Rabash, Shlavei Hasulam (Steps of the Ladder), “Purpose of Society 2”: To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than the friends can no longer unite with them.

For us to be integrated into one another, I have to “annul” myself, lower my head (the black arrow), rather than consider myself equal to the other. Why? After all, we unite and thus have to be equal (the green arrow).

The truth of the matter is that I constantly play with my egoism, which wants to “put me on a pedestal” (the red arrow) all the time. If I withstand and “play down the ego,” I have a chance to reach interconnection.

Question: A very fine work is needed here: On one hand, I want to give my maximum to the group, but on the other, I have to annul myself. One seems to contradict the other.

Answer: This is because we work in confrontation to our egoism. If my attitude towards the friends was neutral, I would have no problems. However, I am “in the minus” from the beginning, and I have to cover it.

The spring of my egoism constantly pulls me upward, to self-importance (a). And thus, to counteract it, I have to apply an opposite force (b). Then out of these two forces the third will be formed (c). This is how we arrive at the formula of interconnection: a­­−b=c. I don’t have any other choice.

Queston: Does it apply to the Arava convention as well?

Answer: You have to lower your ego before the group all the time and to constantly ascend, awakening the group towards the goal. To raise the group, you need to “come from above,” while your individual work demands self-annulment.

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Rabash, Shlavei Hasulam (Steps of the Ladder), “They Helped Every One His Friend”: Rather, it is one person who can help another by seeing that one’s friend is low. It is written, “One does not deliver oneself from imprisonment.” Rather, it is one’s friend who can lift his spirit.

This means that one’s friend raises him from his state into a state of liveliness. Then, one begins to reacquire strength and confidence of life and wealth, and he begins as though his goal is now near him.

Rabash, Letter 34: The way is as one who goes to his friend’s occasion. He doesn’t think of himself—whether or not he is in a good mood—but must take part in his friend’s joy. He must not frown, but show a happy face.

One has to see that the friends already sense unity. And if he builds a circle, if he seeks connection with the group, if he wants to be in it, then he acquires joy and forces, both negative and positive. Everything comes to him with the necessary force and in the correct amount so that he reveals the Creator in the interconnection with the friends.

Unification with the friends is a necessary condition for receiving help. But it’s incorrect to think that the friends have to come to me themselves. First (a) I turn to them, and then I receive the strength from them (b):
a – inclusion into the group;
b – receiving strength.

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Preparation to the Lesson
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“The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” (To: Item 19)
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Moses and Two Messiahs,” Item 244, Lesson 69
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 16, Lesson 29
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“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 100, Lesson 45
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We should yearn for the one force, the one reality that exists so that it will begin to control us. This should be the result of our exertion.

People ask me: How is it possible to check and see if we’ve actually attained something? To attain a certain result means to feel that there is no self-desire or self-thought left in any one. It is as if we’ve embarked on a spaceship and have disconnected from earth.

We rise and we begin to feel only the new collective field we are in. Just as every bird in a big flock doesn’t feel its own desire: where to turn to and what to do. There is one collective brain that operates everyone in synchrony. Even the birds that fly in the front and those that fly behind, on the right and on the left, no matter where they are, they all turn together, change speed and direction, and even turn in the opposite direction; not one bird turns too soon or too late.

A moment ago they were flying in one direction and suddenly all at once, they all turn 180 degrees, as if they were one body. This is called being one man in one heart, in general mutual guarantee. We cannot attain this attribute by ourselves, but only by the Reforming Light that ties everyone together into one system.

It is an analog system in which there is no “entry” or “exit,” there is no beginning or end, but everything happens at once simultaneously.

Modern physics is also discovering that the true reality is above time and that all over the universe different phenomena that are not related to time take place, but one process is tied to other processes that take place simultaneously. An ants’ nest operates according to the same principle in which millions of ants are operated by one brain.

We observe many such phenomena in the inanimate, vegetative, and animate worlds where each individual has no brain of his own, but all of them together seem to be receiving orders from a general brain that shows them what to do and that arranges everything.

