Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 19 “Come unto Pharaoh – 1 (1985) (4.25.2002)
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2nd part of the Lesson — Pesach (Passover)
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The body of the soul includes 248 positive commandments, 365 prohibited commandments, and 7 commandments of the sages (De Rabanan, from the word “Rav,” great), which are an addition to the 613 regular commandments. Altogether, there are 620.
Until we cross the Machsom, we do not know a single commandment because we are in darkness, in concealment. We do not know what we are fulfilling, with which desire we are working, or by means of which desire we have a connection with the Creator. The Creator is revealed within desires. If He is concealed, it means the desire has not yet been clearly revealed in me.
I do something, but I do not know what I am doing. I have a point in which there are 620 desires. What can I do with them? I do not know. They appear to me as a point. Therefore, it is written that since you do not know what to do with them, in which particular desire you are now acting, then “whatever is in your power to do, do.” And whether I do it for the sake of reception or for the sake of bestowal, it is not important. Exert effort!
This continues along the whole path until we cross the Machsom. As I approach the Machsom, I begin to feel the particular desires I am in, even in the smallest form; this is still called “the growth of a person in the mother’s womb.” But certain awareness already exists.
What awareness does an embryo in the mother’s womb have? We say none at all, but it does exist! It is still a foreign body found in the body of the higher.
In exactly this measure, a person feels his existence in the world of the Creator, in the Creator Himself, within Him. We, in our present state, cannot point out even a single commandment precisely. Our commandments are our various efforts that we make in order to come to some degree of similarity to the Creator, to connection with Him, to His revelation.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/23/26, Rabash, “The Measure of Practicing Mitzvot [Commandments]”
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Question: Does it make sense to perform actions without a desire, without an inner attitude? Suppose I know that right now I am not capable of desiring the Creator, but I was told that if I work in the kitchen, for example, I will attain this.
Answer: First of all, a person must act. As it is said in the “Preface to The Book of Zohar”: even commandments without intention purify the body, but on the level of Nefesh de Nefesh.
What does commandments without intention mean? It is when a person like you wants to reach the goal but does not know by which actions exactly.
It is said that even simple commandments, that is, various corrections of desires without the intention for the sake of the Creator will help if you try to come out of the inanimate (Domem) state. This state is characterized by a lack of understanding and absence of sensation as if you do not exist at all.
Question: But must a person ask himself what he is doing this for?
Answer: When you act without knowing why, you are like a small child. He looks at his father and repeats the same actions after him, without knowing why he is doing them. This is called the “monkey” instinct. In fact, this is the most correct learning when the small one wants to become similar to the great one only through actions.
“From Your actions we shall know You.” From the fact that a person performs these actions, he begins to understand the mind, the plan of the upper, why He does this. Then the lower one begins to receive this mind. Even in this world you never know the next degree in advance, its plan or how it works. You see only its external form, that is, how it acts on you.
It has other Reshimot, other intentions that you do not touch at all and about which you have no idea. Of course, you cannot act as it does because you do not have such Reshimot, screens, and forces. And nevertheless, if in your state you try to do everything as it is done there, despite the fact that you have no desire and no Reshimot, this will mean that you want to become similar to the upper.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/23/26, Rabash, “The Measure of Practicing Mitzvot [Commandments]”
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Comment: In the article “We Should Always Discern between Torah and Work,” Rabash says that if a desire arises in a person to ask for oneself, it is not good. But I do not control this.
My Response: We are not speaking about your current ability to control it, but about the state you must ultimately attain. You must reach a state where your attitude during the study of the Torah is under control, rather than simply reacting impulsively like weeping if you suddenly feel pain or laughing if something strikes you as funny.
Before you come to study, you must arm yourself with everything necessary so that your study will be beneficial for correction and advancement; otherwise, it is worth nothing.
It is said that there must be a “prayer before the prayer.” It is written in the Gemara that in the past, people would sit in concentration for two hours before the evening prayer, in order to focus their intention before uttering the prayer. This refers to matters of a very exalted spiritual nature.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/26, Rabash, “We Should Always Discern between Torah and Work”
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Question: How can one prepare for a state in which the corrections themselves will be our fulfillment and will lead to connection and adhesion?
Answer: To prepare for this state, one must arm oneself with a desire, a lack.
You see that everything is simple: light and Kli, clothing and inner part, desire and fulfillment. Both corrections and fulfillments come through the light; therefore, our entire life must depend on the light.
There are two types of influence in the light: correction followed by fulfillment, depending on what you want to be connected with, what you prefer, what you want from its action upon you.
It is very simple. When we speak in this way, a person stands before decisive actions: either yes or no.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/26, Rabash, “We Should Always Discern between Torah and Work”
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We should discern between righteous and wicked in terms of the action, and righteous and wicked in terms of the intention. In terms of the actions, the righteous are the Ultra-Orthodox and the wicked are the secular. But with respect to the intention, righteous and wicked go by a completely different order. In other words, in terms of the action, both are righteous. But with regard to the intention, there is a difference: Righteous are those who work for the Creator, and wicked are those who work for themselves. However, in terms of the work, both are righteous (Rabash, “Why the Speech of Shabbat Must Not Be as the Speech of a Weekday, in the Work”).
