The transcript has been transcribed and edited from English simultaneous interpretation, thus there may be potential semantic inaccuracies within it.
Daily Lesson (Morning) October 26, 2024
Part 1: Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The Study of The Ten Sefirot, Item 94.
Reader: Hello, we shall be reading from the writings of Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot, starting with item 94. You can find all of our texts on kabbalahmedia.info, as well as on the Arvut platform where you can send us questions live. Anyone asking a question here in the study hall is requested to stand up, hold the microphone close to his mouth, and to speak loudly and clearly. The writings of Baal HaSulam. Introduction to The, Study of the Ten Sefirot, item 94.
Reading: (00:44) 94) That also settles the verse, “I did not labor and found, do not believe.” It seems puzzling, for who would be so gullible as to think that it is possible to be rewarded with the Torah without having to labor for it? But since the words concern the verse, “They who seek Me shall find Me” (Proverbs 8:17), it means that anyone, small or great, who seeks Him, finds Him immediately. This is what the words “They who seek Me” imply.
One might think that this does not require such great labor, and even a lesser person, unwilling to make any effort for it, will find Him, too. In that regard, our sages warn us not to believe such an explanation. Rather, the labor is necessary here, and “I did not labor and found, do not believe.”
M. Laitman: Questions? No. Go ahead.
Reading: (02:19) 95) Now you see why the Torah is called “life,” as it is written, “See, I have set before you today life and good” (Deuteronomy 30:15), and also, “therefore choose life,” and “For they are life unto those who find them” (Proverbs 4:22). This extends from the verse, “In the light of the King's face is life” (Proverbs 16), since the Creator is the source of all of life and every good.
Hence, life extends to those branches that adhere to their source. This refers to those who have labored and found the light of His face in the Torah, who have been imparted opening their eyes in the Torah in wondrous attainment until they were imparted the revelation of the face, meaning the attainment of the true Providence, which befits His name, The Good, and the conduct of the Good is to do good.
M. Laitman: Questions? None. Well, then this is clear.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (04:00) A person must labor, must invest some efforts. Now that exertion, what is proper exertion, in intention?
M. Laitman: Well, the labor is both in intention and action.
Student: Now, during the preparation for the lesson, we had a quiet kind of preparation. We tried building up our intention. It's not a problem to build up the proper intention, the problem is the true intention that is egoistic, and so there’s a divide, a delta actually. Now, this gap, is it a place for correction?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And it's clear that we must pray. We pray, and with time that divide should shrink, right?
M. Laitman: Most likely.
Student: On condition that the prayer is proper and all the other conditions are met.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, the question is, if at some point the gap disappears, if that delta disappears entirely at some point?
M. Laitman: If a person always gets closer to the goal, to the correct goal, then of course the gap wanes.
Student: And then ultimately the correction is done? Can you say that when the delta is gone, then the person completed his correction?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And what's the correction on the next step, the next stage?
M. Laitman: We'll read. It's all ahead of us.
Reading: (06:21) 96) And those who won can no longer retire from keeping the Mitzva correctly, as one cannot retire from a wonderful pleasure that comes to his hand. Hence, they run from transgression as one runs from a fire.
It is said about them: “But you who adhere to the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day,” as His love is bestowed upon them in natural love through the natural channels prepared for one by the nature of creation. This is so because now the branch is properly adhered to its root, and life pours to him abundantly and incessantly from its origin. It is because of this that the Torah is called “life.”
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (07:45) He says the Torah is called life. The feeling that the Torah is life comes only after one's eyes are opened in the Torah, right, not before?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, where's the free choice? Where's the choice before? Because it says here, I gave you life and the good and that. So, a person needs to choose it. But if a person doesn't feel that the Torah is life, what kind of choice is there, where is the choice?
M. Laitman: The choice is in that the Torah is still hidden and the person chooses it.
Student: So, what is the meaning of choice here? To choose you need to feel the options you're choosing from.
M. Laitman: If everything were revealed there would be no choice.
Student: So, a person who hasn't come to that feeling yet, he was promised that he can continue and continue and continue with the Torah. At some point he'll reach the opening of the eyes and all that goodness. So, until then, what does he choose between what things?
M. Laitman: He chooses the path by which he wants to reveal the Torah.
Student: But it's not a choice between life and death and so on, as it is written in several places.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: It's just the choice to keep making an effort.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (09:27) He describes a state of life here where a person is adhered. But how can a person advance in that state of life?
M. Laitman: He wants to attain the Torah and begins to discover that his entire life truly is there in the Torah. And that's it, and he's always in effort to attain.
Student: So, in the state of you adhere to the Lord your God, all of you live today?
