The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 10, 2026
Reading:
(00:36)
What
Is
“He
Who
Has
a
Flaw
Shall
Not
Offer
[Sacrifice]”
in
the
Work?
Article No. 25, 1989
It is written in The Zohar (Emor, Item 41): “‘Whosoever he be of your seed throughout their generations who has a blemish.’ Rabbi Yitzhak said, ‘The reason is that he is flawed, and one who is flawed is unfit for serving in the holy.’ We established that one who is flawed has no faith in him and that flaw testifies of him. It is all the more so with a priest, who must be more complete and full of faith than anyone.”
We should understand this: According to this, if a person is born with some defect, does he have a choice to achieve faith in the Creator or does he have no choice and must remain without faith? What should that person do if he is told, “First you must go to the doctors to see if they can heal you from your flaw, and then you can come to learn about faith.” Can this be?
The thing is that we learn everything from the perspective of branch and root. This is the revealed part in the Torah, that all the work of Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] were given to us by way of branch and root. But when speaking of the hidden, meaning the intention and not the action, we interpret everything with regard to the work. Thus, that which is called “flaws or defects” does not pertain to the act, but to the aim.
We should know from where the flaws and defects in spirituality extend. They come to us because of the shattering that took place, when sparks of Kedusha [holiness] fell into the Klipot [shells/peels]. Through these sparks, the Klipot gained the power to remove a person from the work of the Creator, by giving him pleasures when he engages in order to receive pleasure, and a person cannot relinquish the pleasure he receives in Kelim [vessels] of self-benefit and work for the sake of the Creator.
When he engages in matters of bestowal, a person feels in all those actions that they have no flavor or fragrance. When he overcomes and does perform acts of bestowal, this work is not with all the organs. That is, not all the organs agree to this work. It follows that he is flawed. That is, when he works with the aim to bestow and wants to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, even after all the overcoming, there are still some organs that disagree with this work. It follows that he is missing organs, which is called “flawed” in the holy work.
All this, meaning that the organs do not agree with his work, is because they feel that there is a flaw in the work of bestowal. Thus, they themselves, meaning the workers themselves, say that there is no wholeness in this work, but that it is completely flawed. In such a state, how can it be said that there is wholeness in the work, when they themselves say that there is a blemish in the work? And how can work with flaws be given to the Creator?
In corporeality, this is like a person who gives a gift to a king and wants to show him that he is a loyal subject. Yet, his heart is not with him. That is, he has organs that ask him, “What will you get out of working for the king? Do you think that the king will pay you for working for him devotedly?” It follows that the person himself says that this work is flawed. It is as it is written (Midrash Rabbah, Nasso 13), “Woe unto that dough whose baker testifies that it is bad.”
However, we should ask, Why does the person himself say that he is flawed? The answer is that he lacks faith. If the person truly had faith in the Creator, that He leads the world as The Good Who Does Good, and believed in the greatness of the Creator and His importance, it would not be possible that that man would have any resistance in him. This is so because we see in our nature that the small one annuls before the great one like a candle before a torch; it has no freedom of choice. As long as it has not been established in his heart that He is great, there is choice, meaning to choose and say that He is great—either by himself, since he attains that He is great, or by others, who tell him He is great and he follows their view. Afterward, he has no freedom of choice not to annul, but he is drawn like a candle before a torch. Then he considers it a great joy if he can serve the great one and he has no greater pleasure than this.
It therefore follows that anyone who has a flaw in the work, his work is flawed. Why is it flawed? It is because he has no faith in the Creator—that He is the King of the world and leads the world as The Good Who Does Good. Otherwise, he would not have a flaw at all, since all the organs would agree to serve the great King. But since he has no faith in the greatness of the King, his work for the sake of the King is flawed.
That is, since his work is tasteless, a person cannot do it with all the organs. It follows that there are several flaws in his work. Either an organ is missing, or it functions not as it functions with something that is tasteful.
Thus, what can one do when he sees that he is flawed? His only work is to ask the Creator to give him the power of faith, to have the strength to believe in the greatness of the Creator, meaning that in everything he does in Torah and Mitzvot, he should aim that through his actions that he does as an “awakening from below,” the Creator will give him the power from above to believe in His greatness with all his heart. At that time there will be wholeness in the things he does.
