Baal HaSulam explains in the article “Arvut” that no one can attain the goal without help from one’s friends because otherwise a person won’t have the fuel, the “spirit of life.” A person on the spiritual path must arm himself with a great desire after revealing the breaking between us because the force of hatred between us lays bare the evil inclination. Even The Zohar talks about how the friends in Rabbi Shimon’s group revealed hatred, and only after that did they reach love, level by level, by means of the Light they evoked through mutual study.

The goal is also something we discover inside our interconnection. By gradually restoring the connection between us with the help of the Light, we reveal 125 levels until reaching unity with the Creator. Thus, we attain the Creator Himself, the force of the Light that Reforms. If, however, we don’t base everything on the revelation of the place of the breakage and its correction, then our actions will bear no connection to spirituality.

Indeed, we have just one contact with the spiritual world, and that is the place of the breakage of the connection between us. It is written, “I created the evil inclination.” This is what we have to find and reveal. That is why our entire work is devoted to discerning the quality of connection between the friends on the path to revealing the Creator: myself, the friends, and the Creator (or Israel, the Torah, and the Creator).

We are looking for a connection between us in which the Creator is concealed. This is the key that opens the door to Him. By correcting our attitude to our interconnection, we find the quality of bestowal and love, and that is how we reveal the Creator. This is the only way a friend can help a friend. This constitutes our only free action. All other acts are compulsory, puppet-like. We shouldn’t demand anything from each other besides the desire to help.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/10, “They Helped Everyone His Friend”

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Right now we have the opportunity to hasten the rate of our advancement by egoistically choosing the lesser of all evils. Obviously, this isn’t free will yet because free will allows me to choose what I want, whereas here I am offered only pain and pleasure, and told: “Choose!”

Baal HaSulam describes two scales of measurement: “bitter versus sweet,” and “true versus false.” We must ascend to the degree of truth instead of falsehood, or in other words, sweetness and bitterness. Everyone sees that there is no free choice here, but only the analysis: To what extent I am controlled by my mind and to what extent by my heart?

Everything is determined by what is revealed to me and what is not, and what is more important: truth or bitterness? Obviously, I will choose according to my perception. However, real free will emerges solely in the group. The group serves as that external factor by which I discern the meaning of the external truth.

Therefore, “truth” means I have to be part of the group. However, there is resistance between the truth and the group, which is my egoism, the will to receive pleasure. It is a complete system and it doesn’t depend on my ability to discern “true,” “false,” “bitter,” and “sweet.” I don’t need to be smart or sensitive. It doesn’t matter who is more intelligent, witty, or farsighted. At the end of the day, we view everything in relation to the group, our unity, and the Creator.

I exist in this circuit, this spiritual transistor where I activate the Light that streams from above downwards to the degree I am united with the group.

This is our free will, found in the middle third of Tifferet. On one side of it there is the ego and on the other side, the group, and I perform an analysis on the scales of “true and false” over “bitter and sweet” in relation to myself and the group.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/10, “Waste of Barn and Winery”

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After going through many life cycles, a person reaches a point when he experiences the initial spiritual awakening – the point in the heart (Reshimo). It is comprised of two forces:

– Emptiness due to the futility of his transient, perishable life, and from the despair of not being able to find fulfillment in this world

– An inner “spark” that pushes him to some unknown place that’s beyond this world.

On one hand, the despair pulls him down, and on the other hand, the spark pulls him upward. Eventually a person chooses his route. These two forces as a whole cause a Reshimo to form inside him or a new direction in his existence.

This Reshimo brings him to a teacher and a group of people studying Kabbalah. After that he gradually realizes that only by uniting with other Reshimot that are similar to him will he be able to build, together with them, the force of bestowal that’s similar to the Creator. Therein lies his only freedom of choice in life and his only free action.

His success depends on how much he will be able to increase his spark with the help of the group in spite of all personal problems. If he increases it, then he will feel the need for faith (bestowal) and for others (the means). Everything is determined by how well he can receive (or absorb) the influence of the spiritual environment (the advice of his teacher and the general opinion of the group).

The environment is not just the group or friends, but the Shechina. The connection with them that I acquire is my connection with the Shechina, Malchut of the World of Atzilut, the common soul of Adam.

When the friends unite in order to annul their egoism and to attain the quality of bestowal, their unity evokes a reaction from the Shechina and they receive the Light of Correction (Ohr Makif) from it. That is how a person starts to interact with the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif), which brings him closer to revealing the quality of bestowal (faith) within, and the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi) inside that quality.

All of our work comes down to increasing our desire for the quality of bestowal and increasing its importance; the way to do so is with the help of the right environment. It is impossible to learn to do this. It can only be done according to the verse, “We will do and we will hear.”

