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

Daily Lesson (Morning) September 8, 2024.

Part 1: Rabash. You Stand Today, All of You. 19 (1984)

Reader: Hello, we shall be reading from the writings of Rabash, the article, “You Stand Today, All of You”. You can find all of our texts on kabbalahmedia.info, as well as on the Arvut platform, where you can also send us questions live. Anyone asking a question here in the study hall is requested to stand up, hold the microphone close to his mouth, and to speak loudly and clearly.

Reading: (00:31) You Stand Today, All of You, Article 19, 1984

The interpreters ask about the words, “You stand today, all of you...your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel.” It begins with the plural form, “You” [plural form in Hebrew], and ends in singular form, “Every man of Israel.” The author of the book, Light and Sun, explains that by using plural form and singular form, it points to the matter of love of friends. Although among you are “heads, tribes,” etc., still no one sees greater merit in himself than in any man of Israel. Instead, everyone is equal in that no one complains about the other. For this reason, from above, too, they are treated accordingly, and this is why great abundance is imparted below.

It is our way to study everything within one subject. It turns out that a person should take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load, which are mind and heart. In other words, all of one’s work should be in order to bestow.

Accordingly, if one works in order to bestow and does not wish for any reward in return—except to serve in the holy work without hoping to be given any addition to what he has—he has no wish even for additional work. In other words, receiving some knowledge that he is walking on the right path is certainly a just demand, and yet he relinquishes even that because he wishes to go with his eyes shut and believe in the Creator. And what he can, he does and he is content with his lot.

And he even feels that there are people who have some understanding of the work of the Creator, while he sees that he is completely empty. In other words, many times he feels a good taste in the work, and at times he feels that he is in a state of “Your heads.” In other words, at times he thinks that now he has reached a degree where it is impossible that he will ever decline to a state of lowliness, a state where if he wishes to engage in the work of God, he has to make great efforts to force his body. At that time, what he does is by compulsion because he has no desire for the work, and the body only wishes to rest and does not care for anything.

Instead, at that time he feels that he has already come to know for sure that there is nothing else in the world except to work in order to bestow, and then he certainly finds good taste in the work. And when he regards his previous states, he cannot understand, now that he is in a state of ascent. Hence, by all calculations, he decides that now it is impossible that he will ever suffer a decline.

But sometimes, after a day, an hour, or a few minutes, he descends to such a state of lowliness that he cannot immediately feel that he has fallen from his uplifted state to the “depth of the great abyss.” Rather, at times, after an hour or two he suddenly sees that he has fallen from the highest level, meaning from his previous certainty that he was the strongest man, and he is like any man of Israel, meaning like an ordinary person. Then he begins to seek advice in his heart, “What should I do now?” “How can I pick myself up to the state of Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] that I had before?”

At that time, one should walk on the path of truth—to say, “My current state, being in utter lowliness, means that I was deliberately thrown out from above to know if I truly wish to do the holy work in order to bestow, or if I wish to be God’s servant because I find it more rewarding than other things.”

Then, if one can say, “Now I want to work in order to bestow and I do not want to do the holy work to receive some gratification in the work. Instead, I will settle for doing the work of holiness like any man of Israel—praying or taking a lesson on the daily portion. And I don’t have time to think with which intent I study or pray, but I will simply observe the actions without any special intent.” At that time, he will reenter the holy work because now he wishes to be God’s servant without any preconditions.

This is the meaning of what is written, “You stand today, all of you,” meaning everything you went through, all the states you have experienced—whether states of Gadlut or states of less than Gadlut, which were considered intermediate or so. You take all those details and you do not compare one degree to another because you do not care for any reward, but only for doing the Creator’s will. He has commanded us to observe Mitzvot [commandments] and to study Torah, and this is what we do, like any common man of Israel. In other words, the state he is in right now is as important to him as when he thought he was in a state of Gadlut. At that time, “The Lord your God makes with you this day.”

This means that then the Creator makes a covenant with him. In other words, precisely when one accepts His work without any conditions and agrees to do the holy work without any reward, which is called “unconditional surrender,” this is the time when the Creator makes a covenant with him.

Baal HaSulam explained the matter of making a covenant: When two people see that they love each other, they make a covenant between them that their love will always endure. And he asked, “If they love each other and understand that this love will never leave them, why this covenant? Why do they make this covenant, meaning for what purpose?” In other words, what do they gain by this making of a covenant? Is it only a ritual or is it for some benefit?

He said that the matter of making a covenant is that now they understand that it is in their interest for each to love the other because of reasons they can now see—that each one feels the other and cares only for his well-being—so they make a covenant. And as now neither has any complaints against his friend, or they would not make the covenant, they tell each other, “It is worthwhile for us to make a covenant once and for all.” In other words, if there is ever a state where one will have complaints against the other, they will both remember the covenant that they made when love was revealed between them.

Similarly, even though they currently do not feel the love as they did then, they still evoke the old love and do not look at the state they are currently in. Instead, they go back to doing things for each other. This is the benefit of the covenant. Thus, even when the love that was between them has lost its fancy, because they made the covenant, they have the strength to reawaken the shining love that they had before. In this way, they usher each other back into the future.

It follows that making the covenant is for the future. It is like a contract that they sign that they will not be able to regret when they see that the ties of love are not as they were, that this love gave them great pleasure while they were doing good to each other, but now that love has been corrupted, they are powerless and none can do anything for the other.

But if they do wish to do something for their friends, they must consider the making of the covenant that they had before, and out of that they should rebuild the love. It is like a person who signs a contract with his friend, and the contract connects them so they cannot part from one another.

It follows that, “You stand today, all of you.” In other words, he thinks of details, “Your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel.” This means that of all the high degrees that he had, it is now considered for him that he is in a state of “Every man of Israel,” and he assumes that state, as when he was in a state that he considered good. He says, “Now I do my part, and I agree that the Creator will give me what He wants, and I have no criticism.” At that time, he is rewarded with making a covenant. In other words, the connection remains forever because the Creator made a covenant with him for all eternity.

According to the above, we should interpret the verse, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” We should understand what this verse comes to tell us. We cannot say that it comes to tell us that we do not know what is hidden and only the Creator knows. We cannot say that because without the verse, we do not know what is hidden from us. Thus, what does the verse come to tell us?

It is known that there is a thing that is hidden and a thing that is revealed. It means that the active part of what we do is when we can see whether or not we are doing it. And if the body does not wish to perform the Mitzva [commandment], there is a tactic—one can force oneself, meaning that he is compelled to do the Mitzva against his will. It turns out that coercion is relevant with revealed things.

The hidden thing is the intention in the Mitzva. This, one cannot see, meaning what the other one intends while doing. It is the same with the person himself, the one who acts. He, too, cannot know if he is not fooling himself during the act. He thinks that he has no other goal and that he is completely dedicated to the Creator. But with the action, called “the revealed part,” it is irrelevant to speak of a person lying to himself, that he thinks that he is wearing Tefillin [phylacteries] when in truth, it is not Tefillin. Similarly, a woman cannot lie to herself saying that she lights the Sabbath candles when in fact she isn’t.

But with intention, it can be said that one lies to oneself. He thinks that he is working Lishma [for Her sake] when in fact he is entirely in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. Also, there cannot be coercion because one cannot coerce one’s thought into thinking what he wants to. Regarding things that belong to emotion or knowledge, a person is powerless. He cannot force his mind to understand differently than it does or feel differently than how he feels.

Now we can understand the above matter—that all that is left for us is the practical part. This is called “The things that are revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” We are commanded to perform the action, meaning it is the deed that we are commanded to do, even coercively.

But as for the intention, called “the hidden part,” in that, no man has any view or governance. Thus, what should we do to keep the hidden part, as well? Here all that one can do is test, meaning examine himself to see if he is truly doing everything in order to bestow, or whether the body resists the aim to bestow. He feels that he is removed from it to the extent that there is nothing he can do alone, since whatever he plans to do, all the tactics to be able to aim in order to bestow do not help him.

