But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help, since now he has a basis of feeling, which he called “knowledge.” In other words, now he knows for what purpose he is working. His work is no longer above reason because he has a basis to rely on, meaning this feeling that he feels that this state is good for him. On this basis he determines the work (Rabash, ‘What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”).

Rabash does not specify here what kind of ascent he means: an ascent according to one’s feelings, according to the true state, or according to what appears to a person. Perhaps he is speaking about a person who has passed the Machsom, for whom an ascent consists of receiving in order to bestow, when the pleasure and the inner definition of an ascent are determined by a completely different understanding of the concept from our present one.

But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help. We can already see that we are talking about feelings, rather than the true state. A person has received some fulfillment and does not need the Creator because his Kli is satisfied by this fulfillment. This means that he is not above the Machsom, but below it. For above the Machsom, a person’s fulfillment is the establishment of a connection with the Creator, whereas below the Machsom, fulfillment depends on the degree to which his Kli is filled.

Below the Machsom, I “take a reading” from my Kli, whereas above the Machsom I “take a reading” from His vessel, checking to what extent I have filled Him, rather than myself. This is the difference between being below the Machsom and being above it.

Comment: It turns out to be the opposite.

My Response: Of course, the opposite. Everything depends on where I am, where my heart is: Whether I am checking within myself the degree to which my own “belly” is filled, or whether I am checking in the Creator to what extent I have filled Him.

But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help, since now he has a basis of feeling. I have filled myself, so what more do I need? Give me fulfillment, and I don’t need any Creator.

Which he called “knowledge,” when he thinks: “I know this. This is what I have. This is mine.”

Now he knows for what purpose he is working. His work is no longer above reason. He, his heart, his intentions, everything is in his belly, in his Kli. He has a basis to rely on: “I have filled myself, and that’s it.” This feeling that he feels that this state is good for him. On this basis he determines the work.

At that time, as soon as he reaches this state, he is immediately thrown from above, and it is as though he is asked, “Where is your wisdom? You said that you already know on what the work relies.”

Thus, through this, a person is taught that he must never abandon his intention, his connection with the Creator, or his examination of himself in relation to Him: Where exactly am I in relation to Him, and what am I filling? One must never, God forbid, disconnect from this and withdraw into one’s own shell. This is how a person is taught.

How is he taught? He is filled, and by doing so he is thrown off course: “Enough about the Creator. What do you need Him for? You already have everything.” If the person really does stray from the path, then he is lowered in his feelings, and he falls, feeling bitter and bad. Then he begins to cry out to the Creator; through his cry he renews his connection with Him and gradually rises again toward connection with Him, filling himself.

As soon as he again abandons the Creator, he is once again lowered in his feelings, and he cries out again, until he comes to understand that the connection with the Creator itself must be his fulfillment, his satisfaction. The connection with the Creator, and not the degree to which my Kli is filled.

Thus, a person begins to feel the Creator’s vessel: what He gives and what He fills. A person lives through Him, “for in Him our heart shall rejoice.”
[360579]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 216

How Do We Make a Movement in Spirituality?

A movement is made through a change of form. If we become somewhat more similar to the Creator than we were before, it is a sign that we made a movement. In other words, movement takes place through the effort we make upon ourselves. To the extent that our qualities change in relation to the Creator’s qualities, to that same extent we have advanced toward Him. The distance from the barrier to the Creator is measured in 125 degrees. According to the extent to which we can achieve equivalence of form with the Creator, this is the place where we stand on this ladder of degrees between ourselves and the Creator, moving ever upward upon it.

In this work, we are never in a worse state than the current one. We can only advance. At times it seems to us that we retreat, as though we “fall away,” but this is only how it appears to us. It happens in order to awaken us, to seemingly trip us up, to give us various opportunities to feel new discernments. Usually, disturbances come so that we will delve precisely into them and view ourselves more clearly, because it is specifically through disturbances that we will later feel a special attitude from the Creator. The place where we are given blows is the very place where a special relationship develops, both now and in the future. Evil becomes replaced by good.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 35 “What Is, ‘He Who Is Without Sons,’ in the Work?” (1989) (8.12.2002)

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

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3rd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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All the states that we go through can and certainly should be experienced can; however, we need to keep them under constant control and not succumb to either negative or positive sensations. We must constantly control our feelings with our reason. In this way, the reason and feelings are balanced with one another so that one does not outweigh the other.

