The last conventions indicate the beginning of a new era in which we have to practically fulfill everything we’ve learned for so many years, what we’ve read in the letters and the articles of Baal HaSulam and Rabash: the connection in the group, the unity with friends, and the clarification of the place inside the group where the spiritual world, the Creator, the building of the collective vessel, and the correction and the shattering are revealed.

Actually, all the descriptions refer to one action: the connection of all the shattered, distant, opposite desires that hate each other with the help of the Reforming Light, which we draw by our collective prayer, raising MAN, during the workshops, the different activities, and all the time until we perceive the spiritual goal of our life.

We should see this as a general trend that affects every aspect of our lives: educating children and adults, our groups, and the whole word, everyone, from the individual to all of humanity, and seeing this trend to connect in “circles,” which is the major trend leading to the correction of the shattering and the attainment of the goal of creation.

We can regard the whole way we’ve made so far as the time of preparation, and from now onward we and the whole world must start to build such circles.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/12, “Talk About Past Conventions”

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 141: “Now you can understand the meaning of the words, “Forsake Me and keep My law.” They interpreted, “I wish that they had left Me and kept My Torah—the Light in it reforms them.”

There is a link between you and the Creator, the Light, which is your corrupt desire to receive. If you correct it, you will feel the same result called Light or Creator meaning “Come and see” (Boreh in Hebrew) in the same material. The Creator is revealed in your corrected desire according to its correction.

On the whole the method by which you gradually correct your desire in order to feel, understand, and reveal the Creator is called the “Torah.” With its help you evoke a special force, the force of bestowal, that is external to you and which corrects your desire. To the extent that you ask for it, this force changes the desire dressed in it and you feel the Light, the Creator, your sublime state.

This is the only way you can advance. If you don’t ask for the correction and turn to the “Creator” that you have invented, your work will be futile, since it doesn’t match reality.

Question: What is meant by “keep my law”?

Answer: It means that all your actions should be aimed only at the correction of the corrupt vessel according to the principle: “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice for it.”

If you work correctly on the correction of the desire, it begins to take on the form of the Creator. Then you begin to understand, to acknowledge, and to adhere to Him. You have “material” that has taken on a new form, a form of bestowal and love. Thus, through the matter of the desire you reach adhesion with the form of the Creator.

Question: If we are speaking about having to find the point in the center of the group, what does that have to do with “keep my law”?

Answer: It is there, in the center of the group, that you correct your evil inclination. It is there and only there that you discover the Creator, your advanced spiritual states. There is no other place where the evil “matter” of the desire can be revealed except for the center of the group that should be revealed as a mountain of hate, as “Mt. Sinai.”

So by committing to mutual guarantee, to the alliance, and to mutual help, we begin to discover the Reforming Light. This is also called the “receiving of the Torah”: We receive it if we feel that we cannot correct our connection, but we don’t try to run away from the problem. Then we receive the Torah and correct the separation—and then the Creator is revealed.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Question: How should I work with the evil that is being revealed?

Answer: The method of Kabbalah is intended for the correction of our evil inclination, meaning the corrupt desire that is entirely directed to its own benefit, instead of bestowal to another person. This correction helps us to become similar to the Light, to the Creator. According to the similarity of form, the Light becomes clothed in a vessel, and then we sense the upper reality.

Question: What happens in the relationship among the friends when I feel envy or hatred?

Answer: Despite the vices being revealed, you keep going and try to unite with your friends above this corruption. There is nature, but we must be above it. This is how we correct ourselves. We are not destroying the egoism, but we are working above it.

I cannot stand my friend, and I do not wish to interact with him. However, I am trying to connect with him above this rejection.

After all, this rejection is the result of my corrupt, egoistic desire. With my purpose being correction, I try to rise above it and treat my friend in the opposite way, with love.

Both of these forms coexist within me. I recognize my rejection, and, at the same time, I decide to express a different attitude, seeing my friend as a great person.

This is our work.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The confusion you feel after the lesson is good. You’ve gone through many states and don’t know what to do.

Come to our workshop in the evening and talk about your future. To the degree you’re able to unite, you will get an answer. There is no other way to reveal anything.

