Comment: We say that the surrounding lights cause all kinds of clarifications in us.

My Response: The light awakens the Kli (vessel). The light corrects the Kli. We only have to give it a reason to do so.

Comment: We say that only the light can correct me because on one hand, it will not do anything until I want it to, and on the other hand, only it can awaken this desire in me.

My Response: You can continue further, and it will be the same. These are precisely our states: ascents, descents, and all kinds of relationships. This is exactly what happens! Either the Kli or the light is revealed, either this or that. That is all! There is nothing else.

The only question is whether we need to be so clever as to know the details of the process we are going through, and if I suddenly do not know some detail of this process, then, God forbid, will I not be able to go through it? That is the question!

Does our knowledge push us to go through this process, while our lack of knowledge stops us? No! Suppose some psychologist or philosopher sits here. They might quickly grasp what we are talking about, and after just a few lessons they could explain it and juggle the terminology so skillfully, like a veritable Elijah the Prophet, that you would be spellbound.

Meanwhile, next to him might be someone who has difficulty understanding what we are talking about, and is himself so internally crude and emotionally undeveloped that he simply cannot feel what is being said in the lesson. So what?! This is completely unimportant!

Two such people can sit next to each other. One is literally Shimon from the marketplace, not Rabbi Shimon as he was. And this poor Shimon from the market can barely grasp what is written in the article, and is in some kind of fog. And the second, let us say, is a finely sensitive intellectual, who understands everything, and who easily plays with words on any subject.

There is absolutely no connection between this and their advancement because everything depends on the effort! If this crude, uneducated person gives his all, and completely devotes himself to the work, then only his efforts are counted! While that clever, refined person who grasps everything on the fly may not put in enough effort, and he does not need to. It is difficult for him to invest himself because he does not feel that there is anything here to invest in.

It is not that he is uninterested or that he feels disdain. He simply does not see the challenges or the scope for action. But in fact, everything proceeds according to the calculation of effort and nothing else.

It turns out that a philosopher with a sensitive nature is actually unhappy because he was not given sufficient Aviut (desire, need) from above, and a lot of time will pass until he begins to receive it.

If he remains steadfast in his studies, he will, of course, come to the state of Shimon from the marketplace, and begin from there. We often see this among us. This is why Kabbalah is in demand in our very materialistic, crude, egoistic generation, and not in previous generations, who felt the divine presence in everything. For them, this was clear and natural. It was very easy for them to establish a correspondence between the material and spiritual worlds.

They performed all the commandments. Do you know how to perform the commandments connected with the land? It is something frightening: some 300 to 400 commandments. And the commandments connected with the Temple? They had pure inner sensations, and therefore they did not need Kabbalah; they did not make efforts. But with us, it is the opposite.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called “Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

Until the final correction, we do not touch the “stony heart.” We only build a readiness for its correction in the form of negation.

Let’s imagine that the same process occurs even before the Machsom (barrier). We build a readiness to correct the Masach (screen) over our desire to receive through a form of negation. What qualities do we need to examine so that later we will be able to receive the light of Messiah from above, the light that will pull us out of this world into the spiritual world?

Later at the final correction, we receive the light of Messiah, which pulls us from the second restriction to the first restriction. That is it! Go figure it out! What do you need? What conditions are required? It takes many years of effort to bring you to this. It is as though you are “chewing over” the same articles and letters again and again.

In my time, none of this existed. When Rabash began writing his articles, it was already 1983 – 1984. His first articles were published in 1984. Before that, there was only the book Sefer HaHakdamot (The Book of Introductions), and that was it, nothing else. Moreover, we did not study it. We studied only The Study of the Ten Sefirot. If you wanted to, you could read the introductions on your own!

The fact that we “chew over” all these texts is very beneficial for making clarifications. However, we must try to bring them into the heart, that is, to read in such a way that they touch our revealed, exposed desires. As Rabash said: “They give you medicine, a bottle of medicine. But instead of drinking it, you rub it on your leg. You did not understand what the doctor told you, and you get the corresponding result.”

