Question: How can we preserve all that we have attained in the Arava convention? How can we pass this force onward?

Answer: In two weeks, we will begin the great convention, and we have to be very anxious about its results. It isn’t just another event, although it is great and impressive. We are proud that we have the ability to hold such complex events in which guests from all over the world take part. This is wonderful, of course, but now we should worry about something that is totally different.

When we went to the desert, we had one worry. We wanted to connect and find a new force in the connection between us: the vessel for the revelation of the Creator. Actually, we have achieved a great result. Each of us at least has tasted the meaning of “unity,” and each of us has a Reshimo, an impression of what he has experienced.

Now, the question is how to preserve these impressions. How do we reinforce them in the next couple of weeks above all the disturbances?

Everything is awakened by means of an opposite force. A friend of ours who has a fig orchard in the Arava told me that they water the trees with salty water. Why do they use salty water, not fresh water? It is because it makes the fruit sweeter. It is as if it urges the fruit to overcome and to ripen.

This is how nature’s universal law is revealed: Spiritual development is realized only by means of opposing forces. This is why we give children different exercises. We want to develop a certain attribute in a child, so we give him the right exercise. We “add salt”: We place him in some difficult situation so that he will overcome the obstacle and learn something from it.

Now, in the coming two weeks, you should watch out for, identify, and overcome the disturbances, while keeping the impressions from the Arava convention so that it won’t just be a spark, but the entire picture of your reality. Every new interruption will enable you to rise to another level. Every step will make you “sweeter,” and we will “taste” you in the convention.
[61331]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

Related Material:
Live In The Past In Order To Attain The Future
The World Depends On Those Who Reach Upward
Between Two Fires

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

There is no “upper world”; the upper world is the connection between us. If we feel this unification, we will sense the upper world within it. It does not exist somewhere outside of us. The spiritual world does not exist on its own. We, ourselves, create it and form it.

There is the simple upper Light, and there is a point standing in the midst of the Light. It is divided into many parts. If we unite this point into one whole and connect all of its parts together, it becomes similar to the Light. According to the law of similarity of form, it turns into a big vessel (Kli) for the Light.

It turns out that this black point within the Light of Infinity is transformed into a huge vessel that includes the entire Light. Without connecting its parts together, there is no vessel, there is nothing except for the black point. “Existence from existence” is the Light, while “existence from absence” is a tiny desire, which is still not sensed, non-existent as the creature.
[61221]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

Related Material:
One Moment And An Entire Lifetime
The Fire Of The Hearts Lights Up The Darkness
The Spiritual World Isn’t Mysticism

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Unity - No Comments →

Question: How can we help each other at this convention so that everyone will be able to rise above himself?

Answer: First of all, if I am thinking about rising above myself, thus I help others. It is enough that I “plug” my personal “hole at the bottom of the boat.” This is one thing.

Second, if I think about others and care about them, I help them. Third, my concern for others is expressed in the fact that I see my friends who have invested so much effort, time, strength, and money against many disturbances, and I want to reach such a state when my effort contributes to their spiritual attainment because they deserve more than I do.

I am concerned that they do not disconnect from the correct intentions, true desires, the connection between us. In my desire, I am so worried that they do not “fall” and think only about that.

This concern is the best protection possible in our state, and it ensures that not a single person falls out of this mutual guarantee between us, and we are always above our ego. Everyone should be on alert, thinking only about his friends, like a mother who cares about all her children.
[61427]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

Related Material:
What If I Fall Out Of The Loop?
Merge Into One Heart
Live In The Past In Order To Attain The Future

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Q&A - No Comments →

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim, Degel Machaneh Efraim: It is best to be always united…when they unite below, they cause their root above to unite too.

What does it mean that by uniting below, we cause our root above to unite too? The moment we unite, we oblige our upper one to unite. We know this from the structure of the upper system: Above us, there is a Partzuf that cares about us, called Aba ve Ima (father and mother), Hochma and Bina, and above it, there is Keter, the Creator. Hochma and Bina are two parts, two desires, two attributes, Hassadim and Hochma.

Through our desire to connect, we give rise to the connection between them. Without this, they are “turned away” from each other, that is, they are not connected to each other, and so the Light is not revealed within the creature.

The moment we want to unite, we arouse their connection. Then, the Light passes through them to us and fills us. Thus, when we connect below, we call upon the connection in the upper one, and it brings the Light from Keter through Aba ve Ima (Hochma and Bina) to us, to ZON (Zeir Anpin and Nukva). And this is how we reach correction.

