A group of Bnei Baruch students in Montreal are seriously preparing for the forthcoming World Arvut Convention. Presently, there are about twenty people studying at the group’s learning center located in the city center, across from the Jewish General Hospital.
[60910]
Question: How can we explain to the friends that it is impossible to attain correction by oneself and that we need a group?
Answer: This is what our sources say. I only have a shattered vessel, so what should I do with it? I have to absorb my friends’ desires in order to draw the Light that Reforms.
Together with the friends we raise a common prayer, and as a result we receive the force of correction. I will not be able to receive this force if I am alone. At least ten people are required in order to attain it. Only then will we begin to connect to each other and to build the common vessel between us.
It seems that we are together now, but actually it isn’t so. So how can we unite? We activate the force of the mutual prayer for that. No one operates on his own. The common desire to correct ourselves connects us, and in it we want to reveal the special force that will dwell between us, to reveal the Light, the Creator. When He is revealed, we each will disappear as an isolated entity, and one desire filled with one Light will arise.
Can I reveal the force of bestowal by myself? What or to whom will I be able to bestow? I must simply have someone else there too. My point in the heart (•) is my first urge for correction, in other words, for connecting with someone. This means that I have to absorb his desire. Then I have two desires: a desire to draw away from egoism and a desire to draw closer to bestowal.
So I have to receive my friend’s spiritual desire and to attach it to mine. Without this I will not really want to bestow. This is the only way I can raise MAN, a request for correction.
“The minimal multitude is two,” but actually, two is not enough. The more friends there are around me, the more chances I will have to be impressed, to attach their powers to me, and to demand correction. By that, I demand namely the connection with them. I supply the “territory” in which the connection will be realized, my wishes about what needs to take place here, and our common force. In short, I have to prepare the most possibly correct “mold.” It can be done only together. All our work takes place in the group.
Besides, women also support this group, and human society surrounds it on the outside. These factors also have either a positive or negative effect in pushing us towards connection.
Question: What does one feel when the Light fills our desire?
Answer: One of the points is me. All of us together is we. The yellow part in the drawing symbolizes our connection, and the red color symbolizes the upper force, the Creator. We have to unite Israel, the Torah, and the Creator into one, and this has to be revealed in our feeling. The Creator is the upper force, the source. The Torah is unity, the vessel. And we are the parts moving toward unity.
Let’s hope we will succeed in this.
[60797]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
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To develop our spiritual sensation, we unite and connect. We have to attain the kind of unity that is called, “mutual guarantee.” Essentially, this is the vessel for feeling the spiritual, eternal and perfect life that is outside the body.
For that we have to do what Kabbalists, who are people that have already gone through this path, advise us to. They are our teachers and are therefore called “Rabbanim” in Hebrew, which is the plural of Rav, meaning a “great” person before whom I bend down my head like before an experienced instructor that is worthwhile to listen to.
He accomplished the transition from the sensation of just this world to the sensation of the upper world, and moreover, he went through many states and levels there. Therefore he can help me with advice throughout the whole path, until I complete my development in the true world. By virtue of Kabbalists, I reveal the gates to the world, enter it, and advance.
Kabbalits advise us to unite, and in that unity, by making great efforts in spite of our egoism and natural disregard, to look precisely for the feelings we disregard. I reject the neighbor and hate him, I am unable to even think about how we can be truly close to one another. But Kabbalists tell us that we have to be as one man with one heart, uniting in the mind and feeling to such an extent that no boundaries will remain between us in thoughts or desires.
This is all painfully opposite to our nature. We are being offered such conditions that we would be willing to trade them for anything else. We are nauseous from this and are thrown away from it at every moment in different directions—anything but unity. We just want to cover ourselves up with half-hearted advice and actions, lie to ourselves and others that everything is normal…But we can’t.
What can help us here are demands imposed by physical unity: We act all together and no one can evade his responsibilities. That is exactly why we are in this world of actions that are not defined by intention. In spirituality, the thought is the action, but in corporeality they are divided: I can think about one thing, desire another, and do a third.
