Question:

Answer: In Kabbalah, the word “Hasid” is not someone who belongs to a religious community, but to the quality of Bina, specifically Hesed (loving kindness) or the light of Hassadim. From this the word “Hasidism” originated.

If a person performs actions in order to advance himself toward the quality of bestowal and to acquire it through his own efforts, he is called a “Hasid.” This applies both to the intention and to the action.

Question: Is there any connection here with the washing of the hands with water, “Netilat Yadayim”? In Rabash’s article “What Do the Four Types Who Go to the House of Study Mean in the Spiritual Work” it is said that the Hasid has no hands. And since water symbolizes the quality of Hassadim, can this be connected with the washing of the hands?

Answer: “Hands” (Yadayim) here are called the vessel (Kli) of reception. A person does not want his vessels to be received for his own sake. He wishes to correct them so that they will be holy. This correction, called “washing of the hands” (Netilat Yadayim), is carried out by the fact that he takes the light of Hassadim, corrects the receiving Kelim with its help, and then he is ready to receive for the sake of bestowal.
[355447]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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Question:

Answer: The world being revealed to you means that you have succeeded in perceiving the picture you are in with a different understanding of the connections between things. You suddenly see that people and laws that exist in the world have different connections, different intentions, different goals. You manage to discover a more inner layer of reality. This means that your attitude to all of reality has changed and you see another world.

To do this you must constantly strive for an ever more inner perception, try to see what is behind the outer facade. What does “beyond the Machsom,” the spiritual world, mean? It means that beyond this world you begin to reveal the connections between things, the plan of creation, which connects all the details in this world.

Then you see that there is a completely different intention there, not the one that seems to you from this side. And the connections are determined by completely different formulas, not at all what appeared to you before. You see that everyone bestows to one another, everyone loves one another, and there is nothing bad in the world, provided you look at it from the other side, in accordance with the true connections between things.

Rabash gives the following example: a person is given a desire for money. Suppose you see that a taxi driver whom you perceive as dull-witted as his car’s engine, as someone who is driven only to earn as much money as possible, who never turns on the meter, who overcharges you double the fare, and so on.

And suddenly, from the other side, you see that this person wants to bestow and to help his neighbor. He is constantly thinking about whom to take where and how to make it so that everyone will be as comfortable as possible. It only seems to him that he wants to earn money. In fact, he simply “reads” his state in the wrong way. His attitude is incorrect. But you already see this picture from the other side, from beyond the Machsom.

It is like looking at embroidery. On the reverse side there are always various knots and connections in which it is impossible to make sense. A person sees the front side, but he does not see all the true connections on the reverse. And when he is given the possibility to see the reverse side of the embroidery, he discovers the correct relations between things.

This is what we lack. But we acquire it by rising along the degrees and reaching the best possible state. This means that you see this world, which does not change (“the world continues to live by its own laws”), and at the same time the second side, all the connections that exist between the parts of reality. And then you can justify the Creator, see that it was always so from the outset, it is just that your vision was not ready to see it.
[355511]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/26, Rabash, “What It Means that the Generations of the Righteous are Good Deeds, in the Work”

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From between man and man one learns how to behave between man and the Creator.

…you have to keep awakening the love of the Creator in this way, that you must always stand guard, all day and all night, when you feel a state of day or feel a state of night.

We say to the Creator, “Yours is the day, and Yours is also the night.” Thus, the night, too, the darkness of night, comes from the Creator… (Rabash, Letter 24).

We have all already felt what “day” and “night” mean. “Night” means that suddenly the desire disappears, indifference comes, and the taste is lost. It becomes difficult for us to listen about a person’s work on their correction; we grow tired of repeatedly speaking about love of friends and connection.

Then “day” returns: enthusiasm, upliftment of spirit, and a person absorbs every word under a powerful impression, moved to tears. He burns with desire and rushes forward ready to move mountains.

All of this depends on some tiny measure of the light that influences us a little more or a little less. Our whole life and death, our entire mood, good or bad, depends on this small measure of light.

These states come to us so that we will understand that we must rise above them and not take them into account at all. Just imagine, is such a thing possible? Notice how much you fall under the control of these states when they take hold of you, and you can do nothing: neither in a good state nor in a bad one, you cannot cope with your joy nor with your sorrow.

So how is it possible to rise above them? Does it mean being above the influence of the light? Of course, I cannot be above the light, but I can be above my reaction to it. After all, this reaction arises in my egoistic desires. I must hold myself above this pleasant or unpleasant sensation.

At times, I am drawn to spirituality and am ready to do anything for it, dreaming of attaining bestowal. And at other times, nothing moves me, I am as if dead and want only to fall asleep and forget everything. How can I rise above such states?

I must ask the light for help. But not to ask for a pleasant sensation, we are always ready for that, even in the most difficult situation. Although there are such difficult states when we can no longer even ask, and only want to disconnect from the state and distract ourselves with some corporeal goals, just to forget and not feel the suffering.

But if it is not such a completely suppressed state, then we are able to ask. And usually, we ask the light to correct the problems and make us feel good. We expect a pleasant state, a sensation, but this is not correct. We need to seek a force that will allow us to remain above the bad state. We must ask the light for correction, so that these states will not influence us and we will perceive the bad states as good.

