Question: What does it mean to nullify yourself before the group? Is self-annulment not renouncement of egoism?

Answer: Self-annulment is not cancellation of egoism. I “annul myself” before my manager who tells me what to do, before the police, and even before my own children. When my children demand something, I nullify my desire to rest and take care of their desires.

In reality, I am not nullifying anything. I simply trade one trouble for another. I prefer one thing to another, leaning on healthy egoism. This is not freedom of choice.

When I understand that I should cancel myself before the group since I will reach more in it, it is not self-annulment. This is a good egoistic calculation. The real self-annulment happens when I know that, egoistically, I do not need this. After having completely checked myself, I do not find any benefit in this, and still I rise above my reason and feeling.

We are gradually coming to this. And everything else is carried out “within reason.” I choose the group because it is better for me to be in it than on the outside. Many people go to different clubs according to their interests because it is worth it. Religion is also based on personal benefit.

However, the wisdom of Kabbalah is based on principles that are opposite to egoism. Here, we do not choose something that benefits us. Even though in the beginning we seem to strive toward the lesser evil and even goodness, which is defined as eternity and perfection, still, on the way, we ascend over egoism. Then, one must reject himself and join the desire of the group.

Like a commando brigade, we selflessly carry out the common task in order to reach something. At first, we act purely egoistically, but with time, one realizes that he must reject himself because the common strength, the common unity, is preferable to any personal success.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/10, “Show Me Your Honor”

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Question: What is the mind of the group and how can I understand it?

Answer: What we read in the articles, what we speak about, sing about, and study, what we imagine as our unity, meaning the desire and aspiration it has to be imbued with, the thoughts that should preoccupy the group, all of these things are the mind of the group.

The group is like the Creator. It is our unity. When we are one, we see that there is none else beside the Creator, the Good that Does Good. This is the way we describe the Upper Governance that leads us towards the goal.

This becomes revealed through unity, that is, the “mutual guarantee,” when everyone becomes sealed together on the way to the goal, and everything that happens only pushes us towards it. The goal is the kind of unity between us when we reveal our integrated interconnection, the single system of Adam. There, we all operate like the cells of a body, in mutual harmony.

This harmony, this law, the mutual bestowal, the reins between us, is the Creator (Boreh), which comes from the words “come” (Bo) and “see” (Reh). The “Creator” is what we attain in the connection between us; He is the flow of our common life.

This is where all the thoughts and desires of the group come from. I am a separate cell, while the group is a live body, Malchut of the world of Infinity, Shechina, something that contains the spiritual application. This is how I should be imagining it.

The group is Malchut, Shechina, that is, the “place,” the common desire, where I reveal the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/10, “Show Me Your Honor”

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Question: It seems to me that in order to connect with the text of The Zohar, which is written in an unfamiliar language, I need a miracle, but in our world it is difficult to believe in miracles.

Answer: I don’t know what it means “to connect with the text.” I hear some story in a foreign language. I was told that it is about me, about everything that is meant to happen to me today and in the future. By all means, I am very eager to learn because it is so important to me! The Zohar is a “secret code” that I have to decipher and reveal for myself. What should I do?

Kabbalists teach us: “If you make as big an effort as you possibly can, wish for it, search for the right approach, then you will reveal it. You are able to disclose it, but everything depends on how much effort you apply.”

We have to study a lot, learn how to sense and abandon some of our inner properties in order to better comprehend this text because it describes an understanding and approach to life that is completely opposite to us. You have to “dress” in these ideas, identify yourself with their characters, get to know and love them, even if you don’t like or understand them yet. You must alter a lot in yourself if you want to understand this story.

In fact, you change yourself in accordance with the story. All it talks about becomes more or less close and clear to you; you start sensing and accepting it to the extent that you become a part of it and reveal it to yourself.

It happens as a result of many actions through which you try to imitate the world of The Zohar. “What is this all about? I want to understand and feel it, to live in this world, so how do I change myself to start seeing at least a little bit of what The Zohar speaks of?”

