Arava Convention Day Two “Yeshivat Haverim“

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Arava Convention Day Two, Workshop 3

Arava Convention Day Two, “Only Questions,” Workshop 3

Arava Convention, Day Two, Lesson 4

Arava Convention, Day Two, Workshop 4

Arava Convention, Day Two, “Only Question,” Workshop 4

Arava Convention, Day Two, Lesson 5

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati, 241, “Call Upon Him While He Is Near”: Hence, when the Creator wishes to bring him out of the dense forest, He shows him a remote Light, and the person gathers the remains of his strength to walk on the path that the Light shows him, in order to attain it.

But if one does not ascribe the Light to the Creator, and does not say that the Creator is calling him, then the Light is lost from him, and he remains standing in the forest.

Every moment of our lives happens under the influence of the Light, the property of bestowal, the Creator. And if a person tries to reveal this influence from Above, to connect his path with the Creator, although he does not see, does not feel this connection yet, then all the moments of his life he attaches to the First Cause, to the upper force.

The Creator gives him opportunities to apply efforts, in darkness and light, in various conditions. Due to this, a person creates and calibrates his sense for perceiving the Creator, and then with each step, with every event and state, in every situation, he sees the force of the Creator more clearly as the cause of what happens until he reveals Him on a constant basis.

Initially, a person had only a tiny feeling from within, from some hidden source. This source manifests itself in all kinds of circumstances, and gradually a person becomes aware that this is the Creator demonstrating these or those forms of relations towards him. A person learns to connect everything with one Cause, besides which there is nothing. Rising above the events of his life, he understands: They are all designed for him to reveal the Creator all the time. That is why he needs to pass through diametrically opposite states.

Now a person sees that everything is for the best, and he builds a basis inside himself, “There is none else besides Him, the Good Who Does Good.” Whatever may happen, a person understands that the Creator awakens him, forms him at every second of his life. Everything is directed at the connection with the Creator, Who sorts and corrects all the properties of a person, so that in each of them, a person feels only Him, as the Good Who Does Good.

Thus we advance, calling Him while He is near. When having put forth effort, a person recognizes that the current moments came from the Creator; he needs to understand that the efforts were also called from Above. The Creator wants a person to reveal Him. Even a small, slight contact is also closeness, and now it is necessary to strengthen the connection that has emerged.

But it is impossible to strengthen the relations in a person himself. After all, each of us has only a tiny dot, representing the beginning of the soul, an altruistic desire. This is just a spark of the Reflected Light—the intention to bestow that we had before the breaking. So, if I am close to this spark, if it shines brightly and tries to ascend above all the desires so that together with them can establish the connection with the Creator, then I must unite with other sparks, as it were before the breaking when they were all merged in the general flame, in the great Light.

We need this Reflected Light of such power that together we would prevail above the common desire at the first spiritual degree. Uniting our sparks in the general fire of the Reflected Light, we strive to be in bestowal, in unity above egoism, and thus we create the first spiritual vessel for bestowal, and in it, according to the law of equivalence of form, we reveal the Creator.

We have this opportunity, especially after so much invested effort. We must thank the friends who came from afar for their efforts because they come at the cost of a lot of work and money. All this is added to the screen, to the Reflected Light, to the overcoming, which we must realize for the sake of unity.

We create special conditions now to constantly strive to establish contact, not letting ourselves get out of the general intention, the common idea. We must live in it—this is the exercise that allows entry to the spiritual world. We are together and everyone feels inside that he includes everyone else in himself and that with them, he is like one force, one sensation, in adhesion.

Thus, we will reach a spiritual degree, and then we will be able to return to normal life, and it will not distract us, but will just add new layers of desires, “material” for burning, for the Reflected Light to grow.

After all, as one person cannot reveal the Creator with his spark, thus in our unity we can reveal the relatively small force of bestowal. In comparison with the current state, it will be a big Light, the revelation of the Creator, something huge. We will see and feel how interconnected all the parts of reality are, how the upper force affects everyone in the unified network—above time, in every epoch, in all individual souls. And then, coming out with this force, we will begin to come in contact with the current events of this world, on the way home, at home, at work…

Then, we will need to strengthen the force of bestowal, despite all the “disturbances”, which in reality are additions of the “material” that lets us maintain the fire. The receiving desire as it grows will add “firewood” in this flame, multiplying the Light revealed in unity between us, which becomes stronger in connection with the world.

