The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.

Daily Morning Lesson: June 18, 2026

Part 1: What Are Truth and Falsehood in the Work? Rabash. Article No. 40, 1991.

Original lesson date: 04/11/2003

Reader: Dear friends, before we enter the lesson, let's include with intention the friends who are busy working on the visitor center. Let's hold them in one heart within Tens. In the first part of the lesson, we'll learn a lesson with the Rav from 2003, based on the article "What are Truth and Falsehood in the Work," from “The Writings of Rabash,” volume 2. We'll read the article together in the Ten. We have 33 minutes, please.

Reading: (00:52) What Are Truth and Falsehood in the Work?

Article No. 40, 1991

We should understand how truth and falsehood pertain to the work of the Creator. This implies that one can be a servant of the Creator even though it is a lie. How can such a thing be said?

It is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 175), “The share of the Creator is to delight the poor, for on these days, the holidays, the Creator comes to see His broken Kelim [vessels], and sees that they have nothing with which to rejoice. He weeps for them.”

He interprets these words in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] as follows: First we need to understand the interpretation of our sages (Midrash Rabbah, Portion 6), that at the time of the creation of the world, when He said to the angels, “Let us make man in our image,” Hesed [mercy] said, “Let him be created, for he does Hassadim [mercies]; Truth said, “Let him not be created, for he is all lies”; Tzedek [justice] said, “Let him be created, for he does righteousness”; Peace said, “Let him not be created, for he is all strife.” What did the Creator do? He took Truth, and cast it to the earth.

We know the words of our sages, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], even if Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma [for Her sake].” Because of his lowliness, a person cannot engage in His Mitzvot right away in order to bring contentment to his Maker. By nature, he cannot make a move if not for his own sake. Hence, first he must engage in Mitzvot Lo Lishma, meaning out of self-benefit. However, he still draws abundance of Kedusha [holiness] while performing the Mitzvot, and through the abundance that he draws, he will eventually come to engage in Mitzvot Lishma.

Truth complained about the creation of man, saying “He is all lies,” etc., how can such a man be created, who from the beginning engages in Torah and Mitzvot in complete falsehood, meaning Lo Lishma? But Hesed said, “Let him be created, for he does mercies,” etc., by which he will gradually be corrected until he can engage in all the Mitzvot in order to bestow. Likewise, Peace complained that “He is all strife,” but Tzedek said, “Let him be created” because through the Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot] of charity to the poor that he does, he will gradually approach the quality of bestowal until he comes to engage Lishma. Once all of their arguments were heard, the Creator agreed with the angels Hesed and Tzedakah, and threw Truth to the ground, meaning permitted engaging in Mitzvot initially in Lo Lishma, for even though it is a lie, it will eventually become Lishma, and then Truth will rise up from the earth.

Maimonides says there (Hilchot Teshuva, Chapter 5), “Therefore, when teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain much knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little-by-little.”

From the words of Maimonides, we see that we must begin the work of the Creator in Lo Lishma, and we must not even reveal that there is such a matter as Lishma to them. Rather, they must know that they’re observing Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward is real wholeness, and there is nothing to add to this, other than in quantity, meaning to dedicate more time and effort to observe Torah and Mitzvot. They should be happy that by observing Torah and Mitzvot they will have plentiful reward.

It follows that in order for them to be complete servants of the Creator, they must not know that there is the matter of Lishma, since they are still not ready to begin to work Lishma. Hence, should they be told that the main work is Lishma, they will say, “How can we observe Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma if this is not the real work?” And since they still cannot work Lishma, they will remain empty handed both ways.

In other words, Lo Lishma will not be important to them, and they will see that they cannot work Lishma. For this reason, it is forbidden to reveal to them that there is a matter that we must work in order to bestow. But when they do not know, they think that they are true servants of the Creator and that they are righteous. Hence, from this they will have strength to work, since they are happy that they are servants of the Creator, and they consider other people, who do not observe Torah and Mitzvot as they do, as beasts and animals, and that they have no more brains than that of beasts and animals.

Concerning the scrutinies, he wrote in Tree of Life (presented in Beit Shaar HaKavanot, Item 107): “The Creator gave the Torah and Mitzvot to Israel only in order to sort, cleanse, and remove the dross from the silver, which is the dressing for the soul. Through man’s intention in Torah and Mitzvot, the clothing of the soul is completed. Through the Torah, Noga of Yetzira is cleansed, a clothing of Ruach, and through practical Mitzvot, Noga of Assiya is cleansed, and becomes a clothing of Nefesh.”

This means that we cannot say that the performance of Mitzvot and Torah without an intention are not true. Rather, it is implied from the words of the ARI that through all of man’s actions, the scrutinies of Kedusha are sorted out of the Klipot [shells/peels], to which they descended at the time of the breaking of the vessels. However, we should distinguish between Mitzvot without an intention and Torah without an intention, and between Torah and Mitzvot with an intention, as was said, “and through the practical Mitzvot, Noga of Assiya is cleansed and becomes a clothing for the Nefesh.”

Concerning Lo Lishma, which is called “a lie,” we should interpret that since the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and in order for man to obtain this in practice, meaning to see that the delight and pleasure are revealed in the world, the creatures cannot see this before they have the real Kelim by which to see the delight and pleasure revealed in the world.

Therefore, to the creatures, it is still not revealed that the purpose of creation is really to do good to His creations, since they see that they are suffering torments in the world, each in his own way. Thus, we can interpret that as long as the creatures observe Torah and Mitzvot not with the aim to bestow, they are unable to see the truth that there is in the purpose of creation—to do good.

Therefore, this means that concerning those who observe Torah and Mitzvot and have not been rewarded with aiming to bestow, although in truth scrutinies were made for the Kedusha by observing Torah and Mitzvot even if without the intention, meaning that the Kedusha increases through their actions, this is only with respect to the existence of Kedusha. Nevertheless, the creatures are still unable to see what happens through their actions, meaning what corrections are done by their work even if Lo Lishma.

It follows that when we speak of falsehood, that we say that Lo Lishma is called “a lie,” it is with respect to the creatures. That is, they are still unable to see the truth about observing Torah and Mitzvot without the intention. But in truth, corrections and scrutinies are made in Kedusha.

We must believe the words of the ARI that each and every act in Torah and Mitzvot makes corrections to such an extent that we should ask, concerning what we see, that the rule is that if a person can make his neighbor not desecrate the Shabbat [Sabbath], if for example, the neighbor needs his help, and because of it the neighbor will observe Shabbat, then a person must act so he will not desecrate the Shabbat.

