From an article by Rabash, “What is Half a Shekel in the Work”: There are two factors that make a person escape the work, even when he begins the work in order to adhere to the Creator, since after a person begins to follow the path of the truth, his lowliness is revealed to him from Above, which means that the more he overcomes the more he receives the hardening of the heart from Above, so that there will be room for the Light of the Torah, called letters, which helps him reform, to be revealed.

This means that there is no Light without a vessel, and so by the hardening of the heart, the deficiency is revealed to the fullest. And the Creator knows when it is to the fullest and when the vessel is complete. So sometimes a person escapes the work, when he sees that he has already prayed enough as he sees it, and the Creator does not pay attention to him. It says “and the poor will not diminish,” which means that a person should not diminish himself, and say that the Creator cannot help a lowly person like him. It says “the Lord is sublime and He will see the lowly.

Sometimes a person leaves the work because he knows that he is rich, which means that he has a lot of Torah, a lot of good deeds, and he knows that he is above others. So when he asks the Creator to help him do everything in order to bestow, why doesn’t the Creator turn to him? He knows that he has already prayed so much for that, so he says that the Creator doesn’t want to answer him and so he escapes, but “a person must always overcome.”

“A person must always overcome” means that in every direction, in every sense, he has to keep the straight line which he should follow in order to reach the goal.

This line is like a route that is limited on both sides. On one side towards his ego, there is the feeling of self-lowliness, his self-submission. On the other side, there is his adhesion to the group, in faith above reason, above his small animal mind, which doesn’t let him see the next state, the upper level. Thus a person advances.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Conversation About the Group”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah”: …we must understand that the rest of the 612 Mitzvot (precepts) in the Torah, with all their interpretations, are no more and no less than the sum of the details inserted and contained in that single Mitzva (singular for Mitzvot), “love thy friend as thyself.”

There are 613 “commandments,” that is, 613 actions that lead to correction. We should alter intentions that are associated with the desire to receive from egoistic (for the sake of receiving) into altruistic (for the sake of giving). When we do so, it means that we have “fulfilled a commandment.”

The number of commandments is defined by the amount of individual desires to receive which the vessel of the soul encompasses. It is divided into two parts:

Top           Galgalta Ve Eynaim (G’E), 248 desires
Bottom      AHP, 365 desires

The intention to receive is called the “evil inclination”; whereas, the intention to give is called the “good inclination.” The action per se remains the same. We can differentiate between good or bad actions only by intentions that stand behind them. Thus, a process of correction is in fact a modification of intentions. If it is self-oriented, then it is considered to be the evil inclination; if it is focused on our neighbors, then it is good.

Eventually we have to correct 248 and 365 desires; all together they comprise 613. However, in reality we only correct 612 desires, since the last commandment (the one about love) remains “problematic.” As Kabbalists say, by improving 612 desires, we will attain love. In other words, from love of friends we come to love the Creator.

In the overall system, there is a special part of desires, of course interconnected with the rest of desires, the group that must correct itself. I am not there at the beginning. But as soon as I start working with the group, with friends, wanting to connect with them, and doing so in reality, I will find that in my nature everything is against this: “I cannot, I am not able, I don’t want to, I will not do this.” This is what the evil inclination is, that I do not want to unite, and it hinders me.

Then I call it my “hater” and demand correction from the friends, who are near and far, from anywhere. I discover where correction is, how to realize it, how to overcome my inclination. And I do so until I feel the need to turn to the Creator.

It will not happen immediately. I can scream now, but then the egoistic desire grows, and the thought of the Creator becomes unbearable. I hate Him, I am ready to destroy Him, anything but not to turn to Him. I think that I am required to do the impossible, as if instead of destroying the enemy, I have to love him and help him. It is very hard. And then, feeling hopeless, desiring to achieve bestowal in spite of everything, I turn to the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: You say that we lack unity in our intentions while reading The Book of Zohar, what does that mean?

Answer: We deal with corrections, and a correction is made by the force that created us; this force is called the Light that Reforms. It created, shattered and corrupted everything on purpose so that from the special corruptions we find ourselves in we will be able to understand and to attain the wholeness.

But in order to be able to ascend from our corruption we need the force to operate on us. This force comes only if we first want to be corrected, if we feel a deficiency in its action. Then it operates in perfect accordance with our deficiency in quantity and in quality.