M. Laitman: That's when he already attained the Torah.
Student: He attained it, and from that state onwards, what motivates him, what pushes him to advance?
M. Laitman: That he attains the Creator each time on a higher and higher level.
Student: Before that, he didn't have the Torah, but he had some drive then. Now, what is pushing him forward?
M. Laitman: It's that he attains. The attainment of Torah itself is what attracts him more and more.
Student: What in the Torah attracts him more? What pushes him to continue and discover more, attain more, so he can’t remain calm?
M. Laitman: Because he begins to reveal the source of life, the goal of life, and it all opens up to him.
Student: And when it opens up, what pushes him to advance more and more? Why doesn't he settle for some fulfillment?
M. Laitman: No, because the fulfillment is a gradual fulfillment, it's partial.
Student: What is he lacking?
M. Laitman: He lacks the complete attainment of the Torah.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (11:57) It's written, in the light of the king's face is life. What does that mean?
M. Laitman: That they reveal the upper light which comes to them from the Creator and it attracts them and gives them the urge to advance. That's how they advance.
Student: Advancing where?
M. Laitman: Advance towards the king of life, the living king. All right, yes.
Reading: (13:03) 97) For this reason, our sages warned us in many places concerning the necessary condition in the practice of Torah, that it will be specifically Lishma, in a way that through it, one will be awarded life, for it is a Torah of life and this is why it was given to us, as it is written, “Therefore, choose life.”
Hence, during the practice of Torah, every person must labor in it and set his mind and heart to find “the light of the King's face” in it, meaning attainment of open Providence, called “light of the face.” Any person is capable of it, as it is written, “those who seek Me shall find Me,” and as it is written, “I labored and did not find, do not believe.”
Thus, one needs nothing in this matter except the labor alone. It is written, “Anyone who practices Torah Lishma, his Torah becomes for him a potion of life” (Taanit 7a). It means that one should only set one’s mind and heart to attain life, which is the meaning of Lishma.
M. Laitman: Are there questions?
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (14:57) Who determines if a person exerted himself, labored or didn't?
M. Laitman: Probably towards the conditions of the Upper One, the Creator.
Student: But how can he say, I didn't labor and I found? How can he tell if he labored or not?
M. Laitman: Probably there's a condition on the laborer where he can say did I labor or not?
Student: Even when he says I labored, if he can reach a state where he can say he labored and didn't find, then what else is missing here? Because he says that this is the only thing that a person is missing, so there's no true measurement of the labor.
M. Laitman: This already becomes revealed to him. It's revealed to him, that if he reached it or not.
Student: So how to advance towards that? Because if it's revealed… it's not clear. If it's revealed, then you need to do all sorts of things where it's not clear if they're labor or not. Later he'll be told if it was labor or wasn't labor.
M. Laitman: He has to continue for now, not a choice.
Student: Continue with what, with what he now believes to be labor?
M. Laitman: Yes, he's not demanded of something he can't detect.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (17:08) He mentions the warning again where you need to study Lishma. If I understand correctly, not Lishma, not for her sake, is for selfish fulfillment. And for her sake, it's to fulfill someone else, the Creator, the friends. But here it says that Lishma means that he will be awarded life. Is life not a kind of fulfillment? What is life, the feeling of life?
M. Laitman: We'll attain and we'll see.
Student: It's also called the elixir of life. He says that the person who reaches that, he perceives such wonderful pleasure that he can never stop, can never quit the work. So is it not fulfillment?
M. Laitman: Yes, it's fulfillment, but what's the question? If he hasn't yet received fulfillment, then how does he know?
Student: So again, Lishma means to fulfill someone who's outside of me, the Creator or the friends. But here it says that I am being fulfilled by the feeling of life, such wonderful pleasure that one can never quit.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So that's the question. What is this Lishma, this life? Where is it felt?
M. Laitman: We'll do the labor and we'll get there and we'll know.
Student: But he writes that I need to ask for that feeling. That one needs to pay heed to it, that he finds the king of life and so on, you need to yearn for that feeling. What feeling exactly do I need to yearn for?
M. Laitman: To long to connect with the Creator.
Student: However I may describe that?
M. Laitman: However, you depict it.
Student: Will that help? To yearn for something, you need some kind of inner picture of it.
M. Laitman: If so, then you have nothing to long for.
Student: How can I yearn for something that I don't feel?
M. Laitman: That's what we're talking about. That's what it's about, to long for something you still don't attain.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (19:51) To yearn for something I don't recognize, don't know, that is called a find, right? That's why it's called finding?
M. Laitman: Finding means what he hasn't met before until it comes to him.
Student: And when he writes about running away from transgression as one runs from fire, so to complete the friend question, there's no real choice here, right? He's already entirely…
M. Laitman: Let's say.
Student: And anything that happens to him at that state, without any choice, he fulfills? Can you say that?
