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

Daily Morning Lesson

Part 1: Lesson With Rav, May 25th, 2003

Rabash. "The Agenda of the Assembly." Social Writings of Rabash

Reader: Hello, dear friends. In the first part of the lesson, we will study a lesson with Rav from May 25th, 2003, based on an article from Rabash, The Agenda of the Assembly, which you can find in the Social Writings of Rabash. We'll read it together in the Ten, we have seven minutes to read i; friends that finished earlier can have a workshop on the main things from the article, please. The Agenda of the Assembly.

Reading: (00:40) The Agenda of the Assembly

Article No. 17, Part 2, 1984

In the beginning of the assembly, there should be an agenda. Everyone should speak of the importance of the society as much as he can, describing the profits that society will give him and the important things he hopes society will bring him, which he cannot obtain by himself, and how he appreciates the society accordingly.

It is as our sages wrote (Berachot 32), “Rabbi Shamlai said, ‘One should always praise the Creator, and then pray.’ Where did we get that? From Moses, as it is written, ‘And I besought the Lord at that time.’ It is also written, ‘O Lord God, Thou hast begun,’ and it is written, ‘Let me go over, I pray Thee, and see the good land.’”

And the reason we need to begin with praising the Creator is that it is natural that there are two conditions when one asks for something of another:

1. That he has what I ask of him, such as wealth, power, and repute as being wealthy and affluent.

2. That he will have a kind heart, meaning a desire to do good to others.

From such a person you can ask for a favor. This is why they said, “One should always praise the Creator, and then pray.” This means that after one believes in the greatness of the Creator, that He has all sorts of pleasures to give to the creatures and He wishes to do good, then it is pertinent to say that he is praying to the Creator, who will certainly help him since He wishes to do good. And then the Creator can give him what he wishes. Then, also, the prayer can be with confidence that the Creator will grant it.

Similarly, with love of friends, at the very beginning of the assembly, when gathering, we should praise the friends, the importance of each of the friends. To the extent that one assumes the greatness of the society, one can appreciate the society.

“And then pray” means that everyone should examine himself and see how much effort he is giving to the society. Then, when he sees that he is powerless to do anything for society, there is room for prayer to the Creator to help him and give him strength and desire to engage in love of others.

And afterwards, everyone should behave the same as in the last three of the “Eighteen Prayer.” In other words, after having pleaded before the Creator, The Zohar says that in the last three of the “Eighteen Prayer,” one should think as though the Creator has already granted his request and he has departed.

In love of friends we should behave the same: After examining ourselves and following the known advice of praying, we should think as though our prayer has been answered and rejoice with our friends, as though all the friends are one body. And as the body wishes for all its organs to enjoy, we, too, want all our friends to enjoy themselves now.

Hence, after all the calculations comes the time of joy and love of friends. At that time, everyone should feel happy, as though one had just sealed a very good deal that will earn him lots of money. And it is customary that at such a time he gives drinks to the friends.

Similarly, here each one needs his friends to drink and eat cakes, etc. Because now he is happy, he wishes his friends to feel good, too. Hence, the dispersion of the assembly should be in a state of joy and elation.

This follows the way of “a time of Torah” and “a time of prayer.” “A time of Torah” means wholeness, when there are no deficiencies. This is called “right,” as it is written, “at His right hand was a fiery law.”

But “a time of prayer” is called “left,” since a place of deficiency is a place that needs correction. This is called “the correction of the Kelim (vessels).” But in the state of Torah, called “right,” there is no room for correction, and this is why Torah is called a “gift.”

It is customary to give presents to a person you love. And it is also customary not to love one who is deficient. Hence, at a “time of Torah,” there is no room for thoughts of correction. Thus, when leaving the assembly, it should be as in the last three of the “Eighteen Prayer.” And for this reason, everyone will feel wholeness.

Reader: (08:35) We are going to enter, now, into the lesson with Rav from May 25, 2003. 

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M. Laitman: We heard an article by Rabash, The Agenda of the Assembly. What is the agenda of the assembly? How a person should establish his approach to the society; if we want to receive from the society strength to advance, each time more and more and, of course each time we advance, we need more strength. The will to receive grows, the disturbances grow, so we need to receive, correspondingly, help in understanding, in faith and in concentration, in yearning for the goal, importance of the goal – all those things are conditions by which we grow. We begin with a minuscule, a tiny will to receive for spirituality. It's called the point in the heart. We can increase that point in the heart, make it bigger, only through obstructions. When we add to this point all the desires that awaken and we don't ever have within us the powers by which we can deal by ourselves with even the smallest, smallest desires that awaken in us. Rather, each and every desire, we either control it or it controls us in terms of the advancement to spirituality. In other words, either we have to serve that desire as it is or we control it; meaning that although the obstruction came to us and the obstructions are called only those that disconnect us from adhesion with the Creator. Because we, first of all, have to be locked on Him; what we received initially is a point in the heart, when we connect it to the Creator as much as we could, understand, feel, see—never mind – we received an awakening. That awakening, we need to keep on top of the obstructions and if we do it, we advance. We don't have the strength for it, just as these obstructions come—it's as if they kind of float up from within us. It's as if from a side, new evil forces awaken and, correspondingly, we have to be equipped with new good forces. How to, despite the obstruction, to return to the same direction of the thought. Not where the obstruction pulls our attention but on top of the obstructions, to keep yearning for the Creator. Here, we need the help of the society; and in order to get help from the society there are two conditions: first, do I have greatness of the goal? If I don't have greatness of the goal, how am I turning to the Creator? I will not turn to it to receive help from it. That if, say, I have greatness of the goal, then how do I know I need to turn to the society? How can I be certain that the society can provide me what I need, to provide me with these forces, these powers? 