I should always be aware of the matter inside myself which is constantly changing according to the story. I am the “clay” that shapes the story. I want to form it! This is how I am getting closer to the story, even though I begin to perceive and sense it rather than understand it, as it is said: “And Adam knew Eve.”

My approach is to let the narration in The Book of Zohar create more advanced forms within myself until I acquire the real shape. Indeed, the story by itself implies the revelation.

This is how we should work with the text; this is the right approach that we should exercise to get closer to The Book of Zohar. I want the Book to change me, carve “my matter” into any shape it deems necessary. I am totally open and ready for everything; I completely entrust myself to it!
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/10, The Zohar

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Question: What is the difference between being aware of the evil inclination and correcting it?

Answer: The will to receive is created by the Light and cannot change on its own. Outside of the Light, desire is “0,” it doesn’t exist! It is fully dependent on the Light’s influence over it.

There is nothing in all of creation except for the Light and desire created by it. Depending upon the Light’s affect over the will to receive that it created, the desire can range from “fully egoistic” to “fully altruistic.” It is all determined by the intensity of the Light’s affect on it. When we discuss the will to receive, we should mention what it is and that it’s fully defined by the Light.

It is similar to a chunk of metal which is resting under a magnet: All actions of this chunk are determined by the actions of the magnet. And we are always, for eternity, dependent upon the Light and its impact on us. And if it ceases to affect us, we will disappear!

When the Light fills the will to receive, it evokes delight in us. When the desire is empty, we suffer. When the Light withdraws from us (from the desire) almost completely, it makes us feel a lack of sensation of the Light as the source of our existence (concealment of the Creator).

When the Light approaches from its concealment, it makes us recognize the evil inclination or our egoism against its property of love and bestowal, even when we don’t yet feel it as such. When the Light’s proximity becomes greater yet, we experience it as awareness of egoism being unacceptable. In this state, the Creator (Light) becomes a guarantor in that a person will no longer employ his egoism. But if the Light withdraws, then a person will definitely fall into his natural egoism again.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how we can control the Light’s impact on us, and in this way quickly and easily bring ourselves to perfection, instead of advancing to it by means of experiencing evil on ourselves. In any scenario, we are eternally dependent upon the Light, which is great because it will certainly lead us to perfection.
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After the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) and the creature’s decision to only receive the Light through an anti-egoistic screen, we begin to exist in a different nature of reality. The simple law of reception in accordance with the size of desire is not the only law that operates there, the way it was in Malchut of Infinity before the restriction.

After the restriction, it becomes impossible to receive anything in an open desire. This law operates above us, and if there is a desire to receive pleasure below Malchut of Infinity, the Light cannot shine in it because it needs to go through this law, this condition that is imbedded in nature.

Besides, it is not enough to simply do a restriction. The question is what do you want after the restriction and on? To the extent that you desire to become like the Creator in your action, to bestow just like Him, you receive Light, a small pleasure called “the Light of Hassadim (Mercy)” that fills you.

This Light of Hassadim also contains NRNHY, all the levels of Bina, until you attain a degree when all your desires begin to be filled with the Light of Hassadim because your intention is to be Hafetz Hesed: “I do not want anything for myself! I receive pleasure from being like the Creator by not receiving anything.”

This is the level of the righteous. He sees that the Creator does not receive, so he also does not want to receive. In other words, he is looking at His action, not the intention. The Creator does not receive, and I only want to have the strength to stop desiring fulfillment.

And then the Light comes to me and gives me an ability that enables me to not receive, regardless of how much I am being given. But the very next moment I am given an even bigger desire to receive pleasure from Above.

The Light develops this desire in me and I will want to receive once again. And again I ask: “Give me the strength to stop receiving,” and the strength is given to me. And then I become filled with pleasure called “Hassadim,” and I am content with being like the Creator by not receiving.

And every time, my empty desire to receive pleasure is increased in me in this way, but instead of asking for it to become fulfilled, I overcome it and ask for the strength to want to be like the Creator instead of wanting to be fulfilled. I want to be content with Hassadim, like GAR of Bina.

