The law of loving thy neighbor is based on observing 612 commandments, correcting 612 desires that become revealed in our spiritual structure. By observing them, we reach the general rule: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

612 commandments are our 612 desires that pursue the egoistic intention to please oneself. None of us can observe these 612 commandments on his own, but only by connecting with others and beginning to examine our mutual relations with one another. This is the only way to reveal all these desires.

Not a single person has the ability to observe a single commandment. This is because a commandment stems from the principle of love thy neighbor. The egoistic connection between us is called a transgression, and the altruistic connection is called a commandment. This is why one neither commits crimes nor observes commandments before he begins to connect with others. He just leads a simple beastly life, which we are not talking about here.

And egoistic desires that connect him with others only become revealed in him under the condition that he wishes to connect with them in order to use them to attain bestowal. Only then can we speak about corruption and correction.

The defect referred to as “I created the evil inclination” is a very advanced stage, when one reveals part of his 612 vices that pertain to the connection with others. And then he attains the realization of evil whereby he understands that he must correct his egoistic attitude towards others. This means to reach repentance, the “Days of Awe,” when he understands that he uses his neighbor egoistically. And then a switch happens in him, referred to as the beginning of the new year, Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of a new journey, when he wishes to turn his evil into its opposite.

And this is after spending a long time working in the group and understanding the need for correction. And then he gradually turns 613 transgressions into 613 commandments.

But without beginning to work in the group, he will never reveal any of his 613 transgressions. This is because all of them relate to the same principle of love thy neighbor and do not exist outside of the connection with others. This common rule includes all individual details. This is why all the types of connection that exist between us come out of the principle of love thy neighbor and pertain to our 612 actions in relation to each other, the qualities we need to correct.

We reach the common rule of loving the created beings by making individual corrections, and through it we reach love for the Creator. By correcting my 612 desires from egoism to bestowal, I reach absolute connection together with everyone, where the common rule of love thy neighbor becomes revealed. This is the preparation for the revelation of the “unifying factor,” the Creator, the so called “plus 1,” inside it.
[63204]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What do you recommend to the English listeners during the reading of The Zohar: to follow the printed text or to just listen? Should we do it in Hebrew or English?

Answer: When a person simply listens to the sound of the text we are reading and constantly makes an inner effort to reveal the text inside the quality of bestowal, wishing for this quality to become revealed in him, this is best.

Let us say that I simply listen to the sound of words, but I do not know what they mean. In order to understand them, I need a certain inner translator, which will translate them for me. The translator, which will be able to translate the words of The Zohar for me, is only the quality of bestowal. If it becomes revealed in me, I will immediately understand what The Zohar speaks of. I will see this picture through my senses, I will enter it, and it will come alive within me.

I do not need anything but the quality of bestowal. Then I will immediately reveal everything Kabbalah speaks of inside this quality. It is as if there is a broadcast on television, but you are unable to turn the screen on. You can see it as soon as you turn the screen on. And meanwhile? And meanwhile something is being concealed behind the screen, something is being transmitted through the cables, but you are unable to turn it on.

We only lack the screen….
[63211]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/2011, The Zohar

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Everything we now reveal in our world is a corrupted form of connection between us. In reality there are no cars or houses, no still, vegetative, or animate nature, there are no people—none of this exists.

There are only five phases inside the soul and its connections with other souls, and these connections are corrupted. These corrupted connections give us the form of this corrupted world. And because the world cannot exist in this form (since ultimately, it is corrected), it is called an artificial world, which for now exists in our uncorrected qualities.

As soon as we begin to correct it, we immediately see a corrected world and a corrected state instead of the corrupt state or the corrupt world, until it becomes the world of Infinity where there are no limits for the distribution of Light and everything is corrected.

In the end, we either exist within the single structure of the collective soul, or we are there as if broken into a multitude of interconnected pieces. When this structure is unified, we refer to it as whole—this is Infinity. And when it is as if it were divided inside into a multitude of pieces and is not perceived as a unified whole, we refer to it as the “world,” a certain concealment of Infinity. And then we see the same Infinity as if in lesser resolution, in a much worse form. These are the worlds, the worlds of concealment. But we always only see the connection between us.

