Question: Why doesn’t the Creator give us the ability to check whether our actions are correct?

Answer: It is very simple. If I truly see myself as the only one in the world and relate this to the Creator and to the fact that I must work in relation to Him, then I really have no way to know who I am, what I am, who the Creator is, or what He does, because He is concealed.

If He is concealed, then I myself am in concealment. I have nothing against which I could check myself.

If only the Creator and the created being exist, then nothing can be done. Imagine that there is the Creator and there is the creature. And then what? How can you raise the creature to the level of the Creator? If the Creator were revealed, the creature would be completely under His power and would be forced to perform acts of bestowal without knowing why it does so. It would be just like now when we are dominated by the desire to receive.

We must be under the influence of two types of nature. But how can both this happen simultaneously? Whichever one has the greater influence is the one I will choose. Since I myself am made of the desire to enjoy, I take pleasure either from receiving or from giving. I would also perceive the presence of the Creator as pleasure, and then I would either be in impurity or in holiness, because pleasure can be received from both.

In order for a person to be independent, the Creator must conceal Himself. Then there is a question of how a person for whom the Creator is hidden can check oneself? If a person has no reference point by which to measure himself, orient himself, and determine who he is and what he is, how could he possibly advance?

Therefore, the Creator, in concealing Himself so as not to bribe a person with pleasures, gave the group in His place, something a person cannot sell himself to. On one hand, the group does not give him pleasure the way the Creator does, nor does it give him life the way the Creator does. On the other hand, it is an external force, something outside of him.

Therefore, if a person wants to cling to the Creator by connecting himself with the group and giving to it, then in relation to the group he acquires true intention for the sake of bestowal and becomes similar to the Creator in a genuine way. In essence, he uses bestowal to the other in order to become like the Creator.
[353526]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World Was by Largess?”

Related Material:
The Creator Is Hidden, But The Group Is Open
A Free Slave
Help The Light Appear

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

Question: If there is a group in which I introduce spiritual laws to the extent I understand them, do I check every time to what extent I do not conform to them?

Answer: It turns out that we build the spiritual form of a group by each one imagining it as a society that works with relationships among friends as a means to achieve the Creator. In other words, a group is not just some bodies but a shared concept we construct in our thoughts.

The calculation is simple. There is a certain amount of striving for the Creator awakened in these people. Maybe they do not even feel it yet. They are looking for the meaning of life and so on. This is a hidden yearning for the root from which they receive obstacles, blows, and suffering.

Then they ask the same question: “What is the meaning of my life?” But now it is addressed to the root. They do not know this, but initially, this question is addressed at the Creator, as at the root of suffering, at His reverse side (Achoraim), since He is currently activating concealment through His reverse side.

Then, if they already have a direction toward the Creator, given by Him initially, they must grasp this direction and develop it amidst all the obstacles that come to them, especially in matters concerning building a group.

There are obstacles on the corporeal level: inanimate, vegetative, and animate. And there are obstacles on the human level, which act between friends. Here, I am already reach a state where the obstacles interference as if become “ideological.”
[353340]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash, “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

Related Material:
Spiritual Disturbances
Thank The Creator For Disturbances
Shift All Problems To The Spiritual Realm

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

Let’s remind each other and be inspired by the greatness of our spiritual goal, by the environment that aspires to it, and by the unique opportunity of freedom of choice that has been given to us. How many people in the world truly have the possibility to act freely? If all people act according to the dictates of their nature, then there is no one who is truly “acting.”

If I am completely governed from above, then there is no “me.” It is said: “I came, and there was no man.”

There are many people, yet it is as though they do not exist, for not one of them is free in their actions. If there is no human being who possesses freewill, then there are no worlds, nothing at all except the world of infinity (Olam Ein Sof).

With respect to the Creator, nothing else exists. Only the one who performs a free action exists.

Imagine this picture of reality: complete emptiness! And within it, only a few desires are visible, which have risen and are capable of performing free actions.

And you have the opportunity to be just as free and to become Man (Adam)! Therefore, let us realize the greatness of this unique opportunity.
[15977]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/10, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Free Will: What Is It?
The Opportunity to Gain Freewill
Free Will Is Above Desire

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

We must prioritize the greatness of the friends and the greatness of the group as one. “One” means something whole. It is not a digit followed by two, three, and four, but the collective of all. I perceive myself as zero. Then, according to the number of zeroes that in my sensation separate me from the one, I raise my level.

