The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Morning Lesson: July 26, 2026
Part 1:Rabash. What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It? Article No. 10 (1987).
Reader: Hello friends, in the first part of the lesson we'll listen to a lesson from the 12th of June 2002 with Rav Laitman. The article is by Rabash “What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?” It is article number 10 from 1987. We're going to read in the Tens only a part of the article. We'll read for 19 minutes.
Reading: (00:56) What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?
Article No. 10, 1987
It is written in The Zohar (Metzora, Item 4), “Come and see, with the slander that the serpent said to the woman, he caused the woman and the man to be sentenced to death, them, and the whole world. It is written about slander, ‘And their tongue, a sharp sword.’ For this reason, ‘Beware the sword,’ meaning slander. ‘Wrath brings the punishments of the sword.’ What is, ‘Wrath brings the punishments of the sword’? It is the sword for the Creator, as we learned that the Creator has a sword with which He judges the wicked. It is written about it, ‘The Lord has a sword full of blood,’ ‘And My sword shall eat flesh,’ which is the Malchut from the side of Din [judgment] in her. Hence, ‘Beware the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is judgment.’
“It writes Din, but it means, ‘That you may know that thus it is judged,’ that anyone with a sword in his tongue who speaks slander, the sword that consumes everything is ready for him—the Malchut in the form of the Din in her. It is written about it, ‘This shall be the law of the leper.’ Malchut, which is called ‘this,’ sentences the leper because he slandered, for afflictions come for slander.” Thus far its words.
This needs to be understood, since The Zohar says that for anyone with a sword in his tongue, meaning who slanders, the sword that consumes everything is ready for him—the Malchut in the form of Din in her. And we learn this from what is written about the serpent, who slandered the woman. However, there the slander was about the Creator; how is this a proof between man and man, that it should be so grave as to cause death, as it explains about the verse, “And their tongue, a sharp sword,” about slander between man and man?
In other words, there is the same measure and severity of iniquity of slander between man and man as in slander between man and the Creator. Is it possible that one who slanders his friend will be similar to one who slanders the Creator?
When slandering the Creator, we can understand that it causes death, since by slandering the Creator he becomes separate from the Creator. For this reason, since he is separated from the Life of Lives, he is considered dead. But why should it cause death when the slander is between man and man?
The Zohar says that afflictions come for slander. Our sages said (Arachin 15b), “In the West they say: The talk of a third kills three: It kills the one who tells, the one who receives, and the one about whom it is said.” RASHI interprets “The talk of a third” as gossip, which is the third between man and man, revealing to him a secret. Also there, Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosi Ben Zimra: “Anyone who slanders, it is as though he denies the tenet.” And Rav Chisda said, “Mr. Ukva said, ‘Anyone who slanders, the Creator says, ‘He and I cannot dwell in the world.’’”
Also, we should understand the severity of the prohibition on slander, to the point that it is as though one has denied the tenet, or according to what Mr. Ukva says, that the Creator says, “He and I cannot dwell in the world.” It means that if we say, for example, that if Reuben said something bad to Shimon about Levi, that he did something bad, the Creator cannot dwell in the world, due to Reuben’s slander about Levi. But with other transgressions that Reuben might have committed, the Creator can dwell in the world with him. Thus, if this is such a grave matter, then we should understand what makes slander so bad.
We will interpret this in the work. In the essay “The Giving of the Torah,” he explains the great importance of the commandment, “Love thy friend as thyself.” “Rabbi Akiva says, ‘This is the great rule of the Torah.’ This statement of our sages demands explanation. The word Klal (collective/rule) indicates a sum of details that, when put together, form the above collective. Thus, when he says about the commandment, ‘Love thy friend as thyself,’ that it is a great Klal in the Torah, we must understand that the rest of the 612 commandments in the Torah, with all their interpretations, are no more or no less than the sum of the details inserted and contained in that single commandment, ‘Love thy friend as thyself.’
“This is quite perplexing, because you can say this regarding Mitzvot [commandments] between man and man, but how can that single Mitzva [commandment] contain all the Mitzvot between man and God, which are the essence and the vast majority of its laws?
