The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Lesson (Morning) June 23, 2025
Part 1 Baal HaSulam. Shamati 15. What Is Other Gods in the Work?
Hello Friends. In the first part of the lesson, we’re going to learn from a lesson from October 8, 2021, based on Shamati 15, What Is Other Gods in the Work?
M. Laitman: (00:45) Article 15 from Shamati, What Is Other Gods in the Work? There is a Creator and there is a tendency from the side of man to do something other than what the Creator puts before him, as if there is someone else there, another source that manages man. The Zohar interprets that there need to be stones by which we weigh them. And this is not clear what this is.
“A stone is an understanding,”
So, by which understanding can we learn the Creator and probably from opposite things. It always comes a thing and its opposite; the truth is that we can learn what is happening here and so on.
Baal HaSulam asks, “How is the work weighed with stones,
Meaning through understandings, through differences.
“Between the Two forces,”
By which one knows one’s state in the ways of the Creator, so that a person knows where he is. Meaning from now until the end of correction of our work, through all the corrections, we can know where we are by measuring our work correctly, to know where we are.
“This is a known thing. It replies that it is known that when one begins to work more than one is used to…”
Here, the main word here is, more, than one is used to.
“Then the body begins to kick and object to this work with all its might.”
Since regarding bestowal, if a person doesn’t add to then the body doesn’t resist; and to the extent that one adds, we feel the resistance.
“Since regarding bestowal, it is a load and a burden for the body. It cannot tolerate this work…”
That’s how the egoistic will to receive feels that way
“And the resistance of the body, of the will to receive, appears in a person in the form of foreign thoughts.”
Meaning all kinds of thoughts come of how to throw this burden to myself and I feel what can I do?
“And the body “comes and asks the questions of “who” and “what.”
Meaning who is the Lord that I should listen to Him, and what is this work for you? Without that one does not leave Egypt, from under the control of the will to receive.
“And through these questions, a person says…”
Through the questions of who and what
“And a person says that all these questions are certainly sent to him by the Sitra Achra [other side] to obstruct him in the work.”
Not the Creator, but rather it seems to us as if there is some foreign force. Why is it coming to me this way?
“In order to obstruct him in the work. It says that if, at that time, one says that they come from the Sitra Achra, one breaches what is written, “You shall make no other gods over Me.”
Meaning despite the fact that it comes from the Creator, a person thinks that it comes to him from another place, not from the Creator. That, from someone bothering him with this. I want to advance to the Creator but there is another, additional force, even in me. That is there and not outside of me, that is contradictory to the Creator. The way it is bothering me, it is truly obstructing me, and I need to dispel it and it is best that it not rise. This is the essential, main mistake a person makes; that he thinks that the disturbances that come to him along the way are those that want to deviate him from the path and not specifically advance him. A person doesn't understand that specifically through his overcoming of obstacles he will advance in the right way.
The most important thing to know is that advancement on the path is overcoming obstacles. These disturbances are ones that aim him toward the purpose of the path, the purpose of creation. Meaning, an obstacle is not an obstacle, it helps him understand, feel, and establish himself correctly towards the goal. Therefore, the attitude toward obstructions, even though each time a person is not satisfied with them, but that’s why they are called, disturbances. Yet, each time he needs to establish himself correctly; that though I am thinking incorrectly, I need to relate to them as they are called, a help against. Baal HaSulam explains onwards.
“The reason is that one should believe that it comes to him from the Shechina [Divinity]”
From the Creator Himself
“Since “There Is None Else Besides Him.” However, the Shechina shows one his true state, how he is walking in the ways of the Creator.”
Whether right or wrong, in order to aim him in a more precise, correct way, the obstacles come his way and he sees them as deviations from the path. We cannot advance if we do not feel we are deviating. Also, the line that we seemingly advance with, who knows if it is correct? The path, the systems of navigation, show us each time how much we are deviating from the true line. Let’s say, how gyros work, even compasses, how everything encompasses where each time we are measuring ourselves relative to the true line. We don’t know the true line in spirituality; it is a line of bestowal. So, each time we’re we shown where we are in deviation from the line of bestowal, more and more. If we’re advancing on the path, then each time we need to raise a higher resolution, a higher way that we can see the intensity, the extent that we are deviating from the line of bestowal. Hence, anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater, and the bestowal and influences seem greater. And it is correct, that’s how it needs to be appearing to us. It is a sign of advancement. It is like from a little baby we do not see any mistakes. Everything is done for him, it is all completed for him, in place of him. But the more they grow, we say not this, you need to do this and that, and we do not agree. Why, all of a sudden, I’m not allowed to do everything for myself? Everything used to be done for me, everything used to be fine, and no one said that I did anything incorrectly. And now even if I make a little mistake, it seems to me, for a little child, already I am told that I am not good, I am not okay.
