Question: How can all of us together pave the potholes on our spiritual path in order to make it smooth if we each undergo ups and downs at different times?

Answer: This is done on purpose, in order to synchronize our spiritual states and to help each other. But if after some big event (such as a congress) we all fall together, we need some external force that will assist us.

If we created a true society, we wouldn’t fall. We would support and compensate for one another just like the organs that sustain balance in a healthy body. However, at a higher degree we find ourselves lacking balance: This is the ego growing and leading us to imbalance. So, what can we do when this occurs?

In this case, we need some external system against which we can calibrate our balance, correct, and connect ourselves again. The cause of all problems is revealed to us as the lack of connection. And now we need an external factor that will help us connect at a new, spiritual degree, above all the revealed “sinners” in us.

For this, we require a “stimulator” which is the daily questionnaire in which everybody participates. It will help us build a system where everyone will be forced to express their attitude, and in return, the system will act on them.

Where will this system obtain the power to influence us? It will come from the fact that we ourselves have built it and exerted our own effort! It serves as a relief fund.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/15/10, "Concerning the Importance of Friends"

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Question: If the breaking of the collective soul is a natural and necessary process, why then is it called “falling into sin?”

Answer: We call any downfall “sin,” but do we really sin? In our world, it is considered a sin when I think that I can resist an act that I know is unacceptable, but still do it. But it isn’t really so because if I knew for a fact that it is prohibited, I wouldn’t do it.

Actually, sin is when I am overtaken and overpowered by the forces of separation. Sin is the state itself but not its cause. The cause always lies with the Creator. It is He who created our evil egoistic inclination.

How else can the evil inclination be created if not through “falling into sin?” First, it is necessary to ascend to the highest degree, fall from it, to receive impressions from all the degrees of ascent and our current state, and to cultivate the egoistic desire by means of the breaking of the soul. In fact, if it weren’t for the breaking, egoism would have remained at the animate level. Conversely, through the breaking, it grows to be a “creature,” “the evil inclination.”

Before the breaking, it was just a will to receive pleasure, an animal. If a lion, for instance, wants to kill a deer, we don’t consider it to be an evil inclination; a lion is simply moved by instinct, a desire to be filled.

So, when does the evil inclination appear? It appears when we ascend, receive forces of love and unity there, then fall with them and the forces turn into their opposite: unfounded hatred. Now the desire to feel pleasure, which includes all the informational data (Reshimot) that are pushing it toward this unfounded hatred, is called the evil inclination. From this moment on, it wishes to use everyone else to their detriment because that is what it enjoys.

In other words, in a human appears a sensation of another human (which animals don’t possess), and he enjoys when the other suffers. That is genuine egoism! In contrast, good is when I turn this hatred into love. Yet, a relationship with the other is necessary in both cases.

From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: How do I tell the difference between imagined reality and true, spiritual reality?

Answer: There cannot be any imagined reality! We live in a solid, material world. There isn’t any spirituality here. Spirituality can only be revealed in selfless connection among us. If we elevate our unity from the still level of Nefesh to the level of Ruach, we will experience spirituality (Ruach means “spirit”).

Why do we call this degree spiritual? It’s called spiritual because it’s the first degree at which we breathe life into our connection, into our oneness. That’s when we can call it spiritual. At present, this state seems “dead” to us. I have to unite with someone? I don’t like this idea; it’s “dead” in my eyes. That’s why my present condition is called “still,” and I reside in it because I don’t have a choice and I don’t see the way out.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/27/10, The Zohar

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Dear Friends, please ask questions on the passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Who Is a Kabbalist?

Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers who impart us their sacred Lights and dedicate their souls [the method of correction] to do good to [correct and fulfill] our souls. They stand in the middle [having to decide] between [two paths] the harsh torments and the path of repentance and save us from the bottom of hell [the path of suffering] that is harder than death.

They also accustom us [via a quick and easy path of the Torah] to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning [of creation], as we have said above. Each of them operates in his own generation, according to the power of his Torah and sanctity [the Creator’s quality of love and bestowal].

They have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” [leaders who direct us to the path of the Torah over the path of suffering].
- Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 8

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Question: When I was driving back from the Convention at Beer Sheba, I was looking at my GPS as it was guiding me and warning me about hidden cameras on the intersections. I thought, why is it that there is no navigation system like this in the spiritual world which would predict our path for us? Instead, we need to rely only on Kabbalists’ instructions and the prophets’ warnings.

