Question: What is the root of the soul and how do we attain it?

Answer: The root of the soul is called the source of the soul, meaning the Creator, who is revealed in the connection between you. Not within your egoism, but in the fact that between two egoists a mutual quality of bestowal can be revealed.

It is revealed between you, the egoists, despite the personal ego in each of you, and it is precisely in this place where the Creator is revealed.

Therefore, the greater the egoists are and the more they work on themselves, the more the Creator can be revealed between them. But always between them!
[254483]
From the 4^th Kabbalah Lesson of the Congress in Moldova, 9/7/2019

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It is written, “The Lord is high and the low will see,'”that only the low can see the exaltedness. The letters “Yakar” [precious] are the letters of “Yakir” [will know]. This means that one knows the exaltedness of a thing to the extent that it is precious to one.

One is impressed according to the importance of the thing. The impression brings one to a sensation in the heart, and according to the measure of one’s recognition of the importance, to that extent, joy is born in him (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 26, “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”).

It all depends on the degree of importance, which depends on the environment. If people are talking about spirituality everywhere, I am ignited with desire and begin to appreciate it although I have no idea what it is. Then I have the fuel, the strength, to follow the path and acquire something ephemeral, the subject of everyone’s conversation, which escapes my field of vision. This is not a problem; I am ready to follow others with my eyes closed.

This is how society “hypnotizes” me and pushes me forward. In our world, it ends up with me meaninglessly buying things I don’t have the slightest need for. But in a group, it pushes me toward a spiritual goal, which I gradually reveal until it comes out in its entirety. This whole path, all the steps of the spiritual ladder, are conquered only because I am imbued with the importance of the goal from the environment.

Thus, if one knows his lowliness, that he is not more privileged than his contemporaries, meaning he sees that there are many people in the world who were not given the strength to do the holy work even in the simplest way, even without the intention and in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], even in Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma, and even in preparation for the preparation of the clothing of Kedusha [holiness], while he was imparted the desire and thought to at least occasionally do holy work, even in the simplest possible way, if one can appreciate the importance of this, according to the importance one attributes to the holy work, to that extent he should give praise and thanks for it.

This is so because it is true that we cannot appreciate the importance of being able to sometimes observe the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Creator, even without any intention. In that state, one comes to feel elation and joy in the heart.

The praise and the gratitude one gives for it expand the feelings, and one is elated by every single point in the holy work, he knows Whose servant he is, and thus soars ever higher. This is the meaning of what is written, “I thank You for the grace that You have made with me,” meaning for the past, and by this one can confidently say, and he does say, “and that You are destined to do with me (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 26, “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”).

There is no one worthy to come to the Creator. Moreover, no one deserves to come to the Creator before others do. What kind of merit can there be?

Therefore, if a person is at least involved in the process, is drawn to spirituality although in fact the Creator is pulling him toward Himself, one should be grateful for it, it should be given great importance and significance. Because of the degree of importance and sensitivity a person has cultivated in himself, he feels how the Creator draws him upward in a mutual relationship. It turns out that the Creator is behind his entire story, behind all crimes and missteps through which He deliberately guides a person right up to the present day. Then a person begins to acquire a sixth sense—the sensation of the Creator. This is only in the measure of the importance he has.

Why is the formula so simple? Why do we only need to give importance to spirituality in order to evoke a response from the Creator?

In fact, this awareness of importance includes everything. For its sake, I must bow my head, as it is said: “The Lord is high, and the low will see.” I raise Him in my eyes, i.e., the property of giving, and lower myself, i.e., the property of receiving.

I take strength for that from the environment, which means I have to join it as a small one. After all, it is the small one who can learn from the great one because he really perceives them as such. That is why I join a group, and by doing so, I already develop the quality of bestowal, love for my neighbor, and unity.

At the same time, I also need to study the actions of the Creator: how He set up the whole reality. Also, I have to spread this message to others. After all, I honor Him, and therefore I find out what He wants. He wants to reveal Himself to everyone, to bestow to others, and so I act in this direction.

It turns out that the mere concept of the importance of the Creator is enough to add everything necessary, everything that exists in me, in the vessel, and before the light to this action.
[71872]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”

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Kabbalists write that our task is to unite and once again gather together into a single system called “Adam.” For now, we are called “Bnei Adam” – “Sons of Adam,” meaning his parts, his consequences.

In order to gather into one connected system, we must carry out all possible actions so that, on the one hand, we realize that we are incapable of uniting by ourselves and become disillusioned with all actions we might undertake. On the other hand, we must not lose sight of the goal.