What does it entail to turn to the society, what should I pay to the society in order to get help from it? In other words, if I need, by this, for this, to submit myself, to make myself small with respect to others. It may be a lot of work, I may be incapable or maybe I don't want it. In that too, there can be obstructions, not directly toward the Creator but in this whole process where I now turn into the society and, afterwards, to other moves I make along the way. In other words, there are many stops, here, I need to take along the way in order for this array to end properly. To turn to the society, to believe that the society can provide me with it, that society has the power to provide it to me. That the Creator deliberately established society in such a way that I can use it, that precisely in this is my only free choice: to adhere to the Creator. To be equipped with the powers of the society and, besides this, I have no means by which to adhere to Him again, from within me, I will never find new strength for this. From the society, I can receive only on condition that I appreciate it and subjugate myself. So, there are processes here of work with myself, with the society, with the Creator which, all in all, is called, the order of the work or the procession of the work. And this order of the work is also the order of turning to the society, in order to – even before the fall – in order to be equipped with the powers, with the appreciation of the society, I need to work with it. So that when I fall, so I have fallen with respect to the importance of the Creator but I will not fall with respect to the importance of the society. I may have fallen with respect to the society, but I still have some record that I have friends who will at least help me in something else—if not quite in my direction, in my intention to the Creator. 

(17:50) In other words, to begin with in advance, I have to build my relationships with the Creator, with the society in such a way that when I fall from the greatness and importance, it will be as easy as possible for me, as convenient as possible for me to turn to the society. And the Ten, the society will immediately, will discover that it needs to help me even if I don't ask of it and that this help will be purposeful help. This is why we need what is called, Yeshivat Chaverim – the assembly of friends, the gathering of friends. The gathering of friends means early preparation for the falls, for the descents, before the foreign thoughts. When we sit together, meaning build a framework – a common framework – for this framework to be for us, like a power storage, as a force that will help each of us at a time of descent. From this, we should understand what we need to demand from the gathering of friends: first of all, greatness of the goal. The society will be able to provide me with greatness of the goal, each time, so that I do not fall from the connection with the Creator, how? We build such a society where each one is constantly concerned within him, within himself, that the greatness of the goal will be important, that we will constantly be inspired by it. That we will really be concerned with it, care about it, that we will constantly think about that because there is no. Because besides the Greatness of the Creator, there is no force that can pull us toward Him. We are—by that, we are already building in the society some sort of a special power called, the importance of the Creator, the importance of the goal and that power projects the forces that the power is for us, on us. If the obstructions that come, and there must be obstructions, otherwise how do we advance if not on top of obstructions? When the obstructions come and erase, just like a wave of water that erases what there is, what was before it. When a new wave washes over us and then no structure of importance of the Creator that we built remains; and that comes to, precisely, to a person who prepared himself. Then waves come upon him and big waves and the frequency of the waves and their height depends on a person's preparation. Because, in the end, you have to go through a certain number of waves in order to reach spirituality and, then, through spirituality to the end of correction. 

(21:50) From this we see that, first of all, if after the waves, we get up and fall again and get up again, we have to constantly build the importance of the Creator. It is constant work number one in the society. Now, when a wave comes and a person falls, there should be preparation on the part of society to tend to the one who fell. It is written, SA prisoner does not deliver himself from the prison. Some outside force has to come to him and save him, otherwise it's not considered that he has fallen, that he is captive by the separating forces. This SWAT team that will help him, that will save him, a person has to build around him, and to depict to himself that to the extent that he falls, he is willing for them to take care of him. He is willing to be in their hands, like a baby or like a wounded person or like a dead person. And only they can raise him or heal him or bury him, which is also corrections that need to be done, because what is wounded? Someone who lives with something bad inside that needs to be healed and that healed can be corrected. But if that evil has already overcome him and he's under the influence of the evil, he's called, dead, and then he has to be buried, meaning those desires, those states must be buried and new states must begin. A person should prepare himself in advance that there are states where he is completely given to the hands of the society. And he is willing to relinquish himself during the descent, the fall, the death, for the society to tend to him and do anything that they now agree with him that they will do, so he agrees with them that they will do it. In other words, in the society, in addition to greatness of the Creator, there has to be a concept of help for each one who falls within the society. And in a person there is preparation for them to help him, so he is willing to relinquish all kinds of obstructions that are in him that he may not want to be rid of because he is in such a way that they control him. And he sees the society as not good, and when he has fallen and according to how he has fallen, he sees, as it is written, A student who is exiled, his teacher is exiled with him. 

