Comment: Almost everyone who studies Kabbalah with us came from secular rather than religious backgrounds.

My Response: We should not confuse the two paths—what is incumbent upon me and what the Creator will do. I am not in control of what comes from above, but I do know what I must do from below. So from below I prefer to be Jewish. What does “Jewish” mean? In one way or another, to belong to the Jewish people in the national sense.

I am not saying that a person must look like someone from an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem, and adopt that specific attitude to the country, the army, and his responsibilities to the state. However, one still needs to live within the same framework as the people, and our people have no other framework apart from what is called “heritage.” In one form or another, this is necessary.

Suppose someone comes here who has no idea what Passover, Sukkot, or the other holidays are, who knows nothing at all. We need a little more than that. This is what I am talking about, and not about becoming ultra-Orthodox.

Question: To be “traditional”?

Answer: “Traditional,” but genuinely so. The problem with being “traditional” is that the parents are traditional, while the person himself has absolutely no understanding of it. He only does his parents a favor by coming for the holidays. And then the third generation is completely lost.

In short, a person is a “beast.” If he wants to become a human being, fine; we will help him become one. But as a “beast,” it is better for him to be in a good “herd,” in an enclosed place and under good protection. Then he will be well. You can see what happens to people when an entire generation has no boundaries. Look at what is happening.

Do you really think that through their “free development” they have achieved something? Nothing. They think they have brought about a flourishing. What flourishing? There is nothing there. They think that thanks to this they can bring something new to humanity. Nothing will come of it. What else can a person extract from his own skull? What kind of development is this? Nothing is actually happening to them. Ultimately, it leads to prostitution and drugs.

If you could only show me some other solution, but there isn’t one. According to Kabbalah, there isn’t one either. There is nothing for a person to seek in a secular way of life. Nor is there anything to seek in a religious way of life. Rather, a person simply needs to be kept within certain boundaries. You will see how entire nations maintain such boundaries. We are simply unable to do so because our desire to receive is greater.

Do you think anything goes in America? You have no idea what the system is like there. Compare Israeli and American films. American films are full of pride, ideals, and the glorification of America above everything else. Look at the extent to which they are committed to this. Their films are similar to Soviet films, except that they present it in such a form that you do not notice it.

Go to Europe. Do you think you can do whatever you want there? The moral doctrines governing everything are very strict.

With us, however, it is the worst because everyone’s desire to receive is a thousand times greater than that of some gentile abroad. Therefore, an evil arises that can no longer be contained.

In short, a person is a “beast,” and it needs protection for its own benefit. Previous generations have already become convinced of this. I am not saying anything new. In my time there was the generation of the Beatles and the hippies, and what remains of them? What did they accomplish? Nothing. People remained hippies until the age of 30 to 35, and what happened to them? Those who succeeded eventually turned to drugs, while the others suddenly discovered that they had neither a home nor a job, while the rest of the world had moved forward. The same thing is happening with those we are helping break free from drugs.

I am not saying that religious frameworks are necessarily a good thing. I am saying that people nevertheless need some kind of boundaries and some kind of structure. That is essential. After all, we have already been down that road before.
[360653]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

Question: Are there ascents and descents in our state during the preparation period?

Answer: In our state there are also ascents and descents. I experience moments that are good and moments that are bad. I feel connected to the Creator at times and disconnected from Him at others. Sometimes I feel a need for Him, and at other times that I was indifferent to Him. Thus, I have various internal discernments (Avhanot), and now I need to put them in order.

This is called my “self,” my world. There is the “I” that desires to enjoy, and that possesses some attitude toward the Creator, when the Creator is significant or indifferent to me, when I bestow to Him or do not bestow, when I am ready to detach from Him or to connect with Him, or perhaps not ready. And so on. A person must begin to think about this, to live by this connection and this attitude—that is all.

If the Creator seems a little more hidden, closed, and vague for you now, that is why you have the friends. Practice with them. By working with them, you will undoubtedly see very quickly whether you think about them or not, whether it is important to you to fulfill them or not. What do you think about: that it should be good for them or for you, whether the effort is worthwhile or merely a hindrance to you.