We must feel that the bad state comes in order to advance us, and no less, but even more than the good state. This means that a person must bless the Creator for the bad just as for the good. Then we will rejoice at every change of states, because we will be able to be impressed by them and ask the light to give us a screen that allows us to be above the reaction of our will to receive. I will always remain above the impression of good and evil, adhering to the Creator and striving to bring Him contentment.

Then all these unpleasant and pleasant states will determine the height, the level above which I can rise and establish contact with the Creator with a request for love and connection. It follows that the stronger the darkness and the light, and I do not react to them within my egoism, but only determine the height of my screen above them, the more it will grow. There will come ever brighter “days” and ever darker “nights,” ever higher states, and thus I will ascend.

Therefore, always, both in light and in darkness, we must strengthen the love between the friends with all our might, so that neither darkness nor light will influence us or change our attitude toward our constant duty: to strive only for unity and love.
[103770]
From preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/13, Baal HaSulam, Letter 13

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Rabash, in the article “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person,” writes that if you observe that the advice you have accepted promises to increase your efforts, then the direction is correct; conversely, if it serves to reduce your effort, then it is incorrect.

Accordingly, if the action before you requires effort, then, apparently it comes from a good side and is aimed in a good direction. And if it does not require effort, then, it seems, it is directed in a bad direction.
What are “efforts”? A person might plan a bank robbery with the sweat of his brow. This is no easy task. Several people work on it, they prepare everything, and try their best. Desire obliges.

So what exactly constitutes “effort”? Relative to what are they evaluated? If an effort is added to a desire in order to realize it and enjoy it without any connection with the Creator, this is the effort of the evil inclination.

You can sweat your whole life trying to earn what you have set as your life’s goal, but that does not count as effort. Efforts in spirituality is that which leads you to adhesion with the Creator, that which improves you in some ways so that you become like Him. Everything else is not effort.
[355308]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person”

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The evil inclination is our faithful guide, through which we will undoubtedly reach the goal of creation.

If it works together with the desire to receive, if it comes to me in its natural form, then it places all the pitfalls along the path into which I fall. But if I analyze it correctly and understand that, by enticing me toward something, it only draws me to bad things so that I may overcome them and instead prefer to adhere to the Creator, then from this I correctly reveal its help.

How else can I build independence? Abraham said: “If you go to the left, then I will go to the right; and if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” I am sitting here now, and the evil inclination pulls me to the right.

I know that if I overcome its pull toward some pleasure, to do something, and instead of being drawn there, I adhere to the Creator, then this is adhesion with the Creator that I have earned through my effort. Now the ego pulls me to the left: “Let’s go enjoy there.” I must overcome this as well, but not in such a way as to withdraw into a monastery and destroy the desire to receive.

While the evil inclination is pulling me somewhere, I want to place the Creator before it—His greatness, His eternity, His perfection—as something that surpasses this attraction. I must ask Him to be reveal Himself, to give me strength, and to give me a group that will impart the awareness of His greatness. Then I will not be dragged either to the left or to the right, and with all these inclinations I will nonetheless maintain the direction toward the Creator, toward adhesion with Him.

Thus, we can see that when the evil inclination pulls me toward all kinds of pleasures of various kinds, it actually awakens precisely those directions and methods of work in me through which I build the form of my inclinations toward the Creator. Through this, I build my Partzuf in all its forms, my “Partzuf of holiness.”

That is, the evil inclination does precisely the correct work, both in quantity and in quality, in sequence, in causal order, and in the various forms of its revelation within me. It gives me exactly those temptations which, by inverting them and striving toward the Creator against their background, I thereby add more and more to my “Partzuf of holiness.”
[355298]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person”

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Question:

Answer: Everything that belongs to the “preparatory phase,” prior to entering the spiritual world, first takes material form and then the time comes for its inner fulfillment.

A person goes through two stages. He is born as an animal, and from the moment the “point in the heart” is implanted in him, we start counting his “human” life; the word “man – Adam”  is from the word “Adameh,” which means “I shall become like the upper.” It is a striving that stems from the point in the heart.

If, throughout the course of all his previous incarnations, he existed in this world merely as matter, without a point in the heart, acquiring desires for money, honor, and knowledge, it is completely normal and natural. But none of this counts. There is a certain “accounting” for this, but it has nothing to do with a person’s individual spiritual advancement.

Personal advancement begins the moment he feels his “point in the heart.” From this moment on, his work is called “the time of preparation for entering spirituality.”

The preparatory stage can last 10, 15, or even 20 years, or it could take 5 years, and even, as Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” as little as 3 years. It depends on the person’s efforts. It may be that he will achieve some advancement, and then die until the next reincarnation. And who knows what will happen in this new incarnation. It all depends on his efforts. If he is lucky, he will join the group and increase his pace; if he is not, he will not.

It is said that everything depends on “luck” (Mazal). “Mazal” is from the word “Nozel – flowing.” The faster these drops “flow” into a person, the more his Kli is filled. If they “drip” slowly, a person will have to wait several lifetimes.

