The difference between weekdays and the Sabbath (Shabbat) is that weekdays represent the work of correcting souls, which is a process through which a person gradually reaches the state of the goal of creation called Shabbat, the state of final correction. This attainment is contingent on the work performed throughout the week, as it is written: “He who has not exerted himself on the eve of the Sabbath, what shall he eat on the Sabbath?”

Spiritual advancement means that a person, at any given moment of his life, weighs his actions to determine the extent to which they are directed toward the goal of creation. This is the difference between a person’s material and spiritual levels.

We exist in this world, and it seems to us that actions control and determine everything. Indeed, to maintain life in our animal body, actions are indispensable. We must plow the earth, sow seeds, and harvest crops; that is, we must perform all 39 types of work to produce bread, which constitutes the staple food of man.

Unlike animals that merely gather ready-to-eat fruits and do not need to cook their own food, humans must actively engage in the preparation of their food because nothing in nature exists in a ready-to-consume state except for water, salt, and herbs.

Everything we procure to sustain our existence requires processing. We must labor “by the sweat of your brow.” Therefore it seems to us that the primary element is physical action. Indeed, for everything related to material life in this world, intention is not important. For example, we can bring workers from Thailand, and they will work, while we simply enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The same principle applies to the physical observance of the Torah and the commandments: one who performs them is called a “righteous man,” and the one who does not do this is called a “sinner.” These definitions are correct regarding existence in this world. This degree is called the “holy still” (Domem deKedusha); that is, the assessment of one being righteous or a sinner based on his actions.

However, there is also a spiritual aspect of man, and here we must fulfill the commandments, not with the help of the body, but in accordance with the “point in the heart.” When a person has this point, he can fulfill the Torah and commandments in a spiritual way, but when he lacks it, he cannot.

If one were to approach any individual and tell them that it is a necessity, that the Creator has commanded us so, that it will for their own good, then he would do everything strictly at the level of material action, in the heart (in his egoistic desire), but not in the point in the heart (the embryonic seed of a spiritual Kli). This is called being a “proper Jew.”

However, in order to work with intention, a connection with the Creator is needed, which does not come from the ordinary “heart” but from the “point in the heart.” In it, we evaluate a person’s actions according to their intention, since relative to the point in the heart, the Creator does not take our actions into account at all, but only intentions. Intention is action.

This means, as it is said, “He has done, is doing, and will do all actions; there is none else besides Him.” Everything comes from the Creator, both in actions and intentions. The question here is only about a person’s attitude to what comes to him.

According to this attitude, that is, according to the intention of a person, we evaluate him as a righteous or a sinner. Either his intention is directed at the Creator, which is called “for the sake of giving” (al Menat Lehashpia), or it is not yet directed at the Creator and is called “for the sake of receiving” (al Menat Lekabel).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/26, Rabash, “Why the Speech of Shabbat Must Not Be as the Speech of a Weekday, in the Work”

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It therefore follows that we should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, (Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?“)

That is, why does one study? In order to know what must be done in the material world. And then a person studies and fulfills the commandments.

 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You” (Ibid.)

Here it speaks about “studying Torah in order to know the laws, how to observe the commandments of the Torah,” meaning that there is something more in it than just performing commandments. There is value in the study itself when one must attach the heart to it. There are corrections that the Torah performs in the heart. These are corrections to make us better, when the Creator wishes that the Torah will support us, and through it we will be strengthened.

3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; (ibid.)

This is the level when a person already knows that the Torah was not given merely to correct his animalistic heart so that he simply becomes better and thereby fulfills the commandment of studying Torah, but that there is something special in the Torah—light.

I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith (ibid.)

That is, a person already considers himself wicked, and the Torah corrects him so that he will become better.

4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator” (ibid.)

In other words, he already receives the light of Hochma within the light of Hassadim. This light of Hochma, which he receives according to the level of his correction, is called the names of the Creator.

In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures (ibid.)
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/26, Rabash, Article 12, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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Question: What place does physical observance of the commandments occupy in spiritual work?

Answer: All the commandments are merely expressions of spiritual laws in our world. Unfortunately, their physical observance gives no result. This is confirmed by the fact that, despite two millennia of Jews observing the commandments, our condition has only worsened.

In the code of laws, the Shulchan Aruch, there are many rules that speak about love for one’s neighbor, about correct and kind relations between people. But we pass over them as if they were written for small children and not for us.

We consider, for example, that the most important thing is to perform the ritual of washing of hands. Yet this ritual speaks about cleansing our hands from egoism, from the desire to take the whole world for ourselves. The same applies to all the other commandments.

It is said that “a commandment without the correct intention is dead.” Therefore, if we observe them only in a physical form, then unfortunately, we will not obtain any positive outcome except an ever-growing egoism that increasingly divides the entire nation, including religious people.

