Question: Why should we engage in war during the preparation period?

Answer: You mean that if we go beyond the Machsom, then it is clear where the right line is, where the left line is, where good is, and where evil is. There it seems like it is revealed to me that I am in a state of discord through which I can clarify what is happening and how to build new Kelim (vessels). Then it really makes sense.

But before the Machsom, I have no idea where I am. I do not even know which forces are bad and which are good and whether I am even engaged in battle. I am simply in an unconscious state. So what is the point of this?

First of all, if we think this way about what happens after the Machsom, this is a mistaken opinion. Even beyond the Machsom, in spirituality, every time a person tries to attain a higher degree, he is in disagreement, in a war between the right and the left lines. He does not know what the right line is or what the left line is. He does not clearly distinguish where the qualities of the Creator are or where the qualities of the creation are.

The Sitra Achra (the other side, the impure force) clothes itself in beautiful garments and confuses him until he reveals the true picture and comes to the understanding that he needs to rise above reason, to verify which line, left or right, correspond to forces that are currently acting in him. The clarifications are carried out by the Creator.

We must not think that beyond the Machsom we are already in a state where there is no lack of clarity. If everything is clear, then this is work in the vessels of reception. This is what you imagine to yourself: “Now we will suffer a little, get a bit confused, and after the Machsom, thank God, we will see where the good angel is, where the evil one is, where the righteous are, and where the sinners are, for the former there is heaven, and for latter, hell. And then it is clear that I will go to heaven and everything will work out.”

These clarifications are within the will to receive, in the Kli that you have now, in the animal Kli. Do you think that in spirituality, clarifications are made in the same way?

A spiritual Kli is a Kli of bestowal. The Kli of bestowal is always opposite to our natural Kelim. Only after acquiring the Kli of bestowal can you clarify what in fact operates in spirituality as the right line and as the left line. That is, you must rise to a level above reason, above your Kelim of reception, above your natural mind, and only then can the clarifications be correct and true.

This is what it means “to be above the Machsom.” If you carry out clarifications in your natural Kelim, this is called “below the Machsom.”

What is the Machsom? The Machsom is when you are inside the Kelim of bestowal, which become yours to the extent of equivalence of qualities, and in this part you clarify, work, live, and already develop within the vessels of bestowal.
[355946]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/26, Rabash, “Peace After a Dispute Is More Important than Having No Disputes At All”

Related Material:
Before and After the Machsom
See the World from Beyond the Machsom
Do You Want To See The World Differently?

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

As history demonstrates, wars in our world yield little for humanity; they do not prepare us, nor do they leave a lasting Reshimo (informational record) that would allow us, by summing up the results of war and peace, to arrive at one crucial, pressing conclusion about the futility of wars.

Why? Because the desire to receive is constantly growing. If the desire to receive were to remain the same, then a Reshimo would remain and I could somehow protect myself from troubles, from wars. But in the new desire to receive, the previous Reshimo no longer rules; it wants to fill itself even at the expense of another, and therefore our problems begin again.

Within the bounds of this world, the reason for the problems is that the Reshimot rise up, the desire to receive constantly grows and pushes us toward yet another war. We are not guilty of the fact that again and again we are forced to fall into these vicissitudes. If we could, we would prevent them.

In spirituality, however, the causality is completely different. Even if it were possible to prevent a war—no! We are forbidden to stop wars in the spiritual! On the contrary, the peace after the war is important. Peace is known as the measure of perfection. The perfect one (Shalom, Shalem) is the Creator, the quality of the Creator. Adhesion with Him is revealed only after the war.

War is a process wherein the intention to receive undergoes a collapse and disintegration that ultimately transforms into an intention for the sake of bestowal. A new Kli (vessel) is formed; it did not exist before the war and could only emerge through this process. This Kli is for maintaining peace.

Therefore, without entering the left line, into the disagreement between the left and right lines, into the correction of the left line, it is impossible for us to attain a Kli for true peace (Shalom), true perfection (Shlemut).

