Morning Lesson December 16, 2020 Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves possibility for errors
Hanukkah. Selected Excerpts from the Sources. Excerpt 20.
33. R. Let us continue. Meaning the same talk of how to attain the degree of Bina the degree of faith above reason the first spiritual degree, that is considered the attaining of Hanukkah.
Rabash. Letter 68.
Excerpt 20. Reader (00:34 - 01:14)
34. R. Wherever he is required whenever he is required to form connection with the others and in the connection with the others if he can't reach that, if he receives help from above, the force of the Creator then it turns out Israel the Torah and the Creator all of these things, they need to be connected together. Then a person reaches a state that he comes to connection, to adhesion. It is all thanks to receiving the upper light. That is called a miracle. Above nature is called a miracle. The corporeal nature is reception, control, etc. and the spiritual nature is the opposite of that, it is annulling the self. That is why Hanukkah is called a miracle because the force of Bina is attained.
35. S. (02:18) What does it mean above nature, if I'm with a ten, I'm getting strength from them to do an action, this is already in nature.
R. Depending on what a ten is. For instance, if one were to be included with a group of criminals and they were going to rob a bank so this is above nature, this is above your corporeal nature you are continuing your ego. Above nature is the opposite of the nature we are born with.
S. I meant, if the ten gives me the strength to cancel myself and work with them together as Rabash writes and teaches us this is called above nature?
R. Above nature is considered the will to bestow which is opposite of each and everyone's will to receive, that above the desires, above our desires to receive, if we can connect then by that we are building a spiritual vessel. We are building desires to receive that are connected between each other above the will to receive, to the intention in order to bestow.
S. Above nature always has to be above the resistance of the ego?
R. Of course.
36. S. (03:47) I really want a miracle to happen to me, all of my life I wanted a miracle, how do I bring a miracle to happen?
R. For you, when you think of a miracle, you think of what will happen to me, what I want, then I will call it a miracle, right? Let's say I didn't do anything I didn't exert and now I won $1,000,000 in some lottery that is what you call a miracle... But, if I exert and I invest effort then this is already not considered a miracle. Here, we exert, we do a lot in spirituality in connection i everything and many actions and then we are rewarded with it then we reach it. Why is it called a miracle because, we don't even know what we achieve, what we arrive at. Only when it comes to us then we say that's spirituality, I didn't think that it was this or that. It is not at all what I intended for. Even when I try to imagine it, it is not. It is something much different than I imagine. This is why it is called a miracle.
S. So then you have to truly work for it. Truly, work?
R. Yes.
Excerpt 21. Reader (05:16 - 06:12)
37. R. Meaning we need to imagine that we are in exile from spirituality. Exile from spirituality is exile from the quality of bestowal, from love of others. When we are sorry that we don't have this. In that we're sorry we do not have it that we do not have love of others. You are sitting there, weeping saying why do I not love all of these friends that are now in front of me, right? Why ain’t am yearning to love them with all of my heart?
S. I thought you taught us there are no miracles...
R. You will discover that you can't just come to it. When you will come to it, then you will ask. When it comes to you a certain feeling of love for them, then, you will say it is truly a miracle. It cannot be that I love them and I only find that I am rejecting them and being told to come closer to them and to love them, I couldn't. Now upon darkness, the light has been revealed. That is why in this great battle that you will do with the ego in you, that is considered the war of the Maccabees. That you will reach a state where love of others is revealed to you and in that love to the Creator and you will discover all of the true world. All of reality.
S. What is so special about Hanukkah that we have to get a miracle?
R. That we still want connection, spirituality is an inclination for connection, every moment that you want to reach in connection, it is considered that you go towards the end of creation. If you feel in every moment that you are inclined for connection in all of corporeality and all of spirituality, and all of this state which is entirely round and entirely connected and you are outside of it. You want to reach it, when you reach it you will find that everyone is already at the end of correction, I was outside of this whole sphere the whole time. Now I see that I am also penetrating this and I am also in connection with them. That is the first miracle, the miracle of Hanukkah. Hanukkah in Hebrew...it is like housewarming, it is like the reception of the vessel.
38. S. (09:27) I feel in all my organs I am not in spirituality, I am in the will to receive, do I have to pray for a miracle, to expect a miracle?
R. It is very good that you feel this way that you feel you are not in spirituality because that is true but it also gives you the ability to aim yourself to spirituality the opposite of where you are.
39. S. (09:59) How to come to a state where I will feel shame if I miss an opportunity to bestow to the ten?
R. To the extent you invest accordingly you will reveal.
Excerpt 22. Rabash. Article 7. The Miracle of Hanukkah. Reader (10:20 - 12:02)
40. S. (12:06) By calling something a miracle or perceiving it to be so, does this affect the influence of the upper light in our efforts needed to attain it?
R. Every moment that I am with my friends in the Lesson and we are thinking about the purpose of creation, how to attain it, how do we correct ourselves so that the Creator will be revealed within us every single moment, then we are in spirituality. We are already experiencing all kinds of states, although we still don't feel it. If we would feel it, it would ruin us. This is why a small child, he doesn't know how he grows up, why it grows up he doesn't know anything, he just lives, that’s it. This is our form of advancement, to what extent does a child advance every year in comparison to a teenager or an adult. The fastest development is in children where a person doesn't know what is happening he's just included in them, why is this important to us? It's important to us to be included together in this life, that we are advancing together, drawing upon us the light that reforms and this is our advancement. Later on, you will understand what huge steps you made, how you grew and you weren't even aware of it, what is happening to you. It is a wonderful process.
S. What are the flavors in the work?
R. I don't know. That, you will reveal along the way.
Excerpt 23. Rabash. Why is the Torah called “Middle Line” in the Work. Reader (14:33 - 15:50)
41. S. (15:54) The word “miracle” and the word “nation” have the same value, does this mean that we will become one nation after the miracle of Hanukkah?
R. One nation is considered a group that advances in a special way towards the purpose of creation, this is why our group advances according to corrections as it is written in the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is considered a nation. All of the rest of humanity that isn't advancing towards this, is just something that has nothing to it, has no name. It is called nations and this is how we divide it. Only those that are directed to the purpose of creation, themselves, they are called a nation. So there is no nation, other than our group.
42. S. (17:13) How can we love the Creator with the evil inclination, it says, with both of your inclinations, how can you love Him like that?
R. When you correct it in order to bestow, then you will also love the Creator with your evil inclination that will be corrected to receive in order to bestow, that is considered that you corrected the evil inclination in order to bestow and then upon that love is revealed. Before that you only have the force of bestowal. Bina is not love, it is only the beginning of connection.
43. S. (17:54) About the miracle of Hanukkah, the Menorah stayed lit for eight days, can you explain the relationship between the days, the Sefirot, and faith above reason?
R. Oh, you guys are so smart I'm very happy from these questions but it's not for now. We only have 15 minutes left. We will learn it. It is like we learned in Sukkot, that you have eight days in Sukkot, eight days of Hanukkah, 8 days of Pesach, it is all corrections that we are going through.
Excerpt 24. Rabash. Article 11. What Placing the Hanukkah Candle on the Left Means in the Work. Reader (18:53 - 20:07)
44. R. We go from the quality of reception to the quality of bestowal, this transition that happened to us is above nature and that is why it is called a miracle.
45. S. (20:22) What does it mean to publicize widely in the spiritual work?
R. It is called the publication of the miracle that each and everyone will have the chance to resemble the Creator and that is the purpose of our existence in this world, all of us, every person.
Excerpt 25. Rabash. Article 7. The Miracle of Hanukkah. Reader (20:54 - 23:05)
46. R. That is called a miracle.
Excerpt 26. Rabash. What are the Forces Required in the Work. Reader (23:09 - 25:28)
47. R. Meaning, we are reaching success in a state that we are powerless, we don't have any strength, that we can't reach success and then what is revealed is that yes, we are rising and yes we can, we cannot reach the Creator by anything- but by the Creator doing a miracle with us. This is after we see that there is no chance to reach bestowal, to reach connection, spirituality, to resemble the Creator, there's no chance for anything. We then reveal that there is a chance because it comes from the Creator, from above, it is revealed from above it is a miracle. But only after we invest everything that we need to invest. That is how it happens.
48. S. (26:37) What is the realization of the articles of Rabash if we read it during our meetings?
R. It is preferable to, after the lesson to listen to the first part of the lesson usually it is the introduction, it is recommended to hear that again. When you connect the first time what time is that, around noon and then the second time in the evening?
S. Yes each ten is slightly different we meet at 1:00.
R. I have it at 1:00 and then at 5:30, doesn’t matter, but before that, I as a student, must listen again to the first talk, that there was, from the lesson with Rav. Whatever we spoke about in the first part of the lesson, that is recommended. And besides, you read the Rabash articles and you will see less talk between you, perhaps there is no time for that but the changes will be more and more, in each and every one and everyone together.
S. Today all of the tens from the world are going to meet, we are meeting with Japan, Italy, other tens, there will be several languages there, English Russian Italian, should read an article from Rabash and have a gathering of friends. How to integrate the best way possible when you don't have common words?
R. To come to connection between the groups, it's recommended to read Rabash, about connection, about the group, something short and then to talk.
49. S. (29:29) Can I explain in my attitude towards the ten or towards the Creator that there is a necessary measure that has to burn in the first night?
R. The will to receive that needed to be over came and to bring it from corporeality to spirituality, it wasn't completely burnt, but it gave the rest of the desires to receive to be revealed and then after all of these days after these seven days they could sanctify the entire will to receive in order to bestow.
Excerpt 27. Rabash. The Miracle of Hanukkah. Reader (30:39 - 32:28)
50. R. We don't have any more vessels and, in these eight days, it is to bestow in order to bestow, and by this we complete the holiday of Hanukkah.