Question: What will help us to look at the group and be able to see only the friends’ strengths and not their flaws?

Answer: The group serves as a magnifying lens or glasses, without which it is impossible to see the Creator. I will be able to see Him only if I look through the group. It is my spiritual vessel and the instrument for the revelation of the Creator.

Only love will help here. Love suppresses our ego, and it starts acting in its opposite form: as the desire to feel pleasure being used for the sake of bestowal. Therefore, the attitude of the importance of friends is crucial.

In corporeal life, when a person forms an egoistic goal, he works in one place, gets paid in another, and purchases something in a third place. None of these places are connected. In spirituality, everything is united in one place: The effort, the reward, the goal itself, and the result are all parts of one whole. This is why it is difficult for us to understand spirituality since we are accustomed to the material world where everything is separate.

However, we have to understand that the friend and I, the Creator and I, people who are far and close, small, big, and equal in relation to me, all make up my spiritual Kli within which I reveal everything, even myself! Until this Kli becomes revealed, I will not exist. It will not be me but a total deception, a chunk of egoism that I identify myself with. When we discover what the collective soul or the group implies, then inside it we reveal ourselves and all the rest.

And for now, I have only the point of breaking, restriction, and expansion that exist outside of spirituality and the Creator. We are given a sensation of being outside of the true reality, in some imaginary dream world. While being in this dream, if I manage to build the true reality that includes the society, the Creator, and my authentic self, then I will be able to enter it. In the meantime, I am only imagining my life.

All of this future reality is the group I need to construct. It is I who build my spiritual world, my soul. In fact, it is my soul that I am assembling from this illusory deceptive reality, from this dream state I have been submerged in, in order to make me my own Creator. In doing so, I, the group, and the Creator come together, and we attain absolute oneness and adhesion.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, "Concerning the Importance of Friends"

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Everyone thinks that the “enterprise” refers to the work we carry out during the day, whereas group work entails our mutual studying. However, this is incorrect. The “enterprise” is everything that pertains to releasing our materials, media, preparation for various events, and other physical and material work. If we are preparing food for the Saturday meal right now, this pertains to the enterprise. There is a head chef, the people responsible, and workers who execute everything, and it doesn’t matter whether they are volunteers or paid workers.

On the other hand, the group is a unification of ideas where each person annuls his egoism and is willing to unite with others in order to achieve a spiritual state. This is different from how we unite in order to publish a newspaper, a website, a TV program, and so on. All of these actions are group actions in character, but in order to produce a desired result everyone needs to be willing to unite in a pyramid where there is a boss and a subordinate, like in any enterprise. We have to do this in order to release a product.

It doesn’t matter whether people receive a salary or not, what hours they work, and whether they are preparing a meal at the center or shooting a TV program. Even though we initially made a voluntary decision to unite on equal grounds, nevertheless if you are a manager, you give me orders, and as a subordinate I am obliged to execute them.

In other words, as we approach any task, we make a voluntary commitment according to our abilities, and we also make a commitment to follow an order, to stay disciplined and abide by the hierarchy. Thus, on the inside we are all equal; we are a group in the form of a circle. But externally we have a relationship of manager and employee in the form of a pyramid. Nonetheless, everyone unites as one.

Unification at the enterprise is when we unite in order to realize the connection of friends in the framework of the enterprise. We maintain the hierarchy because we wish to maintain our unification. The desire to be in the group obliges me to follow the hierarchy and I bow my head and listen to the person who is appointed as my manager.

Let’s suppose that today I was sent to work in the kitchen and I carry out what I am ordered to do by the team leader. Although I may be smarter and more skilled, the friends decided that we would work according to a duty schedule. I come to my duty and there we are not friends. I need to inspire myself to work by receiving the fuel from the group, but I need to work in a way that is appropriate for an enterprise.

Even though a person might come to our center for just a few hours after his day job, for the duration of these few hours he becomes a worker for the enterprise the same as though he were getting paid for the work. That’s because he comes there in order to receive either spiritual or material advancement. He receives fulfillment and it doesn’t matter in what form! Yet, for some reason people separate one thing from the other and are surprised when someone demands something from them, People think, “Aren’t we friends in the group?” No! We are workers of the spiritual front! We are working for the Creator.

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The group is the matter in which I work. It is the place or laboratory where I implement all of my actions. It is, in fact, an aiming device that helps me stay directed at the goal. Otherwise, I would not be able to see it.

