Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: On the positive side, if they keep the Arvut until each cares and satisfies the needs of his friends, they can fully keep the Torah and commandments, meaning bring contentment to their Maker.

The relations with the Creator are established in a collective vessel under the influence of the general Light. The general form of bestowal that is revealed to us is the Creator. Therefore, as it is written: “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.”

But for now, we have to regard the Creator as a means and not as the goal. Our goal should be the connection in the group and mutual guarantee. If I define mutual guarantee as the unchanging goal and that there is nothing more sublime than that, I must pull all the forces together, and the Creator serves me in that.

By demanding the Light that Reforms, we actually want the Creator to serve us and to correct us. This is the reason that we draw it, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Eventually, it is about this state that it is written: “My sons have defeated me.” Our approach here should be very practical and efficient.

So, we form a collective vessel and then develop our attitude toward the Creator, begin to understand who and what He is and what is concealed behind this concept.

Everything is attained in the vessels (desires), in the desires, and not by abstract thoughts that have nothing to do with understanding the Creator. We haven’t yet come close to Him but we already are trying to imagine Him and, through that, we create an idol….
[106728]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: This means that each and every one in Israel would take it upon himself to care and work for each member of the nation, and to satisfy all their every needs, no less than the measure imprinted in him to care for his own needs.

And once the whole nation unanimously agreed and said, “We shall do and we shall hear,” each member of Israel became responsible that nothing shall be missing from any other member of the nation. Only then did they become worthy of receiving the Torah, and not before. 

With this collective responsibility, each member of the nation was liberated from worrying about the needs of his own body and could keep the commandment, “Love thy friend as thyself” in the fullest measure, and give all that he had to any needy person, since he no longer cared for the existence of his own body, as he knew for certain that he was surrounded by six hundred thousand loyal lovers, who were standing ready to provide for him.

If we understand that to reach spirituality and receive all the good is possible only if we connect, then the Light that Reforms begins to influence us. It acts such that I stop being concerned for myself because everyone is concerned for me. The main thing here is to attune yourself correctly to summon the Light that we can direct towards each of us as if we had a torch.

My egoistic motives demand that I form a connection with others. When I connect with them, it seems as if I am letting go of myself and am concerned for them as I can’t attain what I want otherwise. This is exactly the way everyone acts, so by aspiring to discover the Creator, who is within the group, through the connection between us, in this way we attract the Light that Reforms.

A question can be raised here: Why does it arrive if we are still egoists? What are the higher laws of nature according to which it’s discovered? We all want to receive for ourselves: “Bring me this world. Bring me the next world.” It may seem that in either the Light, meaning pleasure, itself must reach us, or darkness, if there were some kind of valve that exists in spirituality, which realizes the necessary conditions for being altruistic.

But the idea is that we surrender ourselves to each other. We learn together, we carry out shared tasks together, and in spite of our ego, the Light does its work. But it arrives first not as pleasure, but as correction. Thus we are changed—thanks to work within the group we bow our heads before each other for selfish reasons.

With an approach like this there is no lack of agreement, it’s open and very honest. It’s possible to talk a lot about love of the other, but it’s necessary to judge according to the facts. We are dominated by the ego, but we accept a condition that obligates us to aspire for love. Why? It’s because we expect a reward.

In the future, the whole world will correct relationships between people, taking into the account the gain it will bring. Everyone will hope to benefit from relationships based on love, and at the same time the Light that Reforms will pass to them through us and not the darkness that would arrive if not for the use of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Likewise, a person, who already understands this and hasn’t learned enough yet, is not sufficiently included within the group, and ultimately will receive darkness instead of correction, and will flee. And the opposite, if someone were to give of himself one hundred percent, then he would never feel darkness and descent. Even though he might have additional difficulties on the way, he would work with everything in the right way and would be corrected by the Light.

In fact, as Baal HaSulam writes, that in the middle way, by way of the middle line, one experiences falls, deviations to the right and to the left, ascents, and descents. This is called “normal” progress; it’s not ideal, but not too terrible either.
[105966]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/25/13, “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Question: Why does Baal HaSulam hardly mention the group in his articles?

Answer: There is hardly anything to say about the group since it is an obvious condition. If you don’t work on the connection with the group, you don’t have a spiritual vessel.

So Baal HaSulam has only several articles about the group. A Kabbalistic group is a concept known since the days of Abraham, who was the first Kabbalist who had to work in a group. Before him, there was no need for that since the idea of the connection of the souls was not revealed. The souls were so pure until then that they didn’t need to connect to one another in order to connect to spirituality.

Although we know the history of Cain and Abel, this connection is still on the level of the roots of the evil inclination. So, Abraham was the first who needed a group although he had already attained spirituality.