We need to perceive all these things as closely as possible in relation to our desires. While we are reading and listening, we should try to connect what we are reading with what is happening inside us. Then, gradually, it penetrates the heart.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/30/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called ‘Good Deeds’ in the Work?”

Question: Our task is to increase the awareness of the importance of the Creator in others. I am obliged to do this toward the friends. But what about myself?

Answer: You are obliged to increase the awareness of the importance of the Creator in others. But you cannot do this for yourself, only in relation to others.

And the friends, in turn, will do the same for you. You are not the master of your desire. We are not speaking about whether you want to, but about your performing such actions in relation to the friends, even if feigned or reluctantly, since in relation to them you are able to do this.

You might ask sharp questions concerning us and our path here, and while conducting lessons in your external group be full of enthusiasm. These are two poles, but this is possible. This is how each of us must act. I too sometimes have states that are not noticeable from the outside.

Comment: When you are in front of a group, it is easier.

My Response: Of course, in relation to others you can do anything, for here your pride and honor come into play. Your ego works; the desire to receive helps you. And so, you are told: use the desire to receive in such a form; give society your “lie” and society will give you its own, and then you react to the falsehood of society as though it were true. You will accept it as the truth.

Question: And still, is it possible to establish some laws?

Answer: It is possible. Do what you want. The main thing is—do. Let us introduce the position of a duty head of the group, and let them change every day. Throughout today’s day, you take care to determine for us the importance of the Creator, how we must think and act. Begin; today you are responsible. Try it.

In fact, this is how everyone must act, and every day.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

Each one believes that it is impossible to be a perfect human being, so in general, he thinks that he is complete, and when he looks at his friends he sees their faults, that they are not all right.

He, on the other hand, is fine (Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”).

Whatever we do here is still part of the corporeal world, and there is only one path by which a person rises into spirituality: love of friends. Many articles have been written and many words have been spoken about the love of friends. What, in the current state of our group, should a person focus on now as something that will actually be beneficial?

I need only one thing. Not now and not later, but always, because even a month from now nothing will have changed compared with today. The work will be the same: recognizing the greatness of the goal, the greatness of connection with the Creator, the only thing worth living for and worth paying any price for.

On Saturday, when you made a toast at the meal, you said: “There is nothing left to give to the Creator, only my soul. I have already given everything and have seen that none of it is worth anything, that it has not even reached its destination. The only thing I have left is my soul. It is mine, and I give it.”

This is the awareness that the group must instill in me. Everything begins and ends with awareness of the importance of the Creator, because our entire path is directed toward Him. If He is not important to me, I will begin to turn in every direction—through 359 of the 360 degrees, excluding that one true direction.

Only one direction leads to Him. All the other directions are my “domain of the many,” where I turn toward fulfilling my own desires, cravings, passions, and deficiencies. Therefore, if I want to leave the central point, the “stony heart,” my point in the heart, and move toward Him and attain Him, then from the very beginning I must set the goal in my sights. And I will be able to keep it in my awareness, my attention, and my focus only if it is important to me.

How can it become important to me? It can become important only if the group tells me that it is important, tells me a thousand times over, because I do not see its importance. I will never start looking for it, because how can I search for something that I do not see, do not feel, and cannot perceive?

The group must give this to me. Here are both the beginning and the end of the work. Nothing changes: one must constantly raise the importance of the Creator through all the degrees, in this world and in the future. There is nothing besides this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

From initially saying “there is none else besides Him,” and then striving to become similar to this through “if I am not for myself, who is for me,” when I examine and see how opposite I am to the Creator, then a demand toward Him comes to me: a prayer. But prayer does not mean that I ask or give thanks. A request and gratitude merely signifies that I have reached a definition of the true state, that I have completed the analysis of my current place. Nothing more is needed.

The moment I truly discern my state may be termed a request, a prayer, or repentance; what it is called doesn’t matter. But when I reach this final sensation, then it changes, and I do not need to say anything.

Prayer is defined as the deepest sensation in the heart. After many thoughts, clarifications, and changes, I arrive at the final decision: who I am and what I am.

