Question: What are the “commandments between a person and the Creator”?

Answer: In spiritual work, there are only two actions you must perform: the correction of the vessels (Kelim) and their fulfillment.

The correction of the Kelim is carried out through love for one’s neighbor because this love represents the unification of all parts of Adam HaRishon. So what does the Creator have to do with this?

The point is that you need the Creator, the upper force, so that He gives you the force to “glue” the souls together, to unite them into a single Kli. You use Him to properly and evenly form the relationships between the friends, and thereby fulfill the rule “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which must encompass the entire world. This is precisely why you need the upper force—the Creator.

If correction is most important to you, then you relate to the Creator as an assistant. From the very beginning of the spiritual path to its end, you need both the friends and the Creator. You cannot connect only with the Creator without your friends, without the group. And further along, you cannot exist only with the group, without a connection to the Creator.

However, the important thing is what you actually do, and where your work takes place. In the first stage, it is among your friends, where the only choice for correcting the Kelim lies. Then, once you have attained a unified Kli and reached the state of “as one man with one heart,” you should no longer think about that. Then the second stage begins: a powerful connection with the upper force (Zivug de Haka’a), which fills the Kli.

Question: Then what is Avodat Hashem (the work of the Creator)?

Answer: Both of these actions are called the work of the Creator because in both you initially intend to become similar to Him. Maybe you are asking something else. If this is a person’s work, why do we call it the Creator’s work? It is because you ultimately reveal that it is Him who does it all with His force. However, the desire, the challenge, the raising of MAN (the prayer)—that comes from you.
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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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Kabbalists are not planning a nationwide return to religion so everyone stands in line to put on tefillin. None of us even think in this direction. Especially regarding the nations of the world. Even if they become corrected, will they also have to fulfill all these commandments? Of course not!

Baal HaSulam writes that a person can even remain in his religion, as it has nothing to do with what we do. All these things are carried out only spiritually anyway: in relation, intention, and one’s inner connection with the Creator.

It may not be easy to explain this, but it depends on the measure of internal, personal suffering and the degree of general, collective suffering. If we actually reach a state where we have to take it upon ourselves, this will serve as our internal preparation, and people will hear this and understand we have nowhere else to look for help.

This is called a cry to the Creator. This is a prayer, raising MAN—all this is, in fact, the same thing. You have no choice, you must. This is how a person who is in pain, who has a seriously ill loved one—his inner concern, his fear, his anxiety is about it. This is surely revealed in him. These things, in general, correct his state, and we see this is how it is.

What does it mean, they correct it? Of course, they do not correct anything, but they lead to correction coming from above.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/12/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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The Mitzva, “Love your friend as yourself,” is more important than one who makes the sacrifice (Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee]”).

What does the act of “sacrifice” represent? A person corrects one of their 620 desires and turns it toward bestowal; this is called “offering a sacrifice to the Creator” because through this correction, they draw closer to the Creator (the Hebrew word “Korban”—“sacrifice” comes from “Karov”—“close”).

Thus, any sacrifice from the still, vegetative, or animate levels brought by a person in this world symbolizes the gradual correction of all 620 desires with the intention to bestow.

Naturally, this is not about what to do with animals, wheat, wine, water, or blood, whatever was used at the altar. All these things do indeed take on physical form in our world, but their true meaning lies in the spiritual realm where the soul, made up of 620 desires, is being corrected.

In the process of correcting the desires, the commandments between a person and their friends are more effective than those between a person and the Creator.

Why? Baal HaSulam explains that we must correct our desires by shifting their intention from receiving to bestowal. In working with friends who are close to us in quality and in sharing the same goal, we can do this more effectively than with the Creator. He is concealed; His response is not directly felt by us. But our relationship with Him must be constant, just as His laws toward us are unchanging.

However, we are still in uncorrected vessels. Our states constantly fluctuate and disappear, so we are not yet able to enter into a connection with Him that would influence us effectively.

Therefore, only our relationships with friends remain the most effective means for advancing toward correction. In other words, the commandments “between a person and their friend” take precedence over those “between a person and the Creator.”

Put differently, the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” is far more important than all sacrifices and all other forms of relationship between a person and the Creator because it contributes more to the correction of the soul.
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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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Question: Many advocate the idea of the Creator and unity. Is our approach different?

