Question: In his article, Rabash refers to a fable about a person who loaned a large sum of money to his friend although he wasn’t too sure he would ever get it back. However, when the friend of his brought a warranty letter from the bank that secured the loan, he got upset because he lost a chance to stay in “faith above reason” and, thus, couldn’t advance spiritually.

Answer: Be apprehensive of the Creator’s revelation. I don’t want Him to disclose Himself because, if He does, I’ll completely obey Him and will turn into an animal; the point of independence (“a human being”) will disappear in me. A human being is emerging in me when I am not yet sensing the Creator, but rather when I am searching for His image to set an example of bestowal and build it within me. In order to do that, I have to get a model and obtain the power to form this property without His pressure.

This is similar to the way that we act with a child where we give him a toy, but don’t help him out, thus allowing him to do his work. Moreover, we deliberately create difficulties so that he tries to cope with them on his own and learn. We enjoy watching his effort and progress because this is how a child advances.

We don’t let the child know that for us, it is easy to do this job. On the contrary, we pretend that we don’t know how to do it and that we are reluctant to perform it. We play and find solutions together with the child. We do it to provide him with a working space, give him a chance to apply effort, and uncover the reality out of the darkness. We don’t find solutions for him; he has to find them on his own.

Even if we are willing to help him and provide the explanations he needs, we shouldn’t do it before he totally explores his own opportunities to find the right answer. If he seeks our help, it means that he has a painful, tangible, and essential question. He already tried everything he could and nothing worked. Only in this case do we help him and replenish what he couldn’t attain because of his nature.

If he applies much effort and understands that he is unable to do it on his own, he eventually prepares his desire and sets up his mind for our clarifications and assistance, that is, input from a level that is higher than his. This “addition” makes him a human being. However, if I reveal everything to him before he applies his own effort, then my explanations won’t create anything worthy or new for him either in his desires or in his mind.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/10, “What is the Advantage that There is in Work Which is More than the  Reward”

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Question: It is written, “Don’t believe in yourself until you die,” meaning until your egoism dies. How, then, can I be sure that I’ll reach the goal and won’t lose the path?

Answer: I have a spiritual goal and the means to attain it, and I have to hold on to them. I cannot be sure about tomorrow, which is why I have to make a covenant with the group and the Creator today in order to guarantee that I will reach the Upper Goal!

If I can’t manage to stay on the path, then I will fall into the animate existence and will view life from that level. Then the Creator will not take me into consideration at all.

Alternatively, I can bind myself to the group and give myself over to them completely so they will guard me. Then I am tied to the group and I can’t fall, as if I’m on a ship caught in a storm where the sailors tie themselves to the deck so they don’t get washed into the sea by the waves. Every person should see himself as being in such a perilous state.

I have to organize the covenant between us while I am still full of energy and inspiration, while I am in the state of ascent. That’s when I sign the covenant because I understand that later on there might be a time when I won’t be able to justify the spiritual goal. Everything will seem hopeless and bad and I won’t have a doubt that I am right about that.

Therefore, it is written, “Don’t believe in yourself until you die.” If a person doesn’t give himself over to the group so it governs him, then he will be governed by his own egoism and won’t have a chance to break out of it. It’s useless to waste time in vain: Either make the covenant or go back home to sit on the couch.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/10, Shamati #52

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Question: Baal HaSulam says that he was given the privilege to disclose Kabbalah because he lived in a unique time, in the generation of the complete revelation of the Creator. However, people started to study his writings only now, 60 years later. Why did it take so long for people to begin seeking his books?

Answer: There is the time of handing it down, and there is the time for taking it in. Obviously, today, we are only beginning to explore his method. Thirty years ago, his books were studied by fewer than 10 students in the whole world. However, today, these texts are studied by hundreds of thousands of people. The books are translated into multiple languages and are available through the Internet.

The delay that occurred in the past demonstrates how much work we still have to do in order to bring these sources closer to the masses, adapt them, and to awaken the masses to them. We are the medium that stands between the sources and the people. Hence, we have to work in order to bring them to one another and to teach the people how to correctly use the method of the revelation of the Upper Governance.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Lesson for Commemoration of Baal HaSulam’s Passing Day

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Question: What is the “Torah”?

Answer: The force that corrects and unites us descends upon us in its various manifestations. The force that can bring us awareness of evil and its correction, unity with the good, and the models of connection is called the Torah. In other words, the Torah is the entire system of our correction.

Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut is regarded as the “Torah” because it is an image or a system after which I aspire to model myself. I do so by collecting all souls in Malchut of the World of Atzilut so that the connection between them would be equivalent to Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut. In this case, all souls plugged into Malchut of the World of Atzilut unite and enter adhesion (Zivug) with Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, the Creator. In this way, we reveal the connection and adhesion between us.

