The work of the spiritual teacher is called a “mantle” (robe of the high priest). Baal HaSulam says in letter 26: This is why this work is generally called “a mantle,” as it is an overcoat, “beyond” human conception,” since the teacher dresses his pupil in it. “And in which there is a combination, as in the edges of the Kli, which is the place where the filth is collected. This means the ego.

During the training period, he is in a state of “to and fro,” as are all those who seek the opening. This means the exit to the next level. And in the last moment of the march when he is close to the opening, but he doesn’t know that, since the opening suddenly opens up at the last moment. When a person completes the left and the right lines and the only thing left for him to do is to create the middle line, this opening opens up.

But if he hasn’t done so yet, then when he approaches the opening, then, of all times, he grows weary and turns back. This is called Zahav (the golden), from the words Ze Hav (give me this), which means from the doubts: What for? Why? This vessel of gold is the most precious of all the other vessels, but it’s built out of the disappointments and the disrespect of everything that we go through. For the movement is done through the craving and the longing for Dvekut (adhesion) with Him, which is built gradually by such maneuvers, when a person almost reaches the opening itself, but doesn’t see it. And it is this place that he is repulsed by since there is the greatest filth, and so a person turns back.

He is also called “a bell” (Paamon) because he doesn’t have the strength to open and he turns back, thus spending his time going to and fro (Paama) again,  time and time again, looking for the opening.

Also, he is called Rimon (pomegranate) because the Romemut (sublime, exaltedness) of above the intellect surrounds him from all sides. This is the place where the greatest filth has been accumulated and a person cannot overcome it or leap above it if he doesn’t work in exaltedness, above the intellect. Hence, again he is called Rimon for otherwise he would fall entirely. The only way to go through this is with our eyes closed, in exaltedness, above reason, by the power that one receives from the teacher, from the friends, and from the books.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” Article 44

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Parashat, “Beresheet,” Item 855  

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 6, Item 69

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“

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Question: How can we defeat the Klipa of Canaan?

Answer: The Klipa of Canaan is the disrespect one feels towards the means for his spiritual advancement. It is revealed after a person decides to start the spiritual work and to come out of Babylon, which means of the general ego. This ego is revealed in the meantime as a person’s personal ego.

The ego is defined as the force of repulsion one feels towards the friends in the group that yearns for unity and mutual guarantee. When we begin to work on unity, the repulsion that I feel towards every friend is called my ego. This is already the ego of a person who works on himself.

But the first ego that was revealed in Babylon is a personal, individual ego that I feel I must exit. I feel bad and uncomfortable. I am not sure that it is the ego yet, but I simply want to exit the shattering, the shattered life in which nothing works out. I feel confused. The tower of Babel symbolizes the initial clarifications when we realize that if we connect we will feel good, just like in integral education.

The Klipa of Canaan is the egoistic force that appears in a person in the form of disrespect towards the spiritual work, the teacher, and the group. He is ready to connect to the Creator only: This is his goal. He wants to continue working individually, by himself, and doesn’t need the group. He even sees the teacher as a mere source of information.

This is all our work. Everything starts from Joseph who is the most important figure, which means the attribute that collects (Osef) everyone to this point. Neither the friends, the group, or the teacher demand respect or need any special treatment. It is only needed in order to focus us correctly on the attainment of the Creator like an elite military unit that operates according to this principle, according to these values.

Everyone should understand that no matter how much he lies to himself, the greatness of the Creator and the goal cannot be greater than the means, which are the teacher, the group, and the study.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/13

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Baal HaSulam, “Igrot” (Letters), Letter 43: …Our sages have already said, “The fear of your teacher is as the fear of heaven.” This, therefore, will be the measure of exaltedness that such a man obtains by his sanctity, for his exaltedness will by no means exceed the exaltedness of his Rav.

…I have already said and elaborated that the biggest Masach (screen) is in the work in the children of the land of Israel, since the domination of the Canaan Klipa is in this place, and each one is as low as the ground, his friend is even lower than the ground, and many others like him.

…Allegorically, you can say the words of our sages about the verse, “Leave Me and keep My law”—“I wish they would leave me,” mean that they were proud of the exaltedness. And although “He and I cannot dwell in the same place,” still, “Keep My law,” be attached to a genuine righteous with proper faith in the wise. Then there is hope that the righteous will reform you and will sentence them to a scale of merit as is appropriate for the presence of the Creator. What could come out of their humility and lowness so the Creator will not move His abode from them if they have no genuine righteous to guide them in His law and prayer, and lead them to a place of Torah and wisdom?

