The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: August 1, 2025
Part 1: Recorded Lesson October 28, 2021. Baal HaSulam. Shamati #38. The Fear of God Is His Treasure.
Reader: Hello friends, we will start our lesson with Articles of Shamati, article 38, The Fear of God Is His Treasure. We will read the article and then go to the recorded lesson.
Reading: (00:33) Baal HaSulam. Shamati #38. The Fear of God Is His Treasure
I heard on March 31, 1947
A treasure is a Kli [vessel] in which the possession is placed. Grain, for example, is placed in the barn, and precious things are placed in a more guarded place. Thus, everything that is received is called by its correlation to the light, and the Kli must be able to receive the things. It is as we learn that there is no light without a Kli, and this applies even in corporeality.
Yet, what is the Kli in spirituality, in which we can receive the spiritual abundance that the Creator wants to give, which will match the light? That is, as in corporeality, where the Kli needs a correlation with the object that is placed in it.
For example, we cannot say that we have treasures of wine, which we poured in new sacks to keep the wine from turning sour, or that we took a lot of flour in barrels. Instead, there is a conduct that the container of wine is barrels and jars, and the container for the flour is sacks and not barrels, etc.
Thus, there is a question, What is the spiritual vessel, the Kelim [vessels] from which we can make a big treasure of the upper abundance?
There is a rule that the cow wants to feed more than the calf wants to eat. This is because His wish is to do good to His creations, and the reason for the Tzimtzum [restriction], we must believe, is for our own good. And the reason must be that we do not have the right Kelim where the abundance can be, like the corporeal Kelim, which must be right for what is placed there. Hence, we must say that if we add the Kelim, there will be something to hold the added abundance.
The answer to this is that, in His treasury, the Creator has only the treasure of fear of heaven (Berachot 33).
Yet, we should interpret what is fear: It is the Kli, and the treasure is made of this Kli, and all the important things are placed in it. He said that fear is as it is written about Moses: Our sages said (Berachot, p 7), “The reward for ‘And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look,’ was to be rewarded with ‘the image of the Lord does he behold.’”
Fear refers to one’s fear of the great pleasure that is there, that he will not be able to receive it in order to bestow. The reward for this, for having had fear, is that thus he had made for himself a Kli in which to receive the upper abundance. This is man’s work, and besides that, we attribute everything to the Creator.
Yet, it is not so with fear, because the meaning of fear is not to receive. And what the Creator gives, He gives only to receive, and this is the meaning of “Everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven.”
This is the Kli that we need. Otherwise, we will be considered fools, as our sages said, “Who is a fool? He who loses what he is given.” This means that the Sitra Achra [other side] will take the abundance from us if we cannot aim in order to bestow, because then it goes to the vessels of reception, which is the Sitra Achra and Tuma’a [impurity].
This is the meaning of “And you shall observe the commandments.” Observing means fear. Although the nature of the light is that it keeps itself, meaning that the light leaves before one wants to receive the light into the vessels of reception, yet one must do it by himself, as much as he can, as our sages said, “You will keep yourselves a little from below, and I will keep you a lot from above.”
The reason we attribute fear to people, as our sages said, “Everything is in the hands of heaven but the fear of heaven,” is because He can give everything but fear. This is because what the Creator gives is more love, not fear.
Acquiring fear is through the Segula [power/remedy] of Torah and Mitzvot. It means that when one engages in Torah and Mitzvot with the intention to be rewarded with bringing contentment to one’s Maker, that aim that rests on the acts of Mitzvot and the study of Torah brings one to attain it. Otherwise, one might remain—although he observes Torah and Mitzvot in every item and detail—he will still remain merely in the degree of still of Kedusha [holiness].
It follows that one should always remember the reason that obligates him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot. This is the meaning of what our sages meant by “that your Kedusha will be for My Name.” It means that I will be your cause, meaning that all your work is in wanting to delight Me, meaning that all your actions will be in order to bestow.
Our sages said (Berachot 20), “Everything there is in keeping, there is in remembering.” This means that all those who engage in observing Torah and Mitzvot with the aim to achieve “remembering,” by way of “When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep.” It follows, that the keeping is primarily in order to be awarded remembering.
Thus, one’s desire to remember the Creator is the cause for observing Torah and Mitzvot. This is so because it follows that the reason and the cause to observe the Torah and Mitzvot is the Creator, as without it one cannot adhere to the Creator, since “He and I cannot dwell in the same abode” due to the disparity of form.
