Morning Lesson October 20, 2023
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio.
Part 1:
Rabash Article No. 13, 1988: What Is “The People’s Shepherd Is the Whole People” in the Work?
1. Rav Intro: (00:28) We are continuing the same line where the most important thing for us is nearing Lishma and to see how we enter this nature and how we can acquire it, feel it, live in it so this article explains to us also part of that state called Lishma, so please.
Reading Article. (01:04) “It is written in The Zohar....”
2. R. (21:41) Well what a beautiful article and clarifies many things. Well, let's hear what arrives.
3. S. (22:00) Thank you Rav. What does it mean that all the organs of man are righteous? What depends on the person?
R. Thoughts, desires, aspirations, goals that a person sees in them his attitude towards the Creator. From here forward they all need to be connected to each other dependent on one another and aimed towards the attainment of the Creator in order to bring him contentment.
S. How does he become awarded with that?
R. By what we just read right now through persistence and prayer.
4. S. (23:00) He's the intention when I do all my actions with the intention for the Creator Lishma, is that doing all the actions to have faith in the Creator?
R. Those are not all the actions but in this case that he's explaining, yes.
S. What are all the actions basically?
R. That which will be revealed along the way. We are beginning the path and at its end, we reach a complete adhesion with the Creator which is the purpose of our development.
S. Each and every disturbance that I receive, and I don't ask for the Creator I'm basically not doing all the actions.
R. Yes.
5. S. (23:59) What does it mean in the article that Moses would provide for the people of Israel and poverty?
R. Moses is the purpose and the intention of the people. In that purpose needs to be in all, aimed towards adhesion with the Creator to bring him contentment. That's why it's written that way.
6. S. (24:41) Who is the shepherd in this article, is it Moses?
R. Yes, and in this place it's Moses but usually it's the force that awakens in the group which draws and leads the group from one degree to the next, towards corrections.
7. S. (25:16) What does it mean that an evil place in his heart and desires is in that place called fear, so what is this place of fear?
R. The place of fear is a place where we want to show our attitude towards the Creator.
S. What is actually this greatness and importance of the Creator that gives us fear?
R. We gradually discover it as it comes to us and clothes us this fear, and we are truly blessed full of it, we accept it because it's actually in the vessels of fear that we need to receive the revelation of the Creator towards us, his attitude towards us which is altogether the vessel the Kli that we want to grow more and more and rise more with it.
8. S. (27:07) There's the greatness of the Creator given from above and there's the greatness of the Creator that a person must build by faith. It's like light and Kli? Do you mean the same greatness that I build, I have to dress it on the greatness from above?
R. It's not like that, it's better that you listen to what we're learning and then you can try and connect all these things together.
9. S. (27:53) What's the difference between partial faith and complete faith in the Creator?
R. Complete faith of the Creators with all the vessels and partial faith is that which we acquire at every degree, and we join to what we attained previously.
10. S. (28:30) How do we relate to our ten to obtain complete faith?
R. That is my vessel within which I reveal my attitude towards the Creator and the Creator's attitude towards me, and that's what binds me with the Creator.
11. S. (29:16) Why do we say that one who fears the Creator as a punishment doesn't feel His greatness?
R. I didn't understand, where's that verse?
S. He writes there are three types of fears and the first two types, one is, “One who fears punishment of this world,” and the second is “One who fears punishment of the next world.” He says, “Why one who fears punishment of this world doesn't feel the greatness of the Creator?”
R. Because he doesn't have a Kli to attain the greatness of the Creator. He's just fearful of the punishment. Do you understand?
12. S. (30:22) He writes that both Moses and Aaron, they are all in one body, what does this mean?
R. The meaning is that a person is a small world and everything in the world is in a person. Therefore, he must and can feel a state of the whole world.
S. It's like I remember you said to "Correct yourself and see that the whole world is corrected”?
R. Yes.
13. S. (31:09) I'm quite excited about the article and the question is, can I identify in myself the states where my fear is that my life will be wasted, so how do we in the ten come to a greater faith? Like the example you gave given your house or everything is a good example. How do we help each other develop the faith to reach the Creator?
R. We really need to come to such a connection where there's no distance between us and we're all dependent on one another and only in that connection that we established between us at one point, all of us together, in it, we will feel the result of our efforts.
S. Then there are basically two states, In one state you receive support from the group to better support your life towards the Creator. The second state is that the Creator helps the group in order to support, so how do we identify so that each stage will lead to connection?
