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

Daily Lesson (Morning) September 26, 2024.

Part 1: Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot.

Reader: Hello, we are reading from the Writings of Baal HaSulam, the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot.” We are in item 17. You can find the study material in Sviva Tova and the Arvut system, and you can send live questions through our sites.

Whoever asks a question here in the study hall should stand up, hold the microphone close to his mouth, and speak loud and clear. The “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” item 17.

Reading: (00:37) 17) Hence, the student pledges, prior to the study, to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator and in His guidance in reward and punishment, as our sages said, “Your employer is liable to pay you the reward for your work.” One should aim one’s labor to be for the Mitzvot of the Torah, and in this way, he will be rewarded with enjoying the light in it, and his faith will strengthen and grow through the power in this light, as it is written, “It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones” (Proverbs 3:8).

Then one can be certain that from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma, in a way that even one who knows about himself that he has not been rewarded with faith still has hope through the practice of Torah, for if he sets his heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater Mitzva than this. It is as our sages said, “Habakkuk came and stressed only this: ‘A righteous shall live by his faith’” (Makkot 24).

Moreover, there is no other counsel but this, as it is written (Baba Batra, p 16a), “Raba said, ‘Job wished to rid the whole world of judgment. He said to Him, ‘Master of the world, You have created the righteous; You have created the wicked; who holds You down?’’”

And RASHI interprets there: “You have created the righteous through the good inclination; You have created the wicked through the evil inclination. Hence, none are saved from Your hand, for who holds You down? Coerced are the sinners.” And what did the friends of Job reply? “Indeed, you revoke fear and impair prayer before God; the Creator created the evil inclination, He has created for it the Torah as a spice” (Job 15).

RASHI interprets there: “Created for it the Torah,” which is a spice that revokes “thoughts of transgression,” as it is said, “If you come across this villain, pull him to the seminary. If he is hard, he will soften. Hence, not coerced are they, for they could save themselves” (Kidushin, p 30).

Reading: (04:11) 18) Clearly, they cannot rid themselves of the judgment. If they say that they received that spice and still have thoughts of transgression, meaning that they are still in doubt and the evil inclination has not yet melted, for the Creator, Who created it and gave the evil inclination its strength, evidently knew to create the remedy and the spice liable to wear off the power of the evil inclination and eradicate it altogether.

And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either that he has been negligent in giving the necessary labor and exertion in the practice of Torah, as it is written, “I did not labor and found, do not believe,” or perhaps he did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.

This means that while practicing Torah, they did not set their minds and hearts to draw the light in the Torah, which brings faith to one’s heart. Rather, they have been absent-minded about the principal requirement demanded of the Torah, namely the light that yields faith. And although they initially aimed for it, their minds went astray during the study.

Either way, one cannot rid oneself of the judgment by arguing coercion, for our sages strictly state, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” If there had been any exceptions in this, then Job’s question would remain valid.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (07:25) Yes, Rav, we see that the demand for faith is very essential. We can see this from these items in the Introduction to the Study of TES, that really all the studies in order to bring us the force of faith, and a person needs to approach the study in order to receive faith. He even writes in item 17 that we just read, that if a person, even if he knows that he doesn't have this, but he approaches the Torah in order to attain faith, there's already no greater commandment, no greater Mitzva than that. Why is it so much so?

M. Laitman: Because it's all aimed toward the purpose of creation, the purpose of the study, the purpose of a person's life. And hence, if he's already coming, what is his direction, what is his goal?

Student: Meaning, when we approach the study, and even if we can be in a feeling of lowliness, empty, distant, if we come with a demand for faith, that's already the correct action towards the correction?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Now, is there a state where from it you cannot demand faith, meaning there's some state in life like that, or is it that every state in life is a state where a person can expect the force of faith?

M. Laitman: What is available, what is there, I can't say. There are those who feel they're lacking it more, those who feel it less, there are those who want it, and those who are coming here almost like to have fun. It really depends on the level and the intensity of the soul in person.

Student: Now, we're in a Ten.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And I think that you can sometimes feel where there's a certain friend that the tendency towards faith is more noticed in him, and those that it's less, and they're a little bit more indifferent to it, and it changes. The question is, how do we kind of row together towards that demand?

M. Laitman: I guess he will talk about it later. For now, he didn't. He didn't speak of the work together, of each shall help his friend. He did not speak of it yet.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (10:26) How do we differentiate what the study is towards us and prior to the study is?

M. Laitman: I don't know.

Student: He kind of starts this item 17 probably this way, that a student prior to the study is obligated. So how to relate to that definition?

M. Laitman: Before he starts to study.

Student: Before the time of the lesson, or is there something else?

M. Laitman: Before the lesson means before the person starts to learn from the Torah. Which intentions does he have?

Student: So all the time from six o'clock in the morning till three o'clock at night?

M. Laitman: He doesn't mention times.

Student: We have to relate to this practically. So I don't know.

M. Laitman: I don't know. You add that.

Student: So what is to strengthen prior to the study?