Answer: In essence, action is an attitude toward society, humanity, and the Creator. Attitude is a Kli (vessel), through which everything is transformed. It is an instrument in one’s hands, a means of change.

And herein lies the difficulty. A person does not perceive that through the right attitude, through thought, they bring about qualitative change. Physicists and chemists can already argue that this principle is embedded in the basis of matter itself, that material behaves according to the human perception of it.

But an ordinary person does not grasp this; one cannot comprehend it. How do I relate—correctly, incorrectly? If I think one way or another, what does that change? People say that if I think negatively about a flower, it will sense it, and through my energy, I could kill it. But it is still just a flower, when would such a thing even happen? I would rather use a stick, a gun, a bomb, tangible things, that allow visible action.

That is why the Baal Shem Tov and other sages established commandments and various rituals of service in the Temple. What was the purpose of all this? Does slaughtering a poor lamb, pigeons, or a cow performing these rituals truly accomplish anything? Do these actions have meaning? Of course, everything is determined by one’s intention.

People needed a framework to which they could attach their intention, their thought—why am I acting this way, upon which part of my desire to receive am I performing this action, what does blood symbolize, or a pigeon, a ram, bread, and water in the Temple service? This provides a deeper understanding of the correction of desires.

Today, we do not intend to carry out such practices; they belong to a past stage. We ascend from below upward. First comes the correction, and then, in accordance with it, action. If a person comprehends what correction must be, then…
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/12/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Question: When we address people can we distance ourselves from everything related to Mitzvot and Judaism?

Answer: We must approach the people of Israel with explanations about how they can change their fate and that of the entire world, as well as their attitude to the Creator.

We cannot add nor distort anything here. We can only reveal it  a little more or a little less), as one would with a child, to allow growth under the best conditions and in the fastest possible way.

Therefore, we should speak about what contributes to correction, but we need to tailor our words to the level of understanding of the listener. You are at a certain degree and must ascend to the next one; I must reveal the difference in degrees to you and help you see what needs to change, but no more than that! Only what pertains to progressing from your current degree to the next. Nothing extraneous should be added.

We cannot say: “Jump ten times in the morning, and you will be guaranteed success for the entire day.” It is in the realm of Segulot (miracles), which help a person psychologically, but does not change anything beyond perception.

If right now, you wish to give someone a good feeling, you may do so. It is like drugs, sedatives, or painkillers, but nothing more than that. A person who wears Tefillin daily without intention does not correct himself or his people. This will not prevent the emergence of gas chambers. That is not a correction.

Why should we explain this? We can say that it helps one stay within the framework that will help you think about the right thing, about the right intention. If it helps you, do it.

However, another danger exists; by wearing tefillin, one may calm oneself, by believing they have already done enough. Where, then, is the Creator, who should reward me? Why doesn’t He grant it? And everyone owes me! If I cannot demand it from the Creator, then at least from others; let them pay me for wearing tefillin.

This will lead to a dismissive attitude toward other nations—”I observe such practices, and who are you?” In other words, there is a risk that people will focus only on external observances, believing that is all they must do in this world, that by doing so, they truly bring benefit to their people and the entire world. But this contradicts genuine ascent.

Thus, Pharaoh said: “Moses and Aaron, what do you want from the people? Leave them alone. They work, and they work properly, they build beautiful cities, they have food and shelter, so everything is fine. The people do not suffer. When did they begin to suffer? When you demanded something beyond regular life from me. You began speaking of the Creator, insisting He must be taken in consideration. But who is the Creator that I should obey Him? Leave the people alone; let them live well.”

This is how we may fall under Pharaoh’s influence if we approach the people with explanations that external actions can change reality. True transformation is only possible through the elevation of MAN, through intention.

The framework must primarily be communal, and awaken “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Love the Creator,” and elevate (glorify) the very idea in a way that ignites enthusiasm within society so that the masses embrace it as a trend, as something great, and thereby influence one another. Nothing more is needed.

Those who advance spiritually disregard the material realm. Even a person’s essence undergoes change; they no longer relate to this animalistic life as they once did. If you say this to someone, they may ask, “And this is Kabbalah?!” But “The Torah’s perspective is opposite to that of the masses.” You transform everything.

