The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 21, 2026
Reader: Hello dear friends. In the first part, we will study the Rav's lesson from the 15th of July, 2002 based on the article, What Are A Layperson's Vessels, in the Work? We will read the article together in the Ten. We have thirty-three minutes for that.
Reading:
(00:50)
What
Are
“A
Layperson’s
Vessels,”
in
the
Work?
Article No. 34, 1990
The Midrash writes (BeHaalotcha 15:8), “‘Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light are alike.’ To us, it says, BeHaalotcha [when you mount] (the candles), what is this like? Like a king who had a man who loved him. The king said to him, ‘Know that I will be dining at your place; go and set it up for me.’ The man who loved him went and set up a layperson’s bed, a layperson’s lamp, and a layperson’s table. When the king came, his servants came with him, surrounding him from here and from here, and a lamp of gold in front of him. When the man who loved him saw all the glory, he was ashamed and hid everything he had prepared for him, for it was all of laypeople. The king said to him: ‘Did I not tell you that I would be dining at your place? Why have you not prepared anything for me?’ The man who loved him replied, ‘I saw all this glory that came with you and I was ashamed, so I hid everything that I had prepared for you, for they were laypeople’s vessels.’ The king said to him: ‘By your life, I suspend all the vessels I have brought, and because of your love, I use only yours. And He said to Israel, ‘Prepare for Me a lampstand and candles.’”
We should understand what the Midrash is saying, that it is an answer to what the Creator commanded about the lampstand and the candles. After all, He has everything, as it is written, “Even the darkness is not dark to You,” so the question is, Why does He need the lampstand and the candles?
The answer is that although the Creator has everything, He still wants the Kelim [vessels] of the lower one. He calls the Kelim of the lower one, “vessels of laypeople.” Hence, we should understand what are the vessels of laypeople that the Creator wants specifically them.
It is known that the desire is called Kli [vessel]. We should interpret that His desire was to do good to His creations. This is called “the Kli of the Creator,” meaning a desire to bestow. The Creator’s desire to bestow created a desire to receive delight and pleasure, everything that the Creator wants the creatures to enjoy. This is called “vessels of the lower one.”
This means that the will to receive is called “layperson and not Kedusha [holiness],” and the desire to bestow is called “a Kli of holiness.” It is as our sages said about the verse, “You will be holy.” “Can he be like Me?” This is why it is written, “For I am holy, for My holiness is above your holiness.” They asked, would anyone think of saying that man is as holy as the Creator, that you must bring evidence from the text that this is not so? Can this be? However, the meaning of “Can he be like Me?” is “As I use only the desire to bestow.”
For this reason, we can say that the people of Israel should also use only the desire to bestow, and not use the will to receive at all, as it is written, “Can he be like Me? Rather, My holiness is above your holiness,” and you cannot stay with only the desire to bestow, for you also need to use the vessels of reception, except you must place on the Kli an aim to bestow.
According to the above, we should interpret that the Kelim of the Creator are vessels of bestowal, and there is no reception there whatsoever. Rather, His only wish is to bestow. But in order not to have the bread of shame, a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were placed, by which the light shines only when there is the correction there that everything is in order to bestow. At that time, the Creator shines His light there.
By this we will understand the allegory that the king said that he wanted to dine at the place of the man who loved him and said to him, “Go and set it up for me,” meaning do the work of receiving in order to bestow, and he went and set it up. Afterward, when the light came as a desire to bestow upon the lower ones, and the receiving person, although it is in order to bestow, the Kli with which he works is the desire to receive and not to bestow. Hence, now he was ashamed that he was using the Kelim of a layperson. Although he had the intention, the act was of reception.
Therefore, the person is ashamed and does not want to engage then in receiving in order to bestow. Instead, he wants to work only with vessels of bestowal, which are the King’s Kelim. All the work that he did in order to make the intention to bestow, he concealed these Kelim, since now he was ashamed to use the Kelim of laypeople. The reason is that now he was awarded seeing the greatness and importance of the King, so he wants to work only because “He is great and ruling,” meaning that the greatness of the King makes serving a great king the most important thing.