This means that each and every time we are increasing scrutiny, increasing critique of the disclosure of our mistakes with higher precision and meticulous engagement. This is how we have to do this; otherwise, we cannot reach the exalted goal we have. I am going back to this paragraph.
“The reason is that one should believe that it comes to him from the Shechina [Divinity], since ‘There Is None Else Besides Him.’ However, the Shechina shows one his true state, how he is walking in the ways of the Creator.”
More correct or less correct. This means that by sending him these questions called, foreign thoughts. And by sending him these questions, all kinds of who and what, and where am I what is with me, which are called the foreign thoughts. This is the who and what, these Two questions.
“Meaning that through these foreign thoughts she sees how he answers the questions regarded as “foreign thoughts.”
For what am I alive, why am I alive, what will I get from it, and so on.
“And all this, one should know one’s true state in the work so as to know what to do.”
Therefore, without the foreign thoughts, a person loses his direction. He does not know how he is directed, where north is, where is that pole toward which we measure ourselves as to where we are. I must know relative to holiness, relative to the Creator, where I am; and therefore, each time it is like we are flying in an airplane or sailing in the sea, or going for a stroll in the forest, we need a compass. In the same way the need a compass on our spiritual path and this comes to us through the feeling of these foreign degrees, from the correct state. What is the deviation? Through those foreign thoughts which we feel. Not to here, and not to the right and not to the left, so we are advancing in the right way.
“This is very similar to an allegory,”
Meaning how to get these foreign thoughts?
“It is like an allegory about a friend who wanted to know how much his friend loved him. Certainly, when face to face, his friend hides himself because of shame. Therefore, he sends a person to speak badly about his friend.”
To slander him, not nicely.
“Then he sees his friend's reaction, where he agrees with the person talking badly about him or not, while he is away from his friends. And then one can know the true measure of his friend’s love. “The lesson is that when the Shechina shows her face to a person, meaning when the Creator gives one vitality and joy, in that state, one is ashamed to say what he thinks about the work of bestowal without receiving anything for himself.”
Because the Creator is showing him that this is the truth, and the person surrenders. He seemingly agrees to it.
“However, when not facing her, meaning when the vitality and gladness cool down, which is considered not facing her, then one can see his true state regarding the aim to bestow.”
Whether he is in order to bestow or not.
“If one believes that it is written that there is none else besides Him, and that the Creator sends all the foreign thoughts, meaning that He is the operator, he certainly knows what to do.”
Meaning, that, he must, despite what he has here to overcome and adhere to the Creator in all the possible means.
“And how to answer all the questions.”
Which all come from the Creator. Therefore, despite all these questions, he needs, through them, to once again come closer and hold on, grip onto the Creator. Where it all depends on Him and everything needs to be specifically connected and adhered to Him.
“This seems as though she”
The Shechina, meaning the Creator, actually.
“Sends him messengers.”
Just like a person sends a messenger to someone to know what he really thinks about him. That’s how Divinity sends messengers.
“To see how he slanders it, his kingdom of heaven, and this is how we can interpret the above matter”
As much as he receives His care, that the Creator is, Good That Does Good no matter what I feel. If, in some way I don't feel good, it is a sign for me that I need to change. Just like a compass, I turn myself until I feel myself as in the Good That Does Good. All the states that we feel in life are only in order to give us the right direction towards the Creator. If I turn myself in the thought and understanding that I am in before the Good That Does Good and this is the source of my life. And this is how I feel Him despite the fact that I don’t feel it that way. Then I need to correct myself and to try in faith above reason to feel that I am in the Good That Does Good, and that There Is None Else Besides Him. Then all the foreign thoughts which I feel and understand only aim me more, more correctly toward the Creator. That’s what the Creator does before us, that’s how He creates this path before us and helps us grow this way. To be more and more understanding and feeling Him upon all the obstructions. As much as I aim to Him above these obstacles, I become more adhered to Him and understand and feel this system. Because, altogether, what is it that I am pacing upon here? My egoistic desire and then I join my egoistic desire to the adhesion to the Creator, the Aviut, the coarseness. This is how I build my Partzufim along the way, where I am more and more resembling the Creator. We’re continuing onwards:
“One can understand this, that everything comes from the Creator, for it is known that these beatings
In his heart, in his mind, where the body beats a person with its foreign thoughts”
The ‘body’ means the will to receive.
“Since they do not come to a person when he does not engage in the work, but these beatings that come to a person in a complete sensation, to the point that these thoughts smash his mind, they come specifically after preceding Torah and work more than the usual.”
