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

Daily Morning Lesson: June 26, 2026

Part 1: What Does, The King Stands on His Field When the Crop Is Ripe, Mean in the Work? Rabash. Article No. 10, 1991.

Reader: Dear friends, in the first part, we will learn a lesson of the Rav from the 13th of February, 2002. The lesson will be based on the article, What Does, The King Stands on His Field When the Crop Is Ripe, Mean in the Work? It's in The Writings of Rabash in Article Number 10 from 1991. We will read the article together in the Ten, it will be thirty-three minutes.

Reading (00:55) Rabash. The King Stands on His Field When the Crop Is Ripe, Mean in the Work?

Article No. 10, 1991

Our sages said about the verse, “The Lord stood over him” (presented in The View of Elders, from the authors of the Tosfot, VaYetze), “We did not find this in the rest of the patriarchs. Rabbi Simon said, ‘The king does not stand on his field, neither when it is plowed, nor when it is sowed, but when the crop is ripe.’ This is how Abraham plowed it, as it is said, ‘Arise, walk through the land.’ Isaac sowed it, as it is said, ‘And Isaac sowed.’ Jacob came and he is the ripening of the crop, as it is said, ‘The holiness of Israel is for the Lord, its first fruits,’ he stood over it.”

We should understand what this comes to teach us in the work: What is “a field,” what is “When the crop is ripe,” and what is the allegory of the King who stands over his field? It is known that our work is essentially only on the kingdom of heaven, which is called “faith.” Our sages said about it, “Habakkuk came and founded them on one: ‘A righteous lives by his faith.’” Faith means the necessity to believe in the Creator, that He leads the world in guidance of good and doing good.

And even though one still does not have this feeling, he should still believe and say that the fact that he is not seeing how the good is revealed in the world, he should still believe above reason that he does not see the good revealed before his eyes, since as long as he is not out of the dominion of self-love, he cannot see. This is because there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] on the vessels of reception so that the light cannot shine there due to disparity of form, as it is written in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” Item 138).

For this reason, one cannot see the truth. Instead, he must believe that this is so. And in the work of the general public, the states of guidance of reward and punishment are not so apparent. But in individual work, when a person wishes to try to achieve the degree where all his actions are for the sake of the Creator, when he begins to strain to reach the degree of a giver, his entire basis should be built on the greatness of the Creator. It is said about it in The Zohar, “One should fear Him because He is great and ruling,” and then begins the work primarily on this faith—that the Creator leads the world as The Good Who Does Good.

And then states of ascents and descents come to him. In other words, at times, he has reward and he can believe in the Creator, that He is good and does good, and one can love the Creator because of His greatness. This comes to a person through great efforts in faith in reward and punishment. This means that if one works with faith above reason, he is rewarded, and his reward is that he comes to feel the Creator’s love for him. And the punishment is that if he wants to go specifically within reason, he thus becomes remote from the love of the Creator.

Worse yet, sometimes he becomes the opposite, a hater of the Creator, since he has many complaints against the Creator because he has already prayed to the Creator many times and he sees that the Creator does not hear the prayer. And from that, a person comes to a state of ascents and descents. However, if one overcomes, goes above reason, and says “They have eyes but they will not see,” he is temporarily rewarded and feels close to the Creator.

It is written about it in the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” (Item 132), “We must know that the above attribute of ‘medium’ applies even when one is under Providence of concealment of the face. By great exertion in faith in reward and punishment, a light of great confidence in the Creator appears to them. For a time, they are granted a degree of disclosure of His face in the measure of the medium. But the drawback is that they cannot permanently remain in their degrees, since standing permanently in a degree is possible only through repentance from fear.”

It follows that the order of our work comprises three periods before we reach the exit from the work, which is the discernment of Adam [human being]. Our sages said about it (Nidah 31), “There are three partners in a person—the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father gives the white; his mother gives the red; and the Creator places a spirit and a soul [Ruach and Neshama, respectively] within him.” This is explained in the work, as we learn that there are three lines—Hesed [mercy/grace], Din [judgment], and Rachamim [pity/mercy].

It is as we said in previous essays, that for a person to be able to walk, one needs two legs, right and left. These are like the two verses that refute one another until the third verse comes and sentences between them. Thus, the two lines have given birth to the decisive line.