You will immediately see that you need an awareness of the greatness of the goal, without which you would simply toss all your friends into the trash bin. You will immediately begin to feel that you are not suited for such a thing, and at once you acquire an inner discernment of what you lack.

All this applies if you wish to advance along this path. If you do not want to, then at least you are aware of it. This is a very effective “laboratory experiment.”
[360623]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

Question: What exactly happens during the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine?

Answer: In the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine, I determine my attitude toward the desire to receive, toward my nature. I begin to see that I am under the power of this desire, how harmful its power is to me, and what I lose because of it.

In this world I might be winning and setting myself up quite nicely with the desire to receive, but at the same time I am losing spirituality. After all, if I begin to define the spiritual as bestowal, as drawing closer to the force of bestowal, as the measure of similarity to the giver, then a different assessment of the intention for the sake of reception arises, specifically, how detrimental it is to me if I wish to attain perfection and eternity.

And then it gradually becomes clear to me that the state I actually wish to attain is completely opposite to the one in which I find myself now. I do not like this state called spirituality! I simply hate it! How can one not hate it, for in it there is only bestowal, no thoughts about oneself at all. Who else am I supposed to think about? Perhaps about those people sitting around me here studying?! Where would such a desire suddenly come from?!

As a person makes an increasingly thorough assessment within their soul, they see how unattainable this is. So what is left for them to do?

This is how a person is brought closer to the truth. For a brief moment the truth is revealed to them; then they spend several months processing it and trying to banish those thoughts, yet, despite everything, it somehow continues to work within them.  Consequently, the next time around, they handle it a bit more easily; that is, they fear it slightly less and agree with it by one percent.

In time the concept of intention for the sake of bestowal will be revealed to them again, and they will once again experience shock: “To give to such an extent?! Not to think about myself at all?!”

Again, they try with all their might to flee from this thought, to block it out with everyday activities, to hide behind the work of dissemination, the study of books, anything at all. But gradually, certain internal shifts occur and he grows accustomed to the idea by another percent. “Could this really be true? What if this turns out to be the best state for me?” Nevertheless, he interprets it as follows: “I will give everything, but it will make me feel good.”
[360583]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

Question: Can we expect a mass awakening at the still level of holiness now?

Answer: On a mass scale, this is impossible neither among the secular nor among the religious. What does “mass” mean? A million people, just like that? I do not think so.

It does not depend on us, but it will happen. At each stage there will be more in quantitative terms. For example, if this year a hundred people awaken, then next year there will be a thousand.

Question: So, we cannot do anything directly?

Answer: A direct transition to the masses is impossible. In any case, it will involve individuals, but thousands will emerge from these individuals. For example, out of half a million religious people in Israel, five percent may suddenly feel the need to engage in the inner part of the Torah, making it their primary focus. That is possible.

But these 25,000 people will be acting individually. Hasidism won’t come to you looking for a new path; that simply cannot happen. It is a matter of individual work. A specific religious group may seem to you as a unified whole, but the people within it are at different levels of spiritual development.

It will come; there will be a major crisis in the coming years.
[360516]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

Question: What is the difference between studying Rabash’s articles and The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)?

Answer: Every lesson should be divided into two parts. The first part involves spiritual work, feelings, attuning one’s thoughts to what should be sought, and focusing on the problem, on the goal. To this end, we first read the articles Rabash wrote for his students. Then we move on to TES after having been awakened by the article and realizing what we want from life, we approach the remedy, that which can help us achieve what we desire.

Thus, the first part is the analysis of the illness, and the second is the treatment. As I immerse myself in the article, I should experience joy, sadness, gratitude, and a request—a whole range of feelings. Mainly, these will be negative sensations regarding what I do not have, what I lack, what I have not yet attained, but desire to attain. These seemingly negative feelings are the revelation of the lack, the need.

Then, once I have that need and begin the study, I seek the one who will heal my illness: “the healer of all flesh.” I want the light that reforms to come. Now I have a basis for my study and  my approach is correct: I demand correction from the study.