A person makes efforts to connect with the group even if he does not feel a need for it, and in response he receives support and a general necessity. It is a desire which the friends accumulate among each other – the need for faith or bestowal.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, “Who Testifies for Man”

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Question: We are asking a question on behalf of a friend; this question bothers him a lot. Can he charge people money for blessings in order to help them with difficult situations in life? He also proposes doing this as a part of our local group work because he believes this to be dissemination and a way to attract new people to Kabbalah.

He has money problems, so he’s facing a choice between taking a risky job or trying to make money by giving people blessings. This question confused us so we are turning to you to avoid making a mistake.

Answer: It is absolutely forbidden to use Kabbalah to make money, especially by cheating people, and if a member of the group is found to be doing this, then you must immediately expel him from the group. Never use Kabbalah to make money. It completely excludes a person from the spiritual path. Do not do blessings of any kind; they are a lie!

Only the desires of the group and selfless thoughts about a friend can help him. It is forbidden to use Kabbalah to make money! It is the same with curses like Pulsa DeNura, as if someone could actually hurt another person using such things. These miracles do not exist!

We can only aspire towards the Light, the force of love and bestowal, which is the only positive force in the world. This force is our only opportunity to actually do something in the world. It is the only freedom of will that exists.
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Those who are called “Isra-El” (striving to the Creator) advance by their own individual work and separately from the rest of humanity. This is on account of the Reshimot that have awakened within them and the Creator wishing to bring them closer to Himself.

They enter a special process called the revelation of the soul (the Creator or spirituality which is one and the same). Step by step, they have to gradually uncover the continuous process that every person needs to go through in accordance with the speed with which their Reshimot are realized.

We can only accelerate this process, not change it. We can hasten our development if, by using all the means possible, we process our states faster and more correctly. We do not change the states themselves or the order in which they come. Our only freedom is to make use of the study and the connection between us in order to enhance our awareness and sensitivity so as to understand these states faster and justify them.

By being prepared for these states, we make them pass at a faster rate and thereby build a different attitude toward them. Then, we perceive every state positively and with understanding. Other than our attitude to what’s happening to us, we are absolutely powerless to change or influence anything.

Our attitude to all the states that we perceive and undergo (which, obviously, come from the Creator) constitutes our intention. The intention is my attitude to my sensations and to their Source for “there is none else beside Him.”

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, “What is the Matter of Sufferings in the Work”

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Question: Is it enough for us to correct ourselves in order to correct the world?

Answer: No, it isn’t. Since all the souls are connected, a single soul (degree) can’t complete its correction without correcting the parts of the next degree. No person lives for his own sake; the whole system is a system of mutual bestowal.

Therefore, it is impossible for someone to correct himself for his own sake. Everyone lives in order to provide correction and fulfillment for others. It is impossible for a soul that corrects itself not to have a part which was corrected for it by the predecessors and a part that it must correct for others.

We know that the upper part of every soul, its GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), exists in the lower part, the AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh), of the preceding, higher soul (Partzuf). The soul’s lower part, its AHP, is situated in the GE of the the lower soul.

Thus, our free choice is in the place where we are not connected to a higher or a lower soul; it is in the middle part of our soul, the middle part of the Sefira Tifferet. A free space from all souls is formed there; it is our freedom of will. In essence, it represents a special unification in our soul of the higher and lower souls. In this unification, they are equal, and, thus, they give us freedom of choice.

Outside of the middle part of Sefira Tifferet, the parts of the soul do not belong to the soul itself. The upper part pertains to the higher soul (the previous Partzuf), and the lower part pertains to the lower soul, its “successor.”

Therefore, a calculation is always performed on bestowal to the upper one and the lower one. The decision about this bestowal is made in the middle; there is no other freedom. This middle point arose artificially through the unification of Bina and Malchut. It is called Klipat Noga, and it constitutes my point of choice. Besides this point, everything else belongs not to me, but to the upper or lower Partzufim (plural of Partzuf) relative to me. I am situated in the middle, and I constantly need to decide how I am connected to them.

However, this point that makes the decision is, in fact, the “I” or “human being,” the one who is “similar” to the Creator. On one side, there is Malchut, and, on the other, there is Bina. Thus, there is a special contact of Bina and Malchut (the qualities of the Creator and the creature) at this point. This contact yields a free decision to make the creature similar to the Creator. It is called “Adam” or “similar.”

Until we reach this decision, we are not “human.” The human begins from 1) realization of the difference between Bina and Malchut, and 2) the connection between them. The human being grows from this point to the extent that he is able to serve others with his 613 desires: the upper ones with his 248 desires and the lower ones with his 365 desires.