This means that we have to know in advance which corrections this force is going to perform. But we don’t know which corrections are required, so how can we summon it? This is why we are given a kind of a game in our state in which we play connection and unity and getting closer to one another in discussions, as if we are corrected, as if we want to be corrected, as if we want to connect, etc.

If we are drawn to that during the game, since nothing more than that is required of us, if we fulfill this at least in some connection with the correction, the Light operates and influences us. There is a kind of an agreement: I do it “as if” and you do it “for real.” The lower needs to cry out and the upper, in response to these outcries, brings the correction. This is the order of the levels on every level.

So if this is the case, what should we do? All our prayers should only be for connection among us, since this is the correction of the shattering. The connection I try to reach is meant for that, so that I will know that I cannot do that and I need the upper force to do it.

So on the one hand, I am drawn to connection, and on the other hand, I know that I can’t fulfill it without the upper Light. Then the Light comes and does the work. This is the whole action.

This means that the preparation for the receiving of the Torah is a deficiency for the action of correction. The Torah itself is the method of connection, and the upper Light is the force that brings me the connection. There is nothing else but that.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, The Zohar

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• Without the right intention, the Light can’t enter a desire and it remains in its filth. Only the intention purifies the desire’s “body” and allows the Light to enter it.

The intention emerges when the body realizes the impurity it is in, desires unity with the Creator, and makes actions to attract the Light that Reforms. Then the Light of the Torah corrects the desire with the intention for bestowal, and then dresses into it.

First one must reveal one’s egoistic intention. This is also an attainment. Then a person needs the Light in order to change his intention to bestowal.

Question: Is this intention formed by the right environment?

Answer: No, the intention is formed by the Light, while the environment supports this process so a person comes to demand correction from the Light.

Question: So that means only prayer will help one achieve this?

Answer: Yes, prayer, request, or demand aimed at the source, in other words—a need.

Prayer, MAN, is a need, an unfulfilled desire that comes from Nukva that is included in Bina. That’s where the name MAN comes from—Mey Nukvin, literally, “female waters.” Bina creates Nukva, the female quality from the desire to bestow, while Nukva desires to become similar to Bina from its receiving desire. These are the two stages: First, when breaking, Bina becomes included in Nukva, meaning Malchut, and then when Malchut is corrected, it becomes included in Bina.

Question: Then why are all of these physical actions we make in this world necessary?

Answer: Without them I can’t provide for my existence. But if I add the right intention to my animate desire to live and fulfill myself, then I allow it to become corrected. I aim all of my life at correction.

Question: Is it possible to add the intention to every action?

Answer: Yes, even to the “coarsest” one. By virtue of the intention, any action becomes spiritual. Any desire can be corrected, even the most insignificant, the lowest, and stupidest one. The Light will issue a “ validity certificate” to every desire.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/12, “Matan Torah”

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From The Light of the Sun by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Halevi: The main attainment of the Torah is by unity, as it says: “And Israel camped there before the mountain, as one man with one heart, and there the giving was stopped and each tribe corrected and added his Ha-Va-Ya-H.

And they said we shall hear and we shall do in great passion from the bottom of their hearts and they raised Mei Nukvin and they revealed Maim Dekurin, that the Creator descended to give them the Torah and they were rewarded with attainment of the Torah.

The attainment of the Torah means the attainment of the plan of all of creation, its goal, the attainment of the whole path of correction that is attained by unity. This is because we have to correct the shattering and as a result, in addition to the correction of the shattering, we reach attainment. This means that by our exertion we add to our understanding, to the recognition of the state that we are in. We open all the spiritual worlds for ourselves from one level to another until the world of Ein Sof (Infinity).

But before we reach this attainment, we don’t feel any difference between our world and the world of Ein Sof. Infinity is attained only by unity, and the unity is built on two lines—the right and the left, love and hate—one in contrast to the other.

Therefore it says: “And Israel camped there before the mountain” (Jethro, 19, 20), they stood before the hatred they discovered after they had always been in the right line, enthusiastic about spirituality, striving for unity, and eager to connect. It was then that they discovered the left line that stood before them like a high mountain not letting them connect.

Then they needed the Torah, the Light that Reforms, and then they discovered the middle line, the Torah, the Creator that is revealed and helps connect the two lines together. Thanks to their prayer, they received an answer from Above. The Creator descended and gave them the Torah and so they were awarded with the attainment of the Torah.

