Comment: Suppose I feel good thanks to a Hisaron, a lack, that has revealed itself.

My Response: This means that you are consuming yourself. It is impossible to feel good because of a deficiency.

Question: But what if a person wants to remind the group of something that needs to be corrected?

Answer: This is not called revealing a lack. After all, the Kli and the light come as one whole. Therefore, if a question arises within the group regarding something that needs to be corrected now, it is permissible. But not in the form of vague generalizations that “we are lost, we do not see the path, we do not know how to get out of this state.” In other words, do not create obstacles, do not burden—awaken.

Both the Kelim and the lights are given to us from above. It is from there that we should receive both difficult and easy questions. But a person should not search for negative things beyond what is given to them from above. If they are not given to me, why should I descend lower? After all, I have the potential to ascend constantly!

If, however, a person drags themselves downward, this is a real Klipa, an impure force, that is operating on them. It is a peculiar Klipa; a person begins to revel in suffering and demonstrates to everyone how they, poor thing, suffer, so that all may see what a “hero” they are.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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Question: What should you do done in relation to the group in order to constantly maintain readiness for internal war, the inner struggle, and not surrender in it?

Answer: Not surrendering means not forgetting. Only the group can instill such an awareness of this importance to a person. To achieve this independently would cost him a great deal of suffering. It would have to practically engraved in his flesh. Moreover, it would take many years.

However, the group can raise this importance to such a degree that a person will remain constantly sensitive to it, will fear a break in connection, and, as Baal HaSulam writes, disconnecting from the Creator for a single moment will become the greatest punishment in the world for him.

How can I constantly be ready to maintain my connection with the Creator? If He is important to me, then I will maintain a connection with Him. The group has to constantly “drip” this awareness into me, both the group and me together.

Question: How can I establish a relationship between myself and the group, a bond, that will never be broken? After all, the ultimate goal is for me to remain constantly sensitive in my attitude toward the Creator.

Answer: It is not so much about your attitude toward the Creator, but in not disconnecting from Him. You must seek the means to remain as close as possible to that point of connection.

The means to achieve this is the realization of the importance of this state: being united with the Creator. Where does the awareness of importance come from? Experiment; there are a thousand and one factors involved. Perhaps you should read books about it, listen to music, attend lectures, and so on.

It is said that society exerts the greatest influence on a person. After all, books are a part of society. Anything that evokes a reaction within me, anything that originates not from within myself, but from outside, is defined as society. But what influences a person most is the opinion of the people immediately surrounding him. The group must be big enough, significant, and strong to truly instill this awareness deep within him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing From a Bad Person”

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Question: What does it mean to annul oneself in our present state?

Answer: What does it mean to annul oneself before the group in our current state? Self-annulment means that you do not make calculations in your own favor. To the extent that you are capable of doing this, do it. This is called “in your state.”

Not making calculations in your own favor means that the benefit will not come directly to you.

Comment: By doing that, I am deceiving myself.

My Response: Deceiving yourself is not the problem. You do not intend to lie to yourself; you are trying as much as possible to make the correct calculation.

Question: What would be an example of me not making a calculation in my own benefit?

Answer: Acting for the sake of the group. Undoubtedly a benefit for oneself is hidden within in, but…

Baal HaSulam writes that people who do not dedicate themselves to the group, who do not invest their whole heart in it, and who do not work with complete self-sacrifice for its sake, are a burden to it. This raises the question: where is the group and where is the burden?

There are people now who can hardly be called a part of the group. There is a core within it that advances; it consists of those who truly want to be in the group. The rest come to study, to participate with a half or a quarter of their strength, to whatever extent. And this too is welcomed and is treated with special consideration. How many such people are there in the world?

Each person must make a calculation: do they truly want to belong to the advancing group? A person must assess how much they are investing in the group, because this, in essence, is their very advancement.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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Question: What is the recognition of evil at the level of the entire group?

Answer: If we discuss this and study together, then naturally, we reach the recognition of evil even without words.

In general, you should not speak about negative things with each other. Under no circumstances should a person dwell on their own personal recognition of evil. We are obligated to talk only about the
positive, sharing nothing bad with a friend, but only good.

It does not matter how bad your state is; you are obligated to radiate goodness to another. Otherwise, nothing good will come back from them. That is the only way you work for him and for yourself. Therefore, the common recognition of evil is transmitted from one another without words, through spiritual channels.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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Although he is not going, his reward is that he should be pleased because the Creator has given him a desire and yearning to observe Torah and Mitzvot. He does not see any merit in himself compared to other people, to whom the Creator did not give this desire and yearning, while he did receive from the Creator this desire. He believes that everything happens through private Providence (Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”).

A person feels that beyond this he is incapable of anything more; he cannot add anything. Yet the Creator gives him something to do, for example, simply to come here and sit. He sees that he has no intention, that he is incapable of self-sacrifice, cannot invest anything more, but at least he performs these actions, like a parrot.

