READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN THURSDAY

Rabash. The Creator and Israel Went into Exile. 27 (1986)

LESSON MATERIAL

The Creator and Israel Went into Exile

Article No. 27, 1986

It is written in The Zohar, BeHukotai [In My Statutes] (item 49), about the verse, “And I, too, will torment you seven times for your sins”: “Come and see, the Creator’s sublime love for Israel is like a king who had an only son who sinned before the king. One day, he sinned before the king. The king said, ‘All those days I have been striking you but you did not receive. Henceforth, see what I will do to you. If I expel you from the land, bears might charge you in the field, or wild wolves or murderers could obliterate you from the world. What should I do? Instead, you and I will go out of the land.’ Thus, I, too, as it is written, meaning that you and I will leave the land, meaning go into exile, ‘And I will chastise you’ to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.”

We should understand the meaning of the exit of the people of Israel from the land abroad, which is called “exile among the nations.” What does it mean in the work? That is, what is regarded as “land” and what is regarded as “exit from the land”? Also, what does it mean that when one sins he is punished with exile, to be among the nations of the world? How does it help, and what benefit does it yield in the ways of the work? That is, what is the correction in going out to exile to be under the rule of the nations of the world?

We should also understand how it can be said that the Creator, too, leaves the land with the people of Israel into exile, since “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and it is written, “His kingship rules over all.” He even sustains the Klipot [shells/peels], so how can it be said that He will go out to exile with the people of Israel as though He is not in the land?

To understand the above in the work, we first need to know what is the land of Israel, what is abroad, and why exiting from the land abroad is regarded as exile among the nations. We should also understand that exile is a correction for sins. That is, by suffering the exile, the torments of the exile will make them repent, and then it will be possible to bring them back to the land. But it is written, “And they mingled with the nations and learned their works,” so what torments of exile are they feeling, which can be a cause for them to repent and return to the land? That is, what can he know about what is good in the land of Israel so as to crave it, and this land will be a reason that will compel him to repent for the love of the land?

It is known that land is called Malchut, and the “holy Shechina [Divinity], and “the assembly of Israel,” which is the inclusion of all the souls. This means that she must receive the delight and pleasure that was in the thought of creation to do good to His creations, meaning that the souls will receive delight and pleasure.

The order of cascading was from the world of Ein Sof [no end/infinity] to the world of Tzimtzum [restriction], and then to the line on which the five Partzufim [plural of Partzuf] of AK are clothed, then the five Partzufim of Atzilut. Afterwards, Malchut de Atzilut emanated the three worlds BYA, and then Adam HaRishon was created, and the externality of his body, which is similar to the current material body, was made from Bina de Malchut de Assiya, as it is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 16, p 1912, item 43), “Afterwards he had NRN from BYA and then NRN from Atzilut.”

It therefore follows that Eretz [land/earth] is called Malchut de [of] Atzilut, and it is written about the world of Atzilut, “Evil will not dwell with you,” meaning that there is no evil there at all, but only in BYA are there scrutinies of good and evil. Rather, there the delight and pleasure that He contemplated giving to the souls are revealed. It is as our sages said about the verse, “‘In the beginning God created’: there is no beginning but Israel, for everything is for Israel, meaning for the souls of Israel.”

After Adam HaRishon sinned with the tree of knowledge, he was expelled from Atzilut and descended to BYA. Then he began to repent and correct what he had sinned. By this he reentered the Garden of Eden, meaning Atzilut. The correction was that he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, as it is written (Genesis, 3:22), “And the Lord said, ‘And now, he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.’ And the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.”

Baal HaSulam explained the fear for which he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, as is written, “He might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” He said that since the man sinned with the tree of knowledge, if a person is punished, meaning suffers from the punishment that he was given, this suffering causes him to repent and correct the flaw that he had caused.

But if he is not punished and does not feel suffering from the sin he had committed, he will certainly not understand that he should repent for it. It is as The Zohar writes (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 192), “Rabbi Shimon wept and said, ‘Woe if I say, woe if I do not say. If I say, the wicked will know how to serve their master.’”

He interprets in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] as follows, “By this he implies that he could not reveal his words in full in this place so as not to harm the wicked. This is because here he came to disclose how to cling to the tree of life, and never touch the tree of death, and only those who have already corrected the discernment of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are worthy of it. But the wicked, who have yet to correct the sin of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, must not know it, for they must first toil in all the labors until they correct the sin of the tree of knowledge. You will also find this in the verse, ‘Lest he reached out his hand and took also from the tree of life and ate, and lived forever’ (Genesis, 3). After Adam sinned with the tree of knowledge, he was expelled from the Garden of Eden for fear that he would cling to the tree of life and live forever, and the flaw he had caused in the tree of knowledge would forever remain uncorrected.”

It therefore follows that when taking a person out from the land, meaning from the kingdom of heaven he had, since he cannot feel the importance of spirituality that he had prior to being taken out from the kingdom of heaven, and he goes to exile, as it is written, “And they mingled with the nations and learned their works,” this is regarded as falling under the enslavement of idol worshippers. That is, all the lusts that exist in the nations of the world govern Israel, who have been exiled. At that time they have no connection to spirituality, except what they are used to keeping out of habit. This they observe, but beyond them it does not occur to them that they have anything to correct.

