Part 2:
Baal HaSulam. The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee]. #19
1. R. (00:18) Yes, this article is the most important article, Baal HaSulam wrote it together with Matan Torah, The Giving of the Torah, and this is how we should see them as tied stay together, let's see it now as well.
Reading item #19 (00:40 - 04:03) “Rabbi Elazar, son of Rashbi, clarifies the matter of Arvut even further..”
2. S. (04:11) He says here that “all admit that it is not enough one nation”, what does it mean that ‘it is enough one nation’?
R. Well, one group, one group.
S. Yes but it says “only to begin the correction because it was impossible to start with all the nations”?
R. Right, there wasn’t a connection between all the nations, the groups, all the different people, the tribes; everything was scattered and there was no communication.
S. So what was that one nation that started the correction?
R. One group showed itself to be this way.
S. That Abraham started?
R. Yes, in Babylon.
S. So essentially he was the first who started it?
R. Yes
3. S. (05:30) What does it mean when it says that “they were chosen out of necessity”, the children of Israel were chosen out of necessity, what was that necessity?
R. Necessity means that no one asked them, to begin with, later they did ask them if you want or not, ‘we should do and we should hear’ but basically that is how it was decided from above. Also according to the structure of the souls in them, they have the sensitivity to the matter of connection.
4. S. (06:27) This phrase of ‘we will do and we will hear’, can we say that we are doing first in faith above reason and then we understand why the Creator is giving us through us, this correction?
R. Yes.
5. S. (06:51) If we receive the Torah is a necessity, so what is this merit, how do we feel this merit each and every time?
R. Let's move on and see; but you're right and even if my grandparents took upon themselves something, why is it related to me, why must I? What, does this Torah pass on from ancestry, one by one? I do not want to receive anything I want to be free, you understand? These are questions that we still have to answer.
6. S. (07:45) To continue to question: it is written that “all of Israel agreed to do the work”; is every generation of Israel as asked, is our generation asked if we agree to this work?
R. Maybe we will keep on reading, we will understand, it is possible. Certainly all of us, all of us have to open these questions and know how to answer them, otherwise a person will not be ready for the final correction.
Reading #20 (08:41 - 11:35) “But the end of the correction of the world will only be by bringing all the people ..”
7. R. (11:41) Basically there is not much here, in the text that you can’t understand but did you need questions?
8. S. (11:52) What does it mean ‘to shift into the balance to merit in the masses’?
R. That you have weights and you are weighing one compared to the other, and wherever you will have some mass or good states or nice actions on the one hand, then it is heavier, it is worth more than compared to the other side.
S. But in the nation, there should be some critical mass for this correction of unity.
R. Of course people should be aimed at the connection between themselves, some mutual connection and out of the connection between themselves to turn to the Creator with prayer and bestowal, I have nothing to add more.
S. This is the wide masses will need to unite and turn to the Creator.
R. Ultimately it will happen undoubtedly, where will it come from? From feeling the need for it from within, the need for that, they will feel. Homework.
9. S. (13:50) Yes there's a sentence that we hear a lot, it says “in that day, there is Creator and His name is one and that day and not before”. Tell me, what happens when you get to ‘that day’ and what is ‘that day’ at all?
R. I don't know what is ‘that day’ but there will be this state where we will all want to unite and bestow to the Creator and then we’ll get back good bestowal from Him.
S. Why is it so sharp that he says “then in that date and not before”, why is it so sharp?
R. Everyone expects it to be today or tomorrow and I don’t know when it will happen but I’m certain it’ll happen when people will get closer to each other and they’ll bestow to the Creator from the connection between us.
S. Is there a difference, a shift until you get to ‘that one day’, is that a part of the work that we’re doing now?
R. Yes of course, we bring people closer to that.
S. And what happens in that day, do you have an idea?
R. That day we will start feeling that we are incorporated in each other, we’re closer to one other, we have one desire to bestow to the Creator from everyone, and then we, in that we in that desire, we start receiving the bestowal back from Him, back to us to all of us, to all of humanity.
S. Not everyone has to attain it, right?
R. Everyone, everyone!
S. Really, everybody, everybody?
R. Yes, everybody, that's considered the final correction.
10. S. (16:00) . . . . “to merit the reception of the Torah”?
R. Being connected together between ourselves, nothing else we need.
11. S. (16:26) It's clear that our system, the lectures are bringing to the world some measure of change to people but I wanted to ask about the global prayer that our friends are doing every day practically, twice a day. Does this strength, does it bring to the world a portion of correction?
