Afternoon Lesson October 16, 2023, Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio.
Part 1:
Lesson on the topic of Baal HaSulam. Shamati, 142. The Essence of the War
1. Rav’s Introduction: Let's read and then maybe we can talk about something that is hard to talk about it, so let’s see.
Reading Article: (00:33) Shamati, 142. “The Essence of the War.”
2. R. (01:43) The war is always a matter of a person battling against his nature, which is his ego, his evil inclination. That's why we should relate in this way to all the different states we go through and that's why the war is actually the place of permission of authority, where a person can battle and where he cannot battle. Actually, if he feels that he has to battle or fight then he emerges to the battle against his evil inclination, we're only talking about such a war, his evil inclination, so he says Baal HaSulam, “Whereas when it comes to a Mitzva, a commandment of transgression, a loss is near, and reward is far.” There he should observe as if he has no considerations.
That is, he doesn't have much to do there, but rather he has to observe it and keep it as if not measuring as if it's a Mitzva or transgression. He just has to do it, this is if we are talking, it is in a place that he must overcome and win. However, waging war and keeping Mitzva where there is a place of permission, there is an act of war, and he has to be in a place of permission. Meaning he has no choice, but rather he chooses what to do since even if one does this action, it's only a matter of permission. Therefore, even if one fails, nevertheless, the sin will not be so great, since its permission to begin with it was there. This is why it is considered near to reward since if he wins the war then he enters and he will bring a new authority under the Kedusha, under the holiness. He moves from the permission of the evil to the permission of the good. That's why this is the essence, the main essence of the war, that we should have the place of permission and we use it in such a way.
Reading again: (05:15) Shamati 142. “The Essence of the War”
3. R. (06:20) Meaning a person is in a state which is called permission. Therefore, he says the essence of the war should be in a place of permission. Whereas if to begin with one knows that it's a Mitzvah or a transgression then it's not a war, it's simply a person who knows that he's not permitted to enter here or he has to enter in battle, but the reward for the mitzvah for the benefit is not great. That's why there, in a place of permission, he needs to observe it as if he is without any considerations. That is these considerations meaning that he has no choice, but rather this is how he decides, whereas in the matter of permission there we should be made in a place of war and make choice here, because he has permission. Because the action, the deed is only a matter of permission therefore even if he fails the sin will not be so great, because this was under permission, he didn't have to do it, but rather if he went and he lost then at least he has experience from it, for the future. Hence, even when the near is considered a reward. Hence if one wins the war, he will bring a new authority under the Kedusha and if not at least he receives the experience.
4. S. (08:34) How does a person locate within himself the place of permission, the place where he has a choice but to participate in this process?
R. That's the place that with certainty he doesn't have to battle and that's on one hand, and on the other hand, if he does fight, if he does battle, he has to succeed and subduing his qualities under the good inclination.
S. Each and every moment a person has a place of permission?
R. No. Sometimes you can see how much he wrote kind of like between the words. These two lines, that's it.
S. The place of permission, what gives a person this motivation to wage war?
R. That he's trying, attempting. That's why it's called the War of Permission. That is you are authorized, you're permitted to do this or another thing, whatever you choose.
S. What's considered a victory in the War of Permission?
R. The War of Permission nevertheless, the triumph is by being under the war of permission. That is his under the commandment of choice. Where he nevertheless wants to try and do, and attribute maybe himself to the Mitzva, the choice.
S. What is the war about?
R. The war is actually whether he prefers to do this or not. Is it worthwhile for him to do this or not? He doesn't have to but if he can, if he thinks that he can try, then he can try and from that, he is rewarded.
S. If he doesn't have to, why does he do it because it's from nature he prefers not to?
R. Because nevertheless, it's the permission between good and bad, between Mitzva, a commandment, and a transgression. That's why a person chooses here. It's something like that, in the middle. Where if he wins the war, then he will bring a new authority under the Kedusha. You, see? Okay.
5. S. (11:38) How can we recognize the times in the place where war is permitted?
R. That's not yet now, that's not yet now. I don't even want to enter into and start scrutinizing these things. Along the way when we get there to these cases, we will talk about that. But for the time being, we can't locate those.
6. S. (12:18) I understand we need to fight; how do we understand we need to fight?
R. Yes, we need to see whether we need to battle against our inclination, which is pushing us towards the war, against the conditions of the war, or altogether not to battle, not to fight. And here is the war of permission. There are barely any explanations about this, we are truly lacking. Maybe with time, we will scrutinize them more, and then again, we will return to the same excerpts.