(25:17) This means that if a person falls from spirituality, in his eyes also the Creator and also the society and everyone falls. He needs to prepare, in advance, these systems. Despite the fact that he'll be in such a state, nevertheless, he should have preparation to maybe, nevertheless, think differently. He also needs to relate to the society, and that the society itself needs – not towards him but towards his other friends. The greatness of the Creator should be supplied to his friends and also the willingness to care for them, to be concerned with them when they fall. He is willing to participate in the society in an active manner; and constantly add, to raise the goal and the greatness of the Creator, the exaltedness of the goal and the greatness of the Creator, and the willingness to help each and everyone. All these things need to be connected, but to one thing, to one goal: to adhere to the Creator, to Him, forward. If we do certain preparations, a meeting, things where we don't see that they really are belonging to this goal. Then we don't do it, we don't perform it, we don't plan them, we don't touch them. First of all, we need to scrutinize whether, in fact, each and every action we are planning, every mechanism to aid us that we want to build in the society. It must be connected directly, or maybe indirectly but where it's clear to us that it's so, towards the attainment of the qualities of the Creator, to attaining the Creator, Himself. Then, when we sit down, already, then we should know in advance what it is that we're talking about, what quality, power, system in the society we're about to develop, discuss that which we lack, how to correct and reinforce this matter? So it'll be clear for everyone what we're doing and why because, now, in the common effort where we're all concentrated to build this system, another inner mechanism there, one of maybe many that is in this concept of the society. So it will be clearer to us all what we're doing and where we're concentrating our efforts without disconnecting our attention from the Creator which is this. We're doing this for Him in order to advance to Him and, accordingly, we discuss all our states and improve the general force called society. What did I not say and what else did he say? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (29:31) For a person, it's difficult to identify that he is disconnected from the Creator when the obstruction comes—the beginning of the fall, not the fall, itself. How can I identify it and help a friend in this? 

M. Laitman: We are in a state called, the concealment of the anterior, or the face. That means that we don't know what is happening with us. In spirituality, there's a person – let's say a child – I remember myself, I eat, I get up off the table; I run, jump and mommy says, Well, when will you come eat again? What, to eat, what, I don't want? But you'll want in a few hours! I don't understand that I'll want, meaning, I'm working according to my feeling and I don't believe that another state could be. I don't understand that, I don't grasp that. That in five hours, I will once more want to eat and I'll have to come, once again, to my mother so that she feeds me. I remember myself, that I didn't understand that, really, I think children are like that, yes? Then we become wiser, more developed. We have experience so we understand that, again, there will be a time that will come that I will be that way again, in that state as well. But at that moment, I don't feel. When one acquires these systems of wisdom, of Hochma, besides feeling then with them, I can assume or contemplate other states. We are in a state of concealment at the beginning of the path. Such that, I'm in a good state, I'm in an ascent – everything's nice. I don't feel that the moment I'm already in, just like when I finished eating and now I'm already starting to kind of be more and more empty from the food and soon I'll want to eat, yes? It's the same, I maybe am already starting to empty myself, empty myself, empty myself. The surrounding lights now that were close to me, and gave me the feeling of ascent, they now distance – like a mother who distances from the child when she wants to teach him how to walk. She puts him and takes a step back, and awaits him to make a step forward, yes, that's called, concealment. She made her concealment on the baby and he stands and cries, that's called the surrounding lights distanced from me and I don't know what to do. The concealment comes upon me and I feel myself, Oh, you left me, and what's going on now? It's truly a state, you don't feel, you don't see, you don't know what to do, like a baby stands like that and cries and for someone, Grab me – what a bad mommy she left!

(33:11) Meaning, we can't appreciate the state correctly if we would even see it because we're babies; but usually, our descent begins from us not seeing. Like a baby who ate or a child that ate and doesn't feel that in five hours or even in the next two hours, completely, later, he starts to, maybe he wants but he doesn't need, yet. And then, later, maybe, yes, until he comes back, until he comes back to his mother to eat. Meaning, we are just, later, after a while when the surrounding lights, these surrounding lights distanced to a significant measure. Then, according to that significant measure, now, I recognize that I'm in another state, suddenly, yes? Where the descent is already, what is the descent? Now, I understand that I have already disconnected from my intention to the Creator. I just enjoyed the state for myself, without any connection to Him. And, now, at last, this understanding of it comes to me and this understanding that the Creator reminds me in such a way that I forgot about Him – and that understanding, I call, descent, why is that a descent? It's a true clarion from above to return to Him. 

