Before the Exodus from Egypt a person passes through “49 gates of impurity.” That is, he no longer believes in anything; he doesn’t expect anything; he sees that he just about doesn’t have any connection with the upper force and that it is impossible to change anything in his life. Where is this upper force found, which is “There is none else beside Him”? Everything is under the control of Pharaoh and it is impossible to do anything against the ego that controls him.

A person doesn’t understand and doesn’t believe in the “good that does good.” Only a thin thread connecting him to spirituality remains; it is so fragile that he no longer believes that something will come from it. The despair is so great, and the thread that holds him is the patience that is beyond the intellect and logic.

This situation gradually accumulates, and if the person truly reaches the 49 gates of impurity, then the upper power acts against them, acquiring redemption for him.

Here it should be mentioned that “every action leaves an impression,” time after time, a bit further and further, and so we count the 400 years during the period a person accumulates clarifications, efforts, even weaknesses, and over comings, which he succeeds in doing by himself or with the help of the Creator.

Our entire struggle to leave Egypt is under the control of the Creator, There is none else beside Him and He is the good that does good. And the Klipa (the egoistic force) denies the higher providence of There is none else beside Him in every possible way.

The servitude, the exile (in Hebrew, Galut) differs from the redemption (Geula) basically because of the letter “Aleph,” which is the Lord of the World. One must concentrate on this point constantly and not on anything else. Specifically it is necessary to constantly sharpen our clarification, fight against our nature, against Pharaoh, because there is none else beside Him, the good and that does good.

We don’t ask for someone to change anything; we don’t appeal our fate. Instead we only turn to the Creator with our requests. This is what there is none else beside Him, means, because everything that happens we connect only to Him. Only He performing every action, preparing them so that from within the struggle against all the disturbances in which He has wrapped Himself, we discover Him and turn to Him.

Exile means that we are still not ready, but we very much yearn to discover the source of everything that is happening, as it is said, “I and not a messenger.” This is a very important moment. This is our only work, and it is up to us to be ready for it.

It is very important to remain at this point like a ship or an airplane that we must constantly navigate to remain on the right track despite the wind and various disturbances. This is possible only with a good crew.

Everything is constructed so that a person is not prepared to maintain his position by himself. Problems fall on him, and then pity is taken upon him and he is given another opportunity. But this chance is specifically to build the right team for himself so that together with them he will maintain his direction.

It must always be remembered that all of the disturbances come from the Creator and not from Pharaoh or his army and that there are no accidents and no messengers. Instead everything comes directly from the Creator. Our task is to discover the Creator instead of all the sources of power and other actions. Through this, our servitude, the blows, and all of the events of the story of the exodus from Egypt are revealed. All of this is a struggle to locate the Creator through all of the disturbances that are found between the Creator and us.

In the beginning there is no connection between the Creator and us because we are opposites. And the disturbances come precisely so that we will use them to build a connection with the Creator. So we see that Pharaoh brings us closer to the Creator; the evil inclination is help against us (Genesis 2:18)  and we transform that into a connection with the Creator.

If we consistently work this way and try to build connection, then gradually we rise to a stronger and stronger connection, like the rungs of a ladder, and we fall into even greater disturbances, into a greater lack of connection. And again we try to build Pithom and Ramses and again fall, losing the connection, tearing, and becoming confused, denying any control by the Creator.

As a result of our efforts we pass through 49 gates of impurity. If we reach the 49^th gate, it means that we have made a multitude of corrections on our connection with the Creator. But this is hidden from us. For a fraction of a moment we discover something and fall immediately. In this way we must discover all of the disturbances that are contrary to the fact that there is none else beside Him.

And the discovery is made according to the principle of “I and not a messenger” if we are ready to depict the upper force in spite of all the disturbances. The exile is given to us so that we can feel the Creator, locate Him within “out of nothing.” That is how we reach redemption.

So it is impossible to forget that all of the work towards redemption is to determine the fact that there is none else beside Him when faced with all of the disturbances that of course come from the Creator.
[R131431]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/01/14, Shamati #190

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There isn’t a more important state than our current state, since this is where our spiritual evolution begins. It is in our situation, in our condition, that the exit to the first spiritual level is possible. It cannot be any other way. Everyone starts off this way. We are given a special opportunity and we have to use all the means that we are given in order to bring ourselves to the feeling of exile, to feeling that we are in chains and in the worst possible state under the domination of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh controls even our smallest thought, our smallest desire, wherever we turn and whatever we do. Every impulse and every move we make stem from him; every thought and every stream of consciousness, every desire and all the desires that stem from it, are all determined by the ego. No matter which way we go and how far we try to move away from evil, we remain in the ego.