In this world, we are given the people who can become our friends so that we join them and study together about how to exit ourselves and rise by faith above reason, that is, to appreciate bestowal above reception. We need to connect between ourselves so that we do not just act by common efforts but turn into one force inside which everyone loses his personal image and connects to one whole, to one heart, together with everyone else.

To help us do this, we also are given a teacher in this world. It is very important how a person learns through his attitude to the group and the teacher to build his attitude to the Creator. It is impossible that a person establishes a higher form of the Creator’s greatness than the greatness of the teacher and even of the friends, the group. He needs all this to exit himself, to rise above his egoism.

It requires a lot of work. After all, if a person has been instilled with reverence for a Rav, which is called religious upbringing, then he would not have to work on this. He would have felt that he relates to a great person as to his father, together with many others from his environment. He would have grown in such an environment where everyone talks about that and relates in this way. This is called Hasidism. It is easy for a person to live in these conditions. He is not required to carry out inner work against his egoism: constant scrutiny, critical self-analysis. He relies on the opinion of the environment. Seeing that everyone behaves in the same way, he is inspired by them and advances with this.

So society supports the personal authority of some individuals. Of course, this does not raise him in relation to the Creator, but in this form it is possible to hold on smoothly, without all the ups and downs in life, feeling nice, comfortable, and confident. A person feels that he has someone to rely on; someone takes care of him, prays for him.

However, we come to the stage of human development when the majority of people cease to receive religious education from childhood. On the contrary, they are accustomed to despising others, not recognizing any authority, believing themselves smarter than everyone else, having no respect for anybody. This is called Klipat Canaan with which the forefathers fought when they entered the land of Israel.

It was not easy for those who left Babylon or for those who get out of their Babylon today to bow to the leader, Abraham. This is the degree of teacher that a person must have if he wants to approach the entrance to the spiritual world through the group and studies. This does not apply personally to a teacher or a group because a person sees them with his egoistic eyes and judges them according to his shortcomings.

Of course, everyone appears insignificant to him, one worse than the other. The teacher also seems so-so to him. He thinks that, if he had studied with the forefather Moses or Rabbi Shimon, then he would have advanced better. Similarly, he thinks the friends are weak and do not present anything. He does not believe the sages that every person judges to the extent of his own flaws, and that in reality, the world of Infinity in all its perfection, is before him. He himself lowers this divine perfection to his own low level and thus sees the world as despicable.

We need to realize that we will not get permission to enter the spiritual world until we begin to appreciate the friend, group, and teacher as highly as we imagine the Creator. As it is written, “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” With this condition, we rise from below to above, raising a human to the level of the Creator. The same condition acts in the opposite direction, from top down, that is, the same level, the same reverence, the same greatness we need to bring downward from the world of Infinity, the Creator, and extend it the group, teacher, and every friend. Otherwise, we will not succeed.

We need to thank the upper management that it has organized such a reality for us where we surely can see how far we are from the Creator according to our attitude to the teacher, friend, and group.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/13

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Question: What is it like under the guidance of a spiritual teacher? Is it like a trip with a tourist guide in London or like dangerous mountain climbing where you cannot take a step to the left or to the right without a guide since you might fall?

Answer: In a tour of London you can listen with half an ear to the tourist guide and at the same time walk around as you like. But is this similar to the spiritual path, which you know nothing about?

You have to enter spirituality. The guide tells you that in order to enter spirituality you have to keep certain conditions, but you say that you don’t accept half of these conditions but keep on following the group. How can that be? Can you climb a mountain if you don’t accept half of the guide’s instructions? You have to be as obedient as a baby and totally annul yourself in the arms of the guide.

Question: But I am not a baby I am an adult! I gained a wealth of experience in my life and I have studied with other teachers before.

Answer: You are even less than a baby! If you don’t listen to the guide’s advice, you are like a grownup with the tiny brain of a baby who doesn’t let others take care of him. There are strict laws here that cannot be changed. You cannot ask for mercy like in court. In court you can still cry and plead for mercy. But here there are no manipulations that will help: There is a law, “He has given a law that cannot be broken.” Choose: Do you accept it or not?

There are many people who climb mountains and there are always those who stumble and fall into the great abyss, back into the domination of the egoistic forces, the Sitra Achra. Only few reach the king’s palace that is on the mountaintop: those who have the patience, which means that they try as hard as they can to follow the guide, against any thoughts they may have and against their own mind.

