We cannot imagine what freedom of will is. To a certain extent, we feel free, but, in fact, we are completely governed, which includes our thoughts about freedom. Therefore, we don’t understand what the spiritual world is.

When we face the Creator, we perceive Him to be a vital, defining, and implementing Force. At the same time we have a certain “point of preparation” within which we are able to detach ourselves from Him. This is when our freedom of choice uncovers itself; after this point, we repeat the restriction and begin to shape our freedom.

So far we are similar to a fetus in the mother’s womb. Is it in any way independent? No, it is the one who is being developed. Its reality is a reminder of the future; its freedom is still ahead of it.

In our world a person represents a collection of pre-set qualities. There are no conditions for freedom of choice, but only its illusion in protein matter. The initial condition for freedom is to become similar to the Creator without “hints,” from scratch. If something awakened you in advance, that isn’t freedom.

This is why a special point of the Creator wakes up in us. We develop it in opposition to our egoistic nature. “A point of desire” against “a point of Light,” they both emerge as a result of the breaking. By correcting a connection between them, we independently achieve similarity to the Creator. Without this “tool,” we wouldn’t be born and become equal to the Creator.

GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), sanctity, is above, AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh), wickedness, is below, and Tifferet, the middle third, is in the middle. It is a special state that is called “Klipat Noga.” Above is the property of the Creator, below is the property of the created being, and the middle is my “neutral territory.”

This is where an equal fight between sanctity and wickedness is taking place. I am the one who defines the outcome of the struggle between them. It is the place where I can correctly control these two forces that the Creator made on purpose so that I can build my freedom and independence.

[21913]

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/10, Shamati #97

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It seems so easy to just let the force of the Light come and correct us, making us love our neighbor! So why is the process of correction so difficult? The difficulty comes from the fact that this entire process is concealed, and that is in order to give us the freedom of will.

To be free means to go against my desire and understanding, when I don’t want it directly! My animalistic body does not aspire to this and my egoism does not help me do this. I have to find a new motivation to advance, which does not stem from my qualities. Otherwise I would just be increasing my animate egoism.

The reason for my advancement must be outside of me, in the environment. In order to advance, I have to use something that does not belong to the egoistic desire, and therein lies the entire difficulty. If not for this, every person would aspire to correction. Who wouldn’t want to receive perfection and eternity, feel the Creator, see all of his fate from beginning to end, and control it!?

Any person would agree to exchange this temporary world for an eternal one. However, people feel that this is too exalted, too difficult, and unattainable. And it’s all because we have to reveal the point of our free choice, called "the middle third of Tifferet."

We understand what love is and what hate is, but it’s not clear what a neutral state is, "the middle third of Tifferet." On every degree we have to make our choice while in that state. Otherwise we won’t be independent of the Creator.

What’s the point of creating a miserable creature that suffers in this world, and then giving it the knowledge that there is a perfect state and one must only use a means called the Torah to go from a bad state to a good one? In fact, any machine could do the same thing if there is good and evil, and a means to go from evil to good. There is no free choice here.

Religions operate according to this scheme of two lines. The difference between Kabbalah and religion is free will, the third line. A person has to find the point where he can carry out actions independently of himself and his earthly choice, so he won’t look for self-benefit.

If we find this point and act based on it, it means we freely build ourselves and are independent of our previous nature. We cut ourselves off from it and give birth to ourselves, instead of having the Creator do it.

This point of independence poses the difficulty. It constantly confuses us and erases everything we understood and felt a moment ago, immersing us into a "fog" all over again. But it is happening because we are being led into a completely different dimension of life where we will reveal the true reality instead of the unconscious state we are in today.
[22062]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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At a certain moment after many incarnations (Gilgulim), an initial awakening for spirituality, the point in the heart (Reshimo), is roused in a person. It is comprised of two forces: 1) emptiness that one feels from the worthlessness of this transient, vain existence and despair from being unable to find fulfillment in this world, and 2) some inner “spark” that makes a person seek something unknown that exists beyond this world.

On the one hand (downward), there is despair; on the other (upward), there is a spark. As a result, a person sets his course. Together, these two forces form within a person the Reshimo: a new direction in his existence.

This Reshimo leads him to the teacher and the group who study Kabbalah. Later on, he gradually realizes that he will be able to build the force of bestowal or equivalence to the Creator only by connecting with other Reshimot similar to his. This is his only free choice and act of free will in life.

A person’s success is determined by the degree to which he is able to increase his spark with the help of the group, against all personal obstacles. If he manages to enhance it, he will feel the need for faith (bestowal) and for the others (the means). It is all defined by the luck in reception (absorption) of the effects of the spiritual environment (the teacher’s recommendations and the collective opinion of the group).

The environment is not just the group or the friends, but Shechina (Divinity). My connection with them is the connection with the Shechina, Malchut of the World of Atzilut, the collective soul of Adam. Unity of the friends in annulling their egos and attaining the property of bestowal evokes a response from Shechina and receiving the Light of correction from her, Ohr Makif.

Thus, a person enters interacting with the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) that advances him to the revelation of the property of bestowal (faith) within himself. And within this property, he reveals the Inner Light (Ohr Pnimi). All our work is aimed at increasing the desire for the property of bestowal through the correct environment and the importance thereof. It can’t be learned; this work is described as “we shall do, and we shall hear.”

A person exerts effort in connection with the group despite the fact that he may not feel the need to do so. In return, he receives support and the collective need, the desire, accumulated by the friends in the group: the need for faith and bestowal.
[21672]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/21/10, “Who Testifies for Man”

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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.
[21964]
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.
[#21912]
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.
[20997]

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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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