Shamati #16 “What Is the Day of the Lord and the Night of the Lord in the Work”
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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “Introduction,” “The Tenth Commandment,” Item 237
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 76
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Question: Why, when one hears that there is no one else besides the Creator, the first thing he thinks about is all this evil that occurred in the world: wars, the Holocaust that claimed millions of lives?
Answer: A person does not agree with the fact that there is no one else besides the Creator because it seems that it eliminates the person himself, including his existence. He does not understand what it is all about.
To this day, people do not agree with the way the upper governance treats the people of Israel, the group that seeks “straight to the Creator” (Yashar-Kel), which Abraham organized as one people. Even today, people still cry about this disaster.
But it would be more correct to transform all the memory of the catastrophe into the basis for correction. The Holocaust Museum and Memorial should show why it occurred, from where this terrible fault came, and what it should teach us. It is meant to teach us how we can rise out of this affliction.
In place of the catastrophe, we can grow a new attitude of the people of Israel to the Creator that is more mature and purposeful. Just tears and vows that it will never happen again will not protect us from future disasters. At that time we could not prevent the disaster, and so we cannot today.
What can be done in order to be able to influence events and not allow this to happen again? How can we learn from the past and find the strength that allows us henceforth to act so that it actually never happens again? Today we must correct the damage that we were not able to eliminate in the days of the catastrophe. Therefore, it took place in order to make corrections by the path of suffering.
The oneness of the upper governance is a very hard fact, which is not accepted by an ordinary person with all the troubles and tragedies of this life he has to go through. People do not understand how it is possible that the Creator treated the nation of Israel so badly, which was the group “aspiring straight to the Creator,” guiding them through such suffering.
It is enough to look at the path that the people of Israel went through, at all the suffering experienced by us during the 2,000 years of exile. Why did this happen? What was our mistake and why haven’t we learned from it? Why to this day, don’t we want to draw conclusions? Indeed, with anti-Semitism growing day by day, today there might be a much worse catastrophe than the one that occurred in Europe 70 years ago.
This is a very painful subject, but we have to discuss it. There is no way out, and we have to look at what happened in terms of the purpose of creation and the forces acting in nature. Our sorrow for the perished is only the beginning step towards production of a practical action through correct, broad education for the people of Israel and the whole world.
This education should show people what terrible forces could be revealed if we do not turn them into good forces. The choice is in our hands! We ourselves choose who will take power over us: the evil force or the force of good, Pharaoh/egoism, or the Creator/bestowal; it must be one of the two.
We should explain this in television programs, workshops, and discussions. This applies not only to the Jews. Today, we have advanced so much that the whole world has to be included in the correction. That is why the upper governance begins to treat the world in the same way as it earlier treated the people of Israel.
In the past, the upper governance demanded only the people of Israel to come closer to bestowal, but now this is demanded from the whole world. Thus, the entire world is on the threshold of great suffering: the war of Gog and Magog, the third world war that was described by the prophets, to a multitude of problems and misfortunes. And all this could happen because the world is not advancing on the correct path.
Of course, the people of Israel will suffer the most because it has to pass the Light to the rest. But the whole world will also be involved in this disaster. It will not be like before, being a catastrophe only of the Jewish people. Riots, problems, and revolutions will occur in any location in the world. We can already see the first stirring of conflicts, which are destined to explode in the future and envelope the whole earth.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 66
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From, Shamati, 1, “There Is None Else Beside Him”: And as much as he overcomes, he always sees how he is farther from holiness than others, who feel that they are one with the Creator.
But he, on the other hand, always has complaints and demands, and he cannot justify the Creator’s behavior, and how He behaves toward him. This pains him. Why is he not one with the Creator? Finally, he comes to feel that he has no part in holiness whatsoever.
I see that all my intentions and my desires are in order to receive. I want to connect to the friends and reveal the Creator among them in order to bestow unto Him, but after all my attempts, I discover that it isn’t my nature at all.
Although he occasionally receives awakening from Above, which momentarily revives him, but soon after he falls into the place of baseness.
This means that I perceive my ascents and descents judging by to what extent I worry about the Creator through the group and through which He will be revealed, and to what extent I yearn to see in all that there is none else beside Him and that He is good that does good. I discover corresponding attributes in the group, but I understand that I cannot participate in it by myself.