We should ask, But if there is no intention here to observe the Shabbat, and he observes the commandment that his friend imposes on him, so what good can emerge from such work? However, every single act we do, even without an intention, does its thing. That is, it makes scrutinies for Kedusha, except the creatures still cannot see the corrections because they might blemish, since they are still under the governance of the will to receive.

For this reason, before he sees the corrections that are done by him, he still cannot receive from the abundance that is revealed through his actions. Hence, when they do not see the abundance that is revealed, they cannot blemish since they do not see that there is something to receive. However, one must believe that each and every act in Torah and work is important, and so he must believe.

Only after one is rewarded with receiving the second nature, called “desire to bestow,” he will be rewarded with seeing the truth, that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. It follows that when we say that Lo Lishma is called “a lie,” it is from man’s perspective, for man still does not see that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations.

Accordingly, we can understand why Lishma is called “truth,” since by being rewarded with Lishma, a person should achieve the degree of “love of the Creator,” by His behavior with the person himself. That is, when a person receives abundance from the Creator, he sees the truth, that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Moreover, a person should be rewarded with seeing that Providence behaves with all creations in a manner of good and doing good.

This is a great degree, when a person sees how the Creator behaves with him in person in a manner of good and doing good. However, a person must see that the Creator behaves this way with all creations—in a manner of good and doing good. Because of this, Lishma is called “truth,” for by work in the state of Lishma, a person is rewarded with seeing the truth, that the Creator behaves with all creations in a manner of good and doing good.

This is as it is written in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 97): “For this reason, our sages warned us concerning the necessary condition in the practice of Torah, that it will be specifically Lishma, in a way that one will be awarded life through it, for it is a Torah of life, and set his mind and heart to find ‘the light of the King's face’ in it, that is, the attainment of open Providence, called ‘light of the face.’”

In other words, as long as one has not been rewarded with Lishma, he is in concealment of the face, meaning that he still does not see how the Creator leads the world as The Good Who Does Good. It follows that he is in a state of falsehood. That is, when he says what they said, that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, it is a lie, since we see the opposite.

But one who learns Torah Lishma is rewarded with seeing the truth because he himself has been rewarded with seeing the delight and pleasure he is receiving from the Creator. Moreover, he must come to a state of wholeness and see how the Creator behaves with the whole world with the purpose of doing good to His creations. It follows that truth and falsehood pertain to the attainment of the person himself. Accordingly, it follows that one who learns Torah Lo Lishma, which is considered a lie, is only because he is unfit to see the truth, that the Creator leads the world in a manner of good and doing good.

This is as the ARI says, that all of man’s actions in Kedusha make corrections, but a person still cannot see what is done with the Torah and Mitzvot that the creatures do even without the intention, meaning even in Lo Lishma, but for their own sake. For this reason, Maimonides says that we must begin the order of the work with children and women in order to receive reward, since the performance of Mitzvot in themselves make corrections.

Baal HaSulam said about what our sages said (Avot, Chapter 3:18), “Israel are beloved, for they are called ‘The children of the Creator.’ They are greatly favored, for they are called ‘The children of the Creator,’ as was said, ‘You are the children of the Lord your God.’ He said that being called ‘The children of the Creator’ is in general, but being greatly favored is in person. He asks, what is being ‘greatly favored’? He replied, ‘The great favor is in that it is known to them, meaning that they know and feel that they are called ‘The children of the Creator.’”

Here we can interpret similarly. That is, in terms of the action without the intention to bestow, called Lo Lishma, the people of Israel are called “children of the Creator,” because they engage in Torah and Mitzvot in practice, this, too, makes great corrections, as the ARI said. However, it is not known to them. In other words, they cannot see what corrections are done by their work.

Conversely, after they are rewarded with Lishma, it becomes known to them what they are doing. This is as it is written, “Rabbi Meir says, ‘Anyone who engages in Torah Lishma is rewarded with many things. Moreover, the whole world is worthwhile for him, and the secrets of Torah are revealed to him.’”

We should interpret that “the whole world is worthwhile for him” means that he already see the truth about the purpose of creation, that it is to do good to His creations. The evidence of this is that at that time, he sees that “the whole world is worthwhile for him,” since he feels the delight and pleasure.

Also, we should interpret the meaning of “the secrets of Torah are revealed to him.” This means that he is rewarded with seeing how through his work in Torah and Mitzvot, corrections are done above. But before he is rewarded with engaging in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma, although corrections are done through his work in Torah and Mitzvot, he cannot see it before he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal.

Accordingly, we should interpret what our sages said (Avot 1:17), “It is not the learning that is the most important, but the work.” Here before us are two things: 1) actions, 2) intentions.

On one hand, we understand that the intention matters most. In other words, when a person does something, good or bad, we should regard the intention, not the act. For example, in a conflict between two people, one took a knife and stabbed the other. Of course, this is a bad deed. The victim sued him and the offender was fined for it.

The offender claimed, “I only stabbed this man in the hand, and I only scratched him, but I have to pay him a fine. And yet, I saw that not long ago, this man went into a hospital and a doctor cut open his stomach and took something out, and he paid the doctor a lot of money. And I, for the tiny cut I caused him, I have to pay him, the opposite of what happened with that doctor?!”

“The answer is simple,” said the judge. “We follow the intention. Since you stabbed him because you wanted to enjoy, you have to pay for the pleasure you had. But when the surgeon cut his flesh with a knife, he wanted the patient to enjoy. Therefore, the patient should pay the doctor.” We therefore see that what counts is the aim and not the act. Thus, why did our sages say, “It is not the learning that matters most, but the action”?

In spirituality, concerning Torah and Mitzvot, the work matters most, as in the words of the ARI, that through performance of Mitzvot, scrutinies of holy sparks are sorted out of the Klipot [shells/peels]. However, a person cannot see this before he has vessels of bestowal, or he will see what is done with his work and it will go to his vessels of reception, and he will send it all back to the Klipot. It follows that the work is what matters most.

But if he can make the intention in order to bestow, as well, then through the intention that lies over the action he ascends to a higher degree, as was said above, “Through man’s intention in Torah and Mitzvot, the clothing of the soul is completed. Through the Torah, Noga of Yetzira is cleansed, a clothing of Ruach, and through practical Mitzvot, Noga of Assiya is cleansed, and becomes a clothing of Nefesh.”

For this reason, the act is what matters most, and to the act, we must also add the intention. We must believe that as far as branch and root go, all the corporeal things that happen here derive from upper roots. That is, as corporeal actions correct the body, and without them the body cannot exist, it is likewise in matters of the soul: Without performance of Torah and Mitzvot, there is no nourishment to the soul so it can exist.

