Rabash, “Make Them Happy with a Complete Building”: If a person wishes to erect a house for the Creator, he builds a perfect structure, for the Creator is perfect. …And the Creator will give them joy, the Light of faith, so they may complete their work.

Our foundation, the matter we are made of is Malchut, the will to receive pleasure (desire). We have to use it as construction material for everything because we don’t have any other. If we receive power from our egoism, we build “structures” similar to the Tower of Babel or the cities of Pithom and Ramses. The buildings come out tall and beautiful, but in the end, they don’t please us because we find them empty.

That is how humanity has been constructing itself for centuries until today, when in the final stage of humanity’s historical development, we have come to realize that everything we have built doesn’t make us happy any longer. Yes, we have erected so much, but all of it is empty and lacks content and true fulfillment. Surrounded by our creations, we feel more desperate than ever before.

Hence, it turns out that we cannot bring joy to ourselves and our loved ones as we don’t take pleasure in our construction work any longer. Only a perfect house will bring us joy, when our home, our Kli, will be filled with the Light. How do we fill it? How do we illuminate our matter from within?

The house must let the Light illuminate it. We build it from the will to feel pleasure, but it has to be home to sanctity, a Temple. Sanctity is Bina, the Light, bestowal; and the house is the Kli, the vessel. The vessel must be fit for the Light to come to it, meaning that it needs to have the intention to bestow.

How do I accomplish that? To bring light into a house, we cut windows in it. “Windows” are cavities, empty desires. In the walls of our matter, we make holes of desires similar to Bina, bestowal, openness, and the Light can come into us. Hence, walls and windows must match each other precisely so that our house built from the will to receive pleasure would be “equipped” with the intention to bestow. And then, it will be filled with the Light.

If we wish to feel and bring joy while building our house, we must design it so that its form will match the property of Bina. We include the attribute of mercy into judgment, meaning that we make the openings in the walls to let the Light come in through them.

These niches look as flaws to us at first. Rabash gave the following example: A father brings his son to the tailor to get a suit made for him, and the son sees how the tailor starts cutting a roll of expensive fabric with scissors. He feels that the fabric is ruined, but the father explains: “It’s alright; he will make you a suit that will fit well on you.”

In other words, this fabric at the moment is nothing but material that will acquire a shape that will fit you. But the child doesn’t understand. In his opinion, the cuts and the holes in the fabric look like damage. In reality, thanks to this “damage,” we will later give the right shape to it, and the Light will dress in it. Keeping that in mind, we are willing to be patient and even thank the Master for what He is doing!

In our daily work, we discover such new “flaws.” And from them, as from the bricks, we erect a structure, including the walls and the openings for the Light to come through.

When Bina makes a hole in the wall, Malchut feels that the house is damaged. But in truth, it is the opposite approach, a totally new attribute, which isn’t designed to fortify Malchut. Having realized that including mercy into judgment creates equivalence to the Creator in us, we will see the benefit of refusing to hear Malchut’s complaints. When Bina rules over it, all of the house walls can become windows, or acquire the property of Bina.

Such house will be filled with the Light top to bottom. Its material, Malchut, will be purified by Bina’s attribute completely, and there will be no more hollows in it. Without disturbing one another, Malchut and Bina will act as one whole.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/10, “Make them Happy with a Complete Building”

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Question: How do we acquire the ability to advance “above reason”?

Answer: “Above reason” is above our “matter,” the will to enjoy; in other words, “above reason” is inside the quality of bestowal. We are unable to rise above our egoism ourselves. This is possible only with the help of the Upper Light, Ohr Makif.

“Reason” means my desire. Inside of my desire I am able to feel, see, and make calculations depending on the probable benefit or harm, or on whether it’s worthwhile for me to use a certain desire or not. As a result of these calculations I reach certain conclusions and then realize my desires. I do not have any problem in this regard. That is how I live in this world.

I am certain about part of these calculations and I have doubts about another part of them. In our earthly sciences we also use the theory of probability whenever we do not have reliable information. However, in any case we have something we can rely on.

On the other hand, “faith above reason” or “above knowledge” is when I don’t have any instruments or means of perceiving. In addition, I don’t even know what “higher” is. If it were simply opposite to reason, then I might be able to calculate how I should act according to my reason and then I would act exactly in the opposite manner. Yet, this would also be a rational calculation.