After all, there are people to whom even this is not given. A person comes, sits, and listens, and is incapable of anything beyond that. But in this, he sees a gift from above that the Creator gives him. This is called “the reward for the action is in his hands.” He is grateful to the Creator for this. As for intentions, he measures them and sees that he has none.

All these are intermediate states that everyone passes through, at times in one state, at times in another.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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One who wants to walk on the path of Kedusha is called holy.

A person is named according to what he aspires to be. Why? Perhaps he will never reach it? No. If he aspires, he will certainly reach it because the Creator acts according to a person’s aspiration. The actual action is never in our hands, but the desire to attain the goal is within our power. The realization comes from above.

“Holy” means as it is written, “You will be holy,” which means that they retire from self-reception. For this reason, he is holy, since he intends to reach holiness. This is the meaning of the words, “Israel are holy; there is he who wants but does not have.” And there are also those who have but do not want. This means that he has Mitzvot and good deeds, but he does not want to walk on the path that leads to “in order to bestow.” Instead, he settles for Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. He, too, is called “holy,” since the act is fine and he has nothing to add in actions (Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”).

Later, together with the actions, intentions will also come. What does this mean? Let’s say I use my group, but I do not yet have the correct intention in the heart. Still, I use the group, the books, the study, everything possible, so that they bring me to the correct intention. Am I called holy then? Am I called “Israel” or not?

Let’s say I have just joined a group. I simply have a desire to reach some goal. My goal is not to be freed from the will to receive and come to bestowal. Certainly not. My goal is to attain something, to receive something more, to acquire something. I am told that this brings eternity and perfection. I am willing, give it to me.

Am I called holy now, according to my thoughts and desires? No. One who is called holy is at least one who desires holiness, and I do not even desire that.

However, I begin with the desire I have, and I use the group. I am told that one must humble oneself before the friends, do something for them, “buy yourself a friend,” and I invest in them. Thus, the whole group begins to invest in me and influence me positively. And by doing something practical, without any intention, without lofty ideas, I begin to act.

What does it mean to act? I know that they have something that I do not have. In any case, I do not simply want to serve them and bring them a cup of coffee, but through that cup of coffee I want to receive something from them. There is something in them that is slightly more elevated. Then, instead of my immediate desire and intention, something higher comes to me from them. Thus, by aspiring to this holy goal, I am already called “Israel” and “holy.”

That is, according to my initial action, even when I did not yet have the thought or intention for it, I am still called “holy.” Why? Because at least through the actions I perform, I am advancing.

We cannot judge a person according to what he has in each state, because whatever he has is given to him from above according to his aspiration. If I aspired to reach the goal but instead received a descent, then I also cannot be judged for that. It was given to me from above; perhaps I needed to fall. I do not know the upper calculations regarding me.

Therefore, one is never judged according to actions, that is, according to the current state, but only according to the direction, the aspiration of a person, because every state is arranged for him from above.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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If a person feels bad, like an ordinary person from the street, this still does not prompt them to think that there is some special solution. They do not think about where this bad state came from, for what purpose, how it can be avoided, and what one can come to.

Why doesn’t such awareness arise in them? The reason is that the surrounding light of the higher degree is, for now, illuminating the person’s opposite Kelim, Kelim that wish only to receive, to enjoy without any connection to bestowal, to the Creator, and this state does not change.

However, if these Kelim (even if a person is still completely immersed in egoism, in self-enjoyment) begin to study Kabbalistic books, then, as Baal HaSulam writes, even through a single desire to know (not to purify, but simply to know), they will draw the surrounding light upon themselves, which will attract the “charm of holiness” upon them. Then a person will gradually begin to understand that something called “bestowal” exists and perhaps it is something good.

It is the surrounding light that brings a person to the thought that it is something good. Precisely because this correction already exists within them (the thought that bestowal is something good), a person becomes closer to the surrounding light and to some extent connects with it. Their direction already coincides.

Then a person can receive the forces from the surrounding light that will develop this quality within them, the “charm of holiness,” the quality of bestowal.  In this way, by making efforts in the same direction, they ascend.

Therefore no preliminary knowledge is required from us, no special qualities. Any person can open a book and wish to rid themselves of all their troubles by the fact that, without understanding anything, they will read it. And that is all. One can begin from zero.

Gradually, as one advances, their intention is refined, and they begin to better understand where that sharp point is, the point toward which they must direct their thoughts each time more clearly and more precisely. Thus, with each time, they become more and more experienced.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection Between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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The more we reach out to the right goal, the more we shorten the time, as it is said: “Israel sanctifies the times,” and we come to the state we must attain. All sufferings and pleasures revolve around the fact that only with their help can a person direct oneself to the goal.

We must build such an environment, such a group, around us that, with the greatness of the goal, with the awareness of the baseness of our present state in this world, will direct us so that without preliminary sufferings we will strive to this goal even before the forces of nature act upon us and begin to press, forcing us to advance toward it.

Of course, no one can know what is happening in another since each comes from a different point of the soul. Each must pass the degrees in a different form. All 620 corrections on 620 desires, which are called 620 degrees, each of us must pass in a different form.