So we must constantly follow the right line, in pure bestowal, in Hafetz Hesed, and then in contrast to it, the left line is revealed: different failures, disappointments, weaknesses, criticism, Din. It’s good that all this is revealed since by that we eventually realize that there is no other choice and that we have to follow the right line.

We see that there’s nothing we can enjoy in the left line and that these are vessels of receiving that demand filling and there is no filling! So all that is left, despite everything, is to ascend above all this; when we attain a full measure, a full measure of the revelation of the right and the left lines, the gathering before Mt. Sinai is revealed, the middle line, and then the Light that connects the two line comes to us. This is called “the Creator makes peace in Heaven and He will bring peace unto us.” The middle line comes and decides between the first two lines by bringing us to peace and wholeness.

The Torah is attained by unity, if we constantly yearn for it as it says, “and Israel camped before the mountain, as one man with one heart.” No matter how hard they tried to connect, they discovered the opposite: detachment, hatred, and rejection. “And there their impurity was stopped and each tribe corrected the combination of its Ha – Va – Ya – H,” which means that in each of us and among all of us there are many internal problems and conflicts that require correction.

“And they said, ‘We shall do and we shall hear!’” which means that they are ready to go above their reason, above the feeling of any criticism, since there is no other choice, since we have seen that we can’t connect in our egoistic vessels. “And they raised Mei Nukvin (MAN) and in contrast Maim Dekurin were revealed, and the Creator descended to give them the Torah and they were rewarded with the attainment of the Torah.” Let’s hope that we will be rewarded with the receiving of the Torah since the Creator gives it every day.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/12

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We can never imagine and appreciate the upper level since it is a new dimension each time and we enter another world. All our inner data change, our elements change and each time it is as if a new creature, a new creation. This is how the new Reshimot (informational genes) are revealed.

So how can we summon our advancement and think about the Creator’s greatness, about the height of the next level in comparison to the one we are on now? This is why we work indirectly with the help of the environment, by being impressed by it and receiving new values from it, so that a person can imagine bestowal as a connection and love above his ego.

Thanks to the environment, we can somehow depict this picture to ourselves, but in order to advance, we have to demand more from this picture, the uppermost level, which is two levels higher than the one we are on. If the next level is already Ein Sof for us, how can we imagine something that is above Ein Sof?

However, we must imagine that the highest level, which means the revelation of the Creator, is even higher than anything I can imagine. It is then that my appeal to the Creator is right. It is because the upper level is the same state that I want to attain. The level that is above is the one from whom I ask for help to attain the upper level.

I turn to the one above the upper in order to attain the upper. If I present my appeal this way, then it is exactly on a straight line aimed at the Creator. I want to attain the level of bestowal, connection, love of others, and adhesion. But in order to attain this, I don’t turn for help to some unknown factor, but straight to the Creator. Everything is connected in the upper level to one whole: Israel, the Torah (the Light that Reforms), and the Creator.

Israel is me, the one who attains the upper level by the Light, which I receive from the Creator, who is on the uppermost level, but who “comes out” to meet me on the next level. If we have this arrangement we can be sure that we are on one straight line.

The important levels for us are the lower (the current level), the upper, and the uppermost. This is the order of the levels.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/12

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We need to get the power to advance not by the desire to receive. In it, we do not want to receive any gifts. Otherwise we would always remain on the level of this world, as we see in science and in general that every egoistic motive doesn’t lead to any spiritual advancement.

Spiritual advancement is possible only by the force that is revealed in the vessels of bestowal. So what should we do if in the meantime we don’t have such vessels, how can we advance? Where can we get the energy for these actions?

Here we need faith above reason. This energy, this mental power, also comes from Above but in faith above reason, which means not in our vessels of receiving, but through the environment. To the extent that we can work with the group on the Creator’s greatness, we impress one another and are empowered.

This force is not part of our personal vessels in any way, yet it comes by our connection and bestowal upon one another. By that we draw the Light that Reforms, which enables us to advance.

Eventually the vessels that work with the intention to bestow, with the force of bestowal, are built in a person. It is a totally new mechanism that operates according to the laws of spiritual physics. A person is allowed to work for bestowal, for Heaven. This is what we have to reach.

This means that we don’t have to chase knowledge and the revelation of the Creator, the Light, but you yearn for the acquisition of vessels of bestowal, for the ability to perform true spiritual actions, without any self-benefit. If the group has accepted this as its goal, it receives an illumination from Above, which builds in it such a vessel of Bina that is also called Noah’s ark.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/12

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Question: What should I do when I try to hold on to the intention and then the opposite happens and something draws me to the side?