This is the wonderful quality of our world: Here we can start the path to spirituality without even yet thinking about it for real or wishing for it sincerely. We are able to make actions that pride, passion, ambition, envy, and shame incite us to do—everything that is inherent to our egoism.
Therefore, being in the group, at the end of the day, I must carry out what it obligates each of its members to do. After that, by virtue of that, I advance involuntarily. I must only push myself into the group, take on obligations, and sign a “unified agreement” with the friends that under any circumstances, they have obliged me and I have obliged them to need one another. That is how we advance, using our egoism.
Thus, in our world we have the opportunity to start the spiritual path from zero, from pure ambition. We activate its negative qualities, connecting with one another by the unity of mutual help, and use all the negative qualities just to observe this unity. In this case, you obligate the friend and he obligates you, and you both advance, having no other choice.
This is exactly what we saw when we went to the convention in the Arava desert. We found ourselves together without external influences and discovered that the group can obligate every person to rise and come closer to the sensation outside the body, where a person begins to discern details hitherto unknown, a different existence “outside of the skin of his body.” It turns out that “outside of us” is really possible. That is how we advance.
Today we can unite with one another in this world by means of the right egoistic actions. However, now every one of us has to “jump out of his skin,” rise above his personal egoism, above his entire being, and unite with friends into a single whole. Stated differently, every person must rise above himself and go from the material group to the spiritual one.
Then the common vessel will form, the common soul, the holy Shechina where we will reveal the Creator on the first spiritual level. We made a big step toward this and acquired a common sensation, and now we must strengthen ourselves.
Thus, we build the vessel of mutual guarantee: We pledge not to forget one another and all together we take care of our spiritual life. After all, this is the purpose of our current existence in the material world, the goal of all people and this whole reality. Only by virtue of mutual care will we rise to the level of spiritual unity.
[61241]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 11/20/11, “Mutual Guarantee”
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Question: Could you briefly formulate the purpose of the convention at the Arava desert?
Answer: We have one goal: having united, to reveal adhesion with the Creator. We have to reveal a close interconnection, a strong bond in reaching the goal, in ascending above our corporeal desires, above everything that appears to us in this world.
In our mind and feelings, we have to rise above the reality that we feel here and unite all our hearts and thoughts. Our goal is not to simply assemble the common “We” out of individual “I’s,” but to rise to an even higher degree and become one whole. It’s similar to drops of water merging into one big drop without leaving any boundaries between them.
The influence of the upper Light helps us achieve this state. We can’t imagine this state, but the Light can lead us to it. This ascent to the first degree of unity will be the crossing of the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality). Further, we’ll find ourselves on steps of the spiritual ladder, and we’ll be able to climb to the very end of correction.
In addition to it, in our first spiritual state we want to reveal forces to correct the world and to help it on its path toward the purpose of creation where we all unite in order to merge with the Creator. We want the world to reach it peacefully rather than through sufferings, which also can push us forward.
Thus, all our work is in finding the spiritual world, that is, in degrees of merging with the Creator. Then, we will help humanity to reach a predestined state of perfection in a good way where we’ll all give pleasure to the Creator together.
Question: What kind of thought should each friend arrive at the convention with?
Answer: I want to lose my personal self-awareness. I want to rise in my mind and thoughts above the body and unite with the mind and feelings of all the friends who will form the collective head and the collective heart, as it is said: “Like one man with one heart.”
We should imagine this picture at the time of the convention by trying to live it, to live inside of it. I’m no longer an owner of myself; I “sold” myself to the group; I’m loyal to it, and it takes care of me like the upper Partzuf takes care of the lower one, like the whole takes care of the individual, like the mind takes care of the body. From now on, I’m driven and governed by the group.
