Question: I understand that I must acquire a second nature, but how?

Answer: It can only be done with the help of the Light that Reforms. You cannot produce, generate, or buy a second nature yourself.

We are talking about a more complex and advanced creation. You are like a fly that has to become human. The new creation that you must become doesn’t leave you anything to hold on to. You have a mere spark, but you don’t have any idea of where it is taking you.

Therefore, if you wish to acquire a second nature, you need to “order” it from the Light. It created your current nature, and now you must turn to it with a new “order.” You have to know how to beg, convince, and obligate it to create a new being out of you.

To achieve this, we employ the studies and the group, which are the express means to make the Light ignite our sparks and form a spiritual nature in us, which is the nature of bestowal.
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From the lesson on Rabash’s article on 12/10/10

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Writings of Rabash, Article 545, “Labor And Finding”: It is written, “He labored and found, believe it.” But how are one’s efforts connected to the finding? After all, the finding comes unexpectedly.”

The upper world becomes revealed to me as “a finding”: I wanted to receive one thing, and suddenly I found something else.

Just a second here. I just spent several years working like crazy and expecting to receive a specific reward. Why, then, does my reward turn into “a finding” now?

The matter is that I was looking at the goal based on my own mind and sensations. However, with time, as I advanced I changed myself by means of the Light that Reforms. It gave me a new mind and a new sensation which suit my “finding,” something I did not expect previously.

That’s how I end up receiving something different from what I wanted before. Instead of the “lawful reward,” I find something else, which suits my new level.

In our world we demand a reward that was agreed upon ahead of time, whereas on the spiritual path, as we advance our egoistic values become worthless, our sensations change, and on the new degree there is a completely different sort of finding waiting for us.
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From the lesson on Rabash’s article on 12/10/10

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Question: Is Kabbalah a method of the revelation of the Creator or the correction of man?

Answer: When a person comes to Kabbalah, he thinks that he will be able to reach the upper world by accumulating knowledge and acquiring power in the group. However, as years pass by, he begins to realize that everything depends only on how much he himself will change, and not those around him. Only then does he begin to study Kabbalah correctly.

That is, on one side, Kabbalah is the method of revelation of the Creator to man in this world, and on the other, it is a method of changing oneself to become like the Creator who reveals Himself to a person to the extent that the latter becomes similar to Him.
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Question: At the lesson we have to aspire to one place and unite everything into one. However, over the years I have developed different notions of spiritual phenomena. When reading about Bina and Malchut, I perceive them differently. Is it possible to reduce them to one point?

Answer: They really do have to become one whole. In essence, Bina and Malchut are the qualities of the Creator and creation. We do not know exactly what this is, but nevertheless their interconnection and relationships indicate union.

Bina lowers a part of herself into Malchut, the letters “ELE” of the name Elokim. Malchut ascends into Bina, changing the name MA to MI. Behind the descriptions of these processes in The Book of Zohar we discern the bonds connecting them.

Accordingly, we have to build our intention. By uniting with the group, I see it as the place, the focal point where the quality of Bina, bestowal, or Elokim is revealed. That is where I raise my desires and yearnings. It is where I want to unite as a corrected part of Malchut.

I hope that Bina will help me by means of its vessels ELE, which are lowered intentionally in order to take care of me in order to become a motherly womb for me and raise me spiritually. That is how I should relate to the group.

The group is the system that is empowered to present Elokim, HaVaYaH, to me. It is the place where I receive nourishment, and from where the Lights and changes come to me.

My conception of the group depends only on how able I am to reject myself before it. The Upper One may take on any forms, but it happens only to the degree that the lower one ascends the degrees of self-rejection and becomes similar to Him, going through the phases of conception, feeding, and adulthood.

This is what I want when I subject myself to the group’s influence, the place that nourishes us. This should be my intention at the lesson: to constantly search for my place in the story about the interrelationships of Bina and Malchut.

They connect through Zeir Anpin, through HaVaYaH, the quality of mercy, the Light. This is the entire system that develops us. Our territory is the lower part of Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut herself. That is where our entire life is, both the material and the spiritual.

That’s because reality is one. Even though we only see an illusory picture now, it is just a flaw in our perception, an illusion caused by meager understanding and sensation. When the fog begins to clear, the Upper World will come through from it, our connection with the group, with the other souls, which comes through in AHP, meaning in the lower part of Bina (ZAT), Zeir Anpin, and Malchut.

This is what all of the science of Kabbalah talks about. This is the expression of our relationship with the Creator, with the unity of HaVaYaH and Elokim, which we have to attain.

