A disturbance is a divine force that appears to me as a disturbance because of its intention for the sake of bestowal.

If I correct myself for the sake of bestowal, this obstructive force no longer appears as an obstacle to me, I see it as salvation, as something positive.

This means that I transform the disturbance into a positive form. But in truth, I do not change it; rather, I change my intention, and by this, I perceive the obstacle differently.

In other words, I justify the governance of the Creator. It comes to me in a negative form because I perceive it through an egoistic perspective, and I correct my perspective precisely through this obstacle. It serves as my yardstick.

Then I begin to see the Creator’s influence upon me as the good who does good.
[353485]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 38 “What Is the “Right Line,” in the Work? 38 (1991) (4.4.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 2, Part 5

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3rd part of the Lesson — Principles of Spiritual Work in the Top Ten

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We have a rule that everything comes from one source “to delight the created beings.” In order to attain this, we must use what stands before our eyes, what surrounds us.

And what surrounds us are the friends. Everything you do must be directed toward attaining the purpose of creation, the degree of “to delight the created beings.” For this, you must draw closer to the friends through 125 degrees. If you do so, you will ascend to the Creator through those same 125 degrees.

It is said that the commandments between a person and his friend precede the commandments between a person and the Creator. The Creator is concealed whereas the friend is near. If you perform actions in relation to the friend, this advances you toward the Creator to the same extent that you make efforts with respect to the friends.

A person does not feel toward whom he is performing the action if it is outside of his body: “I want to be connected with the Creator because I have some hope of receiving something from Him. But what can the friend give me?”

With respect to my will to receive, there is a difference between the Creator and the friend. From the Creator, I hope to receive pleasure, but from the friend, what pleasure can I receive? At most, some small corporeal enjoyments.

However, if we are speaking about bestowal, about exiting the will to receive, then with respect to both the friend and the Creator, it is the same.

Only with regard to the friend can I truly see whether I have exited the will to receive and no longer think of myself. With respect to the Creator, I may have illusions. There, I can completely deceive myself because I have no real control.

But in relation to the friend, it can be seen immediately whether I am able to do something or not.
[353499]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/26, Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 2”

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Every disturbance on the spiritual path is a collection of various means that a person acquires: greater understanding, greater faith (since a person passes through this disturbance by faith), and a greater need for connection to the group, because he sees that only through this can he be saved.

A person comes to value this entire vessel that begins to take shape before his eyes: the true, collective vessel of the soul. He begins to reveal that this collective Kli is called the Shechina, as it is said: “The Shechina will dwell among us.”

Thanks to disturbances, a person becomes wiser. Otherwise, where would wisdom come from? By transforming the force of the disturbance into a useful force, I see the gap between the two: between what I previously understood as a disturbance and what has now become something useful. It becomes clear to me that even then, it was not a disturbance but a benefit, that it turned me exactly in the direction needed, and that earlier, I could not have received this force in any form other than as a disturbance.
[353372]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash, “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

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Question: What should I do during times of pain and suffering, when a direction is unclear? What should I do in a state of confusion and lack of understanding?

Answer: A state of confusion, a state of lack of understanding, a state of joy, a state of pain, a state of understanding—we must relate to each of them as the most effective and necessary at the given moment. It does not matter how it is felt in my desire to receive.

What matters is that I experience it, that I don’t dwell in unawareness, in the feeling that I am simply living; I should feel that this state is my spiritual state, which I can connect with the Creator who gives it to me.

Then it doesn’t matter what kind of state it is, it can be bad or good, the main thing is that through it, I feel the Creator sending it to me. From here, my path to advancement begins.

The state of confusion usually indicates an ascent to a higher degree relative to the previous state. If in a state of scattered attention, when a person does not understand, does not know, is confused, tries to listen and cannot, he makes efforts, then in this way, the higher degree is attained.
[353212]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/26, Rabash, “Make for Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend – 1”

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The Torah contains light because the Creator clothes Himself in it. From this general light, we can receive a certain portion into the desire to bestow, that is, into the Kli (vessel) of faith. There is also an external garment called wisdom, and the vessel for attaining it is the human intellect.

Thus, in order to attain the Torah, a person must acquire a Kli (a spiritual vessel). But if one studies the Torah without intending to draw the light that reforms from it in which the entire power of the Torah is contained (the very purpose for which it was given), then such study is not blessed. This is because the nature of the light that comes from the Creator is to return us to the source.

