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

Daily Morning Lesson: January 21, 2026

Reading of the Article in the Ten

Rabash. Article No. 2, 1989. What Is a Great or a Small Sin in the Work?

Recorded lesson – Feb 4, 2003

Reader: Hello dear friends, in the first part of the lesson, we're going to learn a lesson from Rav, from February 4th, 2003, based on the article, What is a Great or a Small Sin in the Work from the writings of Rabash, Volume 2. All read together in the Ten; Tens that finish reading before time is up are encouraged to have a workshop on the main principles from the article.

Reading: (00:48) Rabash. Article No. 2, 1989. What Is a Great or a Small Sin in the Work?

Article No. 2, 1989

First, we need to know what is regarded as “work.” That is, what is the meaning of the word “work” that we use? We should know that we were given the 613 Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds] of the Torah to observe, and the seven Mitzvot of our great sages [De Rabanan]. We should also observe the customs of Israel that the sages of Israel established, each place according to its custom. They determined for us what is a great Mitzva [singular of Mitzvot] and what is a great transgression.

For example, our sages said, “Great is respect of the father and mother, for the Creator was more strict about it than about His own glory” (Jerusalem Talmud, Chapter 1, 5:1). Or “Alms-giving is greater than charity” (Sukkah 49), and many others like it by our sages. The same applies to transgressions. Our sages said, “The punishment for slander is worse than the punishment for idolatry” (Midrash Gadol and Gedolah, Chapter 18).

It follows that they determined what is a great Mitzva and what is a small Mitzva by comparing one to the other. Also, concerning transgressions, they determined which is a grave transgression, and opposite it, which is a small transgression. We must believe that what they determined is really so. This is the meaning of “faith in the sages,” that we must believe what they said and we must not doubt them. All this is called “Torah,” meaning that man’s hand has no connection to it.

“Work” is named after man, after what he does, since a person who works makes the measures, how to keep them. That is, the intention over the act is not in one’s hand to change in any way. Rather, this pertains to the reason, meaning that the worker has measures of the reason for which he observes Torah and Mitzvot.

This is as Maimonides said (Hilchot Teshuva, Chapter 11), “Therefore, when teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work only out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain much knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are taught that secret little-by-little.”

We see that Maimonides says that there are measures in the reason, meaning that “women,” “little ones,” and “uneducated people” have the reason of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake]. But those who have already gained much knowledge and acquired much wisdom are given a different reason, which is the Lishma [for Her sake], which is that they must work in order to bestow contentment upon their Maker, and not for their own sake.

It follows that in terms of the act; there is no difference between small and great. But in the intention, meaning in the reason for observing Torah and Mitzvot, there are differences between types of people. Some people belong to the general public, or as Maimonides says, “uneducated people.” There is a difference between the general public and the individual. That is, some individuals do not want to walk in the path of the general public and work for their own sake, but a passion has awakened in their heart to work in order to bestow.

We should know that the work of bestowal means that the person is the giver, while in the work in order to receive reward, the Creator is the giver. There is a big difference between them because the reason for the work is what one receives for it. Thus, a person evaluates the Mitzvot according to the reward. If there is a great and important reward for the work, a person regards it as a great Mitzva since he is examining the reward.

Conversely, in the work of bestowal, where man is the giver, the consideration is the greatness of the receiver, meaning to whom a person gives. The greater the receiver, the greater and more important is the giving. It is as our sages said, “With an important person, if she gives and he says, ‘You are hereby dedicated [wedded],’ it is as though he has given, since she enjoyed his receiving from her.”

Thus, we see that the greatness of the giving depends on whom we give. By this we measure the greatness of the act. That is, if we give to a great person, it is considered “great giving.” If we give to a small person, it is “small giving.”

From this we can gauge the measure of the work of bestowal. If a person bestows upon a small king, it is small work, since the giver is not so impressed while giving to a small king. But if the person bestows upon a great king, the act of giving is great because “she enjoyed his receiving from her.” It is a great pleasure because he is bestowing upon a great king.

Thus, we see that the greatness or smallness of the giving depends on the worker himself. One who works in Torah and Mitzvot determines to which type he belongs. If he is still in the education called “commandments taught by people,” it means he is still working in Torah and Mitzvot for his own sake, as mentioned in the words of Maimonides, who says, “When teaching little ones, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work in order to receive reward,” called Lo Lishma.