With that, we can interpret the meaning of “plowing,” “sowing,” and the “ripened crop” in the work. The right line is the plowing. This is the order of man’s work of wanting to be admitted into the work of bestowal. Man is created to care only for himself. And since there was a correction over the will to receive for himself, to avoid the matter of shame due to the disparity of form from the Creator—since what we see of Him is only how He bestows upon the creatures and there is no self-reception in Him whatsoever—hence, a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment were made over the will to receive for oneself so the creatures cannot receive the delight and pleasure that He wishes to impart upon the creatures.

This was in order to enable man to correct the vessels of reception to work only in order to bestow. In other words, man must invert the will to receive in him and receive a desire to bestow, instead. That is, what was previously of highest importance to him—the will to receive—will now be of inferior importance. He will not wish to use it, but on the contrary, the will to bestow, which was of inferior importance for him and which he did not want to use, will now be of high regard. This means that now this will to bestow is important for him and he wants to use only the desire to bestow.

This is called “plowing,” when the soil is overturned so that what was above becomes below, and what was below becomes above. This is called “right line,” Abraham, Hesed. In other words, now he wishes to engage only in Hesed, called “the desire to bestow,” and the right line is called “wholeness.” Thus, although one sees that he still cannot perform Hesed, he should imagine that he has already been rewarded with bestowal, called Hesed, and thank the Creator for rewarding him with doing things in order to bestow.

All this is only above reason. And although if he considers the situation he is in, he will see otherwise, it is a matter of above reason. This means that he must imagine that he has already been rewarded with a desire to bestow, as though he has already been rewarded with plowing.

Also, one should lower himself and say, “I am content and thankful for whatever thought and desire to do something in spirituality the Creator gives me, for rewarding me with doing a little service to the Creator, meaning that I can do something for the Creator.” And he is happy with that because he sees that the Creator did not give the rest of the people the chance to serve Him. This is why he is happy with that. This is regarded as “wholeness,” since now he believes above reason that the Creator leads the world in a manner of good and doing good, and thus he can now show love for the Creator and always be happy.

However, at the same time one needs to walk with the other leg, the left, meaning to criticize his actions. He should have a desire to see the truth, how much effort he can give in order to bestow, and how much is the importance of spirituality. Does he really understand that it is better to work only for the Creator and not for himself?

In that state, he sees very differently: All his actions while he was walking on the right line, when he thought that he was truly a whole man, now that he has shifted to the left line he sees that he has nothing that is truly for the sake of the Creator.

This is called “sowing.” For example, when taking good wheat seeds and sowing them in the field, if there is a person who does not know about field work, he would look at the person who took the seeds and sowed them in the ground as though he were insane. Similarly, here, when one takes good states that contain wholeness, for which he has already thanked the Creator, now he cancels them. It is like that man who took good wheat seeds and sowed them in the field.

But in truth, one cannot walk on one leg. Those two legs are considered two verses that refute one another. This is why Isaac is regarded as sowing his field, which is left. Our sages said about it, “One should always repel with the left and attract with the right” (Sotah 47). We should interpret that when one feels that he is close to the Creator, it is called, “attracting with the right.” “Repelling with the left” means that when he criticizes, he sees that he is being repelled from the work of bestowal. That is, our sages come to tell us that man needs two things, right and left, since we cannot walk on a single leg. This is considered “Isaac,” which is called “sowing.”

Abraham, who is called “right,” meaning Hesed, wholeness, is called “whiteness,” as was said above that there the three partners are his father, his mother, and the Creator. His father is the first discernment—the first line, which is Hesed—showing wholeness. Wholeness is called “white,” as it is written, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” This is called “The right attracts,” when he feels that he is being brought closer to the Creator.

“And his mother sows the red.” Red points to a deficiency, Nukva [Aramaic: female], where he sees that he is being completely repelled from the work of bestowal. Thus, he is in a state of ascents and descents. This is regarded as having only partial faith, as he says (“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 14) that it is because he has many descents, and during the descent he is without faith.

However, one must not spend much time on the left line, called “the second line,” since at that time one is in a state of separation. Thus, for the most part, one’s work should be in a state of wholeness. This is called “the renewal of the moon.” It means that one must constantly renew the white in him, the right line, which is whiteness.

But during the descent, faith departs from him and he sometimes remains unconscious, like a person who falls under a truck and is hurt, though he does not know that he has fallen. The lesson is that the person lies under his load, as it is written, “If you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden” because he cannot go above reason, as the work of going above reason is an intolerable load and burden to him. Hence, if he gets distracted from it, he immediately falls under the truck. This is called “being injured in a road accident.” Hence, one must always be careful and keep to the right.

