It therefore follows that we should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, (Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?“)

That is, why does one study? In order to know what must be done in the material world. And then a person studies and fulfills the commandments.

 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You” (Ibid.)

Here it speaks about “studying Torah in order to know the laws, how to observe the commandments of the Torah,” meaning that there is something more in it than just performing commandments. There is value in the study itself when one must attach the heart to it. There are corrections that the Torah performs in the heart. These are corrections to make us better, when the Creator wishes that the Torah will support us, and through it we will be strengthened.

3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; (ibid.)

This is the level when a person already knows that the Torah was not given merely to correct his animalistic heart so that he simply becomes better and thereby fulfills the commandment of studying Torah, but that there is something special in the Torah—light.

I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith (ibid.)

That is, a person already considers himself wicked, and the Torah corrects him so that he will become better.

4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator” (ibid.)

In other words, he already receives the light of Hochma within the light of Hassadim. This light of Hochma, which he receives according to the level of his correction, is called the names of the Creator.

In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures (ibid.)
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/26, Rabash, Article 12, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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“In the multitude of people is the King’s glory,” it follows that the greater the number of the collective, the more effective is the power of the collective. In other words, they produce a stronger atmosphere of greatness and importance of the Creator. At that time, each person’s body feels that he regards anything that he wishes to do for holiness, meaning to bestow upon the Creator, —as a great fortune (Rabash, “The Agenda of the Assembly – 2”).

Everything depends on how much we in the group express the importance of our goal, the importance of revealing the Creator, and the importance of creating the conditions for His revelation. The main thing is not to forget this and to constantly awaken in ourselves the fact that the Creator is the light that fills everything, and that He is revealed only to the extent of our similarity to Him. If we attain even 1% of similarity, to that extent we will reveal Him. And if there is 2%of similarity, that is how much we will reveal Him.

Therefore, on the one hand, each person must feel that he exists in the ten as one tenth of it. On the other hand, he must feel that he is the Malchut of this ten and is responsible for the desire of the entire ten.
Gradually, we will study all our roles in these ten parts, each of which will shape the common soul, that is, develop additional qualities within it, and then we will begin to feel the Creator more.

How much does an embryo, or even a small child, feel the world? It lacks the senses, the qualities, for this. In the same way, we must gradually acquire the quality of each Sefira, and thus feel the Creator more and more strongly. That is, each of us must position ourselves as each Sefira.

And so, in different combinations, in different configurations, we will assemble ourselves together and “turn” the Creator: in one state, in another, in a third, like a Rubik’s Cube. In this way, we will turn ourselves relative to one another and reveal the Creator in ever greater changes.

It would seem, what is a ten? In fact, it turns out to be an infinite possibility of combinations of all qualities and desires, both of the heart and of the mind.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention Moldova, 9/5/19, Lesson 0

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Question: When a person comes under the impact of the upper light, they appear a bit strange, as if they actually used a drug: dilated pupils, increased activity, a feeling of love toward everyone. What is happening to a person at that moment?

Answer: I do not think that he can have such strongly expressed external symptoms. However, who knows?

In principle, this is all the effect of the upper light. Behind our physiology, there is nothing hidden except light and vessels. Therefore, the influence of the light on the vessel, even in the form of surrounding light, in any case causes all kinds of excitations, similar to excitation from chemical substances.

So, if we measure the reaction from the influence of the light and the reaction from sedatives or stimulating effects of certain medicines, we will see an identical external reaction.

Question: But due to what does this happen? Does the light influence the point in the heart or the physiology of a person? In general is there such a concept as “the light influences physiology”?

Answer: Of course! What does “influences” mean? Increased pulse, of course! Inner excitement, of course! Increased blood pressure, of course! That is, this is a natural consequence of excitation, no matter what caused it.

A medicine is the same light, only in our understanding it appears in some material form, in some chemical elements. So what? This is also the influence of the light, only clothed in such a carrier.