R. Yes, yes and substantial part, it is very important, that there is a great value to that, it is important. The fact that we are connecting somehow, to certain extent that we are asking the Creator to come out of this ego and to act together so that we can raise our desires to Him, our desire for connection, it’s very important, very substantial.
12. S. (17:38) There's a preface to this state that to bestow to the Creator we’re going to be able to do, should there be a trend in society that repulsion, rejection from one another is kind of like the unpacking of the state that will allow us to bestow to the Creator?
R. No we shouldn’t do that, we should do exactly according to what written meaning to aspire for connection all the time.
S. Meaning that people don’t need to understand that within the connection, that it’s normal.
R. We need to understand that, for that, I need to work.
S. No translation
R. I don't know about these trends, I have this rejection, I know according to the wisdom of Kabbalah that we need to aspire for connection.
S. It’s very difficult to ask people.
R. No one says that you have to do that now but to explain in advance what will be the correction of the world, that’s something you can do.
S. Just the yearning of the people to understand the repulsion of the another, this is something that is very lively, why do they feel it, it’s something very relevant right now and the desire to understand it.
R. The fact that we are rejected from each other, that awakens the Creator in us so we can feel how we must reach connection between us; otherwise who knows what's going to happen to us? That’s clear, we have to understand that without connection to all of humanity we won't be able to advance to anything good, rather we always go into state of danger of existence.
13. S. (20:15) In item 20, he writes that “each mitzvah that a person of Israel does in order to bring contentment to the Creator and not for self benefit, he then brings a measure of development to the whole world”, this mechanic is concealed from us?
R. Well think, think until tomorrow and tomorrow we will answer us, talk to your friends about this.
14. S. (20:55) In the previous item he defines the nation of Israel, and the nation of Israel for years had a definition that is called ‘the nation of Israel; and here now, we are in the World Kli that is composed of friends from all over the world and it’s as if the nation of Israel has gone through a certain upgrade. Are there more stages in that thing that is called the nation of Israel?
R. It doesn’t matter, whoever is connected to the Creator he’s called ‘Israel’, that’s all. It’s not about this nationality, it has nothing to do with a certain nation or group, nothing like that. That's why it's a problem for humanity to understand who is Israeli, it will be revealed. Now in the meantime, there's no relation here.
Reading (22:04 - 25:12) #21 “These are the words of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who said that the world is judged by its majority…”
15. R. (25:16) In other words, he who has a desire in his heart, in his brain, if someone has a desire for it and he cares about it and he wants to find the future of the world this way, he's called Yashar El, it’s not about nationality, that's why he's draw to it and he reaches the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah and making up this final generation together.
16. S. (25:52) people who direct his heart to the Creator are responsible and face help all people to develop, what is his responsibility and how does it help all humanity if people in this group perform a mitzvah, one by one?
R. I want to add here: people who receive from the heart, a feeling that they are yearning for the Creator, are drawn to the Creator, not just religious or some mystics, are people who want to know feel and understand, connect in mind on hard with the Creator in a way that we are studying in the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is what he needs.
S. The question is: what is the responsibility on these people and does it help and how does it help all humanity when they perform these mitzvot?
R. The fact that those people are receiving a push from the Creator to connect between them and know the Creator, to build His image from zero is something that we should see as necessary, that they are preparing these things for all of humanity. And this is why this is the way and the way we exist, that we connect in the group or in groups, arrange yourselves in such a way that more and more and more, we understand what speaks of, what connection, what process, what will happen to us if we walk by it and so on. And thus we’ll get closer to the state that eyes will open and we’ll understand what we are doing.
17. S. (28:23) It sounds that the central component in The Arvut article is collective responsibility?
R. Right, this is how is written Arvut, Arvut cannot be done by oneself, only many people together.
S. Yes, this collective responsibility is really critical to the existence even but people are affected from different things and each one is changing on his own, how can you awaken and sustain this?
R. Through that, we want to keep Arvut, stay connected and grasp one another, hold one another, hug one another and in this way we grow stronger and stronger; and pray, ask for the Creator to shine upon us, and through that we will receive the force of the Arvut.
