The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: May 27, 2026
Reader: Hello dear friends! In the first part of the lesson, we will watch a recorded lesson from the 27th of January 2002 based on the article, What is “Man” and What is “Beast” in the Work?" We will read the article together in the Ten; we have thirty-three minutes for that.
Reading:
(00:39)
What
Is
“Man”
and
What
Is
“Beast”
in
the
Work?
Article No. 7, 1991
It is written in The Zohar (VaYera, Items 1-2), “‘The buds appear on the earth.’ This means that when the Creator created the world, He placed in the earth all the power it deserves. Everything was in the earth, but it did not bear fruit until man was created. When man was created, everything appeared in the world and the land revealed its fruits. Similarly, the heaven did not endow the earth with force until man came, and the heavens halted and did not rain upon the earth since man was absent. When man appeared, the buds immediately appeared in the land.”
We should understand what this comes to teach us. We should know that the purpose of creation was because of His desire to do good to His creations. However, in order to bring to light the perfection of His deeds, there were Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment, where the good is not revealed to the created beings before they are rewarded with working for the sake of the Creator. Otherwise, there is the matter of shame because of the disparity of form in the vessels of reception of the created beings. Hence, a person cannot receive the purpose of creation, which is the delight and pleasure, due to shame. This is called “separation and remoteness from the Creator.” That is, we understand the matter of the bread of shame as separation from the Creator to such an extent that this disparity of form makes it as “The wicked in their lives are called ‘dead.’”
Therefore, man’s work emerges from the beastly state and acquires the quality of “man.” It is as our sages said (Yevamot 61), “Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says, ‘You are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are ‘man.’ You are called ‘man,’ and the idol-worshippers are not called ‘man.’’” We already explained the importance of “man,” that the nations of the world are not called “man.” It is as our sages said (Berachot 6), “‘In the end, all is heard, fear God and observe His commandments, for this is the whole of man.’ What is ‘for this is the whole of man’? Rabbi Elazar said, ‘The whole world was created only for this.’” In other words, one who has fear of God is called “man,” and one who does not have fear of God, it means he is a “beast” and not “man.”
It therefore follows that before a person is rewarded with having fear of God, with doing everything for the sake of the Creator, he is still not regarded as a human being but as a beast. In other words, everything they do is only for their own sake, like beasts. And since there were Tzimtzum and concealment on the will to receive for one’s own sake, although for His part, the delight and pleasure are already revealed in Kedusha [holiness], since there is equivalence of form there between the light and the Kli [vessel], the lower ones—which were created—still do not have the quality of man, as it is written, “Man is born a wild ass.” It follows that he is placed under the Tzimtzum and the concealment, where there is no disclosure of light.
Thus, although all the delight and pleasure in the purpose of creation has emerged and been revealed by Him, it is all concealed from the lower ones. They see no delight and pleasure, but only a tiny light from the Kedusha, which fell into the Klipot [shells/peels], and on this the whole of the corporal world is sustained.
By this we can interpret what we asked concerning the interpretation of The Zohar about the verse, “‘The buds appear on the earth.’ When the Creator created the world, He placed in the earth all the power it deserves. Everything was in the earth, but it did not bear fruit until man was created.” We should interpret that although from the perspective of the Creator, everything has emerged, but they were all under the Tzimtzum and the concealment, meaning that there was no one who could enjoy it, since the concealment blocks everything and they did not see that there are delight and pleasure in the world.
“When man was created, everything appeared in the world and the land revealed its fruits.” This means that once a person acquires the quality of “man,” when he has fear of God, meaning that everything he does is for the sake of the Creator, the concealment is removed from him and he sees all the fruits that there are in the world, which he did not see before he acquired the quality of “man.”
When it says, “Similarly, the heaven did not endow the earth with force until man came,” it means that before one is rewarded with the quality of “man,” a person cannot have permanent faith that powers are given to the earth. That is, from above they give powers below, to the created beings, so they can ascend on the rungs of holiness. But afterward, when he is rewarded with the quality of “man,” he sees that all that exists on earth, in the lower ones, comes from above, and then he does not need to believe this, since then he attains it.
This is regarded as when the quality of man comes, everything is revealed in the world. This means that all that has been renewed now, existed also before, except he did not see this. This is the meaning of the words, “and the heavens halted and did not rain upon the earth since man was absent.” That is, before the quality of man is revealed, he would say that he is praying to the Creator every time but he is not being answered from above. This is called, “and the heavens halted and did not rain,” meaning he received nothing for his prayers.
The reason he could not see if he is answered is that he still did not have the quality of man. Hence, everything was concealed from him, and he could only believe that the Creator does hear the prayer of every mouth. But afterward, when man appeared, promptly, “the buds appeared in the land.” In other words, all the things that were thus far concealed became visible. When the quality of man came, everything appeared. That is, then we see the delight and pleasure that were in the purpose of creation has already been revealed in the world.
For this reason, one should be careful not to escape the campaign and say that the Creator does not want to help him, since he sees that he has asked him many times to help him, and he thinks as though he is not being looked at from above. However, whether or not he is praying, it is all the same, unchanging. Therefore, he does not see anything that will help him. Instead, he sees that he is as an empty Kli [vessel] that has nothing, and whatever the Creator wants to do, He will do. But for man’s part, he is powerless to do anything.
There is a rule: Where one sees no progress, one cannot make any effort. At that time, the only way is to have faith in the sages, who tell us that we must believe that such is the order of the work, that a person must not see what he is doing. He should believe that this concealment is for his best, that it will lead him to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. If he overcomes and believes that it is all for his best and the Creator does hear the prayer of every mouth, but there should be an awakening from below, “and the salvation of the Lord is as the blink of an eye,” meaning when all the sparks gather, one should scrutinize and ask that they will enter the Kedusha, and then he receives the help at once.
