Question: What is the role of the group on our way to a true question?

Answer: A person who is in a complete isolation from the laws of an integral system can approach building this system and learning its lessons due to the group. Kabbalah is an integral science about a common nature. There is nothing artificial or alleged in it. In order to learn the general law of equilibrium of all nature’s parts, we have to create a laboratory and try building the system’s simulator. The same way things are done in other sciences as well. Even though our model is not real, we’ll begin understanding some laws of Nature and relationships among its parts to some extent.

The group is such a laboratory. Kabbalistic books are instructions to work with. And we are researchers, scientists, who do experiments not on themselves, but on the group to the extent of being united. What efforts are required from us? Under what conditions? What for? All our experimental activities are for this research and are concentrated just on the point of unity.

We are not different from other scientists who explore nature. Thus Baal HaSulam writes that materialistic psychology lays a practical basis for the popularization of the science of Kabbalah in the masses. Psychologists also deal with groups learning a human nature and a nature of society based on them. Thus, we also can formulate and explain our guidelines for working with the society, the whole of humanity, using the same terms. It is just necessary to find the right words clear to the wide audience.

Anyway, this approach is consistent with approaches of scientists and psychologists. We study higher, deeper, and at the same time, hidden laws of nature which a regular person can’t reach.

Physicists, for example, study elementary particles without having any knowledge of their weight. The massive Hadron Collider required investments of billions of dollars, tens of thousands of specialists, and the construction of a huge technological complex taking into consideration it being used for studying the foundations of the universe and not some immediate tangible benefits. Scientists want to learn what happened in the universe billions of years ago even though we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us and the situation in the world is getting worse day by day. Where is the logic? But still, the project keeps moving forward.

We deal with the most important and high science capable of saving the humanity. The subject of its research is the basis of the Creation, in nature itself, which commissions this “experiment,” because all our good future depends on it. Thus we have to find new words and new examples for people to understand what we are talking about. And it will happen—the point of contact between the science of Kabbalah and the masses is very close.
[76036]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/10/12, Wiritngs of Rabash

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In our world, the spark of spirituality, the point in the heart, has not awakened in very many people. They are in the minority as compared to the rest of humanity who are attracted only toward the corporeal delights of this world. However, people who yearn to reveal the Creator have qualitative strength, and if they unite, they can attain a force greater than the force of the rest of humanity.

It is possible to be great in terms of quantity and in terms of quality. Quality is more important than quantity. Thus, if ten people, who scrutinize the goal and want to attain it, unite, a force created by them is greater than the external force of humanity, of all the billions of people around the world.

It is so much more meaningful that they are unaffected by the influence of broad society and its quantitative strength. Thus, by creating a not-so-large group, they can advance. A person falls under the influence of the environment—and his only free choice is to choose a suitable environment for himself.

If he constantly annuls himself before this small group more and more, he can be sure that he will reach the goal this way. To the extent of his annulment and connection with the friends in greater and greater concentration, he will constantly come closer to the goal. After all, the goal is found in the center of this small group.
[75906]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/2012, Writings of Rabash

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From Rabash’s lesson: A person must study on the basis that faith obliges him, not because others say that he is righteous, thus giving him strength and inspiring him to work. It’s because then this strength is based on pride and honor, not on faith, meaning on egoism instead of holiness.

Thus, one needs to be very careful not to receive any external endorsement. It is just the opposite: If the environment ignores the person, it is really a gift from Above because he is being given the opportunity to continue to work for the sake of bestowal.

And if one is honored, he thereby is given energy to work egoistically, for the sake of respect. And no matter how much you try to explain it to the person, nothing will help—this is the way our body, our ego, works.

Thus, it is not easy to detach from reward or punishment that comes from the environment, working only in one line directed straight to the goal of creation. But without this detachment, all of our work will benefit the impure forces, Pharaoh, our ego.

According to how influenced a person is by the world’s good or bad attitude toward him, by feedback he receives from the external world, we can see clearly where he is. If he doesn’t pay attention to this and continues on his way, he receives all sorts of criticism as help from Above. The more he is attacked from all the sides, the more they help him.  
[75854]
From the Preparation for the Lesson 4/20/2012

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Rabash “A True Prayer Is Over a True Deficiency”

Zohar for All – Passover, “Shemot (Exodus),” “He Neither Ate Bread nor Drank Water,” Item 251

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 15, Item 42

Writings of Rabash “Dargot HaSulam,” “A Matter of Exodus of Egypt”

Writings of Rabash “Pri Chaham,” “Davar Emet (Words of Truth)”

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The environment is a tool for self-correction, and self-correction is the means for the correction of the world. This is because a person who changes himself just a little thereby changes the entire world.

Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.” The entire problem is that point, the fulcrum.