Suppose you needed to shoot a target from a cannon. How would you hit it if you couldn’t see it? What would help you aim at the exact point? You would need an outside observer who sees everything from the side, like a third force that aims you.

What is this third force in our case? The Creator is hidden from me and I am far from Him. That is why an observation tower or an aiming device called “the group” is built for me. If I unite with it and aim at the goal from within it, I will definitely hit the target.

I have to consider many conditions, such as “distance,” “wind,” and so forth. I can find all of this in the group. It is hard enough to hit a target in the material world, but even more so in the spiritual world where there is an infinite number of conditions of which I am unaware.

This whole system is concealed from me. Later I will realize that I am actually engaging a very complex and gigantic system, like a baby whose crying makes everyone around him run and keeps entire factories working to provide diapers and baby food for him.

We engage the environment in the same manner, unaware that we are doing so. My connection with the Creator broke, but by building a connection with the environment, I will “hit” Him without a doubt since He becomes revealed within that connection.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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At the recent Mega-Congress we received sparks of Bina. We were filled by the sensation of bestowal, common unification, and society. Now we don’t have any of this, but the need for it or an empty desire has remained. It causes us to suffer, and our task is to immediately restore our connection with others, draw the Light, act together with everyone, and build a whole mechanism for accomplishing this.

All of this is a sensation of my first spiritual desire! For the first time ever I have received a spiritual vessel. Previously I only had animate and “universal” desires, but now I have received the emptiness of Bina – a sensation of the neighbor which is completely built on bestowal. I felt that there is someone else besides me in the world, and not just an object for me to use! This feeling came to me from Bina.

“The desire to enjoy” doesn’t feel this. A lion that wishes to have a deer for dinner does not relate to the deer as an individual. It just sees a hundred pounds of meat before him and needs this meat in order to survive. It sees everything that moves in front of it from this point of view, but it has no personal relationship with his surroundings and does not wish to inflict harm on anyone.

However, Bina, which is situated in us, is a part of the Upper One. It is the Creator’s quality and it reveals our inner relationship to “people.” During a Convention such as the Mega-Congress I acquire this attitude to the neighbor; I realize his importance and receive pleasure or fulfillment through him.

When the Convention is over, I feel unwell. This is not because my desire simply grew, but the feeling is now coming from a different field altogether, from the spiritual dimension. It is a part of the world to come! Therefore, it can be filled only from there with the help of the group, the studies, and other common, mutual actions.

This is the remedy called “proceeding by the path of the Light.” It is when we build a desire inside us on our own and take care of its fulfillment ahead of time. Then we advance like an old man who walks hunched over and searches for something ahead of time, as through he has lost something.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Light comes to us from Above and awakens specific parts of the common soul in order to advance them according to its program. This program is very complex and assumes that the souls will awaken in a specific order and combination among them like parts of one body. This is invisible to the eye, but according to the inner structure of the soul they are all connected with each other. The Light connects them together so they will perform the mutual work of searching for the quality of bestowal.

These are people who are complete strangers, very different from one another, and have completely contrasting material qualities. Yet, we have to believe that this is all arranged from Above. We have to leave behind everything that prevents us from uniting and search for a means that can help us accomplish this. The search will enable us to understand that the only basis for unification is bestowal, which is above reception. Nothing but this can unite people.

This path is very inconsistent, as if we are traveling across a very uneven road and our car is constantly thrown up and down by all the potholes and bumps. Yet, despite everything it has to keep going and advancing forward. The more we advance, the greater is the frequency of bumps and the more sensitive we are to them. In other words, the changes taking place in us are more drastic and significant. The truth is that they were the same before, but we did not notice or feel them very much.

It is impossible to advance down this road unless you even it out. Then our car will roll along quickly and easily! The only way we can smooth out every pit and bump on this path is to have a common opinion in the group and unity among us. This is the only thing that will fill in all the pits and unite us together, making our path smooth and even.

There is no possibility to advance spirituality without evening out the road. The disturbances and problems that arise before a person who desires to advance individually, or worse yet, a group of individualists, are so great that it is impossible to overcome them. The car will inevitably get stuck and it will be impossible to get it out. A person will remain in the same place; his life will be over, and he still won’t complete the path or attain the goal.

Therefore, our work must be aimed at unity. Then we will reveal that we can attain all the results precisely through unity! Our spiritual advancement on this path depends only on this. All the efforts and revelations happen only in one direction inside this connection that unites us all.