It follows that we should make two discernments concerning the exile: 1) They are exiled under the governance of the nations. The mind and intellect that they had while in the land, when they were in the kingdom of heaven and thought all day about how to exit self-love and achieve the love of the Creator, when they sinned and went to exile, we can interpret this in the work of the individual, as it is known that the general and the particular are the same. This means that if a person sins while being in the land, meaning if he receives some illumination from above and uses it for his own benefit, meaning says, “Now that I have some flavor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], I don’t need faith above reason.” This is called a “sin” because he has blemished the faith above reason.

For this reason, he is expelled from the land and falls under the governance of the lusts of the nations of the world. Once he is in exile, he promptly suffers forgetfulness, and does not remember that he was ever in the land, that he was in a state of “kingdom of heaven” and thought only about how to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. He wants to continue this way his whole life, meaning to care only about satisfying the needs that the body demands for its own benefit, and does not care about anything.

After some time, and each one has a different calculation with Him (meaning that when a person is judged above, each one has his own calculation as to how long he should be kept in exile until he receives an awakening from above), and he receives an awakening from above and begins to feel that he is in exile, and begins to remind himself that he has fallen from a high roof to a deep pit.

That is, when he was in the land, he remembers that he looked at the whole world as redundant and always thought, “Why did the Creator create the wicked in the world? What joy or benefit can these wicked bring to the Creator?” Instead, now he looks at himself, that he is in exile, and what can he give to the Creator so as to bring contentment above? He begins to feel the suffering that he has descended from man to beast, meaning sees that now he desires beastly lusts, which he did not have prior to being expelled from the land.

Now he begins to crave the Creator, that He will bring him closer and admit him once again into the land, and out of beastly lusts, and give him pleasures from nourishments fit for man, meaning from acts of bestowal, and not that his nourishment will be from food for beasts. It is as our sages said (Peshachim, 118), “When the Creator told Adam HaRishon, ‘Thorns and thistles it shall grow for you,’ his eyes teared. He said, ‘Will I and my ass eat from the same crib?’ Once He had told him, ‘By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,’ his mind was immediately eased.”

This sounds as though the Creator gave him the knowledge when He said, “Thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.” Before the Creator had told him that, he did not see that his nourishment was only thorns and thistles, which is only animal food. We can interpret that the awakening from above came to him and reminded him what he had had before the sin, what high degrees he had had, and with the exit from the Garden of Eden it is as though he has forgotten everything.

This is regarded as the Creator speaking to him, meaning that he received an awakening from above from the Creator, and then he remembered what he had had. At that time he began to feel the suffering from being expelled from the Garden of Eden, and began to cry about being on the same degree as a beast. That is, his nourishment is only that which pertains to self-love, which is called “food for beast.” This is the meaning of “His eyes teared and he said, ‘I and my ass from the same crib?’” That is, eating, that which nourishes him, will be similar to that of a beast, where he can elicit joy only out of matters that pertain to self-love.

However, when He told him, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,” his mind was immediately eased. RASHI interprets “By the sweat of your brow” to mean after you have had much toil in it. We should interpret the meaning of “toil.” According to what we learn, if one has already come to feel that he is at a degree that is similar to a beast, it means that the sensation should also be to the extent that brings to suffering, that he will shed tears over his lowly and poor state, as our sages said, “His eyes teared.”

Therefore, the suffering he feels at being similar to a beast gives him the strength to want to make great efforts to exit self-love—which is regarded as a beast—and be rewarded with man’s food. That is, that now he can enjoy acts of bestowal.

It therefore follows that we should make two discernments regarding the above exile:

1) He is in exile but does not know he is in exile. Rather, he is happy as he is. Instead, he is searching for quantity, meaning more money, more respect, etc. However, he has already forgotten that he was once at a human degree, called “land,” which is the kingdom of heaven. It does not even occur to him that he should change his sustenance. Rather, he does not think that the nourishments he receives in vessels of self-love, called “animal food,” need replacing, meaning to have thoughts of giving.

It follows that he does not want to change the source of provision, where he is being fed with only that which comes into vessels of self-love. Rather, he wants to replace the matters that come in vessels of self-love. For example, he would like to change his apartment because he no longer enjoys the one he lives in and wants a different apartment, since a new apartment is something he can enjoy. Also, he changes the furniture because he cannot enjoy the ones he has. By having new furniture his will to receive will have something to enjoy.

2) However, he does not want to change his source of provision, meaning to say that his provision should come from a source that gives only to the vessels of bestowal. This he, God forbid, does not contemplate, as it is known that the receiver cannot understand how can there be provision from giving. The giver is to the contrary. When he sees that he is engaging in reception he is ashamed of himself for doing something he regards as lowly. But in truth, we must change the source of nourishment. There is nourishment that pours into vessels of self-love, and this nourishment comes from the Klipot [shells/peels], and there is nourishment that comes into the vessels of bestowal, and this one comes from the worlds of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity].

Therefore, according to the two above discernments in exile, the question is, “Who causes one to feel that he is in exile, by which he suffers because he wants to exit the exile, as was said about the exile in Egypt, ‘And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and they cried out, and their cry rose up to God from the work’”? We have to say that this awakening came from the Creator, so they would not stay in exile, in a state of oblivion, so the Creator sends the awakening.