Indeed, my study can yield nother other than correction! All this wisdom described here is completely “external,” directed only toward some connection with the material being studied at the animate level. Internally, however, a person must demand one thing: the correcting force.
[360719]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments that a Person Tramples with His Feet”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 218

On Which Desire, Among All Our Desires, Do We First Work So That It Will Be in Order to Bestow?

We have many desires, and we do not work with all of them at once. We work on them one by one. Kabbalists say, work with the smallest desire first, so that we can be sure we will not fail. Once we have completed work on it, choose a greater desire.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 217
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 216
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 215

As a rule, we are concerned with ensuring our common desire to receive is not hurt. Therefore I always check to what extent I can use each of my qualities, and show myself in society in accordance with its most respected standards.

If the group I am in praises laziness, then I will be the biggest slacker. If pride is respected, then I will display myself as the epitome of arrogance.

I do this in relation to society, and use my qualities to gain the greatest advantage. It is not that the traits are inherently good or bad; in relation to the Creator they contain neither good nor bad.

In short, whatever lies below the Machsom (barrier) need not concern us. It is only in relation to the Creator that we should begin to worry about who and what we are, about one’s true nature.

Question: Are you talking about the qualities in their ordinary sense?

Answer: No, in the ordinary sense they are merely animalistic traits. But later, when a person crosses the Machsom, these traits cease to be animalistic and become spiritual; meaning, in relation to the Creator, they take on a completely different character.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/26, Rabash, “What Should One Do If He Was Born with Bad Qualities?”

Question: Is the connection with the right line called “above knowledge” and the connection with the left line “within knowledge” or “below knowledge”?

Answer: No, you engage in both in full awareness and full command of the situation. If you find yourself in one of the lines without  exercising the appropriate control, you are not below or above, but are simply immersed in one of them, under its influence.

How can you control them? You must know from the outset why you are entering the right line. If you are unaware that you are in such a state, or even if you realize you are in it but the state dominates you, then it cannot be said that you are truly in the right line. Perhaps this can be called the Klipa of the right line. You are simply being led unconsciously through various states.

You are the one who decides whether it is the right line or the left line. You determine that, for instance, that a certain state is the right line for you, and you proceed accordingly. How do you know that now you have entered the right line? Is it written somewhere that this door is the right line and that one is the left: so just walk in? No!

You choose for yourself what is revealed to you, or what you wish to have revealed. You say: “This belongs to the right line, and what is before me belongs to the left.” It is not that they are located physically to your right or left; this is not the case at all. You categorize all desires, thoughts, and qualities as right or left yourself.

The right line exists above knowledge, above awareness, above comprehension, and above sensation since the right line is the greatness of the Creator, His desire to delight the creation, His promise that we will receive reward, and that the punishments we receive are only corrections.

I do not see all this with my eyes, nor do I perceive it with my senses. Therefore, there is something here on which I must rely. I must fill my senses as though I know this, as though they are full of the sensation of the Creator.

The sensation of the Creator gives me confidence and instills a feeling of His greatness. This is everything! I do not have this sensation, but I must fill myself with the feeling as though I already sense Him.
[360571]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

For this reason, there is a reality where one exercises on corporeal pleasures and afterwards he can come out of the Tzimtzum and concealment to some extent, for he can already choose and say that he is receiving this delight and pleasure only because he wants to bestow (Rabash, Article 33, What Are Commandments That a Person Tramples with His Feet).

Question: The article says that a person should perform“exercises” on corporeal pleasures. What does this mean?

Answer: We say that we should think about the friends, about the group, and about giving to the friends, in other words, about living through their desires, and about bringing them joy. All of this is not in order to have a pleasant time, but in order to use this as a basis for determining just how far we actually are from the desire to bestow, and how much we loathe the very idea.

It is also about observing how I might attempt to force actions ostensibly aimed at bestowal upon myself and try to live through desires that are external and alien to me. Through these exercises, a person learns and discovers how capable they are of doing this, and how much they are not. Although this still cannot be measured precisely, the person nevertheless learns in order to understand where they stand.

