Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

A Slave to One’s Environment

923Question: You say that the Internet and mobile phones can provide a person with a simulation of continuous spiritual connection with us. Isn’t there a danger of getting drawn into this game to the point where it consumes us like a drug?

Answer: That is exactly what we need. I don’t think such a game will become a strong addiction because a person will constantly face challenges and have to solve them.

It will be a conscious game, a real state of being. He will see all his problems, all his internal misalignments, between himself and the group, between himself and the Creator. Because of this, it will not have the same gripping power over our egoism as other addictive things do.

On the other hand, the spirit of competition, the desire to achieve the goal, the envy that others are moving forward while I am not, self-respect, vanity, the desire for power—all these seemingly negative qualities must actually help us. We will see why they were created.

Egoism itself is an aid against us: “I have created help against you,” was said to Adam about Eve. This is precisely our egoism. In other words, all the negative qualities in a person are necessary to pull him out of egoism.

The worst egoistic traits—power, fame, various negative impulses toward others, the desire to dominate and control—are actually what bind me to my environment. And here, I truly become its slave.

If I did not have envy, the desire to be above others, or the need for their respect, I would pass by them as indifferently as a cat passing by a symphony orchestra. But because I want to make full use of my surrounding environment, I become dependent on it.

At this point, we begin to realize how wonderfully egoism is designed, because from our current state, the only way to connect with our environment is through egoism. And so this opportunity is given to you, your dependence on the environment.

Now the environment will dictate its terms: “Ah! So we are important to you? You want our respect? You envy us?” And they will impose conditions on you by which you can in some way fulfill and satisfy your egoistic needs.

And their conditions are strict: bestow, love, and sacrifice yourself for us. And you begin to understand that these conditions are necessary for you to fulfill yourself and move forward. This truly is the help that exists within you.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 3” 5/16/10

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Questions about Spiritual Work—222

234Question: The more a person restricts their desires for the sake of bestowal, the more they progress. Is there any gradation of desires, or does each person have their own?

Answer: Each person has their own desires, and it is not known which ones will cause them to stumble.

Question: Where should I focus my efforts? Should I try to hold onto the Creator and, at the same time, to all my friends by praying for them? Or should I simply try to annul myself and dissolve within everyone?

Answer: That is the best approach.

Question: How can we break the “wall” that prevents us from opening our hearts and asking for greater light?

Answer: Through persistence.

Question: Does envy depend on how great the Creator is in my eyes? Where does this feeling of envy come from? Is it only from the greatness of the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What should I do with the shame and regret I feel over the difference in efforts between me and my friends from the world Kli? They have received from the Creator the ability to bestow and are using it, whereas I have not yet been given this opportunity.

Answer: It is neither better nor worse. Whatever is given is given. Therefore, do not look at others, just try to ascend.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/25, “Reaching Lishma through Envy”

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Just Keep Going!

506.6Question: You gave us this pattern for spiritual work: at the first stage, annul ourselves in order to dissolve in our friends and at the second stage, try to elevate everyone.

Today, as we explore envy and all its aspects, is this some new structure, a new stage? Are we leaving behind yesterday’s structure, or are we continuing the same as yesterday just at a higher quality?

Answer: We are constantly trying to expand the qualities we used yesterday in order to build a better form of the world.

Question: So we continue to annul ourselves, dissolve in our friends, and strive to ascend? And all of this is now also imbued with envy toward them?

Answer: Yes.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/25, “Reaching Lishma through Envy”

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Questions about Spiritual Work—221

235Question: You said that the Creator awakens a person according to their capabilities and readiness. Can a person increase these capabilities and readiness? If so, how is this done and by what means?

Answer: This is done by the Creator.

Question: When we speak about the system in Achishena (hastening), does it apply to an individual, a ten, our group, or the entire world? How do we approach this system that we want to reveal within ourselves and thank the Creator for it? Where does it become revealed?