That is, there will be thought, speech, and action in his work, since in anything that is complete there are three discernments: 1) the act, 2) the thought, where through the act the Creator will give him the power of faith in the greatness of the Creator, 3) speech, meaning prayer, since the thought causes him to pray to the Creator, which is called “speech and prayer.” To the extent of attainment of the lack of faith, so the prayer is measured, since the lack that a person feels and wants the Creator to satisfy his lack, this is called a “prayer.” However, when a person sees with his mind that he has already prayed to the Creator but the Creator still did not help him, he loses the power of prayer.
But a person should also pray for the ability to pray. He must believe in the sages and say, “What I see and what the mind obligates me is called “within reason.” Yet, I must believe above reason in what the sages said (Berachot 32), “Rabbi Hama Bar Hanina said, ‘If a person sees that he has prayed but was not answered, he must pray again, as it was said, ‘Hope for the Lord, be strong, brace your heart, and hope for the Lord.’’” It follows that without faith in the sages, a person cannot do anything on the path of correction, as it is known that “The view of landlords is opposite from the view of Torah.” Hence, a person cannot make ways in the way of the Creator, except that which is accepted among the servants of the Creator.
The main lack is that when a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot and the body does not resist him, meaning does not bring him foreign thoughts, in that state, a person does not think that faith is what he lacks in order to enjoy what he does as though he has obtained a great fortune in corporeality, for then he would certainly be very inspired and elated from obtaining something important that the whole world appreciates. What pleasure he would have then?!
If a person believes that he is serving a great King, why is he not elated now and full of joy over the matter of Kedusha in which he is engaging? The reason is that he lacks faith. For this reason, a person should not be content with little, since he is lacking what is essential, not a supplement. If a person does not pay attention to this, then he must remain in the state of “general public,” who work only in action. However, we must not forget that “An act without an aim is as a body without a soul.” Hence, a person must overcome and be unlike the rest of the workers, but rather join the servants of the Creator, who aim for the sake of the Creator.
Although we learn that a person should walk on the right line and say that he is not deficient, and he is happy with what he has, but on the right line, too, there should be great inspiration and elation because he is working for and serving a great King. Although he cannot value the magnitude of the importance of the Creator, he should still work on it, on being happy with settling for little as though it were a great thing. And the fact that he does not feel the great importance, for this, too, he thanks the Creator, for seeing that he has some grip on spirituality. For this, he gives great praise to the Creator.
Yet, in truth, the order is that he must shift from the right line, which is wholeness and settling for little, to the left, meaning to reflect on why he has no grip and why the Creator does not want to give him more grip on spirituality. There must be something missing here that should be corrected through good deeds, and not remain “poor in knowledge,” but make all kinds of efforts that the Creator will help him as He helps others who want to be considered servants of the Creator.
However, a person should be careful not to mix the lines with one another, or else he will not be able to see the actual reality of each line. Rather, once he sees the distances, he can go forward because now he can work on two legs. It is known that a person cannot walk on one leg, meaning that one leg is considered giving praise and gratitude to the Creator, which is the beginning. And the praise is in that he can believe, to some extent, that he is speaking to the Creator.
It follows that to the extent that he has some faith, he thanks the Creator. For everything he does, he thanks the Creator for rewarding him and giving him the thought and desire to observe His commandments. For this, he is able to bless the Creator and thank Him for this.
As we should bless for each Mitzva [commandment/good deed], we should also bless the Torah. We should know that “blessing” means that we bless Him for this boon. One who does not bless Him for this, it is because he does not feel the Mitzvot as something important, worth blessing Him for it. That is, the gratitude He gives us is like the gift, as it is customary that to the extent of the gift, so is the extent of the thanks we give.
It therefore follows that before a person comes to perform a Mitzva and bless on it, he must first take upon himself faith above reason. That is, although he still does not feel the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, he should believe above his intellect that they are very important things. Because a person is still unfit to feel the greatness of Torah and Mitzvot, since there is a correction regarded as “avoiding the bread of shame,” for which there is a concealment on the Torah and Mitzvot, for this reason we must begin with work above reason and disregard our feelings. Rather, we must say, “They have eyes and see not.” To the extent that we overcome through faith in the importance of Torah and Mitzvot, to that extent we can give thanks. That is, the blessing that a person gives to the Creator depends on the measure of importance of Torah and Mitzvot.
According to the above, we should interpret what our sages said (Nedarim 81), “Why do wise disciples not yield wise disciples from their sons? Rabina said, ‘Because they do not bless in the Torah first.’”