We are not yet talking about a person actually acquiring the ability to bestow. Without a doubt, they are incapable of starting and completing such an action on their own. They only begin it because they must try to carry it out by themselves. But when they fail despite making efforts, it is revealed to them that the Creator must be the main participant and the one who executes the action.
[360665]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/17/26, Rabash, “What Are Commandments That a Person Tramples with His Feet”

Question: Is the middle line I attain not a real state but merely “as if”?

Answer: If now I am “as if” in the right line and move from it to the left, and let’s suppose I arrive at a prayer, at some state in the middle line, is this middle line also considered “as if”? Yes, my middle line will also be “as if.”

But after several of my attempts in this direction, the Creator will reveal Himself to me, and then I will truly feel His importance and greatness. This will give me a real force of faith. And then I will see my qualities as real Klipot, impure forces, completely opposite to the qualities of the Creator.

The more I truly reveal Him for myself, the more I will see my qualities in a true light. This is like the opposition of holiness to impure forces. And then this will be the true middle line, as the force of the soul, the desire to receive for the sake of bestowal, that is, the desire to receive with a screen and reflected light (Ohr Hozer).

One must try many times until we truly merit acquiring this true state, which will no longer be a child’s game. Children also play at something “as if” it were true, and in this game they learn real adult actions.

Before the Machsom, we are as if playing these games. This is called the period of preparation.

Question: Is it possible to build the middle line before the Machsom?

Answer: No, before crossing the Machsom we cannot build a true middle line. Indeed, it cannot yet appear. The true middle line means that I already have properties of reception and properties of bestowal. Before I pass the Machsom, I simply do not have this. My nature is the animal nature, the nature of this world, and it is not my true nature.

Question: What happens when I make many attempts and exercises?

Answer: In this way I gain experience. It is just like in school. First one studies for a long time, and then one can go to work.
[360619]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

Question: How can I receive the necessary impression from my friends?

Answer: One must be impressed by the environment regarding matters that pertain to the greatness of the Creator. This is possible only if the friends appear great in my eyes, and I view myself as smaller in comparison to them. What my friends do, how they work, what they are occupied with in life in general must truly become a great example for me of people who sacrifice themselves for the sake of spirituality.

Then I will gain an impression of how important spirituality is to them, from what they speak about and what they think. I will recognize how much higher they are than all those who are outside this frameworks and I will be able to compare what fills the lives of people outside my group and those who are inside it.

Thus, one needs to value the friends, lower oneself, listen, and pay attention to how they behave and act. And then I must demand that they openly, and not modestly, perform good deeds and speak about the importance of the group and the importance of the Creator so that I hear it, and not as if each of them were a hidden righteous.

You are able to receive an impression from the environment only on the condition that you place yourself in a position of humility relative to it.

Comment: But this is against nature; it is impossible.

My Response: I do not think that it is impossible. Start thinking about this. It is not against nature. Look at how each one comes at three o’clock in the morning, overcoming all his obstacles. There is an inner intensity within him that sets him apart from anyone on the outside. Consider how special he is given that the Creator chose him to bring here and make an example of for you.

In relation to you, he is an angel bearing a message about the importance of spirituality. He can convey an awareness of the importance of the Creator to you. He has literally descended from heaven and appeared before you in order to tell you that the Creator is important. He is a messenger.
[360671]
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 217

What Is the Difference Between a Person Being Close to the Creator and the Creator Being Close to a Person?

A person who advances and draws closer to the Creator discovers that, from the Creator’s perspective, there is no concept of being “close” or “far,” either from him or from other people. A person is within the Creator all the time, and from the Creator’s perspective he is already in the state of final correction (Gmar Tikkun), from which the Creator relates to him. However, the person feels the Creator’s attitude toward him in a negative way according to the extent that he himself is not corrected.

This is exactly how we behave in this life. How much pressure and how many blows does a demanding mother give when she wants her son to become a doctor? Until he is immersed in it one hundred percent. Until he studies and receives the highest possible grade. Nothing less than that. The more he resists, the more she pressures him.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 216
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 215
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 214

Question: How can I bring the awareness of the greatness of the goal to the surface so that I have fuel for the work?

