The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.

Daily Morning Lesson: October 25, 2025 

Part 1: Recorded lesson - Dec 2, 2021

Baal HaSulam. Shamati 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

Reader: Hello friends, in the first part of the lesson, we will study from a recorded lesson from December 2, 2021, Shamati Article 241, again, Shamati 241, Call Upon Him When He Is Near. 

Reader: Hello, we are reading from the writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati Articles, Article 241, Call Upon Him When He Is Near. You can find the article on kabbalahmedia.info or go to the study materials tab in the Arvut system. You can also send questions. Relevant questions may be aired during the lesson. 

M. Laitman: Yes, as usual we progress in the scrutiny of the internal work of man which is the attitude to the Creator, how to come closer to Him, how to adhere to Him, to begin to feel, to understand, to grasp onto Him with all forces of our spirit, to adhere with all the forces of our spirit to the Creator. Here he gives us an additional means which is very important, I would say the most important for beginners, how we need to respond, to react in certain moments in adhesion, in coming nearer to the Creator. It's as the Prophet writes, call upon Him when he is near. What is, call you upon Him when He is near? Meaning that the Creator, He always controls us, and He always rules over us and we need each time and what is given to us, to respond correctly to what He's doing with us. Just like a mother who's taking care of the baby and awakens him and wants each time to reveal some reaction out of it, to make him happy, that he shall feel her, she'll feel the world more, that's how the Creator awakens us and we need to respond to that. The article explains to us how we need to see, to feel, to respond at each and every moment, that each moment, what we feel, all these moments come from the Creator. We need to use each and every moment as much as possible, to take advantage of it, in order to, more and more and more, to adhere in the Creator, in what He is awakening in us, the sensation of these moments. Let's read and we'll find here the correct, nice, new—maybe, approach for us to coming closer to connection with the Creator.

Reading: (04:28) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

“Call you upon Him when He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). We must understand what “when He is near” means since “The whole earth is full of His glory”! Thus, He is always near, so what does “when He is near” mean? 

M. Laitman: Meaning, that there are times that the Creator is farther and sometimes He is closer. How can that be, from the Creator with respect to the created beings? Yes.

Reading: (04:58) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

It would seem that there is a time when He is not near.

The thing is that states are always evaluated with respect to the attaining and feeling individual. If one does not feel His nearness, then nothing will come out of it, as everything is measured according to one’s feeling. One person may feel the world as filled with abundance, and the other will not feel the goodness of the world, so he cannot say that there is a good world. Instead, he states as he feels—that the world is filled with suffering. 

M. Laitman: Meaning, each and every one is in the perception of reality according to what they feel at the moment. Of course, this sensation comes to one from the Creator because there is none else besides Him. It turns out, really, maybe one does—has for himself a whole world that is entirely good and the other sees himself in a world that is entirely in suffering or somewhere in the middle. Who is this dependent on? The Creator—they say He is the good that does good to the good and the evil and they say He fills the whole world. I guess it seems that it's all dependent on man, how he responds to how the Creator awakens him in each and every moment and that's how it is with respect to all the people of this world, also with respect to those who have the tendency to reveal the Creator and also to those who are apathetic and don't understand and don't feel that they are in a world that the Creator fills it entirely at all. 

Reading: (07:12) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

And the prophet warns about that: “Call you upon Him when He is near.” He comes and says, “Know that the fact that you are calling on the Creator is because He is near.” It means that now you have an opportunity. If you pay attention, you will feel that the Creator is near you; it is a sign of the Creator’s nearness.

M. Laitman: Meaning, if you feel that you have a certain connection with the Creator, then you need to know it's the Creator turning to you or it's not you who are the first to turn to Him because typically that's how we think. I now have a desire for the Creator and I want to come close. I turn to Him. I ask. I may have certain demands, complaints. Why is the Creator not bringing me closer? Why is He leaving me? It's actually the other way around. He is coming closer to me. He is awakening in me those feelings and those reactions to make me turn to Him. It seems to me that I am the first. On that, it says that  I am the first and I am the last. You just need to correctly decipher your states but all the states without exception come from Me. The fact that a person awakens and he asks the Creator and it doesn't matter with what problem, question, complaint—it's all a reaction to the Creator first turning to him, to the person himself. The awakening comes always from the Creator. He is the source and the evidence this is a sign of the Creator's nearness, desire to be near and the person is typically full of complaints: why am I not coming closer? Why am I not turning to Him? Whereas the Creator, he’s not aware of the fact that it's the Creator who turned to him and is already awakening him. 