Suppose I am drinking coffee. Do you think that the matter is in the coffee, in this brown liquid that I am now drinking? No. This is connected with some small influence of micro-light that affects me this way. That is all!

In fact, matter does not exist. If you erased this image now, you would see a more inner screen on which one force, one desire, uses a second force, a second desire, and so on.

You would see nothing but endless vectors and how they change under the influence of one another. The vector called “coffee” changes all the sums of vectors that are in me at some definite level called “the body.”
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Most Powerful Drug” 9/30/10

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Question: How should an ordinary person who does not strive for connection with the Creator but wants to live calmly and simply on this earth relate to what brings them to prayer, to those misfortunes, to those troubles?

Answer: Naturally, a person does not want suffering or prayer or anything.

Question: And how should I relate to this? Should I run away from them, cut them off?

Answer: Of course. It is best to run away from them; that is what everyone does.

Question: Meaning, if I am not striving for anything and just want to live this life well on this earth?

Answer: In that case, “lo em ve lo s’kharam”—“no suffering and no reward.”

Question: And what is your advice to such people?

Answer: Try to live peacefully. Even lower, even quieter, even calmer. And live like that.

Question: So that the waves pass over us?

Answer: Yes. But that is fate. There are people who want this. There are people who do not agree with it. And there are people who do not agree, but after a couple of blows, they agree.

Question: So one way or another, these blows put a person in their place if they are here and want to live their life here?

Answer: It depends on the root of the soul.

Question: What is the advice for those who strive for the Creator, for connection?

Answer: For them, the most important thing is closeness to the Creator, and it does not matter what the path is, whether they receive a couple more blows along the way, or something else.

Question: So one way or another, they will and must relate to these blows as help?

Answer: Yes. If we strive to achieve connection with the Creator, then various obstacles and conditions are placed before us, and we inevitably see that we cannot fulfill these conditions in any way, only if we receive serious help from above.

Question: Meaning, if we strive for connection with the Creator, then we can be grateful for all sorts of obstacles?

Answer: Of course. The stick—yes.

Question: The stick? So, when, as you always say, “kiss the stick that beats you,” then we kiss it?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And otherwise, we will have to…

Answer: And otherwise, we move with our egoism along such winding paths like little fish swimming.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/19/26

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In the article “Lishma and Lo Lishma,” Rabash wants to clarify the fundamental difference between these concepts. The difference lies in the kind of fuel that drives a person to act.

First of all, we must understand what our actions are in general, and whether we are their masters. If we act based on the desire to receive, then every time we see some pleasure, some fulfillment of desire, immediately, without any calculations, we want to obtain it. Desire precedes calculation; first the desire is created, then reason. The mind is an addition to the desire in order to achieve what is desired.

Therefore, the moment the desire to receive sees some fulfillment, it wants it, and only then does it begin to calculate how to achieve it and if it is possible, simply to fill itself. If the desire were not hindered by any limitation, it would be fulfilled, and would not require any planning or calculation.

But since there are conditions for filling oneself with pleasure, the desire to receive must undergo a process of calculation to achieve fulfillment. Then it develops a system that we call “reason,” “calculation,” “the Rosh of a Partzuf,” alongside itself. These categories arise because it is impossible to satisfy the desire to receive directly.

It turns out that, to the extent obstacles arise in fulfilling the desire for pleasure, there are more opportunities for mental development and for personal involvement of the desire in this process.

Thus, in order to give this desire independence, it is necessary to place obstacles before it 100% in every state and in various variations of its manifestation, on all paths leading to self–fulfillment.

Only these obstacles will give the desire to receive an opportunity to analyze what I want, why, how I come to fulfillment, whether it is what I want, whether it truly fulfills me, and what is preferable.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/26, Rabash, Article 29, “Lishma and Lo Lishma”

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Question: The fact that I am holding on to the group is not my choice. The fact that I sit here, listen, read, and discuss are also not my choice. So where then is freedom of choice?

