Question: Why should the group supply me with a good mood?

Answer: Parallel to the greatness of the Creator, you must receive an uplifted spirit from the group. Without an uplifted mood, greatness is not greatness.

One could say that where the Creator is hidden, the group must perform His function. In other words, the Creator has hidden Himself, but in His place, He has given you the group. Why? Because you cannot connect with Him except for the sake of bestowal. But with the group you can play however you wish. Yet true play can also be only for the sake of bestowal. That is, in this world, in your egoistic state, you have the opportunity to perform spiritual work.

The problem with our group is that we do not concern ourselves with building the group. One must begin with this.

If I want the group to influence me and build me, then I must ensure that it is strong, that it possess the correct intention, that it operates on the right “frequency,” that it maintains an uplifted mood, and that it embodies everything that I wish to receive from it.

For it to possess these qualities, I must provide them to it. Where can I get what I give to it? Anyone can provide this! Anyone can do it, provided it is not for oneself, but for someone else.

It is just like during a lecture. You arrive, and your students think: “What a righteous one! How corrected he is!” Why? Because you pour out upon them everything that you have read and even what you haven’t. You work on their desire to receive, and give them a level of upliftment that you do not possess yourself.

Sometimes you come depressed, but you begin to speak, and you ignite yourself. You see that when you want to give to the group, your own state does not matter.

You can uplift people, truly inspire them, with your words, even those that might not seem to come straight from the heart. A person listening to you will think that this came to him from above, directly from the prophet Elijah. You must do the same thing deliberately and intentionally with your group, so that it becomes mutual.

You cannot imagine what forces you will be able to receive! You will not be able to sleep! It will be like those first days when you encountered the idea of Kabbalah. There are such days of ascent on the holidays of Sukkot or Passover when that uplifted spirit stays with you around the clock. You will see that this is how you will live.

Whether you want it to or not, your friends will act upon you in this way. However, the problem is that they do not yet wish to influence you. They do not yet understand that this is the crucial point.

You will feel that you are living and “burning” every moment. Where does come from within you and in what form? A whole group is sitting there and working, and you are with them for hours. When you are outside looking in, you often hear that this is important, that this is something special, and you yourself “catch fire.” What else is there to stir such excitement? This is what spirituality is about.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/24/26, Rabash, “Who Testifies to a Person”

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Question: Why do created beings remain distinct even after they have been corrected?

Answer: Every person perceives themselves, even after merging with everyone else, because each individual has a unique point of their own  that was created as “something from nothing” (Yesh Mi-Ain). Each of us exists within the Creator, within the very thought of creation, and each must attain the purpose of that thought of creation: “to delight His creations.”

The thought of creation exists within the Creator. It is His thought, not mine. I must become included in this thought once again, and each person becomes included in it in their own way. Of course, all of us are united as one. We are all one Kli (vessel), yet each person’s identity, uniqueness, and individuality stay in place.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/22/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘A Layperson’s Vessels,’ in the Work?”

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Comment: We say that the surrounding lights cause all kinds of clarifications in us.

My Response: The light awakens the Kli (vessel). The light corrects the Kli. We only have to give it a reason to do so.

Comment: We say that only the light can correct me because on one hand, it will not do anything until I want it to, and on the other hand, only it can awaken this desire in me.

My Response: You can continue further, and it will be the same. These are precisely our states: ascents, descents, and all kinds of relationships. This is exactly what happens! Either the Kli or the light is revealed, either this or that. That is all! There is nothing else.

The only question is whether we need to be so clever as to know the details of the process we are going through, and if I suddenly do not know some detail of this process, then, God forbid, will I not be able to go through it? That is the question!

Does our knowledge push us to go through this process, while our lack of knowledge stops us? No! Suppose some psychologist or philosopher sits here. They might quickly grasp what we are talking about, and after just a few lessons they could explain it and juggle the terminology so skillfully, like a veritable Elijah the Prophet, that you would be spellbound.

Meanwhile, next to him might be someone who has difficulty understanding what we are talking about, and is himself so internally crude and emotionally undeveloped that he simply cannot feel what is being said in the lesson. So what?! This is completely unimportant!

Two such people can sit next to each other. One is literally Shimon from the marketplace, not Rabbi Shimon as he was. And this poor Shimon from the market can barely grasp what is written in the article, and is in some kind of fog. And the second, let us say, is a finely sensitive intellectual, who understands everything, and who easily plays with words on any subject.

There is absolutely no connection between this and their advancement because everything depends on the effort! If this crude, uneducated person gives his all, and completely devotes himself to the work, then only his efforts are counted! While that clever, refined person who grasps everything on the fly may not put in enough effort, and he does not need to. It is difficult for him to invest himself because he does not feel that there is anything here to invest in.

It is not that he is uninterested or that he feels disdain. He simply does not see the challenges or the scope for action. But in fact, everything proceeds according to the calculation of effort and nothing else.

It turns out that a philosopher with a sensitive nature is actually unhappy because he was not given sufficient Aviut (desire, need) from above, and a lot of time will pass until he begins to receive it.

