Morning Lesson June 10, 2023

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

Part 1:

Rabash. Article No. 20, 1990. What Is Half Shekel in the Work?-2

Reading Article (00:00) “The verse says, “when you count..”

1.Rav’s Introduction: (33:03) What are the responses?

2. S. (33:10) He writes the lack that he feels is his prayer and not what is uttered in the mouth. Now deficiencies always awaken within us for food and sleep and other things, how do we take these deficiencies and turn them into a single deficiency as he writes there which is to know the Creator?

R. We try to think what is my heart and climb to man's heart, what does it want? Does he see as a good future not far away future but what is ahead of him that every moment he is taking one step forward, which way is he aiming himself, what is he stepping on, what is he advancing towards?

S. That's what we need to do every moment? Every deficiency I feel I have to think about what is the goal in it?

R. Not with every deficiency but all in all whatever you feel each and every moment partly you need to calculate where is your heart inclined to.

S. And he writes about the other half, the other half does the Creator give only for the deficiency of getting closer to Him? Or the other deficiencies too?

R. Whatever a person feels, whatever a person feels.

S. What he feels is what he gives in the fulfillment for the other half?

R. No. A person should scrutinize if whatever he feels is the right feeling or not, which way is he aimed, maybe he can aim himself more precisely in his work.

3. S. (35:34) What goes within the person when the faith shines on him?

R. He sees his way of development, where he should aim himself more precisely so that he will have strength to correct himself to shift to a more important goal and to get closer to it.

S. How does a person pray for the making of the vessel and not the reception of the feeling?

R. This is to the extent that he understands how much he's lacking, that all in all what is upon us is to regret the lack of the vessel, the feeling exists abundantly in the hands of the Creator, however the lack of the vessel on our side, the correct deficiency, that is the problem.

S. Another thing he mentioned here, how to not escape when you feel the aspect of the poor?

R. This also depends on the environment, but all in all the most important thing is that I am somehow aimed on the path, that's the most important; we realize that the purpose of our life is for us to connect together, “as one man with one heart” and in this one heart the Creator will enter and will fill it and they're inside of this heart we will feel adhesion with Him, this is actually the purpose of our development, the purpose of our life, for the time being in this world, what we want to attain.

4. S. (38:04) He says that a person relates to what a person feels and not what he says with his mouth?

R. Of course, it is so.

S. This is something that I don't understand. If I already feel that I lack the right vessel, why do I need to pray, that is the prayer, is that correct?

R. Yes.

S. So what's the issue of praying in general?

R. To pray means that you judge yourself how much your heart and the true purpose of creation are on the same line, how much you're coming closer to the goal and by which correct means you're doing it.

S. But if what you said is already in my feeling, then how?

R. Well, this is something you have to check each and every time. This is something we have to check each and every time because you can talk to many people in the world and they will tell you with words about such states and such discernments that you will think that that's it, these people are already in complete correction, however it is important to scrutinize it.

S. And then a person scrutinizes and sees that he lacks the right vessel, so he says, he utters the words, even though he has no feelings and then he falls to what Rabash discusses in the article, that the word is not what he has in his heart?

R. Even if his mouth and his heart are not equal, nevertheless he sees it, he feels it, and he tries to correct it; he tries to understand his heart and speak from his heart, then he has room for prayer, a topic for the prayer.

S. Meaning that the prayer that I pray in words, does it have some strength even though I don't have the feeling yet in it and the feeling may come later maybe it will already be the answer of the prayer to have the right feeling?

R. That's correct.

S. So there's a stage where the words are all you have?

R. Not only the words are what you have but also the lack of feeling.

S. And there's a feeling that there's no lack of feeling?

R. That's right.

5. S. (41:00) When a person prays his deficiency grows and he feels worse within them, he turns to the Creator but he can also help and also escape; the question is: so is that why we say that not for her sake is more important than for her sake, is that the reason?