All of this occurs, starts, and ends in ZON (Zeir Anpin and Nukva) of the World of Atzilut. Malchut of the World of Atzilut undergoes seven states until she reaches the level of Zeir Anpin, equivalence with Him, in her full capacity. At the End of Correction (Gmar Tikkun), they become as two great Lights. Hence, Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, which is regarded as the “Torah” or “the Creator,” serves us as a model with its structure, force, and influence.

As for us, before anything else, we must aspire to connect together in the dark and realize that we need His assistance. When, in our consistent effort to unite, we discover that we are unable to do so, then, like little children, we will start crying and demand correction and its example from Him. As a result, the Upper One will hand a model to us and the strength to unite.

However, our request and demand have to derive solely from our efforts to connect with each other. Otherwise, we won’t be rewarded with the Light since we do not exist in the adhesion of Malchut and Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, and we are not in Malchut.

Malchut senses only unity. Meanwhile, all of us are below in the worlds of BYA (Beria, Yetzira, Assiya). Only our desires to connect with each other ascend to Malchut in order to reveal the Creator and attain the property of bestowal.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, The Zohar

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Question: Why do people consider Yom Kippur a sad and mournful day?

Answer: It’s because people do not understand that what is perceived as “bad” could be a springboard to good because it is regarded as good or evil depending on one’s attitude. For example, if during a routine visit to a doctor one discovers that he has a disease, then the evil was revealed so that it could be treated. So revealing the evil was good.

However, it is written, “The opinion of common people is opposite to the opinion of the Torah,” and a person pushes himself away from the correction. He does not understand why he needs this. He cries about feeling bad and asks the Creator to make him feel good. That is, he cries about his egoism and whines that the Creator does not fill him. It is as if he asks the Creator “Why are You so bad and cruel? Would it hurt You to let me enjoy?” He does not understand that the revelation of evil is for his benefit, so that he can grow.

Based on a thousand years of our history, we should finally understand that the Creator responds only to a desire that is directed to correction and the goal of creation. Any other appeal is not answered. It is now time to explain to everyone what it actually means to come to the Day of Atonement: to reveal “I created the evil inclination,” then “I created the Torah for its correction,” and finally “because the Light in the Torah reforms.”

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/10, Selected excerpts on Yom Kippur

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Question: If “there is none else beside Him” and everything is done only by Him, then why am I considered to be a sinner?

Answer: When the evil becomes revealed to me for the first time, this is not yet considered to be my sin. However, if after having discovered an evil desire within, I still plan on using it, now this goes on my account. When this happens for the second time, it is considered to be a sin. It is like repeatedly tasting the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. However, it is only when this happens for the third time that I am considered to be a real sinner. The second time is only the revelation that I exist in evil.

Let’s say, I committed a crime, but this was my very first time. Even courts take this into consideration as extenuating circumstances. I am given a light punishment as a warning to help me never do anything like this again. In other words, I am given the force of correction.

However, when, regardless of the correction that I am given in accordance with the transgression, I still repeat the crime because the criminal desire that awakens in me is even greater than the punishment or fear of a crime, this means that I have really sinned.

When I transgress for the first time, the magnitude of my evil is revealed to me. For now, this is not called a sin. The second time, I reveal how big of a crime against the Creator it is, and I am given a punishment for it that is slightly greater than the sin.

If I now reveal this kind of desire in me for the third time, and the desire is even bigger than before, then this difference is called "the evil inclination" because it is in it that I go against the Creator. This is the force of the Pharaoh within me. Now, this is a real sin. It is there where I need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Now I am undoubtedly a sinner.

The first time is merely the creation of a vessel (the desire). The second time is the evaluation of my sin. While the third time is the true crime, it is only as the result of this crime that the appeal for correction appears.

However, the most important part is that all of this is only possible through the Surrounding Light which comes in the form of a “group” or the connection within which the Creator exists. This means that “Israel (one who strives toward the Creator), Torah (the Light of correction), and the Creator are one."

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for the Reception of Torah”

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A “sin” is determined by whether or not you ask the Creator for the strength to rise above your sensations of “good” and “evil.” The first time you do something is not a sin! Maybe you have not yet discerned good and evil and your attitude to Him. However, if you do it a second time, it becomes a sin. And if you repeat it a third time, you descend from your degree; you cannot remain on it any longer.