M. Laitman: Before he comes to the study, he checks his intention and how much his intention has to solve, how to extend his path.

Student: What is the role in the group, in the Ten?

M. Laitman: You can ask a thousand questions here. Simple: As much as he writes, that's what we do.

Student: He says that there's a problem not with the quantity of the effort, but the quality of the effort.

M. Laitman: He will talk more about it. He will talk more about it.

Question (Women Turkiye 9): (12:30) How can I put my heart into the work?

M. Laitman: This is according to how much a person thinks that this work affects the rest of his life, his heart, accordingly he puts in part of the heart or the entire heart.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (13:19) If a student that has been studying for several years and it's not working like he says here, so what's the meaning here?

M. Laitman: That it's still before him, ready for scrutiny, and for distinction, and correction.

Student: But it will never end, meaning the desire to receive always grows.

M. Laitman: So?

Student: How does a person know that he's filling the sufficient amount needed? He's always in a deficit.

M. Laitman: He's always indebted in quantity and quality, for this and for that, we have a certain measure for each one of us.

Student: What are the signs of a person who's working correctly in the direction of faith?

M. Laitman: That he truly wants to reach faith and he's using everything within his power to get it.

Student: And what is he, when he talked about the negligence in this that he's talking about?

M. Laitman: I guess he's being lazy.

Student: How do you overcome this negligence that is sometimes stronger than him?

M. Laitman: Only connection with friends, and study of the Torah.

Student: What is a lack of faith?

M. Laitman: Lack of faith is according to simple things, a person thinks that he lacks something besides his exertion.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (15:24) It's written, if this wicked guy hurts you, draw him to the seminary. About this wicked one?

M. Laitman: Yes, it's a question. Why does he call the evil inclination this way? I guess in this state, he feels the work of the evil inclination on him. I don't know exactly why they define the evil inclination in this way. Villain, I'm not sure. I'm sure we can call him a villain. But why specifically, this is how the sages chose to refer to it, I'm not sure.

Student: How to feel that he really is a great villain?

M. Laitman: If we are aimed precisely at standing up to it and eradicating it, then I guess we come to that feeling. That this quality is the quality of the villain. It's interesting, he doesn't provide a more precise definition, a more emotional definition.

Reader: Item 19.

Reading: (17:47) 19) Through all that has been explained thus far, I have removed a great complaint about the words of Rav Chaim Vital in his introduction to Shaar HaHakdamot [Gate to Introductions] by the ARI, and the introduction to the book Tree of Life. He writes, “Indeed, one should not say, ‘I shall go and engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah’ before he engages in the Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud. This is because our sages have already said, ‘One should not enter the PARDESS1 unless he has filled his stomach with meat and wine.’”

This is like a soul without a body: It has no reward or act or consideration before it is connected in a body, when it is whole, corrected in the Mitzvot of the Torah, in 613 Mitzvot.

Conversely, when one is occupied with the wisdom of the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud, and does not give a part to the secrets of Torah and its concealments, as well, it is like a body that sits in the darkness without a human soul, God’s candle, which shines within it. Thus, the body is dry and does not draw from a source of life.

Thus, a wise disciple, who practices Torah Lishma, should first engage in the wisdom of the Bible, the Mishnah and the Talmud, as long as his mind can tolerate. Afterward, he will delve into knowing his Maker in the wisdom of truth.

It is as King David commanded his son Solomon: “Know the God of your father and serve Him.” And if that person finds the study of the Talmud heavy and difficult, he is better off leaving it once he has tested his luck in this wisdom, and engage in the wisdom of truth.

It is written, “A disciple who has not seen a good sign in his learning within five years will also not see it” (Hullin, p 24). Thus, every person for whom learning is easy must dedicate a portion of one or two hours a day to study the Halachah [Jewish conducts] and explain and interpret the questions in the literal Halachah.

Thus far, his holy words, word by word, from where they're quoting it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (21:18) It is written here that if he didn't see a good sign within five years, then he won't see. What's the meaning of that, he won't see?

M. Laitman: If he studies more, he won't necessarily get a greater connection with the Torah.

Student: So, what to do?

M. Laitman: Let's see. The question is a real one.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (21:50) He writes that a student that wants to reach Lishma must first learn the Mishnah and the Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Is that valid for our times as well?

M. Laitman: We will scrutinize this, but in truth, the order of the study is Mishnah, Babylonian Talmud, and then the other parts of the Torah.

Student: When I came to the wisdom of Kabbalah, I had questions that I didn't find in any other place. I came from a secular home, and right away I came here. Do I need to study Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud, or like me, all the world Kli, that have no connection to it whatsoever?

M. Laitman: We're scrutinizing it for now.

Student: From what's written here, it sounds…

M. Laitman: It's written so you'll hear that it needs to be so. That's the order.

Student: He truly says that this is the body upon which you need to clothe the soul.

M. Laitman: Okay, we'll see it next.

Student: So, we'll scrutinize it.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (23:11) What is a good sign?

M. Laitman: A good sign is when it comes to Lishma, I guess.

Student: And a person himself is capable of feeling that with certainty that he did receive a good sign?

