Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”: The attribute of goodness is not at all apparent before Creation arrives at its completion, its final ripeness. On the contrary, it rather always takes a form of corruption in the eyes of the beholders. Thus you see that the Creator bestows upon His creatures only goodness, but that goodness comes by way of purposeful Guidance.

The system is designed in such way that in order to reach the goal, the property of bestowal, we must keep uncovering opposite attributes within ourselves. Moreover, as we advance toward the goal, we will be discovering ever greater inadequacies in ourselves. The discrepancy between the positive and the negative constantly increases. I am shown much more of the negative compared to the positive.

The truth is that my matter (desire to enjoy) isn’t neutral. I am not neutral. I don’t wish to be in a zero state; I want pleasure, and that is why even a zero makes me feel bad. I feel good only when I am filled, when I am on the plus side. But what if I didn’t make it to the plus side even a little? It doesn’t matter; I am still unhappy.

The difference between what I desire and what I have immediately stirs up a “why?” in me. It is because my egoism is scorned: “Why am I not filled? I am entitled to everything!”

It is necessary to understand that we cannot be objective judges of the states we are going through since we don’t remain neutral to them. Evil is always greater in our eyes than good. Even without a spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey, if the barrel isn’t filled with the honey completely, something is already wrong.

Moreover, before I am done experiencing something truly great, it dissolves. I am already thinking about what new pleasure I am going to feel the next moment. In the middle of ecstasy, the sign of its loss is already emerging on its face, and I start worrying about what to do next.

This is the way our egoistic desire works. Naturally, with such nature, we are unable to attain satisfaction. It keeps consistently ruining us. Desire for pleasures can never remain filled and satisfied. Every second that lacks enjoyment poisons its life.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Question: What is the Light of correction? Where is it, and can we associate with it?

Answer: We exist in a perfect reality that was created by the Creator, but it appears to be different in relation to us. There is everything we want in the true reality: Infinity, Light, perfection, eternity, and the Creator. Here, in this world, we see a completely different reality: darkness, evil, and egoism.

One reality is separated from the other by the ladder of 125 steps where I am to change my nature. The difference is that here, we all only perceive this world and exist in darkness, suffering, and egoism. However, in order to exist in the true reality, I need to attain the intention “for the sake of bestowal,” love instead of hatred.

As long as I exist in the nature of this world, I do not have a chance of escaping into the spiritual world. It is a completely different dimension that I cannot leap to. However, there is a “wonderful force” (Segula) that can help me.

Everyone is connected in the spiritual world, while in this world, everyone is separated. Love is there, hatred is here. Bestowal, Light, and good is there; egoism, darkness, and evil is here. In other words, everything is reversed, as it is written, “I saw a reverse world.”

We would be completely hopeless if not for one detail which, thankfully, is not opposite. It is given to us as the end of a rope to grab onto and draw closer to it. Each one of us, separated in this world, is given a spiritual spark, “the point in the heart.” This is the end of the rope that descends from the spiritual world. It stretches to every one of us from that perfect state where I exist in harmony and absolute comfort.

However, this is merely a point, and I do not know what I am to do with it. I just feel that I belong to something higher. Besides, I was given a book called The Zohar. The actual book is in this world, but there is also a “book” in the spiritual space, which stands for revelation, Light. The title itself, The Zohar, stands for the Upper radiance.

This means that you want to return to the Upper World, to your root, while being in your physical world together with a book that was printed somewhere in China. This point is pulling you!

Now you need to try to unite with others like you, separated from one another. As you read The Zohar together, strive toward the Light so it would influence all of you and make you like it.

That is it. The rest does not depend on you. These properties, both evil and hatred, are given. On your own, you will not be able to do anything with them. You only have two means in relation to the spiritual world: the group and the book.

When you use them, you attract an enormous Light from the spiritual world, which influences you. It is that Light that is called The Zohar (radiance) or the Surrounding Light that Reforms. This is what changes you. The Light works on you and moves you back toward your root.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Aviut from the side of the Kli is lack of its fulfilment, Hissaron, hunger, or appetite. On the other hand, Aviut that comes from the side of the Light is the realization of the Creator’s importance, the revelation of His greatness.

The Light descends and expands your Kli, making the One who Gives Light appear higher in your eyes. It’s best to advance precisely by virtue of this Aviut.

Suppose someone invites me to their house and wants to treat me to tea and cookies. I don’t see anything special about this. However, if I were to suddenly find out that this person is very important and influential, the visit would acquire a totally different meaning for me! The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Benjamin Disraeli wrote in his memoirs that the Queen once invited him to her palace for tea. Prior to that he had conversed with her many times, but this “cup of tea” meant a lot more to him.

