Baal HaSulam, “Exile and Redemption”: This nation will find no rest among the nations until it realizes the verse, “And from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

Of course, we can easily interpret these words in the material sense: The people of Israel were scattered among other nations around the world and still have not found themselves. They wander there among them and only a small part of Israel is in the land of Israel.

However, we must look at the root and understand the words of Kabbalists correctly. In reality, we fell from the property of bestowal which is called the “people of Israel” into the property of reception which is called the “nations of the world.” We dwell among them now and this property of reception reigns over us. This is the exile from which we still cannot escape. As a result we suffer and the entire world suffers.

We need to reveal the cause of this suffering, the cause of the crisis that is sweeping the world. All this is caused by the fact that we are still under the rule of the nations of the world, our own egoistic desires, which rule over us, over the point in the heart, over our desire for unity with the Creator.

We must rise above these desires, over selfish calculations, and thereby get out of exile. Having realized that individually and together in inner work, through inner efforts, we will see how the exit into redemption affects our external life as well as the internal and external life of the whole world.

Baal HaSulam explains this at the end of “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”: The whole world and the people of Israel are divided into the internal and external. The internal is the work against our egoism in order to rise above various material calculations, to live only in the desire to bestow, in love and unity between us and the whole world.

In line with this, we need to also perform external work.

And in every state, we must reveal what the Creator requires from our hearts, that we correct them.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam , “Exile and Redemption”: The Creator will evidently show us that Israel cannot exist in exile and will find no rest, as the rest of the nations that mingled among the nations and found rest, and assimilated in them until no trace was left of them.

A wrong way ultimately brings us to a dead end and leads to the realization of evil. We will still have to reveal it, but preferably through the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah, attracting the Light that Reforms and discovering evil internally in advance before it manifests on the material level. Thus, we can advance like a wise man who looks ahead. And then, to the extent of the revelation of evil, we are able to get out of it.

But here we have a big problem. After all, we are not in a neutral position; we have been in a very difficult exile, in the hardest concealment for thousands of years. We plunged into unreal thoughts and fantasies, unreal desires. We exchanged the state of Lishma and Lo Lishma for filth, Klipa, and found ourselves under the rule of the “nations of the world.” In other words, we are under the dominance of various egoistic calculations which we cannot get rid of and which we are not even aware of.

Today, the Torah and the Commandments are not a “spice” for the evil inclination among people. And although in reality the Torah is the method of the correction of egoism, we use something else under the same name, increasing the egoism, instead of correcting it.

It is a sign of exile and no one is to blame. This is a process and we must finally realize it in order to no longer justify ourselves and to understand what the great sages write about our current condition.

We need to clarify exile: What is it? What is its essence? If I buy a ticket and fly to Israel, can I say that I have returned from exile? And if I am going to America, do I go back into exile? Is it just about crossing the border?

We need accurate, authentic definitions of exile and redemption. Baal HaSualm writes in the article “This Is for Judah”: …all the letters of redemption are present in exile except for the “Aleph” since this letter indicates the “Aluph (Champion) of the world.”

This teaches us that the form of absence is but the negation of the presence. And we know the form of the presence, redemption, from the verse, “and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, …for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” Hence, the form of the previous absence, meaning the form of exile, is only the absence of the knowledge of the Lord. This is the absence of the Aleph, which is missing in the Gola (exile), and present in the Geula (redemption), the Dvekut with the “Champion of the world.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah is the method of redemption, the method of revealing the Creator to the created beings. It is impossible to reach it without this method. And whoever is against it does not know the definition, does not understand why we needed to go into exile, or how to return to redemption. He does not understand the purpose of the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is needed for the revelation of the Creator to the human being in this world; thereby redemption is realized.

Accordingly, the “land of Israel” is the desire in which the Creator resides. In other words, the desire corrected by the intention to bestow is possible only through the Torah, the Light that Reforms.

First, we are governed by the desire of the “nations of the world,” and when we correct it, it becomes the desire aimed straight at the Creator (Yashar-El), the “land of Israel.” Whoever has corrected his desire in this way is called a “Jew” (Yehudi), since he comes to unity (Yihud), adhesion to the Creator, reveals the Upper Force in the corrected desire. And it must happen here while we exist in this world. We will achieve nothing after death.

All this should be clear to people, and then we can talk about redemption. Until then, the physical return to the land of Israel demonstrates that we have not changed a bit, and we even changed for the worse. Indeed, the true difference is manifested in a person who corrects himself.

Therefore, as Baal HaSulam explains, we will not reach a happy, safe, fulfilling life, if we do not come to inner redemption. After all, the inner precedes the external.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: What are the conditions that should be fulfilled between us in order to resemble the upper spiritual level as much as possible?

Answer: The most important thing is to keep these conditions and the Light will complete the work. We cannot ascend to the next level by ourselves. There is always a gap between the levels, as it is written, “I labored and found.” We must exert ourselves, and then there is an action from above, and the new level is revealed inside me.

