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

Daily Morning Lesson: July 12, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. The Difference between the Work of the General Public and the Work of the Individual. Article No. 16, (1987).

Reader: Dear friends, in the first part we will learn a lesson of Rav Laitman’s from the 18th of June, 2002.  The lesson is based on the article “The Difference between the Work of the General Public and the Work of the Individual.” It is Article No. 16 of Rabash from 1987. We’ll read the article in the Ten for 26 minutes. 

Reading: (00:40) The Difference between the Work of the General Public and the Work of the Individual.

Article No. 16, 1987

It is written in The Zohar (Emor, Item 58): “Come and see, when a person is born, a force from above is not appointed over him until he is circumcised. Once he is circumcised, the spirit awakens upon him, meaning the light of Nefesh from above. When he is rewarded with engaging in Torah, he is a complete man, whole in everything, for he has been rewarded with the light of Haya. But when a beast is born, as soon as it is born, the power it has in the end, it has when it is born. This is why it is written, ‘When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born.’”

We should understand this differentiation between beast and man, and what it teaches us in the work. First, we must understand what is “man” in the work and what is “beast” in the work. What is “man”? Our sages said (Berachot 6) about what was said, “In the end of the matter, all having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man.” What is “for this is the whole of man”? Rabbi Elazar said, “The Creator said, ‘The whole world was not created but for this.’” In other words, the whole world was created for the fear of the Creator. This is the meaning of what he said, “for this is the whole of man.” It follows that “man” is one who has fear of the Creator, and one who does not have fear of the Creator is not called “man.”

This also explains what they said (Yevamot 61), “Thus would Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai say, that it was said, ‘And you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture. You are man. You are called ‘man,’ and the idol-worshippers are not called ‘man.’” We should also interpret that by “man,” he is referring to one who has fear of heaven (although in terms of the judgment, he is not important. Rather, he is from an impure one; although a person has only the degree of a beast, he is still defiled in the tent. Nonetheless, in the work, we learn within one man the discernments of Israel and the seventy nations, as The Zohar says that every person is a small world. For this reason, with respect to practical Mitzvot [commandments], called “the revealed part,” we learn everything separately, meaning a gentile and Israel separately, meaning we learn everything as separate bodies. This is why the rule is that the graves of idol-worshippers are not defiled in a tent, since it is written about Tuma’a [impurity], “Should a man die in a tent.” This is why idol-worshippers are not defiled in a tent.)

It therefore follows that one who has fear of the Creator is called “man,” and one who has no fear of the Creator is considered a “beast,” and not a man. However, we should understand the measure of the fear of the Creator, since there are many discernments in this.

The Zohar (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 190) writes, “Fear is interpreted in three discernments, two of which do not contain a proper root, and one is the root of fear. There is a person who fears the Creator so that his sons will live and not die, or fears a bodily punishment, or a punishment to one’s money. Hence, he always fears Him. It follows that the fear he fears of the Creator is not placed as the root, for his own benefit is the root, and the fear is the result of it.

And there is a person who fears the Creator because he fears the punishment of that world and the punishment of Hell. Those two kinds of fear—fear of punishment in this world and fear of punishment in the next world—are not the essence of fear and its root. The fear that is the essence is that one should fear one’s Master because He is great and ruling.”

According to the worlds of The Zohar, the essence of the fear of the Creator is because the Creator is great and ruling. This is what compels us to observe His Mitzvot [commandments], since this is regarded as working not in order to receive reward, meaning not for one’s own sake—so he will receive some reward for his work. Rather, the work itself is the reward because he feels it is a great privilege that he sees that he was given a thought and desire to serve the King, and regards the great gift he has been given from above as a fortune.

It therefore follows that a “man” is one who walks on the path where all his actions will be with the aim for the Creator and not for his own sake. But one who does not have the intention, but only the act, while this is a great thing, without the intention it is regarded as a “beast,” as it is written (Proverbs 19:2), “Also, a soul without knowledge is not good.” “Without knowledge” means that “knowledge” means intention, as it is written, “You grant man knowledge.”

This is perplexing, since the path of truth is to go above reason, so (why) do we pray to be given reason? Baal HaSulam said that knowledge of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity] is called Dvekut [adhesion], “equivalence of form.” Accordingly, we should interpret “without knowledge” to mean “a soul without Dvekut,” but in a state of “beast,” not walking on the path of being rewarded through the power of Torah and Mitzvot to come to a state where he can aim in order to bestow. He is called “a beast without knowledge,” without equivalence of form. This means that in everything he does, he has no other intention but his own benefit. This is called a “beast,” and he is not regarded as “You are called ‘man,’ and not the idol-worshippers.”

