It is very difficult for us to understand for what purpose we must perform spiritual work, and why the Creator created the world in such a way that we have to exert effort. If He is omnipotent, why did He not create the final state from the outset? And if it already exists and we are already in it, why didn’t He make it so that we would feel this perfect state (Gmar Tikkun) immediately?

Why must we open our eyes and develop the organ of perception of the spiritual, called the screen (Masach) and the reflected light (Ohr Hozer) since it is only then that will we feel where we truly are and perceive true reality?

We are told that all this is because of shame. We ask: Why did He create shame? And we are told that shame is a correction, and that if we do not correct ourselves, we will not feel the goodness that has been prepared for us.

We must acquire the greatness and importance of the Creator, the giver. Our attitude toward Him must be with the intention for the sake of bestowal. A Kli (vessel) with an altruistic intention is an eternal Kli that never disappears and is never emptied. On the contrary, it becomes increasingly filled.

There are many more explanations used to “justify” our present state, and a person may live by them for a long time until one acquires a second nature, the nature of the Creator.

But before that, a person is incapable of understanding or agreeing with the states they have to go through, because the definitions they hold now are opposite to the definitions they will have afterward.
[358219]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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Question: What does it mean to make a correct discernment?

Answer: Making a proper discernment means seeing that every state is sent to us by the Creator, and that the upper force wants you to turn to it and, at the very least, attribute that state to the Creator.

If you are able to continue further, think about the fact that this state was sent so that you could unite with Him and understand the reasons for what is happening. Think about why the Creator is sending you this situation as a path toward adhesion with the Creator.
[358234]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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States of descent or ascent are not defined by whether I feel good or bad at the moment. If I have thoughts about the Creator, even in the most difficult state, then spiritually this is regarded as a “good” state. A descent, however, is a state in which a person loses connection with the Creator.

Maintaining connection with the Creator, holding a thought of Him even during an unbearably difficult state, is preferable to losing that connection in the most favorable state. Here we must make tremendous efforts to correctly distinguish between what constitutes a descent and what constitutes a spiritual ascent.

At any moment when the Creator reminds us of His presence, no matter how He does it, we must thank the Creator for it. The reminder may come in the form of a blow or through extremely difficult situations.

Conversely, as soon as we lose our connection with the divine, animalistic pleasures or everyday concerns distract us from thoughts of spirituality. We become confused and forget that it is precisely the Creator who sends us all these situations and problems; this is what we call a descent. Thus, a state of spiritual descent or ascent is not determined by our animate senses as a feeling of bitter or sweet, but by whether it is truth or falsehood.

Therefore, it is very difficult for us to become accustomed to this kind of discernment. But when a person examines his states in this way, he begins to analyze them in a new light.

By evaluating them according to the principle of “truth or falsehood,” one assesses their state according to only one criterion: Is it beneficial for my spiritual advancement? This discernment is made independently from sensory perception. Then, as a person becomes truly ready for it, doubts arise once again: should I turn to the Creator or attempt to do something myself?

If I turn to the Creator when I am capable of doing something myself, then it will be an artificial request. Rabash gives the following example: a little boy is crying in the street, and hardly anyone pays attention to him. After all, he is still a child and cries over trifles. But when a grown man is weeping, it is taken seriously.

Similarly, a person carrying a heavy load that is about to fall and asks for help is helped immediately. But if he cries out, “Help!” for no particular reason, and everyone sees that there is nothing serious happening, no one will even pay attention to him.
[358222]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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Comment: The famous couturier Karl Lagerfeld managed to create his own image in fashion, and his statements are very popular. Yet it is surprising just how incredibly egoistic they are!

“I am a sort of vampire, taking the blood of other people” (The Observer Magazine).

“Vanity is the healthiest thing in life” (The Guardian).

“I hate intellectual conversations with intellectuals because I care only about my own opinion” (The World According to Karl).

People marvel at the way he speaks.

My Response: He speaks very well, straight to the point. He truly expresses what comes from his own nature.

He stated his credo very succinctly, like an ordinary person albeit one who understands his nature. He is peaking the truth!

