Sometimes one comes to a state of such lowliness that he does not taste any taste in Torah and prayer. Although he is learning, he knows and feels the truth about himself—that the real cause he is continuing to learn Torah is not because of fear of heaven, but because of habit… To this there is a correction called “minister of forgetfulness” (Rabash, Letter 59).

Rabash writes that we must work against forgetting through corrections. There is a special governing angel, meaning a special force in creation, called the “minister of forgetting,” whose function is to cause us to lose the state, degree, or strength we have attained each time so that it disappears and does not leave us with a sensation of perfection.

Every degree in spirituality is a certain sensation of perfection. When we are on some degree and the light descends upon us, then however small it may be relative to all the subsequent degrees, we still do not yet feel a Hisaron (lack, deficiency). And if a person does not feel a Hisaron, he cannot move from his place, because all movement occurs only through the revelation of a Hisaron.

Therefore, a special force exists that expels the lights from the degree, from the Partzuf, from the soul, each time and compels a person to feel that his inner state has changed. In this way it obligates him to continue on the path. Otherwise, he would remain in the same state forever, which is called observing Torah and commandments out of habit, for the sake of society, or for various other purposes besides renewing contact with the Creator.

How can we make this force, the minister of forgetfulness, act upon us more effectively? This is our work. For when we forget the goal, we do not forget the perfect state itself, but rather feel instead an imperfect one. That is, only part of the state disappears.

Suppose we attained some good state, sensed some closeness to spirituality at a certain moment, and then from above a loss of that degree is induced. Yet we do not feel a Hisaron in it. In other words, although the illumination that existed in that state seemingly disappears, the Hisaronot (deficiencies), the new Reshimot, have not yet been revealed.

The fact is that in this action of the “minister of forgetfulness” a partnership exists between the Creator and the created being. In all his states, even in a great state (Gadlut), a person must work on attaining awareness of the greatness of the Creator. He must not be satisfied with the greatness of the attained state and turn it into self-enjoyment.

Therefore, in order to teach a person that one must never stop working on awareness of the greatness of the Creator, the Creator activates the force called the minister of forgetfulness. The greatness of the state departs, and the demand for the greatness of the Creator is not renewed. This means that suffering does not come to a person because he lost the degree, and then he enters a period of delaying time, stepping onto the path of suffering instead of the path of Torah.

And all this is because during the ascent he did not work on awareness of the greatness of the Creator; that is, he observed Torah and commandments either for himself or for his environment, out of habit, and not for the sake of the goal.

He forgot that all his actions for attaining the goal and correction, called Torah and commandments, are a wondrous force (Segula), the wondrous property of Torah. A person is not changed by the actions themselves, for there is no actual benefit or real influence in them, as those who received improper education believe. They think that through these actions they are accomplishing something and earning something.

It is no coincidence that these actions are called the “wondrous force of Torah and commandments.” Ultimately, all we must achieve through them is to draw the light that reforms, whose wondrous power lies in its ability to correct us. This light comes through study from the proper books, with the proper intention, in an ever more properly directed group striving toward the goal.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/22/26, Rabash, Letter 59

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Question: What do we call a prayer for the friend, for society?

Answer: A prayer for the friend is defined as all my thoughts and desires directed toward what is outside of me. It does not matter to me what is outside of me—the Creator, or all of humanity.

Only in truly advanced states, those preceding the crossing of the Machsom (the barrier) and the formation of a proper prayer, do we begin to feel that the Creator and the surrounding world are one and the same. This is because we are unable to feel anything outside our vessels (Kelim).

So how can I nevertheless step outside of my own vessel (Kli) in my sensations and see who I am and who the Creator is? That which is sensed in the Kelim of the whole world and that which is revealed there to me therein, is essentially the manifestation of the Creator relative to me.

The Creator is revealed within the Kelim. If I reveal Him within my own Kli, this is called “this world.” But if I reveal Him in the Kelim of all the other souls, this is called the future world, the spiritual world, or the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘If a Woman Inseminates First, She Delivers a Male Child,’ in the Work?”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 10 “What Does It Mean that the Ladder Is Diagonal, in the Work?” (1989) (2.12.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (3.8.2001)

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3rd part of the Lesson — Conversations with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman with His Students

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Question: We constantly say that we must choose the best environment, one that gives us an awareness of the importance of spirituality. But if there are people in the group who come only once a week, what should we do with them? Should we support them? After all, don’t they weaken the group?

Answer: In the group there are people who come every day and give one hundred percent of themselves, and I see this. Naturally, I want to unite specifically with them. But there are also people who make less effort and come only once a week. Should I unite with them? What can I receive from them? Only weakness! Soon I myself will start coming once a week and become like them. Is that so?

What I receive from the friends, from the environment, from this world, and from the Creator depends on my attitude toward them, not on what they themselves are. Suppose I look at a friend who comes once a week, yet I value him for it, because this is what the Creator gives him. After all, he still comes; he has the readiness and the desire to be with us.