However, when one feels that he is empty, meaning that he feels that he has neither Torah nor Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] or any good deeds, what can he do? At that time, he should ask the Creator to shine for him so he can obtain the greatness and exaltedness of the Creator above reason. In other words, although he is still unworthy of feeling the greatness and exaltedness of the Creator, since he has still not been rewarded with the quality of “man,” and the Tzimtzum and concealment of the Creator are still on him, as it is written, “Do not hide Your face from me,” he still asks the Creator to give him the strength to receive greatness and importance of the Creator above reason.
It is as Baal HaSulam says about what our sages said (Iruvin 19), “Even the empty ones among you are filled with Mitzvot like a pomegranate.” He said that Rimon [pomegranate] comes from the word Romemut [exaltedness], which is above reason. Hence, the meaning of “Even the empty ones among you are filled with Mitzvot like a pomegranate” is that the measure of the filling is according to his ability to go above reason, which is called “exaltedness.”
In other words, emptiness can be precisely where there is no presence and he feels that he is devoid of Torah, Mitzvot, and good deeds. When this continues over time when a person wants to work for the sake of the Creator and not for himself, then he sees that everything he does is not for the sake of the Creator but only for his own benefit. In that state, he feels that he has nothing and he is completely empty, and he can fill this place only with a pomegranate, meaning if he goes above reason, which is called “exaltedness of the Creator.” In other words, he should ask the Creator to give him the power to believe above reason in the greatness of the Creator. That is, the fact that he wants the exaltedness of the Creator does not mean that he says, “If You let me attain the exaltedness and greatness of the Creator, I will agree to work.” Rather, he wants the Creator to give him the power to believe in the greatness of the Creator, and with this he fills the emptiness in which he is in right now.
It follows that were it not for the emptiness, that is, if he did not work on the path toward achieving Dvekut, meaning in equivalence of form, called “in order to bestow,” but rather like the general public, who suffice for the practices they observe, these people do not feel themselves as empty, but as full of Mitzvot.
However, specifically those who want to achieve bestowal feel the emptiness within them and need the greatness of the Creator. They can fill this emptiness specifically with exaltedness, called “full of Mitzvot,” to the extent that they ask the Creator to give them the power to be able to go above reason, which is called “exaltedness.” In other words, they ask the Creator to give them power in exaltedness that is above reason in greatness and importance of the Creator. They do not want the Creator to let them attain this, since they want to subjugate themselves with unconditional surrender, but they ask for help from the Creator, and to that extent they can fill the empty place with Mitzvot. This is the meaning of “filled with Mitzvot like a pomegranate.”
According to the above, we should interpret the words of The Zohar (VaYera, Item 167), “When the Creator loves a person, He sends him a gift. What is the gift? A poor, so as to be rewarded by Him. And when he is rewarded by Him, the Creator draws upon him a string of grace that extends from the right side, spreads over his head, and registers him so that when the Din [judgment] comes to the world, that saboteur will be careful not to harm him. For this reason, the Creator first gives him something with which to be rewarded.”
We should understand what is poor in the work, and what is “a string of grace,” and what is the judgment that comes to the world. It is known that “poor” means poor in knowledge. What is poor in knowledge? There are two categories in the work:
1) The general public, who are primarily about practicing. Concerning the intention, to make everything for the sake of the Creator, they pay no attention to this. They engage in Torah and Mitzvot and are generally whole, feeling no deficiencies about themselves. But because our sages said that one should be humble, they search for deficiencies in themselves in order to observe, “Be very, very humble” (Avot 4:4).
2) Those who want to work in order to bestow and engage in Torah and Mitzvot so it will bring them to be able to do everything in order to bestow and not for their own sake. This is as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” Thus, these workers understand that each day they should advance, be rich in knowledge, meaning to understand each time that it is worthwhile to work only in order to bestow. Yet, in fact, they see that each day when they want to walk on the path where everything is only for the sake of the Creator, the body understands differently each time. It begins to understand that it is better to work for one’s own sake than to work for the sake of the Creator. At that time, they are baffled over why it turns out the opposite of what they thought. They pray to the Creator to send them the understanding and the knowledge so the body will understand that it is worthwhile to work for the sake of the Creator. Yet, they see otherwise, and many times they despair because the Creator does not hear the prayer, and sometimes they want to escape the campaign.
The answer, says The Zohar, is that “When the Creator loves a person, He sends him a gift. And what is the gift? A poor.” In other words, the fact that one sees that he is poor in knowledge, that the body does not understand why it needs to work for the sake of the Creator and not for its own sake, the Creator sends him the gift of the thought and the feeling that he is poor, since He loves him. But why does the Creator love him? It is because he wants to work for the sake of the Creator. For this reason, the Creator loves him.
However, he cannot, even though he wants to, since it is against nature. Man was born with a will to receive for his own benefit. Since there is a correction that as long as one is not ready to walk on the path of truth, he will not be able to see the truth because it will harm him, those people who do not intend to walk on the path of bestowal are not shown the truth, that they are incapable of going against the nature of the will to receive. They think that all they lack is some desire, meaning that if they agree to walk on the path of for the sake of the Creator, they can do everything for the sake of the Creator. For this reason, anything that a person thinks that he can do by himself, he does not suffer from not doing it, since it is easy. Therefore, it does not pain him that he is not working for the sake of the Creator although he knows that we should do everything for the sake of the Creator.
This stems from the rule that our sages said, “Anything that is about to be collected is deemed collected” (any debt that a person is going to receive back from the borrower, it is as though he already took his debt because it is certain, he knows he will receive). Hence, because he knows that whenever he wants, he will be able to do everything for the sake of the Creator, he does not feel a lack although he is still not doing it. This is the correction for those who work in the manner of the general public.
