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

Daily Morning Lesson: July 10, 2025 

Part 1: Recorded lesson - Oct 16, 2021. Baal HaSulam, Shamati #22. Torah Lishma

Reader: Dear friends, for the first part of the lesson, we will be watching a recorded lesson from October 16, 2021 on Baal HaSulam's article Shamati 22, Torah Lishma, which you can find on kabbalah.info. We are reading from the writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati, page 538 in Hebrew, articles of Shamati, article 22, Torah Lishma.

Reader: Hello. We are reading from the writings of Baal HaSulam, page 538 in Hebrew, articles of Shamati, article 22, Torah Lishma. 

M. Laitman: Yes, we heard many times and read that our goal is to change our desire from reception to bestowal and by that we will resemble the Creator. We can’t be in the desire to bestow like the Creator but we can change our intention, upon our will to receive, from in order to receive to in order to bestow meaning to use our desire to receive that we cannot change but organize it in a way that all of our actions will be with the intention that from these actions we can bestow to the Creator. Here comes a question too; the Creator, we can't give Him anything, we can't bestow anything to Him. What can you give Him? There's nothing to give. That's why what we need is to help the created beings reach a state where we all bestow to the Creator. That's the reason that the Creator broke the general vessel of Adam HaRishon, that one soul He created, the will to receive He broke it. So in each and every shattered part there'll be a tendency to- in order to receive and then we will have work inverting this intention from reception to the intention to bestow. That is what we will do in order to help ourselves advance to the Creator, give Him contentment so He can be revealed in us, and that revelation in us will be our gift in order to give Him joy. That is actually all of our work. In a short summary, on the way, we acquire many discernments and states, that all in all, by them, we can actually learn what the secret of bestowing is, the quality of the Creator, His nature and in this way we reach adhesion. In simple words, Torah Lishma is what brings us to in order to bestow and Lo Lishma, not for her sake, is that we are still in the desire to receive. That's under the condition that we want to reach in order to bestow. Whoever doesn't want to reach in order to bestow also isn't in the Torah of Lo Lishma but complete outside of this advancement towards adhesion with the Creator. Let us keep studying. Actually, the whole wisdom of Kabbalah, the whole method of correction, everything we need to do is, how do we reach Torah Lishma for her sake? Please.

Reading: (04:32) Baal HaSulam, Shamati #22. Torah Lishma

Torah is called Lishma [for Her sake] primarily when one learns in order to know with utter certainty, within reason, without any doubts of the clarity of the truth, that there is a judge and there is judgment. There is a judgment means that one sees reality as it appears to our eyes. This means that when we work in faith and bestowal, we see that we are growing and climbing daily, since we always see a change for the better.

And it is likewise to the contrary: When we work in a form of reception and knowledge, we see that we are declining every day down to the ultimate lowliness in reality.

When examining these two states, we see that there is judgment and there is a judge, since while we do not follow the laws of the Torah of truth, we are punished instantly. In that state, we see that there is just judgment. In other words, we see that this is precisely the best way, which is fit and can achieve the truth.

This is considered that the judgment is just, that only in this manner can we come to the ultimate goal: to understand within reason, with complete and absolute understanding of which there is no higher, that only by way of faith and bestowal can we achieve the purpose.

Thus, if one studies for this purpose, to understand that there is judgment and there is a judge, this is called Torah Lishma. This is also the meaning of what our sages said, “Great is the learning that leads to action.”

It seems that it should have said, “that brings to actions,” meaning to be able to do many actions, in the plural form, and not in singular form. However, the thing is that, as mentioned above, the learning should bring one only faith, and faith is called one Mitzva [commandment], which sentences the whole world to merit.

Faith is called “doing” because normally when one does something, there must first be a reason that makes him do within reason. It is like the correlation between the mind and the action.

However, when something is above reason, when the reason does not let him do that thing, but to the contrary, we must say that there is no reason in this act, but only an act. This is the meaning of “If one performs one Mitzva, happy is he for he has sentenced himself, etc., to the side of merit.” This is the meaning of “Great is the learning that leads to action,” meaning an act without reason, called “above reason.” 

