Question: Why is shame necessary for our advancement? After all, it is an unpleasant feeling that burns you and seems to belong to the path of suffering?

Answer: Shame is like feeling a certain pain in the body. The pain indicates an illness that needs to be healed. Thanks to the pain, I am saved from death. It is the same with the feeling of shame; it indicates lack of correction somewhere so is it possible to ignore or to annul this feeling?

But we try to escape it. So Kabbalists tell us that we need the help of the group and the books and everything that can support me and help me bear the feeling of shame.

At the same time it isn’t only that I need to bear it, but I also need to get to know it more deeply and to perform acts of correction. The feeling of shame will continue to grow until it obligates you to cry out for help and then you will receive the Light that Reforms that will correct and heal you.

You are not healed if you cry out weakly. There must be a true outcry, a call out to get rid of it, since it isn’t just any illness; it is the correction of the desire to receive, of your nature.

Question: But we always aspire to feel good, how can I aspire to feel shame?

Answer: In order to do that you increase the importance of the goal, by placing it above your pain. You say: “Let it hurt, I don’t want to identify with what hurts and with the pain itself. I want to attain the goal, and thank you very much for the pain, since it focuses me on the goal.”

It all depends on the recognition of the greatness of the goal, the greatness of the Creator. Since the Creator is a desire to bestow, a form of bestowal and concession. To the extent that these values seem great to you, you begin to suffer from your attributes which are opposite from these values. But if you extinguish this gap, and you inject yourself with some “anesthetic,” you prevent yourself from advancing.

This is why you build an environment that will sustain you in the necessary state. As a result, you see your oppositeness from bestowal, you suffer from that, and still you continue to increase the Creator in your eyes. You adhere to Him, you want to adhere to the group, you don’t want to identify with your evil anymore, but not in order to escape it like a kind of pain, but in order to really reach bestowal, in order to really assimilate in the group.

There are many discernments here and they all lead in one direction. So try to understand how wonderfully the feeling of shame guides you if you use it correctly.
[91405]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Question: What is the correct way to act during the workshops?

Answer: One should act according to Rabash’s writings about the assembly of the group: A person has to lower himself to the group and imagine himself in the assembly of completely corrected people who may not seem so to him as I see them through my egoistic filter as uncorrected to the extent of my corruption.

I have to actively participate in the discussion even if I don’t have anything to say. They will understand and support me.

The main thing is to aspire that the soul will be one whole, to the center of the group, not forgetting that these “ten” in the world, along with all of us, are all united in a spiritual body seeking to reach the first similarity with the Light, the same property, mutual bestowal!

As soon as we reach this level, we sense the fulfillment from the Light, from mutual bestowal, and from connection—we are born as a spiritual object.

Good luck!
[91426]

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Question: You say that we lack unity in our intentions while reading The Book of Zohar, what does that mean?

Answer: We deal with corrections, and a correction is made by the force that created us; this force is called the Light that Reforms. It created, shattered and corrupted everything on purpose so that from the special corruptions we find ourselves in we will be able to understand and to attain the wholeness.

But in order to be able to ascend from our corruption we need the force to operate on us. This force comes only if we first want to be corrected, if we feel a deficiency in its action. Then it operates in perfect accordance with our deficiency in quantity and in quality.

This means that we have to know in advance which corrections this force is going to perform. But we don’t know which corrections are required, so how can we summon it? This is why we are given a kind of a game in our state in which we play connection and unity and getting closer to one another in discussions, as if we are corrected, as if we want to be corrected, as if we want to connect, etc.

If we are drawn to that during the game, since nothing more than that is required of us, if we fulfill this at least in some connection with the correction, the Light operates and influences us. There is a kind of an agreement: I do it “as if” and you do it “for real.” The lower needs to cry out and the upper, in response to these outcries, brings the correction. This is the order of the levels on every level.

So if this is the case, what should we do? All our prayers should only be for connection among us, since this is the correction of the shattering. The connection I try to reach is meant for that, so that I will know that I cannot do that and I need the upper force to do it.

So on the one hand, I am drawn to connection, and on the other hand, I know that I can’t fulfill it without the upper Light. Then the Light comes and does the work. This is the whole action.

