Right and left, mercy and judgment. Israel are to the right and the idol worshipping nations are to the left.

Israel, even when they are wicked and yielding, they are on the right; they do not cling to the left, and never mingle with it.

This is why it is written, “Save with Your right hand, and answer me,” for when the right ascends, Israel—who cling to it—rise and are crowned in it.

Then the left side and all who come with it surrender, as it is written, “Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy” (The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Shmini,” Item 25).

We do not need to concentrate on the left line, because if you begin delving into those desires, it will seem to you as though you are clarifying something and rebelling against your evil qualities. But in the meantime, you become connected to them, and that is not good.

We should try not to notice them, as though they do not exist. We do not want to deal with them. Instead, we should constantly strive toward the right side! And when you aspire toward the spiritual goal, toward adhesion with the Creator, toward the upper degree, toward bestowal, its light will correct you and your egoistic desires (the left side).

You yourself will never be able to fight against them, and it is better not to engage with them at all. The left line awakens within you only so that you will cling even more strongly to the right line. This is our path.

But a person turns to the left line and imagines himself a hero, capable of working with these desires and defeating them. No! The Creator will defeat them for you! The Creator fights this battle, not you.

We do not have the strength for it. One who aspires to the Creator is small and weak; he is incapable of fighting on his own. The Creator arranges everything for us. All we need is to want it to happen—to ask!

Therefore, all our work is called the Creator’s work, because the upper force, the upper degree, the Creator, performs all the actions, while we only express our desire for them to take place.

Our entire work is to desire this in advance. This is called: “I awaken the dawn,” like a horse that obediently moves forward, sensing the rider’s desire even before the rider gives the command.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 11/1/10, The Book of Zohar, Chapter “Shemini”

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It is said about the embryo: “The mother gives him the red part, the father the white part, and the Creator the soul.”

A frequent problem in the work is that we forget about the third component, about the Creator, who must finish all the work for us.

A person makes tremendous efforts and then wonders: where is the desired result?

They fail to realize that they are not bringing this action to completion, because they forget that all their actions must begin and end with the Creator, with the upper force. The person stands in the middle.

In the same way, we ascend from the initial state (one) to the final state (three); we emerge from infinity and return to infinity.

Along the way we develop and correct ourselves, either by the path of suffering or by the path of light. In any case, it is the light that works, and we only add our desire. We do not correct ourselves; we only accelerate our development.

Yet, a person usually forgets that he is only one of the components of his development, one that slightly intensifies it, and because of this feeling how the action changes from bad to good.

But the action itself takes place by virtue of forces that already exist in nature. The main thing here is the force of the Creator.

If a person does not draw the Creator to his aid so that He will complete the action, this third component, absent from his picture of nature, then not a single action is brought to completion, and therefore the person remains as he was!

This is a well-known mistake that often remains unnoticed. And there is only one solution: to turn to the group for help.

If there is a common opinion in the group that the Creator is the main force that determines the outcome of the action, then each one included in the group will not forget about this. Then he will not have to experience the bitter disappointment of having worked so much and having achieved nothing.

Seek the Creator (as it is said: “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves,” Song of Songs) and remember that a person is not able to win this battle by himself, there is also a partner.

And without Him, a person has only an empty desire, which gradually dies out like a small flame.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/10, Rabash, 1985 “On My Bed at Night”

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Question: Are you saying that the entire path of technological progress, technological revolutions, and even the Nobel Prizes awarded for them have ultimately brought harm to humanity?

Answer: Everything! All of it exists only so that we may recognize the evil within it. Can you imagine how I must sound saying this?

Question: Do you realize what you are challenging? Everything!

Answer: Everything! Absolutely everything!

Comment: Scholarships, scientific research, universities, factories, industries, everything.

My Response: Until a person understands what all of it is truly for, nothing should be placed in his hands, not even a small gadget, let alone an atomic bomb. Otherwise, this is exactly what happens. Our entire life is spent neutralizing the negative effects that this progress has on us.

Question: So our present condition is, in a way, the consequence of this progress? All these downfalls, all these viruses?