M. Laitman: No. The choice is his. He chooses this path.
Student: It sounds like he's full of power and doesn't have two options actually. He flees from the other one, from sin, so it's not as if he's choosing.
M. Laitman: This is the option, to not escape, to rather yearn to reach the goal.
Student: So, this is a state of equivalence of form at this point, can you say that?
M. Laitman: He doesn't write that way.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (21:34) He distinguishes between engaging in the Torah and exertion or labor. We see that there can be two people performing the same act. For one person it's pleasurable, for the other person it's a great effort, maybe even suffering. Same exact action. Avoiding things or doing things can be either. So, it seems that in this exertion, there's a kind of suffering that comes with it. You need to overcome. So, what is exertion or labor? One who engages in Torah, does he need to push himself so as to not receive any fulfillment from his work?
M. Laitman: Maybe.
Student: Every action we perform, we justify in some way. We need a cause, a reason. This is right to do, and so on. I don't do bad things against my will. I don't put my hand in the fire. But here, it seems that I'm required to perform actions with effort, without any pleasure, without any justification, and with suffering to boot.
M. Laitman: So, you want the reward first and work later?
Student: I'm willing to work if it's logical. Do one, two, three, and you'll get to four. A person can exert greatly then, but it's not regarded as labor. It's just work, right?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: But labor seems to necessitate some additional… There's no four. Do one, two, three, and that's it.
M. Laitman: That's how you interpret it.
Student: What is there to labor? What turns a certain act into labor or exertion?
M. Laitman: That I'm willing to give all my strength to do something.
Student: Let's say for example there's an athlete. He trains, he lifts 30 tons in a practice. Very hard to do. For him, it's pleasurable. Another person, you tell him to do the same, to lift 30 tons in a practice, it's impossible, it's suffering. He'll curse you every second of trying. For the first one, it doesn't seem that this work is labor, it's pleasure, excellent, it's good.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, it's not about the act, it's about how one relates to the act. So, when does that turn into labor?
M. Laitman: When you see the goal in front of you, and in order to attain it, you make the effort, you labor. I labored and I found.
Student: So, the goal allows one to absorb the suffering of the act?
M. Laitman: The importance of the goal, yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (24:40) Yearning to connect with the Creator, is that called labor?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: It's also called engaging in Torah Lishma?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And after a person reaches Lishma, what is the labor then? In the work which is Lishma?
M. Laitman: He has no labor.
Student: Why?
M. Laitman: Because he already attained the Creator, and he's within closeness and connection.
Student: What labor does he have? No labor. He is with the Creator, essentially connected.
Student: And what then, in that state?
M. Laitman: He achieved and attained the goal.
Student: How do you advance in Lishma? What stages of progression are there to Lishma? It's not clear. Before that, there's a goal ahead of you, but from Lishma onwards, what do you have?
M. Laitman: From Lishma and onwards, there are also degrees of Lishma.
Student: And what is the difference between one degree and the next?
M. Laitman: We will soon get there, and we'll talk, but… but what's the difference in degrees of Lishma? That one gives himself more and more and more to adhere to the Creator.
Student: And that's his labor?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: All right, so now in our work, what is the emphasis? What do we need to emphasize to break into Lishma?
M. Laitman: Also, to get there.
Student: To yearn to reach the Creator.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (27:08) I wanted to ask about something you mentioned previously, about that issue I found. You said that finding is where you find something that's different to what you thought you'd get. So, I wanted to ask, if you exerted yourself, and you even succeeded, ultimately, in the end you receive something you didn't think you'd receive as an egoist? You get something different?
M. Laitman: You find something you haven't thought of in advance.
Student: And you'll still be as happy as if you found the thing you were seeking?
M. Laitman: More than that.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (28:03) In the last item we read, he wrote that a person, when engaging in Torah must exert himself and pay attention, dedicate his heart to find the light of life in it, to find the open providence, revealed providence, called the light of the face. Can you explain what he recommends we do here, so we can do it right now as we study?
M. Laitman: He now sees that specifically during the time of the study, when he's with his friends, he can make the effort, the labor, to connect to everyone, and by that, to merit adhesion with the Creator, and thus discover a higher degree in connection.
Student: And that is something we need to try to do right now, as we study the introduction to TES?
M. Laitman: That too, yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (29:29) The Creator sets conditions for us all, all the time, so we may advance. What does it mean to discover those conditions? What conditions do I need to discover each time in order to labor?
M. Laitman: You have to see each time how can you get closer to the Creator more and more and more.
Student: Are these conditions found within the connection of the Ten, within our collective efforts to connect?
