The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: April 16, 2026
Part 1: Rabash. Judges and Officers.
Original lesson date: 10/10/2002
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will study Rav's lesson from 2002. It is based on the article, "Judges and Officers," from October 10, 2002. Let's read together the article. We have 37 minutes. Tens that finish ahead of time are invited to start the workshop on the main points from the article.
Reading: (00:33) Rabash. Judges and Officers.
Article No. 34, 1986
The writing says, “You shall place for yourself judges and officers in all your gates which the Lord your God is giving you.” To understand the above according to the rule that the Torah is eternity and applies to all generations, we should interpret the above verse in our generation, too. For this reason, each word requires its own explanation: 1) What are “judges”? 2) What are “officers”? 3) “You shall place for yourself” is singular form. This means that each and every person must place judges and officers. Can it be that each person should do so? 4) “In all your gates.” We need to understand how “gates” are related to our time. And also, what does “In all your gates” imply? It means that if there is a gate we should promptly try to place judges and officers there. 5) Especially, what does it imply that he says, “Which the Lord your God is giving you”? What does it imply? Is there anyone else besides the Creator who is giving to the people of Israel?
To understand the above, we first need to mention what we said in the previous articles: 1) The purpose of creation from the perspective of the Creator. 2) The purpose of our work in keeping Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], meaning to which degree we should reach by observing Torah and Mitzvot.
It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, meaning that the creatures will receive from Him the delight and pleasure according to His ability, without any limitations. However, because He wanted His works to be complete, meaning that there will not be the bread of shame, there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment. This means that there is no disclosure of light in Kelim [vessels] that work in order to receive. Only once the Kli [vessel] called “will to receive” has been corrected to work in order to bestow, then according to his ability to aim to bestow, to that extent the abundance appears. Prior to this they see the opposite of disclosure—feeling only concealment.
It therefore follows that here, meaning after the Tzimtzum took place, the work of the lower ones begins. The goal should be that all our thoughts and actions will be with only one intention—to bestow.
However, this brings up the question, “How can there be such a thing?” That is, since man is born a wild ass, from where will he take the strength to be able to come of the nature in which he was created?
For this purpose, we were given work in observing Torah and Mitzvot. That is, man should aim while observing Torah and Mitzvot, that it will bring him the power to agree to turn all his passions and ambitions to be only about how and with what he might bestow contentment upon his Maker.
Before he began the work of bestowal he thought that this matter of observing Torah and Mitzvot will bring him success and blessing so he can delight his body, meaning that by observing Torah and Mitzvot the body will have this world and the next world. This was his foundation, on which he built a foundation for himself, for that foundation to be the reason compelling him to observe Torah and Mitzvot in all its details, and he had the power to overcome the laziness in his body and prevail in order to obtain the reward.
It is like people who work in corporeality in order to make a living. The body resists working in corporeality, too, since the body would prefer to rest, but the corporeal pay that he sees, which is to his body’s benefit, gives him the strength to overcome. Likewise, when the reward for the work is reward for one’s body, he has the strength to overcome all the obstacles on his way. Because the reward he hopes for is only for his own needs, the body does not object to it.
That is, although the body enjoys the rest, when it is told, “Give up your rest and you will have pleasure in a way that the pleasure you will receive through the work will be greater than the rest, or that the pleasure you will receive by giving up rest is more necessary than the pleasure you find in rest, since through these pleasures you will be able to exist in the world, otherwise you will be unable to exist.” On all these matters the body has the strength to overcome and give up small pleasures in order to obtain greater reward than his work. That is, the reward pays for his concessions, which he demands of his body to make, in order to be happier than he is feeling now, before he has relinquished the pleasures.
But when the body is told, “Work in bestowal,” meaning that by observing Torah and Mitzvot it will be rewarded with delighting the Creator, namely that a person is told, “Give up your self-love,” what will be the reward? That the Creator will enjoy the work of observing Torah and Mitzvot. At that time, the body promptly comes and asks the argument of “who” and “what.” That is, “What will I gain by the Creator enjoying my work? And how can you work without reward?” This is the “Who” argument,” which does not want to work. The body says, “I am willing to work like everyone else, but not on these terms. That is, if I give up my self-love and do everything so the Creator will enjoy, what will be my gain from this work?”
When a person overcomes all the arguments of the body, and thinks that he already has the strength to overcome the body’s nature, meaning that now he feels that he can focus his thoughts only in order to bestow, suddenly the body comes to him with new complaints: “It’s fine that you want to work for the Creator and not the way everyone else works, in order to receive reward. However, it would be good if, since you have already exerted for a while, you would receive strength from above so you could walk in the way of bestowal. But as you see, you’ve given much work and didn’t move one bit. So you can see for yourself that you cannot walk in this path. You are wasting your energy, working for nothing. Get off this path, escape the campaign.”
