Why do we understand the world in which we are living? It is because we feel it. If we started to feel it in a different way, it would be understood as something else felt inside ourselves.

In other words, the feeling must be prior to understanding. It is impossible to understand the reality we don’t feel. This doesn’t happen. Sometimes, it is possible to understand something in our world according to our imagination because we have models of feeling particular objects inside, and it is possible to imagine them in some form. But this is a problem.

Are we ready to imagine, let’s say, the taste of grapes with benzene? Which is to say, as long as we haven’t tangibly experienced something, Kelim (vessels) are not created in us since Kelim are desires, feelings, and before this, our brain has nothing to work with.

So, our problem with the Creator is that He is the only force, and we have the opportunity in our world to feel ourselves separate from Him, and this is the greatest thing that He ever did. He created something as if it exists outside of Him (existence from absence), and specifically from this nonexistence it is possible to begin to attain the Creator.

But it is impossible to understand Him with the intellect because He is characteristics, manners, and activities that are completely incomprehensible to us. Levels of approaching the Creator are according to the degree of equivalence with Him. The biggest problem of our getting closer is that with every step of our approach to the Creator, we must understand more and more—feel, know, and grasp inside of us—that all of our movements within our desires, thoughts, drives and plans, whatever they may be when we direct ourselves directly toward Him, and even any opposing activities when we want to twist and lie to ourselves, in all of this the Creator precedes us.

It makes no difference how we perceive ourselves, in whatever desires, thoughts or actions, we always discover Him first and, after that, ourselves. And where am I? It becomes clear that the “self” of each one of us is specifically in understanding the fact that the Creator is everywhere and one must adhere with Him at this point. So, the self gradually, in parts, in some point, will adhere with the Creator until reaching full equivalence with Him. This form is called Adam (Man).

However, for us, it is difficult to imagine this because everything must happen within our desires, and this will be realized only when we begin to move within our inner analysis toward the discovery of the Creator in everything inside of us and around us, according to the principle of “There is none else besides Him.”

What I am thinking now, this is His thought. Is my reaction to this thought also my reaction or His reaction? In what way can our thoughts be equivalent? In what way can I see the difference between Him and me? If I don’t agree with the thought that is aroused in me, it means that this disagreement comes from Him, and here it begins to become clear where my form still is not like His.

This is a very interesting analysis. In the beginning, it is tiresome. After that, it begins to be interesting. After all, this is a constant inner game that, in fact, adds to our life and gives it inner meaning, inner energy, a source of movement. If a person begins to search for the Creator in all of his drives, feelings and thoughts—even in movements that are unconscious and instinctive reactions—it means that he is searching for the way in which he is different from the Creator.

In the still, vegetative, and animate nature, the Creator manifests instinctively. Everything happens there according to particular laws. There are no problems, and all of the laws of nature are carried out precisely.

So we cannot have any complaints against animals, not can there be any complaints of animals against each other. Everything is in a particular balance: who eats whom and who exists at the expense of whom. Everything is defined from the start. Everything must exist this way. There is a precise and instinctive transmission of nature here. The Creator acts in them naturally and is not expressed in any form.

It is the same thing in regard to people in whom the Creator does not want to be revealed. He works instinctively. We see that all of the great politicians, economists, and in part also the scientists (there are those who already are conscious of their difference), not to mention the common people, all of them exist instinctively. The Creator is not revealed in regard to them.

In what way is He revealed to us? First, He compels us to search for the reason for our existence—meaning, to begin searching for Him—and brings us to a feeling as to where and in what way we are beginning to grow above our animate level. If I am involved in this now, I am trying to understand in what place in me, in my thoughts and feelings, I can grasp the Creator, where He constantly challenges me, manages me from within. This thought is related to the level of Adam. I want to rise above instinctive behavior and consciously recognize the management of the Creator, conscious from my point of view. This is precisely the way we must go.

Here, we gradually begin to detach from Him and connect with Him consciously, which is to say that previously I was under the instinctive management of the Creator: Everything that I did, all of my previous life specifically had to be like that. Everything is attributed to Him!

From this moment on, I want to feel His activity in all of my feelings, my desires, in whatever happens inside of me and, after that, decide if I agree with this action, how I can adhere with Him, but consciously.

In the beginning, I must feel that He—this is He, and I—this is I, and that He is doing something within me. Do I agree with His desires and thoughts with heart and mind, to what He is doing with me? If not, I must connect with Him and adhere to Him above my desire and thoughts. This is very great work. Here, I begin to separate myself from the Creator (this is called “analysis of the state”) and after that, make a correction, connecting myself to Him (this is called “correction and adhesion”).

The distance between Him and me is determined by my ego that I am beginning to discover within me, and the more that I work on myself, the more my ego grows from minus to an immense plus or from instinctive behavior to an awareness that He is the one who is acting this way, but I still agree with Him and move back toward Him. This proceeds conically, and we must connect these two systems within the middle line.

Through the understanding that without the ego we could not differentiate ourselves from Him, become an independent, created being, we give great contentment to the Creator. Only then do we begin to understand what existence from absence is, and from there we connect ourselves to “existence from existence.”
[129647]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/14

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Congress in Guadalajara “One Heart for All”

Question: What do we have to correct first: ourselves or the environment?