M. Laitman: Not so much, but the connection in the Ten directs you to that.
Student: So that condition, the condition under which I discover the Creator, where is that? He says I need to devote my mind and heart every time anew. When I work in the Ten, in the connection between us, how can I discover which conditions the Creator is setting for me in order to advance towards Him?
M. Laitman: That we'll have to see. I hope that we'll read about it soon.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (30:59) Working with exertion, is that when I work with the friend, and there's a condition where I need to reach equivalence of form under the conditions the friend sets? And is finding me looking for the greatness of the friend without any condition?
M. Laitman: I don't understand what you're talking about. It's such theories that…
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (31:38) In the state of Lo Lishma, is the work done through coercion?
M. Laitman: For coercion from?
Student: Coercion against the will to receive. You coerce the will to receive and then there's labor.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And at what stage does it receive some pleasure from this exertion? Where it's not through coercion but with happiness and by will, by its will. In Lishma?
M. Laitman: Yes, to the extent that he's in Lishma, the more he labors, the more he has pleasure from the labor.
Reading: (32:35) 98) Now you can see that the question the interpreters asked about the Mitzva of love, saying that this Mitzva is out of our hands since love does not come by coercion and compulsion, is not at all a question since it is entirely in our hands. Every person can labor in the Torah until he finds the attainment of His open Providence, as it is written, “I labored and found, believe.”
When one is rewarded with open Providence, the love extends to him by itself through the natural channels. One who does not believe he can attain it through his efforts, for whatever reason, is necessarily in disbelief of the words of our sages. Instead, he imagines that the labor is not enough for every person, which contradicts the verse, “I labored and did not find, do not believe.” It also contradicts the words, “those who seek Me shall find Me,” specifically, those who “seek,” whomever they are, great or small. However, he certainly needs to labor.
M. Laitman: So, is this clear? Yes? Clear. 99.
Reading: Item 99 (34:48) From the above, you will understand the meaning of “Anyone who practices Torah Lo Lishma, his Torah becomes for him a potion of death” (Taanit 7a), and also what they said about the verse, “Indeed You are a God who hides,” that the Creator hides Himself in the Torah.
We asked above, “It makes sense that the Creator is hidden specifically in worldly matters and in the vanities of this world, which are outside the Torah, and not in the Torah itself, as only there is the place of the disclosure. And we asked further: This concealment that the Creator hides Himself, to be sought and found, as it is written in The Zohar, “Why do I need all this?”
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:06) We know that example is something that really helps a person advance, when he sees a good example. Now, we put ourselves in a society which gives one an example of yearning for spirituality, for the attainment of the purpose of creation. So, what do you recommend if I now want to look at a friend and receive an example from him for proper exertion? I'm not impressed by everyone personally. It's difficult for me to see that everyone is laboring, exerting themselves with that purpose in mind. So, what kind of example do I want to get from a friend? What do you recommend to see in him so as to receive a good example for proper exertion?
M. Laitman: Well, we read it and discussed it many times, that we really have an opportunity to consider and appreciate each and every friend all the way up to heaven, and to try and be close to him as much as possible, and thus each one in all the others.
Student: Can each friend show me an example of quality exertion?
M. Laitman: He doesn't have to give you an example of exertion. Rather you... And because he doesn't have to give you an example, you need to appreciate the efforts they're making.
Student: So, what should I be impressed by? There are friends who cook hundreds of kilograms of meat so the friends here can eat. There are many examples, very powerful examples from different friends here. So, what is it worthwhile to be impressed by, inspired by? I'll ask that way.
M. Laitman: From their labor, from what you see. As much as one participates in the life of the group, how much he helps everyone.
Student: No, okay, look. This example... You told us once about how Rabash saw that you sit for hours before the lesson preparing yourself. You said that he was very impressed, that he got this... he understood that you're a student, it very much impressed him. You told us that story. So, it means that there are such things where you can see that friend, that friend is giving his life to the path, dedicating his life, devoting it. So, what kind of examples of exertion should I be looking for?
M. Laitman: Perhaps this is something you can't see through corporeal eyes, but you feel how much your friend is drawn to that.
Student: Yes, for the time being I truly feel that. There are those who inspire me, and those who, I can't say why but, maybe you can tell me this one thing. The friends from whom I receive examples for exertion, usually those are friends who leave the society, as you said. They participate, they're enmeshed in the society, they're an integral part of it. Is that the right direction?
M. Laitman: Yes, yes, that too.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (40:47) I could never understand how the Torah can become a deadly drug, how you can practice it and fail. When a person comes and engages in Torah, he comes to death, he comes out worse than he entered. How can that be?