After all, I may consist of 613 corrected desires directed toward the Creator, and this would be the smallest complete degree. The point is that here I have the opportunity, not only to correct my desires, but to increase them immeasurably. Then a vessel opens for a person, one that is without limit.

This is what the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” gives.

Thus, through establishing such relations in the group, we receive spiritual forces from the first vessel to the last. Everything is entrusted to the individual according to one’s free choice. And what is interesting is that this implies that the magnitude of the vessel a person develops does not depend on the size of the group or on the greatness of the friends, but only on how many zeroes a person places between himself and the unit, that is, between oneself and the complete image of the group in one’s eyes.

There are many details here to clarify, but the crucial point is how a person annuls oneself and by what one magnifies the group. The greatness of the society in one’s eyes and this entire matter of self-nullification (when a person as if submits to the power of the group) must be determined solely by connection with the Creator and nothing else.

If a person gathers all these factors together, then they direct themself toward the goal.
[353291]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash, “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

Related Material:
Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
You Don’t Buy Spirituality Nor Take It By Force
A Zero And Another Zero, As Many Zeros As Possible

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

A disturbance is a divine force that appears to me as a disturbance because of its intention for the sake of bestowal.

If I correct myself for the sake of bestowal, this obstructive force no longer appears as an obstacle to me, I see it as salvation, as something positive.

This means that I transform the disturbance into a positive form. But in truth, I do not change it; rather, I change my intention, and by this, I perceive the obstacle differently.

In other words, I justify the governance of the Creator. It comes to me in a negative form because I perceive it through an egoistic perspective, and I correct my perspective precisely through this obstacle. It serves as my yardstick.

Then I begin to see the Creator’s influence upon me as the good who does good.
[353485]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

Related Material:
What Is Revealed from the Actions of the Creator?
A Gift From The Creator In The Form Of Obstacles
Questions about Overcoming Obstacles

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

We have a rule that everything comes from one source “to delight the created beings.” In order to attain this, we must use what stands before our eyes, what surrounds us.

And what surrounds us are the friends. Everything you do must be directed toward attaining the purpose of creation, the degree of “to delight the created beings.” For this, you must draw closer to the friends through 125 degrees. If you do so, you will ascend to the Creator through those same 125 degrees.

It is said that the commandments between a person and his friend precede the commandments between a person and the Creator. The Creator is concealed whereas the friend is near. If you perform actions in relation to the friend, this advances you toward the Creator to the same extent that you make efforts with respect to the friends.

A person does not feel toward whom he is performing the action if it is outside of his body: “I want to be connected with the Creator because I have some hope of receiving something from Him. But what can the friend give me?”

With respect to my will to receive, there is a difference between the Creator and the friend. From the Creator, I hope to receive pleasure, but from the friend, what pleasure can I receive? At most, some small corporeal enjoyments.

However, if we are speaking about bestowal, about exiting the will to receive, then with respect to both the friend and the Creator, it is the same.

Only with regard to the friend can I truly see whether I have exited the will to receive and no longer think of myself. With respect to the Creator, I may have illusions. There, I can completely deceive myself because I have no real control.

But in relation to the friend, it can be seen immediately whether I am able to do something or not.
[353499]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/24/26, Rabash, “Purpose of Society – 2”

Related Material:
The Most Important Commandment
Don’t Forget about the Ultimate Goal
The Priority Is Relationships Between Friends

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

Every disturbance on the spiritual path is a collection of various means that a person acquires: greater understanding, greater faith (since a person passes through this disturbance by faith), and a greater need for connection to the group, because he sees that only through this can he be saved.

A person comes to value this entire vessel that begins to take shape before his eyes: the true, collective vessel of the soul. He begins to reveal that this collective Kli is called the Shechina, as it is said: “The Shechina will dwell among us.”

Thanks to disturbances, a person becomes wiser. Otherwise, where would wisdom come from? By transforming the force of the disturbance into a useful force, I see the gap between the two: between what I previously understood as a disturbance and what has now become something useful. It becomes clear to me that even then, it was not a disturbance but a benefit, that it turned me exactly in the direction needed, and that earlier, I could not have received this force in any form other than as a disturbance.
[353372]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/26, Rabash, “According to What Is Explained Concerning ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’”

Related Material:
What Is Revealed from the Actions of the Creator?
Seeing The Highest Impact In Everything
Obstacles Guide Us On The Way

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

Question: What should I do during times of pain and suffering, when a direction is unclear? What should I do in a state of confusion and lack of understanding?

