Question: If a person has taken our courses, but is still against connection, can we call it the “evil inclination?”

Answer: No. If after taking a couple of courses I still don’t understand that the rejection I feel towards the group is evil, if I accept this rejection, I have not revealed the evil inclination inside me.

The whole point is seeing the evil inclination in this negative desire. I have to determine this by myself and not just hear about it from someone. I have to feel that this attribute harms me as it doesn’t allow me to enter spirituality and attain the goal. It is this attribute that stands in my way and if I don’t overcome it, if I don’t tie myself to the group, I have no chance.

I have to actually see that the evil inclination blocks my way. It seems to allow me to form a connection but the next moment it detaches me from my friends. Eventually, except for very short moments, I am constantly detached from the group.

Do I perceive that as evil the way I should? After all, it has to come to a level that I will not be able to stand my ego and will do everything in my power to get rid if it: “My death is better than my life. I have to kill it, since it is my enemy.” We must feel that it is the only enemy we have, hiding inside, like a cancerous tumor, like a snake that I must remove.

But if I don’t feel that, I haven’t revealed the evil inclination yet. So I don’t need the Torah as a “spice” yet, which means as a method of correction. It is only by revealing the tyranny of the evil that I look for a solution. I am totally contaminated, it is absorbed inside me and it is impossible to escape it. So what should I do?

By having no choice and feeling helpless, I begin to realize that there is a force that can help me, which is the Light. It is no longer an abstract concept. I feel that it exists and look for an opportunity to demand it; I look for the inner feeling that will enable me to draw it so that it will free me from the evil.

All this comes only when we begin the practical work of connection…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/10/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Concerning Bestowal,” (Starting with: “One must see” To: “To understand the above”)

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The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpts “Beresheet Bet (Genesis 2),” Lesson 138

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 2, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 111, Lesson 28

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“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 39, Lesson 14

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 28: …And then we embark on a new kind of labor—to insert all that exaggerated will to receive in the form of bestowal. Then it is healed, because now it obtained equivalence of form. … It is only that in the meantime it has been given to the Klipot for purification. But in the end, it must not be a different body.

There is a desire to receive that was created by the Creator. It isn’t the desire that we all have to sustain our animal body, but a desire that is outside this world that was given to us in order to correct it, to correct our attitude to others.

Everything that is outside the attitude to others doesn’t count at all. Our “animal” part is characterized by desires for food, sex, family, money, respect, and knowledge. It doesn’t matter what form they take; they don’t count at all.

Education, culture, ethics and other values are part of our world only because we think about correcting a person’s attitude to such things by attributing some significance to them. But we were initially given a clear instruction: “Love thy friend as thyself.” It is a comprehensive, universal principle. This is the only thing we have to correct and the only direction we should aim at, regardless of all the other desires. It is in the attitude towards others that the “shattering of the vessels” occurred, and it is there that we discover the upper Light, the adhesion, by the correction.

Kabbalists say that we have to discover the egoistic desire in the mutual relations with others and to acknowledge the fact that it is all for my own benefit instead of the benefit of others. Everything is measured in relation to others, and it is according to this criterion that we call the desire to receive an “evil inclination,” as Kabbalists define it.

If my power is aimed at my self-benefit and not at the good of others, it is called the “evil inclination.” Now I need to turn it into a good inclination so that the same power, the same desire, will not be for my own benefit but for the benefit of others. Why is that? Because by that, we bring contentment to the Creator.

If I work this way, I summon the Light that Reforms, the force that corrects me by ascents and descents. Now I consider my good attitude towards others as an “ascent,” while in a “descent” I see that I am still against bestowal upon others.

I continue these clarifications, until all my desire to receive is actually “dead” and is incapable of anything. Then from the state of death, I revive it and reach the “resurrection of the dead,” and thus reach Gmar Tikkun (the final correction).

So everything takes place within my desire to receive that is aimed at others—individually and towards the environment, and generally towards the Creator. We should be aware of this in a strong and clear manner.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: Why is quality much more important that quantity in spirituality?

Answer: Because the attainment of Godliness is qualitative and not quantitative. In fact there is no quantity; it is all one. There is one desire and one Light and the connection between makes it one. All our work is qualitative.

