If we need to rise above this life to the intention for the sake of bestowal, then regardless of how bad life on this plane is, we can create the most favorable relations with the Creator above it. This condition already shows the initial point of the ascent from the physical, beastly, level of sensations to the level of spiritual intentions.

There are two levels: the level of sensation and the level of intention, which is also a sensory level but is connected with the Giver. In sensation, in desire, I can feel good or bad. Whereas, with the intention, it can be for my own sake or for the sake of the Creator.

If I want to reach free choice, I need to work on the level of intention. It doesn’t matter what will happen on the level of my desire—I need only to worry about the intention. Below can be a very bad life, and above, on the level of intention, I attain goodness and give thanks to the Creator. If I can do this, it is a sign that I attained the intention to bestow, “Lishma.”

I rose above my desire, detached myself from it, restricted it, and stopped relating to me all that is good and bad. I look at myself from the side and see how this machine feels itself, its parameters and conditions. And then I understand how it needs to work for the sake of something else. This means that I am disconnected from myself.
[63713]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/2011, “Introduction to TES”

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We know from the wisdom of Kabbalah that all the best things in our personal lives—be it our current egoism or something higher that we strive to, all the goodness in the desire to enjoy or the desire to please, whether in this world or the upper World—is only achieved through unity.

Today we discover this in fairly difficult and unpleasant forms: We encounter problems and become submerged in the crisis. All this is designed to show us that we must unite, since we simply do not have another choice. Nature is pressuring us without leaving us a free space to maneuver.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is offering us its help in these conditions. It says: “I will help you attain unity. You yourselves see that there are no other options. This is the only way to fix your lives.”

Assume we do not want this, but how else can we acquire happiness? We are drawn by eternity, perfection, fulfillment both in this and the future world; we want to rise above life and death. If we were to make a list of how we envision consummate welfare, it would not be big—ten points at most. Overall, I would refer to pleasure, regardless of whether it is in the heart or the mind. And the only way to achieve it is by uniting.

So, today when we are discovering this out of hopelessness, Kabbalah comes to the rescue. It is not proposing to somehow go around this fixed condition, it does not promise protection; it does not take us to the spiritual world through the backdoor. This simply is impossible because this refers to a law of Nature.

Yet, Kabbalah helps realize it the good way. Yes, this condition is unpleasant, uncomfortable, bitter to taste, but bitterness can be turned into sweetness, and discomfort can be overcome through mutual efforts, music, a common flow of joyous feelings, festive ceremonies, and entertainment programs.

There is difficult work before us; we must go through an inner transformation. It is similar to the way an ill person agrees to surgery knowing that he will have a better life after it.

And the wisdom of Kabbalah helps us go through this surgery, which will cardinally change us. Our way of thought, our perception and understanding of the world, our perception of reality, all our actions, all our goals, mind and sense mechanisms – all these things must transform. We must uninstall the old program and install a new one.

Kabbalah explains that your basic qualities do not change. Your inherent qualities and acquired skills will remain as they were. You only change the program, according to which you achieve different goals in life. And then you suddenly see that all of them can be realized.

Today you are disappointed and helpless because of the wrong program. You need to update it, and you will achieve all the best things you now want.

And gradually, man takes steps along this path. Moreover, changes are not caused by the natural pressure of suffering from Above through which Nature always reveals problems and faults to us, forcing us to run. When we feel like we are held in a grip, we naturally direct ourselves towards the next state.

As Baal HaSulam says, we are unable to remain in the current state when it becomes unbearable, and then we cross into the next state having no other choice. This new state does not appeal to us; otherwise, we would have chosen it to begin with. According to our nature, we hover around as long as we can manage, and we only agree to the change when we reach our threshold of endurance.

And even then the situation is not the most pleasant—it is as if we needed to move somewhere, leave our home with all our possessions, reach the new place, and assimilate there…. These changes pose a lot of discomfort. But suffering increases so much that it forces us to make this “move.” This is how we advance through the stages of human development.

On the other hand, Kabbalah opens new horizons, shows us how good our lives will be there, ahead. After all, Nature’s objective is not to push us with blows, but it creates conditions for us to develop on our own towards goodness.

And then instead of pressure from behind, we feel drawn forward. This really helps: Before our train would be shaken by the jerks of the engine attached in the back, but now another engines pulls it in the front.

