Publications

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.

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).
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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.”
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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: 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.
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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).
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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.
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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.

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?”

Question: What example would you give of a person who is developing?

Answer: A doll moves by means of a small motor, beneath that lies a rheostat. As the rheostat is adjusted, development begins in the doll. The doll transforms, becoming increasingly driven by consumption, then by a desire for knowledge, and finally by a desire to understand the root cause of suffering, suffering that neither the development of consumption nor knowledge, nor attempts to escape suffering have been able to resolve. All of this brings the doll to a desire to understand where the suffering comes from. All of this happens according to the program built into the doll.

And it comes to understand that the suffering is purposeful; it forces it to change. The Creator begins to “disturb” those whom He wants to draw closer to Him.

The Creator shows a person through this that the person himself needs to change, rather than trying to change the environment around him or his way of life to suit himself. There is no escaping suffering through any of this, and nothing can truly be achieved that way. In this way, the Creator compels a person to change.
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Comment: In religious societies, things are coming to light that are no less bad than those found in secular society.

My Response: Ultimately, the will to receive bursts forth and grows unchecked. Then both religious and secular boundaries lose their significance for the person; they become unrestrained and frenzied.

Nothing can be done about this. Such things, of course, happen both here and there. But it is better to maintain at least something. Perhaps in ten years the conditions will change, but in our time, I think, it is worth it. The main thing is to minimize the damage.

Comment: But Baal HaSulam writes in several places that one who engages in the Torah in its external form causes the greatest damage. He warned about this before the Holocaust.

My Response: Baal HaSulam indeed writes at the end of the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” that one who engages in the external Torah and does not want to engage in the internal—not that he is unable, but precisely that he does not want to, neglects it, or hates it—causes all the damage, and brings about the worst things in the world. That is correct. But this does not mean that a person must distance themselves from the external Torah. He must engage in both the external Torah and Kabbalah.

Moreover, whether you like it or not, Baal HaSulam writes there as well that those who engage in the external Torah must begin to engage in the internal. He is not speaking about you, not about your guilt, not that you are causing the worst things in the world, not that you must begin to engage in the internal Torah. He is not speaking about you, but about them. Why?

You want to say the following: if they cannot engage in the internal part, then let them abandon the external as well, let them simply be secular; at least in this way we will harm no one. This will not help you. Already today, what they engage in cannot be called the external part in the true sense. Therefore the damage lies not in this, but precisely in the fact that they do not engage in the internal part.

Of course, it is easier to approach a completely secular person with a proposal to study Kabbalah. This will not work with a religious person. However, the problem lies in education, in millions of young people. If you completely free them from studying the Torah or from frameworks suitable for the people, nothing good will come of it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, Article 14, 1984 “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 215

How Can We Act in Order to Bestow Before the Barrier?

Before the barrier (Machsom), it is impossible to act in order to bestow. We cannot think in order to bestow and then fail to carry out an action in order to bestow. That is why it is called “before the barrier.” In spirituality, there is no possibility that we can be in one place while already fitting another place, because the moment we match a certain place, we are already there.

In spirituality, we have a kind of “engine” that moves us to the place that corresponds to us according to the changes in our qualities. It is like an electric charge in an electric field or a piece of iron in a magnetic field. It is the equivalence of form between something and its potential field. The Creator is the center of spiritual force, and from Him emanate the waves of the spiritual field. We exist within this field, within this space, as a soul. According to the soul’s potential, the more we resemble the Creator, the closer we come to Him, and the more our qualities differ from those of the Creator, the farther away we become. Thus, we ourselves determine our spiritual movement.

If we, throughout our entire corporeal life in this world, made absolutely no change in our relationship to the Creator, if we made no movement whatsoever, then we are called “one who was dead and remained dead.” If we made some movement, or at least wanted to make a movement, then we already have some relationship to the Creator, and it is possible that we truly made a movement. Our goal is to adhere to Him, to reach the center of that field and space where the Creator is. We need to increasingly progress to Him through equivalence of form, until we are actually included in Him. We do not become nullified. On the contrary, we become like Him. The qualities of the person become like the qualities of the Creator. Then there are two at the center of that field, not one.

But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help, since now he has a basis of feeling, which he called “knowledge.” In other words, now he knows for what purpose he is working. His work is no longer above reason because he has a basis to rely on, meaning this feeling that he feels that this state is good for him. On this basis he determines the work (Rabash, ‘What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”).

