In the work, meaning when we want to come to work in order to bestow and not receive for ourselves, of course we must observe the 613 Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] in actual fact.One who learns Torah but does not want to observe the 613 Mitzvot de facto, is learning knowledge, the way one learns external teachings (Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?“).

Question: Does this apply to us in the sense that a person who still does not observe the Torah and the commandments in practice is, in essence, merely “acquiring wisdom” rather than studying the Torah?

Answer: I can tell you, as I understand it, what Rabash most likely means, not as others explain it, but according to his own interpretation.

A person who studies the Torah is one who is learning to become like the giver of the Torah. But if he does not draw the guidance for becoming similar to the giver of the Torah from the Torah, then for him the Torah is merely a science. He is not studying it in practice. It is written: “Good is the study that leads to action,” but such a person does not come to action, to correction.

If the Torah does not lead to action, it becomes merely a science, mere intellectual knowledge. About this it is said: “Believe that there is wisdom among the nations of the world.” What a person studies from the Torah while wishing to remain a non-Jew is called a science. But if a person wants to become a Jew, even though at present he is still a non-Jew, that is, he remains in the desire to receive, then he is truly studying the Torah, not merely a science. One who studies the Torah seeks through its illumination to attain the lights.

An action is called the correction of the screen over the desire to receive. Action is the fulfillment of a commandment. You take an evil desire and transform it into a good one. Therefore Rabash says that the commandments of the Torah consist first of 613 counsels (Eitin) for correcting the soul, and then 613 commandments (Pekudin), through which these corrected parts are filled with the lights.

In the end, after you have corrected and fulfilled all these commandments, all these parts, and filled them with the light called the Torah, you are rewarded with the general Torah. And when you come to the correction of the entire vessel, and the truly all-encompassing light is revealed to you, this is called Kadosh Baruch Hu (the Creator).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work? ”

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Awe before the Creator is not an animalistic fear for oneself, for one’s corporeal life. It is directed in the opposite direction; it arises when a person stands in solidarity with the program of creation and the purpose of creation, and wishes to bring them to fruition, regardless under what conditions.

The main thing is that one becomes imbued with this idea; consequently, it becomes the most important thing in one’s life, despite any disturbances.

The fact is that it is upon this sense of awe that we build our relationship to the spiritual world. After all, we are created beings, which in Hebrew means “those who are outside the spiritual world”; meaning, we do not yet reside in the true spiritual world.

Precisely because we are outside the upper world, by revealing it we are able to completely attain it, and at the same time remain created beings who achieve equivalence with the Creator. It turns out that we consist, as it were, of two opposing element drawn from all that exists.

Therefore the awe that subsequently arises in us is no longer the fear for ourselves that existed at the beginning, but awe about how I can truly realize the program of creation and exist within it in such a way that it bears absolutely no relation to my self-interest. This concept is so sublime and beautiful that it must be in absolute detachment from everything and exist by itself.

Question: Why is there such a large number of animalistic fears, about 800 types?

Answer: The fact is that within us there are only 613 desires, and this means 613 kinds of fear, according to the number of our desires that may remain unfulfilled. And of course, there are also derivatives of them when several desires together and separately divide and connect with each other.

A person is a being who constantly fears that he will not be fulfilled. The more he fears, the more dangerous he becomes. All the actions of gangsters, villains, thieves, and murderers stem from fear, not from self-confidence. Their confidence is only a facade, a means to mask their underlying fear; otherwise they would be calm.

A person who is confident in himself does not move. It does not matter to him what happens somewhere, somehow, with someone; he is absolutely self-sufficient. But any active person acts out of fear.

Kabbalah, the only wisdom that speaks about this, says that fear is useful and good, but only when you redirect it from yourself to others, so that you have fear that you will not be able to fulfill them, to bestow to them.

Thus, 613 fears turn into 613 forms of awe, into 613 commandments (Mitzvot). Otherwise one cannot escape fear because everything is based on the desire to be fulfilled, on the desire to receive, since desire is the entire matter of creation.

Therefore, when you look at all the so-called heroes, you understand that subconsciously they are driven by fear.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/1/16

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Regarding the Creator, it is written, “And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain.”

Regarding the people, it is written, “And they stood at the foot of the mountain.”

Anything that is in the intellect is regarded as “in potential.” Afterward, it can expand into actual fact. Accordingly, we can interpret “And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain,” as the thought and intellect of man, meaning that the Creator informed all the people that the inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth. After the Creator informed them in potential, meaning at the top of the mountain, that which was in potential expanded in actual fact (Rabash, What Is Preparation for Reception of the Torah? – 1).

Question: What is the recognition of evil?

Answer: That which constantly obstructs me is called evil. The more it obstructs me, the more I want to kill it, erase it, and detach myself from it. If I reveal that it is literally killing me, then I am ready to do anything just to get rid of it to such an extent that people actually pay enormous sums of money to rid themselves of bad qualities, undergo various treatments, attend courses, and so on.

But here I begin to measure myself relative to another point, relative to the top of Mount Sinai, the point in the heart. Then everything that is below the mountain—that is, my nature, which is called “the people,” the people of Israel—I define as evil with respect to myself.