This is the level we should reach. The difference, of course, is that when it comes to us, it has to happen in our feeling, in our understanding, in our recognition that in that “One” we attain our first spiritual degree. Then that “One” that we attain, that feeling, that brain, that life, is called the “revelation of the Creator.”

Then we are already in a different intention, in a different reality, in which one force controls the heart and the mind. We are incorporated in it, learn it, and get to know it to the extent that it can be revealed according to the thickness of our level.

Later our ego is revealed again and separates us from the “One,” so that we will attain it in greater depth, in greater, more qualitative, and clearer discernments. Thus we advance in our work: We connect, we ask for the Reforming Light, and are incorporated once more in the concept of the “One” more deeply.

This is how the Creator is revealed to the created beings in this world. I really hope that we are all on the verge of this revelation today.
[70389]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, “Pri Chaham”

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Question: The coming convention makes me feel fear and pressure that are way too strong. I don’t feel happiness and love, but only instructions and warnings. I don’t feel like going to the convention any more. Why have I reached this state?

Answer: It’s because you’ve never thought that a convention is not a picnic. You always came to our conventions like to a festival full of lectures, performances, dancing, and meals…. If a person awakens himself with the help of such activities, they are serious and beneficial for him. But if he doesn’t, he can simply enjoy life, without approaching what’s important.

In the past, too, people used to come to the Temple because there was always fresh meat and good wine there. While others used to come there with rather different thoughts.

Today we make people understand where they are. Everyone has to understand and agree to this; everyone should feel great fear. The Torah even describes the external signs of this state, such as ground shaking, thunders, and so on. It is really so.

At the same time, this very important situation should evoke happiness in us. You are in Gevurot (strength), but the upper level is revealed to you, if you deserve it, of course. If you don’t, here will be your burial place. So you should decide whether you should come or not.

The quality of the participants is more important than the quantity. Mass dissemination of the principle of mutual guarantee is one thing, while a spiritual ascent in the desert is something else.

If a person comes there as if to a picnic, he will cause himself great harm. He will diminish our power and will disturb us with his foreign thoughts and desires, and he will be punished for that in the future. Such a person shouldn’t come. There is room here only for those who are very serious.

I will understand if people decide to stay at home. It will actually be a serious attitude: A person is afraid, not sure of himself, understands that he is still weak internally.…

Well, so perhaps in another two thousand years you will have another chance ?
[70380]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, “Advice for the Arava Convention”

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Question: The closer we get to the convention, the more we feel the emptiness of thoughts, feelings, and powers. What does that mean and how can we work with that feeling?

Answer: This always happens before any important action, when a person loses all his previous, lengthy preparations. All the decisions a person has made and all his readiness suddenly disappear and there is a certain emptiness left, like while waiting for something.

It is true, it happens in corporeal life too. There is nothing we can do about it. It is very similar to the silence before a battle, when we know that in a short while a military operation is about to begin or even a war, but there is nothing you can do. We have been preparing ourselves, and have done everything in our power, and all that is left now is to wait. There is such a waiting period, a period of silence before the battle.

The same thing happens in both the corporeal and spiritual worlds, and it is true. It is a period when a person must make finer clarifications of the state he is going to.

It doesn’t mean that you should leave time for idleness and throw up your hands as if there is no choice and nothing that you can do, no matter what may happen. I should intensify my sensitivity, the sharpness of the clarification, up to the next level and prepare myself for finer discernments and frequencies compared to what I had before.

We should sharpen our sensitivity and try to feel what we couldn’t feel before.
[70387]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, “Pri Chaham”

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Question: In what way should our intention in the Arava convention be different from what we had before? What should we prepare ourselves for?

Answer: Our intention during this convention is to add great fear, great anxiety: What if I don’t support the general effort correctly?