Reading: (10:01) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

The evidence of this is that we must know that man is not naturally qualified for Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator since it is against man’s nature. By creation, man has only a desire to receive, while Dvekut is only to bestow. However, as the Creator calls upon man, it creates a second nature within him where he wants to revoke his own nature and adhere to Him.  

M. Laitman: Meaning, our entire desire to turn to the Creator, even with our complaints and anything we may have, it all comes to us because the Creator has awakened in us those feelings, those pleas, and the fact that we turn to Him and it seems to us that we have awakened first, of course, this is all at the expense of the Creator. It comes from Him. It clothes in our will to receive and the Creator, precisely, infinitely precise, in an infinitely precise way, He awakens us in each moment, in each turn, each discernment, each state we're in so that we would gradually scrutinize, one by one, our nature compared to the Creator's nature. 

Reading: (11:48) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

Hence, one should know that his speaking words of Torah and prayer is only from the Creator. He should never think of saying that it is “My power and the might of my hand,” since it is the complete opposite of his might. This is similar to one who is lost in a dense forest and sees no way out of it to an inhabited place, so he remains despaired and thinks that he will never return to his home. 

M. Laitman: That's what's happening to us along the way. Many times, we feel this way, that there's no future, there are no prospects, nothing good can come out of this, we can't get to in order to bestow, we can't get to invest everything in bestowal without receiving anything in return. I'm willing to work on it, specifically in such cases, without seeing any future and I don't demand any future and I want it to be this way. I'm willing to remain, even, in that state for eternity. This is a point through which I could feel the Creator because I have an opportunity to annul myself but, typically, we're not capable of it yet and the Creator gradually brings us near to the correct state.

Reading: (13:50) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

But when he sees a person from afar or hears a human voice, the desire and the craving to return to his origin will immediately awaken in him, and he will begin to shout and ask of someone to come and save him. 

M. Laitman: Then he awakens from his despair, his darkness and typically through the help of the Ten, even when the person does not feel like he's getting it from the environment, the Creator is always working on the person through the environment and the person wakes up and he begins to ask, to cry out.

Reading: (14:36) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

Likewise, one who has lost the good way and entered a bad place, and has already accustomed himself to live among beasts, for the part of the will to receive, it will never occur to him that he should return to a place of reason of Kedusha [holiness]. Yet, when he hears the voice calling him, he awakens to repent. 

M. Laitman: In other words, the Creator, nevertheless, awakens a person, that we're all in this forest where we've lost our way, we don't know, we can't come out of it by ourselves, and yet, slowly, meaning gradually, one by one, the Creator awakens us and He extracts us from our egoistic desire while we're all getting confused.

Reading: (15:46) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

But this is the voice of the Creator, not his own voice. 

M. Laitman: Meaning, when a person awakens and he wants to, once again come, reach spirituality and find out the essence of life, the purpose of life, not remain on the animate degree as an animal but rise above it a little bit, this doesn't come to him from himself. Rather, this is considered the voice of the Creator calling him.

Reading: (16:16) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

But if he has not completed his actions on the path of correction, he cannot feel or believe that this is the voice of the Creator, and he thinks that it is his power and the might of his hand. 

M. Laitman: It's a problem, until we complete our exertion, we do not feel that it is the Creator calling us. Sometimes, we do feel it but, later, it disappears. We forget about it. That is also a correction—this matter of forgetfulness but, nevertheless, this is how we are advancing towards the understanding that throughout our entire lives, the main thing for us is to be sensitive to what I'm hearing from the Creator. Each and every moment, there is the voice of the Creator that comes to me through the Ten, each and every moment that I hear it by myself. Each time, we need to be as alert as possible to this voice and never think that it is I who has awakened to the Creator but it's certain the Creator has awakened towards me because He detected the correct moment in my state, in my state where He can awaken me and these moments are not such that I can discern as better or worse. I can come to a person in a state where he is seemingly not worthy, seemingly distant from spirituality and, all of a sudden, a desire, a thought, an opportunity appears to him and he thinks about spirituality and about the Creator. That's the meaning of suddenly hearing the voice of the Creator and calling on Him. 

