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The Separation Between Body and Soul

938.05Whatever a person does during the day in relation to the people around him through his body and human desire, simply as a person living in this world, has nothing to do with the Torah. It does not relate to spiritual advancement or to the Creator.

Ten thousand years ago, there were also people in our world who knew nothing about the Torah or Commandments. They had lives, a wife, children, a home, and food. Does this relate to spirituality or not? Similarly, our ordinary life, which is not related to Kabbalah, does not belong to spirituality. This is an animal-like existence in this world.

We cannot say that it is completely disconnected from the spiritual world, as everything here is a branch. However, we are talking about the desire to receive on the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of this world, which gradually progresses toward the final correction at its own pace, in accordance with the general pace of reality.

Then, the general desire to receive of all people reached a state in which parts of the soul began to descend from above. A light began to descend, revealing the desire to receive, clothed in all people.

When light descends from above, a point in the heart appears. This point entered someone named Avram (after which he was given the name Abraham), who marked the beginning of the group. He was the first to reveal the Creator and initiate a chain of disciples. Had it not occurred, all of humanity would have continued living without spiritual revelation, according to the general clock of the universe and reality.

From Abraham onward, a person gains the freedom to choose. As the light descends upon a person, he has the opportunity to take further action on his own. However, this can only be done in connection with other souls.

Therefore, I need someone else by my side. It is not enough to have someone in America or Australia; after all, there were Native Americans at the time of Abraham. I have no connection with them; I need someone near me, a friend from whom I can gain insight and acquire something.

Free choice consists of receiving additional Hisaron (lack or desire) from an equal, both in the time of Abraham and in our time. The Creator told Abraham: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky,” that is, I gave you the conditions for free choice. Therefore, a close group was required so that one, while receiving perception from another, could acquire that person’s desire.

It does not work for one Kabbalist to be here and another someplace else, a group was required, a group that came to be called the Jews (Yehudim). They were ordinary Iraqis and Persians who began to be called Jews Yehudim and Ivrim (Hebrews from the root “Avru,” meaning those who transitioned to the desire of the Creator). We must distinguish between the soul that clothes itself in a person that requires correction, and the body.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”

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How Is a Person Awakened?

260Question: If I descend to the level of the cause, but cannot discern whether it is positive or negative, what should I do?

Answer: There is no need to discern if the cause is negative or positive, because there are no negative or positive states. It is simply that I perceive “bad” or “good” in my feelings. But this is completely incorrect. Each state has only one purpose: to awaken me to seek a deeper inner state.

Why do we perceive some states as positive and others as negative? This is something that humans cannot understand. Since we are at the beginning of our path, most states are perceived as negative. We are affected by these so-called negative feelings because humans tend to seek a cause: “Why do I feel bad?” No one will ask, “Why do I feel good?”

The fact is that we are made of the desire to receive, so no one asks: “Why do I feel good?” If a person asks such a question, it means he is afraid that he feels too good. Life experience tells him that something this good does not just happen. He fears that he will have to pay for it.

You can awaken a person only through bad states, and only later through good feelings, but this is already a Klipa. This is even more difficult, because one is given many good things but no spirituality. However, this is for more advanced states, so that a person can ask the question “What is the meaning of my life?” from a good state.

I have everything except the Creator, but I need only Him, I need nothing except spirituality. It is like a curse: I have a lot of food before me, but no taste or appetite for it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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Turn to the Creator Without Delay

582.03When a person feels a certain heaviness in the work, the Sitra Achra arrives and starts to toy with them, leading them astray so they do not know whether they should turn to the Creator or not. In truth, it is worthwhile to turn to Him in every state.

But if the request is not genuine, why do I need to turn to the Creator? Am I simply crying out for the Creator to do the work for me? If I do not feel a need for His help but I still cry and ask for it, then this appeal does not come from the bottom of my heart. What should I do?

Baal HaSulam says there is no better state in a person’s life than the moment that he feels despair of his own forces. He feels that he has tried everything, and that nothing can help him. Such a person is truly worthy to raise his prayer to the Creator, and only such a prayer will receive a response from above.

When does the despair of my own forces come? One can try all kinds of things, making efforts for 20 or 30 years, and who knows when it will end and if it ever ends or not?

