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

Daily Morning Lesson: April 18, 2026

Part 1: Rabash. Which Keeping Of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart? Article 8. (1984)

Original Lesson 3-14-2003

Reader: Friends, in the first part of the lesson, we'll go into a lesson with Rav. This is from March 14, 2003, based on the article from Rabash, “Which Keeping of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart?” We'll read it together in the Ten, we have nine minutes for that. Tens who finish are invited to start a workshop based on the main insights from the article. We're reading from Rabash, “Which Keeping of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart?”

Reading: (00:38) “Which Keeping of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart?”

Question: Does keeping Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive reward purify the heart, too? Our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the spice of Torah.” This means that it does purify the heart. But is it so when one aims specifically at not receiving a reward, or does it also purify the heart if one works in order to receive a reward?

Answer: In the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” (Item 44), it is written, “When one begins to engage in Torah and Mitzvot, even without any intention, meaning without love and fear, as is appropriate when serving the King, even in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], the point in one’s heart begins to grow and show its activity. This is so because Mitzvot do not require intention, and even actions without intention can purify one’s will to receive, but in its first degree, called ‘still.’ And to the extent that one purifies the still part of the will to receive, one gradually builds the 613 organs of the point in the heart, which is the still of Nefesh de Kedusha [holiness].” Thus, we see that observing Torah and Mitzvot, even Lo Lishma purifies the heart.

Question: Is the path of observing Torah and Mitzvot in order not to be rewarded meant only for a chosen few? Or can anyone walk this path of observing everything in order not to be rewarded, by which they will be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator?

Answer: Although the will to receive for oneself alone emerged at the thought of creation, being given a correction that the souls will correct it to being in order to bestow, meaning by observing Torah and Mitzvot, we will turn our will to receive to be in order to bestow. This is given to everyone, without exception, for everyone was given this remedy, not necessarily a chosen few.

But since this is a matter of choice, some advance more quickly and others more slowly. But as it is written in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” (Items 13, 14), in the end, everyone will achieve their complete perfection, as it is written, “The outcast shall not be outcast from Him.”

Still, when beginning to learn to observe Torah and Mitzvot, one begins in Lo Lishma. This is because man is created with a will to receive; hence, he does not understand anything that does not yield him self-benefit and he will never want to begin to observe Torah and Mitzvot.

It is as the Rambam wrote (Hilchot Teshuva, Chapter 10), “Sages said, ‘one should always engage in Torah, even Lo Lishma, because from Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma.’ Hence, when teaching children and women and the populace, they are only taught to work out of fear and to receive reward. And when they gain knowledge and acquire wisdom, that secret is revealed to them bit by bit. They are accustomed to it calmly until they attain Him and serve Him with love.” Thus, we see from the Rambam’s words that everyone should achieve Lishma, but the difference is in the timing.

Question: If a person sees and feels that he is treading a path that leads to Lishma, should he try to influence others so they will tread the right path, too?

Answer: This is a general question. It is like a religious person examining a secular person. If he knows that he can reform him, then he is must reform him, due to the Mitzva, “Thou shalt surely rebuke your friend.” Similarly, in this case it can be said that you should tell your friend about the better way that one can go, provided your intention is only the Mitzva. But there are many times when a person rebukes another only for the purpose of domination, and not in order to “rebuke your friend.”

And we learn from the above that everyone’s desire that others will tread the path of truth has created disputes between orthodox and secular, between the Lithuanian faction and Hassidim, and among the Hassidim themselves. This is because everyone thinks that he is in the right, and everyone is trying to persuade the other to tread the right path.

To take care of himself, everything here is very specific and focused. Yes, Rabash says that, on the one hand... 

Reader: Now, we will move to a lesson from the 14th of March, 2003. 

M. Laitman: (09:58) We heard a short article from the Rungs of the Ladder, Volume 5, “Which Keeping of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart?”

 What does that even mean, keeping the Torah and Mitzvot? This is something that everyone is saying, but does anyone know? We're speaking out of the point that the Creator created a will to receive, and besides the will to receive, we have no other substance in creation. And from that, we should always start our investigations. The will to receive is neither good nor bad. It's the substance of creation the purpose of creation is to bring the will to receive to compatibility with the Creator. What kind of compatibility can there be if the will to receive is existence from absence, and it cannot be similar to the root. It is something which is of a completely different kind. 

So, through the intention in the usage of the will to receive, we can make two forms for it, either the opposite form of the Creator, if it is in order to receive, or a form that is similar to the Creator, if it is in order to bestow. If it is neither this nor that, then there is nothing to talk about. It is simply raw matter. 

So, what we're talking about is, we're talking about only one thing, how the will to receive can be given a form that is similar to the Creator. In the will to receive, we have 613 specific desires. The correction of each and every desire from those 613 specific desires, by installing on top of it an intention to bestow, is called performing a Mitzvah, commandment. Why Mitzvah? Because it is a commandment, it's a law. 

Whether a person wants to or not, he will have to do it, he will have to correct it, to update the intention to bestow on top of each and every one of those 613 desires. There is the general will to receive, called the Neshama- soul, the soul of Adam HaRishon, or simply Adam HaRishon. This Adam HaRishon, in order to correct this general soul, was divided into, we say 600,000 parts, but in truth it is in billions of parts. Where each and every part also incorporated from those 613 parts, but each one in his unique measure. 

So that all together, all of the parts in their connection are the same Adam HaRishon, the same general soul. For what purpose was it divided? So it will be easier to correct it. It's easier to correct each and every part, and then connect all the parts, and we reach the same result. Baal HaSulam gives all kinds of examples for that. Of a king who wanted to transfer his treasure from one place to another, but all the people in his kingdom are thieves, and so he divided all of his treasure into pennies, or small amounts, and he gave each one, let's say, 100 shekels to move from one place to another. It's not worthwhile for a person to steal 100 shekels, because as he has some pride, each one has some small screen, and this is something that he is able to do. So this is how we correct the will to receive.

M. Laitman: (14:11) Many particular desires over many incarnations, and in this way each one comes from one place to another place. He moves a part of the king's treasure that is assigned to him, and that's it. This is how we correct it.

This is called that we perform the Mitzvot. When do we truly perform the Mitzvot? Always there is some interval from the path where we incarnate over thousands of incarnations, thousands of years, unawares, and each one of us is living. He doesn't know what he's living for, but he's living. If he was born, then he lives. And he performs all kinds of actions here, in this life, in this world, what we call go and make a living out of each other. We don't even know what we're living for, what are we doing. But there is some general plan that by that even through such actions that are unaware, subconscious, so that we're not aware of what we're doing, but we nevertheless do something. We make corrections. It's like little children who do all kinds of things, but they themselves don't know it. But these actions somehow operate on them, and through them, they grow up. So they grow up until it is already expected, demanded of these children to perform conscious actions with understanding, with an intention. What are you doing it for? What are you doing? Why are you doing it? And it is the same with us. And it is written in many sources of Kabbalah, that from the end of the 20th century, or in short, from the 20th century onwards, humanity will enter a state where it already has to continue the correction of the desires. This is the king's treasure. This is what He created. 

So already to make a correction over these desires in a conscious manner. The state of childhood is over, and we need to start to relate to our life with awareness. Meaning with the question, what is the point in our life? What are we living for? What are we doing? That's how we have to approach each and every action. As much as we relate to our ability to carry out, to do something seriously our life is more beneficial. 

Kabbalists write that just as there was this previous era over thousands of years before Abraham, and also after Abraham, and until this very day, that this whole period of time was hidden from humanity. It had to be concealed, but only from unique individuals that had to only pass it on to prepare the method of Kabbalah. 

So now whether we want to or not the whole of humanity necessarily enters a state where it will have to know for what purpose it exists. And what is the purpose of this existence? Either through, in its time, Beito, necessarily through suffering, until they will see that indeed there is no choice. We have to exit this kind of childish life into a more serious life. We can see what we do with a child that doesn't want to grow up and wants to remain a child. You have to give him suffering and blows so that he will realize that life demands a serious attitude. 