“He also writes there about a convert who came before Hillel (Shabbat 31) and told him: ‘Teach me the whole of the Torah while I am standing on one leg.’ And he replied: ‘That which you hate, do not do unto your friend (the translation of ‘Love thy friend as thyself’), and the rest is commentary; go study.’
“Here before us is a clear law, that in all 612 commandments and in all the writings in the Torah there is none that is preferred to the commandment, ‘Love thy friend as thyself’ ... since he specifically says, ‘the rest is commentary; go study.’ This means that the rest of the Torah is interpretations of that one commandment, that the commandment to love your friend as yourself could not be completed were it not for them.”
We should understand why, when the convert told him in the holy tongue [Hebrew], “Teach me the whole of the Torah while I am standing on one leg,” Hillel did not reply to him in the holy tongue, but replied to him in the language of translation [Aramaic] and told him, “That which you hate, do not do unto your friend.”
We should also understand that in the Torah, it is written, “Love thy friend as thyself,” which is a positive Mitzva [commandment to perform some action], but Hillel spoke in a negative term [commandment to avoid some action], for he told him, “That which you hate, do not do unto your friend,” which is negative phrasing.
In the essay “The Giving of the Torah,” he explains the greatness and importance of the rule, “Love thy friend as thyself,” since the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations, and for the creatures to feel delight and pleasure without any lacks. There is a rule that any branch wishes to resemble its root. Since our root is the Creator, who created all the creatures, He has no deficiencies or needs to receive anything from anyone.
Therefore, when the creatures receive from someone, they, too, feel shame from their benefactors. Thus, for the creatures not to be ashamed while receiving delight and pleasure from the Creator, the matter of Tzimtzum [restriction] was set up in the upper worlds. This causes the upper abundance to be hidden from us, so we do not feel the good that He has hidden in the Torah and Mitzvot that the Creator has given us.
We are made to believe that the corporeal pleasures that we see before us, feeling its virtue and benefit, and the whole world, meaning that all the creatures in this world devotedly chase after pleasures to obtain them. Still, there is but a tiny light in them, a very small illumination compared to what can be obtained by keeping Torah and Mitzvot. It is written about it in The Zohar that the Kedusha [holiness] sustains the Klipot [shells]. This means that if Kedusha did not give sustenance to the Klipot, they would not be able to exist.
There is a reason why the Klipot should exist, since in the end, everything will be corrected and will enter the Kedusha. This was given for the creatures to correct, for by having the concept of time for them, there can be two topics within the same topic, even though they are in contrast. It is written about it (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 25), “For this reason, there are two systems, ‘Kedusha [holiness],’ and the ‘Impure ABYA,’ which are opposite to one another. Thus, how can the Kedusha correct them?”
This is not so with man, who is created in this world. Since there is a matter of time, they (two systems) are in one person, but one at a time. And then there is a way for Kedusha to correct the impurity. This is so because until thirteen years of age, a person attains the will to receive that is in the system of impurity. Afterward, through engagement in Torah, he begins to obtain Nefesh de [of] Kedusha, and then he is sustained by the system of the worlds of Kedusha.
Yet, all the abundance that the Klipot have, which they receive from the Kedusha, is but a tiny light that fell because of the breaking of the vessels and through the sin of the tree of knowledge, by which the impure ABYA were made. And yet, we should believe, imagine, and observe how all the creatures chase that tiny light with all their might, and none of them says, “I will settle for what I have acquired.” Instead, each always wishes to add to what he has, as our sages said, “One who has one hundred wants two hundred.”
And the reason why there was no wholeness in them is because there was no wholeness in them to begin with. But in spirituality, the upper light is dressed in everything spiritual. Hence, when a person attains some illumination of spirituality, he cannot tell if it is a small or a great degree, since in the spiritual, even the degree of Nefesh de Nefesh, which is a part of the Kedusha—and like the rest of Kedusha, it is wholeness—there is wholeness in even a part of it. This is so because the discernments of “great” or “small” in the upper light are according to the value of the receiver.
In other words, it depends on the level to which the receiver is capable of obtaining the greatness and importance of the light. But there is no change at all in the light itself, as it is written, “I the Lord (HaVaYaH), do not change” (as explained in the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 63).
