Question: What is more effective for our advancement: to strive to feel the greatness of the Creator or to feel the suffering of the Shechina?

Answer: First and foremost, we can advance only if we reach ahead. And we can reach ahead only if we feel that there is something positive ahead.

The positive is called the feeling of the greatness of the Creator. He is great, and I naturally reach out to Him. If I feel that there is suffering and darkness ahead, I will not strive to go there. Therefore, I definitely need a vessel of bestowal so I will have the need to find an unfulfilled desire in Him, something that I can give to Him, so I will be able to bestow for His sake. Then, when I feel the suffering of the Shechina, I will truly rejoice that I have found something that I can give to Him.

Therefore, we should not force ourselves to imaging the suffering of the Shechina. This is a very artificial thing we have no preparation for. I do not react to anything external happening outside of me whether it is the Creator or a friend. How then will I be able to receive from this “fuel” for work or forces for advancement?

The only thing we can cling to for now and receive help from is the greatness of the Creator. Let the friends constantly speak to me about the greatness of the Creator so that I will convince myself that only it rules and acts, that only it is important for me.

Later, the desire to work precisely in this direction—for the greatness of the Creator—will come from this. Because whether you want it or not, you submit to a great person, you want to bestow to him, to serve him. And all this is only because he is great. This is already embedded in our nature. You do not even need to make an effort for this.

And as soon as you really get some feeling or some awareness of His greatness in your work on the greatness of the Creator or you even simply imagine it, you will begin to think: “The Creator is great, but what can I give Him? Why does He need me? Perhaps indeed some kind of connection can arise between us?”

This comes naturally as a result of the awareness of the greatness of the Creator.

Therefore, the suffering of the Shechina can be felt only by a person who has already acquired some awareness of the greatness and importance of the Creator.
[354651]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/24/26, Rabash, “What Is, “When Israel Are in Exile, the Shechina Is with Them,” in the Work?”

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Question: If a person feels inspired by the books and the group while one studies, is that not a form of pleasure?

Answer: Everything depends on the underlying cause. There are many people who come to this path because they feel bad. They are looking for a place where they will feel good. In general, there are a thousand and one reasons, but ultimately it all boils down to a lack of a sense of the future. They need confidence. And confidence is a result of attaining faith.

Yes, it is true that this sets us in motion, and we act from the fact that we feel bad now and will feel good later. But the real question is: “Do I change my values along the way? Do I remain in the same desire to feel good in the same vessels as before? Or do my vessels continuously improve? Do I begin to strive for something beyond matter? Do I start approaching the charm of holiness?”

If so, then I no longer interpret “good,” as I did at the beginning, to mean filling myself with various corporeal pleasures. For us, “animal pleasures” are essentially honor, power, and knowledge. I begin to see that power and knowledge do not lead me to the goal, and I feel how empty they are in themselves.

If this is process is taking place, a person is developing. If not, he remains as he was, and then he leaves the group. A person who does not change his values cannot remain here. He will feel as though the group is expelling him, pushing him outward.

And so it continues until the only pleasure left for me is attaining connection with the Creator. I am not yet acquainted with Him, I do not know Him precisely, but it is like a kind of “madness.” No one sees Him,and neither do I, but it is something I am drawn to.

This is the result of the influence of the surrounding light that shines from afar and builds a yearning for it within me, until, in the words of Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “it does not let me sleep.” This is called persistence, steadfastness.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/19/26, Rabash, “Concerning Hesed [Mercy]”

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Comment: Our whole life, in essence, is a series of states through which we are being prepared to attain the goal.

My Response: If you find it difficult to connect your animal (material) life with the work of the Creator, do not connect them. Otherwise, you will become like those who see the hand of the Creator in everything around them: “I do this, and He answers me like that. My physical actions are spirituality itself. Angels are fluttering about right here.” By thinking like that, you will only confuse yourself. It is incorrect.

The spiritual realm means “above reason,” “for the sake of bestowal.” It is a nature that does not exist in our material world. If you want to reveal it, you can do so only by working within two distinct spheres that are completely detached from each other. The animal is the animal, and the spiritual is the spiritual.

Otherwise, you will get confused, much like those who merely “appear” to be engaged in spiritual work. They turn their gaze toward the stars, act according to horoscopes, card readings, and facial features, or tie a red string around your wrist. Show a cow a red string, perhaps it will give a little more milk… There are notions that one kind of matter exerts an influence on another.

The psychological aspect is a separate topic: indeed, a person feels some psychological support from this. However, this is not spiritual. Therefore, do not conflate the two by clothing one within the other.

There is no connection between the spiritual and the material. There is a complete disconnect. It is not without reason that I state that no material action can generate a spiritual result—unless you infuse that action with the specific intention to attain spirituality.

If you simply being cultivating love for the friends without any further intent, this may lead you to results opposite to your goal. For an action by itself yields nothing; on the contrary, it merely reveals how futile it is, a process that only serves to shatter you. Therefore, don’t bring the material into the spiritual nor conversely, the spiritual into the material. This is incorrect.