And in our world we build different, seemingly artificial things: houses, cars, and so on, and all these things are also forms of connection between us. In order to make up for the separation, distance, and the breaking between us, we have to build different artificial connections. Instead of correcting ourselves, we are busy with this entire external cover. And this is why our world keeps getting more corrupt on one hand, and full of unnecessary things on the other.

If we were to correct ourselves, we would not need any of this technology. But we must exist in this world in the way it is organized in order to reveal the end, the breaking, the crisis, and the lack of purpose in it and then move on to the inner correction. This is the revolution that is happening in our generation—the change of a paradigm.
[63214]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/2011, The Zohar

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Everything we wish to attain beyond our nature, trying to understand, perceive, and become impressed by spirituality, we attain all of it only with the help of the Light. Also, all the changes in our corporeal world, in our states, only happen through the Light, which shines stronger every time. But it keeps shining stronger because we keep growing in our egoistic desire.

New desires keep developing in me, and this happens over the course of my entire life, as well as from one generation to another. And although the Light is constant, every time it shines at a greater desire. As a result of this, I feel greater changes in me.

In our world, we develop this way as well, even though we do not perceive the Light here. As Kabbalists say, the same happens in spirituality. When we attain revelation, we simply reveal the same process of development that we are going through now. The Light shines constantly, as it is written: “I have not changed my HaVaYaH,” “the upper Light exists at absolute rest,” but our Reshimot (the informational genes) constantly change in us, unraveling like a chain. Greater Reshimot come out of it every time, rising back up in the same order they have spread from above downward.

But if this is the way things are, where is my participation? Will I continue to reincarnate the same way I was developing until now, over the course of thousands of years? No. Kabbalists say that this stage has ended. If you have received a desire for your inner development, you must use it in a different manner. How? You accelerate your development, personally participate in it. You begin to understand and comprehend what is happening, you control your development. Development will no longer happen without you.

Until now you developed through Reshimot replacing one another, unraveling like a chain. In this way you completed your development on the still, vegetative, and animate levels. All these stages were realized in common nature: in the entire universe, on the surface of planet Earth, and in all of humanity, which has also gone through the still, vegetative, and animate levels of development.

But now the time has come to realize the human degree, and it can no longer continue this way. The difference between the human and the animate degree is in the awareness of life: “What am I living for? What is happening to me?” This is only possible when man does his own work every time, making an effort. Through his effort he comes to a qualitative attainment of the reality where he exists: What he is living for, why, and for which purpose.

When all these attainments become revealed to man, they are called the “spiritual world” or the “upper world.” And then we perceive where we really are, what kind of system becomes revealed before us, and how it controls us. We already engage in our life and existence on a different level—in the upper world.

The Light exists at absolute rest. Reshimot become revealed more and more every time. But if I do not properly realize the connection between the Reshimot and the Light, I suffer from the lack of correspondence of qualities.

This way this obligates me to search for a solution, and this is exactly what is now happening with all of humanity. And the solution lies in finding a formula of how to become like the Light. To become like the Light means to attain the quality of bestowal. How can we want to attain? With the help of the group. And we realize this desire through the Light.

This is why when we read The Zohar, we must think about the Light’s actions over us: It must connect us, realize the Reshimot, lift us to a higher level, make us more connected between us, and reveal the concealed. We must ask for everything that we desire during the lesson.

Naturally, every person should examine to which extent his desires are directed down the same trajectory as the Light. Otherwise, he might ask for something that is opposite to what the Light is about to give him. And then his request, his prayer, will bring him to an opposite state: the revelation of evil instead of goodness.

So let us think together about our connection and for the Light to influence and connect us, and there we will attain the quality of mutual bestowal, which is already a spiritual degree. It does not matter what we read about in The Zohar. What matters is what we think about together about the actions of the Light over us. Think not about us, but about the actions of the Light, which it performs over us.
[62240]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/2011, The Zohar

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Question: This year I didn’t feel a descent after the convention. Is there something wrong with me?