In other words, a person is always impressed by whom he receives from, rather than what he receives. By praising the Creator, you expand your spiritual vessels. You come closer to Him by admitting His importance and greatness. The illumination that comes from Him increases in your eyes and this creates additional Kelim inside you.
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From the lesson on Shamati on 11/19/10

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Question: A thousand times I have chosen the attribute of mercy to rule in me, yet I keep falling back into the property of judgment. I am sick and tired of it. What is the problem?

Answer: The problem is that you are not working by way of the group, but wish to deal with it by yourself. In other words, you wish to exercise your own power in the place of your free will. However, it is impossible to do so because you yourself are subject to one of the two forces: Bina or Malchut, and most of the time it is Malchut.

The middle third of Tifferet is the place of our free will but not our power. Here, I decide who will rule over me. In any case, it won’t be me, myself, but something external. And on the outside, I have only one choice: the environment.

I can be surrounded by the “gathering of scorners” (as it is described in the Psalms) or the assembly of Kabbalists, that is, people who are aimed directly to the Creator. That is what my choice is about. Becoming rooted in the correct environment, I draw strength from it in order to go forth.

This is the limited platform that we have: to choose one of the two possible environments. And this is the place where decisions are made not once, but all the time.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/10, Rabash’s articles

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Don’t try to be “clever ones” or “heroes” and fight egoism using your own powers. Nothing is more foolish than that! Who can resist nature? Is it even possible?

Our work is to rise above our egos, which means drawing the force of the Light and with it, rising above egoism as if it doesn’t exist. This does not mean suppressing the ego and drifting peacefully through life. Our egoism remains, and we realize that it is the Creator who gives us such a large reserve of desire. But we wish to be above it.

I do not annihilate my ego since this is what I rise above. But at the moment, I don’t take it into count concerning my relations with the friends, regardless of how dreadfully arrogant, insolent, envious, and driven by power or honor each of them might seem. None of this matters; all I know is that “love will cover all sins.” You with a gun and me with a knife in hand embrace each other and make all decisions based on love.

Everybody thinks that he is right, yet each nullifies himself. Love means that I accept another’s decision and they accept mine, and in this way we arrive at a common agreement that allows us to make a decision at a higher level. We have risen above our collective hate to our common love.

Try to do this in the group, and you will feel a third component within: the Creator! You will feel that you either lack Him or that He is already present within you.

This is a very practical type of work, as all of Kabbalah is: “Come and see (Bo-Reh)”; “We shall do, and we shall hear” are absolutely practical things we need to implement right now.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/10, “The Freedom”

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Question: Why do we need the external mind if all perception of reality is occurring within us?

Answer: The true perception of reality is built externally, in the mind of the environment, that is, in the Upper One, the Creator, and not in my current mind.

Advancing in spirituality, I engage in this environment as in Malchut of the World of Infinity. It is the place of my root from which my soul was born and descended to this corporeal world in a long journey through all the worlds. In this world, I am cut off from my root and keep only a spark of it called the “point in the heart.” And thanks to this environment, which is my system of the World of Infinity for now, I progress back to the initial state of Infinity.

When my environment, the group, gradually joins on its path the entire humanity, we discover that everyone comes to the same World of Infinity. This is why I begin to see with more clarity that my engagement in the environment, looking so artificial, undesirable, unnecessary, and unreal today, is actually “me” entering my own root. I return myself precisely to this initial point I stepped out of in order to come to this world.

Then, I discover that I reside in the system of the World of Infinity filled with the Light of Hochma together with the group. I gradually receive this Light even while being on the way, which is regarded as the “Light of Wisdom” (“Hochma” means “wisdom” in Hebrew). And I use this Light, the wisdom of Hochma, with all the others.

It is our collective wisdom, one for all! This common wisdom, the Upper thought, the Light, is called the Creator (Bo-Reh,“come and see”).
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/19/10, “The Freedom”

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Question: How should we attune ourselves while we read the books that reveal the “physics” of the spiritual world: Beit Shaar HaKavanot (The Gates Of Intention) or TES (The Study of The Ten Sefirot)?

Answer: My primary task is to make myself similar to the Creator, to ascend to Him. Therefore, I need to repeat His actions and attitudes: If the Creator treats the group as “Good that does Good,” this means I should treat it with the same kind of goodness.

This is why I first need to take care of my attitude towards the friends, which is given to me as work so that we will become one whole in unity and love. If I achieve this state, I begin to treat them like the Creator does, and to this extent I begin to feel the Creator. After all, we become close with Him according to the law of equivalence of form, and we feel each other. In this manner, I reach adhesion with Him. This is the only thing we should think about.

And it’s enough to just look into a book and listen, as long as it is a genuine, true primary source. You might not even know the language, that’s irrelevant; you won’t understand anything anyway.

You only need to remember that now you are receiving the medicine that should heal you! It should reveal an additional sense in you, and then you will feel the spiritual world and understand without words since the sensation cannot be expressed in words. No words are necessary in order to feel. Words are needed only in order to tell someone else about it, but within the sensation itself, there are no words.

