From Rabash’s Article “The Duty to Convey the Story of Exodus from Egypt”: The Book of Zohar explains why one shouldn’t eat matzah during the year, but only during Pesach. It is similar to the king who appointed one of his subjects to be a minister and on the day of his appointment dressed him in luxurious clothes.

Later, the subject took off these beautiful clothes. He was wearing them only for one day when he took a position of a Minister to celebrate the event. Afterward, every year he commemorated his appointment and dressed in his festive, solemn clothes. This example explains why we eat matzah only during Pesach to honor the exodus from Egypt.”

Each spiritual root has a corporeal branch. The entire universe represents a single will to receive, “something out of nothing.” Besides it, nothing has ever been created. The Light impacts the matter and leaves its imprint on it.

Only because of its imprint and due to the four stages of HaVaYaH can we explore the Light. If we manage to change our desire, we will attain the Light that created the matter and left its imprint on it.

Exiting from the egoistic forces (Klipot) is just one of the stages that lead us to the attainment of the Light. If we manage to achieve this stage, we will detach from our nature that was made out of nothing and begin connecting with the imprint of the Light that is present inside the desire. We will learn what the Light is, what It does, how did It create everything, and what happened to all fragments of the Creation long before this world and man emerged.

In other words, we rise to our root and learn that there was a special point called the “exodus from Egypt” in the program of creation of the desire and in the Light’s impact on it. The desire stops sensing only itself and is no longer confined to its nature; it goes out and begins feeling the Light, its origin, the Root.

From this moment on, the desire has already established a mutual connection with the Light and they begin acting as partners. The upper root that allows us to approach it and work together with it is very important since it is the point where a Man (Adam)—(Domeh) the one who is similar to the Creator—appears. It’s like a birth! That’s why the exodus from Egypt is called a spiritual birth of every individual soul. This explains why we honor this state.

There is a correlation of the spiritual root of the material branch that is imprinted in the categories named world, year, and soul. This world was made as a projection of the spiritual world, that’s why for each spiritual action or event, there is a corresponding material branch in this world. This is why we celebrate the entire spiritual process that we go through in the branches; it is called a yearly cycle.

All our traditions are a material reflection of spiritual actions that we hope to attain and implement. Exiting from the will to receive and attaining the very first sign of the similarity with the Light, i.e., spiritual birth, is called the exodus from Egypt. It is the initial step for all of us. This month is called the first among all other months. It denotes the beginning of the spiritual growth of a human being.

By all means, we advance for many years before arriving to a sensation called Egypt and realizing that it’s impossible for us to stay at this level. Although this state is very hard to reach since for that we have to experience more pressure, undergo unpleasant sensations, acknowledge that we are unable to exercise self-control, and divulge our slavish dependence on our egoistic nature.

The fact that we live in this material world is of great help to us. It’s a spiritual state in which we completely depend on the will to receive, and thus have no connection with the Light. This step allows us to experience material sensations. It seems to us that we live in the materiality, at the last level of sensations that manifest inside the will to receive.

Due to materiality, we can organize our lives in a way that we get a chance to exit from it and begin sensing spirituality.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/14, Writings of Rabash

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From Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 15: Yet, we must thoroughly understand the sublimity of that man, made by the hands of the Creator. Also, his wife, to whom the Creator has administered greater intelligence than him, as they have written (Nidah 45) in the interpretation to the verse, “And the Lord made the rib. Thus, how did they fail and become as fools, not knowing to beware of the serpent’s slyness?”

A vessel that was split into the first nine Sefirot (Adam) and Malchut (Hava – Eve) brings up numerous questions. It’s not clear how this vessel intended to receive for the sake of bestowal if they lacked the will to receive. How could they possibly try the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge?

Before anything else, they were supposed to reveal their will to receive, investigate it, and only then start using it. How could this entire story happen? Their sin looks vague.

In this world, we go through reincarnations, generation after generation, for thousands of years to learn something, to acknowledge our insignificance, powerlessness, limitations, inability to see what’s ahead of us, and our incapability to correctly analyze the path behind us or understand the present. We are flawed in absolutely everything!

