The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Lesson (Morning), April 4, 2024.
Part 1: Rabash. Article No. 27, 1986. The Creator and Israel Went into Exile. 27 (1986)
Reader: Hello, we are reading from the writings of Rabash, article, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile.” You can find the material in the study materials tab in the Arvut system. You can also send questions live, and if you ask a question from the study hall, make sure you have a microphone and then ask loud and clearly into it.
Reader: (00:38) Rabash. Article No. 27, 1986. “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile.”
It is written in The Zohar, BeHukotai [In My Statutes] (item 49), about the verse, “And I, too, will torment you seven times for your sins:” “Come and see, the Creator’s sublime love for Israel is like a king who had an only son who sinned before the king. One day, he sinned before the king. The king said, ‘All those days I have been striking you but you did not receive. Henceforth, see what I will do to you. If I expel you from the land, bears might charge you in the field, or wild wolves or murderers could obliterate you from the world. What should I do? Instead, you and I will go out of the land.’ Thus, I, too, as it is written, meaning that you and I will leave the land, meaning go into exile, ‘And I will chastise you’ to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.”
We should understand the meaning of the exit of the people of Israel from the land abroad, which is called “exile among the nations.” What does it mean in the work? That is, what is regarded as “land” and what is regarded as “exit from the land”? Also, what does it mean that when one sins he is punished with being exiled, to be among the nations of the world? How does it help, and what benefit does it yield in the ways of the work? That is, what is the correction in going out into exile to be under the rule of the nations of the world?
We should also understand how it can be said that the Creator, too, leaves the land with the people of Israel into exile, since “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and it is written, “His kingship rules over all.” He even sustains the Klipot [shells/peels], so how can it be said that He will go out to exile with the people of Israel as though He is not in the land?
To understand the above in the work, we first need to know what is the land of Israel, what is abroad, and why exiting from the land abroad is regarded as exile among the nations. We should also understand that exile is a correction for sins. That is, by suffering the exile, the torments of the exile will make them repent, and then it will be possible to bring them back to the land. But it is written, “And they mingled with the nations and learned their works,” so what torments of exile are they feeling, which can be a cause for them to repent and return to the land? That is, what can he know about what is good in the land of Israel so as to crave it, and this land will be a reason that will compel him to repent for the love of the land?
It is known that land is called Malchut, and the “holy Shechina [Divinity], and “the assembly of Israel,” which is the inclusion of all the souls. This means that she must receive the delight and pleasure that was in the thought of creation to do good to His creations, meaning that the souls will receive delight and pleasure.
The order of cascading was from the world of Ein Sof [no end/infinity] to the world of Tzimtzum [restriction], and then to the line on which the five Partzufim [plural of Partzuf] of AK are clothed, then the five Partzufim of Atzilut. Afterwards, Malchut de Atzilut emanated the three worlds BYA, and then Adam HaRishon was created, and the externality of his body, which is similar to the current material body, was made from Bina de Malchut de Assiya, as it is written in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (Part 16, p 1912, item 43), “Afterwards he had NRN from BYA and then NRN from Atzilut.”
It therefore follows that Eretz [land/earth] is called Malchut de [of] Atzilut, and it is written about the world of Atzilut, “Evil will not dwell with you,” meaning that there is no evil there at all, but only in BYA are there scrutinies of good and evil. Rather, there the delight and pleasure that He contemplated giving to the souls are revealed. It is as our sages said about the verse, “‘In the beginning God created’: there is no beginning but Israel, for everything is for Israel, meaning for the souls of Israel.”
After Adam HaRishon sinned with the tree of knowledge, he was expelled from Atzilut and descended to BYA. Then he began to repent and correct what he had sinned. By this he re-entered the Garden of Eden, meaning Atzilut. The correction was that he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, as it is written (Genesis, 3:22), “And the Lord said, ‘And now, he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.’ And the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.”
Baal HaSulam explained the fear for which he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, as is written, “He might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” He said that since the man sinned with the tree of knowledge, if a person is punished, meaning suffers from the punishment that he was given, this suffering causes him to repent and correct the flaw that he had caused.
But if he is not punished and does not feel suffering from the sin he had committed, he will certainly not understand that he should repent for it. It is as The Zohar writes (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 192), “Rabbi Shimon wept and said, ‘Woe if I say, woe if I do not say. If I say, the wicked will know how to serve their master.’”
He interprets in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] as follows, “By this he implies that he could not reveal his words in full in this place so as not to harm the wicked. This is because here he came to disclose how to cling to the tree of life, and never touch the tree of death, and only those who have already corrected the discernment of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are worthy of it. But the wicked, who have yet to correct the sin of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, must not know it, for they must first toil in all the labors until they correct the sin of the tree of knowledge. You will also find this in the verse, ‘Lest he reached out his hand and took also from the tree of life and ate, and lived forever’ (Genesis, 3). After Adam sinned with the tree of knowledge, he was expelled from the Garden of Eden for fear that he would cling to the tree of life and live forever, and the flaw he had caused in the tree of knowledge would forever remain uncorrected.”