If a person overcomes all these arguments of the body, the body comes and reveals to him new things, for which a person has no answer. By this it wants to detach him from his work. The body tells him: “It is known that when a person begins to learn some science, he advances each time. If he is talented he advances faster; and if he is less talented he advances slower. And when a person sees that he is not advancing at all in the science, he is told, ‘This science is not for you. You need to learn some profession; you are unfit to learn sciences.’ We see that this is customary and reasonable.”
But here the body argues, “You see according to the efforts you have made in the work of bestowal, that not only did you not move one step ahead, it is to the contrary.” That is, before he began the work of bestowal he was not so immersed in self-love. But now that he has made efforts to overcome self-love, he has received a greater desire and feels that now he is more immersed in self-love.
It follows that here, in this work, we see that we are going backwards and not forward. He sees this clearly and actually feels it. That is, previously, before he began to overcome self-love, he thought that this was quite easy to give up self-love in order to be rewarded with spirituality. He always thought, “How can I find a way that I can walk and by which to obtain some spirituality?” However, he never thought that he should worry about emerging from self-love, for this is something not advisable to think about. Rather, all the concerns were about finding the right way that leads to entering the King’s palace and meriting the purpose for which man was created.
But now he has come to a state that he had never dreamed of, meaning that self-love would be a stumbling block interfering with reaching the truth. He always thought that he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to reach the truth, but now he sees that he went ten degrees backwards, meaning that he is unwilling to make any concessions on his self-love for the sake of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity].
When the body comes to him with such arguments, he “falls under his load.” At that time he comes to a state of despair and idleness, and wants to escape the campaign, since now he sees that all the arguments of the body are true arguments.
But the truth is as we said many times. As Baal HaSulam said, there is the matter of advancing toward the truth. That is, before one begins the work of bestowal, he is far from the truth, meaning from feeling the measure of his evil. But later, when he has exerted in overcoming self-love, he advances toward the truth. That is, each time he sees more of how immersed he is in evil, from head to toe.
However, we should understand why we need all this. That is, why is it that before he began the work of bestowal he did not have such a great measure of feeling the evil, but once he has exerted to overcome, the evil has become more clearly sensed in him. Why was everything that should be revealed later not revealed right away, but rather appeared in stages, bit-by-bit?
The thing is that the order of overcoming is gradual. It is as one who practices weightlifting. He begins, say, with lifting 50 kilograms, and gradually adds because through exercises he can keep adding. It is the same in serving the Creator, and this is why we are not given a great taste for self-love in the beginning, since we will probably not be able to overcome. We are giving additional taste of pleasure in self-love according to our work. That is, to the extent that they see that he can overcome, he is given more taste of pleasure in self-love, so he will be able to overcome. By this we will understand what our sages said (Sukkah, 52), “One who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than him.”
This brings up the question, “Why is this so?” According to the above-mentioned, it is simple. This is also the order in corporeality: We move from light to heavy. Therefore, before one begins to work in overcoming, he is not given great force of self-love, which he will not be able to overcome because he has not begun the work of overcoming. Therefore, he does not feel a great taste in self-love.
But when he begins to overcome, he is given greater pleasure and importance in self-love so he will have what to overcome. When he overcomes a certain measure of self-love, he is given an even greater measure of importance of self-love. In this way he gradually accustoms himself to overcome pleasures so he can say that everything he is receiving is only in order to bestow.
It follows that self-love becomes to him increasingly difficult to overcome because each time, his will to receive is given more importance so he will have a place to work on overcoming. However, we must understand why we must be given from above more importance and more pleasure to make it difficult to overcome. Concerning this overcoming the corporeality, it would be better if we were not given great importance, but the importance we felt about self-love in the beginning of our work would be enough for us to overcome corporeality and we could promptly begin the spiritual work. But why should I do this work for free, overcoming self-love in corporeal matters? Although each time we have greater overcoming, why do we need to work in self-love, which concerns corporeality?
However, it is a great correction. It is known that the numerous pleasures we feel in corporeal pleasures are only a “thin light” compared to what is found in spiritual pleasures. It therefore follows that even after one has passed the test of overcoming corporeal pleasures, which he can correct only in order to bestow, this test is sufficient only on small pleasures that he can overcome and not receive on condition that he can aim in order to bestow. However, this is not so with great pleasures, and one cannot be given spiritual pleasures which he is bound to take in order to receive.
Therefore, first he must go through the work in corporeal pleasures. There, he is given greater flavors each time then when he began the work. Before he began the work he could taste the taste of pleasure as is ordinarily given to corporeal pleasures. But one who has begun the work of bestowal and wants to be rewarded with spirituality is given more taste in corporeality than the usual. This is so deliberately, so he will become accustomed to greater pleasures than there are in corporeal pleasures. This is a preparation to be immunized in the work of overcoming the great pleasures found in spirituality.
