“We come into the King’s city [this world] all together.” Those who work faithfully for the Creator turn His “magic powder” into sweet, refined seasoning. And those who do not do the work keep tasting the bitter powder and they cannot enjoy His feast.

Everything depends solely on the correct effort of a person. There are many who come to study Kabbalah, put a lot of effort into it, but eventually leave. They realize that this feast doesn’t satisfy their tastes, and instead of blaming themselves, they blame the King, thinking that the method of Kabbalah, as well as, the group and friends give them a bitter taste. As a result, they leave thinking that they can find more pleasure elsewhere by either taking it easy or using some other methodology.

It all depends on whether a person realizes what ‘’place of work” he has entered, what responsibility rests on him, and what he should aim at in this work in order to taste the sweet flavor. The feast is set before us! It is written: “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” We only need to “taste” Him, meaning that we must prepare our vessel for His Light and receive this “supplement,” a sweet flavor.

But people do not labor in the correct place, and later they look at the clock to see how much time they have spent and they weigh how much effort they have exerted. But they did not put their effort in the most important work: in uniting with the other souls. This is why the work does not taste good for them. As a matter of fact, the sweet taste comes solely through connection, which is that very vessel where the Light is revealed.

Instead, they labored elsewhere in vain. It is as if you worked for one company for a month and at its end, you went to another company to collect your salary. Do you think they will pay you? You haven’t earned the right Kli, the vessel needed to receive the reward. The reward can only be received in the collective vessel because only there is the Creator, His feast, His Light, revealed. And if a person has not exerted an effort to earn that, his work is worth nothing.

We must be focused and alert regarding this. Everyone should examine himself: Does he understand that all his effort should be concentrated solely in achieving inner connection, and uniting toward one goal, one desire, where the Creator will be revealed? If a person aims at this, the “feast” will gradually begin to taste sweet for him. And if not, he will eventually get tired and disappointed in this work because instead of the sweet taste, he will taste “dust,” the “bitter powder,” and leave.

Such a person wonders, “How long can one work without receiving something in return?” But he does not see that he labors in the wrong place, that he is not working where he is supposed to be. It becomes evident in one’s attitude to the group and friends whether or not he is present in the group and works in it.

This effort cannot be substituted either with money or with professional skills. Only if you work for the unity of the souls, does this “bitter powder,” the concealment, fall away, and will you uncover the spiritual world which is right here, next to you. Until then, you simply have not gotten the inner device, the Kli, that allows you to tune into the spiritual world, like a radio that can tune into the right frequency.
[#16981]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, Baal HaSulam, Letter 26, pg. 85

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A question I received: You say that the Light that Reforms can only be drawn from the lesson. Then what’s the point of singing, dancing, and holding friends’ assemblies at the forthcoming Mega-Congress?

My Answer: All of nature’s systems come from the four phases of the expansion of Direct Light. And what happens there is the combination of just two forces: reception and bestowal, or the Light of Hassadim and the Light of Hochma, respectively.

They work like a piston: one part is filled while the other is emptied, and so on, one after the other. This sequential filling and emptying takes place in phases Aleph (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), and Dalet (4). All the systems in our world operate according to this principle as well, similar to the pulsation of the heart. There is no movement without alternating filling and emptying.

The same thing happens in our spiritual progress: in one period we study, and in another period we unite, dance, and sing. The two periods have to alternate.

Our world is built in such a way that a person has to work, eat, and raise children. In essence, what are we doing in all of these actions? We are communicating with ourselves and the Creator, and without realizing it we are transferring these two forces, reception and bestowal, from one quality to another. Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, the Light of Hochma and the Light of Hassadim, one becomes filled while the other is emptied (see Part 5 of Talmud Eser Sefirot, “Mati Ve Lo Mati” – “The Light’s entrance and exit in the soul”).

Therefore, there’s a time for unifying and a time for studying. That is what Kabbalists have ordained. That’s why we hold a friends’ assembly once a week, regional unity events once a month, and a worldwide Congress once every several months.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/11/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out) – Part 2,” Item 381: All the admonition that Jacob had with Laban made Laban repent and thank the Creator, as it is written, “See, God is witness between you and me,” that he mentioned the name “God.” It is written, “The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor … judge between us,” meaning that that wicked returned to his bad ways. When he said “The God of Abraham,” who is holy, he mentioned the god of Nahor again, who is idolatry.

We think that this excerpt speaks of events in the corporeal world. But later, we reveal that it actually speaks only about the connection between the souls and the types of those connections. The Torah speaks exclusively about these connections and the way to strengthen the connections between the souls. Other than this, there’s nothing to reveal to man, nothing to show, and nothing else that he needs to be taught.

After all, the breaking between the souls was in order to separate them from one another. By connecting them and putting them together like Lego bricks, we learn how this system of souls is constructed; we learn the Creator’s action, and reveal the thought and purpose of creation.