Answer: It is a very complex question. I cannot correct myself without the environment, and I cannot correct the environment until I correct myself. And to the extent that I correct myself, I see that the environment is already corrected and I only need to be correcting myself, and this is what each of us feels.

In essence, we are in a perfect reality that has no flaws. Only inside of us there is a sensation that we feel bad, that we are flawed and divided. But when we reveal the true reality, environment, and world, then we discover an upper world instead of this one. And then we see that aside from our perception of reality, nothing else had to be corrected.

It turns out that I existed in a perfect reality all along, and it was only in my uncorrected perception that it appeared broken because I myself was broken. My properties were corrupted, and thus I judged everything according to my own flaws.

Therefore a person should understand that only he alone is corrupted and everyone else is corrected. But he can correct himself only if he connects to everyone else in the right way through teaching everyone how to unite correctly.

All other people outside him are broken parts of his own soul. Therefore, the work of our correction goes in two directions: from oneself outward and back.

And indeed, there is no vice in any person or in humanity as a whole. Only the connections between us are corrupted and only there should we focus our efforts: on the correction not of the human being himself, but of his relationship with others. If we achieve a good connection in some group, then we reveal an upper world in it and see everything in the correct form.

A person should correct his attitude to the friends and through it show them an example of how he loves them. There is no need for anything other than this example. If you succeed in this, then you will see how much you advance forward.
[163862]
From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

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When we unite, our desires that are so different, opposite, and distant from each other merge into one single desire.

It turns out that on the one hand, we are completely distant, but on the other hand, we united and are therefore beginning to reveal the single force of nature.

This occurs precisely because we have huge egoism, but above it we are trying to come to unity.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed only to those people who possess a special sensitivity, who simultaneously feel both their disconnection and their unity. In this way, it will gradually be revealed to everyone in the world.

It is such a joy to see how our Kabbalistic groups are springing up around the whole world. Many people are coming to study and want to learn about the method of connection. Year by year, humanity is growing more confused, losing its purpose, despairing like a small child who got lost, went astray, and now does not know where to go.

In the meantime, we are understanding more and more clearly what a unique method we have at our disposal. We only need to implement it on ourselves and offer it to all of humanity so that they too will unite and feel themselves at a higher level of existence because everyone will become one whole.

We still have a lot to learn about it. Do not forget that we learn this wisdom from nature, not only from books. We need to implement the connection between ourselves as a counterweight to the egoism that separates us. We are like research scientists, revealing this method empirically.

A Kabbalistic group is a laboratory where we conduct an experiment on our own selves, year after year, lesson after lesson, registering all the details of the process that we are undergoing.

Only in the past year or two have we gotten closer to the phase of direct implementation. Before that, we only studied the system: how it is connected in an ideal manner, that is to say, the system of the upper worlds.

In essence, the upper world and the lower world are in the same place. But when we are divided, we refer to our world as the material world. When we unite, then we feel a different reality, a harmonious one, connected by a single force.

All of nature becomes one organism, which is called the revelation of the Upper Force—the only force that manifests inside us, since it cannot be revealed somewhere externally, outside of the connection with us. This signifies the revelation of the Creator to His creatures in accordance with the condition of equivalence of form.
[163727]
From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

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The whole science of Kabbalah is meant for us to reveal where we are in actuality. After all, we exist in a certain reality that is unfamiliar to us. That reality is hidden from us since we hide it with our own corrupted qualities.

In other words, the correction of our qualities and the revelation of true reality are one and the same. To the extent that we correct ourselves, true reality is revealed more and more, until we reveal the true state where we are in adhesion with the Creator.

This is why the main article, which we have to realize in practice, is Baal HaSulam’s article, “There is None Else Besides Him,” from the book Shamati:

It is written, “there is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household, the reason is that this is His will.

Therefore, we see that we are opposite to the Creator, in a certain concealment that separates us from Him, and we need to remove this concealment. Everything that happens to us in this concealment is given to us on purpose as an exercise by the Creator in order to help us remove this concealment.

The removal of the concealment consists of our correcting ourselves in accordance to the Creator’s qualities, and due to this, the concealment fades. In other words, I take on the concealment, and then there is nothing that stands between me and the Creator. This is how I relate to the entire world.

Therefor, “world” in Hebrew “Olam,” comes from the word “Alama,” which means concealment since it conceals the Creator, and I must make it a means of revealing the Creator.

But how? I don’t know how to approach the world, too many factors influence me. I don’t know what to do inside of me so that these external influences would go away. I don’t know how to reveal the Creator through them.

In order to direct ourselves properly, we are given a ten—ten friends. If I work correctly with them, I learn through them, together with them, how to correct my attitude to them so that the connection between us becomes a circuit so that we become so connected that there is no distance between us.

Every time I try to unite with them strongly, I direct myself more and more to a willingness to reveal unity. The more I unite with the ten, the more my inner vessel (Kli)—perception, thoughts, intention, in the mind and the heart—becomes more and more appropriate to understand what the Creator is and what that special reality is. Out of darkness and lack of understanding and feeling, gradually, I begin to form Him.

The Creator has no form. I don’t know what it is, and it is a good thing that I don’t know. I cannot know since there is no Creator in relation to a creature. I need to create Him. I build Him from my relationships with the friends. That’s why it is written, “You created Me.” The Creator in Hebrew is “Bo-Re – Come and See.”