Answer: You did not come here of your own will. Each of us now already sees that we did not appear here by chance; meaning that the Creator brought us. In general, the thought to come, listen, and sit, does not come from me. Everything happened somehow, suddenly, almost unconsciously. It is clear that for the first few months I came and sat here, operating on the fuel received from the Creator.

The efforts begin with descents. Just as the Creator gave me an impulse and brought me to this place, luring me with “candy” to make me feel as if I could sweeten my life here, so now He is taking it away. In order to remain, hold on, and strengthen even more, I need to make great efforts.

The unchangeable spiritual law says: “You have borrowed from Me, and I am collecting.” The Creator gives you strength, gives you direction, and provides an opportunity, but later you will have to pay for it.

Otherwise, it is impossible. How will I be able to rise to a higher degree if I am not familiar with it, if I do not have enough strength for it, and if I have no connection with it?

We think that in spirituality everything is like in this world: I have strength, I have desires, I can see what I am going to acquire, I make calculations, analyze, clarify, check, inquire. Not at all; everything is different in spirituality. Here, the higher degree is detached from you, not felt by you, incomprehensible to you. And even if you reveal something in it, you discover that it is absolutely opposite to you and repels you.

Thus, the law is simple: “You have borrowed from Me, and I am collecting.” That is, you are given the opportunity, everything is given to you from above, and later you will have to return it. Therefore, the efforts consist in strengthening in the direction that the Creator indicates.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/26, Rabash, Article 29, “Lishma and Lo Lishma”

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We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam [who described to us this entire path], the way by which to climb the degrees of man and not remain as a beast (Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 1“).

In our world there are inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature. If we want to rise above the human level, we must unite with one another.

If, above all obstacles, rejections, hatred, and unwillingness to unite, we achieve connection between us, we do not need anything else. The science of Kabbalah does not teach us any actions other than mutual unification.

If in any group in any point in the world, people are able to rise above their mutual rejection and connect with one another, they will reveal the Creator, the upper force, the upper world, their eternal image, called the “soul,” because they will create the condition for the revelation of the upper force in the connection between them.

Therefore, the science of Kabbalah is universal; it has no limitations except one: above your egoism, connect with people like yourself who want to unite together in order to reveal the Creator. There are no other conditions beside that.

Baal HaSulam adds to this: There is no point in hoping that the time will come when we will be able to achieve the goal of our development in any other way. Undoubtedly, we achieve it only through connection between us. Then we will see that the upper force is pushing everyone toward connection: the inanimate, the vegetative, the animate, and the human levels.

We see how everyone is connecting more and more whether they want to or not under the pressure of all kinds of problems and sufferings. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, technology and means of communication are developing in this direction. This is how the upper force, the only one operating in the universe, pushes the whole world toward unity through great pressures and sufferings.

However a new, different path has opened for us: we can advance toward unification ourselves, increase the speed of our unification, and work among other selves as in a laboratory, constantly connecting more and seeing what we achieve in the process.

Therefore, according to the advice of Kabbalists, we unite in tens, in small groups, so that it will be more convenient and easier for us and so that we can increasingly connect in a more flexible and manageable way, and see how we reveal the upper force in one form of connection or another. According to the type of our unity, we reveal it, since our vessel determines the revelation of the light in it.

Therefore, we do not have to advance unwillingly toward the ultimate goal where all parts of nature will unite together in an integral, global form as a single whole. We can accomplish this work not under the pressure of suffering, but with understanding, awareness, and self-control; we can choose the speed of advancement, see how we are doing it, and also draw all of humanity to follow us.

After all, if we bring them along, drawing after us, we become stronger, and then the upper force is revealed with greater power, because it is no longer thousands of people who unite, as in our world group, but millions and even more.

Accordingly, we reveal the power of the upper force in all its depth, in all its scope, in all its systems, we attain how it reigns over everything and governs everything, how this entire system operates. This is called the revelation of the Shechinah.

