Morning Lesson August 23, 2023

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio

Part 1:

Rabash. Article No. 23, (1991). What Is the Meaning of the Purification of a Cow’s Ashes, in the Work?

Reading Article (00:40) “RASHI interprets, “This is the statute..”

1. S. (34:05) I want to ask about the third state that he describes here about ‘faith above reason’ and the one-thousand dollars. If he counts and he sees that there's a deficit, why is it still considered ‘above reason,’ if he did count?

R. What does it say? The third state? Dudi, can you read it, please.

Reading “The Third State” (34:44) “He counts the one-thousand dollars..”

R. (35:12) Yes, he counted. He knows what it is, it's nine-hundred and ninety-nine and he receives it and takes it as a thousand dollars based on what? Because, they obligate him. Because he decided to? Why did he even count it?

S. If he counts, where is the above reason here? Why did the fact that he doesn't simply give him the envelope and takes it and says, “It's one thousand dollars.” Why does he open it up and count it?

R. If he doesn’t count he has no reason. If he doesn't count his reason is not here. But if he counted, then he has his reason, that it's nine-hundred and ninety-nine and he takes it as a thousand, then there's a gap between the desired state and the present state.

S. So, what is the height of his faith? This one dollar that's missing, that's his ability to be in above reason?

R. The height of his faith in this case is one dollar.

S. And with faith above reason you have to check it within reason in order to rise above reason?

R. Otherwise, how will you have faith above reason. You need a foundation.

S. And the very fact that you check, doesn't it make it so that you're not adhered to the one that's giving it to you?

R. No, you can't determine anything if you're not checking it.

S. So it turns out that above reason is always based on checking it's not going with your eyes shut?

R. Yes, yes. That’s why it is called above reason.

S. So, where is bestowal here? I don't get it. Where is faith here, your adhesion the one that's giving it to you?

R. In the one dollar or it could even be in nine-hundred and ninety-nine dollars. It depends on how much you check, how much you find.

S. So, if anything that happens first, you check it within reason, and only then you can take it above reason?

R. You must. You must do it like that; without it there's no ‘above.’

S. What is this force that enables him to go above reason? After you checked and you saw that it's missing, it’s lacking, you can see that it's lacking? What is the force that enables you to go above reason?

R. Adhesion in the Creator. You must accept Him above your own logic.

S. So your adhesion, this is your ‘faith above reason?’

R. Not as I feel and know but like Him.

S. And in no stage do we cancel the fact that there is only nine-hundred and ninety-nine dollars there?

R. You can’t cancel it because without it you don't have ‘above reason’.

2. S. (39:24) Seemingly, there is faith in Providence. The Providence is that He Is Good And Doing Good, that's one kind. There is faith that I interpret as the force of connection and bestowal that is more important than the force of reception which is reason. These are different kinds of work?

R. Yes.

S. Because here in practice I need to see that the acts of connection that I do in the ten are more important than the fact that I don’t have any taste within reason. My reason says, “There is no taste in it.” Seemingly, there is something, Providence, that comes to the person from above and he seemingly needs to, within reason, he can't justify it, so he has to go above reason. It seems like two different kinds of faith, right?

R. Yes.

3. S. (40:16) Let's say that I counted it and I know that a dollar is missing and I do it above reason but shouldn't I tell my friend that a dollar is missing? Even though I believe that I'm certain that there's one-thousand dollars there, I don't tell him there's a dollar missing. I'm lying to him and I'm also lying to myself.

R. No.

S. So should I tell him a dollar is missing even though I believe all of his intentions were correct and good and he is certain that is one-thousand dollars there?

R. He's certain that there's a thousand there, so what will I get by telling him that there's actually nine-hundred and ninety-nine there?

