Morning Lesson February 17, 2023 Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 1:
Zohar for All. "Introduction of The Book of Zohar". The Eleventh Commandment. #244
1. Rav’s Introduction: (00:33) Yes, we are going to continue in studying these commandments, meaning the commands that The Zohar communicates to us. Let's see how much of it relates to us, to what extent, to what magnitude and frequency and so forth do we have to carry it out in order to ultimately reach a state, where each and every commandment will make corrections over us; until we reach the degree of the Creator.
Reading Item #244. (01:19) “The eleventh commandment is to give tithing..”
2. R. (10:48) This is the first article from the first item from the eleventh commandment, which he says is to give tithing from the land and to collect this tithing and to give it, to bring the first fruit of the tree. We are going to read this again, and it is good that there are questions and there is only Kiev asking, so let's hear what they want.
3. S. (11:43) If they are talking about our common desire: so what is this tithing?
R. They are corrections: in these corrections we can do all kinds of actions, some to receive, some not to receive, some to receive in order to bestow or to receive for ourselves in order to bestow. And so, some of the fruit, which we ourselves cannot receive, but we receive them through other actions that we, as if, pass it on to the priests and Levites and through them it reaches the Creator. So there is a kind of a series of corrections that we go through gradually, in which we reach a state when we are able to receive in order to bestow. So we are going to read more soon and it is going to be clear.
Reading again Item #244. (13:03) “The eleventh commandment is to give tithing..”
4. S. (18:17) Who or what are the sons of Levi?
R. That is from the people who have to carry out the Mitzvot. There is a part of them who are called the sons of Levites and that is how they are called. In a different place, we are going to read about it more specifically. It means how the whole divides into layers and pieces and pieces and pieces and what part is referred to as the children or the sons of Levi, we will see.
5. S. (19:41) Bringing the first fruit, is it talking about the screen?
R. Of course, it is all about building the screens, everything that we learn is about how to build restrictions and screens over all of the desires that arise, so that we will equalize these desires with the Creator, ‘as He is merciful, so are you,’ and so forth. So this means that in our will to receive we will be completely similar to the Creator even though we are opposite, we are opposite, and we are evil, and we might blemish, but still in our will to receive only, we can make actions to make it in order to bestow.
6. S. (21:18) We are hearing The Zohar, it is like a fable for adults and we can say that the work with the friends is the resource to build the common screen and this path that we go through step-by-step, how does it influence over time?
R. It is in order to allow you to perceive and grasp all of nature, the earthly, corporeal and spiritual, so you would have the ability to mark it, to distinguish it, and to differentiate it into its different pieces otherwise it cannot be told. Because The Zohar at the same time is a passing on to us the structure of the desire that is divided into still, vegetative, animate and speaking. So at the same time it separates the desires that can be corrected and those that still cannot be corrected and how we correct each and every desire and so forth. Everything is only talking about corrections, the only thing we need to do is to take the whole nature of this world and in principle to the spiritual world: meaning how do we take all of nature of this world and raise it to complete bestowal and then we will be in complete match with the Creator.
7. S. (23:52) What is this prohibited meat we are not supposed to eat?
R. There is the Moach, Atsomot, Gidim, Basar and Or, and this means that the brain, bones, the tendons and meat and skin. So we have to sort out all of these details of brain, bones, tendons, meat and skin in every desire and we relate to that, we scrutinize that, we correct that. And then we eat it: eat it meaning that we receive in order to bestow; with the intention to bestow. So, here we are talking about corrections on the level of animate, that is what is called the Moach, Atsomot, Gidim, Basar and Or, and that is how we will correct it.
8. S. (25:31) What does it mean to draw the light of the Neshama by the Tefillin?
R. These are greater corrections not by eating or doing other actions as we have read about. Rather, there are corrections, every degree has its own correction and so we have to make these corrections too, and that the corrections on the level of Tefillin, means that we have to tie it to the left-hand and make certain blessings and prayers and in such a way we can correct the left in a general way. This is called the healthy hand and it is a very major, general correction.
9. S. (27:03) Question about the animate level: it is written that he attained the names of all the animals because they were all complete for him, what does that mean?
R. Everything is about the degrees of man, there is nothing besides man that needs to be corrected. But in order for us to know exactly what we need to do, then it speaks as if we correct the still, vegetative, animate and speaking but everything belongs to the speaking degree only; the human kind. And so the vegetative, that is as if we need to work in the field and correct the plants, knowing how to use them, but in fact, it is talking only about how to correct the desire on the vegetative level, within the person. And the same in all of the other degrees; it is about how the person undergoes correction internally.