Answer: The ups and downs aren’t measured in of itself, but by feelings. Baal HaSulam says that a coarse person can steal openly before everyone, believing it is acceptable since “everyone steals.” A more refined person will stealthily take something he’s not entitled to and feel “it’s no big deal.” An even more sensitive individual is unable to possess something undeserved.

So, you check and determine the magnitude of the descent yourself. It doesn’t have to be a blow, after which you can barely recover. It is enough to simply feel somewhat detached from the excitement we felt at the convention, and with this decrease in enthusiasm you already see it as a descent.

It is the same on spiritual levels: You receive a slight blow, but it is felt as real pain. “Who gave me this blow? Why and what for?” The quantity turns into quality; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to withstand it. We always advance with the help of qualitative additions.

So try to raise your sensitivity of the current state in order experience it as the worst. Then you will begin to ascend: “Why do I feel good? Everything is fine and nothing hurts. Okay, so am I checking myself according to beastly feelings? Am I connected to the friends just as I was during the convention? But I don’t care. So does it mean that I’ve become indifferent and have waved the convention goodbye?”

Start checking yourself and you’ll see that you are in a state far worse than previous descents: “Last time I felt awful and was ready to explode. And now I’m in a descent and feel fine. Then I was sick and wanted to get well, to get up. Even if I cursed everyone, I still wanted something. Today I am satisfied, as if retired and free of all obligations. I am a living corpse.”

This is the deepest descent. Awakening such forces will cause pain no less than the pain felt previously. It is very difficult, and you’ll feel that you cannot raise yourself by your own powers. This means that you have to turn to the group so that the friends will start working on you and inspire you toward the importance of the goal. When you touch their unity and love, you feel your lowness.

In general, our state following the convention is indeed different from what we are accustomed to. It isn’t the same bad feeling that many felt in the past. Today a qualitative examination is required. A person can feel good, and he sees no reason for advancement. But don’t be fooled—work.
[63330]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/2011, “The Peace”

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The Creator’s “problem” with the creature lies in the creature needing to attain Him. It is impossible to bring man to goodness if he remains in his original state. It is necessary to endow him with power, understanding, and sensitivity, and to make him equivalent to the Creator.

Similarly, the host must elevate the guest to a level equal to his own, so that he wouldn’t feel shame toward the king’s feast. To this end, the guest must obtain all the wealth of the host. And here the will of the host alone (“directive from Above”) is not enough.

So how can the guest be brought to this equivalence? Is it enough to simply shower him with presents? No. Perhaps it’s OK to help him? That’s also a problem since the host was never helped. Transitioning from “existence out of absence” to “existence out of existence” is a real problem.

This includes a great many things that we will only understand further along the path. They cannot be explained in simple terms. Ultimately we need to reveal the means that allow us to actualize our only free choice and to reach the goal.

And we know ahead of time that we’re talking about the group, about participating in its life. With the help of the group we reveal the force of bestowal, with its help we reveal the Creator’s quality. In the group we create His image and likeness, His support. This is called Shechinah—the place where He dwells (Shochen).

We must make a precise template for His reign. This will be the Temple (literally “House of Sanctity”), that is, Malchut who receives the quality of Bina. Thanks to this the Light of Hochma can clothe in her with all its forms and fulfill her.
[63480]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

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Question: Where can I take the force to cancel myself before the group so that everyone feels himself smaller than the others?

Answer: If the group develops correctly and passes from state to state, then everyone in the group is in his state, completing the others. As a result, the whole group advances.

Although some of the friends can feel in descent and some in ascent, and a part perceives with the mind and a part feels, but altogether they are moving forward. It requires patience. Spiritual awe involves the willingness to endure and persevere. We need to understand that I do not perform the actions myself, but I call them.
[63463]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Creator created us as material opposite to Him—the desire to enjoy, which does not feel or understand that there can be something except itself. We feel only ourselves and wish to receive and derive pleasure from everything else. Every person feels only his own desire and the fulfillment in it. These are the only two states perceived by the desire to receive: yes/no, 0/1. This is how egoism works, and this is the order of work that we observe in nature in many instances and in different cells.

