Question: Leading up to the Convention it appears that some people that were aspiring toward the goal a moment ago suddenly fall back just as we reach the decisive point. How can we use this state in order to grow, and not to run away?

Answer: This is correct. The entrance into the spiritual world is preceded by labor pains. On the hand there is an internal pressure, on the other, an external barrier. And so it is until these forces bring you to the moment of truth.

At the last moment nobody wants to leave Egypt. This is why the escape transpires in haste, darkness, and fear, under pressure of negative forces. This state is depicted by an ancient metaphor, where a serpent sneaks up to a doe, bites her, and then it gives birth.[25530]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, “And the Children Racketed Within Her”

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The Zohar, Chapter “BeShalach (When the Pharaoh Sent),” Item 297: When the Temple was built, the Creator was crowned in that crown and sat in His throne, Malchut. And from the time when the Temple was destroyed, the Creator does not decorate his crown, and the delight the light of Bina, is hidden.

There is no time in spirituality, and it’s just a matter of degrees, meaning the extent to which we can move from one degree to another, passing along the layers of spirituality. Therefore, the future, the present, or the past, today, tomorrow, or yesterday, the time of the destruction of the Temple or other times, all of that is just an expression of our place on the same ladder of spiritual rungs. It can be compared to us watching a film and moving our glance from the past to the present and to the future.

The difference between all these states is determined by our ability to identify ourselves with the network of connection between us. The strength of our link to the network determines our position on the ladder, that is, what kind of our connection we can reveal.

Degrees of connections inside the common network are, in essence, the degrees of revelation of the Upper World and the Creator.
[25555]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/1/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should we do with our “animal” desires? Should we enjoy them or limit them?

Answer: Don’t do anything with them. Just leave them alone. Let the animal graze out on the grass as befits it. If it lets the human in me act according to my mission, then a person will use the animate part of him correctly whenever necessary, and leave it to its own devices the rest of the time.

I have separated from the “donkey” and in the meantime I am going about my business. The human being in me must establish a connection with other people. I am working on elevating and raising him. The time will come when I will direct my attention to the animal in me, but for now I am simply giving it what’s necessary.

After all, I wouldn’t treat a cow to steaks and salads. It has its grazing field and it happily eats there. If we treat our animate body correctly, it won’t need any excess. On the contrary, any excess would harm it. An animal needs only the things that support its balance with nature.

Therefore, provide it with the vital necessities and “leave it out on the pasture.” If your head yearns for the “skies,” for spiritual attainment, then your animal won’t demand anything extra from you and won’t break through the fence. After all, now all the excesses for you belong to the human degree.
[25766]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/3/10, Writings of Rabash

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Question: Will the Convention be our exodus from the egoistic Egypt?

Answer: We must be certain that we will, undoubtedly! We are gathering at the Convention, connect together, and realize how paramount it is despite the fact that we may not be attracted to bestowal to the friend and to the Creator.

The condition of exodus is feeding on Matzot (unleavened bread, bread of affliction) specifically in the rich, successful, prosperous Egypt, dripping fat. Exile starts at the moment when you feel it. Return from exile is not a change of residence, but the exit to the revelation of the Creator, discovering the property of bestowal that starts illuminating…in you, in the same very Egypt where you used to be.

Therefore, right now, before breaking free, we must get to feel how we lack spiritual freedom. Then, we will come to the revelation of the Creator and the Upper world, the property of bestowal, in our desire.

Everything takes place within one and the same desire, not by way of moving from one place to another. The very same Eretz Goshen (Land of Goshen), which used to be the most prosperous in Egypt, turns into the Sinai Desert for us.

In the spiritual world, there is no space; everything occurs within the will to receive that undergoes all these states: Eretz Canaan, the descent into Egypt, the good and the bad Egypt (seven years of plenty and seven years of famine), the fleeing from Egypt to the Sinai Desert and, through it, to the promised land. All of this occurs in one place, the will to receive, depending solely on our experiences in it.

When in 40 years we reach the rung of Bina in this desire, then in this desert we find the land of Israel (“flowing with milk and honey”) and the completely corrected state. It all occurs in one place called the central point of Malchut of the World of Infinity. The only thing that changes is how we relate to the desire and evaluate it.

To the extent that we will be willing to include into Malchut the properties of the first nine Sefirot, accordingly, Malchut will receive all kinds of attributes, from the worst to the very best. Everything depends solely on Malchut, our desire to absorb the properties of the Upper One and become identical to Him. Everything takes place solely within the desire of a person.
[25445]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “This is for Judah”

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Rabash, Shlavey ha Sulam, 1985, Article 19, “Come to Pharaoh”: It is written: “Come to Pharaoh.” In other words, let us go together since I am coming with you in order to change your nature. And I only wish that you ask Me to help you change the nature and reform it from the will to receive to the will to bestow.

Our egoistic desire is small, and we haven’t realized yet the degree of our evil and lowliness. On the contrary, we think that we are quite good. The truth can be found only in the Light. When a person is awakened from Above, he starts seeking the purpose of his life, something beside the “beastly” existence in the body.

