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

Daily Morning Lesson. January 20, 2026

Part 1: Reading of the Article in the Ten

Rabash, Article 12, 1988. What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator? - continued from Morning Lesson on January 18,19, 2026

Recorded lesson - March 31, 2003

Reader: Hello friends, we're going to continue to study Rabash's article, “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?” You'll find it in “The Writings of Rabash”, volume 1. We're going to read the last part in the article, from, “accordingly we should interpret what our sages said, be careful with the sons of the poor,” from there all the way to the end of the article. Afterwards, we'll learn from a lesson from April 2nd, 2003. We'll now read the article in the Ten, and Tens who finish reading are invited to start a workshop on the article.

Reading: (00:57) Accordingly we should interpret what our sages said, be careful with the sons of the poor, for from them Torah will emerge, as was said, water will flow from his bucket, for from them Torah will emerge. It seems to me that Torah will emerge specifically from the sons of the poor, but from the sons of the rich, it will not, can we say this? In the work, we should interpret poor, that it is as our sages said, one is poor only in knowledge.

For this reason, when a person learns Torah and wants to achieve the Torah, meaning to achieve a state of enlightenment in your Torah, meaning to adhere to the Creator who is clothed in the Torah, for your Torah refers to the Creator who is clothed in it, yet he sees that as much as he has exerted and worked to find the Creator in the Torah, he cannot find him. Although it is written, all they who seek me shall find me, he sees that he is poor in knowledge, yet he wants to keep what is written, know the God of your fathers and serve him. And what is written, a soul without knowledge is not good, but he is far from it.

For each time he sees that it is utterly impossible to find him in the Torah, this is called poor in knowledge. At that time, a person understands that finding the Creator in the Torah was not for him, was not said for him, since he thinks that he has already looked for him in the Torah, but has not, but has found nothing, and he wants to escape the campaign. This is why our sages came and said, be careful with the sons of the poor, for from them the Torah will emerge.

The reason is, according to the rule, there is no filling without a lack, no gadlut, no greatness without katnut, smallness. This means that if we want to give something to a person, but the giver is afraid that if he is given immediately, as soon as the receiver asks of him, the receiver will not be able to appreciate the giving, and will probably lose it, or other people might take that thing from him. Since the giver knows the importance of the matter, he does not want the receiver to spoil it.

For this reason, he does not give him what he asks for immediately. Instead, he wants the receiver to ask him many times, thus, through the demand, a need for the matter is formed in the receiver, otherwise he would have had to stop asking. When he does not stop asking him, this can be only if each time he must understand the necessity of the matter, that is, if he wants to ask of him again, that the giver will give him, the person must contemplate whether he truly needs that thing.

Reader: Now, friends, we'll enter the lesson with Rav from April 2nd, 2003.

M. Laitman: (40:07) So we're reading from Volume 5, “The Rungs of the Ladder,” from page 627 until the end. “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?” I think it's the longest article we have in all of “The Rungs of the Ladder,” and it touches almost each and everything that we stumble upon. That is, there is work that pertains to the general public, in order to hold the people in a framework and give them all kinds of actions, which are called our lineage, our inheritance. This is the Torah of the general public. The person who carries it out, he holds himself as belonging to the people, belonging to the framework, belonging to a certain movement. And there is the Torah of the individual. That work, that Torah, no longer depends on the deed, but on the intention, meaning on the work of the individual, the work of the heart. That work is also divided into two parts, the revealed Torah and the concealed Torah. The revealed Torah is what is revealed to a person that, in the meantime, begins to learn this Torah of the individual in order to receive, with the intention that it will be good to him in all kinds of different manners that he depicts to himself. Afterwards, he shifts to the concealed Torah, that what was concealed, that in truth the Creator's intention and His purpose is that we will live, and work, and perform actions out of the intention to bestow. This becomes revealed to the person. And out of that, he begins to behave and work in such a way with his desire. So it turns out that only in the last stage, in the fourth part in man's actions, when he shifts from the revealed Torah to the concealed Torah, from the desire to receive to the desire to bestow, and he understands already that the desire to bestow is the essence of life, that's the main work and labor. There he certainly becomes free, and it's called Adam, because he exits the nature that the Creator planted within him, that the Creator guides him through it. He comes out from under the rule of the Creator, because the Creator controls the will to receive, but rather he makes a restriction, and he acquires the forces so as not to be dependent on the will to receive, not to be dependent on his nature, but rather to perform free actions, which he already calculates in his head. It's called the Rosh, the head of the Partzuf. He performs actions above the will to receive, above nature. This is considered that bit by bit, from the barrier onwards, he as if brings out the Creator's governance out of himself, and he crowns himself in creation. And then indeed, seemingly, the world keeps on going as before, but already instead of the Creator's governance comes man's governance, until the end of correction when the person rules creation 100% and the Creator seemingly comes out of His control. This is that statement, “My sons have defeated Me.” Do you remember anything he talked so much about? All kinds of things, there is nothing here which is irrelevant. Are there any questions? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:36) It says, “it turns out that we should make several discernments in the Torah.” One who learns Torah in order to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah. 

