Question: Why don’t we appreciate the path we follow? Why don’t we receive pleasure at every moment? Even if it isn’t easy, we’re still in a group, we’re together, and this in itself is happiness.

Answer: Actually, there are two sides to the coin. If you come here for the meals and the friendly atmosphere, then things will end here. Your ego won’t let you be attracted to something else. On the other hand, if you feel bad here, your ego won’t let you come here and instead of coming to the lesson, you’ll stay in bed.

So we need both things, both the joy and the frustration. After all there are many people here who have the left line, meaning who are critical. They ask themselves: What can I really get out of life? I don’t want to be just a Hasid. I want to advance. Hasids on any level are happy with what they have and don’t want anything more. But if I don’t want anything, how will I advance? How will I acquire an additional deficiency?

This is exactly what Abraham asked the Creator: “How shall I know that I will inherit it?” In other words: How will I want spiritual ascent? Abraham’s attribute is Hassidim, the Sefira of Hesed, and so he worried about feeling the deficiency to ascend to heights that seem unattainable.

The Creator answered him: “Know of a surety that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they shall afflict them four hundred years….” But what sufferings are we talking about here? About the sufferings you go through by the “Torah and the Mitzvot,” by the Light. These aren’t just bad feelings that you have. “The Egyptian exile” isn’t a synonym for unemployment, lack of money, or health problems. The Egyptian exile is the feeling of deficiency that comes from the posterior of the Light, when you feel that you lack spirituality, love, and adhesion. These are the kind of sufferings we have to reach, and hard work is required here. [Read more →]

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot“: However, when troubles and torments accumulate to a great extent, it causes a double concealment, which the books name “concealment within concealment.” It means that even His posterior is unseen.

A person is a desire to receive. If he finds the power to ascend above his egoism, he becomes equivalent to the Creator and then according to the extent of the equivalence of form, the Creator is revealed to him as the good and the benevolent, as the one who bestows. This is because a person who ascends above his desire also becomes good and benevolent. First His Providence is revealed to him based on reward and punishment and later it is revealed to him as the eternal Providence.

But if a person cannot keep himself above the egoistic desire in equivalence to the Creator, if he doesn’t have a strong enough Masach (screen), he cannot cope with the pleasure that appears before him, and it immediately turns into darkness for him. This is how a person feels the concealment. It isn’t emptiness, and it isn’t lack of knowledge, but rather a feeling of something that is hidden: There is someone out there, and I can distinguish it from my own corrupted qualities. After all, they are opposite to Him, and this is why I feel that He is concealed.

So the concealment is a kind of revelation. It is divided into two parts: double concealment and single concealment, but in any case it isn’t total detachment, like in our case. Here everything depends on the Masach, on my persistence in trying to keep myself above my egoistic desire to resist pleasures from the bestowal, and to relate not to the pleasures of bestowal but to the attribute of bestowal. I have to relate to the source, to the Creator, not because I am fulfilled by Him but because of His quality.

But if there are states with which I cannot cope, I enter concealment and this brings me great suffering. Yet these are spiritual sufferings. After all, the concealment refers to spiritual perception. This doesn’t refer to our “unconscious” world with its “beastly” needs, but rather spiritual sufferings when I cannot please the Creator. Great voids appear in me which cause me great pain and suffering, but I know from what and and why I suffer.  [Read more →]

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Shamati #1 “There’s None Else Besides Him,” (Start with: “A man must always try”)
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “Moses and Jacob,” Item 149, Lesson 42
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 6, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Lesson 6
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“Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot,” Item 50, Lesson 26
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Suppose I wanted to steal something and I suffered because I didn’t know how to do it: “Why don’t I succeed? Where can I learn the art of stealing?” Then, under the influence of a good environment, I realize that my desire is bad. Thus, I find myself in a state of concealment; I don’t agree with my own attribute. My good image as a corrected “good guy” is concealed from me. “How can I be respected by others and myself, and not berate myself all the time?”

So, I progress and learn about the forms of concealment. As soon as I can see my perfect image, even though in a first approximation, my longing creates a prayer. Whether I want it to or not, the prayer emerges from my heart and I acquire the desired form. “Here it is; I don’t want to steal anymore! I don’t need anything.” And then I am fulfilled.

And it is the Light. So far, it is the Light of Hassadim, and even though it is much lower than the Light of Hochma, I prefer it now because it has another quality: I enjoy resembling the Creator.