Perhaps it is not a matter of quantity, but of quality. It does not matter how many years you spend, but rather how you spent them. What matters is your attitude toward your situation. A person might exert just a small amount of effort, but it is sufficient to turn to the Creator with a true appeal, without a doubt that only the Creator can help him and he cannot do it by himself.

How can one figure this out? At the end of the article “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”, Rabash gives a simple answer that a person needs to see these states one stage deeper. Then he will recognize that the Creator gives them this state. After that, they will discover that they must turn to the Creator for help without delay.

This is very important. All the efforts a person makes by himself without turning to the Creator, are all empty. They lack spiritual significance regardless of how much effort was invested in them. Such actions simply do not count. A person does not even have to perform them as they are merely a waste of time and energy.

I only have to discover that every state that go through comes from the Creator in order for me to turn to Him. If there is some delay between my sensing my state and turning to the Creator as a result of that state, that is already the Sitra Achra (the other side or impure force). That is where confusion and bewilderment set in and where extraneous thoughts and calculations creep in when I try to resolve a difficult situation by myself.

This point is very important; it is like the foundation. It is very difficult to have a hold on that point without the pressure and influence of the group.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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Why Is the Spiritual Goal Called Rest?

963.5We view spiritual work as a means to achieve a goal. The goal is described as good, beautiful, and pleasant. The goal is eternal life and eternal rest.

Is everything written by the Kabbalists meant for lazy people? “Work now, and afterward, thank God, you will rest”? There is no end to the interpretations on this topic.

Do I really have to die in order to attain the goal? What exactly must I attain in order to rest? It is like in the joke: a man is lying under a tree, and he is told: “Go work.”

“What for?”

“You will earn a lot of money and you will rest, lying under the tree!”

And he answers: “But I am already lying under the tree!”

It is the same here: What does it mean that now I must work and afterward I will rest, rest will come later? After all, it is said that rest is the goal of creation.

We study that reality is unchanging. The upper light is in absolute rest within His Kli. This state is prepared from the outset, and we are already in it, although for now it is hidden from us.

Baal HaSulam brings many examples of this. For instance, the story about the son of a wealthy man who sits in the basement until he grows up and understands where he is, or about people running to the King’s palace to reach Him. Yet ultimately, as it is said: “And you shall eat that which has long been stored up”; meaning, we are already in this state, but we must prepare the Kelim (vessels) in order to feel it.

The preparation of the vessels is called applying effort or work. After a person has prepared his Kelim, he attains equivalence of form with the light: the light is in absolute rest, and the person also comes to this state. This is a partial explanation of why the goal is called rest.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/26, Rabash, “What Does, ‘Everything that Comes to Be a Burnt Offering Is Male,’ Mean in the Work?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 172

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 172

What Is the Meaning of “The Good and Delight That the Creator Wished to Bestow Upon His Created Beings”?

This refers to the level of the Creator. There is no good and delight other than the Creator Himself, that is, His state and degree. This is what the Creator wanted the created being to reach. Anything less than this cannot be called “to do good to His created beings.” Anything less would simply be mercy toward the created being. This is because “the Good” is the Creator Himself, whom we call “the Good who does good,” and He wants us to arrive at that goodness.

We need to reach the state of the Creator, which is certainly more than merely to receive from Him or to feel Him. It means actually reaching His state.

This is what is meant by equivalence of form, which is called “adhesion” (Dvekut). “By Your actions we know You” means that we recognize His actions, become equal to them, and by doing so, we exist on the same level, on the same degree. When we complete this state, it is not that we receive from Him, but we become like Zeir Anpin and Nukva (ZON), which exist in an unceasing coupling (Zivug de lo Pasik) at equal stature, and then there is no deficiency of the created being relative to the degree of the Creator. This is called “the Good who does good.”

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Rest Is a Relative Concept

233What is meant when we speak about rest? Perhaps it is not at all like what I now understand by this word. Relative to what is it rest or not rest? I remember when I was a child and constantly ran after a ball, everyone shouted at me: “Sit down, rest a little!”

But I did not feel that to sit down and stop was rest. On the contrary, for me that was a great effort. To run after the ball was both pleasant and comfortable.

So how can one measure and decide what is rest, repose, and what is exertion and work? This is measured relative to the Kelim. If the Kli feels tension and a mismatch between the desired and the actual, that is, between what ought to be and where the Kli in fact is, this means that the Kli is not in a state of rest. For the difference that it feels pushes it toward spiritual “movement,” and this automatically means that the Kli is not in rest.