It is about that that the verse comes to tell us that this matter of Lishma, called “the hidden part,” belongs to the Lord our God. In other words, only the Creator can help him, while there is absolutely no possibility that he himself would realize it. It is not in the hands of man because it is above nature. This is why the verse says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God,” meaning that it belongs to Him, that the Creator should provide this force called “to bestow.”

This is why our sages said (Kidushin 30), “Man’s inclination overpowers him every day and seeks to put him to death, as it is said, ‘The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.’ And if the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it, as it is said, ‘The Lord will not leave him in his hand.’”

The matter of seeking to slay him means that it wishes for man to do everything in order to receive, which is regarded as being separated from the Life of Lives. Naturally, one remains a beast. This is why our sages said, “The wicked are called ‘dead’ while they are alive.” It turns out that it is called “death” when his intention is to receive. This is considered separation. To be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion], meaning to be granted the strength to bestow—to have such a thing—only the Creator can give it to him; it is not in man’s power to obtain.

This is why our sages said, “Man’s inclination overpowers him every day and seeks to slay him, and if the Creator did not help him, he would not overcome it, as it is said, ‘The Lord will not leave him in his hand.’” From what we explained, we can understand the verse, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our sons.”

Thus, only the act is for us to do, but the hidden part is for the Creator to do.

However, there is still something for us to do about the hidden, so the Creator will give us the hidden part. This follows the rule that everything requires an awakening from below. There is a rule that there is no light without a Kli [vessel], meaning there is no fulfillment without a deficiency. You cannot insert anything unless there is a vacancy, and then you put in whatever you want. But if there is no cavity, no empty place, how can we insert anything?

Therefore, first we should see that we do not have the vessel of bestowal, called “desire to bestow,” and that this is our light. As we explained in previous articles, our primary reward is to obtain the desire to bestow, called “Reflected Light,” as it is said, “The whole reward that we hope for is the Reflected Light” (General Preface to the Tree of Life).

Therefore, if the desire to bestow is called “the light,” then this deficiency, when one sees that he does not have the power to bestow, is called “a Kli.” He feels that this is what he is missing, meaning he sees what he is losing by not having this power called “the power of bestowal.” Hence, his deficiency is built in him according to his sensation. This is called “a Kli” and “a vacancy,” for here—where he lacks the power of bestowal—there is room for this filling to enter. This is called “the arrival of the light into the Kli.”

However, we should know that receiving this Kli requires a lot of work. We have Kelim [plural of Kli], called “deficiencies,” which we wish to fill. They are called “Kelim of self-love,” meaning that we wish to receive fulfillment. These are very important Kelim because they come from the side of the Creator, who created them existence from absence because He wishes to do good to His creations, meaning that He wishes to give fulfillment. Yet, how is it possible to give fulfillment if there is no vacancy in which to place the filling? For this reason, He created these Kelim existence from absence to place the delight and pleasure in them. It turns out that this is the essence of the Kli that the Creator created.

However, because this Kli is called a “desire to receive,” it wished to have equivalence of form, called “Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator.” This is why this Kli was disqualified from being a Kli for reception of the upper abundance. Now there is a need for a new Kli for reception, which dresses in the former Kli, where only by both—by clothing the will to bestow within the will to receive—will this Kli befit reception.

The previous Kli, called “desire to receive,” came from the Emanator. The lower one has no part in the work of the desire to receive, although everything comes from the Emanator. Similarly, the second Kli, called “desire to bestow,” comes only from the Emanator, as well, and the lower one cannot add, just as in the first Kli, called “desire to receive.”

However, the difference is that the vessel of bestowal must first have a demand from the lower one, who seeks of the Creator to be given the new Kli. This, the first Kli did not have because it came to him without any awakening on the part of the lower one.

M. Laitman: Questions?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:32) In the article, he says two things, which I cannot comprehend. First, he says that the intention in order to bestow is hidden from the person, meaning that he can't tell if he's truly aiming in order to bestow or not. And then a few paragraphs later, he says that a person has to examine himself all the time to see if he has the intention to bestow or not. But if it's hidden from me how can I examine it?

M. Laitman: Nevertheless, you can raise a demand that you would like to have it.

Student: Right, so, there is a demand I want to, but what kind of examination can I conduct, if it's hidden from me?

M. Laitman: Then you will see, it's not simple. To whom you're bestowing, why you're bestowing, what degrees are there in bestowal. You have none of this whole topic.

Student: Right, it can be felt, that's why I'm asking what kind of examination can I make with respect to something which is so hidden from me?

M. Laitman: It all comes from above, there's no point in regretting that we don't have it. It's true that we don't have any of this but the fact that we discover that we don't have it, that's the truth. However, the question is only what should I do in order to nevertheless get closer to the understanding, to the revelation of what should be inside of me and how I should relate to what will be revealed in me now? That's it, but to begin with a demand, there's room for that.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (34:49) The matter of making a covenant, it's a part of the process which we, with God's help, will go through in the Congress, each Ten. And so, it's a kind of confidence, security, where whenever we have some descent, we can return back to love. And ultimately, it's meant to bring us to a state of making a covenant with the Creator. So, how can we in the Ten, enter that state? Or when do we enter that state?

M. Laitman: When, I cannot say; when you'll be worthy of it, you'll receive it.

Student: What's required in order to be worthy?

M. Laitman: To be worthy.

Student: One is the general yearning, second is the goal. What else?

M. Laitman: I don't know, this is something that you need to scrutinize along the way.

Student: It's different in each Ten.

M. Laitman: No, hardly, there's no difference between one Ten and another.

Student: What can you advise us with respect to making a covenant between us?

M. Laitman: To work, as he says.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:46) What does it mean to serve the Creator without any conditions?

M. Laitman: That, on your part, there can be no preconditions for the work.

Student: But, he also says that I always need to calculate and see where my intention is in order to make requests of the Creator. So, there are conditions that I set here.

M. Laitman: No, you're not setting any conditions in order to begin the work of getting closer to the Creator. In whatever state you will be, you can start with that.

Student: So, the advice he gives us here, is to always examine myself regardless of what state I'm in. I must always examine myself to see if I'm aiming towards the Creator?

M. Laitman: Yes?

Student: Isn't that the same as setting conditions if I'm examining myself, if I need to accept every state I'm in?

M. Laitman: No, that's the majority of your work: Are you directed towards the Creator?

Student: If we, every day anew, tell ourselves in the Ten, that we don't want to separate regardless of what states we receive. And the Creator brings to us a rather complicated state, does that mean we're making a covenant with the Creator?

M. Laitman: To a certain extent, yes.

Student: What else must we do in the Ten with all the conditions He delivers? So as to build ourselves anew every day, strengthening the covenant with the Creator? I'm not talking about making a covenant, in strengthening the covenant with Him.

M. Laitman: So, go ahead and do it.

Student: That's the question. In the prayer itself, do we need to feel that we're strengthening our covenant with Him?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What do we need to do in the prayer, every day, so as to feel that we're growing closer and closer to the Creator?

M. Laitman: You have to bring a result of your examination. To what extent and how are you forming the right connection?

Student: The outcome you speak of, we need to see by our actions how we establish our intention by our actions? The intention is concealed but in our actions, between us, is that how we're measured?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (39:55) He writes in the second paragraph, that if one works in order to bestow and doesn't want any reward in return. Rather he wants to do the holy work without hoping to be given any addition to what he has. And then he continues, he says, receiving some knowledge that he's following the right path is a just claim, right? To receive the knowledge that he's advancing, correctly, but in any case, he relinquishes that as well because he wants to walk with his eyes shut and with faith in the Creator. And what he can do he does and he's happy with his lot. The yearning to advance with your eyes shut and believe in the Creator, why is it more important to the Rabash than even knowing that he's walking on the right path and advancing, correctly?

M. Laitman: Because he receives it, accepts it above reason and for that I don't need any proof, any guidelines. By this, I just want to know that I'm in the hands of the Creator; that I'm annulling myself, completely.

Student: Opposite that, he has the knowledge that he's walking the right path.

M. Laitman: It's not knowledge but, rather, he wants to determine himself, establish himself in such a way. But there's no certainty.

Student: To work in order to bestow, that's done only by way of faith?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Why is the work above reason, why does it help us reach bestowal more?