R. There's something there, we'll talk about it, we will talk, we won't be able to run away from that.
14. S. (33:00) I understand that the power of Moses that's within us is the only force that can pull us from divinity in the dust, from the lowest place. My question is do I awaken the force of Moses by the prayer to give us to the Creator to give us the power of faith or do the friends awaken this force?
R. No, no we need to awaken the force of Moses.
S. We, meaning the friends?
R. Yes.
S. In a common prayer to the Creator?
R. Of course, that's why Moses is called the loyal shepherd. Where he leads, and guides the whole people, the whole group, all those who want to come to the Creator.
S. If so, is it a combination of the friends in the prayer?
R. Yes
15. S. (34:07) Rav, I'll read the paragraph and ask the question: “In the matter of the work when we learned that the whole Torah is in one body, we should interpret this article meaning that one who wants that his body. Meaning all the organs that are thoughts, desires, and actions that everything will be in purity. The advice to that is that the body will obey that everything he wants is in order to achieve complete faith, which is called fear of heaven.” My question is about the way that we work. We learn that we have to connect all the desires which are the friends that the Creator is dressed in. Rabash tells us that we need to study the Torah as one body. How do we work correctly? Connecting the desires in which are the friends or that I need to relate to the Torah as the one and only thing through that you can come to complete faith? That's the question.
R. Yes, correct. If I'm capable of carrying out all these commands of the Torah, then I gradually come closer to the Creator who is the central point of reality.
S. Meaning that faith is essentially our attainment, to demand it, to demand faith from the Creator all the time?
R. Yes.
16. S. (35:53) Yesterday we had a preparation for the lesson, and we read this excerpt and we had a question, what's the connection between faith, fear, and connection?
R. That in connection we find the force that connects between us. Fear is that which we turn to the Creator with and that's how we attain the purpose of creation. Meaning the feeling of the Creator in us. It is all aimed only to the fact that we will connect because then the Creator can be revealed in us.
17. S. (36:54) What actions will man do in to strengthen his faith in the Creator?
R. We learned that, first of all, connection with the friends, is as tight as possible.
18. S. (37:19) He writes that the main fear of heaven is to have faith in the greatness of the Creator, the greatness and importance of the Creator is the reason that obligates him to carry out Torah and Mitzvot and not for his own benefit. Now in the ten we work on more connection, we work on the friends being more serious, and more persistent. Recently we've been working on achieving a common prayer but here he says the main thing is the greatness of the Creator in the work. How to understand that the work that the ten is focusing on is the greatness of the Creator?
R. You need to feel this, you need to feel what you're being attracted towards, what's drawing you? It's actually the attainment of the greatness of the Creator, that's what you need and not for it to be a pleasure for you but rather it should bring pleasure to the Creator. That's why you need to depict to yourself the greatness of the Creator, that There's None Else Besides Him.
S. If I can see in the friend that he's great as a result of doing something, how can I connect it to that the Creator is great? How can I tie that?
R. That's called we know you from your actions, from our deeds.
S. Basically we need to reach a prayer that our prayers should be to reach the greatness of the Creator?
R. Yes.
19. S. (39:18) We are friends from the areas surrounding Gaza that we moved to be with all the friends, we went to wish the best of the whole worldwide Kli. The question is what is the difference between fear and faith?
R. Fear is the Kli and faith is the light, the upper light that appears in that Kli.
20. S. (39:58) What's the connection between asking faith one time, and another time that we only come to serve, that we don't want anything for ourselves? It Seems like two similar things but yet somehow opposite things.
R. The connection is that it all takes place inside our desire to receive and we want to place it in the service of the Creator fully. Through the desire to receive in each and every one, individually a person connects to the desires of the ten. Then his will to receive becomes complex, and in this complex desire to receive, that the ten wants to feel who constructed this connection, this Kli, who he is, what he is, and to feel Him mutually.
21. S. (41:13) How to demand faith correctly during the study and engaging in Torah and Mitzvot? He says that we must focus all of our thoughts on it so that the Creator will give us as a reward complete faith.
R. When I receive such a feeling of the Creator towards me, and for me to be able to do everything for Him through that attitude of His towards me.
S. Interesting, so that should be the reward for our efforts?
R. Yes
22. S. (42:40) How's it possible to describe the fear of heaven practically? What do we think about so that it won't be fear of punishment and that it will be fear of not being able to bestow contentment to the Creator?
R. We will try to talk about this between us and prepare ourselves to attain the fear which we need to reach the love of the Creator and not how we receive from His attitude towards us, such a fulfillment that calms us down and arranges everything for us.
23. S. (43:47) Please say, can faith not be above reason or that the previous stages of fear, beastly fear, and the desires for the next world are the basis for faith?