He was the first link in a chain of twenty generations from Adam Ha Rishon (the First Man) until Noah, and from Noah until Abraham (ten Sefirot of the Direct Light and ten Sefirot of the Reflected Light). He was the first who started to organize a group, and so he is considered the father of the nation of Israel. This nation is a Kabbalistic group.

The concept of the group was then formed, and it is impossible to reveal spirituality without it. The more we advance, the bigger the groups become. First, the groups were only a teacher and a student, as it says: “The minimum of many is two.”

There were different stories throughout the time periods in history, but the end result is they are all eventually meant to be as one. During the events before Mt Sinai, when Egypt’s desire to receive was revealed, the unity of the group of the whole Israeli nation as one group was crucial. The conditions of the gathering before Mt Sinai were the conditions of a Kabbalistic group: To be “as one man with one heart,” “each man shall help his friend,” “don’t do unto others what is hateful to you,” “love thy friend as thyself,” and “all of Israel are friends,” connected in mutual guarantee.

These are the conditions for the existence of the group because the “nation of Israel” is a Kabbalistic group.
[106248]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/13, Shamati #25

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After a very powerful Men’s Convention, we feel great heaviness. But I think that it should be the opposite since we have ascended to a new level, have received new desires, and now have to go out and fight the narrow-minded world we have returned to. We have to fight so all the confusions and the hardening of the heart that we will feel will not wane our feeling of awe and elation. If we won’t let things calm us down, then all the locks will become openings and the gates will open up.

If you feel heavy and indifferent, it is a sign that you are working with your primordial raw egoism. It is the way it operates in its pure form, as a feeling of a dark extinguished desire that doesn’t care about anything. Now you have been given another ten pounds or ten ounces of desire, it doesn’t really matter how much, and you have fallen under this load.

You mustn’t refuse to receive the new desire since doing so is considered disrespect of the chance to advance, of the gift you are given from Above. But you should ask for two things: From the group, you should ask for support, empowerment, mutual guarantee, and mutual responsibility; and from the Creator, you should ask for correction, awakening, elation, and the Light.

You have to ask. There is nothing you can do other than that! If you stop asking, then you immediately fall into a state of unconsciousness. So you must constantly ask and pray internally, focusing on the group and on the Creator, holding on to this prayer. Otherwise, you fall into a deep sleep.
[106251]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: Only when they came out of Egypt and became a complete nation, only then was there a possibility to guarantee everyone’s needs without any care and concern. … as long as the individual is troubled with concerns for himself, he is unfit to even begin to keep the commandment, “Love thy friend as thyself.”

Thus, we begin to understand the meaning of the “Egyptian exile.” After all, the fulfillment of the conditions of mutual guarantee starts from the receiving of the Torah, according to the amount of the Light that Reforms that we draw. Until then, the children of Israel were not able to accept these conditions but were in the of system of establishing mutual guarantee.

On the whole, having come out of Babylon and set off on this path, we are constantly establishing the mutual guarantee relationship between us. First, our egoistic desire is still weak and we really feel that we are one family. But later, different conflicts begin; then, the hate builds up between us and we find ourselves in Egypt, that is, in different egoistic accounts. Here, “Pharaoh” becomes revealed to us and we gradually discover that there is no mutual guarantee between us.

Eventually, we reach the exact polar opposite of bestowal of the level of Bina. Instead of mutual guarantee, the force of bestowal, we acquire the force of receiving. This is the last phase before the exodus from Egypt. We discover all the evil among us in the group—and there is nothing else for us to do in Egypt.

Now, we need the Torah, the method of correction. Eventually, after the parting of the Red Sea, we receive it before the mountain of our hatred, Mt. Sinai (“Sinah” means “hatred” in Hebrew).
[106166]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/25/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: “When all of Israel became responsible for one another.” [In other words, each individual is completed by others.] “Because the Torah was not given to them before each and every one from Israel was asked if he agreed to take upon himself the precept of loving others in the full measure, expressed in the words: “Love thy friend as thyself.”

Here we see the description of the situation when everyone feels that the main question surfaces in him. Everyone asks himself: “Do I really agree to love the other?”

This is a principal question and it determines my whole life. After all, I don’t want to go on living in this “interest club”; I am here in order to attain something. I’m here all the time, and put a lot of money and energy into it, although I could succeed in many other areas. In fact, there are many very talented people here who can have everything the world can offer, but they have given up the rewards of this world, and sit in the lessons motionless. Is that right? Is this the way one should live his life?

So, we have to ask this question about love persistently: “When will it finally surface?” “When will the need of loving the other as myself grab me by the throat?” Why do I need to analyze the current situation as to how much I love myself now and how I relate to others?

