We do not go through the stage of the forefathers, through what happened in the beginning: Adam HaRishon, Babylon, the land of Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons, and the descent into Egypt. We begin to reveal ourselves already in Egypt. The earlier period refers to the “forefathers” and is included within us as spiritual genes (Reshimot), inner qualities.
Our actual work starts in Egypt where we eventually realize that we are in an egoistic desire and must escape from it since it gives us less and less life forces. It takes years to recognize this and to flee.
If we are together in a group during this process, we help one another. It is written: “And the children of Israel sighed from the work,” meaning “all together.” The entire exodus from Egypt happens together.
The Exodus is the departure from separation toward connection. It is not a physical departure from a geographical location. In Egypt, we discover that we are separated by our egoism. All the work during Egyptian slavery is in the fact that we attempt to connect to one another and fail. We come to see that Pharaoh stands between us and prevents our connection.
We keep working on our connection, and each time we reveal that it is impossible. Then Moses appears, kills the Egyptian, and flees to the desert for 40 years. All of this is constant ongoing work toward connection until Moses returns, goes to Pharaoh, and demands: “Let my people go”; that is, “allow us to connect.”
I want to connect with those who now seem alien to me. It is Pharaoh who shows them to me as strangers, and makes them appear as though they are not part of me. But I ask for the ability to unite with them. Let Pharaoh remain; I want to unite above him. Therefore I need a greater force, stronger than all his vast desire and egoism that twists me any way it wants.
It turns out that I need to ask for my egoism to shrink, to stop ruling over me. This is what I ask of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh replies: “Should I descend from my height, from my throne?!” He only hardens his heart, and so I need the Creator to be even stronger than Pharaoh.
This is Pharaoh’s role: to elevate the Creator in my eyes so I am forced to increasingly value the general force of bestowal that governs nature. Only it can give us the ability to connect with one another.
We must understand correctly what Egypt is. The Creator must constantly grow in my eyes or I will never be able to unite with my friends, which is what the Exodus means, and I will remain in slavery forever.
Egypt is separation. But where am I fleeing to? I want to unite above that separation, above the hatred, that is revealed to me, Mount Sinai (“the mountain of hatred”), and that is why I leave Egypt. This act is called the Exodus.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 2/05/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam “And It Came to Pass in the Course of Those Many Days”
Related Material:
When Will We Finally Exit Egypt?
Farewell To Egypt
Exile Is Separation From Brothers
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