Morning Lesson September 24, 2023

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio

Part 1:

Rabash. Article No. 36, (1986). What Is Preparation for the Selichot [Forgiveness]

Reading Article. (00:41) “It is known that for anything we want,..”

1. S. (24:04) He writes in the first line it is known that for everything we want, we have to prepare the means, and then when he speaks of between man and man, he writes that a person measures a measure of offense he caused to a friend, to that extent he performs a means. What are these means?

R. What there is between him and his friend – that he wants to shift “above reason.”

2. S. (24:55) The whole matter of “within reason,” “above reason,” everything a person does is still about reaching this feeling “within reason,” meaning here, too, at the end of the article, he writes that that difference will disappear between “above reason” and “within reason.” So, you still need to come to the fact that what we do, even if it is above all the unpleasant feelings, you do it so that you will have a discernment “within reason.” So, what then is “above reason?”

R. Try doing that and see the difference as he explained.

S. You can't explain what is “above reason?”

R. No, only from your effort, your personal effort.

3. S. (26:08) Concerning forgiveness, why is asking forgiveness from the Creator only because he did not have faith in the Creator?

R. If he has how to answer with faith, then he doesn't need forgiveness. Then he's trying. He’s improving.

S. It is written that when it’s a Mitzva, a commandment of faith, here all the slanderers come and all the obstructions and the body begins to ask many questions whether the body itself asks or what the body hears. The question is about faith from other people: are these two different kinds of work with this slandering?

R. Now ultimately a person is impressed by both this and that.

S. So the work is the same. What should he come to?

R. To accept it “above reason.”

S. Accept that he's now hearing slander about faith?

R. Whatever he hears.

S. How does he become stronger in faith?

R. When he accepts it “above reason” and does everything to be above that.

S. So, it should be like a habit?

R. No, habit can’t happen here. It requires work each time.

S. I mean a habit where each time I discover a lack of faith, I have to aspire to yearn for faith in a different way, each time of course?

R. I don't know about another way, but each time to yearn anew.

4. S. (28:11) I want to ask you about forgiveness. It is written in the article that we shouldn't say sorry just for nothing, but what we understand is that when something bad happens between two people, then we ask for each other's forgiveness, but with the example here, I don't feel so bad, that something bad happened that I should ask for forgiveness from another?

R. This is a sign that you need to be more sensitive, more sensitive. How do you take the friend into account and how the friend takes you into account in your view and then you will see there is what to add here. What kind of correction needs to be added. That's it. We will talk about it more.

5. S. (29:17) What is the role of the ten in the depiction of “within reason,” how I would feel “within reason?”

R. The role of the ten is that if I do not include the ten in my effort, then I don't finish the work. I don't have a template where I can feel where I am and how I should receive what the Creator is sending me.

S. What am I searching to receive from the ten that will be considered “within reason” so that I understand how I'm supposed to work “within reason?”

R. You have to try to receive, to accept, every ten as your own. For now, there's no specific ten in front of you. It’s all your will to receive, and you, in that, in it, you wish to understand where you are towards them.

S. So I should check with what I enjoy in the ten?

R. That, too. These are already personal questions.

S. He writes here that if it's to the same extent, then we can say that it is “above reason,” but if there's a gap, it's regarded as “within reason.” So, what if there's a desire that the way I work will seem more or that I will do more, because right now, it feels like the way I am working is kind of minor?

R. Well that's what you have. Keep going and see how it grows.

S. Should I work on making it bigger?

R. Yes.

6. S. (31:35) Rabash writes in the article about honor or respect. Is there a difference between awe and fear of the Creator or fear of Heaven?

R. The fear of honor is with regards to the honor of a person, of self-dignity, or the honor of the person, or the honor of the friend, or the honor of the Creator, or that of the Torah. There are many discernments here.

7. S. (32:15) What does it mean to keep or observe a Mitzva?

R. It means to carry out the command that the Creator wants us, that we will behave or think or feel or write or do some action that He wants us to do in order to get closer to Him through equivalence of form.

S. What does it mean to keep Torah and Mitzvot?

R. It means that I, man, am willing to get closer to all of the world according to what one understands from the Torah.

8. S. (33:10) What is the sin between us in the ten?

R. The sin is that a person feels himself, in and of himself. He doesn't understand it. He doesn't want to understand it, but rather, what he feels that belongs to him and he’s good and then it is good. And what touches him and feels not good, then he moves away from it as much as possible. That's basically the natural response of the person towards any force that influences him.