“Taught” means that as he has been used to working thus far, which was the time of Lo Lishma, that person measures smallness and greatness according to the measure of the reward. But those who work in order to bestow, measure according to the greatness of the receiver of the work.

Accordingly, we can understand that there might be two people performing the same Mitzva. To one, it will be considered a great Mitzva since he gives his work to a great king. Thus, he feels that he is serving a great king, which makes him delighted and elated that he has been given the great privilege of entering and serving a great king, and there is no end to his joy.

Conversely, the other one does not think that in everything he does, he is serving a great king, but rather a small king. That is, he sees that no one appreciates observing his commandments. But since he feels sorry for this king, he observes his commandments. In that state, a person understands that the king should be considerate of him because he feels sorry for the king when no else wants to look at the king. In that state, a person measures what the king pays him for his work.

If the reward that the king gives him does not shine for him, although he does everything that the king commanded him, then he does it lazily, without vitality, since the reward that the king will give him for his work does not shine for him.

It follows that those two people, who are doing the same, to one it is regarded as performing a great commandment because he receives much vitality and elation in serving a great king, while the other has no elation and he does it by force, since the reward he will receive later does not shine for him as important.

Hence, there is a great difference between them: One thinks that the Mitzva he is observing is a small Mitzva, meaning of little importance, and the other considers it a great Mitzva, meaning he says that he cannot grasp the importance and greatness of the Mitzva, and feels that he does not need to be given any reward for it later.

Rather, he feels right now the reward in that he derives great pleasure in the privilege of serving a great king. It follows that he is delighted because he has already received the reward. He does not have to believe he will receive reward, and he has no doubts about the reward, that we can say that he is unhappy since he doubts the matter of reward and punishment because he has received the reward right on the spot, and he does not expect any other reward.

Rather, he believes that in serving a great king, this gives him pleasure, and for this, it is worthwhile to be born, to have the privilege of serving a great king. It follows that the person himself determines what is regarded as a great Mitzva or a small Mitzva.

However, sometimes it might be to the contrary, meaning that he is walking on one line, where all his actions are only to aim that the act will be in order in its every detail and subtlety. He engages in Torah and Mitzvot in order to later receive reward in this world or in the next world, and he believes in reward and punishment when he performs the Mitzva, and is meticulous in doing the most important Mitzvot that our sages determined which is a great Mitzva and which is a less important one.

When he performs the Mitzva that he has chosen as a great Mitzva, he is happy and feels that he is the most important person, since he has a greater reward than the rest of the people. Naturally, he performs the Mitzva with great enthusiasm.

But his friend, who is doing the same great Mitzva as he, does not want to work in order to receive reward. Rather, he wants to work in order to bestow. And in order to work in order to bestow he must believe that he is serving a great and important king, worth serving without anything in return. If the faith he has in the Creator cannot make him feel that he is serving a great King then he has no power to work joyfully.

Instead, at that time he works compulsively, overcoming resistance, since the body makes him see that it is not worthwhile to work in order to bestow upon a small king. It tells him, “I can understand your friend, who is working in order to receive reward, so it does not matter if he is serving a great king or a small one, since he looks mainly at the reward.”

Thus, it makes no difference whether he is a great or a small king, since what makes him a great king is mainly the reward. If he gives a small reward, he is a small king. It follows that here there is a different order than in bestowing contentment upon his Maker, which is the only reason obligating him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, compared to the reason obliging him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot being to receive reward.

We see that it is impossible to determine the truth according to man’s feelings. When a person sees that he is working gladly and enthusiastically, it still does not mean that he is on the right path. This is why our sages said, “Make for yourself a Rav [great one/teacher],” for only the Rav can guide him and determine which way he is going.

But a working person, although he feels which is good and which is bad, he still cannot know the truth because he still can understand only one scrutiny—the scrutiny of “bitter and sweet.” This is so because when he is happy and works with enthusiasm, he feels a sweet taste. Therefore, he says that he is on the right path. But when a person has to work coercively, he tastes a bitter flavor. Then, a person understands that he is in a state of descent, and a person takes this discernment to know that this is a true scrutiny.