We should understand how can it be said about wise disciples that they did not bless in the Torah first. After all, we see that when ordinary people come up to read the Torah [during service], before the leader of the prayer reads in the Torah, they say a blessing. But concerning wise disciples, our sages said that there are wise disciples who did not bless in the Torah first, and therefore their sons are not wise disciples.
The literal explanation has many answers. But in the work, where we learn within one body, what are wise disciples and the sons of wise disciples in the same body? We should interpret that the blessing we must give first pertains to the intention. That is, they do not set their hearts on appreciating the Torah in order to bless the Creator for giving us a great gift. Naturally, the blessing they do—namely the thanks they give to the Creator for the gift—is not as it should be. It follows that they lack the importance of the Giver of the Torah.
This is the meaning in what was said, that they did not bless in the Torah first. “First” means that before they said the blessing, they did not think about the importance, and from this extends that their sons, meaning their understanding, is not that of wise disciples. That is, it is those who learn Torah and see that they have still not achieved the view of Torah, meaning understood that the view of Torah is annulment of the authority, meaning that they must understand that working for self-benefit is what they must annul, and they see that although they are learning Torah, they still do not understand that the body should annul its entire being and work only for the sake of the Creator.
This is as our sages said about the verse, “If a man dies in a tent.” They said, “The Torah exists only in he who puts himself to death over it.” The person asks, “What should I correct so as to come to this understanding?” They said that the reason is that “they did not bless in the Torah first.” That is, the blessing on the Torah that they gave to the Creator was not with all their hearts, since they did not grasp the importance of the Torah, meaning what the Torah should give us and for what purpose a person needs the Torah and Mitzvot.
When a person reflects on the benefit and the degree that the Torah and Mitzvot should bring him, then, according to the importance of the matter, he will bless the Creator. But a person who does not make the real calculation, although he blesses the Creator, “his heart is not with him,” since he cannot appreciate its importance.
Therefore, when he hasn’t the preparation, meaning he does not have the intention before him, to aim why he needs the Torah and Mitzvot, a person cannot achieve an understanding of a wise disciple. This is as Baal HaSulam said when he asked Why did they say, “wise disciple,” and not simply “wise”? It is because “wise” means the Creator, and one who learns from Him the quality of the Creator is called a “wise disciple.”
This is as our sages said, “Cling unto His attributes: As He is merciful, so you are merciful.” It follows that the question, “Why do wise disciples not yield wise disciples from their sons?” means that they should understand that the most important is that they will take upon themselves the work of bestowal and not for their own sake. This is called “a wise disciple.” This is why they said that the advice to a person who wants to yield sons who are wise disciples is to understand that we must work for the sake of the Creator. Prior to the blessing, he must aim for what he is blessing, meaning why he thanks the Creator. This is called “Because they did not bless in the Torah first.” That is, before they made the blessing, they did not pay attention to what the Torah and Mitzvot should bring him.
However, when he aims that the Torah and Mitzvot were given in order to cleanse people, as Rabbi Hanina Ben Akashia said, it follows that all the gain from Torah and Mitzvot is the cleansing. What comes after the cleansing, meaning what will they gain by receiving the cleansing? The answer is that we must believe in the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, to the extent of His ability. Then, they will be rewarded with the delight and pleasure that a person cannot appreciate. As our sages said, this is regarded as “The eye has not seen a God besides You, will do for those who await Him.”
Now we can understand what we asked, What is the meaning of what The Zohar said, “A man in whom there is a flaw must not offer [sacrifice].” This is so because he is flawed, and a person who is flawed has no faith in him, and that flaw testifies to him. This is true for every person, but even more so for a priest. We asked about this, What can one do if he sees he has a flaw? Can he no longer have faith? Can it be said that there is a person in the world without freedom of choice although he did not commit any sin? Why is it his fault if he is flawed?
The answer is that when speaking of the holy work, meaning that his work will be in holiness, it is as it is written, “You will be holy for I am holy.” That is, everything they do will be for the sake of the Creator, is in order to bestow. This work begins in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], as our sages said, “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma [for Her sake].”
The reason why we must begin in Lo Lishma is as he writes in the book A Sage’s Fruit: “Since man is born with a Kli called ‘will to receive for his own sake,’ it follows that it is impossible to begin in order to bestow. Rather, we begin in Lo Lishma and “the light in it reforms him.” In order for a person to know that he does not need to stay in the state of Lo Lishma, there are flaws in his work when he wants to work for the sake of the Creator. At that time, not all the organs agree to this work. Therefore, we were given two lines to walk in, called “two legs.” Prior to this, he has flaws and defects, and all because he lacks faith. For this reason, one must ask of the Creator to give him the power of faith.