Then comes the next phase of the correction: If I don’t need anything, can I bestow upon others? Then I get to work. It is divided into several parts. First I find out who I stole from in order to pay back the “debt.” Then I discover that I stole from everyone.

But on the whole, I begin to enjoy the fact that I am becoming equivalent to the Creator. I fill everyone with the Light of Hochma and that is the level of my resemblance to the Creator.
[66945]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/19/12, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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A person goes through phases of concealment and revelation on his spiritual path. Yet concealment is not an easy thing. Who is actually concealed? Where did He disappear to and where is He? After all, concealment is part of the revelation.

If I feel that someone is concealed, it means that I know him, I know who he is and how he should be revealed. In this case we already have something to talk about regarding concealment: After all, I already have an understanding, an attainment, a certain feeling, but they are the opposite of revelation.

So how can it be attained? First, I have to understand that at the moment I am detached in a state of unconsciousness. Then I probably have to feel that something is concealed from me. This is already a step forward. Then I go through a double concealment and a single concealment, followed by partial revelation and complete revelation.

So how do I go through all these phases? It all depends on the how the Creator is revealed to me. The question is: How can I hasten His appearance?

He wants to be revealed before the created being, and we too, at the moment, seem to want to reveal Him. But then it turns out that we actually don’t want that at all, because to reveal the Creator is to reveal the attribute of bestowal that rules the world, and to become one who totally bestows. This means that I become restricted; I lose myself, and totally forget about myself. My “self” ceases to exist. I can’t even think about this. So do I want the revelation of the Creator?

Here we begin to understand that it isn’t that simple, it involves very serious things, and they are all concealed inside a person. According to our nature, we hate the revelation of the Creator. After all, it is in contrast to the egoistic pleasures that we want. His gradual revelation is depicted as something awful to me: It is as if I rule the whole world and suddenly some monster begins to cut off pieces from it, one piece after another, until there is nothing left and it also swallows me. What’s more, I have to agree to that, to want it, to look for it, to beg for it.

So we see that the chain of these events isn’t revealed to us directly; we have to go through a preparation process that is not simple. First I enjoy the revelations, which may be pleasant or unpleasant for my egoism. Then I have to acquire a feeling that is above egoism, and then I see the opposite picture, that I am no longer being guided by the feelings of bitter and sweet, but by the criteria of truth and false.
[66951]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/19/12, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: What action helps us reveal the entrance into spirituality called the “eye of the needle?”

Answer: The eye of the needle is not an entrance even though we call it so. This is our readiness for work, readiness to accept everything that comes from Above.

The needle’s eye is first of all the needle itself. It’s not just a tiny opening. This means that I am ready for everything that the Creator is doing with me since His every action over me is very painful and opposite to my desire to receive pleasure.

Therefore, one has to advance to it very slowly and gradually. A person allows the upper Light a possibility to act to the degree of his readiness, to at least in some external form to come out of himself, from his ego, and to become closer to others.

This is why we are given a group. When you are able in some way to connect to your friends, the Light will act upon you and you will feel that you are capable of tolerating this. This breakaway from oneself elevates the person as he overcomes his ego.
[66679]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/12, The Zohar

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We all are the consequences of the shattering of the first man’s (Adam HaRishon) huge desire. Adam HaRishon remained in the state of total perfection even though he was comprised of numerous desires and each of them wanted for itself. Desires always “think” of themselves; and yet the fact that the ultimate force ruled over them allowed the whole structure to stay within a condition that is called the world of Infinity. It maintained total adhesion with and stayed under the absolute authority of the power of bestowal and love.

It is similar to the sensation that we often feel when we are sitting and singing with our friends in a great mood, and hoping that this sensation of warmth and mutual love will last forever.

Of course, this is far from a spiritual sensation, but it gives us an idea of how the common soul felt before it was shattered. Then, some external force broke in and destroyed this sensation.

Where did this force come from in the first place? It was revealed within us; we never sensed it before and didn’t even suspect that it existed. All of a sudden we sensed hatred! It was always hiding within us and suddenly showed itself against our will.

The strength of hatred that hit us was so huge that each of us simply ran away from the beautiful assembly and thus ruined the connections among us. We all started to view it as something dirty and disgusting. We couldn’t tolerate staying within it any longer. This is how we happened to end up in this world and continue to live in it now.