However, the scrutiny of “bitter and sweet” was before the sin of the tree of knowledge. After the sin of the tree of knowledge we were given a different scrutiny called “true and false.” That is, a person might taste sweetness in a state but it is a lie, and he might taste bitterness but it is true.

This is similar to what is written in the “Introduction to Panim Masbirot” (Item 16): We should thoroughly know the two types of scrutiny applied in us: The first scrutiny is called “scrutinies of good and bad,” and the second scrutiny is called “scrutinies of true and false.”

The first scrutiny is a physical active force, which works through the sensation of bitter and sweet. It loathes and rejects the form of bitterness because it feels bad, and loves and attracts the form of sweetness because it feels good.

In addition to them there is the human species, in whom the Creator has imprinted an intellectual active power, which works in the second scrutiny: rejecting falsehood and vanity by loathing to the point of nausea, and attracts true matters and any benefit with great love. This scrutiny is called “the scrutiny of true and false.” This applies only to the human species, each according to his own extent.

Know that this second active force was created and came to man because of the serpent. By creation, he had only the first active force from the scrutinies of good and bad, which was enough to serve him at that time.

Accordingly, we see that when a person wants to go by “bitter and sweet,” that scrutiny is no longer true after the sin of the tree of knowledge. Instead, it might be that a person feels sweetness in the work, while he is immersed in falsehood, or the other way around. For this reason, they said, “Make for yourself a Rav and depart from doubt” (Avot, Chapter 1:16).

Although the person himself determines how he feels, he might still feel sweetness though it is not on the path of truth that enables us to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, since he might be walking in the opposite direction than the track that leads to Dvekut with the Creator, where all his labor is in order to achieve equivalence of form, which applies to all the degrees, as this is the meaning of the Masach [screen] that is on the Aviut [thickness], where specifically by placing the Masach, the delight and pleasure are revealed.

By this we should interpret what our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2:1), “Be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one, for you do not know the reward for the Mitzvot.” There is seemingly a contradiction in the words of our sages, who said, “Great is respect of the father and mother, for the Creator was more strict about it than about His own glory,” or “Alms-giving is greater than charity,” and many others like them. If they said, “Be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one,” what does it mean that it is great, how is it expressed that one Mitzva is greater than another?

While performing the Mitzvot, it is impossible to know whose Mitzvot he is observing. Certainly, one who observes the Mitzvot of a great king, who commanded us to observe, is certainly more important than one who observes the Torah and Mitzvot of a small king. It follows that a light Mitzva, but one that a great king commanded to do, is certainly more important than one who observes a grave Mitzva of a small king.

Man is always in ascents and descents, meaning that sometimes he believes that he is serving a great king, and sometimes to the contrary. Therefore, our sages instructed us that we should know that greatness or smallness do not depend on the commandment, but on the greatness of the one who gives the commandments. This is what a person should mind, that he believes each time that there is a great king. In other words, a person should try to obtain the greatness of the Creator. This is the most important thing, and no other things.

Reader: (25:36) We will enter a lesson with Rav from February 4th, 2003.

M. Laitman: We heard an article from The Rungs of the Ladder, Volume 5, which relates to the Talmud – Tractates Sukkah – What Is a Great or a Small Sin in the Work? In truth, we don't know what's a great or small sin and what is a great or small reward; because every time that we rise from below upwards to a higher degree, we don't understand the mind of the upper degree. We don't understand the laws of the upper degree because the upper degree has a greater vessel in order to bestow that I lack. If it's a greater vessel, meaning a vessel I don't have, it's like I have zero and now I have to take some mind while I have nothing. I have no thoughts, I have no measurements of what's happening in the upper degree so I can't assess what is reward and punishment, what's a great sin or a small sin, or what's a great reward or a small reward. It's truly not according to my present state, and so the entire work from one degree to the other is always above reason. It's impossible to imagine on a smaller degree, lower degree, what it means more – in order to bestow – in what way; and what is the reward on a higher degree that bestowing more can be a reward. It's unacceptable within reason of the lower degree.

