Initially the Upper Light is at absolute rest. It has one direction and one attitude to the desire for pleasure that it created.

The Light does not change. All the changes come from the desire that makes contact with the Light and goes through various states, attaining who or what it is. Gradually the desire absorbs qualities and actions of the Light, even though all of this is “make believe.”

From the Light’s end there are no actions or changes, whereas the desire for pleasure changes in the Light, giving names to the different states and actions and attributing them to the Light. However, in reality the changes do not come from the Light; it is only the desire that changes.

Then the desire gives a definition of what is a “transgression” and what is a “commandment.” It defines this according to what it reveals in the contact with the Light, in the connection with it. A commandment is the desire’s similarity to the Light, the aspiration to be like the Light, the equivalence of form that it desires. The desire for pleasures reveals this from the things happening to it, from its reactions and impressions.

And on the contrary, separation from the Light, caused by a lack of equivalence of form, is a “transgression.” That’s because it is contrary to the desire of the Light.

Therefore, when a new desire awakens above a person’s egoistic desire and starts relating to the Light according to a person’s intentions, a person then determines the levels of his attitude. He deems his attitude to the Light important.

Instead of fearing the yearnings and suffering that drive him, or the attraction for pleasure that entices him, a person constantly transfers the importance of his action from reward and personal sensation to the Upper One, the level from which he receives the Light.

The Light is the Giver. As much as a person is able to reject his desire for pleasure and shift to the side of the Giver, that is how much higher he deems the commandment that he now fulfills.

Therefore, when a person realizes the greatness of the Upper One, the greatness of the Light, he thereby determines his state, whether it is a sin or a commandment, as well as its measure.
[30938]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/10, Writings of Rabash

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Question: What do we need in order to explain to the world the cogwheel principle?

Answer: We all depend on each other one hundred percent. In different areas, it manifests in various degrees; however, any percentage except one hundred is a lie. Even if only one percent is visible, it means that the rest of the 99% are hidden inside.

One way or the other, our interdependence is absolute, even if it appears to the contrary. Wherever you look, we are linked with iron chains of mutual connection, and there is nowhere to run from it.

The more clearly it manifests, the louder humanity will cry. In truth, it means that you depend on your foes and rivals, on each and on all, and you don’t know what to do with it.

As in a family, a husband and wife discover hate between them and total dependence on each other. We are all inseparable; there is no place to go. Here is our small apartment, our children, our refrigerator, our assets. And on top of all this, we hate each other to death, and we even can’t die.

Such an unbearable predicament must be somehow softened, soothed. After all, this is what we call the birth of a new world, contractions before Messiah’s arrival.

We shouldn’t hope that, having realized what is happening, the world will know how to act. In the Writings of the Last Generation, Baal HaSulam writes that people will never understand it, and never will a foe agree with a foe. Hence, we see the importance of the circulation of Kabbalah and our unification as a model for all humanity.
[30806]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: Correction occurs within us, and the message expands from us. Today is the Unity Day, and on January 28, 2011 there will be conventions in Berlin and San Francisco. In the light of all this, what is our duty?

Answer: We have to discover that we are the cogwheels connected into a single mechanism called the “Worldwide Bnei Baruch Movement,” and that we are about to link with the whole world. Imagine how powerful our engine must be in order to “spin” everybody in one direction, with one intention, one pulling force, and in order for us to be able to connect the whole world to this “spinning momentum,” the movement toward oneness.

The force must be such that additional load wouldn’t stop us, but rather would add more power to it. And this is what we are aiming to achieve.
[30809]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: What is my responsibility for the world? If during the day I haven’t succeeded in something, does it reflect on the world?

Answer: It certainly does. After all, you are a “cogwheel” in the common mechanism of creation. The Creator created the system where everyone is an egoist. This system is divided for you into 125 degrees or spiritual states: from complete separation from the others to an increasingly closer and tighter link of your cogwheel with the others, until all of you become one whole.

Besides, this is how it looks only to you; in reality, there aren’t multiple people but only Adam HaRishon. You are affected by the same laws that work on everybody else. Your will to receive (desire) is simply greater than that of the others. They are satisfied with “trifles,” while you wish to “consume” the spiritual world as well.

The point in the heart is not bestowal yet. On the contrary, the most “restless” desire of pleasures unfolds namely in spirituality. And only then, when this abyss opens up, a person is prepared for transformation.
[30819]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: It is written: “Do not trust yourself until the day you die.” Then what does Arvut (mutual guarantee) mean if I can’t trust myself or the friends?