These are the small differences that determine everything where you encounter the resistance of your mind and cannot overcome its demands and do the opposite compared to what the teacher or Baal HaSulam demand of you. It is because you agree with everything else in your ego, but here you encounter what is against your ego, and it is here that you need to ask for help and to ascend.

These are the points that you encounter and which you cannot overcome. They connect and become a line, a path that brings you to the Lord’s palace. It is impossible to advance any other way. You say: “But I agree to everything else!” It is wonderful that you agree, but everything else has nothing to do with spirituality. Spirituality is only in the points where you don’t agree!

You advance only through the points where you disagree: one point after the next. You have to agree on them, under the influence of the environment, the study, etc. but your agreement doesn’t have to be pragmatic. If you agree to disseminate as the teacher asks because you hope to receive a reward, then it is not working in faith above reason anymore, but for a corporeal reward.

We should be careful in using the points of friction and not making them worthwhile. You cannot agree to disseminate in order to feel that you are great standing before a crown or in order to make money. You have to follow these stumbling points in faith above reason and then these points will turn into a line.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Preparation to the Lesson

Shamati #38, “The Fear of God Is His Treasure”

The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Parashat, “Beresheet,” Item 838  

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 6, Item 66

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There are no coincidences in life because we operate in a system of forces. There was a shattering and now we discover its results, which have to be revealed. It is only by our work that we can determine the pace of their revelation and how ready we will feel when we receive all this data, the shattered Reshimot (reminiscences).

If we are ready for the revelation, then we accept it gladly since the revelation allows us to rise above it each time. But if we are not ready for it, then we feel the revelation of the Reshimot as a descent, as bad and unpleasant states. It can be in the form of troubles with friends, the world, or even disasters and wars. The way the Reshimot are revealed depends on us, but they must be revealed since the shattering already happened and now everything is revealed according to this.

For the time being, a person should understand that everything is according to plan, but a person is given a chance to prepare himself for it and to sanctify the new states, which means to accept them in the form of “I shall hasten it” (Achishena), as good states. His preparation determines whether he understands that everything that happens is for his own good, and whether he will immediately overcome the obstacles, rise above them, and continue his ascent. Then he will be happy about what is happening in each and every moment, no matter what is revealed.

He is not afraid of the future since he has prepared himself for it; he has a group, a connection to the Creator. He has prepared the vessel, and now he only needs to reveal the deficiencies, the shattered Reshimot. He asks: “Where are they?” which means: “I awaken the dawn.” This means that he waits for the shattered Reshimot in order to cope with them and climb the mountain of the Lord.

So he doesn’t complain about any event in the present, he is ready to accept everything and understands that it has to be revealed since parts of his shattered soul are being revealed. He shouldn’t regret the past either, although many regret their past, feeling despair, suffering, feeling disappointed, and torturing themselves: “Why did we do this, why did we fail?” They look back and regret the mistakes they made in life.

A person doesn’t understand that this was a predetermined revelation of the Reshimot and whatever happened, happened. He should accept it as coming from “There is none else besides Him,” from the uniqueness of the upper Providence. A person goes out to work in the morning and should work hard all day long, as “if I am not for myself, who is for me?” but in the evening when he comes back home he should say, “There is none else besides Him,” whether he worked or not. The Creator has arranged everything, which means that no matter what he finds himself in the same state in the evening.

So we cannot regret the past. That’s the way it had to be and everything is predetermined. No matter if I made any efforts or not, the outcome is not up to me.

It turns out that we have to worry about the future and have to prepare ourselves. But then again, everything that has to be revealed will certainly be revealed since I have to reveal all the parts of my soul. But everything depends on me: on how I accept the revelation and whether I am ready or not. I need to bless everything that is revealed, as it says: “I am happy about the wicked that are revealed!”
[123435]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/13

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Strengthen yourselves, and He will give your heart courage, all who hope to the Lord. (Psalms 31:25)

The further we advance towards the spiritual world and gain experience, the weaker we feel. We discover that we are not capable of anything. Why is it said that you need to “Strengthen yourselves, and He will give your heart, all who hope to the Lord?”

How is it possible if, on the contrary, a person reveals his utter helplessness? He sees he is not capable in any action to cope with himself, he cannot overcome any disturbance. If he really advances, then as a result he reveals that he is completely made of egoism, and makes his calculations only on this basis, each moment choosing something more profitable. But he never makes calculations “outside,” relying on the Creator, for the sake of bestowal. He is just incapable of this.