________________________________________
Reader: Welcome to a lesson from June 19, 2002. From the Torah portion Emor:
M. Laitman: (30:00) What does it mean, in the work, He who has a flaw shall not offer or sacrifice? The thought of creation is to create the created being so that it will attain wholeness like the Creator. That is, His desire to do good to His creations in a complete, eternal, and absolute way. In order to reach this state, the created being needs to go through the entire path from the other extreme of perfection – that is – from a state of imperfection to true perfection, which is the Creator's degree. The nature of the created being is evil, an evil inclination, the opposite of the Creator's nature. The means of passing from one extreme to the other is, as it is written, I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as its spice. That is, the Torah was given only in order to purify the created beings, meaning to let them see the evil within themselves, and each time, according to the measure of evil that they discover, to correct it and draw closer to goodness; for the Creator is called, He Is Good Who Does Good. Thus, a person can draw near to the Creator only by acquiring the quality of goodness and the action of benevolence like the Creator. Where will a person obtain that desire? The Creator gave man choice, what is the choice? It's the one action in which a person is free, meaning, to choose what will influence him, whether good things or bad things. In that, a person determines his independence and individuality. Either he places himself in a society whose entire purpose is to advance to the Creator, or in another society that advances according to other goals, that is the only choice.
It is written that from the outset, the Creator does not simply cast a person and a person doesn't know what to do. However, the Creator brings a person to a good place, to a good society, and says: Take this for yourself. In other words, no one will be able to say, You did not give me an opportunity to choose. The Creator brings a person to a society and says, Take this for yourself, be in it and strengthen. You strengthen the society in the way you want the society to influence you, and so on – so that there will really be mutual work – and by that, you will reach the goal. In other words, the initial point, which is the opposite of perfection, is necessary, we are born in it. And only gradually discover its true form, how opposite it is to perfection, in proportion to our desire to attain perfection. The end is also clear, absolute, and prepared, it is ready. The path, too, depends on the structure of the soul, which was predetermined in the general structure of Adam HaRishon. Only the path depends on us.
M. Laitman: (34:23) That is, whether we will take what the Creator has chosen for us where He chose to bring us to the group and continually we will build the group so that it becomes more and more directed at the goal. According to the measure of the blemishes that are revealed in us, accordingly we will feel the need to improve ourselves. Yesterday, there was someone from the ultra-Orthodox who came to see me. It was not the first such request from them. It's not that they were asking me to open a group for them, they already understand that I cannot open a group just for them; but why would I not receive each one of them individually, in private, to give them a little guidance? I told him, I have nothing to give, what guidance could I give? Suppose you came to me and started asking questions, I would answer you. Those same questions are asked in the group, and I answer them there. Believe me, my students don't come to me individually for private conversations or all kinds of special personal guidance, So how do they know how to perform the work of the Creator? It's from what they hear but I've also been listening to you for a few years. He knows the material very well, and they're willing to sit and study for 15 hours without any problem, and they really do have extensive knowledge of everything. So he understood, at the end of it all, that the whole work is work in the society, work in the group. In other words, where does their advancement come from? "I also read, and I also know what's written." Indeed, if you tell them, Look at a certain page, he'll tell you exactly what's on that page – there's no problem. If we throw out page 70 from the letters, or section 155, everything is very well understood. Only one thing is not clear, how to advance; afterward, he understood. He really thought that there was some additional private work I did personally with each individual — that I would take him into my room and start some special something with him.
People don't understand that without the actions we perform in the organization, in dissemination, in the gatherings and meals, on Shabbat and various other activities, they cannot understand that these actions advance a person. It's not the actions themselves that do so, but the fact that we're working on expanding and strengthening the society, both in breadth and in height, that is the entire means, but this is really a problem. He left to organize, he now has several people. That was really something like a great revelation for him. All along, I'd heard him asking on the phone, When will the Rav begin receiving me privately, to speak with me? I didn't really understand what he wanted; I thought, Okay, so come, come if you want. Now, he understands that conversations alone won't help. But here there are some conditions without which nothing can be done: a group, a society, inner work through connection between the friends, and acquiring a strong desire from them. Acquire for yourself a friend through personal investment. That's quite complex but it works gradually, so that's the only choice, according to that, the blemishes become revealed, and according to that, the blemishes become corrected.