Answer: Obviously, I cannot trust myself. But this doesn’t refer to the friends. The group is not an assembly of people that just came to the lesson. The group is their inner unity between the souls.

The Creator created desire (the will to receive pleasure, Kli) regarded as “the world of Infinity,” where the souls reside. These souls are mutually connected into one collective system, one soul, filled with the Light of Infinity.

But this system is blocked from you by the concealing screen, a filter, through which you see it somewhat corrupted or broken. Within, it is perfect and filled with the Light of Infinity, but presently you see it as distorted. Further on, behind the next filter, it seems even more corrupted to you.

In total, from the first state, the world of Infinity, to the last one, our corporeal world, there are 125 such degrees or filters, concealments from the state of Infinity. Therefore, you look at the group with your corporeal vision and think: “Who are they, anyway? I am not lower than them! Are they really unified? No, they aren’t. Do they really wish to unite? No, they don’t. Do they truly understand something? Give me Rabbi Shimon’s group; there, I will agree to be a baby in their arms! And these… Who are they to me?..”

But this is incorrect. Everything is determined by your attitude to the friends. If a person “penetrates” through them, wishing to connect, not with what these corporeal bodies, which are in concealment, represent and understand, but rather treats them as the group that resides in Infinity in complete union, then the job is done: He adheres to this perfect state.

So could Rabbi Yossi Ben Kisma not be without his beginner disciples. Do they desire spirituality in any small degree? That is enough for him to enter the spiritual state through them, where they are all one, as one man with one heart, although they themselves are not aware of it yet.

This is called the environment, the group. However, I myself reside in the place where I can imagine myself. Then, I visualize myself against the ideal, perfect environment from which I can receive anything. And only through it do I gain the strength.

Therefore, the group is not a physical assembly of men, but rather my inner spiritual property.
[30748]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “Perfection in Life”

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Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World“: And each and every individual in society is like a wheel that is linked to several other wheels, placed in a machine. And this single wheel has no freedom of movement in and of itself, but continues with the motion of the rest of the wheels in a certain direction, to qualify the machine to perform its general role.

And if there is some breakdown in the wheel, the breakdown is not evaluated relating to the wheel itself, but according to its service and role with respect to the whole machine.

The first step on the path to success is to attain a sensation that we are all connected like cogwheels, having no freedom of motion in relation to each other. I cannot spin unless I make this movement together with everyone else. And if others spin, then I have no possibility of not spinning together with them.

Therefore, only by reaching a mutual agreement can we attain movement that will be desirable to all. If the world reveals this law, it will be nothing short of salvation. And if we reveal this in our group, then we will be able to pass that vision on to the world. This must be the main topic of our dissemination; we have to explain the situation.

However, the most effective form of dissemination is if we reveal this absolute, necessary, and mutual connection between all of us. This must be the main thought for us during events such as Unity Day, which is held by our Kabbalistic groups all over the world.

We are returning to the same picture of interconnected cogwheels where none of them has its own freedom of action. No matter what illusions each one may have about it or how mistaken they can be in their blindness, it is still so.

Therefore, I have to tune into the group in order to understand and feel how dependent and connected I am with others – not having even one free movement – not in my heart nor mind, and not in any of my desires, qualities, thoughts, and plans. Everything that I desire, dream of doing, or do in the end depends on others and I won’t be able to do anything unless I reach a mutual agreement and peace with them.

The realization of the mutual dependence in the group, in society, or in all of humanity is the key to correcting the world and correcting man. However, if I am uncorrected, then on one hand this depends on society because it is the society that has corrupted me. After all, a person is a product of social influence. However, didn’t I choose that society and it is not in my power to influence it?

A person cannot tune out from his society in both the good sense and the bad. Therefore, there is no assessment of a separate person, but only of his free choice, meaning what society he has chosen for his growth.
[30831]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/26/10, “Peace in the World”

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Question: If the souls manage to unite, the Creator is revealed in their mutual connection. Who creates this connection, we or the Light?

Answer: We never do anything. Everything is done solely by the Light. It broke desires (Kelim) and it reforms them. We must only express our willingness to raise MAN (Mayin Nukvin, female waters) and ask the Light to correct our connection and get revealed between us, fulfill us. It will do all that is needed.

We don’t need anything but the plea, like a baby who is constantly crying and demanding. This is our entire work. There is nothing easier: demand, beg, cry! Oblige Him!