It turns out that we move toward the goal in two directions. One direction is the so-called “left line”: complete disappointment in our own strength, the inability to succeed on our own. And the other direction is the understanding that it is still possible with the help of the Creator, but we must ask Him correctly.

To ask correctly means to unite among ourselves in our request. This is achieved through mutual efforts to unite and mutual efforts to ask the Creator. As a result, if we truly reveal the Creator and become connected with Him, we will ascend to His level, the next level of reality. To come to this, we strive to reach that very system of Adam from which we fell, broke apart, scattered, and now are trying to reassemble.

The Creator preliminarily connects us by bringing us into groups. We don’t feel it; we don’t see His influence on us. Later we will discover that this is how it actually works, everything comes from above, “There is none else besides Him.” But what is required of us is prayer, a request for Him to do it.

It is impossible to come to this request without having tried everything, without having done everything in our power, even beyond our power. We must keep trying to unite again and again, even though each time we will discover ourselves in even greater shattering, separation, and disregard toward one another.

Such a revelation of our true egoistic qualities should sadden us on one hand, but also gladden us on the other. Sadden because I am far from the goal; gladden because I am revealing how far I am from the goal.

That is, in this, I am actually beginning to attain light from within darkness, to reveal what the true goal is. The greater the state of connection from which I fall, the more I begin to value that state and understand that I am outside of it.

And so, it continues until the full measure (Se’a) of my aspiration toward the goal is gathered  in which there truly will be connection. But in the beginning, I didn’t have this measure: I was told to act, and I did so. I repeated phrases mechanically, I sang, I read, I studied together with everyone, I gathered in the tens, but it was all not from the heart.

Perhaps it seemed to me that I was actually doing something. But in reality, with each step I more and more become convinced that all this is insincere, not coming from my true desire. My mouth and my heart are not aligned: the heart feels egoistic desires, and the mouth speaks beautiful words about connection, about unity.

This must continue until we begin to truly try to unite. Even if we speak incorrectly, feel incorrectly, still it must be together. And then the moment will come when the Creator sees that we are insignificant, small, but have done all that is in our power: We tried to unite, we tried to gather, and thereby have come to a state that He must already respond to.

Then we will discover that He is assembling us together in tens and is revealed between us as the quality of bestowal, the quality of connection. This is the initial quality that we attain, the light of the level of Nefesh, the smallest light, the smallest altruistic connection. In this measure we begin to feel the Creator, His invisible, hidden presence within us, between us. Not in each of us individually, but between us.

This illumination that arises between us is called Zohar, the upper light, the upper radiance. Naturally, this is still incomplete, a very small illumination, but nonetheless, it already shines within us.
[253312]
From the Convention in Moldova 9/6/2019, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

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Question: You were always seeking the purpose of life. You were unsatisfied with this world. When you arrived in Israel, you found RABASH. What did you see?

Answer: It took me a while to get to RABASH. At first, I was introduced to people that I was told I could get answers to my questions from. I was asking about the meaning of life and searching for it.

I was sent to all kinds of religious figures who only told me to do this or that, to pray, and everything would be fine. But it did not suit me at all! I had a university education, and in general none of this was for me.

I got to RABASH by accident when, simply out of desperation, I decided to go with my friend to look for a teacher. We had been looking in different places before. But here I was struck by the fact that he began to explain what I was interested in, in simple words without relying on any dogmas or anything.

You can be a man or a woman, religious or not; you can be from any planet, no matter where. He would explain it the same way for everyone, because the truth is simple and the same for everyone! I was instantly bought.

Very clear, simple answers were given to any questions, which raised new questions and new answers. But it was all built, one might say, scientifically, although in front of me sat a man who did not have even a high school degree. But since he studied Kabbalah, he was well-versed in all my questions, and he always had the answers ready.

Question: What was going on in this small group of six people? How was it built?

Answer: At that time RABASH actually had six students who had studied under Baal HaSulam.

They had a very short conversation: “Let us sit down and study. No answers to your questions. There will be no end to them. You have to learn so that you can answer your own questions later.” There is no other way. Just like now with people who come to us, we can explain anything, answer however we want, but until they learn to answer themselves, nothing will happen.

All six elderly people had a very interesting attitude to life. They were not really interested in anything except Kabbalah. Otherwise, everything was very simple: plain food during meals, ordinary songs, etc. But the most important thing was that they had answers to questions that I, with all my education, could not have heard either from myself or others.

