Question: A person who begins to study the integral method goes through difficult states since his ego receives blows. If these states are necessary, why does it happen this way?

Answer: You cannot leave the ego or leave Pharaoh if you don’t feel the blows. This is why we say that Pharaoh brings the children of Israel closer to the exodus from Egypt, as it is written: “Pharaoh has brought the sons of Israel closer to our Father in Heaven.” They feel the blows on their ego and understand that they cannot stay in it and cannot leave it, and, so they feel helpless, saying, “So, what can we do?” Then, I feel another blow and another, and I realize that I need the Creator since only He can take me out of there by holding my hand.

Then, they connect to the Creator and advance, if they don’t leave the integral education and understand that it is all done, first of all, for them and not in order to educate anyone.

When I receive blows and shake inside not knowing where to run, only the group can help me. If it wraps me and warms me, I will not fear the blows. I immediately begin to understand that I need to adhere to the group. I need mutual guarantee. I need the Creator, and, then I discover everything automatically. One little “ouch,” a little prick, and I already understand everything. However, this is only if you are around friends, including the women.

The men begin to understand that they need the women’s support, and, especially stability. Women contribute to softening things.
[104724]
From the Virtual Lesson 4/7/13

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Question: I want to ask in regard to your blog post “The Israeli Nation In The Modern World” posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:23 pm. What is the root of your negative attitude towards American Jews? After everything Jews have gone through, you say we cannot even call these people Jewish? Despite the fact that almost all Jews living in the US came from Europe and their grandparents suffered in the Holocaust, yet you say they cannot be called Jewish?

On the one hand, Kabbalah does not blame a person for his desires, yet somehow American Jews are to blame for not living in Israel, or not being focused enough on Israel? Keep in mind, the majority of American Jews have never even been to Israel and don’t know nothing about it because their ancestors as emigrated from Europe to the US before the State of Israel was established. Are you only a Jew if you live in Israel? Why don’t you mention of Russian Jews, or French Jews, or anything else, only American Jews.

What do you see as the duty of American Jews from the spiritual point of view? What must they do to not receive such an attitude from you? Must they all move to Israel and then they will be Jews in your eyes? Please give some insight to all this. This is one of many times you have expressed such an attitude toward American Jews. At least in my eyes, as a Jew from America (whatever my opinion is worth), these comments have been hurtful, frustrating, and made without any explanation whatsoever. Thank you.

Answer: Kabbalah does not blame, but points to a person’s mission in this world. And importantly, the mission of the Jews is to correct the world; the mission has not been canceled. And the fact that the majority of Jews do not know about it, it is the task of Kabbalah to give them this knowledge.

After all, a phrase that lawyers are so fond of, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it,” is true, as it is also true with respect to the laws of nature. And the mission of the Jewish people in this world is the law of nature.

The roots of the attitude toward the American Jews is that living in the most egoistic country of our world, they actively promote conservation, ossification of the egoism of this type, and precisely in our time, when persistent support of the egoistic basis of relationships between people leads the entire world toward death.

That is why, despite the fact that the majority of Jews do not live in the land of Israel, because of the key role of the US in the system of the egoistic relationships in our world, namely the American Jews are reproached.

As it is known, in the system that is in a transitional phase of development, like now with human civilization, the range of actions is sharply reduced and clearly indicates the place of the application of forces in order to bring the system to the next, sustainable, better state with minimal losses. This requires very little effort to be applied in the right direction.

That is why the spiritual duty of American Jews is to get acquainted with the method of integral education and upbringing, to understand its meaning quickly and correctly. You have to keep in direct contact with us to clarify and verify the meaning, content, and purpose of the method, and implement it in your life and of the society you live in.

Let’s face it. The American Jews have recently become active opponents of Israel as they want to gain legitimacy and approval of anti-Semites. They become more active in this than non-Jews. They want to hide from their origin in every possible way.

I grew up in a hostile environment and know how it goes. I also understand them when they justify their opposition to Zionism in every way. What they had just 20-30 years ago has gone. Today, they are no longer the descendants of Holocaust survivors; they are the people who want to erase it from history. If I were in their place, I would have become like them.

I do not blame them, do not call upon them to come to Israel; I just wish for them to know about their purpose and predetermined mission and destiny, which they cannot escape. They must unite according to the laws of nature, in the property of bestowal, mutual guarantee, and to set an example to other American nations, not to be absorbed as the German Jews wanted to at one time, but on the contrary, to unite and be an example, the light for the nations in the exit from the crisis.

Anyone who decides to move to Israel should know that simply moving his body and possessions here will change little. If you come to live in Israel, bring here the demand to change to the people of this state, to unite and realize the words of the prophets. Require them to change the basis of their lives because Israelites listen to the opinion of “America”; teach them that.
[104055]

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“One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House and Put Shoes on His Feet” (Shabbat, 129).

Question: What does it mean to “sell the beams of his house” in the spiritual sense?

Answer: “The beams of his house” are all the thoughts, the desires, and my whole attitude to life, that obligate me to worry about myself instead of uniting with the friends. In order to build one general image, one system, I have to sell this “house” that is so dear to me.

But this is not enough either. I have to buy shoes to put on my feet, which means that I need a defensive force that would hold me in its field. It isn’t enough to just annul my opinion and lower my head before the group, which called to “sell the beams of his house.” I also need to receive powers that allow me to remain adhered to the friends above all the thoughts that are evoked in me.

This means that it isn’t enough to annul myself, but that I need an additional force that binds me to the group. This is called a “covenant” or “shoes on his feet (raglan),” so as not to “spy” (meragel, which has the same root as feet in Hebrew) for the benefit of my ego.
[104554]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/13, Writings of Rabash 

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From Rabash’s Letter 5: … you should do more in love of friends. It is impossible to achieve lasting love, unless through Dvekut [adhesion], meaning that you will unite the two of you with a tight bond. And this can be only if you try to “undress” the clothing in which the inner soul is placed—the clothing called “self-love”…

And when you feel that you are at war, each of you will know and feel that he needs the help of his friend, and without him, his own strength will weaken, too. Then, when you understand that you must save your life, each of you will forget that he has a body he must keep, and you will both be tied by the thought of how to use the enemy.

Love of friends is attained by way of a war for its sake. It is impossible to attain adherence that indicates constant love without striving to leave the clothing of the evil inclination in which the soul is clothed. To leave this clothing of self-love is possible only if you exchange it for love of the other, for the screen and the Returning Light.

This, specifically, is what we must reach. When we begin to search for how to do this, we feel that everything essentially depends on our relationship to the other, things that are so contemptible in our world. All relationships in the world are established according to laws, protecting the rights of the individual, of democracy. However, when we see some of the truth through the influence of the Surrounding Light, we then understand that it is specifically through connection with the other that we realize the entire program of creation.

The other one, whether a friend or the Creator, is the same; there is no difference. If I want to rise above myself and reach the Creator, it is precisely then that I see that I require help from a friend. As long as all the friends have not come to my aid, according to how much I give myself over to them, I cannot do anything.

What we require is mutual cooperation where we depend upon each other. As much as I give myself over to others, to this extent they can help me, and when they come to help me, I stop thinking about myself. In spite of myself, I rise above myself.

However, the friends can come to help me only if I subdue myself with respect to them. With this, I oblige them to be concerned for me. This is saying that everything depends on the work of the individual regarding his environment. The more I subdue myself and am ready to adhere to the environment, to the teacher, to the books, to learning, to dissemination—which is to say, to all means for attaining the goal, trusting like an infant, surrendering myself to the lowest level—the closer I come to my spiritual realization.

I must begin my spiritual ascent from zero. The more I approach zero with my thoughts, desires, and deeds, the more I adhere to the group and oblige it to be concerned about me. I begin to receive the right influence from inside the group. Whatever level on which it is found at the moment is not even important. This influence makes it possible for me to nullify my self-love, departing from the egoistic shell (Klipa), from the evil inclination, and to start the spiritual work.
[104446]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/13

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From Rabash’s letter (No. 8): …at the end of the day, this is a group of people who have gathered in a certain place, under a certain leader, to be together. With superhuman courage they face up to all those who rise against them.

Indeed, they are brave men with a strong spirit, and they are determined not to retreat one inch. They are first-class fighters, fighting the war against the inclination to their last drop of blood, and their only wish is to win the battle for the glory of His name.

These words are said about the internal war that takes place inside us, as it is written, “There will always be a fight between good and bad inclinations.” The more we kindle this internal battle, the sooner we will understand that we have to exit from our ego, overpower it, escape from it, and rise above the materiality that we now sense.

There is no other way to escape from this world and attain the higher level other than by being under constant pressure, fear, and troubles that lead us to a condition that is defined as the “exodus from Egypt.” We begin revealing these qualities in us, and they make us come “out of our skin,” meaning to leave our bodies.

Only these conditions allow us to rise. It happens by a single circumstance: We should retain and work with our internal properties that are opposite by nature. One doesn’t escape by soaring into spirituality. We can’t do it by floating in the skies or leaving this material world below, nor is it about detaching from this corporeality. At the same time, we shouldn’t submerge into this realm or consider that this world as something that exists on its own.

We have to stay in the middle and realize that both forms are given to us by the Creator and that we are supposed to combine them together. By no means should we run away or hide from the desire to be pleased; rather, above this desire we have to stay confident that it’s the Upper Force that governs everything around us. It’s a unique and complicated approach for which we need an internal inborn readiness that is called “the root of the soul.” As well, we also need a group that is ready to follow this path, as it is written in Rabash’s letter: At the end of the day, this is a group of people who have gathered in a certain place, under a certain leader, to be together.

There are not many such groups. On the contrary, the farther we advance, the more will be the supporters around us and the fewer the people inside the group. The more precious a quality is the less it’s found in nature. Our goal is to rise to a “superhuman level.”

We can achieve it only by leading a merciless war against our egos. This war is called a “Holy War,” meaning the “war for the sake of the Creator.” In order to lead this war, we should connect both worlds with the Creator, agree to live in two parallel realms, and thank Him for everything that He sends to us. We should understand that everything is originated from one place and is given to us to make us grow.

Rabash writes to us about these issues: …at the end of the day, this is a group of people who have gathered in a certain place, under a certain leader, to be together. With superhuman courage they face up to all those who rise against them… This implies our internal problems. Indeed, they are brave men with a strong spirit, and they are determined not to retreat one inch…meaning that they won’t move towards materiality. They are first-class fighters, fighting the war against the inclination to their last drop of blood, and their only wish is to win the battle for the glory of His name.

This explains why we have to strengthen; if we manage to achieve everything that we spoke about and attain the states that we went through during this Passover, there is no doubt that we will end up being at the doorstep that is already in front of us.
[104062]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/13

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Question: What are the perfect relationships between men and women in the group?

Answer: The perfect relationship is the mutual yearning to unite only our desires for the Creator and not any other desires. It is best if we don’t pay attention to the bodies. It doesn’t matter who I am dealing with, whether it is a man or a woman, but if it disturbs me, I should make it so that it doesn’t disturb me. In fact, in the spiritual world the male and the female desires exist in each of us.

There is a desire to receive, AHP and a desire to bestow, GE. This means that in the spiritual world things don’t take place the way they do in our world in the corporeal bodies. There only the desires connect, the desires for the Creator and no other desires; all the other desires are egoistic, and therefore they don’t exist in spirituality.

If a person wants to eat two meals for lunch, he should go ahead, since it doesn’t stand in the way of his spiritual advancement. If he likes a certain girl, then it doesn’t interrupt his spiritual advancement either. What’s important is what his main desire is focused on. If it is focused on the Creator everything else becomes part of that.

The relationships between men and women in the group should be regulated and organized so that they don’t interrupt the spiritual advancement in any way.

Question: Suppose that I can hug my friend as a man, but I cannot picture myself doing it correctly with women.

Answer: Your relationships with women should be established so that they don’t interfere with spiritual advancement, so that the spiritual and the physical are not confused. Spiritual is spiritual and physical is physical.
[104216]
From the European Convention in Germany 3/23/13, Lesson 5

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A person has to create a “safety net” around him so that he won’t break when the workload is heavy, when his sensitivity is sharpened and he is shown all the evil within him. Advancement is measured by how fast a person wakes up and feels happy for having received the “hardening of the heart,” as Baal HaSulam says: “I am happy with the revelation of the wicked.”

A person begins to work with the wicked, with all the interruptions: his lack of desire, the thought about how hard and useless the work is; he is critical of the friends and the teacher and has complaints about his life. The world around him may be in ruin and people may feel depressed, but when he looks at them, they seem to be successful. He is shown a distorted picture, and people on the street seem full of vitality and wisdom.

All this is a theater and a lie, and a person definitely needs a safety net that will make him feel secure and strengthen him to keep on moving forward. There are two conditions for that: The first condition is the group that focuses a person on the Creator. The second condition is to immediately turn to the Creator in order to receive the force of bestowal that allows him to be above the force of receiving that the Creator will evoke in him the next time. This is how a person advances.

Therefore, Rabash says that the Light helps “only those who want to leave the domination of evil,” which means those who exert themselves. I can’t hope that the Light will correct everything by itself and that nothing depends on me, that there is no point in taking steps in the direction of the friends. The Light will not influence me if I don’t first do everything that is in my power.

I am only capable of the simplest thing: to take care of the friends, to connect to them, to hug them, and to do something for them, even with the wrong intention. In response to these false intentions and these lies, the Creator gives me the hardening of the heart: I begin to feel terrible heaviness and reluctance to do it; I don’t see any sense in it. This means that the Creator reveals the evil in me, and it seems that I am getting worse each time and getting further and further away from the goal.

And the truth is that it makes sense that in everything one exerts himself one advances to a certain extent, but he doesn’t go backward. (From Rabash’s article “What is that Before the Egyptian Minister Fell, Their Outcry wasn’t Answered in the Work”). That’s the way things seem to me now since I accuse and judge everything in the world by my corruptions.

And the excuse is that one doesn’t go backward, but rather advances towards the truth, which means that I don’t approach the false goal, as I see it in my egoistic desire, but rather the truth, and then I see to what extent the evil can operate in them. To the extent that the evil is revealed in a person, he can return to the right place with the help of the group in order to turn to the Creator.

Without a group a person has no chance of remembering that he has to turn to the Creator. He will forget it and will miss the chance that he was given from Above. He will not be able to use the awakening he was given and will simply fall and drown in the evil within him. So we need an environment that raises a person to the good state and shows him in which directions he should act in order to come out of the descent.

The group operates like a mother who supports a child who is learning to walk, and he only needs to make a step forward, thus he takes one step after another until he acknowledges the total evil within him, and then the Creator helps him. Then we see that the Creator hears a person’s prayer the whole time, and that it is the Creator who has put the person through both the good states and the bad states.

… and so we need to be very strong and not to escape, but rather believe that the Creator hears every prayer. A person has to try to hold himself in every situation in the direction of the Creator and to make sure he has the necessary support. The courage is not in fighting my laziness, my bad feelings, the despair, the fatigue, or the helplessness; all my efforts should be focused on arranging the right support for myself, which means getting ready.

Thus a person “secures himself” and puts himself, in advance, in a position that doesn’t depend on him. It’s as if he buys an insurance policy. I don’t know what will happen in a moment and I want to make sure that the moment I grow weak and will not be able to control myself, then someone else who is powerful will take care of me. He will undoubtedly help me and do everything that is right for my sake.