The most important thing for us is to realize that there is no Creator without a creature, and we build Him from a correct connection between us. If we can unite mutually with each other as one man with one heart in the given circumstances in such a way that there is no distance between us, we will reveal the first form of the Creator.

Then, the distance between us in the ten will increase suddenly, and we will feel distant from each other, hatred, disdain, and impatience. Again, we will need to work on this in order to annul this distance.

Rabash instructs us as to how to do this: everyone considers himself a zero in regard to the others. Everyone must be equal. Everyone, except me, are the greatest of the generation, and I am included in them as the lowest. I do everything for them and pray for them, since the prayer of many is the prayer for many, and only this prayer is accepted by the Creator.

If every member of the ten acts in this manner, we annul the distance between us once again, which is common for all. We unite again in one desire, one thought. I don’t feel myself or others. I feel us as something completely unified, as ten drops that flow together into one.

In this manner, we achieve a sensation called the revelation of the Creator on the second degree. As soon as we achieve this, immediately, we begin to draw further away from each other. Our egoistic desire suddenly will burst out from within, and we will hate each other with such mutual hatred as we never experienced before.

Thus, the attitude with which we work between us starts from a state called Mount Sinai, the mountain of hatred, and again we will learn how to annul this mountain, to rise over it to the next degree and remove the separation between us, thus revealing the Creator on the third degree, and so on, every time more and more.

Every time, we will feel that we are revealing a new world, a new reality. The reality that we thought was true earlier changes from our external to our inner reality.

This doesn’t mean that our world that we perceive in our five corporeal senses disappears. What disappears is its control or independence, and we begin to reveal that, truly, there is none else besides Him.

As we learn from the section on “Perception of Reality,” we begin to perceive all of reality that is outside of us more and more through our inner reality that we control and is part of us, although seemingly it exists outside.

Our entire work is called “There is none else besides Him” since we need to work only above the unity. We will talk about how to achieve trepidation, and through it, faith, and from faith, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and then “Love your Creator.” All of these are degrees of unification, revelation of oneness, revelation of the fact that there is none else besides Him.

We will need to go through this process in order to achieve revelation of the Creator at least on the first degree, and His revelation always occurs in the form of “There is none else besides Him,” nothing except this one governance that prevails in the world. We unite with Him as one, and there is no difference between the Creator and us. All of this leads to a unity that is called “a drop of unity.”
[163603]
From the Convention In New Jersey “Completing The Circle” 7/23/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

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Lesson 6: Completing The Circle And Starting Anew

– What have we attained?
– How to be content with our attainment?
– The Covenant

1. This is the meaning of what is written, “You stand today, all of you,” meaning everything you went through, all the states you have experienced—states of Gadlut or states of less than Gadlut, which were considered intermediate or so. You take all those details and you do not compare one degree to another because you do not care for any reward, but only for doing the Creator’s will. … In other words, the state he is in right now is as important to him as when he thought he was in a state of Gadlut. At that time, “The Lord your God makes with you this day.”

This means that then the Creator makes a covenant with him. In other words, precisely when one accepts His work without any conditions and agrees to do the holy work without any reward, which is called “unconditional surrender,” this is the time when the Creator makes a covenant with him.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

2. Let him be content with his portion, and give praise and thanksgiving to the Creator for giving him a small part in the service of the king, even if only one minute a day or one minute every couple of days. Let him consider it great treasure.

And even if his deed was very simple, nevertheless he should try to be happy, and he will receive livelihood from the fact that he was allowed to serve the king. And he is obligated to give praise to the Creator in every opportunity.

I heard from Baal HaSulam that by the praise and thanksgiving that one gives the Creator upon approaching the Creator, one continues the Light of Kedusha downward, so that he will feel himself complete, and then it is called that he is in the state of Baruch (blessed), and Baruch adheres to Baruch. But when one keeps himself in the state of accursed, Baruch does not adhere to accursed, as the sages said.
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, Vol 2, Letter No. 36

3. The same applies when one feels some closeness to holiness, when he feels joy at having been favored by the Creator. Then, too, one must say that one’s joy is primarily because now there is joy Above, within the Holy Shechina, at being able to bring her private organ near her, and that she did not have to send her private organ away.
And one derives joy from being rewarded with pleasing the Shechina. …
—Shamati 1 “here Is None Else Besides Him”

And that person should be happy, and offer thanksgiving and praise to the Creator for rewarded him with a small grip of Kedusha, regardless of how much he has… Hence he says, the small grip that I have on the Torah and mitzvot is more important than any of the worldly pleasures… and I see that there are people who don’t have it. It follows that he is the one in whom the blessing dwells, and he has a reason to be happy. He sees that the rest of the people are happy and joyful with nonsense while the Creator gave him wisdom and understanding to rejoice in the Creator.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Article 19 “What ‘There Is No Blessing in That which Is Counted’ Means in the Work”

4. …There are many people in the world who were not given the strength to work the holy work even in the simplest of ways, even without the intent and in Lo Lishma (not for Her Name), even in Lo Lishma of Lo Lishma, and even in preparation for the preparation of the clothing of Kedusha (Sanctity), while he was imparted the desire and the thought to nevertheless occasionally do holy work, even in the simplest possible way, if one can appreciate the importance of it, according to the importance that one ascribes to the holy work, to that extent one should give praise and be grateful for it.