Answer: A state of confusion, a state of lack of understanding, a state of joy, a state of pain, a state of understanding—we must relate to each of them as the most effective and necessary at the given moment. It does not matter how it is felt in my desire to receive.

What matters is that I experience it, that I don’t dwell in unawareness, in the feeling that I am simply living; I should feel that this state is my spiritual state, which I can connect with the Creator who gives it to me.

Then it doesn’t matter what kind of state it is, it can be bad or good, the main thing is that through it, I feel the Creator sending it to me. From here, my path to advancement begins.

The state of confusion usually indicates an ascent to a higher degree relative to the previous state. If in a state of scattered attention, when a person does not understand, does not know, is confused, tries to listen and cannot, he makes efforts, then in this way, the higher degree is attained.
[353212]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/26, Rabash, “Make for Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend – 1”

Related Material:
Bind Everything to the Creator
The Desire to Receive Is a Tool of Correction
On the Contrast Between Darkness and Light

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

The Torah contains light because the Creator clothes Himself in it. From this general light, we can receive a certain portion into the desire to bestow, that is, into the Kli (vessel) of faith. There is also an external garment called wisdom, and the vessel for attaining it is the human intellect.

Thus, in order to attain the Torah, a person must acquire a Kli (a spiritual vessel). But if one studies the Torah without intending to draw the light that reforms from it in which the entire power of the Torah is contained (the very purpose for which it was given), then such study is not blessed. This is because the nature of the light that comes from the Creator is to return us to the source.

The Torah is called the Torah of life. This means that we must feel life in the light we reveal. Life is what is attained at the degree of the Creator in the desires of bestowal. And this is possible only through working with the intention to draw the force from the Torah that will serve as fuel for acquiring the Kli of bestowal.

There is the Creator and the created being, and the manifestation of the Creator to the created being is called light. The revelation of the light has several forms. The most external manifestation of the Creator to the created being is corporeal life. A more internal manifestation is wisdom; still more internal is the light that reforms, and even more internal is the light that fills the spiritual Kli that has returned to the source.

A person beginning the spiritual path must first “bless the Torah” by intending to attain the true Torah, that is, its innermost light. If one does not strive to reveal the inner light, but studies only the external part of the Torah for the sake of acquiring knowledge; such a person is considered among the nations of the world. After all one wishes to perform the Creator’s work with the intention for oneself and he therefore receives from the Torah, from this light, only knowledge and wisdom.

But if one intends to achieve equivalence of form with the Creator, such a person is called Israel, and accordingly, he first demands correction of one’s intention toward bestowal from the light. After the correction, one wishes to perform actions in order to bestow, that is, to receive the light for the sake of bestowal by means of a screen and reflected light within the Kli of faith.

The light that is revealed in the Kli of faith is called the light of Hochma (the light of wisdom). But this is no longer external wisdom received in egoistic desires; rather, it is the light of wisdom, meaning, the revelation of the Creator’s governance over a person.
[353079]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/26, Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

Related Material:
What Is A Blessing?
Light Of The Torah
What Came First, The Torah Or The Wisdom Of Kabbalah?

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

Question: If I attain the purpose of creation, is there a difference whether I reach it by a long path or a short one?

Answer: There is the path of Torah and the path of suffering. I advance either by receiving blows or by striving to become similar to the Creator. In both cases, the goal is the same. It is said that the store is open and the shopkeeper keeps the account. You take from this store in any case, whether you want to or not. You must take, you must live, you must receive pleasures.

A person is charged for what he takes, whether he is aware of it or not. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article “The Peace.” “What difference does it make whether a person is aware or not?” he asks there. Don’t I see the shopkeeper and simply take from the store, from this life (since that is how I am built)? Or do I know that there is a shopkeeper and that what I take, I take on credit and must eventually repay?

The difference is that the shopkeeper does not care how much you take; the store is for you, everything is for you. It is not without reason that at the end of the article it says that everything is ready for the feast. Everything was created for you from the beginning, and of course, in the end, you will receive it all.

But what matters to the shopkeeper is that you relate to all your “purchases” in this world, in this store, purposefully. Because in this way, you will relate to creation as He does and attain His degree. This is the true pleasure: to be in the position of the Creator; He wants you to reach it.
[353545]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/25/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Creation of the World Was by Largess?”

Related Material:
A Fee For Every Moment
One Good Turn Deserves Another
No Pay Is My Pay

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