10. S. (28:50) What is the meaning of bringing the first fruit of the tree? Why not all of the fruit of the tree?
R. The main thing is that the beginning of the correction, that first fruit is like the Keter and Keter like in everything, includes all the rest of the fruit, meaning all the rest of the corrections. And so what is most important is the first fruit, the first fruit. Then we have to bring it, and bless for it, and respect it and so on, and it includes within it all the other corrections.
11. S. (30:00) Most of the commandments we have read about up until now, they were talking about doing them internally, and here in the eleventh commandment, the tithing, it is also done externally, why?
R. We want to perform all those commandments both internally and externally in whatever way we can, and you need to have like a rail on the roof, so we do it. We need to make certain corrections in the field, so we do that. Each and everything we can do in the still, vegetative, animate and speaking levels, we do. Because it is basically corrections, in truth, of course the true, major correction is that which we do on the animate level, meaning on the man's body, meaning the man's desire to put it accurately, and buy that we move towards corrections.
S. But we say that the Mitzvot, [commandments] are always something internal. In order to reach spirituality nobody needs to do all the Mitzvot we read about with his body, physically, but the Maaser, yes, why?
R. Why? What are we not doing?
S. Okay, we do everything but not everybody is doing everything.
R. What do you mean not everyone?
S. I heard from you many times and the Kabbalists emphasized that in order to reach spirituality I do not need to actively, let's say, that a person in this world to put on Tefillin, that he is talking about, that until the last person is not coming to the correct…
R. Who told you that?
R. Right, we don’t say this but on Maaser we say that, yes. So that is the question: why specifically with this commandment that the Kabbalists are recommending to do this?
R. Not everyone, not everyone. Those who are committed to that, those who had to. If you owned the land then you had to do it, if not you didn’t. These are things we have to learn, if you want to get into these details and follow that but basically, in practice, you can say that I need to try, that if I own land then I have to try to do all the actions that belong to correction of the land. Because the entire world is a single whole and we have to try to see it as a single system. And in the single system I have to make, to see, how to take care of each and every detail all the way to the whole. And then it does not matter to me what kind of trees or field but rather, whatever I have to do because it belongs to my general desire.
12. S. (34:15) It is written in the text that the evil has entered the body. What does it mean?
R. This means the ego appeared in one’s desires on a level, a degree called Guf, body.
13. S. (34:50) Eating means to sort out the desires and use them. After the correction will we rise above the food?
R. No, we will already be in corrected food.
14. S. (35:20) Through eating the tithing and the first fruit what does that mean that after that he was rewarded with the scrutiny of raising MAN?
R. When we separate between the fruit and vegetables, and all of those things that we need to make a correction on, and we are capable of, and we have to make corrections for, and those we cannot correct. We are not able to correct. Yet in such a way we gradually reach a scrutiny of what we are supposed to do with all of the crops of the field that we collect. Meaning, we work.
S. What does it mean actually that is this a condition to be able to raise MAN, if you do not let’s say eat this first fruit and do tithing then can you receive MAN?
R. Yes, you can say that this is a condition, this is the condition of what kind of MAN and when and what type of MAN do we have to raise in order to correct these desires, yes.
15. S. (37:19) Always hard to pay this Maaser regardless how much you make but you have to say each time that you feel a special connection to the lesson somehow that feelings are sharpened.
R. You do not yet feel how exactly it is connected to you and what exactly you have to do, but you are going to learn and see.
16. S. (38:05) What is Tefillin in the spiritual work?
R. You are not going to understand it right now, so there is no point getting into that.
Reading
17. R. (39:39) After he was born he continued in the deeds of the corrections, called the Mitzvah, the Commandments. He continued that light to the 4 portions of the Tefillin, meaning his additional vessels which you can work with the intention to bestow. After he was born, and by this he reached a state that he was privileged with the higher lights, Haya and Yechida with the entire vessel, in the entire Tefillin, with the entire soul, he almost reached the end of correction.
Reading on
18. S. (43:43) At the end here, it is talking about the 11th commandment of tithing from the land, and we are learning that the desire is the land. Before he was talking about the circumcision that there seems to be a connection we are talking about the Mochin of Haya. Can you explain the connection?
R. I cannot explain this, it is better if we are reading it in the Zohar and we need to read from the sources and only afterwards try to explain it.
19. S. (44:59) If I do not pay the Maaser can I raise MAN, physically in this world?
R. For what?
S. If I do not pay Maaser and I don't participate in paying it for all sorts of reasons, can I raise MAN?
R. There is a law, if I do not perform actions in the state that I am in, then I will not be able to rise to a higher degree. This is how it is in each and every degree on the ladder of the degrees.
S. How can we explain this? What is this tithing, what is this concept in our daily life especially as we learn this wisdom of Kabbalah?
R. That we operate in some actions in this world. When it is clear to us that we received our body and the forces in it, the mind, the sensations, and all these things, we received from the Creator, from creation, from nature. Then if we even do all of our actions with the intention to bestow for connection, for connection between us, then we are doing this out of our desire to be rewarded. To receive a reward and to be successful in order for us to connect correctly, then we are told that for each and every action you need to give a part of the results back to the host. Like when you pay taxes in society, everything that you pay for because you live in a world of still vegetative and animate.
At that still vegetative and animate levels, they are prepared for you ahead of time, and you as the speaking degree, when the vegetative grows and develops, you have to return to them what you received from those degrees. Is this clear to you or not? So we need to return to those degrees, the still vegetative and animate levels, what your received from them. To become speaking so on the degree of speaking you could do something that is given to you and enjoy life. This way we need to correct what we received for free, from the still vegetative and animate and even from the speaking degree and this is written that they should not have the bread of shame, that you want to receive everything with the intention to bestow and equalize with the Creator.
S. So when a person gives the Maaser he is asking so where does it go?
R. I do not know, giving money or not, there were times when there was no money so people were giving other things instead, it is not important. The main thing that what you are receiving from outside of you, which is not a net result of your exertion, then you have to return this. You can say that without it I cannot exist, it is correct, you cannot exist without receiving from the still vegetative and animate. That is clear, but after you have received from them, you need to be rewarded on the degree of the speaking on the part of what you received from the other degrees in order to exist you need to return. Is this logical or not?
S. It completely makes sense. You say that if I can not pay Maaser, I cannot progress spiritually at all.
R. Very good, so this is what you have to do. It is called that you are cleaning from receiving because what you received, it is only in order to grow and to continue the corrections.
20. S. (51:01) Is there a relationship between tithing and Ohr Hozer?
R. Yes, there is but I do not want to get into that.
21. S. (51:32) Why is this particular Mitzvot, so emphasized by the Sages so it is performed on the corporeal level while the other Commandments are not necessarily performed on the corporeal level and we are required to pay this Maaser?
R. Because from this degree onwards there begins to be a connection between the human in us to the Adam inside us.
S. So the previous Mitzvot, the degree was not apparent yet?
R. It was not, we are going to learn it and you will see.
22. S. (52:47) Is there a connection between the first fruit and the point in the heart?
R. Yes there is a connection and we are going to learn that, but you will see how much I am saying that we are going to learn that, we are going to learn this, as if I was delaying or rejecting. It is that we have not learned the foundations yet. So I have no choice but to tell you to wait, soon we are going to learn, and then we are going to be able to connect all these steps of development together. Alright?
S. To put on the Tefillin, it is not just that we do not use the left like we see the physical action of laying on the Tefillin, but it also slows down the blood circulation. Does this mean not to feed the left in spirituality?
R. No, I would say that specifically it is to strengthen the left. By this that the left is the darken hand and the weak hand and we have to strengthen it. This way we are placing the Tefillin on the left hand.
23. S. (54:39) If I understand, if I do not do this action of Maaser payment, I cannot attend the higher degree. I tried before paying this 10 percent, and money was always a big issue in my upbringing, so at some stage I found out that I always did it for a reason, that I want something in return. So if I want to attend the higher degree, how can I evolve in me the feeling that I really want to give just without expecting anything in return?
R. This will happen to you by the importance of paying Maaser, tithing. Read about it tomorrow and you are going to see how you get closer to this that you are giving the Maaser great importance, that you invest in it. The best Maaser, I think, is that the what we received the tithing are received from the students to participate, we re-invest it into the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah. We are investing the dissemination of printed material, films and clips and everything possible and it all of it goes only for dissemination.
24. S. (56:37) In the text we are hearing a lot about these discernments, scrutinies in different context, so what does it mean exactly? Is it a correction, how do we meet these scrutinies in the spiritual work?
R. This means we begin to feel that when we are doing actions with the intention to bestow and see how much we are limited, so they give us these recognitions of the scrutiny. How much we can and how much we cannot.
25. S. (57:38) In corporeality it’s clear because we can rely on a result, but in spirituality the final goal is to bring contentment to the Creator. So how do you scrutinize the vessel from that perspective, to bring more joy to the Creator?
R. That you have vessels in which you feel you bestow to the Creator and thus, we can do all the various scrutinies, corrections.
S. How to get vessels of bestowal above reason, can feel that the Creator enjoys their action and remain in bestowal?
R. There are no vessels of bestowal at all; it is only the intention.
26. S. (59:00) What is the intention of tithing of the land and bring the first fruit of the tree from a spiritual perspective?
R. From the spiritual perspective that the land is called desire to the tithing from the land. The lower 10th of the general desire to put it aside, and what grows upon it, you need to invest all of these things on the intention to bestow. And to receive an intention to bestow and to bestow on the degree of Keter and Hochma also called the GAR of Bina there, which is called that you are devoting these things to the Creator.
27. S. (01:00:34) How are we created in the image of God if we are the opposite of his qualities?
R. We are opposite to the Creator according to our material, but if we do restrictions, screen, and reflected light then we change our material to actions of bestowal, intentions of bestowal and then we have no problem resembling the Creator.
28. S. (01:01:35) We talked about the tithing what about the remaining 90%?
R. Not clear.
S. Talked about tithing, but what happens to the remaining 90%?
R. You are giving a tithing of 10%, but what you must and then you get back to the intention to bestow and this you cover all of the 90% in which you can receive on the intention to bestow.
29. S. (01:02:21) Adam HaRishon was born circumcised after the shattering he was given a new discernment to achieve by starting to eat meat that was given to him. Is that an upgrade of the structure of Adam HaRishon that the Creator created?
R. It is not an upgrade it is a correction an upgrade is that Adam HaRishon was to a higher degree. He received an opportunity, a correction, he can now do any part of his remaining desires from after the shattering actions on the intention to bestow. That's it and, so we will learn more about that because that is our whole life until the end of Correction.
S. Meaning that the creation of first man and the Garden of Eden was not complete from our perspective in terms of development?
R. How could it be complete if he sinned? He entered the Garden of Eden he thought he was going for the end of Correction, but he did a complete sin actually and he revealed by the sin all that he needed to correct afterwards.
30. S. (01:04:24) We talked about the tithing, there's a condition for raising MAN, let’s say to advance, what does it mean ‘to tithe the tithing of land’, to tithe the tithing? Because it is the Eleventh Commandment, actually, its summary, ‘to tithe the tithing, so what does that mean in our ten if we do this tithing?
R. You are already going into practical corrections, I am not so hasty, let's go slow, gradually. People need to reach that, to reveal it, to understand where it is, where it is in me, the will to receive, how I divide it into the general will to receive and the will to receive that I am ready to use. Maybe, it is better we speak about this: how each and every one of us inside himself where's my general desire, how I imagine to myself, that I cut off from it the tenth part that I'm not capable of doing anything with it which is truly, let's say this is the part that belongs to the desires of, what do you say, sweet, sweet let's say. That you are crazy about sweets, there's nothing higher, nothing greater for you then sweets. If they bring you everything in the world and next to that, compared to something sweet, you say that's it, I'm finished here, right?
S. What does it mean ‘to tithe the tithing’, can you explain something practical here?
R. Practically, yes, that if I'm going to be rewarded with something so it's not that me, with my power, have gotten this, rather of course the Creator that gave me the force, the force of brain, the force of muscle, the force of life and everything that surrounds me. So I take whatever I’ve been rewarded, divided it into one and nine parts, and that tenth part, the one part out of the ten, we pass that to the Creator, how do we get that to the Creator? Usually by giving it to the priests and the Levites, what do they do? Their work mainly is in educating the nation, they are teachers, so it is not like what is happening now, rather we give the education system, the tenth part of what we are rewarded with.
That is what was once, before they began with all the, how do you call that? You know that we take from each worker taxes, yes taxes that's it. So once upon a time there didn't used to be taxes, right, so there was what everyone knew that they would take from him, I need to take a tenth part from what I’m rewarded, from what I received entirely and that this tenth part I need to give to the education system, And this the entire nation, the children and the adults are all in a special system that arranges them, prepares them for this normal life according to Torah, they teach the kids, the adults, they do the weddings, all sorts of corrections, divorces, all sorts of things. All this belongs to the education system that there should be correct relations between human beings.
31. S. (01:11:05) The ten percent, why also have to give for society in general or only the environment that surrounds us in the wisdom of Kabbalah?
R. No such questions we have a million, we will not engage in that rather we will just understand the correct way that from what we’re rewarded we have to divide the tenth part and give it so it is for the benefit of the society according to what the wisdom of Kabbalah thinks because it talks to us about how we are dividing things. And those nine other parts already go to that person, that is it, more than this we do not want to get into. There are a lot of things here and it doesn't pertain to regular people which the priest and the Levites are engaged in, meaning the traditional part of society.
32. S. (01:12:36) Another question about tithing: last year I gave tithing and this year I didn't even think about it, is that a descent, how can one cope with that?
R. Nothing you need to deal with something, you simply need to do, we are the system of Bnei Baruch and we do all sorts of actions of education, printing, publishing, advertising, all our education systems, all of our translations and print and as for all of this you need large sums. I don't know exactly, I don’t belong to all this, I'm not involved in that. And thus we gather money from all of our friends and on this is our entire system of education, dissemination, you need to speak about it with those who work on these systems.
33. S. (01:14:47) It is clear in terms of externality how to play pay Maasar, you earn and then you pay ten percent of it, but in the desire how do you differentiate between the quantity and the quality, please give us advice how to do a practically?
R. I can't really give any advice here because this is something that a person needs to scrutinize inside of himself. Where are these desires inside of himself, how he can combine between them and what manner to differentiate from one another. And so all this occurs inside a person such that nobody can enter inside another person and teach him how to do this. Externally we gave all sorts of advice, that's how I've heard, but I don't give them, I don't know but mainly it's a principle. We have experts who will tell you how to do it comfortably, better, that's what I can say about that, you know the rules that according to which the Maasar is divided, what determines it. But as a principle I want to emphasize one thing: the Maasar is the tenth part from the net income and this tenth part is spiritual and thus should not look down at this.
S. In each and every desire we have there is a tenth percent of it that we are supposed to give away?
R. In each and every desire we have a tenth part that we have to give up, that is also correct, that too is correct.
34. S. (01:17:31) In the last hour and a half we talked about the first step, like the Zohar writes, we got very close to the state that he calls raising MAN?
R. Yes, and the question is?
S. There are many questions?
R. Okay, we will ask nevertheless, no questions will remain hidden.
35. S. (01:18:13) Can we say that the tenth part that we are giving to the Creator is for the Creator to raise us to the end of Atzilut, to correct on the left?
R. This is not entirely correct but partially correct.
36. S. (01:19:16) The efforts in the corporeal world are also very important, we can give Maasar, constantly think about it, send money to someone and it's like you're paying some taxes.
R. No, no, my dear, you have to think about it, understand it, feel like you are giving, that it's yours, specifically and you tear from yourself and you give it. Massar, tithing, is not a simple action, every person has to experience it when he is giving, specifically there you will see how you feel, you have no problem spending one thousand dollars on a vacation with the family and how hard it is for you to give it to the common coffers of Bnei Baruch. It is a big difference even though vacation with your family, you know you go, you travel you visited and this is something that remains eternally in that spiritual bank where you put in the tithing, the Maasar, it is incomparable, it is very difficult.
S. So it turns out that if I simply give and I do not think about it, I've organized all the money in the bank and I don't think that money helps at all to advance spiritually.
R. Yes, yes, specifically every month, even every day, it's very important. Back in the days when people used to work for a landlord of sort, they would put aside money every day from what they’ve earned, a tenth part or a fifth part, and that is how it is. So try it, it's not simple but it builds you, it organizes you: ‘this is for me, this is for the Creator’.
37. (01:22:12) How is it possible to both be a Levite and also pay Maasar, this is what I do and I've lived all my life, I have a lot of land so I pay a lot of taxes, am I acting correctly?
R. Why not?
S. Thank you, thank you.
R. Pay, pay, don't worry, it is all recorded properly.
38. (01:23:05) You answered a student that only one who has land needs to pay Maasar, what does that mean?
R. No, no, no, not necessarily land. Maasar is tithing, it’s the tenth part of the net income of a person, not necessarily from land.
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