The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: November 4, 2026
Part 1: Rabash. Repentance. Article No. 27, 1985
Reader: Hello friends. In the first part of the lesson, we'll watch a lesson from Rav from 2002 based on the article "Repentance." This is an article from Rabash. We will read it together in the Tens, from the beginning. We will end in the words, “It follows that whether he gives or receives, there is always the same calculation of the importance of the person.” Again, that's where we end. We're reading from the beginning of the Rabash article until this line: “It follows that whether he gives or receives, it's always the calculation of the importance of the person.” We have 30 minutes, go ahead.
Reading: (01:13) Repentance
Article No. 27, 1985
It is written in The Zohar (Nasso, item 28): “This commandment is the commandment of Teshuva [repentance], and this is Bina. What is Bina? She is the letters Ben Yod-Hey [Son of Yod-Hey]. That son is Vav, which is attached to her and receives from her Mochin of Yod-Hey. Anyone who repents, it is as though he has returned the letter Hey, which is Malchut, to the letter Vav, which is Ben Yod-Hey, by which HaVaYaH is completed.”
In The Zohar (Nasso, item 29), “The letter Hey is certainly a confession of words. This is the meaning of “Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘…that we may present the fruit of our lips.’” Certainly, when one sins, he causes the Hey to depart from the Vav. This is why the Temple was ruined and Israel were removed from there and were exiled among the nations. For this reason, anyone who repents causes the return of the Hey to the letter Vav.
In The Zohar (Nasso, item 31), “This answer is called ‘life.’ This answer, which is Malchut, and Hey de HaVaYaH, is called ‘life,’ as it is written, ‘for from it flow the offspring of life,’ which are the souls of Israel, who are the offspring of Malchut, called ‘life.’ She is the Hevel [mouth fume] that comes in and out of one’s mouth effortlessly. This is also the meaning of the Hey of Hibaraam [they were created], since the letter Hey is pronounced by the mouth more easily than all the other letters. It was said about her, ‘for man lives by that which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord,’ for Malchut is called ‘that which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.’ Also, she is on a man’s head, as in, ‘On my head is the Lord present.’ It was said about her, ‘And the image of the Lord does he behold,’ since Malchut is called ‘the image of the Lord,’ and also, ‘Only in the image does a man walk.’”
In The Zohar (Nasso, item 32), “And because she is on a man’s head, he must not walk four Amot [approx. four feet] bare-headed, for if she is removed from the man’s head, life promptly leaves him.”
Also in The Zohar (Nasso, item 34), “It was certainly about this shape of the Hey that they asserted, ‘I have a good gift in my treasury, whose name is ‘Shabbat’ [Sabbath]. Shabbat is Malchut, when she ascends to Bina. When this Malchut, who is Shabbat, is over Israel, they have neither labor nor enslavement, and in it, the laboring and toiling soul stops and rests.”
We need to understand all those names which the holy Zohar gives to Malchut.
What does it mean that Malchut is called Hey, and that she is Hevel without labor and toil? After all, there is a rule, “I found but did not labor, do not believe.”
What does it mean that Malchut is called “life”? In several places, the holy Zohar calls Malchut “the quality of judgment,” from whom extends death.
What does it imply that Malchut is called “the Lord’s mouth”?
What does it mean that she is on a man’s head?
Why does he say that Malchut is called the “image of the Lord,” as it is written, “The image of the Lord does he behold”?
What does it mean that Malchut is called “Tzelem” [image], as it is written, “Only in the image does a man walk”?
To explain the above said, we first need to understand the purpose of creation, meaning the connection that the creatures should have with the Creator. All of our labor surrounds this axle, as well as the punishments we suffer if we do not come to correct it. This is also all the reward we receive when the creatures connect with the Creator.
It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. However, in order to prevent the bread of shame, which is the matter of equivalence of form—as disparity of form in spirituality is called “moving farther,” and equivalence of form is called “moving closer”—therefore, although His desire to do good to His creations is unbounded, still, the matter of equivalence of form was made, meaning not to receive delight and pleasure unless it is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator.
From this extends to us the matter of labor, meaning that we must make a Masach [screen] so we can receive the delight and pleasure in order to bestow. This is the root of the labor that we have, as it is written in “General Preface to the Book, Panim Meirot Umasbirot” (item 3): “Know that the Masach in the Kli [vessel] of Malchut is the root of the darkness because of the detaining force that exists in the Masach, to stop the upper light from spreading to Behina Dalet. This is also the root of the labor in order to receive reward, since labor is an involuntary act, for the worker feels comfortable only when resting. But because the landlord is paying his salary, he annuls his will before the will of the landlord.”