Now we will explain what we asked—what does the difference between the birth of a beast and the birth of a man imply to us. The Zohar brings evidence to its words—that a newborn beast has the same strength in the end as it has when it is born—with the verse, “An ox or a sheep or a goat that is born,” that a day old ox is called an ox, since it is not written, “A calf that is born.” And concerning the work, this is (what) comes to teach us to know the order of development of man and beast.

First, when speaking of the work, we must know what is birth. That is, according to the rule that we learn about differentiating beast from man, it all applies to the same body. Because a person consists of seventy nations, he therefore consists of all that exists in the world, since according to what The Zohar says, man is a whole world. Therefore, we should know what is birth.

It is known that when we speak of a person, we mainly speak of the mind and the heart. We attribute the thoughts to the mind, and we attribute the desires to the heart. Therefore, when he has in his mind and heart thoughts and desires that pertain to the beast, this is regarded as the birth of a beast. But if the mind and the heart have thoughts and desires that pertain to “man,” this is regarded as the birth of a man. By this we discern between man and beast.

However, externally, in corporeality, we see that there are big changes in a beast from the day it is born. After some time, it develops in length, width, and height. However, the main difference for which they said that there are no differences in a beast from the day it is born to the end—that it has the same strength—refers to its internality. This comes to imply to us the order of the work. Saying “A beast that is born” means that from this basis he begins to build the building in which he will dwell his entire life.

Saying, “A beast that is born” means that the basis with which he builds his work in Torah and Mitzvot is on the state of a beast, called “action without intention.” He wants to continue in this way his entire life, for he thinks that this is the true path, that it is enough for those who want to walk on the path of the Creator to give all their energy and strength to observing Torah and Mitzvot meticulously, and aim, while working, to observe the commandment of the Creator, and what else do I need?

Primarily, a person who is born as a beast claims that he brings evidence to his correctness from the general public of Israel and how they behave, meaning on what foundation they rely. You will certainly see that they are going by the way of a beast. That is, if they observe Torah and Mitzvot, and even take upon themselves some additional restrictions to the Mitzvot that we were given, then everyone feels whole and sees no flaw in themselves that should be corrected. As evidence, they bring the words of our sages (Berachot 45): “Go see what the people do.” That is, when in doubt, go see what the general public is doing.

Indeed, he is correct. One who is born as a beast belongs to the general public and should do as the public does. This is as Maimonides writes in his interpretation on the words of our sages, “One should always engage in Torah, even Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma [for Her sake]. Therefore, when teaching children, women, and uneducated people, they are taught only to work out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain more knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret bit by bit, and are accustomed to this matter with ease until they attain Him and serve Him with love” (“Laws of Repentance,” Chapter 10).

Clearly, it is only just that one who wishes to follow the general public produces for himself evidence from the general public. But this applies to one who is born as a beast, for whom The Zohar says that the power he will have in the end, he has on the day when he is born. This is why it is said, “A day old calf is called an ‘ox.’” This means that until the end, he will not have more knowledge of Kedusha than he had at birth, when he began to work as a beast.

However, we should understand the words of Maimonides when he says, “until they gain more knowledge and acquire much wisdom.” The question is, “How can we know that they have already gained more knowledge and have acquired much wisdom?” Moreover, what is the measure of knowledge that is regarded as having acquired much knowledge? And also, what is the measure of much wisdom, from which onward it is permitted to reveal to them the meaning of Lishma, called “not in order to receive reward”?

According to the above, when a “man” is born means when thoughts and desires that a person should be a man come into his mind. A “man” means one who wants to walk on the path of fearing the Creator, meaning that all his actions will be for the Creator, in order to bestow, and not for himself, as a beast, who has no sensation of the other. Instead, he specifically wants to work in order to bestow.

Although he has not yet been rewarded with this, “being born” means that he has begun to walk on the basis of “man,” meaning that he wants to build his work on the basis of fear of the Creator, called “man,” and a beginning is called “birth.”

This is the time when a person comes and says that he wants to be a man because now he is born with the discernment of “man” in his mind and heart. This is called “until they gain more knowledge and acquire much wisdom,” meaning until wisdom and knowledge are born in their hearts, that it is not worth living a life of a beast, called Lo Lishma, as was written above, “Also, a soul without knowledge is not good.” At that time it is permitted to reveal to him the matter of Lishma, called “fearing the Creator,” and not that he engages in Torah and Mitzvot because he fears for his own benefit. But before the discernment of “man” comes to him, he must not be told, as in the words of Maimonides.