Either I associate myself with the mountain, with Moses who ascended it, or I bury myself beneath the mountain.

If I determine that for me it is evil to remain below the mountain and not on its summit, this is called the true recognition of evil. Then I truly need to receive the correction, to receive the Torah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/26, Rabash, “What Is Preparation for Reception of the Torah? – 1”

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Question: How do we make sure that we are worthy of receiving the Torah, that we are ready to be each other’s guarantors?

Answer: If a person is ready to act as a guarantor for others (and we know that it is a condition for receiving the Torah to be “as one man with one heart”), then, of course, what one actually desires is to receive is not the Torah!

If one wants to be ready to become “like one man with one heart,” and is unable to do so, this task looms before the person like a mountain, meaning that the impulse to act “for the sake of receiving” is abhorrent and one wants to act “for the sake of bestowal,” then it is defined as being “like one man with one heart.”

It means uniting the points in the heart. This is the only correction the Torah brings, nothing more.
Our standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, along with all the doubts and all the hatred, serves one purpose: to effect the transformation from acting “for the sake of receiving” into “for the sake of giving.” For the sake of giving means that you unite all hearts and form a common vessel into which you receive the Torah. But if you do not do that, then what you get inside will not be the Torah but something else, some kind of science.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/26, Rabash, “What Is Preparation for Reception of the Torah? – 1”

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The meaning of “forced the mountain on them like a vault” is that the reason that now they must receive the Torah and they have no other choice is the mountain, meaning the information they received in the thought and intellect that they are in a state of descent because they have evil in the hearts. This is like a vault, meaning that it is coercive and they have no choice (Rabash, Article “What Is Preparation for Reception of the Torah – 1”).

The state in which I realize my opposition to the Creator in all my qualities is called “standing at Mount Sinai.” I stand at the foot of the mountain and above me is a mountain of doubts, my bad qualities, that separate me from the Creator who is at the top of the mountain.

How do I know that He is at the top? Because that is where my point in the heart, called Moses, is. When I feel the difference between these two sensations, there is a need for me to receive the reforming light. Moreover, I feel that the Creator is forcing to do this. As it is written, forced the mountain on them like a vault is a sign of coercion.

The Creator descends to the top of the mountain where His qualities are. If I rise above all the doubts, above my nature, then I will meet Him there. It is not by chance that this state is revealed to me: either I accept the corrections and rise above all the doubts or this will be “my burial” place since I will bury myself under all my desires and doubts.

In such a case I truly need the Torah, which stands against the evil inclination, because I reveal that the evil inclination is my nature and I begin to hate Mount Sinai.

What is called hatred, as it is said: “Hatred descended upon the nations of the world”? This is explained as though we received the Torah, and then the nations of the world began to hate us. But it is I who hate the nations of the world within me, and therefore I receive the Torah after I determine that the evil is within me.

As long as I think that my inclination is good, since it is good, I desire it. And if I want to use it, then the Creator, who has a goal, the desire to raise me to the top of the mountain (“everyone must become like Moses”), gives the light, and in this light, I begin to enter the process of ascents and descents.

Thus, by defining my nature as good, I remain in a descent, so that each time I can see it in comparison with the light until I come to the decision that it is evil.

Until these constantly recurring descents accumulate into a mountain, after which I will need the Torah and be ready to receive it, I will not develop the need for the Torah (Hebrew: Torah means teaching, theory; “Horaah”—instruction) as a guide for correction. When I accept the Torah as correction, then I merit the desire for it as a source of fulfillment.

It is clear that all of this occurs under coercion. As it is said: He forced the mountain on them like a vault. That is, He imposed coercion upon us (“Kfiya” from the verb “kafa“—compelled, and also overturned, turned upside down). We can only become more sensitive to what is happening to us.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/26, Rabash, “What Is Preparation for Reception of the Torah – 1”

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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.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/26, Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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Faith is a means to reach the inner light of the Torah. Faith is a Kli of bestowal, the quality of Bina. It should be the foundation, and therefore it is said: “The righteous will live by his faith.”

Faith above reason is a means of turning to the Creator to obtain qualities similar to His. But this is not the ultimate goal. Indeed, faith above reason is the goal of study because we want to achieve correction, the qualities of bestowal. But in fact, it is only a means.

After all, the Torah is called the Torah of life, and one must study with the intention of Lishma, for the sake of the Torah, and not Lishmo, for the sake of the Creator. That is, I want not only to become like the Creator by building a Kli, but also to fill this Kli with exactly the content that corresponds to the Creator, so that this content becomes my “life and longevity.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/26, Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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It therefore follows that we should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, (Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?“)

That is, why does one study? In order to know what must be done in the material world. And then a person studies and fulfills the commandments.

 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You” (Ibid.)

Here it speaks about “studying Torah in order to know the laws, how to observe the commandments of the Torah,” meaning that there is something more in it than just performing commandments. There is value in the study itself when one must attach the heart to it. There are corrections that the Torah performs in the heart. These are corrections to make us better, when the Creator wishes that the Torah will support us, and through it we will be strengthened.

