Question: What is Ohr Makif, surrounding light?

Answer: Surrounding light is the light that intends to enter the Guf (body), that is, the Kli (vessel), and clothe itself in it when it is corrected by the screen. The Masach, the screen, is the intention to bestow.

If currently lack the intention to bestow, then the light is outside of me and shines upon me from the place where I should be when I have such an intention. What should I do so that it shines upon me?

Surrounding light exists for everyone in this world, a place is reserved for each person near the Creator, on the highest degree. How can I draw this illumination that is above the Parsa to myself? Only by creating something similar to the state I will eventually be in above the Parsa within myself.

There, above the Parsa, I am connected with that light, with that source that I study, that is, with the other souls, with the Creator, as it is said: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” What can I do here, below the Parsa, so that it will be in some way similar to that state, and I would attract this illumination to myself?

Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” that one who studies and strives to understand what he is studying, even if he does not understand, thereby attracts the surrounding light. Because knowledge is the inner filling of the surrounding light, that is, the state in which a person is there together with it, for Israel and the Torah are one.

It does not matter that for now I imagine adhesion according to my level; but it, too, pertains to that eternal, great state, and if by means of what I study, I want to come to adhesion with the Creator, through this I attract the surrounding light.

If all the souls are there together as one body, as one man with one heart, then here, below, I must do this together with several friends, and this, too, will be a similarity. That is, one must make the state below as similar as possible to what is above.

So we make an effort and somehow build this similarity. But where will I get the feeling of the importance of this action? The group does not merely exist so that I can sit with the friends and contemplate this state.

The group is meant to give me awareness of the importance of being in this state; that is, first I must hear that this is the most important goal from them, that there is nothing else in life besides it, and that the whole world and all of life are given to me only for this.

This is what I must hear from them instead of conversations about fashion, about football, and a thousand other things. Because the feeling of importance that I have will never be enough. There are, of course, special people who can manage without this; there have been such cases, but we are not among them. We are people who must make this effort with the help of the group and carry out our task, the task that all of humanity begins to undertake from this day onward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/26, Rabash, “A Congregation Is No Less than Ten”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 277

How Should We Connect the Examples Given During the Lesson?

If one example cannot be connected to another example, one should simply let go of one of them. During the study, examples from our lives are given to illustrate a particular case. An example cannot be stretched to apply to a thousand and one other forms and states.

Sometimes we speak in one line, sometimes in three lines, and sometimes we speak to a person who is simply within an animate desire and teach him how to come out of the animate desire and observe it from the outside. Such a person needs to have some sensation of Godliness, so that he knows what it means to observe himself from the outside. Psychologists also speak in such terms. On the lower degrees, this is still understandable to every person. Therefore, the same example should not be used in every case, but only in the case to which it was attached.

In order not to become confused, it is always worthwhile to translate examples into the language of Kabbalah. It does not matter which language they are translated from, whether the language of laws and Halachot, the language of Midrash, the language of Aggadah, the language of the Pentateuch, the Tanakh, or any spoken language, all of these should be translated into concepts such as Sefirot, Partzufim, Behinot, Aviut (coarseness), Zakut (purity), and so on. If all these concepts are brought together into one language, it becomes possible to compare them somewhat and turn them into a kind of science or unified approach. Otherwise, confusion arises. There needs to be a common basis for them all.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 27 “Repentance” (1985) (7.1.2002)

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

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Question: How can we connect the various processes described in the Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES) to my own personal need, to what I specifically lack?

Answer: In the actions described in TES, you study what happens within you. For example, Nukva rising to Aba ve Ima is a part of the desire to receive that is being corrected by the forces of bestowal of Bina, the upper force that gives this desire, connecting to it the intention to bestow. This is how you should view every action.

But we are not going to interpret TES in this way, analyzing what this particular desire to receive does in this specific action, what type of desire it is, what correction it receives, and so on. We are not capable of doing that.

When you ascend to this degree, you will experience all this within yourself; you will feel what is happening to you. Then, as you read TES, the actions described in it will arise within you.

Or, conversely, you will discover in TES what is happening within you. This process is called “man’s soul will teach him.” You will feel all these actions within it.

However, for now, you are merely reading about how these actions take place within your soul, while you yourself remain in an unconscious state, unaware of them. And so, without feeling these actions but wishing to attain the sensation of them, you strive toward them and catch a faint illumination from them. This is what is meant by the surrounding light coming to you.

In reality, it neither comes nor goes; it does not go anywhere at all. It is simply your aspiration toward the state in which you will feel a certain action that gives you an illumination from it. It is as though you perceive this state from afar. This is what it means when we say that the surrounding light comes to you. Gradually, this light sanctifies and purifies you and brings you a little closer. And then a little closer still, and a little more.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

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Between the Creator and the creation, there is an action that can be attributed to a person; it is called awe. If a person is rewarded with it, they receive everything else from above.