M. Laitman: Well, let's hear from PT4.

Question (PT 4): (09:35) Why don't we connect? 

M. Laitman: Why don't we connect? According to what I understand, from above there are no preventions. It all depends on our mutual desire, that man will help his friend, that we need to show each other as much as we all do want to connect even if it's not so sure he wants to but, still, to bestow upon the friends in such a way that they will understand that he does want it and in this way, each one towards the others. Then, when we will perform such actions between us, that every Ten acts as if they're in a great tendency for connection, by this we already show the Creator that we're prepared and we want it to happen. Except for that, we connect between us in order to pray and ask and then, for sure, we will get the quality of Lishma quickly.

Student: Are we doing enough to awaken His attention? 

M. Laitman: You're asking me, us, and now? According to the result, I don't see we're successful. I just told you, now, what you need to do. Let's agree between us that we are, that we do want to hold ourselves in that tendency towards a bestowal from between us to the Creator, that each one is concerned about the friends, to come closer to Lishma for her sake, and that each one will pray for the friends that they will receive Lishma. Then, it turns out that he who prays for his friend is rewarded first and then we can all receive the discernment of Lishma and connect above our ego and that's what will happen to us. Clear? Okay.

Question (Woman Kyiv): (12:34) Hello, I have a question about Lishma. Today, we talked about a prayer and you taught us that the true prayer is when I turn to the degree of the upper and I ask Him for forces. Today, you taught us that after addressing in the right way, the Creator can answer us, we can receive this power of bestowal. We would like to be worried, to be concerned about the Ten, to ask for them to be filled with this force coming from above, and our thoughts will only be on this bestowal. That's what you taught us in the lesson but in practice, in the Tens, what happens is that we have meetings, in the meetings we make efforts, we pray together and after such a connection, sometimes we feel inside us change. We are very appreciative of one another, we're happy to see one another, our ego is very content. In this state, we each go to our corporeal life meaning in the actual meeting, in that moment, we feel the Creator answering us, we love each other and that's where everything ends. How to continue to work with this response we got from above? How to use this force we got from above for correction and not just for the connection between us? 

M. Laitman: Very good question because the work, our main work, is after the plea to the Creator, after the connection, by that force of connection that we receive from Him, that we won't move away, that we'll try to hold on to that connection, in all the waves we are going through on each and every one and on all of us together. Then, we can learn from that as much as we need to be alert in sustaining the connection, even though we've attained it and it's small and weak but while holding on to it, sustaining it, we start being bigger, greater; we understand more, we feel more connected, more united. This is the work. It's not such a problem of getting an awakening from above; each one got it and not once. The question is what he does with that awakening afterwards, as much as he holds on to it, as much as he wants to use this awakening to be constantly connected to his friends and to the world and so on. That's why all of our work is to pray for the force of bestowal and then to pray to hold onto that force of bestowal and that it won't let us go. In this way, that we hold onto this force of bestowal that we got from the Creator, we will learn all kinds of His relations towards us, how He wants to move us away from Him, to confuse us and so on and that will be our main work, that's the main wisdom that we acquire, that's how we can really feel more how the Creator is relating to us—what He wants from us. It's like in school that you studied in school and you always get homework, that you need to sit at home and do or sit in class and do it. The main thing is that homework, to solve those questions and problems. The wisdom of Kabbalah, that's the main part; here we learn to live in new qualities, in new relations, in a new world. When we learn a bit how to keep that force of bestowal between us, upon all disturbances so through that we will start to feel the spiritual world, our attitude towards the Creator, how we hold on to Him, through holding each one to the others. In this way, we can start establishing ourselves in spirituality.

Question (Merkaz 1): (18:07) How can we know that what we do is above reason and not below reason? 

M. Laitman: If I want, through the friends, to bestow to the Creator, even if I might be mistaking or doing it in an egoistic way but if, through them, I want to bestow to the Creator, you can say that that's above reason. That's it. 

Student: He writes in the article that Lishma means to learn that there's a judge and judgment. It sounds very egoistic when you learn to know how to attain something within reason. 

M. Laitman: We need to learn the way the Creator relates to creation and from that we learn about His nature. In this way, we advance to become like Him. 

