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

Daily Lesson (Morning) May 16, 2025.

Part 1: Lesson on the topic of "Counting of the Omer" (13.04.2024)

Reader: Hello friends! We are today on Lag BaOmer, so the topic of today’s lesson is “Counting the Omer”, selected excerpts from the sources. You can find study materials in Arvut system and Sviva Tova. Our lesson is from April 13, 2024. Let’s enter the lesson together!

M. Laitman: So, we are continuing, or basically, approaching the lesson on the selected excerpts from the sources and Number One.

Reader: (00:42) And a bonus before Number One. I was sent a little verse here, from Rabash, from Letter 59. It says like this, I think it’s Baal HaSulam: “By a person connecting himself to the Creator he is rewarded with the revelation of the light of the Creator appearing upon him. It follows that by a person gathering, tying all of the desires and one knot, meaning to one purpose for the Creator then that Omer shines, this is the meaning of the Omer count, the gathering count, where the light illuminates in the light of the Creator.”

M. Laitman: This is about the desires that one connects to the Creator, we are more talking about the connection between us, but very good. We should add this excerpt as well to our excerpts.

Reading: (01:55) RABASH, Letter No. 59, Excerpt #1 (twice)

Concerning the Omer count [a count of seven weeks beginning the second night of Passover and ending in the holiday of Shavuot], it is known that man’s primary work is to connect himself to the Creator.

Omer comes from the word [in Hebrew] “gathering sheaves.” RASHI interpreted, “as it is translated, gathering sheaves, collecting.” It means that by becoming mute and not opening the mouth with complaints against the Creator, but rather, for that person ‘Everything that the Merciful One does, He does for the best’ (Berachot 9), and says that he, meaning his thought and desire, will be only for the Creator, then he is gathering.

That is, by connecting all of one’s thoughts and desires with a tight connection of having only one goal—to bring contentment to the maker—a person is regarded as “gathering,” collecting.

Question (Kyiv): (04:28) What does it mean that he binds in that tight connection their desires into one place?

M. Laitman: From the desires, we discover the broken intentions, that it is all for oneself benefit. That you want to exploit the whole world for your benefit and not to connect to the friends in a proper way, but only thinking about how you are going to rise and succeed, and so on. That all means that you are after the shattering of the soul. Now the question is how much does one feel that the rulership of Pharaoh, as it is called the ego, and how much one wants to rise above and to detach from the ego – run away from the ego – this is called ‘exodus from Egypt’. And after that, how much one starts correcting gradually the desires, from smaller to greater, bigger desires, in order to connect with the group. Then, to the extent that one can connect his desires to other desires, to the friends, so that they are all connected into a single source, a single intention, action, in the connection between them to bring the Creator a result from this connection. This is called, the ‘desire to bestow to the Creator’ by each one nullifying himself towards the others in the group. By this each one connects to everyone in order to help everyone in the group. And by that they correct their desires as they each exit one’s self towards the friends. And then, above them a common desire emerges in bestowal. Of course, they can't do it on their own but based upon these tendencies, gradually, the light that reforms influence them, the Creator helps make that happen. He works behind the scenes to awaken their desires, and also works to bring them together. And so, they come to such a connection where all of the friends in the group can somewhat form an initial connection between them so as to bring contentment to the Creator. Not in order to receive the revelation of the Creator, that is egoistic, but in order to bring contentment to the Creator through their connection. That is their altruistic desire on their part. So according to this inclination to bring contentment to the Creator and the Creator's desire to bring contentment to the created being, there, we start discovering each other. The Creator starts dressing in the created being, and this is called ‘the first day of the Omer,’ ‘the second day of the Omer’ and so on until we come to the complete degree of Bina. Meaning each friend rises above himself to a level of bestowal towards all of the friends opposite him in the same Kli. This means that they have reached this level of bestowal between them and this is called, ‘the level of Bina.’ When they achieve this level of Bina, the general degree of bestowal, they are worthy of starting to work with the upper light, itself, called the ‘revelation of the Torah,’ or the giving of the Torah. And then they work in receiving in order to bestow; this is after Shavuot holiday, the giving of the Torah.