So, on one hand, it's help but on the other hand, it's help without giving the strengths, the powers, yes, I just feel it. What should I do now, how to use this? Either I sit and cry over myself like over a sick person or a dead that, where we do this, we're sorry for him. Or that I am capable, from this state, to address the society for someone to help me; this depends on the preparation. Whether the preparation, my connection with the friends is so great that no matter what descent or fall there is or the size of the fall—it could be that there are those that are and those that aren't, depending on the depth of the fall – I can turn to the society on my own. And they don't yet see that I'm in a state of descent, or it could be that I'm in such a state that I can't even turn to them, what does this mean? That I have a disconnection from them, they are no longer important to me, I don't believe that they can help me. Meaning the surrounding have distanced so much that even those forces and systems that I built with the society are no longer visible to me, they don't operate. And then, I am truly also not capable of being helped by the society. This is the matter of faith, as we call it, meaning we first need to equip ourselves with such faith in which the society can and is capable of doing this. 

(37:12) Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article, A Student Who is Exiled, His Teacher is Exiled With Him. Meaning that if a student, in advance, were to build a system of the importance of the teacher, such that even if he falls the Rav remains as important to him; and this is through exercises just like in the military. When we do drills, we enter ourselves, seemingly, in disconnection from the Creator, as if we are depicting to ourselves all kinds of disturbances; and as if we are overcoming them. These preparations are good because really, later when it happens, it helps. It's the same with the society, a person can do it such that even if he is exiled, he's lowered, the society, nevertheless, is not exiled in his eyes, also not in that place that is not worth anything, but rather, it remains as important, important for the corrections. Let's say it happened and he can't turn to the society himself. Even if he can turn to them, the question here is to what extent he and it depends on the society and him, to what extent he sees himself as being in a bad state. It could be that his state is in a state of descent but—a fall – but he doesn't measure that state as bad. Because bad means that the distancing from the Creator feels bad to him, and the appreciation of the society is what can actually help him. Let's say he's not capable, can the society notice in him that he can no longer turn to them and is in such a descent that he, simply, needs a special power on behalf of the society. What is this special force on behalf of the society? In a society, there needs to be a power of caring for each and every one in the society to never fall, very simply. We need to constantly pray for this in a consistent, permanent way. Where I'm constantly caring for this. I'm constantly praying for this: for us to just constantly ascend. If we care for this all the time, even those that fall, even if they don't turn to us, they also immediately take upon themselves this radiation of this force and can once more join the general movement. 

(40:22) In other words, we must activate the general engine on everyone, not fall in action, but fall only to the point where we feel that I'm joining the action once again. In other words, the society, even if a person disconnects and doesn't understand—he's wounded now, he doesn't feel and doesn't see and nothing, he's in a descent, he's got no awareness of it. The society built a power in prayer and it constantly maintains that power in prayer with a concern that making sure it is concentrated on the Creator so that that power will operate on all its pieces, all its parts. Besides, within the society, there should be perhaps some sort of a group that is concerned with these things. Tends to them practically, in practice because it's a duty that they take upon themselves. That they make sure that the society is constantly praying for this, for it to be an auxiliary, an assisting force to each one. For the society to be like a power supply of lights that surround and hold everyone; and they need to demand this of the society, and they also need to care about each one. And notice each and every one if there are signs that this person is a little—something happened to him and he's in a state where he no longer monitors his state – he got distracted from where he is, and then he needs to be awakened. These few guys who are responsible for the awakening, they have the ability, meaning we give them room, it's their duty to come and shake a person directly. To care about him and, also, be concerned with how he responds. Perhaps, he's no longer responsive, etc., so he may need to be expelled from the society altogether or to warn him and so on. But not keep that state as something that you can relax with, the society must not agree that there is a friend in it who is not in 100% elation, yearning, connection with the general elation. That elevation that the society builds toward the Creator, the goal has to be 100%, nothing less than that. 

Student: This prayer that a person needs to be in constantly, to ascend us always, it needs to be thought in general about the group or individually for each friend?

M. Laitman: The prayer I pray, what does it mean, I pray? That I am concerned. Yes, what is a prayer? It's a concern in the heart. There's a deficiency and that deficiency acquires in me some depiction. And that deficiency, I somehow build it, I give it a certain shape: I have a deficiency between me and the society and the Creator which I, when I establish it in a certain way, this is called, a prayer. That deficiency which I establish should be like this: I want there to be in the society, meaning in my environment on which I am dependent, as Baal HaSulam says, one hundred percent. That it will have only one thing, if I'm dependent on it one hundred percent, there should be one hundred percent in it of only one thing – a force that pulls toward the Creator. This is what I want it to activate on me: the importance of the Creator, adhesion with Him, direction toward Him, doesn't matter how you call it. This is what I want it to have in it, if I have to choose the environment, for it to influence me, this is what I want the society to have in it. I don't care about anything else, I don't want there to be other things that will make it less; I don't care if it's nice or not nice or if there are other forms in it, this or that, that's not important whatsoever. It needs to be one hundred percent of it there, that's it. 