Rabash does not specify here what kind of ascent he means: an ascent according to one’s feelings, according to the true state, or according to what appears to a person. Perhaps he is speaking about a person who has passed the Machsom, for whom an ascent consists of receiving in order to bestow, when the pleasure and the inner definition of an ascent are determined by a completely different understanding of the concept from our present one.

But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help. We can already see that we are talking about feelings, rather than the true state. A person has received some fulfillment and does not need the Creator because his Kli is satisfied by this fulfillment. This means that he is not above the Machsom, but below it. For above the Machsom, a person’s fulfillment is the establishment of a connection with the Creator, whereas below the Machsom, fulfillment depends on the degree to which his Kli is filled.

Below the Machsom, I “take a reading” from my Kli, whereas above the Machsom I “take a reading” from His vessel, checking to what extent I have filled Him, rather than myself. This is the difference between being below the Machsom and being above it.

Comment: It turns out to be the opposite.

My Response: Of course, the opposite. Everything depends on where I am, where my heart is: Whether I am checking within myself the degree to which my own “belly” is filled, or whether I am checking in the Creator to what extent I have filled Him.

But when a person is in an ascent, he thinks that he no longer needs the Creator’s help, since now he has a basis of feeling. I have filled myself, so what more do I need? Give me fulfillment, and I don’t need any Creator.

Which he called “knowledge,” when he thinks: “I know this. This is what I have. This is mine.”

Now he knows for what purpose he is working. His work is no longer above reason. He, his heart, his intentions, everything is in his belly, in his Kli. He has a basis to rely on: “I have filled myself, and that’s it.” This feeling that he feels that this state is good for him. On this basis he determines the work.

At that time, as soon as he reaches this state, he is immediately thrown from above, and it is as though he is asked, “Where is your wisdom? You said that you already know on what the work relies.”

Thus, through this, a person is taught that he must never abandon his intention, his connection with the Creator, or his examination of himself in relation to Him: Where exactly am I in relation to Him, and what am I filling? One must never, God forbid, disconnect from this and withdraw into one’s own shell. This is how a person is taught.

How is he taught? He is filled, and by doing so he is thrown off course: “Enough about the Creator. What do you need Him for? You already have everything.” If the person really does stray from the path, then he is lowered in his feelings, and he falls, feeling bitter and bad. Then he begins to cry out to the Creator; through his cry he renews his connection with Him and gradually rises again toward connection with Him, filling himself.

As soon as he again abandons the Creator, he is once again lowered in his feelings, and he cries out again, until he comes to understand that the connection with the Creator itself must be his fulfillment, his satisfaction. The connection with the Creator, and not the degree to which my Kli is filled.

Thus, a person begins to feel the Creator’s vessel: what He gives and what He fills. A person lives through Him, “for in Him our heart shall rejoice.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/26, Rabash, Article 2, 1991 “What Is, “Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,” in the Work?”

Question: What is the connection between our animalistic qualities and our attitude toward the Creator?

Answer: I do not connect my animalistic qualities with the study at all. I do not expect or hope that the light that reforms will change them. You know how hot-tempered and impatient I am, and I can suffer from these qualities, but I do not see a connection between them and my connection with the Creator. Although if I were not so fiery, perhaps I would not be so passionate toward the Creator either. So, it is better to leave it as it is.

Take, for example, a quality such as laziness. If I were not lazy, I would be busy right now with a thousand different things that everyone in the world is involved in. But I sit here because I am lazy, and if I do something, then it is something worth doing.

There are people who are in business, and when you offer them some kind of deal, they say: “I make two million dollars a month, and nothing less. If you have something to offer me, then I will listen to you. If not, I don’t even want to waste my time.” This is called a measure of laziness.

So with what measure is it possible to come to you? Do you know? No?! It is clear to me that if you come to me with this or that, I will not deal with it, but if you offer me a little more than that, then yes.

In other words, a person should be clear about what he engages in and what he does not. Otherwise, he will be like a child running everywhere. Take a child into a toy store and you will see how he starts grabbing everything indiscriminately.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/16/26, Rabash, “What Should One Do If He Was Born with Bad Qualities?”

Living in spirituality means living with the intention to bestow. That is, the Creator gives me a Masach (screen), and this is called crossing the Machsom (barrier). Before this, I had no screen and no intention to bestow.

Now I have acquired a minimal correct intention. My will to receive together with this intention is called my first spiritual Kli. This means that I must receive a screen (Masach) from Him.

