Baal HaSulam writes in the article “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)” that all those who aspire to the Creator are one nation where everyone is responsible for one another. This is called mutual guarantee. The Torah (the Light of Correction) was given to this nation only after every person was asked: Do you agree to carry out the commandment of love for the neighbor?  “Love your neighbor as yourself” means to take care of others no less than our nature forces us to take care of ourselves. This is the condition that enables us to draw the Light of Correction upon us. The Light will come and correct our spiritual vessel only if we reveal that we want to unite in this way.

Mutual guarantee is when, having ascended above our own desire, we already comprise one unified body, one organism, and we all depend on each other. To do this, every person must have an anti-egoistic screen and be in the spiritual world on the level of bestowal (Hafetz Hesed), while also treating his material life as a necessary component for his spiritual life.

Operating in mutual guarantee, every person fulfills another and understands that he has to be connected with the others. His entire life takes place for the sake of this, like it happens with the cells within one’s body. Every cell and organ of the body lives in order to carry out its function in relation to the common organism. The meaning of its life is love and bestowal. When we perceive this connection among us, this is called spiritual life.

If we desire to unite in this way, then we will receive the force to carry this out!

From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/10, Article “Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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A question I received: How can we come to feel shame and make a restriction on our ego?

My Answer: Shame is a very exalted sensation, which does not come at the beginning of our path. This shame is with respect to the Creator, the Giver. It is precisely because He is the Giver and I am the receiver.

In our world we always restrict our reception in order to avoid feeling shame. We must justify receiving; we are compelled to preserve the feeling of self-dignity as our “I” is even more important than life itself. In fact, we are prepared to die if doing so would stave off humiliation. This is the basis of our nature. People are willing to face death in order to bolster their “I,” their self-esteem.

Shame is when I feel my “I” annul and disappear. If I lose my desire and fulfillment, I don’t feel that I cease to exist. A person dies and doesn’t feel that he completely disappears from reality. He only feels that he loses some part of himself as if shedding something from his past.

However, when the sensation of shame comes to me, it cancels my spiritual existence. It is a kind of inner feeling as though nothing of me remains. It is above our life and death, that is how deep it is. And it is impossible to withstand. Man is willing to commit suicide in order to save the point of his “I.” The body is merely an animal, and we’re not particularly afraid of losing it. We see how people risk their lives.

The Creator continuously plays a game with us by consistently and methodically offending the point of our “I,” and we are left without a choice but to take measures so as to preserve our individuality. The feeling that I must rise above this life, above death, helps me to acquire a second nature. I am prepared to accept it. I am told to bestow, and I am willing to do it. Do I need to lose myself as of today? Sure, I am ready! As long as the point of my “I” is preserved.

This sensation can only be granted by the Light that Reforms. The Light affects us and awakens in us this point that lies at our very core, the initial point called “Esh Mi Ayin” (created from nothing – existence from absence). This is not the material of the desire to enjoy, but something even deeper.

The only way to attain it is through the study of Kabbalah in a Kabbalistic group. In the group we endeavor to build a model of spiritual unity similar to what exists in the World of Infinity. By studying in the conditions of this unity, we draw the Light that elevates us to that very state. There are no other means besides the group and the study in the group.

Shame is a terrible sensation, but it is precisely shame which brings us salvation.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Morning Lesson 5/14/10, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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A question I received: This weekend there will be a convention in North America, titled The World Zohar Convention, where our friends from the whole world will gather. You once said that when you were in a similar situation of general inspiration, you asked Rabash, “What do we lack for attaining the goal?” He answered, “An attack!” What is an attack and how can we attain this state this weekend at the Convention, or even now, at this very moment?

My Answer: During a spiritual attack, one does not think about when will it finally be completed. An attack is when I gather all my forces and act with them.

In our world an attack is a concentrated blow, followed by a chance to rest. However, spirituality is perfect and therefore it cannot be transient. If your desire is authentic, then it is eternal! Therefore, a spiritual attack means a mobilization of forces, where you must continually concentrate them more and more, without a break or a breather. (Actually, you do receive a “breather” from Above, such as the state of “Hanukkah,” which comes from the words “Hanu-Koh,” stop here. This happens during a shift in one’s means for further advancement.)

This Convention offers great opportunities of advancement to all the students all over the whole world. Although we are getting together at the Convention in North America, there will be a direct broadcast of all the lessons. And of course, they will be devoted to the unification of this entire great desire, the spiritual vessel (Kli).

Let us hope that everyone will understand that the science of Kabbalah speaks precisely of this unity, rather than red strings, spells, and so forth. Through the unity of our desires we attain life in the eternal dimension. Let us hope that we will succeed!

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/5/10, “Matan Torah”

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In the News (From CBSNews.com): The European Union and the continent’s air traffic agency want to move fast to abolish Europe’s fragmented national airspaces which they say exacerbated the unprecedented air travel disruptions that grounded over 100,000 flights because of volcanic ash last week.

Industry representatives, regulators, and analysts all predict that the most important result of the post-mortem meetings starting this week will be a move toward a unified airspace at the expense of nations still seeking to jealously guard the sky as a symbol of national sovereignty.

My Comment: The crisis has made the Europeans realize that they have to embark on greater integration and forgo their sovereignty. Otherwise, the incomplete integration results in negative counter-connection.

Europeans have to complete the unification process through to its end and form a unified government. If not, centrifugal forces will rip the “EB” (European Bazaar) apart, right up to a vicious war.

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A question I received: There is one’s personal intention and intention of the group. What should be the group’s intention during the Zohar study?

My Answer: It should be the same. The group’s intention cannot be different. A group is a sum total of the individuals in the group; it only amplifies everybody’s individual intention.

I have to connect with others because my intention does not carry enough power to attract the Light that Reforms. This Light reveals to me everything that I read in The Zohar. If my friends passed me their intentions, and their intentions united within me, I would immediately reveal the inner essence of a story that I read in The Zohar. It would happen instantly.

The problem is that they don’t wish to supply me with their intentions in the same way that I’m unable to pass them mine. Perhaps I’m talking about it, but it does not really bother me that much.

Herein lies the essence of unification. In uniting with others, I receive their intentions. Alone, I cannot reveal anything. It is the intentions that we receive from each other, nothing else. It is only through the web of intentions that I can connect with the other person, and this connection occurs only when I’m ready to supply others with life energy so that they all live in spirituality.

By thinking in this manner, I pass my intention to everybody. I unite with the others in a network of a living organism and then it becomes alive. I enliven it. Then each of my friends possesses a life force since each of them has an opportunity to pass the Light further.

The force of life or the Light exists among us. We can reveal it only according to our intention, our attitude toward each other.

It can be likened to an electromagnetic field. The field can’t be identified without an electric circuit with its conductors which allows the electric current to flow in the network, to move and perform work in the magnetic field. A metal conductor moving in the magnetic field passes electric current; free electrons are moving in it. These are exactly the same processes.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/10, The Zohar

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The nation of Israel originated in Babylon, where Abraham revealed nature’s Upper Force and then started to disseminate this knowledge about the Creator, the goal of creation, and the purpose of man and society. It was all done to enable us to ascend above our world, rather than be like all the animals that merely live and die, over and over again.

Abraham discovered how to ascend above this world and the life cycles of the mortal animate body. He attained the Upper, spiritual dimension, which is above this entire animate life. Abraham then began to disseminate this knowledge to all the inhabitants of Babylon, gathering thousands of people around himself. The group that he gathered came to be called “the house of Abraham.”

This group went through a lengthy path and grew until it came to be called “the nation of Israel.” This is not a regular nation like the other nations of the world that unite in a natural manner. “The nation of Israel” can be joined by every person who aspires to unity in order to reveal the Creator – the force of bestowal and love.

Therefore, this group (or nation) can be in one of two states: exile, which is when they want to unite, but they haven’t yet attained it; and redemption, which is when they attain unity. They then attain the state of being as one man with one heart through a mutual guarantee (Arvut). Thus, they reveal the Creator within themselves (in Hebrew the Creator is called Boreh, which comes from the words Bo – come and Reh – reveal). They proceed to ascend up the ladder, reaching greater and greater unity and attaining greater bestowal until reaching the Final Correction of the ego, transforming it to love for the neighbor. This is the state of adhesion, Dvekut.

Eventually, all of humanity will have to join this group and join the Creator together with them. Today we have already gone through four exiles and three redemptions. We are now standing before the final redemption, meaning the final, full revelation of the Creator to every single person in the world.

From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/10, “Exile and Redemption”

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Our entire work is carried out by the Creator, who fills the space between us. So you can imagine how fruitless all of humanity’s attempts to unite on its own, are.

Today humanity’s global problems are revealed, and we find ourselves tied together. We thereby witness the revelation of the Upper system, the connection among us. We try to reach some agreements, establish certain connections on this level,  but to no avail. Reaching compromises was possible until the global system became revealed. Today it no longer works.

That is why we have to reveal Who fills the space among us. Without this “middleman” – the Creator – nobody will manage to establish a connection with the others. Hence we experience the crisis in family relationships, relationships with children, relatives, and virtually everybody. And these problems will only intensify.

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The spiritual goal is unity – the unification of a person who aspires to the Creator, the Light of Correction, and the Creator into one whole. A person has to remain inside this goal in every state and at every moment. Then he will advance toward it.

But how can he advance if he is already inside the goal? Where can he keep advancing if he has already “caught” the goal right now, at this very moment? The answer is that a moment later he will receive a greater desire to enjoy, and then he will have to “catch” the goal once again. That is how we advance, step by step.

Don’t think that the goal is shining for you from somewhere far ahead and you will reach it one day. You have to attain it right here and now, and not a moment later.

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A question I received: By studying The Book of Zohar, will I learn how to obtain a connection with global nature?

My Answer: No, you will not learn anything. However, you will rouse a certain force onto yourself, and this force will influence you, change you, and connect all the different qualities in you to equivalence to nature. To the extent that you become an integral part of nature, make yourself similar to it, and unite with it, you will also understand everything.

Understanding comes after everything, as a result of all the changes and unifications that you achieve. However, by merely reading The Book of Zohar, you will not understand anything. You need to read The Zohar with the intention for it to make you an integral part of nature, to make you in oneness with all of reality.

To the extent that you unite with it, you will begin to feel that you are part of one whole, and from this sensation you will already begin to understand. This is called attainment, the last stage, which you achieve as a result of the unification. This unification with nature is called “adhesion with the Creator.”

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Unity amongst us builds our new reality. I’m not speaking about creating this unity ourselves and “behaving” as if we are united. This unity isn’t on the level of this world as in when everyone is on good terms with one another. Unity is the revelation of the spiritual connection between us in the vessel for the Light. We only need to want the Upper Force to realize this unity for us.

The wisdom of Kabbalah wasn’t revealed to build communism and kibbutzim in our world. Kabbalah helps us reveal the spiritual relations between us, not material relations. The goal is completely different in its essence.

Don’t try to build good corporeal relationships, but strive to reveal the Creator between you. In this way, your spiritual connection will be realized. We need to attract the Light of Correction to do this work, to build spiritual connections between us. It is precisely in these connections that we will feel the Creator. This will be the optimal solution for all the problems.

This isn’t what idealists dreamed of in trying to build the “City of the Sun” on this planet. We’re not building a good life in this world. We have a much greater goal before us; although of course, our corporeal life will also become corrected at the end. Once we attain inner harmony, we will also experience perfection in our corporeal world. However, this only will happen under the condition that we attract the Upper Light which will correct our connection with one another. Our trying to do this with our own strength won’t make it happen.

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