Entries in the 'Daily Kabbalah Lesson' Category

Leap Over Obstacles

263Question: Where do we get the strength to overcome all the obstacles?

Answer: On the way to spirituality, we must pass through many obstacles. You say that these are apparently very difficult obstacles because we want to move from the material world into the spiritual one.

So the obstacles must be very formidable, like in the story about people climbing a high mountain. The higher they climbed, the steeper and harder the path became, and the more cruelly the guards threw them down.

There is a very simple solution to this: obstacles only seem large in the eyes of the will to receive, but as soon as you switch to actions with the selfless intention “for the sake of bestowal,” all the obstacles instantly disappear. They are not actually so big. You do not have to climb over them. You do not have to break them. And you will not be able to do that with your will to receive anyway.

You must adopt a different attitude toward the obstacles, accept them in the opposite form, and then they disappear. It is said: “Look closely at them, and they will turn out to be a heap of bones.” The approach to obstacles should not be the same as they appear in the will to receive. The attitude must be different, from the side, and then all the obstacles fall away. But if you look at them through the will to receive, then of course they seem enormous.

Question: But how do you look at obstacles differently? How do you connect them with the goal?

Answer: If a goal is set before a person, then he must go “by faith above reason.” It is very simple: connect with the higher force, with the desire to bestow, with the group that will help you rise a little above this obstacle.

In other words, do not force your way through, but leap over the obstacle. The leap itself does not take much strength. It is more of a psychological problem than a spiritual one.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/26, Rabash, “The Difference between Charity and Gift”

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Mutual Support

938.03Working on the group’s charter is very beneficial, but everyone needs to examine themselves. There is also another issue here: if I were to say now that it is necessary to work on this, you would spend all your time in meetings and discussions. But this should be inner work, not chatter. Nothing can be achieved through talking alone.

During a descent, all these laws and rules do not concern me at all; I do not even want to think about them. What keeps me going? The group. It should support me and obligate me even if I do not want to implement these laws on the level I am on.

When in spirituality, I want to support the group in spirituality as well, but if I am only on the animate level, I am obligated to support the group on that level. The animate level should neither descend nor ascend; on that level, I should always support the group as much as possible.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/1/26, Rabash, “These Are the Generations of Noah”

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An Obstacle Is a Very Valuable Thing

294.2Question: Must we go through many obstacles on the way to spirituality?

Answer: On the way to spirituality, we do not pass through obstacles, but through signs that we must connect within ourselves in the correct form. These are pieces of my Kli. They seem opposite to me, but if I do not include them in myself in the correct form, opposite to me, then I simply will not be able to continue my spiritual development.

Let us say that I want to reach the Machsom, and on the way I must fill a basket with berries and mushrooms. When I am on the way, I am given all these “berries and mushrooms,” but only in inverted form.

In fact these are not obstacles; they only appear that way to my will to receive. But if I am missing even one of them, I will not be able to reach the destination.

This is called “a defect in the soul” (an incomplete soul). This is an extremely special thing. In spirituality, this is also called an embryo whose development has stopped:  a miscarriage, a still birth, etc.

There are various cases, just as in this world. This happens if even one obstacle is missing. Therefore an obstacle is a very valuable thing.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/26, Rabash, “The Difference Between Charity and Gift”

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In Spirituality, It Is Impossible to “Drill a Hole in the Boat”

630.2Question: Is there the concept of “drilling a hole in the boat” in spirituality?

Answer: The concept of “drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat” applies if we are talking about people who are not connected with the spiritual concept of the group.

In spirituality, it is impossible to drill a hole. You can only drill it in the corporeal world.

Let us say a person in the group suddenly wants to become a leader, to become greater than the others. But in the group everyone must be friends, whereas he specifically wants to rule. This is a very vivid example. In the spiritual world, this will not be tolerated.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/22/26, Rabash, Letter 59 (1962)

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The Angel That Stands Guard over the Spiritual World

238.02Question: How can one fight despair and exhaustion?

Answer: The fact is that fatigue or despair do not really exist as independent phenomena. In our world it seems to us that there are certain natural occurrences, but these are angels (Malachim). Whatever you perceive as the presence of the Creator—any force, desire, or thought—is an angel.

What is an angel? It is a particular force that is directed at you from above, whether it reveals itself or not. When this force reveals itself, you can neutralize it as though it had never appeared.