So we count the first stage from the appearance of a point in the heart to the entrance into the spiritual world, and the second stage is working in the spiritual world. This process corresponds to manifesting in matter in our world. All these things that correspond to the spiritual roots of the preparatory phase, have already occurred and nothing more is needed. The material realization here precedes the spiritual one.

When we talk about the stages of spiritual work: the correction of the Kli, the construction of the Temple, that is, about the second stage, from the Machsom onward, then spiritual work is required there first, and as a result of this, a person builds the material aspects of his life here, including the Land of Israel, which he develops to the degree he is in the Land of Israel internally.

In the same way the nation is formed according to their spiritual attainment, and finally, a Third Temple is built after a person reaches a state called a Temple.

Thus, the states corresponding to the preparation phase, starting from the point in the heart and up to crossing the Machsom, first occur in the material world, and then in a person, in his inner world. Whereas everything that has to do with the second phase, from the Machsom to the final correction (Gmar Tikun), first occur as spiritual stages within a person, society, and then in the material world.
[355281]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/26, Rabash, “Come unto Pharaoh – 2”

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Question:

Answer: “Goes” means that a person has some urge to advance, when he thinks that in the next state, he will be closer to the Creator, closer to the possibility of bestowing. This means that he has an intention to come to bestowal in some form.

Here there are two states: the present one and the next one, and he is already moving between them, passing from one to the other. Therefore, he is called “one who goes.”

And another sits and appears to be he doing something. This means that he was given the opportunity to come here and sit with us. And still this is also called an “action.”

He has no aspiration to come to something. “Bestowal, adhesion, Creator”; these words can be pronounced just like that, but they do not come from the person’s inner feeling.
[355443]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/26, Rabash, “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

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Question:

Answer: No, it must be very clear. A woman is not a passive element in creation. Although compared to a man, she is more passive, this is only because she cannot independently implement her desire.

However, her desire itself is very necessary for men. And men will feel like men when women begin to feel a need for spiritual development and pressure them with this need. Then it will be like in a family when a wife compels her husband to take care of the family.

Question: How can we ensure that women do not go in the wrong direction?

Answer: In any case, one has to develop somewhere. I am not afraid of anything. And in general, what is there for us to fear? Life is infinite, nature is eternal, the Creator is one, and one force governs us. We are obligated to move only toward it, toward contact with it, and toward similarity with it.

Let us try to pass through all these stages quickly, easily, and pleasantly, as much as possible. The main thing is to constantly try to accelerate the pace of movement toward the goal. That is all.

When I am asked what I like about myself and what I do not, I say: “There is only one thing I like about myself: the striving toward the goal that the Creator gave me.” I must constantly feel pressure: I must, must, must, and feel that I am moving toward the goal, revealing it more and more correctly. I torment myself if I do not carry this through to the end.

Only this desire matters. Everything else is the evil that was also created by the Creator, but there is certainly nothing good in it.

Therefore, we should not pay attention to the various shortcomings that are revealed within us. They will naturally appear, and at the pace at which we move forward, we will feel them even more.

But a strong, good, kind, mature women’s organization, which I demand, will help us go through all the revelations of our internal shortcomings that we do not yet see. And by revealing and correcting them, we will come to the Creator.
[354031]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Women’s Desire” 9/11/10

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Question:

Answer: The spiritual directorate deals with clarifying current issues related to advertising, dissemination, studies, and the functioning of our organization, that is, the framework we exist within. It does not deal with the spiritual fulfillment that I give to the students, nor with the knowledge that I reveal to them every day.

The spiritual directorate cannot replace me as a professional, as a teacher. However, it can, and already does, replace me in all decisions concerning the development of the organization and the group so that there are no arbitrary corporeal decisions or deviations.

These are ordinary people, students who are more or less capable of looking objectively at themselves and the group, and of making decisions, not with clouded eyes, but by rising above themselves toward a collective decision.

They understand that whatever the decision may be, if it is collective, it is higher than even the smartest and most brilliant individual decision, because within it the Creator is present. He is the one who truly governs the world and the group. In an individual, egoistic, even if brilliant decision, the Creator is absent, and therefore it is doomed to fail.

Ordinary people do not yet understand this, especially now, when a global system is beginning to reveal itself in the world and the structure of reality is gradually becoming clear: first through human society, then through ecology, and later through the entire vast universe.

The universe is beginning to appear as a single, complete system of inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human nature. However, we do not know what to do with it because we have no tools to work with such a system. In fact, this system is the most important because it alone governs everything.

In other words, the world is governed by the collective as a whole system. Have you noticed how a school of fish turns in water, all at once, not one leading and the others following, but all together, a whole mass, sometimes hundreds of thousands moving as one? Birds behave the same way.

This example shows the upper governance, not when one makes a decision and others follow, but when the wholeness of the group itself governs. Therefore, I exist not to lead you forward, but so that you form such wholeness. And then, among you, the Creator will be revealed, and He will lead you forward.

Moses was great in that he led the people, yet the Creator went before him, as a pillar of fire at night and as a cloud pillar by day.

A teacher is needed to gather everyone into a collective so that within the group, or even within all humanity, the force called “the Creator” will be revealed, the force that holds everything together, the general force of nature.

