Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 155

If “There Is None Else Besides Him” and Everything Comes from Above, Where Are a Person’s Own Powers?

A person’s powers are found in the structure of their soul.

In what way is one person different from another? Both possess the same qualities, but in each individual they exist in different measures and interconnections with other qualities. Every person has a unique structure of animate qualities of this world that we call character; where one is spendthrift, another hot-tempered, another fearful, another kindhearted, and so on. The difference between people is in the degree to which they use these qualities to attain the goal. This determines their level. That is, the coarseness (Aviut) of the screen (Masach).

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When the Creator said to Abraham to circumcise himself, Abraham consulted with his friends (Rabash, “And the Lord Appeared to Him at the Oaks of Mamre”).

“Circumcision” in spiritual work means that a person no longer uses his desire to receive, and if he does use it, it is only for the sake of bestowal.

The circumcision of the foreskin (Orlah) signifies that a person passes from being a gentile (Goy) to becoming a Jew (Yehudi), one who works in unity with the Creator (beYechud). In other words, everything he does from that state onward will be solely for equivalence of form with Him.

Although this is performed from above by Aba ve Ima (father and mother), and is carried out upon a small person, from this state of Katnut (smallness) onward, as he grows into each greater state, he will develop as a Yehudi.

Question: But Abraham circumcised himself. Does that mean that everyone must perform the spiritual circumcision on themselves?

Answer: Abraham’s case is different because he was a patriarch, a soul of the highest order. As for the other souls, indeed, there were other such cases described in the Tanakh, where people circumcised themselves at a very advanced age, but this still requires further study.

After circumcision, a person no longer faces the same disturbances that existed before. Then an entirely different kind of work begins in which he uses his transgressions (both the intentional and unintentional mistakes) that he committed in the past. He uses what belonged to the past, but now those transgressions are no longer present in him.

Question: Then what was Abraham regretting?

Answer: The point is that it seems impossible to unite good and evil together. At any given moment, you are in one or the other, either in the bad or in the good. I say “it seems impossible” because later it actually becomes possible. But at this stage, you cannot yet connect the coarsest animalistic desire with the highest intention.

For example, while you are enjoying delicious food, try to begin thinking about spirituality. Or while you are completely absorbed in receiving an animalistic pleasure, suddenly begin thinking about the Creator. One seems to extinguish the other.

This is exactly what happens: a bitter regret arises from the fact that it is not yet possible to unite these two extremes. But later, they do indeed become united.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/13/26, Rabash, “And the Lord Appeared to Him at the Oaks of Mamre”

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The state in which a person acquires the ability to go by faith above reason is called Rosh HaShanah (New Year). This means that he reaches the peak of all his states and reveals the Creator’s name, Tzvaot (Lord of Hosts). That is, a person has gone through all the states of ascents and descents, called “Tze” and “Bo,” which together form the name Tzvaot (plural of Tzava [Hebrew], “host” or “army”).

When a person goes through these states, he becomes like a soldier: from “Tze” (a descent), he enters the state of “Bo” (an ascent). In this way, he builds an army (Tzava) within himself by overcoming disturbances through faith above reason.

These disturbances are called the Mount Esau. A mountain (Har) comes from the word “Hirurim” (thoughts, reflections), which arise according to the root of the soul and its structure. When a person overcomes these disturbances through faith above reason, he passes from Mount Esau to Mount Zion. This means that from descents he passes to ascents.

Through working with thoughts above reason, a person acquires the force of Bina. Therefore, he is called Israel (Yashar-El), straight to the Creator, because he receives this directness of intention in striving toward the Creator from Bina. Then, from the revelation of the Creator’s general governance (the king of the whole world), a person comes to the Creator’s personal governance (the king of Israel).

The king of the whole world he attains consciously, through the Creator’s actions that he sees. But the king of Israel he attains through the work of faith above reason. It is revealed to him that all the states he has gone through were given by the Creator. Then, from Mount Zion, he ascends to Jerusalem, from the Malchut of Zion to the Malchut of Jerusalem.

The completion of this state, in which he reveals that the Creator is the king of the entire earth, that is, of all his desires, both past and present, and verifies within all his desires that he is adhered to the Creator, is called Rosh Hashanah. Rosh (head) is the highest state among all those he has passed through within the desires of the soul.

This is the meaning of the holiday of Rosh HaShanah. On the one hand, it can be said that it is the beginning of something new, the beginning of an ascent, a state that stands above all corrections. On the other hand, it is the summary of what a person has gone through during the year, the result of correcting all the desires of the soul. When a person reaches such a state, it means that he has attained Rosh HaShanah.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

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Comment: When a person who is thirsty finally receives water, he drinks and experiences pleasure without feeling any connection to the Creator. At that moment he has a great Aviut (coarseness of desire) because his enjoyment is so great.

My Response: You are speaking about an animal that is thirsty, and enjoys drinking when it receives water. This is not the subject of Kabbalah.

The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about intentions, not about receiving something in an animalistic way, without intention. Kabbalah explains how one works above the Machsom (spiritual barrier). What exists below the Machsom is called “nature,” and there is no need to discuss it. Leave that to psychologists. What concern is it of ours how the animal exists? It exists entirely under the dominion of nature, and there is no benefit in that for it, nor any possibility of change. And if at this moment I have no ability to change my nature, why should I occupy myself with it?

It is better not to dwell on my present nature in this world—how I am built, how my cells function, how my liver, brain, and other organs work—because I am unable to change these things. It is a waste of time. It is better to study how I can change myself, elevate myself, and bring myself to true fulfillment. That is far more worthwhile.

There are already eight billion people occupied with this life, who think that they can change something within it. If I am not like them, nothing terrible will happen.

This is what people spend their lives doing, believing that they can change something, until they are eventually buried. Why devote oneself to that? The real challenge is to stop and determine what can truly produce a result, what is useless, what is worth engaging in, and what is not.

There is no benefit in endlessly analyzing your present nature because you will only consume yourself with questions such as: “Why am I like this? Why is the world like this?” And then what? You will blame the Creator, and remain exactly as you are, except that now you will also have a headache, an ulcer, and other troubles.

In Kabbalistic terms, the focus should not be on what is governed entirely by nature, but on the one point where freedom exists: the possibility of acquiring an intention above the desire to receive. That is the place where spiritual work begins.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/26, Rabash, “Why Is the Torah Called ‘Middle Line’ in the Work? – 1”

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