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

Daily Morning Lesson: October 16, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. A Congregation Is No Less than Ten. Article No. 28, 1986.

Reader: Hello friends! In the first part of the lesson, we will learn a lesson of Rav's from the 3rd of July, 2002. The lesson is based on the article, A Congregation Is No Less Than Ten, by Rabash, it's Article Number 28 from 1986. We will read the article in Ten; it will be 30 minutes.

Reading: (00:38) A Congregation Is No Less than Ten

Article 28, 1986

It is written in The Zohar, Nasso (item 105): “Rabbi Elazar started, ‘Why have I come and there is no man?’ How beloved are Israel by the Creator, for wherever they are, the Creator is among them. ‘And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them.’ Every synagogue in the world is called a ‘Temple.’ ‘And I will dwell among them,’ since the Shechina [Divinity] comes to the synagogue first. Happy is he who is among those first ones in the synagogue, since by them what is completed is completed, meaning the congregation, which is no less than ten. Also, the ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time, since all ten are as organs of one body, in which the Shechina resides, for the Creator has made man at once, and established all his organs together, as it is written, ‘He has made you and established you.’”

We should discern in the above words:

1) Why does he say, “Wherever Israel are, the Creator is among them”? This implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards he says, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning specifically in the synagogue.

2) The words, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” imply that first there must be some preparation, meaning “making the Temple,” and then “I will dwell,” and not just like that.

3) What is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” If you say that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there.

4) It is difficult to understand what he says, “The ten must be in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time.” Can it be said that all those who come to the synagogue should wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter at once? We have never seen such a thing. So what does it mean that they must not come one at a time?

To understand the above we will explain in the work how to begin the order of the work in a manner of bestowal, called “not in order to receive reward.” First, we must remember two things, which are “giver” and “receiver.” This extends from His desire to do good to His creations, which is why He has created creatures—to receive the delight and pleasure that He wants to give them. This receiver, namely the Kli [vessel] that the Creator created in which to receive the delight and pleasure, is called “desire to receive delight and pleasure.” He can enjoy this to the extent of the craving for it. That is, the Kli in which we receive pleasure is called “craving.”

We attribute these Kelim [vessels] to the Creator. That is, the Kli that initially received from the Creator is called Malchut, or Behina Dalet [Fourth Phase (discernment)], which means that it is a craving to receive delight and pleasure. This is called a Kli of Ohr Yashar [Direct Light]. This is the Kli that was used prior to the Tzimtzum [restriction], and it is called Malchut de Ein Sof [infinity/no end].

Afterwards there was a correction to prevent the bread of shame, since there is a rule in the nature that the Creator has created, that the branch wants to resemble its root. Why is there such a nature? We are forbidden to ask because with respect to the Creator, says the holy Zohar, “There is no thought or perception in Him at all.” This means that the lower ones cannot attain the thoughts of the Creator.

Everything we say is only in the form of “By Your actions we know You,” meaning we speak only through the actions that appear to our eyes, from what we see and can explain, but not before the act that appears before us. For this reason we begin to speak of the first connection between the Creator and the creatures, called “His desire to do good to His creations.” Prior to this we cannot speak because we have no attainment in Him. Hence, we only see that in nature, the branch wants to resemble its root.

To correct this, meaning that because the receiver wants equivalence of form with the root, and if it were to receive it would feel unpleasantness, the Tzimtzum occurred, called “not wanting to receive in order to receive,” but to receive only if he can receive it in order to bestow. This caused us not to be able to receive abundance with the Kli called “desire to receive,” but rather with a new Kli, called “Ohr Hozer” [Reflected Light]. It means that the Ohr Yashar is regarded as the abundance that the Creator gives to the lower ones, and Ohr Hozer is the opposite—that which the lower ones wish to give the Creator.