After all, I see myself as part of the nation of Israel, which means those who want to reach Yashar-El (straight to the Creator), to be similar to Him by actions of bestowal. This is the only way we can reach adhesion with Him, which is the purpose of creation. What can I give Him? The only chance I have to learn the attribute of bestowal from Him is to be like Him in my attitude to others. I have to discover that He loves everyone and bestows upon them. Then by operating in the same way towards others, I become like Him, I am in adhesion with Him, and I evince Him in my action that realizes the love of others.

This means that each and every one in Israel would take it upon himself to care and work for each member of the nation, and to satisfy all their every needs, no less than the measure imprinted in him to care for his own needs.

This is already the measure of my attitude towards the friend: to care for him as much as I care for myself. It’s similar to how a mother constantly worries about her baby. Until I reach that, I don’t fulfill the goal of Israel, don’t have the minimal equivalence of form with the Creator, and I remain on the “animate” level. But if I care about others more than about myself, I am called “human.”

Question: What is the “nation of Israel”?

Answer: These are people who have to reach adhesion with the Creator. Practically, I identify them by their ability to act mutually, to make mutual efforts. With whom can I stand before Mount Sinai? With all due respect, it isn’t with members of parliament and not with my neighbors, but with people who understand me and who are ready to step forward with me on the path of mutual concessions and mutual connection in order to discover the upper force in it and to bring Him contentment. They are my “nation” for the time being.

Later this concept will expand and envelop the whole world.
[105713]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Arvut (The Mutual Guarantee)”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: This means that each and every one in Israel would take it upon himself to care and work for each member of the nation, and to satisfy all their every needs, no less than the measure imprinted in him to care for his own needs.

An approach like this sounds as something unrealistic. So in spite of all this, how is it possible to realize it? If this condition is already laid in creation, is means that whether we want this or not, we will have to fulfill it.

In general, there are many things that we do against our will, even if we sometimes naively suppose that we want it. But any intelligent person is able to discern what results from nature that arouses in us all kinds of drives, thoughts, and desires without asking for our opinion. We don’t decide about them beforehand, but rather we only discover them within ourselves post factum.

Today we already see that in the end, the system will oblige us to resemble it. Should we tremble in fear as if we are standing before the volcano eruption, something that cannot be prevented, and flee from it? Or can we do something in spite of all this?

Whatever the case, Kabbalists claim that we need mutual guarantee. And if we look at the whole world, we see that we probably won’t have other choice. If we begin to oppose this, we only arouse our entire ego and in the end, we will be finished with the entire earth. After all, nobody thinks that he is capable to truly unite. In our eyes this seems impossible; it is simply easier to die. But we won’t even be allowed to “get off” that easily….

So, if this condition is standing before us, it is a sign that we must learn how to realize it by way of hastening. It is already clear that this path will save us from sufferings that are worse than death since they are derived from something that I hate the most, something with which we are not prepared to agree.

And therefore it is necessary to consider all these seemingly unrealistic principles: loving one’s neighbor as yourself, mutual responsibility, brotherly love, and being as one man with one heart. After all, the solution is hidden here: It’s not merely a way to avoid troubles, to get off the path of suffering; rather, a surprising possibility is here—we didn’t even think that meanwhile, through love for another, the eternal world will be revealed to us.…
[105716]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Mutual Guarantee”

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Question: Why does it say that the picture of this world is fictitious and not real?

Answer: The picture of the world that appears before us is fictitious and not real because the Creator is always good and benevolent to us. Eventually, the created being will reveal the Creator’s love in everything. But in the meantime, having no choice, He must hasten us to develop and even threaten, pressure, and confuse us.

We do the same thing with children since otherwise, they will not develop. This is why the Creator treats us in the same way. The problem is that we don’t see who is taking care of us and we don’t know the plan of creation.

A baby also doesn’t understand what is going on, either. He doesn’t realize that his parents are giving him exercises; for him, it is simply a game. It is only when his mother or father begin to pressure him does he pay attention to them and begin to shout that Mommy is bad!

I never have heard a child shouting that Mom is good. He takes this for granted since it is obvious that she must serve him. But when she suddenly does something against his will, he resents it.

So, we must understand that the only way to advance is by exercises that are not very pleasant and will only get more complicated. Everything depends on our preparation and on our ability to recognize them. In fact, we are given a certain exercise every moment, and we can be constantly in the process of clarification. However, a person doesn’t make the right effort, and so the Creator’s stimuli accumulate and are felt eventually as a hard blow.

It is as if you have complaints about someone, but restrain yourself and suffer. You accumulate anger and frustration inside of you, instead of easily and immediately clarifying things the moment they come up. Eventually, however, you lose patience and explode, and this happens suddenly and unexpectedly and those around you don’t understand what is going on.