Answer: This system is revealed within each person, in their desire to receive and between the forces of the soul and the forces of the heart. And there, one must see to what extent he or she exists within their own forces.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/25, “Reaching Lishma through Envy”

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Find Contact with the Group

530A person is like a seed: until it feels contact with the soil, it remains lifeless. Baal HaSulam gives this example in his writings. As soon as you plant a seed in the soil and it finds contact with it—that is, with the environment, with the group—everything begins. It starts to grow.

Internal forces awaken within it, forces that the seed itself was previously unaware of. It never even considered that it could grow and become a parent. After all, it is merely a consequence of a previous stage: someone created it, someone bore it, someone cultivated it.

Let’s say a grain of wheat falls from a stalk of wheat into the ground and begins to sprout—meaning it starts an entirely new path, a new cycle of life. When does this cycle begin? When contact occurs with the surrounding environment, the one suitable for your development, for the Reshimo within you.

Contact with the environment activates your Reshimo, which in turn triggers secondary influences on you: air, warmth, sunlight, and so on.

But to establish contact with the environment, you must, for instance, enter the soil in order to realize that you are within it. You cannot insert yourself into it, something places you there, but you must find contact with it, meaning connection with the group. And then everything will move forward.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 2” 5/16/10

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The Future Society in Virtual Space

962.2When engaging in virtual space, you interact with a group that seems to exist outside of you. But in reality, it is your personal Kli, your personal desires, your soul. Because apart from the environment, apart from the entire world, which is actually this very domain of your soul, there is only the point in the heart, only this spiritual gene (Reshimo).

Everything else in the world apart from this point that exists outside of it is what you currently perceive as yourself; this is your informational data.

Thus our entire world is intentionally presented to us as something external and even opposed to us so that by initially relating to it egoistically, we gradually begin to transform it into ourselves, to draw it in, to absorb it in an altruistic way, wanting to give to it. In other words, I can connect with the world to the extent that I am ready to give to it, to belong to it, to love it.

The same applies to the group. I deliberately create a virtual force composed of many forces, influences, and qualities outside of me, which then begins to actively work in relation to me.

That is, the entire world is now embedded in this simulator, in this testing ground, where I begin to refine myself through all the texts, all the articles, and all the Kabbalistic principles in relation to the group or the world. Over time, the entire world will enter this simulator. The point is that in the end, we will build the society of the future within a virtual space.

This means that I am now starting to program myself for spiritual assent. This is precisely what Kabbalah demands. It is our most real work, and it is not detached from life. Here, I study my own qualities; I act as my own inner psychologist. Baal HaSulam always endorsed corporeal psychology.

The group stimulates me. On the other hand, while I may be able to program myself to some extent at certain stages or participate in shaping my own steps by selecting different options, there is still a division of psychologists, ideologists, and programmers who continuously develop this system. And in this process, I too can actively take part.

I see in this collective action, in this game, a very clear realization of our movement toward the Creator because at the very least, you have something tangible in your hands: your relationship with the group and the group’s relationship with you. Each of us perceives our environment as something external, and together we deliberate on how to awaken one another.

This is a system that stands between the group and each of us. And we will be the ones to program our relationships with the group. We will have control over how the group influences the individual and how the individual should respond to this influence.

For now, this is the only vision I have for implementing the principles outlined in the writings of Rabash. He is practically the only Kabbalist who has provided us with a detailed description of the relationship between a person and the group—relationships that serve as the primary tool for achieving the purpose of creation.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 4” 5/16/10

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Virtual System Instead of a Physical Group

963.3Question: You say that on a physical level, it is impossible to achieve what can be accomplished in virtual space. Do you think that only such a lifeless system can help us?

Answer: It does not work for us in that way. We cannot just sit down, come to an agreement, and then begin to systematically influence a friend. We cannot.

Comment: But this system is auxiliary; it in no way replaces the group.

My Response: I don’t know to what extent this system can replace a physical group, but I think to a great extent.

You see, what does a physical group mean? When I see others? When I express myself in relation to others as a bestower, bring them coffee, give them something, take care of them?

