It is written: “Work for the Creator in joy.” If there is no joy, it is a sign that we are not in spirituality. Bestowal is impossible without joy.

It is written in the The Book of Zohar that the Shechina dwells only in a perfect place: not in a place of lack, not in a place of defect, not in a place of sadness, but in the proper place, in a place of joy. In a corrected place there is an illumination from the presence of the Creator, and this brings joy to a person.

By this criterion, one can always determine whether a person is in spirituality or not. When a person first begins to study, for a long time one does not yet sense the corrections taking place within them, or they may perceive them in an inverted form; therefore, they may experience despondency or irritation and find themselves at odds with the changes happening within them.

Here joy is a very clear indicator. If a person does not feel joy, it means that his desires do not correspond to the Creator but oppose Him. As the desire is corrected, joy is revealed within a person. And the stronger and deeper the joy, the more the upper light is revealed, the presence of the Creator, the Shechina.

If the upper force is preparing to reveal itself within a person, then first joy is revealed and only afterward the Creator. Joy is an illumination from above, a special force of the light that appears in response to prayer, to a request to the Creator from below. When we turn to the Creator with questions and requests and want to connect with Him, in response we receive light from above that corrects our desires and fills them.

This light first brings joy, and only afterward all the other revelations. Therefore, the Shechina (the presence of the Creator) is revealed only in joy, which appears first.

If I want to attain bestowal, I must always be in joy. And if it is absent, I must examine myself to see where uncorrected egoism remains within me that prevents me from revealing the Creator. We do not know whether we are approaching the revelation of the Creator, and therefore Kabbalists give us a criterion for checking: Am I approaching joy, or, on the contrary, moving away from it with each day?

By these movements toward greater or lesser joy, one can judge how much one is approaching the revelation of the upper force or distancing from it because joy is the result of “good deeds,” that is, corrections.

In any state one must hold on to joy, because “there is none else besides the Creator”; everything comes from Him. No one can do something bad to us without the Creator’s knowledge or consent. That never happens; everything comes from above. Behind every person stands the Creator exerting His influence on us through this theater of “reality.”

If I do not have an egoistic intention to receive, I will always be in joy. It does not matter to me what the Creator gives me; the main thing is that He constantly takes care of me. I do not weigh what is more pleasant or beneficial for me in my egoism; therefore, I accept everything with joy.

By this criterion, we can evaluate ourselves: Are advancing as a group toward correction and the revelation of the Creator? Are we setting an example to the friends that we must always be in joy in order to bring the revelation of the upper force ever closer?

Joy is a consequence of my act of bestowal, of bestowing to the friends, to the Creator, and to humanity. Joy is the result of bestowal because by bestowing I become similar to the Creator. Therefore, through this action I receive an illumination that is called “joy.”

Spiritual joy comes from the fact that through my actions I help the Creator fill all of creation. Joy is the result of the fact that, with the help of the Creator, I fill all of creation and thereby bring Him pleasure.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention 5/18/19, Mexico, Lesson 5

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What characterizes this world that is distinctive compared to the spiritual world? From the Machsom and above, there is revelation, light. From the Machsom and below, there is the opposite: darkness, concealment. Accordingly, even if I experience a descent above the Machsom, I perceive it differently because this descent takes place within lights, within revelation.

Conversely, in our world, if you are in darkness now, devoid of any spiritual sensation, you can nevertheless be in high spirits and filled with a desire to study and advance, or you can, on the contrary, be in a state of an absence of desires, when everything is bland and you do not want anything.

In such a case, you may perhaps wait until enough time passes for some help to come from above, so that you will be pulled back up and granted an awakening. But this is undesirable, because it can drag out and lengthen the path m any times over.

It is possible that a person is sent a descent not so that he will wait until it ends, but so that he will by force subject himself to the influence of the society that is on a higher level, and then the work will quickly be done on him, and he will come out of the descent. Society will save him.

So, here, in the darkness, we have two states: double concealment and single concealment.

While in single concealment, we feel that there is something above us. Apparently, there is the Creator who is the cause of everything. Even misfortunes are sent to me by Him, and this supports me: I depend on something and, one way or another, still justify reality. I, in some way, justify the blows: if someone sends them, it means someone is arranging all this.

In contrast, when in double concealment, I feel nothing but nature. There is no master, and there is no justification for my existence. I am not permitted the simple oblivion of an animal that does not reflect on life. I do reflect on life, and therefore, I am in double concealment.