Kabbalists call this a prayer—the point where I affix my seal concluding the clarification and analysis.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/26, Rabash, “Who Needs to Know that a Person Withstood the Test?”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 225

What Is New About This? After All, We Already Had a Connection with the Host Before…

No. From our side, we never had a connection with the Host, nor did we feel Him as we are destined to feel Him. This is because the final correction that the Creator created is at the Creator’s expense, not at the expense of the created being. In Kabbalah, we learn that the expansion of the Light and its departure make the vessel fit for its role. In other words, only then does a deficiency arise, and from that deficiency comes the connection between the created being and the Creator. Before that, there was no connection.

The most the Creator can do is create a desire to receive, fill it, and give it a feeling of shame, so that through all these things it will restrict itself, undergo various incarnations, and spill over to the opposite end. The Creator cannot bring it closer without this process, because then the desire does not develop and we do not draw closer to the Creator. The Creator can do everything except give us the feeling that we ourselves accomplished it. Baal HaSulam illustrates this with a short story:

Two friends meet after twenty years without seeing one another. One has become wealthy and the other has become poor. The wealthy friend takes the poor friend into his home and says, “Everything I have is yours.” They spend time together, enjoy themselves, and everything is wonderful. Indeed, the wealthy friend gives his companion every good thing wholeheartedly. He makes no calculations and is completely willing to place everything before the poor man. After a week, the poor man, who understands that his friend is giving to him exactly as he would give to himself, and even more so, without any calculations, says to him: “There is a problem here. There is only one flaw: it was not I who did this; it was you. And there is nothing you can do to change that fact. There is only one thing you can do if you truly want to do me a favor: give me the opportunity to achieve what you have on my own.” That is what the Creator does for us. When we arrive, we truly arrive at an equal level with Him.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 224
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 223
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 222

Question: What should you do if a friend does not elevate you, but humiliates you? After all, there should be mutual relations in the group. It turns out that you invest effort, and he… .

Answer: Let’s suppose that the whole group is in a certain state where it does not awaken or uplift me in any way. In such a case, it is worthwhile to take several people from the group, work only with them, and together with them set an example for everyone else. But without unnecessary words—simply set an example.

If the others want to listen, then also tell them: “We are tired of sitting in the ‘assembly of the frivolous,’ and we have decided that we want to get out of this state. If you want, join us, and if not, then don’t. We can no longer continue like this.”

A person can do this alone, or take several like-minded friends with whom it will be easier. That is all. For this, there is no need to unite into groups; this can be done freely, so that everyone has the opportunity to join.

In any case, one needs somehow to look for a way to break the existing situation. And here, I think, it is not even worth giving advice. Seek advice yourselves, and that itself will be a blessed work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”

Question: If the desire to receive agrees to perform work, it expects a reward for it. How can it agree to something other than what it anticipates? For in every action—in work with the group or in study—the desire to receive imagines some payment for itself; otherwise, it would not agree to work.

Answer: What kind of reward should we imagine? We cannot choose the reward. It already exists and depends on my Kli (vessel), on the state I am currently in.

What is considered a reward in spirituality? We do not know this and cannot imagine it. You might simply speak words about desiring to receive the intention for the sake of bestowal as your reward, claiming that opportunity of  bringing pleasure to the Creator will be your reward. But how can this be?

What enjoyment will I be able to receive from this? How will I be able to feel that a Kli which is outside me is being filled? We have not the slightest idea about this. We do not know how one enjoys fusion with the Creator. We truly cannot feel such actions within ourselves. Not yet…

Question: But how can one want to change the reward?

Answer: One can want to change the reward only as a result of blows. There is no other solution. But one can pass through them more quickly only if a person is able to endure them. And one can endure them if one turns them from animal sufferings into sufferings of the soul.

For animal sufferings are stretched out over a long time, and only then can you endure them. But this takes a lot of time. If you want to shorten them, you cannot remain in the same plane of animalistic sufferings.

You must rise above it and change the quality of the blows, transfer them from the animalistic realm into the realm of the spiritual. And then one “soul” blow, that is, as it were a spiritual blow, is counted for you as a thousand animalistic blows. In this way you shorten the time. That is, the blows become qualitative, not quantitative.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

Question: Is a transition to a secular worldview necessary when moving from the inanimate stage (Domem) to the vegetative stage (Tzomeach)?