A physical group is the same as our internal spiritual relationships. And physical contact, does that mean I see your face, smell your scent like animals, or touch you with my shoulder? Yes, physical contact can take place, but is it fundamentally necessary? We do not know. We do not yet know these states, so we will test them on ourselves. I do not know them either. I have not gone through this in a group.

Everything I have experienced, I went through in the old system: teacher – student. So, I have no experience of how students who organize their own Kabbalistic spiritual space should interact with each other, where they shape themselves each within the group like a seed in the ground. And in this way, everyone in relation to each other creates such an environment for spiritual advancement.

As Rabash writes, it is only then that the group becomes your spiritual environment, and despite the fact that they are small, everything depends on your attitude toward them. If you believe you can receive nourishment from them, then receive it. Just start treating them that way, and you will discover that through them, all the upper forces come to you.

I do not have this experience. And no one has the practice. People can say whatever they want. But as of today, we do not see this in our world.

We hope that through our efforts, we will finally create the possibility of such interconnection. This will serve as a stimulus for each of us in the spiritual movement, one that is controlled by us. Rabash writes about this in his articles, and Baal HaSulam in his works on the realization of freewill. Nothing more is needed.

In the end, we will see that the environment we have created virtually can include concentric spheres like layers of an onion, with people who are more distant from the bright spiritual goal with less fervor for attaining spirituality.

It can be structured in such a way that it encompasses the entire world with all its possibilities, with all its supporting services necessary for our lives including children’s and family education, and in general all our relationships with anyone and in any way: social, socio-political, and others.

But the beginning of this must grow from the central point.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 5” 5/17/10

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Showcase Window behind which We Stand

959Question: Imagine that we have created a system of virtual space, and it seems to be functioning, but it is lifeless; it doesn’t know how to take the next steps.

When you see a person’s state, you throw something their way. How can an inanimate system do this? It feels nothing.

Answer: There are people behind the system. We will have to constantly adjust it; every day we introduce new questions, new opportunities, new puzzles, and new moves that connect a person to society, and society with them. We will actively work on this.

A computer is just a record of information; it is our demonstration, like a showcase window behind which we stand. Therefore, we must feel how we influence each of us and how each of us responds to it. This is an interactive system of very deep two-way connection.

Question: But isn’t there a risk that this system could simply collapse?

Answer: It is quite possible. Let this computer collapse! Let the group start working live! So what? To me, this machine is not something sacred, not some kind of temple. It is just a means for me to connect with a million of our friends around the world. That is all.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 6” 5/18/10

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The First Contact with the Group

938.01Comment: When a new person comes to Kabbalah or comes to Bnei Baruch, he is deeply impressed. But after some time, he begins to notice negative aspects.

My Response: Naturally, because his egoism should neutralize the initial impression. He cannot always feel inferior to the entire group and therefore begins to see flaws in it.

But if he understands that instead of the shortcomings of the group he should see his own shortcomings and try to figure out that the Creator allows him to see the deficiencies in the group in order to rise above them with faith above reason, contrary to his feelings and the apparent facts, then he develops.

He does not go back thinking: I am already used to the group, everything is fine, I know everyone, everything is as usual. On the contrary, he is cultivating his initial impression more and more.

Question: So, the first contact with the group is, in principle, the purest, when a person sees all his friends as perfect?

Answer: Yes, everyone is perfect, huge, great, and special. It is necessary to strive not to fall from this level and keep moving forward.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. First Impression of Kabbalah” 6/22/10

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A Double View on Any Aspect

528.04Question: When a person begins to condemn and criticize his friends and the system saying that this is wrong and that is wrong, should he fight against this? Or is it a natural thing and should be left alone?

Answer: No, after the criticism, he is obliged to return to praise and see any aspect from two sides.

Question: Does his criticism not interfere with others?

Answer: It interferes, and it should interfere and at the same time help.

There is nothing absolute In Kabbalah just as, in principle, in our world. But in Kabbalah, our attitude should not be one-sided. It should always include two opposite sides.

We were created this way, and this is how we want to develop—consisting both of ourselves and the Creator!
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. There is no Absoluteness” 6/26/10

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