Answer: There is no navigation system like this in the spiritual world. This is because in your world, you are always “traveling” in the same egoistic desire, which is sometimes larger and sometimes smaller. That is why you are able to make certain assumptions about the future as well as to rely on the experiences of others. People even create tools for you which show you the way and are able to spell out the entire process and every step of the path for you. This enables you to see ahead of time what it means to become big and grownup just like they would spell it out for a child who wants to grow up and become a pilot.

However, in spiritual development we go through states where we are unable to predict and imagine things ahead of time. This is why there cannot be a navigation system of any kind there. It is because we do not see the next image ahead of time and we lack the instruments of perception to see these images. Instead, we are shown an undesired, opposite image. If you can understand that your lack of desire to connect with others is the future form that you need to turn into its opposite, this would serve you as a spiritual GPS. It exists, but it shows us the opposite image, one that is unpleasant to our ego, the desire to receive pleasure.

From that point on, everything depends on the way you will accept all these states. However, when you encounter something like this, you usually turn around and go back, thinking that the goal is there. You think, “The spiritual goal is not very easy or pleasant. Why should I go there? It would be best if I roll it back a little.” As soon as you turn aside, you immediately acquire the GPS of all the tools of this world such as everyone’s support, the benefit of social opinion, and everything else. This is how people get themselves into trouble.

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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/3/10, ”Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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The only thing that can help a family stay together is a strong society that keeps both spouses together and directs them toward spiritual growth. Because they both go through different states, ascents and descents, they have to be a part of this society and to understand that spiritual advancement is impossible without each other. Then they will understand that they need a partner. The society of the future will take great care of marriages, but to do that we need a powerful influence from our environment.

We have already received enough blows from Nature to make us understand that it is essential for us to achieve balance. We have to establish good relationships between all of us. Only this will revive harmony and normalize Nature so that heat, cold, magnetic fields, and a thousand other parameters will come into balance. This world will feel like paradise, even on the material level. To feel this way, it is extremely important to achieve equilibrium. We have to observe a very simple condition where everything stays in mutual connection on all levels (inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human).

One of the prerequisites to achieving equilibrium is the establishment of the right types of connections within a family. Kabbalists rejected unmarried men as their disciples because a man without a wife is only “half a body.” It’s impossible to correct “half a body.” Previously, this requirement was very strict. Nowadays, everything is simplified. Everybody is permitted to study since we are undergoing a transition period and cannot obligate people to marry; it’s beyond our power. However, I hope the time will come soon when the next generation will realize that we have to observe material order and have a family in order to achieve balance with Nature.

Only by aspiring toward one spiritual goal can we preserve a family. Our egoism has grown so much that the usual material connections with children, family, and household cannot connect people to each other any longer. Everybody has a job, can afford a place to live, and be completely independent. A person feels relatively self-sufficient and doesn’t need his wife’s or children’s support. It is different from the past when no one could survive without a family. Now a person has the supermarket, modern-day household appliances, and health insurance.

Therefore, only a higher goal can elevate a person above the animate level and bring him to a “human” level (“Adam” is a derivative of the word “similar”). It is the only thing that makes a person similar to the Creator, reveals eternity, and raises us above life and death. It is the only thing that can ensure internal spiritual connection in a family. However, it is not accessible for everybody yet.

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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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How can we explain Kabbalah to people?

1. First and foremost, Kabbalah must be set apart from all the other so-called “spiritual” methodologies, philosophies, mysticisms, magic, and so forth.

2. We must develop a clear and concise explanation as to the essence and purpose of the wisdom of Kabbalah, and how it can help us solve all of our problems which all stem from one root, our imbalance with nature.

We know from physics and physiology that the law of equilibrium is life’s most crucial law. Life itself depends upon it and therefore it must be observed. If we manage to come up with an explanation that’s both simple and close to the heart, the people of today are ready to listen.

We’re not offering people a science, but a remedy to get rid of their problems. This suits all people from all walks of life because we walk together with nature and its laws, which are applicable to all.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how to achieve balance, or in other words, connection with the Creator, which is the same thing. It tells us how to actualize our lives within this law of equilibrium and equivalence of form.