M. Laitman: I don't know, but as written, it can either be the potion of life or the potion of death. One should be cautious to use the Torah only as the potion of life.
Student: But everyone comes from Lo Lishma. They come to study something, to engage in something. I can't find such examples also in any wisdom, any science. How can it be that a person studies something, and he becomes worse, it brings him death? I don't know. It also contradicts the idea from Lo Lishma to Lishma. I don't know how to connect these things.
M. Laitman: We have to try and reach connection, where each one holds everyone else. And then, in that connection, we'll discover that the Creator is also with us, holding us.
Student: So, you can also reach such a conclusion that if a person uses the Torah incorrectly, he reaches that potion of death, and it's better that he never even started.
M. Laitman: No. No, because one can always correct himself.
Student: Meaning, there's hope.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (43:23) I labored and found, there are two examples. I always walk in the path of connection, and then one day I discover that I'm walking on two legs. Here's the point, something shows you that you truly need incorporation because you can't do everything alone, you need to incorporate, integrate with a group, and here comes exertion. Now, finding, you can't tell about what you're going to find. What can I do to… It doesn't matter for me who I find it with, this person or that person, or the general vessel.
M. Laitman: So, what's the question?
Student: How do I open myself up to channels of support, on the one hand, and towards the special things in each and every person? For example, in our Ten, we have a person who is an expert in revealing evil, it's automatic for him. And we have another friend, and the Creator is always, always above his head, right? He doesn't take one step without the Creator being there. And there's another friend, where regardless of what state he's in, he makes the utmost effort to just arrive, and he does his best. The question is, after you understand, and this happened only recently, after you understand that only in the general incorporation you can build a common vessel for the revelation of the Creator, how can we then open the heart?
M. Laitman: Probably through prayer.
Student: And when we get together for a meeting, what should we focus on?
M. Laitman: As you said, that you want to discover the heart, to reveal the heart.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (45:58) To continue the friend's question about being inspired by the friends, impressed by the friends. When I look at the friends, then logically, yes, logically, I can conceive of the fact that everyone's making an effort, because I know about myself, even just staying here is an effort already. But when I try to see if I'm actually receiving any power from them, after receiving that power, I'll be able to exert more than I could before, I'll be able to use that power, right? And that doesn't always happen. So, what gives us this ability, this option to receive powers from the friend that I'll be able to use, to exert more? Not just to look at him and say, oh yes, he's exerting, he's laboring, but rather have it motivate me to act?
M. Laitman: You have to appreciate them, these friends, so much so that you will feel that your entire life, the life that you wish to attain, that can be attained only in the connection with them.
Student: Before I asked, this is the answer I gave myself. But what actions of mine can grow their appreciation in me, my appreciation of them, rather?
M. Laitman: You have to reach a state where you truly appreciate the friends, and it's clear to you that without connection with them, you don't achieve the purpose of life. And then you understand that without inner connection with them, you have no chance to attain.
Student: So, it's only from feeling of powerlessness, despair, only from such states, when a person feels that he has nothing and must receive something from the group, or are there positive efforts where he can accelerate the process and himself enter that system of connection and dependency?
M. Laitman: No, he can't do it on his own.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (49:34) I heard that if a person left the path, he can return, but there is also Baal HaSulam's depiction, where if a person strayed a little bit he can't return anymore.
M. Laitman: No, if he's not making actions of correction, then he could be moving away, really, really far away.
Student: So, what are acts of correction, where a person can know he's following the right path, 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on?
M. Laitman: He must always inspect it, examine it, and see whether he's advancing correctly.
Student: And how can he tell by himself if he is advancing correctly? He needs someone else to tell him.
M. Laitman: That's not a problem. The problem is that a person guards himself and examines whether every step he makes is correct. Meaning that in each and every step, he examines himself. He examines himself and sees that he's still not making a mistake.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (51:25) Can it be said that exertion is an addition to the Creator's actions?
M. Laitman: Let's say.
Question (Women Heb 1): (51:43) How can I tell that I've come closer to the Creator?
M. Laitman: According to the extent to which I feel that I'm following Him.
Question (Women PT 33): (52:08) Is exertion always in one place and finding in another?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Merkaz 1): (52:23) How can I tell that the exertion is in the direction of the elixir of life, not the potion of death?
M. Laitman: The exertion needs to be with the purpose of attaining something which is above my reason, above my feelings, above my perception. And then, I will always need the Upper One's help to pull me, to carry me. And after Him, I can thus attain.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (53:19) To continue the friend's question, it's written, it's something terrible here. It says, anyone who engages in the Torah not for her sake, his Torah becomes for him the potion of death. Now we've been studying for a while, but we haven't come to Lishma yet, so what does that mean?