For how long should we study before we make correct decisions? We cannot reach this stage on our own; rather, we can achieve it solely due to the Kabbalists who structured our learning process and our desire to join them and learn from them.

These conditions derive from Adam and Eve’s approach to the sin (tasting the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.) At that moment in time, the sin was activated. For thousands of years, we ponder what happened. We do it until we get corrected. We should apply the damage that was once revealed in our roots to ourselves in order to clarify and mend it.

Our huge work throughout many thousands of years is a challenging process of realization of the truth that states that there is nothing we can do except plead for the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif) to raise us above our nature. It’s a cumulative process that takes tremendous amounts of energy and affliction. The latter is meant to cover and compensate for the damage and make up for the lack that wasn’t sufficient at the time of the calculation.

They were sure that they were acting for the sake of bestowal, but in fact they were acting egoistically. One criterion was missing in their understanding, and so their actions went one hundred percent wrong. It’s an invisible difference that was hidden from them, the one that we gradually keep unveiling until we reach final correction (Gmar Tikkun).

In fact, the only thing that we have to clarify is the difference between what we understand in our current state compared to the way the Creator regards the same thing from His level. For that, we have to transition from “something out of nothing” (Yesh mi Ain) to “something out of something” (Yesh mi Yesh).

The element that was initially created, when “something out of something” created “something out of nothing,” is exactly what we actually learn during the entire developmental process. “Something out of nothing” has to step over the abyss between the creation and the Creator and merge with Him.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/25/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How do we reach a request that the Creator will control our desire for pleasure?

Answer: In fact, it is possible to reach this only through work with your environment. Before Abraham, the process of true correction had not yet begun, rather the shattering continued. The twenty generations from Adam until Noah and from Noah to Abraham were designed for revealing the evil. From the times of Abraham and on, the revelation of evil also continued, but this was evil in relation to connection.

There is no other method. The soul of Adam HaRishon was shattered into many parts that were scattered in thousands of directions, and their entire correction is in their connection. So only our inability to be connected in the face of all the attempts to do this is called evil. The power that opposes unity is called the evil inclination. If we feel that the correction of the world depends upon this, it follows that this is the only thing for which it is necessary to yearn.

We are already behind schedule by just about one century since the first Aliyah to the land of Israel; in that period this problem began to appear. All of the troubles of the first settlers and all of the wars were caused by the fact that the first pioneers of the Bilu movement who immigrated to the land of Israel called themselves by the first letters of the song of the prophet Isaiah: (Isaiah 2:5) “Beit Yaakov Lechu Venilcha” (“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk”), but they cut off the end of the sentence, “in the Light of the Creator.”

That is, they intended to establish a common Kibbutz in the nation of Israel and this was the reason for all of their failures. It was necessary only to add the Light of the Creator to this, as the prophets wrote.

The essence of Passover is connection in the readiness to become a people. Beginning from Babylon, the desire for pleasure grew in one family. Ultimately its ego rose up so much that it separated between them and transformed them into strangers to each other; Pharaoh entered and lodged between them, as well as the Egyptians and the evil inclination.

Even though they discovered the evil inclination between them, nevertheless they wanted to connect; yet they were not ready. This means that the Pharaoh dominated them; the Egyptians subjugated them and didn’t allow them to unite. In spite of all this, they yearned for connection with all their strength and so they understood that they had to break away from this condition, to rise above the Egyptians that were among them, from the forces of separation.

The reception of the power to rise above their separation is called the Exodus from Egypt. If we in our world group accept the power of unity that will connect us, then this will be called the Exodus from Egypt. Everything is measured only according to the level of connection that the power of the Creator is said to give to us.

When the Light arrives, that is, its power is revealed in us, this means that the Creator is helping us and we are getting the possibility to connect. The right form of connection that we attain is comprehended by us as the revelation of the Creator to the creatures. According to this form, we feel the Light.

