Humanity is gradually developing, and many people are emerging who want much more than what this life offers. But those whose desire is still within the framework of this world should simply do what is written, as everyone else does.

However, those whose desire is directed toward spirituality, who are no longer satisfied with this world, merely observing the Torah is insufficient; they require intention. For them, the action is the intention—a striking coupling with the light (Zivug de Hakaa). This is precisely what is called an action in Kabbalah. Thus, one is intended for the corporeal world while the other for the spiritual world, and one does not cancel the other.

What does it mean to strive for a spiritual action, for Zivug de Hakaa, which is called a commandment, and for receiving the light, which is called the Torah, the holy names? It is written that a person must attain the entire Torah, which is called “buying the Torah.” Buying means acquiring it through the surrounding light so that all the holy names, the entire revelation of the Creator become clothed within a person.

If you have an aspiration for this, you should engage in it. And if not, then study the Pentateuch, the Mishnah, and the Gemara; that is your Torah. The two paths are distinct; we must understand that they are separate from one another.

I learned from Rabash not to antagonize those whose desire remains within the confines of this world. They want to convince me that it is better to halt one’s development than to advance. That is true because “he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” But they do not understand that it is impossible to stop development, that this world has a goal, and it evolves in accordance with that purpose.

They have a very strong connection with the Creator, which is why they are called the holy still level. But at what level is this connection? At the minimal inanimate level, when a person performs an action exactly as it is written, and nothing more.

This is called the “inanimate” level because a person does not develop: Just as he was taught at the age of their Bar Mitzvah to put on Tefillin and was told that from that age he is a Jew and must observe the commandments, so he continues until the end of his life. And here, nothing must be changed, neither taking away nor adding anything.

The inanimate level remains in the same state, does not change, and is irreversible. In this state, a person is connected with the Creator in a certain way; he continually does the same thing, and this is his measure of adhesion. Therefore, nothing can influence him, no matter what happens in the world: whether going into exile, returning from exile, enduring exterminations, whatever occurs. The “still” can withstand and pass through all of this. It has a foundation, a very strong point of adhesion, that does not change.

However, there is a great deficiency here; it cannot develop and cannot attain the goal of creation. But this point is very important, which is why Baal HaSulam always told his students to preserve this inanimate level within themselves.

Rabash talked about one of the Vizhnitz Hasidim who came to Baal HaSulam one day. At some point, he told Baal HaSulam that he wanted to follow his path, like a Gerrer Hasid, since Baal HaSulam wore the same type of clothing as the Gerrer Hasidim. Baal HaSulam replied: What difference does it make? All of this is purely external. On the contrary, you should preserve all your customs; remain a Vizhnitz Hasid and do what they do.

Why? If you enter a state of descent, you will not fall like an ordinary Jew from the marketplace; at least, you will fall like a Vizhnitz Hasid. And when you gradually begin to rise from the descent, you will still remain a Jew in some way. Therefore, it is important where a person falls. In other words, it is good to rise from the inanimate level of holiness because if you fall, then you fall back into it.

I am not going to abolish this upbringing because without it, the Jewish people would cease to exist.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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Question: Why isn’t it stated clearly and categorically that our entire obligation as created beings is to attain complete connection through “Love your neighbor as yourself”?

Answer: All Kabbalistic books speak either about the unfolding of the worlds, Partzufim, and Sefirot from above downward, or about a person’s individual correction from below upward where one must come to hate one’s desire to receive for oneself, aspire for bestowal, realize that it is impossible to attain bestowal on one’s own, and then turn to the Creator so that He will help one rise above reception to achieve bestowal, and in doing so find one’s entire purpose, mission, and fulfillment in bestowing to Him.

This is described in great detail. What is not stated precisely, however, is that this correction is accomplished through connection within the group, through work in the group, bestowal upon one’s neighbor, and the feeling that one has support and mutual guarantee. There are only isolated hints about this in the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But how is this connected with love for the Creator? “Do not do to another what is hateful to you.” Why do we exist in such an enormous world instead of simply feeling ourselves directly connected with the Creator? Why do we need this entire world?

All of this is not clarified in the books; that is, the connection between a person’s work in relation to the Creator and a person’s work with the group is not clarified. It is written, “From love of the created beings to love of the Creator,” but this is not stated clearly and categorically enough for everyone, religious and secular alike, to understand that the problem lies precisely in “Love your neighbor.”

Today we stand before the need to solve precisely this problem toward which the global crisis is pushing us. This is a social crisis and not an economic one, a crisis resulting from the fact that we all exist within an egoistic society that is devouring itself. Its solution is possible only if we understand that we are obligated to come to unity. Yet, we will not be able to achieve unity unless we discover that there is only one force capable of helping us do so.

