Question: Does the Creator really need the created beings? It would be more reasonable to say that only we need Him, wouldn’t it?

Answer: If the Creator didn’t need the creatures, why would He create them in the first place? And yet, due to the fact that He is good who does good, He made the created beings in order to please them since that is what pleases Him! That is, the upper one has a “deficiency” as well, but it is not egoistic: The Creator desires to bestow.

It is written: “More than the calf wants to suckle the cow wants to feed.” Otherwise, whom would I bestow to if He doesn’t need anything from me? He has an enormous desire: He desires for me to be pleased! This is indeed a deficiency but a good, positive one.

The creature’s desire to please itself didn’t initially exist and was created “from absence.” But desire and the need to bestow existed all along. This need pertains to the Creator rather than to the created being. And this is the type of lack we have to inherit from Him so that we would strive to bestow and feel obligated to compensate for this deficiency; and if we don’t bestow, we suffer.

The upper one suffers if the lower one doesn’t ascend to and receive from Him. This is regarded as the suffering of Shechina which cannot bestow and bring the souls closer to itself. We only think that deficiency is always something negative, when in fact, if what I lack is bestowal to others, is it really bad?

But if the upper one has a lack, does it mean that He is imperfect? Yes, He is incomplete in terms of being dependent on the lower ones, but only because of His love for them. Until the very end of correction, this deficiency will remain, both in the upper one and the lower one.

As for us, we judge according to our own flaws and think that since He needs us, He isn’t perfect either. But where the Creator is concerned, His need to bestow derives from excessive perfection.

The Creator’s need and the need of the created being don’t disappear, but rather grow and in the end of correction become enormous! It is not as in our world when you satiate your need for love and it disappears. We were so eager to be together that now that we are—the desire vanished. I am full and don’t want anything anymore; I don’t have room for another meal.

Thus, we build a vessel within, a kind of desire that will never disappear! On the contrary, I feel greater deficiency—and greater fulfillment. But the lack compensated by bestowal to others is not a defect. It is highly valuable, honorable, and exalted! It is similar to a mother who desires to give all she can to her baby. And she definitely has a deficiency since from dawn to dusk she thinks solely of him, from the moment he was conceived inside her. But does it mean she has a defect? On the contrary, they both can delight in each other, and this is an opportunity to get fulfilled, to evolve, and to love.

The Creator is similar to the mother who suffers if she cannot give to her child as much as she can. It is a tremendous deficiency the Light contains, and it is it in particular that created desire instilled in us. When this desire unfolds in full, it will be as exalted as the Creator’s desire to bestow to us. Yet, it doesn’t demean; it exalts since it derives from love.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Table of Questions and Answers for the Meaning of the Words”: Question 27. Maatzil (the Creator). Any cause is regarded as the Maatzil of the effected degree. The title Maatzil contains both the Hamshacha (drawing) of the Ohr (Light) and the Kli (vessel) that receives the Ohr.

It’s clear for us that the upper degree is called the Creator with respect to the lower one that it has created. But why is it added here that the concept of “the Creator” includes not only the received Light, but also the vessel receiving this Light, meaning my vessel, desire?

I receive the Light and sense my reality inside my desire. Inside this reality, I feel the upper degree. In other words, the sensation in me is divided in two parts: myself and the upper one. And all this is called the Creator.

That is, everything is attained only inside man’s sensations, and I call a special part inside myself the Creator. Therefore, it is said: “From Your actions we will know You!”

We can talk about the Creator (Bo-reh or “come and see” in Hebrew) only to the measure of our own corrections. I call the Creator that part within myself that I correct to bestowal, to the properties that are not inherent in my nature from birth.

That is why the soul can be merely a point, a drop, or can grow bigger and bigger, but it is always part of the upper one. I sense the upper root, the Creator, inside the part in me that is corrected to bestowal and called the soul. The Creator is already in me, not in the heavens, but we are talking about the property of bestowal that is above me, above my nature. Although I have obtained it and am now working with it, I nonetheless attribute it to the upper one.

That is why the Creator is always within a human being, and not somewhere in the sky. The same applies to the upper degree: Only those who attain it and are in contact with it can talk about it. That is, the upper degree is also in me, only I consider it higher degree for me.

In my perception, there are always such degrees which I have already acquired and practically work with, as if they belong to me, and the one that is still higher and shines for me “from afar.” That is, it is in me, but in such a form that I cannot use it for the time being. Everything is perceived and sensed only within a person who attains.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Today, the entire world is in crisis, and we are slowly approaching even greater problems everywhere and in every area of life. All we have done in this world was done poorly because we grew under the rule of our egoism. We cannot expect good from anywhere because we have always worked just for the sake of our ego.

Now, evil is gradually revealed, drop by drop, at different locations and at any opportunity so as to prevent us from being withdrawn into our own pain. If the pain becomes too strong, we will not be able to think about anything else except how to get rid of it. We will no longer be interested in its cause and effect; we will want only to stop this pain.