By this we will interpret what The Zohar tells us, that there is a difference between one who is born as a beast, where as soon as he is born, meaning in the beginning of his work, he immediately has the wholeness he will obtain afterwards, meaning the same mind he had received when he was born. This pertains to the foundation—that he began to work as a beast, called “self-benefit,” and everything he will build afterwards will be on the basis of self-love, and he will acquire no additions. Externally, he will grow as beasts grow after they are born—in length, width, and height. But a beast does not grow internally. That is, in terms of its mind, there is no difference between the day it is born and after it has grown over several years, since the beast remains with the mind.

The same applies to a person whose foundation and basis of the work is that of a beast, which is Lo Lishma. Here, too, there is no difference in the internality, which is the mind. Although he certainly grows externally, meaning that over time he has acquired and collected much Torah and many Mitzvot, internally, he has remained on the same degree. And the mind, which is the interior, did not undergo any change at its end.

This is why The Zohar says, “A man who is born, no force from above is appointed over him until he is circumcised. Once he is circumcised, he receives the light of Nefesh, until he is rewarded with obtaining the light of Haya because he was rewarded with these four degrees that are from the four worlds ABYA.”

It therefore follows that there is work that belongs to the general public, which is Lo Lishma, and is called a “beast.” We must not say that we should work Lishma because such people will not understand anyway, since they were born a beast and they cannot understand otherwise. Therefore, they must be taught only Lo Lishma.

According to the above, we can interpret what our sages said (Avoda Zarah 19), “Raba said, ‘One should always learn Torah where his heart desires.’” RASHI interpreted that “where his heart desires” means that his teacher should teach only the Masechet [chapter in the Mishnah/Talmud] that he asks of him, for if he teaches him a different Masechet, it will not be, for his heart is with his desire.

This is so because if he is born as a beast, meaning if the mind and heart understand that they must go according to the general public, based entirely on Lo Lishma, it is impossible to make him see that we should work in order to bestow. It is as RASHI interpreted, “If he teaches him a different Masechet, it will not be, for his heart is with his desire.” For this reason, he will make up many excuses why he cannot be as a “man,” called “fearing the Creator,” which is in order to bestow. It is as Maimonides wrote, “One should not say, ‘I am observing the Mitzvot of the Torah in order to receive the blessings written in it, or in order to be awarded with the life of the next world.’ Only uneducated people, women, and children serve the Creator in this manner, for they are taught to work out of fear until they gain more knowledge and serve Him with love.”

We explained that the meaning of “until they gain more knowledge” is until he is born in the discernment of a man, meaning until thoughts and desires that he should work the true work, meaning in order to bestow, come to his mind. It is as Maimonides writes, that we must serve the Creator only in order to bestow upon the Creator, as he phrased it, “He does the truth because it is the truth,” for “truth” means Lishma and not for one’s own sake. He says that this truth must not be revealed to the general public because they will not understand it, as RASHI interpreted, “for his heart is with his desire,” hence he cannot understand otherwise.

However, when he is born as a man, when thoughts and desires of being a man appear in his mind and heart, when he understands he needs to walk on the path of truth, although he still cannot walk, since he was born just now, meaning that now he has begun this work. Although he understands he must achieve it, meaning to do everything in order to bestow, though when he is born he has nothing, as The Zohar says, “When a person is born, a force from above is not appointed over him until he is circumcised.”

This means that when he begins to walk on a line of bestowal, called “giving birth,” he always sees the opposite value. In other words, he sees that after all his exertion, he has made no progress. Rather, he always sees that he has regressed.

This order, meaning the state of concealment that he feels, continues until he is rewarded with circumcising himself. Afterward, he goes forward until he obtains the four degrees called Haya, Neshama, Ruach, Nefesh. This is the difference between the general public and the individual, such as the difference in corporeality between man and beast.

Reader: And now friends, we will go to a lesson of the Rav’s from the 18th of June, 2002. 

M. Laitman: (26:00) We studied an article from the weekly portion of Emor, Rungs of the Ladder, Volume 2, page 121, "The Difference Between the Work of the General and the Work of the Individual." It is indeed a great difference, a great difference, between heaven and earth, really. As if between… Well what is a beast? A beast doesn't have a purpose, the purpose of creation in mind. It doesn't ascend. As it was born, so it dies. And its entire role is to serve man. That is the degree of the beast. And the whole world is in that degree. And that degree, even Lo Lishma, not for Her sake, is on that degree. 

