Question: They say that the Ari was Mashiach ben Yosef. What does that mean?

Answer: The correcting force called “Mashiach ben Yosef” carries out the preparation before the “coming” (revelation) of the correcting force “Mashiach ben David.” Yosef points to the Sefira Yesod, and David to Malchut. Yesod prepares its influence on Malchut in order to correct it.

The Mashiach is not a person, not the Ari himself, not his physical body, but his teaching, his method, his force. It is a soul that operated in the common system of souls in such a way as to open a path for the light and illuminate all souls with it.

It stands on the path of the light from above downward, connects the higher corrected souls of the Kabbalists of the past with those souls that are still uncorrected, receives the light in its higher clothing and clothes it in a form suitable for our souls, distributes it by degrees, and brings the light closer to our souls.

Therefore, starting from the Ari and onward, souls began a mass correction, as in the times of the Baal Shem Tov, with the emergence of Hasidism. In this way humanity began to advance spiritually.

If not for the Ari with his method, there would be no Baal Shem Tov with his Hasidic movement (which gave rise to numerous Kabbalistic groups among the people). And without the Baal Shem Tov there would be no Baal HaSulam, and without Baal HaSulam there would be none of us today studying Kabbalah.

These stages are called the “steps of the Mashiach.”  In other words, it is the development of the method and practice of correction toward its final completion. We are the first to implement the final stage of correction, because we use the force of Mashiach ben Yosef in order to attain the revelation of the force Mashiach ben David and to correct Malchut itself, the general assembly of all souls with a common screen.

Question: Will a person with a special soul appear in our world who implements the method of correction and who will be called Mashiach ben David?

Answer: It is possible that Mashiach ben David is our common desire, which in the end will carry out this action, and not a particular individual. We are not interested in the people who lived in this world—the Ari, Baal HaSulam or even Rashbi—but in their influence within the system of souls. We are speaking about a soul that reveals the light of correction to us.

And we act in the same way. Together we create a system of souls in order to draw the light from above and pass it on to all the uncorrected souls. We perform an action that already belongs to the Malchut of David.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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The Ari is a unique phenomenon in Kabbalah. There were many great Kabbalists, but the Ari entered the history of Kabbalah as a pivotal point that changed the whole direction of development.

That is to say, with him the descent from above downward from the world of infinity of all lights and Kelim (vessels) in the spiritual worlds, and then in the material world, came to an end, the process of development that had moved even further downward through the revelation of evil. Even the receiving of the Torah and the creation of The Book of Zohar were only preparations and not yet the implementation of the method of correction.

Although Kabbalists had been active for many generations prior to the Ari, they corrected their souls in the common system of the soul of Adam. They drew light through themselves to weaker souls, but nevertheless, there was still no method of correction that would connect the light, desires, screens, Partzufim, Sefirot.

All this was revealed by the Ari: Tzimtzum Alef, Tzimtzum Bet, the world of Nekudim, the pure and impure worlds of ABYA, Adam HaRishon. He put this whole system in order and encompassed within one common sphere the whole spiritual reality, all forms of relations between creation and the Creator, creating a general picture of the universe: the Creator, the creation, and everything that happens between them.

In addition, he made it so that we could enter into all these forms of relations between the Creator and the creation and build them ourselves. That is, all the spreading from above downward continued until the Ari, and from him onward correction began. In his time, in his soul, the lowest point of descent was realized, and the direction changed: the ascent from him upward, meaning he turned the whole world, all souls, toward correction.

All the souls that acted before the Ari worked “from above downward” and served as preparation for our time. And all those who came out after the Ari are already souls passing through correction from below upward by means of his teaching, the method he revealed.

It is impossible even to evaluate and grasp such a special soul that changed the entire opposition between creation and the Creator and gave creation the method of correction. Thanks to the corrections that the Ari carried out in his soul, reconstructing in it the whole system of Adam HaRishon, now, after him, souls can come out that will use his method and advance the process of the general correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/28/11, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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If my thoughts, states, and actions come from the Creator—both whatever I might desire and think, as well as what I thought and desired in the past, then the question arises again: Who and what am I?

This is discussed in the article “The Freedom,” in which Baal HaSulam explains that a person is indeed a machine. On the physiological and biological levels, we can understand this.

But if both a person’s thoughts and desires are not his own, and the person himself is the result of society and the influence from above, then what remains? Baal HaSulam says in this article that in our world a person has free choice in only one thing: receiving an impression of the greatness of the goal in order to attain it from the group.

I have already explained that everyone is interconnected above, and from there, through the friends, one can draw the necessary force to oneself. Only this depends on the person. Nothing else in this world depends on him.

We do not realize the extent to which—in deciding upon any action, in everything we may wish to do at any given moment, to sit down or stand up, to drink or eat, to sleep or go somewhere, to get on a bus or not, and so on—we are unable to introduce even the slightest foreign desire, some external cause that is not already within us.

It is only because the course of this inner process is unknown and incomprehensible to me that it seems to me that I am deciding, searching, thinking, calculating, and making plans. All of this is only because of this uncertainty; it is only because of this uncertainty that I do not understand how all of this actually happens.

