When we unite, our desires that are so different, opposite, and distant from each other merge into one single desire.

It turns out that on the one hand, we are completely distant, but on the other hand, we united and are therefore beginning to reveal the single force of nature.

This occurs precisely because we have huge egoism, but above it we are trying to come to unity.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed only to those people who possess a special sensitivity, who simultaneously feel both their disconnection and their unity. In this way, it will gradually be revealed to everyone in the world.

It is such a joy to see how our Kabbalistic groups are springing up around the whole world. Many people are coming to study and want to learn about the method of connection. Year by year, humanity is growing more confused, losing its purpose, despairing like a small child who got lost, went astray, and now does not know where to go.

In the meantime, we are understanding more and more clearly what a unique method we have at our disposal. We only need to implement it on ourselves and offer it to all of humanity so that they too will unite and feel themselves at a higher level of existence because everyone will become one whole.

We still have a lot to learn about it. Do not forget that we learn this wisdom from nature, not only from books. We need to implement the connection between ourselves as a counterweight to the egoism that separates us. We are like research scientists, revealing this method empirically.

A Kabbalistic group is a laboratory where we conduct an experiment on our own selves, year after year, lesson after lesson, registering all the details of the process that we are undergoing.

Only in the past year or two have we gotten closer to the phase of direct implementation. Before that, we only studied the system: how it is connected in an ideal manner, that is to say, the system of the upper worlds.

In essence, the upper world and the lower world are in the same place. But when we are divided, we refer to our world as the material world. When we unite, then we feel a different reality, a harmonious one, connected by a single force.

All of nature becomes one organism, which is called the revelation of the Upper Force—the only force that manifests inside us, since it cannot be revealed somewhere externally, outside of the connection with us. This signifies the revelation of the Creator to His creatures in accordance with the condition of equivalence of form.
[163727]
From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

Related Material:
The Basic Law Of Nature—Unity
You Cannot Take A Vacation From Yourself
I Can’t Live With Or Without Them

Filed under: Conventions, Events, Group Work, Kabbalah Dissemination, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

You and I are living in a special time when the world is beginning to feel more and more united. The only problem is that these connections are negative rather than positive. Meanwhile, we feel our complete dependence on each other, which is beginning to worry and irritate everyone.

If the dependence is not a kind one, then such connection brings only problems, as it is written, “the unity of criminals is to their own and the whole world’s detriment.” If people do not correct themselves and their relationships, it is better for them to separate and keep their distance from each other.

All of this started in ancient Babylon where egoism developed to such an extent that people began to hate one another. Consequently, many languages arose. Egoism erupted for the first time and separated people. Before then, they all lived as one nation where everything was shared.

However, suddenly they felt disconnected and a belonging to different communities, families, and nationalities, and therefore they could not continue to live together. From then on. the science of Kabbalah appeared.

One sage named Abraham, who lived in Babylon, revealed that we cannot resist our connection. People definitely will be connected, and we will not succeed in distancing ourselves from each other. However, we should know how to unite correctly, regardless of the egoism that grows with every passing day. Thus, the science of Kabbalah appeared, and it is the method of good connection between people.

Kabbalah states that first we need to correct ourselves and our relationships with each other. Then, everything we do will be to our benefit.
[163791]
From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

Related Material:
You Cannot Take A Vacation From Yourself
Knowing The World We Live In
Kabbalah Without A Trace Of Mysticism

Filed under: Ancient Babylon, Conventions - No Comments →

A Miserable Lot

Everything that happens in the world happens solely in order for us to reveal the true world, in which we all exist. In essence, everything that is depicted outside of a person’s desire, when one sees inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, and other people—all of that is the Creator’s manifestation before the person. But a person does not feel this or understand what is wanted from him. Consequently we are going through a quite lengthy and painful process in history, just so that in the end we would ask ourselves the question about life’s meaning: what is all this for? Who benefits from all this? Who do I please? What secret lies hidden in our existence?

We see logic and meaning in every cell, in the oneness of nature, in the relationship of all its parts, but we find no logic in our own existence. A person, who is the “crown of creation,” is also the one who suffers the most of all created beings. We possess a developed mind and feelings, but yet we act like the biggest spenders and squander all our potential for mutual interactions.