Everything depends on how much a person values the connection among the friends above all the problems that become revealed, and he understands just one thing: “There is none else besides Him.” All the disturbances come from the Creator. He gives rise to these inner pits and bumps inside us, confusing us in a thousand different ways. We have to imagine that all the problems come from Him and their only purpose is for us to unite.

Therein lies the secret to success! This is the basis upon which everything begins and all the rest is built.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, “Concerning the Importance of Friends”

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Before Baal HaSulam there were two methods of correction (or of studying Kabbalah): through the mind (the method of the Ari) and through the heart (the method of Baal Shem Tov). Baal HaSulam took both of these approaches and unified them into the middle, third line, creating an effective, precise, and simple method that is suitable for the modern souls. It is the only means enabling us to attain correction.

The scientific part of Kabbalah is based on the Ari, while the inner work comes from Baal Shem Tov. Baal HaSulam wrote the book, Talmud Eser Sefirot based on The Tree of Life by the Ari, adapting it to our generation. However, if you look at his entire teaching as a complex, then the four compositions Talmud Eser Sefirot, Panim Meirot, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” and “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” are devoted to the "physics" of the Upper World and are based on the teaching of the Ari, while all the other articles are devoted to a person’s inner work and are based on the method of Baal Shem Tov.

The Light of Correction comes to us while studying the "physics" of the Upper World, but it only comes through the group. If the group is not organized correctly, does not study together, and does not desire to unite, then it is impossible to attract the Light. The group is the magnet that attracts the Light that Reforms. And it must have a form that makes it ready for correction. Everyone must expect it!

We must reveal two things: 1.) our evil and lack of unity, 2.) the desirable state, the state of universal connection. We must expect that we will go from the first state to the second state with the help of the force called “the Light that Reforms.” The group is obligated to understand this very clearly since otherwise what kind of Light would you be able to attract? The spiritual vessel or desire must precede the Light.

This is why all of creation was created and why it develops until the very World of Infinity: It is in order to create a need to reveal the Creator in creation. We are not required to reveal the Creator or the Light! We have to reveal the creation! We have to understand that creation was not created in order to remain a point and to live as an animal. Rather, its destiny is to become an independent individual that has freedom of will. Therefore, our desire must always come first (Kli Kodem Le Ohr).

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/9/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8: Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers, who impart to us their sacred Lights and dedicate their souls to do good to our souls. They stand in the middle between the path of harsh torments and the path of repentance. They save us from the netherworld, which is harder than death, and accustom us to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning, as we have said above.

We shouldn’t regard these great Kabbalists as people who lived some time ago; they are parts of an enormous system: the soul. A Kabbalist is a soul that attains the Creator, knows and feels Him, and resides in the collective system of souls, Adam HaRishon. He is its integral part and acts as an inter-medium that binds us to the spiritual world at a time when we do not realize or perceive it.

In other words, a Kabbalist not only leaves us his writings, he also actualizes a connection between our souls and the collective system. We ourselves do not perceive the souls of the Kabbalists. Yet, they connect our souls (points in the heart) with the common system, allowing us to connect with each other and become part of it. Thereby, a stream of Light that flows within the system reaches us and revives us so that we may become its integral active parts.

This constitutes the work of Kabbalists in all the generations: They ensure our life within this spiritual system. For the time being, we exist in it merely as points without consciousness. But Kabbalists assist us by transmitting the Surrounding and Inner Lights that are present in the system thereby awakening us.

Therefore, the life of a Kabbalist doesn’t end with the death of his physical body. When we speak of a Kabbalist, we are talking about a soul that exists in the common totality of souls and acts regardless of whether or not his body exists in the material world. This soul is the active and the part of the system closest to us (as, for example, Baal HaSulam or Rabash).

Our whole Kabbalistic group represents a certain spiritual organ of the collective soul, and they take care of us spiritually. This is written about us: “We should be grateful to our teachers who impart to us their sacred Lights.” They are imparting them to us right now!

We do not shift from one system into another. We always remain within the same system and only awaken toward more consciousness.

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/5/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: If a few people create a group and connect with one another, how can they spread this sensation of connection to the entire world?

Answer: It is enough for me to reach the property of connection, bestowal, and love through my small group. When I turn to the big world after having obtained this property, I see it as unified. After all, if I can step out of myself toward one person, likewise I can step out toward all and to the Creator. A sensory organ for the external world (the screen and Ohr Hozer) appears in me. As a result, the world falls into the range of my vision.