Answer: No, a person does not have to go from being religious at the still level of holiness (Domem de Kedusha) to being secular, to then arrive to Kabbalah. These stages are completely unrelated to one another. There are examples: the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim. In Judaism today, there is a very deep divide.

There are many people who understand that Judaism is in a deep crisis. Unlike what existed a hundred years ago, today all the values, the entire approach, have collapsed. This is clear to many people who, without being organized into groups, study and even get together in small groups to talk about it. I hear from those who call and inquire that this is indeed happening.

There is nothing you can do about it. We are talking about creation, about development, when a person suddenly begins to feel that something is missing in his books, in his way of studying. He may even study Gemara, thinking in spiritual terms, but suddenly, whether he wants it or not, he is “led away.”

He, like us, is brought to a state where he opens a book he did not want to read before—and suddenly, what opens up before him is not a book, but an entire world. I recognize this reaction in people and hope that this is how it will continue. Baal HaSulam and all the Kabbalists of various generations emerged in precisely this way.

Question: But we are talking about individuals. Shouldn’t this become a widespread phenomenon?

Answer: These are not individuals. We are talking about tens and hundreds of people in each generation. Two or three hundred years ago, there were very large groups of people who had attained spiritual levels. Let us remember the Baal Shem Tov and Kotzk. In the time of the Baal Shem Tov, there were thousands of them. There were thousands in every generation. All these Admorim, up until the twentieth century, possessed spiritual attainment, and the books they wrote were, of course, holy books, since they were all Kabbalists.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

We observe a constant tendency within ourselves of attempting to bring Torah into the desire to receive. We want to achieve something, gain something, seemingly something spiritual, and we try to do it one way or another through receiving.

Since our point in the heart is still under the control of the egoistic “stony heart” (Lev Ha Even) we do not understand that spirituality and desire to receive are opposite things. Even when the point in the heart shines and shows to us some positive things about spirituality that are outside of our heart, we still do not sense that in reality this goodness is opposite to our heart and we simply want to get it as we usually do.

We do not know about the restriction (Tzimtzum) and we lack a sense the law of equivalence of form; therefore, we experience heaviness when we work to achieve what we want. We want to achieve spirituality inside the desire to receive. This is where heaviness comes from. If we understood that the basis must be the desire to bestow, it would be much easier for us.

A person constantly feels fatigue, confusion, and powerlessness. Why is this path so difficult and so unpleasant for them?

It is written in one of the articles in Shamati that even when a person understands that their annulment before the Creator is inevitable, and desires it, and even when they feel that the point in the heart is opposite to the heart, they begin to feel that the point in the heart (the desire to bestow) cannot have control over their heart without faith, without the sensation of the Creator.

This stems from the simple condition. Spirituality is defined as a situation in which “Israel” (the spiritual state the person dwells in) and the Creator are in the same point of connection, adhesion, and union. Therefore, if a person aspires to spirituality, even if it is merely a desire to bestow, yet it does not take into account to whom they want to bestow, such a state is still not perfect, it is still not spirituality.

Spirituality is the unity of the three factors: Israel, one’s state, and the Creator. Even when we reach the state where we realize that we have to be annulled, we experience heaviness because the general picture lacks the Creator.

This lack, this heaviness, comes through the reforming light that acts like a herald proclaiming that we have no other choice but to attain a sensation of the Creator, His revelation. Only in this way will we be able to somehow change the current state and emerge from it.

Then if these three points converge in my prayer where “I,” within my state, seemingly want to come to the Creator and ask Him to give me the strength to do that (strength known as the power to exit Egypt), and then He reveals Himself.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol-Worshippers in the Work?”

Question: We have been hearing about inspiration and importance for many years. If we put this into practice, rather than just talking about it, must we force our advancement?

Answer: We must engage the group in a game through a kind of forced, feigned “advertising.” Everyone here is obliged to play out the importance of the Creator and to lift their friend’s spirits. Do I really care, do I really want it? Yet I am obligated to do it, by force, artificially, and by pretending, rising above my feelings and understanding, rising above my reason.