Now we can see that those who want to work the holy work are given additions. That is, they are given additional flavor in self-love. This is not so for people who have no interest in walking in the path of bestowal. It is as our sages said, “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than him.” It is so in order to accustom them to the work of overcoming, since for the manifold pleasures found in spiritual pleasures, his usual overcoming of corporeal pleasures will not be enough because the pleasure is in them as a constant, while they are given each time more importance in order to become accustomed to overcoming more each time.
Now we can understand what we asked about the verse where it is written, “You shall place for yourself judges and officers in all your gates.” How does placing judges and officers apply to the current time? However, when a person wants to begin the work of the Creator we should make two discernments: 1) Potential. That is, first he makes for himself a plan of what he should, and what he shouldn’t do, meaning a scrutiny of good and bad. Doing this in potential is called “judge,” who says what must be done. 2) Afterwards we must execute what was in potential. The execution is called “officer.”
Since matters of work are not a one-time thing, but rather each day he must exert in the work, hence, the text uses plural form, meaning “judges and officers.”
Saying, “You shall place for yourself,” in singular form, comes to tell us that this work pertains to each and every individual.
This is why it says, “in all your gates.” We should interpret it literally, meaning that a gate is the place of entrance. This means that whenever a person wants to begin the work of the Creator, he must arrange the work in two manners: in potential and in actuality, which are “judges” and “officers.”
However, regarding his saying, “In all your gates,” we should interpret according to what we see—that there are two kinds of life in our world: 1) corporeal life, 2) spiritual life.
It follows from this that we have two gates: 1) a gate that is similar to a prison gate. This is similar to what is written (in the prayer, “Thank,” that we say on the eve of Shabbat in the afternoon prayer): “Dwellers of darkness and the shadow of death; prisoners of poverty and iron.” The Metzudat David [David’s Fortress interpretation] interprets there: “People who sit in a place of darkness are tied by tormenting ties and by chains of iron.” 2) A gate that is similar to the King’s gate, as it is written, “And Mordechai sat by the King’s gate.”
At each gate there are guards who are standing guard, but each of the guards acts in the opposite way. That is, the prison guards see that none of the prisoners escape the prison, while the guards at the King’s gate see that no one comes through the King’s gate.
The thing is that those who are immersed in self-love and have no understanding or feeling of anything more than corporeal pleasures are regarded as being in prison, and the guards do not let them out. By what force do they guard them and not let them out? The moment a guard sees that he wants to exit self-love and begin the work of bestowal he adds to them more pleasure in self-love. By this they tie them with iron chains so they will not want to leave there.
After all the overcoming, when the guards see that the prisoners want to escape self-love and begin to come into the love of the Creator, they promptly give them more flavor and more importance, to the extent that no one ever thought that it was so worthwhile to remain in self-love as they feel now, that self-love is not such a simple matter, as it is written, “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater than him.” By this the guards have the power to see that no one escapes from the prison.
But the role of the guards who are standing at the King’s gate is not to let anyone through the King’s gate. What is the power by which they can overcome those who want to come into the King’s palace? It is as it is written in the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” (item 133), “It is like a king who wished to select for himself the most loyal of his subjects in the country and bring them in to work inside his palace. What did he do? He issued a decree that anyone who wished, young or old, would come to his palace to engage in the works inside his palace. However, he appointed many of his servants to guard the palace gate, and ordered them to cunningly deflect all those nearing his palace. Naturally, all the people in the country began to run to the king’s palace. But the diligent guards cunningly rejected them. Many of them overpowered them and came near the palace gate, but the guards at the gate were the most diligent, and if someone approached the gate, they diverted him and turned him away with great craftiness, until he despaired and returned as he had come. And so they came and went. Only the heroes among them, whose patience endured, defeated the guards and opened the gate. They were instantly awarded seeing the king’s face, who appointed each of them to his right place.”
It therefore follows that the gates standing at the King’s gate deflect with all kinds of arguments that “It is not for you” to enter the King’s palace. To each one they make up reasons so these people will understand that it is not worthwhile for them to toil in vain. Especially, through all kinds of arguments, they have the power to deflect them and turn them from the campaign of holy work. This is the meaning of “in all your gates,” meaning the prison gate and the King’s gate.
Now we will explain the end of the verse where he ends, “which the Lord your God is giving you.” We asked, “What does it come to tell us?” It is known that everything comes from the Creator. However, as we explained above, a person who wants to be saved from all those arguments of the guards has only one counsel: faith above reason. This means that everything that the guards say is true. However, the Creator is merciful and gracious, and hears the prayer of every mouth. He gives the power to overcome all the obstacles.
However, there is a rule that one must say, “If I am not for me, who is for me?” That is, a person must not wait for the Creator to help him overcome. Rather, he must overcome by himself and do everything he can do, and only ask that the Creator will help him overcome, meaning help him. If a person tries in any way he can, then he must ask the Creator that his effort will bear fruit. However, a person must not say that the Creator will work for him, but that the Creator will help him in his work to succeed in acquiring the good.