It is called the force of bestowal and love because only through this quality can people unite. And when it is revealed, everyone will turn in the same direction simultaneously, feeling themselves as one single body. Then all will understand how reality is structured, and to the extent that they are able to unite, the force of the Creator will be revealed.

Therefore, if the spiritual directorate resolves issues collectively, it will certainly succeed, whereas a single “clever individual” never will.

Question: How can we unite so that the upper force will dwell within us?

Answer: Prefer the collective opinion over your own. This opinion is gradually formed by the friends through discussion, by comparing their goals, plans, capabilities, and analyses with what is written in the sources, and for this, it is enough to know a few of the simplest principles.

Any group can do this if it is capable. Unfortunately, there are many “clever” individuals who understand the material very well, but cannot yet get to a collective approach. Therefore, they are not part of the spiritual directorate.
[353886]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Meaning of Spiritual Direction” 9/11/10

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Question:

Answer: Yes, this can happen. But I do not think people will be precisely oriented toward Kabbalah; most likely it will be toward connection. They will subconsciously feel that it is specifically the search for connection among them that should produce some kind of result, something higher, which should lead them to something else—non-earthly, interplanetary—to a higher intelligence.

Comment: Then what is the point of our attempts to disseminate something on a mass scale so that someone hears the concept of Kabbalah? It seems we are not really disseminating but simply cluttering up the Internet.

My Response: No! Why? Gradually, people read. Can you explain how you came to such a state that today you understand this idea at least a little? Here, you are sitting and disturbing the peace of mind of good people with your questions. How did you get to this?

Comment: In the same way, yes.

My Response: So, what do you want? Why are you taking this opportunity away from them?

Comment: Then it turns out that dissemination is not useless, but you claim that we are filling people with empty content.

My Response: If it were useless, I would not be with you at all. I would be doing something else. Dissemination is necessary. There is nothing you can do about it.

Question: Still, we want to give a strong injection through our dissemination so that it produces some kind of resonance. Do you think there is any benefit from what we are doing? Are there any methods to improve all this before we reach strong unity?

Answer: Undoubtedly, there is a benefit. Undoubtedly, it can be improved. Only dissemination will lead us to finding the correct approach, the method for correcting humanity. There is no other way!
Humanity must be raised because it advances very slowly.

Question: So whether we want it or not, we must enter into external contact with the general public?

Answer: Yes. Baal HaSulam spoke about the need to write books, to disseminate, to open new learning centers.

Comment: But still, as you say, thought lies at the foundation of everything! It does not matter whether there exists some kind of center, but suddenly, unexpectedly, a thought appears in a person. He does not know where it comes from.

My Response: Naturally. But in order to create a serious field of thoughts, we must first involve a huge number of people who, through their small efforts, would create this field.
[354146]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. What’s inside?” 10/10/10

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Question:

Answer: It is with your emptiness that you fill the world.

Question: But mustn’t there be some kind of solution?

Answer: The solution will appear when you become filled with the Creator. Then there will be a different kind of dissemination. The world will begin to feel that one unified force that resides in you. And the world will begin to go crazy, but in a good sense, because people will suddenly develop a new sensation, and everyone, all across different continents and in various countries, will start talking in different languages about the fact that there is one single governance, one single thought, one single force.

Here and there, all kinds of aspirations, disputes, expressions, opinions, and articles will suddenly begin to appear, and people will begin to perceive this and take it into account.

From within humanity, a new common opinion will emerge—the need to communicate in this way and feel others. People will begin to subconsciously understand that through unification, they can achieve something very special.

They will understand that, being united, they need to dig within, and they will find happiness there, a new idea, some kind of way out of the situation. “Instead of engaging in politics, undermining each other, trying to deceive, let us, on the contrary, try to connect, and there, within our unity, we will find a solution to all problems.” That is what everything will be moving toward.

Question: Is this similar to the feeling when a person with a point in the heart encounters Kabbalah for the first time?

Answer: Yes, it will manifest in people, but not in aspiration for Kabbalah; rather, it will be toward this idea, that the idea of unity must produce a new solution from itself, one that is completely irrational, that we cannot determine, attain, or derive with our minds in some equation.

Only if we strive toward one another, and within this common striving—there, where each can break free from his egoism and create some kind of common desire, a common field, something higher, above our reason—we will suddenly perceive a new mind, a new solution, completely different, not from our level.
[354142]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. What’s inside?” 10/10/10

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What does it mean to follow Moses, after all, he is on a spiritual level, and the people are on the material level?

First of all, you must make a restriction (Tzimtzum) on your own Kelim. As a consequence of this, you connect with everyone else, specifically with the several million others just like you who exist on your level. Only after you have given up your egoism can connect with Moses. Before that, you were not able to do that.

The exodus from Egypt occurs when you join Moses, not at his high level, but only at the level of self-annulment. This is called the state of spiritual birth; it is when it is enough for you simply to follow him with your eyes closed.

Moses walks in front of everyone with his eyes open, leaning on his staff. He knows where to go and how to lead the people. And he is not the only one; there are also others accompanying him on the way like Nahshon, who was the first to jump into the sea, and others.