M. Laitman (Source Text/Commentary): (45:54) On page 229 it says, by this it turns out that we should make several discernments in the Torah. Meaning that there are four stages, or four kinds of an approach to the Torah, or four stages for which the person goes until he reaches the truth. One is that he learns the Torah in order to know the rules, in order to know how to keep the commandments of the Torah. That is, what are we learning for, in order to know what we have to do in corporeality. So, he learns that and he keeps it too, that he studies the Torah in order to keep the commandment of studying the Torah. As it says, this book of Torah should not move from your mouth and it should contemplate it day and night. And Rashi explains, you contemplate it means you should look at it. Every thought in the Torah is in the Torah of the heart, as it says, my heart's thoughts are first. And here it already says that he's studying the Torah in order to keep the commandment of studying the Torah, meaning that he already thinks that in the Torah there is a greater value, nevertheless, than just keeping it. That it is written, therefore we keep it. But no, here in the study itself, there is some value. And we have to add our heart to it. And there are corrections that the Torah makes on the heart. These corrections are in order to make us better. The Creator wanted us to live through the Torah so that through the Torah we will grow stronger, we will become better. He learns the Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah. He already knows that the Torah does not come just in order to correct his beastly heart so that he's better, and this is why he keeps the commandment of the study of the Torah, but rather in the Torah there is light. That's something special already. “I created the evil inclination, I created the spies of Torah,” meaning, he already thinks about himself that he is evil. And the Torah corrects him to become good because the light in it reforms one. So by that he will be rewarded with faith and adhering to the Creator. And he enters the quality of Israel since he already believes in the Creator with complete faith. Meaning, he already uses the light in order to correct himself. Four, after he has already been rewarded with the quality of faith, meaning the correction of in order to bestow, then he's rewarded with the quality of the Torah as in the names of the Creator. He already received the light of Hochma instead of the light of Hassadim. He receives the light of Hochma each time according to the degree of his correction. That's called the names of the Creator. This is called in the Zohar, the state of “The Torah, Israel and the Creator are one.” So, what are you asking? 

Student: That one, one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot, the commandments of the Torah, what does it mean to speak about corporeality without thinking about the intention?

M. Laitman: Stages three and four pertain to the correction - three pertains to the correction and four already pertains to the revelation of the Creator. In stage three, he acquires faith, meaning an intention to bestow, and according to the measure of the intention, the Creator is revealed to him. This is already in stage four. So these two stages pertain to one who uses the Torah because the light in it reforms him. The first two stages, one and two, pertain to a person who does not yet feel that the Torah should correct him, in his heart the necessity to relate to the Torah as a spice has not yet been revealed, that is all. Now, there are people who develop indeed according to those stages, one, two, three, four. There are people who are in one, or in two, and they cannot reach stage three or four, but rather they are just in it. So what is the question?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:30) In phase three, what exactly happens physically? Because this is a correction of the heart, so what does it mean to learn? 

