Part 1: Baal HaSulam. The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee), Article 23.

Reader: Hello friends, in the first part we will continue the Arvut article in the writings of Baal HaSulam. We reached letter 23 in Hebrew; it's page 394. Page 394 in the writings of Baal HaSulam in Hebrew. Of course, you can also find it in the Arvut system and in Sviva Tova. We will now enter together a lesson from November 12, 2003, the Arvut article, letter item 23, please, Kabbalah for the Beginner, the Arvut item 23. 

Reading: (00:00) The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee]

(Continued from “Matan Torah”)

23) With these words, we clearly understand what we said above in Item 5 about the Torah being given specifically to the Israeli nation, because it is certain and unequivocal that the purpose of creation lies on the shoulders of the whole of the human race, black, or white, or yellow, without any essential difference.

But because of the descent of human nature to the lowest degree, which is the self-love that rules over all of humanity without restraint, there was no way to negotiate with them and persuade them to agree to take upon themselves, even as a mere promise, to exit their narrow world into the wide spaces of the love of others. The exception was the Israeli nation because they were enslaved in the savage kingdom of Egypt four hundred years in horrible torments.

Our sages said, “As salt sweetens meat, agony polishes man’s sins.” This means that they bring to the body great purification. In addition, the purification of their holy fathers assisted them, as said in Item 16, which is the most important, as some of the verses of the Torah testify.

Because of these two forewords, they were qualified for it. This is why the text refers to them in singular form, as it is written, “And Israel camped there before the mountain,” which our sages interpret as “as one man with one heart.”

This is because each and every person from the nation completely detached himself from self-love, and wanted only to benefit his friend, as we have shown above in Item 16 regarding the meaning of the Mitzva, “Love your friend as yourself.” It turns out that all the individuals in the nation had come together and became one heart and one man, for only then were they qualified to receive the Torah.

M. Laitman: Meaning, that despite all of humanity growing slowly, gradually, with the will to receive—gradually, from generation to generation, it grows through thousands of years—still, even in past generations, the ancient generations, in the people of Israel and in the nations of the world, the Aviut, the coarseness, was very weak, very, very small. We see that there is what we call the descent of the generations from Adam HaRishon down to Noah and from Noah onwards.

Abraham was special in his generation as in him a yearning for the Creator was revealed even though his father was an idol worshipper as was customary back then, an idolater. Regarding Terach (father of Abraham), also it is said, he thought there are many powers in the world other than the Creator, not like the Creator, I mean, like the Creator, not the Creator but like the Creator; each one of them is a force unto its own. As a person sees that all these forces govern him for good and ill, then he turns and appeals to each and every one of them. It's not as though there's some force behind all those forces that unifies all of them, that has thought, has a will, has a plan, a goal for humanity, and he uses all these forces only as emissaries, with them themselves having no plan or free will or some special attitude towards the person, with everything being governed by a single force. 

This is a very profound difference but this, in essence, is the difference between Abraham and his father—the approach that existed before him and this approach to seek out, to look for, to believe that there is one force and to search for it, after there being some approach towards nature, seeing it as many different forces, the approach Abraham held before he started the search for the singular force. 

It's a very profound effort, a very profound difference that requires a certain purity, certain refinement in the body, in the will to receive. This is what Abraham taught others; don't look at all these forces—behind them there is but one thought, one will. It's not that this one's good, this one's bad; there's no good or bad. Rather, behind all of them, there is one single thought: The Good that Does Good to the good and the wicked, which brings man to his purpose, and the good and the evil that we perceive, they all have one single purpose. 

We need to understand His plan and to accept it, to accept Him, meaning to relate to things in a proper, rational manner and, through that, to develop ourselves and that's what He demands of us; for us to participate in our development by our own independent will, of our own volition. In that single thing, we have independence in strengthening our development—in other words—accepting His plan for us and actualizing it.