R. Very correct, we need to lift ourselves above this world.
24. S. (44:29) You explained that fear is the Kli and faith is the light, it says that man needs the body to obey everything that demands him to obtain complete faith which is called fear of heaven. Meaning to attain complete faith is fear of heaven by the person asking the Creator for the force of faith?
R. Yes.
25. S. (44:59) I heard that you said a person who is afraid of punishment can't feel the greatness of the Creator, so how can a person move to a state where he is afraid of punishment to feel the greatness of the Creator?
R. First of all, think about it, that he needs the greatness of the Creator, and nothing besides that and recognizing the greatness of the Creator will arrange things for him in the right way towards the attainment of the goal.
S. What is the greatness of the Creator?
R. The greatness of the Creator is that the Creator is first, and last, and everything in the middle is only the Creator and There's None Else Besides Him.
S. But specifically we're recognizing None Else Besides Him, there could be more fear punishments?
R. I don't know your excuses, you heard it, think about it.
26. S. (46:08) What is a shepherd?
R. A shepherd is the eyes of the people, of the group, the one who leads the group that could be of a group of people, it could be a ten, it could be anything.
S. How could it be that he's tantamount to the whole of the people?
R. It's just a question that we don't know yet. It doesn't matter that we didn't encounter that, it's probably possible.
S. How can He include so many different forces?
R. How He can be, is not a real question.
S. What's that point that includes all those different streams and factions within it?
R. Every upper degree includes within it all the degrees below it.
27. S. (47:09) He describes two fears, one of this world which I understand, but what is fear of the punishments from hell?
R. A person is afraid of his future and that he'll have a punishment.
S. Isn't his future dependent on this world to differentiate it from the first one when it talks about punishments of this world? The punishments from hell are punishments from something not of this world?
R. No.
S. What's the difference between one and two?
R. That all he wants to achieve in this life disappears from him and he has no Kli left in which to receive recognition of the Creator and the spiritual world.
S. I can understand that now, but the third one says the fear because the Creator is great and is worthy of such fear.
R. Just ask, don't explain to us what you understand, just ask what you want to hear an answer for.
S. How do we come to such a state where we don't fear punishment or not getting a reward? How do we come to such a degree?
R. Probably we do or we don't, we're not afraid of punishment and all we care about is the connection between us.
28. S. (48:48) The fear that the Creator can simply throw you from the path, what stage does that belong to?
R. A very high degree.
29. S. (49:10) How can we help a friend in the ten that the force of faith should be the force of the good shepherd and not the streams of this world?
R. To help him? I don't know how to help him, according to what you hear or what you see.
S. I see sometimes friends have more excuses of why not and we want to go towards why yes, why we should go all together in the force of faith. There are friends that are weakened in this, and you can feel the need to do this as an action together, a common action, so how do we nevertheless help the friends go in the force of faith, that we will be their loyal shepherd?
R. We'll see if the opportunity is to do that.
30. S. (50:16) I heard you saying that everything takes place inside our will to receive, that we need to place this will to receive all of it in the service of the Creator and the person connects to the desires to receive of the ten. What does it mean that a person will connect to the desires to receive from the ten and put it in service of the Creator? Are we already talking about vessels of reception in order to bestow?
R. I didn't understand your question.
S. You said that everything takes place in our desire to receive, and we want to place it completely in the service of the Creator.
R. Correct.
S. Then you added that a person personally connects to the will to the receiver of the ten, so what does this connection to the desires to receive of the ten? Did you mean that it's already working with the vessels of receiving in order to bestow?
R. Yes, that's already the next degree.
31. S. (51:42) Can we say that the fear of the Creator, I feel it, and I have a feeling of the Creator in my heart, and I don't want to lose it?
R. Yes, you could say that.
32. S. (52:15) How do we transmit the fear of His greatness in the ten?
R. Connect the faith that's in you to the work, the fear that's in you to the work in the ten, meaning that you're afraid of losing your degree and not being able to hold onto the friends, to hold them, that you won't be able to incorporate with the ten, that's it, ask to make actions towards increasing the force of connection with the ten.
33. S. (53:23) At the end of the article he talks about needing to come to the correct fear that you are rewarded with the right fear and then you come to complete annulment and adhesion but when you come to this annulment there's some block there because you're so afraid that you're going to lose yourself and then you realize that if you come to the point of annulment, it's like you lose the fear. How do you keep the fear when you are in annulment?