For you now, spirituality is how you imagine your connection with the Creator. That is all. “There is none else besides Him”; He is the good that does good in everything you think or could possibly think about Him.

I understand that this still gives rise to confusion because we cannot distinguish within ourselves our attitude toward our own lives from our attitude toward spirituality. But gradually this understanding will come. Later, when we actually reveal divinity, we will gradually notice how one seems to clothe itself in the other, but not in the way we might imagine it now.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

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Question: You said that the higher degree closest to us means that we see how the Shechina clothes itself in all our actions. What actions are we talking about?

Answer: The closest degree, and not only the closest, but in general the degree that a person must always see before him, is the revelation of the Shechina, of how it clothes itself in the whole world, in everything that is in it, in the friends; to see that this single and special force unites all actions in the world, and that he himself is under its power.

This is what the article “There is None Else Besides Him” teaches us. We must constantly keep it before our eyes.

But we must not confuse this with material things. This means that I will not interpret all actions in the material without having revealed the true state, that the Shechina is clothed in the whole world.

Without revealing this, I must not interpret each material action as if it occurs for some spiritual reason. I must not attribute spiritual forces to material objects and items as if I know that it is so.

What special force is there in a red string? I have not yet revealed it. Believe me, I really do not know.

This is spoken of in The Book of Zohar. Do we read the Zohar according to the branches, or according to the roots? If you take the red string in its root and begin to do with it what is written there, then it is clear that this is a spiritual action. But what relation does this have to taking a red string here and tying it on the hand, on the leg, on the ear? What will this give you?

This is used in order to strengthen a person, as the Hasidim did. Did our forefathers two thousand years ago walk around in fur hats, robes, high socks [items of the traditional clothing of some Hasidim]? No. I do not deny that this supports the people. But one must not turn this into some sort of sanctity. Yes, it keeps us within bounds, it distinguishes our actions and thoughts, directs a person, but we must not introduce forces of holiness into this.

We must say: “Yes, we are animals, and our psychology is such that in such and such a way the external part influences and strengthens us.” Correct, this is used in all kinds of movements and will always be used. Consider the many examples in the army, all the various insignia, flags, and so on, which exist only in order to bolster the human spirit. Go to psychologists; they have an entire science about how to influence a person. But do not introduce forces of holiness into this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

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Question: Is it permissible to conduct experiments on myself, imagining as if I am already in the spiritual world?

Answer: No, we must not imagine these states. We must strive for them. Strive and not imagine how this actually takes place.

On the basis of imagination, according to your animate part, you begin to build up conceptions that this is already happening.

I am speaking about striving. People ask: “What should one strive for?” Baal HaSulam, in the article “There is None Else Besides Him,” writes that we should strive for the revelation of the Shechina, which is clothed in the whole world. Until you reveal this, you will not have a true picture of the world.

Question: Is it possible to search for this?

Answer: To search means to strive for it to be revealed and not to construct all sorts of fantasies as if you already imagine what it is.
[354245]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’” in the Work?”

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Question: Is it considered that I myself chose my past pace of advancement, or did I not have a choice then?

Answer: You had a choice, but you did not exercise it. Regarding the pace of advancement, you are free. We must believe that in the current state, our feeling of how we advance and our attitude to the Creator depend on our efforts.

If you apply efforts, then in the end, you will relate well to all these things. You will justify Him, you will attain love for Him; and if not, then you will go through the same states in a bad feeling.

Question: For example, if in the past I could choose two directions: to the right or to the left, then even if I made a mistake, by now, has the Creator arranged it so that everything turned out correctly?

Answer: Regarding the past, you did not make a mistake in anything.

Question: Is it worthwhile to recall previous good states in order to receive reinforcement for the present and the future?

Answer: Yes. That is what you are doing. It does not matter whether it is worthwhile or not, whether it is permitted or not. That is what people do. But when a person advances a bit further, he does not want to receive reinforcement from the past; he always seeks reinforcement in the Creator, in disconnecting himself from the past.

This is called “Every day will be as new in your eyes.” Everything is new. You do not want to receive support from what was before. You want to receive support from your search for a connection with the Creator each time. However, if for the time being the body demands this kind of reinforcement, that is also normal. Nothing can be done; such are the stages of the path.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

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Comment: I keep revealing the desire to receive, and there is no end to this.

My Response: We agree with you that your request to be rid of the desire to receive comes from the bottom of your heart. You suffer and want to get rid of it. However, there are still several factors here.

First of all, not all your “crimes” have been revealed to you yet. There are still many “cases” against you each of which must be revealed and shown to you, and then you will confess to each of them, and accordingly, each case will be closed.

In addition, seeing the depth of your desire to receive, seeing how much you are still an egoist although you previously thought that this was no longer so, at the same time you reveal that you did not ask in a pure form to be rid of the desire to receive. You asked to get rid of it because you felt bad from it, and not because, setting yourself aside, you desired to be rid of this quality.