Student: What does it mean that the one day, let’s say, they finish one day in the Sefira?

M. Laitman: The desire in the person that he can relate to connection with the friends, this already is the first correction. So 49 corrections have to happen, that’s according to the structure of the soul, 7 X 7, ZAT of the Partzuf: Hesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malchut. Seven Sefirot, and each consists of everyone else, so it is 7 x 7. The counting means that we count our corrections until we come to the level of Katnut [infancy], Bina.

Student: It turns out that only in this moment, everything that's being revealed we can correct, this is called ‘one day?’

M. Laitman: The revelation of the light in the Kli that is corrected for now, this is called, ‘a day;’ the preparation for the revelation is called, ‘night.’

Student: The 49 days, is this not necessarily connected to physical days, can we do this all in one day?

M. Laitman: Completely unrelated, completely disconnected. What happens in our astronomical days and nights in this world has nothing to do with what happens in spirituality, no.

Student: The new states that arrived, do they come with an addition of coarseness? Is this what enabling us to connect?

M. Laitman: Every degree is coarser, meaning 1st, 2nd, 3rd day, we're talking about additions of Aviut, coarseness, in the person. And accordingly the greater revelation of light.

Student: How to hold on each time to that goal that we are advancing toward Bina so it doesn't throw us from the process but each time it will only grow?

M. Laitman: It is that we are in the inclination to connect between us, this means that we are correcting our Kli each time. There is no other correction, from here to the end of correction everything is the correction of the shattering.

Question (Moscow 3): (11:51) It is written in the text that a person is mute and doesn't open his mouth with complaints to the Creator. What does it mean that he becomes mute, why is it considered getting rid of complaints?

M. Laitman: It's not that the person has no complaints to the Creator, he has complaints, big complaints. And one who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than himself. In terms of the egoistic desire that appears to him, he has greater demands, a greater claim to the Creator each time. But, as it is said, ‘one who can keep quiet during the fight,’ meaning one who can stop himself and not want to continue these thoughts, restrict them, rise and work above the Tzimtzum. Even though he has complaints, doesn't understand, he doesn't feel, he doesn't want to connect with the others. He has enough against that and knows all of those things come to him from his evil inclination. And he now needs to make a correction over it each time a greater desire appears, he needs to make corrections. And he is no longer in Egypt but he is in the exodus from Egypt. After the exodus, where he can demand corrections with the friends and this is why they pray, ask the upper light that ‘He who makes peace above to make peace between us’ meaning to bring wholeness, connection between us. This is what we asked and the Creator does it. Now the work is up to the Creator to do, the request for it to be done is up to us. As we discuss a lot, everything is achieved by prayer. On our part, prayer; on His part, the execution, so to speak.

Question (Qazaqstan): (14:25) Prayer comes from the heart, from the desire. So it turns out I have a desire that the Creator put against Him and on the other hand, the point in the heart that wants connection with the friends. It doesn't agree with the Creator which is distancing me from the Ten. So the prayer comes from the point in the heart from the Ten against the essence in me?

M. Laitman: A person who advances in spirituality has two forces: one is the egoistic forces that the Creator awakens. And by that, a person is sometimes baffled, sometimes he is against spirituality, against connection, he has complaints to the Creator and so on. Another force that the Creator awakens as well from what we call the point in the heart, from the source, or the place of this person, in the Kli of Adam HaRishon. A person has to start seeing how does he work with these forces: One force that attracts him to the Creator and another force that pushes him out of the connection. So, we need to unite these two forces into a single goal; otherwise, we will be immersed either in our will to receive and just forget about the goal, which happens potentially for a long time, for many days even. What we need to do is increase the importance of the connection at all times. Not the goal, the goal is far, I still can't feel that I'm already connected to it right now, but the action is right in front of us, especially with these actions of the counting of the Omer, corrections of the Katnut, the raising of the Malchut to Bina through the 49 Sefirot. So, here we need to know exactly what we do, we each time increase the necessity for connection. Only in our connection are we going to discover the Torah, then discover the light in the corrected vessels. Without the corrected vessels, we can't discover any lights. The difference between human and animal is that the animals there is no connection between the desires. And in the human, yes, there are connected desires at least somewhat, a little bit connected desires between friends.

