Question: It seems to me that I understand every word you say. Why doesn’t it bring me any joy?

Answer: “It’s because you do not realize the importance of it.”
“Yes, I do understand, but what does it give me?”
“You acquire more than what the rest of the world has.”
“So what? I don’t care about what others have. I still don’t have it.”
“What do you want?”
[silence]

A person has to work together with the group on enhancing the importance of the goal. If he doesn’t feel or value the importance of the goal, it is because of his silliness and the concealment, and not because he is wise. His desires do not differentiate what’s in front of him. He is blind. For him, the world is dark and empty. “Open your eyes!”
“I don’t want to.”

Only after a person gets to realize the importance of the goal and begins to sense the sparkle of the group will he acquire the power to advance correctly. However, without joy he cannot move forward. If a person is overwhelmed with sadness, then no matter what he does, he won’t achieve his goal. He limits himself from the inside and directs himself to a different road.

It is impossible to keep to the right direction without experiencing joy. It is similar to hypocritical “confessions” that we are “extremely happy” while we, in fact, are crying from the blows that we receive from the Creator. This kind of lie shows that we are making the wrong type of connection between us.

There can be a certain amount of nervousness, tension, and even some minor arguments in the group; they are signs of energy and desire. At the same time, there has to be joy which originates from the greatness of the goal that shines ahead of us. There is no room for desperation. In fact, desperation is equivalent to arrogance. “I am unhappy with what I have. The Creator doesn’t take me seriously, whereas I deserve much more. I can abide with less, but I cannot agree with having nothing.”

We have to experience lack of fulfillment in order to start working without getting a reward, but we are not ready for this yet. We have to see the rewards that make us excited and begin chasing them.

A person doesn’t comprehend that he is given various opportunities to make another step ahead. He acts like a silly child and sets forth “conditions” and sticks to his “principles.” All right! What cannot be done by reason will be done by time. Stubbornness and refusal to join the group may cost a person many years of delay until he rids himself of desperation and starts to progress.
[23285]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, “The Matter of Mercy”

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Question: Why is it written in The Book of Zohar that “only jealousy completes the love?”

Answer: Love cannot be complete if it’s not underlain by jealousy. It is written: “Envy (jealousy) of the wise multiplies wisdom.” There are different types of jealousy, but ultimately, jealousy is the revelation of the empty desire that must be filled specifically with love.

We discover empty desires in various states. If the will to receive (Kli) is so strong that there is love being revealed against it, then this desire is the Kli of jealousy. If I desire something, then everything depends on the degree of Aviut (thickness, coarseness) of my desire or attraction. With Aviut Shoresh (0), my desire is weak; with Aviut Aleph (1), it is stronger, and so on, up to the Aviut Dalet (4), when my desire is infinite.

Therefore, every level of desire has a corresponding degree of jealousy, meaning to what extent a person is “burning” with the desire for the lacking fulfillment. And hence, against the love that has to become revealed, there is the empty desire for its revelation: jealousy, a true “hell fire (the fire of netherworld).”
[23315]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “VeYechi (And Jacob Lived),” Item 733: “Jealousy is as harsh as the netherworld.” Any person who loves, and jealousy is not tied to it, his love is not love, since jealousy completes the love.

In the Kabbalisitic group, jealousy is expressed in my constant thinking about the others: Are they holding the correct intention? During the reading of The Book of Zohar, my only concern is Arvut (mutual guarantee).

I am very worried whether my friends remain in the same thoughts and intentions as I do and whether we nourish our Arvut together. If not, my efforts will be fruitless since everything gets revealed to me due to the collective effort of the group, in the connection between us. This connection is built by our common concern about each other.

Therefore, right now I am taking care of the network that connects us so that it wouldn’t break but will grow and mature. It is my chief concern. The Book of Zohar will bring me the desired revelation only if we establish the connection between us, and it is there that The Zohar will become revealed. We lack only a connecting network and nothing but that.

This network is what we concern ourselves with while reading The Book of Zohar, and it is regarded as nurturing Arvut (mutual guarantee).
[23318]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, The Zohar

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In fulfilling the purpose of creation, there is mutual work between those who are regarded as “Israel” (striving to the Creator) and the rest of humanity. Israel is a small group (in quantity) of souls wherein spiritual sparks, the aspiration to the revelation of the Creator, unfold.

First, this group of souls has to realize their yearning for spirituality unwillingly, and after that, through their conscious free will, by way of faith above reason. “Israel,” the speaking level of the will to receive, affects all other souls existing at the animate, vegetative, and still levels of desire by way of the Light of knowledge, understanding, and strength, which is channeled to them through “Israel.” In response, “Israel” receives a reaction: from the still to vegetative, from the vegetative to animate, and from the animate to speaking levels (Israel), thereby joining everybody to the process of correction.

As Baal HaSulam writes, the rest of the nations of the world also make a decision by pushing themselves toward the good; they also have free will, but only after “Israel” affects them. As a result, the revelation of the Messiah, the universal Upper Light that Reforms, will occur. Messiah, if translated from Hebrew, means a force that pulls a person from his egoism.

Circulation of the wisdom of Kabbalah around the world is regarded as the “voice (calling, horn) of the Messiah.” The universal force pulling everyone toward spiritual ascension, which will be revealed in all of mankind is called “Messiah.”

Messiah doesn’t come to “Israel” since they must perform the correction themselves. Messiah becomes revealed specifically in the entire world and solely when Israel (those who received the aspiration to their individual correction) start to serve the entire humanity, being already relatively corrected in the degree that they are able to bestow to the world.

Hence, if we speak of the times of the Messiah, we say that this group, “Israel,” has to already be corrected, and in the measure of its own correction it may begin correcting the world. And the awakening of the world is regarded as “Messiah.”
[23336]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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Question: It turns out that each one of us is constantly “drilling a hole in the common boat,” and we only need to raise our sensitivity in order to understand this.

Answer: Once we begin working with it, we will reveal “613” actions (commandments), mistakes (Shgagot), and transgressions (Zdonot), which specifically relate to the mutual guarantee. After all, it is the action that was “commanded” to us, and we are capable of carrying it out!

This is the only free action, and this is why it is called the “one commandment,” but it consists of many components (GE [Galgalta ve Eynaim] and AHP, that is, of all levels of desire) as a result of the gradual correction of the desire into the mutual guarantee. All of this becomes realized through one tiny free opening, with all the commandments being realized in its passage. This is similar to the birth process, the transition into this world through a narrow passage from the womb.

I reveal the Upper World in my aspiration, in my attempt to be in the mutual guarantee, in the state of loving others. This is why it is written that “the end of an action is in its initial thought,” in other words, I constantly need to be in one intention.

All of my actions must be for the sake of love of others and love of the Creator. The action itself does not matter, what matters is the intention that I can connect to it. It is written that the Creator does not care how we slaughter cattle (our egoism); He cares about the intention.

This is why we evaluate whether we make mistakes and commit transgressions or, alternatively, observe commandments and make corrections only against the intention and not the actual actions. The Creator does not care for your actions. What He cares about is what you are planning on reaching through them.

For this reason, when you begin to add the intention to bestowal, the intention for the mutual guarantee, then all your actions in life become free! The entire 360 degrees at which you operate become one enormous pipe that leads to the Upper World!

Instead of being the initial narrow straw, this entire world becomes your guide into spirituality. It expands due to the Light of Hassadim, the property of love and bestowal. And then what you do does not matter: whether you work in the field or at the office, when you do things with the intention to bestow, your entire work becomes like work at the Creator’s Temple.

In this way we discover an absolutely different attitude towards the action, towards bestowal. And most importantly, this way we evaluate what would be a mistake or a crime. We do not go by the actions, but by the intention, by whether it is for the mutual guarantee, love and bestowal to them. This determines what makes you a sinner and what makes you a righteous: Everything is only according to your intention.

The masses think that everything is evaluated by the actions, but in spirituality everything is only determined by the intention. This is why it is written: “The opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the landlords.”
[23343]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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The Creator cannot be known without the group. On the other hand, the group without the Creator is not a group but “a gathering of scoffers.” Therefore, I, the group, and the Creator are one whole. This is described as “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.”

The Torah is the force that merges us into the group if we want to unite despite the resisting force. Hence, the giving of the Torah and Arvut (mutual guarantee) are connected. After all, Arvut per se is impossible. We don’t implement but rather demand its implementation. This is the “miracle of the exodus from Egypt.” We only participate in it, where the changes per se are not performed by our efforts, but are solely a result of our desire.

Our job is to wish for it as strongly as we can. Then, the Light comes. Meanwhile, we are already making “the golden calf” like in the times of the reception of the Torah. It happens, but we don’t forget to keep crying out loud either!

We must prepare and spill out the strongest demand that we possibly can. Just demand and don’t think about what will follow. What is needed is the collective, unified demand which will allow us to receive the force of unification. Then we let our egoism rise again in the next instant since this is the program of the system. It isn’t our concern.

Our concern is to demand correction of the egoism that is given to us right now, nothing more. A person is evaluated according to the current circumstances. We only need to fill ourselves to the utmost with the awareness of necessity and readiness to attack.
[24023]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, “The Arvut”

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Question: How can I pass the Light of life to all parts of the system?

Answer: Do as Rabash instructs in his writings. Give everybody a feeling of joy, the greatness of the goal, connection between us, and be a model in work, that is, do all that we read about in the articles.

We should understand that the instructions that the Kabbalists put in the form of advice or recommendation are the strict laws of nature of which these great sages tell us as they would to little children, in a nice form. A child grows, turns into a teenager, matures, and enters adulthood where there aren’t any more compromises since the law is the law.
[24065]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/10, "The Arvut"

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Question: Can women cross the Machsom (the barrier separating us from spirituality)?

Answer: Undoubtedly! In our history, there have been many women who existed in the spiritual world. Our foremothers, prophetesses, were among us until the latest generations, and we hope that in our generation this tradition will be restored.

Question: Were these prophetesses Kabbalists?

Answer: A prophet is anyone who speaks with the Creator, and the Creator is revealed with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Without being a Kabbalist, it is impossible to become a prophet and attain the level of the forefathers.

All the women that you read about in the Torah were spiritually enlightened and felt the Creator. For instance, take Batya whose name means “the Creator’s daughter” (Bet, Yod, Hey): On one hand, she was the daughter of the Pharaoh, and on the other, she raised Moshe (Moses). Where did the righteous women that raised men like Moses come from?

No matter how much we think that the world is run by men, history develops thanks to women. We study in the science of Kabbalah that the connection between the spiritual degrees, the previous and subsequent states, is accomplished through Nukva, the Malchut of each Partzuf, each rung. Therefore, the female part always gives birth to a more advanced state, and the connection is passed on from one female part to the other through the male part. It is opposite to what takes place in our world.

Question: How do women cross the Machsom? Is it like men do or in some other way? Men unify in the group, in love of friends, but women are not subject to that.

Answer: Women receive the mutual guarantee that is attained by the men as well as the force of the screen. Their unification cannot be the same as the men’s since every woman acts individually. They have a different form of unification: through the men.

It turns out that the male part cannot achieve connection between the spiritual levels without the female part while the latter cannot unify without the men’s help. Therefore, the Creator resides specifically between the male and female parts. Otherwise, we cannot reveal Him.

Moses led 600,000 men out of Egypt that were 20 to 60 years of age, and the rest were the elders, women, and children whose number was five times greater than that of men, and without whom it would have been impossible to advance. Hence, Kabbalah leads to the correction of the family unit, and it is namely a woman for whom Kabbalah guarantees a good future.
[24018]
From the Kabbalah for Beginners, “Men and Women,” 10/14/10

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Spirituality is perfection; it knows no change. But I see changes in it. The Creator seems to me distant, near, and different. If I discern everything correctly, then I don’t just study the external side of the events, but rather, I recognize in everything the “Good Who does good,” realizing that “There is none else beside Him” and everything is occurring solely within me.

However, if everything changes in me, I have to perceive these modifications as beneficial to me and understand that in spite of and based specifically on them, I have to be able to hold on to my unfailing attitude to the Creator. Then, it turns out that all my inner changes build within me the image of the Creator and do so inversively, from opposition to myself.

Reshimot (spiritual genes, records) will be constantly changing in me, but above them, by faith above reason, I wish to make a decision that “the Creator is good, does good for the bad and for the good” and that “there is none else beside Him.” It follows that all the changes occurring in me, on the background of my conviction that “there is none else beside Him, the Good Who does good,” paint in me the image of the Creator. In this case, my attitude to this reality is correct. If I recognize the unchanging attitude of the Creator (the Good Who does good) in my every inner change, I thereby correct these changes, completing them.

Yet, unlike the “common people,” I do not annul these transformations as if they don’t exist. Quite the opposite: By accepting and working with them, from all these contradictory forms and changes absent in the Creator, I get to know and understand Him.
[23924]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/10, The Zohar

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Question: Is it possible to change one’s destiny?

Answer: By exercising your free will you can change your destiny any way you want, turn it in any direction, a full 360 degrees. But you can only do it if you know for sure where you need to influence your fate, meaning which tiny hole you need to use to affect all the worlds, all the way to the World of Infinity. You have an opportunity to do this, but it is very narrow.

It is specifically this opportunity that we need to clarify. And after we clarify it, we discover that we want to act specifically in this direction.

There is an entire world around me, which connects with another, perfect world through a thin straw. I am at the bottom with my properties and strengths, my freedom of will is in the straw, and the perfect world is above.

Please go ahead, enter the perfect world! You only need to find the tiny opening, the point of your freedom, among all the directions toward which your desire throws you. And once you discover the opening, how can you concentrate all your strengths into one action in order to go through it into the Upper World?

This is what the entire wisdom of Kabbalah is about! Instead of scattering your forces in all directions where you lack the freedom of will and where everything is predetermined, you find this path of your free choice, gather your strength, and then you reach the spiritual world.

Then you understand that fulfilling the condition of the mutual guarantee, love for the created beings, is exactly the same as meeting the condition of advancement into the Upper World. This is because mutual guarantee is another definition of the same formula that directs you to the exit out of this world, into the passage, and birth in the Upper World.

Naturally, we change our destiny this way. After all, you acquire the free point that Archimedes spoke about when he said: “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth.”
[23354]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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