For this reason, Ohr Yashar is called “from above downward,” meaning that the upper one, the Giver, namely the Creator, gives to the lower ones. Conversely, the Ohr Hozer is called “from below upward,” meaning the lower one, who is the receiver, wants to bestow upon the Creator. We attribute this Kli, called “in order to bestow,” to the lower one because the lower one did it in order to correct itself, since it wants to resemble its root. It is as we learn, that in the world of Ein Sof, the Kli of Malchut received the light in the Kli of Ohr Yashar, meaning in a Kli that came from the upper one. But the Kli of Ohr Hozer is a Kli that the lower one should make.

After the correction to receive only in Kelim of Ohr Hozer was made, all the worlds and many degrees extended from it. Because this Kli extends from the lower one, it cannot be completed at once, but bit by bit, according to the strength of the lower ones. Therefore, since many Kelim were made, the lights divide into many degrees. This was not so when what we attribute to the Creator, called “receiving in order to receive,” illuminated in the Kli. The Creator created this Kli at once, in full, so naturally, it was one simple light, without distinction of degrees.

It is as he writes in the book, Tree of Life (presented in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, p 1): “Know that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures created, the upper, simple light had filled the whole of reality. However, everything was one, simple light, completely equal, and it is called ‘the light of Ein Sof.’” The reason is that since we attribute this Kli to the Creator, it is completed in whole, hence they received one light, without distinction of degrees.

But the Kli that we attribute to the lower one cannot be completed at once. Rather, all the work we must exert in is only one—to make a Kli called Ohr Hozer. This means that the lower one wants to receive delight and pleasure from the Creator only because he wants to bestow upon the Creator, and this is called Ohr Hozer [Reflected Light]. When the lower one realizes that he has no desire to receive for himself, but that he wants to delight the Creator, he calculates what he can give to the Creator that the Creator will enjoy.

At that time he sees that he can give only one thing that will delight the Creator. Since the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and the Creator wants to give delight and pleasure to the creatures, he says, “I want to receive delight and pleasure because I want to please the Creator.” And the more abundance he can receive—meaning that he feels the greatest pleasure from the abundance that he receives—the Creator will certainly enjoy this more.

This is similar to a person who invited over an important person. The man and his household toiled all day and all night so that the important guest would enjoy the food. When the guest ate the meal, which cost him great efforts, and in which he did everything to delight the guest, at the end of the meal he asked the guest, “What do you say about our meal? Did you ever taste a meal like this?”

He replied to him: “To tell you the truth, I don’t care what I eat. I never regarded the pleasure I can derive from food, so I wouldn’t mind if you prepared a simpler meal, since I hear from you that you put great efforts into it.” When the landlord hears this, what pleasure does he have from giving him a big meal?

The lesson is that if a person receives delight and pleasure from the Creator because he wants to delight the Creator by helping Him carry out the purpose of creation—that the Creator wants to delight His creatures—but he says that he derives no joy from the delight and pleasure he receives from the Creator, then what contentment is he bringing to the Creator by saying that he doesn’t feel any taste in His delight and pleasure, and that to him it is all the same?

It therefore follows that if one can try to constantly increase what he is receiving from the Creator and appreciate the King’s gift, there is a reason for it: He can say to the Creator, “I am receiving great pleasure from You because I know that only with this I can delight You, and this is why I want to receive plentiful pleasures.”

However, we must remember that after the sin of the tree of knowledge that Adam HaRishon sinned, man became as dust, receiving in order to receive. This extends from the worlds ABYA de Tuma’a [impurity], as it is written in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” (item 25), “It is incumbent upon man to receive strength from above by the merit of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], so he can bestow, and this is called ‘Israel,’ meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator]. This means that all his thoughts and desires are only to bring contentment to the Creator. But if he still does not have this desire, it is considered that the person is in exile among the nations of the world, who enslave him to work only for self-love, which is ‘receiving in order to receive.’ This pertains to the Klipot [shells/peels], and not to Kedusha [holiness/sanctity], as it is written, ‘You will be holy for I am holy.’ This means that as the Creator is only about bestowal, your intention will also be only to bestow.”