If you don’t do this, you remain only a point. Yet, if you do, you develop your Galgalta ve Eynaim, and they spread out onto the common Soul: all the souls that are higher and lower than you.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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A person needs the force of the Torah in order to reveal himself and reality in relation to the Creator. Being close to the Creator means being similar to Him, to the quality of bestowal and love. This quality becomes revealed to a person through his attitude to the neighbor, meaning to someone who is close to him by having the same goal in life. This is the right criterion for self-analysis and measuring your attitude to the Creator.

The goal (closeness to the Creator, revelation of the Creator, and unity with Him) is attained in two stages:

1. A person’s qualities become revealed as evil because they don’t allow him to attain the goal.
2. The force of correction, the Light, is revealed inside the unity between people who aspire to the goal. Then the evil inclination, man’s nature, helps him to unite with the Creator.

At first the flaws of egoism (Klipot) seem like great obstacles. However, as we advance we discover the ability to transform them into goodness. They all become our point of independence (Klipat Noga), which enables us to grow.

On the right side we have the Creator, and on the left side Klipa. We form ourselves out of both of them, creating our independent form of similarity to the Creator. When the force of the Light and the force of the darkness connect to each other correctly, they give rise to the form of Adam, a human being, in us. The human being in us is the degree of our similarity to the Creator.

Everything is done by the Light. It reveals the force of the evil inclination in us, as well as its own force in order to develop egoism. As a result, we reveal their single Source, the Creator, and the distinction between good and evil or Light and darkness disappears. All forces and qualities form the image of the only reality, the Source.

This constitutes all of the science of Kabbalah: the revelation of the Creator to the creatures, or rather, inside the creatures.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How do we constantly remain on the “spiritual trajectory,” meaning at the point of making a decision that the spiritual space and unity come before material achievements?

Answer: As soon as we succeed in creating this kind of connection between us, “a place for revealing the Creator,” it immediately fades. This is done so that we are able to make this decision again and again. Every moment should be the “Beginning.” And what helps a person to make this constant choice is only a strong environment which allows him to maintain a connection (see Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”).

It is impossible to maintain this decision on your own for longer than a moment. We need to bring ourselves to a correct society, like putting a seed into soil, and receive the realization of the importance of the goal from it. Then you will be able to unite the points of decisions, forming them into a straight line to the goal.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/9/10, “Rosh Hashanah”

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Question: How do you reconcile the notion of Private Providence and one’s individual prayer with the notion of general spiritual laws that every person must comply with?

Answer: You will not understand this until you stop separating yourself from the general system. The “particular” is a type of connection between you and the system of souls, which stems from your state. Meanwhile, the “general” is the basic condition of the group.

A person can never receive anything for himself. Indeed, on his own he has no capacity in which to receive spirituality. A person’s individual spiritual capacity exists outside of him. It is in the desires of others that he is able to attach to himself with the help of the Upper Light, like a mother who lives within her child’s desires.

Aside from the desires of others, every one of us has only a “point,” their individual root. What can you do with a point? Only connect it to all the other parts of its soul: the desires of others.

This matter of connecting yourself to the general Kli is what we call Private Providence. The notion of “myself” as an individual (a point) does not exist in reality! This point feels itself only with respect to the environment, whether egoistically (our world) or altruistically (the spiritual world). Without the environment it cannot feel anything, even itself.

Therefore, our development relates exclusively to the environment, and our freedom of will lies only in choosing a better environment. After all, my environment today will be me tomorrow.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/10, “What is the Matter of My Making A Pact in the Work”

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Question: Why does the Creator allow some people to commit brutal crimes?

Answer: The science of Kabbalah illuminates the questions of perception of reality, free will, and human nature, showing that a person who lives in this world does not possess freedom of choice. Therefore, he doesn’t commit any conscious acts.

A person can attain the freedom of choice only in a Kabbalistic group, which is a group of people connected in order to attain the spiritual goal. In this case a person receives or earns some degree of acting freely. However, those who have not reached spiritual attainment and have not reconciled two opposite forces, action and intention, do not act at all!

They arrive at the end of this life as if they have never lived. In other words, they haven’t lived as “humans.” It is their biological body that lived, just like any other type of animal. It is a life dictated by instinctive nature only. A person can only rise above it by way of “faith above reason,” when he desires to attain a different nature.

The unity of these two natures, Upper and lower, is regarded as the human in him. Only a person who achieves this can be said to have performed independent actions that are worth punishing or rewarding. In other words, only a Kabbalist can be judged for his own actions. An ordinary person cannot be judged since he acts in accordance with Nature’s orders. He follows one route and does nothing using his own free will.

Nevertheless, in our world punishing measures are necessary. However, we don’t administer them at will but under orders from Above, although it happens through the government legislature, courts, and law enforcement devices. All of this exists in order to hasten our development!

This is the Upper Governance over all people, who are like puppets, with the purpose of bringing them closer to the point of freedom of choice.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, “What Are the Two Actions During the Time of Descent?”

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