M. Laitman: He provides signs for it, yes, we'll see. Other than this definition, we didn't find anything else.

Student: So it kind of works out that a person who engages in Mishnah and Talmud also expects to see a nice sign, a good sign that it's going to bring him to Lishma. Does it work out like that?

M. Laitman: He'll give us a definition. What does it mean that we come to Torah Lishma?

Student: And if it's easier both this way and that way, no matter how you spin it, we must engage in the wisdom of truth in order to reach Lishma?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So why, nevertheless, do we need to try, like he writes, that we need to experience ourselves in the Mishnah and the Talmud and only then reach the wisdom of truth that with certainty will bring a person to Lishma?

M. Laitman: That's the order of the study. Just like if you can't read, how will you learn, even if you have a book that's closest to you and your goal? No. You must go through certain stages nevertheless.

Reader: Item 20.

Reading: (25:21) 20) These words of his seem very perplexing: He says that before one succeeds in the study of the literal, one should already engage in the wisdom of truth. This contradicts his own words from before, that the wisdom of Kabbalah without the literal Torah is as a soul without a body, having no deed, consideration, or reward.

The evidence he brings of a disciple who did not see a good sign is even more perplexing, for did our sages say that he should therefore abandon the learning of Torah? Certainly, it is to caution him to examine his ways and try with another teacher or in another portion. But he must certainly not leave the Torah, even the literal Torah.

Reader: 21.

Reading: (26:36) 21) Another perplexity is that both the words of Rav Chaim Vital and the words of the Gemara imply that one needs some specific preparation and merit to be rewarded with the wisdom of Torah. Yet, our sages said (Midrash Rabbah, portion “And This Is the Blessing”), “The Creator said to Israel: ‘Regard, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are easy: Anyone who fears Me and observes the words of the Torah, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are in his heart.’”

Thus, we need no prior merit here, but only by virtue of fear of the Creator and the keeping of Mitzvot is one granted the whole wisdom of the Torah.

M. Laitman: (27:42) Meaning, fear of the Creator and the keeping of Mitzvot, commandments, that's what we need. And then, it's certain that we are rewarded with what we need.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (28:07) Why does he say that all the wisdom and all the Torah is an easy thing?

M. Laitman: We don't need to learn all of the Torah. We need to discover, reveal the Torah, how it's clothed in all of reality. And that's why he says, this is what we need. Anyone who fears Me and observes the words of the Torah, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are in his heart.

Student: What's easy about it? I don't see anything easy here.

M. Laitman: Why?

Student: Because it necessitates great effort, exertion, years. Where's the ease here? I don't see. I see hard work in order to get there. And also, after years, it's still misunderstood, even a basic concept like faith. So, what's easier?

M. Laitman: But look at what he's saying. The whole wisdom and the whole Torah are easy, anyone who fears Me and observes the words of the Torah. Thus, we need no prior merit here but only by virtue of fear of the Creator and the keeping of the Mitzvot, commandments. If you have a special connection with the Creator and you try to keep it, then the entire Torah is in you.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (30:29) He writes that you don't need to be skilled in anything beforehand except for fearing the Creator and observing the Torah, and that's it.

Student: So, a certain excelling, some merit is dependent here in fear and keeping Mitzvot and developing faith. These are things that are not easy, or not clear.

M. Laitman: Yes. True, but without arranging those things, you cannot say that you have any connection to the Torah, you don't.

Student: When there's faith it's easy, and when there's no fear, there's faith, it's hard?

M. Laitman: Faith is the connection that a person has with the Torah, how much he believes in the Torah, how much he is adhered to it, it all depends on faith, and that's it.

Student: What does he need to believe in?

M. Laitman: He needs to believe in the giver of the Torah, he needs to believe that the Torah is the remedy, and the Creator knows how to arrange the path for him, and that if he's moving toward connection with the Creator, then he's walking on the same path.

Student: And what's the whole Torah in his heart, what's that reality?

M. Laitman: He arranges all his desires, all the qualities he has in his heart, he arranges them according to the light of the Torah.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (32:55) It's written, it's similar to a body that's sitting in the darkness without the soul, the candle of God that illuminates in him, such that the body is dry and not drawing from the source of life. What is that darkness?

M. Laitman: The darkness is man's feeling that he is not connected to the Torah and its purpose.

Student: And the dryness?

M. Laitman: Also, likely from that.

Student: How do you moisten it, or get it wet?

M. Laitman: By, as he says here, by yearning for connection. You come to merit the light of the Torah.

Student: What is this light, what does it give us?

M. Laitman: The light in the Torah is what we need in order to see, to see in it our… the stages of our inner development. That's what he says, the Torah and the wisdom are easy. Anyone who fears me and observes the words of the Torah, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are in his heart. There are certain conditions we have to meet and take them upon ourselves and then, together with that, all the rest of the conditions that the Torah includes will enter us. Thus, we need no prior merit here but only by virtue of fear of the Creator and the keeping of Mitzvot, commandments, one is granted the whole wisdom of the Torah.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:40) Rav, I feel, and read, and see since we started to study the Introduction, there's not a verse that he doesn't write here and emphasize that we should not be negligent in the engagement in Torah. He truly emphasizes it in every verse, one way or another. And I'm asking myself, what is it not to be negligent in the engagement in Torah? He calls it a business, an engagement. It's a serious thing. How do I come each time to come and engage in the Torah? You also said earlier that I come here with the friends not for an outing to have fun, but to engage in Torah. How do I aim myself to engage in the Torah?

