Question: Does a convention hold a greater potential for attracting the miraculous force of the Light than at regular times?

Answer: Yes. It is precisely at such great gatherings as an international convention and generally during all the special gatherings and assemblies of friends that we make very big efforts with our mutual forces, and that is exactly what is necessary for attracting the miraculous force of correction.

That is why Kabbalists advised us to hold such gatherings, and we act only according to their instructions. After all, we want to attain something through miraculous means without understanding how it happens, without seeing the cause and effect connection between the next level and the one we are on, and without knowing all of the conditions that we have to observe to achieve it.

That is why we follow the Kabbalists’ advice and they tell us that we have to become included in the society, to unite with others as much as possible, to study together with everyone with the intention to attract the Surrounding Light, meaning by expressing our desire to ascend to a higher level, to bestowal and unity. And it’s clear that the more of us that get together, the greater is our might in quality and quantity, and the more significantly we can advance.

The sum of all such actions and the accumulation of efforts is what finally brings us to the “finding.”
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/11

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Question: During the lesson I am constantly thinking about the upcoming convention and it’s hard for me to focus on the lesson. Am I losing something as a result of this?

Answer: Of course not. We always feel the pressure in the process of preparing for such massive events. Once a year we get together at a convention in the United States, and we should see this as a unique opportunity to unite with each other. There is no other opportunity to receive more Surrounding Light, support, and strength to advance than at gatherings such as this.

This is exactly what I personally expect. I remember how when I began studying with Rabash, literally a few months later we traveled to Tzfat together. In a small yard by a little house, all of Rabash’s students gathered who had studied with him at different times and suddenly they wanted to join us. About 40 people gathered, which was a pretty big group before I brought new students to him.

I saw how excited he was by this trip and by being there. I asked him, “What is so special about it?” He explained that these gatherings are the most effective means in our world for spiritual advancement when a person comes in order to unite with others, works for this sake, makes efforts, and desires to receive the forces from others, to gather and absorb them inside of him, to literally drink up this might. And this depends only on him and his sensitivity.

If I prepare for the convention the right way, then when I come there, I receive everything I possibly can. It all depends on me. It is because we are standing in front of Infinity. I can come to the convention and not receive anything, scorning others, and leaving there even colder than before. Or I can come there and be impressed, touched, and inspired. I can absorb so much strength and Surrounding Light that I wouldn’t receive during years of study. Everything depends on my preparation.

Therefore we must already be preparing for the upcoming convention. Before such a huge event, when a person is planning to connect with others, he must experience worry and fear, feeling that he is standing at the threshold of great inner changes. This pressure-filled expectation and preparation is even felt physically.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/8/11, The Zohar

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Baal HaSulam, “The Last Generation”: The world is one family, and the framework of altruistic communism should ultimately encircle the entire world with an equal standard of living for everybody.

Question: So it looks like Kabbalah must bring communism into the world?

Answer: Our problem is that we don’t understand the true meaning of words. When we utter the word “Torah,” we visualize a “holy” book; when we speak of “commandments,” we think of some physical acts that we have to perform; and the word “faith” for us is when we blindly believe some stories we are told.

In other words, we replace the truth with false ideas. In fact, commandments are steps of correction of the egoistic desire, and the Torah is the force that reforms them.

The same pertains to the word “communism” that derives from the word “a commune” and reads equality, unity, and brotherhood. But great egoists used these words for their low purposes opposite to communism.

They established the worst dictatorship in history: a dictatorship of the minority over majority, a regime of complete spiritual suppression and violence, which not only used a person as a work force, a slave, but attempted to completely and forcefully eliminate in man the desire for pleasure, egoism.

But in fact, “communism” is a very exalted, beautiful word. It implies brotherly love among humans who live according to the law of mutual guarantee bonded by one desire.
[36923]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/2/2011 Lesson on Money

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Question: What does the correct family look like in the spiritual sense?

Answer: It is written, “Husband and wife, and the Shechina between them.” If we live for the sake of spiritual attainment, if we initially place this at the foundation of our connection, if this is our goal at every stage, if we both understand that this is exactly why we exist in the world, that this is the “pinnacle” of the family, that this is the reason why we give birth to children and work, if we feel that the thread connecting us with one another and with our children passes through the Creator, if we want Him to reign between us so the whole family would feel His presence, then this approach corrects all of our relationships. Then we have a successful family.
[37313]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/11 on Women

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Question: If the world was ruled by women, would it be better?

Answer: The world cannot be ruled by women. By nature a woman has to be in the possession of her father or husband. That’s because according to her spiritual root, she is Malchut, which can only act by virtue of what her husband gives her. She does not have anything of her own.

That is a woman’s role: By inspiring a man to do spiritual work, she receives Light from him. We have to understand that there is nothing belittling about this. A woman is not lower than a man, but on the contrary, without her desire, the world would stop moving forward. There would be no correction and we would not attain unity with the Creator. We unite with Him precisely by virtue of the female desire. That is how we realize the male force.

We shouldn’t look at the differences or search for the advantages one has over the other. We shouldn’t judge it egoistically. On the contrary, our approach should be altruistic: How to connect men and women in order to reach the goal. After all, the goal cannot be reached without perfect unity between them.