A person determines that he cannot leave exile, although he really wants to exit it and makes many attempts, many great efforts, and exerts himself, but it leads to nothing. When he cries out desperately with the last powers he has left for only this last cry, a miracle takes place and he comes out of Egypt.

Now he begins to understand and to feel what it means to be under the influence of the light. He comes out of his enslavement to his desire and voluntarily becomes enslaved to the light, by choosing to be under the domination of the attribute of bestowal, above reason.

He knows that he is becoming a slave, that he is enslaving himself, and that he isn’t free anymore, but he is free of the desire to receive and from his beloved self, about whom he constantly worries. He is under another kind of domination and actually wants to be under this domination.

There is no neutral state on the way between egoistic Egypt and complete bestowal. A person immediately moves from one kind of domination to another, but he wants it and yearns for it even when he is still in Egypt. Besides the repulsion, the hatred, and the rejection he feels towards the state in Egypt, he also yearns for the total domination of the light so that it will totally rule him, guide him, and manage him.

This is how we should prepare ourselves internally. Let’s hope that we are somehow ready for that and as for all the rest—the Lord will complete the work for us.
[R132569]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/13/14, Writings of Rabash

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The Midrash “BeShalach”: Although the sea has not yet parted, the sons of Israel continued to move deeper towards the mighty waves. Water has already reached them up to the neck.

Moses stretched out his hand toward rolling waves and commanded the sea, “In the name of the Creator, make way!” But the sea did not obey.

The sea did not want to change its borders, which were established during the six days of the Creation. The Creator commanded Moses to raise his staff and to threaten the sea, in the same way as the host raises his stick at the rebellious servant. However, the waves did not retreat, and continued to heave.

Then the Shechina (the phenomenon of the Creator) appeared before the sea and it parted. “Why now, the sea, are you gone?” Moshe asked the sea. The reply came,  “I retreat just for the King of the World Himself!”

Even in distant countries the roar of the sea being ruptured was heard. At this point, not only the Yam Suf (the Final Sea) parted, but the water of lakes and wells in all countries have parted, even the water in jugs has parted!

Thus a miracle appeared in the whole world! Water around the world returned to its natural state only after the Yam Suf water (the Final Sea water) took its usual position.

The movement of people takes place in the general property of Bina, and all parts of Bina, no matter where they may be, have imbedded Bina’s properties in the properties of Malchut. And if the people reach bestowal, then Bina starts to work at all levels just like in a chain reaction. Therefore, it is said, “the waters of lakes and wells were parted in all countries, and even the water in a pitcher has parted.”

Question: Why didn’t the sea obey the command of Moses?

Answer: In order to exit from egoism, it can be accomplished only by the help of the upper light under the influence of GAR de Bina and the huge Light Hochma, i.e., properties that are called “the Creator.”

Every effort must be taken in order to do this, but it turned out that no one but Nachshon possessed such an opportunity: neither Moses nor Aaron knew, even the priests did not know anything about the property of “Nachshon.”

Usually, a person has no properties that would ever come forward, like a group of athletes that run to the finish, where a leader breaks out ahead. But this group has to come together to the finish line, and if they do not run together, then neither the first nor the last person reaches the finish line.

The main thing is for the whole group to come together to the sacred goal. The leading person of the group has to set the tone since one runs in front, but each time the leader changes. With this, none of the characteristic properties of any person get lost, but rather they must occur at least for a moment while a person is being led and while leading the whole humanity.

Let us say all of humanity is a circle. I am in this circle with my inherent property. While I am in this property I should be once in front of everyone and once behind everyone. Every person does the same. The real property of each person is necessarily manifested twice as leading the whole of humanity and as being led by all mankind.

Question: A concept of “leading mankind” is clear, but why should it be guided by all of mankind?

Answer: There cannot be one without the other, because only in this way the true property of a person manifests itself. All other properties are mixed together. And one’s private quality should manifest only as Keter and Malchut.
[R152616]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/30/14

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Question: Was there ever a miracle that the Red Sea parted and the Israeli people went through it when they fled from Pharaoh?

