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

Daily Lesson (Morning) July 19, 2024.

Part 1: Baal HaSulam. Letter 5. 

Reader: (00:00) Hello, we shall be reading from the writings of Baal HaSulam. Letter Number Five. You can find all of our materials and texts on kabbalahmedia.info, as well as through the Arvut platform, you can send us questions live there, also. And anyone asking here in the study hall is requested to stand up, hold the microphone close to his mouth and speak loudly and clearly.

 Baal HaSulam, Letter 5. 19, 21

Reading: (00:39) To my soul mate, may his candle burn forever:

What you implied in your last letter, that I hide my face from you and regard you as an enemy, your intention is as one who hears his disgrace but keeps silent, and that I am not sharing the burden with my friends or care at all about my friends’ pains. I admit that you are right about that; I do not feel those pains that you feel whatsoever. On the contrary, I rejoice in those revealed corruptions and the ones that are being revealed.

I do, however, regret and complain about the corruptions that have still not appeared, but which are destined to appear, for a hidden corruption is hopeless, and its surfacing is a great salvation from heaven. The rule is that one does not give what he does not have. Hence, if it has appeared now, there is no doubt that it was here to begin with but was hidden. This is why I am happy when they come out of their holes because when you cast your eye on them, they become a pile of bones.

But I do not settle for it even for a moment, as I know that those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them. But weakness stretches time, and those contemptible ants are hidden, and their place is unknown. The sage says about this, “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.” Moses let down his hands, but when Moses lifts his hands of faith, all that should appear promptly appears, and then Israel triumphs “in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror.”

This is the meaning of “Whatever you find that your hand can do by your strength, do.” When the cup is full, the verse, “The wicked are overthrown,” comes true. And when the wicked are lost, light and gladness come to the world, and then they are gone.

I remember discussing similarly with you on the first day of Rosh Hashanah [the first day of the Jewish year], Tav-Reish-Peh-Aleph [September 13, 1920], upon our return from the house of AM. You shared with me very sad things that you saw that morning during the service [prayer]. I was filled with joy before you and you asked me, “Why this joy?” I replied to you the same that when buried wicked appear, although they have not been fully conquered, their very appearance is regarded as a great salvation and causes the Kedusha [holiness] of the day.

And what you wrote me, that you cannot prefer the son of the loved one over the firstborn son of the hated one, I spoke to you many times about it face to face, that the place of faith is called Bor [pit/hole], and the filling of faith is called Be’er [well] of living waters, or succinctly, “life.” It is not as the nature of ordinary water, that when some water is missing, the well still stands, meaning that this well has the nature of animals and nothing more. Rather, all its parts are organs on which the soul depends. Puncturing them in any way causes the entire animate level to die and disappear. This is the meaning of “They have forsaken Me, the source of living water, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Although there is no deficiency in the water, there is some deficiency in the well, so it is completely broken, certainly, beyond any doubt that it will not hold the water in it. This is what the prophet implies in the name of the Creator, and this is true Kabbalah for anyone who is wise and understands with his own mind. If you do not understand, go forth and examine, and then you, too, will be wise and understanding with your own mind.

What you wrote me at the end of your letter, that you would like me to sound my pleasant voice to you, since for me it is no labor at all to delight a bitter soul from its hardships, for a heart filled with love sweetens them at their root, the root of all pleasantness, I will reply to you in brief, that there is a time for everything. You evidently saw that in my first letter, I wrote you and inscribed a very nice thing for its time, rejoicing the heart of God and men, interpreting the true meaning of “They will be satiated and delighted by Your kindness,” examine there for it is true, and its end will be pleasant to every palate longing for true words.

You see how I can exert to delight you with words of truth at this time. God forbid that I should sin in delighting you with falsehood, like the false prophets during the ruin, for there is no falsehood in my domain at all. You already know what I say about those who draw their disciples to the truth with a web of falsehood and lies, or with luxuries. I have never been defiled by their idols, and not in those is Jacob’s lot. Therefore, all my words are said in truth, and where I cannot disclose the truth, I keep completely silent.

Do not think that if I were close to you I would be saying more than in writing. If I knew that this was so, I would not leave you in the first place. What I said to you is the complete truth, that judging by our preparation, you do not need me, and so it is. Do not suspect me that I fabricated untrustworthy words for my own pleasure.

When the Creator helps to be rewarded with the end of correction, you will need me very much, and may the Creator grant us this within twelve months, for the day is still long and you are not as quick as I am. Still, I hope that within twelve months from this day forth you will finish the work, and then you will see with all your efforts that we will be together for some years, since the depth of the work begins primarily at its end.

I have elaborated on all that for you because of thoughts that I detected between the lines of your letter. You have forgotten the absolute truth that is always in my heart and mouth. But let me promise you that more than you have witnessed the truthfulness of my words thus far, you will evidently see that all my words are forever true and will not change even as a hairsbreadth. Also, all the words I wrote you carry a true meaning that will not undergo change but require attention for the time is a time for brevity.

Believe that I could not write to you until now the words that are revealed in this letter, for reasons that I keep to myself. My gaze is fixed on the goal, to make it succeed the most, and this is what surrounds me with a fence of careful guarding over every single word. I know that in time, all my words and conducts toward you will become clear, as it is written, “Happy are you, vessels, who entered in impurity and came out in purity,” for this is the path of Torah.

I have grown tired of asking you to write me more, and to promise you that in return, I will write you often. Each day I sit and wait, perhaps a word about you—from your spiritual life or from your corporeal life—will come my way. But there is not a sound. What can you say to justify it? There are no answers here with strong words or with faint words, only answers with dry words uttered in a florid style, as though for being overburdened, but you probably do not even understand yourself.

... And yet, I know that times will be better, and then, to the extent that they improve, their open love will grow, as well. We have yet to be satiated with eternal love together, as a never-ending fountain, satiated and delighted together, for the pleasantness of the Lord is for the complete receiver who feels no satiation. This is why He is called “Almighty,” since for those who do His will appears an old light and a new light in one unification.

