As a rule, we are concerned with ensuring our common desire to receive is not hurt. Therefore I always check to what extent I can use each of my qualities, and show myself in society in accordance with its most respected standards.

If the group I am in praises laziness, then I will be the biggest slacker. If pride is respected, then I will display myself as the epitome of arrogance.

I do this in relation to society, and use my qualities to gain the greatest advantage. It is not that the traits are inherently good or bad; in relation to the Creator they contain neither good nor bad.

In short, whatever lies below the Machsom (barrier) need not concern us. It is only in relation to the Creator that we should begin to worry about who and what we are, about one’s true nature.

Question: Are you talking about the qualities in their ordinary sense?

Answer: No, in the ordinary sense they are merely animalistic traits. But later, when a person crosses the Machsom, these traits cease to be animalistic and become spiritual; meaning, in relation to the Creator, they take on a completely different character.
[359552]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/26, Rabash, “What Should One Do If He Was Born with Bad Qualities?”

Related Material:
Why Are We Given Unattractive Qualities?
Is Acquiring New Qualities Worthwhile?
The Qualities that Control Us

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: How can I bring the awareness of the greatness of the goal to the surface so that I have fuel for the work?

Answer: By not ceasing the critical analysis of what is happening to you. This is very difficult. It requires great effort of the mind. After all, the mind can only function if it lacks something. If there is no lack in anything, if the mind sees no possibility of being filled by anything, then it does not work in this direction. And if it does not work in that direction, how can you engage it?

If you have no Hisaron (unfulfilled desire), you cannot engage the mind because it is initially capable of working on something only when you have a need for that object. This means that you need advertising—let everyone constantly say that this is important, then you will begin to search for where it lies, and you will think that you lack it.

Question: What is this critical analysis from the side? I must feel my current state, for one cannot hide from the state that we are experiencing, and at the same time look at oneself as if from the side as though it were not me. How can one go out of oneself?

Answer: You are capable of stepping outside of yourself if you enter into the Creator. There is only one of two possibilities: either the domain of man or the domain of the Creator. If a person decides that this is his domain, called “the domain of the many,” that is bad.

It is called “the domain of the many” because you have many desires, each of which pulls in its own direction. And so you are thrown toward money, honor, knowledge, toward one passion or another. This is what is called “the domain of the many.”

On the other hand, there is the possession of the One: only to fulfill His desire. The possession of the One is called the world of Atzilut. If we unconditionally and constantly remain only in the desire to fulfill the Creator, then we are in the world of Atzilut, above the Parsa. And if we do not remain only in this desire, then we are in the worlds of BYA (Beria, Yetzira, Assiya).
[360661]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

Related Material:
The Greatness of the Goal and the Greatness of the Creator
Raise The Greatness Of The Goal
Develop the Importance of the Goal

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Is the connection with the right line called “above knowledge” and the connection with the left line “within knowledge” or “below knowledge”?

Answer: No, you engage in both in full awareness and full command of the situation. If you find yourself in one of the lines without  exercising the appropriate control, you are not below or above, but are simply immersed in one of them, under its influence.

How can you control them? You must know from the outset why you are entering the right line. If you are unaware that you are in such a state, or even if you realize you are in it but the state dominates you, then it cannot be said that you are truly in the right line. Perhaps this can be called the Klipa of the right line. You are simply being led unconsciously through various states.

You are the one who decides whether it is the right line or the left line. You determine that, for instance, that a certain state is the right line for you, and you proceed accordingly. How do you know that now you have entered the right line? Is it written somewhere that this door is the right line and that one is the left: so just walk in? No!

You choose for yourself what is revealed to you, or what you wish to have revealed. You say: “This belongs to the right line, and what is before me belongs to the left.” It is not that they are located physically to your right or left; this is not the case at all. You categorize all desires, thoughts, and qualities as right or left yourself.

The right line exists above knowledge, above awareness, above comprehension, and above sensation since the right line is the greatness of the Creator, His desire to delight the creation, His promise that we will receive reward, and that the punishments we receive are only corrections.

I do not see all this with my eyes, nor do I perceive it with my senses. Therefore, there is something here on which I must rely. I must fill my senses as though I know this, as though they are full of the sensation of the Creator.