Meaning, Lo Lishma- that is a person who is sitting and studying Torah, observing the Torah and commandments, in every detail as it is written. However, not while studying, not while observing the commandments, not while living and breathing does he ever care about any benefit coming to the Creator from this. Meaning Lo Lishma, not for Her sake. So up to the degree of Lishma- for Her sake, all the states that humanity goes through, all states, through thousands of years where humanity has been evolving, developing without any knowledge regarding what the Creator is. And that a person later enters some kind of… From Abraham onwards began the matter of observing the Torah and commandments externally, of course alongside the inner observance. And all those years, Abraham that's about 1,500 years since creation I believe, and through to today, everyone, even those observing the commandments without the intention to bestow, meaning without a screen. Those who don't emerge into the spiritual world, crossing the barrier, they're called a beast. Beasts, of course there are many differences, many states and degrees, and so we see in the animals of this world how many kinds there are, from lice, tiny things, and up to great big beasts of various kinds and forms. All these things are as a copy from the qualities and forms that exist within man- who is on the degree of the living, not Lishma, called a beast. And the whole public, including the holy public, they're still called a beast on that degree. 

The difference is the screen. That's what determines it. It's either towards me, my intentions — that is called fear of this world, fear of the next world, fear of reward and punishment — or there is fear regarding how much and how I can bestow upon Him. Meaning the fear isn't directed towards me, inside of me, but outside of me. And outside of me exists only "there is None Else Besides Him." And then a person is born from the degree of the beast to the degree of man. And indeed everyone here, that the main thing, the primary thing is the study, which is Lishma, for Her sake. The problem is that they don't know what Lishma is. 

I remember starting to study, and I received various lessons in Rehovot on the Gemara. I was sitting, studying in the evenings; they told me that the difference between Lishma and Lo Lishma is that the Gentiles study Lo Lishma, because they also take our holy Torah and turn it into something of theirs, right? But a Jew that studies, studies Lishma; the Jew cannot study Lo Lishma. And it is written that way. That is written because Yehudi, Jewish, that's someone who reaches a certain degree of Yichud, or unity with the Creator, so of course he's studying Lishma. That's his measure of Lishma, the extent to which he unites himself with the Creator through the screen. And the Gentile, of course, is still in Lo Lishma. That's it. The issue is how to interpret it. And indeed, only this goal, whether to be in Lo Lishma or Lishma, that can indicate the importance of the wisdom of Kabbalah. As without drawing the upper light that we gain through studying Kabbalah during the study, without drawing that surrounding light, a person cannot reach the degree of Lishma from the degree of Lo Lishma, to acquire a screen, and instead of beast, to become man. There is no other means. And that is the whole article, I think, actually.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:34) Rav just said that only after a person crosses the barrier does he actually begin to become a man. So that's when he really begins to be…?

M. Laitman: A person who crosses the barrier, that means that he's acquired an intention, maybe the smallest, but it is in order to bestow, and that is crossing the barrier. There's no barrier where you drive on the road, right, and there's a barrier in front of you. You see a sign saying 200 meters ahead, or I don't remember, I got my license 40 years ago. So, there's a barrier, you raise the barrier, and you cross. In spirituality, you acquire the measure of Lishma, from Lo Lishma actually, the smallest measure of the intention to bestow, and that inversion is called crossing the barrier. So what are you asking?

Student: From the last paragraph, he writes that in the beginning, when one is just born, he's still in a state of concealment and sees the opposite picture, as though he's actually going backwards. So that seems to describe exactly what we're talking about in our current state, but he says that this is already called a man.

M. Laitman: That is the beginning of Lishma, what we go through before the barrier. That is called the period of preparation. Look, we're not talking about a screen here, but there's still some kind of attitude, regard for my state, the perspective on it from the point in the heart. What does it mean to enter the period of preparation? For thousands of thousands of years, I was reincarnating as a beast in every respect. Now, I've received an awakening from above. That means that the point in the heart has entered into me. The point in the heart was revealed in me. So now, other than the heart, which is the desire for various pleasures of this world, there is also the desire to enjoy spirituality. The desire for spirituality is still egoistic, clothed in order to receive, but it is already from spirituality. And within it, there is also some feeling of the surrounding light, which already brings about the grace of holiness. Meaning it brings something in order to bestow. I don't know what in order to bestow means, I don't know anything, but it gives me some kind of perspective, some feeling of truth and lie, something. And if a person previously was looking at the world only through his heart, from his heart, how to grab it and enjoy it, now he sometimes looks at it, well, either from the heart, but sometimes from the point in the heart. And then he's being tossed from here to there, different changes, changes of state, mood swings, you can say. 

M. Laitman: (35:41) And then if he looks from the point in the heart and he begins to criticize himself, then he starts thinking that he's a beast. And from the point in the heart, he begins to understand a little bit, initially, what man is. But it's still not birth. The birth starts with the acquisition of the screen, the actual acquisition of it, coarseness level of Shoresh, root — then it begins. But for us, we're starting to prepare for that. The period of preparation also has many stages to it, but they cannot be divided in a very clear way into stages. About, just about, but it's still not birth, it's preparation. Now, what does it mean? What does birth mean? What I'm talking about after the barrier birth, that is also not birth. That is only the seed entering the womb of the Ima Ila'a, the upper mother it's called, the three days of reception and so on, then the nine months of pregnancy. 