It follows that the correction of a person walking on the left line is because he does not wait to get a decline and fall, and then he will wait until an awakening from above comes to him. Instead, he draws upon him the left, and then he sees that he is in a state of descent, meaning that he does not have a single spark of desire to work in order to bestow and not for his own benefit. And then he can pray.

It is as Baal HaSulam said about what our sages said of David, who said, “I awaken the dawn, and the dawn does not awaken me.” That is, King David did not wait for the dawn, which is called “black,” which is darkness, meaning that the darkness awakens him. Instead, he awakens the darkness. He prays to the Creator to illuminate His face for him and thus he gains time from having the preparation for the darkness, and then it is easier to correct it.

And the two above-mentioned lines—right and left—beget a third line, the middle line. It is as our sages said, “And the Creator places the spirit and soul within him.” Thus, after a person has completed the work in two lines, all the evil is revealed in him. This came to him because those two lines are as two verses that refute one another. And one sees that there is no end to the ups and downs, and then he makes an honest prayer for the Creator to help him receive the desire to bestow.

When the Creator helps him, he is rewarded with complete, permanent faith, since he already has the vessels of bestowal. Before one obtains the vessels of bestowal, it is impossible for him to have permanent faith, since during the descent he loses his faith and cannot permanently believe in the Creator.

It is explained (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 138), “Since we use the vessels of reception contrary to how they were created, we necessarily feel the acts of Providence as evil, against us. Hence, when a person feels bad, he is accordingly heretical against His Providence, and the Operator is hidden from him.”

Thus, we see that before one is rewarded with vessels of bestowal, he cannot have permanent faith. However, by being rewarded with the desire to bestow—which extends from the work in the two lines, by which all the evil appears completely—one comes to a resolution that only the Creator can help him. Then he toils in this work and does not escape the campaign, and he is rewarded with the middle line, called “the Creator gives the spirit and the soul.” This is called “disclosure of the face.” It is regarded as what is written, “How is there repentance, when He who knows the mysteries will testify that he will not turn back to folly.”

With this we can interpret what we asked, “What does it mean in the work that it is written, ‘Jacob came and he is the ripening of the crop,’ as it was said, ‘The holiness of Israel is for the Lord, its first fruits,’ he stood over it.” Our sages gave an allegory about that, “The King does not stand on his field, unless when the crop is ripe.”

We should interpret that the king standing on his field refers to a man. Man extends from Malchut, and Malchut is called “a field.” And man should come to a state of “A field which the Lord has blessed.” This is done by labor in the above-mentioned two lines—the plowing of Abraham and the sowing of Isaac.

Afterward comes the discernment of “When the crop is ripe,” when you can already see the reward from the work—the crop—which is Jacob. It is as we said above—after he has been rewarded with help from the Creator, when the Creator has given him the soul, called “disclosure of the face,” it is considered that the Creator stands over him permanently, meaning that then he is rewarded with permanent faith. This is the meaning of what is written, “And the Lord stood over him.” In other words, once a person has reached the degree of the middle line, which is considered Jacob, the Creator is over him, as mentioned in the allegory above, where the King stands on his field when the crop is ripe.

It is written (“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 54), “When the Creator sees that one has completed one’s measure of exertion and finished everything he had to do in strengthening his choice in faith in the Creator, the Creator helps him. Then, one attains open Providence, meaning the revelation of the face. Then, he is rewarded with complete repentance.”

He says (“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 56), “In truth, one is not absolutely certain that he will not sin again before he is rewarded with the above attainment of reward and punishment, meaning the revelation of the face. And this revelation of the face, from the perspective of the Creator’s salvation, is called ‘testimony,’ ...it guarantees that he will not sin again.” This means that at that time he is rewarded with permanent faith.

Now we can interpret what is written, “The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock.” “My soul shall be glorified in the Lord.” We should understand the meaning of “The Lord lives,” in regard to the Creator. What kind of praise of the Creator is it? In the work, we should interpret “Lives.” Who is He who is called “The Lord lives”? It is one who believes in the Creator, that He watches over the world benevolently. This person is called “Lives.”

“Blessed by my Rock” is one who receives from the Creator the shape of this faith, where the Creator is His desire to do good to His creations. That man blesses the Creator for giving him the faith, since alone he would not be able to take upon himself faith above reason, for this is the gift of God.