No one other than Abraham in his generation did not grasp this idea, did not discover it. Meaning, they didn't have the proper spiritual or of Adam HaRishon, as are all souls. In all those souls there are many different parts which, when clarified in a natural way, from the beginning of the corruption and through to the end of correction—from that scrutiny—there are some prominent souls, special souls that stick out. They feel that the world is actually constructed in a different way than the way in which the souls in which this scrutiny is not sufficient yet—how they feel it—for them to feel and understand that the external picture of the world, it shows us many different separate forces and there is a more inner picture where you can see a single force behind them. 

It's the same with us. We are in the same situation. In the way we relate to life, we don't see our lives as having one single force in it that acts upon us with one singular intention, wanting the best for us. Only are all sorts of operations here, actions here of revelation, His attitude is revealed to us, His attitude towards us is revealed to us in different ways, because our situation changes. He Himself is one, unique. It's the same difference as there was between Terach and Abraham. The same relation, the same image, it also exists in us between what we want to discover as Abraham and the world, as we were in our previous state, meaning in the previous, also called in the previous generation. 

There needs to be special preparation in the soul in order to feel the demand, the demand to discover the whole of nature as one unified system, one force, one thought. This idea can be grasped by only a very pure layer of the souls clarified from the shattering of Adam HaRishon. Later, more can join them, more souls and more and more, because from generation to generation, although there is an addition of the will to receive in all the souls, and all the souls that came about in the first generations are the same souls coming again in the next generation, meaning the next incarnation and another incarnation and another, only with an addition of the will to receive on them with coarser records, bigger records, but since these souls undergo torment in this world, this torment, this agony prepares the souls, even though they're coarse, it's that which prepares them to ask and to feel more and more, to feel reality as something which it doesn't seem to work out with all these different forces, that apparently there has to be one single force, one single thought and plan behind all these forces. 

Humanity, up to now, believes that there are many different forces. It seems to them that there are many goals, that there's not a single goal, a single thought, a single will and purpose—that we are being operated by all sorts of urges and that we have many commanders over us, many causes for everything that's happening and it is that way to this day, but suffering, as in previous generations, in our generation as well, the suffering in a good way and in a bad way, they gradually refine the coarseness. 

Specifically, when a person becomes more coarse, on the one hand and, on the other hand, he studies more, he understands better, he studies and understands how much he doesn't understand and how much he fails and how much he's incapable of actually researching, studying, then he comes to the revelation of the truth, namely, that he doesn't understand reality. That brings him the preparation, as for Abraham, the demand to discover the Creator, therefore Abraham, when he began to search, to search for the Creator, he was one, alone, but then many people joined him and it's written of in the Torah and the people who alongside him grasped this idea, they followed him, him and his sons and the grandchildren, alongside the students he had all around him which he kept recruiting and all this was done in a way of a special kind of education for all the generations that rose after him, after his group.

 The members of his group and their offspring received more coarseness which is called the exile of Egypt, and purity, which is called suffering, through the suffering that they underwent due to having such coarseness. It was very difficult for them to remain in adhesion with the Creator in Egypt. Meaning that when the suffering came—what kind of suffering? Emotional suffering, as they cannot attribute all the forces, the good and bad, to the Creator but rather there seemed to be other providences, other factors controlling us, not being able to attribute everything to the Creator, that was difficult.

 It's called exile, that they built beautiful cities to Pharaoh, Pitom and Ramses, and for themselves, warehouse cities, cities of danger. There is an addition of coarseness and it seems that the will to receive is bringing good things to the person while the will to bestow the opposite brings bad things to the person and they cannot be unified, they cannot be attributed to a single force, a single will, a single thought and that is called the exile. Until it reached the point where each one of this group and the group became a people, a nation, a great quantity of people in which there are all kinds of coarseness in which there were all kinds of souls like Moses and Aaron and the priests and the Levites and the people and whatever mixed with them as well after they took the mixed multitude with them.

