Comment: When a person who is thirsty finally receives water, he drinks and experiences pleasure without feeling any connection to the Creator. At that moment he has a great Aviut (coarseness of desire) because his enjoyment is so great.

My Response: You are speaking about an animal that is thirsty, and enjoys drinking when it receives water. This is not the subject of Kabbalah.

The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about intentions, not about receiving something in an animalistic way, without intention. Kabbalah explains how one works above the Machsom (spiritual barrier). What exists below the Machsom is called “nature,” and there is no need to discuss it. Leave that to psychologists. What concern is it of ours how the animal exists? It exists entirely under the dominion of nature, and there is no benefit in that for it, nor any possibility of change. And if at this moment I have no ability to change my nature, why should I occupy myself with it?

It is better not to dwell on my present nature in this world—how I am built, how my cells function, how my liver, brain, and other organs work—because I am unable to change these things. It is a waste of time. It is better to study how I can change myself, elevate myself, and bring myself to true fulfillment. That is far more worthwhile.

There are already eight billion people occupied with this life, who think that they can change something within it. If I am not like them, nothing terrible will happen.

This is what people spend their lives doing, believing that they can change something, until they are eventually buried. Why devote oneself to that? The real challenge is to stop and determine what can truly produce a result, what is useless, what is worth engaging in, and what is not.

There is no benefit in endlessly analyzing your present nature because you will only consume yourself with questions such as: “Why am I like this? Why is the world like this?” And then what? You will blame the Creator, and remain exactly as you are, except that now you will also have a headache, an ulcer, and other troubles.

In Kabbalistic terms, the focus should not be on what is governed entirely by nature, but on the one point where freedom exists: the possibility of acquiring an intention above the desire to receive. That is the place where spiritual work begins.
[357644]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/26, Rabash, “Why Is the Torah Called ‘Middle Line’ in the Work? – 1”

Related Material:
You Attain Everything in the Light of Bestowal
A Step in the Dark
Egoism Poisons Our Lives

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 31 “What ‘There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted’ Means in the Work” (1990) (6.28.2002)

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (4.19.2001)

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Question: Can intention be built solely based on its correspondence to desire?

Answer: An intention cannot exist without a desire; it is measured by the weight, by the magnitude of the desire. The upper light comes to Malchut, which has five types of Aviut (magnitude of desire).

Malchut makes contact with the upper light, and from this interaction, five types of reflected light emerge, each of which corresponds to the specific level of Aviut with which Malchut rejects the direct light. The direct light arrives as a single, undifferentiated whole, yet since Malchut has five levels of Aviut, it creates five types of reflected light.

In each of them, it examines how much it can receive for the sake of bestowal (handling a tomato in one way, a cucumber in another, rice in one way, meat in another), and accordingly it receives. Therefore, we say that there are five Sefirot in the Partzuf.

What are the Sefirot? They are five types of equivalence to the Creator. Since my nature is divided into five parts, we measure everything by means of Aviut; we have no other measuring instrument. I bestow through my Aviut, receive through it, and enjoy within it. I have no other tool for measurement besides Aviut.

Aviut represents the degree of pleasure contained in my desire to receive. Sometimes I am in a good mood and am ready to devour a large meal: a drink, chicken, everything. And sometimes I am in such a state that even if a wonderful dinner is set before me and I am hungry, I cannot bring myself to eat.

That is, we assess Aviut not by how hungry I am or by how many pleasures are before me, but by the extent to which I am drawn to them. This is the measure of assessment, because only in this way can I bring pleasure to the host.

Since I stand opposite the host, I feel such shame that instead of enjoying the delicacies, I begin to hate them. I feel pain from them, even hatred toward them. I reach a state of “extending” my Aviut for the sake of the host, because in order to have the opportunity to bestow to Him, I need an appetite. There are many variations here, many relationships between the lights and the vessels.
[357593]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/26, Rabash, “Why Is the Torah Called “Middle Line” in the Work? – 1”

Related Material:
Spiritual Volume
A Great Desire Means A Great Intention
An Action Without An Intention

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the connection between bestowal and faith above reason that we must acquire?

Answer: What is the connection between bestowal that I am supposed to acquire (without knowing why, other than being told it is necessary) and faith above reason (which I also need for some unknown purpose? I have no desire, no inner urge for bestowal or faith above reason. I have no idea what these things are.

Whenever I experience rejection, I move to a state where I must reveal the reason why this is happening to me, why I feel bad, and from there, to the question: “Who is doing this to me?” All these questions are essentially about the same thing: my source, the Creator.