So everything that we acquire as we rise from below upwards enters us completely not according to our own mind, not according to our calculation. Rather, the effort unlocks a new ability in us, brings us a new screen. And then we truly acquire a new land, new heaven; and then we understand what is the upper one. Before that, we have to go by faith in the sages. What does it mean, faith in the sages? To believe what they said, what does it mean to believe what they said, what does it mean to believe what the sages said? It means to ask from above to have the force to fulfill their advice, to follow their advice. They say, jump off the roof, I can't jump off the roof – that's beyond my mind, I'm incapable, I know that only bad things can come from that. It says in the books that I have to bestow, to give everything, to not think of myself. This is something that, you know, if I jump off the roof, I might have a miracle; I close my eyes and I jump and I give up. I was just in America, met with a family—their son jumped from the Floor 100 or something when the twin towers were burning down, so he didn't have a choice. He thought that would be the only way to save himself from the fire.

We see this is something a person can do with a calculation that, at least, a moment seems to him from outside or there could be some small percentage of success or something of that nature. We see that people do that, they jump even though, according to the mind, it seems like there can't be any good outcome. But to go above reason, not to think of myself, only think of others, I can't plan such things, program such an action – I can't even get close to that. The sages say that's what you should do, so here, to begin with, I need to acquire forces to even hear that, to accept that as important, as necessary, as something I can't live without, something I'm dead without. There has to be faith in the sages, what's faith in the sages? To acquire the power of faith so as to follow what the sages said. That is truly a force, something from above that has to come to me, some force, some mind with which I can do something that, today, I can't even hear.

(31:33) Afterwards, he talks about the extent of the transgression and the commandment, that according to our will to receive—that's our vessels, right? Everyone judges through his own reason, his own mind: The judge has no more than his eyes to judge with. The Torah also says that's what you should do, meaning don't go into some delusions and falsehood. I look at my nature, my present qualities. What does it mean, better? To receive more. What is worse? To lose in my vessels of reception. Accordingly, that's how I understand what's a great Mitzvah that brings me more benefit in my will to receive; and a smaller one is what brings me loss in the will to receive or less profit. The sin—I also don't examine it based on the action that I did – rather unless I lose. To me, there's no commandment or sin but there's gain and loss because I only think of myself. The concepts of Mitzva, commandment, and the opposite of it, sin, which is towards the Creator, they just don't belong to me now, at all. If I acquire, from above, an intention in order to bestow so that I make a restriction and not think of myself. And my thoughts will be only towards the Creator, the more a thought is towards the Creator, the greater commandment it is. If the thought is smaller, then the commandment is smaller, meaning, according to the benefit of the Creator, that's how I will weigh my actions which will then be called, Mitzvot, commandments. And the opposite, if the connection with the Creator, God forbid, if something like that can happen, that I will gain something from this connection, that will be called, transgression. The more I want to benefit, to myself from Him, that's called, a greater sin. The opposite, the less it is, the smaller sin it is. Commandments and sins, or mistakes and transgressions. We can only discuss them in relation to the Creator. If not connection with the Creator, if not the intention to benefit from Him or to benefit Him, then there's no commandments and transgressions. It's just the person inside himself, he builds a system where he thinks that by this and by that, he'll have some reward after his life is over or he'll have some loss. He builds a system of what's worthwhile doing in this world to gain something in the future, which is not at all what we consider commandments or transgressions. It's just one's delusions and each and every religion builds its own list of such a system, such a list of commandments and transgressions.

Also, humanity, in general, uses these matters in ethics and education: Reward in this world, reward in the next world. However, the commandments and transgressions—in truth – what Kabbalah talks about, they're only in relation to the Creator. What does a person want in direct connection with Him? When does that begin? It begins above the Machsom, the barrier, when a person truly enters contact with the Creator. Where he enters the providence called, reward and punishment, where he examines himself towards his relation to the Creator. Is his relation in order to bestow or in order to receive, how much he wants to bestow, more or less or, God forbid, wants to receive for himself?

(36:14) Before the barrier, when a person is under the providence of double concealment or single concealment then, for certain, it says in The Introduction to the Study of TES. That he makes either transgressions because the Creator is hidden twofold. Or mistakes if the Creator is hidden in an ordinary way, in a single way, single concealment. A person has nothing else he can do about it, meaning we see from here that the entire circumstance of the person depends on the level of revelation of the Creator to him. That's called faith: To the extent that the Creator is revealed to a person, the person acquires a correction in his relation to the Creator. That is what we truly have to achieve first, to equip ourselves with the power of faith. Then, we'll be able to perform the actions called, the words of the sages. Meaning, one who wants to acquire wisdom, then by the force of faith, the power of the screen he has, he can already go and make actions in order to bestow, receive in order to bestow, acquire wisdom.

