Question: How can we create the right atmosphere in the group of ten so that each of us will feel that everything that happens in life is only for his own good and that this is what the Creator wants?

Answer: We need the society’s support in order to accept everything in “faith above reason.” It doesn’t mean you should just say everything is for the best without thinking, like people who feel they are righteous do. We want to accept everything that happens as beneficial and to see everything in the Light of the Creator as a means for the correction of our vessels. We try to reach correction so that we will really see that everything is for the best, that it comes from “there is none else besides Him,” from the good and the benevolent.

Everything that I have at present is good and I have to rise to the next state by the actions that are taking place in me. The environment has to help me feel the Creator’s actions as good and beneficial.

In order to do that I have to rise to “faith above reason.” This is a very confusing concept, since one can just blindly say that everything is for the best even if he feels like he is torn to pieces. But “a judge only knows what his eyes can see.” So “blind faith” is not “faith above reason” even if a person is confused and has received the power to act for a certain idea from the environment.

We have to organize the whole system correctly so that it will operate on us and help us yearn for bestowal. “Faith above reason,” which means bestowal, should be more important for us than receiving. But a person cannot reach this feeling since he doesn’t have the power to do so and so he shouldn’t just lie to himself.

We have to turn to the group so that it will provide us with an increasingly growing feeling of importance of the advantage of bestowal instead of receiving. I am impressed by the environment as to how important this attribute is just as I copy all its corporeal values. Society is strong in quantity and quality and I submit myself before it and absorb the feeling of the greatness of bestowal from it.

After I am impressed by it, I have to connect with the friends and with them to develop a great deficiency for acquiring a new attribute for self-change. This is now a different type of submission before the society.

First I had to receive the importance of the goal, the importance of the Creator, the importance of the teacher, the importance of the study. These are ordinary things, just as if I want to be a tailor and have to be in the society of tailors in order to learn the profession from them and to be inspired by its importance. But if I want to attain the force of bestowal, I have to be incorporated in a group and to submit myself differently. Self-submission is the inner connection between us following all the conditions that Kabbalists have set, submitting to the friends, the teacher, the study and the way for attaining the goal. I don’t have to just be incorporated in this society but must actually submit myself before it and thanks to that to receive the Light that Reforms.

The Light that Reforms influences me, and thus the group, the teacher, the study, the goal of creation, and the concern for all of humanity all become dearer to me. It all becomes more important. This means that I am already in the process of correction.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, Writings of Rabash

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The sparks are the most important part and our correction depends on them. The Direct Light is dressed in the Returning Light; there are a Light and a vessel that become one whole and complement one another. It’s because they totally depend on one another to the same extent.

The Returning Light that has lead to the revelation of the Direct Light disappears and becomes a thick flawed Light, and is therefore called a “spark.” It used to be the most important Returning Light that the Creator’s revelation depended upon, but now it’s like a king who has been overthrown, which is a terrible ugly state, as it’s in a critical humiliated condition.

It is the Direct Light that doesn’t have the power to be the Returning Light, the Light of love and mercy. Now it’s possible to use it for different purposes: If you want to cheat someone, you can pretend that you are interested in him and use him to your advantage. You use the Returning Light in order to bestow, but your bestowal is false, and therefore it brings about an even greater shattering, greater fraud, the greatest crimes, and all by the Returning Light that has lost its power of love that enables it to be like the Returning Light.

After the shattering, the Holiness helps the shell and begins to serve it. My desire to receive uses my understanding of bestowal in order to get the greatest egoistic advantage very cunningly. All human wisdom and advancement now support the egoistic desire.

As long as the Direct Light and the Returning Light were dressed in one another, they complemented one another, but when they are separated, the Returning Light becomes thick and remains shattered below. But if we turn it around correctly, it will be able to provide us with an impression from the Light that matches it in spirituality and that once used to cooperate with it. If we try to remain in the Returning Light, it begins to mold in us the vessels that match the Direct Light, new attributes, definitions, and understandings as to which Light it can match when it’s dressed in it.

