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

Daily Morning Lesson: June 12, 2026

Part 1: Concerning the Debate between Jacob and Laban. Rabash. Article No. 11, 1985.

Reader: Dear friends, in the first part we'll learn a lesson of the Rav from the date, the tenth of February, 2002. The lesson is based on the article, Concerning the Debate between Jacob and Laban. It is in The Writings of Rabash, page 91, in the Hebrew version. We will read it in the Ten and then we will go to the lesson for twenty minutes.

Reading: (00:42) Concerning the Debate between Jacob and Laban

Article No. 11, 1985

We see that the debate between Jacob and Laban was different from the debate between Jacob and Esau. With Jacob and Laban, it is written, (Genesis, 31): “And Laban replied and said to Jacob: ‘The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine.’” With Jacob and Esau, it is written (Genesis, 33), “And Esau said, ‘I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be yours.’”

We should understand why Laban claimed that everything was his and Esau said to the contrary, “Let what you have be yours.”

Baal HaSulam explained it in this way: It is known that there is the grip of the Klipot [shells/peels], and there is the suckling of the Klipot. He said that a grip means that the Klipa [singular of Klipot] grips him and does not let him do anything in Kedusha [holiness].

For example, when a person needs to rise before dawn and go to the synagogue to engage in Torah, the Klipa comes and tells him, “Why are you tormenting yourself? You’re tired; it’s cold outside,” and other such arguments of the inclination that it is not worthwhile to get up and engage in work. He replies to it, “As you say, but it is worthwhile to engage in this world in order to be rewarded with the next world.” Then the evil inclination replies to him: “You think that you will have the next world in return for your labor in this world. This is possible if a person engages in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] for the Creator. But I know that you are doing everything not for the Creator. Therefore, whom are you serving? Only me.” With this allegory we can understand his words. This is the meaning of the grip of the Klipa, which does not let him engage in Torah and Mitzvot.

This was Laban’s argument: “The daughters are my daughters … and all that you see is mine.” That is, you are working for me and not for the Creator, so you cannot hope to have the next world. Hence, why trouble yourself for nothing? With this force she grips a person and he cannot exit her influence and do anything against her will. This was Laban’s argument, because he thought that with this argument he would have the strength to grip him and he would be unable to engage in Torah and Mitzvot.

But once he overcame Laban’s argument and said, “Not true, I do engage for the Creator, but I must believe that you were sent to me with all the just arguments only to veer me off from Kedusha. But I want simply to serve the Creator, and you have no grip on my Torah and Mitzvot. This is why I overcome you and go and engage in Torah and Mitzvot, and you have no foothold in me at all.”

At that time the Klipa approaches in a different way. She tells him, “Look, is there anyone else like you, who can overcome the evil inclination? Look at the lowliness of the rest of the people; they have no power to overcome, while you, thank God, are the strongest among men. It is certainly not good for you to join them.” At that time all his engagement falls into the Klipa because she admits him into pride.

At that time, one should overcome and tell the Klipa: “Not true, I am no better than other people. Everything I did in Torah and Mitzvot was not for the Creator; it was all for you, so now I am in a state that is as our sages said, ‘He who learns Torah Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] would be better off if his placenta had been turned inside out on him.’ So now I am worse than the rest of the people.’” This was Jacob’s argument when he said to Esau, “‘Take my gift,’ and I want to begin to engage in Torah and Mitzvot anew, and until now it is as though I never did anything for the Creator.”

But what does it say? “And Esau said, ‘I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be yours.’” He did not want to receive from him until after several efforts and great exertion. Then, “And he took from him,” as it is written, “He pleaded with him and he took.”

It follows that here, meaning after the fact, the matter was overturned. Laban’s argument, who said, “All that you see is mine,” means that everything belongs to the Klipa. Here Jacob claims that he has sent everything to him as a gift. That is, he is saying that it is a possession of the Klipa. But what Jacob claimed with Laban was that the act comes first. Jacob argued that everything belongs to the Kedusha, and not to the Klipa. Now Esau is claiming it, as it is written, “let what you have be yours.”

Concerning the verse, “The camp that is left will escape,” RASHI interpreted that he had prepared himself for three things: for a gift, for a prayer, and for war. That is, two things belong to Esau, gift and war, and one thing belongs to the Creator, a prayer.

In the work we should interpret that all three things refer to the Creator. It is as Baal HaSulam said about the verse, “Behold, there is a place with Me, and you shall stand on the rock” (Exodus, 33), that Moses said to the Creator, “Show me Your glory.” To that came the reply, “And the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place with Me.’” He interprets ETY [with Me] to be an acronym for Emuna [faith], Tefillah [prayer], Yegia [labor].