I make myself such an insurance policy in advance: through the study, my commitment to the group, and my participation in duties. I organize everything so that when I fall, I will not be completely detached and will not get lost. This is the only way we can advance.
[103755]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/13

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Question: How is it possible to remain loyal to the most important thing and not forget about the connection in all possible situations?

Answer: We constantly need to remind each other about that. This is called Arvut, mutual guarantee.

We must create a network that doesn’t allow us, even for one moment, to forget about the connection: read parts of the lessons or articles several times a day, talk, think, listen to our songs, and study, which means do whatever is possible in order to live within it. And in parallel with our daily business, work, and care of the family, within us there always needs to be the yearning for connection.
[104043]
From the European Convention in Germany 3/23/13, Lesson 5

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Question: This evening we are arranging a special lesson symbolizing the end of the Passover holiday, the departure from the ego. How do we need to approach this with a maximum request to cross the Machsom?

Answer: This comes suddenly. Nobody knows exactly when, nobody can predict anything. But Baal HaSulam writes that the time of Passover is a very important time; in our world it’s a special time regarding the Surrounding Lights.

Indeed, the departure can take place any time, any day, but at the same time we need to do as much as possible according to the communication of the physical branch with the spiritual root. We have a chance, and for this a great cooperative effort is required, likewise a little chutzpah (audacity).

– We deserve it!

– Why?

– Because!

This is compulsory. Regarding this it’s said: “My sons have defeated me.” Though I know that I don’t deserve it, in spite of it all, I demand, apply pressure, and this audacity is very useful because it shows that I am going beyond the limits of my ego, I believe that I depend on the Creator and it’s specifically from Him that I demand what I want. Here lies not just an emotional outburst but a deliberate shout, a necessary assault in His direction: “Do it!” That is how new Kelim, additional deficiencies, are aroused in me.

Question: What is needed in order to build this demand throughout the day?

Answer: It is necessary to concentrate on the opposition formed at the time of the departure from “Egypt,” on connection and elevation above our individual and collective ego. In general, we require a demand with the addition of audacity. And the main thing is unity. And don’t be distracted by anything else.

Question: How must one be audacious about this request and at the same time ask on behalf of everyone, together with everyone?

Answer: It’s written that we leave Egypt in the dark of night. This doesn’t say that it’s necessary to wait until it gets dark outside and to turn out the lights at home. No, this is darkness of the ego, which we feel inside of us when nothing more can save us and there is no possibility of escape.

We need to run toward the center of the group, toward love of friends, toward love of another. It’s necessary to concentrate on this; we require the importance of only this. The Light reveals the Kelim and corrects them. Everything comes from that except for the request for help.
[103943]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/31/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: It is said that he who cleaves to the Upper One does not fail, that he is above all problems. How can we increase the desire to cleave to the Creator, to overcome all adversities, and rise above everything that we feel from the Creator?

Answer: We have already discussed that a person cannot do anything alone. Those problems that the Creator gives us just seem personal. No one has personal problems because of the Kli (vessel) that became shattered in the world of Nikudim. In other words, the soul of Adam that was in the world of Atzilut was common, and all the problems are the demonstration of the shattering of the correct, common state. That is why it is impossible to say that I am uncorrected. There is no human being who was like that because I am uncorrected only in my attitude toward the common state that was originally created.

The shattering occurred not in every one of us but between the parts of the common soul, and that is why we need to correct the connection between us. This is very important. We need to remember this and constantly try to imagine the corrected state, and then we suddenly will see how the general mosaic comes together and turns into a beautiful, joint Lego, and the upper world is manifested in this combination.

Question: When we are connected together, the Light passes through us to the 99% of humanity. In this case, do we need to cleave to the Creator more strongly to be able to transmit the Light more?

Answer: Of course. This is because the world will demand more and more from us. It is in a critical state even now. We need to perceive its state as a plea to us because when a baby who is feeling bad is crying, his parents guess what he wants. So, are we: The world screams, it feels bad, and we must guess what it needs. It needs unity. That is why we must act in this way.
[103921]
From the European Convention in Germany 3/23/13, Lesson 4

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