But your annulments toward Moses should be like you are a baby relative to an adult, that is enough. A small child does not know where his father is leading him. It is enough for him to grasp his father’s hand and he will be certain that he will surely lead him to a good place.

In order to reach the level of Moses, it is necessary to cross the Machsom, enter the Land of Israel, and go through many more stages. Moses is on a very high spiritual degree; he is the greatest among the prophets.

But when he was with all the people in Egypt, he himself was already no longer on the degree of “Egypt” but on the degree of the “Land of Israel.” That is why he does not enter the Land of Israel together with all the people. He is already beyond this degree, above it.
[355250]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/26, Rabash, “Come unto Pharaoh – 2”

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Question:

Answer: To descend to a lower level means following bodily desires. At some point, each of us feels the urge to run away and hide in some quiet, warm, peaceful corner. When I am in trouble, I think, “I want nothing, not even something good. I want to utterly limit my desires just not to feel anything.”

As soon as there is an opportunity to get something and feel good, a desire instantly arises to get more and more, to the point that a person wants to consume the whole world. Whereas in a difficult moment, all desires disappear except one: Give me some quiet corner, just so I can be at peace.

It all depends on the external conditions a person finds oneself in. We should not think about our desires, because at the right moment, you will feel the right desire. We should only think about how to make the external conditions awaken us more.

Everything that a person feels in every state, at any stage, from the lowest to the highest, is a sensation of the Creator. There is nothing else to feel except Him. The sensation of the Creator in our current state is called our world. Because our senses, our Kelim, are opposite to Him, we feel this world is so bad. But to the extent we succeed in reaching similarity of properties with the Creator, our sensations will become better.

We should not talk about the size of our Kelim. We should be concerned about their nature.
[355135]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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Question:

Answer: In other words, you are ready to make efforts, understanding that it is impossible to achieve anything without them, and you want to verify that your efforts are headed in the right direction.

Efforts must be directed toward building a spiritual desire, a vessel, for the revelation of light. Light has the quality of bestowal; therefore, I also need to work on my egoism in order to overcome it and bring myself to the action of bestowal, to the quality of bestowal, to somehow get closer to it.

When I try to approach bestowal, I reveal resistance both from myself and from others. I see that I forget about it, I do not really strive for it, it is not my natural, innate desire.

Then my efforts take on a specific character so that I do not forget about the spiritual goal and constantly, within the right environment, imagine it before me. I try to influence my friends externally; I resort to all kinds of tricks in order to remain within the common desire, to feel it, to inspire others from the outside and from the inside with my thought, with my desire.

And if I make such efforts and see that I have no strength and nothing helps, then I involuntarily begin to think about the Creator. Just like that, on its own, this does not occur to me. But if I have made enough efforts, then in the end, I will remember that I need help from above. I am ready to ask: let Him help me and come with me!

This is called: “Come unto Pharaoh!” I agree that He should join me or I should join Him. And then we go together to shatter my ego, the ego that prevents me from connecting with others.

This is how a person begins to work, and inside the work, one already reveals what needs to be done next. But the correctness of efforts is always verified by whether they are directed inside the group.
[43381]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/11, Baal HaSulam, Letter 56, 1931

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah”)

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Question:

Answer: Genuine independence does not mean having the possibility to do whatever I want without considering anyone. We exist within the framework of nature in which two forces operate. The general force of nature is positive and giving; it created the entire world and it created the second force in opposition to itself: the negative, egoistic force.

It is precisely between these two forces that the created being can exist and feel itself as independent. The positive and negative forces rule over us, and therefore are considered the upper forces of nature. A person who is between them possesses freedom of choice as to which force to join.

This is called the middle line, when I know the positive and the negative forces, and freely choose which of them to regard as good and evil and which force will rule.

At the very moment I establish balance between these two forces, as if on the pans of a scale, I can be considered independent. For now neither the good nor the evil force, neither plus nor minus, is acting on me, and I myself determine the middle line.

Freedom is the dream of all nations, of all humanity, of all creation. It is only for the sake of striving for freedom that all electrons move, trees grow, flowers bloom, and beasts roam the forest in constant search.

People, animals, plants, and even stones all seek to attain such a balance that nothing will press upon them. Only then can one feel oneself living freely.

Of all the created beings—inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human—only the people of Israel have the key to this freedom and balance, that is, to independence. This is the key to that point toward which all parts of creation are directed.

This key is found in Kabbalah, in the inner part of the Torah. The people of Israel are capable of taking this key and, with its help, finding the equilibrium desired by all, the zero mark on the scale, in order to feel themselves independent and to show this path to all humanity.

Then the people of Israel will reach their proper realization. For this the state of Israel was created, and this is exactly what all the nations of the world are waiting for from us. And if we do not bring them this feeling of independence and freedom, this feeling of balance, then they feel their sharp dependence on us, and therefore hate the Jews and accuse us of hiding the possibility of a happy life from them .

Therefore the independence of the people of Israel is the basis of objective, true, and complete independence. And all other forms of independence that exist among the nations and among all other parts of nature depend on the people of Israel. We must understand to what extent the realization of our true freedom lies in our hands and obligates us to attain it for the sake of everyone.
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From KabTV’s conversation “New Life 551 – What Is True Independence?,” 4/12/15

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A person is born and exists in this world in order to attain independence from his nature, to break away from the inanimate level, from the desire to enjoy, and to build a form opposite to it.

