Baal HaSulam, “Shamati #59,” “About the Rod and the Serpent”: “And the Lord said unto him: ‘What is that in thy hand?’ And he said: ‘A rod.’ And He said: ‘Cast it on the ground…’ and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it” (Exodus 4).

We must understand that there are not more than two degrees, either Kedusha (Sanctity) or Sitra Achra (Other Side). There is no intermediary state, but the same rod itself becomes a serpent, if thrown to the ground…

A hand means attainment, from the words, “and if a hand attains.” A rod means that all one’s attainments are built on the discernment of inferior importance, which is faith above reason.

(This is because faith is regarded as having inferior importance, and as lowness. One appreciates the things that clothe within reason.)

Reason is attainment in the mind and the heart, which means that it is my current state in which I feel and see myself and the world and I want to advance towards the goal of love, bestowal, and connection. I do what the Kabbalists say in their books and follow the advice of the teacher and the friends, but everything turns out just the other way around.

This is what I discover within reason. It is important how I relate to it, it is an important point. No matter what I feel, what’s important is how I relate to what I feel!

What I feel is called reason and I have to relate to my feelings above reason. This means that I follow the faith of the sages, the greatness of the teacher, and the greatness of the friends by holding on to the upper force. When I have no more powers, I ask the Creator and the friends for powers. I keep on advancing although according to my heart and mind I see that I am at a dead end with regards to the work in the group, the dissemination, and the study.

According to my heart and mind there is no way I can attain anything but despair before a blocked Machsom (barrier). I see that I am standing in front of a wall and cannot do anything. But I relate to this obstacle in faith above reason, and carry on in bestowal as if I have powers, a mind, and heart, as if I am full of enthusiasm. I must operate this way, although me ego certainly doesn’t allow me to do so. Here I turn the serpent into a rod by taking it in my hand.

Whatever happens, the state itself doesn’t matter, because it is arranged by the Creator. What’s important is how I relate to this state. If I relate to it simply, directly, it is called within reason. Then I fall powerless and think that the goal is unattainable and leave this path. However I can advance by faith above reason, and here I need the help of the friends, mutual guarantee, and a daily support schedule.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/14, Shamati #59

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Everything depends upon the calculation, the decision that was accepted from the start. A human differs from an animal in that he has a Rosh with which he decides how much Light he can receive in order to bestow. The desires with which I receive are called the Toch of the spiritual Partzuf (the body). And where I cannot receive is called the Sof (the end).

What follows from this is that through this decision I divide my reality and all of me into three parts. The part in which I receive a decision is the Rosh (head), and it is the most important part of me, thanks to which I am called man and am different from an animal.

An animal has only a desire without a division into a head, torso, and ending. This means that it is dominated by the direct Light that influences it and it responds accordingly. Between these influences, in the middle, there is no head; there is no restriction.

This is why an animal is absolutely linked to the Creator instinctively. An animal doesn’t make mistakes, but always carries out the commands of the Creator. Therefore angels belong to the animal level.

But man takes account of how to resemble the Creator, and so he makes mistakes. He has a head by which he becomes independent! And so he doesn’t use all of his desire, but divides it into parts and constructs a spiritual Partzuf.

In the beginning we have only a desire and we carry out a restriction on it. In this manner we receive the possibility of considering what else to do with our desire; we are working with the head.

Work in the head against the desire, not according to its wishes but according to my calculation, is called a Masach (screen). This means that the screen is desire + restriction + decision to resemble the Creator, and my goal is built from the head and intention.

We must bring all of these concepts as close to ourselves as possible because we are already in them. We only need to clarify where the head is, where the screen is, where the restriction is, where the intention is, how do I receive, and how do I divide the desire from here to there.

It is as if I am on a diet and choose the dish that will bring me what and how much I am allowed to eat and what I am not. We make a calculation like this with the head of the Partzuf, and after that we realize this decision in the body. It’s all very clear, the only question is for whom am I doing this?

This is the only question, the entire difference between the physical and the spiritual is in that. In the physical world we maintain a diet in order to look beautiful and to be healthy. Whereas, in the spiritual world we do this with a different intention: with a hope that we are giving contentment to the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From Rabash, Article, “On My Bed at Night”: “On my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves,” to lead me out of her, since the Nefesh de Kedusha belongs to the assembly of Israel, and she is in the other, impure land, and asks of Him whom my soul loves to deliver me from it, from the impure land.