M. Laitman: It says, you're asking what should he learn in stage three? It says, three, that he learned the Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah. This means that in the Torah there is some power, so this power corrects me, meaning to begin with, if I have a demand to change myself, that there is something in it so that I want to be different, I want to see life in a different way, not just to get rich or to become great, but meaning that I want to change the world, let's say, or change myself, it doesn't matter. So I already approach the Torah as a means that makes that change. To the extent that I demand from the Torah the forces to change me, change the world, to this extent it is considered that I use the Torah and the light in the Torah that reforms one. 

Student: And the word “Torah?” 

M. Laitman: Torah, this means the light that comes to a person with a certain intention. I can use this spiritual force only in order to reform myself. There is nothing else in it. This is according to the words, that it reforms one, or brings us back to good. If I take the Torah, meaning all kinds of means, so I need to know what are these means. It says, “I created the evil inclination,” that is, there is an evil inclination, and if you have an evil inclination, then you should know that there is a spice of Torah. What is this spice? It corrects the Torah. Let's say I don't even know what it is, but it's like you have some spice and you throw it into the soup or something, so likewise you have something that you throw to the evil inclination, and the evil inclination becomes good inclination. This is considered to reform it, to bring it back to good. This spice, let's say, turns it from bitter to sweet. Only for that. You can't extract anything else from the Torah. There is nothing else, because it says, “I created the evil inclination,” and accordingly I created this spice of Torah. It has nothing else other than this spice. One who wants to use the Torah for any kinds of other purposes is simply mistaken to think that there is something else there. There isn't. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:25) So should there be another exertion moving from stage three to stage four?

M. Laitman: Stage three and stage four, what are they, are you asking? Stage three is called the intention, the correction and installing the intention in order to bestow on the will to receive, to acquire Galgalta ve Eynaim and the Partzuf. And stage four is called to receive in order to bestow the work on the will to receive. These are the two stages, first we come to the qualities of Bina and then Malchut with Bina together, when they work together as it's written “and the two of them will walk together,” they come to Keter, receiving in order to bestow. They will have bestowal, Malchut will have bestowal like Keter, that's phase four. Meaning, phase, stage three is to reach phase two and stage four is to reach the root phase. This is a revelation of the secrets of Torah, the revelation of the name of the Creator, as he writes. This is the work in Atzilut. First, we come to the world of Atzilut, Malchut of Atzilut. We come out of this world beyond the barrier, we reach through all the stages to Malchut of Atzilut, by that we acquire Galgalta ve Eynaim in full, vessels of bestowal, we finish the time of Katnut [smallness], we reach a stage called 13 years, right, Bar Mitzva. This is the meaning of entering Atzilut. And then when we are in Atzilut, all of the Katnut, the smallness, we begin to work on the AHP of the ascent, the ascending AHP, on Gadlut, greatness, adulthood. And we add the ascending AHP from Beriya and from Yetzira, and from Asiya, that's it, this is the meaning of growing. This is stage four, by that, to the extent that a certain AHP can be added to the vessel of bestow, and this AHP, the light of Hochma enters, and the light of Hochma that is revealed in vessels of reception, with the intention to bestow, this is called the revelation of the names of the Creator. Why? Because this corrected AHP, that is receiving in order to bestow, that he is the bestowing one, he expresses in his work, a certain quality of the Creator, a certain bestow, let's say, this AHP that works in receiving in order to bestow, he bestows in this way, this form, and a different AHP, in receiving in order to bestow, he bestows differently. Every mode and manner of bestow, similar to the Creator, the way He bestows, then a person reveals in his work, in his action, in his bestow, the names of the Creator, this is called the different types or modes of bestowal.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:44) How can we start to feel the will to receive as bad? 

M. Laitman: How can you feel the will to receive as evil? Well, let's say, I stole something, I got caught, so at that moment, I yell at myself, why do I keep stealing? I have to stop doing it, right? Because I feel torments from this quality, right? 

Student: But in our work?

