Question: Everyone has something that gets in their way. Perhaps they do not see it or they choose to ignore it. Why don’t we help them see it? That way, we could all rise one degree higher.

Answer: That won’t help. If it concerns something technical or practical, you can hold a person accountable. But if it concerns spiritual correction, you must not interfere.

You cannot approach a person and say, “You lack love for your friends. Why aren’t you working on love for your neighbor?” or something of that kind. You can ask, “Why didn’t you show up at 3:00 AM? Why didn’t complete your assigned task while on duty?” These matters concern the group’s routine, and we must simply carry these things out like soldiers. Whoever has received an assignment is obligated to fulfill it.

But you must not impose inner demands. First of all, this will not help because everything stems solely from a person’s own awareness, from how he reveals his Hisaron (spiritual lack).  If he hasn’t revealed it yet and you wag your finger at him saying, “Tsk tsk, tsk,” he won’t understand what you want from him. It is like talking to a cat. If a cat has not reached the level at which it can listen and understand, what do you expect from it?

The same applies to a person. Perhaps only a millimeter separates him in his inner development from the stage at which he begins to feel, but he has not yet crossed that millimeter, and he cannot hear you. Once he reaches that stage, he will hear it from within himself. Therefore, it is forbidden to point out to one another what you think you see.

Let us say I see flaws in a friend’s external actions, and from my point of view, they are very obvious. However, I have no demands regarding his inner work. A demand can be made of the group: the more strongly it develops its common aspiration, the further each person will advance.

Have you ever heard me belittle someone for their inner spiritual laziness? Perhaps sometimes it looks that way, but that is not how I see it, truly it isn’t. I may shout at someone because of sound problems or various technical glitches. If it were someone else who was paid in that person’s place, I would shout in exactly the same way. It makes no difference to me.

But as for a person’s inner efforts, assuming they are generally striving, to act for the benefit of the group and the goal, I do not interfere. In this regard, he is a righteous person in my eyes. As far as technical matters are concerned, he is a sinner in my eyes. That is just an example.

Therefore, I simply do not understand how we can point things out to one another. Apart from setting an example, we cannot interfere with a friend’s spiritual work in any way. We set an external example from which he will understand that he must examine himself. We do not even examine him; we merely set an example: this is what we are like, and as for you, examine yourself.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/26, Rabash, “Go Forth from Your Land”

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