He said that to be rewarded with the glory of the Creator one must believe in the Creator, then pray to the Creator to bring him closer to Him. Afterwards one must labor to subdue his inclination and want to annul himself for the sake of the Creator. After these three actions he is rewarded with the glory of the Creator. This is the reply that the Creator gave to Moses concerning what Moses said to the Creator, “Show me Your glory.”

In the same way we should interpret what RASHI interpreted, that he prepared himself for a gift, for a prayer, and for war. “For war” means the war of the inclination; a prayer means that the Creator will bring him closer, so as to achieve his completeness—the degree he should achieve. A gift means faith, for one who believes in someone, this is regarded as giving, as it is written about Abraham, “And he believed in the Lord and He regarded it to him as righteousness” (Genesis, 15). RASHI interpreted that the Creator regarded it for Abram as a merit and righteousness for the faith that he had had in Him.

It therefore follows that all three things—gift, prayer, and war—are with the intention that with these three things he will defeat Esau. Also, all of these three things are between man and the Creator. We should not say that only prayer is between man and the Creator, but gift and war refer to Esau. Rather, he attributes everything to the Creator.

But the main thing we should know is what is the discernment of Esau we must correct. It is known that opposite Kedusha there is Klipa. In general, it is called “the Klipa of Esau.” However, there are many degrees in the Klipa, and each discernment has its own name. Kedusha, too, has many discernments, and each discernment has its own name.

In general, Kedusha is called Sefirot and Partzufim [plural of Partzuf], and worlds. And in general, Kedusha means “in order to bestow,” while Tuma’a [impurity] means “in order to receive,” which is self-love.

When a person observes Torah and Mitzvot in order to receive this world or the next world in return, these two discernments are considered Lo Lishma. Only one who observes Torah and Mitzvot because “He is Great and ruling,” meaning because of the greatness and importance of the Creator, this is called Lishma (see The Book of Zohar, item 190). This is called “in order to bestow and not to receive any reward for his work,” and it is called “pure work.”

Work in order to bestow can only be to the extent that one values the receiver of one’s work. At that time one has the motivation. But if one cannot increase the importance of the one he serves, he has no energy to work. This is so because we see that in nature, the little one annuls itself before the great one as a candle before a torch. However, all the great work is to extol the receiver of the work, meaning to recognize His importance. If he has nothing with which to revere Him within reason, then our work is as Baal HaSulam said when he interpreted the verse, “Here is a place with Me,” that the Aleph of ETY [with Me] implies faith above reason.

It follows that the essence of man’s work is to work above reason, to appreciate the Creator. In general, all the creatures feel the Kedusha as Shechina [Divinity] in the dust. This is why it is said in all the books that every person should aim, prior to engaging in Torah and Mitzvot, to raise the Shechina from the dust. There is no point working on the little one annulling itself before the great one, for this is natural for the little one to annul before a great one. Rather, man’s work is only to exert to recognize the greatness and importance of the Creator.

In fact, a person understands that he needs to work for everything he feels he needs, except for the greatness and importance of the Creator. Here, we do not understand that this is all we need.

We can interpret this with regard to the verse, “The righteous has perished and no one notices.” The Creator is called “righteous,” as it is written, “The Lord is the righteous.” He has lost His importance and no one notices that we need to work in order to acquire His importance.

When a person feels somewhat elated, he understands that it is only worthwhile to work for spirituality. We should say that the reason is that he feels the importance of spirituality to the extent that it is worthwhile to exert for spirituality and not for corporeality because at that time corporeality loses its value for him, and spirituality is valued.

Therefore, at that time he decides that only spirituality is worth working for, and not corporeality. It turns out that all the ascents and descents do not refer to man, but to the Kedusha. That is, sometimes the value of Kedusha is high, meaning it has become more important to him, and sometimes the value of Kedusha is down and so unappreciated that it is not worthwhile to even think about it.

Concerning the little one annulling before the great one, we found that it is said (Yalkut Hadash, Chapter 1) that after the Creator promoted Abraham’s reputation, since everyone saw Abraham’s greatness, Pharaoh gave Sarah a girl who was his daughter, to be a servant in Abraham’s house. Although a servant is a very inferior degree, since at that time servants and maids had no rights of humans at all. They were as beasts. Still, he gave away his daughter to be Sarah’s maid and appeased her by saying, “My daughter, it is better for you to be a servant in Blessed Abraham’s house than to be a queen in my house.”

The difference between a person doing the holy work for a reward or because he wants to serve the king because of His importance and greatness is that if one is working in corporeality to obtain a corporeal reward, we see that if a person has a way to be rewarded without working so many hours, if such a thing is possible he promptly chooses this way, since man loves rest and relinquishes the pleasure of rest in order to be paid.

Therefore, if he can find a way not to have to labor, he regards this as happiness. But one who works because of the greatness of the King, and his pleasure is his great privilege of serving the king, it cannot be said that he will not work and still be paid, since his reward is the service of the king. This is a clear sign by which one sees the true purpose of his work—whether it is for a reward or because of the greatness of the Creator.