It therefore follows that when taking a person out from the land, meaning from the kingdom of heaven he had, since he cannot feel the importance of spirituality that he had prior to being taken out from the kingdom of heaven, and he goes to exile, as it is written, “And they mingled with the nations and learned their works,” this is regarded as falling under the enslavement of idol worshippers. That is, all the lusts that exist in the nations of the world govern Israel, who have been exiled. At that time they have no connection to spirituality, except what they are used to keeping out of habit. This they observe, but beyond them it does not occur to them that they have anything to correct.
It follows that we should make two discernments concerning the exile: 1) They are exiled under the governance of the nations. The mind and intellect that they had while in the land, when they were in the kingdom of heaven and thought all day about how to exit self-love and achieve the love of the Creator, when they sinned and went to exile, we can interpret this in the work of the individual, as it is known that the general and the particular are the same. This means that if a person sins while being in the land, meaning if he receives some illumination from above and uses it for his own benefit, meaning says, “Now that I have some flavor in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], I don’t need faith above reason.” This is called a “sin” because he has blemished the faith above reason.
For this reason, he is expelled from the land and falls under the governance of the lusts of the nations of the world. Once he is in exile, he promptly suffers forgetfulness, and does not remember that he was ever in the land, that he was in a state of “kingdom of heaven” and thought only about how to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. He wants to continue this way his whole life, meaning to care only about satisfying the needs that the body demands for its own benefit, and does not care about anything.
After some time, and each one has a different calculation with Him (meaning that when a person is judged above, each one has his own calculation as to how long he should be kept in exile until he receives an awakening from above), and he receives an awakening from above and begins to feel that he is in exile, and begins to remind himself that he has fallen from a high roof to a deep pit.
That is, when he was in the land, he remembers that he looked at the whole world as redundant and always thought, “Why did the Creator create the wicked in the world? What joy or benefit can these wicked bring to the Creator?” Instead, now he looks at himself, that he is in exile, and what can he give to the Creator so as to bring contentment above? He begins to feel the suffering that he has descended from man to beast, meaning sees that now he desires beastly lusts, which he did not have prior to being expelled from the land.
Now he begins to crave the Creator, that He will bring him closer and admit him once again into the land, and out of beastly lusts, and give him pleasures from nourishments fit for man, meaning from acts of bestowal, and not that his nourishment will be from food for beasts. It is as our sages said (Peshachim, 118), “When the Creator told Adam HaRishon, ‘Thorns and thistles it shall grow for you,’ his eyes teared. He said, ‘Will I and my ass eat from the same crib?’ Once He had told him, ‘By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,’ his mind was immediately eased.”
This sounds as though the Creator gave him the knowledge when He said, “Thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.” Before the Creator had told him that, he did not see that his nourishment was only thorns and thistles, which is only animal food. We can interpret that the awakening from above came to him and reminded him what he had had before the sin, what high degrees he had had, and with the exit from the Garden of Eden it is as though he has forgotten everything.
This is regarded as the Creator speaking to him, meaning that he received an awakening from above from the Creator, and then he remembered what he had had. At that time he began to feel the suffering from being expelled from the Garden of Eden, and began to cry about being on the same degree as a beast. That is, his nourishment is only that which pertains to self-love, which is called “food for beast.” This is the meaning of “His eyes teared and he said, ‘I and my ass from the same crib?’” That is, eating, that which nourishes him, will be similar to that of a beast, where he can elicit joy only out of matters that pertain to self-love.
However, when He told him, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,” his mind was immediately eased. RASHI interprets “By the sweat of your brow” to mean after you have had much toil in it. We should interpret the meaning of “toil.” According to what we learn, if one has already come to feel that he is at a degree that is similar to a beast, it means that the sensation should also be to the extent that brings to suffering, that he will shed tears over his lowly and poor state, as our sages said, “His eyes teared.”
Therefore, the suffering he feels at being similar to a beast gives him the strength to want to make great efforts to exit self-love—which is regarded as a beast—and be rewarded with man’s food. That is, that now he can enjoy acts of bestowal.
It therefore follows that we should make two discernments regarding the above exile:
1) He is in exile but does not know he is in exile. Rather, he is happy as he is. Instead, he is searching for quantity, meaning more money, more respect, etc. However, he has already forgotten that he was once at a human degree, called “land,” which is the kingdom of heaven. It does not even occur to him that he should change his sustenance. Rather, he does not think that the nourishments he receives in vessels of self-love, called “animal food,” need replacing, meaning to have thoughts of giving.