This is what it means to become independent of the previous degree. The next degree does not exist in a ready‑made form that one can see and study to take an example from. There is no one for us to imitate. We can only strive for opposite qualities, and in this way we will build the next degree.

Each time desires and thoughts change and grow, and a person can work in order to build himself as independent of them. He develops more and more on the animate degree. This is no longer the simple animal he was born as. More and more egoism, the evil inclination, is revealed in him. But the evil was created so that above it we would build the opposite, spiritual degree, the good inclination, the human.

The human degree is characterized by the fact that it demands connection with others, in contrast to the animate degree where everyone feels himself ever more separate and distant from others. And at the same time, on the animate level it seems to him that by distancing himself from everyone he attains independence.

But in order to build myself on the human degree, I must annul myself and connect with everyone. And the question arises: where then is independence here? On the contrary, I neglect myself for the sake of others. This is the complete opposite.

We must realize how insignificant the animate independence to which we strive by the orders of nature is. And independence on the human degree is the striving to carry out the instructions of the higher force. We build our likeness to the higher to the extent that we can rise above our animate nature.

It is said: “Man and beast You save, O Creator.” Both these degrees rise, support one another, and together build independence from nature, from the desire to enjoy. In this way we attain the goal of creation, for the sake of which the Creator creates everything with an egoistic desire—so that above it we will build the human degree, Adam, similar to the Creator, in adhesion, in mutual support, in connection between all desires.

Everything that Baal HaSulam said about the people of Israel almost a hundred years ago is relevant even today. We really are like “nuts in a sack” because we hold together by compulsion, under the influence of external negative forces. No one knows the great mission of this people, which still has to be revealed. And therefore we envy all the other peoples who have the right to exist on their own land, which no one disputes.

But the Jews are such a special people to whom no other people in the world relates positively. This is a special phenomenon. And the people of Israel themselves, within themselves, are not able to unite naturally; they feel inner disunity.

And even non‑Jews in whom the point in the heart has awakened, the aspiration to connect with the higher force, which brings them to the study of Kabbalah, also reveal how different and far from each other they are. They have no desire to come closer to others.

It does not matter to which people they belong in the material world, but as soon as they unite in a group engaged in spiritual advancement, they immediately become similar to the people of Israel: just as disunited. Each group is like a sack of nuts, which grind against one another, and do not want to unite.

This is a manifestation of the same nature, both in the people of Israel and in Kabbalistic groups all over the world who wish to draw closer to the Creator. From this it is clear that the Jews are not a people, but also, in the past, a group of Kabbalists. Once they were on a spiritual degree, and were able to overcome separation and unite. Later they fell from this height, and now exist in an opposite form.

We must study our spiritual state from its opposite, which exists today. For the further we develop and try to be together, the worse we succeed at it. But we must rejoice that the evil is being revealed, our true nature. This nature is not an ordinary one; it is much worse than that of all other peoples because it comes from the breaking.

All the others have an ordinary, animate nature that strives for material well‑being for their body. But the people of Israel, by their attempts to unite and by studying Kabbalah, consciously or unconsciously awaken the upper light that returns to the source, and in this way they reveal the breaking, the absence of unity, of spirituality. And therefore anti‑spiritual qualities that are opposite to the Creator are revealed in us.

We must clarify and understand them, and relate to them with great respect because it is precisely above these consequences of the breaking, of corruption, of separation from the spiritual and from unity that we must build the corrected state. All these states that are opposite to unity and correction, as well as those that support unity, belong to the human degree. Therefore we must value them and work on them.

Correction relates only to the human degree. It demands our unity and closeness in opinions and sensations. Although no one gives up his opinion and feelings, the connection takes place above them, into “one man with one heart,” as in the first man, Adam HaRishon. The last, finally corrected man will be the same. The revelation of the past breaking points to the future correction.

Therefore today we are a special group, a new people, the people of the Creator, who are trying to revive themselves from the dust.

There are nations—that is, such desires to enjoy—that are united on the animate degree. They feel closeness and understanding according to their material qualities, and therefore they feel good together. Each one feels that it is worthwhile for him to belong to this group, to his people.

There are 70 such nations of the world, groups, each of which is characterized by its own spirit, degree of unity, level of existence, character, and physical genes. People naturally feel their belonging to one of the groups. Even if hatred arises between them, it is purely material, and does not relate to the spiritual.

But at the same time a group can exist on a higher degree, thanks to unification by a special goal. This goal is not natural, it is above material nature: to unite above one’s egoism. Here two opposites combine.

On the one hand, there is a negative connection between them because no one feels himself obliged to this group or bound to it. But on the other hand, they are united by a goal that is set artificially.

The common goal creates a common space for them because only by uniting together can they attain this exalted, lofty goal. And then they will be called a special people, not according to material DNA, but according to the spiritual genes (Reshimot) awakening in them.

Such a group, by attaining a new type of unity in contrast to the natural, material separation, is called the people of Israel (Yisra‑El) because it wants to become similar to the Creator (Yashar‑Kel), the higher force. It already possesses a new nature, a new essence.