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Reader: We'll go to the lesson from the date, February 10, 2002.

M. Laitman: We read an article, Volume 1, Rungs of the Ladder, page 254, regarding the argument between Ya'akov and Lavan. Well, maybe you should ask; it's better. What's interesting, though, regarding that Pharaoh: it's not the same Pharaoh who gave his daughter to Avraham and then didn't want to release the Jews from Egypt, made their lives horrible there. The thing is that the will to receive, when it sees that it has no one to receive from, it has no way to be satisfied then. Of course, it is interested in holiness, to receive from it, and this is Pharaoh sending his daughter to Sara. Afterwards, when holiness enters into the will to receive, already, and he's full and everything and he can use it. Then of course turning it to, in order to bestow, that is a big problem, we need to exit Egypt, first of all, then, work outside of Egypt. Meaning outside of the will to receive through all the corrections, through to the end of correction until Pharaoh remains alone and all the other discernments are corrected. Then, Pharaoh is also corrected, will be corrected at the end of correction, by itself, not by us. Right.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (22:57) Here, it writes: In practice a person understands that everything that it's worthwhile to work on everything except the greatness and importance of the Creator. How can we work on the greatness and importance of the Creator?

M. Laitman: We have a lack for everything except for this one thing, the lack, the deficiency for the greatness and importance of the Creator – just the Creator? Yes; to receive it? Yes. How is that bad? The problem is that we cry because we don't see Him. We don't feel Him. If we felt Him, if we saw Him, we would say He's great, we'd say He's the source of everything. But if we saw, if we saw and felt, we could immediately use, you know? There's someone to make demands of, to receive and enjoy, even just Him being great. I look at Him and I see that He's great, God bless, there's someone who understands, sitting there above me, doing everything! Well, then I'm calm, I'm certain that everything that happens will ultimately yield a good result, what else do I need? In order not to cause all these pleasant things for us, He's concealed. Until we don't want to receive them as—well, until we want to receive them as the force that corrects rather than the force that satisfies, that fulfills. What is the question?

Student: I'm asking, how does one work on the greatness and importance of the Creator?

M. Laitman: The greatness and importance of the Creator is concealed because other than that you can attain anything, and you have a desire for everything other than that. Also, the greatness and importance of the Creator, you do have a deficiency, a desire for that as well. But on the condition that it serves you, your benefit; the intention regarding working on the greatness and importance of the Creator, it means that you'll have the greatness and importance of the Creator. Not as a cause for pleasures and confidence and security and so on. A person can't work on that because what is the greatness and importance? To appreciate Him without any connection to me. Who needs that, who has a desire for that? Not me. Meaning, a lack for Him, actually Him outside of myself, that is what is desired of me. It's not just a lack for Him but His greatness and importance; for me to feel it not towards me but how He is. What does it mean, how He is? How He is means that His greatness and importance will give me just this one outcome: serving Him. That will be the fuel, to give, to take things out of myself, from me. Well, such a desire, where will I take it from?

Now I'm told, listen, you have nowhere to take this from, you can't do it alone by yourself. It's impossible but this is what you need, other than that you don't need anything. Well, fine, it is, they say it but what do you do, can you do anything? They explain to us that through this Segula – the special power of the Torah and commandments – meaning by studying with the right intention in a group through preparation, doing all sorts of things, whatever you can, what's upon us to do and what we can do. Then, after that we receive, yes, according to the method of, I labored and I found." You do what you can and from above, you will be given what you need, that's it.

M. Laitman: (26:49) Meaning this lack, we cannot attain it by ourselves but knowing that we can't and nonetheless do all the things, cover all the options, whatever is within your power and ability to do, you should do, right? To attain that desire, you have to do that; ultimately, just to reach that state where this is the only thing I lack and this is the only thing I don't actually want, right? That is exactly before the exodus from Egypt, we have to understand what is the exodus from Egypt, that state – it's Passover soon, right? Exiting Egypt means that all the powers in a person—it's a situation, it's the situation in Egypt, my Pharaoh doesn't allow me to exit under any circumstances. My Jew also doesn't want it so much, the Jews want to get out. They have to be carried out in a rushed way with a command, right, so on and so forth. A person goes through many blows, yes, what things? Moses is shouting there, he shouts at Pharaoh, he shouts to the Creator, and when he returns to the people, they tell him, What did you do, where did you bring us, this mud – we had it good back there, right? You can instantly see what kind of situation it is within the person with all his desires, all the discernments he has in him. Meaning on the one hand, I don't need all this spirituality, nothing, give me this world, it's enough – I'll settle for that, that's enough.

