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

Daily Lesson (Morning), May 9, 2024.

Part 1: Rabash. Repentance. 27 (1985)

Reader: Hello we are reading in the writings of Rabash, the article, “Repentance.” You can find the study material on Kabbalahgroup.info and also on the Arvut system. You can also send your questions live through those websites.

Anyone asking a question in the study hall is asked to stand up, hold the mic close to his mouth, and speak loudly and clearly.

Reading Article: (00:33) “Repentance.” 

It is written in The Zohar (Nasso, item 28): “This commandment is the commandment of Teshuva [repentance], and this is Bina. What is Bina? She is the letters Ben Yod-Hey [Son of Yod-Hey]. That son is Vav, which is attached to her and receives from her Mochin of Yod-Hey. Anyone who repents, it is as though he has returned the letter Hey, which is Malchut, to the letter Vav, which is Ben Yod-Hey, by which HaVaYaH is completed.”

In The Zohar (Nasso, item 29), “The letter Hey is certainly a confession of words. This is the meaning of “Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘…that we may present the fruit of our lips.’” Certainly, when one sins, he causes the Hey to depart from the Vav. This is why the Temple was ruined and Israel were removed from there and were exiled among the nations. For this reason, anyone who repents causes the return of the Hey to the letter Vav.

In The Zohar (Nasso, item 31), “This answer is called ‘life.’ This answer, which is Malchut, and Hey de HaVaYaH, is called ‘life,’ as it is written, ‘for from it flow the offspring of life,’ which are the souls of Israel, who are the offspring of Malchut, called ‘life.’ She is the Hevel [mouth fume] that comes in and out of one’s mouth effortlessly. This is also the meaning of the Hey of Hibaraam [they were created], since the letter Hey is pronounced by the mouth more easily than all the other letters. It was said about her, ‘for man lives by that which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord,’ for Malchut is called ‘that which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.’ Also, she is on a man’s head, as in, ‘On my head is the Lord present.’ It was said about her, ‘And the image of the Lord does he behold,’ since Malchut is called ‘the image of the Lord,’ and also, ‘Only in the image does a man walk.’”

In The Zohar (Nasso, item 32), “And because she is on a man’s head, he must not walk four Amot [approx. four feet] bare-headed, for if she is removed from the man’s head, life promptly leaves him.”

Also in The Zohar (Nasso, item 34), “It was certainly about this shape of the Hey that they asserted, ‘I have a good gift in my treasury, whose name is ‘Shabbat’ [Sabbath]. Shabbat is Malchut, when she ascends to Bina. When this Malchut, who is Shabbat, is over Israel, they have neither labor nor enslavement, and in it, the laboring and toiling soul stops and rests.”

We need to understand all those names which the holy Zohar gives to Malchut.

1. What does it mean that Malchut is called Hey, and that she is Hevel without labor and toil? After all, there is a rule, “I found but did not labor, do not believe.”

2. What does it mean that Malchut is called “life”? In several places, the holy Zohar calls Malchut “the quality of judgment,” from whom extends death.

3. What does it imply that Malchut is called “the Lord’s mouth”?

4. What does it mean that she is on a man’s head?

5. Why does he say that Malchut is called the “image of the Lord,” as it is written, “The image of the Lord does he behold”?

6. What does it mean that Malchut is called “Tzelem” [image], as it is written, “Only in the image does a man walk”?

To explain the above said, we first need to understand the purpose of creation, meaning the connection that the creatures should have with the Creator. All of our labor surrounds this axle, as well as the punishments we suffer if we do not come to correct it. This is also all the reward we receive when the creatures connect with the Creator.

It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. However, in order to prevent the bread of shame, which is the matter of equivalence of form—as disparity of form in spirituality is called “moving farther,” and equivalence of form is called “moving closer”—therefore, although His desire to do good to His creations is unbounded, still, the matter of equivalence of form was made, meaning not to receive delight and pleasure unless it is in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator.

From this extends to us the matter of labor, meaning that we must make a Masach [screen] so we can receive the delight and pleasure in order to bestow. This is the root of the labor that we have, as it is written in “General Preface to the Book, Panim Meirot Umasbirot” (item 3): “Know that the Masach in the Kli [vessel] of Malchut is the root of the darkness because of the detaining force that exists in the Masach, to stop the upper light from spreading to Behina Dalet. This is also the root of the labor in order to receive reward, since labor is an involuntary act, for the worker feels comfortable only when resting. But because the landlord is paying his salary, he annuls his will before the will of the landlord.”

Thus, all we need to do is work. This is the only thing incumbent upon us, as it is written, “Which God has created to do.” “Created” is what we attribute to the Creator, which is the desire to do good to His creations. From “created,” extends to us the matter of separation and disparity of form. However, by “to do,” meaning through the work we do in order to achieve the degree of in order to bestow, we move closer to the Creator once again through equivalence of form.

This is the meaning of the partnership between the creatures and the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 67): “‘And to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” Do not pronounce ‘You are My people [Ami],’ but ‘You are with Me [Imi],’ which means partnering with Me.” That is, the Creator gave the will to receive, which is the deficiency He has created, which is called “darkness,” as it is written, “And creates darkness.” This comes from His desire to do good. The creatures must give the Masach, by which we have equivalence of form, for only then we have Kelim [vessels] that are suitable to receive the abundance that comes from His doing good to His creations. It follows that “has created” comes from above, and “to do” comes from the lower ones.

We find two matters in the labor: 1) The work and the reward are two matters. The work is not in the place of the reward, meaning that the time of work and the time of reward are separate. 2) The work and the reward are in the same place and the same time.

Labor means that one has to make a movement, and movement also happens in three ways: 1) labor of the body, 2) labor of the mind, 3) inner labor, which is the hardest. This is done when he must work with the mind, while doing things that contradict the mind and the intellect. That is, he must annul his mind. This means that the mind mandates that he will do this or that, but he makes a movement and cancels his mind—what he understands to be one hundred percent true according to his mind. And yet, he annuls it. This is true labor.

Let us return to the matter of labor. For example, a person makes a movement in order to receive a reward for the movement. Otherwise, he would remain at rest, since by the nature of creation, man longs for rest. The reason for this is explained in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 1, Histaklut Pnimit [Inner Reflection], item 19): “This is because our root is motionless and restful; there is no motion in Him at all.”

Therefore, we see that to the extent of the size, importance, and necessity that he has for the reward, to that extent he can exert. However, if he were to find a tactic to receive the reward without exertion, he would promptly waive the effort because to him the effort is but a means to obtain the reward. Thus, if he can get the reward through some other means, meaning not through work, then he will think, “Why should I work for nothing?” for he does not receive any reward for his work, since he can get what he will be given for the work without the work. It follows that he is not paid, and as we said, it is impossible to work without pay. Therefore, he waives the work.

This is regarded as the work and the reward being in two places and two times, since the work is, for example, that he is in a factory, and the pay is the paycheck he receives at the office. “In two times” means a separate time for work and a separate time for reception of the reward, since the work is every hour and every moment, and the reward is received only at the end of the day, when he finishes the work, as it is written (Deuteronomy, 24:14), “You shall not oppress the hired … You shall give him his wages each day before the sun sets.”

But sometimes the work and the pay are in the same place and the same time. This is so where the work itself is the reward, and he does not expect to be given any other reward for his work. That is, every move the body makes. As was said above, the body cannot make a move at all without reward.

But here, when his work is the reward, he receives the reward right where he works. And also, he receives the reward while he is working. That is, he does not need to wait for another time to be given the reward, such as for the end of the day, but rather each and every movement is rewarded right there and then.

For example: If a great ADMOR [high ranking rabbi] comes to Israel. If, for instance, the ADMOR of Lubavitch comes, and all his followers go to greet him. And he has a small package in his hand, which he gives to one of the followers to take it to the taxi. Afterwards the ADMOR takes out a $100 note and gives it to him in return for carrying the package to the taxi. His follower will no doubt refuse to receive the money. And should the ADMOR ask him, “Why won’t you take the money? Is this too little? To an ordinary porter, who is not a follower and does not know what is an ADMOR, and does not know that I am in important person, if I were to give him a $10 note, he would have thanked me. To you I give ten times more than to an ordinary porter, and you won’t take it?”