Let’s hope this is what will happen. So, let us prepare as we get closer to it, think about it more, while expunging all other thoughts so that we could best prepare to unite with the friends.

Also, don’t expect anything from me; anyone could sit here in my place. Everything depends only on the unity among friends. Obviously, I’ll try to guide the direction of the workshop, but it’s all up to you.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Question: Why will the next stage of the work be unity among the groups? How is it connected to the unity within each group and to the individual work of a person?

Answer: In fact, unity begins from a group of ten people. A human is built in such a way that he can apprehend specifically this amount of people. Ten is a convenient “round” number, neither too large, nor too small. It is called the “Minyan,” meaning it’s what can be “counted” (Limnot). Our perception is structured in such a way that it comprehends only this kind of a system, since it completely enrobes our internal structure (the ten Sefirot).

However, at the lesson when we’re not talking about our own impressions, but in general are reading articles and discussing the material, a very large group can participate in this, including the whole world. Therefore, during workshops we sit in groups of ten, while at the lesson there is any amount of people who are capable of such a clarification and discussion using the Kabbalistic language.

We just need to worry that it doesn’t turn into a routine, and for this we need to constantly increase the desire inside of us and the importance of the goal. Each time we will be talking about another, new character of the revelation of the Creator.

By uniting with the group, we are creating a “One,” the commonality for all of us, not belonging to any one of us, but only to all of us together. It’s the higher essence, the “amalgamation.” It’s not simply our sum, but a kind of an addition to it. It’s because in order to have arrived at this sum, each one must have traded-off his egoism. The concept of One, being above us, is composed of all of these personal cancellations of egoism. This is how we build our higher level.

If we were to unite simply as egoists for a common profit in order to build something together or to win, like a football team, then the result would be an empty sum of our efforts. However, if we are cancelling our ego, then we are building a new common vessel above all of us.

It belongs to all of us; those ten who are sitting in a circle having a discussion are cancelling themselves out and are exalting the group and friends. The highest Sefira, Keter, is defined by how I listen to everyone else, how I place the group, the Creator, and the goal above myself. And I value myself as  low and I lower myself relative to my friends. This is the way my Malchut is defined.

After each one has clarified these two points, Keter and Malchut, we unite all of these Keters and Malchuts together. And if each one is doing it with enough capacity for the first level of revelation of the Light, then it reveals in this gap between the Keters, united into one, and the united Malchuts. An internal luminescence occurs between them, since we have cancelled ourselves out.

Although it’s not yet the constriction or a screen, the Light is already being revealed and is beginning to work to the extent of our opposition to our egoism and desire to unite. It’s because both of these principles are already spiritual. We are exalting the spiritual, bestowal, and we are disregarding the material, receiving; we’re taking the actions which we are capable of, like small children.

And then the ten people, supplementing each other and ready to unite, are creating a large tension, a distance between the united Keter and a united Malchut, building our common spiritual vessel in this way. And when we have built it among the ten of us, we understand that the rest of the friends around the whole world, are exerting the same efforts right now. All of our joint efforts are combined regardless of the size of each group.

If after our efforts to unite in our circle we want to include the rest of the groups inside of us, then we are uniting everyone together. And then a truly huge and powerful vessel is being formed, capable of revealing the first level of the Light, according to the similarity of qualities. The more distance there is between the common Keter and the common Malchut, the bigger the vessel, and possibly it will already be enough for the first revelation of the Light.

The Light is revealed in a discreet form, in portions: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, and so forth. And if we reveal it, then it will be revealed in each group and in each person according to his personal efforts, more in some and less in others to the extent of the efforts invested.

That’s why we need to long to connect all of the groups and separated friends to us, and even the whole world since it has a huge vessel. It’s there that the true desire to enjoy lies, and if it will join us even in a passive form, then it will add a lot of material to us. And if we with our longing towards the spiritual are working on this material, then we are receiving a huge additional capacity.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/17/12, “Talk About Past Conventions” 

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Question: How do you preserve the permanent state of the convention from now on?

Answer: A convention is a leap through unity. If we have such exercises of unity once a week by having intensive workshops called “friends’ meetings,” we may not need to have big conventions in order to advance anymore. We will rise from one week to the next by preparing ourselves from one meeting to the next.