Student: To be precise, for the friends who are in this state of complaints, on one hand; on the other hand, a friend wants to enter the Ten, so what should he do to focus more on the Ten to exit those complaints?

M. Laitman: We will always have complaints to the Creator and we will always have to rise above them. And until we come to prayer, to the request, to subjugating ourselves to the group and making the corrections. And then once again we fall to an even greater will to receive where it seems when we were in that already, but it was a smaller broken desire and now it is a greater broken desire. So, the work seems to start anew, but we mustn't fall into despair from that. This happens until a person collects these desires into a complete measure called, Omer. From that moment on, we begin to be in contact with the Creator in mutual connection with Him, but not before that. When we receive the light that is called ‘the revelation of the Torah to the person’ and the person here means we who are connected in the Ten. So then what appears in us is already the revelation of the Creator, the revelation of the Torah. Then we continue and what follows is according to the same rules but a different kind, different degrees of the work.

Question (Moscow 7): (19:46) In this excerpt, Rabash says that a person is called, Omer when he has one goal to bring the contentment to his Maker. And prior to that he writes that this is possible only when we bind the Omer, feel the sheaves and feel that everything was done in good. To hold on to this goal of bringing contentment to the Creator and the connection between us without that goal is a meaningless connection. There always needs to be double work, also the connection between us and the necessity of seeing?

M. Laitman: The goal is to bring contentment to the Creator, the means is to connect between us in order to reach that goal. The goal happens by connecting between us and the Creator fulfilling us. And we received this in order to bestow; by that, we have equivalence with Him, connection with Him, and this is how we basically bring Him contentment, in receiving all of His goodness.

Question (Turkiye 3): (21:07) If a friend has a difficulty in converting his egoistic desire into altruistic, how can the group help him?

M. Laitman: The group should set an example, as we have learned many times; I truly don't understand the question, we have discussed, one shall help his friends, how each one should support the others and how we're all dependent upon each other. The group has to feel that the people in it are somewhat stubborn, and sometimes weakened, and that they have to help each other. Because this is a common, collective Kli, if there are people who don't want to connect or can't achieve connection, then the group needs to support them, then we will feel how each one depends upon the others. The Creator doesn't want each one to be a successful, ‘hot-shot,’ He wants all of us to succeed together by each one nullifying himself and helping the others. This is the correct connection in the Ten. This is why there's no such thing as some who are successful and others who are not, everyone has to feel that it belongs to everyone. If there are people in the Ten who can't be connected then the whole group can't be connected, that’s it. Don't relate this to one person or another person but to the whole group: Why can't the group influence them, help them, support them, attract them? It is said that the group has to throw a rope or a life buoy to the friends. Meaning the calculation that the Creator does with each of us is through the Ten. He doesn't relate to a person individually but to where he is in the Ten and how much he helps the others. This is what measures his greatness and his spirituality, only that. If we are in the Ten and each one is thinking about how do I try this, to succeed, then each one has to see how does he help the others and how does he reside in the others while nullifying himself completely. And that’s how you measure your success. Here we run into the actual source and foundation of the spiritual work. These are two opposite worlds, corporeality and spirituality.

Question (Moscow 1): (25:02) Can we say that my connection with the Creator, the way I'm describing it, I can exchange it?

M. Laitman: Correct, if I succeed in finding connection with the friends it is certain that by this, without an addition of work and labor, that I find connection with the Creator. This is why it is written from ‘the love of people to the love of the Creator.’ The Creator is the inclusive, and the friends are the ones with whom I can work individually.

Question (PT 19): (25:55) To ask practically, when he says ‘that by this a person not opening his mouth with slander towards the Creator. So to ask practically, in our group we have people in a very bad state. What, they have to give gratitude to the Creator – oh wow, I’m getting blows, now I’ll advance? What to do, how should one think?

M. Laitman: This, too, is a state the Creator gives on the way to learn from ever

y situation what he should be like.

Student: How do you have to behave? If someone is in real trouble and in our Ten, thank God. What should we do towards one another in such a state?

M. Laitman: Help, support, as much as possible.

Student: How do you support such a thing, how do you help him?

M. Laitman: I don't know, there are many such states, to really help. The main support is in raising the spirits, as Rabash writes, because in terms of high spirits there are no limitations and you can always do that.

Student: So, if we help each other, that’s called, gathering the Omer?

M. Laitman: It's not there yet but it's on the way. The main thing is to raise the spirits, the confidence, upliftment, high spirits. It’s what you can give to each other as a society controls each one.

Student: The Kabbalists wrote the prayer of the Omer after Passover. What do they mean by writing all this and that we should read it, is there anything about that?

M. Laitman: Reading I don't know, I know by doing.

Student: Yes, doing it.

M. Laitman: Some read me the instructions but are they executing, this is the whole point.

Student: What does it mean to do this after Passover?

M. Laitman: Pesach, Passover, means that we come out from the control of the ego, Pharaoh, and then we have to start correcting ourselves, the broken vessels. Because, although we came out of Pharaoh's control, we still don't know how to work with them. And this is why we come to the correction of the broken vessels, when Pharaoh is gone already but the Creator is also not in them yet – the force of bestowal is not in them. We have to try to get closer to each other and draw the reforming like from above. And by that, to connect, and by this we assemble ourselves, gather ourselves together. We become a gathering of our 49 qualities, and then in them, we can begin on the 50th day to receive Katnut, smallness or infancy, complete Katnut, after which we can begin to be in Gadlut, in greatness, in reception of a light after 49 days. But the days of the Omer count are days of Katnut when we receive only small lights in the vessels that, for the moment, we correct them. And in each and every correction, we receive more light of correction, lights of filling. This is called, the ‘days of Katnut’, of smallness or infancy.

Student: This is called, in the Ten, that we're doing good towards one another? Like you said the help of friend. This friend, you can really come of trouble in an elegant way, in a nice way, from this whole story, without blows. Or it is not about that?

M. Laitman: We should believe that all of those troubles are from the upper force who wants to get closer to us. And feeling the trouble – and not the other way around – depends on our vessel. Whether it is ready for the revelation of the light or it is opposite from the revelation of the light. And then, of course, our work is to as quickly as possible connect among us in the right way and the light will be revealed in us correctly. Then we will feel within ourselves complete and good and well as the light wanted.

Question (Moscow 2): (31:18) What is that first day of the Omer; we need to check that work?

M. Laitman: We don't know what it is, yet, it is just the same desires that appear in us at the moment and connection between us. And then to that extent that we can connect among us, we have to see if we are making progress in building the vessel. Accordingly, we will begin to feel phenomena, they might be worse than before, but they will still promote us to understanding our way to connection between us and so forth. Right now, we can't count the first day, second day, third day. A person experiences many desires, he doesn't feel that he is in his will to receive governed by Pharaoh or in the will to bestow. When he somehow rises above his will to receive, he still doesn't feel this, He is still in the will to receive. But the disposition to connection between us, in general, is already the beginning of the corrections. Try during the day and through all of the states to be connected together in the Ten's as much as possible. If you see someone failing, weakening, help him out, even without talking. Pray for the friend, and likewise each one for the others; such prayers the Creator accepts. A prayer from a person for himself, the Creator doesn't accept because it's egoistic. The Creator has no interest in anything except to correct man. But correcting man is in his good relation, in relation of bestowal from person to person, this is called, ‘correction.’

Question (Unity 3): (34:12) Is the exercise of keeping a diary in the Ten, is this the Omer?

M. Laitman: It has nothing to do with it, it has to do with your personal work – I don’t know what you are writing there. I’m not going to discuss it now. We’re what we are saying Omer count is: The Omer count is when you feel the desires awakening in you and how much by them you can bring yourself to connect in the society, period, that’s it. This is called, ‘writing a diary,’ or a log; that every thought or desire that appears in you, how can I use it for connection in the group, nothing else. Everything has to be sharp and to the point until we really discover, in the connection between us, various feelings and sensations that are clear, stronger, for or against, it doesn't matter. As long as we feel more of the power of connection or separation. And according to this, we will be able to understand that we are advancing.

Reading: (36:00) RABASH, Letter No. 59 (twice), Excerpt #2.

The interpreters say that the Omer count comes from the words, “and under His feet there appeared to be sapphire brick, as pure as the bodies of the sky.” This means that by a person connecting himself to the Creator, he is rewarded with the revelation of the light of the Creator appearing on him. It follows that by a person gathering, tying all the desires in one knot, meaning to one purpose—for the Creator—then that Omer shines. This is the meaning of the Omer [gathering] count, where a person shines with the light of the Creator.

M. Laitman: Clear, right? So the Omer count means that by a person connecting himself to the Creator, he is rewarded with the revelation of the light from the Creator, the upper light. It turns out that by a person becoming Omer [sheaf], connecting all of the desires in one bundle as we do in the field where we gather the crops. By that he connects himself to one goal for the sake of the Creator. Then this Omer, upper light, shines and this is the Omer count. The meaning of the Omer count, when a person shines with the light of the Creator to the extent that he connects himself to the Ten, to the group, and in this connection – specifically in this connection the Creator, the upper light, is revealed.

Reading: (38:04) RABASH, Letter No. 59 (twice), Excerpt #3.

We count forty-nine days to the days of the reception of the Torah.

Omer comes from the word Seorim [barley/measures]. This means that it comes from measures, by measuring in the heart the greatness of the Creator, as the holy Zohar interprets the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates.” The holy Zohar says, “Each according to what he assumes in his heart,” to that extent the light of the Creator is on that person.

This is called “faith.” When a person is rewarded with faith in the Creator, it is regarded as a “beast.” This is the meaning of the Omer being of barley, which is animal food, meaning that he has not yet been rewarded with the view of Torah. But on Shavuot, when rewarded with the reception of the Torah, one receives the view of Torah. For this reason, we offer the offering of wheat, which is food for man, who is the speaking. But before one is rewarded with Torah, which is the speaking, it is regarded as an offering of barley, which is animal food. At that time it is called “gathering sheaves,” regarded as being mute, which is only animate, and not speaking, for only by the Torah are they rewarded with being “speaking.”

M. Laitman reads: We count 49 days to the days of the reception of the Torah. From the Exodus from Pharaoh’s governance, the governance of our ego, we do 49 specific corrections until we come to the day when we receive the upper lights, the Torah. Omer, comes from the word, barley or measures. This means that it comes from measuring the greatness of the Creator, meaning to the extent that the Creator is great in our eyes, to that extent we advanced in emerging from the control of our ego to the point of being controlled by the Creator. To the extent that one assumes, or measures the greatness of the Creator, to that extent the upper light is on him. This is called, faith, Bina – the power of bestowal. When a person is rewarded with faith in the Creator, the power of bestowal, the power of Bina, it is regarded as a beast. This is why the Omer, barley, which is animal food, means he has not yet been rewarded with the view of Torah. But on Shavuot, meaning on the 50th day, after the exodus from Egypt when he has corrected, all of the vessels with the light of Hassidim, he is rewarded with the reception of the Torah. Then, one receives the view of Torah, the light of Hochama. For this reason, we offer the offering of wheat, which is food for man who is regarded as speaking –this is the different vessel that he has. But before one is rewarded with the Torah, which is regarded as speaking, it is regarded as an offering of barley which is animal food. At that time, it is called gathering sheaves, which is regarded as being mute which is only animate and not speaking, for only by the Torah are they rewarded with being speaking.