This means that since the Nefesh de Kedusha is in lowliness, the Nefesh de Noga does what the three impure Klipot want. It therefore follows that the Nefesh de Kedusha must tolerate the governance of the impure Klipot, which govern them. This is why the Nefesh de Kedusha asks to be delivered from this exile….

We often come across a state like this called “on my bed at night.” The question is, how to clarify it, how to contend with it and to use it to advance.

In each one of us three forces are at work: Nefesh de Kedusha, Nefesh of the three impure Klipot and the Nefesh de Klipat Noga, which doesn’t belong to Kedusha or to the impure Klipot and gives us free choice. So we are sometimes inclined in the direction of Kedusha and sometimes towards Tuma’a (impurity), depending upon who is dominating us.

Sometimes illumination reaches us from Above and the Nefesh de Kedusha is awakened in us. In the meantime, it is not the true Neshama, we don’t have a Neshama yet, but the Light is revealed on the right side, on the side of bestowal. And so we begin to have more appreciation for bestowal, giving, and connection. We feel the illumination in it and so egoistically we prefer it.

The next time it’s the opposite, nothing illuminates us with the power of bestowal, from the right side, with the Nefesh de Kedusha, and so we are drawn towards the Nefesh de Tuma’a, to the left side. This means that we begin to be concerned about everything that will interest our ego.

We are rarely able to influence these two sides, yet their action on us ultimately comes to be expressed in the middle line, in Klipat Noga. That is how we determine our situation and our future, what we will decide next time.

It is always about the future, because in the present state, there is nothing he can do. He must accept it as good and as given for his own good. The main thing is not to forget that all states intentionally come from Above.

All the states are specifically arranged for us so that we will relate to them correctly. They don’t require anything from us except for our correct attitude, meaning the intention. We ourselves don’t change anything in reality.

This reality is determined; this is Malchut of the world of Infinity. Yet thanks to our correct relationship to it, which is an awareness that there is none else besides Him, the good and benevolent, and with the help of adherence with this singular power that manages all of creation, we set points on the way for ourselves. The entire work consists of the understanding, attainment, and justification of this active force.

Specifically due to these states, the “nights,” we must always rise and justify the higher behavior, in spite of the darkness of the night. This justification is through thanks and praise for the Creator, His exaltation, “I am the first and I am the last,” in His relationship of immense love for all of creation. All of the states through which the Creator brings us are given for one goal, to bring the creatures to the point of adherence with Him.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/23/14, Writings of Rabash

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The people of Israel are a group of people who severed a connection with Babylon because they received and experienced a unique desire directed towards attaining the Creator. As a result of that, they received this method of attainment from Abraham based upon the “mercy of Abraham,” on the principle, “and you shall love your friend as yourself.”

It is written about this, “There is none else besides Him.” The Creator is the only force that works in reality. In order to discover this, it is necessary to connect and reach equivalence of form with this force. And this is discovered in us specifically through love of others just as one loves oneself. We gradually acquire love, and so the higher power is also gradually discovered.

The means that makes it possible for us to discover the higher force through connection is called Kabbalah. By definition, the wisdom of Kabbalah is a method for revealing the Creator to the creature in this world. He is discovered to the degree that one takes on equivalence with His characteristics: bestowal and love. What characterizes Him must also characterize the creature.

So people who feel an inner drive towards this, who have awakened Reshimot (spiritual genes) like these within them, hear the message of Abraham in Babylon. Maimonides writes about this in his book, Mishna Torah – The Laws of Idol Worship: When he was forty years old Abraham recognized his Creator and began to stand and loudly proclaim to all of the people to let them know that there is one God for the whole world and it is fitting to serve Him. And he went and proclaimed and gathered people from city to city and from kingdom to kingdom, in that Babylon, until thousands and myriads were gathered to him, and they were the people of the House of Abraham. And this great principle was planted in their hearts and books were written about it, and this went and grew in the children of Jacob and in those who accompanied them and a nation was made in the world which knows the Creator.