R. Not for her sake is more important because in it we scrutinize everything that we have for and against our correct development, then we feel how we are relative to the Creator, relative to the group, to the friends and in such a way we can get closer, we can correct ourselves; this is why this period of time is very important.

S. Without this period that we go through and hold on to we can't get to a vessel in order to bestow?

R. We can't.

6. S. (42:17) When can a person say that he gave his half of shekel?

R. When he's in adhesion with the Creator and that two deficiencies, he is on the side of the vessel and also he's on the side of the light already complete each other and he reaches in order to bestow like the Creator, this is the way what there’re degrees in it.

7. S. (42:55) You just said that both deficiencies are from the side of the vessel and from the side of the light; where's the deficiency from the side of the light?

R. It's that a person feels how much he lacks being in the qualities of the light and on the side of the vessel how much he lacks wanting the in adhesion with the light.

S. So we have to have these two unique things, components in the deficiency?

R. Yes.

S. He describes a few times in the article and other states were he asks and receives that he doesn't receive a response and he flees the campaign and escapes; what is that state when a person is asking and sees that answer; what is happening, the Creator wants him to have a bigger desire or a different desire, what's happening there?

R. The Creator each time shines to the person and through these illuminations he changes his desires, the kind of desires, the magnitude of the desires, the direction and the person should sort them each time and see with which desire he can take the next step.

S. In general the Creator’s answer, His response to the desire that the person will feel here, I have a deficiency to the Creator and turn to Him, is it even possible or maybe each time that there's a lack of congruence that I want something but the Creator doesn't give it to me, maybe He gives it to me in another place?

R. Usually this is what we feel, that our work is to complete ourselves with the Creator.

8. S. (45:24) In this article Rabash says that in every moment whether we're in a descent or an ascent we must always create half a shekel in order to give to the Creator, we have to find a half a shekel in order to give it?

R. Yes, we need to try to detect, always the half of the shekel, meaning the right deficiency towards the Creator for the time being.

S. But if you don't have anything to give, what is our half a shekel: when we're in loneliness and we have nothing to give him?

R. We need to give a deficiency so the Creator will give us the feeling, it's not exactly what we think. In us is to open up the right deficiency so that the Creator will be able to fill it up, we need to bring the Creator a vessel which is ready, that it wants it, he yearns to receive a filling from Him, meaning both the feeling is important but the most important is that what we want is that the feeling will come from the Creator because by this we will give Him contentment; here we need to think of how to arrange ourself, usually here we need to turn ourselves a bit more, direct ourselves a bit more towards the goal, that a new goal towards a new feeling, that is our work.

9. S. (47:50) Is the half a shekel the work to, our work to unite the friends point in the heart?

R. Yes, yes.

10. S. (48:20) My impression is that five-thousand people are now hearing Rabash's article and it's like, it's really exciting, it's like a fountain that comes out to the world, it springs and we can’t stop it, it already flows and for certain it is doing something good in the world; this is how this articles that we've read together feel like, thank you.

R. Thank you.

11. S. (49:00) Meaning the guidance is on the one hand, the great one should not see himself as one who receives sufficiently with all the prayers he raised in the past, therefore, why would he keep praying, on the other hand, the little one should not see himself as so lowly so that he does not believe that his prayer will be answered. So why should he keep praying, is that how it is?

R. Yes, that too.

S. That if both of these sides are like this, then what happens?

R. Yes.

S. If the great one does it, he doesn't see himself as one who receives himself and if the little one doesn't see himself as bad, what happens they meet in the middle and they see they're not so different or what happens?

R. They continue, continue from the state that they cannot advance any longer anymore but they continue.

S. Seemingly it says that the good one is not as good as he thinks and the bad one thinks he’s not so bad, if I'm reading it correctly, and actually they're not so different if you look at it from above?

R. Yes, nevertheless, they continue, I answered you already.

12. S. (50:33) It said when we gain much wisdom, then we are, let's say, permitted to reveal secrets little by little, what is this secret and what does it mean that it has to be little by little?