S. He writes here that he makes a new choice in holiness. What is the choice?
R. The fact that a person made such a choice that he intensifies the force of love, the force of connection, the connection between the parts of creation, that's why it's the right choice.
7. S. (14:11) If I don’t have the strength to win the war, how can I win the war?
R. If you don't have the forces to be at the war then you don't start the war. But if you have the power then you try to accept the war and to triumph over it. And let's say if you're winning and you're mistaken then at least you enter and you get experience from it.
8. S. (15:00) Tell me please, to start fighting against your ego, basically I realize that it's the same as waging war against the Creator, so how can a person engage in this knowing that the Creator is behind everything and basically, we understand that only if the Creator wants that, will a person succeed?
R. Yes, but for us nevertheless the main thing is to show where we are. If this is a war, meaning resistance of different kinds, then we choose the same part that is closer to the Creator, to support Him. And by that, that is our choice.
S. What kind of work should be there when we're fighting against the ego?
R. The work with the Creator. The work with the Creator needs to be such that we will do all that depends on us and afterward ask Him to give us the forces to win.
9. S. (16:34) The person feels and sees this place of choice and it's basically as this preliminary revelation of the Creator.
R. Yes.
S. Basically it's this place, this moment where the Creator is ready to fully reveal Himself and do the correction for the person. What kind of effort is needed from the person at this moment, please?
R. The Creator does not want to be revealed before a person. He can do this only in that place where according to all the conditions He is certain that it benefits a person.
S. What does it mean to benefit the person, does it strengthen the faith?
R. Yes.
10. S. (17:46) What are those commandments that have a choice, and the ones that don't have a choice? Are those the Mitzvot that are very commanding and rejecting?
R. Yes, very much.
11. S. (18:11) We often have these states when you feel the external pressure that makes you exert effort, but sometimes there's no pressure, everything is good. So, this is the state that I'm worried about. How to use a state when there's nothing pressuring a person?
R. He needs to make a choice. He needs to make a choice, if there's nothing pressuring him, it is a sign that the Creator is not letting him work, He’s not giving him a place to work, and this could be terrible because a person did not prepare himself to receive work from the Creator. That's why there's a matter of a lack of preparation on behalf of a person.
S. So if nothing is pressuring him it's a bad sign?
R. Not good. Not good. Not good. We need to try and be in states where we know where we are, we know what we need to do, we choose the closest actions for success, and this is how we advance.
S. Do you mean the external pressure? As God forbid, right now there are blows or some other kind of pressure?
R. Also the external attitude towards it.
S. So if I find myself in a state where there's no pressure, how do I wake myself up to get back into the flow?
R. Then I leave the action that I expected to do and I return to the state as it was, prior to the beginning of the action.
12. S. (20:50) Is the place of choice always to do or not to do or is there a wider variety of choices?
R. That depends on a person, that depends on a person.
S. And does the person understand that there will be a choice or not?
R. Yes, a person sees and feels where the boundaries of his free choices are.
S. How does one understand if it's a personal choice or if it is a choice of a group?
R. Eventually, if they talk between them, of course, if they decide they have the choice of the group.
S. If a person feels one way and a group feels another way, so it some kind of a personal choice that has to occur?
R. Well if he doesn't feel he doesn't feel, he listens to the others. After all, this is group work.
S. If it ends with a worse scenario if he's listening to the others?
R. Nevertheless, when the group decides together, almost decisively it is not erring, it is not mistaken.
13. S. (22:29) In the article that the action is an action of choice. What does it mean that the war is a matter of choice?
R. Permission means that he can receive what's standing before him as necessary for correction and is not necessary for correction. We are not yet in that, that's why all these articles, I don't know why they were chosen.
S. What does it mean to action with your hands and legs, what does it mean a physical action or not necessarily?
R. No actually not a physical action, it’s an action that he chooses with his desires. What should he associate himself with?
S. The framework of our studies and our meetings of our tens, is it something, is it our foundation and everything that I want to add to this framework is my choice?
R. Yes.
14. S. (24:01) Does the Creator know in advance what kind of choice we will make? Will we be enslaved by the ego or overcome it?