From this moment on, everyone starts to play the game: the sensation of the Creator is important to us, knowing the Creator is important to us, the greatness of the Creator is important to us. We must not forget about Him or engage in empty chatter that lead away from the goal; this must become a burning topic for everyone. Apart from this, we have nothing in common. And we must do so forcibly, artificially, and by pretending, knowing full well that it is all a lie and a game.

If He is concealed, yet you have to perform actions stemming from the realization of His greatness, how do you go about it? You have no other way but to imagine His properties instead, to the best of your ability, and advance in that direction.

Comment: Everyone can justify such an approach.

My Response: So start playing! From this moment on, we begin to act.

Question: What if I am a bad actor?

Answer: If we all decide to do this, it means we are taking on the “burden of the kingdom of heaven” (Ol Malchut Shamayim). No one wants to, and yet we accept it. That is all.

There are descents and states of despair; this is understandable, but in general, everyone, as Rabash says, “take the leap.” Everyone is advancing, and a friend’s descent, along with my ascent and everything else, counts as a positive. And then time just races forward.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 224

What Is Our Addition?

Our addition is “the self.”

Question: A samurai came to a sage and asked him whether hell and heaven really exist.

“Who are you?” asked the sage.

“A samurai,” the warrior.

“You are lying,” said the sage. “You have the face of a beggar.”

The samurai drew his sword. The sage said:

“This is how the gates of hell open.”

The samurai understood and, bowing, put away his sword.

“And that is how the gates of heaven open,” said the sage.

My question is this: Is it possible not to draw the sword in response to any insult? In other words, is it possible to not to go through hell before reaching heaven?

Answer: It is very difficult. I think it is practically impossible.

Comment: So, the whole road to heaven is paved through the hell you go through. That is a serious matter.

My Response: What else can you do? This is how we were created. This is our incomparable egoism.

Question: In principle, it does not forgive anyone; it must immediately respond?

Answer: Yes. The first thought is to draw the sword, because that is how we are. There is no escaping it.

We cannot simply flip a switch so that good would govern us. Because “I created evil,” these are, in a sense, the words of the Creator. “And I created the Torah for its correction.” But initially there is evil.

Question: Why was evil created in the beginning?

Answer: It was so that a person could become aware of his nature from one extreme to the other, from evil to good. To experience both manifestations fully, and then incline toward good. Only then, will good govern the person over evil. But one cannot exist without the other.

Question: So, one way or another, we enter heaven through hell?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Then in what is the wisdom of a person? We say, “A person is wise.”

Answer: It means seeing in advance, without having to go through hell at every step, that you need to act differently. But this is acquired through very great trials and experience.

Question: So the experience of constant hell leads a person to become wiser?

Answer: Of course, like that Japanese sage.

Comment: You often speak of a person becoming resigned. You have even used the words “submission,” “annulment,” and “self-annulment.”

My Response: These are all very complex states that require a journey through hell. I do not believe that a person can overcome themselves in advance without extensive experience. It is impossible.

Question: You are talking about rising above one’s egoism. What does it mean to rise above egoism?

Answer: It means sensing egoism in all its possible manifestations in life, even in nature, and constantly rising above it. Bowing one’s head, that is, reducing one’s egoism, reducing it, belittling it, suppressing it.

Question: If one constantly performs this exercise of suppressing one’s egoism and annulling oneself, will it help?

My Answer: I do not think this exercise is even possible; it is philosophy. It is possible only through gradual training within a suitable society. There must an environment where everyone wants this. They cannot do it, but they want to.

Question: Do they feel that they cannot do it?

Answer: Of course. There must be a recognition of evil. And then, all together, facing one another and helping each other, they can crawl out of that stinking pit.

Question: Please tell me, who does the responsibility for climbing out of there actually fall on? On us?

Answer: On us! Ask, plead, think, speak, and show examples to one another, and thus act. And each one whose egoism is greater, they naturally rise higher. In general, this is the work.

Question: If this work is carried on within a society people who want to transcend their egoism, does it help others?

Answer: It helps others not merely by example. It does not even matter whether they see it or not. Because this is a force of nature, and in this way, it is added to the common equation of nature and first outweighs egoism, and then altruism.