Therefore, we have to understand that ZAT de Bina is the corrected group in which we find ourselves. We will never reveal anything more. we discern only the degree of our ability to unite in the lower part of Bina, in the group. That is our place. By giving ourselves over into its power, we will reveal our true reality, which is concealed from us for now by a veil of hazy perception.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/9/10, The Zohar

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Question: A person can only feel one thing at a given moment in time. How then can we experience disappointment and joy simultaneously?

Answer: Two opposites are inherent in us: Our egoistic desire and the altruistic spark, the point in the heart.

If we begin to fan the spark correctly, then it pulls us toward bestowal, the Creator, while the desire pulls us in the direction of the animate world, simply wishing to be fulfilled. If I position them one against the other, if I am ready for my desire to suffer for the sake of raising my point in the heart, then my work already unravels in two different directions.

The more my desire for pleasure is restricted, the higher the point in the heart ascends above it to bestowal. It is on their opposition that I build my Kli.

I have to give all my energy to the point in the heart in order to plant it in the group and raise it there. As for the material desire, come what may. I don’t pay much attention to it, confining myself to the vital necessities.

Therefore, we must definitely “split” into two so that eventually a screen, Masach, will emerge between these two parts. Then we will go on to doing real spiritual actions.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/10, The Zohar

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Sometimes there are states, when a student thinks that he is smarter than the Teacher, that he understands something better, and that he can have his own opinion about inner work. He simply forgets that “the mistakes of sages are constructive, while the creations of the young are destructive.” It seems to a student that he is right from the rational point of view, and the Teacher is wrong about many things, or maybe he is just insufficiently informed.

However, the spiritual differs from the material, and a person who exists in the spiritual cannot be wrong. Furthermore, even if today it seems to you that the Teacher is wrong, this is not the case in perspective. This can be likened to how a child thinks that a tailor is ruining the fabric by cutting it into pieces. However, one who understands that it should turn into clothing thinks: “What can you do? He’s a child!”

A person who wishes to advance needs to proceed with faith above reason in spite of seeing mistakes in the Teacher’s actions since the whole nature is split into degrees, and one who is situated on a higher degree is likely to act correctly. And the evident mistakes of the Teacher are your own mistakes!

Therefore, we need faith. Faith means that I am working with the mind of the Upper One rather than with my own mind. I annul myself before him and accept what comes to me with joy. It may seem incorrect to me on my degree, but when I rise to a higher degree, I will reveal that it is the truth.

Everything depends on whether a person is ready to accept it. While it strengthens some because they understand that it is a good sign and they need to agree with the Upper governance, others cannot cope with their egoism and become more distant from the path and the goal. It is said about this: “Where the righteous go forward, the wicked go back.”

It is impossible to pass to a higher degree if I don’t accept it with faith above reason in relation to the teacher and the group. I accept everything they have and cancel myself, which is called being “Hafetz Hesed,” not desiring anything for yourself; this is the first correction.

From the very lowest to the very top degree, you should always advance by acquiring the level of “Hafetz Hessed” in regard to the Upper degree. This is called advancing with faith above knowledge.

Joy is a sign of faith! You are “happy with your lot,” and you wish only to agree with the teacher, the group, and the Creator: nothing more! You are happy because you are in consent with them, which means that you have reached correction and can go on to a higher degree. Your egoism has calmed down, and now you need to receive additional obstacles in order to correct them and receive the Light of Hochma in them, and this is already much more difficult.

Now you need to begin to bestow instead of just agreeing with the teacher and the group; you need to work with their desire instead of your own. Your desire should serve their desires, and they are always opposite! We need to go through a few inner overturns in our egoism! Therefore, the extent of faith in the teacher determines the height of the student’s degree.
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From a lesson 11/26/10, Shamati

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Question: Is there a connection between the World of Atzilut after the breaking of the World of Nikudim and the World of Adam Kadmon?

Answer: We do not have any connection to the World of Adam Kadmon because it belongs to the First Restriction. We cannot feel it and are unable to understand the principle by which it exists and operates. It is reason, sensations, and a calculation that we cannot attain. We will attain it only after our full correction.

Suppose that your cat is looking at you. It does not understand what you are thinking about. It slightly senses your mood and state because an animal that depends on you has some sort of notion of you as its master. However, it can never understand your thoughts, calculations, and desires.

Similarly, we cannot understand the World of Adam Kadmon. The five Partzufim of Adam Kadmon are above our attainment. Also GAR (the first three Partzufim) or the World of Atzilut are called unattainable and we do not attain them.

Only starting from the full correction (Gmar Tikkun) and onwards, when all the Kelim or desires unite, will it be possible to attain it. First we will correct AHP de Aliyah (AHP on the ascent), we will correct ELE, which will ascend and connect inside the name ELOKIM, the full Bina.