M. Laitman: (39:19) So, are there any questions? The friends in the back are no longer asking questions, they've already become veterans! Yes, that's it, we need to bring new ones in a view. There are such periods, there are these dead periods when a person cannot do anything except come, sit down like a lump, fill a chair, get up, go to work, then home. He's just going through the motions, like a sleepwalker. Those who sleep some somnambulism, a sleepwalker: they get up at night and walk around, right? There are such periods, and sometimes you become sick of it, you can't get out of it, and it goes on and on until it dries you out, completely. So you need to be ready for that and to prepare yourself in advance for states that if it comes, this is how I'll act; and if it comes, then this is how I'll act and then those periods won't come, or they will come, but you'll be prepared to go through them and experience everything they contain in a short period of time.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:56) What does it mean to be prepared, what's the difficulty?
M. Laitman: I have no patience. I start something, then drop it; I start something, then drop it. My nature, I'm the kind of person who really should never be able to accomplish anything in life, really. And I learned this even before I came to Kabbalah, back when I had my clinic, I had this very large clinic with many doctors. I learned that the only way I could overcome this trait of having no patience was by preparing myself in advance. I would speak to myself, I would tell myself that I need to be patient here, to listen, to answer, to think and to investigate. Again and again I would return to this, and I would plan for myself how I would behave. So that instead of lasting for one minute, I could hold on for an hour. If I convinced myself even more, then I could hold on for a whole day – that's really how it was. Later, I discovered that same approach exists in Kabbalah, and apparently in life in general, everything depends on preparation. Also our time, it's not for no reason that it's called, The time of preparation. Afterwards there's no problem, once a person enters spirituality, once spirituality acts on him, then your whole natural temperament and personality, they're no longer important. You retain your impatience and other traits, but they're no longer directed at spirituality. They're only directed at ordinary, corporeal life, our present time is also called the time of preparation, meaning that everything depends on preparation. So when a person is in a good state, he should concentrate as much as possible on study and reading, and also think about difficult states that if they come, he shouldn't delve into them. But simply plan in advance that even if a small descent comes, I'll immediately attach it to his present state of ascent, and he'll rise even higher, you understand? Where do the ascents come from? They come from joining the descents to your constant state, to your fixed state. So in advance one should truly prepare himself.
Student: We learned about strengthening the group. I mean that to the extent that I want the group to influence me?
M. Laitman: You should strengthen the group to the extent that you want the group to influence you, how else would you want to strengthen it? To the degree that you see how necessary they are for me, to that same degree I come to strengthen them.
Student: If I think that I should be demanded from if I know that I'm weak, if I have no power to do things. Then in such a way I also need to relate to cry and to demand from the friends what I think they need to do?
M. Laitman: Scrutinize everything in the group, it's good to demand. Demand, and see how they respond – just make sure they don't beat you up, you know! But demand, it's better to make some noise than to sit quietly, that's for sure! We're not afraid of a mess, it's better that way, there's nothing worse than this general state of sleepiness. It's much better if a person jumps up, shouts, disagrees, that's where change comes from. The character of the group that wants to place everyone neatly in their place is no good, it's not good. There needs to be this general patience for the routine, and an understanding that this is the path. And that until we attain all the discernments, we need to hold on to that and proceed step by step, consistently; but together with that, there also needs to be an outburst. Don't be afraid.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:44) What is an intention, how can we understand what an intention is?
M. Laitman: What is intention? Suppose I come to you and say, What a wonderful person you are, what a good person you are. I've never met anyone like you! But at the same time, behind the scenes, I'm organizing for people to do things to you, to put you through such things that you don't know what hit you – that is called intention. In other words, there is the action, and there is the intention: the action is that I come to you and say, Blah, blah, blah, but my intention is, God forbid, to harm you. So everything depends on the intention, not on the action. The action can appear to be, it doesn't matter how, but the main thing is the intention. You see a person taking a knife, putting a knife into someone else – he could be a surgeon or he could be a murderer. What's the difference between them, what action? The action is exactly the same, they're both cutting open a body, right? But everything depends on the intention.
Student: We are implementing the intention towards the Creator.