Accordingly, the question arises, “Why does the whole world chase the tiny light that shines in corporeal pleasures, while for spiritual pleasures, which hold the majority of delight and pleasure, we do not see anyone wishing to make such great efforts, as they make for corporeality?” However, corporeal pleasures are in the impure ABYA. There were no restriction or concealment on them, and purposely so, or the world would not exist, since it is impossible to live without pleasure.
Also, it extends from the purpose of creation to do good to His creations. Hence, without pleasure there is no existence to the world. It turns out that the pleasures had to be disclosed in them. This is not so with additions, meaning with receiving delight and pleasure for more than sustaining the body, which is the real pleasure. On that, there were restriction and concealment so they would not see the light of life that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot, before a person accustoms himself to working in order to bestow, called “equivalence of form.” This is so because had the light that is clothed in Torah and Mitzvot been revealed, there would be no room for choice.
In other words, where the light is revealed, the pleasure that one would feel in keeping Torah and Mitzvot would be in the form of self-reception. Thus, he would not be able to say that he is keeping Torah and Mitzvot because of the commandment of the Creator. Rather, he would have to keep Torah and Mitzvot because of the pleasure that he feels in them. While a person feels pleasure in some transgressions, he can calculate that the pleasure is only a tiny light compared to the real taste in Torah and Mitzvot and how it is difficult to overcome the lust, and that the greater the desire, the harder it is to endure the test.
Reader: And now, friends, let's continue to the Rav's lesson from the 12th of June, 2002.
M. Laitman: (18:10) We read a part of the article from this week's Torah portion, Metzora, “What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?” The truth is, that in reality, there is nothing that is truly against anything. We always say, "against," one as against. This is how it is expressed in the Torah. This opposite that. What does “opposite” mean? It is as though it stands against something, yet in fact it only supports it. In order to clarify one thing, something appears opposite it. That's the whole point. It appears that way because of our lack of understanding and the lack of a comprehensive view. So what we see gives us the impression that there is really something that contradicts and destroys. But ultimately, although this is indeed how it appears, the purpose is for even the worst thing to become a support, a foundation for the next structure and the next degree. It all depends on the person, whether according to their equivalence of form or their oppositeness of form to Kedusha- to holiness they receive the revelation of Kedusha.
Ask questions, perhaps I'll say something. We need to understand that every concealment we see at every degree, where the lower one is concealed from the Upper One, as we are concealed at our degree in this world is simply each degree in relation to the next degree, which is already beyond the barrier. The concealment exists in order to enable the lower one to acquire vessels of bestowal. For if there were no concealment, we would see the illuminated perfect state, where everything is known and everything is seen; then there would certainly be no possibility of detaching ourselves from the will to receive. It's like trying not to think about a white elephant, not to think about something that is so attractive; now disconnect yourself from it and think about the same thing, only for the sake of bestowal. How is that possible? Therefore, the pleasure in Kedusha, in holiness, is concealed, but Kedusha itself is not concealed. You can feel it.
M. Laitman: (21:27) However, the moment a person gives up the pleasure of Kedusha for oneself, that very moment they feel and see Kedusha. In other words, Kedusha itself, that is spirituality is not concealed. What is concealed is only the direct pleasure that the vessels of reception can receive from it. Only that is under restriction, because the moment we become corrected and no longer wish to use the vessels of reception, spirituality becomes revealed immediately. Then we see that it was never concealed before either. It only seemed concealed because the vessels were operating with the intention to receive.
In other words we need to understand that if there are two channels through which we can perceive spirituality the interference exists only in the second channel. It is as though, because we want to receive for ourselves, we try to draw spirituality into that channel. But if we want to perceive spirituality not for ourselves, but in order to work with it as befits it, in equivalence of form with it, then we see it and we can work with it. In other words, it is our vessels of reception that conceal spirituality from us.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (22:59) How can you not want to receive something if I never received before?
M. Laitman: Since spirituality is concealed, even though it seems that I want it, but really I don't. What I really want is to get rid of suffering. I'm given all kinds of suffering in this world, in my present state, and I have to escape from that suffering. So it seems to me that I'm attracted to spirituality, because I want it. Really, I cannot want it. I've never seen it. I've never felt it. All these mystical things that a person imagines to himself are not spirituality either. Spirituality is completely bestowal, not what we imagine it to be. So each time a different character, a different image of spirituality becomes clarified for a person. The more they advance, the more their perception of spirituality constantly changes. So I cannot truly desire spirituality in and of itself, because it's completely opposite to me. Right?