What should we say about this? His follower did not want to receive from him the money for carrying precisely because he knows the greatness and importance of the ADMOR, and the ADMOR has chosen him to serve him. This is a great reward, which is worth a lot. If any of the followers could buy from him the service that the ADMOR had let him do, the follower would certainly tell him: “All the money in the world is worthless compared to this service, which the ADMOR has given me, and has chosen me over everyone else.”

Here we see that the labor and the reward are in the same place and the same time, since during the work, meaning while he is carrying the load—and he should be rewarded, since it is impossible to work without reward—he does not receive reward elsewhere, meaning that the work is the package he is carrying, and his reward is elsewhere, namely the money, or on another time, meaning that he is rewarded when he has finished the job.

Rather, here the work and the pay are in the same place. The work is carrying the package, and the reward is also carrying the ADMOR’s package. He does not need to be given anything else that can be regarded as reward. Rather, the work of carrying the ADMOR’s package is itself his reward.

This is also regarded as “in the same time,” meaning that while he is working, at the same time he is rewarded, and it cannot be said here that he receives the reward after he has finished his work. Rather, he is receiving his pay at that very moment. The time of work and the time of pay are inseparable here because his entire reward is the service he is giving to the ADMOR. He enjoys this service more than any fortune in the world.

It follows that there is something new here—that it cannot happen that there can be such a thing as receiving reward each and every moment of one’s work. Rather, the reward always comes after the work, as it is written, “to do them today and to receive the reward for them tomorrow.” But here it is different, meaning that the work and the reward come as one.

It therefore follows that the work is not regarded as labor for which to receive reward. Only when the work and the reward are in two places and two times is work regarded as labor. That is, when the work is only a means to receive reward. Therefore, if he could toss the means and receive the purpose right away, why would he need the means? For this reason, since the whole purpose is the reward, his attention is only on the reward, and he is always searching how to work less and gain more.

But if the work and the reward are simultaneous, this work is not regarded as labor, of which we can say that he wants to get rid of the work, since the work and the pay are in the same place and the same time, since he enjoys serving an important person.

Accordingly, the labor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is only when he is carrying the burden of Torah and Mitzvot like the porter carrying the ADMOR’s package without knowing the ADMOR’s importance. At that time he is always bargaining and wants more reward than the ADMOR is paying him for his labor, as we said in the allegory about the ADMOR of Lubavitch. That is, the follower who takes the package that the ADMOR has given him, since the follower recognizes the importance and greatness of the ADMOR, he wants no reward from the ADMOR. Rather, the size of the reward is measured by his recognition of the greatness and importance of the ADMOR; this is how he receives additional reward.

Although by nature we derive great pleasure when serving an important person, there is a difference in the importance. If a person is serving the most important person in town, while it pleases him, this is nothing like knowing that he is serving the most important person in the country. And his pleasure would be even greater if he knew that he was serving the most important person in the world. Then his joy would grow unboundedly.

It follows that we labor in Torah and Mitzvot because we lack the importance and greatness of the Creator. In the words of the holy Zohar, it is called that all our thoughts should be only to “raise the Shechina [Divinity] from the dust.” That is, to us spirituality is completely in concealment of the face, and we do not feel the importance of our work. That is, we do not feel the importance of the one for whom we work, and whom we are serving. Therefore, when we overcome in the work, that work is by coercion. This is called “labor,” since the reward is not in the place of the work.

In other words, by working in coercion, he expects to receive reward after some time and in a different place. Since the reward is far from the time of the work, he has time to think that now he is working and later he will receive reward. Therefore, there is a time when there is work there, and this is called “labor.”

This is not so when he feels the importance of the work, meaning when he feels whom he is serving. At that time the reward is in the place of the work. Such work is not regarded as labor because the work and the reward are in the same time and in the same place, and this is not labor.

We can discern this when here, if the work and the reward are in the same place, the work itself is the reward. Therefore, he will not want to relinquish the work because naturally, you don’t waive the goal, you only waive the means. Therefore, when the reward and the work are in the same place and the same time, a person cannot relinquish the work. If he relinquishes the work, he relinquishes the reward, since they are in the same place.

But if a person works like a porter, as in the above allegory, since there, there is labor because the work and the reward are in two different places, then the person wants to relinquish the labor, which is only a means for the reward, and he wants the reward. For example, a person who works to obtain the next world is willing to relinquish the work, meaning if he is given the next world without labor, since he needs only the goal and not the means.

We can discern the same regarding a gift. If an important person gives someone a gift, the recipient distinguishes two things about the gift: 1) that he loves him, or he would not have given him the gift, 2) the gift itself.

Here, too, we should make the same discernments, meaning what is the goal and what is the means. We should also determine the importance of the giver—if the giver is an important person then the love is the goal and the gift is only a means, where by the gift the love appears here. It follows that here, too, he is willing to relinquish the gift, but not the love. But if the giver is an ordinary person then the gift is the goal and love is the means, and he can relinquish the love as long as he gives him gifts. It follows that whether he gives or receives, there is always the same calculation of the importance of the person.

Thus far we talked about the reward and the work. However, there is another matter, namely punishment. That is, if he does not keep the Torah and Mitzvot, he is punished for it. But here, too, we should discern if the punishment is where he broke the laws or in another place and another time.

Let us take, for example, reward and punishment in regard to the rules of the state. One who breaks the laws of the state is punished. His punishment is not in the same place and the same time. A person who stole another man’s possessions and was caught receives a punishment, say incarceration or a fine. However, this is all not in the same place or in the same time. But if it is not known that he is the thief, he will never be punished.

The same thing applies to transgressors of the rules of Torah. And yet, there is a big difference between breaching the law of Torah and breaching the laws of the state. In the revealed part, meaning the work in Torah and Mitzvot, every person can see what the other is doing. Here the transgression and the punishment are also not in the same place and the same time. If a person has committed a transgression and there are witnesses who saw it, he is punished for his transgression. For example, if he ate pork and people saw it, afterwards the court sentences that for this transgression he deserves to be flogged. It follows that the transgression and the punishment are in two places and two times, such as when breaking the laws of the state.

However, in man’s work, approaching the internality of the Torah, which is called the “hidden part,” there the matter is concealed and no one can see man’s inner work, since no one knows what is in one’s heart. If, for example, a man comes and says, “I want to make a big donation for a seminary where people learn Torah. However, I want there to be a big stone nameplate in the seminary where it will be inscribed that I gave the big donation, and to advertise in the papers that I gave such a big donation, so that wherever I go I will be respected.”

We can say that he is a great philanthropist, but we cannot say that his intention is specifically to support learners of Torah, but that pursuit of honor, called “self-love,” is also mixed in the support of the learners of Torah. However, his real intention is hidden from us because perhaps all he wants is really only to support the learners of Torah. And in order to prevent the recipients of his money from respecting him he pretends to want respect, that he wants to pay to charity because he wants to exchange the desire for money with a desire for honor. Naturally, he will not be respected.

Between man and man we can discern between the revealed part and the concealed part. But between man and God there is certainly a big difference. Our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even if Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma [for Her sake]” (Pesachim, 50b). Thus, in the act of Mitzvot and in the study of Torah there is a big difference between the revealed part, meaning the act, and the concealed part, meaning the intention, since no person can look at the intention, for the act that one does between man and God does not have a person in the middle who can criticize his intention. Normally, each one is busy with himself and does not have time to think of his friend’s calculations. It follows that only he thinks of the intention.

That is, when he engages in Lo Lishma, meaning expects reward, the work and the reward are not in the same place and in the same time. But here, when we are speaking of punishments, the transgression and the punishment are not in the same place and in the same time, since he receives the punishment after he commits the transgression, and afterwards he suffers the punishment—a punishment in this world or a punishment in the next world. This applies only to the part of Lo Lishma.

However, in those who work on the intention—to be able to aim their actions only to bestow—the reward and the punishment are in the same place and the same time, since his inability to aim the act of bestowing contentment upon the Creator is his punishment, and he does not need to be given any other punishments, for nothing torments him more than seeing that he is still far from the Creator.