Meaning, something from even the thoughts which weren't really in agreement with the fact that He and His name are one, that in each and every one of the people, that was already there. From the multiplicity of troubles and blows that their will to receive undergoes, this is called Pharaoh receiving the ten plagues, ten blows, then each one feels that he can emerge from under the rule of Pharaoh, with his little point that's left in him called Moses, Moshe, and then they try to come out meaning to flee, to run away from the force of Pharaoh which brings man faith, belief, philosophy, such an outlook on the world, the belief that there are other forces at work, that each force, each will has a different purpose, different goals and the coarseness begins to grow and then a person begins to think that way. After the suffering, he has an opportunity, a chance to run away from these thoughts called Pharaoh, the Egyptian within him. 

Then, they come to a state where they can collect all these forces, aggregate them into a single one called Moses and then unify it, adhere it to the Creator—the idea of There Is None Else Besides Him, He and His name are one but this force that is unified to the Creator, it's exile is not the same force as Abraham had in the previous degree, in Aviut of Shoresh. 

Now, this force, the force of Moshe - Moses, is of a different, greater coarseness and, also, it's not just one now. He has behind him another coarseness which is not as pure, not as refined as the coarseness that can be in adhesion with the Creator by its very nature like Abraham or even the nature of Moses, Moshe, which is more coarse than Abraham. There is additional coarseness here called the people of Israel, many. Why are they many? Because in them there are thoughts, desires of the Egyptians, of the will to receive which can also be attributed to or affiliated with adhesion to the Creator but for that you need corrections. Then, they will be adhered to the same idea, the single force, there's no one else besides Him and so on like with Abraham compared to Terach. The correction of the people of Israel, of the desires of a person which don't belong to his desire to bestow, like Abraham and Moses, meaning the desires of Shoresh of Aleph, of coarseness but the people of Israel, they're already Bet of Aviut. 

Their correction is, since these desires come from the development of the will to receive, this will to receive needs to receive a preliminary correction prior to adhering to the Creator, to calm it, so to speak, to fill it with some kind of light which will allow, which will give this will to receive some calm such that it stops thinking about itself—to suppress, to do a restriction on its desires and so to rise above its desires. This correction is given to the will to receive that can then restrict itself and it's called the people of Israel prior to Mount Sinai and this correction is called Arvut. 

The will to receive receives this feeling that it'll lack nothing, that it can let go of itself, not take care of itself, and devote itself to adhesion with the Creator, to begin thinking about how to bestow upon the Creator. The will to receive, with the coarseness of the people of Israel, when it receives this correction, then it is, as we say, prepared for the reception of the Torah. Why? Because there is one man in one heart which didn't exist before. Before that, it was a people which received a lot of coarseness in comparison with Abraham who developed through Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov. 

Now, that it received all this coarseness which developed in it, it's the same way when the sons of Abraham were in the exile of Egypt, that coarseness developed in them and that coarseness received a correction of Arvut meaning that it won't lack anything—the will to receive—it can conduct Tzimtzum, restriction upon itself, not think about itself, disconnect, detach from everything that exists, that happens within it as if it doesn't exist. And then, it can receive the power to engage in in order to bestow with all of its desires which are now restricted and this method for how to share all the desires of the people—not only by reaching Arvut and the restriction of all these desires but, then, use them in receiving in order to bestow—that came from Egypt. 

That method is called the method of Kabbalah and the correction of the will comes through the light, through the Torah and the corrections of all the desires are called observing the Mitzvot, commandments. The correction of each and every desire is called observing a commandment and, all in all, a person's soul meaning in the vessels of bestowal, he has Ramach desires and in the vessels of Kabbalah, Shasa desires, meaning 613, and another seven, so 620, with the additional seven, all in all, 620 commandments that a person has to observe to reach the complete correction, complete adhesion with the Creator, meaning to feel and understand and attain that there is one force which acts in reality with the goal to benefit His created beings. This created being which corrected all its desires in that way, is in adhesion with that force. It does the same as that force, the unique, special, singular force, with the same thought, and then it truly reaches the thought of creation, which is to do good to the created beings. It doesn't just repeat the actions of the Creator, similar in action, but also—from your actions we shall know you—it comes to the thought of creation, meaning it rises to the level of the Creator's thought, that singular force which Abraham discovered, but the revelation, compared to Abraham's revelation, which came after Terach, the revelation is on a much higher degree of coarseness, meaning on a much higher degree. 