This means that the preparation for the receiving of the Torah is a deficiency for the action of correction. The Torah itself is the method of connection, and the upper Light is the force that brings me the connection. There is nothing else but that.
[91395]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, The Zohar

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Question: For four days in a row we held workshops with different groups of people. But the most interesting thing is that the intensity of our working in a single breath united our entire group. I don’t know about the people for whom we held the seminars but we changed dramatically during the course of these events.

Answer: I’ll tell you that I see myself changing depending upon how the group is changing. After all, I didn’t go through these actions because I had a different, a more individual method of attaining the upper world, which has been used by Kabbalists for thousands of years. And here when a group is experiencing practical unification and I am on the sidelines participating at least somewhat, I feel how good and productive this work is.

This is why I understand you and I advise everyone who is listening to us today to try in any way possible to participate in our workshops.
[91389]
From the Virtual Lesson 10/21/12

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Question: You say that nature will force us to use everything around us correctly. What does “use correctly” mean?

Answer: It means that we should be using everything for the sake of good connections between us.

All of us are constituents of one huge integral organism, which is supposed to work as cogwheels in a single mechanism, in alignment with one another; not so that one is squeaking, the other wheezing, and the third turning the other way with all its teeth broken.

It is necessary that we all feel each other, know each other, understand the overall plan, and know where we have to turn so we are all good. It cannot be that one is better at the expense of another; it is one mechanism and it has a rigid structure.

Currently, the connection is not rigid, it is more flexible, there can be loosening between one and another. But little by little the gear teeth enmesh, the relationships become more and more rigid, and the discrepancies with each other will increase our suffering. As this naturally increases, we fear for the fact that if the mechanism is caught in a hitch, that we will be ensnared by a huge world war.

On the other hand, nature begins to put pressure on us from the inside with the unleashing of calamities. And then of course we quickly learn the proper interaction, but it is a very difficult way.

One way or the other, humankind will become completely integrated, fully interoperable, with absolute equality similar to socialism, but with a truly human face.
[90778]
From KabTV’s “Building a Social Environment” 9/25/12

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Question: I cannot count on my feelings since they are subjective and don’t reflect the true reality. On the other hand, by trying to imagine something I can be the captive of false dreams. How can I hold on to the thin line between fantasy and feeling?

Answer: First we must understand that no matter where you go, it is a wrong and false direction. So don’t try to hold on to the golden path, no matter what you do you are lost, wandering in the dark.

The only means is to adhere to the group, like a drop of semen in a mother’s womb. There is no other way. If you adhere to the group, you will surely develop with nature and you are not required to do anything more than that. Then nature, the Creator, operates on you and develops you.

This approach operates on every level, since “wandering in the dark” is typical even of the highest levels. On every level there are the stages of Ibur, Yenika (suckling) and Mochin (maturity).

Suppose you ascend from level 124 to level 125, which is the last one. Even here you totally annul yourself although all of the shattered Malchut of Ein Sof is revealed to you.

No matter how high a person ascends, there will always be the state of “he who is greater than his friend, his desire is also greater.” If on Monday 10 grams of evil were revealed to me, then on Tuesday, when another portion is added to that, it will accumulate new powers. Today it was revealed to me a little, and tomorrow it will be revealed to me with much greater clarity, according to the order of the development of the Lights. As a result, the evil I corrected yesterday is revealed to me in an even more corrupt way. Therefore, on Wednesday when I get an additional portion of evil, I discover that in addition to that, the evil of the previous day has been doubled, and the evil of the day before that has grown three times bigger. Thus is gets bigger and bigger. This is the spiritual ascent.

We can overcome that only by self-annulment and adhesion to the group, like an embryo, when I have no thoughts or desires of my own, using the friends’ feelings and mind in my self-annulment. I only want to adhere to them to feel their attitude to the Creator, to the goal, to life, to let their spirit penetrate me, so that it will determine my point of view on everything. It is as if I am floating in the amniotic fluid in the womb, in the Light of Hassadim.

All we need is to be sensitive and then this state will open up, and you will feel life in it. Even if the friends don’t feel and don’t know this, even if they don’t have such questions, it will be real for you because we are in the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) in which there are no changes. However, in the meantime it is hidden from us, and by the right approach you increase your sensitivity and your perception and gradually discover it in the spiritual levels. You don’t have to wait for anyone, act.
[91363]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/12, Shamati #3

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Question: Do our thoughts have real power?