R. Why can't you keep the fear?
S. Because I'm already in a place where I am not thinking about myself. I don't have fear, or desires for myself. I'm kind of already in some other state but then I fall from it immediately because I can't lose myself, that fear. I have some lack here, I don't understand how I move from fear to complete faith.
R. What's the difference between fear and faith?
S. It feels like one is still in my desire to receive, that’s the fear, and the faith is actually something outside of me?
R. Yes, so that's the problem, that you're moving from fear towards faith.
S. Eventually the faith, that feeling of adhesion, it's okay that it cancels out the fear?
R. For now we'll put it that way, for now, you can put it that way.
34. S. (55:13) Is there any point in feeling fear if we believe that everything comes from the Creator?
R. This is correct both with respect to the person and with respect to the Creator. We are afraid to lose what we’ve got and that is connected only to the power of faith or above reason, which we acquire. Then we have no fear of what happens, and here's the question, either I'm already above that and I don't care about what happens to me or I don't mind losing what I've got as long as I hold onto the Creator. There are many questions here that we will have to read about.
35. S. (56:36) If there's no fear in the ten, we're not afraid, we're not afraid. What is that state where there is no fear, we're kind of like engaging, each brings that discernment together, we're trying to attain that discernment of Moses, the loyal shepherd, that quality of bestowal between us, but it's like we're not afraid, it's all okay, we're going with the flow. It's not good, I'm talking about myself. I'm also kind of, like I'm not afraid. I don't have this, we have states where people, me, too, we are in the same state or we wake up late for the lessons, we wake up late, we're not afraid, I don’t know?
R. That's a lack of connection in the ten. It's not that you want to sleep more or sleep less, it's the lack of connection with the friends in the ten which doesn't obligate you to wake up and get up in order to be first and turn on the computer and set up the material and that's also lack of consideration.
S. Yes, now what he's explaining here is what Rabash is explaining in the article. He writes that all the organs are punished because the shepherd of the people did not get rewarded because of him. I wanted you to explain, what is the punishment?
R. The punishment is that you're not preparing the vessels for annulling to the Creator. That's it. It's very simple, you're not given the opportunity, the ability to prepare the Kli and receive the revelation of the Creator, another portion, and another portion.
S. Meaning if there was like a siren right now, everybody would jump, no matter what, for whatever reason we would all jump and run to save our lives. Right here in the place, we have this.
36. S. (59:15) In order to come to love, do we need to go through fear?
R. Yes.
37. S. (59:29) When we have a fear that the humanity of our ten is not able to reach that level of connection needed to reach the ultimate correction, is that constant fear that turns into the love of others?
R. Try, it's all in your hands, trying, you can try whatever you want.
38. S. (01:00:25) Complete faith is a state of the final correction or is it the state that is in each and every degree?
R. To some extent it exists in each and every degree, yes.
39. S. (01:00:48) What connects between Moses and the people?
R. How much the people want Moses, then they attract Moses, they connect Moses to themselves. They make him the head of their progress.
S. What depends on the people wanting Moses?
R. What depends on the people, is how much they want to connect and realize that without the loyal shepherd, they can't do it.
40. S. (01:01:39) What will our work be when we come to nullify as a candle before a torch? What will remain for us?
R. If we can nullify like a candle before a torch, then we will make all of our desires, desires of receiving in order to receive, they'll be under restrictions, some desires will be in order to bestow, and other desires will be receiving in order to bestow, and this way will correct all of our desires. That's it. But before that, they have to awaken in us as the posterior desires, the desires that are filthy; that there is some portion in them that is in order to receive.
41. S. (01:03:03) Let's say that a person is able to attain complete faith, isn't there still the fear of not bringing contentment to the Creator?
R. Yes, yes.
42. S. (01:03:46) Can we say that fear comes from a lack of connection in the ten?
R. Fear comes from lack of connection in the ten, but we can't bring that, we can't acquire, bring that fear closer to us, even though it awakens us to search and to connect.
S. We need to search for that connection, Is that an issue with the connection?
R. Yes, prayer.
43. S. (01:04:37) The question is whether these states of fear and faith are parallel states, or they come one after the other because it seems like we are actually working here as a system and these are things that are constantly in sudden mutuality or am I wrong?
R. Yes, you are right.
44. S. (01:04:42) Is our continuity in spirituality dependent on our awakening, or the force that we have to awaken others?
R. Our awakening in spirituality depends on what stop we are on the path. Perhaps it depends only on the Reshimot that we have left from the shattering, could be dependent on the lack of connection between us, could be dependent on the friends' prayer for everyone. Awakening from above, awakening from below, all in all, the awakening is entirely, entirely depicted within us.