From here, we see that Abraham didn't have such a big problem. He didn't need to work in Arvut, mutual guarantee, because the will to receive wasn't so large that it needed to be worked on, restricted, and then to work only with the vessels of bestowal, rather it was pure to begin with. Whereas, the people of Israel, meaning after the coarseness grew, they need Arvut and then the force of Torah meaning the upper light, a special light which will correct the will to receive with the thought, the intention to bestow. These desires which weren't corrected yet and are revealed from the shattering of the soul of Adam Rishon, they too require special corrections for then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which out of their purity are corrected, they mixed with the Egyptians and after that there were other exiles where each time the people are mixed with greater coarseness, thicker coarseness, again and again, four exiles. 

Abraham, this pure force that could adhere to the Creator without any preliminary work, so that force of Abraham needs to mingle with Aviyut Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Daleh, that's why there are four exiles, to come out of each and every exile and correct the coarseness which comes after every exile. This is why when the people of Israel come out of Egypt, when there is a single force that is formed within them, a single correction, then they reach the correction of this force after they reach the land of Israel, meaning through Bina, through the 40 years they correct this force through the Torah they received, and then they reach a degree called the First Temple. And afterwards, they need to mix with another greater degree of coarseness that grows stronger within them and also in the nations of the world, meaning it's certainly a matter of the souls, but we can see it in history that accordingly it also happens in the bodies in this world. 

So each one of Israel feels within himself coarseness, an addition of coarseness, and this is considered that he goes into inner exile, he can no longer be on the degree of adhesion with the Creator as he attained, or at least that, because new desires grow within him. This is considered that he enters a connection with the nations of the world within him, and accordingly this also happens in externality, and this brings about the ruin. What is the ruin? That they disconnect in their thought, in their outlook at life, at the process of life, that they are only adhered to a single force, a single thought, but rather they start to be adhered to many desires, just like Abraham, let's say when he falls, it didn't happen to him because of his refinement. But let's say that he falls back into seeing the same outlook like Terach, his father. So then the shattering occurred, meaning the first temple was ruined, and they went out to exile, meaning they stopped thinking about there is none else besides him, one unique and unified, but rather that there is a scattering of forces in nature, and we exist among many forces, many desires within us, or in nature, that govern us. All kinds of desires also govern within the person, and it's not the Creator. And also externally, all kinds of different nations govern, and it's not the uniqueness of the people of Israel. And when the blows correct the nation, they bring them the understanding that it is not so, meaning that each and every foreign thought receives a blow, then all in all, the correct scrutiny of his thoughts begins in a person that apparently they all have a single cause. There is causality there, and it doesn't happen for no reason. And again, he goes back to the scrutiny and the correct summary of all of these events of the exile, and by that he's rewarded with discovering that there is a single force that is operating, the champion of the world, this is the matter of redemption. The difference between exile and redemption in Hebrew is the letter Aleph, which symbolizes the Creator, the champion of the world. And once again, and this is how it is, there are four exiles, each time a person receives the addition of the will to receive within him, and today, also, we are following the last exile in the same state.

