An extract from the book The Light of the Sun: …and what is more, when Israel are untied and engage in the Torah, they overcome all those who rise against them by that.

We conquer and neutralize all the forces of evil by keeping the unity between us. They are no longer necessary because all the forces belong to one force: There is none else besides Him, the good that does good. But it is felt as good only if a person yearns for the good according to his level and his ability.

If he doesn’t yearn for that, the same force operates in an opposite manner. Its action is still good and benevolent to the sinners and to the righteous, of course, but a person who is inclined oppositely from the good and the benevolent feels this force as evil. This evil is revealed in different manners according to the attributes and desires that he has to correct by the same Light that Reforms. So it is in this Light that he feels darkness, like a bat that is blinded by the sunlight, in contrast to a rooster that gladly receives the dawn.
[118392]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/13

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As soon as you are led to the group from above, immediately it starts increasing the value of the goal in order to enhance what is given to you as your first spark. In fact, only by way of this value do you outweigh lies and purchase the truth. And if you don’t receive this value from the group, you will either return to the lies or you will sit idle unable to leave eating yourself up.

But advancing on the path of the truth is possible only when receiving an inspiration from the importance of the goal and the environment. To the degree of this importance, you will be willing to suffer, your ego suffers and the truth grows. After all, it is very painful.

Besides, the group helps me understand that to achieve something is possible only through prayer. A prayer is a plea to transform the desire from receiving to bestowal, from separation and hate to unity and love. I remember how when I was taking a walk with Rabash in the grove near Beit Shemen and I was telling him about all my problems, complaining and screaming for about ten minutes and he quietly listened till he suddenly said: “But why didn’t you ask (Him)?”

We do not have enough of the request: “Why didn’t you ask?” Frankly, our nature doesn’t allow us to come to it, to just ask. Neither our mind nor our heart comprehends that we just need to arrange a plea for correction. And people suffer months and years unable to ask, to raise MAN.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Why is it so hard for us to ask for correction if we know that everything depends on it? It would seem that it’s so natural for a person to ask.

Answer: Yes, it is natural to ask, but here we need to find out exactly: What do we need to ask for, how do we ask, and who is the one that will give us the answer? A prayer is not just a cry, and if it’s put into words, they should be born in the heart not read from a book.

If a person feels bad, he doesn’t choose beautiful words. Our problem is that a prayer doesn’t come from the depth of our hearts.

Only the environment can lead us to such a prayer; if it wants it, you will ask. Why does it seem to us that we all want it and are trying to influence each other but something doesn’t work? The main thing we are lacking is the depth of desire, the truth which is in it. We lack clarification of what is important to me, and that it is secondary to stop being confused between the two desires: material and spiritual.

We have to learn to cast two entirely separate views at the material and the spiritual without mixing them together! Here is this world, egoistic, I’m forced to live in it in the meantime. And there is the world of bestowal and I wish I could begin to live in it. That determines my prayer.

We are still unable to distinguish one from the other, although we can see a lot of progress in it since the last congress.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Even while under the domination of the egoistic forces, the shells (Klipot), we can awaken the upper. Only those in whom the point in the heart has awakened have the potential of connecting with the Creator, but with an intention that is still for oneself. A person turns to the Creator with intentions that are still for himself and therefore is considered to be at the mercy of the impure forces.

The greater the strength one has to turn to the Creator yet while doing it for himself, the greater the egoism (Klipa). Therefore, as it is written, “He who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than his.” The great wicked, the enormous forces of egoism, that the Torah speaks about—Balaam, Balak, Pharaoh (the general shell), Haman, Ahaseurus, and the seven nations that occupy the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Jews—all these attributes are awakened in a person according to his level. The greater the shell a person is in, the greater Holiness he is awarded in contrast to it.

The ascent begins when the point in the heart awakens in a person while it is in the captivity of the egoistic force, Klipot, and in the intention to receive for oneself. Despite the egoistic intention of in order to receive in which the point in the heart is, not by choice, it raises a prayer (MAN). Although the prayer is egoistic, in order to receive, it is still a prayer of the lower, of the shell that awakens the upper level to act. Then, the upper begins to work on this prayer and raises it from one level to another until Ein Sof (infinity). However, we learn only about three levels: the lower, the upper, and the uppermost. All the other levels operate in the same way.

This trio constantly operates: the lower, the upper, and the uppermost. The lower is in egoism, and the upper, which feels the sorrow of the lower and knows how to properly translate it, processes the lower’s corrupt prayer to a corrected prayer and raises it to the upper upper that is in holiness, disconnected from the corrupt lower. So, in the upper upper, there is already all the Light and power necessary to take care of the lower.

The upper raises itself to the upper upper with a double prayer: the prayer of the lower and its response to it. So, the upper upper gives it double the greatness that it needs in order to take care of the lower. When it reaches greatness, it can already take care of the corrupt lower. Thus, it turns out that the “first born” that is called the upper Partzuf receives double from the uppermost, its part and the part for the corrupt lower. This is how the chain operates.

This is the only action in our correction and it takes us out of the Klipot. So, the first condition is the prayer. All our spiritual work, all the reality that we feel, is arranged and ready to help raise a prayer to the upper. There is nothing but our request. This is because we cannot perform any actions except for the chance to ask. This is actually what we forget.

We eventually will understand that there is none else besides Him and that the Creator is good and benevolent, that there is one force that operates in reality, about which it is written: “I am the first, and I am the last.” All this is meant to help us discover our request at any given moment.

The request of the lower must be arranged correctly in order to bestow. If we ask for ourselves, we are in the Klipot under the domination of impure, egoistic forces. If we continue to ask for ourselves, we find ourselves more deeply in this egoism.

All of our requests, all the deficiencies—even from the most disgraceful states—still rise upward. The only question is in which form. If the requests are not in equivalence of form with the upper, they still are accepted and still influence the system and its development. But in this case, the forces compel us to torture ourselves and see the world growing more strongly evil and dark. We advance but by the path of suffering, in its time.

If our requests are according to the desire of the upper, they awaken all the levels of correction to rise up to Ein Sof and bring us down the new Light that will clarify, correct, and fill our vessels in order to bestow. Then, we will advance by the path of “I shall hasten it.”
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/22/13

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The most important task in this world is for a person to be constantly ready for prayer. This is the only action that can make a difference. We make efforts physically, mentally, in thought, and in desire, but in fact we needed all these thousands of actions for thousands of years only so that at the end of the matter we would reach the right prayer, cry, desire. When we can accept our desire in the right form, then we will succeed in attracting the higher power to us that does everything.

Only the Light acts and only we with a “point in the heart” are prepared to arouse the Light to action. Basically, all the rest cannot do this, only to the most minimal degree by way of “in its time” (Isaiah 60:22) and to the degree that we are integrated with them, yet no more than this. About this it is written that the “nations of the world” have no link with the higher power, with the Creator. The general desire for pleasure, according to its structure, cannot connect directly with the Creator, except only through those who have the spiritual spark.

Therefore, at those times and in those conditions where we cannot arise correctly for the world, we distance ourselves and the whole world from the Creator. Through the evil powers that rise, by means of the feeling of distance and recognition of evil, in spite of it all we advance, yet not in a desirable way.

Only we who have a “point in the heart” are ready to pray. All the rest do this either out of habit implanted from childhood or with simply egoistic motives. And the prayer of a simple egoist is better since the person screams about his pain. All dissatisfaction is already a prayer and a cry to the Creator, even if the person doesn’t think about Him. This is already some kind of turning upward. These turnings have been gathered for thousands of years from the screams of billions of people, and eventually collectively awaken them and the Upper Light.

Yet even though the Upper Light reaches them through us, the general structure is not changed. Even if we are not ready to work with the Light correctly, it is there and exists. And so it reaches us and bumps into us like a wall because we are found in exile and cannot think about the nations of the world.

In a form like this, we are far from the Creator because we are not raising the prayer to Him, and we are also distant from the nations of the world because we have not conveyed their prayer upwards. It follows that we are at a double loss. We need to consider this! The problems and troubles will not cease as long as the people of Israel have not realized their real task, until it will be the higher level for the nations of the world in order to convey the double prayer, theirs and that of the entire world, to the higher level.

We are supposed to make practical applications for our work with the general public, meaning, those who are not ready to awaken to connection with the Creator and are therefore called the “nations of the world.” As much as this work with people will be perfected, skillful, professional, it will not bring the right results and will not bear fruit if it doesn’t end with a prayer.

All our invested efforts, each one separately and all together, are imperative solely and only so that we will reach prayer. From the start we went out to operate because the Creator sent us (“I am first”) so that as a result of our action we would reach the double prayer after we absorb the desires of the people and thereby arouse our desire. Then we can ask to make us a part of the conduit only for their sake so we will be able to take care of people. After all, the Creator created us with a “point in the heart.”

Following work like this with the general public, we reach the lifting of prayer, that is, the work entrusted to Israel. Here there already exist the three components required for spiritual action: the lower level – the public, the upper level – us; and the highest level – the Creator. In this way we work together.

If we think about this before and after the action, and are prepared to link it to this state, then our action will be blessed and successful. About this it is written: “The firstborn… give him a double share” (Deuteronomy 21:17), for himself and for the younger brother.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/22/13

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Question: Man’s nature is such that he doesn’t wish to recognize his inner evil. Only when cornered does a person feel forced to admit the need for correction. What is this evil that hides within me?

Answer: Unfounded hatred; it destroyed Rabbi Akiva’s disciples. There is no other evil. Everything else is evil from the view of my ego. Only unfounded hatred represents the very evil that resists the good: loving others as we love ourselves. This is the only criterion that I measure myself and my corruption by. All other “vices” are not viewed as flaws by the Creator. They are not considered a good cause to appeal to Him. He expects an authentic plea. The entire system of correction is designed for the broken Kelim, or the desires that are unable to unify.

Question: So, we must constantly feel this evil and not sugarcoat or hide it from ourselves, correct?

Answer: From Psalms: “I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). Otherwise, what will I point out to the Creator? What will I require Him to correct? It is really very simple. I wish to participate in the life of the group; I am attracted to it, and at the same time I see that I am unable to do so. This is exactly what we experienced during a Kabbalah congress. Having gathered together, we immediately realized that we don’t want to and cannot unite. This is what is called discovering one’s own evil. It is great! Now we must keep this evil as our target and demand to be reformed.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/10, Introduction to The Book of Zohar

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Spiritual development is in feelings because the material of creation is the desire to enjoy. And we can use the mind only on condition that it helps us to correct desire. Otherwise, it can hurt us.

Therefore, it’s said that “there is none wiser than the experienced.” That is, first you need to go through all kinds of feelings and impressions in your desire to enjoy and then from this you obtain wisdom. We cannot work in the mind with what we have not experienced in our desire, that’s called philosophy, which has no real basis. After all, everything is based on the material of desire.

States are changing every second because, if a state does not change, then time is not moving. Any state changes due to the fact that first we cancel ourselves before the influence of the Light. All the work is done by the Light: The Light is primary. It creates a desire, affects, and changes it. We are only required to accept the action of the Light, let it enter, we express our consent, a request, a prayer, to persuade it to do its work.

It all depends on our state: whether we demand like babies or ask like adults. There are many types of relationships between the Light and a person, or rather, the desire for the Light, asking the Light to influence it and make some action on it.

Why is it necessary that the desire turns to the Light and asks it to act? Because through this, the desire understands what the Light is going to do and agrees with this. It acquires intelligence, the head, and makes itself similar to the Light. It cannot perform the action itself; the action relates to the work of the Creator, but because of this, the desire grows until it becomes equal to the Light. My task is to draw the Light on all the actions that I want done to me, and the Light performs everything.

Every request like this begins from self-annulment: I want that a change to be made in me, but don’t know exactly what. After all, this will be a new state, I cannot recognize it or see in advance. It’s impossible to talk about something that I have not yet reached, so I need self-annulment, and I ask the upper one to make this action on me to save me.

I don’t know what He will do and into what He will turn me, what I will become in a moment. Even if the head and the body change, that is, the thought and action, everything, so that I would not recognize my former self as I was a second ago, to such an extent that I would become an entirely new creation. I don’t care what I will become, it’s most important for me to give myself to the Light so that it would perform its action.

I have to be ready for this and wish more than anything else to want to cut myself off from all of the past so that nothing is left from the past, and I would not see a single old property in myself and even that there would be no transition between the past, present, and future. Only then it means that I am ready for the impact of the Light on me.

It should not come from the desire to escape from the previous state. I am asking to be changed not because I feel bad. I don’t ask to be saved from problems as that would be a selfish request instead of the advancement to the next spiritual level. I ask one thing: Help me become like the Light, to become somewhat similar to it, to become a giver for someone.

All that I can clarify is only in the group with respect to the friends, to humanity. Thus I am preparing myself for the true prayer. I am looking for it because I don’t know what this feeling should be. So, I search, work, study, disseminate, do everything I can. You have to be sensitive to what you are given to advance toward the burst of the true prayer, which leads to the answer to it from above.

Thus I come to self-annulment, the feeling of joy, solidarity, loyalty to the Light, which is called the devotion of the soul. I know that everything it will do to me will be correct. And it is not because I want to run away from troubles and I have no other choice, but on the contrary, I am fine and have no shortage in anything. I lack only one thing: handing myself to the Light and becoming included in the quality of bestowal so that it would rule over me and allow me not to think about myself but to be loyal to that one property.

This is called the correct prayer, the request for the first action of the Light, which is the beginning of the spiritual embryo. After that, a person begins to feel his connection with the Light to the extent that he feels like a drop of spiritual seed that must cancel itself inside the property of bestowal.

This starts a long process of spiritual growth of the embryo that passes in constant self-annulment relative to the Light, which every time passes more properties of bestowal to the embryo. The entire spiritual path, the entire ladder, birth, suckling, and maturity, is the acquisition of additional properties of bestowal over the previous state. Thus the soul grows.
[117039]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/13

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It is said: “The Cup of blessing should be filled to the brim.” In order to make the Light work on me, I have to ask the Light to do so from out of all my desires that it has to correct.

I don’t know what kind of desire this is and about what part of myself I ask, but it must be the full measure. I don’t know how it happens and whether I am going in the right direction to find the necessary desires. I just have to constantly work to give myself to the thoughts, desires, and actions of bestowal as much as possible, and to be included in the group until I come to the right cry organized for me by the Creator.

The true prayer is already a consequence of the influence of the Light. After all, we ourselves do nothing, but preparation. The prayer itself is the result of many preliminary steps and preparation, the prayer before the prayer.

The Light gradually affects us by small illuminations in the dark, in the states of helplessness and powerlessness until our despair reaches the limit when the person is ready to do anything to become a slave of bestowal, which will rule over him and fill his entire mind and heart.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/13

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Rabash, “Shlavei HaSulam,” 1985-1986, Article 36, “What is Preparation for Forgiveness”: When the person comes to ask the Creator to forgive him for his error against him and a defect in his respect for the Creator, blessed be He, the person needs to think thoughts about what his error was regarding the Creator.

I ask forgiveness not for the defects with which I was born, that are found from the start in my nature. I don’t relate to them (Genesis 8:21) “…for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth… .” I don’t relate to the evil inclination itself, rather only to my effort: Could I have already risen above my evil inclination to build “screens” and to acquire the relationship of bestowal, love, and connection above the evil inclination? Could I have acted according to the principle, “Love covers over all transgressions,” (Proverbs 10:12)?

Specifically if I have been negligent in this effort, I need to express remorse and to ask for forgiveness, and I need to cry about this. The “sorrow of the Shechina” is not that She prepared for us the shattered state, the defect, but in that we don’t try to lift Her from the dust according to the conditions with which it is possible for us to do this.

The Light that Reforms arrives according to my effort. If it doesn’t arrive with connection to it, it shows me the general shattering that was made by the Creator. In contrast to this, when the Light that Reforms arrives according to the effort that I make or don’t make, it reveals to me only my part, the effort that I didn’t give and could have given.

It is not necessary to be sorry about my being born not to be successful in something—for example, not being physically strong, not wise enough, or without a good memory and skill for learning; there is no need to complain about this. If they didn’t give me something, this is a sign that I don’t need this. If I don’t have particular skills and I have difficulty because of this, it’s obvious I have to work in these conditions throughout my life.

My personality traits don’t attest to my being good or bad. It could be that I was born lazy, a spendthrift, overbearing, and so on. Essentially the fact that I was born with these characteristics is already a sign that I don’t need to relate to this. It is not up to me to correct them. It is up to me to correct only my participation in what they reveal to me beyond my nature. If there, beyond it, I am lazy, then I need to make a sacrifice about this laziness, and regarding this lack of participation, I need to cry on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). I ask for forgiveness not for my bad characteristics with which I was born but about what I truly could have corrected when I received the opportunity from Heaven and I didn’t actualize it.

Therefore, whoever doesn’t make an effort, he does not reveal evil found in him. And someone who does make an effort discovers that he is evil—and this is only to the degree that he could have made a correction and didn’t correct it.

We are not responsible for correcting all that the spiritual systems have damaged before us. This is damage to the general system. Rather we correct what is imposed upon us, then the entire system will be corrected. You see, it was damaged since a component entered into it that is called Adam. Therefore when we correct the participation of the person in the system, we correct everything.

Question: How is regret linked to relationships between the friends?

Answer: As is written, Yom Kippur does not correct the errors of the person related to his friend. I must be sorry about what I apparently caused and at the same time remember that this was also done by the Creator. This way or another I am not sorry that I discovered that I am evil. I am sorry about feeling that the gap between me and the Creator is still found in me. And so I correct it.

And this says that even in the discovery of the evil, I must feel joy.

Question: There is no one who hasn’t done something bad to another person, even unintentionally. How can I atone for this? How do I ask for forgiveness?

Answer: A person does this through reaching connection. This is his compensation. There is no need to and no deed that can atone for what I did. All the evil that I did caused separation. All the good that I can do: This is only to cause unity. The forms and ways of evil and good are not important; the main thing is specifically unity or separation. If you do it this way, you will not err.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/13, Writings of Rabash

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Question: It is written that prayer is said to begin with gratitude. Is there any gratitude in the prayers of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)?

Answer: First of all, the prayers on Yom Kippur are linked to the prayers of Rosh Hashanah that are designed to exalt “crown” of the Creator as king of the world. With this we elevate the goal, bestowal, love, it is a great attribute that we must attain. It manages the entire world, dwells everywhere, and controls everything.

The Creator means the characteristic of bestowal and love. He has no other image so He is clothed in the Kelim, and so we get to know Him, get to know the force that acts in creation. We respect, appreciate, and exalt this property above all.

This is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah; we celebrate the “head” (Rosh in Hebrew), which is the characteristic of bestowal. It is the most important, runs everything, attracts us, and we want to reach it, to be like it, and to be integrated within it.

Whereas Yom Kippur shows us how we are still far from this. We examine, discover, the defects and see that in the meantime we lack corrections so that we will acquire the characteristic of complete and full bestowal. We regret this when we uncover and prepare our flaws for work.

After that come the days of correction and on Purim we finish it.

Question: This is saying that on Yom Kippur there is only regret that we are not yet corrected?

Answer: And this is a great joy. In fact, I am not sorry but joyful. The shattered Kelim are revealed to me and now I can fix them. That’s right: My regret, the repentance, and the “forgiveness” are linked to joy, since I have finally discovered the evil in me and now am totally trembling with desire to correct it. I am happy that I have discovered this and I am grateful for this.

Try to read the prayers on Yom Kippur with happiness instead of crying and you will discover something completely different in this.

How is it possible to cry when we are found next to the Creator? You see that now if you are sorry, you are attesting that the Creator is the one who caused the sorrow, and this means even that the Creator is not the Good Who does good? In fact, there is no such thing. The Creator reveals the shattering to you so that you will be happy and will correct the flaw. With this you will be able to resemble Him yourself. And on the contrary, if He had created you like Him without your independent participation you would simply be “stuck” to Him like duct tape.

But no, He now gives you the opportunity to identify the differences, prepares the state for you that seemingly says, “In these characteristics you are different from Me. Carry out the work and you will be like Me.” How could it be that you would cry; for He has related to you this way and has given you the opportunity to be like Him?

On the contrary, you are happy: “Indeed, we have erred and betrayed. Indeed, I am guilty, I am a thief, I am a liar…”, and you have pleasure from what you have discovered. You are happy that He created you opposite Him and that this opposition shows you how it is possible to be like Him and to merit adhesion.

This says: “To serve the Creator” is the work of the Creator. So how is this linked to crying? You see with this you bring Him contentment. You are thankful that He is the one who has placed everything in front of you and you are grateful that He created you the opposite.

Essentially, it is as if you are “kissing the stick”, the whip that strikes you; and in this way you neutralize the evil inclination. Now it is no longer bad, since thanks to your change in attitude, it becomes good.

Question: This is to say, we are happy that we discover that we are opposite the Creator?

Answer: No, we are happy because by means of this He gives us the opportunity to be equivalent to Him. I thank Him for the preparation that I have done, for His mercy towards me both in the past and in the future. All that He does, including the shattering and the terrible disasters through which we have passed, the essence of all this is complete kindness. This is exactly what we discover. Everything depends on my outlook on life; that is precisely what we must change.
[116722]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/13, Writings of Rabash

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