From here come our ascents and descents, this whole whirlpool in which a person finds himself in the process of his inner spiritual development, and all of these things contribute to the appearance of new Kelim (vessels), which make it possible to attain perfection.
[355942]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/26/26, Rabash, “Peace After a Dispute Is More Important than Having No Disputes At All”

Related Material:
War Is Great Clarification
War: A Search For Connection
Wars: Worldly Or Spiritual?

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

Question: What is the meaning of the holiday Lag Ba’Omer?

Answer: Lag Ba’Omer is a special holiday; it is a festival of light, the day when Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author of The Book of Zohar (a work unparalleled in all generations of humanity), passed away from this world.

Within this single book, all the laws of the spiritual world are described, together with the entire network of connections that governs us from above, and determines the whole process we undergo in this world.

The spiritual world is the upper system that activates our world, which is completely governed from above. Our entire world emerged from a single point of the Big Bang, expanded, and developed over 14 billion years.

In the course of this evolution, the Earth was formed with its solid crust surrounding a raging fire. The cooling of this crust allowed life to exist on the surface, together with all surrounding nature.

But the question is not how the still, vegetative, and animate levels developed, but how we develop and where we are heading. This is what The Zohar speaks about. It truly speaks about everything, including the formation of the upper worlds that influence and govern us.

This can also be seen in The Zohar and in the writings of Isaac Luria, the great Kabbalist from Safed in the 16^th century. Therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah has much to say about the counting of the Omer (Sefirat HaOmer). But in essence it speaks about the correction of a person who must transform himself to become a spiritual being.

Question: What must he correct?

Answer: It is written: “I have created the evil inclination, and given the Torah for its correction, for its light returns to the source.” We are initially created from the evil inclination, an egoistic desire to receive, and therefore we consider only ourselves, not others. In this form, the world exists, and we see where it is heading.

The purpose of creation is, that through the process of our development, we eventually come to the realization that our ego, our egoistic desire to enjoy, is actually causing us harm; that we have reached a dead end in development and are no longer capable of moving forward; that we are destroying our lives, our families, and the lives of our children, with no hope for a good future.

Comment: This resembles the current situation in Israel.

My Response: Indeed. But all of this is intended to bring us to a state of repentance regarding our egoistic development, to make us realize that our ego is an evil inclination that is leading us to destruction.

At that point we come to feel a need correction: “How can we correct our nature? How can we treat others with friendship? How can we live in love, unity, and bestowal?” This is the only way can we exist in an integral world, a world where we are all interconnected and mutually dependent. How can we be connected if we are mired in mutual hatred?

In such a state, the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed; it explains what the Torah truly is. For this very reason Kabbalah is referred to as the true Torah. It is through this science that we learn how to correct ourselves. To correct oneself means to relate to others according to the main rule of the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is well known, yet rarely observed.

To love your neighbor means that I must just as I love myself. This seems unrealistic, and indeed it is beyond human ability. Yet it is written: “I have created the evil inclination, and I have given the Torah for its correction.”

This means there a force called “Torah” exists; it is not merely a book as commonly understood, but a method of correction through the light, as it is written: “its light returns to the source.”

“Torah” (from the Hebrew “Hora’a” – instruction) is also referred to the science of light or the wisdom of Kabbalah. When a person uses it correctly to correct themself, they awaken a force hidden in nature, which begins to operate within them, and they feel how they change.

This is a positive, benevolent force of nature, the force of bestowal and love; it gives a person a good feeling and a kind attitude toward others. Through it one exits their ego, rises above it, and becomes bestowing, kind, and good toward others.

The instant this force is revealed in a person, they begin to perceive reality differently. Instead of this world, one perceives the upper world.

We begin to perceive reality through newly acquired qualities, qualities not of reception, but of bestowal; no longer driven by a constant urge to receive solely for our own sake, exploiting everyone else in the process, but by a desire to act for the benefit of society as a whole. We see that everyone is interconnected like one family, and it is impossible for one to be well while another suffers.

Today we have reached a state where we must embark on this process of correction. We see that it is impossible to continue as before. Consequently, the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed, which explains how we can correct ourselves and build a society connected by good relations.

Question: How is the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer connected to this process?

Answer: This is precisely where correction occurs. Kabbalah explains that our egoistic desire to receive—to absorb everything into ourselves at the expense of others—is an evil force within each person. Therefore our soul is called “shattered,” and we must repair it.