Question: In principle, you are saying that if this group manages to rise above itself, it will begin to lift everyone else along with it?

Answer: Yes. We must act.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 6/11/23

Comment: Everything you are talking about concerns both inner and external work. On one hand, these are different things, and on the other hand, they cannot be separated.

My Response: Inner work is my private work, concerning my personal connection with the Creator. External work for the sake of society is directed outside of me, not inward but outward. These two things seem to be different.

How can they be combined? If I do not bestow anything to society, I will not be able to grow. Try sitting with books and you will see how much you deteriorate. Nothing will come of it. Stop all our external activity and you will see what will happen to us in two weeks. For ourselves, we do not need books or films.

You cannot express your desire for spirituality if you do not work in dissemination.

Question: So, essentially, we need to think about how to connect with other souls?

Answer: We do not know yet how to connect with the souls or how to facilitate truly working for them. This is still far from us; we do not yet possess the true intention for the sake of bestowal when all we think about is that others should truly feel good. There is a general task within which we take action, knowing that otherwise things will go badly. In this accessible form, we offer people a way out of the existing situation.

But later, when a person passes the barrier and establishes a connection with other souls and the Creator appears in him, their work takes on a different form: one gradually begins to relate to all souls as parts of their own soul. Thus, by including them within themself, they trigger processes of correction in them thanks to which they receive light into their Kelim. This is what is meant by a person rising upward, approaching the Creator.

Therefore, the rule “love your neighbor as yourself” is the most important. What does the rule (Klal) mean? It is the general (Klali) law through which you attain the purpose of creation.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/20/26, Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile”

Question: Wherein lies our wisdom, our maturity? I mean, our growing up seems to be that when we give something to another person, we give them not the best and keep the best for ourselves. Why does this happen?

Answer: Because our egoism inevitably turns everything upside down.

Question: Are we aware of this?

Answer: We are aware of it. I even remember this from my own experience. When I was about two years old, I also behaved this way, I would give away the best. But then I felt compelled to spoil it. Someone gave me two postcards and told me to give one of them to my cousin. I didn’t know which one to give because they were both beautiful, colorful, bright, and attractive. I had to do something to one of them. So, I bent a corner, rubbed it a little, and then gave it to her. I was already wiser.

Question: But did you understand that you were deliberately damaging it so that you could give it away without any problem?

Answer: So that I would know which one to give. Otherwise, I couldn’t choose between the two.

Question: Does it become more frightening as we advance?

Answer: Of course!

Question: When does this feeling arise: “What am I doing?! How can I do this?!”

Answer: You have to study a lot and learn from examples. It isn’t simple.

Question: But does this realization come to a person, or might it never come?

Answer: It depends on the person.

Comment: So perhaps it does come, and then he is horrified to discover that he always wants to give others the worst.

My Response: Yes. You see, I still remember this example to this day.

Question: It really enters the heart, apparently.

When a person understands this and feels, “This is what I am like, and I don’t want to live according to this nature,” what should his actions be? Suppose I realize that I always give others the worst.

Answer: If this is already changing within a person, and he begins to become aware of it, then this is already the road toward correction, toward self-examination, and so on. That is already something significant.

Question: So can I tell myself internally that I have already begun along some kind of path?

Answer: Probably, yes. You are already getting closer to self-examination.

Question: I remember you telling us how you were sitting with your teacher, sorting coffee beans. And it was really getting to you that you had to sort every single bean, every single bean.

Suddenly your teacher said to you: “Think this way: You are sorting this particular bean for your teacher, for the coffee your teacher will drink from this bean.” And so on. And this one, for example, is for the friends.

Tell me, at that moment, does this give a person strength? You essentially regarded your teacher almost like a father. Does that give a person strength?

Answer: To be honest, I don’t think I understood it fully at that moment. But in general, of course, it is a great example.

Question: Did your teacher Rabash, live this way?

Answer: He lived this way. I remember when he told me this, I realized that I was completely missing the point.

Question: So when a person finally understands that he is “not missing the point,” does that mean he has come out onto some kind of straight line, onto the path?

