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

Daily Morning Lesson: August 31, 2025 

Part 1: Recorded lesson - Nov 10, 2021

Baal HaSulam. Shamati 56. Torah Is Called Indication

Reader: In the first part of the lesson, we will learn from a lesson from November 10, 2021, Shamati 56, “Torah is called Indication.” It's in the writings of Baal HaSulam, Volume 2. 

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): (00:24) Torah Is Called Indication

Torah is called “indication”, from the words “shot through.” It means that when one engages in the Torah, he feels his remoteness to the extent of his exertion in the Torah. In other words, he's shown the truth, meaning he's shown them his measure of faith,

according to his remoteness. In other words, how can we say about a person, if he's learning Torah, not just some knowledge, to know what is written with his egoistic intellect. But rather, he is learning in order to advance, to know the Creator. So, according to his measure, if he tries, and tries correctly, so, according to this, he should actually feel his remoteness, that he's far. 

In other words, he's shown the truth, 

which he didn't see before

meaning, he is shown his measure of faith, 

how close or not close he is to the Creator, 

which is the whole basis of the truth. To the extent, the basis of observing Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is on one's measure of faith.

In other words, all we need is to come to devotion to the Creator, that's it. And here we are shown, as we are learning Torah, when we learn the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is called the internality of the Torah, then we feel that we are opposite, that we are moving away. People who don't study the wisdom of Kabbalah, who don't study - it’s called the wisdom of truth, they don't feel that they're moving away. For them, they keep adding and adding. First of all, knowledge. But those who study not knowledge, but Torah, they feel that they are opposite, moving further and further away. Previously they were better, now they're worse. Previously they understood more, now they understand less. In other words, in both mind and heart, in both, they feel themselves that they have become less than before. 

In other words, he's shown the truth, meaning he's shown his measure of faith, which is the whole basis of the truth. 

To the extent that he has faith, the whole basis of observing Torah and Mitzvot is built on that. 

since then, it appears to him that his whole basis is built only on the upbringing he received. 

In other words, the way he studied all kinds of teachings at school, let's put it this way. 

This is because rearing is sufficient for him to keep Torah and Mitzvot in all its intricacies and details 

Meaning he does what's required. He comes, he attends lessons, he studies, he even performs all the activities that he needs to, that he understands. And everything that comes through rearing is called faith within reason. In other words, this is the life of a regular person who engages in all kinds of teachings, belief systems. 

Even though this is against one's mind, meaning reason necessitates that according to one's addition in the Torah, so one should feel closer to the Creator. However, as it's written above, the Torah always shows him more of the truth.

(05:08) Meaning to what extent, if you’re learning Torah, meaning the wisdom of Kabbalah. The wisdom of Kabbalah is called the true Torah, so if he's learning the real wisdom of Kabbalah, when he learns, so that when he learns, he draws on himself the reforming light, even to the smallest extent.  When he doesn't know it, but he's in this environment, he's in the group, he hears about what he needs to do, then through the Ten, even if he's not that connected to them and doesn't feel all those things, he doesn't hear that he needs to be corrected; still, gradually, it works on him. And then he begins to feel some changes, and these changes begin to show him that he is in darkness, in a discent, misunderstanding, confusion, he doesn't know where he is, what is this world, but it's in his feelings, not in his intellect. In his feelings, he begins to see how lost he is.

Even though it is against one's mind, 

Meaning that the more he learns, he feels that he's less than before, lower than before. 

meaning reason necessitates that according to one's addition in the Torah,

meaning in his studies, intellectually, 

so one should feel closer to the Creator.

That he understands more, feels more, he comes to know this upper force.

However, the Torah always shows him more of the truth.