It follows that he does not want to change the source of provision, where he is being fed with only that which comes into vessels of self-love. Rather, he wants to replace the matters that come in vessels of self-love. For example, he would like to change his apartment because he no longer enjoys the one he lives in and wants a different apartment, since a new apartment is something he can enjoy. Also, he changes the furniture because he cannot enjoy the ones he has. By having new furniture his will to receive will have something to enjoy.
2) However, he does not want to change his source of provision, meaning to say that his provision should come from a source that gives only to the vessels of bestowal. This he, God forbid, does not contemplate, as it is known that the receiver cannot understand how can there be provision from giving. The giver is to the contrary. When he sees that he is engaging in reception he is ashamed of himself for doing something he regards as lowly. But in truth, we must change the source of nourishment. There is nourishment that pours into vessels of self-love, and this nourishment comes from the Klipot [shells/peels], and there is nourishment that comes into the vessels of bestowal, and this one comes from the worlds of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity].
Therefore, according to the two above discernments in exile, the question is, “Who causes one to feel that he is in exile, by which he suffers because he wants to exit the exile, as was said about the exile in Egypt, ‘And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and they cried out, and their cry rose up to God from the work’”? We have to say that this awakening came from the Creator, so they would not stay in exile, in a state of oblivion, so the Creator sends the awakening.
It therefore follows that they feel that there is spirituality, but that the spirituality is in a state of lowliness and their heart aches over the fact that the Shechina is in exile, and why spirituality has the taste of dust. That is, when they want to work in order to bestow, they cannot appreciate this work as they should feel, that now he is doing the holy work, and not the work of people who are similar to beasts.
But the matter is to the contrary: When he works to man’s benefit, he feels good taste in the work. But when he does the work of the Creator, he does not feel any taste. That is, the same act that he does, if he sees that his will to receive has something to receive, that the reward illuminates for him during the work, and this is why he feels good taste, if he replaces the intention during the work and says that he is doing this work not in order to receive reward, he promptly feels his weakness, that he cannot make an effort, and the work begins to slow down right away.
According to the above, it follows that the Creator seemingly comes to him and tells him, “Look at the lowly state you are in. You are just like a beast.” Then he begins to suffer that he does not have any feelings of human beings. It pains him and he feels the suffering and pain of being in exile under the rule of the nations of the world. That is, now he feels that he has evil lusts, suitable for the seventy nations.
But before this revelation came to him, so as to feel his lowliness, he lived in a world that was all good, meaning that it did not cause him any deficiency that he was in a state of lowliness. He did not feel that it was lowliness, but rather that he was behaving like everyone else, whose only aspirations are lust, respect, and money. But now that the revelation has come to him from the Creator, that he will see that he is like a beast and not like a man, he suffers, since he would be happy if he could come out of the exile.
But since he is in exile, he sees that he does not see a way out of the exile. It follows that these torments are causing him instability. That is, he does not know what to do. On the one hand, now he sees that he is feeling the truth, meaning the kind of people to whom he belongs, since there are people who belong to beastliness, and there are people who belong to people. And if we want to be more precise, we should discern three kinds: 1) people who have nothing to do with Judaism, 2) people who engage in Torah and Mitzvot, but in order to receive reward, 3) people who work not in order to receive reward.
It follows that on the one hand, now he can be very happy that he sees the truth, meaning which type of people he is with, and which degree he should strive to achieve. But at the same time he is feeling pain and suffering at seeing how far he is from Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. That is, he sees that he cannot do anything for the Creator, and that all that he does is because he wants to receive reward for his actions, but with respect to the desire to bestow, he does not see that he will be able to come out of them by himself.
It follows that he is craving the state when he belonged to the second type, when he had strength to work because the reward illuminated for him, and in his mind he was in a state that is close to the Creator. He would always speak to the Creator and ask Him for reward for his work. He felt complete, and that he did not need a thing because he was certain of the reward, since he was keeping the commandments of the Creator. And the Creator certainly sees that not many people desire to keep His commandments, but he is exerting to keep His commandments, so the Creator will certainly favor him and give him a great reward for it.
Naturally, after such a calculation, a person feels that he is high in the sky among the clouds and looking at the whole world, for undoubtedly, the world exists through their Torah, as our sages said, “The world cannot stand without Torah” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo). It follows that then he was truly among the happiest people in the world.
But now that he has emerged from the second state, the Creator has illuminated the truth for him, that the work of the Creator is primarily to bestow contentment upon the Creator and not for one’s own benefit, and he sees how far he is from the truth, and feels the opposite. That is, where he thought that if instead of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] I had a good feeling, that I am fine with the Creator, meaning that I am trying to obey Him as much as possible, and I am regarded as a “servant of the Creator,” and all the reward that the Creator has promised us is surely ready for me, so what else do I need?
