Local Meeting #43- Convention Preparation - Part 2
This week, we are continuing the study from authentic Kabbalistic texts in a large group, by reading the World Kabbalah Convention study material and preparing ourselves for the gathering.
In the first part of the local meeting, we will:
Read from the Convention Study Material
Following the reading, and opportunities for questions, there will be time dedicated for:
The Arvut System
Local Meeting
"Preparation for the World Kabbalah Convention - In One Prayer"
This week we continue internal preparations for the World Kabbalah Convention "In One Prayer" by reading from the Study Materials, as well as technical preparations on the Arvut System.
In the local meeting, we will read excerpts from the study materials and go over the technical aspects of the arvut system.
We will also have the opportunity for workshop questions from Michael and Avihu, as well as any of the students' questions on the study materials and the convention in general.
Lesson 3 - "The Conditions for a Prayer from the Bottom of the Heart"
1. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 209, “Three Conditions in Prayer”
"There are three conditions in prayer:
1. Believing that He can save him. Although he has the worst conditions of all his contemporaries, still, “Will the Lord’s hand be too short to save him?” If it is not so, then “the Landlord cannot save His vessels.”
2. He no longer has any choice for he has already done all that he could but saw no cure to his plight.
3. If He does not help him, he will be better off dead than alive. Prayer means “lost in the heart.” The more one is lost, so is the measure of his prayer. Clearly, one who lacks luxuries is not like one who has been sentenced to death, and only the execution is missing, and he is already tied with iron chains, and he is standing and pleading for his life. He will certainly not rest or sleep or be distracted for even a moment from praying for his life."
8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, "Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?"
"The prayer must be a complete prayer, from the bottom of the heart. This means that one knows one hundred percent that there is no one in the world who can help him but the Creator Himself.
Yet, how does one know this, that no one will help him but the Creator Himself? One can acquire that awareness precisely if he has exerted all the powers at his disposal and it did not help him. Thus, one must do every possible thing in the world to attain “for the sake of the Creator.” Then one can pray from the bottom of the heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer."
Lesson 4 "A Prayer Above Reason"
2. RABASH, Article 13 (1985), "Mighty Rock of My Salvation"
"What can one do if he wants to begin with praise but his heart is closed, and he feels that he is full of faults and cannot open his mouth and sing and praise? The advice is to go above reason and say that everything is “covered Hassadim [mercies].” In other words, he should say that everything is Hesed [grace/mercy], but it is covered from him because he is not yet qualified to see the delight and pleasure that the Creator has prepared for His creations.
And after he establishes the praise of the Creator—meaning that he believes above reason that everything is good and gracious—he should pray that the Creator will mend his heart to become “My House of Prayer,” meaning that the mercies of the Creator will appear there. This is called “revealed Hassadim.”"
5. RABASH, Article No. 5 (1990), "What It Means that the Land Did Not Bear Fruit before Man Was Created, in the Work"
"We must believe that ‘You hear the prayer of every mouth,’ as we say in the prayer, ‘For You hear the prayer of every mouth.’ Thus, the Creator should have heard your prayer, as well. Moreover, if He does not hear the prayer of every mouth, then why do you need to pray?”
Then, when a person comes to such a state, he can say that he is going above reason. That is, although reason is very important, and he sees that the body speaks with reason, but a person should say that we must go above reason. That is, we, too, see contradictions, such as that many times he prayed but received no answer for his prayer. But then, when he overcomes and goes above reason, this is called “faith above reason.”"
Lesson 5 "A Prayer in the Ten"
1. RABASH, Article No. 15 (1986), "A Prayer of Many"
"We can understand the importance of a prayer of many, as it is written, “I dwell among my own people.” The Zohar says, “One should never retire from the people because the mercy of the Creator is always on the whole people together.” This means that if one asks the Creator to give him vessels of bestowal, as our sages said, “As He is merciful, you be merciful, too,” one should pray for the whole collective. This is because then it is apparent that his aim is for the Creator to give him vessels of pure bestowal, as it was written, “The mercy of the Creator is always on the whole people together.” It is known that there is no giving of half a thing from above. This means that when abundance is given from above to below, it is for the whole collective."
2. Zohar for All, VaYechi [Jacob Lived], "Be Gathered, that I May Tell You", Items 514-516
"All the prayers in the world, prayers of many, are prayers. But a solitary prayer does not enter before the Holy King, unless with great force. This is so because before the prayer enters to be crowned in its place, the Creator watches it, observes it, and observes the sins and merits of that person, which He does not do with a prayer of many, where several of the prayers are not from righteous, and they all enter before the Creator and He does not notice their iniquities."
Lesson 6 "A Complete Prayer"
5. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1986), "What Is the Main Deficiency for which One Should Pray?"
"The real deficiency for which one must pray to the Creator should be the Kli. This follows the rule, “There is no light without a Kli.” When he prays for a real deficiency that he is lacking comes the granting of the prayer when the Creator gives him a new Kli, as it is written, “And I will remove the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”"
8. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52
"“While they speak, I listen,” meaning the measure of the Creator’s listening depends precisely on the measure of the longing that appears during the saying of the prayer. When one feels excessive longing, he should know at that time that the Creator is listening to him attentively.
Clearly, when he knows this, he pours his heart out even stronger, for there is no greater privilege than the King of the world being attentive to him. This is quite similar to what our sages said, “The Creator longs for the prayer of righteous,” for the Creator’s desire for a person to draw near Him awakens great power and longing in the person to crave for the Creator, for “As in water of the face to the face, so the heart of man to man.”
It follows that the saying of the prayer and the hearing of the prayer go hand in hand until they accumulate to the full measure and he acquires everything."
Workshop questions
1) Share with the friends two new things you expect to achieve at the World Kabbalah Convention - In One Prayer?
2) What are the conditions for reaching a real prayer?
The Arvut System
We will continue with a tutorial of the Arvut System, as well as open for questions.
Announcements
1) Tens - we will put together the new tens and open the ten's chat. Students are welcome to join. The instructors in the local meeting will give a short explanation on how the ten starts (how to organise basic zoom meeting and briefly the rules of the ten's chat), and this will be explained more in the chats and ten's meetings.
See You at the Convention!