On the other hand, there is something that pulls me out of that and doesn't rest, yes, Moses, Moshe, well, that's it. Until it's really the miracle of the exodus from Egypt, these two ends, these two extremes have to be in a person fully completed, right? A great Pharaoh and also a great Moshe, and who decides? From above meaning a desire, a lack for the greatness of the Creator. That needs to be very great, and on the other hand, it's a thing that perhaps we have no need for; and on the other hand, also, it's a thing that I cannot attain.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (29:26) Two questions: if I do not have a deficiency for greatness itself, if I see His greatness without any connection to myself then I have no need for it so how does that advance me? If I do want to be like Him because He is great, then that is still for the sake of receiving. I annul myself like a candle before a torch so how does that take me out of this world?

M. Laitman: I don't understand, you want the greatness for what? Yes, that's what you want to interpret for me?

Student: Yes, what is it for and what am I supposed to do with it, what does it give me?

M. Laitman: The greatness of the Creator you can use in two—look: how does the shell use the greatness of the Creator, how does the shell use the Creator? She wants Him. What is the difference between our beastly desire and the desire of the shell? The desire of the shell is the human desire, it's a very big desire – not human, it's the divine will. If there is such a huge thing, a law encompassing the whole of creation, infinite pleasure, exactly corresponding to Pharaoh, to my will to receive, then I want it, yes? This pleasure is really meant for the will to receive. The struggle is not over the pleasure, the Creator gives one hundred grams of porridge to the will to receive, filling it with that light—no argument about that – it's the will to receive and it has to receive. Ultimately, it will receive, the argument is about the first nine Sefirot, to use the first nine Sefirot in order to receive or in order to bestow. That is the issue, the argument is about the intention, not about the desire, itself, it's over the intention, that is the problem here.

The shell wants to use the greatness of the Creator, not just the pleasure that comes to it disconnected from Him. She doesn't say, Give me what I deserve in my will to receive and, from You, I don't want to know anything about You. The shell in this world that's what we think, that's what we want, that's why we are under the system of the shells. Spirituality, the system of the shells, that is opposite holiness; they want to use the same nine Sefirot in order to receive. They want to enjoy the greatness and importance of spirituality, the Creator, they want to be close to Him but close in order to invert it, turn it to in order to receive. That is what the struggle is about, so it follows that Pharaoh is of the same magnitude as Avraham and he cannot receive from any other source but only through Avraham. What are you asking?

Student: That's my question. It seems that if I have the greatness of the Creator then I'm stuck inside a Klipa?

M. Laitman: We're still far distant from the shell, come on. I would wish—come on – the shell is a spiritual force. The shell feels the greatness and importance of the Creator, feels the lights. What is the shell? The shell is a person who is on a degree where he is shown opportunities to receive spirituality, not beastliness, respect, and money.

Student: How does he get out of that?

M. Laitman: He gets out of that through work, exertion, on each and every degree.

Student: Meaning he asks for the greatness of the Creator and receives it?

M. Laitman: No, no, no, no, what do you mean, asks for the greatness of the Creator, receiving it?

Student: They show it to him.

M. Laitman: What is revealed in the left line is the greatness and importance of the Creator but in such a way where it's only in the form of pleasures, that's it. A person needs to invert this reception that awakens in him for the greatness and importance of the Creator as the force that corrects him. And then, to adhere to the right side first – first, to acquire only the greatness and importance of the Creator. And, then, to go to that same Pharaoh, to the left line and extract from him as much as possible and use that with the right.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (34:23) What are these concepts, greatness and importance? What do they actually mean with respect to the Creator and with respect to the path? Greatness in what sense?

M. Laitman: What are these concepts: greatness and importance, from where do they originate? We have the discernment of Shoresh, root, from which comes phase one; phase one is the will to receive created by the will to bestow. It's created that way, it wants to receive and receives fulfillment from the discernment of Shoresh, root. The first phase is light and vessel, vessel and light, then, there's further development.

Student: What can develop there?

M. Laitman: You have the desire and you have the light, and so we say that the vessel begins to feel, other than the pleasure in her, also the Giver of said pleasure. What is the Giver of the pleasure? Not just someone giving to me but what quality exists outside of me that gives me something. Outside of me, that is the quality of bestowal, that's the only thing that could exist, it gives to me. What does it give me? It gives me pleasure, yes? That's it. Now, the will to receive that begins to feel something here in phase one – it begins to feel a higher discernment, greater, more important, yes? It sees that the greatness and importance of that higher degree turns him into something else, into the desire to bestow. Well, after that, you have all the phases, all the discernments that come across phase four and phase four, again goes through the same things after the shattering of the vessels. And Adam HaRishon, the shattering of the soul, in each and every discernment of the will, there is some of the will to bestow. Meaning that Bina enters Malchut and gives Malchut opportunities, abilities to somehow begin and exit the will to receive, meaning that in the person, there are sparks of bestowal. He's not left as was phase one of the four phases of direct light.

