Question: Where does one acquire a Hissaron, a need, to be in a group?

Answer: A person has no need to be in the group. The need will not arise on its own. It will arise only on condition that the group itself shows the person the extent to which he needs it; otherwise, he will not attain the goal. The group will not provide the person with any other goal; he must know this too. Here, in our group, he cannot attain anything other than one goal. Nothing else.

If he thinks that he will find a cozy place here, delicious food, social gatherings, excursions, and so on, then the atmosphere must be such that only someone striving in the right direction feels good in it.

Everything else may be good or not so good, comfortable or not quite comfortable; that is unimportant. The backrest of the chair should suit only someone who thinks precisely this way.

Even if there are the most delicious meals here… I can show you states in which you receive everything in your life: money, fame, anything you want. However, I will introduce something into this situation that will make you run away from all of it. You will run away because of one single thing, for example, shame. And you will not want any of it; it will be easier for you to die.

The same should be true in the group: a person who is not connected to the goal should feel here that “death is better than this kind of life.” “I do not need this kind of life; I am running away from it.” We had such a case when one of the students suddenly cried out: “What are you doing here?”

It was simply a classic example. He suddenly felt what stood before him, and he ran away in the blink of an eye. That was a genuine revelation. Do you remember that outburst of emotion? He had never experienced anything like it before. In the middle of the lesson, he suddenly cried out and ran away.

In the same way, it must be clear to everyone that they will feel good here and feel that this is their place only in one particular case. There is no place here for anything else.

Question: How can we reach this?

Answer: This is what you must build. That is what it means to “build the group.” The shape of the chair’s backrest, which allows only someone whose head is turned toward the Creator to sit on it; that is what a correct society is. Perhaps I lack the words to express it, but little by little, we are nevertheless beginning to sense these boundaries in some way.
[360809]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work | Add Comment →