There is no greater pleasure than to see this harmony, how all parts of creation—different, scattered, hating one another, distant from one another—come to connect with each other and between them, not merely a connection is revealed, but mutual love. This fills us and gives us the sensation of eternal life.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention 7/17/15, Guadalajara, Lesson 1

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State 1 (our present state) is “bestowal to oneself” in which our pleasure and desired fulfillment reside.

State 2 (the state we want to reach) is bestowal to the Creator, which will be our pleasure, and here there is a contradiction.

In bestowal to oneself, both the action itself, the work, and the reward are all in one direction, in one line. Therefore, this is called the direct light, and everything here is clear to us; the beginning and the end, and the attainment of this final goal all stream in one direction, toward myself.

But if I want bestowal to the Creator to be my pleasure, then there is a problem of the opposition between intention and result because I need a correction of intention, which is against my desire!

Bestowal to the Creator must turn into receiving pleasure for me! And I am obliged to enjoy it because that is the purpose of creation, but the enjoyment must come from bestowal, and this is completely opposite to me!

The goal of creation is enjoyment, and the correction of creation is bestowal. But these two conditions contradict each other. This is the main obstacle and difficulty in our perception that always blocks our path and deprives us of the opportunity to realize what we intend.

On the one hand, we must apply great efforts and do a tremendous amount of work, and on the other hand, its result does not depend on us; it is given from above. We only reveal the desire in ourselves the desire with our work; we do not obtain the goal itself; we attain the Kli, the vessel that can contain it.

Therefore, these two opposites—bestowal to the Creator and enjoyment from this—can be united only through our adhesion with Him. And only the upper light, which changes our nature, can bring us to this adhesion.

From a state in which the heart rules over a person, and therefore, in the terms of Kabbalah he is called a “sinner,” we must pass to a state in which the person within us rules over his heart, and therefore, is called a “righteous one.” There is only one solution for attaining this goal: a Kabbalistic group, which serves an example for us, a framework, a template in which we can check ourselves and see to what extent we correspond to this goal or not.

The group is able to instill in me that nothing is more precious to me than bestowal to the Creator! But, on the other hand, I reveal that I am capable of nothing and only the Creator can help me. In this way I come to the necessary desire, to a prayer.

But presently, these two polar opposites do not exist in us: Keter and Malchut, direct light and reflected light, the inverse correspondence of light and desire, all exist only in the corrected Kli where the intention is opposite to the desire.

This is the model we need to build within ourselves for the first time, the first ten Sefirot, and then we will acquire an inner structure, like the first cell of a new organism from which the embryo of the soul will further develop.
[20357]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/10, Rabash, “What Are the Two Actions During a Descent?”

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There are four states people go through when performing Torah and Mitzvot.

What does it mean to perform Torah and Mitzvot? For religious people, it is what they were taught at a young age: to perform certain actions and they perform them. If they had been taught other actions, they would performed those.

In this case, as Rabash writes, the reason and motivation for fulfilling the Torah and Mitzvot is external influence. This does not mean that I perform commandments because I am afraid of these people or that I want to be considered great among them, good and righteous, a respected person, etc. It doesn’t matter what other reasons there may be, the main thing is that I do what I was taught, nothing more. In general, I fulfill other people’s desires.

For someone who has been used to doing this since childhood, it becomes second nature; otherwise, he feels bad, and by doing his usual actions, he feels good. Whether a person was brought up this way or converted to faith at a later age, he looks at his environment, which obliges him to perform certain actions.

And indeed, the environment has wonderful laws. You must attend the synagogue. It is not right to  not go there to pray. You are obliged to celebrate holidays according to certain rules and to dress in a certain way. You are obliged. Society sets thousands of laws for you. And this means that you fulfill the Torah and the commandments under the influence of external people, and not of your own freewill.