Thus we work with the sparks, with the Reshimot (spiritual genes) from the Returning Light. We don’t simply yearn for some abstract form of bestowal, but rather recognize the sparks of bestowal, the Reshimot, begin to understand what Light should appear before us, and get to know it according to the attributes that are opposite from it. In the concealment we gradually begin to identify the Creator. The darkness itself reveals the daylight to us.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Rabash, “One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House”: Each of them had a spark of love of others, but the spark could not ignite the light of love to shine in each, so they agreed that by uniting, the sparks would become a big flame. Hence, now, too, when he is spying on them, he should overcome and say, “As all of them were of one mind that they must walk on the path of love of others when the society was established, so it is now.” And when everyone judges his friends favorably, all the sparks will ignite once more and again there will be one big flame.

The goal of creation is to reach the force of connection, the force of love in which everyone feels the deficiencies of the other and fills them. But it’s impossible to do that alone, since a person doesn’t have the power for it. There is only one tiny spark in him that pushes him towards the goal and he doesn’t even understand what he is drawn to and why.

This is why we must connect, so that everyone will receive the power of the spiritual connection: the power of the collective desire, the power to connect the hearts, the power of love. This is why we come into this world in which we connect physically by our bodies, by different external actions. These physical actions draw the Light that Reforms upon us which connects our tiny sparks into one strong general flame.

Each one receives this general force and only by that can he feel it and use it. This Light obligates us to unite all our spiritual sparks and to be inclined to mutual bestowal. Then, by the general force of bestowal that is now in each of us, we can begin to work and to perform spiritual actions of bestowal and to ascend.

It turns out that by using our physical bodies and the corporeal work that is a result of egoistic intentions we evoke the Surrounding Light that connects our sparks into one spark, into a flame, that becomes the force of general bestowal, love, and connection. Then each one receives this force. We don’t split it up like loot, but rather use it together, by being in the middle, within it as one whole, as a group of ten, for example. Then each one can use this force and thus begin to perform spiritual actions and not corporeal ones. The first stage is called the stage of preparation and the second stage is the stage of correction: first “to bestow in order to bestow” and then “to receive in order to bestow.”

A person who doesn’t operate in order to connect with the friends in a group of ten doesn’t actually use the only means to attain spirituality, which means that he is not in the stage of preparation. The stage of preparation is when we use all the means we were given in this world, on the corporeal level, in order to reach the force of bestowal, the force of connection.

The phase of preparation will not be over as long as the group of ten doesn’t fulfill itself and becomes as one man by the Light that Reforms. The moment we connect and acquire the general force of connection that is enough for fulfilling the actions of bestowal, it means that we transcend the Machsom (barrier), the border of the spiritual world.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/13

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The letter Samech is such a beautiful letter, an attribute that saves and raises a person from the kingdom of the shells (Klipot) and gives him power, support, and confidence, a home. It is a round letter, like the womb for an embryo that provides him with shelter but cannot develop him.

It only helps a person exit the shells and acquire the attribute of Samech, which means the ability to be free of the domination of the shell, the ego. But in order to develop more, he needs to return to the egoistic forces, to the shells, and to take as much as he can correct from there, and thus grow by the correction.

It turns out that instead of being beneficial the letter Samech becomes harmful, since it’s in a person’s way of developing. It’s like a mother who loves her child very much, until she simply strangles him in her arms, holding him without letting him be independent and grow.

In order to grow there must always be two opposite forces working mutually in order to reach the goal, by the middle line. It’s impossible to manage without the letter Samech, which surrounds a person, provides him with a safe shelter, and guards him. A person hides in this attribute and can be free of the domination of the shell, the ego, and break away from it.

But what happens after he breaks free? He has nothing in this state, he cannot do anything! He must descend into the shell again and when he is protected by the forces of bestowal, continue to develop himself.

Therefore it’s impossible to create the world by the letter Samech. No letter and no attribute have the powers that can bring the world to the desirable correction. For each attribute there is an opposite attribute. This is done on purpose so that we can develop.