M. Laitman: The fact that we are studying represents the action by which we wish to enter and to aim ourselves correctly for the attainment of the Torah.

Student: I feel here that we don't have one moment that we can rest and to say to ourselves, there's no need for exertion right now. The exertion needs to be new every day.

M. Laitman: True.

Student: And it needs to be, the drawing of the light is only through our efforts. So how do I aim myself every day and say to myself, I came here to put forth my efforts. I want to make the exertion. I want to be a real partner of the Creator, not to pass the time and waste it with another two, three hours of a lesson, but to come and feel that we gave everything here.

M. Laitman: This all depends on your investment.

Student: What is the investment? When I say investment?

M. Laitman: Investment, he will talk about it quantitatively, qualitatively.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (38:49) In this part, he's talking about some difference in the style of annulment between the wisdom of the Mishna, the literal Torah, and the wisdom of the truth.

M. Laitman: He's speaking for the most part about the attitude that a person has toward that which is right before him, that's it.

Student: In what way is this relationship dependent upon the study of the wisdom of truth and all the rest?

M. Laitman: He did not define that yet, it is going to come soon.

Student: I am trying to understand, like, to take the reading of the next items, there is some kind of touching on something more external, or does he, like, take those who fear me and do the words of the matters of Torah, it's like this external agreement without an inner demand.

M. Laitman: We'll see it when we get there, but he also speaks about it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:09) What was the Torah given to a person for?

M. Laitman: To reveal the Creator.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:31) Does the fear come from the doing of the Torah? Are they, like, weaved in one another, it's like one impacts the other?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (41:09) When I learn the wisdom of Kabbalah, I feel that it includes the whole PARDES, and through it I enter the PARDES, is that correct?

M. Laitman: Correct.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (41:28) He said that what I'm lacking is the light of faith. He said that the light of faith is in the Torah, and I can receive it by the light that's in the Torah. What is Torah? Where is it, the Torah that he's talking about?

M. Laitman: Torah is the light that we receive if we relate correctly to the source of the Torah, the Creator.

Student: He says that the light of faith can be received only through the light that's in the engagement of Torah. What is that? Who is that, this light?

M. Laitman: This light is a force that I receive, I'm impressed by, and it's because I study and I keep to observe the Torah.

Student: You said that the light shows me my way from where I am to my root. How do I do it so that I'm constantly looking at it, constantly learning from Him, constantly working with it, in this light? In the Ten, as a person, a Bnei Baruch person, where all our essence is correction through our studies, in the Ten where we're learning, this is our work. How do I make it so that I will constantly only look at the light in order to know how to be corrected, and to be corrected practically?

M. Laitman: Simply, we learn more and more. We're incorporated, integrated with this definition of what it means to study the Torah and what is the desired result. How do we feel the light more and more, the light that reforms? And that's how we advance.

Student: How do I draw? He says to draw the light, to adhere to it. How in the Ten, and one will help his friend do we work in a way that each receives much greater forces from his ego so he enters into the light all day long?

M. Laitman: This is perhaps by showing one another how much we wish to reach a result.

Student: And this thing is revealed to who and concealed to who? This thing that we talked about, this light.

M. Laitman: To the extent anyone wants it.

Student: The one who wants it, it's those who the Creator compels to want. Meaning, when the time comes, the Creator awakens him and says, from now on, you need to be corrected.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: And that person knows this.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:04) On the one hand, we learn that you don't need to have any special merit. On the other hand, exertion is according to his ability. So, what if exertion also has to do with merit? He wants to put in 100%, but looking back, he feels that he's being a medium. He puts in only 50%. So, what do you do with that?

M. Laitman: He adds exertion.

Student: Still, even if he prays, he wants to give it all, but in retrospect, he discovers he put in 50% at most.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: Can it be a small thing, like choosing a bottle to give to society, or he discovers a friend who wants to help him, and he's far from 100%? He's not there.

M. Laitman: If he wants to relate correctly, fully, wholly to his friends, he has but one goal. That he is responsible for them, and demands as much as it will work in their place. That's how he depicts it.

Student: There's this tendency that he wants to do it 100%.

M. Laitman: Yes, he scrutinizes it then.

Student: How does he scrutinize it? He comes to the action, and he feels that he's ready to give everything, but he's not able to give everything.

M. Laitman: Well, I don't know that, but he's standing before the Creator and is demanding to be completely immersed in the work. That's it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:01) You just said that the Torah is the light, is a force that corrects us, changes us, and brings us closer to the Creator. Why is this force divided into internality and externality? Towards what end?