Question (Kyiv 1): (19:25) This concept of Lishma, nevertheless you always discover yourself, more feeling yourself, my own concerns, my own desires. How to come out of it toward the Creator and the friends and not remain within myself? 

M. Laitman: A person doesn't just let himself go or leave himself. He changes his direction of thought. Meaning, where is a person aimed to with his heart? To the friends, to the Creator, to the world, outside of his ego, or still aimed towards the inside of his ego. That's also not important because the main thing—that he's on the path and wants to correct his things. 

Question (Moscow 5): (20:26) We discussed this question in the Ten and we wanted to hear from you, the answer. How can we, all of us together in the Ten being in concern for one another, to come from Lo Lishma to Lishma?

M. Laitman: Keep going like that, we want to reach love of friends and from the love of friends, reach the love of the Creator. All in all, the Creator is that sum of my attitude towards the friends. There is no image of the Creator. There is none. That's what we learned from all kinds of religions or faiths, but there is no such thing. The Creator is the general force of nature that has no form and no image and no name and no nothing. The quality of bestowal only. Also, it's not the force of bestowal that we can depict to ourselves in our qualities but, somehow, for now, let's agree that that's also good. Afterwards, we can see how we can get closer from one to the next to the degrees of bestowal that are greater and greater and are more disconnected from our egoistic mind and feelings. Then, we'll depict them every time in a truer way. 

Question (Zafron 2): (22:16) Why are senses blocked from perceiving spiritual reality? 

M. Laitman: Because they are all clogged with our egoistic desire, that I want everything; I want to know, I want to gain, I want a reward, I want to feel in order to receive. 

Question (Woman Moscow 20): (22:51) Is there a difference between a state in which a person is in Lishma or the whole Ten is in Lishma and what is the difference? 

M. Laitman: If the whole Ten is in Lishma, they start ascending on the degrees of the worlds from Assiya to Yetzirah to Bria and so on. Those are already great things. If every Ten can organize themselves in such a way and if it's only one person so, for now, he's in a state that he advances but advances as an individual and can't really attain spirituality but only to the extent that he is included with them and raises them.

Question (Darom 1): (24:12) You've given advice to pray for the friends so they will be rewarded with Lishma. First of all, I'm asking myself, is it that same as raising yourself above the circle of friends because they are...

M. Laitman: Each one must pray for the others and it doesn't mean that I see the others as lower than me. I pray for them, for each and every friend, that, to be able to ascend more and more on the degrees of bestowal, yeah? I understand your question, that it's as if, it's called that I lower the friend. Why am I lowering him? What? I need to accept him, that he's in Gamar Tikkun already? In the end of correction? So, in what can he be my friend? Friend comes from the word Haver, connection and through the connection we ascend together and we always build a spiritual Partzuf so that we are included together in one Malchut.

Question (Woman Moscow 8): (25:45) We talk a lot about the name, judgments. What does it mean? What does it mean to judge the person? What is to judge in the spiritual work? Why, after the judgment, the person reaches an action and what is the act? 

M. Laitman: I don't understand what you're asking. 

Student: I will explain the question. According to the article, it is written a lot about how a man goes through something that's called judgment. 

M. Laitman: A man needs to judge himself on his own. What does he want? What is he aiming for? How does he truly see that before him, there's a problem of attaining the quality of bestowal called Lishma? How can he attain it? Only through performing actions in order to bestow. What actions does he have in order to bestow which are spiritual? He still didn't reach spirituality. He's a complete egoist but if he is in the Ten, so he tries to help them somehow to advance towards the Creator. He tries to ask the Creator for help for the friends and for sure it helps and how that's what we need to use.

Question (Holland 1): (27:58) In the text, it says, at the end of the text, it says, great is the learning that leads to action meaning without reason. Then, it says, called above reason. We always learned that we need the reason to really see, to be really aware within our reason, to come above it, to balance it. What does this text actually teach us? What should we do? How should we interpret this with our feelings or in the work in the group? 