The evidence is that he does not have the love of the Creator, that he wants to respect Him. All this is because he is in a state of Achoraim [posterior] and concealment from the Creator. This is what pains him, and this is his punishment. But here is his reward—if he has love for the Creator and wants to bestow contentment upon him. However, all this concerns specifically those who want come to work only for the Creator, and not in Lo Lishma. It can be said about them that the punishment and the reward are in the same place and in the same time.

But normally, punishment is when they are in two different places. This is so because generally, observing Torah and Mitzvot is in the revealed part, meaning only in the act. It is called “revealed because in terms of the act, it is revealed to everyone what one does and what one says. In the revealed part, we explained above that there the reward and punishment are in two different places.

With all the above we shall come to clarify the words of the holy Zohar, where we asked six questions. It is known that Malchut is called “the last Hey in the name HaVaYaH,” called Behina Dalet de Ohr Yashar [fourth discernment in the Direct Light]. Her quality is to receive in order to receive. All the corrections we need to do through Torah and Mitzvot are to correct her, so the reception in her will be in order to bestow, which is called Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. But if her intention is not to bestow she becomes removed from the Creator.

Also, it is known that everything we learn about the upper worlds pertains to the souls, as our sages said (Vayikra, 36:4), “Rabbi Birkiya said, ‘The heaven and earth were created only by Israel’s merit, as it is written, ‘In the beginning God created,’ and there is no beginning but Israel, as it was said (Jeremiah, 2), ‘Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest.’’”

Therefore, everything we learn in upper worlds is only so the souls will receive the upper abundance, as it is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. In order to correct the disparity of form that governs Malchut herself, who is called “receiving in order to receive,” since disparity of form causes separation in spirituality, and this Kli, called Malchut, is the Kli of all the souls from which man was created. He must correct it so that all the vessels of reception will work in order to bestow.

See what is written in the introduction to The Book of Zohar (items 10-11): “And in order to mend that separation, which lies on the Kli of the souls, He has created all the worlds and separated them into two systems, as in the verse: ‘God has made them one opposite the other.’ These are the four pure worlds ABYA, and opposite them the four impure worlds ABYA. And He … removed the will to receive for themselves from them, and placed it in the system of the impure worlds ABYA. …And the worlds cascaded onto the reality of this corporeal world, to a place where there is a body and a soul, and a time of corruption and a time of correction. For the body, which is the will to receive for itself, extends from its root in the Thought of Creation, and passes through the system of the impure worlds, as it is written, ‘a man is born a wild ass’s colt.’ He remains under the authority of that system for the first thirteen years, which is the time of corruption. By engaging in Mitzvot from thirteen years of age onward, when he engages in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, he begins to purify the will to receive for himself imprinted in him, and slowly turns it to be in order to bestow. By this he extends a holy soul from its root in the Thought of Creation. It passes through the system of the pure worlds and dresses in the body. …And so he accumulates degrees of holiness from the Thought of Creation in Ein Sof [Infinity], until they aid him in turning the will to receive for himself in him to be entirely in the form of reception in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker.”

According to what he presents there in the introduction to The Book of Zohar, we see that everything we say about the upper worlds concerns only the souls. Therefore, when we say that Malchut moved farther from the name HaVaYaH, it pertains to the souls, which need to correct her so she will connect with the name HaVaYaH, because with respect to the souls, she drew farther.

However, when a person takes upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason, and he is in bestowal, it causes man’s root, which is Malchut, to also be in bestowal, which is equivalence of form. At that time it is considered that Malchut, which was remote from the giver, in disparity of form, now that man engages in bestowal, called “equivalence of form,” it is regarded as Malchut moving herself closer to the name HaVaYaH, meaning to the giver. This is the meaning of “Retuning the Hey to the Vav,” where Yod-Hey-Vav are called “the upper nine,” who are the giver, and the letter Vav is regarded as giving to Malchut, since now Malchut is regarded as giving, like the Vav. This is why the holy Zohar calls Malchut by the name Hey. This is the answer to the first question we asked.

On the one hand, at her root, Malchut is the root of the created beings. She is named Malchut due to her root of receiving in order to receive. From this aspect extends death, since reception causes separation from the life of lives. For this reason, death extends from here. This is also why Malchut is called the “tree of death” (Zohar, Behaalotcha, item 96), as it is written, “Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘Rabbi Hiya said, ‘The text testifies that anyone who gives charity to the poor awakens the tree of life, which is ZA, to add life to the tree of death, which is Malchut. Then there is life and joy above, in Malchut.’’”

We therefore see that on the one hand, Malchut is called the “tree of death,” from the perspective of her root, but when the souls engage in bestowal, she is in equivalence of form, and then the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment that were on her are removed. Specifically from here, meaning from Malchut, life extends to the world, and in that respect Malchut is called “life.”

By this we explained the second question, why Malchut is called “life,” since Malchut is called the “tree of death.” The answer is that after she is corrected, as in “Work below awakens work above,” it means that the works of the lower ones awaken the upper roots, by which they cause the unification of the Creator and His Shechina, and from that unification life comes to the world.

The third question is what does it mean that Malchut is the mouth of the Creator? We see that in corporeality, the mouth reveals what is on one’s mind. HaVaYaH is called “the quality of mercy.” This means that the Creator imparts delight and pleasure upon the creatures. When Malchut is called “life,” which is when the lower ones engage in bestowal, the upper life comes from Malchut. The purpose of creation is called “light of Hochma,” which is Ohr Haya. When Malchut reveals it, she is called “the mouth of the Lord,” revealing the thought of creation, which is to do good to His creations.

By this we come to interpret what we asked in the fourth question: what does it mean that because she is on a man’s head, a man must not walk four Amot [approx. four feet] bare-headed. It is known that Malchut is called “faith,” and faith is always above reason. Man’s mind is referred to as man’s “head.” Accordingly, the kingdom [Malchut] of heaven that one must take upon oneself should be above reason and above mind. This is why it is considered that Malchut is on a man’s head.

This is why it is forbidden to walk four Amot bare-headed, since if she departs from a man’s head, life promptly departs from him. Bare-headed means that Malchut, which is regarded as faith, is not on his mind and reason. It is as we said, that faith is regarded as above his head, meaning above reason. And because he has no faith, the light of life, which comes from Malchut, certainly departs from him, since Malchut is called “life” only by correcting the vessels of bestowal. But in vessels of reception, Malchut is called the “tree of death.” This is why life departs from him.

The fifth question, why Malchut is called “the image of the Lord,” is because “image” means as we say, “I want to have a general picture of the matter.” Therefore, when wanting to know the general picture of spirituality, we are told, “And the image of the Lord does he behold.” That is, seeing the general picture of spirituality depends on the extent to which he has been rewarded with faith in the Creator. Faith is expressed in mind and heart, and according to the faith with which one has been awarded, so he receives the image of it. Therefore, since Malchut is called “faith,” Malchut is called “the image of the Lord,” meaning that according to his faith, so is the image of spirituality that he receives.

Also, in the above manner we can answer the sixth question: why is Malchut called Tzelem [image], as it is written, “Only in the image does a man walk”? Tzelem also means faith, since “sun” is called reason [knowledge] and Tzel [shadow] is something that hides the sun. This is the faith, which is called “clothing.” If a person has that clothing, the upper light dresses in him, as it is written in The Zohar (Vayechi, item 201), “If the Tzelem [image] departs, the Mochin depart, and the Mochin dresses according to the Tzelem.”

M. Laitman: (54:25) I see how whole this article is. Yes, any questions remaining? No, well, that's good. Maybe we need to read it once or twice, in order to grasp it more, but in truth, it has everything.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:16) He explains throughout the article the matter of work and reward being in the same place or in two different places. And in the end, he solves it, as I understand, in that if a person works in bestowal the reward and the labor are in the same place.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: That's why it's corrected. The problem is, if the work and the reward are in the same place, it goes hand in hand with his desire. And then it's not above reason. So, it's not clear why it's bestowal.

M. Laitman: If the reward and the work are in one place?

Student: Yes, if he wants to bestow to the Creator? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: The reward he receives is bestowed to the Creator.

M. Laitman Yes. 

Student: He still works with his desire. It's simply bestowing in order to receive.