M. Laitman: (46:59) Once I had this very painful swelling and I went to see a friend of mine, he was a physician, and he looked at it and wanted to touch it. No, no, no, so he said, OK, just watch what I'm going to do. He picked up this huge medical textbook, one of these heavy books that could be a few kilos and he said, I'm going to use that I'm going to hit you with this now, but afterwards the swelling will disappear. You know, it was a terrible feeling but I agreed. If someone had seen that from the outside – I remember that. I could barely even touch it, it was really that bad, he struck it once, and everything disappeared. So how would that look from the outside, do you understand? I don't know, everything depends on the intention with us.
Look at politicians, sometimes I come across them, what we see, what we read in the news, what they show us on TV — that's the action. The intentions are behind the screen, and there it's something completely different. Their thought processes, the way they speak among themselves, and even more deeply what they're really thinking inside; everything is determined by the intention, not the action. Action and intention go together only in animals – on the still, vegetative, and animate – the speaking level already has intention as well as action, even in that animal aspect of our lives, you understand? Among animals, they sometimes deceive and they stalk their prey, they pretend to be asleep and then they move closer and suddenly seize. But that's according to nature, instinct, it's not planning; but with human beings, and it already becomes two completely separate things, and for one who is a worker of the Creator, intention becomes his weapon. There is nothing else besides intention, a person might come here and work in our society, in the kitchen, in dissemination. In everything else you see us doing; and he might be the very best worker. But if his intention is to be the manager, so he will be the manager, and then we'll see that he's a good guy, let him be the manager. But he's not going to gain anything spiritual from that; eventually, because he's included with us, our environment will influence him, and he'll change. But what will change is his intention and then he himself will change. But it cannot be that – progress is only possible through intention, not through anything else. Intention is the inner attitude from my heart, from my innermost point toward someone or something. That is what is called intention and attitude. Maybe the word itself is confusing.
Student: How do you examine your intention?
M. Laitman: How do you examine your intention? You don't know, you don't know what is in your heart, you really don't know! A person doesn't know, and generally, he doesn't even ask himself.
Student: How to make the discernments with which I can advance?
M. Laitman: Gradually, first of all, how should you even relate? If we say that our entire intention should be aimed at the Creator, then as far as everything other than the Creator is concerned, I don't care what my intention is. I don't relate to anything else at all. First, I have to connect my innermost point to the Creator, to Him, so that my attitude is to Him, such that my innermost point of my heart is connected with Him. In other words, He will be there, it's as though I place Him inside my heart. And then, from within my heart, I turn and do all the various things around me: society, daily life, family, work, whatever it might be. But first, this connection, then it's considered that my relationship with Him determines my whole life. And in such a way, I can be certain that I'm on the right path, that this whole world and this entire life that I have here, they come to me only as a means. Because to the extent that they interfere with my ability to keep the Creator within my heart, and I resist those disturbances and strengthen that connection in my heart, so then it's considered that the whole world is worthwhile for me. And that will be my progress, nothing more is needed, just hold that and that's all. That's called, The whole Torah on one foot. From that, your attitude to everything else will already be determined through your connection with Him, that's all.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:54) You say that the main thing is intention, but without action, then?
M. Laitman: Intention is the main thing, why is intention the main thing? Because it determines the nature of the action. An intention without action, as it is said, is like an angel, it's not a human being. In other words, he doesn't change, he doesn't improve himself and he doesn't advance. Meaning, what is intention? That I have found my connection with the Creator in my heart, that I've brought the Creator into my heart, that is considered performing the intention. Now, what comes next? If I don't let any disturbances arise against it, then I won't strengthen the intention, and then I won't advance to Him where He fills my whole heart and not just its innermost point. So, what do I need to do? I've brought Him into my heart, now I need to go out into life, as it's considered to work, to my family, to friends, to study, to all kinds of activities while carrying that point in me. Now that point will begin to encounter disturbances, and through those disturbances, if I overcome them and nevertheless preserve that point of connection with the Creator, even while I'm dealing with all those things, then that point grows. And that is considered performing an action in enlarging the point. Then that point grows into Ten Sefirot, that is called intention and action. Afterward, what we study, afterwards, we study that in the structure of the Partzuf. First, there's the Rosh, where we establish the connection with the Creator and how much we can receive, how much we can bestow and afterward comes the action. And then I can also incorporate my other desires, determining how I can work with them. It really develops into Ten Sefirot, into a Partzuf.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:54) Can we say that an action is ultimately the result of intention?
M. Laitman: An action is not the result of an intention, the action is not the result of an intention; the action must come after the intention. The action, itself, might appear to have no connection whatsoever to the intention.
Student: Right now, I'm going to the kitchen to cut meat for the Shabbat meal, so is that the result?