Answer: Of course thoughts have power; it isn’t by chance that there are concepts like the “evil eye” and “good eye.” Our mind power is the most powerful force, even stronger than a nuclear explosion. It’s concealed in the greatest depths, among the forces between the atoms. Mind power is the last level before the spiritual force.

But thoughts become powerful only if they connect, if each of us thinks alone, he does influence the system a bit but only on the corporeal level. However, if we begin to connect in order to reveal the power of general bestowal, we revive and renew; it’s as if we ignite and operate the whole spiritual network of connections among us. Then we discover the Creator within it.

We don’t have to have great mind power, the main thing is the quality of our thought so that it will be correct and help us reveal the force of mutual bestowal among us, which means the Creator. When the Creator is revealed the true intensity is revealed. This is already all the Light of NRNHY and not our small world.

We connect and want to be under the influence of the Creator so that He will reside among us and manage us so that we will be in harmony with Him in synchronized actions. Just as the Creator is a constant state of bestowal, so do we want to constantly be in a state of bestowal, then we revive the general network, and to the extent that we are incorporated in it and connected among us, the Creator is revealed.

It’s an immense power compared to which all the corporeal forces are worthless. All the corporeal world begins to revolve according to this internal power of humanity, everything changes starting from our slightest connection, and the main thing is that the connection is right.

We see that in the past year the term “Arvut – mutual guarantee” has become very popular, it’s because when we gather as a group and connect in thoughts and actions, this mind power breaks into the world. If this term expresses a spiritual action, it influences the whole global network and is accepted by everyone.
[91360]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/12, Writings of Rabash

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Question: When I exit the group and go out into the world, I find it hard to manage correctly at work in order to maintain a balance. How should I work with myself when I am in the external environment?

Answer: We are under the terrible influence of the huge external human environment. In it there is our small environment, the group, in which we try to neutralize the external influence. It is as if we’ve built a Noah’s ark for ourselves and are kept safe from the flood.

On the other hand, when we leave the influence of the group, we find ourselves under the pressure of external passions. How can we guard ourselves? How can we remain in the group even when we don’t see and don’t hear each other?

In order to do that we use modern technology, cell phones, for example, in order to communicate with one another, besides, the group has an “antenna” that allows us to connect to it virtually and to receive different materials from it. We can use an MP3 player to also remind us of what is important, and we can also write notes during the day. In short, we have many means in order to communicate and not become disconnected.

But most importantly, we can establish a direct network of connection from the “mind” of the group to our own minds if we want and agree and stick to this unity.

In fact I am always being played with: There is no outside and no inside; there is no this world and no next world; the scenes simply change all the time like in a theater and I have to “move on to another life” each time and to “play the role,” and to act according to the circumstances.

It isn’t simple, but a person isn’t given more than he can manage. According to spirituality, you increase in Holiness and do not decrease in Holiness. It could be that you are shown from Above that you have not prepared yourself enough and so you broke off from the group. So learn from this example and from now on prepare a stronger connection with the friends.
[91314]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/12, Shamati #3

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From The Light of the Sun by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Halevi: The main attainment of the Torah is by unity, as it says: “And Israel camped there before the mountain, as one man with one heart, and there the giving was stopped and each tribe corrected and added his Ha-Va-Ya-H.

And they said we shall hear and we shall do in great passion from the bottom of their hearts and they raised Mei Nukvin and they revealed Maim Dekurin, that the Creator descended to give them the Torah and they were rewarded with attainment of the Torah.

The attainment of the Torah means the attainment of the plan of all of creation, its goal, the attainment of the whole path of correction that is attained by unity. This is because we have to correct the shattering and as a result, in addition to the correction of the shattering, we reach attainment. This means that by our exertion we add to our understanding, to the recognition of the state that we are in. We open all the spiritual worlds for ourselves from one level to another until the world of Ein Sof (Infinity).

But before we reach this attainment, we don’t feel any difference between our world and the world of Ein Sof. Infinity is attained only by unity, and the unity is built on two lines—the right and the left, love and hate—one in contrast to the other.

Therefore it says: “And Israel camped there before the mountain” (Jethro, 19, 20), they stood before the hatred they discovered after they had always been in the right line, enthusiastic about spirituality, striving for unity, and eager to connect. It was then that they discovered the left line that stood before them like a high mountain not letting them connect.