A person feels that he's in the world of the Creator, he begins to acquire a screen, annulling himself towards that. Meaning whatever he receives will be in order to bestow without touching his will to receive at all. But still, in the previous states, opposite spirituality, similar to spirituality we also give them the same names. Nonetheless, it is the development of the point in the heart, which later, after the barrier, receives a screen.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (37:25) In the state of preparation now, there are moments when a person's desire is generally for spirituality, as if it's still wrapped in self-interest. Is that what's called the grace of holiness?

M. Laitman: The desire for spirituality during preparation, the preparation divides into two desires. There's the desire to enjoy spirituality for myself, and also there's the desire to delight the Creator, a little bit. A little bit, that exists also. Meaning it's not that, let's say, it's Lo Lishma, not for Her sake, 99%, and Lishma 1%, although it's not Lishma with a screen and everything, but to some extent, yes. It's still all on the account of the upper one. The upper one holds me in this state. It's not that I have a screen. If there was a screen, then I would have been able to use this quality, to actually use it. But this way, you know, it vanishes, appears.

Student: So, at every stage, a person goes through it, appears and then returns, disappears and returns again.

M. Laitman: Every time, in all these discernments, Lishma and Lo Lishma towards the Creator in this world, they keep changing according to the surrounding lights, which descend to me from the world of Atzilut. In the world of Atzilut, I exist in a corrected state, and also in the corrupted state, and also in all the states in between. There I exist in potential. 

So, the upper light descending from Ein Sof, infinity, through the world of Atzilut, it scans, how to say, through all these states; my root in the world of Atzilut, from the smallest state, gradually through to the largest- biggest state, greatest state, and accordingly I receive the surrounding lights, which keep changing. And each time, according to whatever goes on there, through the states that I occupy in potential, here I change in practice, in actuality. And I don't know how I need to change. I simply change, and that's it. 

And after the barrier, a person who begins to acquire a screen, he begins to identify with these changes, he wants it. He begins to understand it, to recognize it. He even begins to look forward to it, so much so that ahead of time he starts thinking now I want to do this, and indeed so he does. He starts understanding, knowing the thoughts of the Creator, to that degree, and identifying with them, where his thoughts and his desire and the Creator's desire, they come as one. This is called Lishma, actual Lishma, for Her sake. So, that's it. 

M. Laitman: (40:45) So, of course, we, in our current situation we don't know how we change, but we need to believe that we are changing according to our root in the world of Atzilut. The pace of it depends on us. The pace of it depends on our awareness, our state. That depends on us. But the transition between the states, that doesn't depend on us. Meaning, my recognition, my awareness, also changes my inner feeling, you understand? Either I'm given blows, punishments, or in those blows, I don't feel them to be actual blows, but rather a force by which I enter into correction. You understand? The limitation can be pleasant limitations. If the goal is in front of me, then I enter this pipe forcefully, but joyfully, because I'm getting to something- going somewhere. But if I don't see the goal before I'm inserted into this pipe, then for me it's death, you understand? 

Meaning, recognition awareness, the inner work of the person, the person's work changes the feeling of what is done with him from end to end. But as a result of that, it's not only my inner feeling. So, I feel good or bad. And also, it's not just the pace. Also, the content changes, because then I receive lights from these states. You understand? This becomes a different world for me. It's difficult to explain the extent to which intelligent intervention, our own independence, our own independent involvement in it — that's where we want it also — that changes the entire picture. Although the states descend the same thing from above and below, you still determine everything.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (42:59) How can we connect to the Lishma in our current state, if we say that we first have to reach the greatest state of the Lishma, the kind that doesn't let a person sleep, and after all it's from that state that we're brought across?

 M. Laitman: How are we transitioned from Lo Lishma to Lishma? This is, "I labored and I found." I don't know how. A special upper light comes and does it. Everything depends on the light. Up to now came the surrounding lights, then the first inner light comes with a screen, with everything. It gives you the screen, it gives you the power to do this, everything together.

Student: I'm asking about the person himself. How can he intend Lishma before crossing the barrier?