It therefore follows that they feel that there is spirituality, but that the spirituality is in a state of lowliness and their heart aches over the fact that the Shechina is in exile, and why spirituality has the taste of dust. That is, when they want to work in order to bestow, they cannot appreciate this work as they should feel, that now he is doing the holy work, and not the work of people who are similar to beasts.

But the matter is to the contrary: When he works to man’s benefit, he feels good taste in the work. But when he does the work of the Creator, he does not feel any taste. That is, the same act that he does, if he sees that his will to receive has something to receive, that the reward illuminates for him during the work, and this is why he feels good taste, if he replaces the intention during the work and says that he is doing this work not in order to receive reward, he promptly feels his weakness, that he cannot make an effort, and the work begins to slow down right away.

According to the above, it follows that the Creator seemingly comes to him and tells him, “Look at the lowly state you are in. You are just like a beast.” Then he begins to suffer that he does not have any feelings of human beings. It pains him and he feels the suffering and pain of being in exile under the rule of the nations of the world. That is, now he feels that he has evil lusts, suitable for the seventy nations.

But before this revelation came to him, so as to feel his lowliness, he lived in a world that was all good, meaning that it did not cause him any deficiency that he was in a state of lowliness. He did not feel that it was lowliness, but rather that he was behaving like everyone else, whose only aspirations are lust, respect, and money. But now that the revelation has come to him from the Creator, that he will see that he is like a beast and not like a man, he suffers, since he would be happy if he could come out of the exile.

But since he is in exile, he sees that he does not see a way out of the exile. It follows that these torments are causing him instability. That is, he does not know what to do. On the one hand, now he sees that he is feeling the truth, meaning the kind of people to whom he belongs, since there are people who belong to beastliness, and there are people who belong to people. And if we want to be more precise, we should discern three kinds: 1) people who have nothing to do with Judaism, 2) people who engage in Torah and Mitzvot, but in order to receive reward, 3) people who work not in order to receive reward.

It follows that on the one hand, now he can be very happy that he sees the truth, meaning which type of people he is with, and which degree he should strive to achieve. But at the same time he is feeling pain and suffering at seeing how far he is from Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. That is, he sees that he cannot do anything for the Creator, and that all that he does is because he wants to receive reward for his actions, but with respect to the desire to bestow, he does not see that he will be able to come out of them by himself.

It follows that he is craving the state when he belonged to the second type, when he had strength to work because the reward illuminated for him, and in his mind he was in a state that is close to the Creator. He would always speak to the Creator and ask Him for reward for his work. He felt complete, and that he did not need a thing because he was certain of the reward, since he was keeping the commandments of the Creator. And the Creator certainly sees that not many people desire to keep His commandments, but he is exerting to keep His commandments, so the Creator will certainly favor him and give him a great reward for it.

Naturally, after such a calculation, a person feels that he is high in the sky among the clouds and looking at the whole world, for undoubtedly, the world exists through their Torah, as our sages said, “The world cannot stand without Torah” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo). It follows that then he was truly among the happiest people in the world.

But now that he has emerged from the second state, the Creator has illuminated the truth for him, that the work of the Creator is primarily to bestow contentment upon the Creator and not for one’s own benefit, and he sees how far he is from the truth, and feels the opposite. That is, where he thought that if instead of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] I had a good feeling, that I am fine with the Creator, meaning that I am trying to obey Him as much as possible, and I am regarded as a “servant of the Creator,” and all the reward that the Creator has promised us is surely ready for me, so what else do I need?

It is even more so when I begin to advance in order to bestow. I will promptly be elevated. However, this is not so. Rather, now that he has come to feel the truth, that the main thing is to work to benefit of the Creator, and he should be happy that, thank God, he has gotten on the real track that leads to nearness to the Creator, so he should have been constantly elated and say, “Thank God, I see that the Creator has mercy on me and does not let me labor in vain. Rather, all my labor will now be in order to achieve the goal, called ‘Dvekut with the Creator.’”

However, he feels that his state is the opposite, meaning that he does not have the same joy he had while working in order to receive reward. It is so because he sees that now he has no support from this body, since now he is telling his body, “Know that from this day forth I will not give you any profits in the work, for now I am not working for my own benefit. Rather, I want to work only to benefit the Creator.” Then the body does not agree to give strength to work. It follows that now he is in a state of lowliness.

However, before the revelation of the truth has come to him, he was always elated, seeing how each day he was adding in deeds and the reward was guaranteed. But now is the real time when he can give an honest prayer to the Creator to take him out of exile, since before he has received the revelation from above—that he is in exile, controlled by the nations of the world, called “will to receive in order to receive.” Thus, he had no deficiency that the Creator could fill, meaning to lead him out of exile. It therefore follows that the Creator has given him the Kli [vessel], meaning the deficiency, and then He has given him the light, and both the light and the Kli come from above.

By this we can interpret what we asked about what the holy Zohar says to Israel when they had sinned, “The Creator said, ‘And I will chastise you, to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.’” We asked, “How could it be that the Creator came out from the land abroad, to exile, since ‘the whole earth is full of His glory,’ so how can it be said that He is going out?” We also asked, “What the punishment of going to exile adds to us, since everything the Creator does, He does only for man’s favor, so what does man gain by going to exile under the rule of the nations of the world?”

