The game is the most important chore for us. Therefore, when we are reading The Zohar, we have to play at being great Kabbalists and imagine that we reside in the same state as the authors of The Book of Zohar, those who first revealed how much they resented each other, but joined together afterwards.

In the beginning, they hated each other, and consequently, did not feel anything beyond their animate state, the state of this world. From such a deep descent, they started rising to the spiritual level of mutual bestowal and guarantee, and that is when their bond grew so strong that they revealed what is described in The Zohar.

Therefore, from our lack of connection, we too have to try to achieve a bond as strong as theirs, and then we’ll uncover what The Zohar narrates; we will reach the level of the authors of the book. If they started with hatred, literally wanting to kill each other, although we don’t reach such a deep awareness of evil, as much as we are able to do so and correct it, we’ll reach at least some degree of understanding of what they wrote about, and then we’ll climb up on the same degree that they revealed.

Question: How is the game connected with drawing the Surrounding Light?

Answer: The game is everything. It is the only action we perform. The game signifies that I strive for what I desire to achieve. What is the difference between this game and some other creative action in our world if while doing it, we also desire to get something out of it? Good question, but in this game we don’t really know what to do. It has an element of fortune, free will; it has something I cannot know in advance. And that’s why it is called a game.

In this game, I depend on the others as if we are in a true state playing in some imaginary action. But in reality, this imaginary action turns out to be true when we come to it. Therefore, the game is regarded as a serious business.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/2011, The Zohar

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The entire group and all of humanity in general construct “straight forms” (Yashar) first. I restrict my desire to enjoy, build a screen, and with part of this desire I continue to work further by faith above reason, in bestowal, connected with others.

But in certain desires, I am unable to work in bestowal towards others and I use them only for my own benefit. Thus, I simply restrict these desires. I want to collect myself in a “line,” to aim in one direction, toward bestowal.

Therefore, I build the “lines of connection” between myself and the others—the correct communication system. If after all my work, I manage to turn my desire to enjoy into bestowal, completely transfer it outside of myself, and use it to give to the others, it indicates that I have constructed the image of the giver out of myself. And I myself turn into a “circle.”

I am not stuck in the line anymore. Rather, in all of my desires, in all directions and possibilities, I aim to benefit the others without differentiating, choosing to give more or less to any of them.

Indeed, there are many differences and tests, but I do not test my abilities because I am a “circle,” not limited anymore. But in relation to me, they are not a circle yet; thus I can give to them more and more in various ways. And so it is until the end of the collective correction, when everything unifies in adhesion regarded as “Zivug Rav Paalim UMekabtziel” and turns in circles (Igulim).

In other words, a “circle” is a state of being an infant who isn’t developed yet and stays in its mother’s arms. And hence, he has no responsibilities but to cancel himself. This is how Malchut of the world of Infinity used to cancel itself before the upper force, the upper Light that filled it, and thus it had a “circular” form. It even stayed in adhesion but only by the grace of the upper one.

But in the very end, in State 3, when we return to Infinity once again, we build this “circle” on our own. Hence, we make a restriction on the initial state, create a working place for ourselves, and in it we build the perfect state—ourselves, instead of the Creator. This is described as “My sons have defeated Me.”
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/2011, Talmud Eser Serifot

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Thanks to our Kabbalah studies, we finally understand that the Creator performed, performs, and will perform all actions. And all that is asked of us is a request that constitutes our freedom of choice. That is, we have to want the Creator to correct us.

Everything that the Creator did with us before did not require our consent; we obeyed the direct order of our nature, and thus we had nothing to ask. We simply followed our natural instinct, satisfying our growing desire in all its manifestations. However, in order to give us an opportunity to develop on our own, to acquire self-knowledge, and to reveal the Creator and His actions, at a certain moment, the Creator begins to act against our nature.

This turning point occurs in our generation. The Creator does not follow us, pushing us forward, but stands in front of us and demands that we get closer to Him by our own will. In fact, this is our job: to mobilize within ourselves forces, desires, and the understanding that we must come closer to Him. And we cannot do that ourselves; we can only request, demand from Him that He brings us closer.

To do this, we need to come and work together to discover within ourselves the desire for mutual bestowal. We must recreate within ourselves the desired form of the Creator, the perfect property of bestowal. We have to aspire within our group to achieve such relationships between us that the force, existing there in concealment, becomes revealed. This means to reveal the Creator, to know Him, in order to cleave to Him.

Then, we will advance and govern ourselves. But just as before we unquestionably obeyed our egoistic desire without even thinking about it, so now we want to obey the Creator with the same devotion. After all the issues, challenges, and scrutiny, in spite of our objections and resistance, we want to be fully managed by Him and become His faithful workers, as it is said: “Love covers all sins.”

And the key in this process is to find the point of addressing the Creator, the request to change and correct ourselves each time. We shouldn’t look within ourselves for the forces and means of becoming “righteous,” doing “good deeds.”