And a Kli that has come to equivalence of qualities with the goal feels no difference from it and therefore can even while “in flight,” like a child running after a ball, feel rest.

The principle of relativity speaks of this as well. It is not important at what speed you are moving, but that you are neither accelerating or decelerating. That is, there is no lack “behind” and no lack “ahead” of you, you are balanced in the state you are in. And then this is felt as rest.

How does one reach this? By means of equivalence of form (qualities) with the environment, with the light in which we exist How can one come to equivalence of qualities with the light?

Baal HaSulam says that for this there are the written and the oral Torah. By means of one of them we acquire the intention to bestow, and by means of the other we know what to do with this intention. And when we acquire the ability to perform these two actions: to receive with the intention to bestow, to fulfill the commandments (spiritual actions for the sake of bestowal), then we attain the goal.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/26, Rabash, “What Does, ‘Everything that Comes to Be a Burnt Offering Is Male,’ Mean in the Work?”

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Forbidden and Necessary

559Question: On one hand, it is said that one should not despair, and on the other hand, that one must necessarily come to despair. Is it necessary or not?

Answer: It is both necessary and forbidden at the same time. On the one hand, I myself am not allowed to bring myself into a state of despair. On the other hand, it is necessary to reach a state in which you are weakened from above to such an extent that you despair and feel powerless, disillusioned in your own strength, and then you are able to raise a prayer.

It is difficult to explain this in a few words. In order to describe the states that we go through before the Machsom (spiritual barrier), Rabash wrote five volumes. Our language is incapable of conveying this, and in that sense it is dead. We lack the means to express it. Only the light that fills the Kli can do this; it gives everything.

For us, this filling is divided into mental, emotional, spiritual, and so on. The true filling of the desire to receive, the net amount received from the light, is the ultimate answer. Without this, nothing will help. A person can strive to attain more and more, but there will be no attainment.

It is as though we want to achieve inner fulfillment by multiplying our external clothing’s. However, it does not happen that way. You can tell me endlessly about some delicious dish, but if I have not tasted it, have not enjoyed it, or have not filled myself with it, all the descriptions are worthless.

Later, I can tell someone else about it using your descriptions, and he will pass it on further, and so on. This is precisely what we do in our world. But what is all of that worth?
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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We Are Deaf to the Lessons of History

294.2We are completely deaf to the lessons of history. This is because a person does not learn from past states unless they connect them to the Creator.

Eighty years ago, European Jewry went through the Holocaust.

Look at the state Germany reached; it was the strongest, most developed, and most progressive nation of its time! Why? Because it had surpassed the other nations in its development and on a subconscious level felt that the Jews were the cause of all the world’s suffering.

This is how the general law of reality operates, and they perceived reality in accordance with that law. Now the entire world is rising to a stage of development similar to the one Germany reached at that time. On a subconscious level, the whole world feels what the Germans of prewar Germany felt. The heads of state of France, the United Kingdom, and others no longer conceal, they openly express their hostility toward Israel.

Baal HaSulam writes that all the nations of the world perceive Israel as a foreign body that has no right to exist, that there is no place for it in reality. This is a very natural feeling. After all, Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE) is within AHP in order to correct it. If the people of Israel do not fulfill their mission, then there is no need for them.

We must descend one level, then we will see the cause and discover the solution to the problem. But if you remain on the surface level of reality, you see no solution at all because you do not even know the source of the situation. I have cited a global example, but we must approach every situation in exactly the same way.

This is what is required of us in every situation: descend a little lower and penetrate a little deeper into it, but only a little. And in that “little,” we must reveal the Creator who sends us all these states. As soon as you find the Creator within a given state, you must immediately turn to Him, instantly establish contact with Him, and then you complete the correction of that particular state, which becomes another completed stage on your path.

But if you delve into that state more deeply than necessary, you simply take on unnecessary work, and waste your strength. All you need is the connection between the state you are experiencing, and the cause of that state—the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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So the Kli Precedes the Light

89Question: According to the order of the work from below up, it follows that the reflected light must come first. In other words, faith must come first, and then the direct light clothes in it?

Answer: We do not feel the pressure from the Creator, who desires to clothe in us, in our desire, because our desire is not corrected. To the extent that you have a screen with the intention to bestow, you will feel the pressure of the upper light, which desires to clothe in the corrected desire called the soul.

