In our world, an intermediate stage exists between a curse and a blessing. Our world is defined as al menat lekabel (for the sake of receiving) and the future world al menat lehashpia (for the sake of bestowing).

These two factors do not touch one another; the only transition from one to the other exists within a person, who seems to be able of alternating between being in one state and the other. I say “seems” because this does not yet occur in reality, but rather at a level below Kedusha (holiness) and the Klipa (impure forces).

From above downward, down to the Machsom (barrier), there are two lines: true holiness and the true impure force, true blessing and curse. Below the Machsom, the roles of the true concepts of “curse” and “blessing” is played by what may be called a “set of exercises,” this world, given to us to prepare ourselves a little, exert an effort, and begin the real work.

Thus, here we do not have holiness (the intention for the sake of bestowal), and strictly speaking, nor do we have the impure force (the intention for the sake of receiving), the curse. We have neither one nor the other. Therefore, what we do can be done. We do nothing inherently bad and nothing inherently good here. Everything is allowed to us, much like to small children, so that we might learn something from the experience.

If a person truly wants to approach genuine actions that one determines and performs themselves, and wishes to leave infancy, like the adults of this world, then one must go through stages of learning, preparation, understanding, and a certain level of awareness.

This process is called from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma (from the intention for one’s own sake to the intention for the sake of the Creator). This is the state before the Machsom that we must attain. No matter the circumstances, a person must seek ascent and awakening, a desire to do something for the Creator, for the higher force, even while in a state of concealment (both double or ordinary).

A person can acquire this desire only from the group. There is nowhere else to get it from, because when in concealment, one does not see the Creator. By working with the environment, annulling oneself, and realizing the importance of the Creator, understanding that it is worthwhile for him to annul themself before the group in order to realize the importance of the Creator, a person thereby shows how important and necessary this is for him.

For this, a person is ready to sacrifice himself and is truly capable of constantly finding the drive to act and be impressed by the environment so that one’s efforts invested in the group with the aim of receiving the awareness of the importance of the Creator from it, become a sign of how important it is for one to come to the Creator, to spirituality.

In the action that one performs toward the group, annulling oneself in order to attain the Creator, all the actions against one’s own desire toward the Creator and toward the group are present. Everything in one action.

The awareness of the importance of the Creator is similar to one’s attitude toward a great Rabbi whom a crowd of admirers meets at the airport, when a person finds enough energy within himself to carry his suitcases. But if an ordinary person gets off the plane, it would never occur to anyone to do such a “foolish” thing as help him with his luggage.

Therefore, there is nothing else for us to work on except the awareness of importance through which we move from curse to blessing.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

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All the states that we go through can and certainly should be experienced can; however, we need to keep them under constant control and not succumb to either negative or positive sensations. We must constantly control our feelings with our reason. In this way, the reason and feelings are balanced with one another so that one does not outweigh the other.

If the intellect prevails over feelings, it means that you become a “wise guy”: “Why should I do all this, I won’t be able to anyway. The Creator is greater than me, so let Him do it. And if not, well, so be it.” And so on in the same spirit. But if feelings prevail, then a person immersed in them is unable to use their head.

So what is the solution? We must find forces in the group that will help us break free from this state and achieve balance. There is no other way out.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

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Question:  When we meet a person for the first time, we form an impression of them, and it may change.

Speaking about the spiritual and the material, how do we avoid falling into the standard set of human experiences when a person enters a new environment, meets new people, sees only the good in them, and over time begins to criticize them?

Where specifically is the spiritual and material work here? In the material world, I can push such a person away from me and never meet him again, whereas here I overcome myself and continue communicating with him. Is that where the difference lies?

Answer: You do not pay attention to anything material; you rise above it because through your connection with this person you can build a common spiritual aspiration toward the Creator. Therefore, the friend is infinitely important to you, because without him, you will not have a purposeful aspiration toward spirituality, and you will remain without a soul.

Comment: Essentially, we are speaking about a screen with the Creator that I gradually build. But I build it independently, with respect to myself.

My Response: With respect to the common connection with everyone. You can never build anything directly! It is only through connection with others, because we are one shattered soul.

If I do not connect with others, I have nowhere to feel the Creator. The Creator is between us, but He disappeared, fell into the shattered network between us. Restore the network, and you will see Him again.