However, those who truly want to walk on the path of doing everything in order to bestow, the Creator loves those people, as it is written in The Zohar, the Creator sends them a gift. What is the gift? A poor, meaning poor in knowledge. In other words, the body does not understand how there can be such a thing that we will be able to work for the sake of the Creator, as it is against nature. At that time, he sees that he is poor even in actions. That is, he is not only poor in knowledge, but in practice, too. Put differently, he sees that he does not have even one deed that is for the sake of the Creator. Rather, everything is for his own benefit.
Then, a person becomes needy of the Creator to help him because he is the poorest of all, in mind as well as in heart. He sees then that he is truly wicked, meaning that he cannot justify how the Creator behaves with him, and he sees that even the prayers he prays to the Creator are as if the Creator does not hear his prayers, and many times he falls into despair. However, a person must believe that all those feelings that he feels come to him from above, that the Creator sends them to him, and that they are a gift from above.
This is the meaning of saying “And what is the gift? A poor, so as to be rewarded by Him.” The question is, How can we say that poverty is a gift? He answers this, “so as to be rewarded by Him.” In other words, by seeing that he is poor, that he has nothing, a person has a complete lack, meaning a complete desire for the Creator’s help, for in order to receive the filling from the Creator, one needs a complete desire—when one sees that no one can help but the Creator. Thus, through poverty, he acquires a need to make his vessels of reception worthy of the Creator giving him the desire to bestow instead of the will to receive.
This is the meaning of the words “And when he is rewarded by him,” meaning that through the poor he acquired a complete need and lack, then “the Creator draws upon him a string of grace that extends from the right side.” Put differently, the Creator gives him the desire to bestow, called Hesed, meaning a giver, which is called “right,” meaning he receives the second nature called “desire to bestow.”
This is the meaning of the words, “spreads over his head.” “Head” means knowledge. The Hesed that a person receives is on his head, meaning above his head, meaning above reason. Through the string of Hesed, he can walk above reason.
He says, “When the Din [judgment] comes to the world, that saboteur will be careful not to harm him.” This means that since the string of Hesed is on his head, meaning that he is in faith above reason, when the judgment comes—meaning the will to receive, on which there was a judgment that no light shines in it—and he wants to harm a person with its questions, since the string of Hesed, called “faith above reason,” is stretched over that person’s head, it can no longer harm him. The saboteur comes with the arguments of the will to receive, called “the quality of judgment,” meaning that he argues with his reason. Hence, once he has been rewarded with a string of Hesed in both mind and heart, and goes above reason in regard to everything, thanks to the string of Hesed, it cannot harm him any longer.
However, when a person feels that he is poor, meaning that he has no awe when he wants to work for the sake of the Creator, but to the contrary, at that time he sees that to him, the Shechina [Divinity] is in the dust. That is, to him, she has the form of dust. “Dust” is as it is written about the serpent, that the Creator said to the serpent, “You shall eat dust all your life.” Our sages explained that whatever the serpent eats, it tastes the taste of dust. In the work it means that as long as one has not corrected the sin of the tree of knowledge, he tastes the taste of dust. When one wants to do his deeds in order to bestow, which is called “Shechina in the dust,” he must not tell his body, called “will to receive.”
In other words, he must not tell the will to receive for oneself that he does not feel any awe with regard to spirituality. He should not even discuss work matters with his will to receive, since he must know that no arguments with the will to receive will help him. Therefore, when a person comes to a state of being poor, he must only ask the Creator to help him and give him the strength to overcome it.
This is as our sages said (Avot de Rabbi Natan, end of Chapter 7), “If a man comes to the seminary and is treated disrespectfully, he should not go and tell his wife.” We must understand what this teaches us in the work. Also, is one permitted to demand respect? After all, our sages said, “Be very, very humble.”
We should interpret that a person coming to the seminary to learn Torah, the Torah is as in “for they are our lives and the length of our days.” In other words, the Torah is respected because all the good things are in it. He came to the seminary but the Torah did not respect him. That is, the Torah was concealed from him and he was not shown any of the glory and importance that there are in the Torah. Instead, he tastes the taste of dust. For this reason, he wants to consult with his will to receive if he should continue. They say, “He should not go and tell his wife,” meaning the will to receive. Instead, he should tell everything to the Creator, meaning that the Creator will open his eyes and he will be rewarded with the glory of the Torah.
Reader: (34:44) We'll move on to a lesson from January 27th, 2002.
M. Laitman: Well, we read, What is Man and What is Beast in the Work from Rungs of the Ladder, Volume 1.
Student: (35:04) We say that one who wants to go in order to bestow has to see the greatness of the Creator. But how will he escape entering a state of bestowing in order to receive if he sees the greatness of the Creator?
M. Laitman: That is the whole issue, a person who yearns for spirituality, what does he ask for? More will to receive is added onto him, in addition to all the pleasures he perceives through the five senses all around him. He's added an additional desire to receive – another channel is opened up to him, a sixth sense, yes? Where he feels that he's lacking something more; that he cannot satisfy that lack through the five senses he has which is: sight, smell, hearing, speaking, touch. They can't provide for this new lack which is opened up and, then, what to do? He starts going into despair, he doesn't see a solution. If I don't feel rich enough or respected enough – I don't know—enough of this or that. I have many means in this world by which to attain it in various ways and the world is built for it so as to, ultimately, whatever form I have, whatever quality. To some degree I can fulfill these lacks but if, now, a new lack appears that cannot be satisfied in this world, then I am helpless. Then, gradually, through developing in this new desire, a person is brought to a state where he searches. He searched and he found a place where they speak about how to fulfill that lack; a method which speaks about how to fulfill this lack, that is called the method of Kabbalah, yes? How to receive in this new special desire, the new one that fell on him, what can he do? It just opened up in him, he studies, he talks about it, he hears about it.