It is even more so when I begin to advance in order to bestow. I will promptly be elevated. However, this is not so. Rather, now that he has come to feel the truth, that the main thing is to work to benefit of the Creator, and he should be happy that, thank God, he has gotten on the real track that leads to nearness to the Creator, so he should have been constantly elated and say, “Thank God, I see that the Creator has mercy on me and does not let me labor in vain. Rather, all my labor will now be in order to achieve the goal, called ‘Dvekut with the Creator.’”
However, he feels that his state is the opposite, meaning that he does not have the same joy he had while working in order to receive reward. It is so because he sees that now he has no support from this body, since now he is telling his body, “Know that from this day forth I will not give you any profits in the work, for now I am not working for my own benefit. Rather, I want to work only to benefit the Creator.” Then the body does not agree to give strength to work. It follows that now he is in a state of lowliness.
However, before the revelation of the truth has come to him, he was always elated, seeing how each day he was adding in deeds and the reward was guaranteed. But now is the real time when he can give an honest prayer to the Creator to take him out of exile, since before he has received the revelation from above—that he is in exile, controlled by the nations of the world, called “will to receive in order to receive.” Thus, he had no deficiency that the Creator could fill, meaning to lead him out of exile. It therefore follows that the Creator has given him the Kli [vessel], meaning the deficiency, and then He has given him the light, and both the light and the Kli come from above.
By this we can interpret what we asked about what the holy Zohar says to Israel when they had sinned, “The Creator said, ‘And I will chastise you, to go into exile. And if you say that I will leave you, I, too, am with you.’” We asked, “How could it be that the Creator came out from the land abroad, to exile, since ‘the whole earth is full of His glory,’ so how can it be said that He is going out?” We also asked, “What the punishment of going to exile adds to us, since everything the Creator does, He does only for man’s favor, so what does man gain by going to exile under the rule of the nations of the world?”
According to what we explained above, it follows that saying, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” comes to teach us that from the perspective of the Creator there are no changes in the world. Rather, it is as it is written, “You are before the world was created, and You are after the world was created.” Thus, all the changes are from the perspective of the qualification of the receivers. That is, to the extent that they can attribute their work only to bestow upon the Creator, to that extent the Tzimtzum [restriction] is removed, and the light that is hidden for the lower ones is revealed, and by this the lower ones receive the delight and pleasure.
This is regarded as the people of Israel being in the land, when we feel that the Creator is the land of Israel. That is, since the people of Israel is in the land of Israel, the Creator is named after the action of providing Himself to the creatures so they will recognize and know Him when they are fit for it. If they sin and may blemish, meaning receive upper abundance and pass it on to the Klipot, which are self-love, then He must be “taken out” from the land of Israel, meaning that the Tzimtzum rises once more and the light departs.
This is regarded as leaving the land, which is the place of the kingdom of heaven, called Shechina, and going out to exile under the rule of the nations of the world.
The correction of going out to exile is 1) that first, they will not spoil the abundance. 2) By being in exile, the Creator does not leave them in exile, as we explained above that sometimes a person is in exile but does not know that it is exile, that one must run from that place, meaning from the state where he is and receives nourishment, as that place is called “self-love.” Rather, it is to the contrary, he suffers only because he cannot satisfy what the nations of the world require of him, since they control him, meaning he cannot satisfy all the pertaining to self-love.
This is why the holy Zohar says, “If I expel you from the land, bears might charge you in the field, or wild wolves or murderers could obliterate you from the world.” That is, they will remove you completely from the spiritual world and you will remain only in the corporeal world, called “self-love.”
Therefore, in order not to be lost in the exile, the Creator, too, goes out to exile with them. That is, He appears to them in a form of exile. That is, the Creator is called “His name,” after the work He does. Since now He gives them exile, meaning that they feel they are in exile, this is regarded as the Creator being out in exile with them. He gives them the sensation of exile so they will not be lost in the exile altogether by not feeling that they have been expelled from the land and that now they are under the rule of the nations of the world.
Now we will understand what we asked, “What is the correction of being expelled from the land?” 1) That they will not spoil what they have attained. This is regarded as knowing his Master and intending to rebel. It means that he knows his Master but cannot be in a state of only to bestow. 2) By being in exile they will feel the need to be only in a state of bestowal, by which they will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator. Thus, the suffering of exile will reform them. And we should interpret what we asked, “What does it mean that the Creator went out to exile?” that since the Creator is giving them the taste of exile, it is considered that the Creator has come out from the good and pleasant land, giving them, which is to their benefit.
M. Laitman: (44:26) What about questions?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:32) How to explain that the exile will be to our benefit? We must have it. We must have the discernments. On the other hand, we have to feel bad in the exile that we don't bestow to the Creator and we want everything for ourselves. Which feeling, what to focus on?
M. Laitman: How to use the exile in a correct way.
Student: We also describe such an internal conflict in the man's heart. On the one hand, thank you for the states, the exile. On the other hand, look who you are, what did you do to the Creator?