So, here we should see the beginning of the great path. After all, our ultimate goal is not only to unite and reveal the Creator. There are three stages; the lower should see the upper one and be aware of the upper above him. Later, we will connect the force of disturbances from the entire world to us and will burn them in our “furnace.” This force will become “fuel” for us and will help us reveal the Creator between us more and more.

So, you should not be sorry for what happens after the convention, “Do I have to start everything from the beginning? Where do I return?” No, after our efforts, when we return to the world, we will be different. We will have forces to connect the world to ourselves, make it follow us, and it will provide us with the “fuel” which ignites the desire to bestow that reigns between us.

And it all starts with a small dot, when a person tries to reveal the Creator, Who stands behind his yearning for the friends and urges him to unite with them.
[98170]
From the Arava Convention 1/17/13, Lesson 1

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Question: The connection between the women in the convention allowed us to see how great our men are and that they are ready to receive the Light in the desert. How can we hold on to this image inside us?

Answer: It is a wonder, but thanks to the fact that the women connected, they felt how special the work that the men do is. Before they didn’t feel that, this is called “From Your actions we shall know You,” by performing the same action, the women understand the men’s state. Now the women understand how the men connect, hug one another, and how they attain connection by collective actions.

Before the women didn’t feel that, since they were not together, they were not one vessel, one desire; they didn’t feel any advantage in that or any attraction or inclination to connect. But now they begin to feel this state. It is an example for all of us that we need “to do and to hear”; that’s how it works.

Thus the women could see how great the men are. Even if this image disappears right away, we shouldn’t be afraid of a descent, but rather accept it as an ascent. When the “hardening of the heart” comes, we will overcome it as fast as we can. The more ascents and descents there are, the more stubbornly we will hold on to one another, thanks to the mutual support.

We shouldn’t be scared; on the contrary, we should be happy: Let the descents come; we will accept them as ascents! We should only hold on to one another and reach the finish line quickly. However, those who stop and don’t want to descend get stuck in one place. We shouldn’t be afraid of the unpleasant feelings, but rather rise above these feelings.

Are we that dependent on our feelings? If the next day everything that happened during the convention disappears, this is the place to work, to try and keep yourself in this state, as if we haven’t left the convention hall.

The “hardening of the heart” that we feel now is given to us so that we will evoke this importance of the goal inside us by ourselves. But can I do that, of course not! This is why we were given a group, an environment that we have already built. According to the power of the environment that has already been built, I am now given a descent. A descent is a sign that I have to connect to the group even more strongly.

How can I connect if the connection has ended and this special opportunity is over? We have to try to keep the connection as hard as we can, even together with some other people, two or three other women by whom I can be impressed is enough. Indeed, if a person connects with someone outside himself, it doesn’t matter how many people there are: a million, a billion or just one. The main thing is that it is someone else, someone on the outside. So the main thing for me is to find a connection as quickly as possible and not to lose it.

A descent is a state in which I am detached from the environment; otherwise, it isn’t a descent, but simply an egoistic bad mood that has nothing to do with spirituality. A spiritual descent is only when one is detached and drawn away from the right environment.

If we understand that, we begin to see that all the ascents and descents are only with regard to the environment. A descent is when I am being drawn away from the environment, and the ego comes between the environment and me. I, on the other hand, have to overcome this ego and despite the ego, return in order to adhere to the environment again.

Then the ego is inserted between us again, and I am drawn further from the environment and constantly overcome this resistance and return, like a piston in an engine. I constantly return to adhesion above the new ego that is evoked each time, and so I end my work quickly, fill the measure of my exertion, the exertion needed to keep myself in adhesion with the group.

If a person completes this work by staying in adhesion, the adhesion with the Creator is revealed to him, the first spiritual level. So we shouldn’t be afraid of the descents, but we should be prepared for them, and on the contrary, we “should awaken the dawn” by ourselves and not wait for the dawn to awaken me.