So, today also, certainly, as in all the previous stages that the soul of Adam HaRishon went through in the corrections, it's the same method. The force of Abraham is revealed in contrast to all the forces that can be corrected, but they're not corrected, which is the people of Israel. It's just like in the first exile and in the first redemption from Egypt. Here too, it is the same. It's just that the scrutiny now will be until all over the world, desires will be revealed as Rav Elazar, the son of Rav Shimon, says that the same desires as in the people of Israel will be revealed gradually, but this is after the people of Israel will distinguish themselves, meaning all of the souls will distinguish within themselves. All of these desires, all the thoughts that they can unite into the one unique and unified, there is none else besides Him, and all the rest they cannot, and the ones that they can isolate, that they can give them a correction called Arvut, and in such a way to begin to work on the correction of the thoughts by attaching them to this idea that there is only one force operating in reality and not many forces, and all the other thoughts called the nations of the world that cannot participate in that for the time being, to make a complete restriction over them, not to use them, meaning in externality also, in truth, as much as it defies logic, the exTent that the people of Israel will be isolated from all the other nations, it will be to their benefit, in life, in politics, in everything. It truly defies logic, since everyone can only support each other and live in such a way and exist in such a way, but no, here it is the opposite, that mixing with others causes us to accept their perspective, their outlook, their coarseness, their manners, and it causes a delay in the correction. Once again it pulls the degrees of Israel to the degrees of the nations of the world, and the correction for it is only to run away, just like from Egypt, to become separate, isolated with the thoughts that are only in the direction of somehow getting closer to uniting with the Creator. This means that the method is just like before, that only those who can be adhered to this idea that there is none else besides Him and He is one, unique and unified, He is good and does good, to the good and to the bad, meaning to the good desires and also even to the bad desires, whichever way they feel, good or bad, it doesn't matter, He is good to them, He does good, at every moment, in every state, whatever it is, it doesn't matter what these desires feel, in their existence, each time, whatever they receive from the Creator. So we need to isolate all of the desires with which we are able to adhere, meaning first the Kabbalists make corrections, and then other desires join them, called the the people of Israel, this is how it is within every person, this is how it is in the entire nation, and this is how it is in the entire world, with all the nations. And this is how it happens later in the nations of the world.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (44:17) Is a person really supposed to feel all these states in him? The nations, Moshe, Moses, and so on? He has to actually identify them, to feel them, this is this, this is that?

M. Laitman: Yes, a person who advances in the correction identifies within himself the forces that he can truly name, specifically Abraham, and Moses, and the people of Israel, and the nations of the world, 

Student: Before revelation? 

M. Laitman: Even before he comes out to true revelation, but somehow he does distinguish them. Suddenly he sees that apparently this is the same direction, that same desire called Abraham, and that apparently Abraham entirely belonged to that, because the other desires did not yet appear in him. Now what does it mean, Abraham, now? It's that uppermost layer in all of the souls, that layer, this will to receive, which is the most refined, and is ready to adhere to the Creator only through disconnection from all the other desires. So back then he was disconnected because the other desires that were coarser did not appear yet.

Student: Are we supposed to try and detect this, or is it something that comes as an outcome of advancement? 

M. Laitman: Out of man's work in correcting himself, bringing himself closer to the Creator, to the only force that wants to unite all of the confusions, all the forces, all the incidents, everything that happens to me, I have to unite all of these things every moment to a single provider, a single cause, a single thought, a single goal. So a person who tries to do that somehow, whether it works for him or not, he reaches a state where he begins to see the picture in such a way, and it truly turns out that his whole history, it's not just history, all in all it's a balance of powers within him. Terach, Abraham, Adam Rishon, Noah, Terach, Abraham, Moses, and so forth. He discovers that. He sees that he incorporates all of these things, and so out of his soul, when he starts to decipher the whole of reality, he sees that the structure of his soul, and the structure of the general soul, it's the same structure. So he discovers that this is the reality, and above it, there is a single force. This is revealed even before the barrier. I mean, clearly, it's clear that this is how it is, meaning it is worthwhile to search for this picture within, and in the whole of reality on the outside. This is actually what Abraham discovered. It's just that for him, it was nevertheless, the point from which he discovered it was very refined. It's hard to express it. I wish I could, but there are no words. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (48:27) Let's say I feel within me some quality, something that I can more or less call Moses. It's something that pulls me, let's say. From that point where you say that you can start seeing it more or less, to what extent can I trust this? To what extent can I trust that this Moses will lead me to the right place? 

M. Laitman: To what extent can I believe or give myself to thoughts, to my thoughts, my decisions, to trust them to the facts that seemingly I call some of my thoughts facts. And others I call them doubts, and others I call them lies. And this all changes within me, right? 

Student: And the desires too?