But then, what is the previous degree before receiving the screen? Obviously, the need for a screen. And since the condition for receiving anything is the existence of a desire (Kli) to receive it, it means that I need a Kli for the screen, a need for a screen.

What should the need for a screen be? Can I now imagine a situation in which I need a screen? Let me take a step back. To have a need for a screen, I need to know what I will get out of it, what I stand to gain through the screen.

What will I receive through the screen when I act for the sake of bestowal? When I see the Creator, that is, not that I see Him and enjoy Him, but I see that I bestow upon Him, while at the same time what I bestow upon Him is not a form of personal gain; otherwise my action would be impure. Acting for the sake of bestowal means bestowing upon Him without even feeling Him, without having any revelation, but simply being aware of myself as bestowing.

There are many more subtleties within this, but in the end, I come to a state in which I need some simple force that is completely absent in me now. The question is, can I have a desire for it?

If I examine what a true desire for a screen is, then I probably will not find such a desire in myself. Perhaps I do not want the screen itself at all, nor what it will give me in the spiritual world: pure bestowal without any connection to me. I still cannot sense these definitions (Avchanot), because they are completely detached from my reality.

I can only speak about it, but this gives me nothing! After all, this is not a prayer from the depth of desire. A deep desire is a desire that exists even before it is recognized and expressed in words. Obviously, I cannot arrive at this, but I can arrive at some states of despair around it.

So let’s proceed in this way. Let us clarify exactly what I can clarify within my will to receive, and do so in such a way that it would be the maximum of what I am capable of before the barrier. This is similar to what precedes the final correction (Gmar Tikun), when we can examine absolutely everything: Galgalta ve Eynaim, GE in AHP, AHP in GE, every property without exception, except for the “stony heart” (Lev HaEven).

It is as if I had a bone with meat on it, and I ate all the meat, leaving a clean, polished bone. In this way I clarify what is “yes” and what is “no”!
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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?”

The fact that the level of the people a hundred years ago differed from today’s illustrates a global regression across generations. For example, in the times of the destruction of the Temple, people were very pure. Even the destruction and hatred we speak of back then were then very subtle and pure.

Subsequently, over the course of two thousand years, the desire to receive has increased in every generation; people become more egoistic, and all this evil has surfaced, especially at the advanced stages, because the process develops, not arithmetically, but geometrically.

A leap occurred at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Educated people emerged. Why did they suddenly stop being religious? How could this happen? A desire to receive was added from above, which led to a new stage in the soul’s development, and the individual saw how hollow the restrictions dictating their actions and speech truly were.

Their inner part strengthened while their outer part weakened; they were unable to restrain themselves.They cast off these constraints. They were no longer content to remain at the still (inanimate) level of holiness. All this stems from the growing will to receive within the souls.

What is respected among ordinary religious people? A person who faithfully attends the synagogue, observes all the commandments, and presents himself to the public as free from any anxieties, as someone whose life consists of nothing but “simple faith.”

In religious circles such a person is deemed good, wonderful, or even holy. Yet we say that they lack the will to receive and are merely acting according to their nature. Add a bit of ego, a will to receive, and you will see them abandon it all. Thus, whether you like it or not, you cannot leave them as they were 500 or 2,000 years ago. The will to receive is growing, and nothing can be done about it.

Consequently each new generation is worse than the previous one, to the point that “the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog” that barks: “Give me! Give me!” It is impossible to resist this; it is bound to happen, and for now a process of searching and struggle is underway.

However, knowing what happened in the 20^th century allows you to foresee what will happen in the present one, what inner development will take place in people. You will see how with each year the world focuses increasingly on this direction, while everything else collapses. People will suddenly begin to sense that the entire world depends on their inner state.
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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”

Question: It is written that The Creator does not make [false] claims against His creations. What does this mean?

Answer: It means that He does not deceive them or intentionally cause them harm. He is not a source of evil for you. So where do bad sensations come from if not from Him? You feel that way solely due to the disparity of form between your qualities and His. It is a mark of great wisdom to realize that all heaviness is caused by the disparity of qualities.

We are prepared to overcome obstacles, dissent, and fight to the death—anything to achieve a what we desire. You see how people burn through their lives trying to achieve something. But here a person can be seized by such weakness that they cannot budge, even under the threat of death.