Question: What is it in his statements that fascinates people?

Answer: What captivates them is that he says things they are afraid to say.

Question: So this exists inside a person?

Answer: Naturally, because each of us is like that.

Question: Does a person have a feeling that vanity is the healthiest thing in life?

Answer: Of course, because vanity elevates us. What else in our world can raise a person above everyone else? What is considered victory, achievement, success? nothing but the fulfillment of vanity.

Question: But you are engaged in a science that does the exact opposite aren’t you?

Answer: I am, yes. But “real” people, people like him, they glorify this nature. But it is nature! Therefore, it cannot be denied.

I think he is right in expressing himself so beautifully. He opens people’s eyes to what they actually are.

Question: Should we somehow fight this or not?

Answer: Why should we? On the contrary, we must open people’s eyes to the fact that they are like this, and perhaps this will lead them to the recognition of evil.

Question: Is this precisely what you call upbringing? Revealing that is is who they really are to a person?

Answer: Of course, absolutely. Only the revelation of evil in a person will compel one to correct oneself, to see “This is my nature, and it is evil.”

I like talking with people who are opposite to me yet are open and frank. That is the truth. Truth stands above everything else. If we gloss over the truth, what will come of it? We will never be able to accomplish anything in our world. We will always limit ourselves to half-statements,  vague hints, and evasions. And then what?

Without the revelation of evil, you will not even know or understand what good is and what it ought to be, or how to build it as the opposite of evil.

For example, imagine looking at an article of clothing and seeing something bad, baffling, incorrect, crude, or repulsive about it. Then you realize: it is turned inside out! You simply need to reveal the right side. And so you reveal it. Evil and good are two sides of the same upper force.

Question: What is the ultimate formula for you?

Answer: It is written in Kabbalah that “Love covers all transgressions.” It means that there is no other way to attain love; it is impossible to achieve that “covering” or the transformation of all the evil within oneself.

Only after all transgressions are revealed do you realize that love must necessarily take their place! It must cover them all—not destroy them! They must exist together. Only together, when they help and nourish each other in this way, will they truly exist.
[246745]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/3/25

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 162

Does Separation from the Creator Also Come from Him?

Certainly separation also comes from the Creator. Everything comes from Him. However, separation is punishment.

How should we respond to this state? We need to bless the good as we bless the bad and the bad as we bless the good. Yet separation from Godliness, or more precisely, the cessation of the ability to advance, meaning the ability to equalize our form with the Creator, is indeed the only punishment in reality.

In the corporeal world, this separation manifests as troubles that befall us, as negative events in our lives, and even as effects on the physical body. All the good comes from Him, and all the bad comes from the posterior (Achoraim) of the Creator, from concealment. The issue is not the concealment itself, but how we receive it and relate to it.

Punishment is punishment. Nothing can be done against it. The more we feel the concealment, the more we resist it. Concealment can be corrected through Hassadim (mercies). To the extent that we detach from our personal sensation and rise above it, we become those who delight in mercy (Hafetz Hesed), and then we perform corrections. In any case, anything less than final correction is considered punishment. However, we who are in this process view everything that happens to us as reward.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 28 “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?” (1991) (17.06.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (5.17.2001)

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During the period of preparation, a person ascends the degrees in order to cross the Machsom, and enter the king’s palace. Each time one goes through states of receiving, a great illumination from above supports, fills, and awakens them.

Then the person falls, and instead of an even greater light, they receive darkness. In the state of darkness, a person is “tested” because no matter how high one has risen, if they haven’t crossed the Machsom yet, as soon as the light stops shining upon them, they immediately fall into an animalistic state. They know nothing, and nothing is important to them except simple animate existence.

They feel they have made no progress. The animalistic nature present during the descents they experienced one or two years ago remain unchanged. Indeed, when the divine spirit departs from him, only the animal soul remains.

In such states, it is possible to measure whether a person is advancing spiritually in the direction of bestowal or not. If they are capable of reading even a few lines, or simply reflect on them without necessarily penetrating deeply, and if they realize the extent to which the state of darkness is becoming increasingly deeper, then it can be said that the rudiments of vessels of bestowal have appeared in them.