9. S. (34:02) What does it mean to forgive each other and not just in words?

R. To forgive each other and not just in words is that we need to see all the friends as messengers – messengers of the Creator from Above – that each of them wants to tell me something by which I can get better. Then, in such a way, we can very quickly move forward towards the connection between us and with the Creator.

10. S. (34:47) What efforts should I do in the relationship so that the friend will forgive me for the harm that was done?

R. We certainly cause harm to each other. No one does harm to himself, let's say. Rather, each one is doing harm to others.

11. S. (35:25) What is the difference between partial faith and complete faith?

R. Partial faith is in some specific well-defined conditions, and complete faith is that in all my Kli, I already feel according to how the Creator clothed in it that I want to carry out adhesion with the Creator to the fullest.

12. S. (36:10) How can we succeed in negotiating with the body in order to rise “above reason?”

R. We have to try to be in contact with the friends so that the gaps between us will show us what we need to do in order to connect with them in a single heart.

13. S. (36:52) Do we have to know exactly what sins we committed?

R. Yes and no, meaning it doesn't matter to me exactly what the sin is, but how do I correct it? That's what I'm asking about.

14. S. (37:08) Should the ten discuss together how each one can get better, can become better, and how will it not be insulting or offensive criticism?

R. Yes, as much as possible, each and everyone. We can also talk about all this together. We will talk about this today.

15. S. (37:50) Each one walks on the path and discerns what he discerns. It seems to me like there's a huge outcry here that we have to make. Do you believe that everything is from the Creator and what are you willing to do in return for this faith, meaning to relinquish my will to receive in return for recognizing that there is a Creator, and I'm willing to work for Him because I feel like it's not sinking into me and I have to cry out about it and scrutinize it. This is what I think.

R. I still don’t understand.

S. The statement that Rabash is asking us to understand here is what turns me from a gentile to a Jew? Am I crowning the King over me, meaning I am willing to relinquish working for me and work for the sake of others, to place the needs of the ten over mine. This is the scrutiny I have to make. If I do this, it is called faith. If not, I am wrong?

R. Correct.

S. And I jumped because I feel complacent. It’s as if I'm ignoring it.

R. We are certainly moving that way if we don’t pay attention to that.

16. S. (39:32) He says here that the sin is mainly that a person is not trying to have permanent faith, and if he has partial faith, he settles for it. So, what are we not doing enough to have permanent faith? Are we not working enough in the ten? What are we not doing enough?

R. We are not demanding. Faith needs to be demanded – that the Creator will shine on us, and by that, the light that reforms, we will receive the power of faith.

S. But to demand, I have to say I did the maximum – now, give it to me. What can a person demand if he didn't..?

R. He has to ask with everyone, by all kinds of actions, and through this collaboration reach a state where he forces the Creator to shine on us with the power of faith. And then they transcend the will to receive to some extent. This means they receive the light of Bina and that is now what gives them freedom from the will to receive. To that extent, they can then connect between them and keep going in mutual actions.

S. So, it's something that we have to renew all the time – this permanent faith? We need to constantly demand more connection between us – there’s nothing else to demand. So, what are we asking forgiveness for – for not asking enough?

R. Yes, the forgiveness is for not caring, not asking, not working between us to achieve that, to make the preparation, to build the right place for it. Yes, that's how it is.

S. And this is the introspection that we have to make?

R. Yes, of course. That I always need to be in the request for faith – that only by the power of faith, I can be above my ego.

17. S. (42:07) It sometimes feels like if I cling to faith and to There's None Else Beside Him, it's like I'm avoiding responsibility because there are things that I have to tend to but I'm saying no, There's None Else Besides Him. I don't want to criticize it, and then things might fall apart and I'm not taking care of them.

R. That could be but on the condition that you don't feel yourself responsible to pass that onto the group. Pass it on to the group – that's what you have to do. You're asking to be given from Above some force of repentance – let's say force of faith – and that this force is what you have to pass on to the ten and ultimately to the whole world but at least to the ten for now. Otherwise, really, if not the ten, then what are you asking for? For yourself, that's a bigger ego than before.

18. S. (43:32) When we work on the connection, we begin to feel the greatness of the Creator “within reason?”

R. Yes.

S. How do we raise it “above reason” if we feel the greatness of the Creator “within reason?”

R. When you want to raise the greatness of the Creator, in all of the incidents that you are going through whatever it is, above everything.

S. What is the action?

R. The action is that you always want to adhere to Him – to get strength from that and pass on that strength to the whole ten.

S. It's clear when we are in an ascent and feel the greatness of the Creator, but at that moment I have to work on all the moments of descents and separation, to look back?

