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

Daily Morning Lesson: October 9, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. What Does It Mean that the Right and the Left Are in Contrast, in the Work? Article No. 47, 1991.

Reader: Hello, In the first part of the lesson, we'll learn a lesson with Rav from October 31st, 2002, based on the article, What Does It Mean That the Right and the Left Are in Contrast in the Work? You can find it in the writings of Rabash, Volume 2. We're going to read the article in the Ten, we have 34 minutes.

Reading: (00:46) What Does It Mean that the Right and the Left Are in Contrast, in the Work?

Article No. 47, 1991

The verse says (Deuteronomy 29:8), “Keep the words of this covenant and do them so you may be wise in all that you do.” We should understand why he says, “Keep and do them so you may be wise in all that you do.” This implies that doing is so that by this “you may be wise in all that you do.” It follows that doing is like a preparation, where by doing, we will be able to be wise in what we do.

This means that there are two matters to discern here in the work: 1) The act, as it is written, “and do them.” 2) The learning in the doing, as it is written, “so you may be wise in all that you do.” Ostensibly, this is a contradiction: On one hand, it means that the main thing is the act, as it is written, “and keep and do them.” But then, it is written, “so you may be wise in all that you do.” This implies that doing is only a means by which to achieve understanding with the intellect and knowledge.

The Zohar says that we should make two discernments in the 613 Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds]: 1) It calls the first discernments “613 Eitin [Aramaic: counsels].” 2) It calls the second discernments “613 Pekudin [Aramaic: deposits].”

The difference between them is that Eitin means that that thing is not the goal, but only advice how to achieve the goal. Thus, it is difficult to understand why he says that the 613 Mitzvot are only counsels, and then he says that they are called “613 Pekudin.”

He interprets in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” “General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation,” Item 1), “When rewarded with hearing ‘the voice of His word,’ the 613 Mitzvot become Pekudin, from the word Pikadon [Hebrew: deposit], for in each Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot], the light of a unique degree is deposited, which corresponds to a unique organ in the 613 organs and tendons of the soul and the body. It follows that while performing the Mitzva, one extends to its corresponding organ in his soul and body the degree of light that belongs to that organ and tendon.”

Therefore, according to what he interprets there in the Sulam, we should interpret simply that he says that “In all things there are Panim [anterior/face] and Achor [posterior/back]. The preparation for something is called Achor, and the attainment of the matter is called Panim. Similarly, in Torah and Mitzvot there are ‘We shall do’ and ‘We shall hear.’ When observing Torah and Mitzvot as ‘doers of His word,’ prior to being rewarded with ‘hearing the voice of His word,’ the Mitzvot are called ‘613 Eitin,’ and are regarded as Achor.”

Accordingly, we can understand what we asked, Why does it say, “Keep and do them”? which implies that doing is the most important, and afterward he says, “so you may be wise.” That is, when I tell you, “Do them,” it is only a preparation to attain the actions. It follows that the main thing is the learning, the intellect, and the mind, and not the action.

The answer is that the main thing is the action, since without the actions we cannot obtain anything. But through the actions we can obtain Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” since from Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] we come to Lishma [for Her sake]. Hence, the actions are the most important.

In the actions themselves, we need to make two discernments:

1) The actions themselves, when they are still means. That is, they are only a preparation by which to obtain the vessels of bestowal. After he obtains through the actions the Kelim [vessels] called “desire to bestow,” he obtains the light that is clothed in the actions.

This means that all the actions that he did prior to being rewarded with vessels of bestowal, although then, too, the light was clothed in Torah and Mitzvot, but it was as a deposit that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot. In other words, he was unable to see what was in the Torah and Mitzvot because he still did not have the Kelim that are suitable to the light. But afterward, when he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, he receives the light that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot, and then we see that before he was rewarded with seeing, the light was already clothed in the 613 Mitzvot, but it was there as a deposit.

Therefore, this is not a contradiction that first it says that the action is the most important, as it is written, “and do them,” since we begin with action and end with action, but there is a discernment in between, meaning before he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal or after he is rewarded with vessels of bestowal. This means that through the actions, he is rewarded with Kelim, and then, through the actions, he is rewarded with the light. This is called “so you may be wise in all that you do,” meaning that afterward he is rewarded with “Learn and know Me.”

However, we must remember that before we are rewarded with vessels of bestowal, when we want to be rewarded with working for the sake of the Creator and not for our own sake, there are many ups and downs in this work. It is known that the body objects to work that aims to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, and once the good within man prevails, and once the bad within man prevails. This is called “the war of the inclination.” In other words, there is work in action, which is the work of the general public, who should aim that the acts they do will not be for the purpose of respect, money, and so forth, but for the sake of the Creator.