The reason that the reward and punishment are not revealed, and we must only believe in reward and punishment, is because the Creator wants everyone to work for Him, and not for themselves. This is discerned as disparity of form from the Creator. If the reward and punishment were revealed, one would work because of self-love, so the Creator would love him, or because of self-hate, for fear that the Creator would hate him. It follows that the reason for the work is only the person, not the Creator, and the Creator wants that He will be the compelling reason.
It turns out that fear is precisely when one recognizes one’s lowliness and says that his serving the King, meaning that one’s wish to bestow upon Him is considered a great privilege, and it is more valuable to him than he can say. It is according to the rule that with an important person, what is given to him is considered receiving from him.
To the extent that one feels one’s lowliness, to that extent he can begin to appreciate the greatness of the Creator, and the desire to serve Him will awaken in him. However, if one is proud, the Creator says, “He and I cannot dwell in the same abode.”
This is the meaning of “A fool, a wicked one, and a rude one go together.” The reason is that since one has no fear, meaning he cannot lower himself before the Creator and say that it is a great honor for him to be able to serve Him without any reward, he cannot receive any wisdom from the Creator, and he remains a fool, and he who is a fool is wicked, as our sages said, “One does not sin unless the spirit of folly entered him.”
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Reader: We'll go to a lesson from October 28th to 2021.
Question (Turkiye 4): (12:02) In the article it says, fear of heaven is a Segula which comes from engaging Torah and Mitzvot. In a practical manner, how can we absorb this Segula, this fear of heaven from morning lessons, Ten meetings, dissemination, etc.?
M. Laitman: This is a simple thing: If you constantly think, what pleasure you can give to the Creator, that's it, this is an expression of the fear of heaven. This is the meaning of being in faith above reason, in order to bestow, to have the fear of heaven. It's all the same – meaning how do I bring pleasure to the Creator the way He wants to bring pleasure to us from the very beginning.
Question (Dnepr): (13:24) Can you please explain how we shift, how to understand this fear correctly? Does that mean that possibility to delight the giver as much as He gives me, as much as I can receive from Him? Can I do this only through the Torah and the Commandments, can we understand it this way?
M. Laitman: The Torah and Mitzvot, the Torah and Commandments, means all kinds of actions that we do to cause, to bring good to the upper force, the Creator, by which He can work and give us the same in return. Torah means the upper light that influences our actions if we wish to correct ourselves. Mitzvot, Commandments, mean each and every action to bestow that I do through everything, through everyone, through the group, through the world with the ultimate goal of the Creator. To bring everyone closer to the Creator, this is called Torah and Mitzvot, Torah and Commandments. That through certain actions that I do by myself, in the Ten, in the general vessel of Bnei Baruch or in the entire world. As much as we publicize ourselves, this is the meaning of working in Torah and Mitzvot. It’s to ensure that as many vessels as possible are aimed to receive the upper light, that's it. It means that each individual vessel would understand what it has to do and for them to be ready, to be connected between them in love, in order to bestow through love your friend as yourself. And, in this way, they'll be able to make themselves into a big vessel for the reception of the upper light, that's it. This is the meaning of keeping Torah and Mitzvot.
Question (Latin 2): (15:59) According to what is written in the text, that a person cannot receive wisdom from the Creator, can you explain it to us. It is written that to explain the text, a person cannot receive any wisdom from the Creator without…
M. Laitman: I didn't understand him. We don't understand your question.
Reader: At the end of the article there is a quote that says, one does not receive wisdom from the Creator and then he remains a fool, maybe this is what he means?
M. Laitman: I can barely hear what he's saying – I don't know what to do with these speakers here.
Reader: Yes, I'm repeating, explaining the text that the Reader read, that one cannot receive wisdom from the Creator so he remains a fool.
M. Laitman: Yes, and, so? He remains a fool, he remains in darkness. A fool meaning in darkness, he does not feel the Creator, it’s a result of his incorrect actions. That's what I can say about it.
Question (Brazil 2): (17:38) I'm kind of a low one here so I still lack the fear of the Creator. Is it correct, to me, to fear if I'm not good enough for the work with the friends in order to come to the fear of the Creator?
M. Laitman: Fear, trepidation, means that you're searching for ways to give contentment to the Creator, this is the meaning of fear. Not that He's demanding that from you, rather you wish to be in it. And if you don't want to be in it, you should be fearful that you're still not in it. Because only according to this feeling of fear—just like a mother towards her baby where she constantly cares about, worries about doing good to him—in this way, we need to relate through the friends, if possible, to the Creator. It's much more difficult through the friends on the one hand, on the other hand, it's the safest route.