Then the question arises: when the light comes and strikes the screen, where are the light of faith, the reflected light, and everything else? They are all present before this, in a state of darkness. The screen is built during the darkness. And when you acquire it, you receive the power to maintain the restriction and the power of faith. This is what is called the screen.

The magnitude of the screen indicates the degree of faith. It is necessary to “stock up, arm oneself, with this in advance.

Naturally, this is done by the light, but the demand for this light to come develops only through efforts from below, which are made by means of the impression received from the books and those who wrote them, as well as from the group, and not from above. Here, an effort made by the person himself is required, so that the Kli precedes the light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 171

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 171

What Is the Grace of Kedusha?

The grace of Kedusha, as its name suggests, is simply a “grace of Kedusha.” It is a kind of attraction to something pleasant and good. It is not a desire because there is no deficiency in the grace of Kedusha. The feeling is more like, “This is nice for me.” There is no natural necessity in it, but instead an attraction, a sense of “I like this,” “There is beauty in it.”

“Grace” is the precise word. It is remarkable how the Kabbalists gave an exact name to every phenomenon. They felt it down to its roots and then dressed it into the accurate word.

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On the Still Level of Kedusha

281.01In our world there are people who engage only in external actions. No illumination from above reaches them, and they do not perform any inner actions. So, what is the difference between those who engage in inner actions and those who engage in external actions? The difference is very simple; it is their correspondence to Abraham.

Question: But where can you find a point of connection between our external and inner actions so that there is some logic to it?

Answer: If you perform actions with your body without any connection to spiritual corrections, like a good Jew who does what he was taught, then you establish correspondence on your own level: Domem deKedusha (the still level of holiness). You perform corrections, but since it is the still level of Kedusha, it does not give you the opportunity to grow. Nevertheless, they are corrections.

The light came from above, clothed in matter, and within this matter the spiritual replicated. Thus, in this world there are still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels, and on the speaking level there are people who are descendants of Abraham or Gerim (converts), whom we will discuss later.

Those who are on the still level possess sparks of Abraham that they do not develop; for example, the illumination from above that awakens one to spirituality has not yet come to them, and so, they perform correction on the still level of holiness.

It is still a correction; you cannot deny it. But neither can you live by it, that is, you cannot add anything to it, because the still level is characterized by the absence of spiritual life.

If you desire something more, then you must begin to add your own effort: take deficiencies as though from outside yourself, add your own contribution through the single point of free choice available to you, and thereby evoke an additional illumination from above, or absorb more of the illumination that comes to you. Then you begin to carry out the spiritual commandments, to work for the Creator.

You must distinguish between these two aspects, because Kabbalah is, in essence, work for the Creator. Otherwise, you observe the commandments simply as a person who was taught to do so. One does not contradict the other; both approaches are necessary.

However, to one who exists on the still level of holiness, it appears that you are negating that level, because for him only the first aspect matters; if something else is deemed important, then the first loses its significance.

We observe that those who truly begin to study the inner part begin to neglect the external part—to the point that a person who meticulously observed all the commandments, upon beginning the study of Kabbalah, suddenly forgets that he has anything at all that he must do. He still does certain things out of habit, but his thoughts are floating in the clouds, above. We see how much the material action becomes weakened—in work, in the family, in everything. A person who is completely attached to spirituality greatly neglects the material.

Those who say that one who studies Kabbalah does not observe the commandments in practice with the meticulousness required in this world, are seemingly right. We ourselves see that this is so; let us not hide what, in the end, actually happens.

It is necessary to clarify the reasons for this phenomenon: either, God forbid, we are studying something incorrect; or we are mistaken and are not studying as we should; or this is natural and perhaps it will later return in another form, on another degree, in another existence—together, both in the spiritual and in the material.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”

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In Which Kli Does the Light Clothe?

1.02Question: During an ascent, the inner light clothes in a person. During a descent, there is no inner light. Is surrounding light present in the external Kli instead?

Answer: The question is, in which Kli does the light clothe itself? If we are speaking about the preparation period, we have a person who has a desire to receive for their own sake, and who must gradually analyze, attain, and distinguish various layers, nuances, and shades within it. Among all their desires, is there one in which the light can clothe?