But the opposite of that, meaning when his intention is not to bestow, it is regarded as the opposite of Israel. Rather, it is called “straight to the nations of the world,” since they are opposite in form from the Creator, whose desire is only to bestow. But if in this place there is Yashar-El—where he is in equivalence of form with the Creator—meaning that there is no other authority there, in that place comes the instilling of the Shechina, as it is written, “Wherever I mention My name, I will come to you and bless you.” This means that the Creator says, “If I can say that only My name is in this place, and the creature’s authority is not upon it, since the lower one wants only to bestow upon the Creator, then “I will come to you and bless you,” meaning that on this place I instill My Shechina.

By this we will understand what we asked about the holy Zohar’s saying that wherever they are, the Creator is among them, which implies that there is no need for a special place. Afterwards it says as it is written, “And let them make Me a Temple and I will dwell among them,” meaning precisely in a Temple, and not just anywhere.

We should interpret his saying “wherever they are” to mean wherever “they,” meaning Yashar-El, are present, where the meaning of Yashar-El is straight to the Creator, who are in equivalence of form with the Creator. That is, as the Creator gives mercy, they, too, want only to bestow upon the Creator. And since there is equivalence of form, to that extent the Tzimtzum is removed. Hence in this place there is the Shechina.

This is called, “And let them make Me a Temple,” as it is written, “You will be holy for I the Lord am holy.” It follows that “Israel” and “Let them make Me a Temple” are one thing. That is, saying, “And let them make Me a Temple” is preparation and great work to make the place, which is the desire, as Baal HaSulam said, that in spirituality, “place” means desire, meaning a desire of Kedusha, which is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator. This is called “Israel,” Yashar-El.

Now we will explain the second question, what is the question that he asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” Certainly, if he says that the Shechina comes to the synagogue first, of course there is still no one there, so why does he say, “Why have I come and there is no man”?

However, first we need to understand what “man” means. We should interpret “man” to mean as it is written, “Happy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” That is, there is “man” and there is “beast.” “Beast” means one who is immersed in self-love and does what beasts do. It follows that the meaning of “Why have I come” means that I have come before you. However, that, too, needs explanation: How can we say that the Creator came to the synagogue first, if “The whole earth is full of His glory?” Thus, what does it mean that the Creator comes to the synagogue before the people who are praying?

We should interpret that it is as Baal HaSulam interpreted the verse, “Before they call, I will answer.” It means that when a person goes to pray, it happens because I have given him a thought and desire to come to the synagogue to be a man. In the end, I find him in the synagogue praying for self-love, like a beast. It follows that when he says, “Why have I come,” it means “Why have I given him a desire to go to the synagogue, so he will pray for matters of Kedusha, which is a Temple, and to be Israel, and in the end “there is no man.” Instead, I see that everyone is praying for beastly needs.

Now we will explain what we asked about his saying that there must be ten in the synagogue at once, and not come one at a time. We asked, “Should they all wait outside until ten men have gathered, and then they will all enter together? Have we ever seen such a thing?” He brings evidence from the Creator, “For man, the Creator has made him at once.” But we should also understand the evidence itself.

To interpret this we must first understand why we need specifically ten men present in the synagogue, or the Shechina will not be able to be there. He gives a reason, that “a congregation is no less than ten.” We should also understand this—why specifically ten and not more or less. That is, if there are nine men there, it is not regarded as a congregation, and if there are eleven, it does not add anything, as it is said about testimony: “two as one hundred and one hundred as two” (Shavuot, p 42). Rather, it is specifically ten, as our sages said (Sanhedrin, 39), “In every ten there is Shechina.”

It is known that Malchut is called “tenth.” It is also known that the receiving Kli is also called “the Sefira Malchut,” who is the tenth Sefira, receiving the upper abundance. She is called “will to receive,” and all the creatures extend only from her. For this reason, a congregation is no less than ten, since all the corporeal branches extend from the upper roots. Therefore, according to the rule, “There is no light that does not have ten Sefirot,” in corporeality, something is not considered a congregation that can be regarded as important unless there are ten men there, such as the upper degrees.