This is the meaning of the words, “When the king came, his servants came with him. When the man who loved him saw all the glory, he was ashamed.” It follows that because of the greatness and importance of the King, he was ashamed to use laypeople’s Kelim, which are vessels of reception.
This is the meaning of the words, “The king said to him: ‘Did I not tell you that I would be dining at your place?’” We should understand what it means that the Creator dines at a person’s place. However, we should understand in general, what it means that a person should do everything for the sake of the Creator, which is in order to bring contentment to his Maker. Our sages told us that we must believe in reward and punishment, as it is written, “You can trust your landlord to reward you for your work.” This means that since the Creator needs someone to observe the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], and they are observing the Torah and Mitzvot in order to please Him, in return, the Creator pays reward.
We can understand this among people, where one needs the other to give to him, since his friend is deficient. At that time, we can speak of giving. And when his friend gives him a gift that the recipient enjoys, the recipient pays him as he deserves.
Yet, how can we say this about the Creator? Is He deficient and the lower ones can give Him something? Therefore, what does it mean that the people of Israel give work, and in return for the work, He gives reward? Also, we should understand what our sages said, “Israel provide for their Father in heaven.” What provision do they give Him by which He is sustained?
It is known that that which gives a person joy, this sustains a person, giving him satisfaction in life. A person may be making a lot of money and has enough to eat and drink, but if he has no satisfaction in life, that person is considered as having nothing to sustain him, nothing to live on, meaning some pleasure for which it is worth living, for the joy he receives.
Therefore, there are people whose satisfaction in life is only from lust. They already have provision, meaning something to sustain them, that makes living worthwhile. That is, that which gives a person satisfaction, gives him meaning to life. For this reason, there are people in the world who are rich and have no lack of money, yet are fed up with life if they have nothing in life that satisfies them. It follows that “provision” does not necessarily mean food and drink. Rather, “provision” means that which sustains a person and from which he derives satisfaction in life.
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said, “Israel provide for their Father in heaven.” That is, they give the Creator a place to carry out His will, which was to do good to His creations, a place where the Creator can give to the created beings delight and pleasure, and which the creatures enjoy and say, “We feel the delight and pleasure that He contemplated giving, that He wants to give; we are receiving the delight and pleasure.”
In other words, before we obtained the vessels of bestowal, so we can receive in order to bestow, the light of doing good to His creations could not come to the lower ones because the Tzimtzum and concealment were placed on the Kelim that were meant to receive the abundance. Hence, the thought of the Creator could not be realized. But when the people of Israel correct themselves with vessels of bestowal so they can receive in order to bestow, it is possible to carry out His will, meaning that the Creator enjoys His will having a place to be revealed.
This is called “Israel provide for their Father in heaven,” since the pleasure of the creatures from receiving delight and pleasure is the Creator’s provision. That is, the Creator enjoys His goal being carried out, and the realization of His desire to do good to His creations.
Now we can understand what we asked, What does it mean that the king said that he wants to dine and the place of the one who loves him? In corporeality, we can say that the king is dining at the place of a person who loves him, but how can we say that the Creator dines with the created beings?
The answer is that since the creatures enjoy the delight and pleasure that the Creator gives them, this is the Creator’s meal, meaning His provision, for the King’s meal, His provision, is only that the creatures receive from Him abundance. This is the meaning of “Israel provide for their Father in heaven.”
Now we will also understand the meaning of what the king told him, “I will be dining at your place; go and set it up for me. The man who loved him went and set up a layperson’s bed.” “Layperson” means vessels of reception. He corrected them so as to work in order to bestow, as it is written, “When the king came and he saw all the glory,” meaning he was rewarded with attaining the greatness of the king, he was ashamed to use the vessels of reception, even though they worked in order to bestow.
Now we will explain what the Midrash asks, “It is written, ‘Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day,’ etc. Thus, why did He say to Israel, ‘Prepare for me a lampstand and candles’”? He answers this with the allegory. But we should understand the question, and then we will be able to understand the answer that we gave with the allegory.