S. Well, otherwise I'm seemingly lying to myself and I’m lying to him when I say there's one-thousand dollars there.

R. Seemingly, earthly, corporeally, literally it's true.

S. How is it in spirituality?

R. In spirituality you are dealing with the Creator. He gave it. He said. You accept it and you do it.

4. S. (41:37) What is this faith complete with respect to this dollar? The dollar is missing, we see it within reason?

R. If you miss nine-hundred and ninety-nine.

S. So I have nine-hundred and ninety-nine, it doesn’t matter. When is the faith complete, in what? If they give me wholeness in that there is one-thousand dollars? But it's missing, I know it's missing and that’s why I don't manage to understand here, what does faith give me here?

R. Faith lets you complete it with the Creator.

S. What does it mean to complete it with the Creator?

R. You accept his conclusion, I don't know how to say it, the way it is. You look at creation through the eyes of the Creator.

S. This dollar that's missing it’s like a deficiency, something that wasn't filled in me. I was expecting one-thousand dollars and I received nine-hundred and ninety-nine, I have one dollar missing now. So what I heard Rav say is that I complete this gap, this deficiency, deficit, this complementation is this what’s called faith?

R. Yes, but that's with one dollar and if it's more?

S. I guess it progresses.

R. No, no, no, it doesn't simply advance. In the envelope you got there's one dollar in place of nine-hundred and ninety-nine, in place of one thousand, so what do you do?

S. I'm asking, “That's how I started?” What is the complementation with the faith, what does it give the person, does it let the person believe that He Is Good And Doing Good, even though I feel right now, that He is not good in doing good?

R. You complete it from your vessels that are lacking the illumination of correction.

S. Maybe this is related to another question that I have about this part where he says that faith above reason is the light of Hassadim he says that there?

R. I'm not going to get into the light of Hassadim.

5. S. (44:14) Who determines if the Creator enjoys or he doesn't enjoy an action that I do? It seems like we can perform the same action for my own benefit or the same question or action with the correct setup of thinking about it can be for the benefit of the Creator. So how can I know what's the purpose of my action?

R. Meaning, you wish to bring us down from how much we are missing to the matter of how in my attitude I can give more contentment. When do I delight the Creator more?

S. In general not even giving more but what means, what vessels do I have to know? A baby doesn't think about bestowing to his mother. He doesn’t bestow. He wants candy, he has pleasure, he doesn't think about giving her contentment by receiving it, accepting it.

R. We say that a baby has an ounce of intellect and he wants to do something to his mother with it. That's what this is all about.

S. When a certain emotion of love begins to develop, let's say with this emotion of love you can complete things, you can do an irrational action for you in order to gain some credit, some points of love, to cause love to the other. So I guess it's like that but here it seems like there's some kind of overcoming where you're going with pride against your ego and you're saying, “I’m going to buy a cow for one-thousand dollars and burn it and the Creator will enjoy it. I have no means to measure, to assess this action from the perspective of the Creator, from His eyes. I can say, “I behave foolishly” from the perspective of this world it's meaningless but certainly it gives pleasure Above. Who determines, how do I know?

R. Yes, the actions are illogical.

6. S. (46:48) Let's say, I receive an envelope, there's eight-hundred dollars there and one of those is missing. I go to buy a computer for ten, I want to buy a computer at a cost of one-thousand dollars and I don't have this required sum. What happens in that state?

R. What are you asking?

S. I'm asking how far should I go with this above reason because now you need to buy a computer for the ten you don't have the money, you're a hundred dollars short. So I'm going above reason but I can't buy the computer?

R. You can't buy it, so what's the question?

S. Two-hundred dollars are missing?

R. Yes.

S. So I can't buy the computer: it costs one-thousand dollars?

R. I understand, so what do you do?

S. That's what I'm asking.

R. Nothing, go home to where you came.

7. S. (47:42) The deficit of the one dollar, this vessel remains empty and a new vessel develops or this same vessel undergoes a certain correction?

R. This vessel undergoes correction; so the Creator completes it.

S. And it is felt that the result of rising to faith above reason, it is felt inside of the deficiency that you feel within reason?