But, ultimately, he has a simple approach: to fill the lack. He's told and gradually he discovers this through the study, that he is changing. He changes in such a way where he begins to understand a little bit from within, what's being talked about. Usually, it doesn't do anything in me, within the person but the study itself, that's also through him having the environment around him and the environment, gradually, the environment – that is the books and authors, Rav, the friends – it all influences him such that we say that it is a light that acts from without. Gradually, gradually operates on that desire, the point in the heart; and then, the person begins to understand what exactly it is that he wants. He begins to understand that certainly this desire cannot be fulfilled directly. He begins to agree with it – although he doesn't agree but for lack of choice, right, this is still a kind of agreement. He begins to understand that he needs to be different than before, in a sense. In accordance with the new desire which is now being conceived within him, he begins to request a change. He begins to see that with respect to the new concepts that he feels, well, this is a sign that he is feeling the light, already. Not clearly but in some concealed way, he feels it; he begins to feel that he is bad, that in some way he is broken, corrupted. In some way, he is not compatible with the fulfillment that he expects. In accordance with that, he begins to agree with the fact that he needs to undergo transformation, inner renovation.
(40:13) Slowly, through much work and toil, months of efforts, he begins to understand that by himself he cannot change. It may be that the change will come from above because from where otherwise? He sees that he remains the same and maybe even becomes worse – or maybe not worse – but each time he sees himself more clearly as more bad. Then, he gains a very unique perspective on all this new issue of the fulfillment, the satisfaction of the new desire. He begins to be concerned not only with the desire being satisfied, but rather, with the desire taking on a special kind of form: bestowal. He's more concerned about being adapted, compatible with the fulfillment, compatible with the light, compatible with something than the fulfillment, itself. He already begins to have that special attitude towards the type of fulfillment, his type of desire, how it will all be and, then, we're already talking about a human, a human being, a person who is truly changing.
We learn this, we learn about it in various forms from the introductions and the articles and the letters where it says that Adam Harishon, Adam the first, he was given the scrutiny of bitter and sweet, a beastly kind of scrutiny like every beast. This is how nature rules him, rules the beast. If it's a human being, then what is the difference between man and beast? That in man, another kind of scrutiny is added, a calculation of truth and false. Truth, those are the qualities of the Creator and the lie, that is the qualities of the person – the initial qualities of the person. If the scrutiny of true and false is more, the person is more concerned with it than the scrutiny of bitter and sweet, then it means that he's rising above the beast in him and values the person in him, taking care of the person in him, taking care of the needs of his soul and not the needs of his body. Then, he begins to ask, he has this inner demand to work according to the scrutiny of truth and false, truth and lie, to be true, what does it mean to be true? To be in order to bestow. Then, he asks, actually this demand is called prayer, then, certainly, he receives from above the forces which improve him, change him. He begins to understand that, he begins to understand more and more that it's better for me to improve and to see change only in truth and lie. Bitter and sweet, I don't even want to think about it, I don't want in any way to be related to that kind of fulfillment. If it comes, yes; if it doesn't, it doesn't matter. But, if so, if the scrutiny of truth and false, true and false, will require that I participate with my vessels of reception in bitter and sweet, then I'm willing to do it but it's not that I will show an interest in it of my own. When a person begins to think in that way, then he reaches a full measure of this demand, the full measure of it and he is given, certainly, he is given, he is allowed to perform the scrutiny in true and false and to rule over the bitter and sweet. This transformation, this power he receives, that is called the opening of the eyes in the Torah. Meaning the Creator opens and, then, from the recognition of the Creator's greatness, a person receives the power to control this sixth sense such that he begins to fill it, to maintain it, only for the purpose of true and false, only for the purpose of being compatible with the Creator.
(45:36) Then, he begins by himself, consciously, to become a partner in the development of the self and its compatibility with the Creator – the correction of this sense, the fulfillment of this sense. Meaning that if, before this whole matter, where he received this new impulse, he was thinking about how to fulfill himself through the five senses, his will to receive. He had the very simple kind of beastly, natural wisdom of reception, the wisdom of Kabbalah. But now, by acquiring the true vision, the true perspective of reality, on all of reality, he has a different kind of wisdom of Kabbalah, wisdom of reception. Truly wisdom, where he can truly fulfill himself and, by that, to attain a completely different goal, to reach a completely different goal. This state is called the wisdom of Kabbalah where there is intellect in it, wisdom; there is true access to Kabbalah, to reception and not just self-fulfillment.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (47:03) What holds him from this Klipa is that, to begin with, he's looking for truth and false and not bitter and sweet?
M. Laitman: To begin with, he now follows the scrutiny of bitter and sweet and – to begin with, he walks towards the scrutiny of true and false and if that scrutiny of true and false compels it, he uses the scrutiny of bitter and sweet.
Student: Then he sees the greatness of the Creator and it gives him what, equivalence of form?
M. Laitman: According to how he uses these two things correctly, that determines the degree of his equivalence of form with the Creator, yes.
Student: Does this mean that truth is the qualities of the Creator, and false is the qualities of the created being? But how can I – not knowing the Creator – how will I know what are the qualities that maybe I think are the qualities of the Creator but it's actually far from it? How can I really know it, know His qualities, I don't know Him?
M. Laitman: From where do I know about the Creator's qualities? From above, other than opening up to me, opening up this new lack to me which is called the point in the heart, nothing is done. The point in the heart is opened for me, a new lack, a lack, I begin to want something. But I become poor with respect to all the previous states. In the previous states, I could somehow fulfill—well, I'm talking about regular states, not actual distress where there's, you know, risk to my life or something. All the previous states, the beastly ones, I could open in some way in this world but, now, after this new lack is opened up to me, it's done. I'm not given anything more from above. Now I need to attain more of it by myself and then I begin to search; this search is in itself a correction, it's all corrections. Gradually, they bring me to a place, the right place, where I can be fulfilled, write books, and it can take hundreds of years, dozens of years, a few months. This is none of our business, a person searches, he doesn't know what he's doing. According to his lack, he just runs from place to place like a beast – here, it's not good, maybe there it'll be better; there, it's not good, maybe this year will be better – like a beast, he flees danger.
Then, he reaches a place where he's given true books, then, through the books, he begins to gradually project this upper light onto himself. The thing is, in our world, we have books; if not for the books, we would have no connection between what's happening in this world and what happens in spirituality. The barrier between us simply seals all of spirituality away; this barrier allows the surrounding light to pass, a very small illumination from above. And it passes onto us if we are connected to the right method, what is the right method? Where you open a book, where the person who wrote that book was on a high degree, was in a state beyond the Machsom, the barrier. So, from that state he was in when he wrote the book, when you connect to it, when you read the book, you're not just reading a book. You're connecting, unconsciously, it doesn't matter, you're connecting to that same person who is there at that specific degree when he writes it, when he wrote it. There is no time in spirituality, if it happened 2,000 years ago with Rabbi Shimon, that doesn't matter. When you read the Zohar, you connect to that same source – Rabbi Shimon is now sitting and writing the Zohar. Where was it? Rosh of Arich Anpin, so you're now connecting to that source.
Now, of course, you receive quite a small illumination from that source, it's to the extent you understand what it is. You know what it is, the extent to which you want to receive from there. And if you know what you want to receive and if you prepared your hearts to receive the thing properly and not something else and, here, the lie won't work. You can say, yes, I want to be like Rabbi Shimon. What do you want, do you know what Rabbi Shimon is, what do you want? Do you want to have a Mimouna celebration like he gets? People would work for that their whole lives, right, there are people who would. Here, we have work in the cleansing of the heart, the scrutiny of the will, scrutinizing the demand, what you want and what you need through the book, by the study. But, ultimately, during the study, a person who gives the right quantity and quality of exertion, that is the key. That is the means bringing him to spirituality, that's it. The more reforming light comes down to you in quality and quantity, in power, rather. It's like with voltage, right? You need, like in electricity, you need quantity and you need quality: you have the current, you know, ampere or kilograms or tons, however you measure. But what also matters is the inner special kind of power, attention. Then, accordingly, it cleanses you. It builds you, that light, the surrounding light. After that, well, how much time does this surrounding light need to work? We're told three to five years, if a person makes an effort, then over that time, he's certain to continue to a different stage – rise above the Machsom, the barrier. Why? Because his demand through the three to five years, his demand becomes real where he truly wants corrections. The surrounding light acts upon him in that way where he receives the Hen de Kedusha, the grace of sanctity. Meaning there is a middle point, an interface between our world and the upper world. Otherwise, we would never be able to adjust ourselves to be compatible with the upper world. There is an interface, and the surrounding light penetrates the screen, the barrier, and improves us. But, here, the quality of that improvement and the speed of it also depends on how I prepare myself. And preparing myself, for that, we have the work in the group. We have the work in the kitchen, we have the work when we speak according to these articles we read; various means which are all set to bring us to the time of the lesson, the time where you are facing the holy book. What does it mean, holy? It brings to you an upper force called holiness, that's it.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:05) Can we say that the demand, the knowing, the urgency for corrections is already a sign that the surrounding light works in me?
M. Laitman: Yes, of course, from the very first moment when a person is in the lesson, already the surrounding light acts upon him. The fact that he doesn't know anything yet and, suddenly, after a few months he receives a descent, a few weeks even, meaning the addition of the will to receive. Well, now, he has work, inner work, changes, we can see that. We can sense it but all these changes that occur in us from the moment we start studying, assembling, acting, some more, some less, some work more, some study more, it doesn't matter. To the extent that each one participates, the surrounding light acts upon him, immediately. There are enough forces for that and the person improves; and what attests to the fact that the surrounding light acts is that the person begins to feel inner changes – good or bad, it doesn't matter how he checks it with his beast, what's good or bad for it – you know, the beast, it finds good grass, she says it's good. Maybe he doesn't understand that if there's no good grass here, then she can be brought to an even better place, right? The body doesn't understand that, the body wants something right now, right here, right now. But, of course, the action of the light, we feel it all the time in all the changes that occur in us. Here, we have a very big general surrounding light because many people are working here in their spiritual search. And, so, anyone who enters here is rinsed well, washed well. The whole thing is the extent to which he subjugates himself, surrenders to the group, and surrenders towards the group and towards this method. Willing to receive it at whatever price it may be – reducing, diminishing his intellect under the intellect of the group and so on.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:27) Why is it important to do scrutinies? We say that only yearning and asking?
M. Laitman: Besides scrutinies, we have nothing, besides the choice, what is the choice? The choice is the end of the scrutinies, the decision you make after all the scrutinies is your choice, so how not to scrutinize? If I am just a beast and from above I'm being played with like a yo-yo, you know, that kind of toy that goes, you throw it up and down and then I'm like that yo-yo. I just feel better or worse, better or worse, and nothing depends on me to go higher or lower, just to feel the states. Then I don't need any of these books, even, what can I do? Those who already went to a point from which they see the truth and the purpose and they are at the goal, at the end, the result. And they say, no, we're not a yo-yo where we're just being worked on and that's it. No, not only that, of course we are being molded, that's for sure – 99.9% I am being worked on. But I have this 1%, or a tenth of a percent, doesn't matter how you call it but some place where I determine there is free choice. There, I have freedom of will and in that freedom of will, that's where I need to act. By choosing that specifically, by that I advance.