R. No, you don't need to go and detail them. You simply need to work in such a way that everything you receive from the connection, you raise it to the Creator. You want to be included in it, incorporated in it.

19. S. (45:05) He says that the main sin is not to have faith in the greatness of the Creator, in “faith above reason.”

R. That this is the main sin?

S. He says this is the main sin.

R. Yeah, the sin is primarily not belief – not having faith.

S. This I understand is about sins between man and the place.

R. Yes.

S. What are sins between man and his friend, where he says sometimes the greatness of the friends needs to be “within reason.” So, not seeing the friends as great “within reason" is my sin?

R. Yes, of course. You don't see them as great.

S. Can you say this is the main sin between man and his friend?

R. Yes.

20. S. (46:06) What does it mean to pass this force to the ten?

R. To awaken them. Awaken them. Very simple.

S. Awaken them how?

R. By having the possibility now to cause correction for each other and all of us together to rise to the level of faith – mutual bestowal.

S. I ask for strength from the Creator to pass on to the ten – that's what I ask for?

R. Yes.

21. S. (47:10) What does it mean that there will be no difference between “reason” and “above reason?”

R. This is a high degree – when a person has already corrected himself in such a way that to him, these two degrees become “as one”. They become “as one” – “above reason” and “within reason.” These things are very great.

22. S. (48:14) Between man and his friend, if I hurt the friend but he didn't feel it or didn't notice, should I still ask for forgiveness?

R. You don't need to ask forgiveness, you need to act in such a way that this hurting will become something positive – that what you thought about him, you will think differently.

23. S. (48:55) There was a question about the body in relation to faith. When a person acquires it from others, is it easier to overcome these questions, transcend them?

R. Try. Try.

24. S. (49:30) I always try to be bonded with the friends and the Creator every moment. What does it mean that I see forward and ask for forgiveness from the Creator? What am I asking for forgiveness for because He did it?

R. The fact that we are revealing or discovering the sin, of course it comes from the Creator, but the fact that He drops on us all those sins, this is already our problem. It is that we deserve to feel how far we are – how disconnected we are – from the Creator which is called a sin and this is a result of the disconnection and the distance between us. This is why we have to correct ourselves as quickly as possible so we don't return into that sin.

S. What is the scrutiny when I ask for forgiveness? Can I just ask for connection with the friends all the time, and here, I have to ask for forgiveness, not just connection with them. So, it's like finding out some problem within me?

R. Yes, of course, this is the problem. The problem is that I have to see exactly where’s my sin, what exactly am I missing, what exactly do I have to ask for, and then ask. I don't just cry “give it to me.”

25. S. (51:21) What corrects the request for the forgiveness from the ten? How much can a person influence this forgiveness? Everything comes from the Creator, so what do you ask for forgiveness in the ten? It’s not clear why.

R. Of course you are right – everything is determined in advance by the Creator. Everything is prepared in advance for us, including our sins. We, ourselves, understand that none of us created ourselves before we came, besides the Creator, so you cannot blame anyone besides the Creator. He planned and made in us all of these qualities in which we are so low, so ignoble, lower than everyone, including all the animals, because we want to do harm to one another, which animals don't really want to. Animals want to satisfy their animate egoism – their small, little animate egoism. Yet, we have to understand that, with our litanies, with our requests, our prayers, we can elevate ourselves above everyone in our correction and attain the most sublime highest point.

26. S. (53:40) It says that one who asks for forgiveness for a big thing will not be forgiven as one that asks for a little thing. I do not understand why there is this loss?

R. Soon, we will understand.

27. S. (54:10) Why did the Creator give us the “reason” and then He asks us to go “above reason?” Is it because He wants us to leave everything, including our reason, and only adhere to Him?

R. Yes, yes because in the end, we don't have that either. Besides adhesion with the Creator, where through this connection we receive all the spiritual qualities, we cannot have anything.

28. S. (54:54) There's two interesting paragraphs that I'm asking about. The first one is about what's written in the portion Nitzavim, that this commandment that I command you today is not far from you, it's not above or beyond the ocean. It’s very close to you and to your heart to do. The second paragraph, on the other page, says this commandment, the commandment of faith, is not beyond you, meaning that you don't need to give answers to the body’s questions that it asks “within reason” because the commandment of faith is built “above reason” and my question is: from these two paragraphs, I understand one thing – that working “above reason” is canceling the body, the will to receive, rising above it. Meaning that I rely on the mind of the upper One. Is that “faith above reason,” and of course, you have to pass it on to the ten?