However, I'm driven to it because it seems to me that it will solve my problems, all in all. Little by little, through study, through hearing from the environment and society, together with my small will to receive in relation to spirituality — or let's put it this way — maybe I'd simply call it a kind of curiosity, which I develop by hearing from others that it's worthwhile that it's abundant, that it's great. So through that, I become attracted to it.
In other words, I obligate myself to study and to work, to do actions that help. All in all, study and actions help me attract the surrounding light. When I attract the surrounding light, I receive the Chen de Kedusha, the grace of holiness, something I've never had before. Even though it seemed to me that I wanted spirituality so much, but the grace of holiness is something else. The grace of holiness, means that I truly begin to agree that maybe one should come to work for the sake of bestowal. This is a very strange thing, unnatural.
It means that in my general Lo Lishma- not for Her sake, a little bit of Lishma, a little bit of for Her sake, begins to emerge. And so I want to do this work, whether it'll be for me or for the Creator. Of course, if there'll be nothing in it for me, I won't do it. But if there's already a little something there, or I also intend for there to be some consideration for the Creator as well, some kind of relation toward Him, that's called “Lo Lishma, that brings one to Lishma.” The transition is already there. It's like in the shattering of the vessels — in the vessel, there is a spark of Bina in Malchut. And through that spark, Malchut can later be corrected.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (26:57) What, all these calculations about this little spark?
M. Laitman: Because spirituality is concealed- Although it seems as though I want it, in truth, I don't. Of course, all of spirituality grows from that calculation, from that spark. Through study that spark receives the grace of holiness, and then I develop it. But initially, I certainly have no understanding of what spirituality is, nor do I have any genuine desire for it. But through the grace of holiness that enters me, from what's called Lishma, from that I begin to truly desire to be in order to bestow, that quality begins to appear in me. And that's truly a miracle. That in the will to receive, little sparks of bestowal begin to emerge.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (28:04) What is this grace of sanctity, holiness?
M. Laitman: Chen de Kedusha- the grace of sanctity- the grace of holiness, is exactly what it's called, the grace of holiness. It means that there is a certain attraction to it, it's pleasant to me. I think it would be good for me to have it. It's not yet a desire, because there's no deficiency for it. Rather, it's simply endearing to me. That's all. That's really the feeling. There are no natural barriers to it.I simply love it. I'm drawn to it. There's something about it. Chen, grace or charm, that's exactly the right word. In general, the way the sages gave a name to every phenomenon is remarkable. They felt it completely, and then they dressed it in the precise word.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (29:03) What is the meaning of the pleasures, the goods, and the pleasure that the Creator wanted to give to the created beings? What is the meaning of that?
M. Laitman: The goodness and delight that the Creator wished to bestow upon His created beings refers to the Creator's own degree. There is no other goodness and delight than what He Himself is. That is His state, His degree. That is what He wanted the created being to attain. Anything less than that cannot be called to do good to His created beings. Anything less would simply be maybe taking pity on the created being, so to speak. Understand? Because He Himself is the good. You see, we call Him Good and Does Good. And it is to that goodness that He wants us to attain. In other words, we need to reach His state. Not to receive from Him and not merely to feel Him. That's for certain, but to attain His state. This is called equivalence of form, and this is called adhesion. As it is written, "from Your actions we know You." Through His actions we come to know Him. We become equivalent to His actions. And through becoming equivalent to His actions, we simply exist on the same level, at the same degree.
And when we complement Him, it's not that we receive from Him. Rather, it's like ZON, Zeir Anpin and Nukva, existing in an unceasing coupling on an equal degree. There is no inferiority whatsoever in the created being with respect to the Creator's degree. And that's what's called “Good that Does Good.”
Student: What happens with the degrees prior to this?
M. Laitman: All the degrees prior to that are degrees of equivalence of form, through which I gradually come to complete equivalence. I have 620 desires, and each desire needs to become equal to the Creator in the way it is used. I correct a particular desire so that it will be in order to bestow, meaning that it comes into exactly the same mode of use as His. The light shines corresponding to that desire. He created my desire through a particular light.