M. Laitman: This is what the Creator tells Abraham to begin with, “How will I know that I'll inherit it?” Because your descendants will be in exile, and then they'll come out with a great possession. Then Abraham calms down. That's clear. This already makes it clear that everything is moving for the benefit of Israel.
Student: You have to constantly zigzag between the emotions or constantly in gratitude or constantly self-flagellation?
M. Laitman: How to correctly use all the incidents of exile. Yes, that's meaning to identify it, detect it, feel it, respect it in the sense that we can extract from it all the discernments for redemption.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:28) Throughout the entire article, he's describing two things a person grasps. One is his state, that he reveals, I'm now in holiness, and I'm in exile, and I suffer from exile, and I want to come out of it, so on and so forth. On the other hand, that there is someone who is constantly caring for him. That everything that's happening is not just happening, there's someone caring for him, showing him these states.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: What should be the attitude toward the Creator, that there's nothing that's especially bad, but he's constantly being cared for? What should be the attitude toward that? How can we repay Him, or reply to Him?
M. Laitman: That the Creator is Good, and does Good in all the states, and that's the attitude of the Creator to the created beings.
Student: What can the created being do in return to such an attitude, as a treatment?
M. Laitman: The created beings have an obligation to fulfill the Creator's will towards them, meaning to get closer to Him as much as possible, and even more. And thus, assist in the plan of creation.
Student: In what can they help Him, assist Him? If they see that He does everything, the light works on them, He takes them out, He brings them back in, He reveals to them they're in exile, how can you repay Him?
M. Laitman: You can repay Him in that, or give back to Him that you wait for His addresses to you, and you're willing to be His partner, and you're asking of Him as you're walking together.
Student: Is that what He expects, that we’ll return this to Him?
M. Laitman: That we will recognize that He is taking care of us.
Student: He does that too, He makes us see that He's working on us.
M. Laitman: Yes but we finally realize that it's all for our own benefit.
Student: Our gratitude, what does He need from us? How can we help Him in the process?
M. Laitman: That we will perceive all of His exercises upon us in a good way, in a correct way, that we will be thankful.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (49:42) He says that each one has his own calculation in advance how long he has to spend in exile, so I'm asking what is the calculation that I have to reveal that the Creator is giving me in advance. How do I reveal this calculation?
M. Laitman: I don't know. That's what you need to discover what you have in your work, to what extent are you far and distant, immersed away from fulfilling the Creator's actions with joy, with enthusiasm and connection to Him, and that's how you advance.
Student: The calculation made of all the records that I reveal from the work with the friends? Is this the calculation the Creator is giving us in advance that I'm supposed to reveal?
M. Laitman: Yes, but even more you're supposed to discover that whatever appears to you you want to change that, transform that to a force of progress to in order to bestow.
Student: Today in the workshop before the lesson started they asked us: What is the prayer, why do we need the prayer, what does it give us? And I feel that in asking you right now, this is the prayer we're in. We constantly feel the difference between how much you wish to reach the Creator in your development and yet you feel that you're in exile and there you ask for help from the Creator, this constant gap between the desirable and what actually exists.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: Another question, part of the shattering here, we talked about it yesterday, we don't remember what happened we forget, so forget this forgetfulness, how do we actually receive these records if it's part of the shattering? He's giving us these impressions but we don't remember what went on when we speak to a person before the shattering.
M. Laitman: You have to reveal the Dvekut, the adhesion based on the conditions that appear to you.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:17) He writes if you received an illumination from above and uses it for his own benefit, meaning that now that I have some flavor in Torah and commandments I don't need faith above reason, this is called the sin because he has blemished faith above reason. I want to ask two questions about this statement. First of all, what does it mean to receive an illumination from above and use it for his own benefit? Maybe it's the same question, why is it called a sin, that he does not need faith above reason? Maybe this way actually, sorry, what's the connection between using it for his own benefit and not needing faith above reason?
M. Laitman: He needs to receive forces so as to transform the state that he's in so that it's truly in order to bestow.
Student: You now receive the illumination?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: What does it mean to turn this illumination to in order to bestow in reflected light that he doesn't receive it, he rejects it?
M. Laitman: No, no, no. In the state that he was in now he feels that he has some self address here. By the awakening that he receives from above he wants to raise this illumination to the degree of bestowing to the Creator as the Creator bestows to him, that this will be revealed to him now, that's what he wants.
Student: Can we say that the illumination reveals to him that he was in the wrong direction, it guides him?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:37) He writes here that the Creator gives him the awakening so he won't remain in exile and he feels that there’s spirituality but spirituality is in lowliness and it pains him why Shechina is in exile and all this is from the Creator, the heartache and the Shechina in exile. Is there a way to increase these pains, intensify the sorrow for that?