R. That you're not ready to receive them yet, this is why they're not being revealed to you yet. If the light can be revealed in a vessel, then to the extent that it feels the vessel, then it is called revelation; revelation of the Creator to the created being, but if the vessel is not ready yet, according to equivalence of form to receive the light, then it’s not revealed and the vessel remains in darkness.

S. How can we hasten this because it says little by little, how to be little by little or can we..?

R. It's only through the work between us, it's only through the work between us.

S. Yes, but if we do it little by little, that's also work between us, how can we hasten it? What other work do we need to hasten?

R. Try to teach; as it is written I learned a lot from my teachers, more from my friends and even more from my students.

13. S. (52:29) When Rabash wrote, when he said, “let it suffer,” is that his half a shekel?

R. Yes.

S. Can this serve some kind of relative point, the points of reference, how much does he suffer, how long?

R. We’re not talking about this. As much as a person needs to in order to direct himself correctly.

S. How can you understand that you received the other half of the shekel?

R. This depends on your feeling, if it's not enough in order for you to turn on, to continue and move on to the next scrutinies, then you received enough.

14. S. (53:30) It was said that there's no light without a vessel, does it mean that the other half of the shekel does not come until the first half of this shekel is revealed? How can the lower one recognize that the deficiency woke an unpleasant feeling but yet keep going above the possibilities and opportunities that he has and increase the deficiencies, ask for the deficiencies to be greater?

R. You need to try and whatever the mind doesn't do, time does.

15. S. (54:34) In the fourth excerpt from the bottom it says, it follows that by the prayer which is half a shekel, that the person should give, if the giving will be complete the Creator gives the other half; what does it mean: if the giving is complete? There's no complete, as before the Creator gives the other half, so what does that mean?

R. According to his vessels, how much a person tries to cling to, adhere to this action the Creator puts him through, this means that He gives a complete response.

S. What's the difference in the feeling when a person concedes corporeal pleasures in order to get greater pleasures versus working only for the benefit of the Creator?

R. Say it again.

S. How can a person distinguish in his feeling, when he concedes corporeal pleasures in order to receive greater pleasures versus working only for the benefit of the Creator?

R. It's a matter of emotion, I can't explain that; to the extent that he loves the Creator more than himself.

16. S. (56:24) To truly turn to the Creator not only with words the person feels inside of himself some chain, an emotional sequence, a chain from me where I am through the Creator, to the One I'm turning to. Is this a condition for the prayer to be not only with words, not only lip service?

R. Well, what does it mean that the work, the prayer should be not just in words? This a person doesn't know, doesn't understand exactly. Only the Creator weighs and brings some response.

S. Let's say, I want to acquire a certain proficiency in my ordinary life, to learn how to do something. I try to do it, I see I'm not successful and I try to find ways for how to fix it and nevertheless, how to learn to do what I want to learn to do, and what we study, it's similar but here there is something extra. I'm trying to understand what is the difference between the matter which a person acquires the proficiencies in his ordinary life is also something of a miracle. What's the difference between this and the way that this development happens through prayer in our work?

R. The difference between what we learn between corporeal reality and spiritual reality is that in spirituality we receive new vessels, new mind and emotion by which we can understand a new state. New as in didn't exist before, meaning that before I couldn't process and understand and feel it, and now I can. Whereas, in this world I simply use the same vessels I had and I expand them and then continue.

S. Which way are daily efforts to get closer to the friends in the study and our practice during the day, how do all these efforts attempt to connect? How do they influence us, help us move along this chain of the connection between us and source so that this connection will become apparent and clear?

R. By connection between us. That's what we forget, we don't see the connection, the literal connection between how connected we are and how much we are connected to the Creator.

S. By these attempts we try to learn it, then we come back again. I guess it is a foolish question but what do we have to learn out of these repetitive attempts? We acquire some experience but it's not clear where exactly it is and what it should be?