Moreover, even when we realize this, we cannot do anything about it. Our wretchedness is amazing: a person knows when he does something stupid that will bring harm to him and others, but he is unable to change anything.

For example, a glutton cannot hold back from his favorite foods and loses control, all the while understanding perfectly well how horrible he will feel later. We face the same trouble with all types of pleasures, great and small.

Throughout history people have been asking themselves if there is any way out. Is it possible to enter a more mature, a more “solid” state? Is it possible to avoid being so miserable and lowly? We realize our lowliness and still we follow it, and today is always like the day before. We close our eyes and go with the flow…

Facing the Issue Head-On

At this point we definitely need to say a big thank you to Kabbalists. They suffered just like many others, but they succeeded. They were able to discover that this whole miserable life is meant to bring us to the key solution.

After all, it cannot be that our life would flow from birth to death in such an absurd existence. It cannot be that such wise nature would create a creature that is so developed and at the same time behaves in such a despicable manner. This discrepancy of our abilities and actions is too striking.

Moreover, nature itself pushes us into an abyss. Maybe I want to act differently and be a different person. If I planned on my own and programmed myself, I would act differently—certainly better than “destined” by nature or the Creator.

When we reach this realization or understanding, it indicates just one thing: the need to solve the question posed. Therein lies the source of understanding life, success in life, and success beyond the limits of its passing frames. It’s unlikely that it is limited to our “protein” existence for 60-70 years.

The Science That Leads Us Through Life

People who asked this question found that the world and the human beings here truly have an ultimate goal: to reveal the single force that sends us everything. It fully includes the whole universe and “plays” with it in order for us to truly wish to reveal it.

Meanwhile, all throughout history only some individuals learned about the opportunity to reveal the Creator. Nonetheless the number of people who ask the right question is growing. And these people are telling us that this is the only productive task of a person in this world from the moment he matures and realizes who he is.

As children, when we are 6-9 years old, we also asked the question about life’s essence and meaning. Maybe we didn’t ask adults, our parents, these questions, but they were there.

Starting from an early age, children need to receive an upbringing that explains how to exert constant effort to reveal the upper force, which influences us constantly, brings us life, and leads us through everything that occurs on the path.

Throughout history people made great efforts to reveal this force. They found a whole system of gradual acquaintance with it and called this method “the science of Kabbalah,” which literally means “the science of receiving.”

It explains how a person in our world can receive revelation of the force that influences him and demonstrates to him the whole picture of reality.

According to the words of Kabbalists, one needs to engage in this science particularly incessantly, and lead one’s whole life in it so that he attains the upper force in the time that is allotted to him. One needs to attain it to the point of encountering it in all its details.

Everything else in life should be used only to provide for the bare necessities—to the same extent that animals care for themselves. There is no point to exert more than necessary into the material existence—only as much as is needed to exist rationally.

This does not mean that we need to live in caves and wear animal skins. If we do not exceed the “survival bar” and dedicate all our effort to revealing the Creator, rising to His degree of eternity and perfection, then it goes without saying that we will not do silly things and pursue excesses of the material world. If we limit ourselves to simple existence, we will give all our strength to our true purpose.
[163609]
From the Convention in New Jersey “Completing the Circle,” Day One, 7/24/15, Lesson 1

Related Material:
Why Are We Living In This World?
Knowing The World We Live In
Man Does Not Give Up

Filed under: Children, Conventions, Education, Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The whole science of Kabbalah is meant for us to reveal where we are in actuality. After all, we exist in a certain reality that is unfamiliar to us. That reality is hidden from us since we hide it with our own corrupted qualities.

In other words, the correction of our qualities and the revelation of true reality are one and the same. To the extent that we correct ourselves, true reality is revealed more and more, until we reveal the true state where we are in adhesion with the Creator.

This is why the main article, which we have to realize in practice, is Baal HaSulam’s article, “There is None Else Besides Him,” from the book Shamati:

It is written, “there is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household, the reason is that this is His will.