There are states where others can do whatever they want to me, but I am powerless to lift a finger. This is a spiritual matter. Such a state is caused by the disparity between the lights and Kelim (vessels), where the Kli is unable to make any movement whatsoever in relation to the light.

There are even worse states. A person must gather these experiences and use them to build the correct attitude toward the Creator. Only then do they establish a connection. However, one has to understand that in all these states we do not have any free choice other than to use the group.

Above the Machsom (barrier) we have free choice: lights, vessels, states, Klipa (impurity), and holiness, everything is in front of the person. When a person acquires the screen, they become free of the desire to receive, and they gain power. Let’s say that he has acquired a screen of ten kilograms, then he is free from at least ten kilograms of the desire to receive, and no longer feels the heaviness.

The sensation of heaviness arises from the fact that the desire to receive that has control over us, and at the same time we can compare it with the light. If it were not for the light, we would not sense this dominion and we would live like everybody else. However, now that we are under the power of the desire to receive, we feel it as intolerable coercion since the light has shone upon it. We have no choice; we need either the light or the desire to receive to disappear. It is impossible to exist with both.

Such a state is worse than death. When a person comes out of it with faith above reason, gets rid of his ego, and stops thinking about himself, he becomes free. Then he really has an ability to act freely, and instead of a burden, he feels lightness, and everything becomes open in front of him.

However, in our state, below the Machsom where there is no screen that gives us freedom, we have only one freedom. As Rabash writes, from all the actions that you can do in your life, you have only one free action.

You exist at the center of a sphere of your own possibilities, of all the things that you want to do; there is only one line, one direction that allows you to really determine something; it is not dictated by others, by society, by your education, or by your nature. There is one thing that depends on you: to experience the influence of the good society that advances you to the goal or not. There is no reality in everything else; it only seems to you that you decide something there.

Why does it only seem to you? This is because you act only according to your desire to receive. Its Reshimot constantly float to the surface from inside, and push you toward certain things. At one point I want something. After that I want something different. I do it, and it seems to me that I act according to my own program, and for my own goals.

When I look at people from the side, I see that every one of them is programmed, and has nothing that is called “human being” (Adam). All are like animals that run around and bustle about. And what is the result? Nothing. But one cannot observe this in himself.

That is why our teachers who show us the way tell us that it is futile. Do you want to perform the only real action in your life, an act that defines you as you rather than merely a programmed executor? Then choose a society that will help you become closer to the goal, to the Creator.

When you choose such a society, you act in a unprogrammed way. However, if you cannot do this, it means that in this life you have not done anything outside of the animalistic nature. Whether you exist or do not exist, there is no use or difference. You simply are executing a program, but you are not truly yourself.
[360020]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/28/26, Rabash, “What Is the Prohibition to Teach Torah to Idol-Worshippers in the Work?”

Question: What does “spending half an hour in the left line” mean?

Answer: Spending half an hour in the left line (and the rest of the time in the right line) demonstrates how challenging it is for us to connect with the right line, that is, to absorb and gain an impression of the greatness of the Creator, the importance of the goal and of His work because He is good that does good, and He truly wants us to know this. There are many different nuances here. Yet everything is clear—half an hour versus 23.5 hours.

Question: What if a person is unable to maintain that connection?

Answer: If a person cannot properly work on maintaining themselves between two lines—right and left—it means that they do not have sufficient control over themselves and are under the influence of their own nature. This is called “kaf ha kela” (the sling), where you are abruptly thrown from one state to another. One moment you are thrown to the right: “How amazing and grand everything is!” The next moment, you are in complete despair—who or what am I, everything is worthless, and so on.

Thus, you are neither here nor there; you can neither be under the force of the Creator’s nature, nor under the dominion of the nature of creation. These are simply two angels that rule over you. You yourself become such an angel.

The moment that you sit and cry, you are an angel. The left line rules over you, and you are sitting immersed in it, stuck in it. Or conversely, there is the right line, where you are just missing wings or you would already be flying. Neither of these is what we need.

You can only be at the intersection of these two lines to advance and create something completely new. You take part from the animal nature (the desire to receive) and part from the nature of the Creator (the desire to bestow), and you want to build something else, something new, something that has never existed before.

The desire that exists in spirituality is the desire to receive that was created by the Creator. But here, a completely new desire is born; it originates from the merging of the two previous ones, yet it is itself new. It turns out that you are, in effect, giving birth to your own soul, your new state. You are the master of the action.