Upon encountering this question, I begin to sense that I cannot directly discover the Creator in the events occurring around me. At the same time, I cannot remain at peace, because all these states compel me to reveal Him.

It turns out that I can discover Him not through my five senses, but through faith above reason. What does that mean? It demonstrates the extent of my readiness to proceed not according to my feelings, but above them. That is, I do not want to attain through my intellect who the Creator is or how He acts. I do not want to see exactly what He does. Because in that form, I will never receive any revelation other than an animalistic understanding that there is someone behind everything; I will not attain true awareness.

I must reach a state where I receive some sensation from Him but not within my ordinary senses. I attain something resembling knowledge, yet not through His direct revelation. This is called revealing the Creator in the sixth sense, in the force of faith above reason, which means acquiring the force of Bina, the intention to bestow. Before that, a person does not know what it is.

But if I acquire the quality of Bina, I gain the ability to establish a connection with the Creator through this extraordinary phenomenon called faith above reason. It is a kind of “something, I do not know what.” I have no understanding and no sensation in the vessels of reception, since sensation and understanding are what we receive within our Kelim (vessels).

I have something entirely different that exists above them, a completely different vessel of perception called the reflected light (Ohr Hozer), a spiritual Kli, a sixth sense. What it is, however, we do not know.

A different channel opens within us in relation to the Creator, and it functions in such a way that through it, we reveal Him. Through our ordinary feelings and our ordinary channels of perception, we can never do so.

To give this channel a name, we call it faith above reason. This term is merely an indication that it operates beyond our senses, beyond understanding, beyond everything to which we are accustomed—above all of that, in a different manner.
[357746]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

Related Material:
How Can We Achieve Faith Above Reason?
What Is Faith Above Reason?
Up The 125 Steps Of Faith

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Perception, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: In order to cross the Machsom (barrier), must I use faith above reason?

Answer: Faith above reason is the spiritual Kli (vessel), the quality of the Creator embodied within me. When Malchut acquires the quality of Bina, this is called faith above reason. Reason is the quality of Malchut, faith is the quality of Bina, and thus Bina within Malchut is called faith above reason.

If a person uses faith above reason in order to fill Malchut, this is a property of Klipa (impurity, shell). But if he uses Malchut according to its proper purpose, this is the process of holiness. That is, either it is bestowal for the sake of receiving, bestowal for the sake of bestowal, or receiving for the sake of bestowal.

Question: In what forms is this faith used after the Machsom?

Answer: Faith above reason, the force of Bina, can be used in two forms. In our world, there is also a reflection of this: I can bestow to another person, yet by doing so receive for myself. In a concealed form we are always receiving; it only appears to us that we are bestowing.

If my intention is to use the Creator for my own sake, this is called Pharaoh or Klipa. But if I turn to the Creator for His sake alone, without the involvement of my own interests, this is called the pure form of faith above reason, holiness.
[357799]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

Related Material:
The Need for Faith above Reason
A World Filled With The Creator
How Can We Achieve Faith Above Reason?

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 9 “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future” (1987) (5.1.2002)

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

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

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Question: Is turning to the Creator the strongest effort a person makes?

Answer: One must seek how to turn to the Creator; it is not done just like that. No one can simply turn to Him.

The moment the Creator reveals Himself to me, either openly or in a concealed form, it means that He is inviting me to turn to Him. It is not simply that I go and search for Him. Where will I search for Him in order to cry out to Him or ask Him for something?

In fact, turning to the Creator, once one has merited His revelation, comes suddenly, as it is said: “The salvation of the Lord is in the blink of an eye.” This happens completely unexpectedly as a result of all the effort that the person has previously made. However, all the work done beforehand is essential. Without it, it would be impossible to experience this state.

Even now we are already in the state of final correction, but does anyone feel it?
[357933]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/13/26, Rabash, “And the Lord Appeared to Him at the Oaks of Mamre”

Related Material:
Constantly Turn To The Creator
Why Turn to the Creator?
Where Should the Appeal to the Creator Come from?

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Faith above reason is not an acquisition in the mind but an acquisition of a different ability that does not naturally exist within us. It is another, supernatural channel, a sixth sense, spirituality, the correction of the vessel of reception, the force of Bina. How does one come to it? Through reflection, work, and a series of ascents and descents.

Question: Why do we engage in this if it is known in advance that the Creator does everything?

Answer: Why are you so sure that it is the Creator who does it? For you, all this is merely names, empty words; you do not live in it. It is written that there is an upper force governing everything, that “There is none else besides Him.” So what? You have heard about it, but you do not live within this revelation and do not identify with it.

