Turn The Initial Spark Into Constant Burning

Reaching the goal is based on practical work in a society, in a group. The group is meant to be joined by people who aim toward the same goal and received a natural aspiration toward revealing the Creator. The same way, the upper Light, the Creator, gives these people a desire to reveal Him and get close to Him. He gathers them around their teacher and passes this knowledge on to them to reach revelation of how to realize this desire, which the Creator invokes in them.

The Creator creates all the conditions–gives books, a teacher, a group, and a desire–everything except for something that should come from the person himself who needs to organize all these conditions, to focus and direct oneself toward one goal.

Friends help every person come to the lessons, participate in the group work, and study, just like in regular corporeal studies and groups. But the main thing is that one hears that it is impossible to reach the goal with the mere desire that was invoked by the Creator because it is not more than 10% of the desire that is needed to require revelation.

And you have to obtain a full, perfect desire which you get by being inspired from friends’ desire to reveal the Creator, by seeing that they are eager to reveal the Creator, by their talking about it, and by seeing how much they do and how many efforts they put toward it. All of that inspires and evokes the desire inside of you because by nature, we are made this way.

But in spiritual work, a person needs to make his own efforts to notice his friends and be inspired and impressed by them. After all, you can neglect them and everything they do and all their work will remain unnoticed. On the contrary, it is possible that you can pay attention to every little thing, get inspired from how much effort everyone puts into waking up early to come to the lesson even though it is hard for them, how many foreign desired appear in them, but they overcome all of them heroically, how they yearn to be together, etc.

On one hand, the group should open itself and show its strong desire toward revealing the Creator and reaching the goal of Creation. This inspires a person and gives him that additional desire that he lacks. In fact, we get every desire toward the Creator from the environment. The point in the heart is just an initial spark, which ignites this whole process, but afterward we have to advance.

There is work here that needs to be made on a man’s side: to lower oneself and see friends higher than oneself. There is work that comes from the group: to show itself as high, exceptional, and strong with respect to everyone. This is the individual work of each person and work of the group as a whole. We need to take care of that and not to accept a disdainful attitude.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/12, Writings of Rabash

Spiritual Search: What Do We Find?

Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 93: These are the words of our sages “I labored and found, believe.” And we ask about, “I labored and found, believe,” that the words seem self-contradictory, since labor relates to possession, and a find is something that comes without labor at all, absentmindedly. He should have said, “I labored and bought.”

However, you should know that this term, “find,” mentioned here, relates to the verse, “those that seek Me shall find Me.” It refers to finding the face of the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar that He is found only in the Torah, meaning that one is rewarded with finding the face of the Creator by laboring in the Torah. Hence, our sages were precise in their words, and said “I labored and found, believe,” because the labor is in the Torah, and the finding is in the revelation of the face of His Providence.

We act in order to discover a deficiency, a need for a certain phenomenon. If this deficiency is right, if it matches that phenomenon, then this phenomenon is revealed. Only then can we see what it actually is, because it is a “find.”

I lack the power of bestowal, the Light of bestowal, but I don’t know what it is. This is because my deficiency comes from below and it doesn’t exactly match the final phenomenon. This phenomenon belongs to an upper degree that is so different from me, like the degree of animate differs from the degree of vegetative. Every new discovery raises me to a new qualitative level and every time it is as if I turn from a dog into a man.

When the Light fills the vessel, it gives it a Godly mind and feeling that stem from the root that preceded the creation of man. The Light gives a person the knowledge, the feeling, the perception of reality that is above his root. We can hold on to this only if we come to life and want to resemble Him by that, above ourselves.

Therefore it says, “I labored and I found.” This find is always one level above the deficiency and the current exertion. This is how all the Partzufim of the spiritual ladder are built. There is nothing to be ashamed of here, because when I work on a lower level, I prepare myself for the total self-annulment before the higher level.

This is how the love of parents in our world bears children, takes care of them, and fills them. It is the same here, of course, where there is the love of the Creator, but at first I use it to rise to its level and to complete it to resemble the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

What If I Am Falling Asleep?

Question: How can I use The Book of Zohar to wake up the group for the attack before the convention in the desert?