M. Laitman: It means that if you don't reach Lishma, then your Torah will always drag you into death.
Student: Does it mean that any student who studies and hasn't come to Lishma yet, but he's studying, coming, connecting, is he getting the potion of death? Is that a necessary stage on the path, because that's what it says?
M. Laitman: Yes, to reach the elixir of life or the potion of death, you get one, one option.
Student: But is it necessary that we get there? Now when we're studying, we're getting the potion of death all the time. Is that a good thing?
M. Laitman: Even now, yes, it's not good. Ultimately, we need to shake ourselves up and decide that we're going towards the elixir of life.
Student: Why is it called death, what is the death here? We're studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, we have Tens connecting together, where is the potion of death exactly?
M. Laitman: It’s the potion of death because we are disconnected from the force of life.
Student: And then the Torah adds to this, makes it worse?
M. Laitman: Yes, but this addition, ultimately, gives us the feeling that we're not on the right path.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:43) Life and death, that depends on our choice?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (55:57) Before a person exerts himself, does he need to calculate? He’s yearning for some goal, so he decides that he wants to make some effort. Does this relate to within reason, below reason, and above reason?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, he needs to really look to see from what place he now decides to make that exertion. But it's always such that I don't know what expects me after the action. Some revelation, I find something new, some new discernment, a new state?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: Now the state I found, is that the beginning of the work?
M. Laitman: Could be.
Student: So, exertion is zero, and what I found is one? I found how distant I am to the quality of bestowal.
M. Laitman: Let's say.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:16) I wanted to ask, what are the conditions for transitioning from the potion of death to the elixir of life?
M. Laitman: The recognition of evil.
Student: So, you recognize it, and then what needs to happen?
M. Laitman: The feeling itself pushes me towards the right place.
Student: And am I required to take some action when it happens?
M. Laitman: Of course.
Student: What?
M. Laitman: For me to transition from the potion of death to the elixir of life.
Student: I'm trying to understand what I need to do, and I have the understanding, the recognition of it. What action do I need to take?
M. Laitman: If you recognize the elixir of life, then what do you want more? You are given the right direction.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:36) To continue that question, when one receives the recognition of evil, then he transitions from the potion of death to the elixir of life. Is there an option for him to ever fall back to the potion of death?
M. Laitman: Could be. If he hasn't reached the final correction yet, the end of correction, where everything he had to correct, he corrected. If he's not there yet, then it's not over yet.
Student: So, what does it depend on? He needs to realize his Reshimot according to the root of his soul?
M. Laitman: I don't know, there are many reasons for that.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (59:28) Maybe we can add to this scrutiny. It's written that the wicked are called dead in their lifetime. So, if I don't look for a connection to the Creator when I study Torah, if I don't justify Him regardless of what happens, what desires are revealed, then I remain wicked, and I add to the potion of death. Maybe you can explain it that way.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:00) If the whole world Kli, the whole world Kli now wants to declare that we're taking some action, you said we need to do a shake-up, so we want to upgrade. The whole world's Kli now takes a step forward, one man in one heart, what do we need to do?
M. Laitman: To understand that we're in the potion of death, and the state that we are aimed at is death, and we have nothing more in front of us. And if we discover that, then we will certainly want to correct our state and reach the potion of life.
So, what can we do in this lesson right now? Can we understand, can I understand what the act itself is?
M. Laitman: The action itself is connection with the friends so as to support each other, and that's the action for now.
Student: Can we say that it's so that nobody thinks of himself?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:58) Once I heard you give this definition saying that the wisdom of Kabbalah is like medicine. In the first paper we published, you wanted to have an image of a person holding some kind of medicine, and the word Kabbalah is written on it. So, medicine is for someone who has a problem, one who doesn't have a problem and takes some medicine, that's not so good. He might get ill or even die. So, we need to come here with the feeling that we have a problem that we need to take care of. What is the problem that we need to know we have when we enter this room, that we need to treat?
M. Laitman: That we are ill.
Student: With what?
M. Laitman: The will to receive for itself.
Student: So, a lesson or engaging in the Torah, that needs to come with the feeling that I'm now ill, I want to receive for myself, I now need treatment?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And if I come here because I'm used to it, it feels good, it's fun for me, the friends are interesting and nice, it's interesting to study itself, will I not get any medicine for that illness?
M. Laitman: Medicine is taken by one who needs medicine, who wants medicine, that's what he came for.
Student: I don't know how to ask it exactly, but… That's why our preparation for the lesson is very important, right? To refocus understanding that we came here for a very specific purpose and not to… Right? And focused.