A Tzadik, a righteous one, is one who fulfills the Creator’s will. Therefore, in regard to the inanimate, the vegetative, and the animal levels, there are no questions; they are all righteous. For example, fish in a fish tank are one hundred percent righteous: nature acts on them, and they fulfill its directives one hundred percent.
At the same time a person cannot be one hundred percent righteous. The Creator gave him a certain level of freedom, and in the degree of this freedom a person does whatever he wishes.
If he fulfills the Creator’s desire to this measure with his effort, with his desire, then he is called righteous. If he does not do that, then he acts as though in the opposite way, and he is called “wicked.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/14/26, Rabash, “Why the Speech of Shabbat Must Not Be as the Speech of a Weekday, in the Work”
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If I have a desire to bestow to the Creator, must I actually give something or is the desire itself sufficient? The desire is sufficient. I do not have to do anything else, for in truth I have nothing to give Him except the desire.
My work is to move from the absence of desire to a state in which it appears within me. Once I acquire the desire, I have nothing more to do. Everything is complete. The desire is the Kli (vessel), and if I have a Kli that works in order to bestow, that is enough; I have done my work.
How do I come to the desire to bestow to the Creator? Where do I get it from? It is said that initially a person is given a point in the heart. Without it, you are simply an animal. But if this point is given, meaning a desire to attain spirituality, then you must do everything else yourself.
This is possible only through the group, the books, and the teacher, that is, through external means at your disposal, through life in this world. There is nothing else. From above, you are given a spark called the point in the heart, and with this spark you must rise higher and higher.
How can this be achieved? Nothing more will be given to you from above. But we have built a system called “this world” around ourselves. And then, by the fact that within your circle there are books, a teacher, and friends, you can use them and move forward. So the spark is there, the environment is there, the goal is clear. Bon voyage!
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 3/22/26, Rabash, “What Is the ‘Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man’ in the Work?”
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We must develop awe as the foundation for all our actions, beginning from the animate state, with animate awe. “What is the meaning of our life?” is a question of the animate nature; even an animal asks it when it suffers.
Even a tiny insect searching for food experiences suffering. Anything that is not completely fulfilled and has not reached the end of correction suffers. Every desire suffers—no matter what kind: still, vegetative, animate, or human. A desire that is capable of developing an attitude of awe and then love within itself is called human.
Therefore, we must not be ashamed to begin with ordinary awe. See how the Creator corrects us: He sends us enemies, haters, death, illness, and other sufferings until we begin to ask: “What is the meaning of our life?” This is truly a simple, low, animalistic question, but it is precisely from it that we begin.
A person begins to ask: “Why do I suffer?” What could be simpler than that? So it is with awe: awe for my state, for my life, for fulfillment, for security, for everything.
But to begin working with this awe, to transform it into the highest stage, love, is the work of a human being. Otherwise, one will be placed into such states that… . Awe obligates.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/26, Rabash, “What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work?”
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Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 16 “What Is ‘For Lack of Spirit and for Hard Work,’ in the Work?” (1990) (4.22.2002)
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2nd part of the Lesson — Conversations of a Kabbalist with His Students During the Day
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3rd part of the Lesson — Pesach (Passover)
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Question: What is more effective for our advancement: to strive to feel the greatness of the Creator or to feel the suffering of the Shechina?
Answer: First and foremost, we can advance only if we reach ahead. And we can reach ahead only if we feel that there is something positive ahead.
The positive is called the feeling of the greatness of the Creator. He is great, and I naturally reach out to Him. If I feel that there is suffering and darkness ahead, I will not strive to go there. Therefore, I definitely need a vessel of bestowal so I will have the need to find an unfulfilled desire in Him, something that I can give to Him, so I will be able to bestow for His sake. Then, when I feel the suffering of the Shechina, I will truly rejoice that I have found something that I can give to Him.
Therefore, we should not force ourselves to imaging the suffering of the Shechina. This is a very artificial thing we have no preparation for. I do not react to anything external happening outside of me whether it is the Creator or a friend. How then will I be able to receive from this “fuel” for work or forces for advancement?
The only thing we can cling to for now and receive help from is the greatness of the Creator. Let the friends constantly speak to me about the greatness of the Creator so that I will convince myself that only it rules and acts, that only it is important for me.
Later, the desire to work precisely in this direction—for the greatness of the Creator—will come from this. Because whether you want it or not, you submit to a great person, you want to bestow to him, to serve him. And all this is only because he is great. This is already embedded in our nature. You do not even need to make an effort for this.
And as soon as you really get some feeling or some awareness of His greatness in your work on the greatness of the Creator or you even simply imagine it, you will begin to think: “The Creator is great, but what can I give Him? Why does He need me? Perhaps indeed some kind of connection can arise between us?”
This comes naturally as a result of the awareness of the greatness of the Creator.
Therefore, the suffering of the Shechina can be felt only by a person who has already acquired some awareness of the greatness and importance of the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/24/26, Rabash, “What Is, “When Israel Are in Exile, the Shechina Is with Them,” in the Work?”
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