Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy

1. Noam Elimelech, Likutei Shoshana
One must always pray for his friend, as one cannot do much for himself, for “One does not deliver oneself from imprisonment.” But when asking for his friend, he is answered quickly. Therefore, each one should pray for his friend, and thus each works on the other’s desire until all of them are answered. This is why it was said, “Israel are Arevim [responsible/sweet] for one another,” where Arevim means sweetness, as they sweeten for each other by the prayers they pray for one another, and by this they are answered. And the essence of prayer is in the thought since in the thought, one’s prayer can be accepted easily.

2. Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee],” Item 17

Once the whole nation unanimously agreed and said, “We will do and we will hear,” each member of Israel became responsible that no member of the nation will lack anything. Only then did they become worthy of receiving the Torah, and not before.

With this collective responsibility, each member of the nation was liberated from worrying about the needs of his own body and could observe the Mitzva, “Love your friend as yourself” in the fullest measure and give all that he had to any needy person since he no longer cared for the existence of his own body, as he knew for certain that he was surrounded by six hundred thousand loyal lovers standing ready to provide for him.

3. Baal HaSulam, "The Arvut" [Mutual Guarantee, Item 22

The impression that comes to a person when engaging in Mitzvot between man and the Creator is completely the same as the impression he gets when engaging in Mitzvot between man and man, since one is obliged to perform all the Mitzvot Lishma [for Her sake], without any hope for self-love, meaning that no light or hope returns to him through his trouble in the form of reward or honor, etc. Here, at this exalted point, the love of the Creator and the love of his friend unite and actually become one.

4. RABASH, Article No. 106, "The Ruin of Kedusha [Holiness]"

One must not ask the Creator to bring him closer to Him, as it is insolence on the part of man, for in what is he more important than others? However, when he prays for the collective—which is Malchut, called “the assembly of Israel,” the sum of the souls—that the Shechina [Divinity] is in the dust, and he prays that she will rise, meaning that the Creator will light up her darkness, then all of Israel will rise in degree, too, including the beseeching person, who is included in the collective.

5. Ramchal, Derushei 24, “Adornments of the Bride”

“You are all beautiful my wife, and there is not a flaw in you” (Song of Songs 4:7). To be completed, the rest of the souls must connect to her and all become one in her. At that time, the Shechina [Divinity] illuminates in a great correction, and then “You are all beautiful my wife” and no flaw is left in her, since by the force of Arvut [mutual guarantee], each one corrects for the other and thus everything is corrected.

6. RABASH, Letter 24

You must always stand guard, all day and all night, when you feel a state of day or feel a state of night […].

It follows that you must awaken the heart of the friends until the flame rises by itself.

7. Baal HaSulam, "Matan Torah" [The Giving of the Torah], Letter 15

If six hundred thousand men abandon their work for the satisfaction of their own needs and worry about nothing but standing guard so their friends will not lack a thing, and moreover, they will engage in this with great love, with their very heart and soul, in the full meaning of the Mitzva, “Love your friend as yourself,” it is then beyond doubt that no one in the nation will need to worry about his own well-being.

Because of this, one becomes completely free of securing his own survival and can easily observe the Mitzva, “Love your friend as yourself”.

8. Baal HaSlam, "600,000 Souls"

The sign for the body’s complete correction is when one feels that one’s soul exists in the whole of Israel, in each and every one of them, for which he does not feel himself as an individual, for one depends on the other. At that time, he is complete, flawless, and the soul truly shines on him in its fullest power, as it appeared in Adam HaRishon.