We should also interpret, “My soul shall be glorified in the Lord.” “In the Lord” means in the Creator bringing him close to Him. For this, his soul is glorified, meaning that man’s soul is deeply thankful to the Creator for bringing him closer. This is called “The Creator gives the spirit and the soul.” With his own strength, a person would not be able to achieve this. For this, he praises the Creator—that now that he has faith. He blesses the Creator only for what the Creator gave him. Also, the Creator is called “the middle line,” as was said above, that only by working in the two previous lines, one is later rewarded with the Creator giving the spirit and the soul.

Thus, only the Creator can help one exit the dominion of the vessels of reception. Therefore, during the descent one must not argue with his will to receive and plead that it is better for him if the will to receive left the premises and made room for the desire to bestow, and he wants to make it understand so it will surrender before him. One should know that the body will never agree to this; it is a waste of words.

Instead, he should ask the Creator, for only He has the strength to annul it, and none other. In other words, the body will never agree to this; hence, it is pointless to argue with the body. But when he wishes to do something for the sake of the Creator, he should ask the Creator to give him the strength to overcome the will to receive for himself.

With the above said, we should interpret what they said (Avot, Chapter 1:5), “Do not extend in conversation with the woman.” This was said about his woman. It is all the more so about his friend’s woman. Although the literal meaning is the main one, in the work, we can interpret that the woman and the man are in one body. Man’s woman is called “the will to receive,” which is called “a female,” and which always wants only to receive.

Hence, sometimes, when one wishes to do something in order to bestow, which is called “male,” a man, and the will to receive resists, and a man wishes to extend in discussion with his will to receive to make it understand that it is better for it to let him work in order to bestow, our sages said that it is a waste of words. They said, “This is said about his own woman,” meaning the will to receive in himself. “It is all the more so in his friend’s woman,” meaning to argue with the friends’ will to receive—that he will argue with them and make them see that it is better to do everything in order to bestow—since only the Creator can help them emerge from the domination of the will to receive for oneself.

Hence, such people—who wish to walk on the path of reaching a state where all their actions are for the sake of the Creator—must not reproach their friends about why they do not engage in the work of bestowal. This is because if he wants to correct a friend’s will to receive, it is as though that man has power. But in truth, what a person does in order to bestow is only by the power of the Creator. This is why it is forbidden to rebuke one’s friend.

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M. Laitman: (30:34) We read the article from Shlavei HaSulam, Volume 1, What Does, The King Stands on His Field When the Crop Is Ripe, Mean in the Work? There are many things in this article, many discernments. First of all, the end of the article stands out very strongly: A person is forbidden from pointing out another friend's deficiencies. He must not rebuke a friend, even saying, Come on, what's with you, why aren't you moving forward? I heard that in some groups, one person even asks another, Come on, give a deficiency. Where are our deficiencies, why aren't we progressing? Right? That's incorrect, you'll never move forward because of a deficiency – you can only move backward from it, that's deterioration. You can only move forward through the greatness of the Creator, through the reforming light. Only from wholeness, from life, from feeling spiritual life can a person truly live and flourish. The Klipa, the shell, tells us, Go to the deficiency, start digging into it, start suffering more and then through suffering you'll need spirituality. That's a wrong approach, it's really advice from the Klipa, not from Kedusha – from the shell, not from holiness. A person must never turn toward deficiencies. The deficiencies we need should come from recognizing the greatness of the Creator. The light builds the deficiency and it's not that the deficiency enlarges itself from within. Where have you seen such an action in spirituality? This is what he says, that it's forbidden to argue with the will to receive at all. Don't turn to it, don't pay it any attention whatsoever, it's as though it doesn't exist.

By engaging in the desire to bestow and recognizing the Creator, the right line, gratitude, and all kinds of positive things, the light will build deficiencies, strengths, and thoughts within you and it'll give you obstacles. Don't worry, it'll do that, it'll provide everything you need. It'll give you exactly what you need and not what you think you'll get by sitting around tormenting yourself. Because nothing good will come of that, the light alone reforms, there is no other force. Therefore, especially a group should not do this, if one individual wants to torment himself, let him, but if a group gathers together and starts saying, Look at us, where are we? And starts crying to themselves and lamenting over themselves, that's no good. He says that you might spend half an hour a day on self-criticism; you're able to spend the other twenty-three-and-a-half hours of the day adhering to the right line. Then you really have enough strength and a solid foundation to conduct proper self-examination. But if not, stay in the right line all the time – that's it. In other words, practically speaking, ask for the greatness of the Creator, if we cry out to Him, we should cry out for Him to reveal Himself, to draw us toward Him. To show us why we need Him; and not to go to the other side, the opposite side, to Pharaoh, as it were and say, Why aren't you beating me so that I'll leave you? That's not the path of development.

