Question: I don’t understand: If something is impossible to achieve, then why is it forbidden?

Answer: The impossibility of something does not yet guarantee that I won’t want to achieve it. A prohibition implies that you must bring yourself into line with it. “It is forbidden” is a condition under which my corrected attitude toward these Kelim or toward this state corresponds to the prohibition.

That is, I must acquire such corrections that, even if it were permitted, I would myself establish a prohibition, taking the place of the Creator in relation to this subject. And then it would mean that I have corrected myself and risen to the appropriate attitude toward these vessels.

Question: So does this mean that all these restrictions, in essence, are given from above down as an example?

Answer: All restrictions are imposed from above downward as an example of the fact that we, for our part, must comply with these restrictions even in the absence of a prohibition. And this means that I am truly corrected. The Creator, who has no limits, imposes a restriction on Himself and contracts Himself. Despite the fact that this is very, very difficult for holiness, He still does it in order to allow me to achieve the same state.

And if I want to establish a relationship with the level on which He stands, I must also reduce my desire to receive, just as He reduces His holiness and light.

That is, I must reduce the Kli so that, relative to this stage, I act in the same way as the Creator, even if He does not exist. I came to the conclusion that this state is the most perfect. Thus, it is determined that at this stage I am in the stage of infinity; after all, every stage is perfection.

According to my Kelim, this refers to the revelation of Infinity to me, a part of the final state. However, how can I know which part it is? For me, this is perfection. And therefore, every stage, every state in the spiritual realm is perfect.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

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Comment: As far as I know, ordinary religious people have the greatest desire to receive.

My Response: The Book of Zohar says such a person wants to “swallow” this world to some extent, so he and his children will be happy here. He also wants to be happy in the next world. It is like he is contributing to the “world-to-come fund,” so something is left for afterward.

This is a natural human desire that cannot be considered bad. This is how a person works if he has not come to genuine work for the Creator, and this is how the masses work. People follow the commandments, do everything necessary, and the truth is, this is how it should be; the framework is needed anyway.

Until a person reaches a high stage of soul development, when he needs the upper one, to really approach religion in the middle line, they will be religious at a level below the middle line, which is called Domem de Kedusha (the inanimate level of holiness or the holy still).

Below the middle line, before development begins in it, there is a point called a religious person in the sense of this world. You see such people, for example, in Bnei Brak [Israel]. This is an inanimate level of holiness, and that is good. Such a person fulfills the Torah and the commandments through the material actions of this world and hopes to receive reward in both this world and the world to come. Everything is in order.

They should not be told what true correction is because they are not yet able to come to it. “Do not put obstacles before the blind.” You just need to not interfere with them and protect them, as Kabbalists have done for all generations. After all, all the holy books were written by people who attained spirituality, Kabbalists, who wrote in such a way as not to touch the people, taking care of them, as they say, “wearing gloves.”

What can you do if so many people have not yet reached development as part of the overall advancement of mankind? We must wait. Man has lived on Earth for tens of thousands of years, and you can see how it manifests: from the time of Abraham to the present day, only a few have really sought to come to religion through the middle line. And without desire, nothing can be done.

Once a person starts wondering, “What is the meaning of my life?”—meaning life in this world in general—and is already striving for spirituality to experience real life there, you can already talk to him. Before then, do not touch him because he will not understand you. His desires, his inner part, are not yet ready to accept anything.

Therefore, if a religious person, what is called a “Jew,” wants to fulfill the Torah and commandments as he was taught, and receive reward for it, please, it is very commendable; this maintains him as a part of the people, saves him for the next correction, which will come when the Creator slightly illuminates his point in the heart. Then he will feel it and begin to develop.

The religious unknowingly think that I am against them and that something is wrong here. I am not against them; we do not touch them at all. We only want to gather those who already feel a point in their heart, who are wondering: “What is the meaning of our life in this world?” for whom such a life has no meaning. For them, we have an answer: Each of them has been chosen to begin their own personal correction.
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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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The whole world thinks that the work for the Creator is what the religious people are doing: learning a little bit, observing a few practical commandments.

I am not writing this off, but the work for the Creator consists of imitating the Creator and acting like Him, much like a son emulating his father, “You are children to the Lord your God.”

Question: What does” like Him” mean?

Answer: A son looks at you and imitates you, like a little monkey. Later as he matures, he performs these actions with understanding. This is, in essence, our path as well. Initially, at the embryonic stage (Ibur) we act without understanding; we simply nullify ourselves. Then at the stage of suckling (Yenika), we bring more desire and understanding into it, followed by that stage of greatness, adulthood, Mochin (Gadlut).

The Creator wants us to resemble Him completely. Resembling Him means acquiring a screen over the will to receive, whereby we become like the Nukva to Him. We enter continuous, face-to-face union with Him. This means we reach the complete work of the Creator.

When we correct ourselves and reach a state where we are just like Him, standing opposite Him, following the end of correction, we will begin to work differently. These are the secrets of Torah. We will find out eventually what it is, but it is for this purpose that we do everything. The goal is not to reach the end of correction (Gmar Tikun), but the goal is to reach the end of correction in order to prosper later with Him together.

What I want to say is that the work of the Creator does not consist of performing some corporeal actions. Baal HaSulam writes that the Creator does not care if you slaughter the beast from the neck or from the throat. All the commandments were given to purify Israel, or to bind them to the desire of the Creator. The commandment without an intention is like a body without a soul. All the work of the Creator is the intention, which is ultimately just the means to mimic the Creator.
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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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From the perspective of the desire to receive, all commandments seem unimportant to us because a commandment is defined as an action for the sake of bestowal, where the entire intention is directed toward the benefit of the Creator or the benefit of another, someone external to what exists or will exist within the desire to receive.

Therefore, it does not matter whether it is directed for the sake of the Creator or for the sake of the group, a friend, or anyone else outside me. I do not sense any of this, and therefore, it is called unimportant. What is not felt within the desire to receive cannot be performed by a person, because a person is the desire to receive.

Therefore, naturally, a person is incapable of performing a commandment, an act directed toward bestowal. But if they acquire the power of Bina, the force of bestowal, the light of Hassadim, faith, the ability to act above reason, then to the extent of their correction, they can perform a commandment.

All 620 commandments are found on all 620 degrees. The difference between them is which part of the common desire to receive a person can perform an action upon for the sake of bestowal. In order to come to the performance of any commandment, one must first make a restriction upon themself so that they have no calculation connected with themself.

Rabash writes that if we gather all the pleasures that exist in this world, throughout all times, in all souls, in everything, they would amount to a mere dim illumination compared with the smallest spiritual pleasure. From this, we can understand the magnitude of the protective power against the desire to receive a person must acquire from above in order to perform an action not for the sake of the desire to receive, after having made a restriction upon it.

Of course, they have no such capabilities on their own, and they are not even capable of asking for this. It is simply that a calculation similar to the one that exists between parents and a child operates here. When the child cries, they give it everything it needs because they are inherently obligated to care for him.

Therefore, a small overcoming in the right direction is enough for us to receive help in response: the strength and the opportunity to advance toward the goal.
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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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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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