Rather, in our will to receive, there are sparks of bestowal, part of the Creator so, now, we have a choice. For that same part of the Creator that's in me to do the same work that it did there by nature. Where, there, it made the first phase turn into the second phase. Now, I choose that instead of phase one, I want to be phase two; instead of the will to receive, I want to be the will to bestow. I want my will to awaken, to be like the will to bestow – that is my choice, that is my labor.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (37:39) The greatness is the one who corrects me or the one who scrutinizes or clarifies me?

M. Laitman: What do I need this for? The same way phase one began to feel the upper one: what He gives, who He is, and so on and so forth, His quality. The feeling of the upper one is stronger than my will to receive. That's indicated by phase one of the four phases of direct light. As soon as she began to feel the Creator, it spoiled all her pleasure, even in phase four who has her own will to receive, her own desire to receive. And she receives more than what comes from the light directly because she yearns for Him. There, too, the moment she feels the upper one, His importance and greatness, she wants to be like Him, she wants to be His equal. In short, it represses the will to receive, so what do I need to do? Just to bring myself to the same state, that is the choice, entirely; that is why it is said that we need nothing other than the recognition of the Creator's greatness and importance, that's it.

Student: It's basically the same thing with respect to the friend, if he is great in relation to this work.

M. Laitman: The friend is a means: if I choose for myself friends and begin to work on myself, to see them as great. Then I begin to be impressed by what I see in them and through envy, yes, I begin to want the same thing, I feel envy towards the friend. There's no envy towards the Creator, the upper one doesn't elicit envy in the lower one. By the nature of things, the lower one wants to resemble—if it's actually the upper one—he wants to resemble the upper one. He doesn't envy Him, how to say, he envies that quality that exists in Him, he wants that quality as well but it's not that.

Student: He values it.

M. Laitman: Yes.

Student: He wants to be above him?

M. Laitman: Wants to be above him? No, it's, well?

Student: A great friend is basically someone who advances faster than I do.

M. Laitman: The friend who you call great is the one who you made great.

Student: In what way, because he advances faster?

M. Laitman: According to how great you made him, so is he great, that's it, don't drop anything on him, how he needs to be. You build him in your eyes in your estimation, only. It could be someone who just arrived and is listening to the lesson for the very first time—just now sat on the chair. It doesn't matter who or what, that's it.

Student: Okay, I understand that this is my work but in what way? What exactly am I supposed to tell myself, that he is greater than I am?

M. Laitman: With respect to what? With respect to the desire he has for the Creator, that is envy. That he has more desire for the Creator than I do and it doesn't depend on veterancy or anything.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (41:31) There are two things mentioned here: the grasp of the Klipot, the grasp of the shells and suckling from the Klipot, the shells. What's the difference between them or are they the same thing? Up above, he says that there are two discernments: the grasp of the Klipot, the shells, and the suckling from the Klipot, the shells.

M. Laitman: Now, what's the difference between the grip of the shells and the suckling of the shells? Grip, that means that the shell grips onto something, well, it's two kinds of connection. Suckling means that she rules over and suckles from holiness; and the grip, well, it's a lesser connection, lesser to suckling. The suckling of the shells means that a person is under the control of the shell where what he attains through his work, it's all in order to receive. He studies Kabbalah, seemingly, he does whatever he can but, ultimately, it all turns into in order to receive. That is the suckling of the shells, the grip of the shells, it's not such a big thing.

Student: Here, in the story of Laban and Jacob, Jacob receives wages. Today, for example, a wealthy person pays students to study Torah. Are they receiving a reward from that?

M. Laitman: I don't understand, in those things, the rewards, I don't understand.

Student: Regarding this whole issue here, I understand that this is about the Klipot, the shells and we're not yet at that stage. But in general, this argument with the will to receive seems like a kind of self-deception. It's as though I'm supposedly working Lo Lishma but, really, everything is still for the will to receive. Everything is and everything isn't for the will to receive, I don't even know how to explain it.

M. Laitman: We are all in the lie, calm down, but from this lie, we can, well, let's say, we can build many discernments. These discernments, later, when we receive light from above, they will turn into true discernments. But I need to know something, I need to know that this is called a car, this is called a doll, this is called a little elephant and something else. This is how you build a house, I need to know these things like a child; then, when I grow, these things grow alongside me, you understand? The terms are already there and so you grow – the concepts are there, you understand? Even if we're all with the dolls and the lies during the time of preparation, the discernments we receive here, we will need them later on. Without actually stabilizing them within ourselves, each and every discernment, we won't be able to enter spirituality.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:48) Why is there such a difference between envy towards the great one that exists in spirituality where I want to resemble him and jealousy in our world where I want the great one to be lower to my degree, to be like me, less than? It's not that I want to resemble Him, I want Him to resemble me.