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

The praise and the gratitude that one gives for it expand the feelings, and one is elated by every single point in the holy work, and knows whose worker he is, and thus soars ever higher. This is the meaning of what is written, “I thank Thee for the grace that Thou hast made with me,” meaning for the past, and by this one can confidently say, and he does say, “and that Thou will do with me.”
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 26 “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past

5. Baal HaSulam explained the matter of making a covenant: When two people see that they love each other, they make a covenant between them that their love will always stay. And he asked, “If they love each other and understand that this love will never leave them, why this covenant? Why do they make this covenant, meaning for what purpose?”…

…If there is ever a state where one will have complaints against the other, they will both remember the covenant that they made when love was revealed between them.

It follows that making the covenant is for the future. It is like a contract that they sign that they will not be able to regret when they see that the ties of love are not as they were, that this love gave them great pleasure while they were doing good to each other, but now that love has been corrupted, they are powerless and none can do anything for the other.

But if they do wish to do something for their friends, they must consider the making of the covenant that they had before, and out of that they should rebuild the love. It is like a person who signs a contract with his friend, and the contract connects them so they cannot part from one another.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, Article 19 “You Stand Today, All of You”

6. And you, the friends who are here, just as you were previously in a state of love, so you should remain inseparable from now, until the Creator rejoices with you and calls peace upon you and by your merit shall there be peace in the world. “For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, ‘May peace be within you.’”
—The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, “Aharei Mot,” Items 64-65

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Lesson No. 5: Prayer of Many

1. One who desires to serve the Creator in Truth, must include himself with all creation and unite himself with all the souls, be incorporated in them and they in him. Meaning, that one should not have anything remaining in him except what is necessary for him to connect with the Shechinah. To reach this, we must come closer to each other and be connected with many people, since according to the number of people who serve the Creator, the more light of the Shechinah will be revealed to them. For this one must include himself with all people and all creation, and until everything rises to its root, for the correction of the Shechinah.
—A Banner over the Camp of Ephraim, “Parashat BeShalach”

2. 284) Wherever a person prays his prayer, he should incorporate himself in the public, in the manifold public, as it is written about Shunammite when Elisha told her, “Would you be spoken for to the king…?”

285) And she said, “I dwell among my own people.” In other words, she said, “I have no wish to be mentioned above, but to put my head among the masses and not leave the public. Similarly, man should be included in the public and not stand out as unique…
—Zohar La’am, “VaYetze,” 284-285

3. My teacher of blessed memory warned me, and all the friends that were with him in the society, that prior to the morning prayer we should accept upon ourselves the positive commandment to “love your friend as yourself” with the intention to love all Israel as our own soul. And thus his prayer will rise together, with the prayer of all Israel, and achieve the correction above.

And concerning the love of friends among us, each and every one of us must include himself and feel as if he is an organ inside of his friends. And my teacher warned me greatly, concerning this matter.
—Chaim Vitale, “Gate of Reincarnation,” Introduction 38

4. One should not stand alone without the others, asking for himself, even if it is in order to bring contentment to his Creator, except for the entire collective, because the one who asks for his own soul does not build, but rather, he brings damnation to his soul…

So it is also in the work, when one prays alone, he removes himself from the collective and destroys his soul. There was no individual awakening for anyone of the Children of Israel, to request anything separately, since no one had a lack, because they did not feel themselves separated, and this was their strength when they came out of Egypt with an outstretched arm.

Every person must use all his strength to join with the collective of Israel, in all his requests to the Creator, in prayer and in the work…  and be included in that single unit, the root of all Israel.
—Baal Hasulam, “Pri Chacham” on the Torah, “It Is Not Yet Time to Gather the Flock”

5. 514) Indeed, all the prayers in the world, prayers of many, are prayers. But a solitary prayer does not enter before the Holy King, unless with great force.

515) Hence, one should pray one’s prayer in the collective, since He does not despise their prayer, even though they are not all with intent and the will of heart, as it is written, “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute.” Thus, He only observes the prayer of an individual, but with a prayer of many, He does not despise their prayer, even though they are unworthy.
—Zohar La’am, “VaYechi,” 514-515

6. When a person prays for himself, it is not eternal. …For this reason the Creator prepared the world and its fullness, as the sages said, “One should say, the entire world was created for me” (Sanhedrin 37:71), meaning that he should pray for the whole world… This is a great rule, that only man was called “created being,” namely he alone, and beside him is the Behinah (state) of the Holy Shechinah. It follows that when one prays for the collective it means that he prays for the Holy Shechinah who is in exile, who needs all the salvations, and this is “eternal”, and this is precisely how the Light of Rachamim (mercy) is revealed.

When one awakens Rachamim (mercies) upon himself, he is engaging in the state of receiving for himself. And the more he increases in prayer, not only he is not preparing a vessel of equivalence; instead, sparks of reception are woven in him.

Thus he is going in the wrong direction, meaning that while he should be preparing vessels of bestowal instead, he is preparing vessels of reception.

It follows that only when one prays for the collective, he finds himself preparing vessels of bestowal, and the more he prays this way, he builds vessels of bestowal, upon which the Light of Bestowal can be revealed.
—The Writings of Rabash, Vol 3, “Dargot HaSulam,” Article, “Run Away My Beloved”

7. With that we can interpret the words of The Zohar. It advises those people with an inner demand, who cannot accept the state they are in. …The advice is to ask for the whole collective. In other words, everything that one feels that he is lacking and asks fulfillment for, he should not say that he is an exception, meaning that he deserves more than what the collective has. Rather, “I dwell among my own people,” meaning I am asking for the entire collective because I wish to come to a state where I will have no care for myself whatsoever, but only for the Creator to have contentment. Therefore, it makes no difference to me if the Creator takes pleasure in me or can receive the pleasure from others.