However, if the pain comes in waves and all the time either subsides or becomes more severe, leaving me enough time to reflect on it, then I start seeking from where and why it comes and how to get rid of it. The Creator plays such a game with us, and as a result, we find a solution.

First of all, we need to study the cause, and it is in the oppositeness of our nature. Our properties are opposite to the Creator, and therefore, as He gets closer, we feel bad! And the closer He approaches, the worse we feel! It is like in the case of the thief whom it is better to keep away from the treasury and not to give him an opportunity to commit a crime. The same is with us.

Therefore, especially now, in our time, the Creator is revealed very slowly and gradually, in order to give us time to think. He is revealed slightly, and we feel bad. For example, a couple of years ago, a crisis erupted, and now people say that it is allegedly over. But it did not pass; we are simply given time to think and explore! Soon, another blow will strike, at several levels and of several types. And then a period of calm will take place.

Thus, the Creator teaches us and gives us opportunities to look for reasons so that ultimately, we would reveal Him as the source of all that happens. And in relation to our egoism, He appears as the source of all evil. Then, we will understand why we feel bad: It’s because of our oppositeness to the Creator.

What can we do to feel good? The Creator is perfect, and we have to change only ourselves. Thus, gradually, we will realize that we must correct ourselves. Humankind will certainly arrive to this under the methodical, periodic blows that will come in all forms to any nation, to any person, teaching us thereby.

However, we have to reveal the method to people so that they learn sooner from where and why these blows come. By this, we will facilitate the development of entire humanity. This is called “bringing the Light to the nations,” that is, to people who still do not understand why they get hit.

To develop consciously, people need to discover the cause, necessity, and purpose of the blows. As a result, the whole course of development changes very much. Those who possess the method of correction must do this for the entire world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah World 6/24/2011, Shamati #241

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Question: What happens “behind the scenes” of my actions when during the reading of The Book of Zohar I make repeated efforts to return to the intention, but they seem futile to me?

Answer: Your efforts determine your qualities of perception, your sensitivity, and then you make the revelation. Everything is in front of you, but your lack of sensitivity does not allow you to reveal the system of connection between the souls that The Zohar tells you about. Your efforts and prayer build the instruments of perception inside of you in order to feel that picture.

Question: I repeatedly keep trying to build my intention anew, but it seems like I make the same efforts and feel the same thing I did a week ago, as if nothing changed….

Answer: Suppose I am among musicians. Looking at them, I see how they listen to every sound and discern the combination of different sounds, and I see how important this is to them. As I look at them, I learn about how to treat sounds. Then, as a result of my efforts, I become more sensitive and begin feeling them.

Then I ask the musicians questions and they explain things to me, but I don’t understand their explanations. “A fourth,” “a fifth,” “glissando, “forte”—these words don’t say anything to me, just like the unintelligible terminology in The Book of Zohar.

But I want to learn them! That is why I try to become a bit more sensitive to them and to feel them. Then, because we are in a special system, according to my efforts, desire, and aspiration, I begin to feel. That is how a child develops as well: He wants to become big and is always running around, never tiring and researching everything around.

We wonder: How can children watch the same cartoon or listen to the same story a thousand times over? However, it’s a thousand times to us because we don’t develop any longer. But a child lives in that story. When he listens to the tale about Little Red Riding Hood today, to him this is a completely new story, not like yesterday. You look at him and think, “Fine, I’ll tell him the story. Let him sit quietly, calm down, and enjoy it….” But he hears this story anew every time! And even though he also knows it by heart, when he repeats it together with you, he relives it all over again. It’s similar to how you have to eat today even though you ate yesterday. That’s what happens to him too!

Therefore, our entire work is to develop the sensitivity to acquire new qualities of perception.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/11, The Zohar

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Question: How can we not retreat from demanding the truth so we would finally reveal that we are lying to ourselves?

Answer: If a person is able to hold on to the truth, then he is very lucky. We see that there are many people in the world who don’t need the truth and who don’t ask what they are living for.

In others this question already arises, but from the point of view of, “What am I suffering for?” That is, this is not a question about the meaning of life, but about how to find the taste in life now that you feel a bitter taste instead of sweet.

And there are other people who don’t ask about a good life, but about finding the truth in it. And there are people who don’t ask about the truth in life, but about who gave us this life, about the Creator. And this question is no longer about myself, because I no longer care who I am and what will happen with my life, one way or another. I want to come to know Him, to attain the Creator, and exist in Him—in the very source, the root.

There are many levels in this attitude depending on a person’s demand, his sensation and attainment. Here everything depends on the root of one’s soul and the current life cycle, meaning, at what stage of development he is on.

But even if in our current state we are still not granted the chance to ask about the truth, then we can develop these desires inside of us by means of the environment, the “teacher, group, and books,” and advance that way. However, this is not easy and it requires you to reveal what lies at the very depth of yourself, inside of your informational genes, Reshimot.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/11, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can we explain to people why love is necessary?

