Intention Does Not Replace Action

947Question: As a rule, we do not interfere in the inner work of a friend. If, for example, he stops attending lessons or outwardly shows less activity, we support him. And if he is doing well, we do not touch him. Is this the right approach?

Answer: Why not? If he is on the spiritual path, why bother him? We should just show that we are going together. But if someone turns aside a little bit, we need to try to get him back on the right path.

Question: Let’s assume that a friend did not come to the lesson although he should have come. What should I say to him if he says: “But I work in intention, I pray for you”?

Answer: No, it cannot be. Intention does not replace action because all our actions take place in the ten, in the group. Therefore, we must fulfill all the physical conditions of our connection.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/18/23, Writings of Rabash “Hear Our Voice“

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The Commandment of Circumcision

232.09And since he has one Mitzva, which he always keeps, the Mitzva of circumcision, a Mitzva that the body cannot resist, if he can be happy with one thing, even that he is keeping the Creator’s commandment, if he is thinking about keeping this Mitzva, of which the body has no opinion, by that he can reawaken his work and toil diligently once again, as he did prior to the descent. (RABASH. Article 17. (1985). “Know Today and Reply to Your Heart”)

Question: You said that circumcision is the ability to rise above your desire to receive. The article says that with this power a person himself can reawaken his state of action and work again with full energy as he did before the descent.

How do we acquire this power to rise, the circumcision, to work every time as before the descent?

Answer: When a person rises above his desire, as if breaking away from it, it is called that he circumcises himself. This is when he gets the force of bestowal he did not have before.

Question: How can you acquire this force, how can you rise above yourself?

Answer: By circumcising yourself, that is, by cutting off everything relating to the egoistic desire to receive.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/15/23, Writings of Rabash “Know Today and Reply to Your Heart“

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Questions about Spiritual Work—33

249.01Question: In Baal HaSulam’s article “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work,” there is a phrase: “In the work, if the thought leads to action … .” Can a person direct thought?

Answer: Of course we can do that. Everything depends on the magnitude of our closeness to the Creator.

Question: What is the difference between the Torah and the commandment, and how is this difference expressed in our work in the group?

Answer: The Torah is a general attitude toward friends, and the commandment is a private attitude.

Question: Which is more important, a group request or a private one?

Answer: The group, of course.

Question: How can we constantly maintain vitality in the group, and is it possible at all?

Answer: You can do it together, and then you will feel yourself rising, like in a hot air balloon.
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From the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam  “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work?“

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Separate Purity from Impurity

200.01If the Kli is mixed with reception for oneself, which is regarded as “dirty” compared to the light, which is all about bestowal, accordingly, before a person comes to receive sustenance from the Creator, which are delight and pleasure, he must clean himself up from self-reception. At that time, the abundance, which is the pleasure, does not go to the Klipot, regarded as reception for oneself. Rather, the abundance will go to Kedusha because he can aim to benefit the Creator while receiving the pleasure. This is called “eating the food on the pure table.”

After the meal, it is to the contrary. He must give a part to the Sitra Achra [other side]. This means that he says that there is still dirt here, which belongs to the Sitra Achra, and I must still correct myself (Rabash article No. 22 (1988) “What Are Merits and Iniquities of a Righteous in the Work?“).

Question: How can one understand that it is time to give to the Sitra Achra (impure desires)?

Answer: We do not want to give anything to the Sitra Achra. But there is nothing to do; some part still escapes to it. In addition, it is believed that it is also necessary to feed it because it helps us separate purity from impurity, reception from bestowal. This commandment concerns absolutely everyone.

Question: If a person has already committed a sin and has fallen into the Sitra Achra, how should the sinner and the righteous in him work properly to get him out of receiving for himself?

Answer: It is necessary to pull out the sinner with the help of the righteous. And in order to awaken the righteous in us, we have been given the ten, the friends.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/23, Writings of Rabash “What Are Merits and Iniquities of a Righteous in the Work?“

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How Can I Compose a Portrait of the Creator

629.4Question: Where can I get an example of how to become like the Creator if I do not feel Him?

Answer: You will not be able to feel the Creator until at least to some extent you become like Him.

But in our world you will not get such an example. You have to imagine for yourself what it means. You have your qualities, so make a correct portrait of them, and then turn to the Creator and ask.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

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Unity Is Yearning for Mutual Connection

528.01Question: What does unity mean in our work and how can we bring it to the surface when we are together?

Answer: Unity is when we are all so different, distant, opposite, and even repulsive to each other, but we yearn to unite in order to be able to reveal the Creator in the unity with each other.

This state of yearning for mutual connection is called unity.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/23, Writings of Rabash “What Is Peace in the Work?“

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Through Allegorical Storytelling

527.06Question: The Torah describes the sin of Adam. We have all read those stories that, in fact, are telling about the shattering of the vessels. Why is it described in narrative form?

Answer: The Torah is written in an allegorical form because Kabbalists had to somehow describe the process of shattering close to human understanding.

That is, people in those days, 3,000 years ago, just like today, could perceive this information only through an allegorical narrative.

Question: Now we are studying the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”, written by Baal HaSulam in Kabbalistic language. Did they not know this language before?

Answer: They knew, of course, but they did not use it often. After all, people were closer to the description in the type of language as in The Book of Zohar.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 10/10/23

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Feel the Taste of Bestowal

591Question: In Rabash’s article “What is: “The Torah Speaks Only Against the Evil Inclination,” in the Work,” it speaks of a Kli (vessel) in which a taste is felt. This taste is created by spices, and the spices are the Torah and light. How can we attract this light and spices in order to unite?

Answer: The answer is actually simple. The only way to attract the light that unites us is through a common intention. Try to connect with your friends, pray together, ask for unity, and you will succeed.

The Creator is interested in us receiving everything in the reflected light, meaning for the sake of bestowal.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/10/23, Writings of Rabash “What Is, ‘The Torah Speaks Only Against the Evil Inclination,’ in the Work?”

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In Absolute Concealment

290Question: In “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Baal HaSulam writes that after the shattering of the general system, impure worlds were formed. What is this about? What does “impure worlds” mean?

Answer: Impure worlds are egoistic forces that unite after the shattering in order to be able to snatch small sparks of light that could give them the opportunity to exist.

Question: Speaking more practically regarding our existence, the world is a concealment. What is concealed from us? Is it the fact that we bestow to each other and can receive pleasure?

Answer: Absolutely everything is concealed from us. The only thing we can do is recognize that the world in which we exist is evil. There is only one way out of this evil; it is with the help of each other to raise our prayer to the Creator so that He corrects us.
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From KabTV’s “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” 10/10/23

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