M. Laitman: Yes, yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:05) The revelation of evil pushes me towards the reforming light, but I don't know what it means to connect between the friends. You said now, the first action is to connect. So, I'll ask the following question. If I feel that I'm separated from the friends, is that the revelation of evil, the feeling of evil? Because I don't feel that right now. I feel darkness, and what pulls me forward is the reforming light, what pulls me towards salvation. What is the connection between this and connection that we speak of?
M. Laitman: That the light that reforms can be received only through connection with your friends.
Student: Me now reading the study of the Ten Sefirot, where Baal HaSulam relays his discovery, attainment, he writes that for us so that I'll read it and use it and want to also come to that. Now behind me sits the Ten. What's the connection between my desire now to be like the Kabbalist and the Ten? You said that I receive the light from the Ten, so not from Baal HaSulam, not from the Torah?
M. Laitman: I don't know what to answer you. You sit here because you've come here and you have some desire to advance towards truth, right?
Student: Yes.
M. Laitman: Yes, and now you have to make some actions here to awaken the light towards you so that it pulls you further and further towards the right goal. So, try. Try and be closer to the light and it will reform you.
Student: And the light is in the Ten?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:06:51) I just want to try to talk about the potion of death. In the Torah it says that the best of doctors can go to hell, will go to hell, and the most Kosher cook is for a Melech (king). There's criticism over everyone. You know, there's an expert doctor that might be harvesting organs and so on, all sorts of things. They gain some knowledge, some abilities, and they use them for evil. So that can happen if you use the Torah incorrectly, right? You receive some illumination, but use it in a bad way?
M. Laitman: No. Typically, if you're already in a society like ours, then you receive the light that reforms in a way that is more or less correct.
Student: If a person is not always in the proper environment…
M. Laitman: Then what?
Student: You can receive it differently. There are such examples in history where people go wrong, they find some new knowledge and so on.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: I just want to ask about the portion of death, when he says the portion of death.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: It's where you receive something and you use it for ill. I to exploit others and so on.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, how can such an option appear? Spirituality is bestowal.
M. Laitman: That's a curse that opens up such possibilities.
Student: So, all these curses appear only to me?
M. Laitman: Yes, may it not happen to you.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:08:57) What is the external manifestation of the portion of death in the Ten?
M. Laitman: Well, let's say that in the Ten, there is such an opinion that we can advance to the goal by using the Mitzvot in order to receive for themselves. And then each one wants to be more than everyone else.
Student: You're referring to the customs, right?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: So, for example, if I have criticism regarding friends, externally even, can that also be the potion of death?
M. Laitman: Yes, yes.
Student: And then, let's say everyone discovers it, not just me. The group discovers about a friend that he has that issue. Can we help him?
M. Laitman: We do, yes, you help, you give him an example and he sees it and he changes accordingly.
Student: So, the potion of death is something that's changeable.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And it's not something that a person determines for himself. Usually, we say that a person determines for himself if it's the potion of death, the elixir of life.
M. Laitman: No, it's not only that.
Student: So, there can be a state where he doesn't even recognize it.
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:11:18) It appears that the exertion must come from the lower one. But the more we delve into the article, the more we see that the exertion also comes from the upper one. Now He makes us more focused, He builds this inside us. It's a kind of fulfillment even. So, why not to settle only for the Kli, that lack? Why do I need the exertion and the finding? Why not just remain with this wonderful lack the Creator gives us to be in contact with Him?
M. Laitman: I don't know what to tell you. It's like you haven't learned things in life. Let's say that we are still in the beginning of the study, so how can you criticize the whole process? We have to make an effort and try and connect and go deeper, and then see how much does it help. But not that you're going and wanting to just summarize all of the study that Kabbalists wrote thousands of years ago to just a few simple actions.
Student: No, I don't want to shorten the actions, I want to understand. If I'm now exerting and the Creator is building the vessel in me, I'm participating in the process. There's a whole world there, a full world there which you feel. You feel the Creator, but lacking, in concealment, under concealment, but you feel the connection. So why not, I don't want to say settle, but why do you need the finding, the fulfillment, ultimately the recognition and awareness towards everything that's around me? The lack itself is a connection, actual connection.
M. Laitman: We will learn more and then we'll discuss it more, but it's certainly not sufficient.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:13:57) It's been several years that we've been scrutinizing the matter of exertion and each time it seems that a person must do some personal individual work here. But I always have power to act if I'm doing something for my own sake, art and whatever it is. If the body feels that there's something to be gained, then there's power to perform the action. But when I go into the group and I feel that there's some external demand, then I don't have the power to do anything. Exertion which comes from the Ten, from the books, from the Kabbalists, you feel it as being heavier.