M. Laitman: Intending Lishma before the barrier, it's not possible, but there is what we call Chen d'Kedusha, the grace of sanctity, that I want it. Why? Because. What do you mean because? Because it's graceful. You know? Graceful. It's impossible to explain. Why can't I explain? Because it's the surrounding light. It doesn't enter my vessels. It doesn't give me knowledge. Knowledge means a light which is inside the vessels. It shines from without. So that's how it is. You understand? That's why it's called grace. The thing which is not possible to explain. I want it. It attracts me. But why? Why, really? What's happening here? What do you get from this? Why do you want it? It's against this world, but that's how it is. It's all light. The surrounding light provides us with that. That's why it's called surrounding.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:54) Can we say that when a person is supposed to seek the Creator behind all the pictures and situations that come to him in life, at first the Creator arranges things so that finding Him sweetens the picture? In other words, when he finds the Creator, it makes the situation easier for him? Would that be called fear of this world? And if so, then what's the fear of the next world?

M. Laitman: The fear of the world to come is the fear of God. There's always fear in a person. The fear in a person stems from his empty vessels. It comes from his empty vessels. Now, in my empty vessels, if I'm afraid about if I'll get to fill them, or is it that with my empty vessels I will fulfill Him? If I acquired a screen, not thinking about myself, even when I'm empty and seeking grace, Hafetz Hesed; even when I'm empty to feel perfection, wholeness, even when I'm empty in Hafetz Hesed, yes, after that, I can think about how to fulfill Him. Before that, it's impossible to think that way at all. Meaning, I'm glad, then that I have empty vessels, because, oh, now if I eat, then He will enjoy it. Meaning, from here we see that the correction needs to be gradual. First, I think only about myself. Then, to some degree, I think about myself, or the degree to which I think about myself, is that driving me away from spirituality or not? And also, in thinking about myself, there are many discernments. What do I want to fulfill myself in this world by? Do I want to fulfill myself with small pleasures, big pleasures? Am I thinking only about myself, not caring about others? I can kill them and extort them, or do I think about them? Do I take them into account, and so on. There are many states, yes, degrees. And afterwards, I begin to think about, well, no, this world is not worthwhile. I don't want to enjoy it. 

M. Laitman: (47:11) There’s the next world. I want to enjoy spirituality. And then, when is that? When there is something of spirituality in me, a point in the heart already, a point in the heart begins, then instead of these pleasures, I go towards pleasures of the next world. I want to receive from them. And then begins the time of preparation, when I begin to receive pleasures, spiritual pleasures, seemingly. I want them, I want them. It begins to be inside the surrounding light. It shines, it shows me that there are pleasures there in spirituality, and I get a little bit of His nature, which is in order to bestow, and the light shines. It gives me His nature also, which is in order to bestow a little bit. So, inside of my Lo Lishma — Lo Lishma is not just living, existing in the world, Lo Lishma means that I want pleasures from the Creator, from spirituality for myself. That is Lo Lishma, right? 

So, in Lo Lishma, when I get a little bit of, I catch a little bit of the illumination of the surrounding light, I also catch a little bit of Lishma. The light always shines, inner or surrounding, it doesn't matter, but alongside the pleasure, it gives also a little feeling of His nature. So, from His nature, when I catch that, when I grasp it, I already begin — it's called grace of sanctity. I begin to feel that something completely different exists, that if I was at this point of grace of sanctity, without all the other things, then it would have been good. Why good? Because the light gives me the feeling that this is the very best thing, completely detached, disconnected from all problems, troubles. For the time being, it's all in Lo Lishma, but it's already the grace of sanctity. There are also many states in that, and then, after that, well, after that it's Lishma.

Student: No, I don't think I understood.

M. Laitman: Maybe I didn't answer what you were actually asking. 

Student: Maybe, maybe again. Let's say a person runs towards the Creator to sweeten his troubles.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Then in that state, it is called the first fear, right? Fear of this world. What is fear of the world to come? 

M. Laitman: There is a fear of this world, that I might not receive pleasures from this world, and there is the fear of the world to come. Whether during the time of preparation or even before it, that maybe I will not receive reward in the world to come.

Student: What I'm asking about, what is the reward, the reward of the world to come?

M. Laitman: The reward of the world to come? Ask any Jew and he'll tell you what the reward of the world to come is. Why does he toil in this world? This world is compared to a corridor, and when one enters the world to come, there one receives everything he earned in this world. Prepare yourself now, and afterward you will receive your reward. This is common understanding, it's written everywhere. It's also written that there is no reward in this world. There is no reward in this world, only in the world to come. That's how it's written. As our sages said, there is no reward for a Mitzva in this world. The real question is how to interpret this world and the world to come. This world means that you are operating with intentions to receive. The world to come means that you are operating with intentions to bestow. And Baal HaSulam writes in one of his letters that a person attains both this world and the next world while he is still alive in this life. They are simply two different states, without a screen and with a screen.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:22) According to what I gathered, it's a different kind of study, before the barrier and after the barrier.