Thus, all we need to do is work. This is the only thing incumbent upon us, as it is written, “Which God has created to do.” “Created” is what we attribute to the Creator, which is the desire to do good to His creations. From “created,” extends to us the matter of separation and disparity of form. However, by “to do,” meaning through the work we do in order to achieve the degree of in order to bestow, we move closer to the Creator once again through equivalence of form.
This is the meaning of the partnership between the creatures and the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 67): “‘And to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” Do not pronounce ‘You are My people [Ami],’ but ‘You are with Me [Imi],’ which means partnering with Me.” That is, the Creator gave the will to receive, which is the deficiency He has created, which is called “darkness,” as it is written, “And creates darkness.” This comes from His desire to do good. The creatures must give the Masach, by which we have equivalence of form, for only then we have Kelim [vessels] that are suitable to receive the abundance that comes from His doing good to His creations. It follows that “has created” comes from above, and “to do” comes from the lower ones.
We find two matters in the labor: 1) The work and the reward are two matters. The work is not in the place of the reward, meaning that the time of work and the time of reward are separate. 2) The work and the reward are in the same place and the same time.
Labor means that one has to make a movement, and movement also happens in three ways: 1) labor of the body, 2) labor of the mind, 3) inner labor, which is the hardest. This is done when he must work with the mind, while doing things that contradict the mind and the intellect. That is, he must annul his mind. This means that the mind mandates that he will do this or that, but he makes a movement and cancels his mind—what he understands to be one hundred percent true according to his mind. And yet, he annuls it. This is true labor.
Let us return to the matter of labor. For example, a person makes a movement in order to receive a reward for the movement. Otherwise, he would remain at rest, since by the nature of creation, man longs for rest. The reason for this is explained in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 1, Histaklut Pnimit [Inner Reflection], item 19): “This is because our root is motionless and restful; there is no motion in Him at all.”
Therefore, we see that to the extent of the size, importance, and necessity that he has for the reward, to that extent he can exert. However, if he were to find a tactic to receive the reward without exertion, he would promptly waive the effort because to him the effort is but a means to obtain the reward. Thus, if he can get the reward through some other means, meaning not through work, then he will think, “Why should I work for nothing?” for he does not receive any reward for his work, since he can get what he will be given for the work without the work. It follows that he is not paid, and as we said, it is impossible to work without pay. Therefore, he waives the work.
This is regarded as the work and the reward being in two places and two times, since the work is, for example, that he is in a factory, and the pay is the paycheck he receives at the office. “In two times” means a separate time for work and a separate time for reception of the reward, since the work is every hour and every moment, and the reward is received only at the end of the day, when he finishes the work, as it is written (Deuteronomy, 24:14), “You shall not oppress the hired … You shall give him his wages each day before the sun sets.”
But sometimes the work and the pay are in the same place and the same time. This is so where the work itself is the reward, and he does not expect to be given any other reward for his work. That is, every move the body makes. As was said above, the body cannot make a move at all without reward.
But here, when his work is the reward, he receives the reward right where he works. And also, he receives the reward while he is working. That is, he does not need to wait for another time to be given the reward, such as for the end of the day, but rather each and every movement is rewarded right there and then.
For example: If a great ADMOR [high ranking rabbi] comes to Israel. If, for instance, the ADMOR of Lubavitch comes, and all his followers go to greet him. And he has a small package in his hand, which he gives to one of the followers to take it to the taxi. Afterwards the ADMOR takes out a $100 note and gives it to him in return for carrying the package to the taxi. His follower will no doubt refuse to receive the money. And should the ADMOR ask him, “Why won’t you take the money? Is this too little? To an ordinary porter, who is not a follower and does not know what is an ADMOR, and does not know that I am in important person, if I were to give him a $10 note, he would have thanked me. To you I give ten times more than to an ordinary porter, and you won’t take it?”
What should we say about this? His follower did not want to receive from him the money for carrying precisely because he knows the greatness and importance of the ADMOR, and the ADMOR has chosen him to serve him. This is a great reward, which is worth a lot. If any of the followers could buy from him the service that the ADMOR had let him do, the follower would certainly tell him: “All the money in the world is worthless compared to this service, which the ADMOR has given me, and has chosen me over everyone else.”
Here we see that the labor and the reward are in the same place and the same time, since during the work, meaning while he is carrying the load—and he should be rewarded, since it is impossible to work without reward—he does not receive reward elsewhere, meaning that the work is the package he is carrying, and his reward is elsewhere, namely the money, or on another time, meaning that he is rewarded when he has finished the job.
Rather, here the work and the pay are in the same place. The work is carrying the package, and the reward is also carrying the ADMOR’s package. He does not need to be given anything else that can be regarded as reward. Rather, the work of carrying the ADMOR’s package is itself his reward.