R. The experience from all these attempts to get closer to each other will lead us to prayer because only the Creator can do these things. They're already present in the spiritual forces.

17. S. (01:01:05) Why does the environment influence the right deficiencies so I can turn to the Creator in the right way? Why does the environment help me to go against my nature?

R. The environment doesn't really give you answers for your state, however, it still raises you from a beastly deficiency to a spiritual deficiency; that is how it is.

18. S. (01:01:54) What is the real prayer that can separate us from corporeality and how can we raise such a prayer?

R. Bit by bit, we get closer to that until we come to the right prayer and then we feel how it works. Just keep trying and trying and trying each time, this is called knocking on repentance.

19. S. (01:02:44) It says here, it is the ninth excerpt, from the end of the article, the lack for the filing is in the heart and it also says; and if there is no relevance to what the mouth says when he prays. Is there a point to pray if the heart is sealed and the person feels he's not praying with his heart?

R. Yes. Praying is required in each and every state, even a desperate, terminal state where you don't see what can come out of it, still pray. Take an example from a little child. He cries, he nags, he does anything even though he has no chance of receiving what he wants. That's how nature works.

S. According to the article, is there a need to say what a person feels in his heart when he prays or the feeling itself is sufficient?

R. What do you mean the feeling is okay?

S. Should we speak it out or just feel this deficiency?

R. Well, they say that if he can utter it in his mouth, more certain that he needs to understand what is happening whereas, the feeling doesn't reach a verbal expression is not fully understood.

20. S. (01:04:29) What is the practical advice to overcome a poor character?

R. To connect to the friends because by envy, lust and honor you can increase your desire.

21. S. (01:04:47) Does the vessel itself become the filling?

R. Yes, that I want to bestow to the Creator, this can be as a fulfillment certainly. Fulfillment for my corrected vessel.

22. S. (01:05:11) How can I determine and realize that I'm actually working for the Creator?

R. By the environment, a person cannot rise above the environment but being at the same level as the environment, the same desires, that he can do.

23. S. (01:05:40) He writes that we need to put in a prayer and not stop praying until we have a complete measure of a desire and a deficiency, so what is this work that you don't stop praying, you don’t move away from it?

R. Haven't you seen little kids when they want something?

S. Yes.

R. So?

S. But how can we persist in the work of the prayer, for a child it’s clear to him the deficiency for what he wants, it's clear to him what he wants. How can we do it so it will be clear to you, what is it to bestow, what is this quality of bestowal, that you want it?

R. Again, this is through the environment, this is through the environment, you check how much your desire is a desire with which you can receive support from the environment and that grows your Kli and that is how you advance.

S. How does this transition occur in the work that you begin to see the spiritual development through the environment when you are already aware of your dependency on them?

R. Say it again?

S. How in our work, how does this transition occur to you starting to be aware of your dependency in your spiritual development on the environment if you must have the environment in order to?

R. A person comes to that by seeing that nothing else helps him and then he finally hears that everything depends on the environment.

S. And the connection between the environment and the Creator, that, too, how do we develop this connection?

R. He has to feel that he has to jump into the environment like diving into water and that's where he'll find the response.

24. S. (01:08:13) To continue about the environment that He's operating on us, I wanted to ask something more general, maybe, but I think maybe it's necessary. We have in our environment, in our world Kli, also a female Kli, they participate with us in the morning lesson, we see them in the noon lesson, in the meals, in dissemination, everywhere, it's a very strong force. How can we awaken the women’s Kli so they will compel the men to pray?

R. That is something we even see from Torah, how the women influence the men, and that this is a necessity, it's a necessary part in building the Kli, we have to both talk about and organize it, yes.

S. How can we awaken this deficiency more so it will work, so that it will be felt within, not by connecting externally but from within, that we will feel such a pressure, such commitment?