Let's say that 620 lights emerge from Him. Each light creates in me a will to receive, in order to receive. Then I correct that desire to be in order to bestow, and the vessel becomes like the light. That desire becomes like the light because it now bestows back through its action. So I end up with 620 such vessels that bestow back to the Creator, just as He, through the 620 lights, bestows into these vessels. So these two systems become equal in terms of the act of bestowal. That's what it means for the created being to become exactly like the Creator.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:12) From the article, in truth, it's not so clear to me what the evil tongue is, because I see that it's not merely you speaking ill of the Creator.
M. Laitman: The evil tongue, or slander, refers only to what is against the Creator. It is not slander if I say something about you to a third person. That's actually good speech. But true slander is only in relation to the Creator, because in reality we have no relationship with anything else except our relationship with Him. Whatever prevents us from relating to Him correctly, that is, any message, whether from our inner voice or certainly from an external source, that can weaken or corrupt my attitude toward Him, that is called slander, or evil tongue. In other words, you could say that ultimately all disturbances can be called slander. Every disturbance, whether external or internal, no matter what it is, speaks within me against His uniqueness, against the fact that He is Good that Does Good. That is what can be considered slander.
Student: So what am I supposed to do? I can be like that right now and just say, “God bless, God bless,” all day.
M. Laitman: No, you don't need to go around saying, “God bless,” all day. You need to say, “God bless,” after you examine yourself and contend with this slander, with this evil tongue. After you understand where it comes from, from your own vessels, then you recognize its source, you descend to that source and feel how opposite it is and how it disturbs you from recognizing the goal and attaining the goal. Then you truly say that this slander is evil to you because it is evil toward the Creator. Through that, you become united with the Creator, with respect to that slander, so to speak, and only then can you ask the Creator to correct that slander. Before you become united with Him, with respect to the evil, you cannot ask Him to correct it.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (34:30) What if, let’s say, that something comes up against a friend? Obviously it's all against the Creator, but what if it comes now specifically against a friend?
M. Laitman: What do you mean, toward a friend? That you hear something from a friend like, “well, this is how it was for me?” When I first came to the synagogue, I'd already been there for a few weeks. I don't remember, maybe even a few months. So I came on Shabbat, and I stayed to sleep at the home of a certain Hassid. His grandfather had studied with Baal HaSulam, and he was one of the — he had great attainment, one of his foremost students. His grandfather I mean, not his father, his grandfather; as for him, he was just an ordinary fellow. What fault of his that his grandfather had been with Baal HaSulam, but he'd remained close to the Rebbe. I stayed at his house, and together we went to the synagogue for the prayers and the meals, and then we walked back. And on the way we talked, and I asked him the same question about the process and all that. He said, “what process?” You know, you have to devote your whole life to this. Maybe 20 years just to begin to feel and attain. It's this thing that, who can really go through with it? Who actually does it? Well, that's what he said. His grandfather had been with Baal HaSulam. His father had studied with the Rebbe, and was still studying, and he himself was studying too. He was around my age, maybe a few years older. So I went straight to the Rebbe. You know, I'm not like you. I'm not so intelligent like you. I grabbed the Rebbe, Rabash, firmly, I pulled him aside and said, “my dear friend, what is this? 20, 30, 40 years? What's all this about?” When Rabash heard what had been said, he wanted to kill him. He really wanted to kill him. That, he told me, is slander. That is slander. He injected poison into you. Now that you've heard it, that question will stay with you for the whole path. Throughout the entire path, that question's going to accompany you. You won't be able to get rid of it. You'll constantly have to struggle with it. You're not allowed to listen to things like that. Now, what was I guilty of? I happened to hear it. You understand? Everything unfolds from above. But this is truly called slander. It's something that weakens you, something that can plant another thought in you, another path. Something that diverts you even slightly from the goal you need to reach. In the end, it's entirely to your detriment. Otherwise, you'd simply say, “fine, 20 years, and eventually you'll get there,” but now you may waste several more lifetimes, who knows, only to return afterward to that same point. So you must not listen to such things. And if there are these kinds of rumors and conversations in the society, then you need to remove those immediately. If someone has such a tendency to speak that way in the society, and that's simply total destruction.