Answer: Yes. It is good for a person to reach this state.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 8/19/26

There is a rule that one cannot do anything unless he feels pleasure in it. While doing it, work without pleasure is called “labor” (Rabash, “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”).

If, on the one hand, I would like to do something, but on the other hand I am unable to do it because I do not see any reward for that action, then this is what is called effort.

We can imagine a reward for almost anything, except for that one thing that goes against our nature: the intention to bestow. As long as it is a matter of the intention to receive, whatever it may be, I can always see some benefit in it.

I can convince myself and picture things in such a way that I find at least some foothold and feel that it is worthwhile. But if we are talking about an action for the sake of bestowal, there is no corresponding pleasure in my Kelim; it is not felt in them, and therefore I cannot perform it.

Try to imagine an action in which you give away everything you have, absolutely everything. If you perform it correctly, you will not be able to feel any pleasure from it. You could find pleasure in the honor you receive or in something else, but we are talking about performing the action correctly.

Thus, there is only one action in relation to which we can put ourselves in a situation where we have no fuel with which to perform it. This is what is called effort. Effort is my attempt to perform an action for the sake of bestowal and revealing that I am incapable of doing so. This state itself is called effort.

Question: And I perform it?

Answer: What do you mean, “perform it”? You cannot, you are incapable of performing it. But when you establish for yourself that this is truly the case, this is already called effort.

It is written that the person would not do this if he did not know he would be paid for the effort. So what should he do? He must increase his awareness of the importance of the intention to bestow. But how? Why?

Here a person finds himself in a situation where he has nothing more to do. He discovers his own weakness, seeing that no matter what he resorts to, his own strength, his nature, his awareness, he has no connection whatsoever with the intention to bestow.

However, if at the same time, a person gathers all kinds of impressions from outside himself, hearing from others that the intention is more important than anything else, while he himself does not feel any taste in it and is unable to achieve it, then he has two extreme points, two poles. And from between these two poles comes the prayer, to which he receives an answer.

These two factors are connected to one another: If I work on recognizing the importance of the intention to bestow, then I am shown more and more clearly that I do not have it. At the same time, I should not work in order to discover my inability as quickly as possible. It is impossible to work negatively; that would be self-deception.

You must work toward actually attaining the spiritual action, toward performing it. Then, in contrast to this, you will be shown that you are incapable of doing it. We must always work positively.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”

Comment: During the preparation period, a person feels that the Creator is acting on them in a negative way and they cannot justify Him.

My Response: To bring about spiritual corrections, there is work that depends on me, as it is said: “If I am not myself, then who is for me.” If I sit back and think that I feel so bad about what He did to me, and how I suffer, then I am just eating myself! Nothing will come of it unless I figure out all the details myself.

The problem is that I have to change, not His actions, but my impression of His actions from one extreme to the other, from an uncorrected desire to a corrected one.

You can say, “If I am in an uncorrected desire, then I feel evil, and if I am in a corrected desire, then I feel good based on how He affects me. But I cannot correct the desire myself.”

Yes, you cannot correct it on your own, but you can want your desire to change and acquire the intention to bestow In accordance with this intention, you will feel that He is acting on you for the good. Thus, you have to come to the need for it.

Naturally, He performs action, but you must constantly examine where you are and where you would like to be. This means you must arrive at a state of prayer: what you want to experience from the way He acts on you.

Let us say He is giving me something unpleasant now; I must examine the situation and desire that He do something so that I feel good.

What does it mean to feel good? So I can feel something good from His actions, first of all, within the framework of our world. This is called Lo Lishma (for the sake of oneself).

And then I come to the point where I feel evil from His actions, not because I feel bad, but because through this very sensation, I am cursing Him. Then replace this sensation with a good one, but not so I would feel good. I do not care about that. What matters to me is that I want to bless Him. This is already called Lishma.

That is how a person goes through these things all the time. The whole system is one of self–discovery. A person studies himself. We know that outside the Kli (desire) there is Atzmuto (His essence), but I study who I am, how I receive, get impressed by Atzmuto, and what I would like to feel from His influence, and how much I want to admire Him.