Reading: (18:34) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

This is what the prophet warns about, that one should overcome one’s view and thought, and believe with complete faith that it is the voice of the Creator. 

M. Laitman: It's not the person but it's the Creator who awakened and, as a result, the person also awakens. We are called created beings. We are under the control of the upper force. The will to receive, the Creator created and, of course, controls it and it's force, the upper light, and through these two forces, like through two wires, He is running us, managing us. We just need to learn that it's all coming from there's nothing besides Him and we need to learn how we can connect to Him.

Connect to this upper governance where, as much as I can annul my ego that is disturbing me, preventing me from adhering to the Creator, both on the right and on the left, in anything He awakens in me, in that I awaken my I who seemingly does something here and I annul and outwards the upper governance and I begin my spiritual path from it. 

Reading: (20:11) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

Hence, when the Creator wishes to bring him out of the dense forest, He shows him a light from afar, and the person gathers and musters the remains of his strength to walk on the path that the light shows him in order to obtain it.

But if he does not attribute the light to the Creator and does not say that the Creator is calling him, the light disappears from him and he remains standing in the forest. 

M. Laitman: Meaning, we need to try, throughout any state whatever it may be, to feel that we are under the influence, the upper influence and as good or as bad, as dark or as lit, everything is, meaning the feeling in the heart and the understanding in the brain—it doesn't matter. I need to try to always be under the control of the upper force, completely, as much as possible. That's a sign that I'm approaching the degree of Ubar, the embryo, that I'm included in the Creator and that I begin to grow in it, in Him by annulling myself more and more towards His governance in my feeling and in my intellect.

Reading: (21:51) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

Thus, he could have now shown his whole heart to the Creator, to come and save him from the bad place, from the will to receive, and bring him to a place of reason, called a place of the sons of Adam (people), as in Adameh la Elyon [I will be like the Most High], meaning the desire to bestow, in Dvekut. Instead, he does not use this opportunity 

M. Laitman: …that the Creator is calling on Him,

Reading: (22:24) 241. Call Upon Him When He Is Near

and remains once more as before.

M. Laitman: If you cannot discern that, notice that everything that comes to him, comes to him from above. I'm happy to see a great many questions. Let's start to slowly scrutinize things, one by one and then we'll read it again. The article is short but extremely important. Again, the main thing in each and every moment, a person needs to catch himself, that whatever his state is, in his mind and his heart, it all comes to him from the Creator, only. Now, a person has to construct his correct reaction to what he's received from the Creator in his brain and in his heart. Of course, whatever the Creator is giving is always for the sake of advancing a person, so a person will advance more and more and a person needs to accordingly arrange himself, what he needs to change in his brain, in his heart, in his feeling and understanding, in order to cleave to, there's none else besides Him, the Good who does good, more and more, even though he might feel in his brain and in his heart, confusions in his brain and unpleasant feelings in his heart. 

Question (Ita 4): (24:22) How can we continue the awakening on the Creator's part, in both left and right lines?

M. Laitman: Try to think that everything is for the good, that there's no bad, nothing bad as it's written, that there's not a cruel person in the king's palace and we're all inside the upper force. There are no other forces but there's none besides Him and if I annul myself toward the Creator and I say that it's only Him who is working, then whatever I may feel, I'm always looking only for how to annul myself, how to be an embryo. By that, I'm bringing myself closer to spirituality. Later, after the degree of annulment, we'll need to annul ourselves even more and more and more in order to be small and then grow bigger, older, more and more until we reach an equal degree with the Creator. It's all through annulment meaning the degree of the embryo where we annul ourselves. This is the first degree along the path which later simply grows more and more in our understanding, in our feeling, in our participation, in how we raise MAN. It all starts from the point we just discussed, that everything that happens to us comes from Him and we need to respond correctly to it, that everything that He does, He does so we would now feel the correct conditions for annulling ourselves in order to adhere to Him. 

Student: In the corporeal life too, I have to make concessions, right? But I continue to behave according to the rules of this world but, internally, I know it all comes from the Creator and I have to keep nullifying myself. 