This is why The Zohar speaks only about the types of connection between the souls and the ways to keep strengthening them. In other words, all the events described in the Torah only address the way to reach absolute connection.

And for this reason, our intention to connect with one another, as well as reading about an even greater connectivity of souls in the spiritual world, are both directed in the same way. We are trying to realize this connection between us here in this world, the world of our understanding, while The Zohar reveals the higher degrees. We want to attach ourselves to these higher degrees in order to receive strength from them, so they will influence us and connect us with one another.

As soon as we attain the very first, smallest connection with one another, the first spiritual degree, we begin to perceive the spiritual world. We had the same condition at Mount Sinai: "Unite as one man with one heart – and you will receive the Torah, the Light, and reveal spirituality, the Creator."

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: In a state of a descent, how can I hold onto the goal so firmly that I can turn the descent into an ascent and fall on my own rather than have the Creator hurl me?

My Answer: I need to control this descent and decide on my own that a downfall is necessary. I have to prepare myself for the descent beforehand like one prepares for a surgical procedure. What will help me not to “lose my head” during a descent and fall under the authority of my desires? A connection to the goal will help me feel the descent and rise instead of losing myself. I am unable to guarantee this for myself and therefore, I require the right environment to support me when I lose control as a consequence of the desires that are too big for me to handle.

When the time comes for a spiritual embryo to be born, to transition to the degree of feeding, it loses its current degree completely by turning over “head down.” So how is it able to connect these two states during the birth? How does it secure itself from becoming a miscarried fetus, and instead, adhere to the Creator on a higher degree in order to be born into a new world? For this we are given different Reshimot (spiritual records, genes): de-Aviut and de-Hitlabshut (from desire and from the Light).

It turns out that I will always be able to connect to two degrees simultaneously! This is what helps me to be born.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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A question I received: Why did you say that at first we notice only that which differs in its qualities from us; that is, we would not notice someone who is equal to us, but only one who is either above or below us? And then you said that equivalence of qualities is a necessary condition to catch the spiritual wave with your “receiver.”

My Answer: Our egoism does not notice ones that are equal to it. And if we want to perceive equality, we need to rise above our ego.

I need the group in order to reach equivalence with the Creator in the quality of bestowal. By attuning myself to equivalence with the friends, I thereby align myself with the Creator. Otherwise, I will not be able to be equal to Him. Instead, I will bend down before Him expecting a profit or wishing to adhere to Him like a child in order to have Him govern over me. In other words, I will place Him above or below me, but not equal to me.

I can become equal only through the group. The group is that transformer. Only with the help of the group can I achieve equivalence and similarity of qualities to the Giver. The group actually exists only in my imagination in order for me to reach equivalence with the Creator, the kind of equivalence that does not exist in nature!

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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When we read The Book of Zohar, we need to remember that we exist in two states simultaneously:

1. the true state which we do not feel, and

2. our imaginary world, where we exist in imaginary pictures without any awareness of the true world.

As we read The Book of Zohar, we exert effort in order to rouse the influence of forces from the perfect state. These forces influence us to the extent that we exert the effort to become similar to this state in the relationships between us.

Therefore, the relationship that we need to create in the group should be of “one man with one heart,” like in the perfect state. This is possible only by drawing the same forces.

As we return from the “foggy” state to the corrected one, we do not lose our present state; the contrast between them reveals to us the perfection of the state created by the Creator 620 times greater than when we were situated there prior to descending to our world.

We return to this state of a human being who is equal to the Creator. Therefore, we need to feel the World of Infinity from our world in particular, as it is written: “We will eat what has long been laid in store for us” and “Darkness will shine like Light.”

We need to reach complete correction in this world to attain the same kind of relationship between us here as in the World of Infinity, which is filled with love. Therefore, we must perform exercises of “love your neighbor as yourself,” “as one man with one heart,” in the connection between us. Then, the Light of Infinity, the Creator, will be revealed in us here, as it is written: “His desire is to be revealed in the lower ones."

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/10, The Zohar

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Sometimes a person feels that he is tired, that he needs rest, and that the path is not for him. Even though he knew ahead of time that these states would come, he suddenly forgets what to do. All the articles talk about this. They describe the inner struggle, the obstacles, and how the righteous ascend where the wicked fall. Thus, a person reaches a state where he is really given freedom of choice.

This requires a great deal of luck, where luck means that he was able to set up a relationship with the environment, group, teacher, and Kabbalah books that does not let him leave. He takes on various obligations and participates in all of the group’s actions in order to make habit become second nature. This prevents him from leaving these actions since otherwise those around him will start to look down on him.

If he realizes how weak his nature is and sets up these connections, then he is able to hold on and stay. This is similar to how sailors on a ship’s deck tether themselves to the boat with ropes so the waves won’t wash them into the open waters. They know that they won’t have the strength to hold on in rough seas, and so they tie themselves with tether lines.

