Afternoon Lesson December 1, 2023, Transcription

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio.

Part One:

Baal HaSulam. Shamati 38. The Fear of God Is His Treasure

Reading Article. (00:28) “The Fear of God Is His Treasure.”

1. R. (01:12) Meaning that the Kli needs to be suitable to the light somewhat and to the degree of them being suitable to one another the light can appear in the Kli.

Reader continues. (01:28) “Yet, what is the Kli in spirituality..”

2. R. (01:55) Meaning there needs to be qualities both in the vessel and in the light, the same qualities for one to enter the other.

Reader continues. (02:08) “For example we cannot say..”

Reading Article Again. (15:30) “The Fear of God Is His Treasure.”

3. S. (30:40) We just read in the article about fear of Heaven and it disturbs me all the time and constantly in this question it is not clear to me about fear of Heaven everything is in the hands of the heaven except for fear of Heaven. I understand that I have to be careful of a bad neighbor of all kinds of things. It is clear I understand I feel but how do I come to fear of Heaven?

R. When you constantly think about how to do good to the Creator always and then you will gradually feel what you need to be fearful of in order to constantly be in the thought of how to do good to the Creator.

S. It's not clear to me again. The Creator is not tangible. So I need to do it in the group?

R. Of course it's easiest in the group. That's good.

S. And how is this transition from the group to the Creator taking place, this feeling?

R. That what you do good to the group to the friends for that it will be easier for you to depict that it's being done for the Creator.

4. S. (32:28) What's this spirit of folly in the work?

R. The spirit of folly is what deviates a person. It's like this mood that comes to a person and draws him to all kinds of things that don't belong to spiritual advancement. That's why it is called folly.

S. What's the solution against it?

R. Connection with the friends. You have nothing more, you have to have someone to constantly support you, watch over you. That's what you have to do, without that it won't help.

5. S. (33:18) How can a person build a pure vessel that is worthy of receiving the Creator?

R. You are jumping forward too much. A pure vessel to receive the light of the Creator is great work in Lishma that we need to go through many degrees for. But at least to calm ourselves and start to somewhat come closer to bestowing to Him something good. It could be by you coming closer to the friends. It's written about that, “From the love of the created beings to love of the Creator.” Whereas, you come closer to the friends and build together with them the circle in which you all want to come to a connection between you so that what you want to connect between you, love, friendship, mutual support, all of that you do in order to build some action in order to bestow that is common to you. Then you raise it to the Creator and He receives it and fills it. And this is how you begin to receive the revelation of the Creator. It's best if we do it in the Ten. That's called in a Minyan.

6. S. (35:30) The tract of text which says, “Yet it is not so with fear because the meaning of fear is to not receive and what the Creator gives He gives only to receive.” That juxtapose, how do I reconcile that I can't accept that phrase, it doesn't work. Could you expand on it a little more please?

R. Well, what exactly to explain? How not to receive?

S. Yes, it's just the phrase it says we are not to receive but the Creator only gives to receive.

R. We want to receive from the Creator in order to bestow to Him. Meaning first of all not to receive anything to do a restriction I don't want to receive anything and then I say, okay, I'm willing to receive from the Creator but only under the condition that I bring Him contentment by this, not for me but for the Creator only. And then I open myself and begin to truly in small increments, another gram and another gram and another gram to receive but under the condition that I examine myself, that all that I am doing is for the benefit of the Creator only. And then we come to adhesion, “I for my beloved and my beloved for me.”

7. S. (37:53) The acceptance, is acceptance of our position in the world with all the good and all the bad just to accept it as is, that it will turn to the right fruit from the bitterness that we see, that giving over, just accepting it is that part of working with the Creator?

R. No, along the way we scrutinize what is good and what is bad and how we need to relate to the good and bad and how we need to receive in order to bring contentment to the Creator and what He delights from exactly. That's all scrutinies along the way.

8. S. (39:00) What should we do in the group so that every friend will merit the fear of Heaven despite all the most complex states that we go through on the path?

R. You need to be more connected to one another, you need to be in Arvut with one another to be guarantors for one another and then you will feel what else you need because the main force that we are lacking in order to reveal the Creator is the Arvut.

9. S. (39:51) In what manner should we do this, after all in our behavior there are all kinds of reasons, starting from wanting to be loved and wanting to receive. How can we have a connection with the Creator to this?

R. Continue to come closer to Him through the friends, ask, pray.

10. S. (40:21) How can we be assured that the action that we do towards the Creator is really for the sake of the Heaven? The response to the action is not clear.

R. Talk to the friends and do common actions from a common agreement.

11. S. (40:50) If friends do pure work from love and I am doing things that don't come from the heart what can I do to not stop the Ten?

R. Embrace the friends stronger and be above thoughts and desires and actions that they have.

12. S. (41:44) We know that we cannot receive bad from the Creator. On the other hand it is written that that which the Creator loves he shall prove. How can we relate to this?

R. When the time will come you will see that you have come to such relations with the Creator and what you need to do. For the time being we will study together what is before us.

13. S. (42:28) The right relationship between the Kli and the light is given by the same qualities. However is there a distinction or does it become a single body because I feel always He is with us accompanying us?

R. They become one and fear always remains.

14. S. (43:20) To what extent can we bow our heads before the friends to the same degree that will be able to merit this quality of in order to bestow?

R. Yes.

15. S. (43:55) Is scrutinizing the intentions something that each one does within himself or is it something that in addition we can discern it also in a Ten or as a Ten?

R. Certainly, certainly only in the Ten.

S. We scrutinize together what our intention is?

R. Yes, that's how we check ourselves before we turn to the Creator.

S. And when we come to a state that He is inside of us, He is the cause and the goal and the reason then we are in a state where we can bring Him contentment?

R. Yes.

16. S. (44:44) To what extent does physical connection impact when we are talking about bestowal because our friends are far?

R. It's felt in the heart, you cannot say. It's felt in the heart to the extent in which we are connected together; the whole group in one heart.

17. S. (45:22) Fear before the Creator is based on fear. Is it based on our memory of when the vessel is not ready for the bestowal?

R. By no means whatsoever, it's not correct all together.

18. S. (45:54) On one hand, everyday we are in the understanding that only when we are in our group we will merit there. On the other hand, thus far, we don't understand those feelings do I have fear before the Creator, sometimes I don't have fear on an emotional level, where can I find that string that I can pull on and feel the direct connection with the Creator that yes I really have fear or I don't have it?

R. You don't have that string yet because you are still completely within your ego.

S. So what are we working for in the group?

R. In order to take ourselves out of the ego with the help of the friends.

S. We are lying to ourselves that we are in it for the sake of the Creator?

R. Yes, we are not lying, we want to come out of it.

19. S. (46:53) Today before the convention in Astana, over fifty people are gathering. There are problems with the broadcast right now and we ask to ask that it has been a long time since so many people gathered in the area. What would you wish for our friends in Astana?

R. I would wish them to achieve wholeness, completeness in the connection between them and then in the connection with the Creator. It's something that you are capable of attaining and all together a good city and good memories from there even though it was long ago but success to you all.

20. S. (47:55) It speaks of in the article watching over ourselves from below and I will watch over you from above. So my question: Is this desire to watch out for myself and the friends it seemingly leads us to some lack of movement? I am so afraid to err, that I will do something wrong that I stopped doing anything. How do you find the balance?

R. Simply hold onto the friends, hold onto the friends. You don't need anything beyond that and try not to miss our lessons.

S. Many times in the group we see how two forces are created. Some of the friends want to keep watch over when one falls. There are some kinds of rules and some want to move forward. Many times there's this struggle between the two things: how to find the balance, that's the question?

R. We need to talk more between you to help one another and to come to a common denominator, common opinion and then nothing will be terrible.

S. Specifically the part that wants to watch, to keep it, does it, it keeps from speaking of it and in the conversation we can seemingly come out of these frameworks?

R. Meaning you are afraid to be weakened. This one who doesn't want to be talking about it is afraid to be weakened to lose her reason even though her opinion is not right.

S. And being afraid of this conflict is on one hand correct because we need to be afraid and watch over ourselves but how to nevertheless find the golden path so that we will be able to discuss everything between us?

R. I don't know. We need to meet and talk about this. Try. Find a mediator, some groups, some other groups, another one, turn to us. We have here many people that deal with such things all the time so they should take it in their hands. We have many women that are very well acquainted with these things.

21. S. (51:36) If everything is in the hands of the Creator except for the fear of Heaven then this fear is the reason for love or does it come out after the love?

R. Fear is some inner concern that exists in a person when he feels that he has to come closer to the Creator.

22. S. (52:10) We are almost fifty people here in Astana preparing for the convention from Russia, Kazakhstan, many places, and it is written in the article that he and Me cannot dwell in the same abode. How towards the connection that is coming do we..?

R. The Creator cannot be revealed to us in our ego, as long as there is ego for us in its pure way He cannot be revealed to us. When we try and battle the ego for advancement then to that extent we begin to feel the Creator near and when the ego in essence is disappearing then we start to feel the Creator and how He fills us. This is considered that we are in Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. This is how we will hold onto one another.

S. Each of us understands that we have come with our ego and we want to overcome it. How do we combine it?

R. Only by combining all your hearts, put them all in one basket and hold onto them all together there. Then everything will succeed for you.

23. S. (54:05) In the Ten do we need to ask the Creator for specific vessels according to deficiency. For example, a vessel of fear, a vessel of love that has to be filled with fear, that has to be filled with love or to ask the Creator to build from us a general vessel of bestowal?

R. Both ask for this and for that

24. S. (54:54) At the beginning of the lesson the friend from Vienna said that he can't feel the Creator and therefore the actions need to be done in the Ten. But if a person has the feeling that he is certain that the Creator is felt and he does actions for the benefit of the Creator does that mean that he is in faith above reason?

R. No, it just appears that way.

25. S. (55:38) A question about the restriction in the work in the Ten. Let's say we connect to read an article, so before we start the action of connection and reading the article do we need to do a preparation and talk between us so that in this connection we don't want to receive anything, to do a restriction?

R. Yes.

S. Does that mean that each actually what she thinks and feels and grasps from within herself is actually what each restricts, it's the negative pleasure that each needs to restrict?

R. Well let's say yes, let's say. We will learn this.

26. S. (56:42) How to come to this state of remembering to always remember the Creator?

R. Only with the help of the friends.

S. There's always some other projects, actions?

R. If you between you are yearning to be in connection to not forget about the Creator all the time, then He on His behalf from above will do it with you.

27. S. (57:28) All day long we are with the Creator. We argue with Him, agree with Him, don’t agree with Him but when we come to the lesson there's this huge feeding of gratitude to the Creator. We thank him for the Rav and the world Kli. The question is what special light is there in the lesson?

R. Say thank you to all our friends in the world that connect and therefore you feel a completely different impression, a different degree, a different level because everyone connects to the lesson. Wonderful.

28. S. (58:21) How do we receive the correct vessels within which to receive the abundance?

R. That is what we are talking about all the time. Only through the connection between us. A person cannot alone reach a connection with the Creator, only when we connect it’s best for it to be in the Ten and then when they connect and want to feel the Creator in order to give Him, give them the feelings and the desires to do good then it happens, okay.

29. S. (59:28) It was spoken about in the article the degree of Domem, still of Kedusha, does the Creator agree for a person to remain in that?

R. The Creator agrees with everything that happens.

30. S. (59:54) There's this strain that I don't know what to do about. It is written here about fear, that he is afraid to receive for himself. We are also gathering today with the friends, we are connecting to the connection with the Baltics and other groups from Russia and other places and there's a feeling that I'll come there and everyone is the greatest of the generation and I simply, I don't know, it’s going to tear me into pieces. I don't know how to get incorporated because I am truly a child before them. What can you advise?

R. I will talk with them, for them to let you in, okay.

S. [no translation]

R. Excellent, if so the problem has been solved. Be healthy until tomorrow.