M. Laitman: Because it is above reason, above man's vessels.

Student: In the very first paragraph, he says that each one will not see any greater merit in himself than others. Rather they're all equal since no one criticizes the other, from above, they're treated the same. So, there are two stages to this: He says that no one sees greater merit in himself than any man of Israel, which is already great work to do because the ego always sees the opposite, right? So, what, he needs to diminish himself, to subdue himself?

M. Laitman: Let's say so.

Student: Let's say, okay, rather, they're all equal in that no one complains about the other, and for this reason, from above, too, they are treated accordingly, it says. And a bit onwards, he says that making a covenant means that now in that state, no one has any complaints or claims against his friend. Why is that state where people feel complaints towards each other, these states we feel, constantly. Why do they not help us advance to spirituality? He says you need to distance yourself from that, separate it away.

M. Laitman: This stems from the law that you have to exit the will to receive. So, how can it be that it will be any other way, it's the same demand?

Student: So, if I see some complaints against the friend, I see him doing things incorrectly, this is my will to receive? Does it show me my will to receive?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: It keeps bringing us back to seeing that something here is wrong and now I need to show him how to work correctly. But the correct perception is always to look within? I'll try, okay?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:55) Here, he dedicates a separate section to what he says in many articles. That actually we need to have a deficiency for the desire to bestow, this is something new that we need, right? But there's a paragraph here where he says that then the lack that he sees that he doesn't have the power to bestow is called a vessel, and he feels that he lacks that. This means that he sees what is missing by not having this power called the force of bestowal. How do we bring ourselves to see that we're missing by not having the power of bestowal?

M. Laitman: That's not a problem, even in our world, you can see in people that if they had the force of bestowal, they would gain and profit more.

Student: I can see it in others?

M. Laitman: Yes, they would have been more successful.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:05) How can a person, he says he feels that he's lacking it, meaning he sees what he's missing by not having this force called the force of bestowal.

M. Laitman: So, we need to see how much we can add in understanding and feeling in one's ascents, if he had more control over the force of bestowal.

Student: The question is how do we depict this picture, that there is a force of bestowal, a person is missing by not being there, not having it?

M. Laitman: Well, depict it, paint for yourself such a situation.

Student: Meaning, each one should depict it to himself or is it the work of the Ten?

M. Laitman: Yes, each one, individually, and later you can do that in the Ten, yes.

Student: Depict the state of bestowal and say, we're not in it and therefore this is what we're missing.

M. Laitman: Yes, yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:10) Towards the upcoming Congress this weekend, we also begin in a state of these ordinary people from different backgrounds, different Tens. How can we unite and enter the state of every man of Israel?

M. Laitman: First of all, we have to work on the Ten. I hope each one knows where he'll be situated. And we need to strengthen the connection within the Ten, for each one with everyone else. And also, we have to scrutinize to see what more we can do in the Ten and what we lack in our Ten so we can finish the work.

Student: How do we scrutinize what we are missing, lacking, in the Ten?

M. Laitman: It may be that we're not fulfilling all the requirements explained to us by Baal HaSulam, Rabash, the ARI, perhaps we cannot achieve those.

Student: So, we currently look only at our Ten: Where are we lacking to add in order to advance, etc.?

M. Laitman: Yes, for now, that way.

Student: And if you look at the state of the Congress in which all the Tens gather together for one gathering?

M. Laitman: So, we have something in the Congress, it's a part. In every article there is some small part which touches upon the general force that we awaken. And then, we begin to see that there is a connection between all those present.

Student: In the Congress, itself, I'm looking at how do we not miss out an opportunity when there's an effort made by all the Tens, all the parts of the vessel? How do we exhaust this moment so that we can absorb something bigger, which is not only in the Ten but a greater force that is now present?

M. Laitman: We will feel it, if I start talking about it I'll just confuse a lot of you. From the act, we will talk about it a little bit here and there until it's established.

Student: About what you said before, if we cannot reach all the demands, meet all the demands of the Kabbalists, then what do we do?

M. Laitman: Of course we can't meet all the demands. If I'm in first grade, do you demand of me things which pertain to the fifth grade, sixth grade, eighth grade? Can I skip ahead to that, of course not?

Student: And the demands are internal demands or external demands.

M. Laitman: The demands are mainly inner demands. How should I be connected with the Tens, and then, how do I emerge from my Ten and see that I have a duty to be built further outside of the Ten? We'll go over it.

Student: How in spite of all the states that we will go through, states of, as he says here, of Gadlut, greatness, or less than Gadlut. We're constantly directed towards the upper one, no matter what we're going through?

M. Laitman: I don't understand the question.

Student: He writes in the article that no matter what states you will go through, all the details, you'll have states of Gadlut or less than Gadlut, always maintain this line towards the Creator. How do we maintain a constant line towards the upper one no matter what I'm going through right now? Whether it is Gadlut or Katnut, greatness or smallness?

M. Laitman: Clear, I think that what's important is that I raise to the upper one all the actions, intentions, thoughts that I discover, that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:22) The name of the Congress is Strengthening in the Tens. And many Tens in the World Kli, maybe the majority of the Tens, people will be in different places. For example, in my Ten will be in five different edges in the world. So, what does it mean to go through the whole Congress and grow stronger in the Ten? How do we go through the Congress inside the Ten?

M. Laitman: By being connected together throughout the days of the Congress. And then you'll see all the stages that you will go through and what to do in order to strengthen yourselves more and more each time in the connection within the Tens. Those Tens which are, there, before you.

Student: This means that no matter with which physical bodies I'm with?

M. Laitman: I don't know what you mean by that?

Student: I mean that, for example, here there are friends from Africa, from Kazakhstan, from Russia. In the mirror Congresses there are also friends from different cities, some friends will be in the virtual system. How can we grow stronger, as I understand it, in the individual Ten of each one? Even here in Israel some of the friends will be here, some will be virtual in the same Tens, it's not that everyone will be sitting together.

M. Laitman: I don't know how to put this in order for you. I think that the main thing for each one is to be aiming towards the central point of the connection of his Ten. Wherever he is – where is the central point of connection of the Ten? And then, outside of the Ten also to conduct some scrutiny and criticism between the Tens. But between the Tens, that comes later, we'll discuss it. But within each Ten, it's extremely important.

Student: How do you see it that every Ten in preparation for the Congress, before the Congress, creates some sort of connection or special meeting. Where we would agree on how do we hold each other during the Congress, no matter where we will be, because we don't have such a point. Seemingly, we have a connection but that we will hold this connection during the Congress with each other all the time?

M. Laitman: We will work on it, gradually, slowly, we'll go into that. But it's a valid point, true, which you raise correctly.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:33) I think that in this case, it turns out that I'm with the friends from Almaty, two friends from our great area of Kazakhstan will come from Asia. And I know what is happening in each one of these places, the distances between us are thousands of kilometers, there's Almaty 1, Almaty 2. We will gather here as one big region, as one Ten, and keep our connection within the region. I think this Congress will strengthen even more the ties between us. I don't know what will happen in the individual Tens but in the end it will strengthen the connections within every region.

M. Laitman: That's good, such a connection between you is good!

Question (Petah Tikva Center):(57:42) How can we awaken the upper one, the upper light, in the Tens so that together we can raise the awareness, the forces. And be able to rise above all the challenges we have? How can we draw the light in such a way into the Ten so that we can rise above all the difficulties, all the challenges?

M. Laitman: I don't understand?

Student: How do we draw the upper light from the Creator so that we can rise in the Tens above all the difficulties? There are all kinds of challenges and difficulties that the Tens experience.

M. Laitman: But if we set before us a goal, namely, that we all need to ascend together. To already be within the upper one, meaning, we are planning our state to be such that in the near future, following our efforts, we will connect together. And raise ourselves up to the upper one and equalize ourselves with the upper one; and that will be our ascent, right? So, what is the question?

Student: The question is how do we overcome all the difficulties that the Tens experience? How do we draw the force from the Creator to do it?

M. Laitman: We need not look for disruptions, hindrances. To the contrary, we want to be clean, pure, of all disruptions and then to rise. Whatever hinders me, I want to cancel out.

Question (Women Turkiye 8): (59:44) Do we have the ability to make a covenant with the Creator?