Meaning not the state of the world; he's not studying it as some sort of physics, astronomy, he is studying this on himself, and therefore everything depends on his inner vessels, his own inner vessels. Where within me are the microscopes, telescopes, all those instruments by which I can come through connection to them and correct work with my inner instruments, how can I come to the Creator? According to what we learn, my inner instruments are the group, where to the extent that I connect to the friends and together with everyone, it's as if I connect to all kinds of instruments by which I later discover the Creator. In Hebrew, the word vessels and instruments is the same - vessels, Kelim. So this is when a person

searches for the truth, then the Torah brings him closer to the truth

Meaning we learn that in every person there is this point from the Creator, which is called a part of God from above, and that part exists in everyone, but it may be more standing out or less standing out. He sees that when they walk into the room where they are learning, and one comes out to teach, or I have found one person out of a thousand. There are all kinds of sayings that say that this point that burns in a person is one part out of a thousand, over the whole planet. That too is a lot. I wish one person out of a thousand people in the world would come to us. So, what we want is to disseminate as much as possible, so that as many people as possible come, and that will help us get closer to the Creator. So, what happens in the meantime? He says this, 

although it is against his mind, meaning reason necessitates it according to one's addition in the Torah, so one should feel closer to the Creator. However, the Torah always shows him more of the truth.

(09:58) And then he feels each time how far he is from the Creator, but previously he didn't see it. It's not like the Torah pushed him away from the Creator and then he saw that he was worse, and worse, and worse. The Torah doesn't make him worse. What the Torah does is it shows him how opposite he is from the Creator, meaning

it shows him the truth, and that's when a person searches for the truth. Then the Torah brings him closer to the truth, and he sees his measure of faith in the Creator. 

Meaning how far he is from the Creator. Meaning the more he learns, the farther he feels himself from the Creator, and therefore if he doesn't have a point in the heart that connects him to the Creator - one point, and around it all the other qualities that show him how opposite he is from the Creator, but that point, that inner point in a person has to be in connection with the Creator, and then a person will not run away. Because to him that point is more important than all the other qualities, understandings, whatever he has. As long as he constantly finds its source of life, the Creator, and in those in whom this point is still not clarified enough, they leave. We see such people, such friends that we had, and they left, they'll come back, but who knows, maybe in this life, maybe soon, or maybe who knows when, but everyone is still in the same field that the Creator is managing, governing. In other words, the Torah shows a person the truth of where he is with respect to nearing the Creator, and this is why our first phases are such that we feel ourselves more and more opposite. This is why it is written, “he who is greater than his friend,” who exerts more in getting closer to the friends and to the Creator, “his inclination is greater than him.” He feels his inclination, his evil inclination, is greater. Then it's as if the Torah, instead of correcting him, which would make sense to him, it shows him the truth, how far he is. And it's not like yesterday he was closer and he's farther today, but yesterday he didn't see it, and today he does, and tomorrow he will see even more and more. So, when we come to the end, we feel ourselves, before the final and complete adhesion, we feel ourselves as the farthest, farthest, and from there we come to the deepest adhesion. 

This is so when a person searches for the truth, then the Torah brings him closer to the truth,

To the truth, that's the right word here.

it brings him closer to the truth, and he sees his measure of faith in the Creator.  This is so that he would be able to ask for mercy and pray for the Creator to bring him genuinely closer to the Him,

To the truth, meaning although I see how far I am, I don't ask the Creator to erase this gap between me and Him which now appeared as a greater distance, even as opposite, no, but to allow me to nevertheless, over that distance, to get closer to Him. So I have both the coarseness of being far, and adhesion, which is closeness. I need to have both, coarseness and adhesion, or what is called refinement. I need both. Because in the coarseness, I discover my true nature. And in adhesion, I discover my nature of the Creator. And then, in this way, we come to connection between us. So again, 

(15:16) When a person searches for the truth, the Torah brings him closer to the truth and he sees his measure of faith in the Creator. This is so that he would be able to ask for mercy and pray for the Creator to bring him genuinely closer to Him, to be rewarded with faith in the Creator. Then he will be able to give praise and gratitude to the Creator for having been granted, being brought closer to Him. 

To the extent that the Creator reveals my oppositeness from Him, I ask Him, on top of this coarseness, to bring me closer. Give me the same qualities as yours. And then, a person becomes comprised of two: the quality of bestowal and the quality of reception. And in this way, he can be in adhesion with the Creator, even though initially he is opposite from Him.

However, when he does not see the measure of his remoteness,

So that each time he is in connection with the Ten, in connection with the lessons each day, learning, 

So when a person doesn't see his measure of remoteness and thinks that he's constantly adding, you find that he builds all the buildings on a rickety basis,

So this is not the wisdom of Kabbalah already, it's the wisdom, the Torah of the general public.

and he has no place to pray for the Creator to bring him closer to Him.

He doesn't feel remoteness. So why should he ask to be brought closer? He doesn't have it as a lack, a deficiency.

It follows that he has no place for exertion to be imparted whole faith, since one exerts only for what one needs. Hence, as long as one is not worthy of seeing the truth,

He hasn't ripened within for it,

it is the opposite. The more one adds in Torah and Mitzvot, one adds in the measure of his wholeness,

He feels himself as more complete

and does not see any deficit in himself. 

It's called, he adds each day, each day, he feels more whole, prouder, that he knows more. We see this on the people around us. 

Therefore, he has no place to exert and pray to be granted faith in the Creator in truth, 

Meaning, the quality of bestowal that can be when his ego is revealed. Because when he feels corruption, then you can talk about correction. But when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot in truth, the Torah shows him the truth. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is called the wisdom of truth. 

because the Torah has that power to show one's true state of faith. 

It's his level of faith. And in parenthesis, Rabash  adds, and this is the meaning of make his sin known. Meaning, then a person discovers his sin, his participation in the sin of Adam HaRishon.

When one engages in Torah and sees the truth, meaning his measure of remoteness from spirituality, and sees that he is such a lowly being, that there is not a worse person than him on earth,

It's a necessary feeling that we have to come to. And it comes from within, and there's nothing you can do with it, you don't ask for it. It just comes and you feel that there is no one worse, lowly, despicable, selfish. There's no one lower than you. 

(20:16) then the Sitra Achra [other side] comes to him with a different argument: In fact, his body is really very ugly. And it is true that there is not an uglier person in the world than him. 

Why does she do it? So he will despair. That's why she tells him this. Because from a person's despair, our ego actually becomes filled. 

since she is afraid, 

The Sitra Achra, our ego, 

that he will notice and come to correct his state. For this reason, she agrees to what one says, that he is an ugly person, and lets him understand that if he had been born with higher skills and better qualities, he could have overcome his evil and corrected it, and he would have been able to achieve adhesion with the Creator.

If he were born with better qualities and skills, if he had greater inner power, if he had the ability to cope with his ego, as some people are strong. But he can't. He is weak. Very simple. He's a rag. As Rabash said about me, well, now you feel that you're a rag, just like I am. He actually appreciated that feeling of being a rag, because that feeling awakens every now and again, every step of the way, actually, until the end of correction. Until the end of correction, we reveal our ego, which drops us. 

The answer to this should be that what she tells him, the Sitra Achra is brought concerning Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, that he came from a high tower from his teacher's house. He was riding his donkey,

Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon. They were both sitting in the cave and writing the Book of Zohar. So when he came from his father's house, along the way,

he was strolling on the riverbank, and he was very happy. And his mind was crude, 

Meaning all of a sudden he started becoming proud. He felt that he was good, that he was a great person, that he's happy. Why? Because the Torah showed him the truth, he was in his ego, because he was learning much Torah. And then a person came across him. He came across this person. In other words, within him, he felt that there was another person who was very ugly. So he asked that person within him, 

“Hello, rabbi”, but he did not reply. He said to him, “How ugly is that person? Are all your townspeople as ugly as you?” 

Meaning, is it usual to have it this way?

So he replied, I do not know, but go and tell the craftsman who made me, 

Why are you complaining to me that I'm ugly? Go to the Creator who created me and complain to Him. 

“How ugly is this vessel you have made.” Because he knew that he had sinned, he knew that he had sinned, he descended from the donkey.

(25:03) He left his pride, his substance, his substance, his material, and descended from it.

According to the above, we can see that since he learned much Torah, through it he was granted seeing the truth. 

What is the truth? 

What was the distance between himself and the Creator, meaning, the measure of his remoteness and nearness. 

What is the distance? 

This is the meaning of his mind being crude, meaning that he saw the complete form of one who is proud of this ego, which is his will to receive. And then he could see the truth, that it was he himself who was that very ugly person. How did he see the truth? By learning much Torah. 

In other words, the Torah explains to us, shows us, how broken we are since the breaking of Adam HaRishon, and what we should correct.

Thus, how will he be able to adhere to the Creator, since the person is so ugly? This is why he asked if all the people were as ugly as him. Or was he the only ugly one, and the rest of the people are not ugly? What was the answer? “I don't know.” 

What do you mean, I don't know? 

It means that they do not feel, and therefore do not know.

I can't speak for everyone, each one according to his feeling, to the extent that the Creator reveals to a person that he is opposite from Him.

And why do they not feel? It is for the simple reason that they were not rewarded with seeing the truth, since they lack Torah, so the Torah will show them the truth.

Meaning, they're not learning the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of truth, which will reveal to them how opposite and far they are from the Creator, and by what they can come closer to Him. 

To that, Elijah replied to him,

Elijah is a special illumination from above, which usually brings us scrutinies. 

“Go to the craftsman who made me,” 

Elijah said. Meaning he had this insight about what I need to do. Go to the craftsman who made me. The Creator made you. He made you this way. You can only turn to Him, and only from Him will you receive the powers, the answer.

Because he saw that he came to a state from which he could not ascend, 

he was really in a decline, 

Elijah appeared to him and told him, “Go to the craftsman who made me.” In other words, since the Creator created you so ugly, He must have known that with these vessels, it is possible to achieve the goal.

He's actually showing you everything that's opposite from the goal, so you would need the goal. And you would need the Creator. And then the goal, the Creator, and your ugly state, when they connect together, it will be the right vessel and the upper light, and the Creator will be revealed between the ugly vessel and the complete upper light. 

So do not worry. Go forward and succeed.

This is what we need to do.

Question (ITA 1): (29:57) This attention that I pay to myself, when I discover how ugly I am, is that in contrast to the matter of annulment that we should perform? 

M. Laitman: Why? They're not contradictory. I am learning. I am discovering my state, according to the state that is revealed to me from above, through the reforming light. I discover that I am weak. I'm an egoist. I don't want to correct myself. I don't want to connect to the friends. I am better, smarter. Along with it, they're not contradictory, I can discover that I know nothing, and at the same time, I can discover that I'm above everyone. It works out easily in an egoist, these things that seemingly cannot be together, cannot go hand in hand. 

Question (Hadera 2): (31:11) So, I check my attitude through the friends, throughout the day. How much do I think about them? How much am I willing to annul before them, to invest in them? That's my measurement. How is that related to the matter of studying the Torah? 

M. Laitman: The study of Torah is called, that I learn about the structure of the world's Partzufim. When I learn about the importance of connection, when I learn about the process, which went through the lights and vessels, how the Creator made these actions. To the extent that I learn this, then I am tied to His actions, and through His actions, that's called “from your actions, I shall come to know you.” From His actions, I begin to become familiar with Him. By the study, I awaken upon myself all sorts of these forces, lights, that they influence me, and then more and more, they match me, they make me suitable, my broken vessels, to those same actions that the Creator made. And it turns out, that if I study on the intention to get closer to the Creator, to become familiar with Him, to resemble Him, then all our study influences such. And so we need to pay attention how much we're changing from day to day, and that seemingly they change for the worse, that today I become cruder, more vulgar, more intellectual, less emotional. That's also results, meaning we need to go through all these things, and the main thing for us is to continue and continue to study, to read, and connect.

Student: How's that connected to the relation to friends? How to relate it to my relation to the friends? One day I see them as great, then I'm willing to serve them, to work for them, invest in them, another day I'm saying, what's my connection with them altogether? 

M. Laitman: That's precisely what they show you, that according to your ego, you say, what do I care? I don't even want to be tied to them, on one hand. On the other hand, because there is a bit of illumination influencing you, then you say, no, no, no, this is very important for me, this is my soul, that each friend that appears to me in his face, right? It's not his face, it's not what I'm seeing. The Creator gave us in such an opportunity in a manner to identify the souls by our faces, but when we'll reach states that we will feel the lights and vessels, then I won't see these faces. I will see vessels and the lights in them, and these will be my friends. I won't see now, let's say, before me I see a thousand faces, right? No, I won't see them. Just like, even in our world, that we become familiar with a person, and then his face, his externality, it doesn't explain everything to me, right? I feel his internality, because he's my friend, he's my relative, I've seen him a lot, I've become familiar with him. So we don't see a person just as he is on the outside. By us, this external appearance is mixed with the internal impression, right? That's the persona of a person, and so such and such, we will feel the friends and see in them the internality. When I look at the friends, and actually such I'm relating to what I’m familiar with in them. This one like that, and this one the other way, and the third one another way. Each one invites in me some different impression. 

Question (Kyiv 2): (36:20) In the text it was said that the Sitra Achra comes to him and says to him that he's correct, that he's ugly, and there's no one uglier than him, so that he will come to despair. What does that mean? 

M. Laitman: Yes, this is revealed by the light that reforms. The Creator reveals this, how much a person is ugly, how much his ego is huge, how much it's eating him, burying him, and he has no chance to reach some correction. And in this a person is very much weakened, and this is the work of the Sitra Achra, the other side, the shells. It has a lot of different type of influences on us, and we need such to work with it. What will help me? Connection with the friends, because no person can save himself. Yes, no prisoner can free himself from the prison, and so there are states that I have no chance to do anything, and I'm expectant of the friends. Maybe not even expectant that the friends will save me, rather we need to look at such friends in the group, and then take them out by force. If they fell, we need to come to them, to catch them, to shake them up, right, and bring them out back to us. Because there are states that a person can't get out of them. Actually, the more we progress and acquire connection with the friends, then we enter such states that only the friends can save you, because you're already tied to them, and through one, through the other, the Creator gives such opportunities that will strengthen the connections between us, and that's only by such events. That a person begins to look down at everything, wants to leave. So all those same people who left us, ran away, and didn't want to be together with us, we need to be prepared to take them in return, take them back. That's it, because there's no such thing that we can't take a person back. If he wants to return, ultimately, even that he left, it doesn't matter in what manner, in what way, what outbursts and whatnot, ultimately, we will need to take him back, and he will be among us and successful. 

Question (Moscow 7): (39:45) There's a point that is a little difficult that I can't understand. It's written in the end. The question was why, and the answer is, I don't know, meaning something that they don't feel, so they don't know, and why don't they feel? Because and then you can see the truth. If we have to move this to our work, if ugliness in a certain friend appears, I ask the friend, do you see this ugliness? They can say, I don't know, we don't see. Does that mean that the truth was not disclosed to them? After all, the friend is the mirror to my qualities, so why do they not know? 

M. Laitman: For each one, there is their own revelation. We will need to connect between us, above, all that we reveal in the friends. For me, a friend is that he yearns for the goal, and he comes to the lessons, and as much as he's capable, however much he's capable, he connects to the friends. So he's yearning for the goal, that's called Kudsha Brich Hu [The Holy One, Blessed be He], and by this, that he's participating with us in the lessons, and connecting with the group, that's telling us that he's called Israel, Yasher El, that's called a friend, connection, that's it. If he leaves that, he falls. What is an exit? It's a falling from the spiritual state that was, and he fell from it. So there are those who fall not too far, and then we can pull them, or that he himself comes in return, and with each and every one, maybe it happens a few times a day, right? Not like Baal Shem Tov, that happened to him in maybe 200 times in five minutes. And there are those who are thrown very far. And here it's work, on the side of a person, if he can, yes, surely he needs to do the maximum, not to leave his habits, because habit becomes second nature. Yes, he must come to the lesson, nonetheless and do all the things. But if not, then as we learned, it's the Ten that has to help him. These are things that we've already learned. 

Student: The question here is, after all, the friends cannot be not corrected. 

M. Laitman: Who told you that they're not corrupted? They're also corrupted, like you. We're all corrupted. There is one way of perception and another way. Because besides me, the whole world is corrected. There's different approaches to correction, so don't take everything as some foundation that you can't move off of. You won't be able to... We learned states, changes of states, relations between different states, and this that besides me, everything is corrected, that's true on one hand. On the other hand, if I relate to everything that way, I won't be flexible, I won't learn the states. And I also won't be able to understand the others in the group, my friend.

Reader: In the second part of the lesson, we will learn from the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” a lesson from the 23rd of August, 2006. It's in the writing of Baal HaSulam, the Preface to Kabbalah,” a lesson from the 23rd of August, 2006. It's in the writing of Baal HaSulam, the Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, we will be in item 112.