He says even more, he says that advancing from where I am now in the beginning of the path until the end of the path, doesn't matter that I'm being acted upon by 99.9%, of my desires that I'm not the owner of. But advancing each and every step from here to the final goal can be done only by choice. Meaning I chose right, I made a step forward. I made another choice, another step forward. Meaning that percentage that I have left is the only one by which I advance, if I use it. And a thousand other forces working on me and incidents, they don't advance me to the goal; they're just there to create an environment for me so that I will ultimately use my free choice, correctly. That's actually what makes me not a beast but a human. That I'm built in such a way that nature, all of the system, ultimately, necessitates me to use my free choice. And if I don't, then I suffer blows, I go through all kinds of states where I will, ultimately, will reach my choice, another thousand years, doesn't matter – you'll cook and you'll reach the choice.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:57) The choice is to prefer truth and false to bitter and sweet?
M. Laitman: The choice is, yes, to choose truth and false versus bitter and sweet because bitter and sweet is a beast, truth and false is man; so you also use the beast in order to elevate the man.
Student: How can I tell if I'm making sufficient efforts in my scrutinies? Is there any kind of scale, gauge that I can scrutinize according to?
M. Laitman: How can I measure to what extent, what percentage do I squeeze myself, yes, to advance towards the goal? Maybe there's a lot more power left like in an engine that I'm not using and it's a shame. Maybe I have many more possibilities that I'm not using and I'm not seeing; maybe I'm being lazy and I'm not seeing that I'm lazy. Maybe I have all kinds of other qualities that I can awaken and, by them, certainly advance. The issue is that each and every one is comprised of the same qualities. It's the main ten Sefirot of the souls, they also project onto the beast these qualities. And, then, in a beastly way, when we feel them, each one is comprised of the same qualities except in a different mixture and different measure in each and every person but it's in each and every one. Anger and kindness and mercy and flexibility and cruelty in each and every one but to different levels, different and different connections, interconnections. How can I take all of these qualities into the best use for progress? That's only by the group that, here, I activate all of them; and not only activate them like on the street. But, here, I do it purposely that through each and every sense, by rubbing against the friends in a single group, trying to reach the goal, trying to get the most out of the connection between us. So, here I get out of myself the maximum benefit out of each and every one of my qualities, how good it is, how bad it is. I learn from others. I learn to myself. Meaning there's this kind of reactor here where you can really cook up quickly; whereas alone, I can't even discover, I have nothing, no way. But with the matter of the group I discover my qualities very quickly. Otherwise, with respect to whom will I discover it? Envy, hatred, mercifulness, cruelty, and with respect to people on the street or at home, it's a totally different thing. There, it's not on the background of the spiritual development, I'm sold to begin with – I use each and every quality for a beastly need, for a goal in this world. Here, if I want to use all my qualities with the goal of getting to the spiritual world, then they open in a completely different way.
So using the friends for self-development is necessary, without it, a person just doesn't – he's just going to stay the way he is. I think you can feel it from one moment to the next, as you are in the group. And those who are not in a group, they have a very long path. I can't even imagine to myself how long it will take them to develop.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:06:07) It says here that when the Creator loves a person, He sends him a gift. What is the gift?
M. Laitman: A gift is only one thing, what's a gift? A gift is something that before, I didn't have a need for it. Afterwards, I like it because I got it from someone who likes me, who loves me, and I'm given because I'm loved and not because I earned it, that's what we call a gift, right? There's a few other discernments there, but that's the main thing. So, a gift from above are new spiritual qualities that a person receives from the Creator – when does it happen? When the Creator loves the person. Love means that He sees the willingness towards equivalence of form on man's behalf. So, love and hatred are measures that are either equal or in disparity of form.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:34) Regarding the state of dirt, it says here that the Creator told the serpent, You shall eat dirt all the days of your life, that's on the one hand. Also, we learned that dirt is self-annulment, the state of dirt is a state of self-annulment. And it's written in the Siddur that I will be dirt for all. How does this work out, how to understand it?
M. Laitman: The serpent means our will to receive; and opposite the spiritual fulfillment, its fulfillment is called dust. But the serpent doesn't feel it as dust, it's food for it. When does man begin to feel that it's dust? When he begins to be human, then he begins to feel in that beastly food the taste of dust, it does no longer satisfy him. To him, it is something tasteless, he's looking for taste in life and he can't find it; therefore, it becomes a curse. But before he begins to rise from beastliness, he doesn't feel it as dust. So, in spirituality, when we are being taken – whatever spirituality we have – you fall into beastliness, and you feel like you have everything. Look, everything works: you go to work, you come back home, you go to the family, you can sit on the couch, watch TV, you can even go on a trip, go to a restaurant with friends. What's the problem? I feel a taste of dust, why? Because I had a spiritual degree as a human that was taken from me, that spiritual human part in me, and I fall into normal beastly life, no problem, what's the problem? I feel the taste of dust, so, when do you feel a taste of dust? When you fall from the degree of man, otherwise, you don't. Go on the street, everyone says, oh, I live, you know, it's better, it's worse, but I live. Not for us: when spirituality is taken from us, you look at the person,and he's dead, it's like a corpse. Like corpses running around, ghosts walking around here. The person doesn't feel himself, you turn to him, and he has like empty eyes, like his life was taken away. And look at him, he has everything, but he feels dust.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:10:51) I wanted to ask, in the beginning of the article, Rabbi Shimon says that only the gentiles are beasts, and my people, the sheep of my flock, that those are men. Rabash says that only one who fears the Lord, he has the fear of the Lord, that is for the sake of the heavens, not to glorify himself.
M. Laitman: You're called man, meaning the ones who have fear of heaven, right? Man is a degree of fear – fear of heaven. Meaning the measure of concern about love of the Creator. From the Creator, there's nothing to be afraid of, one who comes to contact with Him sees that nothing bad ever comes out of Him, only good things. But if good things, then I can disregard Him, I don't care about Him, right? I can, if He's the source of good and He never changes, then I haven't, why should I even relate to Him? Let Him be good, let Him bring me even more, you know. Like a spoiled child from his mother, he takes advantage of her all the way, right? But because of that, He's concealed from us so it won't corrupt us. To the extent the person acquires a certain degree of fear toward the Creator, meaning when a person cares, do I have love for Him, to that extent the Creator can open Himself up and show man the measure of that love, otherwise, he will be corrupted.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:33) How can we reach a scrutiny of truth and false if the means is only to feel the sweet in the end? I reach it because I want to feel good.