Thanks to his correction, the created being learns the Creator’s essence and the attitude towards Him within the upper Light. Everything that was initially created within the desire to receive, according the Creator’s desire, was meant to reveal Him to a certain extent. He himself, Atzmuto, is still unattainable, but the Creator has dedicated a part of Himself to the creation. Thus the desire to receive that must be fulfilled to the fullest was created in order to discover the one who created it. We can’t do more than that. Kabbalists imply that there are additional ascents, but we don’t know about that.

So all our attainment is qualitative, and there are no calculations in it. Although we use numbers, we actually count qualitative revelations. Even in our world, if we checked things carefully, we would see that there are only qualitative parameters and not quantitative ones. If we understand that things are not exactly the same, then the quantitative calculations become impossible.

But our discernment and our attainment are weak: In the meantime, we don’t discern qualitative parameters and don’t know how to approach them. Only later, from the whole vessel, will I be able to discover the quality of things and define them accurately since they will all be part of me. In the meantime, we work according to quantity.

Question: So how can we measure quality?

Answer: It’s revealed only in the depth of the desire. But since we have no other choice, we describe it in quantitative terms: “125 degrees,” “6,000 years,” “600,000 souls,” etc. Our egoistic language is all based on quantitative concepts, and the quality doesn’t matter. In the past it was important, but since the Middle Ages and even some time before that, we began to develop only quantitatively while quality has become less important.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Question: So far I receive pleasure from receiving, since I cannot be in contact with a higher level of receiving pleasure from bestowal, what can I do to change things?

Answer: You think that you should change the receiving with bestowal and to go on enjoying as if nothing has happened? It is impossible to simply switch from one to the other, after all, then you would bestow egoistically, in order to receive, in order to enjoy like before.

Comment: But I won’t be able to enjoy the receiving if I understand that the pleasure from bestowal itself is much more sublime and not because I gain something from it.

Answer: No, it is impossible to make a corporeal calculation and a spiritual calculation in the same vessels of receiving; when you compare between receiving and bestowal, you clarify what is more worthwhile.

In spirituality the account is totally different, I make it not based on what is in the desire, but in what is in the Creator—in order to bestow upon Him.

Comment: There have been many idealists throughout history, and we don’t see that they received any reward for their actions. Some even gave their lives for a sublime goal.

Answer: That’s the way it seems. However, our nature is totally egoistic, and it is all a desire to enjoy. We can see it in little children and even more in adults. If there is “matter” it cannot be anything but a desire to receive.

So the “idealists” as you see it do not exist. They are simply people whose desire is aimed differently; they enjoy giving to others and they feel good about it. Their intention is the same intention to enjoy, but externally it is expressed differently, it is expressed in giving.

How is an idealist different from a mother who takes care of her child? She also gives him everything. So why don’t we call her an “idealist”? It is because it is her child and we understand that nature obliges her to take care of him, just like animals do.

On the other hand, an idealist operates for the benefit of strangers, and we don’t see what motivates him. But the same concern is part of his nature too; he enjoys giving to others and so he acts accordingly. Eventually, there is no ideal here; it is nature that motivates such people. He doesn’t work against his ego, but rather in a way that is natural for him. If you forbid him to take care of others, he will be ready to kill you, since by that you will be depriving him of the possibility of enjoyment. So it is the same desire to receive that manages the idealist.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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“A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar (Rav Yehuda Ashlag),” (Starting with: “And what we explained,” To the end)

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The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpts “Beresheet Bet (Genesis 2),” Lesson 137

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 2, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 106, Lesson 27

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“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 33, Lesson 13

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From an article by Rabash: “The old’s contradiction—a construction, youth’s construction—a contradiction.” “The old” are those who are used to God’s work, “Youth” are those who are just starting their work. A contradiction is a descent or a fall, which means that first there was an ascent in the work that is considered a construction, which means that they considered the ascents, but the contradiction is when they felt a fall, which comes from the concealment of the Creator, which means that the Creator conceals Himself from them, and this is called a contradiction. The old’s contradiction is when they say that the Creator sent them the concealment, so it turns out that they are already in construction, since they believe that the Creator is taking care of them and from this they receive livelihood.