Naturally, the Creator gives you the strength and all the components of this new Kli (vessel), but you build it yourself. After that, you no longer feel shame because you initiated the process, acted, and brought it to fruition.
[360472]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/26, Rabash, “What Is Do Not Add and Do Not Take Away in the Work?”

Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 214

Is the Degree of Receiving in Order to Bestow Higher Than the Degree of the Creator?

The Creator has no problem with bestowal. He bestows according to His nature. We, however, must be those who bestow in order to bestow, which is a rather strange combination of words. The created being is a desire to enjoy, and if together with the pleasure it feels, it intends to give pleasure to the Giver of that pleasure, to the Creator, then it is bestowing. This is the sum total of the nature and essence of the action. However, in practice, it always receives; it has no other possibility. We always use our desire to receive, our appetite, and the foods set before us in order to connect with the Host. We have no connection with the Host except through the foods and through his hunger. These are the means of connection.

We cannot speak about the Creator, who bestows according to His nature. Certainly, He makes no effort to bestow. Bestowal is His desire, and it is what He carries out. We do not speak about the upper force or about the degree of His separation from us. We cannot say what He is, only what we receive and feel from Him, whether they be good or bad things, shame or pleasures. We cannot imagine what the Creator is, what the desire to bestow is in itself, even if we were a created being on the highest degree. Although on such a degree we receive certain kinds of gifts from the Creator, hints that somehow make it possible to understand what the desire to bestow is.

What we understand, we understand within our vessels of reception, and then through the act of reception we can describe our understanding. We cannot understand beyond what our vessels allow. We can never step outside our vessels. Stepping outside the vessels means abstract light, which is something that has not been created. Nor do we perceive this abstract light. If we perceive abstract light, it is simply because we have reached a state in which we feel that the light is abstract, and even this takes place in our vessels of reception.

Therefore, we do not engage in what exists above the created being, because that is merely philosophy. No one has any experience of it, nor is it possible for the created being to attain it. The sole kind of attainment possible takes place when the Creator grants a kind of understanding that is above the vessels of the created being, on very high spiritual degrees. But Kabbalists do not even write about this. It has no significance.

Question: Why does spiritual work take so much time? If it originates from infinity, shouldn’t it continue infinitely?

Answer: Everything has an end. Scientists say that this world has existed for twenty billion years. How long has man existed? Let us say a million years.

How long has the point in the heart that is in a person’s body existed? It first manifested in man more than 5,700 years ago, and counting from Abraham, it has been more than 3,700 years. You can see that development is very slow. But the closer to the end of correction, the faster the pace of development grows; it increases exponentially.

We can see how over the course of 120 years, the world has advanced more in a than it did in the preceding thousand years. And in our time, a decade will bring as much advancement as in the previous 2,000 years. But in any case, it takes a long time because our collective structure is incredibly complex, and we do not know it.

We do not realize that we are all included in the infinite Kli (vessel), each of us. Within it, there is only one point—mine. All the others are not mine but originate from the rest of the Malchut of the world of infinity. I need to connect all these points to myself for the sake of bestowal to the Creator, incorporate them in myself, and get to know them, because I do not even know my own point. I have to annul it and connect it with all the other points, build a Kli from this, turn with it to the Creator, and begin to merge with Him (Zivug) for the sake of bestowal to Him.

In short, these are very slow actions. Not because they are slow in themselves. The corrections are very fast—billions of actions per second, so to speak. There is no way to count the movements, and there does not apply; I am simply citing specific numbers as an example.

But even though we are talking about billions of operations per second, it is like a computer: despite performing countless operations per second, we sometimes have to wait and wait to retrieve some information from it. Sometimes we have to wait half an hour for data to travel along a thin wire from a massive storage system.

It is the same with us. That is why it seems to us that we are standing still. We are advancing at a very fast pace; much faster than in the material world. No matter how swift the changes in the material world may be, in the spiritual world, they are even faster. Compared to the millions and billions of years of our development at different levels (inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking), our current rate of progress in the spiritual is accelerating tremendously.

You will soon see how the world will change over the course of a year or two.
[360243]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

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PublicationsArticles on current events, culture, popular science, relationships and more, presented from the unique perspective of the wisdom of KabbalahThe content is based on talks given by Dr. Michael Laitman and is written and edited by his students.

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Publications
Articles on current events, culture, popular science, relationships and more, presented from the unique perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah
The content is based on talks given by Dr. Michael Laitman and is written and edited by his students.