Answer: Yes. We do nothing but neutralize its negative consequences.

Question: Then would you stop all technological progress?

Answer: All of our progress has been aimed solely at allowing us to act egoistically, however we please. to behave selfishly without suffering the consequences.

Question: Under what condition is technological progress beneficial and necessary?

Answer: Only to the extent that it helps us become more closely connected with one another.

Question: Only if that is its purpose?

Answer: Yes. We do not realize where egoism leads us when it is the only thing we develop. Everything that comes from it ultimately becomes harmful, and in the end, it will have to be stopped. I am not advocating that people suddenly reject everything, as some do today. I am speaking about the overall course of humanity.

Comment: So we should not give up medicine, of course.

My Response: We should not give up anything. We simply need to behave correctly toward nature. Wherever you can act according to the law of connection, goodness, love, and so on, act! Everything else should be set aside. Then you will see how everything begins to form a completely different picture.

Comment: You realize that you will receive a flood of letters and comments saying that you are against progress, against the development of humanity.

My Response: I am in favor of reasonable progress, which consists of combining the egoistic and altruistic forces of nature so that they work together. Both the left line and the right line are necessary, but there must also be the middle line that guides them forward.

Question: On that basis, will the process that follows be correct? Precisely because of this combination?

Answer: Yes. But at some point, we departed from this correct relationship with nature and began developing in only one direction—for the sake of egoism alone.

Question: Is that why we have wrecked the environment?

Answer: Yes, everything! Not only the environment; we have ruined the human being!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 6/21/26

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Question: We have discussed how a person must come to a state of complete disappointment regarding one’s own powers. How, can this be reconciled with the need to say: “If I am not for myself, who is for me?”

Answer: In every state, a person must say: “If I am not for myself, who is for me?” If I have completely despaired of my own strength, then what? Does that mean everything is over for me?

Does this mean I am saying: “That is it! The Creator must help me!”? But how do I know when that should happen? Perhaps it is now or perhaps only ten years from now? Should I constantly wish to reach a state of despair?

On the contrary, I know that it is precisely from such a state that the leap into spirituality takes place. As Baal HaSulam writes in one of his letters in A Sage’s Fruit:

There is no happier state in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength, that is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for a wholehearted prayer for the Creator’s help. And the Creator hears such a prayer.

So now am I supposed to strive to become disappointed with my own abilities? No! If I did that, I would never reach that state. I must constantly press forward with the thought: “If I am not for myself, who is for me?”

And if, at times, it is revealed to me that I am incapable of it, so be it. Then I am incapable, but I still continue moving forward, toward a new state, toward new attempts. As Baal HaSulam explains: “If you fail in one endeavor, then begin another. And if that also fails, start yet another.”

You are living, you continue working and continue making attempts. When will complete disappointment in one’s own powers finally be revealed? We do not know.

It reaches a point that Nachshon (the brave one) jumps into the sea, wanting to cross it by his own strength, and only then does the sea part. He jumps. He does not wait around thinking, “Well, the Creator ought to arrange everything now. My enemies are behind me, the sea is before me. Since I have been placed in such a situation, I will just cry out and throw up my hands.”

No. We do not raise our hands and surrender. We jump into the sea. There has to be a leap. Your task is to jump.

Question: And what about “There is none else besides Him”?

Answer: “There is none else besides Him” is not referring to that at all. It means that behind every situation and every state stands the Creator.

But I accept this only as the result of what has already happened, only as the outcome.

Question: When Nachshon jumps into the sea, is he trying to end his life, or is he hoping for a miracle?

Answer: When one jumps into the sea, one does not count on a miracle.

Likewise, we do not jump because we want to end our lives,  we jump because we want to live. We want to cross this sea.

A person simply has no other choice, and therefore does everything within one’s power. They believe that they can cross the Final Sea (Yam Suf) through their own efforts. It is not so much a matter of belief; rather, they have no alternative, and on the other hand, this is simply the only correct course of action.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/13/26, Rabash, “And the Lord Appeared to Him at the Oaks of Mamre”

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