When each one bestows to the maximum, then they are both equal. If a woman gives all of herself and a man gives all of himself, that means equality reigns between them and they advance toward the Creator.

But does each of them do the same thing? Of course not. Opposite things come from them, but that means they are equal.

It’s a different matter in our world where both men and women are presented with the same demands. Is such a thing possible? This problem is yet to be expressed through a very powerful cataclysm because we thereby destroy the foundation of our being.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/11 on Women

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Question: It is very easy for us to unite during the convention because it seems to be very natural here to cancel ourselves, to “lose our heads,” to try to connect with others, and include ourselves in them. But it is very difficult to do this in your own group, once you return from the convention. Many problems arise and it becomes very difficult to feel the inner essence of the group; everything suddenly disappears. How do you overcome this?

Answer: Let us do an exercise: Let us come to a group, sit in a circle, look at one another, and think: “What is the Creator doing with us?” We want to unite, we work in the group, we have opened up a center of Kabbalah, we have gathered together, prepared a place for meeting, and nobody wants to go there….

Look what He does! We are not to blame for this; we do not have freedom of will. Look how He awakens us! What does He do this for? Why does He need it? What does He gain from this?

The only reason you do not advance is because you forget about one more component that exists among you: the Upper Force, the Creator, who arranges and prepares everything. Add Him! Become partners with Him! And then you will understand what you need to do, how to advance being connected with one another and with Him. Add Him to your group. I am serious about this: He exists among you. Start having this kind of gatherings of friends, these discussions of what happens between you, and then everything will clear up.
[37006]
From Lesson 1, Metzoke Dragot Congress 2/24/2011

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Question: Why do energetic women copy the male forceful approach? Where does this come from?

Answer: Out of having no other way to go, women are forced to solve the problems of life in order to provide themselves with what men do not give them. That is why they are forced to go through the education system and work hard while at the same time taking care of the home and raising children without a husband. As a result, today they are rising higher and higher on the career ladder, occupying newer and newer positions.

All of it is happening because men are running away from responsibility, from the part they have to take upon themselves. Women are accepting modernity’s challenge, but men are not.

Overall, the modern environment conditions us to be free, telling us, “Live however you want, no one can say anything to you.” People do not feel responsibility toward society, their country, their people, or the world. Do anything that comes into your head as long as you don’t kill, steal, or other such things.

However, this is opposite to what Baal HaSulam explains to us: According to the spiritual root, each of us is indebted to society. The calculation is not only with what a person takes, but also how much he fails to give. Each person has to work and contribute his share to society. Each person has to take on the burden of a family, raise children, and so on.

However, in our society it is not considered a transgression if a person does not contribute his share. A transgression is if he took more than what is accepted. In this situation we will continue to suffer until humanity finds itself “at the brink of death,” so to say. And maybe that will help.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/11 on Women

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Question: Does the modern-day equality of the sexes harm the relationships between men and women?

Answer: The “equality” that we establish according to our egoistic reasoning is not really equality, but a distortion of the laws of nature. In nature, the male and female inclinations are not identical, but on the contrary, they are different, opposite, and distant from one another by all possible inner and outer qualities of personality, life activity, physiology, and everything else. By drawing an equal sign between them, we crush nature and create a giant fissure that will not benefit anyone in the end.

I don’t have to explain what going against the laws of nature means. Instead of learning from nature and giving each gender the form appropriate to it, we are trying to do whatever comes into our heads at such a high level that this will bring us many more troubles. In the end, no one will be happy about this “equality.”

By nature I have to be a man with specific qualities and carry out a specific function. I have a niche that I have to take. That is the place of my appeasement, correction, fulfillment, and perfection. Therefore, I cannot indulge the egoism that rules over me and act however it wants me to by the orders of egoistic forces. There’s no doubt that all of this seriously harms things.

Let us hope that we will somehow go through the corruption to correction. However, there are many troubles waiting for us on this path.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/11 on Women

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Question: Why do you often refuse to answer questions on the actual text of The Zohar?

Answer: What’s the point of answering? A person who attains it receives the answer on his own. But a person who does not attain it has to work on attaining it.

An answer to a question that is perceived by our earthy mind leaves us on the level of this material world, calming us down with false understanding. But this is not a real answer and does not help us. After all, in that case a person does not try to acquire a connection with the Torah, with the Light that corrects him, but wishes to attain wisdom, and that is opposite to our path.

Of course, we have to know the material a little bit in order to be slightly connected to it at least externally, like small children who come in touch with something in our world without understanding it yet. However, we shouldn’t receive answers that extinguish our desire to attain. After all, we are reading the text for the sake of attainment. When we attain it, then we will receive the answer. And that will be the true answer.

Therefore, there’s practically nothing to ask about the actual text of The Zohar, about the names, titles, forces, and angels. What’s the point of it? Who understands it? Who will give you an answer as long as you haven’t revealed it inside you?

Therefore, our entire study is only for the sake of revealing Kelim, vessels, or desires in which everything we study will be revealed.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/11, The Zohar

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