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, as it is written in the Torah, “and He made a covenant with him”.

Student: The covenant that a person makes with his friends, is it identical to the covenant he makes with the Creator?

M. Laitman: N, it's a previous degree.

Question (PT 5): (01:00:19) How, when the love is revealed between us, for example, in the Congress, we'll take advantage of this situation to make a covenant between us and the Creator? Because only in the state of the hidden things are for the Lord your God is the Creator revealed, according to the article.

M. Laitman: That we will need to come to understand. But to reach a connection with the Creator, we do that from a general lack, we obligate Him.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:16) On page 57, third paragraph, it says the following: This means that when the Creator makes a covenant with him, meaning specifically at the time that a person accepts the Creator's work without any conditions. But rather he agrees to do the holy work without any reward, this is called unconditional surrender, then the Creator makes a covenant with him. This means that there is a state here which is not equal between the two parts, two sides in the, the two parties of the covenant. Only when one surrenders unconditionally, the other one makes a covenant. I understood that a covenant is made by two people who are equal, who love each other? But, here, we see that in order to make a covenant with the Creator, one side has to completely surrender, why is it so?

M. Laitman: Otherwise, you will not be His equal, you will not be connected to Him.

Student: So, this means that in order for me to be equal, there is lack of equality. I cannot make a covenant when I surrender. So then obviously I surrender, so what kind of a covenant is that?

M. Laitman: That is the covenant, why not? After your surrender, you become equal, to some extent, to the Creator.

Student: This means that this thing is necessary, that if I want to make a covenant with the Creator, I have to surrender?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:05) A covenant from the side of the Creator, it always exists or is there a condition for it?

M. Laitman: As we can see here, there are conditions.

Student: And a person can reach, from the article, we can understand that a person can reach this state opposite the Creator by himself. If he annuls 100% before Him and he is willing to do everything. And then it happens, he has a covenant with the Creator, and then he is certain, also? Can we understand it this way from the article?

M. Laitman: Yes, you could.

Student: So, what is the role of the Ten in that?

M. Laitman: To participate in it together with the person. A person, by himself, alone, can reach an understanding, agreement, actions, but he needs to do it with someone. He can't do it, alone.

Student: This means that to reach true annulment towards the Creator, one cannot do it without the Ten? Or can he?

M. Laitman: He cannot.

Student: Why?

M. Laitman: Now I'll start explaining to you what the Torah is and why it was given not to one single person?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:43) I heard now that a Ten can make a covenant with the Creator.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: If making a covenant with the Creator is something that's too high, we're not capable of it, of agreeing together to it. Then can we, in the meantime, can we let's say, make a covenant with Baal HaSulam, or with Rabash or?

M. Laitman: No, no, no, there's no such thing.

Student: There's no such thing as making a covenant with Rav. So, what is the degree that we can hold on to, or aim towards before we aim so high to make a covenant with the Creator?

M. Laitman: There's no middle point.

Student: So, it's zero or one?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:36) He writes here that the covenant is that they make a covenant regarding the future. And their covenant is about the love that we have between them. So, what is this thing that they have love between them, what is this, like, this first love that is weaved between the friends?

M. Laitman: They feel that they depend on each other, that they belong to a single spiritual root. And they are included in that and so, they advance.

Student: They already have between them the Creator or is it that they make the covenant about the future? What is that contract between them about?

M. Laitman: The Creator has not yet been revealed, really, but they're advancing in that direction. They can identify, they can tell that there's going to be an upper force that will be revealed here, tying them together.

Student: I'm asking because we always say that love is the final, complete state that we reach. And here the covenant is already about the love that they achieve between them. So, what do you make a covenant over if you didn't yet achieve the love?

M. Laitman: Yes, I understand, we need to open it up a bit more, to explain it more, yes; it's a valid claim.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:40) A friend from the Ten is asking, Rabash writes that one doesn't have the time to think with which intention he's studying or praying, but rather he performs actions without any intention. And then he enters the work of holiness, meaning, he wants to be the servant of the Creator, unconditionally. It is like a work that is below reason, so how do I check myself that I'm working above reason?

M. Laitman: In that place, there's nowhere you can examine that, from what he writes here. We have to make an effort, of course, in our work to go above reason in order to feel what this reason is. And then to be in faith above reason while reason, itself, remains on the same level that the Creator calibrated it in us.

Student: Meaning, it will not be expressed in any way externally, it's all inner work.

M. Laitman: Yes, of course.

Question (Holland): (01:09:42) What brings us to a state of wanting and agreeing to what the Creator wants? How do we reach a state where we agree to whatever the Creator wants from us or demands from us?

M. Laitman: We agree with the state as everything we get from the Creator, these are all things which we need to absorb into us. To build and be built through these conditions, which the Creator now presents to us. And this, we need to connect these things together between us and to elevate them, these conditions, these yearnings for the Creator.

Student: What makes it, gives us the force to be able to agree? So, what support do we need to come to this agreement with the conditions of the Creator?

M. Laitman: From the Creator, but now you understand, at least, so I hear from what you say, that the Creator wants us to come closer and to connect. And from where can we get the power to do this? Ask it of the Creator, tell Him that you need power to connect, that's it. And without a doubt, if you request this of Him in a serious manner, you will receive it. And then you will have no problem, you will be then in spirituality, with spiritual power on a certain degree with respect to the Creator. Go ahead, it's a very important topic.

Question (Kyiv 1): (01:12:30) In the article, it says that the desire to bestow is called light. Meaning this lack that he sees that he doesn't have the force of bestowal, this is called a vessel. What is our vessel in the Ten, and with what light should it be filled?

M. Laitman:. First of all, we have to feel Him, and later, we work with Him.

Question (Women USA 3): (01:13:32) You told a friend, before, that you don't make conditions in order to start the work of approaching the Creator. Is operating for the benefit of the society, is that something that brings us closer to the Creator? Working for the sake of the society, does that bring us closer to the Creator?

M. Laitman: No, I'm not sure, not sure. First of all, what does it mean for the sake of the society, I don't know? And is it in a state where even if the operation is correct, maybe, it's not for now and maybe it doesn't bring us closer to the Creator. It doesn't have to happen.

Student: What about the prayer, can prayer alone bring us closer to the Creator?

M. Laitman: Yes, of course, yes.

Question (Rehovot 1): (01:14:33) In regards to the preparation for the Convention, what does it look when a Ten is prepared for the Convention?

M. Laitman: A Ten that's prepared for the Congress is, it cancels itself, annuls itself, before itself, and it annuls itself before all the participants in the Congress. This gives it a possibility to be incorporated with everyone. And then it's in a state of Congress, an annulment of itself.

Question (PT 5): (01:15:35) At the time that we feel connection between us, can we demand for the Creator, as well? Or only when we're distant and unable to come closer, then we can really turn to Him?

M. Laitman: It doesn't matter, there's no situation from which a person cannot turn to the Creator, no such state. From minus to plus, in every action, every operation, we can turn to the Creator. And we shouldn't wait for anything.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:16:49) If according to our ability to do common actions that are successful in the Ten.

M. Laitman: In the Ten?

Student: If we can measure according to that the magnitude of our connection?

M. Laitman: Just do it in partnership with you, where you see that there's an opportunity and it's worthwhile. Afterwards, we can measure, we can check what is the result in this.

Student: Meaning, if there's forces to do an action, for example, we do a common action and there's no strength. Let's say we prayed and we received strength to do this action. Can it be counted as if it's a successful action, an action that there is something in it?

M. Laitman: Well, let's just do it and bring the result over here, as you think. Do a little research work, and then we'll see if you really have connected and entered a connection. And in this connection, is there a place for spirituality?

Student: For example, in the convention where we sit in our permanent Tens, let's say we sit a certain amount of friends. And possibly we'll have more friends from a different Ten, how should we behave in such a state?

M. Laitman: You can be connected among yourselves. I don't know, it depends, what were you thinking?

Student: Firstly, it's not correct, each one will sit in his own Ten, and we do not add friends, we do not mix friends from different Tens. Each Ten sits alone and connects with itself.