Then, with the help of the books and environment, he gradually discovers changes in himself. He is led out of the ordinary state of existence, and he advances while receiving various and frequently radical impressions.

Finally, he gets to realize that it has to do with a change in his nature. This understanding gains his focus starting with the moment when he begins to realize that his state is not as it is supposed to be.

For many years, a person may be listening to this and not hear it within. But the moment comes when he feels that he is the key and it is necessary to change his essence. At this point, the Torah or the method of correction of egoism tells a person about himself. Then, the person focuses on himself. He doesn’t wish to correct others and doesn’t’ get distracted by anything external. His attention acquires a reverse vector, and the person starts gazing inward.

Now he can use the method in practice. He already has a connection with it whereas previously he was connected only with general wisdom. It is written: “Trust the wisdom among the nations, and don’t trust the Torah among the nations.” The “nations” involve those who do not yet wish to correct themselves. And, contrary to that, a Jew (“Yehudi”) is a person who, regardless of his genetic background, has realized that he needs to achieve oneness (Yehud), the similarity of qualities or bestowal.

Having focused on himself, a person sees that until he changes, there is nothing to expect since all changes start within. Then he remembers that he had read about it in the Kabbalistiic texts before. From now on, he is connected with the method. It becomes dear to him for he feels that he depends on the source called the Torah, the texts, the teacher, and the group.

Only then does the person understand what these words mean: “Come to Pharaoh.”
[24141]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/10, “Come to Pharaoh”

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The “desert” I enter when I exit egoistic bondage is the group. To be in mutual bestowal and feel pleasure from the fact that you bestow to everybody is a true “desert” and “bread of affliction” (Matzot, unleavened bread) for me.

If I could receive egoistic pleasure from bestowal, I would gladly give in order to receive. But I cannot give “in order to bestow,” without any personal benefit. I am unable to act this way; I cannot move a finger “on the fuel of bestowal.” I don’t receive any sustenance from this, so how can an engine work without fuel, without electricity?

Egoistic reception gives me enormous energy of all kinds, calories, joules, watts, but bestowal gives nothing. I move my hand to receive, but as soon as I discover that it is bestowal, I freeze and can’t move further. At that moment when, amidst the action, I find out that it is aimed at bestowal, I freeze, motionless, and cannot do a thing. You can scream to me, “Come on! Do it! Just one more step!” but I can’t take it.

Therefore, we are unable to see the beauty of the spiritual world and start desiring it from our Egypt. Only the group imbues us with the paramount importance of spirituality; it deceives our ego making it believe that it will feel good in spirituality.

Since we are internally connected and influence each other, I accept this lie just like I used to accept the lies of the corporeal world that promised me pleasures, manipulating my pride, lust, and ambition. I suddenly start desiring spirituality so strongly that I am ready to abandon all my egoistic possessions, the “blossoming cities of Pithom and Ramses” filled with pots of fish and meat and flee to the desert with one sack of flour on my back.

Hence, all our work lies in convincing each other that the spiritual world is the best thing that can be out there. This is so even if in relation to our current egoistic desires, spirituality is an absolute desert and bread of affliction.

So, don’t despair in the states of descent since they are authentic states that are supposed to come before the breakthrough. On one hand, I realistically evaluate the situation and realize that I don’t wish to bestow; I hate and resent it. Yet, it is so important that I want to reach it no matter what and see life without spirituality as worse than death. This attitude in me is generated by the society.
[25448]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “This is for Judah”

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We all are outside of the spiritual world, in the same Egyptian bondage that the Passover Haggadah describes. Therefore, we need to sort through and realize how well we are prepared for the opportunity to escape which may be presented to us at any moment. Will we be able to flee?

For the time being, the spiritual work tastes like dry and bland Matzot (unleavened bread) for us. Moreover, the love of friends tastes bitter, and we don’t want it. All this means that we are in exile from spirituality. We feel that the spiritual world is much more exalted, but I am exiled from it because I am unable to appreciate and comprehend how good it is. In my sensory organs, I experience it as bad, which means that I am in the dark.

It isn’t Egypt itself which is dark; Egypt, as such, is an enormous and rich empire, dazzling and abundant. Darkness results from my seeking spirituality while I am in Egypt. I feel exiled in relation to spirituality, and for me it is the “bread of affliction.”

I experience this state only if I desire to exit Egypt, and I must agree to eat such simple bread in order to prepare myself to escape. I will agree to flee if I feel that Egypt threatens me with the Egyptian plagues, and I can’t bear such a state any longer. I will feel that I truly desire to unite with the others, but the Pharaoh won’t let me.

I wish to advance at least a little bit and from this egoistic bondage reach some form of bestowal. I feel that there is life only in bestowal, but for now, I am in Lo Lishma (not for Her Name), in egoism, and wish to use it to win, to escape from the Pharaoh who brings me misfortunes.

Such an attitude must be formed in the group so that we would start crying from such hard labor, Moshe (Moses) would pull us forth, and the Pharaoh would show himself in full force, letting me know that the use of egoism no longer promises us anything good in the future. After all, the point in the heart has reached such opposition to egoism that we cannot bear it anymore.

We connected with each other and raised the importance of the spiritual goal to such a height that we cannot stay in our ego. We wish to break free from it. Let me eat the bread of affliction in the future; it doesn’t matter. I must be in bestowal. All fulfillments that Egypt grants are at the animate level, but I don’t wish to live solely for my stomach and feed my animal. I wish to live a human life for the Human in me.

All these calculations lead me to escape, but the escape itself is a miracle from Above.
[25455]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “This Is for Judah”

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Coming out of exile is exiting our egoistic desire, ascending from it by way of faith above reason, from Lo Lishma (for oneself) to Lishma (for the Creator), from love of myself to love of others. What do we undergo while preparing for this exodus and fleeing from our “will to receive” to the “will to bestow”? It is paramount for us to know it since we are approaching this state right now.

“Here is the bread of affliction eaten by our forefathers in the land of Egypt” (Passover Haggadah). When we reside in our ego, we eat the “bread of affliction of the pauper” because we are beggars in relation to spirituality and receive only a tiny bit of Light, a minimal spark of life (Kista de Hayuta) or so-called “faint illumination” (Ner Dakik) that brings to life all of our world.

It is not the “bread” eaten in Egypt. In Egypt, there is lots of food. Our ego gives us everything: Please, do enjoy! However, as soon as we start desiring the spiritual world, long before exiting egoistic “Egypt,” we start tasting the “bread of affliction” since we don’t understand how one can reach bestowal and what good is in it.

I don’t taste any flavor in it. Everything is dry and insipid as this simple cracker made of only flour and water. That is how the spiritual world that I am walking to looks to me. Do I have to flee the prosperous Egypt, all the pleasure-pots filled with fish and meat, rich and delicious, in order to live on the bread of affliction in the desert? Is that what I yearn for?

However, it is indeed so. This is why it is written that “the commandment to eat unleavened bread (Matzot, the bread of affliction) was given to the sons of Israel long before their exodus from Egypt as a symbol of liberation that will come to pass in haste.”

“In haste” means that otherwise it is impossible to exit egoism. Spirituality looks so unattractive and repulsive that exiting into it must be rushed due to the aggressive, external force pulling from egoism. I, myself, am unable to step out of this marvelous world as it seems to me in my egoistic desire.

As for the spiritual world, it seems pitch black darkness to my ego. There is nothing attractive for my egoism there, and I don’t want to see it. Hence, the escape can be made only “in haste”; I am thrown out of there abruptly. Let’s hope the same will be done with us.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/31/10, “This Is for Judah”

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Question: What do I receive from the Creator in the measure of my equivalence to Him?

Answer: In the degree of my similarity to the Creator, I receive His mind and sensation. I connect with Him through mind and feeling and obtain the same sensation of oneness, completeness, and eternity that exist in Him. In my “line” vessel I receive “circle” vessels.

The Upper system was constructed so that from each “circle” would expand a “line” (desire restricted by the screen), followed by a “circle” and a “line” again. To the extent of my efforts “from below upward,” I exert strength and ascend to the first circle which is regarded as the first revelation of the Creator and the first degree of similarity to Him. I exert effort again and reveal Him more in the next circle.

With each new step, I work with ZAT de Bina (seven lower Sefirot of Bina), and the Upper degree for me is GAR de Bina (the first three Sefirot of Bina) with which I cannot work and which I receive from Above as a result of adhesion. In this fashion, I climb the 125 rungs of the spiritual ladder.

“In the straight line,” I myself exert effort, annul myself, work with the anti-egoistic screens, and connect with other people. To the degree that I have completed this work, I come to the revelation of the Creator, the state of a “circle,” perfection, a mini-world of Infinity.
[25199]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/10, “The Acting Mind”

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The mind is the instrument that connects the Creator and the creature, the degree of connection between me as the creature and Him as my Creator. The mind is located in the middle between us, and it belongs neither to me nor to Him.

To possess a mind is to be an action that connects to the One who acts. I attain Him by attaining His actions over me through this connection between the action and the One who acts.

After all, the Creator is called “Bo-Re” (“come and see”). In other words, I never attain His essence, but only His attitude toward me, as it is written, “By Your actions, we will know You.” I study whatever is happening inside of me. I look for the Creator behind these actions and thereby begin to know Him.

That is, I must reveal the root of every one of my properties and states and come to understand that “There is none else beside Him,” and everything comes from the Creator, “the Good who does good.” When I reveal the fact that everything comes from Him and everything has a good purpose (regardless of how bad it seems), this means that I have attained the root. The same happens in every state.

Just like material objects allow us to understand the thoughts of the craftsman, the purpose and the intended user of the things that he made, in the same way, we can examine the creature which contains all the information about the Creator. This is because He has materialized everything that He has planned in His mind, and we can attain His mind through the different forms of matter. The connection of our mind and His mind is called unity of the creature and the Creator.

This means that the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) clothes in the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) to the extent that we have corrected ourselves in order to receive Light from Him without any interferences and distortions that come from our egoism. When we wash our egoistic desire in the Light of Hassadim, the Light of Hochma (the Creator’s mind) can clothe in it. That is, it enters these corrected and pure desires, and we attain His mind.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/10, “The Acting Mind”

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