M. Laitman: (34:50) This also relates to what he says that, If you see the donkey of your enemy – there's also another important point here. What can we understand from what the Torah is saying, If you see your enemy's donkey? Let's say, it has fallen and can no longer continue working and this person, if we're just speaking simply and if you hate this person. He's an enemy and you see you and he are constantly quarreling, you are still obligated to help him despite the fact that you hate him. You must help his donkey get back on its feet and do whatever is necessary so that it can continue working. The first lesson we should draw from this is that helping restore the donkey to work, helping a person return to the direction of the goal, helping create an environment in which he can work, takes precedence over every other consideration. Whether I love him or hate him, or whether he's close to me or distant from me, it doesn't matter. If I have unresolved issues with him from the past or concerns about the future, if we argued or if I have some kind of personal account with him, it doesn't matter. If it concerns the goal, I need to erase the entire past and do only what is necessary to get that donkey back on its feet so it can continue working. God forbid, we bring animalistic, earthly calculations into the spiritual work; anything below that level destroys everything. This is also what we learn from, If you see the donkey of your enemy. I might not like that insolent fellow but when it comes to the work, I must help him continue, there is no room for any other calculation.

Let's say, I don't like his nose, that's one thing but when it comes to the work of the Creator, it's the opposite. I need to step over those personal calculations and help him in every possible way at any cost, especially in the very points where I hate him – that's where the gain lies. Therefore, in the group, there cannot be such a thing as, I want to connect with this person because it's easier for me, or It's harder for me with that one. Simply, we need to see that, here, are where the greatest gains are, the goal needs to be positioned above every other calculation. That's it and if it's not that way then we need to do something about it right here.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:09) I have some confusion regarding the concept of the lack. You just talked about the lack as a negative thing.

M. Laitman: Deficiency is always negative. Why would I need a deficiency?

Student: We say that a lack is a desire. If I have a desire, then?

M. Laitman: For us, a deficiency is both felt as something negative and, in general, it's considered a negative state. Does the Creator have a deficiency? He created existence from absence, Yesh Mi'Ayin, so what good can there be if He Himself has none? Instead, I need a different kind of deficiency, the suffering of love, a yearning to adhere to Him, a deficiency to adhere to Him. That's something entirely different, it comes from recognizing His greatness, it's a completely different deficiency. A deficiency for Him, not a deficiency because I feel bad. A deficiency that comes from feeling bad, that I lack something, is not a deficiency through which a person grows – you never grow from that. Later, I can use it in the manner of Esav; that is a deficiency aimed at the Creator, already restricted in the left line. That becomes a holy deficiency which I join to the right line, thereby building the quality of Jacob. But not an ordinary deficiency because I feel bad – what do I need that for? Why should I even feel that? Take Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, for example, he was great in this regard – he always demanded joy.

We are immersed in our own sorrows because we don't have our little toys. We don't understand how much this engagement actually holds us back, you understand? We don't understand that instead of yearning for these little games that I think I miss in my life, all kinds of little pleasures and things. If I were to leave those deficiencies behind and start engaging in the greatness of the Creator, it would progress me far more than constantly eating myself over what I don't have. Therefore, as he writes, One must not awaken deficiencies except for half an hour a day, only on the condition that for the rest of the day, you are truly in a state of wholeness. He writes in various places, the main thing is not to leave the domain of Kedusha, of holiness, what does that mean? It means never forgetting that the Creator acts in everything, does everything, and that you are included within Him and that you exist within Him. Suppose you also want to do something, fine. Awaken this small measure of your deficiencies, all those things within you that oppose the Creator's perfection and wholeness and against the wholeness of His Providence. Awaken them only to the extent that together with those disturbances, you can still adhere to Him. But remain adhered to Him all the time, as much as you can perform AHP de Aliya, raising the AHP and you add more and more disturbances to your adhesion with Him so, yeah, go ahead and add them but don't separate yourself from Him. Stay adhered and continually attach additional disturbances, transforming them into a force that contributes to even greater adhesion, you understand? Otherwise, there's no benefit that comes from it, we simply draw out the process. We need to escape from the left line and avoid belonging to it, after all, what's this very first spiritual state? It's being completely included in Godliness like a drop in the womb and that's it, we're done. Why do you want to leave that state? You might say it's just imaginary – it's not imaginary. If through your own effort and inner strength, you genuinely try to place yourself in such a state, that's not called imaginary. It might not yet be the truth but it's not yet spirituality, but it's not fantasy either because you're actively working on yourself to attain it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (43:13) No, I asked—well, this is clear to me but the concepts of the lack itself, this desire for spirituality, we also call that a lack?