You can “move” the earth if you have the right and safe point to lean on. Even if the left part of the lever is just a meter long, if the right side is, let’s say, millions of meters long, even if you use the force of just one gram, you will turn the world.

You have to be a hero in quality, not in quantity. It is all about how much you prefer spirituality over corporeality, meaning internality over externality. This means that you choose the fulcrum. If you see spirituality as more important than corporeality, then no matter how much the earth “weighs,” you have a lever that can turn it. This is the “heavenly mechanics.”
[75820]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/2012 on Holocaust Memorial Day

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Question: How can a person count 400 years (levels) of his stay in exile if Egypt is in total darkness?

Answer: It is impossible to count that, and this is why the escape takes place suddenly, in a hurry. A person does not know when he will come out of exile. Suppose the 400 years of exile are to end today at 13:30, but you can’t know that. Don’t you see that according to the story, the escape is sudden? You are told only what you must take with you: the components that make up your spiritual vessel so that later you will be able to rise above it.

According to the story, after we come out of Egypt, we leave nothing behind. I take all the gold, all the sheep and the cattle, all the property, and leave behind me an empty, destroyed country. I destroy to the ground the country that once flourished, big and prosperous with beautiful cities, and I leave.

Of course, I leave for a better life, and there is nothing to lose. There is no reason to stay in Egypt where there is not even water to drink because everything has turned to blood, and everything is dead.

This is how a person sees the corporeal world that he leaves. In fact, the beautiful palaces are still there and so are all the good things, everything is flourishing, but in my eyes it looks like a destroyed land in the dark. This is how it is perceived in my new discernments that oblige me to disrespect all the luxury and see it as trash and to want to escape from it.

However, if I looked at everything through the eyes of a slave, I would see the rich land and think that that there is no need to escape. After all, the land of Egypt is surrounded by a desert.

But suddenly I decide that staying there is the worst thing, and there is nothing worse than that. It isn’t just a desert, but a place of awful destruction and lowliness. It is all in the eyes of the beholder.
[75818]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/2012, TES

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By trying to unite in the group, we don’t just evoke the Light, but the Light that Reforms. It doesn’t correct me, but it gives me new details of perception. Its job is to show me that I am totally detached, opposite, broken, immersed in hate, and laying at the bottom. First, I come to this recognition.

Beyond that, the Light obliges me to feel that nothing can save me, and it is impossible to come out. It gives me the feeling that there is no force in our world that can correct me, although I seemingly do want to connect with the friends and love them.

However, I continue to work and do my best, together with the great hate for separation and the great desire to unite. With the help of the Light, I begin to understand that this is very important. Then, it reveals the most important internal point to me: the understanding that only the Creator can help me.

Thus I reach two things. On one hand, I begin to hate evil, and on the other, I come to love the good, meaning absolute bestowal, when I actually want to go out of my way toward others. I have acquired a big deficiency, the need for unity and love. In addition, above the call of the heart, I have reached the understanding that no one can help me except the Creator.

So, eventually, I acquire a deficiency for the Creator. First, I assumed that together with the friends, we would tear down the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality), and as a result of this demand, I would penetrate nature more deeply and discover the inner force hidden in it—the only one force that can help me. I feel that the desire aimed at the Creator is born in my heart.

This is the top, the climax of my work on the corporeal degree, with all the means available here. From this point on, I am “locked” onto the Creator: How do I ask, demand, oblige, and beg Him for help?

This desire develops and takes on new forms. For whom is the Creator’s help meant? I begin to see that until now, I wanted to use Him, even pay Him. However, I actually need the changes in order to bring Him pleasure. So, by changing internally, I begin to change our mutual relations, until above all my personal calculations, I want all the changes to bring Him pleasure.

This is the work of the Creator: I work and consciously aim all the fruit of my work toward Him. Then, I ask to feel Him. I ask not as I do now, not for my self-benefit, but on the contrary, I tell Him: “Don’t reveal Yourself, otherwise my desire to receive will begin to enjoy. Just tell me what is for Your good. This is the only thing that I want.”

So, from the level of our world, I move on to another kind of work, done relative to the Creator. At the same time, I continue to work in the group, but now as one whole with it.
[75857]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/2012, “Preface to The Book of Zohar”

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 67: If, God forbid … an individual from Israel enhances and appreciates one’s externality, which is the nations of the world in him, more than the inner Israel in him, meaning the externality in that person rises and soars, you yourself, the internality, the Israel in you, plunges down. With these actions, one causes the externality of the world in general —the nations of the world—to soar ever higher and overcome Israel, degrading them to the ground, and the children of Israel, the internality in the world, to plunge deep down.

