The Order of the Holidays

When friends with a point in the heart ignited by the Creator gather together - the Creator turns us into one great light that warms our souls. Let Him pass the light through us to Israel and the whole world.

Around 200 friends came to the event in Ashkelon last week - 40 of them were new people who the friends brought to the event. Even if they only came once they got their unit of light.

Please share your feedback from the event with us.

>> The regional gathering was absolutely wonderful and inspiring - it was such a new experience for us all and we can't wait for the next one.

>> The gathering was incredible. It really felt like a convention. It was so special to hug friends I hadn't seen for so long. There was something so holy about being in person together after meeting virtually for so long - seeing the spark in the friends' eyes. And the source material was unbelievable - about the wheel turning. I hope and pray that the wheel will keep turning and more people will join us.

>> It was truly an evening of bestowal. When you let us speak at the Gathering of Friends we said it wasn't only Ashkelon's event - it's everyone's. And that's how we looked at it - we wanted to bring people from the entire region - and that's what happened. People came five hours before from all over Israel to help us set up the event - they stayed till late afterwards helping us. We all felt that we're already in a mini-convention. We want to thank all the friends who participated - it was a very special evening. Thank you for the honor of letting us host in Ashkelon. We're on the right path - connecting to create one vessel that the Creator can dwell in.

>> I felt that we're doing a correction on Covid, when we stopped gathering in person. We were together virtually - but not really. I think it was a correction to unite us all back together and everyone felt it. That it's an opportunity to build our community from scratch and it will be for the entire region. I remember the events with Rav - we're not going to make comparisons - but it was no less special than those events.

>> What you did in Ashkelon was so much fun. I brought friends all the way from Zichron Yakov. I don't know what their impression was exactly, but I went home on The Wings of the Divine Presence - so thank you so much.

Since we're heading into the New Year we decided to dedicate this lesson to Rosh Hashanah - here is a clip from Rav -

Clip: The Order of the Holidays

The order of the holidays, our customs, are structured according to the Supreme Roots, and therefore the Sages, who are all capable of achieving, oblige us to observe them, to learn them, to understand them, these customs so that we understand what the steps are that we need to go through in such an order.

So first of all, a person must reach a state where he takes stock of his previous life, and reaches the forgiveness. In which he reveals himself as an evil person who tries very hard to reach the bestowal, the connection, the correction of the general soul of which he is only a part, but discovers that in this part the whole soul actually depends and he must correct himself by connecting to all the parts, to cause their correction from his point of view, and does not want to, is not able, cannot, and is negligent, and runs away from the battle. Then all his qualities that are contrary to the connection, because connection is the correction, he reveals them as the product of evil. It is not easy to say, but to discover that this is so, that these qualities literally cut him off from real life, which is called bestowal and connection.

The person who reaches such a state, then discovers the The evils and mistakes, on the vessels of bestowal - mistakes, on the instruments of acceptance - evils, and he sees that all his desires are all, without exception, none of them, they are all evil. Because he is turned away from bestowal and love, turned away from the Creator. Then, after he goes through this stage of forgiveness, which reveals this evil, then he is ready for a state called "Rosh Hashanah". Then he is ready for a new beginning, to demand the power of correction, the new beginning, who wants to be a truly new person. This Rosh Hashanah is called "the fifth day of the creation of the world" on which man was created. So a man, a human being from this world who wants to be built as a man, he determines that for him this is the Rosh Hashanah, a new beginning. Then what he asks for is that "love will cover all crimes". Over all his evil inclination, the forces of restriction, the screen, the light that reforms will come. And he will use all these forces to turn all his evil to good use, which are the corrections that he makes from Rosh Hashanah onwards. Michael Laitman

Rav is talking about how the Kabbalists determined specific calendar days in our world that actually symbolize internal states we need to go through. For example - Rosh Hashanah - is about making a change in the new year. A state that can happen at any given moment. When we want this state to rule we need to go through the month of Elul, which is a month of perceptions. The Kabbalists are describing our advanced states. We're dealing with them to awaken the light from those situations. We see in ourselves attributes that are opposite to the light - they are evil inclination because they disconnect us from the light. Acquiring a new spiritual degree is what we're aspiring to and it's above everything in this world. This is what we want to achieve in this lesson together.