We have come to a state where returning to the state of connection between us becomes mandatory; without it humanity will lead itself to destruction. And if we take the books of our sages, we will see that they speak precisely about this.
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From a Public Lecture in New York, 7/20/15

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There are four states people go through when performing Torah and Mitzvot.

What does it mean to perform Torah and Mitzvot? For religious people, it is what they were taught at a young age: to perform certain actions and they perform them. If they had been taught other actions, they would performed those.

In this case, as Rabash writes, the reason and motivation for fulfilling the Torah and Mitzvot is external influence. This does not mean that I perform commandments because I am afraid of these people or that I want to be considered great among them, good and righteous, a respected person, etc. It doesn’t matter what other reasons there may be, the main thing is that I do what I was taught, nothing more. In general, I fulfill other people’s desires.

For someone who has been used to doing this since childhood, it becomes second nature; otherwise, he feels bad, and by doing his usual actions, he feels good. Whether a person was brought up this way or converted to faith at a later age, he looks at his environment, which obliges him to perform certain actions.

And indeed, the environment has wonderful laws. You must attend the synagogue. It is not right to  not go there to pray. You are obliged to celebrate holidays according to certain rules and to dress in a certain way. You are obliged. Society sets thousands of laws for you. And this means that you fulfill the Torah and the commandments under the influence of external people, and not of your own freewill.

Whereas we are talking about correcting one’s desire. In this case, you set your desire aside, as if you remove it from yourself, place someone else’s desire into yourself, and fulfilled it. This is called a “good soldier,” who uses his body, and, by placing the commander’s desire in it, obeys his orders. For the religious masses, this form of observing the commandments is acceptable, which is very good. Otherwise it would be a mess, chaos.

The second type of motivation for fulfilling the Torah and Mitzvot is the Creator in combination with external people, who promote and compel the observance of the Torah and Mitzvot. That is, a person begins to incorporate a certain admixture into his previous calculations, as if “contaminating” them. He is already beginning to consider not only the environment, but also the Creator.

What does it mean to be with the Creator? This means that a kind of conflict arises inside a person, an internal contradiction. This is not yet a clash of two opposing sides; it is not yet two poles.

Two opposing authorities cannot exist in me at the same time, or I would be torn apart by not knowing whom to listen to, or whom to give preference to. I cannot be aimed in both directions. I have only one desire. I cannot tune in to two, so a problem arises. This is the beginning of the path.

The third condition is when “only the Creator obliges him to fulfill the Torah and commandments; not external people, but the person himself is also the reason for fulfilling the Torah and commandments.” This is the third type of motivation, when the Creator obliges a person to fulfill the Torah and the commandments, and the person himself, as Rabash writes, “is the reason.” I would say that he contributes to this.

And the fourth type of motivation is that the reason for fulfilling the Torah and the commandments is only the Creator, and there is no one contributing to this. This is called “the introduction of the mixed-multitude into Kedusha.” In this case, there is absolutely no other contributing or even supporting factor, where we say that a person strengthens himself along the way and supposedly does something on his own. No, everything is done exclusively by the Creator. But this is the level of complete adhesion with the Creator.

As a result, it is revealed to a person that all these are the ways of the Creator’s governance. It is not that I act one way or another as I advance, but as I work hard, I reveal various factors that compel me to act.

At first these factors seem to be external people, then external people and the Creator, then me and the Creator, and in the end, only the Creator. It is just that in the process of his development, a person begins to reveal what the reason is for his existence, and who is the source of his existence.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/26, Rabash, Article 29, “Lishma and Lo Lishma”

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The Torah is called “613 counsels,” meaning 613 tips by which one is rewarded with vessels of bestowal.

Afterward, once he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal through the Torah, he must receive the delight and pleasure that is found in the thought of the Creator. That delight and pleasure is also called “Torah,” meaning that at that time, the 613 counsels become 613 deposits (RABASH, “What It Means that the World Was Created for the Torah”).

The Creator created the desire to enjoy, but He wants this desire to enjoy bestowal rather than reception. Therefore, it must undergo changes, and must do so independently, according to the principle: “We shall do and we shall hear.”

Where is this desire found? It is in the human species, at the human level of development. As Baal HaSulam writes, after all examinations, we find only one advantage of man over the animal: the impulse to work for the Creator and to adhere to Him. One in whom this impulse exists is called “human” (Adam). If this urge, this ascent, has not yet been born within him, then he is called an “animal.”

And yet it is said in Psalms: “Man and beast You save.” All gradually draw closer to awakening toward adhesion with the Creator. And having awakened, they begin to act according to the principle “We shall do and we shall hear.”