M. Laitman: This force connects the Creator with the person, and all that a person can discover, reveal, is in that force. That's it. That's why a person appeals to him, demands, asks, and wants to use him. There's no more than the force of the Torah, that connection that is between a person and the Creator.

Student: So it turns out that because a person is also divided into internality and externality, this force also has to be divided into internality and externality?

M. Laitman: Yes, that's why we say the internality of the Torah, the externality of the Torah.

Student: And why do Kabbalists write, all the sages write that you study Torah, you study this force. They don't say that you draw it, that you yearn for it, that you're washed by it. Many words they use are specifically the words studying, learning or studying.

M. Laitman: Because this force is inside of us and it connects between all the desires, thoughts, and our actions, and we learn how precisely it is in that connection. That's what the Torah actually does. It gives us the possibility to get to know the system as the system is a result of the measure of our connection. That's it.

Student: The measure of connection requires study.

M. Laitman: This measure of connection does not necessarily need the study as much as it needs it. It needs that person that will reveal it, that will reveal the system and reveal that connection where the entire light in it reforms him. Whereas the connection between all the parts, if it were to appear in a person, then a person from that will know who the Creator is, and the Good that Does Good, and who's first, second, and third, etc., in the entire system. Meaning that the truth is that we long not for the study of Torah but rather for the feeling of the Torah. Yes, I will feel what the Torah is.

Student: So it turns out that the Torah is a kind of a sensor in which a person can sense the Creator?

M. Laitman: The Torah is the inner force which connects all the parts of reality. For the time being, that's what we can say.

Reader: Item 22.

Reading: (52:59) 22) Indeed, if we examine his words they will become as clear to us as the objects of the sky in purity. What he wrote, “he is better off leaving his hand off it, once he has tested his luck in the wisdom of the revealed,” does not refer to luck of wit and erudition. Rather, it is as we explained above in the explanation, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” It means that he has delved and exerted in the revealed Torah, and still the evil inclination is in power and has not melted at all. This is because he is still not saved from thoughts of transgression, as RASHI writes above in the explanation, “I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”

Hence, he advises him to leave it and engage in the wisdom of truth, for it is easier to draw the light in the Torah while practicing and laboring in the wisdom of truth than in laboring in the revealed Torah. The reason is very simple: The wisdom of the revealed Torah is clothed in external, corporeal clothes, such as stealing, plundering, torts, etc. For this reason, it is difficult and heavy for any person to aim his mind and heart to the Creator while learning, so as to draw the light in the Torah.

It is even more so for a person for whom learning the Talmud itself is heavy and arduous. How can he remember the Creator during the study, since the scrutiny concerns corporeal matters, and cannot come in him simultaneously with the intention for the Creator?

Therefore, he advises him to engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah, as this wisdom is clothed entirely in the names of the Creator. Then he will certainly be able to easily aim his mind and heart to the Creator during the study, even if it is very difficult for him to study, for the study of the issues of the wisdom and the Creator are one and the same, and this is very simple.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:31) Eventually, we wish to feel the Torah, feel what connects all the parts of reality. What's the relationship between the feeling of the Torah and the feeling of the Giver of the Torah?

M. Laitman: You're right that such a question exists, but for the time being, he hasn't touched on this.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:11) It distinguishes between the Torah that speaks of stealing and plundering, etc., versus the names of the Creator, which is the wisdom of Kabbalah. And when we learn TES, Study of the Ten Sefirot, it's closer to His names. When we are learning from Rabash and about the society and the Ten, it's like a bit closer to the other matter. How much do you take from the friend, how much do you give to the friend, how do you connect to them? So, I want to understand: What is our attitude in the study of these two parts? We learn about connection in the Ten, is it two different parts?

M. Laitman: We don't yet have that connection.

Student: Are these two different parts?

M. Laitman: They probably need to be different. What the difference is and how to compare between them, that's not something I can say yet. We'll see.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:33) He says that a person who didn't succeed in the study of the revealed Torah for five years is better off studying Kabbalah because it's easier to feel the connection with the Creator there. But he doesn't answer what he said before. Why not start immediately with the wisdom of Kabbalah? Because earlier in the previous item, he says, one should not say, I will go and engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah before engaging in Mishnah and Talmud, because it's like a soul without a body. So, he doesn't explain how suddenly it is this way. Well, let's ask differently. What is that body a person has to acquire aside from the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah? What is that body or coarseness that he has to acquire?

M. Laitman: Yes, it's a question.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:27) He writes here, I have created the evil inclination, I created for it Torah as a spice. Meaning that he works and labors in the revealed Torah, and still the evil inclination stands firmly and does not melt away. What is this revealed Torah that he is studying? Because he reveals the evil inclination. A simple person does not reveal his evil inclination. So, what is he studying here? That he reveals the evil inclination, but he hasn't managed to correct it.