“The old” are those who are already accustomed to the spiritual work, and so they know how to interpret every state, how to approach it and how to make it beneficial. So even their “contradiction” is construction. This is because they don’t forget and hold on to the intention that everything comes from the Creator, even the descent. So it is during the descents, by remaining loyal, by holding on to their faith, to the intention of in order to bestow even during the descents, that by that they construct the ascents. The descent itself turns into an ascent.

The ascent does not come after the descent, but it is the same decent if a person attributes it to the Creator, to the goal of creation, and understands that he feels it in desires to receive and adds the right intention to it: The descent itself becomes an ascent.

A person immediately rises by the descent that is felt in the egoistic desire, by the revelation of the corrupt vessel. Then he stops moving up and down on a wave of ascents and descents. He is always happy about the descents, because it isn’t after they are over, but while still in them, that he adheres to the Creator. So the contradiction that old men feel goes to their construction, since from it they build an even more intense adhesion with the Creator.

The “youth” are those who have no power yet, not enough support from the environment that could stabilize them that enables the turning of the descent into ascent, into adhesion. So they even begin to use their ascents egoistically and enjoy the good feeling, thus forgetting the intention. Then the ascent turns into a descent, and the construction turns into destruction. The state is determined by a person’s intention.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/12

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Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Prayer and Intention - 1 Comment →

Question: At the convention, you said that our problem is that we cannot tie all our intentions together yet: me, who has to be corrected, the friends, the Creator, and the world. What are the stops on the way to the one unified intention that combines all the elements?

Answer: We have to constantly clarify things internally as to what we have to think about and thus summon the Light that Reforms. It is written: “It is better to sit and do nothing,” since if you don’t know what to do, you can even cause more harm. It is like giving a small child power, or a person who doesn’t know what he is doing; he can only cause harm.

So, on one hand, it is concealed from us so that we don’t harm ourselves and others. On the other hand, how can we come close to the right action? It turns out that we constantly need to think about the right intention and only to that extent will we be able to come closer to the Light. There are Masachim (screens) that conceal the Light from us only because our desires are incorrect. The moment our desire comes close to the right state, these Masachim disappear.

So every person must constantly check himself, and decide how he should really invest his powers. Life helps us, the general despair, the aimlessness, the confusion, and the state the world is in now all help us. It isn’t that we are not being ridiculed anymore, as they used to do about a decade or two ago, and in every generation in the past ages, we have reached a point now where there is no choice. So we have to show not only to ourselves, but to the world, what we should all yearn for, what we should reach, what intent while reading The Zohar.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/12, The Zohar

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We are the result of the breaking. If we want to approach the Light, the spiritual life, to resemble the Creator, then it is only possible through unity. Thus we are taken through many situations through which we need to learn that without the unity, we won’t find the strength, the efforts, the thoughts, or the correct desires.

Many times in his life, man says that it is enough, and decides that from that day forward he will take himself seriously and devote each moment to spiritual development, to take advantage of all the possible means, to stop wasting his life and degrading the opportunities that we are given from above.

But already the next moment, he forgets these thoughts. He sees, that if obstacles come, he isn’t able to stand against them. This is done on purpose in order to teach him that if he wants to adhere to the path and make the correct decision each time, he must receive the force from the environment.

He can receive this force if he considers the surroundings as greater than himself. If he has one friend that he considers as one level above him, then it’s like one facing zero. This means “10.” If he has several friends, then this number grows accordingly.

As much as he is able to annul himself towards the others, then he will see them as greater than himself, and he can receive from them greater impressions, meaning the force for prayer, unity, and all the spiritual work.

After all, he is already actually annulling himself before them, and thus the spiritual force comes to him. But in the meantime, this spiritual force, the self-annulment and the same field in which he acts, together with the friends, are egoistic, “Lo Lishma” (Not for her Name). In any case, these are correct actions, and that is why they work.

We shouldn’t degrade them, after all, all of these small amounts accumulate into one great light, his efforts accumulate in order to raise his friends higher and higher, and that is the goal of creation that he wants to attain with their help.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/4/12, Writings of Rabash

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Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Unity - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam “Article 14,” (To: “He must know that this issue”) 

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The Book of Zohar – Selected Excerpts “Beresheet Bet (Genesis 2),” Lesson 136

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 2, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 96, Lesson 26

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“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 31, Lesson 12

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