Clearly, it is impossible to reach true prayer at once, and we have to go through much scrutiny on the way to it. But the main obstacle is a person’s thoughts that he is the master of his actions and should correct himself and his environment by his own forces. He forgets that he is merely clay in the Master’s hands, and that “there is none else besides Him,” the only One who performed, performs, and will perform all actions. And our freedom of choice, given to us to get closer to perfect bestowal, is only to ask it from that property, that force, which will reign between us.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/2011, Shamati #50

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We need to reach the revelation of the Creator, and this is why we were given the method of Kabbalah to come to this revelation through our various actions, exercises, and work, which is all of our efforts. The Creator is revealed to us as the property of bestowal and love, which is manifested within us, meaning in our desire to enjoy, our essence.

Because our egoistic material in its nature is completely opposite to the Creator, His bestowal, it is exactly the place to apply efforts so as to wish to receive the property opposite to your nature. There is no coercion in spirituality! As long as you do not wish for the property of bestowal to clothe in your desire, in your substance, and as long as you do not care for that substance, you work as the property that has clothed in it, according to the saying: “And darkness will shine as the light,” it will not happen.

So, we have to develop a true desire to bestow within us. And if we ignore this, missing the available moments and opportunities, then the states in which we were supposed to reveal the need for bestowal become disclosed as its absence, but in the opposite form showed in our egoism.

And if in my current state, I can not succeed and by my own free will yearn for bestowal, that is, I haven’t switched from the egoistic desire to the need to reach bestowal, to reveal the Creator, then the desire, which I had to turn into the request to the Creator, is revealed to me as sufferings. I did not realize this desire correctly, did not work on it, and did not turn it into a prayer by my efforts. This happens to us at our every step.

It turns out that our only work is to replace our egoistic needs with the aspiration for bestowal. The main thing is to obtain this desire and all the remaining corrections will come from Above. Each time this desire is disclosed, it should be scrutinized at all four phases. When through my efforts, I reach the fourth phase, I then realize this desire and understand what it means, what I want from it, and how I can implement it. I connect in it with the Creator and make a request for Him to perform this work on my desire.

That is, when I come to the fourth phase of my work on my desire, I become able to raise the “Reflected Light” (MAN) out of it up to Keter. And if I reach such a request, this means that my desire was correct, it was scrutinized.

And all the prior requests were deceitful and false because the need for bestowal and a true desire for it were not revealed to their full depth in them. The connection with the upper force did not appear there to request only one thing: the revelation of the property of bestowal within me. Namely, it is called the revelation of the Creator by the creatures, and not various fantasies in which people imagine the Creator as a force existing outside of us.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/2011, Shamati #213

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for Topics”: Question 102: What are Sefirot de Igulim? When there is no differentiation of above and below among the four Behinot (phases) in the Ratzon (desire), they are regarded as four Igulim (spheres, circles), one within the other, like onion skins.

In the very beginning, in the Light of Infinity, there were no differences between above and below, due to the absolute authority of the upper force which ruled over the desire to receive completely equally. But having made the restriction and the screen and having gone through the expansion of the worlds from Above downward and the return of the souls from below upward, the desire arrives at the state when it has multiple properties, differences, and peculiarities, all of which become enclosed in an integral system. And hence, no difference between them remains.

This means that in the very beginning, in the world of Infinity in State 1, desire was “round” (Igulim), as it is in the very end, in State 3. But in the beginning, desire didn’t have distinctions since they were invisible and everything looked the same.

In the very end, at the final correction (Gmar Tikkun), there are no differences either. Having revealed in this desire enormous number of properties, varieties, and details, we bind them all together into one integral system where every element is as vital as the entire system. And hence, there are no differences between them!

This is another type of “circles” (Igulim) which contain great number of “straight” ties (Yosher). But these straight connections reach a state when they lock into a circle.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/2011, Talmud Eser Serifot

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Question: Why is it so important that there is no connection between my actions and the reward?

Answer: It’s because otherwise you won’t be able to achieve bestowal and exit your nature! You must demand the reward above your nature, beyond it, and build yourself in bestowal for the sake of bestowal (Hafetz Hesed), without demanding any compensation for your ego.

It is necessary to be in selfless bestowal, in pure Bina, above all the actions, even if within those actions and the matter in which you execute them, you still expect a reward. Indeed, it is completely impossible to carry out certain actions and not expect any reward for them, remaining above the egoistic calculation.

And this is why, due to the environment and by utilizing all the conditions, we reach a state when we demand of the Creator to give us this ability: to not demand the reward for ourselves. I don’t know how He will do it or what it is; I have no idea how I will execute these actions of bestowal, but I want to!

We are always developing this request within: from degree zero to the final, fourth one, at every phase, with every examination. This is how we advance until we reach the true demand which finally reveals this quality within us. And from that moment on we begin to understand what it’s like to be in bestowal—what a true miracle is like….
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/2011, Shamati #50

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Question: Why does the burning desire that used to be there at the beginning gradually disappear? One continues to experience good or bad feelings, but sometimes one feels indifference and a complete absence of feelings.

Answer: This is also part of the “game” and concealment. Either one hides his desire to enjoy and acts above it, or one is given concealment from Above. Then, this is not concealment on one’s egoism because one has to make it himself. From Above, they hide from him what he should hide from himself!