My matter is a desire to receive. First I have to change my intention of “in order to receive” to a neutral intention and then to “in order to bestow” by which I begin to use my desire to receive “in order to bestow.” This means that first I use my desire negatively, “in order to receive,” and then I begin to use the same desire positively, “in order to bestow.” So there have to be two opposite forces that operate on me, one against the other, and by these two forces I reach the middle line.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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Preparation to the Lesson

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

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 10, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 12, Lesson 52

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Being,” Lesson 7

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Question: When does the corporeal reality become a spiritual reality for a person?

Answer: It happens when he can relate to others as to himself, when the boundary between the two is erased.

In fact, we cannot even say that we acquire the attribute of bestowal, although this transition is described that way. We cannot actually acquire new attributes. Our essence, like computer hardware, remains unchanged.

The whole point is to what extent I “take in” the other as if he were myself. I operate above my growing ego since otherwise there would be a natural closeness between me and the other, just like between a couple or between partners who worry about one another because of common interests or interdependence. This is the reason that the resistance of the ego should build up and above which I still bring the other closer to me, until he actually becomes like myself according to the principles of “don’t do to others what is hateful for you,” and “love thy friend as thyself.”

This doesn’t mean that I exit myself. More accurately, I “swallow” the attributes of the other, which seem external to me. Then the whole world is mine.

Question: The problem is that when I look at my group of ten, I don’t want to “swallow” it….

Answer: It will come, and then you will feel that the friends are the closest people to you and that no one is closer than they are. Even your relatives, even your family will seem much more distant than the friends. After all, the friends are close to your soul and the family is closer to your body. The family is like a contract that we have to keep, and the mutual guarantee between the friends is very dynamic, constantly changing, by joining, getting closer to you more and more….

I repeat, eventually, you will not come outside, but will actually let all the friends enter you.

Question: How can I speed up this process? Since it comes back and hits me time and time again.…

Answer: That’s right, the future is knocking at your door, and you don’t let it in and thus you feel pain. You have to open the door in advance before it can be knocked on, since otherwise it’s too late.

It says in the “Song of Songs”: “Open the door for me my beloved.” But his beloved is not ready, she doesn’t want to receive her beloved, and her door is locked. When she does open, the beloved is already gone, and is hiding: “I searched for him but I did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.”

So you should open your door in advance, open up to the Creator together with the friends.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/03/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The question is why wasn’t the world created by the letter Nun which is so good and beautiful? The letter “Nun” stands for 50, meaning “50 gates of Bina,” a whole correction, the breaking from the enslavement in Egypt, the receiving of the Torah. All this depends on the letter “Nun.” It matches the Sefira of Yesod of smallness with which we must work until the end of correction.

The Zivugim (couplings) are made in Yesod, which means in faith above reason, from the bottom up, until the end of correction. Apparently this letter is flawless and it rightly demands that the world be created by it and promises to bring it to the end of correction.

It’s all true, with one exception, this letter is powerless! If it weren’t for the letter “Samech” that can constantly count on smallness, Nun wouldn’t be able to do anything. So it’s impossible to perform corrections by this one attribute alone. The letter “Samech” must participate in every action in order to provide this support, the Light of Hassadim, and then, thanks to it, the attribute of Nun can operate in the Sefira of Yesod and not fall to Malchut. On the whole, all the letters are needed, and it’s impossible to bring the world to the desirable correction by that attribute, although the letter “Nun” actually has all it takes, except for its own power.

If you descend from Tifferet to Yesod, you are already in danger, since you begin to work with Malchut. This type of work is possible only from the bottom up, and so you need to keep yourself from falling and not starting to receive in the opposite direction: from the top down.

Who is helping you resist this temptation? There must be someone above to hold you by a rope, so that you will hold on to it and not fall. It’s as if I am being lowered into a well full of snakes and am held a bit above them, but very close.

It turns out that you are so close to Malchut, and you can rise and convey its fears and anxieties upward in order to sanctify them. But you totally depend on the rope you are suspended by; you totally depend on the upper, on the letter “Samech” that holds you.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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The 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet reflect the attributes of the 22 spiritual Sefirot by their form, the way they are drawn, and their signs: nine in Bina, nine in Zeir Anpin and four in Malchut. Each letter stands for a certain Sefira and reflects the way it differs from the other letters, so while reading The Zohar, we can be impressed by the text as if we are in these spiritual Sefirot.