(46:27) The direction toward the Creator—it needs to provide it for me, one hundred percent. And to other people, why not or why yes? If other people don't get, from it, the same impression as I do, then how can they join that prayer, and build such a thing in the society? Because the society consists of our individual forces, if not everyone is concerned with the society having some sort of a reservoir of individual forces that yearn, that are connected to the yearning toward the Creator and that common force doesn't operate on us, then what have we done? In other words, I have to pray for all the friends that they will have such powers, such desires to build that warehouse in the society, the powers of pulling toward the Creator, the common pulling force. I need to really be concerned, I need to feel that I'm dependent on them, that's it. 

Student: (47:36) Is it collectively or individually for each and every one? 

M. Laitman: I also need to know about each and every one, to care. Rabash doesn't write anywhere that there should be some sort of a criticism committee or a committee of concern about the ascents and descents and elation and direction and something else. He doesn't write about it, it's just that we're trying to do it as some sort of an external system but in truth, no one should make allowances to himself, saying, Oh, there's someone who is concerned. The friend was worried about it, thank God I'm not part of it, I can only demand this of him. Rather, we must be concerned. Each of us must be concerned. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:32) Is it worthwhile for a person to choose for himself a few people that he should be concerned with in the society? 

M. Laitman: No, no, we shouldn't just pick on a few people in society and worry only about them. I need to be concerned about everyone because basically I am dependent on everyone. Why does Baal HaSulam say that if someone doesn't invest one hundred percent, he is stealing, why do I care if he didn't give a little bit? If he doesn't give just a little bit, then that's it. I have to give according to the number of people, I have to have all of them giving 100 percent. 

Student: Can you care for 100 people? 

M. Laitman: If I'm concerned only with a few and the others are not, who knows what's happening with the others? The force that pulls, that saves, that is enough to reach the goal, I won't have it; so what does it give me if I care only about a few? You want to tell me Let's divide the society. I'll care about three, and you about four, and we'll cover the whole ground this way?

Student: Can you see in your field of vision 100 people at once? 

M. Laitman: The truth is you're right, we can't – let's say the society is 100 people, and for me, to care about 100 people, I can't count more than five. There is a reason why my hand, my palm has five fingers because this can be in front of my eyes, I can capture it. Five, six, seven, that's already a problem, more than 10 – to me, it's even difficult to count, 14, 13, 15, 16, it's already outside of me, this is how we're built. And here, it's 100, how will I be concerned with them, how will I keep them all in front of me, with my attention, with one gaze to capture all of them, one look? And if I did capture, do you think I would be able to worry about them? Or if I capture two or three, would I be concerned about them? So what if I capture, what do I see, according to your face? What state you're in? And what would it give me if I knew what state you're in? We need to understand that besides prayer for another person, we have no other means to really intervene in him and help him – only through our desire. When I want to give a desire to someone, then it's only through my desire, and not through my hands, or legs, or mouth. I can say a thousand words, we already see, after many years, how much these words are ineffective – they're ineffective! You see how much we've tried all kinds of things, it doesn't work because it's not intended to work. Why should movements in the air, these sound waves that come to my ear, why should that come to my heart? It's a very superficial awakening and we no longer work in this. We are already on a deeper mechanism, words don't help, only my thought, my desire, meaning the prayer. When I activate through my desire, that I want to activate through my mouth your desire. 

(52:47) This is why Baal HaSulam writes and Rabash writes, that the fact that we are in the environment, the environment shouldn't tell me the Creator is important and the goal, or even talk about it. No, the society doesn't need to talk about it, even to the contrary, the society can be talking about nonsense on the outside. But influence, but give, to convey to each one within this nonsense a deep, strong and keen message about the goal within these words. And this will operate precisely in this kind of light, superficial way, which is purportedly opposite from internality. In other words, we must understand that our thoughts and our desires, which is called, the prayer, they are the forces that operate. And only by this can we influence each one in the society, through the society, and in this, there are no limitations. You don't need to be next to the society, within the society, outside of it – close, far – this force operates regardless of place, distance, it depends only on you, on the extent to which you activate it. A concern in one's heart, that's it! Therefore, these systems that we want to build, the external ones, another committee, and another committee. We should do it, we had to do it, to divide it to a few more people that we will look at, maybe five, maybe ten, maybe such that are good for me, bad for me, is that enough already? We saw that it doesn't work, but we experienced it, we needed to check it, to see it but I think that we already, more or less agree that these things, when we do them, it will be a guaranteed failure. Anything external does not influence the heart, that's it. But only the internal forces, in that level; therefore, we must establish – determine for ourselves – where our thoughts and desires are concentrated. How we want them to connect in this spiritual realm, the kind of virtual, where they all connect so that there is a mechanism that guards us, and worry about that, and in this way, be concerned with everyone.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:10) You said before, to imagine descents. How can we imagine descents? You said before that we should do such an exercise, that we imagine a descent. 