Question: You studied together, held meals and gathering of friends. How was it?

Answer: The lessons were held for us every day from three to six in the morning. In the evenings, there were one-and-a-half-hour lessons intended for all. They were attended by different people, not only those who studied in the morning.

We had meals for the new moon. The new moon is a special holiday for Kabbalists.

Question: Were there people responsible for the meals?

Answer: Yes, there were those responsible for everything.

Each month, a different person was appointed for the meals. After two months of studying, I said I was ready to organize a meal, i.e., to order, pay for, and set it up. Not six, but up to 60 people gathered for these meals.

Question: At what point did you feel you would teach?

Answer: I actually taught before that because sometimes I was invited to give talks at the Jewish Agency Sokhnut. I cannot say I was particularly attracted to it, but I did not mind; it inspired me. After all, if I teach, it means I have to prepare, study, and develop. It helped me study such things in Kabbalah that I would not have approached myself because I was not personally interested in them.

Question: Did you understand, purely selfishly, that you had to take everything from RABASH in order to pass it on? Did you have such a feeling?

Answer: Yes, absolutely. If you are sitting among six 70-year-old elders who say this science is about correcting the world and the world cannot exist without it, the question arises: who will continue to lead this science? It turned out that at that time, there was no one.

Therefore I immediately began to record everything I heard in a notebook and on a tape recorder. I could not stop thinking that I had to save all this and pass it on.

Before that, I had never heard the wisdom that I learned from them: the foundations of the world, the foundations of nature, and the interaction of its parts. It is nowhere to be found. That is why I immediately started writing everything down and organizing it.

Question: How did RABASH treat his students and outsiders?

Answer: RABASH liked to feel free, without revealing to anyone he was a great Kabbalist, an expert on nature and on the governance of the whole world. There was no indication of that. Outwardly he did not want to display anything.

He was surrounded by people who had worked all their lives at very simple jobs. RABASH himself worked laying roads, reinforcing concrete, and at construction sites; he carried stones, bricks, and laid walls. His students also worked hard, but in their old age they switched to easier work. In general, they did not want to stand out in the world; they did not need it.

Question: How did RABASH physically prepare for lessons?

Answer: I saw how, in his spare time, he went through the same material we studied in class. Lessons ended at six o’clock in the morning, and he would not even go to bed.

When I went to see him at nine in the morning to take him to the park or somewhere else, I often found him dozing on a book stand, with Talmud Eser Sefirot open in the place we studied. That is, he continued to study by himself.

Comment: RABASH’s group practically started with that revolutionary move when you brought 40 students to him. Despite the resistance of the religious town and religious relatives, he made this revolution; he accepted them.

And then he did something you did not expect from him. He started writing articles about the group.

My Response: The fact is that he started doing it at my request. When I brought the students, he asked me to talk to them. I did not know what to talk to them about. What can I tell them? Then he started writing, literally pieces, half a page, a page, etc.

Question: He wrote 20 articles that we are studying and will always study as we find more and more depth in them. Did he have any hope that the guys you brought would form a group?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But this hope did not really materialize?

Answer: He did not have much time. I brought people to him in 1983, and he died in 1991. Six years is a very short time for people to start interacting with each other properly. Of course, a living, true Kabbalistic group began to form, but it did not have time to fully form. It takes years.

Question: What happened after RABASH left?

Answer: Since I was always attached to him, not to the group, his death was a big blow to me. The source from which I grew and drank as from a spring was as if torn off.

The guys I brought to him were more or less connected to each other in different subgroups, as usually happens in groups of people united by circumstances or internal similarity.
But I had practically nothing to do with them.

Question: So your group was RABASH. Where did you, practically an individualist, later get the powerful desire to create a group? Where did you get the feeling this was the only advancement?

Answer: Because that is how it is. RABASH writes about it everywhere. He and I were also a group, two friends who constantly helped each other. This was a group. I cannot put it any other way. At least that is how he felt about it.

As for the other students, I think RABASH did not let me get close to them. It was probably enough for him that I was attached to him.
[256022]
From the 8^th Lesson of the Congress in Moldova, 9/8/2019

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Question: On the first day of the convention, we felt an ocean of light. But on the second day, it was as if we dove somewhere and lost all sense of up or down; we lost our footing.

What do we need to add to make it flow and unite us?

Answer: We lack darkness. Not the emptiness that the whole world feels as the absence of small fulfillments, but real darkness. Darkness is suffering from longing to reveal the Creator, the suffering of being disconnected from the meaning of life, from its source, from what it should be.