3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; (ibid.)

This is the level when a person already knows that the Torah was not given merely to correct his animalistic heart so that he simply becomes better and thereby fulfills the commandment of studying Torah, but that there is something special in the Torah—light.

I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith (ibid.)

That is, a person already considers himself wicked, and the Torah corrects him so that he will become better.

4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator” (ibid.)

In other words, he already receives the light of Hochma within the light of Hassadim. This light of Hochma, which he receives according to the level of his correction, is called the names of the Creator.

In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures (ibid.)
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/26, Rabash, Article 12, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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What is included in the concept of the “Torah“? There are only two things in the universe: the Creator and creation. But suddenly, we discover so many names, characteristics, and connections that we get confused.

Creation is the desire to receive, and the Creator is the desire to give, to bestow pleasure. The manifestation of the Creator to creation is, in essence, everything that happens. The Creator either reveals Himself to creation or hides from it, and thus causes various phenomena in creation. We are talking about these phenomena; they are our whole lives, all our worries. This is the vessel (Kli) in relation to the light, and there is nothing more to add here.

The manifestation of the Creator to the creatures has thousands of names because they relate not only to the desire to receive, but also to what this desire expects from the Creator who reveals Himself to it.

Then the creation begins to desire several things from the Creator. Basically, it wants the Creator to either fill it and give it pleasure, or to give it the strength to receive this pleasure so it feels that by doing so it is giving pleasure to the Creator. There can be only such a relationship between them.

The desire to receive in creation is constant; the Creator’s desire to give is also constant. The sensation of the Creator within creation is called “pleasure.” But since the creation, in addition to the manifestation of the Creator in it as pleasure, also feels the “personality” of the Creator (His essence, what He is, the giver), then the creation begins relating not only to the pleasure but also to the Creator himself, to the giver.

Thus the attitude to pleasure is the desire to receive. I want to receive pleasure from You, from seeing You. It is like a man who loves a woman, and enjoys the sight of her. Regarding the attitude toward the essence of the Creator, the giver, two movements arise in the desire to receive: either to use the giver for the purpose of enjoyment (not simply to enjoy, but to enjoy one’s own relationship with the Creator: I want to enjoy You) or to desire to please Him. Thus, there is a desire and there is an intention, either for oneself or for the sake of the Creator.

Accordingly, all relations between creation and the Creator come down to what the intention of creation is, what it is aimed at. If creation has the intention for its own benefit, but suddenly it is prompted by some impulse to move to the intention for the sake of giving to the Creator, that is, to receive and enjoy, but for His sake, then the creation demands—again from the Creator—the opportunity to do so. Its demand is always directed to the Creator: either it is a demand for enjoyment, or for the nature of using that enjoyment.

Everything a person receives from the Creator is called light (Ohr) or Torah. It follows that, in this light, in the revelation of the Creator to the creatures, we find two main manifestations. The Creator reveals Himself either as a giver of the power to change, to correct the intention, or He reveals Himself as enjoyment. Therefore, there is the Torah, the light that returns to the source, and there is the Torah, the names of the Creator, the revelations of lights in the corrected Kelim with the intention of giving.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lessons, 1/18/26 and 1/19/26, Rabash, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator??

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Question: What is the correction called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator Are One”?

Answer: The Torah is the Torah, the Creator is the Creator, and Israel is the soul, the vessel. “Are one” means that this state is the only one that exists in reality. “He and His name are one” means that the Creator, who created the creation, is present within it in complete fullness.

We do not feel ourselves in this state, but we must reveal it for ourselves. Why is it one? Because the vessel (Kli) has received all the corrections through the Torah, and the Creator is already present in this Kli and fills it boundlessly, infinitely.

Question: How do we begin to feel this in our state?

Answer: Very simply. We begin in accordance with what is written for us, with what Rabash offers you. He gives you all the advice; he tells you what to do and where to begin.

How do I attain that “the Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one”? It is very good that I wish to reveal this, because I truly am in such a state; nothing else exists. The Creator did not create something halfway or by a quarter; He created perfection.

How do I reveal it? I need to find who this “I” is, whether there is a point called “Israel” within me,  whether I aspire to the Creator, and whether I can reveal Him in my aspiration. Who is the Creator? He is the giver. And do I have anything “in order to bestow” like Him within my desires? Only then can there be a common point between us. This point must exist through a common action, a common intention, which is called “Torah.”

Question: And in the end, must one see all of this as one?

Answer: Not in the end! One must constantly see it as one whole, every moment. By the Torah, you may understand the action that you perform in order to be together with the Creator, to feel your intentions and His intentions, and so on.

The Torah can be as a force, and it can be as the revelation of the names of the Creator, that is, the qualities of His revelation with respect to you. One time I reveal Him in one way, another time I think of Him differently. All these ways of my perception of the Creator, all of this together, is called Torah. The Torah is the revelation of the Creator to the created beings in all possible forms, and all of it together is called the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18-19/26, Rabash “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”

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