The rule “love thy friend as thyself” denotes a completely corrected and natural connection with the environment. If I unite with the environment into a single whole, then I won’t feel any problems or misfortunes because I will be perfect and eternal as is all of nature!

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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/10, A Lesson On Current Events

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We reside in the only existing reality, the World of Infinity, but we are “unconscious” within it and don’t realize where we are. In order to bring ourselves to perceive this singular reality instead of remaining unaware of it, we must exert effort like a maturing child does or a person who is coming back to consciousness.

What are the conditions required in order to feel this reality? They are: stepping out of self into oneness, mutual guarantee, and love. In spite of our egoism that doesn’t allow us to meet these conditions individually, we must fulfill them all together. As a result, we will find ourselves in the corrected system, the World of Infinity.

Understandably, we hate working against egoism, but we must make an effort to complete this job as if we are children playing a game. “Playing” means I imitate the Upper One as if I already possess His quality. Making efforts to obtain it is called playing. It brings the hidden forces to light and that is how I progress. I aspire to a higher degree and my effort draws the Light which reforms me so that I become equivalent to the degree of its source.

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From the Weekly Torah Portion 8/13/10, “Shoftim“

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Question: Why is it that after every Convention where we experience a great ascent and inspiration, we always experience a descent?

Answer: This is a spiritual process. During the Convention we receive a big “Kli” (spiritual vessel) and connect to a new, bigger desire. However, if we don’t add anything to this new desire afterward, we feel empty.

Over the course of the Convention I connect to the desires of thousands of people and feel that we are all one man with one heart. I feel our mutual guarantee as if I lost myself and dissolved in them. I pass myself over into their hands! Even if this feeling is just there for a few moments and unconsciously, it still happens. Thus, for the first time I already connect with others and reveal a spiritual desire, a Kli, which I did not have previously.

Previously I only had material desires that I wished to fulfill egoistically. This is called the animate level of desire. However, now without even knowing how it occurred, I joined something very big. This connection is a lack of spirituality or bestowal. It is a spiritual desire that was not present in me before.

Now I need to work on it. Yet, instead I leave it, wishing to return to my former regular desire, and await ordinary egoistic fulfillments again. But what about that new spiritual desire? In comparison to material desires, that huge spiritual desire remains empty!

That is why I lose the taste for life and do not understand how I can fulfill myself. The usual “meat and wine” do not bring me pleasure like before. Therefore, in light of the forthcoming Convention this November where we will reveal an even greater, stronger spiritual desire, we need to prepare the right response to it now, ahead of time.

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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/16/10, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: What’s the middle line? Is it a screen?

Answer: The middle line is the correct combination of the receiving desires (Kelim) and the forces of bestowal. I first prepare these desires and only then request from Above the power of the screen specifically for these desires. When I receive this force, I acquire a spiritual vessel (Kli) which is called the middle line where I’m able to perform the deed of bestowal.

Before the middle line emerges, I clarify what the left and the right lines are, what drawing the Light from Above downward means, and how I halt it completely through restriction. I have to discern what it means to push the Light away from below upward, and to what degree I can manifest my desire in order to create the Reflected Light that part of the Direct Light will clothe in, and not just simply push the incoming pleasure away as I did during restriction (Tzimtzum).

After all these clarifications are completed and I arrange myself to the best of my ability, I ask the force from Above to create an authentic desire, a spiritual vessel (Kli) from all that I have prepared. If I have prepared myself correctly, I receive the Upper force which does answer my request and unifies the desire to bestow and the desire to receive pleasure from both directions, left and right. It tests and sorts the Kli. I ask the Creator to participate in this for I don’t know how to work with it.

As soon as the Kli is ready, it gets “stamped” by the “seal” from Above which is a warranty that it won’t break once I begin using it. Further on, I continue to work in the middle line and receive in order to bestow, in faith above reason, while my forces of bestowal are working from below upward, and I’m certain that it will continue to be so.

To be in the middle line is a complete sequence of actions. There is a middle line in the states of Katnut (smallness), Ibur (conception), Yenika (nurturing), and Mochin (maturity). In each phase and without exception, in order to attain the middle line, I need assistance from Above in assessing, aligning, and merging with the Creator.

From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/15/10, The Zohar

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