This is as presented in the book Beit Shaar HaKavanot (Item 83), “Know that in Adam HaRishon, all the scrutinies of all the worlds and all the souls were sorted, and all the beasts were sorted. But the still and vegetative were not fully sorted; this is why they eat, in order to sort them. When they sinned, the souls and beasts returned to the depth of the Klipot, and only the pure beasts are sorted through our eating, and likewise the still and vegetative.”

It therefore follows that specifically through our eating in practice, the still, vegetative, and animate are sorted, and all we need is to add to it the aim. But without the act, the aim does not help. Therefore, we should not say, “Why put Tefillin if the intention is what matters? He can aim the intention of the Tefillin and does not need to observe in practice.” However, the act is the main thing, and the aim is the addition.

Therefore, as in corporeality, if a person makes the aim of eating or the aim of drinking, but does not eat or drink in practice, he will die. Likewise, if a person does not observe Torah and Mitzvot in practice, his soul, which receives its nourishment from the work in Torah and Mitzvot, will have nothing on which to live.

This is the meaning of “It is not the learning that matters most, but the action,” meaning an actual act, in practice. Afterward, as an addition, we also need an aim over the actions that a person does. This is regarded as “still of Kedusha [holiness].” From the still, we can arrive at the state of vegetative, animate, and speaking.

According to the above, we can understand what is said above concerning the Creator coming to see His broken Kelim, for in the end, he will achieve Lishma and Truth will rise up from the earth. He says there (p 173 [in Hebrew]), “This is the meaning of the breaking of the vessels that occurred prior to the creation of the world. Through the breaking of the vessels of Kedusha and their fall to the separated BYA, sparks of Kedusha fell with them to the Klipot, and from them come the pleasures and all sorts of penchants into the domain of the Klipot, which they pass on for man to receive and enjoy, and thereby cause every kind of transgression. However, along with it, He gave us Torah and Mitzvot, so that even if one begins to engage in them while still in Lo Lishma, meaning for one’s own pleasure, to satisfy his lowly lusts, in the end, through them he will achieve Lishma and will be rewarded with the purpose of creation, to receive all the pleasantness and good in the thought of creation, in order to bestow contentment upon Him.”

We should remember the rule in the order of the work, that one need not examine himself to see if he is fine or not. That is, if a person sees that he is not alright, this is the time when he should pray to the Creator to help him be fine. This is specifically when one feels that he has some closeness to the Creator. At that time, he is permitted to regard his situation with criticism. But when a person feels that he is removed from the work, meaning that he does not have a desire for the work, at that time he must not examine himself and pray. Rather, he must pay attention and say, “Whatever grip I have on the work, I am happy with it, and I thank the Creator for it.” But at that time, he should not pray to the Creator to bring him closer. And concerning the prayer that he should pray to the Creator to bring him closer, this should be specifically when he has some ascent in the work.

This is as it is written in The Zohar (VaEra, Item 102), “Come and see, in the day, he engaged in Torah to complement the judgments, and at night he engaged in singing and praising until the day came because all through the day he engaged in complementing and scrutinizing the judgments, which are ‘left.’ At night, he engaged in praises, which are Hassadim.”

Hence, the above explanation is that specifically during the “day,” meaning during an ascent, he engaged in the left, to sort the judgments. But at “night,” when it does not illuminate, he engages in praises.

Reader: Now watch the lesson from April 11th, 2003. 

M. Laitman: (33:44) Volume 5, “Rungs of the Ladder,” page 382, "What are Truth and Falsehood in the Work." That indeed, our work is to scrutinize between the light and the vessel, what is the difference between them. There is the advantage of light from darkness. And this is called, in our language, truth and falsehood. We know how, to what extent, truth and falsehood are. It's like real estate, right? It comes and goes. Those are things that have no permanent foundation that we can somehow use over time. Everything depends on what a person decides. And so here he says that a person grows, and each time, according to how much he immerses himself on this trail toward the Creator, then it turns out that he first observes the practical commandments, then corrects himself through the Torah, until he comes to work in the intentions in order to bestow. And each time, truth and falsehood are clarified for him differently. In part three of the “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” he says, he explains in part five, says that the Malchut of the upper one becomes the Keter of the lower one. This inversion causes an actual disconnect between Keter and Malchut, meaning, in general, everything that existed in the previous degree that was true and sound, and he could rely on it, he could lean on it in each degree, in the next degree, in the next state, it's like in contradiction, complete contradiction to the previous state. This is the nature of the degrees, and it's not like he's adding each time from degree to degree. Rather, these degrees are in contradiction to one another. Therefore, truth and falsehood, what was truth before becomes an actual lie, and the truth becomes, or is clarified now, in complete contradiction to the previous truth. Because each time, as we scrutinize the vessel, we scrutinize the shells from the clarified vessel, meaning, I clarified a certain vessel, this vessel for me is now holy, it's good, I see that from this vessel I can judge who is the Creator, who am I, and so on and so forth. It seems like I've done something, I attained something, I have a scrutiny and correction. Then comes a higher degree compared to that. The shells in the previous degree are clarified, scrutinized, the degree that appeared holy to me, and I begin to see the depth inside of it. The next degree, compared to the degree that I was on before, and I thought this was holiness, now suddenly it appears as a shell, as refuse, as waste. And this is the case each and every time. That's why there is no absolute truth and falsehood; rather, everything is measured according to that level, that degree in which a person resides. And similarly, we need to relate to ourselves and the process we're undergoing, so that in each and every state, each and every place, things are relative, which is why you need patience and to foster the correct attitude toward these degrees that we're going through.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:36) He writes here towards the end of the article, he's talking about a state where in the day one engages in Torah to complement the judgments, and at night, Baal HaSulam writes that there is no happier moment in a person's life, no happier moment than the moment of despair where the prayer, proper prayer, is built up. And here he's talking about how the prayer should be, not where a place feels “night.” So, how does this work together?

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): Where is your question? We need to remember the rule in the order of the work, that a person should not look at himself to see if he's okay or not, meaning if he sees that a person is not okay, then it's a time for a person to pray to the Creator to help him, so he will be okay, and that's specifically during the time where a person feels that he has a bit more closeness to the Creator, then it's okay for him to look at his state with a measure of criticism. But when a person feels that he is distancing himself from the work, meaning he doesn't have so much desire for the work, he shouldn't then look at himself and pray. Rather, he needs to pay attention and say, "As much as I have a bit of a grip in the work, I'm happy and I give thanks to the Creator for it." What's the question? 