(37:40) With Regards to the Scrutiny of Bitter and Sweet, Truth and False:

We should see something very special here that happened by the shattering. You can look at the shattering where the vessels of bestowal that were so close to the Creator in adhesion with Him, with no dirt in them. Suddenly, they fell and shattered into the vessels of reception, mingled with them, went down to the levels of impurity—oh boy. The fact they fell from in order to bestow to in order to receive, this is called, a sin. The present state is called, a sin, with respect to the previous state that would be called, Mitzvah, commandment. We see from here that doing the commandments depends if we have a screen; the transgressions, we necessarily do them if we don't have a screen. In other words, we don't measure in spirituality the action, itself. That I have a screen and I'm making some action – it's obvious that I'll make that action if I have a screen. The screen and the present state, the spiritual state will definitely obligate me, I don't need any choice or decision here; rather, our entire free choice and our whole action where we participate, is how to reach a state where we acquire the screen. And not that we, then, do something with the screen – to do that is like any nature fulfills itself.

So we have to relate differently to our actions, that our main action is not an action with forces to make it but an action of how to achieve the forces. How to be rewarded—awarded with receiving these forces. Meaning, the yearning for the matter is our action and is the state that we need to long for, to long – to be longing to receive the force in order to bestow – that the state of longing will be the best, most desired state for us and not that I already received some force. The moment I received some force, I have to long for a greater force, greater force of bestowal. Meaning, we don't examine ourselves in making steps, but in our willingness to make steps, the force to be able to make a step forward. Our preparation is our work; that's both the preparation we do now to reach true actions, and then the true actions are also not the actions themselves. But the preparation for each and every degree, to work from the posterior, Achoraim. Then, accordingly, we will always see the reward and punishment, not in me making an action but the reward is to receive the force from above, the force of bestowal. To make an action with that force I received, it's a force of the Creator, He's now doing it through me. I have nothing to be worried about here, this is called, the testimony of the Creator, that He shines to the person so that the person—He testifies that a person is just going to have to do this, there's no question about it. Any questions?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (42:08) At the beginning of the article, he writes something about the customs of Israel, what does that mean?

M. Laitman: Where is it written?

Student: The third line from above, Page 133.

M. Laitman: Page 133, let's read from the beginning.

First, we need to know what is called work. Meaning, in the word work that we use, what is its meaning? We should know that we were given the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah to observe and the seven Mitzvot of our great sages. Meaning, it says in the book that I have to follow, to observe the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah and the seven of our great sages. We should also observe the customs of Israel that the sages of Israel established, Each place according to its custom, right? The Yemenite this way, the Moroccans that way, the other ones this way, and, you know, it’s the customs. What's customs? It's not that it's written in the Torah, in the Pentateuch, or the Bible, or the Mishna, the Gemara, until we went out to exile. Then, throughout the exile, the sages in different countries added various customs. And also before that, let's say, Hanukkah, Purim. It's not written about it in the Torah. There are signs that these things need to happen because according to the order of degrees in the spiritual world, we see that these things must happen: Hanukkah and Purim. But in the Bible, in the Torah, there's still nothing about it besides hints, we can see. We have 613 commandments of the Torah, seven commandments of the Rabana, the great sages, and the customs of Israel. They determine to us what's a great Mitzva, what's a small transgression, what's a great transgression, and so on. What's your question?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:26) Let's work with commandments and all this barrier.

M. Laitman: There's a few things here, wait: There's observing Torah and Mitzvot in the sense of what's written in the Torah. And the true form of that is the correction of the soul. Our soul has 248 organs, 365 tendons, it's 613 parts – 613 desires that we have to use the screen with an intention in order to bestow, to correct them with the complete work in order to bestow. And we have another seven commandments of the sages, which are the encompassing ones: Meaning that all of those 613 commandments go into the lower seven in the Partzuf, from the Peh and below; that's called the flavors of Torah, altogether. Now, besides that, there's also the customs of Israel. The customs of Israel are things that accompany, that support, that lead to carrying out the 613 main commandments. Now, by carrying out all the 613 Mitzvot, meaning correcting all the 248 organs and 365 tendons of the soul, all the desires in the soul, that's how a person comes to the end of correction, the complete correction of his soul. That's the work we need to do on our soul.