From generation to generation it attempts to attain the higher force, and for this to create a method, to establish traditions in accordance with the higher force—holidays, special days, physical commandments in accordance with its spiritual attainment.

That is, a unity is formed according to spiritual laws. In history there appears a group of people who establish laws and traditions for themselves in accordance with the higher source.

Every people has its own traditions, but the traditions of the people of Israel correspond to spiritual degrees that were either attained in the past or designated for the future as “a sign for the sons.” These traditions remind a person of the spiritual degrees that he has yet to attain.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 5/9/19, “Independence Day”

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The ladder of spiritual attainment is within us, whereas my present degree exists externally.

Starting from the outermost sphere (which is currently revealed to me and constitutes my present state), all the spheres are nested one within another, ever deeper and deeper, up to the innermost central point, the state of my final correction.

Therefore the Torah recounts the story of the ladder that appeared to Jacob in a dream that depicted its specific form. It is described precisely as a ladder, not as some spheres or other form, although it could have been described that way too. The sages chose to represent this specific state because it corresponds to the relationship between the branch and the root.

Jacob lies on the ground, falls asleep, disconnects from his current reality, and then he sees, the entire ladder rising to the very heavens beginning from the lowest rung. Who is Jacob? He is Abraham, who acquired the Aviut of Isaac and now is able to work with it in the middle line.

This simple picture can be given to everyone; it explains that the only way to transcend one’s present state it to rise to a higher degree. The higher you rise, the better it will be for you. This applies both to us personally and to the entire nation. By what means can this be done? This is what Baal HaSulam explains at the end of the “Preface to The Book of Zohar.” The means is one and the same for the individual, for the entire people, and for the whole world.

And we should not be resent that the Creator placed us in such harsh conditions. Terrible reports are broadcast on television, but has this stirred anyone from their place? No.

One can say, of course, that these unfortunate people simply do not know that there is such a solution to the problem, that no one has explained it to them. First of all we must accept that these Kelim, these states, come to us from above, that they are sent to us by the Creator. And then, in light of this knowledge, a person gradually begins to reveal a possible way out and to understand that, apparently, since the cause lies with Him, then the solution must also be in Him.

In the days of King David there were wars. At that time, they battled hand‑to‑hand, with spears, swords, and bows and arrows, and up to 100,000 people could die in a single day! War is war. Everything depends on how one looks at it.

Of course, for us in this world every killing is a tragedy. But we must understand that above they do not take bodies into account the way we do. From above, the reckoning centers on the intensity of the inner experience one undergoes through that body. If we lose 40 people in a week and this does not shifte our consciousness, then it is as if we have not lost anyone at all.

For what is measured is the degree of your grief, how it awakens you, what the results are; and if it has not awakened you, then it is as though you have lost nothing, as though you have felt nothing. The real system of evaluation is very strict.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection Between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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What is the difference between wanting to receive something good right now in the state I am in and believing it would be better for me if I were to rise to a higher state, to a higher degree?

The most essential difference is whether I understand that only by drawing closer to the Creator will I feel good. It is precisely this that we must acquire now.

A person needs to picture a spiritual ladder that raises him from this world to the final correction and to understand that all the rungs are in a constant, stable state. Each rung has its own conditions.

The conditions in which a person is now are bad only because such is the nature of this rung. And accordingly, nothing good can be for him now. Rising to the next rung means being saved from the bad that exists on the previous one.

Then he will already be thinking about how to rise from rung to rung, how to draw the surrounding light, and for this he needs to study and believe that it will help him, and at the same time, seek the support of the group.

Therefore we must diligently study the method of Kabbalah. Without it we might be tempted to define the spiritual ladder merely as a series of inner states within a person rather some structure that rests on this earth and reaches heaven. We must conclude that it consists entirely of my own inner states.

But if I think like this, I can lose all the necessary vital prerequisites: the necessity of drawing the surrounding light, the indispensable need for a group, and the imperative to strive upward in order to draw closer to the Creator. I would no longer have a sharp, clear understanding; instead everything would become vague and indistinct.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”

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Comment:

My Response: Of course, because it is an enormous force, an enormous desire. How can the egoism of one small, insignificant little person be compared with the egoism of such a vast, base, egoistic mass as my students at the lesson?

On one hand, they are coarser, more disillusioned, more empty, and on the other hand, are intensely directed toward the goal. Ultimately these forces combine and reinforce each other.

And most importantly, the questions are asked collectively; all the vectors of desires converge and intertwine.

Naturally, this is a completely different kind of clarification. How can one person be compared with the masses? Next to them, you are an angel.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Questions in a Lesson” 9/29/10

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We cannot rise above what we feel.

Question: So do we want this suffering?

Answer: Yes, we are used to it, we are in it. And this is the problem.

Comment: But this is actually an anti-life.

My Response: That is where we are.

Question: We are not living, are we?

Answer: We are not.

Comment: This is a total revolution—us wanting suffering.

My Response: Our whole history, of all people in general, is just a continuous
stream of suffering.