According to what we explained above, it follows that saying, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” comes to teach us that from the perspective of the Creator there are no changes in the world. Rather, it is as it is written, “You are before the world was created, and You are after the world was created.” Thus, all the changes are from the perspective of the qualification of the receivers. That is, to the extent that they can attribute their work only to bestow upon the Creator, to that extent the Tzimtzum [restriction] is removed, and the light that is hidden for the lower ones is revealed, and by this the lower ones receive the delight and pleasure.

This is regarded as the people of Israel being in the land, when we feel that the Creator is the land of Israel. That is, since the people of Israel is in the land of Israel, the Creator is named after the action of providing Himself to the creatures so they will recognize and know Him when they are fit for it. If they sin and may blemish, meaning receive upper abundance and pass it on to the Klipot, which are self-love, then He must be “taken out” from the land of Israel, meaning that the Tzimtzum rises once more and the light departs.

This is regarded as leaving the land, which is the place of the kingdom of heaven, called Shechina, and going out to exile under the rule of the nations of the world.

The correction of going out to exile is 1) that first, they will not spoil the abundance. 2) By being in exile, the Creator does not leave them in exile, as we explained above that sometimes a person is in exile but does not know that it is exile, that one must run from that place, meaning from the state where he is and receives nourishment, as that place is called “self-love.” Rather, it is to the contrary, he suffers only because he cannot satisfy what the nations of the world require of him, since they control him, meaning he cannot satisfy all the pertaining to self-love.

This is why the holy Zohar says, “If I expel you from the land, bears might charge you in the field, or wild wolves or murderers could obliterate you from the world.” That is, they will remove you completely from the spiritual world and you will remain only in the corporeal world, called “self-love.”

Therefore, in order not to be lost in the exile, the Creator, too, goes out to exile with them. That is, He appears to them in a form of exile. That is, the Creator is called “His name,” after the work He does. Since now He gives them exile, meaning that they feel they are in exile, this is regarded as the Creator being out in exile with them. He gives them the sensation of exile so they will not be lost in the exile altogether by not feeling that they have been expelled from the land and that now they are under the rule of the nations of the world.

Now we will understand what we asked, “What is the correction of being expelled from the land?” 1) That they will not spoil what they have attained. This is regarded as knowing his Master and intending to rebel. It means that he knows his Master but cannot be in a state of only to bestow. 2) By being in exile they will feel the need to be only in a state of bestowal, by which they will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator. Thus, the suffering of exile will reform them. And we should interpret what we asked, “What does it mean that the Creator went out to exile?” that since the Creator is giving them the taste of exile, it is considered that the Creator has come out from the good and pleasant land, giving them, which is to their benefit.

LESSON

Morning Lesson December 19, 2023

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio

Part 1:

Rabash. Article No. 27, 1986. The Creator and Israel Went into Exile

1. R. (45:20) What is there to add? An article that is just complete. I would repeat it. Whatever you think. 

2. S. (46:17) Maybe, indeed we should repeat it if possible and you could give us a little bit of…?

R. No, I don’t want to ruin it, it’s inclusive of everything.

S. How to correctly absorb this article and digest it?

R. Open your mouth, your heart, your ears and let it enter.

S. The feeling that it is working on me, that the article is a…?

R. Yes, yes, that the article enters me, penetrates me, not much to add. 

So, Let’s repeat again. No, I don’t want to hear questions, by that you’re spoiling the others. 

Reading: (47:47) Rabash. Article No. 27, 1986. The Creator and Israel Went into Exile. Again

3. R. (52:33) Until now are there any questions? about this?

4. S. (52:46) The words we should understand, we need to understand what does it mean to understand?

R. Try to understand. Try to understand the literal.

Continuing Reading: (53:10) “It is known that land is called Malchut, and…”

5. R. (01:34:00) Yes. What is your impression? What is happening, hello.

6. S. (01:34:32) What is the role of pain and suffering in the process of correction?

R. That a person will try and ask himself what is this? Why is it coming to me? Why do I need this for and towards what does it aiming me?

S. But It is opposite from the goal that the Creator created Creation.

R. Even though its opposite, even more so it awakens more.

S. How could something opposite awaken us to correction?

R. Because it is giving you the opposite direction.

S. Why couldn’t the Creator draw us to Him through pleasure?

R. Because our will to receive will grow even more and more, and we will never resemble the Creator.

S. But He created the will to receive.

R. He created it on purpose in order to use it to help us rise above it.

S. He created something that to begin with He wanted something else?

R. You can say so, okay.

7. S. (01:36:00) Who is suffering here, the person or his ego ?

R. For now it is the person; when he starts working and discovers that is the ego that is holding him in that state which is opposite from the goal, from the Creator so he starts hating his ego.

S. Then his suffering is from hating his ego?

R. Then it is.

S. It seems that suffering here is good and instrumental, not to run away from it?

R. Not always.

S. Can we ask for such suffering?

R. Ask for what? Ask who?

S. Ask the Creator to give us the suffering?

R. No, you can’t; He is the good that does good. How can you ask Him for suffering?

S. But you said that we can yearn for this suffering.

R. No, It is something else that you’re yearning for but it’s not what you’re asking for. You can yearn for suffering that will direct you to the path of truth.