It is known in Kabbalah that the soul consists of 49 parts (7 X 7). There are 7 main qualities, each divided into 7, making 49 in total. Each must be corrected.

We correct them through the light that reforms, a special force that is hidden in nature. During the days of the Omer count, we reveal specific egoistic desires within ourselves that cause harm to others, and we seek to correct them.

We draw the light that reforms and it corrects each of these 49 parts of the soul.

In this way, we correct these 49 parts, from the holiday of Passover to Shavuot. But on the 33^rd day of the counting of the Omer, Lag Ba’Omer, there is a special state. Its uniqueness is that if we reach this stage in correction, we can be assured we will continue and complete it.

For this reason, it was on this day that Rabbi Shimon completed his work and departed from our world, and we celebrate the elevation of his soul.

Question: You say the soul has 49 parts. Can they actually be counted?

Answer: Yes. This is how we perceive them as we correct the soul. Even a simple religious person recites which Sefira he is correcting daily during the Omer, although he may not feel or understand it.

But those who study Kabbalah not only say these words, they realize these corrections within themselves.

Comment: The 49 days of the Omer conclude on the 50^th day, the holiday of Shavuot, when it is customary to eat dairy and wear white.

My Response: Shavuot is both the giving of the Torah from above and its reception from below. The giving has already occurred; the reception depends on us.

It is written that every day a person should say that the Torah has been given to him. The problem is only in receiving it, that is, in feeling that I must correct myself, and therefore I need the light that reforms.

Then I accept all the rules of the Torah: to be “as one man with one heart,” “love your neighbor as yourself,” and “do not do to another what is hateful to you.”

Let us hope that ultimately we will understand that we have a powerful force in our hands that is capable of correcting us and elevating us above this entire reality.
[158832]
From Kab Radio 103FM

Related Material:
Lag Ba’Omer: The Secret of a Great Soul
Joy And Sorrow On Lag B’Omer
Lag Ba’Omer Bonfires

Filed under: Holidays, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Should I correct my path in accordance with criticism or not? What do you think?

Answer: I think you should not. If this criticism ties you even more strongly to your root, then it is good. This is what you must check!

Question: So I have a path I am following, and if criticism binds me more tightly to this path, then…?

Answer: Go.

Question: Go. And then can one relate to the critics with warmth and kindness?

Answer: Of course. It is from the Creator.

Question: That is, if you are criticized, let us not use harsh words like “hated,” but criticized, or if they try to knock you off the path; then you must hold on to this path even more?

Answer: I cannot tell each person in what exactly.

Question: And what would you say to anyone who is being pressured from all sides? How can he hold on?

Answer: If you are being pressed from all sides, then the best thing is: disconnect, step aside, and look from the side at yourself and at them. And you will see to what extent you may be right, to what extent not. And then make your decision.
[354402]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/19/26

Related Material:
Criticism and Self-Criticism
Criticism from the Outside
How Should I Relate To People’s Criticism Of Me?

Filed under: News, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: How does the intention for the sake of bestowal differ from an intention for the sake of receiving?

Answer: The intention for the sake of bestowal and the intention for the sake of reception only alter the importance of what impresses a person most. That is why Baal HaSulam writes that the difference between working for yourself and for the sake of bestowal is purely psychological. In spirituality, “psychology” is a crude word because here we are talking about change on an animate level.

However, a person has to work on this because there are advantages to the importance of one or the other. If the Creator is important to me now and everyone around me is talking about it, then no matter how many thousands of different things are offered to me that previously seemed unimportant to me, it will not help. I could have devoted my life to this, or I could choose not to.

So what is the difference? In all other things except those concerning the Creator, my body will support me. But in what concerns the Creator, the body will always behave like Pharaoh. And if I am truly moving toward connection with the Creator, then from the beginning to the end I need the Creator to help me build a connection with Him, whereas I can achieve other things on my own without His help and support. The group and I acting together can provide that for me.

In everything I do in life, the Creator must be my partner, my source of strength, the goal, the reason, the empowering force. If this sequence is absent, then it is defined as a material action.
[355803]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

Related Material:
The Vector
Keep The Intention
All The Difference Is In Intention

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

When a person is standing on the street carrying a heavy load, and he is asking a passersby to help him lift the sack onto his back, everyone tells him they have no time.