It turns out that there is no one to blame but me. Ordinary people on the street are totally managed by the Creator in a natural instinctive manner. Therefore, they are not responsible for anything and are absolute righteous since they only carry out the Creator’s orders without any participation on their part.
The friends that I see invest all their powers in order to bestow and the only evil person in the world, who wants to exit his ego but cannot do so, is me. It turns out that the general state of the vessel, of the general soul, depends only on me.
Thus, the Creator’s state depends on the outcome of my efforts. The Creator can enjoy the created beings and be revealed to them only if I add my penny. Without that, the Creator cannot be content and this is my fault!
A man must always try and cleave to the Creator; namely, that all his thoughts will be about Him. That is to say, that even if he is in the worst state, from which there cannot be a greater decline, he should not leave His domain, namely, that there is another authority which prevents him from entering holiness, and which can bring benefit or harm.
That is, he must not think that there is the force of the Sitra Achra (Other Side), which does not allow a person to do good deeds and follow God’s ways. Rather, all is done by the Creator.
On the one hand, we have to accept all the actions we undergo. There is only one thing I cannot accept: the fact that I cannot justify the Creator in all these actions and thank and praise Him. This is the only thing that hurts.
Of course, I don’t feel sorry for myself but for the fact that I cannot add my missing part, my penny, to the whole general vessel in order that the Creator will be able to be revealed within it and to enjoy it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1
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From Shamati #1, “There is None Else Beside Him”: Namely, he is sent thoughts and views, which are against the work. This is in order for him to see that he is not one with the Lord.
The person is not prepared to overcome the thoughts and desires that are aroused within his mind and heart. He is not prepared to overcome them alone without the support of the environment. He needs other people like him who will show him a good example related to his condition.
A good environment is the friends who are more or less going through the same state, each one according to his personal Reshimot (informational genes). But for all of them there is the same intention, the same goal. Everyone understands what must be done. And even if they don’t understand, the main thing is that they try to present a good example to each other.
When we go through the next stage of spiritual work and gain strength, then the environment will treat us differently, it will demonstrate contempt for the goal. This is just as it was with the famous group of Kabbalists from Kotzk.
If I have a screen, the Light, and vessels, then the environment can help me without waiting for the next obstacle on the way. The environment will set up an obstacle in front of me that I must overcome. This is called, “I will hasten it” instead of the path of natural development.
Why should I wait until I receive a burdening of the heart from above if the society can cause this? The friends will show me that they seem to despise the spiritual path. And I will justify them, even though this is not the truth; I don’t see the truth, because I am damaged.
In this way we transform the path of suffering to the path of Light, each time placing a new obstacle in front of the friends and thus accelerating them, forcing them to demand vessels of bestowal and to advance. But this is appropriate only for great Kabbalists. In the meantime we need to show the friends inspiration for the greatness of the goal until they pass through the Machsom (barrier)and transform the way of suffering into the way of Light. Today we must be the force that pulls the entire society forward.
The first stage in preparing for the true spiritual work is to reach the feeling that you are in a Hevrah Kadisha, a sacred society. I must see that everyone is much greater than I am, and that I am not at all worthy of being among such people. But I am not ready to justify them and appreciate their height.
It is up to me to try to identify that the Creator is in them, at least to imagine this artificially, and to search for how it is possible to build my relationship with the group. But the true state of Lo Lishma (not for Her name) begins from the stage where I see everyone as the greatest of the generation. And in this state I have the opportunity to advance with their help. This means that I have placed myself in the right state of Lo Lishma.
Now the society can provide me with the fuel through which I will see all of them as great and will yearn to be with them. I want to adhere to them and learn from them, I want to be the smallest of them all; the main thing is to be together. This is already the right attitude through which I approach Lishma from Lo Lishma. I am already included correctly within the collective soul and I am thankful that the Creator is among the friends.
The only thing that I am missing is adhering to them. This means that I yearn for love of friends and after that from love of friends to love for the Creator.
But until then I cannot awaken a deficiency for love of the Creator within me if the intention is for a spiritual and not a physical egoistic deficiency as it is with everyone. There are very clear signs of this; if we judge according to our attitude towards the society, from this attitude it is possible to examine our state.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1
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