S. To yearn for it but not to ask the Creator for it?

R. Yes.

S. How do you receive it?

R. I don’t know but it’s natural in that way, you want to discover your mistakes on the path, and it comes to you in a way that you receive thorns, and in this way you run away from them and reach the right path.

8. S. (01:38:03) It is written because of it he was expelled from the land, and he fell under the control of the nations of the world, and once he is in exile he immediately suffers forgetfulness, and he does not remember that he was ever in the land. Why is there a need for him to forget everything to forget that he was in the land?

R. That he would have a foundation that he could come back to it, eventually.

S. Is there a role for this forgetfulness?

R. Of course.

9. S. (01:38:53) It seems like a person who advances on the spiritual path divides him into two; he writes the receiver cannot understand how there could be nourishment from giving, and the giver is the opposite when he engages in reception he is embarrassed of doing such a lowly thing. Does our work really divide ourselves into two, try to identify where I’m like this?

R. That’s right.

S. Try to identify where I am like this and like that?

R. Yes. Try.

S. What does it mean to the Creator’s named after the action? What does that mean?

R. The Creator is merciful and so on. You give Him names according to what you feel from Him.

S. Meaning if a person advances and discovers that he was in forgetfulness and suddenly he has a desire to bestow so first of all he attributes it to the Creator?

R. Yes.

S. Meaning that this is his action, meaning that right now the Creator is operating in him in a way that is revealed as exile?

R. Yes.

10. S. (01:40:28) It is written here many times that the Creator is in Zeir Anpin the world of Atzilut?

R. Are you waiting for an answer from me?

S. Of course.

R. I can’t say, we didn’t learn that from the article.

S. I have it in my Reshimot.

R. In your Reshimot? I don’t know. It’s not in the article.

S. We have a common screen you have to know.

R. I don’t know, I’m telling you seriously.

S. Are you really serious?

R. I’m really serious. I’m now explaining this article and from within the article I did not understand that the Creator is Zeir Anpin

S. I too am serious and everything that happens to me happens because of the awakening of Reshimot.

11. S. (01:41:41) why not learn for pleasure to bring contentment to the Creator, because the purpose of Creation is to delight its creatures?

R. But the purpose of creation is not according to our existing egoistic desire. It is a lot higher, exalted, broad, unique, endless. and to that purpose is where the Creator wants to bring us to. Meaning that we will want that specifically, that we will develop a deficiency, a vessel and we will advance to that on our own; that we will even ask him for that.

12. S. (01:32:35) What does it mean that the Creator reveals to them in the form of Exile?

R. Exile means all kinds of forms that are cut off from the Creator, meaning opposite of the Creator. That is how they feel their state.

S. Precisely in that state of exile , when he yearns for the Creator he is actually moving away from the will to receive?

R. Yes. Yes, in the exile he feels what desires he is in, and from within him he starts yearning for the Creator.

13. S. (01:43:38) After every morning lesson we are meeting with friends and there is a feeling that the Creator throws us into exile. We are leaving here, and every lesson is really feeling like we were thrown into an exile.

R. just like that? every lesson?

S. Yes. I have to think, why we’re not continue lesson for a week? 

R. I can’t continue the lesson for a week, we have a plan, we have to study a lot more articles and whole books?

S. Yes, I understand. I’m simply asking about the process that the Creator is taking us through. For us, what should we do, are we doing corrections for the whole world? Does it have to be that he would throw us?

R. We are performing corrections on ourselves; and along with us the world is being corrected.

S. I’m asking about this rejection, why does He throw us so deeply into the will to receive, at the same day we can feel shame, and a moment later it is as if we are immersed up till the neck. Then again through the group…?

R. That is His calculation, but that just shows His work on us.

S. So we need to be happy and be thankful that it’s the process?

R. Yes, of course; the Creator is working on us endlessly.

14. S. (01:45:21) How to identify that I’m in exile, I’m not just suffering because I’m not receiving?

R. Again?

S. How to feel that you’re really in exile, and not simply suffering because you’re not receiving something?

R. That depends on what you’re lacking, exile is a state, and what vessels do you feel that state?

S. In the article it says, that in the end, you will receive from the Creator both the deficiency and the feeling. So how can I identify the vessels, how can I identify the vessels, how do I know where I’m working?

R. From coming closer to the friends and wanting to be together with them as much as you can, close, so more and more you discover that commonplace, and you can already locate in what state you’re in.

S. When I’m with the friends in meetings and lessons, this situation is clear as you explain, but when I’m not with them, there is a relation to the work that is forgotten, disappears. How do I maintain the correct relation, how do I keep working when I’m not with the friends because they keep me in the work, basically?

R. We need to keep the connection, to watch over it in every state, connection, and connection.

S. What can I add to the connection when I’m not physically or virtually with the friends?

R. Even more, from the times when you’re with them.

S. What, is it in thought, in what?

R. In a feeling that you’re with them in heart and soul, together with them.

S. Sorry for pushing this, but can you give me an exercise, now that I’m, let’s say in the office and I have a good feeling, bad feeling, never mind what I feel. How do we attribute it to connection with the friends?

R. Don’t, you have to depict your connection with the friends as a hug, strong, good, warm. That from if you feel many forces, confidence. That you’re not lacking anything except for more and more and more to really be with them together. Together meaning that there is one body for all, and we are included in that.