M. Laitman: But, if there are only three or four friends, right now?

Student: Then they connect with the friends who are virtual and cannot come. And if they're sitting three, four friends, they'll be sitting alongside with three, four friends from a different Ten. We're simply keeping this cell, which is a Ten.

M. Laitman: Did you understand how this will happen?

Student: Yes.

M. Laitman: You do, okay.

Student: Do you think that we should do it differently?

M. Laitman: No, even this, I can't picture it to myself.

Student: Logistically, you mean? That's what you mean?

M. Laitman: Not even logistically.

Student: We have experience in it, we've tried it before.

M. Laitman: Okay, okay, good.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:20:20) This matter is not clear, maybe our friend can explain a bit more how it would be. For example, at the beginning of the convention, there is a workshop. I'm my only representative of my Ten here. Does that mean that I need to connect to my Ten virtually? How through Zoom, through the Arvut system and like that all over the world, how, at one moment, the whole World Kli can connect to his Ten? It's simply unclear.

Student: (01:20:52) I'll explain about the Tens. Technically, when friends enroll to the convention, we already know what Ten they belong to. And then accordingly, we organize the hall where the Convention is going to be so that each Ten would know where they're sitting. And it's organized throughout the whole Convention, that's technically where I sit with my Ten. Now, in regard to whether we are less than two people, if we are not at the complete Ten and there's more friends with us on the table. When we consulted with you and we asked you several times, you said again and again that the main thing is that the person would be with his Ten. We gave you the example that if there's two friends who came from overseas and what happens if we have a workshop question. And you said that the most correct thing to do is when you have a workshop is to be connected with your Ten, even if it's virtually. So, now that friends come, the question rises again. If, for example, I came, both of us came from an overseas Ten and next to us there's friends who came from the Sochi Ten, and the other three who came from Kazakhstan. Do we all become one Ten in the Convention or each one of these cells continue to go on with this virtual Ten? For example, one friend will have another friend to connect to, do both of them need to connect to their Ten in Moscow or not? During the Convention, they turn into a one Ten with whoever is sitting with them on the tables, that's where the question stands. So, here is where we turn the question to you, spiritually, what is the most correct thing to do? Physically, we could solve everything, spiritually, what should we do?

M. Laitman: Usually, the technical is the problem in how in such a situation. Where, for example, our friend is sitting here and his whole group is in Moscow. And he is with various Russians or Israelis, too, he's sitting with them at the table.

Student: So, generally speaking, the table is organized according to languages. So, when they come, we already know what Ten they are from. So, all the friends that are from the Ten will sit in the same table. If now we have a decision that says, we're doing a workshop, all of us together. They will do a workshop, all of them, Russian speakers. He won't be sitting with friends who don't speak Russian in the table. He will be sitting with friends who speak Russian in the table. Now, if we change the decision, we say that we do a workshop with everyone. O we stay with the decision that I'm doing the workshop with the Ten. So, once there's a workshop, you simply connect with them virtually. As they do at any stage. We have the Arvut system, we have Zooms, we connect with them and do a workshop. If that doesn't work out together, we can change it in a moment, the model of the Convention. And we're going to the direction that we're doing a workshop with whoever is sitting with me on the table. We, simply, went according to the guidance that you gave us, that in order for us to advance spiritually, each one should be in his own Ten. So, maybe if you can just relate to that point, from the sense of the spiritual side of it. Two of us are the only ones who are from our Ten in the Convention, what do we do? Do we both do the workshop with other friends or do we connect virtually with our Ten and do the workshop with them?

M. Laitman: Virtually.

Student: So, that's what the question is about, what do we do? I came alone. For example, I came alone to the Convention. I decided I wanted to fly, all my Ten stayed in Moscow and I'm here alone. Do I connect to them virtually or do I do it with the friends on the table?

M. Laitman: Virtually.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:25:30) If I understand the question a bit deeper: I'm here with friends, do I devote to them, I'm connected with them. I start to work with them as a Ten, temporarily, it's random. Do I start to work with them or I don't and I stay loyal to my Ten? I look for a connection with my Ten, wherever the Ten is, Moscow, wherever.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Yes, one of them. What do you mean?

M. Laitman: Yes, be connected to your authentic Ten.

Student: Now the friends, the great friends from all over the world, they're connected to their Ten virtually, but they're sitting technically together. Is that the same?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Why is it important?

M. Laitman: Because it's connections that we can't tear, cut. These are natural connections that we've already established. That to me, these people, these individuals, are my partners on the path.

Student: There are states—I'm asking in regards to the Convention— is there any states in the Convention that we incorporated with each and every one that's with us or not?

M. Laitman: Maybe we can do something like that but, it'll be temporary, artificial, and will not leave any impression.

Student: Clear, it's artificial, okay. In the lessons, we sit together. In the meals, we sit together. At the evening, the cultural evenings?

M. Laitman: Yes, also.

Student: So, it doesn't matter what happens. I'm sitting with my Ten, meaning?

M. Laitman: What do you mean, mine?

Student: Each one is in his own Ten.

M. Laitman: But your Ten is in a different place if there's only one here from Moscow?

Student: So, I sit with the Russian speakers who came from the World Kli here, and I connect virtually if we talk. And if not, I'm just included in the general atmosphere.

M. Laitman: Yes, yes.

Student: If we sit together and we do not talk, what's the spiritual force in it as spiritual bodies? Is there any force or strength in it?

M. Laitman: If it's your Ten, then there is a power to it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:28:20) I wanted to understand technically how it would work so it won't be hypothetically. Let's just say there's a table here, there's friends from the whole World Kli. Let's say, for example, we sit in a lesson as it is now happening, Rav spoke for an hour and a half. We sat together. We drank coffee together. Now, let's say Rav wants to do a workshop question, and he says, workshop question. In our friend’s Ten, he sits with his friends and they do a workshop. The other Ten, another friend and his friends are doing workshops. Here, in this table, we're going to have a few more in the Convention when friends come. They're not going to do a workshop, each one takes out his mobile device and calls his friends in his original Ten. That they might be in one place in the world or maybe different places around the world. As the friend from Sochi said, they're going to be in five different places around the world. So each one takes out a mobile device and does a workshop with the friend. So, what happens here is each friend here speaks to his mobile. One friend is going to be talking to his Ten, he's going to be talking to his friend, Estonia Ten is going to be here, and each one talks to his own Ten. Is that how it's going to be in the Convention?

M. Laitman: I don't know.

Student: That's the question that they are asking.

M. Laitman: Basically, that's what it should be like according to the laws of connection; what are you going to do?

Student: The other option is that they would not take out each one of their mobile devices and connect to their friends around the world but talk to themselves between themselves in the workshop question that's been asked. But how will they speak among them?

M. Laitman: What's the problem, they all speak Russian.

Student: Will they all be speaking English or Spanish, in any case, we're going to be sitting them according to their languages, so it's not a language issue. The question is who is he going to talk to, The one who's next to him, shoulder to shoulder, or he's looking for his friend around the world on his mobile device?

M. Laitman: But the friends who are next to him are not necessarily from his Ten?

Student: They're not from his Ten, they're not specifically from his Ten. Maybe a friend will have his friend next to him. But for another friend for example, there's no friend, he came alone. So, he's now on his computer or on his mobile device, he can ring him.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And one friend is going to ring his friends, and another friend to his friends, and so forth. So, the friends are asking, what is our operational guidance, what are we going to do?

M. Laitman: I don't know, we had a question, and these guys did something.

Student: No, the question was hypothetical, and now it's reality, and here's a table as an example for it. So, as preparation for the convention, what do we expect of them to do? Let's say next moment we have a workshop question.

M. Laitman: I have no idea.

Student: Okay, thank you.

M. Laitman: No, but don't just say thank you and that's it.

Student: No, they will say how they will uphold the guidance, the friend wants to say.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:32:07) I want to say that we heard from Rav, and not in the last month only that our connection in the permanent Ten are unique. Do not tear them, do not cut them off. It's natural connections that we've determined, and these people are my partners to the path. Therefore, there is no problem in our virtual world of our times to see each one with his mobile device and connect to his friends. There is such connection, there is such reality, it's all okay. It looks ridiculous, it looks torn out of reality but there are such connections and we know it from our Zoom. So, let's realize Rav's advice.