M. Laitman: The desire for spirituality is built by the light ,which descends from above and creates a lack or a deficiency for itself, for spirituality in us. If it's not built by the light and, instead, you awaken it from your own navel, then it's a useless lack, through that lack, you'll never reach the light. You'll either, then, leave Kabbalah and go satisfy that corporeal deficiency or you'll sit there consuming yourself because you cannot do anything with that deficiency. Deficiency needs to be subordinate to the light, it has to come together with it. The Achoraim, the posterior of the light, needs to be the lack or deficiency of a person. You understand? Where does a deficiency come from? The light itself creates the deficiency through its very presence. And if it doesn't come about that way, it’s death – this is a stumbling block for ninety-nine point nine percent of students. They all fall into some kind of looking at themselves in a black mirror, into some melancholy, and they cannot get out of it. If they continue studying and keep investing themselves despite all their depression and despair. And they see a person who's always got these nerves and tension and dissatisfaction, etc.—in any case, he still makes progress. But he'll reach the maximum, the barrier in another twenty years, no less, at least because he, himself, is dragging out the process. The Klipot, the shells, take an eternal point and stretch it into two directions: to the future, into the past. And they pull it back and forth, and that's how a person starts to feel time because there's this Klipa that resists spirituality by pulling a person into the past. There's also a Klipa that seems to support spirituality, it says, No, no, you'll attain it later, only because it ultimately wants to receive it for itself but everything comes only from the light. In short, you have nothing to think about except the greatness of the Creator. From that, all the other discernments will come.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:20) It says here on Page 273 at the end, it says, Although a person sees that it is not is his ability to perform Hesed, grace, in any case, one should depict to himself that it's as if he's already been awarded with the discernment of bestowal. So how much can we go into these depictions?

M. Laitman: It's written here on Page 273 in this Hebrew version, that a person should picture himself as having already attained the quality of bestowal, that he is already bestowing. However much he understands that and however much he can imagine it and enter it a little and even feel it, he should give thanks to the Creator. Why do we need to do that when we don't actually possess the quality of bestowal? Again, I'm saying because this is the period of preparation; during the period of preparation, you envision all the states that you will later attain. You don't need to imagine states of descent, instead, you should imagine all the states that can exist in Kedusha, in holiness, in closeness to the Creator. That is something we should also do in the society, it simply corrects me. Because if I show everyone an image of myself as though I'm already bestowing, if I imagine it and act that way, then others begin doing the same and, accordingly, I begin to see them as if they're truly already in bestowal. I perceive them only according to this external appearance they present to me. Then, I begin to either feel ashamed or envious of them and that really awakens me, gives me the fuel to keep advancing.

Student: How to acquire a lack related to the greatness of the Creator, adhesion to Him, and for that desire to give me the power to continue in the path and not to receive fulfillment because for the moment I'm satisfied and I calm down I have it?

M. Laitman: How can you receive fulfillment from a friend?

Student: When he tells me, he shows me how inspired he is.

M. Laitman: The Creator is great, the friend is small. If you want to receive the greatness of the Creator, then you also have to elevate the friend. You need to be inspired by what you hear from him and what you see in him. Look, there are people here who travel a long distance to get here, and then they even leave before the end of the lesson so they can get to work and then they work hard all day. I look at them and I envy them, the strength that they have. I don't have that kind of strength, so I start to value them – that's just one example. There are others who understand the material, they study, they have understanding, they have these insights – I envy that, too, why shouldn't I? There are others who I see are constantly yearning to progress, I have to be inspired by all these people around me.

Women come to me for advice, a mother of three children comes to me and says, I want to study, I want spirituality. I've been studying seriously for five or six years, she's speaking seriously. I know her, I know the group she's studying with and she says, My desire is so strong that – I'm almost afraid to say it but – I don't even think about my children. I get inspired by that I see how much nature can be, people's natural instincts can be subdued by spiritual inspiration, by such a powerful desire. She's a healthy woman, not someone who's mentally unstable or detached from reality, I'm talking about her actual actions. From all these things, I learn; they also give me the strength to keep going. We also need to think about these things and process all this information. I use the Internet and various other means and I'm always looking to find things that inspire me. On the other hand, if someone is so-so, if he's negative or indifferent, then I immediately distance myself from him. Why should I catch those viruses from him? Why should I let him bring me down? That is what is meant by drilling a hole in the boat. If a person like that is in the group, it's as though he's drilling a hole in our boat.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:14) I need to be inspired by the exertion of the friend.