However, I don’t have the slightest idea of what “faith above reason” is; I don’t know what reason it follows, what sensation and calculation it entails, and in relation to what. It is a certain approach, tendency, or paradigm that does not exist inside me.

Therefore, only the Light can come and give us this approach because “above reason” means “for the sake of bestowal,” meaning not according to the calculation inside the Kli, the desire to enjoy. But if it’s not inside the desire, then I don’t know what it is. How can I find out? I don’t know. And inside what desire?

Kabbalists say: If you start to perceive the desire of your neighbor as your own, if you can make a calculation in relation to his desire, one that is for his good, then that will be above your current knowledge. However, to do that I have to receive super powers that I don’t have. If I receive them, I will be able to go “above reason.” However, for now you cannot jump higher than yourself.

Only the Light that created us can change us. Therefore we have to use the “miraculous means” (Segulot) and perform various actions that awaken the Light so it will influence us. That is how our success will be measured. The mind and the sensations that you accumulate inside your desire to enjoy for now are unable to help you. They can only help you in the opposite form. If you make a daily assessment of what you have attained in spirituality, you will see that in reality you haven’t attained anything even though you put in many efforts.

And the same thing will happen tomorrow. On the day after that, you will get confused in addition. Another day later you will suddenly feel confident that you have become smart. And so on. Every day you add more negative phenomena due to the fact that you reside inside the desire to enjoy for your own sake and you think that only the Light can help you, but it does not come and does not help you.

So what should you do? Start waging war against reason, as it is written about the Egyptian exile.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/10, The Zohar

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Man has always clung to religion and all sorts of beliefs because he had to somehow catch hold of spirituality, like a child that calms down by hugging a favorite toy or a familiar blanket. A person needs such "props" his or her entire life. Today, however, when our ego has reached such proportions that it won’t be satisfied with a toy, a person loses it and doesn’t know what to hold on to.

Then, everything becomes acceptable, and nobody cares about anything; notions of good and evil, religion and morality, no longer bind. That turns into a huge problem for society.

That’s when we need to circulate the wisdom of Kabbalah as quickly as possible to replace the disappearing bridle, a function primarily filled by religion which used to keep humanity at bay.

Kabbalah does so by giving humanity a purpose and revealing the Upper Governance to it. A person shouldn’t think that there is no higher authority; there is! However, instead of a system of morality that intimidates people with punishment in the afterlife, we need to actually discover the true Governor. Without it, it’s impossible to get along in the tumultuous transition period when mankind is freed from everything that binds it.

Once, everything used to fit into a clear pattern. Everyone knew how to dress based on his or her social standing strictly instilled by society. Now is the time of complete freedom when everything is allowed. And it’s just a beginning. Soon, all shame and morality will go out of the window.

Instead of being controlled by religion, faith, fear of punishment in this and the future worlds, the promise of Heaven and Hell, and the opinion of society, which puts everyone (be it a slave, a peon, or a lord) in his place by dictating the norms of life, even clothing, instead of all that, we will suddenly find ourselves completely unbridled. That has been done intentionally to replace this control with conscious, willing self-subordination to the Upper Governance.

The transition itself, however, is very problematic. Only when a certain part of humanity finds the connection with the Upper Governance, with the Creator’s "whip and bridle," and allies itself with it, serving as an example to others, then it will be easier for the rest to accept it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/10, "The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose"

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If a person is filled by great pleasure, then it’s as if he dissolves in it, being completely overpowered by it and like a robot, ready to do anything this pleasure demands from him. And he cannot do anything against it.

Every person has a certain tolerance threshold or a limit up to which he can withstand pleasure or tolerate suffering. Once the pleasure or suffering exceed that threshold, they can enslave him completely. A person is able to oppose them only within a very narrow range of sensitivity, and even then, he can only do so when he is able to protect himself from them in some way. What is that protection? It’s when he understands that he should not give in to temptation, both from the good side and the bad.

Otherwise pleasure and suffering will overpower him completely because a person is created out of a material whose basis is the will to enjoy. Therefore, it is completely obvious that they can easily do anything to him.
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From the lesson on Shamati on 11/19/10

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Human nature is completely egoistic. That is why a person cannot transform it on his own and needs an outside power to change him. This power can be evoked only by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah in the group.

“Indeed, I admit that this is a very difficult thing. One cannot change the nature of one’s own creation, which is only to receive for oneself, much less invert one’s nature from one extreme to the other, meaning to not receive anything for oneself, but rather act only to bestow.