This is talking about a unique people that has maintained its uniqueness to this day. Indeed, their ancestors received spiritual awakening even during the time of Babylon and with the help of Abraham molded the concept of the “people of Israel.” In fact, this was a group of people who were connected in order to attain the Creator through special unique relationships between them.

Of course, of all of humanity, of all modern Babylon, there is a special account particularly with the people of Israel. So this group is found in such bad, unpleasant, stressful circumstances. Unconsciously, everyone demands for it to maintain its obligation. Along with this, the Jews don’t understand what is wanted from them, and the nations of the world themselves don’t understand what they want from this group.

This is expressed in anti-semitism, the well-known phenomenon throughout our entire history. And to the degree that we can bring ourselves and the world closer to correction and to adherence to the goal of creation, then the waves of hatred, meaning the forces that want to awaken us to our role, lessen.

And with the opposite, meaning to the degree that we cannot recognize it, are not ready, are stubborn, and don’t want to carry out our role, then these forces are strengthened and influence us in a particular way. And so someone who looks at the world in the right way can understand that this attitude towards the Jewish people, and in general towards the entire condition of the world, including the environment, the economy, health and so on, and the general state of the Kli (vessel) that must reach adherence with the Creator depends solely and only on that group that must show the world how to reach adherence with the Creator.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/02/14, Chosen Topics on: Mission of the People of Israel

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Baal HaSulam, “The Inheritance of the Land:” Our sages said that Israel cannot be redeemed unless they are all one bundle.

Redemption is when there are vessels that are a desire to receive. First they are revealed in us with an egoistic intention of in order to receive and we correct their intention into an altruistic one in order to bestow. Then the Light, the Creator’s presence, is revealed in our vessels according to our correction. Thus we feel the upper force inside us, the new upper reality, the upper world.

This correction is gradual, starting from the shattered egoistic vessels. First we can perform actions in this world only, not yet in our desires, but only physically. We connect within a group, come to study together, and perform different actions together.  Although our actions totally lack the right intention in the heart, they are still beneficial, and evoke an illumination from a distance, which influences us more and more.

Thus we gradually advance, our actions become more and more focused, and the connection between us becomes more clarified until we acquire the complete vessel that is great in its measure and in its quality. Inside it we reveal the connection between us with the intention of in order to bestow among us and unto the Creator. This revelation is called redemption.

All the created beings resemble one another in that and each one simply acts according to his level, according to his dependence on the tree of life. On the whole, since the general soul of the first man was divided into many souls, its parts are in each of them. Being on his level, in his place, a person begins to feel how involved he is in the evolution of this life and of this world.

Some parts awoke in the time of ancient Babel, and only they are called Israel. Now other parts are reaching this mission. Some of them reached the group in the same way ten years ago, others five years ago, and some only yesterday or today. Eventually everyone with come together and be incorporated in one another and there will be no differences; anyone who joins us becomes a part of us.

All the souls who haven’t joined the process of correction by connection are called Gentiles according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, Goy, which means “a nation” in Hebrew. People who yearn for holiness, which means for mutual bestowal, are called a holy nation of Israel, which means Yashar-El (straight to the Creator).

It is said that “Israel cannot be redeemed unless they are all one bundle.” They will clearly have no spiritual power unless we connect. A spiritual vessel is connection., and the stronger it is in quality and quantity, the more compatible we are with the Upper Force.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/01/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How can it be that some individuals study for many years, participate in a group and in dissemination, and, apparently until now, they have no desire, and they need to strengthen it?

Answer: Sometimes ten years are required for a person to understand that there is no choice and that it is necessary to connect with others. However, these are not years that are wasted. Everything is taken into account, for we don’t know and don’t understand the level of the still.

According to our universe, we see how much time it took to stabilize it, billions of years. This means that this is a very concealed process that moves very slowly and gradually, but we must pass through these levels.

The level of Nefesh is our foundation, and it must reach completion so that after it the level of Ruach will begin. Ruach indicates that we already have independent movement, whereas Nefesh cannot move by itself. A person comes and goes to lessons and workshops, listens, but doesn’t hear, yet continues. Many years go by.

This is the level of the still. Within it, he still can’t do anything, for he is on the level of the still! So what? I wait patiently because I see that he is changing in spite of it all. This is so, even though in the meantime, he is not growing towards the Light, like a plant that begins to come out of the ground.