Answer: The Torah doesn’t talk about events of our material world. It talks only about what happens between our souls. In this sense, we pass through an inner spiritual state called “Crossing the Red Sea.”

The exodus from Egypt and the freedom from the slavery of Egypt is freedom from the control of our ego, from the “Angel of Death.” In principle, on the way to this freedom, we move through some kind of passage called crossing the Red Sea. It symbolizes the end of Egypt, the end of our ego, after which we can become a free people.

A unique force of unity is hidden within nature that is called the Creator. When we invest in efforts to unite, to get closer to each other against our desire, then through these efforts the higher power creates a state where “splitting the Red Sea” will be discovered. It moves us from the egoistic nature to a nature of bestowal and love.
[R155910]
From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/15/15

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 111

How Does the Transition from Anger at the Creator to Recognizing His Importance Take Place?

If we are angry, then we are in a big desire to receive, deeply immersed in ourselves and our needs. Why are we angry? It is because something contradicts our desire. We want to do things one way, but the Creator wants them done differently and does not let us achieve our desire.

How do we come to recognize the importance of the Creator from within this anger? The will to receive, when not paired with the will to bestow, only considers its own benefit. The moment it encounters someone stronger opposing its will, it immediately submits to them because it sees that this is to its advantage. It even begins to love the other because they are stronger, even though they are against them. They begin to depend on them.

In our world, whether we like it or not, the strong one is always right. What does “in our world” mean? It means in the will to receive. From within the will to receive, in order to shift from valuing oneself to valuing the Creator, we simply need to recognize that the Creator is stronger than us, and this cannot be changed. From the very nature of the will to receive arises the realization that “the Creator is great,” “the Creator is good,” and so on. From there, we start to reach states that teach us how to bestow.

What does it mean, “to bestow”? It means granting us the independence to say, “I want to bestow, and not because the Creator is stronger than me,” as if to stand up to Him.

At this stage, we have free choice. Only when we have the ability to do whatever we want, do we truly begin to examine whether we wish to act according to our natural inclinations or if we want to resemble the Creator. The will to receive is satisfied as soon as it sees that the Creator is everything, that He is just and great. Then it has no problem accepting that the Creator is all there is and that He is right. Since we are entirely a will to receive, we surrender immediately.

Even though this realization might provoke rebellion, it is our nature, and there is no point in resisting it. This is why we are taught through suffering. The will to receive respects power, follows it, and always finds justification for itself. Baal HaSulam calls this “the power of the fist.” This is how the will to receive operates.

If the will to receive seeks fulfillment, and fulfillment is all that matters to it, then it has no other considerations. It calls “good” whatever provides it with fulfillment, regardless of the means by which it attains it, whether or not they are appropriate. The concepts of appropriate or inappropriate do not belong to the will to receive itself or to fulfillment. Instead, they belong to the system of Kedusha, which has introduced to receive various discernments of bestowal into the will.

In practice, the will to receive cares about nothing other than being filled. It does not care who fills it, whether the Creator or Pharaoh, as long as it receives and is satisfied. Therefore, as long as we are in the Klipa, the Klipa nurtures us, which is called “protecting us.” It nurtures us by continuously giving us more and more fulfillment.

How, then, do we arrive at true reception? It is by becoming disillusioned with the many false fueling stations. We try to fill ourselves with money, honor, sex, and food, and when we see that they cannot be truly satisfied, we turn to the Creator, hoping that perhaps spirituality will fill us. This is what the will to receive seeks, to be filled at all costs.

That is why it does not matter whether people “want” or “do not want” spirituality. The key is to show them that Kabbalah contains fulfillment, and then they will desire it. This can be clearly seen in the behavior of biological cells or in the mating behavior of animals.

How does a herd choose its leader? Solely based on strength. It becomes evident that everything in nature is arranged in such a way as to lead us to the truth. All of these conditions are embedded in our very nature, in the will to receive, in its inversion of form. They develop directly into failure, suffering, and ultimately, submission.
From a Talk on the Article “The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name,” 6/6/2002

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (Giving of the Torah)”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 2, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 8, Item 86

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We humans begin in a state where we know nothing, because we are born like small animals, and thus we develop in stages. Animals do not develop throughout their lives. They are almost the same on the day they are born as on the day they die. However, we people constantly develop.