Answer: We need to ask for a desire. We are constantly falling asleep in our life. It is no coincidence that our heart becomes burdened by the constant growth of the receiving desire. It has to grow to infinity, and thus we should react to this correctly. The desire becomes more and more violent and egoistic, more demanding and burdensome.

It is good if we try to bring it to correction, that is, to unity. And if we do not try, we experience troubles and misfortunes, which will force us to think about life only not because of the goal, but because of pain. Thus, we advance.

As for The Book of Zohar, it is possible to ask for the Light, which you lack.

Suppose, you are sick. You have fever, chills, you do not feel well, and want nothing, but to lie down and close your eyes. What do doctors recommended in this case? Indeed, you should not tire the body with physical activity; you need rest. You lie in bed, good for nothing, and even cannot eat; you lose your appetite, any food seems disgusting. But what can you do? Then, do the following: Open a cookbook, read the recipes, look at the photos in color, and gradually your appetite returns.

It is the same here: You are sick, you are sleepy, so open your book. Not necessarilyThe Book of Zohar, any book that is close to you and to which you respond. Depending on conditions, I use different books: The Gates of Intentions, Gate of Reincarnations, the 16th part of TES, and Shamati. Everyone is awakened by something else. It could be Psalms. It is written: “A man learns where his heart is.” The main thing is that they are our materials.

If a person is completely confused, the sages advise that he should think about the day of death. He can go to a cemetery and reflect on graves. Of course, this is just an example, but the point is to throw the body some calculations and shake it. In fact, it is not about physical death, but the death of the egoistic desire.

However, the most obvious of all the means is the group, the impact of the environment. If a person works in a way that he should be included in the others, it is very effective. As a rule, it helps a lot to organize an event for the public because he receives people’s desire and power to move forward.

Dissemination is the most effective method and the best solution. When one participates in it, he feels how much strength it gives.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/12, The Zohar

The Precious Gem

In the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Baal HaSulam raises the question: How is it possible to reach love without the revelation of the Creator? This question baffles us, because if the Host is before me and treats me with love, then I can also show the same feelings towards Him. But what can I do if He is concealed? How and who, can I love in this case?

I must have some kind of revelation, some perception, some understanding, an image and a direction in order to develop the love in me. Otherwise, how can we reach the vessels of bestowal in our world? Is it possible? After all, they are so different from my nature, from my character. It is like transcending from a protein from of life to a silicon form of life that is based on totally different elements. Actually it is simply impossible.

We count on the upper Light, but it operates only when we want it. So how can we want it, and to want it even more strongly than we want to exist in our present state? How can we yearn for something without seeing, feeling, or understanding anything?

I start from my ego, from my desire to receive. How can I kill it? I am ready to do so only in return for a greater ego. Otherwise I don’t have the power to do it. So where can I get the third force? After all, without it I can’t reach a decision and I can’t fulfill it.

To answer that Baal HaSulam gives is that we have a “precious gem” that enables us to transform ourselves so that we will be like the Creator.

But first we have to understand the question itself. It is depicted by the example of the rich man and the poor man: If the rich man loves the poor man, the poor man begins to take advantage of the situation and to “manipulate” the rich man; “If he already loves me, then I can receive from him.”

But where can I find this love, so that I can start to act? Where can I feel that the Creator loves and bestows so that I can start manipulating if not Him then myself? One way or the other, I need the connection. How is the Creator revealed to me? How does He enable me to perceive the precious gem and to succeed? We should ask ourselves this question.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

What Does It Mean To Unite With The Creator?

Question: What does it mean to unite with the Creator?

Answer: With the help of friends and study, due to the surrounding Light, I obtain the aspiration for the Creator, the desire to bestow upon Him, to be in bestowal, disconnected from myself so there is no longer my “I,” and I am entirely in this property of bestowal. Then, I discover that I become similar to Him because He is the very desire for bestowal, not a body, object, or entity.

Thus, the Creator begins to appear to me more and more as the property of bestowing force governing the Universe. And when I rise above myself and exit myself, I discover that in essence, I am a force, a desire, aspiration itself. And then I loose the feeling of my body, and I feel that there are only two mutual desires: His and mine.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/12, Shamati #16

Water The Field That Awaits The Rain

Question: Right now, before the congress in the desert and the beginning of a worldwide dissemination effort, what should our plea to the Creator be in order for it to be heard?