Question (Focus Group): (19:26) So, reality presses and I became incorporated in the Ten enough to attribute it to the Creator in order to understand that it's actually a calling to change my relation to Him, to change myself so I will feel it as good and doing good. At the same time, there is still a demand there for reality to change. And if it changes for the better, then I have forgotten the Creator at that moment and if it doesn't change for the better, then I condemn Him.
M. Laitman: Are you telling us about your states?
Student: I'm telling you about the work, it's as if it's a place we can't break, we can't make a change. The change, it has to be in me.
M. Laitman: Correct, and?
Student: How do we come to such a demand that will not be dependent on reality? But will be consistent so that no matter what happens in terms of the states, this demand remains?
M. Laitman: It's only in the condition that you truly want to bestow but how can you truly want to bestow if you don't have, yet, the force of bestowal? Well, by incorporating yourself with other friends, it helps you find a friend's shoulder. And then, with this common force that you develop, you can reach a state where you have confidence from within even though it's egoistic confidence. Nevertheless, you have a Ten that is connected and wants to reach bestowal, that is their goal; that is your common action and this is where you advance.
Student: Does the demand ever become disconnected from the external states?
M. Laitman: Try to do it at least once, not some time.
Question (PT 13): (21:43) Why is the vessel for the revelation of the Creator, the fear of the Creator and not love of the Creator? If we're talking about equivalence of form, it should be love of the Creator?
M. Laitman: We can't reach love of the Creator except through fear of the Creator. Without fear there is no love; without fear there is egoistic love, the way we have it in our world. And this love can depart the next day because it depends only on how much pleasure I feel from something outside of me. According to that, I love it, that's according to our primitive, straightforward nature, our egoistic nature. If we're talking about love which is not because I receive pleasure from that source. But rather, I discover my attitude, a special attitude towards the source where it is not good for me, on the one hand. But, on the other hand, I appreciate it highly, from that, I build the vessel whose foundation is the will to receive, with a restriction, with a screen, with a reflected light. And then I'll be suitable for that fulfillment, that's how I build my sack in order to receive the treasure of the Creator. And He fills it, Himself, He appears and fills it; and if it will only be in the will to receive, it will have no value. It's like a baby in our world, like a small child, each time he jumps from one place to another, from one pleasure to another he doesn't know what to choose. Only on the condition that we have two things. One goes against the method of fulfillment, it's my will to receive, it doesn't want to be in order to bestow. Then, the second one is, I want to receive the fulfillment in this way. By that, I prepare my sack, my vessel, in which I could truly feel the upper value, the upper force, godliness. Otherwise, I cannot disclose discover Godliness, I’ll discover some pleasure that could quickly disappear tomorrow. And it all depends on my will to receive, that's how, in this way, here, I develop a desire to bestow towards Him, love, outside of me. I appreciate Him and not the pleasure He gives me, and accordingly, I disconnect from the Klipa, the egoistic desire and I ascribe myself to the Creator. That's it, I'm lacking words here but it's clear that the place here is tough to articulate.
Question (ITA 1): (25:26) How can I know my lowliness and the importance of the Creator when I don't see Him? I can't see Him, I can't hear Him, should I pray that the Creator will be revealed?
M. Laitman: You don't need for the Creator to be revealed – it won't do you any good. Many people are trying to do it and nothing works. You need to ask the Creator to help you build the correct attitude to Him. To respect Him, to appreciate Him, then from that, you will build the correct vessel for the revelation of the Creator. This is called, the fear of the Creator; fear includes several discernments. On the one hand, I don't want to receive Him directly, I don't want Him to fill me. It's like a baby, like a small child, you give him a toy and it's finished, he's full over his head. He's playing with it, he's happy with it, he laughs, he rejoices. I don't want to be in this way with my attitude toward the Creator, no. I would like to be in this business with Him, equally, as equals. I to Him and Him to me, equally, otherwise, I'll lose my human form. I want to grow up in such a way where I understand that what I can give Him – how to grow my vessels and how to receive from Him – and how He's given me in such a mutual way that will sustain us both; this mutuality, this adhesion is what I want to build with Him. That's why the work is not so clear because we are forming a connection between a man and the upper force, the Creator. Man is the lower force, the Creator is the upper force, and between these two forces, we want that a mutual connection will be formed, beautiful connection. So that each one will discover the other and will appear fully, this is called complete adhesion of the Creator and the person. And then everything that's outside the person and the Creator will cease to exist, will not exist, simply, it will all enter into the connection.
Question (Volga): (29:09) In the work I see that there are two energies: My personal energy and there's the energy that we call, the greatness of the Creator. How do I, through fear, constantly shift from using my own strength to using the greatness of the Creator?