[60930]
From the 4th pat of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”
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Our current state is imaginary. Kabbalists compare the perception of this world with a person who has lost consciousness and is experiencing certain vibrations in the brain, certain random impulses that beget an illusionary and misleading image within him. And this makes him feel like he is alive and exists in a real world, perceiving it much like as it sometimes happens in a dream. But in reality, there is nothing from true reality in it.
There are a number of actions we can do to help us in this state, to make us wake up, or make an effort towards awakening. The idea is to try to imagine the true state, completely unrelated to our world, while being in our imaginary state.
We exist in this true state connected with one desire. No one perceives himself individually, but every one perceives this oneness. It’s neither “I” nor “we” because “we” is still a multiple sum of “I.”
But there is no sum; there is just that oneness where we exist with no differences between us! We need to try to rise from the image we now perceive to a “there is none else beside Him” state, where there is only One, and nothing else. And everything that is outside of Him is a consequence of the loss of consciousness. We need to try to imagine this situation.
“Everything that exists is one soul.” This is the formula of reality, and it determines the place of our work and the form of our life that we must attain. From it we begin to draw all the directions of our behavior, understanding of the method, and the true state. We will only be able to learn and understand what the upper world is from there. We will not learn about it in our world.
And regarding the economy of the future, it also must come from there. Otherwise it’s unclear how it’s possible for only one to exist. The laws of connection and behavior that exist in this oneness, the relationships and actions, all these things are only learned in a state where we exist as one. There are no physical bodies, this whole world does not exist; our heart and mind rise to this level of oneness.
As a result of everyone’s efforts, we will begin to perceive this reality and what’s happening in it. We will establish the relationships between us in accordance with it and understand the material we are studying and our attitude towards the world and dissemination.
Our head must be inside this One, while our body must be separated from Him and only follow instructions. Then we’ll see how uncomplicated this path really is. The main thing is the first contact with the reality of this one force called: “There is none else beside Him.”
[60760]
From Lesson 1, Israel Arvut Convention, 11/11/2011
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Question: During the lessons, we attract the Light together. In dissemination, we work within the framework of managers and subordinate relationships. How do I lower my head before the friends throughout the day?
Answer: I lower my head not before an external image of a friend, his name, qualities, or character. I lower my head before the concept of the group, which consists of the whole reality: worlds, vessels, and the Lights. I want to be there, included, in self-denial, without any feeling of myself.
It is not just a friend in his physical appearance. I only look for a spiritual form, I want to rise above my thoughts and desires. If I renounce myself, then my body, my origins, everything that I have is directed toward fulfilling the desires of the common heart and thoughts of the common head. That’s what self-denial is.
For example, before the convention I’m prepared to do anything in order for it to be successful. I reject any criticism; I don’t have any calculations regardless of where I’m asked to go or how much time and effort it will take. As soon as I see, hear, or feel that I can help, I immediately do that. If I linger even for a moment, that’s not right; that means I didn’t lower my head before my friends.
[60767]
From Lesson 3, Israel Arvut Convention, 11/11/2011
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Question: Does the amount of men necessarily have to reach 600,000 in order for them to come to connection, like the number of men at Mt. Sinai when they received the Torah?
Answer: It isn’t about quantity. It says that there were 600,000 men at the foot of Mt Sinai and around them, women and children, a total of three million people. The number 600,000, however, doesn’t stand for quantity, but rather for the intention to reach Gmar Tikkun (the final correction).
Six is the number of Sefirot in Zeir Anpin, VAK. 1000 stands for Hochma (Wisdom), and 600,000 stands for the height of Arich Anpin.
If all the shattered souls discover that they want to reach mutual guarantee together, they express their request in a cry that they raise to Malchut, to the Sechina. This demand rises from Malchut to Zeir Anpin, in which there are six Sefirot (VAK), and in each one there are ten Sefirot. Because of the desire of the lower one, the six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin rise to a level that is 600,000 times greater than the original one.