Therefore, we see that we are opposite to the Creator, in a certain concealment that separates us from Him, and we need to remove this concealment. Everything that happens to us in this concealment is given to us on purpose as an exercise by the Creator in order to help us remove this concealment.

The removal of the concealment consists of our correcting ourselves in accordance to the Creator’s qualities, and due to this, the concealment fades. In other words, I take on the concealment, and then there is nothing that stands between me and the Creator. This is how I relate to the entire world.

Therefor, “world” in Hebrew “Olam,” comes from the word “Alama,” which means concealment since it conceals the Creator, and I must make it a means of revealing the Creator.

But how? I don’t know how to approach the world, too many factors influence me. I don’t know what to do inside of me so that these external influences would go away. I don’t know how to reveal the Creator through them.

In order to direct ourselves properly, we are given a ten—ten friends. If I work correctly with them, I learn through them, together with them, how to correct my attitude to them so that the connection between us becomes a circuit so that we become so connected that there is no distance between us.

Every time I try to unite with them strongly, I direct myself more and more to a willingness to reveal unity. The more I unite with the ten, the more my inner vessel (Kli)—perception, thoughts, intention, in the mind and the heart—becomes more and more appropriate to understand what the Creator is and what that special reality is. Out of darkness and lack of understanding and feeling, gradually, I begin to form Him.

The Creator has no form. I don’t know what it is, and it is a good thing that I don’t know. I cannot know since there is no Creator in relation to a creature. I need to create Him. I build Him from my relationships with the friends. That’s why it is written, “You created Me.” The Creator in Hebrew is “Bo-Re – Come and See.”

The most important thing for us is to realize that there is no Creator without a creature, and we build Him from a correct connection between us. If we can unite mutually with each other as one man with one heart in the given circumstances in such a way that there is no distance between us, we will reveal the first form of the Creator.

Then, the distance between us in the ten will increase suddenly, and we will feel distant from each other, hatred, disdain, and impatience. Again, we will need to work on this in order to annul this distance.

Rabash instructs us as to how to do this: everyone considers himself a zero in regard to the others. Everyone must be equal. Everyone, except me, are the greatest of the generation, and I am included in them as the lowest. I do everything for them and pray for them, since the prayer of many is the prayer for many, and only this prayer is accepted by the Creator.

If every member of the ten acts in this manner, we annul the distance between us once again, which is common for all. We unite again in one desire, one thought. I don’t feel myself or others. I feel us as something completely unified, as ten drops that flow together into one.

In this manner, we achieve a sensation called the revelation of the Creator on the second degree. As soon as we achieve this, immediately, we begin to draw further away from each other. Our egoistic desire suddenly will burst out from within, and we will hate each other with such mutual hatred as we never experienced before.

Thus, the attitude with which we work between us starts from a state called Mount Sinai, the mountain of hatred, and again we will learn how to annul this mountain, to rise over it to the next degree and remove the separation between us, thus revealing the Creator on the third degree, and so on, every time more and more.

Every time, we will feel that we are revealing a new world, a new reality. The reality that we thought was true earlier changes from our external to our inner reality.

This doesn’t mean that our world that we perceive in our five corporeal senses disappears. What disappears is its control or independence, and we begin to reveal that, truly, there is none else besides Him.

As we learn from the section on “Perception of Reality,” we begin to perceive all of reality that is outside of us more and more through our inner reality that we control and is part of us, although seemingly it exists outside.

Our entire work is called “There is none else besides Him” since we need to work only above the unity. We will talk about how to achieve trepidation, and through it, faith, and from faith, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and then “Love your Creator.” All of these are degrees of unification, revelation of oneness, revelation of the fact that there is none else besides Him.

