Year in and year out, we are trying to bring our lessons closer to people, to the world, and it is extremely difficult. Baal HaSulam wrote in his "Prophecy" that he had asked, pleaded before, the Creator to help him descend from his degree to be able to explain the method of revealing the Creator to people.

In the spiritual world, it’s very hard to lower one’s degree because there everything is completely transparent and clear. Since the upper degree is perfection, to "step down" from it on your own is even "more impossible" than to climb to it. There are no words to explain it either since spirituality is pure sensations.

Kabbalists managed to find words to convey spiritual information, but they intend them for their own peers in their Kabbalistic writings. Behind each word they pronounce, such as the "screens" (Masachim), "discernments" (Havhanot), the "rise of Malchut to Bina," and so on, behind special forms of the enlarged capital letters there stand spiritual notions.

For them, all of it is like a "musical score" for a musician who may cry or laugh simply by looking at it. For him, they are life-like sensations which immediately arouse feelings in him. It’s another thing, however, to take a musical score and relate it in words. If I asked you to tell me about your sensation from a symphony, what would you say?

However, we need to relate our feelings somehow. Although they are not spiritual yet and precede the entry into the spiritual world, nevertheless, our students and ordinary people on the street are separated by many, many years of development. If we were to broadcast our lessons in a unadapted form, nobody would understand them. It’s very difficult to descend from that degree, but we have to attempt to do it. There is still a lot for us to do here.
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From Lesson 2, Kabbalah Convention at the Arava Desert 12/31/10

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Question: How do I turn to the group internally?

Answer: Turning to the group is a search: In what way can I picture the whole of reality as existing inside of me, and not outside? Perception of reality is not a brain-twister with which you can interest and confuse others. We are talking about a state which we must reach in practice. I have to reveal that all the things that are seemingly outside of me are my internal parts.

For example, the Torah describes all kinds of different occasions from the lives of various characters, which have occurred in different places. It’s a real theater. I must apply all of this onto my desires, onto the details of my perception. There is no external world, so where is it inside of me? In which parts of me do these characters live and are these actions performed?

This approach builds the right relationship toward my own Kli (vessel), to the actions which the Creator performs within me, and to the states which I need to go through. That is why I must try to find the “external” images within me every waking moment.

I live inside my soul, and all of the "external" images are its parts: forces, actions, and elements of perception. Nothing else exists. Everything is in this Kli. This is the way I try to picture the entire reality.

So, who is setting all of this up for me? Who separates, deletes, draws closer, and connects all of the parts of my desires: the “men” and “women,” “animals” and “vegetation,” and so on? This is when I perceive Keter which builds the still, vegetative, animate, and human degrees within me: Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut.

I live inside of my soul, besides (outside of) which there is nothing. That is why first of all, I need to see the group as my integral part. This is what turning to the group internally is.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/10, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World was in Donation”

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Initially, I have a mere material desire for “self-gratification” and a point in the heart, a seed of the property of bestowal, that yearns for the upper world. I raise this point above desire by increasing its importance relative to corporeal desires and then turn with it to the environment: the group, the Kabbalistic texts, and the teacher.

In response, I receive an increased and refined desire from them. It is increased in terms of its might and modified in the sense that I acquire the importance of the goal (to achieve the property of bestowal) and realize my inability to reach it on my own.

With this desire, I turn “upward,” raise MAN (a plea for correction). As a result, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif, OM) descends from “Above” and reforms me, brings me back to the property of bestowal.

The following are the mandatory stages:

1. Appeal to the group;
2. Receive a spiritual aspiration from it;
3. Appeal to the Creator;
4. Receive correction.

Consequently, there emerges a Kli, a vessel of bestowal, the sum of all factors.

Question: How do I know that my aspiration came from the group?

Answer: You examine the degree to which you wish to unite with the friends, but are unable to do so. If you have put a great deal of quality effort into this need, you raise MAN with it. In other words, the sum of your desires aimed at unification creates a plea for help.

Question: What are the signs that I’m appealing to the group correctly?

Answer: If I do it correctly, I see how unified the friends are and how separated I am from them, how small I am and how great they are, how magnificent the purpose of creation is that they are seeking and to what extent I am unable to appreciate it. To me, the group is an ideal, a criterion by which I measure my flaws. I can’t take these flaws anywhere else except to appeal to the Creator.

When I address the group correctly, I discover such flaws in myself, such a lack, such unfulfilled desires that they immediately evoke the Light that Reforms. This Light doesn’t come from another galaxy; it lives in me, in my heart. I only need a deeper desire to experience it.

Note: The term “group” implies not corporeal faces and characteristics, but rather a network of the friends’ “points in the heart” connected into one system.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/10, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World was in Donation”

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Question: How can we increase the force of being able to overcome when a greater egoistic desire is revealed?