Question: I have a desire to receive that has no screen, and from above, through the Machsom, the surrounding light shines upon me. When I acquire a screen, this light will clothe within me, and then should all my work be on the screen, so that the reflected light will clothe in me?

Answer: That is not the case. Naturally, I think about wanting  to attain Him, and I yearn for Him, but the correction does not take place according to this. Of course, I aspire to the light so that it will fill me; however, the correction takes place when this light is absent, when it departs. Do I fill myself, in its place, with the light of faith?

The light of faith shines not simply from the surrounding light, but from the fact that my attitude toward the Creator is related not to how much I receive from Him, but to what my attitude toward Him is, to the measure in which I aspire to Him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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Sprouts of Bestowal Above the Field of Egoism

938.07“And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you seeking?’ And he said, ‘I seek my brothers. Tell me, I pray you, where they are feeding the flock?’

A man “wandering in the field” refers to a place from which the crop of the field to sustain the world should spring (Rabash, “Love of Friends – 1“).

The Torah is the teaching, the method, that explains the entire process we must go through, from here until the end of correction. So where do we begin building the spiritual vessel and entering the spiritual world?

Here it speaks about Joseph, who gathers (Osef) all the previous qualities of his brothers, and through this discovers that he is in Egypt, that is, within the evil inclination.

I feel that I am opposite to the spiritual world and unworthy of it. Moreover, I have no desire whatsoever to enter it, this is what my inner qualities “tell” me. This realization must come. But on the other hand, we already know that if we break down the barriers between us and unite, then within our unity we will immediately begin to feel the spiritual world.

Thus, the Torah explains to us the process of developing our common vessel, which at this stage is called Joseph. He is “wandering in the field,” not knowing how to reach spirituality. Before him lies an empty expanse, and he does not know which way to go.

And the works of the field are plowing, sowing, and reaping. It is said about that: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy,” and this is called “a field which the Lord has blessed.”

A person must be ready for the plowing, the sowing, and the reaping, that is, for working with his desire. For desire (Ratzon) is the land (Eretz), or that very field, which must be plowed and sown with the seeds of bestowal, Bina, so that Bina may enter Malchut. There it begins to grow by means of Malchut’s desire, producing sprouts, the harvest that we will later reap.

Thus, the person called Israel, one who is directed straight to the Creator, enters Egypt and discovers a great egoistic desire within himself. It is precisely then, when he sees that this desire rules over him, that he exerts himself toward unity and, through prayer and a cry for help, escapes from Pharaoh.

Why is this descent into egoism necessary? It is o that we may come out of it. Just as we place seeds into the earth so that, through the earth, they may sprout and blossom. It is thanks to the earth, meaning the egoistic desire, that the tiny seed of bestowal, the altruistic desire, begins to grow. It emerges precisely from the earth.

When the spark of bestowal, the point in the heart, awakens within us, it brings us to the wisdom of Kabbalah. We begin to study, we join a group, and suddenly discover how bad everything is, how many obstacles arise along the way. The evil grows stronger and stronger until we are completely submerged in it. Then, with our last ounce of strength, we struggle to overcome it and escape. And we flee, taking with us the great desire to receive that we acquired in Egypt.

This is how the seed of bestowal sprouts: We rise above the earth, taking the corrupted desires with us, and then begin to correct them.

This process is accompanied by joy and sorrow, by the hardening of the heart, failures, and difficulties. Yet it is precisely through despair that we draw near to the exodus. And that exodus is found in unity. No one comes out alone, only together.
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From the International Kabbalah Congress 2/24/12, “Arava,” Lesson 3

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Contradiction Prior to the Final Correction

232.09There is a contradiction between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, and therefore, we are always in a state of uncertainty and lack of understanding. Baal HaSulam writes that every spiritual state contains two opposites within it; that is, contradiction is inherent in its very nature.

He explains what the real problem within us actually is. As long as we exist simply in the still, vegetative, or animate desire to receive, which is our nature, there is no problem, and everything is in order.

There are the four phases of the expansion of the direct light: the root phase (Shoresh), the first phase (Aleph), the second phase (Bet), and the third phase (Gimel). But as soon as the fourth phase (Behina Dalet) begins, problems immediately arise, and the restriction (Tzimtzum) takes place.