M. Laitman: It all depends on the person already, how much he now invests from his will, from his thought in what, in what he is thinking about.
Student: What should a person think about in order to intensify the sorrow for Shechina in exile?
M. Laitman: The Shechina, his attitude to the Shechina, the Shechina towards him, what's between them, how much can they work together against the exile of the Shechina.
Student: Is there something a bit more practical a person can work on in order to feel the sorrow? I don't get it from how you explained it. We are working on the connection in the Ten.
M. Laitman: What for?
Student: In order to come to bestow to the Creator.
M. Laitman: In what way?
Student: By becoming to be as one man in one heart and making a place for Him to be revealed.
M. Laitman: Well, and?
Student: That will give Him contentment.
M. Laitman: Yes, I agree with all that. What's next?
Student: We need to now do work about divinity in exile, Shechina in exile, where is the sorrow here because it seems like everything is positive, we exert in order to reach this state. But what does it mean that Shechina is in exile?
M. Laitman: What is that the Shechina is in exile? Do we feel that it's in exile?
Student: I see it from the positive side. If everything were revealed and we would be able to be fulfilled, it means that Shechina is not in exile. Precisely because the abundance is not revealed and we can't receive all the good and we can't bestow contentment to the Creator, it's hard to connect to the feeling of sorrow for the Shechina.
M. Laitman: What's the question then?
Student: How to awaken the sorrow of the Shechina so I will feel the sorrow of the Shechina?
M. Laitman: This depends on connection between us and how together we turn to it with a prayer.
Student: Why do we need to develop an attitude to the Shechina in addition to the attitude to the Creator? Why do we need to have this attitude to the Shechina in addition to that?
M. Laitman: The Creator wants our benefit and establishes that but the Shechina shows us how opposite we still are from Him.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:02) Who is in exile, man or the Shechina?
M. Laitman: The Shechina.
Student: And the man?
M. Laitman: The Shechina shows man how much he is in exile.
Student: Does man attain anything before exile, so he will then lose it?
M. Laitman: No, he only discovers that he is in exile and before that he didn’t know it.
Student: Before that he had nothing?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: The exile is relative to what, if he had nothing and he lost nothing?
M. Laitman: Discovering the state that he's not connected to the Creator which is called exile; that's what the Shechina shows a person.
Student: Then it’s called that the Shechina is also in exile?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: It's not clear how a person positions him. I'm not sure how to ask it exactly?
M. Laitman: A person positions himself towards a state where he is connected to the Creator, and the Shechina is between them.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:35) With respect to the correction, what's the point of exile if there's no feeling of exile?
M. Laitman: It becomes revealed to a person bit by bit, that he is not in contact with the Creator.
Student: Yes, but all these years, all the incarnations, all the times that a person is far from the Creator and he doesn't feel it, he's not aware of it. What's the point in that?
M. Laitman: Yes, that's how it is.
Student: As if the correction begins only from the feeling of exile. That's where we start?
M. Laitman: Yes, yes.
Student: There's an entire period of just a general slumber?
M. Laitman: Well, that's how it is. Later, afterwards you'll know why it's like that and how you can fill up those years, those times.
Student: That's also both from an individual perspective and also from humanity's perspective?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: There's this expectation that the Creator would just stimulate us, we would just sit on the side and are looking in?
M. Laitman: Let's say so. We later come to see how each and every moment was coming from a lofty, deep need.
Question (Women Chile): (01:02:2) Is a person working on spirituality able to go through life without discovering his true deficiency and leave his soul be?
M. Laitman: Say it again?
Student: Can a person working on spirituality go through his life without revealing his true deficiency?
M. Laitman: Then how would it mean that he works in spirituality? Of course not.
Question (PT 6): (01:02:56) How is the feeling of exile does not deny a person the fuel for work? If he feels the exile and he ignores the feeling and continues to work on autopilot, does it mean that he just blurs out his state or does he overcome it? What does it mean to overcome the state of exile in the work?
M. Laitman: The worst thing is that a person feels nothing. Not this way, not that way, no nothing, just idle.
Student: So what does it mean in the work, to overcome the state of exile?
M. Laitman: That he searches diligently out of the darkness, he's looking for the reason for him being in this dark state. He yells and cries and pleads and does all kinds of things that, in his view, should advance him in coming out of this horrible state, dark state. That's it, and that's how it advances.
Question (Women Latin 10): (01:03:39) How can we make the heart understand that exile is the time to work on behalf of the Creator or for the sake of the Creator?
M. Laitman: We always need to work for the sake of the Creator and to want to get closer to Him and do it for His own sake and for His benefit, it doesn't matter what states we're in.
Question (Women PT 10): (01:05:13) It's written, before he received this revelation, to feel his lowliness, he was living in a world that's all good, meaning there was no deficiency in being in a state of lowliness. The question is, what is the true flavor a person feels in working for the Creator? What does a person feel in serving the Creator?