Here, we find ourselves between life and death. We will need the Creator in order to be saved from death. This is precisely how He becomes revealed. Therefore, our time is truly the time of the coming of the Messiah (Mashiach), that is, the revelation of the Creator to the created beings, so that, on one hand, we may be saved from death, but in truth, so that we may attain a world filled with goodness and benevolence, a world that exists entirely in bestowal from above, in the revelation of the Creator to the single created being into which everyone unites. Then the Creator is revealed to them.

Therefore, what is especially important is this connection between the present state of the world and the urgent necessity for the revelation of the Creator in the connection between us.

Although Kabbalah sources do not explicitly detail this (offering only scattered references), we must produce articles and explanatory materials and describe the process of transition from the “I” to the group, from the group to the world, and from the world to spirituality—to the Creator and the force of bestowal that will connect everything and fill the whole of reality, all created beings, and the entire vast desire.
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Question: By meticulously observing all the laws of the Sukkah, don’t we resemble idol worshippers?

Answer: You are asking: “If I work on the material observance of the commandment—building and decorating a Sukkah and carefully performing the rituals associated with the holiday—am I not violating the prohibition, ‘Do not make for yourself graven images or likenesses?’ In other words, am I becoming more attached to matter than to the spirit?”

For me, it is important not to become more attached to matter than to the spiritual, but to see in material objects only hints of the spiritual. It is important that these hints awaken questions in me about spirituality. How should I act internally toward the Creator regarding my inner qualities? If this is indeed what happens, then I am using the material expression of the spiritual correctly—branches and the literal meaning (Pshat)—for my personal spiritual advancement.

But if I really forget about the spiritual aspect of the commandment, about advancing through it, and about the connection between the material action and the spiritual intention that makes spiritual ascent possible, then indeed I have simply built a beautiful Sukkah, covered it with a beautiful roof, and sit in it, eating and drinking without thinking about spirituality at all.

I would not say that this is graven image or likeness or something forbidden, but in any case, the benefit is minimal. Perhaps at some point I will nevertheless develop a desire to attain the state of Sukkah in the spiritual sense—to build it within myself.

As Ibn Ezra writes, all the commandments were given to us not in order to “make idols,” but to correct the heart. If a person relates to willow branches, the etrog, the Schach, and so forth as attributes symbolizing the correction of the heart, wishing through them to connect a little more with the inner meaning and grasp the hints conveyed by these “branches,” then he truly sanctifies this world as well. The entire world acquires meaning for him.

But this applies only to those who use everything in this world for spiritual advancement.

Some people think that we are opposed to the mechanical observance of commandments. No, we are not opposed to physical actions at all. It is true that the importance of physical actions is somewhat diminished for us because we constantly think and work on how to fulfill these commandments in the spiritual, inner sphere, and carry them out within the person himself.

But when a person is already completely filled with the desire to perform a spiritual action and attain fulfillment of the commandment in its true meaning, then material things do not hinder him at all. On the contrary, they help him return to his intention again and again. He finds all kinds of nuances and pleasant elements in them that connect him with the same idea.

There are things that people often neglect. At the beginning, there may be periods when a person pays almost no attention to the material world or to carrying out physical actions. Later, everything, so to speak, returns to its proper place. This will come; there is no need to worry.

We should be more concerned about what we do not fulfill spiritually, which is a matter of bestowing upon the Creator. As for the material side, that will come. It is desirable to try to do these things in parallel—in the spiritual and material realms—although, in reality, one or the other occasionally falters.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson for the holiday of Sukkot, 9/26/26

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Comment: Baal HaSulam writes that the commandment of the Sukkah symbolizes faith, and therefore stands above all the other commandments. On the other hand, we learn that the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” is the one that transcends all other commandments.

My Response: Neither the commandment of Sukkah nor the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” goes beyond all the other commandments. They include them within themselves. If it seems to you that this commandment is something greater, then it would appear as though there are 613 commandments, and the last of them is greater than all the others.

No, this commandment includes all the others, but is not an additional commandment, an additional action. It is an action that manifests as the sum of all the previous actions.

For example, suppose you have a cucumber, a tomato, an onion, dill, and parsley. You chop everything, and you get a salad. The salad is something new, but is there really anything new in it? There is nothing other than the combination of components that already existed.

The same principle underlies the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” (the great rule of the Torah) or the commandment of the “Sukkah” as a synthesis of all the commandments. Combine all the commandments and you will get the Sukkah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson for the holiday of Sukkot, 9/26/26

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Why is fulfilling the commandment of Sukkah equivalent to all the other commandments? It is because the Sukkah symbolizes faith, and faith is the screen and reflected light through which a person can perform the commandments. Bestowal upon the Creator (Hashpa’ah) is called a commandment (Mitzvah), equivalence with the Creator is called a commandment, adhesion (Dvekut) with the Creator is called a commandment.