M. Laitman: Yes, until you begin to feel that even in everything you see in this world, it's the work of the Creator and you see no place vacant of Him.

Question (USA Northeast): (27:20) How is His nearing felt in the will to receive before calling on Him in a desperate prayer and what is His response to our cry in such a state? 

M. Laitman: There are many modes to that. I can't even answer it. How is our nearing? Our nearing could be by agreeing with Him and wanting to be in adhesion in each and every state that comes to us from Him and only from Him. That's how we need to react and to arrange ourselves. That's it.

Question (KabU 7): (28:10) If everything comes from the Creator, how can I nullify if I'm smashed between these two forces: the ego and the Creator? Like, what am I? What questions are mine to ask the Creator? 

M. Laitman: You need to try with all your might to annul toward the Creator's turning to you when He gives you a state in your mind and your heart and you wish to annul to Him throughout this state, to annul towards His dominion. The result from that is that you need to feel that you are dwelling in Him, you are present in Him and that begins to come close to the feeling of an embryo in his mother's womb. That's how we approach Him until we discover this state realistically.

Question (MAK 10): (29:46) How to discern the calling of the Creator?

M. Laitman: What you are feeling throughout your entire life in this moment comes to you from the Creator. Now, the question is: how do you respond to it, react to it, in order to enter the correct form of connection with Him? That's the question and that's our entire work. That's why we are called Kabbalists; we wish to feel the world as coming to us from the Creator and we receive Him. We receive Him in this way. That's it. Try to ascribe or assign everything you feel to the Creator and then think how you need to react to it.

Question (Kyiv 1): (31:01) On the one hand, the Creator is calling us, as we heard. On the other hand, we gather in the Tens and turn to Him on our part. At what stage—how do we meet with the Creator?

M. Laitman: When I annul towards the ten, I'm actually annulling towards the Creator, in effect, although I'm not aware of it. It turns out that that's how I'm getting closer to Him, very simply, this is the means. This is the means. I'm hearing from the Tens here and there that they don't gather much. If they do, then a portion of the Ten does and a portion doesn't. Maybe out of Ten friends, four come to connect between them, come to a gathering or something, a meeting. We don't understand. It's precisely where our will to receive resists, it's exactly there that we could perhaps do the most accurate spiritual work.

Student: Our complaints are always conflicting, resisting but it's also the Creator's action. Are we still moving towards Him and how do we meet with Him?

M. Laitman: If you overcome the obstacles on the way to connection, when the Creator is revealed inside from the connection that He established as He brought you to the good faith and the good fortune and He said, "take it." You need to connect in the Ten and try to build in it that point of connection where, in it and only in it, you feel that center, that place of connection between all the friends, all the hearts and inside those hearts you will feel the Creator. There's no chance of revealing Him any other way.

Student: His initial address to us, does it always remain? How does it change? 

M. Laitman: How can it change? If you would be in place of the Creator, how could it be that you're starting any thought or any desire? You're a created being. You're a result. You're an outcome. You can't have something completely of your own. Rather, what's actually yours is the ability to correctly respond to what you're receiving from Him. The Creator is always the first, that's how it's written, always also the last. Meaning, He is bringing you to the correct form, the correct reaction in the end. This is the end of correction.

Question (Moscow 1): (34:44) We learn everything comes from the Creator, and the feeling is opposite. Do we need each and every moment, when we connect and define it as Him, do we need to ask for corrections in regards to normal states?

M. Laitman: No, no, there's no such thing. You can discern hard things, easy things. There's no difference towards the Creator. With regards to Him, light and heavy have nothing to do with it, because it's the light of Ein Sof. So, you have to be in the right request, in the correct reaction over anything and everything, and begin from "There Is None Besides Him," and that everything is coming from Him. And from that, you're trying to respond to Him, and you can respond to Him correctly to the extent that you are now before Him, meaning we always remain within the Creator, like a drop of semen inside the womb. And the more wholeness is added to us, as if we are growing as an embryo inside the womb, we annul ourselves more and more, until we come to a state where we grow into the Creator. Although we say that later there is a birth and suckling in other states. Everything is happening inside the Creator only, inside of Him. Keep going.

Student: So, a good state is when I feel great high spirits, and still I need to ask Him to correct it?

