There are many actions one must perform as he prepares for spirituality. After crossing the Machsom, there are also various spiritual actions: “Ibur” (the embryo state), “Leida” (spiritual birth), “Enika” (feeding), “Mochin” (big state)—that is, big (Gadlut) and small (Katnut) states.

When a person is already in spirituality and senses the Divine, he also goes through various stages. They are called the “24 hours of the spiritual day,” the days of the spiritual week, Shabbat, the months, Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the month), and various holidays—all these are special spiritual states in which a person must work.

In the 12th part of the TES, we study how prayer is continuously divided into 24 spiritual hours, and there is even a state of sleep in it. Spiritual sleep is a special preparation for the next stage of spiritual ascent, which also constitutes a lot of work.

There is work in all spiritual states, experiencing which a person must exert to make corrections at a given degree. But Rabash’s article, which we are currently studying, says otherwise: “There Is None as Holy as the Lord, for There Is None Besides You” in spiritual work. That is, we are told that it is the Creator who does all the work for us, this is His work, and the person has nothing to do.

What can a person do if the Creator does all the work for him? He must come to the feeling and realization that there really is “None as holy as the Creator,” and “There is none else besides Him” who performs all actions, does everything, and plans everything. The beginning of an action, the process of its execution, and its results are all the work of the Creator.

But we also have a job to do and an effort to make us feel what is really happening to us, and to sense what is happening in the most correct way, to perceive it the right way.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘There Is None as Holy as the Lord, for There Is None Besides You,’ in the Work?”

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Our Kabbalistic upbringing and education are completely different from the upbringing of the public. Religion teaches a person simply to be well behaved, to get up and do, do, do.

Kabbalah, on the contrary, develops a person’s ability to analyze. A person begins to disagree with the Creator, to scold and curse the Creator, and wants to rebel against Him. Then he begins to understand where these qualities come from, compares his own qualities with the opposite qualities of the Creator, and gradually realizes what is preferable.

Then, first, he justifies the Creator; afterward, he wishes to be like Him, and finally, through opposite states, he himself becomes similar to Him. This is how a person develops. Therefore, “The view of the Torah is opposite to the view of the masses.” The populace is taught and educated in a way that is opposite to the Torah.

A person who comes here begins to receive an upbringing through which he becomes completely free of any frameworks, of all initial conditions, of everything. You must examine, analyze, and think through every possible state, fear nothing, and from all this choose the truth. Otherwise, you will remain an animal.
[358838]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/6/26, Rabash, “When Should One Use Pride in the Work?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 188

Isn’t It More Logical to Reach Love of People From Love of the Creator?

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, love of the Creator is the final degree of the development of the desire; it is the correction of the desire. The desire exists in double concealment, single concealment, reward and punishment, and love. Love is divided there into several parts, and eternal love is the greatest and the last.

That is, we need to reach the end of correction, and only from there understand that we must relate well to the friend we are here studying with. Otherwise, why did the Creator create this entire world and the friends and gather us together? The purpose of the existence of this world, which burdens the soul and weighs upon it, is to try to be in the end of correction despite the disturbances that the Creator currently gives us. This is essentially the whole matter of ascending the degrees. We are already in the end of correction even now, but do not feel it because our heart is shrouded by 125 coverings. These layers of concealment must be neutralized in order to feel the end of correction. How do those coverings become neutralized? It is through various means that are at our disposal.

Even the great righteous who are at the end of correction descend to this world when they must help the souls in this world, and they begin the same path anew, attain the end of correction in their lives, write books for us, help us, care for us, and teach us, all from the degree of this world. They are still connected to the end of correction within themselves, but they are here with us. In other words, all the coverings that were given to us so that we would not feel the end of correction are meant to lead us to overcome them so that we will relate to them and use them. The greater the disturbance, the greater the illumination it will later become.

The laws of nature in this world prove this to us: the action of resistance in electricity, the connection between cells in the body, and the connection between all things. The force of resistance is a positive force if it is used for a purpose. Only through it can something be felt and benefit be produced. When electricity passes through a wire with no resistance, it is not felt. If resistance is placed in it, benefit can be produced from it: heating, cooling, and the operation of various devices.

So it is also with the burden caused by the will to receive. Without it we would not feel the light. With zero coarseness nothing is felt. If there is coarseness in the sea of light, according to the coarseness, we will be able to feel the light passing through it, provided we let it pass. Therefore, the force of the screen is called “the force of resistance.” It operates exactly like a resistor that produces electrical resistance.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 15 “Two Discernments in Holiness” (1987) (6.16.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 2, Part 6, Item 20

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3rd part of the Lesson — Preparation for Convention

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Question: The Kli constantly feels some kind of resistance. Does that mean resistance is an essential part of the process of correction?

Answer: It is not that resistance itself is a necessary component. You do not eliminate the body’s resistance by telling yourself that it is for the best. You only want to put it in order, as though by doing so you are making a restriction. At the same time, together with the resistance, you want to acquire the qualities of the Creator as the opposite of it, so that I and He, and the ways of attaining Him, will merge into one. Only then is there the greatest benefit from this state.