M. Laitman: What you're really saying is that without the intention, I wouldn't perform any action in life. Very good, that means that you make a restriction, a Tzimtzum, you detach yourself from everything. You find connection with the Creator and you act from that. That is how we really work, that's how we learn, from the actions, from the study.
Student: What's the connection between intention and purpose?
M. Laitman: Between the intention and the goal, the connection? First, there must be a clear goal, from that comes the intention, and afterward comes the action. Intention is already an action, it's already the establishment of the connection; but where do you get that intention from, that you want to find your connection with the Creator? It comes from first beginning to recognize the goal.
Student: It says there that the Torah does not endure except in one who puts himself to death over it. How can I speak in concepts of life and death when I don't even know what life is towards the work?
M. Laitman: The Torah endures only in one who puts himself to death for it, means that the light of the Torah, the Torah generally means the inner light that enters the Partzuf. It exists in one who puts himself to death over it, that is, one who has put to death his will to receive for his own sake – for it, meaning for the Torah, meaning that he has become aligned with the Torah, that he has the desire to bestow like the light itself – so then the Torah resides within him and he becomes like the light. That is what is meant by death, the death of the intention to receive.
Student: And this is also what we say with regard to devotion in the work.
M. Laitman: Yes, that's what's considered Mesirut Nefesh, the devotion, what is devotion? It's that I surrender my self, my Nefesh, my animal soul, I give it, I perform a restriction on it. You need to translate these concepts into terms you learn in the Pticha and the Study of the Ten Sefirot, The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah and the Study of the Ten Sefirot, then you won't become confused. Besides that, there's a saying that Torah and Jew is only in one who, B'mi, meaning in the Mi, which is, who, which refers to Bina, that is, Malchut that has ascended to Bina. There's also this more inner interpretation of this.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:13) So, I have a question that connects to what I asked yesterday: if my, I, is at a point where it doesn't look at itself, but I'm trying to look from the side, and I don't put my, I, into my desires and into, like, drowning into oneself. How can I then really put myself to death?
M. Laitman: If you cannot take one example and relate it properly to another example, then throw one of them out, it's that simple. We're using examples seemingly from our everyday lives. I'm telling you to step away from that particular point, imagine yourself as being outside, or inside, or however you need to picture it. I'm giving you some kind of illustration for one specific case. You cannot draw that out to fit all kinds of situations, sometimes we speak in terms of one line, sometimes we speak in terms of three lines. Sometimes we're speaking to a person who's simply immersed in their animalistic desires, explaining how to rise above it and view it from the outside. For that, I said, you need a small sense of godliness, a tiny taste of what it means to look at yourself from the outside, and so on.
Sometimes psychologists also speak about things like this, these are things on relatively low levels that any person can understand. So I tell you, don't take one example and apply it everywhere, only here I said it, use it there. And if you want to avoid confusion, always find that same story in the language of Kabbalah. Convert it into the language of Kabbalah, from any other language whether it's the language of laws and Halachot, the language of the Midrash, the language of the Aggadah, the Five Books of Moses, the Tanakh, or even ordinary everyday speech. It doesn't matter, translate it into the language of Sefirot, Partzufim, discernment, coarseness, refinement, and all other Kabbalistic terms. Then, if you bring everything into one common language, you'll be able to compare them somehow, and develop some unified science or a unified approach. Otherwise, you'll get confused, there needs to be this common foundation underlying all of this.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:51) He writes here in the article that when we come to study the Torah, the problem is that there's no true intention in the heart. And that a real intention in the heart can only be acquired from the greatness of the goal, the greatness of the Creator. What happens if a person is like in that sleepwalking state, where even if he turns to the society, if he puts his forces into the society, then it just goes by? He can't really get into it, there's no sense of greatness when he has darkness?