“We shall do” means the correction of the Kelim, when we carry out the 613 counsels. And “we shall hear” means the filling of the Kelim through the 613 commandments, that is, deposits, investments, when the corrected Kelim enters a contribution, a pledge, meaning the light.

Through correction and filling, by means of counsels and deposits, we come to realization: all our 613 desires are corrected from reception to bestowal and are filled with the upper light, or the Creator. In the end, we find ourselves filled with Him, or in adhesion with Him, when He fills us.

Therefore, the Torah (the method of correction) was created only for those who wish to correct their egoistic desire with an intention to bestow. Only they truly engage in the Torah. After all, “Torah” is the light that returns to the source (the reforming light). One who does not exist for this purpose is not called a “human” who carries out correction.

If we were to look at our world through spiritual lenses, we might see here perhaps only a few humans. All the rest would belong to still, vegetative, and animate nature, including many animals in the form of people, though this is only an external resemblance.

If a person has not awakened to correct himself and to attain the height of the Creator, it means that he is still at the animate degree of development. The method of correction was not created for him, whatever he may be engaged in. He may be a great erudite, he may consider himself righteous, but if he does not care about correcting his evil inclination every second, he is still called an “animal.” And therefore, it is said that all are like animals.

Thus, we must respect the desire that has awakened within us that is directed toward adhesion with the Creator and respect the friends in whom this fire also burns. We can unite among ourselves so that the common desire of all will dwell in each one. Then, upon this great desire that encompasses everyone, we will draw the light that returns to the source, and it will indeed unite all our desires into one great, already corrected Kli. It will be filled with the upper light, the Creator, and thus we will become similar to Malchut of the world of infinity, as it is said: “He is one and the Creator is one.” He is the light, and the Creator is the vessel, the Kli, HaVaYaH.

Thus, it turns out that the entire world was created for correction. In the end, all will have to correct themselves and come to adhesion, of which it is said: “All shall know Me, from the smallest to the greatest.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/21/11, Rabash ,“What It Means that the World Was Created for the Torah”

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Question: It is said that even a commandment without an intention is called a commandment of the Creator. Yet we study that a commandment without an intention is like a body without a soul. How can these be reconciled?

Answer: When Kabbalists write about commandments without intention, they do not mean ordinary people. Ask a child who learned at the age of 13 to put on Tefillin why he does it, and he will say: “That is how I was taught.” Another, a bit wiser, will answer: “It is the Creator’s will, and so I do it.” A third will say: “I want to gain something good for myself through this.” There are many different reasons.

The Kabbalists who wrote the books never meant the physical actions of our bodies. When they say that a person performs an action without intention, it means that I am making every possible effort, yet I still do not have the intention for the sake of bestowal. Perhaps I am trying to act for the sake of bestowal, perhaps I do not yet understand, but I am already engaged in this and investing some effort.

In our community, there are many people who do not know what the intention for the sake of bestowal is, not even what spirituality is. Yet they made an effort and came at three in the morning to study. I do not think that many of them clearly understand why they are here, analyze their intention, clarify it, and are now implementing that intention.

No, for many, this is still an initial state. But they are making inner efforts, performing various actions, as it is written: “Whatever is in your power and ability to do, do.” They make different attempts to attain something to which they are being pushed from above. This is called actions without intention.

That is, the Kabbalists do not mean people who were taught to mechanically observe commandments and therefore do so. They mean those who sit here with the desire to attain the correct intention, but in whom it has not yet been revealed.

This is a transitional period in which a person gradually begins to see various states and what to do with them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/26, Rabash, “Concerning the Reward of the Receivers”

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Question: What are the permitted things, the forbidden things, the commandments, and the necessary actions for us in the preparation period?

Answer: Forbidden actions are those that can distance us from attaining the true goal: hatred toward a friend, laziness in the group, neglect of our duties, neglect of the greatness of the Creator, the greatness of the group, that is, everything that can be very important for us and is our support, something we must hold on to. This is forbidden because it throws a person in the opposite direction from attaining the goal.

Commandments are what the Kabbalists have prescribed for us. It is even better not to say commandments, but advice. If you want to attain the goal, you must do such-and-such. What does it mean, “you must”? The Kabbalists do not command you; they explain that this is how reality is arranged; this is how the law works. The general law of reality is if you want to enter the spiritual world, you must live according to certain laws.

Here there is no such thing as simply someone’s desire, or the Creator’s, or the Kabbalist who teaches us, or an angel who opens the entrance for you. In spirituality, it doesn’t work like that.

Actions on different levels, with different intentions, and even physical actions of the body that help you in attaining the spiritual goal for the sake of bestowal, are called commandments or advice (Eitzot). By following this advice, you can attain spiritual qualities, and then they will already be called decrees (Pkudim).