What is unclear here? There was a “fishing net” between us in which the Creator was felt. The net was torn, the connections between us broke down and became egoistic, and the Creator disappeared. Restore this network, like a web, and as it is restored, a radiance will appear in it—the Creator, the property of bestowal and love.

Comment: But all the examples that you give, I understand at first, and then I do not.

My Response: That is because your egoism changes instantly, and in the new egoism, you can no longer accept this; you do not feel it.

Comment: But it is impossible to repeat this a hundred times.

My Response: Of course it is possible; even a thousand times! The point is that it is not repeated, because each time a new degree is being worked through. I never repeat myself.

Comment: Yes, I know. But it sounds as though it is the same subject.

My Response: There is nothing else.

Comment: Let us say you speak about mutual guarantee, but there are so many different aspects there. You look at lessons from previous years, where you revealed certain things, and now you reveal other things. And it seems that they are being revealed, but at the same time, they are not.

My Response: Because this must be revealed in you. And in whom else? Do not wait for favors from the Creator! There will be none! Take it yourself.

Question: From where?

Answer: From Him. But demand it!

Comment: How to demand correctly is a very big problem. Because the usual idea of demanding is to shout, or clench your fists, or swear.

My Response: That helps too. Go ahead!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call.First impression of a person ” 9/25/10

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Question: What is the difference between turning to the Creator and turning to the souls?

Answer: Does a person understand that the Creator’s desire is to bestow to His creations? Until a person understands that they must come to love of the Creator, to adhesion with Him, and that it is impossible without a person preparing their Kli (vessel), which is called unification with other souls, they will not begin to do anything.

We must understand that we can act in the spiritual world only to the extent that we are connected with one another in the material world. Suppose there is some heavy object lying in front of you that you have to move. But you see that you cannot do it alone. Then you turn to someone else or to several people, until there are enough people to move it.

So, imagine that you are down below, in this world, and in order to reach the 125^th degree, you need to move something heavy that becomes heavier and heavier every time. The more degrees you want to overcome, the more souls you need to connect with so that they help you move this weight. And so you continue until you connect with everyone, otherwise you will not reach the goal.

To ascend to the first degree, it is enough for you to annul your ego, let us say, before ten others, that is, to connect with ten souls. For the second degree with a hundred souls, for the next with a thousand, and so on.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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Inclusion in one another is the only action that we are constantly performing, whether we want it or not.

Everything in our world is based on mutual inclusion: the processes of absorption and assimilation, the processes of excretion that take place in the body, various kinds of chemical reactions, the attraction or repulsion of bodies, their behavior in a magnetic or electric field, and so on. All of these are examples of mutual inclusion, which are based on the actions of the spiritual vessel and the light.

When we look for a way to measure the quality of our actions, we must always evaluate the degree of our inclusion in others; in other words, to what extent I can include myself in as many souls as possible—not in children, not in adults, not in the actions of the still, vegetative, animate nature, or man—but in souls.

Souls are points in the heart. Therefore, when I come to such a large congress, where thousands of points in the heart gather into which I intend to include myself, this is the most effective action for my spiritual advancement. It is the strongest action that can possibly take place in reality, in all the worlds.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah for Beginners,” 10/27/10

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Question: It is clear that I need a group that will increase the importance of the goal for me. But what if most of the work is in the recognition of evil?

Answer: If I were to shout at you and tell you that you are bad, you would not feel it. The recognition of evil must be the result of the influence of the surrounding light. The group only pushes and prompts you to become more sensitive to it, to attract it, and to reveal it more. And you must feel the result in your state in relation to the light.

Having people constantly shout at you that you are bad will not help. On a human level, this sometimes helps. But our advancement should not be from the negative, but only from the positive. When I reach out toward the goal, then according to the degree of its importance, the light influences me, and then I see the evil within me. And from the friends, I need to receive only the awareness of the importance of the Creator.

I must advance through the light, and not because people shout at me that I am bad. This will never lead to love of the friends and to the correct result.

If a person advances toward spirituality, then the awareness, measurement, and examination must be in spiritual Kelim (vessels), according to spiritual principles.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/24/26, Rabash, “What “Israel Do the Creator’s Will” Means in the Work”

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Question: How can the group attract a person from outside or foster a deeper connection with those already within it?