M. Laitman: Before one felt his attitude to the Creator, he had no goal in life and he just existed, just flowing like beasts this is called. Once he now has a purpose in life, that he has to get close to the Creator and feel Him and relate to Him, then he already has a goal, and therefore his entire life now takes on a light. Because there's where to advance and what for. That's a very big difference, it's the difference between man and animal.
Student: Meaning, both, also in the state of preparation, he enters this part to some extent?
M. Laitman: Then it's called preparation. Otherwise, what for? Preparation for what?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:10) I wanted to ask a little about the Shechina. Is the Shechina a Partzuf?
M. Laitman: Could be a Partzuf.
Student: You answered the friend that the Creator positions the Shechina between Himself and man. Why did He position it in such a way?
M. Laitman: Who's He?
Student: The Creator. Why did He position the Shechina between Him and men? When I grasp the idea of Shechina, I know that there is still, vegetative, animate and souls.
M. Laitman: And?
Student: That's my environment. Why did He place this mediator between man and Himself?
M. Laitman: To make a connection between them, between man and the Creator. If there's no Shechina, there's no connection.
Student: Yes but why can't the connection be a direct connection between the person and the Creator? Why is everything taking place through Shechina?
M. Laitman: The desire to bestow on behalf of the Creator and the desire to bestow on behalf of man, need to be in equivalence, in adhesion. So, the will to bestow on man's behalf is called Shechina.
Student: When a person catches himself in exile, he's disconnected from the Creator. So, the first thing he has to do is arrange for himself the perception of reality?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: That he's incorporated in all these souls and he needs to put together this Partzuf?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And so, relative to this Partzuf, what is still, vegetative and animate and what are the souls? The souls are those who have a yearning for the Creator, and are still, vegetative and animate, what is that? Is that the general desire?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: What is the connection between the souls? What does it give a person now that he's trying to come out of exile?
M. Laitman: He needs the power of the vessel, the vessel reception, the vessel of bestowal, depends on his situation, and he can use that to relate to the Creator.
Student: Is it all through the connection?
M. Laitman: Yes, of course.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:10:40) There's a line saying, “taste and see that the Lord is good”, and you get the flavor of it, and then He sends you out to exile, because somehow you can fall to the Klipot, to the shells, because He also created the shells, the Klipot. How do we keep from falling to the Klipot?
M. Laitman: Yes?
Student: And bestowing to Him, giving Him pleasure, because the goal is to have this good taste, but for the Creator in the form of bestowal. How do we protect ourselves from falling into the shells, even in exile?
M. Laitman: Not falling to the Klipot is only by action of bestowal.
Student: This is as he's describing here, the goal is the adhesion in the Creator and we have to maintain the yearning for adhesion constantly?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Holland): (01:12:03) We know that the Creator is everywhere, so what does it mean that the Creator comes out into exile with us?
M. Laitman: Where Israel is found, those that seek the Creator, that's where the force of the Creator Himself resides. And we have to connect the deficiencies that should reveal the Creator and then by them, by the lack in them, we get closer to the Creator until we reveal Him.
Student: How do we know this Rav? How do we know that the Creator went with us into exile? How do we feel it?
M. Laitman: We have to first have faith in it, and then feel it.
Question (Kyiv 1): (01:13:23) What is it, that between me and the Creator there’s the Shechina, what is the Shechina?
M. Laitman: Shechina means, vessels of reception that a person transforms to vessels of bestowal.
Student: In our work in the Ten, what is the Shechina?
M. Laitman: What you can position between you as mutual bestowal among you and you all want to be in the same feeling, same inclination.
Student: How can I recognize it between us, at what state?
M. Laitman: Think about it, more and more and more, and you will see that it exists between you, it will become more felt, more tangible and then you could sort of control it.
Student: The Shechina is like a third thing, it's not me, not the Creator and not the Ten, it's something separated?
M. Laitman: Yes. It's what connects the two of you, can connect the two of you.
Student: There's me, there's the Ten, there's what connects between us, what is that?
M. Laitman: There's you, there's the Ten, there's what connects you. Well let's say it's the Shechina.
Student: Is that some kind of desire, or the Creator, light, what is that?
M. Laitman: It is something that connects you, something you all belong to.
Question (Moscow 1): (01:15:55) If we get an opportunity to go through the same states again but with the feeling that we understand the results, if I understood correctly. It turns out that an opportunity should appear not only to use the same states that are revealed at that moment, but altogether with all the chain of states that we have before us, behind us?
M. Laitman: Gradually.
Question (Turkiye 2): (01:16:46) What is the complete intention that a person should reach in order to break the inner barrier of the inner exile?
M. Laitman: A person has to turn more and more to the Creator, to the Shechina, to the will to receive, to his will to bestow, so it is clearer to him what he is made of. And then he will see how to arrange the relationships between all of them.