Answer: You can love to eat fish for lunch, you can love your little son, or you can love your neighbor or the Creator. The same words designate completely different notions.

Is it worthwhile to praise love for the neighbor to a person who loves fish? How can you describe to him the pleasure from bestowal? What will he understand? That he has to give his fish to someone else? Is this love?

What does it mean to love the neighbor? It has a completely different meaning. Loving the neighbor means attaching his desire to yourself and working with your desire in order to fulfill his desire. Then we both meld together into one whole, where I fulfill him and he becomes fulfilled. In what does he become fulfilled? In his desire. His desire in relation to mine is like Malchut in relation to Zeir Anpin. I am like the Creator, and he—the creation. That is what my work is.

Thus, “love” is the relationship between the Creator and creation. Only this is love—the creation’s attitude to the Creator. If I can build this kind of attitude to others, or in other words, if I acquire the quality of the Creator, the quality of bestowal, and by means of it I relate to the neighbor’s desire just like the Creator does, it turns out that the Creator is inside of me, and I make the necessary action in relation to the neighbor. This means that I love the neighbor.

We don’t have the right to use the word “love” in any other sense, context, or case. Otherwise we will confuse it with our “love of fish.”

We are talking about the extent to which the Creator, the quality of bestowal, dresses into me. First of all we have to carry out the principle, “Do not do to another what you yourself hate.” That is how I become neutral. After that, I have to acquire his desire instead of my own. Another person’s desire becomes more important for me and therefore he becomes higher than me. I am ready to do everything for him, just like I would for my sick child in our world. I am entirely “short-circuited” on his desire; it is what makes me act.

That is exactly why I am similar to the Creator, like Zeir Anpin who receives a request from Malchut. The more another person’s desire is able to activate me to bestow, the higher I am than him. This is love. Do you see how different this is from our current notions?

The more I can bestow to another person, the more I provide him with the Light of correction. After all, there is mutual guarantee between us. I do not fill his egoistic desire, but I reveal inside of him the desire to be in one system with me so the Shechina would reign between us. So what should I provide for him? I give him my support of the mutual guarantee, which he also provides for me by revealing it in his desire. This is love.

No one is indulging the other’s egoism. I don’t reveal the egoistic desire in the other person, but the desire for mutual support in order to reveal the Creator in the relationship between us. The Creator cannot be revealed in any individual or just in my attitude to another person, unless it’s fortified by the same attitude from him. Love does not work in one direction. It is a two way street. It requires a connecting net through which impulses of bestowal are flowing, a net permeated by feelings of love, relationships of mutual guarantee and mutuality by which we strengthen one another.

In the meantime, egoism remains below, without making any calculations to fulfill it. After all, we rise above it, connected by our mutual intention for the sake of bestowal. And when it reaches a specific level of unity, creating a net above us, then we reveal the Creator, the mutual quality of bestowal and love between us.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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A Virtual Lesson on Fundamentals of Kabbalah
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What is the difference between the perception of a baby, a teenager, and an adult? They are all living in the same world, just like you and I, and see it in front of them. But the degree to which each of them reveals this world depends on their development, and to the same extent each of them actively participates in his life. And the world also relates to a person according to his development.

Say, until age 10, a child is considered young and the contribution he makes is moderate, commensurate with his sensation and understanding. The entire difference between this childish perception and the adult one is “covered” by the environment in both senses of the word: both by concealing things that the child cannot understand correctly yet, and compensating for what he is unable to do himself. It turns out that a child receives everything from the world that he is yet unable to earn himself.

And exactly the same thing happens to us in the spiritual work. We are standing opposite the Creator, the upper Light that is at absolute rest, and nothing exists besides Him. But for now there is a concealment that hides the Light which we are unable to reveal, and that compensates for the shortcoming of our work.

When is it already possible to say that a person is in the state of Lo Lishma (for his sake), from which he proceeds to Lishma, bestowal? Only when he feels that he is definitely opposite the Creator, but there is a certain picture of reality standing between them. It is depicted by his qualities or sensations. This is an imaginary world that seems to exist to him—the friends, the group, and everything all around him. This is what still separates a person from the simple upper Light, from the quality of bestowal and absolute love.

For now he does not have these qualities. He makes calculations and behaves according to his development. But he already has a sensation and the right understanding that he stands opposite the Creator, separated from Him by the picture of this world, through which he works with the Creator. This picture of reality essentially consists of all of his uncorrected qualities, which conceal and protect (compensate), like “hair.”

After all, if everything was revealed to him, then of course he would not be able to enter the right relationships with the Creator.

That is how we should view our state. Only from this state of Lo Lishma, when we are sure that there is Lishma (bestowal), but we are not in it, can we gradually come to Lishma if we constantly and persistently try to reveal the Creator and view every occurrence as an opportunity given to us from above to correct our state of Lo Lishma and attain Lishma.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/11, Writings of Rabash

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