Kabbalah says that in the 21^st century, our development is realized through unity. This has never happened before, before everyone developed individually, but now the time has come to unite, to become included in one another, for everyone to acquire a common vessel within. Then everyone will grow on the same level as everyone else, as it is written: “The private and the whole are equal.” Everyone will feel similar to Infinity, the upper force, perceiving and embracing the whole reality in himself.

Man must acquire a second force to realize this—the force of bestowal, unity, and mutual inclusion with others. And this is why he is brought to a group, a state of his first union, even if this union is external, it is a union with people like him who aspire towards the same goal.

As we read The Zohar, we aspire towards this force, which attracts us, and we make efforts to unite between us. We help this force; we participate in the process—and advance towards the goal instead of moving towards it under pressure of the initial force of suffering. We turn to the path of Light from the path of suffering.

The Zohar describes the things the Light does to us, and this is why when we think about unity and aspire towards the Light, the reading turns into an inner, spiritual effort. It is just like a child tries hard during a game, and an adult goes all out to achieve success. Here we are trying to implement a certain action—but this action is not physical, it is internal. And once we realize it, we feel the result—and the result is also internal.
[62232]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/11, The Zohar

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Baal Hasulam, “The Freedom”: “Thus, he has substantially changed for the better from the tendency he had inherited from his forefathers. And sometimes one manages to completely uproot a bad tendency. This is done by habit, which has the ability to become a second nature.“

A habit becomes a second nature and there is a need for prior sensitivity in realizing it. After all, we are talking about special acts that are goal oriented, that change my nature.

This is the way we also behave with children when we let them do the same task over and over again until they suddenly begin to do it by themselves. If you try to stop a child from doing something that he is already used to, you won’t succeed. For him the habit is already associated with pleasure. Before he did it under our pressure, fearing that he would be punished if he didn’t do it, but now he sees the benefit in it, the lack of punishment and even a reward.

Eventually the action that was previously undesirable, now becomes rewarding, and this association is recorded in his brain. Now even if I don’t follow him, he continues to brush his teeth every morning and night even if no one gives him a candy for doing so. The model of the candy is already in his brain and it works successfully.

This is the habit. It isn’t just any habit, but an association that exists in his brain that ties the action with the candy. What is more, if I don’t do what I am used to, it is as if I am punished, although apparently nothing happens.

Our habits are related to smoking, eating, the way we dress and many other different things. They are constantly active, whether we notice them or not.

This is the complex “mechanism” that refers to the desire, in which every action or every thought is tied to a memory of pleasure. This pleasure is eternal, it is recorded and it stays in me in addition to the first factor. Even if it is not revealed at present, but rather in the past, meaning not in the inner Lights, but in the surrounding Lights, I still feel it.

Thus, the habit is created from the mutual cooperation between the Light and the vessel. We either create it by ourselves or receive it from the outside: from our parents or from other people.

Many human actions are based on this schema. Using it we train animals, educate children, and make ourselves used to things…even when we make an acquaintance with someone and have some kind of attitude towards him, we act according to patterns we are used to.

Thus, a habit becomes a second nature. This is one of the lines in the picture.
[63729]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/20/11, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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The power of our connection with each other must be such as to be called bestowal, connection for the sake of bestowal, mutual guarantee. And then our common vessel will be a hundred to a thousand times greater than our own cumulative abilities. If every person out a thousand wants one gram, then by connecting they create a desire hundreds of millions times greater, instead of one that just equals a thousand grams.

This is because when every person connects with everyone else, he acquires the power of the entire group by connecting to it. Then he takes this entire inclusion and once again connects with the group where everyone is already included in everyone else, and this is why he increases his power multi-fold. And everyone does the same and increases himself multi-fold by including everyone within him. This is how this progression grows: squared, the fourth, sixteenth degree, and so on.

This is the only way to achieve spiritual fulfillment and not through regular addition. When we connect under the conditions of mutual guarantee, we attain a vessel so powerful that it is able to reveal the Light before it. There will already be a similarity between the vessel and the Light.

Otherwise, the vessel is very weak and it’s unable to reveal the Light because they do not correspond to one another. It’s just as if you were to walk into a bank to ask for money, and they were to tell you: “Sure, we have a million dollars to give you, but provide us with a back up, a guarantee!”