How can we depict the upper spiritual level by what we have if we have nothing but an egoistic desire? The first condition is to yearn for connection when each one supports everyone else. Everyone should want to converge into one heart, one desire, instead of many individual desires.

We should regard this work on our connection and unity as very important and respectable. This means that I value the upper. However, how do I know who the upper is and what the greatness of the goal is? The upper is my state of connection with others until we become one. The general attribute of bestowal that is revealed as a result of all our individual efforts is called the Creator, which means “come and see” (Bo-re).

I must feel that I am ready for everything in this work, no matter what. This means that I feel that I am in the worst possible state and that there is no lower state to which I can fall. All the other states that will come as result of my connection with others seem preferable to my state. So, no matter what comes along and what happens, nothing scares me or affects me.

I imagine adhesion to the Creator, the general attribute of love and bestowal. I need to adhere to Him according to the attribute of love and bestowal that I develop inside me. So, I constantly search and check whether I already have any of these attributes or not. In order not to be mistaken, I check and assess myself with regard to the environment, the friends with whom I must unite in order to discover the Creator.

I fight the “Greeks” that are inside me. The Greeks refer to my desire to receive, but in contrast to “Egypt,” the Greeks have great knowledge (Daath), which means the connection of Hochma and Bina on the corporeal level. However, I understand that this cannot be a spiritual level because it is already in another dimension in which there are different conditions, other attributes, other vessels. So, I want to work totally above reason.

However, the only way to establish a level above reason is with the help of reason so that we can rise above it. So, I need the Greeks; I need to fight them. It is there that I establish the framework of the future upper level in all its forms. It is because you can reach something above reason only if you have reason.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can I depict the form of the upper level?

Answer: You have to imagine your upper state and try to live in it as much as possible. I am building the upper level in this world in these conditions. The corrected relationships between me and others are called the upper world. Then, I discover that it is right here and that there is no other place.

I see a new connection stretching between me and others, and so I reveal the whole upper level and in it the Creator who fills the world. I see that the whole world is the Holy Shechina, and the Creator is in it. I discover it right here. I don’t need to fly there or to some other dimension.

I constantly establish the form of this spiritual world by what I have before me now, and only the intention changes. I use all my egoistic desires and the hatred as building materials. I only add the corrected connection between all parts of reality. I discover and change the connection from receiving to bestowal. Nothing else changes, as it is said, “Everything goes on the way it was,” and “I ate that which is very old.”

However, I discover that, through the new attitude that I have toward others, and among others, I see that everyone is at the end of correction. They don’t feel that way, but I see them according to my level. I see that there is nothing in this world, except for Malchut of Ein Sof (Infinity) that is perfectly corrected. Everything that I saw up until now was simply a dream. Everything depends only on my perception of reality.

So there is nowhere to which you can escape, and there is no need to escape. I should only change my attitude toward what I see and try to see the domination of the Creator everywhere. Then, I need to feel glad since I gradually will discover the real state that already exists. The only thing missing is my effort to discover it.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/29/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: I feel bad. I don’t know who I am. The Creator created the ego, the evil inclination, so where is the real me?

Answer: The truth is that at a certain point my ordinary self just disappears. Before I used to feel stable,  “on all fours”;  everything was fine, and now it is as if I am floating in the air without any support: “Who am I? What am I?”

Perhaps it’s good. Perhaps I will finally begin to ask what my life is based on.

Question: It would be good if I received an answer.

Answer: But at least I know that my previous state was fictitious. Now I have hope to overcome everything and to reach the truth.

Question: But what can I hold on to?

Answer: There is nothing to hold on to. I don’t think that it’s even worthwhile to hold on to anything. I have to enjoy the fact that I am “hanging in the air.” This is the real point, the moment of truth: I have nothing, nothing to hold on to. As much as I try to hold on to something, to cling to something, to find a safe secure place under someone’s protection, it is all lies. I prefer to float in the air than live in a lie.

Then in the air, I gradually begin to feel that my whole reality has a totally different basis. I don’t have to catch something on the outside anymore, to change my perspective, to adopt a certain philosophic approach, to yearn for a certain goal…  No, I need to look for something that isn’t in this world at all and is totally independent. Here I need to look for the force of bestowal: What can it be? In which dimension do I exist?

I cannot make this internal transition and then everything changes.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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An idol worshiper is one who works for the benefit of his egoism and turns it into an idol.

The nations of the world that create images and builds statues are not considered as idol worshippers because they are not aware that their original nature is the desire to receive. In other words, there are those who create corporeal images and there are other people who create imaginary images.

Ask any Jew why he closes his eyes when he says “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God the Lord is one.” He doesn’t know. He doesn’t even understand that he does it because it is forbidden for a person to imagine any image!

The Creator is the attribute of bestowal and love and He exists only within our correct inner desire, and we can discover this attribute only according to our desire. Otherwise He doesn’t exist! He doesn’t exist in any place, not even as the Surrounding Light. Simply, we speak this way in order to express in some way the spiritual attribute in our corporeal language.