Everything has already been prepared above and is literally ready to pour down upon a person, but only to the extent that they have awe. Abundance, perfection, eternity, goodness, and pleasure—everything that has been conceived and prepared is waiting for them. All that is missing is the Kli known as awe.

Rabash calls this Kli a blessing (Bracha) through which abundance, reflected light, and the screen (Masach) come from above. Opposite this stands the Sitra Achra (the impure force or Klipa), which present an interesting dynamic. The Sitra Achra is not interested in merely receiving, since this is not its root.

Merely receiving is a desire created by the Creator; yet, an equivalent also exists in holiness opposite it, because one always exists opposite the other. The nature of the Sitra Achra is to steal, to derive pleasure specifically from stealing.

While working in various places, I have often seen someone bring work from home to do during his regular working hours. Then he enjoys himself twice over: he does not do his job and, at the same time, does something for himself. This adds flavor, as the saying goes, “Stolen water is sweeter.” What is the difference, after all? It is the same water. Water is water. But when you transfer it from one domain to another, an additional pleasure appears.

There is a joke about an Italian princess who, sitting on a balcony and eating ice cream, says, “It is a pity this is not a sin. If it were also a sin, the pleasure would be many times greater.”

We see that theft is a special concept. It is a transfer from one domain to another, originating in the upper root, where the shattering and mixing of the Kelim (the desires) took place. Therefore, the work becomes twofold: to leave one domain and enter another. This contains an additional measure of the abundance that the creation must reveal.

If I receive into my Kli in the ordinary way, what enters it is the light of Nefesh. But if I take something out of one domain and forcibly transfer it into another, working against the former domain, this contributes to the expansion of the lights to the level of NRNHY. This is the essence of the difference between a robber, a thief, and someone who simply takes. A great deal is contained in these concepts.

Just as the Sitra Achra derives pleasure from “snatching” something from holiness, there is also a commandment to steal from a gentile. This sounds very strange. If you say this phrase to someone without explaining it, it is unclear how to interpret it.

The commandment to steal from a gentile means transferring something from one domain to another. This works in both directions, because the shattering and mixing of the Kelim, their inclusion in one another, took place.

One could say that the very concept of intention arose from this. What matters is no longer what I want to receive into this Kli, but how I receive it, in what form I transfer, extract, and draw in what I want to have in my Kli. If I truly receive it by taking it out of the Sitra Achra, then there is holiness in this. But if I simply want to fill my Kli, then this is not even the Sitra Achra; it is still within the boundaries of our world. This is not yet called holiness.

In other words, two systems must exist—holiness and Klipa—so that, precisely through opposing one another, each reveals its own spiritual measure. If we attained the lights without extracting them from the Sitra Achra, they would be small lights, NRNHY de Nefesh. But because we extract them from the domain of impurity and forcibly transfer them into holiness, NRNHY de NRNHY is revealed in them.

This is the essence of theft. It is a very important concept in spirituality. Theft corresponds to the sin of Adam. The sin made it possible to enter the NRNHY of the impure forces, and afterward the possibility arose to extract from there and be rewarded with the complete light of NRNHY of holiness.

From this, we can understand what Rabash writes in the article “What Action of a Person in Spiritual Work Is Attributed to the Creator,” that is, which action is attributed to the Creator and which to the person. A person’s intention to bestow upon the Creator despite the struggle with the Sitra Achra is his action.

To know the measure of bestowal, one must first become thoroughly acquainted with the forces opposite to it. Then, through these forces, to the extent that a person extracts from them the ability to bestow, he builds his own bestowal. In other words, there is a double gain here.

This is the central idea: how one thing is acquired at the expense of another. Thanks to the Klipa, we acquire the ability to work independently and ultimately attain the highest NRNHY.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Work of Man, in the Work that Is Attributed to the Creator?”

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When I begin to examine my internal system and the external system outside of me, and how I might use the external system to control the inner system, I discover that, apart from the external force acting upon me, I have no other point of contact with my own development.

Then I realize the necessity of a group (a small, limited, united environment) that remains under my influence and control that allows me to analyze my states, my level of development, and the nature of the influences on me.

Then I think about what, in fact, I can determine in this environment. After all, I need to develop from my current state to a more advanced one, to rise a little above my current level. This means I will gain more power, a greater form of giving than I have now.

To imagine a greater form of bestowal, I cannot take an example from myself or my environment; I need an example from what in Kabbalah is termed the AHP of the upper. In other words, the Creator Himself must enter the picture I imagine and show me this form, just as in our world the big one shows the little one what to do.

Then the little one carries out the action, and through this process begins to understand the big one. Thus, we ultimately arrive at an understanding, an intellect, that emerges as a result of action.