The Torah is called the Torah of life. This means that we must feel life in the light we reveal. Life is what is attained at the degree of the Creator in the desires of bestowal. And this is possible only through working with the intention to draw the force from the Torah that will serve as fuel for acquiring the Kli of bestowal.

There is the Creator and the created being, and the manifestation of the Creator to the created being is called light. The revelation of the light has several forms. The most external manifestation of the Creator to the created being is corporeal life. A more internal manifestation is wisdom; still more internal is the light that reforms, and even more internal is the light that fills the spiritual Kli that has returned to the source.

A person beginning the spiritual path must first “bless the Torah” by intending to attain the true Torah, that is, its innermost light. If one does not strive to reveal the inner light, but studies only the external part of the Torah for the sake of acquiring knowledge; such a person is considered among the nations of the world. After all one wishes to perform the Creator’s work with the intention for oneself and he therefore receives from the Torah, from this light, only knowledge and wisdom.

But if one intends to achieve equivalence of form with the Creator, such a person is called Israel, and accordingly, he first demands correction of one’s intention toward bestowal from the light. After the correction, one wishes to perform actions in order to bestow, that is, to receive the light for the sake of bestowal by means of a screen and reflected light within the Kli of faith.

The light that is revealed in the Kli of faith is called the light of Hochma (the light of wisdom). But this is no longer external wisdom received in egoistic desires; rather, it is the light of wisdom, meaning, the revelation of the Creator’s governance over a person.
[353079]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/26, Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 34 “What Are Day and Night in the Work? (1988) (10.22.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 2, Part 5, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 40

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3rd part of the Lesson — Principles of Spiritual Work in the Top Ten

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Question: If I attain the purpose of creation, is there a difference whether I reach it by a long path or a short one?

Answer: There is the path of Torah and the path of suffering. I advance either by receiving blows or by striving to become similar to the Creator. In both cases, the goal is the same. It is said that the store is open and the shopkeeper keeps the account. You take from this store in any case, whether you want to or not. You must take, you must live, you must receive pleasures.

A person is charged for what he takes, whether he is aware of it or not. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article “The Peace.” “What difference does it make whether a person is aware or not?” he asks there. Don’t I see the shopkeeper and simply take from the store, from this life (since that is how I am built)? Or do I know that there is a shopkeeper and that what I take, I take on credit and must eventually repay?

The difference is that the shopkeeper does not care how much you take; the store is for you, everything is for you. It is not without reason that at the end of the article it says that everything is ready for the feast. Everything was created for you from the beginning, and of course, in the end, you will receive it all.

But what matters to the shopkeeper is that you relate to all your “purchases” in this world, in this store, purposefully. Because in this way, you will relate to creation as He does and attain His degree. This is the true pleasure: to be in the position of the Creator; He wants you to reach it.
[353545]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World Was by Largess?”

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Question: When I lift a friend’s spirits, aren’t I adding satisfaction to his will to receive? And must he then somehow return this work to me?

Answer: The point is that everything depends on what your words are clothed in right now, on your intention when you praise a friend. I am not exalting him personally. I am exalting the idea of bestowal toward one another that exists in our group. By doing this, I educate the whole group and myself about how special and spiritual the act of bestowal is.

With the intention to praise a friend, by thanking him in front of the group, I must evoke a certain attitude toward the act of bestowal, not toward him personally. This should elevate all of us to the level of appreciating the importance of bestowal.

This is a problem we can observe in our ordinary daily life. I can give you something, and you will accept it with love because it feels good to you. But I can give you the same gift in such a form or with such an attitude that you will want to get rid of it at all costs. You will feel very bad. In other words, I can evoke all kinds of sensations in you through the very fact that I give you something.

We must clothe the praise of a friend in such an intention that I am elevating, not the friend, but the Creator who has given us the strength to act. Because if you had not received these forces from the Creator, you would not be able to do even something insignificant that is good toward me.

It turns out that for the sake of good relations between us, we turn, not to one another, but to the higher force that gives us the ability to do this.

First, the fuel, the intention within each of us directed toward bestowal, can be given only from above if we are worthy of it. By this we glorify the higher force, not ourselves.

Second, it becomes arranged in such a way that no matter how much you praise someone in the group, we cannot become proud of it, because the overall atmosphere is such that this simply cannot happen. We are occupied with advancement, not with looking at one another.
[353502]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/26, Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 2”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 9 “One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House (1984) (1.14.2003)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 2, Part 5, “Ohr Pnimi,” Item 40

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3rd part of the Lesson — Studying with Friends

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