M. Laitman: The study of Kabbalah before the barrier and after the barrier is indeed different. Before the barrier we study Kabbalah because through its help we can acquire a screen, an intention of Lishma. That is the only reason. Otherwise give me any other book, a children's book, it doesn't matter. Any book on any subject whatsoever. I don't care what it's about. If it could bring me to Lishma, then that's all I would need. I just need a means to attain it. That's why we need Kabbalah. He explains that the study of Kabbalah arouses the greatest surrounding light of all the holy books. Through all the other holy books I can also awaken surrounding lights, because all holy books were written from a spiritual degree. So when I connect to them with the intention of reaching Lishma, reaching spirituality, to something, so from that same place the surrounding light shines upon me. So from all the holy books, from the Tanakh, the Gemara, the laws and the Halachot, the Haggadot, the Prophets, whatever you name, it doesn't matter,  the language of Kabbalah and the books of Kabbalah written in that language awaken the greatest surrounding light, and that's why I use this particular means. I actually don't need Kabbalah for its own sake. I need Kabbalah because it's a means for the surrounding light. Why? Because surrounding light brings a screen, it brings the intention of Lishma, and everyone knows and understands that we need to reach Lishma. Whoever does not reach Lishma is described everywhere as either the transgressor or an animal. Talk to anyone, they all understand that. The problem is only how people interpret Lo Lishma and Lishma, that is all. As I heard, I asked my Gemara teacher back in Rehovot, are you studying Lishma or Lo Lishma? He replied, am I a Jew? Yes. Am I studying Gemara? Yes. Then of course I'm studying Lishma.

Student: What I didn't understand is if the study itself, the actual study materials, once you cross the barrier, does that need to change?

M. Laitman: (53:57) The study material itself becomes reality after the barrier. What does it mean? It means that after the barrier you have a screen, regardless of its size. Let's say you just have simply a screen. Then as you read, your screen is operating internally in accordance with what you are reading, because you are connected with a book, with the same light, the light from the spiritual degree from which the book was written. That light comes to your screen, and together with your screen it performs the very actions you are reading about. It really is performing those actions, what you're reading. So you become so present in those actions that it's not just a matter of figuring out how to perform them or searching for them. It simply happens. They are performed within you. You are there. It's as if you're in a theater, where what you read, you know, there are these magic books. You sometimes see them in movies, where they open the book and suddenly the page comes alive with moving figures and scenes and with these nice drawings, etc., and they move. It's something like that. Only in this case you immediately live the reality you're reading about.

Student: I attain it instantly?

M. Laitman: Of course you attain it instantly. Because even now, if your intention during the study is correct, you attain surrounding light. You don't really feel it or how it illuminates upon you. You don't feel how differently it shines during one sentence compared to another, or how it changes according to what you read here versus what you're reading there. You understand? You could go through an entire page of the Study of the Ten Sefirot, and the surrounding light would be changing in countless ways, and you would not feel any of that. When we were with Krupnik, when we were occupied with music, with melodies of the next world, his cat was lying there completely indifferent, as if it didn't hear anything. Because it was on a different degree. He was playing there with this intensity, and the cat just sat there completely unaffected. So what do I want to say? The light that comes not as a surrounding light but as an inner light entering the screen, so those two perform the action together. And these actions have a very great order. First you are given an example of how to carry them out, and then you carry them out.

Student: Can I ask about the work during the study that's not related to the article?

M. Laitman: In a moment. Maybe there's someone here. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:18) What determines a person's — the depth of the scrutiny of a person before the barrier? A person always has questions. Who gives him the state? What do I need to reach? Different inner scrutinies. The depth is always different. Sometimes I ask myself once a minute, but I can ask more. So what determines the pace of it, the rate?

M. Laitman:  What determines my pace during the time of preparation? That's your question? 

Student: The depth of the scrutiny, too. 

M. Laitman: The pace and the depth. Only attention. Only attention. I can go through these things half asleep, or I can be very sensitive to them. It's not that awake or sensitive in a nervous sense, because there are people who were jumping around yesterday, and today they're completely different, or the opposite. That's not what I mean. But the sharpness, the direction, my attitude toward the study, what I want from it, that determines both the depth and the pace of the scrutiny and of my advancement. You have to see the study only as a means. I don't need to know what's written on the page for its own sake. I don't care about that. I do want to understand it. I do want to interpret these things well and deeply, so that they'll give me more discernment and more distinctions. But that is only so that I can add them to my search, my search for spirituality, not a search for knowledge. When Baal HaSulam writes that you should review the definitions a thousand times and know them by heart, etc., why does he write that? So that little by little, your mind will absorb the idea that what you are reading must be interpreted differently, spiritually. 

