Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Acquire a Spiritual Screen

938.02Question: What does it mean that we acquire a screen?

Answer: It means that together we are capable of working for the sake of bestowal, helping one another, and thinking about the Creator.

Question: But we are already trying to work for the sake of bestowal, helping one another.

Answer: Yes, we are trying. But to what extent we succeed is unknown to us.

Question: And what does it mean that we have a screen?

Answer: It means that we can bestow.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/24, Writings of Rabash “Delight Them with a Complete Building – 2”

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A Serious, Working, Spiritual Connection

528.04Question: You said we should have a serious, working, spiritual connection with each other. Can you explain every word: what does serious mean, what does working mean, and what does spiritual connection mean?

Answer: One should have a serious, spiritual, and working connection with the friends in his ten.

Serious—because he puts all his desires into it and believes this is the most critical and vital thing.
Working—because he is willing to work with these desires, deficiencies, and aspirations. And spiritual—because it is all about reaching the next level, the quality of bestowal.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”

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Enter the Quality of the Creator

627.2Question: What does it mean to enter the quality of the Creator if I am opposite to this quality?

Answer: If you can nullify your egoism, then to that extent you can connect with a friend. To the extent that you can connect with a friend, you can connect with the Creator. That is all.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”

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The Right Combination of Women and Men

632.2Question: It is hard for me to overcome egoism, maybe because I am a woman. I feel when the Creator is near, I have the greatness of the goal, I am drawn forward, and do not need to overcome anything. But when the Creator distances, something needs to be done, maybe some physical actions.

At the same time, it is said that when the Creator moves away, He waits for prayers and requests to get closer to us. Does it mean we must always think about the ten and pray for it?

Answer: Usually, women, as in our world, do a lot of work aiding in the advancement of men. This in no way detracts from their participation in spiritual work. On the contrary, women’s work is Malchut, Bina, and reaching Keter. Keter, Bina, Malchut, all these three components are feminine. The men are Hochma and Zeir Anpin, i.e., the influence of the upper light.

So don’t diminish women’s work in any way although it manifests itself precisely in dissemination, the processing of materials, and all types of help.

A woman, as in our world, is created by nature to maintain, shape, and strengthen our Kli. This is a binding material. It is impossible to do without it. Therefore, the female part is Malchut, this is its primary function.

You need to look at yourself as a woman, and then you will find your application in the correct decision of the women’s group because a women’s group cannot be the same as a men’s group.

Men can be directly connected among them. They run around, bounce, play something. Women cannot be that united. Everyone is on her own; therefore, they unveil themselves when helping the men’s group.

Therefore, we must consider the women’s group as a group that exists alongside the men’s. Although this is gradually being leveled nowadays, as in our lives, we still need to understand this is how the women’s group actualizes itself more. After all, men cannot do without their support.

It is the same in our world. How can a man live without a family and without being served? He is still a child. Therefore, this correct combination is critical in the spiritual movement.

In our world, a woman is a home, a support, an environment from which a person grows, and so it is in the spiritual world. Therefore, the women’s group should be stronger and more numerous than the men’s.

We see this everywhere: a small men’s group and, next to them, a pretty large women’s group. And that is right, that is how it should be. Of course it is not in such a proportion as in our world where there are 5% more women than men, but much more.

In Kabbalah, there are two to three times more women than men because a tree needs a lot of land to grow. This is how their combination should be to help each other in their spiritual realization.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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The Shattering of the Structure of Adam

264.01Question: While working on ourselves, we begin to feel a sense of responsibility as we realize the value of the left line and learn to cover it with the right. When does this moment of responsibility arise?

Answer: The awareness of such responsibility and the ability to act on it come gradually.

It is one of the stages of our development when we understand that overcoming the egoism that separates us from our friends in the group draws greater illumination from the upper light or, in other words, brings the Creator closer. Therefore all the work lies in achieving closeness.

This is why the Creator shattered the vast vessel (Kli) that He created, which is the soul called “Adam,” from the word “Domeh” (similar to the Creator). This structure broke into countless fragments.

Imagine a piece of dough thrown into a bucket of water. Gradually, the dough absorbs the water, and the water fills its pores. The water, which fills the spaces between the fragments of dough, represents the egoism that pushes us apart.

Initially we were all gathered as one small piece, created by the Creator. Then His force of bestowal and love, the upper light, poured onto this small desire and caused it to shatter into pieces.

Now we must reassemble these pieces along with the water that separates them. By doing so, we will achieve a greater state compared to the original one, as the water that expanded the pieces will now contribute to their unity and allow us to feel the Creator within ourselves.