Then they needed the Torah, the Light that Reforms, and then they discovered the middle line, the Torah, the Creator that is revealed and helps connect the two lines together. Thanks to their prayer, they received an answer from Above. The Creator descended and gave them the Torah and so they were awarded with the attainment of the Torah.

So we must constantly follow the right line, in pure bestowal, in Hafetz Hesed, and then in contrast to it, the left line is revealed: different failures, disappointments, weaknesses, criticism, Din. It’s good that all this is revealed since by that we eventually realize that there is no other choice and that we have to follow the right line.

We see that there’s nothing we can enjoy in the left line and that these are vessels of receiving that demand filling and there is no filling! So all that is left, despite everything, is to ascend above all this; when we attain a full measure, a full measure of the revelation of the right and the left lines, the gathering before Mt. Sinai is revealed, the middle line, and then the Light that connects the two line comes to us. This is called “the Creator makes peace in Heaven and He will bring peace unto us.” The middle line comes and decides between the first two lines by bringing us to peace and wholeness.

The Torah is attained by unity, if we constantly yearn for it as it says, “and Israel camped before the mountain, as one man with one heart.” No matter how hard they tried to connect, they discovered the opposite: detachment, hatred, and rejection. “And there their impurity was stopped and each tribe corrected the combination of its Ha – Va – Ya – H,” which means that in each of us and among all of us there are many internal problems and conflicts that require correction.

“And they said, ‘We shall do and we shall hear!’” which means that they are ready to go above their reason, above the feeling of any criticism, since there is no other choice, since we have seen that we can’t connect in our egoistic vessels. “And they raised Mei Nukvin (MAN) and in contrast Maim Dekurin were revealed, and the Creator descended to give them the Torah and they were rewarded with the attainment of the Torah.” Let’s hope that we will be rewarded with the receiving of the Torah since the Creator gives it every day.
[91306]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/12

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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 8: This matter is like a rich man who took a man from the market and fed him and gave him gold and silver and all desirables every day. And each day he showered him with more gifts than the day before. Finally, the rich man asked, “Do tell me, have all your wishes been fulfilled?” And he replied, “Not all of my wishes have been fulfilled, for how good and how pleasant it would be if all those possessions and precious things came to me through my own work, as they have come to you, and I would not be receiving the charity of your hand.” Then the rich man told him: “In this case, there has never been born a person who could fulfill your wishes.”

It is impossible to shake off the feeling of shame by some external actions. The only way to do so is to receive in order to bestow.

Question: Doesn’t the state of Hafetz Hesed neutralize the shame? After all what do I have to be ashamed of if I only want to bestow?

Answer: Suppose you brought me a present and I say:

– “You know that I really don’t need this. I don’t like it. And why did you give it to me in the first place if I don’t need anything? I don’t want your presents.”

– ” But I tried so hard, I have looked for so long, I wanted to please you and to express my love so much…”

– “But I don’t need anything, you didn’t have to come.”

Either, I outright reject the person, hate him, or there is no connection between us and I feel no urge to correct anything. This means that it isn’t a state of Hafetz Hesed at all.

In fact, it is about my desire and not about signs of love that people around me show me. When I am in a state of Hafetz Hesed it means that all I want is to bestow; I am ready to receive the whole world from you. Bring it to me; I have the right vessels. I will gladly receive everything with love and infinite delight and at the same time I will remain Hafetz Hesed.

It is about my vessels and not about the revelation of the connection with others. I may not need your present or I may really want it, but I ascend and receive it not because I want it. I ascend to the level of Hafetz Hesed and even higher and receive it in the vessels of bestowal in order to bestow pleasure back unto you.

We are always in the desire to receive; we either enjoy or suffer. Therefore, the state of Hafetz Hesed is not a lifeless wall that rejects any receiving. It is a level of correction of my desires to receive and it doesn’t forbid me from receiving what I want at all.

Question: But I dedicate myself to the goal of creation…

Answer: Yes, in this state you don’t need anything and you still receive a present and still want only Hassadim. It is the same state but in addition to it you work with additional desires and constantly add new forms.

This is the spiritual work, it is varied and multi-layered.
[91187]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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