Letter No. 67 (A letter from Rabash to his students)

September 27, 1963 (Eve of Yom Kippur)

Hello and all the best to my dear friend,

I received your letter and may the Creator help you and your family be always healthy and well. And for the new year, may it be a year of blessings and success in all your works. I ask that you will write me more often since I long to hear how you and your family are doing.

On the Selichot [penitential prayers] that we say on the eve of Rosh Hashanah [Hebrew New Year’s Eve], we say, “How will I open my mouth, and how will I raise my eyes? I have neither deeds nor merits.” We also say, “And if You complement my measure according to my work, and I shall see that I am naked,” and also, “Neither by mercy nor by deeds we come before You. We knock on Your doors as meager and destitute.” That is, there is nothing good about us, yet afterwards we say, “You must not do such a thing: put the righteous to death together with the wicked, as though the righteous is as the wicked. You must not; You who judges the whole earth will not pass judgment.”

We should understand how it is possible that while saying that there are no good deeds in us, we complain to the Creator and say, “You must not do such a thing: put the righteous to death together with the wicked.” This brings up the question, “Who is the righteous?” (see RASHI’s commentary on the portion, Vayera, regarding this verse).

It is known that man is a small world, meaning comprising all the nations of the world, which are generally referred to as the “evil inclination.” This means that in each person there is every foul trait that exists in each and every nation. But he also consists of Israel, which is called the “good inclination.”

When there are no good deeds in a person, it is because the evil inclination is controlling the body. At that time a person is called “wicked” (See in Baba Batra, 16a: “Raba said, ‘Job sought to rid the whole world of the judgment. He said to Him: ‘Master of the world, You have created righteous and created wicked, who is stopping You?’ RASHI interprets there, ‘You have created righteous through the good inclination and You have created wicked through the evil inclination. Hence, no one is saved from You, for who will stop [You]? The sinners are coerced.’’” From this we see that the good inclination is called “righteous,” and the evil inclination is called “wicked”).

It therefore follows that when one has no good deeds, it is only because the wicked within one is leading, and the righteous within is trailing, meaning following the wicked without any permission to protest. This is regarded as the righteous being in exile, meaning that Israel in him is in exile, placed under the governance of the nations of the world, and has no authority of his own.

By this we can understand our complaint to the Creator: “You must not … put the righteous to death together with the wicked,” since the very life of the wicked is regarded as death. It is as our sages said, “The wicked, in their lives, are called ‘dead,’” since the life they enjoy in this world prevents them from obtaining eternal life. Since the whole intention of creation, namely to do good to His creations, is unattainable while being far from the Creator, since “the cursed does not adhere to the blessed.” Therefore, the wicked in their lives are called “dead.” This is the meaning of the wicked being sentenced to death.

And while the righteous is under the governance of the wicked and has no power or might to overcome him, the righteous, too, is sentenced to death, since he cannot receive any goodness from the Creator, as the wicked within him interferes with adhering to the Creator. Thus, the righteous, too, is regarded as dead. This is the complaint to the Creator: “You must not … put the righteous to death together with the wicked.” That is, the righteous in us, the good inclination, cannot do a thing because the wicked do not let it draw spiritual life.

Therefore, when one sees that there are no good deeds within him, he knows that the reason is that the wicked in him is governing, and Israel, who is the righteous, called the “good inclination,” is in exile. At that time we ask of the Creator and complain to Him that He has given us a good inclination that is powerless because it is in exile, and for this reason the righteous is sentenced to death, as well. This is the meaning of “You must not do such a thing.”

However, the Creator will deliver us from the exile because what use is there in having a good inclination, called “righteous,” that is completely powerless? It follows that the good inclination was given to us for nothing. This is our complaint: “Putting the righteous to death together with the wicked, as though the righteous is as the wicked.” That is, it is as though both are doing the same thing. However, the Creator will have mercy on us and will deliver us from exile.

This pertains specifically to when we see that there are no good deeds in us, or that one knows that this is the only reason—that the righteous is in exile under the governance of the wicked.

This is why we ask of the Creator and mark a sign on Rosh Hashanah saying, “May we be the head and not the tail.” That is, may the Israel in us be the head, and may the wicked be the tail, and then we will be rewarded with long life and the goodness in the intention of creation, which is to do good to His creations.

May we be awarded good writing and signing,

Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag,

Son of Baal HaSulam