We will need to go through this process in order to achieve revelation of the Creator at least on the first degree, and His revelation always occurs in the form of “There is none else besides Him,” nothing except this one governance that prevails in the world. We unite with Him as one, and there is no difference between the Creator and us. All of this leads to a unity that is called “a drop of unity.”
[163603]
From the Convention In New Jersey “Completing The Circle” 7/23/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

Related Material:
Why Are We Living In This World?
Man Does Not Give Up
125 Degrees Of Drawing Closer To The Light

Filed under: Conventions, Events, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Convention in New Jersey “Day Three,” “Completing the Circle and Starting Anew,” Lesson 7 

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →

Lesson 6: Completing The Circle And Starting Anew

– What have we attained?
– How to be content with our attainment?
– The Covenant

1. This is the meaning of what is written, “You stand today, all of you,” meaning everything you went through, all the states you have experienced—states of Gadlut or states of less than Gadlut, which were considered intermediate or so. You take all those details and you do not compare one degree to another because you do not care for any reward, but only for doing the Creator’s will. … In other words, the state he is in right now is as important to him as when he thought he was in a state of Gadlut. At that time, “The Lord your God makes with you this day.”

This means that then the Creator makes a covenant with him. In other words, precisely when one accepts His work without any conditions and agrees to do the holy work without any reward, which is called “unconditional surrender,” this is the time when the Creator makes a covenant with him.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

2. Let him be content with his portion, and give praise and thanksgiving to the Creator for giving him a small part in the service of the king, even if only one minute a day or one minute every couple of days. Let him consider it great treasure.

And even if his deed was very simple, nevertheless he should try to be happy, and he will receive livelihood from the fact that he was allowed to serve the king. And he is obligated to give praise to the Creator in every opportunity.

I heard from Baal HaSulam that by the praise and thanksgiving that one gives the Creator upon approaching the Creator, one continues the Light of Kedusha downward, so that he will feel himself complete, and then it is called that he is in the state of Baruch (blessed), and Baruch adheres to Baruch. But when one keeps himself in the state of accursed, Baruch does not adhere to accursed, as the sages said.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, Vol 2, Letter No. 36

3. The same applies when one feels some closeness to holiness, when he feels joy at having been favored by the Creator. Then, too, one must say that one’s joy is primarily because now there is joy Above, within the Holy Shechina, at being able to bring her private organ near her, and that she did not have to send her private organ away.
And one derives joy from being rewarded with pleasing the Shechina. …
—Shamati 1 “here Is None Else Besides Him”

And that person should be happy, and offer thanksgiving and praise to the Creator for rewarded him with a small grip of Kedusha, regardless of how much he has… Hence he says, the small grip that I have on the Torah and mitzvot is more important than any of the worldly pleasures… and I see that there are people who don’t have it. It follows that he is the one in whom the blessing dwells, and he has a reason to be happy. He sees that the rest of the people are happy and joyful with nonsense while the Creator gave him wisdom and understanding to rejoice in the Creator.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Article 19 “What ‘There Is No Blessing in That which Is Counted’ Means in the Work”

4. …There are many people in the world who were not given the strength to work the holy work even in the simplest of ways, even without the intent and in Lo Lishma (not for Her Name), even in Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma, and even in preparation for the preparation of the clothing of Kedusha (Sanctity), while he was imparted the desire and the thought to nevertheless occasionally do holy work, even in the simplest possible way, if one can appreciate the importance of it, according to the importance that one ascribes to the holy work, to that extent one should give praise and be grateful for it.

This is so because it is true that we cannot appreciate the importance of being able to sometimes keep the Mitzvot of the Creator, even without any intent. In that state one comes to feel elation and joy of the heart.

The praise and the gratitude that one gives for it expand the feelings, and one is elated by every single point in the holy work, and knows whose worker he is, and thus soars ever higher. This is the meaning of what is written, “I thank Thee for the grace that Thou hast made with me,” meaning for the past, and by this one can confidently say, and he does say, “and that Thou will do with me.”
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 26 “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past

5. Baal HaSulam explained the matter of making a covenant: When two people see that they love each other, they make a covenant between them that their love will always stay. And he asked, “If they love each other and understand that this love will never leave them, why this covenant? Why do they make this covenant, meaning for what purpose?”…

…If there is ever a state where one will have complaints against the other, they will both remember the covenant that they made when love was revealed between them.