Answer: The most important thing is to help a person feel the importance of the group. The group must answer the questions that he raises. The problem is that we are not certain that we will find the answers to our questions within the group, in our connection with it, and therefore we tend to treat it dismissively. The group must help a person see and understand this.

The main thing is to demonstrate that the group has the answers to the questions that concern a person, that it can show him the goal, and how the group is moving toward it. Then he will feel how much he lacks it, and will become convinced that the group stands far above him.

Therefore we must strengthen the group, increase our love for the friends, and not be ashamed of it. Our group should be above everything else. It is the very best one, and we can receive everything from it.

But we should not present life in the group through rose-colored glasses. The main emphasis should be on the group’s ability to give a person spiritual life, and draw him forward toward the goal. The group itself cannot do this. The force comes from the Creator, but it passes through the group.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘Do Not Slight the Blessing of a Layperson’ in the Work?”

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There is only one path open to us leading to the Creator. If you wish, you may advance toward Him; if not,   you do not have to. The pace of your advancement depends on you, but only if you choose the single path, out of all 360 directions, that leads straight to Him.

But if you decide to go in one of the other 359 directions, paths that seem to be an alternative, then you are not free to choose. In that case, you will be tossed from side to side, through various directions and all kinds of states, so that by becoming confused, doing various things, and struggling your way out of them, you will once again come to this point of choice.

If you do not wish to make that choice, then continue revolving in the closed circle. You are given the opportunity to break out of it: if you wish, you can exit in the designated direction; if not wish, then, like the hand of a clock, you will complete another rotation until you return to the same starting point.

Later, on higher degrees, but not now, it becomes evident that free choice truly exists and consists only in choosing this one direction.

The whole of reality was created solely for the sake of this point of choice. Otherwise, if nothing depended on a person, then why would it be necessary to lead him through countless different states until the final correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/26, Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile”

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The choice of environment is in a person’s hands. He can place himself under the influence of the group, try to influence it himself so that this influence returns to him many times stronger, or simply elevate the group.

If he has chosen a teacher, then all that remains is to elevate the teacher as much as possible in his own eyes. The only work he can do with respect to the teacher is to place himself under the teacher’s influence as much as possible.

The lower he places himself, the higher the teacher will be in his eyes. With respect to the friends, however, there are several possibilities. He can try to change them, he can try to change himself, or he can try to change his relationship with the group.

But once the group has been chosen, a person will be under the influence of the environment that he himself has chosen. The only thing he can influence is his connection with the group.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/26, Rabash, “What Is ‘Do Not Slight the Blessing of a Layperson’ in the Work?”

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In the book Pri Haham, Rabash calls the property of pride the force of destruction. What can I do? On one hand, I must preserve this force; on the other hand, I cannot turn to the Creator until this force is under my full control, because only after overcoming it can I ask Him for something.

I have to suppress myself, reach a state of lowering my “I” and exalting the Creator, but I am unable to do so. Therefore, the stony heart cannot be corrected until the final correction (Gmar Tikun).

You can correct this with the additional force you receive from the group. In this case, the force of the group is something special, as if it is outside the relationship between man and the Creator.

This is an additional force that I can use as an external help. It belongs neither to “existence from absence” nor to “existence from existence,” neither to man nor the Creator, but as if to something third that exists in nature.

Since pride puts me, like Pharaoh, against the Creator, there is nothing to be done about it. It is only from the outside that I can receive additional force, which will give me the opportunity to suppress my “I” and turn to the Creator. Otherwise, Pharaoh will shout, “Who is the Creator that I should listen to Him?” No matter how many plagues are thrown at me, nothing will help.

Therefore, Rabash emphasizes that only the force of the group can help us. Baal HaSulam writes that our happy future depends on it. Without the help of the group, I stand like a wall against the Creator, unable to do anything. The Creator does not want to be the first to reveal Himself to me, because by doing so, He would suppress my “I,” and I would simply annul before Him.

Can I ask the Creator to reveal Himself to me so that my “I” is suppressed through my own efforts, and His actions are a response to my actions? This can only be achieved by getting outside help.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/26, Rabash, “What Is “Do Not Slight the Blessing of a Layperson” in the Work?”

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