But if a person is carrying a heavy sack on his back and the sack is dropping off and is about to fall to the ground, and people pass by him and he is asking for their help to put the sack on his back so it does not fall, we see that at that time, when the sack is about to fall off his back, no one will tell him, “I have no time; ask someone else to help you.” Rather, the first one next to him will immediately help him (Rabash, “Moses Went”).

Question: What compels any passerby to rush to help someone carrying a heavy burden?

Answer: The example of the burden that Rabash gives is very clear for one who intends to walk in faith above reason. Above reason means that I do not close my eyes to the obstacles, and I am even glad that they come. Even if I do not feel this way, I understand with my mind that it will ultimately be for my benefit.

When the Creator sends an obstacle, He is showing me precisely the point where I can find a connection with Him. I only need to begin working with this obstacle and, despite it, constantly strive to connect with Him.

At first, I try to connect with Him using my own strength. Then I see that I am unable to do so; I require the correction of Hessed.

After this correction, I want to reach a state where I am connected with Him and connected with the obstacle. Not only does the obstacle no longer disturb me or disconnect me from Him, but I already want to use it in order to receive for the sake of bestowal so that it will lead to an even greater connection than before it appeared. And then I demand His help.

But until a person cries out that his burden is about to fall and that he can no longer resist the obstacle that disconnects him from the connection with the upper one, the Creator will not help him. This is because the person has no Kli to receive the help and cannot properly use the obstacle.

The state in which he fears that the burden will fall from his shoulders and cries out is a very good state. For this, several factors are required: the burden must be very heavy and he must greatly fear dropping it. Although his body does not care whether it falls or not, for the goal, it is crucial. He understands that if the burden falls, he will not be able to connect with the Creator.

That is, first of all, a person must arm himself with a feeling of the greatness of the Creator; this must be extremely important to him. All these factors create a state called “standing in the middle of the street and crying: ‘Help!’”

Thus, from what seems like a simple situation (so what if the sack falls from his shoulders, what would happen?), he turns it into the most important matter in life. Then salvation truly comes; he receives help.

Moreover, he is given a feeling that it is not important, not frightening. He must increase the importance of the connection with the Creator from zero to the point where nothing is more important than this, and if the burden falls, it would be a catastrophe. Then the burden becomes the means by which he can reach the desired place.

Who needs this burden at all? The fact is that the will to receive was created precisely in order to build a connection upon it, to construct a screen above it and establish the coupling by striking (Zivug de Hakaa) with the light.
[355770]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/26, Rabash, “Moses Went”

Related Material:
From Disturbances to Help
Obstacles—Help To Reach The Goal
Disturbances Are The Creator’s Language

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

As one ascends the spiritual steps, the descents become more profound. No spiritual renewal, deeper revelation, or ascent is possible without first falling. I detach from my previous state and feel as though I have never been spiritually elevated and never will be; I experience darkness, helplessness, and fear.

This fear is triggered by trivial, imagined reasons. I am frightened not even by people, but by shadows, like a small, scared child or animal.

This happens at all spiritual levels; the higher you rise, the more clearly you are shown that you are lower than everyone else. Everyone around seems to be fine, while you suffer from problems that are so trivial they are even embarrassing to speak about, yet at the same time, they are frightening. It is the feeling of a terrified infant who wants to hide in their mother’s arms.

One must value such states, understand their benefits, and try to work with them correctly. Then we will overcome them very quickly and return to the realization that “There is none else besides Him, the good who does good,” is the one who is playing with us. And so we unite and present our unity to Him as our response to this problem, and thereby rise above it.

Then the problem disappears and a new one appears, an even smaller and more insignificant one, yet one that frightens us even more. For the higher the ascent, the deeper the descent. This process continues until the final correction; through it we can increasingly clarity regarding the true nature of our states. There is no other way to understand our nature.
[225763]
From the Kabbalah Congress Preparation Lesson, 4/26/18

Related Material:
A New “Computer” On Every Degree
Holding Your Head Up
Evil Is Intended To Push Me Ahead

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

Question: How can I determine for myself what state I am currently in: the right line or in the left line?