The water represents the Creator’s attribute, and we must unite with it. The very force that now divides us must be transformed into a connecting one. This process is called the gradual revelation of the Creator within us. It is our purpose and the essence of our development.

Thus, egoism is essential; we simply need to use it correctly.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Neutrality Is a Must

632.3Question: When I receive evil and aggression from a friend, do I just keep quiet and justify it as coming from the Creator, that there is none else besides Him? Can I somehow help my friend rise at this moment so he does not remain in an aggressive state?

Answer: This is a difficult question. Yes and no.

At least, do not respond to him aggressively. And also, not at this moment, but maybe later, show kindness.

Neutrality is mandatory here. Acting with kindness in response to aggression depends on the state your opponent is in at the moment. That is, how will it affect him? Will he take it correctly or not?

Maybe, on the contrary, it will bring out even more aggression in him. He barks at you, but you smile or want to kiss him, then he could hit you!

Therefore, you need to be very careful for your friend to perceive you correctly. You must understand him. You have to enter his state.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/19, Preparation for convention in Moldova “The Work in Concealment”

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A Structure Similar to the Light

528.01I must always pray for the ten because it is my soul. From the spiritual point of view, I am nothing on my own; the upper light can only bounce off me.

When it shines on me, I feel either attraction to it or positive or negative suffering, but I cannot do anything about it. My conscious action can only come from movement together with those like me. I am obligated to create a structure similar to the light. A structure resembling the light is ten egoists united by a single goal. That is how we act.

It should be noted that women have a way to move forward as follows: if the women’s group unites as much as possible among themselves and, at the same time, helps the men’s group move forward, this constitutes their spiritual work and progress.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Balanced Actions

947Question: At the convention, a critical mass will gather, and by physically interacting with it, we will have a wonderful opportunity to “take off the gloves” on one hand.

On the other hand, this mass will help us annul ourselves.

How can we avoid extremes in this state, prioritize one over the other, and maintain balance?

Answer: I think everything begins with immersing yourself in the surrounding environment. You must reach a state where you dissolve into those around you.

Then, to the extent that you can awaken your own feelings while slightly detaching from the surrounding group, you will be able to position yourself in a way where you not only dissolve into them but also desire to inspire them, and thereby will pull them forward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/19, Writings of Baal HaSulam “There Is None Else Besides Him”

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The Group: A Secure Anchor

934Question: We as humans have all sorts of emotions: good, positive, and negative. Should we as Kabbalists learn to regulate them and keep them within ourselves?

Answer: We are human and we are emotional beings. Especially when we begin to study Kabbalah, we enter into various states—internal and external stresses and sensations that are sometimes difficult to contain. We suddenly become weak relative to our qualities and confused in some way.

Such incomprehensible changes occur in our hearts and minds that at times it seem like you are losing your mind. These are all natural processes, and the only thing we can do is work on ourselves within the group.

The group is that anchor, the central point where we must constantly strive to achieve balance. So even if I am thrown from side to side, and I feel like I am losing my usual qualities and emotions—it does not matter. We must constantly seek the center of the group to balance ourselves within it. There is no other way.

Can you imagine how much we rise above ourselves when we transition from being an animal to an ordinary human being? What a difference in thoughts and feelings, what a vast leap when you begin to understand what is happening, while the animal cannot hide anything from you. It has no such motivations; everything about it is clear—either it wags its tail like a small dog or it snarls at you. Everything is on the surface.

When we begin to enter the upper world, new qualities develop within us to the extent that we experience heaviness and do not know what to do with it.

This is why a steady group is necessary—to at least call each other daily, meet weekly, and once a month share a meal or do something together. This will balance you.

Of course, you might think: “What can this shared meal do for me?” You cannot imagine how much it balances you internally, spiritually! And under no circumstances should you neglect this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/19, “Questions and Answers”

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Hold on to the Goal

249.03A person must say the opposite of what he said to the evil inclination. He should send messengers to the evil inclination, meaning tell the evil inclination that in his work, a person should be just like angels, meaning a Kli [vessel] for the sake of the Creator (Rabash, Assorted Notes, 375, “Jacob Sent“)

Sending messengers to the evil inclination means paying attention to your egoism and assessing how much it has changed as a result of such an attitude toward it—has it strengthened, or on the contrary, may it have completely disappeared?

Question: How can you understand that the evil inclination is telling you that not everything is good with you?

Answer: Only a friend from the ten can show you this.

Question: So should you wait for your friends to arouse you?

Answer: No, you should constantly strive toward the goal so that you can hold on to it more and more strongly every moment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/24, Writings of Rabash “Jacob Sent”

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