When we go through a series of ascents and descents we wonder why we need all this. After all, it is said that we “add in Holiness and don’t subtract.” So actually this is a very logical question.

Our problem is that we don’t understand that evil doesn’t exist. In spirituality we check everything with regard to the Creator. There are 125 levels on our way to Him and the ascent to each of them begins when I receive additional egoism, which is gradually growing.

Suppose I am on level 1 before level 2, accordingly my ego has to grow and the state I am given is called “night.” It says in the Torah “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” So everything begins from the evening.

First I need to get additional Aviut (thickness) and discover a new layer of desire in me. In fact this is precisely the level that I will  ascend to and, which in the meantime, stands before me like a wall. So this new Aviut is called a descent.

But the descent is a decrease in the importance of the spiritual path in my eyes. This is how the Creator “hardens Pharaoh’s heart,” and at the same time says to me “Come to Pharaoh.” I only need to understand that all this is just in order to raise me.

Moreover, I have actually already risen, since “evening” is actually the revelation of the new corrupt vessels that belong to the next level. Now I only lack the correction that begins at “midnight.” Starting from the “evening” until “midnight,” a new desire to receive is revealed in me, then there is the correction of the vessels, and eventually I receive the Light, starting from dawn, the sunrise of a new day. So is this a descent?

Rabash gives us an example: If you are hungry and you are given a sack of wheat grain and you are angry since you cannot eat them, you are right. So use them correctly. Now you have something to prepare food from, a fulfillment.

On the other hand, if you receive ready-made food for your soul, you will not have the feeling, understanding, and adhesion. You will not understand what is essential and will not be able to develop.

So we constantly rise. There are no descents; everything depends only on our attitude towards what is happening. If you see a descent like an old wise man who is looking for new deficiencies on his own, in order to rise higher through them, to acquire wisdom, then “night” doesn’t seem as a descent to you. But in order to do that you need to have a group, a fixed daily schedule, and to use all the necessary means to support you along the way.
[120024]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/6/13, Shamati #26 “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”

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Question: What is the difference between cleaving to the teacher or cleaving to the group?

Answer: It is necessary to cleave to the group in order to cleave to the teacher in order to cleave to the Creator.

It does not mean that the student cannot ask the teacher questions, clarify, express doubts, and even make some claims. This should always be in the form that does not harm their connection, the student’s self-nullification. This is the main thing.

The problem is not that he will not have enough respect for the teacher, but the fact that he will lose his connection with him.
[120184]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/10/13, Shamati #25 “Things that Come from the Heart”

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As long as a person has not seriously begun to work, he doesn’t feel great opposition. But to the degree of advancement, and especially in the last stage when I approach the stage of the exodus from Egypt, then intense opposition from the egoistic Klipot begins, up to the 49 Gates of Impurity. It is impossible to exit Egypt unless the Klipot compel the person.

On the one hand, I feel a very great heaviness in even making one small step forward. And on the other hand, I see that if I do not make this step forward, then everything will disappear and I will lose everything. All of my effort will have been in vain, as if I hadn’t done anything.

Therefore we are obliged to strengthen the group, we are obliged to strengthen the mutual support and not fear any disturbances. For the 49 Gates of Impurity must be revealed in all of their intensity.

And there is no need to fear that the egoistic disturbances fall upon us and will weaken us. In other words, we must get up again and again. The problem is that we forget the reason for our descent and wonder why it is suddenly so bad for us, why don’t we wake up? Only yesterday I was all on fire, I worked in “high gear,” and today I woke up like a dumb animal—I don’t remember anything, don’t understand anything, and cannot think about anything. I feel tired and distracted, and don’t understand that I need to wake myself anew every day. And all the time there is another new clarification of new “Kelim” that I have not yet clarified.

And it could be that in the middle of the day suddenly some kind of unpleasant news arrives that simply stuns me. And were it not for the support of the friends and the group, I would fall. Alone it is impossible to hold onto something like this if the balance of forces tips in the direction of the bad. The group needs to nourish the person all the time with renewed excitement and awakening. It must become a source for the spirit of life.
[119590]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/30/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: The work in the group becomes tasteless without dissemination. But the moment we approach dissemination there are immediate conflicts and arguments. How can we disseminate and keep the unity in the group at the same time?