Answer: All of a person’s qualities, no matter what they seem like to him, from the best to the worst, become revealed in the framework of the common system of souls that advance toward unity according to the program of creation. Therefore, we cannot attribute any of a person’s personal manifestations to his own account. Like a cogwheel or an integral part of a system, he has to reveal a specific collection of inclinations, desires, and states inside of him.

No matter what happens inside a person, he should not place any bets on it. After all, he does not determine what happens to him now because it is determined by the common system which goes through different states. Thus, you can stop worrying about the current state because you cannot do anything about it. It is woven of thousands of factors that are outside of you. As for the future state, it’s also pointless to think about it because it also doesn’t depend on you, but is determined by the needs of the system that has to take a step forward.

In essence, the only thing I should think about is how I will take this step. What is it about this step that depends on me? It also contains things that are not actualized by me, but by the upper force, and that aren’t illuminated by me, but by the Upper Light. A person goes through analyses and reaches a point where he really can realize himself. Then he sees a very clear and precise action, like pressing a button.

This is a person’s task: At every moment in time to discern the only action that depends on him and to realize it. As he makes this analysis he also discerns many other things, and as a result, by pressing the button, he activates the system and starts to perceive it, accept it, and become part of it.

In other words, a person starts to attain the system as a whole. Therefore, he is not a lab rat that finds the button of the feed box in a labyrinth. On the contrary, by making efforts in different states, he attains the conditions, the causes, and the essence of what happens.

When reaching the button, he will undoubtedly press it. But the entire matter here is the analysis; this is the true asset.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How does the revelation of truth relate to the revelation of the interconnected system of souls?

Answer: It is one and the same. Mutual connection is the truth. The network of our ties is called “the vessel” (Kli). The Creator imprinted Himself on the matter of the will to enjoy and placed His stamp onto its entire thickness. Now, inside me, there is a hollow space with a carved image.

This image is comprised of the connections between desires that the Creator fills in if they are corrected. In this case, their network becomes Him. The integral network of these points is called “Malchut of the world of Infinity.”

Gradually, the Creator conceals Himself and abandons the system of souls, which triggers the descent of the worlds. As He is disappearing, the souls feel more and more opposite to each other, transitioning to the reverse side (Sitra Achra) where the connection is corrupted, depleted, and takes on an egoistic nature. As a result, we find ourselves in the corporeal world, and instead of mutual connection, instead of the Creator who fills us, we experience void and detachment from each other.

In truth, I constantly feel the Creator. After all, there is nothing else for me to feel since there are only He and I. However, in the present reality, I perceive Him according to my current egoistic state of existence.

The purpose of the process is to find the truth, the authentic state, after having stripped ourselves of all the covers. Finding the connection between us anew, at some point, I will see that it ties not the people, but the souls or desires. It is in the nature of this connection, its essence, and might that the Creator is revealed to us. There is no other reality but integral, mutual connection. It permeates everything, and we are made so that we can feel nothing but it. We are inside it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/2010, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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Writings of Rabash, “What is the Feast of the Groom”: The “bride” signifies work during the time of exile, when the Creator’s face is concealed. It is when the forces of disunity rule over a person.

Kabbalists try to explain a simple principle to us in different ways. Creation as a whole is called “bride.” This is the “matter” of the desire, which we must raise to the height of the Creator in order to unite with Him, revealing the Good who Does Good.

When we discover problems in our murky matter, we have to understand that we shouldn’t nullify it, but “sanctify” it, meaning correct it. That is how we continuously ascend higher with its help. Precisely the additions of Aviut from the matter that become revealed in us build the levels of the spiritual ladder for us, one after the other.

This is a cyclical process which requires a simple action. Just like in a computer, everything is determined by the choice of two positions: “yes” and “no,” “0” and “1.” By consolidating many actions like this, we can reach any analysis, express any quality and any form of interaction between the Creator and creation, between the force of bestowal and the force of reception.

Thus, the only thing remaining for a person to do is to accelerate the time. On one hand he sees that the bride is ugly, but on the other hand he understands that the egoistic desire distorts the true picture. This desire is horrible, casting a person away from the goal and throwing him into a descent.

However, by studying the “bride” through the prism of the desire for bestowal, a person sees that if he “sanctifies” his egoism, then he will be able to “decorate” and “beautify” it, the way it is customary to adorn the bride before the wedding. Then the corrected desire will lead a person out to the level of the “groom.”

Various situations arise in this process. Sometimes we do not agree to accept our egoistic desire, seeing how ugly it is. Sometimes on the contrary, we understand that we have to accept and correct it, to decorate it by making efforts.

In the end, as we advance by faith above reason, placing bestowal above reception, we reach the “feast of the groom.”

As a whole there are three states on this path:

1. The forces of disunity, the Shechina in exile, the beginning of the analysis.
2. During the period of spiritual exile we work on the bride, “dressing her up” and “decorating” her.
3. The “feast of the groom.”