All the good things we do for unity, for establishing closer ties among us and within the people with regard to the Creator, the significance of merging with Him, all the tools available to us must be developed and implemented.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/12/2025, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Question: It is said that a person has both a good inclination and an evil one, and he must test whether his body agrees to fulfill a certain commandment. On the spiritual path, the body (our evil inclination) always disagrees with the good inclination. What does it mean to gain its agreement?

Answer: You must make some effort as if you genuinely wish to fulfill the commandment, and feel how much it contradicts the nature of creation. Then step back from this and find the strength to ask the Creator to help you perform the same action.

Question: And if I performed the action and made a mistake?

Answer: Then you made a mistake. This means you can ask the Creator to explain to you that you were wrong, that you performed a bad action, perhaps even a terrible, awful one, against the Creator, but now you’ve realized this and deeply regret it. In such a case, the action is erased, as if it never happened.

Question: In the work of the ten it often happens that some friends agree to take a certain action toward unity while others believe it is incorrect. How can we be guided by the fact that it’s better to act and see if the action was right or not?

Answer: You must carry out everything you believe is necessary in practice. Even if the action was wrong, unproductive, or against the Creator’s will, you will still learn a great deal from it. Therefore, under no circumstances should you hold yourself back; do everything you can.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/13/24, Writings of Rabash “The Act Is What Decides”

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Question: How can we transform our ordinary life into commandments and connect everything to the Creator?

Answer: To do this we need to understand the meaning of the Creator’s directives. Everything in our lives can be directed toward actions for His sake.

Through the results of our actions, we will feel what we’ve accomplished and how much closer we’ve come to the Creator, and so on.

Correctly working with commandments means fulfilling them to bring Him contentment.

Question: But what if I still don’t understand what that means?

Answer: Then simply strive to be closer to Him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/24, Writings of Rabash “Overcoming”

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Question: What is the free spiritual action of “Israel” that fulfills the Creator’s commandment?

Answer: To be like the Creator.

Question: What is the correct way to work above disturbances in order to be in true bestowal to the Creator?

Answer: The correct work is not to listen to your egoism but to do what is pleasing in the eyes of the Creator.

Question: We live in a world of action. How can we act in a way that allows only good, not evil, to flow through us?

Answer: This can be achieved only by fulfilling the commandments. Fulfilling the Creator’s desires is considered a commandment. By carrying out His will, we gradually distance ourselves from evil and move toward good.

Question: How can one “circumcise” his evil inclination? Do we negotiate with it, confront it aggressively, promise it some reward, or make a sacrifice?

Answer: You must turn to the Creator and ask Him to remove all egoistic desires from you, nothing more than that.

Question: How can the entire group construct a screen together, or is this an individual effort?

Answer: It depends on the connection between you.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/13/24, Writings of Rabash “The Act Is What Decides”

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Abraham saw that since he had a Mitzva that he could do only once in his life, meaning that he could make an effort on this Mitzva only once, he thought of an idea to ask his friends. Should they resist, he will have great labor to overcome them, and “According to the effort, so is the reward.” For this reason, he put himself into the test in order to receive reward (Rabash, Assorted Notes 622, “Overcoming“).

If we understand what it means to fulfill a Mitzva, that is, an action desirable in the eyes of the Creator, we see that we lack the strength to carry it out. Then we turn to the Creator and ask Him to grant us the strength and the importance of performing this action, and afterward we fulfill it.

It is said that “with charity, we should overcome more than the environment obligates.” This means that receiving the strength to overcome ourselves and fulfill the commandments is mercy from the Creator.

The reward for overcoming obstacles is our closeness to the Creator. Essentially, this is the true purpose of any commandment, that is, everything the Creator asks of us.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/24, Writings of Rabash “Overcoming”

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Question: What is an easy commandment, and what is a strict commandment?

Answer: A commandment is not measured its weight or by how much precious metal or something else it contains.

A commandment is measured by how much it enables a person to reach the Creator, to take another step toward Him, then another, and so on. That is how we measure the size of a commandment.

Question: What is easier for a person as a commandment: to stop receiving or to attain faith above reason and bestowal?

Answer: The hardest thing is faith above reason.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/24, Writings of Rabash “Gopher Wood”

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