M. Laitman: Well, in our work, this is in our work, it says the first man was a thief, all those receptions without intention in order to bestow are called theft.

Student: Everything we do is for our own benefit?

M. Laitman: All the actions you do are called theft. 

Student: And until we see them as bad, we won't get the reforming light?

M. Laitman: Well, if I could see them as evil, I would have gotten rid of them, when can I see them as evil? It says, the advantage of light from darkness - if I knew that through the action of bestowal, I come to the good, I could see that the action of reception brings me evil. How can I see it? Either there's a path of suffering, when I do actions in my will to receive, and I receive blows, and I simply don't want to have the will to receive, I want to restrict it, less, you know, less wisdom, less suffering. “No, don't demand so much, and you'll feel better. Why do you have to run around so much, just sit quietly.”

It'll be good, right? The world, the whole world understands it. So that path goes against development. This is called the path of suffering, and not the path at all. And we're not able to live and walk on this path, because the will to receive in us constantly develops, it's on fire. We're not able to control it. It will demand its own, right? So, like it or not, we'll use it, use it and then suffer. Suffer from even wanting to use it, but not receiving what we want. This is, all of it is called the path of suffering, on all of its different modes. And then there's the path of Torah. Well, I don't discover the will to receive as bad by itself, it brings me trouble. No. I look at spirituality a little bit. I, from my study, from all kinds of actions that I make, I begin to discover that in spirituality, in order to bestow, there's a great deal of grace. There are great things there. There's eternity, wholeness, attainment. Something that, I don't know, that doesn't exist at all in the will to receive. And then I see that the will to receive is evil, not because it brings me trouble, because I get caught stealing, because I want certain fulfillment and I don't get them. Rather, the will to receive is evil, because it doesn't let me reach those good things in spirituality. Meaning, I begin to compare it with spirituality. And because of that, I begin to want to, want to have it just disappear from the world, it's called, right? Meaning, remove it from me. This is called the path of Torah. For in the upper light that shines to me, just a little bit, I begin to see the will we receive is evil, and I want to change, to bestow. And then I'm attracted to spirituality. When I'm attracted to spirituality, it's the other way around. The will we receive doesn't bother me. The more I have the will we receive, if I can bring it to spirituality, it's better. So I don't destroy it, I don't go against its development, because it's not going to do me any good. I take all of it, all of it, and I begin to demand the light to reform it. That's it. Therefore, however you look at it, when you take this path, the development with the reforming light, this thing is natural. It follows the development of the will we receive and the development of humanity in general, and it's the only path that can give men an answer to those questions. Why do I suffer? Don't suffer. Use the will we receive. It's developing in you, but use it correctly. That's why specifically using the will to receive, correcting it in order to bestow, is the perfect answer to all those questions. You don't have to restrict yourself. You don't have to artificially, seemingly, escape all the pleasures. Rather, you enter a complete use of the will to receive.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:26) But when a person looks at others, he sees them as flawed, as the will to receive working in a flawed manner. But he doesn't see that on himself. 

M. Laitman: How can it be? How does it turn out that a person looks at others and sees that they are all in the will to receive and he's not? 

Student: He's acting just like them.

M. Laitman: Rabash gives a very simple example. He says, I have a son. My neighbor has a son. My son is cute. He's doing good things. He's smart. You know this, right? I look at him. He's like a little person. I see the neighbor's kid. He's dirty. He doesn't know anything. He's neglected. He doesn't know anything. Of course, he makes a lot of noise all the time. How come? It's a matter of attitude. My child, he doesn't have the same as the neighbor's child. They're both kids. There's no difference. Only in me, I see my son, I see the good half. And in the neighbor's son, I see the evil half, right? So you're the same. And your friends, they're all the same. But me, I can justify myself. I know why I'm like this. But the friend, why isn't he not like that? That's the difference. 

Student: So this is true and that is true. 