Single or double concealment is a person’s inner sensation, not a natural phenomenon. Therefore, the descents and ascents in our states while we are “in Egypt,” prior to the Machsom, and “sighing from the work” because the burden is indeed hard for us do not persist in the same form once we have crossed the Machsom.

There, even while in darkness, in the Klipot, a person knows and perceives that these are indeed Klipot standing in opposition to holiness, and that it is through them that one goes to the upper. Through the Klipot one constantly establishes contact with the Creator by using them as auxiliary means.

There the Klipot are intentions, thoughts for the sake of reception, whereas holiness is the intention for the sake of bestowal. Between these two polar states, there is a constant war. Here, before the Machsom, we are all in the will to receive for our own sake.

After the Machsom, everything is different. But until then do everything that you are capable of doing. And everything that we organize here stems from simple necessity: alone, without including oneself in others, a person can fall, and no one will save him. Therefore, a person must immediately submit himself to the influence of the group. Otherwise, the journey will stretch not for years, but for incarnations.

Therefore, it is necessary to quickly drive yourself into the group, into a certain schedule, into some obligations, to resort to all kinds of tricks, so that in case of a fall, they will put pressure on me and oblige me to continue the path. This is a duty.

A spiritual descent that might otherwise last several months can, with the help of society, be reduced to several hours or minutes. Moreover, it is not only a question of time, because when you come out of a fall with the help of the group, you acquire such qualities and internal attributes that will allow you to bypass several more falls.

If, however, you come out on your own, you still do not acquire the necessary experience and will have to go down again and again. Emerging with the help of the collective adds the experience of your friends to you since you unite with them, and it replaces many additional falls. This is a very great saving in terms of time and the number of falls.
[354972]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/1/26, Rabash, “Why the Festival of Matzot Is Called Passover”

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In the article “On the Night of the Bride” (Introduction of The Book of Zohar), it is said that the law (a condition of the spiritual order) is such that the creature cannot perceive the Creator openly if it is in a state or quality opposite to Him.

Therefore, only in equivalence of qualities with the Creator can we perceive Him, in those qualities in which we are similar to Him in quantity and quality. For it is a flaw in the glory of the Creator for the creature to perceive Him as an evildoer, and the created being would no longer be able to remain connected with Him.

For this reason, the Creator acts in concealment. He must awaken negative states within us, yet we do not feel that they come from Him. Although naturally, “there is none else besides Him,” and only He does this. As it is said: “Who makes darkness and creates light.”

We must feel the darkness more and more. It must constantly be revealed within us so that we can correct it and reveal the light, the Creator, in its place.

Thus, our work always consists of concealment and revelation, concealment and revelation. The concealment of the Creator produces darkness; revelation produces light. These two states must necessarily alternate. Our awareness must be directed toward the understanding that both states are good, that they come from love and are directed precisely toward us so that we may attain perfection.

If a person is not prepared, then the state of the Creator’s concealment is felt by him as darkness and evil, as if the Creator is hiding from him. This is the greatest punishment in the world.

Thus, His guidance of good and evil has been prescribed for us, with guidance of reward and punishment. One who makes efforts not to lose faith in the Creator, that is, in every situation, whatever may happen, if I try to constantly direct myself to the thought that everything happening now with me, within me, outside me, and in the whole world is the Creator’s governance, and I try to remain in this awareness despite feeling unpleasant states, then I attain the reward: eventually the Creator is revealed to me.

But if I do not wish to constantly hold myself in the thought that everything comes from the Creator, that everything around me is only the Creator, who through friends, through strangers, through those close to me, through anyone and in any way, through billions of different influences upon me, is playing with me, then in the end He disappears from my feelings, and I part with faith in the Creator, with the feeling of Him.

Only the ten can keep each of us in constant faith in the Creator, in a constant direction toward Him, in constant connection with Him, in the constant thought that everything comes from the Creator: He does everything, He governs me, and even my thoughts about Him are also from Him.

That is, whether I want or do not want to be connected with Him, this too comes from Him. And it does not matter whether my thoughts are good or bad, whether my actions are good or bad. The main thing is that I attribute them to Him. This is the most important thing.
[253950]
From the International Kabbalah Convention 9/7/19, Moldova, Lesson 4

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We were given the path of faith, which is above reason (Rabash, “The Meaning of Truth and Faith”).