In the meantime, he is only soil that passes through all kinds of states of contraction and expansion, but he cannot carry out any activity on his own. Everything is done according to external conditions.

We need to organize ourselves like this and provide everyone with maximal influence. However, if a person flees from this, there is nothing to be done. It won’t take him ten years, but rather a number of incarnations.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/29/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: You said that we must stabilize internally the desire for the gift that the Creator wants to give us. Isn’t this an egoistic desire?

Answer: It is a very nice prayer. I want that all my desires will not be attracted to different unimportant matters but that they will be focused on what the Creator wants to give us.

It doesn’t matter whether it is an egoistic request or not. The Creator wants to give me a present, but He only can give it to me if I really want it. However, I don’t have the desire for it.

The Creator has created me the way I am on purpose so that I will ask Him to create a deficiency in me for His gift. It is because we connect by my request, and thus I reach adhesion with Him, begin to understand Him, turn to Him, and ask Him to help me.

“How can I help you?” It is as if He begins to speak to me and to clarify what I really need. He begins to play with me. I check things, “No, this isn’t right; I need one less and the other more.” The Creator is revealed a little in His posterior, and I begin to understand a little of what I need, and what I don’t, in order to reach the right vessel.

Thus, I get to know Him, connect to Him, and begin to converse with Him. We become partners. I cannot operate by myself in the process of the correction of creation, which means in preparing the vessel for receiving the gift. I need the Creator because I actually don’t know anything.

The gift is concealed at the moment and the Creator plays around with me so I gradually get to know Him. I don’t get to know the Creator Himself because I never will be able to feel Him. However, I learn and attain Him through my connection with the friends as I look for a way to connect to them.

We go out to disseminate, hold workshops or a convention, connect with the outside world, and this is all considered as the clarification of the vessel for receiving the Creator’s gift. Everything is aimed at that.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/29/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A meal is one of the central points of the contact between us. It is an inseparable part of our human culture. Ancient traditions of communal meals distinguishes us from animals.

A meal is an action that is natural for our bodies. Babies are attached to their mothers by an umbilical cord through which they receive sustenance. When adults sit at the table and eat together, it is a sign of mutual trust and connection among them.

Our meals are very specific because we are in that state of connectedness. However, our meals are not Kabbalistic as of yet; rather, they are in between what we would like to achieve and what we are capable of achieving.

During the meals, we don’t “hint” at the internal work of our friends; instead, we fulfill others by asking questions, giving answers, singing songs, saying L’chaims. In other words, we fill others and don’t let them be themselves.

Anybody who attends our common meals should be focused internally and very little on the others. There should be a purely internal communication among us.

Question: What is the spiritual root of meals?

Answer: The spiritual root of meals is receiving of the Light of Hochma. The Kli (vessel) has to be ready for the quality of Hesed (bestowal). Only under the condition that the vessel receives the Light of Hassadim can it experience spiritual hunger. It happens because the vessel acquires a chance to receive the Light of Hochma, but it doesn’t descend to it. This is a prerequisite of the clarification and revelation of the Light of Hochma. At this point, absorption (consumption) of the Light occurs and Taamim (tastes) appear.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/17/14, Questions and Answers with Dr. Laitman

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Baal HaSulam, Shamati #59 “About the Rod and the Serpent”: However, if one’s mind does not attain it, but resists one’s mind, then one should say that the faith is of superior importance to one’s mind. It follows that at that time one lowers one’s mind, and says that what he understands within reason, that he resists the path of the Creator, that faith is more important than his mind. This is because all the concepts that contradict the path of the Creator are worthless concepts.

Rather, “that have eyes, and see not, that have ears, and hear not.” It means that one annuls everything that one hears and sees, and this is called going above reason.

If I try to acquire powers from the environment and from the Creator and keep following the spiritual path, although it seems useless and hopeless, it means that I work in faith and in bestowal since I disregard what my mind tells me.

I may still hope to receive what I desire at some point, that I will see some benefit later on, although I don’t see it now. In that case, I work within reason as I simply accept a certain extension and hope to see everything around the corner.