However, when do we reach true development? It is when we begin to feel ourselves as human beings in corporeality, and then begin to develop human levels of growth. Within those levels, we reach the large will to receive and fulfill it completely. Then within us, in that large will to receive, a point in the heart develops. Suddenly, it awakens, and we feel that it is more important than the entire will to receive we had acquired with all of its possessions.

From there, we continue developing the point in the heart, and search for how to develop it until we reach the place where it aligns with its ultimate fulfillment through four phases, and there we begin again to develop on the level of four phases.

Therefore, each time we enter a new stage and another new stage until we begin to feel that we are truly in exile. We cannot feel that we are in exile unless we accurately interpret within our emotion and intellect what redemption is. This is already a revelation from above that brings us the upper light, the reforming light, i.e., when we feel that we are in a dungeon that holds us and presses on us from all sides, and we are unable to get out of it, to escape from it, to make even a small movement, even though the pressure is immense.

This can more or less be considered a picture to describe how we feel ourselves, within egoistic desires, under pressure, in the bondage of Pharaoh.

Afterward, we continue on out of a lack of choice. Although this brings pain to the will to receive, the importance of the goal that we constantly develop suppresses the pain and gives us the ability to rise above it. Still, we feel as if there is a barrier in front of us, as though we want to pass ourselves through a mold the shape of which is utterly mismatched with our nature.

It is similar to how when cakes are made or children play with sand molds in different shapes. We fill them with sand and retrieve a shape. Therefore, we feel as if, with all our traits, with who we are now, with our approach to life, our thoughts and attitudes, we simply cannot enter into that mold. It does not fit us in any way.

This is the pain of self-birth, what we feel during the Exodus from Egypt. After several years and many difficult exercises, in which we truly do not understand how it is even possible to pass through them, nonetheless we agree and pass through. When we do, we do not understand it, but we receive a new land, new heavens, i.e., a new approach to life, a new perception, new importance, a new way of thinking. Everything in us changes, and we receive a new operating system.

From that moment onward, we begin to attach to ourselves, to reveal within us the desires from the past that awaken, and to correct them: first the unintentional sins (Shgagot), and then the intentional ones (Zdonot).

This is called “The heavens tell” His glory, that is, the heavens “tell” or reveal the Creator. It is because the quality of bestowal that gradually awakens within us is called “heavens,” the quality of Bina, which gradually reveals itself. Not only does it reveal the quality of bestowal itself, but also its greatness. This is what is meant by “the heavens tell” the Creator’s glory.

This is what it means that this night is different from all other nights. How is it different? The difference is that until now, the will to receive was always revealed to us. But this night determines that this will to receive must undergo correction so that it will be entirely in order to bestow. That is why it is entirely Matza (unleavened bread), i.e., we abstain from all desires of Malchut and cleave to Bina. We dip twice. These are all signs of Bina ruling over Malchut in all her desires.

From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/2007, Writings of Rabash “Concerning the Exodus from Egypt”

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Rabash, “Letter 66”: And indeed we do say in the Passover Haggadah: “From the start our ancestors were idol worshippers and now we approach the Omnipresent to serve Him” and so forth.

To understand the idea of teaching us what they were before, we have to explain this through ethics. A person must know when he is involved with the idea of the departure of a person from the Egyptian exile, we see that all of the Mitzvot (precepts) depend upon this concept, for with all of these things we say: “A recollection of the Exodus from Egypt.”

All of the Mitzvot are corrections of the desire to receive in small portions that can be implemented only after the person rises above the Machsom (barrier). After he passes through the Machsom, he begins to pass through the parts of the desire to receive above the Machsom.

First of all, the person himself passes through the Machsom and transforms his desire to receive into “for the sake of bestowal,” and after that he turns downward and elevates desire after desire. All of this activity is called repentance, in other words, he returns the desire to receive to an intention of for the sake of bestowal. Every acton like this is called a Mitzvah and is done by the Torah, meaning by the Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) that transforms the corrections into possibilities. The first action is called the Exodus from Egypt.

When I am under the Machsom, I don’t have a connection with the light. However, above the Machsom, I already have light, the power of bestowal, and I can use it for advancement and correction. I have the consciousness, feeling, intelligence, and power as a capable, mature person. I transform myself into an expert on correction on condition that there is light in me. Light is the power of bestowal that is acting in me, and with its help, I can connect more and more new desires, one after another, and correct them. I turn to a higher level and receive additional power from it for the lower part that I want to correct, correcting it and connecting it to me.