The sensation of the Creator gives me confidence and instills a feeling of His greatness. This is everything! I do not have this sensation, but I must fill myself with the feeling as though I already sense Him.
[360571]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

Related Material:
When a New Desire Is Born
In the Balance Between the Two Lines
Right And Left Lines

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

For this reason, there is a reality where one exercises on corporeal pleasures and afterwards he can come out of the Tzimtzum and concealment to some extent, for he can already choose and say that he is receiving this delight and pleasure only because he wants to bestow (Rabash, Article 33, What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet).

Question: The article says that a person should perform “exercises” on corporeal pleasures. What does this mean?

Answer: We say that we should think about the friends, about the group, and about giving to the friends, in other words, about living through their desires, and about bringing them joy. All of this is not in order to have a pleasant time, but in order to use this as a basis for determining just how far we actually are from the desire to bestow, and how much we loathe the very idea.

It is also about observing how I might attempt to force actions ostensibly aimed at bestowal upon myself and try to live through desires that are external and alien to me. Through these exercises, a person learns and discovers how capable they are of doing this, and how much they are not. Although this still cannot be measured precisely, the person nevertheless learns in order to understand where they stand.

We are not yet talking about a person actually acquiring the ability to bestow. Without a doubt, they are incapable of starting and completing such an action on their own. They only begin it because they must try to carry it out by themselves. But when they fail despite making efforts, it is revealed to them that the Creator must be the main participant and the one who executes the action.
[360665]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments That a Person Tramples with His Feet”

Related Material:
Self-Realization Is The Embodiment Of The Person’s “I”!
Discover That Reality Is Perfect
Advance to Become Similar to the Creator

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Is the middle line I attain not a real state but merely “as if”?

Answer: If now I am “as if” in the right line and move from it to the left, and let’s suppose I arrive at a prayer, at some state in the middle line, is this middle line also considered “as if”? Yes, my middle line will also be “as if.”

But after several of my attempts in this direction, the Creator will reveal Himself to me, and then I will truly feel His importance and greatness. This will give me a real force of faith. And then I will see my qualities as real Klipot, impure forces, completely opposite to the qualities of the Creator.

The more I truly reveal Him for myself, the more I will see my qualities in a true light. This is like the opposition of holiness to impure forces. And then this will be the true middle line, as the force of the soul, the desire to receive for the sake of bestowal, that is, the desire to receive with a screen and reflected light (Ohr Hozer).

One must try many times until we truly merit acquiring this true state, which will no longer be a child’s game. Children also play at something “as if” it were true, and in this game they learn real adult actions.

Before the Machsom, we are as if playing these games. This is called the period of preparation.

Question: Is it possible to build the middle line before the Machsom?

Answer: No, before crossing the Machsom we cannot build a true middle line. Indeed, it cannot yet appear. The true middle line means that I already have properties of reception and properties of bestowal. Before I pass the Machsom, I simply do not have this. My nature is the animal nature, the nature of this world, and it is not my true nature.

Question: What happens when I make many attempts and exercises?

Answer: In this way I gain experience. It is just like in school. First one studies for a long time, and then one can go to work.
[360619]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

Related Material:
In the Balance Between the Two Lines
How Is the Middle Line Created?
In Harmony Between Two Lines

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The concept of “prohibition” in Kabbalah implies an “impossibility.” What does it mean that “one must not teach Torah to idol worshippers”? The Torah refers to the lights that fill the vessels of bestowal. Torah consists of acts of bestowal.

An idolator is defined as the will to receive [in Hebrew, the acronym “AKUM” (referring to a pagan or idolator) literally stands for “one who worships stars and fate.”]

The intention of an idolator is directed not toward the Creator, but toward various other forces, those that are within the will to receive, because there is nothing besides the Creator and the will to receive.

An idol worshipper is one who worships the will to receive. It is impossible to teach him Torah, simply because he has a different intention. He does not perceive the concept of “the intention for the sake of bestowal,” and therefore it is impossible for the upper light to reside in him. But the term “impossible” is expressed in our language by the word “forbidden” or “must not.”

But why “must not”? Why not call the impossible “impossible”?