M. Laitman: It's all up to you. How much through the environment, the studies, all the means that you have are you able to concentrate, focus your attention on Him, on the Creator? He, if He will be as the most important thing before you that dictates and determines everything in your life, everything that's against Him and what's for Him, even when you don't want to be connected to Him right now and think about it. And when you do want it, actually, in all kinds of states. If you arrange it so everything you feel in your heart and you think in your brain is coming from Him. Then, after the understanding that it's all coming from Him, how do you build or construct your attitude towards Him? What do you do in return, what is your reaction? You want to talk to Him or erase Him from your field of vision, of feeling, meaning from your brain, from your heart. If you want to ask something, what do you want to ask, and so on and so forth; in short, what do you want to get out of it? First of all, it has to be clear that what you're feeling, what you're feeling is existing, in what environment do you exist, in what world, what's in your head, what's in your heart? It's all arranged by the upper force. If He would not do it for you, you would not exist and the world would not exist and nothing. Everything is held in place by the Creator so what do you want from that? What do you want to get out of this feeling that you're feeling, now? Think about it and start talking to Him because He invoked this feeling of the world in you. He brought you to a state where you are now, hearing that this is something He's doing—in the Creator. And so you have only one thing, turn to Him. If He's the source for everything that's happening with you and you're feeling, you're understanding, then turn to Him, that's it.
Question (Hebrew 10): (32:30) He writes in the article that “fear is precisely when one knows one's lowliness”. Afterwards, he says that “the more a person feels this lowliness, the more he appreciates the greatness of the Creator”. What is the lowliness that a person has to feel?
M. Laitman: It's not a lowliness as we imagine it from this world. Lowliness is when a person—the lowliness a person feels in spirituality is his form of attainment where everything in his brain, in his heart, everything that's happening to him. Anything and everything he can think about and say and feel, it all comes from the Creator.
The Creator is truly the whole world, the whole world, then, a person needs to determine what should be his attitude towards that world. According to how he feels in his will to receive or according to how he needs to go above his will to receive. And to demand of everything possible, the Creator of course that There’s None Else Besides Him. That the Creator will arrange him differently so he wouldn't be so weak. So he'll be able to respond, he'll be able to perform a restriction on these receptions that appear so sweet for him right now. And he wants to be above it and abstain from it and reach a state where he will be independent both from the bad and from the good. He'll be able to, according to a clear decision – an independent decision –he'll be able to decide that he wants only to be adhered to the upper force. Where there's truly None Else Besides Him but in order to cleave to this upper force, he needs to annul himself, how can he do it? Well, he begins to attain his, how much he is a zero, nothing, no forces, inability to do anything. Again, he has a need for the Creator and, again, he can ask for additional strength and feeling and understanding. But not in order to feel himself better, rather in order to approach the truth, in order to bestow. Where, there, it's coming out of this world and so on and so forth. You need to have such thoughts as much as possible but each and every thought creates an action and each action is added to a great sum, a great account, until the full portion is met and a person comes out to the light.
Question (Zafon 1): (36:19) Sometimes, when I think about spirituality I have this fear, I don't know, when I go into this unfamiliar place. How do you deal with such a state?
M. Laitman: The group, the friends, and that's it.
Question (PT 2): (36:43) You describe a situation where a person is afraid of all kinds of things in this world – the police, the neighbors, the bank. The question is, should we, in the Tens, pressure one another in order to feel this pressure because without it there is no life?
M. Laitman: No, we need to help the friends open up so everything that they are afraid of — and they may not even be aware of it — all these fears will come out and disappear and all of them will aim us at the fear of the Creator. The Creator is arranging these things for us, except we don't solve these problems as religious people say that, God willing, everything will work itself out. Rather for us, we're talking about a different essence where, above all the disturbances, we need to truly turn to the Creator to help us be higher above, in faith above reason.
Question (PT 31): (38:04) What should we discover, taste, every time that we should be afraid of, careful from?
M. Laitman: We have to discover that There Is No One Besides Him, that He's doing all those things so we will turn to Him and discover that it's only Him. Both in making the darkness and in arranging the light.
Student: What did we discover, what did we taste from which we should, now, be careful, be afraid of it?
M. Laitman: Fear is according to how much I can or cannot give contentment to the Creator. That's the fear I should have, not a fear of the police, or the doctor, or anyone else for that matter. My fear should be, will I be able to give contentment to the Creator? That's it, write it down before you and you should always be in that state and then you'll advance quickly.
Reader: We will continue to give contentment to the Creator through The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah in the recorded lesson from July 2006.