Different states will come along: “Let there be evening and let there be morning.” The evening has already arrived while we can awaken the dawn by ourselves!
[98086]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/15/13, Writings of Rabash

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What is the prayer of many? First of all, we understand that the movement forward is a movement towards each other, to feeling others like oneself. This is achieved by connecting common yearning. We need to unite our points in the hearts in a single aspiration, relate them to the Creator, desire Him to correct them to raise above our egoism in order that it remains below, and the points in the hearts exit it, rise and form the property of bestowal.

The property of bestowal can only be common, not individual. It’s manifested only in the connection with others, through the so-called “crimson ball,” a feeling of warmth between us. And all this is recorded according to the statement “the book is open and the hand writes” because in addition to our personal debt, a general account is also written. One can pay for the other and even more than that.

This means that the group can take responsibility for the weak, pull him towards itself, heal, soothe, and approve. Just as in our world, in the spiritual world there are different gradations of human, and the group can pay for him. But later, he has to pay back. This is the system of complete interdependence like in the family: small children grow up and begin to help the elderly; everyone does his part, and everything is divided equally.

So, the calculation is carried out only through the common treasury, and nothing is accepted from an individual, the Creator does not make any transactions with you. Even with the world, He makes calculations only through humanity, through the entire mass of people, through one collective desire. He influences this desire. He is in it.

The common desire is divided among all of humanity and the people aspiring for the Creator with whom He makes His own calculations. He does special actions with them in order to pull them towards Himself, to guide and drive them towards the goal. As for humanity, the Creator is pushing it forward for the time being, causing an awareness of confusion in it and gradually pulling it towards us. Part of humanity diffuses and enters our area, joins us, and the 90% remains. This is a huge amount, and it stays unchanged because the part that leads everyone forward must be strong in quality, and the rest in quantity.

Thus, we need to pray, ask for the strength to lead, to help, to shape that huge mass. The responsibility for this lies with us; we have to ask for everyone. This is the basis for a prayer.

The Creator created the desire to enjoy. This is the desire of 90% of humanity. And our desire in this mass, meaning of those who yearn for the Creator, is artificial, not belonging to this world. Now it appears in us, and we want to get somewhere. The property of the Creator is manifested in us and that’s why we are drawn back to Him, to our source. Others also have the points in the hearts due to the mixing, the breaking of the vessels, but they are hidden deeply. We were awakened just in order to pull them to us and correct them; otherwise, we would have never felt the movement towards the next state.

That is why our prayer should be for all of humanity, for having the force, skill, and knowledge of connection with the Creator in order to draw all of humanity towards us and correct it, thereby bringing Him pleasure. The task of the Creator is to be revealed in the desires of humanity, to fulfill their desire. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, we are called the head, meaning that we are aware and understand; we are associates, assistants, of the Creator. We realize His goal. He wants to be revealed in humanity because it has real huge desires, not like ours because we’re not the greatest egoists. Of course, egoism is growing in us as well as all kinds of understandings of its estimations since we have duality, and we move forward, but the biggest egoism will be revealed in all mankind.

This is immense universal egoism! The whole universe is a huge mass of inanimate matter, which we don’t feel or know, including dark matter, all that we do not see, and it is an analog of the egoism that exists in humanity. They are both inanimate matter.

That’s why the correct prayer rises only through the group and only for humanity! I ask the Creator to help me as part of the group to correct all of humanity so that He can be revealed in it. Thus, by my participation in this, together with the group, I bring Him pleasure, the realization of His plan.

Why is this so difficult to express? It’s because it refers to the property of bestowal that we can’t yet describe properly. We depict everything by means of our egoistic language: I ask the Creator to give me the strength to correct others so that He is revealed in them seemingly to receive pleasure. We have no other possibility to express all this, so the prayer should be like that.

In the meantime, we take a loan, and gradually, especially in the group, make a clear calculation how much we can begin to return what we have taken from the store: for each given day, for the lesson, for the gathering of friends, for the convention, for everything! What do we give? What do we return? Do we correctly realize that excitement, that possibility that we get every time?
[98070]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 5

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In childhood, parents give a child everything possible, but to the extent of his growing up they begin to demand more and more from him until he becomes an adult and he himself has to give.