Because the sages are speaking about the path of correction, they mean the following: “Do not do this because nothing will come of it. It will not succeed.” In short, it comes out as “It must not be done.” “Must not” serves as advice: “Do not do it because it cannot be accomplished.”
[359641]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol Worshippers in the Work? ”

Related Material:
Why Are Idolaters Forbidden to Study Torah?
We Are Not Slaves To Slaves, Rather We Are Servants Of The Creator!
“You Have Chosen Us”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: In the context of the shattering of the Kelim (vessels), we speak about the Kelim of the “stony heart” (Lev HaEven), AHP of AHP, which we cannot correct.

It is only by concealing them that we achieve their correction, so that subsequently we can truly receive a Masach (screen) for them, and work with them for the sake of bestowal.

Can we say that it is precisely into these Kelim of the “heart of stone” that we acquire the lights of the three first Sefirot (Ohr de GAR), by arriving at the secrets of the Torah and the intention of the Creator?

Answer: Yes, and that is not all. We can put it this way. The eighth, ninth, and tenth millennia are the descent of the world of Atzilut into the place of the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. This marks the beginning of the work and correction of the heart of stone. This is not the whole story, but let us say that this is the case.

Your question is the following: if I do not work with the heart of stone at each of the degrees, does this mean that by doing so, I conceal the secrets of the Torah, and do not touch them? The answer is: also this.
[360519]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

Related Material:
The Impenetrable Heart Of Stone
How Can We Correct The Stony Heart?
Standing At The Threshold

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The upper one reveals His lower part, Malchut, to us as empty and black; it promises us nothing good.

The spiritual world, the upper world, is specially presented to us in this unattractive way. Yet in this world, perceived within Keter of the lower one, there is at least some pleasure.

I am in a state where even this world holds no attraction for me, yet the state of the upper one seems even worse.

After all, I lack fulfillment in my egoistic desire to receive, and the upper adds even more heaviness to me, by suggesting, “But you wanted to be in a state of bestowal!” I have nothing to eat, and yet I am told: “Go ahead, share with others!”

Therefore, the conditions set by the upper can be accepted only without reason, without any conditions, and not by one’s own strength, but by the strength of the light, without plans and without hope of filling one’s egoism and gaining profit in this world.

The main thing is to attain the state of bestowal, and then you will have everything, but only after you have renounced everything! You will receive fulfillment (satisfaction), not from receiving, but from bestowing.

This is how we should perceive the month of Elul before the beginning of the new year, the beginning of the spiritual path. “ELUL” stands for: “I am to my Beloved, and my Beloved to me.”

The upper one present me with these hopeless conditions that promise no fulfillment, so that precisely through them I will be able to free myself from my egoistic state.

If He had promised me something good, I would never have been able to tear myself out of my egoism, chained as I am to pleasures.

As it is said: “The Creator places a person’s hand upon a good fate, ”immerses his life in darkness and emptiness, and on the other hand, reveals a small ray of light to them that shows the person where they can turn to escape from the darkness.

The ray of light is not about egoistic, material gains. The Creator assists me on the spiritual path by bringing me to a Kabbalistic group, the place where I can freely choose the right environment, and by illuminating the way for me; that is, He gives me the sensation that bestowal is the light. Light is rising above one’s egoism when it does not matter to you whether it is empty or filled, but the important thing is with whom you are connected.

The Creator makes it clear: if you are suffering in your corporeal state, do not seek material fulfillment; instead, look upward from that state and consider the possibility of a different life, based on other values, on bestowal, and on another dimension (of happiness).

This means that a ray shines for me through the slits in the wall that separates me from the upper world, a world of tranquility (free from egoism and the endless pursuit of fulfillment) and perfection (found in the aspiration of bestowal and love).
[20887]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, Baal HaSulam, “What Is the Acronym Elul (I am for My Beloved, and My Beloved Is for Me) in the Work?”

Related Material:
When the Light Begins to Shine Upon Us
True Bestowal Is When We Come Out Of Ourselves (Advanced)
Pray For The Internal Power Of Bestowal

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

In our world, an intermediate stage exists between a curse and a blessing. Our world is defined as al menat lekabel (for the sake of receiving) and the future world al menat lehashpia (for the sake of bestowing).

These two factors do not touch one another; the only transition from one to the other exists within a person, who seems to be able of alternating between being in one state and the other. I say “seems” because this does not yet occur in reality, but rather at a level below Kedusha (holiness) and the Klipa (impure forces).