It therefore follows that since man is the worker and the Creator only helps him, a person reflects on why he has been rewarded nearness to the Creator more than others. It is because other people could not exert so much in work above reason and not look at the argument of the body as he constantly prevailed in his work and never looked at his thoughts of despair with which the body wanted to fail him.
It follows that then a person can say, “My strength and the might of my hand have gotten me these riches.” In that regard, the verse says that he must know that “the Lord your God is giving you,” that it is indeed only God’s gift. That is, the fact that you had the strength to place judges and officers in all your gates was but a gift from God.
Reader: Now we will go to a lesson from October 10, 2002.
M. Laitman: (36:19) We read the article, "Judges and Officers," "Officers and Judges" from Volume 3, the “Rungs of the Ladder,” from the portion of “Devarim” [Judges]. We say that the end result is in the preliminary thought about the Creator's actions. But why is the end result in the preliminary thought if for Him there is no concept of time, that He needs to reach the good end, and so He has to perform several actions along the way? But there is no time in spirituality, and the Creator is almighty, and in truth, He's the only force that is acting and operating, and He's the thought, and He's the action, He's the knowledge, and for Him, everything is seemingly in a single point. And outside of that point itself, which we define as the Creator, there is nothing, there are no opposing forces, or some clash, or some struggles, or transitions. So why is it the end result is in the preliminary thought? Why should there be an end and a beginning? The end and the beginning should be not with respect to the Creator. Indeed, with respect to Him, there is no end and no beginning. There is a single thought to benefit His creations, and in this one thought, the created being was created, and he exists in a perfect state, and he receives everything there is, and he exists in this singular state, and that's it. A single thought, the thought of creation to the good of His creations. This is the only thing that exists. So why does it say the end result is in the preliminary thought, that there is another act, and this act is seemingly done, and not that it's only thought? It's the only thing that exists, and not that it exists all the time, and there is no concept with respect to it of a beginning and an end. It is with respect to that same created being. For that created being, the only state that he was created in, and exists in, becomes clear gradually. From the negation of this concept, and feeling in the awareness that he even exists, where he seems to exist in this world. And it's not in this world, in this world, there are also many degrees. For us also in this world, before the barrier, and the created beings who don't yet feel that they are created beings, and also the still, and vegetative, and animate. From this world, which we call below the threshold of awareness, and up to the degrees that are from the barrier and above it, where the created being gradually recovers from his subconsciousness, and he reaches the consciousness, the awareness, and then knowledge, and adhesion, and compatibility with that thought of creation to do good to His creations. And in these stages, where the created being rises from unconsciousness to complete awareness, until he reaches the full thought of creation, this is the matter of building the sixth sense, in these stages, he has this issue of the posterior and the anterior, the back and the face. The posterior means lack of awareness, and the anterior means awareness. And somehow he reaches it stage after stage. And in these stages, between unconsciousness and awareness, unconsciousness and awareness, there is what they call judges and officers. Why? Because he needs to recover through self-exertion. And without self-exertion, he'll remain unconscious. He needs to feel the vessels by himself, the necessary feelings in order to live, to be in the thought of creation, to benefit His creations.
M. Laitman: (41:37) And so, it turns out that the end result is in the initial thought. That indeed, in that initial thought, the only thought, that only it exists, and the created being is inside of it. From this thought began the matter of unconsciousness, and the matter of the concealment was created, judges and officers, exertion, suffering, so that all in all, the final state determines the entire process and all of the exertions and stages that a person must reach. So, certainly it turns out that the Creator is the only force. He does the work; He is the master of the operation. So, why does it say, "You shall make judges and officers for yourself in all of your gates?” This means the person who wants each time to open up his vessel, he then builds for himself, by himself, judges and officers. The limitations that he wants precisely above reason and precisely in order to bestow and to be rewarded only in this form, only with this method, to be rewarded with the revelation of godliness, only by being compatible with Him. This is called, "Make for yourself guards and officers in all of your gates." That it is not that the Creator places those judges and officers, and you have to overcome them. Also, with those same judges and officers that he writes there about in the introduction to TES, that a person climbs the mountain, and they always throw him back down. Seemingly, he falls down the mountain, and again he has to climb, and again they throw him down. The thing is that the person himself places those judges and officers to throw him down from the mountain, if his intention is incorrect. By that, he builds his correct relation, his compatibility with the Creator. This is called “make for yourself,” that you have to do it, you have to build the screen, you have to build the new vessel. So, we need to transition from seemingly crying about how the Creator made the concealment to us being grateful for the concealment and holding this concealment by ourselves. Then it turns out that it's not that I curse Him for making this path difficult with all of the faults and humiliations and difficulty and everything, but rather I thank Him for it, I justify Him, I become a righteous, yes? I justify Him to such a point that if He now goes away and lets me be in whatever state I want, I myself close myself and I build for myself these degrees, these judges and officers that I want on my own to hold myself in concealment. Then, instead of the Creator concealing Himself, I hide myself from Him, so that my relation towards Him will remain only with the intention to bestow; only according to the size of the screen, the measure of the faith, the measure of the reflected light, so that the connection between us will be only in this form of a mutual relation to each other. He tells it in a slightly different way. He was telling it to students who were not yet…
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:52) What is hiding by the Creator to the created being is the desire to receive in order to receive. So what does it mean that he's building the concealment himself?
M. Laitman: The Creator built the concealment by giving the first restriction, so that in the will to receive with the intention to receive, the light will not enter. What does that mean? That if you have the intention in order to receive, wherever within you dwells the intention to receive, meaning for your own benefit, there you will not have the spiritual feeling. There you will not feel the Creator. And bit by bit, He teaches you, He obligates you to think about the intention to bestow. The lack for the intention to bestow should seemingly come from you. That you, by yourself, take the concealment on yourself, the restriction on yourself, and you begin to behave as though there is no concealment, and there is no restriction, and there is no condition from the side of the Creator. What is the order of the corrections that we study? A person, first of all, makes the first restriction on himself, and then bit by bit, he begins to build the screen as though there is light ahead of him and he's allowed to receive it. And he is in control of all of these things, and he's seemingly the landlord. The Creator seemingly is ready, He's wide open, and a person hides himself behind a screen. The extent that a person is willing to do so, the Creator opens up and the person closes up until he builds on himself 100% of the screen in the first restriction, 100% of the screen from receiving in order to bestow, and then from the side of the Creator, there are no limitations. This means that to that extent, the person begins to control creation. What does it mean to control, and what is creation? Creation, it's him, who else? So to control himself in the reception of the light, in the filling, in the revelation of godliness, he begins to control it. This is considered that by that he changes himself; he changes his faith and everything. To the extent that he takes from the Creator the reins of creation and the providence, the guidance, governance. And he does it, he leads creation. What creation? It's he himself. Besides man, there is no created being. All the others, other than man, are less than man. In how man leads himself, this is how everyone is governed. If you can say all the other created beings, which are less than that, they're not called created beings — the still, vegetative, and animate, because they don't have free choice. Created being, means he has free choice. Is that okay? Are there any questions please? Today we don't have that other guy who's asking all the time. Oh, there he's sitting there. I didn't see you. Sorry. You're there. How do you feel yourself? Oh, bit by bit, okay.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (50:37) When an obstacle comes to a person, this obstacle is stronger than the degree the person is on. It's stronger. It knocks him down. What does it mean to overcome above reason in that state?
M. Laitman: I portrayed this nice picture that seemingly the person always takes upon himself the steering wheel, and he has the brakes, and he has the gas pedal, and he knows how to guide the whole thing, but we are still stuck with a different kind of behavior from the side of this machine or this car of guidance and providence, right? That machine, it's us. The Creator is working on us. In order to work on that machine, I, first of all, have to come out of my connection with it. I need to be on the side, to get out of my body as we call it. That everything that I have in my will to receive, it's not me. I need to be objective. This correction is called the correction of delighted in mercy, the correction of Bina. We call it to be a free nation in our land. A nation, a people, it's all of my desires. To be free means not under all of my desires, in our land, in our desire, Eretz, in a land, it means Ratzon, desire. If a person reaches the correction of Bina, delighted in mercy, then he has at least come out from under the control of his nature, of that machine. And then he stands on the side, like the Creator is standing on the side of this machine of his, and he's also standing on the side of the machine, and he starts to learn how to manage this, govern this machine, because he has this awareness, the intellect, everything that's not connected to the desire. Our problem is that the intellect was not created. What was created was desire. And in accordance with the greatness and the size of the desire, the quality of the desire, what desire, accordingly, the intellect develops in order to fill the desire. And we operate only in this way, our entire intellect. And this is an intellect in the brain of every cell, every stone, every animal, every vegetative, it doesn't matter. The intellect exists in every created being, every creature, in order to serve this created being, to serve this desire. The desire is more internal, and the intellect is built upon it as an addition. As I want to go out of this machine of mine, out of my desires, I replace my intellect. All the calculations seemingly disappear. It's like you have a computer that worked, was following a certain program, and now what's this action that's called? Reset? Yes. It zeros out, it disappears. In short, I erase its software, and it's maybe called formatting it or something. It doesn't matter. You clean it out of the system, and you want to put a new software into there, another program. So a person is standing truly free, not with his own program, and not with the Creator's program. And then he begins to be one of having a choice. There's much more here. It's not an answer for your question? Well, what did you ask?
Student: I was asking, if exactly you're saying like the person is standing on the side, so he doesn't feel the state that is happening to him, that he's going through?
M. Laitman: A person feels what's happening to him, he's just free from having to bow before what's happening to him.
Student: He's not influenced by it?