R. Yes, except it’s not a body but a desire.

S. Body mains desire, Rav.

R. Yes, I agree with you. The body of the desire. Let it be this way.

29. S. (56:28) The ten as a whole, as a body, can it ask for something? Can it ask for forgiveness?

R. The ten can ask for forgiveness together and advance this way and be in a process of advancing towards the Creator, but I don't think this is what we need. If we are advancing in the ten, we are constantly in new requests, in new qualities.

30. S. (57:13) What appears in the heart as the main difference between the state of faith and the state of reason? Where is the transition between them happening?

R. What is revealed is new vessels in our desire, in our hearts. We need to try to connect them – to see in them a common result – and in this way, take another step and another step forward.

31. S. (58:05) We read that the main sin is that the person doesn't try to have constant faith. The question is what's the thing that prevents the person the most from achieving constant faith?

R. It is to connect with all the friends. Hold them all together. Each one should hold the others very tightly and come into each other and make room for everyone, for each and everyone, so that there is a connection, a mutual connection, that is as deep as possible.

32. S. (58:52) What is closer to correction – asking forgiveness knowing it will be received for my sin or asking for forgiveness knowing it won’t be accepted?

R. I didn't really understand the question. Can you repeat?

S. What is closer to correction – to ask for forgiveness when I know the Creator will not forgive me or knowing that the Creator will forgive me?

R. It is a good question, both psychologically and kabbalistically. I need to be certain that the Creator will forgive and bring me to corrections, that He loves me and treats me like a mother who loves her children. And, I should have no doubt about that. It seems to us that if we're not certain of it, then we have more work, more doubts, more actions. No, incorrect, incorrect. We need to try to be as adhered, connected, embraced between ourselves and with the Creator, and this is what will pull us out of every pit, every hole.

33. S. (01:00:40) When a person is as a separate individual, separate entity, from the others, is that sin the pleasure that a person receives in the vessels to receive in order to receive – that is the pleasure he asks the Creator to restrict?

R. Yes, it is called the pleasure of separation, pleasure of disconnection, of remoteness, of the shattering.

S. Does he begin to restrict the spiritual work from this restriction?

R. From this onward we begin to correct ourselves.

34. S. (01:01:33) We have a question from a friend. In my scrutinies, I understood that all that I need to ask forgiveness for is that I didn't ask of the Creator a strong enough desire to be corrected because all my friends are already corrected, and what is missing is only my desire to bring all the friends to the Creator – that desire is missing?

R. Yes.

35. S. (01:02:15) Rabash writes in yesterday's article that the main sin is not to ask for vessels of bestowal. Here, he writes that the main sin is not to ask for permanent faith. So, what's the connection between the two?

R. It is the same. We will see that he talks about one state but in several ways. It happens in the wisdom of Kabbalah because we're speaking through man's qualities.

36. S. (01:03:10) There are two commandments with regards to faith – in mouth and heart. What does that mean?

R. In the mouth is what I say, and in the heart is what I feel. Of course the correction in the heart is the fundamental correction.

S. Meaning it is more important?

R. Yes.

S. He speaks about whether the external mind that was given to a person can achieve it. We learn that every state has an opposite state, so what is the inner mind and the external mind?

R. The external mind is what works on filling external vessels, meaning in order to receive, and the inner intellect works on correcting and filling the inner vessels in order to bestow.

S. They work in collaboration or..?

R. Sometimes, they add to one another – they scrutinize with respect to each other, but basically, each one is in its own direction.

S. And the connection that we strive towards?

R. The connection is not between them – not between the external mind and the internal mind. We use the internal mind.

37. S. (01:04:48) Somehow, it doesn't work out for me. If one didn't do anything bad to another, so I don't get it. The Creator does everything and I, as if, betray Him twice. I ask forgiveness for what He did. He did that and I ask for forgiveness for that? Where is the honesty here so that I truly ask for forgiveness?

R. Ask and then you will see where there’s an outlet here. You have to ask.

38. S. (01:05:40) I will continue the friend, that a person receives all the states – that they come from the Creator. That is faith?

R. It's not complete faith and not permanent, but it is a degree.

S. If I am in a descent and I take everything with joy, is that work “above reason?”

R. How can you do it in a descent?

S. I accept all the states as coming from the Creator.

R. You are just saying words, but listen to yourself – to what you're saying, if it's even possible.

S. To accept the descent is coming from the Creator – that I understand that it's coming from the Creator?

R. We will scrutinize it.

https://kabbalahmedia.info/en/lessons/cu/jCUqIvBQ