After Baal HaSulam made his great discernments: what is the Creator’s desire, the goal of creation, and the ways to attain it, he descended to us and explained it, and all that remains for us is to tune into his method. We have to try to understand it with our mind and feel it with our heart so the Light would pass through us and fill us, allowing us to understand the inner essence of his words.

Let every word he wrote start to come alive in us like an inner mechanism, a means, a vessel that will start working in us in a way that we won’t have to think. We don’t have to plan anything. This teaching will just start to live in us and carry out actions through us, by virtue of us annulling ourselves. This is the work of Galgalta ve Eynaim, which annul themselves for the sake of AHP, absorb its desires, and on the other hand, they unite with the Light and it begins to act through us.

We are not aware of what we are doing and we do not know what we have to do. But the Light aims us and carries out everything. It is written, “I am the first and I am the last” and “There is none else beside Him.”

The whole world annuls itself in this way. But if we annul ourselves relative the Light’s actions with our own efforts instead of simply being governed by the hand that drives us from the inside, like a puppet into which a puppeteer’s hand is dressed, then this is a very big difference. By annulling ourselves out of our own free choice, we come to feel this hand, which controls the whole world through us. From this hand we learn all of its customs, the whole game, the whole program. We begin to recognize Him, the one who governs, the upper force.

The whole world annuls itself, having no other choice. But we have to annul ourselves by our own desire, and if we do so, we will be able to become similar to Baal HaSulam, who did the same, and to other Kabbalists. By virtue of that, he went from being a simple slave of the Creator to a loyal servant through whom the entire wisdom flows, allowing him to attain Malchut of the world of infinity and become included in it in order to feel the entire universe and the entire Light filling it.

We have to be grateful to the Creator for sending us such a great soul. Baal HaSulam writes that he could not stand to watch people’s suffering any longer. But this does not mean the small egoistic suffering. After all, we are not looking for a better fulfillment for our body, like a greener meadow for our cow, but we want to know the one who governs us and makes everything move.

We want to understand, meet, and reveal Him so His mind and feelings would dress in us, to unite with Him so our heart and mind would merge with Him. Then all of creation, its goal, all the worlds that the Kabbalists tell us about, and even what is even higher than them and what we don’t even have a name for—all of this will become our real sensation and fulfillment. This is the state that this person prepared for us.

In all of our history there is no one who is dearer and more significant for us. Obviously, we are unable to measure the true height of every Kabbalist. They are all holy for us. But Baal HaSulam did for us what no person has done throughout all of history. And therefore we are proud of having a spiritual father of this stature who cares about us. We have to feel how with each passing day, as we advance further, he follows us and rejoices at every step we take, one step after another.
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From a talk at the meal devoted to Baal HaSulam’s memorial day, 10/8/11

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A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
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Question: Today the crisis has reached all corners of the world and no one sees a solution to it. Why don’t we examine the economic system analogously to our system of upbringing, and offer it to the world?

Answer: We can provide a wonderful description of the economy in the period of the final correction: a balanced society, consumption within the boundaries of reasonable necessity, conservation of nature and man, the sole development of projects that save time and energy and benefit people’s health…. All of this is logical and is easy to put in writing if you are not writing about egoistic gratification, but basic necessity, the harmony between us and nature.

But how can we transition to this stage? How can we explain it to the modern tycoons who are essentially the ones to decide the fate of the world? They manipulate governments which in turn manipulate people. So how can we present this final goal to them? How can we tell them about the phases on the path to it? They will ask: “What will be left for us?” And what will we tell them in response?

“You will receive exactly the same amount as a regular housewife, and your billions will be returned to nature’s needs in order to fix the mess you have made by proliferating excessive consumption in the world. And beyond that you will enjoy internally, spiritually. You will no longer be ‘the top roosters in the pen,’ proudly parading around the perches. You will mature and this will cease giving you pleasure.” You will be fulfilled by the attainment of a higher level.” On the contrary, it will evoke scorn.

Will you be able to explain all of that to a tycoon so he will be enticed by the idea of eternal, perfect life, so he will want to enter the eternity of nature itself, join it, and reveal a higher level of existence in it?… “You will live there like a respectable tycoon. Even when your animate body dies, it is not really you at all. After all, you will become Human in the true, spiritual sense….”

This works only for refined individuals, yet others just might understand it right away. That is why today we are disseminating the force of mutual guarantee to the whole world, and we are not addressing the tycoons, but the people. “It’s worthwhile for us to get closer to one another so life gets better.” And in the meantime, with a view to the future, we inject Light into people, the force of unity. Once they are filled by this force, they begin to understand more and to agree with us, seeing real benefit in the mutual guarantee. That is how they advance.