Now, from our soul, in each and every one, there's only one black point. When a person tries to achieve the correction of the soul, then the soul begins to open itself up towards the person. And the person begins to see a little bit of the 613 parts, with the seven commandments of the sages, with the customs of Israel in it, all of it. He begins to see this whole complex of the sum total of all his desires in coarseness, level root, level one, level two. Meaning it becomes deeper, more detailed, more refined, and complex, and the system becomes clearer and stands out more, right? Like how a baby grows, and his organs grow, or even an embryo, and then becomes a baby. And in the similar way, our soul shows itself to us according to the screen that allows us to work with these organs, these desires, in order to bestow. This is called, carrying out Torah and Mitzvot, and that's what we need to achieve. Now, the people who come to that are the people who have an inner urge to correct their soul. When does that happen? After beastly development: A man comes to a state where his point in the heart is on fire in him, and the soul begins to demand its correction. And before that, a person goes through a time where he lives for thousands of years in all kinds of beastly desires. Until he begins to feel the desire for the correction of the soul. He also doesn't know that it's a desire for the correction of the soul. But it's the back side of the point in the heart. This is what he calls it in The Introduction to the Book of Zohar. And when he begins to feel the posterior of the point in the heart, then begins his time of preparation. His preparation time is where he has to reach a state called, Lo Lishma, from which we can come to Lishma. Meaning this is an order of various actions that the sages advise us to do, to perform, by which we arrive at Lishma, at crossing the barrier and receiving the screen.

In these actions that are before the barrier, these actions are called, 613 councils, what are 613 councils? Where we do all kinds of – follow advice they advise us to do – we don't know why it's 613. I don't know, I'm working on some desires of mine towards the society, the study, the Rav, my life in general. How I get confused and can't find myself, and I'm in opposition to the whole world. And the whole world threatens me, and pressures me, and I want to really come out of it and I don't know what to do about it. With all these inner struggles and all the things we go through every day, unpleasant states, unpleasant, for sure; that's called, one side of the coin. Until we cross the barrier, there are barely any good moments. But these states also include within them work on those 613 desires of mine, 620 with the seven commandments of the sages – the seven organs of the sages, and also the customs of Israel, altogether. I don't know exactly what I'm working on and what I'm operating on. And even after I cross the barrier, I go into conception, and then too, I don't know what organs of mine I'm actually working on, what desires. I just know in general I'm working on nullifying myself towards the upper one. Just to be dependent on the upper one, and tied and bonded with the upper one, I nullify myself in general, all my desires. I still don't have particular work with each and every organ of my soul.

So, our work is called, the time of preparation. It's not clear to us what we're doing. It's not clear what desires we're working with; we can't count the 613, 620 desires. Of course, even right after the barrier, it's still not immediately felt: We work on coarseness level root, level one. These are things where you still can't see the structure and parts of the soul, their order, the connection between them, how the Creator is guiding it. But that's why the main work there is just self-nullification, just to enter it with no reason. So, to follow the customs of Israel is especially to carry out the advice of the sages who told us how, by what can we achieve the true observance.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:27) He writes that great is the respect of mother and father. What is that in spirituality?

M. Laitman: Respecting your father and mother in spirituality means to bestow to Abba ve Ima, in the ZON, adhere to AVI, father and mother. What does it mean to respect them? Respecting, meaning that you carry out the desire of AVI, your father and mother, to bestow to you. So, you do everything like a good kid toward his father and mother in corporeality, what is it? Mother wants me to eat, so I eat. So I will eat in order to bestow because my mother wants, but I need a desire. In spirituality, it's not going to work like that, like in our world, through falsehood. Rather in spirituality, you have to come up with all kinds of means to have the desire, desire for what? To eat? No. To eat on the condition that by that, you give contentment to father and mother, AVI. For that, AVI, father and mother, need to be great in your eyes. So, how can you receive greatness from them, or their greatness, by which actions? So, by looking for ways to grow the upper one in your eyes. And to grow him is always relative to your egoistic will to receive, by that, you work on preferring the upper one in place of yourself, that's the work.

Student: What does it mean to make him greater opposite my egoistic desire?