M. Laitman: How do we, I said that we need to imagine or depict the descents. A person, imagine these descents. He needs to be constantly connected to the Creator, to try as much as possible be at the top of that feeling, and this strengthening in him, yes? How do I come down from this, and even imagine in such states, the descents? It's truly as if against the state, itself. Should I corrupt his state, should I imagine in him descents? Rabash describes this as a state like an elderly who walks in the street – kind of bent over as if he lost something. In advance, he's depicting the state of losing something because an old man is considered one who has acquired wisdom. In advance, he also wants more wisdom, and he already acquired it, so he can see what will be born from this. That such a thing can be, and he depicts it in advance, assumes it in advance, and wants to correct it in advance. If we keep ourselves where each single moment I am in this direction of descent, then from that I will ascend each time. And we need to imagine ourselves, as if I'm already in a descent. Because I never feel a descent at first, I feel that I'm unconscious from spirituality, understand? That somehow I slid down from the 10th floor, and suddenly I hit the ground, and now I feel the ground. You know, when a person falls from the 10th floor and the neighbor, the 5th floor, asks him, how are you? He says, from the window, he says, so far, it's okay! You understand, until he meets the ground. That's it. So, we need to imagine this matter in advance, to assume it, to depict it – how should we call it – this is called, an elderly who wants to acquire wisdom, who sees that which is born from it. He kind of walks bent over, as if he already lost his state, and therefore he's wise. He's called old, and he's therefore wise, since he prevents his descents, already. So, he's constantly walking bowed over but he does not fall; meaning, each and every moment, together with feeling upliftment, you need to add to this your deficiency for additional ascent. To the extent in which you're in a state that satisfies you 100%, how is that possible? If you won't be bent over to your feelings where you enjoy the state but rather you think what else can be added in order to bestow to the Creator, in order to add the feeling to Him, in His direction, in the intention towards Him. Then you will feel that you have what to add – in the feeling, no, but in the direction to Him, yes. And then a lack will emerge. Because you can't depict a deficiency when you're in a state of ascent, where we're like, oh, this is so good, all my vessels are full, I am truly, you are truly not. But if you aim yourself towards Him, you will see that you are. The old person who sees that which will be born, the question is, it's like we say, what deficiency do we always have in spirituality? Can I add something more to Him, to give to Him? And then a person constantly ascends. So, the society needs to build such an inner awareness for us, that this is what we constantly need. That if I disconnect from the direction towards that – towards what else I can add to Him, this – I already disconnected altogether from the correct shifting. I'm already inside myself. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:22) To the extent that I exert the power of my prayer in this mechanism, and the thought returns to me at a quicker pace, to completely disconnect?

M. Laitman: To the extent in which we hold on with more longing to the Creator, despite our states, whether they're better or worse, for good or bad, no matter what. Nevertheless, you seek that arrow in directing towards Him, aiming towards Him, then our states are no longer under our control, and they will accordingly come in greater frequency, the pace, and different powers, and different manners each time, in a different way each time. And some upon the society, and upon all the society, only on me, and only on Him and so on. This does not depend on us, we shouldn't be concerned with that. We don't need to relate to the manner of the descent, or the manner of the foreign thoughts that come to me. It's written: Where one's thoughts are, that's where He is. So it's not worthwhile to engage in this dirty laundry that's in my sewage. Upon it, I need to, in face of it, I need to adhere to the spiritual idea, and to the Creator, again. What I have there will be corrected, I can't correct that anyway, I need to adhere to Him. I need to, through the surrounding light, and the closer I am to Him in my thoughts, my heart will be with Him. And these surrounding lights will correct the evil in me that is constantly awakening in me. I can't do anything with that, it's like a baby who's adhered to his mother, and by that, he's protected from all the bad things. I don't have the possibility with all the bad things that are awakening right now to relate to Him. But rather only as a baby because these things are where I am, and where are my thoughts, and bad desires, they can take me and do whatever they want with me. I must adhere to the Creator, to the upper one, to the higher up degree. 

Student: If I have to completely disconnect from all the external systems, let's say an assembly of bodies, it still helps the thought, how do I keep returning to the thought? Because in the end, maybe we need something else external that will bring me back to the thoughts, and then I'll begin the prayer, etc.?

M. Laitman:  You're saying that if you were to think about the internal things, seemingly the external things will disappear from your field of vision. And I'm telling you, no, when you start constantly depicting the internal things, you'll see how the external things clothe like a glove upon the internal things. You'll discover that the whole world is not against your effort to the Creator but, rather is arranged precisely for that. You will see the providence and the entire structure of the world and how it is exactly established for this, and it's going in a way that there's no more suitable way to do so. And then, because it seems to you like you can't get along in life, and in the world, and inside the society, and yourself, there isn't. On the contrary, it will all work out then. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:14) Do I need an external system that will bring me back to that same direction of thought? 

M. Laitman:  Do we need an external system that will bring us back to that same direction of thought? We need external systems, what do you mean? If I'm constantly in this thought, then we need no framework, whatsoever, but there is no such thing, I must have an external system that will help me. Now we are all adhered to the same idea – let's see ourselves in half an hour, I'm not deluding myself of where we will be. Now we're starting to study something in a moment. Let's all get up from our places for half a minute, and you'll see where each one of us is in. What is this? We need to feel within us, to depict to ourselves these states. And then to feel the extent in which we need to protect them each time. And how we need to pray in advance for it not to happen, and to remain constantly in adhesion and concern for this. It's only with fear – there's a reason why the first commandment is fear. Especially such fear of disconnecting from this, not to bestow to Him – those are already internal matters.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:07:18) How to ask for help from the society? What is that mechanism of asking for help from the society? 