This is also regarded as “in the same time,” meaning that while he is working, at the same time he is rewarded, and it cannot be said here that he receives the reward after he has finished his work. Rather, he is receiving his pay at that very moment. The time of work and the time of pay are inseparable here because his entire reward is the service he is giving to the ADMOR. He enjoys this service more than any fortune in the world.
It follows that there is something new here—that it cannot happen that there can be such a thing as receiving reward each and every moment of one’s work. Rather, the reward always comes after the work, as it is written, “to do them today and to receive the reward for them tomorrow.” But here it is different, meaning that the work and the reward come as one.
It therefore follows that the work is not regarded as labor for which to receive reward. Only when the work and the reward are in two places and two times is work regarded as labor. That is, when the work is only a means to receive reward. Therefore, if he could toss the means and receive the purpose right away, why would he need the means? For this reason, since the whole purpose is the reward, his attention is only on the reward, and he is always searching how to work less and gain more.
But if the work and the reward are simultaneous, this work is not regarded as labor, of which we can say that he wants to get rid of the work, since the work and the pay are in the same place and the same time, since he enjoys serving an important person.
Accordingly, the labor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is only when he is carrying the burden of Torah and Mitzvot like the porter carrying the ADMOR’s package without knowing the ADMOR’s importance. At that time he is always bargaining and wants more reward than the ADMOR is paying him for his labor, as we said in the allegory about the ADMOR of Lubavitch. That is, the follower who takes the package that the ADMOR has given him, since the follower recognizes the importance and greatness of the ADMOR, he wants no reward from the ADMOR. Rather, the size of the reward is measured by his recognition of the greatness and importance of the ADMOR; this is how he receives additional reward.
Although by nature we derive great pleasure when serving an important person, there is a difference in the importance. If a person is serving the most important person in town, while it pleases him, this is nothing like knowing that he is serving the most important person in the country. And his pleasure would be even greater if he knew that he was serving the most important person in the world. Then his joy would grow unboundedly.
It follows that we labor in Torah and Mitzvot because we lack the importance and greatness of the Creator. In the words of the holy Zohar, it is called that all our thoughts should be only to “raise the Shechina [Divinity] from the dust.” That is, to us spirituality is completely in concealment of the face, and we do not feel the importance of our work. That is, we do not feel the importance of the one for whom we work, and whom we are serving. Therefore, when we overcome in the work, that work is by coercion. This is called “labor,” since the reward is not in the place of the work.
In other words, by working in coercion, he expects to receive reward after some time and in a different place. Since the reward is far from the time of the work, he has time to think that now he is working and later he will receive reward. Therefore, there is a time when there is work there, and this is called “labor.”
This is not so when he feels the importance of the work, meaning when he feels whom he is serving. At that time the reward is in the place of the work. Such work is not regarded as labor because the work and the reward are in the same time and in the same place, and this is not labor.
We can discern this when here, if the work and the reward are in the same place, the work itself is the reward. Therefore, he will not want to relinquish the work because naturally, you don’t waive the goal, you only waive the means. Therefore, when the reward and the work are in the same place and the same time, a person cannot relinquish the work. If he relinquishes the work, he relinquishes the reward, since they are in the same place.
But if a person works like a porter, as in the above allegory, since there, there is labor because the work and the reward are in two different places, then the person wants to relinquish the labor, which is only a means for the reward, and he wants the reward. For example, a person who works to obtain the next world is willing to relinquish the work, meaning if he is given the next world without labor, since he needs only the goal and not the means.
We can discern the same regarding a gift. If an important person gives someone a gift, the recipient distinguishes two things about the gift: 1) that he loves him, or he would not have given him the gift, 2) the gift itself.
Here, too, we should make the same discernments, meaning what is the goal and what is the means. We should also determine the importance of the giver—if the giver is an important person then the love is the goal and the gift is only a means, where by the gift the love appears here. It follows that here, too, he is willing to relinquish the gift, but not the love. But if the giver is an ordinary person then the gift is the goal and love is the means, and he can relinquish the love as long as he gives him gifts. It follows that whether he gives or receives, there is always the same calculation of the importance of the person.
Reader: We continue with the recorded lesson from 2002, please.
M. Laitman: (31:10) So we read part of the article about repentance. We haven't reached repentance yet. This is from Rabash, from the “Rungs of the Ladder,” page 25. What is the Rav talking about? That everything depends on importance. What point a person is focused on? This is called importance. What am I looking at? What am I even connecting to? Because that determines all of my attitude to life. If I look at money, then everything I do in my life is in order to get money. If I want honor, my whole life doesn't matter. I'm willing to pay millions for it, to work from dawn to dusk, invest in that just to receive honor.
So the means aren't taken into account. What's important is to arrive at what I'm focused on, what is the goal. But it turns out that the labor and the goal and the reward and also the punishment, if there is one, there are two things. The means, separately - all kinds of efforts and all kinds of means; and the reward - that is the reception of the reward, the thing that I want, this is another separate thing. Two separate matters. And if I receive what I want, then it's a reward, and if not, it's a punishment. Why? I invested in all kinds of side things to reach something, and now I'm regretting. Why did I make all those secondary sideline efforts and haven't reached the goal?
Meaning, to be certain that you're never missing, that you're always already at a point that needs to be, it has to be where the means and the point should be one. And then what you've done, you've done, certainly, it's registered under your account. And if there is a punishment and not a reward, then you've used means that are unnecessary and shouldn't have invested so much labor there. Time, money, efforts, doesn't matter, stress.
Meaning, we have to find such an engagement in life, which is the goal. Some people are truly successful in life because they're immersed in their profession, and it's everything for them. The rest is just some necessities. He has to eat a little, he has a family and so on, and something else, but entirely immersed in his profession, happy. You see, a person doesn't need anything else. He can come from dawn to dusk, work, and enjoy that, and he is always dwelling in good. How can we find such a profession? We can take an example. If the work of the Creator, meaning connection with the Creator, getting close to Him, feeling Him, some sort of a relationship with Him, if that becomes our entire goal and our entire engagement and our entire life, and outside of that there's nothing, meaning I'm just in that, then right there and then I'll have the same effort and the reward and the punishment all in the same subject, same carrier. And so I'll never be sorry and never feel myself engaging in something that is not to the point or missing something out. That's first. And how to do it?
M. Laitman: (35:46) A person in his life always determines some goal for himself, whether it's for a moment, for an hour, or for life. It depends on how he works, on recognizing the importance. A person who cares about his life, then he determines some purpose to it, and then everything that could be there is already as a means, and accordingly he determines his life.
But if so, it's true that he does everything correctly towards the attainment of the goal, and perhaps he's always moving towards the goal, but it's still not considered at the same time. He's not immersed in goodness, he doesn't feel that he's enjoying, because the work itself to him is still not the goal. If what he has to achieve at the end, he can bring it closer to the point that he somewhat has that at least, then his connection with the goal is already in the present state, then at the same time, he's already truly engaged in this matter. And it's not that he's not going to yearn forward and onwards, yes, but it's already part of the matter itself, where he doesn't, essentially, he doesn't need, there's no separation to him between the labor and the goal. He brought them closer so much that it became part of the labor itself.
To our matter, if we were to take the Creator into account as something important, and we would appreciate the engagement that He gave us, to want Him, to reach Him, to search for Him and contact Him, which is something special, which is essentially infinite importance, then we would bring closer the contact that each of us even has to some little extent, and that importance would determine for us that we're already now in a good feeling and in happiness. And people would be in a state, we would be in a state as we should be, that you're somehow connected to the Creator, and always strengthening the connection with Him to some extent. Meaning, our problem is that we can't skip the concealment.
M. Laitman: (39:33) So, truly, a person needs to understand that on the one hand, he's tied to the Creator, “there's none else besides Him,” and all the deeds that he needs to do towards that is, "if I'm not for myself, then who?” And in “if I'm not for myself, then who," only a vessel is missing, a deficiency to truly have “none else besides Him.” The moment that I, through my efforts, which enters free choice, that I have to collect them from all my friends, from myself, the books, the authors, when I collect the deficiency through an effort, "if I'm not for myself, then who," to a deficiency that “none else besides Him” will appear to me, that is all. Here, too, when I'm going to make the actions so as to attain the deficiency for the revelation of the Creator, that there's none else besides Him, in that, too, which I do through, "if I'm not for myself, then who," then I need to discern that "if I'm not for myself, then who," relates only to the effort of mustering the required longing from the society, so that I'll have such an inner state that I'll be able to turn to Him and ask Him to build my Kli, my vessel.
Meaning, what do I need? I need to receive from the society the importance of the Creator that He’s capable of building a deficiency in me, that this deficiency will be as a prayer, as raising MAN. And that for the raising of MAN, it will come and correct me, and then come and fulfill me. Meaning, prayer before prayer, deficiency for a deficiency, that's what I need to receive as a result of feeling the importance of the Creator for the friends. Importance.
So, the work and the reward and the punishment and labor, it's all in one place. And also with respect to the friends. There's the same relation here of "if I'm not for myself," and "none else besides Him." How? How do I know that my efforts will lead me somewhere? I have to say, "if I'm not for myself, then who?" Meaning, I invest in them, I do what I can, the maximum possible, and "none else besides Him," and He will arrange it so that I will truly be inspired by them, and that inspiration will serve me as a springboard towards the Creator. And thus, in each and every subject I have in life, I have to have these two attitudes, "if I'm not for myself," and "none else besides Him."
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (43:45) On the one hand, we say that the concealment is our fuel. On the other hand, we constantly yearn to cancel it.
M. Laitman: We don't aspire to cancel the concealment. Why do I need to cancel the concealment if the concealment is for my own good? I don't understand. You know, in our time, one of the big dangers is radioactive radiation. So, who doesn't want some defense, some shield against such a dangerous matter? I went to several places where you have that, you know, that symbol that says, “Don't enter,” there's radiation and, you know, and what they wear. I didn't wear those things, but I saw. And how they test everything and check and how much you caught from it or didn't. People want protection against something that is dangerous, right? So if we had importance, fear, from receiving in order to receive, then we would want to have some shield against it. We don't feel that all our troubles come from receiving in order to receive. So I don't care, “give me a million, give me two,” you understand? We're not afraid of that.
But to the extent that a person is going to understand what is the evil exactly, which is called recognition of evil, to recognize where it is, and correspondingly he wants protection. People come to me and ask, "Can you help me with protection against evil eye?" Like that, they'd look for a shield against that. Probably some special people in the world have some special kind of eye that emits some radiation, so they want some shield against that radiation, let's say. However, this is what's missing: sensitivity to what evil means. And so you would certainly want to have protection against that and you would only work against that, because opposite that… Why do you sit here? You sit here because you want to feel good. And if you knew what it is that makes you feel bad, then you would immediately look for how to achieve such a thing.
Why do we chase all of the money, honor, knowledge, etc.? It ultimately means to fulfill ourselves. What, I just want honor? No, I felt that in society, honor makes me feel good. I once saw that what I want to get with money could be traded for those bills. So I look, also when I'm sitting here, I'm looking very carefully. We have to know exactly what that is, and correspondingly you'll have a desire, and corresponding to the evil, you'll have a shield, shield and sword.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:36) Reaching the point of, "if I'm not for myself, then who is? “If I'm not for myself, then who is?", is it right to reach that point, because of the reason which is, "there is none else besides Him?"
M. Laitman: "If I'm not for myself, then who?" will I have a reason for "none else besides Him?” No, that's incorrect to say, because when I'm going to invest myself in "if I'm not for myself," it's already based on "None Else Besides Him." Meaning, why am I going and doing something? Because there is an upper force, and that upper force necessitates me, or the connection with Him necessitates me, or I want to necessitate Him, doesn't matter. But the connection with Him, with the Creator, that's the motive for any kind of thing, receiving from Him, giving to Him, doesn't matter, but the connection with Him, yes. And then, even though I think that I'm not capable, and I have no way to determine anything about this matter, I still tell myself, "if I'm not for myself, then who?" And that's an emotional effort, that I am going and doing something, even though I think there's none else besides Him.
He writes there that the person who wakes up in his bed has to say, has to say, must say, "if I'm not for myself, then who?" It's an effort. If I just go and just do it like that, "if I'm not for myself, then who?" then that's like a beast, and that's it. If it's with no connection to godliness, even for just a moment, it's an act of a beast, that nothing will emerge from.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (49:44) Can we reach a point where two things are as one?
M. Laitman: The two things being as one, that's adhesion already. Where my movement and His movement, these two things are as one, that is adhesion already, meaning it's one intention, and then we're together.
Student: Then my work, that I'm working for my living, that will also become work of the Creator?
M. Laitman: Then everything I do in life aligns with His will, if we are of one intention, "if I'm not for myself, then who is?" and if “there's none else besides Him” go together. "If I'm not for myself, then who is?" it's a kind of an assertion of independence that a person has if he still did not discover in some part of him that there's none else besides Him. So it seems to contradict. In some region within myself, it's still, "if I'm not for myself, then who is?" No, there's None Else Besides Him. No, if I'm not for myself, no.
In the collision between those two, I scrutinize that, and then I reach… I don't just reach the fact that there's none else besides Him, I reach us being there together, you understand? The Creator didn't come to cancel out the person. The correction of the vessels isn't cancellation, annulment. Rather, the correction of the vessels is such that you become like Him, meaning in the same place, in the same action, the light doesn't quench the vessel.
We say that the light fills the vessel without a screen. If it does that, it quenches the desire, and the desire cannot be felt, and the person then doesn't feel anything. But he feels only a very small measure of his vitality despite the Creator filling him with no limitation. But a person who builds within himself some attitude towards the Creator with a screen and reflected light, then he becomes like the Creator, meaning in that state, in that same region, they dwell together, they are in charge together, they rule together. It's like a horse and the rider, where you can't say who comes first. In everything, on every level, there's no cause and effect, it's just both of us.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:21) Why do these first two sentences are by way of negativity? Instead of, "if I'm not for myself," or instead of "None Else Besides Him," “there's only Him,” and "if I'm not for myself," “there's only me.” So why do they both work as a negative?
M. Laitman: These two sentences by way of negation? "There's None Else Besides Him," I need to prove from the opposite, and also, "if I'm not for myself, then who is," I also need to prove from the opposite. Because of that, I say that if you reach your action, and you say, "if I'm not for myself, then who is for me?" not from the side of negation, that there's None Else Besides Him, then you don't… It's a beastly act. I didn't think about the Creator, I thought of nothing. He doesn't exist for me, nothing, I just go and do something. By that, I'm not proving to myself that "if I am not for myself, then who is?" The "if I'm not for myself, then who is for me?" didn't come to annul, to cancel out the fact that I'm actually the one acting.
We think that it comes to cancel that, right? In the beginning I say, "if I'm not for myself, then who is?" And then later, I say, no, I didn't do anything, I acted, I didn't do anything, it's all the Creator, He did everything, there's None Else Besides Him, and I'm just, I was mistaken. Now I discovered that it was a mistake. That's not right. I didn't discover that it's a mistake. I do actually have free choice, and in the end, ultimately, I connect these two threads together, where I and He are here, on equal footing, in a coupling, like two partners. I'm not annulled. I am annulled… The horse annuls itself before the rider, if it thinks that it's in charge. Look, we don't have the words exactly here, I don't want to continue or we'll just get confused. They both ultimately exist in the end. Yes, otherwise, there would not be a vessel. Otherwise, there won't be a vessel. If it's annulled, if that vessel is annulled, what will exist, Nefesh? It has to have NRNHY, full power, full intensity, all of its power, all of the overcomings it makes. By that, it becomes a true man. He gains stature.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:59) He says that if a person feels the importance, for example, that he gave with the ADMOR, so he says, I don't know, he says that if he feels good, he does it. And anything that we do, like the work in the group, or dissemination, or the study, we basically do it because we have some importance of the Creator, or we wish to attain that. But as long as we are essentially in concealment, we don't have the true importance, so we can't do it in the correct form. And you say that if we wish to arrive at removing the concealment, then that too is not good. So how do you put these things together?
M. Laitman: So, meaning if we have some source of light, pleasure, and that pleasure, if I'm ready to receive it, then I enjoy it. But if I'm not ready to receive it, then it's to my detriment, as he says. Like when you scratch and you scratch some itch, some skin disease, it's then not to your benefit. It makes it worse. So in short, there are many, many examples. So I need to be sure that if, well, if I have the mind to contend with that, if I have the power to contend with the pleasure, if I allow myself to enjoy it only according to, well, if that thing will cause good to me or cause bad, and it doesn't cause bad, for that I need forces, a force of resistance against my will. And I also need to recognize what is good and what is bad, and to see what then emerges.
There are people who can maintain a diet, and I can't, I can't, so I'm weak, so I suffer, true. And they don't suffer. They even enjoy the fact that they're restraining themselves. They enjoy the fact that they're gaining a better, well, better health, a better situation. They're more vital. And I can't. I don't have the power for that. I eat stuff that I shouldn't, and I'm sick, and even though I'm not enjoying it, I also eat myself up, that I'm not good enough. I don't have the power to do it. What can I do? It's good if I would have had that strength, but I don't. What can I do? So they did it through various tactics, actions. They go into whatever social circles, and they hear things about it there, get brainwashed. Usually, it's psychological influence. And then they acquire a screen against all these temptations, and they're ready to stand against it, and by that, they acquire a good state. They recognize what's bad. They recognize what's good, and not just the recognition, through that recognition, they acquired a shield. That's great. They can reach a better life, and I can't. So what are you asking?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:28) If we are under concealment then it does not matter how much we will be increasing the importance of the Creator between us or perform various actions, we will not be able to truly feel His importance.
M. Laitman: I don't know what you're talking about. We don't see the Creator, we do see the Creator. It doesn't matter. What's important is the brainwashing I get from the society. I cannot see Him, and actually, tell me in truth, does He exist? Does He not exist? What do you care? You're now going to receive from this society its ideals, right? Let's say, they say it exists on some special planet somewhere, and we need to constantly study it and value it. You have all sorts of societies, and then you go into that, and your life begins to revolve around that same idea that they have. That's it. What does it matter if it exists or not? You're told look, there are so many such things; they're always falling, temporary things, transient in our world, right? Well, so what? And you can see how people engage in it, meaning it doesn't matter at all if it's true or not. You don't need the revelation of the Creator for this; you only need this brainwashing from the society. Look, how every beast in the street, all the Muslims and Christians and everyone, everyone have some kind of brainwashing, right? That this exists, and that, it compels them to act in certain ways, people are willing to give their lives over it. But is it true? Is it not true? Do they understand anything? Do they not? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The thing is that the society has this power to compel a person to think a certain way. So, there's no reason to complain about the Creator not being revealed because of which you cannot perform some actions. He tells you how you can get to that: receive power from the society, receive the power from the group. Don't say that you don't have any option. You do.
If you don't want the group, the society, that's your business. It's written, "Either fellowship or death." It's written that way, very simple. You can see what Baal HaSulam writes, what's written in the Zohar, Rabash, they all write it. Why are you establishing a new Torah, a new teaching? The Creator will not be revealed. Forget about it. He won't be revealed. Maybe He doesn't exist, He doesn't exist. Why do you care? I don't understand. Just tying this one thing to the other. He doesn't exist, and that's why you need to say, "If I'm not for myself, then who is?" He does not exist. Simple: I am the only one who exists. That is, "If I'm not for myself, then who is?" And now it depends on me what will come from this action. It depends only on me, that's it. So, stand on that, and until you pass this point, nothing will help. And don't run from it, also. So this is the goal in front of you. Let's say, you have some exam coming up, and if you don't pass that exam, you can't get a job, whatever you want to do. Forget about it, right? So now, you're just before that, and imagine that you're before that exam. And if you can't succeed in it, then nothing will help you. That's it. So you have to organize a society around you that will influence you such that instead of the importance of the Creator, He will be revealed to you now in an infinite way. That's what the society needs to give you, that depiction. That's why the whole world exists and everything around you this way. You need to use it that way. Because of that, the Creator now appears to you as this world. He sets this before you instead of His own revelation so that through this kind of revelation towards you, which is called “this world” - it's Him, actually, but He's revealed to you in this way, in this form - He wants you to now work. So relate to Him that way. He's everything. The walls, the houses, the people, everything that you have here, it's all Him. And don't look for anything else to exist on this degree. It won't, because this is Him. This is already the state. Why does He need to be revealed to you in a different form? Because this is what you want, right? This, for your will, for your state, for your inner state now, is how it has to be. How can he skip a degree? Because the Creator is the general law. He can't work above the laws. When we say that there are miracles, right, it's all with respect to us. But the Creator is the general law of the whole of reality. He is that very law, the law He gave and will not transgress.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:16) If we say that we need to relate to the Creator in such a way that I just have to say, "If I'm not for myself, then who?"and that's it?
M. Laitman: You know what? You do whatever you want and say whatever you want. Now just link it to the society; that's the beginning of the path, and you're all running away from this, all of you. Each one now sinks into his group, and you know, a problem for many is half a comfort. So, that's our group, that's my group, so you don't want to change any state.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:07) A person doesn't think of the reward and punishment?
M. Laitman: You always talk about a person in his day-to-day; we're not talking about a regular person's day, we're talking about ourselves.
Student: If I have to do it that way then I will be sitting here for eight hours, he wouldn't go to work.
M. Laitman: Calm down, calm down.
Student: And what about thinking about the punishment that the Creator is going to give me? So, one doesn't have that awareness. What is that awareness? That you're trying, that you always remember that He exists, that He's there.
M. Laitman: You, listen. Let me also put a word in edgewise. You're right in saying that the Lord is always in front of me, before me. The question is, how to use that? You know, the holy Torah itself can be either the potion of life or a potion of death. The very worst thing in life, in reality, can be the Torah. The same Torah which comes from the same source, it can also be a potion of death. When you say, "The Lord is always in front of me," if it doesn't cancel… Look, I'm talking about us, not about the people you talk about who are somewhere roaming the streets, right? I'm talking about us. You say, "The Lord is always in front of me," and "there's no one else besides Him." If these things cancel out my own self, it's bad. It prevents work from me, search, exertion, and ultimately the recognition of the Creator and adhesion with Him. Why? The whole difference why Kabbalah is called the work of God, and the whole world thinks they're engaged in serving God, and Kabbalah is just some nonsense that isn't necessary, secrets, various things. They don't understand that the true work of the Lord is only the wisdom of Kabbalah; nothing else. Because in Kabbalah, you work with the left line, with yourself. You discover, "If I'm not for myself, then who is?" And in popular Judaism, they don't do that, and rightly so, because they don't have the power to do that. They don't awaken in the person, "If I'm not for myself, then who is?" It's only “there's none else besides Him.” God bless, that's it. And I'm not counting that out, God forbid. The level of coarseness that the people in general have, well, that's how it should be for them. They think I'm against it. I'm not against it. How could you be against it? It's nature. You can't give them more than that.
But if you're talking about us, we came here in order to recognize and know the Creator, to get close to Him, to build our vessels. So then, without "there's none else besides Him," without me annulling the Creator and placing myself, my I, in the action, I can't advance. You remember, we read that article about the still, vegetative, animate, speaking in Shamati. Who is the speaker, the highest degree? One who goes against the Creator, as if canceling the presence of the Creator and acting by himself. By that, I determine myself. In that, I'm unique, I'm special. The nature that He set in me, I say no to that. I myself want to determine my nature. I want to agree with what You created in me and to be in thoughts like You. This independence sets me against Him. This is called the two faces of ZON on equal level, one opposite the other, in one embrace and one coupling. The coupling between them is also a coupling by striking, Zivug de Hakaa. And that you mustn't give to the general population, because they don't have the power for that.
M. Laitman: (01:09:50) So, there are many things to this. So, you're talking about the people you see in the synagogue over there. It's fine. I'm not saying, you know, they're good people. That's how they act. "The Lord is always before me," and that's it. True. But for us, it's not like that. "The Lord is always before me." In my work, I can say, "No, excuse me, now it's me, not You." This is called the left line that I'm going to build. I will ask Him for the strength, of course, the strength to be independent, to go against Him. There is a thing, and it's opposite in this, where it seems that the Kabbalist wants to cancel the existence of God, right? He rebels against it, as if, right, in "The Last Generation," he writes there, he wants to know the Creator, and what does he write there? He wants to… right, heresy also, to go against Him in heresy, right? If it's that, it's the same thing. I'm talking about my independence, and if a person has the power not to annul and give up his independence towards the Creator, this is called, "My sons have defeated me." Then he truly rises, and that's what we're trying to do. And that is good in His eyes, because every father wants his son to be even better than he is, and he's proud if that's the case, and he doesn't want him to remain a baby with no independence and nothing.
Yes, you see, he says there, regarding propaganda, satisfying needs, because in each person there is an unknowable spark demanding unity with the Creator, wanting to unite, right? But how does it happen that a person goes towards adhesion with the Creator? The general population aren't in adhesion. They're like, oh, they are, they're like a womb, they're like, rather, the seed within the womb. They annul themselves, and they don't exist, but if one wants to truly unite with God, what happens when he awakens, sometimes with lust, desire to know God, or to rebel against Him, and it's the same thing. How can it be? Heresy, what could be worse? Yes, if I don't rebel against Him, then there won't be a place where I exist, the self. But then, from that, you later rise. So, our path is very special, very precise, and we need to do it by way of intensive care.
Student: Yes, every time I do something, I think it's not enough.
M. Laitman: You're right. Meaning, a person on the path is never satisfied, and never calm, and he does want more, and that's a satisfaction. That is a satisfaction, and you can't tell it to the masses, because they have to be satisfied now, and now they have to feel good, thank God, and you know. That's a different degree of coarseness. There's still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. The still, vegetative, and animate, nature works on them. They are conducted by nature, just like the rider that rides the horse, and the horse does 100% of what the jockey does to it, and he has to say, “Thank God, thank God, thank God.” By this, he's also on coarseness of root of holiness. But if you want to be more than that, so he has to see how, with his additional coarseness, he doesn't agree with the landlord from his own nature, and does perform a correction to agree with the landlord from his own desire, and it could be that, no, he could be against the landlord. That's why it's not an easy path, and it's not for everybody. That's why Kabbalah, it's for, you know, the individuals, the individuals that merit this, that they got a bigger desire than to be the still, vegetative, or animate. They have to be a speaking. And that desire you have to develop in a very special way: give it independence, and Torah, and guidance how to do it. That's why it takes years. Because this desire, it's also dangerous, and you can't coerce a person into this. Also, in performing the beastly commandments, you can't really force a person to do this. These things have to come out of a person, only independently. What can you do? Maybe we'll go and study a bit?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:16:07) You said that the law is permanent, it doesn't change. So how does this work out with… you said the law does not change. It's permanent, it doesn't change. So how does it nevertheless happen?
M. Laitman: The law that the Creator created is determined and doesn't change. That means, what does it mean that it doesn't change? It's the law of equivalence of form. Towards us, there's one law that determines everything. The law of equivalence of form. To the extent that I'm equivalent to the Creator, that equivalence of form determines my state, my place, the measure of the way I accept life, light. That's it. That's the law. Now, how does this law interpret in all kinds of states, degrees, relationships, how the law itself presses on the created being to bring him to equivalence of form, it all comes out of that one law. But that's it. That's towards us. Towards oneself, that’s afterward, we might be rewarded to see what it is, but towards us, it's the law of equivalence of form. That's it.