On one hand, all of creation shows us how interconnected, perfect, and above us it is. On the other hand, when we start trying to orient ourselves, we feel that we see nothing in it: no beginning, no end, complete disorientation.

This is actually the best feeling; it arises in us every moment that we move toward mastering the spiritual space, toward revealing the Creator. Ar every moment we feel either that we are approaching Him or moving away, falling, and darkness.

If yesterday you felt an “ocean of light,” today you will feel the opposite, and not just equally, but even worse. This will repeat every time. The descents will be lower, and the attainments will accordingly be higher.

We have to get used to moving in darkness and in disorientation because it is precisely this that helps us rid ourselves completely of egoistic directions, leads, and definitions.

When we become disoriented in our usual parameters, directions, and feelings, when we understand and know nothing, when we experience a sense of being lost and perhaps even darkness, we must recognize that this is the start of a new degree. We are given the opportunity to rise precisely in this darkness to see the light, the Creator, through it. This is a huge help in our advancement.

Therefore we must immerse ourselves specifically in this state of darkness and from it reveal the light.

That is our work. Otherwise we will never reveal the Creator; it is only from the state opposite to Him.
[253676]
From the preparation for the 4th lesson of the Congress in Moldova, 9/7/2019

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At that time, a person should pay attention to this and believe that the Creator is tending to him and guides him on the track that leads to the King’s palace (RABASH, Article No. 6, “When One Should Use Pride in the Work“).

A person must constantly check in all one’s sensations and thoughts and in one’s heart and mind, if one agrees with the fact that the Creator is guiding him or her toward Himself?

“Do I agree with what the Creator is doing with me? He throws me down, lifts me up, tosses me in every direction. One moment I cry, the next I laugh; sometimes I rejoice, sometimes I’m distressed. Do I understand that I must go through these states, but that the most important thing is to remain in connection, in adhesion with the Creator—that there is none else besides Him?”

It follows that he should be happy that the Creator is watching over him and gives him the descents, as well. That is, a person should believe, as much as he can understand, that the Creator is giving him the ascents…

Also, a person should believe that the Creator gives him the descents, as well, because He wants to bring him closer. Therefore, every single thing that he can do, he must do as though he is in a state of ascent.

In principle, there are no descents. What occurs is merely the revelation of the next uncorrected degree, followed by its correction. These degrees are revealed to us—they were formed even before us as a result of the shattering of Adam HaRishon. And we continuously correct them through our attitude.

Nothing is required from us! We do not need to do anything except to agree with the Creator, to justify Him.

The Hebrew word “to justify” is “LeHatzdik,” and a person who justifies the Creator is called a Tzadik, a righteous one, because he justifies Him. That is our entire work. But for this, we absolutely need an environment; without it, we will not be able to justify even a single act of the Creator, neither emotionally nor mentally.

Therefore, when he overcomes a little during the descent, it is called an “awakening from below.” Each act that he does, he believes that it is the Creator’s will, and by this itself he is rewarded with greater nearing, meaning that the person himself begins to feel that the Creator has brought him closer.
[255030]
From the Kabbalah Congress in Moldova 9/8/2019, Lesson 7

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At our gatherings there are certain actions where I must let go of all criticism and simply merge with everyone.

How can I do that? Precisely by jumping and singing together with everyone, like a child, annulling myself.

Such an attitude connects me to the common state, and then I gain the opportunity to break free from limitations and feel some kind of spiritual breath!

It seems like frivolous behavior to us, but that is only because we do not perceive spirituality within it. After all, this is the light of infinity!

We are unable to discern anything in it with our tools of perception. That is why it seems lifeless and inanimate. But it all depends on our Kli (vessel) as to whether we are able to see the entire spiritual light of NRNHY in it.

Anything that comes from a connection, even the smallest one, is already called perfection.

That is why it is in this form that we have a chance to catch some spiritual sensation, precisely when you are jumping together with others.

All these dances came to us from the great Kabbalists, from Baal Shem Tov; Rabash also made us dance like this.

It is not just frivolity. Within the dance there is serious thought and very deep work. Suddenly you do not want it, and within you thoughts of for and against are racing, and they generate terrible doubts. But you keep jumping.

This is not some kind of meditation; you are not disconnected from reality. The entire time you are standing before the question: What am I doing and why? What does it give me? Who is making me do this, and with whom am I jumping? What binds us together?!

While you are dancing, you are going through all your internal work from beginning to end.

This dance forces you to process all possible thoughts that go against it, against the unity that you do not want!