M. Laitman: Asking for help from the society does not need to be for me coming and screaming, well, who's to the Lord, come to me, help me. Yes? Rather, I simply intermingle with them, they don't need to feel that. Rather, I'm willing, and I'm interested to come and to try to connect with them externally. And through this externality to receive from them inspiration, bestowal, thoughts, desires.

Student: On the outside, everything is arranged. How do we ask for help internally?

M. Laitman:  What do you mean everything's arranged on the outside? If I'm with them in the same way, there's a question here in relation to the framework, and the matter of whether we're going back or not going back to the same study systems and all kinds of things – what are all these things for? So, it's specifically so that I will be able to, in an external manner, incorporate with the others in our internal forms, in our desires, in our intentions. 

Student: If I'm incorporated in external things?

M. Laitman: That's considered from your actions, we know you, meaning I adhere to the externality of the friend, that which is common between us. And by this, somehow, his thought and his desire influence me, because this is clothed upon that.

Student: And if, despite the externality, I'm disconnected from the thought? Despite the externality, I'm disconnected from the thought? 

M. Laitman: So, internally, I may come here, and internally I'm dead, and I can't awaken myself to connection with the society. And then, by performing the same external actions as they, the connection with them doesn't awaken. I don absorb internality in what’s the external actions. So, you are asking, what do you do then?

Student: Internal only.

M. Laitman: How to connect internally. That's a problem because, again, I'm saying, we can, by the words, awaken a person. Sometimes it works but under the condition that a person is willing to get inspired by it. But if I'm not willing to, tell me whatever you want. I'm in a state where I don't want it and I even laugh at it, it's like I have frivolity towards it. I might also hate myself for it in an intellectual criticism, but emotionally, that's what's happening, what can I do? So again, I'm saying, it's only the force of prayer from society – only that, only that can help. We don't understand how this is the only important thing that can save us – nothing but that. That's what we say, that a prisoner cannot release himself from prison – that's what we're talking about. That I'm like a prisoner in my own forces and thoughts, alien thoughts, foreign thoughts. And I can't do anything with myself about it, and nothing remains, except for just waiting for someone to do something with me. And if they won't, that's 100% dependency from a person on society, even though from himself, he doesn't feel dependent, so you can't just toss him out. Did you put enough forces on him that he will really, that you really wanted to bring him into activity, to give him life, did you do it or not? When can we tell a person, just go away? After you tried a few times and make attempts, and you have a meeting, how to save that person – he writes, Rabash, it in the article for the ending of the Zohar – You grab his hand if he drowns, or his leg, or his hair, but afterwards, what can you do? You tell him, here, catch this, or somewhat. But if he's not responding in any way, so you let him go, drown. Drown in the river of your foreign thoughts, what can you do? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:58) What does it mean on behalf of a person to ask for help? Or is it simply impossible, this thing? 

M. Laitman: For a person to ask for help is, a person supposedly tries on his own. If he can ask. So either he's asking internally, really demanding from society, he's doing that action internally. Or he comes to society and doesn't ask from them verbally, but he participates in all kinds of systems. Or he could even say it, he could say, guys, help me, awaken me, call me a few times. Maybe in this way, he still tries that it will influence it. But again, I'm saying, about external things, you still have to check very well and see whether – how can I say it? If all those actions really have an actual result, you see that they're really empty from results. You can do great global things in this world, and you won't influence the internality. There, it's just the hearts, desires, intentions, concentrations of the mind and heart, that's it. The external actions that go through body language, or sound waves, they are very limited. From experience we went through – I want to just have you pay attention – that you reach that conclusion where we truly now need to find our field of work, more internal terms, forces and desires that are more concentrated inside and not externally. 

Student: When nevertheless there is this state called time of Torah, in terms of wholeness, when there is no deficiency, when I'm still in all these actions, there is some point where I'm whole?

M. Laitman: How can we imagine for ourselves a time of Torah that I have no deficiency? And what, that's a good thing? 

Student: I don't know, he writes that it's divided into two?

M. Laitman: Time for Torah and a time for prayer. So how do you depict this to yourself? So I feel good, thank God, I don't need anything, that's the time of Torah. Maybe 100% yearning to the Creator that just says He doesn't let me sleep, I don't know, drawn towards Him. Baal HaSulam has a nice word for it, Kisufim, longing, right? That I long for Him 100%, maybe that's a time called, Torah for me; in that I feel wholeness. And if I'm lacking of that 100%, so I truly feel a deficiency. And 100% deficiency for the Creator, for me, that is a state of rest, right? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:17:22) What about new people who don't yet have the experience, but from all their heart they want to sing and dance?