Just like in a poker game, I go all-in, wager all my resources, and put all the cards on the table. I am ready to give all of myself in order to attain the Light that Reforms. I am ready to give my share and to push everyone towards the goal. At the same time, in unification with all the friends, I want to receive through them the force that will connect me not with them, but to the One above them. We must do our utmost so that love will cover all sins. We must yearn for mutual guarantee and unity.

The difference is that this time we act on our own, without the external circles, in one thought, desire, and intention. We don’t leave it, we are constantly inside. We attack not only and not so much mentally as in desire and intention.

This is what we prepare, and everything else depends on the participants. They build this state.
[70369]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, “Advice for the Arava Convention”

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Question: Can the group forbid a friend to participate in the convention because of improper behavior?

Answer: We must check every case separately. On the whole, these are the criteria:

• participating in the lessons every morning;
• paying Maaser (tithing);
• participating in the gatherings of friends,
• participating in dissemination as much as one can.

These four conditions are mandatory. If a person fulfills them, he has a place in the convention.

But we made some mitigations and we don’t check the participants according to these criteria. Many of them don’t pay tithe, do not participate in the morning lessons, and so on. Surely, these people don’t quite understand what we have in mind and what we do. However, it doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to succeed in the convention and that it will only be a “practice.”

Besides, different people come from different parts of the collective soul of Adam HaRishon, and for some of them it takes twice or three times longer to master the system. They can advance in some particular aspect, but it is more difficult for them to change internally. There are those who even become worse: coarse, careless, and so on. Don’t judge your friend until you step in his shoes.

On the whole, we don’t judge the friends according to their external behavior unless it is related to dissemination work. The main thing is that a person doesn’t show disregard.

Question: Does this mean that in the meantime these criteria are a recommendation and not a demand?

Answer: This time we don’t impose them, but a person should know that not fulfilling them keeps him behind. He can participate in our activities, but he won’t advance. He won’t disturb us in the convention, and he will feel an ascent, but not as a “man” who comes out of Egypt.

We give these people a chance to be with us, at a lower level that limits the feeling and the advancement. There is nothing we can do about it.
[70373]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, “Advice for the Arava Convention”

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Question: How is it possible to enter happiness while reading The Book of Zohar?

Answer: We have the greatest means that promises us success. If you are near it, it only remains for you to use it.

It is like you had been searching for treasure for many years, you crossed continents and oceans, and then in a remote cave you found it, and now the chest with the gold is in your hands! All that treasure is yours! You only need to use it.

We have found the treasure: The Book of Zohar, and now we only need to use it correctly, it is already in our hands.

Also to use it correctly isn’t simple. You need to invest these “gold coins” making sure that you are doing so in a good way.

We are near the force that can also transform into a great destructive force, the “angel of death” instead of a “holy angel.” That is why The Book of The Zohar wasn’t revealed to people during hundreds of years, only during our times when man is really capable of using this power for good and when all of humanity arrives at a hopeless state and must change.

Therefore, we should rejoice that this force is in our hands. And now, with great caution, we need to learn how to use it correctly.
[70357]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/12, The Zohar

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Question: In what way is the most delicate, the most emotional request, expressed for that single image that has to manifest between us?

Answer: Begin to think: There is one reason, one force, one desire, and the concept of “One” includes all of that. This attribute-force-thought dwells above us.

We attain it from below, from the separation between us, since otherwise, without the initial division into parts, it is impossible to attain the whole. You can’t speak about one without knowing what two are.

This is why we attain perfection from within a lack thereof. And then, as the Kli (vessel) or desire discovers an increasingly greater shattering, meaning separation from the others, as well as a greater number of differences between us and this One whole, we attain His unity more and more.

It is impossible to convey this feeling. A person doesn’t lose himself, but becomes included into a new level, that of the single Thought.

Try to describe this to yourselves. At least we are already able to talk about it a little. The more we try together, the faster we will reveal this. But this is the discovery of a real force. And then you feel everything that exists below it, in our world, like a children’s game, like something fictitious.
[70360]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/20/2012, The Zohar

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