A person’s spiritual advancement is sustained by light; without it, there is nothing to talk about. But what causes the light to come? Either it is an awakening from above, and then a person experiences a positive, uplifted state, is ready to exert effort, and nothing else matters to them.

Or this light arrives as a result of their efforts to grasp the importance of the goal. In accordance with these efforts, the light of importance, or, in other words, the light of faith, shines on them.

Then darkness does not matter to them. Even if, after another attempt to draw near the inner chambers, a person finds themselves distanced from the Creator without having gained anything, they still thank the Creator. Even when they fall back into an animalistic state, as was the case in many of their previous falls, they remain grateful to the Creator for simply receiving these various different states from Him.

They do not evaluate these states based on what they possess or what occurs during each ascent and descent, because they understand that doing so would merely be using their receiving Kelim (vessels). Instead, they assess their states according to how much effort they can invest to receive the light of faith through their own efforts and work from below. This is the correct assessment.

When a person comes to a state where, in both ascents and descents, the only thing that matters is that one’s attitude toward the Creator does not change, then we say that one is filling one’s reflected light, the light of faith, from below up, instead of allowing the light to come from above to below.

This is called being ready to bestow upon the Creator by filling oneself with this light, rather than allowing the Creator to fill him. This is the person’s giving. And then, in this measure, the Creator clothes Himself in a person, and they unite, and this union of direct and reflected light, clothed in each other, is called the inner light.

Rabash describes these states for a reason. We can observe this in ourselves when we look at each other—gauging the states we are in: whether we are falling or rising, either as a group or individually.

We need to reach a point where none of these matters to us. No matter what state I am in—whether I am rising or falling, whether I am happy or anxious, whether there is illumination from above or not—none of it interferes, we must immediately fill this Hisaron (lack, need) with the light of faith.
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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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Question: What should I do if I do not experience descents? After all, I am in the best group, and I have the sources and a teacher.

Answer: If everything is going well for you, if you study, and you feel fulfilled by the “holiness” that comes from observing the commandments, then it is a sign that you are not exerting yourself enough, or that perhaps you are making physical efforts, but not inner ones. You are not searching as deeply as you could. And most likely you are still not truly connected with the others. You can work physically alongside them all the time, but being connected with them means seeing something in them that you do not have yourself.

Apparently, you lack a sufficient measure of envy. You are satisfied with what you have: “Thank God, I have something. That is wonderful. Thank You, Creator. Everything is fine. Everything is for the best. I am joyful, and I am righteous.” Then you are operating only in the right line, and in the right line alone, a person cannot grow because he acquires no new vessels. Unfortunately, that is the problem.

Question: But shouldn’t we always remain in an elevated mood?

Answer: You should remain in an elevated mood despite the constant counterbalance of the left side. Every time additional Kelim are added to you, you draw toward the right. But without the left line, what is all this worth? You cannot grow that way.

We grow only when the flesh increases, and it comes from the Kelim that we seek to clarify. So what you are lacking is a sufficient measure of envy. “Counters envy increases wisdom.” You are not envious of how your friends study, take notes, and work. Envy is essential, but it must be the right kind. It is not wishing to bring your friend down and not wanting that he would study and act as you do, but rather aspiring to become like him.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 7/2/26, Rabash, Article 21, 1988 “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work? ”

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There is work during an ascent and work during a descent, and a person must try to find what is relevant to him in each of these two states. But most importantly, a person is required to work during an ascent, because during a descent there is no one from whom to demand anything. He may be in such a state that he neither hears nor is able to move from his place, sometimes not only internally but even physically.

But during an ascent, when he experiences an influx of strength, he should not simply enjoy it, as though he feels good and is in a state of perfection. He must understand that this has been given to him from above, although he does not deserve it. Yet both the state of ascent and the state of descent are given to him solely for the sake of advancing.

There are no reward and punishment in this. It is not that because I suffered before, I am now being rewarded by feeling good. This is a completely mistaken thought and an incorrect approach to the process we are going through.

The state called a descent is given in order to feel our own qualities, while the state called an ascent is given in order to feel the qualities of the Creator. By sensing our own qualities during the descent and the qualities of the Creator during the ascent, we must work with these two states and derive the greatest possible benefit for our advancement from them.

If we go through these states without using them to advance toward the purpose of creation, they simply pass by. We will be given an ascent and a descent once or twice, and then they will stop. Or they will be sent once every six months or once a year. And so, the years will pass.

Everything depends on how purposefully a person relates to each state they find themself in, without thinking that it is given to them as a reward or a punishment, but accepting it simply as a state for work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/26, Rabash, “What Are Holiness and Purity, in the Work?”

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 173

What Happens on the Degrees Before the Degree of the Creator?

All the degrees prior to the degree of the Creator are degrees of equivalence of form, which gradually lead us to complete equivalence. We have 620 desires, and we need to equalize the use of each and every desire with the way the Creator uses His desires. We align each desire so that it will be in order to bestow, which means that our use of the desire becomes identical to the Creator’s use of desires.

The Creator created this desire by means of a specific light that shines corresponding to that desire. If 620 lights emerge from the Creator, then each light creates a particular desire to receive in us. We correct this desire to “in order to bestow,” and then the vessel becomes like the light. That same desire becomes similar to that specific light because it bestows back according to the same action.

Therefore, we have 620 such vessels that bestow back to the Creator, just as the Creator, through 620 lights, bestows into those vessels. Consequently two systems are formed in which the actions of bestowal are identical, referred to as “the created being becomes exactly like the Creator.”

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