This means that to the extent that the more a person wants to add to his work, he feels these disturbances more. He needs to understand that these disturbances come in order to aim himself more precisely toward the Creator; this is how our advancement is.
Write down questions and later we will check. That way, otherwise, each with his question deviates everyone from the line we are going on. We receive this guidance to aim us along the way in our lives from all kinds of forms, from all kinds of corners in life, with our family, in work, and in the street, and the main thing is from ourselves, from our own heads and from our hearts. Not that it is against, it called is called ‘help against,’ that is how our desire to receive is called. And despite the fact that we can say that it hates us, it loves us. It helps us come closer to the Creator and specifically guides us directly to Him.
“This is called, stones to weigh with,”
By which we can weigh and discern our path exactly.
It means that these stones are Banah, understandings, thoughts that a person wants to understand these questions which come to him and fall upon his mind. It means that these stones fall in one’s mind when one wants to understand these questions. Afterward, one comes to weigh the purpose of one’s work, with these foreign thoughts that bother him, “...if it is truly worthwhile to work in order to bestow…”
Or is it best for me to come off of this path, and then I’m not willing or if I am not willing and it is best for me to leave this path. A person needs to understand that all these disturbances come to him specifically for him to advance. As much as we advance, we will have greater disturbances in order to guide us in a more precise way to the goal.
“If it is truly worthwhile to work in order to bestow”
He has that same question each time.
“To work with all his might and soul”
With all his mind and heart.
“And that all his aspirations will be only to hope that what there is to acquire in this world”
That is how he feels.
“Is only in the purpose of his work to bring contentment to his Maker, and not in any corporeal matter”
This is actually what He feels that this is what is constantly deviating him from the path – to all kinds of little pleasures, thoughts, confusions. If he pays attention to the extent to the extent in which he’s capable of keeping himself through this by the group, by the prayer to the Creator, then in that he’s willing. To the extent that he is not, he is not yet ready. Nevertheless, he is shown where he is and to what extent he has deviated and how much of this deviation he can join to the path, to the goal. And how much remains for him that he cannot cover these disturbances and to join them in order to bestow, even though such thoughts and desires come his way, and desires as well. So here is the work of man: He needs to close the gap when there is a deviation from the path. This is how we begin to understand, as Baal HaSulam writes, that without the influence of the environment we are not capable of joining thoughts and desires that are foreign to our path. We ourselves are not capable of a thing.
“At that time begins a bitter argument, since one sees that there are arguments both ways.”
Meaning, which way will I go?
“The writings warn about this, “You shall make no other gods over Me.”
This means that you should not have one that is greater than me, the Creator says, that will define for you this path, this life.
“Do not say that another god gave you the stones, all the obstacles, with which to weigh your work, but ‘over Me. Instead, one should know that this is considered ‘over Me.’ This is so that one will see the true form of the basis and the foundation upon which the structure of the work is built.”
That everything comes from the Creator only, There Is None Else Besides Him and that is how I need to relate to all the disturbances and to understand that it all comes from the same source, that you will have no other god, no other sources for your life. This is how you will take them to your work, and specifically upon them, you will advance. Specifically, through these deviations through these disturbances, you will be able to aim yourself more precisely toward the goal.
“The heaviness in the work is primarily because they are two texts that deny one another”
This means that there's always a thing and it's opposite, two things that are in contradiction between them. What are they?
"On one hand, one should try that all his work will be to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, that all his desire will be only to bestow contentment upon his Maker, and not at all for himself. On the other hand, we see that this is not the primary goal, that a person needs to bestow upon the Creator.
“Since the purpose of creation was not for the creatures to bestow upon the Creator since He has no need for the creatures to give Him something. On the contrary, the purpose of creation was due to His desire to do good to His creations”
That the Creator wants to give to the creation and not that the creations will give to Him. That’s why it does not belong to His desire for us to give to Him, to fill Him, meaning for the creatures to receive delight and pleasure from Him. That’s the purpose of creation, for the creatures to be willing to receive and be filled with all the abundance the Creator wants to give.
“These two matters contradict one another from one end to the other, for on one hand, one should bestow”
To be similar to the Creator
“And on the other hand, one should receive.”
To be opposite the Creator.
“In other words, there is the matter of correction of creation, being to achieve Dvekut, discerned as equivalence of form, being that all his actions will be only to bestow. Afterward, it is possible to achieve the purpose of creation—to receive delight and pleasure from the Creator.”