Comment: But we think we have been led into this. It is even written in the Torah: “Go and suffer.” By and large, it says that you will suffer. That is, we do not attribute it to ourselves; it is not us who want it, we have been launched into this cycle of suffering. It is not our fault. But you say that it lives in us.

My Response: I think it is our fault. We do not wish to rise from this level. We do not want to!

Question: So the whole task is to want to?

Answer: To want to turn it all around, to get out of this knot of suffering.

Question: What should one do to achieve this?

Answer: To achieve this, a person must stop hating others and bring himself closer to them. Then everything will change. I think we just need to forbid people from suffering, because doing so causes suffering in the world. Wake up and sing!

Question: “Wake up and sing.” That is, if it hurts you, wake up and sing. That very song: “Wake up and sing, try it for once in your life…”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What should we figure out? What is in front of us? What is it?

Answer: The Creator! Nothing else! He makes such scenes and visions for us all the time so that we are constantly afraid and so that we would gradually come to understand these mirages.

Question: So, my desire for suffering should transition into the fact that before me is a…?

Answer: A mirage.

Question: And I have no right to suffer, you say?

Answer: No! As soon as you start suffering, it turns into some kind of corporeal actions or scenes.

Comment: Wars, and so on.

My Response: Yes. But if you do not allow suffering, everything gets better.

Question: And then I slowly begin to see the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: When you say “the Creator,” what do you mean? What is before me, before us?

Answer: The force that controls the world, us, that wants to bring us to the realization of the right state of nature and ourselves.

Question: What is it?

Answer: Joy!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/13/26

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We are constantly advancing.

If it seems to us that we are falling, this is not a descent, but rather an accumulation of empty Kelim that later will receive their fulfillment. In this constant forward movement, a person needs absolutely everything they have. It may seem to you that something is hindering you on your way, but in reality, you are unable to advance without your “Pharaoh,” without egoism.

Pharaoh is all your Kelim. If they are not corrected by you, then what are you going to use for your advancement? Every time you take from him, correct it and advance. All the obstacles that exist in your head, along with the sense of powerlessness you feel, occur precisely when you are obtaining new, empty Kelim. However, this is an acquisition, and you must remember this,  you must believe in this, even if you feel that it is literally death: They can kill me, but I am unable to move.

Do you think that someone is going through this path in a different way? I used to have states when Rabash would call me and say “you should come.” But I was sitting home and crying because I was unable to move a bit and leave the house. I was not capable of getting up, getting in the car, coming to him, and taking him for a walk to the park.

Different things happen to a person, he goes through a great variety of states. We have to believe, just believe, that difficulties help because we are unable to see or know. Later on, you reveal that this is what happens, after all, you can justify everything only later.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/22/26, Rabash, “What Is the ‘Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man’ in the Work?”

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Question:

If evolution is embedded in nature as a gradual movement toward a goal, why do entire species suddenly disappear while processes of development and destruction occur simultaneously?

Answer: One cannot exist without the other; there is no life without death. We are in a process of evolution that includes both development and destruction. In nature, everything operates according to a precise, deterministic law that advances it toward its final goal of development, as it is said: “The final goal is already embedded in the initial design.”

Without this, development would be impossible because it is necessary from the outset to determine where this development is heading and what defines each subsequent form. Each new form must already be potentially embedded in the previous one and only realized from it in practice. Everything is far more complex than it appears in our world where it seems that a man and a woman simply meet and produce offspring.

But where did they come from? What caused them to meet and give birth to exactly such children? All of this was originally embedded in potential, but this information is hidden from us. Although there are “psychics” who claim to reveal it and predict future events.

Future forms already exist and, in principle, can be revealed. But they are hidden from people so as not to deprive us of free choice. Knowledge of the future would turn us into robots. To prevent us from acting automatically, the future is concealed from us.

Evolution cannot advance correctly if the next form is unknown to it. Evolution is not guided by temporary conditions of what is better or worse in a given situation, as scientists assume. Science can reveal only mechanical and biological changes, that is, those already materialized, but not the potential causes that brought about these changes.

Kabbalah, however, reveals these potential causes and explains where development is heading and what its future form will be. Therefore, to understand the inner mechanisms of evolution, it is necessary to study the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Then we will learn why the matter of this world was created and what forms it must go through as it materializes from its initially embedded potential. Kabbalah allows us to understand everything that happens with our world and with us: everything that was and everything that will be.

The disappearance of species is not destruction but a change of forms. Some forms are born and exist for a certain time in order to give rise to more advanced forms. Then the previous form continues to live within the more advanced form that emerged from it.

And within us, too, there are small “dinosaurs.” It does not matter that they became extinct 66 million years ago, because our memory carries information from the very beginning of the universe, billions of years before our time.
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From KabTV’s conversation “New Life 931 – Evolution: The Next Stage,” 12/12/17

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Question:

Answer: The Creator, who will be revealed between you if you remain together. But if you do not remain together, you will fall apart. That is all.

The role of the spiritual leadership is to call for unity. It cannot issue commands; it can only determine and say: “We must unite, we must unite.”

If you heed its words, the Creator will reveal Himself within your unity and you will learn from Him and from no one else.

There is not a single one of my students who can replace me. Only together, as equals.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. In the union” 9/11/10

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