Yet, this is why the Creator gave us Torah [the wisdom of Kabbalah] and Mitzvot [actions in the group], which we were commanded to do only in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator.” (Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Book of Zohar”)
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The Book of Zohar, Introduction, Chapter “BeLaila DeKala (On the Night of the Bride)“: …the Sitra Achra has only a thin light of the illumination of Malchut. This is regarded as Shoresh [root], and it is sufficient for the persistence of the Klipot… This Shoresh is also called “a fine thread,” meaning a thin root for the sins. It is written about it, “At first, it is akin to spider-web, and later it becomes as cart-ropes.”

Klipa is Kelim that we are unable to correct yet by the intention of bestowal. We are talking about very powerful and important desires in which the greatest Lights will be revealed later on at the final correction. In principle we do not have the possibility of doing anything with the desire for pleasure. We can only sort out its parts and decide which of them we are now able to work with on various conditions.

As for the rest of the desires, we have to “can” them and constantly keep guarding them so they won’t break out and attack us. All the enemies of Israel, meaning those who hate the aspiration “straight to the Creator,” are exactly the great egoistic desires which we cannot correct yet. The Torah calls them the nations that never let Israel be.

Of course, we understand that their wars are the awakening of egoism, which is for a person’s benefit. They enable him to discern his uncorrected desires and “to kill” them, meaning to always find new parts in them that can be corrected and attached to him in order to be used for the sake of bestowal.

Thus, we need to worry about the egoistic parts of the desire which are not yet subject to correction. We have to support their existence and perform special spiritual work for their sake.

After all, I feel them inside me. It’s not enough to simply cut them off and not use them. On the current phase I correct them by giving them a small illumination, designated by the letter Kuf (ק), whose lower part descends beneath the line, bringing a thin glow to the worlds of BYA and to the Klipot that are there.

It’s the same as how a sick person is connected to a life support machine in the emergency room. It’s not that I pretend that these desires don’t exist in me, but on the contrary, I admit that they exist and I rule over them. It turns out that they depend on me because I support a small spark of life in them.

We need the Klipa because, like a peel, it protects the fruit during the period of its ripening. Without these actions we are unable to start correcting Malchut.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, The Zohar

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Who is the Creator? The Creator is the general quality of bestowal and love. That is why He is concealed from you, since He is entirely bestowing, while you are an egoist, a receiver. That is why you do not feel Him.

Does He really conceal Himself? It is you hiding Him and not wanting to recognize Him! You say, “If only You would give me egoistic pleasure, which I desire right now. Then I would get to know You. Do you want to give me pleasure by bestowal? Well, I want to enjoy by reception!”

And that is the entire problem. No one conceals the Creator from you. You are inside Him and there is none else besides Him! But look at what kind of world you perceive yourself in….

Canceling your ego does not mean canceling your desires. It’s only the negation of the egoistic intention for your own sake. I don’t need to limit myself in any way. I must only limit my egoistic intentions and increase my intentions “for the sake of bestowal.” We don’t touch the actual desire.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/17/10, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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All everybody talks about nowadays is finding “alternatives”: alternative energy, food, education, another planet to live on, and so on. Everyday we observe that our egoistic approach to this world and society has “expired” and has already demonstrated its complete failure and downfall.

In spite of individual egoism (“consumer society”) we have gradually arrived at the understanding that the whole world is globally interconnected. We also realize that we are not yet well adjusted to it and have no knowledge of where to go further. The world is mutually dependent and thus forces us to connect through common interests and be considerate towards each other. Hence, we gradually begin to regard our habitual egoism as the enemy.

The exploration of ways to get out of our ego leads us to methodologies of “reduction” of our egoism; they simply return us back to previous levels of development. All such methods are based on suppression of or diminishing the ego.

Conversely, the human ego continues to grow. Its suppression goes against nature, and that’s why we won’t be able to diminish it. Such an approach is totally unnatural, and I don’t see how supporters of alternative medicine could accept it.

This is where a genuine alternative to all egoistic world sciences steps in, the wisdom of Kabbalah. As we reveal that egoism is truly the reason for all the evil that currently exists in this world, Kabbalah offers a method of its correction and the construction of a whole new world. Kabbalah represents a real alternative since it shows how to build an altruistic world instead of an egoistic one.

In any case, in the integral and global world, we have to start observing the laws of connection between us and establish balance between humans and nature. We have to become completely united in the system called “love thy neighbor.”