After that in the concluding action of the process of correction, called "Rav Paalim UMekabtziel," when the Light that comes from Above into the World of Atzilut descends until the Parsa and all the broken desires join Atzilut, then the World of Atzilut will expand beneath the Parsa as well, until the conclusion of the World of Adam Kadmon (Sium Galgalta), as it is written, "And his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives." Then we will be able to unite with the ten, full, original Sefirot of Adam Kadmon.

The entire process of the expansion of the worlds and our correction is intended to fill the first Partzuf Galgalta. Only then will we attain the five Partzufim of Adam Kadmon and will we enter the circle of Infinity together with them. Then the line (Yosher) and the circles (Igulim) will become equal. Everything that was inside the circle will take on the form of the line and there will be no difference between the line and the circle.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/7/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: I am a 22 year old American and have been on a spiritual quest for my entire life, but specifically these past few years. I am so confused. I want more than anything to live a spiritually fulfilled life, but do not believe I need to renounce the world as we know it to achieve such. I am highly interested in science and technology and the convergence of such studies with spirituality. I have become increasingly sensitive to the downfalls of our societies, and it is becoming harder and harder for me to function.

I have been living between Israel and the USA for the past four years, and have been looking for a true teacher to guide me on a personal level. It seems that today, there are so many people who claim things, and so many things you can sign up for, but it is so difficult to find a true teacher. Do you have any suggestions of how I can find a teacher that can guide me and help me amidst my confusion?

Answer: If we are nevertheless talking about Kabbalah, then it is definitely against “renouncing the world.” The world is a sensation of the soul felt when it is separated from the Creator. The soul descends to this state, our world, so that after being disappointed in all ways of receiving earthly pleasures and in all “spiritual practices” (more and more people are feeling this disappointment) it would raise this world to the Creator.

Kabbalists have always directed their students toward correspondence to the law of nature, which states that, similarly to man in this world, the soul is also formed and raised by its environment and not by a teacher personally.

Our movement, Bnei Baruch, has made significant progress in creating an environment that helps the souls transcend all doubts and reach their goal: merger with the Creator. Therefore, the best advice to you is to find this kind of environment.
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Klipot (the impure forces, the “rind” or “peel”) are a special system that does not allow us to touch desires if we lack the forces to overcome them. Klipot are like guards, as it is written, “The Klipa (rind) protects the fruit.”

We hate Klipot, thinking that they are evil forces, while in reality they are very useful. They save us by limiting us, repelling us, and scaring us away! They build all sorts of obstacles before us, which we can overcome only when we become worthy of what stands behind the obstacle.

Imagine what would happen if a little child could do anything he wanted. How much harm would he cause to himself and to others? But nature does not give him the ability to do this.

This is why there are three impure Klipot in the Worlds of BYA, which stand against ZAT de Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut. They are called “the stormy wind” (Ruach Seara), “the great cloud” (Anan Gadol), and “the all-consuming fire” (Esh Mitlakahat). Only by going through them will you reach the World of Atzilut!

These impure Klipot protect holiness. We have to overcome the Klipa and become stronger than it. Then we can touch holiness. Until then we will have to deal with the impure forces if we are not ready for more.

Therefore, the system of the impure forces, Klipot, plays an exceptionally important role: It is the system of protection. We have to learn to look at everything from the Creator’s perspective, and He did not do anything in vain.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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Our whole work consists of justifying the states that we go through, and then they will seem more comfortable to us. And this depends only on us! After all, all these states are inevitable; all the Reshimot (spiritual genes) must come out, in order, one after another, and be realized until the end of correction.

They are gradually revealed in you in order for you to justify them. And what does it mean to justify them? It means to realize, feel, and understand for what purpose they come, who brings them, why, and in what order.

Thereby you develop yourself, and so much that you begin to include in you the whole creation. This is precisely what the Creator wants from you! This is why He does not give you the final form; you wouldn’t feel or understand anything in it. Instead, He leads you through the whole sequence of actions.

But does this process truly exist? It doesn’t! There is no beginning, no end, and nothing at all! There is one perfect state. The Creator stretches it out from beginning to end, like a rubber band, implanting the ego, the evil inclination, or the desire for pleasure, into His own action. And then you can go through all these states in order, from beginning to end, all the while perfecting your sensations and mind.

This helps you understand the whole process of creation, from two opposites: from darkness – to Light. And if this were one state, you would not be able to differentiate between anything, since you are a created being. You need two states in order to feel and elucidate one against the other.
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From a lesson on Baal HaSulam’s Letters 11/26/10

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