15. S. (01:48:42) He writes in the article that there’s food for men and food for beasts.

R. Yes?

S. That a person can enjoy spirituality and afterward can enjoy a new apartment, good furniture, food for beasts. Now we say that a Kabbalist is not someone who closes himself and disconnects from life, he enjoys everything.

R. Yes.

S. Furniture, life, good food, anything in life we should enjoy it and at the same time, you are in for spirituality. How can we both have animal food and human food and not fall into corporeal pleasures and sank in them?

R. We need to use this world to the extent that we must sustain ourselves in the normal way, in our body, and with all the rest, we need to develop connections, spiritual connections between us, that is what I would say.

S. You once said Rabash chose the best mattress, the best cheese.

R. Yes.

S. He liked to feel tastes in regular things, flavors?

R. Right, I asked him what cheese should I buy for you, yellow cheese, you know, he said if you don’t know, buy the most expensive!

S. I wanted to ask how not to fall every time you discover you enjoy the trash, beastly things?

R. That, he gave me like examples, specific examples, but really a person has to enjoy the fact that he exists, and by this can think of the existence of the world.

16. S. (01:51:19) He describes many states here, but he also describes a state where he is happy when he discovers the truth, but also he suffers because he sees he is far from adhesion with the Creator, and he says, so then he yearns to return to the second state when he had a reward. So for a moment the truth is revealed and the two feelings together, that he’s happy is the truth, but he is far from attention with the Creator. Then he returns to looking at how to receive the reward again and again until the real prayer is revealed when he wants to come out of that state. So it sounds like the states operate on a person, the Creator awakens him, reveals to him, hides from him but where is man’s work here in accelerating the process of reaching the prayer?

R. In every place, a person wants to discover the true action that the Creator is doing on him and demanding of him, and all this advances toward that only through connection and the society with the group.

S. But connection with the society, even a purposeful society, can be in order for it to be convenient, pleasant, to be happy in the society? 

R. Yes, so?

S. So it is a reward, the society provides a reward, just like the previous friend said, it’s fun to sit with the friends, I’m happy to be with them, it’s good to eat with them, drink with them, speak to them?

R. No, the work with society isn’t to sit and drink, we’re talking about connection, the work in society is connection.

S. So how do we make the precision, how do we accelerate the real prayer, after the real prayer self but until that place?

R. That everybody wants to hug and only wants one goal and to cry to the Creator to give it to us, very simple.

S. The desire which, as you describe it now, when it exists, it exists in a certain state. When it operates in us, that too comes from the Creator, so where is man’s choice here?

R. If you’re going to check it that way, so you never have a person, it’s only the Creator, no person.

17. S. (01:54:34) When a person feels exile, how should he relate to it correctly, when he feels this exile?

R. That he’s in the work, the feeling of the exile is the feeling of a deficiency, that he’s still lacking contact with the Creator, and he has to organize himself and yearn for that contact, not only him alone but the whole environment.

S. Is the exile a feeling of the exile, is it something that during the day, we need to feel every so often, or is it something that supposedly isn’t good that is happening?

R. We have to feel it all the time.

S. When we feel it, should we really see it as a means that helps us strengthen ourselves?

R. Yes, a means to strengthen ourselves and yearn for contact with the Creator through contact with the friends.

S. How do we help in the Ten, if there is a feeling of a friend that is in exile and is not aware of this exile, doesn’t want to come out, how can we help him as a Ten.

R. Hug him, not physically because it’s almost impossible during the day, but kind of direct it toward him.

18. S. (01:56:34) Can a person feel the Creator also in the state of an exile?

R. The exile itself, is a sensation of the Creator.

S. What does that mean?

R. Well, because besides the Creator we feel nothing?

S. What does it mean the Creator is revealed to them in a form of exile?

R. When they feel that He is far from them.

S. What can a person do in that state?

R. Come closer to the friends, pray together with them, that’s it.

S. Because what does he actually want, if he feels the Creator in such a way, what does he want now?

R. What does he want, he wants to bond with the friends so much that through them there will be connection with the Creator.

S. What he had before isn’t the connection with the Creator?

R. Before, I guess, it wasn’t it was the sensation of thee.

S. That is also the feeling of the Creator?

R. Well, it’s not a face-to-face contact.

S. So what is he actually asking for, that the Creator will be revealed, that he will feel good, what does he want at this point?

R. He wants to have a connection with the Creator through the connection with the friends in a way that, in a way that, I don’t know how to say it. That it will fill up, satisfy all of his desires and thoughts, and will direct him toward the end of Correction.

S. How does the person survive the time of exile and not dry out?

R. Through the friends who constantly work, go through all kinds of states, and are constantly like a part in a gear, in a gear shift, in constant motion.

S. When a person yearns for corporeal pleasures, as here writes, how suddenly from that state does he start yearning to the Creator to bring him closer?

R. He has to determine, to establish for himself a society, and the society obligates him to tend to it, to take care of it of the society. This would grab him and obligate him, tie him, and advance him toward connection with everyone.

S. What takes him out of the state that he’s immersed in beastly pleasures to the state that he yearns for the Creator? Why does it, suddenly, happen, he writes here, suddenly he started yearning for the Creator, why is it suddenly?

R. There may be many reasons for it, I understand only one thing: he’s connected to the environment and, say like a mother is connected to the family, to the children, so it doesn’t matter what she feels inside. She has an obligation to take care of the whole family.

S. He writes that in heaven, when a person is judged, each one has a special calculation, how long he is left in Exile and when he gets awakenings from above?

R. Yes, in the end, all of us will come out of the Exile.

S. According to what is a person judged and calculated with?

R. According to his efforts in the society, to that extent he accelerates time.

S. So does a person have an ability to come out of an exile, or is it in the calculation that was already made?

R. No, no, no everyone has an open account, there are no closed accounts, no one closed the account until the end of Correction.

19. S. (02:01:18) It says here, we have to run away from the place that he is in. So how to run away from that state?

R. How to run away from what?

S. From a state

R. That you’re in?

S. Yes, the person now recognized that it came from above, that he is in a state that he doesn’t want to be in. But how can he run away from that state?

R. Close his eyes and with his eyes shut, run away, wherever his feet take him without seeing the way.

S. I heard the answer you gave that in what vessels do you feel that state, can a person choose or change?

R. Check.

S. Check, he can check but then he sees that he’s in?

R. Afterward, pray.

S. So to pray for a change in which vessels he feels to change?

R. Yes.

20. S. ( 2:02:37) About the reward, he says that before the revelation of the truth comes, he saw how every day he added these and their reward was sure.

R. Yes?

S. That one way in Lo Lishma, on the other hand, we say we have to reach a state that when we disconnect from the reward, from the result, so the reward is the process. It’s the work itself, that exertion itself, and then every step, a person gets a reward?

R. Yes?

S. So what is the right way to characterize the state, that is not enjoying the state of Lo Lishma or now he’s disconnected from the state, and he can enjoy his exertion for the Creator and for the friends?

R. There are many degrees in this, as we see in us; a person, if he is an expert, he enjoys the work itself, he has an interest in being in the work. He enjoys beginning the day and being in this, in this work during the day, and to finish and see what he did. This is really his pleasure, if he is an expert, if he’s just an employee who has no relation, no feeling for the work and how he does it, then that is a big problem. It has got no, nothing that will catch him, what did you ask?

S. I asked about the discernment between the state of Lo Lishma before the truth was revealed, that he saw how every day he’s adding, and the reward will be sure. He comes, he studies, he connects, he does duties, there’s a reward?

R. This is what we do, and we gradually lose the taste, and then he has to choose for himself a more, real flavor.

S. Do you need to reach a state, again that we enter, a person from the state has to reach a state that in each and every moment, he does feel the taste. That his work is the reward, the exertion is the reward?

R. If he knows the work and the purpose and what he can do at any moment through his labor, then he really does get complete satisfaction from it.

S. It is hard to discern these states?

R. Ask, I don’t know?

S. Because, again, it can be like a turnaround of the ego, he tells him afterwards?

R. Of course, there will be twists, but the twist will bring you to more accurate and higher questions.

S. He says, when the body doesn’t aid, so he tells the body, a person tells his body, just so you know, that from now on, I’m not going to get you every pleasure in the work because now I’m working. Every time there is this inner dialogue, I feel that the ego is just laughing at me, it’s just rolling on the floor, what do you think you’re not going to get me in your reward? A person can’t even say that, really, there is no real words behind this, the ego is laughing in my face?

R. I do not understand him.

21. S. (02:06:52) So to continue the question is, from a different angle, should I want to feel good taste in the work of the Creator?

R. Yes.

S. Or just overcome in the work?

R. No you cannot overcome the work without wanting to feel the higher flavor in it.

S. Okay, so now you come to a place where you ask yourself, am I, is my ego working because it’s enjoying, to get some flavor, or am I really doing something in the work of the Creator?

R. The question is this: Am I working because of the flavors, because it is pleasant, because it feels good, it satisfies me, it fills me, fulfills me, or because I work, why?

S. Because I work because this is what the Creator wants, because this is the correct work, because this is on the right track?

R. You think you can work like that already?

S. Well, that’s always the question, in the inner dialogue it is very difficult to tell if you are with the Ten if you are in the right vessel. Or, you are in your will to receive, and you are just feeding it more, and it pulls you even more toward, it it’s hard especially when you’re alone.

R. What do you think?

22. S. (02:08:51) I think that eventually, a person can’t even reach that scrutiny, it’s only the Creator from above letting him know. According to the article, he can be eating with the donkey, the same, and he doesn’t know, and the Creator tells him?

R. There was another one over there.

23. S. (02:09:09) Maybe everything happens when working with the society, so when you make extra efforts, even little things, to bestow to the friends, to society. So a state comes that you feel that when you’re doing something good, suddenly you’re doing it for yourself, and it causes you shame here, you can push yourself even more against your ego, against yourself.

R. Okay.

24. S. (02:09:53) It sounds the opposite but according to the article, the Creator is doing everything, He is putting us in exile, He is showing us we are in exile. He makes us suffer from being in exile, He makes us want to come out of the exile and He also takes us out. We just have to see it’s Him doing all these actions on us.

R. Yes?

S. I hear the same question from everybody that where is man here? I think that once a person forgets that it’s the Creator activating him, he thinks he’s doing it. But even that is done by the Creator, he discovers that even what he just?

R. Well, this is obvious, this is obvious, that’s the way it is, that the Creator does everything. But we are still talking about our own participation.