In other words, he asks the Creator to give us such an understanding, which is called, “entirely for the Creator.” It means that he will be certain that he is not deceiving himself that he wants to bestow upon the Creator, that perhaps he is really thinking only of his own self-love, meaning that he will feel the delight and pleasure.

Therefore, he prays for the collective. This means that if there are a few people in the collective who can reach the goal of Dvekut with the Creator, and this will bring the Creator more contentment than if he himself were rewarded with nearing the Creator, he excludes himself. Instead, he wishes for the Creator to help them because this will bring more contentment above than from his own work. For this reason, he prays for the collective, that the Creator will help the entire collective and will give them that feeling—that they receive satisfaction from being able to bestow upon the Creator, to bring Him contentment.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “Prayer of Many”

8. One must always pray for his friend, because (praying) for himself it is not very effective, since ‘one cannot free oneself from prison’. But for his friend he receives an answer quickly. And so, each one should pray for his friend, this way one helps the other and both are helped. About this it was said, “Israel Arevim (responsible) one for the other. The meaning of Arvut comes from the word “pleasant,” and implies ‘sweetening’, …because they sweeten each other with their prayers when they pray for each other, and thus they are helped.
—Rabbi Noah Elimelech,  Likutei Shoshana

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Lesson No. 4: Love of Friends
Love of Friends as the Condition for Ascending the Spiritual Ladder

1. “And the man asked him, saying: ‘What seekest thou?’” meaning, how can I help you? “And he said, ‘I seek my brethren.’” By being together with my brothers—in other words, by being in a group where there is love of friends—I will be able to mount the trail that leads to the house of God.

This trail is called a path of bestowal, and this way is against our nature. To be able to achieve it, there is no other way but by love of friends, by which everyone can help his friend.
—Writings of Rabash. “Love of Friends”

2. I have established for you conducts by which you still can hang on and not turn back, and the single, most special one about them is the adhesion of friends.

I sincerely promise that this love is able. Therefore, let me remind you that the validity of love of friends is in spite of everything at this time, for it is upon this that our right to exist depends, and upon this our imminent success is measured.

Hence, turn away from all the imaginary engagements, and set your hearts on thinking thoughts and devising proper tactics to truly connect your hearts as one so that the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” literally will come true in you, and you will be cleansed by the thought of love that will be covering all transgressions.

Test me in that, and begin to truly connect in love, and then you will “taste and see.”
—Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Letter No. 47”

3. When several friends gather together, each one has but a small amount of this power that is better to come out of self-love, but they do not have enough power and importance of bestowal to become independent and without outside help. Thus, all these individuals annul themselves one to another.

At least in theory, together, they will have the strength for love of the Creator, yet they are unable to carry it out. However, by each one joining the society and annulling themselves to the society, they create one body. If, let’s say, this body is made up of ten people, this body has ten times the strength of a single person.

This is on the condition that, when they come together, each one would think that he now is joining for the purpose of annulling his self-love—in other words, that he should not think about how to fulfill his own will, but rather, he should think as much as possible about the love of the friend. Only in this way is he able to receive the will and the need that is necessary to attain the new attribute called the will to bestow.

Thus, from the love of friends, he is able to get to the love of the Creator, in that his desire is to bestow contentment to the Creator. It follows that this is the only way by which he can gain the understanding that the matter of bestowal is so very important and necessary, and he is able to attain it only through the love of friends.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “Concerning the Love of Friends”

4. It is about time that we started moving forward toward our sacred goal like mighty, strong men. It is known that the paved road that leads to the goal is love of friends by which one shifts to love of the Creator, and in the matter of love, it is through “Buy yourself a friend.” In other words, through actions, one buys one’s friend’s heart, and even if he sees that his friend’s heart is like a stone, it is no excuse. If he feels that he is suitable to be his friend in the work, then he must buy him through deeds.

Each gift that he gives to his friend… is like a bullet that makes a hollow in the stone. Although the first bullet only scratches the stone, when the second bullet hits the same place, it makes a notch, and the third one makes a dent.

Through the bullets that he shoots repeatedly, the dent becomes a hollow in his friend’s heart of stone where all the presents gather, and each gift becomes a spark of love until all of the sparks of love accumulate in the hollow of the stony heart and become a flame.

The difference between a spark and a flame is that, where there is love, there is open disclosure—meaning a disclosure to all the peoples that the fire of love is burning in him—and the fire of love burns all of the transgressions one meets along the way.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 40”

5. And should you ask, “What can one do if he feels that he has a heart of stone toward his friend?”…

The advice is very simple: The nature of fire is that, when rubbing stones against each other, a fire starts…

Then, through the wearing out of the hearts, even of the strongest ones, each will bring out warmth from the walls of his heart, and the warmth will ignite the sparks of love until a clothing of love forms. Then, both of them will be covered under one blanket, meaning that a single love will surround and envelop the two of them, as it is known that

Dvekut [Adhesion] unites two into one.