So, it is all achieved by our connection, and not even in the connection itself, but in our desire to connect. We have to desire with all our might to connect with each other, to try to unite. The connection is carried out from Above. The Light comes and connects the desires.

Whenever we feel a desire to connect or the lack thereof, we should realize our yearning to be one. When we feel different disturbances, even the slightest and weakest ones, it is important to pay attention to them and to build the connection on top of them.

Then, we will rise above the great mass of small disturbances that separate us and will finally arouse the first connection between the upper Aba ve Ima so that they will pass onto us the Light of Hochma dressed in the Light of Hassadim. With the help of the Light of Hassadim, we will acquire the intention to bestow, the Light of Hochma will fill the intention, and then we will feel the upper reality.

This should really happen and be felt inside us. It all depends on our efforts. We will do it! So, whatever we do, let’s devote all the time during the convention to being above the body all the time, above all personal thoughts. I want to “lose” myself in others, I want to feel “we,” and not “me,” “you,” or “him.” I want to feel us connected into one whole: one desire and one thought and try to hold on to that as hard as I can.

It’s like a weight lifter who needs to lift a weight above his head and hold it for several moments. This is enough—he has reached the desired result. It is the same with us. All of us together have to raise our desires and thoughts above us, hold them together for one moment, and it will happen!
[61216]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

Related Material:
The Fire Of The Hearts Lights Up The Darkness
Merge Into One Heart
The Spiritual World Isn’t Mysticism

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work - 1 Comment →

Question: In the group, we need interaction, contact. That is the only way I can reveal love and hate for my friends. When we work together on dissemination, I receive a real inner response. But in all other regards, we just sit together at lessons or meals, sing and dance together. I don’t find any interaction there….

Answer: Still, try doing this together with the group more and more. In reality, this is the work: to sit together with friends, to eat with them, to dance and sing with them. This will cause greater repulsion to be revealed inside of you. Overcome yourself and try to submerge deeper into the group—and you will discover your weakness.

This is already the expression of the truth. The more you try to take control of yourself, the more negativity you discover toward the friends. This is the entire essence and nothing more is necessary.

The sons of Israel received the method of correction only when a strong egoistic desire ripened in them. This was no longer a clan or a family, but a great number of people who felt that they didn’t belong to one another. That is how a nation emerges: I am part of a group, I was brought to it, and I participate in the life of the friends, who are connected by a common goal. But to be perfectly honest, I don’t harbor any warm feelings for them.

And now I must form the deepest connection that can possibly exist in reality—the same as the connection with the Creator. Can you imagine: to cleave to the friends like to the Creator, without any excuses, and to feel them closer than myself. Is this possible? Yes. You make efforts, and in response, Light comes from above and corrects you.

In mutual actions, everything that’s important is inside. You can take physical measures only if you can vest the intention into them. Otherwise, you shouldn’t. We need actions that will become an expression of our interconnection. This includes conventions and dissemination work. But in reality, if a person is really dear to me, then I invite him to a coffee shop or to my house to socialize with him in a friendly setting. I try to be as close as possible to him.

The gist of the matter is not for every person to prepare for the convention in his own niche, hoping that these external efforts will unite us. Rather, we must feel a much greater proximity, which is what we were slightly able to achieve at the convention in the Arava dessert. After the December convention, we will continue acting in this direction to come even closer to one another.
[61440]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/11, “Mutual Guarantee”

Related Material:
Who Are You, My Friends?
Moving Upward With The Speed Of Light
It Won’t Help Us To Play Love

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Israel, Q&A, Unity - No Comments →

Question: What does it mean to aspire towards a past state that we achieved at the desert convention? Shouldn’t we be going forward?

Answer: That is correct. But for the time being, you are awakened by the desire to rouse a state you have already experienced so that it will manifest now. You live in the past, like an old man. In spirituality, you are not a “man” or a “youth” yet to be building new degrees. Right now you are not able to achieve a connection with others in order to attain even higher states. You live in your past memories.

This is why I say: “Fine, awaken the past! But make the past new in the sense that now you are changing the reason, your attitude towards it.” And this is a good thing! Do not neglect the past; it is the Reshimot (reminiscences) from a past state. After all, even now we live in the past as we have Reshimot from our descent from Infinity.

But now the time has come to build a new desire for my past state, like in TANTA, when I attain a new desire (vessel) as the screen becomes thinner. Right now we are approaching practical work. This is only for those who go through these states in the sharpest possible form, who have the Reshimo, the memory of what we have attained. Every one of us has this Reshimo, and we can awaken it.
[61313]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/2011, The Zohar

Related Material:
The Everyday Work
Let The Light Reveal Itself And Illuminate The World
Create Yourself

Filed under: Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Here are some pictures from the convention at the Arava Desert, November 18-19, 2011.