I also may perceive this as an opportunity to give up the reward, to rise to the level of bestowal and to follow this path without any account of future self-benefit and without any hope of receiving something in the future. I don’t even want to have such hopes, but simply want to carry on knowing that there is nothing in it for me and that there will not be anything, and still I do it so that, together with the friends, we will delight the Creator.

From this point, I have the right to ask for powers. I mustn’t look for any material support when feeling despair, like, “Later I will see. Things will surely open up for me. Redemption will come since it comes all at once, suddenly.” This is how people who invest in the stock market feel when the stocks fall, hoping for a future rise, calming themselves that there is comfort in the trouble of many.

However, we have seized this moment of despair in order to say that, “I don’t see any reward, and it is all one big misfortune in which there is nothing for me, and it is good that it is so!” My reward is in the fact that I can now perform actions without any reward. I will receive the fuel from Above.

I am given such conditions now that there is no reason for me to move and I have no fuel to move with. My machine won’t work without fuel, but now I must receive fuel from Above. I understand that I need the Creator and will demand these powers from Him.

These are several delicate points here that will be clarified  in the future.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/14, Shamati #59 and #190

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Baal HaSulam, “Inheritance of the Land”: Israel will not return to their land until they will all be in one group.

Question: How does one get a desire to return to the spiritual land of Israel?

Answer: The desire grows through the Klipot (shells), it is processed and transformed into a desire, Yashar-El (straight to the Creator).

The physical land of Israel cannot bear fruit, meaning that it cannot hold people on it if they don’t realize the purpose of creation. And so if the Jewish people abandon this area, nobody can live here. Even the Arabs near us, who have been relatively more successful compared to the Arab nations, will not be able to continue without the Jews.

In general, the present condition is arranged with the expectation and hope that the Jewish people will begin to correct themselves and come into compliance with the land of Israel. It is precisely this condition that makes it possible for the Jews and the Arabs to exist here in the meantime. But if the Jewish people will not realize its mission, they will need to leave this land, regardless of the reasons.

And since other nations cannot hold on here either, this land will be destroyed in wars, like Syria is today, and even worse.

Question: What if a person wants to be in the land of Israel, but is not attracted to the spiritual land of Israel?

Answer: The aspiration to be in the physical land of Israel is worse than being outside of the land. Instead of being here in the physical land of Israel and not corresponding to the concept of the “land of Israel,” it is better to live somewhere else.

As it is understood, this doesn’t mean that a person should remain abroad. The idea is that he must correct himself and be in his own internal land of Israel, with the desire Yashar-El (straight to the Creator), for unity, for connection, for love of others. In contrast to this, people who live here are still not corrected and create problems for themselves all the time.

Indeed nobody in this world, except for us, has free choice, for we exist with two forces. We have a much greater ego than all of the nations of the world, and we have a spiritual spark. And between these two forces we can choose which way to go. The nations of the world are run only by a single desire to receive. The desire that attracts them is what runs them.

So we don’t have anything to demand and there isn’t anyone from whom to demand it. In fact, we don’t depend upon people like Secretary of State Kerry or President Obama at all. There is no reason to expect justice or true solidarity from them, since they are also run from Above. We depend only on maintaining or not maintaining the program of creation. Only connection between us can improve our condition.

And so if you want to live in the land of Israel, you must know that in order to come and live here, you must change yourself according to the land of Israel. This is indeed a unique land that swallows its inhabitants if they don’t correspond to its essence.

In the meantime we are living here, so to speak, by the grace of the Elyon (Upper One), and it is simply given to us for a time in order to correct ourselves. According to that same principle, after going out of Egypt, the Jewish people received an “entry permit” to the land of Israel only on condition that they would live “as one man with one heart,” according to the general rule, “And you shall love your friend as yourself.”

Only if we will live in unity will we have the right to be here. The people were given forty years in the desert to prepare themselves for the level of Bina. And then they needed to conquer this land, which means the people received desires that they needed to conquer. Working with them was very difficult.

Question: Why do our neighbors also have a desire for this land?

Answer: Because this land is beautiful and good. Indeed, the Jews here developed it. But the moment they leave, it will again become a wasteland.

And so the people who want to live here are run by the Creator. And for the Jews, this desire is given in a free form to make their desire like His desire. The entire difference is in our free choice. And the nations behave precisely according to the balance of forces within us.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/30/14, Writings of  Baal HaSulam

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