Attaining GAR of Bina means that I have acquired the desire to bestow. Now I am Hafetz Hesed, I have completed the “repentance from fear.” What does “from fear” mean? It means to not receive anything for yourself, and to be like the Creator by not receiving.

This does not make me absolutely equal to the Creator, but it makes us similar according to our Kelim (vessels). He does not have desires to receive, and I do, but I have corrected them so they no longer bother me. I have acquired such strength that even though I have an infinite Kli (desire) to receive pleasure, it is completely filled with the Light of Hassadim, and I do not want anything but it. Why? The Creator’s greatness shines at me, I want to be just like Him, and I enjoy being similar to Him.

After this, a new empty desire naturally becomes revealed to me. Until then I do not understand what it is, much like in the four phases of the Direct Light, when after not receiving anything in GAR of phase Bet (two), I begin to understand: “The Creator gives, He is the Giver, so how can I give in my actions, like Him?”

Now also, as I develop from below upward, I begin to understand that if I am able to receive for the sake of bestowal, I will become completely like Him. This is my goal, and the means are to receive for the sake of bestowal.

How can I do this? I demand additional strength from the Light so it will correct me, enabling me to receive in these Kelim so that the pleasure that I feel will be completely for the sake of bestowing to the Host. I feel this pleasure, I enjoy all its flavors, as it is written: “Taste and see that the Creator is good.” I draw enormous pleasure from this, and nothing I feel confuses me. I am making sure that all this pleasure can only be felt under the condition that I give this pleasure to Him.

Then I feel how much I have given Him and how much He enjoys it. This makes my Kelim grow even more because I understand Who it is that I am pleasing. Now I become like Him, and even bigger than Him because I am giving Him pleasure!

My Kelim expand even more beyond the limits of the desire to receive pleasure that was created by the Creator in me. Just as once having connected with the group I become the owner of seven billion spiritual sparks instead of just one spark, I now connect with the Creator and become the owner of an enormous Kli, as big as the Creator to Whom I bestow.

I perceive His Kli, where He receives pleasure, as my own because I fulfill it. Can you imagine what this is?! Here we come out into another dimension. But it is impossible to speak about it… This is a gradual process of development, where every time brings understanding of what to do next.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/10, The Zohar

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There are states that become manifested and continue only at the end of the four phases of development of the creature, when the Light causes the creature to feel shame. Once the creature attains the fourth phase (Behina Dalet), it finds itself at a degree opposite the Creator, but realizes this in an opposite manner: It perceives this contrast as shame. In this manner, two polar opposites appear in one place, and shame neutralizes the entire pleasure of the creature by negating its “I.”

In the end, the creature is ready to restrict itself as it is left with only one solution: “I must become like the Creator in my action, no matter what this will require of me.” In previous phases, the creature has already tasted both reception and bestowal; it has already been in the Creator’s place, and it has gained all the necessary impressions. Now it is following only one goal by restricting itself: to become like the Creator.

After descending below the veils of the worlds, after the breaking of the vessels and all the previous phases of our development, we are now standing before the action of ascending back towards the Light. Our generation is the first to begin the correction.

As before, this process combines direct opposites: Our egoistic desire wants to receive pleasure, and shame does not let it do this, while the rudiment of the desire to bestow is awakening within us. After the breaking of the vessels, the phases of the Direct Light, reception, and bestowal became a part of us. As a consequence, we must keep two opposites within us, and this is the most difficult part.

This is because on one hand, man develops through a growing desire, and on the other, this alienates him further from the Creator. Therefore, he needs to transform his desire with an intention to bestow. By strengthening this intention, he will grow and come closer to the Creator.