For instance, if you read the word "circle," then instead of imagining the geometric shape of a circle, you should immediately understand the quality it represents. A state without distinctions, without corners, without separate characteristics, without four discernments, ten discernments, or anything of that sort. You should picture that attribute called a circle, a quality called circle, not the physical shape that you would draw in front of yourself. That's what he wants. That's why he says that you should know these definitions by heart, so that it will push you to a more internal interpretation. So, either that depth in the study pursued for that purpose, or a demand that the study will bring you to Lishma — that's what paves your path.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:40) We've been talking a lot in the past week and a half. Recently, we've been talking a lot about how we need to make the self not the source of the recognition of evil, but rather that I will have the self just observing, a point that observes from afar, looks at everything that's happening. Now, when I sit in front of the book, you told us I'm coming to make demands. So, to make another demand of the book, I need to descend into my self, into the feeling of evil, my desires. Otherwise, my demand is less deep, if I'm just observing from the sidelines, so to speak. So, how to do that during the study? I need to both keep the self, or should I leave the self aside?

M. Laitman: On one hand, during the study, I need to seemingly be in a state of wholeness. I study the Torah, and the Torah is light, light that illuminates upon me as surrounding light. If I want it to illuminate upon me strongly, I need to be in the greatest possible equivalence of form with it. Light is perfect, whole, exalted, upper, existing only in order to bestow with no concern for itself, only giving. So, I need, as it were, to detach from myself, not to think about myself, to become as much like it as possible. So, to that extent, the light will draw nearer to me. That depends on the purity and the refinement, the Zakut of the vessels. But there's another issue. How do I draw the light? How do I demand it? If I don't think about myself, about my suffering, about what I want to correct in the state I'm in, it seems like I need to talk about the coarseness, the Aviut of the vessel. Right? So, which is it, this or that? Both. We learn that that's the case in every state. There is both Aviut and Zakut together, the coarseness and purity, the two extremes, Malchut and Keter. Malchut draws the light, Keter receives the light. That's why we say that this work has to be done before you approach the study. You need to prepare these two points. You need to very well examine to yourself the question, why do I need all this? What is the meaning of our lives? That's on one hand. On the other hand, the answer, "taste and see that the Lord is good." The light that I can attract through the study will solve all my problems. It'll bring me to the summit. So, you need to think both about yourself and about the exaltedness of the One who gives, and then you approach the study. That gradually falls into place, until these two points become one, even though they're opposites. That is a time of connection between you and Him. Only when you use Malchut similarly to Keter, do they unite, and then you no longer experience that inner split, that polarity and inner opposition.

Student: How can you use, in the stage of preparation, you use the Malchut like the Keter? How can that be?

M. Laitman: Just tell yourself that you're capable of it, that you really do want it. Tell yourself that, play with it, so what?

Student:  But for me, my coarseness are desires which are Lo Lishma. Let's say I try to observe from the side, I need to imagine something else, or…

M. Laitman: I'm not going to answer anymore. We'll talk about it in another few weeks, in another week and a half. You'll have some experience with it. Another week and a half.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:53) In the article, there's this kind of gap. If a person starts walking the path of bestowal, he always sees, it's written, an opposite value, as if after every exertion you see that you didn't advance at all. I don't understand. If I suffer, sometimes I feel satisfaction from the work and advancement. Is that an indication of failure?

M. Laitman: Even in the work we're in now, on one hand we need to feel satisfaction; otherwise, you're not thanking the Creator, you're, God forbid, complaining against Him. On the other hand, you need to understand where you actually are so that you can prepare the vessels for further progress and correction. The teacher writes, Rabash writes that every single discernment that we have contains within it two opposite polar states. And we need to become accustomed that that is the case. And not only should we get used to it, but we should look for these two opposite aspects. The more you scrutinize them one opposite the other, the greater they become, the farther apart they appear. It means that you've truly discerned these things and you're ready to progress. And if you don't notice this and you don't perceive any contradiction between these two discernments, then you haven't examined any point in your work. So, don't be surprised that in every state we're experiencing, there's always going to be these contradictions and confusions, that one side interferes with the other and nothing seems to fit together. That's normal. More than that, it's correct, and it's good. Ordinary people run away from such states. We, however, should not agree to them. We should wait for them to come. "From Zion shall the Torah go forth." That is, to the extent that one goes out from Kedusha, from sanctity, from there, the Torah comes first. It's always a matter of a thing and its opposite, all the way until the end of correction.

Student: So, following this scrutiny, a new lack means progress, yes?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Reader: And now, friends, let's summarize our impressions on the lesson and what we take to implement in the Ten — six minutes workshop.

Reader: We're going to move to the next part of the lesson, but before that, we'll sing a song.

Song: (01:13:27)