So, it is better not to come to such an outburst, but to be aware of what is going on all the time. This is possible only through mutual guarantee when everyone thinks about this and deals with it, when everyone wants to support one another. In fact, we are building the one, general vessel of the soul. A person has nothing that is private in spirituality.

The solution is only in connection, and it has to do with what I think about the friends and about the connection between us. This is the only thing we have to correct since this is how our soul is built.
[104963]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Despite the fact that today a doctor earns a lot of money, he is not happy. He attends to many patients and all this is done mechanically. At the end of the day, he is comes home worn out, drinks, smokes, and does everything to calm down.

A patient also is not happy because he cannot get the proper attention and health treatment. No one is satisfied like it was, for instance, in ancient China, where a doctor was pleased by seeing a healthy person in front of him.

But if we can show the doctor that integral education is aimed at changing the health care system, that this may help make his work more pleasant, and he will be able to enjoy it, then perhaps, he might be interested.

Answer: I do not think it’s a strong argument to change the entire health care system, especially since there are influential people who have created this system on purpose, and they are satisfied with it.

This is why the crisis must be manifested here. It will break them and force them to change the system, to change their ways of thinking, their view of reality; otherwise, nothing will work. It is possible to try to change the system from below, but to do this, you need to change a human being.

You refer to Chinese medicine, but they are different people on a different level of egoistic development.

To make a person interconnect with society and help the medical staff connect between themselves in order to get rid of unnecessary harmful drugs and totally useless checkups and research, in order to let a doctor be involved with a patient, think about him instead of how to attend to forty patients per shift like a multi-machine operator, to do that we need completely different relations between people. For this you need to change a person!

You cannot put a modern egoistic person in these conditions; he just doesn’t see other people. After all, when you see a doctor, he does not even look at you. He looks in the computer, checks blood pressure, and that is all.

Chinese medicine is a relationship with a person. And here, it is a “relationship” with blood pressure, pulse, and a couple of tests that can be entered into a computer, which then will give the doctor a solution of what to do with the patient. It turns out that the doctor is practically not needed here.
[105579]
From KabTV’s “The Medicine of the Future” 4/7/13

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The location of the land of Israel is initially a desire that belongs to the nations of the world. As a corporeal result of the spiritual root, a group called the nation of Israel comes to this land and conquers it, freeing it from the peoples who are living in it so that it can be called the land of Israel.

This happens thanks to the connection of the corporeal branches with the spiritual root, since otherwise we would have no right to exist on this land and no right to inherit the land. Only if we are adapted to this land in the spiritual sense and are worthy of it according to our correction can we live on it.

Thus, Baal HaSulam says that in our world we have received the state of Israel as an opportunity from Above. First we come to the land of Israel totally unprepared and not united as the real Israeli nation. By constantly going through the correction on the account of a person’s work, the correction of the intention, through this, he could come and conquer the desire called the land of Israel.

This is what happened with the group of Abraham who left Babylon and who later returned to this land after the exodus from Egypt. Before that there was the gathering before Mt. Sinai and the forty years of exile in the desert, and then the wars of conquering this land, the land of Israel and the areas around it that were part of the conquests of King David.

But it was all on the condition that they first corrected the human level in them and then the rest of the lower levels. It is because the intention precedes the desire: First the desire should be corrected and then it conquers the intention and dominates it.

It is the desire that is called human or the nation of Israel. When the desire is corrected after the intention in all its levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, it is called the land of Israel.

So in the past we came prepared for the corporeal actions on this land and then after having conquered it we called it the land of Israel. But this time we return totally unprepared internally. Therefore, these wars are not in order to conquer the Holy Land, not in order to free it from the ego, but rather an opportunity to discover the need for the correction of man. To the extent that we correct ourselves, we will really receive our land of Israel.

Otherwise, it will never be ours. If we are late in our correction, we will hear more and more complaints from the nations of the world, from those who are next to us and those who are far from us, claiming that this land doesn’t belong to us. It will be very difficult to stand against that, and no one will listen to our excuses since they are really very weak. We will not be able to convince anyone with excuses about events that took place two thousand years ago, and if the nations of the world start to blame us, it will make a big noise all over the world.

There is a feeling that this place doesn’t really belong to us, among the nations of the world and also among the Jews themselves. It is because the corporeal branch should reflect the spiritual root, and so far, we have not been awarded with a connection to the root. Therefore, the nations of the world don’t feel our connection to the land.

We were given such a chance from Above once, and we were hopeful and so were the nations of the world; there was a kind of an illumination. But unfortunately during the last decades of the existence of the state of Israel this illumination has disappeared. I have not heard anyone, except for the Bnei Baruch group, crying out for the spiritual correction of the Israeli nation and for the corporeal correction.
[105069]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, Writings of Baal Hasulam “Inheritance of the Land”

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