A commandment is working with the desire to receive for the sake of bestowal, which is possible only according to the measure of the screen and reflected light.

Therefore, Rabash says that all those who betray faith receive a curse. That is, one who is unable to work with the intention for the sake of bestowal, who has neither a screen nor reflected light, has no faith, and then instead of a blessing, he receives a curse.

Conversely, those who preserve their faith will face no obstacles. Therefore, the main thing is to work on maintaining faith and ensuring that faith prevails over reason.

Thus, one must always be concerned with the intention to bring contentment to the Creator, so that only the magnitude of the intention to bestowa becomes the magnitude of the Kli (vessel) with which the person works.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson for the holiday of Sukkot, 9/26/26

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Question: What does it meant when it is written about the notion of sin?

Answer: Sin or transgression is when a person uses his desire to receive in order to receive. A person is given some pleasure, but cannot overcome it. It could be a pleasure in something that is a transgression, and yielding to it.

So, it is written, “He committed a transgression and repeated it, it became something permitted to him.” What does “permitted” mean? It means the person has already descended to this degree where this sin is, and he is there.

This could happen not only toward the Mitzvot of “You shall not do,” but also towards the Mitzvot that “You shall do.” Let’s say you are in a state where you put on the Tefillin every day, and one day you receive a state of such laziness and indifference, such a descent that you cannot put Tefillin on. So, you do not do it one day. The second day you also do not do it. Then you have descended to the degree in which you are under the pleasure of the rest, where you are resting from not doing this work.

This could happen towards animalistic, beastly pleasures that are in this world. It can also be unrelated to pleasures, but rather as a result of laziness. Meaning, both, towards doing, where you should do and should benefit and also in relation to “do not do” and you will benefit.

Meaning, either you deter from good deeds, or you are going to go and do bad deeds. Both of them lead a person to descent if he does not overcome them.

If it happened for the first time, it is not necessarily considered that you committed a transgression, because the first time this obstacle comes from above. This is what happened to Adam when he first tasted the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and then a second time. We need to learn this example.

The first time, you are played with, and what needs to be done upon you from above is done. But the second time, what is demanded of you is preparation and ability to face the given situation and to balance your mind (Mocha) and heart (Liba).
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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: We learn that the Creator gives us a point in the heart, gives us Kelim (vessels), and does everything for us, but why don’t we receive vessels of bestowal?

Answer: We study that the Creator is good and does good. His goal is to bring a person to final correction (Gmar Tikkun). A person’s Gmar Tikkun occurs when they develop their desire to receive to the point that in its actions, it becomes similar to the actions of the Creator.

But the Creator does not put on Tefillin the way you do; He does so spiritually. It is a state where Zeir Anpin of the world of Atzilut becomes great, rises to Arik Anpin, and performs actions called “putting on of Tefillin”: a powerful connection with the upper force (Zivug de Hakaa) at a particular degree, when the lights emerge from above, from the front and from the back, from the side of the forehead (Metzach) and from the side of the back of the head (Oref).

The Creator wants you to put on Tefillin in the same way He does; this is called becoming similar to Him. In other words, it is not merely putting a box on your head or arm. At the same time, you must perform the true action—the spiritual one.

You already understand that this is performed both spiritually and corporeally. But why does the Creator not give those who perform it corporeally the desire to perform it spiritually as well? Because there is no connection between the two. That is the answer. There is no connection between them.

A person can spend two hundred years, reincarnation after reincarnation, performing the commandment of “putting on Tefillin,” but this does not develop his desire to receive—his desire for spirituality does not grow as a result.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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The desire for spirituality begins with the point in the heart which the Creator places within a person. This can happen to someone who is religious as well as to someone who is completely secular. As a rule, it happens to a secular person because he is searching for something more, since religion no longer satisfies him.

But observing the Torah and commandments on the material level will not lead you to spirituality; it does not expand the desire to receive. The desire to receive is an entirely different Kli (vessel). It begins with the point in the heart and continues onward toward spirituality.

There is a Machsom—a line below which there is a person on his animate level who has corporeal desires for money, honor, and knowledge. And if, after this, the point in his heart —the desire for spirituality—appears, then this is a “part of the Creator from Above,” which has nothing to do with his other desires.

A religious person observes the commandments within the framework of life in this world without this point. The point in the heart is something else—it is a desire for spirituality. People with a point in the heart can be found among both the religious and the secular, among both Jews and the nations of the world, as Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon wrote about. We can see this in Rabbi Akiva and Onkelos.