M. Laitman: He manages to discover what helps him and what bothers him to be connected to the Creator. That's it.

Student: And then in this state, he recommends to go from the study of the revealed Torah. He says, because he's not saved from thoughts of transgression, therefore he advises him to leave it and engage in the wisdom of truth. Why? For it is easier to draw the light in the Torah while practicing and laboring in the wisdom of truth than in laboring in the revealed Torah. So, I understand that both are the wisdom of Kabbalah. Maybe the attitude is different. What is the wisdom of truth with which it's easier to draw the light?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So, if he feels like he cannot correct the evil inclination, he advises him to go study the wisdom of truth, because then you can draw the light.

M. Laitman: Probably if you were to study the wisdom of truth, the wisdom of Kabbalah, you would be able to discover that connection that it has to you.

Student: It's still not clear. A student discovers, reveals his evil inclination somehow, and he feels like he can't correct it because from all of his study, all of his engagement. So he says, okay good, now engage in the wisdom of truth, and it will help you. What is this advice?

M. Laitman: What is the advice that he should take in place of what he had before for him to take the wisdom of Kabbalah, to be connected to actions that she tells him about, and from them he will feel some more connection towards the Creator.

Student: But how did he reveal the evil inclination? It means that he somehow did certain correct actions.

M. Laitman: No, no, that he didn't know how. It's revealed from engaging in Torah.

Student: Then he has to reach such a state where he reveals by himself the transition he has to make?

M. Laitman: Let's say that, yes.

Student: He writes that?

M. Laitman: Yes, that's how he discloses it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:03:26) I have a question about the whole premise of studying Torah. There's one Torah, let's say, and they say there are 70 faces to the Torah, and each one who can come in and place his heart, his attention to something else, appreciates something else. What does it even mean to study the Torah? It's not like a person takes… it's not like he takes a book and he studies it hard and he will… until he knows what's written there.

There's someone who is explaining to him what's written, and he is learning it from someone. He's not learning Torah just haphazardly. So, in what way do we need to study the Torah? First this, then that. It seems less important what episode he reads and which book Kabbalist wrote, but it's more important who is he studying from and what does he take from the one he studies from. He describes it as if we're studying it in the university, that we have to get through several things, acquire some knowledge. But here we're talking about the change to man's nature. How will this change come? What does it mean to learn Torah?

M. Laitman: We didn't discover this yet.

Student: I look at things naturally. In a family, there's a child and he has parents. And the parents constantly teach the child to do certain actions, how to eat, how to dress up. But by being near them for 20 years, he absorbs something from them. And that can accompany his whole life. It designs him. It's not that they taught him to make an action, but rather something of them is absorbed by him. The question is: Where do we see a person that feels like he needs to change, and he goes to study the Torah. What's absorbed in him that's not words in a book.

M. Laitman: That, too, we will discover. That, too, we will reveal.

Reader: Item 23.

Reading: (01:06:20) 23) Hence, he brings good evidence from the words of the Gemara: “A disciple who has not seen a good sign in his study after five years will also not see it.” Why did he not see a good sign in his study? Certainly, it is only due to absence of the intention of the heart, and not for any lack of aptitude, as the wisdom of Torah requires no aptitude.

Instead, as it is written in the above Midrash: “The Creator said to Israel, ‘Regard, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are easy: Anyone who fears Me and observes the words of the Torah, the whole wisdom and the whole Torah are in his heart.’”

Of course, one must accustom oneself in the light of Torah and Mitzvot, and I do not know how much. One might remain in waiting all his years. Hence, the Braita warns us (Hulin 24) not to wait longer than five years.

Moreover, Rabbi Yosi says that only three years are quite sufficient to be granted the wisdom of the Torah (Hulin 24). If one does not see a good sign after this long, he should not fool himself with false hopes and deceit, but know that he will never see a good sign.

Hence, one must immediately find himself a good tactic by which to succeed in achieving Lishma and to be rewarded with the wisdom of the Torah. The Braita did not specify the tactic, but it warns not to remain in the same situation and wait longer.

This is the meaning of the Rav’s words, that the surest and most successful tactic is the engagement in the wisdom of Kabbalah. One should leave one’s hand entirely from engagement in the wisdom of the revealed Torah, since he has already tested his luck in it and did not succeed. And he should dedicate all his time to the wisdom of Kabbalah, where his success is certain for the above-said reasons.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:09:39) Can you see a good sign in the Ten, for the whole Ten to see a good sign together?

M. Laitman: What's a good sign?

Student: A feeling of, let's say we're dealing with the wisdom of truth, everyone, when we follow you and we're up here, then we agree with everyone, I don't know, maybe everyone should feel wicked, we need a sign, how does that work? Rather, how can you see a good sign in the Ten?

M. Laitman: Meaning a nice sign means that in our study we will see the answer.

Student: Yes, we'll reveal the spies, something. Do I need to see it in the Ten, this is a good sign, and I will feel it is a clear sign?

M. Laitman: Feel, yes.

Student: How can I confirm that a friend saw it as well?

M. Laitman: The friend, too, will reveal the same thing, yes, that's already dependent on how close you are to one another, to the extent in which there's a connection between you.

Student: The sign has to be revealed in the connection between us. How do I ensure that I've discovered the sign along with other friends,

M. Laitman: Yes, that's what needs to be, to the extent in which the hearts connect.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:07) The question is: Is the recognition of evil also a good sign?