It follows that making the covenant is for the future. It is like a contract that they sign that they will not be able to regret when they see that the ties of love are not as they were, that this love gave them great pleasure while they were doing good to each other, but now that love has been corrupted, they are powerless and none can do anything for the other.

But if they do wish to do something for their friends, they must consider the making of the covenant that they had before, and out of that they should rebuild the love. It is like a person who signs a contract with his friend, and the contract connects them so they cannot part from one another.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

6. And you, the friends who are here, just as you were previously in a state of love, so you should remain inseparable from now, until the Creator rejoices with you and calls peace upon you and by your merit shall there be peace in the world. “For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, ‘May peace be within you.’”
—The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, “Aharei Mot,” Items 64-65

Related Material:
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 1
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 2
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 3
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 4
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 5

Filed under: Conventions, Events - 1 Comment →

Lesson 5: From We to One

1. You lack nothing except to go to the field that the Creator blessed, and gather up all the scattered organs, that were scattered away from your soul, and gather them up into one body. In that perfected (complete) body the Creator will instill his Shechinah permanently and unceasingly.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Letter No. 4”

2. Thus, when one completes one’s work in love and bestowal for one’s fellow person and comes to the highest point, one also completes one’s love and bestowal for the Creator. In that state there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning one’s self-interest, is judged equally—either to bestow upon one’s friend or bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

3. When does creation find favor with the Creator? When all Israel are bundled together, and there is no jealousy, hatred and competition between them whatsoever, and each one of them thinks only about the correction and well being of his friend. Then the Creator rejoices in His creation, as it is written, the Creator rejoices in His works. And this explanation is in reference to “Love thy friend as thyself, I am the Lord (YHVH)” to tell us that if we love our friend as ourselves, then the Creator will be in your midst and love both of you.
—In Remembrance of Miriam,  Chapter 11

4. It is said in Midrash Tanhuma that “Israel will not be redeemed until they are all one society [… ] when they are united, they receive the face of Divinity.” I presented the words of the Midrash so that you don’t think that the issue of a group, which is love of friends, relates to Hassidism. Rather, it is the teaching of our sages, who saw how necessary was the uniting of hearts into a single group for the reception of the face of Divinity.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 34”

5. It is written, “and the people camped as one man in one heart” meaning that they all had one goal, which is, to benefit the creator. And we must understand: How can it be ‘as one man in one heart’, since we know that the sages said, “as their faces are not alike, likewise their views (opinions) also are not alike,” so how could it be “one man in one heart”?

Answer – if we are saying that each one cares for his own needs, it is impossible to be “as one man,” for they are not the same. However, when everyone annulled their authority and their only concern was to benefit the Creator, there were no longer any personal cares, since all their individual cares were annulled and thus all entered into oneness, unity.
—Writings of Rabash, “Letter No. 42”

6. The essence of keeping the Torah is in behinat haratzon (the will) in unity. Hence, each one must be included in the Assembly of Israel as one big collective. Hence, when (Israel) received the Torah they immediately became Arevim one for the other in order to be incorporated into one desire, so that they were all mutually accountable one for the other, since they were all equally important, and as one. And precisely when each were responsible for the other, which is behinat Achdut (unity), they were able to keep the Torah. And without this (condition), it is impossible to keep the Torah in any way, since the essence of Torah and love is in the will, when each is content with his friend, and there is no variance between them since all are incorporated into one desire, and thus they are able to be included in the upper will, which is the purpose of unity.
—Rabbi Nathan of Breslev, Likutei Halachot, “Laws of Arvut”

7. As we know, “The Creator is One and Israel are one,” therefore they are adhered to the Creator, because it is the pleasing to be adhered one with the other, and when will that be?

When Israel is assembled and adhered in perfect unity, they are considered as one, and the Creator dwells among them, who is One. This is the meaning of the verse, “and you are adhered,” namely that you are adhered to each one and hold on to each other, then “you are all alive,” when they are united as one. Thus it is good and pleasant to be adhered one with the other, and the Creator dwells in their midst As One.
—Moshe Chaim Ephraim, “Banner over the Camp of Ephraim,” Parashat VaEtchanan

Related Material:
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 1
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 2
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 3
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 4

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →

Lesson 4: From Me to We

1. There is indeed only one soul in the world. That same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam ha Rishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut—which is rather a trait of corporeal things.