Hence, those who want to work for the sake of the Creator do their deeds in concealment. The measure of concealment is as Baal HaSulam said, that a person should behave just like the people in his surroundings. In other words, he should not be conspicuous in his environment. If he shows that he slights customs that are practiced in his surroundings, or that he is stricter in some matters more than is customary in his surroundings, the work of that person is no longer in a state of concealment, since when people are in a certain environment, if one of them does something different from the environment, that person draws attention from the society and everyone looks at him. It follows that his work is not in concealment.

These people feel the taste in the work as Surrounding Light, which shines to the general public of Israel. This is as it is written, “I am the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their impurity.” This means that although a person has not been purified of self-love, and all his work is in order for the Creator to reward him in this world and in the next world, they are still regarded as working for the sake of the Creator.

In this work, a person can see his progress, since each day he adds Torah and Mitzvot. Naturally, he can derive from this vitality and joy and can observe what is written, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” It is known that this work is called “one line.” In other words, a person does not know that “for the sake of the Creator” is something that requires special attention. Rather, like the rest of the people, they have faith in our sages, who said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even if Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma [for Her sake].” However, he does not think that these work and intention require time and work. He thinks that it comes naturally, without any special work, as our sages said, “From Lo Lishma we come to Lishma.” For this reason, this work is called “one line.”

But if a person comes to understand that for the sake of the Creator is special work, that this work does not pertain to the general public, but only to those who received an awakening from above that the intention should also be to bestow, that it is something special, and begins to examine whether he can work for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake, to this work the body objects, since it is human nature that he does not understand anything that is not for his own benefit.

Here begin the above-mentioned ascents and descents. It follows that the examination that the person did on his actions, whether they are for the sake of the Creator or for his own sake, when he sees his lowliness and how far he is from this work, a person should pray to the Creator to give him the power to overcome the will to receive for oneself.

At that time, sometimes the body argues, “You saw how many times you prayed to the Creator to help but you did not receive any help. Therefore, it must be that this work is not for you.” A person cannot always overcome such complaints. In that state, one remains as though dead, completely lifeless, and naturally, he cannot persist and continue in this work.

This path is called “left line” in the work, since there is a rule that anything that requires correction is called “left.”

Therefore, in the work, a person must not engage in this manner, meaning to examine whether his work is in wholeness. Rather, as is said (“Order of the work,” Item 9), where he says, “In the work on the left, half an hour a day is enough.”

The majority of man’s work should be on the right line, called “wholeness.” In this work, a person should be without criticism, to see if his work is in wholeness. A person should say, “Even though my actions in Torah and Mitzvot are incomplete, I am still grateful to the Creator for giving me the intellect and will to have some grip on Kedusha [holiness]. That is, whatever grip I have, I regard as a great fortune, since I see that many people in the world have no connection to Torah and Mitzvot, so I am happy with my share, that I was given some contact. And since I believe that this is an important thing, the little bit of contact with spirituality is more important to me than my whole life in this world. I do not deserve to be given more than I have, and the rest of the time I am confused by all kinds of nonsense that I cannot overcome. Therefore, I am happy all day long and this gives me high spirits, since I know my lowliness. Therefore, I am thankful to the Creator for the small part with which I have been privileged.”

According to the above, we should interpret what is written (Deuteronomy 26:11), “You shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you.” We should understand this. Should one be commanded to rejoice if he has abundance? Naturally, when one has abundance, he is happy. If it is otherwise, if he does not have abundance, then it can be said that he should be ordered to be happy. Therefore, what does it imply that it says, “You shall rejoice in all the good which He has given you”?

We should interpret this in the work. There is a matter of work of the right and of the left. “Right” is called “wholeness,” when one has already begun to walk on the path toward obtaining vessels of bestowal, when he has already entered the left line, meaning that he wants to see the truth, whether he can work for the sake of the Creator and not for himself. This causes one ascents and descents in the work, and as a result, a person has no fuel to continue the work. Rather, the left line shows him the truth, that he should not fool himself that he has already achieved his wholeness.

However, in order to have motivation to work, a person can receive this only when he feels wholeness in the work. At that time, he has joy from what he is doing. However, since the right and left contradict one another, meaning that either one feels that he has wholeness, or that he is deficient, but how can there be two opposites in one subject?