M. Laitman: But his desire is to bestow.

Student: Right, but that's what he receives.

M. Laitman: What do you mean that he receives? If it’s to bestow.

Student: Yes, but it goes hand in hand with his desire. There's no resistance. He didn't go above his own reason.

M. Laitman: You want him to be in resistance to the desire to bestow? 

Student: There has to be a part of him that resists it. 

M. Laitman: How can he be corrected in the desire to receive?

Student: That's what I can't grasp. On the one hand, he can't be corrected and in the will to receive. On the other hand, if he gets what he wants, he works with his desire. Why is this correction? It's like an angel bestowing in order to receive.

M. Laitman: It's correction because he corrected the desire to receive to be in order to bestow.

Student: I can't convey the question. It's like he writes in Shamati that there has to be wicked even at the end of correction so there will always be a difference, a gap between reception and bestowal. 

M. Laitman: But as it's written, the wicked are not there any longer in the end of correction.

Student: What's the difference between the Creator and the created being in the end of correction? 

M. Laitman: That the Creator is the bestower, and the created beings are as if the bestowers. Because they're bestowing only by receiving additional forces from the Creator, correct themselves, and by that bestow. The created being becomes the second.

Student: I still don't get it.

M. Laitman: Well, we'll understand it maybe in another place.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:02) He speaks about the image of the Creator that he will see in faith.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: We describe this as a stereoscopic image, or if you enter it, you see this 3D. You lose your focus and soften your gaze. If you lose the focus, you just see a piece of paper. So, this faith that a person has to maintain, because the moment he loses it, he's punished there and then on the spot that he cannot bestow. How do we hold on to such an image in the Ten? Which one would feel?

M. Laitman: I have yet to understand what that picture is.

Student: The image of the Creator that he will see, as he describes it in the article is faith above reason that he holds above his head, so the reason would not be revealed, which means it covers man's head. 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: If he loses it, that is his punishment. He lost the ability to love the Creator, to bestow to the Creator. So, I'm asking, how can we hold such an image in the Ten? It requires such a focus that if you lose it even for a moment, you see a corporeal picture. Do we have the capacity in the Ten to hold on to such a state? Or together we maintain a state of bestowal to the Creator; contentment?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What is the focal point that I lose for a moment, and then I return immediately to hold on to that state of the Ten? 

M. Laitman: It's your point of connection with the others. 

Student: Each one of the friends can do it together with the friend at any given moment? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What should he do? How does he establish the state? 

M. Laitman: If he loses his connection with the others, then he has a problem. He enters disconnect. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:40) Faith has to be above reason, above one's head, above one's reason. You have to maintain it. Specifically, when a person maintains it, he is rewarded. You should see the image of the Creator in the mind and in the heart. What does it mean that specifically when it's above the head, then there is an image of the Creator in the heart and in the mind? 

M. Laitman: This is in order to bestow and above reason. 

Student: When it's above reason, when faith is above reason? 

M. Laitman: Then it's above the head.

Student: Specifically then it's received in the mind and in the heart, and it's the image of the Creator. It seems like it becomes clear when it's above one's head. 

M. Laitman: Why? 

Student: I don't understand, what does it mean, we'll see the image of the Creator?

M. Laitman: No, you don't understand what it means to be above the head. 

Student: That too.

M. Laitman: We need to read it again. 

Student: That disciple who carries the Rav's suitcase, and he feels the labor and the reward in the same place. The disciple receives the reward while doing the work, by carrying the Rav's package. 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: If you liken it to us, what kind of package do we carry so we'll be able to feel the labor and the reward in the same place? 

M. Laitman: The labor in Torah and Mitzvot is in constantly being connected between us, and constantly between us scrutinizing what the Creator is, and how we're connected to Him. To update ourselves, each time, more and more. 

Student: Meaning with such an effort we can feel that the effort is the reward, the effort for connection?

M. Laitman: Yes, but the effort needs to be without cessation, non-stop, each time more and more.  

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:11) He says that if now they would tell me to serve the most important person, let's say, they show me this is the most important person in the world, serve him, he would do nothing to me. I wouldn't feel that I'm receiving any reward for it. He emphasizes it here that the size of the reward is measured according to what he knows, how much he recognizes the greatness and importance of the Rabbi. So, we have to have a recognition of that and awareness. Without that awareness, you can't receive it 

M. Laitman: And he doesn't need to depict himself. 

Student: How can we increase the awareness of the greatness of the Rabbi? You have to be aware of it. Otherwise, you can't work for the Rabbi. 

M. Laitman: No, if you cannot depict to oneself the Rav is great. Then you don't have a Rav.

Student: Yes, but the depiction he says he has to be aware of it, you have to know him. It's beyond this depiction. 

M. Laitman: That's if you work on this depiction. Then gradually you start to discover his greatness 

Student: About the end of the article, who bestows to whom or who influences whom: Malchut on a person or person on Malchut? I'll tell you why I'm asking. He says because he lacks faith, the light of life that comes from Malchut departs from him. That’s on the one hand, on the other hand, it says when the lower ones engage in bestowal then they receive a higher life from Malchut. It's not clear who's bestowing to whom. Man on Malchut or Malchut on a person.

M. Laitman: A person upon Malchut. 

Student: A person on Malchut. Okay, so how should a person see or look at Malchut, the general desire, as his upper or his lower? 

M. Laitman: I would say that a person needs to depict to himself that he's incorporated in Malchut.

Student: The root of the souls is from the Zeir Anpin or from Malchut?

M. Laitman: The root of the souls is actually from Bina. Even from Keter. But in relation to this article, the root of the souls is from Malchut.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:39) If when a person does not have the importance and grace of the Creator he continues to do actions against his will, that state is called faith above reason?

M. Laitman: If it's according to his desire then why is it above?

Student: No, against the desires. He has no importance, but he has to continue working in action. In such a state we will call faith above reason?

M. Laitman: No, he has no reason and he has no faith. It's simply for some reason doing, performing the commands and that's it he has no real spiritual reward for it.

Student: What's the reason a person would act against his will?

M. Laitman: He'll be given blows. He'll be punished. He'll be disregarded, disparaged.

Student: When will we say faith above reason? 

M. Laitman: When it comes from a person. The awakening comes from the person. 

Student: What kind of awakening can come from a person? It's against his will, against his reason. Where does he get this awakening, from his reason?

M. Laitman: From him learning and starting to feel as it is written in the books that bestowal upon the Creator is actually the purpose of his labor.

Student: If he doesn't have such importance for bestowal during such times?

M. Laitman: Then he can do nothing. At least maybe what remains for him is to restrict himself and to be dependent on others.

Student: When a person has no importance yet he continues to act, is that called exertion? 

M. Laitman: It depends what he's doing. 

Student: The same actions, because nevertheless he would like to hold himself on the path, but he doesn't have importance for the goal. Is that called exertion? 

M. Laitman: Yes, there are several kinds of exertions. It all depends on towards what a person is examining himself, checking himself, and labor is certainly that which is against the desire. And in all these states you have part from the desire, some from above the desire, and there's an egoistic desire here and a different desire already, a desire to bestow. There are many possibilities. 

Student: Is faith above reason exertion, is that exertion?

M. Laitman: Faith above reason is not labor because a person cannot labor in it. He cannot. He can only cause the upper light to bestow upon him and cause him to rise higher than the reason, and then he will have the force of faith. Okay? All right.  We gradually are nevertheless entering it. This is the main thing. This topic is the main thing. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:52) It says that exertion is work where you see the future reward, that's exertion. When you're already, it says the work of the Creator is not work, it's a reward that the work is already in it. It says that you have to reach not the final goal but that the work itself should be the goal. In that state that I'm exerting, I'm not supposed to be exerting. I should have a state where I'm working for the Creator with my desire. That should be the goal. How do I do the exertion when I don't see anything and the reward doesn't come, it takes time for it to arrive?

M. Laitman: I don't understand what you're saying. Say it all together, a whole sentence.

Student: I understood from the article that when a person is exerting, meaning he is not in a state of bestowal, because he yearns for some future reward and if you're in a place where the work is the reward, there's no exertion. The question is how during the exertion not to lose it, because you expect a reward, it's not coming. I don't know how to put words on this feeling that you're constantly being thrown between these two worlds. Sometimes you have a feeling that you're in this state, and then you exert and you see that you have nothing. And you constantly move between these two states until at some point, in the end, as a result of this infinite labor, he comes to the goal, which is the work itself, and that's it. It's only the work. How to hold it, hold on to it so it won't get lost on the path, this entire game? 