M. Laitman: By his exertion, by his desire—as for the exertion itself, I might not really see it. How do I know why he was given that? maybe he's just putting on a show for me; the question is, does it serve the goal? If it does, then I need to make a greater exertion to be inspired by what I see. My animal swallows it, accepts it, starts trusting that there's truth in it and then it runs forward. Precisely where we need to activate envy, that's where we refuse to do it. We say, I'm envious. That's not nice, it's not spiritual, right?

Student: How can I tell if the lack comes from above or if I'm actually trying to awaken it by myself?

M. Laitman: Why does it matter where the lack comes from?

Student: No, it's made for me or I try?

M. Laitman: No. Does a deficiency for the goal come to you or is it a lack that makes you dwell on all kinds of personal problems of yours? A person must not approach his own problems before he's adhered to the Creator because he has no strength to relate to them correctly or to correct them in a proper way. Whatever he sees will simply bring him down from his degree, he'll fall.

Student: It says here that I don't need to engage with the will to receive of the friends. But what if the friends in the group are weak, you know, weak in state, no force, no power? I don't feel like doing things now—stuff like that. I don't need to speak, not to try to show a desire for spirituality. I don't feel like coming to the lessons, I have something here, I have something there. It's actually the desire to receive prevents, stops the desire for spirituality?

M. Laitman: What do you mean in the friend, I don't understand? You're in a state where you don't want to come to the lesson or what?

Student: If the friend in the group is in such a state.

M. Laitman: If a friend in the group is in such a state, then you must drag him along by whatever means are necessary even by force if it comes to it. He signed on, he's obligated, there's no choice. I can't, I'm in pain, my head hurts, my leg hurts, that comes afterwards. First, I'm taking you to the lesson. Bring me a note from your doctor, you know, like in the army.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:47) That's not engaging with his will to receive? What it says here is forbidden?

M. Laitman: No, I'm not dealing with his will to receive, I'm rescuing him at a time when he's lost his strength. What, on the battlefield you just abandon him? Right now he's under attack by external forces, right, from the left line. And you're just going to leave him there? How, how could you?

Student: What to do if in the society we have these true scrutinies starting, should we stop?

M. Laitman: I don't know what you mean by true scrutinies. Truth is the Creator, a scrutiny of the truth is a scrutiny about the Creator.

Student: We're scrutinizing the state I'm really in.

M. Laitman: Scrutinizing the state we're in is worthwhile only if we possess enough strength from our adhesion to the goal so that the scrutiny, itself, doesn't bring us down. We should come out of such a scrutiny with even greater inspiration.

Student: We try, but we see that they're heading that direction.

M. Laitman: If you're being dragged into something bad, then you stop immediately; you shouldn't even come close to that.

Student: But how do you know? If I start and then I see.

M. Laitman: That's a matter of experience. Start trying.

Student: So we can start?

M. Laitman: Yes, but on condition that you're genuinely practicing exercises in depicting or imagining the greatness of the Creator. If I had to take you into a laboratory – ask your wife – into a genetics lab, you would see this person's genome. You'd see what incredible wisdom is contained there from beginning to end. How everything is calculated – thousands of proteins, enzymes, and countless other components. You'd see how every single detail belongs to and is connected with everything else. If you could see just one living cell, you'd be truly overwhelmed by how immense and magnificent it is. And if you could see the entire system of creation – how every cell and every tiny detail is connected to all the systems – and on the levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking, as well as on the spiritual levels, that simply. And it all exists to bring creation into equivalence with the Creator, to that very degree of the Creator. You would see how simultaneously in every single detail and in all the details, together, the same operation is taking place, it's something impossible to describe. Simply, a person enters the system according to the correspondence of his soul with it, and then he receives it, that's all. Then you'd be inspired!