M. Laitman: Relatively, yes.

Student: It's a sign that he's going for correction?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: But the good sign that he writes about here is after the revelation of evil, and it's correction, or not necessarily?

M. Laitman: No, and it's correction.

Student: It's correction.

M. Laitman: Okay, that's it.

Question (KabU 4): (01:12:48) I apologize if this has been asked in different forms already, I'm not quite sure, but it seems a wonder to me if the study of the revealed is an inferior path, why would you even spend five years? You say immediately, take the intelligent path through Kabbalah, if on the other hand you say, well it's necessary, I've searched and have not found, etc., so that you have to go through this preliminary, why don't we do that? I'm confused.

M. Laitman: Because we probably cannot come to that scrutiny that he writes, that it needs to be either three years or five years, and not less.

Question (Kyiv 1): (01:13:59) What does it mean to feel the Torah?

M. Laitman: To attain it in the feelings.

Student: We say that the Torah is light, that it's a sort of a system of upper worlds, the Creator’s system. What exactly do we attain in our feelings, this feeling, the guidance towards it. What exactly?

M. Laitman: We attain the system, but when we attain it, we attain it in the feelings. Meaning, it is clear to us where we are, what shines for us, where we are limited, etc..

Student: So, it turns out that the study of Torah is by studying any type of text from our sources. It can be what we're studying, Kabbalistic sources, what Baal HaSulam writes. The question is about the intention, not what we're actually reading?

M. Laitman: Of course, if you want to correct yourself, it doesn't matter what you learn, this text will operate on you.

Question (Moscow 1): (01:15:45) Revealing the Creator, does that mean to join Him working through us?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Holland): (01:15:58) As he says in item 22, what does it mean to aim his mind and heart to the Creator while learning? When you are sitting in your Ten in the lesson, how do you do it through your friends?

M. Laitman: I don't hear the question.

Student: The question is: How can we implement what Baal HaSulam writes, to aim our mind and heart to the Creator through the Ten?

M. Laitman: He needs to try to incorporate himself in the Ten, and then change by himself the direction of development of the Ten. That's it.

Question (Women Turkiye 6): (01:17:34) We heard that a person first has to study the Mishna, then the Babylonian Talmud. Should a person first learn the Torah by heart, then the written Torah? Why is this order? What does this order mean?

M. Laitman: No, that's not important for us. The main thing is that we need to create connection, repentance, and then everything will be clear to us.

Question (Belarus): (01:18:20) Can we say that that nice sign is a private feeling that comes from the confidence that He's the Good that Does Good?

M. Laitman: Yes. Of course, this is a big and good sign.

Question (Kyiv 3): (01:18:44) What does it mean that he won't enter the PARDES, the orchard, until he fills himself?

M. Laitman: He won't be able to feel the system, the system of guidance, unless he discovers this system within him, how it guides him.

Student: So that's under the condition that he enters the system. So first he has to fill his corporeal desires?

M. Laitman: No.

Question (Women Rus 3): (01:19:56) Our whole lesson, we're discussing the importance of faith above reason. So, faith is supposedly the gate that through it we enter Yashar El to be a direct line towards the Creator. I feel that somehow it's connected to our choice in awareness that we're not sensitive enough towards the light, but the light constantly guides us. That's why we need that faith. Can you maybe explain that?

M. Laitman: I can't add anything. You phrased it beautifully.

Reader: Item 24.

Reading: (01:21:16) 24) This is very simple, for these words have no connection to the study of the revealed Torah, in anything that one must actually practice, for “It is not the ignorant who is pious, and a mistaken learning makes for evil, and one sinner destroys much good.” Hence, one must necessarily repeat them as much as is necessary so as not to fail in one’s practice.

Rather, here it speaks only of the study of the wisdom of the revealed Torah, to explain and scrutinize questions that arise in the interpretation of the laws, as Rav Chaim Vital deduces there himself. It refers to the part of the study of the Torah that is not performed in practice, or to the actual laws.

Indeed, here it is possible to be lenient and learn from the abbreviations and not from the origins. However, this, too, requires extensive learning, since one who knows from the origin is not as one who knows it from a brief scan of some abbreviation. In order not to err in this, Rav Chaim Vital says at the very outset of his words that the soul connects to the body only when it is complete, corrected in the Mitzvot of the Torah, in 613 Mitzvot.

M. Laitman: (01:23:13) In other words, we have no choice, but we have to feel on ourselves to what extent we are suitable for that corrected body that is corrected in all 613 commandments. And if not, then how much, to what extent, where, and how we can reach it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:23:51) The corrected body in 613 commandments, that's the entire vessel of humanity, the corrected vessel, or is it my private body? Because we say that a person can't reach all the commandments alone, but he has to incorporate in all the souls of Israel. So, the corrected body in 613 commandments, it's all of the soul of Israel that's corrected? So, I have to see how I adapt myself to this general body?

M. Laitman: No, I don't think it talks about this here.

Student: Can I feel myself connecting to this corrected body of the 613 Mitzvot? Can I feel myself there?