If the intellect prevails over feelings, it means that you become a “wise guy”: “Why should I do all this, I won’t be able to anyway. The Creator is greater than me, so let Him do it. And if not, well, so be it.” And so on in the same spirit. But if feelings prevail, then a person immersed in them is unable to use their head.

So what is the solution? We must find forces in the group that will help us break free from this state and achieve balance. There is no other way out.
[360478]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

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Question: What example would you give of a person who is developing?

Answer: A doll moves by means of a small motor, beneath that lies a rheostat. As the rheostat is adjusted, development begins in the doll. The doll transforms, becoming increasingly driven by consumption, then by a desire for knowledge, and finally by a desire to understand the root cause of suffering, suffering that neither the development of consumption nor knowledge, nor attempts to escape suffering have been able to resolve. All of this brings the doll to a desire to understand where the suffering comes from. All of this happens according to the program built into the doll.

And it comes to understand that the suffering is purposeful; it forces it to change. The Creator begins to “disturb” those whom He wants to draw closer to Him.

The Creator shows a person through this that the person himself needs to change, rather than trying to change the environment around him or his way of life to suit himself. There is no escaping suffering through any of this, and nothing can truly be achieved that way. In this way, the Creator compels a person to change.
[29424]

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Comment: In religious societies, things are coming to light that are no less bad than those found in secular society.

My Response: Ultimately, the will to receive bursts forth and grows unchecked. Then both religious and secular boundaries lose their significance for the person; they become unrestrained and frenzied.

Nothing can be done about this. Such things, of course, happen both here and there. But it is better to maintain at least something. Perhaps in ten years the conditions will change, but in our time, I think, it is worth it. The main thing is to minimize the damage.

Comment: But Baal HaSulam writes in several places that one who engages in the Torah in its external form causes the greatest damage. He warned about this before the Holocaust.

My Response: Baal HaSulam indeed writes at the end of the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” that one who engages in the external Torah and does not want to engage in the internal—not that he is unable, but precisely that he does not want to, neglects it, or hates it—causes all the damage, and brings about the worst things in the world. That is correct. But this does not mean that a person must distance themselves from the external Torah. He must engage in both the external Torah and Kabbalah.

Moreover, whether you like it or not, Baal HaSulam writes there as well that those who engage in the external Torah must begin to engage in the internal. He is not speaking about you, not about your guilt, not that you are causing the worst things in the world, not that you must begin to engage in the internal Torah. He is not speaking about you, but about them. Why?

You want to say the following: if they cannot engage in the internal part, then let them abandon the external as well, let them simply be secular; at least in this way we will harm no one. This will not help you. Already today, what they engage in cannot be called the external part in the true sense. Therefore the damage lies not in this, but precisely in the fact that they do not engage in the internal part.

Of course, it is easier to approach a completely secular person with a proposal to study Kabbalah. This will not work with a religious person. However, the problem lies in education, in millions of young people. If you completely free them from studying the Torah or from frameworks suitable for the people, nothing good will come of it.
[360614]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, Article 14, 1984 “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 215

How Can We Act in Order to Bestow Before the Barrier?

Before the barrier (Machsom), it is impossible to act in order to bestow. We cannot think in order to bestow and then fail to carry out an action in order to bestow. That is why it is called “before the barrier.” In spirituality, there is no possibility that we can be in one place while already fitting another place, because the moment we match a certain place, we are already there.

In spirituality, we have a kind of “engine” that moves us to the place that corresponds to us according to the changes in our qualities. It is like an electric charge in an electric field or a piece of iron in a magnetic field. It is the equivalence of form between something and its potential field. The Creator is the center of spiritual force, and from Him emanate the waves of the spiritual field. We exist within this field, within this space, as a soul. According to the soul’s potential, the more we resemble the Creator, the closer we come to Him, and the more our qualities differ from those of the Creator, the farther away we become. Thus, we ourselves determine our spiritual movement.

If we, throughout our entire corporeal life in this world, made absolutely no change in our relationship to the Creator, if we made no movement whatsoever, then we are called “one who was dead and remained dead.” If we made some movement, or at least wanted to make a movement, then we already have some relationship to the Creator, and it is possible that we truly made a movement. Our goal is to adhere to Him, to reach the center of that field and space where the Creator is. We need to increasingly progress to Him through equivalence of form, until we are actually included in Him. We do not become nullified. On the contrary, we become like Him. The qualities of the person become like the qualities of the Creator. Then there are two at the center of that field, not one.

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