If he remains steadfast in his studies, he will, of course, come to the state of Shimon from the marketplace, and begin from there. We often see this among us. This is why Kabbalah is in demand in our very materialistic, crude, egoistic generation, and not in previous generations, who felt the divine presence in everything. For them, this was clear and natural. It was very easy for them to establish a correspondence between the material and spiritual worlds.

They performed all the commandments. Do you know how to perform the commandments connected with the land? It is something frightening: some 300 to 400 commandments. And the commandments connected with the Temple? They had pure inner sensations, and therefore they did not need Kabbalah; they did not make efforts. But with us, it is the opposite.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called “Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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Until the final correction, we do not touch the “stony heart.” We only build a readiness for its correction in the form of negation.

Let’s imagine that the same process occurs even before the Machsom (barrier). We build a readiness to correct the Masach (screen) over our desire to receive through a form of negation. What qualities do we need to examine so that later we will be able to receive the light of Messiah from above, the light that will pull us out of this world into the spiritual world?

Later at the final correction, we receive the light of Messiah, which pulls us from the second restriction to the first restriction. That is it! Go figure it out! What do you need? What conditions are required? It takes many years of effort to bring you to this. It is as though you are “chewing over” the same articles and letters again and again.

In my time, none of this existed. When Rabash began writing his articles, it was already 1983 – 1984. His first articles were published in 1984. Before that, there was only the book Sefer HaHakdamot (The Book of Introductions), and that was it, nothing else. Moreover, we did not study it. We studied only The Study of the Ten Sefirot. If you wanted to, you could read the introductions on your own!

The fact that we “chew over” all these texts is very beneficial for making clarifications. However, we must try to bring them into the heart, that is, to read in such a way that they touch our revealed, exposed desires. As Rabash said: “They give you medicine, a bottle of medicine. But instead of drinking it, you rub it on your leg. You did not understand what the doctor told you, and you get the corresponding result.”

We need to perceive all these things as closely as possible in relation to our desires. While we are reading and listening, we should try to connect what we are reading with what is happening inside us. Then, gradually, it penetrates the heart.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

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Question: Our task is to increase the awareness of the importance of the Creator in others. I am obliged to do this toward the friends. But what about myself?

Answer: You are obliged to increase the awareness of the importance of the Creator in others. But you cannot do this for yourself, only in relation to others.

And the friends, in turn, will do the same for you. You are not the master of your desire. We are not speaking about whether you want to, but about your performing such actions in relation to the friends, even if feigned or reluctantly, since in relation to them you are able to do this.

You might ask sharp questions concerning us and our path here, and while conducting lessons in your external group be full of enthusiasm. These are two poles, but this is possible. This is how each of us must act. I too sometimes have states that are not noticeable from the outside.

Comment: When you are in front of a group, it is easier.

My Response: Of course, in relation to others you can do anything, for here your pride and honor come into play. Your ego works; the desire to receive helps you. And so, you are told: use the desire to receive in such a form; give society your “lie” and society will give you its own, and then you react to the falsehood of society as though it were true. You will accept it as the truth.

Question: And still, is it possible to establish some laws?

Answer: It is possible. Do what you want. The main thing is—do. Let us introduce the position of a duty head of the group, and let them change every day. Throughout today’s day, you take care to determine for us the importance of the Creator, how we must think and act. Begin; today you are responsible. Try it.

In fact, this is how everyone must act, and every day.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

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Each one believes that it is impossible to be a perfect human being, so in general, he thinks that he is complete, and when he looks at his friends he sees their faults, that they are not all right.

He, on the other hand, is fine (Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”).

Whatever we do here is still part of the corporeal world, and there is only one path by which a person rises into spirituality: love of friends. Many articles have been written and many words have been spoken about the love of friends. What, in the current state of our group, should a person focus on now as something that will actually be beneficial?

I need only one thing. Not now and not later, but always, because even a month from now nothing will have changed compared with today. The work will be the same: recognizing the greatness of the goal, the greatness of connection with the Creator, the only thing worth living for and worth paying any price for.

On Saturday, when you made a toast at the meal, you said: “There is nothing left to give to the Creator, only my soul. I have already given everything and have seen that none of it is worth anything, that it has not even reached its destination. The only thing I have left is my soul. It is mine, and I give it.”

This is the awareness that the group must instill in me. Everything begins and ends with awareness of the importance of the Creator, because our entire path is directed toward Him. If He is not important to me, I will begin to turn in every direction—through 359 of the 360 degrees, excluding that one true direction.

Only one direction leads to Him. All the other directions are my “domain of the many,” where I turn toward fulfilling my own desires, cravings, passions, and deficiencies. Therefore, if I want to leave the central point, the “stony heart,” my point in the heart, and move toward Him and attain Him, then from the very beginning I must set the goal in my sights. And I will be able to keep it in my awareness, my attention, and my focus only if it is important to me.

How can it become important to me? It can become important only if the group tells me that it is important, tells me a thousand times over, because I do not see its importance. I will never start looking for it, because how can I search for something that I do not see, do not feel, and cannot perceive?