This is what our inclination should be while reading, since the letters are like musical notes for our inner strings, for the attributes of the Creator that enter the created being’s desire to receive and summon in him feelings and impressions. The desire begins to calibrate and tune itself, like a musical vessel, according to the spirit of The Zohar and that spirit touches the strings of your soul and plays on it, like on King David’s violin.

This is how we want to feel The Book of Zohar, so that the Light that comes from it will reach us, fill us, and vibrate our desires. These letters are an invitation to a meeting, to a mutual impression with the Creator. So let’s try it!
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, The Zohar

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Question: How can I constantly see the friends as greater than me?

Answer: The friend is great especially because I depend on him! The goal I want to attain depends on him, and therefore he is so important to me. Second, he is great since it’s the Creator who has brought us together, and has given him to me as a means to attain the goal.

Third, I respect the “Godly part from Above” in him, since the Creator is in it, evoking him and leading him towards the goal. So this is what I respect, the Godly part and not his corporeal attributes. We will gradually discover what the concept of a “friend” actually means. When we begin to see the truth, we will see what it is.

I don’t value the friend himself, but the Godly part in him that gives him a great weight and makes him the greatest in our generation. It’s not an exaggeration and not just nice words. Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma undoubtedly saw his students as the greatest in his generation and greater than himself.

In order to not see the deficiencies in the friend, I have to awaken the love in me. Therefore, it says “love will cover all the sins.” You shouldn’t consider who is more clever, you or the friend. Love should come first.

The lesson should start when each of us sees himself sitting among great people. You should feel that you are like a tiny baby who luckily happened to be in the company of great Kabbalists, trembling with excitement before their greatness. This is actually the way it’s felt, and I am not exaggerating.

This is what the inner feeling should be, while externally we can show disrespect and play an opposite game. Just like the Creator conceals His love and shows us the opposite attitude, so can we show him the opposite external attitude. We will later learn this game when we grow stronger, but in the meantime it’s still too early to play this game since we will be attracted by the disrespect.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/22/13, Writings of Rabash

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Rabash, “Make Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend-2”: After he has bonded with a group of people who wish to achieve the degree of love of the Creator, and he wishes to take from them the strength to work in order to bestow and be moved by their words about the necessity for obtaining the love of the Creator, he must regard each friend in the group as greater than himself. It was written in the book, Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah, p 143), that one is not impressed by the society or takes their appreciation of something, unless he regards the society as greater than himself. This is the reason why each one must feel that he is the smallest of them all, since one who is great cannot receive from one who is smaller than himself, much less be impressed by his words. Rather, it is only the smaller one who is impressed through appreciating the greater one.

This is the major law and rule to opening the spiritual world. If we follow all the instructions that Rabash gives us, then there will be no obstacles along our way. We have to be ready to take these steps since the world needs it. The Creator not only gives us a chance to establish the spiritual group by ourselves and to bring Him contentment, but He also gives us a much greater mission.

He lets us understand that the only way to bring Him contentment is by correcting His world. Therefore, He brings this world to the verge of collapse so that we can prepare the world for the revelation of the Creator, and thus bring Him contentment.

So when we work in order to become more united, we must remember that eventually we have to draw the whole world into the group and thus bring about the complete revelation of the Creator to the created beings. As Baal HaSulam says, these are the “days of the Messiah,” the end of correction.

So we have to keep the laws of connections, self-annulment, and self-concession very seriously to mutually support and strengthen one another in order to attain the spirit of life and confidence, and to be filled with hope by the fact that everyone is impressed by others. In order to do that, everyone has to see the others as great, and being impressed by them, should give them the power to work on our connection and unity.

We have to ask for the force from above to connect us and we will make a covenant between us, mutual guarantee, mutual support, and the impression and being mutually incorporated in one another until we finally reach the collective power, the small spiritual force with which we turn to the great big world. Then we will see that when we have a collective spiritual power, even the slightest one, the world will be practically spread before us; it will be ready to receive from us, since the Light will pour through us unto the whole world. We will succeed wherever we go.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/13

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