Reason is what we feel and understand, whereas faith is what we must rise to and accept above reason. Namely not to take our sensations and reason into account when we sense whether something is good or bad for us, but instead accept that the Creator knows better what is good for us and what is not.

For example, in our world we go to a doctor. Personally, I am very afraid of injections. I have undergone many operations and have been cut many times, yet I am still afraid. Any form of correction or healing is done upon living flesh. We must strive to reach a state in which we can endure any changes, any corrections, joyfully and without pain.

When the Creator begins to heal us, it will be pleasant, joyful, and sweet for us that this is happening to us, provided that we perceive the importance of the goal as greater than the importance of our animal body.

This has been absolutely verified; it is completely certain!

If a person connects to the goal, then it does not matter what sufferings pass through the body because he will not feel them as suffering at all, but only as joy. This is not masochism; it is simply a law of nature, because thought is higher than desire, higher than the flesh.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention 9/7/19, Moldova, Lesson 4

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A wonderful group gathered here at a congress, united by a huge, colossal unity with the light inside.

And although it escapes our comprehension, in reality nothing is wasted. You just need to dive inside, to your point in the heart and want to unite with other points. Then I will see that the light reigns between us and we are all united internally.

That is what we have to reveal. This, in fact, is the realization of the science of Kabbalah. Everything that we study, the worlds, the Partzufim, the Sefirot, is a connection that we reveal. When we enter our inner unity, then the measures of connection between us and the measures of disclosure and concealment of light make up the spiritual world.

Our relationship is divided into five levels: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon, up to a total, perfect connection called the “world of Infinity” where there is no limit to our relationship. And these levels, in turn, are divided into Partzufim and Sefirot. In the end, it is only there that we reveal what is written in the Torah, and in general, in all Kabbalistic books.

We have nowhere to run. We just need to constantly focus on the inner, deep level where we are interconnected. It all depends on everyone’s attentiveness: let the person not give up this aspiration.

That is where the big problem lies: How can we step inside, dive in again and again, until we reach this level, until we feel it between us, until we catch the waves of our interconnection, which will begin to connect each of us to the common system. Where can we get the power of desire, attention, empathy, and sensitivity?

Here, again, I need an environment. I can’t hold myself together for more than a moment alone. I can try, apply my mind and feeling, dive inside, want to be there, and hold on with my teeth, but in a second everything disappears.

Only the friends, who are already two million around the world, will help. Everyone should think about everyone, because they depend on everyone, and then I will help myself through others. That is not what I’m incapable of. But if I think about everyone, so that they think about it too and go to the same thing, then the common force, the common thought that I send to everyone will do its job, even if they don’t hear me.

Even if I only think about it quietly to myself, my desire for their benefit, which is called the “prayer of many,” it returns to me and helps me stay on the inner level, sinking deeper.

And therefore, working as a group, we should not disperse in different directions. You just need to focus on this inner point: how to keep ourselves in the deep layers of the group where we are united with each other. This applies equally to men and women.

The external must also be put at the service of the internal. As Baal HaSulam and Rabash write, we must talk about the importance of the goal, the importance of friends, and the importance of the group. After all, it gives me inspiration, confidence, and assurance so that I can get closer and closer to my inner level, until it opens up. And then I will feel that I have entered the inner, spiritual world.

Therefore, there is a law: “May man help his neighbor.” Only with mutual support will each of us be able to achieve spirituality. No one will ever be able to do it alone.
[39653]
From the International Kabbalah Convention 4/1/11, “We,” Lesson 3

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The essence of the assembly is for everyone to be in one unity and for all to seek but one purpose: to find the Creator. In every ten there is the Shechina [Divinity] (Maor VaShemesh. Parashat VaYechi).

When we gather in the ten, we must care about the Kli (vessel) in which the Creator is revealed and not about His revelation itself. Attaining the Creator consists of building a state within ourselves in which He is bound to be revealed, since He fills everything. All we need is the basis upon which He can manifest, nothing more.

For example, in the blackness of outer space there appears to be no light. But if you place some barrier there, you see that the entire space is flooded with light, because now the light has something to strike against, something from which to reflect. So it is in our state: we must ask for the creation of the Kli (vessel), not for the revelation of the Creator.

We must pay attention to this, because then we will be more precisely directed toward what is required of us, what depends on us, and what we must accomplish, and the Creator will be revealed immediately, automatically. This is a law of nature.