This is what has been going on since the days of the Maccabeans and even in the times of the Second Temple, when they tried to disseminate Greek culture among the people. If we check this throughout history, we’ll see that every time we had a chance to avoid great trouble we didn’t do so.

But today, when we must finally fulfill the plan of creation and have all the necessary means, we surely have to feel that we are indeed responsible for the whole world. The Nazis brought suffering not only to the Jews—the pain and suffering were afflicted upon many people. According to the estimates of historians, 60 million people died during WWII.

We should understand that today we are facing the same danger, but it concerns the whole world. Hitler was no more than a puppet. This, of course, doesn’t justify his atrocities, but ultimately it’s about a very negative combination of forces that was created by those who have free will because of the disrespect towards the spiritual goal.

There are actually no “negative figures” in the world. These are simply the same “positive figures” that appear so that we will correct them. And if not, they are depicted to us as “negative figures,” up to such extremes. In general it’s about a unified system.

Today, as we enter a new era, we should draw conclusions and learn from what we’ve been through. As unpleasant as it may sound, we have caused all the troubles. We should be careful so as not to summon this nightmare upon the whole world in the future.

Baal HaSulam warns us about it in simple direct words. He says that Nazism can return, and we cannot be sure that it will not happen. People always say “never again!” as if they understand how to manage the world. Actually you can say that if you advance by the upper Light, you know for sure what is ahead. But you know nothing about the system and are not trying to correct it, so your words are worthless and you advance from one blow to another.

It’s time to wake up and to understand that the choice is in our hands.
[75746]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/2012 on Holocaust Memorial Day

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 71: Each of us remainders should take upon himself, heart and soul, to henceforth intensify the internality of the Torah, and give it its rightful place, according to its merit over the externality of the Torah.

And then, each and every one of us will be rewarded with intensifying his own internality, meaning the Israel within us, which is the needs of the soul over our own externality, which is the nations of the world within us, that is, the needs of the body. That force will come to the whole of Israel, until the nations of the world within us recognize and acknowledge the merit of the great sages of Israel over them, and will listen to them and obey them.

Also, the internality of the nations of the world, the righteous of the nations of the world, will overpower and submit their externality, which are the destructors. And the internality of the world, too, which are Israel, shall rise in all their merit and virtue over the externality of the world, which are the nations. Then, all the nations of the world will recognize and acknowledge Israel’s merit over them. And they shall follow the words (Isaiah 14, 2), “And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord.” And also (Isaiah 49, 22), “And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.”

On every level, everything depends on the correlation between internality and externality, and the upper levels determine what will happen on the lower levels. So each of us, meaning anyone who is studying the wisdom of Kabbalah and who belongs to “Israel,” that is, to the category that aspires straight to the Creator (Yashar – El), determines how things will develop by preferring internality over externality, by placing the spiritual advancement, love, connection, and bestowal over the external part in him, which is based on self-interest, success, honor, a desire to control others, and so on. This internal conflict within each of us and the way it’s expressed in the group determines where the world is headed.

But if everything depends on us, what do we need dissemination for? The point is that today the whole world needs to examine the relationship between internality and externality. On every degree, on every level, everyone should make a decision regarding this and prefer unification—in order to join us. Then “the nations of the world,” or our egoistic desires will support the altruistic part that leads the world forward.

Thus, as we’ve already said, everything depends on the correlation between internality and externality, between spiritual advancement and all corporeal interests. So a big question is: What can we do so that there will be no more disasters? As difficult as it may seem, we must accept what Baal HaSulam says: “There is none else besides Him,” and “the law is given and cannot be transgressed,” and no one can influence the advancement of the world except those who have access to the Light that Reforms.

So we have to admit that we are responsible for the afflictions in the world and the troubles we experience. This is what Baal HaSulam says: Since Israel preferred externality over internality and didn’t open the wisdom of Kabbalah in the right time, to this extent they summoned the Holocaust upon themselves….
[75749]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/2012 on Holocaust Memorial Day

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It’s difficult to speak about the Holocaust because this topic is closely tied to people’s feelings. It’s easier to discuss wars that went on thousands of years ago, even though they were often waged between our people, for example, between the Hellenistic Jews and those who adhered to the fundamental principles. And on the whole, the people of Israel have certainly led many wars with external enemies: the Romans and others.

We know that all the past wars were an outcome of Israel not fulfilling its purpose. We know from the Tanakh and Gemara that if the people of Israel acted correctly, then no nation would rule over us. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee).” Even earlier the Ari had said that had we remained as guarantors for one another, like it was at the period of the First Temple, and had we not fallen from it, the impure forces wouldn’t have gained power over us.