M. Laitman: You hold it because you haven't reached the goal. You're aspiring, you're yearning to reach. So, it turns out that you have no choice, you're constantly in an effort to advance.

Student: We read in a previous article that a person is hanging by a hair's breadth. Is that the state?

M. Laitman: I don't know, I don't want to pull into this. There are definitions that are not clear to us.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:14:49) I heard you say more than once that above reason is something that only the light can bring us to?

M. Laitman: Well? 

Student: I also heard a friend say a few days ago that we're trying to explain in reason what above reason is and that's completely irrational. Because if we could explain in reason what above reason is, so it wouldn't be above reason. Because in the end, what we're learning, like in Passover, that only when the sons of Israel cried that they were lost, only then the light can draw them out. What I feel is that as long as we keep searching in reason, where above reason is, we'll never reach a state that we cry to the Creator. We have to understand that eventually, we have no ability to explain anything rational about what's going on here. But only it's like some kind of a tent to hold us until we reach that state that we cry out. So is that the process?

M. Laitman: It's not the whole process, but it's part of it. Yes. We have to feel that we can't reach the above reason and even cry out for it. We can only cry out in a way, in such a state where we don't understand where we are. This is why it's called the tearing of the Red Sea, the stormy sea.

Student: What you told the friend is that the goal draws you ahead, it pulls you. So that's in your ego, it's in the will to receive you see that the goal pulls you?

M. Laitman: No, it can shine from afar.

Student: What does it shine into? 

M. Laitman: Into your vessels. 

Student: As long as they don't have spiritual vessels? 

M. Laitman: No, if it's far, then it's an illumination that's not suitable for your vessels, and with such an illumination it can influence.

Student: It happens after a person feels that he's divided into the will to receive and the point in the heart. Because if it shines in the will to receive, it's in the will to receive.

M. Laitman: Okay, well if you want to divide it this way, divide it this way.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:47) What does it mean to be rewarded in faith? Because it seems there's a lot of rewards on the path, what he describes in the article. The fact that a person wants to bestow.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: That's already a privilege. Who else wants to bestow? Then the fact that he's searching for the greatness of the Creator and not for a different reward. In the end, he says a person that is rewarded in faith in mind and heart, he receives it. That's also not clear what it is. The question is, is it one reward that comes in the end or is it many rewards on the way to faith? 

M. Laitman: It is several. We have to get to several such connections which are called being rewarded on the way to complete faith.

Student: Is there a reward in the end which is considered the reward?

Question (Women Moscow): (01:19:35) How can we discern what an effort is? When is it in action and when does it become an effort?

M. Laitman: An effort is against one's will. 

Question (PT 27): (01:19:52) Specifically when reading the article and making an effort to connect to the Creator and the Kabbalist connection in prayer, that's where we feel the exertion and the reward in the same place. But during the day, when you gather with friends not in the time of a lesson, so it feels like separate times. It's not felt at the same time. So, what's the flaw here? Why don't I feel the effort to connect between us always as reward and effort at the same time? 

M. Laitman: Because you're not always tending to it. Try always to tend to the common effort and you'll see that it's possible too. 

Question (Kyiv 1): (01:20:57) You mentioned that we need to depict how a person is incorporated in Malchut. How to do it correctly?

M. Laitman: How to depict to yourself that you're dependent on Malchut? Did I understand correctly? 

Student: Incorporated. If I understood you correctly, we have to depict how I'm incorporated in Malchut. How to depict it correctly? 

M. Laitman: We learn that we have to depict to ourselves that we are connected to the group. And in the group, we come to one desire, common. And before us or in front of us is the Creator; One, Unique and Unified for everyone. The more we can approach these things closer, become closer to them, it will give us a sensation of the correct situation.

Student: If it's a common desire in the group, so why is it connected to raising Malchut to Bina? 

M. Laitman: Raising Malchut to Bina means working with all of the will to receive in order to bestow. Or maybe I don't understand the question. 

Question (Haifa 1): (01:22:55) Even though I read the article a few times, it seems that it's more about a matter of feeling. Because in reason, you can't understand the article. I wanted to ask about building the screen. A person makes a screen through exertion. And he's describing that there are three types of exertion. The body, the mind, and internal. In the body, it's against the desire. In the mind, it's against the reason. What is the internal effort, internal exertion?

M. Laitman: Internal exertion. It is against the intentions to receive. Against all the intentions in order to receive.

Student: He also describes the true exertion. Could we say that that is faith above reason? 

M. Laitman: The true inner exertion or labor, is exertion above reason.

Question (Women Turkiye 7): (01:24:14) What's the difference between a person that feels that he's doing an action to give contentment to the Creator to a person who actually in practice does an action that gives contentment to the Creator? What's the difference between the two states?

M. Laitman: That he wants to do and does?

Student: That he thinks he's doing it, to actually doing it. How to know that he's actually giving contentment to the Creator? 

M. Laitman: I understand. When he thinks, when he actually does it, the result. Is he really getting a sensation of the Creator and recognizing Him in what he wants to bestow upon Him, revealing, there needs to be the revealing of the goal here.

Question (Women Moscow 18): (01:25:14) The order of the letters HaVaYaH, does it change or does it remain constant? 

M. Laitman: Sometimes it changes, but it's unrelated to us.

Student: In the translation, it's in a different order, so I wanted to understand.

M. Laitman: It doesn't matter for you. 

Question (Women Heb 1): (01:25:52) The story of the person who carried the package for his Rabbi or for a king, we learn that we are a chosen people, a chosen group. So, what happens to a person that his starting point is filled by being chosen? Even in the Ten, we say, we were chosen from thousands and thousands, we were chosen. Isn't there a problem in that scrutiny? 

M. Laitman: No. Keep going and it will not disturb you.

Question (Women Latin 13): (01:26:47) In the text, it says that a person cannot walk four steps without covering his head. And that if not, his life will leave him. What does the text want to explain to us? 

M. Laitman: It's not exactly related to us. One should always walk with a head cover and the head cover is like a screen between the head and the Creator. If a person takes off that screen, that cover of the head, it's as if he's with his head exposed before the Creator. And in this way, high spiritual discernments can't clothe in him correctly. This is why there is the custom of covering one's head both for men and for women. It's especially for women. 

Question (Women MAK): (01:28:14) I heard you said once that if you could, you'd sit at home and read books all day and not go anywhere. But still, you devoted your whole life for us and disseminating the wisdom of Kabbalah. Can we say that your path is above reason? 

M. Laitman: I have no special, unique way. I do what I understand from the books, and I explain it to those who want to understand it. That's it. There's no reason to take an example from me. 

Question (H10): (01:28:59) In internal exertion, I feel that there are two levels. In a personal way, all kinds of things, I deal with corporeality and so on and in general towards our society. If I need to reach a state that I only exert towards society, or is it okay that there are two levels?

M. Laitman:  It's okay. For the time being just move forward, move on forward. It doesn't matter what happens along the way. The important thing is to move forward. Afterwards, you'll see how to organize things. 

Question (Women Ukraine 2): (01:29:45) In the article, he wrote that created beings have to build a screen. I'm a beginning student, a beginner, and I'm trying to understand. In general we learned what a screen is. But what is this work with a screen? 

M. Laitman: It is when we ask the Creator to give us the possibility to be givers above reason. This is what we ask.

Question (Latin 4): (01:30:38) Is the connection a force of above reason? 

M. Laitman: Connection is a different force. Above reason pertains to observing the commandments. And connection is the action that is before that.

Question (Women Turkiye 1): (01:31:14) In the article, he mentions the Shabbat. The question is, what exactly is the rest on Sabbath? Because we're speaking about the soul. So, what rests? What don't we do on Sabbath? 