The answer is that although they are in one subject, they are still in two times. That is, there is a time when a person should be in lowliness, and there is a time when one should be in pride. This is as Baal HaSulam said, that in the work, there are always two opposites: 1) Our sages said, “Be very, very humble.” It follows that the essence of man’s work is to try to be low in his spirit. 2) It is written, “And his heart was high in the ways of the Lord.” This means that a person should be proud, meaning to try to be proud and not look at the general public. Instead, he should try to be higher than the general public. It follows that we should ask about this, too, how can there be two opposites in one subject? Here, too, we must answer that this refers to two times, one after the other, for then both can exist.

However, we should ask why we need these opposites. That is, why do we need this oppositeness, and why is one way—either lowliness or pride—not enough?

The answer is that we must walk on two lines, the right, as well as the left, even though they contradict one another. That is, precisely when they contradict one another, they yield the result that we need in order to obtain the purpose of creation, which is His desire to do good to His creations. That is, it is impossible to receive the delight and pleasure from the Creator before we have corrected ourselves with vessels of bestowal, which is the meaning of equivalence of form.

Therefore, although by nature, man is born with a desire to receive for his own benefit, when a person is told to observe Torah and Mitzvot, we must say that by observing Torah and Mitzvot, you will be rewarded in this world and in the next world. To the extent of his faith in reward and punishment, he observes Torah and Mitzvot. Although he is working for the sake of the Creator, meaning he wants to receive reward from the Creator and not from people, since he does not engage in Torah and Mitzvot for people to see how he works, but his work is only for the sake of the Creator, because of the commandment of the Creator, this is still called Lo Lishma.

That is, although in practice he engages in Torah and Mitzvot only for the sake of the Creator, his intention is his own benefit. Hence, this is called Lo Lishma. Yet, our sages said, “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma, since from Lo Lishma he comes to Lishma.” A person should say, “I dwell among my own people,” meaning that each one should work like the rest of the public. But without special attention, the person will remain in Lo Lishma and will never achieve the purpose of creation.

For this reason, at that time a person should say, “And his heart was high in the ways of the Lord,” meaning “I do not want to be at the degree of lowliness like the general public. I do need to achieve the purpose of creation.” This is considered that he begins work in criticism to see how much he prefers the love of the Creator over his love of self. This criticism makes him deficient, and he begins to seek advice how to emerge from the governance of self-love.

However, here, in this state, when there is a war between the will to receive in a person and the desire that is now within him, which wants to acquire the desire to bestow, sometimes the desire to bestow prevails, and sometimes to the contrary, and the will to receive prevails. This is why at that time there are ascents and descents. A person should know that while he is in a state of deficiency, he has nothing from which to draw vitality, and then he has no fuel to continue the work in Torah and Mitzvot. This is why he must shift to the right line.

The right line is actually one line. That is, the same order of work that he had while working only in action, called Lo Lishma, should be applied now. That is, he needn’t pay attention whether his work is Lishma, rather now he should say that he is not more important than other people, and as the rest of the people who work in Lo Lishma are satisfied with the work and are high-spirited, likewise, he, who is worse than they are, certainly does not deserve a more important place in the work.

In other words, even compared to the rest of the workers, he is at a lower degree than they are in both quantity and quality, and he must thank the Creator for giving him a thought and desire to do something in spirituality, as this is a gift from the Creator, who has rewarded him with a little bit of work in Torah and Mitzvot, for he does not even deserve this much, as he sees that there are many people who have no connection to Torah and Mitzvot. At that time, when one feels himself in wholeness, that person is called “blessed.” Baal HaSulam said about this that when one feels blessed, he can adhere to the Blessed, as it is written, “The blessed clings to the Blessed.”

Therefore, precisely from this state, a person receives fuel for the work. When a person works on the left line, he is in a state where he should say, “and his heart was high in the ways of the Lord.” That is, he must not regard the general public, but rather be at a higher degree than the general public. This applies only when he works on the left line.

Afterward, he should shift to the right line, of which our sages said, “Be very, very humble.” For this reason, he truly is humble. At that time, a person should know that he is not more important than others, and he is happy that he was given from above the desire and yearning to do something in Torah and Mitzvot. This is the meaning of the words “rejoice in all the good,” meaning even anything, from this a person should receive joy.

Now we can understand why the right and the left must be in contrast in the work. It is so because a person must work in two manners: 1) in wholeness. At that time he can receive fuel for the work, since it is impossible to live on negation. Hence, the majority of one’s time, he should be in the work of the right. But when one feels satisfaction in one’s work, who causes him to advance? After all, there is a rule that if a person feels no deficiency, he does not change his way, since he is satisfied.

For this reason, we must shift to the left line, to examine his actions, whether they are done in order to bestow. From this he can see what there is to correct, so he will achieve the purpose of creation, and the deficiency that a person sees in his work makes him advance.