R. Yes.

8. S. (48:43) I need to learn how to count what the friends can give me. I need to value, appreciate what they have to give me. How do I count it?

R. He's not saying anything about it here, they don't explain it.

S. And what do the friends have to give me?

R. What they have to give, what I have to give as well, if this is group work, the fact that we're all giving we're all bringing our coins.

S. And what are these coins? What do I expect from each and every friend that he will give me?

R. [no translation]

S. You expect every friend to bring like yourself, his part in the common vessel. As for myself, should I expect that I will pay something?

R. From yourself, of course you must discover how much you owe and add to the common pot, yeah.

S. And the feeling that I didn't pay enough, I, with myself need to work as if I pay everything to the friends?

R. Those are completely different questions. What are you doing with your feeling? You stole the fact from the group. We're not talking about that here, it'll only confuse us.

9. S. (50:38) Where can a person tell that he's going above reason and lying to himself?

R. If he's going against his reason then I guess he's going above reason.

10. S. (51:00) What is the difference between annulment in the mind or should the annulment be in the mind and in the heart simultaneously?

R. Yes.

S. What does it mean to keep Torah and Mitzvot in ‘faith above reason’?

R. Again.

S. What does it mean to keep Torah and Mitzvot in ‘faith above reason’?

R. Meaning I keep all the laws of connection between all the created beings with the force of bestowal which is above the force of reception.

11. S. (51:44) How do we reach permanent faith? What are the stages in reaching that?

R. We'll learn about this. There are many details in this.

12. S. (52:00) What does it mean to be worthy of being rewarded with the NRNHY in his soul?

R. To become worthy of the NRNHY in my soul I have to prepare vessels for it.

13. S. (52:15) It seems like this line of being in faith above reason is a line that continues all the time. When does this process end of the need to rise above reason?

R. That is indeed only the end of the path.

14. S. (52:37) Is anything that you lack within reason can be completed with faith above reason?

R. Everything.

15. S. (52:53) When we annul ourselves and we rise above reason, is this permanent work in justifying the Creator?

R. Yes.

16. S. (53:08) What is the best way for us to depict to ourselves: what does it mean to be in the King's palace?

R. To reach complete faith.

17. S. (53:25) For what reason does the will to bestow disappear and how do we bring it back?

R. I don't understand again.

S. For what reason does the will to bestow disappear and how do we bring it back?

R. The will to bestow disappears so that we will renew it in a greater state or a higher degree and then we bring it back.

18. S. (54:09) How am I supposed to walk in a single line in the work with both the mind and the heart?

R. Inside the friends. In the connection with the friends.

19. S. (54:47) In order for a person to reach permanent faith it says in the article that this is the Creator's quality and the person should constantly work on faith, right?

R. He needs to work on it permanently, all the time to strengthen himself.

20. S. (55:29) There's a scrutiny here about the translation of ‘above reason,’ how should we understand what is reason? Is it logic, common knowledge when we translate it, how to translate it? As knowledge, as reason?

R. All together, logic, rationality, knowledge. It's all together, intellect. Yes, intellect, also everything that a beast has rationally.

S. And about this red cow, what is the matter of red cow here?

R. The red color will talk about it later, that's a separate matter.

21. S. (57:00) It says that faith comes after you check. It means we have to first check and rise above what we checked? So what do we have to check first so that later we could advance spiritually?

R. Whatever we have for the time being. What is the form of our vessel and what is the form that we need to be in and the gap between this and that. Between the desired and the present will determine for us our direction; to which state, to which degree we have, we should reach.

22. S. (57:52) Why did the Creator want us to start the spiritual work? Why do we have to pray for His help?

R. Because by this we adhere to Him, we come closer to Him.

23. S. (58:18) It says that even the smallest degree in spirituality gives more pleasure than all of the corporeal pleasures combined, how can we detect a spiritual pleasure?