The group must give this to me. Here are both the beginning and the end of the work. Nothing changes: one must constantly raise the importance of the Creator through all the degrees, in this world and in the future. There is nothing besides this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

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From initially saying “there is none else besides Him,” and then striving to become similar to this through “if I am not for myself, who is for me,” when I examine and see how opposite I am to the Creator, then a demand toward Him comes to me: a prayer. But prayer does not mean that I ask or give thanks. A request and gratitude merely signifies that I have reached a definition of the true state, that I have completed the analysis of my current place. Nothing more is needed.

The moment I truly discern my state may be termed a request, a prayer, or repentance; what it is called doesn’t matter. But when I reach this final sensation, then it changes, and I do not need to say anything.

Prayer is defined as the deepest sensation in the heart. After many thoughts, clarifications, and changes, I arrive at the final decision: who I am and what I am.

Kabbalists call this a prayer—the point where I affix my seal concluding the clarification and analysis.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/26, Rabash, “Who Needs to Know that a Person Withstood the Test?”

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Question: What should you do if a friend does not elevate you, but humiliates you? After all, there should be mutual relations in the group. It turns out that you invest effort, and he… .

Answer: Let’s suppose that the whole group is in a certain state where it does not awaken or uplift me in any way. In such a case, it is worthwhile to take several people from the group, work only with them, and together with them set an example for everyone else. But without unnecessary words—simply set an example.

If the others want to listen, then also tell them: “We are tired of sitting in the ‘assembly of the frivolous,’ and we have decided that we want to get out of this state. If you want, join us, and if not, then don’t. We can no longer continue like this.”

A person can do this alone, or take several like-minded friends with whom it will be easier. That is all. For this, there is no need to unite into groups; this can be done freely, so that everyone has the opportunity to join.

In any case, one needs somehow to look for a way to break the existing situation. And here, I think, it is not even worth giving advice. Seek advice yourselves, and that itself will be a blessed work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”

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Question: If the desire to receive agrees to perform work, it expects a reward for it. How can it agree to something other than what it anticipates? For in every action—in work with the group or in study—the desire to receive imagines some payment for itself; otherwise, it would not agree to work.

Answer: What kind of reward should we imagine? We cannot choose the reward. It already exists and depends on my Kli (vessel), on the state I am currently in.

What is considered a reward in spirituality? We do not know this and cannot imagine it. You might simply speak words about desiring to receive the intention for the sake of bestowal as your reward, claiming that opportunity of  bringing pleasure to the Creator will be your reward. But how can this be?

What enjoyment will I be able to receive from this? How will I be able to feel that a Kli which is outside me is being filled? We have not the slightest idea about this. We do not know how one enjoys fusion with the Creator. We truly cannot feel such actions within ourselves. Not yet…

Question: But how can one want to change the reward?

Answer: One can want to change the reward only as a result of blows. There is no other solution. But one can pass through them more quickly only if a person is able to endure them. And one can endure them if one turns them from animal sufferings into sufferings of the soul.

For animal sufferings are stretched out over a long time, and only then can you endure them. But this takes a lot of time. If you want to shorten them, you cannot remain in the same plane of animalistic sufferings.

You must rise above it and change the quality of the blows, transfer them from the animalistic realm into the realm of the spiritual. And then one “soul” blow, that is, as it were a spiritual blow, is counted for you as a thousand animalistic blows. In this way you shorten the time. That is, the blows become qualitative, not quantitative.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

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Question: Is a transition to a secular worldview necessary when moving from the inanimate stage (Domem) to the vegetative stage (Tzomeach)?

Answer: No, a person does not have to go from being religious at the still level of holiness (Domem de Kedusha) to being secular, to then arrive to Kabbalah. These stages are completely unrelated to one another. There are examples: the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim. In Judaism today, there is a very deep divide.

There are many people who understand that Judaism is in a deep crisis. Unlike what existed a hundred years ago, today all the values, the entire approach, have collapsed. This is clear to many people who, without being organized into groups, study and even get together in small groups to talk about it. I hear from those who call and inquire that this is indeed happening.

There is nothing you can do about it. We are talking about creation, about development, when a person suddenly begins to feel that something is missing in his books, in his way of studying. He may even study Gemara, thinking in spiritual terms, but suddenly, whether he wants it or not, he is “led away.”

He, like us, is brought to a state where he opens a book he did not want to read before—and suddenly, what opens up before him is not a book, but an entire world. I recognize this reaction in people and hope that this is how it will continue. Baal HaSulam and all the Kabbalists of various generations emerged in precisely this way.

Question: But we are talking about individuals. Shouldn’t this become a widespread phenomenon?

Answer: These are not individuals. We are talking about tens and hundreds of people in each generation. Two or three hundred years ago, there were very large groups of people who had attained spiritual levels. Let us remember the Baal Shem Tov and Kotzk. In the time of the Baal Shem Tov, there were thousands of them. There were thousands in every generation. All these Admorim, up until the twentieth century, possessed spiritual attainment, and the books they wrote were, of course, holy books, since they were all Kabbalists.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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