Tens Course - Lesson #6

Topic: The Principles of Connection in the Ten

1. RABASH, Purpose of Society - 1

"We have gathered here to establish a foundation for building a society for all those who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man and not remain as a beast, as our sages said (Yevamot, 61a) about the verse, “And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men.” And Rashbi said, “You are called ‘men’, and idol worshipers are not called ‘men.’”"

2. RABASH, Purpose of Society - 1

"We gather here to establish a society where each of us follows the spirit of bestowing upon the Creator. And to achieve bestowal upon the Creator we must begin with bestowal upon man, which is called “love of others.”

And love of others can only be through revoking of one’s self. Thus, on the one hand, each person should feel lowly, and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for the Shechina to be among us."

3. RABASH, Purpose of Society - 2

"The society must consist of individuals who unanimously agree that they must achieve it. Then, all the individuals become one great force, where one can fight against oneself, since each one is incorporated in everyone else. Thus, each person is founded on a great desire to achieve the goal.

To be incorporated in one another, each person should annul himself before the others. This is done by each seeing the friends’ merits and not their faults. But one who thinks that he is a little higher than his friends can no longer unite with them."

4. RABASH, "The Agenda of the Assembly - 2”

"There is one point we should work on—appreciation of spirituality."

5. RABASH, "The Main Thing We Need”

"The main thing we lack, and for which we have no fuel for the work, is that we lack the importance of the goal. That is, we do not know how to appreciate our service so as to know to whom we are bestowing. Also, we lack the awareness of the greatness of the Creator, to know how happy we are that we have the privilege of serving the King, since we have nothing with which we can understand His greatness."

6. RABASH, “Make for Yourself a Rav and Buy Yourself a Friend - 1”

"It turns out that true friendship—when each makes the necessary payment to buy his friend—is precisely when both are of equal status, and then both pay equally. It is like a corporeal business, where both of them give everything equally, otherwise there cannot be a true partnership. Hence, “Buy yourself a friend,” since there can be bonding—when each buys his friend—only when they are equal."

7. RABASH, “Why Is the Torah Called “Middle Line” in the Work?-2”

"One must believe, that “There is none else besides Him,” meaning that it is the Creator who compels him to do the good deeds, but since he is still unworthy of knowing that it is the Creator who compels him, the Creator dresses Himself in dresses of flesh and blood, through which the Creator performs these actions. Thus, the Creator acts in the form of posterior.

In other words, the person sees people’s faces but he should believe that behind the faces stands the Creator and performs these actions. That is, behind the man stands the Creator and compels him to do the deeds that the Creator wants. It follows that the Creator does everything, but the person regards what he sees and not what he should believe."

8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati 67, “Depart from Evil”

"One who thinks that he is deceiving his friend is really deceiving the Creator, since besides man’s body there is only the Creator. This is because it is the essence of creation that man is called “created being” only with respect to himself. The Creator wants man to feel that he exists separately from Him; but other than this, it is all “The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hence, when lying to one’s friend, one is lying to the Creator; and when one makes one’s friend sad, one makes the Creator sad."

9. RABASH, “Why Is the Torah Called “Middle Line” in the Work?-2”

"We should interpret this as the Ari writes (Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 13, Item 152), “There is the matter of Se’arot [fibers], which cover the light, so they do not enjoy the light as long as they are unworthy, since they might blemish.” The thing is that we must believe that the Creator gave us a desire and yearning to do good deeds. And as long as one is unworthy, he must not feel that the Creator compels him to do good deeds. This is why the Creator hides Himself in clothing, and this clothing is called Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. In other words, sometimes the Creator hides Himself in the clothing of friends."