So this is the path of suffering. The path of, in its time, or the path of Ahishena- hastening. Hastening means that before troubles force us to relate seriously to life, before the troubles reach us, we will start to grow wiser before and relate to life in a serious way and search on our own. What is the point in life? What are we living for? What is the reason? What is the goal of life? And so on. This is what it's all about. 

M. Laitman: (19:20) So, when he writes, “Which Keeping of Torah and Mitzvot Purifies the Heart?” Of course, purifying the heart already refers to people who should already begin to relate to it in a conscious manner. Otherwise, he wouldn't write about it. In previous years, they didn't write anything for us, in the thousands of previous years. But now, when they do write about it, they write for people who already need to start relating to their life on their own. 

So which keeping of Torah and Mitzvot, meaning which work on the person's desires, refines the heart, purifies the heart, meaning corrects the desires. The heart means the desires, corrects the desires with the intention to bestow. This means, through which actions of mine and my relation to these actions, I install a screen on top of each and every desire. 

So he explains that this is according to how much a person relates to all of his actions in a conscious manner, in an intelligent manner. That he knows why and for what purpose he's doing it. The more he puts exertion into it, puts himself into it, accordingly, his actions are more beneficial. 

Now, in order for us to quickly get to know our nature, the evil inclination was prepared for us. This means intentions in order to receive in advance, so that we don't come from the neutral will to receive as it exists in the world of Ein Sof before the first restriction, or in the worlds- Olamot where it is entirely unrelated to the intention. 

But rather, the will to receive is already connected with the qualities of the Creator in a single subject. So, from that, a special relation is born from the will to receive to the qualities of the Creator. This relation is called the evil inclination or the good inclination. 

We learn, according to the cascading of the worlds, the Creator created the will to receive through the four phases of direct light. The will to receive develops through them, it reaches Malchut of Ein Sof. Malchut of Ein Sof, we learn there in part one of TES, that even though it exists in complete adhesion, and there is no difference between it and the light that fills it. 

Nevertheless, it feels itself that it exists in some kind of difference from the light. This is called a feeling of shame. Even though that feeling of shame doesn't hinder the unity, there are things that we need to scrutinize. But whichever way you look at it, this is not yet the will to receive that is ready for usage. But rather, the will to receive that is ready for usage should be only that it is born out of its comparison with the quality of the Creator.

M. Laitman: (23:48) And so, all of these preparations in Ein Sof are not sufficient in order to start scrutinizing those qualities of the will to receive and the will to bestow, the Creator's quality. And then we have the matter of the shattering of the vessels and their fall. Meaning a complete distancing from the Creator. What does that give? What it gives is that we have in a single subject called the soul or Adam, and the Neshama, the soul is called Adam. Adam means a part of Adam HaRishon. This structure is called Adam, not our biological body. 

That in this structure of the soul, there are already two forces together. Both the desire that the Creator created and also the Creator's quality itself. And in the comparison between these two qualities, we have an outcome, a recognition of one opposite the other. And then we can also determine that quality of ours, if it is the evil inclination or the good inclination and how to invert one into the other. So we cannot really talk about the scrutiny of the keeping of Torah and Mitzvot. Meaning of the correction, which correction needs to be before we feel that we have within us these two parts- the part of the Creator and the part of the created being in a single subject. And that the light will come and clarify for us what is each and every part and in which is one preferable to the other. 

This means that our work is not to just relate to what we have within us. Our work is to prepare the conditions for this review, for this examination, so that we will see it in the right form. So the work begins, that is, long before we begin to see what is inside of us. And that we will see it in the light of the Lord, so that the quality of the Creator will be the worthy one, the one that will be preferable over the quality of the created being. So in order for us to prepare ourselves so that we will have such an outlook, this is really all of our work. 