M. Laitman: In our society, this whole group called Bnei Baruch, if you look at it from the outside, it doesn't appear to be anything special, it's not such a special picture. It's written about one of the prophets that Petahia came to a city – I think it's in Chronicles, I don't remember exactly – and gathered in that city all the simple and empty and hollow people, empty people. He took them into the wilderness, and they disappeared there. The Rav explained it in this way: that Petahia, he was a great man who opened the channels of abundance and gathered, precisely, those people who felt themselves as being empty, and he took them into the wilderness, into the desert, into a place where they would feel even worse so that afterward, he could open them up and fill them. It means that the person who comes closer to the Creator, the more he compares himself to the Creator, so he sees himself always as being worse and emptier and more insignificant – as if he's nothing. I remember that when I lived in Rehovot, after I started becoming religious back in those days, I thought there must be something more. They told me, Sit down and study Gemara. Fine, so I studied Gemara, but then what, that's it. This is the Torah, just keep studying, the study of the Torah is equal to everything else. Show me a Kabbalist, I said; they told me, If you ever meet a Kabbalist, you'll just be there trembling! That's literally what they told me, I'm not exaggerating, I thought, what kind of power must such a person possess? But according to my character, I'm very technical, what is this trembling, some kind of machine that's making me vibrate like that? Until I began meeting people connected with Kabbalah, even before I met my teacher, they were very simple people. And when you came to study with them, you saw that they had no external appearance to impress anyone. Yet I truly felt something in them and then I understood why, what happens to a person who advances? What happens to him? He continually discovers more and more of his inner self, deeper and deeper layers of internality; and he seemingly discards his externality, and what's internal today becomes external tomorrow. He casts it off, tomorrow's inner level will become from the garment, then it will become unnecessary. However, it's the contrary, people who constantly crave externality, they keep adorning themselves more and more. They must feel that they have to present themselves better, that's this whole business of fashion, makeup, and all sorts of outward experience, they always have to change and reinvent themselves. And I was really amazed, I would come to study, and with my ears I heard wonderful things; and then I looked at the person and he looked really like he was from the marketplace, it was astonishing, that's how it is.
M. Laitman: (01:05:12) So our society cannot be anything more than what it is now. It cannot be that a person will be drawn to externality if within he is drawn to internality, it's two opposites against each other. We see this in ourselves as well. There's no escaping it – I'll tell you even more than that: I even saw that there were these ones who are of the holy still who are against us. I remember there were days when even on an external level, they would not do the things that religious people do. There's this friend of mine from Jerusalem whom we all know, there were days when he didn't even put on Tefillin. How could it happen that some ultra-Orthodox Jew from birth this Satmar Hasid, as he's called, practically the most stringent type imaginable, he was born that way. So how could it be that he goes through such a crisis like that? Even he's not the only one, I know others who come to me with the exact same question: How can we protect ourselves, whether I want it or not? I cannot constantly monitor myself to see that something is happening to me. That is what it means that a religious person, an Orthodox person who's become immersed in internality, gradually begins to lose sensitivity to externality, he simply becomes less sensitive to it.
I remember that when I began studying with my teacher, I immediately gave up my dental practice in Rehovot. I lost my sensitivity for working in this fine technical craftsmanship, this mechanical work, and in general for external things. Therefore, when we look at each other, we look at the internality. How much a person is really belonging to internality so that he's no longer impressed by externality, by outward appearances. Suppose we were now to take you to meet someone important, so you'd still become impressed by them because you still don't have a strong connection to internality. So, you're not yet immersed in that; so you'd be impressed, and then afterward we will take you after a few years and you'll become less impressed.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:08:10) How in a state where a person has darkness within, there's nothing, he doesn't see anything, emptiness. He knows he's in such a state, and he looks for inspiration from society, but also the inspiration that the society gives him kind of passes through him and doesn't come in because of the darkness, it doesn't enter?
M. Laitman: A person who's in a descent, so he is in a state like a corpse, even while among the group, and he's in this like in a dead body, dragging himself along in that state. He himself cannot do anything but from his own perspective he feels dead and he cannot feel that anything is affecting him, but it's affecting him. That's why it's called being dead, you don't feel that anything's working on you, yet in the meantime, they're performing resuscitation on you, so to speak, little by little, they revive you. You need to believe in that, and simply continue for another half day, another day or two, and it'll pass. The thing is that the more that you give yourself over to those who are treating you, who are caring for you, to the group. Meaning, disconnect your own head and let them do whatever they want with your body, as if you had no head at all. That is how we learn in Kabbalah: who is the small one? That the great one does all the calculations, while the small one simply carries them out, that's how it is in spirituality. Not like in our ordinary lives, where the little one has his own head and manipulates the greater one like a child wrapping his mother around his finger. In spirituality, when you give yourself over to the upper one, you receive his head, and you really do this through devotion. And later, you grow your own head, but you model it after his. You're constantly learning from him.
_________________________
Reader: Let's share our impressions from the lesson, and what from it we take to apply in the Ten. Then we’ll move to the next part of the lesson but first we'll sing a song!
Song: (01:16:34)