M. Laitman: And desires too, yes. As much as I can believe that I am calling these things, naming them in the right way, it depends on my scrutiny of true and false versus bitter and sweet, first of all. So the first scrutiny to do something through true and false versus bitter and sweet is if a person restricts his desires. This is after he receives the force of Arvut. Before that, a person cannot trust himself at all. Certainly, before that, all of the decisions and the reading of the situation is completely wrong. So, what to do? Follow the view of the society. Realize that he has no mind, he by himself is wrong Ten0%, and he has to take on the view of the society, which is called going above his reason.

Student: Which society? 

M. Laitman: The society that he determined that whatever he will receive from them, this is how it's going to go. 

Student: So he needs to determine beforehand? 

M. Laitman: He needs before that to understand that he is free choice. If he wants to emerge from the state of being just a beast which is operated Ten0% as a beast, if he wants to come out of it into some direction of development, then he has to receive some guidance, some external guidance, because this is the only thing that can direct him into some direction that he can choose. And then when he chooses a society that gives him its direction, and he receives from the society their views and inTentions and decisions, and their outlook at life, and everything necessary, he receives it from the society, and he gives himself to the society, this is considered that he's going above his reason, whichever way the society dictates to him. And by that, he triumphs in his life, he wins over all the other forces that just confuse him on purpose, in order for him to do this scrutiny. So a person has no other action but that.

Student: And on what basis does he choose a society? 

M. Laitman: On the basis of what does he choose the society? Because he feels, according to his soul, that these are the people who belong to the same idea towards which he wants to advance. No one can tell a person choose this way or choose that way, but rather from within, out of his suffering, out of his life experience, and he may be very young and still not have much experience, but he feels that I want this kind of development. And this is the Creator's guiding hand within him.

Student: This is sweet and bitter? 

M. Laitman: It's entirely not bitter or sweet, it is truth versus false, falsehood that he cannot do anything else. And if he grows stronger on this path, meaning with such thoughts that he wants to develop in this direction, he finds a solution. Society, the Creator finds it for him and inserts him there, and the person should only try to give himself to the society such that the society will wash him and give him all their views and thoughts and desires to advance to this correct direction. If he's willing to accept it from the society and only that, this is his choice, to arrange himself towards the society in such a way that the society will impart him an advancement in a direction, which is why he chose this society. This is why he's here and not scattered to all kinds of other things, even though he needs to do all kinds of things to be in order to be in a society, in order to acquire them. Buy yourself a friend, but whatever he does, he does it in order to receive from the society only the guidance in this direction. This is why he is in the society to begin with, that's his choice, and then he advances. And then his advancement is above reason, because to begin with, he doesn't want that. And through the society, he finds the forces to advance. And if he was by himself, he wouldn't find within himself any force which is above his reason. We've reached to advance. Whatever reason he would choose, it would be his reason, not above his reason. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (54:59) And what is this inner voice? What is the creation within the person that guides him? What is that? 

M. Laitman: The source for the correct thoughts within a person, let's call it a representative of the Creator within the person, is the point in the heart. It's called a godly force from above, a godly part from above. This is called a spark that fell into the vessel as a result of the breaking of the soul, the shattering of the soul. Before it's shattering in the soul, the sparks and vessels were in the corrected form, the lights were on the screen in a corrected form. When they shattered, the sparks and the vessels, the lights went up, the sparks and the vessels fell down. And the person needs to scrutinize the spark within him. When it begins to show itself, a person has to go along with this spark. He has to take this tiny candle inside this great, dark space of the will to receive and start with this candle to see what he is, who he is, and check himself. And only with this candle, only with this spark, and then bit by bit, he finds how, through the candle, to truly organize himself within all of these 248 broken desires, which are this dark space of the soul. So much so that he can add them to the candle, like oil, let's say, so that from the candle it will truly light up the whole soul. This is called that darkness will shine as light. The coarseness, Baal HaSulam gives this example that it's like the wick and oil, and the light is when the coarseness joins this spark, then it truly becomes fire, because he turns it through to be in order to bestow to the same nature as light. So he turns the coarseness into refinement. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (57:35) How can a person force himself to accept the opinion of the society? 