In the literal meaning, it is difficult to understand what is the question that the Creator said to Israel, “Prepare for Me a lampstand and candles.” Would anyone think that the lampstand and the candles are in order to illuminate for the Creator? So, what is the question that they answered with the allegory?
We should interpret that this is as it was at the time of the giving of the Torah. Our sages said (Shabbat 88), “When Moses went up to heaven, the ministering angels said to the Creator, ‘Master of the world, what is a woman-born doing among us?’ He replied to them, ‘He has come to receive the Torah.’ They said to Him: ‘Concealed delight, You wish to give it to a flesh and blood? What is man, that You should remember him? The Lord our Master, how great is Your name in all the earth, place Your majesty on the heavens.’ The Creator said to Moses, ‘Answer them.’ He said to them, ‘Did you go down to Egypt? Is there evil inclination within you?’ Promptly, they admitted to the Creator, as it was said (Psalms 8:10), “‘The Lord our Master, how great is Your name in all the earth.’ But it does not say, ‘Place Your majesty on the heavens.’ But before that (Psalms 8:2), it does write, ‘Place Your majesty on the heavens.’”
We see that the complaint of the angels was about the inferiority of the people of Israel because they have Kelim of the will to receive, called “evil inclination.” For this reason, the Torah belongs to those who are not so materialized, but to angels, who have only vessels of bestowal, as it is written (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” The Seventh Commandment, Item 225), “Elijah flew with four wings, whereas the angels with six wings.” He interprets there, in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] that the angels are discerned as above the Chazeh, namely that they are from the Chazeh and above, settling for covered Hassadim, since they have only vessels of bestowal.
Conversely, the souls come from Malchut, who is from the Chazeh and below, which is the place of revealed Hassadim, since there it is the place of the construction of Malchut, which is the collection of all the souls. They have Kelim of NHY, namely vessels of reception. Therefore, the souls need light of Hochma, which is poured only into vessels of reception.
Also, the ARI says that only the souls that ascend to MAN raise ZON to AVI to draw additional Mochin, since the souls require the light of Hochma because they have vessels of reception.
But the angels, who are regarded as from the Chazeh and above, vessels of bestowal, need only Hassadim. Therefore, when they rise to MAN to ZA to ask for fulfillment, which are only Hassadim, and ZA always has Hassadim, they do not induce any ascent in ZON. Only the souls, which need Hochma, which is drawn by the vessels of reception, and which ZA does not have permanently, therefore the souls cause the ascent of the worlds in order to draw the light of Hochma. Hence, when ZON ascend, all the worlds ascend up to Ein Sof [no end/infinity].
According to the above, we can interpret the complaint of the angels, who complained that the holy Torah, which is regarded as the names of the Creator, the internality of the Torah, which is clothed in corporeal dresses, that all of it is the revelation of Godliness to the created beings, so how can such a great thing be given to people, who are of inferior degree? Clearly, there must be equivalence with the light of the Creator in order to be able to receive it. And the light of the Creator, which is the abundance poured onto the lower ones, so the angels understood that only they have connection to the light, which is the giver, since they, too, have vessels of bestowal, and not a woman-born, where “woman” means Nukva [Aramaic: female], which means that Israel were born out of the quality of Nukva, meaning from vessels of reception, since the souls come from Malchut, who is called “the assembly of Israel.”
We should interpret what the angels asked, “What is a woman-born doing among us?” meaning after all, he comes from the quality of Malchut, which is a vessel of reception, in oppositeness of form from the Torah, which is the light of abundance. And what did Moses reply to them? “Is there evil inclination within you?” Promptly, the angels admitted to the Creator and said, “Lord, our Master, place Your majesty on the earth.”
That answer that Moses replied to the angels, “Is there evil inclination within you?” requires explanation. Did the angels not know that it speaks there about observing Mitzvot in corporeality? Do angels have bodies, that they demanded to be given, for example, a Talit [prayer shawl] and a Tzitzit [a fringed piece of garment worn under the clothes] to cover their bodies, until Moses came and told them that the Torah speaks of corporeal matters, and that the Torah can be only in those who have corporal bodies?
The angels certainly understood it, but they probably demanded that the internality of the Torah, which is the names of the Creator, be given to them. Indeed, this is difficult to understand. If the Torah is given to Israel, why can it not be given also to angels? Is it a material thing, that if you give it to one, you can no longer give it to another?
Here it is implied that the angels saw and understood that if the Torah is given to Israel, it means that the Torah can be given specifically to Israel, and not to them, meaning that they are unworthy of receiving the inner Torah, but only Israel. Otherwise, they would have to be given, too.
In other words, the revealed Torah certainly belongs only to those who have corporeal bodies. But when they heard that Moses went up to receive the Torah from the Creator, they asked, “What is a woman-born doing among us?” He told them, “He has come to receive the Torah,” and they did not know about the giving of the Torah at all, and were puzzled.
They said to Him: “‘Concealed delight, You wish to give it to a flesh and blood?’ And You did not notify us, so we, too, would receive the concealed delight.” They must have been thinking about the internality of the Torah, for “internality” means that which is concealed inside, which is considered a “concealed delight.”
This is why they complained, since they saw that the Torah, with regard to the internality of the Torah, belongs to them and not to a woman-born. In other words, they made correct arguments in their view. That is, the revealed Torah certainly belongs to Israel, but why can they not be given the inner Torah, too? And since they did not know about it, about the giving of the Torah, which shows that they have no relation, then they are right.
What did Moses reply to them? “Is there evil inclination within you?” And since you have no evil inclination, did you go down to Egypt? We should understand Moses’ reply, that if they demanded the internality of the Torah, what is the answer that Moses gave them?
The answer is that the internality of the Torah divides into two lights, called “light of Hassadim,” and “light of Hochma.” Light of Hassadim is poured in vessels of bestowal, since it extends from the Ohr Yashar [Direct Light], as we learned, Hochma at its end, after receiving the light of Hochma, which is the purpose of creation, to do good to His creations, since this delight and pleasure that He wants to impart must have someone to receive this abundance, but this did not exist yet. Therefore, He created this will to receive existence from absence, which is called Aviut [thickness] of Behina Aleph [first discernment]. That is, this is the first Behina [discernment/phase] that emerged and was revealed existence from absence, where there was no root of reception in reality.
It follows that the Kli of Hochma is a vessel of reception on the light of the purpose of creation, meaning that for this Kli, the heaven and earth were created. In other words, the whole purpose of the creation of the worlds was for this Kli to receive the delight and pleasure.
It follows that without this Kli, called “will to receive,” there is no room for the creation of the worlds. But afterward, meaning Hochma at its end, having received the light, felt that she was opposite in form from the Giver, and wanted equivalence of form. Hence, she overcame the will to receive in her and said, “I want to bestow.”
This is the root of the light of Hassadim that there is in the worlds, which is regarded as the light of the correction of creation. Afterward, Bina, at its end, saw that since the purpose of creation is for the lower ones to receive and not to give, she made a sort of compromise, to receive Hassadim with a little bit of Hochma, meaning to receive Hochma as Zeir Anpin [Aramaic: small face], called “light of Hassadim in illumination of Hochma.”
Afterward, we learn that at its end, ZA saw that the purpose of creation was not that the upper abundance, which is considered good and doing good, will illuminate in Zeir Anpin, but expansively. This is called the Sefira Malchut, which is the real Kli for reception of the abundance. In other words, the Kli of Malchut is the Kli in which the light of the purpose of creation can shine, and which the Creator wants to give to the created beings.
By this we can understand Moses’ reply when he said, “Did you go down to Egypt? Is there evil inclination within you?” Therefore, you cannot receive the inner Torah, which is the names of the Creator, since this light of the purpose of creation was only for a woman-born, meaning only for those who have a desire to receive, which is Malchut, called “female,” “a woman,” and not for angels, who have no vessels of reception, and who belong to the discernment of “from the Chazeh and above,” which are Kelim of Bina, vessels of bestowal, and not vessels of reception.
This is the meaning of the words, “Did you go down to Egypt?” That is, since there were Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment on Malchut, a correction must be done on this Kli. As long as there is no correction, it is considered that the Klipa [shell/peel] of Egypt controls the will to receive. Since you do not have the will to receive, how can it be said that you need to make a correction to work in order to bestow? After all, you have no vessels of reception for the light of the purpose of creation!
By this we understand the allegory, that this is the answer, that although He has angels above, which are pure Kelim, without vessels of reception, called “vessels of a layperson,” but are all holy, all pure,” still the Creator chose specifically the lower ones, who have Kelim of laypeople, for only in those Kelim is it possible to receive the Torah with regard to the holy names, whereas angels pertain to the correction of creation. For this reason the angels are the servants of the soul, and this is why He said to the people of Israel, “Prepare for Me a lampstand.”
Reader: We will now continue to the lesson from the 15th of July, 2002.
M. Laitman: (32:23) We heard the article from The Rungs of the Ladder, What Are a Layperson's Vessels in the Work? Meaning that the work relates only to what we can work on. What can we work on? The only thing that exists is a will to receive: what kind of will to receive belongs to the work, the Creator created the desire, how? By departing from it, meaning expelling His own presence from it and, then, an empty place remained which is the desire for the presence and the sensation of the Creator; this is the initial vessel. Now, of course, there is no independence in that vessel yet, only a deficiency for the presence of the Creator. It's just—the Creator is nature in general and this vessel is a replica, or a deficiency that comes from that, there's no created being yet. The created being means an independent force that works outside the Creator's plan, outside the desire of the Creator. Meaning against because what's outside? It means against the Creator, opposite the Creator. How does this desire which is born from the presence of the Creator and – of course, it has no independence – it doesn't feel that it is separate even one bit, even though it doesn't feel its own essence. So how can He create some quality that's independent from the Creator? If it's possible that there is one force, one desire, how can there be another force coming out, that is coming out of it, that is completely separate from it? There has to be some connection and that connection needs to bring some control, some governance, some Providence, but, no. How is that then possible to determine that the thing that will emerge from the Creator will ever be called a created being if to begin with it did not exist?
For this, the Creator created, as if, a state where two pieces of data exist at once: two qualities, His quality and the opposite of His quality, at once. Then, by comparing these two qualities comes out the created being, that's called the created being. The result, the outcome of the lack of feeling the Creator and the feeling of the Creator. And to determine from this, through this difference, the relation to the presence of the Creator, that brings about a created being. That created being is called Masach, screen, intention. Of course, this created being is born from deficiency, this deficiency needs to be unique; it's not just any deficiency, rather the deficiency from this feeling. The sensation of the Creator, the presence of the Creator to the deficiency to feel the Creator, and the deficiency to determine the attitude to the Creator, Himself.
M. Laitman: (38:27) There are three things here: this deficiency and pleasure and what we call determining the relationship, the relation between them. All of this situation, circumstance, is called light, Kli, and screen between them. When those three things exist together, then we can talk about the existence of the created being. If one of them is lacking, this concept of created being cannot exist in reality. Everything depends on the desire opposite the presence of the Creator, these two polar opposites. A person who just has some vessel of preparation, I wouldn't even call it a vessel. But one who needs to become a vessel, needs to be a created being, if he doesn't form the right desire, the correct desire for the presence of the Creator, then he can't begin in his work to determine his intention, in what way does he agree and is willing to have that presence? So, the state we begin from is attaining the correct desire. The Midrash says that the Creator turned to each of the desires and no one agreed to receive the force of correction, only a unique desire that felt itself as opposite from the Creator. That, he wants, not equivalence with the Creator but feeling the presence of the Creator alone, this desire is called Israel after the shattering. Why not the nations of the world? The nations of the world are desires that don't feel—opposite their desire—the presence of the Creator that leads them to yearn for the intention. We see that there is great work here in processing the desires to the point that they reach the correct, the true desires called Klipot, shells, desires for holiness. They are desires that are exactly aimed at spiritual concepts; and when we reach these desires, this means a person already touches on the aspect of Israel. Not in a corrected form, still in the posterior but still reaches being Israel, so who's Israel? Israel is one who feels that he's broken, that he's opposite from the Creator, and begins to understand in that status opposite the Creator that equivalence of form has to be his goal. One who doesn't feel broken and that he demands correction is called goy, nation, or gentile, he doesn't need Torah. He says, Why do we need it?
Meaning the light that reforms and that's how he remains until that power of creation called Israel corrects itself and receives the Torah and corrects itself and then becomes also light to the nations. Also from Israel, the correct deficiency expands to the rest of the desires because he finds incorporation between them and then, too, these desires called nations, they begin to want this means for correction called Torah.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:24) What is the issue of the angels which exist between us and the Creator?
M. Laitman: Angels are assistants by which the desire becomes a correct desire and receives forces to correct itself. To demand fulfillment, to fulfill itself because the desire, itself, has no possibility to make any action besides feeling itself. As we say that, any sense we have perceives through equivalence of form, something that exists on the outside. Except for that determination, determining the state, the desire cannot do more. Rather, the feeling there is in the desire, the feeling itself works, what does it mean that it works? The desire that comes to the end of the sensation which is called attainment in each and every state, by feeling, it's in feeling all of the phases of a state. The records from the next state become revealed and he moves to the next state, and in the next state, he also begins to feel how he goes through it until he comes to determining that he felt this entire state. Then, when he came to this feeling again, he moves on, meaning, the desire itself only feels what's happening to it. If so, then what's changing? His records become revealed to him and in the contact between the record and the light that's outside, the record awakens in the desire some phenomenon called sensation, what is sensation? It's a phenomenon from the record and the light inside the general desire. Where's the created being here? It's still not a created being, it's some substance made by the Creator and He put there records, which means levels of development, states of development, and the light that shines on those states of development develops them. There's nothing in it yet that can be called a created being. That matter, that substance is a sensitive substance but it's not called, created being. It's all under the rule of the Creator, and this matter doesn't even sense the presence of the Creator, it only senses the presence of pleasure opposite the records. The records are records from deficiency and pleasure. When they are realized, then they feel pleasure on top of deficiency, that's all. The created being that can be created here is the relation from this desire with the records and the light that works on it with respect, not to the pleasure but the source of pleasure.
M. Laitman: (49:10) This too comes from above because this relation also—how can the desire find it and invent it and develop it out of itself? How can such a new thing be in the world? Rather, it comes from how the source becomes revealed together with the light. However, this matter which develops by the records is able to determine that, first of all, it wants to develop only in order to feel the source, to feel that which fulfills him and not the fulfillment. And also to determine the pace of development meaning, to the extent that it wants to feel that there is no time—time is a function of desire. The more it wants to feel that which fulfills him, the landlord, that means he hastens his development, he is longing for the host more. Meaning, there's a desire here on which another desire is built and on top of that another desire is built. The initial, the original desire, is a desire for pleasures; the second desire is for the host ,and the third desire, let's say, is in resembling the host.
Only the third desire is called an independent created being, and using the previous natural desires, meaning the deficiency in the pleasure itself and feeling the host, these are things that are given to the general desire, right? Using them for the sake of determining the accordance with the host, using them is called angels—means for attaining adhesion. There are angels that work, seemingly, against adhesion and there are angels working in favor of adhesion. Every state is felt and operated only by two forms of relation to it, otherwise you can't act. These forces, one cannot be without the other in order to hold control over the situation. Therefore, there are, seemingly, good angels and bad angels opposite each other. So that by both of them you can always determine the precise progress towards the goal. These angels are not something that's born outside of the will to receive and the light. Rather, using the will to receive and the light purposefully is called angels. Meaning these are temporary forces, particular specific forces, and incidental forces that are used in a certain state in order to advance. In any state the created being is in, there are specific forces working on it so that he can feel that he advances and they, too, are called angels. You can put it like this: the inner and outer environment of the created being, how it works on him, it's called angels.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:05) A question comprising two parts: if we're talking about spirituality, then the real vessel, as we learned regardless of the will to receive for itself which is the raw substance, is actually the reflected light or intention that becomes the vessel. Why does everything, now, enter into holiness if you already made a correction and the intention came? Then, why does it matter what the vessel is? It's only the intention that matters. Also, here, he writes that the created being is ashamed even while using the intention of bestowal. He's still ashamed that the original vessel is the will to receive. First, he has to correct his own vessels of bestowal, only then he enters the teaching.
M. Laitman: Show me the excerpt you're asking about.
Student: Page 99, second paragraph, "And by this you will understand."
M. Laitman: By this you'll understand the allegory that the king says that he wants to make a meal for his lover and he said, "Go and correct for me," meaning to do the action of receiving in order to bestow and he went and corrected. Then, when the light came by way of desire to bestow to the lower ones and the receiver, even though he's in order to bestow but the vessel he's working with is the desire to receive and not to bestow. If so, he now is ashamed.
Why is he using the layperson's vessels even though he has an intention but the action is to receive?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:59) If we say that in spirituality, what matters is?
M. Laitman: I understand your question but you don't understand the answer. It means you didn't understand what he's writing afterwards. If you're asking, ask about what's afterwards, you didn't understand what he's answering, maybe. He's asking the question, he's telling you the state and then he says what he's going to explain so ask about that.
Student: I didn't understand the explanation.
M. Laitman: If you didn't understand, we need to read the whole article again. Here, there's nothing that needs to be explained, it's just the state. If I receive in order to bestow, then he says that, as if, shame remains in me because my original vessel is a receiver, right. But that vessel never disappears so, in order to bestow, corrects the shame or doesn't correct the shame, okay? That's the difference of the vessels, the layperson's vessels and other vessels that are higher. You need to read the article again, so read and ask on the forum, okay?
Student: What is that thing we call contentment?
M. Laitman: Contentment, it's feeling the Emanator after a person reaches the goal.
Student: Why is it different from one individual to another?
M. Laitman: I don't know what you're asking exactly. The vessel that we attain is a deficiency for the Creator. The initial deficiency from which He created us, the deficiency of the cow that wants to feed the calf, you understand? That deficiency, we attain, you hear? It's not my desire to receive in order to bestow, it's His desire to give to me. That desire I attain and in it I live. Then, when I fulfill this desire, then my feeling in that desire is called contentment. It's not even mine, it's not my desire, it's not an individual sensation, I don't feel myself in it, I live in Him, I feel Him, the, I, disappears. Meaning we go back to a state which is called existence and this nothingness disappears. Not that it's in order to bestow, it's above in order to bestow where the feeling is in control. It's called, in our heart, you shall rejoice in Him. It's a totally different vessel, not the vessel of the created being.
Student: How does a person scrutinize the form of this desire, this yearning because it's different for each person?
M. Laitman: There's no answer to that. Why are they different, why are we different? Everyone feels himself even after he is included with everyone because his special point of existence of absence, and each one finds in the Creator, in the thought of creation he finds himself. Everyone needs to reach the thought of doing good to the created beings, the thought of creation is His, not mine. I need to become reintegrated in that though, so everyone needs to be included in that thought. Of course, we are all together and we are all one vessel but this individuality, this singularity remains.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:15) The Creator created the will to receive and then departed from it and that is called a vessel. We learned here that the first restriction is an action performed by the vessel. Is there a gap, a difference, or no?
M. Laitman: What we refer to as actions in spirituality, we basically say that the vessel did it. When does the vessel do it – when does it not do it? An action is never made by the Kli. The fact we say that the light comes and the screen repels, and then it thinks how much to receive and so on. Tell me, if you were researching, you have the biologist there, right. So when you investigate some cell and how it works, you put some acid in it and then it starts behaving in a certain way. Or you know, it's like when we work with a computer, you say, I do this. It does that. What does it mean, It does that, you just don't know how it's supposed to behave. Maybe the computer has some illness and it causes its behavior. What, does it have a choice? If you knew the whole system, you would have no doubt how it's going to behave, you would know its behavior in advance. Why do you need an expert? Because an expert knows the system, he knows why the behavior happens. The expert doesn't look at the character of the computer, he comes to some system or some computer and says, for this input you need to get that output and so on, right? Any system itself is a black box, I don't care what happens inside but I know there's ins and outs, ins and outs or there's some mishap. I put something in and nothing comes out, or not what should be, so that needs a correction. That's called an illness or a mishap or a malfunction – same thing with us in any body. Biological, mechanical, electrical, it doesn't matter, if you know exactly what is its inner system, there's no problem knowing how it's going to behave—just input and output.
Yesterday, I went to give blood and they gave me thirty parameters saying, Oh, this is not good, this is not good. Meaning, according to the output of the system, they see something's wrong with the system. But the system, itself, does it have any free choice, how to behave? The body determines if it's going to behave this way or another way? No. So, when we're talking about all the Partzufim, the worlds, even souls, even the souls that seem to have free choice—it's not free choice behavior because of light and vessel and what happens between them. There's nothing, there's no hacks here, it's all known in advance, it's a fixed match, so-to-speak. There's a parameter being determined above them, above them in the feeling of the Emanator. And, also, the feeling of the Emanator is something that is premeditated from above. We're talking only about the relation to the things that happen, so this relation also has to be – how to put it – legal, predetermined. Where is there any, What happened here? that could be in some choice in me? This is what we don't know, this is what's called, above reason. If we investigate all our actions and everything that works on us, you're not going to find any free parameter. It can't be, according to reason, it can't be; rather, this free parameter is what's called a spiritual parameter. That, the will to receive that's in some situation can determine that it wants to rise above it. Determining this desire can truly be free, not with respect to the Creator, but with respect to the created being, this is called, above reason. It only exists in the spiritual world, it doesn't exist in this world. The fact you're going to cry in a moment or laugh in a moment is a result of what's done to you. If you run towards the goal or not run towards the goal, that will also be done to you. We are simply in a preparation for free choice, bit by bit, we are being taught how can such a thing can even exist in reality. But, now, certainly not, it says, They all seem as beasts until the barrier. And above the barrier, the same quality of above reason, free, that the soul can determine, this is called Israel. This is called the measure of man not a beast, this is called, above reason, that's the created being. According to your question, it's correct: where is there anything here? There's truly nothing.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:06:50) How can you control the pace in that situation?
M. Laitman: But the Kabbalists are telling us about all those things, they don't hide that we are beasts. What's a beast? Still, there's no choice, it follows what it has to do. They say we have free choice in choosing our environment. But even that choice, it basically is hidden from us but, certainly, this choice is also a result of all the conditions that exist around us and within us. Still, it appears to us that we are choosing freely and we should use it. You can't take laws from a higher degree and say, There's no choice, there's nothing, I just live like a beast and whatever happens, happens. If whatever happens, happens, then don't breathe, don't eat, don't do nothing, if anything – can you do that? No, so you have to behave according to the choice that exists in each and every degree. At first, you weren't told anything about choice, now you're already told you don't have choice and, still, you have free choice in the environment. Live in this contradiction, this is called, If I am not for myself, then who, and None Else Besides Him. If There's None Else Besides Him, there is no longer any choice; If I am not for me, then who, then there is choice, there's something I do – use both. They're not hiding this from you, they're preparing you for the true choice which is something you don't know. It'll come but don't be a philosopher and say, Oh, I already know, everything's okay, There's None Else Besides Him, that's it. You haven't reached it, what does it mean, you know it, you haven't reached it, you just read about it – they're there, not you. So, one has to behave according to the state that he's in. And if he doesn't use it, it means that he's not using the means. This is called, One's knowledge is greater than his deeds, and that actually makes him dumb, stupid because he's just following some slogan he heard and just exits reality. This is not wise.
Reader:
Let's
share
impressions
from
the
lesson
and
what
we're
taking
to
implement
in
our
Tens.
Then,
let's
go
to
a
song.
Song:
(01:16:10)