In the end, we begin to realize that if it is possible to make any changes, it is only through the environment. We have freedom of choice only in choosing an increasingly stronger environment every time, one that will affect us more powerfully, more precisely, will influence us in a more focused way, and will push, pull, and organize us more correctly, orienting us towards the goal. The power with which the environment pushes us forward is also increasing as well as is the accuracy of direction. That is, the environment is improving both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Baal HaSulam, Shamati #225 “Raising Oneself”: One cannot raise oneself above one’s circle. Hence, one must suck from one’s environment. And one has no other counsel, except through much work, and Torah—that is, to draw the Light that Reforms, which will correct the evil inclination. This is possible to realize only through the environment.

Therefore, the condition for receiving the Torah is a person’s readiness for unity. That is, he has already realized this evil and understood that he will not be able to do anything without connection. All his hope, his future, his life, are in this circle that he builds around himself.

That is why we need to understand that due to dissemination, we connect a huge, strong, massive circle to ourselves. You can be a hero in quality and in quantity. The strength of our group is in its quality, and that is why we can establish connection with the Creator through it, through the top of the pyramid. We specialize in this, different from everyone else for whom this connection is obscure and will never become clear.

But if we connect ourselves to the Creator, “relying on Him” from our little circle, then “He will give your heart courage,” due to the large circles. This requires also a “hero in quantity,” that is wide dissemination that will push us forward.

We are not able to advance by ourselves but only due to the large circle surrounding us which will expand more and more. Similarly, as a person has to be inside this circle, the environment, the group, the group is inside a wider circle. This is the environment that we need to build for ourselves: circle after circle.

To the extent that we take care of the public, they will push us as children who oblige their parents to advance in life, to arrange it. Thus, the circles that we form due to our wide dissemination of integral education will push us forward.

Thus, the hero in quality and the hero in quantity unite. We are directed towards the Creator, “All ye that hope in the Lord.” And “He shall strengthen your heart” with the help of the wide external circle. Let’s hope that we will be able to realize both of these conditions—both “heroes.”
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/13

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Question: Today, in the beginning period of correction, people have stopped reading books. In what form will they receive the source writings?

Answer: Today, the writings from the primary sources can be conveyed to the world only in visual form.

People truly have stopped reading because they cannot and don’t understand what is written. This is not by chance. I am not saying this in any way to the disparage the generation today, this generation was born specifically to receive visual information. It is difficult for it to transform letters into something understandable and something “digesable” for themselves, and in general, it is not prepared to “swallow” the old-fashioned education.

It’s too bad about the time that a child passes at school. They simply destroy him there, as if they are trying to install an old program in a computer of the new generation that is not accommodated to it. He will not accept and absorb it; he cannot do this “gathering work” for himself. For children, it is left as a net “mechanical” comprehension and not even of the material itself but of the attempts to insert it into them. The approach to the information is itself incorrect. It is not adapted to the new laws of “information entry.” It is not given for absorption and understanding and processing.

Today, the visual display holds the first and only place. The era of books has ended. This is not because people don’t want to read; they cannot read. Today, what is appropriate for people is a format of headlines. They are ready to comprehend only a few lines before their eyes and more than this, they simply don’t see. So, what can we demand of the younger generation?

The advantage of the visual approach is in this: It makes it possible for a person to comprehend the information on several levels. This is not only a “picture.” Rather, it is also speech, writing, and reading to a small degree, also music, and so forth. Therefore, basically, this is not talking about just a visual form. Rather, together with the picture through the main channel of comprehension, a person also receives additional sources, and for this he is ready.

On the other hand, the materials of the wisdom of Kabbalah are specifically the opposite. People will read it in such a form as it is written and in particular, by Baal HaSulam who rewrote and adapted it for our generation. Primary sources will be required, as before. Someone who will want to penetrate inside and dig there independently in spite of it all will have to turn to the books of the Kabbalists.
[123316]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: We are going to have an international convention soon in which we will celebrate the publication of The Book of Zohar adapted to the new generation. What does this mean?

Answer: By working with this book we are aware, understand, and feel that we have a source of power that belongs to the upper nature, to the force that manages everything to the smallest detail, to the smallest cell, to the last atom. The Book of Zohar has a special quality that allows us to connect to this force and to be inspired by it. Thus we will be able to understand and feel it and work according to it.

We have no other key or connecting channel, other than The Book of Zohar. All the other Kabbalah books were actually written so that we would approach the main book and use it correctly. So we celebrate the publication of Zohar For All.

We have to understand that we are on the verge of a new era, moving on to a level of a new development. We have to disseminate this book all over the world, and produce many other supplementary materials that will serve to bring people closer to it.
[123314]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/17/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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