Therefore, there is no natural phenomenon—exhaustion, despair, and the like—that we are unable to overcome. There are always actions that stand opposite these phenomena, but you yourself are incapable of carrying them out because you lack the Kelim. So work on your Kelim, and then you will be able to do so.

We see that despair, fatigue, loss of zest for life, confusion, and disorientation are constant obstacles for us. Even though we listen, it is as though we hear nothing. You could write “the importance of the group” a thousand times on the wall, and you simply will fail to see those words. The eyes see, but inwardly nothing penetrates.

This is precisely what an angel is. Look how it acts upon us! It does not allow you to perceive and make use of what is most important. This alone holds you back and prevents you from immediately entering the spiritual world. The angel blocks your way, and you can do nothing about it.

Why? Because you cannot enter the spiritual world simply by striking the angel and removing it by force. You can remove it from the path only on the condition that you unite with others. By this you acquire a Kli. Without this Kli, it will not let you enter. It simply stands in your way, and waits for you to build the Kli.

So how does it push you toward this? Through despair, forgetfulness, confusion, weakness, self-criticism, and so on. It shows you what you must struggle against. Of course, you should not fight despair itself, but you can rid yourself of it only through the group. The angel gives you a sign that only by working on something outside yourself do you break through all the disturbances. Then you pass through, and the path is open.

You have no other choice. The angel will stand in your way for another thousand years. The Creator does not compromise in such matters, not because He is stubborn, but because you do not yet have the Kli. If you do not move the angel and its disturbance aside, it means you are still unable to sense the upper world because you have not yet acquired the proper Kli.

The angel gives you the inverse form of the Kli that you must acquire—instead of despair, inspiration; instead of self-criticism, confidence and elevated self-worth. It gives you opposite signs, and if you improve and correct them, the angel disappears. It steps aside, and you enter. And so it will stand at the entrance to spirituality until you acquire the Kli.

Time plays no role here; in spirituality there is no time. For us this may take millions of years, while in spirituality not even a second passes. For throughout millions of earthly years you have not moved from your place relative to spirituality. That means you remained exactly where you were, and you have not advanced even one iota toward the spiritual. It is astonishing!

I remember that once I waited for a dental appointment because I had something urgent. I had no choice, and I sat there for four hours with a toothache. Then after four hours had passed, the doctor came out and calmly said: “Come in,” as though only a few minutes had gone by. I was amazed; a person does not notice time. It was very striking to me. You can sit groaning in pain for hours, and then hear: “Well, come in.” Until you acquire the Kli, you cannot understand this. After all, how is it possible to exist in spirituality without a Kli?
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/26, Rabash, “The Difference between Charity and Gift”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 6/8/26

Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 5 “Concerning Respecting the Father” (1986)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Each Person Has a Unique Path

963.5Question: In our group, there are friends who love working in the kitchen, others enjoy writing, and still others find themselves in organizational work. Is this an indication of some quality of the Creator revealed in a person, an indication of necessity? After all, this is where a person finds fuel for the work.

Answer: Does a person’s external work, in which he expresses himself in relation to the group or to his spiritual path, whether through kitchen work, uniting the friends, or writing, indicate something?

Of course. It points to the type of his soul. But it does not indicate how elevated that soul is. Is a person who likes to write closer to spirituality than one who prefers working in the kitchen?

For example, Baal Shem Tov was the greatest Kabbalist in Europe after the time of Isaac Luria. Between the ARI and Baal HaSulam, there was no greater Kabbalist than the Baal Shem Tov. Yet he did not write a single word. He went out among the people, explained, gathered Kabbalistic groups, and taught.

He had absolutely no inclination toward writing. Everything we have from him was heard and written down by his students. After the Baal Shem Tov, an entire body of Kabbalistic literature remained and was used by great Admorim (leaders of communities and yeshivot), who themselves were major Kabbalists. All of this literature was recorded from his words, although he himself wrote nothing. We have had many examples like this.

Question: But why does a person feel the need to bestow to the group in such a specific way, through writing, kitchen work, organizing, and so on?

Answer: I cannot say. It depends on the inner structure of the soul. For example, astrologers divide people according to zodiac signs into roughly sixteen character types. This is also mentioned in The Book of Zohar, but it does not give us a clear and precise table according to which soul types can be classified.

