states without deriving benefit from them, i.e., without using them to advance to the purpose of creation, they were in vain. We are given ascents and descents once or twice, and afterward they stop, and the ascents and descents come only once every six months or a year, and thus the years pass without any real progress.

Everything depends on our attitude to every state we are in, whether it is an attitude connected to the goal, or whether we think of the state we received as reward and punishment. All states are neither reward nor punishment, but simply states for work. During an ascent, we are given a special illumination from above, and then we feel perfection and call it an “ascent.” This perfection is given to us from above. We did not earn it ourselves. It is given to us so that we will clearly feel the Creator’s qualities, so that we will feel a little of what spirituality is, and as a result will delve into the Torah, into our studies, into the articles, the letters, all the material in which previously we understood nothing.

Now we will delve into it, understand it, and take something from it for ourselves, so that we can use it quickly and effectively, absorb as much knowledge, feeling, and discernment as possible, and aspire to extract from the state of ascent, from the closeness we received from the Creator, the maximum benefit for our advancement. Then, when we are brought down, we will understand that we have received a state opposite to the ascent. We will understand that now we are being given distance from the Creator, so that we can feel what we are without the surrounding light shining upon us. Although the surrounding light continues to shine so that we can discern that we do not understand, do not feel, are in darkness, distance, and a state of falling. This is the illumination of the surrounding lights, but in the posterior form.

Even in a state of descent, we need to work, to make an effort according to our ability not to sink into it. We should not study our vessels, as there is nothing to learn there. Vessels can be studied only through their collision with the lights. We should try as much as possible to emerge from the state of descent, performing various actions. If we cannot study and cannot live within ourselves, we should at least activate our body, in the group, by participating in various activities that serve the group such as working in the kitchen, and so on.

Those physical actions, although we activate our hands and feet and not our head and heart, which we cannot activate, are considered spiritual actions performed in spiritual vessels, because they are the greatest spiritual expression we are capable of making. Even physical, mechanical actions, without any intention, without mind or heart, will be considered as though we performed spiritual actions. Through this we will understand into which of our qualities we fall during a descent.

These are the two states that we need to undergo. Also, after the time of descent passes and the light prevails, we should not think that this state came as a result of our work, because we overcame and acted and have now arrived somewhere. Instead, we should understand that now another state is being given to us from above, one in which we must work, and perhaps it is called an ascent. We are still not certain what an ascent and a descent truly are.

We should calculate descent and ascent not according to closeness or distance as determined for us by the awakening from above, but according to the degree by which we yearn to draw closer or farther away through the awakening from below. It is possible that we might be in a state of descent and still yearn for the Creator more than when we are in a state of ascent. If so, then for us a time of descent is actually a time of ascent.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Memorial Day for Rav Baruch Shalom Halevi Ashlag (Rabash)” (10.3.2019)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot” Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 2 (11.19.2007)

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A Kli (vessel) is not simply a desire to enjoy into which fulfillment flows; rather, it is our attitude toward the Creator. A spiritual Kli is built above the desire to receive; it is the screen and the reflected light. It is not a matter of what occurs inside the desire to receive; that is not what constitutes the Kli.

I always depict the desire to receive as a vessel filled with light. Above it I draw a screen, and above the screen another vessel. This upper vessel is precisely the Kli we are building. Without it, there is nothing for us to speak about.

To the extent that you, according to your level of development, do not desire to build this Kli, you suffer. These forces will compel you all the same to build a screen and reflected light. It cannot be that a screen appears in you if you yourself do not want it and do not build it.

On one hand, you must strive for this; on the other hand, you must, not only desire it, but also understand that this screen expresses bestowal to the Creator. Only the Creator Himself can build this screen, and only if you want to love Him as He loves you. That is, the screen is the result of the awareness of love, of connection, of fusion, of bonding.

It seems to us that we attain something after acquiring the screen. But once the screen is in place, there is nothing more to speak of.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/30/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘He Who Is Without Sons,’ in the Work?”

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The difference between the present world and the future world lies in shift of a person’s inner intention regarding reality. Reality is everything that a person perceives. When you begin to see it in reflected light, that reality appears completely different to you.

However, this sensation is subjective. It does not mean that a person sees, for example, a house as something else entirely. Simply, its essence is seen differently in the intention and in the goal of creation. When you look at something, it seems to you that it simply exists. You do not even know why and for what purpose. But here you reveal a purposeful cause within each thing as well as how you can contribute to it. Every object has both a cause and a purpose.

A change in intention alters the sense of perception, ultimately, it is precisely the intention that changes, not what lies outside of the person. You might say, “But we learn that aside from the person there is only the upper light, and all the rest is simply illusion.”

So what does a Kabbalist in this world actually see? Do they see only the upper light, or do they also see houses, cars, women, children, and the group? Or do they still see only the surrounding light filling all of reality and themselves enveloped within that light?

When we say that the upper light fills all of reality, we are not referring to what we see and feel. We are speaking about the upper governance. It is what fills all of reality and is entirely benevolent. But at the same time, nothing disappears: not houses, children, nor the universe. The illusion lies not in whether something exists or not, but precisely in the intention for the sake of which it exists.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,’ in the Work?”

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We have five organs of sensation through which we perceive our surroundings. If we had different organs, we would perceive reality differently.

What are “different organs”? What other organs might we have? Perhaps different desires? Do our desires change? We have five primary desires. If these organs of sensation exist, then we experience sensations; if they do not, we do not experience them.

You might ask: when a person dies, parts with their material body, and remains only in spirituality, how do they perceive reality? Can they perceive the material world using a spiritual body? Since their physical senses vanish, they no longer see houses or people. What do they see and feel? What vanishes and what remains?

Therefore, we must say that everything is related to the sensing organs. Now when you look at the world, you see the outer shell, the material garments, because your senses are material. If you were to add spiritual sense organs to this, you would also see the spiritual garments that actually exist, i.e., the spiritual Kelim (vessels), corresponding to your spiritual level and those below it.

Anything above your degree would simply appear to you as light. As you ascend, this light coalesces into Kelim and their fillings. For example, each head (Rosh) of a Partzuf is called infinity, but this is infinity relative to that specific Partzuf.

If, however, I am above its Rosh, then for me, this is no longer infinity but a Rosh that I understand and perceive. What the Partzuf does not attain within its own Rosh, I grasp within mine. Thus, everything is determined by the sense organs.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/26, Rabash, “What Is “The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord, and the Revealed Things Belong to Us,” in the Work?”

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