Answer: At the congress in the desert, we must feel the first degree of our connection and within it reveal our aspiration to bestow to the Creator so that this bestowal to Him would clarify the fact that only through our connection can we have a greater influence on Him.

Today we view the necessity to connect with friends and the opportunity to obtain a connection with the Creator through our connection with friends as two separate things. We perceive the connection with friends as book-learned, as though it’s a teaching for good children, where as connecting with the Creator is something everyone will agree too.

However, we don’t connect the two terms: One is a vessel and the other is the Light that fills it. The connection between us is the vessel and the Light that’s revealed in it is the Creator. Let’s hope that during this congress we’ll realize how inseparable these two conditions are.

This realization will leave an imprint that will allow us to advance correctly. After all, our work is left unfinished. We apply efforts, but each time they’re limited to a half or a quarter of the whole. But applying efforts to the full measure, even in relation to one gram, is greater than applying a partial effort measurable in kilograms or even tons.

After all, if there is not the full 10 Sefirot then you work and you scream, but it’s all in the wrong place! It is like it is said about the rainfall that goes to waste because it rains in an uninhabited desert. What difference does rain make if it falls into the sand? If at least 10% of that rain fell on your field, it would provide your livelihood!

The same thing happens with us. We cry out to the Creator, but we don’t do it through our connection, therefore these cries go unheard. We would already be in the world of Infinity with all of our work and screaming; however, we don’t cry out in the right way. We must fine-tune ourselves and then our cries will be heard.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/9/12, “Study of the Ten Sefirot”

The Wonderful Metamorphosis Of A Notorious Egoist

Question: I am very interested in the new, corrected relationships between people that you describe. As a father, I am especially impressed by your examples of children and the difficult situations in schools. I would really love to live in this world as you have outlined. But at the same time, I am engulfed with doubts because it is written “the human heart is evil from birth.” And you want a person to suddenly become good. How is it that this notorious egoist undergoes such a metamorphosis?

Answer: A person will enjoy using his ego in its opposite form. He will see examples around him and do the same. In order to bring a person to use his egoism in a good way, we need support from society, meaning the influence of good and evil, that is, reward and punishment. We need to establish support for children so that they respect or don’t respect their parents according to these qualities.

We play with human egoism in various forms by organizing the environment around a person. There are a few levels in this environment because a human being is comprised of four levels, thereby requiring these same levels to be built in circles around him. A person should be influenced by his children so that he feels that his children evaluate him by how much he gives to society. A child’s opinion is very important to parents.

The next circle is neighbors, the third one is co-workers, and the fourth one is the nation; they all evaluate him according to the same principle. Such an environment should be built around a person, but unlike a prison from which he wants to escape, it takes into account our egoism because this is our nature.

We have to understand how much we gain by learning not to suppress our egoism, but to use it correctly. For example, if I can use my big egoism to earn a fortune for my children, everyone is happy. The problem is not in egoism: It can be of great benefit to everyone. The only question is how I use it. If a society obliges me to use it for the benefit of all, then I do accordingly. And if I am not successful, then I strive to correct this. It all depends on the social framework; a person is a product of his environment. That’s why we need to act without any pressure and violence.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 6, 1/3/12

The End Of The Thread

Question: The Kabbalists are telling me about the property of bestowal, but I don’t sense it. I don’t even have the end of the thread…

Answer: When you experience the need for bestowal you can understand what bestowal is like. Try to bestow to your friends and you will see that you don’t want it. From this you will understand what it would be like if you possessed the property of bestowal. Then you will start guessing what you lack.

The reasoning is as following. I want to achieve unity with my friends. They are united with one another while I am detached from them. Honestly I don’t want this unity, I am incapable of doing this, I keep forgetting about it. The sparkle of my desire dims. I can revive it only when I am with my friends, when I connect to them even because of shame.

I become closer to them, I work in the group and I begin to understand how much I need love. The sketches of my efforts gradually depict a picture of bestowal. I think about its benefits and this way I form a vessel, desire. Perhaps it’s still unreal and only preliminary. However, with every effort I draw the upper Light, which is built according to my desires. It is coming from perfection, from Eternity, to the very breakage, to this world. Perhaps like a child I play a guessing game, but the Light is doing its work. This makes it possible for me to move toward bestowal.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/2/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”