And if I don’t have a back up or a guarantee, I will not receive anything. This is the entire essence of the spiritual vessel (Kli). Spirituality differs from corporeality in the power of the connection, mutual loyalty, which can be achieved through the upper Light (the force of connection between us) that makes us suitable to receive at least the first, smallest portion of the Light.

And then we increasingly need to continue growing the power of our connection. This is how a spiritual vessel is built, which is the only thing that we lack. The upper Light exists in the state of absolute rest—only the desire is lacking.
[63806]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How should we prepare ourselves for the quiet internal convention that we decided to have so that thanks to this silence and inner concentration we will reach maximum spiritual advancement and rise to a new level?

Answer: After the great successful convention that we had, after three days of an incredible uplifting spiritual experience from this stirring and delightful festival, we should also understand that the main part of our work is done internally. Of course, there was also internal work in the convention, but actually this kind of work doesn’t require any external movement.

Our millions of friends who study with us and are tied to us in their heart and soul don’t have to travel anywhere either. We have to do our internal work that is aimed more internally, connects one heart to another, one brain to another, and ties us together most deeply. Therefore, we need to be silent at times, to withdraw into ourselves, and to try to connect there. This kind of work requires great efforts, more significant than those needed for jumping and dancing. It’s very hard work that requires the greatest inner effort.

We have to make an effort so that everyone together will feel this silent connection. Kabbalists say that in order to reach the state of “Hear Oh Israel” (which is a very high level, from GAR de Zeir Anpin and above), they prepared for two hours in the corporeal world, sitting quietly and preparing the desired intention.

The meals at my teacher’s were also in absolute silence. It was forbidden to speak with the person next to you. We ate the simple food that was there, drank, and kept quiet. After half an hour Rabash spoke for a few minutes, and it was all over.

Many actions took place in silence, in keeping quiet. Sometimes someone sang and the others were quiet. On Friday evening we had a meal for an hour and a half and didn’t even eat there because we were already full. Every person received a small apple, a glass of malt beer, and a tiny piece of black bread so that everyone could bless together. Thus two hours went by without any movement or words.

Sometimes, in the lesson or during a meal, Rabash would say “Let’s think!” and he would close his eyes and lower his head, as if he were asleep for about 40 minutes.

The point is that we have to do a lot of internal work. After a lesson we go out into the world and enter its turbulences, flying with its hurricanes that throw us from one state to another. A person has no chance to stop and think, to be with himself, to internalize what he has heard, to put things in the right places, and to do some soul searching. We come to such clarifications only rarely, at tragic moments.

So I think that we have to be silent. But in order to do that we must be prepared for the inner connection so that inside we’ll feel a powerful force, a cry, singing and dancing, all our studying. It shouldn’t be just silence, but a roaring silence!
[63815]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/2011, “Introduction to TES“

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Question: Is it necessary to strive towards the maximum unification that one can possibly imagine at the given moment?

Answer: We have to strive towards maximum unification and ever-increasing feeling of unity starting with the point we reached at the convention, and try to rise above it in spite of all disturbances. This is how a spiritual life begins.

On one hand, this point of unity becomes ever more subtle and sensitive, while on the other, you have more and more access to it. You start to develop yourself within it, and various interactions with your first spiritual state begin to arise in you, even if without complete conscious awareness. But as you return to it time after time, a certain attitude arises in you, a certain approach, a revelation of this state.

In this manner you gradually bring yourself to greater and greater contact with this point. And it expands, acquires all kinds of inner properties, certain “organs,” like in a person whom you do not know and then suddenly begin to see his manifested qualities. You have to gradually expand this point to the first ten Sefirot, and then you will begin to feel your existence within it.

The acceleration of this process depends only on you: on how frequently you will attempt to enter this point again and again. You will be cast out, but you will try to reenter it again. In this manner, quantity turns into quality.

Every person who felt this point of unity, and even those who didn’t feel it, can catch up to us, experience it (because it already exists, it was already born, it exists outside of us), and develop independently at a pace that depends only on the person himself. To the extent he will be thrown away from this point and to the extent he will strive to return to it—that is how he will advance.
[63285]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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Question: What should women’s work be now, after the convention?