However, in order for the desire to enjoy to exit itself, to rise above its quality of perceiving good and evil only within its ego, and to feel good and evil outside of itself, we need some special tool that does not exist within the egoistic desire. The egoistic desire lacks any foundation for rising above and creating something opposite of itself.

We don’t even know what this opposite means; we cannot imagine what the spiritual world is. In order to reach it, we need to perform the kind of changes in ourselves that the desire to enjoy is incapable of performing! Nonetheless, this is our duty: to reach, understand, and execute them ourselves. Otherwise we will not receive independence and become equal to the Creator as is instilled in the goal of creation.

Thus we are given a means called a group—something foreign to the egoistic desire. In regard to this strange object, the egoistic desire feels the same as in regard to the Creator, considering it nonexistent so to speak. It does not give it any independent value and simply wishes to use it. However, it understands and feels it is in connection with it.

On one hand, the egoism wishes to use the group like any outside object. On the other hand, it can use it in the opposite form: in order to achieve bestowal, a quality that is opposite to it.

Therefore, we have an intermediary form between degrees, a means of transition—like corals are between the inanimate and vegetative levels; a mythical half-plant, the “field dog” between the vegetative and animate levels; and the monkey between the animate and the human levels. And the intermediate form between man and the Creator is the group.

If a person joins a group and is able to work with it for bestowal, he will be able to rise to the degree of the Creator. One needs to try to reach this by his own effort, since becoming like the Creator means, first and foremost being independent, understanding, feeling, and demanding your changes on your own.

All of this is supplied to us by the environment. Therefore, it is written, “One who aspires to the Creator (Isra-El), the Light of correction and the Creator are one whole,” and “love for the creatures leads to love for the Creator.” We need to view our environment as a means to achieve the goal of creation. To the extent that the goal of creation is important to you, you should value the group to the same height.

This pertains not only to those in whom the point in the heart has awakened that pulls them toward the goal of creation; it pertains to all of humanity. Everyone will need to build such examples: societies or small states that will serve as examples, which everyone else will emulate while trying to draw closer.

In this manner, the whole world will advance correctly, nearing the form of the new human being, the new humanity. Consequently, we need to achieve love for the Creator—similarity to the quality of bestowal and altruistic perception. Love for the friends is a means for achieving this goal.
[63466]
From the 1st part of the  Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/18/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What does it mean to unite? Is it by our thoughts or by practically hugging someone? What is the meaning of the concept of “unity”?

Answer: If you are talking about the ninety-nine percent of the world’s population, they need to understand that they have to unite on terms of equality and mutual concession. They have to realize that we are all in the same boat on this one, small planet that could explode any moment.

The concept of “unity” refers to the unification of all of our efforts for attaining agreement above all the differences that tear us apart. It is when we put collective interests above personal ones.

The uppermost ideal is “we.” All the rest is meaningless. It makes no difference who is right and who is wrong. First and foremost, it is “we”! This should be the basis for making decisions, organizing different actions, and creating plans and programs. Everything should be done only in terms of “we”!

Gradually, we are beginning to understand that we all are so different only so that this “we” will be rich and varied. Each of us still will be able to exist in it namely with his or her individualism.

Take any electronic system, and you will see that there are many separate parts, but they all work together. The collective idea exists above all opposite elements.
[63367]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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Question: When you return to the point of unity, what should be the correct internal movements in order to develop this point?

Answer: It is “I, the group, and the Creator.” You should try to feel them as something that has volume. “I and the group” means that I am part of the group and dissolve in it to such an extent that “I” becomes “we.” The Creator is also in the group. Together, we reach a state where there is neither “I” nor “we” nor the “Creator,” but rather all of us integrated into one whole. This is the point of unity.

Question: If a person sees that he has a great desire to care and think about others, is this the right attitude?

Answer: Yes, but this is not enough. There also should be the point of the Creator from Above. Otherwise, you are simply creating a group of people who care about others.
[63375]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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