Answer: This is wonderful. The moment you try to hold on to an intention, it evades you or is extinguished by something so that you will hold on to it more strongly. Then by different interruptions, you will be able to differentiate the corrections that you make by carrying on. The Creator shows them to you.

Today it is as if everything is blurred by different problems, but in fact it isn’t so, it is always a kind of help, and it guides you more accurately towards the goal. You aim at it, and suddenly it seems blurry, so that you will “aim” more sensitively and more accurately. And that’s how it is all the time.

Eventually you will be able to recognize the state of the next level from your current state. By the revelation of the ten Sefirot you see reality from end to end and then you are allowed to ascend higher.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/23/12, The Zohar

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Everything is arranged such that the upper force, the good and the benevolent, is Above in the hands of the Creator. In order to reach this force and to identify with it, a person has to be adapted to it, to adhere to it, and to just discover a desire for that. His corrections and his ascent totally depend on the upper force.

It turns out that there is a negative force below and a positive force above, and a person is in between so that he will be able to determine by himself whether he wants to join the force of receiving or the force of bestowal.

When he sets himself apart from these two forces and begins to determine his state, it means that he is connected to the “human” point in him. All our work is to clarify what the states we constantly fall into mean. The upper force determines all these feelings within our ego, our desires, and our attributes so that we will see how opposite we are from the upper nature that we want to resemble and attain.

Accordingly, we will be able to determine what to ask for. In fact, nothing is required of us but the request, and it is the sum of all our exertion.

Therefore it says: “I have labored and found!” I exert myself in order to check and to clarify my current attributes, which I received as a preparation from Above as a result of the shattering. I have to compare these attributes to the Creator’s attributes, but how do I know who the Creator is?

I have to yearn for bestowal in the group and constantly feel the greatness of the goal. When an opposite force is revealed in me, I will be able to compare the two forces. I don’t compare myself with others, but constantly raise the right line and then the left line is evoked in me. Between these two lines I clarify my deficiency by yearning to resemble the right line together with my left line.

Thus I perform the “holy work” in my correction and do everything in my power to finally discover how opposite I am from holiness and purity. This brings me to a prayer.

Everything is first attained only by the power of prayer, which is the end result of all our efforts. If I discover the right deficiency inside me, I am rewarded with bestowal by the Light, with correction and then with a filling, which means with adhesion to the Creator.

A person attains the implementation of the work in this very special way: From the absolute opposite from the Creator, he adheres to the Creator. We should understand that there is no higher state in our work than the feeling of deficiency, a prayer, if this deficiency is real. This is how the sum, the conclusion, of all our exertion is revealed.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/23/12

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Question: What does it mean to draw the Light that Reforms?

Answer: When I read The Zohar, I want to see changes inside me, as if a stream of energy enters my internal system, a light, powers, new discernments, new attributes. Something influences me, and I want to feel what it is that influences me and performs changes in me. I want to know this and to feel the flavors and see how these changes take place in me and where inside me I can imagine everything that I read about in The Zohar so that it will not just be imagination, but that I will really feel it in my attributes. This is what I expect, the changes in my desire to receive.

We have to make collective efforts, in mutual help, and then the Light that Reforms will be much stronger than when it influences a single person. Then it is much easier to achieve something. But this is only if a person works with others, in connection with them. By that, he approaches the Light since his desires for the Light are not egoistic any more, but are similar to it in some way.

Of course it is still for himself, but a person tries to resemble the Light in some way and to seemingly become equal to it. This is called a “game.” Of course, I am asking for myself, but to some extent it is like the real and correct attribute of bestowal.

In what way is it similar? Several thousand egoists come together, all of them want to bestow, although deep in their soul everyone wants for himself and disrespects everyone else, but they make collective efforts, as if connecting, as if yearning, as if for the Creator, for bestowal—this “as if” is called a “game.” They “brainwash” each other’s minds as if it is really something great and important. In fact there is nothing real here, but this is what should be done in order to attain the upper level. This is because there is an abyss between the levels, and you cannot be in an upper level before you ascend to it, and in order to ascend you play it.

So we have to connect more strongly and to want to feel that that Light changes us. In the meantime it just changes us, but later our intention will be more accurate, so that it will change us in our connection, in unity, but this will come later. Now at least we have to aim at the influence of the Light.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/22/12, The Zohar

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