Answer: Of course we cannot live without dissemination. It’s like a family without kids. How much can you learn and study? Naturally there is a need for something fresh and new, some other news, like a couple that constantly engages in just themselves suddenly feels a need to have a child. So there has to be the right combination between studying and dissemination. We must never forget about the study!

The study changes according to what we engage in. Dissemination is the most important thing for our advancement, since we grow by transmitting the Light through us to the public. Otherwise we would remain in the state of Hafetz Hesed, when we actually don’t need anything. So it is dissemination that primarily determines our personal spiritual growth.

On the other hand, by engaging in dissemination, we also need to look for materials that will help us both theoretically and practically to expand and to deepen our dissemination. We have to locate the necessary materials and accordingly design our study.

According to our dissemination we study the material differently and find the parts that are relevant for our times, either from The Book of Zohar or from Talmud Eser Sefirot, when we choose certain articles by Baal HaSulam. This means that we actually choose the material that relates to dissemination and that helps us.
[119953]
From the Talk about Group and Dissemination 10/20/13

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An event like a Yeshivat Haverim, brings a very strong closeness between us and has a positive influence on everyone. Imagine if we could always rely upon each other in this way and be excited all the time, then if we fell into some bad state a person would immediately realize that it is the ego that intentionally brings him down and he would feel the necessity of connection and inclusion in the group.

And it would be easy, as if he floats on the waves: a little below, a little above, below, above, and thus rising all the time. Every time the ego grows, he rises above it without forgetting that all that is happening to him is given intentionally by the Creator in order to ascend.

He would always feel encouragement and the help of the friends, and it would be easy and simple for him be in a state of ascent all the time, where he would really direct a ray of Light from himself onto all problems and all unpleasantness. In doing so he would transform them into something opposite, to spiritual elevation and excitement, to everything being wonderful and good.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in his article, “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator.” When a person is found in concealment of the face, he sees the world as we all see it. But when he transfers to the revelation of the Creator, then he comprehends everything completely the opposite: Those people who seemed sick before, now seem to him to be completely healthy, the pauper becomes rich, the person who is despicable in the eyes of society transforms to be respected and loved by all.

And all this doesn’t depend on anything else other than our view of reality, for under the influence of the Upper Light the world is changed in a person’s eyes. And this is not a lie, it’s a completely different reality that we begin to feel as we transition from the negative to the positive, from seeing the world before the Light influences us and after this takes place.

It’s also the same now. It could be that before the assembly of friends that a person was not in the best state, it was difficult for him, unpleasant, and unhappy. But gradually, under the influence of this event, everything is changed. Spiritual elevation, strength, excitement, another view of the world, and the acquisition of confidence suddenly appear. Everything depends only on the influence of the Light that passes over each one of us through the group.

Therefore the main thing is to be included in a group, to lose one’s self, and to be found under its influence all the time. This is the only salvation and the only opportunity to hasten our development, to attain a state in which we begin to look at the world with different eyes, through another force, another program.

This different higher, spiritual, altruistic program is already found in us, but it needs to be activated. Sometimes it’s as if it is turned on a bit and we see another world. But in fact this is only a small illumination that flows from it. But when it will be completely turned on, we will see a bright, happy world in a state of complete correction.
[119884]
From the Bulgaria Convention “Dawn Of A New World” Day One 11/1/13, Lesson 2

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If I accept the group as a means for my advancement, I should correlate my whole path to the group. I begin to see the revelation of the Creator in the group: that He presents to me what I see in my friends.

I have no opportunity to evaluate them objectively. Thus from now on I maintain the principle: “Each rejects according to his own flaws.”

This does not mean that I close my eyes to everything. Our relationship now simply exists in two planes. On one hand, I accept the friends above reason as the best, genuine, and perfect group. I see them as great, and I see myself as adhering to their environment. On the other hand, I perceive them according to my logic and see that we all need to change for the better in order to help the group. Both sides of my approach are built on a real foundation: Either I see myself as uncorrected, or I see all of them as uncorrected.

I understand that my outlook depends on my inner state, and thus I work on both levels: At times I bow my head before the greatness of the friends, and at times I advance equally with them in an aspiration to unity and a common ascent.

Meanwhile I know that I never see the real picture, since until the final correction, everything is relative, and I lack firm criteria.
[24658]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/10, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Our group works very actively organizing a multitude of great projects and we feel there is a future for this. At the same time we see how our friends lose their jobs, their businesses fail, bankruptcies occur, and this is very difficult. Does this indicate that the Creator is trying to confuse us, or does it mean that we don’t have the right balance between dissemination and providing for our basic needs?

Answer: The Creator doesn’t want to confuse us. He wants only good for us. We are confusing ourselves.

The world must go either by way of suffering or by way of our illumination and education. We need to understand that nothing needs to change in the world except for the person himself, there is no other way. If we don’t change our nature, we will destroy ourselves and all of civilization on the face of our small globe. Terrible world suffering and wars are waiting for us to the point where there will be only a few thousand people left who will implement the plan of creation anyway. They will be able to change since all of the suffering of humanity that will have disappeared by then will be included within them.

But it’s also possible to do this in another way, through dissemination. Or with the “middlel line”: partly through suffering and partly through dissemination. We must try to solve everything in a good way, by the way of consciousness and awareness. This will be for the good of all.

Specifically what is it possible to do? I don’t know. I have tried many times to converse with all kinds of leaders, including the leaders of the European Union. In the meantime they believe they have the ability to protect themselves and that what they have will be enough. Somehow they will supply themselves with both security and wealth, and all the rest is unimportant to them. They are not ready to do anything.

Therefore, all hope for a better outcome depends only upon us. Try to do something, disseminate, try to write letters, turn both to the higher strata of the population and the lower strata. Otherwise you will be doing nothing.

For in spite of all this we have accomplished something: You are found here, listening to the possibilities of bringing our world out of the blind alley. And each one of you can reveal this to another thousand people.

Only through the group do we attract the Light of the Creator. And isn’t it up to us to transmit it? To do this we must create a connection with the nation; the ball is in our hands. Don’t think that the wisdom of Kabbalah or something else will give you wealth, control, respect, knowledge, and some kind of improvement. Nothing will help! Only correction will help.

When the crisis began, I received a multitude of letters with a request to show what the wisdom of Kabbalah is prepared to do. As a rule I answered very simply: The wisdom of Kabbalah is ready to explain to you how it’s possible to change yourselves so that the world will be changed, otherwise it will not change.

Therefore there is nothing to complain about when people have lost their jobs and cannot live anymore like they did in the past; this is the natural movement of our development. Now in the meantime everything is organized such that the governments somehow provide for the needs of their populations. But the situation could become much worse. The Creator will continue to agitate us until all the ego will be shaken out of us, until we understand that it’s necessary to change.
[119964]
From the Bulgaria Convention “Dawn Of A New World” Day One 11/01/13, Lesson 2

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Question: Why don’t you say that the method of integral education and information is our higher level, where the entire world must become a group? And of course, in this case, we must descend from our spiritual height, find language suitable for the general public, adapt, and rewrite the Kabbalistic articles, to find common ground with the aspirations of the masses so that there will be a basis for union with the entire world, to combine their desires with us, and so we go out with broad dissemination of integral education and information?

People who have been with you for a long time are leaving the wisdom of Kabbalah—deleting their accounts, “We are not with you!”—because of integral education, because they are in the dark; they don’t understand what this is for. They cannot appreciate your idea, and it seems to them that you surround yourself with naïve people who dance in your presence to the sound of the music, and everything is good. (I wanted to upset everyone, but I haven’t succeeded).

Answer: It is difficult to explain to people who study the wisdom of Kabbalah (i.e., that have a desire and within it, a “point in the heart”) that the integral union of all of humanity is the correction of the shattering of Malchut (the correction of Adam, the only soul that was created), even though they are studying this through the system of worlds, and I explain this to my students throughout the world in every lesson!

The idea is that the person who is involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah must evolve to understand the method of correction. After all, through studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, he develops his point in the heart and only when it reaches a particular development will he understand that spiritual attainment, meaning, attainment within him of the characteristic of bestowal, takes place only according to the degree that he connects with a group, to its center, with its common characteristic of Arvut (guarantee), and this could take years of intensive study.

Then, when a person understands the need to unite with a group and he works on this, he will feel that he has no need or desire for connection, and if, in spite of it all he continues to study and to act within a group, the additional efforts will lead him to an understanding that he can get the aspiration to unite in a group in order to discover the Creator from an outer circle of people if he begins to attract them toward unity. Reaching this understanding also could take several years, and then he understands that he needs to study the wisdom of Kabbalah in order to work in a group and integral education in order to work with the world. It is possible to decrease this time only through blindly carrying out the instructions of the teacher. Yet, only particular individuals are prepared to do this.

Those people toward whom we turn are another matter. They only have a need to organize this life (the desires of this world without a point in the heart), and therefore, they can quickly and easily understand and accept the method of integral education and information.
[119005]

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We believe that we don’t get an immediate answer to our requests and our prayers, but it isn’t true, you do get an immediate response. You are in an integral system that is internally connected by billions of strings. So there is no way that you perform a certain action either in your thoughts, in your speech, or your actions that doesn’t affect the system. Every tiny change that you undergo internally shakes the whole system. It responds to each and every detail.

It is like one body that responds to every one of its cells, to every desire. You are connected to everyone and cannot perform one single action without shaking the system. Everyone begins to move thanks to you and you constantly change the system. The mechanical actions have a minimal influence on the system and speech also has very little effect. But your intention brings about enormous changes in the whole system, even right now when your intention isn’t exactly the right one but you still are trying to attain it. You are like a baby trying to advance.

We don’t see such an effect in the corporeal world, but in the spiritual world people who are just starting their spiritual work summon a real and powerful response of the whole system by their actions. According to your advancement, you gradually grow from a person who performs actions to a person who serves those who perform actions when you rise to the level of Bina, Hafetz Hesed, or even higher than that. You only serve the lower by helping them, but they are actually the ones who bring about the greatest changes in the system and it is certainly thanks to you.

The state of the upper, whether it is smallness or greatness, depends on the lower, on the MAN, on the prayer, that they raise. But it is they, the smallest ones, that raise MAN (a prayer), and in response to that, the whole system is shaken by responding to their efforts to be incorporated in the system in their understanding and feeling.
[119971]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/13

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Question: What can help us become independent of the outcome of our work?

Answer: We should switch the corporeal outcome to a spiritual outcome. A spiritual outcome is to delight the Creator. Imagine that you want to delight someone, to please him, and to make him happy and this someone is the Creator.

In order to picture the Creator more accurately and to be less mistaken, you should imagine that you want to make all of reality happy: All the still, vegetative, animate nature, and people, you want to make feel good and you actually dissolve and disappear in them, dedicating yourself to them in every possible sense, from now till eternity, beyond time, motion, and place, in everything that you do.

In order to be more concrete, imagine that you are in a group and that you want and try to act this way with regard to the friends. You want to totally dedicate yourself to them, to be in them, and to disappear and be incorporated in them, but this has to be fulfilled in practice, which means that you should be ready to do anything in order to disappear in them. This means that everything disappears: the causes, the actions, the outcomes; everything is aimed at the friends.

Think about it and imagine this situation and check your conclusions and clarifications in practice by your actions. We have to clarify whether what we say isn’t just empty words and whether they penetrate your heart. This is examined only by one’s actions. If such an intention enables you to operate yourself, it means that your intention is right. But if you have to change your intention in order to operate yourself and to start doing something, then your intention isn’t serious enough yet, as it says “without a cover.”
[119969]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/7/13

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