The Creator, (Bo-re) means “come and see,” and if you reach your vessel, you can discover Him. And He doesn’t exist outside the vessel. It is impossible to explain this to a simple person. He thinks that if he believes, this means that there is a Creator.

Actually, there is no basis for this. We ourselves create the Creator, which arises within us in from some kind of transcendental dimension according to our properties.
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From the Talk about Group and Dissemination 10/23/13

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Question: What is to be done if a man refuses to participate together with women in dissemination or other events?

Answer: And the Americans are asking this? They should take an example from Israel. With us, women participate in external dissemination not just equally with men, but ahead of them. We give the right of way to women because wider circles relate to them with greater sympathy than to men; they are better and more quickly accepted, and the external public more readily agrees with them.

If the group disparages women, then it cannot disseminate widely. This is the most loyal part of the general world group. I rely on them more than upon the men. They are faithful, strong, have a greater power of endurance, and don’t keep grudges, whereas men are weaker, flighty, and this is our problem.

Our only benefit is we can search for ways to go forward, and we are creative. The women are not. They are masters of implementation. Therefore, we need to use this and complete each other.

Women who go out for integral dissemination always can prepare and advise you about what is better and what is worse. They feel the audience better and so forth, because the man fantasizes all the time, whereas the woman is more grounded.

It is foolish to emphasize my “self,” that my “self” is seemingly male. This doesn’t exist in spirituality. Can there be a spiritual Kli without the feminine part? On the contrary, everything that the man does accumulates and grows within her. She produces and develops, but we sow, irrigate, and do everything so that birth and growth will emerge from her.

A group that advances successfully is a group in which the men and the women have equal rights and understand how they can complete and develop one another mutually.
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From the Talk about Group and Dissemination 10/23/13

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Preparation to the Lesson

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

Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Histaklut Pnimit, “Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 2, Item 14 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom“

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Previously, we evolved into the form of “beasts,” generation after generation, as degree of  Reshimot “rolled” from one desire to another desire, and these desires received the sensations of the bodies in which they were found and created a picture of the world. 

However, now we have received permission to rise through the wisdom of Kabbalah to the level of the eternal world. So, we no longer will be limited by physical incarnation. This sequence of physical life and death will disappear, for we will see in this only a particular level of the general system.

When I asked Rabash at the beginning of my study about what life and death in our world are, he answered, “This is like when you take off a shirt at night and put on a new one in the morning.” In an identical manner, you take off this life and are clothed in a new life, from one system of ten Sefirot to another system of ten Sefirot, and when you are found on a higher level, you don’t feel anything special about this. Similarly, a body found on the beastly level doesn’t feel pain when cutting hair or trimming nails, because they are found on the vegetative level. A lower level doesn’t feel a deficiency. On the contrary, its renewal is felt as a nice addition.

So, it follows that for humans in our day, there are chances for rising to the eternal world before their conclusion of this life, and then they will see the present reality as an “appendage” of the eternal world.

However, it is very difficult to explain this. Permission is given and we must act, but difficult work is required before we can implement this task properly. We need to make the access to the method easier for the world;  we must be on a higher level and make the right connection between the levels. This is called being a teacher and beginning to raise humanity upward. We need to see this as our task, our obligation. The essence of the permission is not just that we are allowed to realize it, but it is our role and responsibility to do so.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”: The greatest wonder about this wisdom is the integration in it: All the elements of the vast reality are incorporated in it, until they come into a single thing—the Almighty, and all of them together.

All the beauty, richness of understanding, attainment, and feeling stem from the combination of details. On our own, no one will give us a true inspiration. It is only when I connect distant, opposite things and suddenly they complete each other. This mutual compensation of polar phenomena inspires me.

Everything starts from separation, hatred, alienation, from a complete inability to coexist, and suddenly I see that compensation comes due to this, that no one is complete without others. Everyone comes together, and then, according to the power of separation, I feel the power of unity, the power of oneness.

The breaking brought us to splitting, scattering, hatred, and antagonism at different levels. We reject each other, are ready to destroy and to kill each other, and it is even more so in the spiritual world. There, the forces of the right and left lines act at an immeasurably larger scale, and each time a person must build the middle line in order to gather and unite all the parts together. This brings the Light to all the worlds 620 times greater, and this brings the Creator pleasure.

So, on the one hand, the created beings reveal the darkness, and on the other hand, they come out of the darkness into the Light. However, this is a special light because they, themselves, generate it, discovering a gap and rejection, and then revealing unity and completion.

It did not exist previously. One thing is the Light that corrects the created being and another is the goal of creation. It is awakened only in the one who feels this whole process himself. Therefore, it is impossible to attain revelation without desire, need. We must go through all the details of perception to open every door.

This is the miracle that is inherent in the wisdom of Kabbalah. We reveal the contradictions and their mutual compensation. This is the greatest gift, prepared for us by the Creator, and from our side, we reveal this gift, recognize it, thank the Creator for it, and thus bring Him contentment.

Yes, He seemingly put us in a dark cellar, but at the same time, this is where we reveal all the beauty of the universe.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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