Whereas we are talking about correcting one’s desire. In this case, you set your desire aside, as if you remove it from yourself, place someone else’s desire into yourself, and fulfilled it. This is called a “good soldier,” who uses his body, and, by placing the commander’s desire in it, obeys his orders. For the religious masses, this form of observing the commandments is acceptable, which is very good. Otherwise it would be a mess, chaos.

The second type of motivation for fulfilling the Torah and Mitzvot is the Creator in combination with external people, who promote and compel the observance of the Torah and Mitzvot. That is, a person begins to incorporate a certain admixture into his previous calculations, as if “contaminating” them. He is already beginning to consider not only the environment, but also the Creator.

What does it mean to be with the Creator? This means that a kind of conflict arises inside a person, an internal contradiction. This is not yet a clash of two opposing sides; it is not yet two poles.

Two opposing authorities cannot exist in me at the same time, or I would be torn apart by not knowing whom to listen to, or whom to give preference to. I cannot be aimed in both directions. I have only one desire. I cannot tune in to two, so a problem arises. This is the beginning of the path.

The third condition is when “only the Creator obliges him to fulfill the Torah and commandments; not external people, but the person himself is also the reason for fulfilling the Torah and commandments.” This is the third type of motivation, when the Creator obliges a person to fulfill the Torah and the commandments, and the person himself, as Rabash writes, “is the reason.” I would say that he contributes to this.

And the fourth type of motivation is that the reason for fulfilling the Torah and the commandments is only the Creator, and there is no one contributing to this. This is called “the introduction of the mixed-multitude into Kedusha.” In this case, there is absolutely no other contributing or even supporting factor, where we say that a person strengthens himself along the way and supposedly does something on his own. No, everything is done exclusively by the Creator. But this is the level of complete adhesion with the Creator.

As a result, it is revealed to a person that all these are the ways of the Creator’s governance. It is not that I act one way or another as I advance, but as I work hard, I reveal various factors that compel me to act.

At first these factors seem to be external people, then external people and the Creator, then me and the Creator, and in the end, only the Creator. It is just that in the process of his development, a person begins to reveal what the reason is for his existence, and who is the source of his existence.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/27/26, Rabash, Article 29, “Lishma and Lo Lishma”

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Question: Is the revelation of the Creator, in fact, the revelation of a new form in oneself?

Answer: The revelation of the Creator’s face is called the manifestation of His importance because, in fact, this is what I seek. This is not the revelation of pleasure, but the revelation of His superiority, His properties, and His perfection. It helps me to respect the Creator more than my desire to receive.

This desire constantly grows in a person. More and more Reshimot (spiritual records) surface. In other words, more and more of the left line is added to a person. Then he needs to reveal the face of the Creator as a greater, more exalted one who affects him more so that he can resist the desire to receive, and respect the Creator more than his selfish desire. This means that a person has the strength to work for the sake of giving.

It follows that the desire to receive was originally created in the size of the Creator; both are equal in magnitude. However, a person feels the magnitude of the desire to receive only in accordance with how much he is able to overcome it, and at the same time, to reveal the Creator as important and great.

Each time it is like a game. At first, the desire to receive is hidden from us; we feel only a small part of it in the form of reality of this world. In fact, this is the same general reality, only it is called “this world” because we perceive it without taking the Creator into account.

All else, apart from this level, we already perceive in accordance with the reality of the Creator, meaning, we actually feel the Creator, which is called the upper world. “All else” means that we already consider the importance of the Creator relative to the importance of the desire to receive.

This desire gradually grows, starting from the lowest, smallest state, until it reaches the level of the Creator. It helps us to ask the Creator time and again to show us more and more of His importance, greatness, and superiority. And when we reveal the Creator and prefer to bring Him pleasure rather than serve our ego, then we adhere to the Creator’s form, absorb it, adopt it, and it truly becomes our form.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/26, Rabash, Article 29 “Lishma and Lo Lishma”

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