Answer: In principle, a woman’s work is the same as a man’s: It is in caring for our unity, for the birth of our new state. In men, however, this state is more active, directed specifically towards unification.

By the way, I saw an impulse towards that in women as well: the way they suddenly embraced and held onto each other. It is very unnatural in our world, but on the other hand, it truly stemmed from their feeling of striving towards unity. It was quite wonderful to observe this. When people rise above themselves, they lose perception of gender, age, and all the differences of our world and unite in the internal awakening towards the upper one.

You sensed this aspiration from within your essence as a woman, and now you can describe and convey that to all the other women so they would have a good example. I was impressed by women’s behavior: to what extent they desire to support the men and are prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of success. This is the women’s work—among themselves and in support of the men. The women comprise a single female part, and the men the single joint male image, and in this manner they work together.

I hope that you will feel this even deeper. We don’t yet have the ability to describe the sensations of our states. We lack the words; we don’t yet understand where we are. But try to do that anyway, at least with psychological impressions. Women know how to do that.

Write about yourselves, write about all your states, don’t be shy. Let it become an example for all the other women and enter our network so that through the women’s page on our website you could unite and prepare for the next convention. This is very important. Without women’s support no kind of success will be possible.
[63288]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 12/11/2011

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It is not enough for us to know that we are distanced from each other, that we are pushing each other away not desiring connection between us, and that what is called the evil inclination is what does not let us unite with each other.

Only this is called evil; it is what prevents us from reaching the Goal of creation where we are connected together into one whole. Our evil inclination, pushing us away from each other and separating us, which we come across with when we want to unite, is called evil. We are the ones who define it as evil.

If I do not feel that it is preventing me from reaching the Goal, and uniting with others, then I do not consider it as evil. So it turns out that evil has gradations: The more I want to unite with others, the more evil I feel.

That is why in the beginning when a person begins to study the science of Kabbalah, he does not think that he has to get closer to others at all; he is similar to the brothers of Joseph. Later, he begins to understand that it is necessary to unite together, and then he begins to ponder how much good it will do him if he unites with others. He begins to unite with friends, this stage is called “the seven years of plenty”, when everyone is moving forward nicely together.

Then we begin to feel how much we are appalled by this unity, how much it is undesirable and worthless in our eyes. This is how we arrive at the stage called “the seven years of famine,” when we do not understand how we will be able to work with each other and how we will unite together since the Pharaoh is standing between us and separating us.

And instead of constantly exerting the correct effort towards unity, the Pharaoh throws various kinds of actions our way by which we are seemingly acting for unity, but it turns out that each one performs the action for his own sake. This is called that the Pharaoh bites the “back of the neck,” sucking all of our efforts for himself. This keeps repeating again and again.

However, there is a special force, opposed to all of our exerted efforts, called the Light that returns to the Source. If we are attracting it, then it is not important what states we are in. This force acts on us and moves us forward. It is impossible to move forward without this force.

So it turns out that in the field of our work we must become aware of the evil as much as possible. Evil is realized due to trying to do kind deeds, meaning that our work should be happening in unity, in happiness, in love, in studies, in all of the very best. Not for a moment do we mention the evil; we do not want to feel it in any kind of manifestations.

As a result of us trying to be connected to each other, to be kind, filled with Light, and similar to the Creator, that force of evil reveals to us, separating us. If we exert enough effort, we reveal it from concealment. To the extent that I exert effort in order to unite with others, to this extent, I become worthy of revealing evil. Meaning, the revelation of evil is a reward, a result of my efforts.

I gave “20 kilograms” of effort in order to unite with friends, and I got “20 kilograms” of revelation of the evil inclination: I realize that I do not want to unite with them. I did not know and see it earlier, but now I know. In spite of this, I continue to work, I apply “40 kilograms” more effort, and I get “40 kilograms” more of the evil inclination revealed to me. The Pharaoh keeps growing until he turns into such a monster with whom it is impossible to do anything.

Even if I come to him and I agree to all of the misfortunes and suffering, which will befall upon me like the 10 Egyptian plagues, he remains standing and separating us. Due to his stubbornness, I see that I have no choice: only to stop working with my ego. This is called to “run away from it.”