M. Laitman: But you tell me, maybe there's something more convenient, better.

Student: More comfortable what they're asking and they want to be one Ten now. They want to leave their Tens and to connect as a random Ten.

M. Laitman: Okay, I understand.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:33:11) We can do an experiment, maybe before the Convention, and get an indication how the World Kli, all will have the same understanding that each one sits in his own Ten, and each one is connected to his own Ten, and try. How can we react and move towards this state and receive the returning light, and how to realize such a system?

M. Laitman: Okay, try it and see for yourselves.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:33:48) I've been asked to ask from the band of the Convention. We're all doing rolls and we're all going to be sitting together. We cannot take out our mobile phones and start connecting with the Tens. The question is do we do a workshop between us? Or we all do intention and thinking about our own Tens?

M. Laitman: According to what we're saying here, what do you think?

Student: I can talk for myself. I think that we should all be in silence and be in internal prayer towards that, and that's what I feel from what you're saying.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:34:33) I would like now that the team would show the Astana room that will show an example that in Astana there are three friends who are sitting in the room. There is a friend from Oms, there is another friend from Kyrgyzstan, and there is another friend with the Almaty One. We see that another friend is sitting in the room with his mobile phone and it's working. And during the Convention, as the entire region will be one Ten. And that's a practical example of how it's happening. And later on, we'll be back to our regions and our Tens but now as a region we are as one Ten, even Siberia. Not all of them are coming, but they keep the connection between them.

Question (Petah Tikva Center):(01:35:30) Does that mean that we're developing to a point where, we'll reach a point where people cannot attend Congresses on their own? Because I came here with the permission of my Ten. They said, friend, go, because we can't make it, so you have to be there for us and you'll be speaking for us, and we're one. So, in that case, what does it mean for Bnei Baruch, that we'll reach a point where only Tens can go together? Or we'll be dealing with Tens and nothing else?

M. Laitman: What is closer to the correction of the vessels? This is what we’ll determine, now, we only talked about making a special connection for the Congress, that it's not good. Because what do we do with that, after the congress, we disperse in every direction as if nothing happened between us. We have to make it so that the Congress doesn't break that system that we are in. But rather we came to the congress, so although, how many are coming here? A thousand?

Student: Two hundred twenty.

M. Laitman: Only two hundred twenty?

Student: Two hundred twenty men and women.

M. Laitman: So, two hundred twenty men and women, what are we going to do? Turn them into some separate group? It's incorrect, we want to maintain their connection with their groups during the Congress, too.

Student: What's the role of the individual here in the Congress?

M. Laitman: You are with us at the Congress and you are transferring, you are passing to your group, all your impressions from the Congress. From what we're learning, saying, singing, everything there is, you're passing as much information as possible, in spirit. And after the congress, you go back there and you become incorporated with them, almost as if you never left.

Student: The friend said there are going to be different people, coming from different places. How do we realize the place of the nation of Israel, the people of Israel, in this situation? People come from different places and they're not in Tens but they're going to be at the Congress. So, what is their role with respect to the Tens and with respect to the unity of our connection? In essence, if I'm broadening the question: How is he, as part of the Ten, how do I realize my role here as part of my Ten in the Convention?

M. Laitman: You are here at the Congress, as you are, and in addition, you are with your Ten. And in addition, you are a representative of your country, your nation, everything there is, you're carrying it all with you. And with it, you're here, and it's a very big addition to the group at the Congress.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:40:15) In actual fact, there's such an option, as usual, in the Convention to hold my Ten in the heart. But from what I'm understanding, you're not suggesting to just hold them in the heart but to not move to a different Ten in the Convention. Not to connect as a Ten to the two hundred twenty people who came here and other people who went to different cities around the world and have the same problem. I don't see how, technically, we can prepare for it. What, do we sit with two earbuds in our ear? Not all of us have these good quality earphones or such quality microphone, it's not so great. Maybe we can sit, maybe like translators with the headphones on; maybe if we set as a goal that what's effective and correct, and so each one before the Convention should look for the right technical equipment and then we can do it, if it's entirely necessary.

M. Laitman: The friends here from the technology department and the hosting department, they're saying they'll tend to every technological need that any friend has. They're saying there's no problem, they'll take care of all your needs in order to connect.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:42:02) If it's possible, I would like to just put things into proportion about the quantity of workshops we're going to have in the Convention. We asked you many times, are you going to do a workshop? And you answered, no, I'm not going to do workshops in my lessons, I want to give a lesson. And each time we asked you that question, you stayed on the same line, it didn't change. Additionally, we don't have preparation for the lessons, the preparation for the lessons is a quiet preparation. Each Ten enters the lesson with their own preparation, there is no talking, there's maybe music or reading. The only time that we might have workshops is the social time, the one-time slot that we have is the social time. That's one time that we might have workshop questions, and maybe in a meal or two, we'll have a place where we're going to talk. But most of the time, you just consume content from the friends who talk, from clips or material we're going to read. So, the amount of times we're going to be speaking is quite limited. So, maybe we can keep it into the right proportions.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:43:36) In the preparation, the friends from Africa talked about annulment. In the article, we also read about this annulment, this cancellation in our covenant with the Creator. And now it's very much felt, the privilege to put our understandings to the side, and follow whatever the Kabbalist is telling us. What's in this annulment that allows us to enter a new degree?

M. Laitman: It's annulment for the sake of connection, no?

Student: It doesn’t seem so clear, it doesn't always seem so clear. There are many things that can be towards the connection or towards non-connection. That's why it's a bit slippery, it's not clear whether I should annul myself now or not, it's not clear. And for me, it's felt as if it is all around this point that we will also be able to do a covenant with the Creator. It's only through our bowing of our head, annulment in the Ten, and also now, to enter a new degree of the Convention which you want to lead us to. We ask the same question today and might be the twenty different variations, and you give us the same answer. It's as if that matter of annulment towards the upper one is not obvious. Why is it so hidden?

M. Laitman: Because that's the way it is, it's hidden, it's not up to us. But the fact that it's hidden is good. The important thing is to find the key to it.

Student: How do we not miss this opportunity to annul ourselves; to see it but not to miss it? To put our mind's reason to the side?

M. Laitman: Connection is the whole thing, the whole point. In connection, you don't really have much of an intellect, we just have to unite. Who doesn't understand what it is, seemingly?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:46:16) I, also, have that question constantly, maybe I'll ask it simple: What do we gain more from? If we heard that the Rav's saying something that we never done, and it doesn't seem reasonable. Or we all try to scrutinize it and convince and see why it's correct or incorrect, and at the end of the day, we see that we do it and eventually we'll do the same thing. What do we gain more from, to accept what Rav said as what we are going to do? Or that we discern what's the correct decision?

M. Laitman: The fact that when all of us come to a general solution, all of us.

Student: Meaning, it's good that we flood this resistance, and we show all these resistances, and it's the right move. Meaning there's a good process which is a process that we need.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:47:18) If, for example, I would have gone to somewhere else around the world for the Convention, and I wouldn't have been physically with the bodies of my Ten. How do I give the spirit to my Ten, how do I pass on something to my Ten when I'm not physically with them?

M. Laitman: Who are you with? With no one.

Student: No one, no one, I'm here included in the Convention. For example, I'm here on my own. I came from overseas alone.

M. Laitman: So, you'd be giving them your impressions.

Student: My impression, how do I give them my impression? How do you give that?

M. Laitman: Are you talking among yourselves or you're not?

Student: We talk between ourselves but if we would not talk between us, would something from my impression, from my feeling, would have been given away to my friends?

M. Laitman: Yes, you also have a connection with them, beforehand. You're in a group, you're in a connection, okay?

Question (Petah Tikva Center):(01:48:31) I want to ask from a different angle: Is it a correct state in the society or we need to correct it? That now that we are focused in the Ten, there is a situation where a friend comes to sit in front of a different Ten. Or he gets this sour face or maybe a face that says, you're not belong to us. Or something that damages the intimacy between them. Is it something that we need to talk about, to conclude, is it natural?

M. Laitman: I don't know, how are you sitting at the Congress?

Student: Now, for example, in the meal, they decided that we sit together in the meals.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And it turns out that some friends are alone, and he sits next to a different Ten. And we see that there is, maybe an internal relation, maybe it's even expressed outwardly, that you don't belong to us. That, we are sitting with our Ten and now there's a guest sitting with us.

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, go ahead, so?

Student: I'm asking, is it a correct state or we need to correct it?

M. Laitman: A correct situation that you don't want to accept someone else?

Student: Yes, with a foreign kind of a relationship towards him, that it's a closed group of our own and you don't belong to us.

M. Laitman: It's not going to help. Keep it this way, it'll be like that.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:50:07) A question that came from different friends who are doing mirror Congresses in different regions. They're asking, because we're going to be working in our permanent Tens, what is the strength that comes from friends who are gathered from different places? Or the strength or power is only received from friends who are in the permanent Ten? There's friends who come from different regions and not necessarily from the same Ten but they do an event, but they're Bnei Baruch, they’re part of Bnei Baruch. Is there a force of this gathering?

M. Laitman: The power of a gathering is there, even if they come from all the continents. We see it, this is how we accept them but to create changes in our framework, that's not good, that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:51:25) I understand it very much, the matter of being in the Ten, but on the other hand, I see a reality that I cannot ignore. Friends come a week and a half before the Convention. They sit together, they eat together, they go through a whole week together. When we began talking about it, there's a strong influence about it. They really want to, and they start feeling it from each other, this inclination, this physical influence. You also cannot break the desire of the person, that is not satisfied, It's not healthy.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Here's the dilemma: They came physically, and we know that the physical influence is very strong. And a person is drawn physically more to the person who is next to him, physically, than those who are virtually. And now I'm concerned about these friends, that they will have a good Convention, that they will be happy. That they will do the work in a full manner and they will have a stronger influence from the physicality than the one that they will get from virtually.

M. Laitman: So, what do you recommend?

Student: I don't know what to recommend but I want to show the other side. And to say that we have no choice but to consider it in some manner.

M. Laitman: So, bring ideas.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:53:15) It's important to mention that we do meet with people. We have breaks, for example, today, maybe after the lesson, friends will go to the beach and we talk to each other. It's not as if we're not connected with each other or we're only with our Tens. It's defined that in the lessons or the events, we'll be with our Ten but in between, we talk, we hug, we do a gathering of friends in YH with each other. So, there's also another aspect of it that we need to look at.

M. Laitman: Okay.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:54:15) We, constantly, talked about the fact that the connection in one table is stronger, physically. What happened, what changed, how come in one table we are not talking to each other? It seems to me as if it's against everything we studied until today.

M. Laitman: You may be right, I don't even have that question.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:54:55) We didn't really understand the answer that you gave to the friend in regards to mirror Congresses. In regards to mirror Congresses, I know how hard it is to organize these Congresses, how hard it is to gather these friends, and it's not clear. What should we even go to the Convention for? I can sit with my Ten maybe virtually, it's more comfortable. Why do we need all these mirror congresses to, you know, waste all my efforts and spend money to come there? I think that in the future, it will kill all our mirror Congresses and in all the mirror Congresses, a lot of friends from different Tens gather.

M. Laitman: Well, in the end, this is something you have to decide for yourselves. You have here all the managers, people in charge, you have everyone. So, it all depends on you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:56:07) I want to ask, in general, I, from my breakage, I hear Rav say something. After a while, I hear him say something, completely different, that's in my broken vessels. What is more correct for me in order to settle such a contradiction? Do I, what I've heard so far, do I erase it, and take whatever I heard just now? Is that the correct approach or to make a combination or discernment out of it?

M. Laitman: I don't know, I don't know but we are not hiding that sometimes we change our line or the principles of connection.

Student: Completely, I'm saying, and it could be, now, specifically, it's a discussion about the Ten. But many times I, completely, understand that it's from my breakage. I hear Rav say something and it could be that half an hour later I'll hear something completely different, and it's from my hearing. How could it be that he contradicts himself in the same lesson? What is the advice, maybe Rabash writes about it but what is the advice to relate to Rav's advice and to practically do it correct?

M. Laitman: Each time, to just wash your ears!

Student: So, now I hear from you guidance, and from now on, this is my guidance, the last thing I've heard.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:57:54) What is the result from all this? The morning with the Ten, the noon with the Ten, evening with the Ten. Meal with the Ten, Convention with the Ten, a meal of the convention with the Ten.

M. Laitman: The important thing is the end of correction with the Ten, it's all for that.

Student: And now I must say that I do feel closer to the Ten with it. As beforehand we were only in the lesson together, but now we do it in the meal, as well. Then the connection is tighter, closer, that's one thing. The second thing, I do see that something has changed but the question is, to what state do we come to? Because slowly I feel as if I'm not alone, I'm not with myself I'm slowly, I melt with my Ten. I melt with my Ten, as if I do not exist, there's only the Ten now. Is that the state that we come to?

M. Laitman: Yes, and even more.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:59:33) This approach of looking for golden guidance, is it a good thing? I don't understand all these conflicts, all these divisions, here. Why not let each friend come to the bridge and cross it? At the end of the day, we're all going in the one direction?

M. Laitman: No, because we can't even approach the bridge unless we're connected, if we didn't learn what connection means. And how to correct it and how to prepare it, we have no choice. The advancement, from side to side, one meter forward, it is to constantly change the connection between us. To make it more substantial.

Student: I, personally, have no problem to sit with them for one lesson and go sit with the English speakers for a different event to refresh everything. I don't have a problem with it, if somebody wants to do it, it's not harmful. If one friend wants to sit on the mobile and talk to them, and maybe there's others who will decide now, physically more suitable for them. Don't you think that the friends are developed enough to make such a decision?

M. Laitman: I may be agreeing with you, or whatever, but Kabbalists, this is what they wrote for us. There are things that they wrote for us and gave it for us to do.

Student: But the Kabbalists say that there's many ways to the place, to the same place.

M. Laitman: No, no, no, don't just throw it, don't start with it. I have to teach principles and connection, constant connection in the Ten, even in the Torah, even in the Torah, it's written. You can't say, this is something that was done in the last century or in the 15th century, or in the 20th century, no, it's a natural, it's a principle in nature, you can't get out of it.

Student: But you see, each one goes through different directions.

M. Laitman: Let it burn.

Student: But for half an hour you're sitting here and saying, I don't have an advice to give but they keep on asking you, give us some guidance, guidance. And you say there's no permanent thing but why don't you give them autonomy?

M. Laitman: It's chaos.

Student: No, but maybe just to connect with the Creator?

M. Laitman: No, no, no. I'm telling you, very simple, no! Because it's a law, it's not you, it's not me and no one can determine it, that's it, okay?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:02:53) I'm very concerned about the work in the Ten during the Convention. Because the format is going to be questions and answers, as we are now in the lesson. Friends will get up from Israel and from the world, not specifically from my Ten. They're going to ask Rav questions, as it is now.

M. Laitman: So?

Student: It's still not clear to me how to give the extra, what of it now that there's answers and questions in the assembly that I connect with my Ten when we sit together, the bodies, what?

M. Laitman: I don't understand?

Student: How do we connect from deficiencies, lacks, that other friends raise? For example, a friend came and other friends raised this question? What should I do when a friend is asking a question?

M. Laitman: You have to participate in this.

Student: To be incorporated in him, to annul towards his lack, what should I do with it?

M. Laitman: I hear it like an advice and I measure to what extent it can be correct or not toward me, toward my Ten.

Student: It's intellectual work, what you just said, what about internal work?

M. Laitman: First, I have to see to what extent it's accepted in my heart, it's received in my heart.

Student: I need to do internal, heartfelt, work towards the question of the friend in the Convention?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: That doesn't break my permanent Ten that I'm trying to be incorporated in a friend who's asking a question and he's not from my Ten?

M. Laitman: But we can always be in such states that I'm with my Ten and someone comes and says a sentence. So what?

Student: I, simply, am unable to understand yet the whole discussion, the whole focus, the whole center of gravity of the Convention. The whole process that we go through is the permanent Ten, to reach in it an intimate connection. Why do I say it, I say it because every Saturday night we have a meeting. We sit in a friend's house and we read, and we do a workshop between us and we connect. It's very, very powerful each time. It's a very, very powerful state, very intimate each time. And we don't reach it in the lesson, the lesson, it's a different story. The question is how to bring this intimate space of a Ten that talk between them and do a workshop between them. That there is no world outside, just them, how to bring it into a lesson, and friends are asking questions and brings up all their deficiencies. And I feel as if it's spreading me all over the place. How do I not do it and just come close to it again?

M. Laitman: I understand you, but I have no answer. I have no answer.

Student: What do you expect that we do during the lesson? What should I do during the lesson, me and my permanent Ten?

M. Laitman: I have to ask you, this, not myself because I shouldn't be here, in this lesson, I should not be.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:07:00) Nevertheless, we are not going to always have the technical option to be with the Ten during the Convention. And there is a feeling that we need to hold on to the internal connection. How to hold on to this point of unity, the internal point of unity?

M. Laitman: I don't think we will constantly be gathering in the same way we do, today. In that the Ten that will gather at the Congress, today, you'll be gathering in the same Ten. Next time different people will come, every time different people will come. I think, I don't know but we'll have to do something for it not to fall all apart. The fact that we're having Congresses, I don't even know how much it helps. Maybe, it's the other way around, because people have gotten used to working in their own place, in their own city, in their own country. And here, something's happening which is a mixture of everything. I don't know, I don't know, previously, I'd say many years ago, it was good but now, I don't know, anymore, I don't know. We have to think about it hard, what to do with these Congresses going forward, we'll see.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:10:11) If we've decided to descend, so let's be reminded, there was a reason for which we were invited to come here, two months ago. They said there was going to be a Convention and, of course, we live far, we bought airfares and we aimed ourselves to come here in order to give impressions to others. And with this intention we came here, now there is a reason that we came here, that we should have come here, in order to continue our work. We are connected with the Ten, I now sit with my Ten in the Arvut system. What do I add by me being here in order to advance my friends towards the Creator?

M. Laitman: I don't know, you are conveying all this, you are going through all this in your internal connection, in the hearts. And concerning the topic itself, that's irrelevant, there is no connection to it. I don't know what to tell you, you have organizers who determine everything, the study materials, the order of the Congresses, everything. I don't know what it will be like next time. I understand how difficult it is for you to come here but you also could not, not come. We will see.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:12:44) Is it more acceptable that the Ten who gathered among themselves did not come to the Congress? Or is it more applicable that they will all gather, separately? What is the correct form for a Ten to gather for the Convention? That's what he's asking in essence because there's different circumstances. There are Tens that can gather together, there are Tens that can't, there's those who can meet, physically. Is there a state where a Ten can gather together and they're not doing it for the Convention?

M. Laitman: I don't think that's correct, no. Gathering together in one place, this is correct, and that's it. Traveling someplace, or this whole mess with languages, I wouldn't do it, it doesn't add so much. But remaining connected with the same people and, constantly, seeing that we get to a more internal connection, more centralized. This is what's important, that's it?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:14:56) A few months ago, you invited all of Bnei Baruch to the Convention. Everyone who came here had a quite complicated choice, whether to come or not to come. Because a year, almost a year now that we didn't have, last year I came three times and now a full year. On the other hand, the safety, the security state, those who came and will come, they made the choice, they came here. But a few weeks before, there was a period of time that in the lessons there were scrutinies whether a person could come or not because it wasn't clear from the answers of the teacher that the Convention is going to be in the internal Tens. Again, there was this lack of clarity, the space of choice. Usually, you have like a ruler of choice where you can put yourself on the spectrum of choice, and it wasn't clear. And I've called friends from Bnei Baruch in order to understand. So, it won't be a decision according to my personal decisions. So, I rang Bnei Baruch and I asked, should I come here or should I stay with the Ten? And the answer was, it's your choice. So, we overcame that, as well, and we came here. And now we came to as if a third limit, a third border. I have no complaint to Bnei Baruch, the Creator, everything changes always. And I know that alongside with you, we will go through everything all the way to the end, I'm certain of it. The question is not from the technical side of things, I want to hear from you, I just want to hear from you, what do you expect from us? We will do everything, what do you expect of us, I don't know how to ask it, correctly. What should we overcome? What should we go above, what is the internal movement? How to clean all the importance of all the imaginary things and to come to the essence and to continue with you? I remember once I've asked you what to do when you feel fear. And you said, close your eyes and just jump into the connection. So, now, what is the point to which we need to jump to?

M. Laitman: In principle, such a request or aspiration pertains to our present state. There cannot be any next step, if a person doesn't know that he is going for the unknown, we have no other way. And I also don't hide it, you can't hide it. You see the kind of world we live in, nothing is simple. On the one hand, we can complain that the Creator is placing such circumstances before us; on the other hand, we should still go with faith above reason and then we will overcome everything.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:19:37) A few years ago, there was a Convention, it wasn't just one convention, it was systematically that Rav sees a new state. I don't know exactly what you see. I remember that once, a few years back, you banished the men outside, and I'll say it in my words, it was outside the program. You told them, go outside and connect, do not come back until you're connected. So, everything can change. My question is, where are we jumping now whilst we close our eyes? Where to jump to?

M. Laitman: Only to the center of the connection; if we really jump into the center of the connection, then as we are flying, as we are in the air, we'll see the Creator coming toward us!

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:21:17) Does the changes or the conditions of this Convention, are they not a sign of maturity? Is it not as if you trust us more, that we came to a point where you feel that we are able to overcome all the difficulties? And it's, specifically, a sign of your confidence in us, is it not so?

M. Laitman: I have a feeling that I'm kind of pulling you toward the past instead of the future, I'm holding you back. It may be so, perhaps you are already, you should already take steps on your own. And you will probably have to do this, soon, and this is actually the right solution.

Student: The meaning is that we will do the work more internally, within the Ten, so there won't be any other framework?

M. Laitman: Okay, I understand you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:22:57) If we go back to what we read in the article, how to go blindly and to follow the Creator?

M. Laitman: If you are in connection with the Ten and you all agree with this connection, and with the path and with the goal. All of this should aim you, should direct you, this is what you need to do, and then there will be no doubts. Because if the Ten decides, the Ten might be, now it might be you, two hundred, three hundred, whatever. For all of Bnei Baruch all over the world, it's always the Ten.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:24:07) You said that there cannot be a next step unless the person knows that he's going to the unknown.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: When we feel that there's a sort of a fog ahead of us, it's not clear. We sit here, there's a thousand directions, it's not clear. Friends are insulted, it's something here is not clear. When we're going towards the future, which is an unknown, how do we know that we are advancing in the right direction, even though it's in the darkness? But we're still advancing in the right direction?

M. Laitman: It's always called that, in the desert, too, when the people of Israel walked in the desert, it was always like that, that you don't see. Like you're driving on a road, you have road signs, the distances, and where you're going and where the road is leading, in the desert, such directions don't exist. So, I'm actually happy that that's the way it is, you're learning, you're getting many impressions.

Student: How do we walk in the desert? How do we walk correctly in the desert?

M. Laitman: I don't know what to tell you. It depends on where you see your star, that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:26:11) I want specifically to ask: Today, there's a gathering of friends, the world's gathering of friends. There are moments in our Ten that we can be as one Ten in the world gathering of friends, Bnei Baruch, as one Ten?

M. Laitman: Yes. Prepare yourselves.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:26:47) I wanted to summarize everything that's been said here and to thank you. Because in the feeling, it's truly felt that we've ascended to a new degree. That it's not clear what's going to be in it but there is a lot of joy and gratitude towards you and the friends that have been waiting for us in great trepidation. And they want to connect with us as it used to be but in the feeling, the power of what you just gave us now is above everything. And we accept it and we thank you, and may the Creator bless us and give you a lot of health.

M. Laitman: Good luck to all of us.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:27:53) We have tonight a gathering of friends; that will cover everything with love.

M. Laitman: Okay, very well. What now? What's for today?

Reader: (02:28:09) Announcements.

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