With the first interaction of the pleasure and the desire, a desire for the pleasure (a vessel, Kli) is created. At the second interaction of the pleasure and the desire, one receives a feeling of transgression (a sin), reception for one’s own sake. But if one receives pleasure in the desire for a third time, then it not only indicates the performance of a sin, but also shows that the sensation of the sin was not sufficient in order to refrain from it.

This can be likened to a situation where the sentence ruled by a court is weaker than the criminal desire and, therefore, does not reform one from stealing in the future. And then a decision is made to conceal me in the prison of this world.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for the Reception of Torah”

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Question: Is it enough for us to correct ourselves in order to correct the world?

Answer: No, it isn’t. Since all the souls are connected, a single soul (degree) can’t complete its correction without correcting the parts of the next degree. No person lives for his own sake; the whole system is a system of mutual bestowal.

Therefore, it is impossible for someone to correct himself for his own sake. Everyone lives in order to provide correction and fulfillment for others. It is impossible for a soul that corrects itself not to have a part which was corrected for it by the predecessors and a part that it must correct for others.

We know that the upper part of every soul, its GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), exists in the lower part, the AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh), of the preceding, higher soul (Partzuf). The soul’s lower part, its AHP, is situated in the GE of the the lower soul.

Thus, our free choice is in the place where we are not connected to a higher or a lower soul; it is in the middle part of our soul, the middle part of the Sefira Tifferet. A free space from all souls is formed there; it is our freedom of will. In essence, it represents a special unification in our soul of the higher and lower souls. In this unification, they are equal, and, thus, they give us freedom of choice.

Outside of the middle part of Sefira Tifferet, the parts of the soul do not belong to the soul itself. The upper part pertains to the higher soul (the previous Partzuf), and the lower part pertains to the lower soul, its “successor.”

Therefore, a calculation is always performed on bestowal to the upper one and the lower one. The decision about this bestowal is made in the middle; there is no other freedom. This middle point arose artificially through the unification of Bina and Malchut. It is called Klipat Noga, and it constitutes my point of choice. Besides this point, everything else belongs not to me, but to the upper or lower Partzufim (plural of Partzuf) relative to me. I am situated in the middle, and I constantly need to decide how I am connected to them.

However, this point that makes the decision is, in fact, the “I” or “human being,” the one who is “similar” to the Creator. On one side, there is Malchut, and, on the other, there is Bina. Thus, there is a special contact of Bina and Malchut (the qualities of the Creator and the creature) at this point. This contact yields a free decision to make the creature similar to the Creator. It is called “Adam” or “similar.”

Until we reach this decision, we are not “human.” The human begins from 1) realization of the difference between Bina and Malchut, and 2) the connection between them. The human being grows from this point to the extent that he is able to serve others with his 613 desires: the upper ones with his 248 desires and the lower ones with his 365 desires.

If you don’t do this, you remain only a point. Yet, if you do, you develop your Galgalta ve Eynaim, and they spread out onto the common Soul: all the souls that are higher and lower than you.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/12/10, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Question: Where do you get the energy for your inner work if you always have to keep the Creator concealed?

Answer: The energy comes from the Creator through the group. There is no other source of energy besides Him, and the group is the channel for it.

In the group, the energy or Light is expressed as a result of unity or similarity to the Creator. The Creator is present inside the unity of friends.

If you organize your work correctly, then you will understand that the Creator and the group are the same thing. The group is the model that enables you to reveal the inner force contained in it, called the Creator.

There is a source of energy, but you have to plug into it. The energy can only be consumed by a contactor (a socket) that is similar and opposite. The force of the energy’s flow depends on the thickness of contact in the group.

Through the group, I receive examples from the Creator. I start to see the group and its structure as the system of the worlds. Inside it I reveal the connections of the souls in the Upper Worlds.

The inner force of the group, which enlivens and sustains it is the Creator, the Upper Light.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/10, “What is the Advantage that There is in Work Which is More than the  Reward”

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Question: What does a Kabbalist who has reached the final correction feel?

Answer: In the state of the final correction (Gmar Tikkun), enormous changes are constantly taking place. A soul exists in ascent and descent “simultaneously” since it feels these two opposite states as identical, as one. The two extremes are united in the soul as one whole because a person has corrected his perception of them and feels them as one occurrence.

However, as we ascend to the World of Infinity, “transitions” from emptiness to fulfillment do not cease to exist, but instead turn into a comparison of the Creator’s initial opposite acts: “existence from existence” and “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Yesh Ve Yesh Mi Ain). And I, a human being, unite them within myself, adding to the Creator’s act.

This is what dictates the necessity of creating man: He needs to unite these opposites in himself and discover “existence from existence” out of “existence from absence,” that is, reveal the Creator.

From the Talk on The Light that Reforms 9/8/10

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