Since then, this world kept developing under the guidance of the force of hatred. Throughout history, and to this day, we have been using the power of the shattering over and over again. But only today are we starting to realize that we have already reached the final implementation of hatred into our lives and that it doesn’t lead us anywhere anymore. Our hope to achieve the good life with its help has vanished.

The time of correction has come since we already understand that using the power of hatred and separation can only ruin our lives. So, our duty is to do something about it!
[66460]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/13/12, The Zohar

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For thousands years we have continued to build various systems of connection between us that are supposed to let us survive without killing each other and bring us to compromise: I give to you, you give to me, this is mine, and this is yours. This is how we try to help each other.

According to various forms of connection and detachment among us, we consider some nations and civilizations to be closer or farther from each other. There are numerous conditions that either connect us or keep us isolated. This is how the force of shattering divided us. It worked like a centrifuge that separated and kicked us far away from one another.

But it is written: “Go and earn from each other.” So, we feel that we will gain more if we unite. We gather in cities and build various systems in order to provide everybody with water, electricity, and to create a suitable infrastructure; we also built factories and industries. All of this is for our common benefit.

The evil egoistic force that prevails among us does more than just separate us from one another; it works cunningly and pretends to be beneficial and useful.

We continued developing in this mode until eventually we reached a point at which we have to come to a decision to not use this power any longer for the sake of our fulfillment since it inevitably lead us to collapse and will trigger crisis in all spheres of our existence: education, family, finances, etc.

The question is: How can we can we correct the evil power that emerged from within us when we were still connected as one soul and that shattered our connection? How can I fix it?

Sages, the Kabbalists, explain that we cannot conquer this force directly by grabbing the serpent’s tail. It crawled between us and spread its poison within our united soul and penetrated into our desires in every possible way. There is not even the tiniest desire or a set of desires within our egoistic entity that were not poisoned by the evil. [Read more →]

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Question: Is the Creator waiting for the right kind of prayer from us?

Answer: You can’t call this waiting. The upper Light exists in a state of absolute rest. This is an unalterable law, like the laws of physics. Movement at a steady pace is the same as being in a state of rest.

The Light doesn’t stop, it’s either revealed or concealed, but its nature remains unchanged. Take for example the nature of physical light, which in a vacuum moves at the constant speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second. Everything depends upon the surroundings where the light is dispersed because we reveal it as a result of matter with which it comes into contact. The degree of similarity between the matter and the light determines the light’s speed because we don’t see the dispersion of light; we only see the way matter reacts to it.

If some action is constant, then in relation to us it’s considered still. That is, the upper Light’s influence is constant and no changes occur in its influence. Everything depends on the desires and how they reveal this influence. If changes occur within the desires, then that determines the speed of the Light’s influence; however, the Light itself remains totally unchanged and its influence is constant!

We say that we have to try to attract the Light. But in reality it’s the opposite of what we imagine. The Light’s influence is constant and we are the result of that influence.
[66703]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: The people who demand social justice want to get an immediate answer. What can we tell them?

Answer: You can’t achieve social justice and fair distribution of resources that will satisfy everyone without first building society as a family.

We are all different, each one has his own needs, and each one deserves to receive his share that is different than the others. So, how is it possible to satisfy everyone?

It can only be done if we are connected by ties of love that provide fulfillment when I have a lack due to someone else having more. A person tears something from himself and gives to another.

For example, a father giving his favorite dish to his son is totally different from ordering another portion for his son. Sacrificing something is better than simply giving something. After all, this “piece of the pie” fills you with love, enjoyment on a completely different level, higher and more abstract.

So, equality and fair distribution can only be relative and consistent with real differences between people. In order to learn to live as in a family and negotiate as a family, we need to build the right mutual relationships among us, and that requires the integral education of society.

We need to explain integral education to people in every possible way, with the help of videos, songs, and dramas. We can show how a person understands his own bitter experience. For example, suppose he wants all the good, and in response he receives contempt. He gives everyone cottage cheese because people were protesting its cost, and the next day he sees lots of unused cottage cheese containers thrown in the dump.

Then, he gives everyone a thousand dollars. There are some who use the money to buy alcohol and drugs. For others, the one thousand dollars isn’t enough to make ends meet, and they come complaining to him. [Read more →]

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