The path to the heart is not through the mind. You can’t get your mind around this because the mind’s level corresponds to the level of the desire it serves. The mind can never rise above the desire. Deceived by illusions, we might look down on our animate being, but the mind seems like the pinnacle of creation to us. Yet in reality our mind is even lower than the animate desire, being a mere servant of it.

Therefore, the only opportunity we have is to change people’s desires, which can change only under the influence of the Light. This is what we have to provide for them. Your logical conclusions alone won’t help. People will not understand you and will think that you are simply an idiot or a mystic, or in the best case, a great guy dreaming about peace and love on the planet.

There is only one solution: to unite among ourselves and to give people the force of unity. Only this will raise them to a new level of understanding, perception, and agreement with us. Moreover, later, once they agree, they will see that it’s worthwhile for them to follow us because they can’t understand our message fully. By acquiring the force of unity, they will rise to a level where it will become clear that they have to hold on to us, as it is written in the Torah: They will “grab onto your clothes,” meaning the garment, the external vessels, and will say, “Take us there!”

Obviously, you are right in that we do have to talk a little about the economy, upbringing, and the world of the future so as not to push people away at the initial stage. But the most important thing is to transmit the force of unity to them. This is dissemination. In the Introduction to Panim Meirot UMasbirot, Baal HaSulam writes that when the sons of Israel become filled with this force of unity, it will spill from them to everyone else. We have to be ready to receive this force and then it really will spill over to people, who will be receptive to the influence of the Light of Hassadim, giving themselves over to it wholeheartedly.
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From the lesson on 10/24/11

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What is meant by “my friend is concealed”? Sometimes I feel that a pleasant, wonderful sensation, understanding, or fulfillment that was present in me moves away, cools, and disappears. These levels of separation are called Nekudot – points. There are Taamim – tastes, which are felt during the Light’s exit, and there are Nekudot – points, impressions from the Light’s exit. Nekudot are precisely the place from which new vessels or desires form. We study this in Preface to the Science of Kabbalah and in Talmud Eser Sefirot.

We have to see this gradual disappearance of Light as the creation of new vessels/desires, like in a flirt or game. This separation, the sensation that the Light seems to leave you, is an invitation to pursue it, to show that you really desire it, that you won’t let it leave you. Even if it moves away or grows weaker, you desire to be merged with it in the impending darkness.

Through these games the Creator builds an attitude to Him within us that is independent from our will to enjoy. He moves away, but I am willing to be with Him in any case. He dwindles, but I still want to remain in this darkness. That is, these games are not played in relation to me, but in relation to my will to enjoy, my ego. And above my ego I wish to be merged with the Creator in spite of feeling darkness in my ego.

This is my ego, this is me—above it, and across from me there is Light. And I am willing for the ego to feel darkness and emptiness. This does not matter to me.

Most importantly, I know that in spite of my negative desire, the total absence of fulfillment in my ego, I want to be connected with the Light precisely in these situations. This means I am “above reason,” already in bestowal. Therefore, the Light’s separation builds desires for spirituality within me.
From the 6th lesson at the Toronto Convention 09/19/11
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Question: What helps a person nullify himself?

Answer: Most importantly, a person shouldn’t be too self-confident and self-reliant because all of his desires, strength, and thoughts, all that there is within him is always opposite to bestowal and to the upper one. A person’s main weakness is his mind because it prevents him from overcoming his ego and nullifying himself. There is noting else but this.

Our desires to receive are not suitable for the spiritual world. You can only nullify them before the upper one. Thanks to this annulment, you will obtain His desires.

Within the desires of the upper one you begin to nullify yourself in relation to others and thereby obtain all of their desires. On the account of bestowing to them, you connect the whole Malchut of the world of Infinity to yourself.

One might ask: “When do I finally start receiving?” However, there is no such thing as receiving in the spiritual world. Reception does not exist there, only bestowal! Even when you receive, it essentially happens in the form of bestowal. In spiritual reality, the form of reception simply does not exist.

It’s just as in our world we only know how to receive and don’t understand what bestowal is. Each moment of my life I think of, live in, and subsist only on reception. Whereas in the spiritual reality, there is only bestowal and no reception. Even when you receive, you don’t make any calculations, but think only about how much you can turn this into bestowal.

In the spiritual world the word “receiving” has a completely different meaning than in our world. In our world I know I will receive pleasure and it will remain in me. I am the final stop of this pleasure. However, in spirituality I simply pass the pleasure on.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/28/2011, “Pticha”

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Question: What are spiritual efforts?