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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/11, Writings of Rabash

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent),” Item 332: It is a Mitzva [commandment] to build the Temple below like the Temple above, as it is written, “The place that You have made for Your dwelling, O Lord.” This is so because the Temple must be built below, and to pray a prayer within it everyday, to serve the Creator, since prayer is called “Work” [service].

The Temple below means Malchut where we have to create a corrected desire (Kli – vessel). A prayer means to raise an appeal (MAN) for correction.

The connection of the lower one with the upper one was due to Malchut’s ascent to Bina, and then Bina’s descent into Malchut. As a result, there are two Temples: Malchut and Bina below are the Temple below, while Malchut and Bina above are the Temple Above.

“The Temple must be built below, and to pray a prayer within it everyday” means to connect Bina and Malchut together when we try to create such a state in the group, in our desires. After all, where else can I express my attitude toward bestowal? It is possible only in connection between us.

Then, when I realize that I am totally unable to do anything, I raise my prayer, and for that reason, the Temple Above is being built. We need to do this “everyday,” that is, in the states of ascent when we have some strength, we have to try to perform this work with all our energy.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/2010, The Zohar

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"Introduction of The Book of Zohar," Article "You Will Behold the Secret of the Lines in the Palms," Item 161: When three small lines enter those on the length, he has one black inscription in his body. Also, three hairs hang down that inscription, and that inscription is as a circle, with one breakage at the top of the inscription. Wise-hearted who know these secrets called this inscription “An eagle’s head.” Sometimes, this inscription is seen between his shoulders, sometimes in the right arm, and sometimes on the right arm, on his fingers.

We read about parts of the soul which connect with other souls and by that virtue reveal these images in the connection between them. "The secret of the face," "the secret of the lines on the palm," the secret of all body parts, all of that refers to the parts of the collective soul, Adam HaRishon, the system of connection between the souls.

By and of themselves, the souls contain nothing that we can study because it’s the desire to receive. We attain the connection between them, meaning the forces of their mutual bestowal, which connect them like blood vessels.

The Zohar describes all these forms of connection as the study of "the secret of the faces," "the secret of the palm lines," "the secret of Man’s body" referring to all kinds of internal and external signs, until we gain knowledge of the whole Man ("man" or "Adam" in Hebrew is a derivative of the word "Edome" or "similar to Upper One"), that is, until we reveal the perfect system called "the Creator."

Therefore, we should bear in mind that The Zohar speaks about the connection between us, describing it in such a way.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

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The Book of Zohar includes many parts:

1. Introduction of the book itself, which is also written by Rabbi Shimon,
2. The weekly chapters or commentaries on the weekly portions of the Torah,
3. The parts commenting on the Prophets (Nevi’im) and the Writings (Ketuvim).

The Book of Zohar was a complete commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures (TaNaKh for the Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim). We were left with only a part of this exalted Book, and most likely a very small one since except for the commentaries on the Torah, none other seem to exist. Moreover, as Baal HaSulam repeatedly emphasizes, the Torah commentaries are also missing a lot. We’ve seen how in some places, the text often ends quite abruptly.

But from the upper governance’s point of view it looks like we need exactly the parts of The Zohar that we have received. So, there is no need to feel bad that the whole Book of Zohar has not been found. We should be grateful for what we have of it and use it according to its purpose.

Now we are reading "Introduction of The Book of Zohar." All of the articles in this introduction are very useful and profound. But “The Donkey Driver,” “The Night of the Bride,” and “The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba” are the most fundamental articles where the authors of The Book of Zohar explain the basics of creation.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

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Question: When does a person finally realize that only the Creator can help him and that this help is only in adhering to the group?

Answer: This occurs at the final step before exiting exile. Only then does a true plea, a true need arise. However, this step comes in stages as well: the escape, the crossing of the Red Sea, the mountain of hatred (Sinai), the appeals, and finally, the despair. This speaks of many things.

We keep asking, “When will the work finally be done and the Creator be revealed?” This is correct. He will become revealed, but then more work will follow.Yet, a person will view it as an adventure, as enjoyment since if you love someone, to make effort for the sake of the beloved is pleasure. You enjoy the fact that you are doing something for them.

When you work for self-gratification, you exert labor to enjoy its fruit later on. If you could taste it without having to work, that would be best. But it isn’t the same when you do things out of love for another. In that case, the effort itself brings pleasure. While you are working, you are also gathering the reward.

Try to do something for someone you love such as your son, for example. No matter what effort is required, you feel even better when you exert for it. If you simply bring a present to your child and see how happy you made him or her, you won’t enjoy it. When you love, it is the effort that makes it all worthwhile.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/2011, “What Are the Powers Which Are Needed for the Work”

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