M. Laitman: The work in Torah and commandments is that we try to adapt ourselves to all kinds of degrees, spiritual degrees. Shabbat, the Sabbath, means we're not working. We still have to understand what it means not to work on Shabbat. In return for this, we feel the systems of the upper worlds, what state they're in on Shabbat. This is how we rise and reveal more and more upper systems.

Question (Latin 1): (01:32:33) I recognize that I want to run from the state of faith and I think the sun will set. How can I cancel this personal fear and that the fear of not being able to serve the Creator will be my main fear? 

M. Laitman: I don't know. I think we need to be connected, and in our connection to turn to the Creator and ask Him for help. When we get the strength from it, we will be able to rise with a common faith, general common faith to faith above reason, and then we will rise as though on the wings of eagles. In this way, we will begin to feel the degrees of ascension, that they are like a ladder where we can be more and more and more disconnected from the intention to receive and connected to the intention to bestow, and it's as if we rise from level to level.

Question (ITA 1): (01:34:05) To remain in a state of happiness and adhesion to the Creator. Is that a state we need to conquer and protect? Is it a state of constant efforts? 

M. Laitman: It is a state of an effort, and ideally, constant, yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:34:43) He writes that man's work is to enter the internality of the Torah called the concealed part. That you can't see a person's work. It's like a person has two options. Also, when working for the Creator, I can work to receive a reward, or I can work to ask for forces to change. I can engage in the externality of the Torah where everybody sees what he's doing, and there's a reward and punishment, and if he eats something bad, he'll get blows, or to engage in the internality. The question is, can we do both? Can a person be focused on two types of work, or it's either this or that? Or when a person deals with externality, and that's the center of his life, or internality, or he should be in both?

M. Laitman: How can it be?

Student: I don't know? 

M. Laitman: You're just asking. How can a person be on two levels, on two kinds of connections? How is it possible?

Student: Because it's like, it's easier to do it in a deed. For instance, there was, we were talking about the Tzitzit a few days ago. The easiest thing is to go, spend 20 shekels, and you have a Tzitzit, and that's it. You did your thing. You can put a view on it and feel great about it. On the other hand, we can search for it internally and not get actions and get confused and scrutinize with the friends and..?

M. Laitman: You don't need to do it about this, about practical commandments. You don't need to be in all kinds of searches, the way you say it, no. You just need to do it, and that's it. Go, buy it, and that's it. If you want to. You don't need anything more.

Student: How do we keep the center of our forces and energy in engaging in the internality of the work, the internality of the connection between us and our connection with the Creator, and not run to all kinds of easy actions?

M. Laitman: We need to be in connection between us and to understand that the connection between us is intended to show us how we are still not humans. That it's a very high degree to be the son of man, which is human, the son of Adam. And this is why we have to do what we must in order to rise to the level of Adam, man. That's it. 

Student: What do we have to do?

M. Laitman: What is written, including the commandment of Tzitzit. Well, that's it. You don't want to know more than that. It's better that you don't.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:38:32) You said above reason has to do with performing the commandments, but connection comes first? 

M. Laitman: So. 

Student: What does it mean that above reason is connected to performing the commandments, and that connection comes before that?

M. Laitman: Observing the commandments means I have to do what is written, and my relation to everything I do should be in order to bestow. Either it's toward people or toward nature. It doesn't matter. But it should be in order to bestow.

Student: Above reason, towards performing the commandments?

M. Laitman: Yes, it's the same. 

Student: We are making efforts in connection. That's actually our place of work, in order to attain revelation of the Creator, which is actually the reward? 

M. Laitman: The reward, that's incorrect that it's the revelation of the Creator, because our reward is that we will be able to bestow upon the Creator. 

Student: When does that work and that reward to give contentment to the Creator, when do they connect into one? 

M. Laitman: To bestow upon the Creator and contentment to the Creator, when do they unite? 

Student: When does the work in the Ten between the friends and the connection between us and bestowing to the Creator, when does it connect into one, that the work is the reward? 

M. Laitman: When they unite, first of all the friends among themselves, and then from the connection between them, they connect to the Creator. This is what should be. Let's hope that we will be able to understand how to keep it. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:40:45) The exertion is the reward. So, if I exert, there's an element of resistance against the desire, there has to be?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: The moment that's also the reward, so I guess there's an importance, when it's a reward, so you also get the reward. This importance, it's not a desire or is it the importance to bestow contentment to the Creator? 

M. Laitman: There are Reshimot, records of coarseness and records of clothing. Records of coarseness are the level of effort, the intensity of the effort I have to make, the labor. And the records of clothing are a record of the light, the upper force, which I then receive in return for working against the coarseness. And then I perform the act. 

Student: The force I receive to do, it's not a desire, it's like some other entity?

M. Laitman: How, what? 

Student: The force I get to perform an action. It's not a desire, because that's exchanging the donkey with the ox. It's not my desire. It's something else? 

M. Laitman: Wait a minute. What state are you talking about?

Student: We start by the exertion being the reward. We try to go above reason.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: On one hand, the exertion has to go against the desire, and it's clear I don't want to do it, I scrutinize, I don't want to do it. On the other hand, there's importance, importance for the action itself, for the exertion itself?

M. Laitman: The labor or the reward? 

Student: Importance to the reward because that should be the reward. The action itself, it's in the same place. 

M. Laitman: The labor being the reward is already a very strict condition.

Student: Right, but it has to come with a resistance. There's two things that come together. So, the first part, the resistance is against the desire, and the second part, which is the exertion being the reward, that's the importance to bestow to the Creator, the force to bestow. It's not a desire, it's something else, or is it a desire? 

M. Laitman: It's a desire. 

Student: To have one desire, and against a different desire. Just exchanging the donkey with the cow, I just still go and do it?

M. Laitman: I don't understand you. Wait, wait, can you..? 

Student: The work is the reward, when there's exertion, there's two times? 

M. Laitman: That's afterwards.

Student: Right. So, the goal is for later on? 

Student: Think. I'm willing to talk about it.  

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:43:52) A lot of times we say, I didn't want to go to Yeshivat Haverim, I did internal work, I overcame, and I went above reason. I didn't want to disseminate, but I did it above reason. How to see the difference? What's a sign, that it's not one will to receive overcame a different will to receive, or if it's really above reason? 

M. Laitman: Well, what do you think? You tell us.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:44:35) Above reason is something that only the Creator can help us with if it wasn't the light that corrected? 

M. Laitman: That's correct. If He agrees to go and do something, it's not above reason anymore. It's substituting a cow for a donkey.

Student: He can do it if the light holds him in that state. He got forces to be above reason. If the force was taken away, he'll fall again. That's changing the donkey with the cow? 

M. Laitman: It depends what he's working from.

Student: What does that mean? If he's working from the greatness of the Landlord? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: So he needs to check when his work becomes a reward, the greatness of the Landlord is, that they should be clothed? 

M. Laitman: Yes. That's also true.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:45:46) To continue about the true exertion, the third type out of the three, that he said that only when it's against the mind, but he still does it, that's considered true exertion or internal exertion. And that's the same question: Could there be a state that a person has, his mind is entirely opposite, but a person works otherwise, not like the mind tells him? Could that happen before spirituality is such a decision? 

M. Laitman: How will a person work against his reason, against his intellect? 

Student: The internal exertion is only when a person is in attainment, I guess? 

M. Laitman: In the end, he always wants to do whatever seems to him like he should do, that the intellect, that the mind determines, so what does it mean above reason.

Student: So that exactly is the loop. By the way, yesterday's article that we couldn't ask about, I saw that there he touches that point where he said a person can't come out of that loop? 

M. Laitman: He has to have the salvation of the Lord. Salvation of the Lord.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:47:13) When a person is in exertion, it's when he makes an effort not to get a reward, but he feels pain by being distant from the Creator? 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: Why is that state extended? If you already recognize that that was his problem?

M. Laitman: What is? 

Student: That he suffers from being far from the Creator.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: Now the effort he's giving, that still takes time until he reaches a state that he doesn't feel exertion, that he feels that he's working for the Creator, and the Creator's forcing him to work. There's a time of exertion?

M. Laitman: Exertion from what, from wanting to get away from a state that is difficult?

Student: That's exactly what I want to ask. He recognizes that he would want to run from the work, he'd want to just toss it like Rabash writes? 