Student: How does this align with the state where we know that the true prayer is in a state of despair, then is the time for true prayer. Here he says the opposite: when a person feels far, not to pray, to rather offer thanks and gratitude for the connection he was given. How does this gel together? 

M. Laitman: How does this gel together? I'll tell you. In truth, when you read an article now, do you take it and realize it? 

Student: Trying to understand what he means here, what the guidance is. 

M. Laitman: The direction is simple. Each and every state is like a Partzuf, it has a Keter and a Malchut, two ends. And from these two ends, a person must work. And like in our prayer, it has both gratitude and a request. And each state, it doesn't matter which state a person is going through, that too has a vessel and a light. And from one vessel, it can turn also with a request and with gratitude. You see, he also twists it a bit relative to compared to what he does differently elsewhere. Look, you should accept it and see. You think that because you're reading it, something is happening to you, makes you do it, or something?

Student: I'm trying to position myself according to what's written.

M. Laitman: You can arrange yourself according to what you're reading?

Student: I try.

M. Laitman: Trying is good to try. It's good to try and see that it's actually not working out at all. From the book, which is the instruction manual, turn a button this way and this way, and apply some pressure here, and put this thought into that - you can't do anything. You don't decide on your internal processes in you. The book, after all, is designed to draw the light, only to draw the light. The book by itself gives you nothing. The intellectual quality that you draw from the book, seemingly, and I drew from many books, believe me, it doesn't help. It doesn't help. It simply does not work. When you are happy, when you're in distress, this intellect doesn't work. The vessel works. Where is the mind? As much as you can tell yourself that this is not good, we have to be different, we have to do things differently - it doesn't matter how much you say from within your mind, the vessel doesn't hear. 

Student: But the intellect generates a state for me where … 

M. Laitman: The mind can only teach you to turn to the right means, maybe, when you're not under the influence of the vessel, truly in servitude of the vessel. Our mind is extremely limited as our helper. You can act from the intellect, from the mind, when the feeling is not in control, in those gray areas, as we call them.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (43:53) But still, I need to generate a certain delta, a difference between the state I'm in and the state that I want to be in, the state I'm supposed to yearn for. I'm not in that right now, but I want to be in it tomorrow, the next day. 

M. Laitman: I read in the book that we must work. I need to study, I need to think all day long about all kinds of things, I need to invest myself in the society. I need the intellect so it will give me a certain appreciation for things, a new appreciation, and then, according to how I convince myself, I'll be able “to transfer my investments from one savings account to another, right? I can begin to invest in the society, in the studies, in some other places. For that you need the mind, that's true. In other words, we need the mind, the intellect, in order to grow the goal several times greater than how it's felt in me, in my feeling. I feel it, it's important - true. Life is garbage, this world; the Creator has given me such blows that I believe this world is not worth it. I'm totally in despair, I see that I have nothing to work with, no one to work with. That's it, now I have to grow the goal, so the intellect will help. But this, until I begin to enter such processes where I have ascents and descents, then the intellect kicks in. It can help me in a very limited way. 

Student: I need to maintain some view throughout the changes of situations; you have to hold on to something, some knowledge. I was completely different to what I was a moment before in terms of feelings, emotions, but knowledge remains in the mind, something has to remain. 

M. Laitman: Meaning, our problem is to distinguish the intellect and the feeling; we don't even know, if I have a certain information, a certain knowledge, a bit of data, is it emotional or mental, right? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:05) On page 388: 

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): Page 388. However, in spirituality, in the matter of Torah and commandments, the main thing is the action, it's the work, meaning, as the words of the holy ARI, the action of the commandments, you clarify the holy sparks from the shells, but that's only on the level of the world of Assiya, right? Or how does it say? The world of Assiya. And even though a person is not capable of seeing this before he has vessels of bestowal, otherwise, by seeing what is done from his work, it will go to his vessel of reception, and necessarily, he will return everything to the shells. You find that the action is the main thing. The question is, what is the action, right? Or what? 

Student: He says that the act clarifies sparks. He says that the main thing is the act, that the intention is secondary.

M. Laitman: Meaning, our question is as follows. What is intention and what is action, first of all? Okay. What is intention we seemingly know. Intention, meaning, what do I want to get out of what I'm doing? That's just plain intention. A person does something with his hands and legs, using all sorts of means. It's important to know what is his intention. In a sense, his intention determines, because he might be doing good things. Maybe he's active in the group, in dissemination. I'm talking about with us, right? He's doing all those things, many things, but his intentions are, who knows? Maybe he came in as a spy. I don't know. I didn't feel like saying something else. So his intention determines not what he will get out of the work right now, rather what this work brings him to, and what he causes, not simply to himself, but to the others, the society, the Creator? Meaning, the action can be good, the intention can be bad, and then according to the intention, we judge him, right? In the spiritual world - the spiritual world is desires - in the spiritual world, what works are desires, intentions. There's no calculation with the body. It's different calculations. That is why intention there is whether or not it's in order to bestow, and if it's in order to receive, we say that it's without an intention. In our world, intention means that a person intends something for good, for bad, it doesn't matter, but he has a good intention, he has a bad intention. In spirituality, there's no such thing as good intention or bad intention. The intention, if we just talk about intention in general, you know, he has the intention to bestow to the Creator. And with us - no; with us, we have the action in the body, and the intention could be good or not. That's why he writes that we should, here, we should observe practical commandments, commandments without intention, meaning that the state is like that, where in our state, as we are sitting here, we still don't have the intention to bestow. We are still working with the intention to receive. This means that we are keeping practical commandments without an intention. Meaning, I read, I learn, I work in the society, and my intention is to gain something. This is called doing practical commandments without intention. I do, in practice, all kinds of means that can bring me to the purpose. They tell me, it's the study, it's the work in society, dissemination, mostly the friends, that's what it says everywhere. I work in that. This is called Mitzvot, commandments or means, actions that I can do with my hands and legs. My intention is still for myself, to feel good. I don't think about the Creator for the time being. He's not the source that I have to worry about saving me. I worry about myself. This means that I'm doing things without an intention. Later will come a time when we acquire the intention to bestow, and then we can say that we'll be doing actions with intention, or we'll be working with intention. Meaning, if we speak of the communication between men in spirituality, we're not talking about hands and legs, that what my hand did is an action, is a commandment. We always refer to actions in the desire, because the desire is our subject. That is the only thing that was created, and we work with it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (53:42) But he says here that in the act of commandments, not the intention, in the act, scrutinies enter the shells.

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): Yeah, we're the same in the actions of commandments without intention. You see what? Practical commandments refine Noga of Assiya, and it becomes the clothing for the Nefesh. So you see, next you see page 384. What does he say? And through practical commandments, Noga of Assiya is refined, and it becomes the clothing for the Nefesh. And next, meaning, you should not say that the actions of commandments and Torah without an intention are, God forbid, not the truth, rather, from the words of the holy ARI, it's implied that all the actions man does, by that they scrutinize, they clarify the scrutinies of holiness from the Klipot, from the shells that came down during the shattering of the vessels; rather, you should divide between commandments without intention, and Torah without intention, and Torah and commandments with intention. 

Student: Now, following the next paragraph, he says — 

M. Laitman: Following what, what, what paragraph? 

Student: 388 — he says, once you make this point without intention, then necessarily you will return everything to the shells, at the end of the paragraph.

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): Page 388, vessels — otherwise he will see that what is made of his work will go into his vessels of reception, and then he will give everything, he will return everything to the shells. So we find that the act is the main thing. Why don't you understand? 

Student: If also the action returns everything to the shells, then it's also the main thing.

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): If you are now given, in your situation, where you don't have a screen, you don't have the intention in order to bestow, if you're given to see what you're doing in spirituality by coming to study now against the natural desire of the body, you labor now studying, let's say, you somehow try to connect to the society, meaning you try to do some work using means that can bring one to holiness, to the Creator. You don't have such an intention, you don't know what you're doing, but you somehow participate, but there are things here where, even though you don't exactly know, they have an effect. Now, if you knew what would come of your… well, let's say you receive 10 grams of spirituality today, but you simply don't know yet, by your efforts. If you now discovered this 10 grams of spirituality, you would have seen that it is greater than all the pleasures of this world, everything that the entirety of humanity received through all generations, that it is truly so. Could you continue at all, or would you simply choke and explode from this abundance? You would say, "I want nothing more, God bless, we're done, give me mine," right? Would you continue the work? No. That's why it is hidden, meaning you would put it in the shell. You would place the spirituality that now you're gaining — you're doing great spiritual things now, but why are they concealed? Because you do not have a screen yet. Each one sitting here right now is earning spirituality, in spirituality. A hundred percent, I sign on it. But if we saw it… well, afterwards, after the barrier begins, you begin to receive it alongside the errors and transgressions from this time, so to speak. But there's no alternative, there's no other way. Each one would simply take his part now, he'd be completely full, and he would never advance. This light, the abundance, would cancel us out. We would simply be 100% shell, each one of us. That is the purpose, that is the reason for the concealment. That's what he means here. Otherwise, by seeing what happens from his work, this will go to his vessel of reception, and he will return everything to the shells. It follows that the act is the main thing. Meaning, the act that he performs, he has no intention. He doesn't see the outcomes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:17) He says, first you have to do an action, a corporeal action, and then clothe it with the intention. And we say that in intention, in the spiritual world, there is no action, corporeally. But here he writes, he says that without the corporeal action, there's no point in having an intention. 

M. Laitman: What does he mean when he says "the corporeal act"? Corporeal, means in order to receive; spiritual, means in order to bestow. Are you listening to the definition? Corporeal doesn't mean performing, acting with my hands and feet. If a person has no hands, God forbid, can he not perform actions? 

Student: That's what he writes. 

M. Laitman: What does he write? 

Student: He says that if you put on Tefillin, then…

M. Laitman: Right, the Tefillin — the meaning is that you're making … this is a means, a means for which to advance, by which to advance in spirituality. It doesn't matter if it's the Tefillin or something else. 

Student: It's an example. 

M. Laitman: Right, so, laying the Tefillin: I'm told that if I do this, it is a means by which I can advance. I don't understand how, I don't understand why, but I do it. But what for? In order to advance in spirituality, not so everything would be good for me, and I will have a good day at court, right, or my health will get better, or various things.

Student: Why? 

M. Laitman: Well, why? Go ahead, no problem. If you want that, you're welcome to that as well. Go, do that. But here we're talking about those who have this inclination to gain in spirituality.

Student: More refined.

M. Laitman: Yes, more refined, I'd say. 

Student: So they have to start first by putting on Tefillin, to tighten their corporeal hand. 

M. Laitman: Yes, do it.

Student: And then intention?

M. Laitman: Do that also, your intention. What does it mean, after you put on the Tefillin, then you'll make the intention? What I have? I have an intention in my pocket and then I add it. How? How to do the intention, if I don't have the intention? 

Student: Later. 

M. Laitman: What do you mean, later? After putting on that box? 

Student: In the future, when we go from Lo Lishma to Lishma. 

M. Laitman: I don't know what the future is for you. I don't understand you. Where is the future? Where does he write that? You now act, and then you add the intention? You make the intentions in the future?

Student: These are the actions without intention. 

M. Laitman: The very same actions, meaning the same things you do now, the efforts you make in various things in order to attain the goal, the goal that you now want to attain, to achieve, you want to achieve it in order to receive, but later you want to achieve it in order to bestow. That is the intention. Again, the problem is the definitions. Only that.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:02:22) Also the words of the Maimonides, when we talk about people. 

M. Laitman: The Rambam talks about children, women, slaves. He's talking about different types of the will to receive that exist within man, usually in man and not woman, right, that he has to go through. 

Student: But when he wants to advance to spirituality? 

M. Laitman: When he wants to advance in spirituality. These books don't talk about beasts. They talk about those who begin to develop from the point in the heart onwards. The Torah was given to people of heart, it is said.

Student: But then they took it and adapted it to the beasts.

M. Laitman: No, they took it and made this adaptation for beasts. Fine, what you said, yes. But who are they? Kabbalists, the heads of the generations, who are all very great, and they understood, and they saw that it is impossible to hold the people together if you don't give them these actions, even without the intention, right? And so they gave. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:29) So I'm asking, who guaranteed that they will bring him to the state, as Maimonides writes? 

M. Laitman: Who told you that?

Student: Otherwise, the Torah is the potion of death.

M. Laitman: No, it's not the potion of death, I'll tell you. The potion of death is also not so easy to reach. Don't think that it's such a terrible thing — who knows? If you were shown this potion of death, maybe you'd crave it, you know? It's all for us, these words, it's not… This is difficult to explain. I know, it's hard to grasp — years, and you don't grasp it. And also, we don't have the language which can truly clarify the fine details here. One who observes the Torah and commandments in corporeality, he is adapting himself; it corresponds to the spiritual roots. If in spirituality there exists such a thing as putting on the Tefillin, right? In spirituality — in spirituality, that means in my desire, with the intention in order to bestow. There, I perform this action of coupling by striking with the screen, with the upper light, yes, on the height of Netzach, of Zeir Anpin, of Atzilut, and so on, which is called putting on the Tefillin. In greatness, of course, after 13, the degree, and so on, right? That is the original Tefillin, the commandment of the Tefillin. But if corresponding to that, what can I do, actually, that corresponds to that? First of all, to do the same thing in order to receive — that is the shell, of the same magnitude as the holiness. They correspond to each other, so things which are much, way higher than us, the shells too. Now, what do we have in our world? In our world, we don't even have — this is an act with the will, right? An act in the will, I don't have such a thing, because this is a purely spiritual action. So I have the simple act, right? The corporeal act. I take this box, this phylactery, which is built according to root and branch, exactly according to those laws, the way in which the spiritual vessel is built in the degree of ZON of Atzilut. You have these and those rules. This is how the Tefillin are built, right? So we have this box in our world, it has this name, you need to sew it in a certain way, the hairs need to go a certain direction, you have to put verses in it, portions of the Torah, all sorts of things. And I put it on my forehead. Zeir Anpin is the person — it's clear to us, all these things. You just make a beastly simulation in your world, in a state where you're with the body and not your inner desires, but with the body, corresponding to what's happening in spirituality on the degree of Atzilut, on the highest degree almost, you understand? This is a commandment, it's a great, great act. Now, they say that from this you also receive an illumination, one opposite the other, because all the worlds share the same form, the same construction. However, the substance in each and every world is different, and the substance of our world is the lowest, the most base. And you perform this action on the lowest degree, but from it you receive a small illumination. It exists. This illumination doesn't advance you. It's simply there, guarding you, as a branch to the root, a branch to the root. And we see it works in order to protect the people, the general population. The Kabbalists said these things. These things cannot bring you to some special thoughts. They just protect you, guard you.

M. Laitman: (01:08:11) Now, because we're talking about actions: you now want to advance towards spirituality. You're not told that you need to perform the same commandments. Perform the same commandments — this helps you remain within a framework, within a frame, rather, not to escape the boundaries of this herd called the people of Israel. But if you now want to advance above that, above keeping yourself as just part of the people — you want to also be above, right? How is it said? It's lifted above the people. So, you're told that you need to use actions, your intentions. That's clear, yes. But if you have an intention to reach something, this urge to reach something higher — this is an urge, an impulse, not yet an intention, because the intention is something, it's where you already attain something, where you already hold onto something, grasp something. So, you're told, here you need to activate the means by which to attain the Upper One. The means by which to attain the Upper One — and he writes for you, free choice. This is, if you have an urge to reach a higher degree, to attain it, you can do that only by receiving desires, added impressions from your environment. That is all. The environment is the teacher - the books, authors - the environment, that's it. It's not going to help you if you wear Tefillin now ten times or walk with it a whole day. These are commandments that have to do with keeping a person, safeguarding a person. We shouldn't slight them. It has to do with safeguarding a man. Usually we slight it, but those who begin to rise a little higher and develop in spirituality don't have respect for these things. I hear this from people who are very, very Orthodox, who never thought they would ever have any desire like, "Today I don't want to wear the Tefillin" — such a thing. I remember I came to Rabash; I was religious already and everything, and then I told him, after a week: "For a week now I haven't placed Tefillin, what's happening to me?" "Yes, it's not good." You see, a person goes in, enters this turmoil and all kinds of things happen to him, but again, if you keep these things, there are things that — never mind, I don't want to say everything right now. So the Torah and the commandments, as they are called, for a person on the path become more the intention and the means that pertain to, as he writes, free choice. You don't have anything more. To rise up, yes, not to keep yourself on the popular level, on the level of regular people, your only possibility is to add more desire, which you can receive only from the society. This is what we hear from the articles, and I have nothing else to advise you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:11) Now, if Kabbalists determined this to keep the common people with a certain connection to spirituality, why didn't they put into that religion, into that framework for the common people, actions that will also help them advance? 

M. Laitman: Kabbalists who determined that, for the regular people, they should perform practical actions, commandments, meaning in the body, and pray according to what is written in the book and not according to what is in the heart, and all those things — they put the people into a framework, and you cannot do more than put them into this framework, because what they installed into the people has nothing to do with a desire. It has to do only with actions. Of course, a person is emotional, so at one time he does it with more excitement, sometimes less excitement, and one time he feels better, sometimes he doesn't feel well, he has this mood or that mood, but in the end you will not find a religious person who was taught what to do, and he doesn't do it. This is already a corruption that is — it's just improper upbringing. The correct upbringing is that he does, that he cannot not do. But when we talk about commandments not needing intention, then they mean that our actions which we do, even if we do them with the intention to receive, it's okay, it still works. If I work in the society, if I study, if I participate in activities - it works. These commandments, these means to obtain something, to do something in spirituality, don't need an intention, an intention to bestow. This is what they mean by the word intention — that's the definition. They don't need intention, they work anyway. And we see, a person begins to study, begins to participate in something, he begins to change, he himself is amazed at what's happening to him. 

Student: So I want to ask, why didn't they put into this framework, say, the obligation to live in a communal society — why isn't that part of the Mitzvot? 

M. Laitman: They didn't install an obligation for a common life in such a society because it goes against man's will. They did everything only in such a way that the will to receive will support it. Because the framework cannot exist without the support of the will to receive. You will do more, you will be more righteous, you will pray more, you will get more from above, you will have health and everything, and the Creator, and the next world, and this world, whatever you want. That's the only way you can turn to a person directly, to his nature. If you say, create a communal society, a commune, and start bestowing upon each other — who can do this? Can you? We don't see it in you. So how can you force the people, the regular people, how can you build upon that a nation that can exist for thousands of years in all kinds of places? Look at what a huge preserving force you need to have. There are nations that are more ancient than we are, right? All kinds — Chinese, Indians — but they live in a primitive way. I'm not slighting it, that they have a great potential, it's still to be revealed, yes? Just wait, you'll see what comes out of them. Wisdom is the nation's belief — but I'm talking about the way of life, the way of believing. They exist without exiting themselves. They also determined for themselves a very, very tough framework. The Chinese — look at the wall, it's just a sign. The Japanese — up until World War II, you couldn't go in there. They were very, very closed societies, and because of that, they existed for so many years. They didn't even go to wars to conquer new territories. They didn't want to connect with any other nation, you understand? They only preserved themselves. Because of it, they exist to this day. But we, who were dispersed all over the world — here, only the spiritual force can keep you if you come out of your boundaries. Only the spiritual force. And you see, it worked, but not towards advancement. It was only in order to keep the territory. You remain as you were. Advancing upwards — this is already only through additional forces from the society. The Creator will not give you the strength for it, the powers. Meaning, to go through the 125 degrees, you have to get the strength by yourself. All those degrees, you have to attain their heights by yourself.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:58) When Baal HaSulam writes in “The Last Generation,” he writes that education cannot help, and that public opinion cannot help, because we saw that with Nazi Germany. But education towards the religion of bestowal can help. So what is that? 