M. Laitman: Not yet, not yet. Let's read some more.

Reader: Item 25.

Reading: (01:25:00) 25) Now you will see how all the questions we presented in the beginning of the introduction are complete folly. They are the obstacles that the evil inclination spreads in order to hunt innocent souls, to dismiss them from the world, robbed and abused.

Examine the first question, where they imagine that they can keep the whole Torah without knowing the wisdom of Kabbalah. I say to them: Indeed, if you can keep the study of Torah and the observance of the Mitzvot appropriately, Lishma, meaning only in order to bring contentment to the Maker, then indeed, you do not need to study Kabbalah. This is because then it is said about you, “One’s soul shall teach him.” This is because then all the secrets of the Torah will appear before you like an ever flowing spring, as in the words of Rabbi Meir in the above Mishnah (Avot), and you will need no assistance from the books.

However, if you are still learning Lo Lishma, but hope to merit Lishma by this, then I ask you: “How many years have you been doing so?” If you are still within the five years, as the Tana Kama says, or within the three years, as Rabbi Yosi says, then you can still wait and hope.

But if you have been practicing the Torah Lo Lishma for more than three years, as Rabbi Yosi says, and five years, as the Tana Kama says, then the Braita warns you that you will not see a good sign in this path you are treading! Why delude your souls with false hopes when you have such a near and sure tactic as the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah, as I have shown the reason above, that the study in the issues of the wisdom and the Creator Himself are one?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:28:06) We see in our days, all our students in Israel and the World Kli come directly to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So, the conditions changed? He writes that first, you have to start.

M. Laitman: No, it's probably that that's the way it is. There was a change in the system where we don't go directly from the revealed to the concealed, but the way we see it.

Student: What's the meaning of this change?

M. Laitman: I don't know, but this is what happened.

Student: First he wrote that the wisdom of Kabbalah is like a soul, and it has to be clothed on a body.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So, according to that explanation, there is no body. So, how does it work?

M. Laitman: I think it is still to be revealed to us. It should be revealed.

Student: Is it because the world maybe has a greater coarseness, that's where a body comes from, or is it not part of it?

M. Laitman: No.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:29:31) Why is engaging in Lo Lishma limited with time or changes?

M. Laitman: Because it's limited in itself. This is why one of its limitations is in time.

Student: So, it's not clear. What is the limitation? We have to go through a certain order that if he doesn't advance in it…

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So there's no chance it can happen?

M. Laitman: Probably so, yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:30:20) So, it's not really years. It's more of the actions he's doing from Lo Lishma to reach Lishma?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: What are those good signs that a person wants to go from Lo Lishma to Lishma? What are those good signs on the path?

M. Laitman: That he still, how should I put it, he still advances.

Student: His advancement is that he needs his self pleasure less. Like you wrote earlier a few items. That's the advancement that he feels he can work without pleasure for himself.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: To coerce himself through the importance of the Ten, he can keep working. That's a nice sign.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So, there's another matter that the more he works, let's say if he works in Lo Lishma, so he works with the reward for himself. And the more he feels that his own reward flaws his advancement towards the Creator, that's called a revelation of evil?

M. Laitman: Yes.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:32:24) It's written that studying the wisdom of Kabbalah is like studying about the Creator. Why is it like that?

M. Laitman: I didn't understand the question because I didn't understand what you're saying.

Student: In the end of 25, he says that studying the wisdom of Kabbalah is like studying the Creator Himself. So he's asking why is it that?

M. Laitman: Say it clearly, without sparing words.

Student: He wrote at the end of that item that studying the wisdom is one thing as studying the Creator Himself.

M. Laitman: Yes. So what's the question about that?

Student: He's asking why is it like that? Why is it the same thing? Also learning Kabbalah, why is it exactly like the Creator Himself?

M. Laitman: This is really a question. But I never got an answer for it. I did not get an answer.

Student: How can studying Kabbalah help us feel the Torah?

M. Laitman: To feel the Torah. Through learning the wisdom of Kabbalah, we develop our senses, and this way we begin to understand, and hear, and taste the Torah, from the flavors of the Torah, the taste of the Torah, to the Torah itself.

Student: Which vessels do we start tasting it with?

M. Laitman: Everything we feel that we need in order to be in a clear reality.

Student: And what is the difference between our bodily senses and spiritual senses?

M. Laitman: Our spiritual senses are the Sefirot, and our physical senses are the desires.

Student: How do we reach the spiritual senses?

M. Laitman: We come to spiritual senses by wanting to reveal physical senses, and how much they can be incorporated with physical senses that they will be as spiritual senses. That we want to identify the connection and the limitation in them. To that extent, we come to begin to picture everything from our physical senses to the spiritual senses.

Student: Can I use my bodily senses in order to develop my spiritual senses?

M. Laitman: Yes, this is what we see.

Student: How do I do it?

M. Laitman: I don't know exactly where you're reading, but we see that one supports the other.

Reader: And we'll go to the next part.

Song: (01:38:20)

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