M. Laitman: If He is great, then it cannot be that He will resemble you, then He is not great, He has something that you don't have that's all. Or maybe you're not even envious of that thing itself, simply, empty envy. You don't want to acquire anything from it, you just feel bad that he has it. We're not talking about that kind of envy because it's envy that exists before the goal. With us, there first has to be a goal and only afterward do we develop envy, then envy comes and brings benefit. If he is great and I just look at him as being great, then I'll want to kill him, he's simply ruining my life and making me miserable, right? If there's a Creator and there's a goal, and he is great and I know that through his greatness he can help me reach the Creator, then on the contrary, let him even be greater and let him even be closer to me – now I need him. I start becoming interested in his greatness. If we do not place a goal at the forefront, then certainly everything turns once again into a cause for wars and killings.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (46:52) We said that phase one felt the Giver, that she wanted to receive His quality of bestowal because of that. How come phase three—we know that phase four wants to resemble bestowal. Why did phase three not want to resemble bestowal like phase one?

M. Laitman: Phase three is born from phase two, from bestowal; phase two decided and saw that bestowal without reception cannot exist, cannot be sustained. Therefore, it drew a measure of reception into phase three; the reception in phase three is not actually reception. Because it is—in phase two, Bina decided that this will be its action, meaning, who is Zeir Anpin? Zeir Anpin is an action of Bina, what Bina wants to give the Creator, since it has a pure desire to bestow. Since the Creator created that desire to bestow out of the will to receive so that action, itself, is phase three. In other words, we have a will to receive that we use directly in phase one. We also have a will to receive that's used in the form of giving in phase three. In the form of giving, not receiving, only giving, and from that will to receive, practically, nothing remains for itself. The will to receive that awakens in phase three says, But I want to live, and it extends phase four.

What does it mean that there is Hochma in phase three? Hassadim illuminated by Hochma? Is there Hochma there or—just as there is in phase one—or not? Since phase three was born from phase two, even if it contains the same desire as phase one, and the same light as phase one. That light is very weak because it emerges through phase two, meaning, what happens here? Phase two says this: I see that I want to bestow but my act of bestowal doesn't actually do anything with respect to the Creator, how can it because my bestowal is empty, when can I truly bestow? Only if I receive. Just as phase one had a will to receive that received the light, phase two drew phase one into itself again and drew the light. When it drew the light as in phase one, the act turned out to be almost empty because in phase one, the will to receive is not independent, it's a vessel, right? It's light, the light within it corresponds to that state, the will to receive is weak and it's not self-generated. So, in phase three which feels itself, it begins to feel the will to receive of phase one and the will to bestow of phase two. So now instead of wanting merely to bestow, it becomes the receiver, itself. The magnitude of the will to receive in phase four corresponds to the magnitude of the desire to bestow in phase two. It turns out that yearning for the Creator to receive from Him that which exists in phase four is exactly proportional to the Creator's desire to bestow upon the vessel.

M. Laitman: (51:29) In other words, my desire in the vessels of reception is a specific desire that the Creator created and filled. But His attitude toward the receiving vessel, – how He reveals Himself as the host in phase one in order to build phase two – that will become exactly the same measure of desire that appears in the will to receive of phase four. And, afterward, that very measure becomes my desire to bestow back to Him; from that, I start receiving strength precisely in the intensity needed to become like Him. Just as He wants to give me and reveals Himself in that way, I receive strength from Him and can truly become like Him. In other words, phase two builds this additional desire within phase four according to its own magnitude. Later, through the screen, I transform that desire into bestowal, I remain with phase one within, as within the basic vessel. The vessel, itself, never changes, and all the additional desire comes through the screen, through the greatness of the Creator as we say, what we call the first nine Sefirot. Outside of those four phases, there is nothing, if we study them properly, we never finish uncovering them because everything is contained there.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (52:58) To reach the state of just before the Exodus from Egypt, do I need to cultivate within me, Pharaoh and Moses in parallel? I mean, I can't want to swallow all the world and its pleasures for myself and, also, at the same time, to want to swallow all the pleasures to delight the Creator. How do I do that?

M. Laitman: Precisely! We need to attain two things that contradict one another. On one hand, the greatest possible desire to receive everything that exists within me. On the other hand, the feeling that I need the Creator because, otherwise, I can do nothing with that desire to receive, I cannot deal with it by myself. These two feelings contradict each other and they're very unpleasant, they create an enormous tension within the person. And that is what happens before the Exodus from Egypt, right. He writes about it on page 70 in The Letters. He says that there needs to be the fullest measure of yearning, the maximum degree of longing until it does not let me sleep – that's on the one hand. But until it does not let me sleep or it includes both, both aspects, I want something desperately and I'm unable to attain what I want. He pictures it like a person, like a young man longing for a woman. On one hand, there is this immense love; on the other hand, it seems completely unattainable, that only in a dream can he imagine that it might be possible, that's the state.

Student: If we suppose a state where one of them is greater than the other, then I suppose I cancel one?