M. Laitman: He's not influenced, that's the whole thing. What does it mean that we... All right, in truth, in our world, it doesn't quite happen, because above a certain state, I truly don't feel it. In spirituality, it's not that way. In spirituality, there's nothing that I don't feel that is disappearing from me, or concealed from me. It's simply under my control. If it doesn't operate on me, then I'm above it.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:13) We always say that we shouldn't suppress our desires, but rather...
M. Laitman: This is not done upon suppressing desires. You shouldn't suppress desires, it's impossible to suppress desires. But rather to exit my desires and to be free from all the desires, both mine and the Creator's altogether, I can by preferring to be free, or even the control of the Creator, by the control of my nature. This, by that. There's an essential difference in the method of how I exit from under the control of these desires upon me. There's a method that's called the method of ethics, which is through a person suppressing himself or subdues himself. This is a method that operates in all the religions and methods besides the wisdom of Kabbalah. Where a person needs to suppress oneself, to limit himself, and maybe enter into fasts, both fasting from food, but also fasting from life, from certain forms of life. And even fasting towards what he thinks, where he's thinking, meaning to abstain from all kinds of things, enter into closed spaces, enter into bodily torments, mental torments, even enter into fears. “Oh, what will be!” So that the body will be afraid. That is one method, and that method does not correct. Rather, it only gives a person a certain kind of warning or alerting feeling to keep him away from using those desires on himself. And this is what you call controlling those desires. Controlling is considered that you are truly free to use them the way you want, and that's not correction. But the method of Kabbalah says you have to use all your desires, you have to come to a point where you have no desire that is bad, but rather the matter is the manner of how you use it. Therefore, each and every desire you're not allowed to limit, you're not allowed to seemingly stop using it. Rather you need to invert it into different use by another method, another goal being more important than the current purpose. If I use all my desires now, all my intellect, in order to benefit me, I need to do now, kind of have to change direction, to reveal the Creator and for Him to be more important in my eyes than me myself, at which point all the desires and all the intellect I have, I will place to its service, to His direction.
Student: This is called to overcome?
M. Laitman: And then I don't have to overcome the use of the desire, but rather the manner of use. It turns out that along the way, when I move from this use to that use, there are all kinds of stages along the way also. But nevertheless, the principle is that I constantly change the use of my desire, because I'm discovering His greatness more than my greatness. That's the only power; the light is what we call with us, the light comes and corrects the Kli, the light shakes the vessel, the light of AB SAG that comes to us is the recognition of the greatness of the Creator. And this is what's capable of correcting me and nothing else. There's no other power that can do this, only the presence and revelation of the Creator in creation. It turns out that I don't need to work, not on His concealment and not on His revelation, but rather I need to work upon the desire of why I need His revelation, meaning, for the necessity for correction. That is, in the end, I will constantly want His revelation in order to change the way I use my desire.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:48) Why does he write here on page 117, paragraph beginning with, "Therefore," that each time as we advance on the path, we are given a pleasure that is greater than the corporeal pleasures in order for one to get accustomed to overcome greater pleasures than there are in the corporeal pleasures. Because this is preparation to be immune, to become accustomed in the work of overcoming over the great pleasures that are in spirituality. So, here he's talking about…
M. Laitman: Overcoming, it's written there that we need to constantly overcome. That's where climbing up to the king's mount, where their patience withstood them, and those who overcame the officers and the guards, the judges. What does it mean to overcome? What is overcoming? Overcoming is constantly searching for the importance of the Creator against laziness, let's say, against forgetfulness, where only this can be my fuel. That's all I need to look for. I'm not allowed to be lazy about this. All the rest of the things, don't do anything besides this. That's why it turns out for us that whoever can supply me with the importance of the Creator, which is the society that can advertise this matter, this is the most important thing that I am 100% dependent upon. It turns out that a person is truly in the hands of the society, as he writes in the "Freedom." There's nothing besides that. If all my actions depend on the Creator being great in my eyes, if the recognition of His greatness cannot be attained anywhere else but rather where the society can influence this upon me, then we're done. I simply, I have nowhere else to look. Where else should I hope for something to come? The situation is pretty scary to be dependent on people. Are they really people that are strong? Are they serious? All the future, our fate, our life, look at in whose hands it is. If a person were to think this way about his corporeal, his beastly life where he's dependent on some little group of people there, he would be very scared. This is similar to being taken in captivity, and only in this group, in this gang that took you and caught you, what will be with you? So, aren't you worried about what they're thinking about you, for you? This is an even harsher state than that. In truth, they determine for you also what will happen to you in your bodily life, health, with your children, with the home, with work, and everything. It all depends on the society. The power of the society can improve everything for a person, everything. We're not understanding this enough.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:58) He writes here on page 118 that there are two kinds of gates. One coming out of the corporeal life, one from the spiritual life, meaning one doesn't let you out - one gate and the other gate doesn't let you in. So I'm asking, why do we need two kinds of gates? If there would be one gate that doesn't let you out, he wouldn't come out. If there would be one gate that didn't let you in, he wouldn't come in. Why do we need these two partitions, let's say?