[Show slideshow]

Filed under: Conventions - No Comments →

Many sparks have gathered here, each of us carries a big spark—so let’s try to connect them! The Light is waiting to connect us into a single soul, one Kli.

As soon as we attain the first degree of unification between us, the lightest and the weakest one, the very first step on the spiritual ladder between here and the world of Infinity, at that point we’ll be able to reveal the Light, the presence of the Creator between us.

We’ll hope for it to happen! Everything depends on our efforts. Our goal here is to rise above our physical bodies, above all our personal thoughts and desires, and begin to exist together above them in one desire and one thought. We need to constantly try to let go of the sensation of our body and instead sense only the higher reality where we are all connected.

The spiritual world is connection and unity. The fact that such different people have gathered here can actually make for a faster and more successful connection.

We are extremely happy that our friends came from abroad just for one day. They show just how important and special this event is to them. We must put in the effort. After all, there are millions of people out there who are connected to us and who are looking at us.

We are the central group, and the Light that we attract will spread everywhere and reach everyone. Just feel the importance of this mission, the intensity of this moment. There are no outside disturbances and no outside world; there’s only us, united into one heart and one thought for the sake of revealing the upper force between us.
[61177]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

Related Material:
Do Not Waste Time
What If I Fall Out Of The Loop?
Convention In The Arava Desert: “As One Man With One Soul”

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

Question: We have pledged to take care of one another in order to uphold the standard we achieved in the Arava and to keep moving further. But what should a person do if he suddenly discovers that he has “fallen out of the loop”? Should he feel that he is drilling a hole in the common boat?

Answer: Of course. And this should be a source of great distress for him. First of all, it’s not simple to reach the sensation of unity, but he should at least regret the fact that he is separated from it. Secondly, let him feel bad from knowing that all the friends are already there. Thirdly, his absence harms others, and this entire harm is recorded in his account.

This way, he misses out on much more than his personal concern because his part is idle in every one of the friends and does not complete each one of them. It turns out that his harm is multiplied by the number of members in the group.

Until now we talked about the egoistic calculation, but now let’s look at the problem from the other side. A person does not support his friends with mutual guarantee, does not become similar to the Creator, and does not attain bestowal to Him by working in the group. This spiritual damage is not as obvious, but we have to remember about it as well.

Question: Can we say that by doing so a person shifts not only the whole group, but also the whole world to evil?

Answer: If you have received the opportunity to enter mutual guarantee with your friends, then by participating in the common work, obviously you shift the world to goodness. After all, every person is part of the common network and we are its central part. Therefore, by strengthening the group, I strengthen the whole world in its spiritual ascent. And the opposite is also true.
[61337]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/11, “Mutual Guarantee”

Related Material:
There’s Something You Can’t Hide
In Spirituality, You Can Only Be Good Or Evil
Bestowal Without Reward

Filed under: Collective Soul, Conventions, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Mutual Guarantee, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A, Spirituality, Unity, World - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 13: You should believe that there are plenty of sparks of bestowal in each friend, and if we gather them all in one place, in brotherly unity, love, and friendship, of course, it would be enough to reach a significant spiritual level now and for life.

Nothing was created in the world but one soul. The parts, sparks, of that one soul wake up from generation to generation and achieve correction. All the generations, which have completed their correction, unite in the last generation, which begins with us.

Our generation is special. It should connect within itself all the previous generations: from Adam HaRishon, through Abraham and Rabbi Shimon, the Ari, and Baal HaSulam who have performed big corrections in one soul and have prepared its significant, special, and lightest part for us. But besides that, we must connect to ourselves all the future vessels or desires (Kelim) that complete correction.

We connect within ourselves those who are behind us, our forefathers, and those who are ahead of us, our sons, all of them together. We have reached the condition when the world begins to demand correction; souls begin to awaken. And although people do not understand this, it is not necessary because they belong to the part of the collective soul that reaches correction unconsciously, thanks to the connection with us.

Our duty is to unite, to connect within ourselves all the holy sparks of bestowal, which corrected this system before us—and to complete correction.

This is an extraordinary time; we feel that this is a special state. And we see how the Creator helps us, that is, makes it possible for us to unite and purify ourselves so that what we desire so much becomes realized.
[61183]
From Lesson 1, Arvut Convention at the Arava Desert 11/18/2011

Related Material:
Israel’s Mission
Only One Desire? That’s Not Enough…
The Heart In Which We All Melt

Filed under: Conventions, Group Work, Inner Work, Israel - No Comments →