M. Laitman: You will not cancel one with the other. One sustains the other.

Student: If I now say?

M. Laitman: You're asking why our body does not want to get rid of a bad feeling. It's because it finds pleasure within that bad feeling.

Student: If, for the sake of the argument, my yearning, meaning the desire to bestow, to receive in order to bestow. My desire for the Creator, if it's greater than the desire to receive, to swallow the world. Then I'll tell myself that my desire to swallow the whole world is a bad thing, I prefer for it not to exist and maybe I'll try to reduce it, diminish it. On the other hand, if my desire to swallow the whole world for myself will be greater than my desire, my yearning, I will say, why do I need that? It's better for me to make them equal.

M. Laitman: Exactly, these two desires are truly equal and each one supports the other. What can you do, that's how it is. He describes this in several places with very vivid illustrations that are understandable to everyone.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (56:20) Maybe to continue what he asked, how do I avoid repressing this desire, this desire in order to receive?

M. Laitman: How do you avoid suppressing the desire to receive enjoyment from the Creator? Certainly, it's not a matter of whether you suppress it or not, the Creator suppresses it for you and you have to work on it constantly. You work with it, and you work on it, of course, that's why we say that in the group, we need to constantly hear about the greatness of godliness, to constantly be impressed by one another, why? It's because the Creator is not simply going to become more and more revealed by Himself. This is something we learn, it's a whole system, we'll see it along the way, in short.

Student: By what can I tell that the greatness and importance of the Creator is developing in me? Before the barrier, I don't feel the Creator, maybe it's just some fantasy?

M. Laitman: Before the barrier, everything is imagination.

Student: How can I tell that the greatness and importance of the Creator is developing in the right way, in the right direction?

M. Laitman: How can I know whether I'm developing in the right direction? You cannot know.

Student: What can I know?

M. Laitman: You cannot know anything, what possibility do you nevertheless have? One is to cry out to Him, I'm saying that to you very briefly. Usually, a person finds all kinds of tricks and strategies for himself. But really, if we research our state properly, we have no one to lean on – we have no one to lean on except our Father in heaven, that is truly so. What real thing do you have that you can be certain of? Not lights and not vessels, certainly not a screen between them, no intellectual criticism nor actual criticism through the screen, nothing. Then who are you, what are you, what are you certain about? Nothing. That point in you which is called man, Adam, is completely suspended in mid-air. Wherever the wind blows, it can carry you away and that's all. If you want to be dependent on something, fine. If a person felt that way, it would be good but we do not feel it.

Student: Regarding the four phases?

M. Laitman: I'm requesting from everyone, first, if someone asks, that he should first ask. I'm shouting even with a microphone and you're not even shouting. And others, it's worthwhile for you to listen and to participate. Through that we incorporate each other and we receive forces and discernments from each other. So, it's worthwhile really to work together. If you have a deficiency, if he has a deficiency, and he's asking, why should I not acquire that deficiency in those discernments?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:24) Regarding the four phases, if in phase three the created being would not then create an independent desire, an independent decision maker, then the change would have been there in phase three?

M. Laitman: Only at the end of phase three does it decide, based on the two discernments that exist within it, it contains something from phase one and something from phase two. Phase three includes both of them, then it decides what is actually important, what direction should I go in? And then it decides, I will receive the revelation of Godliness, the Creator's light, in that deficiency that I developed and acquired additionally in phase two. What is phase four? It is when both phase one and phase two work for the will to receive. Because of that phase four is greater than phase one, by how much? It’s greater than phase one by the measure of phase two. So what is phase three? Phase three is only a decision, only a feeling, therefore it is coarser, it has more Aviut. You might ask, there is coarseness or Aviut in phase one; and there is coarseness in phase two, those are two vessels. Phase three seemingly only makes a decision. Somehow it exists in a situation where it decides, so why should its coarseness be greater? Because by making that decision, it feels itself, it feels itself as an independent being, and because of that it feels itself more coarse.

Student: I find a contradiction between the work in the group and the feeling that I have no one to lean on, But our Father in Heaven. Because in the group you can always lean on the friends.

M. Laitman: The work in the group should always bring a deficiency not confidence. Instead of sadness it should bring joy, not because there are other messed up people like me, you understand? You can invert everything from one thing into its opposite, it's forbidden for me to think I'm secure because of the friends, if something bad happens to me, they'll help me, thank God! Now I have 15 people, and if there are 15,000 people, even better; then why should I worry about whether I work or not, what happens or doesn't happen? You can extract such forces, meaning such discernments, from the state of being in a group, but you can also develop from it a sense of importance and responsibility. On the contrary, you can begin to think about and care for everyone else, even that is human. But that's still not the goal, the goal is that through the group I need to receive deficiencies that are directed toward Godliness. What kind of security or safety can 15 people really give me? They can only give me the confidence in one thing: that if we turn together toward the Creator, we can be more certain of receiving an answer.