You must hate it because it is against the Creator, and this is revealed gradually, together with the exposure of the desire. The greater the quantitative depth of your ego into which you descend, the more qualitatively you see that you did not at all ask to be detached from the desire to receive as from a distinct, isolated quality, apart from the fact that you feel bad because of it.
[354225]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

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Question: Where is the boundary regarding clarifications carried out in the group?

Answer: There is no boundary! You might ask: “If I am on level number ten and the group is on level number two, can it awaken me to rise to the eleventh level? What does it mean that they ‘wash my brain’? Who are they compared to me that they could arouse me, given such a difference in our levels?”

This is not a question. They can awaken you and help your ascent regardless of who they are. That is why it is written: “From all my students I have learned.”

You can take a group of beginners who understand the spiritual idea only a little, and through them receive such an ascent and such a “brain-washing” that you will rise from the world of Yetzira to the world of Beria. I am speaking completely seriously. This has nothing to do with what a person represents, what he feels, or what he clarifies. It relates only to your effort in relation to the group.

If you were now to enter the group of the students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, you would receive from them exactly as much as you receive here in your own group. Everything depends on what you demand and what you invest. What matters here is the effort of each person.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/7/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘There Is Nothing that Has No Place,’ in the Work?”

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Question: If a person has free choice, can I, look at my past and say that I could have done something differently then, that I had freedom of choice?

Answer: No. Why would you think so? And regarding the future, also no. And in the present? In what do I at this moment have freedom of choice? Only in strengthening myself, agreeing, desiring the quality of bestowal, striving for this to happen as quickly as possible, and exactly as the Creator desires.

I have freedom of choice, not in the action itself, but in its implementation. Let it be realized, not in such a way that I agree to it under the pressure of threats and misfortunes, but so that of my own will, moving forward, I want its realization.

The Creator has everything planned in advance. In regard to the actions, in regard to what will happen to us, we are not free at all. Everything that I must go through is predetermined.

But if I do not want these states, do not want to advance toward greater bestowal each time, after having decided that from this moment on at every next stage I will be even more giving, then I inevitably reveal these states as suffering. I have no way out: I advance, but suffer more and more.

Or, on the contrary, if I convince myself that these states are good and effective, that I want them in advance, then they are revealed to me as goodness, as bliss, abundance, and eternity.

However, the stages that I go through are obligatory. I can determine the pace, but I cannot avoid being in each of these states.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

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We must always cut down the bad weeds around us, as they affect us—we must keep away from bad environments, from people who do not favor the path of truth. We need a careful watch so as to not be drawn to follow them.

This is called “isolation,” when one has thoughts of the “single authority,” called “bestowal,” and not “public authority,” which is self-love. This is called “two authorities”—the Creator’s authority and one’s own authority (Rabash, “Concerning the Importance of Society”).

All of this is clear; the problem arises only with the implementation. Each of us is under our own authority, and we do not understand what it means to be under someone else’s authority. “Does it mean I must become a slave? If there is authority, then there is an owner?”

In fact, we must be under the authority of the altruistic desire, instead of the egoistic one. It is very difficult for us to understand these things. We simply do not see where and how all this takes place.

But over time, through study and participation in the life of the group, if a person draws upon himself the influence of the small light, he gradually begins to awaken. Then he becomes capable of discerning the true nature of the distinction between public authority and single authority, the authority of the Creator and the authority of the creature, the quality of bestowal and the quality of reception. These details are revealed with great difficulty, yet once they are discerned, a person begins to understand what is unfolding before him.

“It is a long path,” said the sages, “but you can shorten it if you follow several pieces of advice.” The advice is simple. If you want to perceive yourself on a higher degree, in the next dimension, then build it, form it. Unite with those who desire the same, and together evoke the upper force, so that between you, in your common understanding and feeling, it will create a network that will become the next degree.

Everything takes place in a person’s perception. The Creator in Himself is unattainable; we perceive Him only in the relationships between all the parts of reality that are within our perception. If you change your attitude to reality, that very attitude will become your Creator (Boreh), from the words “Bo” (come) and “Reh” (see).

Right now, for you the Creator is the egoistic force that governs all of the reality you see. In this form you perceive and feel it. So change it through the reforming light. There is such a force that you awaken; it is your next degree.

All the degrees already exist in that dimension, in that “informational-force channel” from which you can receive everything. Connect and receive. If you want to know what will be tomorrow, you will know it. If you want to know how to carry out changes, you will know how. Just connect. This is the reforming light.

In general, our approach is this: unite with one another and evoke the light that will correctly realize this unity. We must demonstrate our readiness commensurate with the state we are in, and ask for correction.

For implementation, it is very, very simple. That is why the articles of Rabash about the group are so simple and straightforward. There are few in number, and all these materials can fit into a few dozen pages. In them is the entire method. Everything else are only additions that help attract the light. To describe how to organize the group in which we draw this light, ten pages are enough.

Thus, today our work is first of all to organize ourselves into the correct structure, and then to turn with a request for correction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/12, Rabash, “Concerning the Importance of Society”

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