M. Laitman: I don't know what you call a good state. It could be a good state as a result of what — a feeling of adhesion in the Creator, or getting some news that you've made some money somewhere, or you got invited to a party? What is the good state? The good state is when I feel adhesion in the Creator completely, wholly, as much as I can depict it, and that's considered good to me. That according to my actions, when I can bestow to Him, I feel I am entirely in adhesion with Him, and that's how we cling to one another: I to my beloved, my beloved to me.

Question (Tbilisi): (38:01) In order to respond correctly to everything coming from the Creator, regardless of how we feel it, it’s in our power to do or do we need to ask for that too?

M. Laitman: This is in the force of the Ten. It can only be as a result of the force of the group, not from one person. If the group is entirely working on how anything that is happening to each person individually, to everyone together, that it's all coming from the good Creator, it's all for their benefit, then each one receives this force. It's called the force of Arvut, and in this way you advance correctly.

Question (Karmiel): (39:03) There is a condition here in the third paragraph, that he says if you pay attention, you notice the Creator is near you. What is this condition? What do we need to pay attention to? And what does it mean to feel the Creator is near to us?

M. Laitman: That in each and every moment the Creator is conversing with you, and He wants you to answer. That's it. This is the meaning of being near and that He's always turning to you, always. And are you trying to always be in contact with Him?

Question (Tel Aviv 4): (39:54) He writes here that first a person is lost in the woods, and then he falls into despair, and only then he hears and sees that someone is calling upon him. So what does it mean the Creator is first in that state?

M. Laitman: Well, the Creator arranges the forest for him, and the person feels himself in the forest in this life, a normal living existence. We feel lost. We have nothing out of it. We even wish to come out of it and we can't, and we see ourselves coming to an end, and we have nothing out of it. I got no benefit out of it. That's how we grow old. And from that, we cry. If there's a group that awakens us and we cry out, and if not, even without a group, we may be immersed in that forest, and we remain as we are, lost, and we can die. But the moment we hear the voice of the Creator from within our life, as if we are in this dark forest — so, being in the forest, and we hear the voice of the Creator — we feel that there's a place of salvation, there's a ray of light shining to us inside a world of darkness.

Student: So, can we say that only when we hear the Creator's voice, there's a state of choice? Because the Creator does everything before that and also after that?

M. Laitman: Before that, there's a choice, and the choice is only through the group. When the Creator shines, it's no longer a choice. The choice is according to your effort to connect to the group, and there you hold on to the anchor, the compass, and direction, and you try to come out of the forest. And then in the group, when you are trying to look for the Creator — where is He? What does He want from us? — in this way, you emerge from the forest.

Student: But He warns us here that if you accept the Awakening and you say that it's the Creator, then okay; but if you say it's yourself, then no. So is there a choice here in the part that feels the Awakening?

M. Laitman: But we learn that the choice is only in the choice of the group, that in choosing the group, you are starting to approach the Creator, to look for Him, to hold on to Him. Alone, you cannot do it. Alone, it will not happen.

Student: So the Awakening that comes is an Awakening for the connection in the ten?

M. Laitman: The Awakening comes to you so that you will begin to understand again and again that in the connection with the ten, you're advancing towards the Creator. How will you actually build an embryo, construct it, if you're not connected to others?

Student: But at this point where the Creator awakens me to want to connect with the friends, I can also choose to not want to connect with the friends, correct? Meaning I can say it's not the Creator who's doing that, or what?

M. Laitman: We'll talk about it. So I don't want to give you a clear answer. It's better if you make some mistakes, and it'll be clearer and clearer to you how to orient yourself, how to save yourself.

Question (ITA 3: (44:15) It means that when I feel the blackness, if I try to cling to the Creator, then... 

M. Laitman: Can you repeat the question? 

Student: I would like to say that when I feel darkness, if I attribute it to the Creator, I will feel the good that He wants me to do, to make me perceive my egoistic nature? 

M. Laitman: That too, in different ways, really. Everything we have in our brain and in our heart, we receive from Him.

Question (Merkaz 1): (45:18) What can help a person see that the Creator is calling upon him?