M. Laitman: (38:12) You know, once, in 1975, I became an insurance agent, while I was still serving in the army. Why? Because I didn't have enough money for fuel for my car, and I really wanted to travel around the country. At that time, there had been some kind of fuel price increase, I don't remember exactly. So, I became an insurance agent. After work, I'd spend a little bit of time on it. What did it do for me? It let me drive to different places. That was enough for me, I didn't want anything more than that. You might be able to see that in lectures here, too. You might have seen something like it yourselves.
They gathered people together to explain insurance, never mind what kind happened to be there. There was this one man in the audience who was against it, and he began asking the lecturer questions, and started introducing all kinds of arguments about why it wasn't worthwhile. He destroyed the entire room. There were maybe about 100 people, maybe 70 or 80. Not one of them wanted to buy insurance afterward. I still remember the impression it made on me, how I saw that. That really was slander in its purest form. Just look at how much damage one person can do. Because he goes along with your present nature, so it's very easy for him to do that. Had he been speaking against your nature, he would not have been able to cause nearly as much harm. You see how much effort we need just to create a little balance between the good force and the evil force in us. So with everything, you must literally decide whether to open your ears or close them, to open them or close them. The same applies to your eyes. It's really like that. The moment you hear something bad or something that can weaken you, leave that place immediately. It's very important. We don't realize how serious it is. We think, no, I'll overcome it, so I'll become even stronger because of it. Nothing will come of that. It will remain inside you. It will return to you in other situations when you won't feel so heroic anymore. When it's necessary, they will give you slander from within — that's something else. But from outside, that's already your choice. You must not remain around it. I strongly warn you about this with regard to one another. This is how we establish things in our groups. We need to constantly speak about the greatness of the goal and continually show love and all the beautiful actions that, so to speak, we do for one another.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (41:31) If I understand correctly, slandering the Creator is worse than condemning Him?
M. Laitman: Slandering the Creator is worse than condemning? Certainly. No doubt. I condemn Him because I feel that I am not corrected, this is my natural response. If I'm displeased with life, it means that I'm condemning Him. I don't need to say it with my mouth. If something feels bad to me, to the extent that I feel bad, I say that He is bad. Right? But it's me saying it from my sensation of evil. So gradually, I correct that feeling. I find the right attitude towards Him, and I see that this evil comes to me in a purposeful, goal-oriented way. Right? But if I hear external slander about Him, then I catch an addition, a negative addition from outside. It's like when we say we want to unite together, to gather our good attitude towards Him, our attraction to Him, our desire for Him, one from another, so that each one will have a greater desire. Yes? So imagine yourself that we assemble, and God forbid, each one takes from the other slander against the Creator or the goal. Well, that's what happens when you take some negative influence from without. And according to this example that I gave about the lecture about insurance, one such rumor can destroy a lot of work that you've done beforehand. And that's why it's very important. That's why we are afraid to even see a person who's weakened. Well, he's tired, maybe he sleeps, we see that he's completely exhausted. That's day and night. He's at work, he has no time, he fell. That's the opposite. That could be very respectable if we see that he's truly giving his all. But if he just starts showing disregard… Well we had one friend like that who could have exerted but didn't want to, and he's justifying himself, so we could not tolerate him here. Although a very good, nice, intelligent person, but this form, this conduct was very… It was great interruption. It was an example. You don't even need to talk about it. The evil tongue, slander, it's not the actual tongue, it's anything that awakens disregard towards the goal it weakens you. The tongueif you read, it won’t be the tongue, if you see something, it won’t be the tongue, the evil tongue. It does not matter.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:51) Can criticism in the group somehow lead to a situation where it becomes like slander, where it weakens people?
M. Laitman: Well, criticism should exist, but very purposeful, focused, and creative criticism. We have gathered here to discuss a problem and how to improve it. Right, why not? Without criticism, without seeing the evil, it's impossible to advance.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:28) Why isn't there something opposite to slander, like something like good speech?