S. So the feeling that you’re participating is only when you forget it’s the Creators doing it?

R. Yes and no.

25. S. (02:11:00) What the previous friend described was that when you’re working in Lo Lishma, the will to receive feels the reward and supports you. He lets you to actions, he lets you, but then you depicted a state that you’re working for Lishma, and I wanted to say that there’s in the middle of the whole exile, the suffering, that you can’t. That you want, you want that the Creator will awaken you to bestow, and you discover that you can’t. Here it’s already like a big field that opens up in this exile, and I wanted to ask about that. That there are two paths here, either you want to run from this feeling of bitterness, of the lack of the ability to bestow, to the lack of awareness that you’re in exile. Or that the Creator will really take you out but to a new state that you will be able to bestow. So how does the society help here? There’s a point, either a person runs from exile, or he comes out of the exile. Because running from exile, you can also fall asleep in the Ten, and come back to that state that you don’t feel the exile but you’re in exile on behalf of the truth, but you don’t feel it. I want to scrutinize how we, the world Kli, the Ten, how we don’t run away from this scrutiny, that I want to bestow and can’t, because I think that that is the state in the exile is the best, in order to really come out?

R. Who should I ask, who should I ask.

26. S. (02:13:09) When working an awareness in the exile, is that building a vessel?

R. Yes, that too is the building of the vessel.

S. So we will start receiving from the biggest-ness of the world, we have to make as many feelings of the exile for the vessels to connect?

R. No, it doesn’t have to be like that, we don’t necessarily have to collect all the people in the world, all their representatives. There’s no point building something intellectual, like the United Nations here.

S. I meant a vessel in the degree of receiving in order to bestow when there’s a maximum number of exiles in our work?

R. As much as you can collect, this is what you need.

27. S. (02:14:27) To continue the discussion from, let’s say that a previous student started, the Creator puts us, let’s say, in a state of exile, the Creator goes out in exile with us in order not to get lost in exile. So then you said the exile itself, is the sensation of the Creator, what does that mean, what is the work from here on if we’re already in the sensation of the Creator?

R. He still wants to disconnect from such work because it ties Him to the ego.

S. What does that mean?

R. It ties into the ego that he still operates because of his ego, on behalf of his ego.

S. So what is the work from there, I have the sensation of the Creator because he went with me, so what do I need to do? He connects me to my ego but I’m in the sensation of the Creator already in exile because He is the sensation of exile. So it’s good to be in exile because then I have the sensation of the Creator?

R. No, to feel the Creator in exile is not good, you need to run away from it, and this is work according to your desire.

S. How do we get out of the situation, if we have the sensation of the Creator?

R. Rise along with the Creator from the sensation of exile; first of all, understand and think, how can it be that in exile I feel the Creator, and from here start the scrutinies.

28. S. (02:17:09) Maybe to be precise about that the friend is asking, a person goes through suffering until he sees that the Creator gives the exile. So it’s like an exalted, big state that there’s mitigation in it how to make sure it doesn’t block us and help us advance to the next deficiency?

R. This is the connection.

29. S. (02:17:41) It is written in the article that the correction in coming out of the exile is included in first of all, in order to not ruin what they have attained; two, that the Creator won’t let go of them. So in what is the process of coming out of exile needed?

R. The exodus of exile is when you don’t leave the Creator, you don’t let go of Him, but you want to rise above the state of exile.

S. What does it mean not to ruin the abundance?

R. Anything that’s good take with you, just like Israel when they came out of Egypt, clear?

30. S. (02:18:50) The Tree of Knowledge, was that a collective ego that separated everybody?

R. Yes, yes.

S. Those people that were in the egoistic desire, that is us? Can we come back to our Father?

R. No, we don’t understand it that way, the way he thinks, he is thinking everything, historically.

31. S. (02:20:26) In what state that we’re in of exile, how can I help the friends that are going through difficult states that I’m not there, but I feel the deficiency?

R. You have to get into their feelings and help them come out of it, this is actually the role of Moses.

32. S. (02:21:03) A person needs to enjoy existing and from that think of the existence of the world. For instance, sleep is something that I heard a Kabbalist enjoys, but it’s an example for something that I don’t see how you can balance a person’s needs in sleep with the full framework and demands we have to be in, in order to be on the path and keep them necessity. Why does it seem that way, why does the Creator give me such a picture?

R. We will learn why, there are many reasons, you should ask completely.

33. S. (02:21:55) The Creator does everything, and He is everything, is the only thing that a person can do is to reach that understanding and pray? The Creator does everything, and He is everything, can a person reach such an understanding and pray?

R. That the Creator will do everything?

S. Yes is this the only discernment a person can reach?

R. Yes because it’s the only true discernment.

S. Then he can only pray?

R. Yes.

34. S. (02:23:00) I want to share an impression that this article adds emotions to TES, to what we were studying in TES, and from that I want to ask a question that disturbs me a bit, about that forgetfulness, because we start we have two states, ascents, and descents that we work with, and we want to understand from that. give us the forces to reach the quality of bestowal. There’s no forgetfulness here, and we understand that we have to prepare our vessels, our deficiency, so what forgetfulness is he speaking about here?

R. We will learn it, we don’t have it, we haven’t gone through this phase yet.