Answer: By not ceasing the critical analysis of what is happening to you. This is very difficult. It requires great effort of the mind. After all, the mind can only function if it lacks something. If there is no lack in anything, if the mind sees no possibility of being filled by anything, then it does not work in this direction. And if it does not work in that direction, how can you engage it?

If you have no Hisaron (unfulfilled desire), you cannot engage the mind because it is initially capable of working on something only when you have a need for that object. This means that you need advertising—let everyone constantly say that this is important, then you will begin to search for where it lies, and you will think that you lack it.

Question: What is this critical analysis from the side? I must feel my current state, for one cannot hide from the state that we are experiencing, and at the same time look at oneself as if from the side as though it were not me. How can one go out of oneself?

Answer: You are capable of stepping outside of yourself if you enter into the Creator. There is only one of two possibilities: either the domain of man or the domain of the Creator. If a person decides that this is his domain, called “the domain of the many,” that is bad.

It is called “the domain of the many” because you have many desires, each of which pulls in its own direction. And so you are thrown toward money, honor, knowledge, toward one passion or another. This is what is called “the domain of the many.”

On the other hand, there is the possession of the One: only to fulfill His desire. The possession of the One is called the world of Atzilut. If we unconditionally and constantly remain only in the desire to fulfill the Creator, then we are in the world of Atzilut, above the Parsa. And if we do not remain only in this desire, then we are in the worlds of BYA (Beria, Yetzira, Assiya).
[360661]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

The concept of “prohibition” in Kabbalah implies an “impossibility.” What does it mean that “one must not teach Torah to idol worshippers”? The Torah refers to the lights that fill the vessels of bestowal. Torah consists of acts of bestowal.

An idolator is defined as the will to receive [in Hebrew, the acronym “AKUM” (referring to a pagan or idolator) literally stands for “one who worships stars and fate.”]

The intention of an idolator is directed not toward the Creator, but toward various other forces, those that are within the will to receive, because there is nothing besides the Creator and the will to receive.

An idol worshipper is one who worships the will to receive. It is impossible to teach him Torah, simply because he has a different intention. He does not perceive the concept of “the intention for the sake of bestowal,” and therefore it is impossible for the upper light to reside in him. But the term “impossible” is expressed in our language by the word “forbidden” or “must not.”

But why “must not”? Why not call the impossible “impossible”?

Because the sages are speaking about the path of correction, they mean the following: “Do not do this because nothing will come of it. It will not succeed.” In short, it comes out as “It must not be done.” “Must not” serves as advice: “Do not do it because it cannot be accomplished.”
[359641]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol Worshippers in the Work? ”

Question: In the context of the shattering of the Kelim (vessels), we speak about the Kelim of the “stony heart” (Lev HaEven), AHP of AHP, which we cannot correct.

It is only by concealing them that we achieve their correction, so that subsequently we can truly receive a Masach (screen) for them, and work with them for the sake of bestowal.

Can we say that it is precisely into these Kelim of the “heart of stone” that we acquire the lights of the three first Sefirot (Ohr de GAR), by arriving at the secrets of the Torah and the intention of the Creator?

Answer: Yes, and that is not all. We can put it this way. The eighth, ninth, and tenth millennia are the descent of the world of Atzilut into the place of the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. This marks the beginning of the work and correction of the heart of stone. This is not the whole story, but let us say that this is the case.

Your question is the following: if I do not work with the heart of stone at each of the degrees, does this mean that by doing so, I conceal the secrets of the Torah, and do not touch them? The answer is: also this.
[360519]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

The upper one reveals His lower part, Malchut, to us as empty and black; it promises us nothing good.

The spiritual world, the upper world, is specially presented to us in this unattractive way. Yet in this world, perceived within Keter of the lower one, there is at least some pleasure.

I am in a state where even this world holds no attraction for me, yet the state of the upper one seems even worse.

After all, I lack fulfillment in my egoistic desire to receive, and the upper adds even more heaviness to me,by suggesting, “But you wanted to be in a state of bestowal!” I have nothing to eat, and yet I am told: “Go ahead, share with others!”

