Question: Why did Kabbalists keep Kabbalah hidden from the people of Israel for thousands of years, while they did reveal its secrets to the Greek philosophers?

Answer: It had occurred long before, hundreds of years before the fall of the Second Temple. At that time, many scientists and philosophers of the nations of the world (not only the Greeks) used to come to study with Kabbalists. They were studying the people of Israel, attempting to understand them.

As an example, Alexander the Great, who started with the goal of expanding civilization throughout the world, used to surround himself with scientists and philosophers who studied the life of the people of Israel at that time. That is why he treated them so benevolently.

Scientists strived to comprehend the wisdom practiced among the ancient people of Israel who lived according to spiritual laws. This wisdom was visible to the naked eye, and based on how the government and society were arranged, it was evident that these people’s lives were founded on unique traditions.

There was an enormous difference in how the people of Israel lived compared to other nations, considering we are speaking about barbaric times. In Israel, the system of social relations was perfect in that a person was completely secured, more than by today’s medical insurance or unemployment benefits.

The Talmud describes those times in the following way: There was no child who didn’t know how to read and write or how the world was arranged. The educational system (Levites) included every person. This was first established by Moses while in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.

There was no lawlessness since it is written, “Anyone who buys a Hebrew slave, it is as though he buys a master for himself.” There was no division into upper and lower classes in the society. Never were people recognized for their wealth, unlike in the other nations. Rather, it was the sages who were honored.

People who came to visit from other places were surprised and couldn’t understand how it was done. It might work if such rules were established in a small community, but to have such laws govern the whole nation? After all, no less than three million people departed from Egypt, who later multiplied. In those times, it was a large nation.

There was such a bond between people, such a system of justice, special events and holidays, and an accurate calendar that the people followed so that everything was organized like in a fine clock mechanism in sync with the upper clock. This clock ruled over the entire public life since it was an absolutely perfect system, identical to the spiritual one.

Everybody knew what he or she was supposed to do; they knew it internally! There was no need for a ruler who would have to enforce order by military force and police that would control and punish. Every person innately felt how they should act, and this was a society of integral equality.

A king would serve the people, rather than abuse his power. It was a totally reversed pyramid. The one who had a more exalted position felt even greater responsibility for the others.

It was radically different from how other peoples lived, and this is why their sages came to study. It was an era of prophets from whom many scientists of other nations gained their knowledge. Naturally, just like Abraham wished to transform all of Ancient Babylon, the prophets never rejected those who desired to learn the laws of the universe.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/2011, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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The speed of our development depends not only on us, but on the entire world as well. People whose points in the heart awaken are willing to unite; they are desperately trying to do it, but cannot because the world doesn’t feel the need for it yet.

We are not taken into consideration since we are an alien body in the world from the start. Spiritual sparks, sprinkled into egoism, exist solely to reform this egoism. They are the channels of the Torah, that very spice with the help of which all humanity, “the main dish,” has to reach the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun). And if this dish hasn’t been stewed enough yet, spices cannot be added to it in order to make the dish ready.
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From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 12/23/2010

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Question: How can we calibrate our attitude so as to aim it towards the goal?

Answer: You have to do it according to the principle, “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.” “The Creator” is the root to which we strive. The “Torah” is all of the means that help us along the way, including the teacher, books, group, and study. And “Israel” is the point in the heart, the initial spiritual desire.

Question: In order for me to solve this equation, what needs to be concealed and what needs to be revealed to me?

Answer: You need to imagine the corrected state where we are all connected and every person perceives the whole instead of himself. It is written: “The general and the particular are equal.”

The common force of love and bestowal reigns inside our oneness and fills everyone in equal measure. This force is called “the Creator” or “Nature.” This is what you have to see as the final goal. At the end we must arrive at this image.

This is why we are working on discerning the notion of "the group." The group is essentially the same system in which we awaken the same force. That force is already present inside the system; we just don’t perceive it yet. We must reveal this force which fills the group, strengthens it, manifests in it, and corrects it. This is the force called “the Creator” or the concealed Light that hides in our unity.

When we strive to grow in our world, we essentially reveal the same force. This is because we have the same direction, although on a corporeal level. “The Creator” is the common force that unites all the parts of creation.

Question: Still, there are too many unknowns in this equation.…

Answer: You have to keep searching and trying, over and over again. That is how you will awaken new sensations. There is no other possibility for doing it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/11, Writings of Rabash

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Essence of the Work in Torah and Mitzvot

The purpose of the study of Torah [Kabbalah which unveils the Torah] is to come to feel the Giver of the Torah. If one does not place the goal of reaching the Giver of the Torah [the Creator] before one’s eyes, he is considered “a gentile [one who does not desire to reveal the Creator, regardless of his origin or nationality],” meaning he has no need for faith [perceiving the Creator], that is, to have a need to seek advice [the instructions of the Torah, the advices of Kabbalists] for achieving faith [perceiving the Creator]. This is why he is still regarded as “a gentile [he who does not strive to reveal the Creator]” and not as “Israel [he who aspires for the Creator].”
– Rabash, The Rungs of the Ladder, “What are Torah and Work on the Path of the Creator”
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Question: If I cannot reveal the place of the breaking, does it mean that there is nothing for me to correct?

Answer: A person has nothing to correct except the breaking between him and other people who have the same aspiration to the Creator. However, why is it particularly with the people who aspire to the Creator? Can’t I correct my relationship with other people such as at work, in the family, or at the market? There are plenty of people around, and everyone needs to reach complete correction.

Then, why can’t I work with them? This is because their desires are not aimed at the unification of souls. Each of them desires only to fill their ego with something, and this is the animate level of egoism, not the degree of the human being. I do not reveal the breaking there.

The breaking is on the human degree. Meanwhile, I have nothing to correct on the animate degree. There, people are polite, pleasant, and kind.

Therefore, correction pertains only to those who aspire to the Creator. We might ask then: “Why is the whole world suffering? Why are we all entering a global, integral, and broken world now?”

This is because all the other people also need to be corrected to the extent that they can join or adhere to those who aspire to the Creator. They will not correct the connections between them on the animate level since, then, they would be like the communists in Russia. However, in the end, they will be forced to unite due to adhering to us and through us to the Creator.

We only correct the connections between souls on the level of man who is similar to the Creator. Therefore, this correction pertains only to the group of Kabbalists or those who join them in various forms to the extent that they are able.

Thus, Baal HaSulam writes in the end of “Introduction to The Book Of Zohar” that everything depends on Israel. “Israel” are those who aspire to the Creator, those who feel hatred between them and need to correct it. The whole correction depends on them.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Yitro (Jethro)”

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The states of “Israel” and “nations of the world” constantly alternate inside a person and this process does not depend on him. All he has to do is “push down on the gas,” strive forward with everything he’s got. To do that, one needs a strong connection with the group and relentless thought about spiritual advancement in the direction of bestowal. That is how the principle “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one” is realized, which is the Creator’s command.

The more efforts a person makes, the more often these two states alternate. That’s when it is important not to let either of them knock you off track, not to wish to remain in either state, and not get stuck in either of them.

One must always see the goal ahead of him and aspire directly to it, even though the path is curvy and crooked. Every person is whirled about by his own Reshimot, as if he is advancing down a winding tunnel. There is nowhere to escape to and you only aspire forward, not making any calculations on the sharp turns.

Perhaps you want to stop, to experience the current state, to study it and “chew it up.” But that will never help. Try to go through all the places at full speed and don’t worry if you are unfamiliar with the path.

The only way to understand anything is from a higher level. A child never knows what developmental stage he is now going through. He understands only the previous stages. That is why older children can be instructors for younger ones. The best thing is to set up this kind of interaction between adjoining levels.

