Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 69: When one increases one’s toil in the internality of the Torah and its secrets, to that extent, one makes the virtue of the internality of the world—which are Israel—soar high above the externality of the world, which are the nations of the World.

So everything depends on preferring internality to externality. These two parts are essential in the Torah, in our actions, in our intention, in our desire, in everything. We should always distinguish between what is more internal and what is more external and prefer one to the other.

Thus a person focuses himself on the right goal and advances. In fact there is nothing else we should do but to prefer internality to externality all the time, to clarify what is internality and what is externality, and to prefer one to the other.

A person is like a dipole, or like the needle of a compass. I prefer that the needle would constantly point at spirituality as a result of placing it on top of corporeality. Whatever is closer to bestowal, to the internality of the group, to the internality of the world, to concentrating my efforts, should always be above anything corporeal. This clarification is actually the only thing I am required to do at any given moment, and nothing but that.

Question: How is the thought of creation integrated in this division into internality and externality?

Answer: How could the thought of creation be fulfilled if we didn’t have the freewill to prefer internality to externality? This is how we fulfill it.

The thought of creation is to do good to His created beings, to bring man to the Creator’s level so that he will be independent and will also resemble the Creator. This is already two opposites: How can you be independent and at the same time resemble the Creator? This is a paradox. So we always work in faith above reason, in bestowal above receiving.

The externality is close to my ego, it is my life; I want that my self-love, my desire to receive, will always be full and that it will feel good. I want to feel good and comfortable in it, that everything would be nice and peaceful. The internality is bestowal: It’s worrying about others, adhesion to the society and the teacher, and through them, adhesion to the Creator.

If I don’t prefer one to the other, how will I choose? How can I form myself? This is all my work. Without this I will not be able to form myself in any way.

When a person wants to acquire a form, he summons the Light that Reforms and it does the work. But without a person’s yearning there is no independence and there is no attainment of the Creator since there is no vessel, there is no desire.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/3/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 69: When one increases one’s toil in the internality of the Torah and its secrets, to that extent, one makes a virtue of the internality of the world—which are Israel —soar high above the externality of the world, which are the nations of the world. And all the nations will acknowledge and recognize Israel’s merit over them.

In the end, if we explain our message to the world together with the developmental process, then everything will proceed softly, nicely, and smoothly.

But if we don’t become a “conduit” for the influence of the Light that Reforms, then this Light will influence and awaken the desires to receive in the usual way. Then the nations of the world will not feel the power of good, bestowal, and understanding; they will not feel the goal from us. Instead, to the degree that the desire to receive increases in them, rioting and clashes will begin between them, after that it will be directed at the people of Israel in particular.

In this manner, we stand at a crossroads: Either we succeed in conveying to the world the line of connection with the Light, or as usual, the Light will act on the ego of each and every person, and then everyone will really begin to go crazy, will want to kill, “eat” each other, until it happens actively…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Section 63: ….this is the rule in all the Partzufim (plural for Partzuf) of the worlds and of the souls, that the purer one is the first to be selected into the Partzuf. Therefore, the purer Kelim, HBD, were selected first in the world and in the souls.

Thus, the souls in the first two millennia were much Higher. Yet, they could not receive the full measure of Light, due to the lack of the lower parts in the world and in themselves, which are HGT NHYM.

Baal HaSulam explains the gradual decline in the generations, as a result of it, our generation is the lowest and has sunk to the bottom.

Today we don’t know where we came from, where we are going and why. We don’t know our root or our purpose, or what we need to do in our lives. We have no connection with the sources; essentially we have no concept of what the Torah and Mitzvot are in their true and inner sense.

For what and why we are alive? What is the reason for our lives? All this is unknown to us. There are no longer any of the great Kabbalists who could lead us as shepherds, guides. But the main thing is that the connection with the source, with the foundations of the nation, is lost; it has disappeared. And therefore, we are found in total darkness.

It’s not by accident that we find ourselves in this darkness. This is because the revelation of the Creator to the creature, from beginning to end, is divided into six thousand levels that are called the “six thousand years.”

We begin to count these levels from the first revelation of the Creator to the creature, who is called, Adam HaRishon. This was the first human who discovered the Creator; this was the first Reshimo to be realized, meaning that he corrected himself. And further, from him until the last Reshimo that must correct itself, six thousand levels must be traversed which are divided into three periods of two-thousand years each: HBD, HGT, NHY.

From this it’s understandable to us that the decline of the generations is not derived from anyone’s fault. From the start, we had to descend to the present state, until our present life. And precisely from this wretched life, from the deep abyss, we can begin the ascent to the summit. Then we will understand how great the difference is between the vessel and the Light, and thanks to this we can truly appreciate the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Do you ever have the feeling that we don’t have time to manage to do something?

Answer: The feeling that “we don’t have time” isn’t relevant for me. I am already an elderly person who knows how much time I have left. I simply want to see a clearly assembled organization that is connected to the masses and to the Creator, and begins to work seriously. This is an organization called the “State of Israel.”

In this case, the State of Israel is not a geographic concept. It consists of different interconnected functional blocks, part of which operate in order to sustain themselves both physically and spiritually.

The part that is connected to the Creator is the Kohanim (Cohens – priests). The part that provides the ideological basis is the Levites. The part that provides the material basis is the people. And together they all tied to connect with all the outside world, and they have many connections with the masses, with all countries, and with all of humanity. This is how it all works.

If I could at least see a prototype of such an organization, I might not be in such a hurry anymore. And although it’s already looming, it is not enough; there is no clear contact with the general public; there is still no contact with the Creator,

The contact with the lower and the contact with the upper are mutually dependent and we are in the middle. The more we manage to approach the general public successfully, the more will need the Creator correctly, and will thus receive help from Above.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/19/13

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Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”: The proof is that anyone who is drawn to the secrets of the Torah is also drawn to the land of Israel.

There is a physical branch and there is a spiritual root. In spirituality, the “land of Israel” in its complete form is Malchut which rises completely to Bina, and this is not parts of Malchut that we raise to Bina. “Land” is “desire,” and “Israel” is “directly towards the Creator,” (Yashar-El). In this way, a desire that rises to Keter must rise to the level of Bina, thereby correcting itself. Therefore, the land of Israel is called Malchut on the level of Bina which is called the redemption.

When Malchut is entirely on the level of Bina, it begins to receive the Light of Hochma that is revealed within the Light of Hassadim. And this is called redemption, the revelation of the Creator to the creature. Therefore it is said that the revelation of the Creator can only be in the land of Israel.

We must interpret these terms correctly in their spiritual sense. For example, we say: “His glory fills the world”; this is that Malchut rises to a level compatible with the land of Israel.

An additional example: We say that at the end of correction, with the coming of the Messiah, i.e., the Light that draws (Moshech) Malchut to Bina, then the land of Israel is spread throughout the world. In other words, the characteristic of Bina dominates the entire desire to receive and corrects it.

Therefore the redemption, the coming of the Messiah, the revelation of the Creator, and all similar phenomena can exist only in the land of Israel, in the corrected desire.

But there is also a relationship in the material world. After all, every spiritual root must reach the material branch. And therefore anything spiritual cannot happen anywhere except in the land of Israel. And therefore everything will happen around the land of Israel, or in another place, but in connection with it or with the Jewish people. All events, in one way or another, are linked to this, and someday we will see that their cause and their root lies here….
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”: The fact of the matter is that the Creator delivered our holy land from the foreigners and has given it back to us, yet we have not received the land into our own authority, since the time of reception has not yet come….

After all, we have no economic independence, and there is no political independence without economic independence.

Not only are those in the Diaspora not inclined to come to us and delight in the redemption, but a large portion of those that have been redeemed, and are already dwelling among us, are anxiously waiting to be rid of this redemption and return to the Diaspora from whence they came.

First of all, this is talking about those people that in the physical sense are the descendants of the Jews who attained spirituality two thousand years ago and passed from generation to generation in exile until our day.

In addition, this is for all of those who received a push to come to the land of Israel on the one hand, and on the other hand, they reject this, withdraw, and are hesitant. The evil inclination is revealed in them and the resistance of the two opposites appears.

As for economic independence, it is impossible without national independence. And there cannot be national independence as long as there is no ideological independence. And there cannot be any ideological independence as long as there is no spiritual independence.

And spiritual independence can be only if we, the people of Israel, are detached from all the other material methods that are in the world and adhere to our spirituality. And when we connect to our root, through it, we will get ideological independence, political independence, national independence, and economic independence.

Then the whole world will see that we are arranging and building our lives according to the new method. It is specifically this method, if the whole world accepts it from us, that will make it possible for everyone to pass through this crisis and enter into a life of wholeness. And this is what is called being a “light to the nations.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: The Israeli nation waited for the Messiah during the time of exile. How should we work with the same deficiencies that are revealed in people today?

Answer: We live in a generation that is waiting for everything but the Messiah. We live in a generation that only wants materialism, and matter covers us over our heads.

Our generation is starting to reveal the domination of corporeality and it is in this generation that the desire that is aimed at the worst and lowest basic existence, that which is totally meaningless, is revealed.

It is from this lowest point in this world that we can actually discover and start the way back to the goal of creation.

Even if we descend along the way, these descents are already additions of the Light that show us how opposite we are from it…

Baal HaSulam says in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“, item 63: Thus, in our generation, although the essence of the souls is the worst, which is why they could not be selected for Kedusha thus far, they are the ones that complete the Partzuf of the world and the Partzuf of the souls with respect to the Kelim, and the work is completed only through them.

This is because now, when the Kelim of NHY are being completed, and all the Kelim, Rosh, Toch, and Sof are in the Partzuf, full measures of Light, in Rosh, Toch, Sof, are now being extended to all those who are worthy, meaning complete NRN. Hence, only after the completion of these lowly souls can the highest Lights manifest, and not before.

The vessel has to be as deep as the height of the Light that is dressed in it.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/19/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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I’m acutely aware of people’s attitude towards me. When I visit different cities in Europe I feel the local internal antagonistic opposition,  I try not to justify the Creator in order not to blur this feeling of exile that gives me the opportunity for spiritual work, and I  even enjoy it.

After all, I came from a country with a society that was taught to sharply feel anti-Semitism. Of course, it was all planned this way on purpose.

Interestingly, it is more evident and revealed more simply in Eastern Europe than in France, for example, where it is subtle and elegant. When negative feelings are revealed more simply, you can talk about it, discuss it, and directly object to the hatred people feel towards you, and can analyze such states, even together with your enemies. While in Western Europe everything is veiled.

It is intriguing. I am always glad to feel this and often try to summon such crooked stares so as to feel the negative attitude towards me. It is essential.

Question: What do you get from this as a Kabbalist?

Answer: We know that Rav Zosha and other Kabbalists in Eastern Europe, in Russia, use to go out to exile on purpose. They used to leave their village behind them and go to places where only gentiles lived: Russians, Ukrainians, etc., in order to experience repulsion and hatred, the negative attitude others have towards you as a person.

The feeling of exile is essential in order to need the Creator, specifically from the oppositeness of this attribute. It isn’t an inclination for sufferings but rather the recognition of the state you are really in, but which you may be hiding from yourself.

We mustn’t blur such states. You have to live with everyone and feel them deeply; what they really are.
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From Kab TV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/12/13

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