R. The Creator knows everything, but we're not capable of taking that into account.
S. Basically He knows if I will, if I will fall and He still sends the state to me?
R. This is no contact, this is not connected to you right now. That's a matter of the Creator, it's not for you.
S. Okay, so what's my proper attitude when my ego is winning over me and when I fail? Do I have to be angry at myself?
R. You must always with all seriousness measure what's before you come and make a decision and what the answer will be and the correct decision when you receive it is simple; you'll be corrected by that decision.
15. S. (25:14) What is our main choice, the intention?
R. Yes.
S. When we enter the intention for the bestowal, we win?
R. Yes.
16. S. (25:30) I want to clarify this question. When we make a choice to say, consciously in ourselves, it's not this commandment of choice, Mitzva and it's not war because we do it so easily and it only is there when it's hard for us to make this choice this is when this commandment is and only through the ten, we can make this right choice, correct?
R. Yes, correct.
17. S. (26:10) When there's a desire to do something but there's no understanding why, but there's a feeling that you certainly need to do this, or the opposite where there's no desire but in your mind, you understand for certain that you have to do that and you're basically doing it over not wanting to do it. So, what's the difference between those two choices?
R. After all that, your choice, meaning that you're learning that later, that upon that whether you did the right thing or not.
S. Why are they replacing each other, those choices? At first, you drop your understanding in your mind and then you advance without it according to your feelings, the second option is that when you understand what you need to do but you overcome your lack of desire, what's the right way to choose here or does it have to replace each other all the time?
R. It all depends on your choice, and you can't say anything in advance. You need to examine yourself.
18. S. (27:50) Is it right that this article is speaking about choosing unity, choosing the good connection, and increasing our connection between us in order to bring contentment upon the Creator?
R. It's always like that.
19. S. (28:24) I engage in dissemination and social media actively and the calling for Unity that I have received a ton of negative feedback supporting Palestine. The videos with the slain children, what's the point of replying evil with evil, where is this a guarantee that Jewish people won’t be hated even more and there will be a second holocaust?
R. We don't look or pay attention to what they are writing about us. It's clear that the journalists, and the media, are all against us and therefore it's inventing whatever they can against us. That's why there is no commonality between us, any practical contact between us.
S. I shouldn't reply, right?
R. It's clear not to answer, what you have to answer, and from their youth, they are educated with hatred.
20. S. (29:58) It doesn't seem like it's a choice, it seems like we're going to lose if the goal is to “My sons have defeated Me,” then we must win this war.
R. Yes. The choice is not to win or not win, the choice is how I relate to this war. Is it the war of permission or is it the war of commandment? And also, it is not towards the war that's going outside today that we're talking about. A person that wants to win his ego, and asks himself, what for am I going to battle, he needs to answer that, and it turns out that his war is in order to prove to himself that he is going above reason. That he is going to win because he wants to perform the commandments. The commandment is calling a matter of bestowal, an act of bestowal.
21. S. (31:44) I simply wanted to ask, a common person and their choice in the states that they go through, a person goes through it on his own, not in his choice, he can feel he draws strength from the ten for this choice?
R. Excellent, that is truly the right choice. He is connecting to the friends, receiving from them discernments, scrutinies, and forces by which he goes and beats his evil inclination. All the wars are against the evil inclination.
22. S. (32:40) Is it possible to say that the war of choice or commandment, these are like degrees from Lo Lishma to Lishma?
R. Yes.
23. S. (33:10) Regarding the commandments that forbid, is it the first thing that the ten has to correct because it's the biggest sin of the ten? How do we refresh the decision in the ten?
R. Yes, In such a way that we're willing to go for all the manners of connection in order to come closer to the Creator. That is actually the formula upon which we choose what to do. Okay.
24. S. (34:08) At what stage of our spiritual development can we realize and start this war against the ego, what do we have to obtain?
R. We need to understand in a secure way what the evil inclination is in order not to err, God, forbid, and try and demand from the Creator all kinds of help that will guide us correctly to recognizing what evil is, what egoism is, and how we can subdue it.
S. Our main weapon against the ego?
R. Connection. Connection.
25. S. (35:08) From what I heard we're not ready enough to prepare ourselves to accept this work from the Creator.
R. Only in connection.
26. S. (35:30) When this is an internal war against the ego mostly we need to continue prayers to the Creator?
R. Prayer is correct, but persistent all the time is difficult, because a person also needs to feel where he is, what the Creator’s arranging for him, and how he's connected with the group, the friends, and only after that he can connect to the friends and pray to the Creator. Therefore, constantly, all the time praying. How will he feel about his situation and his state? Yes?