M. Laitman: Again.

Student: This last piece of text at the end of this Shamati text, it says, great is the learning that leads to action meaning without reason. It says after that, called above reason. What does it mean, actually? We should learn, let's say, to be above reason, that we shouldn't throw the reason away. The reason should be there. We should come above it. What does this text teach us what to do in the group because normally we do it so what does it teach us, this piece of text? What should we do in the group? How should we interpret this? 

M. Laitman: Every time that I want to reach some kind of spiritual state I imagine to myself that I want to ascend above of my current state. That's called ascending the spiritual degrees. That's it. Now, how do I do it? I study, I write, I spread out my materials, I work in dissemination, I work on connection between the friends everything that I can establish, the general, spiritual and private state. That's it. The fact that I still don't feel any change, that should obligate me even more to perform correct actions. 

Student: Should I, should we keep this, say, the reason and then if you are very aware, let's say you keep your reason, you come above the reason or…?

M. Laitman: We don't have reason. We don't have it. We only have an ability to perform actions without our mind, even without our feelings because reason means that I already attained. In spirituality it can’t be that attainment comes before I work. After I work and perform a few correct actions, that's called that I fill the limit of my exertion. In such a way, I can hope that I'll get reason, reason of holiness and in this way I can advance. 

Question (Woman MAK 25): (32:39) We Have two questions from the Ten if we may? The first question: How can we control or minimize the ego that we have inside the prayer in the Ten to reach Lishma?

M. Laitman: Only work for the group and for the friends. Only that will help you and that's what we learn in all the articles and all the materials of the wisdom of Kabbalah. It doesn't deal with anything else but how to help us ascend from the degree of Lo Lishma to Lishma, from reception to bestowal, from disconnection to connection. That's it. 

Student: What can we add in our work as women so that the men will be happy by our active participation in the morning lesson? 

M. Laitman: What else are you lacking from everything you already got? That I don't understand. What do you want, else? You have entrance to the lessons, the ability to ask, to get answers. What are you lacking? 

Student: It's really a huge gift.

M. Laitman: Answer my question.

Student: Very grateful. In addition, we don't have anything in addition but that the men will agree to this.

M. Laitman: They agree to what I say, that I'm giving you the chance to ask. What else do you want? What do you want? If you use everything I give you correctly, that's way more than enough to enter spirituality, over your head. Think about that—except for demanding something extra from someone. 

Question (Moscow 5): (35:37) I feel there are questions and there are answers but how is a Ten together? How can we feel it's lacking? 

M. Laitman: Start writing together. Today you have computers, everyone. Start writing, each one. Write half a sentence or a sentence and the other will finish the sentence and the third one continues the new sentence and the fourth one ends that. Start writing in such a way that you write a letter to the Creator. That's it. Good. 

Question (Woman ITA 8): (36:41) The transition from Lo Lishma to Lishma, it's overcoming. Is that a force that's coming from below our force or a force that's coming from above from the Creator and how do both of them incorporate? 

M. Laitman: The transition from Lo Lishma to Lishma is only in the hands of the Creator, only in the hands of the upper force. It's changing nature and that's why we can only make efforts in that direction called exertion. After we cause that exertion and finish the exertion—that limit, that quota, according to quality and quality that we have to give—then, the Creator raises us to the degree of Lishma. That's it.

Student: It's coming only in the continuation of the path? 

M. Laitman: On each and every spiritual degree, we need to perform actions in Lo Lishma that's before us and, by that, we get the gift of Lishma and, in this way, each and every time. 

Question (MAK 20): (38:50) What does it mean to go according to the laws of truth or the true laws of the Torah? 

M. Laitman: The Torah is the law of bestowal. It's a law, the spiritual law—law of nature. Let's say there's the laws of electricity, the law of math, the law of physics—Torah, law, means knowledge and there's the wisdom of Kabbalah, the Torah of the Kabbalah that teaches man how to reach the quality of the Creator. That's it.We need to use the laws of the Torah, meaning what's already rooted in our nature, that by the actions of bestowal, even though we don't really bestow yet, that, by this, we awaken the light that reforms, not as inner light but as surrounding light and that surrounding light works on us. In this way, we start absorbing inside us more and more qualities of bestowal caused by the actions of bestowal, and that's what we need to do.