Answer: 30 years ago I wrote in my very first book that our world rests upon a force field that controls it. The difference between our world and the spiritual world is: to whom do the kingdoms (Malchut) submit? In this world Malchut acts for the sake of egoism, while in the spiritual world it acts for the sake of bestowal.

We have to draw the connections we feel from this world to love for the neighbor, to common mutual bestowal, meaning to a state in which the upper world becomes revealed. And that can only be done in the group and under the proper guidance.

As we come closer to spirituality, we gradually begin to reveal this net of connections and to feel that our entire world is superimposed on this net of forces. A person imagines that he is constantly in this world, which is entirely permeated by a net of forces that controls him. This net is called the upper governance. And a person’s effort lies in how much he desires to become included in this net and awaken in it as an independently acting participant.

Only the forces of bestowal operate there: ZON and Aba ve Ima. Some ascend while others descend. There are also permanent states, as well as special days called the beginning of the month, the beginning of the new year, holidays, and weekdays. These are all parameters of changes occurring in this system.

If we wish to reveal this net through our world, through the connection between us, so it would openly be revealed above us and between us and we would see that we are inside of it and activate it with our desires, that means we make efforts.

At first a person reveals this net individually, as if seeing it in front of him. It’s similar to how in our world, every person thinks that he is the main protagonist while others are just secondary characters that depend on him. He does not think they have a big influence on him, either good or bad.

But the more included I become in this system, the more I feel the world and the more clearly I see how it influences me in either the good direction or the bad, and how I can influence it: where my influence is possible and where it is not. Just like our material capabilities of changing the system are limited, so I am limited in spirituality. I can influence others only by causing them to advance, by bringing more vital force and health to this entire system.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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In the past, Kabbalists who wished to reveal the spiritual world had to start in our world and work through it, through various sciences, with enormous efforts and suffering, meaning they had to pull themselves directly from matter itself to the revelation of the spiritual world and reveal the correct system of connections between people.

But then the compositions of the Ari were revealed, in which he explains about the inner connections that unite us through various special systems of relationships: ZON, YESHSUT, Aba ve Ima, Arich Anpin, and so on. By that he explains to us what forms of connection we can be in, how their different connections influence us, and how we can influence them ourselves and awaken these forms of connection. What happens there is the same thing as in our world, but in the quality of bestowal.

Just like in our world where we are able to activate certain types of connections so they would in turn begin influencing us, the same net of relationships connects us in the spiritual world as well, except that it is more internal. Thus, we go from materialistic psychology to the spiritual one, and then we reveal the true connection between the souls, the people living now and the people who lived before. It does not matter whether a person exists in this world right now or not. What’s important is to tune into this net. Then it’s as if our world evaporates, loses its importance because it is just an external imprint through which we have to enter inside.

The Ari described all of this, and the Baal Shem Tov taught how to work with all of the soul’s loyalty (Mesirut Nefesh), saying, “The Creator is your shadow.” And now, after all of this, by working in the group (which was restored by Baal Shem Tov anew, after Rashbi) we can draw the Light that reforms from this net. We do not simply attain it with our desires and forces, but attract an illumination called the Light that reforms, the Light of the Torah, the Surrounding Light, to ourselves from above, from this net.

After all, if we study the structure of this system and aspire to it all together, wishing to organize the same forms of connection among us, then it doesn’t even matter whether we understand it or not—our effort will awaken the influence of this force upon us.

It’s just like in our world: If we want to attain any system, then we become part of it, study it in various forms, and gradually begin to feel it. Suddenly, a picture of this system comes together inside of us and we understand what this is and how it is possible to connect and work with it. The same thing happens in the spiritual world: Only a person’s intention changes. When he becomes included in the upper system, he does it for the sake of bestowing himself to this system. The more he becomes included in it, the further he advances toward revealing it.

This requires great work with the teacher, the friends, the whole world, and the studies. All of this connects together.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/2/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
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The beginning of the year, “Rosh Hashanah,” is a special day when we are born as “humans.” A human is called “Ben Adam,” meaning the “son” of the level called Adam (similar to the Creator). This level begins with restriction, with the “loyalty of the soul” (Mesirut Nefesh).

Nefesh (soul) is the first and weakest Light that we attain. To do this, we have to place it above our material lives, meaning give up all the possible types of fulfillment for the sake of spiritual adhesion, connection with one another, mutual awakening and guarantee. “I am willing to give up all the material things to attain bestowal”; this is where man begins.

From this point on, he starts rising up the levels, working on perfecting the quality of bestowal inside of him and constantly trying to remain merged with it. To do this, a person builds the appropriate environment for himself, which influences him. This work is called the Creator’s work. It is work on one’s similarity to the Creator and adhesion with him.