Question (Belarus): (01:17:44) In the beginning of the article it says that the sin of the tree of knowledge and Adam HaRishon will forever stay uncorrected. What does he mean?
M. Laitman: That the corruption will stay uncorrected. It means that even if he returns to his corrected state, the shattering remains.
Question (MAK 4): (01:18:18) Is exile a feeling where I only feel myself? Is that what gives us suffering and distance from the Creator and brought us to death?
M. Laitman: It is a feeling for my Ten, that instead of being adhered to the Creator, we have disconnected from Him.
Student: In that state the recognition of evil is revealed?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: That we try to connect with the friends and only feel ourselves?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: The feeling of the friends, that's life?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: Are vessels of bestowal the desire of the friend?
M. Laitman: No.
Student: So what are vessels of bestowal?
M. Laitman: Vessels of bestowal, those in which we want to bestow upon each other.
Student: There inside of us, the vessels of bestowal?
M. Laitman: When they are revealed, they are revealed in us.
Question (Latin 4): (01:19:49) What's the difference, if we understand that Adam is the breaking of Israel and Israel is the connection, so what's the difference between the first Adam and Israel in the process of correction?
M. Laitman: In the process of correction, Israel changes all the time, because it's a collection of souls that are connected to the Creator and to His guidance and His correction. Whereas, Adam HaRishon is the basic structure of all the souls, and it basically doesn't change.
Question (Ukraine 2): (01:21:17) What's that condition not to disturb the abundance? What abundance are we talking about?
M. Laitman: I don’t know. I think it's still not the time to talk about it.
Student: Is the Shechina actually my desire to bestow to the Creator? What does it mean to unite the Shechina and the Creator?
M. Laitman: When we want to bestow upon the Creator, as much as He wants to bestow upon us.
Question (Zafon 1): (01:22:14) Most of the people that are slaves in exile don't feel that they're in exile, because they have meat and garlic and all the corporeal pleasures and only the Creator, through suffering and pain awakens them to ask for help to come out of the control of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now the question is, our friends that left the spiritual path and fell into a corporeal exile, does that mean that they didn't suffer enough in order to cry to the Creator for salvation?
M. Laitman: No, we will see. We will see when they return. The time will come.
Question (Salt Lake City): (01:3:17) My question has to do with the exile. With the state of the exile, is it perceived the same within the group?
M. Laitman: No, it all depends on the environment. That's the answer. It all depends on the environment. This is why it is written everywhere, that a person has to nurture his environment.
Question (H 10): (01:24:04) A few minutes ago you said that a person who feels that, as if he's nothing, that's the place we should be, where a person doesn't care. Whatever happens, he knows it came from the Creator doing good to the created beings. Is that the place we're supposed to reach, that there's no concern in this world whatsoever, only because we have faith above reason?
M. Laitman: I didn't understand the question.
Student: Do we have to reach a state that we don't see problems in life as problems, we believe that the Creator is doing good to His created beings. If we have faith above reason, so there's nothing to be afraid of, there's nothing to be concerned of. It's being on heaven and earth. Is that the state we have to reach or not?
M. Laitman: No. When you organize, when you relate to your problems with the Creator in this way, it's not regarded as reaching heaven on earth, no. On the contrary, you have an even bigger problem, how you come into heaven with the Creator.
Student: Thank you.
M. Laitman: You have more to think about.
Question (Women Unity): (01:26:16) The Shechina is in exile but I don't feel it. Only when I stabilize myself before the Creator I start feeling that the Divinity, the Shechina, is in exile. Why is my relation to the Creator that I only feel the Shechina in exile only when I have such feelings towards the Creator?
M. Laitman: The reason for how you feel towards the Creator is your egoistic relation to the Creator, completely egoistic.
Question (PT 6): (01:27:01) In the story of Egypt, there are two stories: There's the story of the nation of Israel, then Moses comes and teaches them and in the end they cry out and reach redemption. And there's a story of Moses, that he discovers the Creator and he goes back into Egypt to save the nation. Should I look at this as if I'm Moses or one of the people of Israel. It's confusing?
M. Laitman: So what is the question?
Student: Where should I look at this from? It's clear that I'm one of the people of Israel that have to connect and cry out and come out of Egypt. Sometimes we learn of the story of Moses that we didn't go out of Egypt and discover the Creator, but still, they explained to us that we should fight our ego and adhere to the Creator, and all kinds of things?
M. Laitman: It's still so. Yes. That's what you wanted to say. That's still not for us.
Question (New York 2): (01:28:34) How do I obligate the Creator to send us the awakening in order to escape from the trap of self-love. I obligate the Creator to send us the awakening in order to escape from the trap of self-love?
M. Laitman: Try, try to connect with Him and convince Him.
Song: (01:29:20)