They see that they have nothing, no sense of fulfillment. But despite this, they live by the conviction that this state is somehow connected with the spiritual path. Then they are not confused by the pleasures that shine upon them, nor are they confused by the pleasant sensation of receiving fulfillment that might otherwise cause them to “swell.” On the contrary, in such a state they have no calculations for themselves. They cannot justify the Creator since they receives nothing from Him and live only by faith.

What is faith in this case? Faith after crossing the Machsom is the light of Hasadim, and complete faith is the light of Hasadim with the illumination of Hochma. But during the period of preparation, when there is neither one nor the other, faith is the illumination that comes to a person from above, the light that sustains them.

Alternatively, in a state of descent, specifically when this illumination disappears, what remains is only the importance of the goal in its pure form, which is something a person receives from the group, not from above.

That is, they hear or heard in the past from the friends about the importance of the goal, and now this sustains and serves them. Now in a state of darkness, one is sustained by the importance of the goal that they acquired in the past when they were able to hear and were working in the group.

They drew inspiration from what they read, what they were told, and by what they heard from the teacher, that is, by the three sources: the group, the books, and the teacher.

In other words, the greatness of the goal now comes to them not from above, but from the environment. The importance that they feel in the state of darkness, they perceive as an illumination coming from the outside, and this is called the faith that sustains a person.
[358452]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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Question: Must the importance of the goal and the realization of one’s own lack of strength always advance in parallel? Doesn’t the importance of the goal increase during an ascent, given that it is felt just during an ascent?

Answer: The highest point in recognizing the importance of the goal, and the lowest point in evaluating one’s own strength, are revealed through two processes: ascent and descent.

It cannot be said that only an ascent increases the importance of the goal for me, and a descent brings only disappointment in my own abilities. In reality, the difference between these states generates both. In other words, it is the direction in which you are moving that gives rise both to the importance of the goal and to disappointment in your own strength.

Of course, the feeling of the goal’s importance comes during an ascent. But it never happens that something is born without its opposite appearing alongside it. There is always a contrast between black and white; otherwise, no definition would be possible. Every definition is based on two opposites, just as black letters are perceived only against a white background.
[357883]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/13/26, Rabash, “And the Lord Appeared to Him at the Oaks of Mamre”

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A person acts out of habit, and feels and accepts only what they are accustomed to. Everything unfamiliar passes by us and remains elusive.

We unconsciously disregard everything new before we sense or, become aware of it. That is why it is so difficult for us to encounter spirituality!

We live in a world we select from the world of infinity; we choose the familiar and habitual.

To expand our world with the world of bestowal, we must not push it away, but accept the states of bestowal through “faith above reason,” accept the properties, desires, thoughts, and actions of the “anti-world.”

To do this, you need to combine two opposing levels within yourself: realize your current egoistic state, the lower degree, and from the perspective of the property of bestowal, the highest degree.

One must exist between these levels, rejoice in the sensation of the lower level’s emptiness of the lower and in the opportunity to find the strength to rise above it.

This strength comes to me from the upper light through the group; it holds me above the “earth” as if by a magnet.

Truth and faith (bestowal) should pull me upward more strongly than the sensation of animalistic egoism pulls me down toward the “earth.”

The true state lies in sensing both degrees simultaneously while each one in isolation is a lie. Even if I am entirely in spirituality, that alone is a lie.

The true state is always found between two degrees that simultaneously bring a sense of both perfection and lack, gratitude and prayer.

I must rejoice that I experience both sensations at once and constantly remain in a transitional state sensing obstacles yet holding myself above them by force of will, like a climber scaling a mountain who feels that if they were to relax their tension for even a moment they would immediately fall.

This is the only true state; we need to train ourselves to remain in it all the time, and to find joy in it.

This is how we can test ourselves. Are we capable, despite all our discontent, eternal struggle, and constantly vacillation between inspiration and utter despair, of remaining in joyful nevertheless?
[18432]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/2/10, Rabash, “The Meaning of Truth and Faith”

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