M. Laitman: New friends with no experience on how they can join us, right?  We see that those that join us, within a very short time, without experience, without going through the experience we went through, somehow they get from us, I guess, the experience, and there's no problem. We also learn that in the article, The Peace, that every generation, it seems to us as if it's a new generation but it comes by standing on the shoulders of the previous generation – it's the same continuation. So, a person that comes today, I have to relate to them, not that they're new beginning today. But his appearance here in the group, in my beastly eyes is new; but actually he's in a process and reaches the group, not as a beginner that now we have to give him a pacifier and see him small, then he gets bigger. But we need to relate to him as if he just joined us externally, now, but internally, he has all the preparations to be with us, just like us. That's called that a new person comes in a spiritual way, he wasn't just born. He came from his previous incarnation, which is just continuing his spiritual life. That his preparations are 100% like ours. 

But externally, relatively, to him and his feelings, and us, and his behavior maybe, in a very short time, it'll come through. And we see that's what's happening, it's not that something you have to believe. A new person comes, within a few months, if he really belongs to us, so there's almost no difference; and maybe not a difference, maybe on the contrary. Maybe his perception, his approach is even more clear, more pure than ours because we are still under the burden of all kinds of habits and being veterans here, and all kinds of relationships, and all kinds of slogans, or who knows, all kinds of earlier thoughts from the past. And he lost that form, and the new person is just prepared, and potential and that's it. And all those forms that burden us from the past, he doesn't have them. So, I wouldn't look at him as if he's a small, young person that is lacking something; no, maybe on the contrary, he will absorb them in a better way within a month, he will extract it from within himself in a very short time. For new people who come, I'm not concerned. My concern is what to do with the children who got old, how to toss them away from here! Not to completely toss them but give them a system where they'll be like in an old-age home. And then maybe they'll get better and come back, and if not, so-so, that they do something at least, you know, they still have a few years to live in this incarnation, so let it be. So, everything doesn't happen for no reason. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:22:02) Why not to make one group? Why these two, why these levels, either a person is outside or is here? 

M. Laitman: Levels in the group, it's in order to maybe externally, for now, awaken the people. People who can't awaken themselves and we can't, for now with our assistance, to awaken them, so we need to show them that their state isn't right. If a person doesn't have a true justification that made him weak, some really special issues there, problems that are beyond the ordinary, God forbid, in the family or whatnot. So also for that, well, let's say, we won't get into explanation why it's happening, so we, for now, we need levels. Let's say now I'm telling you that you belong not to group A and not to that highest committee, but you're almost present. So, I hope that by knowing that, some red light will turn on, and you'll start being worried. 

So, what happens if I'm only just present here? So it's like you see that the fuel is ending, that the motor is getting hot, that there's a big problem coming. That's all we need, maybe a bit more but it's not right. A group has to be one but what can you do? I hope that by this, we – every so often will determine what the first, second, third level is for each and every one, all in all. I can tell the friend that he's sleeping today. Maybe something happened. Maybe, I don't know what, maybe he's really in a state. But if it happens again and again and again, so let's say after two weeks, if you look, what, two weeks? We even say at one moment that that's it, it should be like an alarm, a very loud alarm. If someone falls, right away you have to come up to him, but after a certain time, you see that this person is just not even present, he's just constantly sleeping. Is that called that he's present?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:25:23) It's similar to friend’s question, but still there's something unclear here. He writes here that after the prayer, we should behave as in the three last parts of the 18 Prayer. How does it, how is it expressed in the work of the group, if at all?

M. Laitman: The last three prayers of the 18 Prayer should be a sign: how we need to end every plea to the group. They show gratitude that I'm sure that I'll get this from society, that they have to supply this to me – and they will, they have a willingness to do it. And I bless society that I even have them, and that my future is promised through them. That is the state that we need to end every plea with, otherwise, there's nothing to keep going with.

Student: This is, but there's two elements to properly pray. We said there needs to be some kind of despair and also fear. These two elements can actually make a person lose his strength?

M. Laitman: What are you talking about? 

Student: There's fear and there's despair. To reach prayer you need some kind of despair.

M. Laitman: All qualities and tendencies we have should be there, none will disappear. They all have to be organized in the plea; also despair, and fear, and curse inside, whatever you want. We have all kinds of desires that against every desire, every quality, they should organize in a way that it will be a complete prayer. A pure prayer as we say, an innocent prayer, and without fear, you can't love. So without cursing, you can't bless. It has to be a vessel and light dependent on each other. And that's a problem, we want to disconnect from the evil, so, we float in the good. No, like an elder who sees what's going to be born, you always have to connect the bad to you and ride upon it all the time. And that's a problem that Baal HaSulam writes about – that's a difficulty that every spiritual state is included from two contradicting states inside it. That's a difficulty until a person gets used to it because we just want to be like children. I feel bad, I feel good, that's it. No, and in the middle, no, it's not good or bad, so how I organize it, we have to learn how to make such a state that also the bad that we feel will be felt as support for the good, that's what we need but it's felt as bad. Well, it'll come. 

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Reader: (01:29:08) Let's share impressions from the lesson. What are we taking from the lesson to realize in the Ten? Then, let's go to the next part and sing a song first!