M. Laitman: When he writes in “The Last Generation” about education for the religion of bestowal, he writes that if you have a big society, and that society has sufficient power from the people who constitute the society in bestowal, and you bring in other people to it — reception and bestowal is a psychological matter. A person sees that it is better, so he's drawn to it, and he doesn't mind giving. Do you understand? We see it with our children, for example. No one forces his child specifically to be here, but they get some sort of influence from here and are drawn to here. It's a sample of what can happen. But you already need to have a big society whose entire direction is spirituality, the Creator, then it can seemingly draw people into it from the outside. In previous years, thousands of years — Kabbalists, there weren't enough conditions for this. One, the regular people had very small will to receive. 

Student: That's easier? 

M. Laitman: It's not easier. When the will to receive is small, it doesn't demand anything. It's true that it's seemingly easier for a person, because what does he want? But he really doesn't want. Think differently, from the other side, what it means, small will to receive. He doesn't need anything. At most, he's in “desire in mercy.” And if he needs anything, then give him something to eat, and leave me alone. There were slaves. Why? They didn't need more. "I have food, thank God. You want me to do something, I'll do it. I know I have a place to sleep, a place to eat." But can someone settle for this today? The will to receive has grown so much in each one that even the Indians and Chinese — look at what they're doing. All of the industry is moving there, to them. They don't settle for what they have. You see? These are terrible signs for the whole world. Now they started coming out of their countries. It's… We don't know what it means when another billion people come out, like Chinese, you understand? Really, I'm serious. I expect great things to come out of it. That's it. So Kabbalists previously couldn't determine such things. Now we, for us, in our situation, when we already have a society — and, thank God, we're growing — then you'll see how our children, and those who will join, and those who will feel… And we don't have the conditions; the conditions will come from above according to the extent that we grow and are worthy. So the more we draw people from the outside, and those who will be with us, among us, who will be born, they too will join — it will draw, because the will to receive already supports it. The will to receive itself has come to such dimensions in a person that it already supports any development, as long as I don't remain in what there is outside. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:22:09) Now, when we're talking about a person who wants to advance to the Creator — we read about the people that we're reading about here — can he come to an undesired consequence? Let's say, a person comes and says, "I have a desire to study, to advance." Where does the desire take him? Can he be damaged by studying? 

M. Laitman: A person can never be damaged because he studies Kabbalah, unless he's already somewhat of a “fruitcake,” or if he has all kinds of a developed imagination and all kinds of things. You put him in greater tension, it's as if you feed him. Previously he had his tiny fantasies; suddenly you give him this image where he can go wild, he understands with his imagination that he's already an angel, or I don't know what. Do we know? Do we not know? We don't know. I didn't see many — I didn't see many cases when evil people who came in suffered a shock. We get shocks all the time, obviously, right? And we're confused, and we don't know where we are, right? The problem of orientation is for those who grow. It's like that, because every time he enters a degree — even if we don't feel that they are degrees — we're entering degrees where I don't know in what world I am, right? I'm entering a higher world, I still don't know it, I'm confused, suddenly I have no intellect, I don't remember anything, I don't feel anything, I read, I don't know it. Everyone feels it. But these things are natural as you rise, and every time you rise, it'll be different. And in higher degrees, there is complete disconnection from the previous attainment — it's always like that. But these things are things that, for a normal, healthy people - he goes through it, and there's no way — it's impossible to go through it otherwise. He's replacing his soul. It's really the inner part of him that he replaces, it's renewed every time. His body remains the same, purportedly, but we don't feel and don't recognize how we are new all the time. Our will to receive is new every time. Our intellect supposedly remains, with all the additions we acquire, but the will to receive is renewed all the time. So we need to be careful only of people who are kind of weak in what is called the soul, in mental powers, their mental capacities. And to them, either we shouldn't let them in, if they are extreme cases, or support them, if we see that they are a little weak, maybe too gentle — so we should help them in their first steps, and afterwards it will work out. If we learn exactly according to our method, in the end there are very few cases who become ultra-Orthodox, or Hasidim — just pious followers, blind followers. But most of them, 99-plus percent, either quit or continue, so there's nothing to worry about here. And also, those who quit, quit on a different level. It's already sewn in them; it works in them. And the pace of their advancement is different. He's on the outside, he doesn't even open a book, he doesn't listen, or maybe he remembers us once every six months or a year — he still advances, he is advancing. Of course, you are flying a jet, and he is hardly riding a carriage. But it's advancement, and he will come, even the few lessons he was here. We shouldn't belittle it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:26:58) In seeing what was done with his work, then this means that when I advance, I can't know. Is that correct?

M. Laitman: When we advance, we don't know — of course we don't know. That's the point of the concealment. Because we said that if you knew that you were advancing, you would take it for yourself, you would settle for it, and it would end your advancement. And now that you don't see it, it seems to you like you have less and less than before. And that gives you a feeling that — so what do I have? Nothing. It's as he says. I walk out of the country's treasury, the federal bank, with a cup of silver, money, and it's thrown out. I'm crying, and they say, "It's okay, go in there again, this time it'll be okay." And I come out, and again — afterwards they say, "Take, it's all yours." But in the meantime, until I take out what I deserve, to the very last portion, they don't tell me it's all mine. If everything was mine, I wouldn't go in there again. What do I need to go there for? A small cup? I have a big pile of these coins, these gold coins, I take them, and I walk home, you understand? This is why this whole process is in concealment — in concealment from our will to receive. You need to elaborate every word that they say; they don't say it all the way. Will to bestow — where is there a will to bestow? A will to receive, when it has the intention to bestow, meaning he uses his will to receive, he looks at it from the side, he has a will to receive, and I approach it and use it in order to bestow upon someone. Otherwise, I don't even take it, I don't touch it, I don't use it as an instrument. We call that action bestowal. But what is it really I'm receiving? So we need to define everything, to elaborate in detail. Or that's it. Okay. Are there questions about Passover? No? We already know how to come out of Egypt. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:29:39) About the topic that says that there's 50 plagues over the sea, and then the plagues are doubled — what is that about? There was such a question. 

M. Laitman: 50 blows is a complete degree. Those who come to greater recognition, then instead of 50, he feels 250. That's it. Why do we eat Matzot, the unleavened bread, on Passover? What can I tell you? What is a Matzah, the unleavened bread? A bread that didn't go through a process. So what does that symbolize? Bina, Malchut, Keter, Hochma — what?

Student: Bina.

M. Laitman: Bina, Why Bina? Because he doesn't want for himself, it doesn't inflate. He doesn't want for himself, it doesn't inflate. See, it's a symbol. In other words, he's not given; but if he were given, he would go sour. That's the leavening, going sour. Because of what? Because of the will to receive. So there is Malchut there in Bina, but we don't let it jump, right? To inflate, right? This is called a Matzah, meaning when we adhere to Bina, cling to it, and in such a way as if there is no Malchut, we hide inside Bina, like Noah's Ark, like all the…

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:31:29) What does the food mean? 

M. Laitman: The food is execution. It's when I don't want to receive anything besides the light of Hassadim, the degree of desire in mercy. In this way, I can escape from Egypt. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:31:45) What does it mean that the food is doing, or…? 

M. Laitman: Food is inner light, right? Ta'amim — flavors, or tastes. Food, what you put into the mouth and below of the Partzuf, right? So, what happens is that here, I only settle for the light of Hassadim, although my will to receive is concealed inside Bina. And this is the way… It's the way by which I… It's a form with which I cross the barrier. I exit the will to receive toward bestowal. Now, there are many things to interpret here. They have in the middle the whole process of Egypt and Pharaoh. There's Moses. Suddenly, who is he, where is he from? Given away because he killed two Egyptians, and suddenly he's worried about the sheep. Because of that, he received the role of being the nation's leader? Who? From what? Batya, who raised him. Yes, Pharaoh's daughter. There are things that are many…

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:33:15) Regarding Moses, there's another question. Why do we say that Moses was rewarded and all the other prophets didn't? 

M. Laitman: Everything we have in receiving the method of the revelation of godliness, which is the method of attaining the purpose of creation, it comes to us from Moses. He's the greatest prophet. We cannot evaluate him according to Abraham or fathers, the patriarchs. The patriarchs are the foundations before the development. You see? We have Keter, Hochma, Bina, which is completely disconnected from us. Then we have Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet. These are the patriarchs, the fathers. Who are Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet in the Partzuf? They're also like Keter, Hochma, Bina, but already toward us. But toward us, with respect to us, they are still as Keter, Hochma, Bina. This is why Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet — are still not what is called within us. You see? This is why they were all before Egypt. They don't belong to the exile in Egypt, meaning they remain as an idea in holiness. And it begins to happen from Joseph. And the new development is already… 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:35:01) Why 40 years in the desert and not 70 years, like a complete degree of conception? 

M. Laitman: 40 years in the desert is Mem. Mem is Bina. When you sweeten the will to receive — the desert — with Mem, the letter Mem, in Bina, then you reach the land of Israel, when Malchut and Bina are connected together in receiving in order to bestow. It's a land — a desire — on the one hand, and Israel — straight to the Creator — on the other hand.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:35:33) We're told that the exodus from Egypt is like the coming out through the barrier, but we see that in the exodus from Egypt there's crossing of the Red Sea afterwards.

M. Laitman: The exodus from Egypt, it's a process, and it's a pretty long process. In the Torah, it's written about it — about every single plague and blow and all those things, a whole lot. Maybe we need to read about it in the ARI, in the “Gate of Intentions," the way it's there. I hope that during the Passover week, we will read about it. It's a process we need in order to separate from the will to receive first and then adhere to Bina. And together with Bina, emerge into the will to bestow.

Student: We say that crossing the barrier is a one-time thing. 

M. Laitman: Crossing the barrier is a sudden thing. You're saying the exodus from Egypt is not so sudden? It is sudden. It's called "in haste."

Student: But then we go through the Red Sea.

M. Laitman: No, no, no, no. The fact that afterwards there's a process of running away inside Egypt for three days, and then they reach the Red Sea, and then jump into the sea, right? And cross the sea and go into the desert, and the Egyptians are chasing them, etc. — it is a process that already belongs to the exit. Look, ask a doctor, a gynecologist, what is the process of giving birth? You'll see, he will tell you how that thing is long, prolonged. He can detail every process, the pressures from the uterus. And this is how the ARI, by the way, describes it: how that pressure, these blows, operate like a uterus that is emitting, pushing out the fetus, how the fetus passes inside. We learn in the Study of the Ten Sefirot about this whole process spiritually — how the lights come together, how they exit from the vessels, how the lights change from a fetus to a newborn, how its head turns. First it's above, and then it's turned downwards, right? It's a process, it's a prolonged process that we learn — the process of exiting Egypt and the crossing of the barrier. But the point of the opening, that point of opening, is "in haste." You don't know at which point of darkness — it's in the dark, right? In what darkness? The darkness of Egypt, right? It's at midnight. You don't know at which point of darkness you suddenly, from within, get this command that you're crossing the barrier. This is called "in haste," meaning without preparation on your part. But the fact that it is a process — yes. And that it is prolonged — yes. Well, relatively prolonged, you know.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:39:00) We learned that Moses doesn't enter the land of Israel, because all of humanity needs to be brought to the land of Israel. And when all of humanity gets there, then Moses can get in. That was your answer to one of the questions. 

M. Laitman: This is the only reason why Moses didn't enter the land of Israel? Well, it's one of them.

Student: My question is, why is this presented as punishment, as if it's a punishment for some action?

M. Laitman: No, no, no, no, no. What punishment? No, no. Also, the punishments in the Torah — no, no. It's the correction that he did when he went up the mountain and saw the land of Israel from afar. By this, he performed corrections in his vision. What does it mean to see the land of Israel from afar, from across the Jordan? No, not yet. Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:40:11) What about all the foods, the egg and the bitter herbs?

M. Laitman: All those foods are symbols, signs. Now, for us, it's as if they had these things in Egypt. But he really explains about all those things, meaning what are the roots. Maybe we should read about it, but we don't have the books here. We took all those books out there already, to the place where we will be on Passover, Pesach. So, I'm sorry, we have nothing with which to study. More? That's it? Okay, so let's move on to our usual order.