R. How can we identify or detect spiritual pleasure? We get help from Above. When they give us spiritual pleasure and I realize it is spiritual. Otherwise, we will be bribed. We will just bow our heads before the pleasure.

S. So, during the Gathering of Friends, the feeling of the sentiment of joy and connection with the ten, is that state closer to the spiritual pleasure?

R. Yes, nevertheless we are coming closer. It doesn't matter how much we understand or don't understand it's written about it, “It's not the wise who learns.”

24. S. (59:33) The article aims us, directs us. We learn that we're going towards bestowal, we're going to do everything for the sake of heavens and this calculation regarding our personal benefit, regarding ‘faith above reason’ is more or less clear but what's not so clear is that in the end, the matter of eternity and wholeness, this is the greatest pleasure there is. We can't cancel this calculation, understood. Eventually you'll still reach the greatest pleasure and that's how we have to arrange ourselves relative to the Creator and the heavens. Ultimately you do everything because you're going towards the greatest personal benefit?

R. When we will go through it it will become clear, when we reach it.

25. S. (01:00:41) The quality, this quality of seeing more, seeing the complete sum. What is it, I use my imagination or some force comes from Above and helps me?

R. The force comes from Above.

S. As an example, let's say I have eleven people in my ten. Here in the lesson there are eight or nine, I see something is missing here as well, what should I do?

R. You don't need to imagine anything, you work with them like a complete group.

S. How to work as if everyone is here?

R. As if there were twenty-five or fifty here, what does it matter?

S. That's the question: How to do it, you have to invite some force?

R. You don't need to draw, invite anything, you just have to relate to the others as if it's a complete group.

S.  Is that a mutual feeling of wholeness that exists between us?

R. Yes.

S. But you constantly feel some deficiency, how to complete it?

R. Stop feeling that there is a deficit, that something is lacking.

S. It's up to the ten?

R. It depends on each and every one who feels this deficiency. It is written that the minimum of many is two, meaning if there are two, then you're already a group. All the rest depends on you.

26. S. (01:02:43) Are my efforts helping ease the work of ‘above reason’ of the friends?

R. Of course it helps, this is precisely what helps.

S. So it turns out that I help them reveal the point of the Creator relative to them, what it is exactly?

R. Yes.

S. So what am I asking, my efforts, do they grow or shrink the amount that the friends receive in the envelope or is it the Creator?

R. Depends on you and also on the Creator.

S. What ratio?

R. I don't know.

27. S. (01:03:38) He writes in the first paragraph, “Just as the mother cleans up her son, the cow takes care of the calf.” What is he talking about?

R. It's about the son of the cow, the calf, the child with respect to the mother.

S. He's speaking about the calf. What does it mean to clean it, to wipe it?

R. To purify it.

28. S. (01:04:18) In what way do I fill or complete what's missing in the envelope ‘above reason,’ how do I do it?

R. Shut your eyes and go with the friends.

29. S. (01:04:43) About the missing dollar, this is true ‘faith above reason?’ I want to know if what I'm saying is correct. That we have to justify the Creator and what Kabbalists are telling us, are writing to us even when we see that we are missing a dollar or one-hundred or more? Meaning, I have to justify the Creator in every state that's happening?

R. Yes, yes, yes.

30. S. (01:05:45) The ashes of the red cow purify us from the state of the golden calf and is this the way to go in ‘faith above reason?’

R. Yes.

31. S. (01:06:15) Rabash after the finding ‘faith above reason,’ he speaks of the nations of the world, who are not asking about this commandment. Just like the first commandment and then he says that they are, they do ask and then of the third kind, meaning it all depends on the fact that these questions appear in the nations of the world. So what does it depend on, if those questions are revealed or not?

R. This comes from the Creator.

S. Yes but it turns out if those questions are revealed it's a good sign?

R. Of course.

S. So there's a danger here. How will I answer these questions and how to correctly prepare to answer them correctly?

R. Only together with the friends; there is no other way.

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