In this process there are three partners: the Creator—the origin of the power, me—the one who wants to correct, and desire—the place that I want to correct.

With the light that is in me, thanks to my connection with the Creator, I see exactly what is ready for correction in me and ask for this power from Him. I work with Him as a partner, for I am no longer under the Machsom. Rather, I am together with Him, feeling Him. Therefore, I begin to clarify how it is possible to work with the damaged desire, how it is possible to awaken and elevate it. This means that I want to transform it from for the sake of reception to for the sake of bestowal. So I ask for that.

I don’t get any pleasure from this activity myself while I feel it as my desire. For me, it becomes more precious than my desire—as it is written, “Make that His will should be your will” (Pirkei Avot 2:4)—like a mother does with her child. I wrap His desire within my desire and that is how I begin to elevate it, asking the Creator to correct it for me, as I would for my baby.

Then I get the required power, intelligence, and feeling. After all, I don’t know how to correct what is below for this is a completely separate system, the AHP that is built within me, the spiritual womb.

This means that, first of all, I grew in order to correct it. I accept a new system and join what is below to me. So after the correction we are juxtaposed to each other. Thus, many Partzufim are clothed one on the other.

Question: Is it important for people who are engaged with dissemination to have passed through the Machsom?

Answer: It doesn’t seem to me that the person who has passed through the Machsom will succeed more in the external dissemination. I am not sure that Rabash would have been more successful in dissemination than the average person in our group.

So Baal HaSulam writes that it is even possible to pay professional people monetary compensation. After all, it’s necessary to get as close to the people as possible. Certainly, it is clear that they would need to know the direction, the purpose, a bit of the explanations, but not too deeply, only according to the level of the people to whom they turn.
[R133381]
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/14, Writings of Rabash

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Question: How can we acquire the force called Moses? After all, you say that it doesn’t exist in nature.

Answer: Moses (from the Hebrew word “Moshech” –  to pull) is the attribute that awakens in us and raises us from the bottom of Mount Sinai to its summit, to the peak of the general hatred. When a person climbs above it, he attains the Creator who is at the peak.

It is impossible to bypass this mountain; we must climb it. This is the way for the entire world. Today, all of humanity is at the foot of Mt. Sinai, surrounded by the enormous hate that separates us. But at the same time, the method called the Torah is revealed. The Torah is the light that reforms at the summit of the mountain.

We don’t have to make any special efforts, and there is nothing to fear. When we acquire the enormous hatred, we are at the bottom of the mountain where we receive the method by which we gradually can ascend by mutually complementing and helping one another.

Then Mount Sinai becomes the temple mount, at the top of which there is the temple, the place where the Creator is revealed.

This is basically the essence of Pesach (Passover). This is the reason that the calendar of the nation, of the new humanity, begins on this holiday.

Before the receiving of the Torah, mankind developed like animals, but from that moment onward, there was a connection with the Creator, with the force that can raise us continuously above the ego and help us climb the mountain of hatred by getting closer to one another.

At the same time, we attain the Creator to a greater degree, because two forces already appear in us, the egoistic force and the altruistic force. When we build ourselves from these two forces a state called the attainment of the Creator or the soul appears between them.

The two forces descend from above, and we make efforts not to mutually annul them but to connect them by placing our resistance between them, trying to recreate the harmony between them by connecting and adding all the disconnected parts. Then this harmony creates our soul, our upper existence.

This is the reason that we consider Pesach to be the major and most important holiday, because symbolizes the beginning of the creation of man, Adam, (from the Hebrew “Domeh” – to resemble the Creator).

There are, of course, many subtleties, laws, and different nuances that only speak of how to properly cover the ego with the attribute of love, and that’s all. Everything comes down only to this!

We can study this holiday down to the smallest detail, about why eating certain things is allowed and why eating other things is forbidden, about why Pesach is seven days, why we drink four glasses of wine, and why there are other customs that are described in the Haggadah.

However, these are merely actions that we must perform on every level to create the right connection between plus and minus, which are the attributes of receiving and bestowal, hate and love. We cover the hate with love, and together they will give us the sense of attainment, adhesion to the Creator.

Thus, we don’t simply come out of a small ego to love, but from our world to a perfect eternal world. This is the reason that Passover is indeed a special holiday.
[R156970]
From KabTV’s “A Talk About Passover” 3/18/15

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