In other words, if he sees that he is not walking on the right path, he will certainly want to correct himself, since during the examination, a person can see the truth, since if he is not walking on the path of truth, a curse befalls him, as it is written (Deuteronomy 28:41), “You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.”

We should interpret that in the work, “sons and daughters” are the good deeds of the righteous, as was said about what is written, “These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a righteous man.” They asked, “‘These are the generations [offspring],’ it should have mentioned the names of his sons. Why does it say ‘Noah was a righteous man’? Rather, we learn that the primary offspring of the righteous are good deeds.”

Accordingly we should interpret “You shall have sons and daughters.” This means that you will do good deeds, but when you want to see what good deeds you did, you will have nothing to see. But, you engaged in Torah and Mitzvot, and yet you do not feel that you did something in the work. We should ask, “But you engaged in Torah and Mitzvot, so where did the good deeds that you did disappear?”

The answer is that they went “into captivity.” That is, they were taken captive by the Klipot [shells/peels]. This is why they disappeared from the horizon and you cannot see them. This pushes a man to seek advice how to emerge from the governance of the will to receive for himself. Baal HaSulam said that after a person has repented, he brings back out to Kedusha all his work that fell into the Klipot, as it is written, “He swallowed down riches, and he will vomit it out.”

But before one repents, his work makes the sea of the Sitra Achra [other side], as it is written, “There is the sea, great and broad, in which are swarms without number, animals both small and great.” He said that they are small animals and big animals that the person had and which were lost from him, fell into that sea. But afterward, he takes it all back.

It therefore follows that both lines are required. Precisely by being in contrast, they yield the required result in order to achieve the purpose of creation, which is “to do good to His creations.” We should also know that concerning “right,” which is wholeness, a person can use it only when he can lower himself. But as for the left line, he can use it precisely when he is in a state of pride.

Reader: We will now continue to the recorded lesson from the 31st of October 2002.

M. Laitman: (34:47) We heard, What is it that the right and left are in contradiction or in contrast in the work, Volume 3, Rungs of the Ladder, Deuteronomy, As you come, page 198. Rabash says here many things, definitions, it's a very broad, general article. What's interesting, here, is that he explains that there are states called Lo Lishma and Lishma, and inside Lo Lishma there is a state called for the sake of Heaven so we won't delude ourselves to think that for the sake of Heaven is a holy state. It's not a holy state, For the sake of Heaven is a state where a person recognizes that he should do everything for the sake of Heaven, since the reward will come to him from there. He believes in reward and punishment; also in corporeality. In corporeality we can work just as we do right now in order to receive reward or punishment from the society. We can also work in reward and punishment to receive from society things like honor, money, honor, knowledge. Also beastly pleasures come clothed through the society, although they are beastly, on the animate level, they're not human. But a person in this world, let's say he wants to be great, he can be a great scientist, a great Rebbe, a great Rav, then he works for the sake of a society that will provide him these pleasures. In the next stage, he begins to tie himself to the Creator, he begins to believe there's an upper force, and the upper force guides the world, or he's taught that this is so. This is called the commandments that people learn. Meaning he received it from people who taught him, and then he does what he received. This is the commandment that he keeps, actions that he keeps because people taught him the commandments that people taught him. The reason for it is because he was taught, and then he does all these actions in this world, not because the Creator exists, but because he was taught that the Creator exists, the upper force exists. Meaning, even if there was no upper force, he would also keep Torah and commandments because he was taught. It's simply a habit, his upbringing and education.

In the next stage, he begins to see by himself how inside of him there is a Creator, perhaps an upper force toward whom I have certain actions that can influence the reward and punishment. Then he begins to work in what we call, For the sake of Heaven. What does it mean? He thinks that from some actions he will feel good and, God forbid, from other actions he will feel bad. And it will come from the Creator, and this is called for the sake of Heaven. Meaning, I shouldn't steal, the Creator will punish me; I shouldn't do something else there because I will receive punishment. And the other way around: I will do this and this and that in order to receive a reward. This is called for the sake of Heaven; meaning, the reward is what he receives from the upper force, that's what he thinks. Certainly this is also Lo Lishma, not for her sake. There are many other things that are not for her sake; whereas Lishma, for her sake, as we say, it's something without any benefit for himself. Meaning he doesn't think of reward and punishment, he doesn't think how it comes to him. Not that he deserves something, or I deserve the Creator. This is called Lishma, meaning the person's, I, does not exist.