R. Just like now we are talking about our deficiency towards the Creator and how we cannot move and change this deficiency to make it better tuned at the Creator. If we begin to work with the deficiency of women, then we’ll begin to feel how their deficiency is, how to put it, not so convenient and ready for that. And that is how we come to a better understanding of what is happening with us and how to organize ourselves properly.

S. Can the man awaken the women's deficiency or do they have to do it on their own?

R. Yes, every man has to, it's part of his work, part of his Kli but it depends on the periods of time that we are in; the truth is that women are entering the spiritual work mostly in the recent time. Before that, this wasn't a case, the man would do certain functions in the work of the Creator and women, too, would do their work, but now everyone is moving into the spiritual work.

S. Rav, I'm asking about the interaction on the inner level between men's Kli and women's Kli, how do men’s Kli awaken women’s Kli, how does the women’s Kli awaken men’s Kli into a common work in prayer?

R. We have to build such systems but they shouldn't disturb us or make us move away from the right path. We don't have contact with the other part of the women, but it's more like assistance and help, and no more.

25. S. (01:12:07) It is felt that Creator brought us to a point of decision, there is a feeling that I am willing to sacrifice everything as much as He is with me, as much as I am one with Him. And in this point, how can we give our gratefulness to the Creator, how can we hold this decision during the day because from now on, Creator is enough for me.

R. We have to see ourselves as together with the Creator, in the same kind of work, almost like partners with Him, and even though we cannot do without His help, we understand that we have a part, and He plays a part in this process. And we always have to see Him as the One who begins and we, as those who end, as it's written, “I started creation and you will complete it”, that’s it.

S. I took some notes during the lesson and you said that, “we will complete ourselves with the Creator”, and also you said that “a person should love the Creator more than himself”. So in this state, you said to a friend in the beginning of the lesson that “the prayer is observation of the state I'm in towards the Creator”; so in this state we see that we have to come to a state which we will complete ourselves by loving the Creator more than ourselves. Can we say that this deficiency, this vessel, is the gap that I see between my state and this state?

R. Yes, you could say that.

26. S. (01:15:39) He is speaking here how the vessels divided into two: the first half, he writes that “the deficiency is in the hands of man, that is called the first half of the Kli, and the filling that he will have the desire to bestow, that is the second half of the vessel”, so what is the difference between them, between the deficiency being in the hands of man and the other half of the vessel which he receives from the Creator?

R. Again, the question?

S. Why does he state this that supposedly the vessels divided into two, that the deficiency is in the hands of man he says “that is the first half of the vessel”, and he continues, “and feeling this vessel meaning to have a desire to bestow that is the other half of the vessel and that is considered light”. And then he keeps going, and explains that the other half is also called the Rosh, a head, that the desire to bestow; it's like he separates between the deficiency of man and the vessel called ‘the desire to bestow’, it's like he separates it?

R. Yes, the Rosh of the Partzuf is that hard part of Partzuf that thinks how we can bestow, in what way it can be adhered to the upper light, and then it works on the desires that are below the Rosh and wants to arrange from them, to organize from them, the action toward the Creator, toward the light.

S. It's as if there is a prayer that has to be very precise and directed towards the second half of the vessel of man called the will to bestow and that it has to be really scrutinized?

R. Yes.

27. S. (01:18:14) Also here in the article he says that “you need the filling and the light and the will to bestow”, I wanted to ask, is there is an example in our life, in our world, where we ‘want to ‘a desire’ because it's hard to depict; what does it mean to want a different desire, is there an example for that in life?

R. Yes, if I want to rise to a certain degree then I need the desire of that degree, understand?

S. That’s the spiritual world, what does it mean to ‘want a desire’?

R. Let's say, I want to be a champion in something, then I have to have a desire that will push me to give everything that is needed to become a champion, in sports or something, in anything. The main thing is the desire.

S. Is there a difference between the desire and an ability?

R. If there is a will, then you can also obtain the ability.

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