Therefore, we always aspire only forward, until the very end of correction. Only there will we reveal all the roots, all the initial, intermediate, and final states. When they interweave into one whole, then you will reveal the system in an instant and understand everything. Until then there is no truth that you can rely on.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/11, Writings of Rabash

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What does it mean “to dissolve among the nations of the world?” Your egoistic desires tear apart your aspiration toward spirituality and break into your inner desire, “Isra-El.” All of them are your own desires, GE (the desire to bestow) and AHP (the desire to receive), which are intermixed to such an extent that it is impossible to separate them.

The bestowing desire (Israel) “soaks up” the egoistic intention (nations of the world) and learns how to bestow for its own sake, its own profit. And it succeeds in doing so much better than other nations! Intellect and emotions (all those exclusive properties of GE that are granted to Israel for attaining the spiritual world) are used to pursue egoistic success in this world.

Jews are proud of their achievements on this material level, but what are they proud of? We were given a tiny portion of spiritual potential, one minuscule spark to help us rise to spirituality. We keep investing it in minor material values which lead us to double uselessness, to “reverse success.” That is, we draw the whole world into worthless progress until everybody understands that they are facing a dead end.

Who did that? It was done by the “sparks of bestowal,” GE, that were received at the time of Babylon. They were used for reception, not their true purpose: to raise AHP (the desire to receive), the nations of the world, upward.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Question: We know that one component that refers to the “speaking” degree of nature equals the sum of all components of the animate degree. In that case, if there is just one living Kabbalist in our generation, why should we all strain ourselves?

Answer: In order for one such person to appear, all the others must exert themselves. After all, neither Moshe (Moses), nor Abraham, nor anybody else could reach full correction of the world because humanity hasn’t yet undergone the process of mutual interconnection.

The Tower of Babel hasn’t fallen yet, the ruining of the First and the Second Temples hasn’t occurred, and the blending of the souls of Israel with the nations hasn’t come to pass. It is written, “The people of Israel came into exile solely to incorporate the souls of the nations into themselves.”

The Israel (straight to the Creator) souls have to connect with the souls of the nations and mix with them to such an extent that on the inner level, there won’t be any difference between them. We can’t see it, but, as of today, it has been done.

Look how many people from the nations of the world are waking up to correction. Why would they? This is taking place because of the mutual inter-inclusion of the souls. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary to undergo all phases of exile and especially the last one.

This is why, today, the points in the heart are emerging. Only we, now, after having completed the entire process of mutual inclusion, are able to perform the corrections. If we make an effort all together, then we will surely become one soul.

When you hear that the corrections will be done by someone, it means that we will become as one, and we all will obligate him to include himself into all. In other words, one is the same as all, and this is what mutual inclusion is all about.
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From Kabbalah for Beginners, “The Integration” 10/27/10

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The world is entering a qualitatively new period of development, and Israel is becoming the leader in it. This has not happened before because we were in the period of "exile." Now we have entered the time of “redemption.”

“Redemption” means similarity to the Creator, becoming closer to Him and revealing Him, discovering the laws of nature, and attaining harmony with it. To reveal nature means to accept all the upper laws in order to observe them.

All these laws must begin to be realized in human society and within us through our own efforts. In other words, right now we do not need to work on anything besides our similarity to nature, the Creator.

Meanwhile, we are going in the opposite direction, and we do not want to listen. This is the source of all the catastrophes. Before, suffering was revealed in a simple manner to just slightly push us ahead. However, today, it works in a direction opposite to us, against us.

Before, suffering was like small pricks from behind that would turn us in the right direction and stimulate us to develop faster, but they worked together with your own aspirations. They simply rushed you, like a donkey who is pricked with a sharp stick. Now, anywhere you try to advance in development, nature faces you head-on and hits you straight in the face. Do you want to continue your old journey? No way! By doing this, you will attract more problems. As it is written: “Sit and do nothing is better.”

In other words, we must begin correction, and, in this world, Israel is the conductor of correction because it possesses the method. This is why Israel will continue to experience more and more problems if we do not advance properly.

Here, everything depends on us. First of all, as we see the catastrophes that are happening, we need to draw the right conclusions. These are not “accidental events.” In nature, everything is connected, and everything has a reason.

If we are going into a head-on opposition to nature by becoming opposite to it, which has never happened before, we should hurry with correction. Instead of being opposite, we need to come to similarity and do what the Creator, nature, wants us to do: attain harmony, connection among us as one man with one heart, and achieve brotherly love.

When we achieve this, all the disasters will disappear, and all the nations will begin to support Israel. We will become the center of correction of the world. If there is hatred of Israel in the world, it is only because we have the method of correction, but we are not fast enough to realize it and disseminate it around the world.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/10, Special Talk on the Tragedy in Northern Israel and Balance in Nature

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Lately we have been hearing a lot about various troubles and natural disasters, such as floods and snow storms in Europe, fires in Russia, hurricanes in the USA, and the recent fire in Israel. Experts in the field forecast that difficult times lie ahead for the whole world because the global warming and climate changes that have begun to happen entail very great problems.

Why is that so? It’s because we exist in nature, and the Gematria (numerical significance) of the words “nature” and “the Creator” are equal.

Baal HaSulam explains in the article “The Peace” that we have to view the Creator as the law of nature. We shouldn’t think that He can change if we ask Him for it. The sages of Kabbalah want to eradicate this illusion we have so we’ll stop believing that any change is possible from the Creator’s end.

He is initially Good and Does good; He is unchangeable and so is His attitude to us. Good Light descends to us from Him and grows weaker as it goes through the worlds or concealments. That is how we receive it in our sensations.

When we receive this Light, it passes through our nature, which is opposite to it and aimed entirely at reception. Thus, all of the good that comes to us turns to evil according to how opposite our qualities are to it. That’s because the Light is bestowal and love, whereas I am reception and hatred. Because of this difference, I perceive the Light’s good influence as evil in all its different manifestations.

All of my desires are so egoistic by nature that in order to satisfy them I am ready to use the whole world. Because I use them only for the sake of self-gratification, I will suffer more and more from one generation to the next, from one year to the next as I become more sensitive, developed, and dependent.

In this century humanity has reached a state where it does not know where to keep going and how to get out of the dead-end it has gotten itself into. Since we live in a global world, we depend on each other in every way, while our ego separates us and closes us in.

When the abundance of goodness descends to us from Above, it is not intended for some particular person, but for the common, integral ego. Therefore, we are setting ourselves up for very big disasters.

Even though we are trying to avoid it, as Baal HaSulam writes, nature or the Creator will inevitably win and obligate us to accept and implement the law of balance with Him.

The science of Kabbalah explains this law very simply. It says that the Creator influences us, and there is a system of worlds or filters between Him and ourselves, intended to let the Creator’s Light through selectively.

The law by which this system works from the Creator to us and from us to Him is called the law of equivalence of form or the law of balance. It turns out that to the same degree we receive influences from the Creator, we must correspond to them and bestow back to Him with the same force in order to observe the balance.

Since the Creator constantly increases His influence on us, we too must correct ourselves more and more. This is the purpose for which our ego keeps growing according to a specific formula, and it is according to the same formula that the influence from the Creator’s end is actualized.

However, if we transform our ego to bestowal, we will reach equivalence with Him and then the balance will be observed. Then no matter how much He influences us, we will perceive it correctly. He gives to me and I give to Him.

Stated differently, changing our nature, our egoistic desires to bestowal, love, care, and attention to other people, is the very solution to the problem. That is how we will reach the common balance: Nature will calm down and humanity will begin to feel differently.

Besides, we will reveal the Upper Dimension, the Upper World, and will discover that this entire system of filters or worlds exists inside us, while we exist in equivalence with the Creator, in equivalence of form and adhesion with Him.
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From the lecture in “Kabbalah L’Am Hall” on 12/7/10

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