If I enter only into the resistance, into the bad qualities, and there is nothing opposite them, I will attain nothing from it. It seems to us that by feeling suffering we attain something, but this is not true. There is no commandment to suffer, not even for a single moment. Suffering is a problem of the body, of the Klipot, which constantly confuses us and tries to convince us that something can be achieved through suffering. Nothing of the sort!

A great Mitzvah is to be in joy. And this is truly so. The moment a person is able to come to joy, he should not think that he has not yet experienced enough suffering. You will attain nothing from the evil inclination.

If, having risen above suffering, you immediately pass into joy, do not think that this is frivolity. In another moment you will again be brought back to suffering, and once again you will come out of it. “From Zion,” when you come out of suffering, “the Torah will come.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/26, Rabash, “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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Question: How can we constantly remember that, aside from the connection with the Creator, all sensations (good or bad) , all occurrences (fortunate or unfortunate), and everything that happens serves only to increase our connection with Him?

Answer: Even on the highest degree, in both your mind and heart, you must constantly seek connection with Him, and continuously hold on to that point. Everything that happens is necessary only in order to add more and more to your connection with Him. How can this be done? How can you hold on to it? Build a system, both internal and external.

It seems to you that through suffering you at least remember the Creator. Understand that the suffering you now feel, through which it seems to you that you remembered the Creator, was sent to you by Him, and within that suffering you felt Him. Of course, this came with a certain purpose, but that is not the purpose itself. The purpose is not to feel Him in suffering, but to feel Him in adhesion, in closeness.

Through the path of suffering, He reminds you of Himself to the point where you begin to feel a need Him. But what happens after you feel a need for Him? Then you say: “Fine, I will sit and suffer. It is worth enduring the suffering just so I do not forget Him.”

No? Would you prefer to be in a state of joy? Then move toward joy.

Suppose you experience suffering. That is how the Creator reminds you of Himself; it is His tool. He plants a thorn in you, you remember Him, but you remain in your suffering. Is this really the kind of connection with Him that you want? At that moment you are in the system of the impure forces that drains spiritual abundance through this connection because you agree to remain in that state, and the Klipa (shell, impurity) only grows stronger.

What is a Klipa? It is the evil that you perceive as coming from the Creator. This is the exact opposite of what should be. You must convince yourself that you are under the control of the Klipot, forces that must be overcome so that you may feel that the Creator is goodness and delight.

Do not think that because you receive evil from Him, you are reminded of Him and thus form a connection with Him. On the contrary, you must bring yourself to a state of adhesion, of connection with Him because you share a common joy. Pain cannot be shared.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/26, Rabash, “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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In the article “When Should One Use Pride in the Work?” Rabash explains the multitude of desires, properties, impulses, and laws that exist within our soul. He describes how we can acquire and master them in order to begin governing the soul, which is the Kli (vessel) in which a person perceives the spiritual world, the Creator.

One can master all the forces of the soul only by exerting personal effort during descent. This is known as MAN (an awakening from below); it is precisely then that a person acquires something and gains mastery.

Falls (states in which a person feels removed from spirituality and holiness) are deliberately induced. Suddenly a person sees that they have no interest in spirituality; they feel they can live without it, that it no longer holds any special attraction for them; there is nothing special about it.

But if in such states one goes above one’s feelings; meaning that, despite lacking interest, one understands this sensation was given intentionally and despite lacking interest, proceeds regardless, gritting one’s teeth to acquire the spiritual—then on advances.

Advancement happens precisely in such states. To the extent one can advance during these descents constitutes their true progress. All the other states given to a person are awakening from above originating from the Creator, and thus involve not contribution from the person, and leaves no lasting impression  within them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/6/26, Rabash, “When Should One Use Pride in the Work? ”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 187

How Can We Reach the Creator Through Our Attitude to a Friend?

In the society of those who wish to become Kabbalists, people behave according to the rule that from the love of friends we come to love of the Creator, as RABASH writes in his articles about what the love of friends should give us. Therefore, we should understand that in our attitude to the friends we ultimately determine our attitude to the Creator. Even if we are incapable of relating to them kindly, but we are aware of it and wish to check whether we are improving, we must examine whether something in our attitude toward them has changed. If something has changed substantially, or even slightly, it is a sign that we have made a great step forward in spirituality.

We cannot measure spirituality, but we can assess from the perspective of the heart how we look at others: whether we are less envious of them, whether perhaps we are already capable of caring about them a little, and whether there is already some preparation within us for this. This is the test. We can never imagine a higher spiritual degree. When something suddenly becomes revealed to us, if we suddenly understand something, for us it is a true revelation.

So how can we long for a higher state? What we should do is remember the last good state we had, when we longed for the Creator, thought about Him, enjoyed feeling Him, and were connected to Him. We should try to hold on to that state even when it has already passed. In some way, we need to continually build the position of the relationship between ourselves and the Creator, because an example was given to us for that purpose.

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