Then, under the condition that I am ready to part with my ego, to rise above it in faith above reason, an opportunity to achieve it is revealed to me, to use a special force, which will keep me above my desire to receive for myself, as if “in air”: My ego is located below and I am above it.

What does “I” mean? I can think, feel, make a calculation, and make actions without drowning in my desire to enjoy, but by being above it. This means that I am standing before receiving the Light that returns to the Source—the reception of the Torah.

Now we are located opposite to the Torah, we are sitting at the lesson, we want to unite together, to build a common desire (Kli), and reading The Book of Zohar in order for the Light, which comes from it, to act on its promise, to return us to the Source, if we have prepared the evil, which separates us, in order for the Light to correct it.

That is why it is said about Rabbi Shimon’s students that they sit before the lesson and are revealing the evil, the raging fire of hate. They do not arrive at such a state simply, but after numerous efforts desiring to unite, they reveal the evil, a new one every day. And then every day you have the need to receive the Torah, the Light that returns to the Source, if you are trying to unite and you realize that you are not able to do it, that you have once again revealed the Pharaoh even more than before.

Therefore, still try to reveal evil—but only due to our desire to come to goodness. And then if we really do want the good, the evil will be revealed. If the evil will be revealed, we will indeed ask for The Book of Zohar to act on it and turn it into good.
[63112]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/11, The Zohar

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Question: What is the meaning of the miracle that the holiday of Chanukah celebrates in the inner work?

Answer: There are several miracles that occur in the inner work. The first miracle is the exodus from Egypt. The second miracle occurs on Hanukkah, and the third—on Purim.

A miracle is a revolution in one’s perception of reality. The actual reality I am in is unchanging, it is the world of Infinity. But such revolutionary changes take place inside of me that I receive a new perception, a new nature, such a drastic change that I see the whole world in a different way.

This is similar to a baby that comes out of the mother into a great, light, world, which is signified by his birth. And this is a miracle because it is not a simple continuation of the regular growth of the fetus, but it signifies a total revolution and an exit to a new level of perception. This transformation can only happen by virtue of the Light’s influence upon us.

When the Light finishes raising my desires to the first ten Sefirot, I am born on the new level in the new ten Sefirot, on the next level.

There are several revolutions like this: the first is when we go from the period of preparation into the new world, through the Machsom, and begin to work in the small spiritual state. Then, after this miracle of coming out of Egypt, there is a gradual ascent, the state by Mount Sinai and the revelation of the upper force, the miracle of Chanukah. All of this seems to be one process, beginning from the passage of the Red Sea and on. A revolution in a person’s perception of reality takes place, and all of this occurs by virtue of a change in his desires under the Light’s influence.

A miracle is when all of my previous desires undergo instant change, a total revolution.
[63966]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Judging by the sensations of the last few days, we are entering the next state after the convention and can already make a new attack. In the near future we are planning to concentrate internally, to unite together quietly, to enter the picture of the spiritual reality. What would you advise us to focus our efforts on?

Answer: There is the current state and the desirable one, and there is the transition between the two, which we have to overcome. The means to go from one state to the next can be similar to a convention: a focus of our efforts, hopes, forces, joy, actions, and events, where we are all together and we focus all our efforts over a few days and try to realize them non-stop.

But there are also other means that can help us go from one state to another. Kabbalists used them mainly for more internal concentration, which they attained by making external actions only in order to concentrate everything in the inner actions.

That is to say, they assembled together, preparing all of the external conditions so they would not interfere and would help them focus, such as by meeting in a cave, an isolated, quiet place, away from all possible external disturbances, and in a special state of day or night, which also influence a person. In short, they arranged everything so the friends could unite with one another internally, with the help of inner, more spiritual efforts.

Obviously, we must also make actions like that. But for that we need preparation and the realization of the great importance of this event, so we don’t end up with something boring or useless, something that doesn’t provide fulfillment.

Every person must understand that progress is possible only by virtue of efforts, that “penny by penny adds up to a great capital,” and that in the sum of these efforts, in the efforts to unite them together, in one place, in one Kli or vessel, we attain the common might that is called a cry, a demand—and then the gates open up to us.

We carried out a great preparation in Israel and in the whole world during the convention, and now we must perform several opposite actions—in more internal concentration, in humility. Let’s try to do this. How effective this will be is up to us.
[63955]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/22/11, The Book of Zohar

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