We are now entering the next stage of growing up; therefore, we must be in constant prayer. We will never be able to unite if we do not try to connect with the Creator because direct efforts, not through the Creator, lead to nothing.

Any connection with anybody, with studies, with the work within the group, with the organization of events, even just washing the dishes or cleaning in the group is an empty activity if it does not pass through the Creator. Everything that relates to our common life should pass only through the Creator, only attracting Him, meaning, the property of bestowal. It is necessary to try to rise above oneself and operate only in this way. This is called a prayer.

It is said, if a person behaves in this way, it means that he prays all day long. This is good! Whatever I do, everything passes only through the upper. If I stick to this, my actions are performed only as calculations: I pay for what I do, for the opportunity that was given to me. Then “the book is open and the hand writes” but in the opposite direction: I pay next to what was given to me, and I make a payment. A person must feel in this way.

Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: Rabbi Akiva depicts two kinds of people: the first are the “open store” type, which regard this world as an open store without a shopkeeper. But the law of development acts in every creature, and according to this, it takes from a person, so in the end, he will have to pay for everything.

In what form? In the form of suffering if you do not want to move forward consciously. Suppose, you have to perform an action, but you have not done it in the way you should have done, through the group, because you cannot be aimed at the Creator if not from the group, if not from the general Kli, vessel.

A personal address to the Creator is considered egoistic; it gives nothing. This is religion, not Kabbalah.

As soon as you can aim at the Creator through the group, at the general force of bestowal in order to attract it, and the one thing that you ask is to get closer to Him or to bring Him closer to you so that this force is in your actions relative to the same group, and through it, relative to humanity‑if a person focuses on this, he works fully on himself in the general Kli, vessel, and begins to feel the new world concretely. It approaches him; its network begins to open before him, and a person sees how it works.

The second type of people are called “those who want to borrow.” They take the shopkeeper into consideration, and when they take something from the store, they only take it as a loan. They promise to pay the shopkeeper the desired price, meaning to attain the goal by it. And he says about them, “All who wish to borrow may come and borrow.”

The difference between the people of the first and the second type is that they are moving forward differently: consciously or unconsciously. The first ones advance through punishment, and the second ones with understanding and revelation.

Those who move consciously reveal the entire system, which raises them to the level of the Creator, to the level of that single force. They begin to feel how they exit the body, that is, a gradual separation from their egoism because all that we feel, including our body, is the feeling in the ego.

This gradually dissolves, dissipates. We enter such a subatomic level of sensing matter when it practically does not exist. Instead of it, we see and feel forces, that is, not the image, but its essence, the sum of forces that control this image. We already deal with a more inner essence of man and with the whole spiritual system.

When this system becomes clearer, we begin to work with it, not with faces, not with bodies, not with the still, vegetative, and animate matter. Working with a spiritual system, we start seeing in Kabbalistic books the structure of connection between us, between all the elements and forces because the primary sources describe only this.

Any force is broken down into five parts: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut. It consists of five parts because all these forces are manifested in our egoism.

The system of the upper world is revealed between us up to its complete realization. We ascend through it, master it, and begin to manage it. It gives us a sense of the upper, external world. At the same time, the feeling of the body and connection with it is lost.

The fact that the body lives, gets sick, or dies is necessary because through it we must sense and feel ourselves in this world. When we finish our part in the general correction, we do not need to be connected to this world through the body because we complete our part of correction. The body is our representative relative to those who still sense the upper world in the form of this world.

We have to reach this state to fully reveal that judgment is the judgment of truth; everything is corrected and ready for a meal, and then the whole world enters the corrected Kli, vessel, and complete attainment of the Creator fills all our common desire‑one general soul.

A prayer is based on this idea. It is a person’s constant aspiration to work on the moment in which he currently is.
[98067]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/9/12, Lesson 5

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A Kabbalistic group is based on the laws that belong to the next level. That’s why we meet together to re-create these conditions. We play as if we were in the forthcoming reality and build the relationships and connections that, in the end, will turn into the worlds that we study in Kabbalah.

