The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: June 11, 2026
Part 1: The Importance of a Prayer of Many. Rabash. Article No. 7, 1986.
Original lesson date: 02/14/2002
Reader: Dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will learn a lesson by Rav from February 14, 2002. It is based on the article, “The Importance of a Prayer of Many.” You can find it in Hebrew on page 225 in volume 1. We will read the article together. We have 30 minutes for that.
Reading: (00:38) Rabash. The Importance of a Prayer of Many
Article No. 7, 1986
It is written in The Zohar, Vayishlach [And Jacob Sent], (p 13, Item 45 in the Sulam Commentary), “Come and see. Rabbi Shimon said, ‘A prayer of many rises before the Creator and the Creator crowns Himself with that prayer because it rises in several manners: One asks for Hassadim [grace], another for Gevurot [strength], and another for Rachamim [mercy]. It consists of several sides—the right side, the left side, and the middle. And because it consists of several sides and manners, it becomes a crown and is placed on the head of the Righteous One who lives forever, meaning Yesod, who imparts all the salvations to the Nukva, and from her to the entire public. And come and see, Jacob consisted of all three lines; this is why the Creator wanted his prayer, for it was in utter completeness—of all three lines, like a prayer of many. This is why it is written, ‘Then Jacob was very much afraid and distressed,’ since the Creator made it this way for him, so he would pray because He craved his prayer.”
We see in the words of The Zohar that it interprets a prayer of many as a single person, saying that Jacob consisted of all three lines. But in all the places where it writes about a prayer of many, it literally means that many pray, as our sages said (Berachot, p 8a), “Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, ‘Why is it written, ‘And I, my prayer is a time of good will unto You, O Lord.’’ When is it a time of good will? When many pray.”
This means that many pray together, literally. Also, we should understand what The Zohar says, that “A crown is placed on the head of the Righteous One who lives forever.” What does it mean that it becomes a crown on the head? A crown means the crown of the king, like the crown of the kingship. And what does it mean that the crown on his head is made of the prayer? What makes us understand the importance and greatness of a prayer? Since he wishes to reveal to us the importance of the prayer, he tells us, “Know that the crown for the king is made of the prayer.”
It says that it is called Yesod and that it gives all the salvations to the Nukva, and from her to the entire public. We should understand why the crown is made specifically on Yesod, since it is known that we pray to Ein Sof, so what does it mean that a prayer of many becomes a crown specifically on Yesod? And also, why does it say that Yesod imparts to the Nukva, and from the Nukva to the public?
Baal HaSulam explained the matter of a prayer of many as a person praying for the many; this is called “a prayer of many.” This is why a prayer of many is called “a time of good will.” When a person prays for himself, he has slander and questions whether his prayer is truly worth acceptance. But when he prays for the public, it becomes irrelevant to scrutinize him and to see if he is worthy of his prayer being answered, since he is not asking for anything for himself, but only for the public.
This is why it was said that a prayer of many is called “a time of good will” and his prayer is answered. And according to what is explained in several places in the Sulam Commentary, a prayer of many relates to Malchut, who is called “the assembly of Israel” or “the Holy Divinity.” She is called “many” because she contains all the souls. And since Divinity is in exile, we ask about the exile of Divinity, which is sometimes called “Divinity in the dust,” since all those names indicate to us the content of the purpose of creation, which was in order to do good to His creations.
It is known that for Him to reveal the perfection of His deeds, there was the first restriction. This means that in a place where there is only a Kli called “receiving in order to receive,” the upper bounty will be hidden from that place. The abundance comes only to a place where it is possible to aim in order to bestow. And since by nature man is born only to receive, in that place that he sees, his receiver—called “self-love”—cannot receive. Instead, he must do everything for Divinity, meaning for Malchut, for only by that will His glory appear in Malchut. This is so because only when the Creator can appear to the lower ones will His glory be seen. It was written that the place where the Shochen [dweller] appears is called Shechina [“dwelling,” but also “Divinity”].
This is called, “Let His great name be magnified and sanctified,” since the name of the Creator, who is called “The Good Who Does Good,” appears in the world. This is so because everyone obtains the purpose of creation called, “To do good to His creations,” since now there is a Kli that is fit for reception, being the intention to bestow, called Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.
It turns out that since by nature the creatures are only about reception in order to receive, and since they cannot work in order to bestow without overcoming their nature, they cause Malchut to remain in the dust, meaning they cannot see her merit. This means that they cannot see what she can receive from the Creator because everything is hidden due to the restriction.
However, we need some introspection. That is, we should believe what our sages tell us, that all the pleasures in corporeal delights are but a tiny candle compared to the pleasures that exist in spirituality. As it is written in the Sulam Commentary (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” p 173), “This is the meaning of the breaking of the vessels that preceded the creation of the world. Through the breaking of the vessels of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity] and their fall into the separated BYA, holy sparks fell along with them to the Klipot [shells], from which came the pleasures and love of every kind into the domain of the Klipot, which pass them on for man’s reception and for his delight.”
It therefore follows that the majority of pleasures are in Kedusha, while we see the contrary, that in corporeality everyone sees things that can be enjoyed. But in the toil in the Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], it is impossible to tell a person to engage in Torah and Mitzvot without promising him reward for his work. This is because while one engages in keeping the Mitzvot, he finds it completely tasteless, but when he is promised a reward and he believes it, he can work in Torah and Mitzvot because he will be rewarded.
This is not so when he engages in corporeal things such as eating, drinking, money, honor, etc. A person does not ask, “Why must I deal with these mundane matters?” since where one feels pleasure, he doesn’t ask about the purpose of receiving the pleasure. All he can think about while receiving the pleasure is how to enhance the pleasure in quantity and quality. God forbid that one should ever contemplate the matter of reception of pleasure, meaning, “Why do I need to receive pleasure?”
Sometimes, a person receives pleasure from something for which he did not pay a thing. Although it gives him much pleasure, the question still arises in him, “What is the purpose of that pleasure?” For example, a pleasure that costs no money is the pleasure of rest. There is no need to buy this pleasure, for one receives it free of charge. Still, many times a person asks himself, “What will I gain by enjoying this rest?”
But when a person experiences true delight and pleasure, the purpose of this delight never even occurs to him. And if it does happen that he should contemplate the purpose of this pleasure that he’s enjoying now, it is a sign that the pleasure he is feeling is not real pleasure, since he can still contemplate its purpose. This is a sign that there is a deficiency in that pleasure, and where there is deficiency, he can contemplate a different purpose than what he is feeling now.
From all the above, it follows that the majority of good taste and pleasure in life are found in Torah and Mitzvot, since this is where the upper light is deposited. It is written about it in the Sulam Commentary (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” p 242, “Visions of the Ladder,” Item 1), “When one is rewarded with listening to the voice of His word, the 613 Mitzvot become Pekudin, from the word Pikadon [deposit]. This is so because there are 613 Mitzvot, and in each Mitzva a light of a unique degree is deposited, which corresponds to a unique organ in the 613 organs and tendons of the souls and the body. It follows that while performing the Mitzva, one extends to the corresponding organ in his soul and body, the degree of light that belongs to that organ and tendon. This is considered the Panim [face/anterior] of the Mitzvot.”
It follows that by keeping Torah and Mitzvot, the purpose of creation—to do good to His creations—becomes revealed. However, he says in the Sulam Commentary that this comes specifically after one is rewarded with keeping the Torah and Mitzvot in the form of “Listening to the voice of His word.” But when he keeps Torah and Mitzvot in the form of “That fulfill His word,” before they are rewarded with listening, the Mitzvot are called Eitin [tips/counsels], and they are regarded as Achor [back/posterior]. It means that the upper light that belongs to that Mitzva is still not shining in them, but they are regarded as counsels by which to come to the light of Panim, which belongs to the Mitzva.
And all the work and the strengthening that one needs to overcome his desire and thought, which obstruct him from going on the path of truth, apply only when he is in Achoraim [back], in the form of “That fulfill His word.” This is so because in that state, he still doesn’t feel the upper light that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot. Hence, he does everything because he believes it is a great privilege to be rewarded with engaging in Torah and Mitzvot, even when he doesn’t feel its importance but does everything with faith above reason, for this is man’s purpose—to achieve Dvekut with the Creator—and he does everything to achieve it. As a result, he observes everything and makes great efforts wherever he can, and his sole intention is to achieve wholeness.
And he sees that after all the efforts and prevailing when he wishes to overcome the obstructers that stand against him, he is still standing on the outside, since Dvekut means equivalence of form, and he still did not move an inch from self-love, which is an opposite act from Dvekut with the Creator. In that state, he goes to pray to the Creator to enlighten him so he can raise Divinity from the dust. This means that the kingdom of heaven—as she appears to a man when he wants to work only for her, to disclose the glory of heaven in the world—tastes like dust in that state. And he sees that everyone is like him, disrespectful toward the glory of heaven because they cannot appreciate her importance. This is called “a prayer of many,” meaning that he prays for the collective.
Two discernments must be made: 1) Malchut is called “many” because she contains all the souls. 2) A prayer of many, when he prays for the collective, means that the collective will be rewarded with the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, that they will be rewarded with 613 deposits that the upper light shines in each and every Mitzva.
It follows that at the end of the day, the two discernments of “many” become one. This means that he prays for the public to be rewarded, for the greatness and importance of Malchut—who is called “many”—to be seen, which occurs when everyone is rewarded with vessels of bestowal. At that time, the 613 Mitzvot will be revealed, as in “Listening to the voice of His word,” at which time the 613 Mitzvot are called 613 deposits.
The above-mentioned means that a prayer of many is not rejected when one prays for the collective. The collective is called “the whole of Israel,” and the collective is called “the Holy Divinity.” And since the collective comprises several discernments, The Zohar says that the reason why the prayer of the collective is accepted is that there is wholeness in it. It writes, “And the Creator crowns Himself with that prayer because it rises in several manners, since one asks for Hassadim, another for Gevurot, and another for Rachamim.”
We should understand why a prayer must consist of all of them. The rule is that all the discernments that we discern in spirituality are revelations that should be disclosed for the purpose of correcting the lower ones. It follows that the matter of three lines that we say—that perfection means that the three lines are revealed there—means that the Creator wishes to give to the lower one’s abundance so they can use them and there will not be any flaw there. This is unlike how it was in the world of Nekudim where there was the breaking of the vessels because there was no correction of lines there, as the holy Ari says.
In other words, when the upper one gives some abundance to the lower one, he wishes that the abundance that the lower one receives will benefit the lower one. But if the Kli where the abundance should go is imperfect, all the bounty will go to the external ones. This is the issue with the breaking of the vessels—that the bounty went outside of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity]. For this reason, the bounty is not poured out to the lower ones, and it is considered that the prayer was not accepted.
And here comes the matter of correction of lines in the collective. It means that the many, which is Malchut, consists of the collective. In other words, there is a correction called “three lines” by which the abundance remains in Kedusha and does not go to the external ones. Hence, such a prayer can be accepted, meaning that she can be given abundance.
The Zohar interprets about that, “Because Jacob consisted of three lines,” since Jacob is called “the middle line,” which includes the right and the left. This is why the Creator wanted his prayer, for it is in utter completeness, comprising all three lines, like the prayer of many. In other words, there are no delays on the part of the Creator in imparting the abundance below, since His desire is to benefit His creations. However, it is as though He waits for the vessels of reception of the lower ones to be fit for reception.
Thus, when there is a proper Kli on the part of the lower one—meaning that the prayer is the Kli that is fit for reception—it must be on the condition that the abundance will not be lost, meaning that the abundance will not go to the external ones, to the Klipot. This is why there is a correction on the Kli of Malchut that she should transfer the bounty to the lower ones, and this correction is called, “correction of lines.”
Now we will explain the rest of the words of The Zohar, which we asked about what it said. It writes, “And because it consists of several sides and manners, it becomes a crown and is placed on the head of the Righteous One who lives forever, meaning Yesod, who imparts all the salvations to the Nukva, and from her to the entire public.”
We asked, “But do we not pray to Ein Sof?” Thus, what does it mean that the prayer of many becomes a crown specifically over Yesod? The thing is that the order of the imparting of the bounty that comes to Malchut is called Yesod. This means that all of the first nine Sefirot give their essence to Yesod, and he is called “all.”
It follows that we always speak from the perspective of the giver and the receiver of the bounty, who is called Malchut. Thus, since the Emanator wishes to bestow and waits for the lower ones to give the proper Kelim for reception of the abundance, when the prayers go up—when the prayers are arranged in such a way that is fit for acceptance—they are called “a Kli for reception of the abundance.” It follows that the Kli rose to the giver, and since the general giver is Yesod, it is considered that the prayer rose to Yesod.
Accordingly, this follows the rule, “The act below awakens the act above.” It means that upon the awakening of the lower ones, who wish to draw near to the Creator and be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, they ask for the Creator’s help. It is as our sages said, “He who comes to be purified is aided” (Zohar, Noah, p 23, and in the Sulam Commentary, Item 63). If a person comes to purify, he is aided with a holy soul and he is purified, sanctified, and he is called “holy.”
Thus we see that when a man wishes to improve his actions, he causes a Zivug above, by which abundance is poured below. This is called raising MAN, meaning causing a deficiency above. But we should understand how we can say that the lower ones cause a deficiency above. And we should also know the meaning of “deficiency.” It is known that a Kli is called “a deficiency,” meaning that if there is a deficiency, there is room to place the filling there and fill the deficiency.
There are no delays in bestowing on the part of the Emanator, for His wish is to do good. The reason why we see that there is concealment of the light is because the lower ones have no Kelim to receive the abundance. Hence, when the lower one awakens to purify himself but lacks the strength, he asks the Creator to help him. Then this deficiency rises, so now the upper one has a Kli for giving him abundance, and this is called raising MAN.
It follows that when the prayer, which is a deficiency—what the lower one seeks for his deficiency to be satisfied—rises to the giver, and the giver is called Yesod, who bestows upon the assembly of Israel, called Malchut—it becomes a crown on His head. This is so because a crown means Keter [crown], indicating to the King’s crown, meaning the importance of the King. This means that when there is disclosure of His light, everyone recognizes the importance of the Creator.
However, during the concealment of the face, Divinity—the place where the King appears—is called “exile” and “dust.” This is so because no taste is discerned in spirituality, but the Torah and Mitzvot seem to taste like dust to them. And all this is because the lower ones do not have the Kelim to receive the abundance. And because of that, His glory is desecrated among the nations, meaning that before a person is rewarded with the discernment of being Jewish, he is similar to the nations, as it is known that each person is a small world and consists of all seventy nations, as well as of Israel.
But then, during the concealment, when the upper bounty cannot appear to the lower ones because they do not have the proper Kelim, whatever illumination they are given will go to the Klipot. Because of that, the upper abundance had to be hidden from them. This is called, “The crown has fallen from our head,” meaning that the importance of the Creator is desecrated.
But when a person comes to purify, when he wishes for the Creator to bring him closer and give him the vessel of bestowal by which to be rewarded with Dvekut, all the upper bounty that will be revealed will be in order to bestow. In other words, he wishes to be given strength from above to have the ability to always be in Kedusha, which is Dvekut.
Then a crown is made of his prayer, the King’s crown, since then the importance of the King is recognized. And this is the meaning of what The Zohar says, that the prayer “Becomes a crown and is placed on the head of the Righteous One who lives forever, meaning Yesod, who imparts all the salvations to the Nukva, and from her to the entire public.” This is so because through the prayer, the upper abundance is given to the lower ones, at which time the delight and pleasure are revealed. This is called “a crown,” the King’s crown, the importance of the King.
Reader: We will now move on to the lesson from February 14, 2002.
M. Laitman: (31:12) We read an article from volume 1, from “The Rungs of the Ladder,” page 179, “The Importance of a Prayer of Many.” What is the prayer of many? A person who, for the time being is in the state of the many, that he still incorporates the 70 nations as well as the quality of Israel, he has all kinds of beastly desires like everyone, but he also has some kind of a spark, the point in the heart that has awakened. So he is considered to be praying the prayer of many. Many means two — for himself, but he also has something for the Creator. And so he kind of explodes. He's divided into two, and he doesn't know how, and what, and how to truly determine his state so it will be the true, eternal, complete state. A person should understand that in general, reality is not about us receiving or bestowing, giving or taking. Reality includes two states, not actions — two states. It's either the state of the created being or the state of the Creator. And in that, we need to choose in which stature we will be. Not the action itself — to give, to receive — but rather, giving or receiving is something that is external. The more internal thing is who we need to be, should be. And the choice is between being the receiver — and then the person is only the point of existence from absence, there is no more than a point, all the rest, everything that there is around the point; it all comes from the light. Or, out of this point he can do one thing only: to choose to be the Creator, like the Creator. That is all. And how to choose to be, instead of this black point, existence out of absence — instead of it, to be the Creator? The choice is in the importance, that this is better, more important, greater, more eternal, whole. To choose what? When we already speak about what to choose, a person begins already to consider things. He doesn't have any way to grip, to hold on to the essence of the Creator Himself. He already needs to choose what is better through the gap between him and the Creator. And here begins already the matter of "from Your actions we know You." How the actions of the Creator and the actions of the person are in oppositeness of form? Only because of the intention — in order to receive, or in order to bestow. Besides that, there is no difference. Why? Because all of the actions of the person - the Creator also does them. And all the actions of the Creator - the Creator also does them. So what is the difference? The difference is only in the intention. That in a person, these deeds that the Creator invites in him will be with the intention of in order to receive, towards the person, and in the Creator, those same actions are in order to bestow, also towards the person. So the choice is actually in the stature — to be either the created being or as the Creator. And the actions, in truth, they have no value. But rather, by us performing all kinds of Mitzvot, commandments, we compose on all kinds of desires that we have a screen in order to bestow. We have within us 613 desires. We compose on top of each and every desire a screen. We work with this desire in order to bestow. This is called acts of Mitzvot, or acts of Torah Mitzvot — corrections. And all in all, when we complete all of these corrections, then we also complete the work. And then we are similar to the Creator, meaning to His stature. And then we no longer have any connection to these deeds of the Mitzvot and these corrections that we made, but rather we rise to a degree where we are like Him. And that's it.
M. Laitman: (37:14) If we're talking about it, I'm trying a little bit to emphasize this point here, that the issue is the stature that we choose. And to be similar, it is just a means, that for all kinds of deeds we wish to become similar. It is like the Creator said the following: "If you want to be similar to Me, then come. For example, I will do this and those deeds so you can resemble Me through these deeds.” That's it. Meaning, all kinds of deeds, of actions that He gave us, desires that He gave us — it is simply as something through which we can become similar. Otherwise, we would have no way to resemble Him. We wouldn't be able to grip Him. But it is only through something that is external, through our actions. We're speaking about a gap between the stature of the created being and the stature of the Creator, that a person should prefer to be as a Creator. So we understand that the issue with all of our work is not even in keeping the corrections. Keeping the corrections it’s a means; but rather, what is most important is the importance of the stature of the Creator, first of all. Out of the importance of the stature of the Creator, we will already have a result. By what can I reach this stature? So it is by installing the screen over some desire, in order to bestow, and all of that. But before everything, in an abstract way, it's about His importance. This is the primary and only thing that we should work on. This is what it is actually talking about, that the prayer of many is about discovering the importance of the Creator. And then, as a result of that, certainly I will discover forces from above — the reforming light — "I created the evil inclination, I created the Torah as a spice." All of these things will be revealed, but they will be revealed only if I truly want to reach His stature. And it's not that I want to resemble You through some action — give me the power to perform some action. This is something that is already peripheral; it's already a result. But practically, actually, what is it that you want? I want to resemble You, I want to be like You. Now, by what? Through the acts of the Mitzvot, commandments, by corrections over certain desires. So there's a reason why it says, "I created the evil inclination." He created it as a means. "I created the spice of Torah." As it says, that the Creator wanted to reward, or cleanse, Israel, to bring them to His degree — He created for them the Torah and Mitzvot. This means that these things are only means by which to reach the stature of the Creator. What do I want to say by that? I said many words. That we should talk about the recognition of Godliness, the importance of Godliness, about the stature of the Creator in an abstract way — without in order to bestow, in order to receive. This gives us all kinds of things, nonsense we hear in our ear, but by that we lose the main point — the stature, the importance. And this should be at the head of all of our plans, our actions, our speaking, our thoughts, our discussions, certainly our study. All of our efforts, all of the means, should be only towards that. To the extent that a person achieves a little bit of the feeling of the importance of the Creator, accordingly he's already qualified to do something, to execute something in the right direction, towards this stature. This is, actually — Rabash knew how to put truly many things into this article.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (42:48) So, what can you truly grasp when speaking about the importance of the Creator, with no connection to bestowal and reception? How can I grasp the importance? I don't understand.
M. Laitman: You think you're clever. You're saying, if we're talking about the vessels of bestowal, then I realize they're important; or the vessels of reception, they're not important; but if I speak without any connection, without any relation to the vessels, I have no way to speak about the importance of the Creator. So, I'm telling you — it's true that we cannot grip Him, but rather only His actions. And with His actions, to the extent that we will begin to recognize that these are actions in order to bestow — that's on the one hand; but on the other hand, our work should not begin with me weighing actions of bestowal and actions of reception, because with that I still can't, certainly, with that, I'll be mistaken. I'm not going to say that acts of bestowal are good deeds, acts of reception are bad deeds. This is a lie. For me, it's the opposite of the truth. But rather, I truly need to work, actually, on the greatness of the Creator. How can I work on that? So, he says, artificially. Let's say that I pay 1,000 shekels a month to people around me, that they will constantly speak about the importance of the Creator. I'm saying this seriously. And they're talking, you know, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta - whenever I'm inside of them, I pay them, so they have to speak about that. Trust me, I will be impressed by that. And then I will truly begin to think about it, I'll begin to talk about it, I begin to want to achieve it. Do you think that if somebody is doing some advertisement about some kind of mayonnaise — I don't know, whatever they have there — so he's truly impressed by it? Or a man who's 40 or 50 years old, doing some advertisement about some kind of diapers, does he care about it? This one absorbs more, this one absorbs less? Do you understand? But rather what? He does it because he's paid money for it, right? So this reaches someone who has a point in the heart, right? What does it mean, he has a point in the heart? He has a baby, and he needs to buy diapers for this baby, so he listens. And the more you pay for this advertisement, for the radio or some means, then he listens more, and it has an effect. So is somebody in the middle there impressed by it? Only the one who needs to hear it. It's the same with me. I don't care. I'm willing to pay money to the guys, and that they will activate all of this advertisement over me. That's it. If your group is capable of that, then great. And if not, we will have to pay.
Student: So, just simply brainwashing?
M. Laitman: Absolutely — just brainwash. So we take other people for a payment, money or something else. Here in the group, it becomes through an exchange. They also want to hear about the importance of the Creator. So you influence them, and they influence you. So everybody plays towards each other. But if there is a point in the heart, it is impressed by what others are talking about it. That's all. And here, it's all of the effort of a person to organize such an environment. It is called to choose a better environment each time.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:07) If the actor is bad, it's repulsive.
M. Laitman: If the actor is bad, it's — I don't know what it means — a bad actor.
Student: Artificial. The importance of the Creator, one tries to reach it, to say from the heart, even though...
M. Laitman: Well, your beast won't be able to tell if it's artificial or not. I'm telling you seriously, even if he's acting, and you know he's acting, it still works on you. That's it. This is how we're built. Because we, in terms of absorbing of material, we're beasts. And a beast can’t tell. A cow can’t distinguish between good and bad, not emotionally but intellectually? Can you tell the difference between true and false? No.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:02) What is "from Your actions we shall know You"?
M. Laitman: From Your actions we know You. The Creator wants that the point of existence from absence will resemble Him. By what? So He made what we call the first nine, His qualities of bestowal, and He said, if you want to resemble Me, make those same first nine like I have them. As I bestow to you, you should do the same towards Me. Then the point in the heart, or what we call the stony heart, will eventually resemble Me. That is all. By what else could I do it? There was no other reason. If this is called, the Creator wanted to cleanse or reward Israel, He gave them plenty of Torah and Mitzvot. What is Torah and Mitzvot? The first nine. If you do them, you learn from the Creator - “from Your actions, we get to know You.” And after we get to know You — what? How do we get to know You? By equivalence of form, by me doing the same thing.
Student: And in this world?
M. Laitman: In this world, there is no recognition of the Creator. What are you talking about, this world? I'm talking about what we learn, that in Ein Sof, the Creator made existence from absence — this point. And this point reached this state, for the first time, that she feels herself as separate from the Creator, then performs the restriction. What happens then? If — and after the restriction — there need to be more preparations made in that point, to have preparations for the first nine Sefirot, to understand them, to have all the records, then you bring that point to complete dissociation, distance from the Creator. This is called being in this world, the proper place, as he says. Now, from that place, if I feel that I am me, and He is He — to the point where I don't even feel Him — if I want to resemble Him, to be like Him, yes, then I have before me this option of acquiring through my own actions. If I liken myself to Him, then I'm exactly like Him, in my actions. Because in my point, my foundational point, of course I'm not like Him - I am existent from absence, and He is existent from existence - but after we perform all these actions, meaning, I acquire the first nine Sefirot over that point, and from that point, if I truly stand on it, I perform all the actions in the first nine Sefirot — this means that I'm creating the vessel of the soul. And in that point itself, I'm not working in it, but only in the first nine Sefirot above it, then we can say that I have likened myself to Him completely, 100%. And I finish the correction. What comes after? After that, that point it's not at all…because it's not something from nothing. It inverts completely into — I don't even know how to say it, there are no words here. This is after, above the end of correction, right. So we need to see the Torah and commandments, and the means by which to perform, observe the Torah and commandments — the state of preparation, all these things around it — we need to see them as means by which to resemble the Creator. So what is the main issue, the main thing? Not these means, but creating the image, likening myself to Him, so I will be like Him. What does it mean? How to do it? How to be like Him? To want for that to be important. So that is what we need to work on. And all these things are, but means. So if we think about what to discuss in the group, what to do, what to think about in general, then you have this only thing that's worthwhile focusing on. It's only that. Because if you start thinking, in order to receive, in order to bestow, this and that and three lines, all those things — that is all later. And by that you'll just get confused, you'll think you're already in it. But in the discernment of importance — me and Him — here you determine this very, very sharp direction, very precise direction, when it has to be aimed towards His status, yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (53:23) Even though the matter of love of friends also comes after we…
M. Laitman: What is love of friends? For what, love of friends? It is the great rule of the Torah, love of friends. It's simply the general correction. Is it a goal unto itself, I need to love someone? Is the purpose of creation to love someone?
Student: No, it's a means.
M. Laitman: So what are you asking? Of course it's a means — a powerful means, including all things. But including — it's inclusive only as a means for correction. But it's not that this act is the objective, the purpose. What purpose? What is there to it? If I could come to be like the Creator without this correction of "love your friend as yourself," then I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't do it. It's one of the… Well, it's the great rule of the Torah, correct — it's one of the 613 commandments, the general commandment. No more. And so we need… that's how we need to relate to it. Don't place it at the head of all things. Of all the corrections, it is the most important correction, but it is a correction, a means.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:57) In the work of getting to know Godliness, there are probably many stages. So, what is the first stage the person should begin to work on this? Let's say, artificially, I mean, what is it?
M. Laitman: The first stage a person needs to work on is the recognition of the greatness of Godliness. Meaning he needs to organize around himself everything that can help him be impressed by it, to incorporate it — nothing more. So I'm telling you — pay people to constantly manipulate you, right? Pay them. You'll pay either through exertion or with money. Make advertisements, on the radio, on TV, books — place some books in front of yourself, various things. I have nothing more to say. Just simply, you work on your beast such, that it begins to receive this message as the most important thing. That's it. The Creator wants to do it gradually, slowly, through suffering, right? He beats you, strikes you through thousands of years, so that gradually we will come to recognize that our problem comes from Him, and we need to regard Him, and to see that He is the most important of all. And then to see that what's most important is not getting along with Him to feel good, to have it good, but to be like Him. And that is a long path, learning through punishments. By learning through the society, one can skip all those stages completely, and immediately say, you know, that's over. See how many stages I have to go through, through the path of suffering, until I learn, until I reach His importance. Many stages. But what? The first claim: why is He concealed? If He strikes, let us see that He strikes us. He should show us, then we'll know it's from Him. We'll know it's from Him, and we'll know who we need to get along with, so we won't be struck. Then you'll begin to work on not getting beaten then. This is a different purpose altogether. Not thinking about the blows, you'll start thinking about who stands behind the blows. Maybe you should relate to Him, and not just through the blows that come from Him. So, to bring you to think through the blows, to think about Him — and not thinking about Him releasing you from the blows, but even if the blows come, you want to be connected to Him, despite all the punishments, all the blows you receive from Him. Until you come to that, indeed, you can see how many thousands of years of development are required, and then many, many more revolutions by way of suffering. Even after the point in the heart, if a person doesn't take the method in both hands, it's very difficult — through the blows, through the problems, through concealment. And the blows only strengthen the concealment. To reach a demand for Him, and not a demand for the cessation of the blows, I want Him, despite being struck. Fine, let the blows come, just only so I won't forget about Him, and various other of these kinds of discernments. You know, a person, until he reaches a state where he completely doesn't notice the blows, but only holding on to the Creator and His importance — that's the important thing to him. These things need to develop very slowly, through many, many blows and bitter situations, bitter states. It's really a piece of bread with salt usually. It's a terrible kind of development. And for that reason, the Kabbalists made special corrections, whereby the light in it reforms one, for us to be able, through the study, through the method, to reach the same outcome in a quicker, easier manner. So how? Not to work with the blows, not working against the will to receive — not letting go of it, not being immersed in it, not conducting criticism over it, nothing. Work only on the importance of the Creator. Completely move from your court to His court; be only there. That is called, "I created the Torah as a spice." As much as possible, be connected, affiliated with, close to the light. And then it is called reforming.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:06) What does he mean by the good inclination here? What does it mean — my desire, His desire? Or is it a special time, or a time of goodwill?
M. Laitman: Is there such a thing here?
Student: It says here that my prayer is a time of goodwill.
M. Laitman: Where is it written? In what context a time of will? I know the verse.
Student: In the first volume, page 279, Rabbi Yochanan said, in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, what is it that it says? "And my prayer to You, O Lord, is a time of goodwill." When is it a time of goodwill when the public prays?
M. Laitman: Yes. When is it a time of will? Yes he says, when the public prays, then it is a time of will. It's the condition for it. What is the public? All of the person's desires. If they come to this single, this one decision, that they need this one thing, and they all gather to attain that goal, that is called a time of will. So, what are you asking?
Student: I'm asking about this desire. Is it the desire of the Creator? Is it my desire?
M. Laitman: In a person, there are two desires. The public — that is two, right? Two is already plural, the smallest group, you could say. The 70 nations of the world - that's one desire, and the other desire is the desire of Israel. If both want to attain one thing — yes, and it could be the Creator; it couldn't be anything else, because the point in the heart does not give up — then you can say that there is uniform prayer, the prayer of many.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:02:53) What is the difference between the importance of the Creator and the greatness of the Creator?
M. Laitman: What is the difference between the importance of the Creator and the greatness of the Creator? Truth be told, I don't know what to tell you. These are things that a person measures each time according to his impressions. Meaning, each time according to how much power it gives him to continue on the path, it's actually us measuring. I can't measure Him. I can measure Him to the extent of the weight of the bag that I can carry for Him — the suitcase. That's it. It depends on the weight of the suitcase. I see Him, He's five meters tall, so I can carry up to 20 kilograms for Him, and I can carry it 100 meters. If He's 500 meters tall, then 30 kilos and a kilometer. So, I measure according to my ability to serve Him. And then I can say if He's more important, greater or less great. It's all with respect to the impression in my vessels. Now, what is the difference between greatness and importance? These are types of impressions which are very close to each other. Greatness — that speaks of how I measure Him, how I gauge Him. Importance — that's about how I receive His importance, His greatness rather, and measure Him in comparison with the greatness of all the other things in me. The extent to which it becomes important for me, as in comparison with all other things that are important to me. You understand? Let's say, you are 10 meters tall in my eyes. This gives me the feeling of your greatness. The feeling of your greatness gives me the feeling of your importance, compared to all the other things I have. So I want to do something for myself, and here you say no, do something for me. And then I begin measuring, one opposite the other. This means that I can discern the importance.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:01) Should a person be envious of the Creator, to want to be like Him?
M. Laitman: Should a person be envious of the Creator and be like Him? Towards the Creator there is no envy, because the recognition of the Creator comes together with the recognition of His humility, and the recognition of the humility within the person - according to equivalence of form. So there's no envy. You don't envy the stature of the Creator. There cannot be negative kind of envy. You cannot envy the Creator's status in a negative way. You can only yearn to be like Him. Of course, in the person there exists all the desires, which — how to say — for using the Creator for one's own enjoyment. That of course exists. That is the desire of Pharoah, meaning that Divinity will serve me. That we want, why not? Anything that you can think of in order to receive — well, who is it that you want to use? Him. In the shell, of course, you want to rebel against Him. You want to use Him. You want to rule over Him, of course. If I was certain now that nothing bad will come to me — if I grab Him and exploit Him 100% for my own enjoyment, under my full control, and I will never, God forbid, pay for it later dearly… If it comes out that I'll pay for it, I wouldn't do it. But what then? Oh, I'm so good. I'm so nice. What?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:18) How can we be concerned — and in the society there'll be a desire to annul before Him more than to be like Him, more than to get hold of Him?
M. Laitman: The truth is, it doesn't matter. The importance of the Creator starts from… if it's through blows, then I depend on Him. Each and every blow that comes to me comes from Him. So, first of all, there's this usual fear, fear of this world and fear of the next world, as he tells us in the end of the introduction to the Book of Zohar, there in the ways of the Torah, is it? That is a fear already. That is, first of all. So, His importance I attain primarily with respect to — well — everything that I appreciate in my vessels of reception. I see that He rules over me completely, utterly, and the whole world is completely under His governance. So, I have no choice. I surrender. You are important. But if a person comes through the recognition of this importance — only the recognition of this importance, the recognition of this importance, and that's it — he can despair. He can leave the wisdom of Kabbalah, the path of advancement, and completely forget about how the Creator rules over everything, because it completely removes him from this life. So then he'll try to find such a society in which he can forget about it, and he walks away. If life is good for him, if life treats him well, then he'll forget about it completely, live like a beast. At least he won't suffer. But if things don't work out for him, if the Creator still reminds him of Himself, then he just — well — his life passes until the poor man dies. There are many such people, I see it on one friend, what happened. He left us, he went to America, and there he has no peace either. He wants to be related to Kabbalah. Well, leave already. Come on. You wanted to succeed, go succeed. No. You see? Poor man. So, you see, it's still — it's still a bad situation. This is why we need to see — and it's a problem, and it's very important — that to the extent that I begin to understand that the Creator controls everything, I also need to recognize His greatness, to appreciate Him in that He rules over everything. And then I will have pleasure in this, that, thank God, He rules over everything. And then I will advance in two lines together, and I will not have despair; but, on the contrary, every time more trouble and more blows appear to me, I discover that He is the importance, the important, the eternal, the great one; He does everything, thank God; then I already feel good, because it's from Him, you understand? So working on the greatness of Godliness, the importance of Godliness, comes first. And accordingly, everything else may be revealed. It doesn't matter anymore. It will always be revealed in a way that is supportive of advancement. I will not be thrown out. I will not become depressed. I will not quit.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:32) So, it could be that the fact that He is great and He's in control, that's great. Is there an issue with that?
M. Laitman: The fact that He's great and controls, these things should appear in me together. The fact that He's important, that He's good and does good — positive from Him and negative from Him should come to me at once, both at once. What is negative from Him? In my feeling. What is positive from Him? In the intellect. In the feeling, I get blows? Great, I suffered a blow. And with the intellect, I see that it comes to my benefit. It comes from Him who is great. But again, we don't need to work on the blows. We need to work only on the importance. Let's finish with this.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:34) How, from the Creator being bestowal and giving, is He still controlling us? How does it work?
M. Laitman: How, by Him being in bestowal and giving, does He still control us? It's as if it's inappropriate. Aren't you Polish, by chance? There's this term, "Polish mother." So, what can you add? You know, what can we add to that? She suffocates, smothers the child with her love — and for him. So if the Creator, by being good and does good, wants to bring us to that goodness, He uses all kinds of revelations of the good who does good toward us, to show us that the good and does good that He wants to give us is still not in us. And this is what we feel as suffering. "I prepared for you all the good things, which are things that are really good for you, yes? Milk, and an egg, soup, a piece of chicken, all kinds of things. And all you want is candy. What am I going to do with you? So now, I have to show you the blows." In what? In that you don't want milk, and eggs, and fish, and meat - healthy things. So, that's what He does. So, the revelation of the blows is the revelation of the good, but in the opposite way, because it's not in us. So from Him, only good comes out. If our vessels are opposite from Him, then they feel bad. Invert your vessels — you'll feel His bestowal directly. This is why it's called direct light. How do we do it? Through reflected light.
Student: So, it's a state that, when we move away from Him, we feel the control?
M. Laitman: It's not… moving away is oppositeness of the vessels. I'm not near or far from Him, if you can put it this way, in terms of distance. My vessels — the more they are suitable for His direct bestowal — are called closer. The more they are incompatible, it's called farther. That's it.
Student: It's not the regular control. It's because we are moving away, so…
M. Laitman: It's control in education. This is how He educates us.
Student: Not beastly control — a different control.
M. Laitman: No, in corporeality too. I did this with my son more than once. If I want him to think like me, then I play a trick on him so he would understand that if he continues thinking the way he does, he'll be in trouble, he'll have a problem. And then I gradually have to build that system where he himself discovers that thinking like me is the best thing. Well, if you build education in this way - this is education. The rest is oppression. And this is not oppression, because he develops, he evolves. He understands by himself from the result the root, and reaches the root. It's very hard to build it. I couldn't. Don't think about me this way. But now I understand. At that time, I was… I don't remember it. It was after being five years with Rabash. I think he already went to Canada. It was 75, maybe? 85, 85. Then these things were not in my control, really, the whole system.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:19) He says that he's going to bestow the greatness of the Creator. There are a lot of means. There's convincing, advertising, we have a lot of means. One of them is the books, where we really absorb the wisdom from what the Kabbalists wrote. If a person studies, so there's all kinds of types. There's Rabash, Shamati, TES, Zohar.
M. Laitman: You will see that all the books talk about only one thing, only about that.
Student: Does it matter which book?
M. Laitman: It doesn't matter. And it doesn't even matter - nothing - you read articles, letters. It doesn't matter what. The problem is that what we read, we read texts that were written in previous generations when that thing was concealed. Even today it's revealing one portion and covering two portions. That still remains, it's only on a different dimension; you don't feel where it exists. It's as if we can talk about everything, but as much as we may talk about everything, you will discover later that twice, two times as much is concealed. And what is two times as much? It's not like it's twice as much. But that point of the importance of Godliness, and working on it — if now you know, you simply heard it — now open all the articles and the letters, and you'll see that he writes only about that point, only about that. Because everything else is how to do it, how to reach it.