We need to understand two things, that we need to correct ourselves but our correction is in order to receive from Him. We are coming into equivalence of form with the Creator where we want to adhere to Him. Then how can we resemble Him? Only by me doing an opposite action, that I want to bestow to Him to receive from Him. That’s why we need to correct our vessels of reception in order to bestow to Him. I need to be hungry in order to come to my mother and delight her. That I will eat at her house with a great appetite, with hunger, and with joy, and enjoy all the pleasures, and I will also enjoy it. I need to correct myself that I want to enjoy and delight my mother and for her to enjoy me, on one hand. And on the other hand, I need to be myself and to receive in the big will to receive what she prepared for me.
Then in those two opposite things—receiving from her to give to her—I can really come to her and for there to be a connection between us, adhesion, equivalence, and we will fill one another. I fill her with my deficiency and she fills me with her filling, but all together we are filling one another with our intentions which connect. And then between them we can feel the complete love in two directions, bi-directional; it’s called “I for My beloved and My beloved for Me.”
“Hence, when one has accustomed oneself to walk in ways of bestowal, one has no vessels of reception anyhow. When one walks in ways of reception, he has no vessels of bestowal.”
This means there's a problem here that our intention needs to be in order to bestow. Our vessel should be in accordance with vessels of reception.
“Hence, the stone that we weigh includes both together.”
This means that by receiving a deviation each time and how we have to advance where we are being shown where we are not okay. Through that we acquire the understanding of what the relationship between us needs to be the intention of in order to bestow and the desire to receive. To the extent that we can instill the desire to bestow upon the desire to receive. Then we can directly discern and aim ourselves towards that goal. Each time in correcting that deviation, each time. There is a lot of work in this, even though in advance, if we look and we want to identify where this deviation is.
“Thus, through the “stones to weigh with”
Which we try to see to the extent in which we deviate from the path.
“One acquires both”
Both the bigger will to receive and the intention in order to bestow.
“Since after the negotiation he had during the work, when he overcomes and takes upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven in the form of bestowal in mind and heart, it causes that when he comes to draw the upper abundance, since he already has a solid basis that everything should be in the form of bestowal, hence, even when one receives some illumination, he receives it in order to bestow. This is because the whole basis of his work is built solely on bestowal. This is considered that he “receives in order to bestow.”
Rav begins drawing: (34:10)
It is a very high degree. It is a high degree because we are with you rising from here to the Ein Sof in some degrees. We have a state that we make a preparation; after the preparation, we come to Tzimtzum, to restriction; the first restriction, Tzimtzum Aleph. Then we work in order to reach the quality of Bina, this is our Malchut – this is the matter of Bina to which we come. And this is all the form of bestowing in order to bestow, this whole period of time, to bestow in order to bestow. These are all vessels of bestowal, meaning they are working in the coarseness of the Aviut of Zero, One and Two – Zero, 1 and 2 – we reached the degree of Bina. We will learn this in The Introduction to the study of the Ten Sefirot. We will learn that this is called a righteous that is incomplete where his transgressions become errors and so on, that is the degree of Bina. Then we reach the goal, which is already the Keter. Keter, to receive in order to bestow, which is already the Aviut, the coarseness of 3 and 4, working with the will to receive an order to bestow. In this way we correct ourselves and this is in the Keter, the end of correction.
The whole path is, each step along the way, is by us being in a certain state. And always we are shown the state of advancement in an egoistic manner – our ego and the true form of in order to bestow. We need always to close this gap between the ego and the Creator in order to be in order to bestow each time. We need to each time to locate this deviation and correct it; by what can we see and increase and understand better where we need to work. Here these things we can locate by the group. Therefore, each time we can do more, just like he says here that behind every friend the Creator stands. Here, we can aim ourselves to the group, and in this way eventually reach the Creator. But here, we can also see the extent to which it is important to us in ego. If we're not to appear, if the Creator wasn’t in the, I have created the evil creation. Then we would have no ability to correct ourselves and aim ourselves towards the Creator. Each time we discover, somewhat, the extent to which we deviate relative to the Creator because we can never see the Creator Himself. But rather the evil inclination shows us how our state towards the Creator. It doesn't tell us that this is the true form of bestowal, no, it shows us how to what extent we are not in true bestowal. This is how, through this, we can each time correct ourselves. We will work on this, it’s all ahead of us, it is not a problem, and slowly, slowly. We are advancing and not slowly. We should just understand from this the importance of the will to receive, and to the extent to which it works in the contradiction to the Creator, and that is why it is called, help against him. And without it we would not be able to aim ourselves towards the purpose of creation and the Creator which is why we need to see it.
As Rabash says, kiss the stick, this is how we advance. On the way the evil angel becomes the good angel, and there is no bad in the world, there's only good. All the bad that used to be, we know it was created only for us to differentiate between the Creator and something outside the Creator. Then, what is outside the Creator gradually disappears and what remains is None Else Beside Him, that’s the goal. Only by the deviations and by the disturbances on the path that we have.