Student: That's theoretical, but in practice?

M. Laitman: It's not theoretical at all, the question's very simple: is the Creator at the head of the group or not? If He's not, then it's just a group – fine, nice, good, we're all working together. There's a task force, a team, so what? Nothing will come of it, but a broken individual also cannot do anything, either, you need to use all these forces toward the goal so that the Creator is at the head. Not the group, not the Rav, not the books, not anything else, but the Creator. Then you will see how you will use these qualities correctly: qualities of envy, hatred, love, mutual help, confidence, and the deficiencies you receive from the friends. Everything will come together in the right state, and also in the correct relationship with, between them, that's it. And if it's not aimed at the Creator, if it's not aimed at Him with great precision and sharpness, then you will always find all sorts of things – at that point, it's no longer the group that the sages are speaking about.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:20) The feeling of the greatness and importance of the Creator, does it awaken a person, or is it not anything great, just something?

M. Laitman: I don't know what the Creator is, I don't know what the greatness of the Creator is, no one in the group knows, we scrutinize it gradually. Now you want to know everything, to feel everything, to truly be in that? It's impossible, they reveal to you exactly what you're capable of tolerating, and nothing more, that's all. If they were to reveal to you right now who the Creator is, there would be nothing worse. Relative to your current qualities, He is completely opposite to you, so they reveal a little, they conceal a lot, they reveal a tiny bit here. And there, and in your false perception, you turn that little bit into something beneficial for yourself, so that you can tolerate it. Fine, the Creator exists, maybe I'll get something good from it, maybe a little share in the next world. I have to work in this world, but maybe some good things will come from that too.

In other words, you can somehow tolerate the fact that the Creator exists, good! There are people who say He doesn't exist, why? Because psychologically, they cannot digest Him, His existence would make life bitter for them, so they simply say He doesn't exist, and that's it. What happens with us is that they reveal more and more, according to the extent that we can agree with His discernments, what bestowal actually means. This is a very slow development, it is very hard for us to agree with it. You see what's happening in the group – everything that appears in the group, you immediately turn it into reception, confidence, joy, all kinds of things. Nothing can be immediately aimed at the Creator – it's great work, you need tremendous efforts. So from heaven, they do things in this way, concealment, partial revelation, a kind of deception, so to speak. Then the group seems good, pleasant, and useful, and gradually things become clarified.

But again, I say that correct development and all this clarification will come about only to the extent that before every action and thought, – and also during it and after it – you remain connected to the Creator. In Letter 64, he writes, Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one. In order to aim at the goal, before even taking a single step, you already need to aim yourself precisely at that, how? By saying that I, my action, and all the means, and all the conditions, and the Creator are all included together. It's not that one thing is present at one moment, and another thing at another moment; one in one thought, and another in a second thought. Instead, all of them need to be held together, he speaks about that in Letter 70, or page 70 of The Letters. Do you understand? So don't make a mistake in these things – in the end, these things are actually very simple, the principle is simple; the hard part is maintaining it and carrying it out. What can you do?

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:09:15) You said that the person is looking, and he doesn't find the inside the pleasure. What does it give to move forward and see the greatness of the Creator? So here it's a bit more than my vessels inside my agony to search for – what does it give me to go out into exaltedness?

M. Laitman: How, what is it that advances me each time, despite everything?

Student: Yes, also here I'll receive this inspiration.

M. Laitman: I exist in a lie, and every time I advance, between us, honestly, I advance into an even greater lie, and then an even greater one still, and an even greater yet. But together with that, with the actions that I perform, a light comes to me from above, I don't know it myself. And this light develops within me another discernment, one that is opposite to my desire, so the two grow together. I grow my will to receive more and more for spirituality, until it does not let me sleep. I want it, and I want it more and more. But what do I want? I want it for myself, I want to enjoy it myself. But while I'm occupied with that and I'm occupied with it with an intention that despite everything I want to approach the goal, to become acquainted with it. Even if it's ultimately for my own sake, it doesn't matter, I still want to enter into it. So then a light comes from above, and the light does what it always does, it stands opposite me, what can I do? So it develops within me another discernment besides my will to receive, something else – something that is opposite to me. And so from degree to degree, I increasingly become a being composed of two forces that are more and more opposed to one another.

So it turns out that I develop one part, while the Creator develops the second part in me, until both grow to their full measure, and then I cross the Red Sea, that's it. But certainly I cannot do this by myself, I cannot inflate or enlarge the point in the heart – it grows only through the reforming light. Your question is correct: if we advance only through our own powers, how could we ever reach anything? We reach it because in the meantime, the light also acts on us. This is what is meant by, I labored and found. Suddenly I discovered that there is something in me that wasn't there before.

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Reader: We will share with our inspiration from the lesson, and what are we taking from it to realize in our Ten?