To the extent that we create suitable conditions for His revelation, the property of the Creator will manifest according to the law of equivalence of form. That is, if together with the friends I create a mutual property of bestowal, then by this we create the condition for the revelation of the Creator within us, between us

The essence of the assembly is for everyone to be in one unity and for all to seek but one purpose: to find the Creator. In every ten there is the Shechina [Divinity]. Clearly, if there are more than ten then there is more revelation of the Shechina…

“More” is incorrect. HaVaYaH includes no more than ten. It is simply divided into fractional, particular tens. By “increase” a numerical quantity is not meant, but the power of unity.

It is very important to know that any ten ascends upward only through ever-stronger unity. Our dream, our goal, is to be in a complete ten, one that truly consists of ten individuals, which constantly develops and thus rises higher and higher.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention 9/5/19, Moldova, Lesson 0

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The wisdom of Kabbalah is a method for uniting people. It teaches that first and foremost a person must correct themselves, and then everything they do will be for the benefit of others.

If we try to unite according to our natural inner impulses without correcting ourselves first, conflicts and problems begin to arise.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how to unite correctly. That is why it is so important for us, especially in our time, when families are breaking apart, friendships are dissolving, and people increasingly strive to live alone. When they do unite, it is often for egoistic reasons, which eventually lead to explosions of conflict and divorce.

Egoism has grown so much that we now need to learn the method of true connection. Psychologists and sociologists cannot fully explain why this is happening. Recently, however, they have begun to conclude that this is a global trend throughout the world, and they find themselves confused by it.

The wisdom of Kabbalah must reveal itself in the modern world as a method of positive and benevolent unity. It is needed wherever humanity discovers its inability to unite in a good way and begins to break connections.

As a result, we see divorces in families, quarrels among children, severe fights in schools, conflicts between parents and children, and tensions in the workplace between employers and employees.

Conflicts occur everywhere: between countries, in international politics, within every state, and between political parties. Within any nation there is a clash of many contradictory opinions, movements, and factions.

Soon we will feel completely disconnected, torn apart, and distant from one another. The fragmentation will reach such proportions that a person will feel so many conflicting desires even within themselves that they will become confused and will lose inner peace and balance.

Humanity will feel complete despair and helplessness, and this crisis is gradually developing step by step. In some countries it appears more strongly, in others less so for now. But disconnection spreads like an epidemic and will eventually encompass the entire world.

It will become so great that no person will know how to properly connect with others. An inner blockage will appear, i.e., a lack of understanding and lack of feeling. That is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is being revealed: It is meant to unite people into one human being with one heart. It has the power to do so.
Without connection between us, without proper communication, our development will come to a halt.

We can already see symptoms of this degradation in the world, judging by what is happening with the younger generation: the growing distance between men and women who no longer want to create families or have children, and the increasing popularity of drugs. A person wants to withdraw inward and feel the external world as little as possible because there is nothing pleasant in it.

Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah which deals precisely with the correct connection between people will become highly demanded and necessary for everyone.
[163270]
From the International Kabbalah Convention 7/17/15, “One Heart for All,” Lesson 0

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Nothing prevents us from constantly maintaining the best feeling that we have ever had in our lives, the one we experienced at the congress when we felt unity, the connection between us and the Creator, spiritual revelation. If I descend from this state, it means that it is my own fault because I did not add my own efforts.

We received an awakening from above, from the Creator, and it should not disappear. The upper one gives us an example of what we should be like, and we must continue it. The awakening should not depend on the physical location of the congress. If there is no awakening, it means that the greatness of the Creator and the greatness of the group is lacking, and this can be further developed precisely after the congress, during the normal times.

The breaks between congresses should be perceived as opportunities organized for us by the Creator to invest our own efforts in this world. The construction of the spiritual vessel takes place precisely in darkness, at night. We need to see all the events of our life as connected by this very principle, so that “There was evening and there was morning one day.” This is the only way to perceive our lives.

From above, we are given moments of unification and closeness to the spiritual so that we can continue them when the awakening from above disappears. We must preserve this inner feeling by ourselves, at least with the same strength that was given from above, as if we had not left the congress.

The Creator raised us to a certain degree and left us, and we must continue on it. It is not good if we fall because we already have an example of how to continue. And then the Creator will raise us to the next degree, and even higher, and so every time.