When one begins to feel the love of his friend, joy and pleasure immediately begin to awaken in him, for the rule is that a novelty entertains. His friend’s love for him is a new thing because he always knew that he was the only one who cared for his own well-being.

However, the minute that he discovers that his friend cares for him, it evokes within him immeasurable joy, and he no longer can care for himself since man can toil only where he feels pleasure, and since he is beginning to feel pleasure in caring for his friend, he naturally cannot think of himself.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, “Letter No. 40”

6. Wisdom and insight into how to serve the Creator comes through the unification between us, in the love of friends … to be connected one with the other in love and in a single heart, and to serve the Creator in unity … and we must unite one with the other and be locked into each other’s heart and become “one bundle” to serve the Creator with a whole heart.
—Maor VaShemesh (Light and Sun), “The Secrets of Rosh Hashanah”

7. “The Creator is One, and Israel are one”, and therefore they are adhered to the Creator because it is pleasing to be adhered one with the other, and when will that be? When Israel is assembled and adhered in perfect unity, they are considered as one, and the Creator dwells among them, who is One. This is the meaning of the verse, “And you are adhered,” that you are adhered to each one and grip to each other.

Then, through the help of the Creator, you will be adhered one with the other, and the Creator will dwell among you, which is, “You are all alive” when you are united as one. Thus, it is good and pleasant to be adhered one with the other, and the Creator dwells in their midst as One.
—Moshe Chaim Ephraim, “Banner over the Camp of Ephraim,” Parashat VaEtchanan

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Lesson No. 3: Society as the Means for Actualizing the Spiritual Ladder

1. The whole man means that one has reached the degree of “The Torah, Israel and the Creator are one.” For this reason, attaining the face of Shechina is certainly very important since the goal is to reach this degree.

However, in order to attain the face of Shechina there first must be a preparation so that one will be ready for it … and only as one works toward the love of others is one able to reach adhesion with the creator.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “What is the Advantage of Work over Reward”

2. Even if we see that there are two parts to the Torah: The first – Mitzvot between man and God, and the second – Mitzvot between man and man, they are both one and the same thing… Thus, when one completes one’s work in love and bestowal for one’s fellow person and comes to the highest point, one also completes one’s love and bestowal for the Creator.

In that state there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning one’s self-interest is judged equally – either to bestow upon one’s friend or bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.

This is what Hillel Hanasi assumed, that “Love thy friend as thyself” is the ultimate goal in the practice. That is because it is the clearest form to mankind. We should not be mistaken with deeds, for they are set before one’s eyes. We know that if we precede the needs of our own, it is bestowal.

For that reason Hillel does not define the goal as “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might,” because they are indeed one and the same thing. It is so because one should also love one’s friend with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, because that is the meaning of the words “as thyself.”

After all, one certainly loves oneself with all one’s heart and soul and might, but with regard to the Creator, one may deceive oneself; and with one’s friend it is always spread out before his eyes.
—Writings of Baal Hasulam, “The Love for the Creator and the Love for the Created Beings”

3. Love is something that is given to the heart, and the heart disagrees with it by nature. What then can one do to make love of others touch the heart?

This is why we were given the 612 Mitzvot. They have the power to induce a sensation in the heart. However, since it is against nature, that sensation is too small to have the ability to keep love of friends de facto, even though he has a need for it…

The advice for one to be able to increase his strength in the rule, “You shall love your neighbor,” is love of friends. If everyone is nullified before his friend and mingles with him, they become one mass where all of the little parts that want the love of others unite in a collective force that consists of many parts, and when he has great strength, he can execute the love of others.

Then he can achieve the love of God, but the condition is that each will annul before the other. However, when he is separated from his friend, he cannot receive the share he should receive from his friend. Thus, everyone should say that he is nothing as compared to his friend.
—Writings of Rabash, “According to What Is Explained About Love Thy Friend as Thyself”

4. Those who have agreed among them to unite into a group understood that there isn’t such a great distance between them in the sense that they understand the necessity to work in love of others. Therefore, each of them will be able to make concessions in favor of the others, and they can unite around that.
—Shlavey HaSulam,” Make for Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend – 2″

5. The love of friends that is built on the basis of love of others through which they can achieve the love of the Creator is the opposite of what normally is considered love of friends. In other words, love of others does not mean that the friends will love me. Rather, it is I who must love the friends…

Since one wishes to achieve Dvekut [Adhesion] with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” meaning to not think of his own benefit… One must revoke his own worth, and the whole of the life that he wishes to live will be only with the consideration of his ability to work for the benefit of others, beginning with love of others, between man and man, through the love of the Creator.

Thus, moreover, here is a place where he can say that anything that he does is without any self-interest since, by reason, the friends are the ones who should love him, but he overcomes his reason, goes above reason, and says, “It is not worth living for myself.”