Before the fourth phase, there is no restriction because everything is governed from above. I have no desires of my own. The Creator gives me thoughts, impulses, desires, fears, anxieties, and hormones. And I, like a puppet, merely carry out everything that He gives me. There are no problems or contradictions here. I am the desire to receive, the Creator governs me from above, and that is all.

But when the point in the heart awakens within the desire to receive, it is already a messenger from that world, from beyond the Machsom, from the desire to bestow. Then a rupture occurs within a person, and a problem arises: two opposite natures coexist within him—the spiritual nature and the corporeal nature. The inner tension within a person grows, and he begins to feel like they are exploding or losing their mind. They cannot coexist together. This is why we are so unhappy.

One must understand that there is no choice. At a certain point, the Creator implanted both the desire to receive and the desire to bestow within us, as well as within all of humanity. We will remain in this inner division until we “join” the two together—that is, until the desire to receive acquires the intention to bestow as its second, spiritual nature.

We are obligated to reach spirituality. We are simply not asked whether we want to. We will remain in this inner fracture until we transform our desire to receive into a desire to bestow. Then these two forms of nature—the spiritual and the corporeal—will once again become as one. Only then will we attain a sensation of peace.

Until the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun) however, this contradiction will continue to exist within us.
[358514]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 170

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 170

Does All Spirituality Grow from the Small Spark?

All spirituality grows from this calculation, from that small spark. Through study, the spark receives the grace of Kedusha, and then we develop and nurture it. Initially, we certainly have no understanding of what spirituality is and no real desire for spirituality. Rather, from what enters us through the grace of holiness—called Lishma—we begin to want to be in order to bestow. This attitude begins to form within us, which is truly something miraculous: within the will to receive, sparks of bestowal begin to emerge.

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The Spectrum of Our Possibilities

49.01Question: Why do we agree that some people engage in inner actions while others engage only in external ones?

Answer: Why should we agree or disagree with it? In spirituality, there is no such concept as agreeing or disagreeing. In spirituality, there is only the definition of the state in which I exist.

If a particular light comes to me and sustains me on a certain degree, then I am a “thief.” If a greater light comes to me, I become a “robber.” And if an even greater light comes, I become a “righteous person.” Everything depends on the measure of the light descending upon me.

You may lament, “Oh, I’m a robber!”, it will not help you at all because a state is a state. You can only give it a name; you cannot change it. If you want to deceive yourself, put the label “righteous” on it. It will not help, though perhaps it will make you feel differently.

“Why don’t we oppose this? Why do we agree with it?” I am speaking about the state itself, not about how I should react to it. Whether I want it or not, whether I agree or disagree, this is my state. This is how it happens: A person who begins to engage in the inner part almost completely neglects the external part.

Conversely, there are people who studied Kabbalah in the correct way and, as a result, neglected the practical commandments. Later, having forgotten what true study is and returned to some pseudo-system, they begin observing the commandments and become good Orthodox Jews. I see all these changes, the entire spectrum of possibilities.

Thus, I am describing a phenomenon without judging whether it is good or bad. You cannot say that when a lion devours its prey, it is doing something wrong. That is its nature, which dictates its actions. It is the same with us: every step we take at every given moment is dictated by our nature.

This has been known for many generations. There are many stories dating back three or four hundred years. For example, someone looked through a window and saw a Kabbalist lighting a candle at a time when it was forbidden. I do not think these stories are false or that they were invented by opponents of Kabbalah. I am saying seriously that such phenomena are well known. I have seen them and experienced them myself.

Why is this so? We will speak about that later. There is a reason for it and an intention from above. First of all, everything that happens is done from above. As for how we should relate to it, how we should behave, whether by adapting ourselves or by overcoming it, we will discuss that separately. But the phenomenon itself exists. This is not the army where you can simply say, “No, that’s impossible!” It exists, and first of all we must define the state and acknowledge the truth.

To study yourself, you must see yourself through someone else’s eyes.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”

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The Spirit of Life, Filled with Hope

938.04Each one should try to bring into the society a spirit of life and hopefulness, and infuse energy into the society.

…before he came to the society, he was disappointed with the progress in the work of the Creator… because of his own weakness and lack of aspiration.

But upon entering the group, he must feel there a “raging fire” burning within him and drawing him into the group, which influences him without asking his permission, because he is unable to withstand the influence of the friends.