However, our fall was laid down in the program of creation so that in this world, as an analogy with the spiritual one, we would go through the breaking of the kings of DaHGaT (the destruction of the First Temple) and the breaking of the kings of TaNHYM (the destruction of the Second Temple). In our material world we also had to go through these two breakings, and this is why we fell from the spiritual degree to the very bottom.

At the time, Rabbi Akiva laughed when he saw the wasteland in place of the Temple. “I never believed that this would come to pass,” he said, “and since the Second Temple was destroyed, now there is no doubt that the Third one will rise up and that complete redemption will come.” So, these two destructions and the long exile were necessary. It can be said that then there was no free choice yet, all the states were determined by the interaction of the Light and the vessel on the way down.

And today, when we came to the lowest degree and achieved the greatest egoism, a new world is starting to rise. It’s already “rounding off,” already manifesting the breakage, and as Baal HaSulam says, we stand on the threshold of redemption.

As a consequence, new laws are now acting on us, not the “mechanical” principles that previously propelled us forward along with all humanity. In parallel with its development, we went through various states of ascents and descents all the way until the present time, but from this point on, a new epoch is starting, the era of free choice.

After the breaking, after the fall and mutual inclusion with the world, today everything is ready for correction. And we are the ones who realize this correction through good deeds and the request that comes from broken souls. However, these broken souls aren’t capable of the request and good deeds. What can we do?

We are trying to unite into one whole as it was before the breaking, before the destruction of the Temple. And even if we can’t realize it ourselves, it’s our efforts that are the “good deeds.” I keep on trying until the point when I beg for help, until I cry: “Save me!” Thereby I raise MAN, the request for correction, and in response help comes from Above, called MAD.

And in this we have free will: We can accelerate our history, the process which we need to go through. If we don’t carry out in every second everything that we’re capable of through our free choice, then the missed and unrealized state doesn’t arrive as a long-awaited dawn in the property of mercy (Hassadim), but turns to properties of overcoming (Gevurot). As a consequence, in place of “still waters” come “turbulent waters,” instead of waters of Bina come the waters of the flood, and so on. And instead of going forward on the path of Torah and the Light, in loving your friend as yourself, we wander, spurred by troubles that don’t advance us but simply force us to actualize the actions that we missed. After all, one way or another, we are obliged to complete them.

This brings up a question. At first I was able to produce a certain action aided by unification within the group, by understanding and feeling, by the mutual inclusion with friends, mutual support, and so on. I could reach for what didn’t seem to be a pressing need, even if it meant artificially raising the importance of this action in my eyes. But now, when I’m being spurred on by catastrophes and necessity, am I actually realizing my free will? No. Does it mean that I am heading toward the end of correction like an animal fleeing the blows of a whip? And this is spiritual development? Where is the free will in that?

The thing is that misfortunes will lead us to think and reflect, and through their help, we’ll begin to grope around and recognize evil. However, for this we will have to pay and in such case, our free choice will be a lot more complex and multi-layered. After all, there are no concessions here; a person still needs to go of their own free will through every step on the 125 degrees of ascent, from the lowest point back to the end of correction. Otherwise he will not be a human being.

Thus, we raise a request for correction (MAN) and receive an answer (MAD) from Bina. If this doesn’t happen, we transition to the properties of overcoming, Gevurot. And this means misery and disasters, both personal and collective, including the Holocaust. On the whole, this process ripples through all of mankind, but the people of Israel are affected several times stronger since they are not fulfilling their function.

At the end of “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Baal HaSulam writes about the fact that the world is divided into two parts: internal and external, “Israel” and “nations of the world.” “Israel” is also divided into two parts: the inner one includes those who study the wisdom of Kabbalah in order to correct themselves, and the external one includes those who don’t care about correction. And in turn, the internal part of the “nations of the world” is their “righteous,” and the external part is their “wicked,” “those who cause harm.”

A connecting mechanism operates within this system: The way that the two parts relate within “Israel” is the same way that they relate within “nations of the world.” And therefore, when those who study the wisdom of Kabbalah rise above, then correspondingly, within the “nations” the people who yearn for unity and good coexistence also gain force. And conversely, if “Israel” disregards the inner Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah, in other words, if they disregard their purpose, then within the “nations” the pyramid inverts also: The external ones rise above and take power over the entire world. Of course, these events are far-reaching and they negatively impact “Israel,” whose message and purpose descend, giving way at the top for the wicked and casting to the very bottom those who study Kabbalah and who are close to spirituality. This is how the “hierarchy of power” is laid. 

This is what happened with us in Hitler’s times. Israel acted contrary to its role, preferring corporeality to spirituality, and in accordance with this, within the nations of the world the destructive part rose above the good one, until the pyramid flipped over. And at that point, “the one who brings harm” came along and did his job.
[75754]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/2012 on Holocaust Memorial Day 

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