You can’t do the tying when you are already being washed away. Everything must be prepared in advance. Sailors understand that they don’t have the strength to overcome the tremendous force of stormy seas that throws them in every which direction.

That is how a person should prepare, and the group must offer guaranteed support so he won’t leave the path even in the stormiest of conditions. The person must also use all of his qualities, such as pride, the common ego, and all sorts of calculations to ensure that he won’t run away from the path and that he will reach the goal.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/10, Writings of Rabash, "And the Children Racketed Withing Her"

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When I turn to The Zohar and begin to read, what am I coming with, what am I bringing in my hands for correction? I am bringing big piles of fragments and broken bonds with the other souls. To the extent I regret that they are broken, I can transfer to The Zohar my desire and my need for unity.

Herein lies our only free will: to increase this desire for unity in one another. None of us feel the need to do this, but by connecting to the group and the environment, I begin to desire what I have never desired before, something I couldn’t possibly come to desire on my own. I begin to feel the need to unite with others, and to ask for this unity.

Therefore, each time before we begin to read The Zohar, we must tune ourselves to feel the values of the group, to come under its influence, to “buy a friend,” to lower oneself before the group so that every individual and the group as a whole will be inspired by the need to unite, and will demand correction, which is the restoration of broken bonds.

With this desire, we will draw the Light of Correction. The Light will not come without a reason. We must know precisely what we want; otherwise it will be hypocrisy and not a prayer.

If we come together to reveal this singular desire for the correction prepared for us by the Creator, we will pray for the correction of the shattering. This plea will be answered from Above, and the bonds between us will be mended. Then, together, we will reveal everything The Zohar wishes to reveal to us.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/10, The Zohar

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The Creator fills the connection among our souls with Himself. Being closer to the other souls means being closer to the Creator and having an ability to begin perceiving Him filling our interconnection as Light, bestowal, and love. Instead of being momentary, this desire to unite with the other souls should be constant and always growing. If it lights up only occasionally and immediately subsides, it isn’t sufficient. We must strive to sustain and accumulate such states continuously.

Granted, a person cannot achieve this through his own efforts. Man is not able to control his desires and this is why he is given a group. The desires get renewed in a person in two ways simultaneously: according to a chain of informational records (Reshimot) and due to the influence of the environment. A person does not determine anything by himself.

Our error lies in the fact that we listen to our ego that tempts us to affect it by force, thereby pushing us in the wrong direction. The right direction is to induce ourselves but solely through the group. Only through the group can I impact my soul, while on my own, I have no means to reach it directly. My soul resides in my connection with the others, and only through this connection, in this indirect manner, am I able to affect myself.

Can I affect my genes or chromosomes and change something in myself with my own hands? Of course not! But there is a device – the group – with the help of which I can do it. So, I manipulate this device by my leverage: I apply simple corporeal actions and thereby affect my environment. In its turn, the environment can affect me on the spiritual level. The essence of this miracle is an opportunity to keep transforming myself till I become equivalent to the Creator.

Through my physical actions in this world, I influence the other bodies. Others, through these bodies, are able to affect me, my spiritual properties, that is, my soul. I myself cannot impact my soul no matter how much I’d like to. It is a very simple mechanism whose principle is that only connection among us leads to the revelation of the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/6/10, Article, “And the Lord Appeared Unto Him by the Oaks of Mamre”

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The Creator will never unite us “just because”; unity won’t happen until we ask for it. We must realize that we lack and desire only unity. The desire for unity stands opposite to all the other desires that arise, desires whose purpose is to obscure our yearning for unity. Rising above all the obstacles that only increase our desire to unite, the desire for unity will grow so intense that we will start crying. That is our goal,opposite to all the other desires as it is written, “And the sons of Israel cried out by reason of the bondage.” Only with this cry will the Creator unite us. If you sit and wait for this to take its own course, it will never happen. No spiritual action will occur until there’s a definite and complete desire for it.

Such a desire must burn within the group. Make sure to awaken the others and demand that they awaken you. Be willing to pay any price for them to be awake and to keep waking you up.

Only our collective outcry can save us. There are many people who are eager to cry alone, but the Creator doesn’t hear it as this is a voice crying in the wilderness. However, if we cry out together as one and if we possess only one common desire, effort, and goal, He will hear us at once because we will be similar to Him in our desire.

Otherwise, there is no way to draw the Light that Reforms. You don’t have the desire to receive this Light. It has to correct your egoism and the separation into bestowal and interconnection. However, you don’t yet feel the need for such correction.

We have to examine ourselves to make sure that all our actions are aimed solely at attaining the common prayer: that everyone’s desire should match the common goal so that all will be united in one common outcry. This is a prayer that will receive an Answer.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/30/10, Article, “You Are Now Standing All of You Today”

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