This is what is called “my sons defeated Me.” We pressure Him, demand from Him, and that’s all He expects from us. This is how the entire upper system works: It expects only a plea from below since all that Bina (the Upper Mother) yearns is to “feed” the souls, fill them with the Light.
[30751]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “Perfection in Life”

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

The Essence of the Work in Torah and Mitzvot

If one’s intention in the Torah and Mitzvot is not to benefit the Creator, but oneself [if the intention is egoistic], not only will the nature of the will to receive [for oneself] in him not be inverted, but rather, the will to receive in him will be much more than what he was given by the nature of his creation [before he began to study the Torah].
- Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

The purpose of the whole Creation is that the lowly creatures [people of our world] will be able, by keeping Torah and Mitzvot [by attracting the Upper Light of correction through studying Kabbalah], to rise ever upward [climb the rungs of love and bestowal], ever developing [by correcting themselves], until they are rewarded with Dvekut [complete similarity of properties] with their Creator.
- Baal HaSulam, Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah), Item 6

The whole of the Torah and the Mitzvot [means of correction] were given for the sole purpose of cleansing Israel [those who aspire for the Creator], which is the cleansing of the body [elevation of altruistic desires], after which he will be granted the true reward [for their effort in correction], which is Dvekut with Him [complete similarity to the Upper Force], the purpose of Creation.
- Baal HaSulam, The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee), Item 27
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The Creator created something totally new “from absence” (Yesh Mi Ain), and it is regarded as “desire.” We don’t know what it is; it is simply a sensation of some kind of lack, need, but of what? Since the Creator created this desire, it is the need to feel Him.

Experiencing Him makes us feel pleasure which remains as a memory in that initially created desire, and desire starts yearning for it on its own. Thereby, it begins to understand itself and realize what it is yearning for and what is worth desiring. This triggers the development of desire from this first initial need created by the Creator.

Creation is a completely unique act that can be accomplished only by the Creator, by the force of the Upper Light. The entire process that follows becomes the evolution of the created being led by the interaction of its two participants: desire and the Light. Nothing new occurs in this process. Something new appeared only in the point of “existence from absence” (Yesh Mi Ain), which is regarded as the creature (Nivra), from the Hebrew word “Bar” (outside of the Creator).

Everything that we see here, in this world, and in the upper, spiritual worlds is the work of that very same desire to enjoy. On one hand, we know that the entire work is done by the Light. On the other, it is written that no changes occur in the Light; what does change is only the will to enjoy. In that case, who is working?

At this point, we have to draw a clear line between the following:

1. Changes may occur only within the will to enjoy (desire);
2. But only the Light can perform an act.

Therefore, this work is mutual: Desire always stands against the Light and must demand from Him certain actions. Until the Light affects it, desire will not change. However, until desire wishes to change, the Light will not affect it. Therefore, they work together, in tandem.

This bond between desire and the Light defines all changes and relations that may exist among created beings and between them and the Creator in the upper worlds and in this world.

We think that we are addressing each other, whereas each of us is a mere desire to feel pleasure, appealing to the Creator. Only He is hiding from us, making us experience various beings, attributes, the sources of pain and pleasure. But, essentially, beside man there is only the Creator.
[30746]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “The Freedom”

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Question: Has the world already entered the period of Egyptian plagues, or do they still lie ahead?

Answer: They lie ahead. And yet, we shouldn’t compare previous stages of development with those that await us. In truth, the material nature of our path gets gradually replaced by the spiritual one.

Try telling your ancestors who lived a few centuries ago that you have everything yet are not satisfied with life. To them, you live a fabulous life. In your home, there is a device in the wall that makes water run when you turn it on. You have a button that when pressed, makes the light shine brighter than day. And you have a screen that shows you a full view of the entire world.

People would simply not understand what you lack. And you, amidst all this abundance, don’t know what to do with yourself. The rich interior of your home and your world signifies how empty you are within.

Therefore, Egyptian plagues are not corporeal but internal troubles. Time after time, you discover the lack of inner fulfillment; each blow reaches deeper and deeper into a complex, multi-layered desire. However, these plagues take place very quickly, penetrating a person’s inner feelings. On the outside everything stays calm; one does not need to be ill or physically suffer.

Of course, if we don’t take advantage of the Light, the plagues will arrive in the form of corporeal misfortunes. The principle is simple: If we advance ourselves and the world in the spiritual direction, the plagues will be taking more of a spiritual form. If we fail and the world doesn’t choose spirituality, it will experience them in a material form.

In the Writings of The Last Generation, Baal HaSulam writes that there may even be world wars, followed by enormous suffering. But we must try to undergo these blows internally. The Torah and the method of Kabbalah provide man with an opportunity to make the entire analysis very quickly by completing it internally, without involving the corporeal world.
[30701]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/24/10, “Perfection in Life”

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