M. Laitman: (39:49) And there are many such small things, both the right line and the left, he touched on the left line very nicely. Meaning we have some great benefit here, since in truth the right line can be in a person when he annuls himself. He is annulment, he takes upon himself the qualities of the Creator. The left line is when, specifically when he engages in his, I, his self, he pulls his pride and his ego into the work. Whereas, what we need to learn from these states is that we have to get accustomed to the fact that in every state we have an inner contradiction. Since from the beginning, everything we attain, we attain the light from the vessel, meaning the light is in opposition, the vessel is in opposition to the light. And he attains the light and all these ideas, all these qualities in the light only according to his equivalence with the light. Then the vessel is in two opposite states: our inner state that is opposite to the light, and his outer state which is equivalent to the light. According to the equivalence to the light, it absorbs and receives the light, the vessel receives the light. And because there are two discernments in the vessel, the vessel itself according to his nature, the will to receive; and according to his action, the will to bestow. And according to his action of the will to bestow, the vessel understands who is the Creator, what is the light, and he compares his will to bestow with her will to receive. This is where the opposition between Creator and created being, we don't have grasp in the Creator, we have a grasp in our corrected qualities, and we say that this is the Creator because they are corrected relative to the Creator.

So what happens is that inside the vessel there are two opposite qualities, that's why in every discernment, every observation, every critique about something, there's always inner contradiction. We have to understand where it's coming from and not let it confuse us, not blur out our perception. I, also, had this question from the internet, I wrote that we need to form groups from healthy people, strong people. They write to me, why is it like that, or how can we just toss out the others? And I said to them, I'm surprised that you don't yell at me with the different argument: how can you write that the whole world has to write Kabbalah, and you have to come to the whole world, it has to be one group. Here you write, you have to make some selection, and examine, and accept only the strong ones – this goes against the method. The thing is, also the opposition, on the one hand the contradiction, the contrast. On the one hand the world has to enter the study; on the other hand, in order to advance the whole world we need to have strong groups that will draw in the entire world. A group that wants to be a leading group, a group of teachers, a group of leaders, has to ensure that there will be no one there that doesn't provide his support, that doesn't provide his bestowal, ensure nobody drills a hole in the side of the vessel or the boat, as it says there in the, Speech for the Completion of Zohar, and it is all kinds.

If we talk about the group of Kabbalists that has to lead the world, it has to be a very strong group, very crystallized group, and there's no room for anyone who's lazy and negligent. If you speak of the entirety of the world, then the whole world should come en masse of course to study without any limitation. This approach, this is really a central approach for us, even in it, there are two separate directions. One direction is for those who lead, like the Keter, the Rosh of the Partzuf, and the second direction is for the Guf, Malchut. The opposition between Keter and Malchut is something we can see here already. Or people who can be, in general, agree to be led, and people who can be leaders, guides. These things are in contradiction, but I said it now, I brought it up as an example.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:19) I don't understand something about the article. He says you need to be in two lines: right and left.

M. Laitman: Right and left. How can there be greater contrast between the right and left?

Student: To most of the time, being in the right line, and right line, that's when I'm in lowliness, and I see the greatness of the Creator, you could say, or I don't know.

M. Laitman: No, the right line is not that you're in lowliness and you see the greatness of the Creator. When you see the greatness of the Creator, you also see His lowliness, He's not in lowliness right now? Let's put it this way: you are a great person, and there are people before you, you wish to lead them. So, you come to them, and you give, you demonstrate your greatness, your power, and you lead them, right? The Creator doesn't do it in this way, He deliberately humiliates Himself so He won't be seen. He hides, right, so you see Him as humble, humiliated, lowly, and gradually He brings you closer, not according to His power, but according to your ability. So, when you adhere to the right, you attain in the right also the contrast between the two sides. On the one hand, this tremendous power; on the other side, the great humility, also on the right, also in His qualities. Accordingly, you who adhere to the right, you learn from this, and you accept these qualities, both humbleness and greatness.

Student: And the left line?

M. Laitman: In the left line, what do you have? In the left line, you have only cruelty, like any baby, a will to receive, unshaped.

Student: How do these things, the right and left, how does this work out with what we say, If I'm not for me, who is for me and There's No One Else Besides Him. We say that most of the time we need to be at the right line, and for half an hour on the left. When we talk about If I'm not for me, who is, and There's No One Else Besides Him, we say that in the morning, it needs to be, If I'm not for me, and in the evening, There's No One Else Besides Him. It seems that there's only a little time left for There's No One Else Besides Him, which seems opposite to me in terms of how it should be.