This environment includes: the Kabbalistic group, the teacher or instructor, the books, and the study, meaning all of the boundaries that a person is in. Accordingly, one must always check himself: Are you acting correctly and doing enough to arrange your life the right way, and how should you divide your time, the forces of thought and intention in order to effectively discern your desires? This is how we judge ourselves before the beginning of the new year during the period called “repentance.”

One must cleave to the group in order to receive from it the force of real loyalty and, as it is written, “give one’s entire soul” (Mesirat Nefesh), like when blowing into the horn or during Isaac’s sacrifice. It is necessary to achieve this state at every level.

For now we aren’t required to make such a great sacrifice as Abraham, who sacrificed his beloved child. It’s enough for us to blow into the horn (Shofar). This is how our levels are differentiated: the forefathers belong to the level of HBD, and we to NHY. But in essence, this is the same sacrificial offering that every person must make on every new level of the will to enjoy that becomes revealed inside of him.

After that we continuously increase the importance (the beauty, Shufra) of the quality of bestowal by virtue of our willingness to attain total devotion of the soul. Everything begins with the first restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) and after that, the ascent of our will to enjoy. This is where man begins, and this is the meaning of the New Year, the day when we begin to grow.

Even though it seems like there are many fictional stories devoted to the beginning of the year, we must try to penetrate inside them and there, see the plan of creation to delight the creatures, the desire to be fulfilled, and its work—to once again start with the initial point and, holding on to this fundamental thread, to understand the inner meaning of the text.

After all, there are different languages of narration, and even Kabbalists write in such a way that every person understands what is written to the extent of his own degree. But even when a person perceives these stories as a children’s fairytale, he nevertheless advances and grows, and that means he has to go through these levels.

Although they might seem like fairy-tales, they conceal infinite depth inside, as high as all the spiritual levels, and we must try to attain the deeper, innermost level and from there take examples for our own correction in order to become human and start the New Year this way.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/11, Writings of Rabash

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You have to check whether you hate your enemies and opponents, or you understand that they are controlled by the Creator, who is protecting you in this way by not letting your opinions coincide with regular people and the material world and helping you follow just the primary sources. That is how you have to purify yourself, checking everything that is happening to you. Don’t regret or be worried about anything besides the purity of the path, so the goal of your private life and the goal of creation come together in one focus.

It doesn’t matter if you see that until this moment, you were confused by various egoistic calculations. You should always know that everything you have gone through until now amounts to “There is none else besides Him.” However, from this moment on, “No one will help me but myself.” If you are between these two conditions, then you really can say that you have reached the beginning of the new year, a new beginning.

However, the final goal that is present as far back as the initial plan has to be the attainment of love for one’s neighbor. If you have personal problems with someone, then you are no longer moving in the right direction. If you wish to rise above others, to acquire knowledge and fulfillment, or even if you want to bestow, you should also check whether or not this bestowal is egoistic.

That way, your calculations will become purer and purer, until you finally reach the first day of the New Year, when man was created. Everything begins with creating yourself.

This will occur each and every time: There are four new years, each having its own calculation and a new beginning, until a person completes all of his corrections.

The verification is to check to what extent your inner judge is not bribed, how honest and sharp he is, like a brave warrior willing to rise above all of his personal calculations. And this is not easy. This requires one calculation after another, until reaching the entire depth that a person is allowed to delve into.

However, all of this is not intended for you to nag at yourself, but on the contrary, to aspire “to see the Light in the Light of the Creator.” One should try to see everything in the light of love for the neighbor, and check oneself in relation to this standard. And don’t pay attention to all of your collisions with others because this could be the Creator’s way of confusing you by making you see others in this way, or confusing them by setting them against you. It is written, “Don’t judge another person until you are in his shoes.” Maybe the other person is so much higher than you that you simply haven’t matured enough to understand him.

Just be loyal to the Creator at all times, and advance with this.

Therefore, if we have the teaching of the Rabash, his articles that explain how to unite into a group, as well as articles by Baal HaSulam and other Kabbalists, showing us the path and containing the Light that reforms, then the longer we check ourselves according to these primary sources, the more correctly we will advance. And the most important thing is not to be afraid of anything!

We shouldn’t be scared that the path is so difficult, burdened by so many doubts, which our ego awakens in us with its constant calculations. We shouldn’t look at this, but try to attain repentance as fast as possible, which is a spiritual calculation, and raise ourselves to the beginning of the new year, the new level. The goal is reached by one who gives up everything else for it.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/11, Writings of Rabash

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