M. Laitman: This is the most difficult question. How can a person, with whatever he has, with all his preparations and powers and qualities, take upon himself this whole ideal, this idea, this direction that the society represents for him, and do it each and every moment according to how he develops and he's within the society. This is already work. You're asking about some kind of a recipe, where is this button that I can press, and then the engine will just keep working. So, no, every each and every moment, this is what you have to do. Where can you find the power to listen to the society, to give yourself to the society, to give, to get from it whatever it gives. So, this is exactly what you have to do every moment, to subjugate yourself and obligate yourself to do. This is called, buy yourself a friend. But the society, it's not just a friend. The friend is someone who is equal. A friend, from the word connection, but the society it's not a friend. The society is also a Rav. It's something that dictates to you what to do, something that you accept their view above your view. Read again what Rabash advises us in all of his social articles, maybe you'll find it. All of these tips, how nevertheless, to subjugate, bow your head, and receive from the society this idea. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:00:03) We have a friend who compiled a summary of all these, he compiled an essence, a summary of all these advice, all the advice. There are about 30 items. There's no way to hold to that. 

M. Laitman: That there's no chance to do it and to triumph. This is true, but for that we have means. I don't have the power. Of course, within me, I don't have the power to subjugate my will to receive towards the society. It's just like towards the Creator. What's the difference? It's just that towards the Creator, it's hidden. I can delude myself. I'll get confused and I'll think that I'm already righteous and successful, but with respect to the society, it's more evident. So, for that, if I see that I'm not capable of it, if you're asking, then I guess you already see that you can't do it. So, at least you see that you can't do it. And now there is truly a question within himself. A person doesn't find the forces for it, not even the willingness for it. He just understands in general that you have to do it. Apparently, Kabbalists write about it, and if I won't accept it, then I won't advance. And also, he gets what we call a grace of sanctity, that he is willing to do it because he's tired of it. He's willing to get out of himself. I feel you. Fine. But nevertheless, besides this general decision, there are no forces. We see from that that we exist before, just like the people of Israel in Mount Sinai, that if you won't do it as one man in one heart, if you don't give yourself to the group, if you won't want to make your connection with the group in such a way that you subjugate yourself before the group, then you feel that you are dead. This will be your burial place. And besides this mutual agreement, we actually don't need anything else, in truth. When we say we shall do and we shall hear, we agree that this will take place, this will come true, and then it comes true. Meaning, besides truly having the necessity for that, not carrying it out, but being willing that this will be done over us, we don't need anything else. This is already considered the truly the status, the occasion of receiving the upper force, so that he will truly make it so. And then from above comes the force from the Creator, and we know already that it comes from the Creator. And if we develop correctly, then we feel that we want to unite, and without him we can't do it. There is this third factor that comes in, the Creator. So it's not just me and the society, but He must be there inside, and He must be the goal, and He must be the one who executes it. And this is a sign that we're developing correctly, that by that, you actually now, when you want to unite with the society, by that, you create a vessel where He can be there inside. So what's missing here in your discernment is your discernment, now that you're willing to unite with the society, willing to give yourself to the society, still, the necessity for the Creator is missing, that it is for the sake of the Creator. It's in order for the Creator to dwell inside this connection. This necessity is still missing. This is because He's hidden. But soon, out of the suffering, out of the necessity, it will also be revealed that He must also be present here. And when these three factors come together, you, the group, and the Creator, when they come together, then it will happen.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:04:52) So each one of the group has to feel that the others are expressing their agreement, even though they're powerless, but he has to feel that they're expressing this agreement?

M. Laitman: If it's revealed in one, it will be revealed in everyone. Well, bit by bit, it has to happen. Yes. Well, we'll talk more about it. We can't say everything. We have to also give you some space for searching and adventure. Yes. Yes. 

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:05:36) Is it 100% clear what the Creator demands?