M. Laitman: I don't get what you're saying. You're saying, you have to constantly be in If I am not for myself, then who is, and afterwards, in the evening, There's No One Else Besides Him. What does it mean in the evening to be in There's No One Else Besides Him? After you seemingly finished the action and what you attained in it, then you have to say that in the Rosh, There Is None Else Besides Him. Then when you're going to get the next degree, then you say, If I'm not for myself, who is, you erase all of reality. The Creator is gone, right, it's incorrect. If you erase Him, you have nothing to do. You're not in the work. Rather, in support for There's None Else Besides Him, you're going with the support of There's No One Else Besides Him, you say that If I'm not for myself, who is?

Student: That sounds congruent with the left line, the work of the left line.

M. Laitman: Is it the work of the left, If I'm not for myself, who is? In what is it If I'm not for myself? What do you do in, If I'm not for myself?

Student: What do I do in, If I'm not for myself, different every time?

M. Laitman: What do you mean different things each time? In, If I'm not for myself, who is, you go and make corrections on yourself, right? It's seemingly as if in these corrections, actually you make any decisions, right?

Student: Corrections I do.

M. Laitman: What else are you talking about?

Student: Maybe the desire to do things, to examine myself, to harness myself to these things, are trying to advance, I try to advance. I don't know, corrections, I don't know what it means even.

M. Laitman: It's too early for us to talk about a bit more.

Student: What are corrections?

M. Laitman: Okay, fine, what are we going to talk about; what are you doing there at home; at work in the university?

Student: No, what are corrections?

M. Laitman: Okay, look, we're done! What I want to say, I cannot on this; on this level, the way you're thinking, we shouldn't talk about it. We'll talk about it again in a month or two.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (50:08) Doesn't it work together? Bring to the right line from the left line, all day long you could say, you can continue switching between them?

M. Laitman: It's hard to distinguish between the right and the left because there really isn't right and left. I would even say hard to distinguish what intention is, where are you in contact with the Creator? Are you in connection with Him, with Him, or not? You are in the connection with the Creator? You're, are you trying to be active? You think that it's up to you what will happen in the end, the outcome, or not?

Student: Yes.

M. Laitman: How do you look at what was done, depend on your actions or not?

Student: Everything depends on me.

M. Laitman: If all depends on you, when you're in connect, in connection with Him, and the connection with Him, you are in this active action and an active attitude toward Him. This is called, If I'm not for myself, then who is. The Creator is present, you don't remove Him from your picture of reality, He's in the world. Except you say that I can, I can support it, I can be active, right? After you say it and you are active, you reveal that you haven't done anything, it's all Him. After all the actions, you're running around sweating, and what you've done your whole life, and you are in descents and ascents, and efforts, and lack of sleep and you name it! Later you discover that none of that was you. The vessels are His, the fillings are His, and you know, where's the, I,? The, I, is the one who can now determine that There Is Nothing Besides Him. What was before, If I'm not for myself, who is, in all of this? If I'm not for myself, and who is, I was not myself – here aren't that many words for that. But again, If I am not for myself, and who is, is that I forget about Him, that He doesn't exist? If I'm not for myself, sorry, it means that I'm thinking that something is up to me, to come close to Him, to serve Him, to respond, even to pray.

Student: No, I understand, nevertheless, I wish to reach a wholeness.

M. Laitman: Well, you want to achieve wholeness, sure, and I say that There's None Else Besides Him. The fact is that He wants you to achieve wholeness, this thought that comes to you that you want to achieve wholeness, that's Him.

Student: Okay, I accept it.

M. Laitman: Well?

Student: They say, His kingdom, He rules all of His kingdom, all of His actions that they do to me comes from Him.

M. Laitman: So, all your actions come from Him and all your thoughts come from Him. so who are you? Tell me, what point do you have that you can attribute to yourself, who are you?

Student: Who am I? I'm a tiny point.

M. Laitman: You are this small point that reaches the state of adhesion and says that There's None Else Besides Him. It's only that point that says There's None Else Besides Him, and other than me saying There's None Else Besides Him, everything else is Him. Fellows, I don't want to go into philosophy here, this becoming a philosophy instead of Kabbalah.

Student: This state you described, or If I'm not for myself, who is, when we work in this, is this the state of pride that he's talking about, he's talking about pride here.

M. Laitman: Maybe. Welcome.

Student: There's a problem, something is bothering me from my point of view. It's a matter of walking humbly and immersing yourself in the environment. I'm coming now from the reserve, the army reserve, and you tell yourself that in this kind of environment you don't want to be immersed in it; on the other hand, you also don't want to stand out. How do you do the work? When you're inside, you're different than what you're doing in the environment, you're not supposed to show it. How do you do the work of humbly?

M. Laitman: I don't understand. Your question is you're in a certain environment, yes?

Student: Yes.