From above downward, down to the Machsom (barrier), there are two lines: true holiness and the true impure force, true blessing and curse. Below the Machsom, the roles of the true concepts of “curse” and “blessing” is played by what may be called a “set of exercises,” this world, given to us to prepare ourselves a little, exert an effort, and begin the real work.

Thus, here we do not have holiness (the intention for the sake of bestowal), and strictly speaking, nor do we have the impure force (the intention for the sake of receiving), the curse. We have neither one nor the other. Therefore, what we do can be done. We do nothing inherently bad and nothing inherently good here. Everything is allowed to us, much like to small children, so that we might learn something from the experience.

If a person truly wants to approach genuine actions that one determines and performs themselves, and wishes to leave infancy, like the adults of this world, then one must go through stages of learning, preparation, understanding, and a certain level of awareness.

This process is called from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma (from the intention for one’s own sake to the intention for the sake of the Creator). This is the state before the Machsom that we must attain. No matter the circumstances, a person must seek ascent and awakening, a desire to do something for the Creator, for the higher force, even while in a state of concealment (both double or ordinary).

A person can acquire this desire only from the group. There is nowhere else to get it from, because when in concealment, one does not see the Creator. By working with the environment, annulling oneself, and realizing the importance of the Creator, understanding that it is worthwhile for him to annul themself before the group in order to realize the importance of the Creator, a person thereby shows how important and necessary this is for him.

For this, a person is ready to sacrifice himself and is truly capable of constantly finding the drive to act and be impressed by the environment so that one’s efforts invested in the group with the aim of receiving the awareness of the importance of the Creator from it, become a sign of how important it is for one to come to the Creator, to spirituality.

In the action that one performs toward the group, annulling oneself in order to attain the Creator, all the actions against one’s own desire toward the Creator and toward the group are present. Everything in one action.

The awareness of the importance of the Creator is similar to one’s attitude toward a great Rabbi whom a crowd of admirers meets at the airport, when a person finds enough energy within himself to carry his suitcases. But if an ordinary person gets off the plane, it would never occur to anyone to do such a “foolish” thing as help him with his luggage.

Therefore, there is nothing else for us to work on except the awareness of importance through which we move from curse to blessing.
[360587]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

Related Material:
A Blessing And A Curse In Spirituality
A Blessing Or A Curse?
Blessing And Condemnation

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: What is the danger inherent in the secrets of the Torah?

Answer: If there is a prohibition to engage in the secrets of the Torah, then, apparently, I could do it. And if I can, then how? After all, we are talking about the vessels (Kelim) and the lights (Orot) of the first three Sefirot with which I don’t have the slightest connection.

The point is that a prohibition signifies an impossibility. But if it is impossible, why is it forbidden?

Suppose a dangerous object is located at a height of two meters. I cannot reach it because I am only 1.7 meters tall. So I ask someone to get it for me. In spirituality, it doesn’t work that way. There, if I cannot reach it, I simply cannot reach it. So, what does it mean that it is impossible to reach, yet still is forbidden?

The prohibition applies to the intention: do not intend to reach it or touch it. Even though you cannot reach it, and know this, you might still strive for it or desire it. You are told, “No! You must not touch this, you must not desire this. Even those who are advance must conceal these vessels and lights.”

Therefore, there is an obligation to correct one’s attitude toward the secrets of the Torah by intentionally concealing them. We do not yet know exactly what is being discussed here. This correction takes place above reason.

So, “prohibited” means “impossible.” And “impossible” means that you perform an action that confirms this impossibility. Despite your desire, you perform an action defined as “impossible.” In spirituality, every word denotes an action—building my internal spiritual attitude toward a subject. Hence the prohibition, which also implies that I will perform the corresponding action. Thereby my vessel will become perfect.

There are desires in me in which this prohibition must be enacted, in which I must establish an attitude specifically toward the first three Sefirot: I do not touch nor desire them. Even if I do feel the urge, I structure my attitude as if I do not want to or intend to, and effectively conceal the first three Sefirot from these desires.

This constitutes the correction. This does not mean that I pay no attention to the matter, such a thing does not happen in spirituality.
[360450]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

Related Material:
Why Are Idolaters Forbidden to Study Torah?
“You Have Chosen Us”
We Are Not Slaves To Slaves, Rather We Are Servants Of The Creator!

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work - No Comments →