And we always start the work from Lo Lishma, that is, always, and that will not change. But rather, whichever way it is, a person will always be born and begin in each and every incarnation, in each and every life. It doesn't matter what the previous results he had in his previous incarnations. So we will always have to begin the work from Lo Lishma, and from this Lo Lishma, meaning from the recognition of the evil inclination in us, the oppositeness of form from the Creator, we will have to reach the correction, the match. What else to say? Maybe there is something else? 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (27:55) Is there some goal that a person needs to put before him, one goal that is correct in all steps of the work, that should always be in my mind in all the stages? 

M. Laitman: Is there some goal that a person should place before him as some kind of a skeleton, that this is what he's working for? I think that anyone studying the wisdom of Kabbalah already understands that if there is a will to receive in its form of in order to receive, and a purpose of creation- meaning the general law is to bring the will to receive to the form of in order to bestow. So if you join this process, then you accelerate it, you feel good during this whole walk, because all in all what is happening is also according to your desire. This is called the path of Torah, and besides that there is nothing else to do in reality. 

Meaning you also discover that the whole of reality in its still, vegetative, animate, and speaking of it, it is all actually going, truly marching towards this process. But to the extent that the person does not want to agree with it, he wants to shut his eyes, he wants to seemingly run away from the campaign to that extent this general law of bringing the whole of nature and the whole of creation in order to bestow to equivalence with the Creator, this law works on him as a compelling force. And so a person feels in that suffering every moment that this force compels him to develop, compels him to do something. Then he does that thing, but as much as in each stage and in every moment he is in suffering until he agrees to do it, he will be obligated to do it. And so one who hears that and he wants to check whether it is correct, he simply enters the method of Kabbalah and he starts to accept, to digest, to implement this law of development on himself. 

We have nothing more to do. Then we discover that all of the other things, except for us taking this law and doing it out of our own volition, besides that, all the other actions we do in our lives are actions that are completely beastly, mandatory, that they come to us and we keep them without any free choice. And a free choice is specifically at that point. To take this law of development according to my own will. Meaning to make it so that I will also want to develop according to this law, or to let go of it. 

The free choice is only towards this law of development, and all the other things that we do are completely in a compulsory form. As he says, just like everything that we see from the still, the vegetative and animate we don't see it on ourselves because we are of the speaking degree, so we can see it on the lower degrees, to what extent in them there is no free choice. 

If we will elevate ourselves to a higher degree, we will also see on ourselves that indeed, besides the spiritual degree that we will rise to, everything else below that degree, meaning below the acquisition of the screen and keeping things with the intention to bestow, all the other things we have are also just like animals, beasts, and plants. It is all in a compulsory form. 

We also learn that from the four phases of direct light. We can see it that until phase four develops to phase four within phase four, it's not called created being. Everything that happens in it, happens in a necessary form through the law of nature that operates on it and truly compels it. So what should we look for? Only to scrutinize where exactly this range of my free choice, and there I need to be involved. And in the other things, it's like you're fighting with nature. Out of your nature, you're fighting with nature. It simply doesn't help anything. Just like babies or children, when they nevertheless insist on something, you can see it's not going to help. It can't be. But no, they still insist. This is how it is. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (33:33) If everything is in movement towards the goal and the will to receive has to be corrected, then what's the need to speed up the process? 

M. Laitman: We don't really speed up the process of correction. There's no time in spirituality, so we can't say that we are accelerating this process. But you can explain it on several planes, on several levels. 

One level is that they explain that by that you spare the beatings and this path that you didn't want to walk on, but you were compelled to walk on it, becomes for you a way that is comfortable and good, that you agree with this walking. So seemingly, it's a psychological matter, right? Replace your attitude towards this thing, and you'll feel better about it. Why suffer? 

But there are things that are completely on a different level. If a person, the moment that he wants to be similar to the Creator. This means that he comes out to a true intention of bestowal, and not because of some calculations that he makes, that it's worthwhile for him to do it, but rather without it being worthwhile for me, but rather it's worthwhile for him, for the Creator. 