M. Laitman: Yes. And later you'll see it differently. You'll see the negative things in you and the positive things in the friend. You'll begin to envy him. It will be a bad envy, but later maybe good. A good envy, meaning you would want to be close to him, to learn from him, to grow stronger by him. You will give to him, he will contribute to you - you'll begin to buy yourself a friend. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:06:21) On page 328, second paragraph, it says, if a person is given something important and he doesn't know its value, and there are other people who do know the importance of this thing, then the people get, they are able to take this thing either by stealing it or because it is lost, because the person doesn't know how to keep it. So what is this value that we're talking about? 

M. Laitman: On page 328, it's written, “it is known that if you give something important to a person who does not know its value, and there are people who do know its importance, that thing will move to those people who know the value of this thing, either by theft or by losing it, for the person will not know how to keep it. And there are people who know its value, and they will steal or find it in some other way and not return it to the owner.” What does it mean? If something is important to me, then I work to acquire it somehow. If there's no choice, then I steal it. Maybe I don't steal it, but maybe I pay something, maybe I'm willing to make an exchange for it, but that's what it is. As it says, “go and make a living off of one another.” That means that we're constantly negotiating. I give to him, he gives to me, and each one is doing something in the world, and each one needs everyone to serve him. That's how we're built, how we're made. And each time in our lives, we choose something more important, as it appears to me. So we constantly have to pay attention to what is important for us. And in human nature, if something is important to him, he begins to discern it from everything, distinguish it from everything, begins to find in it such modes, some qualities, some sides that he didn't see in it before. Suddenly, he discovers, he begins to get to know it in such a way that no one else knows it. This is, for example, a professional, a skilled professional. Right? You'll talk to him about something that for you, it's negligible. You're using it, but for him, he knows every little thing about it, right? It all depends on one's attention to the thing, the importance of the thing. This is the matter of a skilled professional, right? With everything in life, we highlight something, we make it, we spotlight it, we make it the main thing, we begin to engage in it. It becomes the central thing for us, everything is secondary. And then I can do many things in it, and I become an expert about it. This thing becomes important to me. I want only that. That's how we should critique ourselves, right? Criticize ourselves, analyze ourselves. What's important to me, and how do I work on it? What do I choose as important?

Student: In general, there is importance to the things that we're trying to attain, like, or to study. But if you see that you have that, what does it mean to steal? 

M. Laitman: No, he says something simple here. He speaks about the importance of the thing. But if something is important to me, I try to get to it in every way possible. I wish to acquire it, however it may be. Stealing is a good thing. First of all, when I look at something, I say, “I want this.” Like a child, right? Kids, you know, calm little kids. He doesn't ask, whose is this? Whose is this? What is this? He just wants to grab it. But you forgive a child, right? He doesn't have a mind. He's not considerate, right? We're also, the first thought is, I want it, right? But, let me begin with the but. Well, it's not mine, but will be of me, maybe yes, maybe not. But eventually, yeah, when is it called stealing or theft? Theft means that I know with certainty that it belongs to someone, and I do not consider him. What I do is I try to do it, I try to acquire it, to receive it against his will. Now, stealing or theft is when I do it in concealment. It could be that I'm, with this theft, that I'm concealing it from myself, that I don't know that I'm stealing it, right? It could be concealed from the person from whom I'm stealing, or it could be from both of us. After the theft, I'm no longer a thief, how do you call it? 

Student: A robber. 

M. Laitman: Robber, where I don't look at all. I look at you, I come to you and I take, and we're done. I use the force, meaning, this is already, well, in short, there are many matters here. Everyone uses spirituality, they're all used in spirituality. All these qualities, there's no quality in us that we will not use. Even, moreover, in spirituality, we use even in a good way in all those qualities, also theft, and also robbery, in a good manner. Meaning, what's in a good way? Against the will to receive. I conceal from the will to receive, I steal from it, I, in all kinds of methods, come to it in order to take out of it to the part in order to bestow. For the service of, in order to bestow. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:13:08) To acquire friends, is that in general, or each one needs to work in that way, personally, in a personal way? 