Although one is not always at a degree where he is able to say so, this is nonetheless the purpose of the work. Thus, he already has something to reply to the body.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1, “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends”

6. There is a special power in the adhesion of friends. Since views and thoughts pass from one to the other through the adhesion between them, each is mingled with the power of the other, and through that, each person in the group has the power of the entire group. For this reason, although each person is an individual, he contains the power of the entire group.
—Shlavey HaSulam, “The Need for the Love of Friends”

7. To be integrated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. However, one who thinks that he is a little higher than the friends can no longer unite with them.
—Shlavey HaSulam, “Purpose of Society – 2”

8. Each student must extol the virtues of each friend and cherish him as though he were the greatest in the generation. Then, the environment will affect him as a sufficiently great environment since quality is more important than quantity.
—Writings of Rabash, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends”

9. Each student must feel that he is the smallest among all the friends, and then he will be able to receive the appreciation of greatness from everyone. This is so because the greater one cannot receive from the smaller one, much less be impressed by his words. Only the lower one is impressed by the appreciation of the greater one.
—Writings of Rabash, “Concerning the Importance of the Friends”

10. One must disclose the love in his heart toward the friends since, by revealing it, he evokes his friends’ hearts toward the friends so that they, too, would feel that each of them is practicing love of friends. The benefit from this is that, in this manner, one gains strength to practice love of friends more forcefully since every person’s force of love is integrated in that of each other.
—Writings of Rabash, Vol 1,” Concerning the Love of Friends”

11. Do what you can, and the salvation of the Lord is as the blink of an eye. The most important thing before you today is the unity of friends. Exert in that more and more, for it can recompense for all the faults.
—Writings of Baal Hasulam, “Letter No. 10”

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Lesson No. 2 : The Foundation for Establishing the Society

The Need For A Good Environment In Order To Advance Me On The Spiritual Ladder

1. It is written about this, “O Lord, the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; You maintain my lot. You placed my hand on the good fate, to say, ‘This take for you.’”…

Now you can see the true meaning of their words. It is indeed true that the Creator Himself puts one’s hand on the good fate by giving him a life of pleasure and contentment within the corporeal life that is filled with torment and pain, and devoid of any content. …

And one’s choice refers only to the strengthening. This is because there is certainly a great effort and exertion here before one purifies one’s body to be able to keep the Torah and Mitzvot correctly, not for his own pleasure, but to bring contentment to his Maker, which is called Lishma (for Her Name). Only in this manner is one endowed with a life of happiness and pleasantness that come with keeping the Torah.

However, before one comes to that purification there is certainly a choice to strengthen in the good way by all sorts of means and tactics. …
—Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

2. One cannot raise oneself above one’s circle. Hence, one must suck from one’s environment. And one has no other counsel, except through much work and Torah. Therefore, if one chooses for oneself a good environment, one saves time and efforts since one is drawn according to one’s environment.
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati, 225 “Raising Oneself”

3. Although everyone has “his own source,” the forces are revealed openly only through the environment one is in. …

Thus, Rabbi Yosi Ben Kisma correctly assumed that, if he were to leave the good environment he had chosen and fall into a harmful environment in a city where there is no Torah, not only would his former concepts be compromised, but all the other forces hidden in his source, which he had not yet revealed in action, would remain concealed. This is because they would not be subject to the right environment that would be able to activate them. Only in the matter of the choice of environment is man’s reign over himself measured.
—Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

4. However, there is freedom for the will to initially choose such an environment, such books, and such guides that impart to him good concepts. If one does not do that, but is willing to enter any environment that appears to him and read any book that falls into his hands …

In consequence, he will be forced into foul concepts that make him sin and condemn. He will certainly be punished, not because of his evil thoughts or deeds in which he has no choice, but because he did not choose to be in a good environment, for in that there is definitely a choice.

Therefore, he who strives continually to choose a better environment is worthy of praise and reward. However, here, too, it is not because of his good thoughts and deeds, which come to him without his choice, but because of his effort to acquire a good environment which brings him these good thoughts and deeds. It is as Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Perachya said, “Make for yourself a Rav, and buy for yourself a friend.”
—Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

5. Our sages said, “Make for yourself a Rav and buy for yourself a friend.” This means that one can make a new environment for oneself. This environment will help him obtain the greatness of his Rav through love of friends who appreciate the Rav. Through the friends’ discussing the greatness of the Rav, each of them receives the sensation of his greatness. Thus, bestowal upon one’s Rav will become reception and sufficient motivation to an extent that will bring one to engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma.

They said about that, “The Torah is acquired by forty-eight virtues, by serving friends and by meticulousness of sages.” This is so because, besides serving the Rav, one needs the meticulousness with friends, as well as the friends’ influence, so they will affect him the obtainment of his Rav’s greatness. This is so because obtaining the greatness depends entirely on the environment, and a single person cannot do a thing about it whatsoever.
—Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“

6. If one does not have any desire and craving for spirituality, if he is among people who have a desire for spirituality, if he likes these people, he, too, will take their strength to prevail, and their desires and aspirations, although by his own quality, he does not have these desires and cravings and the power to overcome. But according to the grace and the importance he ascribes to these people, he will receive new powers.
—Baal HaSulam, Shamati 99, “He Did Not Say Wicked or Righteous”

7. Each one should try to bring into the society a spirit of life and hopefulness, and infuse energy into the society. Thus, each of the friends will be able to tell himself, “Now I am starting a clean slate in the work.” In other words, before he came to the society, he was disappointed with the progress in the work of God, but now the society has filled him with life and hopefulness.