Now we can understand the meaning of ten, when the Creator asks, “Why have I come and there is no man?” It pertains to “man” and not to “beast,” referring to the kingdom of heaven, which is the tenth Sefira, meaning we must pray for the exile of the Shechina, which the holy Zohar calls, “Shechina in the dust.” Thus, the meaning will be that if the Creator does not find ten there, it means that “I have come first and have given you a desire and awakening to come to the synagogue, to ask for prayer for the exile of the Shechina, who is called ‘ten,’ which is the tenth Sefira, and I did not find anyone to pray for the tenth. Instead, I find everyone praying for things that pertain to beasts and not to people.”

Similarly, we should interpret what he says, “They must all be at once, and not one at a time.” We should interpret that we need the reception of the kingdom of heaven to be at once, and not to say, “Today I want to take upon myself a little bit of the burden of the kingdom of heaven, meaning only when I am at the synagogue. Afterwards, when I go home, I want to enjoy self-love.”

That is, he says that he agrees to work in order to bestow some of the time, but not to give all his time only for the glory of heaven. Rather, when one takes upon oneself the burden of the kingdom of heaven he must ask the Creator to make it forever, and not only when he is at the synagogue. We can interpret that having to have ten present at the synagogue at once and not come one at a time means that he should not say, “Now I am assuming a little bit of the kingdom of heaven, and later some more.” Rather, each acceptance of the burden of the kingdom of heaven should be at once, meaning at once over his entire life, and not today some and tomorrow some more.

Therefore, if assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven is over a complete thing, then although he later descends from his degree, since his acceptance was complete, called “ten at once,” where “at once” means over his entire life, many pennies join into a great amount, until he is rewarded with faith, which is the permanent kingdom of heaven.

This was not so while assuming the kingdom of heaven was only partial, meaning that he received the kingdom of heaven only for the time being and not permanently. It follows that this is incomplete, so how can he join them into the great amount until he is rewarded with permanent faith? Therefore, when one takes upon oneself the burden of the kingdom of heaven, he should see that it is a complete thing. This is why he says that they should be in the synagogue at once, meaning once and for all. That is, he wants the reception of the kingdom of heaven to be forever.

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Reader: Yes, we will now continue to the recorded lesson from the 3rd of July, 2002.

M. Laitman: (32:14) We read an article from Shlavei HaSulam, The Steps of the Ladder, Volume 3: There Is No Congregation Less Than Ten, from the portion Naso. What does this mean? We learn that the whole of reality includes the Creator and the created being, and the created being needs to discover the perfection and eternity of the Creator's state by itself. Otherwise it will not have a vessel with which to enjoy the state, we need the revelation of the vessels. The state already exists, we are in it, however, as Baal HaSulam says, It's like a person who is in a basement, where in that dark basement there are all the treasures and all the pleasures and everything he needs, even beyond anything he expects, but there is no light, That is, he lacks a vessel with which to see the state he is in and this vessel can be revealed only if there is a deficiency for it, specifically for that state. If it's a vessel for other things, then he will also be unable to reveal and fill himself with the state that the Creator has in mind for him, because He is Good And Does Good.

Therefore, a person in Kabbalah who comes to equivalence of form with the Creator is called, One who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, what does this mean? That the wicked constantly come to him, his uncorrected desires awaken within him, and time after time he scrutinizes them and does not follow their counsel. His ego is constantly burning within him, and precisely through the help against him, he constantly updates his position toward the Creator, and thus grows. Until he gathers all of his desires into one great big desire – in one direction – then it is considered truly reaching a genuine prayer, what's called Umka DeLiba, from the depth of the heart. That is, after he has reached the innermost part of all of his desires and all of them are aimed at acquiring vessels of bestowal, toward reaching bestowal. Then he has a complete desire, that desire is called the synagogue, Beit Knesset, a house of assembly. A house, Beit, a vessel of reception, a gathering, because there he has already gathered all his desires together as one, toward one goal.

Certainly there are different desires: animate, spiritual, emotional, human, it doesn't matter. All of them are concentrated within him toward one goal, and then this state is called being in the synagogue. For then, certainly, the Creator sees that there is a person in the synagogue, that there is someone ready for prayer, who demands corrections from the Creator. Then he receives corrections for all his desires, and as they now become equivalent in form to the Creator, the person accordingly reaches the Creator's state. Where does a person get the strength to reach a decision regarding all his wicked desires? That through them, with their help, above them, he wants to reach adhesion, to become similar to the Creator? By what means can he collect and gather all his desires under one intention in order to bestow? This, as we learn, he receives from the upper light, from the surrounding light upon these desires, but where will he get the importance of this? He receives the importance from the society; that is, to the extent that he receives the wicked desires and feels them in his body. He must strengthen himself against them through the society, receiving from them the importance of the goal. Then he is assured that through the surrounding light, he will merit bringing all these wicked desires to the intention in order to bestow. That is essentially the key subject of the article.

Why is it written that there is no congregation less than Ten? We understand that it is not until he reaches a state, where all the qualities he has acquired from the Creator are also aimed at the goal. That, he has examined them, descended into their depths, and directed all of them as well, so that he wants them to be corrected in order to bestow like the original ten Sefirot.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:17) How is it that sometimes the desire is called a place, like a synagogue, and sometimes the desire, the will, is called a person, the thing filling that place. What is the difference?

M. Laitman: We can speak about this in terms of internality and externality, sometimes we speak about the entire world as one person, and sometimes we speak about things as though they are more internal or more external. But, actually I don't know, internally, it doesn't bother me, I'll just tell you that sometimes it speaks of a synagogue, and sometimes of a person inside a synagogue. Sometimes it's clear that these are discernments of the point in the heart in relation to all the other desires, let's say. The point in the heart works such that all the other desires gather around it – both animate and human desires. Afterward, even desires of the Klipot, the shells, and all of them become one collective toward the same goal as the point in the heart, the point of Moses, which truly leads all the other desires, concentrating them toward the same goal. Sometimes it's clear that this is how he speaks, and sometimes they speak in another way. He wants to show you the verses, the excerpts, and build this idea according to the verses. He could have avoided bringing in the verses and then he would not have said that this is called a synagogue and this is called a person. Instead, he would have spoken in other terms, then you wouldn't have felt that this is like a person and this is a house and this is a world. He can express it in any language, at any scale, so to speak, using different terms, it doesn't matter.

You see that in all the articles. They explain these things in one way or another. There's certainly a difference, but these differences are already – if we start comparing them in relation to a person who contains all the discernments within himself – then we're already speaking about, like, the root, soul, body, clothing, palace, or soul, body, clothing, house, courtyard, desert, and so on, but here he's not speaking about that.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:51) What is the surrounding light? Can we invite it only as we study or is it possible at other times as well?

M. Laitman: The surrounding light is the same light that is destined to clothe in the body, in the vessel, when the vessel is corrected with a screen. Screen is the intention to bestow. I currently have no intention to bestow so the light is outside of me and shines upon me from that same place where I'm destined to be when I have that intention. What do I do so that it will shine upon me? For each and every person in the world, there is this surrounding light, and the place is reserved for them there beside the Creator, even at the highest degree. How do I attract this illumination from above, from above the Parsa, where it is located, to myself?

It is only by needing to make something in me similar to that state which exists above the Parsa. Above the Parsa, I am connected with that light, with the source that I study, with the other souls, with the Creator, all of them together: Israel, the Torah, and the Holy, and the Creator are one. This is the state that exists above the Parsa. What can I do here below the Parsa to make something similar to that state above the Parsa? So that according to my effort to become similar in whatever way possible, I attract that illumination to me, according to exertion, according to desire?

He writes in the Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot that one who studies and yearns to know what he is studying, even though he does not understand, thereby attracts the surrounding light, why? It's because this knowledge is called the inner filling of the surrounding light, it's the state in which he's there together with it, Israel and the Torah. If, via my study, I want to reach adhesion with the Creator, it doesn't matter that I still imagine adhesion in my own terms. According to where I am, this also belongs to that exalted eternal state, and accordingly I also attract the surrounding light upon myself, draw it to myself. If all the souls are there together as one body, One man and one heart – then I here, below, must do this with several of my friends, and this too will also be a correspondence, and so on. In other words, to make the state below correspond as much as possible to what we have above. Now, we make this effort and somehow build it, but where will I get the importance of doing this? The society does not mean that now I have to sit with everyone and say, Well, guys, let's think together about that state. The society needs to give me the importance of being in that state; in other words, first I need to hear from them that this is the most important thing that there is. It's the most important goal, that there is nothing else in life besides it, and that the entire world and all of life has come to me only for that purpose. This is what I need to hear from them instead of hearing about fashion, football, and a thousand and one other things because the importance I give it myself will never be enough to reach it. There are special people who can do it, I'm not saying there aren't. There have been cases but we're not among them; we are people who must make this effort through the society and truly reach it.

Just as from now onward, all of humanity is entering that same task, that's it. The study is already a state in which all the friends need to gather together with all their thoughts, with all their desires, with all their prayers, truly together as one group, so that there will be one desire, in short, toward the Creator, one desire. Instead of 70 people or 80 people, or so, I don't know how many people approximately are sitting here. That there will be one desire from this whole building,

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:14) You said that there will be one desire afterwards when they're wicked?

M. Laitman: I'm speaking about the time of study, there must already be a decision and a clear understanding among all of us that we are one desire toward the Creator. That we're asking for correction of all their desires, and that this correction is also coming to us. We need to be certain that it's coming to us because, first of all, the Creator expects it, He is waiting for it, and we expect it because we've made all the preparations. Everything depends on preparation, if we sit down and simply open the book, then the benefit from it might also come after several more incarnations. This is what he says, from three to five years.

Student: What does it mean that there needs to be a clear decision, a decision and a desire? That's not the same thing.

M. Laitman: A decision means a decision in the heart, it's not simply something that we write on a piece of paper and stick on the wall.

Student: And each one is different, so?

M. Laitman: It is written, Write it on the tablet of your heart, that's it.

Student: Each one is different, each one has his own character?

M. Laitman: What does it have to do with character, I don't understand?

Student: How can it be one desire, then? One in what way?

M. Laitman: I don't understand? We are 80 people now who want to build some house, so what does it matter what character each person has, what problems each one has, and what other things? We are all concentrated on one goal.

Student: Each one is imagining his own kind of house in his mind: one thinks about a palace, another thinks about a little house. Each one imagines something different?

M. Laitman: It doesn't matter what each person imagines or how each person pictures it, and we certainly cannot even compare the discernments, intentions, and scrutinies of each and every person. That's not something for us to do at all, that's a private matter for each and every person. But ultimately, we need each person to be in it according to what they are capable of doing, according to what they understand. Certainly, we do not demand from a person more than what they were given from the outset, from the beginning, from birth, from above. One person, for the time being, cannot think about it for more than one moment a day, while another, after a month of study, is already entirely immersed in it, and a third is different. One thinks more through the intellect, another more through the heart. One has thoughts of compulsion, while another one is the opposite, some kind of enthusiasm. And there are also individual states for each and every person. We're not speaking about that, we're speaking about the general effort that exists, the collective effort that exists, without going into details at all. It doesn't matter what state each person is in, it could be that the greatest contribution that, let's say, the friend can do is to sit today for ten minutes listening to me; and for the rest of the time he'll be like a dead person, and this will be a very great effort on his part. Whereas the other friend will study today, as usual, and read the entire time so he's made his usual effort. But since it's the effort that is taken into account, the first friend will contribute more than the second friend. We cannot examine these things, it's not for us to do this at all, and all the more so, we are forbidden to speak with one another about our personal states.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (50:30) I'm not saying that we should examine them, but if we need to aspire to the unity of a desire, then?

M. Laitman: We need to aspire to the unity of a desire – we need to talk not about how I relate to the Creator but rather we need to talk about the Creator, about Him not my relation to Him, that's it. It means to talk about the importance of the goal and not how I'm connected to that at present, what I get from it.

Student: The deficiency, that is importance, that needs to be?

M. Laitman: So, in that I will tell you, everything depends only on the importance of the person talking to you. I gave you examples about my daughter, right? It's important for me because she's my daughter, so she's my daughter so what she says is important to me. Who is she, what is she? What does she understand? But what a child says is important to the parents – what can we do, that's how we're structured. So make it so that the friend's word is important. Invest in him as you invest in your own child, and you will see how important it will become for you, Buy yourself a friend.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:57) If there is pleasure and exertion, how should we relate to that pleasure?

M. Laitman: If you would look at, if you would place – if you would set a goal to be in the lesson as one group with one intention, one effort, after the optimal maximal preparation, you would organize your society completely, differently. I can't tell you how you would, but I would see, I would be seeing something completely different, here, believe me. Different groups and the organization of the groups and everything but because you are not all thinking about that goal, yes, How will we, what will we sit during the time of studying with? That's why you appear as you do in the groups.

Student: If I have pleasure and exertion, I feel pleasure.

M. Laitman: What, pleasure? Ah, pleasure. If I exert, and from that I receive pleasure…

Student: Yes, how should I relate to that pleasure?

M. Laitman: How to relate to pleasure that comes as a result of exertion? We're talking about, I suppose – if we're talking about it, already, then we're talking about a state which is the end of correction, that's not exactly right. I suppose it seems to you that you're making exertion, right? Exertion is a state where a person understands that this is a thing he can never accomplish. That's the meaning of him reaching a state called exertion. We need to become accustomed to our definitions in the wisdom of Kabbalah, not being exactly as the definitions that the general population use. Because, yes, the path of Torah is opposite to the path of the landlords, what can you do? And we took all sorts of terms from there, and we need to gradually get rid of them. Sometimes it's very difficult, like when you say faith. What is faith? Tell people what faith is, ask them. Faith, when I believe, I have faith. What does it mean to believe? Ah, I believe, you know, there is a Creator and He gives me this and that in return for good deeds or in return for bad deeds – you know, reward and punishment, that's faith. But we say that faith is the feeling of the Creator, a feeling of the light of Hassadim that allows me to become, Hafetz Chesed, seeking grace, above my egoism. It's a tremendous force that I receive from the revelation of divinity, otherwise I won't have it. From the revelation of divinity, that's the only source I can receive that force from, to be above my desire, to step over them and to make of them what I will, that is called faith, above reason. What is reason? Above what is revealed to me now, to my eyes.

M. Laitman: (55:22) So faith, you see, it's not exactly what people on the street think, same thing with exertion. Exertion on the street, that's when I sweat, I pray a lot, I study a lot, I observe the commandments. With all my powers, I look for all the states through which I can advance. A person is also supposedly advancing towards spirituality. You could say, a student that comes here, it seems to him that exertion is something that he's actually, that's what he's doing; but in truth, that is not the case. Exertion is a state of, well, it's the discernment that you feel that you can't by your own power, reach the goal. To reach something that you think that this is where you want to get, that you have to get to. Meaning, exertion is you determining the state, as it is with faith, it's a certain determination of the state. A very, almost a terminal state, where a person is completely with his power. It's written there, yes, He despairs from his own powers. He writes, What is exertion? Effort above the human capability. If it's above the human capability of a person, how can I make that effort? Meaning, I reach the end of my forces and I see that with no force of my own can I ever do this. Then comes the prayer, meaning the true shattering, from which later comes a shout, an outcry to the Creator, the true cry, and that is called exertion.

Meaning, the revelation that what He demands is above my ability, beyond my ability. The revelation of that thing, that what He demands, well, He demanded of me something that isn't in me, He didn't create that in me, why? Because I need to discover the gap between me and Him; and the gap between me and Him is only in this one point, where I reach all the way to the end of the scrutinies, and there I discover it. Although we say that the Creator and the created being are two polar opposites, yes? Two polar opposites, two ends, east and west, but who feels that's east and west, who feels that? If you exert, it seems to you that there is a connection between you and Him, between your qualities and His qualities and you feel that through your scrutiny you reach a place where there's no connection whatsoever, an infinite cut-off point. Then you've reached exertion, where it's clear to you that only His blessing, the letter Bet in Bereshit, only His blessing can bring you salvation.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:33) We say that exertion is actually an action, it's some kind of?

M. Laitman: Exertion is a result of a person performing many actions but the actual concept of exertion is, well, it's a revelation that is above my powers, beyond my abilities, what does it mean? It's a definition that needs to be born, to jump up inside of me from within, right? Like that, where after I conclude all my scrutinies, I see that I'm incapable of doing that.

Student: That is, exertion is actually the prayer he raises at the moment he's already discovered that there's nothing he can do.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Before he reaches such a state, he needs to come to the understanding that there is something beyond his strength, which is exertion?

M. Laitman: So, you are asking. This is what you are asking: in our work we don't feel the upper force, the Creator is concealed, yes? So, how can we be certain that he exists and rules and helps and gives and waits, and everything that is revealed through His revelation, yes, everything that comes to us through His revelation, how can we advance if He is not revealed? The thing is that the Creator's presence is revealed to us to an extent that allows us to remain free, to have free choice is what I mean. Until a person crosses the barrier, he is in darkness; and it's not that the more he advances towards exiting, emerging into the upper world, the sensation of the Creator, then. Well, he has more and more closeness each time He has more surrounding light. He has revelation from double concealment to normal concealment and then reward and punishment, and the revelation of the Creator. No, there are many different aspects to this that we cannot discern, we cannot imagine them, organize them in some clear sequence, a sequence that is clear to us and that is deliberate. In truth it is forbidden to scrutinize this, over much, meaning a person – you need to give a person some kind of clear process – and to say, This is what you are going, look this is phase one, this is phase two, this corresponds to that, that corresponds to this,’ no. It's not good, by that you steal from the person his uncertainty, the feeling of uncertainty is very beneficial. So, I cannot even, I mean, we learn it here and there. You see how in the TES, in The Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sephirot, he plays out the path, how you go through it in general. But of course in that there are things which – well we will scrutinize them as much as possible. As much as possible, by that I mean as much as it is worthwhile to do so.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:35) We are reminded that we need to reach this common desire, this single desire?

M. Laitman: Shared collective desire, the single desire, the one desire. If you don't reach it, the entire learning is not worth anything.

Student: We need to make preparations beforehand to remind ourselves. The Society needs to constantly remind me about the greatness of the goal, the greatness of the Creator. What words do we have to discuss this or should we perform certain actions? How?

M. Laitman: See what Rabash writes again in his articles about Society. Beyond the barrier, this is a different kind of work with the friends and with friends who didn't cross it, the friends who did cross it. It's different work there, all the work is here, all the exertion is here in double concealment, in normal concealment. Afterwards, it's completely different things, with the shells, also, it's a different thing, what can I tell you? In the main thing, which is the social effort, we are lax. Here and there, I throw you some pieces of advice but you don't listen, what can I do?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:58) Apparently, once again, we are after a new state. This happens each time, each time, it's the same thing, why?

M.Laitman: That is a person's laziness. On the one hand, it's a very good thing, so he doesn't do things for no reason, just empty; and on the other hand, it also stops him from finally coming and doing something. Rather, he waits until the state blows up and explodes, and then he acts. So, there is a difference, on the one hand, there is some feeling and talk about how we have to improve the situation. On the other hand, we still want to continue resting.

Student: We think that we need to improve the situation in others, not always in myself.

Laitman: Well, that is a scrutiny for all of you, already, to improve in others. Okay, so put yourself in the hands of the others, so they improve you, and they will do the same thing towards you, and you improve them, go ahead. Maybe that is the path, you should check! I really hope you all do that. If you can give your friend your life, your fate, everything, go ahead. Yes, and I do what he says, yes, go ahead, and you do the same thing for him.

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Reader: Share your impressions from the lesson, and what from it will we take to implement in the Ten?

Song: (01:12:42)

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