M. Laitman: It's written, “blunt his teeth,” hit him in the teeth, right? Punch him in the teeth, because there's nothing against it. He's speaking and he's correct. He's talking from what exists within your ego and the real situation that you see all around you, relying on your life experience, on the situation, right? “You are a weak man, you have a family, a lot of stress, you're tired with everything that's happening in life.” He'll tell you one thousand and one things, and everything he says is true. He's right. He is right. That is the issue. On the plane you're in — it's like my mother tells me, right? “You're sick, you're weak, you have children, family, this and that. Have pity, have a care, worry about your health a bit more. How can you not sleep at night?” It’s all true things. It's a long list, but I don't want to, I don't think you can even reach the end of it. It's just like that. She calls me every two or three days. In Canada, they have for pensioners this contract with the phone company, some agreement with the phone company; it costs nothing for them, I don't know, thirty, forty dollars a month, and she can call me like infinitely. And this your mother, you can't, so you can't hang up. So you understand? I hear. It helps, it's work that I need to do, that's it. And there's nothing you can do about it on this plane, as she says. It's all right, what she says. It's completely true, just except for one thing, that there is a spiritual goal from the point in the heart, from the point — of that she does not speak. She just talks from the heart about all these problems, and she's right, what can I do? She already knows that I can do nothing about it, right? But still, this is the human mind, and that is the divine mind, so those do this, those do that.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:11) Why isn't there something forceful to counter it? Why isn't there any defense against it?
M. Laitman: Against the evil tongue, something offensive against the evil tongue? Why not? You can’t, just don't hear it. You cannot destroy it, you do not have the power, because it speaks from nature. You can only ask the Creator to change nature, and by that He will replace your evil tongue with a good tongue. You, yourself, you can never do that. Well, last one.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:48) In the example with the insurance lecture, how could you neutralize that person who was ruining everything?
M. Laitman: How can you neutralize that person in the lecture? By the way, that year I was the best agent in all of the Zion insurance company. I still have this. I threw it, I still have that commendation, and I threw it away immediately. How can you neutralize the evil tongue during the lesson, during the lecture? Usually I say this: “I'm here to lecture, I have to give a lecture, I have a plan of what I'm going to talk about, and all these things we’ll hear at the end.” And in the end I ask, “Well, are there questions?” People start asking, maybe he wants to say something also, but the others also have questions, so it kind of blocks it. It's impossible otherwise just to block the evil tongue, to seal it, because against it you cannot contend with it on the same plane, where you speak with them on the normal human plane. He’s correct, he’s correct. According to what we see with our eyes, money, respect, knowledge, security, health, all these things, we see that they can be attained through various accepted channels, right? But when you want to truly go and get them, you see that it's impossible to do, that you cannot solve any problem in a rational way. From health to security, it doesn't matter what, you cannot solve anything, but you need to scrutinize this. And then, what do you use to help you scrutinize it? Specifically that evil tongue. But you then take it in a way that's beneficial. And then you see that indeed, it came with the purpose of helping you see the evil, meaning it needs to be under your supervision. And then it's very good. You see it as an aid against oneself. Yes, we had a lecture in Russian yesterday. Very few people showed up. And I think this is a failure in our preparation. Because people, you don't get them through the newspaper and not through all these leaflets, yes, all those leaflets you make. Because if you have some lecture in Dimona and you post notes, then they will come to wherever is close to them, close to where they live. But if you put up posters in Holon that there's a lecture in Petah Tikva, I don't think that's effective. And that's what we saw. I think it would be best, and they didn't use that. The only thing that could help here is to make sure that in the group, usually each one in the group speaks to several other people about the wisdom of Kabbalah, like that, at work, various other places, circles that he's in. He talks here and there. And then he should tell these people that there's an opportunity to come and hear this general introductory lecture one time, and it's all open, it's free. And then I think in that way, we could have brought a big crowd. Where if each one in the other groups, external groups, would have spoken to a few people around him that he has some connection to, they would then come.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:48) What's the lecture about on Thursday?
M. Laitman: Thursday? I don't know. It's whatever they tell me.
Student: The importance of dissemination.
M. Laitman: The importance of dissemination, fine. So I think this is the only way. And it's good that we've learned this. It's good that it happened the way it did, and we've learned this. And it will become clear. You see, this is also from the evil we come to see. I think this is the solution.
Reader: And now, friends, we will summarize what was our impression from the lesson, and what from it will we take for implementation in the ten, six-minute workshop, please.