It is similar to the way we look at an infant, and know what he will do the next moment. The same applies to us. Only it will become many times clearer when we rise to a higher degree.

Therefore there is no point in engaging in nonsense. Rather we should use this tiny point, this very small opening through which we can bring into ourselves, into our Kli, an external force for advancement. And that force is the greatness of the Creator received from the friends. If a person cares for this point, and constantly strives to draw more and more through it, he will succeed.

I would like to add that the friends are not only like-minded people in the group, but also the sources and their authors. A person may simply sit and listen to Kabbalistic music, or to recordings of what the Kabbalists say, even without understanding the language that they are speaking. This is called an external force. And this is the only thing that depends on us. Everything else is nothing more than imagination and fantasy.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/26, Rabash, “What Does, ‘Everything that Comes to Be a Burnt Offering Is Male,’ Mean in the Work? ”

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Question: The Creator speaks to me as if in a foreign language. How do I learn to translate His words.

Answer: At least we can hear what is said in another language. But we do not even hear the Creator. It does not seem to us that the entire world is the language of the Creator.

We think that the world revolves on its own, according to its own laws. Someone offended us, shouted at us, and someone else did something good for us. We do not perceive all of this as the influence of the upper force, beside which there is nothing else.

The whole world is busy with squabbles and politics, like little children in a sandbox, constantly fighting with each other. But if I want to understand what the Creator is saying, I need to imagine that everything that happens in my life comes from the Creator. There are only two of us, me and the Creator.

This will be the beginning of my correct perception of reality. I do not yet grasp it, but this is precisely how I can hold on to the end of the thread that leads to the truth. Apart from this point of the oneness of the Creator that I am now holding on to, there truly is nothing else; there is none else besides Him.

This is the very first point from which I begin to understand Him. Outside of me there is only the Creator, one force, one authority, one desire. And inside me too, everything has been created by the Creator except for the desire to know Him.

And even this desire to know the Creator has also been created by Him. But within it, He has left me freedom of choice that I must develop. And then I will become a free human being, a creation called Adam, which means “similar” (Domeh) to the Creator.

Question: And what about all these people around me?

Answer: There are no people. There is only the Creator. This is the starting point of the correct perception of reality through which I can see the path. And then I will have to overcome various obstacles and problems, focus my gaze more and more on the Creator, and build an ever deeper relationship with Him in order to understand how He speaks to me.

He deliberately confuses me so that I will penetrate more deeply into Him, and understand His qualities and method. I absorb all of this from Him, and by this build myself in His likeness.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 516 – The Wisdom Of Kabbalah: God And I, Part 2” 2/7/15

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If a person exerts and sees that he is slipping backward, it is a sign that one is in the process of revealing a new Kli. What does “backward” mean? A vessel without fulfillment is being revealed to him. This means that he has entered the left line, the revelation of a new Kli, a new Achoraim (back side), and he continues to advance but in a negative form, with an even greater sense of emptiness.

Later, he will fill this emptiness with corrections and lights. This simply means that, for the time being, he is in the left line. Then he will enter the right line, and from the alternation between the right and left lines we experience what we call descents and ascents. In reality, these are neither descents nor ascents; they are simply the two stages of correction. Left, right, left, right; that is how we advance.

Naturally, when a person is in the left line, he feels empty, and it seems to him that he is moving backward. In fact, he has gone backward, descended even farther from spirituality in order to take Kelim (vessels) from an even lower level.

More precisely, he hasn’t even descended; he was lowered. This is a sign that he is ultimately worthy of correcting these Kelim. Therefore, a person who already has experience in the work rejoices when he feels despair, confusion, and a lack of clarity in his perceptions. He is glad to experience states that he cannot fully understand, glad even to feel lost.

This is a sign that new vessels are being added to him. With experience, we come to see that this is indeed the case.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work? ”

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Question: If a person knows that all actions are performed by the Creator, then why does this not weaken him? After all, a person expects a reward for his actions.

Answer: A person who exists in a state of spiritual perception understands that this itself is the reward and needs no other reward.

In the very next moment, he needs to unite even more with the divine, to sharpen his sensations in search for contact with the Creator. The desire for connection with Him is given to a person by intensifying the influence of the surrounding light upon him; that is the reward.

We must understand that advancement toward the state of the final correction (Gmar Tikun), which includes a sequence of alternating states of light and darkness, is itself the reward. It is in the fact that a person is brought to this state, given a desire for spirituality, and the possibility to realize his desire (Hisaron). What is this if not a reward?

Punishment is when a person is as if left alone and feels that he is in a stagnant (suspended) state. A greater punishment is impossible to imagine.

We are speaking about people who passionately strive for spirituality, about whom it is written that they are Jews, that is, the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How does Abraham differ from the other nations? In that he became a Kabbalist, attained the Creator, and desired to connect with Him. In this lies the difference between Abraham and the people among whom he originated (the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, Mesopotamia).