One man’s strength is his egoistic desire, and the other is his similarity to the Creator, his power to bestow. These two opposite forces take turns manifesting in us, and we need to combine them with our own efforts.
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From the 1st Part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/10, Writings of Rabash, “The Virtue of the Little One”

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A regular science studies and explores matter, the will to enjoy. We study the still, vegetative, and animate degrees of desire by learning about their behavior, testing their reactions to various stimulants, accumulating them, and creating a science.

We can study our own matter, the desire to receive of the human degree, test it, and make a science out of it as well. This is how the wisdom of Kabbalah emerged.

It derives solely from empirical conclusions that a person learns by experimenting on himself. There is no book that falls from the sky as there is no voice that comes from Above.

A Kabbalist is a person who studies nature and discovers its unifying force. This force produces the energy that has constructed the entire Universe. We regard this force as the Creator and study how we can affect it and how it responds to our actions. This is what we call the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We see that all natural sciences that study the corporeal world, the still, the vegetative, and the animate levels, as well as the wisdom of Kabbalah, derive from the knowledge of this one global force, which affects all levels of matter or desire. Hence, the wisdom of Kabbalah that studies this unifying force and its effect on the matter it created is the most general science. And all the other sciences are included in it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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It’s a problem that a person can only study what is below the speaking level: the still, vegetative, and animate levels of the will to receive (desire). He is unable to separate and study the desire of the human level because he is not similar to the Creator.

The human level is regarded as the “divine part from Above.” And this part is invisible to you right now; hence, you are unable to study it.

The desire of the human level is called a soul; it is the matter of the soul. The matter is the will to enjoy, and its form is its equivalence to the Creator. This is exactly what Kabbalists study: where He and I are similar, in what way, on what levels, and in what combinations of conditions?

The wisdom of Kabbalah studies how the matter of the desire to enjoy acquires the Creator’s form; this is when it may be called a soul. It’s called a “soul” (Neshama) because it is the highest degree of similarity to the Creator which we are able to reach before the final correction (Nefesh-Ruach-Neshama).

This limitation exists in this science until all people engage in it, but eventually, we will all be able to study it at a much higher level.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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Question: When studying Kabbalah, how can I can be sure that I don’t “philosophize” about concepts that I have not actually attained, such as love, adhesion, unity, and bestowal?

Answer: If a person studies the wisdom of Kabbalah from authentic sources, receives proper instructions, and clings to the teacher, a true Kabbalist, then he can’t fantasize. He can only compare himself with the Light that Reforms.

He is already developing the correct approach and knows that it is the only source of life. He learns in order to attain the desire to bestow, thereby attracting the Light. Although he hasn’t come to study the genuine spiritual world yet, he is working with the group as in a laboratory.

In a group you’ll discover what an egoist you are. On the other side, you will attract the Upper Light which will begin to shine on you from afar, making you see your properties against the Light. You’ll suffer because you’ll want to be like the Light, but you’ll realize that you cannot. This tension, the gap between the desired and actual, will bring you to an outburst, and then you’ll pray to the Creator for help. That’s when you will receive the force of bestowal.

From that moment, you will become a Kabbalist and begin to explore the spiritual world. Then you will be able to taste, to a small extent, what differentiates the receiving and bestowing forces.

You’ll become a research scientist, exploring yourself and the Creator, which is actually the same. It will be possible since you will both share a common “area” that will be within your reach. Thus, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the spiritual, the “human” degree.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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In order to explore bestowal, we must obtain a second force. The still, vegetative, and animate degrees are egoistic matter; hence, we are able to use our own egoistic nature to explore them. Our instruments are tuned into its “range.”

But the human (speaking) level is a degree similar to the Creator’s, which is why I need a spiritual force in order to explore it. Then, I will be able to study my matter by comparing it to the Creator’s, one against the other.

Therefore, before I gain the force of bestowal, I am not a true Kabbalist. A Kabbalist is a person who works with two forces while exploring the Creator. He doesn’t explore himself; he studies the Creator Who has revealed everything to him. He continues to submerge deeper into Him with the help of the force of bestowal. The greater the force, the more he gains and comprehends by making his will to enjoy equivalent to this force.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/10, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”

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