In the end, this is a very simple thing, but we are confused in our desires (Kelim). In fact, there is nothing simpler and more natural.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/26, Rabash, “Who Needs to Know that a Person Withstood the Test? ”

Question: What one should constantly think about and ask for?

Answer: After all contemplation, a person sees that the only Hisaron (lack, desire) worth worrying about is the desire to realize the greatness of the Creator. Only the realization of His importance, sensing the Creator, the realization of His presence, whatever it may be, the impression received from Him, can change me.

Right now I am a slave to my desire to receive, but I will become a slave to His desire to give and bestow pleasure. A person should work precisely on this Hisaron, that is, strive for the desire for light to come from above and change them.

In short, first there must be an awareness that I want to change, to the extent I am capable of desiring this, and for this I turn to the Creator so that He will change me.

Why should I turn to the Creator? Is it not enough that I want to change and He will simply do it Himself? Change is not my goal in itself. The goal is that by turning to Him with a request, I cling to Him. My transformation, in a sense, is merely a means to that end.

It turns out that we are constantly working on the same Hisaron: how to merge with Him more strongly, cling to Him, and draw closer. From this, I get strength to merge with Him and the need for it. Everything really comes from one source.
[360781]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/24/26, Rabash, “Who Testifies to a Person”

Work without pleasure is called “labor.” That is, the person would not do this if he did not know he would be paid for the effort. (Rabash, Article 27 (1987), “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”)

Before performing any action, a person always asks: “What will I get out of it?” Peace, money, honor, something that he needs. This can even be seen from the enormous variety of hobbies that exist in the world.

Nothing forces a person to pursue his hobby except pleasure. One person enjoys fishing, catching fish on a hook; another, on the contrary, enjoys feeding fish, and breeding them in an aquarium; a third collects a herbarium of leaves. We find nothing in this for ourselves, whereas for him it is exactly the opposite. And so everyone has his own way. Some collect things that we can understand: money, experiences, honor, knowledge, and so on.

Thus, pleasure can be clothed in the most diverse forms, but it must be there. If I do not see any pleasure, I cannot perform an action. I have to see some pleasure ahead. It may come in a month, at the end of my life, or even after my life is over. Many people are willing to work hard throughout their entire lives so that they will be remembered after their death. We see that human pleasures can even transcend the boundaries of time.

However, the very feeling of the pleasure that lies ahead already belongs to the present. This feeling, when I experience future pleasure now, provides me with the energy and the fuel to perform the action. I look at what will happen to me; I bring that pleasure closer to myself, as though filling my fuel tank with gasoline, and with that I can work.

But if I see absolutely no pleasure ahead, then I have no energy, not a drop of fuel to perform any action. The car stops, and that is it. Sometimes we feel exactly like this: “No matter what, I cannot even move.” Such feelings are given to a person who begins spiritual work.

Then the question arises: Which goal will be important to me? This depends on the surrounding society, where I grew up, what I did, and what kind of education I received. This is how my attitude toward everything is formed, and according to it—as well as, of course, according to my nature—I choose certain goals in life.

Goals are forms of pleasure that I wish to enjoy in the future, while I already enjoy them now through my connection with them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are ‘Blessing’ and ‘Curse’ in the Work?”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 223

What Is the True Picture of the Creator?

We never speak about how things appear from the Creator’s side, what He feels, or what He is. We speak about what the created being feels from Him, or about how the created being imagines the Creator’s state, but not about His state outside the created being. At times we think all sorts of things about a friend that do not truly reflect who he is. We speculate about his thoughts, feelings, and troubles, and when we come a little closer to him, we discover that none of it was true. It was all merely a picture we had drawn in our imagination.

There is the matter of knowing something from within ourselves, from imagining that something is one way or another, and there is the true picture. We never see or know the true picture of the Creator. We can only know the Creator through ourselves, what we think about the Creator, how we understand the Creator, and so on. The truest picture that we are capable of attaining, without our vessels distorting what the Creator wishes us to feel from Him, is the state of final correction. The Host wishes to serve a five-course meal, each course perfect in every respect. We receive it and feel the Host’s attitude toward us through it. Beyond that is beyond our ability.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 222
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 221
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 220