S. Do we also need to pray for the people who are not on the path?
R. On everyone, of course, we can cannot wipe them from that soul that is revealed in the world, meaning the collection of all the desires.
18. S. (30:05) So what is a Arvut in the ten?
R. Arvut in the ten is where each is responsible for the others as sitting in one boat and making sure he doesn’t make the boat flip, that nobody drowns.
S. How is that expressed?
R. In me keeping guard the boat, guarding it hold, that all of us are composed of this boat and we're not letting it drown or sink.
S. And if suppose I discover that I'm the one drilling in the whole the boat or the friend is drilling the hole, that’s something that Arvut should cover?
R. Yes, that even if we drill a hole, somebody, and who knows if someone id drilling or even the person himself might not be aware of this. So he stops him and covers the damage.
19. S. (31:36) I would love to have some practical advice: there's equation here in Moscow again about what kind of Arvut do we have? Someone says that is a physical Arvut, that’s what stands before us, someone says we don't need it, everything is okay, one guy says that we need to set an example, what do you suggest?
R. I cannot suggest anything, I don't know anything, just think very well if you are investing in something, for it not to be for nothing. For now it's unclear what will be, not in the form of correction of the world, not in the form for the world and peace, peace and war, nothing is clear yet; so I don't know what to suggest to you, what to recommend.
20. S. (32:59) What does “the Creator presents Torah for all the nations of the world” means?
R. That everyone feels before Him, that He has the two paths either to develop regularly as the rest of humanity, so far develops, or to develop in a way of a society that exists in mutual guarantee. Right now we are learning from our life in very quick and hastened ways how this mutual guaranteed this Arvut is a law of nature: that we cannot develop without looking at others, condemning them, and it comes back to us as a boomerang, this is why the future of the world is where we feel that we exist as one man with one heart with one intention in one vessel. And we have no other choice other than to come to one language, a mutual understanding, and we hope that it will come to us soon.
21. S. (34:40) Will it always be that only some of the people that yearn for the Creator, must be in that state and others just accept it. I see according to the people I know, the more I go deeper it seems to me that it awakens them, I start talking to them and I see the will to receive grows and they look at me and ask, what will this give me?
R. Don't worry, my dear, this will switch, it will switch, they will all come to this,we can only hasten it.
S. How come we accelerate the process?
R. Between us, to the measure that we connect more and more we influence the rest, it doesn't matter that there are billions, it’s inconsequential, that's inconsequential because our quality outweighs the quantity.
22. S. (36:10) the matter of the Arvut really puts a person at a dead end , the Arvut of eveyone in the ten? It sounds like can do it but it felt differently, there something I can influence, that's how it’s felt, is this correct that I should be more in responsibility to everyone?
R. Each has to yearn to fulfill in some measure this Arvut, in some measure, it doesn't have to be fully but in something, even at least in recognizing that this is a law of nature, just now I can’t fulfill it.
S. This means that it's enough that one per cent in each and every one?
R. Of course, we beginning it, at least we’re not at zero.
23. S. (37:22) For final Correction, is it enough that everyone in the world comes to the state of Arvut, in other words, ‘Love thy friend as thyself’, or does everyone have to come to a point of turning to the Creator, or both?
R. Apparently yes I'm not familiar, I don't know, I haven't been through the final Correction, I cannot say, but somehow it will happen soon.
24. S. (38:14) How to feel the friends when we cannot see them every day, how can we feel the friend that we don't see everyday in the same way as the ones that we see every day, and to be in Arvut with them?
R. I don't know what to tell you, if you don't have time then I don't know what to do. We still have to try, make efforts, to compose this smaller group maybe but for them to be able to connect each day for the friends, maybe better to choose the times in which you connect, I don't know. I think that you have to already connect to some way, in some way to the lesson: maybe determine the middle of the day, a time in the middle of the day or at night, half an hour or maybe even an hour, that you watch out of the archive already from the list the lesson that he was in the morning or in the afternoon, I don't know.
S. No.
R. So you’re saying that you don't have time?
S. I'm not asking about myself, I’m saying that we have friends in the ten that have work, that have children and work?
R. I understand, yes, okay, well, pray that your friends will have more time.
25. S. (40:39) If all these circumstances we're talking about distract our mind from the Arvut, are they for us to think about only asking of the Creator so my friends will cling to Him, that they will bring them closer to the Creator through the activity in the ten and dissemination? Meaning that all external events are only to distract our mind from the ten?