Without it, I only detect things that correspond to my ego. I simply do not see whatever my egoism does not like or has no interest in. There are plenty of things in the world that I am not able to perceive. There is a formidable and extraordinary universe, the spiritual world, but I am blind to it. I simply do not have the necessary organ of perception. I do not feel the spiritual world. It just flows by me. It is here and now, but I am missing it all!

I have to acquire a new sensory organ: a feeling of love and bestowal. Then, I will feel the bestowal and love that permeate the world. This is what is called the Creator. When I receive such sensations, even the smallest one, to this degree, I will feel part of the spiritual reality. This will mean that I have risen to the first spiritual level. Then, I’ll expand my perception, obtain the ability to love and bestow more, and will feel more.

The greater my spiritual vessel, my instrument of perception, the more I feel the spiritual world. In this manner, I climb 125 spiritual degrees and gradually achieve the full sensation of the attribute of bestowal. Thereby I reach the complete correction of my spiritual vessel and now I perceive the entire reality, all of the Creator, and all the force of bestowal and love there is. I feel this force, and it fills me. The Creator and I are now together. I now act with the newly obtained property, the new sensory organ.

Therefore, not having this property of love and bestowal, I cannot complain that I do not sense the spiritual reality which exists here and now. It is not concealed somewhere far away in a different place. I simply do not sense, discover, or see it. It is like I took my glasses off and lost the ability to discern objects: The whole world disappeared and doesn’t exist for me.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/25/10, Shamati #99

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We exist in this world on the animate level, where we are completely controlled by our nature. However, at some point in time, we reveal that this life is insignificant and pointless, and experience a desire to rise to a higher level. Yet, how can we ascend above the animate existence, which is automatic and involuntary? How can we become “human,” free and above the life of our animate bodies?

“Human” means “similar” to the Creator (because the word “Adam” comes from the word “Domeh,” similar). In order to realize this ascent, to build a new, “human” nature inside the “animal,” so that our new nature will be equal to the Creator, we have to draw the Light that Reforms upon ourselves. This is a special Upper Force that influences and changes us so we ascend, raising our understanding, sensation, abilities, and perception. That is how we rise to a higher level called “Human.”

This is not just a mechanical ascent or an accumulation of more knowledge, but a transition to a different level of nature. We don’t understand how it occurs because right now we are all looking at the world from within our animate bodies. I am hiding inside this animal and I perceive this world through its eyes, ears, and other senses. I am unable to see the world differently until the Light comes from Above and enables me to be liberated from this animate skin and its sensations, and to clothe into a human guise. Then I will see and feel a new reality.

Right now we don’t know what kind of reality we exist in or where we have to arrive. Each of these things can only be assessed and researched based on the other. However, in order to set this entire process in motion, we were given two main pieces of advice: Be in a Kabbalistic group and study Kabbalah books. Through the group and the desire to unite together, we are able to come out of ourselves and become human. A human being is one who is connected with others and has the ability to bestow to his neighbor. With the force of our desire, a book draws Light upon us and turns what we desire into reality. That is how we actually attain the human level, equivalence to the Upper One.

Each of us has this desire to become human and not remain an “animal.” And we have the group which affords the opportunity to make efforts in order to come out of the animate sensation and unite together. Our connection is what will enable us to be called “people.” The Upper Light that we draw through our mutual reading will complete this work for us and will transform our efforts into a new, actual reality. So let us study together with this hope.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

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Question: If the speed of advancement and the number of discernments are essential for spiritual progress, then it is unclear what we need to do. Should we discern every state as deeply as we can or should we try to replace it with a new state as quickly as possible?

Answer: You cannot enter a new state if you haven’t finished discerning the previous one. You need to thoroughly clarify the state that you are in. The moment you finish this analysis, the state is replaced. We cannot forcefully change our states. Every state lasts until you feel that you are unable to stay in it any longer and that you need to advance. This is how material, evolutionary development occurs, and so does spiritual development.

When we begin to hate our state and are unable to stand it any longer, then this attitude forces us to come out of it. After all, hatred means distance in the spiritual world. Thus, we enter a new state. However, what is important here is the correct discernment. Otherwise, it may happen that “a fool sits with his arms folded and eats himself up.”

We need to use all the means given to us (the study, the group, and dissemination), rather than some other ephemeral opportunities which also seem real to us. If you act in order to unite with the friends, to reveal bestowal and a mutual guarantee between you so as to discover the force of bestowal, the Creator, within it, then this is the right direction for the work. If you dissipate your energy in a thousand other directions and actions, then you just waste your strength and, consequently, fall off the track of your development.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/10, Article, “And There Was Evening And There Was Morning”

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