Yet, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person…

For this reason, two discernments were made in the corporeal body. In the first discernment, one feels one’s soul as a unique organ, and does not understand that this is the whole of Israel.

In the second discernment, the true Light of the soul of Israel does not shine on him in all its illuminating force, but only partially, by the measure he has purified himself by returning to the collective.

The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam haRishon.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”

2. A man of Israel who desires to who desires to attain the Light of Life in Truth, must agree to plant himself in the Assembly of Israel with all his heart and with all his strength and might, physically and spiritually.
—Rav Kook, “Whisper to Me the Secret of HaVaYaH”

3. One must not exclude oneself from the assembly, or pray for himself, not even to bring contentment to the Creator, but always pray for the entire assembly (collective), since the one who excludes himself and asks only for himself does not build, but rather, he brings destructions upon his soul… And one must be connected to the assembly of Israel with all his strength, in all his requests from the Creator, whether in prayer or in the work, that he may be included in the root of all Israel.
—Baal HaSulam, Pri Chacham on the Torah, “It is not Yet Time to Gather the Sheep”

4. My teacher of blessed memory warned me and all the friends that were with him in the society, that prior to the morning prayer we should accept upon ourselves the positive commandment to “love your friend as yourself” with the intention to love all Israel as our own soul. And thus his prayer will rise together, with the prayer of all Israel, and achieve the correction above.

And concerning the love of friends among us, each and every one of us must include himself and feel as if he is a limb inside of his friend. And my teacher, blessed be his memory, warned me greatly, concerning this matter.
—Haim Vitall, “Gate of Reincarnations,” Introduction #38

5. Advice and council to serve the Creator is to unite our hearts with the Love of Friends, to connect each with the other in love and One Heart, and to serve the Creator together… We need to connect with each other and lock our hearts together, that we may be as one bundle, to serve the Creator with our whole heart.
—The Light and the Sun, “The Secrets of Rosh Hashanah”

6. The advice for one to be able to increase his strength in the rule, “Love thy friend,” is love of friends. If every one is nullified before his friend and mingles with him, they become one mass, where all the little parts that want the love of others unite in a collective force that consists of many parts. And when he has great strength, he can execute the love of others.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “According to What Is Explained about Love Thy Friend as Thyself”

7. One must know that love is bought by actions. By giving his friends gifts, each gift that he gives to his friend is like an arrow and a bullet, making a hole in his friend’s heart. And although his friend’s heart is like a rock, still, each bullet makes a hole. And the many holes join into a hollow into which the love of the giver of presents enters.

And the warmth of the love draws to him his friend’s sparks of love, and then the two loves weave into a garment of love that covers both of them. This means that one love surrounds and envelops the two, and they naturally become one person because the clothing that covers them both is a single garment. Hence, both are annulled.
—Rabash, Dargot HaSulam, “Man as a Whole”

8. And once I have acquired this above-mentioned clothing, sparks of love promptly begin to shine within me. The heart begins to long to unite with my friends, and it seems to me that my eyes see my friends, my ears hear their voices, my mouth speaks to them, the hands embrace, the feet dance in a circle, in love and joy together with them, and I transcend my corporeal boundaries. I forget the vast distance between my friends and me, and the outstretched land for many miles will not stand between us.
It is as though my friends are standing right within my heart and see all that is happening there, and I become ashamed of my petty acts against my friends. Then, I simply exit the corporeal vessels and it seems to me that there is no reality in the world except my friends and I. After that, even the “I” is cancelled and is immersed, mingled in my friends, until I stand and declare that there is no reality in the world—only the friends.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 8”

Related Material:
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 1
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 2
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 3

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →

Convention in New Jersey “Day Two,” “There Is None Else Besides Him,” Lesson 4 

Convention in New Jersey “Day Two,” “From Me to We,” Lesson 5 

Convention in New Jersey “Day Two,” “From We to One,” Lesson 6

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →

Lesson 3: There Is None Else Besides Him

1. …The Creator’s desired goal for the Creation He had created is to bestow upon His creatures, so they would know His truthfulness and greatness, and receive all the delight and pleasure He had prepared for them
—Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” #39