This is acquired by keeping Sabbaths and remissions for the world of Yovel [fifty-year anniversary, as well as jubilee]. This is the meaning of “They left it until morning … and it did not rot, nor was there any worm in it.” It is written, “They will be satiated and delighted by Your kindness,” as corporeal eating fills the belly by the corporeal measure. Moreover, it sends up smoke to the brain due to the cooking in the stomach, and one grows tired and weary, and falls asleep.

This is the meaning of Pinhas stabbing the spear into her belly while they were attached. “Then Pinhas stood and prayed, and the plague stopped.” This is why he was rewarded with the anointing oil although he was not from the descendants of Aaron, for Moses himself told him, “Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace.” First it was with a cut Vav, but through the light of Torah, it grew long, and “My covenant was with him, life and peace” together, and “By the light of the king’s face is life.”

Yehuda Leib

M. Laitman: Questions? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (15:38) What are simple waters and living waters, what is the difference?

M. Laitman: Simple water is that they don't have any inner force in them; whereas, living water have an inner force, and it passes on to the one who uses the water.

Student: He talks about holes and how from the holes we need to create wells, wells of water. Is there a situation where a well can have, both, ordinary water unliving waters and living waters

M. Laitman: That depends with respect to whom?

Student: What does it mean with respect to whom? 

M. Laitman: From the Torah, also, we see with Isaac that it’s not an issue to make some pit in the ground. But to make it a well, there's a difference. 

Student: So, that’s my question, in our work, we are constantly digging and scrutinizing and checking our foundations more and more. So, how from these holes, the states we receive, can we scrutinize and see how to create a well out of this hole? 

M. Laitman: That you relate to the hole as something that can become a well. A hole means something's lacking, and well means something's filled. And it's filled with living water, so that's how we have to treat the deficiency. That all the deficiencies that we ourselves are making, they'll bring us living water.

Student:  By correcting our own personal desires, making them desires for bestowal and love. Does that fill the well with living waters?

M. Laitman: If you wish to fill the environment with that, to fulfill society, then you fill the hole with water.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (18:41) He writes that he's happy about the corruptions that are revealed.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What is a corruption? 

M. Laitman: That's anything that can't be properly aimed at the Creator.

Student: Now, there are states which are revealed, corruptions, let's call them, and we feel them to be something bad, a threat, something unpleasant. And only later in retrospect, you can see that it was a good thing that helped us advance.

M. Laitman: Yes? 

Student: So, the question is what is missing for us to want to be the same as him here? Where the corruption is revealed and immediately we're happy? How do we reach that state? 

M. Laitman: That's a result of experience with corruptions and corrections. If one finds the corruption, then he knows what to do and how to move from that to correction, to fulfillment. 

Student: How do we recognize in the Ten, which is our main place of work. How to recognize a corruption when it's revealed?

M. Laitman: That could be in many cases but to, properly, approach the corruption is only when you have the correct relation with the society, with the Ten. And that you know that through that, through the connection with them, you come to correction.

Student: Ultimately, our way of being corrected is for as many of these corruptions, states, to be revealed, and that's why he writes, he's happy there because, otherwise, they would have been buried and not revealed. So, what happens, what causes a state in the Ten where the revelation of these corruptions become more rapid, so that the corruptions will constantly be revealed? 

M. Laitman: The willingness, the correct approach to the corruptions, that you're happy that they unfold because they were there already, as he writes. And when they appear, then it's a sign that you can correct them.

Student: Is this an ability the Ten has because the moment the Ten has this ability?

M. Laitman: To connect above the corruption

Student: Yes, so the moment it attains that ability they can perform more professional, practical work, so to speak, with every corruption?

M. Laitman: Yes, yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (22:17) The corruptions being revealed, rather than praying to the Creator. Is there any need to share these corruptions with the friends? 

M. Laitman: Typically, no.

Student: Clearly, it's not part of the correction, itself, but in order to give an example, maybe, to the friends. Is there a need to share this with them? 

M. Laitman: You intend to make that an example? That could be, but you have to see if it's the right time and state and place where you can use a corruption that appears in you towards others. 

Student: But it's not part of their correction, right? This is only to give a good example. 

M. Laitman: There's this and there's that, yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (23:31) What are the corruptions between the friends?

M. Laitman: Corruptions between the friends, that can be from anything. 

Student: What does it mean, he writes here, those despicable ants are buried, hidden, their place is unknown, what does it mean? We know that everything depends on the connection between us. All the hardships, the difficulties, are revealed in the connection between us. So, what does it mean that we don't know their place, the place of these hardships, those corruptions?

M. Laitman:  How, where do they come from, where do they arise from?

Student: What does that mean?

M. Laitman:  From what circumstances, reasons? 

Student: And how, they can it be revealed only when there's a feeling of connection between us? 

M. Laitman: From the sense of connection, if we achieve some connection between us. Then we can already achieve, become the correct corruptions, become revealed. 

Student: And this feeling of connection becomes the place, maybe the place for that well of water? 

M. Laitman: Could be, yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (24:54) Does one have the ability to see if he corrected his corruption?

M. Laitman: If he corrected it, he knows, yes. 

Student: For example, today, I saw some corruption in a friend. I discovered it, and I prayed over it. And the next day, or maybe even the same moment, I'll be able to love him, is that the correction, that feeling?

M. Laitman: Well, let's say so, as an example. 

Student:  It has to be with respect to that friend or can it be revealed as something more generalized? 

M. Laitman: Typically, a person sees his own flaws; when he corrects that, he sees himself.

Student: And he sees himself as being more connected to that friend?

M. Laitman: Yes, in a corrected way.

Student: All right, and if not, then there's no correction to that corruption? 

M. Laitman: No such thing.

Student: If a person doesn't feel the closeness.

M. Laitman: If he doesn't feel, he doesn't feel.

Student: Then he didn't correct it? 

M. Laitman: No, how could you correct, if you don't feel the corruption? 

Student: No, he felt the corruption, he didn't feel closeness to the friends. Or that friend we're talking about.

M. Laitman: That's a sign he hasn't completed the correction. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (26:38) I just want to ask about the attitude, here, which, Baal HaSulam towards his student. When he comes and tells him about the corruptions, he says, it's not that I only feel the corruptions, I also rejoice as those corruptions are being revealed, and so on. Is that the way a teacher talks to a student or is that what we should also do in the Ten?

M. Laitman: In the Ten, we don't know what corruptions appear in each and every one, and we typically don't talk about it. But between a teacher and a student, it could be.

Student: All right. So, if a friend in the Ten comes and says something is difficult for me, I'm having hardship with this, and so on, then? 

M. Laitman: He comes to the teacher?

Student: No, he comes to the Ten, not the teacher. So, it's clear you can't tell him, oh, we're so happy that all these hardships you're getting.

M. Laitman: No, no, no, so only to support him so he knows how to correct. 

Student: How to support him, correctly, so he knows how to correct them?

M. Laitman: Well, in an indirect kind of way. That it happens to us as well and we also do that, and so forth. 

Student: But not as written here, right? This is a teacher with a student, what's written here.

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, here it's a teacher and a student. With the teacher, it's a different thing. You could be in revelation, you could be revealed. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (28:20) Baal HaSulam writes, he writes to his student, that you should never think that if you were right next to me, then I would reveal more to you, and so on. And later he adds that he didn't write so much, deliberately, because he wanted to hear from the student. And the last few days, I was touring, I'm a musician, and I felt that the Creator is, physically, distancing me from the lesson, from sitting with the friends. Now, on the one hand, there are moments you feel the friend's support and it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can be in connection. But there are moments when you're distant and also you don't feel the connection with the friends. So how to fill the hole here? From where can I take power in those places because then you cannot justify the Creator, the friends, the distance, nothing, can't justify anything. And these are places where it feels that they're important places.

M. Laitman: Sometimes it's very difficult to return, to go back to some connection. To see oneself in the right position, the right place in small society, in the Ten. But we have to try because, all in all, what you have in front of you is your friends and the connection that you need to renew with them and all of them with you.

Student: It feels as though the distance sometimes gives you an opportunity to scrutinize the way you relate to the friends from that distance. Because you can sit around the table with friends and feel the most distant to them, even completely indifferent to them, God forbid. Or you can sit in a latz, somewhere far in the south of Israel, and feel that you're doing something actually together, holding hands, it's incredible.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: And so, let's hope that we succeed in constantly strengthening that connection.

M. Laitman: That depends on man's labor.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (31:01) Can I ask using an example: Lately, I've begun to feel more envy towards a friend. And this time, I feel it's in a negative way, so I guess this was buried already, somewhere, and now I feel the negative side of envy. And also, I've begun thinking about him a lot more, and that makes me happy, that I can think about the friend a lot more during the day, though it's because of the negative feeling there. Is that a good direction?

M. Laitman: Why not think about him out of a good sensation?

Student: Right, so you begin to think about the friends, more, and develop good feelings and thinking about them, positively. 

M. Laitman: Go ahead. 

Student: With that specific friend, it came out of our work in dissemination. I'm envious of all the great actions he's performing.

M. Laitman: You should be happy about that, that you, too, caused that. You have a part in that. 

Student: So, to look for more ways to work with the friends? 

M. Laitman: Yes, yes.

Student: How can I also help the friends, I don't want it to just be something where I started working with that friend and I begin to feel something. I want the whole Ten to be working on that?

M. Laitman: That's bit by bit, you'll be able to bring others closer to that. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:49) There's a part in this article where he writes that towards the end of Correction, the student will need him more. And he writes this to him, you feel that there's infinite love in this letter, Baal HaSulam expresses it with these words, he softens his student, so to speak. So, what does it mean that in 12 months there might be the end of  Correction and he'll need him more, why? 

M. Laitman: We think that the more a person advances the less he perhaps could be connected to all kinds of sources or friends or teachers. But in Kabbalah, it's actually the other way around.

Student: Yes, this is felt, the more we advance, the more we need the Rav and the Ten because then there are places where you can fall. But how to remain connected to the Rav and the books in those states? 

M. Laitman: We always give to ourselves, reveal to ourselves, more and more, opportunities. Whether it's through studying or disseminating or all sorts of incidents that we go through.

Student: He later promises the student that they'll be together; he describes a state, an unusual state, of some incredible connection and pleasure. And he's not talking about the physical level, of course, he's talking about the emotions and internal joy.

M. Laitman: Yes, connection between the souls. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (35:02) What does he mean by the place of faith being called, a hole? Faith gives you motivation, you believe, you know where to go. But a hole is a lack, a deficiency, it seems to be the opposite?

M. Laitman: But without that deficiency, it wouldn't be. There has to be a deficiency of faith, and its fulfillment is called, a well.

Student: But faith, itself, is supposed to motivate you, it guides you in a certain direction. If you don't have faith, then if it's a hole, then it's just a lack. 

M. Laitman: But without that lack, you can't attain what's required.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:04) Regarding the corruptions, again, I heard you say that a person sees, when I look at a corruption in the Ten, it's my own corruption. Now, if, let's say, I see a corruption in the Ten, which is really, really staggeringly obvious, right in the front, but I don't identify it as my own corruption, why not?

M. Laitman: That's what you're being led to see.

Student: It's being magnified, sorry, so it's being magnified, deliberately, so it's to be clear to me?

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, towards you, yes. 

Student: How do I now work with such a thing? 

M. Laitman: The most correct is in what way can you help the friend rise above the corruption? 

Student: Help him rise above the corruptions?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And if I see something that's wrong, then to help him rise above the corruption, first, I need to understand that it's my own corruption? To assume that it's something wrong with me, not with him.

M. Laitman: Otherwise, you wouldn't see it. 

Student: Right, so that's the presumption to begin with, right? And if I understand you, correctly, if I understand you correctly. You need to act by force towards the friend, to perform actions towards the friend which will bring about a positive attitude towards him? Because if there's a negative attitude due to the corruption that's revealed that I can see, if I act, you always say that actions can be forced, coerced, and that makes an impression. So, if I coerce myself, that will generate a different impression of him towards me, and that'll correct my corruption, is that? 

M. Laitman: That's how it works.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:17) Now, Baal HaSulam writes that I'm happy about the corruptions that are revealed to me, the evils that are revealed to me; hat's clear because those evils are the foundation of his next degree. He writes that you shouldn't be in a state where it's called, a fool sits, his arms folded eating himself. That's not a good state to be in but it's clear to him that this comes from an outside force. And also, it's obvious that you need to overcome through prayer because here you cannot do anything about such a state. Now, a person begins to pray, and pray, and pray but the Creator, if you prayed a certain amount of hours, it's not mandated that at a certain hour at noon, the Creator will answer you. Sometimes, it's revealed to a person that he's remaining on the same degree but, sometimes, the more you overcome through prayer, you discover that the hatred itself also grows. So, the question is all this time I have to sit with the friends in the morning lessons. We have four Zoom meetings every day, and so on and so forth. And I need to speak nicely, be friendly with the friends, I don't know. But within, there's tremendous inner pressure and sometimes I feel like just opening the valve and letting everything out. How to not do that?

M. Laitman: It actually all appears with respect to you, there is no true reality to this. You feel that, that's how you feel it, and you feel it that way in order to correct your attitude, your relation. And from that, move from that towards love and this is where your whole work is.

Student: Yes, but again, I can pray, and such a state can continue for a day, a week, a month. It's not I who determines, it's the Creator who determines when He gives me assistance, when He begins to pull me out of that hole, put me in the well. But the pressure exists. I cannot do nothing with it. I come to the meetings, and I feel hatred towards the friends. I remain silent, I make efforts, everything. But again, the feeling many times is that I want to open the valve.

M. Laitman: One mustn't forget that it's coming to the person in order for him to correct his relation. So that he will see the extent to which he needs support, help, mercy; and that without it, he's not going to advance, understood? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (41:59) This letter is very challenging, he's so direct, walking directly between the different forms and states. It's almost like he chains us to every word, there's nowhere to run to, it demands examination, right? And this is something he writes to his student, which I suppose he greatly appreciates, being so diligent, let's say. And he discovers that through the fear and the gratitude, he cannot deviate even a tiny little bit and it's obligating, and also, he says love for the path. Is that a letter you want us to open up more? And it's also regarding what the friend said, it's a letter where it feels very important for us to open this up more. To touch more on the scrutinies, the relationships between us, the revelation of evil. How to be joyous with it, how to advance using it.

M. Laitman: Of course, you have to open it up and take care of that, treat it in order to correct. 

Student: Is it good if we do that over three days, let's say? Maybe meeting and talking about it once a day?

M. Laitman: Try it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (43:47) When we read this letter, I felt Baal HaSulam's great love for his student. And I felt that this love can envelop me, giving me a sensation of being covered with love and confidence. I almost didn't hear the words of the writings, I just took with me the general sensation in this article. Now, should I hold on to that at a more generalized sensation or should I let go of it and continue onwards?

M. Laitman: That's however you think.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:55) We are a very unique society, we live in two worlds, so to speak. We have our life in the Ten and we have our lives, outside of that. Now, I wanted to ask about our attitude towards the corruptions revealed in the Ten between the friends. And what we can now see in the world, in the country, in humanity, do we need to work with that, what to do with that?

M. Laitman: What's most important is to arrange the correct relationship between the friends, that's mandatory and we should be cautious not to let go of it, not to neglect it.

Student: We said that working in the Ten with the corruptions that are revealed there, that this affects everything happening, outside? We know it is so, but there's a thing here where, let's put it this way: We live in a world outside, connected to it, and things are being revealed which we know don't always appear to be very good, with respect to the outside system. Now, what do I when I see such a thing, do I need to run straight to the Ten because I know my work is in the Ten?

M. Laitman: Your work is in the Ten.

Student: And there I do the only work that can affect what's outside? 

M. Laitman: Yes, you can't run away from that.

Student: What to do, what is the correct approach? How to remember it, even, let's say? 

M. Laitman: You should engage in that all the time and then you don't need to remember it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:27) He writes that I carry a burden with my friends, and I don't care about my friends' problems. How to carry the burden with the friends, how to feel their burdens, more, their pains and problems? 

M. Laitman: Here there's a difference between feeling the pain and feeling the corruption. So, most important for us is the feeling of the corruption: How I reveal the corruptions that I have with the Ten. In such a way that I can't bear that, can't stand it.

Student: What is the correct distinction between the feeling of pain and the feeling of the corruption?

M. Laitman: To the extent that I feel the corruption, I can detect it. And there, I feel pain, I feel it as my pain, physical pain, literally.

Student: Okay, so how can I assume that burden, take it upon myself. Not to run from it but to carry the load of those corruptions and pains?

M. Laitman: They interchange, I don't need to chase the corruptions but as I scrutinize them, I see what is their place, what is their source. And that could be enough, and that corruption then already is replaced with another one.

Student: If a person has a closed heart, he's not sensitive towards the friend’s state.

M. Laitman: Yes? 

Student: Can he correct those evils, those corruptions? 

M. Laitman: Of course, it doesn't matter if his heart is blocked or not, it'll then maybe just take him more time. Perhaps, he'll see how he's rejected, how unacceptable he is. How the friends next to him are more successful than him; and that's how he'll advance.

Student:  And that's how it awakens his heart more, right? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: He elicits sensitivity. Now, why does the dependency on the teacher and the source texts become greater over time? Instead of the student discovering that he has more of the ability to deal with situations himself? 

M. Laitman: Here, it's the Creator interfering, and it turns out that one who advances feels, more and more, how the attitude to the friend, the teacher, and the Creator, it all aligns with the same line and that's how he advances. 

Student: The indication for his advancement is that he needs the friend, the teacher, and the source texts, more? 

M. Laitman: Yes, it could take years. 

Question (MAK 39): (51:54) From, if there is a corruption in me, why do I not see it in myself but, rather, try to shift it over to a friend?

M. Laitman: The ego, the ego as if defends the person.

Question (Women Moscow 8): (52:12) How important is it to scrutinize and see exactly what's corrupted, and is that within our power to do? 

M. Laitman: Say it again?

Student: How important is it to scrutinize what exactly is the corruption, and is that within our power? 

M. Laitman: Yes, it's in our power to identify the corruption and the reason of the corruption.

Question (Women Moscow): (52:52) How does my attitude towards the corruption influence its correction?

M. Laitman: If I don't feel it as a corruption, then I can't correct it. On the condition that I feel the corruption, I see it and the reason for it. And the outcomes if I correct it this way or that way, that is what leads me to the healthy state. 

Question (Women PT 23): (53:20) How from the revelation of the corruption do we transition over to correction and fulfillment?

M. Laitman: That depends on man's recognition; that other than feeling the corruption, he sees what could be the reason and how does he take care of the reason. What he needs to do for that, that could be not immediate, could happen through a series of actions. But that, that's already, it's the correction that builds it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:12) There's a question coming from several groups: They're quoting the part where, “those who do His will, old light and new light appears to them as one”, and so on, “and this relates to keeping the Shabbat”. What does it mean, all of that?

M. Laitman: That means making a connection between all of the spiritual influences and bring them to a single influence. 

Question (Women HEB 1): (54:52) In many letters, Baal HaSulam shows disappointment with his students for not writing to him, not sharing with him what's going on. How can it be that the students disappoint such a great teacher who wants to be close to them? 

M. Laitman: That's really how it appears to us, that they disregard him, but we don't know, we're not in their place. If we were in their place, that would be a different story, then you would behave, otherwise. But in what he tells them, that they have to try this way or that way to work. Then try to see how much can that be even in our time.

Question (Women Moscow 8): (55:49) Does the teacher always see the student on a higher degree?

M. Laitman: The teacher sees the student on a greater, more corrected degree, but it's not that it protects. It's just how he can see it, that's how he sees it. There's many details, here, but we will still have to scrutinize it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:54) The more we work on the connection between us, the more we reveal corruptions, and the more work we have? 

M. Laitman: Well, possibly, yes, typically, yes. But it's not all along the way, it is for some segment of the path.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:29) This exertion to work, the scrutinize that you described so masterfully before. It always brings me back to the same bottom line, I need to pray, and I don't know what it means to raise a prayer. Yesterday, you said that what we're missing is to raise a prayer. 

M. Laitman: To raise a prayer to the Creator means to raise a prayer.

Student: But this is done without words, right? Everything settles, the exertion I need to make and so on. And you reach a certain point at the bottom where you understand that you need to raise a prayer to Him but what does it mean? Does it mean to think about Him, ask Him to save me? 

M. Laitman: To turn to Him with what you want to say to Him, to thank Him, to ask from Him.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:44) Baal HaSulam wrote here that if you don't understand, go and examine. What is that action?

M. Laitman: If you don't understand, then come out of your state and begin to see this state from outside, through all kinds of circumstances and reasons. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:15) So, it turns out that your whole life is just a series of revelations of those corrections. And the more a person manages to correct those, the more he gains from life, right? And what corruptions are going to be revealed, a person never knows, you cannot prepare. So, what, a person needs to just prepare an environment to help him go through this? So, what is the environment that I invest in, I want to know in a practical sense. What depends on me in terms of preparing that environment so as to help the entire Ten to go through the things that the Creator delivers?

M. Laitman: According to how the upper force awakens you, according to that, try to see what you can prepare in order to respond to Him, correctly.

Student:  There's personal issues within, scrutinies, attitudes, and then also the Ten, the environment, it's not me, it's us. So, how do I do my part in the preparation of the Ten so that each one of us has an easier time going through those corruptions?

M. Laitman:  You should see that, you should try to build it in such a way that the Ten is, it answers all the problems that awaken. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:08) Baal HaSulam gives a lot of support to a student of his who's advancing on the path. The student has this person, this character, accompanying him, helping him. And also, he says, now I can reveal something that I couldn't reveal before and so on. And you also told us about the special connection you had with Rabash. How important is that figure, that physical figure, in a person's life so the person can establish himself, correctly, advance correctly, in a healthy and good way? 

M. Laitman: It's very important, everything depends on man's attitude. We've got nothing to ask about the Creator. 

Student: We are in a connection with Rav, and it takes the form of questions and answers. It's not the same attitude you see here in the letter, where the person feels that there is an angel holding his hand, accompanying him, helping him grow. Every person in the world misses that feeling, wants that feeling of a great father accompanying him, helping him grow.

M. Laitman: Everyone has that. Please, it all depends on your inner efforts.

Student: Can you explain it, where do you find this figure in our work? Is it you, but we don't have the same connection here as we see in this letter.

M. Laitman: I think that each and every one who is looking for how to be closer, more honest with the Creator, straightforward with the Creator. He, ultimately, finds his connection with the upper force and feels that there is a connector, here, between him and the Creator and that's called, an angel.

Student: Can I scrutinize further of this matter? The student builds his Ten according to how he experiences reality. From his powers, from his own mind, so to speak, he establishes his Ten, he doesn't know how to do this, correctly. Now, the concern is that he'll grow wrongly, you know, not in a true, straight way because that power, that additional power of love from a kind of father figure, a Rav, an upper force, he needs that to help him build it, correctly. Otherwise, he's dependent on his own lack of understanding and so on. In the Ten, you need something else to accompany the person, something external, otherwise he's building by himself, of his own. And the concern is, therefore, that it's not built right. You can build and build, but you get this crooked tree in the end. And it needs to be proper and good, and I don't know if you could say that a person has the power, the ability, to do this, correctly.

M. Laitman: This is his prayer; through this prayer, he achieves such a relationship with the upper force.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:48) Continuing the friend's scrutiny, just now, you told him that a person needs to pray so as to have the connection with the upper one for those purposes. But a person cannot do this by himself, he needs some kind of conduit if he works directly with the Creator. I don't know, perhaps you can tell us, what I see is that the tighter the connection becomes with the teacher, with the Ten, there's this place for things to pass through, otherwise there isn't. And as the friend said, we live in a time now where you have thousands of students and we have Tens, each Ten is in its own situations and states. How to find a pathway, a conduit, to the Creator for the prayer? How to share this prayer with the Rav and the Ten?

M. Laitman: In every article of Rabash, we renew the pipeline and clean it, and we advance our work. More connection between us, more cleanliness of the pipeline, more connection to the goal and so forth. 

Student: How does a person know that he's not straying from the path? That he's connecting himself, correctly, to the articles, the Rav, his Ten?

M. Laitman: This is by the articles, by the articles of Rabash, they exactly correct us and accompany us all along the path. 

Student: We read many other source texts, also, many different ones, we have Zohar lessons and so on. But here you really put an emphasis on Rabash's articles, where you can truly feel that each one of his articles delves, more and more deeply, into the inner work of man. So, can we focus on just those?

M. Laitman: I don't want to say only them but they're the main thing. As much as we think that Rabash is the last one, but he is very, very great, very high. And actually, the fact that he knows how to conceal himself is also a greatness. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:09:10) Baal HaSulam, as he writes to the students, you see in many of his letters that he expects more letters from his students, and same thing with Rabash. So, it seems there's this state where the more, more than the calf wants to feed, the cow wants to nurse the calf. Is it always that situation between teachers and students, the calf wants to suckle less so, than the cow wants to feed it?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student:  And it's the same here with you?

M. Laitman: Yes, that's it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:09:54) You don't really notice this, but he writes here he says that “I could make you happy with the true words or make you happy with falsehoods, God forbid, but there are no falsehoods in me” and so on. It's clear that Baal HaSulam isn't lying but who are the false prophets he speaks about there?

M. Laitman: I don't know, I don't know, what does it matter? 

Student: Many people study the wisdom of Kabbalah all around us. Every day you hear all sorts of things. 

M. Laitman: I don't hear, I don't hear, anything; I have no connection with anyone besides those who are sitting here and asking. 

Student: Don't you hear noises outside?

M. Laitman: Noises, I do hear.

Student: No, I mean things about the wisdom of Kabbalah. 

M. Laitman: No, no, I'm telling you, no. 

Student: You don't hear? 

M. Laitman: What can I hear, what?

Student: No, I don’t know look, we live in an environment where you hear there's all sorts of people, there's the media, you hear this here, that there. 

M. Laitman: No, no.

Student: It doesn't interest you? 

M. Laitman: What can they tell me that's new?

Student: I don't know, maybe there is something, maybe, maybe not.

M. Laitman: No, no.

Student: And then he writes that in a place where it's impossible to reveal the truth, I keep silent. And that's what you say also, right? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:42) Baal HaSulam writes to his student that when he reaches the end of Correction, he will need him very much, but until then the student doesn't need him. Now, you also touched on this. You said that's how it works in the wisdom of Kabbalah. But it seems that until the end of correction, the Creator always has to accompany the person. But when he reaches the end of Correction, then he can be independent, but here you actually need this guidance from above.

M. Laitman: We'll see. You're talking about things that when will we get there? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:37) I want to ask about the connection between teacher and student. My sensation is, my feeling is, a few years ago I came here, and I felt that you're speaking directly to me, that's how I felt. I sat here in the lesson and regardless of what we were discussing, it felt like you're talking to me, directly. And over the years, this just grew stronger, that feeling, it didn't disappear. So, I have a few questions about that. First of all, how does it work, why is it so? That when you sit, you hear, I was speaking to whoever it may be, ultimately, he's speaking directly to you?

M. Laitman: Because you had an ear that listens. 

Student: Another question: When a person, we're advancing towards a kind of world where artificial things are replacing people. So much so that now robots that are supposed to imitate even how a person thinks, AI. But it seems, and here I want to ask you, I'm not stating anything, I'm asking. The connection between teacher and student in our wisdom, is it eternal? Will it always be between two people and never between a person and maybe, I don't know, an AI that can give you clever answers?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Why is it so? 

M. Laitman: You'll understand, you'll understand, most things we have to understand from our own experience. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:14:43) If I may ask, he talks about the hole and the well, the well of living water. And he says, regarding the well of simple water, ordinary water, that something is missing. The well is there but if it's a well of living water, then it's enough for it to be punctured once, and some water to be missing there. So, he writes that all the parts of the well of living water are organs on which the soul depends. And if one of them is punctured, the degree of the animate dies, completely. So, what does it mean that if there's no complete, full faith, what does it mean? 

M. Laitman: That we have to make sure, if we've reached a state where we have a well, we have to be very cautious about its wholeness; otherwise, it will escape.

Student: What are all the parts of the well, these organs on which the soul depends? 

M. Laitman: Well, on the way we'll see, we'll see. It's not the question, yet. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:16:14) And you've said many times, also, that if a student is not in joy, then it's not a regular Creator. If we're not in Tens and we see that in a meeting, half a day, and there's no joy. Do we need to put a stop and do something nonsensical even, just do?

M. Laitman: Why is that nonsense, joy doesn't come from the nonsense.

Student: No, maybe we're working on it a little bit more artificially, but? 

M. Laitman: No. 

Student: So how from the place where the, it's like that, with a kind of a frown. How from that place do you create a state of joy?

M. Laitman: We awaken the goal, and we ask to be directed at it. And to see how we, step after step, come closer to it. We come closer in steps and that needs to bring us joy.

Student: Can, should it be a matter of sublimity of the Creator without joy?

M. Laitman: I don't know, check. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:18:03) It's about that verse that he wrote, that in a place where you can't reveal the truth, you're silenced. I've been in this state for quite a long time. It's hard for me to even talk to people because everyone's like liars, they're not worth a spit. You talk to people and you're simply disgusted, I have periods of hours that I'm just sitting in quiet. They're looking at me and they don't understand, I'm not capable of talking to people. So, my question is how is my silence contributing? Does it contribute to me?

M. Laitman: Look, every single state that a person goes through, constructs him. It could be that it's not in a concise and direct way or in a more surrounding way. But, in any case, even in a more surrounding way he comes to something. You need to see whether you are in a state where you can bring yourself closer to the goal. Can you picture the goal before you?

Student: Something, it's, no.

M. Laitman: So, we need to picture the goal before us so that it appears to us in a certain way. It doesn't have to be how it actually is, it can be flexible, and that you direct yourself at it. And herein, you need to awaken all the details of the goal as much as they can become revealed in the present state. And if not in the present state, then in the next state, yes. 

Student: Are you talking only about a spiritual goal?

M. Laitman: Spiritual. 

Student: Only that?

M. Laitman: Everything else has no goals. 

Student: For me, it's not a good period of time in corporeality, so most of the time I'm immersed in that. So, I can't really find a way to engage too much in the spiritual goal. Not that I know what that is, altogether, but I don't know, I just wanted to understand what he means by the silence, here?

M. Laitman: I think that you don't have what to complain about. That you're unsatisfied, you put big brakes on yourself, it's as if you're constantly emptying your motor from fuel.

Student: Fuel for what, what does this engine do?

M. Laitman: Development. A motor that it'll run and that'll work, that it'll seek how to progress. 

Student: What do you mean, what would this engine? If it were filled with fuel, what would it do? 

M. Laitman: It would move your entire system a little bit more and a little bit more in the correct direction.

Student: What's the right direction, again, you're telling me, I don't know.

M. Laitman: That you reveal the Creator in your connection with friends.

Student: I don't have that, I don't feel connected in any way. Friends are talking here and it's like?

M. Laitman: On the path, importance will reveal itself to you. And from your high mountain that you now sit on, you'll see, gradually, a little bit more that the friends will appear closer to you. And you will see how in the connection between everyone you can find your soul.

Student: Okay, I don't have what to answer you.

M. Laitman: You'll have a good connection with the friends and the Creator will illuminate to you in your connection, the upper light, which is called, the soul. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:23:24) Baal HaSulam writes in the middle somewhere, “when the Creator helps us to the end of correction, then you will need me greatly. And the Creator will make it so that during these 12 months, it will be very close, and you'll be illuminated like me. Nevertheless, let's hope that throughout these 12 months, from this day onwards, you will finish the work and then you'll see the means, and with your power, that we will be together. And the main thing is that we see the work is seen from its end to the beginning”. Baal HaSulam is opening for this student here that all the work starts at the end of Correction. Twelve months is like time of the complete Ibur, of the gestation, as I understand. There's seven months, nine months, 12 months.

M. Laitman: Well?

Student: And this is where the real work starts at the end of Correction, that's the work. Before that, nothing. And He puts doubt in him in the end, he opens everything and you're not shining too much, so give the efforts and then we'll be together. Between the lines, he writes, like he sees there's a doubt in this student. So, how can it be that Baal HaSulam, at his height, opens for him in the system? Here, you have it, it's open for you. And the person is neglectful in these matters, how can that be? 

M. Laitman: We don't really understand that, therefore, you should leave it; let's say in another half year, we'll return to that, and it'll be more understood. 

Student: Like the depth of it?

M. Laitman: Yes, it's good to see when we find more depth that we cannot reach it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:25:42) I want to go back to the corruptions that he talked about. I have a corruption for a long time and from that state, I see that I have two sides: One side is Rav, the other side is the students, and every side is waiting for the other side to make a step. Until the other side makes a step, the other side doesn't move. You, on your behalf, are waiting for the students to do something, grow, become independent; until they do that, you're not moving. You remain in the same state. And them, on their side, they're not moving until you tell them to do something, they're kind of like waiting for you to tell them to do something, to move somewhere. And it's like those two sides are frozen in place, each side waiting for the other side to make the first step. And I'm in the middle looking at this, and from my corruption, I don't know what to do with this picture.

M. Laitman: Okay. 

Student: Is that right, are you kind of waiting for something, for them to do something?

M. Laitman: I tell them each day what they need to renew and do. 

Student: Exactly, and it repeats itself every day, they're asking the same questions; it's like that day after day and for years. You can find all the answers to the questions they're asking in your site, in your blog, I can give them these answers already from what you wrote. And it's not, you're continuing to invest from the love that you have towards them. And I also feel the sorrow that you have in that, the sorrow of the father who wants his children to grow up. You have years of sorrow for this matter, and you're investing and you're giving all that you have for all these years. And they're not growing, maybe they won't grow, anymore. And you're investing and investing in it. 

M. Laitman: Why do you say that? 

Student: Because for years, you can see they're repeating the same questions in this place; no new people are coming. It's the same questions of the same people and the same quantity and the same size. And your love is so great that you're giving up everything just for them to grow, I want them to grow up. I'm willing to give my whole life and everything that I have just for them. But maybe you're waiting for something that will never happen.

M. Laitman: Maybe?

Student: So, isn't it too bad? 

M. Laitman: It's too bad. 

Student: There's people that are waiting to grow up, and you're preferring them over the whole world, isn't it a waste of. It's like you're beating on a stone and the stone's not going to change. It's a stone, it's a rock, it won't change, it won't change. Isn't it too bad that you're investing so much time and health and years that, I don't know how many are left for you, they won't change, they won't change. Maybe there are other people that will hear you, that you will be able to advance with them. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know.

M. Laitman: Okay, as usual.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:28:39) I, also, want to ask about the connection between the teacher and the students. There are students that it feels like the Rav is bringing them closer. Maybe in the student it feels like the Rav is bringing them closer. And there could be a period where the Rav is distancing them. When Rav is bringing them closer, of course you have to get closer. When Rav distances someone, when a student feels like the Rav is distancing a student, what's the correction here? What's expected from the student?

M. Laitman: I don't know because there is no one who I make more distant from myself.

Student: No, I'm not saying that you're distancing yourself, I'm saying that I feel. Let's say I raise my hand up right now for an hour and a half and I feel like everyone's asking, and I'm the only one that's not being let to ask. And so, I feel as if Rav doesn't want the connection with me. I understand that there's a certain action that I need to perform here, or something, what is that something? What's the correction for such a thing, for example? 

M. Laitman: To justify the Rav, and to continue in all kinds of ways, where you invite to yourself interest, attention. 

Student: To continue to invite upon oneself the attention and noticing of the teacher? Does the teacher expect such a longing?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: I'm just giving this as an example to put my hand up. To continue to want connection with Rav, meaning for the sake of the matter, it feels like Rav is rejecting me. But I nevertheless am interested to be in connection with him? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: We talked earlier, a friend asked about this a little, about the stages of correction. My corrupted attitude towards the environment, to the friends, to the Creator, to the teacher is revealed. So, what are the stages because Baal HaSulam writes that I'm supposed to be rejoiced with the wicked that is revealed. And I heard that it also has to hurt so badly that I want it to change. Is there one motive of correction or one motif of correction and then from that revelation there's correction? Or do I need to come to a state where it hurts me, and that will lead to my correction?

M. Laitman: If you don't accept the corruption, then you do not raise a prayer to the Creator for him to be able to correct it.

Student: To receive the corruption as a corruption, I can observe from the study, and from all the things that I do, I can really realize that my attitude is corrupted. It doesn't really hurt me, and I do identify it. Is that enough for something to be corrected, here? 

M. Laitman: Maybe?

Student: Do I need to appeal to the Creator in this or is the very fact that I noticed that it's already an action?

M. Laitman: No, then you need to turn to the Creator.

Student: So, to turn to the Creator, I have to feel this pain, otherwise?

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: Meaning, last question, in the stages of correction, I need to discover the corruption, my corrupted attitude. To discover that it really hurts me, that it distances me from the society, from the Creator. And then, here, the request comes natural, or do I have to exert myself to take out some kind of sentences or something from my heart so that the Creator will correct it?

M. Laitman: If it hurts you, then your pain in your heart will reach the Creator; and then a correction will come in return to you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:32:40) I look at the letter from a place called personal responsibility. And Baal HaSulam writes, “but if you let go, time goes by, and those despicable things are there, and we won't know their place”. And he gives us an answer: “Whatever you find that you can do with your hands, do. And when you do those wicked, will be inverted to the world”. And beyond that, he says, “and if you don't understand, go and examine, and then you too will be wise and understand”. And last but not least, about the times, one hand he says, “but time goes by when you are neglectful, and but it's because the time is to be brief, meaning everything is in the hands of each and every one of us, and what we choose”. Also, Baal HaSulam teaches us to think and develop from thought. Where King Solomon says, the Creator made this compared to that. Is that right?

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:34:15) Baal HaSulam says to the students, “the words that I'm writing on this paper will never change, it's absolute truth”. And what we need is more attention. These writings I read dozens of times. In my Ten, I read an article or a letter, I do the work in the Ten for a day or two a week. I read the article, the letter, and completely new things open up, strong things that I never saw because they were always written there but I didn't ever sense them. And it's a very powerful thing, I feel that I'm flooded with joy and closeness to the author and embraced. Now my question, in this state, I really want to share and to work on it, as if I found a treasure. And I want to share it with my friends but how do we do it, it doesn't seem to me that it's being revealed to everyone, simultaneously. How do you work with such a thing as friends in the Ten so that each will receive more strength on the path, more confidence?

M. Laitman: Keep quiet and don't let out whatever you want, it doesn't help anyone and especially you, that is one thing. Secondly, if you will, already, be in a state where it's clear to each and every one what states you can be together in. So, then you will see how you connect and how you turn from that state to the Creator. Now, hold them. 

That's a known disease of beginners, that they want to promote themselves, to teach everyone, it's not good. If these things are precious, you need to hold them to yourself, just like you hold your belongings, your money, etc., that is all. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:37:14) Who does the Kabbalist, the teacher, make this calculation? With the advancement of his students or the advancement of humanity? 

M. Laitman: Who does the Kabbalist make an account with?

Student: Yes. 

M. Laitman: Both the group and humanity, in our times, we have no choice. We need to advance the group, the group of students. And we also need to care for the surrounding light, to come out of this group and that it will cover the whole of humanity.

Student: And who's in preference? 

M. Laitman: In any case, it's the students. 

Student: Yesterday you said, I'm opening according to your lack, according to your desire, according to what's being given to me. It's like, it sounds like you're working according to our advancement, you're increasing the connection, then if we add the connection and deficiency, you'll open up for us, in accordance with us.

M. Laitman: Certainly.

Student: And where is humanity, here?

M. Laitman: Humanity comes afterward, according to each one's desire, each one is in a certain distance.

M. Laitman: Okay, so we have closed that topic. What else do we have?

Reader: We’re going to move to the next part of the lesson, song and next part.

Song: (01:38:44)