Of course, one can say that there are a certain number of soul types, because there are 248 “organs” and 365 “tendons,” divisions of the Partzuf into Rosh, Toch, Sof, divisions into three lines. There are countless variations, but there is no simple chart. And when there is no simple scheme, it means there is no final and serious understanding. Therefore I would not want to explain things according to how they seem to me. It may appear one way now, and later turn out differently or with major changes. Who knows?

But it is absolutely certain that each person receives their own individual life path and obstacles. All this is the result of the revelation of his Reshimot. The upper light influences everyone equally, but the fact that each reacts differently and feels differently happens according to the Reshimot revealed in order to be realized. Ultimately, these Reshimot reflect the development of each person’s soul.

However, the development of the soul itself does not precisely indicate its character. For example, Albert Einstein did not display remarkable abilities until the age of twenty, and he performed poorly in school. Then suddenly he became a genius, and everyone was astonished. It is the same in spirituality. The development of the soul in its “infancy” does not testify to its overall structure or level. For this reason, I refrain from making conclusions or constructing theories.

What the Kabbalists wrote in The Zohar about soul types is too complex and intricate. I hope that one day we will be able to create a kind of table: 600,000 souls divided into several billion parts and thousands of reincarnations. This table would summarize all the data in such a way that we would receive one Kli (one common soul).

Why does each person have a unique path? I do not even know how to place all this into a single field of vision. But it is possible because in the state of final correction (Gmar Tikkun) each person attains this internally, and then sees, feels, and reaches the end of his path.

When we reach the state of Gmar Tikkun, then we will see whether it is possible to “bring down” all these things into our corporeal world (to explain them in the language of branches), and publish them in a book called Kabbalah for Beginners.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/26, Rabash, “The Difference between Charity and Gift”

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 6/7/26

Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 7 “What Are the Times of Prayer and Gratitude in the Work?” (1990) (1.29.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Between Two States

927A person always exists between two states: the previous one and the future one. The future state pulls one toward itself, while the previous state pushes the person forward, away from suffering.

In other words, there are two levels: the higher one that I have not yet attained that draws me toward itself by showing me that I will find fulfillment once I reach it, and the previous one that pushes me forward through suffering, so I discover that in my current state there is nothing good whatsoever and everything is darkness. This is how a person advances.

Our choice is to move faster and more efficiently by sensing the darkness of the lower stage and the light of the higher one, and in this way we can shorten the time required to transition from one stage to another.

How does a person perceive these two stages within themself? They are felt in him not only as a stage that pulls from the front and pushes from behind, but also as the left line and the right line, two opposing forces where the left is the human nature and the right is the embryo of the qualities of the higher stage within a person: the incorporation of the qualities of the Creator.

From the lowest to the highest state, we ascend the rungs of a ladder that each consists of a lower and  higher part, the left and the right. A person passing these rungs is like an empty vessel, and the specific rung upon which one stands gives one fulfillment (light).

Therefore, the soul of a person who is on a certain stage is referred to by the name of that stage. And in this way, a person changes names, changes destiny, and changes their place.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/26, Rabash, “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”

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From Unification to the Creator

943Question: How does one gather all their aspirations toward the Creator?

Answer: A person cannot gather all their aspirations toward the Creator alone. If we have a certain reservoir of constantly replenished efforts and we make sure that it is constantly preserved and grows, then we can do this.

Take an ordinary prayer book and you will see that it is arranged as though one among many is addressing the Creator. Everywhere it says “we,” “we,” “we”… This is how the Kabbalists, members of the Sanhedrin (Great Assembly) composed it for us before the exile. It sets forth the correct attitude, in the correct form, and according to these stages, an appeal to the Creator.

Thus, all of this is the work of a person from the collective toward the Creator. Otherwise it is impossible. There are certain very specific prayers in which a person addresses the Creator alone. But even in this case, he addresses Him as a representative of society as, what is called, a messenger of the society. It cannot be so that he makes an address entirely on his own.

There is no other nation so unified by its animalistic nature as the Jews. Any other nation can live separately, one part here, another part there. But this nation, by its very nature, even when scattered throughout the world, preserves the ties between its parts.

The same applies to the matter of their own country and of unification. There are many nations whose countries barely manage to sustain their existence, nations who do not feel connection to all the institutions of the state. But for us, this is ingrained in our nature.

We simply cannot do without it: without organization, without unity, without being bound together into a certain mechanism, truly as a nation. And all this is because, at the very core, lies a spiritual nature.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/22/26, Rabash, Letter 59

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