Indeed, the Light is something that we want very much and is now revealed in our desire for pleasure because according to our yearning for unity, we acquire its form. This means that the Creator is preparing His revelation that will bring us from exile to redemption.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/30/14, Shamati 41

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And the fire on the altar shall burn on it; it shall not go out. The Cohen shall kindle wood upon it every morning, and upon it, he shall arrange the burnt offering and cause the fats of the peace offerings to [go up in] smoke upon it. (The Torah, “Leviticus” “Tzav,” 6:5)

In fact, there was no need for firewood to keep the fire on the altar for all resided Heavenly Fire. In the First Temple its shape resembled a lion, in the Second Temple – the dog.” (Moshe Weisman, “The Midrash Says,” Chapter “Tzav.”)

Spiritual fire needs no fuel since it burns on its own; nothing can influence it, neither rain, nor wind.

A lion signifies the complete purificantion of all ten Sefirot; a dog stands for a partial correction of the first three Sefirot, Galgalta ve Eynaim.

When we don’t use AHP, it remains outside, and then it is called “the evil dogs” that bark and don’t allow people to do their work correctly. At the same time, they urge us to start doing at least something.

Without the negative, there is no positive. This explains why at the time of the Second Temple not all desires were fit to be used for purification purposes; rather, only the easiest parts. This situation promoted an aspiration to return to the level of the First Temple.

Since there is a general plan of development in accordance to which both Temples had to be destructed, nothing could be achieved. At this time, we are facing the construction of the Third Temple.

The Third Temple is the correction of the entire humanity when all egoism is brought to the altar, burned completely, and united around the Tabernacle of the Ark of the Covenant.

There are several circles in achieving the unity: the most central one—Cohens, a little less central and more external – Levites, then the people of Israel, and then the nations of the world. This division is defined not by somebody’s ethnic background, but by the strength of one’s aspiration to the center of unity after the final shattering and mixing of the common soul took place. Those with the strongest aspiration to unity are called “Cohens” (Priests), those whose desire to unite is a little weaker are called “Levites,” etc.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/6/13

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Question: Do we really have a chance to correct the state of the world? After all, we see that things are getting worse every day.

Answer: No, the world is advancing towards a greater recognition of evil every day. People understand that they advance without any direction, not knowing where to go, unable to influence the way the world develops, or to ensure the sustainability of the world, to ensure life.

We are losing all the levers and there are no reins. There is no way we can manage the world and that is actually a good thing. People feel that they are like little children whose parents have lost them.

We gradually begin to realize who has forgotten us, who we have drawn away from, and who we should get closer to. This makes a person feel the need for the upper force, for balance with nature, with reality. It isn’t some mystical force, but we actually want to know how this system is built, the law, the formula according to which the world exists.

We must know where we are headed! After all, we are on a speeding train in total darkness not knowing where it is taking us…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/28/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: How can a person control his thoughts so that he will not sin?

Answer: A person cannot control his thoughts. He cannot control himself in any way. Am I my own boss? Where do we see such things?! There is no such thing! But I have to invoke a positive force around me on such a level that it will influence me and sustain me. Then I will be able to control myself.

We always stabilize our state by external forces, by the environment, society, and external support, while a person has no control over it. He doesn’t know which state he will be in the next moment, so how can he control anything?

A person can secure his future only if he prepares all the external vessels, desires. If I worry that the others have a secure future, I thus ensure my own future.

If a person is an element in a system, then how can he ask about what will happen to him? He depends on the whole system, especially since it is arranged so that he has the free will to strengthen his surrounding system and then he can ensure his future. He will never have more than he has prepared in the system, but if he hasn’t prepared it enough, he will receive blows so that he will discover the need to prepare it.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/14, The Zohar

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The Torah, “Leviticus” (Shemini), 9:5-9:7: And they took what Moses had commanded, to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire community approached and stood before the Lord. And Moses said, “This is the thing the Lord has commanded; do [it], and the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

And Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and perform your sin offering and your burnt offering, atoning for yourself and for the people, and perform the people’s sacrifice, atoning for them, as the Lord has commanded.”