Kabbalah studies the entire system of the universe and explains that by self-correction we manage to cure ourselves and make the whole of nature (still, vegetative, and animate) healthy. We can eliminate all problems and illnesses because affliction and diseases are triggered by our imbalance with Nature.

We are absolutely egoistic by nature, and thus do not possess any freedom of choice and/or any other modes of behavior. Therefore, we entirely conform to the laws of nature. A person can obtain freedom only by rising above the oppressive domination of our egoism. This becomes available to us only by re-shaping our environment because for our egoism, the opinion of our environment is more important than our own.

That’s why Kabbalah suggests creating a society in which we have to “pretend” that we are already in bestowal and love. We understand that it is just a game, but it can still compel us to act so on the surface, as if we have already achieved this state.

These efforts will instigate the hidden natural power that holds all parts of Nature in balance (the life force of any organism), and this energy will alter our egoistic intention into that of bestowal and love. This is how we can reach complete connection of all parts of Nature: people, society, nature, and its Upper Force. Nature pushes us toward this state, and we are empowered to reach it consciously and easily.
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Question: Why do the descents make a much bigger impression in our sensations than the ascents?

Answer: It’s because we are egoists. We were created out of the will to enjoy, which experiences pleasure or suffering. There is no middle between them, and therefore even when I am in a neutral state where both pleasure and suffering are absent, I feel bad. I lack pleasure. I always demand a positive; zero is not enough for me.

That is why a person is dissatisfied. He has a home, a job, and plenty of food, but something is still missing. Either the grass is greener on his neighbor’s side, or life is devoid of meaning.

Our egoistic desire is not satisfied with what it has. As a result we suffer from the lack of an addition, and this addition must definitely grow as our egoism grows.

Besides, our source is the Creator, who created us. He is the only, single, and irreplaceable one, and every one of us feels the same way. So where can we find fulfillment for someone who is so unique?

That’s why it turns out that we never find satisfaction, not through pleasure, nor through the right self-realization. That is the nature of egoism. The smallest descent is enough for all of our heroism to vanish into thin air. We would agree to anything just to avoid feeling empty inside!

The desire for pleasure depends entirely on the Light. As long as it receives Light, it is full of energy, even though it doesn’t understand where that energy comes from. But as soon as the Light grows slightly distant, you feel helpless and would agree to anything in order to correct the situation in some way.

Look at the world: there’s terrorism, murder, theft, and lies. It would seem that if you gave every person what he wanted, no one would do anything bad. So who’s to blame? It’s the Creator, who does not reveal Himself and thereby evokes bad things. All that remains is to make the right conclusions from the above.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, Introduction to the Book of Zohar

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We have acquired something big and precious during the Convention: We have discovered for the first time that Pharaoh is sitting inside us and hates us, and we have to get rid of him, to run away, to exit Egypt…but are incapable of it.

We would have never realized that we must run away from him. We hoped that we could reveal spirituality in our egoism, in “Egypt.” But we did not even think that this is “Egypt.” Yet now we are beginning to understand that we must break free from it.

Our egoism, Pharaoh, received a blow, and this disappointment passed through him. Now we see that we have to distance ourselves from the desire in which we reveal disappointment and bitterness.

However, had we not gone full out till the end, we would not have felt disillusionment; we would have sensed that, truly, something is stopping us. There is no middle ground in spirituality; we have to go till the end.

Hence, now a certain new sensation has manifested in us. That same disappointment, the force of suffering that we now feel (since I invested so much effort, had so many hopes, and nothing happened) is my Pharaoh, who received a beating and is now suffering.

However, the Pharaoh has to feel the beatings since otherwise we will not be able to run away from it. Indeed, we run only from evil.

If I reveal my egoistic desire, my nature as evil, I will want to escape from it. And, perhaps, I will have to experience more of such blows before I decide that I must do it. I literally have to come out of my skin, to exit my “body.” This is called that Pharaoh is receiving blows, the “ten plagues of Egypt.”

We achieved this only because we nevertheless united between us. One is always revealed against the other, as it is said, “in Your Light we will see the Light.” Thanks to this unification and our preparation, we realized that we suffer because of our egoistic nature. And this is a big achievement!

Millions of people who participated in the Convention virtually were together with us. They, too, went through the same states.
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From the Lesson on the Weekly Torah Portion 11/12/10

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