M. Laitman: The presence of the Creator shouldn't be clear to us now, and it cannot be, but rather, it is only revealed according to the equivalence of form. But the demand for the presence of the Creator is a force within the group that gives the reward. You know, like the bank gives you a guarantee, and you come and you tell me, see, I'm your guarantor, right, following the bank. So there has to be this feeling of the necessity for the presence of the Creator, that He is the one who gives the forces and the support, and He's the one who executes if we decide correctly. It's like, let's say, a father who has children, and if the children, as such, among them, what is the request with which we will turn to dad that he will give it to us? We want this and that, and this and that. But if they come together as a group, and eventually they find the correct appeal to the father, the father immediately does it. He executes it. He gives them. He buys for them. He wants to buy them nuts, and they want ice cream. So until they find the right desire, nuts, and they will turn to Daat, their Daat won't buy it for them. He won't be together with them. In the end, this is how Baal HaSulam, if you can say so, it seems too simple, but this is how he describes our relationship with the Creator. Because the Creator is not revealed, He doesn't appear before us, so we, between us, in our work, can scrutinize this question of what does He want from us? Because we see each other and we can scrutinize it through various events that we go through. What is the desire of the Upper One? What is adhesion? What is the correct relation to in order to bestow I to Him and He to me, etc. With the society it is possible to do such a thing. That we're constantly undergoing changes, we can work with it. It's like in a laboratory, you can do everything here, but with the Creator we can't, because it's not revealed. This is why it is similar to this example, like children towards their dad. If they find the correct relationship between them and the correct request accordingly to what their dad will prepare for them, then immediately they discover his desire that it is such, and they discover the feeling that comes from him. And when does it happen? When each one gives up on himself, concedes himself, and a common vessel is formed. If the vessel is common, then there cannot be any other desire in the vessel except for giving contentment to the Creator. It turns out to be the same, you see. They gather, each one with his ego, each one begins to fight with everyone over his ego, bit by bit, through the surrounding light, and through the means that they operate within the group, they begin to discover that it's worthwhile to give up on the ego and connect with everyone, and accept whatever the society dictates. And then when they all begin together to annul already before some idea which they don't quite know what it is, but let's give up on ourselves. Then within this collection, this sum total of these annulments, a single annulment begins to appear, us towards the Creator. Otherwise there's no connection. If there is a true connection, truly in order to bestow above reason among the members of the group, then it turns out that what is it for? I to him, and him to him, and him to me, each one towards the other, each one towards another. So here, if we're going correctly, then their general shared desire will be towards the Creator. Suddenly they'll discover it is towards the Creator, just like in the previous question. We feel the necessity towards him. And if it's incorrect development, then seemingly we'll connect together and we'll be able to annul before each other, but it will be a society like in Sodom, not towards the Creator. Seemingly to our benefit, for the sake of the society itself, something abstract like that. And then it causes a ruin, like in Russia, like in the kibbutzim, etc. But we see that it no longer happens. If the development is correct, it has to be through that in the attraction to the society, we discover already that we cannot do it, and in that we need the force of the Creator to be present, to be as a guarantor, to be as the glue between them, to begin with even. This is why we can say that we have a certain confidence that we are advancing correctly.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:12:49) And without Arvut there's no way of annulling? 

M. Laitman: The Arvut is the force that gives us the possibility to annul, meaning to subjugate my receive and take on the view of the society. 

Student: So it follows that the Arvut is the power that allows one to annul himself? How can you reach Arvut if you don't perform this annulment before?

M. Laitman: I don't have in me and also in the group any possibility to receive this force called Arvut, not either in the group, because through our efforts for it to happen, we invite upon us the surrounding light from above, which we need, and where do we invite it from? We invite it from that state in which we are united with one another, already in the final correction, in the first or third stage, and out of yearning for it, the surrounding light comes, and then only by it we begin to uplift ourselves and rise up. Of course, the individual, the society, doesn't have such a force. That's why it's called a willingness for it to happen, a readiness for it to happen, and then from there it illuminates.

Question (Petah Tikva Center): (01:14:55) All of these are responsible for each other means to the Creator. 

M. Laitman: Of course, yes, the Creator gives the Arvut. That's the difference between a society that advances towards correction and a society that can be like Sodom or other societies.