…but now the society has filled him with life and hopefulness. Thus, through the society, he obtained the confidence and strength to overcome because now he feels that he can achieve wholeness (Rabash, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends“).

If such a spirit does not exist within the group, there is no hope of attaining anything. In Article 225, “Raising Oneself,” from the book Shamati, it is written: One cannot raise oneself above one’s circle, from his environment. Everyone advances only together with the group. If I do not pass a good mood on to the group, I will not have it either. If I do not want the group to advance, neither will I advance, because we will not create a common desire, a Kli.

The more we speak about this, compelling ourselves to understand it ever more deeply, the more clearly we begin to discern the spiritual reality, one that is hateful to us, opposite to our nature, and undesirable; yet, it is the true reality. Then we will begin to see it as truly important and exalted.

But the main thing is, despite how unpleasant it may seem, to give every spiritual action and every spiritual state its true definition—it is bestowal and love of the neighbor within the group, unity for the attainment of the Creator, the force of our common bestowal and love.
[41828]
From the World Kabbalah Congress, “We,” New Jersey 3/7-8/11, Lesson 8

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Attain the Spiritual Qualities of the Land of Israel

933Question: When a person sees that they are capable of handling a situation on their own, without outside help, does it mean they have not examined that situation deeply enough?

Answer: If a person thinks that they can cope with a situation by themselves, it means they have not examined it deeply enough. In other words, they have not penetrated to its deeper level.

Take, for example, the situation in our country. We all witness that we are under the threat of destruction. People have become desperate; they do not see a way out of the current situation, and no one has a miracle solution to this problem. People do not know how to go on living. Some are thinking of leaving the country, yet they do not even know where they could go. We can feel how desperate people have become as they consider moving to a more peaceful place.

But if we examine this situation more deeply, we will see a completely different picture. We must understand that, as a nation without spiritual aspiration, we have no right to this land. We are not connected to it and do not belong to it. Our place is in exile, outside the Land of Israel.

We were brought here for spiritual elevation so that we would acquire the spiritual qualities of the root of this land—Eretz Israel (“Eretz” means desire, and “Israel” comes from Yashar-El, meaning straight to the Creator). Thus, Eretz Israel means the desire directed toward the Creator.

If we are unable to acquire these spiritual qualities, then our place is not here. This land simply casts us off and rejects us like a foreign body.

Who has created this situation for us and why? Perhaps we should look for another comfortable place to live? Maybe Uganda, Madagascar, or, if nothing else, Birobidzhan. But the Creator says: “No! Your place is here, on this land, but only on the condition that you become Israel—one who aspires to the Creator. Otherwise, very difficult states will be awaiting you, even worse than those experienced by the nations of the world.”

Galgalta ve Eynaim (the bestowing Kelim) must fulfill their role with respect to all of AHP (the receiving Kelim). We are not carrying out the role entrusted to us, and therefore, AHP dominates us. But if, in examining this situation, we penetrate a little deeper, we will see the true causes—what is really happening and what can be done.

We will see that there is simply nowhere to run. There is only one absolute solution: spiritual elevation. This is the difference between a superficial understanding of reality and the understanding of its underlying causes. And this situation will not change until we look into the level from which the true cause becomes visible. Only then will the situation begin to change for the better.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/23/26, Rabash, “What Is the Importance of the Groom, that His Iniquities Are Forgiven?”

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The Role of the Environmental Influence in Raising Children

945Comment: I clearly remember how, as a child, I was deeply attached to my parents. I depended on them greatly and listened to their opinions. For a child, what his father, mother, or grandparents says is extremely important. But then a stage comes when, no matter how he was raised, he breaks away from his parents and changes.

My Response: It is the environment! He comes under the influence of a different environment.

But in our community, it is different. Here, a child and his parents share the same outlook, the same goal in life, the same values, and the same sense of importance. Therefore, there is no conflict. The child passes through all these stages very smoothly. He sees that there is no contradiction: what he experiences at home, at school, and with the other children outside is all the same.

Let him see the world! Nothing is hidden from him. He will see that our view of the world is sober and true.

We educate our children so that by the age of eighteen they have completed both school and university.

Comment: Suppose the terminology we use sounds unusual when it comes from their mouths. People outside might react differently to these children.

My Response: I do not think so. What could be unusual about them? That they do not use the coarse language heard on the streets? So, they will simply speak differently. Today’s world is very mixed.