Therefore, the conditions set by the upper can be accepted only without reason, without any conditions, and not by one’s own strength, but by the strength of the light, without plans and without hope of filling one’s egoism and gaining profit in this world.

The main thing is to attain the state of bestowal, and then you will have everything, but only after you have renounced everything! You will receive fulfillment (satisfaction), not from receiving, but from bestowing.

This is how we should perceive the month of Elul before the beginning of the new year, the beginning of the spiritual path. “ELUL” stands for: “I am to my Beloved, and my Beloved to me.”

The upper one present me with these hopeless conditions that promise no fulfillment, so that precisely through them I will be able to free myself from my egoistic state.

If He had promised me something good, I would never have been able to tear myself out of my egoism, chained as I am to pleasures.

As it is said: “The Creator places a person’s hand upon a good fate,”immerses his life in darkness and emptiness, and on the other hand, reveals a small ray of light to them that shows the person where they can turn to escape from the darkness.

The ray of light is not about egoistic, material gains. The Creator assists me on the spiritual path by bringing me to a Kabbalistic group, the place where I can freely choose the right environment, and by illuminating the way for me; that is, He gives me the sensation that bestowal is the light. Light is rising above one’s egoism when it does not matter to you whether it is empty or filled, but the important thing is with whom you are connected.

The Creator makes it clear: if you are suffering in your corporeal state, do not seek material fulfillment; instead, look upward from that state and consider the possibility of a different life, based on other values, on bestowal, and on another dimension (of happiness).

This means that a ray shines for me through the slits in the wall that separates me from the upper world, a world of tranquility (free from egoism and the endless pursuit of fulfillment) and perfection (found in the aspiration of bestowal and love).
[20887]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/10, Baal HaSulam, “What Is the Acronym Elul (I am for My Beloved, and My Beloved Is for Me) in the Work?”

In our world, an intermediate stage exists between a curse and a blessing. Our world is defined as al menat lekabel (for the sake of receiving) and the future world al menat lehashpia (for the sake of bestowing).

These two factors do not touch one another; the only transition from one to the other exists within a person, who seems to be able of alternating between being in one state and the other. I say “seems” because this does not yet occur in reality, but rather at a level below Kedusha (holiness) and the Klipa (impure forces).

From above downward, down to the Maschsom (barrier), there are two lines: true holiness and the true impure force, true blessing and curse. Below the Machsom, the roles of the true concepts of “curse” and “blessing” is played by what may be called a “set of exercises,” this world, given to us to prepare ourselves a little, exert an effort, and begin the real work.

Thus, here we do not have holiness (the intention for the sake of bestowal), and strictly speaking, nor do we have the impure force (the intention for the sake of receiving), the curse. We have neither one nor the other. Therefore, what we do can be done. We do nothing inherently bad and nothing inherently good here. Everything is allowed to us, much like to small children, so that we might learn something from the experience.

If a person truly wants to approach genuine actions that one determines and performs themselves, and wishes to leave infancy, like the adults of this world, then one must go through stages of learning, preparation, understanding, and a certain level of awareness.

This process is called from Lo Lishma we come to Lishma (from the intention for one’s own sake to the intention for the sake of the Creator). This is the state before the Machsom that we must attain. No matter the circumstances, a person must seek ascent and awakening, a desire to do something for the Creator, for the higher force, even while in a state of concealment (both double or ordinary).

A person can acquire this desire only from the group. There is nowhere else to get it from, because when in concealment, one does not see the Creator. By working with the environment, annulling oneself, and realizing the importance of the Creator, understanding that it is worthwhile for him to annul themself before the group in order to realize the importance of the Creator, a person thereby shows how important and necessary this is for him.

For this, a person is ready to sacrifice himself and is truly capable of constantly finding the drive to act and be impressed by the environment so that one’s efforts invested in the group with the aim of receiving the awareness of the importance of the Creator from it, become a sign of how important it is for one to come to the Creator, to spirituality.

In the action that one performs toward the group, annulling oneself in order to attain the Creator, all the actions against one’s own desire toward the Creator and toward the group are present. Everything in one action.