It turns out that he loses the connection with the upper luminescence, that little illumination that he was given from Above, and he feels himself completely cut off, as if he has nothing. Sometimes, he realizes that he has lost everything, and at times he does not feel even that, and he starts living like a simple animal. Detachment from the upper source means an animal existence.

If there is a feeling that something higher exists, this is an awakening of the human within us. When we begin to search for something higher, a person starts to grow from within, like a plant does. When we start to take proactive steps, to work in the group with the friends, then we can raise ourselves to the animate level of the human degree. When we realize the form of mutual bestowal, this means that we have reached the genuine, human degree.

From a complete detachment caused by the fact that the upper source was concealed from him, a person reaches a point where he himself hides this upper source from the desire to enjoy. Then, he grows up like a human, above this concealment.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/2011, Shamati #39

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Question: How does one test whether his effort is sufficient?

Answer: Efforts are usually made above reason, above knowledge, when it seems to a person that everything is extremely difficult and impossible, and that he has had enough. He no longer believes in the teacher with his “folly” or in the Creator who is concealed, making it impossible to tell what He wants from him. And he has many complaints about the group as a whole, as well about every person individually.

However, at the same time we need to say that this image that I see is only according to my own faults, my egoism! It’s because in reality, I exist in the world of Infinity. And the group is the souls that I am completely connected with. And the teacher is the part above us that leads us to the connection with the already corrected souls so that we together with them can correct the souls that are still uncorrected. And the Creator will become revealed between us; for now He is concealed for our own good.

If a person imagines this state correctly, if he understands that this world is imaginary and he needs to dig deeper through this illusory image, to its inner form so as to reveal the strings that connect us, like on the reverse side of an embroidered image, he then will be able to put everything in place and demand to be changed.

He will reveal perfection through being in harmony with all the desires, in other words, with the group and the Creator, the quality of bestowal. He will feel that he has attained perfection this way and there is nothing greater than this, no need or desire for anything greater because this is the most perfect state for him!
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/24/2011, Shamati #187

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (The Mutual Guarantee)”: The commandment of “love thy friend as thyself”… cannot be observed by an individual, but only through the consent of an entire nation. And this is why it took until they came out of Egypt, that they became worthy of observing it.

The full measure of man’s great desire as well as the full measure of his aversion to others have to manifest within him. The magnitude of his desire is Pharaoh, the extent of his rejection is Mount Sinai, and the measure of his aspiration straight to the Creator is Moses. Thus the entire Biblical story of the exodus from Egypt is outlined within man’s soul.

And until then he does not need the Kabbalistic method; he does not need corrections. He doesn’t strive for actualization, isn’t ready to be as one man with one heart with everybody, and doesn’t demand help of the Creator.

This scream is yet to emerge in the group, but we must come to it. Then we will discover that we are truly dealing with a method here: the means of correcting desire.

And then they were first asked if each and every one of the nation agreed to take that commandment upon himself. And once they agreed to it, they were given the method.

What is this question that is asked of everyone? Indeed, it is the Creator asking them. And what does their consent signify?

In other words, a desire, a lack, aimed precisely at correction must manifest within man. “Do you wish to correct your nature to that of bestowal or not? Are you sure this is what you want? Are you ready to unite with the friends? You’re incapable of it, but do you desire unity or not?”

Here you need to want to escape the ego (Pharaoh) at any cost, even if it means crossing the Red Sea (in Hebrew, Yam Suf – final sea). “To escape at any cost”—that is what everybody must feel. If that is the case, then we are ready to unite and receive the force of unification called “the light that Reforms.” That is what we call the giving of the method, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/24/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: The Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over.

People who receive a craving or impulse directed straight to the Creator are scarce. It is said in the Torah: “You were the fewest of all people.” It will remain like this. These people receive the awakening from Above and aspire straight to the Creator (Yashar-El in Hebrew), while the majority do not get a “wake-up call,” but just more life problems.

Those who are called “Israel” according to the direction of their yearning, correct and prepare themselves because they have received from Above both the awakening and the method that covers all stages of the path. And therefore, they prepare themselves to help with the correction of other people who get no awakening, no methodology, no teacher—nothing.

Humanity needs a kind of a representative, a contact, like a stem that connects the fruit to the tree, an adapter, a transition link, a connector, connecting people to the Source. It has part of the Source and part of the world. This part is called “Israel.”

People who belong to Israel should feel themselves as the representatives of the Creator and work accordingly. However, in addition, due to the breaking, they include the properties of the nations of the world and according to this should maintain their connection with the rest of humanity.

The order is as follows: At the beginning, the part of humanity formed by Abraham and called “Israel” experiences the spiritual ascent and establishes the connection with the Creator (1); this happened during the First and the Second Temples. Then, this part descends “into people” (2).

Then, the mixing takes place (3), during which part of Israel stands out from the nation. It corrects itself (4) and rises back, but it already has the connection with the nation. Then, Israel can address the nations of the world (5), correct them, and they reach the Creator together (6).

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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/24/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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