M. Laitman: The Creator is calling upon him, the support from the friends. There has to be a field around the person that will correctly direct him to the source from which he's hearing. Who is he hearing? If he's alone, and it's to be the correct time, it's to have the correct soul, this is not the case in our time. We are advancing only to the extent we tie ourselves to the tens, and then to all of humanity, and that's how we aim ourselves at the goal.

Question (PT 25): (46:22) It turns out from what we said, that if I receive an awakening from above, it's like the Creator has taken away my choice, so there's room to understand I didn't make enough work of my own so He could awaken me.

M. Laitman: In what way do you think there's a choice?

Student: That without any connection to the awakening from above, I work from below and try to achieve connection.

M. Laitman: You work from below?

Student: Yes, I'm not waiting for an awakening from above.

M. Laitman: So what are you reacting to if it's not coming from above?

Student: I'm not responding or I'm not waiting.

M. Laitman: Hold on, hold on, you're the created being, the creature. You only react to things; otherwise you're not even inanimate, not even inanimate. If you're doing anything, it's always as a reaction. The upper light does the work, and you're the will to receive. The will to receive is dust, dirt.

Student: So the response is really only for how the Creator brought me to the group and said, "Take it." If I respond to that, then I work on my own, and I don't need more awakening than that.

M. Laitman: You ask the Creator the reverse. You keep turning to Him, and you keep asking Him to awaken you with finer, more exalted discernment. Because you understand that you are only a reaction to the influence of the Creator, that you are the created being, and He is the Creator. He is always the first. Consequently, you are turning to Him, and you ask Him to accompany you more and more. As we turn to Him, we simply increase the pace of our development.

Student: So Rav, what is an awakening from below? How can we reach that?

M. Laitman: This is awakening from below, and we agree with what the Creator is doing, although this entire process runs contrary to our ego. Nevertheless, we turn to Him, and we ask Him to work more and more and more on us. And that's why a person is not capable of turning to the Creator with such a prayer, but only through the ten.

Question (Nikolaev-Sochi): (49:09) You said that in principle, if a person is minimally connected to the Creator? Even to a small degree, you are already in wholeness if you don't let go? What is then the role you recommend to give to reading the Articles and awakening lights? Because really, I don't need a lot of quantity, right?

M. Laitman: The upper light is constant; it is in absolute rest, and each and every one awakens it according to his desire, according to his direction, orientation, willingness, readiness. And when we say a bigger light or a smaller light, it all depends on the desire of the vessel. So, here it only speaks of a person — how much he can awaken, how much he can awaken himself — and in this way to advance.

Student: There is importance here that the whole ten is reading it, and we read it all together?

M. Laitman: Both, both. We need to read it alone. Let's say, read the articles three to five times individually. Each one does it until he can see the text, he can scribble on it, add the question marks, connect with the text — it's very important. And then when you read it together a few times slowly, and you begin to feel that it might be confusing to a person, but this is already a different kind of work. But this is how you're preparing yourself for the Creator to work on you through the ten. This is already a form that's closer to the Creator, although it might seem to you more distant, not so personal, but it is more spiritual. Let's try to read it by ourselves, and later try to read it together. 

Student: If possible, another last thing. You say many times that it's very important to read, and in the beginning of the path there was more strength to do it. Or maybe we're just a very spoiled generation, but there's no strength to read it 15-20 times. I'm envious that the friends who actually do it, but so what are we supposed to do? Ask the Creator for strength, really force oneself to do it?

M. Laitman: Let me tell you: I read the Shamati articles hundreds of times — not dozens of times, hundreds of times. And each time I take the article as is the original, and I begin to introduce different signs, commas, periods. I strike out some things; I want to connect with the text even in this way. And each time I see that I am highlighting new things, that I connect to the text in a new way, and I see that nevertheless there are changes. If I open an article, I don't see any contact with me, then I'm even happier, because now if I try to enter it, I will surely find something new in it. If I see that I have nothing new, that I'm not ready for the article, I'll simply read it the way I already know it by heart — it's not good.

Student: We can say if a person didn't read it several times, then he's definitely not seeing the whole meaning of it. 