The awareness of the importance of the Creator is similar to one’s attitude toward a great Rabbi whom a crowd of admirers meets at the airport, when a person finds enough energy within himself to carry his suitcases. But if an ordinary person gets off the plane, it would never occur to anyone to do such a “foolish” thing as help him with his luggage.

Therefore, there is nothing else for us to work on except the awareness of importance through which we move from curse to blessing.
[360587]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/26, Rabash, “What Are “Blessing” and “Curse” in the Work?”

Question: What is the danger inherent in the secrets of the Torah?

Answer: If there is a prohibition to engage in the secrets of the Torah, then, apparently, I could do it. And if I can, then how? After all, we are talking about the vessels (Kelim) and the lights (Orot) of the first three Sefirot with which I don’t have the slightest connection.

The point is that a prohibition signifies an impossibility. But if it is impossible, why is it forbidden?

Suppose a dangerous object is located at a height of two meters. I cannot reach it because I am only 1.7 meters tall. So I ask someone to get it for me. In spirituality, it doesn’t work that way. There, if I cannot reach it, I simply cannot reach it. So, what does it mean that it is impossible to reach, yet still is forbidden?

The prohibition applies to the intention: do not intend to reach it or touch it. Even though you cannot reach it, and know this, you might still strive for it or desire it. You are told, “No! You must not touch this, you must not desire this. Even those who are advance must conceal these vessels and lights.”

Therefore, there is an obligation to correct one’s attitude toward the secrets of the Torah by intentionally concealing them. We do not yet know exactly what is being discussed here. This correction takes place above reason.

So, “prohibited” means “impossible.” And “impossible” means that you perform an action that confirms this impossibility. Despite your desire, you perform an action defined as “impossible.” In spirituality, every word denotes an action—building my internal spiritual attitude toward a subject. Hence the prohibition, which also implies that I will perform the corresponding action. Thereby my vessel will become perfect.

There are desires in me in which this prohibition must be enacted, in which I must establish an attitude specifically toward the first three Sefirot: I do not touch nor desire them. Even if I do feel the urge, I structure my attitude as if I do not want to or intend to, and effectively conceal the first three Sefirot from these desires.

This constitutes the correction. This does not mean that I pay no attention to the matter, such a thing does not happen in spirituality.
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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 216

How Do We Make a Movement in Spirituality?

A movement is made through a change of form. If we become somewhat more similar to the Creator than we were before, it is a sign that we made a movement. In other words, movement takes place through the effort we make upon ourselves. To the extent that our qualities change in relation to the Creator’s qualities, to that same extent we have advanced toward Him. The distance from the barrier to the Creator is measured in 125 degrees. According to the extent to which we can achieve equivalence of form with the Creator, this is the place where we stand on this ladder of degrees between ourselves and the Creator, moving ever upward upon it.

In this work, we are never in a worse state than the current one. We can only advance. At times it seems to us that we retreat, as though we “fall away,” but this is only how it appears to us. It happens in order to awaken us, to seemingly trip us up, to give us various opportunities to feel new discernments. Usually, disturbances come so that we will delve precisely into them and view ourselves more clearly, because it is specifically through disturbances that we will later feel a special attitude from the Creator. The place where we are given blows is the very place where a special relationship develops, both now and in the future. Evil becomes replaced by good.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 215
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 214
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 213

All the states that we go through can and certainly should be experienced can; however, we need to keep them under constant control and not succumb to either negative or positive sensations. We must constantly control our feelings with our reason. In this way, the reason and feelings are balanced with one another so that one does not outweigh the other.

If the intellect prevails over feelings, it means that you become a “wise guy”: “Why should I do all this, I won’t be able to anyway. The Creator is greater than me, so let Him do it. And if not, well, so be it.” And so on in the same spirit. But if feelings prevail, then a person immersed in them is unable to use their head.

So what is the solution? We must find forces in the group that will help us break free from this state and achieve balance. There is no other way out.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

Related Material:
Balance, Emotion, And Intellect
Between Feeling and Reason
Bring Your Heart and Mind Closer Together