Everything depends on the preparation, which determines what level of unity we will be able to attain in the workshop. We need a big desire, the recognition of the importance of the goal and the uniqueness of such a meeting as a special action, as the only method by which we can create a place for the revelation of the Creator.

From one week to the next we will live with the feeling of the coming friends’ meeting and yearn for the lesson day by day. Before the lesson we can also feel as we do before the workshop. The lesson can be as intensive, because in the lesson we speak about the same internal work but in different words. On the whole, we are talking about the same topic—the revelation of the Creator to the created beings, where it takes place and under what conditions.

All our collective actions should be seen from this perspective no matter what we do. It all depends on how much a person appreciates every opportunity he is given. Therefore, we shouldn’t wait for conventions if we don’t prepare ourselves from one lesson to the next, from one friends’ meeting to the other, and from one convention to the next one.

Otherwise a big convention by itself will not be very useful—it will summon a temporary awakening but not an ascent. If a person doesn’t come with the previous impression, he will not be granted ascent, advancement, and a greater connection. This is because he hasn’t prepared himself for it; he hasn’t yearned for it and has no deficiency for it. He will simply be impressed from everything else, but will not attain a specific fulfillment.

So it turns out that we feel elated from one convention to another, but then we fall again. The elation should be before the convention and the convention itself should be a level upwards. In this convention we managed to do that to some extent. After having risen to the next level and having felt that we are in a state of descent, disappointment, and fogginess, we should immediately start preparing for a new meeting. This meeting can be in the next lesson, the weekly friends’ meeting, or a big convention.

Everything is determined by the preparation. There shouldn’t be any “dead time” in which I just sit and wait. I have to increase the deficiency inside me or to fulfill it by connection.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/17/12, “Talk About Past Conventions”

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Question: The purpose of our work at the workshop is clear: We open the heart to each other, we draw closer, connect.

Answer: You are learning to understand what a group means. Before that you only heard what it is. But here, I hope, you began to feel that special properties are embedded in the group, which you won’t be able to scrutinize alone. By listening specifically to your friend—and it doesn’t matter what he is saying for he may not know anything (he may be in the group for one or two months), you will hear in his words what you need to hear.

Question: There is also another form of group work, when the text is simply read and no commentaries are given. What’s the difference? When do we apply this kind of work?

Answer: It is a very serious question.

In general, how do you discuss something between yourselves when you stand in a big circle and say something? You also speak about yourself, from yourself, about the greatness of the group, the greatness of the goal, of the gathering, or about why you came to the convention.

Most important is not to talk about what’s in your heart at the given moment. You do not give vent to what you feel at the moment. As in our world, you do not want to tell anybody about your deepest feelings, personal secrets, and the same is here. That is, I do not talk about my relationship with the Creator as it concerns only me. All the rest—it makes no difference.

Question: When we work independently in the group, who will help us stop on time and talk from the heart, not from the mind?

Answer: Don’t be afraid to err. It’s not important. It’s completely unimportant!

Those who study for a month or two can gather into the group and try to discuss something between themselves, to mumble like children—it’s not important. They will nevertheless grow, if they only do what’s needed. No preliminary knowledge is required from a person, nothing. Most important is to act simply, open heartedly, and naively, and then everything will work out.
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From Vilnius Convention 3/25/2012, Workshop 4

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Question: At the Convention I discovered that I do not have a desire to connect with others. How can I receive this desire?

Answer: It is natural that we do not have a desire to connect. We live in a world where disconnection and disunity grow from one day to the next. People hide behind computer screens and mobile phones, and all other means that create an illusion of connection instead of real unity.

But we like this more! 99% of all devices that are manufactured are designed to help a person avoid connecting with others. They create the illusion that we do not have to meet and look one another in the eyes, that it’s enough to look at a small screen and to press buttons. No one looks at one another. People walk down the street like zombies aimed at the destination point, and they practically do not talk to one another.

The whole world is growing more and more distant from one another. My ego forces me to restrict my connection with others to the maximum, so I need a separate apartment and separate food. I build my habitat so that I have all the household appliances in my home and so I don’t have to depend on anyone. Soon robots will do all of our housework and I won’t need anyone at all. A person feels best when he is alone. And if he suddenly gets bored, then he calls someone or sends an e-mail.

With this form of our egoism’s development, the aspiration to unite is simply opposite to our material nature. And it is clear that people coming to the Convention to unite feel uneasy. Moreover, the more developed a person is, the more resistance he feels, as it is written, “One who is greater than his friend has greater egoism.”

This pushes many new people away, as well as long-time, good, strong students, throwing them out of their boundaries. We must understand that this is every person’s natural reaction. And if someone leaves, that does not mean that he is ready for spiritual advancement, but he simply did not receive sufficient support and a patient attitude from others.

Every person should receive the opportunity to work at the Convention and to participate in some way, and gradually, time will do its work. If a person has a great egoistic desire, he cannot immediately accept the fact that we have to be connected.

The average person will happily agree to sit together with everyone and to sing. But for an individualist, who has strong desires – egoism, pride, and love of power – this is unacceptable and unbearable, and he runs away. Therefore, we have to give these people the chance to “cook over a low fire.” It’s like preparing a dish where every ingredient is cooked separately and at different times, and afterwards everything is combined together in one pot. Likewise, there are all kinds of people in the group, and every person has his own cooking time! But in the end everyone will unite and will cook together.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/12, “Questions and Answers about past conventions”

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Question: How can we be equal to others? How can we measure if we are equal? After all, otherwise we can’t be friends and create the conditions for the Creator’s revelation between us.

Answer: You can feel either above or below others, but only those who achieve equality among themselves become friends. In other types of relationships, when you either bestow or receive, you’re not a friend but rather a teacher or a student.

People become equal if they desire simultaneously:

1. To give everything, like an adult to a child, to care for them,

2. They are ready to learn from any friend like a student from a teacher (as it is written, “Mi Kol Talmiday Iskalti” – “I’ve learned from all my students”).

It is precisely by combining these two attitudes toward another that I become equal to him, that is, I become his friend.
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No matter how difficult spiritual attainment appears to be, in reality, there is nothing simpler. Imagine a system that is completely unified, wholesome, connected between all its parts, all minor details. Everything operates in absolute harmony and aspires towards a single goal—everything is aimed towards connection, making a common analysis, in other words, the Creator, which exists between us.

We reveal Him as a consequence of the harmony that arises between us through our constant efforts to connect between us harmoniously. As a result of finding harmony inside our desires, we reveal the Light that fulfills them.

The Creator is in us! We are in the world of Infinity, so let us reveal at least the very first, the easiest and smallest degree of this perfect state. To reveal it means to make yourself correspond to it, become equal in qualities, attain balance with the Light that fills it at least on the very first degree—Nefesh de-Nefesh de-Nefesh of the world of Assiya.

For this it is necessary to achieve equality of all parts of the common vessel. But how can it be achieved when equality cannot be measured? The only thing that can be measured is the difference between one and the other, Delta. But when things are identical, we cannot appraise them because we lose the scale for measuring them. How can two absolutely black colors be compared, or how can one compare white to white? We need a certain difference to appraise things.

However, we must verify our equality, because if I am not completely equal to another I cannot consider him my friend—I am not connected to him by a mutual open connection. And this is why we need two qualities: reception and bestowal. I must bestow to the group as someone big in relation to those who are small, giving them the greatness of the goal, the recognition of importance of the Creator and friends. And on the other hand, I must lower myself to the same extent in relation to them in order to receive influence and support from them, as I perceive them as the greatest people of the generation.

In other words, I achieve maximum bestowal and maximum lowering of myself. And these two maximums lead to my equality. I cannot build equality on its own, just by considering myself equal—this equality is not worth anything. Equality is only revealed as a consequence of two extreme states: the highest and the lowest.

And when everyone in the group works this way: in the maximum and the minimum, giving everything to the group and receiving strength, awakening, and inspiration from them, then it is as if they were becoming connected by a single open pipe. Before, we all used to connect to each other through pipes, through which the energy flowed, but now, they all merge together and we get one big lake, one common reservoir is being discovered.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/15/12, Writings of Rabash

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