Answer: You can determine this by whether you feel joy. The sensation of joy should always accompany a person. This is a great commandment to always be in a state of joy.

Question: Even during the revelation of a Hisaron (deficiency)?

Answer: Yes, even during the revelation of a Hisaron. This is the primary test.

A person has to search for deficiencies in fulfillment precisely in order to advance forward. This means one must constantly be guided by the principle: “The end of the act is in the preliminary thought.”

First of all, I must keep the final outcome I wish to achieve before my eyes: attainment of a completely corrected state, union with the Creator. My first thought has to be: What must I do right now to achieve this?

If I advance in this manner, then my approach is correct. I can even search for a Hisaron: what else is not corrected in me? However, I will be searching for it from the perspective of that distant point, my final correction, asking: “What I can reveal within myself now that will pull me a little closer toward the goal?”
[355217]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

Related Material:
The Closer to Joy, the Closer to the Creator
How Can We Work in Joy Every Day?
Radiate Joy And Energy

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

I like lazy people; they do little harm to the world.

Question: So, they don’t really contribute much, but at the same time they don’t cause harm?

Answer: Yes. That’s good!

Comment: But that’s some kind of complete complacency, like a stagnant swamp.

My Response: So what? We’ll just stroll through a green meadow and graze on some grass.

Question: A sandwich in your pocket, and that’s enough?

Answer: Yes. You don’t need anything else.

Question: Just breathe the air and let nature take its course. But seriously? You actually like rebels and revolutionaries.

Answer: Inside yourself! Within yourself, do whatever you want. Stage all kinds of revolutions and wars, but do it inside yourself. And everything else, let nature live in peace; don’t disturb it.

Quietly move out to the countryside, buy yourself a little house instead of your city apartment, and live a peaceful life with a wife and children. What else does a person really need?

Comment: To see out their old age.

My Response: Yes, to see out their old age.

Comment: But at the root of all prayers lies an initial sense of gratitude, and inevitably it is followed by some kind of request. It seems impossible to have a prayer without a request.

My Response: To achieve one’s purpose. The highest, greatest purpose is to become equal to the Creator!

Comment: There is no peace in that. It is a state of constant movement.

My Response: Inner peace! Because I am absolutely certain that in this way I will reach the goal since I surrender myself to the Creator and in this I go with Him. And He can do whatever He wants. I remain in absolute peace.

Question: But this movement toward Him, isn’t that a source of constant anxiety, trembling?

Answer: It’s not anxiety. There isn’t even much trembling in it. If I am confident in Him, if I have faith that I am in His hands, then I am like an infant in its mother’s arms. I cling to Him, that is all, in complete safety, peace.

But each time I check myself so that I can remain in His arms and draw even closer to Him despite my egoism with greater fervor. I need nothing else. I am already enveloped in this cocoon, right now.

So what is there to strive for? Why engage in comparing myself with others and calculating who is greater, who is better, who is higher?

Question: But what about our constantly growing egoism? You speak about it all the time.

Answer: That is so we always have the opportunity to be in dynamic closeness with the Creator.
[354560]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/20/26

Related Material:
Simply Drop the Oars
Where Will the River of Life Take Us?
Useful Laziness

Filed under: News, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: By what means does the accumulation of the soul’s potential occur?

Answer: It happens through descents, moments when a new egoistic layer is revealed within a person.

Suppose I rose one meter, only to be cast down two meters into the depths of egoism. Then I ascend two meters into the quality of altruism, but fall three meters deeper into the ego, and so on.

Through these descents, I acquire greater egoism, and in this way I can rise higher, but never higher than the level of my ego. If I were at “minus two,” I rise to “plus two;” “minus three” to “plus three,” but no more.

That is why descents are so important. They must be respected and even cherished, even though the state is very unpleasant; it involves a disconnection from reality, a lack of any strength, etc. But, on the other hand, it is very beneficial; descents educate us.
[235092]
From Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 6/10/18

Related Material:
Descent – Ascent
The Joy Of Anticipation Of Ascent
Up and Down—From One Height to Another

Filed under: Spiritual Work - No Comments →