The world of Assiya is the first one that we need to enter and start feeling among us. To be in this world means that we become completely adequate to its level internally (in our desires, thoughts, hearts, and mind). Rabash’s articles explain the ways to reach the unity and to start sensing spirituality among us.

Of course, we don’t “rise” anywhere. We ascend to our personal spiritual height to the extent of the level of connection that exists among us. Later, our sensations will change, and our “fitting together” will become stronger and deeper. We won’t treat each other egoistically any longer. We will decrease our egos. We’ll annul our egoism and expel it from the liaisons among us according to the principle, “What you hate, do not do to your friend.” As a result, we’ll start sensing the upper world.

Afterward, we will unite even more and enhance our mutual interconnection. We’ll create a reciprocal system according to which we will be able to sense a new type of fulfillment in the form of the Lights of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida. It all depends on how much our egoism grows and in spite of it, we connect with each other, how we try to neutralize the egoism and even use it to join the two opposing forces and create a bond.

Imagine thousands of people from our groups all over the world will feel the mutual interconnection: who is where and how they are interconnected. This serious, multi-polar system is an integral society. Our egoism keeps growing and we become more united and “penetrate” into each other even more.

And our egoism grows not only in quantity but also in quality: It appears to us in all sorts of new, completely unknown forms. Suddenly, we begin noticing repulsive nuances in others that we haven’t seen before; it means that our egoism is elevating and is triggering these sensations in us! Suddenly, we recognize that our friends’ egoism has increased by a thousand times, and we don’t know how to approach their shaggy and prickly personalities. We still see ourselves as kind and wonderful. We don’t know how to treat our friends, nor do we know what to do with ourselves.

If we look at this picture from Above (from the Creator’s side), it becomes obvious that He is the One who provokes these situations in order to promote our advancement. On the part of the Creator, they are inevitable, whereas, on our behalf, we should continue correcting ourselves in order to rise even higher.

Rabash’s articles give precise advice on how to connect with friends. They all derive from the only principle, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” because it is the law of the upper level at which we all are entirely united through our desires and thoughts.

Our actions complement each other and create one general desire that was initially created by the Creator. At this point, each desire appears to us 620 times bigger. Thus, we feel everyone as if they were us. Besides, each of us feels 620 times bigger as if we were “multiplied” by others. It’s impossible to describe this formula since it defines the qualitative state called the world of infinity. We still need to reach this.
[97483]
From the Novosibirsk Convention 12/8/12, Lesson 4

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Arava Convention Day One, Workshop 1

Arava Convention Day One, “Only Questions,” Workshop 1

Arava Convention, Day One, Workshop 2

Arava Convention, Day One, “Only Questions,” Workshop 2

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Arava Convention Preparatory Lesson

Arava Convention Day One, Lesson 1

Arava Convention, Day One, Lesson 2

Arava Convention, Day One, Lesson 3

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We are in a very special state now between the two conventions, the women’s convention and the men’s convention, when we have to bring all our deficiency together. On the women’s part there is already a big deficiency. On the men’s part the deficiency is relatively ready, but it isn’t gathered and organized enough. But there are still a couple of days to get ready and to reach the convention in the desert correctly, which means as “one man in one heart.”

I think it is possible. We see by the advancement of the world and our own advancement, according to the discernments that we have accumulated, that we are operating correctly and that there is no other choice. We were given a rare opportunity; a special treatment from Above and comfortable conditions that actually support what we are doing.

We don’t have to run forward with our eyes closed. Day by day we realize that this is the right way. We see how the whole world is drawn into this process and how necessary it is for us, to the world, and to the Creator. Finally there is a concentration of right decisions, which is a result of all the years the actions we have performed, of many states, discernments, and impressions we have experienced every moment, everywhere, and by each and every one of us.

We have to bring all our experience and the discernments that each of us has accumulated during this time together and to concentrate them into one sharp desire. Then in response to this desire that is yearning for its correction, for the attribute of bestowal, we will be able to receive the upper Light that will influence us and raise us to the first spiritual level.
[98031]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/15/13, Writings of Rabash

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