Your mind constantly rebels against it, and you are forced to make inner discernments.

That is why dancing becomes exhausting inner work. You come out of the dance completely drained, not because of physical exertion, but because of all the internal discernments you have gone through.

You are dancing inside yourself, in your internal ascents and descents! And the fact that you are jumping outwardly is just a way to awaken these internal states.

You jump physically; you rise and fall. But inside lots of other ups and downs occur simultaneously, and that is what matters most!

Without these external actions, you will not be able to achieve the internal ones. One cannot exist without the other.

That is why dancing becomes a unique tool for inner work, and that is why Baal Shem Tov and the first Hasidim who were Kabbalists, introduced these traditions.
[19042]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/2010, “Questions about the Role of the People”

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The Creator is in everything: in the world, in society, in humanity, in the ten. We merely reveal Him there according to our own qualities. Imagine ten people sitting around one table. The Creator is among them ready to be revealed as soon as they establish the correct network of relationships.

Therefore there is nothing left for us to do but take a sheet of paper and draw on it what each one needs to contribute toward the center of the table, so that a true, proper desire forms in that center—the very thing that is required of creation.

It is said that when something is required of me, I must show the correct intention before my friends, and if I cannot, it is okay. The main thing is my willingness. “Help me, and I will try.” That is enough, because it is written that “no one can free himself from prison.” Only others can help me escape my egoism.

There is nothing wrong with ten egoists gathering together all wanting only to receive. But they are willing to sit and work on their egoism in order to bring themselves to the correct interaction, so that a balanced, mutual intention forms between them, with mutual responsibility and a feeling of mutual dependence.

Gradually, they will begin to feel how close they are to one another, and realize that the Creator did not bring them together for nothing. It is precisely in this common connection, in their ten, that He sees something of His own image. Therefore I must relate to each of my friends as someone chosen by the Creator, as someone placed next to me who is not merely a friend but is actually a part of my own soul.

It is said that “there is no place in the world that is empty of Him.” Here “place” means desire. As soon as our desires reach even a minimal state of bestowal and love, we will immediately reveal the Creator within us.
[188189]
From the Convention in Moscow 5/2/2015, Lesson 3

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This repels many newcomers; they fly out of the group and do not want to continue studying. Or should they cross this barrier? What should people who encounter the methodology of Kabbalah for the first time do?

They understand perfectly well what you are talking about and admire the inner depth that you convey. But they cannot accept this method and constantly ask: “What is the point of all these actions: songs, dances, and other things?”

My Response: I see that for many people this is the most accessible and pleasant thing.

I look at a convention, thousands of people gather there, all dancing, singing, shouting. For them, this is an understandable way to express themselves and unite. It seems to me that this is what makes them happy. Would they really be pleased if I turned it into serious academic study there?

What else can you do if you want to lift people up, to inspire them? At least on this small level they can somehow express a longing for the Creator, for connection, even if not exactly for connection itself, but for something that draws them. I have seen this.

Still, I myself am not so inclined toward that. I have a completely different approach to attainment, to inward penetration. But we are talking about the masses who can feel and grasp things in this way.

By the way, after they dance, hug, and shout, when you listen to their questions, those questions are very deep and relevant, about the four phases of direct light and so on.

These are not just random questions from someone who does not know what he is talking about, but they come from understanding! They already feel these concepts and identify with them in some way. That combination is very correct in them. I envy them!
[345970]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. To deceive myself,” 6/7/11

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Question: Usually people sing and dance at our conventions and unity evenings. About 50% of the people are genuinely inspired to join in, and 50% do it through effort. Should you enjoy our method or should you do it through effort, and thereby draw the light?

Answer: Both.

Look at how mass festivities, pop bands, singers, and “Madonnas” of the world inspire people. What can you do? That is how the masses find a way to express some common opinion, a feeling of unity. That is the way everything is made. We can’t invent anything else. The most important thing is the overall common impression.

Of course, if you ask me, I feel unity most during study when all of us are learning together, absorbing one idea, being inside it as one. I hope we will reach such a state where we feel how a new thought, a new idea, a new feeling is born in our unity. It will appear precisely in the connection between us, in the adhesions, and this thought will be felt by us as a third force, as the Creator. But we will get there gradually.

Naturally it will be revealed more during study than during dancing. But both are necessary.

In the end, over the course of a few days of a convention, people receive a certain impression that is created by everything together: the study, the questions and answers, the workshops, and the cultural events.
[346008]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Songs, Dances,” 9/20/10

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