Yet, identification determines all our thoughts and actions. I feel myself to be a glove worn on the Creator’s hand. He determines everything that happens within me, from the movement of atoms to the movement of thoughts and desires. Every result depends on Him both at the beginning and at the end. This is how I feel the manifestation of the Creator within me.

And if I do not have this, can I say that the Creator is the king? Can I say that I agree with it? Would I myself, without coercion, do the same thing that He does? All of this is empty talk. I do not even know what He does nor do I know who He is.

Therefore, Rabash says that there is the King of the whole world, and there is the King of Israel. Everyone speaks about the King of the whole world: “The Creator is great!”

The King of Israel is attained through a genuine aspiration toward Him—Yashar-El (straight to the Creator). And aspiration means a readiness to cast aside one’s own knowledge and go by faith above reason. This is the difference between the opinion of the Torah and the opinion of the masses.

It is not enough merely to say it. Everyone thinks that they are already in the state of final correction, while the state of Israel is attained through very serious work, by aligning all one’s desires and intentions with the Creator so that they become like His. Only then does one come to a state where he can say that the Creator is the King of the whole world.

What is the world? The world is my entire self, and I have examined it, felt it, and agreed that He leads me. What is this agreement? It is that even if He did not exist, I would still do exactly the same thing. Thus, I myself create the image of the Creator within me. This is called growing from zero to infinity. I grow and attain His level.
[357750]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

Related Material:
The Need for Faith above Reason
A World Filled With The Creator
See the Reality of the Creator

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Science, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: In the article “What Are the Times of Prayer and Gratitude in the Work?” Rabash writes that “even if this mouth is unimportant, still, the Creator hears it.” What does it mean that the mouth is not important?

Answer: It is written: “Even if this mouth is unimportant, still, the Creator hears it.” It does not matter how much understanding a person possesses. What matters is the extent to which he strives toward the goal.

It is similar to our attitude toward a child. The result of the child’s action is not what matters most to me. What matters is his effort, his expression of desire, his aspiration. Because of that, I encourage him.

However, as a person grows older, we pay less attention to their desire alone. Now the result, the product of his actions, becomes important.

We need to understand this correlation. We are not required to be clever; we are required to make an effort. What will come out of it, how correctly will a person be able to perform what he is trying to do? That is not important. You desired, you acted, and according to that you are rewarded.

A person receives a response from above only according to the measure of the effort he has invested. It is not said that you must reach a particular result, on the contrary: “It is not upon you to complete the work.”
[357648]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/26, Rabash, “What Are the Times of Prayer and Gratitude in the Work?”

Related Material:
Endless Efforts
The Creator Will Finish Our Work For Us
Steps Toward The Unknown

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Our work is to rise above evaluation according to the principle of “sweet–bitter” to evaluation according to the principle of “true–false.” After all, the Creator is called Truth.

The word “truth” (Emet) consists of the letters “Alef–Mem–Tav.” “Alef” and “Tav” (the first and the last letters of the alphabet) are the desires at the two extreme poles.

And “Mem” in the middle is the quality of Bina, by which one can connect these poles and come to correction, that is, to truth.

Determining where truth lies and where falsehood lies is possible only in relation to a group of Kabbalists, the environment. By myself, within myself, I lack the necessary conditions for this; I possess only one parameter: my ego. To measure I absolutely need one more parameter outside of myself.

After long study and many clarifications in the group, a beginning Kabbalist starts to feel himself in the general (global) system of desires, among other “points in the heart.” Relative to this particular environment, I am given the opportunity to acquire new sensory concepts: drawing closer to it and distancing from it, sensing its global system, my inclusion in it, the necessity of its support, the realization of it as the place in which I will reveal for myself the upper world and the Creator.

Meanwhile, within me, an interaction of two forces —myself and the environment—takes shape within me. The environment gains weight and acts as a counter force to my “I,” my ego. Another authority emerges, one outside of me, which I will begin to take into account and view as a source of salvation, a lever that can pull me out of my current state, out of this world.

I measure the “self – environment” dynamic, and as a result of my measurements I obtain quantitative and qualitative measures for measuring spiritual relations, forces. I build a measuring ruler: on one end is me and on the other is the group. With this ruler I can already research, measure, and depict the upper world.

From the “I – group” relationships a spiritual cell is formed within me with which I can measure all of reality above myself. In this way I build a soul within myself.
[5643]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/9, Baal HaSulam, Letters 41 & 42

Related Material:
The Minimal Measure Of Spiritual Reality
A Spiritual Microscope
The Spiritual Path Is a Path of Feelings

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →