Question: Can physically observing the commandments help our spiritual advancement?

Answer: Mechanically observing the commandments in the corporeal world cannot help with spiritual advancement. Please understand this correctly! It is a very subtle point.

However, if you accompany the observance of a commandment with the right intention, then it helps. Otherwise, performing the commandment does not advance you spiritually in any way. On the contrary, by being satisfied with simply carrying out the action in the corporeal world, you begin to feel that you are righteous.

The external becomes more important to you than the internal. In this way, you are destroying yourself, the whole world, and the entire nation, and you become the cause of all the troubles and suffering that exist in the world.

All these things must go together. Moreover, the internal must occupy a much greater place than the external.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/20/26, Rabash, “A Prayer of Many”

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Question: What is Ohr Makif, surrounding light?

Answer: Surrounding light is the light that intends to enter the Guf (body), that is, the Kli (vessel), and clothe itself in it when it is corrected by the screen. The Masach, the screen, is the intention to bestow.

If currently lack the intention to bestow, then the light is outside of me and shines upon me from the place where I should be when I have such an intention. What should I do so that it shines upon me?

Surrounding light exists for everyone in this world, a place is reserved for each person near the Creator, on the highest degree. How can I draw this illumination that is above the Parsa to myself? Only by creating something similar to the state I will eventually be in above the Parsa within myself.

There, above the Parsa, I am connected with that light, with that source that I study, that is, with the other souls, with the Creator, as it is said: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” What can I do here, below the Parsa, so that it will be in some way similar to that state, and I would attract this illumination to myself?

Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” that one who studies and strives to understand what he is studying, even if he does not understand, thereby attracts the surrounding light. Because knowledge is the inner filling of the surrounding light, that is, the state in which a person is there together with it, for Israel and the Torah are one.

It does not matter that for now I imagine adhesion according to my level; but it, too, pertains to that eternal, great state, and if by means of what I study, I want to come to adhesion with the Creator, through this I attract the surrounding light.

If all the souls are there together as one body, as one man with one heart, then here, below, I must do this together with several friends, and this, too, will be a similarity. That is, one must make the state below as similar as possible to what is above.

So we make an effort and somehow build this similarity. But where will I get the feeling of the importance of this action? The group does not merely exist so that I can sit with the friends and contemplate this state.

The group is meant to give me awareness of the importance of being in this state; that is, first I must hear that this is the most important goal from them, that there is nothing else in life besides it, and that the whole world and all of life are given to me only for this.

This is what I must hear from them instead of conversations about fashion, about football, and a thousand other things. Because the feeling of importance that I have will never be enough. There are, of course, special people who can manage without this; there have been such cases, but we are not among them. We are people who must make this effort with the help of the group and carry out our task, the task that all of humanity begins to undertake from this day onward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/26, Rabash, “A Congregation Is No Less than Ten”

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Question: How can we connect the various processes described in the Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES) to my own personal need, to what I specifically lack?

Answer: In the actions described in TES, you study what happens within you. For example, Nukva rising to Aba ve Ima is a part of the desire to receive that is being corrected by the forces of bestowal of Bina, the upper force that gives this desire, connecting to it the intention to bestow. This is how you should view every action.

But we are not going to interpret TES in this way, analyzing what this particular desire to receive does in this specific action, what type of desire it is, what correction it receives, and so on. We are not capable of doing that.

When you ascend to this degree, you will experience all this within yourself; you will feel what is happening to you. Then, as you read TES, the actions described in it will arise within you.

Or, conversely, you will discover in TES what is happening within you. This process is called “man’s soul will teach him.” You will feel all these actions within it.

However, for now, you are merely reading about how these actions take place within your soul, while you yourself remain in an unconscious state, unaware of them. And so, without feeling these actions but wishing to attain the sensation of them, you strive toward them and catch a faint illumination from them. This is what is meant by the surrounding light coming to you.

In reality, it neither comes nor goes; it does not go anywhere at all. It is simply your aspiration toward the state in which you will feel a certain action that gives you an illumination from it. It is as though you perceive this state from afar. This is what it means when we say that the surrounding light comes to you. Gradually, this light sanctifies and purifies you and brings you a little closer. And then a little closer still, and a little more.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

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The wisdom of Kabbalah in itself is not some kind of secret wisdom. It always pertains to the human being, rather than something that exists independently of them. We cannot judge anything that exists outside a person; those are either an abstract form or an essence which we cannot approach. Everything we say relates to the human being.

Therefore, we do not define what the science is in the abstract, but rather we examine how it is revealed in relation to the individual. If a person is prepared, something can be revealed to them. If they are not, it is better not to reveal it, because doing so would cause harm.

You cannot reveal these things until the person has developed to a certain level. You can reveal this wisdom to a person only when he is able to grasp the true nature of reward and punishment, moving beyond animalistic definitions, and become ready to perceive new concepts. Then they will come to see that what appears to us to be true in this world is not entirely correct from the perspective of eternity.

A person who is not ready may understand all of this completely incorrectly. For example, he might think: “Oh, so everything has been prepared in advance, everything is guaranteed, everything is already signed and settled. That means there is actually neither reward nor punishment, no coincidences, and no free choice at all. In that case, I might as well close my eyes and wait for the end.”

People who are unable to understand this correctly will misunderstand what you reveal to them. It is not that they are forbidden to know too much because they might abandon their spiritual work or fail to do what is required of them. No!

They will fail to do what is necessary because they do not yet possess the appropriate understanding. And more importantly, their souls are not yet ready to digest the true definitions of reality. After all, it is precisely these true definitions that lead to the conclusion that you must work, invest yourself, and move forward through faith above reason.

But if an undeveloped person, who exists at the inanimate level, hears from the outside what we are discussing now, he might say: “So nothing has any meaning at all. The Creator knows everything from beginning to end, while I am simply being deceived somehow. So, what do they want from me?” He will shut everything out and leave.

That is precisely why there was an instruction not to reveal this wisdom to everyone, and why everything remained concealed until our time. Today, however, people have developed enough to hear it without being harmed. Therefore, there is no need to conceal Kabbalah any longer.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/25/26, Rabash, “When a Person Knows What Is Fear of the Creator”

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Question: What is the difference between different Kabbalistic authors?

Answer: Baal HaSulam writes that there are differences between the books of different authors, both from an inner and an external perspective, including differences in the language in which they wrote their works.

Of course, we are talking about Kabbalistic authors. Each has their own degree, their own character, and their own measure of revelation. Therefore, we should learn only from one special soul: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the ARI, and Baal HaSulam (Yehuda Ashlag). It is one and the same soul that manifested in this world in three different eras, using the same method to reveal the method of correction.

As Baal HaSulam writes, there may have been other Kabbalists who were even greater. For example, Rabbi Akiva was a much greater Kabbalist than Rabbi Shimon. However, none of them were sent here to become our teachers. Therefore, we must study the books of our teachers.

That is essentially all there is to it! If this is not enough for someone, and they try to dig up something else with their enlightened intellect, perhaps, thanks to their wisdom, they will find the way, but only several centuries from now.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

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There are things that we attain, and there are things that we do not attain, and we speak about them, as scientists do in our world. Among them, are those who harbor hatred for each other.

Do you know what the envy of scientists is like and the depth of the hatred involved? It represents the most highly developed ego in our world. The same thing happens in spirituality at very high degrees, because this does not concern the realm of animal desires, money, or honor, but the realm of knowledge, of my “I.”

It is not that I bought some car, and you bought a bigger one. That is not what we are talking about. Here the envy is in attainment, the most significant thing that can exist in a person. Just look at what they do to one another in this world because of it!

And in spirituality, one who rises higher may see different causes than one who is at a lower degree.

Suppose you were to write down what you have gone through, and part of it might be something you have not yet experienced, but you present it as the underlying causes, as something that merely organizes the state you are in. Just start writing, and you will see that this happens to a person constantly.

What you have personally experienced is the truth, because you cannot argue with one’s own feelings: what has clothed within the Kli is not in question. But if you begin to speak about the causes, about what is above this—and you will undoubtedly speak about that as well, even if you are at a small degree—you can be mistaken in this. Therefore, no one has the right to publish anything, and not only because of the politics in this world, but because he can be mistaken in spirituality in a very fundamental way.

With someone who has not crossed the Machsom, even more so; he should be very careful about what he writes.