Even if you'd see in your own life how much the Creator has guided you throughout all these years of your life, and the purpose behind every single thing you've gone through, you'd also be inspired. Meaning we lack the revelation of His actions, From Your actions, we will know You, that's what we're missing. But even if we just speak about that, think about it, and it doesn't have anything to do with your personal relationship to Him, which we shouldn't dwell on. Instead, we're speaking about the Creator, not about me and Him as a personal relationship. There are several opportunities to be inspired by this, many possibilities. I'm talking only from the research of nature, as Abraham, our patriarch, talked about. It's also said that in the past, a Kabbalist had to acquire all seven sciences before reaching Kabbalah because without them he wouldn't have enough capacity for inspiration or enough connection with the Creator. Because he couldn't sufficiently perceive the foundation from which to marvel at the Creator's works. So I don't know, I simply try to, maybe, to convey these things, I don't know. For me, it's truly helped me in my time, the knowledge of these laws, the feeling of the order and lawfulness in nature.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:22) You previously said that if a person is in a bad mood, all that – you stay away from him. Not to get these viruses because, who needs that trouble?

M. Laitman: No, if a person's in a bad mood and doesn't want to come out of it, but instead tries to pull me into it as well, then I really need to make a calculation. Am I capable of bringing him out of it or not? If I can't, then there's no Mitzvah, there's no commandment to get myself killed because he wants to remain dead.

Student: When you help the friend, how can you know that thing?

M. Laitman: So then you ask for more friends to help. You know that if one soldier is wounded, it takes five others to take care of him, that's the calculation in the army, and it's a real problem.

Student: We talk a lot about the concept of the greatness of the Creator. What is the greatness of the Creator? What is great, in my eyes, what should be great?

M. Laitman: What is the greatness of the Creator? Great means someone who is stronger than I am, that's what great means, very simply. If it's just theoretically that He's out there somewhere, so what? That means nothing, is He stronger than me? If He is, then there's nothing I can do against Him, that's greatness.

Student: But I discovered He's stronger than me after He gives me a few blows, right? How will I know otherwise?

M. Laitman: So how would I make blows, just to discover that He's stronger?

Student: How do I precede that?

M. Laitman: By being inspired by how immense He is, how He surrounds you throughout your entire life from every direction. how He governs all of creation; how He exists before your every thought, and before your every desire. How He organizes your thoughts, and how He determines them. How you'll receive them, and with what desire He will accompany each thought, and how that desire will develop, and everything else. He is playing in every part of your life, everything, absolutely everything, He's organizing that in you, except for one single thought, that you can come to know Him. Only that one thought, that you relate to Him, and even there, whether you relate to Him correctly or incorrectly, it doesn't matter. Even then He's still operating in you, He's asking these very questions now. He's also giving you the understanding that comes after the questions, it's all Him. So who am I? I'm the one who can determine my attitude, that alone, that is where the choice is, that's all. So if you begin simply to look in yourself and seek the one place where He is not present, then at that single point you'll discover free choice.

Student: In relation to what?

M. Laitman: To Him.

Student: That you need to have the greatness of the Creator.

M. Laitman: Yes, an attitude to His greatness, you want to adhere to the one who truly exists. Everything else is fake because He governs, He controls everything; so if you imagine that something else is in control, then you're living in falsehood. Okay, so these things are something that a person has to seek within – for now there are no words for them.

Student: I tell the friend how great the Creator is for me, or how much I want to discover His greatness?

M. Laitman: There's no need to tell a friend how great the Creator is for me, instead, we need to speak together – or maybe even without words, to simply communicate it through our feeling – that the greatness of the Creator is what attracts us or pulls us forward. And forward means to Him, not towards anything else, we shouldn't blur the true goal and replace it with other goals. Also, who is the Creator that we interpret afterward? That He is the force of bestowal, of giving. Am I yearning for that, or am I yearning for Pharaoh, except that Pharaoh has suddenly dressed himself up as the Creator in my eyes, and that's what I'm yearning for – all of that is possible. Define every term correctly, and don't let them just become mere labels. Then you'll start to see the true state, and from that you'll already recognize your left line.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:20) I don't understand, why do we need to search for greatness when it's not there, when He's not there?

M. Laitman: What does it mean, He's not present?

Student: I don't know, you just told the friend that we need to look for Him where He isn't present?

M. Laitman: So if you seek within yourself and examine everything, and you see that in all your systems, thoughts, feelings, decisions, actions, and execution. In everything, He is present, and then you seek within yourself, where is He not present, and you find that He is absent only from that one point, the point of free choice. And what is that point? It's your attitude to Him, that's it.

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Reader: Let's share impressions from the lesson, and what from it we're taking to implement in the Ten. Then we’ll go to the next part and sing a song, first!

Song: (01:12:32)