In other words, emerging from the Exodus is done by the upper light, the great light, that shines upon us. It is not something that we draw, it is just how it is revealed according to the degree. Afterwards, we come to a state of Katnut, smallness or infancy, that's the Omer count. When, each time we reveal between us the lack of connection, the lack of the light of Hassidim, bestowal, simple bestowal between us for greater connection. To rise more and more above the ego; the degree of Bina means we rise from the degree of Malchut to the degree Bina, we rise. And, on that level, where we rose to the degree of Bina, we are already in the force of bestowal. And after that, we continue in correction to receive in order to bestow; so we work on the Katnut of the vessel and on the Gatlut of the vessel. That’s clear, right?

Question (French): (44:10) What is the difference between the desires of Egypt and the desires we discover in the Omer?

M. Laitman: The desire to receive in both here and there, there are no other desires, everything else is desires to receive. All of spirituality is that we correct these desires to receive so that they work in order to bestow. But in Egypt great desires appear, all the desires to receive are revealed in a time called Egypt, although a person doesn't feel it. But he should still see that he is in the will to receive and can't do anything besides that until he cries out, help! I can't be in these desires to receive, and then the Creator pulls him out of Egypt. Let's hope that we will finally feel that we can no longer be in the desires to receive. And we have to rise above them so that our ego doesn't control us and that we want to be free. Maybe I don't want to bestow upon the Creator and good to everyone, to love everyone. This is something that's still far from me, I don't want to think about it, but I don't want my ego to control me. I don't want to be under the governance of this stinking nature, that’s the main thing. If I decide that I don't want it, this is regarded as being able to emerge from the control of this ego, to come out of Egypt. And then once I am out of it, gradually, small desires gradually appear in me and greater and greater desires besides on which I can create connection. In Egypt, we can't create great connection between us, we only understand that we have no choice but to come to resemble the Creator. So that in order to resemble the Creator, we have to come out of ourselves and into the desire to bestow but we can't. And that decision to disconnect from the ego, from the will to receive completely and forever in every possible way. That’s the decision to come out of Egypt, to escape from Egypt; and afterwards, there is already a correction. How to receive small egoistic desires, gradually, which the upper light allots to us to each of us, these desires. And we, by correcting these desires, by constantly thinking about the connection between us, we correct them, practically, between us. This is why we are in Tens and we connect in the Tens, this is after the exodus from Egypt – more and more tightly – and in this way, we move away from the egoistic usage of them. And move from first of all, not wanting to use the desires that are revealed to us egotistically, and by this, we build the days of the Omer, the days of Katnut. When we only have the intention to bestow, where I don't want anything other than to be above my ego and to somehow do everything for the sake of the friends. When we come to the end of this work, this is called, the 50th day – after 49 Sefirot that we have to transcend. We don't know exactly but we begin to see these things. We even bless for the desire that is revealed that we can correct not to work in order to bestow, to connect among us. So the desire that separates us is revealed and we correct it into connection between us. And after 49 such states, we come to a state where all of the desires that are revealed in us, that separate us, we correct them to connection between us; then we come to a state where our vessel is connected. That day is called, the day of the giving of the Torah, when we start receiving lights and work with them in reception in order to bestow, we will talk about it later. In the meantime, we have to see that our whole vessel is built only on the revelation of the forces of separation, which we want to turn into forces of connection.