Thus, through society, he obtained confidence and the strength to overcome because now he feels that he can achieve wholeness. And all his thoughts—that he was facing a high mountain that couldn’t be conquered, and that these are truly formidable obstructions—now he feels that they are nothing. And he received it all from the power of the society because each and every one tried to instill a spirit of encouragement and the presence of a new atmosphere in the society.
—Rabash, “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends”

8. “In the multitude of people is the king’s glory,” it follows that the greater the number of the collective, the more effective is the power of the collective. In other words, they produce a stronger atmosphere of greatness and importance of the Creator. At that time, each person’s body feels that he regards anything that he wishes to do for holiness—meaning to bestow upon the Creator—as a great fortune, that he has been privileged with being among people who have been rewarded with serving the king. At that time, every little thing he does fills him with joy and pleasure that now he has something with which to serve the king.

To the extent that the society regards the greatness of the Creator with their thoughts during the assembly, each according to his degree originates the importance of the Creator in him. Thus, he can walk all day in the world of gladness and joy.
—Rabash, “The Agenda of the Assembly 2”

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Lesson No. 1: The Spiritual Ladder
The Spiritual Process That One Must Undergo

1. This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, by fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

2. The thought of creation is to delight His creatures and no pleasure is perceived by the creature while he must be separated from the Creator. Moreover, we learn that the Creator craves to dwell in the lower ones.
Zohar La’am – Two Points #121

3. It is written in The Book of Zohar, “There is no place vacant of Him.” The fact that we are unable to feel him is because we lack the vessels of sensation. Just like we know that the radio receives sounds that are present in the world, since the receiver does not make the sounds, but rather, the sounds are already present in the world, though before we had the receiver we were unable to feel (hear) the sounds even though they were already in the world. Similarly, we understand that “There is no place vacant of Him”; all we need is a receiver to feel it. The receiver is called adhesion and equivalence of form, which is “the will to bestow.” When we acquire this receiver we will immediately be able to feel that indeed “there is no place vacant of him” and that “the whole earth is filled with his glory.”
Writings of Rabash, “From Your Actions We Know You,” Vol. 3

4. It is said that there are 600,000 souls, and each soul divides into several sparks. We must understand how it is possible for the spiritual to divide, since initially, only one soul was created, the soul of Adam HaRishon.

In my opinion, there is indeed only one soul in the world. … The same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam HaRishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut. …

Yet, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person. In other words, first, the body divides and completely denies him of the radiance of the soul, and by the force of the Torah and the Mitzva, the body is cleansed, and to the extent of its cleansing, the common soul shines upon him.

For this reason, two discernments were made in the corporeal body: In the first discernment, one feels one’s soul as a unique organ, and does not understand that this is the whole of Israel. And this is truly a flaw; hence, it causes along with the above-mentioned.

In the second discernment, the true Light of the soul of Israel does not shine on him in all its illumination force, but only partially, by the measure he has purified himself by returning to the collective.

The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam HaRishon.
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “600,000 Souls”

5. “If you shall walk in my laws and keep my commandments to do them.” Here the Holy Zohar asks: “Since it already said walk and keep, why also ‘to do’ them.” And it answers: Whoever does the commandments of Torah and walk in His paths; it is as if he made Him above, and the Creator said: It is as if he made Me. And this is the meaning of “And you shall do them” – as if you ‘made’ Me.” And it is important to understand the meaning of ‘whoever walks in the ways of the Lord, he makes the Lord.’ How could such a thought even enter into one’s mind?

Behold, it is known that “the whole earth is filled with His glory.” […] However, the Creator concealed it to make it impossible to see, in order to allow for choice, and this makes room for faith—to believe that the Creator fills the whole world (universe) and surrounds the whole world. And only after one engages in Torah and Mitzvot and keeps the commandment of choice, then the Creator reveals Himself to him, and then one is able to see that the Creator rules the world.

It follows that, then one is able to “make” the King to rule over him, which means that he feels that the Creator is the one that rules over the whole world, and this means that one “makes” the Creator to be King over him. But as long as he does not attain this feeling, the Kingship of the Creator remains in concealment. And this is what we say: “On this day the Creator will be One and His Name One,” meaning that the glory of His Kingdom will be revealed upon us.

And this is the complete correction that we must reach in this world, and by this we draw all the goodness in the world, meaning that all the abundance from above is drawn from our engagement in Torah and Mitzvot, with the intention to draw His blessed Kingdom upon us.
The Writings of Rabash, Vol 2, Article 76

6. We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man, and not remain as a beast, …

Each of us follows the spirit of bestowing upon the Creator. And to achieve bestowal upon the Creator, we must begin with bestowal upon man, which is called “love of others.”

And love of others can only be with revoking one’s self. Thus, on the one hand, each person should feel lowly, and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for Divinity to be among us.

And although we have not yet achieved this goal, we have the desire to achieve it. And this, too, should be appreciated by us, for even though we are at the beginning of the way, we do hope to achieve the exalted goal.
The Writings of Rabash, “The Purpose of Society – 1”

7. It is hopeless to wait for a time when a solution is found for allowing one to begin the work of the Creator in Lishma. As in the past, so in the future—every servant of the Creator must begin the work in Lo Lishma, and from that achieve Lishma.
And the way to achieving this degree is not limited by time, but by its qualifiers, and by the measure of one’s control over one’s heart. Hence, many have fallen, and will fall, in the field of working Lo Lishma. […]Yet, their reward is nevertheless great, since one’s mind cannot appreciate the true merit and value of bringing contentment to one’s Maker. Even if one works not under this condition, since one is not worthy of another way, one still brings contentment to one’s Maker.
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “One Commandment”

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