M. Laitman: Whether to buy a friend, you can do generally? When I relate this way to everyone, yes. I actually don't think that we need to relate personally to someone, to something, or to choose to oneself some three, four people. I, let's say, work here with several people together, yes? There's a few guys that are in my department, let's say. And I work with them together all the time. I'm with them on the phone, with this and that. That's work. I know them better because, simply, for the same profession. I know them more in the field. But this doesn't tell me that I'm actually relating to them like to my friends in spirituality. My friends in spirituality can be completely different. Those from which I am more impressed, who can bestow on me more in his manner and how he relates to spirituality, how he invests, how he devotes to the work. It's different than those that I maybe work with them. Although they're also doing it, but it actually depends on the character, the manner in which a person does it. Let's say there's a friend, that runs here from morning to night like this and does everything, and I'm with him in contact all the time. But I'm more impressed from another friend. Understand? That's an example. That's it. One has nothing to do with the other. The form in which he does it seemingly influences me. It depends on my characteristics, on my qualities. He influences me more than the other friend. What should I do? It's like that. It's not worthwhile to even pay attention to someone, something. But in general, all the society contributes to the whole society. Don't put this or that. Maybe you'll have a disappointment from one or from the other, or maybe like this or another way. It should be a more general relation, which will give all kinds of possibilities to the society. Not that it'll be easier for you to run away from it, but kind of locking in on one person, I wouldn't quite say that it's good. It limits. Then you throw and disregard and don't enjoy the general force of the society. It's many people, and they're all working. I don't think that it's good. But again, it depends on a person's characteristics and the state he's still in. 

Student: I think about the child of the neighbor. There's a lot of people, a year, two years. 

M. Laitman: I don't know. What is it from speaking from someone who's here for a year or two? I see there's some person. He's kind of humble, quiet. He's giving tea to everyone. He comes quietly, and he gives tea. So I never spoke to him ever. But I respect and learn from him all those things. 

Student: But if you don't invest, how can you... 

M. Laitman: How is it that I didn't invest? I'm probably investing. Otherwise, I wouldn't see it. If I weren't to invest, I wouldn't see. That's for sure. Only according to one's investment. I want to see each and every one greater, like my child. I want him to grow. So if there is such a movement from someone, I immediately see it. Because I want to see it. I'm expecting. So I have no problem to see. On the contrary. Sometimes I don't see and don't hear, and I'm not told. That's not good. That's why it's written that we have to speak in the society about what I'm doing. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:18:18) In general, bestowing in society, or each one separately. If you don't invest in a certain person, so how can you get inspired by him? Maybe you could say that a person has to bestow in society, and then get the whole force of all of society. 

M. Laitman: Whoever invests himself towards the whole society, certainly enjoys the whole society in return. But under the condition that he pays attention to the whole society somehow. He thinks of what departments are here, what they do, in what departments people are working, what they're doing? He sometimes goes through here and there to look, to be impressed of what they do in the evenings, how they're working in the fields, in different places. For me, it's kind of missing that I'm kind of. I don't know what's happening outside of the walls of this building. I don't know if they're opening lessons or courses outside of our Center. And I'm missing it for appreciation. But here, when people work, I look, I try to absorb it, the impression. But it's only from those. There are many people that are working in the field and not here, and I'm not impressed by them. They also don't hear. They don't talk about it. Sometimes I hear, so I'm amazed. Whoa, what's he doing? I didn't know. If we knew how much. Meaning, all the addition that we ourselves can grow and yearn for the Creator, meaning grow in height with the addition that needs to come to us from the environment. And this addition comes according to the appreciation of the environment. To the extent in which you pay attention to it and how it influences you. You expect it to influence you in a good way. So, to look at the society in a nice, a pleasant, beautiful way, like upon a little child, because then you catch from him every new movement when he develops and suddenly does something unnecessary. And because I expect advancement of you, then I look at you in such a way, so I benefit from it. But that's good.

Reader: Now we are going to have a workshop to summarize for six minutes. What from this lesson are we taking to implement in the Ten?

Reader: We will move to the next part of the lesson, but beforehand, sing a song together. 

Song: (01:28:08)