M. Laitman: No, no, no, the scrutiny of true and false is not a way to feel the sweet, because as far as the sweetness goes, you have nothing more than a thin candle. You have all those flavors in the sweet that fill this world. More than pleasures to fill this world cannot be felt in simply bitter and sweet. Spiritual pleasures, meaning above this world, all the pleasures can be felt only in true and false. Meaning only to the extent that I'm compatible with the Creator where the degree of compatibility is not the condition for feeling good, but the pleasure is because I'm compatible with Him, understand? If, for example, the starting point, I feel Nefesh and in the end point I will feel NRNHY, then the difference between Nefesh and NRNHY is not something whereby through my intention I feel greater fulfillment, where the intention is simply the means, the means. No, the intention to bestow gives me sensations of bestowal, pleasure from bestowal. And pleasure from bestowal compared to the pleasure from reception is the difference between NRNHY and Nefesh, do you get it? You say, ah, the intention to bestow is simply a condition whereby I will go deeper into the will to receive and use it, and I'll feel more flavors in it. You don't feel more flavors in the will to receive, you feel these additional flavors in the will to bestow. In the will to receive, you cannot feel anymore; your spiritual vessel is built above the will to receive. When I use it in bestowal, when I enjoy, when I feel how much He enjoys, I feel pleasure in Him. But I connect it to Him to such an extent that Him and I are the same. And that is why I can feel it, if I feel only myself, I feel Nefesh of Nefesh of Nefesh, I don't know, a tiny candle. To the extent that I can be connected to the other souls and feel the pleasure in each and every one, the pleasure I feel in them, I feel it as my own. By that, I grow it, that's why all the livelihood, more than the tiny candle – that beastly state right now – it's spiritual livelihood. I annul myself towards someone, and I feel pleasure in him. That means that I came out of my own skin, outside, then this is called pleasure from bestowal. This is spiritual pleasure but it's not in me; by coming out of myself and feeling the deficiencies and fulfillments in Him, I don't feel the fulfillments in my beast. Rather my part in him, in the friend, that's what I feel.
That's why all the spiritual pleasures are outside of me, in vessels that exist in all the other souls. And that's why I have to connect to the rest of the souls in order to be connected with my parts that are in each and every soul. Each and every soul contains a part of me, so I need to connect to each and every soul, be in contact with all my parts in the other souls. Feel the pleasures, the fulfillments in all those parts, and that is truly my spiritual acquisition, the property that I acquire. There is no other way to receive additional pleasure outside of the beastly pleasure that I feel in me. So that's why, Love your friend as yourself, is a great rule of the Torah. If you want the Torah, meaning this light that fills the desire, then go ahead, love your friend as yourself. You need to connect them to you until it becomes as one body like you, then you receive the Torah, NRNHY.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:39) What you said, phase one and phase four. How from the state of bitter and sweet I get a deficiency for truth and false?
M. Laitman: When a person is in the scrutiny of bitter and sweet, how does he get to the scrutiny of true and false? They give him a deficiency from above, which is called the point in the heart, this is the deficiency of true and false. The point in the heart, the attitude to spirituality, to the Creator, it's all found in the scrutiny of true and false, and not in bitter and sweet. Bitter and sweet is only a beastly scrutiny, it never grows, it never diminishes; rather it appears to us through the scrutiny of true and false that bitter and sweet also changes, but acquires a different dimension, or suddenly it grows in quantity and quality. But actually the beast remains a beast, it simply appears to us that it becomes more valuable, more precious. But in truth, all development is in the scrutiny of true and false, not bitter and false. Rather in accordance with true and false, bitter and sweet also develop. After the barrier, bitter and sweet become the worlds of Klipa, the worlds of the shells. That's where the scrutiny of bitter and sweet compares to the scrutiny of holiness, which is true and false. The two scrutinies, that's how they go in parallel until the end of correction.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:19:33) You just said that the pleasure is felt in the friend, in my part within the friend. So what does it mean that the Shechina is dwelling between us? Where is that between us?
M. Laitman: If the pleasure is felt in the friend, then in all of humanity – all 600,000 souls, there's a part of me in it – then I feel my pleasures in all those parts, in all the souls. What did we say once? That the Shechina dwells between us, meaning not in each and every one, but between us. That's what I said, in the connection between one and another. How do I come to someone? By bestowing to him, that's the meaning of between us, from me to him. And I feel the dwelling of the Shechina on that connection, this connection is the intention to bestow, the part that I find in another soul is the will to receive. It turns out that how do I come to you? To come to you, I need the intention to bestow. Between me and you, it's a vector – when I get to you, I find in you the will to receive, which is felt in me as part of me, that's how I wish to participate in you, in your joy, in your sorrow, and so on and so forth. So, by connecting to you, I have two things now: I have the intention to bestow, which is between us, and in you, there's a deficiency. So I acquired both the vessel and the intention over it. That's truly a spiritual vessel, but this beast in me remains a beast, I simply kind of lean onto it in order to carry out these actions from it and upward, outside of me.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:21:46) If the attitude that a person feels towards the friends in the group, so you can say that's what he feels towards the Creator.