All commandments, in principle, are divided into two parts: the part in which you try to come to a spiritual quality, and when you internally acquire it, it becomes yours. You are already consist of it, and then more, and more.

These things are commanded to us. They are surely worth performing, just as it is not worth doing anything that distances you from fulfilling the spiritual laws.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/26, Rabash “Concerning the Reward of the Receivers”

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There is no connection between the work of physically performing commandments and the inner work that we study, because the latter can be done only when I acquire forces from above, when I have a connection with the Creator. To the extent that I receive illumination and enlightenment from Him from above, I understand what to do with myself, how to do it in relation to Him, how to address Him, and how to draw closer to Him.

My inner work is my approach to the Creator according to the principle of equivalence of form, as if a connecting thread exists between me and Him. And I, like on a tightrope in a circus, climb along this thread.

The actions that help in this are called commandments; those that interfere are called transgressions; and there are permitted things, that is, recommendations.

These are all inner actions as I rise within myself toward the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/26, Rabash, “Concerning the Reward of the Receivers”

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A Mitzva protects and saves while practiced. The Torah protects and saves both when practiced and when not practiced (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 6 “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work?”).

We exist within the upper light in which there are absolutely no changes; rather, all changes occur only within us. A person’s advancement depends entirely on how much he can awaken himself toward the upper light through various means.

That is, progress is possible through the environment. If one can begin to feel what a friend feels, he can constantly experience goodness. As it is written: “Love your neighbor as yourself is a great rule in the Torah,” because through this, one attains the Torah, meaning the upper light. Then it does not matter whether he, himself, performs certain actions or not, this light will shine upon him and support him.

There are two spiritual states of a person in relation to the Light: 1) Torah, and 2) Mitzvah (commandment).

Torah refers to the state a person has presently attained in general with the entire system of soul through which he receives the light.

Mitzvah refers to working on the correction of one’s personal state by scrutinizing it and asking for the light to transform one’s desire from egoistic to altruistic.

From the combination of these two states arise four possible opportunities, whether one is performing a Mitzvah or not and whether one is engaged in the Torah or not.

It may be that a person is not currently performing a Mitzvah, meaning one is unable to receive one’s personal light: the person is not inspired, is not in ascent, and is not aspiring toward correction and toward the Creator. But the general illumination, called Torah, still shines upon him, and in such a case, it is of course more significant than the Mitzvah, which at that moment does not shine upon him.

Or the opposite may be true: he is currently performing a Mitzvah, working with his individual Light. Then, whether or not he has the light of the Torah is less important because the Mitzvah shines so strongly that it fills him entirely.

In other words, a person has two supports—either Torah or Mitzvah. But if he has neither, if neither of these two illuminations shines upon him, he becomes completely detached from feeling spirituality.

When he lacks the Mitzvah (personal engagement), but still receives a bit of light, referred to as Torah, he considers himself wicked. But when his own desire to attain correction appears, when he performs a Mitzvah, he begins to justify the Creator, even for negative states, and corrects them. Then, he is called righteous.

From this, we must understand the fundamental principle of the wisdom of Kabbalah: everything is evaluated solely in relation to the person, to the created being, for the light itself remains in absolute rest. Since we are integrated into the common system, we receive a common illumination from it, through our passive connection to others. This common illumination is what is called Torah.

Additionally, there is personal light, which comes through our active connection with the system and exchange internal states and corrections. This is called a Mitzvah.

Through these two processes, in which a person tries to engage constantly, he advances spiritually, and that is why they are called the help, the support, that the Torah (light) gives in the work.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/2/2011, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work?”

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Question: We say that first we direct ourselves toward the Creator, and only afterward we work with the friends in order to attain Him. But in practice, according to the method it is the other way around. First are the commandments regarding one’s attitude toward a friend, and then to the Creator.

Answer: The end of the action is in the original plan. You must constantly maintain the final goal, and everything you do along the way is merely a means. Therefore, if you are not thinking about the ultimate goal, your intermediate actions may be directed the wrong way and end up giving the opposite result.

Baal HaSulam writes about this, mentioning communism, Kibbutzim, and all the things humanity tried to create for its own benefit by using the rule “love your neighbor as yourself,” the Ten Commandments, and so on. The result was only evil and destruction. The reason is that the ultimate goal was not exactly the one for which these commandments were given and for which the whole of creation really exists.

If you use anything beyond the inanimate, vegetative, or animate levels without the intention to attain adhesion with the Creator, then any action, even the smallest one, causes damage to the surrounding reality.

And the greater and more significant the action, the more harm it brings to you. After all, the entire reality was created only so that you could connect your free choice with the place where you are called a human, and thereby all of reality would once again merge with the Creator.
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From the 1^st part from the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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