M. Laitman: (55:12) That's where your life is, and they're having a good time right there, and you don't want to be immersed in that, right? You can't not be immersed in it, you have nothing to do. You can't go against the environment, if you're in some environment, you have no power to resist it, none. If it's not from above that you were simply pulled out of that environment, as we did when the point in the heart awakened in us. We simply kicked away our environment – you could say that, right, we kicked it, yes – we simply felt that we don't belong to this environment. And in a natural way we started looking, searching, according to this point for the place, and we found a different environment, that's all. But it's help from above, it was done to us from above, moved from one place to another. There's an electric field, and there's some electric charge there. If the charge changes, it has to find a different place, find its place in the field according to potentiality, equalizing.

So you know what I'm talking about, right, if you went to school, so your potential was changed, inner potential. You left one place, one environment, and you went to a different one. So you can see, you can look at your whole life, all your incarnations, how you're being led towards the end of correction, the center of this field, electric field, let's say, that's it, and you had no hand in it.

Now you say, if I'm in some environment, what should I do? If you are in some environment, you can remain in that environment as you are now. If no help comes to you from above, or you can immediately search if you're still being given this thought that you know that you can achieve some goal which is in contradiction with this environment. Then you're being given a chance to change this environment for yourself, by yourself, you understand, it's an opportunity. A normal person, his records are changed, his inner potential, right, in his charge, the spiritual charge. By that, he's led through this potential field towards the center of it, slowly, slowly throughout many incarnations. One of these incarnations, he's given such potential called the point in the heart, and then he has by himself to replace his environment into the society, to take care of his own advancement, that's it.

Before that he couldn't, for thousands of incarnations, thousands of years, yes, that's it. Now, when he was given this awakening by the point in the heart, this potential is called, The point in the heart, it already belongs to, it relates to a person's purposeful advancement, conscious advancement of that charge towards the center of the field, yes. Now, he has an opportunity, he was given this advancement, he was placed into some society, yes? Books, it could be people, it could be a few movies suddenly he saw about Kabbalah, something like that, right, this is called an environment. He's given this advancement; then, after that, advancement happens only by free choice, only. If you want to, if you're determined to advance, if you don't, you don't, well, as if you don't, but the opportunity is given.

M. Laitman: (59:04) Now, wherever you are, you can be in one of three states. It's either a state where you lose this thought that you can replace your environment, or you're given the thought that you can replace the environment; or you're given the opportunity to work with the proper environment, that's it. So choose, you say, I'm in a bad environment, yes? And I have this thought, I know, I recognize that I'm in a bad environment in relation to the goal, what should I do? Well, it's an excellent state. You were given the thought that you are in a bad environment. So be careful, because soon that thought will be taken from you, and that's it, and you will be in that bad environment again, like all people, and advance at the same rate as them, as everyone. Meaning thousands of years, thousands of incarnations, and that's it. It's impossible to be in a negative, in a bad environment, to remain there and to advance, it's not possible. And so one mustn't never go to the market just like that for no reason, to a place of danger by himself, you understand? You remember how we learned in part two of TES, the possible, aimed and intention, all those things, where it's considered a transgression and where not. It's excellent that such a thought is given, that I'm in an environment which is not on the path, it's help from above. After that, that thought will be erased, and you will remain there. After a few years, it can be given back, returned, and again, you will think that there are such students who left Israel, they went abroad. After 10, 15 years, they start crying, what to do? Again, this thought was renewed in them, wasted, 15 years of his life wasted, what to do?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:37) Why does he write that on the left line, you have to work only half an hour, and everything that's left – meaning 23 and a half hours – on the right? Why such a concept? Let's say, two hours and 22, why the relationship?

M. Laitman: Why such unequal proportion? So working 23 and a half hours on the right line, and one half of an hour on the left. It's very difficult to receive the qualities of the Creator on the right line, to be impressed by Him, to connect to Him. That I need to be in that form of reception for 23 and a half hours, then for half an hour with the left line, I already derive all the negative benefit that I can derive from it. Then I add it to the right, and I build the middle line. This difference, we can calculate why exactly it is that he said 23 and a half hours, hours of the day, hours of the night. He tells you, it's not random, 23 and a half, and half. With Baal HaSulam, he has such writings where he makes all sorts of calculations according to the Sefirot, regarding all sorts of things, an eighth of one Sefira, and Hod connects to a quarter of the Yesod. Then it rises to one part in 38 to the Sefira of Netzach and something else, then it's calculations really, like, very scientific. It's a wonder how he, I don't understand what exactly it is he's doing there! I cannot say what his intention is, he didn't explain it, and what I think about it, I think, but – what do I want to say – what he said as a number, that's how it is, that's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:30) I asked before, not the environment he chooses himself to be in, day in, day out. But some forced state, seemingly, army reserve, or even work, work, you know, you're making a living. In such a state, when you see that the environment is different, how do you try not to stand out? Simply do what you need to do, in principle?