It means that the souls want to reach a connection that corresponds to Arich Anpin, the end of correction. They themselves don’t know what the meaning of this connection is, but they want it. So they are considered to be 600,000, and this refers to their desire, not quantity. In spirituality the intensity of the desire is taken into account, and not its quantity.
It can even be two people, after all, it says that two people is a minimal group. And where are all the women, men, and the cattle they took from Egypt, all the vessels they took from Egypt? It is all inside a person!
Each person should feel as if he came out of Egypt and is standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai. But where are all these 600,000 people? How can I count them? They are all inside you.
The Torah tells us about what actually happens inside a person, and not about the number of people that took part in some historical event. It talks only about our inner changes.
On the other hand, there is a law according to which every spiritual root has to expand all the way down and touch its corporeal branch at least once. So there probably were 600,000 men at the foot of Mt. Sinai.
I feel the inner meaning of this concept, and so I can only imagine how it was revealed externally. But you shouldn’t worry that what existed in the past still obliges us today. Once there were the First and Second Temples, the Egyptian exile, but you don’t plan on going back to Egypt, do you?…
Don’t think that there actually have to be 600,000 people at our big convention in December. In spirituality, quality is much more important than quantity, although quantity is also important because today the whole world has to start the process of correction. But don’t think that we have to bring 600,000 people together, not to speak of three million.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/2011, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”
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We are standing at the threshold of a very important event: We will ascend and even leap up. We have all the conditions for that.
It truly is a unique state we have been given from Above. It’s not an event that is planned, organized, and thought out for a long time, and then it finally arrives. Rather, there is an “awakening from below” (Itaruta de-Letata) and an “awakening from Above” (Itaruta de-Leila), when an opportunity comes from Above, and the main thing is not to miss that moment!
And that is why we did everything so unexpectedly, and it’s good that our friends from around the world understand that. I truly feel it is a mercy from Above shown to us so that both at the December convention and afterwards, we are prepared to fulfill what has been placed upon us in order to correct the world. That is why such opportunities open to us.
We are very excited. You asked how to maintain the excitement, but it will come from all the friends that will join us here; we will all be excited. And you will be even more excited when you begin to catch these drops of mercy trickling from Above.
Out of this entire state, we have to receive a great deal of strength that will make us ready for the correction of the world. This coming year is truly an extremely decisive and fateful year. Let’s hope that together we’ll actually lead the world out of the deep precipice of the ego in which it finds itself and elevate it to the degree of Bina. Then, we will merit to ascend as well.
Among us are friends who have been with us for many years, and they still maintain that same hope. It’s because they await the collective awakening, the collective realization. It is like a couple with no children, who all the time maintain hope that they will finally have children. So now we are reaching a situation when we will finally be able to carry it out!
I am certain this convention will turn out nicely and well, and we will feel great excitement. And most important is to carry this on to the big convention in December and to reach a great force of connecting there. Connecting is up to us, and what will fill the connection is up to the Creator.
So, let’s hope that we will reach such a big force, such a pressure of connection between us, that the upper Light will truly be revealed to us, at least in its first measure. And then we’ll be able to illuminate the entire world, which is called “to become a light upon the nations,” to all those who still don’t understand or feel much. And then this will draw them near, will attract them. Accordingly, we’ll carry out the order of the Creator and bond with Him. To Life!
[61147]
From the talk during the meal before the Convention at the Arava Desert, 11/18/2011
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The Creator awakens us, and He carries everything out, and surely no one in the world can do anything on their own. It is all the upper Light being revealed more and more within us; His force is what acts. We only need to correspond to Him as much as possible, to approach Him, and to make certain inner movements for Him to be revealed within us. This is the most important aspiration.
In truth, a person has to do one thing—just not to interfere. He has to be like a “woman” (that is called the force of a woman), to be the vessel in the hands of the Creator. So let’s hope we will use our male force to overcome ourselves so as to become like “women.”
[61144]
From the talk during the meal before the Convention at the Arava Desert, 11/18/2011
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