M. Laitman: With certainty. Look, the Shamati articles, Rabash didn't give them to anyone. But I saw over the years, as I was walking out with him, as I was driving for a couple of days in Tiberias or elsewhere — we had once every two weeks a custom to gather with our students and go somewhere and be there. Then you know sleeping there and eating there and studying there and doing hikes there and so on and so forth. And I would see that this is what he's taking with him, this is what he's studying. He loved studying the Shamati and also a part of The Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 16, the last portion that we will soon learn together as well. But the main thing in the Shamati articles is that they correctly aim a person towards the upper force. Only by correctly connecting to the upper force, he can advance until he reaches adhesion. So how can it be that you cannot let go of these articles? 

Student: Not to let go of it, but to get, to bring in to a minimal extent those who are considered your students and even to read automatically just five times the article.

M. Laitman: I think, I think it's correct. When I come to a lesson, it's a sign that I read the article yesterday; I read the article at least three times. I read today's article, maybe even four or five times. And also this morning, when I got up, I read it twice. Because I have to come to you with a certain inner willingness in such a way that this article is prepared for me and ready. Otherwise, how will I convey anything to you of what I need to do from the Creator? And anyone who's not doing it this way, I don't think he will be able to succeed. I don't think so. Even more than that, even better: yesterday, let's say we read an article. So it's good to read it with the group. And that's what I'm doing. That's what I'm also doing with my group. And also today, when we come to the lesson, before the lesson, we read this article in the group; each one reads an excerpt. In this way, we are preparing ourselves internally in the connection between the hearts and in renewing this matter itself. I'm asking you to treat what we're learning in the Shamati articles seriously. It's a true asset of how to connect to the Creator. Truly, it exists nowhere, and no one is getting this. I received it from Rabash. Well, I was reading these articles when I was next to him. But when he was on his deathbed, he gave me the notebook, and he said, "You take it." And then I understood that it's probably the end. So we have to treat these articles extremely seriously.

Question (W Laitin 12): (59:11) This feeling of near or far, that depends on how much light I can receive in my vessel. Meaning, is the feeling of distant or closeness depend on how suitable the vessels are?

M. Laitman: Yes, of course, that depends on that and on many other parameters. It has to do with the root of one's soul, and we can talk about it now. This is an intellectual question, not a true emotional question.

Question (W Laitin 13): (59:46) It says, only if he did not complete his work on the path of correction, he cannot feel and think that it's the voice of the Creator, and he thinks that it is his hand. What does it mean that he did not complete his actions on the path of correction?

M. Laitman: It means he is not in complete adhesion, and it turns out that he cannot ascribe to the Creator everything that's happening to him.

Question (W Brasil 3): (01:00:20) A person who does not pray, does not do any scrutiny. Is it because the Creator is far, Rav?

M. Laitman: Yes, and also because he's not doing everything that's required of him. He is not connecting with the Ten, he's not doing everything that's required of him through the study, and that's why he doesn't bring himself to the feeling, to the understanding of what's happening to him from the Creator.

Question (W Laitin 21): (01:00:58) Before I came to Kabbalah, I felt distant from the Creator. Now I don't have that feeling, but I cannot ask the Creator. How can I turn to the Creator?

M. Laitman: If you would connect with the friends and start asking for how to connect to the Creator, you'll understand that it is possible, that it is near. Start composing the correct prayer. Start looking for what the Creator is doing to you together. How does he care for you? Because all of you together in the group, you are like an embryo inside the Creator. So the more you connect, the more you'll feel the influence of the Creator. It's a simple thing. It all depends on the level of connection between you. A greater intensity of connection and you'll feel the Creator is working on you. You're separate from one another, you feel the Creator is moving apart. That's how, that's how it's happening. This is a result of all the conditions. When you say that the Creator is behind every friend, the Creator is in the center of the Ten, and so on and so forth. And this way, through the connection between us, we come closer to Him. There's no other way to discover Him, to reveal Him, only when we feel as close as possible between us. To such an extent, but it cannot be that we are, that we will feel ourselves not dependent on one another. But on the contrary, each day our mutual interdependence has to grow. To such an extent that if I lose connection with the friends, I immediately feel that I'm falling from spirituality to corporeality. For me, spirituality is a feeling inside the Ten, or within the Ten, and corporeality is a feeling outside of the Ten. Very simple, and only in this way.

Reader: Friends, now we will move to a live lesson with Rav. Before that, let's sing together.

Song: (01:03:49)