And one should wait for a spiritual sensation to open up within him without any words. This is what the real science of Kabbalah is: It helps you reach this perception!
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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The Zohar, “Introduction of The Zohar,” Chapter “BeLaila De Kala (Night of the Bride),” Item 135: On the fifteenth of Nissan, David sent a proclamation through all of Israel to go to war. They were with Yoav on the seventh of Sivan, and went and destroyed the land of the children of Amon. They were detained there through Sivan, Tamuz, Av, and Elul, and what happened with Bat Sheba was on the twenty-fourth of Elul. And on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], the Creator forgave his iniquity.

Of course, we are not dealing with dates here, but with spiritual degrees. The annual cycle is divided into 12 months, in accordance with the four stages of HaVaYaH multiplied by the three lines. The four seasons, the order of months, and holidays are determined by the mutual inclusion of the Lights of Hochma (Wisdom) and Hassadim (Mercy).

The Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of both the sun and the moon. The sun calendar is the part that pertains to Zeir Anpin, and the lunar months are the part that pertains to Malchut.

These are descriptions of spiritual corrections, depending on the kind of forces and influences are at play. Either Malchut influences Zeir Anpin, or Zeir Anpin influences Malchut. As a result of the correct connection that they build between them, they ascend and attach to Bina, to their supernal mother, who corrects them.

Accordingly, all dates in the lunar cycle have their own spiritual meanings. Every month begins with a new moon and ends before the next new moon. This concerns the thirty Sefirot of HaBaD–HaGaT–NHY, each including the three lines. The states of this system may be subdivided and systematized by its particular Sefirot down to “hours,” “minutes,” and “seconds.”

This would clarify what specific corrections Bat Sheba had undergone with David and Uriah, and why they had fallen on those “dates.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride)”

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The Book of Zohar tells us about the correction of Malchut. Malchut is the collective Kli, the will to receive pleasure (the desire) made by the Creator. On the other hand, He created it through a series of special actions in order to give this desire a special form which will later allow it to prepare itself to receive the entire Light of Infinity.

This is why we talk solely about the correction of Malchut or desire. The process is divided into several stages: conception (Ibur), nurturing (Yenika), and adulthood (Mochin). All these states become corrected by way of unification of Malchut and Bina. Their correct combination is regarded as “Malchut of David.” The correct approach lies in our correction of Malchut only in the degree that we are able to include it into Bina.

In the article “The Night of the Bride,” The Zohar colorfully describes how King David fell in love with Bat Sheva. She was once the wife of Uriah, David’s commander, and David intentionally sent him to die in the battlefield so that he could marry Bat Sheva, not even waiting for the news of her husband.

This story narrated by the prophet Samuel seems surprisingly appalling, although today such behavior is quite common. How could that happen?

Obviously, the story is allegorical. “David” is Malchut that is able to be corrected, but in the male aspect, by means of a screen and the Reflected Light, that is, intention. “Bat Sheva” is the part of the collective Malchut that at the moment is fit for correction. If she is corrected by means of the Light of Hassidim (Mercy), it may belong to David.

The sequence of actions is as follows: First, the Light of AB-SAG exposes a given part of Malchut, and then the Light of Hassidim fills it. The preliminary stages where Malchut is analyzed and filled with the Light of Hassidim is the work of Uriah. His name (אוריה) expands into: אורי"ה, which signifies the Light of the first half of HaVaYaH that has no relation to the second half, to the receiving Kelim of David.

Only after this can Malchut be corrected to receiving in order to bestow, and at that point it becomes “David’s work.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride)”

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The wisdom of Kabbalah is given to us to correct our state. Having descended from the World of Infinity (Ein Sof) into the corporeal world, we can ascend back up into the World of Infinity by using the method of Kabbalah. When can we do so? As soon as we use it as it was intended.

In Infinity, we all are linked together, as one man with one heart. We are bonded in the hearts, regardless of the bodies. The “hearts” should be viewed as desires, intentions, and even thoughts. After all, thought is designated to amplify and sort desire; it is intended as a tool for working on desire.

Hence, it is not said: “As one man with one heart and one mind” but rather, just “one heart” for it is enough. We have to link our desires to become as one. What kind of desires? The desires aimed at the purpose of creation. They are the ones we must link together. They expand from Infinity so that we may unify and correct them.

Our entire problem has been caused by the breaking of the Kelim (vessels) and separation, the distancing of these desires or sparks from each other. Thereby, correction is their moving closer to each other and achieving total adhesion. It is implemented by way of our efforts when we desire to unite while reading the authentic primary sources, the works written by Kabbalists who were in attainment of oneness and correction.

With this intention, we should turn to The Book of Zohar.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/10, “Hakdama, BeLaila De Kala (The Night of the Bride)”

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