So, there must be:

• I,
• the world, or the group, friends, and
• the Creator as the Giver of true form.

It is in accordance with this form that I structure the group. Neither I nor my environment understand or can reason about what our corrected form is. I am beginning to understand what it means to give more than I do now. And this is something new that I did not have.

Here you can ask: “You have received this understanding from above, but you said that your next form, in fact, already exists inside you, encoded in your gene. All you need from the outside is strength.” This next form exists in a broken form in a Reshimo, and to identify this Reshimo, you must see what it should be in its corrected form.

This form exists inside you, in your genes, so you can recognize what the Creator is communicating to you from the outside. We can only perceive from the outside what we have internal prerequisites for. If I have a certain awareness of the meaning of something inside me, and I see a corresponding external phenomenon, then I understand it.

For example, I once got a blow. Now, when I see someone else get a blow, I understand what it means, and I can imagine what they are feeling right now, how it affects them, what accompanies it, and what it leads to. After all, I have already gone through it; it is recorded in me. However, the form in which this happens to him does not necessarily have to be inside me.

Thus, the Reshimot we have inside, in the seed, in the kernel, in the soul, are not yet enough to give me a picture, an image of how I should look in each particular state. This is why I need the Creator to give me what is called a “picture of the Creator” before my eyes, and each time He shows me some semblance of a higher stage than mine.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/26, Rabash, “Rosh Hashanah”

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Question: What should our approach be toward a friend in the group that seems to be showing disregard for you or others? How can we elevate him, the group, and the goal in our own eyes?

Answer: Our teachers wrote extensively about how we should relate to our environment. I do not think there is a Kabbalist who has not written about this. However, they offered only brief guidelines, either because these matters were self-evident to them or because other writings on the subject already existed.

Moreover, writing was expensive—where could one even get paper? Rabash told me what a challenge that was. Today, of course, we have paper in abundance. Nevertheless, we see that each of the Kabbalists touched on this subject in one way or another.

When we perceive our environment as something indispensable for advancing toward spirituality, many questions arise. We encounter a thousand different situations, and I do not think it is possible to provide a prescription for every single one. However, based on everything the Kabbalists have written and the principles they have established, it should be clear to us how to respond to one phenomenon or another.

You are asking about a friend who shows disregard for others. If this is someone who has always been together with us, but now I suddenly notice that he is acting dismissively, he may be undergoing a crisis.

In that case, I must help him. I should gather several other friends and take care of him as I would care for someone who had fallen from the tenth floor and lost spiritual consciousness. He is sick, he is unconscious, and I must somehow help him continue on his path from this state until he recovers.

However, if this state has become permanent for him, and he prefers various social circles that are completely contrary to our spirit; if he comes here with different opinions and wants to instill ideas in us that are not found in the books we consider holy (primarily the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash), then that is the end of it!
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

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A person arrives to the desire to become like the Creator through their own inner development. But if the group discusses this and begins to value it, they thereby evoke a collective surrounding light. This influences everyone, and makes each individual more sensitive.

There is no need to actively exert force from within the group. If the group focuses its attention on these details of perception, the individual, through the general illumination from above that the group evokes, naturally gains heightened sensitivity to them.

For instance, suppose we decide to raise the level of awareness of the importance of a particular matter within the group, for example, the idea that everyone, without exception, start a family. We would not pressure the bachelors; we would simply discuss the topic in a positive, light, framing it as an essential standard for everyone, something absolutely necessary, and so on.

You don’t address them directly or pressure them, nothing of the sort. You will find that they will not be able to remain here; they will either leave or get married.

I am not suggesting we actually do this; it is only a neutral example. They will not be able to remain here because the opinion of the group, combine with the light from above that we have drawn upon us in by focusing on this specific aspect, would exert such an influence that they will immediately see everything clearly.

Or, suppose we elevate a certain property relating to the group or to the Creator to the greatest height possible for us. You will see how the entire group’s sensitivity to that quality intensifies. No punishments are needed here. A person will feel an internal fear of being left behind. The group exerts pressure.

Unfortunately, for now, we have yet to establish and demand adherence to some of the most crucial principles that ought to be literally burning within the group.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/9/26, Rabash, “Go Forth from Your Land”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 276

Is This Connected to the Concept of “Self-Sacrifice in the Work”?

Yes, this is called self-sacrifice. What is self-sacrifice? We give up our “self,” which is called “the animate soul,” the person’s Nefesh. That is, we perform a restriction over it. All these verses should be translated into the concepts that we study in the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah or in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and then we do not become confused. For example, “The Torah is sustained only in one who…” The word for “who” (Hebrew, “Mi”), means “Bina,” which means Malchut that rose to Bina. That is, there is a deeper inner interpretation to this.

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