M. Laitman: What does he write about that?
Student: Regarding what he says, "in all your gates, you should interpret…”
M. Laitman: No, let him read here, read what he wants, so it'll be inside.
Student: Beginning with, "However, regarding his saying..."
Reading: (01:06:54) And their words emphasized judges and officers. However, regarding his saying "in all your gates," we should interpret according to what we see, that there are two kinds of life in our world, one - corporeal life, two - spiritual life. It follows from this that we have two gates.
One gate that is similar to a prison gate. This is similar to what is written, "Dwellers of darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners of poverty and iron." The Metzudat David [David’s Fortress interpretation], interprets there are people who sit in a place of darkness and are bound by tormenting chains and chains of iron.
Two, a gate that is similar to the king's gate, as it is written, "And Mordecai said, by the king's gate." At each gate there are guards, who are standing guard. But each of the guards acts in the opposite way.
That is, the prison guards see that none of the prisoners escape the prison. While the guards at the king's gate see that no one comes through the king's gate.
M. Laitman: (01:08:02) All right. The question is still not understood. Well, okay. You remember that I said about a quarter of an hour ago that a person is under the restriction, under concealment, in prison. And to the extent in which he's willing to exit it and define on himself this boundary, then the Creator distances and lets him go. And then a person takes upon himself the first restriction, and to receive in order to bestow, and to receive in order to receive. Yes, all the limitations. This is considered, instead of sitting in the prison of himself, yes, to be under the influence, the control of his own desires, under his nature, he exits this, becomes free, but he's free in taking upon himself this entire method, all the message that's in the Creator. This is considered that instead of sitting at the gate, what's that gate called?
Student: Prison.
M. Laitman: The prison gate, yes. Then he prefers to sit in the king's gate. You understand? Instead of this gate, that gate.
Student: But he explains here that on the one hand, seemingly, in the prison gate, they always add self-love to the person.
M. Laitman: You're revealed every time that you are tied in iron shackles, that's true. But, of course, all those things are revealed and corrected gradually. But what does it mean, the prison gate? That you are under your own control, the control of your body, your desires. If you want to come out of it and prefer to sit at the king's gate, then you yourself position the world, yourself, instead of the Creator. You take upon yourself concealment, you take upon yourself all of the spiritual rules, and you observe them, uphold them. This is called sitting at the king's gate. A gate is the system, the system itself. Its laws are absolute laws; you can't escape it. You simply have to uphold it. You either uphold it because nature judges and controls you, or you yourself take it upon yourself according to your own will. That's all. This is called moving from one gate to the other gate. One relation to the other.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:08) So, he says that the Lord your God gave you, and now he brings, "If I'm not for myself, who is?"
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, the Lord your God gave to you, then it's clear, it all comes from the Creator. And inside of this, he places, "If I'm not for myself, who is?"
M. Laitman: That the Lord your God gave you all the gates. He gives you everything but one thing - your choice to move from one gate to the other. And this is what it means by, "If I'm not for me, who is for me?"
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:44) Merciful and pardoning. What is it?
M. Laitman: That's not for now. These definitions, merciful, gracious, patient. We will learn part 13 of TES. You'll see in the 13 corrections of Dikna. You'll see what all those corrections are that a person corrects himself. How he reveals the Creator's relation to him. If he attains mutually his relation to the Creator, then he discovers that between them, there's a system of relationship through 13 channels, which are called 13 corrections of Dikna. Dikna is the external relation of the Creator toward the created being, the external Partzuf of the Creator toward the created being. This is called Dikna. And there are 13 corrections in this. "Merciful and gracious God, patient and with great compassion and truth." We say this in the plea. Tachanun, it's a prayer.
Student: If we come out of our own desire.
M. Laitman: You know it, no? You know what this book is? Like a student in the exams. So, which exam? You know. It's in... No, no, no, no, no. Oh, where is it here? "Merciful, and gracious, and patient God, pardoning iniquity and crime and cleanses sins." It's called 13 qualities or properties, 13 corrections of Dikna, 13 relations from Arich Anpin towards Zeir Anpin and toward the souls, right? So if the souls acquire correspondingly the same qualities, the same attributes, then there's a connection between them, between the Creator and the created being. The Creator is Zeir Anpin toward Malchut. But Zeir Anpin, kind of, forms a relation toward Malchut. But Zeir Anpin in Gadlut, in greatness, is Arich Anpin. Malchut in Gadlut is the degree of AVI. As it is written, MA is destined to be AB, and BON is destined to be SAG. For this reason, the relation of Arich Anpin toward the created beings is called a Creator.
Student: And 32 is not from this story?