M. Laitman: You're saying, I go to the store, to work, various places, relatives even, and I'm in these places and it's an environment. How can I avoid being influenced by them? An environment means that I determine for myself that I am in an environment, and if I don't determine for myself that this is my environment, then I'm not in it, do you understand? I live in Bnei Brak, in Rabbi Akiva Street, the holiest place, and I don't adhere to what's going on there.

Student: Not to do army reserve?

M. Laitman: No, no, no, no, I can go to work, I can do various things, if, do what you need to do, yes, but I don't adhere to it, you understand? I don't listen, I don't look, I don't know what. I'll tell you, sometimes I feel like seeing something, I don't know, to just exit. If I need to go from one kind of work to another, sometimes it's very difficult, so I like watching nature, in documentary movies about animals, you know, that's the best. So yes, it's on TV, so, you know, so I watch it for 10 minutes, 15, some lion strolling somewhere, something like that, it's a good rest, and then I return, you understand? The rest for me is not an environment, I don't see other things, it doesn't, doesn't attract me, you understand, none of it.

Now, who to be in contact with, what to be in contact with? If I go to people, I need to – I don't know – fix something, something needs to be done, I don't see myself as adhering to them. I, it's forbidden for me to hear opinions on my own profession, like Baal HaSulam says, writes there, If you're a builder, you shouldn't be amongst bad builders. And they'll say, it's not so bad, let's make it a bit crooked, you know. Or shoemakers, if you're shoemaker, let's make it with a little hole, doesn't matter, the sandal. But if you're a builder amongst shoemakers, you don't care about what they're saying, they can't influence your work, spoil your work. So, he says that the closest, the closer it is to spirituality, the more you shouldn't be in contact with them, so I'm not in contact with them.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:57) So if I am, if I do every day nothing, seemingly, why am I here? If everything that's happening to me, everything I will do?

M. Laitman: You, as a beginner, are 100% dependent on what you're going to absorb from the environment. If you decide that your environment, that you want to, you want to resemble it, or to accept its message. If it's this, then you need to annul yourself before the environment because the smaller one is, the more he receives. You need to consider everyone there as being great and to listen to them with your mouth agape, you know, to really want to be impressed, to be inspired by everything that exists, here. It's possible only to the extent, well, you need to make yourself small. I'm small and they're great, they're great. The more you can invest in the society, you'll be able to receive from it, with all the actions that are recommended to us. Well, you should do that and see how effective it is, how it works. Or the opposite, you can come here and see it like in a university, and I'm learning and they're also learning, they're walking around here making noise, various things, and I'm studying. I'm a person who needs to absorb this to understand, you know, very studious, slowly some education. Then we'll see, well, you can remain, you can sit like that, you won't receive from the society, there won't be any inner change.

Student: I meant something a little bit more from the society, we spoke about the topic of seemingly having a feeling, like an electrical field that changes the potential, then I change according to my potential, the potential of my work. Seemingly, like a puppet that is being controlled, and it goes from place to place, and it changes its place.

M. Laitman: So you're asking: if I'm a charge in that electric field, my potential towards the field changes, then I change my place, can I myself change my potential? Yes, I can, yes, you can, because this potential depends on your feeling, your feeling and your relation.

Student: I draw this potential, seemingly.

M. Laitman: Yes, this potential is in your hands. If you see that your place in the field is not exactly according to what you would like, what's necessary, and so on, you can change that. You seemingly change your potential. By what? You draw the light, and it changes your potential, and then you move.

Student: Like MAN.

M. Laitman: Yes, yes, yes, like MAN, it all works according to the same principle. Equivalence of form is the general, it's the only rule that exists, from which all others, all other rules derive.

Student: By this, I simply change my place?

M. Laitman: You are the point of choice alone, the point that can choose. Other than that, there is no you.

Reader: Yes, friends, we're entering now a workshop in which we will summarize the lesson we went through. We also remember that in less than a month, we will be together in the Congress, Awakening From Below. Hence, we will also scrutinize what we can take from this lesson for our preparation for the Congress. Let's move to a workshop and scrutinize together what we learned in the lesson, and what we will take from it to implement in our preparation for the Congress.

Reader: Before the next part of the lesson, we'll sing a song.

Song: (01:18:26)

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