When the Creator leaves us, He reveals which places need to be filled with His greatness. The only thing that is missing is the greatness of the Creator.

The main thing is to make an effort to remain constantly connected with the others, like at the congress, and to not let this feeling cool down, to continue it by all means. And then we will see that all the events of our lives—our return to work and all ordinary activities—are organized by the Creator for this very purpose: to fill all these daily empty spaces with awakening, inspiration from the spiritual, and the importance of the Creator.

We must maintain this state and not allow ourselves to descend. This is precisely where all the work ilies. There is not much to work on during the congress. The awakening given from above is working there, and everything happens by itself. But today, through our own efforts, prayer, and all possible means, we must not allow this awakening to cool off. Now is the time for work.

Therefore, at the congress we did not “achieve” success, but “received” it. Today we need to achieve success. It is possible to say that the congress, that is, the gathering and unification, begins right now!

If we correctly understand how to use the time of the congress and the time between congresses, then we will correctly realize the unity we have achieved. Everything is tested precisely by everyday states where all the work lies. So let us continue!
[226477]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/8/18, “The Greatness of the Creator”

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A few words about the recent international Kabbalah congress as it was taking place: I sense a completely different spirit at this congress compared to the previous ones; there is a special aspiration by everyone toward universal unity, and I am within them. This does not require my external participation; the inner striving of all the friends is sufficient.

At the opening of the congress, each participant composed a prayer from the center of the group, and the friends asked that all the prayers include the teacher’s prayer.

My prayer is that we all feel ourselves gathered in one place, included in one heart, and we feel no separation. I do not think it takes enormous efforts to unite because we are already together.

There is no need for excessive tension; let everyone feel good and at ease. After all, we have done extensive preliminary work and lessons. Now we just need to slightly sense the connection, the unity, that we have already attained. We can enjoy this state precisely because we have earned it through the efforts we invested.

The congress is a consequence, not a place of work. It is an opportunity to thank the Creator. But nothing should obscure our desire for connection. For the three days of the congress, we can enjoy the fruits of the work we did beforehand.

However, the connection must be correct so that we do not begin to enjoy egoistically and fall. This is the enjoyment from unity in which we wish to unite with all our friends, the enjoyment from the connection that is being revealed.

Is there room for prayer in such a state? Certainly, for the feeling of unity reveals how insufficient it still is.

We thank the Creator for bringing us, through all our attempts and efforts to connect, to the feeling of how “pleasant it is to sit together.” This is a prayer of gratitude. The gathering of friends, the meal, everything should be in gratitude for the fact that the Creator gives us the opportunity to be connected with everyone, that He brought us to this congress and awakens the connection between us. Our gratitude itself will be the prayer.
[353391]
From a Conversation at a Meal 2/19/26

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I feel like I am participating in a congress. On the very first day alone, 3,000 people attended, 800 of whom came from different countries, and another 3,500 connected virtually. Everyone says that the congress feels unusually serious and responsible.

So the most important thing is to maintain our concentration so that every aspiration is with the intention of achieving the effort in its true form.

I wish for all the participants to feel a connection in the center of the gathering, in the center of the congress. I hope that everyone will feel this, and that it will lead us forward, step by step.

It is very simple to do: simply annul yourself and raise all the participants to the heaven. There is no doubt that the Creator will be pleased with us.

When I studied with my teacher Rabash, I never dreamed of such a broad worldwide movement like Bnei Baruch involving thousands of people. I don’t feel that this was done by me; it was all done from above. There is none else besides Him. We must see the Creator at the center of our unity and desire only one thing: to thank Him for what He has done for us.

On one hand, I’m glad for what is happening today, but on the other hand, I am confident that we will reach such unity that each person will reveal that they are at the center of the circle, connected with everyone else. Within that connection we will receive everything we are meant to receive.

This is the peak of development: working for many years from morning to night and in the end to feel that you yourself have done nothing, but the Creator did everything. After all, you allowed the Creator to perform all the work through you. A person surrenders themselves to the Creator and allows Him to do everything for the development of the world through him. Ultimately, a person must see that in reality they did nothing, but the Creator did everything, and whatever comes to the person, they want to return everything back to the Creator.

You do everything the Creator wants you to do, but all this is due to the Creator. And the merit of a person is only this: to make oneself into a Kli worthy of the Creator.
[353396]
From a conversation at a meal on 2/19/26

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