When I start to come out of my nature and these calculations, then a person begins to feel reality that is eternal and perfect without any limitations, and that you can't really even know what it is, you can't even explain what it is. That is, the person shifts to an existence on a completely different dimension. And for that, there was truly this intention of agreeing, or even above agreeing, to take upon himself, without any conditions, this compatibility with the Creator. There is here the matter of a completely different level of participation. It's no longer calculations as we explain it to common people, that this is worthwhile. What's the point in our life? So you'll feel good- taste and see that the Lord is good. That's how we do it for the meantime. But when a person goes out to existence, keeping these things without any calculations for himself, then something opens up for him which is above, beyond nature. Are there any other questions?  

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (36:50) Every time we talk about the will to receive and the will to bestow, and before we acquire the screen and cross the barrier. According to what I understood, if all that we can do is just an intention to bestow, at some point I kind of feel bad, because I do each and every intention, but inside, even if I make an intention to bestow, still the will to receive arises. That makes me feel unworthy and just far, and what privilege do I have to do what I do. So that really makes me feel bad. So how can I actually turn that desire to receive to be purer, to be cleaner, to not have some will to receive hidden in it? 

M. Laitman: So he's saying the following, each time that I discover on myself that maybe I would have liked to do something in order to bestow, I discover that this in order to bestow is nevertheless that same intention in order to receive, but it's kind of more concealed, more hypocritical, and from that I only feel worse. I have this unpleasant feeling. So who am I? What am I? And so on. And how long can this go on, right? Until when? Finally, I’ll discover that more and more my intentions are deeper nevertheless they are also for myself, and true this is my nature. If it's my nature what can I do? I can't get out of it. So what next? Is there some end to this exploration where we're done? This is all of me. A person should realize that all of these feelings from all of our investigations, they have to bring us to some calculation, some decision, and some change. 

We shouldn't relate to it in a quantitative manner, where we say, okay, so a few more months, in a few more months that I will eat myself up, I'll examine myself.  Nevertheless I will see to what extent I'm an egoist, and how I can't really take anyone into consideration. And I don't even take myself into consideration in the next moment, but only this moment right now. To such an extent, the will to receive is short, short-sighted.

 And later on, something will change, I'll explode, I'll be done with all of these scrutinies. The Creator will see it, and He will change the conditions for me. He will take me to some other kind of existence, some other different state. We shouldn't think that way. This means we shouldn't relate to the changes within us in a quantitative manner. Two months from now, two years from now, something will happen. No, a person must relate to these things only in a qualitative manner. In general, spirituality is about qualities, not quantities. That is, if now in a state that I’ll now feel that I'm entirely in order to receive, and all of these calculations that I do, the most beautiful ones with respect to the family, the children it doesn't matter who or what may seemingly be in order to bestow, and maybe they're the results in order to receive. 

I have inside of my current scrutiny only to see this scrutiny to its maximum depth, in order to emerge now already to a new state. That is my problem is the depth of my perception, the depth of my feeling in the recognition of evil. And it's not that I felt 20 times or 20,000 times the evil within me. That does not matter. 

M. Laitman: (41:20) How do we then reach that quality of the scrutiny and not the quantity of the scrutiny? It is only through the tension that I feel around me from the society. How much the whole society is on fire in that. This is also passed on to me, and then I also start to relate to it in a very acute, very sharp manner. Wasn't that the question? 

Student: So in that moment, I say, I'm telling you... 

M. Laitman: The terrible feeling that I feel, what am I trying to trick it? I want it to be pure, clean. No, but you told me, okay, in society. The feeling we see from the story of the Exodus and the children of Israel sighed from the work or the plagues that Pharaoh went through. Pharaoh is our evil inclination. So even though we have to undergo a certain amount of blows, it happens gradually. But ultimately it has to be such a hatred to my nature that I separate from it completely. And separation in spirituality is through hatred, and through love there is adhesion. There are no distances. So I have to hate my nature so much that I as if cut myself off from it, and I have no more of any contact with it. Again, it's a matter of qualities. 

Reader: Now, let's share our impressions from the lesson. What do we take from that for implementation in the Ten? 

Workshop: (43:31)

Reader: Now we'll move on to the next part of the lesson. Before that, let's sing a song together.

Song: (49:42)