These calculations are the Creator’s calculations from above. It does not necessarily happen that all the righteous father’s sons are also righteous. Who remembers the names of all of Moses’ sons? We know that he passed the Torah on to Joshua. The point in the heart is not inherited; it is placed within a person, and that is how the process continues. It is not my fault that I was given such a desire, and I act according to it.

If the point in the heart awakens in a person, then it is there; if it does not, then it is not there because we ourselves cannot cause it to reveal itself. As RABASH wrote that you take a person and place them in a group that strives for spirituality, then you are, so to speak, accelerating their development, and the Creator reveals the point in the heart within them.

This means that in their animalistic development, a person reaches a level at which this point manifests itself within them, that is, the time remaining before they sense the point in the heart is shortened.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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If we look a little deeper in, and thoroughly examine those who observe Torah and Mitzvot, whether they want to be given vessels of bestowal and to give in return the will to receive, the vast majority of the workers will say that they pass on this. Instead, they want to observe Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive. It follows that they have no need for vessels of bestowal. For this reason, how can they say that the Torah and Mitzvot they labor in should give them a reward for which they have no need? On the contrary, they are afraid lest they will lose the vessel of reception called “self-love” (Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”).

Rabash writes that there are people who observe the Torah and commandments as though they were “perfect” and “righteous.” Nevertheless, their practical observance says nothing about their intention, and they do not understand at all what the Creator requires of them.

Most people in the world observe the Torah and commandments only in order to receive a reward in this world or in the future world. The exception is those who wish to acquire the intention for the sake of bestowal, the screen, something that is completely impossible to achieve except through the wisdom of Kabbalah. Working for the sake of the Creator is precisely what the wisdom of Kabbalah is about. It means becoming similar to Him.

I in no way reject the observance of the Torah and commandments by those who observe them mechanically. This is called the initial, minimal degree, the spiritually inanimate level; it is where people have been taught to observe the commandments practically, but have not been taught about the intention, because their teachers do not know what it is.

The intention is the screen and reflected light, which can be acquired only after many years of great effort, while being under the influence of the surrounding light that comes to a person through studying the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We are speaking about two levels: the level of the masses, which is called the path of the ordinary person, and the path of Torah, the path of the influence of the surrounding light, through which a person acquires a screen. The first is one thing and the second is another. But for me there is no contradiction between them, nor do I oppose this. I reject nothing, there is simply Torah for those who are not yet spiritually developed and Torah for those who are already spiritually developed.

I lived in Rehovot and began searching and making efforts, as though I had returned to religion. I was looking for something internal and saw that there was nothing there. I began demanding more from those who had brought me back to religion and continued searching.

Among them was Rabbi Fischer from Holland, who told the others, “Leave him alone. There are people who need something more internal. Help him.” That is how I came to Rabbi Zilberman from Jerusalem. He quickly understood that I was one of those who needed something more. But even what I received in Jerusalem was not enough for me, so I continued searching until I found Rabash.

There are such people and there are others. You cannot say anything more than that.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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After the destruction of the Second Temple, a few people remained, such as Rabbi Shimon, who began writing books and advising the nation on what they should do. They directed this nation that had disconnected from its spiritual level to adhere to a system based on physical actions corresponding to spiritual ones.

Previously, everyone prayed with a prayer of the heart; now,  a prayer book was written for them. Many things that did not exist before were now defined by instructions on how to act at the material level. It was necessary to define the boundaries of the “animal,” which no longer sensed the limits set by the spiritual world and was seeking its own enclosure—to provide a framework for its existence. This was done through the book Shulchan Aruch and other texts.

Thus, the situation that persisted for millennia can be described as the lesser evil. A person existing on the material level, who has no contact with spirituality and no perception of the surrounding light, naturally believes that nothing else is possible.

He thinks that by observing the Torah and the commandments, he is doing everything possible. Indeed, in a way, he is doing everything possible. He has no sense that any further correction is possible. Correction of what if the point in the heart has not yet manifested itself?

That is why some have one Torah and others have another. For some it is external, for others it is internal. When we speak about the inner part of the Torah, we are talking about why a person needs the Torah in the first place: either for internal correction, which is triggered by a point in the heart, or for external correction, which is prompted by the desire to know what to do with one’s hands and feet, and what words to say.

For example, you have a book about slander. Let us take just one stipulation: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and suddenly you need all these books and encyclopedias to know exactly what can be said in connection with this and what cannot.

The law, however, states one thing: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Make an effort to do this, that is all. What books could we be talking about? However, when moving from inner work to outer work, you must give each thing an external definition so that you know which forms of its manifestation are prohibited, then the amendments begin to multiply. Internally, there is only one law: the law of adhesion, of similarity of form.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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