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: If afterwards he feels that he doesn't want to toss it, because that's what the Creator is letting him, he's working for the Creator, that's the feeling that the Creator is giving him the work. Here, it's still exertion? 

M. Laitman: Here, it's a decision. Does he want to remain here and make an effort on the conditions that have now been revealed, when he wants to go above the previous discernment? 

Student: When a person recognizes that it's the Creator doing it, so the problems end. That's what it seems like. To begin with, that's what he was searching for. If you understand that that's what he wants, that's what he needs, because he's distant from the Creator, so when he feels that the Creator is giving him the work, so he actually got everything?

M. Laitman: Then he erases himself. Who is he then? He's not present, he doesn't exist altogether.

Student: Here, he doesn't disappear. So why? Why does that state exist? Because he recognized the source, the source that is giving him the work. He's already whole with it, supposedly. Why does it still bring him sorrow?

M. Laitman: Because now he has a grip on a point where he is still disconnected from the Creator. How can he now complement his existence in the Creator?

Student: Great. So this point, why did the Creator give us, or what should we do in this state? What are the connections that are happening now?

M. Laitman: First, I have to acquire independence.

Student: What does that mean?

M. Laitman: Independence. If I disappear, I disappear, then there's no one to talk about. There's no work, there's no me, there's not even the Creator. I need, here I need to position myself vis-à-vis the Creator. Otherwise I don't exist. I have no place for existence anymore.

Student: When does he reach a state of Shabbat? That he has no feeling of exertion at all. That it's not work anymore, it's all above it. How does he reach that state?

M. Laitman: That's already after several degrees. First, we need to reach a certain level of coarseness, and on that coarseness we can determine the state of Shabbat.  

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:51:43) When I get the importance of the Creator, I'm afraid of falling once again, so it's not labor anymore, it's not an effort. So, if I understand correctly, if I ask at that moment from the Creator not to get this importance, so I get the labor, and then I'll continue to exist with the effort I'm making?

M. Laitman: Now, you have an opportunity to feel yourself with the Creator, right? And you disregard it, you don't keep it.

Student: If I feel the importance of the Creator, not even the Creator, but His importance, then there's no labor anymore, there's no effort. Then it's as if I'm not giving, I'm not bestowing upon Him. What does He prefer? What does the Creator prefer?

M. Laitman: The Creator prefers that you be as independent as possible.

Student: I reject His importance in order to keep on laboring?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:53:04) What does he even call the work of serving the Rav as labor? It's only reward, it's not labor. Every moment he does something for something that he feels importance in, he enjoys it, he even fights to be able to do it. Why is it called labor?

M. Laitman: The Creator wants us to feel ourselves completely independent. Then we discover that He wants to dwell in us. 

Student: In the example, labor is usually against nature, against one's will. Here, in the example he gives with the Rabbi, which is clearer than the example with the Creator, it's not clear why it's labor. It is a constant reward. If he is in a place with someone he admires, every minute with him is a pleasure. There's no labor here. Why does he call it labor? What's the labor about it?

M. Laitman: He gets pleasure from the connection?

Student: Yes, he's in service of the upper one. If he's connected to the Upper One and he feels that it's serving him, he enjoys it very much, he’s not working.

M. Laitman: He doesn't have to do actions, action of restriction, screen, reflected light, all kinds of things that he doesn't want to exist?

Student: The labor here is against the pleasure, not against the suitcase, not, but against the reward?

M. Laitman: Yes, internality.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:55:15) A simple question, but maybe it's the main point. When a person gets a depiction that the friends are far from him, opposite from him, not with him at all and then at that point he depicts the desirable state, that they're all connected and in adhesion. His ability to depict it, is this above reason?

M. Laitman: No. 

Student: No, so, when is it above reason? When he asks the ability from the Creator, out of this distress that he can't let go of the previous image. So, he stands against the wall and writes a prayer to be able to break through. Can you say this?

M. Laitman: That also doesn't bring faith above reason. 

Student: So, what does? 

M. Laitman: This is something you have to build.

Student: How?

M. Laitman: We're constantly talking about this. We need to try to reach reason, and afterwards go above reason, and that state from all of the person's desire to try, with the Creator's help, to ascend.

Student: Let's assume he has the reason, and he's in a state that he defines as his reason. Yes, I'm disconnected from my friends. I'm in my own reason. And he comes to a state where there's nothing he can do. He tried everything, and then he comes to a prayer and in this prayer he feels that only the Creator can help him. That there's a higher force that can give him this gift, and he turns to it. And then he goes, and then above reason comes in?

M. Laitman: Keep going, keep going, it'll work out.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:57:26) Maybe to continue the friend's scrutiny. If a person labors against his will to receive, he wants to run away, and he begins to ask the Creator, and suddenly a friend comes and praises him for that labor. Suddenly, he feels filled up. So, what's the work here?

M. Laitman: Here, there's double work. It's even more work than what he had before, because now he also needs to annul his feelings, that he's great, that he did great work, that he has something in his hands.

Student: So, stop, thank the Creator? What should he do? More internally, what's the work? 

M. Laitman: What desire was he in?

Student: He did something with his hands and legs against his will. And the friend comes over and begins to praise him, so now he's satisfied within, he's happy now?

M. Laitman: That's something else. So, what do you want to ask about that?

Student: What is the work here? When he's satisfied in his will to receive, he doesn't want to run away anymore from the work he did. So, what is the work here?

M. Laitman: He starts respecting the work he did, that he thinks that by this he gained something, a corporeal gain, right? Now, he has a problem. He has to stay away from those actions, that through them he got a corporeal reward, and to start doing something else, to scrutinize, that's what Rabash constantly explains to us. It instantly explains to us that we need to look at our state through a point that is independent, that if a friend comes and appreciates you, so is he doing you a favor or something bad?

Student: It's as if he steals my labor from me, that's how it seems.

M. Laitman: Maybe the opposite, maybe he's giving you an opportunity for a double exertion, that you need to bring yourself back to the true state, that it's not your place, you don't deserve anything, and then you'll start doing the work.

Student: That's already, at that moment, I do it within me?

M. Laitman: It's not sure, it's if you want to do it.

Student: That's it. Many times it slips.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:00:43) I wanted to ask, he writes that the problem is that we don't feel the importance to Whom we work, Whom we are serving, and then the work is called labor. Afterwards, he continues and says, when we do feel the importance of whom we are serving, the work is not called labor, and the work itself is the goal. He doesn't want to relinquish the work. He also talks about independence. Maybe our independence is that we don't want to reveal the importance of the Creator, but we want to build it by ourselves in the Ten, in our common work to depict this importance from below and not be dependent on it. When he gives me importance, I work. If I have no importance, no joy, no flavor that shines for me in the work, I don't work. Maybe by this, we build our independence?

M. Laitman: Okay. The main thing is that we want together to get rid of this false independence and truly rise.

Student: The question is, how does a person both give importance to the Ten? Maybe even my work is, how do I get importance from the Ten? What annulment should I do toward the Ten? What eyes do I need to acquire in order to receive importance from them?

M. Laitman: You want me to answer you?

Student: Yes. What is a person with respect to the Ten? Because in the corporeal eyes, you always see in the friends… He also writes in the article that we read yesterday or the day before. He writes that when a person begins to labor, he begins to compare his work with the friends. He works more. I think this guy works less, etc.. So, our eyes always lie to us. I always see my labor as the best, the highest, and the labor of the friends I don't see at all. So, how to appreciate, to value the labor of the friends, how to get from them the strength, the importance on top of these corporeal eyes that keep hiding it?

M. Laitman: That depends how you connect one to one another, how you build a Ten, how from your Ten you want to turn to the Creator, and all these actions will build you correctly, will build the connection between you and the direction.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:03:58) I hear from all the friends that the above reason is not some static state. It’s every time anew we have to search for the above reason, the example with the Rabbi and the porter is an example. It's a corporeal example, so you can understand it. But it's not corporeal, because the minute the porter is working for the Rabbi, and he's got the pleasure and the labor, he will not want to remain there. He will want to exalt the Rabbi even more, otherwise, it's dead, he'll lose it, it'll disappear. So, the question is, how to create a state where the labor is constant and we will constantly want more?