M. Laitman: The attitude to the friends in the group and the attitude to the Creator. We must make a clear distinction between the two: the attitude towards friends in the group is an attitude of bestowal in order to connect to godliness, otherwise, it'll be confusing, this Creator and me and the group. And the group is a means where all of us as souls must connect in order to form a vessel, a condition for connecting, for unifying with the Creator. That's why it may sound coarse and not pleasant to hear but I use the friends and the group, I exploit them in order to reach the Creator. The goal is the Creator, not the group or the souls; I must use them because I am part of that general structure called Adam HaRishon. And only through Adam HaRishon we can reveal godliness, the Creator relates to us through Adam HaRishon. To the extent we can incorporate in the image of Adam HaRishon before the shattering, or correct ourselves. When I correct myself and include it in that degree, there you find the connection between Adam HaRishon and the Creator, where is it? ZON of Atzilut, who are in their place, or in AVI, I have to rest at that level, that degree. There, there is unification between the Creator and the created being. The fact that later you have the shattering, and then they fell down to this world, and I climb back, this in spirituality doesn't matter. All the states exist in spirituality all the time. If I wish to unite with the Creator, it means that I have to reach that level, that degree. There, in that place, there's connection, and just to have connection before the shattering, I need this connection to incorporate with the shattering, that means that I corrected it. So, in the connection, who's there? Adam HaRishon, the collection of all the souls, who are truly as one man in one heart, in one body, one soul, one general soul. And unified in order to bestow in accordance with the Creator, so the group, and the Rav, and the books are means only. God forbid that you start to make graven images out of everyone here.
Student: It's clear that it's a means, I'm asking how to change the attitude when the relation of a person changes to the group? By this can you also measure your relation towards the Creator for the good and for the bad, or is there no connection?
M. Laitman: I can't say according to my attitude to the group, to say that I changed with my attitude to the Creator. It's very difficult, my attitude to the group depends on so many factors that they give me that I try, and they try from above. Meaning there's a result of the conflict and struggle between many forces, and I can't measure it correctly, ever. If I'm looking down at all the friends, and who knows? You know, they give me such a great will to receive that I'm like Shimon from the market, it's a posterior of a high degree. And then I simply need to work on it; we always need to believe that each and every state that we're given is better than the previous state. Not in the feeling, not in the bitter and sweet; rather in true and false, which is better, whatever it'll be, it's always better. The worst possible state I can have with my body, with my life, nevertheless, they raise a person up in sanctity and never bring him down.
Student: He writes that when a person reaches a state – so, there's no meaning to keep going in the work.
M. Laitman: The moment the will receive springs and the fall comes, the person has nothing else to do but to drag himself to the group, you know, like in a shower. You know, you get under the hot shower, let it fall over you, and similarly you have to come here, sit in the group. It doesn't matter, you sit, you sleep, but you're here, maximum participation, that's it, they don't demand more of you. They give you such will to receive that the Creator knows in advance how you will respond. Don't worry, you don't have to act before Him. He knows exactly what will be with you ahead of time. Rather, you need these scrutinies, you need to come out of it, not, you know, for Him it's all clear.
Student: How to get out of this state?
M. Laitman: How to come out? You need an external force to come out of this state. This external force can be either through the study, or through the group, so gradually, when you come, nevertheless you listen, you hear something, you come out of it. The question is, how long does it take you to come out of it? You can be sitting at home and do nothing, and you'll still come out of it because gradually the lights work, you have the privilege from before. You're not eating today what you earned today, you eat today based on what you earned a week ago. That's the same thing in spirituality, there's a continuation, and they give you a higher degree each time for which you haven't made any profit. The fall is into a deeper pit and certainly you have no power to come out of it, so you're not – they don't demand this from you. So even if you do nothing, it will gradually move about, but it's a matter of time. It can be several months, and it can be a few weeks. That's why you have to sign a covenant with a group, a contract, whereby if I feel bad, passive, they come to me and start to shake me up.
Student: But who is the group?
M. Laitman: The group are simply foreign forces, external forces that can apply pressure on me, even a desire. A pressure is something beastly, and a desire is something spiritual, why? He writes that what's good about the group, that with the group and the Rav, you can use them even when you desires are not eternal, not constant, not decisive. Today is one thing, then tomorrow another: I love them, then I hate them, I look down at them, I respect them – it doesn't matter. Each and every time, the way you feel, that's how it works. But it doesn't work relative to the Creator, relative to the Creator, there's a barrier. If you're 100% pure, they let you in; if not, not. But toward the group and the Rav, no, the minute it's good, you can use the good, and the minute it's bad, you can use the bad. That's why the connection toward the group constantly changes. Even if it's loose, it always works, that's one thing; second thing is because you and the group are in this world, you can use what they have, using your own beastly qualities. You have envy, lust, and honor, these things you want to fill, to satisfy. You can use them in order to acquire spiritual force – how through such beastly qualities I can derive spiritual force, how? Very simple, I begin to envy him more, let's say, he begins to annoy me, I hate him, when I hate him, I begin to connect to him. There's a connection there, negative, but it's a connection nevertheless; this connection begins to bring me spirituality. I begin to hate him, then to envy him, and because we're in this world, our connections are nevertheless impure connections – it's always through mutual exploitation. Holiness is traveling in these clothings, sanctity is much as you have in this world, but it passes through these clothings. If there are a few other guys around me who can influence me quite well, in all kinds of ways; slap me, whatever is needed, so it takes me out of the fall. It gives me the power, not that they can extract me from the fall, but they provide me with forces, and I begin to awaken. And that's the difference between months and maybe several hours. A person has to ensure that at least in the same day, if he doesn't see the friends, at least the next morning at most, he comes out of the fall. If that continues longer, it means he doesn't have a good connection with the group. I'm not talking about things you can do in a matter of seconds, I'm talking about, he needs to, let's say, see them, feel them, subjugate himself before them so they will work on him. They need to see his state, to come to him, to give him a good shake. But at least within 24 hours, it should happen because there are those who are in it for weeks on end, you understand me a little bit, right? Deficiency in the environment, this is deficiency in the environment, clear? Let it be clear.
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Reader: (01:33:41) Let's share impressions from the lesson and what from it we are taking to implement in the Ten. Like always, friends, and through them, everything.