This is about the correction of a person on the level of the altar. The word “altar” in Hebrew stems from the word “sacrifice” and the root to get closer, which is getting closer to the Creator by beginning to correct one’s desires with the intention of for myself to the intention of for society, humanity, and the Creator. Then He is revealed in these corrected desires.

Question: What should the people do so that Aaron will succeed?

Answer: The people refers to the component of Aaron (of this attribute in a person) that must adhere to him, which means all my small desires and attributes that have to participate in the spiritual work together with the upper desire called “Aaron.” In other words, I have to totally draw myself to get closer to the Creator. At the same time, I also have to involve the whole nation by the action of offering sacrifice because I have to check and to discover all the inclinations, desires, and urges inside me, gather them all, and focus them on attaining the level that is now the revelation of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/18/13

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Question: Suppose I decided that I want to be responsible for everyone. What’s the point if I will fall in five minutes?

Answer: It makes no difference. Five minutes is quite all right. It means that there are already five minutes of our whole life that are worth something and which last forever. All the rest of your life is a waste of time, but you could have lived five minutes!

Question: However, I want to follow the example of Moses!

Answer: Moses is a spiritual level. The Torah doesn’t tell us about historical figures, but about spiritual levels. You also will reach the level of Moses at some point, and instead of your current name, you will be called Moses. Everyone who ascends to a certain level receives the name of that level.

Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Chiya, and Rabbi Shimon, all these great sages, have names that indicate the spiritual levels they speak from. If we say that someone is someone else’s student, it means that he is on an adjacent level that is near the teacher.

Being a student of a Kabbalist is a very praiseworthy, respectable title. We know that the teacher is on a certain level and the student is one level below, nourished by the teacher.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/14,Writings of Baal HaSulam

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In the News (from the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation): “Group cohesion, mutual responsibility, is a phenomenon of the collective. Group cohesiveness expresses the degree of importance of the group to its members.

“It is defined by the expression of friends’ individual personality traits and qualities of mind, necessary for successful professional group activity: self-discipline, professionalism, mutual aid and support, willpower and determination, diligence, personal effectiveness, judgment and fairness, responsibility, intelligence (creativity and other qualities of the mind), health (emotional stability).”

My Comment: Here the group is represented only as a more effective tool to achieve a goal. But a Kabbalistic group is not simply a more effective means of achieving goals, but a prerequisite for achieving it: the goal is achieved precisely by uniting friends in the center of the group.
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Question: Why does it say that all of Israel are responsible for one another?

Answer: If I am the only person in the world who determines the state of our general vessel, then of course everything depends on me.

Question: However, I am not alone in this game. The others also influence it, and there is the society!

Answer: The society also depends on me, everything depends on me. All the seven billion people are in a fixed state and I am the only one who is changing and who determines everything. I am the only one responsible for those who can act freely, but all the others do nothing.

I speak with the Creator and am responsible for them before Him, for better and for worse! If He has any complaints with them, he should talk to me. This is called mutual guarantee.

Mutual guarantee means that I am responsible for everyone. There is nothing I can ask them to do. I am responsible for everything that they do.

Start thinking from this point and don’t think that it is imaginary. It is really so. You actually are responsible for everyone.

When you listen to the news and see what happens on the streets, or when you hear the complaints of the friends who cannot reach a spiritual level to correct themselves, to connect among them, then you should know that, from this moment onward, everything is in your hands. You are responsible for everything.

You create and make everything that is good and everything that is bad, both in corporeal life and in spiritual life. The others are not responsible for what they do. They are passive participants. They don’t determine anything. You are the only who determines how the Creator will relate to them. They encounter hurricanes, tsunamis, wars, and disasters, and who is to blame? You!

All of Israel are responsible for one another, but everyone is responsible for his own attributes and for what happens to the world with regard to it. Everyone is responsible for the wellbeing of the society and the wellbeing of the world.

Don’t say that you depend on others. You must reach the state in which you determine that the entire world is in a state of absolute goodness.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/14,Writings of Baal HaSulam

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