But even after the Machsom, you can write only about the degree you are on. And as for what may be above this, someone will come from the next incarnation and shatter all my assertions. In fact, throughout life, this is exactly how it is, and not otherwise. Therefore, there is no certainty; it exists only up to a certain degree.

But we do not need anything more, because in reality, it is not important. What do I care about the higher causes, whether I am mistaken about them or not? We see from our own lives that whether we are mistaken or not, it changes nothing. Ultimately, only the amount of effort matters, not whether you understand it intellectually or not.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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Comment: As far as I know, ordinary religious people have the greatest desire to receive.

My Response: The Book of Zohar says such a person wants to “swallow” this world to some extent, so he and his children will be happy here. He also wants to be happy in the next world. It is like he is contributing to the “world-to-come fund,” so something is left for afterward.

This is a natural human desire that cannot be considered bad. This is how a person works if he has not come to genuine work for the Creator, and this is how the masses work. People follow the commandments, do everything necessary, and the truth is, this is how it should be; the framework is needed anyway.

Until a person reaches a high stage of soul development, when he needs the upper one, to really approach religion in the middle line, they will be religious at a level below the middle line, which is called Domem de Kedusha (the inanimate level of holiness or the holy still).

Below the middle line, before development begins in it, there is a point called a religious person in the sense of this world. You see such people, for example, in Bnei Brak [Israel]. This is an inanimate level of holiness, and that is good. Such a person fulfills the Torah and the commandments through the material actions of this world and hopes to receive reward in both this world and the world to come. Everything is in order.

They should not be told what true correction is because they are not yet able to come to it. “Do not put obstacles before the blind.” You just need to not interfere with them and protect them, as Kabbalists have done for all generations. After all, all the holy books were written by people who attained spirituality, Kabbalists, who wrote in such a way as not to touch the people, taking care of them, as they say, “wearing gloves.”

What can you do if so many people have not yet reached development as part of the overall advancement of mankind? We must wait. Man has lived on Earth for tens of thousands of years, and you can see how it manifests: from the time of Abraham to the present day, only a few have really sought to come to religion through the middle line. And without desire, nothing can be done.

Once a person starts wondering, “What is the meaning of my life?”—meaning life in this world in general—and is already striving for spirituality to experience real life there, you can already talk to him. Before then, do not touch him because he will not understand you. His desires, his inner part, are not yet ready to accept anything.

Therefore, if a religious person, what is called a “Jew,” wants to fulfill the Torah and commandments as he was taught, and receive reward for it, please, it is very commendable; this maintains him as a part of the people, saves him for the next correction, which will come when the Creator slightly illuminates his point in the heart. Then he will feel it and begin to develop.

The religious unknowingly think that I am against them and that something is wrong here. I am not against them; we do not touch them at all. We only want to gather those who already feel a point in their heart, who are wondering: “What is the meaning of our life in this world?” for whom such a life has no meaning. For them, we have an answer: Each of them has been chosen to begin their own personal correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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The whole world thinks that the work for the Creator is what the religious people are doing: learning a little bit, observing a few practical commandments.

I am not writing this off, but the work for the Creator consists of imitating the Creator and acting like Him, much like a son emulating his father, “You are children to the Lord your God.”

Question: What does” like Him” mean?

Answer: A son looks at you and imitates you, like a little monkey. Later as he matures, he performs these actions with understanding. This is, in essence, our path as well. Initially, at the embryonic stage (Ibur) we act without understanding; we simply nullify ourselves. Then at the stage of suckling (Yenika), we bring more desire and understanding into it, followed by that stage of greatness, adulthood, Mochin (Gadlut).

The Creator wants us to resemble Him completely. Resembling Him means acquiring a screen over the will to receive, whereby we become like the Nukva to Him. We enter continuous, face-to-face union with Him. This means we reach the complete work of the Creator.

When we correct ourselves and reach a state where we are just like Him, standing opposite Him, following the end of correction, we will begin to work differently. These are the secrets of Torah. We will find out eventually what it is, but it is for this purpose that we do everything. The goal is not to reach the end of correction (Gmar Tikun), but the goal is to reach the end of correction in order to prosper later with Him together.

What I want to say is that the work of the Creator does not consist of performing some corporeal actions. Baal HaSulam writes that the Creator does not care if you slaughter the beast from the neck or from the throat. All the commandments were given to purify Israel, or to bind them to the desire of the Creator. The commandment without an intention is like a body without a soul. All the work of the Creator is the intention, which is ultimately just the means to mimic the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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Baal HaSulam clearly distinguishes between the general and the particular Torah. “The opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the masses,” and the two should not touch each other or interfere in each other’s affairs. We are talking about a completely different Torah, a different approach, a different spirit. The entire course of life for us differs from that of the masses.

Within ourselves, within our thoughts, within our intention, we are constantly tormented by questions: “At what stage am I? What is happening to me?” And so on. Everything for us is internalized. For them, the external part rules: a constant intensification of external actions. And this is good; it is necessary. As long as there is no inner part, we engage in the external. This form of education was introduced by the Kabbalists.

Baal HaSulam writes that the destruction of the First Temple did not have such an profound impact, but after the destruction of the Second Temple, the very concept of Lishma (for the sake of the Creator) vanished without a trace. The surrounding light withdrew, and the Temple was destroyed. The destruction of the Temple means that this illumination was no longer present among the people.

It is the same with us. Sometimes, from the material you absorb, you experience a spiritual ascent, when it seems to you that you sense the Creator, that you have, as if, come back to life and are floating in the heavens.

And then suddenly you feel like a complete fool who has nothing and does not understand a single word. And yet, you have a distant illumination showing you that, compared with a good state, your present state is bad. But what will happen if even this illumination is taken away from you?

That is what happened during the destruction of the Temple. With the destruction of the First Temple, the illumination that had existed among the people, that allowed people to feel they were in spirituality and gave them a sense of inspiration and connection, departed. This illumination disappeared but left them its reverse side, which gave them a feeling of at least some connection with spirituality, a feeling that spirituality exists.

By proceeding from the opposite, people at least knew what Lishma was. Instead of the light of Mochin de Haya, which shone from afar during the time of the First Temple, now, during the time of the Second Temple, the light of Mochin de Neshama came to them. It also shone from afar, but nevertheless, it shone.

And after the destruction of the Second Temple, people lost the feeling that their state was bad compared with the light, and awareness of the meaning of Lishma disappeared. They found themselves in the state of a donkey that knows nothing. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the book A Sages Fruit, in the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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Question: Were there Kabbalists who violated the rule against touching the secrets of the Torah prematurely, before they had completed their own corrections?

Answer: I do not want to go into this because we are not yet capable of discussing such topics. Questions will immediately arise: “How did they do it? For what reason? Why did the Creator allow this? Where was the general and individual governance? Was it a mistake or to the contrary?” There are many stories, and it is not for us from our degree to analyze them.

Why do we go above reason in order to ascend from degree to degree? Because the mind of the higher degree is literally opposite to my mind. I am simply incapable of discussing such degrees. We can only, so to speak, console ourselves with the formulations, and make some understanding in order to continue on the path.

In the same way, children are told fairy tales and fables so that they will grow. And when they become adults, they see that everything is somewhat different. However, they cannot yet grasp with their minds the full complexity of human relationships and world processes, and that is why they are presented with these things in a simple form corresponding to their understanding, and thanks to this they grow.

It is the same for us. It is impossible to take such questions seriously. It is good that they exist, but we must understand that every question is a Hisaron, the fulfillment of which can be seen not at our degree, but many degrees higher. Therefore, the question is different: how can a Hisaron (lack) arise in me, the fulfillment of which lies, say, ten degrees higher? What does its present revelation mean?

Actually, this is not even a question, because from this I must derive the understanding that I actually need to possess a yearning to reach the highest degree—even if an unconscious need.

I will put it differently. There must be a Hisaron, a need for a state of infinity within the limits of my current level, but a need for the state of infinity. Because at every degree it is precisely infinity that is revealed, only to a different extent, first a little, then a little more, then even more.

It is perfectly normal that I have questions about the highest degree because I must strive for infinity. In essence, I am already in it now, but only a very, very small measure of infinity is revealed to me, although it is revealed in every detail. In every detail, but in a very, very limited way. Limited, but equally present in all those details.

And if the smallest degree of infinity is revealed to me, then it will be revealed in all the details that exist in infinity. However, in my eyes it will appear so unclear that it will seem very small, very vague, but infinite to me.

Therefore questions will arise throughout the entire path up to the final goal, even at the smallest degree.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

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