And if I value the little that exists in him (though perhaps it is not so little!), if I value everything positive in him and understand that this quality is the result of the Creator’s influence upon him, then I am regarding the part of the Creator that is within him, and I magnify that part.

This may be true even with respect to the weakest friend or a complete newcomer from whom I can still receive an impression. In other words, everything depends not on the person himself, but on my ability to make a correct assessment.

Nevertheless, everything begins with the fact that we see people who are making efforts, and then we naturally attach ourselves specifically to them and want to be closer to them. After all, this is much easier, clearer, and more reliable.

But this depends on the size of my Kli, not on the true greatness of the friend himself. If there is even the slightest spark of the Creator within the friend, if the Creator wishes to bring him closer and acts upon him, that is enough for me to receive an impression and inspiration from him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/19/26, Rabash, “The Difference between Charity and Gift”

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Question: It is said that the preparatory period is a time of awakening from above. What does this mean?

Answer: During the preparatory period, a person works on the basis of a desire received from the Creator.

We must process this aspiration that is embedded within us so that in the end it will transform into a desire called Lo Lishma through which one eventually arrives at Lishma.

Naturally, we work, act, and receive impressions due to an awakening from above. But gradually we must transform it into an awakening from below. This is our work.

For it is said: “If the male (the Creator) conceives first, a female (Nekeva) is born” (Nekeva, woman, Hisaron). That is, the Creator first awakens us from above. And then we must bring this female (Nekeva) to grow and become capable of giving birth to a male (Zakhar, the force of bestowal).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘If a Woman Inseminates First, She Delivers a Male Child,’ in the Work?”

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Comment: If a person feels bad, of course, he prays for the bad to go away so he would feel good.

My Response: We have discussed this issue many times. A person always prays for their well-being. The question is, what is good for him? This all depends on how a person sets his priorities.

Either it is good for me to be in an egoistic form in this world or to belong to the future world in an egoistic form or to have at least a little bit of an attitude toward the Creator that can be called non-egoistic. This is called Lo Lishma, and it is within this state that a fundamental transformation takes place.

You are always looking for ways to make the transition from the material world to the spiritual world, from acting for yourself to acting for the Creator’s sake, and this is correct. You wonder how to arrange this entrance so that it is not a contradiction, but a bridge, a straight tunnel from one to the other. This is impossible!

Until the Final Sea (Yam Suf) opens, there will be no passage. Therefore, a person leaves studying Kabbalah. There are some who are really miraculously given from above to withstand it.

There are a hundred people sitting here, and there are several hundred more in the outer groups. The rest are unable to handle it. How many thousands have passed through us? They are not ready yet, they have tried and left because to hold this point, to be connected with it, to try to live in it, is to constantly be in an inner divide, where you are zero in both experience and knowledge, in everything.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/26, Rabash, “What Is Heaviness of the Head in the Work?”

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Question: How can I check whether I have deviated from the right path?

Answer: Rabash writes that we must constantly examine whether I, my action, and the Creator are  aligned on a single line.

That is, one must clarify whether what I am doing right now is directed toward drawing closer to the Creator, whether I can already begin to clarify what “closer” means and what “the Creator” means.

But even if I cannot, it is still necessary simply not to forget that this is connected with the Creator, that I want to be in adhesion with Him. And when I actually feel this, then I will not feel any mental strain whatsoever. It is similar to how I feel cold or heat. How could I forget it? It is impossible because I feel it. Here, I do not need memory.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/11/26, Rabash, “The Severity of Teaching Idol Worshippers the Torah”

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Question: How can I see bestowal in the desires I must work with daily?

Answer: It seems to us that our current desires to bestow will accompany us in the future. However, we may be mistaken.

It may be that desires that seem corrected to us are not really related to spirituality, that they are merely desires to bestow on the human level. In desires that seem completely remote from spirituality, we may actually reveal the Creator and use them to attain the upper world.

Question: What about the intention? How does one use a desire with the correct intention?

Answer: In any desire, there is nothing other than intention.

Question: What about the desires that are vital for survival: food, sleep, sex, etc.? Does this imply that there are desires that include something other than intention?

Answer: Desires that contain an element unrelated to intention are desires necessary to maintain our existence. Even in this world, why do I want to have more than bread and water? These are the natural needs of the body.

What does our body actually require? A room temperature above 20 degrees Celsius, a specific caloric intake, some additional flavors, and that is it. A wife, children, and everything that my body would naturally need. However, demands that exceed this basic level arise in me based on intention. These additional desires are formed in me, as a human being, relative to inanimate, vegetative, and animal level.

In every state, you have to clarify your attitude toward your own desire. The best thing you can do is to connect the unfolding reality (the picture of what is happening) directly to the Creator. This will bring some measure of clarity to the situation for you.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/14/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘If a Woman Inseminates First, She Delivers a Male Child,’ in the Work?”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 6 “What Is, ‘The Herdsmen of Abram’s Cattle and the Herdsmen of Lot’s Cattle,’ in the Work?” (1991) (1.16.2002)

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (3.1.2001)

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