M. Laitman: 32 is already not the Creator's relation toward us. 32 is our structure, 32 paths. There are also 32 paths of wisdom, but that pertains more to the first restriction. What pertains to the second restriction is the 13 Corrections of Dikna.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:15:54) How come when he comes out of the will to receive, it's not considered now that he's under the dominion of the will to bestow? Why is it called “freedom?” What kind of choice does he have in that? Why when he comes out from the will to receive, he is not in dominion of the will to bestow? Why he is obligated to do it?
M. Laitman: Why, when a person emerges from under the control of the will to receive, in order to receive, meaning the intention to receive, and moves to using it with the intention to bestow, why is this called becoming free, and not that he is subordinate under the nature of the Creator, right? The truth is, there are many questions in this, because it's written, God's servant, it's a respectable degree, right? And yet, when we reach not even servitude, but "you are the children of the Lord your God," that's an even higher degree. And then the degree of a friend, the degree of husband and wife, male and female, who complement each other in the entire level, so we get like a projection of all these qualities on ourselves, in that by this, we sort of become free. Well, free from the previous control in order to receive, but not from the current control in order to bestow, or even more. If we don't assume this control, it is written, "Here will be your burial place," as in the occasion at Mount Sinai, either you accept it or don't. Please, by all means, and other such sayings that, whether you like it or not, I will force you. The thing is that in the end, the whole transition between quality to quality, or between attribute and its corresponding attribute, is done through the force of Bina. The force of Bina. At that time, a person is neutralized from any connection to himself. And after he is neutralized from connection to himself in bestowing in order to bestow, he begins to choose, really choose whether to receive in order to bestow. Meaning, he relates to the Creator already. This is something that he goes and does freely, or is it because what obligates him? So, in Bina, we have degrees from the lowest degree to the degree of the end of correction. And in each and every action, you first of all have to completely exit from any control both of the nature in order to receive of the created being and the nature in order to bestow of the Creator and stand in the middle. It's called the middle line, the balance line, the middle line, the point, or dot in the midline. Now, from the midline, you begin to build your bestowal upon the Creator. That's already above Bina. That's already above Bina. And when you build it, by this, you don't come under His control. It's called, "My sons defeated Me." You sort of begin purportedly to control Him. As if, right? The Shechina in exile, you discover the deficiency of the Shechina [divinity], you discover His deficiency. He's crying, and waiting, and He's deficient, and you can fill it and bestow upon Him. In other words, here it's the opposite. There is a question, meaning what a person does, that a person works with the deficiency of the Creator? So, it's not like you remain under the one with the deficiency and under His control. It's seemingly the opposite, if to put it with His words, worldly words, that He's giving Himself into your hands, that His fate depends on you. I don't know. I have no words for it. There are a lot more inner elements here. But of course, the choice is free, and only that point of free choice in each degree is what is added to the vessel. Other than that, everything else is elements that come to us from above. But that discernment we have to pick from each state, the free choice in all 125 degrees, say, and when we collect all of them, then their assortment, their collection is called the vessel of the end of correction. This is called, instead of the Creator hiding Himself, it's as if His vessel hides. A person begins to hide himself, and then the Creator reveals His empty vessel, that He needs man's bestowal.
Student:
M. Laitman: (01:22:04) Because the AHP, what we learn, in other words, that there cannot be Gadlut, greatness in the upper one, except through MAN from the lower one. And all the Katnut, smallness, depends on the lower ones, which is the state called the Shechina in exile.
Student: So, ultimately, the feeling vessel, right, the vessel called, so the feeling vessel, it feels pleasure. Now I can use the pleasure in order to receive or in order to bestow. Even when it's actually a feeling vessel, to some extent it's...
M. Laitman: I cannot tell you.
Student: Let's say now, why is it called freedom? Well, why is it there it's called freedom?
M. Laitman: Look, there are many conjectures here. I can tell you many wise words. There is... It's called freedom because it's a matter of... I don't know how to tell you. It's better if we move to the language of Kabbalah, in the language of feeling, I see that I cannot convey. I get blocked here. In the language of Kabbalah, it's called the Noga shell, the middle third between the vessels of bestowal, above it, between the vessels and the shells, and the vessels of reception below it. And in the Noga shell, there is our choice. To begin to speak in these terms, I still can't. We haven't discussed it enough. But there is a situation where a person really is in between, and in that state, he comes into the depth of the state, the depth of the Noga shell, the middle third of Tifferet, right, where there is really such a place, a division that doesn't belong to the Creator or to the created being. It's very delicate, very subtle, you can't explain it because that state, which is not the Creator or the created being, so what is it, what else is there?
Student: It's not scrutinized yet.
M. Laitman: It's not scrutinized, but when it's not scrutinized, what is not scrutinized? See, I have no words. Well, settle for the free state emerging from a person where a person is in the Noga shell. That's it. Well, let's study.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:25:00) I want to try and answer. I think the choice is not in the action. Either way, a person will choose whatever seems more correct to him. The choice is that you can choose your feeling. The choice is seemingly new. What's important to you as a created being is the feeling. You can choose what to feel.
M. Laitman: Right.