2. 116) … all that there is in the world is from the Creator, that He alone did, does, and will do all the deeds in the world. He knows in advance all that will unfold in the end, as it is written, “Declaring the end from the beginning.” And He watches and does things in the beginning in order to repeat them and to do them perfectly after some time.
—”Lech Lecha [Go Forth]”

3. Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before, meaning the revelation and concealment of the face of the Creator. This is because indeed, “His kingdom ruleth over all,” and everything will return to its root because there is no place vacant of him. But the difference is in present tense or future tense, because who connects the two worlds, discovers His clothing in the present: everything that is done is a clothing for the revelation of divinity… through the will of the dresser, for that is precisely His wish.
—Writings of Baal Hasulam, “Thou Hast Hemmed Me in Behind and Before”

4. We know that “the whole earth is filled with his glory” and so should every man believe; however, the Creator made a concealment so that one cannot see it, to give place for choice, where there is faith – to believe that “The Creator fills the whole earth and is involved with the whole earth.” After a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot and keeps the commandment of choice, then the Creator reveals himself to him so that he sees that the Creator rules the world.

It follows that one makes him king, to rule over him, which means that one feels the Creator, that He is the ruler of the whole world, and this is called that one makes the Creator king over him. Until one reaches this feeling, the kingship of the Creator is in concealment. About this we say, “On that day the Creator will be One and His Name One,” meaning that the glory of His kingdom will be disclosed to us. This is the entire correction that we should be doing in this world, and by this we continue all the best in the world, where all the bestowals above continue by working in Torah and Mitzvot, with the intention to continue His Kingdom over us.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Letter No. 76

5. The purpose of the soul when it comes in the body is to attain returning to its root and to cleave unto Him, while clothed in the body, as it is written, “To love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to cleave unto Him.” You see that the matter ends in “to cleave unto Him,” meaning as it was prior to clothing in the body.

However, great preparation is required – which is to walk in all His ways. Yet, who knows the ways of the Creator? Indeed, this is the meaning of “Torah, that has 613 ways.” He who walks by them will finally be purified until his body will no longer be an iron partition between him and his Maker, as it is written, “And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh.” Then he shall cleave to his Maker just as he was before the clothing of the soul in the body.

It turns out, that there are three aspects: 1. Israel, is he who strains himself to return to his root; 2. The Creator, which is the root one longs for; 3. The 613 ways of the Torah, by which one purifies one’s soul and body. This is the spice, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”

However, these three are actually one and the same. In the end, any servant of the Creator attains them as single, united and unified. They only appear to be divided into three because of one’s incompleteness in the work of God.
—Baal HaSulam, Igrot, “Letter 17”

6. The essence of one’s work is only to come to the sensation of the existence of the Creator, meaning to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory.” This will be one’s entire work, meaning all the vigor that he puts into the work will be only to achieve that, and not for any other things.
One should not be misled into having to acquire anything. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs, namely faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati  #4, ”What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator in the Work”

7. Even if we see that there are two parts to the Torah: The first—Mitzvot between man and God, and the second—Mitzvot between man and man, they are both one and the same thing. This means that the actual purpose of them and the desired goal are one, namely Lishma.It makes no difference if one works for one’s friend or for the Creator…  Thus, when one completes one’s work in love and bestowal for one’s fellow person and comes to the highest point, one also completes one’s love and bestowal for the Creator. In that state there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning one’s self-interest, is judged equally—either to bestow upon one’s friend or bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.
—Baal Hasulam, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

8. May we be granted with His Light and follow in the ways of the Creator and serve Him not in order to be rewarded, but to give contentment to the Creator and raise Divinity from the dust. May we be granted adhesion with the Creator and the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures.
—Baal Hasulam, Shamati #3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”

Related Material:
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 1
New Jersey Convention – “Completing The Circle” Preparation For Lesson 2

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →