Rabash, Letter 42:  And when everyone has annulled himself and everyone worries only about the Creator’s sake, then they have no private judgment, since there are no more private opinions, and all the individuals annul themselves and all enter the domain of the unique.

Incorporation is the main thing; incorporation brings the general vessel back to the corrected state and what is more it adds to the vessel an intensity that is 620 greater. What used to be simply connected in the system of Adam HaRishon (first man) before the sin, has become something that is much greater. It isn’t the same matter and not the same initial “earth” anymore but actually becomes similar to the Creator in every sense.

In terms of intensity that is 620 times greater, it is about a qualitative ascent that cannot be described in words. We go through a kind of enhancement and move from the created being to the Creator, thus raising ourselves to the level of the Giver.

This doesn’t mean that from now on I surround the whole world by my perception; it isn’t about this world at all, but about totally different levels. The size of the first spiritual level cannot be measured in our world, neither in height nor in intensity.

Everything is attained only by incorporation when I fill the friends and the friends fill me. No one can fill himself, only others can and it is only from them that he will receive a filling.
[111918]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself,” Lesson 3

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A Collection of Laws, “the Breastplate of Judgment,” The Laws of the Guarantor, Law 3-30: The main thing about observing the Torah is the desire and it is attained by unity. Therefore, everyone should be incorporated in the community of Israel in great unity. And therefore during the receiving of the Torah, they must immediately become responsible for one another. It is because when they want to receive the Torah, they should immediately be incorporated as one, in order to be incorporated in the desire, then everyone is certainly responsible for his friend since they are considered one.”

What is unity, what is mutual guarantee?

It is a state in which I “is replaced” by every member in the group; I receive his reward and punishment, and everything that belongs to him. It is as if you have done whatever he has done. You deserve whatever he deserves. There are no investigations and no examinations; I am fully responsible. This is called connection or ultimate incorporation.

Of course, we don’t reach that immediately but step by step. On the whole, the general vessel must return to its whole state. Now the ego separates us, all the parts of this vessel, and we have to reconnect into something that is totally homogeneous and unified. In order to do that we “absorb,” cover the borders between us with love, go outside and connect between us, as if the borders do not exist. Thus we increase the intensity of the connection between us by 620 times, which is the sum of 613 commandments of the Torah and seven more commandments of our sages. Thus we are incorporated into one desire by mutual guarantee.
[111916]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself,” Lesson 3

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Rabash, “Shlavei Sulam,” 1985/86, Article 21, “Above Reason”: The envy that he feels toward the friends when he sees that they have better qualities than his own, it motivates him to acquire their good qualities, which he doesn’t have and of which he is jealous.

Thus, through the society, he gains new qualities that he adopts by seeing that they are at a higher degree than his, and he is envious of them. This is the reason why now he can be greater than when he didn’t have a society, since he acquires new powers through the society.

I envy my friends in a good way. I do not want them to be worse than me; I want to rise to their degree myself. And to do this, I need to be integrated into them.

I do not compete with them in studies on the basis of envy. We are talking about a property of bestowal, getting closer to the Creator, and that is why I have to learn from the friends how to become more giving. I will not manage without being integrated into them.

Thus, spiritual envy is opposite to the material one. Material envy places a person in the “black list” of those without whom my life would have been calmer, but spiritual envy prompts me to join him in spite of my nature, my desire. I need to “embrace” him internally, so he helps me rise to the same degree. Thus, spiritual envy awakens a greater internal effort due to which I break my egoism and turn it into a “lever” for advancement.

It turns out that envy in a group is a great force that comes from the friend whom I envy; the force that helps me rise above my egoism and connect with the friend.

But apart from that, I also need the power of the group that will help turn the destructive potential of envy into creative.

After all, at the beginning, my envy of the friend is so terrible that it is similar to hatred. He causes a negative, bad feeling in me because I feel that he is higher than me. Thus, he reveals a new “hollow,” an emptiness, a lack, a need for something in my desire. And as a result, I envy him; I hate him because he is better; he has an addition that I don’t have.

Thus, the friend forms a desire in me and pushes me to advance only if I use my new need correctly. How can I turn it into bestowal, into correct fulfillment, the same as he has?

First of all, we need some closeness, some relationship, unity. Otherwise, I will not be able to see anything in him and will have nothing to envy. That is why we are called friends because we are linked.

Besides that, I need to recognize that addition in him, which I lack myself. A strong need is formed within me, and I treasure it. It is very important not to erase his addition and my new desire against the inner background of perception, but on the contrary to start working on it, so that it becomes the same that my friend has.

So, all this is done by means of the group’s opinion. You will not manage without it; neither will you manage without a friend. Both these factors affect me and play a crucial role in advancement.

As a rule, I feel envious of individual friends, not of the group as a whole because it is “blurred” in my perception and not directed exactly against my egoism so I could aim at a particular property.

Well, next I make the actions possible for me, and then the Light, the Creator, completes what has been started… The Light always “finalizes” our endeavors.
[111856]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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Baal HaSulam, Letter 19: However, one must know in one’s heart that the Creator chases him just as much as he chases the Creator. One must never forget that, even through the greatest longing.

A person must have a deficiency, since without a vessel the Creator cannot awaken towards him. The Light can only bestow in response to some yearning on part of the vessel, on part of the soul. So a person is brought right from the start to Kabbalah from above without actually awakening towards it on his part. There is only a spark of awakening that remains in him after the shattering, like in the levels of the still, vegetative, and the animate nature that exist and develop without freewill at all.

But a person must begin to work and perform independent actions according to his freewill. This is why he is brought to the wisdom of Kabbalah, to a group, and then he is given greater freewill.

“When remembering that the Creator misses and chases one to cling to him as intensely as one wishes for it himself, he then always goes from strength to strength, with yearning and longing, in a never-ending coupling, the complete perfection of the soul.”

It doesn’t matter what state a person is in as long as he remembers, thinks, and even feels that everything that happens comes from an upper root, from the Creator. The Creator operates him like a human hand inside a puppet. If a person feels or knows this or looks for that during his whole life, it is called a continuous merging with the Creator.

A person constantly searches and clarifies how the Creator manages him. We have to feel that at least and to constantly think that everything that happens to us comes from the Creator. We must constantly delve into this thought until we begin to feel it. It is even better to ask to feel that everything inside me operates under the management of the upper force. Everything that I say, think, feel, or any movement that I make now is not my own doing at all; everything comes from above.

I must understand that I am managed from above and that I don’t decide anything or do anything at the moment.

“He then always goes from strength to strength, with yearning and longing, in a never-ending coupling, the complete perfection of the soul. At last, one is endowed with repentance out of love.”

This is a process we have to go through. There is nothing but the search for the Creator but each time in a higher and deeper resolution, by wider actions to the depth of the worlds, until the whole desire to receive is revealed. A person begins to understand how the Creator manages him and sees from one end of creation to the other. He discovers the Creator’s actions in every detail of the creation and discovers the Creator in each detail.

Thus a person can adhere to everyone. He cannot adhere to his friend unless he determines that the same upper force operates both in him and in his friend.
[111783]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/08/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The entire progress is realized only in the group of ten. From that moment on, we only work in it. The group of ten could be hundreds of our friends around the world. This also is called ten people, not nine or eleven.

Everything has the same structure of the ten Sefirot. The only difference is the scale, a greater or lesser resolution. You see ten people before you, but when you approach, each of the ten people turns into ten, and then each of these ten turns into other ten, and thus to infinity.

However, in essence, you see the same HaVaYaH, the same group of ten in which absolutely everything is included.
[111566]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/4/13, Writings of Rabash

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Baal HaSulam, Letter 57: There is no happier situation in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.

It says here about the decisive factor without which we will not succeed. Before I come to the group and, being integrated in the friends, through whom I will draw the Light that Reforms, I need preliminary correction that is also realized by the Light.

Thus, its influence on me is divided into several stages:

• At the beginning with its help, I apply efforts to be included in the group.
• Then, having been included, I work in it as much as the Light lets me do this. Now, it works not on me personally, but on the relationship between us.
• When we achieve the correct connection, it gives us a common screen and teaches us how to form the head of the Partzuf by means of which we create the format of the collective soul.

Question: How can we attract the Light that Reforms?

Answer: It comes in response to the efforts that you make in order to enter a spiritual state. And this is already a solution: You are required to perform actions, which you are capable of, and the Light will bring you back to the source.

Even if you do not feel much for unity; however, you still follow the advice of Kabbalists and work in the group although your heart tends to something else. Moreover, even if you are in descent and the friends seem repulsive to you, if you nonetheless remain among them, the Light affects you. This force “works” in any of your states, no matter how they are manifested: “mechanically,” physically or internally—no matter what they affect—spirit, nerves, etc. The main thing is that you, at least a bit, strive for bestowal, unity, and self-nullification, despite your own resistance.

Some come to the group, as they say “on autopilot,” some fall asleep in class, and the Light that Reforms still acts. Even if a person dragged himself almost on all fours, but he apply efforts, the Light responds.

Question: How can I know that it responds?

Answer: So far, you can only believe the Kabbalists. In the same way, a kid believes his mother who tells him what to do. In life, you first need to listen to the adults and then the results are seen. We learn from schoolteachers and university professors, initially believing their words. So, I also believe people who are wiser than me and I gain their wisdom in order to verify its truth later.

Otherwise, it is impossible: We need guidance, instructions, on every stage of development. The wisdom of Kabbalah is no exception. It turns out that you come to study in its standard format, the same as at college or anywhere else. There is nothing “supernatural” here. The tips that you get are achievable. They can be realized; all you need is a spark, an inner urge—and everything is open before you.

We are always seeking where to extract the maximum benefit with minimum investment. Here we act egoistically; you are not required to be better than you are. So, it is possible, and everyone is capable of this.
[111860]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/13, Preparation to St. Petersburg Convention, “Principles for Building a Better Environment,” Lesson 4

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Question: Is it necessary in the remaining days before the convention to focus on the thought that it is forbidden to ask for oneself because then you damage your soul or to come there to raise our collective prayer?.

Answer: Before the convention it is necessary to focus on the thought that a prayer can be only collective, as well as on the simple principle that we will eat there what we have prepared for the convention. As it is said, “One who did not toil on the eve of Shabbat (the Sabbath), what will he eat on Shabbat?”

You should not place your hopes on me—not a single percent! It all depends only on your vessel, your desire.

Question: Do I have to imagine now how I am connected with the friends there?

Answer: Start doing it right now, why wait for the beginning of the convention! Preparation does not mean that you are ready to cry out there, but that you are crying right now and that during this cry you are better discerning your desires. If you leave this for tomorrow, what will happen to you today? We should aspire to unity right now!

Preparation for the convention means that you are already now with all your strength striving to unite all our desires, vessels. Then, you will arrive at the convention more consciously and will ascertain the desires. And if so, then why do we need to start thinking about this today, a month in advance? We would have thought it over in advance, and that is enough.

The task is not to wait for the desired moment, counting down the remaining days on the calendar. Preparation is that at every moment, the entire time before the convention, every day, to advance in unification, understanding, feeling, care, inspiring the friends more and be inspired by them. Tension is building and building inside you with each day so you will come to the convention and explode there! Or maybe we will achieve everything what we desire on the way.
[111792]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/13, The Zohar

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Question: In The Book of Zohar, “The Night of the Bride,” we read about how the bride (Divinity) decorates herself before the meeting with the groom (The Creator). What jewels have we prepared for ourselves in the group in order to decorate ourselves before the coming convention?

Answer: The bride’s decoration is the wedding crown, Keter. It is the upper Sefira that has nothing to do with the other Sefirot, and is actually their source. The term Keter (crown) means bestowal and it has no concrete form and no attributes. This is all that we should know about bestowal, and everything else are expressions of the Sefira of Keter that Malchut receives.

A crown is bestowal without a definite form. It is actually what we should yearn for, as it says: “a crown on the righteous’ head.” A righteous is the Sefira of Yesod (basis), that connects the other Sefirot in it. If we want to connect, we feel the need for a crown on the righteous’ head, on his thoughts, his desires, and his plans. This is where the the crown should be and where it is.

A righteous, the Sefira of Yesod is the place of coupling with the Light. After the second restriction there is no room for coupling in Malchut itself, but only in Yesod. (This is because the children of Israel didn’t want the coupling in the Sefira of Yesod, in Joseph, and so they went down to Egypt). The righteous are those who gather in them all the discernments that they can work with, except for Malchut. All these discernments connect in Yesod. Malchut that ascends to Bina is called Yesod.

All our work is to be incorporated in every way possible in the group, with all our heart. Before the convention I prepare to totally annul myself, which means to feel that my motions are together with everyone else, with all the thoughts and the desires.

I should remember that I cannot turn to the Creator with a personal prayer! A person who raises a personal prayer destroys his soul. He actually destroys everything even if he wants to bring contentment to the Creator. So the incorporation in the group precedes every other action. This is called Yesod since it is the basis for the work and because it is the Sefira of Yesod that we work with instead of Malchut.
[111789]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/08/13, The Zohar

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When everyone annuls his ego and tries to connect to the others, it means that everyone is trying to be incorporated in one another. Of course, we discover on the way that it is impossible to be incorporated and attain connection by ourselves, and then a prayer is born in us.

Everyone must reach a certain degree of bestowal upon others and be incorporated in them, but eventually, everyone must reach the level of “Jacob” that is called the middle line. Thanks to our collective efforts, we attain our root, the network that connects us all. This is called wanting to bestow upon Malchut from Yesod.

When we reach this state, we raise MAN, a prayer, so that the Surrounding Light will connect us correctly. Then, under the influence of Yesod on Malchut, we attain Keter, and then the Creator is revealed in our vessels.

In this process, we connect into one Sefira of Yesod from all the different Sefirot that represent each of us as everyone annuls himself. Through the general annulment, we reach Malchut and bestow upon it, and by that become a vessel for receiving the Light of Keter, which means that we reach the attainment of the level of Keter.

This process includes all of reality until the end of correction, but our mission now is for each of us to try to ascend above himself and be incorporated in others. By that, we are incorporated in the collective effort. This should be our preparation now before the convention. In this collective effort, we discover the prayer of many in which everyone is aware, understands, and feels the effort of the friends who want to connect, and I want to help them.

I feel what a great desire they have to connect in order to bestow upon the Creator. Therefore, as it is written, “For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say: ‘Peace be within thee.’” This means that I ask for the friends so that they will reach the corrected vessel in which they will be able to bestow upon the Creator.
[111539]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/04/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How do I measure my readiness for the St. Petersburg convention?

Answer: According to the level of sufferings that you feel. After all, I suffer when I lack something important.

I see a fancy car in a store window, a shiny Rolls Royce that costs a million dollars, the type of car that attracts everyone’s attention on the street and stops the traffic. It is in front of me, I am captivated by it, and I feel that my life is meaningless without it. I ask people to help me raise a million dollars. I beg them to help me as much as they can…

I don’t sleep at nights, cannot eat, drink, or relax because of the image of the shiny vehicle; “I would rather die than live without the “Rolls Royce.” I suffer desperately when I see my dream car through the window that separates us.

So what should I do? Break the window? Start a revolution and split up everyone’s property? Rob a bank? I look for different solutions so I can purchase what I lack. It is because I have a strong feeling that this is the only thing that I lack.

It is according to such sorrow that we measure our preparation for the convention, but in our case it is not enough. I also need a point in the heart, the spark in the ego in relation to which I measure the goal that the friends and I are yearning for. The spark illuminates the sublime and wonderful goal and although I really long for it, I don’t want to blur or to erase it. On the contrary, I am sure that it will be mine and that I will attain it. Therefore, I am full of joy along with the feeling of sorrow.

The combination of sorrow and joy is the middle line which I have to form. So I measure my preparation according to the level of sorrow that I feel as a result of not having attained what I want. I check the sorrow that I feel in my heart, in my ego, from the point in the heart.

So before the St. Petersburg convention we put a great emphasis not on the greatness of the goal, but on the preparation that determines the reward. You will receive exactly what you have prepared.

In ordinary life we bring the vessel to a source of water and fill it. In spirituality it is different; there you receive exactly what you have prepared. Your vessel becomes the filling and you don’t ask for anything else. The yearning, the deficiency, the longing for the goal is what fills you. There aren’t any changes on the outside and nothing enters you; the deficiency becomes the reward. The preparation formats the deficiency in such a way that it becomes the filling.

What are these tricks? An empty vessel in return for our efforts?

No, it isn’t empty any more, it is actually full… this is bestowal.

Baal HaSulam speaks about that in Letter No. 19: “During the preparation, the beauty and grace appear and the essence of perfection that one yearns and longs for. However, at the time of correction, when ‘the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,’ then, ‘I shall see an opposite world,’ because only fear and longing are the essence of the desired perfection. Then one feels that during the time of preparation, one was lying to oneself.”
[111731]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/13, “They Shall All Know Me From the Least of Them to the Greatest of Them”

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