And here, only the person’s individual work is taken into account: how sensitive one is to his present state in relation to the goal standing before them. Only one’s inner attitude, one’s awareness of the importance gives one motivation to move and work.

That is, in every state, the person himself, or the society that he defines around himself must remind him what is the most important thing in life and accordingly oblige him and give him also the strength to advance.

And then he goes through the still, vegetative, and animate levels. Rabash gives examples: one sits at home with his family, he is still on the still level of development; another already runs around meetings, working for the benefit of society, this is the vegetative level of development; and a third already thinks not only about how to arrange the world together with the people who fill it. He must already move to a degree that is above humanity, to where decisions are made, where actions are truly carried out.

And then he already works not with his family, not with society, not with humanity, but with what is above humanity: with forces and goals that are higher than nature. Naturally, none of them can understand the other.

But, as Rabash says, in whatever state a person may be, he must always reach out to those who are better, greater, more exalted, and in any state place before him the goal of attaining them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/26, Rabash, “What It Means that the Generations of the Righteous are Good Deeds, in the Work”

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Question: How can a person in descent make use of the group?

Answer: Let us say I am in such a deep fall that the group repulses me, I cannot bear to look at their faces, nor do I believe there is anything special about my friends, and I absolutely have no desire to adopt anything from them at all. I am in despair, I have no strength, and no hope. This state is called “dead.” Where should I turn and from whom should I seek help?

There are states you go through simply by inertia, but even in these instances, we must rely on the group. There is a commandment to bury the dead. In other words, your friends should come and help you. “A prisoner cannot free himself from imprisonment.” It is impossible. This is a group task.

First of all, the group should have a schedule, a fixed routine. We must establish rotations in tasks, roles, work, in all kinds of activities.

If, for example, a meal is held twice a week or some other event is held once a week that gives everyone a spiritual jolt, it helps to change a friend’s state where it is not feasible to approach him directly, but it is clear he has fallen.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 4/11/26, Rabash, Article 10, 1988 “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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From between man and man one learns how to behave between man and the Creator.

…you have to keep awakening the love of the Creator in this way, that you must always stand guard, all day and all night, when you feel a state of day or feel a state of night.

We say to the Creator, “Yours is the day, and Yours is also the night.” Thus, the night, too, the darkness of night, comes from the Creator… (Rabash, Letter 24).

We have all already felt what “day” and “night” mean. “Night” means that suddenly the desire disappears, indifference comes, and the taste is lost. It becomes difficult for us to listen about a person’s work on their correction; we grow tired of repeatedly speaking about love of friends and connection.

Then “day” returns: enthusiasm, upliftment of spirit, and a person absorbs every word under a powerful impression, moved to tears. He burns with desire and rushes forward ready to move mountains.

All of this depends on some tiny measure of the light that influences us a little more or a little less. Our whole life and death, our entire mood, good or bad, depends on this small measure of light.

These states come to us so that we will understand that we must rise above them and not take them into account at all. Just imagine, is such a thing possible? Notice how much you fall under the control of these states when they take hold of you, and you can do nothing: neither in a good state nor in a bad one, you cannot cope with your joy nor with your sorrow.

So how is it possible to rise above them? Does it mean being above the influence of the light? Of course, I cannot be above the light, but I can be above my reaction to it. After all, this reaction arises in my egoistic desires. I must hold myself above this pleasant or unpleasant sensation.

At times, I am drawn to spirituality and am ready to do anything for it, dreaming of attaining bestowal. And at other times, nothing moves me, I am as if dead and want only to fall asleep and forget everything. How can I rise above such states?

I must ask the light for help. But not to ask for a pleasant sensation, we are always ready for that, even in the most difficult situation. Although there are such difficult states when we can no longer even ask, and only want to disconnect from the state and distract ourselves with some corporeal goals, just to forget and not feel the suffering.

But if it is not such a completely suppressed state, then we are able to ask. And usually, we ask the light to correct the problems and make us feel good. We expect a pleasant state, a sensation, but this is not correct. We need to seek a force that will allow us to remain above the bad state. We must ask the light for correction, so that these states will not influence us and we will perceive the bad states as good.

We must feel that the bad state comes in order to advance us, and no less, but even more than the good state. This means that a person must bless the Creator for the bad just as for the good. Then we will rejoice at every change of states, because we will be able to be impressed by them and ask the light to give us a screen that allows us to be above the reaction of our will to receive. I will always remain above the impression of good and evil, adhering to the Creator and striving to bring Him contentment.

Then all these unpleasant and pleasant states will determine the height, the level above which I can rise and establish contact with the Creator with a request for love and connection. It follows that the stronger the darkness and the light, and I do not react to them within my egoism, but only determine the height of my screen above them, the more it will grow. There will come ever brighter “days” and ever darker “nights,” ever higher states, and thus I will ascend.

Therefore, always, both in light and in darkness, we must strengthen the love between the friends with all our might, so that neither darkness nor light will influence us or change our attitude toward our constant duty: to strive only for unity and love.
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From preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/13, Baal HaSulam, Letter 13

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