R. It is to give you an opportunity to connect and overcome.
26. S. (41:32) In order to reach “we shall do and we shall hear”, do we have to perform acts above reason, how not to be afraid of personal Providence?
R. Personal Providence, it's only good and only for the benefit of the person, this is why we have to be adhered, cleaved to this personal Providence in heart and in all over our souls.
27. S. (43:40) The Congress is coming closer and one of the lessons in the Congress is named, The Arvut as a condition to attain Lishma. Can we reach such as degree of Arvut in the Congress that we will be able to attain the state of Lishma?
R. Plese, of course it’s recommended, and possibly beforehand, we have to see these things before us, that we have no obstacles, everything is only within us.
S. How can we bang on the spot and come closer to it from Arvut to Lishma?
R. Through us hugging in a stronger and warmer way.
S. What do you mean ‘embrace’, how to do it practically?
R. I don't know, I remember some thing: one time you came to me and you said,” Rav I want you to hug me, can I hug you?” and we hugged and there was no problem with it, now do it to everyone.
S. Is this practical exercise?
R. It’s not a practical thing, you know diplomats hug and all the biggest liars, they’re hiding a knife behind their back, no, no. We have to in thought have to offer our heart to one another, extend our heart to one another and then everything will happen.
S. Well, in the ten maybe, between the tens were talking about the big Congress?
R. And then we will do it at the Congress.
28. S. (46:11) The friends are saying that after the World Kli raised a prayer, the situation is much better, at least there's light during the lesson. So I wanted to ask if maybe during the Congress we can have this attack, this is strike, or is it better to constantly make an effort?
R. We will pray, we will ask, not unnecessarily the electrical light but the spiritual light, we have what to ask for and we have Who to ask of, so we’ll work on this.
29. S. (47:05) As RASHBI wrote, “I am constantly striving to be involved with action of Arvut”, but what can I do to feel the actions internally? to be involved in actions what can I do to feel it internally?
R. I don't know, try to make attempts, make efforts, open your heart that it will feel the upper light that approaches it, comes near more and more and fills it, it depends on you and your friends. You have very strong groups both men and women, you are not lacking anything,only to connect, unite and demand. You have good desires, great, correct preparations.
30. S. (48:25) How can the scales of . . . . . and what are our roles in that?
R. That each and everyone in the group will justify the friend, and then you instantly, each and everyone according to his effort, push the scale of merit to merit.
31. S. (49:37) I want to continue back to the question about the Congress and the state we’re in: during the Women's Congress, we really wanted for such a state to happen, there was a responsibility on us that we will reach certain state in the Congress, now there's a feeling that we have everything but something is missing. What's missing is a lot, I will try to picture it, let's say there is a man, I really love him and he loves me but we have never met and we are about to meet. And on the one hand, it’s scary, along with that a tsunami of love has to burst there so that we will meet and break all the boundaries between us, all of us, between one another and to the Creator, how can we make the tsunami of love happen?
R. We need to think not that it’s going to happen in two weeks but it’s going to happen today, and then we will be successful, you cannot wait anymore. You are just exploding with impatience, with the yearning to hug everyone and so on. Think about it, in 2 weeks, whoever can put it away for two weeks can also put away for many years.
31. S. (51:29) Can the ten reach the final correction before humanity?
R. Of course it can be because it represents within itself a mini humanity.
32. S. (52:01) How are we responsible for each other in the World Kli?
R. In the next world, each to the other.
33. S. (52:19) In what ways can a friend drill a hole in the ten, in the ship of the ten?
R. That she's giving me an opportunity to do so, then she will do it guaranteed, necessarily, she will do it.
34. S. (52:41) How can we examine ourselves if we are in Arvut to the ten, one hundred percent?
R. This we need to feel in the heart, no one can check it instead of the other, only each and every person as much as he is capable of, to position his heart and soul, his spirit for the friends; in this, he measures the degree of his Arvut.
35. R. (53:47) Friends, we have to finish soon, I thought we were going to have a third part of Talmud of the Ten Sephirot, and I apologize that we could get to it but I see that we are on the way of understanding of the correction, we're coming to the Congress in the correct way. So be healthy, we have, as usual, a lesson at 12 in the afternoon according to Israeli time. I love you and I'm prepared to do whatever you want, just do what is up to you that I cannot do. Good luck and all the best.