M. Laitman: As much as it will be greater in my eyes compared to fulfilling my will to receive, then I'll be able to work to bestow in order to bestow to him instead of bestowing to me.

Student: He's writing that as if the Mitzva, the same Mitzva could be great in one's eyes according to its importance. But on the other hand, he writes, say, great is alms-giving more than charity. So, it's something absolute, at that degree, it's something definite.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: So why is alms-giving greater than charity, for example? What is that?

M. Laitman: Well, later we'll talk about what is alms-giving, what is charity, what are the actions in order to bestow called, alms-giving, and what are the actions in order to bestow called, charity, and why one is greater than the other. This is the degree of annulment of a person toward the upper one, it's enough for now.

Student: You also said that the main thing is the longing.

M. Laitman: No, I said after we acquire the strength, the appreciation, the value, the screen determining the state, a clear picture. What we're doing is an outcome of being in the degree. So, certainly, there's no choice there, there's no choice, you understand? If I see before me something that is valued as a hundred, or a thousand, or a million, I will certainly take the million. And if I won't take the million and I will take the hundred, it's a sign that behind the hundred, there's something that's even more valuable to me compared to the million. There's something invisible but it's certainly that I'm taking it into consideration, and that's how I compare one to the other. I cannot be any other way, the will to receive is all of my matter, my substance, and that's how I work. There's no games here, there's no argument how the will to receive will work against it. It's impossible, light and vessel are built very simply: Pleasure and deficiency.

So what are you asking about? That's why I have to yearn to always be against my nature in another degree, another state compared to how I am right now, and opposite my nature, my current state. How will I even think about it? How will I get a desire for it, how will I even want to destroy myself, to kill myself? What is in my nature that will help me go against my nature? This is that point that fell that erupted in me through the shattering of the vessels into my will to receive; and if I identify with that point, that spark, the fragment from the screen. And from within it, I begin to look at my I, myself, and then my, I, determines that this, it's that spark, and not this will to receive. The will to receive is the Pharaoh that I need to work against, like Moses against Pharaoh. Then already there's a new attitude that's being built here, and then from within it, if I have a recognition of the greatness that has to bow to this point. Then I can now begin to carry out the correct actions of preparation from this point of the spark toward this great will to receive where that point exists.

Now, how will I do it? There isn't in me any other forces except for this point so they say that the society needs to support this point. And the society has the power to provide such forces that you will be able to squash, to crush the will to receive completely, utterly. You'll be able to come out of it, leave it, escape it – it's not simple – to run away from it in the dark, through all those corrections that you summon, that those corrections seemingly will happen to you. So, where do I receive this additional force? It's not in my nature, they say, from the society. The Creator doesn't give it, if He would give it, then it would be nature again. I would work according to nature. According to nature, there's no question, there's no choice, there's no created being, there's nothing, what, is the puppet show? So it turns out that my only choice is to go to the society and to extract from it the force that will join the point in the heart, so it could work against the will to receive, against the Pharaoh.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (58:54) To the extent that a Person receives the yearning, you said he immediately needs to add, like to add more yearning. So, where do you get the forces for that?

M. Laitman: The fact that we come now to a certain degree, that we worked in order to acquire it, we come to it, we make the action. That's not a problem, that's not even being considered. I came up to the degree, I made the action; next, what I did, the action is a result of acquiring the vessels, the qualities, the thoughts, new thoughts, spiritual thoughts that are in order to bestow, what next? If I stop at that state, I'm dead, I disappear, in spirituality, there cannot be a state of stoppage. So, I have to yearn again for the next state. Why would make me yearn for the next state? The Reshimo, the record that exists in it, with the AHAP of the upper one that's in it. We are going to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and we'll learn it.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:34) Are there more important or less important commandments?

M. Laitman: Answer, it says that we do not know what is a greater or smaller commandment. So, what are you asking, smarty?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:52) Yuda from Paris is asking: Everything, it's a lot of talk but bottom line: What do we have to do from the advice of the Sages?

M. Laitman: The advice of the Sages is that we have to keep is not to be so smart, right Yuda? He's a smart guy, smart Alec!

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:01:23) Someone is correcting me: Hanukkah and Purim are commandments from the Rabbis, and not a custom.