That is, our people are special not thanks to their genetic makeup, but because there existed a group of Kabbalists that separated itself from the rest of the masses. This group came to be called Jews or Hebrews. “Jews” (from the word “Yichud,” unification) are those who seek unification with the Creator, and “Hebrew” (from the word “Laavor,” to cross, to pass) are those who pass through the Machsom.

This is our people. But as soon as it falls from the degree of Mekubalim (Kabbalists), it is called Goyim (non‑Jews).

Therefore, one who is in the process of spiritual ascent accepts everything sent to him from above as reward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/26, Rabash, “What Is, “There Is None as Holy as the Lord, for There Is None Besides You,” in the Work?”

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Question: What happens when a person begins to study Kabbalah and embarks on the path of drawing closer to the Creator?

Answer: The initial years, roughly after the first six months of exposure to the wisdom, are years of confusion. A person remains confused until various clarifications and definitions begin to emerge that help one cope with what is happening and bring to order and put things in their proper place. This requires time and may continue for years (the first three to five years). There is no way to skip this stage.

Acquiring a spiritual Kli is not easy. It is an entirely different nature. Look at how much people suffer and how much effort they invest just to obtain something in this world through their direct Kelim, that is, through the desire to receive. Consider how developed their perceptions, qualities, and desires must become, and how hard they must work. And you want to acquire a Kli that does not belong to this world!
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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I perceive every state that comes to me as it is, and I want to examine it regardless of whether I feel good or bad. As it is said: “Everything that the Creator does is for the best.”

I regard these states as having the right to exist and as arriving in order to correct me to such an extent that “Even if a sharp sword is pressed against one’s throat, to not despair of mercy.” In other words, every single thing is a correction.

It is clear that this is easy to say, but we are not able to do it consistently. At first, you are ready to resist and destroy everything.

Upon second thought, you begin to relate to the situation, let’s say, in the right way.

If you remember that this has come to you for your correction, then you must turn to the third perspective: that there is none else besides the Creator. And then in that state, through suffering and pain, you will begin to reveal Him, and immediately come to a feeling of sweetness.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/26, Rabash, “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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During an ascent, a person is deliberately given a measure of illumination so that one may feel perfection. But this comes to a person from above, not as something the person has earned by oneself, and it is given precisely so that one will clearly sense the qualities of the Creator and grasp, at least to some small degree, the nature of spirituality. Based on that experience a person is meant to delve deeper into the Torah, the study, the articles, the letters, and all the material that was previously unclear to them.

Now they must work through this material, understand it, and truly internalize something from it. Depending on how quickly and effectively they use this and depending on their desire to derive the maximum benefit during the ascent, they will acquire knowledge, sensations, and discernments.

Later, when they are “lowered,” they must understand that they are now being given the state opposite to the ascent, remoteness from the Creator, so that they may feel who they are without the influence of the surrounding light. But in any case, the surrounding light illuminates them so that they can see that they do not understand or feel, and are in darkness, in remoteness, and in descent. This is the illumination of the surrounding light, but, as it is called, in “Achoraim.”

Then, in the state of descent, one is also obligated to work, that is, not to immerse oneself in this state, not to study one’s Kelim, because they can be studied only in their interaction with the light.

If, while trying to emerge from the state of descent, a person is unable to study or engage in internal work, one should instead perform physical actions in the group, in the kitchen, it doesn’t matter where. Although a person performs them mechanically, with hands and feet, and cannot engage one’s mind and heart, these efforts will be regarded as genuine spiritual actions in the spiritual Kelim, because this is the greatest spiritual self-expression of which one is capable.

But when, after a period of descent, a person receives an illumination from above, one must not think that it is the result of one’s own work, that he himself has overcome, acted, and attained. One is being given another state from above in which one must work, and perhaps this is called an ascent. It is still not known what an ascent and a descent really are.

We should evaluate these states not according to how close or far we are from the Creator because of an awakening from above, but according to the extent to which, through our own awakening from below, we strive to come closer to Him. It may be that during a descent a person’s yearning for the Creator is greater than it is during an ascent; then the descent is an ascent.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 7/7/26, Rabash, Article 28, 1991 “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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Before every lesson, a person should think: What will I receive from this study? This inner preparation before the lesson should prepare him so that during the study he will be able to think correctly. This is possible. A person simply needs to accustom himself to it, and gradually it will become natural. There are many things we must do in a very simple, uncomplicated way, “like an ox to the burden and a donkey to the load.”

Why have we been given reason and thought? To search and discover the one thing that is truly worth holding on to: to study, to examine what is happening to us. This study should lead us to the conclusion called the recognition of evil. I should not resist anything, nor should I force myself to do anything. That is of no benefit.

I need only pay attention to what the Creator is doing to me! From this, I gradually begin to understand: who I am, who He is, what He wants, why He arranges these things for me, and with what subtlety He does so. Through this, I slowly come to know nature.

Kabbalah is the study of nature, but in a broader sense. It includes the world of causes, where everything is conceived and prepared, and from there extends to our nature, to ourselves, and to our environment.

Thus, by studying ourselves, as it is said, “From Your actions we shall know You,” and “From my flesh I shall see the Creator,” we come to study the whole of reality.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/26, Rabash, “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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