M. Laitman: We will constantly want to search for exertion?

Student: What will make us want to labor more? There’s the example of the greatness of the Rav..?

M. Laitman: If the exertion ends, I end. If I see the end of the exertion that I don't have anything to exert towards. It’s like being fired from work, and then you don't have anywhere to search for it.

Student: In other words, it is something that comes naturally from the path that would keep searching for the labor?

M. Laitman: Yes. Search for labor.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:05:34) From the scrutinies here, I get something even more complicated. The Creator is in complete rest. We want to equalize in form, to be in complete rest, but at the same time, we keep looking for labor. How does that work out?

M. Laitman: We constantly exert to attain the complete rest.

Student: When you attain complete rest, I heard that you completely disappear, you don't exist, if I understood correctly.

M. Laitman: You, in you, meaning your identity. 

Student: My identity disappears? It's a good thing.

M. Laitman: Why? 

Student: Because then I'm incorporated in the Creator. I become one with Him.

M. Laitman: Well, let's say so.

Student: That is the goal I read in all the writings, to reach this equivalence with Him, and then it will be complete bestowal upon Him.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And then you're incorporated in Him, and it's as if you don't exist.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So why not ask for this? It seems to me like the highest thing there is.

M. Laitman: Are you asking for work, or not to exist? 

Student: I want to reach equivalence of form with the Creator, to be bestowing like He does, for all of us to be in bestowal like He is?

M. Laitman: Meaning to be in adhesion?

Student: 100% adhesion, yes. 

M. Laitman: Okay.

Student: It's only through a request for labor. Without requesting labor, you can't reach that state of adhesion, because it says in the end, you'll be like me, in complete rest. And labor is suffering. You don't want to suffer. No one wants to suffer. Labor is work that is often very painful, even when you discover that you're far from the Creator. It's sometimes so painful, it's hard to tolerate it. 

M. Laitman: Correct. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:07:45) He writes here that with people who work on the intention, meaning who can aim all their actions to bestow, and then the reward and punishment are in the same place at the same time. And then he says they don't need punishment, because they don't have greater suffering than seeing that they're far from the Creator. When we work on the intention, how does it cause us suffering? How is working on the intention, how can we make it cause us, bring us suffering? 

M. Laitman: By wanting something but not attaining it. What's the source of suffering? That I want something and I don't have it.

Student: How can we want it very much?

M. Laitman: We have to understand that by yearning for the right thing, that should bring me pleasure, happiness, and not suffering. Meaning, two things together.

Student: Also, he says we have to aspire to aim all our actions to bestow.

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: Is everything incorporated in the connection in the Ten, or when you talked about relation to nature should also be correct on all the degrees of nature. Is it all included in the Ten or not? So, our relation to nature should also come from connection in the Ten?

Student: Does that mean that the corruption is only in the connection in the Ten?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (02:09:50) He writes, he adds, and acquires and attains more degrees of holiness from the thought of creation in Ein Sof. Until they assist a person in inverting the will to receive for himself in him, to be entirely in the form of receiving in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker. That means that a person comes to a point where he has some sort of understanding that he's acquiring, which begins to invert the will to receive in him into something else. 

M. Laitman: Yes. 

Student: What understanding should one come to so it will become a force that changes his nature?

M. Laitman: Acquire the intention in order to bestow. That's what he needs.

Student: What does he understand? 

M. Laitman: He understands that by the correction of his desire with the intention to bestow, he completely, completely changes the essence of the desire. That his desire becomes as the bestower actually. Just as he writes, when receiving in order to bestow, it equals complete bestowal, pure bestowal. 

Student: His attitude changes? 

M. Laitman: Yes, of course his attitude changes. 

Student: Now, among the friends in the Ten, each one comes with the same nature, with the will to receive, the same reason. But in the Ten, we can build a force that will lift each one from his nature, from his reason. What should the Ten build together to create a force that will lift each friend out of his nature? 

Student: What should the Ten build together so it will be a force that will assist, as he writes here, help each friend come out of his reason, of his nature? 

M. Laitman: That's what they have to build. That each and every one has a desire to help all the friends to be in this common work. Each one bestows to everybody. 

Student: Yesterday we said that we want to come to the congress as a Ten with something internal that will be able to contribute to all the friends participating in the congress. What can a Ten bring with it to the congress that will help everyone?

M. Laitman: Each and every Ten want to bring to the convention the connection, unity that they attained before the congress. And when they come to the convention, they want to bestow that intensity of the connection that's in them in order to wrap the whole congress in it. 

Student: How does he do it? With thought?

M. Laitman: In thought.

Student: In thought? So, it wants it to disperse, to spread among everyone?

M. Laitman: Yes, that it will grab everybody, hug everybody, swallow everybody, and in that way they reach one result. 

Student: Last point, how does a Ten prepare for such an action? Now it wants to prepare itself for this act. How is it recommended for it to prepare itself? What should it scrutinize? 

M. Laitman: They have to talk about it. To scrutinize it, yes? We have articles about it, I don't know what else to say. 

Student: In other words, the scrutiny itself is already a preparation?

M. Laitman: Yes. Okay. What are we doing next?

Reader: (02:15:01) We have several Tens, they're doing mirror congresses in Spain and Germany. They want to tell us about it and also ask you a question, if possible? They are INFO. If we can give to INFO, please. 

Question (INFO): (02:15:23) Hello Rav and friends. What a lesson. What work we have to do to rise in faith above reason. Concerning what the Creator wants to give us, we have an opportunity now. Just imagine, to come together at a physical congress with friends. What powers we'll have, what home we're building in Spain, in Madrid, there will be a big gathering. We're willing to have you over. Everything is ready for you to be able to come into this home. So, everything is ready. Don't wait for the Zoom. Zoom is fine, but we have an opportunity for a physical congress. So, through you, if you, who are now watching, we can't do it without you. So, if you can come, and together, we will be able to bring contentment to the Creator. And to do this thing, to rise above reason. So, don't wait for friends, please.

Question (INFO): (02:16:35) I would also like to give you the feeling about the congress we are organizing in Germany and we'll have 110 friends. Lots of friends from Germany, from Australia, from Belgium, Holland, Israel, UK, France. We will have students from MAK, Ukrainian students living in Germany. It will be like a small world in Germany, like a European congress, international congress in Germany. And almost all places are gone. Friends, you are invited, if you would like to join. Do it tomorrow or right now, if you would like to join, because we are almost full. And we see, we have some questions for Rav. We feel the strong necessity to go to this next step above the reason. And we see that all friends make efforts, and everyone is investing. And we would like that to happen. And the question is, Rav, how can we reach the feeling above reason at the congress? Not only this above the reason, but the next step is that we are all connected. We go above the reason, and everyone feels at the end we are all connected? All these mirror congresses around the world, Petah Tikva, all friends, above reason, connected in one. How can we reach this feeling at the congress?

M. Laitman: First of all, we need to check technically: can we really be connected? All our contacts, do they understand this? Are they ready for this? That's the second thing. Third, all people who are responsible for connection have to understand this and support one another, should check in advance all of our connections, that everything will be good, and what else. The rest depends on each and every one that needs to really work as much as possible, and even more on the articles that we went through in about the last 20 days, and in this way you come to the connection with us in more understanding, more passion. That's very important. Let's hope that we'll have a nice convention and for the best.

Question (INFO): (02:19:54) Just maybe one additional question. When we reach this feeling at the congress, are we going to feel it as a common feeling? Everyone will feel the same. Everyone who is integrated in this common congress, in this common feeling will feel the same feeling.

M. Laitman: Even if we won't feel all the participants that will be with us, because physically it's very difficult, but according to our intensity that we get from the whole group, this international group, we will be able to depict how tens and thousands of people are coming and connecting and bringing their passion and their force to that connection, to that convention. I'm sure that it'll be a successful convention. We went through many, through a lot of materials in above reason, and even though it's still not absorbed inside, we still need a lot of time until it gets absorbed, because it's the last stage of human development, but still, even in our current state, we are already in the state that it's good. I'm happy about it, from our state, and let's hope that we'll all feel it from the connection and the convention. That's it. Thank you very much. 

Reader: (02:21:36) Announcements. 

Song: (02:23:06)