Comment: But they will still be different from other children.

My Response: They will differ in that they are more balanced, calmer, not easily influenced by outside pressures, and they know why and how to live. They will become very beneficial to everyone. It will be an entirely new generation, properly formed.

All this is possible because we have both the method and the force, the light, that will act upon them. But we cannot simply hand this over to outsiders and say, “Take it and use it.” They do not possess this inner feeling.

Therefore, children who have grown up within our educational method and reach adulthood at eighteen or twenty years of age become a true asset to humanity. They will form the layer of instructors that humanity lacks. Can you imagine how much they will be needed?

Comment: But they will also have a great ego. Couldn’t they still fall into all the temptations of this world?

My Response: No! That will not happen under any circumstances! We see this in our own young people. Those who have been raised in this way, the light does everything; not us.

Those who may fall into the temptations of this world are people who come to us from outside. There have been individuals who tried to build their own businesses on the basis of Kabbalah. How many have there been over the decades of our existence? Just a few. It simply does not happen.

It does not interest a person. He cannot think: “Who will respect me there? What will I gain? What will they give me?” because he has an entirely different system of values within him. You can see for yourself how we live.

Comment: I mean that sometimes people relapse because of personal predispositions, some toward alcohol, others toward something else.

My Response: If we are speaking about someone who came from the outside and had long-standing problems with drugs, alcoholism, or something similar, then yes. But I am talking about people who have been raised among us from birth. They simply do not have those tendencies.

You can see this in our children. They are not drawn elsewhere. They say: “We want to spend time with our own young women, build families among ourselves, organize a club for us. We do not want to meet outsiders. We do not even have anything to talk about with them,” and so on.

We already have children who grew up here, started their own families, and now have children of their own. This is how the next generation begins to emerge—the generation that came out of Egypt, the generation that already bears fruit.

Question: Do you place great hopes in the children?

Answer: Yes! I believe this is the most important thing. The most important!

We see what Moses did with the people who came out of Egypt. That generation which he led out of Egypt had to die in the wilderness. Only those who were born in the wilderness entered the Land of Israel. The same principle applies here.

I believe only in raising a person from the very beginning and giving him the correct direction in life; that is all. It will remain with him throughout his life. It will not leave him, because life itself will continually show him that he was formed correctly.

In this way, these children will receive an education and upbringing, become professionals in various fields, and be able to integrate into our system and work with us. And if not, they will be able to engage in any other profession they choose.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalah for Teenagers” 10/12/10

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 169

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 169

How Can We Not Want to Receive Something If We Never Received It in the First Place?

Since spirituality is concealed, we seemingly want it, but in reality, we mainly want to get rid of our suffering. We are given various kinds of suffering in our state in this world, and we need to escape from the suffering. Then it appears to us that we are attracted to spirituality because we truly want it. However, in truth, we cannot want it before we have seen and felt it. Even the charm of the unknown that we imagine for ourselves is not spirituality. Spirituality is in order to bestow, not what we imagine it to be. Time after time, a different character and picture of spirituality becomes clarified for us, and as we progress, the form of spirituality constantly changes for us.

Therefore, we cannot want spirituality as it truly is because it is opposite to us. We get pushed to spirituality because it seems like it will solve our problems. Then the small will to receive that we have for spirituality, which is essentially simple curiosity, we gradually develop through study, by hearing from the environment, from the society: “It is worthwhile,” “It is important,” “It is great.” This attracts us, and we obligate ourselves to study, work, and perform actions that will help us. This study and these actions help us attract the surrounding light.

When we attract the surrounding light, we receive a grace of Kedusha that we never had before. Even though it seemed that we so greatly desired spirituality, the grace of Kedusha that we receive is entirely different. Grace of Kedusha means that we begin to agree with the fact that we must reach “in order to bestow.” This is a very strange and unnatural phenomenon, where within the general Lo Lishma (“not for Her sake”) there begins to appear a little Lishma (“for Her sake”). In other words, we want to do the work so that both we and the Creator will have something. Of course, if nothing were to be gained from it for ourselves, we would not do the work, but a certain intention already appears that it will also be for the Creator.

This state is called “Lo Lishma that leads to Lishma.” The transition already appears there, similar to the shattering of the vessels, where in the vessel, in Malchut, there is a spark from Bina through which Malchut can later receive correction.

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