M. Laitman: You're right, I just wanted to emphasize that they're not in the Torah; rather, it's only hinted at. It's true that these are commandments that were made by the rabbis, and not customs of Israel.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): ()1:01:41) Yuda from Paris again, this nagger. We spoke about the 613 commandments by which we need to correct the 13 organs, which correspond to the ZAT of the Partzuf, but with these corrections, we can only use Galgalta ve Eynaim.

M. Laitman: True, Galgalta ve Eynaim that are there, by which we correct the ZAT, the lower seven, this is called, keeping Torah and commandments. When we isolate the Galgalta ve Eynaim from all the other broken vessels, this is the commandments of do, Ase. And the Habdaliya, the sending the AHAP is also there. And what we cannot correct the vessels in order to bestow but only to bestow in order to bestow, this is called the commandments of, keeping the commandments of you shall not do, right? This is 248 organs and 365 tendons. This is called, and this all belongs to the ZAT of the Partzuf, the lower seven of the Partzuf. When we correct them, we go up to the degree of the 7,000, meaning the general keeping of, observing of these commandments. And then we go to GAR; all these commandments are called the flavors or tastes of the Torah. We acquire, we make the commandments, we acquire inner light called, Torah. Meaning by keeping the Torah, keeping the commandments, and receiving the Torah. Now when we receive all this light of the seven days of Genesis, of creation, it's called, then we go to GAR, and from ZAT to GAR of the Partzuf. And there it's called the secrets of Torah. And the secrets of Torah, the GAR of the Partzuf, we have to constantly cover, conceal.

And then when we finish the correction, the general correction, we enter the GAR of the Partzuf, and then we acquire the thoughts of the Creator, the plans of the Creator, the, what was seemingly before us. This is called the secrets of Torah. So, our path is to cover, to conceal the GAR, to keep the ZAT, to observe the ZAT. And then reach the degree of receiving the GAR, in GAR, we don't have to do any actions of corrections, we already correct it. Rather, there, in unification with the Creator, by using the corrected stony heart, we bring all of creation down to the lowest degree. This is the 8th, 9th, and Tenth millennium; that's when the world of Atzilut expands down to the point of this world. And things that we don't quite know about, we don't understand them, simply because even those who are already making corrections above the barrier, they are in the corrections of the ZAT of the degree and not GAR of the degree. They, too, have no ability to speak, there's no ability to even understand what exists in the GAR of the degree. And the one who gets to the GAR of the degree – let's say like Baal HaSulam – then he writes something in this coded text. Where you don't really understand the word and the symbols, you can't really honestly write about it because you don't have letters. The letters begin from ZAT of Bina of Atzilut, and above it, there are no letters. So, you should understand how impossible it is for us to even engage in it. That's why it says that it's forbidden to engage in the secrets of Torah, right? The secrets of Torah, I mean, it's true, spirituality forbidden means impossible because of the lack of vessels. This is for Judah, what else?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:54) Is there AHAP of the upper one that is in the Galgalta ve Eynaim of the lower one, below the barrier?

M. Laitman: Of course, there is. That's what we have in the degrees of the ladder, rungs of the ladder, we have this article about it, right, where does it say? Kabbalah for the beginner. We have an article, a small article, I found it on some written scraps of paper that Rabash left for me called, The Matter of Associating the Measure of Mercy with Judgment. It talks about the state that belongs to our state below the barrier. Read it please.

Reader: (01:06:59) We are reading in Kabbalah for the Student, The Matter of Association of the Quality of Mercy and Judgment.

The main work is the choice, meaning you have chosen life, that there will be adhesion, which is the aspect of Lishma, by which we acquire adhesion with the life of lives. And when there's open providence, there's no room for choice, that's why the upper one raised Malchut, which is the quality of judgment, to the Eynaim, by which there was a concealment.

Meaning that in the lower one, it is discerned that there's efficiency in the upper one, there's no greatness in the upper one. And then the qualities of the upper one lie within the lower one, meaning they are in deficit. It turns out that these vessels have equivalence with the lower one, meaning just like the lower one has no livelihood, so there's no livelihood in the upper qualities, meaning that it has no flavor in Torah and Mitzvot, which are lifeless.

Reader: Let's go to a summary workshop, what we take from the lesson to apply in the TEN.

Song: (01:14:24)

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