M. Laitman: Well, let's say this is a personal impression.
Student: Yes, it’s not always, there are many different states, but a demand that comes from a group, there’s more benefit from it, yes?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: And the quality of the find is much higher. I found here some mechanism which generates a unified force for general movement. It all becomes very united. It's not like usual things in life, how to start walking. It’s not like simple food for example. How not to miss the exertion here? The Ten decided to do something, the next day, how do I not miss the exertion?
M. Laitman: Hold onto connection with the friends.
Student: In thought?
M. Laitman: In thought, in act, according to that.
Student: And it needs to be burning inside?
M. Laitman: Yes, yes.
Student: And death when I don’t feel it?
M. Laitman: So, try to feel.
Question (Turkiye 2): (01:16:44) Based on what does the Creator give a person the opportunity to exert, and what are the different degrees of exertion that a person can put in?
M. Laitman: We don’t know that. What the Creator gives, we need to accept those things and yearn upon them for the purpose of creation.
Question (Haifa 1): (01:17:22) Is exerting in order to advance toward Lishma actions and intentions and questions in order to bestow?
M. Laitman: Yes, certainly.
Student: Another small thing about the example from friends, also to set a personal example, also to act as this acting between us in order to awaken positive envy, is this good?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Tel Aviv 1): (01:18:05) Who is the hidden god that the Creator conceals himself in the Torah? Since the Creator is concealed in the words of this world which are outside of the Torah and not in the Torah, where is the place of revelation? Where is the Creator concealed, the reality around us or in the Torah?
M. Laitman: The Creator is concealed in the Torah.
Student: So why does he mention this second option, what is the meaning of that?
M. Laitman: That whoever wants to seek the Creator to find him, first of all he needs to learn Torah, to seek the Creator in the Torah.
Student: So why does he mention the possibility that it makes sense that the Creator hides himself in the words of this world, why is it giving this option?
M. Laitman: Because that’s how it appears to the person. But truly, the Creator hides, specifically in the Torah. Whoever has no Torah has a concealment.
Student: How to relate to the idea that we can reach the Creator only through the friends in the Ten, as phenomena in this world?
M. Laitman: I don’t understand you. What phenomena in this world through which you come to the Creator?
Student: Well, we say that the attitude toward the Creator, the approach to the Creator is only through the friends, the Ten. The friends live and work in this world, and they seemingly are the ones who should lead us toward the revelation of the Creator. How do I relate to this matter?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Student: Doesn't it contradict the matter of the Creator is concealed in the Torah?
M. Laitman: The Creator becomes revealed only through the study of Torah, period.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:20:31) You told the friend that you can have an incorrect opinion in the Ten. How can that be that there is an incorrect opinion in the Ten? We always say that if you come in, come enter the Ten, everything is there in the most correct way.
M. Laitman: It could be.
Student: What influences the opinion of the Ten?
M. Laitman: The upper force.
Student: Is there a way to change it?
M. Laitman: If they understand and feel it, then they can change it.
Student: Do they need to do it together, or is it like individual work of a person that can influence?
M. Laitman: Together.
Student: What should they do?
M. Laitman: Understand that their way is incorrect.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:21:54) If there can be an incorrect opinion in the Ten, how should a person relate to the opinion of the Ten? How to know if it's right or not?
M. Laitman: You need to incorporate in everyone, you need to incorporate in everyone.
Student: Everyone meaning the general group?
M. Laitman: No, with the whole Ten.
Student: And then a person will know if the opinion is right or not?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:22:34) Many things are said about the Torah, Torah of life, Torah of truth. We read that the Torah can bring you also evil things, bad things, and we also talk about connection most of the time. So, are these things all the same, are they connected in some way?
M. Laitman: Seems as if they have a single root.
Student: What should we aspire to? Because for me, they sound like different things, truth, love, connection.
M. Laitman: The central word of the whole of the Torah is the Torah of life and love.
Student: You also said we need to check ourselves after each step. You said it was a beautiful afternoon lesson, that I think that the friends gave. I think it was a breakthrough, other friends felt it, also my wife. And the main thing that I remember from there is that our path is a path of scrutinies. So, what is the main scrutiny, to try to feel that the quality of love is growing in you, that you can love more? Is this the main scrutiny?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:24:15) I heard now that Torah of life and Torah of love. What does that mean, Torah of life and Torah of love?
M. Laitman: That is how we can speak about the Torah that advances us, to connect with the upper force.
Student: What does it mean, Torah of Life?
M. Laitman: Torah of Life, it is written that life is what they find. With that, we are finishing this section?
Reader: (01:25:10) Yes, we have selected excerpts from the sources on the topic of the portion of Beresheet that we started yesterday. If you want we can go to that.
M. Laitman: So, let's move on to that.
Reader: So, let's sing a song and we'll go to the next part.
Song: (01:25:25)